Lord: Start with a book of Water Margin

Chapter 412: Qin Ming and Dong Ping's Dual Contributions (Two-in-one, 400 monthly tickets this month)

At this time, Zhao Zhen had received an imperial edict from the court, ordering him to lead a group of troops to attack Pingyi via Xianyuan and Sishui, and then go north to attack Mengyin, Xinwen, and Xintai County, and meet up with Hu Yanzhuo in Laiwu.

When Zhao Zhen received the imperial order, he was taking inventory of the conditions in various counties.

After sending the angel away, Zhao Zhen summoned Wu Yong, Zhu Wu, and Liu Hui Niang to discuss countermeasures. The primary mission of this expedition was not to destroy Song Jiang, but to force him back to Qingzhou and give an explanation to the court.

Finally, the personnel who would go on the expedition were decided upon, and Lu Zhishen, Guanghui and Wu Song, who were stationed in Zhongdu County, would lead a Jianrui Battalion of 2000 people.

The Shenji Battalion, Scout Battalion, and Heavy Front Battalion are all fully staffed.

The artillery battalion only carries light artillery and flying thunder.

Yizhou is mountainous, so the cavalry only selected the imperial army camp, the vanguard camp, the left cavalry camp and the female cavalry led by Hu Sanniang to accompany the army. Chen Liqing heard this and did not care about her intention to avoid Zhao Zhen before marriage. She asked Hu Sanniang to speak on her behalf and also followed the army to the battle.

A total of 8000 cavalry and infantry soldiers, all wearing armor and weapons, gathered in Zhongdu County.

Zhao Zhen appointed Qin Ming and Dong Ping as the chief and deputy vanguards, commanding the Vanguard Battalion and the Left Cavalry Battalion. Zhao Zhen himself led the central army, with military advisors Wu Yong, Liu Hui Niang, and magician Qiao Daoqing accompanying the army at his service.

Passing Xianyuan and crossing Sishui, Zhao Zhen ordered the conscription of 2,000 laborers to replace the laborers of Liangshan County.

In Xianyuan County, [Tianmu General] Peng Qi led more than a thousand soldiers to stay behind to recuperate. Zhao Zhen recruited civilians, and Peng Qi did not stop him. He also told Zhao Zhen a piece of news that although the treasuries of Sishui and Xianyuan counties were emptied, no autumn tax was collected this year.

Upon hearing this, Zhao Zhen immediately sent someone to deliver a letter to Zhongdu County, asking Xu He to lead troops to collect taxes, and to take one part of the troops to the army and the other part back to Liangshan.

Because of this benefit, Zhao Zhen recruited half of the doctors in the state, brought a lot of medicine, and under the leadership of An Daoquan, came to Xianyuan to treat the wounded soldiers.

Zhao Zhen stayed in Xianyuan for only three days before he moved out. Qin Ming and Dong Ping led the troops first, and 1000 cavalrymen headed straight for Pingyi along the official road.

Yizhou is mountainous, and the only way to communicate with Yanzhou is through this official road. Other places are foggy mountain roads.

Pingyi is located on a major transportation route. To the south is Fei County, to the north are Xinwen and Xintai, and to the north via Xintai is Laiwu Prison.

Song Jiang also left two leaders to garrison in Pingyi, one named Xu Pingsheng from Qianzhangkeng and the other named Han Tongyin from Bingshan.

It was unknown where Xu Pingsheng and Han Tongyin came from, but they gathered a group of scoundrels and occupied Yuanyang Valley. They exploited all merchants and travelers passing by and often harassed villages.

This incurred the wrath of God and the resentment of the people. It happened that the Emperor had ordered all prefectures and cities to clear out the bandits within their borders because of the four major bandits. The two men were outnumbered and could not resist the enemy.

Hearing that Song Jiang in Qingzhou was powerful, they simply abandoned Yuanyang Valley and brought people to surrender. Both of them were escorts, with good martial arts and some experience, so they were left by Song Jiang to station in Pingyi. The two commanded 3000 people and governed the four cities of Pingyi, Xinwen, Xintai, and Mengyin.

In addition, there were 500 troops in each place to guard the city and maintain the local area. Each place also designated several well-known wealthy families and left-behind clerks, gave them titles, forced them to take up their posts, maintain order, and collect autumn taxes.

On that day, Han Tongyin was drinking and having fun in the county government office. When he heard that the soldiers outside the city were challenging him to a fight, he became furious and ordered his men to put on armor and mount their horses with swords and shields in hand.

Han Tongyin had defeated many government troops and was used to being arrogant. He didn't take the government troops seriously. When he heard that the government troops were coming to suppress him, he didn't defend the city. Instead, he ordered the drawbridge to be lowered and led a thousand people out of the city to form a battle line.

The two armies lined up, and Han Tongyin rode out first, shouting, "Who are you to dare to provoke me? You should know that this is the territory of Song Gongming, the Timely Rain. If you don't get off your horse and anger me, I will kill you like this."

Qin Ming was impatient and didn't answer. He just rushed forward with his mace in hand.

Two horses met, swords and sticks were raised simultaneously.

After only three moves, Qin Ming showed a flaw, allowing Han Tongyin to chop him with his sword, but his strike missed. Qin Ming took advantage of the situation and raised his club, smashing half of Han Tongyin's head.

When Dong Ping saw this, he raised his double spears and thousands of riders rushed towards the opposite side.

The enemy was already terrified when they saw their leader being killed. They could not stop the enemy from charging at them. The battle became chaotic, and the soldiers and horses trampled on each other. Most of those who could not escape were killed. They took advantage of the situation to seize the suspension bridge and occupied the west gate.

When the bandits in the city heard the news, they threw away their weapons and fled through the north gate under the leadership of several leaders.

Qin Ming and Dong Ping discussed and decided to leave Qin Ming, Huang Xin and Luan Tingfang to lead 300 cavalry to occupy the city and meet the large group of troops.

Dong Ping, along with his lieutenants Ou Peng and Ma Lin, led the remaining cavalry to drive back the fleeing soldiers.

At that moment, the two of them acted separately. Qin Ming collected prisoners and guarded the city while sending people to report the victory.

Dong Ping led his men in pursuit, and when they saw the small groups of soldiers along the way, they knelt down on the roadside to beg for life, but Dong Ping ignored them and left a group of people behind to gather along the way.

Zhao Zhen received Qin Ming's victory report and urged his troops to move quickly. After entering the city, he posted a notice to reassure the people. When he heard that Dong Ping was chasing the defeated soldiers, Zhao Zhen immediately asked Lin Chong to lead his personal army to meet him.

Song Jiang was like Zhao Zhen, with no one to use and the county in chaos. Qingzhou was fine, as Song Jiang handled all state affairs personally, and things were relatively orderly.

In Yizhou, the chief steward Han Tongyin and Xu Pingsheng were both born as escorts and warriors, and they were not very clean. Therefore, there were people in the city who resisted from time to time, but relying on the soldiers in their hands, there was no big chaos.

Xu Pingsheng went to Xintai to suppress a village that resisted taxation. Everything was fine here, but unfortunately a leader from the city went to the countryside to supervise the autumn tax collection, and the head of the village was not willing to entertain the leader at home. When the leader went to the toilet, he saw the daughter of the family and became lustful. He took advantage of the opportunity when the head of the village went to collect taxes from each household the next day and raped the daughter of the head of the village.

The daughter was also a fiery-tempered person and she jumped into a well and died.

The village chief had only one daughter, and he treated her like a treasure. The chief left three strings of cash as compensation. The village chief did not get angry on the spot. At night, during a banquet, he used poisonous mushroom juice to boil a pot of chicken soup and tricked the people into drinking it. Including the chief and 25 soldiers, they were all poisoned to death.

Then the chieftain decided to do something radical, cut off the heads of these people, took up weapons and armor, and led the villagers to openly resist the tax. 25 soldiers died at once, and the chieftain guarding Xintai didn't know what was going on, so he had to send a messenger to Pingyi for help.

But when Xu Pingsheng heard the news, he led a thousand men to wipe out the rebellion. In just one day, he slaughtered all the people in the village, young and old, which shocked the surrounding villages. Xu Pingsheng was also very proud of himself and sent people to Laiwu to ask for credit.

Xu Pingsheng took the looted goods and escorted a batch of food and grass, and led his troops back happily. On the way, he met the fleeing soldiers and heard that Pingyi was lost and Han Tongyin was killed, which frightened him to death.

He wanted to return to Xintai, but was afraid of being punished by Song Jiang. He went to Pingyi with only a thousand men under his command, and he didn't know who his enemy was.

After careful questioning, a literate lackey said that it looked like the flag was the Liangshan flag, with two leaders, one wielding a mace and the other a pair of guns. The ones on the general flag were Qin and Dong respectively.

Xu Pingsheng heard this and immediately thought of the two men Song Jiang had mentioned, Qin Ming, the Thunderbolt, and Dong Ping, the Double Spear General. While he was hesitating, he saw a cloud of dust rising in front of him, and the fleeing soldiers shouted, "The government troops are coming." For a moment, the sparse marching team was actually dispersed by the fleeing soldiers. Xu Pingsheng was furious, and he led more than a hundred confidants, drew their swords and shouted in formation, and even killed more than a dozen soldiers who were running around, but he couldn't stop them.

It happened in a flash. Before Xu Pingsheng could restrain his followers, Dong Ping had already rushed into the formation. With his two spears, he killed many followers with every swing.

Xu Pingsheng was brave enough, and he rushed towards Dong Ping with the spear in his hand.

Dong Ping had already seen it, but pretended not to know. When Xu Pingsheng came closer, he shouted, "Come on."

The two horses met each other, and Xu Pingsheng dropped the gun in his hand, covered his neck, and fell off the horse.

More than 600 cavalrymen rushed into the battle formation, horses and soldiers trampled on each other, and more than a thousand minions fled in all directions.

Dong Ping dismounted, cut off Xu Pingsheng's head, held it with his spear, and shouted, "General Dong Ping of Liangshan is here. If you don't want to die, kneel down and surrender."

After hearing this, Ou Peng and Ma Lin asked the soldiers to shout together.

When Lin Chong arrived, the three men were cleaning up the battlefield.

After cleaning up the battlefield, escorting the prisoners, and picking up the weapons and armor left on the road, everyone rushed back to Pingyi County together.

Zhao Zhen saw Xu Pingsheng's head and laughed, "Two commanders, you have won the first battle. Your achievements are recorded in the book. We will reward you based on your merits after we return to the army."

In the first battle, with less than 30 casualties, they captured Pingyi County and killed two leaders.

Wu Yong immediately wrote a letter of request for merit, and after stamping it, he asked Shi Qian to take the two heads and join Le He and Yang Lin of Jingyang Town to go to Tokyo, firstly to report the victory and ask for rewards from the court. Secondly, he asked Yang Lin and Le He to go to Tokyo to buy fireworks, medicines and other items, and to inquire about the news of Bianjing.

Shi Qian obeyed the order, put the two heads pickled in lime into two wooden boxes, said goodbye to Zhao Zhen and left.

After seeing Shi Qian off, Wu Yong hurried forward and said to Zhao Zhen, "Sir, I have interrogated clearly. Among Pingyi, Mengyin, Xinwen, and Xintai, only Pingyi has a large army stationed. The other three places have only 500 to 700 followers each, and there is no capable person to lead them. If we attack Song Jiang when he has no reaction, we should be able to take him down in one go."

Zhao Zhen looked up at the sky. It was already time for the battle. He said, "If we send out troops now, the cavalry will have to gallop all night. The soldiers and horses will be exhausted, which will make it difficult to attack the city and add many variables. Tomorrow, Guanghui will lead 1000 soldiers to guard here. We will cook at o'clock and set out at o'clock. We will lead three battalions of cavalry to attack, and only carry two days of dry food. The rest of the soldiers will also carry two days of dry food, abandon the baggage and go first, and the artillery battalion and the civilians will carry the baggage and follow. How do you think?"

Wu Yong also looked at the sky and said helplessly: "It can only be done this way."

Nothing happened that night. After a night's rest, Zhao Zhen and others gathered the soldiers according to the plan and headed north along the official road.

As for Pingyi, perhaps Song Jiang wanted to station troops there, and Laiwu was at the front line, so the money and grain from the four counties were all transported to Pingyi for storage.

Zhao Zhen wrote a letter yesterday and sent several soldiers to Zhongdu County with the letter, asking Shi Xiu to mobilize carts to transport half of the money and grain back to Liangshan.

After a day of marching for hundreds of miles, the cavalry arrived at a three-way intersection at nightfall. The captive who led the way said that to the northwest was Xinwen, where the Chaiwen River flowed westwards into the Wen River. To the northeast was Xintai, and more than 20 miles north of Xintai was Laiwu Prison.

Lin Chong, Qin Ming and Dong Ping discussed it and let the soldiers rest for half an hour. Lin Chong led his personal battalion to attack Xinwen, while Qin Ming and Dong Ping led the vanguard battalion and the left cavalry battalion to attack the Xintai camp.

After resting, the three men split up.

The three people stationed at Laiwu Prison were [Iron Arhat] Fatong, [Flying Centipede] Wu Qian, [Panhai Dragon] Qin Hui. Some of the minions fled back to Xintai overnight and reported the fall of Pingyi City to the leader [Qianzhangkeng] Xu Pingsheng and [Iceberg] Han Tongyin who were killed. The leader immediately sent a messenger to pass the news to Laiwu Prison.

After hearing this, the three guards from Laiwu sent a messenger to deliver the news to Laiwu while they were gathering their troops.

After Song Jiang received the news, he sent [Reaper of Life] Wang Feibao to lead 3000 troops and [Flying Centipede] Wu Qian to lead 2000 troops to rescue Xintai.

The 5000 troops galloped all the way and arrived at the north and south gates of Xintai almost at the same time as Dong Ping and Qin Yong's cavalry.

Qin Ming, Dong Ping and others arrived at the south gate and saw that the gate was closed and many horses were lined up on the city wall. Both of them were cavalrymen. Qin Ming went forward to challenge them, but the people on the top of the city wall just shot arrows down randomly.

The two men had no choice but to set up camp when a scout came to report that reinforcements had arrived at the north gate. The two men knew that the opportunity to attack the city had been lost, and they were exhausted, so they had to retreat ten miles and set up camp at the fork in the road they had come from.

On the way back, they met the messenger sent by Lin Chong, who said that Xinwen had surrendered. It turned out that some scattered soldiers had fled to Xinwen early this morning, and several soldiers shouted loudly, and the news spread quickly in Xinwen.

The chieftain stationed in Xinwen was terrified. The reinforcements did not arrive, but the government troops arrived first. The city was in a state of panic. The chieftain looked at his 500 old and weak men and was too scared to defend the city. He was also afraid that someone in the city would secretly communicate with the government troops and open the city gates. As soon as Lin Chong's troops arrived, he ordered the city gates to be opened and surrendered.

After hearing this, the two of them rode their horses directly to Xinwen.

The next day, Zhao Zhen led his troops to the scene. Lin Chong and the other two told him that reinforcements from Xintai had arrived. Zhao Zhen heard this and said to Wu Yong, "Xiaojiu, it seems that we are one step too late after all."

Wu Yong said: "Although it's a step late, it's not completely without benefit."

Zhao Zhen heard this and asked, "What does the scholar mean?"

Wu Yong gently waved his feather fan and said, "Sir, we have already captured Pingyi and Xinwen. Mengyin is in the valley on the east side and has no reinforcements, so it is no problem to capture it. It is just right to capture these three places. It will not show that we are useless, and it will not shake Song Jiang's foundation. It is best to stalemate with the Qingzhou bandits in Xintai."

"Tong Shumi has given instructions. We don't need to fight with Song Jiang and lose soldiers. It would be better to keep the enemy alive and protect ourselves."

Zhao Zhen listened and nodded silently. Zhao Zhen sent a messenger again to report the victory.

At Wu Yong's suggestion, Zhao Zhen's army did not stay in Xinwen, but remained stationed at Sanchalukou.

After a day's rest and waiting for the arrival of the main force and the baggage camp, Zhao Zhen ordered Wu Song to lead a thousand infantrymen and ten mountain-splitting cannons to take Mengyin.

He then sent people to Shijie Lake and ordered Ruan Xiaowu to lead the [Haichui Camp] up the Wen River to Xinwen for service.

After Zhao Zhen's troops had rested in the camp for a day, Wu Song sent someone to deliver a victory report that the leader stationed in Mengyin was killed by the people of Mengyin County.

Another day passed before Zhao Zhen sent a messenger to Tokyo to report the victory.

Along with the victory report was the situation of the stalemate with the Qingzhou bandits in Xintai, and a request was made to the court to allocate military equipment, military craftsmen, and to appoint officials from the three counties of Xinfu.

(End of this chapter)