Late Tang Dynasty Floating Life

Chapter 516 New Chapter

"Be prepared first." Shao Shude greeted Chen Cheng and Zhao Guangfeng to get on the carriage and headed for the station outside the city.

"If Li Keyong occupies Youzhou, he won't have the energy to trouble us for a long time to come." Shao Shude opened the curtain of the carriage and looked outside at the street where there were already two or three pedestrians.

The big guns that once roamed the streets are gone.

Senior generals were wiped out by the rebels in the Duyu Housi, and more than [-] middle-level officers were killed in the Duyu Housi. Today's Hezhong army is half paralyzed.

The soldiers received the reward, their emotions were appeased, and they had no interest or ability to make trouble in a short period of time, which bought precious time for the rectification.

Of the remaining [-] to [-] Hezhong Yamen, Shao Shude planned to select [-] strong men and distribute them into various armies.

Among them, 2000 people will be incorporated into the Tianxiong Army, plus the 3000 people who have been selected before, the Tianxiong Army will have [-] infantry.

The number of people doubled, but the combat effectiveness was also greatly affected in a short period of time.This army also needs to retreat and digest the newcomers, so it is not suitable for battle for the time being.

2000 people were incorporated into the Wuwei Army staying in Lingzhou, bringing the number of the army to 2000.The [-] people, Shao Shude planned to let the iron cavalry escort them, and if there was trouble in the middle, they would just kill them, there was no other way.

The last 1000 people were incorporated into the Tielin Army.

In this way, the Tielin Army will reach [-] infantry and [-] cavalry, and its strength has increased slightly.

Jiedushi Wang Yao can only rely on the tens of thousands of Jiangzhou troops he brought over.

The new shogunate in Hezhong, which is being built, is also dominated by Jiangzhou forces.

There is no way, he has lost his reputation in the government army, and it is impossible to get the support of local warriors and officials in Hezhong Mansion for the time being. Who else can he use without his own people?
Gao Renhou still has more than [-] surrendered soldiers on hand, which is the result of the Battle of Fenshui.

How to deal with these 7000 people is actually very tricky.Shao Shude tended to send it to Shengzhou, together with his family members.It just offset the population loss in Shengzhou after the Wuxing, Guzhen, and Chishui armies moved to Jinjiang, otherwise Song Le would probably be unhappy.

Of course, none of the above can be accomplished within a few months.Shao Shude had already asked his family members to leave Changchun Palace and cross the river.There are still some palaces left in the Longchi Palace in Anyi County, and the county is also conscripting manpower for renovations. From now on, it will be used as the temporary residence of Shao Shude's family, and also the "headquarters" of the Shuofang Army.

"Marshal, my subordinates think that Keyong can't eat Youzhou." Chen Cheng obviously thought about this problem a long time ago, and only heard him say: "You, Tan, Ji, Zhuo, Ying, Mo, Yi, Gui, Xin, Ying , Pingyi Prefecture, Ying, and Mozhou are places with prosperous household registrations. There are a total of eleven counties with a population of over one million. The counties of Youzhou come later, with even less than 40. The remaining eight states add up to There are just over a hundred thousand people, but there are quite a few Shiwei, Khitan, and Xiren tribes who have taken refuge in Lu Long's army and have not registered their household registration."

"Ying and Mo prefectures are in the south, adjacent to Wang Rong of Chengde in the south, Lu Yanwei in Cangjing in the east, and the in-laws of Keyong and Chucun of King Yiding in the west." Chen Cheng continued to analyze: "The eleven counties of Ying and Mo prefectures have both With millions of households and a strong army, they will definitely not give in easily. How can Wang Rong and Lu Yanwei sit idly by?"

Wang Chucun of Yiding Erzhou is related to Li Keyong's family for generations by marriage, so the relationship is naturally excellent, and he is a hard-core ally.These two prefectures are also traitors in the eyes of Hebei people. They actually have their hearts turned to the imperial court. Wang Chucun is even a loyal minister. What is it if you are not a traitor?
Li Keyong had already obtained several remote villages with a large number of Tibetans, and rewarded them to his adopted son Li Cunxiao (the envoy of the Xinyi Guidu Tuan Lian Shou Zhuo).If Youzhou is successfully controlled, Tan, Ji, Zhuo and other prefectures will probably also fall. This is equivalent to controlling the northern half of Youzhou Town and one-third of the population, and bordering on Wang Chucun's territory. The situation is actually good. .

But will he mess around?For example, Gao Si, who supported surrender, succeeded Youzhou Jiedushi, so that Youzhou would not be split?
"Youzhou is known as 'one hundred thousand cavalry'. Now Li Ke has used such a toss, and more than half of its troops have been lost. But Hebei and Henan have always been strong in martial arts. They have recruited a group of new recruits and trained them for a year and a half. Even if they can't fight in the field, they can defend But the city is fine." Shao Shude put down the curtains, turned to look at Chen Cheng and Zhao Guangfeng, and said, "First find out the news and see how Li Keyong is doing. Xin Yigui, he probably won't return it. Li Ke is unpredictable with his current mood, I am worried that he will pull the power of King Yiding Chucun into Youzhou, or help a few more people, so that the Lulong Shiyizhou family will not be dominated."

"The commander-in-chief thinks that Li Keyong will not directly lead Youzhou Town?" Zhao Guangfeng asked.

"If I were in that position, I wouldn't be able to lead directly. I don't have the strength. First support an agent, stabilize Ying and Mo Erzhou, and then cut off a small piece and eat it slowly. In order to prevent rebellion, you can Set up a few more people to keep each other in check. But the Youzhou Yamen soldiers are unruly, and it is not so easy to deal with. Brother Yi, I will be trapped there for a long time. This way, it will help me slowly conquer the river, but there are also disadvantages, that is Zhu Quanzhong's The pressure has been greatly reduced, and there is no threat from the north. There are so many advantages and disadvantages in the world, and it is impossible for you to take all the benefits."

Chen Cheng and Zhao Guangfeng basically agreed with this judgment.

If Li Keyong directly appointed Gao Siji as the Jiedu envoy of Youzhou, searched for property, and then led his army back, it would make people laugh.But is there really such a political dumbass?
The carriage soon arrived at the station, Chen Cheng and Zhao Guangfeng parted from Shao Shude after saluting, and then—er, walked back to the city.

"Linggong accompany me to Jinzhou." Shao Shude entered the station, saw Feng Yanqing, and immediately said.

"The commander-in-chief is really non-stop." Feng Yanqing laughed.

"I'm anxious." Shao Shude also smiled, and said: "I have been fighting for many years, and this is the first time I have entered into such a large feudal town. It has never happened before. The four prefectures in Hezhong are bigger than Shuofang, Tiande, Zhenwu, The combined strength of the seven feudal towns of Fufang, Yandan, Binning, and Jingyuan is even greater, so naturally they are eager to eat."

It is not a lie that one town equals seven towns.Shao Shude fought and won many battles in the Northwest in his early years, but most of them were destroyed by such small feudal towns.The population, financial resources, and military strength of these feudal towns cannot be compared with the Central Plains feudal towns.

Why did Wang Chongrong dare to sit beside Shao Shude and Li Keyong at Huayue Temple?Isn't He Zhong powerful?

"The commander-in-chief is really safe in doing things." Feng Yanqing also flattered, and said with a smile: "You can't go a thousand miles without taking a small step. No matter how much time you spend on dealing with the affairs in the river, it is more important than rushing to enter the world. This world is different from the old days. No matter where you fight, the foundation must be firmly established. Anyway, the old man will go with the commander. When he is old, he is tossed out by the commander to offer advice. The second strategy of money and food If it is implemented, I don’t know how many people in Puzhou will scold the old man. But the old man really doesn’t want the commander-in-chief to fight chaos everywhere in his later years, and ruin his great career.”

Feng Yanqing's words were suspected of relying on the old and selling the old, but Shao Shude didn't take it seriously.People are really thinking about you, so what if they don't speak so nicely?
Shao and Feng arrived at Linfen County in Jinzhou on the fifth day of June.

"Marshal." Feng Heng, the new governor of Jinzhou, came out of the city to greet him.

Theoretically, Feng Heng is the subordinate of Wang Yao, the military governor of Hezhong, but that's on the surface, but who he is in reality, you have to know in your heart, so that you don't go the wrong way.

"Marshal, I have prepared a few seats in the city—"

"No need!" Shao Shude waved his hand and said, "Follow me north to Huoyi immediately, I want to comfort the soldiers."

When they came out this time, the Zhenwu Army stayed in Hedong County, and the Tielin Army took them with them.Along with the army, there is also money and silk obtained from Wang Yao.The Tielin and Zhenwu armies all received rewards, and of course the rest of the armies also received rewards.

Feng Heng was also aware of Shao Shude's resolute style of handling things, and immediately handed over to the Liao Zuo of the state, and then brought a thousand state soldiers and went north with the army.

On June [-]th, Shao Shude arrived in Huoyi in person, climbed up the tower and looked to the north.

"When did Kang Junli retreat?" Shao Shude asked Guan Kairun and Qi Bizhang.

"Just yesterday." Qi Bizhang replied, "I must have heard that the general came, and the rebel army was terrified, and they collapsed without fighting."

"Don't give me such nonsense." Shao Shude reprimanded, Qi Bizhang looked embarrassed.

"Yinshan Erlang, the loss is not small, right?" Shao Shude asked again.

"The battle has been going on for days and more than [-] people have died in the battle." Qi Bizhang replied.

Surprisingly attacked Jinzhou, attacked Huoyi, then defended Huoyi, and went out of the city to charge the Hedong army several times. The loss was indeed not small.

"Coach Zhu has prepared a cavalry infantry in Lingzhou, and there are more than 8000 people. Yin Shan Erlang, don't go back, they all move to Jinjiang, and the rest of the new army organized by Coach Zhu Combined into one army, you can recruit some more in Jinzhou to make up [-] people, and you will be called the "Flying Dragon Army", with [-] soldiers and [-] auxiliary soldiers." Shao Shude said: "The military envoy is up to you. Yinshan Erlang, train me well in infantry combat, which is very different from cavalry combat. I will be of great use if I train cavalry infantry well."

In terms of practical effect, mounted infantry may be more useful than cavalry.

This is destined to be an extremely aggressive unit, with the mobility of cavalry, and the frontal combat capability beyond cavalry, the only thing it lacks is the impact of cavalry.

The Manchu Eight Banners in later generations may not have as strong cavalry as the Ming army, but they have a large number of infantry who rely on horseback maneuvering.If you take a closer look at its tactics, it is almost the same as that of the orthodox Central Plains infantry: the imperial infantry lined up, and there must be carefully selected warriors in front of them wearing heavy armor as a scattered team, charging to disrupt the enemy's formation, and bows The crossbowmen scattered in front and on the two wings of the formation, divided into two types: fixed garrison and guerrilla.

In fact, infantry tactics have been developed for so many years, and what is most effective depends on everyone.

You have Sauron wild Jurchens as dead soldiers, and I also have scattered teams of skilled warriors, charging to the death and shaking the enemy's formation-the casualty rate of scattered teams is extremely high, often dying, so they are all desperate Scholars and desperadoes are all superior to others in the yamen soldiers.

You have archers with good archery skills, and I also have carefully selected crossbowmen cruising in scattered groups.

Is there a big difference in style of play?In the late Tang and Five Dynasties, almost all infantry tactics were used in this way, and all feudal towns played like this.

If Shao Shude conquered the grasslands in the future, he planned to use a large number of mounted infantry. After finding their nomadic land, he would kill them so that they could not avoid them and could only fight head-on.

It is better to use cavalry to fight head-on with cavalry than to use dismounted infantry to fight head-on with enemy cavalry. That way you can get a very good exchange ratio at a relatively low cost-it is possible that the enemy cavalry is dead and you have not lost much. People, cavalry battles are very difficult to achieve this exchange ratio.

"Thank you, Marshal, for your cultivation!" Qi Bizhang was promoted in place and became an envoy of the Feilong Army, so he was naturally overjoyed.

Shao Shude asked him to stand up, and then continued to look north.

Suddenly, a rider came galloping from the north, reined in his horse and stopped within an arrow's reach, and shouted: "The king of Longxi County sent me to sue, 'Since my righteous brother has returned my soldiers, I don't want to owe my brother any favors. , and now we will send each other off at Fenshui Pass, and we will not owe each other since then.'”

Shao Shude laughed loudly after hearing this, and said: "Yeyi brother is really heroic, he still has this temperament. Only such a hero is worthy to be my elder brother."

Brother Yi, the strategic focus has really shifted.

This is also what it should mean.According to there is Hedong, but not Hebei, is there a pit in the brain?
Li Ke's strategy should be to take advantage of the terrain advantages, namely the passes in the Shizhou mountainous area, the Queshu Valley in Fenzhou, the Taiyue Mountain pass between Zelu, Jinjiang, and Yanmen in Daibei, to defend from the west and attack from the east. This is also the best choice under the current situation, if Li Keyong still wants to develop.

If he is really allowed to swallow the whole of Youzhou, it will have more than 300 million households, and it will be full of wealth, which will be quite powerful.If we take down the relatively weak Yichang Army, unite with our in-laws and allies Wang Chucun, and the three states of Xingmingci under our control, then Chengde Town will almost be surrounded. What if Wang Rong does not surrender?
If this step can really be achieved, then Shao Shude and Zhu Quanzhong are incomparably the most powerful feudal clan in the world.

But Brother Yi is good at smashing a good hand of cards, so I don't know what he will do in Hebei.

But no matter what, a new era may have arrived, and everyone is not idle.

(End of this volume)
(End of this chapter)