Chapter 207 Join forces

Chapter 207 Join forces

Chapter 207 Join forces
In the outskirts of Yangcheng County, the bandit army was in chaos, driving large and small carts forward to chase.

The bandits have no logistics, but they do have some food.

Generally speaking, it was normal for the army to carry more than a month's worth of food. When they arrived at a place, they would use the food as a "courage" and then spend time dividing their troops to plunder and grab more food.

If enough food is looted, it would not be surprising to have enough food and fodder for several months.

The General who Conquers the East walked in too much of a hurry. After breaking through the Huanyuan Pass, he was in a hurry to go to Luoyang, leaving them behind. No matter how hard they tried, they could not catch up.

But everyone was in high spirits.

What is Luoyang? It is the center of the country, where the capital is located, and where the emperor and his ministers gather.

How much money and grain is stored here?

How much wealth is accumulated here?
How many beautiful houses are there here?

How many beauties are here?
Don't think it's vulgar.

We have never been to school and have been working hard all day just to make a living. Now that we have rebelled and have managed to enter the capital Luoyang, why are we not allowed to indulge ourselves?

I have only two wishes in my life: to be able to eat my fill and to play with women without restraint.

As for the rest, no one understands and has no interest in it.

"Go, go, go, rob money, food and women!" Some officers used the simplest language to boost morale, and the effect was very good.

You see, he was originally a little tired from walking, but when he heard these words, his strength came back and he walked very fast, making the oxen and horses pulling the cart gasp for breath.

"Master, will you preach in Luoyang this time?" someone asked.

Wow, what a fanatical believer!

Upon hearing this, the officer and master laughed and said, "Master (Liu Ling) said that from now on, Henan County will be the headquarters of our Tianshi Dao, just like Donglai."

In the entire north, Qingzhou is the area where the Tianshi Dao is developing rapidly, and Donglai is the best developed among the counties in Qingzhou. If they can gain a foothold in Luoyang this time, Henan County will become another stable base for the Tianshi Dao.

"General, can we divide the land after we capture Luoyang?" someone else asked.

"Of course I will." The master agreed readily.

Of course, he was not entirely sure. In fact, from his observations, the General of the Eastern Expedition (Wang Mi) might work with scholars and appoint them as officials to help him consolidate his power.

Don't understand? Take Liu Yuan as an example. He did not proclaim himself emperor, but instead proclaimed himself "King of Han", founded a country, and took further steps when the time was right.

The General who Conquers the East will most likely call himself "King of Qi" with the support of the scholars.

Officers like them might get some benefits, but the ordinary soldiers numbering up to 100,000 might not. Some might be dismissed or even become slaves in the fortresses and manors of the nobles.

But even though he saw through it, he was unable to resist.

He had something to desire, such as wealth and glory for himself, or the spread of Tianshi Dao, and so on, so he couldn't confront the general.

In this world, whether it is the government army or the volunteer army, the people at the bottom suffer.

After walking for more than ten miles, everyone stopped to rest.

At this moment, several rangers came running, one of them had an arrow stuck in his back, and shouted, "The enemy is here!"

"Thieves?" Someone looked over in confusion. Who are thieves? Didn't the government troops call us thieves?
The "Master" was also stunned for a while, then he came forward and handed a water bag to the Ranger, saying, "Where did the thief come from?"

The Ranger pushed the water bag away and said angrily, "What time is it? Why are you still asking questions? I should have known not to join the group. With your character, you will be killed sooner or later. If I go back to the central army in Luoyang, I can at least become a squad leader or a team leader."

"Luyang Marquis Shao Xun is chasing us." Another ranger said, "Whether to flee or fight, come up with a plan quickly."

"Leave?" The master reacted and said, "How can we leave? Someone come——"

Before the order was given, a cloud of dust appeared in the sky ahead, as if a large group of cavalry was approaching.

Several rangers looked at each other. The one who had just spoken glanced at the bandits who were still sitting on the ground and laughing, and said, "Pah!", "Let's go! Don't pay any attention to them."

After saying that, they jumped on their horses and rode away in a flash.

The smoke and dust were getting closer and closer, and gradually the figures of cavalry appeared.

Soon, several riders ran up a gentle slope and planted a large flag with the word "Shao" on it.

The rest of the group passed by them quickly.

The dozens of people in the lead didn't even have military uniforms. They were wearing all kinds of clothes and had different weapons, but their morale was very high. They rushed into the group of bandits with roars.

"Puff!" The sound of the sharp blade cutting through flesh can be clearly heard.

"Swoosh!" An arrow flew through the air and pierced the chest of a lieutenant of the bandit army.

"Bang!" The warhorse directly hit the bandit soldier who was unable to dodge. The horse stood up and stepped heavily on another bandit soldier with its hooves.

"The government troops are coming!"

"The damn government troops are here again!"

It was as if hot oil fell into a bunch of ants, and thousands of bandits suddenly became chaotic.

The brave ones ran towards the carriage to get their weapons.

The timid ones simply crawled under the car and tried to hide.

The old man was holding the child and trembling.

The young man stared blankly at the increasing number of government troops coming from the south. His legs and feet were so sore that he didn't even have the energy to run.

The level of the men who joined the Yicong Army was actually very average, but at this moment their morale was high and they firmly believed that they would win by following Marquis Luyang, so they were very brave and rode their horses everywhere.

Well, the fighting was without any rules, just pure random killing, but their passionate actions had a good effect: the bandit army became even more chaotic. The Yicong infantry rushed up, holding long spears, wooden clubs, ring-handled swords, long halberds and other messy weapons, and rushed into the crowd of bandit soldiers.

The battle was not fierce, but chaotic.

One side was fighting and rushing around blindly, while the other side was running around randomly, just like a dragon and a phoenix, or two weaklings pecking at each other.

After fighting for a while, the bandits who were a little further away had already fled away.

The nearby bandit troops basically collapsed after resisting for a while because they were disorganized.

Shijun jumped onto a carriage and shouted loudly, asking the bandits to come closer to him.

A prisoner released from the Xiangcheng County Prison drew his bow and shot an arrow directly into his wide-open mouth.

An arrow pierced through the back of his head, carrying a trace of blood.

The master fell off the carriage, and his dream of preaching was interrupted.

"Kill the bandits!" More and more volunteers rushed forward. They were hesitant and worried at first, but after seeing the bandits fleeing in all directions, their morale soared as if they had taken stimulants. They felt like heavenly soldiers sent down to earth, extremely brave.

You see, he didn't even dare to resist when I chopped him.

This guy was still wearing armor, yet he was crawling all over the place and was shot by me.

Haha, he actually knelt down and begged for mercy. Go to the underworld and beg for mercy!
I shot five or six people today. My brother always complains that I shoot too slowly and that I will die on the battlefield. I should really pull him out to see how I can shoot slowly. There are prey all ahead.

The battlefield has become one-sided.

By the time Zhanggu led the Yamen troops up, the rebel army had been completely defeated.

He released the Yamen troops on the spot and ordered them to pursue as quickly as possible.

As for the baggage abandoned by the bandits, they were handed over to the guards of Yushanwu. This place is not far from the fort, and after escorting it back to the fort, another group of people will catch up, which is completely in time.

That's the good thing about chasing the enemy closely.

The bandits' fighting will was weak and they had a lot of baggage, so it was almost the same as if they were fighting with the wind.

******
The pursuit never stopped.

After defeating part of the bandit army's rear baggage train outside Yangcheng County on the evening of the 30th and beheading more than 2,000 people, the morale of the Yicong vanguard was high and they strongly demanded to travel overnight, and Zhang Gu agreed.

On the first day of May, Yicong's vanguard encountered bandits on the road. They scared away more than 3,000 bandits and seized their baggage.

On the second day of May, they arrived outside Huanyuan Pass and saw bandits guarding the pass, so they set up camp outside the pass and prepared to head west the next day, bypassing Dagu Pass and entering the Luoyang Basin. In terms of time, they would also have to head west after passing Huanyuan Pass, which was not much different from arriving in Luoyang via Dagu Pass.

That night, shouts and cries of killing were heard from the north of the city.

It turned out that it was the Inspector of the Imperial Capital, Mi Huang, and the reinforcements, the Inspector of Revenue, Chen Yan, who were attacking the city.

When Wang Mi was fighting, he never thought of retreating. He fought wherever he went and ate wherever he went. When the defenders saw the government troops appearing in the north of the city and the soldiers camping in the south of the city, they immediately realized that they were abandoned. More than 3,000 people abandoned the city and broke out to the north, trying to join the main force, but most of them were annihilated.

On the third day of May, Shao Xun led his army to Huanyuan Pass and joined forces with Mi Huang and Chen Yan.

"Where is Wang Mi?" Shao Xun asked directly after the three of them greeted each other.

"The vanguard has probably already reached the outskirts of Luoyang, and the main force of the brigade will be delayed for a day or two at most." Mi Huang replied.

Shao Xun observed Lao Mi.

In the past year or so since returning from Chang'an, Lao Mi has not had a very happy life.

The post of Sili Xiaowei was actually quite good, with high power and authority. However, he was not able to hold a post in the shogunate, and it was obvious that he had been squeezed out of the core circle.

However, I have never heard of any contact between Mi Huang and the emperor.

It seems that even though he was alienated by Sima Yue, Lao Mi still did not betray his old boss.

There is no need to doubt such a loyal person. I don’t know what Sima Yue is thinking.

"Did Wang Mi divide his troops along the way?" Shao Xun asked again.

"Some of them went east, apparently heading for Xingyang. However, they must have left on their own initiative." Before Mi Huang could reply, the Duzhi school lieutenant Chen Yan said, "I stationed troops along the Luoshui River and the Dahe River, and defeated several groups."

Chen Yan was not Sima Yue's man, because he had previously planned to support Qinghe King Sima Qin as the crown prince.

Now Sima Tan is dead, and the two people who conspired to support him (Chen Yan and Lu Yong) are fine. How can I explain this? Is the Sima family kid not as powerful as these military leaders?
Shao Xun once suspected that Chen Yan had a close relationship with the Yang family, so he had to find an opportunity to ask Yang Xianrong.

"Some of Wang Mi's troops are also heading east outside Huanyuan Pass." Shao Xun said, "From this point of view, the number of bandits arriving in Luoyang should not be too large, perhaps 50,000, or 70,000 or 80,000, that's all."

As they walked along, some people fell behind. It was interesting to be a general like Wang Mi. Perhaps they were used to it.

"After a short rest, I want to go straight to Luoyang to fight the enemy, you two..." Shao Xun glanced at them and asked.

"Why are you saying so much, young master? Just go with me." Mi Huang said.

After hearing this familiar name from Mi Huang, Shao Xun smiled. The slight grudges from the past should be blown away by the wind, right?

"Let's go together." Chen Yan didn't waste any words.

Shao Xun nodded.

Chen Yan was called here by Mi Huang. It seems that the two have a good relationship and can cooperate with each other in advancing the troops.

Including these two troops, the total army has more than 10,000 people, which is enough to do a lot.

But - take a day off first and recover your strength.

Yes, he had received the emperor's edict, but so what? How could the soldiers fight if they were exhausted?
We'll make a delicious meal tomorrow, pork stewed with vermicelli - no, we'll slaughter the captured injured draft animals, have a feast with the whole army, and then advance again the day after tomorrow.

(End of this chapter)