In late June, news came one after another from the west.
On the night they entered Chang'an, Tang Hongfu, the leader of Shuofang's army, was killed in battle, and all the five thousand people who entered the city were killed. Chao's army actually didn't take any prisoners. Cheng Zongchu, the governor of Jingyuan Jiedu, was dragged into the city by the sergeants because he was ruthless.
Unwilling to do so, he made some preparations, and he himself was spared, while 10% of the more than 6,000 soldiers who entered the city died.
After Cheng Zongchu escaped, he ignored the Jingyuan sergeants outside the city who had not yet entered the city, and fled directly to the direction of Xingping. The Chao army chased them out, and the Jingyuan army was caught off guard. Two thousand people were killed, and the rest dispersed.
Wang Chucun of the Yiwu Army heard the news on the way to Chang'an. At that time, the sergeants were urging the commander to hurry up and were very happy. Wang Chucun told the troops that this was Huang Chao's plan, but no one was willing to listen and kept saying
They wanted to go to Chang'an to plunder. Fortunately, they had a long way to go and couldn't make it in time. After hearing the news halfway, the sergeants calmed down and fled back to Xiwei Bridge with Wang Chucun in their arms.
In this battle, Chao's army beheaded more than 13,000 people. All the soldiers and horses in several towns in the west of Beijing were frightened, and it was difficult to fight in a short time.
On the second day, the Chao army launched a large-scale pursuit in three directions: west, east and north.
The west route ran faster, and Zheng Wei, Cheng Zongchu, and Wang Chucun retreated to Fengxiang Mansion in embarrassment. Wang Chongrong on the east route was more unlucky. He heard that the armies were entering Chang'an and hurriedly marched westward. On the way, they encountered the Chao army who was chasing them, and the battle was at a disadvantage.
Fortunately, Zhu Mei, the governor of Daizhou, arrived and helped him stabilize his position, and then both of them escaped.
Zhu Mei took a detour to the north and was said to be looking for Zheng Dan. He had been appointed deputy envoy of Xingning Jiedu and general of Tongsai Town. Wang Chongrong ran back to the river in one breath and happened to meet Zhaoyi's army passing through, Jieshuai Gao.
After Xun learned about the battle, he temporarily stayed in Hezhong Mansion to watch.
The massive battle of Zhuzhen's invasion of Bo Chang'an ended in such a jaw-dropping way.
After the Tielin Army defeated the pursuing Zhang Yan's troops in Gaoling Nanyuan, they have been stationed in Fuping recently. The Chao Army did not pursue them. I guess they did not have the strength to eat up the official army. Of course, the official army also took more than 100,000 soldiers.
Chao Jun had no choice.
There is no other way, so just stay silent, Shao Shude has his own things to do.
"Li Yanling, five thousand Chao troops have surrendered. Who do you think can be escorted back to Suizhou? Qiang Quansheng has returned. If this is successfully completed, I have decided to promote him to deputy general. Who should be sent to the next batch?" Fu Ping?
Shao Shude asked in Zhuangzi on the outskirts of the county.
"Let Li Renjun go." Li Yanling replied: "There are five thousand people in the nest, no food and no weapons, and five hundred auxiliary soldiers to guard them is enough."
Shao Shude nodded. Li Renjun was one of the ten generals of the Zhenwu Army in Zhongcheng. He was a pure warrior. With five hundred auxiliary soldiers with complete equipment, escorting the prisoners would not be a problem. In addition, more than seven hundred households were recruited this time.
As long as the Yifang army does not plunder the people of Guanzhong and more than 30,000 hu of military rations, it will not be a problem to send them back smoothly.
"Let Li Renjun handle this matter." Shao Shude agreed: "The Chao army surrendered. Counting the batch that went back in April, there are more than 6,300 people. Let them farm land for the military farms. No way.
It doesn't matter, study, you can always learn under the stick. The five hundred state soldiers who were originally on the military farm can no longer work. They will be issued with weapons, resume training, and serve as guards. If necessary, Song Biejia can let him
The surrendered soldiers went to help open the river. On the way, they were also told clearly that after working for two years, they would be registered as households and they could rent fields from the sergeants. If they saved money, they could also buy fields from the prefectures and counties.
If you plant your own seeds, you must give them something to look forward to, and you can’t squeeze them to death.”
“The military envoy is wise.” Li Yanling praised.
"Don't give me this." Shao Shude shook his head: "I'm afraid the current amount of food is not enough. I have to raise five or six thousand dendrobium before I leave. Alas, the food that was originally quite rich was treated like this, and it actually persisted.
In less than a few months."
“Military envoys, we still need to raise more food. Next month, there will be government troops coming from this town.” Li Yanling reminded.
"This - I almost forgot about this." Shao Shude sighed heavily and said: "Guanzhong has two crops of grain a year. It was originally a prosperous place, but now there are endless wars. I don't know how many crops have been abandoned, but it is difficult to raise food and grass.
It’s not easy.”
The Yajun Li Yanling mentioned refers to the left and right sides of the Xia Sui Yamen army founded by Zhuge Shuang last year, with a total of 6,000 people, led by Zhou Rong and Linghu Jing. They wanted to go south because it was Zhuge Shuang who gave the order, and the reason is very simple.
It's simple, it can't be fed anymore, so it has to go out to eat.
As for the pro-army composed of three thousand Luoyang sergeants, they are still led by Zhuge Zhongfang and stationed in Xiazhou. Marshal Zhuge is very experienced in doing things. He will stay until the court officially issues an order to move the town.
With one hand, don't completely block your own escape route.
Zhuge Shuang had already hinted to Shao Shude that he would find a way to solve the problem of food and rewards after the Liuqianxia Suiya Army went south. Shao Shude had a headache every time he thought about this matter. The number of Tielin Army has continued to expand, and currently there are 100
Personal soldiers, 2,500 battalions, 1,000 trapped troops, 400 miscellaneous soldiers, 800 cavalry, plus 3,000 auxiliary soldiers, a total of 7,800 people.
This does not include the 500 auxiliary troops who have left and those who are about to leave. If included, the number is 8,800. In addition, Shao Shude is recruiting cavalry and plans to expand the subordinates of Zhu Shuzong and Oritsugu Yu to a thousand people, that is nine
There are thousands of troops, which is truly astonishing.
Last night, Shao Shude had a careful discussion with the generals, and finally decided to temporarily stop the expansion of the army. First, sort out the 9,000 people at hand and train them well! Soldiers are more valuable than elite soldiers. If you want to reduce food consumption, you must take the route of elite soldiers.
.The burden on these prefectures and counties north of Jingzhao Prefecture is already very heavy, and if they are given thousands of warriors, it will be fatal.
After seeing off the surrender of Chao Army and the hundreds of civilian households it had raised, the Tielin Army continued to train in Fuping. Officials and gentry from surrounding prefectures and counties came to meet every two days. Zhuge Shuang did not show up, and every time it was Shao Shude and
They negotiated and asked them not to waste agricultural production and do everything possible to ensure food supply.
The Chang'an area in the south has also stopped now. The Chao people gave Huang Chao the honorary title of "Emperor Cheng Rui Wen Xuan Wu, the Emperor of the Heavenly Yingyun Qi Sheng Rui Wen Xuanwu". Huang Chao happily accepted the offer, wearing a crown as a monkey, and didn't know what he was doing all day long.
By the way, they are almost running out of food. I heard that they have recently sent troops everywhere to seize prefectures and counties to plunder grain and grass. To this end, they also fought a battle with the government troops who occupied some prefectures and counties to the west of Jingzhao Prefecture, but they returned with no luck.
******
The time has entered July.
In the Tielin Army Camp School, a group of generals were undergoing routine studies.
"North of Chang'an, the Chao Army has occupied Jingyang and is eyeing Sanyuan, but they have not dared to march yet." As the person with the most complete military education in the Tielin Army system, Zhu Shuzong did his part to serve as a teacher, and he continued to say:
"I think that the Chao army's main defensive direction is still to the west."
"The king's divisions gathered in Fengxiang Mansion one after another. Zheng Du commanded nearly 65,000 soldiers and horses, and the commander of Sanchuan was also doing his best to provide food, grass, money and silk. If Huang Chao had any insight, he should know that Fengxiang's army could march eastward at any time, and he would definitely
Be heavily prepared."
“To the east of the camp, the king of Hezhong Chongrong has 30,000 troops, and Zhaoyi Gaoxun has 5,000 troops. There are also soldiers and horses from Hedong and Hebei to help. They can recruit strong armies that are good at fighting. The Chao army must be prepared.”
“There are no fewer than 20,000 Shu soldiers in the south direction of Xingyuan Prefecture. How can Huang Chao not be prepared?”
"Based on this, the Chao Army can only use 20,000 troops to camp in the north. The Xia Sui Army and the Yifang Army have more than 18,000 troops. When the Yamen Army arrives next month with 6,000 troops, there will be 24,000 troops.
, it’s more than enough to protect itself, and it even has room for advancement.”
These things Zhu Shuzong said were also the conclusions reached by the generals after discussion. Today, they are told to officers above the team leader in order to cultivate their overall view. Without an overall view, they cannot be senior generals. The Tielin Army must cultivate its own talents.
, it is necessary to improve the professional level of grassroots officers.
In fact, the court's strategy for dealing with Huang Chao is now very clear, which is to gradually squeeze, consume, and weaken its strength. After more troops are gathered, they will then surround him on all sides and launch a decisive battle with thunderous momentum to completely eliminate this force.
Shao Shude thinks this strategy is not bad.
Jingzhao Prefecture only has more than 20 prefectures and counties, with a population of less than 1.5 million. Currently, there are only thirteen or fourteen counties under the control of Chao Army. It is very difficult for Chao Army to support so many thieves in Chang'an City.
Now we don’t want to make progress and are still barely maintaining. When we really can’t hold on to outward expansion, it’s hard to say whether the army will still be able to fight. The wars in the past six months have consumed Huang Chao’s many elites, especially
It was the Battle of Longweipo. More than 20,000 people were beheaded, and those who died were all elite soldiers.
"I think that the imperial court will definitely issue an order in the near future, ordering all the armies to advance towards Chang'an again, so that the thieves will have nothing to plunder and sit in the trapped city." Zhu Shuzong said: "We must also prepare for the camp in the north, and attack Jingyang in the south, and attack Gaoling and Yueyang.
Waiting for the county should be an important task entrusted to us by Zheng Dutong."
After Zhu Shuzong finished speaking, everyone started talking about it.
Shao Shude coughed, and the courtyard was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop.
"I'll add a few words." Looking at the more than a hundred officers sitting or standing (divided into two groups to take turns listening to the lecture), he said: "If the army camped in the north goes south, you must remember one thing, do not regard one city or one place as a gain or loss.
The most important thing is to kill and injure the traitor army. The best thing is to defeat the traitor army in the field, capture and kill the traitor generals, and behead their backbones. As long as the traitor army is weak, are these states and counties not allowed to be taken by us? We must mobilize the troops and attack the enemy.
Do you understand that if you don't do this kind of thing in a fortified city that is heavily defended by troops?"
“I understand!” “I know.” “Follow the general’s order.”
“When you understand, go back and train your troops. There will be a battle in the future. If any battalion or team fails to fight, the general will kill people!”