Elegy of Tang Dynasty

Chapter 521 Blackmail
The temperature in the north is relatively dry at night. The cool breeze makes people want to lean back on a recliner and look up at the stars.

In the Silver Spear Filial Piety Army camp, the local young men who were "putting on skins" to play the role of soldiers had already gone back to their tents to sleep. However, the real soldiers were on intense patrols, not daring to relax for even a moment.

Fang Zhongyong took two of his personal soldiers and walked around the camp. He came to the camp gate and looked into the distance. He saw the city of Xindu in the distance, brightly lit. From a distance, it looked like a giant beast with flames on.

To be honest, Fang Chongyong was a little worried that his method of "solid outside and hollow inside" would be discovered by others.

Fortunately, the defender of Xindu City was an incompetent man who was frightened by the Silver Spear Xiaojie Army's repeated sieges and captures of cities and strongholds, so he failed to organize a good defense.

At this time, a scout led a horse across the pontoon bridge and arrived at the camp gate. When he saw Fang Zhongyong was there, he clasped his fists and saluted, saying, "General, there is no unusual movement in Xindu City."

"Go take a rest, it's time for a shift change."

Fang Chongyong nodded slightly and said.

This news was expected, but it still made him a little disappointed.

It must be said that this Jizhou governor is indeed a bit cowardly.

I guess you can forget about arguing over a fight, as the other party won't show up.

Although Xindu was short of military strength, it was indeed an important city in Hebei.

If the Silver Spear Xiaojie Army could capture Xindu, no matter what lousy tricks they used, it would break Huangfu Weiming's last string, making him furious and mad, and he would return to southeastern Hebei at all costs to encircle and suppress Fang Chongyong.

In this way, the battle objective has been basically achieved, and there is no need to continue sailing along the canal.

However, although his idea was good, the Jizhou governor was unwilling to cooperate, which was really a pity.

Even though the Silver Spear Filial Piety Army is now attacking everywhere and is in great glory, the grain ships supporting logistics are still on the Yongji Canal, and there are not many troops guarding there.

If someone chases him along the canal, Fang Zhongyong will be in big trouble.

This is also the reason why he has been targeting the county town.

Following the principle of "surrounding the cities from the countryside", we should fight quickly and easily, minimize casualties and maximize impact.

It’s just that fighting at such a high intensity puts a lot of pressure on us.

This is true for both Fang Zhongyong and the Silver Spear Filial Piety Army.

Fang Zhongyong sighed softly and hid his thoughts, not daring to tell anyone.

Soon, another scout came hurriedly from the south. He found Fang Chongyong, clasped his fists and reported: "General, the bandit army in Qinghe County, Beizhou has not taken any action, and there are no grain ships at the ferry. They seem to be waiting for food and grass. Thousands of cavalry have rushed to Qinghe from Liaocheng and built stables outside the city. And there is..."

The scout hesitated, as if he had something to hide.

"Tell me, is the ferry crossing south of Liaocheng blocked?"

Fang Zhongyong asked calmly.

"That's true, Marshal. They also dismantled the pontoon bridge. I estimate that there are one to two thousand people in the camp."

The scout said honestly.

The Tang army camped in small camps with 500 men each. The camps were connected but separated, and arranged in a clever way. One could estimate the size of the army just by looking at the shape and size of the camps.

Of course, in every era there are old coins that like to "reduce the number of camps" to confuse the opponent, so judging the number of troops from the size of the camp is not absolutely accurate.

The retreat was cut off, which should be expected and reasonable. If the Hebei rebels can't even think of this conventional routine, then they should really give up and go home to farm. It's safer.

Fang Chongyong nodded silently, realizing that the pursuers had predicted his route of advance, but had guessed wrong.

He returned to the commander's tent alone and looked at the map of Hebei supported by a wooden frame. One place was specially marked:

Cangzhou, Dongguan County, Baiqiao Town!

This is another material distribution center on the Yongji Canal.

Along the way, the Silver Spear Xiaojie Army had no shortage of food and fodder, and there was even so much that they could even open their granaries to release food.

But the consumables of weapons, such as kerosene and arrows, were in short supply. If they could not get replenishment there, they would inevitably be hesitant in the subsequent battles.

Fang Zhongyong led the Silver Spear Xiaojie Army out of the canal and headed north to Jizhou. This was a risky move, but it was also a clever move to mobilize the Hebei rebels. If they just kept going north along the canal, then there would definitely be smart people who could guess their marching route.

That's right, this route is almost the same as the route taken by Lin Fengxiang and Li Kaifang's troops during the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's Northern Expedition. History has proven that if a lone army advances deep into the enemy's territory, the limit is to reach the mouth of the Haihe River (i.e. the area around Tianjin).

Fang Chongyong knew his own strengths and weaknesses very well. He could not go to Youzhou. He had to stop while he was ahead after reaching Haihe River.

He sat on a cushion and looked at the map, thinking about the possible interception routes of the Hebei rebels. He stood up from time to time and made marks on the map.

"The troops guarding Youzhou will definitely move south along the Yongji Canal to block the way."

"There are also the Huihe people. Huangfu Weiming can let them participate. They seem to have a deep grudge against me."

"When winter comes, the canal will freeze over, and it will be impossible to fly back, so we must return within two months, or at least get back to the Yellow River."

Fang Chongyong wrote them down one by one on paper, fearing that he would forget them.

They didn't sleep all night, and Che Guangqian and others didn't lead anyone back to the camp.

By the time of Mao, Fang Chongyong could no longer bear it and fell asleep on the table.

He had a long dream.

The dream was filled with decisive killing, swords and horses, and endless blood.

In the dream, there was a beautiful girl who took off her clothes and lay on the bed, asking for sex. Her smooth skin felt like silk, and the wonderful touch seemed to be real.

He dreamed that he became the supreme emperor, but at the end of the dream, his head was chopped off!
The whole world turned red.

"Jie Shuai? Jie Shuai?"

Feeling someone gently pushing his shoulder, Fang Zhongyong raised his head sleepily and found that it was Che Guangqian calling him.

"Is it settled?"

Fang Chongyong stretched lazily, glanced at the table inadvertently, and was immediately shocked!

There is a human head with messy hair on it!

"who is this?"

Fang Zhongyong tried his best to calm himself down and asked doubtfully.

"General Jie, didn't you say that you wanted to see the head of the Wuqiang County Magistrate before dark today?

This is it.”

He Changqi quickly explained.

"Oh, oh, I see."

Fang Chongyong wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and took a deep breath. He had already remembered this.

I think I said this when I issued the military order last night.

But isn't it just for showing off? There's no need to really put the head of the Wuqiang County magistrate on the table. Just kill the man. Why make it so formal?

Fang Chongyong was a little dissatisfied, but he didn't feel comfortable expressing it.

"By the way, what's his name?"

Fang Chongyong suddenly remembered that among all the counties in Jizhou, only this county magistrate refused to open the city gates in the face of persuasion to surrender, and his attitude was clear.

Che Guangqian thought about it, but didn't remember, and didn't ask when the city was captured.

He Changqi said something truthful: "Jie Shuai, he is just a county magistrate. Who knows his name? There are more than 1,600 county magistrates in the Tang Dynasty. If he is like this, he will be dead. Who will remember him?"

Fang Chongyong looked at the head on the table and couldn't help but sigh. In the face of the general trend, the county magistrate was just a slightly larger ant.

In this era, ants cannot leave their names behind.

"General, although the magistrate of Wuqiang County is very aggressive, he has no ability to defend the city. The brothers quietly climbed up the city wall under the cover of night and opened the city gate without much effort. There is nothing much to say about what happened next.

According to the orders of the military commander, we killed all the officials in the county government and brought back their heads. We left two hundred people to open the warehouses and release the grain, and that was it. "

Che Guangqian gave a concise introduction to the process of breaking the city, but it was really unremarkable.

There was an important dividing line in the height of the county walls in the Tang Dynasty, which was the Anshi Rebellion.

After the An-Shi Rebellion, due to the separatist regimes, cities in various places strengthened their original city walls, and even built "outer city walls" outside the original city walls. Of course, in the precarious era, the heightened parts were basically made of earth walls. Only large cities like Yangzhou and Chengdu had large brick walls.

Before this, the county town’s walls were very low and could only protect against thieves.

Fang Chongyong felt nothing in his heart, he just felt sorry for the county magistrate on the table.

He had no intention of killing anyone, but if someone just wanted to die, there was really nothing he could do.

If we don't kill the stubborn ones, we won't be able to deter people. If we are kind but not powerful, the locals who have received the benefits will turn their kindness into hatred.

Such is human nature.

At this moment, a personal soldier came in, whispered a few words in Fang Chongyong's ear, then stepped aside and waited for instructions.

"Bring it in."

Fang Zhongyong waved his hand gently and said to Che Guangqian and others, "Look, the city of Xindu has sent an envoy."

Everyone sneered.

If you don't want to fight, then don't fight. Sending an envoy is already a sign of cowardice. People who live on the edge of a knife would never do such a thing unless it was for a trick.

Fang Zhongyong didn't despise him and sat down with his horse and sword in his hands.

When the messenger entered the room and saw the head on the table, his expression changed slightly and cold sweat covered his forehead.

He didn't even dare to look at Fang Zhongyong.

"Who are you? Tell me your name!"

Fang Zhongyong asked with narrowed eyes and unfriendly tone.

"Xindu County Magistrate Jia Shen pays homage to Marshal Fang Jie."

The man saluted Fang Zhongyong with his arms crossed. He was only in his forties, and his face was full of frost. It was obvious that his career was not very successful. I don't know if it was because it was very dangerous to enter the Silver Spear Filial Piety Army camp this time, but this man looked very haggard.

"Do you know this person?"

Fang Chongyong pointed at the head on the table, which looked a bit strange and ferocious, and asked.

"I know him, Zhang Tongyou, the magistrate of Wuqiang County."

Jia Shen nodded slightly and said, although his face looked calm, some micro-expressions revealed that he was very uneasy inside.

"Tell me, Su Youde sent you here to give some advice to this commander?"

Fang Zhongyong asked with a hint of impatience.

"Envoy Su wants to ask Marshal Fang Jie."

Jia took a deep breath and continued, "What do you want me to do in exchange for leaving Jizhou?"

"Give us Xindu City, and we will leave naturally."

Fang Zhongyong spoke in a lion-like voice without any sincerity.

Jia Shen shook his head in disappointment and said, "There is nothing to discuss now. Envoy Su is waiting for the general to come to Xindu. It depends on whether you can capture it."

He stood up to leave, but Fang Zhongyong waved his hand and said, "You ask for a high price, but you have to pay it back. We can talk about the conditions slowly. Look, we have also taken Wuqiang County. In addition to Xindu, how many other counties in Jizhou are in your hands?"

Hearing this, Jia Shen was powerless to sit down. It was indeed as Fang Chongyong said, the Silver Spear Filial Piety Army might not really be able to conquer Xindu, at least the gains would outweigh the losses. However, it was also an ironclad fact that the army in Xindu City did not dare to go out of the city to fight in the field and could not rescue the counties in the state!

This is the time when both sides cannot achieve their goals and can take a step back.

"There is nothing to discuss about land and cities. Envoy Su has already issued a death order.

But gold, silver, valuables, money, food, fodder, weapons, and supplies are all negotiable."

Jia Shen said bluntly.

Fang Zhongyong glanced at Che Guangqian and saw that she nodded slightly, so he said in front of Jia Shen: "Xiao Che, go write a list and send it here later."

Che Guangqian took the order and left.

Fang Chongyong said to Jia Shen, "It is useless for me to keep this head. I should give it to Envoy Su as a gift and let him bury the Magistrate of Wuqiang County properly."

He Changqi was very tactful and took out a wooden box, put the head in it, and handed it to Jia Shen's arms in a rude manner.

The atmosphere became awkward.

After a while, Che Guangqian came in and handed the list to Fang Chongyong.

The list showed no weapons, no food, no military supplies, no horses or livestock, but only gold, silver, copper coins, silk and other things.

In fact, these Silver Spear Filial Piety Soldiers will not be used at all, at least not before returning to Bianzhou!
Fang Zhongyong pondered for a moment, without changing a single word, and handed it to Jia Shen, saying, "That's all. If Envoy Su is willing to give it to us, we will leave Jizhou. If he is not willing to give it to us, then I'm sorry."

Jia Shen took the list, read it word by word, showed surprise on his face, and then regained his composure.

He nodded slightly and said, "Then I will write back to the capital and report to Envoy Su."

Jia Shen stood up, holding the box containing the human head and left the military tent.

After he left, Fang Zhongyong looked at Che Guangqian and smiled, "Won't you explain it?"

The latter immediately clasped his fists and saluted:

"General, what our army lacks most right now is arrows, the second is military supplies, and the third is horses. But if it is written on the list, it will inevitably be used by those with ulterior motives to find out the strength of our army.

We have no shortage of gold, silver, and money, but we can't eat or wear them even if we get them. That's why we can confuse the people under Huangfu Laothie and make them think that we still have a lot of spare power."

Che Guangqian explained patiently.

Fang Zhongyong nodded slightly. In fact, he thought so too. The replenishment of military supplies needed to be solved in the warehouse near Baiqiao Town, Dongyang County. There was no need to expose the truth now.

"General Jie, are we really not going to attack Xindu?"

He Changqi asked with a look of regret.

“It’s not easy for the brothers to come this far. This commander wants to help them get promoted and make money, not to send them to death.

If we attack Xindu, many people will die. There is no need to waste their lives."

Fang Chongyong sighed and said.

There are always casualties in war, but to ignore casualties in order to achieve strategic goals is too much. A general should not be kind to his troops, but he should also use his brain and try his best to cherish human lives.

The human head is not a leek. Once it is cut off, it will not grow again.

"You guys go and organize the military affairs. We are ready to leave Jizhou."

Fang Zhongyong instructed the two people beside him.

(End of this chapter)