Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 373 0368 [Han Shizhong as the Pioneer]

The Western Army's suppression of thieves was also divided into three groups: East, West, and Central.

Liu Yanqing, the main general of the East Road, went to Fengxiang for a meeting, and Yang Weizhong, the deputy general, led the army southward.

Wang Yuan and Han Shizhong were also in the army. Wang Yuan commanded 3000 troops, and Han Shizhong commanded 500 troops. The two were directly subordinate and subordinate.

Han Shizhong made many contributions when he conquered Fangla and Liao.Now there is only one Cheng Jielang, a mere ninth-rank military officer, and belongs to the second-to-last rank among the ninth rank.

Yang Weizhong and Wang Yuan helped him obtain this official rank, and it was not a normal promotion due to merit.

In comparison, the fledgling Wu Jie is different.Captured a leader during the conquest of Fangla, and defeated a group of Hebei bandits during the conquest of Liao. Wu Jie was promoted to Zhongxun Lang because of his meritorious service. Jilu Guan was four ranks higher than Han Shizhong, and he was already No. soldiers three thousand).

In fact, there is not much difference in the backgrounds of the two, and Wu Jie is even more bitter (the boy lost his father and lived in a foreign land).

But the fate of life cannot be judged by common sense, it often depends on luck.

The troops from the East Route of the Western Army set up camp in Zhouzhi (Zhouzhi), and Han Shizhong went to find Wang Yuan: "It's already Zhouzhi, why do we have to go south from the Tangluo Road? And give me 1000 people to attack Yangzhou from Ziwu Valley." Yes, you can also go to Jinzhou."

Wang Yuan shook his head: "Ziwu Valley is too difficult to walk, only a small number of soldiers and horses can make a surprise attack. If the bandits are stationed in dangerous places, it is difficult for this group of surprise soldiers to advance."

Han Shizhong said: "You have to take a risk and try."

Wang Yuan sighed: "Oh, since you insist, go talk to Yang Dutong."

Wang Yuan took him to see Yang Weizhong, and Han Shizhong explained his purpose: "Dutong, it's hard to go no matter which way, Ziwu Valley may be able to succeed in a surprise attack."

Yang Weizhong asked: "So what if the surprise attack is successful? If one or two thousand elites are killed, even if they can win the real talisman or Shiquan County, how will it help the overall battle situation? By that time, you will be trapped in the two counties, and you will lose the elite soldiers in vain. !"

Han Shizhong was full of confidence: "As long as I succeed in a surprise attack on a county town, I will be able to shake up Zhu Thief's rear!"

"Don't say any more, go back and lead the troops." Yang Weizhong terminated the conversation.

Han Shizhong had no choice but to leave resentfully, not daring to have any words of resentment in his heart.If it weren't for Yang Weizhong's support, he wouldn't even be Cheng Jielang, let alone become a conductor, and he is probably still a leader now.

Although Yang Weizhong is a Han Chinese, he was born in the Liao Kingdom and belongs to half of the "Fan people".

His mother is the daughter of the Xiao family of the Liao Kingdom!
With such a sensitive identity, being able to manage the economy and control the capital is enough to see its brilliance.

Yang Weizhong once led thousands of people to defend the city against the Empress Dowager Liang's hundreds of thousands of troops. He stood there for fourteen days and waited for reinforcements, defeating the Xixia army and leaving.

Watching Han Shizhong leave, Yang Weizhong sighed.

The Western Army suffered heavy losses during the expedition against Liao. Although the Eastern Route Army now has 3 people, nearly [-]% of them are temporary recruits.

Although they have been trained for several months, their combat effectiveness is better than that of rural soldiers.Moreover, there is a serious shortage of armor, and the weapons and equipment are far inferior to the regular Western Army.

If you want to surprise Meridian Valley, you have to send an elite army to carry it out.

There are only a few thousand elite soldiers under Yang Weizhong, each of them has to be used wisely, how dare they throw it to Han Shizhong to take risks?
After more than half a month of stationing troops in Yulu, the imperial court finally issued an order that the Third Route Western Army could march.

Liu Yanqing rushed to Yangzhou from Tangluo Road with Wang Yuan as the vanguard general.

Wang Yuan and Han Shizhong led [-] troops ahead. There were no rebels to block them along the way, but bandits were everywhere in the mountains and forests.

Those bandits were all Shaanxi people who fled into the mountains, and many of them belonged to the Western Army.

Wang Yuan and Han Shizhong wiped out the bandit village near the main road all the way, and countless bandits fled deeper into the forest.They don't dare to take the lead for the time being, but as soon as the main force of the government and army passes by, the bandits will come out to rob the food transport team.

Going south from the Tangluo Road, there are old roads and new roads. Anyway, they are defended by rebels.

Huaishu Pass on the west side was already dilapidated, and Zhu Guoxiang sent people to re-strengthen it.In Jinshui Town to the east, several forts were temporarily built.

Wang Yuan and Han Shizhong led the army to approach Jinshui Town, and there were still more than ten miles away when smoke billowed from the top of the mountain.

One place after another, the smoke rose one after another.

The guard here is Wang Xiong, who is also the prototype of Bingguan Suo Yangxiong in "Water Margin".

Wang Xiong has [-] soldiers under his command, all recruited on the spot. The sources of soldiers are gold miners, mountain farmers, hunters, bandits and escapees.It has been a full eight months of practice, and the armor is ready, just waiting for the officers and soldiers to come over.

Wang Yuan went up to the nearby hills to observe, and returned to the camp and said: "There are three villages here. The main village is built next to the mountain and the river, and the two auxiliary villages are built on the top of the hill. They are easy to defend and difficult to attack. It is difficult for our pioneers to attack. Next, we have to wait until the main force of the army arrives."

Han Shizhong said: "Catch a few people in the mountains and see if they can find out where there is a trail, or go around and attack and seize the village from behind."

"You can try, but don't force it." Wang Yuan reminded.

Han Shizhong's mental state is very wrong, he is already crazy about making meritorious service and promotion.

The more he was robbed of military merits, the more he wanted to prove himself, so he was eager to fight, and he lost his composure long ago.

Han Shizhong took his soldiers to search the mountains and found that the nearby villages were empty.

"Commander," a soldier came out of the hut and reported, "the ashes in the stove are still hot. It may be that they saw the wolf smoke, and all the people in the nearby mountains fled. They fled in a hurry. Although they took food, their clothes and I can’t even take care of farm tools.”

Unable to catch the mountain people as guides, Han Shizhong could only reconnaissance himself.

The valley to the north of Jinshui Town is slightly flatter, but the three sides of the Zhaibao are steep mountains.

Han Shizhong wandered around in the mountains for two days, but he couldn't find a path to go around. Instead, he was discovered by the rebels standing guard on the top of the mountain, who threw more than a dozen rolling stones and injured one person.

Another day later, Yang Zhi arrived with reinforcements.

Zhang Guangdao commanded the Jinzhou army, Yang Zhi commanded the Yangzhou army, and Zhu Ming himself was in Hanzhong.

"How many are here?" Yang Zhi asked.

Wang Xiong said: "Two or three thousand officers and soldiers are probably the pioneers. They are stationed in the mountain nest several miles ahead. I sent people to investigate. The camp is very secure, and there are people guarding day and night."

Yang Zhi personally went to investigate the situation, but he couldn't find any loopholes in the enemy's stronghold, so he swaggered and led his troops to kill them.

Han Shizhong, who was eager to fight, stood on the top of the hill, carefully observed the situation of the rebel army, and ran back to Wang Yuan and said: "There are at least five or six thousand rebel soldiers, and the army is neat, not chaotic, and well-equipped. We, the three thousand vanguard, Without heavy armor and coming from a long distance, I am afraid it will not be easy to win, so we have to abandon the camp and retreat to the mountains."

"Then withdraw." Wang Yuan's expression was serious.

The two didn't bring many civilians with them, and naturally there was little food, so they quickly retreated to the dangerous place on the mountain to defend.

Seeing this, Yang Zhi was also helpless, and ordered: "Burn down the enemy's camp, and burn the vegetation on the nearby mountains. All the trees that can be cut down on the hills north of Jinshui Town, don't leave them for the enemy to make equipment."

In this way, Yang Zhi led his troops to guard the valley, sent some soldiers to burn down the camps of the officers and soldiers, and asked the peasants to hide behind and go up the mountain to cut trees.

It is estimated that after this battle, the hills several miles to the north will all become bare.

"Let's go." Wang Yuan sighed.

The officers and soldiers retreated from the other side of the mountain, retreated several miles away, and chose a dangerous place to re-campaign.

Han Shizhong said: "The Zhu bandits are not like Fang La. I don't know how many elite bandits they have trained. If there are [-] bandits like this, plus some auxiliary soldiers, it will be difficult for [-] Western troops to break through Jinshui Town."

Wang Yuan said: "Maybe it's just a few thousand. It's only been half a year. Even if the soldiers can be trained, the Zhu thief doesn't have so many soldiers."

Han Shizhong said depressedly: "If it wasn't for the loss of troops in the Liao Kingdom, with the original strength of the Western Army, I would have met the enemy and fought just now! More than half of our [-] pioneers are recruits, and they have not been trained before bringing them to battle."

The Rebel Army can practice all the time, but the recruits of the Western Army cannot.

The winter is too cold, and there is not enough food. After the spring, there is still not enough food.

Including the veterans, they can only eat half full every day, and occasionally gather to practice military formations hungry.There is no way to do physical training, and there is no food to eat, which will definitely make the soldiers tired.

It was not until the new wheat was harvested that the soldiers of the Western Army began to have enough to eat.

Moreover, they didn’t have enough food for a few days, and the main generals from all walks of life ordered to save military rations, because even if no one cheated and embezzled, the newly harvested wheat would not last for a few months.

How is it possible that no one is corrupt?

Ten days later, Liu Yanqing personally led the army to arrive, and when he learned of the situation, he scolded Wang Yuan, thinking that the vanguard had lost the spirit of the officers and soldiers.

Yang Weizhong helped to smooth things over, and after calming down the atmosphere, he asked, "Is there really thousands of elite bandits?"

Wang Yuan replied: "Just watching his march, he is no longer defeated by the Western Army."

"How about Bingjia?" Yang Weizhong asked again.

Wang Yuan said: "I sent some soldiers to observe closely. There are very few heavy armors, and most of them are light armors. In addition to leather armors, there are some chain armors and many rattan armors. There may be paper armors and cloth armors, but the distance Too far away to see clearly."

Han Shizhong said: "The weapons of the bandits are also very strange. There are many long bamboos."

Liu Yanqing said: "According to the officials who fled back, that kind of bamboo is called wolf millet, but I don't know what it is used for."

Han Shizhong said: "The wolf tail is very long and has many branches, which can disturb the soldiers in the front row, but it is definitely useless when encountering elites."

Yang Weizhong said: "The hills near Jinshui Town were all burned and cut down. The army first set up camp here, and after building siege equipment, the whole army moved closer to camp and attack the village."

The walls of the village are not high, and the terrain is rugged. Large siege equipment cannot be used, and only simple flying ladders can be made.

Some return guns were also built, and Liu Yanqing also brought special shells, which could burn violently or release poisonous smoke when thrown.

After a delay of nearly 20 days, the Eastern Army of the Western Army slowly moved towards Jinshui Town.

At the same time, news was sent from the rear that the food transport team often encountered bandits in the mountains.

Liu Yanqing only sent [-] soldiers to go back, and set up transfer stations at various places along the Tangluo Road, and each grain transport team sent at least [-] to [-] soldiers to escort them.

When the Western Army arrived at Jinshui Town, the three fortresses became stronger.

Many pits were dug around the fort, and the pits were filled with sharpened bamboo and wood.

The heightened and thickened wall of the main village has four iron cannons!
This place is not far from the Han River, and it can be transported through tributaries, so it is very convenient to transport troops, food and artillery.

However, half of the grain and grass of the Western Army had to be consumed during transportation through the difficult and dangerous Tangluo Road.

(End of this chapter)