Late Tang Dynasty Floating Life

Chapter 540

The first month has just passed, and the Spring Festival on February [-] is here.

This is a very important festival, which means sacrifice and entertainment for the common people.For rulers like Shao Shude, it means a large sum of money: rewards are coming.

Strictly speaking, there is no military salary for Guochao sergeants.

All their income is called rewards, such as food, money, silk, clothing, and so on.The most similar to military pay is food rewards, which are distributed monthly, and other rewards are generally distributed according to seasons (such as spring clothes, autumn clothes) or important festivals, several times a year.

The day for receiving the money is not fixed, but the sergeants have a steelyard in their hearts. Whether the goods they get this year is less than last year is the key.

Don't try to fool us, or you will be hacked to death.

I don't know if the court still has money to give rewards.After Shao Shude handed out the money, he was still in the mood to tease the Chang'an sage.

Princess Zhefangai's belly is getting heavier and heavier, and Shao Shude has often been with her recently.

In fact, she is not yet 30 years old, but she has been an old couple for more than ten years.

Shao Shude felt a little guilty when he remembered that he was still fooling around with the female crown in Jinxian Temple before the Chinese New Year, and even felt dissatisfied with the princess.

Because he couldn't control his lust, it was really too much to have opinions on his good wife who was about to give birth to his third child.

"Your Majesty is going to war again?" Zhe Fangai leaned against the Hu bed, squinting her eyes and enjoying Shao Shude's embrace.

The two armies of Feng'an and Tiande have already entered Fengxiang mansion and are heading towards the river.

They were replaced by the Xinquan Army and the Zhen Guo Army.The former has rested for half a year after returning to Lingxia, and this time he will go to Qingtang City to defend. The Zhenguo Army will be led by the envoy Zhen Xu to defend Jishi Military City for two years.

The three armies of Tielin, Wuwei, and Feilong rested in the river for a long time, and this was the only army that Shao Shude could use at this time.

The two thousand Hezhong Jingzhuang selected by Wang Yao were not handed over to Gao Renhou, but were added to the German Army. In addition to the Tubo Jingzhuang selected by them, the entire army has 500 soldiers, all of whom are infantry.

The four armies of Chishui, Guzhen, Wuxing, and Guide are the main force that Li Tangbin, the envoy of Heluo Jinglue, can command at this time, with a total of more than [-] troops.

Hexi expropriated and dispatched the tribes, recruited 4 households from Yanmo, [-] households from Uighurs, [-] households from Longjia, and [-] households from Zahu. Led by Lu Lun Cui Su, they rushed to Heluo day and night, under the command of Li Tangbin , the Fan Han soldiers and horses under his account will reach more than [-], close to [-], and the force is very strong.

However, compared with previous years, the soldiers under him have almost changed all over, because the Tianzhu, Tianxiong, Shunyi, Yicong, and the guards he is familiar with have already returned to Lingxia to rest.

Although this will affect the combat effectiveness a little, it also prevents Li Tangbin from commanding a fixed force for a long time, building prestige, and cultivating party members, so that he has the capital to rebel.

Heyang envoy Gao Renhou's troops also changed. At present, the Wuwei and Feilong armies are the main ones. In the future, they will join the Tiande and Feng'an armies, with a total of more than [-] soldiers.

The Fans under his command are the newly arrived Hewei Fans with [-] households and more than [-] members.

Silver guns were sent to Shuozhou to assist Bai Yicheng in defense.

After Helian Duo fled to the grassland, his power declined greatly. He neither surrendered to Li Keyong nor came to seek refuge with Commander Shao. It seemed that he didn't feel any pain.

After Gao Wenji led more than [-] remnants of the army to flee to Shengzhou, Shao Shude incorporated them and added them to the Shunyi Army, making the army already have [-] cavalry.

The Iron Cavalry Army will be sent to Hewei, Qingtang, and Hexi for inspection. Because a large number of Dingkou have been mobilized, Shao Shude is worried that the tribal chieftains in these three places will be unstable, so he sends this troop that is like a fish in water on the grassland. In the past, they used to publicize the military power and frightened them.

Li Fan of the Shanguo Army attacked repeatedly, and there were still 7000 people. Shao Shude planned to send him to Tang Dengsui to replace the Dingyuan Army and Leopard Cavalry Capital who were about to return to Lingxia for rest.

If there is any change in them, they will be suppressed on the spot, and they will be annexed.

The Zhen Guojun, which had expanded to 3 people, was divided into fragments, 1 people went to Qingtang, 1 people guarded the three cities of Pujin Pass and Fenglingdu, and 5000 people were stationed in Guozhou to guard the long and fragile Wei Hangu Road.

The Huazhou Army will also send 3000 people to Shanzhou to guard this lifeline.

The Tielin army is the general reserve team, stationed near the Longchi Palace. Theoretically speaking, Wang Yao's Hezhong army is also the reserve team, so let them go back to rest for the time being.

This time, almost everyone who could be mobilized was mobilized. Shao Shude took command in person, took command of Wangwushan, set up the Shaozhou camp, and commanded a total of [-] troops from the Gao Renhou and Li Tangbin groups on the north and south sides of the Yellow River.

The number of troops commanded by Shao Dashuai at one time hit a record high.Of course, the troop strength has not yet been fully assembled.

"You're not too young, so hurry up and kill Zhu Quanzhong while you're still able to move." Shao Shude yelled loudly and said with a smile, "I still owe my wife a phoenix crown."

Zhe Fangai held Shao Shude's hand tightly, and said: "My husband is going to war, my concubine is always at ease, don't worry about family matters."

"The soldiers are fierce and the battle is dangerous. Why is Madam so confident in my battle?" Shao Shude wondered.

"Although my husband has never won any great victories worthy of praise, he has always been safe and has never been defeated." After finishing speaking, Zhe Fangai touched Shao Shude's face with her hand, and said with a smile: "This is the first time this concubine has seen a war like this." , but it is safe."

Shao Shude's face darkened, and he said: "Zhuge's art of war, is it possible for a woman to guess? Why don't you accept your husband's punishment quickly?"

Zhe Fangai just wanted her husband to stop messing around, but then thought about going to war, her heart softened, she giggled and said: "I am pregnant, but I can't accept punishment."

"Having practiced martial arts all morning, I'm hungry, so I'll eat some bamboo shoots first."

"..."

"Your Majesty, Deputy Envoy Chen is asking to see you." Zhao Shu walked in and reported in a low voice.

Zhe Fangai blushed and covered her chest with the scarf, Shao Shude leaned close to her ear, said something in a low voice, then took her hand again, and said, "Leave the housework to Madam."

After all, he went straight out the door.

Zhao Shu lowered her head and glanced at Zhe Fangai enviously.

"Commander, Ding Hui is attacking Shenzhou." Chen Cheng said as soon as he came up.

"Come so fast? Is Zhu Quanzhong dying?" Shao Shude asked, "Is there any movement from Du Hong?"

"After Du Hong withdrew from Fuzhou, his prestige was greatly damaged. Huangzhou Inspector Wu Disrespected him, and Du Hong seemed to want to send troops to punish him." Chen Cheng said: "Qizhou Feng Jingzhang also joined in the fun, and he derogated Du Hong a lot. Yuezhen is very chaotic."

"It's a good thing." Shao Shude said with a smile, "Du Hong has no time to care about others, and Shenzhou will not be attacked. Tell Zhao Kuangning not to send troops, but to rectify the three counties of Fuzhou, resume production, and act accordingly."

"Of order." Chen Cheng replied, and then added another sentence: "Zheling Gong's army retreated to Tangzhou, and three thousand barbarians were withdrawn. Now Zhao Kuanglin has seven thousand troops, most of whom are followers and Shen Wuhe. You must be brave, but the soldiers don’t know the generals and the generals don’t know the soldiers, and their combat power is limited. Shenzhou, I’m afraid we won’t be able to defend it.”

"Don't defend if you can't defend it." Shao Shude said: "Just defend Pingjingguan, shorten the battle line, Tang and Deng are united as one, and we can withstand the offensive of the Bian army."

The two left the palace while talking.

Shao Shude rushed to Wangwu County with a thousand soldiers, and Chen Cheng and Zhao Guangfeng rushed to Wangwu County with a team of staff.

On the eighth day of February, Shao Shude rushed to Wangwu County, and Gao Renhou personally came to greet him.

"Commander, when will you kill the thief? The army has three months of food, grass, and equipment, and they can move." Lao Gao asked directly, with a strong anger.

"March is enough? I plan to play with Zhu Quanzhong for a year." Shao Shude said helplessly: "Be safe and don't be impatient. After the spring sowing is over, the masters conscripted by the counties will arrive with a new batch of grain and grass."

These days when warriors fight in battle, they really don't care much about whether it's farming season or not, but Shao Shude pays more attention to it, and Zhu Quanzhong also pays more attention to it.

If you want sustainable farming, don't play yourself to death.

"Let that Zhao Keyu come to see me." Shao Shude said after sitting in the Wangwu county office.

After Zhao Keyu was sent to the river, he surrendered quickly, quite simply.

Shao Shude was also very surprised by this, because his eyes only lingered on Zhao Keyu's wife and daughter for a while. Could this be the real reason for Zhao's surrender?
Zhao Keyu is now his personal consultant, almost answering every question and providing a lot of valuable information.

"See Commander." The soldiers led Zhao Keyu over.

"Doctor Zhao told me before that if we want to attack Heyang, we have to find a way from Zezhou, but I want to take Heqing County first. Is this a good strategy?" Shao Shude asked.

"In March when the river thaws, Bian-Bian thieves will be able to ship a large army ashore. Our army can only take a narrow path, with people on horseback. It is not easy to transfer. If we can't get down to the river quickly, the army may be overthrown." Zhao Keyu persuaded. .

"Transporting grain and grass on Wuling Road is also difficult, and Li Hanzhi is as poor as a beggar, and cannot support the dispatch of the army." Shao Shude said: "We still have to find a way from Heqing."

"Since that's the case, the commander-in-chief may use a strategy to attack the west." Seeing that Shao Shude still wanted to attack Heqing County, Zhao Keyu immediately changed his position without principle and suggested.

Shao Shude nodded.

Recently Li Hanzhi's activities in Wei Bo have not been very smooth.Luo Hongxin mobilized tens of thousands of troops to encircle and suppress Li Hanzhi, and Li Hanzhi had to retreat to An Jinjun's territory for temporary shelter.Shao Shude sent envoys to persuade him. After learning that Zhang Quanyi had left the town of Heyang, he immediately agreed to take his troops back to Zezhou and go south together.

This is a benefit.

On the other hand, there are not many reinforcements sent by the Bian army to Heyang, and many Tutuan villagers have withdrawn from Zheng and Bian. The new batch of people will probably not arrive until after the spring sowing. The shortage of local troops makes Qi Bizhang The mounted infantry has a greater range of movement.

Shao Shude could tell that Zhu Quanzhong was still hesitant, and hadn't made up his mind yet, whether it would be better to continue attacking the second Zhu, or move the army north to Heyang.

Just when you can't make up your mind, I will give you a tough one first.

"Heqing has 2000 defenders, and Baiyacang has [-] troops. Let me ask you again, is the news true?" Shao Shude asked one last time.

"Don't dare to lie to the Marshal, it's absolutely true." Zhao Keyu said immediately.

Shao Shude stopped talking.

He has transferred more than [-] official horses from the Shayuan Supervisor in Tongzhou, and searched more than [-] horses, donkeys and mules in the river, and can transport more than [-] hu at a time to supply the [-] army for more than a month.

But this does not count the consumption of the livestock itself.Moreover, the mountain road is difficult and dangerous, and under the heavy load of livestock, there must be many people who fell to their deaths and injuries, and many people must have died of exhaustion.

This battle cost a lot, and it would be unreasonable not to achieve some results.

"Crack!" Shao Shude patted the table and said, "Heqing County must be conquered! After breaking this place, I will enter Heyang, and the terrain will suddenly become clear. No matter how much the price is, we must take this place."

Gao Renhou's expression was excited, but at the same time a little solemn.

It is a tough battle to attack Heqing County, and it is conceivable that many people will be killed or injured.Moreover, the logistical pressure is very high, and after a long delay, the main reinforcements of the Bian army may even be defeated.

But some battles have to be fought.The future wealth and honor of the descendants of the Gao family will be determined in one fell swoop.

(End of this chapter)