Chapter 351 0346 [The officers and soldiers on Kuizhou Road with brilliant achievements]
The economic envoys are responsible for civil affairs, while the pacification envoys are responsible for fighting wars.
The two can be placed separately, but they are often combined, that is, the economic strategy and pacification envoy. The economic strategy department and the pacification department are further divided, each responsible for civil and military affairs, and jointly responsible to the economic strategy and pacification envoy.
If a place is particularly chaotic, send another messenger.
It can be placed alone or stacked, such as to appease and recruit envoys. This position is often held by military ministers. In the event of a war, they can act cheaply and have great autonomy in deploying troops.
In the southern region, there is no need for frequent large-scale mobilization of troops, money and food, so various positions are often placed separately and held concurrently.
For example, Cai Yi, who was lying flat, was originally the magistrate of Guizhou, concurrently served as the transport judge of Guangxi, and also served as the pacifier of Guangxi.
Another example is the person who provoked the rebellion of the barbarians in Luzhou. He was the magistrate of Luzhou and concurrently served as the pacifier of Luzhou.
If there is a war, the person with the highest authority is usually the commander-in-chief. For example, the Lunan pacification envoy was unable to deal with the barbarians. Zhao Yu, who was the transfer envoy on Zizhou Road, quickly summoned the troops to give unified command.
Higher-level positions also include the general command of finance, troops, horses, money and food, similar to the governors of several provinces in the Ming Dynasty.
This thing emerged during the Jingkang period and became normalized during the Anti-Jin War.
Due to the bad situation in the southwest region, Zhao Yu was appointed as the general commander of the southwest military, horse, money and food affairs. All the forces in the southwest were under his unified command. It can be understood that he was the governor of the southwest region.
However, Zhao Yu does not have the power to open a mansion!
When evaluating a general commander of troops, horses, money and food, or an economic and political envoy to see if he can run a government alone, you will know how much power he actually has.
Zhao Yu first learned about Huang Gai's defense arrangements. The total strength of the troops here was close to 40,000.
There are 15,000 defenders in Zitong City.
A fortress is set up on the hilltop in the northwest of the city (across the Zijiang River), with 5,000 troops stationed there, which can prevent the rebels from crossing the river and bypassing them. They can also go down the mountain to harass the rebel flanks when the rebels attack the city, and cooperate with the Zitong defenders to attack from both sides at critical times.
A fort was set up on the hilltop in the northeast of the city, with 8,000 troops stationed there. It was a forward position for officers and soldiers, which could prevent the rebels from attacking the city with all their strength, and could also cooperate with friendly forces to attack from several sides.
A fortress was set up on the hilltop east of the city, with 6,000 troops stationed there, to prevent the rebels from going around to the open area east of Zitong City. Once the rebels took this route, they would be attacked from three sides.
Zhao Yu had to admit that Huang Gai's arrangement was very appropriate and all aspects had been considered.
"The thieves have been silent?" Zhao Yu asked.
Huang Gai said: "I only sent some scouts to inquire about the military situation, but there was no other movement from the red bandits. They have been stationed in Qiqu Mountain for more than 20 days. It is just right that he has not moved, so I have time to train the local soldiers."
Ju Ming, like Li Bao, was in the process of purging the troops.
He had reorganized once in Lizhou and received the surrendered troops at Jianmen Pass. The size of the army reached 48,000 people (there were 20,000 civilians).
Seeing that Zitong County was not easy to fight, he cut down trees to build siege equipment and used his time to reorganize.
The most capable elites were named "Chang Jie Army", with a strength of 3,000, and were led by Deng Chun.
Ju Ming's pro-army force also expanded to 3,000 people and was named the "Successful Army", led by Li Jinyi.
Another five armies were organized, named Xiaoguo, Longxiang, Huyi, Langben and Yingyang, with a total strength of 15,000.
The rest were all eliminated as auxiliary soldiers and civilians, that is, there were only 21,000 combat soldiers.
Well, the firearms unit is a separate unit and is organized into a separate firearms battalion. Counting the auxiliaries, there are only a few hundred people.
After reorganization, military discipline was reaffirmed and discipline was strengthened through drills.
As a result, a very strange situation occurred. The armies of the two sides faced off for more than 20 days, and they actually stayed in their camps to train before the battle. Both felt that their troops were insufficiently trained, and both felt that their troops were difficult to command and could not be drawn out immediately for high-intensity battles.
There is also a partial army, with Lin Chong as the main general and Bai Qi as the deputy general, which totals 5,000 people including civilians.
They went south along the Jialing River, capturing Cangxi, Langzhong, Nannan, Xinzheng, Xinsjing, Xishui, Fengguo, Xiangru...most of them were small counties in the mountains, and many county towns became market towns in later generations.
The officers and soldiers retreated all the way and gathered in Nanchong to hold on. The remaining defeated generals and newly recruited rural soldiers totaled 8,000 troops.
Lin Chong and Bai Qi accepted surrender along the way and expanded their army to 10,000 (including civilians). It was not that more troops could not be added, but that there was not enough food and grass. The areas they conquered were too poor, and they could not get much by asking the rich to donate food.
Stuck at the foot of Nanchong City, I can't move.
"How about a strong attack?" Lin Chong asked.
Bai Qi came here to gain experience. He experienced many battles along the way. Although the intensity was not very high, he finally saw blood and learned how to march, set up camp, and arrange troops.
Bai Qi said: "Our army does not have elite troops. They are all composed of surrendered troops. Once the attack fails, the morale of the army will immediately be weakened."
Lin Chong said: "We have been winning battles, and the officers and soldiers have been losing battles. Our army's morale is high, but the enemy's morale is low. We can try to attack by force."
"I'm afraid it's not enough to attack the city in the field," Bai Qi said, "Let's build the flat artillery first, and then continue to shoot surrender letters and messages into the city."
Letters and proclamations urging surrender were sent out one after another. The defenders had already gained experience, and the soldiers automatically collected them and burned them.
There are several civil and military officials in Nanchong City.
The governor of Guozhou, Chen Rujia, was the leader, the governor of Langzhou, Xue Yuanjian, was the deputy, and several Xiang army commanders were the generals.
A fast ship arrived, and the messenger rushed into the city.
Chen Rujia read the military report, handed it to Xue Yuanjian and said: "The thieves from Hezhou have gone north to Xinming (Wusheng)."
Xue Yuanjian frowned and said, "How did we fight there? The dangerous fortress of Hezhou couldn't be defended. Why didn't the soldiers and horses on Kuizhou Road cut off the bandits' retreat?"
"How do I know?" Chen Rujia said angrily.
He really wanted to say, how could you not defend the great city of Langzhong? You actually let the bandits and bandits kill me!
Li Bao's army has already reached Xinming. If he captures Xinming County and then Hanchu County, he can join forces with Lin Chong and Bai Qi to encircle Nanchong.
Xue Yuanjian said: "We must ask Kuizhou Road to send troops quickly!"
…
In fact, Kuizhou Road has already sent troops.
General Zhang Shen was the commander, and he led 10,000 land and sea troops to attack Quzhou from Jiajiangkou in Dazhou. After capturing this city, Li Bao's retreat was cut off.
At first, Zhang Shen was cautious, but soon discovered that there was no enemy defense here at all!
After leading his troops into the city, Zhang Shen felt like he was dreaming that he could regain the lost ground so easily?
"President Zhang, the rebels have been cut off from their retreat, and Hezhou and Guang'an are difficult to attack," Shouxin, the commander of Kuizhou Road, said excitedly, "But if we march north to Bazhou, we will be able to easily recover the counties in Bazhou. We can also
Threatening Hanzhong, the den of thieves!"
Zhang Shen knew what the general was thinking. Li Bao's main force was in the southwest, and Wei Shouxin did not dare to go head-on. As for Bazhou in the north, there were no soldiers. Not only was there no danger, but he could also regain the lost ground and make a plan to climb over the rice warehouse.
The posture of mountain beating Hanzhong!
Regardless of whether they can cross Micang Mountain or not, the officers and soldiers on their team are the most dazzling troops in Sichuan.
Recover the lost territory, take the thieves' den directly, and the report of victory can be written beautifully.
Zhang Shen shook his head: "The key to Sichuan lies in the battle in central Shu. No matter how many states and counties we recover, if we allow the bandits to advance westward, it will not help the war situation. Listen to my order and attack Guang'an with the entire army!"
Wei Shouxin obeyed the order, but in fact he was resentful.
If you don’t fight when Bazhou is empty, and if you don’t want the military merit of recovering the entire territory of Bazhou, you have to go to Guang’an to confront the bandits head-on. Isn’t this a fool?
Wei Shouxin bowed and retreated, called his generals and announced the order to attack Guang'an.
The commanders of the various states were instantly upset. You said something to me, blaming Zhang Shen for not knowing military matters and for being a turban who only knew how to read.
But the civilian commander gave orders, and the generals had to listen.
A few soldiers were left to garrison Quzhou, and the main force went straight to Guang'an.
There were actually not many bandits in Guang'an. Seeing the officers and soldiers fleeing in the face of the wind, Zhang Shen led the Kuizhou Road soldiers and horses to regain the lost territory again.
The whole army is excited and has high morale.
Zhang Shen, however, got more and more headaches as he fought. He knew what the bandits wanted to do.
Li Bao completely gave up his retreat. He did not want Guang'an, Quzhou, or Bazhou. He allowed officers and soldiers to occupy it at will, and even exposed Hanzhong to the front of the army. His real purpose was to open up the main roads and seize several roads.
The rebels are united as one!
Facing the empty official warehouse, Zhang Shen knew that a tough battle was waiting for him.
He led the land and sea troops to Hezhou in a furious battle, and was met with a head-on attack by the rebel navy.
Qi Gongkui, Pang Dingzi, Qiu Shanshui, and Li Jiang were all thieves' patrol inspectors and salt lords. There was also Xu Mengde, the son of a salt merchant, who led his family's salt transport fleet to join the thieves.
When he was an official in the army, Qi Gongkui was extremely cowardly. After becoming a thief, his combat effectiveness doubled.
This man led his old troops, led the charge in the boat, braved the arrows and boarded the ship. He had two arrow wounds, and was shot again when he came to the ship's side. However, he went to the ship wounded and killed several officers and soldiers one after another, frightening him.
The enemies in front of them retreated one after another.
Qi Gongkui's navy charged bravely and directly cut the navy in two.
Xu Mengde, the son of a salt merchant, cooperated with the salt lord Pang Dingzi, fought hard to attack the left wing of the officers and soldiers, and quickly formed a partial encirclement with Qi Gongkui.
The two salt lords Qiu Shanshui and Li Jiang suddenly rushed out from the tributaries, cutting off the retreat route of the officers and soldiers.
The officers and soldiers were defeated by the navy, and the grain-carrying ships ran away early, but several of them were intercepted by the rebel navy.
Zhang Shen led the land troops to retreat and did not stop until they reached Guang'an.
He really couldn't figure out how the bandits who came over from Micang Mountain could conjure up such an elite naval force out of thin air?
It's very simple. Whether they are patrolmen, salt lords, salt merchants, or Li Bao, they all treat them equally. They don't withhold food and pay, don't snatch military honors, and the rebels keep winning battles. Even these newly joined miscellaneous people have become more energetic.
.
We are all fighting for our own future, so of course we can risk our lives!
In particular, Li Bao reorganized in Hechuan, unified military orders, improved the command system, and improved the discipline of the entire army. These miscellaneous troops became more regular.
The navy was completely wiped out and several ships of food were robbed. Zhang Shen no longer had the strength to attack Hechuan.
Coupled with the failure of his generals, Zhang Shen became disheartened and simply followed the generals' wishes and went north to regain the lost territory.
The troops and horses on the entire Kuizhou Road, except for the part guarding Chongqing, were not involved in the battle in central Sichuan. They went all the way north, fought consecutive battles, and frantically recaptured the empty city. Judging from the military reports, the results of the battle were brilliant.
But this kind of avoidance of battle can make coach Zhao Yu angry to death!