Late Tang Dynasty Floating Life

Chapter 576 Closing
On June [-]th of the fifth year of Dashun, Pang Shigu boarded a naval warship.

The river bank is extremely muddy, and the footprints are criss-crossed, showing how many people left here with panic, anger, or unwillingness in the past few days.

Overturned carriages, broken earthen jars, broken tarpaulins, crooked desks...

All showed the haste of the retreat.

A huge fire ignited in the camp, and the equipment that was painstakingly built was burned.

Ladder carts, trench filling carts, smoke carts, parapet walls, gun carts, etc., all crackled in the raging fire.

In the outermost camp, more than a thousand soldiers of the Bian army shouted to kill, and fired an arrow into the sky, and the soldiers of the Xia army lined up outside the camp also shouted to kill.

Then the Bian army retreated.

Half an hour later, soldiers of the Xia army opened the gate of the camp and lowered the trench bridge. A large group of soldiers rushed in and transported away the [-] hu grains and beans left by the Bian army.

Another silent understanding.

But this is only effective when the two sides are equal in strength, no one can do anything to the other, and no one wants to cause unnecessary casualties.When did the Bian army ever treat Shi Pu and the Zhu family brothers so politely, and how did the Xia army treat the defeated enemy?
It's a bit of an honorable surrender—in the 30-year war in Europe, the defeated party was allowed to leave the battlefield with flags and weapons, and get out of the way, because they resisted too tenaciously. It is not worth paying a heavy price and losing too many elite veterans.

Pang Shigu took one last look at the big camp bathed in raging fire. He commanded an army of [-] here, fought hard for two months, and finally retreated in despair.It would be a lie to say that there is no loss in my heart, but more people are still unwilling.

They didn't suffer from a frontal field battle, but they still lost in the end.In the end how to lose, I have a lot of thoughts at the moment, and I don't know where to start.

It can only be a muddled account, no matter what.

Before the camp on the South Road was evacuated, the tens of thousands of troops on the North Road had also retreated to various ferries and crossed the river to Zhengzhou.

But some people stayed.

On the north bank of the Yellow River in the south of Wuzhi County, the Bian Army set up a well-regulated camp.Many masters are building a city called Banzhu City, which is located in Banzhu Town, and on the other side is the ferry, Banzhujin.

Banzhu City is located between the Qinshui River and the river, so the traffic is very convenient, and you can march along the Qinshui River to Hanoi.

A city was also built at the ferry forty miles south of Huojia County, called Guanghe City, and Guanghe Town was built.From here, you can cross the river to Yuanwu County in Zhengzhou, and then sixty miles south to Lisuo County in Zhengzhou.

From west to east, the three cities of Heyang, Banzhu Town, and Guanghe Town are lined up, which can be regarded as the three strongholds of the Bian Army on the north bank of the Yellow River.

The construction of the city was very fast. Although it was not as fast as the legendary construction of Yanzhou City, and it was not as fast as the construction speed of Desheng City when Liang and Jin were fighting for hegemony, ten to twenty days was enough.After subsequent repairs and reinforcements, the outer camps can be withdrawn and the city can be held firmly.

It can be foreseen that in the future, the Yellow River will be the main point of competition between Xia and Bian. I don't know how many bloody battles will be staged.

When Pang Shigu withdrew, Shao Shude was patrolling the outskirts of Heqing County.

The surviving Heweifan people have turned into a peaceful state, and they have settled down in an all-round way. This is another pile of work to be done.

The Battle of Heqing lasted for nearly five months, with the loss of about 3000 people from the Tutuan and Tutuan villagers.

Captured more than 8000 Bianjun prisoners and killed about [-] enemies.After this battle, the Bian Army's Xiongwei, Jianrui, and Qinqi troops were all damaged. In addition to the troops that were originally incorporated into the Heyang Yajun, Zhu Quanzhong lost about [-] Yajun.

Of the 11 to [-] troops, only less than [-] returned in the end, and lost most of Mengzhou and Huaizhou.Gai Yu said that this was the heaviest loss of troops since Quanzhong used troops, and it was not just empty talk—when did Li Keyong wipe out so many Bian troops in one battle?

The coach of the capital made Zhu Shuzong send [-] recruits, and they are still on the way. Next, each department will work hard to complete the establishment and retrain.

The captured prisoners of the Bian army will theoretically be sent to the states of Longyou Town, more precisely, the three states of Shan, Kuo, and Lan.

In the past few years, too many Dingkou people have been transferred from Longyou, and the work of reorganizing households for Qimin is progressing slowly. What's more, except for the Qingtang area, the source of the Tibetan population in the Hewei prefectures is gradually exhausted, and there have been several small-scale rebellions was suppressed.

If these Bian army captives are counted (one household per person), there will be more than 32 households and more than 98200 people in the 47 counties of the ten prefectures in Longyou.Except for the two prefectures of Shan and Kuo, the remaining eight prefectures will mainly rely on natural growth in the future. Because the way for immigrants from central Shu has been cut off, the number of immigrants from central Guan is not very large.

A while ago, Xiao Yu in Hezhou was ill and wrote a letter, saying that he could lure the Qiang people from Tao, Die, and Dang prefectures, some of them would be registered as householders, and some of them would be sent to Henan to fight. .

The population of Lingxia continues to flow out, mainly from Lingzhou.After Shengzhou accepted the last batch of migrants from Central Shu, it also took in a large number of households in Hezhong.

As for what to do with the lost population in Lingzhou, Shao Shude was still thinking of a way.

The initial idea is to annex the Heyu Party in Fengzhou and Shengzhou, but this matter can only be done gradually, and it cannot be rushed.

In addition, Huazhou and Tongzhou, two densely populated places, seem to be able to find a way to recruit people who volunteer to immigrate to Guanbei.But Chen Cheng, Zhao Guangfeng, and Song Le all objected, especially Song Le, who came out of Heyang, and naturally needed people to fill the county. Isn't Tonghua an excellent source of supplement?
This is the contradiction. People are needed everywhere. This is a precious resource, and everyone is fighting for it.

"Marshal, there are less than [-] Tibetan households left in Heqing County, and more than [-] people have all settled down. Large households have [-] mu of land, while small households have [-] mu or [-] mu of land." Henan Yin Fengwei and Shao Shude walked side by side and reported.

"Is there a foreigner who survived three battles?" Shao Shude was a little surprised.

The average number of households is three, indicating that there are many single-person households.The first battle to attack Heqing, the second battle to defend Heqing, and the third counterattack. Survive all three battles, survive tenaciously to the end, and get the highest level reward of [-] acres of land. This is not easy.

The structure of the Fan people originally did not have the concept of a household, and was dominated by tribes and accounts. The gap between the rich and the poor was much larger than that of the Han people.There are countless cattle and sheep in the upper class of the tribe, as well as countless servants and slaves, and the warriors with tents also have many servants.The heads of those single-person households compiled in Heqing County were actually servants of the upper-middle class of the tribe in the past.

Of course, they are all free now, they are all Heqing County citizens, and they have family property.This may also be an important reason why the Tibetans suffered heavy casualties, but there was no large-scale rebellion. With an official status and land, who would go back to be a slave?
"The war has come to an end, and the people in the river can take a breather. The five counties of Shaozhou and one county of Henan Prefecture can recuperate, and the next step is to rectify the two prefectures of Meng and Huai. If these two places cannot develop, it will have a great impact on the war in Bian " Shao Shude was about to continue talking, when one of the ten personal soldiers, Zheng Yong, led him, he stopped.

"Judge Su came here in person." Shao Shude said with a smile.

In fact, they had contacted secretly once before, and the two said that Zhang Quanyi wanted to raise Mengzhou and surrender.

Of course Shao Shude was overjoyed, but he also knew that "surrender with Mengzhou" was empty talk, and surrender with the North City of Heyang was more or less the same, and there might be some grain and grass in the Heyang warehouse.

The five counties of Mengzhou, Jiyuan County have already been occupied, and Wen County will soon be occupied. After Pang Shigu withdrew, Gao Renhou led more than [-] people from Tielin, Tiande and Shaozhou Tutuan to the east. Collect the counties.

In fact, there is not much population in the north city of Heyang, and it is just an empty city. At most, the location is more important, and this may be the greatest value.

With this little chips, what benefits do you want?Could it be that you have lost your mind and gone crazy?
"See the King of Lingwu County." Su Junqing looked at the battlefield that was still vaguely discernible for many days, and shuddered suddenly. This battle was too tragic, and both sides suffered heavy casualties.He suddenly became very pessimistic about the goal of this trip, and there was a high probability that he would not be able to get the position of Heyang Jiedushi.

"What's the point of coming here this time? There are still five hundred people in the northern city, why not kill them?" Shao Shude asked.

"Back to the King of Lingwu County, Zhang Shuai's eldest son returned home injured, and recently died of illness, Situ was so worried that he didn't want to eat or drink..."

"Stop! Is it my fault that this matter is not possible? I learned that swords and guns have no eyes when I went to battle. If Zhang Jiye died of illness, wouldn't he have to fight against the city?" Shao Shude sneered: "The Bian army was defeated in a hurry, and I have dispatched [-] elite soldiers. If you go east, you can completely encircle Mengzhou in two days, and it will be worthless if you surrender when the soldiers approach the city."

Shao Shude didn't care about Zhang Jiye's illness. He heard that he was injured in the battle, and his father slapped him in public when he returned home.But I care about your crap?
"Why didn't Zhang Quanyi come?" Shao Shude asked suddenly: "Since surrender, shouldn't it be right to come to worship me? Why didn't you come? Or, is this a false surrender?"

As soon as these words came out, Su Junqing's face turned pale, and the soldiers of the Shao family all drew their knives and stared at him.

"Where's Xie Bin? Why didn't you come? Huh, I think it's a feigned surrender, and I'm looking for death!" Shao Shudean sat on the horse, dancing the whip back and forth in front of Su Junqing, full of anger.

Feng Wei looked at Su Junqing coldly.Another one came to grab food, but fortunately my brain is not very good. I worked hard for many years to become a Henan Yin. I only have one county under my command. What does Zhang Quanyi have?Dare to be Heyang Jiedushi?Can you afford it?
"Go back quickly! In the morning of the next day, I want to see the gate of Mengzhou city open, otherwise, the army will attack the city without leaving a blade of grass." Shao Shude threatened.

Su Junqing was tongue-tied and sighed secretly. We have known each other for many years, so is it necessary to go to that step?
"Wait." Seeing that Su Junqing was about to turn around and leave, Shao Shude called to stop him.

Su Junqing was puzzled, Shao Shude ignored him, and beckoned Zheng Yong to come over, saying: "You order fifty soldiers, and go back with Judge Su."

"As ordered."

(End of this chapter)