Late Tang Dynasty Floating Life

Chapter 612 Cui Hong
Urgent letters from various counties flew into Caizhou City like snowflakes.

The families of Cai, Shen, and Guang are actually not rich.

Caizhou may be a little better, but the people like to be soldiers, not like to produce, and the atmosphere is like this, can you expect them to be full of grain and wheat, and cattle and sheep everywhere?unrealistic.

In Shende and Guangzhou, Zhang Quanyi has only been out of the town for a few months. Although he wears stars and wears the moon, he leads the people to dig ponds and build water conservancy during the dry season in winter, and plans to do a good job in the coming year, but the sudden war still upsets him. With the deployment, the Xia army marching in two directions poured into Shenzhou like a tide.

Zhang Quanyi was chased and beaten by Shao Shude so many times, it's not that he didn't imagine the scene of being invaded on a large scale, but it still didn't help.

An old friend who is good at training soldiers, Xie Bin voted for Shao, and the new general Bian was domineering. He despised this and despised that. He scolded the newly recruited state and county soldiers as worthless, but he seemed to have forgotten something. It is your responsibility to train your soldiers poorly.

Of course, it's too late to talk about responsibility now. The Yamen hurriedly went south to Lishui, but he was already out of the battle, and only half of the 3000 people came back.

Too underestimated Xia thief!I don't know how many people they have come, and they will be beaten as Suizhou soldiers, and it is inevitable to suffer a big loss.

And when he died, the situation in the three states of Feng Guojun deteriorated across the board.Caizhou is better, blocked by the Huai River, and in the rear, there are still soldiers in the city, but Shenzhou and Guangzhou are in great trouble.Several stockades in the south of Yiyang County, Shenzhou were all breached in one day, and the troops who came to aid from Guangzhou were also ambushed on the road, causing heavy losses.

Now Xia's bandits are divided into two groups, attacking Shenzhou all the way, and going straight to Gwangju all the way. The intention of taking these two places is very obvious.

According to the latest news, Shenzhou's Yiyang County has no news, and the scouts can't get close at all. The Xia Bandit Cavalry Army also appeared in Zhongshan County.

In other words, Yiyang, which is empty of troops, has probably already fallen, and the two counties of Zhongshan and Luoshan are about to fall.

Xia Bandit attacked this time, the ferocity of the attack was really unexpected.

"Brother, Ding Shuai has sent Yang Shihou to lead the army here, riding six thousand steps." Zhang Quanen, the marching commander of the Fengguo Army, trotted all the way through the winding corridors, and found Zhang Quanyi in the back garden.

Zhang Quanyi looked haggard and sad, with a jug of wine in front of him.

Zhang Quanen's heart trembled, and he said, "Brother, why are you doing this?"

Zhang Quanyi turned his head and wondered, "What are you talking about without thinking?"

Zhang Quanen choked, and said subconsciously: "My brother thought that my brother wanted to—"

Zhang Quanyi looked at his second younger brother carefully, then at the wine utensils in front of him, shook his head and laughed, and said, "I'm worried, drinking to relieve boredom, what do you think?"

Zhang Quanen was at a loss for words, so he could only change the subject and said: "Brother, Cui Hong has recruited more than [-] people, all of whom are brave to die. In a few days, there will be more soldiers and horses, but they lack equipment, why not..."

"Distribute Curry's equipment." Zhang Quanyi said simply: "Ding Shuai won't be able to use it for a while."

The Caizhou Daku has indeed stored a lot of military rations and equipment, but the ownership does not belong to the Fengguo Army.Now that the matter is in a hurry, it is expected that there will be no big problem.

"Okay, I'll do it now." Zhang Quanen said.

"Wait." Zhang Quanyi called to stop Zhang Quanen who had left in a hurry, and asked in a low voice, "Is Cui Hong reliable?"

Cui Hong was originally the governor of Caizhou, the Jiedu envoy of the Fengguo Army, a native of Caizhou, and his younger brother Cui Xian was a small school in Bianzhou.

After Zhang Quanyi left the town of Caizhou, Cui Hong's position was gone. He was transferred to Ruzhou to serve as the defense envoy of Ruzhou.

Last year when Jingguan was attacked, Cui Hong was recalled to Caizhou, and the post of defense envoy of Ruzhou became a remote leader. I don't know how he feels.

This time when the Xia army came to attack, Zhang Quanyi was ill and went to the doctor in a hurry, so he used Cui Hong's high prestige among the Cai people to recruit sergeants and train them into an army.

Old Cui is still very charismatic, within a few days he recruited [-] Tutuan villagers, and now he is waiting to receive the equipment, which can be used.

"Brother, there is nothing wrong with Cui Hongying. He led an army into Tangzhou last year and killed many bandits." Zhang Quanen recalled and said.

"That's good." Zhang Quanyi nodded and said, "Let's do it quickly."

He is now frightened by the betrayal of his subordinates.

Xie Bin, he has been with him for many years, and he is also married to his son and daughter, how could he have the heart to betray him?Could it be that there is something hidden?

Su Junqing, who had a very close relationship in the past, and married Zhang's son and daughter, unexpectedly also rebelled.

There must be no more problems this time, Shenzhou and Guangzhou are at stake, if something goes wrong in Caizhou, this battle will be impossible to fight.

Zhang Quanen hurried out of the gate, but bumped into the messenger.

After careful questioning, the messenger came from Shenzhou, saying that Yiyang County had been destroyed, and he broke out desperately. When he passed Zhongshan County, the county had already been attacked.

Xia thief's offensive is so fast!

Zhang Quanen took a breath.Who is it that came this time?Could it be the Iron Forest Army?

It's a pity that until now, not even a single prisoner has been caught, there is no news, and his eyes are darkened.

The messenger hurried into the mansion, Zhang Quan'en sighed, his brother didn't know what mood he was in when he heard about it.

……

"It turns out that only so much food was seized!" In the blood-stained Shenzhou Yamen, Niu Li, the deputy envoy of Handong recruiting, was very disappointed.

When there is a shortage of food, there is a shortage of food everywhere.There are some in Shenzhou City, but after counting, there are only more than [-] hu in total, which is not enough for their army to consume for two months.

Including the food and grass originally prepared for March, it would be enough for five months.Five months later, the summer grain has been harvested, which is logically enough, but what if you are forced to leave the city?Now it's time to stockpile more food, grass and equipment.

"It's no wonder that Liang people have so few soldiers. It turns out that the prefectures and counties are broken and can't afford it!" Niu Li sat down and said angrily, "Isn't Zhang Quanyi good at farming? Why is Shenzhou so poor?"

No one answered, but the facts are obvious, how long has Zhang Quanyi been here?
"To recruit envoys, why not go to the countryside to collect grain?" Zhao Kuanglin thought about it, and felt that Tang Deng Sui was also very poor, and he was afraid that he would not be able to produce more grain, so he suggested.

To put it bluntly, people like Yi Congjun and Tianxiong Army should not appear in Huaixi, because they cannot afford to support them.Jinshang, Tang Dengsui, and Xiangyang have reached the limit of supporting the current army of this size, and the people are overwhelmed. Suddenly there are 2 more people, and the savings are not enough.

"The people don't have any food left in their hands. If they are forced to death, who will support the army?" Li Lin, who has been promoted to ten generals, disagreed, saying: "It's better to let Ezhou send some food over. Du Hong will naturally have to contribute when he votes. One month is enough for E Yueyun to bring a batch of grain and grass over."

Zhao Kuanglin glanced at Li Lin resentfully.Everyone is "Lin", and you are the only one who loves the people!Good people let you be.

However, he is a martial arts student of King Xia's direct lineage, and he must be called a student of King Xia's disciple. He is a general of a foreign line who really can't afford to offend him, so he can only keep silent.

Niu Li called a civil official and asked him to write in Anzhou, asking for food and weapons in the name of recruiting envoys, and emphatically exhorted: "There are few thieves and soldiers, states and counties are broken, and the will to fight is weak. Guanger Township will surely be destroyed. However, it is necessary to prepare for a long battle, please allocate 20 hu of military rations and [-] bundles of arrows."

The civil servants saluted and retreated.

"Don't take it lightly." After explaining to the civil servants, Niu Li looked at the generals again, and said: "The first priority is to be invincible when marching and fighting. The people of Liang are also dispatching troops and generals. It is hard to predict where the army will advance and what it will be like. Let’s go down first, rectify the troops, screen out the soldiers who surrender, and count the food, grass and equipment.”

Niu Li's fighting style is not the same as others.

Everywhere, some will take the lead in thinking about how to defeat the enemy. As for whether there is enough food, grass and equipment, it is of course very important, but it may not be the focus of consideration, or it is not so important in making decisions. After breaking into the enemy's territory, it is supplemented by looting, such as Li Keyong.

Some generals assume that they get nothing or very little after breaking into the enemy's territory, so what do I need to do to change this situation and deal with the worst situation?Niu Li is undoubtedly the latter type of person.

"Obey!" The commander gave the order, and all the generals left in response.

"Emissary Zhao and General Cui stay here for a while." Niu Li shouted again.

Zhao Kuanglin and Cui Xiu looked at each other and stayed.

Cui Xiu is a native of Caizhou. He once occupied Shenzhou City, but was defeated and surrendered.

After Ding Hui led the army to overwhelm him, he retreated to Suizhou together with Zhao Kuanglin, and he is now the general of Suizhou.

"I heard that General Cui is from Caizhou?" Niu Li asked.

In fact, it’s okay to replace Caizhou’s “person” with Caizhou’s “thief”, because Cui Xiu was originally a so-called handsome thief.

"Exactly." Cui Xiu replied.

"Ding Hui has been attacking and killing me for several years, and the Cai people have suffered a lot. Is there a way to lure Cai Bing and say that he will surrender anyway?"

"This..." Cui Xiu didn't expect Niu Li to have such an idea.

Isn't it said that Niu Li is upright and rigid, so there is nothing strange about using soldiers?Why do you also play this trick?

"But is there any difficulty?" Niu Li asked.

"Back to recruiting envoys, before Zhang Quanyi left Caizhou, the Jiedu envoy was Cui Hong." Cui Xiu replied: "He has no integrity and ambitions. After being dismissed by Quanyi, he felt resentment in his heart and often spoke out. Complaints are known to everyone in Caidi. Xia Wang used his troops like a god, and repeatedly defeated the Liang people. Lu lured him to lead his army back to Caizhou, and if he raised his arms, someone would surely respond, and when the Liang people were in chaos, there might be an opportunity to take advantage of it.”

Niu Li pondered for a moment, thinking that this was a worthless transaction, and it was okay to fail, so he asked, "What is Cui Hong's official position now?"

"Ruzhou will serve as a defense envoy."

"Ruzhou?" Niu Li was a little disappointed.

"It's just a remote leader." Cui Xiu hurriedly replied: "Actually, he is a general in Caizhou, and there are 2000 people under his command."

"That's the case—" Niu Li thought for a while, then called a civil servant, gave some instructions in a low voice, and the civil servant nodded and left.

"Since that's the case, I know what to expect." Niu Li said, "However, we still need to build up our momentum first. Cui Hong is such a fool, if there is no hope, he might not make a move."

(End of this chapter)