A horseman came from the city and saw Wang Yuan camping on the outskirts of the city. He immediately came up and reported: "Wang Yushi, fortunately you haven't gone far yet. Urgent report from the front, the bandit leaders Liu Liu, Liu Qi and Yang Hu have joined forces in Wen'an County.
Your Majesty orders you to immediately go to Renqiu and the Dacheng area to block the thieves' retreat southward! Look for fighter planes and defeat the enemy with one strike!"
"I accept the decree!" Wang Yuan smiled bitterly.
Wen'an County is a little to the south of Bazhou. Two groups of bandits merged together, with at least tens of thousands of troops. They actually allowed themselves to lead two hundred cavalry to intercept them. I don't know if the emperor thought highly of himself or his two hundred cavalry.
In the past month, all the officers and soldiers who suppressed bandits have been eating dust and have not fought with the main force of the rebel army at all.
On the contrary, the magistrate of Zaoqiang County, Ji Zhili, made great achievements. The magistrate of Zaoqiang personally led Ding Yong in the city to arrest the fast people. The people guarded the city, killed more than 200 thieves, and beheaded the leader of the rebel army.
The rebel army was furious and destroyed the city in three days. The magistrate was shot with several arrows and died shouting "kill the thief".
Because the leader of the thieves was killed, the bandit army slaughtered the city in anger, killing 5,000 people in the city, and more than fifty households among them were wiped out.
At that time, General Song Zhen was stationed in the east of the city, and he watched from the side while the magistrate was defending the city. After the bandits broke through the city, he only scolded them from a distance and led his troops to escape without firing an arrow.
The court's response to this incident was to posthumously grant him the posthumous title of Shaoqing of Taipu Temple in the county magistrate, and appoint his son as a hereditary member of the Imperial Guard. However, Song Zhen, the general who fled in fear of the enemy, did not give any punishment, but only ordered him to perform meritorious service for his crime.
Why didn't the court kill Song Zhen?
Because the anti-bandit forces were stretched thin, once Song Zhen was killed, his officers and soldiers would be unable to fight.
This is also the reason why Wang Yuan did not kill Zhu Zhi. The two hundred cavalry were all trained by Zhu Zhi, and they only obeyed Zhu Zhi's orders. To kill Zhu Zhi, should he kill his two brothers? If the three leaders are all dead, who will
To be responsible for the specific command? I am afraid that the remaining cavalry will be resentful, fail to perform their duties, and escape at the critical moment.
If you really want to kill people, you should kill them on the spot, and then charge directly into the formation with the frightened cavalry, without giving these cavalry any room to think.
Zhu Zhi must not be killed during the march.
Wang Yuan led his army to continue southward. As soon as they reached the vicinity of Zhuozhou, they received another battle report from the front line, including the military situation in Henan.
Although the main force of the rebel army met in Wen'an, small groups of rebel troops were everywhere.
Wu'an County in Henan Province was also captured. The county magistrate Liang Minzheng led his troops to fight in the streets, but was seriously injured and refused to retreat. General Dai Yi led his troops to counterattack and captured and killed dozens of people. The bandits fled in panic. They ordered Ding Jie to stay still and only watch the show outside the city.
Most likely, they will be ordered to pay for their crimes and perform meritorious services.
Marching to Ansu County, another military report came.
There are three thousand bandits calling themselves Liu Liu Liu Qi (fake), they have broken through Nangong County, captured the county magistrate, burned down the county office, released prisoners, and looted the imperial village. These three thousand bandits have already flowed to Hejian Prefecture and are looting surrounding towns and villages.
, it seems that he is preparing to meet up with the real Liu Liu and Liu Qi.
Another thousand bandits captured Fucheng County, surrounded Xian County, and also went to Hejian Prefecture.
Two days later, the two groups of thieves and bandits joined together and had a crowd of more than 10,000. However, they could not attack Hejian Fucheng, so they chose to go north and surrounded Renqiu County.
As for the main force of Liu Liu, Liu Qi and Yang Hu, they surrounded Bazhou and fought hard with the officers and soldiers who rushed to the rescue.
After marching to Anzhou, Wang Yuan, as the patrol censor, asked the eunuch Zhu Ying to contact the governor and replenish his supplies.
In the camp, Wang Yuan pointed to the map and said: "The main force of the bandit army is in Bazhou, and has joined forces with the capital commander Sang Yu, deputy commander Zhang Jun, and staff general Wang Cong. It was a big battle involving more than 60,000 troops on both sides.
The two hundred or so of us will not join in the fun."
Zhu Zhi had become much more honest and asked: "Which way does Wang Yushi plan to go?"
"Anqiu," Wang Yuan tapped the map, "according to the battle report, there are more than 10,000 bandits outside Anqiu City. They are the largest bandits south of Bazhou."
"Are we, these two hundred riders, colliding directly with more than ten thousand thieves and bandits?" Zhu Cong, a hundred households, suddenly spoke up, with a hint of fear of the enemy in his words.
Wang Yuan explained with a smile: "The more than 10,000 bandits in Anqiu County were only 4,000 or 5,000 a few days ago. Moreover, these 4,000 to 5,000 bandits also appeared suddenly. The bandits that are truly capable of fighting can be as strong as
How many? More than 80% of them are young men who have been brought in recently."
Eunuch Zhu Ying was also very worried, fearing that he would cripple the emperor's father's two hundred hearts, so he advised: "Wang Yushi, I think we should be more cautious. Why don't we go directly to Bazhou and join Sang's command over there?
With many officers and troops, our two hundred cavalry can find many opportunities to make achievements."
This eunuch was full of bad intentions and planned to join the army to watch the fun and look for opportunities to lead the two hundred cavalry to steal the glory.
Wang Yuan looked at the three cavalry leaders and found that they were quite moved by the eunuch's proposal.
It's just human nature. Why should we fight tooth and nail when we can row in the water? Why should we risk our lives to achieve success when we can easily gain success?
Wang Yuan suddenly made a troubled expression: "Gentlemen, do you think that I don't want to join the army? Who can't take credit? But why did your majesty give me two hundred cavalry, and why did you order me to go south to intercept it?
The way out? You just want us to go all out! If your Majesty just wants to gain credit for your cavalry, just hand it over to Governor Gu directly. Why do you need to make me the censor in one fell swoop many times?"
The four godsons Zhu Ying, Zhu Zhi, Zhu Cong and Zhu Xiang are silent.
Wang Yuan added: "If we join the army, Gu Ran can get a lot of credit, and there is no danger. But do you really dare to ask for this kind of credit? Your Majesty is not happy after taking the credit. I feel very sad.
Afraid, are you afraid?"
Of course, the eunuchs are mainly based on the emperor's wishes. Zhu Ying first expressed his position: "But it is up to the king and censor to make the decision."
Zhu Zhi carefully weighed the gains and losses, and felt that no matter how great his achievements were, they could not compare with the favor of the emperor's father. He immediately led two brothers and knelt down on one knee and said: "Please give the order, Wang Yushi, I will go through fire and water, and we will not give up!"
"That's right," Wang Yuan smiled and helped them up. "Although there are more than ten thousand thieves, but we work together, why worry about not being able to defeat the enemy?"
So, Wang Yuan led 200 cavalry, dozens of sentinels, and hundreds of civilians, and charged directly towards the more than 10,000 rebel troops.
Wu Liande led the sentinel to set off early, and sent someone back two days later to report: "Anqiu County has been besieged for five days. The bandits have attacked the city wall several times, but were all defeated by the government and civilian defenders. The bandits have hundreds of cavalry.
The rest are all infantry and have very few weapons and armor, and many bandits still use hoes and kitchen knives to fight."
"mob!"
Wang Yuan sneered and said: "Leave the civilian husband behind, take the whole army with three days' rations, and follow me to kill the enemy overnight!"
Two hundred cavalry were immediately mobilized.
Zhu Zhi was unsure. No matter how rubbish the opponent was, there were still more than 10,000 people. How could he fight against his 200 cavalry?
"Supervisor, do you really want to fight?" Zhu Zhi quietly found Zhu Ying, "I'm not afraid of death, I'm afraid that the emperor's cavalry will be defeated, and then you and I will all suffer."
Zhu Ying was also very guilty, but he had to figure it out. The emperor's father was determined to fight a tough battle. He touched his fake beard and scolded righteously: "Commander Zhu, I am not afraid of an eunuch without eggs. You
What else can you have to worry about? Your Majesty has raised you to wait for two hundred horses for several years, but have you ever deducted military pay? You have meat every day! You have raised an army for a thousand days, and you can repay your kindness only today, so you must not be timid in the slightest!"
Zhu Zhi cursed in his stomach and said bravely: "I just want to die, and I will definitely live up to the emperor's kindness!"
Zhu Zhi went back to discuss with the two brothers, but they all became uneasy.
But there is no way, Wang Yuan is the commander-in-chief, and they act according to the emperor's wishes. If they dare to obey the emperor's will and avoid the enemy in front of the battle, even if they can survive on the battlefield, they will be worse than dead when they return to the leopard room.
"Brother, don't think too much," Zhu Xiang advised, "If Wang Yushi is not afraid of the number one scholar, what should we, the warriors, be afraid of? If we can accompany Wang Yushi to death, we will have made a profit. He died as a number one scholar, we
The only ones who died were a few fighting men. Is this the truth?"
Zhu Zhi finally broke the pot and took the risk. He gritted his teeth and said, "Then let's fight. Damn it, two hundred against ten thousand, I don't know how many of them will survive!"