weaving

On the third day of September, another horse team of hundreds of people came galloping. They didn't stop until outside the shooting bridge. A thick and big man rode on the horse and asked with a smile: "Brother, Lord Tiger now where?"

The little leader in charge of patrol stepped forward and replied with a smile: "Yo, it's Master Shan."

After that, he waved his finger and pointed behind him, and said: "Our general just returned from here, and the Chinese army is located in that ruined temple that is only three hundred."

Master Shan didn't talk nonsense with him, he whipped his horse and ran over, leaving only one sentence: "Brothers will be treated to wine some other day."

The little boss seemed to respect Shan Ye quite a bit, he looked at the cloud of smoke and dust that was fading away for a long time.

After a while, the hundreds of horses stopped in the midst of the intruders outside the shooting bridge. After the leader of the bandit general got off his horse, a bandit soldier rushed over, took the reins of the horse, and said with a smile: " What kind of wind is this, it brought Master Shan here."

Shan Ye also greeted him with a smile, then went straight to the Chinese army in the ruined temple, along the way, people came up to greet him from time to time, it seemed that he and Li Guo's soldiers were very familiar.

Accompanied by a small leader of the soldiers, Shan Ye walked into the main hall of the ruined temple. Although it was a little dilapidated, it was very clean and tidy.

"A Tiger" Li Guo, very similar to his uncle Chuangwang Li Zicheng, is not very ostentatious, and can even be said to be very simple and plain.

Take this Chinese army as an example. Yang Chengzu of Cao Ying bought a rich mansion in Sheqiao as his Chinese army, but Li Guo tried his best not to disturb the people of Sheqiao. Set up his own army in this ruined temple.

Moreover, there is no trace of luxury in the Chinese military tent, only a few desks and wooden chairs, and a desk by the window, and a sketch of the surrounding terrain on the side wall.

Shan Ye entered the main hall, walked quickly to the middle, bent down and said: "Tong Shoushan, the deputy commander of the left post of the front battalion, pays homage to General Li."

…………

It turned out that this mountain master was Tong Shoushan, the former sentry chief of Zhang Cheng, the deputy commander of the election. Since the Luoyang city was broken last year, he led more than [-] elite cavalry under his command to vote for the King of Chuang in Luoyang.

At that time, King Li Chuang, although his thieves had expanded to tens of thousands, were almost all newly recruited farmers. Fight against the army.

But at this time, the only elites around Li Zicheng, the Chuang Wang, were the one thousand or so people who were brought out from Shangluo Mountain in Shaanxi. Army only.

It is precisely because of this situation that as soon as Li Zicheng entered Henan, he immediately contacted and recruited many bandits in western Henan, such as Yidougu, and other thieves took refuge in King Chuang.

Li Zicheng also performed very well. In addition to reorganizing the teams of various bandits, he still let them continue to lead each of them, but he only asked them to abide by the military regulations of breaking into the army.

At the same time, he also gave more preferential treatment to those officers and soldiers at all levels who surrendered from the official army, and did not completely disrupt them, but still asked the officers to lead the original team.

And when he distributed money, grain and military pay in full, he paid more attention to military regulations and military discipline. Therefore, whether it was bandits or officers, after being attached to Li Zicheng, their combat effectiveness has been greatly improved.

These were also the main force for his attack on Kaifeng. However, the defeat of Kaifeng almost interrupted Li Zicheng's path to rise, but the tenacity he had honed over the past ten years played a role again at this moment.

Li Zicheng was not discouraged because of this, he has been dormant in Funiu Mountain for more than half a year, besides stepping up training the bandit soldiers, he also did three things.

One of them took over the Cao camp of another thief, Kou Luo Rucai, and combined them into one, which strengthened their own strength and momentum; A certain tacit agreement was reached among several local powerful armed forces.

Now, he is already a strong soldier, with more than [-] fine cavalry and nearly [-] infantry under his command. This has restored his confidence, and he is planning to completely defeat Fu Zonglong and Yang Wenyue's army, so that he can besiege Kaifeng again.

Tong Shoushan is also doing well in the camp now. He was assigned under the command of Liu Fangliang, the white horse and silver spear, so he did not participate in the first siege of Kaifeng, so he was able to keep his subordinate Jingqi. suffered losses.

Afterwards, he was ordered to lead a team to hunt food. Tong Shoushan upheld Zhang Cheng's teachings, and before he received Zhang Chengxin's instructions, he was a real thief.

Not only should he act like a real thief, attacking the city and looting land for the Chuangjun, but also try his best to express himself, strive to gain the trust of Chuangwang Li Zicheng, and even mix into his circle.

In this way, it will be of great use in the future, and you can better protect yourself!
Tong Shoushan led more than [-] old subordinates under his command, as well as stragglers and Xinyong assigned to him, and hunted grain everywhere in Song County, Yiyang, Lushan, and Nanzhao around Funiu Mountain.

He even went out to collect grain in Yuzhou, where Li Hao was entrenched, and Xiangcheng, where Liu Xuan was entrenched, and even went to Nanyang Prefecture for activities as far as possible, and went to Yanshi and Xingyang many times to inquire about information.

As Tong Shoushan went out to hunt for food, he broke through the strongholds of the gentry everywhere. In addition to bringing back money and food, he also recruited many young men, and his team grew stronger. It once grew to five or six thousand people. China is already a force to be reckoned with.

Although, according to the rules among the rogues, each team is free to develop, and the money and food obtained by breaking the village fortress will be returned to the public, but the young men who are ensnared will naturally stay in the team to supplement their own battle losses.

However, Tong Shoushan also knew that he was a newly recruited officer, and he was also afraid that if he appeared too quickly, his situation would become very embarrassing. Once he became the center of everyone's attention, it would not be conducive to his activities.

Therefore, in order not to attract too much attention, he always selects strong young men and some skilled people to stay in the camp. Of course, he will not let out war horses and mules.

Up to now, Tong Shoushan's troops have less than 2000 troops, of which there are about 400 cavalry, and the rest are all infantry. However, there are more than [-] horses and mules in his camp.

Moreover, although there are not many soldiers in his battalion, they are all capable and fierce. Most of them are deserters from the officers and soldiers from various places, as well as elite soldiers raised privately in the powerful fortresses in various places.

Even if there are some useful craftsmen such as blacksmiths, carpenters, and doctors, as well as a few literate scholars, they are all in good health, and those grooms who are responsible for raising horses are all young and strong.

One thing that is quite special is that the soldiers' families in Tong Shoushan's battalion are much less than those in other battalions!

According to his own explanation, most of the soldiers in the battalion were deserters. They had already lost contact with their families after they fought in various places.

But in order not to make the few veterans who broke into the camp suspicious, he even took the initiative to send the few family members of the soldiers in the camp into the old camp of the broke into the army.

Moreover, not long ago, he held a happy event, marrying a woman captured from Luyang Pass as his wife. The banquet was held for three days, which was very lively.

For this reason, he even set up an old battalion in his battalion on the grounds that he was newlywed and couldn't bear to be separated, to house the dependents of the soldiers in the battalion.

King Chuang even showed his kindness by sending back his relatives who had been sent to the old camp before, so that he could not only show his trust in him, but also enable the soldiers in his camp to meet with relatives often, which can be said to kill two birds with one stone.

But since then, Tong Shoushan has become more cautious. He has greatly reduced the number of activities to Yanshi, Xingyang, etc., and he has tried his best not to contact Chen Zhong any more, and only concentrates on being a camp leader.

And now Tong Shoushan has been included in the camp of the young general Zhang Nai, and has become Zhang Nai's deputy in the camp.

…………

When Li Guo saw Tong Shoushan, he also smiled and said: "Why is Tong Zhangqi so clichéd, come and sit down, drink some rough tea to quench your thirst."

After Tong Shoushan sat down, Li Guo asked, "Why didn't Zhang Nai come first? Isn't that incompatible with his temper?"

"Ha ha……"

Tong Shoushan laughed heartily, and the beard on his face trembled with his unrestrained laughter. He only heard him laughing and said: "The flag holder wants to come for a kiss, but I'm not one step ahead. Zhang Nai led the way." With 3000 men and horses behind, it is estimated that we will arrive at Sheqiao within two days."

Li Guo also smiled and said, "Forget it. Zhang Nai has such a quick temper, you still have to sharpen him, Old Tong."

"Hahaha……"

For several days in succession, the men and horses of the Chuang and Cao battalions also rushed to the Sheqiao area one after another. They were all stationed in various places around the Sheqiao according to the places assigned in advance.

On the one hand, Li Guo sent people to continue collecting food from the wealthy households in the surrounding areas, and on the other hand, he distributed some of the military food in his hands to help the hungry people in the surrounding areas, in order to spread the reputation of King Chuang in southern Henan.

With the continuous dispatch of detailed missions, in-depth investigations inside and outside Xincai City, coupled with the news from the surrounding people, they have a very clear grasp of the movements of the officers and soldiers at the moment.

On the fifth day of September, Li Guo had already learned that the officers and soldiers were stationed near Longkou Town, and was afraid that the officers and soldiers would continue northward to Xiangcheng.

He hurriedly transferred Liu Tichun, Ma Shiyao and other generals, led about [-] infantry and a small number of cavalry, and rushed to Yangbu, the ferry of Honghe, more than [-] miles northwest of Longkou Town.

In order not to lose the military opportunity, Li Guo even stipulated that Liu Tichun and Ma Shiyao must arrive before the evening of today, and act according to the plan.

That night, Li Guo, together with Yang Chengzu, Zhang Nai, Tong Shoushan and others, led thousands of elite cavalry and more than ten thousand infantry, quietly crossed the Rushui River and headed north towards Mengjiazhuang.

Under his strict order, all the mules and horses in the army took off their copper bells, and they were not allowed to speak loudly, let alone light lanterns and torches.

When the team just set off, there was still a crescent moon to illuminate the way for everyone, but not long after, that crescent moon also fell, and the cavaliers of Chuangcao Lianjun continued to hurry on their way under the late autumn stars.

…………

At dawn on the [-]th day of September, the smoke around Longkou town rose straight up to the sky. The officers and soldiers of each battalion had a full meal, then crossed the Hong River again, and marched along the west bank in two routes to Runing Mansion in the northwest.

Although all the generals in the army were timid to fight, but because of Fu Zonglong's persistence, he always called the "imperial decree", so no one dared to say anything at this moment.

Even the governor Yang Wenyue kept silent, not saying a word, for fear of being punished for it!
Tens of thousands of officers and soldiers traveled northwest for more than ten miles, and a scout from the front came to report: "More than ten thousand bandits are preparing to cross the Hong River."

After a while, there was an urgent report from the scouts: "Half of the bandits have crossed the flood river..."

After a while, the third urgent report from Tanma came back: "Third stop of bandits, the second stop has been passed..."

The governor of the three sides, Bo Zonglong, was not convinced until this time that the intruders were going to cross the Hong River, and then went south to detour to besiege Runing Prefecture.

However, he mistakenly thought that the intruders were afraid to fight against him and Yang Wenyue's officers, so he chose to take a detour to Runing Prefecture, in order to avoid the sharp edge of the officers.

So he had an urgent discussion with the governor Yang Wenyue: "Should we immediately pursue the intruder? While he has just crossed the river and his position is not stable, defeat him in one fell swoop!"

However, Yang Wenyue was very hesitant. He stroked his beard and said, "Let's take another look, Fu Du!"

Fu Zonglong seemed to be a little anxious, and he said confidently: "Now there is no need to look at it anymore, it is just taking him halfway to attack him, so that he can't take care of both the head and the tail.

If all the thieves and bandits have crossed the river and formed a formation, it will not be so easy to win with one blow. "

After saying that, Fu Zonglong shouted loudly: "The whole army is rushing forward, taking advantage of the bandits' halfway crossing, and their foothold is not stable, they will be drummed down, and the bandits must not be allowed to escape!"

All the generals were worried in their hearts whether they would fall into the tricks of the thief general Li Guo, but they only dared to discuss in private, none of them dared to publicly report their worries to Governor Fu Zonglong.

After all, everyone is afraid of being guilty of "cowardly before the battle"!
However, when the officers and soldiers rushed all the way and chased to the Honghe Ferry, they discovered that the bandits crossing the other side of the Hong River were actually only a small part, and most of the bandits were still stationed on the bank of the Hong River.

Maybe it was because they were preparing to cross the river. Their formation was already scattered, and there was no obvious boundary between the teams, and they looked very flustered.

Fu Zonglong was also very surprised at the beginning. He was afraid that there would be so many bandits who hadn't crossed the river.

However, he was quite relieved that the bandits who had not crossed the river seemed to be frightened by the sudden arrival of the officers and soldiers. They did not dare to fight the officers and soldiers, and fled westward in panic as soon as they saw the officers and soldiers coming.

At this time, the bandit soldiers who had already crossed the Hong River were dismantling the floating bridge built on the Hong River in a panic on the opposite bank. This was clearly a manifestation of fear of the officers and soldiers crossing the river to pursue them.

Seeing this situation, Governor Fu Zonglong couldn't help but increase his confidence in defeating the bandits in one fell swoop!

At the same time, since the pontoon bridge on the Hong River has been dismantled and blocked by the bandits on the opposite bank, the bandits on both sides of the river can no longer communicate with each other.

Fu Zonglong looked at all this, regardless of whether the officers and soldiers under his command were afraid or not, he immediately issued a strict order: "All soldiers of the army, chase west immediately, and no "thief" is allowed to escape; Don't care, try your best to kill the bandits who haven't crossed the river."

He even encouraged the soldiers of the three armies to say: "You must take advantage of the panic of the bandits and wipe them out in one fell swoop. Make this great contribution to the court and get rid of this confidant's trouble for the Central Plains!"