Late Tang Dynasty Floating Life

Chapter 633 Chase!
"Uncle Shi ran away, you are still here, are you stupid?"

"Stop beating and surrender. Is it worth it to work for Zhu Quanzhong? When was the last reward?"

"The pontoon bridge was burned by people sent by Shi Shucong, how many days will there be enough food for the camp?"

"If you don't surrender again, after breaking the stronghold, there will be no armor left!"

"I like to cut off people's hands and feet. After breaking the camp, I will not stop until ten axes are chopped down."

The recruits of the Cai people surrounded the enemy camp on the west bank of the Pishui River. They were very good at looting, and they were not weak at cursing.From morning to night, Liang soldiers in the camp were ashamed and their morale was shaken by scolding.

And more than ten miles downstream, countless auxiliary soldiers were mobilized to cut down trees, build ships, and make pontoon bridges.

There are even those who are impatient, such as Chen Su, the governor of Guangzhou, who first used a small boat to ferry [-] people across the river. Their morale was like a rainbow.

The first to achieve results was actually Zhu Jingbu, the governor of Shouzhou, who was originally on the east bank of the river.

He set off from Shengtang and Huoshan with a force that had swelled to 3000 people, broke it up into pieces, and picked Liang Jun's weak guard to attack.Although not many people were killed, a lot of luggage was intercepted, which is understood after fighting.

On the seventh day of April, Shao Shude personally rushed to the completed pontoon bridge.

Chen Su's troops, whose morale was somewhat low, were driven back to Huoqiu by him to stabilize the rear.

The [-] cavalry of Zhe Conggu were active in Huaibei. After receiving the order, they immediately abandoned their prey and planned to cross Yingshui to pursue the enemy who might flee from the north bank.

In short, Marshal Shao is going all out, mobilizing a total of more than [-] people, chasing him fiercely, biting as much as he can, and he must not let the thief retreat comfortably.

By the way, the [-] people led by Zang Dubao are about to enter the border of Shouzhou, and they also brought a batch of hard-earned food and grass.Shao Shude ordered Chen Su's troops to pick up the food and grass that was in the way, and let the five thousand heroes march faster to chase the thieves.

It's a pity that Shi Zan's [-] men have not yet entered Suizhou, and they are still far away from Shouzhou, so they will not be able to catch up with this pursuit.

On the eighth day of April, the two thousand Liang troops abandoned on the west bank had internal strife, and finally opened the gate of the camp and lined up to surrender.

Shao Shude ordered the Guangzhou army to guard them, and then personally led the army across the river, arriving in Anfeng County in the late tenth day of April.

The army only shot an arrow at the top of the city, and the county magistrate opened the city to ask for surrender.

Eight thousand cai sergeants entered the county in batches, which was the first real result in the pursuit.

Shao Shude directly moved into the county government office, while Li Zhong was busy on the sidelines.It can be seen that he is more suitable for this position than Zheng Yong, and he behaves like his father back then.

Zheng Yong went to check the treasury and sent donations to collect food.In order to pursue the enemy, they carried food and grass with them for a few days. If they couldn't seize it on the spot, they might have to retreat.

Chen Cheng was busy meeting with the gentry of Anfeng County who had surrendered, and carefully inquired about the inside information of the enemy army, and did not come to the county government office to report until Haishi.

"According to the Anfeng gentry, Shi Shucong left directly from Yingkou," Chen Cheng said.

Shao Shude glanced at him, Shi Shucong sits in Yingkou, what do you need to say?Get to the point quickly.

Chen Cheng coughed, and said: "They went down the river by boat after nightfall. But there were not enough boats, and some of them started by land, walked along the two sides of the Huai River, and retreated towards Xiacai and Shouzhou respectively."

Li Zhong had already spread out the map in front of the two of them.

Shao Shude glanced at him approvingly, then stared at the map, and said: "Shi Shucong has a total of 4 to 4000 people. This is something that can be confirmed. Among them, less than half of the yamen army, and the rest are from the prefectures and counties. Xiangyong. After days of fighting, they should have lost more than 3 people, so there are more than [-] left."

"These 3 people cannot all take boats, and most of them will retreat by land." Shao Shude said again: "There are more than 3 people in Yingshang County. I don't care about this one for the time being. There are still [-] people left. They How it got there needs to be figured out.”

The scouts were all sent out, but they could only see where the enemy army was and how many troops they saw, but they couldn't see the whole picture.If you can learn the inside story of the enemy's retreat from Anfeng County, it will be much easier and you can pursue them in a targeted manner.

Another question, why did the enemy troops in Huaibei not simply retreat into Yingzhou, but marched downstream of the Huai River?Are you going to Suzhou?
"After Shi Shucong left his troops in Anfeng County, there were more than a thousand yamen soldiers and two thousand local peasants." Chen Cheng said, "But those brave men ran away quickly, and they didn't intend to fight to the death at all. There were more than a thousand yamen soldiers. Frustrated, I planned to flee after robbing Anfeng. But it seemed that the military discipline was not bad, so I also ran away under the persuasion of the officer."

Shao Shude laughed outright.

What Shi Shucong did was not at all serious about keeping people out of the future, it was probably looking for a substitute for a dead ghost.

Eighty percent of the Tutuan peasants came from Chu and Hao prefectures, and those yamen soldiers were not his direct descendants.Unexpectedly, everyone is not stupid, just ran away, what can you do to me?Now is the time for employing people, is it possible that we can be dismissed and dismissed?

"In the past, Gao Huan attacked Yuwentai on three fronts. After Dou Tai's first army was defeated, the whole army retreated. Gao Aocao personally cut off the rear and fought hard to pursue his troops. He was hit by stray arrows and almost died. This is how his army retreated safely. " Shao Shude said: "Uncle Cong is really messing around, doesn't he have any soldiers who dare to die? Or is he just reluctant?"

"Marshal, I'm afraid Shi Shucong really doesn't have the right men." Chen Cheng said: "The soldiers Gao Aocao commanded were all recruited and trained by him himself, and their prestige is well known. Shi Shucong's headquarters is still slipping. , Zheng, he came to Xuzhou alone to take up the post, and the time was short, and there was nothing he could do when the whole army retreated."

Shao Shude agreed.The Battle of Pishui was fought so feebly, it might not be without this factor.

Most of the commanders and adjutants of the Xia army have not been transferred for many years.But at the very beginning, Shao Shude planned to rotate them regularly, and in order to ensure their combat effectiveness, they were allowed to bring their own generals and personal soldiers to the post, so that they could do whatever they wanted.However, the subsequent wars were too frequent year after year, and it has not been rectified for many years.

But now is really not the time, just wait.He can still hold back these arrogant soldiers, and before leaving, he always has to solve this problem.

"Then don't hesitate." Shao Shude said: "Now the soldiers are precious and fast, and we will pursue all the way first. Send an order to Zhu Jing not to grab the luggage anymore, let him go north quickly, cross the Fei River, and detour to the north of Shouzhou. Eat this piece of meat."

After Shi Shucong's main force retreated, Zhu Jing seized Shengtang County for the first time, and then actively pursued it.

However, the people under his command did not change their banditry, mainly looting and looting supplies, but gave up chasing and killing the enemy.

Shao Shude reminded him that if he wanted to be the governor, he had to work hard.

……

Jiang Congxu, the governor of Shouzhou, climbed up Bagong Mountain in a hurry, but after being shut down, he went down the mountain in a hurry and rushed back to the city of Zhou.

The forces in Shouzhou are too complicated.

There is the old department of Zhang Ao, the governor of Gao Pian era. They are also the orthodox forces in Shouzhou. They are commanded by Wei Shoujie, with two thousand soldiers, stationed in Bagong Mountain.

At that time, Gao Pian had a dissatisfaction and was unwilling to send troops to suppress Huang Chao, but Zhang Ao was very loyal and violated Gao Pian's instruction of "holding troops to protect himself", and sent general Zhang Xingfang to lead the army into Guanzhong, and returned to Wang Duo's tent to obey.

After hunting for the Huangchao, the Shoubing soldiers returned, and immediately fought another battle with Yang Xingmi from Luzhou.At that time, Yang Xingmi was stationed at the stable rear of Luzhou, and sent Tian Yu, Li Shenfu, and Li Xun to lead the army to Shouzhou, where he defeated Shouzhou general Wei Qian's ten thousand troops in Chucheng, and occupied Huainan in the post-Gaobian era. opportunity.

Of course, after Sun Ru went south, they were basically finished.

The second force is Sun Ru's old army, which is the soldiers and horses that Jiang Congxu can control now. There are not many people, just over 1000.

This group of soldiers and horses can be traced back to the era of Liu Hong'e, that is, he led his troops to join Zhu Quanzhong.However, Liu Hong'e soon died in an internal mutiny, and Jiang Yanwen served as the governor.After Jiang Yanwen committed suicide, his son Jiang Congxu took over as governor until now.

In addition to these two forces, there is also the Hou Yan Department of the Liang Army, which has the largest number of soldiers, with [-] people, one of which is stationed in Erxia Stone Fort, and the other is located in the city.

"General Hou, the head of the clan has ordered us to recruit soldiers, guard the city, and look for opportunities to fight back against the Xia bandits..." After returning to the city, Jiang Congxu went straight to the barracks and asked worriedly, "How do you obey the law? Go out of the city to Feishui Set up a stronghold, or keep it out?"

Hou Yan was counting the equipment, when he heard the words, he said, "What does Jiang Shijun plan to do?"

The location of Shouchun City is very good. The Feishui River comes from the southwest, turns a corner near Shouchun, half surrounds it, and then the torrent turns, and flows into the Huai River in the northwest.

The moat of Shouchun is drawn from Feishui, which is very wide.

The city is bordered by the Huai River in the north, with the dangers of Bagong Mountain, Zijin Mountain, and Xiashi Mountain, Feishui and Dongguan in the east, and the moat leading to Fei in the south and west. No matter from which point of view, Shouzhou is unlikely to be destroyed. Besieged, and unlikely to be captured.

But no matter how good the location is, people need to guard it, there is no doubt about it.

"But it's up to the general to decide." Jiang Congxu saluted, and then said in a low voice, "Wei Shoujie is Wei Qian's adopted son, and Wei Qian is Zhang Ao's former general, so he may not be reliable."

He had just had a closed door, and he was startled and suspicious. He had lost trust in Wei Shoujie's group.

The two factions, Sun Ru and Zhang Ao, have been entangled for several years. Although they are not in conflict, it is impossible to work together at critical moments.Regarding this point, no matter how stupid Jiang Congxu was, he would not have the slightest doubt.

After hearing this, Hou Yan looked a little dignified.

"Why don't you trick Wei Shoujie into killing him and join his followers?" He tentatively asked.

"I'm afraid he won't come." Jiang Congxu shook his head.

"That's troublesome." Hou Yan sighed, and said: "The head of the family left me to guard Shouchun, I can't just leave. There is news from the southwest that Shao's '[-] army' has broken Anfeng, It's coming sooner or later, and we have to fight with him, but unfortunately we don't have enough troops, it would be great if we could annex the Wei clan."

Jiang Congxu also sighed. Now there are only more than 2000 people in the city, which is too empty.To be honest, he didn't think he could hold it unless the troops from Bagong Mountain and other places were brought back.

But one person may not be willing, and the two do not guard the stronghold outside the city, relying on the city wall alone is not reliable.

In ancient times, to observe Shouchun, all of them guard Bagong Mountain, Kipshi Mountain, Dongguan, and Feishui.If all these outlying strongholds fall, then Shouzhou City will be almost destroyed, and it will basically be impossible to keep it.

As the so-called pattern surrounded by mountains and rivers, you have to guard the mountains and rivers.

"Forget it, I'll call back the two thousand Haozhou soldiers on Xiashi Mountain. We'll be trapped in the city, and we'll count how long we can delay." Hou Yan was also very helpless.

"There are still thousands of Bian soldiers in Xiacai County, Huaibei..." Jiang Congxu reminded.

"Don't count on it." Hou Yan frowned even deeper, and said: "They will leave tomorrow, and they have other urgent matters when they return to Xu Su, so it is impossible to stay and help us."

In fact, the Bian soldiers from Xiacai County were not the only ones who were retreating, but Hou Yan couldn't command any of them, and they couldn't take the initiative to stay and help him guard Shouzhou. Everyone was in a hurry to run away.

Jiang Congxu: "..."

After returning to his mansion sullenly, Jiang Congxu could only drank his sorrows with wine.At this time, on the land of Shouzhou, several soldiers and horses were marching.

Two thousand Haozhou soldiers took the luggage from the camp, drove pack horses and carts, and went down the mountain in a mighty way to the city.

On Bagong Mountain, the gate of the camp was wide open, and two thousand soldiers carried swords and bows, showing a murderous look.

On the east bank of Feishui, 3000 people have just crossed the river and are resting for a while.

On the west bank of the Pishui River, five thousand soldiers lined up and marched silently.

Outside the north gate of Anfeng County, 8000 people rushed along the Feishui River, all the way north.

To the north of Huoshan, hundreds of cavalry raised their whips and patted their horses, holding high the black flag.To the south, more men are marching.

(End of this chapter)