Fu Song

Chapter 364

Zhang Chao has been guarding Sanchuankou for two days.

Although there are more than ten thousand soldiers and horses in hand, except for about [-] personal soldiers, the rest of the troops are troops just transferred from Bianliang and the south. They can last two days in front of Xiao Ding's Western Army. Zhang Chao himself felt blameless.

Whether it is soldiers or generals, they are all desperate.

In two days, because Zhang Chao personally supervised the battle, seven officers above the capital supervisor of this unit had died in battle, two commanders had died, and nearly [-] soldiers had been injured or injured.

Although the camp looked extremely dilapidated, it was still in his hands.

The western army on the opposite side seemed not in a hurry. Standing on the high platform, Zhang Chao could even see that the opposite side was making some simple siege equipment in a big way outside the camp.

In the afternoon, he even saw batches of Western troops leaving the camp and heading towards Shentangbao.

Zhang Chao immediately fell into a dilemma.

Did Zheng Xiong, who attacked Shentangbao, withdraw his troops and return, so that Xiao Ding had to divide his troops to stop him?

However, with the current strength and morale of both sides, Xiao Ding can definitely launch another large-scale attack, and first take down Sanchuankou.Zhang Chao could feel the attack of the previous two days, and the opponent still had spare strength.

Did Xiao Ding really try to stop Zheng Xiong, or did he set up a trap and wait for himself to jump into it?

With the support of the camp, he can barely fight against Xiao Ding, if he fights in the field, he is afraid that he will be defeated at the first touch.

After thinking about it, Zhang Chao still didn't lead his troops out of the camp to test the opponent.

The reason is simple, he was afraid that he would guess wrong.

One mistake and it's over.

Zhang Chao calculated the time carefully, and it would take at least two days before Wang Jun could lead his troops back to Yan'an Mansion and come to support him. In this way, he could hold on to Sanchuankou for a longer time.

And after Lan Sixin returns to Jingzhao Mansion, he will spare no effort to urge the surrounding troops to come to rescue him, plus Zhang Cheng will gather the small groups of troops around, as long as he persists for a few days, everything will get better .

Or Xiao Ding just saw this, so he made a false appearance to lure himself to attack.

Zhang Chao has already seen Xiao Ding's cunning in employing troops.

This young general who was once hailed as the future mainstay of the Song Dynasty was indeed as cunning as a fox and as fierce as a tiger.

Xiao Ding had indeed left.

He was not in a hurry to swallow the Song soldiers in front of him, although they were almost fish on the felt board right now.In his eyes, whether it is Zheng Xiong's troops or Wang Jun's subordinates, they are obviously much more powerful than the fish bellies in Zhang Chao's hands.

If Zhang Chao's oversized bait was swallowed in one gulp, Zheng Xiong and Zhang Chao would probably run away.

Therefore, Xiao Ding was overjoyed when he heard that Zheng Xiong led his troops back and hurried all the way to Sanchuankou.He left Xin Jian behind, but he took three thousand iron kites and went to follow Zheng Xiong's back route.

If Zheng Xiong insisted on taking down Shentang Fort regardless of Zhang Chao, even if Li Yi defended Shentang Fort, his losses would be extremely heavy.But Xiao Ding racked his brains and tried every means to make dangerous moves, with only one purpose, to minimize his own losses.

He firmly remembered a question that Xiao Erlang and Xiao Cheng had discussed with him.

Even if the Western Army won one victory after another in the wars against Song or Liao, the loss was definitely beyond the reach of the Western Army.This is the most direct manifestation of the opponent's huge national strength.Even if they are defeated again and again, it won't take long for them to make up for their losses.

And the Western Army can't.

Just like the current Great Song Dynasty, there are more than [-] million Dingkou borrowed across the country, and the Liao Kingdom also has [-] million Dingkou.

As for the Western Army, it is said that the territory spans thousands of miles, and the territory is even larger than that of the Song Dynasty, but it is truly vast and sparsely populated. Annexation and even looting, but so far, there are still only three million people.

The huge population base gap determines the irreparable gap between the two sides in terms of manpower.

And Xiao Ding must also be concerned about another issue, that is, his core members are still Song people.But now, this problem can probably be expanded to include the Han people.When Lei Dejin and Zheng Jihong were attacking the Western Regions, they discovered a large number of Han people who had migrated there during the Tang Dynasty, and Xiao Ding was overjoyed.

These Han people living in foreign lands are not like the current Song people. These Han people who have to fight to survive from generation to generation have maintained a sturdy character and a belligerent temperament.But Song people, in the days of peace and prosperity for several generations, have developed a very soft temperament.This is also the reason why the frontier army of the Song Dynasty has such a large gap in combat effectiveness with the Forbidden Army in the Mainland.

Even though the high-ranking Han people in the Western Army now account for a larger proportion and have obvious advantages, but among the lower-level officers, it is the party members who occupy the majority, which is not a small worry.Xiao Ding may not have noticed it yet, but it is impossible for someone like Zhang Yuan not to think about it.

Wouldn't it be a joke if the Dangxiang tribe really turned against the guests at that time?
Xiao Ding must win, but also preserve his own strength as much as possible, this is a contradictory proposition.

It's not that Xiao Ding doesn't want to push him horizontally and vertically with a majestic teacher, but his strength doesn't allow it.

This kind of battle may be more stable, even if it is invincible, it is impossible to be defeated.

But for Xiao Ding's Western Army, it is a slow poison.

Xiao Ding could only take risks, walking on the edge of the cliff again and again.

Just like the ongoing battle of life and death.

If there is a problem in that link, the entire Western Army may have a chain of adverse reactions, which will eventually destroy them completely.

Fortunately, so far, relying on the strong combat power and unparalleled mobility of the Western Army, everything is still under control.

And winning the war against Zhang Chao defeated the hundreds of thousands of troops that the Song Dynasty had finally put together again, and then turned around to deal with the Liao people.

Only by winning the encirclement and suppression by the two giants of Song and Liao at the same time, will the Western Army truly win a respite.

In Zhang Yuan's words, once Yelujun ascended the throne of the Liao Kingdom, he would definitely set his sights on the grand goal of unifying the world. This Khitan was deeply influenced by Sinology, and he wanted to become the emperor of a unified empire engraved in his bones. persistent.

If this is the case, then the Western Army will become a favorite, and whoever is biased will have a big advantage.

Of course, for the Western Army, it is natural to help whoever is weak.

This is the way for the Western Army to survive.

If the Liao or Song Dynasty really wanted to rule the world, would the Western Army survive alone?

How can you allow others to sleep soundly next to the couch?
This sentence applies to every hero or hero.

On the bank of Luoshui, Zheng Xiong met the intercepting force arranged by Xiao Ding earlier.

Jintangcheng and Dejingzhai are two army villages, not too many troops, but they are firmly blocked by Zheng Xiong's ferry crossing Luoshui. Zheng Xiong wants to rush to Sanchuankou as quickly as possible. A place that cannot be bypassed.

Zheng Xiong crossed Luoshui.

Two pontoon bridges erected overnight, and countless simple rafts raced towards the opposite side.

The number of Western troops in Jintangchang and Dejingzhai is not large, there are only a thousand people in both places, Zheng Xiong is sure of this, and a full bloom has come, your idea of ​​manpower must be to ignore the head, Gu Dong ignored West.

Zheng Xiong's troops withdrawn this time were about [-].

But it was such a big gamble that made Zheng Xiong almost lose his fortune in the next loss.

When half of the soldiers and horses had just crossed the Luoshui River, they encountered an iron kite led by Xiao Ding himself at a gallop.

In other words, Xiao Ding is hiding somewhere, waiting for this moment to strike halfway.

The iron kite killed the Song army like a razor on the river bank.

The Song army on the raft in the river turned around in panic and drove back, while the soldiers who crossed the river on the pontoon bridge panicked, and it is unknown how many people fell into the river.

Seeing a group of iron harriers rushing up the pontoon bridge, the Song army on the other side of the bridge had to cut off the pontoon bridge. The pontoon floating away cut off the path of the iron harriers attacking them, but also cut off those who had already crossed the river. way of life.

Zheng Xiong couldn't bear to look at those mourning Song soldiers on the other side.

There is no way to go to heaven, no way to go to earth, the only way for Song Jun to survive is to surrender.

And once they surrender, they will inevitably be taken captive to the north of Hengshan. In this life, there is little hope of returning.

And the Song army on the other side, just as Zheng Xiong expected, under the double attack of the butcher's knife and the raging river, they put down their weapons and surrendered.

The big flag with black characters on a white background stands on the bank of the river, and Xiao Ding immediately cut his sword.

Across the river, Zheng Xiong's flag of the Chinese army was also fluttering in the river wind.

The coaches of the two armies face each other across the river.

The last time we met was when Xiao Ding returned to Beijing from Hebei and passed by Huazhou where Zheng Xiong was in charge. That time, Xiao Ding went to visit Zheng Xiong as a junior, and Zheng Xiong also did not hesitate to teach Xiao Ding by example because of his senior relationship. A lot of thoughtful words,
Never thought that when they met again, it would be such a life-and-death struggle.

Zheng Xiong was holding the waist knife, the veins in his hands were exposed.

On the other side, Xiao Ding got off his horse, took off his helmet, and bowed to the other side to salute.

Fighting to the death is a business.

Bow and salute, that's a personal affair.

Zheng Xiong snorted, reined in his horse, turned around, and walked into the distance.

After this battle, he lost his troops and generals, [-] horses were lost under the Shentang Fort, and on the edge of the Luoshui River. At this moment, only one-third of them were left, and their morale fell to the bottom. Big problem.Sanchuankou has become a battlefield, and the logistics supplies piled up in Yan'an Mansion, but I can no longer enjoy them.

If you don't want the whole army to collapse, you have to leave immediately.

At this moment, there is only one road left for Zheng Xiong, and that is to go to Qinfeng Road and find Li Chun. Only in this way can he avoid Xiao Ding's possible pursuit and find supplies. At the same time, It is also possible to join forces with Li Chun, and we can only take one step at a time and see what to do when the time comes.

It's just that the battle has reached the point in front of us, and failure is already doomed.

The rest is to see the size of the loss.

This is already the case on my side, so there shouldn't be a big problem on Wang Jun's side.It is impossible for Xiao Ding to divide his troops to deal with Wang Jun, but even if Wang Jun is fine, he has no ability to do anything!

Quickly withdrawing troops and defending Yan'an Mansion is his limit. If he thinks about it further, if Yan'an Mansion cannot be defended, the iron kite's horseshoe can really reach directly under Jingzhao Mansion, and the world will really be shocked.

How did it become like this!

Until now, Zheng Xiong still hasn't thought about this issue clearly.

How did Xiao Ding become Da Song's confidant?

When Zheng Xiong left in embarrassment, Wang Jun was also leading his [-] subordinates to retreat day and night.

At the moment when he got the news, Wang Jun was almost like a thunderbolt.

He is very familiar with Xiao Ding's combat style, under such a situation, Zheng Xiong who is in Shentangbao at the moment is afraid that he will suffer a big loss.Xiao Ding had played with them many times before with the tactics of encircling the spot and attacking aid.

Now he just wants to return to help quickly, if he can't go to Sanchuankou to rescue Zhang Chao in time, he must return to Yan'an Mansion before Zhang Chao's complete failure, and defend the city.

He cannot fail.

He is different from Zheng Xiong.

Zheng Xiong is a Confucian general who was born as a Jinshi. He once served as a magistrate. He has a lot of friends of the same age in the court. Even if he is defeated, there are people who speak for him. The object of suspicion, such a big defeat, needs a scapegoat to explain to the world. If he can't make great achievements, the scapegoat will probably be firmly held on top of his head.

That was a catastrophe.

Just when Zheng Xiong was defeated and Wang Jun was still desperately rushing back, Xiao Ding commanded the Western Army to launch a final general attack on Sanchuankou.At this moment, his soldiers and horses are thousands more than at the beginning.

Li Yi from Shentangbao came together, and the Hengshan Regiment training under the leadership of Tuoba Fenwu and Miao Shou also rushed over.Thousands of Hengshan regiments training soldiers were originally left behind by Xiao Ding. If he failed in this battle, after retreating to Hengshan, relying on the hidden thousands of regiments training soldiers can also give Song people a great surprise. Even if Shentangbao is lost at that time, we must work hard to keep the front line of Hengshan.

It's just that the overall situation has been settled at this time, and these thousands of regiments training soldiers don't need to hide anymore.

Grabbing the greatest fruits of victory is the inevitable pursuit of every general.

After a day of fierce fighting, the Battle of Sanchuankou finally came to an end.

"Boss, let me do it!" Xin Jian rode his horse and walked to Xiao Ding's side: "I have a grudge against the Zhang family, and it's just right for me to handle this matter! You can just say, capture alive or kill? I think It would be better for us to capture Zhang Chao alive, he is a super big man, if we take him down, we can get the most when we negotiate with Bianliang."

Xiao Ding looked at Zhang Chao and his hundreds of subordinates surrounded by groups in the distance, and shook his head.

At this moment, countless iron kites were running around the caged birds like Zhang Chao, shouting and screaming endlessly.

"Let me come, a person like Zhang Taiwei should die on the battlefield. And I think he would rather die by my hands!"

(End of this chapter)