Shao Shude did not "play" in Zhuozhou for too long.
Tens of thousands of troops marched in, and the thieves were like frightened quails. They had no idea of taking the initiative. Instead, they continued to strengthen the city defenses, hoard supplies, and prepare to be beaten.
The legendary Li Keyong army was also missing.
In fact, if you think about it, you will know that they only retreated from Xiangwei, Xingmingci and other places in late October. And the retreat speed was still very slow. In the middle, they even had the Xia army chasing them, and then they turned back to fight again, and turned the tables in one fell swoop.
This shows how unwilling they are to withdraw. Where can they go now? The main force is probably still in Jinyang.
The so-called reinforcements are at most a part of the garrison stationed in Daibei. The other is a small number of elites led by Li Keyong himself. It is really too much to expect that these people can cause trouble on the Youzhou battlefield.
Therefore, Shao Shude's most important job in Zhuozhou was to patrol local areas, meet with officials, be powerful and win people's hearts.
In addition, he also led his troops to Qigou Pass to take a look at the scenery of Guanxi - except for a few Jin army cavalry, there was naturally nothing there.
"One infantry commander at Qigou Pass, one infantry commander at Zhuozhou, and two cavalry commanders, are they too few?" Shao Shude looked at Ye Li Kecheng and Wang Qianyu and asked.
This son-in-law has lived in Shao Mansion much longer than he has lived at home. As the saying goes, a son-in-law is like a son-in-law, not to mention this son-in-law who has grown up under his watch.
Shao Shude has great expectations for Ye Li Kecheng, and although his rate of progress is not as fast as that of some geniuses, it is not too slow. Generally speaking, he is a middle-to-upper-level talent and can be entrusted with important responsibilities in the future.
The older he gets, the less Shao Shude trusts outsiders.
The older he gets, the more Shao Shude worries about the drama staged by the Five Dynasty Imperial Guards. Although he knows that such thoughts are unfounded, his thoughts will change at different ages. He is already trying to restrain this emotion and try to achieve a balance.
.
Ye Li Kecheng's relationship with Shao Shude is somewhat similar to Zhang Yongde's relationship with Guo Wei, but the relationship is closer, after all, half son and half son-in-law.
"Your Majesty, four thousand cavalry guards are enough." Wang Qianyu replied.
"But we can only defend the important cities, and we have to give them to others in the wild." Shao Shude said: "Let's do this, I will let the Gongchen Army stay and put it under your command. The specific deployment of troops and the strategy of using troops are up to you.
"
"As ordered." Wang Qianyu responded.
There is nothing wrong with giving him more troops, and it is even desirable. Which warrior doesn't want to command more troops? Even if his ability is not enough to command large armies in battle, he just likes it.
"I don't ask you to kill or injure many bandits or capture many cities." Shao Shude said, "If you can secure Zhuozhou and protect the grain road, you will have merit."
Of course, there is more than one grain road, but no one likes to lose one grain road for no reason, which means a decrease in the flow of materials to and from there.
"As ordered." Wang Qianyu responded again.
"Ye Li soldiers and horses!" Shao Shude turned his attention to Ye Li Kecheng.
"Your Majesty." Ye Li Kecheng stepped forward, with a brave and determined look on his face.
He has a deep royal brand on him, and others look at him differently. He has heard too many slanders and slanderous words, and now he is completely numb and doesn't care anymore - of course there is nothing in the mouths of warriors
To put it bluntly, no matter what your identity is, there is really no way you can meet them on the same level.
"Do it well." Shao Shude originally wanted to say a lot, but when his words came to his mouth, he only turned to these three words: "Chong Niang is still waiting for you at home."
"Your Majesty, if Li Keyong wants to cross Qigou Pass, he has to step over the corpse of the minister." The saint's words seemed to have magic power. Ye Li Keyong became emotional and swore after hearing this.
Shao Shude nodded, and then asked someone to fetch two pairs of armor, and gave them to Ye Li Kecheng and Wang Qianyu. Originally, he only planned to give them to his son-in-law, but Wang Qianyu was standing here.
Rewarded.
After explaining the affairs, Shao Shude waited for food and fodder again.
There is no way around it. From the eastern foot of the Taihang Mountains to the sea, there is the vast Hebei Plain. But on this great plain, rivers intersect and there are many lakes. The further north you go, the more lakes you go to, and they are even densely packed, especially in Cang, Ying, etc.
, Mo, Zhuo, Youzhou.
In the Northern Song Dynasty, they took advantage of this natural condition and built many ponds and lakes to limit the Liao cavalry - "It bends for nine hundred miles. It is too deep for boats to travel, and too shallow for people to wade on foot. Even if there are strong soldiers, they cannot cross it."
At the end of the Tang Dynasty, the water resources in northern Hebei were more abundant than in the Northern Song Dynasty, so agriculture developed greatly. Correspondingly, there were only a few traffic roads. At this time, there was a traffic jam across the board, and we had to wait.
On December 15, after waiting for another batch of more than 35,000 grains and beans, Shao Shude ordered to set off north to Youzhou.
****
The wind and snow gradually became stronger again.
The main generals of Qizhou's camp gathered in the southwest of Youzhou to welcome the Holy Emperor.
"How is the situation in the city?" Shao Shude walked in the wind and snow, as if he had returned to that early morning a few years ago, when he took the lead and led the soldiers to attack Yunzhou.
"Since three days ago, our army has been attacking in three directions: east, south and west. The rebel army's performance is quite satisfactory." Ge Congzhou replied.
"Medium-regulated" means that the defenders are not fighting to the death, but they are not in a bad state either, and are clocking in to work.
"It's pretty much what I thought." Shao Shude smiled, as if Youzhou was already within his grasp.
He looked around and saw that except for military camps and trenches, there were farmland, woods, and villages everywhere - no, the villages had been leveled to make room for the military camps.
In later generations, the place where he stood should be the junction of the Second Ring Road and the Third Ring Road in Beijing.
The location of Youzhou City in the Tang Dynasty has been completely calculated in later generations because many tombstones were unearthed.
The tombstone of "Mrs. Zhao of Duke Lu of the Tang Dynasty" unearthed near Zizhuyuan in Haidian District reads "Buried ten miles northwest of Fucheng"; the epitaph of Zhou Yuanchang, "Lulong Jiedu Envoy Shogunate Administrative Office" unearthed in Aimin Street, Xicheng District, reads "Buried in
"Ancient Plains of Longdao, seven miles northeast of Jicheng"; there are many other tombstones like this.
Therefore, you don’t need to guess at all, people have already told you. Through the location of the tombstones unearthed, you can completely outline the scope of Youzhou City.
The place where Shao Shude stood at this time was in Taoranting Park in later Beijing, outside the southern city wall of Youzhou in the late Tang Dynasty.
"Dong dong dong..." Long Xiang's army's first wave of offensive had just collapsed, and Xiaojie's army followed closely, not giving the enemy a chance to breathe, and launched a second wave of offensive.
Because of the presence of the saint, the entire army had to cheer up. The officers took the lead in the charge and performed very hard.
In fact, there are some benefits to the snowy weather.
First of all, the bow and crossbow will be greatly affected. Whether the bow string is not fully stretched, easy to break, or the arrow is not accurate, the defenders will lose a murderous weapon.
Secondly, it is difficult for them to destroy siege engines.
To destroy this kind of thing, you usually go out to fight in the city and then set it on fire. But in this bullshit weather, how can you burn chicken feathers?
Of course, in general, snowy weather is more damaging to the siege party. There is only one reason, it is so damn cold that it freezes in the camp, and it is not comfortable to stay in the city at all. Over time, the number of non-combat troops will be reduced.
It's very serious - no, many people in the Long Xiang Army have actually fallen ill. This has something to do with whether the heating measures are sufficient, but it's not a big deal, because you shouldn't live in the wild in winter, even if you have a temporary camp.
"How many people are left in the Xiejie Army?" Shao Shude asked.
"Your Majesty, there are still 7,000 people in the left compartment, and there are only more than 5,600 in the right compartment." Huo Liangsi, the envoy of the army, replied.
Shao Shude sighed and thought to himself: There are so many left?
Huo Liangsi also sighed secretly. After all, the saint cared about the army, and he would also feel sad for the heavy casualties suffered by his sons.
"How effective is the persuasion to surrender?" Shao Shude asked, looking at the soldiers from both sides who were fighting over the city.
"Some people may descend the city at night, but not many. There may be about ten people here and there in one night," Ge Congzhou replied.
In fact, the occurrence of this situation has shown that the hearts of the people in the city are floating. In a city that is firmly defended, this kind of thing is impossible. Even if someone wants to leave the city, the officers will strictly control the situation, so that people do not dare to be cautious.
All those present were experienced battlefield generals with a keen sense of smell on the battlefield. As soon as the enemy raised their butts, they would know what was coming. Shao Shude estimated that Ge Congzhou had never seriously attacked Youzhou before, so he was waiting for him to come over.
Woolen cloth.
Well, under Shao Sheng's "wise command", Youzhou City was defeated. Or in other words, under Shao Sheng's "powerful suppression", the defenders had no fighting spirit and Kaicheng surrendered.
Ge Congzhou had a very high political consciousness.
No wonder in history Zhu Zhen, Li Yanwei, Shi Shucong, Liu Zhijun, Ding Hui and other generals died and rebelled, and Lao Ge surrendered his military power and had a good death.
This is a wonderful person!
"The old rule is to be prepared with both hands. First, you have to attack when you should attack; secondly, you must persuade to surrender at the same time. I don't need to say more about all the methods, you can do it yourself." Since Ge Congzhou is so well-informed, Shao Shude
He didn't refuse and gave the order on the spot.
"Yes." Ge Congzhou led a group of people and accepted the order on the spot.
After inspecting the battlefield, Shao Shude returned to the camp, and then summoned Shao Siwu to see him.
"What's going on with the Crane Control Army?" he asked bluntly.
Shao Siwu tensed up and blurted out: "This is for the long term."
"How do you say that?" Shao Shude asked expressionlessly.
"Grandpa—" Shao Siwu swallowed.
"There are no fathers and sons in the army!" Shao Shude glared at him.
"Your Majesty." Shao Siwu organized his speech and said: "In today's world, people's hearts are not ancient, and rules and regulations are not preserved. Everyone's heart is like grass. Even if they are dormant for a while, as long as they encounter an opportunity, they will dare to fight.
I think it is better for the warriors to be in the hands of the Shaw family. In the future - in the future -"
"I will die in the future." Shao Shude said bluntly.
Shao Siwu's face turned pale, but he still said: "When my second brother ascends the throne, if someone is dissatisfied and raises an army to rebel, I, as the elder brother, can also help him."
It is true that Shao Siwu's reason is fair and just, and it is also very sufficient. In other dynasties, doing this would be a taboo, because it might lead to a mess like the Eight Kings Rebellion, but in the late Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties, it was really
Is it a taboo?
At this time, there was a more serious problem than the Rebellion of the Eight Kings. It was the lesser of two evils. Even though they knew that etiquette and music were ruined and ethics were gone, many military governors and separatist forces still liked to let their brothers and sons divide the military power.
.
There are negative examples, and there are positive examples. In fact, it is gambling. Gambling means that a father is kind and his son is filial, and brothers, friends, and brothers are respectful.
Of course Shao Shude knew the pros and cons. After listening to his son's words, he hesitated and pondered for a long time.
Shao Siwu anxiously waited for his fate to be pronounced.
But he is not very afraid. He has already told his father that he has no idea about the throne. As long as his second brother can tolerate him, what if he honestly becomes a prince?
"There are too many miscellaneous people in the He Controlling Army." Shao Shude sighed and said: "Except for the strong and strong ones from the familiar Tibetan tribesmen, all of them have been scattered. After the attack on Youzhou, I let the Chishui and Gongchen armies join in.
To control the crane army, Fan He will be the military envoy, and Cao Yijin will be the deputy envoy. After this army is reorganized, it may leave Linyu Pass to attack western Liaoning and return to Andong to camp."
Shao Siwu didn't know whether he should cry or laugh. But he didn't expect too much, and this ending seemed good.