"Shishu Cong ran away, and you are still here, are you stupid?"
"Stop fighting and surrender. Is it worth working for Zhu Quanzhong? When was the last time you were rewarded?"
"The pontoon bridge was burned by Shi Shucong's men. How many days will the camp have enough food and grass?"
"If you don't surrender, no scrap of armor will be left after the stronghold is destroyed!"
"I like to chop people's hands and feet, and I won't stop until I break ten axes after breaking the camp."
The Cai people's recruits surrounded the enemy camp on the west bank of the Feishui River. They were very good at robbing, and they were also good at swearing. From morning to night, they scolded the Liang soldiers in the camp with disgrace and their morale was shaken.
More than ten miles downstream, countless auxiliary soldiers were mobilized to cut down large trees, build ships, and build pontoons.
There were even those who were impatient, such as Guangzhou Governor Chen Su's troops, who first ferried about 300 people across the river in small boats. With great morale, they pursued Liang Jun with a roar, until they were ambushed and the entire army was wiped out.
The first to achieve results was actually Zhu Jingbu, the governor of Shouzhou, who was originally on the east bank of the river.
He led his troops, which swelled to 3,000, from Shengtang and Huoshan. He broke them into pieces and targeted Liang Jun's weak rear guard. Although he did not kill many of them, he intercepted a lot of baggage.
It belongs to those who have gained a clear understanding of the war.
On the seventh day of April, Shao Shude personally arrived at the pontoon bridge that had been built.
Chen Su's troops, whose morale was low, were driven back to Huoqiu to stabilize the rear.
Two thousand cavalry from the ancient tribe were active in Huaibei. After receiving the order, they immediately abandoned their prey and planned to cross the Ying River to pursue the enemy troops who might escape from the north bank.
In short, Marshal Shao was all-out, using a total of more than 10,000 men to pursue them fiercely and kill as many as he could, but he must not let the thieves retreat comfortably.
By the way, the five thousand people led by Zang Dubao are about to enter the territory of Shouzhou. They also bring a batch of grain and grass that they have worked hard to raise. Shao Shude ordered Chen Subu to pick up the food and grain that was in the way, so that the five thousand Tianxiong soldiers could speed up.
March and come to pursue the thieves.
It is a pity that Shi Zan's ten thousand troops have not yet entered Suizhou and are still far away from Shouzhou, so they cannot catch up with the pursuit.
On the eighth day of April, internal strife broke out among the two thousand Liang troops who had been abandoned on the west bank. They finally opened the camp gate and lined up to surrender.
Shao Shude ordered the Guangzhou Army to take care of them, and then personally led his army across the river and arrived in Anfeng County late on the 10th day of April.
The army only shot an arrow at the city head, and the county magistrate opened the city to ask for surrender.
Eight thousand Cai soldiers entered the county in batches, which was the first real result in the pursuit.
Shao Shude moved directly into the county government office, while Li Zhong was busy on the side. It can be seen that he is more suitable for this position than Zheng Yong, and his behavior is quite similar to his father's style.
Zheng Yong went to check the treasury and send donations to collect grain. In order to pursue the enemy, they carried a few days of grain and grass with them. If they could not seize it on the spot, they might have to retreat.
Chen Cheng was busy meeting with the gentry of Anfeng County who had surrendered, and carefully inquired about the enemy's internal situation. It was not until Hai Hai that he came to the county government to report.
"According to what the Anfeng gentry said, Shi Shucong left directly from Yingkou." Chen Cheng said.
Shao Shude glanced at him, "Shishu Cong is in charge of Yingkou, what do you think? Let's get to the point quickly."
Chen Cheng coughed and said: "They took boats to go down the river after nightfall. But there were not enough boats, and some of them set off from the land route, walked along both sides of the Huai River, and retreated to Xiacai and Shouzhou respectively."
Li Zhong had already spread out the map in front of the two of them.
Shao Shude glanced at him approvingly, then stared at the map and said: "Shishu Cong has a total of 350,000 to 40,000 people coming. This is certain. Less than half of them are government officials, and the rest are from prefectures and counties."
Xiang Yong. In the continuous battle, they should have lost more than 4,000 people, so there are still more than 30,000 left."
"Definitely not all of these 30,000 people can take the boat. Most of them will have to retreat by land." Shao Shude added: "There are more than 5,000 people in Yingshang County. We will ignore this one for the time being. There are still 30,000 people left. They
How it went, we need to figure out.”
The scouts were all sent out, but they could only see where the enemy troops were and how many enemy troops they saw, but they could not get a full picture. It would be great if the inside story of the enemy's retreat could be known from Anfeng County.
If you do more, you can pursue it in a targeted manner.
Another question, why didn’t the enemy troops in Huaibei simply retreat to Yingzhou, but instead marched to the lower reaches of the Huai River? What’s the rationale? Could it be that they were going to Suzhou?
"His uncle Cong left a military force in Anfeng County, and there were more than a thousand government soldiers and two thousand local peasants." Chen Cheng said: "But those rural warriors ran away quickly and had no intention of fighting to the death. There were more than a thousand government soldiers.
Frustrated, he planned to rob Anfeng and flee. But it seemed that the military discipline was good, so he ran away after the officer's persuasion."
Shao Shude laughed out loud.
Shishu Cong's move was not at all a serious matter of retaining someone as a successor, but was most likely looking for a scapegoat.
Eighty-percent of the Tutuan villagers came from Chu and Haozhou, and those yamen soldiers were not his direct descendants. But I didn’t expect that everyone was not stupid and ran away. What can you do to me? Now is the time to employ people. Is it possible to return them?
Can you just dismiss us?
"In the past, Gao Huan attacked Yu Wentai on three fronts, and Dou Tai's army retreated after Dou Tai's defeat. Gao Aocao personally cut off the rear and fought hard with his pursuers. He was hit by stray arrows and almost died. Only then did he ensure that his troops and horses retreated safely.
." Shao Shude said: "Shishu Cong is so random. Doesn't he have soldiers who dare to die for him? Or is he simply reluctant to do so?"
"Commander, I'm afraid Shi Shucong really doesn't have the right men." Chen Cheng said: "The soldiers Gao Aocao commanded were all personally recruited and trained by him, and they have great prestige. Shi Shucong's headquarters is still slipping.
, as for Zheng, he went to Xuzhou alone to take office, and his time was short. With the entire army retreating, there was nothing he could do."
Shao Shude agreed. The Battle of Peishui was fought so feebly, which may not be without this factor.
Most of the chief officers and adjutants of the Xia Army have not been transferred for many years. But at the beginning, Shao Shude planned to rotate them regularly, and in order to ensure combat effectiveness, they were allowed to bring their own generals and soldiers to their posts so that they could
It worked like an arm and a finger. However, the wars continued year after year, which was so frequent that it had not been rectified for many years.
But now is really not the time, let's wait. He can still suppress this group of arrogant soldiers, and he must solve this problem before leaving.
"Then don't hesitate." Shao Shude said: "Now the troops are very fast, let's pursue all the way first. Send an order to Zhu Jing, stop grabbing the baggage, and ask him to go north quickly, cross the Feishui River, and detour to the north of Shouzhou. Let's first
Eat this piece of meat."
After Shi Shucong's main force retreated, Zhu Jing immediately seized Shengtang County and then pursued it actively.
However, the people under his command did not change their banditry, and mainly focused on looting and baggage, but gave up pursuing and killing the enemy.
Shao Shude was reminding him that if he wanted to be the governor, he had to work hard.
…
Jiang Congxu, the governor of Shouzhou, hurriedly climbed up Bagong Mountain, but was rejected, so he hurriedly came down the mountain and rushed back to the city.
The power in Shouzhou is too complicated.
There is the old tribe of Zhang Ao, the governor of Gao Pian Dynasty. They are also the orthodox forces in Shouzhou. They are commanded by Wei Shoujie and have two thousand soldiers stationed at Bagong Mountain.
At that time, Gao Pian had a different intention and was unwilling to send troops to suppress Huang Chao. However, Zhang Ao was very loyal and violated Gao Pian's instruction to "hold troops to protect himself" and sent General Zhang Xingfang to lead his army into Guanzhong and serve under Wang Duo's command.
After conquering Huangchao, the Shou soldiers returned, and a war broke out with Yang Xingmi in Luzhou. At that time, Yang Xingmi was stationed in Luzhou to stabilize the rear, and sent Tian Yan, Li Shenfu, and Li Xun to lead the army to Shouzhou, and defeated the Shouzhou general Wei in Chucheng.
Qiansuo's tens of thousands of men took the lead in the battle for hegemony in Huainan in the post-Gaopian era.
Of course, after Sun Ru went south, they were basically finished.
The second force is Sun Ru's old tribe, that is, the soldiers and horses that Jiang Congxu can control now are not many, just over a thousand.
This army can be traced back to the time of Liu Hong'e, who led his troops to defect to Zhu Quanzhong. However, Liu Hong'e soon died in an internal mutiny, and Jiang Yanwen became the governor. After Jiang Yanwen committed suicide, his son Jiang Congxu took over as the governor until now.
In addition to these two forces, there is also Hou Yan's tribe of Liang Jun, which has the largest number of troops, with three thousand troops. One part is stationed in Erxia Stone Fort, and the other part is located in the city.
"General Hou, the head of the clan ordered us to recruit sergeants to guard the city and look for opportunities to attack the Xia thieves..." After returning to the city, Jiang Congxu went straight to the military camp and asked worriedly: "How can you abide by the law? Leave the city to Feishui
Set up a stronghold, or hold on and not get out?"
Hou Yan was counting the equipment when he heard this and said, "What is Jiang Shijun going to do?"
The location of Shouchun City is very good. The Feishui River comes from the southwest, turns a corner near Shouchun, semi-encircles it, and then the rapids turn and flow into the Huai River from the northwest.
The moat of Shouchun is taken from Feishui River and is very wide.
The city of Shouzhou is adjacent to the Huai River in the north, with Bagong Mountain, Zijin Mountain, and Xia Shi Mountain in danger. There is Feishui River in the east and Dongguan. There are moats that divert the Fei River to the south and west. No matter from which angle you look at it, Shouzhou is unlikely to be conquered.
Even if it is under siege, it is unlikely to be captured.
But no matter how good the location is, it still needs people to guard it. There is no doubt about it.
"But it's up to the general to make the decision." Jiang Congxu saluted, and then whispered: "Wei Shoujie is Wei Qian's adopted son, and Wei Qian is Zhang Ao's old general, so he may not be reliable."
He had just been rejected, and he was shocked and doubtful. He had already lost trust in people like Wei Shoujie.
The two factions of Sun Ru and Zhang Ao have been entangled for several years. Although it cannot be said to be a fire and water, it is impossible to work together at the critical moment. No matter how stupid Jiang Congxu is about this, he will not show any signs of it. Suspect.
Hou Yan looked a little solemn after hearing this.
"How about tricking Wei Shoujie into killing him and his tribe?" he asked tentatively.
"I'm afraid he won't come." Jiang Congxu shook his head.
"That's troublesome." Hou Yan sighed and said, "The capital of the clan left me to guard Shouchun. I can't just leave. There is news from the southwest that Shao's 50,000-strong army has defeated Anfeng. The day and night are approaching, but we have to fight with them first. Unfortunately, we don't have enough troops. It would be great if we could annex the Wei clan's tribe."
Jiang Congxu also sighed. There were more than 2,000 people in the city now, which was too empty. To be honest, he didn't think it could be defended unless the soldiers and horses from Bagong Mountain and other places were brought back.
However, one person may not be willing to do so, and the other is that without guarding the stronghold outside the city, relying solely on the city wall is not reliable.
In ancient times, the defense of Shouchun included Bagong Mountain, Xiashi Mountain, Dongguan, and Feishui. If all these peripheral strongholds fell, then Shouzhou City would be almost gone, and it would be basically impossible to save it.
As the saying goes, if you are surrounded by mountains and rivers, you have to protect the mountains and rivers.
"That's all, I will transfer the two thousand Haozhou soldiers from Xiashi Mountain back. We will be trapped in the city, and we will wait as long as we can." Hou Yan was also helpless.
"There are still thousands of Bian soldiers in Xiacai County, Huaibei..." Jiang Congxu reminded.
"Don't count on it." Hou Yan frowned deeper and said, "They will leave tomorrow. They have important matters to return to Xusu, so they can't stay to help us."
In fact, it was not just the Bian soldiers from Xiacai County who were retreating, but Hou Yan could not command any of his troops, and they could not take the initiative to stay and help him guard Shouzhou. Everyone was in a hurry to run away.
Jiang Congxu: "..."
After returning to his mansion gloomily, Jiang Congxu could only drink to drown his sorrows. At this time, several troops and horses were marching on the land of Shouzhou.
Two thousand Haozhou soldiers took the baggage from the camp, drove their pack horses and carts down the mountain toward the city.
On Bagong Mountain, the camp gate was wide open, and two thousand soldiers held swords and bows with murderous intent.
On the east bank of Feishui River, three thousand people had just finished crossing the river and were taking a break.
On the west bank of the Peishui River, five thousand sergeants lined up and marched silently.
Outside the north gate of Anfeng County, eight thousand people rushed along the Feishui River, all the way north.
To the north of Huoshan, hundreds of cavalrymen whipped their horses and held high black flags. To the south, more people and horses were marching.