Jiuxi

Chapter 528 Chapter 526 [A cloud-piercing arrow]

Tuo Man Ulu finally survived.

But he just felt worse than death.

The Southern Qi cavalry was obviously not satisfied with rescuing Shiquan. After overwhelming Jingjun's central army, facing Jinglian's infantry who retreated in panic, the Dingbei army launched a pursuit for more than two hours.

They didn't return until it was completely dark.

Jing's army collapsed thousands of miles away and fled along the Molin Trail, unable to stop at all.

It wasn't until the light started to fade that they stopped in embarrassment next to a dense forest more than thirty miles away from Xinchang City.

When the deputy general counted the gathered troops and horses, Tuoman Ulu couldn't help but look desperate.

Tuoman Ningda died in the battle, and only about 1,700 of the 5,000 cavalrymen escaped.

Two thousand captains and six centurions were killed in the battle, leaving only more than 7,000 infantrymen out of 15,000. Most of them died while being chased by the Qi army's cavalry, and a small number fought on top of Shiquan City. die.

Lu Chen looked at Qin Zilong and asked with a smile: "How many gains did you make yesterday?"

In short, not only did Shiquan fail to capture the city in the battle, but Tuoman Wulu lost more than half of his troops.

Li Gongxu did not go to the battlefield yesterday. After all, he was too young. Although he had participated in personal training for a period of time, he was not suitable to face blood and death at the moment. Therefore, Lu Chen stayed behind and guarded the spare mount with hundreds of people.

Qin Zilong and Li Gongxu came in carrying water and greeted them with respect.

With Lu Chen's permission, all the soldiers of Dingbei Army and Yingze Army were allowed to drink a glass of wine as an exception, and then filled their stomachs with a table full of meat.

The cavalry of the Dingbei Army returned to Shiquan City last night and were warmly welcomed by the officers and soldiers of the Yingze Army and the people in the city.

Naturally, he didn't know what Tuoman Wulu was thinking at this moment, and even if he could guess it, he wouldn't care, because the Battle of Shiquan was unforgettable to Tuoman Wulu, and to him it was just an appetizer at most.

"Master Hou."

This was just the prelude to the Great War on the Eastern Front.

Qin Zilong responded loudly.

Lu Chen nodded and said, "Keep working hard."

Lu Chen summoned Wei Wenxiao, the captain of the Yingze Army, to arrange the city defense deployment to prevent frightened enemies or other Jing troops from killing a single carbine. Then he personally walked around the Dingbei Army station, and then hurriedly finished all this. We slept together with our clothes on, but in the end we only slept for less than two hours.

The magistrate and the gentry in the city were excited, slaughtering pigs and sheep, and throwing a big banquet to celebrate this hard-won victory.

This means that he will not be able to threaten the security of Jingzhou's eastern front again in a short period of time, and can only return to Xinchang City to rest and defend the city.

Qin Zilong touched his shiny forehead and said sheepishly: "Not many, only six heads."

"Follow the order!"

The soldiers took the order and left.

"Yes!"

In the cold morning light of early spring, Tuoman Wulu's eyes were red and he said in a cold voice: "Immediately let someone pass the news of our defeat to Shu Bulie and tell him that the cavalry of the Dingbei Army in Dingzhou of Southern Qi has appeared here. On the battlefield, the strength of this cavalry is not weaker than that of the Jingzhou Feiyu Army. Let him deal with it carefully and it is best not to attack Cuiting for the time being. "

In the distant Stone Spring City, Lu Chen woke up from his short sleep.

Tuoman Wulu stood on the gentle slope, looking at the gray-white sky in the south, hatred evident in his eyes.

Lu Chen washed up briefly, and then had a simple breakfast with the soldiers.

Li Gongxu has been quietly observing him.

He is now very familiar with the soldiers. Although he did not participate in yesterday's battle, he has learned the complete details from them.

Now the young man understands more and more why those big men follow Lu Chen wholeheartedly.

Put yourself in Lu Chen's shoes, if he had Lu Chen's current status and power, would he dare to personally lead the troops to kill like him?

This young man, who was born in the largest family in the south of the Yangtze River and has been learning various abilities from the prime minister since he was a child, finally felt guilty.

Because he felt he couldn't do it.

He had already engraved in his mind the principle that a rich man should never sit down in court.

Therefore, he admired the young prince not far away who was eating sesame seed cakes like the soldiers.

Perhaps he didn't even notice that from the initial curiosity and scrutiny to the heartfelt respect now, his perception of Lu Chen had changed drastically.

Lu Chen didn't notice the young man's emotions. His respect for Li Daoyan didn't mean he would treat Li Gongxu differently. Although this young man was indeed a piece of jade, he had more important things to consider at the moment.

Judging from the current situation, Qing Yugong used offensives on the east and west fronts to hold back the various units of the Jingzhou Army, and then personally led his troops to attack Yongqiu.

Hurrying slowly along the way, he finally resolved the crisis in Shiquan City in time and gave this Jing army a head-on blow, which was a good start.

However, the situation in Yongqiu City is still not optimistic. On this point, his judgment is very similar to that of Li Tianrun. Qing Yugong has been on the battlefield for a long time, and it is difficult for him to fall into ordinary conspiracies.

Even though the monarchs and ministers of Qi Dynasty worked together this time to reverse the passive situation of the Jiangbei war little by little, and through various means, especially the emperor's sacrifice, Qing Yugong was forced to appear under Yongqiu City, the opponent still had room to retreat.

Qing Yugong is still attacking Yongqiu until now, which means that he must be very confident about breaking the city, otherwise he has no need to take risks.

For Lu Chen, how to complete the encirclement is a very difficult problem.

After breakfast, he came to the main hall of his temporary accommodation. The soldiers had prepared maps and simple sand tables.

The battle situation in Jingzhou is clearly visible.

Without being sure of Qing Yugong's true trump card, rashly mobilizing troops on both the east and west fronts is very risky.

What if Qing Yugong also used himself as bait and stayed at Yongqiu City just to attract the Jingzhou Army, and then withdrew the troops at the critical moment, and at the same time launched a pincer-shaped offensive to attack the east and west fronts of Jingzhou, then the Qi monarchs and ministers would All the plans failed, and in the end it was the end of stealing the chicken but losing the rice.

Lu Chen's eyes moved northeast, stopping at the junction of Beiyan Moyang Road, Gyeonggi area and Daqi Dingzhou.

He had received a secret letter from Xiao Wangzhi and knew that some elite members of the Huaizhou Army would evacuate from the defense line of Jishantun at the right time, and then passed through the Leize Plain as quickly as possible, from the Beiyan Jingji area and Moyang Road. Passed between them and inserted diagonally behind the main force led by Qing Yugong.

If you include the ambush that Lu Chen prepared a long time ago, this is a sure-fire situation to encircle and suppress Qing Yugong.

The question is whether these plans will be discovered by Qing Yugong in advance.

Lu Chen will not and cannot underestimate Qing Yugong. He must consider all possibilities.

After all, this battle will determine the fate of Qi Jing and Qi Jing in the next few years.

I don't know how long it took, but there was a sound of footsteps outside the house, followed by several military generals.

Walking at the front were two veteran generals, followed by Wei Wenxiao, the captain of the Yingze Army.

"Greetings to the Marquis!"

The three of them saluted neatly.

Lu Chen nodded slightly and said, "No need to be polite, just sit down."

The three people took their seats one after another according to their official positions and seniority.

The military commander sitting first on the left is He Gui, the commander of the Jianghua Army, and the one next to him is Su Zhang, the commander of the Xunyang Army.

At the beginning, the emperor opposed all opinions and added the Fourth Jiangbei Army. Among them, the Jianghua Army and the Xunyang Army were affiliated to the Huaizhou Governor's Mansion. These two commanders had known Lu Chen for a long time and had fought side by side many times, so they naturally did not need polite greetings.

He Gui took the lead and said: "Master Marquis, after receiving the military order, the general immediately led Jianghua's army to the north. It has now merged with Xunyang's army and most of them are heading here. It is expected to take two days."

Su Zhang agreed.

There are actually a lot of troops on the eastern front of Jingzhou. In addition to the Jianghua Army and Xunyang Army stationed in the south, the Yingze Army and Feiyu Army near the Shuangfeng Mountains in the north, and the Anping Army and Yangzhai Army west of Cuiting.

However, Jingzhou's eastern frontier is very vast, and these 60,000 soldiers and horses are scattered and need to protect a very long border.

"You should be very clear about the current situation."

Lu Chen's tone was calm, and he continued: "Admiral Li is personally in charge of Yongqiu, and Qing Yugong is leading the main force of Jing's army to attack there. Our army is limited in strength and defense, and there are many issues that need to be considered. What do you think?"

He Gui and Su Zhang looked at each other and said thoughtfully: "Master Hou, in my humble opinion, if you want to complete the encirclement of the main force of Jing's army outside Yongqiu City, you must do two things."

"You said."

"First, our army cannot completely give up its garrison on the east and west fronts. After all, Jingjun is always eyeing it. If they find an opportunity, they will definitely launch a breakthrough on the east and west fronts. The general believes that only on the basis of ensuring the stability of the east and west fronts Only then can troops and horses be mobilized to Yongqiu. Therefore, the defense on the eastern front needs to be arranged in advance.”

"continue."

"Secondly, most of our troops are infantry. Long-term marches are not a problem, but it is difficult to conduct high-speed raids. Therefore, we must screen the dispatched soldiers and form enough elite divisions to encircle them."

"The two points you are considering coincide with mine. This is why I asked you to lead the troops north in advance."

Lu Chen took over the conversation and said unhurriedly: "Right now, the 30,000 Beijing troops led by Liu Shouguang are heading north from Pingyang Mansion. They will follow the central line of Dingzhou all the way to Baima Pass south of Yongqiu. The Guangji Army on the west line We need to guard the area between Xilinguan and Gaotang City, and I don't plan to risk using them. The 30,000 Beijing troops alone cannot shake the main force of the Jing army led by Qing Yugong, so sufficient troops must be mobilized on the eastern front. I think the threats you mentioned can be solved in one package.”

As soon as these words came out, the eyes of He Gui, Su Zhang and Wei Wenxiao all lit up.

He Gui said respectfully: "Please give me your instructions, Lord Marquis."

Lu Chen stood up slowly, walked to the simple sand table, pointed to the location of Shiquan City, and said calmly: "In the battle at Shiquan, Jingjun Tuoman's Ulu tribe was seriously injured. Even if they can make a comeback later, at the western foot of the Shuangfeng Mountains Only a small number of troops are needed to stop it. By analogy, we can fight all the way from east to west, repel or severely damage Jing's troops on the eastern front, and at the same time select warriors from each army to accompany them. "

"Continuously gathering, eventually becoming a torrent."

The generals watched him draw a line on the sand table, and they were all excited and trembling.

That line was like a sharp arrow flying from the sky, going all the way from the east line of Jingzhou to the west, crushing the Jingjun along the way.

Finally appeared outside Yongqiu City!

(End of this chapter)