After Lu Xiangsheng, the prime minister of the five provinces, arduously climbed to the top of the ridge, he looked forward and couldn't help but gasped. He saw that more than ten miles away were densely packed with rogue camps. The camps were so numerous that one could not see both ends.
The city of Shinshu was surrounded like a barrel.
"We are a step too late. It seems that the sweeping king Zhang Yichuan, Liu Guoneng who broke into the sky, Ge Liyan He Yilong, Zuo Jin Wang He Jin, the reincarnation king Xu Shi, Li Wanqing who shot up the sky, and the one hundred thousand horse Qingzhong have already joined Gao Yingxiang."
Lu Xiangsheng's face was full of worry, and he obviously felt great pressure from the combined strength of several bandits.
Li Chongzhen, the commander-in-chief of the Tianxiong Army who followed him later, gasped when he saw the rogue camp. After hearing Lu Xiangsheng's words, he suddenly lost his voice and said: "Now, the bandits will number two to three hundred thousand horses, not counting those
There are hundreds of thousands of young, old, women, children, and rogue bandits who can be used, so how can we fight this battle?"
Lu Xiangsheng sighed. Since he was awarded the premiership of the five provinces by the emperor, he has tried his best to lead his troops to encircle and suppress the bandits in Jianghuai. However, he was still broken into Huguang by the eight kings Zhang Xianzhong. Wang Mengyin, the governor of Huguang, was a waste and could not stop Zhang Xianzhong.
The one hundred thousand bandits actually opened their mouths and allowed them to enter Sichuan. Lu Xiangsheng was so angry that he stamped his feet and cursed. But things had already happened, even impeaching Wang Mengyin would not help. The top priority was to suppress the chief bandit Gao Yingxiang first.
There is news that Gao Yingxiang and Zhang Xianzhong have separated since they captured Zhongdu. Gao once sent people to Zhending to contact the rogue Lao Huihui Ma Shouying and Huo Cao Cao Luo Rucai from Beiyi, hoping to unite them to cross the Yellow River and return to Shaanxi in order to get rid of them.
The governors of the five provinces and the prime ministers of the five provinces pursued the coalition forces. But for some reason, the old Huihui Ma Shouying and the living Cao Cao Luo Rucai did not move south from Zhending to join Gao Yingxiang. Instead, they stayed in Zhending, Shunde, and Zhangde Panheng. Gao Yingxiang did not move.
He also changed his marching route to Mianchi Ferry on the Yellow River and led his troops westward from Chuzhou, aiming directly at Huguang. This route was obviously a sign that they would enter Huguang, cross the Han River and enter Guanzhong.
Admiral Lu Xiangsheng was in charge of the military affairs of Zhili, Henan, Shandong, Sichuan, Huguang and other provinces. Previously, Zhang Xianzhong jumped into Huguang and Sichuan, and he felt ashamed of the imperial court. Now that Gao Yingxiang and several other groups of bandits have successfully merged, he feels guilty.
It's even worse.
In the early days of the war, Chang Ziyu Shangshu accused Hong Chengchou of the incident. Lu Xiangsheng and Lu Xiangsheng were afraid of Gao Yingxiang and only attacked small groups of bandits. They avoided fighting the biggest and most powerful enemy Gao Yingxiang. When Gao Yingxiang was entrenched in Guanzhong, Hong Chengchou patrolled Huayin.
In Weinan, Gao Yingxiang defeated Fufeng and left calmly, while Hong Chengchou was still swimming south of the Wei River in Xianyang. Gao Yingxiang went to Runing and went to Cai, but Lu Xiangsheng went in the opposite direction, heading to Ye County and Biyang. Gao Yingxiang attacked Guangzhou, but Lu Xiangsheng stabilized
Sitting in Xinyang without moving. Chang Ziyu believed that Gao Yingxiang was immortal and bandits were difficult to pacify. But the general of the expedition was so afraid of Gao Yingxiang, how could he pacify the bandits? Such a mentality was a huge betrayal of the trust of the Holy One.
Being accused like this, Lu Xiangsheng also had a hard time saying that he once fought with Gao Yingxiang in Chuzhou, defeated more than 50,000 of his troops with 6,000 men, and beheaded more than 3,000. He also defeated more than 40,000 of Gao Yingxiang's troops in Luoshan with 2,000 cavalry.
He killed more than a thousand people and was a great victory in both battles, which was enough to prove that he was not afraid of Gao Yingxiang. But Lu Xiangsheng didn't want to defend himself because he was indeed timid towards Gao Yingxiang. Gao Yingxiang's team was different from other bandits, although
They are not the largest number of rogues, but they are the most able to fight. Most of their veteran troops are from the northwest frontier army. They have strong armor and iron cavalry, and their soldiers are loyal to their orders. They fight in a organized manner, retreat without chaos, and are cunning and resourceful. Today, Genghe Sweeps the Ground
Wang Zhang Yichuan, Liu Guoneng who broke into the fallen sky, Ge Liyan He Yilong, King Zuo Jin He Jin, the king of the reincarnation Xu Shiqian, Li Wanqing who shot up the sky, Hun Qingzhong, a hundred thousand horses, joined forces in Xinyang, and the bandit soldiers camped for dozens of miles, nearly three hundred thousand people.
, there are more than 100,000 young and strong men. On the other hand, Lu Xiangsheng's command, in addition to the 12,000 Tianxiong army he started, only 1,800 cavalry under Zu Kuan. Such a meager force has to suppress nearly 300,000 people.
Gao Yingxiang, this situation is even more difficult than that of Shu.
Lu Xiangsheng looked at the generals under his command, and they all felt fear, and his heart was even more bitter. Ai Wannian, the deputy commander of the reinforcements and suppression, died in the battle, Zhang Quanchang, the commander of Zhenyang, surrendered to the traitors, especially a first-class general like Cao Wenzhao, the commander of the reinforcements and suppression.
After being killed in battle, coupled with the fall of Fengyang, the central capital, the morale of the encirclement and suppression officers and soldiers was generally low, and they all became afraid of the rogue bandits. Even the Tianxiong Army trained by Lu Xiangsheng was now afraid of the rogue bandits.
"The high thief is right in front of us. Shall we fight this battle or not?" Lu Xiangsheng broke the silence.
The generals of the Tianxiong Army were silent. After a moment, the deputy general of the Tianxiong Army, Zheng Shi, spoke up: "Our army only has twelve thousand, but the enemy has hundreds of thousands of young men who can fight, which is ten times as many as our army."
, this battle cannot be fought."
Li Chongzhen said: "Looking at the situation of the thieves, they have the intention to capture Xinyang. Xinyang is a fortified city. The thieves lack siege equipment and will definitely not be able to capture it for a while. It is better for the governor to send a letter to various places and order them to send reinforcements. This way, there will be a better chance of winning."
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Lu Xiangsheng smiled bitterly and asked Li Chongzhen: "Where can Zhou Zuo have soldiers who can fight?"
"This..." Li Chongzhen knew that he had made a mistake. There were indeed no troops to mobilize in this land in southern Henan. There were new troops stationed in Fengyang, the central capital, but no one dared to mobilize them, in case the bandits came again.
To attack Fengyang, even 10,000 heads would not be enough to kill them. There are soldiers on the Nanjing side, but these soldiers cannot be attacked at all. Besides, they are hundreds of miles away. By the time Nanjing soldiers and horses arrive, Xinyang may have been destroyed long ago.
The rogue bandits captured it. Water from afar could not quench the thirst nearby, and besides, the troops in Nanjing were not something Lu Xiangsheng could mobilize.
Zheng Shi suddenly patted his head: "By the way, Commander Hong's troops are in Luonan, Danfeng, and Lingbao. Commander Ke wrote to him and asked him to join forces to suppress Gao Yingxiang. These troops are not far away.
, as long as they are willing to come, it will only take a few days."
Hearing this, Li Chongzhen shook his head and said: "Mr. Hong only hopes that the rogue bandits will not enter Shanshan. Our supervisor is responsible for this matter in Henan. He is eager to see our supervisor's jokes, so how can he send troops to help?"
Lu Xiangsheng also said: "Even if Hong Chengchou is willing to transfer Luonan and Lingbao's soldiers to help me, the rogue bandits in the north are not fools. They will not take advantage of the opportunity to enter Shaanxi? By then, Mr. Hong will not be able to stop the rogue bandits from entering Shaanxi, and he will definitely take responsibility."
Put it on me, forget it, don't count on him." Lu Xiangsheng didn't have a good impression of Hong Chengchou. He always felt that this man was timid. He had more than a dozen generals and generals under his command, and 40,000 to 50,000 elite soldiers. But after a few months, he still couldn't
I didn't see him take any action. Instead, I led these thousands of people to conquer the east and west, exhausted. If I were really defeated by the bandits, I'm afraid Hong Chengchou would rejoice in his misfortune. Alas, a governor of five provinces and a prime minister of five provinces,
The whole world is watching. He, Hong Chengchou, doesn't want to compare himself with the Prime Minister of the five provinces. He doesn't want the people in the world and the emperor to think that he is still capable. He expects him to help him, so stop dreaming.
Ningjin's deputy general Zu Kuan, who had just reorganized his troops and brought belated cavalry from Ningjin, listened to what the Tianxiong generals said and said: "We can't count on reinforcements. We are outnumbered and we can't fight with the enemy."
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"Yes, we are outnumbered when we are outnumbered." Lu Xiangsheng looked at Zu Kuan, a general from the Guan Ning Army, and asked him: "It is difficult to fight against the outnumbered enemy. But back then, Governor Yuan once led an army to fight outside the capital.
We defeated ten times the enemy, General Ancestor, you were also involved in the battle of the capital, but you don’t know how to explain that the enemy is so numerous that we are so outnumbered that it is difficult to fight?"
When Lu Xiangsheng talked about Yuan Chonghuan, all the generals in Tianxiong changed their minds. Not everyone could mention Yuan Chonghuan's name, it was taboo.
Zu Kuan was also startled, and said in a deep voice: "Yes, that day when Commander Yuan led us to defeat the Tatar soldiers one by one, it was the Tatar soldiers from the East, let alone the internal thieves. But our army has been without food for three days, and we only rely on porridge and wild vegetables every day.