Chapter 9 A Soldier
Zhang Xutuo and Lu Mingyue's army confronted each other for ten days, and neither side took the initiative to launch an offensive. Zhang Xutuo was waiting for the other side to have a defensive loophole, while Lu Mingyue waited for Zhang Xutuo to run out of food, and the two armies were in a stalemate.
That morning, a team of Sui cavalry scouts rushed in front of a large reed marsh, covering an area of 100 acres. A Sui army was drawing quickly on paper and outlining it with charcoal. He shouted, "Is there any real estate?"
"Checking!" Sui soldiers answered in the reed marsh. After a moment, more than a dozen Sui soldiers came out and said, "The team is in the middle, and there is a real field in the southeast corner, and you can run horses, about ten acres."
The drawing team was quickly painted the southeast corner of the reed marsh on the map with charcoal. The Sui army scouts investigated for a moment and turned their horses to go west.
...........
A few days later, a grain team from Qi County entered Jibei County in a mighty manner. There were nearly 500 ox carts, each ox cart transporting three stones of grain, a total of more than 1,000 stones of grain, nearly 1,000 coachmen, and more than 500 Sui cavalry guards.
Within ten days of the confrontation between the two armies, there were two grain transport teams, with very few numbers, and they could only maintain the consumption of 20,000 troops for one to two days. This time the food transported was enough for 20,000 troops to support another seven or eight days.
The grain transport team passed through a forest and walked twenty miles forward to reach the Sui army. At this moment, a sound of gongs in the forest sounded, and thousands of Lu Mingyue's bandits rushed out of the forest. The black army rushed towards the convoy. The chasing vanguards were so scared that they jumped off the carriage and fled. Five hundred cavalry rushed forward for two formations, and knew they were defeated, so they drove a bloody road away.
A general of the thief army waved his knife and shouted: "Transfer the grain truck back immediately!"
Thousands of bandits drove ox carts into the forest. When the three thousand Sui troops arrived, the bandits were already driving the grain carts away.
When the grain trucks entered the bandit camp, more than 100,000 bandit troops were in jubilation, as if they had already won the victory over the Sui army. Countless bandit soldiers rushed to stab the bag with their knives, took out the food inside and sprinkled it into the sky. Some soldiers even began to kill beefs and cut meat, and the camp was in chaos.
Lu Mingyue squinted her eyes and looked at the Sui army's ration truck. However, she was quickly calculating the Sui army's food. He was surprised to find that the Sui army's food would not last tonight unless they killed horses, but the war horses in the Central Plains were extremely precious. A war horse is worth tens of thousands of yuan. Until the end of the road, no army would be willing to kill horses.
The Sui army obviously would not kill horses. He could also choose to retreat. Lu Mingyue immediately ordered, "Send ten teams of scouts to monitor the movements of the Sui army camp."
...........
In the Sui Army's central camp, Zhang Xutuo was also summoning the generals to hold a meeting. Dozens of generals gathered together. Zhang Xutuo gave everyone a slow look and said, "I want to tell you the first news first, our food and grass are gone, and we can't stand tonight."
There was still a silence in the tent. No one dared to interrupt when Zhang Xutuo was speaking, nor did anyone dare to whisper. But at this time, every general's face showed shock and food was cut off, which meant that this battle would be defeated without a fight. If it was discovered by the other party, he would be defeated and returned.
Zhang Xutuo smiled again, "We need to tell everyone the second news, the other party knows that we have cut off our food."
This was originally a desperate news, but the smile on Zhang Xutuo gave everyone a glimmer of hope. His coach Zhang Xutuo won by his ability to use surprise troops.
"I'm telling you the third news, I did it deliberately because I did it. The other party knew that I did it deliberately because I did it deliberately because I did it deliberately because I did it, so the decisive battle is tonight, and we will kill us before we can live!"
Zhang Xutuo's grim gaze swept across everyone's faces one by one. He saw a pair of excited and expectant eyes. He nodded with satisfaction. This was the morale he wanted to see, rather than the frustration he heard about the food cut off.
"Qin Qiong, where is Luo Shixin?" Zhang Xutuo issued an order.
"The last one will be here!"
Qin Qiong and Luo Shixin both stood up and bowed, "Please give the order!"
Zhang Xutuo turned around and looked at it. The two personal soldiers hurriedly carried into a wooden stand. On which was hung a sketch hand-painted with charcoal. Everyone recognized it. This was the map of their area. The red patches should be reed marshes.
Zhang Xutuo pointed to the map and said, "This is a combat map drawn by the scout team in ten days. We are on a plain. Look at the two sides, there are large reed marshes on each side. The scout has gone to explore, not all of them are water. I will give you a detailed map."
Speaking of this, Zhang Xutuo said to Qin Qiong and Luo Shixin: "I will give you one thousand cavalry each. You can go out at night and ambush the reed marshes on the left and right. After the main force of the enemy army chases for twenty miles, you will enter the enemy camp and cooperate with your own discussions."
"Abide by the order!" Qin Qiong and Luo Shixin stepped forward and took the order.
Zhang Xutuo said to everyone: "Tonight will be the day for us to take revenge!"
............
Qin Qiong and Luo Shixin rode to the camp, which was Qin Qiong's camp. Qin Qiong was the first commander under Zhang Xutuo, with 4,000 tribes and two commanders of Guoyi. This time, Qin Qiong only led a thousand cavalry to ambush, and the rest of the commander-in-chief were handed over to his deputy general.
"Go to the tent to discuss it!"
Qin Qiong turned over and dismounted and took Luo Shixin away his tent. Qin Qiong is nearly forty years old this year. With Zhang Xutuo, he is also experienced many battles. Like all the generals of Qi County, he also suffered a crushing defeat at the beginning of the year. Fortunately, his wife, children and mother escaped the catastrophe without being in Licheng, which made Qin Qiong thank God again and again for his favor.
He wanted to cooperate with Luo Shixin in the evening to attack. In fact, this kind of attack did not require discussion. They had cooperated with each other many times, and the style of both sides was clear. Generally, Qin Qiong led his troops first, and Luo Shixin immediately sent troops.
Qin Qiong just wanted to take advantage of this opportunity to chat with Luo Shixin. For so many years, he has always regarded Luo Shixin as his younger brother.
"I got news from Cheng Heizi."
Qin Qiong smiled and said, he did not mention Luo Shixin's sadness at all, but talked to him about interesting things.
"Where is he? I haven't seen that boy in so many years." Luo Shixin showed a knowing smile on his face. After talking to his master last time, most of his knots had been untied, and he was no longer as sad as before.
"He was in Wagang Village and defected to my other close friend Shan Xiongxin. The two were enemies before, but they didn't expect that they would become friends now."
"Yes! The world is impermanent, who can expect tomorrow? Cheng Heizi went to Wagang. I wonder what his master would feel?"
Luo Shixin smiled bitterly and said, "Master has a lot of opinions about Yuan Qing. Last time I mentioned Yuan Qing in front of Master, he was furious and wanted to cut off his master-apprentice relationship with him. Brother Qin, do you think Yuan Qing is too much?"
Qin Qiong pondered for a moment and said, "The key is how you view the Sui Dynasty. If you think the Sui Dynasty is going to be over, then what Yuan Qing did is reasonable. On the contrary, if you think the Sui Dynasty will be long-term, then Yuan Qing is a dangerous rebellion."
"What does Brother Qin think of the Sui Dynasty?"
Qin Qiong shook his head, "My father and grandfather are both officials of the Northern Qi Dynasty, so I will not have a good impression of the Sui Dynasty. What I do now is not to defend the Sui Dynasty, but to defend my homeland. I hate these bandits who do all kinds of evil."
Luo Shixin nodded heavily, "Actually, I admire my senior brother very much, and I can actually make a sky with my own abilities. If one day I ask me to make a new choice, I will help him. Although the master is dissatisfied with him, I don't. I think he is right and I don't want to serve this foolish lord."
Qin Qiong laughed, "Okay, let's talk about the serious business! We brothers will have a drink and have a chat if we have the chance in the future."
Qin Qiong took out the map from his arms and spread it on a small table. "First look at the distance between the ambush and the enemy camp."
.........
In the night, Lu Mingyue stood on a lookout tower and looked at the Sui army camp with all concentration. The dark Sui army camp in the distance made him unable to see anything, but his heart was full of desire. He hoped that he could see the Sui army retreating north in a hurry.
At this moment, several black shadows rushed to the night. At this time, Lu Mingyue sent a scout who was monitoring the Sui Camp. Lu Mingyue's heart suddenly jumped up, and he shouted from a distance: "Is there any movement in the Sui army?"
The scouts rushed over, "General, the Sui army evacuated, and only one empty camp was left."
Lu Mingyue was ecstatic, and he turned around and shouted: "Send the order to pursue the three armies at full speed!"
It is not far from Changqing County to Licheng County, only a hundred miles away. One step later, the Sui army will flee back to the county town. Lu Mingyue did not want to lose this rare opportunity. She personally led more than 100,000 troops to pursue the Sui army. Passing by the Sui army camp, the camp was indeed empty and there was no soldier. Lu Mingyue shouted again excitedly: "Catch Zhang Xutuo, no matter how alive or dead, the bounty is a thousand taels!"
More than 100,000 thieves chased eastward like a tide...
In the reed marsh about four miles away from the bandits, Qin Qiong watched the enemy brigade's departure, followed by more than a thousand Sui cavalry who were eager to try. His eyes fell on the enemy camp. The enemy camp was surrounded by the battalion. Thousands of large tents were densely covered with more than ten miles of large tents. There were also defenders in the battalion, but the number was not large, with only a few thousand at most.
When the opportunity came, Qin Qiong picked up his iron spear and turned around and said to everyone: "The moment of making meritorious service is right in front of you. Brothers, let me fight with Qin Qiong!"
He waved his long spear, grabbed the war horse with both legs, and rushed out like an arrow under his crotch. A thousand soldiers followed him and rushed towards the enemy camp.
A team of cavalry ran rapidly in the dark, but the sentries on the sentry tower still found them. The sound of the alarm bell attracted countless enemy troops to run towards the front battalion, but the bell was another signal. Luo Shixin, who was hiding on the other side, also launched. He led a thousand cavalry to attack the side gate, and the enemy was attracted to the front battalion, with the side gate empty.
Luo Shixin led a thousand cavalry into the enemy camp in an instant. They lit torches and ran in the enemy camp. The camps were ignited one by one. Lu Mingyue's camp was in chaos, and the soldiers guarding the camp began to flee. At this time, Qin Qiong also led his army into the enemy camp. They killed and set fire in the camp, lit the camp bars, lit the tents, and burned the camp for more than ten miles. The raging fire rushed straight into the sky, illuminating the entire night sky.
Lu Mingyue had just chased after more than ten miles when suddenly a personal soldier pointed behind him and shouted in horror: "General, look!"
When Lu Mingyue turned around, she was so shocked that her heart was broken. She saw the fire in his camp soaring into the sky, and the huge flames could see clearly even more than a dozen outside.
"not good!"
He suddenly realized that he had been fooled, and Zhang Xutuo used the strategy of luring the tiger away from the mountain.
"Go back! Kill back!"
He hissed and led the army to turn around and pounce on his camp. At this time, Zhang Xutuo also saw the fire further away. He knew it had succeeded, and he led 20,000 elite troops waiting for the last opportunity.
A scout rushed over and reported: "Master, the enemy retreated to the camp!"
Zhang Xutuo waved his sword and said, "Get back for me!"
Twenty thousand Sui troops turned around and chased after him. At this time, two thousand cavalry of Qin Qiong and Luo Shixin also came out. Two Sui troops attacked each other, Lu Mingyue's army was defeated, and Zhang Xutuo issued an order to kill without mercy. The Sui troops chased and killed them all the way, killing corpses everywhere and blood flowed into a river...
In this battle, Zhang Xutuo led 20,000 infantry and cavalry to kill more than 120,000 rioters, but Lu Mingyue escaped under the protection of more than 200 personal guards. Zhang Xutuo immediately ordered to build a "Jingguan" with 120,000 rioters' heads to worship the slaughtered soldiers and civilians in Licheng County.
The battle of Changqing made Zhang Xutuo famous in Dongxia, and Zhang Xutuo boosted his military power again. Within a month, he led his army to win consecutive battles in Jibei County and Lu County, defeating more than ten rebellious bandits including Lu Mingxing, Shuai Rentai, Huo Xiaohan and others. His army was invincible. Wherever the army went, the bandits fled in the wind.
Emperor Yang Guanglian of the Sui Emperor who was on his way to Jiangdu to inspect was a good news. He was overjoyed and appointed Zhang Xutuo as the Guanglu Dafu and led the ambassador to promote and demote the twelve counties of Henan Road to prosecute and arrest the ambassador.
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Chapter completed!