In mid-March, Yang Qian left 3,000 troops to guard the Jiangdu camp, and personally led 13,000 infantry. After arriving at Yangzijin and setting up camp, he first led 5,000 infantry across the river and set up a formation outside Yanling City.
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Afterwards, in accordance with the previously determined plan, Qin Qiong led 3,000 infantry and 2,000 cavalry and quietly sailed backward for more than a hundred miles. After landing, they set off under cover and rushed to the rarely visited Gouli Mountain to camp and stand by.
Li Jing led 5,000 infantrymen and also made use of the navy. He marched eastward along the river bank for more than 200 miles and landed at the junction with Piling County, where he chose a quiet refuge to set up camp.
Yang Qian led the 5,000 soldiers and horses who crossed the river with him, together with tens of thousands of people in Yanling City, and dug trenches at the dock of Yanling City in full swing.
At the dock outside Yanling City, three trenches were dug several miles long, about one foot wide, and one foot deep, surrounding the entire dock.
The excavated soil was placed in the north of the trench, and a large number of arrows were stored, waiting with peace of mind.
Two days after Yang Qian led the army to dig trenches and set up military strongholds, Liu Yuanjin's 80,000-strong army finally arrived five miles south of Yanling City.
Looking at this thief who was not even in uniform and with all kinds of weapons in his hands, Yang Qian really had nothing to say except being impressed.
Facing the thief army all over the mountains and plains, the faces of the newly recruited soldiers were very ugly, but fortunately they already had the support of the military stronghold and the protection of the deep ditch.
Coupled with the comfort of those battle-hardened veterans and generals, the entire camp seemed exceptionally peaceful.
"Everyone, please remember that our soldiers and horses have only one goal, and that is to secure the dock and the camp without going into battle."
"What we have to do is to firmly attract the enemy's attention to Piling. Only in this way will it be easier for General Qin and Li Lang to control their actions."
"In addition, send someone to the dock immediately and ask them to send out a light boat to convey the news to General Qin and Li Lang that the bandits have arrived."
"promise!"
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And Liu Yuanjin, who had three long beards and wore a bright armor, was riding his mount with high spirits.
Surrounded by hundreds of soldiers, he and Guan Chong rushed out of the camp and came to visit the camp in a show of force.
"You actually have just a few soldiers and horses, but you want to be inferior to my 100,000 tigers?"
Liu Yuanjin, who had proclaimed himself emperor for a long time, saw the camp of officers and soldiers and put on a posture of intending to defend to the death. He couldn't help laughing out loud.
"Your Majesty, I think it is better to be careful. I heard that Yang Qian, the prime minister of Jiangdu County, although young, made great achievements when he conquered Goguryeo in the north of the imperial court."
"Then Yang Qian is just a lucky minister next to Yang Guang, that stupid old dog."
"If he was really capable, why could he only serve as a small supervisor in Jiangnan Road before?"
"Yes, I also heard that he, Yang Qian, only relied on flattery to get promoted continuously."
"Guan Pu She doesn't have to worry too much. Now, the Zuo Tun Guards in the imperial court have already returned to the imperial court with their troops, and now all of his subordinates, Yang Qian, are newly recruited soldiers."
"He is a kid with such a dirty mouth, but he has become the commander-in-chief of the first army. I think we can definitely decide in a battle."
"That is, last year, he followed Yang Guang's order to encircle and suppress us. Apart from recruiting troops, he has been hiding in Jiangdu County, not even daring to cross the Yangtze River."
"Now that my army is coming from the north, he is afraid that the Sui Emperor will be angry, so he has no choice but to cross the river. But he does not dare to go out to fight, and only dares to hide in the camp."
The camp was still peaceful, and both new recruits and veterans continued to train in various ways according to the organizational structure.
Some are continuing to practice the assassination procession, some are practicing sword and shield skills, and some elite longbowmen are practicing archery.
Of the six thousand men and horses, four thousand were carrying longbows on their backs. Naturally, they used single-body longbows. In Yang Qian's eyes, this longbow, which was similar to the shape of a shoulder pole, was simple to make and was very conducive to equipping troops in large quantities.
Even if the soldiers are poorly trained and have difficulty hitting the bull's-eye, it doesn't matter. After all, the tactics adopted by this type of infantry longbow are not direct shooting, but mostly projectiles.
Except for a small number of elite shooters, the other shooters fired for several rounds until the enemy troops rushed forward.
They threw away their bows, picked up their swords and shields, and cooperated with the spearmen to fight the enemy head-on.
Yang Qian walked around the military camp, comforting and motivating the soldiers, which boosted their morale a lot.
By dusk, Liu Thief's soldiers and horses, who were full of wine and food, could not wait and began their first attack.
Naturally, they dropped hundreds of corpses and retreated without any surprise.
In the next two days, Liu Thief launched nearly ten attacks in a row, but on no one occasion was he able to safely cross the trench and rush up the slope.
On the slope, there was a strong stronghold wall, and the spears turned the bandit soldiers who rushed over into corpses with holes pierced through them.
However, the enemy's repeated attacks also put great pressure on the defenders. However, what Liu Thief did not expect was.
Yang Qian's operation was astonishing. Every morning, there would be ships going back and forth on the river.
Send 3,000 men and horses to Yangzijin, and then send 3,000 men and horses across the river.
In Yang Qian's words, let the soldiers feel the atmosphere of war and practice a lot, so that they can become familiar with the blood and cruelty of the battlefield as soon as possible.
Therefore, the repeated attacks of 70,000 to 80,000 Liu bandits turned into a whetstone for Yang Qian to polish his new recruits.
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And as they repeatedly went to the battlefield, the new recruits also became visibly calmer in such an environment.
No matter how rare it is, arrows will fly randomly before military orders are issued.
Even in the face of those who struggled to jump over the ditch and rush towards the slopes and stockade fences, the recruits dared to bravely rush to the generals and assassinate the enemies with the spears in their hands.
Three days later, Yang Qian issued a military order to abandon the first village wall and retreat at night.
He also specially set a fire and looked at the flames that burned for miles. Liu Yuanjin, Guan Chong and other bandit leaders were overjoyed.
It was only until the next day, after they filled in the trench and got over the embers, that they realized something was wrong.
Nima, behind this camp, there is the same trench, the same slope and the wall, still firmly blocking their steps.
Fortunately, although they were disappointed, Liu Yuanjin and others still told the soldiers that we had achieved a great victory and captured the first position of the imperial officers and soldiers.
As for the fire yesterday, yes, it was set by us. We sent out dead soldiers to burn down the army's camp.
As a result, the soldiers who had been numb for several days suddenly regained their morale and began to attack the second wall with all their strength.
As for the second village wall, after six or seven days of defense, Yang Qian once again issued a military order to retreat.
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