Song Dynasty

Chapter 135 Military Chaos
"Daosi, that's the old city of Qichun. The bandit Kong didn't run away. It seems that his posture is to resist. This battle is not easy!" Du Shu rode on the horse and pointed to the front with his whip.

It was the fourth day after the decisive battle, and the Sizhou army finally reached Kong Yanzhou's lair.

Being as fast as the wind is Wang Shen's fighting style. In fact, since his debut, every victory he has won has been to hit the enemy's most vital joints instantly with a blitzkrieg, without giving the opponent any time to react.But this time, they ran into trouble. After defeating Kong Yanzhou's main force, they seized too much, counting supplies, screening soldiers, and recruiting qualified recruits into the army.

Moreover, in the past few days, he also sent troops to recover other counties in Qizhou and cut off the branches and leaves of Kong Yanzhou, so as to prevent these places from providing material and manpower support to Kong Jun.

Now the army has expanded to [-], and more than half of the PLA soldiers have declined in combat effectiveness and military discipline.It will take some time for recruits to get used to the tactics of the Wang Family Army if they want to fully integrate into the Sizhou Army.

Ten thousand soldiers, plus more than 1 civilian husbands conscripted, is indeed a headache.Perhaps, in the eyes of modern people, 2 people is just a number.In later generations, it is nothing if the residents of any ordinary town can exceed this number.

But to actually manage so many people, let them obey orders, eat three meals a day, and eat horse chews, all have to be considered carefully.Even the soldiers and masters had to think about defecating and urinating. The weather is getting hotter day by day, and the feces produced by 2 horses every day is an astronomical figure. If they are not handled properly, the plague will last forever.

War is not romantic, especially for a commander, a battle is composed of these drowsily boring details from beginning to end.But you still have to cheer up and deal with it carefully. There are devils in the details. Maybe if you do something wrong, you will be defeated.

Today, with almost no resistance, Wang Shen took Qichun, passed through the city, and was blocked by a river.

I saw that the river passed through the city, it was the dry season, the water was not deep, and it did not reach people's thighs.It's not wide, just a narrow line, more than a hundred paces.In the sun, large stretches of cobblestones were bleached white.

A foot of water can be passed by raising one's legs.However, a solid red sandstone city wall was built on the opposite bank of the river, filled with soldiers from the Kong family army and common people that Kong Yanzhou threatened.

"What old city?" Wang Shen was a little puzzled.

Du Shu is the general judge of Huangzhou. Since he came to Qi and Huangzhou, it can be said that he has visited all the cities in the two states, and he naturally knows the local people's conditions like the palm of his hand.

He replied: "Qichun is where the government of Qizhou is located. This city is connected to Shouchun in the east and Jianghan in the west. Although the place is barren, it is the gateway connecting Jianghan and Huaixi. It is a place that military strategists must contend for. , Li Houzhu sent a large army to garrison here, and built a strong city defense on the east bank of Qishui, which is an old city. However, the old city of Shuidong is full of hills and the terrain is narrow. The magistrate of Qizhou built a new city in the west of Shui, and the transportation is convenient. I heard people say that when the former Jurchen invaded the Zhang family and crossed the river, Wanyanchang's Chinese army was stationed here, and even sent civilians to build city defenses. .General, with all due respect, when you came to Qi and Huang, you should have used this place as a defense to envoy Si Xingyuan. So, how can there be any troubles today?"

Hearing the accusation in his mouth, Wang Shen could only say: "I am the defense envoy of Huangzhou, and the government office must be set up in Huanggang, how could I come to Qichun?" At that time, I found that Qi and Huang were too poor to live in for a long time, so I went to Jianghan with all my heart, thinking about how to take that rich land into my pocket in the future.

Moreover, in the future situation, the area north of Xiangyang will be the place where Song and Jin will clash fiercely.Whether the Jurchen or Puppet Qi invaded southward or the Song army went northward to the Central Plains, they were all battlegrounds and a springboard to shake up the general trend of the world.

Wang Shen had also been preparing to cross the river to Ezhou, but he didn't want Kong Yanzhou to hit him in the back.

Standing by the water and looking over, the old city of Qichun is not very big, only the size of a small county town in a mountainous area in later generations.But the terrain in the city is high, with several rolling hills, and the roads in the city are narrow, it is simply a miniature mountain city.

There are strong walls in the city, and many fortresses have been repaired. It is really easy to defend but difficult to attack.

Moreover, before Wang Shen's army came, Kong Yanzhou had already taken all the people in the new city into the old city. state army.

To this day, the fire is still burning in the new town.

It can be said that the people of Qichun encountered a catastrophe when they met Kong Yanzhou, an animal.

Blame it on me for being too slow in deploying troops. Everything is planned before action. It is true that the older you are, the less courageous you are.

Wang Shen regretted it in his heart, feeling that the next battle might not be easy.The tough battle is a new task for the Sizhou Army, a pure field army, and it may be a raw meal.

If there is any loss, it is my fault, Wang Shen.

"Soldiers are precious and fast, so the old city of Qichun must be captured as soon as possible, so as not to give Kong the thief a chance to breathe." Although he was frustrated, Wang Shen still showed a confident look, and said: "Send an order to Gu Lie and Wu Xianxian, Ordered to defeat the enemy, and the victorious and victorious armies immediately attacked Shuiximen. Aren’t they fighting for prisoners and supplies? They entered the old city, and they have everything. Tonight, a certain person lived in the old city tonight.”

Having said that, Wang Shen felt a little uneasy when he saw the dry Qishui in front of him.This terrain seems to be not conducive to the deployment of troops, and it is impossible to use siege equipment.

Facts proved his hunch.

The military plan that thought that the old city could be taken in one day also failed completely.

The sources of Wang Shen's soldiers are very complicated. There are veterans of the Western Army, refugees from Huaibei and Huaixi, and volunteers from Hebei. Did not cross the river.

Qishui has dried up now, and the depth of the water is only two to three feet, so it can be crossed by wading directly.However, the soldiers showed fear as soon as they stepped into the river, and some people fell to the ground after walking a few steps.Fortunately, Kong Yanzhou's troops were limited, otherwise he would lead an elite general out, and the troops would not be in chaos.

There was no other way. Gu Lie and Wu Xianxian had no choice but to bring firewood and built more than a dozen rafts to cross the river.After paddling out for a few steps, the rafts began to spin in the middle of the river, colliding with each other, and the soldiers on the raft fell into the water like dumplings, and then huddled together awkwardly, standing in the water like a goose, not knowing what to do Is good.

There were casualties in such shallow water. After falling into the water, three soldiers panicked because they were wearing iron armor. They didn't know how to stand up, and they were drowned alive.

Seeing that they couldn't organize the attack, Gu Lie and Wu Xianxian had no choice but to withdraw their troops, but Lu Can scolded them bloody: "What are you two idiots doing? The military envoy asked you to play forward. Destroy the dead, you can wait, let’s not talk about embarrassment, and also lose the morale of our army, deduct your allowance for this month as a warning to others. No brains, what kind of raft is built in such shallow water, immediately take people to collect wood and build it directly The pontoon bridge. Also, the siege equipment should be prepared, so that there is no danger."

Fortunately, what they met was Lu Can. If it was the military judge Chen Da, both of them would probably have to eat a meal of military sticks.

With Lu Can's proposal, each army sent soldiers to collect wood.

Another problem arose. Qichun New City had been set ablaze by Kong Yanzhou, so where could I find so much wood in a short while.As a result, the troops dispersed to collect materials and civilians.

More than half of the current Sizhou are the soldiers of Kong Yanzhou who had just surrendered. These people were used to looting in the Central Plains and Shandong, and their military discipline was corrupt.Although the combat effectiveness is not bad, but in the past six months, he has been fleeing thousands of miles, and he has just experienced a bloody battle with the Sizhou Army, and his whole psychology has been distorted.

Moreover, they were not used to the strict military laws of the Sizhou Army, so when they came out to recruit wood this time, their animal nature immediately burst out.In just one day, the villages near Qichun were burned to the ground by them.

Although Chen Da's Military Judiciary Division was mobilized, they still couldn't suppress the rioting soldiers.

The more than 5000 surrendered soldiers plus the other [-] braided soldiers who were enriched among the auxiliary soldiers and civilian husbands were so red-eyed that they ran around with weapons in their hands, and whenever they saw living things, they would swarm and kill them. .

The most irritating thing is that Kong Yanzhou didn't know where the courage came from, but he brought two hundred elite soldiers out of the city when the Sizhou army was in chaos, and set fire to the half-built pontoon bridge and piled on the west bank of the river. The wood was burned.

If Yue Yun hadn't led the Beiwei army to attack, they might have broken into Wang Shen's old camp.

"What a bunch of bastards." Lu Can finally erupted, furiously yelling at the commanders and deputy envoys of the armies who were kneeling on the ground: "It's good, it's good, I know it's a disaster for the people, I know it's burning, killing and looting!" Yes. Look at your appearance, are you still officers and soldiers? Our army came to Qi and Huang, and the imperial court’s order is to exterminate the rebels and punish the people. In my opinion, you must be punished first! Judge Chen Jun, according to the instructions of the military envoy How should the enacted military law be dealt with according to the law?"

Chen Da: "According to the law, if the troops are in disorder, all officers will be given [-] batons!"

Lu Can: "Of course, you are all commanding the troops to fight, and it is impossible to kill them all. I will ask the military envoy to show you how to decide."

Wang Shen was also extremely annoyed, he did not expect that the army in the feudal society was so brutal.In this way, what is the difference between myself and those thieves and rogues? How can I support them in the future, and how to win people's hearts with kindness and nationalism.The most terrible thing is that once the military discipline of the army is broken, it will be difficult to firmly control it in your own hands in the future.It's hard to say, other people promised generous rewards, and the army who saw the money was driven away.

"This wind cannot rise, and this case cannot be opened!" Wang Shen tried his best to calm himself down, and said slowly: "The attack on the old city of Qichun should be stopped first, and Kong Yanzhou can't escape anyway. First rectify military discipline, restore Order. Except for Yue Yun's Beiwei army who stayed behind to defend, everyone went down to the army and brought back the rebellious army. Kill them when they need to be killed, and there will be no mercy."

The last time Kong Yanzhou's main force was defeated, the strength of all armies swelled by nearly half, but Beiwei's army did not increase due to strict selection of personnel.Also because of this, Yue Yun had nothing to do with this riot.

As soon as the word "kill" was uttered, a cold current arose on everyone's backs.

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(End of this chapter)