Late Tang Dynasty Floating Life

Chapter 702 Purge
Three consecutive days of fine weather didn't help much.

The road is still muddy and wet everywhere.The auxiliary soldiers went out to collect firewood, and when they came back to light the fire to cook, the smoke was billowing and the smell was choking.

There are of course benefits.The clothes were dry, which made everyone feel better.Wearing wet clothes for a long time is not a problem even if the warriors are in good physical condition.

As an added bonus, siege warfare can resume again.

Dingyuan Army sent [-] infantry northward. When they approached Taigu Pass, they encountered hundreds of fleeing Liang soldiers. It is said that they were Tutuan villagers who came with Zhu Hanbin.

A funny chasing and fleeing battle unfolded in the field.

The two sides were chasing hard in the slippery mud, and some people fell down from time to time, which seemed to be slowing down from a distance.

"Don't run away! Those who abandon weapons will not die!"

"Where can you go? How many miles can you walk in this muddy place in a day?"

"Come back, I won't hurt you."

"There are steamed cakes to eat!"

That last sentence worked.Liang Junxiangyong who escaped was not a fool. He knew that there were not many people in Ruzhou, and the roads were so muddy. It would be nice to be able to run ten miles a day. Can you guarantee that you will not be hungry?
So people came running over one after another, throwing swords, guns and bows all over the floor.At the last count, the three people in 530 were all Xiangyong from Zhengzhou.

"Come out from Taigu Pass?" A military officer stepped forward and asked.

"The general's accent is a bit familiar..."

"Stop talking." The officer laughed and cursed, and said, "I am from Linru County, Ruzhou. Where did you come from?"

The officer did not lie to him.When Chen Cheng went to Henan to recruit soldiers, Henan Prefecture, Ruzhou, Xuzhou, and Chenzhou were the most important.This person was incorporated into the Tielin Army at the beginning, because his skills were good, he trained hard, and he dared to fight hard. other ranks.

He has been in the army for ten years, and has worked in four armies successively, and his officers have become bigger and bigger. He is already a lieutenant general with 500 people in charge.

"It broke out from Taigu Pass. General Zhu of the Luoyan Capital ran away. A familiar sergeant informed him. After hearing this, everyone felt that Zhu Hanbin was too dishonest. They came out together, but they ran away first."

"Why did Taigu Pass let you out?"

"Let's guard the stockade outside, and we all made up our minds and left directly."

"How is the situation in Guanzhong?"

"There were a lot of casualties, and morale was low. If it wasn't for those long straight troops, they would have collapsed long ago. People who met Guancheng when they went out to collect woodcutters said that Xia——Xia's soldiers attacked fiercely regardless of casualties, and if they continued to fight, I'm afraid there will be few people in the city."

The officer nodded, then turned his head and ordered: "Gather up the prisoners and send them back."

Wang Yu, who was resting in Yingyang County, soon got the news.

"Order: Prepare your equipment, and tomorrow the army will go north and attack Taigu." Wang Yu immediately ordered.

"Military envoys, maybe you can bring the captured soldiers with you, which can be used when persuading surrender." Some aides suggested.

"Exactly." Wang Yu nodded in agreement, and said, "The guards of Taigu Pass were in disarray when they learned that Yingyang had been lost. If they can be persuaded to surrender, it will save many casualties. Where are the soldiers?"

On April [-]th, Wang Yuqin, the envoy of the Dingyuan Army, led more than [-] men on foot to the north, and the purge of the remaining enemies at Taigu Pass entered the final stage.

……

"Brothers, don't fight! I waited to guard Heyang for several months, but no one came to rescue me."

"General Huo is pitiful. He waited for three months, but he didn't come to save the soldiers. He had no choice but to set himself on fire."

"Dengfeng and Yingyang are lost, where can you go?"

"It's raining continuously, even if there are rescuers, I'm afraid they won't be able to make it through, don't guard, let's surrender."

"Almost 2000 of you have been killed or injured. After fighting for so long, I respect you for being a man. Come down, King Xia Rende, and your lives will not be hurt."

"What's the point of being stubborn? If you are all local people, it's understandable to stick to it and not surrender. But there is not a single soldier in Ruzhou, so why not keep it!"

A battle has just ended, and the retreating soldiers of the Iron Forest Army are resting.

After the heavy rain stopped, they had been besieging the city for two consecutive days, killing hundreds of thieves.Today is the third day, once attacked the top of the city, decapitated more than 270 levels, of course, he also paid heavy casualties.

Everyone can see that Taigu Pass will not last long.

The Dingyuan army sent people to report, and gathered more than [-] enemy soldiers in the north of Yingyang.Yesterday they marched northward in a big way, and when they approached Taigu Pass, they gathered hundreds of defeated soldiers, all of whom were Zhengzhou Xiangyong who Zhu Hanbin brought over.

Now in Taigu Pass, it is estimated that there are only more than 3000 defenders, no more than [-], and more than half of them are panic-stricken. If they are not watched, they will run away at any time.

This pass city can last at most ten days, and then it will collapse.Without reinforcements outside, the damage to morale is too great!

Shao Shude came to the front line to supervise the battle.

The Tielin Army participated in the Battle of Heyang South City.

Participated in the battle of Taigu Pass again.

This kind of high-intensity battle will not cause light casualties, and it is a test of the psychological quality of the soldiers.

What do the soldiers of the Iron Forest Army lack?
Not martial arts.In fact, even those Cai people who are new recruits are not bad at basic skills, not to mention that after a year of hard training, their level has improved a lot.

Nor is discipline and equipment.Xia Jun's training is still very formal, and he is in the middle of a long-term war. No one dares to cheat in this area, so these have never been a problem.

What's missing is the ferocity of the bayonet.If you can't practice this, you have to fight the enemy with real knives and guns, and you can transform yourself on the battlefield of blood and blood.

The brutality of the siege battle can quickly wear away the psychological fantasy and childishness of the recruits, allowing them to transform into a killing machine more quickly, and it is also a skilled and well-trained killing machine.

After beating Taigu Pass, they will be dragged to the Yique area to fight a few rounds.

In recent years, the backbone of the Iron Forest Army has lost a lot of blood, and the expansion has been too fast. Although there are still many old people who can help and guide newcomers, it can shorten the growth time of newcomers, but after all, they have to fight more and fight more, so that they can improve faster.

The persuasion seems to have had some effect.Many people poured out from the upper tower of Taiguguan North City.Even during the battle just now, there were not so many people crowded at the top of the city. It seemed that the sergeants who were resting in the city also rushed up, and the officers could not stop them, or some junior officers were happy to see it happen.

Those who persuaded them to surrender worked even harder, and shouted in unison: "Surrender. The Dingyuan Army is about to attack from the south. Do you calculate how far it is from Ruzhou? Can you reach this muddy land within ten days?"

"How much money will you get for working hard for Zhu Quanzhong? Don't worry, King Xia will destroy Bianzhou next year. By then, King Xia will rule the people, and you can go back to your home."

"If you don't surrender today, you will all be crushed under the attack from both sides. Don't say it was unexpected."

When persuading them to surrender, the commotion at the top of the city became even louder.

"Brothers in the Changzhi Army don't have to worry. Lingzhou has newly built a black army, and all the soldiers who surrendered in Luoyang have joined the army. This month, they will receive two grains and five rewards a year, as well as spring and autumn clothes. Zhenger The yamen soldiers of the Eight Classics don't have to worry about their livelihood."

"Go to the grassland to kill thieves, and you can share the cattle and sheep you get back. I don't know how comfortable it is."

"If you rob a woman, you can still resettle."

With a "creak", the city gate opened.The sergeants at the top of the city were in an uproar and rushed down one after another.

The officers and soldiers of the Shunyi Army, who were preparing for the next round of offensive, looked at each other in blank dismay. Was it won?
……

Outside Yangzhai County, Zhao Lin stopped panting.

The road is muddy, and the scouts can't go very far. When they receive the news, the enemy is often close by. What he is facing now is such a situation: just now when the scouts came to report, Xia Bing was found five or six miles away to the south. There are seven or eight hundred people, leading a large number of horse mules, on their way.

After thinking about it for a while, he knew that this was the Flying Dragon Army that had bypassed Dengfeng County and went south. There were about 1 people.Looking at them like that, could they be retreating?The target is Yangzhai County?
Zhao Lin looked at the sergeants who looked like mud monkeys behind him. There were less than 2000 soldiers in total, and they were gathered one after another along the way.

"Oh, I can't fight!" Zhao Lin sighed, turned his head to look at Wang Yanzhang and Du Yanqiu, and said, "You two, the bandit army is powerful, can this Yang Di get in?"

Zhao Dajun's prestige has declined sharply in the past few days, and Wang Yanzhang and Du Yanqiu all looked at him coldly, obviously having great opinions.Zhao Lin felt very boring, am I greedy for life and afraid of death?I was thinking about the future of thousands of soldiers in the Xia army!At the time of the expedition, there were 6000 people, all of whom were elated and high-spirited. At this time, even 2000 people were not enough to make up. Everyone was downcast and their morale was low. If the fight continues, the entire army will be wiped out.

Wang Yanzhang hesitated for a moment when he heard the words, and said with great emotion: "Military envoy, the thieves say that I have few soldiers, so they will not dare to fight. Why don't you do the opposite, take the initiative to meet the thieves, and fight a battle with the thieves. The thieves were surprised, or for me The army is defeated. The last general is not talented, and he is willing to be the vanguard, leading the dead to rush to the front."

Du Yanqiu disagreed, but he said: "No! If it was a few days ago, I would go forward with General Wang to kill the enemy. However, this meeting will no longer be able to fight, and the battle will be defeated. It will only cause casualties."

Wang Yanzhang glanced at Du Yanqiu in surprise, as if he didn't understand why Du Shi, who was equally impassioned and daring to fight a few days ago, suddenly didn't want to fight to the death.

Du Yanqiu smiled wryly, and said: "Mr. Zhao, General Wang, you might as well take a look. The soldiers have no food for three days, and many of their armor and equipment are lost. How can we fight?"

Zhao Lin and Wang Yanzhang subconsciously looked at the soldiers who were so tired that they were sitting in the mud, and they were speechless.

"Then it's better not to fight." Zhao Lin said immediately.

In fact, he didn't want to play at first, but now with Du Yanqiu's support, he immediately ordered: "Let's run eastward to Xuzhou. Save some dry food, and we can still run back. If it doesn't work, we can collect a little more on the way. gone."

Wang Yanzhang remained silent.

Du Yanqiu sighed, and said: "Military envoy, General Wang, you go, take the soldiers who are willing to go, I will not go."

Wang Yanzhang quickly pulled out the horizontal knife from his waist, and scolded: "Du Yanqiu, do you want to surrender the thief? Are you afraid that the brothers will tie you up and take you back to Bianzhou for questioning?"

Du Yanqiu pointed to the sergeants who were slumped on the ground in disarray, and said, "General Wang might as well ask everyone what they think."

Zhao Lin's eyelids twitched.

The past few days have been running for their lives, and everyone is really in a mess.Physical strength and energy have been exhausted to the extreme. It is said that there are three days of rations, which is an average. In fact, many people have no more than half a day of rations, and they are counting on going to the city to search again and have a full meal.

If the Xia thief lured him to surrender with food, he couldn't guarantee the attitude of the soldiers.

In addition, it is not a bad thing that Du Yanqiu demoted King Xia.In the past, everyone drank and had fun together, and the friendship was okay. In the future, if things are not harmonious, maybe someone can help to talk.

Thinking of this, he quickly grabbed Wang Yanzhang, and said: "General Wang, the defeat of this army is all my fault. The general killed the thief bravely and won the three armies, I know. The general's meritorious service. Let's go now, the soldiers are extremely tired, have no armor, no guns, and few bows, so there is no way to fight like this."

After finishing speaking, he pulled Wang Yanzhang by force, greeted the sergeant who was willing to go with him, and walked eastward hesitantly.

(End of this chapter)