The Song Dynasty on the Sand Table

Chapter 317 What do the bandits want most?

Li Cheng's cavalry galloped wildly towards Chuzhou. They had initially walked slowly to allow Zhang Jun's army to catch up, but the closer they got to Chuzhou, the faster they ran. In the end, they completely outpaced Zhang Jun's men, then turned west and soon arrived beside Li Cheng.

"Brother, as you said, we lured Zhang Jun's men to Chuzhou."

Zhang Jun nodded: "Well done, what about the brothers on the north route?"

"The brothers from the north haven't returned yet, but they should be back soon."

Just then, the people from the north returned.

Upon seeing Li Cheng, he smiled and said, "Brother, we've got it all done. We sent over five hundred men to make a ruckus outside the Northern Song army's camp. As soon as those Northern Song women sent out their men, we retreated south. They have very few cavalry and don't move fast, so we kept them at bay and led them to the north of Chuzhou before returning."

Li Cheng chuckled and said, "That's good! Now both the Northern Song and Southern Song armies will be heading into Chuzhou. When they're fighting like dogs, we'll circle around to the rear of the Northern Song army and intercept their supplies."

One of his subordinates asked curiously, "Why not intercept the Southern Song's grain? Why intercept the Northern Song's?"

Li Cheng laughed: "You don't know anything. The Northern Song Dynasty is distributing grain in large quantities in Siyang City, so they must have plenty of food. As for the Southern Song Dynasty... pshaw... they don't have enough food, so they have to rob the people of their grain. Where would they get so much grain for us to rob?"

The subordinate scratched his head, somewhat bewildered: "The Northern Song Dynasty distributed grain to the people, they were good people, the Southern Song Dynasty stole grain from the people, they were bad people, why are we robbing the grain of good people?"

Li Cheng grinned and chuckled, "Because we're not good people."

A large group of bandits behind him burst into laughter: "When the hell have we ever been good people?"
-
Zhang Jun, one of the four generals who revived the Southern Song Dynasty, was leading a large army towards Chuzhou at this time.

Last September, he disobeyed orders and did not send reinforcements to Chuzhou, because the Jin army's elite troops were attacking Chuzhou at the time.

Zhang Jun must have been incredibly foolish to dare to confront the Jin army head-on.

Such a life-threatening task should naturally be left to a hothead like Yue Fei.

The Jin army has now retreated, and Yue Fei has been transferred to Nanchang, Jiangxi.

The glorious task of "recapturing Chuzhou" should naturally be accomplished by Zhang Jun.

According to reports from his subordinates, the city of Chuzhou is now occupied by the bandit Li Cheng.

Li Cheng is trash, incomparable to the Jin soldiers. Although Zhang Jun dares not provoke the Jin soldiers, dealing with Li Cheng is no problem at all.

"Continue the advance!" Zhang Jun said. "Easily defeat Li Cheng, take back Chuzhou, and we'll be able to get promoted in front of the Emperor."

"Report! Our scout squads have been ambushed by enemy scout squads... Several squads haven't returned."

Zhang Jun: "Huh? Li Cheng's scouts are that good now? Bandits are only good at petty theft. If the scouts are gone, so be it. We don't need scouts to fight a mere Li Cheng. Let's continue towards Chuzhou!"
-
Just as Zhang Jun was heading towards Chuzhou.

Gong Erniangzi's army was also advancing towards Chuzhou, the difference being that one was moving from south to north, and the other from north to south.

Several miles away from Chuzhou, the scouts began to report some strange things: "Report! We encountered a group of enemy scouts, they looked quite professional, not like bandits."

Gong Erniangzi: "Huh?"

After a while, the scouts came back with a report: "We took out a team of enemy scouts and captured one alive."

The survivor was bound hand and foot and pushed in front of Gong Er Niangzi.

Before Gong Erniangzi could even ask who the other party was, the prisoner blurted out, "Eh? Aren't you Li Chengjun?"

Madam Gong Er: “?”

Qi Chongwen pointed irritably at the large flag carried by the flag bearer: "Open your dog eyes and look! What flag are we flying?" The scout looked closely: "Song!"

He quickly replied, "We're on the same side! We're on the same side! I'm also a scout for the Song army. Which Song army unit are you from?"

His shout made everyone realize that this guy was a scout for the Southern Song army.

Gong Erniangzi frowned slightly: "We were clearly chasing Li Cheng's men, so how come we suddenly encountered Song scouts ahead? We should ask them about this."

Sui Yi grinned: "I'm very good at questioning people, give him some..."

He was about to rattle off a long list of cruel tortures when, without any attempt to intimidate him, the scout immediately betrayed him: "I am a subordinate of General Zhang Jun, and we are currently pursuing Li Cheng's forces. It is said that Li Cheng is entrenched in Chuzhou City, and General Zhang Jun intends to retake Chuzhou."

Gong Erniangzi: "Zhang Jun!"

She vaguely remembered the name; it seemed to belong to a general from the Southern Song Dynasty.

Just as they were wondering what was going on, Yue Wenxuan behind them suddenly woke up: "Hey, what's going on here?"

Gong Erniangzi was overjoyed: "The True Lord has awakened!"

She quickly recounted the events of the past few days in a few simple sentences.

Upon hearing this, Yue Wenxuan couldn't help but laugh: "Zhang Jun! So it's Zhang Jun, haha!"

Seeing his displeased expression, Gong Erniangzi couldn't help but whisper, "Zhang Jun is no good?"

Yue Wenxuan: "Kill him!"

Two words: Kill them. That's enough.

Gong Erniangzi instantly felt confident and ordered her men, "Take this scout away, tie him up tightly, and keep a close watch on him. Don't let him escape. If he behaves well, give him a chance to work in a labor camp. If he tries to escape, kill him immediately."

The attendants acknowledged the order and withdrew.

Gong Erniangzi's little brain immediately started working.

Having fought for so many years and learned from the best teachers, she was no longer a naive little girl. After only a few seconds of contemplation, she immediately realized something: "We are clearly chasing Li Cheng, but the enemy ahead is Zhang Jun. And what Zhang Jun's scout just said is that Zhang Jun was also chasing Li Cheng, but in the process, he ended up catching up with us. This shows that Li Cheng used a trick to make one enemy fight another, wanting to see our Northern Song and Southern Song fight each other."

Yue Wenxuan nodded: "That should be it."

Gong Er Niangzi: "Hmph! Such a petty trick."

Yue Wenxuan smiled and said, "Don't just look at the surface of a matter! You have to think about it more deeply."

Madam Gong Er: “?”

Yue Wenxuan said, "Li Cheng is just a big bandit, not the Jin, not the Qi, not even the Chu. What good will it do him to sit and watch the Northern Song fight the Southern Song? He can't take the opportunity to attack cities and seize large tracts of land just because the two Songs are fighting."

Gong Erniangzi thought about it carefully: "Huh? That's right! Zhenjun's advice is correct. Li Cheng is not the state; what good will it do him to incite two tigers to fight?"

Yue Wenxuan: "At times like this, you have to put yourself in the enemy's shoes and consider their thoughts. What does Li Cheng want?"

After thinking carefully for a while, Gong Erniangzi said, "What the bandits want most is nothing more than grain!"

Thinking of this, she suddenly realized: "Thank you, True Lord! Sui Yi, take the Yan'an soldiers, disguise them as laborers, and infiltrate the grain transport team."

(End of this chapter)