In July of the second year of Zhonghe, Wang Chucun, the envoy of Yiwu Jiedu, had been married to Li Keyong's family for generations, so he came forward to change things for him.
It happened that the imperial court was trying hard to mobilize troops to Guanzhong, so it asked Wang Chucun to give Li Keyong a message: "If you are sincere and willing to pay, it is better to return to Shuozhou and wait for the imperial order. If the violence continues, we should fight with the Hedong and Datong troops together."
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Li Keyong was more obedient this time, and immediately led his troops to leave Xin, replace Erzhou, and wait for Shuozhou. Datong Army Defense Shi Helianduo did not want Li Keyong to enter with a large army, but all the soldiers and horses were stationed on all sides of the capital.
Tong Wangduo rushed to the river in person and used the imperial order to coerce Helianduo into letting him enter.
At this time in Huazhou, the matter of persuading Li Xiang to change his ways has entered the final stage.
"General Li, isn't it a hundred times better than Wang Chongrong's guard dog if my family has many battles and victories?" Li Hang, the lobbyist recommended by Chen Cheng, said eloquently in front of everyone: "Zhu Wen has received the permission of Wang Shizhong to still serve as Tonghua Jiedu.
Since the general has taken control of Huazhou, it can be said that it is certain that he will be appointed governor of Huazhou in the Tang Dynasty. How can you doubt it?"
Li Xiang is an old man with a sad face. He looks like an honest farmer. But if he can follow Huang Chao all the way to Guanzhong, how can he be an ordinary character? How many lives are lost under his command?
Normally, Li Hang wouldn't dare to take a second look at this kind of butcher. But it's different now. He is lobbying on behalf of Shao Shude after Xia Suijiedu stayed there. There are six other people in Xiagui County on the other side of the river.
Qianxia Sui has elite soldiers, but Li Xiang has less than 10,000 soldiers under his command, and his people are uneasy, so most of them would not dare to do anything to him.
"Your envoy is unaware that King Huang has placed many people in our army. If I return to the Tang Dynasty, I may not be able to make everyone obey me." Li Xiang said with a sad face.
"Could the general be teasing me?" Li Hang raised his voice and said with a look of displeasure: "This is Huazhou, not Chang'an. The general has been in the army for many years, and there are tens of thousands of people. How many of them are determined to return to Huang Chao? If not
It's convenient, the general can just open the camp gate, and a certain person then sent a message to the two generals of the Weibei Zhou Dynasty, Linghu, ordering them to lead 20,000 Xia Sui elite troops south to kill the traitors on the general's behalf."
Li Xiang squatted on the horse, with a sad face, not like a general at all. If Shao Shude was here, he would probably give him a dry cigarette. He is a typical old farmer in northern Shaanxi.
"Your Majesty, please be patient and don't be impatient." Li Xiang smiled, spread his wrinkles on his face, and said, "Let's go down and have a rest first, and I'll think about it later."
After saying that, he asked someone to take Li Hang down. Li Hang was so angry that he stamped his feet and looked up to the sky and sighed.
"General, the matter has come to this point. There is no future for following King Huang. After the beginning of spring, at least 30,000 to 40,000 Tang troops will arrive in Guandong for reinforcements, and there may be more later. By the end of the year, more than 100,000 Tang troops will gather. How can King Huang be defeated?"
Some generals advised him.
"But why surrender to Shao Shude? This man is Xia Suijie Commander, far away in northern Xinjiang, but Wang Chongrong of the river is very close at hand, why not surrender him?"
"The general heard that Shao Shude had no heirs, so he surrendered him. If Shao died, we would all end badly."
"What's the use of having heirs? He is so young, even if he has heirs they are still children. It's okay if he is alive, no one dares to rebel. If he dies and has no relatives, God knows who will take the position of Commander Xia Sui?
What future do we have by following him?"
"Wang Yu, please tell me." Li Xiang listened for a long time and did not express an opinion. Instead, he nodded, wanting to hear his opinion.
"The envoy of the town, I feel that Wang Chongrong is not like a hero or a guarding dog." Wang Yu is a brave general in Li Xiang's army and has a reputation for bravery. He answered immediately after hearing this, and his answer was also very personal.
Li Xiang laughed when he heard this and said: "Were you defeated by the Tielin Army?"
Wang Yulue was a little embarrassed, but he still said: "Last year, Wang Chongrong led his troops to the west. At the end of the year, he led 5,000 soldiers to camp on the road. He fought with him, defeated his front army, and beheaded 700 people. If Zhu Mei hadn't arrived, he would have been killed.
I don’t want to surrender to Wang Chongrong, so my general is defeated.”
After that, he looked at the other generals and said: "If you surrender to Wang Chongrong, go and surrender yourself. I heard that Shao Shude does not treat surrenders harshly. Li Tangbin is also a general now. If he wants to surrender, he will surrender. Wang Chongrong is a real hero."
Senior, I still look down upon you."
Many people were dissatisfied with Wang Yu's words, but under his prestige, no one dared to contradict him in front of him. The title of "Xiao Jiang" was not self-appointed, but earned. There is no one here who has not suffered from him.
? To put it bluntly, if the envoy Li Xiang died at this time and the army elected one person to be the leader, it could only be Wang Yu, not them.
"That's alright. Wang Chongrong is someone I look down on. Shao Shude is so good at fighting that he will probably be promoted in the future, so what if we demoted him?" Li Xiang stood up and said, "Zhu Wen was the first to demote Wang Chongrong.
We can get all kinds of benefits, but if we join in the fun now, we're afraid we'll get a cold reception."
"Wang Yu." Li Xiang's face straightened and he said.
"The end will be here."
"Send three hundred elite soldiers to the prison guard's house. Kill them all, no matter who they are. No one can escape." Li Xiang ordered.
"The general will obey his orders."
"Invite Li Hang over again." Li Xiang sat down and returned to his sad face.
****
Chen Cheng, who was in charge of Xiagui, quickly received a letter of surrender from Li Xiang: the head of Huang Chao's supervisor.
The lobbyist Li Hang still stayed in Li Xiang's army. I don't know whether it was voluntary or forced. However, this was all a trivial matter. Chen Cheng informed Zhou Rong and Linghu Jing, and then hurried back to Sanyuan.
"After staying, Li Xiang has surrendered." As soon as he saw Shao Shude, Chen Cheng said excitedly.
"Okay!" At that time, Shao Shude was studying military books and taking notes. When he heard this, he threw away his pen and stood up and said, "Can we order him to go west?"
"I have given the message to Li Xiang, and I will immediately raise my troops to march westward, seize Weiqiaocang and Weiqiao Town, and threaten Meng Kai's back. Generals Zhou Rong and Linghu Jing will follow closely and lead their troops to march westward.
, Meng Kai is in trouble this time." Chen Cheng smiled.
"Okay! Okay! Okay!" Shao Shude said "Okay" three times in a row. Obviously it made sense to send Chen Cheng over to "make a decision on the spur of the moment". This was not a waste of time and would definitely make Meng Kai panic.
Zhu Wen surrendered, Li Xiang surrendered, and the entire eastern half of Guan Dynasty returned to the Tang Dynasty. The eight counties in the north are still in the hands of the northern camp, and the nine counties in the west are fighting every day. Shang Rang and others still have 50,000 people with them.
We are fighting against those camped in the west. The south is a little better. The army is weak, but there are still more than 10,000 people.
Taking into account the general background of the reinforcements from Guandong, Shuzhong, and northwest towns gathering in Guanzhong, how long can Huang Chao be able to keep running?
"Wei Boqiu, pass the order, I want to review the army!" Shao Shude no longer waited and gave the order directly.
"Yes." Wei Boqiu quickly went down to deliver the order.
In the afternoon, Shao Shude took his soldiers to a military parade outside the camp.
There are 8,500 sergeants (less than 500). In addition to some auxiliary troops left behind in the city, there are more than 6,000 in formation outside the court.
At three quarters of noon, the sound of drums suddenly started, and the sound of trumpets continued.
Shao Shude, surrounded by his own soldiers, stood still on the high platform.
Wei Boqiu, the deputy general of the personal army, began to call the generals. Li Yanling, Lu Huaizhong, Zhu Shuzong, Li Tangbin, Guo Qi, Zhe Siyu and the deputy generals of each battalion came forward one by one. After going down, they called the names according to the roll. Those who failed to come after three calls were immediately executed.
After the roll call was completed, Wei Boqiu came to report that there were more than 6,500 people, and no one was absent.
The northwest wind suddenly picked up, and the fallen leaves were falling. Autumn came very early this year.
More than six thousand soldiers were wearing armor and holding swords. They made no noise or showed signs of impatience. They lined up neatly and looked murderous.
Shao Shude inexplicably thought of Tian Chengsi. This man was the pioneer of Anlu Mountain during the Anshi Rebellion. He had repeatedly made military exploits and was also an expert in running the army. According to historical records, there was a windy and snowy night when Anlu Mountain was patrolling the camp and Tian Chengsi arrived.
When we arrived at the Sibu camp, it was so quiet that we almost thought there was no one in the camp.
An Lushan immediately ordered the troops to be counted. The soldiers in the camp lined up in the open space and were called by roll. No one was absent. Moreover, the soldiers stood in silence for a long time in the wind and snow without making any noise. This is called a strong army!
The Tielin Army is somewhat like this now. The amount of property is disclosed regularly and read out to the sergeants. Rewards are distributed on time during several festivals a year. The spoils obtained after victory in the battle are also uniformly recorded and stored.
It was used as a wartime reward, and the soldiers were very convinced.
Other armies conduct drills every five days, or even every ten and a half months, while the Tielin Army conducts drills every three days. Food, wine and meat are provided as much as possible. So far, 5,000 people have been assigned to the land, and the products of the military-affiliated farms are also providing pensions to everyone.
Subsidy. The death of a lonely soldier will not be in vain. The military envoy will search for adopted sons for them and offer incense and sacrifices endlessly.
This army is not an ordinary army! The enemy generals who encounter each other for the first time are always surprised by why their morale is so high. They cannot rush into the formation and it is difficult for the soldiers to break up. In fact, as long as you do the above, you can also achieve success.
A strong army. Famous generals from ancient times have pointed out the way for everyone. How to increase the limit that soldiers can bear, but it is easier said than done. How many generals are there who are not greedy for money?
My sergeants can withstand more fear and endure greater casualties than you. Once the two armies confront each other, the result will be obvious. It should be noted that there is not much difference in our skills, not to mention that the Tielin Army is basically all veterans.
"Li Yanling!" Shao Shude took a look. Fortunately, this guy has lost a little weight and is not that fat anymore.
"The end is here!"
"I was given two strings of money and two bolts of silk, and there were also soldiers in the city."
"As you command!"
The supply camp quickly moved the goods out, and each department took a roll call and distributed them according to the book. This is actually a way to prevent empty pay. Now there are few people, you can do this. In the future, when there are more people, you will have to think of other methods.
Every sergeant who received the reward was very happy and shouted "Thank you, Marshal" and "Thank you, military envoy". Li Yanling also led others to keep preaching, "You are receiving the reward from Marshal Shao" and "You must die for Marshal Shao"
", the troops shouted loudly, and their morale was high.
The war is coming, and with this morale of the Tielin Army, their chances of winning have increased a bit.
