Chapter 20 Where to Go (Additional Update for Brother Tears’ Second Alliance Leader)
On the seventh day of the ninth lunar month in the fifth year of Qianfu, the Tiande Army sent some people to prepare for a battle at the foot of Shanyang City. After the letter of challenge was sent up, there was no response. Looking at the banner with the word "Xue" hanging on the top of the city, Xue Zhiqin should still be there.
In the city, with his violent temper, he could endure other people's challenges and act like a coward. It was really not easy for him.
It can also be seen from here that the Shuozhou Army will not come out again. Hao Zhenwei must make plans in advance. It is impossible for Fengzhou and Zhenwu Army to send military rations and supplies. They are now alone, and everything is
One-time consumption, such as weapons, equipment, arrows, food, draft animals and even people.
Shao Shude didn't know how long the military rations could last. Considering that he had not captured much before and the food collection was not particularly smooth, he estimated that it would last for a month. So, with several thousand of them, could they capture Shuozhou City? Difficult! Maybe.
You can try, but the possibility of success is low, and the loss of troops will definitely be very high.
"Everyone says that the military city of Datong is strong, but don't you know that Shanyang City is an ancient Mayi city and is also as strong as gold? Vice General Shao, we meet again." Song Le appeared out of nowhere again, and bowed his hands in greetings.
"Mr. Song is here." Shao Shude returned the courtesy and said: "We can still succeed in the field battle, but I'm afraid we won't succeed in attacking the fortress."
"General Hao Du naturally does not want to attack the fortress." Song Le lowered his voice and said: "Yesterday, there was news that Guochang Zike first attacked Kelan Army City, lured the imperial troops to rescue him, and then attacked Kelan Army City to the east.
The official army was defeated in Honggu, and Cao Xiang was forced to retreat to Jinyang, leaving only some troops in Xindai to confront the rebels."
"This..." Shao Shude was a little surprised and asked quickly: "How did you lose?"
"Cao Xiang was in Hedong Jiedu, but most of the soldiers and horses he brought there were from other towns. They did not obey orders and refused to die. They were tired from the long march and failed to use outstanding troops, so they were defeated. Now the defeated army has retreated to Taiyuan Prefecture and Jinyang City.
The door is closed, there are rumors that Marshal Cao has been killed by the rebels, but I don't know whether it is true or not."
“Does General Hao Du know all this military information?”
"Of course I know. I also followed the supervisory envoy to hear such secrets." Song Le looked at Shao Shude with strange eyes, as if to say that I didn't have any scouts under my command, and I didn't do any detailed work. Of course, the information came from someone else.
It was a second-hand item passed over.
"It would be great if we could occupy Shanyang City at this time. We can advance, attack, retreat or defend. Li Guochang and his son came with the whole army, and with the fortified city in hand, there was nothing they could do." In fact, what Shao Shude said was not wrong.
Shanyang was called Mayi in ancient times. It is adjacent to Mayichuan River in the south (Note 1). It is located in a small basin in the upper reaches of the Sanggan River in the north of Xingbei. In ancient times, troops were gathered here, which means that the agricultural production is relatively abundant. If the Tiande army takes this position, it will attack the surrounding areas.
Collect all the food, then close the city gate and guard it for several months without any problem.
"It's impossible. After winning the battle of Honggu, Li Keyong had led his troops to Daizhou. While putting pressure on Taiyuan, he was ready to reinforce Yuzhou at any time. He was very majestic. Under this situation, Xue Zhiqin lost his mind.
He will surrender only if he is crazy. And if he doesn't surrender, can we defeat him?" Song Le shook his head and said: "The plan for now is to attack from three sides. The Tiande Army on the west road, the Qixin Department, the Helian Department, and the Youlu Army on the east road.
Zhou Town, the south road is dominated by soldiers from Hedong, Zhaoyi, Zhongwu, Yicheng, and Heyang towns. The three roads are encircling. What will happen if Li Thief is not killed?"
Indeed, if all the towns worked together, did not paddle, and fought hard, then Li Guochang and his son would have been defeated long ago no matter how good they were. But the difficulty is here. Youzhou Town has not taken any action, and the West Road is also paddled.
People in the south of the river were not united, and there were great conflicts between them. Li Guochang had a small number of soldiers, but he won by being united and working in one place. This was why the officers and soldiers were defeated repeatedly in battles.
“Then, may I ask Judge Song, where should our army go next?”
"The next best option is to go north and join up with Qixinzhang and Helianduo. However, Yunzhou is barren and unable to raise an army. Qixin and Helian will also find it difficult to support our army. By then the army will have no food left and will collapse without a fight, so we will go down.
It should be done only as a last resort."
“Zhongce retreated to the Zhenwu Army, using the excuse of insufficient military resources to acquire one or two pieces of territory first, and then wait and see before making any plans. However, it is likely to be ordered by the imperial court, and General Hao Du may not dare to take this risk.”
"The best strategy is to go south to Lanzhou (note 2). This area is not the main attack direction of Li Guochang and his son, and it can also supply a large amount of military supplies. The mountains are crisscrossed, the terrain is complex, and there is a lot of room for maneuver. Once the intergenerational war has taken shape, our army can
Leave Lanzhou and go north, and attack Shuozhou again, and you will be able to answer the question to the imperial court."
“Which strategy will Hao Du choose?”
"Of course it is the best idea. I have given advice to Qiu Shijun. After discussing with Dutou, Qiu Shijun all felt that it would be more appropriate to go south to Lanzhou."
The word "appropriate" is used more delicately. Going north to Yunzhou, without food or clothing, it is hard to say whether Helian and Qixin are friends or enemies. What if someone sees the opportunity to attack the Tiande army and then run away?
, you occupy Fengzhou, I occupy Zhenwu, and we are connected with the Shatuo people, echoing each other, who are you going to find reason for? It is even more impossible to return to the Zhenwu Army or even Fengzhou. First of all, the supervisor army does not dare to agree, and secondly, everyone
You came out to fight for life and death, but you didn't get any credit or wealth, so you just went back? Therefore, going south to Lanzhou is almost the only feasible option. Even the reason is ready-made, rescue the Kelan Army!
"Judge Song, have you made a decision yet?" Shao Shude approached quietly and asked in a low voice. Having been in the army for many years, he also knew that some things should not be talked about indiscriminately, and some news should not be spread indiscriminately. Yang Xiu's story is too famous.
Okay, Shao Shude doesn't want to end up like this.
"Dutou is inclined to go south to Lanzhou." Song Le continued to "spread the news randomly", only to hear him say: "Yesterday, General Hao Du sent a scout south to Caochengchuan (Note 3) to explore the military situation. There should be some news in the next two days.
The news has come."
Caochengchuan is about 160 miles away from Shuozhou, and it can be reached in almost eight days by marching. To the west of Caochengchuan is Zhelu Military City, which was once attacked by Li Keyong, but after Li Keyong retreated, the defeated soldiers ran back and
It is under control. About a hundred miles to the south is Kelan Military City. It was attacked by Li Keyong a while ago, but the soldiers resisted tenaciously and only allowed him to break through the outer city. Of course, it now seems that Li Keyong may not be able to defeat it.
He did not really want to storm the military city, but instead encircled it for reinforcements. The real target was the soldiers from Hedong, Zhongwu and other towns who came to relieve the siege. In the end, he succeeded. The soldiers and horses of the two towns were defeated. Daibei went to camp to recruit envoys from Hedong.
Jiedushi Cao Xiang retreated to Jinyang in fear, and his prestige plummeted.
The soldiers are actually very realistic. Cao Xiang took Zhaoyi's troops to Jinyang and took office as the commander-in-chief of Hedong, one of the three most famous towns in the world. From the moment he came up, he strictly enforced military law, cut through the mess quickly, and stabilized the situation through killings.
.But the dissatisfaction of the soldiers is also accumulating. This time Honggu was defeated, even if Cao Xiang fled back, he might not be able to control the situation. Zhaoyi, Zhongwu, Heyang, Yicheng, and Yiwu who gathered in Jinyang
There will be trouble when the soldiers and horses from other towns listen to him. Even the soldiers and horses from the town in Hedong are probably not able to command much.
It’s miserable, it’s really miserable!
On the ninth day of September, as Song Le said, Hao Zhenwei, the leader of the capital, summoned the generals to discuss matters, and decided to lead his army south to Caochengchuan on the grounds of lack of food. The military supervisor had no objections, and the others also had no objections, so it was decided
Got off.
Early in the morning on the 11th day of the lunar month, all the armies packed up and retreated one by one. As the deputy generals who were overseeing the army, Shao Shude and the others were not the first group to leave, so after having lunch in the camp, they followed the second group.
The main force was marching. At this time, some soldiers and horses were still left in the camp to monitor the situation in Shuozhou City. Xue Zhiqin seemed to have lost his courage, or was afraid of being deceived and did not dare to pursue. This made the Tiande army's actions easier.
The operation to Caochengchuan went well. At this time, Li Keyong's main force had returned to Daizhou and was confronting the imperial troops. He was still under great pressure. Tang troops were attacking Yunzhou and Shuozhou, his hometowns in the north.
Yuzhou, which is facing the enemy, is also facing the harassment of soldiers and horses from Youzhou Town. It is uncertain when it will turn into a large-scale war. It may only take the second decree from the imperial court to reach Fan Yang. Therefore, it is really difficult for them to deploy many troops now.
Mobile strength, every soldier is very valuable, must be concentrated and used. This may be the reason why the Tiande army has only seen a small group of Li army soldiers and horses along the way in the past few days, and they are more for surveillance.
function, rather than harass or attack.
On September 16th, the Tiande Army suddenly changed its marching direction and headed straight for Ningwu County. This county was under the rule of Shuozhou, but no one could say for sure whether it was in the hands of the imperial court. However, the warriors of the Tiande Army
He couldn't care so much anymore and directly sent more than 2,000 elite soldiers to capture this county town with a pitifully weak military force.
You can imagine what kind of virtue a warrior has when he enters the city. Even if the soldiers are restrained by the generals, the soldiers dare not hurt anyone, but looting is inevitable. Wealth, food, cattle and sheep, the warriors want everything.
Facing the butcher's knife raised high, the gentry and people of Ningwu County wisely chose not to resist and allowed them to take away the only survival supplies they had. In the past few days, Li Guochang's soldiers had come and looted, and now the court's
The soldiers also came and looted as usual. Are there any damn good people in this world?
On September 17, fearing that Li Jun would suddenly appear, they plundered a large amount of property and food supplies and set off again. They marched toward the southwest, protecting the baggage while paying close attention to the surrounding situation, and just stopped and went.
We stopped, and on September 23, we finally arrived outside the Challu Army City on the western edge of the Caocheng River.
There were only more than 400 soldiers in the city. They were like frightened birds. When they saw a large army coming, they immediately ran away. It wasn't until the Tiande Army sent a ranger to catch up with them and revealed to them that they were the soldiers of the imperial court that these bastards ran away again.
When they came back, they immediately cried out about the brutality of Li Jun. They fought desperately, but in the end they were unable to support a single tree. They asked for some food by the way, because everyone was really starving.
The Chalu army has been destroyed! This was Shao Shude's first feeling when he saw these people. This army was originally established to resist the grassland cavalry from Congyun and Shuojian who went south to plunder the hinterland of Hedong. However, it was defeated by Li
After a dozen Keyong, they turned out to be like this. No, maybe they were already dead before Li Keyong came over. Li Keyong had served in the Datong Army for a long time, so he should know these people very well, otherwise he wouldn't have
Will be the first to take action on them.
The Tiande Army cannot become as decadent as the Zhelu Army, and should take this as a warning!
Note 1: Mayichuan, now Huihe River.
Note 2: Lanzhou, under the jurisdiction of Hedong Town, has jurisdiction over the four counties of Yifang, Jingle, Hehe and Langu, and governs Yifang (today's Lan County).
Note 3: The triangle area between Caochengchuan, Chalu Army City, Kelan Army City, and Ningwu County has always been an important route for northern nomads to go south due to its crisscrossing rivers, abundant water and grass, and rich products. In the Tang Dynasty, the Kelan Army was established
This is the "passage for thieves". In the Northern Song Dynasty, this was the border with the Liao Kingdom.