"Here we come!" outside Jingzhou City, the scouts yelled as they rode back wildly.
"Quick! Get ready." Li Bai, the governor of Jingyuan, ordered quickly.
The sergeants and masters have organized the camp, all kinds of supplies are ready, and thousands of horses have been prepared.
King Xia led more than 20,000 horses to the east, and replenished them in the pastoral area of Shandong City, Tiandu. When the horses were replaced, the news was passed on. Jingyuan Town was poor, but it still tried its best to prepare an army of more than 30,000 dendrobium grains and beans.
These grains and beans were enough for 10,000 infantry to last for three months during wartime. But for the men and horses brought by the King of Xia, it was only enough for three days.
Isn’t it beautiful to see the cavalry attack in groups? It’s beautiful.
Will it bankrupt you? Of course it will.
This attack is equivalent to more than 300,000 infantry passing through your territory, and the eating, drinking, and drinking is astonishing. There is no doubt that the wallets of the people they pass by are drying up at a speed visible to the naked eye. Come here a few more times, everyone.
He didn't want to do anything anymore and just hid in the mountains to settle the matter.
Shao Shude, surrounded by his own soldiers, reined in his horse and stopped.
They left Huizhou on the 16th and arrived in Yuanzhou on the 18th. It would be noon on the 20th and they were already in Pinggao County, Jingzhou.
"Your Majesty, my nephew has prepared a few thin seats..." Li Bai stepped forward and took the reins of the horse, smiling.
"No need!" Shao Shude said with a serious face: "We have only been on the road for three hours, and we will not stop in Jingzhou anymore. We will rush to Yilu County to rest tonight."
After finishing speaking, he may have felt that his tone was too serious, so he softened it and said, "My dear nephew, don't think too much. The military situation is urgent and changing rapidly, so we don't dare to stay. The food and grass prepared are good. If you are thoughtful, I will definitely have you when I succeed in the future."
a benefit.”
Shao Shude originally planned to abolish Jingyuan Town this year and merge it into the Xia Palace. But looking at Li Bai's respectful look, he forgot about it. Let him serve as a military envoy for one more year, and then move on next year. Anyway, Jingyuan
The two states are not very wealthy, but Tubo has a lot of party items, which have not been digested after so many years of household registration.
"I will obey the king's order." Li Bai did not hesitate and immediately ordered his personal followers to remove the banquet. He carried out the order very resolutely.
Shao Shude nodded, dismounted, and took a short rest.
The sergeants also dismounted in the distance, and each battalion separated and sat on the ground. Master Jingzhou walked over carrying basket after basket of biscuits and distributed them one by one.
There are also sergeants on guard from a distance. Even when marching on the inside, they still maintain a certain degree of vigilance. Of course, these are all members of the cavalry army.
The Difficulty Army has been newly established, and everything is not yet on the right track, and the sergeants are not very familiar with each other. All in all, it is a bit chaotic.
During the long march, some people fell behind, but the total number did not decrease, and even increased slightly. The reason was that some of the chief's children took the initiative to join the army and volunteered.
Why are they children of chieftains? Because Shao Shude requires you to have at least five horses before he is allowed to follow you. This eliminates too many Liang, Hui, and Tibetan people from the original states who want to follow you to make a fortune.
Another point is that the children of the chieftain have strong economic strength. They usually have a lot of time to practice riding, martial arts, and have strong individual combat capabilities. They are as high-quality soldiers as the chieftain Beiwei, and are much better than ordinary Tibetan people who are dying.
.
The soldiers of Jingzhou Prefecture watched from a distance at the top of the city and were quite shocked.
More than 100,000 horses, what kind of battle is this? Anyway, they have never seen it. Some old people in the city who have lived long enough said that when the Tibetans invaded, there were more than 100,000 horses, and the Tang Dynasty border commanders were not so wealthy.
King Xia's current strength has long been stronger than during the heyday of Lunfengre. Before Tubo was disintegrated, Zanpu could easily pull out hundreds of thousands of troops to attack over long distances, all the way from Qinghai to Xiazhou and Yinzhou.
area.
It was really an extremely powerful force, and the Turks were probably even worse.
Shao Shude finished the Hu biscuits in a few seconds, stretched out his hand, and Li Zhong handed over the map.
We will spend the night in Yilu County tonight, and on the 21st we will camp along the Jingshui River Valley via Pizhou to Yongshou County. Pizhou is the last place where we can replenish and replace horses on a large scale. After passing this place, we want to replenish our horses.
The horses are in a bit of trouble, and it may not be possible to maintain the horse power of the entire army in a relatively good condition as it is now.
The road on the 22nd will not be easy to walk, but it is just a good time to slow down the pace, rest the horse power, and let the sergeants relax. On the same day, we can enter the territory of Wang Bian of Fengtian Town, which is relatively wealthy and has no shortage of food and grass.
On the 23rd, he could leave Fengtian and travel one hundred and twenty miles to Chang'an. He had already sent a message to Chang'an to prepare horses in advance.
Yes, Shao Shude had the idea of stocking horses in Chang'an.
Chang'an has too many rich people, too many officials, and a lot of horses, many of which are good. Shao Shude asked Han Quanhui to come forward and collect as many horses as possible for him to replace. And he did not plan to stay in Chang'an.
, will continue on the road and camp in Zhaoying County, east of Chang'an that day.
Arrived in Huayin County on the 24th, went north to Tongzhou on the 25th, replenished and replaced horses at Shayuan Prison, and met with the main bodyguards. They would also bring a large number of horses. Then they entered the river via the Pujinguan Floating Bridge.
But it probably wouldn't be possible to bring all the horses there. It would be too expensive and unnecessary.
After meditating on the course of action, Shao Shude stood up, glanced at Ye Li Kecheng who was silently following him, and asked: "Are you tired?"
"Uncle, please take a look." Ye Li Kecheng pointed to the soldiers in the distance and said: "The soldiers have calm faces and are not impatient. With such a strong army, how can we be tired?"
"The wings are hard, right? You're talking to me so little." Shao Shude laughed and scolded: "Fight well this time, otherwise, never even think about it..."
Ye Li Kecheng was stunned.
****
On the road, Shao Shude was worried that something might happen on the front line, but in fact there were some changes.
At the end of February, the Feilong Army engaged Bi Zhang and Shi Shu Cong in a small battle, but failed to win. Both sides tacitly agreed to stop fighting and return to their respective homes.
Qibizhang marched westward to recapture Linhuan, which was recaptured by Liang Jun. Yang Shihou and Zhao Yan avoided fighting and retreated to Yongcheng County.
Zhu Quanzhong finally couldn't sit still and ordered Zhu Youyu to lead the Changzhi Army to return to the left wing. He led more than 25,000 troops from the Shenwu, Tianwu, Longxiang, and Longhu armies to the south to join the Changzhi Army at Yongqiu.
At the same time, he ordered his own cavalry troops to capture two cavalrymen and march westward, and put them under Ge Congzhou's command.
For the troops camped in Caozhou, the infantry was under the command of Deng Jijun, the cavalry was under the command of Zhang Cunjing, and both were under the control of Zhu Zhen.
The infantry army consists of the left and right Yameni troops, and the left and right Tuo generals are 20,000 people. The cavalry army has three armies of personal cavalry, Zhuosheng and Tabai. There are currently two to three thousand cavalry left. General Zhu Quanzhong has transferred the two armies of personal cavalry, Zhuosheng and Tabai to the west of Ge Congzhou.
It was really interesting under the tent. Tabaidu rode seven hundred horses south to Yongqiu to listen to the order, and Zhu Quanzhong took it with him personally.
After the order was issued, Zhu Quanzhong waited silently for a day, and soon received the news of Zhu Zhen's release, which made him slightly relieved. At this time, he was really afraid of someone disobeying his order. Now it seems that he was really worried too much. Zhu Zhen
He may not be very loyal, but he is not a traitor, and the soldiers still recognize him as the King of Liang, and his prestige for many years is still there, which makes him feel very comforted.
After all the armies gathered together, Zhu Quanzhong passed through Songzhou and went to Bozhou. He arrived at Qiao County on March 15th and summoned the generals to discuss matters.
In the evening of that day, after having dinner, Zhu Quanzhong put on his armor and inspected the camp, then returned to the tent.
Jingxiang has been with him all year round, and he knows Zhu Quanzhong's thoughts very clearly. After much hesitation, he still admonished: "I ask your Majesty not to cause too many casualties."
Zhu Quanzhong looked surprised and said: "Why did Jing Sima say this?"
"Your Majesty!" Jingxiang took a step closer, looking anxious: "Does Your Majesty think Zhu Zhenzhong is loyal?"
Zhu Quanzhong remained silent.
"The king first mobilized the long sword army and the horse army, but Zhu Zhen had no complaints. Then he mobilized his own cavalry and captured the second army, but Zhu Zhen still had no complaints." Jingxiang said: "In the yamen, the two armies were suddenly commanded, and the servants also knew it.
Someone secretly reported that Zhu Zhen had planted his cronies and had evil intentions. But at this time, who doesn’t have some thoughts? Zhu Dutou has no objection. "
Zhu Quanzhong still said nothing.
"The capital of the clan has been stationed in Xuzhou and has been responsible for suppressing bandits for many years. Last month, when the king ordered him to march westward, he rushed out without saying a word." Jingxiang continued: "After Zhang Tingfan asked for help, the sergeant returned like an arrow. He
Then he led his troops back."
"But he is not clear about Qi Bizhang. The Xia thieves also released the captured sergeants. The cavalry general Shen Cheng was captured by the Xia thieves. He was treated very badly. Is there any problem?" Zhu Quanzhong asked in a low voice.
"The king has strictly ordered him to send out troops. When I heard that Xu Bing had left Pengcheng and marched westward to Yongcheng, Xu Bing had also marched to Linhuan. His troops had no objection," Jingxiang said.
Zhu Quanzhong had no expression on his face and pondered for a long time.
More than 30,000 people, with the Changzhi Army as the main force, went south from Songzhou and settled in Bozhou. Chenzhou in the west had been mobilized for a long time, so there was no need to clear the country because most of the grain and grass had long been plundered and sent to Ying
The Eastern Front is here.
I had been reluctant to make up my mind before, but now it seems that in order to contain the Xia rebel cavalry, we still have to strengthen the walls and clear the country. When we faced off against the traitors in Henan Prefecture, the rebel cavalry could not move very far. The main reason was that they could not supply supplies in the wild.
The cost of strengthening the walls and clearing the fields is high, but it is worth it.
As soon as Shi's uncle Congfu returned to town, he could only rest for ten days and received an order to send out troops again. The sergeants complained so much that they almost provoked a mutiny. Fortunately, Shi's uncle Congfu had a good command and suppressed it, so that the big soldiers could not stop.
Reluctantly, he moved out and pressed in the direction of Linhuan.
And Yang Shihou, Zhao Yan, and Zhu Hanbin also have about 16,000 infantry and cavalry, which is also a force.
An army of more than 70,000 people was pressing in from the northwest, north and east. He wanted to see which direction Qibizhang ran.
As soon as you run away, I will recruit troops and besiege Yingzhou. I can even take advantage of the situation and march westward to Caizhou to cut off Zhezong's retreat.
Anyway, Zhu Quanzhong is out of control in other directions, so you can fight him if you like. If it doesn't work, Zhu Zhen will come to the rescue, so it's not a big problem. There are also the royal guards and the Tianwei, Guangsheng, Shenjie, and Tianxing armies in Bianzhou City.
There are more than 25,000 people guarding the city. At critical moments, the generals and young men can be recruited to defend the city. Just like last month, the Suzhou governor gathered more than 1,000 people from the generals and schools of Feisheng Army to go to the city. Together with the state and county soldiers, they led the Tu Tuan Township.
The husband defended the city, but Qi Bizhang repeatedly failed to attack him and was finally led away.
But before encircling Qibi Zhang, Zhu Quanzhong still had one thing on his mind to do.
He felt that Shi Shucong, Yang Shihou, Zhao Yan, Zhu Hanbin and others were not reliable, and fighting in the war was just a matter of doing errands. It was Li Zhen's idea to improve military discipline.
Jingxiang didn't know how he figured it out, so he tried to persuade him. He was really a smart man.
"Your Majesty." He said Li Zhen, and Li Zhen arrived. He hurried in with a gloomy look on his face: "Your Majesty, Yang Shihou led his army south. He left early in the morning, leaving only some old and weak people in the camp. He deceived me.
so bitter."
"Bang!" Zhu Quanzhong slapped the table hard and stood up suddenly.
Before the order to attack was given, the Zhongwu Army left the camp without permission and went south. Of course, it was not to fight Qibizhang. You can tell with your toes.
"A bunch of rebels!" Zhu Quanzhong drew his sword and was furious.
Jingxiang closed his eyes and sighed in his heart. I was afraid that what he just said was in vain.