A group of rebels were waiting to explore the horseshoes on the ground. The ruts were all the way south. They heard the roar of the river again in front of them. The Yellow River, which was even more turbulent than the Tuhai River, appeared in front of them.
All traces of the Tang army finally gathered at the Yellow River ferry. Broken tents, earthen stoves dug out from the ground, remnants of campfires, and cauldrons that were too heavy to be taken away. The shore was muddy, proving that this was where the Tang army crossed.
of the Yellow River.
Out of caution, the rebel cavalry searched both sides again and found no other traces. They immediately reported back to Shi Siming.
"The Tang army has crossed the Yellow River!"
"How is that possible?"
Shi Siming didn't believe it. He frowned and thought. It would take at least an hour for a small boat to cross the Yellow River back and forth. It could carry 20 people and could only cross 240 people in one day. To cross more than 10,000 people, the Tang army would have to cross 50 rivers.
Ship, but this is the most extreme situation. In fact, there are horses, baggage, and all kinds of troubles. How could they disappear so quickly?
Before this matter was figured out, the army came to report again, but it was Cai Xide who sent an envoy.
The person who came was Geng Renzhi, the judge of Fan Yang Jiedu, a handsome middle-aged man, but what he said was not good news.
"Now the counties in Hebei have been instigated to rebel, and only the general has regained one plain county, but time is running out. Li Guangbi is recruiting troops in Hedong, preparing to send troops to Jingxing. In addition, the emperor has appointed Guo Ziyi as the deputy envoy of the Shuofang Army, and the northwest armies are ready.
, will make a big move eastward at any time."
After that, Geng Renzhi relayed Cai Xide's intention to give up the attack on Taiyuan and return to Feihukou to hold on to the troops. Then he and Shi Siming concentrated their forces to attack Changshan County. They would first block the main roads for officers and soldiers to enter Hebei, and then recover the Hebei provinces that were instigated to rebel one by one.
county.
It can be seen that the Tang army was surrounded on all sides, and the situation faced by the rebels was not good. Fortunately, the main force had unexpectedly captured Luoyang, otherwise it would have been a different situation now.
As Shi Siming listened, he frowned and said nothing.
Geng Renzhi then asked: "General Cai is here to cooperate with the general. What concerns does the general have? You might as well speak up."
"In the battle of Pingyuan County, I captured Helan, the Tang Dynasty's Hebei envoy to the Ming Dynasty." Shi Siming recounted his achievements first, and then said: "It's a pity that Xue Bai, Yan Gaoqing, Wang Nan and others fled to the south bank of the Yellow River."
"General, with all due respect."
The person who suddenly spoke was a secretary in charge of Shi Siming's account, named Zhou Zhi, and said: "Henan and Nanhuai have many soldiers and horses from the imperial court. There is no shortage of only 10,000 people like Xue Bai. The general should recover it as soon as possible."
Changshan, it would be better to attack Liu Kenu."
Zhou Zhi's words were helpful to Geng Renzhi. In his opinion, Xue Bai was cunning and it was useless to chase Xue Bai, but Hebei was the root, and it was obvious which one was more important.
But unexpectedly, Geng Renzhi pondered and said: "Xue Bai is like a stick, inserted from the mouth of the bottle in Jingxing into the urn in Hebei, causing great chaos and making it impossible for him to live in peace. If he is allowed to wander near the river, it will indeed be a disaster.
It’s like a lump in the throat.”
Zhou Zhi was very upset after hearing this. He secretly thought that he could speak for Geng Renzhi and persuade the general to cooperate with Cai Xide, but this person from Cai Xide actually came to disrupt it?
If Shi Siming were to attack the Shandong area, Cai Xide would have to bear more pressure from Hedong and Shuofang.
He asked: "According to Judge Geng's wishes, cross the river to pursue?"
"Chasable."
Shi Siming's eyes showed admiration and he said with a rare smile: "How about I ask Judge Geng to stay in my tent for a few days until I can kill Xue Bai and then go north together?"
Geng Renzhi thought that Cai Xide was arrogant and stupid, and had long wanted to switch to Shi Siming. He quickly stood up and saluted, saying with deep meaning: "I am willing to serve the general as hard as a dog or horse."
When Zhou Zhi saw this scene, he realized that Geng Renzhi was not thinking about the overall situation, but was trying to seduce Shi Siming.
~~
Xue Bai did not cross the Yellow River, but pretended to cross the river and turned westward.
He planned to go to Wei Commandery, a journey of three hundred miles, and it would take five days to march at full speed.
On the afternoon of the third day, they had entered the junction of Boping and Qinghe counties. Xue Bai did not know the details ahead, so he had to stop and wait for Jiang Hai to return from inquiring about the news. Since Pingyuan County was besieged, many of his news channels had
It’s broken, so I can only inquire again.
So he ordered to camp and rest, and at the same time reorganized the army. After more than a month of siege and several days of breakout marches, he was basically able to control the army, and now he was clarifying some matters.
"We come from Yunzhong, Changshan, Pingyuan, and Beihai. If we continue to be independent of each other, how can we survive in such a changing situation and make meritorious deeds? I have discussed it with Grand Administrator Yan and General Wang. From now on, we will unite into one army and call it '
Guangwu Army', at this time when Hebei fell, took the restoration of the imperial court as its own duty..."
Long live Diao in the army, Ma Xiangru and others still had concerns, thinking that it was nothing if the imperial court did not grant the title and the rebels did not recognize it. But soon, they were all promoted. Although their power did not change much, it sounded
But completely different.
Regardless of the official positions in the imperial court, there is indeed a very clear hierarchy. Xue Bai is the leader, Yan Gaoqing is the deputy, Wang Nan is the vanguard general, and the troops and horses under the generals are reorganized for easy deployment.
Occasionally, some who were not very obedient were inevitably killed and sacrificed to the flag.
After staying in camp for two days, the organization took shape, but the food and grass carried by the army were exhausted.
Xue Bai sat on the stone at the foot of the mountain and waited for Jiang Hai to come back from inquiring about the news. He opened the letter from Shouyang Mountain and frowned as he read it. Compared to Hanjiacang, there was not enough food.
To supply military supplies, he preferred to believe that Gao Xianzhi found a reason that was difficult to verify and abandoned Luoyang.
But he was too hungry to think clearly.
Jiang Hai was a waiting rider when he was in Longyou, and he was good at gathering information. As expected, he came back as promised and brought some food to the generals.
"Guess what? The two counties of Boping and Qinghe also responded to the uprising, but Shi Siming returned to Hebei and did not capture the two counties. Instead, he had people surround them and directly led his troops to attack Pingyuan County, charging first.
Let’s come.”
Xue Bai nodded. Li E, the prefect of Qinghe County, even sent Chief Shi Wang Huaizhong to lead troops to Changshan for reinforcements. The reason for this was because there was Jingxing in Changshan County, and the imperial army had to leave Jingxing first before reinforcements could be sent to Qinghe County.
In short, the two counties of Boping and Qinghe are still in control, but they are besieged by the rebels.
Jiang Hai said: "I captured a group of rebels on waiting cavalry in Wacun, fifty miles ahead, and interrogated several of them separately. When I learned that the leader of the rebel army stationed in Wei County was Yuan Zhitai, with more than 30,000 troops, he sent his generals
Bai Sishen and Yishumeng besieged Boping and Qinghe counties respectively."
"How is the combat strength?" Xue Bai said: "The rebels are in a hurry to attack Tongguan now. Those who can be arranged to guard the rear must not be elites?"
"Looking at the armor and horses, they are far inferior to Shi Siming's troops..."
~~
There is a large swamp located more than 20 miles south of Yongji Canal. The village to the east of the swamp is called Wacun.
Orion hunter Yan San's home is located deep in the swamp. He has an old woman, two brothers and two sisters-in-law.
That night, Yan San came back from hunting and opened the door. The first thing he saw was a table of wine and food on the table. His brother was eating with a few people.
"General, why are you back again?" Yan San quickly closed the door, bent forward and said, "Didn't we already agree that if the villain gives you news, you will let the villain go?"
Jiang Hai grinned and said, "Let's do another business."
Yan San quickly ran to the window and looked towards the foot of the mountain, fearing that his last tip to the officers and soldiers would be known to others, or that he would lead the officers and soldiers to plunder the village.
After all, officers and soldiers may not necessarily abide by military discipline.
"Don't worry, I won't pass through your village." Jiang Hai said, "Sit down, I won't lose you."
The last time, Yan San told Jiang Hai the location of the rebel Houma, and he was happy and scared when he got two strings of money. He thought that the matter would be over like this, but he didn't expect that the money was not spent, and the business came again.
Unable to tolerate his refusal, he sat down with his butt next to the broken stool. He glanced into the room from the corner of his eye and saw his mother-in-law and sisters-in-law peeking out. It could be seen that the officers and soldiers were not making trouble for them, so he felt relieved.
"You brothers often go to Yongji Canal Pier to steal things, right?"
"No, no."
"Pah!" Jiang Hai slapped the case and scolded: "How dare you deny it?! I have already heard what the salesman in the village said."
Yan San's expression changed in shock, and he quickly knelt on the ground and asked the officers and soldiers to spare him.
Jiang Hai then expressed his intention and said: "The salesman said that you know a wild road that can lead to Yongji Canal and a boat, right?"
"Yes, yes."
Jiang Hai took out a piece of gold from his arms and said, "This is today's meal money, please help me lead the way."
"General, it's not easy to walk on that wild road. It's very desolate." Yan San said: "General, I'm afraid he won't be used to it."
"Eating dog intestines, if you can live with it, your grandpa can live with it..."
The wild road Yan San mentioned did not go through the village, but was to the west of the swamp. He waited in the reed marsh for half a day, and then Jiang Hai came with his officers and soldiers, more than 10,000 men and horses, and the team was extremely long.
"Well, General, horses can't get through it, and they can't wear heavy armor."
Jiang Hai was worried about removing his armor and told Yan San not to talk nonsense.
Xue Bai chose to trust this guide and let Yan Gaoqing, Ma Xiangru and Diao Wansui lead their troops to station in the woods, watching the horses, baggage and wounded, waiting for orders.
"Here!" Ma Xiangru responded and thought to himself: "Let me wait for orders again."
After that, half of the soldiers of the Guangwu Army took off their heavy armor, and a few put on a small amount of light leather armor. Following the guide through the swamp, they actually waded through the reeds to make a passable path.
Walking to the back of this road, Xue Bai's legs were extremely sore and he was sweating profusely.
He had been thinking about the battle situation, but gradually, something else came to mind... The last time his legs were so sore, he was in the west wing with the Du sisters.
From this, he thought of that night when the spring breeze caressed the threshold, when he entered the fragrant and prosperous age of the Tang Dynasty in exhaustion; he thought of Yang Yuyao's face as red as drunkenness, accompanied by her tender breathing.
I thought of the lotus flower that emerges from the mud and remains unstained, and also thought of the agreement with Yan Yan.
In the sweltering, humid depths of the swamp in the summer, Xue Bai began to miss his confidante extremely much.
Walking out of the swamp, we entered a dense forest.
It was already dark now, so they continued through the forest, splitting thorns along the way, and finally arrived at Yongji Canal in the dark.
Under the moonlight, across the canal, one can see the outline of the rebel camp, and a row of bonfires actually brings the warmth of home.
"Where's the boat?"
"Pull it out."
"So small? Can it carry ten people?"
Yan San whispered: "It can carry twelve people."
"The Yongji Canal is not deep, so you can swim across it. After crossing the river, quickly line up and attack in the direction of the bonfire."
"Here."
"Tell the soldiers to defeat the rebels and have a feast tonight..."
After the arrangements were made, they began to cross the river.
Xue Bai personally led the team to swim through the Yongji Canal. The cold river water dissipated many of his distracting thoughts. When he reached the other side, he was still gathering troops and horses, but he heard the sound of horse hooves heading this way.
"Alert the rebels and wait for them." Jiang Hai said.
Xue Bai estimated that there were less than 3,000 people crossing the river, and decisively ordered: "Inform Wang Jingan to attack."
In front of the team, Wang Rao heard the sound of horse hooves and said: "Bow."
He took the bow, hunched over and walked forward for more than ten steps, squinting at the horsemen running towards him in the night, and suddenly shot out an arrow with a "whoosh", and an enemy soldier immediately fell off his horse.
The horse neighed and continued to run forward. Wang Nannan had already stepped forward in two steps, pulled the reins, and got on the horse.
His soldiers followed suit one after another and began to seize horses.
"gun!"
A silver gun was handed to Wang Ranran's hand. He performed a trick, turned his horse's head, and ran towards the barracks illuminated by the bonfire.
"Blow the trumpet!"
"Woo——"
The banner of the rebel general stood in the middle of the camp, with the character "Y" written in large letters, which was an unusual surname.
Yi Shumeng has led his troops to besiege Qinghe County for a long time. However, Qinghe Zhi's city wall is high and the river is deep. The county guard Li E is determined to defend the city. In addition, Yi Shumeng's lack of troops has prevented the capture.
Of course, he only needed to surround the city to ensure that Shi Siming could go north to conquer Changshan County. After all, he was not leading an elite division of the rebels.
Yeyi Shumeng went to bed early, but was woken up by the earth-shattering murderous cry in the middle of the night. When he opened the curtain and looked outside, he saw that the camp was already in chaos and irreversible.
"Walk!"
Yi Shumeng hurriedly put on his armor and left the tent without having time to fasten it. He got on his horse and led his soldiers to retreat to Wei County. After passing through the camp, he saw a general charging across the horse with a gun. He quickly led his men to the east.
Run.
When we rushed to the location of the granary, we saw a group of Tang troops seizing the granary. The leading general turned around and looked very young and upright. Looking again, we saw that there were soldiers behind the enemy holding a flag. This was actually the commander-in-chief of the Tang army.
"Xue?!"
"Stop him!"
"kill!"
Yishumeng shouted loudly, drove his horse forward, and tried to deceive the opponent's general because he was young and did not ride a horse, so he planned to kill the opponent.
"Hey!"
He was still gathering strength when suddenly there was a horse's neigh, but a tripping rope appeared on the ground. His heavy body flew up and hit the opponent's general in front of him. Under the severe pain, he did not forget to thrust out the long knife.
"bite!"
With a sound, the young Tang Army general swung his sword to block the attack. His physical strength was quite terrifying. Then, the sword struck Yi Shumeng's wrist, breaking his wrist and causing blood to flow.
Xue Bai stepped on Yi Shumeng's left hand and shouted: "Take it!"
~~
The camp was brightly lit, and the newly reorganized Guangwu Army won its first battle.
Xue Bai was taking inventory of the granary while listening to the sergeant's report.
"This is by the canal. After Changshan County cut off the canal, the rebels' supplies are stranded here. There are also women they kidnapped. Are they distributed to the soldiers?"
"This case cannot be opened. Once military discipline is disrupted, it will not be restrained in the future." Xue Bai said: "Send it to Qinghe County tomorrow morning and hand it over to Governor Li for disposal."
After that, he looked in the direction pointed by the sergeant and saw rows of ragged women in the firelight.
Among them, three figures with intact clothes suddenly caught his attention. Judging from their figure, they were still young girls.
"Bring them here."
"come over!"
"Oh, what are you doing? Let me go."
Xue Bai walked to the bonfire and waited for them to be brought out. He quickly recognized one of them and the other two were her maids.
She was stroking her hair to cover her face with her hands. When she finally couldn't avoid it, she raised her head and showed a reluctant but friendly smile.
"Xue Lang, long time no see."
"Miss Shi, why are you here?"
Shi Chaoying smoothed her hair again. The bonfire illuminated her, and you could clearly see sweat flowing down her face and neck, soaking her tube top.
"Mr.
.”
"There is no personal relationship between right and wrong." Xue Bai said: "Or, for the sake of being a friend, Mrs. Shi can persuade your grandpa to surrender?"
"OK."
Shi Chaoying combed her hair with both hands and said, "I can advise grandpa..."
The next moment, she suddenly took out a letter from her bra and was about to throw it into the fire. Xue Bai suddenly stepped forward and grabbed her hand.
The letter fell to the ground.
Shi Chaoying immediately raised her foot to kick it into the fire. Xue Bai then knocked her away and leaned over to pick up the letter. However, she pounced on him like a she-wolf, grabbed Xue Bai's hand and went to
Press in the campfire.
Xue Bai knocked her to the ground with an elbow.
"snort."
Shi Chaoying was still struggling, trying to bite his hand, hooking his legs with her feet to trip him up, and clinging to him to prevent him from getting up with the letter, until Xue Bai grabbed his throat and pinned him down.
Finally became honest.
"You... don't even think about it."
She was panting, unable to move her whole body, and her toes were still moving between Xue Bai's legs.
In the midst of the war, she still had the unique fragrance of a woman, and her body was soft. Xue Bai had been rubbing against her for a long time, and he became angry.
"What... do you want to do?" Shi Chaoying raised his eyebrows and scolded angrily.
Xue Bai hadn't been close to a woman for a long time. He stared at her hard for a while and scolded her: "Be honest!"
Shi Chaoying was frightened.
However, Xue Bai still stood up and shouted: "Tied!"
It's not his mother-in-law, but it's just that if you don't lead by example when running an army, it will be difficult to convince the public. Today, you are just trying to achieve quick results, but tomorrow, another general will commit an offense, or even interfere with the military situation due to selfish desires. How should you deal with it?
After the rebellion is over, he will have his own gentle hometown, and then he will be able to enjoy himself to the fullest.
Xue Bai took a few deep breaths, made a firm promise to himself in his heart, and tore open the letter Shi Chaoying brought.
It was actually An Sishun who wrote it to An Lushan.
The content is that when An Lushan raised troops, he had been summoned to the court as Minister of War, blaming An Lushan for betraying Shen En and wanted to kill him.
If such a letter was said to be a reminder to let An Lushan know that An Sishun could not raise troops to respond, it would make sense; if it was said that An Sishun was on the side of the court and scolded An Lushan according to righteousness, it would also make sense.
Xue Bai then looked at Shi Chaoying and asked: "Why is it in your hands?!"
Shi Chaoying glanced at his crotch with cold eyes, snorted and said: "Kill or behead him, please do as you please."
"You escaped from Chang'an. An Sishun asked you to take him with you? Can you show it to An Lushan?"
After asking a few more questions, Shi Chaoying never answered. Xue Bai said: "There is no need to be so hostile. The imperial court has sent troops from all directions, and the rebels are almost at their end. You have me as a friend, which may be an important connection to protect your father and daughter."
"
"what you up to?"
"Answer my question."
Shi Chaoying said: "An Sishun secretly helped me leave the city and asked me to persuade An Lushan to surrender. I will bring the letter to my grandpa and let him know."
"How can he help you get out of the city?"
"Of course he used his signal to let me out of the city."
"Have you met him?"
"No, it was arranged by his close men."
Xue Bai asked a few more questions and said: "Take her down and hand her over to Governor Li for custody tomorrow. Her grandpa is Shi Siming. She will be useful as a hostage."
"You!" Shi Chaoying didn't expect to be detained again, and angrily said: "You don't mean what you say..."
Xue Bai was too lazy to pay attention to her and put the letter in his arms.
~~
After Shi Siming crossed the Yellow River, he chased southward for more than 20 miles, but the waiting cavalry never found any trace of the Tang army.
He immediately became suspicious, so he ordered a halt to the march and sent his son Shi Chaoyi to lead some troops to Jinan to recruit troops and horses. He personally turned the horses' heads and recruited several elite cavalry generals under his command.
"The Tang army has not crossed the Yellow River and must go west. Follow me!"
I ran back to the bank of the Yellow River and looked around. The waves were rolling and crossing the river was another big move.
But Shi Siming was an extremely determined man and waved his hand without hesitation and ordered: "Cross the river!"
It took two days for the rebels to cross the 10,000 cavalry back to the north bank of the Yellow River.
"Xue Bai will be in Boping and Qinghe counties to pursue him!"
Running wildly all the way, riding in four directions at the same time, on the seventh day after the Tang army broke through, Shi Siming finally got the news from Xue Bai.
"Report!"
"Report!"
The excitement in Hou Qi's voice could not be concealed. He ran to Shi Siming, got off his horse, and shouted: "Wei County is reporting urgently! Yuan Zhitai is asking for help!"
"What's the matter?"
"The Tang army attacked Yishumeng's camp outside Qinghe County at night. Yishumeng sent people to ask for help from Bai Sishen. Bai Sishen led his troops from Boping to Qinghe County for support. They were ambushed on the road and died from arrows. Ten thousand people were beheaded in both armies.
At the remaining level, the Tang army gained momentum and gathered forces from three counties to attack Wei County fiercely. Yuan Zhitai asked the general to support him immediately!"
Shi Siming angrily scolded: "Trash."
At this juncture, the general should not be anxious. Instead, he ordered the entire army to rest and continue to send out scouting horses to obtain more detailed information.
In this way, it was not until the next morning that more accurate news came back.
"Report!"
"Yuan Zhitai had already abandoned Wei County and fled to Ye County. The news of his request for help was released by the Tang Army with the intention of ambushing the general!"
Before Shi Siming could speak, the riders under his command were sweating profusely with fear. For fear of being held accountable, they quickly flattered him and said, "Fortunately, the general is wise and did not fall into the Tang army's treacherous plan."
"Send the order to summon Shi Chaoyi to return to the army!"
"Here."
"Bring out camp and attack!"
The rebels wanted to fight in the field, but the Tang army only waited at the ambush site for one day. Seeing that Shi Siming did not arrive, they retreated to Qinghe and Boping counties that night.
As for Wei County, the Tang army did not divide its troops to defend it, but only took away the rebels' baggage and food.
When Shi Siming reached the city of Qinghe County, before he could attack the city, he heard constant noise from the city. Then, Li E, the governor of Qinghe County, personally escorted a woman to the top of the city.
Shi Siming narrowed his eyes and rode forward, his face immediately turned cold.
"Shi Siming!"
Li E yelled and asked: "You are a bastard in Yingzhou. You made military exploits by chance, went to court as soon as you arrived, and received a name from the emperor. The grace of the emperor is not unkind, so why are you treason?!"
Shi Siming didn't answer, just stared at his daughter's figure.
He thought that when he had nothing, it was Xin, the daughter of a wealthy Youzhou clan, who insisted on marrying him, which changed his destiny. And his wife, Xin, loved this daughter the most.
"The rebels are now at the end of their rope. If you have any intention of repenting, it is not too late to surrender!" Li E continued to shout.
"Let me think about it!"
Shi Siming shouted, reined in his horse and left.
When he returned to the camp, he was furious and kept sending troops to urge Shi Chaoyi to bring the main force.
Finally, two days later, Shi Chaoyi crossed the Yellow River again and arrived.
"Grandpa, but Xue Bai fled to Qinghe County?"
"Xue Bai..."
Before Shi Siming finished speaking, he suddenly rode back in a hurry.
"Report! Report! Traces of the Tang army have been found. Xue Bai's troops are chasing Yuan Zhitai and crossing the Yellow River from Ye County!"
Shi Chaoyi, who had just returned from crossing the south bank of the Yellow River, couldn't help being surprised and asked: "What?"