stubborn thief

With Liu Chengyun and the marshal's guard of honor entering Zhuanglang Acropolis, the atmosphere in the river valley became more dignified.

The more than [-] Mongolian cavalry led by Xie Erhu and A Haidaiqing also took advantage of the surprise attack with strong mobility.

They first bypassed the difficult-to-conquer Songshan Fort, rushed north and south in the Songshan area, broke through the Dajingying City and Abaling Fort on the edge of the desert, and almost divided Gansu and Shaanxi into two.

Then he returned to his division and turned south. He originally intended to besiege Baoding Fort on the new border of Songshan on the north bank of the Yellow River in Lanzhou. Marching north, Baoding Fort surrendered immediately.

Chai Shihua, who led the standard battalion of the general army, led the army to gallop day and night. Tang Qi fought with Xie Erhu's Mongolian cavalry running around on the road. Knowing that the situation in the south had changed, Liu Chengzong led his army to garrison Zhuanglang Weicheng, and quickly sent Tang Qi. After riding to Gulangxia to report the military situation, they continued to go south to support.

Then the Brigade of the General Army and Basang's Western Fan Brigade faced each other in the river valley, and two small-scale conflicts broke out, but in the end they failed to form an army confrontation. After staring at each other for a day, Chai Shihua chose to retreat five miles.

It's not that he is cowardly, but that Ding Shaoyin is hopeless.

Liangzhou Cheying was encircled in the middle, and Fanbing built high barrier walls of civil structures on the north, east, and west sides of their car camp. The trenches in the south had also been dug, and they could not get out.

The barrier wall and trench are easy to break through. He does have a chance to temporarily defeat the Fanbing and pull Ding Shaoyin out when he rushes over, but he also has a chance to trap himself in it.

The most important thing is that people can pull out, but cars can't get out, and the car camp has no car guns, so it has no decent confrontation ability in field battles. After thinking about it, Chai Shihua only sent people to briefly clash three times and shoot a few letters at the barrier wall. , Tell Ding Shaoyin that there are reinforcements behind, let them stick to it and wait for reinforcements.

At least there is water and food around it, waiting to be changed.

What Chai Shihua was afraid of was not the Xifan camp in Basang, but the Mongolian cavalry in Songshan to the east. In several small-scale conflicts, his army failed to take advantage of the Mongolian cavalry.

If he hadn't experienced this personally, let alone tell it to Chai Shihua, he wouldn't believe it.

For their generation, no matter which border town's army on the nine sides, with the same size of troops fighting in the wild, if they fight ten times, the frontier army should win ten times, there is no other possibility.

If the northern captives want to win, three times the strength can barely retreat before the arrival of the frontier support troops, and five times more troops will rush forward. If the organizational structure is better, it is possible to defeat the frontier army.

As for the reason, here are infantry artillerymen wearing cloth armor, and on the opposite side are shepherds wearing robes and shooting stone arrows and bone arrows. Although they are indeed troops, their equipment level is 1000 years behind, and they are indeed lacklustre. .

But this time it was different. Chai Shihua's Tang Qi reported the characteristics of the captive cavalry. What they were facing was almost a group of second-generation rich Mongolians.

Several squads have almost the same armor rate. Except for a few who wear ancestral iron-inlaid leather armor, at least [-]% of the soldiers wear mail armor, four-mirror armor, or even cloth-faced iron armor. At most one out of ten arrowheads brought back is a cluster of stones or clusters of bones. The rest are brand new forged arrow clusters, as well as armor-piercing plum needle arrows and murderous beryllium arrows.

They even saw cavalry with iron pots on their backs and fully armored cavalry with horses and horses.

Although the Mongols on horseback were still thin and small, in Chai Shihua's view, there was no doubt that Daming's decades-long economic siege of the pirates had failed, and the vicious Xihai Mongols had been re-armed by Liu Chengzong.

Facing the letter that Chai Shihua sent into the barrier wall, what can Ding Shaoyin say?
He didn't blame Chai Shihua at all, and he was still a little grateful in his heart. Ever since he saw the guard of honor belonging to the former Ningxia general officer rising from the top of Zhuanglang Weicheng, Ding Shaoyin knew that it would be difficult for him to escape.

Everyone knows that in the Marshal's Mansion, the guard of honor of the commander-in-chief is Liu Chengzong's guard of honor.

Liu Chengzong's appearance in Zhuanglang Weicheng shows that Hong Chengchou, the three-sided governor who stationed his main force in Ganzhou and Yongchang, made a strategic misjudgment. The Marshal's Mansion did not intend to go over mountains and mountains from the beginning, but gathered the main force to attack Lanzhou. The river blocked the army in the direction of Gansu.

Others are trying their best, but they are still accumulating strength. Now that there are large troops gathered on both sides of the Yellow River in Lanzhou, Ding Shaoyin can only admit that he is unlucky, thinking that they are the price of the governor's misjudgment.

Fortunately, they are a car camp, and the opponent's tactic is to siege, so they don't worry about being wiped out quickly.

It's a good thing that Chai Shihua didn't call in. Chai Shihua could run away from the chariot, but he couldn't.

War, especially this kind of war between the Ming army and the Ming army, you know it and I will do it, and I will have what you have.

From Ding Shaoyin's point of view, there is no use in any conspiracy or trick in the next battle, the only thing is to pull out a majestic confrontation, and then use the right combination to make a surprise... The strange soldiers of the two sides meet, the strange soldiers turn into regular soldiers, and then use the correct combination to make a surprise.

In the end, whoever has more people on the local battlefield will win the local victory with more enemies and fewer, and with multiple local victories, the large battlefield will win the final victory with more hits and fewer attacks.

But at this time, Hong Chengchou, who was in the Gulang Gorge, seemed to have not seen the urgent military situation on the front line, holding elite soldiers and strong generals in his hands and would not let go.

Originally, Hong Chengchou wanted to transfer Yang Yanchang, but he couldn't transfer it... Who doesn't know the famous Shaanxi general Yan'an God of War, just you, Hong Chengchou, want to command?Chen Qiyu, the governor of Yansui, and Lian, the governor of Shaanxi, wanted to draw Yang Yanchang, a model army, to their defense.

In the end, it was Chen Qiyu who won, and the two counties of Anding and Huining were designated as Yang Yanchang's defense zone.

After all, due to the mobilization of Li Zicheng and others, Lian Guoshi had already entered the Xi'an Mansion at this time, mainly to guard against the [-] thieves in Shangluo Road; Hong Chengchou was in Gansu to guard against the attack of the Marshal's Mansion.

But Chen Qiyu was the worst. He defended the southwest of Shaanxi, the southeast was the Shanxi group of thieves led by Li Zicheng, the treacherous general Li Zicheng, the south was the Chuang Wang Gao Yingxiang who entered the mountainous area of ​​Hanzhong Prefecture, and the northwest was Lanzhou occupied by Liu Chengzong.

Liu Chengzong's guard of honor entered Zhuang Langwei, Hong Chengchou was not too nervous, but Chen Qiyu was really scared.

Chen Qiyu thought, I invited Yang Yanchang to deal with Liu Chengzong, wouldn't it be my life to transfer him away?Don't blame me for turning against anyone who dares to steal from me!

Hong Chengchou didn't argue with him either. He had Cao Wenzhao, Bai Guangen, and Yang Jiamo's three elite soldiers in his hands, and what he was waiting for was a decisive battle to defeat Liu Chengzong.

Facing Chai Shihua's request for help, Hong Chengchou was extremely relaxed, and sent someone to reply to Chai Shihua's letter, in which he firmly insisted that Zhuang Langwei was a bait.

For the exposed flanks of the Zhuanglang River Valley, he adopted the strategy of dispatching a guerrilla general, two generals, and a commander from Jingluwei and Ningxia Zhongwei, and ordered them to lead the army to Songshan to suppress the Mongolian cavalry running around. , and help the river valley after winning.

As for Chai Shihua's order, he was asked to vigorously recruit the Ma Yashan Fanbing, and to go to war boldly, and the main force of the Marshal's Mansion was not in Zhuang Lang.

Chai Shihua was so angry at the reply that the governors of the three sides only gave conclusions but did not talk about the reasoning process. This is obviously taking them at risk, but there is no other way, but to issue a call-up order to the Maya Mountains and establish it on the spot. The Western Fan Army joined the conquest.

Even Yang Jiamo ran from Ganzhou to Gulang Gorge when he heard about Hong Chengchou's transfer order, and asked him what the basis for his speculation was.

Hong Chengchou was very dissatisfied with this, and said: "Hong knows that Liangzhouwei is the commander's hometown, and General Chai's leadership is also the elite of the commander's command, but I also ask Yang Shuai to stick to Ganzhou and not mess up his position, and the little whirlwind must not be in the village. Lang, there is someone else in command of the battle in Lanzhou."

The little whirlwind in his mouth is Liu Chengzong.

Because he had a good relationship with He Renlong and knew Liu Shizi very well, he knew very well the background of Liu Shizi's family Ding Xuanfeng.

"Who does the army think is commanding the war in Lanzhou?"

Hong Chengchou shook his head: "I don't know either, but it's definitely not him. That little whirlwind has never relied heavily on Mengfan Yiding when he sent troops to fight. If the Han army is not there, Liu Chengzong will not be there."

Of course, this is just one of his many speculations.

The most important basis for judgment is very simple and rude. If Liu Chengzong was in Lanzhou or even Zhuang Langwei, Chai Shihua and Ding Shaoyin would have died long ago.

The rogues are not officers and soldiers, they don't need to control the territory, and they don't have the concept of punishing those who abandon the land. Therefore, they will not gradually increase their troops in the war, but will only focus on breaking them.

All of a sudden, the dust started to rise, thousands of horses roared in, and most of the car camps didn't even have time to deploy, so they would be completely wiped out. Even if they were to encircle for reinforcements, Chai Shihua's reinforcements would be besieged and wiped out halfway.

Now that they are both alive and kicking, then Liu Chengzong must not be in Zhuang Langwei.

It's just that you can't tell others about it, it's too hurtful.

He said to Yang Jiamo: "Shuai Yang, please return to Ganzhou. I don't think it will be long before the little whirlwind will emerge from the mountain."

Yang Jiamo was naturally skeptical about this, but what Hong Chengchou said was indeed reasonable. The Han army from the Marshal's Mansion has not appeared in the Zhuanglang River Valley until now, and the guard of honor alone may not explain anything.

However, while they were talking, the deserters who ran back from Songshan confirmed the appearance of the Marshal's Han army in Songshan. It was an army attacking north from Lanzhou.

Hong Chengchou was very unfamiliar with this nickname, turned his head to look at Bai Guangen, Bai Guangen said: "Military sect, I know him from a humble position, the little leader who voted for Liu Chengzong in the early years, he is not very capable, and he is dressed very fancy."

Hong Chengchou asked, "Very cunning?"

Bai Guangen shook his head like a rattle drum: "Dare to try your best, but the earliest big leaders of Yan'an Mansion are not famous. They all join forces with the Liu family. No one can overwhelm Liu Chengzong's reputation, and none has been up to now."

Hong Chengchou asked again: "Chuang Wang Chuang general, is he not as famous as Liu Chengzong?"

Bai Guangen shook his head, he didn't know how to explain this to Hong Chengchou, he thought for a long time before saying: "Even in the current war, King Chuang Chuang's team has fought back and forth with the official army, maybe not weaker than Liu Chengzong, but no the same."

"Liu Chengzong won the official army, more people surrendered, and fewer escaped; other thieves won the official army, more escaped, and fewer surrendered."

In fact, in Bai Guangen's mind, before Liu Chengzong left and after he left, there were completely two eras in terms of the relationship between the thieves and the officers and soldiers.

This is not all the reason of Liu Chengzong, but also because the guest army entered Shanxi and Shanxi, the original morality of soldiers and bandits was over, and only vendetta and numbness remained.

Hong Chengchou was actually quite curious about this: "Many of the rogues were deserters, how could he recruit the officers and soldiers?"

"Junmen, when dealing with those who are unwilling to surrender, Liu Chengzong has always given those who are willing to surrender, and those who are not willing to surrender the travel expenses. He has a very broad mind... and because of this, the local army rarely fights to the death against him."

"It's different for others." Bai Guangen shook his head and said: "The officers and soldiers will defeat the thieves and kill them all, and the thieves will also be killed on the spot with an eye for an eye. They have been killed several times. In the past two years, they have not killed any prisoners."

"Not to kill the prisoners?"

Hong Chengchou raised his eyebrows: "Then what should I do? I also let the travel expenses go?"

Bai Guangen was overjoyed, what kind of travel expenses should he give? He realized that he was smiling a little presumptuously, and quickly restrained his smile, saying: "Usually chop off hands to let people go, and some chop off fingers."

Hong Chengchou and Cao Wenzhao looked at each other speechlessly, and Quan took it as a joke.

It can only be taken as a joke, Bai Guangen is well aware of this, the rebellious war in Shaanxi was originally nothing more than stuttering, the army and bandits have different routes, there is a lower limit after all.

The instigator of the increased intensity was the two outsiders in the room who were addicted to murder.

And he himself is a traitor, so it doesn't matter to the three of them whether he chops his hands or not. The best destination for the three of them is not to fall into the hands of others. Being slaughtered, he is not eligible to be chopped off.

But neither of them said anything about it.

Everyone thought that the Shaanxi bandits were a war that could be suppressed soon, but it was only because of the wrong strategy of appeasement that the scale of the war expanded.

Who would have thought that not only did the weather not come, but the droughts and floods became bigger and bigger over time?

It has developed into the current situation, and no one has recruited.

Hong Chengchou was not embarrassed at all, he raised his hand and lifted the topic, anyway, the three of them are grasshoppers on the same rope, and no one can escape, he said: "There are two things that need to be done by you, General Cao Go to Songshan."

Cao Wenzhao immediately entered the state and clasped his fists to accept the order: "Yes!"

What Hong Chengchou was most satisfied with was Cao Wenzhao's tense state of listening to the order. The corners of his eyes couldn't help but bend, and he said: "After arriving at Songshan, assist the Jinglu Guards and the reinforcements from Ningxia to ensure the safety of Songshan Road. And the reinforcements will come from there."

"Yes!"

After Cao Wenzhao responded, Hong Chengchou looked at Bai Guangen again and said, "General Bai is going to Ganzhou to investigate something."

Bai Guangen also stood up and obeyed the order, and asked, "What do the military sect want to be humbled for?"

Hong Chengchou sighed, shook his head and said, "Someone told me that things have been lost in Weicheng of Ganzhou recently."

Bai Guangen's pupils shrank suddenly: "Ganzhou Acropolis lost something?"

Hong Chengchou nodded and said: "Hold my command flag, go to the various forts in Ganzhou to check the weapons, armor, guns, horses, donkeys, mules and even camels and other artifacts, and see what's going on."

"If poor military households steal things, it's okay."

Hong Chengchou said emphatically: "If there is an internal response from Liu thief, we must track it down!"