Zhang Quanyi’s family left Caizhou in a hurry the day after celebrating the Lantern Festival.
Traveling 280 miles northwest from Caizhou, you can reach Xiangcheng, Ruzhou, but there is a war there and the road is cut off, so you go west first to Tangzhou, then north to Ruzhou, making a long circle, and the carriage has traveled a long distance.
It took ten days to arrive at Xiangcheng.
Li Tangbin took time out of his busy schedule to meet with Zhang Quanyi.
Although he was once a subordinate, Zhang Quanyi did not dare to take advantage of him. He and his family bowed and saluted: "See Li Shuai."
Li Tangbin returned the greeting and sat down, unable to find anything to say for a while.
Zhang Quanyi knew the temperament of this old subordinate, so he forced a smile and said: "I missed Erlang very much when I said goodbye to Chang'an in the past. It was only after I learned that you were serving in the Xia Sui Army that I felt relieved. It is not easy to survive in this world. Hearing the words of my old friend
The good news is particularly reassuring. When I go to Shenzhou, the mountains are high and the rivers are long. I don’t know when we will see each other again.”
After saying that, Zhang Quanyi looked melancholy, as if he was really sad because it was difficult to meet Li Tangbin again.
Li Tangbin hummed, but still didn't know what to say.
More than ten years have passed, and things have changed a long time ago. Now one is the commander-in-chief of the Luoyang camp, commanding more than 100,000 troops, and the other is a surrendered man who has nothing to lose and is helpless. The change in status and identity has long been caused.
The difference between cloud and mud.
Zhang Quanyi didn't say anything. In order to liven up the atmosphere, Zhang Quan'en laughed at himself: "In the past few years, from Weihan to Heyang and then to Caizhou, we have been defeated repeatedly. Not only us, but the whole Liang area is sighing and worried. Zhu Quanzhong, I'm afraid...
It’s going to be defeated. With Li Shuai’s achievements, in the future..."
Originally, he wanted to make him a king or a duke, but he thought it was inappropriate. After all, we were still nominally ministers of the Tang Dynasty, so we couldn't talk nonsense.
Li Tangbin smiled. When it came to military issues, he was somewhat interested, but he couldn't say more. He could only say: "It's too early. The Liang thieves are still resisting stubbornly on the southern front, and the northern front is even counterattacking. As for the main force in the middle,
They are still in a stalemate. To be honest, it has been three or four months. Counting the battle losses of Xiang Yong, the casualties of each have exceeded 10,000."
The stalemate between the two armies does not mean that there is no fighting. In fact, small and medium-sized battles are very frequent. The casualties may not be many at one time, but the accumulation over a long period of time will be very shocking.
Later, when the Liang and Jin Dynasties faced each other, Wang Yanzhang fought more than 200 small-scale battles with Hedong sergeants. They were all short, fierce and bloody small-scale fights. But no matter how small the scale, what were the cumulative casualties of more than 200 battles? One casualty.
One hundred, that's twenty or thirty thousand people. This kind of battle will not cause an army to collapse on the spot, because the casualties each time are not large, it is the kind of blunt knife that cuts the flesh and slowly wears it away, but after a long time, it will always reach
A critical point.
Li Tangbin had just asked Zhe Zongben to capture tens of thousands of Liang soldiers, and sent them to the Shaanzhou Academy of the capital's governor's office for training. On the great post road from Shaanzhou to Ruzhou via Luoyang, the line of reinforcements never stopped.
Batches were sent to the front lines to fill vacancies in various armies.
The Shaanzhou Academy has recently recruited 5,000 strong recruits from Shaanxi, Guo, Hua, Shang, Pu, and Tongzhou to supplement the increasing consumption. In fact, 5,000 people from the Zhenguo Army are heading to the front line, preparing to be divided
After the batches were dispersed, they were replenished into various armies.
Li Tangbin wanted to avoid this meaningless consumption, but this required an opportunity. He glanced at Zhang Quanyi, the opportunity had appeared, and Zhang Quanyi also made some contributions. A crack was torn open in Liang Jun's defense line, and all he had to do now was to continue tearing it apart.
, let it expand, and eventually lead to the collapse of the entire army.
Pursuit is definitely more relaxed and more cost-effective than confrontation, and it is the cheapest way to win.
Zhang and Li chatted casually for a while. Seeing Li Tangbin's lack of interest, they stood up and left.
Zhang Quanyi and his family live in the newly built post station. The post general is a veteran who retired from injury. This seems to be very common in Xia Di. Most of the posts in the post station are occupied by them. It is a family-run operation and the charges are not cheap.
But because it is located on a major transportation road and has good facilities, it is still profitable.
"Brother, it seems now that we are far away from this circle of right and wrong." Sitting in the room, Zhang Quan'en had a complicated expression. He couldn't tell whether he was happy or regretful, maybe both.
"Have you seen the Tibetan soldiers who were transferred to the east just now? They are the ones on the post road." Zhang Quanyi's expression was relatively relaxed, and it could be seen that he was quite satisfied, after all, the worst situation was avoided.
"The King of Xia liked to conscript the Tibetan people to die, as he did on the Xiaohan Valley Road back then." Zhang Quan'en muttered.
"Next month we must leave through Xin'an, Mianchi, Xiaoshi and other counties. When we get there, don't talk loudly about the Tibetan people dying. There are many Tibetan people who stay and register there." Zhang Quanyi casually warned, and then
He added: "I guess these Tibetan soldiers march eastward for three purposes."
"Brother, don't rush to tell me, let me guess." Zhang Quan'en said with a smile: "One, move east to Yingzhou and attack the grain road of Shishu Cong's tribe; second, move north to Yancheng and attack Dinghui; third,
Go deep into Chenzhou and harass Pang Shigu's rear, causing unrest in the military morale. There are no more than these three. With Caizhou as the rear, Li Tangbin can use more methods than before."
Zhang Quanyi nodded. In fact, Zhang Quanen may be slightly better than him in terms of fighting, although both brothers are not very good at it.
Judging from his rich military experience, Liang Jun seemed to be collapsing bit by bit. He had seen too many similar things in the past few years. Fortunately, he got off the ship early, otherwise his whole family would have died.
****
The situation on the southern front is showing signs of collapse, but everything seems to be fine on the northern front.
With the Longwu Army, the Changzhi Army on the right wing, the Desheng Army's core of more than 20,000 infantry and cavalry, plus a large number of rural warriors, a total of more than 50,000 soldiers were divided into several branches. They quickly stabilized the turbulent hearts and gradually regained the lost ground.
Currently, the army is stationed in Xingze, effectively supporting the defense of Heyin Fort.
Zhu Youyu, who served as the capital commander, was full of confidence and planned to wait for Xia's army to bleed blood at the foot of Heyin City, then suddenly attack and defeat his army.
But the Chishui Army sent Fan He back to Sishui quickly, using the terrain and city defense. He only had such a good fighting force at hand. Once he lost it, 50,000 Liang troops came over, Xuanmen Pass, and the Mangshan area would be completely out of control.
.
Ge Congzhou, the envoy of the Longwu Army, suggested crossing the Yellow River and heading north to attack Heyang. Zhu Youyu refused because he only had more than 20,000 combatable troops, and from time to time there were Xia thieves from the rear who bravely crossed the river and harassed the grain roads.
Troops must be sent to maintain and garrison. According to the information heard, the Xia thieves have thousands of state and county soldiers in Heyang, more than 20,000 Yamen troops, and two cities in Banzhu and Guanggu on the north bank. They are not sure to win.
.
As for sneak attacks, the possibility is extremely small. Because of the Xia thieves roaming the countryside, there is no suddenness in Liang Jun's actions. Every move they make is almost transparent. On the other hand, the Xia thieves will
But they can maintain the possibility of sudden attacks. Everything about them exists in the fog, which is a great advantage.
It is indeed difficult to make a choice. There is no other way. In the end, Zhu Quanzhong still has to make the decision.
"It has been fourteen years since Bian was suppressed..." Zhu Quanzhong stood on a high platform. Under the platform were the sergeants who were performing drills, but he was a little distracted and wandering in the sky.
My energy and energy are not as good as before. I am no longer as focused, enthusiastic, and heroic as I used to be. After getting up every day, I always feel tired, not only physically, but also psychologically.
A person pretends to be strong in front, boosts the morale of the army, exchanges cups with generals, talks with civil servants about the gains and losses of ancient emperors and generals, always seems to be full of energy, always looks full of confidence, and never admits defeat.
But every day after returning home, I always have to sit quietly alone for a long time.
This is probably what the hero is short of breath.
"Your Majesty, the battle in Zhengzhou should not be delayed. I think..." Li Zhen came up and suggested.
Zhu Quanzhong waved his hand, and Li Zhen decisively stopped.
"Zhengzhou is relatively stable." Zhu Quanzhong said: "Da Lang did a good job. Before he went there, thieves were rampant. After tens of thousands of troops passed by, it suddenly felt much better."
"But the soldiers here cannot move. If they do, the thieves will move south in large numbers and enter Bobian Prefecture." Zhu Quanzhong turned his head, looked at Li Zhen, and said seriously: "Stabilize the situation first. These tens of thousands of people cannot be lost.
"
Jingxiang looked on and felt a little sad.
Once upon a time, the King of Liang was also a powerful hero. He fought against the bandits one after another and killed many people without blinking an eye. He even went to the front line to spy on the enemy, for which he almost died at the hands of the cavalry cavalry.
But after the Qin Zongquan was annihilated, he basically stopped leading troops personally and focused more on taking care of internal affairs. This is right, because you are no longer a simple general, but the actual master of several towns.
If the internal affairs are not repaired, it cannot be maintained for a long time. Li Keyong next door is an excellent example. If he had not conquered Youzhou, Hedong would have been squeezed dry by him, and defeat would be a matter of time.
However, after many years of running the government, the heroic spirit seemed to have been wiped away bit by bit in civil affairs such as money, food, prisons, and running schools. The sharpness was gradually lost, and the old age was gradually growing. What could be done.
Zhengzhou only has more than 20,000 yamen soldiers, but now it has to be calculated carefully, for fear that if it is lost, the whole situation will be corrupted. What is this? This is fear!
Afraid of failure, afraid of being destroyed now, not daring to take risks, always wanting to wait for a turnaround. This alone casts a shadow over the future.
The sergeants in the audience kept shouting and shouting to kill, and they looked decent.
The Tianwu Eighth Army is the last reserve force in Bianzhou. But these are 50,000 new soldiers, not 50,000 veterans. Otherwise, no matter which battlefield they join, it will be enough to change the situation.
The Xia thieves did have many soldiers, but Heyang had not been deeply cultivated for a long time, Luoyang was dilapidated, and Ruzhou was a wasteland. They relied entirely on long-distance transportation of supplies from Shaanxi, Hezhong and even Lingxia, which greatly limited the number of troops they could use.
Even if you have 500,000 cavalry, if you can't maintain the front line, what's the use?
In fact, what Ge Congzhou said is right. At this time, it is time to risk death and survive. Give it a try and select tens of thousands of elite troops to go north to Heyang. If you can get a big victory by luck, the situation will be greatly improved, at least on the northern front.
Got a big improvement.
"Has Zhu Xuan already taken action?" Zhu Quanzhong suddenly asked.
"Back to your Majesty, news came yesterday that Zhu Xuan has sent an envoy to Puzhou, asking the thieves Liang Hanyong and his troops to leave and return to town via Weibo. Luo Hongxin had promised the Xia people a year ago that they could use this road to return to Heyang.
But you are not allowed to come again." Li Zhen replied.
"What will happen if Liang Hanyong doesn't agree?" Zhu Quanzhong asked.
"Zhu Xuan will lead his army to expel them," Li Zhen said.
"Let Zhu Zhen be prepared and cooperate closely with Zhu Xuan. Once launched, the Xia thieves will be surrounded and annihilated." Zhu Quanzhong said: "Liang Hanyong was destroyed, and the Xia thieves could not harass our rear from Puzhou. The generals on the left and right were attacked, and the generals on the left and right were attacked.
The Yameni Army, the Personal Cavalry Army, the Shengsheng Army, the Tabaidu Army, and the Yingwudu Army all came in handy. As soon as three thousand Desheng Army's cavalry arrived in Zhengzhou, the situation immediately improved. It can be seen that the cavalry army is most effective in dealing with the scattered rural warriors of the Xia thieves.
By the way, Luo Hongxin still refuses to send troops to attack Heyang?"
"Luo Hongxin sent an envoy to deliver 2,000 war horses, 50,000 pieces of silk, and 100,000 coins. He did not mention sending troops to assist in the war."
"You can run again." Zhu Quanzhong sighed: "Wei Bo has many soldiers and generals, plenty of money and food, and his cattle and sheep are wild. His strength cannot be underestimated. If he can send troops, he may be more effective than Yang Xingmi."
The relationship between Wei Bo and Xuanwu is also good because they both share a common threat. The two states of Meng and Huai are equivalent to the gateway to Wei Bo and are very important. When Han Jian was appointed as the Jiedushi, he was determined to expand, and Heyang was once conquered by him.
It was captured briefly. Now that Heyang is in the hands of Shao Shude, how can we not be afraid?
It's a pity that they are only willing to provide money, food, horses and mules, and are unwilling to send troops to help the battle. If they can send out troops in two directions like Yang Xingmi, one to attack Shouzhou and the other to attack Anzhou, the situation in Bianliang can be greatly improved.
What a pity, what a pity!
"Your Majesty, I will leave immediately." Li Zhen responded with enthusiasm.
"Do it well." Zhu Quanzhong said with a smile: "It's not that easy for Shao Thief to kill me."