Of course, Chen Ping cannot rely solely on Chen Ping to annihilate the White Lotus bandits. He only has these three thousand troops at hand. Although they are all elite, they are short of manpower. Even if they are one against ten, they still have to catch the enemy.
If it were in the southwest, even if the states would not fully respond to his request to recruit deputy envoys from the southwest, they would still be able to provide some help, but the situation was different in Jiangzhou.
As we all know, Jiangnan is a prosperous place, and the officials here are much more arrogant than those in other places. Moreover, Chen Ping did not control their power. This resulted in Chen Ping not getting much help when he led troops to pursue the White Lotus bandits in Jiangzhou, and even got the opposite.
You will be held back.
For example, when many Jiangzhou officials learned that Chen Ping led the army to suppress the bandits, they expressed objections, thinking that Chen Ping had lured the White Lotus bandits to Jiangzhou, or asked Chen Ping to leave some troops to defend the city.<
/p>
All these obstructions make Chen Ping feel that it is more difficult. If the White Lotus thief continues to circle around Jiangzhou, and he cannot reach a consensus with the prefect of Jiangzhou and others, trouble will happen sooner or later.
However, the pursuit during this period was not without success. At least several times, the forwards led by Li Feng caught up with the White Lotus Thief's troops. However, due to lack of manpower, each time it was a chaotic battle.
After capturing a few thief heads, the White Lotus thief escaped.
Fortunately, as the weather turns colder, unless the White Lotus Thieves have set up in Jiangzhou early and have a cottage or something like this in this mountain forest, they will never be able to stay in the mountains for a long time and will have to go out of the mountains.
And when that time comes, it's time for Chen Ping's three thousand cavalry to show off their skills.
Jiangzhou, early October.
As the cold wind from the north came in, it started to rain continuously in the south of the Yangtze River. The humidity and the coldness brought by the north wind were undoubtedly fatal to the march. Chen Ping could feel all kinds of things during the daily march and camping.
It's inconvenient, but fortunately they can still get supplies along the way, and they don't have to hide around like the White Lotus Thieves with nowhere to rest.
Taking advantage of the break after the rain, Chen Ping made a comprehensive analysis based on the intelligence at hand.
"Since entering Jiangzhou, the momentum of the White Lotus bandits is not as strong as that of Jingzhou. It can be seen that they really have no foundation in Jiangzhou. Now the days are getting colder day by day. There is nowhere to stay in this mountain and there are no supplies. It can take at least five to ten days.
, the thief must escape from the mountain."
After listening to Chen Ping's analysis, Luo Li agreed very much. Although he fought in the Northern Army before, these principles still lead to the same goal through different paths.
"There are not many ways for thieves to flee north. Is there any news from the Jiangzhou government?"
Chen Ping nodded and said that the problem was not big: "Don't worry about the capital and its position. The most important thing at the moment is to wipe out the White Lotus bandits. The Jiangzhou prefect has sent a letter clarifying the dispatch of emergency officers and soldiers to guard it to the death."
"Unless the thieves go south instead of going north, it's a dead end. They have no foundation in Yangzhou and Minzhou. Moreover, there are many mountains and forests there and sparsely populated areas. It's easier to get in and harder to get out than to climb to the sky."
"Moreover, other thieves who are related to the White Lotus Thief are also active in the north. I read in the Di newspaper that there are thieves active in many counties in Zhongzhou and Jianzhou these days. If you don't want to fight alone, you have the only option to go north.
."
Luo Li nodded and had no objection to this conjecture, and turned to ask: "Master Lu is in Zhongzhou. When the time comes, we will attack from the south and the north. With the sea to the east and Jingzhou to the west, this bandit will have no escape.
If you dare to return to your hometown and fight to Jingzhou, it will be easier to solve."
Chen Ping smiled and said nothing. Jingzhou had been brought into such great trouble by the White Lotus Bandits. Not to mention that the officials and the people were alert, even the cold and lack of food would make it difficult for the White Lotus Bandits.
"Fight a war of annihilation in the north of Jiangzhou?"
He asked tentatively. Luo Li considered it for a moment and then cast a firm look at Chen Ping.
......
Jiangzhou has been the earliest developed place in the south since ancient times, and now it has developed into one of the most prosperous places in the world.
Merchants gathered together, there were many boats, the Jinling Mansion of Jiangzhou was lit up every night, and the Qinhuai River was full of sensuality all day long, which made countless Jiangnan scholars nostalgic. You can imagine what it would be like for the officers and soldiers in such a place.<
/p>
In the military camp outside Jinling Mansion, officers and soldiers entered and exited the camp at will without anyone stopping them. What's more, they even brought theater troupes and prostitutes to the military camp to have a good time. It didn't look like a military camp, but just like a vegetable market.
In this case, Jiangzhou Zhizhou from Jinling City arrived here.
When he saw these soldiers being so lax and slack, he was filled with rage. In the past, it would have been fine, but now it was a critical moment when the White Lotus bandits invaded Jiangzhou. The safety of Jinling City all depended on these idiots.
, but they seemed not to take this matter to heart at all, they were eating and drinking as if nothing was wrong.
Once something goes wrong in Jiangzhou, if the court blames him, not only will his black hat be lost, but the entire family will also be implicated!
Thinking of this, Jiangzhou Zhizhou rushed into the military camp with a serious face, opened his mouth and called the commander here.
"The White Lotus Thief is running around in the mountains to the south right now, don't you know?!"
"Why is Master Zhizhou so angry? They are just a group of bandits. Besides, aren't the envoys chasing the thieves?"
Hearing this, Jiangzhou Zhizhou's scalp went numb, and he shouted sternly: "That's other people's business, I don't care! I only know that you are officers and soldiers of Dayu, and if you don't strengthen your vigilance when thieves come, the Yamen's order came down yesterday
Okay, why don’t you go and intercept the thief?”
For his own sake, Jiangzhou Zhizhou will no longer be as lazy as before. As long as the other party cannot give him a satisfactory answer, he will use any means to make these soldiers know how powerful they are.
Unexpectedly, the other party replied directly, leaving Jiangzhou Zhizhou speechless.
"Don't be surprised, Lord Zhizhou. The order is true, but brothers can't go out hungry, right?"
"The imperial court's military pay has not been paid for two or three months. You and the magistrate have given me money to express my gratitude to my brothers, but the gap is still not enough. You see..."
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Silver!
After all, it was still a matter of money. Jiangzhou Zhizhou was stunned, not knowing what to do for a moment. The delay in military pay from the imperial court was beyond his control. Last year, in order to resist the invasion of Northern Liao, the treasury was about to lose more than he had.
I got some rumors.
I thought it was just to delay some military pay, not a big deal, but I didn't expect that Jiangzhou would need these big soldiers one day.
"I will report this matter to the court. Suppressing the thieves is now a priority. As long as the suppression of the thieves is successful, the court will reward you!"
After thinking about it, he decided to use the old method to make a big deal for these Qiu Ba people, at least let them set off to cooperate with Chen Ping in suppressing the thieves. This was not to cater to Chen Ping, but mainly to protect Jiangzhou from the thieves. You know, he has a lot of properties in Jiangnan. If Jiangnan is harmed by thieves, it will also affect him.
Jiangzhou, Jinling City.
The governor of Jiangzhou hurried back to the Yamen after seeing the officers and soldiers break camp and set off.
He immediately went to the prefect and told him about the court's arrears in military pay.
"Master Lin, I'm afraid these Qiu Ba won't do things sincerely if they don't have money. The military salary owed by the court is not that much. Do you want it?"
When Magistrate Lin heard this, he couldn't help but tilted his head and glanced at Magistrate, wondering if the money was coming to him?
Are you kidding? That is military pay owed by the imperial court. What does it have to do with me, the prefect of Jiangzhou?
"Lord Zhou, it is indeed not good to be in arrears with military pay, but you are not unclear about the current situation in the court. We should focus on the overall situation. It is just a delay in military pay for several months. It cannot be considered a big deal."
Zhou Zhizhou was a little hesitant when he heard this. He had seen the gang of soldiers. If he didn't give the money, he might have violated it. If the White Lotus bandits became bigger in Jiangzhou because of a small loss, and even captured the city, wouldn't it be a loss of watermelon?
Picked up sesame seeds?
Seeing his expression, Magistrate Lin pretended to think for a moment, and then said solemnly: "In this case, I can't ask the officers and soldiers to endure hunger and suppress the thieves. How about this? I will give you five hundred taels of silver as an example and call on Jiang.
Zhou Shenjin donated money and materials to jointly help suppress the thieves."
"I wonder what Mr. Zhou thinks of this plan?"
.......
"Mr. Chen, Xuancheng County is ahead of us. Beyond this county, there are no more towering mountains and forests for a few dozen miles."
Chen Ping squinted his eyes and looked far away. The terrain here was indeed much lower than before.
"Brother Luo, there is no need to call me Sir Why. There is no need for such false courtesy between you and me."
Chen Ping always felt a little uncomfortable with Luo Li's title, so he explained to Luo Li, but Luo Li insisted on his own statement.
"There are no friends or brothers on the battlefield. Even between father and son, the official position must be commensurate. Otherwise, the prestige will be lost and the morale of the military will be unstable."
Luo Li said solemnly and looked at Chen Ping with firm eyes: "This is how it should be in the officialdom. You are now living in the southwest to recruit deputy envoys and have the title of Minister of War. You are considered an important minister of the imperial court. Don't worry about these trivial matters in the future.
Emotions, everything should be done with great importance."
After saying this, Luo Li turned his attention back to the war, but these words made Chen Ping fall into thinking.
That call of Mr. Chen was not due to the alienation between Luo Li and him, but the change that occurred with the change of his status and role. This kind of change was not something he could change, he could only adapt.
Just like Luo Li said, if everything is trapped by these, it will only give the enemy an excuse to find their own weaknesses.
Thinking of this, Chen Ping took a deep breath and understood what Luo Li meant.
The team continued to move forward. He led a large force of more than 2,000 people at the rear, while Li Feng took the lead and led hundreds of elite riders to open the way. There was not far between them. Chen Ping was also thinking about the situation of the White Lotus thief along the way.
Think about the problem from the other party's perspective, and then work backwards to consider your own countermeasures.
The thieves cannot stay in the mountains for long. It can be seen from their routes that these thieves want to get out. However, if they just walk out of the mountains, they will inevitably be overtaken by their own troops. The chance of escaping completely is not high. p>
Moreover, Xuancheng County ahead is a place with difficult terrain. If the thieves start a battle with him here, the advantage of the cavalry will basically be lost. Even if all the 3,000 men under his command are elite, the chaotic fighting in the valley will be able to maximize the
Eliminate this advantage.
"If I were the White Lotus thief, Xuancheng County would be my last chance!"
This idea suddenly appeared in Chen Ping's mind, and his eyes suddenly shone.
Xuancheng County.
This is an important county town located in the mountainous area in the southwest of Jiangzhou. Because it is located on the border of Jiangzhou and Yangzhou, and guards the pass from Huidi into Jiangnan, the prosperity of the county town is not much worse than that of Jiangnan.
The magistrate of Xuanxian County had learned early that the White Lotus Bandits were roaming around in Huizhou, so he stepped up his guard. With the order from his superior Jiangzhou Magistrate and the news of the recruitment of deputy envoy Chen Ping from the southwest, the magistrate of
In order to defeat the enemy, they not only sent all the officers, soldiers and policemen in the county to defend the city wall, but also mobilized large households in the county to organize servants to help defend the city.
This is not to stop the White Lotus bandits. Xuancheng County is not that capable. Everything we do is just to protect the safety of Xuancheng County.
The magistrate of Xuanxian County believed that he was fully prepared. Not only did he have enough manpower, he also prepared a lot of kerosene, hammering stones, rolling logs and other weapons to defend the city. Unless the White Lotus thieves desperately attacked the city, Xuanxian County would be absolutely safe!
However, just when everyone in Xuan County thought that the city was stable and felt relieved, someone in the city secretly made some small moves.
At dawn on the first day of October, dozens of White Lotus Thief's masters took advantage of the darkness to arrive at the gate of Xuan County. When they sent out bursts of night owl calls, there were echoes from the city soon after.
Not long after, there was a burst of noise from the west gate of Xuan County, a key defensive location, but the sound was not loud and disappeared quickly, so no one noticed it.
After that, there was a dull sound of the city gate opening. Seeing that the target was achieved, a large number of White Lotus thieves quickly advanced outside the city and rushed towards the half-open west gate.
Xuanxian County Magistrate's Yamen, when Xuanxian County Magistrate was sleeping, he heard a burst of noise in the Yamen, and then someone rushed into the room, shook the Magistrate awake and shouted.
"County Lord, County Lord! The thieves have broken into the city!"
The prosperous Xuan County was captured by the White Lotus bandits in less than half an hour. The officers and soldiers guarding the city did not resist with all their strength, but the enemies not only came from outside, but also responded from a distance within the city.
Calculating mentally but not intentionally, under such circumstances, it is very rare for a county in Xuan County to be able to hold on for half an hour in the face of thousands of elite thieves.
Therefore, when Yuan Dashan came to the magistrate's office with his capable men, he was furious when he saw the magistrate of Xuanxian who committed suicide. He turned around and ordered his men to cut the magistrate's body into pieces to vent his anger.
After all, in his plan, how could it take half an hour to capture this small Xuan County?
"Teacher, this county is rich enough, can we let the brothers have a rest?"
Hearing the word "rest" again, Yuan Dashan felt restless. He cursed loudly: "Have a rest, rest, rest! Just know how to rest!"
"The north of the Yangtze River is our territory. Don't look at the prosperity of the south of the Yangtze River. If you go north one day later, you will be one step closer to the Lord of Hell!"
After that, he ordered his men to quickly search for the gold and silver in Xuan County, and then rested on the spot for two hours.
"The officers and soldiers must have thought that after we captured the county seat, they wanted to stay in the south of the Yangtze River. What a joke! Let's kill him by surprise!"
.......
Chen Ping actually doesn't care about the safety of Xuan County. In other words, it's not that he doesn't care whether Xuan County will be captured by thieves, but he has more important things to do at the moment, so he can't care too much.
Luo Li's words can be said to have awakened Chen Ping. Since it is for the people of the world, if you care about the gains and losses of a city, a pond, or even a human life, you will definitely not achieve great things.
Of course, he is not at the point where Cao Cao would rather teach me to let the world down than teach the world to let him down, but people always have to make decisions and make trade-offs on certain things.
Mencius said: You can’t have your cake and eat it too.
If Xuan County is lost, the thieves will be able to get rest and supplies, and may even occupy Xuan County and hold on to the city to resist.
If Xuan County exists, the thieves will have only one way to escape to the south of the Yangtze River. The south of the Yangtze River is bounded by the sea to the east and the land is flat and mountainless. There are Jianzhou on the north, west and south sides, and Jiangzhou and Yangzhou soldiers and horses can be mobilized.
In other words, if the thieves did not attack Xuan County, their end might be even worse.
Chen Ping can think of this, and White Lotus Thief should also be able to think of it.
So before Li Feng could figure out the situation in Xuan County ahead, Chen Ping had a guess in his mind.