Late Tang Dynasty Floating Life

Chapter 569 Unwilling

The heavy rain turned into light rain. Pang Shigu climbed onto the high platform and looked towards the west.

Yesterday I received the military report that the Xia bandits went out to Taihang Xing with thousands of riders.After attracting the attention of the Changzhi Army, they sent people to break through the blockade of the Bian Army in the middle of the night. With the support of the defenders in the city, more than a thousand people rushed into Huaizhou to help defend.

According to this, there should be no less than three thousand Xia thieves in Huaizhou City. If they attack repeatedly, they should be able to be defeated, but how much will it cost?How long will it take?
The front line of Zhiguan and Jiyuan has become a rotten sore. Although there are more than a thousand cavalry from Dai Siyuan's Flying Dragon Army, Tingdu's elite, and Zhang Shensi, Xia Bandit's cavalry can drive them away and try their best to maintain this front, but It's always a hassle over time.

The biggest problem is that He Qing cannot be attacked head-on.

In recent days, the Xia bandits seem to have increased their troops. According to the interrogation of the prisoners, the Tielin army and a large number of Shaozhou Tutuan villagers have been added.

The situation in Shaozhou is more or less understood now. The Shao thieves are recruiting soldiers one by one, and let them die.

He Qing and Bai Yacang lost thousands of lives in the early stage, they were simply frantic - so many men died, why didn't they rebel?

A curl of cooking smoke rose from the camp, and the choking smell of smoke was faintly carried in the wind.It has been rainy for days, the firewood cut back is wet, and it is difficult to make a fire. It is impossible for the soldiers to eat hot meals.

In fact, this has just entered the rainy season for a few days, and it can be tolerated. If it takes a long time, morale will definitely be affected.

Pang Shigu suddenly remembered what happened two years ago when he went to Xuzhou with the king of Dongping County. It rained for days and had to retreat.How similar to this would seem to be a bad omen.

"It's so elegant to watch the rain upstairs." Footsteps came from the wooden ladder.

Pang Shigu looked back and saw that it was the food envoy Xiao Fu.

"What does General Li say?" Pang Shigu continued to look at the Heqing county town looming in the rain, and asked.

"General Li" is Li Hui, one of the 80 yuan elders of Dongping County King, who is in charge of the navy.

"General Li said that he has sent people to Luokou and Biankou to collect ships and they will arrive soon." Xiao Fu replied.

Pang Shigu nodded.

In the past few days, although it has been raining, the Bian army has been strengthening the camp.Especially at a high point on the bank of the Yellow River, two barracks and a ditch have been built. This society is building a simple bridge slab and plans to lay down piles to build a trestle bridge for the navy to respond to.

This matter was kept secret, and he was doing it while it was raining, so as not to let Xia Jun know.

The order to withdraw troops has been issued, and the king of Dongping personally issued it.

To be honest, Pang Shigu was very unwilling, but there was nothing he could do.

A few days ago, the Xia army counterattacked, sweeping away the situation of being passively beaten before, the army stepped forward, rushed and attacked, which caught the Bian army by surprise.

Although the Xia army's fierce counterattack was contained, the frontline soldiers were greatly shocked, especially the disabled Jian Rui army, who was unable to fight anymore, so they had to retreat first.

Tutuan villagers with relatively low combat effectiveness will evacuate in the second batch.

The main force of the elite Yamen army stayed in the camp to meet all parties.

"General Xiao——" Pang Shigu hesitated for a moment, but still asked: "The commander ordered the withdrawal of troops, but because of changes in other directions?"

"Yes." Xiao Fu nodded, and said: "In the direction of Puzhou, Zhu Xuan suddenly led his troops out of the city for some reason. Xia Zefan led Li Renyu and Tuoba Renfu to charge [-] horsemen, Wang Zhongshi , He Delun faced the battle and repelled the Yun soldiers. The Xia bandit cavalry charged the long sword army once, and suffered heavy losses. After that, they avoided fighting and only focused on looting. They are desperate for goods, and I heard that there were many looting activities in Yunzhen, and it is very troublesome to rob Caozhou at this time."

Zhu Xuan's shot was the last straw that prompted Zhu Quanzhong to order his troops to retreat.

It was predictable that the Zhu brothers would become active.Although this may not be a good thing for Yunzhen itself.But this kind of warrior, no one can control them, no one can make them succumb, he felt that he saw the opportunity, so he made a move, it's that simple.

"Zhu Xuan, Zhu Jin, come back from the ashes." Pang Shigu sighed.

After Shi Pu was conquered, he was about to move his troops to attack Yan and Yun, but Zhe Zongben dispatched troops on the third road of Nanyang, which was so powerful that it forced the Bian army to change its strategic direction.

After Zhe Zongben was pushed back, Dinghui took advantage of the situation to attack Tangzhou and Suizhou. In order to relieve his father-in-law's pressure, Shao Shude launched an offensive from the direction of Heyang.The Weng and the son-in-law cooperate wonderfully!

Now, the main force of the Bian army is on the west side, and Zhu Xuan on the east side is active again.

Henan, a land extending in all directions, has suddenly become the land of the Four Wars, which is extremely frustrating.

"General, it's been raining for days, and neither side can mobilize troops. Seeing that the rain is about to stop, how about recalling General Kou's troops and slowly retreating to Mengzhou? Or, first recall the Tutuan villagers who are not good at fighting? To avoid haste In the meantime, they scattered all over the place, and they were caught by Xia Bandit in vain." Xiao Fu suggested again.

"Zhang Shensi had just arrived in Jiyuan, and he couldn't bear to part with the thousands of people at Zhiguan." Pang Shigu said, "Shao bandits seemed to have sensed the news, and sent troops to storm Zhiguan, ignoring the casualties, and bit the defenders to death."

There were originally more than [-] defenders at Zhiguan, but this meeting should be less than [-].How do you let them withdraw?
Withdraw a part?Then the morale of the remaining people will collapse, and I am afraid that they will compete with you to run faster than anyone else.

If they don't withdraw, let them be nailed there, that would be abandonment.

This is what is doomed to be sacrificed.

Not reconciled!

Pang Shigu calculated left and right, he didn't think this battle would be lost.

Even though Huaizhou was stolen by others, and the Xia bandits increased their troops in Taixingxing, the troops on the Huaizhou battlefield are still sufficient, and there are fresh water to transport food, so there is no worry about the future.Even if the grain road at Zhiguan may be disturbed, there are grain, grass and equipment needed for March in Guancheng itself, so it is not a big problem.

You can still play for at least three months!Why withdraw now?
"Why don't I go to Jiyuan and convince General Zhang to make up his mind?" Xiao Fu suggested, "There are not many people left in Heyang, let the bandits Shao go if they have to, and we will come back later. As long as we keep the army, There is still a chance. With the three cities of Heyang in hand, our army can go forward at any time."

The pontoon bridges in the three cities of Heyang are huge in regulation and convenient in traffic.The bridge boats were manufactured in Tanzhou and Hongzhou, and then transported northward to Heyang, where they were connected and divided into two north-south bridges, which were the arterial roads. They were called "Juliang" in the dynasty, and were maintained by 250 sailors and ten carpenters all year round.

Holding these three cities in your hands, you still retain the hope of counterattack, although it may be just hope.

"Alright." Pang Shigu nodded.

Retreat is an art, Li Keyong is a master of this art, and his self-confidence is not bad.

After Xiao Fu left the camp gate, he looked at the muddy road and sighed.

Looking far away to the west, he buried some thoughts in his heart and headed north without hesitation.

The behemoth of Bianzhou has not yet shown its defeat, so it is not worth it.

……

In Huaizhou City, Qi Bizhang looked at the continuous rain, both happy and worried.

Fortunately, the Bian army's offensive stopped and they retreated into the camp, which made him greatly relieved.

The worry is that it has been raining for days and the roads are muddy. It is a nightmare for mounted infantry like them, and their mobility is greatly reduced.

However, the Dai Siyuan Department of the Bian Army also had [-] mule infantry, and the [-] heavy cavalry in Tingzi were useless.

Yang Liang was also wandering outside with a thousand cavalry and three thousand mounted infantry, and he didn't know where he was hiding.

"Military envoy, there is movement in the Bian army camp." Xue Li came from the outside and said hastily.

"Don't lie to me again!" Qi Bizhang scolded.

A few days ago, when Xue Li came to report in the middle of the night, there was a lot of noise in the Bian army camp, and a large number of torches were raised, as if they were about to withdraw from the siege.

Qi Bizhang had just won a gamble by attacking Huaizhou. After thinking about it, he decided to take another gamble and attack the Bian army at night.If they really want to withdraw from the siege, most of them have no intention of fighting at this time, so they can take advantage of it.

As a result, he rushed to the Bian army camp to see that the lights were brightly lit, and the long straight army was waiting in full force, causing them to lose hundreds of people on the spot, and the rest of them rushed back to Huaizhou in a panic, almost being followed in by someone.

"Military envoy, this time it should be true." Xue Li said helplessly: "A military report came from the south, and the envoy personally sent troops to counterattack and killed tens of thousands of thieves.

"Tens of thousands of farts!" Qi Bizhang continued to scold: "I beheaded two thousand, and dared to report ten thousand, don't you understand these crap things? Most of the thousands of people who died were Pang Shigu who didn't know where to get them. scapegoat."

"Then do you want to chase?" Xue Li asked.

After being told by Qi Bizhang, he was also a little uncertain.That Kou Yanqing was really ruthless, he deceived hundreds of brothers Paoze's heads, if he was fooled again, the city would be impossible to defend.

"Tonight, find a way to send people to break through, send a message to Yang Liang, and ask him to chase after him." After thinking about it, Qi Bizhang decided to kill the fellow Taoist instead of the poor Taoist.

"It is not known where General Yang is."

"Just those few places, you can always find them if you look for them one by one."

"The road is muddy, I'm afraid it's not easy to break through?"

"Why do you say so many strange things?" Qi Bizhang said angrily, "Why don't you break out of the encirclement and deliver the message yourself?"

"The final general will find someone to do it immediately." Xue Li said on the spot.

……

Under the city of Zhiguan, the returned German army also shrank in the camp.

Fu Cunshen watched the continuous rain and remained silent.

He knew the whole battle situation well.

On the main battlefield of Heqing, the two sides fought inextricably.As Gao Renhou's troops became stronger and stronger, the possibility of the Bian army capturing Heqing became less and less.

However, with the inability to attack, and with such heavy rain, the sergeants could not eat warm meals. After a long time, their morale would be frustrated, and it was more likely to cause epidemics in the army. What if they did not retreat?

Huaizhou is stuck behind Jiyuan. If the Bian army wants to take back the tens of thousands of soldiers and horses on the front line of Zhiguan and Jiyuan, they must firmly watch this point and prevent them from going out of the city to pursue them. Otherwise, most of these tens of thousands of people will not be able to escape— ——In the context of the great retreat, if the main force is okay, the sergeants have fought for many years and know how to cover alternately, but the soldiers here at Zheguan, he has observed, must not be the main force of the direct line of the Bian army. They are not that powerful. Their morale The decline must have been astonishing.

There are more than [-] German troops on hand, as well as thousands of Hezhong soldiers brought over from Qiziling.The commander's latest military order has also arrived, Hezhong Jiedu envoy Wang Yao will lead [-] yamen and [-] Tutuan villagers to the east to reinforce Qiziling and storm Zhiguan.

Too bad it hasn't arrived yet.It would be great if Bianjun left for a while later.

In the evening, the rain that had lasted for several days finally stopped.The setting sun revealed half of his face from behind the clouds, and sprinkled red light all over the earth.

Fu Cunshen boarded the watchtower in the camp.The setting sun on the grass and trees in the forest seemed faintly bloody to him.

A few scouts who looked like mud monkeys ran back from outside the camp. They led the horses, and a man was tied to the horses, who seemed to be captives.

Du Yuhou ran over, chatted a few words in a low voice, and then waved his hand to have the prisoner taken into the tent, intending to interrogate himself.

Fu Cunshen's expression changed.

(End of this chapter)