Chapter 566

Taizhou, Yangzhou, Yizheng, and Guabu are almost like a long snake lying on the banks of the Yangtze River.

Taizhou is in the east, followed by Yangzhou, Yizheng, and Guabu.

This is why Bian Hao didn't believe that Murong Xinchang could come to surprise him. Now that Zhao Kuangyin led the army to stand firm in Yizheng, Taizhou's Murong Xinchang had to bypass Yangzhou if he wanted to surprise the Southern Tang army that had just landed from Guabu.

This road is not close, it is less than two hundred miles away, and the surrounding population is densely populated, it is impossible to come and go without a trace like in the northwest and grasslands.

The Southern Tang army could use the local tyrants to set up short-distance sentry points everywhere. Zhou Jun's whereabouts would be discovered more than a dozen miles away.

Li Jingda also quickly adopted Bian Hao's suggestion, and he personally led the main force from Guabu to the east to besiege Yizheng.

A large number of civilian and military generals originally from the Eastern Capital were sent to collect people's hearts. While regaining the Eastern Capital, they also recruited athletes from various places and united rural soldiers to help in the battle.

It has to be said that at this time, Southern Tang's mobilization power in the core Huainan and Jiangnan East Roads is still very strong.

Before the officials of the Southern Tang Dynasty entered Yangzhou City, those Yangzhou officials who had taken refuge in Murong Nobunaga immediately turned their backs.

Feng Yanlu, the judge of Dongdu who hid in the temple, also appeared on the streets of Yangzhou with a bald head.

It turned out that this guy actually put on black clothes and shaved his hair to pretend to be a monk, so he escaped Zhou Jun's search.

This is also a clear proof of which side the people of Yangzhou, the eastern capital, are on. Feng Yanlu is hiding in Yangzhou, and Murong Nobunaga has offered rewards several times, but they can't catch him.

To fight Taizhou, Murong Nobunaga barely recruited less than [-] young men by threatening him with a knife.

However, Li Jingda of the Southern Tang Dynasty did not show up, so he sent several officials and generals, and immediately mobilized more than [-] athletes around Yangzhou, plus hundreds of thousands of grains, and thousands of boats and ships.

This time, Zhao Kuangyin, who was stationed in Yizheng, was under a lot of pressure.

About 50,000 people came across the river in the Southern Tang Dynasty. After Yangzhou was captured, another 30,000 people were mobilized within a few days.

Although most of them are poorly trained township soldiers, they are still amazing to watch, and it is still very useful to beat the side drums in a smooth battle.

This is also the reason why Zhao Kuangyin chose not to defend Yangzhou. In order to mobilize the Southern Tang Army, Murong Nobunaga had to divide his troops to attract them.

If the 3000 people who left him stick to Yangzhou, it is very likely that the hundreds of thousands of people in Yangzhou, plus athletes from surrounding counties, will be mobilized.

These Southern Tang people colluded internally and externally, and drowned his 3000 people alive in Yangzhou.

It was different in Yizheng. Zhao Kuangyin used a boat to transport [-] shi of grain down the river, so there was no shortage of grain. Yizheng was not far from the river, so he didn't worry about water.

As for the firewood for cooking, Yizheng City is still a small county with 3000 to [-] people. After burning its own firewood, it can demolish houses.

Of course, the most important reason is that there are no ghosts here, all of them are our own people, and we can calmly arrange defenses.

Zhao Kuangyin also had enough confidence in Murong Nobunaga and these ten thousand comrades. If the Southern Tang Dynasty really came with fifty thousand elite soldiers, it would be hard to say the outcome, or it would be very difficult to say.

But among the seven 80,000 people, there are less than [-] elites, so there is nothing to worry about.

On the eighth day of May, the main force of the Southern Tang Army was 150,000, and [-] township soldiers were recruited, plus [-] to [-] civilian husbands. The so-called [-] army surrounded Yizheng City from the east, west, and north.

Yizheng City showed its frailty. With four closed gates and two or three meters of earthen walls, surrounded by nearly 100,000 people, it stood alone by the spring-filled river, as if it was about to be captured. Like a thin sheep eaten by a tiger.

But, Li Jingda's 'tiger' is more like a fat cat. At the beginning of Weishi ([-] o'clock in the afternoon), the army began to gather in all directions, and the peasants and village soldiers began to set up camps.

But at the beginning of Youshi (five o'clock in the afternoon), not to mention setting up a stronghold, even many soldiers and civilians have not yet arrived at the designated positions.

Most of the villages are only surrounded by bamboo or wooden fences, and there are no stone walls or horses.

Li Jingda was also extremely dissatisfied, and he yelled at his personal guards to urge the officers of the battalions.

However, managing so many people is not an easy task. First of all, from his own perspective, he didn't arrange it well.

The personal guards held chicken feathers as arrows, and urged them with a fake tiger's prestige, which immediately made things even more chaotic.

In order to avoid the military law, the officers of each battalion robbed the materials that could be used to build a stronghold. In the end, they even scrambled for civilian husbands.

. . . .

If Li Jingda had clairvoyant eyes, he would have been shocked, because in Yizheng City, more than 2000 people had finished eating and drinking, and were putting on their armor.

Zhao Kuangyin was tightening the leather belt around the waist of a young cavalryman with two arms and long apes. The cavalryman looked at Zhao Kuangyin, who was not much older than him, and smiled.

"Lang Jiang, do you want to squeeze out the beef patty you just ate?"

Zhao Kuangyin lightly punched the breastplate on the young cavalryman's chest, his fat face was full of smiles.

"Eat some beef patties to see how beautiful you are. I heard that there are many delicacies in Jiangnan. After the army of Nanwu is wiped out, we invite you to eat the best Jiangnan cuisine!"

When I was in Hexi, there was actually no shortage of beef, because the Tibetans had a lot of long-haired cattle, and there were merchants who bought them, killed them and sold them.

But it is rare in the Central Plains, where cattle are the most important labor force.

In the current state of Zhou, if a family’s cattle died, they had to be reported to the head of the pavilion and village elders, and approved by the county magistrate before they could sell meat.

Generally, except when the army is about to fight a decisive battle, they can only eat a meal of air-dried beef to improve morale, Zhang Zhao doesn't have to eat it.

"Jiangnan not only has delicious food, but also beauties? A certain family doesn't like our big girls in Hexi. No matter how good-looking they are, they can choke to death when they speak. They are violent at home and like to fight.

Hearing that Jiangnan beauties are so gentle, a certain woman has saved up five pennies and will definitely marry one back! "

A small man who looked about seventeen or eighteen years old, while wearing his neck, said with a smile, his words immediately resonated.

In the eyes of these young people, Hexi women are really boring and ruthless, because the Hexi women they can marry with their status are basically well-connected in the family, and the status of both parties is basically equal.

And under the influence of father and brother, many Hexi women can wear armor and mount horses, and can also shoot arrows. They are very fierce, but of course they are not as gentle as Central Plains women and Jiangnan women.

Everyone was laughing and joking, and they didn't regard it as a big deal that they were going to raid tens of thousands of Southern Tang troops soon.

Because these cavalry are not ordinary people, [-]% of them are from Hexi, and more than [-]% are from Longyou, Hexi.

These Gua Sha'erlang are different from their father's generation. Their father's generation is a bit older after Zhang Zhaodong's return.

Moreover, he carried the identity of a traitor of the Zhang family on his back, so both his skills and his closeness to Zhang Zhao were problematic.

But they were different, Zhang Zhaodong was there when he returned, the youngest of these boys was six or seven years old, and the oldest was about ten years old.

Moreover, they suffered hardships when they were young, and then witnessed Zhang Zhao's rapid rise in their teenage years, and personally experienced the improvement of their own status. Now everyone has a bright future.

Therefore, whether it is the sense of closeness to Zhang Zhao or their own sense of pride and mission, it is very terrifying. In addition, they have received strict military training since childhood, and their combat effectiveness can be imagined.

Seeing that the soldiers under his command were all dressed up, Zhao Kuangyin was very happy on the surface, but his heart was churning.

Because he knew the reason Murong Xinchang left the young man to him.

It's not because these young people have the strongest willpower and can complete the task better, but because he, Zhao Kuangyin, can only command these young people.

In front of these young people, although Zhao Lang will be from Luoyang, the capital of the gods, he is Murong Nobunaga's "horse boy" and the first Central Plains native to serve in Hexi, and the saint admires him very much, so he can be regarded as half a Hexi people.

However, no matter whether it is the Yuan Cong faction, the Donggui faction, or the Conglong faction of Hexi Longyou, who is a little older, no one will really obey the command of Zhao Kuangyin, a white-faced young man.

Zhao Kuangyin took a deep breath. He knew that if he wanted to go further in a short time, the only way he could go was to become the adopted son of a saint, because in this way, he could convince the public.

However, Zhao Da asked his father Zhao Hongyin to ask all the relatives in the family, but there was no suitable beauty.

Uh, it's not that she didn't, it's just that she got married early and had several children.

Otherwise, he can also learn from Li Cunhui, present a beautiful aunt, and then he can be upgraded to a foster son.

Now that there are no beautiful aunts to 'sell', there is only one way.

Rely on military exploits!
. . . .

Xue Guizhong, who was born in Xinqiuci Sanjiao, was a small man, and slipped down from the nest cart used for observation like a macaque. As soon as he landed, he began to write and draw on the prepared white paper.

Zhao Kuangyin also led the officers above the head to surround them, and Xue Guizhong quickly drew the formation of the Southern Tang Army in the west.

"The rejecting horses on this side are the slowest to stand up. Now there is only a row of rejecting horses from here to here. On both sides of the rejecting horses, there are about two troops commanded by the army.

The flags in the formation were mixed, and they did not see the flags of the main force of the Southern Wu Imperial Army and the Jiangning Prefecture County Bingjian Health Army. Instead, they found a large number of flags of the Jing Navy.

If the coach of Nan Wu is not in the past, then the west is their weak point. "

The so-called Jing Haijun is of course not the Jing Haijun of the Southern Han Dynasty. In fact, the Southern Tang, Qianyue, and Nanhan families all set up the military title of Jing Haijun.

Of course, the Jinghai Navy in the Southern Han Dynasty was in the hometown of Jiaozhi. It was first established by the Tang Dynasty.

Qian Yue's Jinghai Navy is Wenzhou, known as Wenzhou Jinghai Jiedushi.

The Jinghai Navy of the Southern Tang Dynasty was in Nantong, Jiangsu Province in later generations, and although the Jinghai Navy of the Southern Tang Dynasty was only a government institution, it was actually a separatist regime in the Southern Tang Dynasty.

Because the predecessor of Jingjun Zhiyuan in the Southern Tang Dynasty was Dongzhou Township Envoy in the Tang Dynasty. Yao Cunzhi, the Township Envoy, separatist here for more than [-] years, always supported Yang Xingmi in the wars between Yang Xingmi, Sun Ru and Qian Liu.

After Xu Zhigao (Li Min) usurped the throne, Yao Cunzhi went to court in person and confirmed the Yao family's separatist status in the Southern Tang Dynasty.

You must know that Nantong is not far from Nanjing. In such a close place, there is a semi-separatist regime, and the Southern Tang court cannot be unprepared.

Therefore, Jing Haijun's supplementary equipment and salary in Nantang are at the bottom.

The Yao family's land of Jinghai and three counties can't afford too many soldiers and horses, not to mention soldiers, even cowhide armor, and the most elite is about 1000 people.

What's more, they are better at water battles. If they are head-to-head on land, their combat effectiveness will be very low.

All eyes turned to Zhao Kuangyin. Only he can make this decision.

Zhao Da, who was 19 years old, had a calm face, but he was too nervous. He quickly went through Li Jingda's information in his mind, and then he showed a confident look on his face.

"Li Jingda is mediocre! He definitely doesn't have the ability to cast doubts. Even if he has, the chaos of the Southern Wu army outside the city is too realistic, isn't it?"

When he said that, all the soldiers around laughed, yes!Even if it's a disguise, it's not as serious as the Southern Wu military uniform!
As soon as the laughter fell, Zhao Kuangyin's face turned serious, and he reached out and pointed at the sketch drawn by Xue Guizhong.

"In my opinion, the left and middle battalions will attack, and all members of the right battalion will be equipped with hard bows and magic arm bows to respond.

We attacked from the due west and penetrated the southern Wujing naval position, and the right battalion responded to the east. "

"Here!" The officers hurriedly crossed their hands in response, no matter how laughing and joking in front of them, but in the military discussion, no one is allowed to laugh at anyone.

Zhao Kuangyin's face is also getting older and darker, and he already has the temperament of a famous general.

"Let's say it in advance, this time we are outnumbered, and we must attack according to the agreed route.

If anyone kills and kills the head and has no discipline, don't look at you as the most confidant warriors of the saints, you can also be used to seize ranks and beheaded.

Military law is ruthless, even I, Zhao Dalang, are no exception. "

. . . .

Xue Guizhong was right. To the west were more than [-] people from Jing Haijun Yao Yanhong, plus more than [-] United Township soldiers.

Zhao Kuangyin also guessed right, how could Li Jingda have the ability to set up suspicious formations, not only did he not know how to set up suspicious formations, he didn't even think that the 3000 people in the city would dare to go out of the city to attack him.

Yao Yanhong was deployed to the west of the Southern Tang Dynasty, and his commander's tent was placed on the right side of the army.

The reason why it is not placed in the middle according to the regulations is because the Yangtze River is on the right side. In case something goes wrong, my envoy Yao Dajun can get on a boat and escape immediately.

Although this master is a second-generation army man, he has a lot of shadows about war.

This shadow comes from the fifth year of Liang Zhenming (919), a great battle between Southern Tang and Qian Yue.

This is also the last of the three battles between Nantang and Qian Yue for Wuzhong. The Southern Tang army was defeated on the river south of Jinghai.

Peng Yanzhang, the governor of Shuzhou in the Southern Tang Dynasty, committed suicide. Yao Yanhong's elder brother Yao Yangui and more than [-] Southern Tang generals were captured.

What's even more frightening is that among the more than [-] captured generals in the Southern Tang Dynasty, there were more than [-] members of the Yao family. It can be said that the clan has lost all talents.

Back then, Yao Yanhong personally experienced the disastrous defeat that almost caused his father Yao Cunzhi to commit suicide, and he also remembered the tragedy of Dai Xiao in his family.

Even his elder brother Yao Yangui has never been released, and died in Qianyue a few years ago.

Since then, a deep fear of war has been planted in Yao Yanhong's heart.

In history, after the Zhou army attacked the Southern Tang Dynasty, after the Zhou army captured Yangzhou, Li Jing ordered Yao Yanhong to go west to rescue. Yao Yanhong simply abandoned his home with more than [-] people and went to Qian Yue. His fear of war is evident.

With this fear of war, Yao Yanhong drank a large amount of wine before it was dark, and he couldn't sleep without drinking!
However, to be honest, Yao Yanhong's camp was the fastest in the Southern Tang army.

Because Jing Haijun's territory is small, the thousands of people under him have been with him all year round, and they are all fellow villagers or even relatives. It may not be possible to deploy defensive formations, but there is still a tacit understanding in camping.

After setting up camp, it’s time to eat. At this time, China has been in chaos for nearly 200 years, and its products have plummeted. The three-meal system that had begun to rise in the Tang Dynasty was forced to change back to the two-meal system.

Therefore, this 'dinner' eaten in the afternoon is extremely important to people at this time, especially civilians.

The Jinghai soldiers and the Tuanjie township soldiers on Yao Yanhong's side started to fetch water and cook. Other soldiers of the Southern Tang Army saw it and clamored to cook.

Li Jingda had no choice but to let them stop building the camp, and smoke began to rise from the camp.

Zhao Kuangyin was overjoyed when he saw the rising smoke from the Southern Tang army formation at the top of the city, and he was waiting for this opportunity.

With a sudden wave of his hand, the south gate of Yizheng City opened wide, and Zhao Kuangyin personally led the army out of the city.

However, the place where the Southern Tang army camped was still about a mile away from Yizheng City. The Zhou army who left the city did not directly mount their horses, but led the horses out of the city.

They did not mount until they were about half a mile away, so as to save horsepower.

This is where the quality of an army comes into play. Not only do you have to walk with armor on, know how to save horsepower, but you must also have the ability and discipline to mount a horse.

Half a mile away, Zhao Kuangyin's personal guards unleashed a red flag of equipment shock, and the two thousand cavalry of the Zhou army immediately began to help each other mount their horses.

Dressed in light armor and using horse bows as their main means of output, cavalry archers immediately assisted the shock cavalry wearing cotton armor one-on-one to mount.

After the shock cavalry got on their horses, they began to press forward slowly, and only then did the horse archers start to mount themselves.

At this time, the shock cavalry could not start running wildly, because there was still half a mile to go, but the horse archers who got on their horses could start to accelerate slowly.

Amidst the sound of horseshoes, a thousand cavalry archers, under the guidance of three large flags, suddenly accelerated and began to charge at two hundred paces.

Although Nantang Jingjun saw it when Zhou Guocai went out, the responsible grassroots officers also reported the situation.

But Yao Yanhong, an envoy with war stress disorder, still moved a little slower.

By the time he issued the order to withdraw and stand firm in the camp, the cavalry archers led by the three brothers Xue Guizhong, Yang Guizhong, and Zheng Guizhong had already rushed to the front of Jing Haijun's army.

At this moment, most of Jing Haijun's soldiers are waiting to eat, not to mention that they don't have any armor, even if they have armor, not many people can put on armor so quickly.

Moreover, after waiting for a long time, they still didn't eat the food. Many people were hungry, how could they have the thought to fight.

Therefore, this wave of 1000 people's cavalry archers was originally to test, but it actually played the effect of shocking cavalry.

Jing Haijun's barracks seemed to be made of tofu, and a huge gap was directly cut by 1000 people.

Xue Guizhong spread his wings like an eagle, and the unarmored soldiers of the Jing Navy fell to the ground one after another. Looking at the neatly built camp, it seemed to be nothing at all.

The soldiers set off a wave of fleeing people, and amidst the screams of crying father and mother, they ran around like waves.

As a separatist regime for decades, still in the Southern Tang Dynasty and Qian Yue's front line of the Jing Haijun, the main force is not many, it is Yao Yanhong's thousand teeth soldiers.

Although Yao Yanhong's first reaction was to run, his subordinates stopped him.

The first reaction of these generals and soldiers was, don’t be kidding, there are more than a thousand riders coming from the opposite side. If this is the case, our camp of more than [-] people will be broken through, and the coach will be beaten and fled to the river. Then how will they hang out in the future?
However, when the strength of Zhou Guo's iron cavalry was multiplied by the strength of Qian Yue's army, the Jinghai Yajiang Yabing soldiers were assembled, and the running soldiers and village soldiers were organized, they immediately became paralyzed.

Because at this time Xue Guizhong's thousand cavalry archers had swept across their barracks like a whirlwind, and when they came out, even the horse's buttocks were almost invisible.

And what they happened to meet was a thousand shock cavalry led by Zhao Kuangyin himself.

A Jingjun military academy looked at Zhao Kuangyin who was rushing forward in a white cloth-covered iron armor. He raised his hand and shot an arrow, but then his eyes suddenly widened.

Because the arrow was bounced off directly, and Zhao Kuangyin also noticed the military academy, he roared angrily, and shot out the horned crossbow in his hand.

The short crossbow, with a trace of white light, suddenly pierced into the chest of the military academy.

The cowhide armor of the military academy couldn't stop the arrows from the crossbow with one stone and eight power horns. He could only watch helplessly as the shaft of the crossbow sank into his chest and then disappeared.

Like a military academy being beaten in the air, he threw away the longbow in his hand, and quickly grabbed the place where the crossbow arrow disappeared just now, as if trying to dig out the crossbow arrow.

But after only grabbing it twice, he spun weakly, and then fell heavily on the ground. Within a few breaths, he even lost the ability to scream.

At the same time, brilliant flames flashed, and it turned out that the front shock cavalry had ignited the pear blossom guns in their hands.

The nearest Jing Haijun was sprayed on the head, and in an instant, his face was sprayed with iron sand wrapped in the pear blossom gun into a standard pockmarked face.

After inhaling a mouthful of choking poisonous smoke, he fell to the ground with a scream. The poisonous smoke, iron sand, and intense burning made him so painful that he could barely breathe.

Dutou, who fell on the ground, writhed back and forth like a fish landing on the shore. His hands were shaped like chicken feet, and scratches were scratched on the ground. Only opening the fingernails that he scratched could not relieve him from being caught by at least four rods of pear blossoms. Pain sprayed from the front of the gun.

The soldiers of Jing Haijun had never seen this formation before. They were no strangers to gunpowder, because Yang Xingmi had soldiers with gunpowder in his command back then, but they had never seen anyone who could make gunpowder so terrible.

The pear flower gun opened the way, the horned bow and crossbow shot, the horses and sabers hacked randomly, Zhao Kuangyin led a thousand shock cavalry, and immediately dispelled Jing Haijun's weak resistance.

Relying on his feeling, Zhao Kuangyin rushed to Jing Haijun's central army. These soldiers are so weak, it is better to capture their commander.

But immediately, Zhao Kuangyin met Xue Guizhong who looked shocked.

Xue Guizhong looked at Zhao Kuangyin furiously, "Damn it, the commander of Jing Haijun is not in the Chinese army!"

Zhao Kuangyin was also speechless. Only then did he realize that the most suitable position for the Chinese army to command did not have the banner and canopy of the commander.

"This is such a terrible coach! Do you have any military knowledge?"

While the two were complaining, the sound of drums sounded. Although Li Jingda was a little incompetent, the imperial army of the Southern Tang Dynasty and the healthy army guarding Jiangning were not incompetent.

Li Jingda only needed to give a symbolic order, and Bian Hao commanded thousands of forbidden troops, healthy troops and thousands of prefectural and county soldiers to gather.

At the same time, hundreds of cavalry from the Imperial Army rushed out ahead of time, and they were going to block Zhao Kuangyin and others' route back to the city.

Zhao Kuangyin spat hard, and immediately turned the horse's head, and Shuai Qi also changed direction immediately. According to the original plan, they were going to charge back.

hum!Zhao Kuangyin sneered for a while, trying to stop Lao Tzu from returning to the city, but Lao Tzu never thought of going back to the city at this time.

The fun has just begun!

(End of this chapter)

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