A thousand-year-old family that began with the Battle of Makino

Chapter 921: The enemy is coming, and the head is deposited in the siege of Songcheng

May 14

The Yi army and Xuanren army were still fighting fiercely about ten miles southeast of Xiangyi.

Xuanren's army was an elite force, and the rebels attacked all day long but were unable to break through the defense line.

The 40,000 men led by Huang Cun and Lin Yan who were wandering on both sides of the Bian and Huan rivers were afraid that Xuanren's army would attack them halfway across the river, so they never found a chance to cross the river and attack the city, and the war came to a stalemate.

In the rebel camp, Huang Chao sat in the main seat, with commanders and captains standing in scattered positions. Outside the camp, there was still a group of people attacking the Xuanren army's camp outside the city, and the sound of fighting could be faintly heard in the military tent.

"How is the war going over there, General?"

Hearing Huang Chao's question, Shang Rang, who had rushed back from Meng Zhuze, replied: "The general has been besieging Songcheng for ten months, but is still blocked outside the city and cannot advance a single step."

The reason why Shang Rang answered was because he was the military supervisor appointed by Wang Xianzhi in Huang Chao's army.

Although Shang Rang was on good terms with Huang Chao, Wang Xianzhi was the leader of the rebel army after all, and he was the younger brother of Wang Xianzhi's confidant Shang Junchang, so he still had concerns about many things.

Hearing that Wang Xianzhi had not yet taken Songcheng, Huang Chao said irritably: "Is the Xuanwu Army so difficult to defeat?"

All the generals were silent. In the past few days, all of them had fought against Xuanren’s army and knew the huge difference between professional soldiers and their peasant army.

Not only in martial arts and war experience, but also in equipment and logistics.

Others all have standard steel knives, refined iron, complete armor and stomach, eat well, and are tall and strong.

As for his side? Except for a small number of elite personal soldiers, captains, and commanders who could eat three meals a day with meat, most of the others could only eat two meals a day, and most of them were porridge and wild vegetables.

Not to mention the weapons and armor, most of which were looted from the arsenals of counties and state capitals. There were all kinds of styles, and there were no military craftsmen, so if they were damaged, they were broken.

As a result, many soldiers had no armor at all, and their weapons were of various kinds, with farm tools accounting for the majority.

Just as the generals were dwelling on the huge gap between the enemy and us, a scout rushed into the tent in a hurry: "Report, commander-in-chief, enemy reinforcements are here."

Huang Chao stood up suddenly and asked anxiously, "Where did the reinforcements come from?"

The scout replied, "The enemy is coming from Bianzhou, all cavalry. We brothers dare not approach. From a distance, we can see that there are no less than a thousand of them. They are rushing towards us along the north bank of the Bian River. Commander Huang Cun ordered me to report immediately."

"Cavalry?" Huang Chao's face changed drastically.

"Captain, we can't fight anymore. Let's retreat quickly. If we are caught by the enemy cavalry, the whole army will be wiped out."

In the tent, Zhu Wen also realized that something was wrong. Regardless of his own lack of experience, he immediately made suggestions to Huang Chao.

"Yes, yes, yes. Retreat. Pass the order down. The whole army should break camp and head south. Cross the Huan River and head south to avoid the enemy's cavalry."

"Order, Commander Huang Cun to find an opportunity to cross the Bian River to the south and catch up with the main army."

"Order Huang Gui to lead 10,000 men to garrison the main camp, to support Huang Cun's troops on the north bank of the Bian River to the north, and to prevent Xuanren's troops from attacking from the Xiangyi City to the west."

"Order, Zhu Cun, lead your troops to build a bridge across Huanshui River immediately."

"Order, Lin Yan immediately leads his troops to the south bank to support the other armies."

Although Huang Chao was briefly panicked, he soon calmed down, issued orders one by one, and the troops retreated southward in an orderly manner.

As for protecting Wang Xianzhi's left wing, it was too late. It knew very well that the cavalry was invincible south of the Yellow River.

Take himself for example. He had 100,000 men under his command, but only 300 cavalrymen, and most of them were used as scouts to detect the enemy's situation.

"All the troops must retreat to the south bank of Huanshui River before tonight. There must be no mistakes."

"Order."

Thirty miles northwest of Xiangyi, on a shallow beach on the north bank of the Bian River, thousands of war horses were scattered nearby, casually chewing the green grass on the shore.

Under a big tree, several officers gathered together, looking at the cowhide military map in the hands of the leading general.

They were the cavalry division that went south to assist Bai Haoyuan, the governor of Songzhou, in defeating the bandits under the order of Bai Yi, the governor of Xuanwu Army. With 3,000 cavalrymen, they could have been set up as an army long ago, but because they were under the Xuanwu Army, they could only be called a division.

"Commander-in-chief, six bandit cavalrymen appeared nearby just now. We killed five of them and made one run away. The bandits must know we are here. Should we gather our brothers and move forward immediately?"

Yu Shaoyi, the left wing commander of the cavalry, suggested this.

Li Kerang in the crowd chuckled and said, "No need to do that. Our army's target is not Huang Chao's troops in Xiangyi, but the bandit leader Wang Xianzhi in Songcheng."

"Let Huang Chao live a few more days. Once we catch Wang Xianzhi, will Huang Chao still be able to escape?"

"The commander-in-chief has a brilliant idea." Yu Shaoyi said with admiration.

Li Kerang looked around at the leisurely knights and horses and asked, "Have the brothers and horses rested well?"

Yu Shaoyi replied: "I started to rest two hours ago and have finished it long ago."

"Very good. The distance from here is only a hundred miles. Tell the brothers to make a concerted effort. In the next period of time, we should change horses but not men. Let these Cao thieves see what cavalry is."

"Yes."

At Li Kerang's command, the originally scattered cavalry gathered together and formed two rows on horseback.

Each of them rode two horses. The horses were fat and strong, and they were first-rate good horses. They were all purchased by Bai Yi from Daibei, Hebei, Saibei and other places.

It took several years to build this elite cavalry.

"Brothers, let's go!!"

The rumbling sound of horse hooves could be heard, and soon they arrived in the north of Xiangyi.

Huang Cun's troops, who had not yet completed their retreat from the north bank, were tensely forming a battle formation to defend themselves, but they saw this group of cavalrymen ignore them and just pass by their own formation.

It's as if they are not enemies at all.

"Commander-in-chief, the enemy cavalry did not stop and went directly to the east."

At the ferry on the north bank of the Huanshui River, Huang Chao watched the soldiers slowly crossing the river while listening to the military reports from the scouts.

"East?" Huang Chao muttered to himself, then his face changed and he said, "Not good, they are not coming for us, they are coming for the general."

"Come here, send a fast horse to report to the general immediately. Three thousand enemy cavalry will soon arrive at Songcheng. Please be careful."

After the scouts left, his nephew Lin Yan came over and asked, "Uncle, since the enemy cavalry has left, should we continue to attack Xiangyi?"

Shaking his head, Huang Chao said: "No, the enemy cavalry is heading towards Songcheng, and the army may change. We should think of a way to retreat."

"Send an order, order Huang Gui and Zhu Cun to lead 20,000 men to station at the main camp of Xiangyi to contain the Xiangyi government troops, and the rest of the troops to station south of the Huan River, with baggage and food supplies stationed on the south bank."

In Songcheng, Wang Xianzhi sent out all of his 150,000 troops to surround it.

Songcheng was more than twice as large as Xiangyi, and could easily accommodate 10,000 soldiers of the Xuande Army for defense, making it impregnable.

Moreover, Songcheng faces the water, so the Xuande army only needs to focus on defending the west, north and east sides.

There was an unnamed hill outside the city. Wang Xianzhi stood there and looked at the Song City in the distance. The sound of fighting was endless.

Soon, the rebels who were originally clinging to the city wall like ants dropped their weapons and retreated.

Wang Xianzhi looked unhappy, stamped his feet, and shouted to his left and right:
"Useless, all of them are useless. The small city of Song couldn't even capture the outer city in a few months. Can it be said that its fortification can be compared with Pengcheng and Yangdi?"

The generals on both sides did not dare to reply. Wang Xianzhi snorted coldly and ordered: "Attack again."

"I just don't believe it. Are the Xuande troops all made of iron? Don't they need to rest? I have plenty of people."

"Yes."

(End of this chapter)