The main force of the Tianyuan Army was stationed in Tianguan. With the arrival of Tang Yin, the Tianyuan Army, which had been resting for many days, also began to regroup and march south.
At this time, Peng Haochu suggested to Tang Yin that it was not convenient for his 400,000 troops to gather together, and there was no need for it. At present, the garrison of Lehu County was less than 50,000. We could divide our troops into three groups and attack Lehu from three directions.
County, while dispersing the enemy forces, it can also fully capture Lehu County in the shortest time.
Tang Yin felt that Peng Haochu's proposal was reasonable and immediately adopted it. He ordered the 100,000 plain troops led by Xiao Muqing and the 53,000 navy troops left behind to attack Lehu County from the west. He ordered the 150,000 Chifeng troops led by Li Wei and Peng Haochu.
The army formed a group and attacked Lehu County from the east, while Tang Yin himself commanded 100,000 direct troops plus 30,000 Besa heavy armored cavalry to attack the center of Lehu County.
The Tianyuan Army's counselors and generals had no objections to Tang Yin's arrangements, and the military order took effect immediately. The 400,000 Tianyuan Army began to march out of Tianguan one by one, heading south all the way to Lehu County.
As soon as the Tianyuan Army took action, Zhong Tian got wind of it.
During this period, the Tianyuan Army withdrew to Tianyuan County. Zhong Tian thought that he could feel at ease for a while and sleep peacefully for a while, but he didn't expect that the Tianyuan Army, which had to rest for a year, came back so quickly. Zhong Tian learned this
After the incident, the two brothers Zhan Wushuang and Zhan Wudi were immediately summoned to discuss strategies to deal with the enemy.
According to Zhan Wushuang's intention, Lehu County has less than 50,000 troops and cannot withstand the menacing Tianyuan Army. Instead of staying in Lehu County to defend, it is better to give up resistance, withdraw to Yancheng, concentrate one's manpower, and fight between Yancheng and Tianyuan.
The army launched a decisive battle. Zhan Wudi disagreed with his brother. He believed that the Lehu Army should stay in Lehu County and rely on the geographical advantages to wear down the Tianyuan Army's energy as much as possible. In this way, even if the Tianyuan Army could defeat
The troops below Yancheng City have also become exhausted. By then, we will concentrate our manpower and go out to meet the Tianyuan Army. We may still have the possibility of victory.
Zhong Tian didn't understand military strategy at all. At this time, he felt that the words of the two brothers Zhan Wushuang and Zhan Wudi were reasonable, and he didn't know who to listen to. However, most of Zhong Tian's advisers supported Zhan Wushuang's opinions and hoped that
Zhong Tianneng dispatched the Lehu Army back to Yancheng to strengthen the defense of the capital.
Zhong Tian did not listen to Zhan Wushuang's opinion, nor did he accept Zhan Wudi's proposal. Instead, he sent someone to Lehu County to ask the county governor Geng Qiang what he wanted. In Zhong Tian's view, no matter how much we discuss, it is still
Sitting in the rear, one cannot fully grasp the situation. Whether the soldiers in the front are fighting or retreating, one has to ask the commander in front.
There is nothing wrong with what he did, but the prerequisite is that the commander at the front must have the minimum level of talent. Geng Qiang was a regimental commander, and was promoted to the position of county chief just because he was loyal to Zhong Tiancai. He is also headstrong and self-righteous.
, as a corps commander, he can listen to orders, but as a commander-in-chief, commanding operations, he is far behind.
After receiving Zhong Tian's order, Geng Qiang was also wondering whether he could withstand the Tianyuan Army, whether to withdraw or hold on, or whether to fight a few battles before withdrawing. After thinking about it, he felt that before the enemy arrived,
It was really shameful to choose to retreat before, and I couldn't bear the heavy responsibility and expectations that Zhong Tian had given me. Furthermore, we were the landlords of Lehu County. Even if our troops were far different from the enemy, we could still resist with the advantage of the geographical location.
For a while, in addition, the city defenses of the hundred cities west of Lehu County were strong. Since the Tianyuan Army raised its troops, he has been strengthening the city defenses. It is far from easy for the Tianyuan Army to invade the county city.
After careful consideration, Geng Qiang wrote a reply to Zhong Tian. This memorial was written with righteous words and awe-inspiring words. It not only praised Zhong Tian, but also scolded the Tianyuan army as worse than pigs and dogs. Finally, he expressed
I am determined to fight to the death with the Tianyuan Army in Lehu County and never retreat even half a step.
After reading the memorial written by Geng Qiang, Zhong Tian couldn't help but nod his head, and he was very happy. He even circulated it to other civil and military officials to let them see what loyalty is and what it means to be a pillar. Geng Qiang is an example!
Geng Qiang's memorial also made Zhong Tian completely give up the idea of withdrawing the Lehu Army. Instead, he gathered the Central Army and prepared it, ready to dispatch it to Lehu County at the first opportunity to assist Geng Qiang and cooperate with Tianyuan.
The army fought bloody battle to the end.
The army in Lehu County did not withdraw, but Geng Qiang began to capture strong men in Xibai City. Regardless of whether the people were willing to join the army, they were first incorporated into the army and distributed armor and weapons. Anyone who dared to escape would be treated as a deserter and killed without mercy.
Geng Qiang's ability to capture strong men was even better than Zhong Tian's. In just a few days, the number of Peng's troops in Xibai City increased from 30,000 to 80,000. At the same time, he ordered the entire city to be sealed off, without his orders.
, no one is allowed to enter or leave. At this time, Geng Qiang has already taken the stance of defending Xibai City.
Let’s talk about the direct army commanded by Tang Yin. Almost all the senior civil servants and military generals of Tianyuan Army are in the direct army. Even if the soldiers below have not joined the army for a long time, with these generals there, their combat power can be improved to a higher level invisibly.
, not to mention the Bessa cavalry with astonishing combat effectiveness to assist them.
The direct army taking the middle route will first face Shangbei County in Lehu County. Lehu County is also a large county and consists of three counties, namely Shangbei, Qingshan, and Baoqing counties.
The direct troops under the command of Tang Yin arrived at the junction of Jinguang County and Shangbei County and temporarily stationed there. Both Lotte and Ai Jia reported the intelligence they had on Shangbei County to Tang Yin.
Because Geng Qiang deployed most of the Lehu Army's troops in the west of the county, Shangbei County's troops were relatively empty. There were only about 8,000 Peng troops stationed in the county.
After listening to the information from Lotte and Ai Jia, Tang Yin sneered and said proudly: "A mere eight thousand enemies dare to stop our army of one hundred thousand?" As he spoke, he asked again: "The county of Shangbei County
Who is the leader?"
Ai Jia replied: "Sir, the name of the county chief is Mao An. He was sent to Shangbei County after Zhong Tian usurped the throne. It must be Zhong Tian's confidence."
"No matter whether he is Zhong Tian's crony or not, anyone who dares to block the way of my army will be killed!" Tang Yin turned to Qiu Zhen and said: "Master Qiu, please arrange for an envoy to go to the county seat of Shangbei County to persuade this
Mao An Kaicheng surrenders, otherwise, our army will let him die without a burial place!"
"Yes! Sir!" Qiu Zhen nodded and responded.
According to Tang Yin's wishes, Qiu Zhen sent a low-ranking civil servant to Linqiao, the county seat of Shangbei County, to persuade Mao An to surrender.
After the envoy was sent out, it was like nothing happened, and no news came back. It was not until two days later that the Sky Eye spies brought back the news. It turned out that although the envoy met Mao An after arriving at Linqiao City, the latter not only did not accept his side's persuasion to surrender.
, and also killed the envoy, and now his head hangs on the top of Linqiao.
After hearing this, Tang Yin's eyes widened and anger burned from the pit of his heart to his forehead. He raised his leg and kicked the table in front of him far away. He gritted his teeth and said, "This thief dares to kill my envoy. I will definitely kill him."
His body was cut into pieces!" As he spoke, he passed on the order, and the whole army set up camp and marched towards Linqiao City.
Seeing this, Qiu Zhen hurriedly stopped him and said, "Sir, don't be impulsive. Mao An will not understand this principle when the two armies are fighting and do not kill the envoy. By doing this, he is obviously irritating our army, and his purpose is probably to
Lead our army to attack, maybe he has set up an ambush halfway, sir, please don't advance rashly!"
"Ambush?" Tang Yin smiled and asked: "The enemy only has a few thousand people, but our army has hundreds of thousands. Even if the enemy is ambushing halfway, what can they do to me?"
After listening to his question, Qiu Zhen couldn't answer. Yes, the enemy only had a few thousand people. Even if they were well ambush, they would still attack an army of more than 100,000 people with random rocks.
Seeing that Qiu Zhen frowned and stopped talking, Tang Yin asked Letian and Ai Jia again: "Did you two detect that the enemy was setting up an ambush halfway?"
Lotte and Ai Jia looked at each other, shook their heads and said, "We didn't notice any ambush from the enemy!"
"Hmph!" Tang Yin sneered. Even the Sky Eye and the Ground Network did not detect the ambush, so it was even more correct. The enemy must be huddled in Linqiao City. He waved his hand and said decisively: "March!"
Tang Yin gave the order, and the direct army and Besa cavalry started to set off, heading straight for Linqiao, the county seat of Shangbei County.
Along the way, the direct army, under the leadership of Tang Yin, was unstoppable and successively captured several towns in Shangbei County. Moreover, these towns resisted very little, and most of them were captured without bloodshed.
Tang Yin wanted to invade Linqiao City and capture Mao An in order to satisfy his hatred. He repeatedly issued orders to urge the entire army to move quickly. However, he himself led the two Shangguan brothers and Wu Guang and Zhan Hu to lead a force of 10,000 men.
The cavalry ran at the front.
How could the infantry and Bessa's heavy armored cavalry outrun the light cavalry? As Tang Yin charged forward, the entire direct army's camp had been greatly stretched. Often the light cavalry commanded by Tang Yin had already invaded a town, and there was still no way
There is a direct army that has just set out in the previous town. Between the two cities, soldiers and soldiers of the direct army can be seen rushing forward everywhere.
Under Tang Yin's rampage, the marching speed of the direct army was indeed astonishingly fast. It took only one day to reach Linqiao City from the junction of the two counties. This is quite like "three hundred marches in one day, six hundred in two days"
’s formation.
Linqiao City was already vaguely visible. Tang Yin, who was commanding the light cavalry, sat on his horse, sneered, and asked sideways: "Who wants to take the lead and be the first to attack Linqiao City?"
As soon as Tang Yin finished speaking, Shangguan Yuanbiao rushed forward, raised his spear, stepped in and saluted, and said: "Sir, I am willing to go!"
"Okay! Yuan Biao, I'll leave it to you to take the lead. Don't let me down!"
"Don't worry, sir. It's fine if the enemy doesn't come out. If you dare to fight, I'll kill one of them, or a pair of them!" Shangguan Yuanbiao shook his spear and pulled out three silver-colored spear flowers.
"Haha——" Tang Yin looked up and smiled, nodding towards Shangguan Yuanbiao.
When the latter was about to ride his horse to attack the enemy in front of Linqiao City, he suddenly heard someone from behind shouting in a long voice: "Report, sir! Something bad has happened -"