Delong

Li Ding's choice to send troops immediately is a very dangerous move, because the autumn harvest is coming soon.

Even the warlord with the least strategic vision, or simply, even the most short-sighted bandit, when faced with the crops that are about to be harvested all over the ground, can't help thinking, should they harvest the crops before sending troops?

In this area of ​​Hebei, there have been nearly four years of war, which can be regarded as turbulent for a while. Among them, only Zhang Jincheng dared to step on the ground full of ripe crops, but even Zhang Jincheng was preparing to leave at that time because of the military disaster. Qinghe, who caused insufficient crops in the fields, went to the plains to "eat".

Then they were praised by Zhang Xing, Li Ding and Cao Shancheng one after the other.

Therefore, there are many problems when sending troops at this time.

To consider the issue of military morale, the soldiers and horses in Wu'an County are not bad, but are the soldiers and civilian husbands in Xiangguo County willing to leave their land at home to fight?

To consider the issue of marching, Li Ding and his military auxiliary team had only conducted a large amount of reconnaissance and intelligence collection in Xiangguo County before, but Zhao County only had some routine and ordinary reconnaissance cognition, and the marching and combat itself Damage to crops is also considered.

In addition, the most important point is that we must pursue quick victory, because once the war is postponed and the autumn harvest is delayed, it will cause a series of political, military, economic, and diplomatic problems, and may even backfire on the newly annexed Xiangguo county.

But, so to say but, Li Ding still chose to send troops.

Because he knew that the weather was fair, and the problems he was facing were similar to those of the opponent, so if he sent troops at this time, the opponent would definitely be caught off guard. This was the most anticipated enemy posture in a battle.What's more, if he can quickly defeat the opponent in this gap before the autumn harvest, it will be more difficult for the opponent to organize reinforcements because of the autumn harvest... This has won him a post-war diplomatic and political operating range.

The last and most important point, Li Ding didn't say anything, but Su Jingfang vaguely guessed that sending troops at this time is also a good opportunity to get rid of the interference of the Dragon Gang.

Zhang Xing's almost extreme emphasis on the autumn harvest will also make the Dragon Gang give up unnecessary actions and let Li Ding do what he wants.

Fourth Master Li didn't want to be that angry again.

The determination is made, and he is using the few days before the autumn harvest, so naturally Li Ding will not delay.

Su Jingfang was still in charge of sneak reconnaissance in advance and determining the location of the attack target, while Li Ding led Su Mu, the commander of the [-] army, and the three generals of Gao Shisheng to wait for news at the Longgang Camp, while Zhang Shiniang and the deputy captain, Wang Chen, led [-] soldiers from Wu'an. The crowd hurriedly caught up, and Fan Lihua, who had just been ordered to go to Zongcheng, was also hastily recalled.

However, in a day and a half, Su Jing conveniently sent the news overnight that the five thousand Youzhou army, led by Deng Long, the No. The old city of Pingji, three miles south of Junzhi City.

Half a day later, Zhang Shiniang and Wang Chenji also arrived at Longgang.

Immediately, without hesitation, Li Ding ordered the whole army of [-] to go northward and go straight to Zhaojun.

For Li Ding, a small military and political group that just got a chance to start, this battle is tantamount to going out in full force.

Facts have proved that Li Ding's decision still played a role.

The army suddenly entered Zhao County, and went straight to attack Baixiang, the core of southern Zhao County. Baixiang County was caught off guard, and everyone was at a loss, let alone prepared for it.

As a result, Su Jingfang's small vanguard troops entered the city directly under the banner of the Great Wei court, and controlled the city gate a little bit. The people in the city thought it was the reinforcement of the city defense from the county. Then Li Ding arrived at the city with his army, and then committed suicide with Zhang Shiniang. After entering, he found the county magistrate, county lieutenant, and county magistrate to appease him a little, but announced to Baixiang County that "the Youzhou army invaded, and he led his troops to assist and protect, and only half a day's logistical supplies are needed."

Immediately, Baixiang County was "convinced", honestly opened the warehouse and made a meal of stale rice, and then watched Li Ding lead a large army to the north, but could only sit in the city - even though the army was in short supply, Li Ding still stayed. Thousands of people, led by Wang Chen, blocked the city and the surrounding arteries.

And then, after leaving Baixiang and crossing Baishui, Li Dingji, who was less than five miles away, faced a fork in the official road with six thousand soldiers.

"To the west is Gaoyi." Su Jingfang pointed to the intersection on the west side.

"Don't go." Li Ding, who was in full military uniform, was riding on the horse, without even looking at the west, and blurted out.

Su Jingfang, who had expected this early on, didn't have any extra reactions, but pointed to the north and east intersections in turn: "The northeast is the Xiaoshui, a tributary of the Zhuozhang River. To the north is the old city of Pingji, the prefectural government of Zhaojun and the old city of Pingji, the prefectural governor, where Zhang Fujun is located. There are three thousand Zhaojun soldiers, a distance of one hundred miles; downstream, that is, to the east of us, is Yingtao, where the Youzhou reinforcements are located. , They were there not only to guard against us, but also to guard against Xue Changxiong, five thousand soldiers, including three thousand cavalry...for fifty miles."

Li Ding was silent for about three or four breaths, and then gave a reply: "Go north, the whole army throws down the luggage, takes a day's dry food and drinking water, marches hard, and takes the thorns!"

Zhang Shiniang, who was rarely seen in military uniform, didn't say a word, and didn't even show any unnecessary expressions, while Su Mu and his son looked at each other without saying a word, and Fan Lihua was even more excited.

The only person who was obviously disturbed was Gao Shisheng who had just surrendered, but seeing that the other generals were speechless, he dared not discuss any more.

The plan is established, the next step is to test the effectiveness of Li Ding's martial arts soldiers who have been practicing for more than two years.

See how they run long distances.

It was autumn, and the weather was relatively cool, but traveling light and traveling long distances was still a very challenging task. After traveling for twenty miles, some laggards began to appear.

Su Jingfang and Fan Lihua each led a dozen or so cavalry to and fro constantly to inspect these laggard soldiers. If they were indeed exhausted, or suffered minor injuries caused by heavy loads or bruises, they would be resettled on the spot, and let these people gather at the intersection, watch each other, and wait. Rescue while continuing to block the intersection.

And if it is a desertion that pretends to be an injury or lack of physical strength, it will be executed on the spot according to Li Ding's request.

When the march reached twenty miles, these non-combat casualties were only a few sporadic people, and there were no deserters among them, but when it reached forty miles, the non-combat casualties quickly climbed to three digits, and a total of 11 people were executed. Hanging his head by the side of the road.And this afternoon, after the sun had slanted to the west, it was also a hasty march about sixty or seventy miles. After obtaining Li Ding's permission, Fan Lihua beheaded a team leader and three team leaders.

The remaining 140 six people drew lots on the spot, and an additional 15 people were killed on the eleventh.

This is used as a punishment for the entire team trying to "get lost".

But even so, at this time, the reduction of personnel in the entire army began to increase rapidly, and as the sun slanted westward, it was conceivable that it would be dark in half an hour. How to prevent this situation?

"Master, after tomorrow dawn, what if there are only two or three thousand troops left?" Su Jingfang was visibly panicked, he was still a young man after all.

"It doesn't matter." Li Ding, as always, had his share of leeway in military operations. "You go and lead the way. Go east at the intersection ahead, cross the fields, and cross the Weishui River before dark. Tomorrow morning, we will only march north from the opposite bank of the Weishui River..."

Su Jingfang was taken aback for a moment, then came to his senses, and immediately walked away on the horse.

It was not until dark that the commander-in-chief forced the troops to cross the river before Su Jing realized that although this move could effectively prevent the Wu'an sergeants from escaping at night, it was also very risky—if the troops were detected during the march, it was very likely Being flanked by Youzhou Army and Zhaojun soldiers!

Of course, this risk did seem insignificant compared to the imminent night force dispersal.

It was already dark, and after crossing the river, Wu Anzu was ordered to rest on the spot along the Weishui River embankment, but he was not allowed to light a fire, and just slept with his clothes on, and then drank water and ate dry food.

In the dark night, the army's resentment gradually rose, but at this time, Li Ding's rewards and punishments and drills for the army in the past two years, including the previous killing of the entire team, also obviously had an effect.

Only resentment and shrinking overcome discipline and trust, or discipline and trust overcome resentment and shrinking, no one knows, and can only wait quietly.

Zhang Shiniang was by his side, and Li Dingku sat all night, listening to the half-night complaints in a low voice... There is one thing to say, this night, even Li Ding began to waver in his troops, but he has no way out now. You can retreat, this is his army, his foundation, and he is doing his best to fight for his ambition that has been hidden for decades.

It was impossible for him to escape from Yang Shen's camp together with Zhang Shiniang like five or six years ago, just the two of them, holding hands.

So, regardless of what was going on in his mind, at least on the surface Li Ding was very calm, so calm that Zhang Shiniang's eyes glowed when he looked at him.

At the fourth watch, the sky began to light up slightly. Li Silang ordered the troops to get up, eat and drink in two quarters of an hour, and then the whole army continued to go north, and must arrive at Pingji, 25 miles away, before noon.

Before the troops were about to set off, Su Jingfang rode over and told his mentor, "Master, there are still five thousand soldiers!"

Li Ding was determined, he knew that he already had three points in his hands in this battle.

But soon, there was another small twist - some soldiers couldn't bear to go to the river to fetch water in violation of the military order last night, and drank the river water, which caused some of them to suffer from diarrhea.And this also made the Wu'an generals below Li Ding worry about whether this phenomenon would expand, because they really didn't know how many people went down the river.

Of course, the final facts proved that this was just a false alarm. After the troops set off, only a handful of people were left guarding the river.Most of the people completed the raid with the main general Li Ding in the morning and arrived at the city of Pingji.

Similar to Longgang, the old city of Pingji, which is located three miles south of the county seat, has actually been reduced to a sub-city outside the new city, and has actually assumed the role of a military fortress.Both Chen Taishou of Xiangguo County and Zhang Taishou of Zhao County chose to summon the county soldiers and hide among them after realizing the military crisis.

As for Li Ding's Wu Anzu, he was discovered five miles away from Pingji City, and was quickly conveyed to Zhang Dunli, the prefect in Pingji City.

After breakfast, Zhang Dunli, who was inspecting the army's armaments in Pingji City, was stunned for a moment, then immediately concluded from the marching direction that the Youzhou Army was causing trouble. They might feel that the support had delayed the autumn harvest and wanted to make up for it, so they formed There was clamor and commotion.

This is a very common thing, especially the government military system under the equal land system. After a long time, it is full of township parties in groups, and it is easy to coerce the officers together. Partial force superiority, it is not good to really use force.

On the side of the Youzhou Army with many heads and many feet, such incidents are the most common.

After thinking about this, Zhang Dunli, dressed in official uniform, immediately twitched his beard and frowned and said, "Go and tell these Youzhou soldiers that if you want to get the reward, you must go back to Yingtao first. Then go find General Deng Longdeng for me. I found it, please come to the city to talk, if it is not easy for him to leave the army, then ask him what happened for me? Why did this happen all of a sudden? Even if you want a reward, you should wait until after the autumn harvest. Now the treasury The place is so clean, what can I give him? Don’t the people below know that he doesn’t know? How have I ever treated him badly? And if you can’t find him, you have to come back and report quickly.”

In this way, the messenger issued the military order, set off immediately, took the initiative to meet him, and then never returned.At the same time, the "Youzhou Army" did not stop at all, and continued to go north without stopping.

About three miles away, other sentry cavalry came back and told the strangeness of this army-the army did not make noise or looting along the way, but came straight to the city in a fierce manner.Not only that, although the total number is right, there are also cavalry, but compared with the 5000 cavalry of the [-] Youzhou soldiers, the proportion of cavalry in this army is too small.

Zhang Dunli, who had already returned to the old government hall in the city and began to put on his armor, suddenly had a buzzing head, but he immediately explained in the hall: "This must be because the Youzhou Army took pity on the horses, and then sent someone to tell the other party that I am willing to donate my personal money. A little reward."

I don't know who to explain.

The second round of envoys was dispatched, and they were also gone forever.

And soon, the officers in the city came to report and informed that the soldiers and horses were not stopping at all, and the formation was in order, and they had already appeared in the sight of the city head. It really didn't look like the Youzhou army came to ask for rewards.

Zhang Dunli fell silent and didn't say anything more, his armor was half put on and stopped there - the upper body of the full set of Mingguang armor was put on, but the skirt was not put on yet, which made Mr. Zhang sitting there look a little funny .

But no one pressed him, and no one urged him, because like him, the people in Pingthorn City were at a loss, and no one knew what was going on?In fact, riots have already spread from the north of the city to the inner city.

But soon, another person came to report, and he was the messenger sent out by the first wave.

This seemed to make everyone in Pingji City breathe a sigh of relief, as did Zhang Dunli and Mr. Zhangfu.

"Your Majesty!"

The emissary obviously only rode a few miles back and forth, but at this moment he was out of breath and collapsed in front of the hall, but he could speak neatly. "The Governor Li of Wu'an County asked me to bring a message to the Fu Jun. He will attack the city a quarter of an hour after he arrives at the city... At this time, he will have the friendship of colleagues. Even if the Fu Jun returns to his hometown or lives in peace with his family's wealth, this county The pawns can also be saved, if he encounters the Fujun after attacking the city, he will not be spared, and the county pawns will also be massacred to demonstrate, please think twice!"

Zhang Dunli had vaguely guessed that it might be Li Ding before, but he still didn't dare to believe it, and he didn't want to believe it. Now he knew that he should have reacted, but his mind was still full of puzzlement, shock and fear, so that he couldn't say no for a long time. Speak up.

But after the people around realized what had happened, it was impossible to let the prince continue to lose his composure.

"Fujun, no matter what, go to the city and have a look."

The captain beside him, Qi Ze, tried his best to persuade him. "If the enemy army comes from a long distance and is exhausted, then defend for a while, the general will try his best, but if the enemy army is tyrannical, and the lord is unwilling to resist, the general will do his best to protect the lord's family and prevent the other party from breaking their promises. Act of."

Zhang Dunli nodded, stood up vigorously, supported by the guards around him, and went directly to the north of the city regardless of the fact that the mansion's lower body was not yet in armor.When they arrived at the wall of the northern city, Li Ding's [-] military soldiers also arrived just in time, but they were arrayed in the north of the city.

Zhang Dunli leaned on the battlements to look, and saw that the opponent obviously lacked golden drums... Of course, it is impossible to carry so many bulky objects on such a long-distance raid... But the flags insisted on carrying them, and they were unfolded at this time, in different sizes and colors. Different, but only dance or stand still in the morning sun.

And with the continuous operation of the flag, without the golden drum, the 5000-man army who arrived along the official road unexpectedly settled down calmly, and formed a large and neat square formation just below the city.The soldiers in the phalanx either stood or sat, it was the outer defense, and the inner took the opportunity to rest and wear leather armor.In addition, spears, swords and shields, bows and crossbows are well arranged, and the front, back, left, and right are clearly distinguished.Unobstructed internal passages are also formed between the small and medium phalanxes.

Then Zhang Dunli saw the central general's flag slowly gathering on horseback, and the huge "Li" character was swaying in the breeze in the autumn morning.

"What can I do?" Zhang Dunli turned pale, and turned to look at Qi Ze beside him.

"It's all up to the Lord of the Palace." Although covered by a helmet, Captain Qi Ze, who witnessed the scene under the city, also turned pale. "But I have to tell you one thing...Li Fujun said that he launched an attack after arriving at the city for a quarter of an hour. It is not a lie. With such discipline and order in the army, as long as a master breaks through the city gate after a quarter of an hour, Wu'an will be defeated." Then the whole army can go into battle, and they can even hang ropes to climb the city from all sides... If the government lord wants to defend, he must order people to put down the heavy pendant of the city gate directly, and then the whole army will be fully defended on all sides!"

Zhang Dunli opened his mouth and wanted to speak.

At this time, there was a commotion in the city. Zhang Qi and Zhang Qi rushed to look, but they saw Li Ding leading the flag forward, and then a general in bright armor and a red cloak riding a bay red horse. Under the escort of the guards, he came straight to the front of the city.

After arriving in a short time, the two sides were only dozens of steps away. Zhang Dunli could see clearly that it was Li Ding, the governor of Wu'an County who had met several times before.

Seeing the latter coming to the city, Qi Ze reminded again in a low voice: "Your Majesty, ask him where he came from. Did he take a detour from Xindu? Was Yingtao surrounded by the Hejian army from Xindu?"

Zhang Dunli's mind was still a little messed up. Hearing the words, he just mustered up his courage and instinctively said, "Mr. Li, where are you from? Was Yingtao surrounded by the Hejian army from Xindu?"

"No." Li Ding replied calmly. "Although soldiers are not tired of deceit, today's incident was done by my family, and it did not rely on the soldiers and roads in Hejian... Yingtao was not besieged... I rushed all the way from Baixiang to this place."

Zize's expression changed immediately.

"Then..." Zhang Dunli came to his senses at this moment, but couldn't help being overjoyed. "Aren't you throwing yourself into a trap? If General Deng of Yingtao leads Youzhou cavalry to help, you will be crushed under the city."

"That's why I want to attack the city with all my strength, attack the city immediately, and attack the city with all my life. If you don't surrender, I will definitely order the whole family to be executed. No chickens or dogs will be left behind, as a deterrent." Li Ding raised his head. Answer calmly, as if talking about what to eat for lunch today.

Zhang Dunli shook, and the blood that had recovered a little quickly disappeared.

But soon, the person asked almost instinctively with resentment: "But Mr. Li, why is this so? You and I are both officials of the imperial court, and each guards a county. Why do you invade my border for no reason? Do random killings?"

As soon as he said a word, Zhang Dunli summoned up a lot of courage in an instant, and wanted to distinguish the truth before the battle, so that the other party would walk away in shame. Countless materials, famous sayings, and truths instantly came to mind, ready to be used.In other words, since he heard that the other party annexed Xiangguo, he has always had this deduction in his mind, thinking that he would be ashamed to criticize the other party after meeting.

Unexpectedly, when Li Ding heard the words, he didn't laugh or get angry, but continued to answer seriously with his head held high: "In troubled times, beside the couch, how can you allow others to sleep soundly?"

Zhang Dunli only felt a lump in his chest, and he choked back all the rationale.

Li Dingze stopped talking, just looked up at the sun, and waited quietly.

On the top of the silent city, the one who broke the silence was Captain Qi Ze, who asked again in a low voice: "Your Majesty...Should I surrender or fight? The battle can't be delayed any longer. Immediately put down the jackhammer to block the city gate... That Mrs. Zhang I'm afraid it has already become a pill, I really can't resist it."

Zhang Dunli just kept silent.

Qi Ze still wanted to talk, but when he looked down, he saw that his family's lord was fighting with each other, barely standing by leaning on the battlements. This local tyrant came from a so-called rebel army during the two years of chaos in Hebei The captain of Commandery Zhao was silent for a while, then suddenly turned his head and ordered: "Open the city gate, and tell Mr. Zhang to invite Mr. Li to enter."

Zhang Dunli glanced at this person, but didn't say anything.

The officer next to him was fine, seeing this scene, he hurried down just now.

As soon as the officer left, Zhang Dunli was relieved, but grabbed Qi Ze again: "Captain Qi will accompany me down to greet him."

Naturally, Qi Ze had nothing to say, so he rushed to help him, but he quickly reacted, pointing at the other person's lower body, and said, "Master, do you want to put on the armor skirt?"

Zhang Dunli was stunned for a moment, then embarrassed for a moment, but at this time the door was already opening downstairs, he couldn't help sighing: "Forget it, help me remove the armor on my upper body, I'm not expected to wear armor."

Qi Duwei is as good as others.

At noon, after entering Pingthorn City and settled down for a while, Li Ding immediately wrote a letter of appeal for help with Zhang Dunli's seal, and then sent someone to ask for help from Ying Tao Denglong, begging the other party to quickly come to Pingthorn City to attack on both sides. Wu Anzu, who was exhausted from the raid so far, was defeated in one battle, and Li Ding, the leader of the chaos, was captured alive.

But if it was too late, it would be difficult for Li Ding to attack Pingthorn City.