Late Tang Dynasty Floating Life

Chapter 755 The Three Cities of Caizhou
The left wing of the Xia army and the right wing of the Liang army, from Luokou to Biankou and then to Zhengzhou, the two sides frequently dispatched troops and continued to gather troops.

In general, Liang Jun Dayou seemed to want to take advantage of this momentum to fight back, at least hold the Heyin line, and then kill Xia Jun Xiangyong who went deep into Zhengzhou, so as to boost morale and deter the thieves.

On December 21, Zhu Youyu, Quanzhong's eldest son, led a long straight army to the west, and Zhu Quanzhong personally boarded the tower to see him off.

A total of [-] elites, with bright armor, high morale, and murderous intent, marched towards Guancheng.

At the same time, Ge Congzhou recruited more than [-] local peasants in Zhengzhou.As a result, the Ge Congzhou Group, which will reach [-] after gathering, officially took off, planning to launch a counterattack in Zhengzhou, annihilate part of Xia's army, and then enter the Xuanmen Pass area to hunt down the remnants of the enemy.

From the perspective of the northern line, Liang Jun's situation is not bad, at least there is no fear of collapse.

Compared with them, Liang Jun on the southern front was at a disadvantage overall.

Yang Shihou finally led the Zhongwu Army to the south and marched towards Caizhou.Kang Yanxiao, who was acting as the de facto supervisor of the army, followed closely, with a bad look on his face.

These loyal soldiers are really wild!
Since the beginning of Shao Shude's eastward invasion, Yang Shihou has been in charge of this part of the army.In the beginning, the army was very small, only more than 2000 people.Later, because of his good ability and meritorious service, he commanded more and more troops. At present, there are six to seven thousand people, which can be regarded as a small and medium-sized warlord.

Leading troops to fight in Ru and Cai all the year round, Yang Shihou managed the troops like an iron bucket.To be honest, Zhu Quanzhong cannot get rid of the responsibility for this situation.

Xuzhou's Zhao brothers finally served as Jiedu envoys three times in a row.They are very respectful to Zhu Quanzhong, providing various resources such as soldiers, equipment, money, food, and war horses, and even directly sending troops to fight.But even so, Zhu Quanzhong was still worried about them, and Yang Shihou was the product of this worry.

As Zhu Quanzhong's so-called cronies, he took charge of a part of the Zhongwu Yajun, divided the power of the Zhao family, and "established a separate central government" within the Zhongwu Army, which was in Zhu Quanzhong's interests.But the side effects are also very obvious. Yang Shihou's prestige in the troops directly under him is too high, and his tendency towards warlords is very obvious.

Kang Yanxiao felt it as soon as he arrived in Shangcai.

The barracks department was cleaned up, all kinds of materials and equipment were arranged in an orderly manner, and the sergeants went out for training, killing loudly.There is no doubt that this is a powerful force with combat effectiveness, and it is also in line with the identity of a loyal soldier.But the problem is that they only follow Yang Shihou's lead, and everyone looks at them with malicious eyes. The hundreds of guards they bring with them seem to be of no use at all. As long as Yang Shihou gives an order, they can be chopped into flesh mud.

Kang Yanxiao sighed immediately, the long Xia and Liang war gave careerists a chance to take the lead.And because of the consecutive defeats in the battle, they had to try to win over, appease, and accommodate the generals at all levels, which gave them a further opportunity--people like Zhu Zhen who have been hidden in the snow can be reactivated, so Yang Shihou is nothing!
He felt that Xia Jun might have the same problem.It's just because they have won consecutive battles and the lord's prestige is high enough to cover up the problem, and they will have to pay it back sooner or later.

"Kang Dutou, when will the Flying Dragon Army arrive?" On the post road going south, Yang Shihou pursed his lips and said very little, and at this moment a sentence suddenly appeared, almost startling Kang Yanxiao.

"The Flying Dragon Army should have left Yancheng and will arrive soon." Kang Yanxiao replied.

"Should?" Yang Shihou raised his eyebrows, and his tone was not very polite.

What a thief!Kang Yanxiao cursed secretly in his heart, I am the head of the capital, you are no more than a military envoy, how dare you speak to me in such a tone?

"Zhezong's army is not strong and horses are not strong. It is said that there are more than 4 troops, but in fact there are only more than [-] people who can fight. Why should we be afraid?" Kang Yanxiao said: "There are more than [-] soldiers in Xu and Cai towns, plus The Flying Dragon Army's fierce soldiers are no less powerful than Zhe Zongben, and with the support of the three cities of Caizhou, they have a great chance of winning. And the threat of Zhe Zongben along the way has been lifted..."

"Okay, I see." Yang Shihou waved his hand, interrupting Kang Yanxiao's words.

Kang Yanxiao couldn't take it anymore and glared at him.

Yang Shihou didn't seem to notice it, and said to himself: "It's not too difficult to be invincible. But if you talk about winning, I don't think it's easy. Among other things, Dai Siyuan can fight? Why appoint him as the commander of the capital? It's better to let Kang Du head on you, so that the soldiers will be more convinced."

However, your gang of arrogant soldiers don't accept me!Kang Yanxiao secretly slandered.

In this day and age, it's really frightening to have no soldiers.No matter how big the official is, it's useless if he doesn't really control the army.He is in danger of all kinds of camps, and he is not as real as an army envoy or even a deputy envoy.

"There is still a lot to be done in the war." Kang Yanxiao said: "With the joint efforts of all ministries, relying on the army and people of Caizhou, it is not difficult to repel Zhe Zongben. After defeating the thieves, we can take advantage of the situation to attack Tang and Deng, and in turn threaten the Xia people. Or go east to Yingzhou, cooperate with Shidutou's headquarters, and attack the Xia bandits guarding Yingzhou. As long as Tang Deng and Huaixi bandits are taken care of, the whole southern front will be refreshed, and the possibility of winning this battle will increase greatly. "

"Tangzhou is not so easy to fight." For some reason, Yang Shihou suddenly sighed.

It may be that he remembered the past few years, under Ding Hui's account, he had been tossing with Zhe Zongben, Li Yanling, and Zhao Kuangning.Zhe Zongben brought [-] soldiers south to Xiangyang, and later expanded the army to more than [-]. The combat effectiveness suddenly fell to the bottom, but the soldiers who fought on the front line in recent years have reported that the combat effectiveness of the Weisheng Army has been improving year by year or even month by month. Now it is very difficult. Entangled, no longer an object that can be easily defeated.

The two scouts, one behind the other, galloped over quickly.Yang Shihou reined in his horse and waited quietly.

Soon, Marquis Yu led the scouts over and said, "General, the north city of Caizhou has been captured by thieves."

"Oh? So fast?" Yang Shihou was a little surprised.

Kang Yanxiao was also surprised and even annoyed, what did Zhang Quanyi do?

Beicheng, also called Beiguancheng, was one of the three cities in Caizhou, and it was captured by the Weisheng army?

Caizhou, or Ruyang, is two miles northeast of Rushui.If the Beiguan City is trapped, it means that the bandits have obtained a solid stronghold on the other side of Rushui, which is much stronger than the camps they set up at will.

If you can't keep your wife and children, nor can you keep the city, what's the use of this whole meaning?

"Here's an order, Yang Junfang leads a thousand elite troops to clear the way first. Put the scouts in front thirty miles away, the left and right scouts twenty miles away, and the rear scouts fifteen miles away. Do it immediately." Yang Shihou ordered.

"I obey." The generals who rushed to Yang Shihou's horse responded one after another.

Kang Yanxiao watched silently.This army should be very united. With Yang Shihou as the core, it has formed its own system, and outsiders can't penetrate it.

When the order was given, the army did not stop and continued to move forward.It can be seen that Yang Shihou is really not very afraid of breaking Zongben. In his heart, perhaps there is only such a problem as whether it is worth fighting.

……

Zhe Zongben left Beiguan City surrounded by his own soldiers.

Thousands of steps ride in formation on the wilderness.

The north wind howled, flags and flags fluttered, people shouted and horses neighed.Looking from a distance, what a picture of Shi Bao Ma Teng!

Wei Shengjun feels that its strength is steadily improving every year.Judging from their current state, the thousands of soldiers from the Youguo Army who ate in Ruzhou half a year ago should have been fully digested.

The Weisheng Army, which has expanded to more than [-] people, has the children of the Zhe family as the core and the Fengxiang Army as the backbone. The training and integration of time has become a whole of its own, and has a certain combat effectiveness.

Compared with his son's Huaining Army, Zhe Zongben's Wei Sheng Army was indeed much stronger.This is the foundation on which Zhejia relies to maintain its wealth, and it may also be the cause of disaster, it depends on how you deal with it.

"Let's start." Zhe Zongben waved his hand.

Hundreds of prisoners were escorted to the front of the battle. They thought they were going to be killed, and they cried out.

Caizhou Zhongcheng was crowded with people, staring at the city below.

After a while, brothers Zhang Quanyi and Zhang Quanen also went to the city with serious faces.

The thieves were so arrogant, which they did not expect.

There are more than 7000 soldiers left under Zhang Quanyi. Except for a small number of sergeants who are more experienced and have strong combat effectiveness, most of them are average. Among them are "new recruits" recruited this year and "secondary recruits" recruited and trained last year. If it is not possible, it will be able to defend the city.

Nancheng and Zhongcheng are united as one, with [-] heavy soldiers stationed, and Beiguan City has nearly [-] soldiers.Logically speaking, it could be defended for a long time, but after the arrival of the Weisheng army, they only besieged the city for more than ten days, and completely captured the city, leaving Zhang Quanyi and Zhang Quanen brothers stunned.

It may be that the defeat outside the city was too miserable before, losing thousands of soldiers and horses at once, which made the recruits feel scared, lack of fighting spirit, and low morale.After more than ten days of siege, the veterans lost too much, and finally the city was broken.

Zhang Quanen was a little ashamed of this.Wouldn't the situation have been better without that big defeat?
"Why do you have to press so hard?" Zhang Quanyi, under the protection of the big shield, shouted loudly: "The king of Liang has sent an envoy to Lingzhou, and he is willing to repair the soldiers. They are all Tang vassals, why should they attack each other? Wouldn't it be nice to just retreat and defend the frontiers?"

After listening to Zhezong's book, he laughed loudly, and after saying a few words to a soldier, the man rode forward and said loudly: "I want to teach Zhang Shizhong to know that the King of Xia defeated the Yinshan Tartars and Gaochang Uighurs, and entered the Uighur King In the court, hundreds of thousands of prisoners were captured and beheaded, and the power shocked the desert. Today, 50 Fan Han cavalry have been dispatched to the south, and they will arrive in Henan in a few days. How many soldiers and horses does Zhang Shizhong have, and he can resist himself?"

"Sacrificing the city at this time will not lose wealth."

"On the day the army breaks through the city, all jade and stone will be burned, and it will be too late to regret."

The city was silent for a while, and then Zhang Quanyi drew out his sword and said loudly: "There is no more words! I and Shao thief are incompatible, and we will never die."

These words were invigorating, and the sergeants' views on Zhang Quanyi changed somewhat.

Zhe Zongben smiled coldly when he heard the words. He had already received the news that Liang Jun was heading south from Shangcai and Yancheng.Zhang Quanyi must have known about it a long time ago.With such reinforcements from outside, it is natural to speak hard.

You have reinforcements, so I don’t have reinforcements?

(End of this chapter)