Song Dynasty

Chapter 264

Hearing the voice, Yue Yun turned his head to look, and it was Wu Tuo and Du Shu who were speaking.

He stood up and hurriedly saluted his father-in-law: "I have seen Mr. Taishan, why did Taishan come to Dingzhou if he didn't return to Anlu?"

Du Shu lifted him up and said with a smile, "Ying Xiang, why should you and my son-in-law be so polite? Get up quickly. I have something important to see Dao Si, so come naturally. By the way, where is Dao Si now? ?”

Yue Yun: "The military envoy is now in Lizhou, only a few tens of miles away from Dingzhou. Maybe we can see him tomorrow. But I don't know if my father-in-law has something urgent to see the military envoy?"

Du Shu: "This matter is very important, we will talk about it when we see Dao Si." He didn't answer this question, but smiled: "Ying Xiang, when I leave Huangzhou, your wife is going to give birth. What's the situation now?" ?”

When Yue Yun heard his father-in-law's question, he hurriedly laughed and said, "Mother and child are safe and sound. The lady gave birth to Lin'er within a month after father-in-law left."

Du Shu was overjoyed: "Ah, so he was born, so he got a name?" He is old and has many children and grandchildren.But once the child Yue Yun was born, his relationship with Wang Shen was different.

Yue Yun: "I have already chosen a name. It is called Yue Fu. It is the name given by the military envoy."

"Yue Fu, please." Du Shu stroked his beard and laughed.

Wu Tuo and others came over to congratulate Judgment Du. After a long time, Du Shu said, "Ying Xiang, this old man is also unlucky. He was targeted by Mani monsters as soon as he arrived in Hunan. If it wasn't for a coincidence that you brought an army to rescue him today Well, I'm afraid it's going to be bad. It's less than [-] miles away from Dingzhou City, and the thieves can come and go calmly. I never thought that the thieves have become so rampant. The situation in Hunan is probably not good. "

Yue Yun didn't take it seriously: "It's just a group of thieves. No matter how many people there are, and they take advantage of the territory, our army will cut them off immediately. The false prince Zhongzi Angbu's son-in-law has been watching for two days. I'm afraid that these monsters are in the water. They come and go like the wind, and they cannot be wiped out, so this is the design to lure them to this open space."

Hearing this, Du Shu felt that something was wrong, his complexion changed, and he was about to ask.

Niu Gao who was next to him coughed hurriedly: "General Ying Xiang, why don't you introduce me? Also, this general hasn't finished speaking just now, so I still ask for advice."

Only then did Yue Yun introduce everyone to Niu Gao.

Niu Gao saluted Du Shu and Wu Tuo one by one, he had been well-known to Du Shu for a long time, he had known for a long time that he was the No. [-] figure in the Sizhou Army, the leader of all civil servants, and he was extremely respectful towards him.

After the three of them saw the ceremony, Wu Tuo said: "So it's General Niu Boyuan, just now the last general said that this mandarin duck formation is too expensive, that's because you see that there are branches everywhere on this wolf trap, and the steel consumed is enough to make five The tips of the six spears. Moreover, it is not easy to manufacture alien weapons such as the wolf, and it takes a lot of time. The military envoy once said that the principle of the army's weapon manufacturing requires simple and easy manufacturing, and it can be produced as quickly as possible when it is most needed. If the manufacturing of weapons cannot keep up with the wear and tear, there is no way to fight this battle. In the past, our army was not large, and perhaps we could adopt a policy of elite soldiers. But now the army has expanded rapidly, and it is impossible for everyone to be well-equipped. Moreover, As the number of troops increases, the equipment must have a fixed standard for maintenance and manufacture."

Niu Gao nodded thoughtfully.

Wu Tuo: "The military envoy said that during the Warring States Period, the weapons of Qiang Qin were all of uniform size, and the names of the craftsmen were engraved on the weapons to facilitate the tracing of the quality. Find someone to find the reason. Moreover, because the same weapon and the same size are used, once the weapon is damaged, parts can be exchanged."

"By the way, another important reason why the Mandarin Duck Formation will not be used after the Battle of Hunan is that it is not easy to train troops, and it is not suitable for large troops to push them out."

He went on to say: "When I watched the battle just now, I also thought about it for a long time. I found that the training cost of this mandarin duck array is very high, the command is very difficult, and it is difficult to popularize it on a large scale. For soldiers, it is not only necessary to know how to use weapons, but also to be united. One mind, understanding the importance of mutual cooperation, each small formation needs a captain who understands the use of formations, and when several units unite, they also need to know how to unite the grassroots officers of several units, and then senior officers, where can we find such a team in our army? What a qualified officer?"

After speaking, he asked Yue Yun: "General Ying Xiang, are you right about what you said about the last general?"

Yue Yun nodded: "That's right."

Hearing what he said, Niu Gao also nodded again and again, shocked in his heart: this Wu Tuo just arrived in Hunan, and after only looking at it for a long time, he figured out the reality of this mandarin duck formation better than himself.The military qualities of the generals in the Sizhou Army are really good. They really are a powerful army that is under the prestige all day long!
As he spoke, the gains over there were quickly counted.

According to the captives, the leader of the Manichaean demon who escaped was indeed Zhong Ziang, Zhong Xiang's false prince, which made everyone very regretful.

In this battle, 230 Xiangyong led by Du Shu and Wu Tuo were killed and more than ten were injured.The Beiwei army beheaded 710 people and captured [-] people, which can be regarded as completely annihilating the invading enemy.However, the Beiwei army only killed five people and injured fourteen, which can be described as a hearty victory.

As for the seizure, the Manichaeans were very poor, and they had nothing of value, only scraps of copper.

Soldiers gathered farm tools and weapons together, took off the troops with iron on them and put them on the carts, ready to take them back and turn them into iron for rebuilding.

Du Shu: "Ying Xiang, General Niugao, shall we take our troops into Dingzhou City now?" He is a man who is used to enjoying himself, walking in the field for two or three days, his body is dirty and smelly, and it is unbearable. .

Yue Yun: "Back to my father-in-law, I really want to go to the city to take a bath, change into clean clothes, eat wine and meat. It's a pity, we are uninvited guests to Li Cheng, and they may not welcome us."

Du Shu: "How to say?"

Yue Yun replied: "After my army entered Lizhou and fought against the Manichaean monsters, the military envoy also sent someone to contact Li Cheng and asked him to send troops to help, but the man surnamed Li kept silent. I think he didn't welcome us very much. Hehe, Li Cheng already regards the Ding, Chen, and Li prefectures as his own territory. Naturally, he doesn't want us to come and compete for food, and it's hard to say what he has in mind. I'd better get through the road from here to the old camp of the military envoy first. , Wait until the military envoy comes over."

Du Shu nodded again and again: "Yes, it's better not to be advanced in Dingzhou, everything will be discussed after seeing Daosi."

It was a time of troubled times, when rituals were broken and music was broken, and the area south of the Yangtze River was in a mess.Officers and soldiers fight rogues, rogues fight rogues, officers and soldiers fight officers and soldiers.They are all fighting for territory, robbing people, and annexing other people's armies.If the order of the court is not acceptable, anyone may stab you in the back.

Each of the hundreds of soldiers brought by Yue Yun and Niu Gao was wearing iron armor, each had a strong horse, and three or four well-made weapons were hung on the horse. Compared with the beggar army in the south, this kind of equipment It's outrageously luxurious, who knows if Li Cheng will be tempted.

Besides, the Du family and Li Cheng had a blood feud, and Du Shu was afraid that he would not be able to bear it when he saw Li Cheng.

Niu Gao: "Since Judge Du gave the order, let's set up camp on the official road and guard the passages between Ding and Li states."

At this time, a soldier came to ask for instructions: "Yue Tongzhi, Niu Tongzhi, how to deal with so many prisoners?"

Yue Yun rolled his eyes, and before he could speak, Niu Gao said: "What else can I do, kill them all!"

Wu Tuo was shocked: "General Yingxiang, General Niu, it's ominous to kill prisoners. Our Sizhou Army has no such precedent! It is still the same as the precedent. First lock them up and then screen them one by one. If you have to use them to enrich the army, you can't use them." Yes, let it go."

Niu Gao had just joined the Sizhou Army for only two days, so he didn't take it seriously, he said: "This is not good, I don't know when the military envoy Xingyuan will come to Dingzhou, we have so many war horses, and the food consumption is huge. To feed such a Is it possible to take more prisoners? Don’t wait until that time, and our army will be starved to death.”

Wu Tuo became anxious: "But this is not the reason for killing the prisoners. This matter is really against the harmony of heaven and cannot be done!"

Niu Gao was originally a big man in Henan, and he had lost countless lives in his hands.He didn't take it seriously, and said with a smile: "Or, General Wu is looking for some food and grass to feed so many mouths?"

Wu Tuo was suffocated, the surrounding area was wasteland, and there was not a single human habitation for dozens of miles, so where did he go to find food and grass.

Niu Gao smiled again and said: "Yes, it's bad luck to kill prisoners. If we can recruit the captives, we can strengthen our army. However, since I came all the way from Jianghan, I know the virtues of the Mani monster best. General Wu probably didn't know that these demons were very stubborn. They were blinded by the teachings of the cult and were extremely cruel. In their eyes, anyone who didn't believe in their teachings was a demon and had to be killed. Killing a demon is considered a demon. It's a great merit. So, we don't need to waste this work. If you don't want to do this work, I will let my guards do it. Anyway, they haven't formally joined the Sizhou Army. Yu Wangjun envoy Wise and unscathed."

"Killing these captives can greatly deter demons and let them know what will happen to our Sizhou army. These cultists are all blinded to their minds, and enlightenment is impossible. There is only one word-kill-kill until they get scared."

Wu Tuo: "But, but... killing people is wrong after all...General Yingxiang..."

Yue Yun didn't speak, apparently because he didn't want to care about this matter.

Du Chong interrupted suddenly: "Fang La was in chaos back then, and old man Chen Zhuang, who was harmed by the Ming religion in the south of the Yangtze River, also listened to people's words. This kind of evildoer cannot be educated, and it would be clean to kill. The old man agrees, General Niu Gao, this matter is up to you Let's do it."

Seeing that everyone acquiesced in this matter, Wu Tuo murmured: "No, you can't do this!"

However, since Du Shu had already opened his mouth, the ranks in the army were strict, and he had no choice but to carry out the order.

Soon, the captives were circled into a group and led to the river with ropes.

Probably feeling that they must die today, all the Manichaeists shouted at the same time: "Can you take off our clothes?"

Niu Gao and the other soldiers who were about to attack snorted: "Are you still thinking of going to the ground for peace? You monsters attacked the state and plundered the mansion and slaughtered the common people. Today we will throw your corpse into the water and feed it to the fish."

Wu Tuo was leading Xiangyong to maintain order, and he was very puzzled when he saw the demon asked to take off his clothes.

A soldier of the Beiwei army explained: "General Wu, these Mani monsters are very evil. When they die, they have to take off their clothes when they are buried. They say they come naked and go naked. Also, they don't stick to meat on weekdays. Eat food."

A Xiangyong suddenly realized: "Yes, yes, I have heard people say that eating vegetables is the devil!"

(End of this chapter)