Tang Dynasty Bandits

Chapter 110: Yan Shuai's Counterattack

After Song Wei was defeated in the Battle of Songzhou and returned to Pinglu last year, although he was injured, it would be unfair to say that he did nothing after that.

At the end of the year, facing the activities of Wang Xianzhi's rebel army, he sent An Shiru, deputy envoy of Pinglu Jiedushi, with more than 10,000 troops to stop them. However, due to low morale, they were quickly defeated by Wang Xianzhi and Shang Rang. After that, the Pinglu army completely retreated to Qingqi and became a turtle.

After Song Wei's death, Yan Shuai moved to Pinglu as the Jiedushi, but the food, wages and rewards that the court should have sent to Pinglu did not arrive in time.

The generals of Pinglu continued to argue for power.

When Liu Xun, the magistrate of Pinglu Army, returned to Pinglu Town with a bunch of blank imperial edicts granting official positions, the deputy governor An Shiru and the yamen officer Wang Jingwu finally put aside their dispute and decided to transfer the Pinglu Army to support General Yan and attack Huang Chao's bandit army from both sides.

Zhen Ranyu scolded Liu Xun before the battle of Qizhou because she felt that this young man was worth scolding. Otherwise, she would not have sent Liu Xun to Wang Jian to teach him.

Yan Shuai's emphasis on Liu Xun was not only a huge investment in horse bones, but also a way to infuse his influence into the Pinglu Army. Born into a Pinglu general family, Liu Xun was young, but his family was very influential in the local area.

Without real money, the war effort could only rely on the town's own treasury, and the soldiers remained passive in the face of mobilization. An Shiru and Wang Jingwu finally managed to gather over 10,000 soldiers, first gathering them in Qingzhou, the military seat, and then marching south.

The situation on the Cao army side was even more dire. Their forces were stretched thin in order to stop General Yan. Meng Kai and Shang Rang, with only 5,000 soldiers in the Linqu area, deployed their forces along the Jumie River.

Upon hearing the news, Meng Kai laughed at Shang Rang and said, "The government troops are more than twice as numerous as ours. This kind of battle is quite rare."

But he didn't show any fear.

Shang Rang said calmly, "An Shiru and Wang Jingwu were both defeated by me. They are nothing to be feared."

"Don't brag about yourself until your scar heals." Meng Kai spoke without giving any face.

Shang Rang showed a helpless look, but he and Meng Kai had known each other for many years and knew that the other party had no real ill intentions.

After the disastrous defeat in Qizhou, he admitted that his wisdom was indeed inferior to Zhu Wen's.

"An Shiru and Wang Jingwu must now rely on Liu Xun as their chief advisor." Shang Rang said, "Liu Xun is overconfident. Your bravery combined with my intelligence is enough to deal with him."

Meng Kai was quite satisfied with this statement: "That's true. If Marshal Yan sent Thief Turtle to Pinglu, we would be a little wary. But Thief Turtle's status is not high enough, and he has no foundation in Pinglu. Who would listen to him?"

As Zhu Wen said, Pinglu had no famous generals. Song Wei, the old man, had been in Pinglu for so many years, but he had not promoted many reliable talents. The most outstanding one was Liu Xun, the "Pinglu prodigy".

"Liu Xun has been trained by the thief Wang Ba, and is probably more reliable than Ma Su, who lost Jieting." Shang Rang added, "Be lenient in anticipating the enemy, but be strict in defending against them. The enemy has more than twice our number of troops, so it's best to be cautious."

Meng Kai showed a satisfied look, knowing that Shang Rang had learned a lesson after the disastrous defeat in Qizhou.

"Then you should make a careful plan yourself. Breaking through the enemy lines and beheading them is my job, Meng Juehai."

In war, wrong decisions can often bring unexpected results if they are executed decisively.

But if you are indecisive and shaky, then the good plans will often fail because of missed opportunities.

This is the significance of a brave and sometimes even reckless general like Meng Kai participating in battle decision-making.

A powerful general often also means having extremely high execution ability.

So when the battle was in full swing in the mountains, smoke of war also blazed in Linqu.

Shang Rang and Meng Kai's mission was to at least block the Pinglu Army north of Muling Pass if they could not defeat it, and to prevent it from breaking into the mountains and joining forces with General Yan.

Otherwise, the main force of the Cao army would be caught in a situation where it was attacked from both sides, and under the fierce and raging military tactics of General Yan, the only outcome would be that it would be completely destroyed.

……

The sound of horse hooves echoed among the mountains in southern Shandong.

Round after round of arrows and javelins, accompanied by the sound of galloping horses, fell towards the winding formation of Yan Shuai's army.

These cavalrymen are good at retreating after one attack, and are familiar with the mountainous terrain. They come like a storm and leave like an arrow from a bow.

During the march, most soldiers rolled up their armor and used carts and horses to carry their armor to save energy.

The rangers' surprise attacks on the narrow mountain roads also caused great trouble to Yan Shuai's army, forcing them to slow down their march.

They formed an iron-clad line with crossbowmen and spearmen to protect their warhorses. "These flies are endless!" complained Lu Qingchen, one of the Five Burning Heaven Swords.

"They are just the horse caravans and bandits from Qi and Lu." Zhen Ranyu sat on the beautifully decorated carriage, lifted the embroidered curtain with her jade fingers, and looked calm and composed.

She rarely rode a horse during battle unless absolutely necessary.

But twenty years ago, she also led 7,000 cavalry to relieve the siege of Beisha City in Liaodong and defeated the joint forces of Khitan, Bohai and Silla with more than 30,000 people.

"But the enemies we've been fighting these days are all different..." Lu Qingchen asked, "How come Huang Chao's army has so many troops?"

"It's not hard to guess, actually." Zhen Ranyu said calmly, "Huang Jutian must have made an agreement with these people in the martial arts world. They only need to fight for three to five days to repay Wang Xianzhi's kindness in the past."

"Each sect and faction brought their own food, wages, and horses to the battle, an endless supply like the tide. For our army, this created the illusion that the enemy had an endless supply."

Lu Qingchen suddenly understood.

"Borrowing troops for three days, what a brilliant strategy."

Unlike bluffing tactics such as dragging grass with horsetails and holding multiple torches, this kind of rotation attack can really continuously consume the morale and physical strength of the government troops.

Wang Xianzhi's death caused fear among the people in the martial arts world, but after Huang Chao's careful guidance and planning, it turned into a desire for revenge against General Yan after a few months.

The mountainous terrain, which was not conducive to pursuit by the government troops, also encouraged the various factions to launch such piecemeal cavalry attacks.

Even if they are not good at riding and shooting, those who are good at using hidden weapons at least know how to throw javelins.

"General Zhen must have a plan to defeat the enemy." Lu Qingchen said respectfully.

"I ordered the soldiers to march steadily and not to attack. I'm sure this has caused quite a bit of resentment among the troops."

"General Zhen's orders are completely in line with the principles of military strategy. However, passively accepting a beating is still unbearable for the soldiers."

"Then order them to continue to endure it." Zhen Ranyu said calmly: "Although Ming Shiyin is dead, most of our armored cavalry are still there, so it's not a big deal."

Lu Qingchen's expression changed slightly, as if he understood something.

Two days later, news of the Cao army's defeat came again.

When the rear guard of Yan Shuai's army passed through a narrow pass, the troops became disconnected and the cavalry archers of the Cao army rushed in like a pack of bloodthirsty wolves.

This enraged the government troops who had been patient for many days. They roared and rushed towards the enemy cavalry, with the cavalry charging first and then the infantry following.

The soldiers' improvisation, despite disobeying military orders, unleashed unexpected power. The Flame Commander's army let out terrifying war cries and launched a valiant attack on both sides. The unprepared cavalry were trapped on the hillside and slaughtered like grass.

After receiving the battle report, Zhen Ranyu also ordered the soldiers of the front team and the middle team to launch a charge.

The army was deployed on all fronts, and it turned from a swimming giant snake into a centipede with countless thorny legs, each of which was wantonly reaping the lives of the grass army soldiers.

Many of the riders were temporary recruits who lacked combat experience. They threw themselves into the battle out of their blood and courage to avenge their leader Wang Xianzhi, but had they ever seen such a ferocious battle?

Zhen Ranyu looked at the enemy heads and captured horses that the soldiers brought back with laughter, and showed a slight approval on his face.

"Pass the order down, award gold and silk to reward the soldiers for their bravery!"

At the cost of less than fifty casualties, the Flame Army caused these rogue cavalrymen to leave behind over a thousand corpses, and more than two hundred horses were captured alive.

Such a tragic loss will surely make those people in the martial arts world who fight for the Cao army because of the common hatred of the enemy tremble.

Yan Shuai once again turned the unfavorable situation around and proved the quality of the "Tang Dynasty Valkyrie".

Her main force was less than a hundred miles away from the Pinglu army led by An Shiru and Wang Jingwu in the north.

The two armies, one in the south and one in the north, were like the two claws of a crab, about to merge, while the main force of the Cao army was now scattered in the mountains between the two government armies in the north and south, and was about to be crushed to pieces.

(End of this chapter)