On the tenth day of May, the infantry brigade arrived on the west bank of Caishui River and looked for old forests to cut down wood to build a pontoon bridge. At this time, Ding Hui could hardly hold on in Yancheng.
On this day, the sky was bright, the city was filled with plains, and mournful songs were heard one after another.
"You say life is better than death, and I mean death is better than life. Life means fighting hard and dying, and death means no one fights... Blood flows all over the wilderness, and bones are in the side court..."
The song is desolate, tragic, and painful, and by the end, it's almost like wailing.
The eight elegy singers sang in unison and the drummers played vigorously. Those who heard it were really moved to tears and those who listened were sad.
"Commander, Zhu Yougong is not dead." Li Renhan hurried in and reported.
Ding Hui was stunned when he heard this, then felt happy and then angry.
I am happy that Zhu Yougong, a fellow from Shouchun, is not dead, but I am angry that he was disturbed from singing an elegy.
"Get out!" Ding Hui said.
Li Renhan hid outside the door in disgrace.
"Continue!" Ding Hui glared at the dirge singer and drummer who had stopped, and said.
"Commander, which song should you sing?" someone asked weakly.
"Just pretend that Zhu Yougong is dead, and the Prince of Liang himself sings an elegy." Ding Hui cleared his throat and began to sing: "Father and son have great kindness, and I miss you so much as a young man. Once you are sent to the desert, when will you see me again?"
The drummer moved quickly, puffed up his cheeks, and quickly caught up with Dashuai Ding's rhythm.
Li Renhan sat helplessly on the horse and stared at Kong Qing.
The sergeants stood there feebly, their emotions inevitably affected. They couldn't fight anymore, and they couldn't walk away. Could it be that they all died here and could never see their families again? Every time I think of this, I can't help but feel sad.
Dashuai’s artistic appeal is evident.
"I said..." Li Renhan said.
Kong Qing stretched out his hand to stop and listened.
"Future generations will pass this on. When Zhongni dies, who will shed tears?"
"The commander has finished singing!" Kong Qing jumped up and trotted in.
"I actually listened..." Li Renhan cursed secretly and followed him through the door.
Ding Hui sat down, took a deep breath, and said: "Remove all the troops inside and outside the city. The whole army will go out for a day to boost morale. It is said that everything is tidied up. The armor and soldiers should be repaired and repaired. We will leave the city tomorrow.
Array."
"Commander, are you going to fight with the old thief Zhe?" Kong Qing asked.
"What are you fighting for? You don't want to live anymore?" Ding Hui scolded, and then said: "I have made up my mind to surrender to the King of Xia."
This was something that was expected. Neither Li Renhan nor Kong Qing found it strange. They could surrender or fight to the death. They didn't care. The worst they could do was sell their lives to the commander in return for their kindness.
"Commander, what will happen to us if the king of Xia is surrendered?" Li Renhan looked a little worried and asked.
"Life and death are in human hands, do you have a choice?" Ding Hui asked.
"No." Li Renhan sighed.
There are more than 20,000 Weisheng troops and thousands of Tianzhu troops. They are all capable of fighting and holding them firmly. There are more than 20,000 Tibetan soldiers. Yesterday, more than 10,000 Tutuan soldiers came, a total of 60,000.
There are many soldiers and horses, but there are less than 20,000 troops surrounding them. Can they escape?
"I see King Xia's behavior as a narrow-minded person." Ding Hui explained: "He prefers two types of soldiers. One is Fan people, mostly party members. I heard that King Xia dotes on his concubines and princesses. Zhe's name is Xianbei, which is actually a party; the second is a Henan soldier. He has gone to Henan many times to recruit troops. We should love his strength and bravery and rely on him to build Qiancheng. Our troops are all descendants of Henan, so why not be loved by the king of Xia? Surrender, anyway. There is no way out."
Li Renhan and Kong Qing both said yes.
Who wants to die if they can survive? Even if Zhe Zongben can't take them down, if it were Li Tangbin, that bitch who never cares about human life in a war, there's a real possibility that not a single member of the Youguo Army would survive.
On May 11th, all the Youguo army, old and weak, came out of the city and formed an array in the wilderness. Because they had sent people to contact them in advance, Zhe Zongben, the commander of the Tangzhou camp, knew that the Youguo army wanted to surrender, so he personally led Weisheng The main force of the army arrived.
Nearly 18,000 people, led by officers, placed their equipment at designated locations, then retreated to the other side and sat on the ground.
Zhe Zongben looked at the swords, spears, armors, and crossbows piled up like a hill. He turned around, and kindly helped Ding Hui, who was naked from the waist up, and said: "You are a general, why are you like this? King Xia loves talents. , I never humiliate a general, and I will still be of use to Captain Ding in the future."
Ding Hui stood up after hearing this and sighed: "The King of Xia is so prudent and impeccable in his military use. I have long been fascinated by him. I don't think he can be so broad-minded. I will be so grateful that I don't know what to say."
On the other side, Pei Yuanzheng, an important member of the army accompanying the Tangzhou shogunate, talked to Zhang Jun and laughed at Yan Yan.
Zhang Jun was a little worried, afraid that Shao Shude would settle old scores. But to be honest, there seemed to be no grudge between them. Zhang Jun fled eastward that year, mostly out of fear of death from the imperial court and his good relationship with Zhu Quanzhong.
"Zhang Sima persuaded Ding Gong to surrender, which is a great achievement." Pei Yuan said: "After the Youguo Army accepts the reorganization, it will still be of great use."
Zhang Jun hesitated for a moment and then asked: "You are a staff member of Tangzhou. Do you dare to ask the Duke of Youguo Army to surrender? To the King of Xia?"
"Zheling Gong is also a member of the Xia King." Pei Yuan looked into Zhang Jun's eyes and said.
"I understand." Zhang Jun saluted and thanked him.
"Be prepared to attack Yang Xingmi. The King of Xia had previously said that if Ding Hui's whole army comes to surrender, he can be appointed as the governor of Qizhou and the regiment training envoy." Pei Yuan warned again.
Zhang Jun understood. Qizhou was Yang Xingmi's territory. He had to fight for the position of governor himself. Not only did he have to capture Qizhou, but he also had to capture Huangzhou along the way.
This result is better than expected and completely acceptable. For Xia Jun, this arrangement is also very reasonable.
After all, the Youguo Army is the old foundation of the Xuanwu Yamen Army. It is not impossible to let them attack Bianzhou, but it always makes people worry about defecting before the battle, although the possibility is not very high.
It's just the right time to go and fight Yang Xingmi now. We don't know each other, and we don't have any friendship at all. Ding Hui is eager to show off, so of course he has to put in some effort.
After the surrender of the Youguo Army in Yancheng, there was only one remnant left in the Xuzhou War: Yang Shihou, who was stationed at the mouth of the river with more than 10,000 men. But he was only a small role and could no longer affect the overall situation.
****
Zhu Zhen has led the army back to Jiyin.
He first went to the school grounds to supervise the training of Pengri and Pengsheng armies, and did not return to the military mansion until noon.
It should be said that Zhu Zhen is still very capable of training troops. The armies of Pengri and Pengsheng are not all new recruits. At least 30% of them are veterans who were recruited from the dead.
Zhu Zhen was also very good at nurturing soldiers. He could call many people by their names and help them solve their practical difficulties. He was a generous person and often rewarded soldiers, so he was very popular among the soldiers.
The troops and horses under the jurisdiction of Caozhou's camp are divided into three major systems: the personal army, the Yamen army, and the prefecture and county soldiers.
Zhu Zhen was actually just a commander before, and did not have many troops under his direct control. Zhu Quanzhong was very worried about him, so he sent Deng Jijun and Zhang Cunjing to suppress him. The former commanded the Caozhou camp infantry, that is, the left and right Tu generals, and the left and right Yanei troops.
The latter commanded the cavalry, that is, the left and right Desheng troops, the pro-cavalry troops, the capture troops, Tabaidu, etc.
Of course, Zhu Zhen would not be willing to be a nominal commander. In fact, he has been striving for changes in the past few years. First, he established the pro-army of Jianying Wudu, with a size of about a thousand people. This was a trial, but it makes sense.
Handsome, you don’t even have a direct line of troops, is that ridiculous?
Zhu Quanzhong acquiesced to this. He did not have the ability to control too much, and the decline in control would inevitably produce this result.
In the second half of last year, during Shao Shude's three-pronged attack on Liang, Zhu Quanzhong was in dire straits, and the war situation was unprecedentedly unfavorable. Zhu Zhen ordered wealthy households in Cao, Hua, and Shan states to donate money, withhold part of the money and grain that had been handed over to Bianzhou, and levied heavy taxes on business travelers.
The two holy armies have a total of twenty commanders and a total of 20,000 people.
At the same time, people were sent to Hebei and Ziqing City, and more than a thousand horses were obtained. Naturally, the scale of Yingwudu expanded again, and now it has three thousand infantry and one thousand cavalry.
Needless to say, this is an extremely domineering warlord behavior. At any other time, Zhu Quanzhong would have been absolutely intolerable and would definitely have to deal with it seriously. But now, not only can he not be able to deal with it, on the contrary, he is trying his best to win over him.
This world is so realistic.
In fact, there are some state and county soldiers in the Caozhou camp. The total size is not large, about 8,000 people. They are led by Liu Zhijun, the surrendered general of Xuzhou. They are stationed in Leize County, Puzhou and are the first-line troops to defend Yuncheng.
Zhu Zhen couldn't see through Liu Zhijun, and it was not always smooth to win over him. But he was very sure that Liu Zhijun was definitely not a loyal person, and his ambition was actually quite big.
But it doesn’t matter anymore. Although Liu Zhijun’s soldiers often fight and are better than ordinary state and county soldiers, he doesn’t pay attention to them. The focus now is on the sudden generals and the second army in Yanei. He has also deployed them in the past few years.
With many of his own people, as well as old acquaintances and old troops throughout the army, he was confident that he could control the army at the critical moment, provided that one big obstacle was removed.
"Commander, General Deng is here." The general walked in and reported.
"Do you know what to do?" Zhu Zhen asked in a deep voice with a serious look in her eyes.
"Understood." The general said without hesitation.
"Back off, don't make any mistakes."
"As commanded."
Deng Jijun quickly entered the tent and said as he walked: "General, I have found out that the number of bandit cavalry outside Bianzhou City has been greatly reduced. Please quickly order the Qi army to march westward to relieve the siege."
Deng Jijun stopped mid-sentence because he found Zhu Zhen making tea leisurely and became very angry.
"Sit down and be patient." Zhu Zhen said with a smile.
"The military situation is urgent. If we leave early, the Bian people will have to sleep peacefully. How can we still sit still?" Deng Jijun sat down and kept chattering to himself.
"What does General Deng think of the situation in Liang?" Zhu Zhen continued to add spices slowly, seemingly unintentionally asking.
"General Pangdu's army is besieged, I'm afraid it's going to be bad." Deng Jiyun told the truth.
"But I heard that Pang Shigu was defeated in a big way, and I don't know whether he is alive or dead. King Liang and Shao Shude fought in Caishui, but they returned at a disadvantage." Zhu Zhen said again.
"This" Deng Jijun was a little surprised, but if he thought about it carefully, it was very possible.
"In this case, all the generals should lead their troops to the west and join forces with the King of Liang to protect Bianzhou together." Deng Jijun said anxiously: "I'm afraid it won't be good if it's too late!"
Zhu Zhen glanced at Deng Jijun and sighed: "The defeat of King Liang has been decided, don't you think about yourself?"
Deng Jijun was stunned for a moment, then stood up, his expression changed drastically.
"Come here, give General Deng a ride." As soon as Zhu Zhen finished speaking, dozens of Yingwudu soldiers rushed in. Without any nonsense, they struck Deng Jijun directly with their swords and axes.
"I don't want to harm you, but I can't help you." Zhu Zhen shook her head and sighed, looking at Deng Jijun who was lying on the ground with his eyes open.
－－－－－－Digression－－－－－
Chapter 2 It’s estimated to be ten o’clock in the evening. The closed production is over today, I threw away my sleeping bag and went home.
Under the floor, two cockroaches actually ran out...