On September 11th of the third year of Jianji, Shao Siwu rode his light horse and arrived at Jizhou City before sunset.
Also arriving with him were Wang Jiao, Gao Youqing and more than a hundred riders.
Before entering the city, unexpectedly there were horsemen fighting and fighting outside the city.
When the enemy cavalry saw someone approaching, the leader in the middle seemed to be a high-ranking official, so they immediately divided up hundreds of cavalry and rushed towards them.
Shao Siwu was slightly panicked when he saw this.
He was the prince of Daxia and enjoyed endless glory and wealth. Naturally, he was not as bachelor as the low-level warriors. However, he still took out his riding bow and touched the mace in the sheath. If it really couldn't be done, he would fight with
The thief tried his best, but he would rather die than be captured anyway, mainly because he couldn't afford to lose that person.
Wang Jiao took the time to urge his horse forward. Gao Youqing followed Shao Siwu with a smile, pointing and saying: "The thieves are Tibetan soldiers. They are not skilled in martial arts and have a weak will to fight. They are easy to defeat."
Having said that, I feel quite eager to give it a try.
Over there, Wang Jiao had already thrown three spears one after another, killing three enemies in a row without missing a beat. According to the normal routine, at this time he would distance himself and continue to kill the enemies with spears or bows, but King Zhao was behind.
It was impossible for him to fight according to his favorite fighting style, so he drew out an iron weapon and rushed forward, slashing horizontally and vertically, showing his unparalleled bravery.
"Oh, it was such a pleasure to kill!" Gao Youqing twisted around on the saddle, subconsciously grabbing the weapon, twisting it and loosening it.
Shao Siwu was almost amused by his appearance, and his nervousness eased a lot. He clapped his horse and said loudly: "As a prince, how can I just stand by and watch? There is no such rule in Daxia."
As soon as he finished speaking, he shot two arrows in succession. One arrow missed, but it frightened the thief's horse. He turned his horse around on the spot and hit the thief's horse with one arrow. The horse stood up and neighed in pain. At the same time, it blocked the two men behind it.
The route of the ride caused a little chaos.
Gao Youqing was startled, and immediately clapped his horse forward and swept it with his thick horse's spur to block the enemy cavalry who tried to get closer.
Dozens of horsemen following Shao Siwu were greatly boosted in morale upon seeing this, and they all shouted and charged to kill. The long horses stabbed and swept across the area. Most of the thieves' riders had short weapons and mounted bows, so they were at a disadvantage when killing them, so they quickly retreated.
Go to the distance and plan to kill Xia Bing with bow and arrow.
Shao Siwu, Wang Jiao and others took the opportunity to break through the obstruction and headed straight for the city gate. At this moment, the city gate opened, and a large group of infantry armed with long spears and rifle bows poured out. The thieves who had just been pursuing them were hit by the powerful rifle bows.
As a result, the horsemen fell over, nearly twenty of them fell to the ground, and the casualties were heavy.
"Kill the thief!" After the archers finished shooting the arrows, they abandoned their walking bows, picked up their swords, heavy swords, and wooden poles and went out to kill them, chasing the cavalry on foot with a fierce momentum.
Shao Siwu rushed into Jizhou City at high speed, then slowly reined in his horse, his heart pounding in his chest.
This may be his second close encounter with the enemy.
It had been several years since the last time he fought against Absi in Yinshan Mountain. After these two experiences, he had a deeper understanding of the warriors' heroic spirit and disregard for death when they were fighting in front of them. For these warriors who were usually full of swear words, unruly, and fierce
The impression of a perverted martial artist is getting better and better.
As a general or as a king, you should know how difficult it is for soldiers to be soldiers, and you should know their hardships.
These people look majestic and give Shangguan a huge headache, but strictly speaking, they are also a very fragile group.
They had to work hard for money, sometimes for a year or two at a time. The heat, frost, sand, and disease plagued them all the time. After a war, it was unclear how many of them would be able to return. The civil servants under Shao Siwu often went to read to the sergeants.
But every time I read the letters from home, I found that someone had died, and I couldn't read the letters from home.
War is really hard, and it is not easy for the soldiers to get the money they have to pay for their lives. Nowadays, people in the court often say that the warriors are unruly and are a big disaster and must be severely suppressed. Shao Siwu feels that it is too much. Everything must be done in moderation.
, it is not advisable to overdo it.
"Your Highness is in danger today." Chishui Army envoy Fan He came over from the other end of the long street and said earnestly: "Our army has no complete control over Ji, Ping and Camp in the three states. In the wilderness, everything is unstable.
For a generation like this, riding more than a hundred people is a bit risky.”
"General Fan's words are reasonable. You should pay more attention to them in the future." Shao Siwu got off his horse, saluted, and asked: "How can we let the thieves ride into Bozhi City? But the Jin army has already arrived?"
"The Jin army does not have a large army." Fan He shook his head and said, "They are just some Tibetan soldiers and generals. They come to harass them because of their large number of horses. It is not a big deal."
"What progress has been made in the past few days? I was in a hurry and didn't get any reports from the frontline troops." Shao Siwu asked eagerly.
"Your Highness has no worries, the battle line is generally calm." Fan He said: "The Jin people actually don't have many soldiers. In other words, they can't send out many soldiers. Youzhou will send people to stay behind, soldiers from Zhuozhou, Shunzhou, Tanzhou and other places
Most horses are not in Youzhou."
"Where?" Shao Siwu asked.
"In Guizhou, we are under the command of An Fuqian." Fan He replied: "In Yi Ding, some soldiers and horses from Hedong and Youzhou besieged Li Cunxiao. Cunxiao was defeated several times and huddled in the city. The soldiers and horses from Rouzhou camped to rescue him, but they had just killed him.
They were defeated once and broke into Yizhou City. But the Jin people were unable to mobilize their troops to the east, and now they are stuck here."
Shao Siwuruo had some realization.
Being able to capture the territory of three states this time was indeed an unexpected advantage. The Jin people never expected that the three states of Ping and Ji, which were almost considered the rear, would be captured.
Now it seems that they are unable to regain these lost states and counties, unless they win a solid field victory. But as Fan He ordered to switch to relatively conservative tactics, their attempts are likely to fail.
"Is it possible to annihilate another Jin army group and capture Youzhou?" Shao Siwu asked.
"Your Highness is impatient." Fan He glanced at him and said slowly: "The current situation is like fighting a wolf. The Jin army is afraid that they will be defeated again and again, and even Youzhou will be lost. Then the situation will be out of control.
.But why isn’t this the case for our army? If thousands or even tens of thousands of soldiers and horses are lost in a battle, the three states of Ji, Ping, and Camp will be in danger. Maybe they will be driven into the sea."
Shao Siwu sighed slightly when he heard this.
He agreed with Fan He's view and secretly warned himself, hold on tight, don't be impatient, you are still too immature and need to learn more from these veterans on the battlefield.
"There is news about the troops who were blown away by the strong wind." At this point, Fan He's face didn't look very good, and he continued: "They landed on the sea off Youzhou and lost thousands of people. Then they fought with
The thieves fought several times and lost hundreds of soldiers."
"How did General Fan know?" Shao Siwu asked in surprise.
"The Jin people told me." Fan He said: "To be honest, their landing made more noise than us. Even Li Cunzhang outside Cangzhou City knew about it. I heard that his military morale was shaken, or he had selected some troops.
As the elite troops move north, they will be destroyed quickly. I have deployed reconnaissance cavalry widely to detect the movements of these people. Once found, I will order them to go north to Jizhou to join the main force."
After hearing this, Shao Siwu immediately said: "General Fan is mature and prudent, and he should indeed do this."
After the two of them finished chatting, the infantry who went out to fight in the city also withdrew. Then the city gate was closed tightly, and the battlefield suddenly calmed down.
Fan He took Shao Siwu to Jizhou Prefectural Government to settle down.
Shao Siwu looked at this important town in the North with curiosity. The city is not small, with a circumference of about twenty miles. Among the cities in the Central Plains, it should be considered to be in the middle.
During the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of the former Tang Dynasty, the Jingsai Army was stationed in the city - just before the Anshi Rebellion broke out, a force of 3,000 people went to Jizhou from the Central Plains to rotate some of the soldiers of the Jingsai Army, and was later recovered halfway. It was considered a small incident.
Interlude.
The architecture in the city has a typical Northland rugged style.
Since there are many stones in Weizhou, Hebei Province, people like to use stones to build their houses, and the same is true in Youzhou. Looking around, all the high-class houses are built with masonry, and even many ordinary people's houses mostly use stone to build their houses, which is very different from the Central Plains.
.
The life of the people in Jizhou seemed to be completely restricted - but in fact Xia Bing forced the shops to stay open, but no one wanted to go out.
Occasionally, blood-curdling screams could be heard from the corners of the city. It seemed that some defeated Jin soldiers were hiding in private houses. After a few days, they finally could no longer hide themselves and were searched.
What you often see on the street are small carts carrying grain, loaded with corn, wheat, fruits and vegetables, and sent to various military camps.
Seeing this, Shao Siwu suddenly said: "When I was passing by Lulong, a ship came from Macheng, transporting more than 10,000 hu of military rations. I have ordered the ships from Machengpu to leave in batches. After a while, they will
With a steady stream of food, grass, ordnance, and vehicles being transported here, we don’t have to go around plundering and letting thieves take advantage of us.”
There are risks in threshing grain, everyone knows this.
The Jin army just didn't notice your landing before. Now that they have discovered it, they will definitely attack you at the weak point where you dispersed the food collection. If the rear can transport food and grass, it will indeed solve a big problem - if possible, they
More reinforcements are needed.
"Your Highness is thoughtful about everything." Fan He praised.
While he was talking, the state government office had already arrived.
"Your Highness..." After entering the main hall of the state government, Fan He and Shao Siwu sat down separately. After thinking about their words, they said: "In the past few days, although the battle line has been calm, there are more and more Jin soldiers on the other side of Sanhe. I heard that
Li Luoluo has arrived in Youzhou to take charge of military and civilian affairs. I estimate that he will recruit troops and horses to march from Sanhe to attack Jizhou. This morning, a scout came to report that the strong army in the mountains to the north increased by 3,000 troops, which seemed to be recruited.
You, Tanxiang Yong and Li Luoluo seem to want to attack Jizhou from two directions."
Shao Siwu looked surprised and asked, "Wouldn't he destabilize the morale of the troops on both front lines in Cangzhou and Guizhou if he goes to war like this?"
"His Highness is extremely smart and hits the point right away." Fan He praised: "Li Luoluo really can't keep calm. Even if he doesn't do anything, we, with more than 10,000 troops, will not be able to continue to attack the city. But he is so
If you make any move, it will cause rumors and discussions on the front line to spread, which is not a good thing. By the way, has Your Highness ever thought of any way to disrupt the morale of the Jin army?"
When Shao Siwu heard this, he immediately said confidently: "General Fan knows that after capturing Linyu Pass, I sent people to take Li Cunshi and Li Cunhao's heads, as well as more than a hundred Jin prisoners, boarded the ship, and sailed to
Dengzhou, this meeting should have arrived. Qizhou camp will definitely take action after hearing the news."
Fan He was really surprised this time.
Think about it carefully, this kind of method to shake the enemy's morale is often used by saints. The origin of family education, the origin of family education!
King Zhao was still quite immature two years ago. A year ago, his face looked a little calmer, but he was often suspected of using too much force. He was not as gentle as his father, without showing any trace. Now it seems
, and learned a lot, and the progress is very obvious.
No one is born with knowledge. People need to keep learning and progressing, making mistakes, correcting, and accumulating experience. King Zhao’s continuous improvement of himself is quite commendable in Fan He’s opinion.
"Since the camp has been reported, I won't make any further comments." Fan He said: "As for the saint, he has his own plans. On the Jizhou side, we will make a careful calculation on how to fight Li Luoluo.