stubborn thief

Chapter 115

August [-]th, Yanchuan.

In the camp outside the city, a young heroic officer stood in front of the tent of the Chinese army, bowed his head, and said softly, "General, humble Mako."

"Enter."

Li Bei closed the luggage book, looked back at the topographic map hanging on the tent, twisted his numb neck, and asked, "How?"

Kneeling down and saluting the army, he got up and said: "The corpses of the county government have been recorded and reported. There are 140 compliant heads, and there are two heads of women who used to live in the suburbs."

Ma Ke lowered his head with a humble expression, paused for a moment before carefully raising his head and said: "It has been found out that he was killed by Chen Shiyao, a soldier from the third team of the Zuo Division, and Feng Guangli, a soldier from the sixth team of the Zuo Division...General, the former commander of the Qianbai Qian The Yulin Town Buguan and the former Battalion Zuosi are always soldiers borrowed from General Ai, this is the military law?"

Li Bei was not born to be big and rough, and his voice was very cold. He didn't get angry when he heard the words, he just raised his hand and patted the books on the left side of the table, saying: "Nonsense, before the war, each should be the fourth to keep the knot, and don't plunder and kill women and children to rob the people." Livestock, is it a joke? Tell Wang Shilong, if he doesn’t kill people, I’ll kill him. As for General Liu Guozhen, if he can’t enforce the military law, let him lead his troops back to Shenmu to find General Ai, I don’t need this guy.”

Ma Ke raised his head and persuaded again: "But general, what if they really clamored to leave? The captive thief said, Chuang Wang's gang has tens of thousands of people, and I'm waiting for one battalion to be full, and three of them will always be borrowed. Yes, if there is another one... the imperial court has gathered Mr. Qian, so what's the use of it?"

His words made Li Bei sigh.

This general in Yan'an is really aggrieved.

All post stations and courier shops were destroyed, so that the officers and soldiers had no information about the surrounding area of ​​Yan'an Prefecture. Eight days ago, Yulin Town received a letter from Zhang Nian, the prefect of Yan'an.

In the letter, Zhang Nian scolded Wu Zimian, the commander-in-chief. He said that Mr. Wu was too worthless, and it would be fine if he didn't send troops to Yan'an Mansion to help suppress him. What does it mean that he didn't reply to seven letters?Hurry up and send me back the seized letter messenger!
Call Wu Zimian stupid, this is the first letter he has received, and where is the letter messenger detained!
Li Bei took office hastily, not daring to go to the prefecture to recruit troops, so he borrowed two full-staffed headquarters in Yulin Township, one is the tribe leader Meng Ruhu who was born outside the Great Wall, and the other is Shenmu General Ai Wannian Xialiuguo Town.

Only Ma Ke, who followed him from Bai Zongsheng to fill in the little brothers of the general manager and even the servants, can be considered as the headquarter soldier for Ma Ke.

"The imperial court fought against Jianzhou in the northeast for ten years, and the people in the southeast fought against taxes every now and then. In the southwest, Anbang, Yanshe and Chongming also fought for nine years. In the northwest, there are now border army mutinies and hungry people rebelling."

Li Bei stood up, went to Ma Ke to wipe off the dust on his iron armbands, straightened his collar, and said: "Yulin's troops are limited, and the imperial court has given me everything that can be given to you. Brave and brave, you will be a minister of the imperial court in the future, but you are impatient, and you will inevitably panic if you are in a hurry. If you complain like this in the future, don't say it again."

"Yes!"

Ma Ke bowed his head and saluted, and said: "Thank you, General, for your guidance."

"I really envy you for being young." Li Bei was very satisfied with the attitude of his subordinates, shook his head with emotion, then sat back in front of the Chinese army case, and said solemnly: "This battle against the rebellion will last for a long time, if I go to Elsewhere, you have to remember sixteen characters."

Ma Ke stared at him: "The humble job is to follow the general to the death!"

"Stupid words, you are a general of the imperial court, why do you follow me to the death."

He is very optimistic about Ma Ke, a young and low-ranking officer. If this is the first year of the apocalypse and Li Bei is still serving in Ji Town, then he will agree with this.

Maybe it will take Marco for a lifetime.

But it's different now, several years have passed, and there is not much time left for him to be miserable, and he can't take Ma Ke for a lifetime.

Li Bei shook his head and said: "Remember, in the war against rebellion, one should not be afraid of too many thieves, but only of few thieves; if not afraid of thieves defending, one should be afraid of thieves running away."

The young general Ma Ke lowered his head and chewed these sixteen words repeatedly in his heart, then raised his head for a while and said: "Please forgive me for being stupid and humble, and I hope you can explain it in detail."

Li Bei was not angry. Instead, he praised Ma Ke for his thirst for knowledge and motioned him to sit across from him. Then he explained: "Although there are many thieves, there is nothing to be afraid of. Just look at the thieves in Shaanxi today. There is someone trapped in that pawn." Those who resist taxes should not be feared; on the contrary, many thieves, or frontier generals, or those who can lead the people to subdue others, are all male husbands, who would be willing to live under others?"

"Don't be afraid that there are many thieves. If there are different orders, if the orders are not the same, the hearts will not be aligned. If the hearts are not aligned, the will will be different. If the left is determined to fight to the death and the right will surrender first, the left will not be able to fight to the death. It is easy to break."

After Li Bei finished speaking, he left Ma Ke a moment to think about it, and actually felt emotional in his heart.

This all comes from his conclusion that since the imperial court was defeated several times against the Eastern captives, it is so appropriate to put it on the bandits now.

After Ma Ke nodded in understanding, Li Bei continued: "It's the same reason not to be afraid of bandits defending. If you can't win in a field battle inside, and there is no strong reinforcement coming from outside, how can you talk about defense in battle? There is no heavy artillery, no matter where they defend, they are dead, and if they dare to defend, it will take three to five days at least, and more than ten days at most, and they will be destroyed without attack."

"Many thieves run away and you can still pursue them, but if you seldom run away, you can't catch up, and we don't have enough food and grass to pursue them. We can only slowly detect the thieves, and then win the battle quickly... So, do you understand?"

Hearing this, Ma Ke stood at attention, the armor on his body collided and made a clattering sound, and he saluted again: "I understand the humble post, thank you general for your guidance!"

Marko is gone.

Not long after, the voice of him reading the execution was heard from the camp grounds, followed by a riot from the officers and soldiers, which took a long time to subside.

Li Bei in the tent of the Chinese army breathed a sigh of relief, he knew that from now on, the three generals and the frontier troops under him would obey his orders.

Only in this way can he dare to attack the bandits in Yan'an Mansion.

This raid was different.

A few months ago, the battle of beheading the tiger general Ganquan and conquering the old Huihui group in Huanglongshan was much simpler.

The Yan'an Mansion gave him information about Ganquan, and it could also give him information about thieves at Huanglong Mountain. Although food and grass were insufficient and soldiers were hungry, a quick battle could solve the problem.

But this time is different.

In Qingjian, he gave the map to the county government, and asked the county government to draw the place where the thieves were entrenched, and the county government drew a circle in Yanchuan.

At first he thought that the thieves were in Yanchuan, but he didn't expect that the Qingjian county government drew a safe zone.

It is said that Yanchuan is only a group of big thieves and gangsters, and it has rained there, so it is still peaceful.

There are thieves and bandits in all the counties of Yan'an Prefecture outside of Yanchuan. I don't know the leader, the number, or where they are. It is not even known whether the counties are still under the control of the imperial court.

It's only been three months, how did the situation turn so bad?
Fortunately, the grain and grass looted by King Huntian helped, giving him a moment to breathe.

There are three important tasks in front of him. One is to help Yanchuan County re-establish a post station, express delivery, and exchange information with Yulin Town.Second, send people to investigate to the south to find out the specifics of the Yanchang counties.

The last point is to urge the new Yanshui gatekeeper who is still in Yulin to take office as soon as possible to prevent thieves from crossing the border into Shanxi.

In the evening, the servants came to the tent of the Chinese army to report that the prisoners captured in the crusade against King Huntian had spoken.

Pages of military information were placed on Li Bei's desk.

Huntian King's name is Zhang Yingjin. Gao Yingxiang, the former leader of the robbers, tried to persuade him to join forces, but Huntian King refused.

Now that the army is defeated, they should flee south to Gao Yingxiang, the king of Chuang who is entrenched in Yanchang.

"The humble job also forced me to ask for a piece of information."

Ma Ke clasped his fists and said, "The trespasser and the gangster have talked about controlling the central and southern part of the Yan'an Mansion, and facing the attack on the Trilateral Commander's Mansion."

Li Bei was overjoyed: "Oh? This is beneficial to Wu Guerrilla who is attacking the Qingyang thieves. Tell me quickly."

"Yes! The intruders are divided into many thieves and headed in various places. After the official army advances from Qingyang and Ningzhou, they want to retreat northward from Yunzhou successively, consume the army's food, grass and physical strength, and lead them to Yanchuan for a decisive battle... Huntian The thief agreed."

Li Bei was silent for a long time when he heard the words, and finally uncharacteristically used his fist to beat the case, scaring Ma Ke.

"General, general, I think that this strategy is not wise." Ma Ke said: "Besides, we already know, as long as the news is sent to the Qingyang Wu Guerrilla, the strategy can be used."

"That's why I'm annoyed. It's not because of the battle situation. This is what I said. Don't be afraid of thieves guarding or thieves running away."

Li Bei shook his head, it was difficult to express his inner feelings clearly.

The plan is very simple, and it is a group of rabble to implement it to the specific executors.

But it will really take effect, that's what makes Li Bei angry.

What is shame?

A group of thieves clearly calculated the food, physical strength and marching speed of the officers and soldiers.

In the end, it was concluded that they had more food and grass, stronger physical strength, and faster marching speed than the official army, so they only needed to use this method to deal with the official army.

Isn't it a disgrace to the officers and soldiers?

The most embarrassing thing is that this thing is really useful, because Hou Jin calculated their food and grass like this.

These people who were born out of the Ming army system can and can correct their ills, but they cannot correct themselves.

Li Bei said: "It's already too late to plan. King Huntian fled to Yanchang County. The thieves over there must have known that we are stationed in Yanchuan. The thieves must be prepared. I guess they will not run to Yanchuan again. That... What is it called, beat up the servant of Yuhebao in Yanshuiguan?"

Ma Ke clasped his hands and added: "Liu Chengzong, the general ordered me to go to Yuhebao to meet with He Shoubei and ask about his situation."

is the name.

Li Bei nodded and asked: "Where is King Huntian, is there any news about this person?"

"No, the captives only mentioned the intruder Gao Yingxiang, but they said that Gao Yingxiang also marched into Yanshuiguan, but for some reason, it seemed that he only stayed at the Yellow River Ferry for half a day before raising his troops and heading south."

After Ma Ke finished speaking, he slowed down and asked, "General, is this Liu Chengzong... still in Shanxi?"

"Probably."

Li Bei nodded and said: "I asked someone to ask the general guard of Yonghe Pass in Shanxi Province, and they said that no one had crossed the pass before Gao Yingxiang. Shanxi is safe."

"No, general... I heard from the captives that there are many deserters under Gao Yingxiang's subordinates, as well as Dazi Yiqi who took refuge. Yanshuiguan was broken by Liu Chengzong's unobtrusive subordinates."

Ma Ke shook his head and said, "Will those people in Yonghe Guan be able to guard against Gao Yingxiang?"

"It's not the same. Gao Yingxiang is different from Wang Jiayin. He has never breached the military fort and Guancheng, and has always looted everywhere. Only Ansai surrendered, and he has not fought head-on. He may indeed be scared away."

Li Bei summarized the information he had obtained, and analyzed: "The people at the Yellow River Ferry also said that there were indeed officers and soldiers arrayed on the hillside on the other side of the river that day. "

After all, he reminded: "Liu Chengzong is not a humble man. Since he attacked Yan'an City to save his father from rebelling, he destroyed the city and robbed the post. It suddenly disappeared?"

Ma Ke laughed and said: "It should be hidden. He Shoubei of Yuhebao said that his father is a Juren, and his elder brother Liu Chengzu is in charge of the team. At the same time, the two brothers are both scholars. They have passed the martial arts exam, and they should have passed the exam... …I really don’t know why Fushi County Magistrate and Yan’an Wei provoked them.”

Li Bei deeply agreed with this, nodded and said: "It's good now, two good generals, they are forced to become thieves."

When this matter was mentioned, Li Bei became very angry. Everyone was angry, not only Fu Shi Zhixian and Zhang Qianhu, who forced Liu's family to rebel.

There is also He Renlong who guards Yuhebao, and Hong Chengchou, who gave him the idea of ​​sending troops to participate in politics.

Good people should be thrown in Yuhebao with food and shelter.

With insufficient food and salaries, it was hard enough to deal with a bunch of bandits while maintaining military discipline, and to deal with a bunch of frontier soldiers.

A bunch of bastards who made his work more difficult for no reason!

"I can't find Liu Chengzong..."

Li Bei slowly shook his head and squinted his eyes. He couldn't find Liu Chengzong, which made him feel stuck in his throat: "We must find out whether Liu Chengzong is in Shanxi, and whether he has formed an alliance with Gao Yingxiang."

The current situation is already very clear to Li Bei.

All the big thieves in Yan'an Prefecture, except Liu Chengzong, are all in the area from Yanchang to Yijun in the south of Yan'an.

The army was divided into two groups, one was Li Bei's tribe in Yanchuan, and the other was the guerrilla general Wu Weifan who was suppressing bandits in Qingyang Mansion.

The Guyuan trilateral general government is also dispatching troops. There may be a road from Qingyang to Yan'an, and Hong Chengchou, a councilor who stayed behind in Hancheng, can block the southeast exit.

The two main forces, one in the east and one in the west, form a pincer attack, which can trap a group of thieves in the central and south of Yan'an Mansion.

Only this Liu Chengzong made him worry.

"The final decisive battle must not go according to what the gang of thieves think. It will take place in Yanchuan in the northeast, which will make it easier for them to jump into Shanxi."

Li Bei got up and pointed at the map, "We should try our best to drive the culprits to the northwest of Ansai and Bao'an, with the Great Wall as the boundary, and use the power of the officers and soldiers on the side wall to completely capture them to death in Yan'an Mansion."

Marko smiled and said, "Since the general has made a plan, what else is there to worry about?"

"I'm worried that Liu Chengzong is in Shanxi and has joined forces with Gao Yingxiang. Right now, it seems that we are the ones who surrounded the Yan'an mansion. But if Liu Chengzong waits for an opportunity to jump back to Shaanxi, it will be the thieves who will secretly besiege our troops."

Marco nodded slowly, but how to figure out this thing?
He asked: "The humble official sent a messenger to Yan'an Fucheng to ask the magistrate if he has returned home?"

"No need, it's easy to find out. The sergeant who went to extend the investigation tomorrow should be back. Let's eat and sleep, trying to find out where Liu Chengzong is..."

Li Bei stared at Yanchang County on the map, and said with a smile, "Just hit Gao Yingxiang."

　Good morning!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)