Chen Ping ordered the team not to advance rashly, and even started to rest on the spot.
In order to guard against possible attacks, the pursuit all the way went too smoothly. Chen Ping originally thought that there might not be much need to do so, but Luo Li woke him up at the critical moment.
It is precisely because the process of chasing from Jingzhou to Jiangzhou was so smooth that we should be more vigilant. The stop to rest is only temporary. If the thief's plot can be foiled, it will definitely be a profitable business.
Even if the thieves had no such intention and took advantage of their caution to flee north, it would not be a big deal.
After all, Xuan County is not too far from Jinling City. No matter how weak Jiangzhou's officers and soldiers are, they are still regular troops. They do not want to eliminate the bandits, but only need to intercept them slightly. Chen Ping's three thousand cavalry can quickly follow up.<
/p>
So, in a slightly open valley more than ten miles outside Xuan County, the three thousand Jingqi who had chased them all the way from Jingzhou to Jiangzhou were finally able to take a good rest.
"If you want to leave, just go to the north. That's your territory, isn't it?"
Chen Ping murmured as his eyes wandered back and forth on the map.
By this time, he had roughly guessed the White Lotus Bandit's plan. It was not only him who felt uncomfortable being chased in the mountains, but also the thieves, so both he and the White Lotus Bandit wanted to leave the mountain at this moment.
It's just that the White Lotus bandits seem to be greedy and want to make a comeback before leaving the mountains of Jiangzhou to dampen the morale of the officers and soldiers, so that they can escape northward later.
It’s okay to leave the mountainous area. Chen Ping raised his hands in agreement. His men are all cavalry. Pursuing in the mountains greatly limits their performance. If they can go to an open and flat place, it will be much easier.
But you still want to bite me again? Then I'm sorry.
Chen Ping's team "sit-in" outside Xuanxian County for several days. Although there was no trace of the thieves, the morale of the entire army was not unstable.
In addition to the military pay that Chen Ping paid them on time, this is all due to the contributions of the two generals Luo Li and Li Feng.
As for Chen Ping himself, it can only be said that he is studying, but he is also studying with dozens of junior students from Qianzhou Jiangxia Academy.
"My lord! My lord!"
"There is news that the White Lotus thief has fled north!"
OK!
As soon as he heard this, Chen Ping immediately applauded in his heart. The few days of waiting were indeed not in vain. Apart from anything else, he dared to say that the pace of this White Lotus thief was fast.
A few days were enough for the thief to run north to the river and even find a ferry to cross the river. But now the Jiangzhou government got the news that the thief was about to leave, which shows that the thief had not left for at least two or three days.
However, the thief was trapped in the mountainous area in the southeast of Jiangzhou but did not move for two or three days. Apart from taking a breather and resting, he just wanted to trick someone else.
You must know that they are not in a desperate situation where they are ambushed from all sides. If Chen Ping and his army had not been following behind to hold on, how could the officers and soldiers from all over the country have stopped them?
Now Chen Ping ordered to stop and gave the other side a few days, but no thieves took the opportunity to run away like crazy. It can only be said that these White Lotus thieves are really courageous!
"Brother Luo, the thief wanted to kill him with his carbine, but we have already seen through the ruse, and now we have no choice but to leave the mountainous area and flee north."
Luo Li nodded and continued: "I have been drilling through the mountains for many days without getting any results. Once I get out of the mountains and into the plains, I will let these thieves know how powerful they are."
"Indeed, I heard that Mr. Lu has moved to the eastern part of Zhongzhou. When the north and south attack, will the thieves have a place to escape?"
Chen Ping was in a very good mood when he said this. The name of the White Lotus Thief is so famous, but in reality it is nothing more than that.
However, Li Feng on the side seemed to be hesitant to speak. Luo Li caught a glimpse and said, "General Li, do you think Jiangzhou officers and soldiers are unreliable?"
Li Feng's eyes lit up and he nodded quickly.
"Don't be afraid, I don't care about these people at all. I just treat them as if they don't exist. We are the only ones who can rely on to suppress thieves."
Chen Ping also agreed very much with what Luo Li said.
Because it has been ten days and a half since Jingzhou entered Jiangzhou, but the Jiangzhou government seems to be slow to respond and has done nothing at all.
The thieves have all gone to their own territory and they are still indifferent. How can we expect this?
"I don't know what the Jiangzhou officials are thinking, but it is true that as Brother Luo said, you can pretend that they don't exist. I am now recruiting deputy envoys for the southwest. I have the power to do things expediently, and I hold the Shangfang Sword given by the emperor."<
/p>
"If anyone dares to obstruct the important task of suppressing thieves, I will never be polite!"
After saying this, Chen Ping stood up, took a deep breath, and said: "The thieves are running north, and it's time for us to attack."
"General Li, you are the vanguard to catch up with the thieves, and notify the local officials along the way, asking them to cooperate if they can, and if they can't, guard the city and not cause trouble."
"General Luo, you and I will escort the army across the river quickly to prevent the thieves from fleeing westward and returning to Jingzhou."
"As for the south, the prefect of Qianzhou has promised me that he will send troops to guard the border between Qianzhou and Yangzhou. Once there is news that the thieves have entered Yangzhou south, they will be ordered to go and fight against the thieves."
After these days of suppressing thieves, Chen Ping can be said to have received a lot of training. After much discussion with Luo Li, Li Feng and the others, he formulated a complete plan.
As far as annihilating the White Lotus bandits is concerned, it should be considered foolproof.
After all, he currently has three thousand elite cavalry on hand. Not only are they highly mobile, but their combat power is also difficult to match.
If it weren't for the lack of cooperation from the local governments, using these three thousand elite cavalry to suppress bandits would be a bit overkill.
"Get the order!"
Luo Li and Li Feng accepted the order one after another, and then began to take action.
To the north of Xuan County, Yuan Dashan, who failed to ambush Chen Ping, was leading his thousands of elite White Lotus troops to rush north.
While rushing on the road, Yuan Dashan cursed his mother.
"Damn it, these officers and soldiers are so slippery, they can't bear to chase after them, damn it!"
Ever since he was defeated by Chen Ping in the north of Jiangling City, Yuan Dashan has not dared to turn back and fight back. Instead, he has blindly fled eastward. The reason is because he has seen the power of three thousand cavalry and knows that as long as he is on flat ground, even if he is
Even tens of thousands of people could not defeat the elite cavalry of the official army.
That’s why I thought of running eastward to the mountains of Jiangzhou to fight with the chasing army behind me, or even ambush the opponent in the mountains. As long as we can win a battle, it will not only have a great impact on our own morale.
A big improvement will also make officers and soldiers everywhere afraid to fight.
What's more, this may also cause a chain reaction in other places. As long as someone follows suit and rises up, the pressure on them will be reduced a lot.
However, Yuan Dashan's plan did not come true. Now he can only quickly head north and return to the place where the White Lotus Sect is widely spread to see if he can raise another team to fight with the official army.
With this in mind, Yuan Dashan put his previous embarrassing experience behind him and strengthened his determination.
However, at this moment, his subordinates came to report: "Teacher, there are officers and soldiers in front of us, about twenty or thirty miles away!"
Can Jiangzhou's soldiers fight?
This question depends on whose point of view you look at it. At least in the eyes of officials such as the prefect of Jiangzhou, although Jiangzhou soldiers are not as good as the border troops in the north, they are not too weak.
This is not to blame them, after all, it is located in the gentle countryside of Jiangnan. Since the founding of Dayu, Jiangzhou has not suffered any major turmoil. Apart from dealing with some bandits and water thieves, Jiangzhou officers and soldiers have no other opponents. Moreover, Jiangzhou's business is prosperous, and many things can be measured in money. Even bandits and water thieves are like this. They only do it for wealth, not to kill people.
Under the influence of this kind of atmosphere, everyone in Jiangzhou didn't have much urgency about the White Lotus bandits entering Jiangzhou.
What's more, the White Lotus thief is also followed by three thousand elite cavalry led by Chen Ping, the deputy envoy of Southwest Recruitment?
Then there is nothing to worry about. After all, can the imperial court ignore the safety of Jiangnan?
Therefore, when the prefect of Jiangzhou advocated that all gentry and wealthy businessmen from all walks of life contribute money to the officers and soldiers of Jiangzhou to suppress thieves, not many people responded. Even if they did, it was for the sake of the prefect's face to give some money.<
/p>
If that's the case, it's okay. The wealthy businessmen's interest in the big soldiers will be enough for them to make up for the army's salary.
But how can there be any reason for the money to go out completely after entering the government? Even if it goes out completely, can the officers who lead the troops and the people who distribute the money be fair and honest and never raise their hands once?
Therefore, the prefect took the lead in raising funds for military pay. When it fell into the hands of Jiangzhou officers and soldiers, it had already become a ridiculous amount of one or two taels of silver.
Not to mention making up for the military salary owed by the imperial court, the money is not even enough for one month's salary.
It was under this situation that the Jiangzhou officers and soldiers were urged to leave Jinling and go south to suppress the bandits.
Yuan Dashan naturally didn't know all this, but he also knew that the imperial treasury was empty, and military pay was only given priority to the three government agencies, the Forbidden Army and the Western Army of the Northern Army. As for the Xiang Army in various places, they could only be next to each other.
What's more, Jiangzhou is located in the south of the Yangtze River, and it is well known that the soldiers and horses are too weak to fight. Therefore, when he heard that there were officers and soldiers ahead, the first thought that came to Yuan Dashan's mind was to fight.
"If the dog army dares to block the way of our grandfathers, tell the brothers that if we kill the army in front, we can cross the river. At that time, we will join the brothers in the north. The officers and soldiers killed will cry for father and mother!"
The resentment of being chased by Chen Ping for months broke out at this moment. Yuan Dashan thought to himself, if I can't beat the cavalry, why can't I beat you?
In his eyes, the soldiers in Jiangnan were just like paper.
Of course, this is indeed the case.
The Jiangzhou officers and soldiers, who had been dawdling away since leaving Jinling City, were resentful because they were defrauded of their military pay. They were even more resentful of the Jiangzhou magistrate who led the army, which made the whole army unstable.
As the highest official, Jiangzhou Zhizhou knew that it would be extremely dangerous to encounter thieves in such a state, let alone cooperate with the southwest to recruit deputy envoys to suppress the thieves.
But there was nothing he could do, just because the Jiangzhou magistrate accused him of being unable to appease the sergeants, which not only forced various gentry to pay for the military pay hole, but also let the White Lotus bandit into Jiangzhou. In short, it was all kinds of dereliction of duty.
Originally, before the White Lotus bandits approached Jinling, these accusations had never appeared, but now they were all levied on their heads, forcing Jiangzhou Zhizhou to lead the troops himself.
Therefore, even though the officers and soldiers below were marching slowly and procrastinatingly, Zhou Zhizhou could only watch helplessly, not daring to disobey for fear of offending these big-headed soldiers.
Who caused Dayu to become unstable now?
Coupled with the arrears of military pay, the White Lotus bandits who gathered tens of thousands of people to cause trouble in Jingzhou, and the Huru from the Northern Liao Dynasty who were eyeing them outside, it was really unlucky that people would choke even after drinking cold water, and the disaster was added together.
Zhou Zhizhou felt even more depressed when he thought of this.
Suddenly, he suddenly heard someone shouting something in the distance, and he could barely hear it clearly until he got closer.
"Thief, there is a thief!"
Thief?!
When Zhou Zhizhou heard this, he was dumbfounded. He didn't expect that he was so unlucky. Previously, he was slapped a lot by Zhifu Lin and had to lead the army out of the city to fight against the thieves. Not to mention, he was despised by his big-headed soldiers and even
Let’s not talk about it as air.
After all, they are just false things, which cannot hinder the fact that he is still the governor of Jiangzhou.
But now, he met a thief just two days after leaving Jinling City. This is what will kill him!
You must know that the prefect's slap on the hat is just to force him to take charge of his duties, which is harmless. And the soldiers below despise him is just a matter of face, and it is a matter of tolerance.
But when it comes to thieves, people don't care about these things. Not to mention a Zhizhou among the rebels, even the emperor may die.
Thinking of this, Zhou Zhizhou was extremely horrified. You must know that he, the Jiangzhou Zhizhou, lived an extremely happy life in the past. Because he was located in the south of the Yangtze River, there was no danger and there was no official business on weekdays. Not only could he finish his term happily, but he could also make friends with many wealthy businessmen and celebrities.
, paving the way for future career.
I thought I could live a relaxed life in Jiangnan, but who would have thought that I would encounter such a thing.
"Thieves? Hurry and meet the enemy!"
He shouted subconsciously and ordered his soldiers to prepare for the battle.
How can an army that can't even afford military pay be obedient? What's more, the soldiers in Jiangnan have always bullied the weak and feared the strong. They don't even want to use a knife to deal with the local bandits and water thieves, let alone the White Lotus bandits who can kill all the way from Jingzhou to Jiangzhou.
Elite?
After Jiangzhou Zhizhou's order was issued, not many people obeyed it.
The news of the thieves' arrival quickly spread among the army. When the officers and soldiers who were on the march heard the thieves coming, they all got into a mess. Some turned around and ran away, while others stayed there blankly and didn't know what to do. Only a few
The man straightened up his spear and opened his bow and arrow.
How does this look look like an army officer?
Zhou Zhizhou was still a Zhizhou after all. Seeing the situation, he turned around anxiously, yelling at them not to panic, and immediately formed a formation to defend themselves. However, no one listened to him without military pay.
Soldiers have to be paid, which has been a thing since ancient times. How can we mobilize troops if we can't afford military pay?
In this case, the figure of the White Lotus Thief appeared in the distance.
It was clear that before the culprits arrived, Jiangzhou officers and soldiers broke into chaos. Although they had not fled, they were still in trouble. They couldn't help but retreat back, and the formation they had just formed quickly became disorganized.
After Yuan Dashan and his troops saw the actions of the officers and soldiers from a distance, they were overjoyed.
This is like an official army!
The thousands of officers and cavalrymen who had been chasing after them all rushed to kill them like they were desperate, almost making him think that he had misjudged the officers and soldiers.
Now when I look at it, the officers and soldiers are indeed still officers and soldiers.
"Brothers, charge!"
"The officers and soldiers were afraid. They ran away and followed us to charge and kill!"
Yuan Dashan raised his arms and shouted, and the elites of the White Lotus Sect under his command were excited when they heard the words. They also saw the situation of the officers and soldiers. As the saying goes, the brave will win when they meet on a narrow road. The weaker the enemy is, the more courage they will gain.
The battle between the two armies was all about morale. When the thousands of White Lotus thieves from Wuyangyang rushed over with heart-shaking shouts, Zhou Zhizhou was immediately frightened.
He looked at the thief's momentum, then looked at the situation on his side, and felt something bad.
After calling to the dozens of soldiers around him, Zhou Zhizhou slowly stepped aside, and with his heart racing, he ordered the soldiers to form a formation to face the enemy.
Of course, he also knew that at this point, even if his men formed a formation and tried their best, they would probably not be able to escape the fate of failure, so after shouting, he quietly turned the horse's head.