"You are a bandit, how can you call for a rebel army?"
Zhu Biao's large army, which was still staying in the territory of Yan State, received the military report and additional intelligence sent back by Chen Mengren. Zhu Biao was furious. Are these teams with the name of "rebels" purely rogue bandits? The king of Liang, decided
Nicknames such as Yang Wang and Feng Liyan reminded him of Chuang Wang and the Eight Great Kings in his previous life in the late Ming Dynasty.
This is a group of losers who have little success but only failure. They are not even organized. They only know how to loot, burn, kill, and disturb the people.
Even Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong, who were established in the later period, were stronger than them now, pure rogue bandits. Moreover, the 200,000 people in the junior camp were almost all men and women, without the burden of young children from the old camp. The mobility and harm intensity of this group of people were higher than those of the rogue bandits in the late Ming Dynasty.
It's even better.
"Commander. There are three main groups of rebels in the Qi State. The most popular one is Feng Lei, who calls himself General Fenglei. His Fenglei Army only has 50,000 or 60,000 people, but his people have strong cohesion and have repeatedly defeated the superiority of the Qi Army and the local army.
The attack of troops separatized the four counties of Yunzhou in the east of Qi State.
Then there is the rebel army in Yimeng Mountain in the southeast, whose total strength is no less than that of the kings of Liang and Dingyang. But there are also good and bad, and there are good guys and bad guys. There are heroes who do justice for heaven, and there are villains who do all kinds of evil. They have been entrenched in the Yimeng Mountain for a long time, which is 500 miles away.
It is not easy for both the army and the local army to advance and suppress them.
The last group is the King of Daliang, King of Dingyang, and Feng Liyan. The three are sworn brothers, and they are all in the same family. They rolled from the southwest of Qi State to the northernmost part of Qi State. When they were at their peak, they once attacked Zibo City, but after their defeat, they turned north.
, and now they turned west and entered Cizhou. The state soldiers could not resist, so they continued to kill them as far as Nan Lebian County."
The governor of Cizhou was a figure in a semi-separatist regime, that is, after Tian Sheng's death, Tian Sheng's eldest son Tian Dan succeeded to the throne of Qi. The royal power was reduced. The royal family was controlled by several generals of the imperial army, and the powerful factions outside the country were naturally unstable.
When the three civil strife broke out in the Qi State, the governors had soldiers, money, food and territory, and the prefects had almost no constraints. Although some continued to be loyal to Zibo and formed a faction with Tian Sheng's main force in the reformed Forbidden Army, some also joined forces with other royal families and grandsons.
The young masters united or surrendered, but among the sixteen states of Qi, there were still a few states where the governors were restless or the governors of the states were indecisive.
The governor of Cizhou, like the governor of Nanle, had been replaced three times after the Great Rebellion. The strength of the state was greatly reduced, and the governor was restless. Therefore, although the governor wanted to "strengthen himself", he was unable to do so and could only serve as a listener.
It keeps adjusting.
There are twelve counties in Cizhou, and the governor has complete control over five counties. He controls two counties and has more than 50,000 troops. Naturally, he is no match for the 200,000-strong army such as King Liang, and it is impossible for him to use his troops to die with the King of Liang.
It's hard work. Once the army is done fighting, it's not certain whether the governor's position will still be available.
"If the snow hadn't melted, I would have immediately led the troops eastwards——"
Zhu Biao, the king of Qi, has not yet made his final decision, because this may be a bait dropped by the king of Tang, or it may be a test by the king of Tang.
But for bandits such as the King of Liang, there is no need for a reason to eliminate them.
"Don't worry, Commander. General Chen has been on the battlefield for a long time, and it's easy to destroy the three bandits." Zhang Bennan added.
Zhu Biao took a breath and started to do his lower body again. "Sir, you are right. General Chen...should... live up to my expectations."
Chen Mengren's intelligence is indeed lacking, compared to his current high position. But he has been on the battlefield for many years and has fought many tough, tough and bloody battles.
The remaining tens of thousands of Wang and other three bandits were wiped out and crushed into powder.
…
Nanle.
"The enemy is coming! The enemy is coming!"
A group of bandits were resting at the foot of the hillside. Suddenly, the police sentry on the hillside shouted loudly.
Nearly five thousand bandit troops jumped up and lined up in a chaotic manner under the shouts of the bandit generals. The sounds of shouting, scolding, and beatings were endless.
"Boom, boom, boom..." The thunderous sound of horse hooves came from far to near. On the hillside at the other end, behind a group of police sentries running desperately back, a row of cavalry suddenly appeared! If you look closely, there is more than one row.
One after another, there is an endless stream, it is like a tide!
The group of bandit soldiers who couldn't run were terrified when they heard the sound of hoofbeats behind them! There were even those who were so panicked that their legs were weak and fell to the ground. Before they could get up, a spear came out from the chest.
!Some people cried out in panic, and threw themselves to the ground, holding their heads tightly, and were immediately trampled to pieces by the swarming cavalry!
Under this situation, I didn't even think about how the other side could stop their troops and take in the prisoners just because of the three of them.
When the leader of the thief saw this tragic scene in front of the formation, his eyes were filled with blood! Thousands of cavalry came at them with the force of landslides and earth-shattering forces. It was so spectacular. The momentum was extremely frightening! He felt that his hands and feet were weak.
. He has also had a lot of fighting experience, and he knows that the team cannot be dispersed. Once the infantry formation is broken up, what awaits them is a ruthless massacre!
The two armies met! The Hedong cavalry, which came with the force of thunder, slammed into the scattered phalanx of the bandit army with great force! The phalanx immediately dented back! Boiling water poured snow, and sharp axes chopped down rotten wood.
!
"kill--"
"kill--"
"kill--"
The elite soldiers of Hedong, who were filled with righteous indignation at the tragic sight of the villages and towns that had been harmed along the way, killed them one by one with ruthless and desperate measures. The 5,000 bandit troops who were directly killed were scattered with blood and flesh, and they were completely defeated.
But they couldn't outrun the Hedong Cavalry on four legs even if they ran on two legs.
"Spare your life! Grandpa Han Jun, spare your life, we surrender! Surrender..." Among a group of bandit soldiers who were trapped and unable to escape, the thief general saw the minions around him going to see the King of Hell one by one, with no fighting spirit at all. He couldn't help it.
Shout loudly! When he shouted, his subordinates roared and shouted for surrender.
Wang Guang stabbed across with his spear, and he was very good at it. Hearing this shout, he hurriedly ordered: "Stop!" But the soldiers were so ferocious, and they were so angry that they were not willing to listen immediately. Although he slowly stopped, there was something on the ground.
Hundreds more corpses!
On the other side, Chen Mengren led his troops to pursue them all the way. The bandits were defeated, leaving thousands of corpses behind, and ran away as if they were dead. In the end, everyone who called them father and mother fell to their knees and howled to surrender.
"Who is the leader? Come forward!" There was a man inside, who stood up slowly and walked towards Chen Mengren. He was in his early thirties, five feet five six feet tall, wearing a ragged straight jacket, and walked forward slowly with his head lowered. When he arrived, Chen Mengren
In front of him, he fell to his knees, kowtowed three times, and shouted for mercy.
"Name, position!" Chen Mengren asked in a deep voice.
"The villain's surname is Zhuang. He has no real name. He is called Zhuang Qi because his family is Xing Qi. He is in the rebel army...oh, no, the rebel army. He is the rebel army and he holds the position of deputy general." The man was lying on the ground, shaking all over.
"Vice general? That means there is a general. Where is he..."
Zhuang Qi kowtowed again and begged: "Military Lord, please spare your life! The young man led the troops behind, and when he was ambushed in front, the young man led his troops to escape! I didn't see General Zhang."
"There is no trace of your generals, how dare you, the lieutenants, escape?"
"Master, I am a subordinate of Feng Liyan. Ever since Luocao, he has decided who will lead how many subordinates with just one word. Even though he is a deputy general, he can set up a camp alone with a thousand soldiers. The general of this army, Zhang Daniu,
He also set up a camp alone with three thousand people. After the war, Feng Lisheng took Xiao Xiao and another general Wang Daozi to join Zhang Daniu's tribe..."
"What to do with these people?"
Wang Guang arrived later to report that the thief general Zhang Daniu had been captured. After the two items were combined, there were more than 3,000 captives. Adding in the more than 1,000 people who had been killed, only 200 to 300 escaped at most. In the end,
A thief leader named Daozi also discovered the body while cleaning the battlefield.
Wang Guang asked in a low voice next to Chen Mengren.
The team of King Liang was not far ahead, and Chen Mengren's troops were just fighting. But there were no extra troops to guard the prisoners.
"Select the leader and the old bandits with blood debts on their bodies. They will be beheaded! Those who surrender voluntarily will be reduced by one level."
Chen Mengren shook his head towards Wang Guang.
It’s true that the rogues were hateful. But if the Han army just entered Qi and killed them, the impact would be bad. That afternoon, outside a county town near Chen Mengren’s garrison. For some reason, it was still very dark during the day, but it was pitch black at night.
In the military camp, the fighting was strict, the campfire was bright, and the soldiers on patrol were walking back and forth, while the rest of the people got into the military tent and slept.
Zhang Daniu was imprisoned with ordinary prisoners. It is true that he was the leader of the thief, but he had done relatively few evil deeds, and he surrendered voluntarily, so his sentence was reduced and he was spared from death. The prisoners were killed and three hundred were killed, and the rest were divided into thirty and fifty.
No one was waiting, and they were guarded separately.
There were military camps in the Han Dynasty, county jails, and prisoner camps outside the city. The prisoners were strictly ordered not to speak, but some of them still took advantage of the guards' distraction to whisper.
"Where are you from, brother?"
"I'm from Laizhou. What about you?"
"I am also from Laizhou. I used to follow Brother Cui to sell salt and hang out in the green forest. When I heard that King Liang was revolting, Brother Cui came with us to defect. As a result..."
"Yeah, it's really unlucky! I don't know whether I'm dead or alive yet. Hey, how about we take advantage of the darkness..."
"Silence! You want to kill me?!"
As they were talking here, they heard someone shouting loudly outside: "Come here, you guys! Marquis Mo Jun wants you to take care of something!" Upon hearing this, the twenty or so guards leaned towards the sound.
Among the thieves, some of them were shrewd. Taking advantage of the darkness, they emboldened themselves to lie on the ground and quietly crawl forward to eavesdrop.
The 'cell' is like a horse pen or a sheep pen, and the sound is flowing freely.
"General Chen has an order from above...the damned thieves...can't stay...there will be chaos for a long time..."
The thief only heard a few words intermittently, but he was so frightened that he hurriedly retreated back the way he came. His accomplices gathered around him and asked questions, but they couldn't get the point. One of them, a strong man with a scar on his face, saw this.
He slapped him in the face and shouted in a low voice: "Shut up, I want to die. Shut up and listen to what others say. What on earth did you listen to? Speak quickly!"
"It's over now! The other end is planning to execute us! You Han dogs are so cruel."
The prisoners were in dead silence. It was over. I wanted to beg for food, but before I had even eaten a few meals, I had to die here. How could I live?
The fierce scarred face was also frightened to the point of death, but at least he was someone who had seen the big scene. Looking up, he saw that the guard was gathered around for a discussion in the night, and there were no other guards around. Don't take advantage of this.
He was trying to escape, but he was a moment late, and his life was in danger! After making up his mind, he said to the prisoners around him: "The matter has come to this, why not give it a try, or maybe there is a chance of survival!"
"Just follow your brother's orders!" the thieves echoed in a low voice.
Everyone was panicking and extremely scared. This was the time for someone to take the lead, and Scarface had a fierce look on his face, so he was able to control the situation.
"Later on, everyone obeyed my orders. Once called to flee, we fled in all directions. We all shouted loudly, attracting the brothers in other circles. This group of birds only had a few hundred people and horses, so they had to worry about their heads.
If we don't get it, we have to escape a little bit." Scarface said in a hateful voice. After the group of thieves heard this, they had no other options. It was better than sitting back and waiting for death, so they all agreed. While they were discussing, the twenty or so thieves
The guards seemed to have finished their discussion and began to return.
"Run!" Scarface roared, and he stood up and ran like crazy. He only regretted that his parents had lost two legs. As soon as he took the lead, thirty or forty prisoners responded and fled in all directions. Everyone was still big.
Shouting loudly, the entire prison camp immediately became turbulent.
The Han army guards were shouting for chase outside. But when Scarface and others were escaping, they were shouting, "The Han army is going to kill them all. Brothers, if you want to survive, run away as fast as possible." This caused a commotion in the entire prison camp.
stand up.
In the end, most of the prisoners were not recaptured, but some fish did slip through the net.
"Chase! Chase!"
"Stop! Stop!"
There were loud shouts of killing behind him. Zhang Daniu complained secretly, if he had known this, why would he have fallen into the trap? But he never dared to slow down. He had a criminal record. If he was caught by the Han army again, his life would definitely be in danger.
Zhang Daniu ran and ran and ran. Slowly, the shouts of killing behind him could no longer be heard... He boldly looked back and saw that there were no more pursuers. He could no longer see the Han cavalry holding torches and chasing after them. Oh my God.
I escaped by myself, I really escaped...
"God bless, God bless..." A kind of excitement surged from the bottom of his heart, and all the panic and fright disappeared. Zhang Daniu's legs went limp and he collapsed on the ground, sobbing loudly.
Excitedly.
Hongqiu Lake.
Nanle is the largest lake in the entire twelve counties of Cizhou. It is also a prosperous place this year. In the peaceful and prosperous times, this was a land of fish and rice. The lake is rich in aquatic products. Many people rely on the water to draw water, and fishing boats are out day and night.
, prosperous. Even in winter, digging ice to net fish is a lively scene. But now, there are no winter fishing teams on the ice of Hongqiu Lake, and there are no prosperous villages on the shore, only chaos.
The snow has melted.
King Daliang, King Dingyang, Feng Liyan San'er and others could no longer walk any further. When the team arrived at Hongqiu Lake, the bandits were shouting and howling to rest.
The three bandit leaders of Daliang Wang trudged hard in the mud for several days, but they no longer had the ambition to overthrow the Hedong Army. When the army stopped at Hongqiu Lake, they ordered their troops to leave the lake and station themselves, and Xu Tu advanced. Then
Feng Liyan sent his brother-in-law Zhang Daniu with five thousand troops to reinforce Huang Wen'an and Liang Guangfeng.
After the team was dispatched, Wang San of Daliang waited anxiously for the information. What happened in Xiangcheng really worried them. It had been several days. Not only Huang Wen'an, but also Liang Guangfeng, with 40,000 to 50,000 soldiers and horses.
Send back a little bit of news.
When Zhang Daniu left, Feng Liyan gave him instructions. As long as he found out the news about Huang Wen'an and Liang Guangfeng, he should send someone back first no matter what.
Unexpectedly, as soon as dusk arrived, some minions fled back. They said they encountered Han troops on the road. They only had one cavalry charge and all five thousand troops collapsed. Seeing that the situation was not right, they hurriedly ran down and escaped.
Only then did I save my life.
The three kings of Daliang were stunned. Even Feng Liyan himself did not worry about the life and death of his wife's brother Zhang Daniu, but paid more attention to one issue - the Han army was only half a day away from Hongqiu Lake! They came to the place closest to Hongqiu Lake.
As a county, does that mean that Huang Wen'an, Liang Guangfeng and the Nanle rebel army in Xiangcheng, with more than 50,000 troops, are all doomed?
If not, how could the large group of Han cavalry get closer?
The parapet was thumping like a drum. The king of Liang asked hurriedly how the infantry was doing? Did the Han cavalry continue to move south? He received a negative answer, saying that the Han cavalry had set up camp outside the county town and gathered prisoners. Three
The bandit leader breathed a sigh of relief.
With the Hedong cavalry silently annihilating three rebel armies of more than 50,000 men, and easily killing Zhang Daniu's 5,000 men, a sudden attack came. The 120,000 to 30,000 men left by the King of Liang and others,
It's really annoying.
Fortunately, the Hedong cavalry did not continue to attack suddenly, but camped in the county town to gather the prisoners. The three kings of Daliang looked at each other and saw the uneasiness in their hearts.
Escape, run away. Retreat, retreat——
He suffered this big loss himself. Hedong Army couldn't afford to offend these killers, so he hid away——
Just when King Daliang, Feng Liyan, and King Dingyang were conveying orders to his troops, they suddenly received reports that Zhang Daniu had returned with the remnants of his troops!
The three bandit leaders were overjoyed! They all came out of the camp to greet them. From a distance, they saw two minions carrying Zhang Daniu, running towards the camp in a hurry. Behind them, nearly a hundred people followed with their heads drooped. Is this called returning with the remnant?
There are only so few of the 5,000 people left, do they deserve to be called the remnant?
On the other side, Zhang Daniu saw his brother-in-law coming out and hurriedly pushed away his brother-in-law. He cried loudly and went forward. He bowed his head and said, "I'm afraid I won't see my brothers again!"
Feng Liyan was here, and it was hard for King Daliang and King Dingyang to say anything. Feng Liyan knew that his brother-in-law was a good person. He snorted and called Zhang Daniu to pay again.
"What's going on? How many troops did the Hedong Army come to?"
The Chinese army's big tent, said to be a big tent, is actually made of bamboo strips used by farmers to dry grain. There is a big hole on the top of the tent. Otherwise, the firewood in the tent will directly burn the tent to ashes.
Looking at the bonfire, Zhang Daniu felt a little at ease, and reported everything to Feng Liyan and the others. The rest was basically consistent with the facts, except for the escape one, which was said to be that he planned and then acted, leading his men to kill
The other party's guarding soldiers escaped at night.
Feng Liyan still doesn't understand his brother-in-law? If Zhang Daniu really had this ability, how could he only command three thousand people now? He knew that there must be a lie in it, but he didn't tell it. He just asked carefully about the reality of the Han army.
But this time, what Zhang Daniu said was different from that of the deserters, claiming that the number of Han troops was not too large. The basis was that after the Han troops gathered the prisoners, they had no energy left to attack again. Moreover, they planned to kill the prisoners.
This will reduce the burden.
Some of the news he heard with his own ears, and he also learned some fragmentary information from those hundreds of people on the way back, and sketched it out.
These words made Feng Liyan, King Daliang, and King Dingyang feel at ease.
Of course Zhang Daniu also said it. The Han cavalry was well-equipped, extremely powerful, fearless of death, and advanced and retreated appropriately. However, it was no match for Qi's officers and soldiers. He suggested that the three of them move their troops immediately. The three bandit leaders just listened.
