The appeals written by Liu Bagou and the others were as obscure and difficult to understand as ever, even the low-level ordinary bandits, and even a few people who were proficient in writing but could not read the articles, could not understand them.
On the other hand, Wang Wenhua, Qian Mengjiu and a few other people who were somewhat fluent in writing were fascinated by it!
After the long and smelly proclamation was read out, and there was another ritual of slaughtering animals and sacrificing animals, after all this was done, the ministers and many soldiers all looked at Li Xuan.
At this time, Li Xuan slowly drew out the long sword from his waist, raised it toward the sky and said softly: "Come on!"
Immediately, several guards around him sang in unison:
"Your Majesty has a decree: set off!"
"Your Majesty has a decree: march out!"
"Your Majesty has a decree: march out!"
After singing three times in this manner, Liu Bagou, who was below on behalf of the officials, came forward and knelt down and said: "I obey the decree!"
By this time, the entire expedition ceremony was over, and hundreds of people lined up in a long queue and headed out one after another.
Li Xuan was also on horseback, accompanied by Fang Dongquan, Liu Bagou and the others. As he was riding, he turned his head and glanced behind him, and saw a large number of old, weak, women and children carrying a large amount of luggage and packages towards the back mountain.
Moving forward, the team stretched for several miles, and he seemed to see Dong Yunyun among the crowd.
She was waving to herself and seemed to be shouting something loudly!
Longhua Town, which was remote and deserted two years ago with not many people at all, has become particularly lively in the past year. At first, many county warriors were stationed here, but after the first half of the year, there were hundreds of people here.
There are officers and soldiers stationed at a guard station, but now it seems that these officers and soldiers will not leave.
From the time when we got off work last year until this spring, the number of officers and soldiers did not increase but decreased.
The reason for all this is naturally the existence of the Tang Dynasty. About ten miles further from Longhua Town, there are deep mountains and dense forests.
Due to such a convenient geographical environment, this place naturally became a strategic location for the Ming army to gather and annex grain.
Even though Su Jiakang brought a large number of troops stationed in Longhua Town into the mountains yesterday, there are still two hundred young men and a large number of civilians left here to protect the large amount of military rations stored in Longhua Town, and at the same time.
It is necessary to constantly dispatch civilians to transport food into the mountains for the use of the army.
And at the edge of the mountains about twenty miles away from Longhua Town, groups of Ming troops were advancing.
"Sir, we have now entered the edge of the mountain, but the soldiers have been traveling for most of the day today. Isn't it time to set up camp?" At this time, Diao Leixun walked up to Su Jiakang and said respectfully.
Su Jiakang did not answer him directly, but asked: "Where is Mr. Wu? When will Huang Zhushan be found?"
"Mr. Wu just sent someone to deliver a message back, saying that the troops had been divided into three groups and followed the route that the Feng family used to enter the mountain. This time, no matter which way the three groups went, there were more than sixty people. Even if
If you encounter the puppet Tang bandit army, you can also bring back the news!" Diao Leixun said: "Don't worry, sir. Mr. Wu is the right-hand man of the Lord of the Palace. If he leads people to find him, this Huangzhushan must be
Can’t hide it!”
Su Jiakang nodded and said: "Well, in that case, let's set up camp early today!"
"I obey my orders!" After Diao Leixun finished speaking, he bowed and retreated.
At this time, Luo Mazi looked at Diao Leixun, with a trace of resentment in his little eyes. This Diao had no face at all, and did not have the majesty and consciousness of a fifth-grade Qianhu. He looked respectful to Mr. Su.
Forget it, he actually calls himself a lower official.
Being so shameless, could it be that he wants to compete with himself to be the most popular person in front of Mr. Su?
No, I can't lose to him!
Immediately, Luo Mazi took a step forward. Before he even reached Su Jiakang, he said with a charming smile: "Sir, this time we have two thousand elite soldiers. As long as we find Huangzhu Mountain, we will definitely win a complete victory.
After receiving the reward from the imperial court, it is not a bad idea for you to be promoted to the third level!"
Listening to Luo Mazi's obvious compliment, Su Jiakang did not refute, but smiled.
Because he thinks so himself. According to scattered information, the Puppet Tang has a total population of more than 2,000, and most of them are bandits who have just recovered. Not to mention whether these newly recovered bandits will work hard for the Puppet Tang.
, just say how many young and strong bandits can these two thousand people gather together?
At most, there are only five hundred people.
And he has two thousand soldiers under his command. Even if he puts aside the ordinary young men and civilians, he still has 900 guards and 200 soldiers.
Can these 1,100 people still not be able to defeat a mere bandit den?
Compared with Su Jiakang's full confidence, the emperors and ministers of the Tang Dynasty seemed a little hasty and uneasy. After officially setting off for the expedition, Li Xuan led a team of 600 people forward, and further ahead of them were scattered scattered
of many spies.
Although this mountain is quite big, there are actually not many roads suitable for the army to enter and exit. Otherwise, Fang Dongquan would not have been able to successfully find and ambush the Ming army in Liluohu Valley.
But this time, they did not plan to take the main road, but took some narrow paths, even through the forest and wading in the river, just to avoid encountering the Ming army head-on on the main road.
The purpose of their battle this time was not to engage in a head-on battle with the Ming army, but to attack their logistical supply lines. By attacking the Ming army's supply lines, they would cause a food shortage dilemma for the Ming army, thereby forcing the Ming army to retreat or even cause chaos.
The former means that Huangzhushan can gain temporary safety, while the latter may also allow the Tang Dynasty to win another victory.
It's just that this chance is unlikely. The most likely possibility is that the Ming army retreated voluntarily due to food shortages due to irregular supply lines.
After walking for three consecutive days, they failed to encounter the Ming army. Walking through the mountains all day long, Li Xuan almost suspected that they were lost, but Fang Dongquan and Huang Xueren swore that they were on the right track.
God knows how they figured out the exact location among the mountains.
But just because the people in Huangzhushan didn't get lost, it doesn't mean that other people won't get lost.
In a valley deep in the mountains, a group of about sixty Ming soldiers were sitting on the ground, and a few of them who looked like officers were arguing about something.
"You can't be wrong, just follow what I said and continue walking eastward. If you walk for three days at most, you will definitely find Huangzhu Mountain!"
"You fart, we are still going east, do you know where we are now? If we continue to go east, who knows where we will end up!"
"If we don't go east, then where should we go?"
"have no idea!"
"I don't know what you're talking about!"
While these people were arguing, one of the strong men suddenly stood up and said: "Don't fucking argue, okay? After all the arguing, we got lost in the end. Now it's not a question of whether we can find Huang Zhushan, but a question of whether we can find Huang Zhushan."
It’s a question of whether we can meet up with Mr. Wu and the others on time. If we can’t meet up on time, you and I will have to be dealt with by military law!”
"Someone immediately muttered: "Then what should we do now?"
When asked this question, the strong man in Baihu costume wanted to open his mouth to say something, but was stunned for a long time and finally said nothing.
So, in the next moment, these general banners, small banners and the like started quarreling again.
After arguing for a long time, the strong man Baihu finally made the decision himself and continued walking eastward!
Anyway, they can't tell where they are now, so they can only walk according to their feelings.
When everyone was shouting to go on the road again, on a hilltop one mile in front of them, a man in blue cloth was secretly looking at the Ming troops ahead.