Lord: Start with a book of Water Margin

Chapter 512 Allocation
Looking at the empty camp, Song Jiang decided to go all out. He sent a message to Di Lei, the "Ai Ye Leopard", who was supporting him from behind, and asked them to gather their troops and march quickly with their mouths held high to attack the main camp of the Lingzhou army two miles away.

Because Zengtou City's stronghold was at the forefront, Lingzhou's stronghold was lax in its defense, allowing Song Jiang to lead [Pan Hai Long] Qin Hui, [Ba Shan Xiong] Zhao Fu, [Ai Ye Bao Zi] Di Lei to attack Lingzhou's stronghold in one fell swoop, setting fire to the food and fodder tents. The soldiers in the stronghold were frightened and could not restrain themselves. They shouted together, overturned the fences, and fled for their lives.

At dawn, Shan Tinggui and Wei Dingguo counted the troops and found that only 3,000 of the tens of thousands escaped. Fortunately, their trusted 500 [Black Armored Soldiers] and 500 [Divine Fire Soldiers] were safe and sound, without any casualties.

After a surprise attack on the camp, the difference in strength between the two sides became even greater, and Hu Yanzhuo did not dare to fight. He had to gather the troops of Lingzhou, unite them, and retreat to Fengfu.

When Zhao Zhen's army arrived, Laiwu City was already deserted. Not only had the Qingzhou bandits evacuated, but the people and baggage in the city were also gone.

As soon as Zhang Qing's 3,000 troops arrived at Dongchang Prefecture, Zhao Zhen ordered Hu Yanzhuo, Han Tao, Gao Gao, Yao Gang, Shan Tinggui and Wei Dingguo, who had retreated to Fengfu, to lead the remaining 8,000 troops to come.

In the city of Bianjing, the court received documents from Zhao Zhen reporting victory and Hu Yanzhuo requesting reinforcements. There was endless debate in the court.

Zhao Zhen was naturally praised by the court, and promotion was inevitable, because Zhao Zhen had always been a subordinate official, so the focus of the debate was on what position to give Zhao Zhen. Zhao Zhen was now the governor of Liangshan Prefecture, and only the military officer at the first level could be appointed.

Some were appointed as the Pacification Envoy of the Pacification Department, in charge of the military and civilians, handling litigation, finance, military affairs, etc. Some were appointed as the Chief of the Capital Deployment Department, in charge of the military garrison, defense, training, review, rewards and punishments.

After arguing for a while, neither position suited the emperor's wishes. These days, Gao Qiu often talked about Zhao Zhen's great skills in front of the emperor, who was able to subdue an entire state with just one village. He collected a group of imperial fugitives and helped the court to suppress bandits, and he was a rare talent.

After talking so much, the emperor became wary of Zhao Zhen.

Cai Jing said, "Your Majesty, now that Jiedushi Zhao's subordinates have occupied the prefectures and counties of Jingdong and Jingxi, and Song Jiang of Qingzhou has not yet been annihilated, it would be better to set up a recruiting envoy. A temporary post, which can be abolished in the future when the Qingzhou bandits are pacified. When the time comes, Jingdong and Jingxi will select a route and let Jiedushi Zhao take the post of transport envoy, which will also show Your Majesty's great grace."

The emperor said, "What the Grand Tutor said makes sense. I will still ask the Guanglu Temple to select the gold medal, the cover and lining, the imperial wine, the silk, and the palace maids, and I will also select some treasures from the Zuozangku to be given. I heard from the Imperial City Department that Zhao Zhaotaoshi married a beautiful concubine, and she will also be given a birthright."

"Those who have made contributions should be rewarded, and those who have made mistakes should be punished. The court has assigned so many soldiers and horses, but only Zhao Ze's group has made many contributions. When Hu Yanzhuo asked for help last time, he also assigned Gao Ang, the steward of the artillery bureau, to bring artillery to help. Now they are still destroying the army and killing the generals, which is useless. We should issue a written warning. In addition, the two training envoys of Lingzhou and the military commander of Dongchang Prefecture are strictly ordered to return to the command of Zhao Zhaotaoshi, and the Qingzhou war is entirely entrusted to Zhao Zhaotaoshi alone."

Gao Qiu heard this and hurried out to report, "Your Majesty, Zhao Zhaotaoshi has made many contributions and knows Song Jiang and his gang best, which is why he has been able to win battles over and over again. Gao Lian and Yun Tianbiao from the north are blocked by the Zibo River, and Liu Menglong from Jiankang Prefecture will arrive soon. As long as we defeat the Qingzhou pirates entrenched in the Zibo River and attack Qingzhou, we can respond to Zhao Zhaotaoshi from the south."

The emperor asked, "Song Jiang looted Daoyu Village. Liu Menglong only brought 5000 soldiers and 150 large and small ships. Can he be a match?"

Gao Qiu said, "Your Majesty, the water of Zibo River is shallow, and Daoyu Village's sea vessels cannot pass smoothly. The pirate ships on Zibo River are still mainly large and small fishing boats. Liu Menglong is used to water battles, how could he lose to a few fishermen?"

The emperor heard this and said, "Gao Lian is your brother. I have heard you praise him a lot. I hope he can achieve meritorious service soon, so that the general's recommendation will not be in vain."

After the court was dismissed, the emperor sent an official to Liangshan to reward the army with the imperial edict and rewards. In Laiwu City, Zhao Zhen summoned all the generals to discuss matters. Zhao Zhen sat at the head, and Liu Huiniang, Hu Sanniang, Chen Liqing and other female generals lined up behind him.

Sitting in the main seat on the left were nine main generals: Bian Xiang, Yang Zhi, Tang Bin, Wang Tianba, Zhao Xin, Jie Zhen, Jie Bao, Pang Wanchun and Ling Zhen. Behind them were thirteen deputy generals: Huo Wancheng, Wang Liang, Liu Qi, Zhou Jin, Mie Gong, Yang Tengjiao, Wen Zhongrong, Cui Ye, Gao Liangshi, Hua Diao, Lei Jiong, Ji Ji and Yu Baosi.

On the right side of the guest seats were Hu Yanzhuo, Han Tao, Gao Gao, Yao Gang, Shan Tinggui, Wei Dingguo, Zhang Qing, Gong Wang and Ding Desun.

Zhao Zhen saw that everyone had arrived and said, "Generals, I have sent people to find out that Song Jiang has escaped from Zibo River back to Yidu. Do you have any ideas?"

After saying that, Zhao Zhen looked at Hu Yanzhuo and others.

Seeing this, Hu Yanzhuo stood up and bowed, saying, "Sir, I am a defeated general, and I am afraid that the court will transfer me soon. Sir, you are the vanguard of the expedition to the Eastern Capital, and you are in charge of suppressing bandits in the eastern part of Beijing. I am willing to serve you, wait for punishment and make meritorious contributions. When I return to Beijing in the future, I will not be reduced to a commoner."

After hearing this, Shan Tinggui and Wei Dingguo also said that they would make up for their crimes and make meritorious contributions.

Zhang Qing, who came later, also stood up and said, "I will fight under you, sir, so I will listen to you."

Zhao Zhen said: "Although the Qingzhou bandits won for a while, they left Laiwu City and retreated. The reason for this is that I sent people to recapture Mizhou and Weizhou, and another part of the Qingzhou bandits were besieged in Laizhou Ye County. Linqu in Qingzhou was also captured by me. In Linzi in the north, Gao Zhizhou is blocked by the Zibo River. Although he cannot enter Qingzhou, he has dispersed the troops of Qingzhou. As long as Gao Zhizhou in Linzi can contain some of the Qingzhou bandits, the pressure on us will be reduced. Yidu City is strong, and Song Jiang is hiding here. It seems that he will have a decisive battle with us here."

"To eliminate the Qingzhou bandits, the court has allocated many people and troops, and spent a lot of money and food. We should also work hard to eliminate Song Jiang as soon as possible to repay the emperor. You will return to the camp later. Today, we will break camp and rush to Yidu."

"Zhang Qing, Gong Wang, Ding Desun, listen up. You are new here and are the new force. Your unit will be the vanguard."

"Hu Yanzhuo, Han Tao, Gao Ang, Yao Gang, most of you are leading cavalry, so you should form the second group to provide support."

"Shan Tinggui, Wei Dingguo, you two will be the third group. You can only bring three days' rations to attack Yidu. You must not force Song Jiang to divide his troops to rescue Linzi. I will lead the Liangshan army to the rear and transport the baggage."

After hearing this, everyone stood up and bowed their heads to obey the order.

As Zhao Zhen requested, all the camps handed over all the baggage to the Liangshan army, then broke camp and marched towards Yidu along the official road.

(End of this chapter)