Late Tang Dynasty Floating Life

Chapter 742 Huai Cai Road

On November 896th in the third year of Qianning (25), Langshan County in Caizhou was breached after three days of resistance.

The Weisheng army swarmed in and beheaded all the officials in the county to make a warning to others.

Wei Sheng's large-scale eastward advance was actually expected by Liang Jun.But the tricky thing is that it was expected, but there was no way to deal with it.

Caizhou was the only place left in Fengguo Town, and the Ya army was completely lost in last year's war.Zhang Quanyi collected the defeated soldiers and recruited some new ones, making his scale reach more than [-].After waiting for the equipment and supplies sent by Bianzhou, he trained hastily for less than a year, and his combat effectiveness was very limited.

These [-] government troops, including prefectural and county soldiers, totaled more than [-] people. It would be great to guard the three cities of Ruyang and the surrounding areas. There is no spare energy to support other places, and Zhang Quanyi is not so courageous.

Those who really helped to defend Caizhou were the 7000 members of the Yang Shihou Department of the Zhongwu Army, but he was recently transferred to Shangcai to pursue the Flying Dragon Army—in fact, he was transferred here, and he was also very alert, so he simply stopped Don't move, so as not to be defeated on the march.

Therefore, the Liang people did not have a so-called defense line in Caizhou at all, and their troops were scarce, and they would break apart at any stretch.If Xia Jun didn't make a big attack, it would be fine, but once the main attack came, it would basically end up being overwhelmed.

Can you say that Pang Shigu didn't know soldiers?cannot.In fact, he knows where the loopholes are, but there are only so many troops, and there are so many places to defend, what do you ask him to do?And Xia Jun is not like the other opponents they encountered before. In fact, they are very mobile. They will fight if they can beat them, and they will retreat if they can't.

The flying dragon army jumped up and down in Caizhou for so long, and when they were forced to rush, they withdrew to Shen and Guang, south of the Huai River, to take shelter temporarily, and came back after the limelight passed.Recently, Dai Siyuan's department has been hit hard, and his reputation has been greatly shaken. What can you do?
In fact, the most appropriate way is to resist at different levels. From Yingshui to Xuzhou, deploy a large number of prefectural and county soldiers, local peasants, and weaker Yamen to guard the cities and fortresses, and arrange the elite troops behind to wait for the Xia army. When he came to kill, when the soldiers were unable to attack under the strong city for a long time, they suddenly launched a attack, attacked from inside and outside, and defeated Xia's army.

But this strategy is difficult because the Xia army’s fighting style is quite different from the general army. They like to send a large number of highly mobile cavalry and mounted infantry to attack behind you, leaving your front line without food, arrows, and soup. Heal the sick, nothing wraps the wound.And once they find that the city is difficult to break through, they may not force it, but move all the people away without leaving any chickens or dogs behind. Anyway, Henan Prefecture and Ruzhou have a large area of ​​white land waiting to be filled by people. What can you do?
Furthermore, under the current situation, Xu Zhou can no longer retreat.

You can't just think about it from the military level, you have to think more from the perspective of people's hearts.Withdrawing again and again, what if Chen and Xu Erzhou surrendered directly?This is not purely a military battle, but also a political battle.

"Langshan County, I came here once in the past, and was beaten away by Ding Hui." After Da Ma sat down firmly, Zhe Zongben didn't feel embarrassed at all, and said with a smile.

The generals laughed and didn't care.

This is the case in a rising group. Temporary failure or setbacks cannot dampen their confidence.They always have a positive view of the future and believe that greater victories are still waiting for them to create.

"I'm here again now, who is going to drive me back?" Zhe Zongben snorted softly, and said, "The account with Dinghui will be settled sooner or later. Over the years, he attacked Tang Dengsui several times and killed me Sergeant, plunder my people. In the battle of Ruzhou in the first half of the year, I only collected some interest money and came back, it’s still early.”

Everyone should be.

Since breaking into the Shannan East Road, defeating Zhao Kuangning, and leaving Tangzhou, he has been fighting with the Liang people for years. Not only did the children of the Zhe family lose a lot of soldiers, but even the children of the Zhe family who were serious and honest, died a lot in battle.Now Weisheng's army has expanded to more than [-], many of whom are experienced Liangren surrendered troops, and their quality has been steadily improved. This expedition has brought a full [-] infantry and [-] cavalry. It can be said that the main force has been exhausted. Everyone They all came here with the intention of doing a lot.

The Huaining Army has 2000 soldiers, and 6000 are in the hands of Zhe Silun. This time, [-] people can also be drawn to go north. Chen Su, the governor of Shenzhou, will also lead [-] troops to cooperate. The Shangfeilong army has more than [-] troops, with a total strength of more than [-] troops. If we recruit some Tutuan peasants, the force will be even larger.

As the commander of Tangzhou's battalion capital, Zhe Zongben was determined to fight a beautiful battle in the Huai River area.

……

"Quick! Don't delay, soldiers are precious!" Outside Baigou City, Chen Su, governor of Shenzhou, led two thousand Huaining troops and two thousand Tutuan villagers to march northward towards Zhenyang County.

Not far to the east of them, Cui Hong was marching rapidly with [-] Huaining troops and [-] Tutuan peasants.They started from Xinxi County and moved towards Baoxin and Xincai.

"This guy Cui Hong, a descendant, runs so fast, and is eager to make contributions!" Chen Su rode on the steed horse Shao Shude gave him, cursing and muttering in his heart, Cui Hongtai is also active, so maybe he also took refuge in him King Xia?

In the four states of Huaixi, Jiedu envoy Zhesi Lun ruled Guangzhou and controlled Anzhou.Zhu Jing, the governor of Shouzhou, had [-] soldiers, and Chen Su of Shenzhou, had [-] soldiers. They were all Huaining troops in name, but there was a big difference inside.

Huaixi is dilapidated and cannot afford to support so many troops.Although he has recuperated for a year and a half, he is still unable to make ends meet. Up to now, the three towns of Xiangyang, Jinzhou, and Ezhou have relied on long-distance transportation of money and food, so that the local people are miserable.These money and food are undoubtedly controlled by Zhe Silun, so when the overall finances are relatively tight, the more than 2 Huaining troops will naturally have to be divided into distant and distant relatives.

Shenzhou and Shouzhou are not direct descendants of Zhesilun, so of course it is impossible to get such ample logistics supply.But the Huaixi yamen army still had enough money and food, and generally speaking, they were firmly in the hands of the Zheshi.But for Cui Hong, Chen Su's evaluation was "wrong mind" and "capricious". Could it be that he has abandoned the Zhe family and secretly turned to King Xia, otherwise why is he working so hard?

"Your Majesty, General Qibi sent someone to report that the general of Xuzhou Yamen, Yang Shihou, has gone south from Shangcai to the direction of Ruyang." A civil official rushed up and reported.

"Ruyang?" Chen Su's heart tensed subconsciously.Although there were many soldiers and horses in the attack on Cai this time, he was still a little afraid of Yang Shihou, worried that his small arms and legs could not do enough for him, and he would be punished to death.

"Send someone to inform General Cui, let's go forward together, don't be defeated one by one." Chen Su found a messenger and told him to go east immediately to find Cui Hong.

"Obey!" After receiving the order, the courier headed eastward, and finally found Cui Hong's troops under the city of Baoxin County.

The Ministry took only one round of attacks and took down the empty Baoxin County.

A group of people here were relocated once, the population was sparsely populated, the fields were barren, and it was located at the front line. Zhang Quanyi didn't pay much attention to it, and gave priority to developing other places, so they were quickly taken down.

"It's only been a few days since the army was dispatched, and all three groups of troops have come out together. Langshan and Baoxin have already been defeated by me, but I don't think Chen Su can take Zhenyang down." Cui Hong smiled when he received the news.

In fact, there is still a road to the east, that is, 2000 people from Guang and Shou to the north, with [-] Tutuan villagers, crossed the Huai River to the north, and entered Yingshang County.

If the Huaining Army hadn't been dragged down by Yang Xingmi with a large number of soldiers and horses, it would not be a problem to dispatch more than 1 main forces to the north this time.
However, if there are many soldiers, there is a way of fighting with many soldiers, and there are strategies for fighting with few soldiers.Li Tangbin temporarily handed over the command of more than 1 people in Qi Bizhang's department to Zhe Zongben, and Zhe Zongben ordered Qi Bizhang to be the Huai Cai Youyi envoy to fight with the Huaining army.

At this point, the intention is obvious, not to occupy land, but to annihilate the vital forces of the Liang army.

……

On November 27, more than [-] cavalry from the left side of the Feilong Army broke into Xiangcheng County, Chenzhou. Fan.

"What a wealthy country." Qi Bizhang sat comfortably on the Hu bed, looked at the exquisite decorations in the house, and said: "Thousands of miles of fertile fields, with criss-cross streams and rivers, once you pass Luo and Ru, the terrain suddenly opens up, and you can get it as the capital of an emperor. .”

Almost every household grows winter wheat, and there are many open fields and pastures in the countryside. Similar to Caizhou next door, there is a strong tradition of raising mules, but no one has such a large number.

When he first came to the Central Plains, Qi Bizhang couldn't understand that Youma didn't raise horses, but mules.But in the past two years of fighting in the enemy's rear, he really realized that if it was just a pack horse or a riding horse, it could be replaced by a mule, which consumed less energy and was not necessarily slow.

Some people were killed or left behind in the army, and some people were added in Cai and Chen a while ago, and the number reached more than 12700.Many of them turned out to be Liang Jun deserters with tattoos on their faces. It can be seen that under the general situation, some smart people have keenly sensed something and started to change their doors.

Don't think that the big soldiers don't understand anything.In fact, most of the commanders-in-chief, governors, town generals, and military academies in various feudal towns started as soldiers. They are not as ignorant as Tianshefu. Many people know that the current situation seems to be not right.

The battle report can lie, but the front cannot.

"I just received the military report from Guangzhou that the king sent people to raid the Uighur Yazhang, captured tens of thousands, and got hundreds of thousands of miscellaneous animals." Qi Bizhang waved the letter in his hand and sighed: "I Living in Yinshan as a child, you should know how difficult it is."

Many officers in the left wing of the Feilong Army were from the Qibi Department, and they were very surprised to hear that.

The grassland people know the grassland best, and the Uighur tooth tent has been done, what else can King Xia not do?The most ruthless thing is that he probably did not use much of the soldiers and horses of the three major camps of Huaizhou, Luoyang, and Tangzhou, and all relied on the newly formed troops in Guanbei or the tribal soldiers conscripted to complete this great cause. That is really— — Overwhelming!

"In the future, the grasslands and the Central Plains should all belong to King Xia. He is the supreme emperor, the Khan. I will serve under the tent of King Xia. I will be lucky for three years." Qi Bizhang said: "The Huaining Army has The news is that we will set off tomorrow and head south along the Yingshui River. You must not slack off and fight bravely. Perhaps, the chances of gaining fame and wealth will become less and less in the future."

"Obey." The generals responded with a loud bang.

Qi Bizhang simply stated the facts, which had the effect of mobilizing before the war and strengthened the confidence of those who have been fighting abroad for a long time to continue fighting.

This is the general trend, tens of thousands of troops on the battlefield.

(End of this chapter)