I

Everyone looked at each other in blank dismay, all of them were dumbfounded.

The government's army was pressing down on the border, not thinking about how to retreat from the enemy, so they ran to attack Fucheng.With a total of [-] miscellaneous soldiers, can they capture the impregnable Ji'an Mansion?

Zuo Xiaoliang hurriedly dissuaded him: "Sir, please make a long-term plan."

Pang Chunlai seemed very interested, squinting his eyes and asked, "Tell me how to fight?"

Zhao Han explained: "Officers and soldiers have boats, they come along the He River, and they can fight wherever they want. We don't have big boats, we only have some small fishing boats. We can't fight water battles, so we can only fortify everywhere and be passively beaten everywhere. If you want to reverse the situation, you must attack the enemy and save it!"

"It should be so." Pang Chunlai nodded.

Zhao Han continued: "The government doesn't have any soldiers, and it relies on recruiting local bravery. How can there be soldiers to defend Ji'an Prefecture? It is both a prefectural city and a county seat. Once it is breached, the governor must return to the army, and our territory will be preserved!"

Huang Yao asked: "But if we take all the soldiers away, Wuxing Town will be gone?"

Zhao Han said: "Let all the villagers pack up their belongings in advance. Send people to keep an eye on the upstream and downstream, the front and the rear, and once they find the officers and soldiers, they will row back immediately. The big guys will hide in the mountains temporarily. Take food, money Just take away the house and clothes, let them burn the house, let them trample on the crops. As long as people keep it, everything can be done again! Mr. Pang stays in Wuxing Town, Fei Chun stays in Lijiaguai, and Mr. Zuo returns to Huangba Village If you know the enemy's situation, immediately bring the people into the mountains!"

Huang Shunde suddenly asked: "Even if Ji'an Fucheng is captured, we are alone, and the officers and soldiers return to the division to rescue, how can we stop it? I am afraid that if we go, we will not be able to return.

Zhao Han said with a smile: "Take down the Fucheng, open warehouses to release grain, and recruit soldiers in the Fucheng. Then go out of the city to kill the landlords and incite the people to rebel. When the time comes, there will be rebels all over the place. Let's take the opportunity to move. I'll see what the governor will do!"

"Second!" Huang Shunde was convinced.

Zuo Xiaoliang looked at Zhao Han stupidly, and had to admit in his heart that he was a born rebel leader.

It was a total death situation, but it was revived all at once, but instead the governor was given to the general.

Immediately arranged a division of labor, the civil servants went to organize the people, and the political workers also followed the propaganda, urging the people not to take chances and prepare to flee into the mountains.

Zhao Han personally led [-] soldiers, put on leggings, ran to the north slope, walked the mountain road and went straight to Meitang Town.

They could actually take a smoother and closer road, but there are many people along the way, which may expose the marching movement in advance.

The same is true of Li Banghua's big detour. He was afraid of leaking news by taking a short-cut route, so he went directly to Yongxin County. by boat.

Zhao Han's army marched lightly, without any support troops, and each of them only brought dry food for three days.

Going to Meitang Town, the straight-line distance is 60 miles, but the mountain road is more than 200 miles.

On the way, when the food was approaching, he killed a landowner in the mountains, and continued to march with a little supply.Relying on leggings and vigor, he arrived in Meitang Town in four days, and immediately killed the landlord to open a warehouse to release grain.

What's interesting is that Li Banghua's big detour also passed here two days ago.

After messing up Meitang Town, because the boats in the town had already been confiscated by the governor, Zhao Han could only pick off the shop door panels and tie them up to make rafts to cross the river.

After crossing the river, go straight to Fucheng, only more than 40 miles left!

Chapter 107 [Walking the dog]

At noon, a few miles northwest of Fucheng.

Zhao Han was marching fast when suddenly a cavalry appeared in front of him.Seeing them coming, he retreated dozens of steps immediately, but stayed there to observe the situation.

If the target is exposed, someone must have rushed to Fucheng to report.

There are not many horses in Jiangxi, and there are water nets everywhere. Riding a horse is far less convenient than taking a boat.

It is obvious that the government has become alert if they can send sentry riders out to investigate!

"Have a meal!"

Zhao Han left in no hurry, and ordered eight hundred soldiers to gather for dinner.

Fei Ruhe gnawed on the pancake and said worriedly: "We missed our whereabouts, and the gates of Fucheng must be closed."

Huang Yao also said: "I used to go to the county government with grain deposits, but I was left behind to build the city. The city is very tall and large, with the Gan River to the east, and moats to the south and north. There is no moat in the northwest, but there are hills far away. If you block it, it will be a depression."

Jiang Dashan said: "I also went to the county government with my food. If there is no warship, I can only attack the city from the north and south. But outside the city are all street houses. When we pass through the market, the city can quickly close the city." Door."

Stealing a city is not so easy to steal, especially a big city near water like Ji'an.

Even if there are no soldiers to defend, as long as the city gate is closed, you will have to climb the wall for a long time, and you have to get a lot of ladders.

After filling his stomach, Zhao Han patted his buttocks to stand up, and suddenly said: "Go north!"

The [-] soldiers suddenly turned around. They had just eaten their fill, and their marching speed was very slow, as if they were on an armed outing.

The sentry riders were far behind, and followed all the way until it was getting dark, then they galloped back to Fucheng to report: "My lord, the bandits have gone to the north and west, and they may be fleeing to Anfu County."

"It's fine if you don't come to Fucheng, it's fine if you don't come to Fucheng!" Xu Fusheng finally breathed a sigh of relief, although Anfu County is also under the jurisdiction of his prefect.

After calming down a little, Xu Fusheng ordered again: "Take a boat and report to the governor. He said that there is a group of bandits heading towards Anfu County."

Zhao Han marched too fast, although his whereabouts were exposed, no one knew his details, only that he was a bandit in Xuanhua Township.

In fact, thieves are running around all over the place right now.

……

Yongyang Town.

Xie Xuelong received the reports from various ministries, and his face was very ugly. His initial combat intention had already been declared a failure.

Except for Zhao Han, he didn't pay attention to the other rebels, so he divided his troops north and south to expel them.The purpose of driving those unprofessional thieves towards Wuxing Town is to get together big and small rebels.

At that time, the rebels seem to have many soldiers, but in fact their sources are complicated, and there will inevitably be many internal contradictions.

Moreover, gathering in the direction of Wuxing Town, there are mountains on three sides blocking it, and it is more convenient to catch them all in one go. The worst situation is that the rebels escape into the mountains.

If it were any other leader of the Peasant Army, if anyone had great prestige, they would definitely join forces and join forces to fight against the government.The rebels in Shanxi and Shaanxi provinces have always done that, because they can't beat officers and soldiers alone.

But Zhao Han didn't accept the trick. Instead of going out to gather the thieves, he even went missing.

The bandit chiefs in the surrounding villages thought that Zhao Han had led someone away, so they also thought about running away.

The peasant army north of Heshui, dragging their families and their mouths, crossed the mountains and fled straight to Anfu County.The peasant army south of Heshui bypassed the mountains and headed to the west of Taihe County.

Killing the landlord and dividing the land is an act of banditry.

When the officers and soldiers came, the thieves were terrified and turned into two bands of rogues from the north and the south.

Zhao Han also miscalculated, he wanted those thieves to help him stop the officers and soldiers for a few days.But others are not stupid, since they can't beat the officers and soldiers, they just play fleeing tactics and go to the neighboring states and counties.

"What do you think?" Xie Xuelong asked.

Staff Li Zongxue said: "Fu Shuai, immediately send an order to Anfu and Taihe counties to order the county magistrates to unite with the gentry to recruit village braves to defend the place as soon as possible. Rogues, rogues, don't let them run around, otherwise the thieves will become bigger and bigger."

Zuo Xiaocheng said: "Zhao bandits are the most serious trouble, but don't care about those bandits, just take a boat and hit Huangjia Town directly!"

Li Zongxue also suggested: "Break Huangjia Town first, and then go back to chase and kill the bandits. By then, it will be winter, and Anfu County and Taihe County should also have Xiangyong. We will send troops to hunt down and intercept the bandits. Dong will also kill the bandits." freeze to death."

Xie Xuelong thought about it for a long time, and then he made a decision and said: "Let's follow this strategy and send troops to Huangjia Town immediately!"

Everyone else was ordered to do errands, Xie Xuelong sat alone in the handsome tent, with a deep worry in his heart.

According to the confession of the rebel captives, "Mr. Zhao" refused to join the army, completely disregarding the life and death of other rebels, and seemed to have led his troops into the mountains to become bandits.

However, Xie Xuelong always felt something was wrong.

Because Zhao Han's behavior in Huangjia Town doesn't look like he wants to be a bandit at all, that's for changing the dynasty!

Thousands of officers and soldiers set off from Yongyang Town by boat, and soon came to Lijiaguai to land.

Xie Xuelong sent out scouts and waited for the news by himself on the warship.

Another half day passed, and the spies came to report one after another. There was no one around Lijiaguai, and many human and animal footprints were left on the way into the mountain.

Xie Xuelong's face was gloomy, and he simply sent several small troops to investigate along the villages on both sides of the river.

It's all in the mountains...

Xie Xuelong moved to Huangjia Town, which was also empty, and there was not even a hair in the town.

How to do?

Xie Xuelong didn't dare to go into the mountains to pursue him, because the training of his soldiers was too low.Once there is an ambush in the mountains, if there is a slight disturbance, the whole army will surely collapse.

Staff Li Zongxue came up with an idea and said: "It will be winter in a month or so. How can you make trouble for a long time in the bitter cold place in the mountains? You only need Chen Bing Huang's Town, while training soldiers, while waiting patiently. Let those rebels freeze to death in the mountains I will starve to death. I will not enter the mountains until the spring of next year, when the brave men will be more elite, and the rebels will lose their morale, so we can defeat them in one fell swoop!"

Xie Xuelong closed his eyes and meditated hard, he always felt that something was wrong.

At this moment, a fast boat came suddenly, but it was a sailor who stayed in Yongyang Town to supervise the grain.

"Fu Shuai, Meitang Town was captured by bandits, who crossed the river and headed east. Before leaving Meitang Town, the bandits killed several landlords, and many tenants took advantage of the opportunity to revolt. Now bandits are everywhere around Meitang Town!"

Xie Xuelong was startled suddenly, and shouted: "Hurry back to Fucheng!"

Meitang Town is on the edge of the Lushui River, and the report should have been quick.

But Xie Xuelong confiscated all the boats, so Zhao Han couldn't grab the boat, so he could only cross the river with a wooden raft tied with door panels.Similarly, the gentry who reported the news did not have a boat, so they had to gallop all the way on mules, and the news was delayed until now.

That mule was left by Zhao Han...

Xie Xuelong quickly returned to his teacher by boat, and halfway received a report from the prefect Xu Fusheng.

Yes, it is Baojie!

There were thousands of bandits who wanted to attack the city of Ji'an, but they were easily defeated by the wise and mighty prefect Xu, who led the young men in the city, and the bandits had turned their way to Anfu County.

This news made Xie Xuelong feel a little puzzled.

After reading the letter, Li Zongxue thought about it: "The bandit Zhao is so bold that he definitely wanted to surprise the city. But he leaked his whereabouts halfway, and the prefect Xu closed the city gate. Bandit Zhao had no choice but to return in vain and flee to Anfu County as a bandit." The thieves from the north of Heshui also crossed the mountain to Anfu County, and the Zhao thieves must have joined the thieves."

Xie Xuelong agrees with this explanation, because the city of Ji'an Prefecture is really not easy to capture, and the government servants of Ji'an Prefecture and Luling County alone can hold on.

To be on the safe side, Xie Xuelong separated the eight hundred guards and asked them to return to Ji'an Mansion by boat to defend the city.

These guard soldiers have low combat effectiveness, even inferior to the bravery of the township, and they like to plunder, so it is just right to throw them back to defend the city. Forgive them for not daring to rob in Fucheng.

As for Xie Xuelong, he sailed into Lushui with the main force.

Lushui has a tributary, which can go west to Yongxin County, which is Li Banghua's roundabout route.To the north, go to Anfu County, where you can chase the bandits, or you can wait for Zhao Han to come to die.

Xie Xuelong sailed towards Anfu County for one day, and received another military message from the clipper: Eighty miles north of Ji'an, bandits ransacked Baisha Town by the river, looting the landlord's livestock and food along the way, and headed towards Anfu County. direction to flee.In the villages and towns we passed, many tenants were incited to rebel, please the governor to send troops to suppress it.

There are various signs that Zhao Han really went to Anfu County, trying to join the rogues from Xuanhua Township who fled there.

Xie Xuelong immediately made up his mind, and instead of going back along the Ganjiang River, he continued to go up the Lushui River by boat, speeding up and going straight to Anfu County.

He was not afraid at all that Zhao Han would steal the capital, because he had sent [-] guards back to help, and it was more than enough to use those wastes to defend the city.

……

The junction of Luling County and Anfu County.

Zhao Han's more than 800 soldiers have expanded to more than 300.

The new entrants are mostly young and strong with no worries at home, and there are also some poor people who secretly leave their families to join the army.

When looting Baisha Town on the banks of the Gan River, Chen Maosheng recruited several opera actors, and Zhang Tieniu recruited more than 20 coolies.

Now they still have many donkeys, mules and cattle, which are used to carry the grain borrowed from the landlord's house.Hmm... These animals are also borrowed from the landlord.

"What? Back again?"

Fei Ruhe said depressedly: "We're here, wandering around for several days, I'm about to be dizzy! Didn't we go to Anfu County? Why did we go back to Fucheng?"

"You are dizzy, and the officers and soldiers must be even more dizzy," Zhao Han said with a smile, "Nowadays, the villages and towns around Fucheng are full of rebels. We won't be afraid of showing our whereabouts when we go back."

Huang Shunde, the commander of the army, muttered: "It is true that you are not afraid of being exposed, but there are riots everywhere outside the city, and the city is not heavily defended?"

"Who said that after returning to Ji'an Mansion, they must go to attack the city?" Zhao Han asked back.

Huang Yao asked: "Then what shall we fight?"

"Chaoguan!" Zhao Han laughed, "Chaoguan has a lot of silver, and there are also a lot of boats. If you grab the silver, you can slip away by boat."

Jiang Dashan scratched his head and said, "But when we set off from Wuxing Town, didn't we agree to attack Fucheng?"

Zhao Han explained: "In this war, you have to adapt to the situation. How can you do whatever you want? We found out and the magistrate closed the city gate, so we can only go to other places. After disrupting the surrounding villages and towns, The government is very confused. They only know that we are going to Anfu County. I have already asked someone. The shortest way to Anfu County is to take a boat from Lushui River. The governor Xie Xuelong must have been lured to Anfu. At this time, Let's kill the carbine again, how can the Ji'an mansion bear it?"

Fei Ruhe had also learned the art of war, and he understood: "This is called attacking east and west, and it is also called attacking the enemy unprepared. It is false and true, and false and true. Next time I lead troops, I can do the same."

Chapter 108 [Night Attack on Chaoguan]

Xie Xuelong is very difficult to deal with.

He traveled all the way by boat, including the [-] guards sent to defend the city. Even if Zhao Han got the news, he couldn't carry out an ambush.

Moreover, they can run faster by boat, not only transport troops faster, but also obtain information several times faster than Zhao Han.

Insufficient mobility, it is controlled by others everywhere.

Zhao Han had to act, and walked around the north of Ji'an, every time he pretended to go to Anfu County.He even stunned his own people, so that the soldiers under his command really thought they were going to Anfu County.