Chapter 228: Two-Way Journey
Chapter 228: Two-Way Journey (I Love Wine and Sweet Potatoes for the Alliance Leader)
Indeed, just as Liu Ling guessed, the pursuit battle had passed its climax.
This was just a surprise attack where the enemy was unprepared. Wang Sang and Liu Ling were eager to deliver their lives, so what was there to hesitate about?
The only regret is that the wind and snow were too strong, visibility was too low, and the weather was too cold, which was not conducive to the pursuit.
However, just because it is inconvenient for the government troops to pursue does not mean that others cannot do so.
Since the enemy wanted to plunder, they would inevitably be scattered everywhere. In bad weather, it would take time to gather them together. Now they were directly wiped out by a wave of surprise attacks. Wang Sang and Liu Ling fled in panic. The scattered bandits didn't even know where to gather, so they could only retreat to Linlu County - their starting point when they went south.
On the way of retreat, the Silver Spear Army, the Yamen Army, the government soldiers, and the Yicong were watching closely and would chase and attack them fiercely whenever they met them. So, you can imagine how chaotic the retreat of the bandit army was.
There may be some organizational discipline in the beginning, but as time goes by, the number of people who can maintain the organization becomes fewer and fewer, and most of them are old thieves who have followed them since the Qing and Xu uprisings. At the very least, they are brave and courageous people who joined the group in Yu and Yan states.
The new recruits do not have this ability and often fall behind while marching, which often means death.
On the post road from Gongxian to Linlu, there were corpses lying stiffly everywhere. Many of them did not even have wounds on their bodies. It was unclear whether they died of starvation or freezing - most likely the latter.
In the dead of night, the wind was blowing hard and snow was everywhere. The thieves, who had not eaten for a day and a night, walked in groups of three or five without knowing the direction, desperately in the deserted wilderness. There was a high possibility that they would die of hunger and cold.
When Shao Xun rode past, he only glanced at the corpses and then looked away.
A group of Lin Lufu (Hao) Lao (Qiang) appeared in front of them, respectfully offering wine, meat, and food.
Behind a low wall, there were even hundreds of clay pots and rice steamers buried, with hot soup cooked in them to provide supplies to passing soldiers.
The officials from the county town urged the young men to bring out the steamed corn rice.
"This is the first time I've enjoyed this kind of treatment..." Shao Xun sighed.
The last time I came to Hebei, and even earlier when I went to Guanzhong, there weren’t so many people visiting the troops along the way, and I even had to send people to collect grain myself.
That's the good thing about fighting on your father-in-law's turf.
At the same time, it can also be seen from the side that Yu Chen has held Ji County for several years and his prestige has been quite high. At least he can order the local big families to provide logistical support.
In addition, judging from the situation in Ji County, Gong County and Linlu County, a considerable portion of the fields were planted with winter wheat, indicating that the father-in-law was able to implement the court's policies to a certain extent.
What is this? This is execution! A very valuable ability in troubled times.
"My Lord, the commander of the fortress must have captured quite a few bandits, at least 70 or 80 of them." Tang Jian pointed to a group of young men drinking porridge in the distance and said, "Generally speaking, the fleeing defeated soldiers will be captured by the fortress and become slaves."
Shao Xun nodded and ignored the matter.
With the intervention of the commanders of the fortress, few of these bandits will be able to return.
He thought of the story of Yelu Abaoji, the founding monarch of the Khitan. He led a large army south to the Central Plains, and was defeated by 5,000 Later Tang troops. When they met for the second time at Shahe, they were frightened and fled when they saw the flag of the Later Tang army. They rushed to cross the river, and the river ice broke, countless people drowned, and Abaoji's son was captured.
The Later Tang army pursued bravely. It snowed heavily at the time and countless Khitans died from the severe cold. They were also attacked and killed by villagers on the way of retreat. In the end, only a few of them escaped.
Never underestimate these "villagers" and "fortress residents". In troubled times, they have certain fighting power.
When they encounter a large army, they are as obedient as quails. They may not be able to resist you if you burn, kill, and plunder. But when you are alone, you will experience their power.
In a word, a bandit army of several hundred people is dangerous, not to mention a group of three or five. They are walking slaves, and the fort commanders and manor owners will definitely capture or kill them and will not let them go.
The army rested outside the fort for an hour, ate hot rice and hot soup, and dried their cotton clothes before continuing their march northward.
On the 13th, news came from the front that the vanguard soldiers had occupied Linlu County.
The county was deserted, apparently having been abandoned by the bandits.
Upon receiving the news, Shao Xun ordered to speed up the pace and arrived at the county with the main force of the central army in the afternoon of the next day. On the way, he even ran into a retreating bandit army with a size of about a thousand people. He confiscated their weapons on the spot and sent them to Ji County for guarding.
On the evening of the 14th, he climbed to the top of Linlu County and overlooked the large group of troops marching.
This army is a bit like the 100,000-strong army that Liu Yu used to destroy Southern Yan.
Many people only know about Liu Yu's Queyue Formation, but Liu Yu was actually an expert in using chariots.
He destroyed Southern Yan with this chariot formation, starting from Xuzhou and heading towards Guanggu (the capital of Southern Yan).
Along the way, no matter how harassed by the Xianbei cavalry, I remained unmoved and only attacked and rescued the enemy.
The closer they got to Guanggu, the less initiative the Xianbei cavalry had and the more impatient they became.
In the end, the cavalry lost the initiative on the battlefield, where they could fight when they wanted and retreat when they didn't want to, and were forced to take the initiative to attack Liu Yu.
The result was no surprise. Southern Yan was defeated and perished.
The key is to rescue the enemy when attacking, which means who holds the initiative on the battlefield.
Which place must I attack and save?
Shao Xun looked towards the east, as if he could travel through time and space, and landed above Yecheng.
The prisoners were tortured and learned that the enemy had a large amount of baggage, property, and prisoners in Yecheng. Wang Mi, Wang Sang, Liu Ling, and even Shi Le sent some soldiers to Yecheng to guard the money and people. Shi Chao himself used Yecheng as his base, recruited Latin soldiers, and expanded his strength. It seemed that he didn't want to leave at all.
Then, the goal is very clear: our army won the first battle and is in high spirits. The food and fodder they carry can last for more than a month, so we will attack Yecheng directly to see how the bandits react.
******
Shi Le had just returned from Zhaojun and arrived in Xiangguo, where the entire army rested for a night.
At this time, the Imperial Censor Hu Yanyi arrived from Puzi and read out the imperial edict, conferring upon Shi Le the title of "General Chijie, Pingdong", while the rest of his official positions and titles remained the same.
Shi Le thanked the emperor for his grace.
Hu Yanyi couldn't stay for long, so he left that day.
Before leaving, Shi Le stuffed a lot of gifts over to Hu Yanyi. Hu Yanyi pretended to refuse, but then accepted them and promised to speak well of Shi Le when he returned.
After seeing off the imperial envoy, Shi Le breathed a sigh of relief.
This trip to the East was very rewarding.
First, he captured tens of thousands of men in Weijun and Dunqiu, and after eliminating the weak and retaining the strong, he got more than 20,000 men. Then, with this as capital, he went north to attack Zhaojun, killed Feng Chong, the commander of the western region, and defeated Qihuo's army, capturing and killing nearly 20,000 people.
Zhaojun had no rivals anymore. Just as he was preparing to advance towards Julu, he received the news that Wang Sang and Liu Ling had failed. So he decisively stopped preparations for attacking Julu, headed south to Guangping, and moved closer to Yecheng.
But he had not made up his mind yet, and was especially prepared to listen to the opinions of three advisers - Diao Ying, Zhang Jing and Zhang Bin, who were the "gentlemen in formal attire" captured during this trip to Hebei. They were well-informed and had strategic plans, so they were valued by Shi Le.
Shi Le particularly valued Diao Ying and Zhang Jing, relying on them as his assistants and following their advice.
Of course, he is now facing the same dilemma as Shao Xun. He has no power to establish a government, and the advisers following him have no status and no position.
Otherwise, Diao Ying and Zhang Jing would have to be given the positions of left and right chief secretaries. As for Zhang Bin, in terms of his demonstrated ability, he was inferior to Diao Ying and Zhang Jing, so it would be good if he could be given the position of Gongcao in the future.
"Your Majesty is the governor after all. You cannot sit idly by and watch Wang Sang, Liu Ling, Wang Mi and others being defeated by the Jin people." Zhang Jing was a strong and powerful man, both civil and military. He spoke before Diao Ying, "If the news gets back to Pingyang, the emperor may have an opinion."
Shi Le nodded, thinking this made sense.
"Your Majesty, there are still recruited soldiers and property in Yecheng. It would be a pity if we abandon them," Diao Ying added.
After saying this, he glanced at Zhang Jing obliquely, with a hint of competition in his eyes.
Zhang Bin sat there in silence without interrupting.
"Mengsun said nothing, why?" Shi Le looked at Zhang Bin with encouragement and said with a smile: "You can speak as you like."
Zhang Bin bowed and asked, "I heard that when Your Majesty was under Ji Sang's command, you once fought against Luyang Marquis Shao Xun?"
"We didn't fight." Shi Le said, "Back then, I fought Gou Xi many times, but I was defeated almost every time. If I had met Shao Xun, I would have probably fled in defeat. Lu Ping and Li Le are not mediocre people. They were defeated by Shao Xun in the Feixiang battle. If I had taken over, nothing would have changed."
After saying that, he looked at Zhang Bin calmly and said, "At that time, we were not as good as him. Even now, it's hard to say."
Zhang Bin nodded and said, "Did your Majesty find out how many soldiers Shao Xun brought? How strong are they?"
"According to what Wang Sang and Liu Ling said, Shao Xun must have 50,000 men." Shi Le said, "But their statements are inconsistent and there are many contradictions. I don't believe them all."
"Your Majesty is right." Zhang Bin said, "Based on the past of the Jin court, a man like Shao Xun, who came from a humble background, is unlikely to lead an army of 50,000. At most, he can lead half of it. Moreover, from my observation of the Jin army's deployment, Pei Yuzhou has withdrawn his troops from Bai Ma, and the king's cavalry is watching the troops on the river, with no intention of going north. Only Shao Xun went deep into Hebei, so this man is probably not favored by the emperor and ministers of Jin, so he was driven north to be consumed. The reason for this is nothing more than his poor background, his success at a young age, and his arrogance..."
"This man is really arrogant in his use of troops." Shi Le sighed, "According to Mengsun, he dared to go deep into Hebei with only 20,000 or 30,000 men. He really relied on the elite soldiers under his command and did not take us seriously."
"I suggest that Your Majesty should not rush to engage in battle with Shao Xun." Zhang Bin said solemnly, "We have captured no less than 30,000 soldiers and a lot of money, grain and livestock from the attack on Guangping and Zhaojun. They have already been transported to Hedong, and it will take some time. Your Majesty can go south, but don't fight recklessly. Find out the enemy's strength first."
Shi Le had bases in Liu Han's territory, mainly in the two counties of Yanmen and Xinxing in the north. This was also the reason why he repeatedly attacked Changshan, because the road out of Xingdao to the east was Changshan County in Hebei.
This time, the seven generals went to Hebei, but they first went south to Shangdang, then went east through Huguan, and attacked Yecheng and its surrounding areas.
Giving back the benefits gained first was actually a prudent and mature suggestion. Shi Le thought about it and agreed.
"I am very pleased with the advice Mengsun gave me today." Shi Le stood up, walked to Zhang Bin, took his hand, and said with a smile: "I will give you more advice in the future. Although I don't have much money, I will not be short of your reward."
Zhang Bin also laughed.
After chatting and laughing with Zhang Bin, Shi Le walked up to Diao Ying and Zhang Jing and said, "Mengsun is mature and prudent, and you are right. A real man should not be timid and cowardly. Shao Xun is arrogant and arrogant. He marched deep into the enemy's territory alone and did not take the heroes of the world seriously. How can I lead the army to the battlefield and retreat without firing a single arrow? This battle must be fought after all. Even if we cannot win, we must bite off a piece of his flesh. Therefore, you should work together and make plans, and I will be brave and fight on the battlefield. Let's work together to keep Shao Xun in Hebei. If you really can't do it, don't be discouraged. Just work hard and make efforts. What do you think?"
"We will follow the king's orders." The three of them looked at each other and answered in unison.
On October 15th, after resting for a day in Xiangguo, Shi Le led more than 7,000 cavalry and 25,000 infantry southward towards Yecheng.
Almost on the same day, Shao Xun led his troops to leave Linlu, and the entire army headed eastward, also heading towards Yecheng.
At this time, the wind and snow stopped.
(End of this chapter)