Late Tang

Bianzhou, Xuanwu Town, Chenliu Six Township Coalition Camp.

In the tent of the Chinese army, Ximen Sigong, the envoy of the Superintendent of the various camps recruiting the grass bandits, said in a solemn voice: "This time, when I leave Beijing, I will be ordered by the emperor to conquer the grass bandits and rebels, so as to fix our Great Tang Central Plains. There are victories and no defeats in the battle, you must fulfill your duties, and you must not slack off, otherwise the military law is ruthless, don't blame the old man for being cruel!"

The crowd agreed in unison.

Yang Fugong also sat on one side and said loudly: "We are all courtiers of the Tang Dynasty. We eat the emperor's salary and are loyal to the emperor. We must not use our own selfish ideas and the struggle of will to abandon loyalty and make the night smaller than the military and political hall? It is the dry city of the country, the pillar of the dynasty, high position and weight, and quite popular. The way of the monarch and his ministers, the righteousness of being an official, I think he knows it clearly, what rules should be followed in what he does and says, so don't you need to talk too much? "

Li Zhuo, Li Zhong, Du Wei, Cui Anqian, Du Shenquan, and Mu Renyi nodded their heads in unison. Except for Li Zhong and Mu Renyi, who are not as prestigious, the other four are all With the title of envoy, even Du Shenquan was once the prime minister in the political affairs hall.Moreover, the six of them were all from famous families, so if any one of them was pulled out, it would be prestige.Ximen Sigong and Yang Fugong also knew the prestige of the Six Marshals, but no matter how strong the Tang Marshals were, they were still inferior to the eunuchs who came out of Chang'an Palace.

"All the preparations for marching grain and grass are decided by Yang Gongjun. This time the [-] troops swept out the grass bandits, the soldiers and horses did not move, the grain and grass went first, and the grain and fodder were life and death, so there should be no mistakes." Ximen Sigong was nearly [-] years old, but His face is still red, and although his head is full of silver threads, he doesn't look old at all, and he is still hale and hearty.He turned to Yang Fugong and asked, "How is the food preparation now?"

Although Yang Fugong fought fiercely with Ximen Sigong in his early years, both of them were used by Tian Lingzi in the end, allowing Tian Lingzi to take advantage of the fisherman.This time, the two were kicked out of the capital at the same time, and the alliance between the two went further.Both of them were looking forward to clearing up the grass thieves as soon as possible and returning to Beijing with a great victory.Naturally, Yang Fugong would not joke about his future, and said solemnly: "We have finished our weapons and armaments, but there is still a shortage of feathers and arrows, but Du Shuai and Mourinho both seconded a batch to arrive first. The donkeys, horses and livestock transported by the logistics are the most scarce, so we will temporarily requisition them." It’s too late, and it’s been discussed to recruit [-] auxiliary troops to help. The food and grass can’t be transported from Chang’an for the time being, and now I’ve got the imperial decree to temporarily hold back a part of the grain in Bianzhou for military use..."

"The imperial court has long made a decision that the soldiers and horses in the twelve towns will seek thieves. The budget is set at 300 million shi for food and grass, and 120 million guan for money. The money and food are budgeted for one year, but we, as ministers of the emperor, how can we let your majesty live day and night?" Worried? Now Li Zhenguo defeated Wang Xianzhi's [-] rebels with only the [***] army, and the remaining Huangchao is even less worrying. We should take advantage of the victory to attack and wipe out the grass thieves in one fell swoop. Although the imperial court's grain and grass have not yet arrived , but the towns can pay in advance, just wait for the grass thieves to be wiped out, and then they will be issued together with the reward. The towns of Dongduji, Heyang, Zhaoyi, Yicheng, Xuanwu, and Zhongwu are on guard together, not only to ensure smooth water transportation, We must also strictly check the passing merchants, subdue the thieves who are running around, so as to determine the rear, and there must be no mistakes! If you delay the military plane, you will be severely punished from the generals on duty to the guards!"

Everyone was awe-inspiring, and no one could say no to the battle against thieves that Ximen Sigong was determined to win.Although it was Song Wei who recruited the grass bandit envoy, Song Wei was still far away in Zizhou, and there was nothing wrong with Ximen Sigong's order.

"A large army must prepare at least one month's worth of grain before going on an expedition. In October, the army has 10 infantry and 20 cavalry. The monthly ration of the infantry is six dou, and the horses eat three grains of millet a month. The total is nearly 20 stone, plus Transportation, consumption on the road, people eat horse chews, almost double the amount. At least one month’s grain for [-] people, [-] shi, has to be prepared first. When will the [-] shi grain be transported in place?"

These days Yang Fugong is also going around to collect food, soldiers and horses in various towns are begging for thieves, all the food and grass have to be borne by the imperial court.The standard set by the imperial court, considering that it is in the Central Plains, with smooth roads and convenient water, the monthly grain standard set is 25 shi.Now Simon Sigong set the six towns' monthly grain and grass at 20 shi, which is obviously on the high side.But in war, food and grass are a big deal, so naturally I would rather prepare more, and I can't have no food halfway through the battle.

"I just intercepted a batch of grain from the southeast entering Beijing, about 20 shi. In addition, I also transferred [-] shi from the towns of Xuanwu and Dongdu. I have also sent the remaining [-] shi to Luoyang, Bianzhou, etc. Borrowed grain from merchants and wealthy people. [-] shi of grain have already been transported to Bianzhou City."

Simon Sigong patted his thigh in satisfaction, glanced at the generals, and said loudly: "The soldiers and horses have not moved, and the food and grass go first. Now that the food and grass are in place, the soldiers and horses will start to move. Marshal Li of Songzhou has already Reply, he will send troops to Yanyun on May [-] to set up defenses to intercept the bandits. In this battle, our six towns are responsible for launching an attack and defeating the grass bandits. Li Zhenguo, Tianping Army, and Taining Army are responsible for intercepting and completely eradicating the bandits. "

Having made the decision to send troops, and mobilized food and grass, the commander of the six towns discussed the attack plan carefully with Ximen Sigong and Yang Fugong.Since food and grass are sufficient and there are many soldiers and horses, no one is worried about it.Especially this battle is fought in Caozhou, which is a flat plain without mountains.It is most suitable to fight with a large army, especially if there are [-] cavalry in the six towns.On that plain, the most suitable terrain for cavalry operations.

The [-] troops from the six towns gathered in Chenliu, and after stationing for a few days, they began to go north and entered the city of Bianzhou. After taking the food and supplies, the army marched eastward.The route to take is to advance along the north bank of Baigou.

Baigou, also known as the Old Waterway of Nanji, connects to the Bianqu Canal in Bianzhou in the west, passes through Bianzhou and Caozhou in the east, and finally flows into Juyeze in Yunzhou.The west of Juyeze is called Baigou, and the east of Juyeze is called Jishui.

On May [-]th, the army of the six towns entered Caozhou, and the army approached the city of Yuanju, Huangchao's hometown. The grass army in the city had already retreated early.After Ximen Sigong led his army to arrive, he directly ordered the death of all the old and weak people left by Qianyu in Yuanju City, and ordered Huang Chao's ancestral grave to be dug up, and his bones were scattered.

Afterwards, the army pointed directly at Jiyin City, the city of Caozhou.

Meng Kai, the chief general of the Zhongcao Army in Jiyin City, led the army to fight. The [-] official army fought fiercely with the [-] soldiers led by Meng Kai and Lin Yan, and the [-] auxiliary army.Although Meng Kai's army was small, there was a city to rely on, and the two armies fought fiercely for a day and a night, causing heavy casualties to each other.But the next day, Yang Fugong led a large number of auxiliary troops to arrive. In addition to food and grass, there were also a large number of siege equipment and craftsmen.

Thinking that after three days of continuing the confrontation, the officers and soldiers had set up hundreds of catapults and brought in a large number of crossbows.Under the attack of powerful catapults and crossbows, the grass army on the city suffered heavy casualties.

That night, Meng Kai and Lin Yan opened the four gates and led their troops out of the city to break through to the east. The officers and soldiers chased them all the way and beheaded tens of thousands.

Afterwards, the officers and soldiers advanced all the way, taking back the two cities of Chengshi and Leize one after another along the Baigou, and the soldiers and horses chased them to the edge of Juyeze.At this time, Huang Chao had also mobilized various soldiers and horses, gathered Meng Kai's defeated troops, and arrived at Juye Xiazhai.

Juye is within the territory of Yunzhou of Tianping Army. To the north is Juyeze, and to the north is Yuncheng, the city of Yunzhou, and Juancheng, the city of Puzhou.

Juye Lake is more than [-] miles from north to south and more than [-] miles from east to west. Due to the Yellow River burst last August, Liangshan on the north bank of Juye Lake became an island in the lake.

Huang Chao set up camp with his back against the water, leaning against the Xiazhai of Juyeze, with 10,000+ troops, and set up a company camp for [-] miles.

After the officers and soldiers from the Six Towns arrived, Simon Sigong followed Cui Anqian's suggestion and stationed the army at the foot of the mountain in Juye, forming an army behind the mountain.The whole Caozhou is flat, but there is only a stretch of low mountains in the territory of Juye for more than [-] miles.Now the officers and soldiers are facing the east, relying on Juye Mountain as their formation, sticking to their positions and not advancing rashly.

At first, neither Ximen Sigong nor Yang Fugong thought it was a good strategy.What they meant was to kill Wang Xianzhi Huangchao as quickly as possible, finish the work early in the morning, save nights and dreams, escaped by grass thieves, or be driven by Li Jing and others to share the credit.

However, Cui Anqian's strategy was agreed by Du Shenquan, Du Qiang, Li Zhuo, and Li Zhong. Among the six commanders, only Mu Renyu to curry favor with Ximen Sigong and Yang Fugong did not agree with Cui Anqian's strategy.But the five commanders out of the six towns all held this opinion, and Ximen Sigong had no choice but to agree.

Cui Anqian's strategy was simple and straightforward. Huang Chao gave up fighting defensive battles in fortified cities like Juye City or Juancheng, but camped behind Juyeze to prepare for field battles. This was the grass thief's last stand.For this situation, Cui Anqian thought that as long as he calmed down and supported him, the momentum of the bandit army would inevitably drop, and the longer it dragged on, the worse it would be for the bandits.

The official army can delay, because the official army still has six towns of soldiers and horses that have not been dispatched, and the grass thieves must be afraid.This forced them to take the initiative to attack, and for the officers and soldiers, this was the least feared.If the thieves dare not attack and turn around to retreat, then while the enemy is retreating, they will chase after them all the way and attack continuously, and they will soon be able to easily and completely defeat the thieves.

So, although it's a defense, it's an excellent move.

Soldiers and horses from both sides continued to gather, and finally 15 officers and soldiers and [-] auxiliary soldiers arrived at the foot of Juye Mountain after the battle.As for the grass army, Huang Chao also summoned all the ministries back. Although Caozhou lost tens of thousands of people in the first battle, they have been replenished these days. Now [-] soldiers, [-] auxiliary soldiers, and [-] troops are assembled again.

25 people gathered in Juye. For the Cao army, this was the biggest battle since the Changyuan uprising.For the officers and soldiers, dispatching [-] soldiers at a time is also a big battle, even surpassing the Battle of Daibei and the Battle of Xichuan.

The scouts from both sides went out day and night, thinking that they would continue to be tested, but the two sides stayed put and faced off forty miles apart!

For ten days in a row, the two armies faced each other in a stalemate! (To be continued.)