Just when Jiang Bin, Xu Tai and others were unable to do anything, Zhang Yanling led the army and was already marching quickly in the dusk.
This time the march was no longer dilatory. After the battle ended in the early morning, the entire army only rested until the afternoon. Zhang Yanling arranged for some of the troops and horses to connect with the Bazhou Guard to ensure smooth logistics. After the troops and horses of the Second Battalion Yaowu Zhenwei were
He set off immediately.
This time, Zhang Yin led 3,000 soldiers and horses to escort the bulky items such as baggage and artillery, while Zhang Yanling, Meng Liang and others led the rest of the troops to march lightly to Baoding Prefecture.
It usually takes two days to march from Xiong County to Baoding Prefecture, more than 150 miles away. But Zhang Yanling issued a death order and had to arrive early the next morning. That means it would take more than ten hours to march.
Completed two days' journey.
The reason is very simple. Zhang Yanling does not allow any changes. He does not want the soldiers and horses in Baoding Prefecture to make arrangements early. After all, there are 30,000 troops there. It would be very troublesome to set up an ambush along the way.
In fact, all the generals had raised questions before this. The general's next step is to attack Baoding Prefecture with more than 10,000 troops, which is a bit like a snake swallowing an elephant. The opponent's troops are obviously three times more than our own.
They are also defending the city. Is this really possible?
Zhang Yanling explained this. The generals' doubts about the war need to be clarified, otherwise they will have no direction, goals, and confidence.
"There are indeed a lot of soldiers and horses in the rebellion, but you must understand that there are not many backbones among them. There are many coercers. Moreover, those people have been ordinary people for several months, and their combat skills and qualities cannot be compared with mine. Even if
In a head-on battle, our troops in the capital can defeat them. The only thing we need to worry about is their conspiracy. Just like what they did before. Baoding Mansion
The leader is the bandit leader named Zhao Sui. The ruse that led to the defeat of the officers and soldiers was his design. It is better to trap his troops in the city than to give him room to move freely. Please be patient.
With all my heart, Zhao Sui is not so stupid that he doesn’t know how much the people under his command weigh. As long as we get to Baoding Mansion, the only thing he will do is to stay behind closed doors and defend the city."
Naturally, everyone still has some doubts about this explanation. But the ability of Marquis Jianchang is there. Whether he followed Zhang Yanling earlier or followed Zhang Yanling later in the Zhenwei camp, they no longer have any doubts about Zhang Yanling's ability.
Doubtful. So, if the Marquis says it can be done, then it can be done. All they want is an explanation.
There are many places to set up ambushes on the way from Xiongxian County to Baoding Prefecture. The fish that slipped through the net after the Baiyangdian World War I must be rushing to Baoding Prefecture to deliver messages. Zhang Yanling does not want to give Zhao Sui any room to move. Therefore, he should arrive at the city as soon as possible.
On the contrary, it is the best plan to avoid unnecessary complications.
During the overnight march, the soldiers did not even have time to eat, drink, pee, defecate and rest. The gap between the soldiers of Yaowu Camp and Zhenwei Camp was greatly reduced during this rapid march of more than 150 miles, which was comparable to a marathon.
Completely exposed.
The physical fitness and stamina of the Zhenwei Battalion soldiers who were usually subjected to various subjects, various trainings, and all kinds of tossing have reached a big level. Their walking speed remained unchanged overnight, and although there were times when they were tired and panting, they did not complain.
Tired and full of energy.
On the other hand, the group of infantrymen in Yaowu Camp were really stretched out. After walking less than fifty miles, they were all panting like cows, their feet were swollen and their legs were sore, and they couldn't keep up with them at all.
Fortunately, Zhang Yanling had the foresight and most of the 3,000 infantrymen left behind to escort artillery supplies and vehicles were soldiers and horses from Yaowu Camp. Only then did they walk down the road with the support and pull of the soldiers from Zhenwei Camp.
.I guess these guys need at least a day or two to recover.
It has to be said that Zhenwei Camp is now very proud among the regiment camps. Since Mr. Hou took office as the admiral, Zhenwei Camp has a completely new look. The problems of cheating, laziness and greed have basically been eliminated. Things like gambling and drinking have also disappeared.
There are various skill competitions and various training competitions in the camp. Not only are there three-month salary rewards for the top team, but there are also big red envelopes and big red flowers for advanced pacesetters and advanced collectives. There are also big red envelopes and red flowers in front of the entire battalion.
Respected spiritual enjoyment.
For example, Zhang Yanling stipulated that the sentry battalion group that wins the comprehensive evaluation of military drills can enjoy an honor that money cannot buy. That is, every day, other sentry battalions will send a team of people to line up to praise them. He said
He even shouted something like: 'You are great, we are not as good as you'.
This is simply a kind of torture for the soldiers in the backward military camp. For the winners, it is simply a great satisfaction. The soldiers in the army are all young and strong people, usually full of hormones, and they will not surrender to anyone. But the skills
If you are not as good as others, you can only bow your head and say hello to others and admit that others are great.
No one wants to do this, so competition in military training prevails. In the beginning, military training still needed supervision, but now, most people have formed a habit. Some people feel itchy all over if they don’t train for a day.
I also want to go out and do some fussing.
Most of the soldiers have been trained to have dark skin and strong muscles. They walk with their arms sideways and are extremely tough.
Originally the last one among the twelve regiments and looked down upon by other regiments, the Beijing army has changed its appearance now. It has a completely new look and has made great achievements in countering the rebellion. Moreover, the admiral Zhang Houye is still the regiment's commander.
The deputy governor. The soldiers walked out with their heads held high and their chests high, very proud.
And all of this has changed in just one and a half years.
In the cold dawn and morning fog, the rebel defenders at the head of Baoding Prefecture discovered the sight of the dark army arriving outside the north city. The leader of the rebel army who was on duty at night was stunned and quickly blew his bamboo whistle to warn.
For a time, whistles sounded loudly all over Baoding City. Soon the news that officers and soldiers were approaching the city spread throughout the streets and alleys.
Crazy Zhao slept very late last night while patrolling the city. After hearing the report, he had to get up and rush to the North City Tower to watch. With bloodshot eyes, he saw the assembly arriving one after another in the wilderness outside the North City.
The officers and soldiers were shocked in their hearts.
Only yesterday did he receive news from Liu Qiming's men, saying that two battalions of troops from the imperial camp were rushing to attack Xiong County. He planned to avoid their attack and retreat temporarily, but he did not expect that early this morning, they would arrive at the gate of Baoding Prefecture.
Aren't these soldiers and horses coming from Xiong County? Could it be that they crossed over from somewhere else? Improbable, there is no way from the south. It is possible to cross over from the north of Xiong County across the Yishui River. But on the bank of Yishui,
There are guard posts from Xiongxian County to Rongcheng Dingxing and other county towns. It is impossible that there is no news.
But if they were the soldiers and horses from Xiong County, then maybe Liu Qi did lead his army to retreat. That's why they could reach Baoding Prefecture so quickly.
Or... Liu Qi has been defeated by them? This idea suddenly flashed in Zhao Sui's mind, but he immediately rejected this possibility. Liu Qi said he wanted to retreat and did not come to Baoding Mansion, so he would naturally retreat to the west.
Settled in Rongcheng.
No matter how powerful the imperial army is, it is impossible to annihilate Liu Qi's more than 8,000 soldiers and horses in such a short period of time, and then attack Baoding Mansion. Absolutely impossible!
After denying that terrible idea, Zhao Sui felt at ease. He did not feel nervous or afraid because of the arrival of the army.
Guarding the big city of Baoding Prefecture, with sufficient soldiers, horses, food and supplies, what would happen if the enemy came? If it weren't for the worry that the rebel soldiers lacked combat experience and had poor combat skills, Zhao Sui would have defeated the enemy with several times the strength.
They all dared to lead their men out of the city to fight with the officers and soldiers.
Although Zhao Sui is brave and sometimes acts crazy, he will not do that at this moment. He only needs to defend Baoding Mansion, and there is no need to go out of the city to fight. If the officers and soldiers in front of him dare to attack the city, keep it
Let them never come back.
"General Chen, General Qian." Zhao Sui shouted in a deep voice.
"The general is here, deputy commander, please give me your orders!" The two generals stepped forward and promised in a deep voice.
"Send my order and the four cities are sealed. No one can enter or leave the city gates without my consent."
"As you command!"
"Also. Anyone in the city who dares to spread rumors and create panic will be arrested and killed. I will post a notice in the city and tell the people that I, Crazy Zhao, are here and Baoding Mansion is safe. Tell them that there is no need to worry.
There is no food to eat. There is so much food in the treasury
When the time comes, I will distribute it to them and ask them to cooperate with us in defending the city. We have allocated land to them. If Baoding Mansion is lost, those properties will be taken back by the court. Therefore, they must fully support us in defending the city.
Do you understand?" Zhao Sui shouted.
"I will make arrangements when I finally understand." Chen Qian, the two generals, agreed in unison.
Zhao Sui Diandian turned his head and looked at the dark crowd of officers and soldiers huddled together in a mess outside the city, with a sneer on his lips.
"The imperial general leading the army is quite courageous. With such a small manpower, he wants to attack the city? This person is probably a lunatic, even crazier than me." Zhao Sui thought in his heart.
The soldiers and horses of Zhenwei Camp and Yaowu Camp arrived in the wilderness a few miles outside the city and immediately began to set up camp. The tents and other supplies were not behind, so what they need to do now is to cut down trees to make simple fences and build some
The simple shack allowed Mr. Hou to have a foothold.
The other thing is to dig out the stove, rest, and prepare for the next attack.
Zhang Yanling issued an order for the entire army to rest. After working hard for a while, everyone took a rest and slept to recover from fatigue. There were a bunch of people lying on the ground.
They did this in front of the rebels at the top of the city, which did not give the rebels any face at all. It also had a slight sense of humiliation.
In the afternoon, Zhang Yanling ordered people to carry Liu Qi over on a stretcher. Along the way, Liu Qi was carried on a stretcher. Liu Qi was shot by Huo Shijian in the side of the chest and almost lost his life. At this moment, he
His body was wrapped in thick gauze and he was lying on a stretcher like an idiot.
"Liu Qi, we have arrived in Baoding City. I want to tell you something." Zhang Yanling said.
Liu Qi's face was pale, and he was very weak after bleeding and being injured. When Zhang Yanling asked him something, he kept his mouth tightly closed and refused to answer anyone.
"Listen, I plan to let you go," Zhang Yanling said.
Liu Qi turned to look at Zhang Yanling in surprise.
Zhang Yanling smiled and said: "Don't be surprised, I'm not joking. But there must be a prerequisite."