The Emperor ordered Zhao Tang

Chapter 201 Seesaw (I)

The operation into Bohe River went smoothly.

On the first day of August in the first year of Qianning, the sage stayed at Yubixu.

Zhang Cunjing had no intention of confronting him head-on, and had already withdrawn his main forces to Jin, Yi, Quwo, Jiangxian, Hankou, and Jingshan. He could have fought a field battle, and should have, but it was unnecessary. His mission was to protect Hezhong, not to defeat Li Ni, so why take the risk?

Jincheng, the old Jiang, was the capital of the State of Jin during the Spring and Autumn Period. The city is more than nine li in circumference. There are eight gates. There are beacon towers outside the four cities. The west city is even more terrifying. The sage calculated that the city is about 11 meters wide. There are trenches and moats outside, which are about 20 meters wide and more than 10 meters deep.

There were a lot of strongholds inside and outside - Fighting Cocks Terrace, Dressing Table, Dragon Viewing Pavilion, Moon Viewing Terrace, Shizhuang, Jiuyuan, Fenyang Ridge... After Zhang Ze took office, he reinforced these places together with the main city. He built strongholds where needed, piled up earth where needed, and built military forts where needed. There were chevaux de frise, trenches, and traps everywhere; and he personally took charge.

Facing Li Ni, Zhang Cunjing didn't have much worry.

If they want to fight, let them fight. It's a dream to capture the city with more than 100,000 people. I don't know how many troops will be needed to fill the trenches alone. Besiege the city. If you can besiege it for a year, I will respect you. But even so, he still made sufficient preparations. Moreover, under his leadership, the morale of the bandits was high. He and the Shanzhou camp sent generals to reinforce the defense of Yi, Quwo, Jiang, Hankou, and Jingshan, from south to north, to block the passage of Li the bandit to the east and Shatuo to the south.

Of course, Li Ni probably didn't intend to use force. He was unsure of the threshold of the soldiers and worried that there would be killers like Qi Ze and Liu Zhijun who would cause chaos on the battlefield.

On the second day of the first lunar month, after the attempt to persuade the enemy to surrender failed, the sage discussed with his generals and decided to follow the old plan. The army would surround the city from both sides, and the evil army, corvée laborers, and some foreign soldiers would pile up earth on the city from the east, west, and north, covering up the trenches and rivers.

As for the South City, a narrow path was left to provide support for Zhang the bandit to break out, for deserters to escape, or for people who rebelled and left the city.

At the same time, tunnels were dug and reservoirs were built.

Stockpile smoky combustible materials such as pine needles, reeds, and cypress branches, as well as explosive materials such as sulfur, saltpeter, charcoal, graphite, tung oil, realgar, and honey.

In addition, since the distance was not short, they did not carry too many heavy siege equipment. The army also went out in batches to cut wood and quarry stones, and with the assistance of craftsmen, they made rubble, kerosene tanks, cloud beams, stone cannons and other siege tools - Wang Ke provided some, but it was not enough. Li planned to get a thousand stone cannons, and after seizing control of the trenches, he would drive them to the city and bombard it day and night, causing Zhang the thief to suffer from insomnia.

Take your time and take your time.

The general idea of attack and defense in the cold weapon era was this: consumption, delay, and competition. The Mongols and the Jin fought over Tongguan for more than ten years, and the Battle of Xiangyang between the Mongols and the Song Dynasty lasted for six years. Generally speaking, for a complex defense cluster like Tongguan, Jincheng, and Shanhaiguan, it is really difficult to fight unless the defenders have large-scale riots and are unable to keep food, even if there are only a group of ordinary people in the city.

The imperial court was even more annoyed. Having no food and few soldiers did not mean that they had to surrender.

Zhu Wen attacked Wang's army in Dingzhou and killed tens of thousands of Yiwu troops in the Shahe battle. The remaining killers fled back to their old nest. When they heard that the commander wanted to surrender, they expelled him and appointed a more killer governor to continue the fight. The outer city fell? Fight! The people of Bian reached the inner city? Fight, fight, fight! Zhu was frightened by the other side's will to resist and fled in disgrace.

The sage did not know whether Zhang Cunjing's troops had such a terrifying Stalingrad spirit, but it was not important. The goal was not to besiege the city, but to erode the manpower deployed by the Bian bandits on the periphery and to attack their reinforcements.

After Pingyang was captured, the road ahead would be unobstructed, and they could join forces with their uncle and Wei Bo in Henei, or attack Heyang, or attack Heyin, or attack Pingjin, threatening Zhengzhou and Luoyang with a forced crossing. Secondly, it was said that Zhang's troops numbered more than 50,000 people. If Zhu Wen sat back and watched them fall, even if the pseudo-Liang thief embryo did not depose the fool and establish a wise emperor, his role as a self-made emperor would be over, and everyone could still listen to his orders and eat directly.

He is now able to keep his composure and dare to attack Qi leisurely, simply because he relies on the various advantages Zhang Cunjing has mentioned above and is sure that Li Ni will be helpless for the time being. Once the situation becomes urgent, it is inevitable to send troops to rescue. At that time, haha, let this guy taste the pain of the Ming Dynasty saving Dalinghe.

Well, we have to be careful of the tricks that Zhang the thief uses to fool Zu Dashou.

"Your Majesty, the Privy Councilor has urgently reported to you that the thief Zhang Hui has sent a letter." Zhao Jia, the Imperial Guards, and Li Yan, the Imperial Secretary, hurried over with a pile of files. They were originally employed in the provincial government and were brought by the emperor as secretaries.

The saint glanced at the seal and read it from top to bottom.

The first one was a petition from Feng Jingzhang and Zhu Yanshou to Wu Tao, the governor of Eyue, about a dispute over territory. After Zhang Xiong, the previous governor of Tiancheng Army, died suddenly, the emperor conceived that Feng Jingzhang, who was in line to the throne, was the murderer, and took the opportunity to dismiss him and replace him with Zhu Yanshou, who was appointed governor of Danyang.

Seeing that the court showed signs of supporting him, Zhu Yanshou took office after receiving the imperial edict.

However, Feng Jingzhang had 70,000 soldiers, and although they were despised by the neighboring provinces as a mob, they were not a bunch of pigs. Zhu Yanshou only had more than 10,000 Shouchun soldiers, and Yang Xingmi was behind the scenes, so he worked but did not work hard. As a result, there was no progress from the first month of the year to now, so he appealed to the court and requested that the five provinces of Xiang, Hu, Jing, E, and Jiangxi send troops to fight him.

Feng Jingzhang was also a little panicked.

Once Jingxiang is roughly settled, Zhao Kuangming and Zhao Kuangning will most likely obey the imperial edict.

The brutal Ma Yin gang and the cowardly Wu Tao had long ago tucked their tails between their legs and repeatedly declared their aspirations to serve the Holy Tang. They certainly didn't have the guts to attack Zhu Wen, but they still dared to attack other princes of the same size.

Jiangxi is even worse! After the governor Zhong Chuan refused to give evidence and colluded with Zhu, he was stripped of his title. Ambitious people have sprung up like mushrooms after rain. Fuzhou governor Wei Quanfeng and others have all raised troops to fight for the position. Now he is deserted by his relatives and friends and has followed in the footsteps of Gao Pian, and has been imprisoned by his subordinates.

To be honest, who isn’t afraid of this kind of thing?
Every time a "military rebellion" occurred, it was a heavy blow to the warriors.

So after learning that Zhu Yanshou had written a petition for help, although Feng Jingzhang hated the dog emperor, Zhu Yanshou, and Yang Xingmi, he had to swallow his anger and appealed immediately, pitifully saying that he just wanted to have a place to live, and for this, he was willing to "follow the example of Keyong and Jingwu, fight the bandits to redeem himself, and attack Yingzhou in the north."

The conditions were: Zhu Yanshou should withdraw his troops, the imperial court should stop any further invasion of the Tiancheng Army by the Wu people, and his position as commander should be restored.

"Hiss..." The saint held his forehead with his hand.

It sounds very attractive.

The problem is that the imperial court is completely unable to restrain the secret agents, so how can it ensure your safety? Secondly, the 70,000-strong army could not deal with Zhu Yanshou, which shows how little control they have over their subordinates. It is difficult to defend a household, let alone make progress. How can people believe that you can risk your life to defeat the Bian bandits! Furthermore, if you are pardoned, you will go back on your word, relying on the fact that the emperor is far away and still do your own thing, and not serve the king. The imperial court did not get anything, and also offended Zhu Yanshou. Isn't it a loss?

Finally. I can't remember the last time this person paid tribute. Now that he has been beaten, he comes to ask Li for help, but he doesn't even give a red envelope. You have no attitude when asking for help, and you treat the court as a tool. Why should I care about you?
"This statement can only be used to fool those ministers in the court who don't eat meat." The sage sneered and threw the memorial to Zhao Jia: "Let the court draft an edict to reply Feng Jingzhang. If he can capture Guang and Ying, he will be allowed to serve as the defense envoy of Runan."

If you leave Jiankang, he will believe that you are a loyal minister. Even if he tears off a piece of Zhu Wen's flesh, he can still give you a shed to eat and wait for death.

"Reject Zhu Yanshou's request, and be firm in your refusal. Do you really think the court is a pawn that can be summoned at will to help the princes build their kingdoms? Don't forget to reward him after you scold him, and give him a higher title... What is Yang Xingmi's current title?"

Zhao Jia recalled for a moment and said, "The Inspector of the Three Dukes and the Prime Minister have no title."

The sage clapped his palms gently and said: "For the merit of defeating Sun Ru, Yang Xingmi will be promoted to the King of Linhuai, and Zhu Yanshou, Tian Yu, An Renyi will be promoted to the Prince of Dangtu, the Prince of Xuancheng, and the Prince of Shanyin, and each of them will be given a scattered official position according to their original rank."

Among Xing Mi's subordinates, these three are the most ambitious and keen on conquering cities.

Praise it high and encourage it.

Xingmi can hold Huainan, and so can you. Kill Yang Xingmi to take the throne, or go out to start a business and attack Qian Liu and Dong Chang, which is what even a saint would want. Fight, fight hard. If you don't bring enough harm to the people, how can people think of An and Tang?

Zhao Jia looked at his brother-in-law deeply, fear flashing in his eyes.

The second letter was a report from Jiannan. Cui Anqian was coming aggressively, and many people responded. Zhang Qianyu, Li Shitai and others were furious when they failed to ask for a withdrawal, so they gathered tens of thousands of troops to attack. Cui Anqian selected 7,000 elite soldiers and sent Cui Yi, Li Yanzhen, Li Junshi, Gao Yan, and Han Xiucai to fight against them at Xuanwuyuan in Neijiang River. Nearly 10,000 people were killed and wounded. The rebels retreated to Jintang and asked Cui to withdraw again. The bad news was that the Dongchuan army was in chaos. This was the second time they had rebelled since Guangming. The last time they saw Wang Jian's plan for the twelve states, so they followed suit and plundered separately. This time, it was Li Yanzhao, the general of the yamen, who launched the rebellion, killed Gu Yanhui, claimed to be the regent, and announced that he would help suppress the stubborn bandits. Obviously, he wanted to take the opportunity to get the position of commander in chief through this method.

It's ok to cheat others...

Forget it, let Lao Deng handle it on his own.

Let’s eliminate Zhang the thief first!

*******
Zhu Wen issued an edict, ordering Pei Di, the envoy of Jianchang Palace and the envoy of Duzhi Salt and Iron, to collect an additional 20 million coins and recruit an additional 100,000 infantry and cavalry.

Under the repeated persuasion of the Queen Mother, the increasingly cruel and inhumane "Dead Troops" decree was abolished. Deserters of previous years could return home without guilt, and the localities were ordered to recruit soldiers and bandits who gathered in the mountains and forests. Those who were willing to demobilize were allowed to return to the army. Those who were willing to join the army were allowed to report for militia training. When the news came out, the whole country of Daliang was jubilant.

Zhang Tingfan, the prefect of Jingzhao, was appointed as the military governor of Wuning Army and allocated 300,000 strings of cash. He immediately set out for Xuzhou with money and other valuables to pacify the gangsters, gather the defeated soldiers, and intensify the encirclement and suppression of the two thieves Yuan Qingji and Liu Hai.

On the same day, Zhu Wen issued an imperial decree to transfer Zhao Keyu, the envoy who was in charge of recruiting and suppressing bandits, to the position of the defense envoy of Zhengzhou, and to transfer the deputy envoy Huang Wenjing, the envoy of Wude, to the position of the envoy in charge of the roads, bridges, barriers and forts of Fuping, Xiaoping, Mengjin and Heyin, and to also be in charge of the garrisons and capture the enemy. He ordered them to strengthen the river defense, protect the traffic, and strictly check the pedestrians to prevent the western bandits from sneaking into the border.

On the sixth day, Zhu Wen sent another letter to Bianliang, ordering the disbandment of the Shaanxi-Guo camp.

Zhu Yougong, the military governor, Zhao Yu, the deputy military governor, and Shi Yanci, the military inspector, were summoned to the court.

Zhao Hongli, one of the ten generals of the Changjian Army, Cheng Ben, the left wing commander of the hall, and others were appointed as commanders of the towns of Hongnong, Taolinsai, Yucheng, Lu'shi, and Shihao.

Pang Shigu was transferred to be the commander of the capital, and Niu Cunjie, the Huaixi Recruiting Envoy, was transferred to be his deputy. He was in charge of all the troops in Jiang, Jin, Henan Prefecture, Ru, Ji, Heyang, Huai, Meng, and Zheng, and was in charge of the war on the western front.

Ge Congzhou was appointed as the defense commander of Yancheng, and the offensive in the south was changed to defensive.

Xie Yanzhang was transferred to Hedong to attack and suppress the rebels. He was ordered to lead more than 7,000 elite cavalry and 20,000 newly formed cavalry from Tingzi, Tabai, Baima and other armies to cross the Yellow River quickly, command Li Duo, Shi Yanhong, Chen Lingxun and other troops on the north bank, drive away tens of thousands of Li Ni cavalry wandering around like locusts on the north bank, and strictly prevent the connection between Hezhong and Bianliang from being cut off, so as to relieve the pressure on Zhang Cunjing.

There are so many to list.

Obviously, many of the Queen's replies and suggestions were adopted. Such a large number of personnel transfers, especially the arrival of Zhu Wen's most trusted Pang Shigu and Niu Cunjie, as well as the Long Sword Army, which had a high degree of moral integrity and combat quality, obviously also meant that the people of Bian would not focus on passive defense.

In mid-August, continuous rain fell in most counties and cities in Hezhong, Hedong, Hanoi, and Henan, and the water level of the Yellow River rose sharply. During this stormy season when the mountains were lurking, Xie Yanzhang's 20,000-plus cavalry gathered from all over the country and arrived at Fupingjin in Henan Prefecture, starting a large-scale crossing of the river.

Under the dark rain curtain, the cold wind blew across the river. The ferry was crowded with boats, and the floating bridge was full of people shouting and horses trampling. The troops heading north and the people fleeing south were all in carriages. The north bank was densely packed with Suo Lu Hu slaves, which made people panic. Although the Uighurs repeatedly claimed that they were loyal to the king and would not do anything reckless, the story of the Uighurs looting Henan in the past was passed down by word of mouth in the Central Plains, and the people in the counties and prefectures on the north bank almost fled in droves. Some went to the east of the river, and some ran to Zhu Wen's rule. They carried the elderly and children, fearing that they would be left behind. From time to time, someone fell into the boiling yellow mud soup on the river, causing a few wives and parents to cry.

The military officers led the soldiers to run around on the bridgehead, beating, kicking, and shouting to maintain order and disperse the crowd. The people looked at the Bian army with fear, their eyes showing both the luck of surviving the disaster and fear. Li Keyong desperately exploited the people's fat. Zhu Wen liked to capture people to fill the trenches. Saint Li didn't capture them, but that guy led the barbarians to cause chaos in China, and his soldiers, who ate raw meat and drank blood and had disheveled hair, chattered in a lot of bird language, were scary to look at. Alas, is there any good stuff in this world?

On the beacon tower, Xie Yanzhang stood with his hands behind his back, like an old monk in meditation.

Listening to the rustling autumn wind and rain, I have a premonition that the hero will never return.

The reason was not because of the intelligence that the number of bandit cavalry was no less than 80,000.

It's the level gap.

Cavalry, does riding a horse and being able to ride a horse make you a cavalry? If so, Daliang can mobilize 300,000 cavalry. Daliang has no shortage of trained mules and horses. What it lacks is good horses with strong disease resistance, strong physical strength, fast speed, fat bones and flesh, and strict discipline. Compared with the horses in Youyan, Hedong, and Shuofang, the horses raised in Zhongyuan, Bashu, Wuyue, Huai, and Qi are inherently weaker than humans.

They are not weak. In fact, they have their own advantages and disadvantages. But in a large-scale cavalry melee, the height, weight, physical strength, endurance, and temper of the mount are very important. The simplest thing is, if the opponent's mount is generally taller than yours, how to fight?
Li the bandit has Li Keyong and Guanxi as his backers. Li Keyong has been selling horses for food for many years. Pingxia Dangxiang is so poor that he only has sheep and horses left, not to mention Helong, which Li the bandit has just recovered. There are plenty of horses for him to pick and choose according to the standards of charging in formation. In the above aspects, this bandit has an absolute advantage.

This is a worry.

More than half of Li's knights came from Longliang, Lingxia and other regions. Not all of them, but at least 60% of them have been dealing with horses since childhood. Horse lances, horse archery, and horse shields are not difficult for them. It's hard to say about Daliang...

There were some infantry generals who changed their careers to cavalry generals, such as Wang Yanzhang.

There were those who only knew how to ride horses before enlisting in the cavalry, such as Shi Shucong, the cavalry coach in the backyard.

Some people, after two or three years of practice, still use horse lances like zombies, such as Deng Jiyun, who was knocked off his horse and dragged alive by an unknown barbarian when fighting against the Shatuo people in Luzhou. Even Zhu Youning, the head of the cavalry of the hall, often stumbled inexplicably on the battlefield, let alone ordinary knights.

The overall level is not very good.

In normal martial arts talk, just sweeping a straw man twice with a lance means you are good at riding and shooting.

It depends on who you compare yourself with. Compared with most of the knights in Daliang, that's true.

Compared with the southern vassal states, it is invincible.

Compared with Youyan, Zhao, Wei, Longyan, Jin and Xia... Xie Yanzhang's evaluation was that it would be better for the whole army to dismount and fight as infantry, as this would give them a higher chance of winning and avoid the joke of the cavalry soldiers being captured by the enemy's soldiers.

Difficult!

Why did they promote him, a Tabai instructor, to the position of attack commander? It was because they had no choice! He, Xie Yanzhang, was already the top cavalry general in Daliang...

As for Li Ze, it is rumored that even Yang Kezheng, Yang Kexi, Chen Chen, Zhao Ruxin, Yuwenrou, Zhu Xiewusi, Nangong Chongyan and other concubines are good at sweeping balls and hitting horse spears. The palace maids of the Tang Palace can form a team to play polo. What about the saints? Are there any concubines who can only play the偃月杖? This is the difference.

Hate it!

I don’t know how we can “drive away” the bandits on this trip.

"Bang!" Xie Yanzhang angrily hammered the parapet and walked down the beacon tower with a sullen face, feeling extremely bad.

　Note 1: Jiankang, namely Jiangning and Jinling, is now Nanjing. The official administrative division of the Tang Dynasty was called Shengzhou, which sounds terrible. In fact, although prefectures and counties were generally established in the Tang Dynasty, there were places where the names were inherited. Most people in the political arena and among the people were still accustomed to using the ancient names. In the future, I will use more well-known place names for prefecture names that are not familiar to modern people. Here is a complaint. The administrative divisions of the Tang Dynasty are a bunch of arguments and a pile of shit. I have never seen such a bad design. A prefecture was established in a palm-sized place, and a county was established for the population of a township. The place names were changed randomly, without any imagery. The seat of government was moved randomly. The administrative divisions were adjusted very frequently. It drove me crazy to look up the information. It's really over for Tang Tang.

　　Note 2: Neijiang River. A river outside Deyang City, Sichuan Province today.

　　Note 3: Zhizhi means to be responsible for handling. It is a temporary assignment. Add a suffix according to the matter.

　　Note 37: The Uighurs entered Luoyang. In the first year of Baoying, Luoyang was recovered. The Uighur army - "entered Tokyo, killed and looted wantonly, and the death toll reached tens of thousands. The fire lasted for ten days." They looted for three days. But there is no need to be angry. The performance of the Han army was - "Shuofang and Shen Ce armies regarded Tokyo, Zheng, Bian, and Ru as bandit territories. They looted wherever they went, and it took three months to stop. Every house was emptied, and the people were all clothed in paper." The soldiers from various routes looted for three months, burned and robbed everything, and no one knew how many people were slaughtered. The Battle of Yecheng - "The nine military governors looted wherever they went, and the Jiong army was the worst." Lu Ling was secretly executed by Suzong because his troops killed and looted the most and ate people. Wasn't the Tang army brutal enough? An Lushan rebels - "Every time a city was captured, the clothes, bribes, and women in the city were looted. Men were used as burdens, and the weak, sick, and old were killed with knives and spears. The picture is Nanjing in .
　　
　
(End of this chapter)