Outlaws of the Marsh

Chapter 708 Heavy Responsibility and Long Way to Go (Please Subscribe!)

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Although Zhao Gou hates Zongze and guards against Zongze, Zhao Gou still has to use Zongze.

Why?

Because, except for Zong Ze, the men and horses in Zhao Gou's hands were either unbearable to fight, or they were obedient to Zhao Gou's orders and unwilling to fight with the Chinese army or the Jin army.

Therefore, when he heard that the Chinese army was coming, the first thing Zhao Gou thought of was Zong Ze.

Zong Ze didn't disappoint Zhao Gou either, and directly summoned his troops to meet the enemy.

But although Zongze has nearly 20 troops in his hands, and there are more than ten years of defeated troops on the front line, Zhao Gou is still not very confident that Zongze can withstand the Chinese army.

Therefore, Zhao Gou ordered Jiangning Mansion (later Nanjing, Jiangsu Province) to repair the city and palaces, and prepare to welcome his southern fortune.

Of course, Zhao Gou ordered this order secretly. Only a few of Zhao Gou's cronies, such as Wang Boyan and Huang Qianshan, knew about it. Li Gang didn't know about it, and Zong Ze at the front didn't know about it.

After Zong Ze assembled his troops, he still collected a lot of defeated soldiers, and then slowly went north, preparing to fight the Chinese army.

Soon, the two armies met at the Bianhe River on the north side of Ningling Mansion.

The two sides first fought a few small battles that were not painful or itchy, and then the armies gathered on both sides of the Bian River.

On the northwest bank of the Bian River is the 25 Chinese Army led by Yang Yizhong, and on the southeast bank of the Bian River is the [-] Song Army led by Zong Ze.

In terms of military strength, it is natural that the Song army has an absolute advantage.

But the Song army had not all armored soldiers, and they were all infantry.

The Chinese army has strong armor and solid armor, as well as sharp weapons such as thunder vehicles, heartless cannons, and [-] cavalry.

Therefore, in terms of overall strength, there is not much difference between the two sides, at least, Zong Ze thinks so.

Zong Ze said to the generals under his command: "I have been dusted by the second emperor, and the daughter of the royal family has been humiliated, and I am so angry. Today I finally taught me to wait for the opportunity to avenge my hatred. How can I not serve the country with all my loyalty?"

Zong Ze was able to share the joys and sorrows with the soldiers in the army, so people were happy to use him.

Therefore, although the invincible Chinese army is on the other side of the river, the Song army is still cheered up and ready to fight to the death.

Zong Ze ordered his 10,000+ men to form a full formation of Ping Rong Wan.

This formation was made by Song Taizong Zhao Guangyi himself and awarded to the general.

This formation is composed of five armies, front, rear, left, middle and right. It is a large square formation about [-] miles square (this square formation is so deep that it can compress the space for enemy cavalry to maneuver). The main infantry is deployed in the center of the formation, and the chariots are strengthened. Form three battalions to enhance the infantry's defense and attack capabilities, and deploy the cavalry in the front, back, left, and right to serve as guards and cover the central formation.

All in all, this is a conservative defensive formation, to achieve the purpose of the Song army with infantry as the main force against the northern nomadic cavalry on the plain.

In addition, Zong Ze chose the formation created by Song Taizong Zhao Guangyi in this crucial battle, which also promoted their loyalty to the Song Dynasty.

On the other hand, the formation chosen by Yang Yizhong is the most commonly used attack formation, the conical formation - the conical formation with the thunderbolt car as the tip of the cone.

The war started at noon.

The Chinese army opened the way with flying gods and unconscionable cannons.

After forcibly blasting a gap in the Pingrong Wanquan formation of the Song Army, Benlei Che crossed the river on the flying bridge, and then entered the Pingrong Wanquan formation of the Song Army.

Seeing this, Zong Ze went forward with his own spear and personally took command of Shi Shishi, it can be said that he was not desperate.

No matter what!

The strength gap between the two sides is too great!
As soon as the Chinese Army's Benlei Chariot rushed into the Song Army's Pingrong Wanquan Formation, it went on a rampage, smashing the Song Army's Pingrong Wanquan Formation into pieces, and the Chinese Army's Ma Jun followed closely behind. , Soon Song Jun was killed and turned on his back.

Seeing this, Zong Ze hurriedly sent his chariot to meet the enemy.

But Zongze's chariot was too bulky, and the chariot was too bulky to operate, and it was very difficult for the militiamen to push and drive.

In this case, the civilian husband abandoned the car and fled after being attacked by the front and rear ends of Zhongqi.

Therefore, Zongze's chariot didn't work at all.

All in all, the two sides fought for less than an hour, and the winner was decided-under the fierce attack of the Chinese army, the Song army was completely defeated.

In the end, the vanguard Wang Xiaozhong fell from his horse with an arrow and died. Zong Ze fled south with the defeated soldiers. On the way, fearing that they would be chased by the Chinese army, Zong Ze and his deputy Quan Bangyan changed into white shirts and straw sandals, and followed the defeated soldiers to flee overnight. Go to Huainan.

Knowing that Zongze was defeated, without saying a word, Zhao Gou immediately took his family and fled to Yangzhou under the guard of Zhang Jun, preparing to go to Jinling to reorganize the mountains and rivers.

On the morning of the third day of Zhao Gou's accession to the throne, the vanguard of the Chinese army, that is, the Yao Xing Department, attacked Yingtian Mansion and turned it into Chinese territory.

Zhao Gou and others also managed Yingtian Mansion for several months, and Zhang Kui was good at managing money.

Therefore, Yao Xing and others really got a lot of good things in Yingtian Mansion, and the grain alone has more than 100 million shi.

In this way, Zongze's chariot came in handy and became a sharp weapon for the Chinese army to transport grain and supplies.

On the way, Zhao Gou heard about this and said to the left and right: "I see that Ze's chariot is not suitable for it. It is a waste of work and materials. If Ze doesn't listen, it is now the enemy."

It could be seen that Zhao Gou, who was gloating over Zong Ze's defeat, was not overly depressed.

Maybe, Zhao Gou felt that after such a big defeat, Zong Ze could no longer threaten his throne.

Zhao Gou fled all the way to Yangzhou, only to stop and breathe a sigh of relief.

Yangzhou has gradually become prosperous since the excavation of the Grand Canal in the Sui Dynasty. In the Tang Dynasty, it seemed to be the largest industrial and commercial city in the country, even surpassing Chang'an and Luoyang.

Zhao Gou took Yangzhou as his temporary capital and settled here temporarily.

But Yangzhou is north of the Yangtze River after all, and Zhao Gou knew that the Chinese army would have to fight here sooner or later.

Therefore, as soon as Zhao Gou settled down, he sent someone to escort his concubine to Hangzhou, south of the Yangtze River, where the natural danger of the Yangtze River was used as a barrier, so it was relatively safe.

But Zhao Gou himself stayed in Yangzhou, putting on an air of not forgetting to enter the Central Plains.

Li Gang helped Zhao Gou set up commanders' mansions, important counties, and secondary counties along the Yangtze River, Huai River, and rivers to strengthen defense: Xuzhou set up a Yanhe commander's mansion, Yangzhou set up a Yanhuai commander's mansion, Jiangning mansion set up a Yanjiang commander's mansion, and each road was dominated by civil servants. The appeasement envoy and the horse infantry are all in charge, and the military minister is the deputy.

But Zong Ze was defeated and fled to Jingchu, and then set up a defense line in Jingchu, threatening to swear that he would not pass the river.

However, although Zhao Gou, Li Gang, Zong Ze and others tried their best to pretend that they did not abandon the territory north of the Yangtze River, in fact, the Southern Song Dynasty had completely abandoned the territory north of the Yangtze River.

but--

This does not mean that everything from the north of the Yangtze River to the south of Yanqu is under the control of China.

Don't forget, the Jin people still occupy Yanyun and Hedong, and Wanyan Zonghan is still in Henan.

In addition, as the Southern Song Dynasty withdrew from the Central Plains, rebels and bandits rose up in the Central Plains, and there was chaos everywhere.

Therefore, Li Yan and China's civil and military officials still have a long way to go if they want to truly win the Central Plains.

……

(End of this chapter)