"Dou Sha, inform the battalion commanders to gather their troops and horses. We will camp and rest on the south slope of Mingtang Mountain today." Han Qing rushed up the mountain ridge with his horse and shouted an order.
He was already quite handsome, but now he was wearing armor and had just won a great victory. Under the sunshine of late spring, he was as powerful as a mortal god.
"Yes!" Dou Sha shouted loudly and agreed, then started his mount and left like the wind.
"Liu Tiha, you lead your brothers to escort the prisoners and bury the bodies!" Han Qing quickly turned his head and looked at the expectant new Tiha Liu Hong, and continued to assign tasks. "Be kind to the prisoners and don't torture them.
Of course, if someone is determined to be evil, there is no need to tolerate it."
"Yes!" Liu Hong raised his chest and clasped his fists, and answered loudly.
"Yuan Kun, Yuan Bao!" Han Qing thought for a moment, then turned his attention to the two brothers from the Yuan family who had just joined the army a few days ago, "You two also followed Liu Tiha and were responsible for comforting the prisoners and telling them that I don't care about them.
Believe it or not, Lu Chunyang. I only care about whether they have done anything to bully men, dominate women, deceive or abduct them before. If not, just keep it in your stomach. After tomorrow's meal, I will order someone to screen them one by one.
Release those who have done no evil and go home!"
"Yes!" "Understood! Don't worry about the punishment." Unexpectedly, Han Qing would point to him so quickly. Yuan Kun and Yuan Bao were stunned for a moment before responding one after another.
Smiling and waving for the two of them to carry out the order, Han Qing turned his attention to Zhang Fan, Niu Ju and other generals, assigning tasks to each other one by one.
Let everyone build a new camp on the mountain ridge away from the battlefield as soon as possible. At the same time, collect the food, livestock and long and short weapons abandoned by the enemy into the warehouse.
"It's still early before dark for the punishment! Lu Ziming's general's flag is only two hills away from here! The general is willing..." Wu Zai hurried over under the heat and lowered his voice to ask Han Qing to fight.
Before he could finish his words, Han Qing interrupted with a smile, "Stop chasing him. Let Lu Ziming run further away before chasing him. If you chase him, it will easily cause him to jump over the wall!"
"Yes!" Wu You decisively handed over his hand, but the disappointment on his face was genuine.
Compared with the Khitan cavalry and party kites he had fought against before, Chunyang's soldiers and horses were just weak chickens. Seeing the weak chickens running for their lives in a hurry in front of him, he did not let them chase him.
It was simply worse than having my hands and feet tied.
"Don't worry, Lu Ziming can't escape!" Han Qing, who could clearly guess what Wu Zai was thinking, quickly added in a very low voice, "His minions lack training. Even if they march with all their strength, they can't walk three days in a day.
Ten miles away. And he himself would definitely not dare to just follow us and camp ten miles apart. Traveling day and night would be unbearable even for the elites of hundreds of battles, let alone those minions under his command?"
"General, I understand!" Wu You suddenly realized it and responded with a blush. Then, he looked around and suggested again, "For punishment, General, can you lead the cavalry to catch up early tomorrow morning and catch Lu by surprise?"
"You can chase, but don't rush to fight. Let the rebels see you catching up. Then hang behind the enemy, just like a pack of wolves chasing wild deer!" Han Qing thought for a while and gave another idea.
A plan.
"A pack of wolves chasing a deer?" Wu You half understood what he heard, and his brows furrowed into the Chinese character Sichuan.
"Yes, in order to prevent being gored by stags, experienced old wolves always keep a certain distance from the deer. When they find an opportunity, they rush over and kill one." Han Qing recalled the animal world documentaries he had watched in his previous life.
He added in a low voice, "If you don't find an opportunity, just follow them not far or close. In this way, the deer will not dare to stop and rest. The weak ones among them will continue to tire out, and then be easily hunted by the wolves!"
This time, Wu completely understood, and admiration instantly appeared all over his face.
Han Qing waved to him to go down and prepare. Then he started his mount and began to patrol along the hillside. Every time he passed a place where soldiers were densely packed, he would be cheered warmly.
"The punishment is powerful——"
"If you are punished, you will be victorious in every battle!"
"To impose punishment..."
Regardless of whether they were born in the Zhenrong Army or in the Liangding Army, the soldiers all respected and admired the person who led them to victory in battles. They had forgotten in their hearts that they were actual civil servants who were involved in criminal and prison matters.
It's time to grab the errand that belongs to the general.
That night, everyone rested on the southern slope of Mingtang Mountain. They ate the captured dry food and used the dry firewood prepared by the enemy. They also killed some of the captured livestock to use as meat to replenish their physical strength.
The Song Dynasty lacked excellent pastures for raising cattle and sheep, and the people were not keen on raising pigs. Therefore, eating meat was a rare luxury for ordinary people.
Even in the army, it is rare to see meat unless there is a big war or during the holidays. The brothers under Han Qing fought with few casualties during the day, but were able to eat a large piece of red meat at night. How could they not be happy?
That night, the singing of folk songs continued until Haishi, when it gradually stopped due to the intervention of the generals.
There is no shelter in the wilderness, so the sound can travel very far. Nearly two thousand people sang at the top of their lungs. No matter what, it was impossible not to get into the ears of the Chunyang church members who were striving to "transform" to Pingdu.
The low morale of the rebels was quickly cleared as the singing came. Some of the men with quick minds and sufficient physical strength took advantage of the backbone of the church not paying attention and began to sneak towards the bushes or roadside trees.
Drilling after rock.
Some of the Hobadorou, who were not strong enough but had a lazy temperament, left the team one after another on the pretext of being respectful. As long as they squatted in the grass, they easily refused to get up again.
In order to maintain speed and distance himself from his pursuers, Lu Ziming did not dare to order his minions to stop and reorganize his team. Covering the stars and the moon, he walked for more than twenty miles, until the sky became brighter, and he found a mountain col that was sheltered from the wind.
Stop all horses to recover their strength.
After the Luzhai was set up and he ordered his cronies to count the number of people, Lu Ziming painfully discovered that after a night of "hurried" march, nearly two thousand brothers were missing. Among them were even two helmsmen and a winter officer in charge of money and food.
At this time, Lu Ziming was worried, and he quickly reluctantly issued a bounty to boost morale. He also sent people to repeatedly preach that after Pingdu was defeated, the bounty would be doubled.
After being given hundreds of copper coins for free, the believers finally no longer looked like crops that had been beaten by frost. But Lu Ziming knew that the morale boosted by copper coins could not be sustained for long. Therefore, with the help of the whole team, they were preparing for the meal.
During the time, several key members of the teaching were gathered around and worked hard to discuss countermeasures.
The best policy is of course to stop the "transfer" and have a decisive battle with Han Qing in the wild. Even if Han Qing brings out all the defenders of Ye County, the strength will only be one-third of that of the Chunyang Sect.
With three enemies against one, and waiting for work, the Chunyang Sect has a high chance of winning. At least, on the surface, it is as high as 75%.
However, as soon as this countermeasure was proposed by military advisor Ma Xiu, it was rejected by all the other backbones.
The officers and soldiers used fire and thunder bombs to clear the way, and the brothers could not stop them. This was the main reason for their opposition.
The second-level objection is that the Han thief is highly skilled in martial arts and has courage that no man can match. If he desperately attacks the Chunyang Sect's Chinese army, the most likely result is that they will both be destroyed!
As for how high Han Qing's martial arts skills are, no one can tell. Anyway, it is said that when he attacked Furong Island, he killed the island's defender with a spear from hundreds of steps away.
When they made a sneak attack on Zhaoyuan Village, they also rode horses and held guns, as if they were entering an uninhabited country.
"The middle strategy is to use the terrain, set up traps, and set fire to the mountain when Han Qing chases after him!" Ma Xiu felt depressed after hearing this, and gritted his teeth and proposed the second strategy. "It is already mid-spring, but the weather in the mountains is
It’s cold, there’s a lot of dead grass, and most of the trees haven’t returned to green yet. As long as the fire spreads, even if Han Qing is Lu Bu’s reincarnation, he will be burned alive into charcoal.”
When Lu Ziming heard this, his eyes immediately started to sparkle. Just as he was about to give the order and act according to the plan, there were a lot of objections in the temporary military tent.
"What if the wind direction changes, are you asking for death?" Chun Guan Yan Feng is worried that the wind direction is changing. What if the fire is just lit and the wind direction changes to the northeast. The one who will be burned into charcoal will not be Han.
green!
"Set fire to the mountains in spring, it will harm the peace of the world!" Xia official Yang Wenzhong also frowned and objected loudly. "This time we join forces with Yang Xingyan, our sect's reputation has been greatly damaged. On the way to attack Yexian, the people were very angry.
Our army couldn't avoid it, and even some gentry who had joined the religion also drew a clear line with our religion. If we set fire to the mountain, it would be fine if we can kill the man named Han. If he doesn't die, but it triggers continuous mountain fires,
From now on, when the people see my teaching flag, they will probably hide as far as they can, and even take the initiative to help the officers and soldiers spy on our troops!"
"Alas -" After hearing this, all the backbones sighed and shook their heads.
Although they would not say it in public, everyone knew in their hearts that half of the reason why the attack on Ye County failed was because the Chunyang Cult had ruined their reputation.
In the city of Ye County, there are actually many believers of the Chunyang Sect, and some even hold the official position of city gate captain. However, when everyone attacked Ye County, there were only a dozen or so believers in the city who cooperated with each other inside and outside. The rest
The believers all quietly left the religion, preferring to be picked up by the government for liquidation later, and determined not to have anything to do with the religion again.
"The next best option is to find a fortress to live in and hold on to. Then send someone with gifts and a letter of repentance to find Wang Qinruo and ask for his help!" Ma Xiu had already guessed that someone was unwilling to set fire to the mountain. He took a deep breath and said
Came up with the last countermeasure.
"Recruitment?" Lu Ziming raised his eyebrows, his eyes gleaming with coldness, "You want me to surrender to the government? I was killed by so many brothers named Han..."
"His Holiness, the brothers are in this current situation. Even if Han doesn't continue to lead the troops and chase us, we still won't be able to defeat Pingdu." Ma Ji didn't feel scared at all. He sighed again and explained in a low voice, "Now we are recruiting peace, anyway.
There are still more than 20,000 brothers to rely on. Wang Qinruo has been watching Ding Wei and Han Qing's meritorious service, and he may not be willing to do so. If the attack on Pingdu fails and the brothers are able to escape and disperse, I am afraid that if we try to recruit them again,
Even Wang Qinruo won’t take a fancy to it!”
"You..." Lu Ziming was so angry that his eyes turned black, but he couldn't refute.
It was indeed humiliating for him to take the initiative to ask for recruitment, but at least he could save the lives of himself and his subordinates. There was even hope of getting an official position.
If he continued to struggle until all the brothers were gone, he and the key players present would lose the value of being recruited. Wang Qinruo wouldn't know how to leave their heads alone and leave a way for them to survive!
"His Holiness, if you keep the green hills, you won't be afraid of running out of firewood!"
"His Majesty, if you want to recruit people, please recruit people. The worst is, wait until we can calm down, and then we will rebel again!"
"It's all because of Yang Xingyan's defeat too quickly. Otherwise, how could we have reached the stage of recruitment..."
From all around, voices of advice came one after another. However, most of the key players present could not see the hope of persevering. They hoped that Lu Ziming could lead everyone back from the lost path.
"Then let's recruit him. Who will ask to see Wang Qinruo? Who has a way to see him?" In an instant, Lu Ziming was also frustrated and asked through gritted teeth.
"First find a dangerous place, settle down, and confront Han Qing." Ma Xiu shook his head and began to plan the next specific details in detail, "Only if we can withstand one or two strong attacks from Han Qing can we negotiate for recruitment. Otherwise,
Even if Wang Qinruo agrees, Han can pretend not to have received his order."
"Go to Yingchou Ridge. The mountains over there are high and it's only fifty or sixty miles away from here!" Lu Ziming thought for a while and immediately gave the answer.
"Then let's take the road to Yingchou Ridge first. For other matters, please let me discuss with His Holiness while walking on the road!" Ma Xiu quickly added, fearing a long night and many dreams.
Lu Ziming had no better choice, gritted his teeth and nodded. Then he ordered his subordinates to leave immediately after eating the morning meal.
Unexpectedly, the minions had just organized their team, but before they could move, a series of low horns suddenly sounded in the mountains. Immediately after, dozens of war horses rushed from the bend of the mountain road, and on the horses, a group of
Huo Guanjun used a fire stick to light the grenade tied to the leather cord, spread his arm and threw it in a wide circle, and then smashed it towards the back of Luzhai!
