The Emperor ordered Zhao Tang

Chapter 278 Battle of Wild Boar Ridge (I)

In the third year of Qianning, in the seventh month of midsummer, in Tongwan City, the desolate wilderness was hazy, the air was filled with the smell of burning, and the ashes were like flowers scattered by a jade girl. The smoke of war was finally ignited, and the expeditionary army and the rebels started a great battle.

Both sides tried their best to gain the upper hand.

After learning that more troops were on their way, the rebels knew that retreating might lead to trouble. So Li Hongdao repeatedly forced his way across the Hongliu River, while the Xia bandits, on the one hand, sent Wei Mutiao, who led the clan army outside the city, across the Wushui River, and on the other hand, sent troops to follow Li Hongdao, seeking to kill the emperor in Henan. The two sides fought day and night on both sides of the Wuding River, fighting hundreds of battles of varying sizes, but to no avail.

After the saint shot arrows left and right and killed more than ten thousand people, and the blood dyed the Wuding River red, the rebels realized that the other side was full of combat soldiers, lost confidence, and gave up the plan.

warrior.

The true warriors of the Holy Tang Dynasty only need 5,000 generals to sweep away the tens of thousands of Nanzhao troops. A few thousand Shuofang troops can crush tens of thousands of miscellaneous Hu. A hundred thousand Youzhou troops can crush most of the grasslands and Liaodong area. One Han against five Hu? One Tang against ten Hu!

If you want to challenge China, wait until the Song Dynasty.

If there were not so many Han soldiers who rebelled against Tiangang, the two Lingxia thieves would not have dared to leave the city.

On July 13, Sima Kanwu and Li Zan arrived with an army of 20,000 and stationed on the west bank of the Hongliu River, setting up camp a few miles away from the Ling bandit camp.

On the 14th, Li Renmei, who was attacking Yinsui, also arrived from the Hengshan gap of the Great Wall and joined the Saint. The two armies had a total of 37,000 troops. With the addition of Li Zan's troops, the punitive army had more than 50,000 troops.

In addition, there were more than 10,000 Qiang and Rong people captured by Li Renmei in Yinsui, who were detained in the army as coolies.

Of course, if they can perform meritorious service in battle or show certain qualities and potential as warriors, they may be transferred to auxiliary troops, and from animals they may be transformed into citizens with human rights and soldiers.

On July 16, Zhang Hui was awakened by a nightmare as usual. Zhu Wen came to take her life again and wanted to take the fairy to hell. But when she woke up sweating, she found that she was cold beside her, and there was only a pillow with his smell. Zhang Hui sat up with her hair disheveled. Just as she was about to ask the waiter, Shi Yuan, who was woken by her, told her that the saint had led his troops out of the camp at midnight.

Zhang Hui inquired and found out that Li Hongdao had taken the initiative and attacked Li Zan fiercely. In order to prevent any loss, the sage personally led his troops to threaten the flank of the spirit thief. Zhang Hui breathed a sigh of relief after learning the whereabouts and was stunned on the bed for a long time.

Is she sick?

Then she got up, washed, and sat down at the saint's "work station" wearing only a thin white veil, quietly looking at the map and flipping through various documents from time to time.

I worry about you and feel sad for you.

But...it’s not because I love you.

You know: my heart died a long time ago.

The battle was extremely fierce that day. Li Hongdao attacked from two directions, on the one hand, he beat the harassing saints at the river bend of Yezhuling, and on the other hand, he drove the miscellaneous Hu to break camp desperately. The battle lasted from early morning to afternoon, and many soldiers of Li Zan's army died. The most fiercely fought gate was piled with corpses. After dinner, Li Hongdao continued to fight, completely ignoring the fact that the miscellaneous Hu had been boiling with anger several times.

The attack and defense at night remained as intense as ever.

The Shuofang army had terrifying physical strength. After fighting for a whole day, they still had some strength left. The emperor was under great pressure and desperately tried to land on the beach to protect Li Zan. The Shuofang army used the terrain and the river to stubbornly block the enemy. Both sides were bloodthirsty. There was a large-scale hand-to-hand fight in the water. They used fists to swing, helmets to hit, and people were pressed into the sand. They sat on the rafts and stabbed at the people in the water with guns, and slashed at each other on the board.

The saint was so angry that he was fuming by the time the fight lasted until midnight. What the hell! But he also understood that although his soldiers were strong, the Shuofang Army, the leader of the eight towns in the northwest of Beijing, was worse than anyone else? They were not the bullies in Fengxiang.

Li had no ill feelings towards the Shuofang Army at first, and he thought they were quite capable of dealing with things. It was a pity that they resisted reform. There can only be one core in Guanzhong and Guanxi, and we cannot tolerate the existence of forces that can compete with us, otherwise it will be different from the old path of the Five Dynasties. I want to be a protector of the country, not the Zhou emperor respected by all the princes! Without destruction, there is no construction, so I have to ask you to die.

The ensuing battle remained intense.

Just as he was about to join the Justice Army led by Murong Zhang and Linghu Tao, he received news from Li Zan that the spiritual bandits were making a commotion, and dozens of soldiers advised Li Hongdao to call for a truce. Li Hongdao could not resist and lifted the crazy attack on Li Zan's army.

The Shuofang Army likes this tactic. They will put pressure on you when you are not paying attention, and start with a long live charge. The orcs' momentum is so strong that ordinary troops can't stand it. If it were the barbarians, they would probably be crushed in one round.

Pull? I'll pull you to pieces!
Fortunately, Li Zan's troops successfully withstood the three-axe attack of the spiritual thieves.

Now, they became full of morale again and chased after the spirit thieves, wanting to make their escape miserable. After a while, the spirit thieves on the other side seemed to have received the news. Since the operation of breaking camp was stopped, the blocking was automatically ended. So, after collecting the dead and wounded, they returned to the camp.

The battle of attack and defense around Li Zan came to an abrupt end. The sage let go of his loose hair, lowered his head and twisted a handful of the mixture of sweat and blood in his hair, and watched the surging river bury the dead soul.

Heaven and earth! There are so many vassal states, how long will I, Li Ye, continue to fight?

If we have to fight every tough battle ourselves, how much time will we have to deal with domestic affairs?

There is also a follow-up strategy that needs to be adjusted.

In the Hexi Corridor, send a general to conquer and eliminate the Guiyi Army and the Long family of Suzhou, and open up the connection with the Western Regions. In the direction of the West Sea, hurry up and move the Uighurs of Li Renmei's tribe there, and use them to plunder the wealth of the Tibetans.

Then come back to deal with Li Keyong. Not to mention killing him, at least beat him up like Zhu Wen did, and make him write a letter to ask for peace! We must spit out part of the four towns that we have taken. Then we will deal with Zhu Dalang, take Bianliang and occupy the Central Plains, so as to look at the four directions.

Although Guanzhong had a superior geographical location and was very secure, it was a bit poor and had suffered heavy population losses.

Relying on Guanzhong and the Hewei, Jinliang and other areas under its actual control is not enough to support immigration to the border and change the barbarians into Chinese, nor is it enough to support the expansion of armed forces. One hundred thousand soldiers is the limit that the people can afford. Even so, the salaries of officials are often in arrears, and the family has to cut back on food and clothing. It is also not possible to launch a long-distance large-scale expedition. However, in the Central Plains, only the four states of Bian, Song, Bo and Ying can allow Zhu to raise an army of 100,000.

The imbalance in regional development is so huge.

I have to step out of my comfort zone and challenge Zhu Dalang to a duel.

Otherwise, if I were to be trapped in Henan Prefecture and be exploited and spied on by him, when would it end?

It was already dawn when we returned to Wushuiying. A summer moon hung in the distance over the mountains. Its clear light shone through the courtyard, making it look like a pool of water. Algae and water plants crisscrossed in the water. These were the shadows of two trees left by the wall.

"There is no night without the moon, and no place without bamboo and cypress..." The sage took off his armor and put it on his shoulders, muttering as he stepped into the threshold. When the moonlight entered the curtain, he saw a tall and plump figure bowing to the moon. Her long hair flowed down to her waist, and she was wearing a moon-blue dress, which reflected a soft and dim light under the moon. She was looking up at an angle, as if thinking about something.

Each time I vowed to exercise restraint.

Every time they were defeated.

Just as in the book "Letter to Zhu Siyuan": "The bottom is visible from a thousand feet, and fish and small stones swim by. The rapids are as fast as arrows, and the waves are as fierce as running horses. It is really to make those who soar to the sky, look at the peak to calm their hearts. Those who manage worldly affairs, look into the valley and forget to return."

It is indeed not my fault that I am so lustful.

“If we hadn’t met on the top of the Jade Mountain, we would have met under the moon on the Jade Terrace.” The sage held the sword with both hands.

The Queen turned around, and with her bright eyes she observed him from afar, who was covered in blood. "Did you win?"

"It's hard to tell who wins or loses." The saint said softly, "The rebels are very cautious. It's easier to fight them than without your troops, Lord Zhu."

Hearing these three words, Zhang Hui suddenly felt indescribable.

Strong feelings of guilt and betrayal resurfaced.

Zhang Hui showed a dull expression, as if stimulated by something: "Let me die."

"Why?" The saint narrowed his eyes and said, "What I just said was wrong?"

Zhang Hui said nothing, turned around and walked into the room.

"Hey." The saint walked over and grabbed her hand.

"Let go!" Zhang Hui threw her hands to try to break free, but her twisting only added to the devil's aura: "Okay, okay, from now on, I'll just call you Zhu the thief."

"open!"

"I can't let you go." Emperor Li said with a stern face: "Who would let the fat meat slip away? I came to the late Tang Dynasty just to be able to beat you, a proud fairy, at will one day!" He picked up Zhang Hui and walked towards the bedroom: "Don't be angry. You haven't slept all night, it's time to rest."

"I don't." Zhang Hui struggled violently.

She was nearly 1.80 meters tall, a head taller than Emperor Li, and weighed 140 pounds. She almost couldn't be held when she resisted.

"What happened to you today?"

It's really strange. Is it the pregnant woman's sensitivity, or is it that your husband has angered the beauty?

Zhang Hui's eyes felt sore and a salty taste flowed down her throat into her stomach.

This is tricky. It's easy to play with the body, but it's easy to get into trouble when playing with the heart. I guess I have to be careful with my words from now on.

"Then..." After stroking her bulging belly for a while, the saint, considering her emotional state and fearing that she would cause more trouble, slowly put down the cart: "Calm down." As he said that, he coaxed her to sleep, then washed up and got into the bed opposite her.

Just make do for one night and sleep with my sister.

Yueyi is very well behaved.

It was like the wet water plants and hair of enemy corpses in the Wuding River. No matter how people explored, there was no sound.

His hands were exploring, his mind was thinking about tomorrow's military affairs, his ears were filled with little Zhang Hui's light snoring and the friction of her hair, fatigue surged over him like a torrent, and the saint fell into a deep sleep.

Tomorrow, the entire army will cross the river and suppress the two bandits!

On the morning of July 17, the troops left the camp one after another. The sage summoned the entire army to hold a hasty ceremony to offer sacrifices to the heavens by the Wushui River: "The two thieves are going against the will of heaven and will surely be punished. I have received the power granted by God and Taizong, and they will help me with strong winds!"

Of course, the idea of gods granting power is made up. The idea of strong winds is speculation.

Due to various astronomical and geographical factors, strong northerly winds are common in the north in spring and summer.

When I cross the river, I will line up in the south. If there is a strong wind blowing towards the enemy from behind, it will help boost morale if there is a prediction.

If not - I didn't say when it was blown specifically, anyway, as long as it was blown during the battle in Hebei, it counts.

It doesn’t matter whether all the soldiers believe it or not, as long as some of them believe it.

Three people make a tiger, take advantage of the rumor psychology!

After everything was ready, the entire army went to the Wild Boar Ridge River Bay, built a pontoon bridge, landed on the beach, and attacked Wild Boar Ridge again.

(End of this chapter)