Late Tang Dynasty Floating Life

Chapter 759 Chasing and Escaping
Zhe Zongben almost received the news with Yang Shihou.

"Beat the drums! Gather troops! Go to war!"

"Bring me the old man's armor!"

"Want to run? It's so easy!"

Zhe Zongben looked up to the sky and laughed, and said: "Qi Bizhang, he was still a child when I went to battle. He was just a fledgling when I was a soldier and horse envoy in the five towns along the river in the Zhenwu Army. I didn't expect to pick him up. Such a big credit is really shit luck. Going to the battle, we must not let Yang Shihou escape easily."

Zhezong became famous at a young age, he was skilled in bow and horse, and led the soldiers of Zhejia to serve Qibitong, who was the Jiedu envoy of Zhenwu Army at that time.

The Qibi clan had served as the governor of Yinshan for several times, and like the Helian clan in Tuyuhun, they had always been the top snakes in the Zhenwu Army.When Zhenwu Linsheng Jiedu envoys went on expeditions, they often recruited the tribes. Qibi, Helian, and Linzhou Zhejue often led troops to fight against Uyghurs, Dangxiang and even Tubo.

To be honest, Datang did not discriminate against these Tibetans.Those who have military exploits will of course be rewarded, and they can also be officials.

Qi Bitong served as an envoy of the Zhenwu Army for several years in the Xuanzong Dynasty, and Qi Bizhang also served as an envoy of the Zhenwu Army when the first emperor.After Qibitong, the Hunzhen of the Hunbu served as Jiedushi for more than six years.During the Emperor Xizong's reign, Li Guochang, a native of Shatuo, served as the envoy of the Zhenwu Army because of his meritorious service in suppressing the Pang Xun Rebellion.

These are all from the background of Tibetan generals, and they can all climb to high positions. In fact, they are all worthy of Datang.Even Li Guochang, who once rebelled, did what he did as a Jiedu envoy under the rule of the Tang Dynasty. What's more, if his son Li Keyong didn't kill Datong army envoy Duan Wenchu, he might not rebel. Such ambitious characters.

The personal soldiers quickly brought the golden armor rewarded by King Xia, and put it on carefully for Zhe Zongben.Then he brought a horse spear, Zhe Zongben panted and danced, and said angrily: "It's too heavy to fight with this thing, I still have to swing the big spear immediately."

Uh, still old.Don’t you see that after the boys of the army cavalry were shot to death, they fell to the ground and picked up the horses and started to work, which was not too heavy at all.They are all a group of animals who believe in miracles with great strength, and they like to use powerful and heavy long-handled horses to fight weapons, and they don't like light lances at all.

The drums were beating fiercely, and the Weisheng army and Xiangyong from Tang and Deng came out to form a camp.

Zhe Zongben deployed about 2 people on the north bank of Rushui, of which [-] were Weisheng troops, and the rest were village braves.

He rode a steed and carefully observed the Xiangyong arrayed.

Tang Deng Sui Sanzhou was dilapidated, and there were actually not many people left.Twenty thousand township bravery is the limit of mobilization. Many people are actually not young, but they still carry long spears and infantry bows to fight with the army.

During the war years, none of the common people could stay out of it.Years of military mobilization has left the fields deserted, but it has also injected martial arts into these ordinary people, and I don't know whether it is good or bad.

The son-in-law has also immigrated to Tang Town in the past few years, but he has also developed a Zaoyang County, which currently has more than 5000 households and more than [-] people.I heard that the three-crop crop rotation system prevalent in the north is not implemented in Zaoyang, and many sheep suffer from foot rot.In addition, the local environment is not good, and many immigrants from the north fell ill.

It seems that the front line of Suizhou and Xiangyang may be the boundary limit of the production mode of combining agriculture and animal husbandry.Further south, the water network is densely covered, and the environment is hot and humid, which is not very ideal.

However, the imperial court set up a ranch in Xiangyang back then, and moved many captive Qianghu to resettle here. Presumably, if the environment is carefully cleaned up, it can barely continue farming and grazing.If Xiangyang is further south, it may not work well. We must respect the local traditional agricultural work methods and find other ways.

"Everyone." Zhe Zongben cleared his throat and said, "General Qibi of the Flying Dragon Army defeated the bandits in Shangcai and captured and killed tens of thousands. The thief general Dai Siyuan hurried south and fled into Caizhou, not daring to fight. Yang Shihou was frightened. , wanting to run away, why not pursue him now? If there is any gain, you will all have merit. King Xia issued a reward, and the family will be more well-off. "

The soldiers split up and passed on Zhe Zongben's words.

"Chasing! Chasing! Chasing!" Someone took the lead, and the tens of thousands of soldiers and horses assembled looked excited and shouted in unison.

Zhe Zongben looked calm. He has fought for so many years, and he has not seen any scenes. He waved his hand and said, "Let's fight!"

There is no need for him to tell you what to do. There are generals at all levels commanding each battalion and team.The [-] Weisheng Army soldiers lined up facing the middle city of Caizhou, guarding against soldiers rushing out of the city, and another [-] Weisheng Army, and [-] Xiangyong soldiers formed more than ten infantry formations, and went to the Yangbu camp in a wild goose formation. .

More than a thousand cavalry mounted their horses in the rear and advanced forward.The cavalry general Zhang Youyi of the Zhongwu Army mounted his horse, and the two sides fought fiercely near Beiguan City.

Yang Shihou looked back at Zhe Zongben standing on the high platform, sighed inaudibly, and ordered to abandon the baggage, and the whole army marched eastward.

Retreating in front of the enemy is a panic, and if you are not careful, it will turn into a rout.

Yang Shihou has been in charge of the army for many years, and he still has some prestige. Under his arrangement, the auxiliary soldiers retreated first, and the soldiers came back to cover alternately.But even so well-organized, it can still be seen that Sergeant Yang is nervous.I just don't know if people will catch up later, and when the two sides fight, will they collapse at the touch of a touch.

In Caizhou City, Dai Siyuan was depressed and sat drinking in the state government office.Brothers Zhang Quanyi and Zhang Quanen boarded the top of the city and overlooked the entire battlefield.

Even counting the remnants of the Flying Dragon Army brought over by Dai Siyuan, there are only [-] soldiers in the city, which is really shabby.Zhang Quanyi caressed the wall with his left hand, and sometimes raised his right hand, and sometimes put it down, which shows his inner struggle.

Zhang Quanen couldn't stand it any longer, and blamed him: "Brother, why did you advance and retreat? Yang Shihou obviously has different ambitions, why bother him?"

In fact, what he really wants to say is that there is no way to help.The morale of Cai soldiers in the city was low, and the [-] main force of the Weisheng Army lined up outside the north gate. They might be able to fight a battle in normal times, but right now they are absolutely impossible to fight, and they are bound to lose.

"That's all! Master Yang is to blame, this time he will lose a piece of meat if he doesn't die, I can't help him." Zhang Quanyi sighed, with a sad expression on his face.

After fighting for so many years, what is the name of the struggle?His nephew Jifeng died in battle in Heyang, his eldest son Jiye died of fear from illness, his second son Jizuo and youngest son Jisun were captured and their whereabouts are unknown.

His wife Chu, his eldest daughter-in-law Xie, his nephew Su, and his daughter Wanlu heard that they were—in fact, it’s nothing, the key is whether the two sons are still alive?

Every time Zhang Quanyi thinks of this section, he can't sleep because of worry.He glanced at his younger brother Quan En again. Most of his family members were in Bianzhou, and his sons and daughters were all young, like hostages.

Zhang Quanyi may not care about his wife and daughter, but what about his brother?Fighting, you can't fight, and surrendering is also very difficult, you can only wait for death?
Wei Shengjun moved quickly.

With the change of the drumbeat, the front team quickened their pace, and shouted loudly while walking, intending to panic the Zhongwu army, make them make mistakes in their busy schedule, and collapse on their own.

Yang Shihou's personal soldiers rode their horses back and forth, yelling at them, beating and cursing loudly, and managed to suppress the restlessness of the sergeants, and continued to retreat in an orderly manner.

Zhang Quanyi suddenly felt ashamed again.

How could Yang Shihou lead his troops so well?More than [-] people retreated, busy but not chaotic, at least on the surface it seemed to be orderly, isn't it the talent of a general?But such a talent can't be used for oneself, so what!

Well, when he was still working under Huang Wang, his subordinates seemed to have general talents, such as Li Tangbin from Shanzhou, but unfortunately he couldn't use it for himself.

Li Hanzhi, the brother who has always been an alliance, how many talents have he produced under his command?Fu Cunshen and Wang Jianji were all under Shao Shude's command, and he was in charge of the army alone. Yang Shihou was also emerging under Liang Wang's command, so why didn't he come over in advance?Xie Bin, who seems to be the most capable under his command, is now serving as an envoy in the right wing of the Baoyi Army with Xia Bandit, isn't he also a general?
In the end, I am not as good as Li Hanzhi, alas!

Although this man was not good at governing, he was from a farmer in Xiangcheng, Chenzhou, and he discovered several township parties. Fu Cunshen was from Wanqiu, Chenzhou, Wang Jianji was from Changshe, Xuzhou, and Yang Shihou was from Ruyin, Yingzhou next door.Could it be that so many generals were born in such a small place?No.

Most of them are because they are not good at running the army, and they are not good at discovering and cultivating generals.

This world!Zhang Quanyi was a little discouraged, he might as well go back to his hometown in Puzhou to work as a farmer, maybe he could sleep peacefully overnight.

"The Xia thief is running away!" Zhang Quanen said suddenly.

Zhang Quanyi calmed down and looked intently, only to see hundreds of elite soldiers of the Weisheng Army in the front line quicken their pace, shouting loudly.

A general of the Zhongwu Army also roared angrily, leading hundreds of soldiers to the rear, his spears were thrown out, and it seemed that he was going to fight to the death.

The cavalry of both sides entangled repeatedly in the wilderness.

The Xia army had no intention of fighting, but only wanted to go around and outflank and chase the enemy. The cavalry of the Zhongwu army intercepted and charged repeatedly.People on both sides continued to fall from their horses, blood rained, and screams continued.

Zhang Quanyi was sentimental again.

More than 2000 cavalry charged head-on, and I don't know how many star seeds fell on the cold snow outside Caizhou City before they had time to display their ambitions.This battle is so boring!

Zhezong's office stands on a high platform, and its banner changes again and again.Soon, the right wing of the Chinese army moved forward at a faster pace, and it was actually changing to the Yanyue formation. This was to outflank the Zhongwu army.

Chasing the enemy is not a swarm of bees rushing up without thinking, you must maintain your formation.Otherwise, if the fleeing party turns around and kills them, it might turn defeat into victory.There are countless examples of this kind of warfare in ancient times.Zhe Zongben was very sophisticated, and he kept putting pressure on the loyal military army, trying to make them panic, lose their rules, and completely collapse, then let their own soldiers chase and kill them to reap the fruits of the battle.

The front line of the Weisheng Army has already fought against the broken Zhongwu Army.

The general leading the army of Yang's army was wearing silver armor and a bright red cloak. He stabbed out with an iron spear repeatedly, piercing the chests and abdomens of several pursuers. He looked very brave.

This person should be Yang Junfang, nephew of Yang Shihou, Marquis of Yu in the Loyal Military Army, known for his bravery, and made many military exploits.

But what is the use of a man's bravery?The soldiers of the Weisheng army who were chasing after him also knew that it was a critical moment, so they were not afraid of death, and rushed to kill them one after another.The pawns of the next few phalanxes gradually caught up, and they were about to completely drown the five or six hundred people in Yang Junfang's department.

The sound of horseshoes suddenly sounded.

Yang Shihou led [-] soldiers back and rushed back. The iron cavalry wedged from the flanks into the Weisheng army's infantry that was out of step due to the pursuit, strangled them repeatedly, and fought to the death with glaring eyes.

In the infantry, there were spears like forests, and cavalrymen were stabbed off their horses constantly, screaming miserably.

Yang Shihou swung the mace again and again, smashing Xia Bing's heads, and finally smashed through for a while, looking back, there were only a hundred or so soldiers left.

"Withdraw!" He sighed regretfully, not daring to rush any further, and left directly.

Wei Shengjun's fighting spirit is high, determination is firm, there is no other way, how many people can get away today count.

The drums became more and more urgent.

The Weisheng Army's offensive wave after wave, Yang Junfang has been completely submerged in Xia Bing's crowd, and his figure can't be seen anymore.

The main force of the Zhongwu Army who had escaped for a certain distance was a little flustered, and subconsciously quickened its pace.

I don't know who yelled, and the formation suddenly became chaotic. Many people took off their armor and ran away at a faster speed.

The retreat has turned into a retreat.

(End of this chapter)