When Cai Qing was in charge of military affairs in Hexi, Zheng Hui was already serving as a scribe under Cai Zheng, and he boasted that he was quite familiar with military affairs.
However, precisely because of this, he is more aware of the importance of popular support and low morale.
The Tongbai Mountains are sparsely populated and severely annexed, forcing thousands of young people to leave their homes and work hard to make a living at the lowest level in a foreign land.
Zheng Hui sent Chen Zixiao and his troops to rob and kill Zuma Road twice. In addition to frightening Deng Gui and others, the deeper purpose was to block the trade routes, making those who relied on Zuma Road to make a living more difficult and resentful.
The cruelty is getting stronger.
This is the key to the rapid fermentation of the situation in Tongbai Mountain.
In the past two or three months, in addition to the frequent thefts and robberies in the villages and towns, there are also many people who join gangs. If there were not more and more desperate people, how could the number of people in Hutou Village expand so fast?
In the past ten years, firstly, Wang Xiaocheng was intimidated and feared to be killed; secondly, after the change of the military system in Tangzhou, the clans of the big surname and the Huaiyuan military stronghold were mutually supportive and aided each other. Small groups of stubborn bandits
Even if the thief is not willing to give in, he has to hide in the mountains and forests and compromise with the clan to coexist.
The hardships in the deep mountains caused unspeakable hatred to accumulate in the hearts of the stubborn bandits, like an active volcano.
Before the attack on Zhongjiazhuang yesterday, Zheng Hui had already made up his mind to use Zhong Changqing and Gao Xiangzhong's troops to kill them. This was not only to impress people, but also to make the Three Villages Allied Forces and Tongzhai
The hatred in the hearts of so many desperate young adults in Baishan was released, making them even more ferocious.
Throughout history, many famous generals often indulged their soldiers in plundering every time they went through tough battles. This is the reason.
Zheng Hui thought that with this, the hearts and minds of the people in Tongbai Mountain would be destroyed, and with the gathering of like-minded people, the situation would be completely under his control.
When the time comes, he only needs to gradually test the sword with a few Zhongxiaowu forts, slightly integrate the allied forces of the villages, and sharpen the blade, and it will be effortless to eliminate the Huaiyuan army stronghold. And after the chaotic blade kills Wang Zhen
, and then let the allied forces of the villages attack Yuhuangling and Xiema Mountain, they can completely solve the hidden dangers left by the unsolved case back then.
At this point, the allied forces of various villages have laid down their foundations in Tongbai Mountain, which is beyond the control of the state and county. They can withdraw and wait for the real drama to begin.
He didn't expect that when he thought he was sure of victory, this "Chushan Yaksha Fox" would actually hit him with another chess piece.
Sending a reckless general to kill six of the Laoyatan thieves in the market could reverse Huaiyuan's people's hearts and morale, which were about to collapse at any time. What a huge difference this method made!
Zheng Hui felt a bitter taste in his mouth again.
The combined forces of Hutou Village, Shixizhuang, and Taibaiding, plus those who had joined the force in the past two days, totaled 1,780 people. After a large-scale recruitment, the army further expanded to 2,000 or even 3 people after three to five days.
Thousands of people are not a big problem; you can also contact more cottages to advance and retreat together.
But Zheng Hui knew that at this stage, the coalition forces of various villages were still a mob.
The people in Huaiyuan have not collapsed, and there is even a tendency to further unite. As long as Deng Gui is asked to summon three to five hundred village soldiers to help defend the military stronghold, Zheng Hui does not think that Chen Zixiao and the others have much confidence that they can successfully capture Huaiyuan.
Military stronghold.
It just so happens that the allied forces of the various villages are still a mob at this stage. The villages are all joining forces for their own benefit and can share the wealth and adversity.
If the attack on Huaiyuan fails, Zheng Hui is worried that the so-called good situation at hand may quickly deteriorate.
No, we must not let this happen.
"Go directly to Chen Zixiao and call him, Pan Chenghu, Zhong Changqing and others to Yushan Post to discuss the matter," Zheng Hui whispered to Dong Qifeng, "We need to surround the Huaiyuan military camp in the next two days.
Cut off its connection with the outside world..."
"So urgent?" Dong Qifeng asked in shock.
The Three Villages Allied Forces are still a mob. Even if they use the absolute advantage in numbers to surround the Huaiyuan Army Village, the troops of the Three Villages Allied Forces still need a certain amount of time to train and get used to each other.
According to the original plan, they should first practice with the small and medium-sized clan forts that are isolated and have relatively weak defenses, instead of directly besieging Huaiyuan, which seems to have few defenders, but will be reinforced by large numbers of rural soldiers at any time.
Military stronghold.
Zheng Hui didn't know that the Da surname clan was still thinking of protecting themselves. Even if he knew, he wouldn't dare to take risks and said:
"People's support is too important. If Deng Gui is asked to gather enough troops in Huaiyuan, not only the big surname clans will send rural soldiers for reinforcements, but the prefectures, counties and road divisions may even borrow the road from Xinyang to send reinforcements to Huaiyuan. We must first
Encircle Huaiyuan. If we cannot attack, we will establish a stronghold outside Huaiyuan and loot the mountains and plains!"
Even though Xinyang is closer to Huaiyuan, and even small boats can sail directly to the mouth of Baijian River in Huaiyuan in summer and autumn, Xinyang belongs to Huainan West Road, so it is impossible to directly send troops to reinforce Huaiyuan. Even if Deng Gui sent people to Xinyang
When Guangzhou asked for help, Guangzhou and Xinyang also asked for instructions on the Huainan West Road strategy to appease the envoys and did not dare to use troops without authorization.
However, Tangzhou and Biyang County may not dare to send troops to attack Yushan Post, but as long as they know for sure that the Huaiyuan military stronghold is possible to defend, they can borrow roads from Ying, Guang and other places to send two to three hundred reinforcements to the Huaiyuan military stronghold, that is,
It’s about walking an extra four or five days.
Therefore, the quality of the situation depends to a considerable extent on how likely it is that the Huaiyuan military stronghold can be defended in the minds of the prefectures, counties and clans.
As long as they thought that the Huaiyuan military stronghold could not be defended, the states and counties would not dare to act rashly, and the clans of the big surnames formed strongholds to protect themselves and formed their own formations, so they could defeat them one by one.
If the prefectures, counties and clans believe that the Huaiyuan Military Stronghold is likely to be defended, they will continuously gather people and materials to the Huaiyuan Military Stronghold to form a stronger force.
This is what people's hearts are against.
Zheng Hui could not let this happen. Even if he could not storm the Huaiyuan military stronghold for the time being, he would still implement a strategy of encirclement and reinforcements to prevent people and materials from gathering at the Huaiyuan military stronghold.
Dong Qifeng also knew about the military struggle. After listening to Zheng Hui's brief explanation, he realized the harm of unchecked momentum. Zheng Hui immediately went to see Gao Xiangzhong first. He took the two of them back to Zhongjiazhuang to meet Chen Zixiao.
Pan Chenghu, Zhong Changqing and others...
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More than a hundred thieves, led by Pan Chenghu, crossed the Baijian River from Tiaohu Beach in the afternoon and took a roundabout way back to Yingzizui.
Yingzizui is still 11 or 12 miles away from the market, but the entire road is on a gentle slope. A fast horse can reach the market from Yingzizui without even using a stick of incense.
Although there are four or five dirt roads east of the Baijian River extending deep into Tongbai Mountain, and there are ferries leading to the Beiling mountains north of the Huai River, the road from Yingzizui to the west is flat and there are more than a hundred thieves riding on them.
Staying in Yingzizui means that the passage to the east of Huaiyuan is cut off, and no one dares to go out casually.
People who hesitated to evacuate did not dare to leave at this time even if they did not pass through Yingzizui.
Xu Huai pulled the sweaty horse and looked up at the Yingzizui Cliff, which seemed to be covered with a layer of golden luster under the setting sun.
There were three or four families scattered in the mountain col at the west end of Yingzizui Cliff. At this time, the place was occupied by Pan Chenghu's troops. The residents could not escape, and of course they were not killed. Instead, they were being driven to cut down trees with axes and saws.
He took the mules and horses and dragged them to Yingzi's mouth. Seeing the situation, Pan Chenghu wanted to block the gap in Yingzi's mouth by blocking the roadblock.
"Master Xu, can we go back?" Zheng Tu, who had been trying his best to please Xu Huai since last night and even asked Xu Huai to lead his horse in the afternoon, said worriedly.
Pan Chenghu's troops would not all mobilize just because Xu Huai came over.
If that really happened, Xu Huai could harass them all by himself, but they couldn't turn a blind eye to Xu Huai's close reconnaissance.
Immediately, more than 20 or 30 thieves came on horseback and spread out in array on the grassy slope more than a hundred feet away, possibly plundering them at any time.
Butcher Zheng usually played tricks in the market. He had never seen such a battle before. If he said he was not afraid, he was just lying to his mother who had been dead for many years.
"It's okay, my horse runs fast!" Xu Huaihun said nonchalantly.
"But Chen Gui and I can't run fast!" Butcher Zheng was about to cry. Xu Huai and Yin Peng each rode a horse, but he and Chen Gui walked over. How much milk did they have to eat to catch up with the thief?
Before he could catch up, he fled into the market five or six miles away.
"The soul-stealing gun Pan Chenghu was killed by me. Even if you borrow ten of his courage now, he will definitely not dare to chase him out. If you don't believe it, call them and ask them if they have seen the young master. His legs and feet are starting to tremble."
I'm shivering and want to shrink into my mother-in-law's crotch!" Xu Huai said.
Butcher Zheng thought that it was only because of his mental illness that the four of them would challenge thieves who were several times their size.
"It's getting late, we already know the movements of this group of thieves, and we should go back and report to Deng Langjun!" Yin Peng was beating in his heart, grabbing the reins and urging Xu Huai not to be too promiscuous, "To prevent the thieves from attacking with bows and arrows,
Come here, you take Butcher Zheng with you, Chen Gui will go first, and I will leave later."
"I couldn't pick off the thief's head in exchange for the reward today, but I think they dare to catch up!" Xu Huai held his long bow in front of him and said with a smile.
After Pan Chenghu led 30 or 40 remnant bandits to defect to Hutou Village, although a lot of manpower was added, they were mainly new bandits who had just joined the bandit.
Especially the twenty or so cavalrymen in front of them all looked disheveled. The horses they rode were all ordinary livestock. They carried hunting bows that were only slightly threatening within thirty or fifty steps, and their long knives were only thin pieces of iron.
These people made it clear that they were just bait used by Pan Chenghu to lure him into his trap.
If there weren't Pan Chenghu and other stubborn bandits watching eagerly in the mountain col behind, Xu Huai would definitely fly a kite and kill these twenty or so new bandits one by one...
