At the first watch, Wang Zhongsheng's 40,000 troops had reached the river about 20 miles away from Luyi County. Wang Zhongsheng had received intelligence that Zhang Boyi's 20,000 troops had entered Luyi County. This made him relieved. As long as Zhang Boyi's If 20,000 troops are stationed, they will be unable to fly.
The next step is to force this army to surrender to him. Wang Zhongsheng of Luyi County knows that it is just a small county town with low and dilapidated city walls and dilapidated city gates that can be broken with a battering ram.
Wang Zhongsheng ordered the troops to move slowly until they were only three miles away from the city wall. The army stopped outside the east city gate. Wang Zhongsheng sent his eldest son Wang Ying to lead 20,000 troops to block the west city gate.
It was not until the fourth watch that the 40,000-strong army was able to rest after working hard all day and half of the night. Every soldier was exhausted and wrapped himself in a blanket and fell to sleep.
Wang Zhongsheng was a little worried. It would be terrible if Zhang Boyi led 20,000 troops to fight out of the city and his troops were too sleepy.
For this reason, he sent another 300 soldiers to monitor the city gate. If there was any movement in Zhang Boyi's army, he would rush back to report it immediately.
It was almost five o'clock when Wang Zhongsheng couldn't bear the strong sleepiness, so he lay down in the marching tent to sleep.
At the third quarter of the fifth watch, Wang Zhongsheng was suddenly woken up by his own soldiers. The soldiers were frightened and said: "Lord, it's not good. The army in Xicheng seems to have been attacked. There is a big chaos!"
Wang Zhongsheng sat up in excitement, no longer sleepy, "What's going on? Were you attacked by the defenders in the city?"
"I don't know, I just heard crying from the west."
Just when Wang Zhongsheng was about to order the entire army to assemble, he heard screams and cries outside. This was either the sound of the army from the west, or the cries and screams of his own soldiers.
He drew his sword and rushed out of the tent, only to see his army in chaos. Soldiers were running here and there, escaping in all directions. When he took a closer look, he was shocked. Countless cavalry were charging and killing his army.
At this time, more than a dozen of his soldiers rushed up on horseback. Without any explanation, they put him on the horse, whipped the horse, and fled with him on horseback.
Wang Zhongsheng leaned on his horse and asked anxiously: "What's going on?"
"Tens of thousands of cavalry are coming to kill!"
‘Tens of thousands of cavalry?’ Wang Zhongsheng’s heart was agitated, and he suddenly realized that it must be King Qi’s army.
Xi Wanli's troops divided into two groups, used the city wall as cover, and suddenly rushed out. The 40,000 enemy troops were caught off guard, and there was chaos. In the night, the soldiers scattered in order to survive.
Luyi County is surrounded by endless wheat fields. The wheat is about to mature. Countless soldiers rushed into the wheat fields and lay down in the wheat fields to hide.
Of course, when two armies are fighting, victory is not achieved only by killing all of the other side. In fact, victory is achieved only by dispersing the other side so that the other side can no longer organize to fight.
The biggest advantage of the Guanlong cavalry is that they can fight at night. This is the result of more than ten years of hard training. Therefore, if a sneak attack is launched at night, unless the opponent is fully prepared, the enemy will be defeated.
However, there is also a disadvantage to attacking at night, that is, the enemy generals can easily escape under the cover of night. There is no way to do this, and it is impossible to cover everything.
As daylight gradually dawned, groups of prisoners of war were escorted out of the wheat fields by the Guanlong army. Twenty thousand troops from Luyi County also came out. They also cooperated with the cavalry to search for the fleeing enemy troops within a radius of thirty miles.
By noon, nearly 30,000 prisoners of war had been captured. Including the soldiers killed during the night, the number of enemy soldiers who escaped was about 8,000.
At this time, Zhang Boyi came to see the general Xi Wanli.
"Thank you General Xi for coming all the way to support us!"
Xi Wanli nodded, "I came here to support you on the orders of the Supervisor. General Zhang is not polite."
Xi Wanli took out another letter and handed it to Zhang Boyi, "This is a personal letter from the Supervisor to the General. Please take a look at it!"
Zhang Boyi quickly took the letter and read it carefully. The letter pointed out his future and asked him to return to Beijing to report on his duties. He would be put in another important position and the army would be temporarily commanded by Xi Wanli.
Zhang Boyi smiled bitterly in his heart and said to Xi Wanli: "Congratulations to General Xi on being appointed as the governor of Boying!"
Xi Wanli shook his head, "If General Zhang thinks this way, he is totally wrong!"
Zhang Boyi was startled, "What's wrong?"
Xi Wanli solemnly said: "The Tang Dynasty is revitalized, the people live and work in peace and contentment, and the soldiers of the Tang Dynasty are not open to the outside world. No matter whether it is the Central Plains, Jiangnan, or Hebei in the future, there will no longer be troops stationed. Jiedu envoys will become a thing of the past."
Only then did Zhang Boyi react and said with shame: "It was indeed my misunderstanding. Hey! It's time for the people of the Central Plains to take a good rest."
Zhang Boyi immediately handed over military power to Xi Wanli and took several of his men to the capital to report on their duties.
Xi Wanli immediately summoned Zhang Boyi's generals to give a lecture. After taking a look at everyone, Xi Wanli slowly said to everyone: "Zhang Shijun has returned to the court to report his duties. There will be other important positions. The 20,000 troops will be temporarily commanded by me. According to Zhang Shijun
I have told you that one hundred thousand guan is the soldier’s salary, I will pay it to the soldier, please don’t worry!”
Lun Weizhen and others were overjoyed and bowed to thank each other. Xi Wanli waved his hands and said: "I know everyone is worried about factional suppression and so on, so I want to make something clear to everyone. Guan Longjun is just a temporary name and will not be there soon."
Yes, we are all imperial troops and Tang troops. I will never discriminate against you, let alone wear small shoes for you. Please don't worry.
Secondly, I am only temporarily in charge of everyone, only for a few months at most. I hope we can get along well in these few months!"
Liu Chang asked: "Why only a few months?"
Xi Wanli smiled slightly and said: "My mission is not only to annihilate Wang Zhongsheng, but also to participate in the annihilation of Li Xilie's army. After the mission is over, I will return to Guanzhong, and then the Privy Council will reorganize the army, so these wars are your opportunities, so take good care of them."
Make meritorious deeds and earn a future for yourself!"
Everyone nodded silently, saying that King Qi only cares about military merit. This is indeed an opportunity, and he hopes to earn glory and wealth for his descendants.
Wang Zhongsheng escaped for more than fifty miles in one breath before he stopped and looked back. Except for his more than 30 personal soldiers, there was no other soldier following him. Wang Zhongsheng was heartbroken for a moment, his body was swaying, and he rode on horseback.
It's unstable.
The soldiers quickly helped him off his horse and sat down on a big rock by the side of the road. Wang Zhongsheng was heartbroken. He thought that after many years of struggle, his entire army was wiped out overnight. The more he thought about it, the sadder he became, and finally he couldn't help but burst out loud. cry.
Several soldiers hurriedly advised: "My lord, don't be sad. Victory or defeat is a matter of military strategism. Besides, my lord still has ten thousand troops in Xuzhou, so he can definitely make a comeback."
Another soldier also advised: "We are running fast on horseback, and it is normal for the soldiers behind us to be unable to keep up. If my lord waits, a large number of soldiers may be defeated."
Everyone's persuasion made Wang Zhongsheng calm down a little. He sighed and said, "Let's just wait patiently!"
By noon, he had collected more than 2,000 defeated troops. At this time, a defeated army of nearly 3,000 people arrived, led by Wang Zhongsheng's eldest son Wang Ying. When the father and son met, they had mixed feelings, as if they were separated from each other in another world.
Wang Zhongsheng did not dare to return to Songcheng and retreated directly towards Xuzhou.
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[I have something to do at home today, only two updates]