Lin'an Never Night

Chapter 845: Throwing away the burden, making a feint to the east and attacking in the west, a surprise attack, a false attack

Yang Yuan brought Yang Shou to the Jiji Village.

He left Wu Youyao and Chunwu Xiaonai at the foot of the mountain to provide support.

Xin Qiji led his men out of the shed to greet them, but the leaders' expressions were not very friendly.

Although they had smiles on their faces, there was a hidden sense of alienation.

Yang Yuan understood the reason for their attitude.

Ordinary rebel soldiers would not understand, and the leaders would not let them understand.

But before this, these rebel leaders had more or less judged that the Song Dynasty court had used them and then abandoned them.

Traitors are more hateful than enemies. How could they possibly trust the envoys from the State of Song who suddenly arrived?

However, without trust, Yang Yuan, a parachuted introductory figure, would not be able to make this rebel army act according to his wishes.

Therefore, the first thing he had to solve was the issue of trust.

As soon as he saw Xin Qiji, Yang Yuan narrowed his eyes slightly.

Xin Qiji was tall and strong. Even though all the rebel leaders were unruly and some of them were as tall as Xin Qiji, Yang Yuan still recognized him at a glance.

Compared to the last time we met briefly in Jinan Prefecture, Xin Qiji's expression was less naive.

Young people who have just reached their twenties are more calm and solemn than their peers.

"You are..."

When Xin Qiji saw Yang Yuan, he was a little surprised for a moment.

He felt that the man in front of him looked familiar, but for a moment he did not connect him with the legendary messenger who had turned the land of Qi and Lu upside down and even split the northeast to establish the New Jin.

Yang Yuan smiled slightly: "I am Yang Yuan!"

Yang Shou took a step forward at the right time, his qi sinking into his dantian, sounding sonorous and powerful.

"His Royal Highness the King of Yan of the Song Dynasty has come here in person to lead you back to the Song Dynasty!"

When the leaders heard this, they were stunned.

When they finally came to their senses and welcomed Yang Yuan into the shed, the originally unruly leaders became much more well-behaved.

They really didn't expect that the person sent by the Song Dynasty to pick them up was actually a prince.

The original suspicion and dissatisfaction were swept away in an instant.

This is a prince, he is second only to the emperor!

This is how these rebel leaders understand it.

This shows how much importance the Song Dynasty attached to their rebel army.

A prince of the Song Dynasty was not afraid of risks and went deep behind enemy lines to rescue them. What else could they be dissatisfied about?

Yang Yuan also knew that he would be safer if he concealed his identity.

After all, the rebel army is of mixed quality and has a poor sense of confidentiality.

However, if he did not reveal his identity, it would be difficult to gain the absolute trust of this rebel army.

And Yang Yuan now needs them to recognize him and accept his leadership.

After announcing his identity, the effect was immediate. Yang Yuan sat in the upper seat and had become the center of everyone's attention.

"Your Majesty, this is Jia Rui, the leader of our righteous army. He is a man of great courage and a master of iron."

The name Jia Rui is not surprising, but he is a tall and strong man.

Being praised by Xin Qiji, his dark face couldn't help but turn red. He bowed to Yang Yuan and stammered, "Your Majesty."

"This is Zhang Anguo, a veteran of my Six Thousand Society. When Xin started the rebellion, Brother Zhang made great contributions and is a very important leader in my rebel army."

Yang Yuan smiled and nodded, showing nothing unusual.

He knew about Xin Qiji's heroic feat of riding fifty riders into the Jin camp at night, capturing the rebels and escaping unscathed, but he couldn't remember the name of the NPC-like character who was captured.

"This is Brother Yang Ze, a native of Yunzhong. He led hundreds of warriors to join me after I started the rebellion. He is an expert with a spear and is now a leading figure in our army."

Yang Ze also stood up, clasped his fists in greeting towards Yang Yuan, and called him "Your Majesty".

Yang Yuan looked at his brows and felt a sense of closeness.

Most people who hit it off at first sight can become friends.

Therefore, Yang Yuan gave him a friendly smile and said, "I am also good at spearmanship. If there is a chance, we brothers can have a competition."

Yang Yuan was a prince of the Song State. Before they started the rebellion, most of them were ordinary people.

Seeing Yang Yuan being so friendly to him and calling him "brother", Yang Ze was also very excited. He quickly said a few humble words and then stepped away.

Xin Qiji introduced them one by one. Yang Yuan knew that those who could be introduced by Xin Qiji at this moment were all influential leaders in the rebel army, so his attitude remained humble.

After Xin Qiji finished his introduction, Yang Yuan waved his hand, asked everyone to sit down again, and immediately said frankly: "When I first met Tan Fu in Jinan Prefecture, I knew that this young man would be a man of great achievements in the future.

Originally, I hoped to wait until the imperial army marched into the Central Plains before ordering Tan Fu to start the rebellion. This way, with the support of both inside and outside forces, it would be effective.

Unexpectedly, the battle in Shaanxi was ineffective, and the hundreds of thousands of troops were cut off from retreat, facing the risk of being wiped out.

In desperation, the imperial court could only allow the Shandong rebels to start the uprising ahead of time, thus lifting the siege of Shaanxi.

If it weren't for you leaders, the imperial court's 100,000 troops would not have been able to return safely. You have all made great contributions to our Song Dynasty!"

Yang Yuan knew very well that trust was the most important thing when dealing with these rebel leaders whom he had never dealt with before.

Therefore, he was completely uncovered.

When the leaders heard Yang Yuan frankly acknowledge their contributions and admit that the court had no choice but to use them to start the rebellion in Shandong, the resentment and dissatisfaction in their hearts disappeared.

Yang Yuan continued, "So, the court sent me here to escort the rebels back south, because all of you heroes have made great contributions to our Song Dynasty. You all deserve to return to the Song Dynasty and enjoy the glory you deserve."

For a moment, all the leaders' faces were beaming.

Xin Qiji said: "We are willing to obey the king's orders, but I don't know how the king plans to lead us safely to the Song Dynasty when the Jin thieves are surrounding us."

Yang Yuan said: "The land route is to go south, go out of Shandong East Road, enter Nanjing Road, wait for an opportunity to move to the border between Song and Jin, and then be supported by our border troops, cross the Huai River and go south.

If you go by water... Le'an (Dongying), Penglai, Ninghaizhou (Yantai, Weihai), Jimo (Qingdao), you can go to the sea."

Xin Qiji said: "Your Majesty, if you travel south by land, there will be many dangers along the way.

There is no fighting in Shaanxi now, and the Jin bandits have drawn a large number of troops to station in various places in the eastern part of Shandong, and are pressing forward layer by layer, making it difficult for us to break out."

Shao Jin said: "In fact, our desperate efforts here are also intended to attract the Jin thieves to surround us.

This place is well connected. As long as the Jin thieves are fooled and the army is transferred here, we can break through one point and break out of the encirclement. When their rear is empty, we can smoothly move south."

Zhang Anguo said: "However, the Jin thieves will not be fooled. They are taking every step carefully, hoping to trap us to death. In this way, we will have no chance to take advantage of them."

Yang Ze said: "As for the sea route, it is also difficult to succeed. Since..."

He smiled at Yang Yuan and said, "Ever since you helped Wanyan Lvti and Wanyan Darui to make a feint to the east and attack the west, seize the ships and cross the Liaoyang Shizikou Pass to the north, the Jin thieves are afraid that our Shandong righteous army will imitate what you did in the past, so..." Xin Qiji smiled bitterly and said, "So, according to the information we have obtained, all the merchant ships and fishing boats have been driven away from all the ports that can go out to sea, and all the naval forces in the military ports are on high alert. If we want to seize the ships, it will be difficult to succeed with our men and weapons."

Yang Yuan said: "I don't count on the Jin Kingdom's ships, I have my own ships to pick you up.

However, although my ship can accommodate tens of thousands of troops, the army is bloated and slow in movement, and it is impossible for us to get rid of the Jin thieves and reach the port smoothly. "

Yang Yuan looked at the leaders of the rebel army and said, "So, I need to make some drastic adjustments. I need the rebel army to obey my orders without hesitation. Can you... do that?"

There was silence in the shed for a moment, then Xin Qiji stood up and said, "Your Majesty, as a prince, has risked your life to save me. If I cannot trust you, who else can I trust? I am willing to be your disciple and be at your disposal!"

Zhang Anguo followed closely behind and showed great loyalty.

They are now the two most powerful leaders in the rebel army. When the other leaders saw them, they no longer hesitated and immediately expressed their loyalty.

The next day, the rebel army was ready and went down the mountain.

Yang Yuan met up with Wu Youyao, Tsubakiya Xiaonai and others who had been waiting at the foot of the mountain.

When they went up the mountain before, Yang Yuan deliberately did not take them up the mountain.

Frankly speaking, the military discipline of the so-called volunteer army is not necessarily better than that of the officers and soldiers. Most of the time, it will be worse.

Even though this rebel army was led by Xin Qiji, Yang Yuan did not dare to take too many risks before he knew whether he could prove that they trusted him and would obey his orders.

Taking two beautiful young wives up the mountain to gamble on human nature?

Now, Yang Yuan is confident that he can command this rebel army, so he doesn't need to worry so much.

This time the rebel army went down the mountain in full force, making it clear that they would not come back.

After they came down the mountain, they broke through the weak defense line of the Jin soldiers and launched attacks on villages in Shouguang, Changle and Linqu counties.

At this time, the order to fortify the city and clear the countryside issued by Sadayasenli, the general commander of the Yidu General Administration, had not yet been implemented.

The peasant army preferred to attack fortresses, villages and towns rather than cities.

Because when there is a major chaos, the wealthy and powerful will take their stored food, gold, silver, livestock, and servants and take refuge in the city.

The city had strong walls and was easy to defend but difficult to attack. With the peasant army's shabby weapons and disorganized siege tactics, it was extremely difficult to capture the city.

Therefore, although there are more supplies in the city, it is actually not cost-effective.

Even though most of the peasant army leaders were illiterate, they were able to calculate the accounts clearly.

When the Shandong rebels were at their most violent, they had gathered 70,000 to 80,000 people.

Now, under severe blows, its number has dwindled to less than 20,000.

However, among these 20,000 people, most of those who have combat capabilities have already honed basic combat capabilities and combat experience.

However, these so-called 20,000 people did not actually include 20,000 soldiers.

Because in ancient times, the reason why when an army of rebels formed, they could easily gather an army of more than 100,000 was that many people came to join with their entire families, including the elderly and children.

So just by listening to the number of people, the peasant army easily numbered hundreds of thousands, and the momentum was very terrifying, but in reality, only one-third of the soldiers were combat soldiers, which was still a lot.

Today's peasant army has gotten rid of a large burden after repeated encirclement and fighting by the Jin soldiers.

Even so, there are still seven or eight thousand people in the army, almost half of the army.

When they attacked the villages in Shouguang, Changle and Linqu counties, smoke rose everywhere and refugees scattered.

But this time, the peasant army did not recruit any more able-bodied men. On the contrary, every time they captured a town, their team would lose some men.

The elderly, the weak, women and children, including some young and strong people who were reluctant to be separated from their families, mixed in with the refugees who fled after the battles.

By launching these attacks in the southwest direction, Yang Yuan was getting rid of his burden.

These are the people who have followed the rebels the longest. We cannot get rid of them ruthlessly but need to arrange a way out for them.

Therefore, the attacks on the villages in Shouguang, Changle and Linqu counties achieved two goals at one stroke.

The first was to misjudge the Jin people and make them believe that they wanted to flee south, leave Shandong East Road, enter Nanjing Road, and get closer to the Song Dynasty.

The second is to use these battles to arrange a way out for the rebels and their families who have to travel with their families and find it difficult to move quickly with the main army.

By blending in with the refugees, it was easy for them to wash away the history of having joined the rebel army and avoid being pursued and punished by the Jin people after the war.

This Shandong volunteer army continued to lose weight in such battles, and by the time they made a feint towards Zibo, their strength was less than 6,000.

But these 6,000 soldiers are veterans of the rebel army who have experienced long battles, have no worries, have strong fighting consciousness and rich combat experience.

The number of rebels was reduced by two-thirds, but their overall combat effectiveness and mobility were more than doubled.

Sadayasinli, the chief military officer of the Yidu General Administration Office, and Zhang Ao, the deputy chief military officer, led their troops and chased after the rebels, running around everywhere in a desperate situation.

Just then, they received an urgent military letter from Wengusundu, the commander-in-chief of the Shandong East Route Army.

After seeing the secret signs left by "White Falcon" in the county offices of Shouguang, Changle and Linqu counties, Su Bo Nian of "Neiyinsi" knew that the secret spies of the Song Dynasty had successfully contacted the Shandong rebel army.

The Shandong rebel army was following the escape route planned for them by the Song Dynasty's secret spies, trying to escape from Shandong Road and enter Nanjing Road.

Su Bolun had in his hands three routes to the south revealed to him by the secret spy "White Falcon" who had successfully infiltrated the Song Dynasty from the Jin Dynasty's Xuefutu.

When he was reporting to Zhongdu, he submitted a copy of this route map to Wengusunedu, the commander-in-chief of the Shandong East Route Army.

Wengusun'edu immediately sent a fast horse to inform Sadayasenli and Zhang Ao.

The two generals and deputy generals of the Yidu army learned the true intentions of the rebel army and immediately deployed troops according to Wengusun'edu's arrangements.

The Jin soldiers from Le'an (Dongying), Binzhou, Jinan and Yidu formed a united force and pressed forward towards the rebel army step by step.

They only left one way to go south.

And there, there will be more Jin soldiers, rushing towards the ambush circle urgently, trying to wait for the Shandong volunteers who have "successfully broken through" and excitedly plunge into the encirclement they have set up.

At this moment, the Song army moving towards Zibo suddenly disappeared.

They traveled at night and were originally heading towards Zibo Prefecture, but suddenly left under the cover of darkness.

Overnight, they marched sixty miles and escaped from the encirclement.

When they appeared again, they had already made a surprise attack and appeared again near Yidu (Qingzhou).

The Qingzhou city was short of troops at the moment, as the two generals-in-chief had all led their troops to encircle and suppress the rebel army.

There was a sudden panic in the city, and the officials guarding the city brought all the able-bodied men from the wealthy families who had taken refuge in the city into the city.

These wealthy and powerful people naturally knew that once the city was lost, they would be the ones to suffer.

So they gritted their teeth, their eyes reddened, and vowed to live and die with Qingzhou City.

However, by the time their passion had cooled in the cold wind of early winter, they still did not see any of the rebels attacking the city.

The defenders in the city were at a loss as to what was going on until the next day when they received the news:

The Shandong rebels fired a feint and headed towards Anqiu and Gaomi.

The end of this route is Jiaozhou Bay, which is Jimo (Qingdao).

The Song army is going to escape from the sea!
(End of this chapter)