In Baoding City on the northern line, Chang Yu handed over the command to Zhou Yuji and Li Yan before leaving. As for the head of the Ministry of War, Shi Kefu, retreated to the second line and guarded the city. Although he had the highest official rank and the oldest seniority, he was still a civilian official, so when it came to marching
He is not as good as Zhou Yuji in fighting, and he is not as good as Li Yan in making plans, but he is a good hand in handling civil affairs. At this time, just after the war, there are too many things to finish inside and outside the city.
There are a lot of officers and soldiers in Baoding City. Zhou Yuji's direct lineage plus Yang Zhenwei who is on loan, He Chengxin has more than 10,000, Jinwu Guards, Tengxiang Guards about 20,000, Li Yan's tribe plus Wu Weiying's Shenji Battalion has more than 10,000, and there are also prisoners.
There are more than 40,000 soldiers in total, and they can attack and defend with ease.
At half noon, just when Li Guo of Zhending Prefecture on the southern front was putting on airs and wanted to fight Huang Degong fiercely, Zhou Yuji ordered all troops to leave the city and line up in a line of about ten miles by the Qingshui River.
His troops were the central army, Jinwu Guards were the east wing, and Li Yan's troops were the west wing. They were staring at the other side with eager eyes.
This move naturally attracted the attention of Liu Fangliang and Zhang Nai, the leaders of the rebel army on the other side. They paid close attention to guess what the officers and soldiers were doing. Do they want to take the initiative to attack? Did they find that the main force was retreating south? Impossible!
"Let's go through the refugee barrier first!" Liu Fangliang sneered, using the refugees to consume his combat power, and then he and Zhang Nai's main force covered them up. Although they might not be able to reach the city, it would definitely be difficult for the officers and soldiers to cross the river.
Unexpectedly, just when the two were complacent, they suddenly heard the sound of cannons. They were shocked and hurried out of the camp to check. They saw a volley of artillery fire from the city of Baoding due north, and the refugees on the other side fled in panic.
The officers and soldiers are really going to attack. What the hell is going on with those refugees... When I was really anxious, my own soldiers came to report: The refugees were bewitched by the officers and soldiers on the other side and were unwilling to be cannon fodder. They fled in all directions. The thief army in charge was about to intercept them and opened fire on the other side.
The rebel army was blown away, and the refugees fled along the river bank for their lives.
"Fuck! This can't be stopped." Liu Fangliang was so angry that he kicked the soldier who was delivering the message over. Zhang Nai sighed slightly: "Now the people's hearts are loose, and it's not what it used to be!"
"It doesn't matter if it's a frivolous thing or not, use it if you can, and kill it if you don't. If you run away, you'll save food. Without him, wouldn't we be able to fight? We won't be able to defeat the officers and soldiers. Damn it, I don't believe in evil."
, I have never been defeated since Xi'an, but I fell into the hands of that dog eunuch."
"Report to the general, officers and soldiers are crossing the river!" At this time, the soldiers came to report, and the two of them were shocked. They had previously placed tens of thousands of refugees on the shore, and had a small group of people patrolling. They thought everything was safe, but they did not expect that the officers and soldiers said a few words to let them go.
After a few shots, the cannon fodder fled for their lives. The river bank defense line was suddenly decorated, and the officers and soldiers just took advantage of it.
Thinking that they would take advantage of the opportunity, but did not expect that they would move so quickly, Liu Fangliang quickly mobilized his troops to fight, while cursing the soldiers. Those patrols were at least thousands, so why did they let the other side cross the river so easily?
This was Li Yan's cleverness. He tricked the refugees into fleeing for their lives. At the same time, the city opened fire and the Shenji Battalion's field artillery on the shore also opened fire. The two fires suppressed it. Taking advantage of the chaos of the refugees to flee for their lives, he ordered the army to cross the river. These more than ten people
In the river, the thousands of thieves on the other side were washed to pieces by the refugees, and were suppressed by firepower and could not reach the shore. In fact, even if they made it to the shore, how could these few people stop the tens of thousands of troops on the other side?
.
There was almost no fighting, and they ran away. The officers and soldiers easily crossed the river and landed less than three miles away. Liu Fangliang and Zhang Nai's army arrived. When enemies met, they started fighting without letting go!
Li Yan's tactics this time were not to play tricks, but to directly advance and crush with a large force. He calculated that even if the rear troops left by Li Zicheng were the main force, they would definitely not have many troops! What's more, the main force was not elite, and the most elite Li Guo and Luo Hu were
They are all hundreds of miles away in Zhending Mansion.
Li Yan's prediction was good. Li Zicheng thought that he had secretly tricked Chen Cang's officers and soldiers without noticing, and would just hide in Baoding City and pray that the rebels would not take the initiative to attack them. Thank God, he would never take the initiative to attack, so although Liu Fangliang and Zhang Nai were left behind,
The main force of the army, but the number of troops was no more than 10,000. He felt that the refugees could be enough to confuse the enemy, but he did not know that Chang Yu had seen through it early. So at this time, the officers and soldiers suddenly attacked, and the speed was completely unexpected, not even as fast as the first
Time resists.
"I'm afraid the officers and soldiers have seen through the master's clever plan." Zhang Nai couldn't help but sigh when he saw the officers and soldiers suddenly crushing him with a large force. Liu Fangliang also looked up to the sky and cursed, the dog eunuch Duan was so cunning.
Knowing that they were outmatched by the officers and soldiers, the two men retreated more than ten miles while fighting and set up a second line of defense at the original rebel camp at the Qingshui River diversion, in an attempt to prevent the officers and soldiers from going south to pursue the main force.
Zhou Yuji led his troops to pursue the enemy for nearly ten miles, and stopped two miles away from the Qingshui River. He ordered the entire army to stop making fire and cook food to rest and reorganize their troops, and then summoned his generals to discuss how to break through their defense line.
The rebel army is small in strength, only about ten thousand, but if they rely on the river to defend the danger and we attack by force, the casualties will be heavy. If we don't divide our troops to cross the river, the rebel army will be difficult to care about, and they will flee if they don't dare to fight. Li Yan suggested a plan, and Zhou Yuji nodded and followed.
He then ordered Qin Songwang to lead his troops to march ten miles eastward to cross the river, Yang Zhenwei to lead his troops ten miles west to cross the river, and the rest of his troops to attack frontally to attract the attention of the rebels.
The battle started in the evening, and this plan really worked. Liu Fangliang and Zhang Nai relied on the river channel to think that they could defend until tomorrow at worst. However, as soon as the battle started, the officers and soldiers used field artillery fire to suppress it, and then launched an attack. People couldn't help but curse. This
Damn it, you carry a cannon with you wherever you go.
The officers and soldiers were suppressed by artillery, and the troops were superior. The rebel army was already difficult to resist. However, at this time, spies came to report that officers and soldiers were crossing the river ten miles away. Liu Fangliang and Zhang Nai were shocked. If they were to be attacked by both sides, they would be surprised.
If you outflank or go behind and outflank, the entire army will be annihilated and the game will be over.
But at the moment, the troops on hand were too stretched to divide their forces into two wings to fight, so the two had no choice but to order a retreat and escape as night fell.
The officers and soldiers successfully crossed the river and occupied the camp to rest and recuperate. Don't chase the poor enemy and don't rush to pursue them. Li Yan and Zhou Yuji discussed it and made a fire to make food and sleep, and get up early tomorrow to pursue again!
Qizhou (today's Anguo City) is located a hundred miles south of Baoding and 150 miles away from Zhending Prefecture. It is known as the "Medicine Capital" and is one of the three states under the jurisdiction of Baoding Prefecture.
At this time, the three floors inside and outside Qizhou were filled with people. Li Zicheng secretly sent Chencang to travel south from Qingyuan for nearly a hundred miles in one day and night to settle in Qizhou. His troops and horses, together with the refugees, submerged them all in a blink of an eye.
Li Zicheng went to the city to rest, and the puppet government in the city held a banquet to entertain them. During the banquet, they were insinuated. After all, Li Zicheng's sudden turn back made them frightened. Was he about to leave after losing the battle? If he were to escape, wouldn't the officers and soldiers settle the score with himself and others...
The intruder knew what he meant and tried to comfort him by saying that returning troops was not a defeat but to consolidate the territory. In addition, the weather was getting warmer and the plague was raging in the capital and other places, so it was not suitable to go deep. Even if he returned troops, the imperial court would not be able to go south to regain the lost territory. At this time, he did not go north.
The imperial court is burning incense, but it doesn't have the courage or strength to send troops.
Everyone was doubtful, thinking that it was time to consolidate the land that Li Zicheng had conquered in just over a month, so they stopped thinking about it. There was a lot of flattery at the dinner table, and they were having fun singing while drunk.
Happy times are always short-lived. Li Zicheng had just finished the banquet and was about to take a break when he was about to take a rest. An urgent message came from the horse: Ma Shiyao, Ren Jirong betrayed, and Li Guo was defeated and captured.
Li Zicheng was shocked when he heard this, and in anger smashed the objects in the room to pieces. He could not accept this fact for a while, and it was still difficult for him to accept it until Niu Jinxing and others who fled in a hurry detailed the cause and effect.
Why did the key members Ma Shiyao and Ren Jirong rebel? How could elites like Li Guo and Luo Hu be defeated? How could they be plotted by a big boss? Also, why did the little eunuch suddenly arrive in the south when he was in the north? Can he fly or not?
Is there a clone? Or is it that he was setting off smoke bombs from beginning to end? His real body is always in the south. This big hole was dug by him.
Anger was anger, and the most important thing was how to deal with the unfavorable situation. Li Zicheng summoned the generals to discuss. When they heard what they said, they were shocked and angry. They cursed the young eunuch for being treacherous and cunning, and shouted that they would send troops to rescue Li Guo immediately.
"Now that Ma Shiyao has surrendered, Zhending City will definitely fall into the hands of the officers and soldiers. At this time, we will definitely retreat into the city. We are eager to go south and have no time to attack the city... If the attack on the city delays our journey, once Li Yan in the north knows that we are going south, we will rush to pursue him.
Come here, attack us from the front and back, and it will be difficult for us to leave!" Gao Yigong looked embarrassed.
Liu Zongmin snorted coldly: "Even including Ma Shiyao's people, there are only more than 30,000 officers and soldiers there. There are still more than 50,000 troops. The refugees have no plan. He can't stop them when they swarm them. Even if they attack the city, it will only take a moment.
Things between us won't waste much time at all. Once we break the city and rescue Li Guo, it won't be too late to massacre and plunder the city before leaving. Even if Li Yan in the north knows that I have escaped and he sends troops to chase me, Liu Fangliang and Zhang Nai are just decorations!"
Although Liu Zongmin was at odds with Li Guo, Li Guo was a bandit general with great influence, and he was also Li Zicheng's godson. Li Zicheng would definitely rescue him, but he was just showing off as a favor.
"Prime Minister, what do you think?" Li Zicheng asked Ji Niu Jinxing.
Niu Jinxing touched his chin and thought for a moment: "Although the south is defeated, there are still 20,000 soldiers gathered in Cihe. Our main force here is still more than 50,000. The total is indeed as General Liu said. It is not possible for the officers and soldiers to swarm up.
It can be blocked, but if we attack the city, it won’t happen in a moment!”
"How difficult can it be to defeat a mere Zhendingfu city?" Liu Zongmin shouted dissatisfied.
Li Zicheng rolled his eyes at him and said, "Just listen to the Prime Minister quietly first."
Niu Jinxing continued: "General Liu, don't forget that the dog eunuch is in Zhending Mansion at this time. With him in Zhending City, it will be so easy to fight. Besides, a lot of our siege baggage is discarded under Baoding Mansion... We want to break it quickly."
I'm afraid the city will be extremely difficult. If we delay for too long, Li Yan from the north will chase us!"
"You think Li Yan is a god..." Liu Zongmin snorted coldly. He suddenly heard that there were soldiers coming from outside to report. After entering the hall, he said hurriedly: "Li Yan led tens of thousands of troops to pursue and kill him, breaking through two lines of defense and reaching Qingyuan County.
"
Everyone was dumbfounded! As soon as they raised their feet, they were chasing after him. They were so secretive. It was obvious that they had already figured out his intentions and they were just pretending not to know. The reason why they didn't chase him at that time was because the soldiers and horses were tired just after the battle, so there were too many soldiers.
Wait a day for the men and horses to recover and kill them here! (To be continued)