Late Tang Dynasty Floating Life

Chapter 455 Desolation
On May [-]th in the third year of Dashun, it was sunny.

Gao Renhou raised his head with a heavy heart, and looked eastward.

He is from Xuzhou, but spent the most turbulent ten years in his life in Sichuan.

He has feelings for that fertile land, and when he looked at the land of Henan in front of him, he actually found some vague similarities.

Similarly, there are continuous mountains, vast fields, hills and plains side by side.

But it seems to be different.

In the middle of Sichuan, there are smoked villages like weaving, where people and smoke converge. When the south wind blows, the rice flowers pitch up, and the wind moves the forest.

Henan is a dilapidated village with no one inhabited. When the south wind blows, the decaying grass rises and falls, and vampires loom.

It has always been the rise and fall, the success of the Central Plains, and the failure of the Central Plains.

In this vast and vast land, there are countless heroes who are powerful, and how many heroes are crying and laughing.

The various deeds they left behind may make future generations admire, or make future generations sigh.

Today, maybe I am also writing history?

With a "crash", a carp jumped out of the river.

Gao Renhou grinned unconsciously.

Less than a year has passed, and the western half of Henan Province has become a wasteland.

Well, maybe it was half deserted already.

During the Kaiyuan period, there were nearly 20 households and 120 million people in Henan Province. After repeated devastation, there were only 30 households and less than [-] people left.

Last year, more than [-] people were kidnapped, so it is strange that they are not desolate.

Gao Renhou boarded a high slope, overlooking the whole land.

On the post road, [-] infantry of Qingtang Capital, who acted as the vanguard, were marching.

The team can't see the end at a glance, there are many flags, and the horns are bursting.

The internal and external appearance of this army has faded away from the remnants of Tubo, and it is getting closer and closer to a Central Plains war army.

Training methods, Central Plains, equipment, Central Plains, drum horn orders, Central Plains.

Tactical style of play, with his boss, is it still not possible for Tubo to play?

Some people said that this army is unreliable, Gao Renhou just smiled.

In fact, the Tibetans from Qingtang were not so cunning, nor so deviant. To some extent, they could even be said to be obedient and honest, hard-working.

The Heyuan Army and the Jishi Army were only established for two years, and they moved to Qingtang as soon as they were formed, and they moved to Huazhou as soon as the garrison period was over, and there was no time for reorganization.And there are many veterans in the interior, and they are more thoughtful in fighting, so I will be the first to receive the reward.Such an army is unreliable!

The same reward for a piece of money, the effect of giving the old oil in the feudal town is completely different from the effect of giving the bitter Qingtang Tubo soldiers.

In the distance, there are Bianjun Rangers appearing.

Xia Jun's cavalry, who was moving with the army, immediately pounced on him and drove him away.

Gao Renhou got off the high slope and got on his horse.

In the past entire winter and spring season, the rangers of the two sides have gone back and forth on this land for countless times.

The situation on Bianjun's side is basically clear. To put it simply, there is one sentence: the barriers are strict.

It doesn't take long to build a city.

During the reign of Emperor Dezong, Yanzhou City was built, and more than 6000 troops were mobilized to stand ready. Masters from the mainland took the opportunity to build the city. "It was built with slabs, and 20 people served." It took only [-] days to build Yanzhou City.

When Murong Chui withdrew his troops from Canhebei, he built Yanchang City, mobilized 1 people, and completed the city building in one month.

Although such a city cannot be compared with the fortified city of Xin'an County, it is more than enough as a military fortress.

The Bian army has basically restored the original density of a village in twenty miles, but of course it is limited to the vicinity of important post roads.

There is no need to worry about places that are not post roads.

When the army is dispatched, it is impossible to choose a route at will.At the beginning of the construction of post roads, military purposes were originally considered. There are usually water and forests next to them, and they can pass baggage vehicles.

You deviate from the post road, maybe a small army is fine, but what if there is no water source when the army is dispatched?What if there are no trees to chop wood for?What if the large vehicles cannot pass?
In the afternoon, five thousand troops arrived near Shihaozhai.The banner of the Bian Army was flying on the top of the city, but they did not fight.

While Gao Renhou sent people back to report, he ordered the soldiers to set up camp.

Shihaozhai is a must pass, and it must be attacked.

Judging from the scale of this stockade, it is not very big, and it should be able to station more than 1000 soldiers and horses.The walled city was also built in winter and spring, unlike a serious city, it shouldn't be too difficult to attack.

After nightfall, Heluo Youyi's attack envoy Bai Gui led [-] cavalry to the forward camp.

Unlike the Iron Cavalry Army and Flying Bear Army, this is a military cavalry that is used intensively.

They set off from Xiashi County, and theoretically speaking, they could spend two days all the way to the vicinity of Xin'an County.

But generally you don't do this, because it consumes too much horsepower, and you won't be able to fight on the ground.

Most of the time, they are the object of ridicule by the infantry, because they walk with their horses, and they don't ride when they have horses.No matter where you go, you can't do without a large carriage, and the marching speed is even slower than that of infantry.

Endurance is not enough, but I have explosive power!

"General Gao, quickly prepare some water." Bai Gui yelled as soon as he got off his horse.

Gao Renhou looked at the sealed horse, and immediately asked the auxiliary soldiers to prepare horse feed and salt water without saying a word.

These war horses have been bred and like to eat food, mainly bean cakes.

I heard that the horses bred by Ma Zheng to eat grain for generations have shorter intestines than the grass-eating horses, so I don't know whether it is true or not.

The auxiliary soldiers were busy nervously.Loosen the girths of the horses, and take them for a few laps to cool off the sweat.

Some cavalry saw the clumsiness of the auxiliary soldiers, so anxious to take care of the horses themselves.

After working until midnight, most of the cavalry took a nap.

Bai Gui also woke up from a nap, looked up at the position of the silver moon in the sky, and immediately ordered everyone to get up and mount their horses without saying a word.

They carried hundreds of additional pack horses, full of food and salt, but this was certainly not enough.But, it’s different now from last year. There seems to be a lot of weeds and alfalfa growing in the wild, and Bianjun didn’t know how to do it, and he didn’t clean them up...

The cavalry quietly left the camp, turned south, and disappeared into the night.

……

In Xiashibao, 120 miles east of Shihaozhai, the lights are bright.

Zhang Jiye sat in the barracks, carefully calculating the accounts.

The status of the Youguo Army is getting lower and lower. It used to maintain a little independence, but since it was made a fuss by the Xia bandits last year, its strength has declined and it has been looked down upon more and more.

In this world, it really depends on strength to speak.

It is true that the Youguo Army is not good at fighting, but fortunately, it is good at management and can provide food, grass and equipment to the king of Dongping County.

But last year during the First World War, Xia Jun touched Luoyang, galloped freely, plundered recklessly, and his household registration was suddenly reduced by [-]%. How can he live these days?
In order to prevent the Xia thieves from going east, from Shihaozhai to Xin'an County, the fortress was overhauled, and conscripts were conscripted from Zheng, Hua, Bian and other prefectures.Now the garrison is mostly the Xuanwu Army, and there are very few local soldiers in Henan Prefecture, so they just guard the base camp of Luoyang, and escort the food, grass and equipment, which has been reduced to a dispensable role.

"Couldn't Xia Thief live in peace for a few years?" Zhang Jiye resentfully threw down the writing brush, it's not worth it, he might as well go to sleep!

"General, Hu Shuai ordered someone to send [-] arrows to Mianchi County within three days." A soldier walked in slowly and reported in a soft voice.

Hu Zhen sits in Xin'an and is the commander of all the soldiers and horses in Henan Province, with a high position and authority.

There are more than ten generals under his command, including Ge Congzhou, Huo Cun, Xie Yanzhang, Liu Kangyi, and Yang Shihou, each commanding a number of troops and horses, guarding the Heluo and Ruzhou areas.

Today's battlefield situation is still very different from last year.

From Xiashi to Xin'an, the two hundred miles are almost barren.Last year it was clearing the fields with strong walls, but this year there is no need to clear the fields, because there are no people, and they were all taken away by Xia thieves. The remaining more than [-] households are now mostly concentrated in the east of Xin'an, where they are preparing for the war.

Huguo Village, Mianchi County, Xiashibao, Quemen, Baichaolei, Xin'an County, Badou Mountain and other dangerous areas were all built fortifications and deployed large soldiers.

Secondary locations such as Shihao Village, Ganhao Village, Tuhao Village, Shuangqiao Village, Qianqiu Pavilion, and Cijian Town were also assigned local soldiers from Henan Prefecture to guard.

On this line, there is not even a single citizen.

This is the northern line, and the southern line is similar, just to let the Xia bandits meet in front of these fortresses and retreat in vain.

Everyone knows that Xia Zei has a lot of cavalry, and now it is necessary to limit the scope of your cavalry's activities.Fortifications layer by layer, let you chew on the fortress one by one.If you dare to give up the city and not attack, and venture deeper, then you can close the door and beat the dog, eat a part, and frustrate Xia thief's spirit.

"Tomorrow, I will take someone to deliver it myself." Zhang Jiye opened his eyes and said.

Hu Zhen, because he is the old man Yuan Cong of the king of Dongping County, is extremely trusted, and he is officially worshiped as Xuanyi Jiedu envoy.But Zhang Jiye felt that his level was not as high as Ge Cong Zhou's, even though he was just a partial general who was still willing to surrender.

"Is the Huazhou Army still in Luoyang?"

"Going back to the general, I haven't left yet. The bandits Xia came very quickly, and the Huazhou army has just received the news, and they are going to leave tomorrow."

The Huazhou Army, that is, the Xuanyi Town Yajun, is small in scale. It originally had more than 1 people, but now there are only [-] left. It is the only army that Hu Zhen can command.

After the king of Dongping County came out of the town of Xuanwu, the first town annexed was Xuanyi Town, and Hu Zhen was later named Jiedushi.

If one had to rank the Xuanwu army system, the Duke of Dongping would naturally be the boss, and Hu Zhen could barely be considered number two.

All power in Xuanyi Town was under the direct management of Bianzhou. Hu Zhen worked hard and built more than 1 troops.However, in the battle of attacking Hedong, all the troops worked hard and failed. The king of Dongping killed two generals, Li Di and Li Chongyin, for an excuse.These two were also generals surrendered by Shang Rang, with many soldiers and horses. At that time, Hua and Zheng Erzhou, who were stationed in Xuanyi Town, had a close relationship with Hu Zhen, and they were also under his command in name.

But after the two died, the troops were taken away and the generals were reappointed. Hu Zhen's strength at hand suddenly decreased a lot, only five thousand were left, and now he was sent to Henan Mansion.

It is said that Wang Xiong of Dongping County is suspicious, and it is indeed not groundless.

Hu Zhen has always been obedient, and he has no financial power in Xuanyi. He can't even appoint a governor. The food and salaries of more than 1 troops are also provided by Bianzhou. The result is still suspected. Li Di and Li Chongyin were killed. Word?

Now he is going to the Henan Mansion to fight against Xia Bandit again, fearing that he will lose all his last bit of money.Could it be that this is what Duke Dongping wants to see?
What a bird!Zhang Jiye sighed, a little helpless.

(End of this chapter)