Late Tang Dynasty Floating Life

Chapter 533
On November [-]th of the fourth year of Dashun, Shao Shude hosted a banquet for Lu Huaizhong in Longchi Palace.

Lu Huaizhong took over his family from Lingzhou, which was Shao Shude's request.Today's welcome banquet, his family is also invited.

Small details reflect Lu Huaizhong's position in Shao Shude's heart.

Not the number one thug, but the most trusted general.Leading the army to go out by himself, you can let him be the absolute confidant who stays behind.

"The situation in Nanyang is chaotic. If you gain a firm foothold in the future and even seize a few states, I will send you, old Lu, to Ezhou." The women were talking in low voices, and the children were playing around. We found a clean place and chatted.

Zhe Fangai personally brought over a pot of tea and poured it for the two of them.

Lu Huaizhong quickly got up to express his gratitude, and said, "How dare you have Princess Lao."

Zhe Fangai's belly swelled slightly, she was pregnant, but she insisted on pouring a bowl of tea for Lu Huaizhong, and said with a smile: "General Lu is the most trusted person of your husband, he has worked hard and made great achievements, so he deserves this gift."

Lu Huaizhong thanked him again and again.

After pouring tea, Zhe Fangai took her leave and went to talk to Lu Huaizhong's wife, Mrs. Han.

"Old Lu, when you were in the Wuchang Army, the Hubei soldiers couldn't fight, right?" Shao Shude invited Lu Huaizhong to drink tea, and asked casually.

"At that time, it was still possible to make gestures, but it was not so successful anymore. The number of soldiers was 10,000, but in fact it was just over [-], and they were still scattered everywhere. When Wang Xianzhi's [-]+ army arrived, they scattered like birds and beasts." Lu Huaizhong is from Huainan. However, he served as a small school in the Wuchang Army and was later exiled to Fengzhou. As a result, he actually avoided the disaster of Wang Xianzhi's attack on Ezhou, which can be regarded as a blessing in disguise.

"Du Hong is called the master of the six prefectures, but in fact he only has Ezhou. Anzhou and Yuezhou are relatively obedient, Qizhou and Shenzhou are yang and yin, and Huangzhou Wushu and Yang Xingmi flirt with each other. He is just the governor of Ezhou." Shao Shude laughed. Said: "If the situation is opened up in the Shen, Guang, An, and Cai areas in the future, will Lao Lu be willing to sit in charge?"

Lu Huaizhong was startled.Does this mean the establishment of Huaixi Town?As Huaixi Jiedushi?

Although he is a vulgar person, he is not stupid. Over the years, he has let his staff tell history to him, and his knowledge and vision have broadened a lot.The commander-in-chief is worried that once the situation is opened in the south, Zhe Zongben will be too powerful, and he wants to divide his power?The two towns of Tang Deng and Huaixi are side by side, which is better than being united under one big Huaixi town.

With decentralization, checks and balances, wooing, and kindness, the commander-in-chief is becoming more and more like a hero in troubled times.

"The commander-in-chief has an order, so I will never turn back." Lu Huaizhong paused, and then smiled: "It's much closer to the village of Luzhou. In the future, when Yang Xingmi is defeated, I will go back to my hometown to have a look."

Shao Shude laughed.

Lu Huaizhong's words were not all a joke.Yang Xingmi now has three choices. One is to go north to collect Hao, Shou, and Chu prefectures that have taken refuge in Zhu Quanzhong, and consolidate the defense line of the Huaihe River; the other is to go south to attack Qian Liu and Dong Chang, especially Qian Liu. However, Runzhou is under the control of Yang Xingmi, which is a major conflict point; the third is to attack Jiangxi and Eyue towns that have been swept away by Sun Ru's remnants from the west.

Basically, it is similar to the choice of the ancient Wu and Yue regimes. To guard the river in the north, you must guard the Huai River, and in the upper reaches of the west, you must have Jingzhou. Otherwise, it will be very difficult, and the country will not grow.

Shao Shude's influence has penetrated into the Han River area, only one step away from the Yangtze River, so Yang Xingmi can't be nervous?
I heard that recently Du Hong threatened Huangzhou Inspector Wu Dou to send troops and supplies to attack Zhao Kuangning, but Wu Dou refused, and the two had already blatantly torn faces.Yang Xingmi took the opportunity to win him over, and it is very likely that Wu Shu would vote for Yang Xingmi.Considering that Yang Xingmi's current ambition is to regain the traditional old land of Huainan, the five prefectures of Shen, Guang, Huang, Qi, and An are all included, and if one is not good, he will go west.

Moreover, Yang Xingmi is a visionary. If Zhu Quanzhong shows signs of decline, the conflicts between the two can be reconciled. By then, it is not impossible to coordinate the interests of the north and go west with all their strength.

Whether this person is a friend or an enemy is really hard to say, after all, this will be very different from history.

"Let's not talk about this for now." Shao Shude took a sip from his tea bowl and said, "Now there are only three armies left in the river, namely Tielin, Flying Dragon, and Wuwei. It’s been a few years since I’ve fought a war, so I’ll let the sons and daughters go to battle and practice, so as not to forget how to fight.”

The battle that Shao Shude refers to, of course, refers to the never-ending battle at Wangwushan.

The four armies of Tianzhu, Tianxiong, Yicong, and Shunyi returned to Lingxia, and Heyuan and Jishi marched to Xingfengliang. Only the five armies of Guide, Baoyi, Chishui, Wuxing, and Guzhen with [-] soldiers will fight on the front line. Seven thousand steps to ride.

There will be more soldiers next year.Shao Shude is like an ant moving house now, dumping things into the river bit by bit. Longchi Palace was originally in the wilderness, but now there is a small town: a post station appeared, and it was handed over to an old man who was injured and retired from the Iron Forest Army. shops of all kinds appeared, and everything was sold; mansions were erected in great numbers, to be the dwellings of members of the growing bureaucracy, and so on.

The city with Longchi Palace as its core just appeared out of thin air.

However, it seems that everyone did not intend to build a good house. Some officials did not even bring their wives and children. They only found a concubine in the local area and started their lives again.Everyone seems to understand that they may have to move in the future, and there is no need to plan to live for a long time.

"Wuwei Army, the last time we fought a serious battle, it should have been in Helong." Lu Huaizhong also agreed with Shao Shude's statement, and said, "How is Qiziling now?"

"The death and injury are terrible." Shao Shude sighed, and said, "I have tried every method. A small group of people crossed mountains and mountains, but the road is too difficult to walk. In some places, it can be said that one man guards the gate and ten thousand men cannot open it. Retreat. Fake defeat to lure the Bian army out of the pass to pursue. It succeeded once and wiped out more than a thousand Bian troops, but failed to break through the pass. The effect of luring surrender is limited, and the separation is useless. The new Helong Fans attacked One month, more than 5000 people were killed and injured, and some people even mutinied and were suppressed. Wang Yao’s troops were killed and injured more than [-] people, so they retreated to rest and recuperated. The fierce attack started again yesterday, with more than [-] casualties in one day. Shuofang Ya’s army suffered fewer casualties , but Tianxiong, Chishui, and the Yi Cong army before they withdrew also killed or injured more than [-] people. Qi Ziling is really a grindstone of flesh and blood."

Lu Huaizhong was also a little pale when he heard this.

Some terrains, such as Jiguan, Zhiguan, Xiashiguan, and Hanguguan, if you can't take it by surprise and can only fight hard honestly, the casualties will be really heavy, and it may even be impossible to attack.

In those places, it doesn't really matter whether there are city walls or not, just build a stockade, and rely entirely on the terrain for defense.

Attacking these passes actually requires a bit of luck.The negligence of the defenders, the lack of fighting spirit, the lack of supplies, and even weather factors may bring you good luck.But there is good luck and there is also bad luck. For example, when Deng Yu attacked Jiguan, he took it in ten days. But when he attacked Anyi County, it was much easier to fight than Jiguan in theory, but he couldn't take it for several months.

Huang Chao's attack on Tongguan took only one day, but he could not defeat Chenzhou in three hundred days.

Qin Zongyan attacked Jiangling, and fought for a year. Only a few dozen households were left in the city, but they still failed to take it.

Guancheng is special compared to these prefectural and county towns, because its defense is not purely based on city walls, but more on terrain, which is theoretically more difficult to fight than prefectural and county towns.

"However, Qi Ziling has almost reached its limit." Shao Shude talked about the good side again: "According to the latest news, there is a disease in Guancheng, and the people killed by the disease may be more than us."

Lu Huaizhong grinned silently.

"My righteous brother Li Keyong has already dispatched an envoy to reply quickly. He agreed to make excuses and at the same time let Li Hanzhi and An Jinjun 'play by ear'. This is actually quite interesting. Luzhou Xue Zhiqin and Jinyang Kang Junli stood still Obviously, we don’t intend to intervene in all kinds of entanglements in the south.” Shao Shude said: “The war with Zhu Quanzhong can only depend on ourselves.”

"The commander-in-chief hasn't forgotten the reason for raising the army?" Lu Huaizhong asked suddenly after listening for a while.

"No."

"Well, I'll take care of the matter of Wuwei Army soldiers moving to Jinjiang. If any bastard dares to talk nonsense, I'll abolish him directly." Lu Huaizhong said: "Zhu Quanzhong and Li Keyong, let's wipe them out one by one."

……

In the early morning of November 21, Shao Shude was woken up by a maid.

Feng Xuan lay in his arms, sleeping soundly.Not far away, on a specially made small bed, lay their daughter, a cute baby who was not born long ago.

After getting up and putting on the military uniform, Shao Shude sat back beside the bed and had a conversation with Feng Xuan.Then he strode away from An Le Hall and headed for the military camp outside the city.

The [-] soldiers have been assembled, and the [-] cavalry of the Wuwei Army have also arranged everything.

There is nothing much to say. Tens of thousands of people left the station and traveled eastward along the post road.

The Tielin Army stayed at Longchi Palace, and at the same time organized masters from Anyi, Xia, and Wenxi counties to transfer grain and grass.

On November 26, the army arrived in Wangwu County.

Shao Shude took a special look at this newly acquired land.

The narrow mountain valley was shrouded in thick fog, and the bloodstains from the fight two months ago had long since disappeared.

The land was leveled out piece by piece.

Yellow clods were turned over, with grass seeds and crop stubble.After the spring of next year, these lands will be planted with crops, bringing people hope for life.

Those who settled in Wangwu County were mainly Qiang people from Hewei, mainly Tubo, Gamo, Qiang, and Dangxiang, with a total of [-] households and more than [-] Dingkou.But this is the number at the time of departure, and now there are at most [-] strong men left, and the loss of men is serious.

Shao Shude walked into a village at random.

The Tibetan tribesmen are carefully selecting the highland barley seeds they brought, trying to choose the big and plump ones, smiling while choosing.

Dirty children lead equally dirty goats to graze on the hillside.

Girls gather and weave.The brave and ruthless young man was wrestling not far away, peeking here from time to time, seeing the women pointing at them, he was full of strength, and practiced steadily.

The wrinkled old woman knelt down on the ground, muttering non-stop.

Shao Shude, who was already very proficient in Tibetan, chatted with her casually, and the Tibetans were all shocked when they heard it.

This is true zamp!

"Your eldest son died in the battle against Qiziling, so this land will always belong to your family. In the future, let the second son cultivate the land well, and he will not be on the battlefield again in a short time." Shao Shude ordered his soldiers to bring two bolts of silk to the old woman. .

The old woman's second son was actually very upset, worried that the land promised to his family would not be fulfilled, so he rushed to the field immediately after hearing the words, knelt there quietly, and buried his head in the loess.

The family business that he sacrificed his life for was worth it!In the future, even if he is called up to fight again, he will not be afraid even if he dies. If the family and land are still there, there is hope for the family.

"Marshal." Du Xiao, the inspector of Shaozhou's field camp, rushed over and saluted.

Shao Shude nodded and continued walking in the countryside of Wangwu County.

The flat land is turned into farmland, and the gentle slopes are orchards and pastures. What Wangwu County needs most now is precipitation.

"Every inch of land in Shaozhou was obtained by soldiers fighting repeatedly." Shao Shude climbed up a hillside, looked far into the distance through the thick fog, and finally gave up.

"I have used the army for more than ten years." Shao Shude continued: "On the grasslands, I can storm and raid more than a hundred miles a day; But in the war in Henan, every inch of land has to be fought over and over again, and there are hills and terraces of little value. I know the difficulty of fighting."

Du Xiao glanced at Shao Shude in surprise.

"Shaozhou is the most difficult place to get since I started my army. Manage well, don't let me down."

"As ordered."

"Maybe the dense fog today will surprise me?" Shao Shude suddenly smiled as he looked at the still thick fog.

Du Xiao understood it, and immediately said: "The commander-in-chief is here to supervise the battle, and Gao Dutou will definitely win."

Shao Shude smiled without saying a word, still standing on the hillside, overlooking the hazy mountains and rivers.

The crisp sound of horseshoes echoed in the mountain valley, and Lubu's swift knight flashed past, leaving a powerful roar: "Liang Hanyong, the deputy envoy of the Chishui Army, led eighty warriors to the first, broke through the Qiziling Zhongguan City, and the Bian thieves were defeated." , destruction is imminent."

Du Xiao glanced at Shao Shude in surprise.

Shao Shude was a little surprised and worried when he heard this: Liang Hanyong is so reckless, if he dies, wouldn't Guoer become a widow?
"Let Yang Liang come to see me." Shao Shude suddenly ordered.

Yang Liang quickly went up the mountain, saluted and said, "What orders does the commander-in-chief have?"

"There is no suspense for the Chishui army to break Qiziling. How can the Wuwei army make it more beautiful?" Shao Shude said: "General Yang, take two thousand cavalry soldiers from the Wuwei army to go south and take a small road to Heqing County and Baiyacang. Let the Bian thief see the demeanor of Wuwei Junerlang."

"As ordered."

Since the Eastern and Western Wei, the frontlines of Hedong, Luoyang, and Nanyang have repeatedly seen and fought fiercely for decades.Both sides have become crazy about building cities. You build Pinggao City, and I will build Pingzhou City to piss you off. You build a series of military strongholds in the east of the river, and I even build [-] forts to fight each other.Yu Wenzhou even built a city all the way from Shanzhou to Xin'an County, which was simply frantic.

Both sides obviously have a large number of cavalry, but in the end they relied on fortresses and infantry to push forward layer by layer, repeatedly sawing, and using any means. It was rare to fight such a fierce battle-in decades of war, both sides realized that relying on One or two big battles, unable to eliminate the opponent, can only come to a protracted battle.

Shao Shude didn't want to fight like this, it would be too slow and cost too much.When the Later Zhou (Northern Zhou) attacked Hedong, the first thing to do was to send a large army eastward to Wangwu Mountain, and use the terrain to prevent the Qi army from coming to help from Henan. Now it is going to do the opposite.

(End of this chapter)