Yi Song

Chapter 133 The Ambitious Leader of the Cult

"To be honest, Mr. Tian just came back from the northwest last month." Fang Tianbao straightened his face and said.

"Oh, please go ahead."

"Bucai was in the northwest, traveling through border prefectures and counties, and learned that the leader of the Hexi family, Li Guo, was a man of great talent and strategy. He had always hated Pingxia City and secretly gathered an army of 400,000 people, with the intention of dividing the troops into three groups, capturing Pingxia City, and wiping out Nanxia Guanzhong. the biggest obstacle.”

Tian Wenbao raised his eyebrows and asked, "Is this news true or false?"

"I don't know." Fang Tianbao spread his hands and said frankly, "I'm just a businessman, walking between the two countries. Those military and political officials don't know if they are talking human words or lies. So I don't know if this news is true. True or false.”

Tian Wenbao stared at Fang Tianbao, "Fang Shaodong, please continue."

"What the ears hear may be lies, but what the eyes see cannot be lies. I did see the Hexi family at the Jingsai Army Division north of Pingxia City, and the Baotai Army Division mobilized a large army.

Qin Feng and the Yongxing Army's Economic and Comfort Envoy of our dynasty were also dispatching troops and generals. Duke Zhong Jinlue inspected Pingxia City twice. The victorious army moved from Fengxiang Mansion to Weizhou. "

"Tong Guan's victorious army?"

"Yes, Tong Guan also moved to Weizhou City and set up a Xuanfu Yamen along the border."

"Is there really going to be a war in the northwest?"

"I don't know when we will fight. But the main force of the Western Army, Tong Guan and his Shengjie Army, will not be able to get away for a year and a half. The younger brother of Zhong Jing Lue Gong, the Zhong Shizhong of Qinzhou Zhizhou, wanted to express his gratitude to Hunjun on his Longevity Festival. I went to Bianjing when the time came."

Tian Wenbao's eyelids twitched, "Among the cultivators, why is he going to Bianjing?"

"We need food, money, and ordnance! But the Bianhe River has been blocked from time to time since July and August. In September, the blockage became more and more severe. It only took two or three stops to transport the goods across. The capital is short of money and food, and the northwest is also Lack of money and food.

Seeing that the Hexi family may launch an attack in the spring, the Changping warehouses on the northwest roads are empty. Be anxious!

The foolish king belittled Xue Rugui, but it was useless. The Bian River must be blocked even if it should be blocked. There was really no choice but to replace him with Liu Erlang, who used his reputation for daring to kill people to frighten a group of young people. He just wanted to dredge the Bianhe River as soon as possible and transport all the food and wages up in the spring, so as to solve the urgent need. "

Tian Wenbao heard some meaning from these words, "Now the northwest arrow is on the string, but there is a lack of food and pay. Maybe there will be a big defeat? The capital is short of food, and the morale of the Forbidden Army is unstable?"

Fang Tianbao did not answer his words, and said to himself: "I have spread the news to western Zhejiang a long time ago. My father decided to launch an attack in the spring, go straight to Jinling, and then go to Yangzhou, cut off the canal and canal, and a grain of grain from the two rivers will cost a penny. It can't be transported either.

Mr. Tian’s family, should our two families be governed across the river, or should we use the Huaihe River as the boundary? "

Tian Wenbao stared at Fang Tianbao, and he understood the meaning of this sentence.

If he takes action now, he has a righteous title on his head, and he captures the city of Nanjing, defeats the army, and brings the heroes of the world home, the situation is complete.

Naturally, the Fang family did not dare to face it directly, and honestly hid in a corner in the south of the Yangtze River.

If he does not move and waits until the Fang family rises up in the spring and captures Jinling City, then the Fang family will become a powerful force and Tian Wenbao will be at a disadvantage and become a subordinate prince. Taking the Huaihe River as the boundary is just a polite word, and it is hard to say that we will only end up as the lord of one state.

"Fang Shaodong, what do you mean by planning so carefully for me?"

"Although I am my father's eldest son, it is a pity that my mother died young. My stepmother was favored and gave birth to a younger brother, and my father regarded it as a treasure. I came out to work hard early and created a lot of business, but I was named under the Fang family.

Dad wants to pass it on to his younger brother. I, the Fang eldest son, have worked hard for the Fang family for more than ten years, but I have to surrender to a yellow-haired boy. Mr. Tian, ​​if it were you, would you be willing? "

Fang Tianbao asked with red eyes, Tian Wenbao asked in reply.

"what would you like?"

"I will help the Tian Dong family become the master of the world, and the Tian Dong family will help me become the master of the Fang family. I am not greedy, I only need a corner of Jiangdong to settle down."

Tian Wenbao laughed, "Brother Fang Xian is so honest! Tian likes such honest people! You have been here for two or three days and you haven't looked around yet. Come on, I will show you around."

Fang Tianbao narrowed his eyes and knew clearly.

Tian Wenbao believed most of it, and now he wanted to show his strength to himself, so that he could "submit heartily" and continue to cooperate well.

"Okay, thank you, Master Tian."

After leaving Chigou Town, we turned to a mountainous area, which was a large area of ​​gently sloping wilderness.

The sound of horse hooves sounds, and dozens of horses come and go like flying, galloping like the wind. Fang Tianbao couldn't help but admired: "I didn't expect that Master Tian's family has such elite soldiers?"

"Haha, it sounds like God's will. At the end of September, a certain person went to Huaidong to visit his old friends. On the way to Haizhou, he encountered these people fighting with the Huaidong Hailing bandits."

"Hailing bandits?" Fang Tianbao exclaimed, "But there are hundreds of ships and tens of thousands of brave men, crossing the East China Sea, from Mizhou in the north to Jiangkou in the south, and there is no rival to the Hailing bandits?"

"That's them. These guys are used to running rampant at sea. For some reason, they were taken outside Linhong Town, west of Haizhou, and then were defeated by this group of guys who claimed to be the Donghai Party. There were about three thousand Hailing Bandits. , are all elite pirates.

The Donghai Party is mainly composed of fishermen and sailors who were bullied by the Hailing bandits, as well as the Huaidong Salt Owls, with about a thousand people. Under the leadership of several heroes, after three battles and three victories, only five or six hundred of the Hailing bandits escaped.

However, the Hailing bandits are powerful and will definitely come back. When more people come to kill them, it will be even harder to resist them. I sincerely invite these Donghai Party members back to Huaibei. They spent a lot of money to buy more than a hundred good horses from various places and gave them to them to gallop. "

Fang Tianbao said sternly: "With such a fierce tiger in Tian Dong's family, Liu Erlang is nothing to worry about. The city of Nanjing will definitely be conquered in one fell swoop, and great things will be accomplished soon!"

Tian Wenbao laughed loudly and took Fang Tianbao to another place without any intention of introducing them to each other.

There was heavy snowfall, and the mountains and rivers were shrouded in white.

"After the control, after the Yanchoubo water thieves were eliminated, the Bianhe River was cleared from Chenliu to Nanjing, two hundred miles to the left and right. Six to seven hundred heads were piled on the riverside, which frightened the thieves and young men in various states and counties and fled. In other places, take a break from the limelight.

The local people cheered and sent supplies to reward Master Wang. "

Ma Kuo, who was riding on Liu Guozhang's left side, said enthusiastically.

"Haha, these mountain bandits and water bandits have nothing to do for heaven. They cannot defeat the official army and cannot enter the towns. They can only plunder the countryside, burn, kill and loot. The people nearby have suffered greatly."

Liu Guozhang replied.

Yue Fei added later: "The hundreds of thieves who were killed were all bastards who committed serious crimes such as murder, wounding, and rape. They were decapitated with a knife in front of the victim. It's really satisfying!"

"Control, nine battles and nine victories, the morale of the whole battalion is high, and the morale of the army is ready." Wang Xun, riding his horse on the right, also said excitedly.

"It's just a fight against nine robbers. Apart from harming defenseless people, what fighting power do these rabble have?

To defeat them, we can only say that through actual combat, we discovered many of our shortcomings. In subsequent drills and training, targeted improvements will be made. I hope that next time I encounter a strong enemy, I won't lose too badly. "

Wang Xun, Yang Xiaojie, Ma Kuo, Kuang Yousheng and other captains looked at each other. Zhong Lan couldn't help but ask: "Commander, how far is the Bianhe Left Guard Camp from the strong army in your mind?"

Zhong Shizhong returned early and was transferred to the Bianhe Left Guard Camp as a general.

Liu Guozhang looked into the distance and said leisurely: "The resentful army composed of Han people from the northeast of Northern Liao Dynasty fought to the death with three thousand against three thousand. It only takes one hour to completely defeat the Bianhe Zuohu camp. The resentful army faced the Khitan and Xi people. For the Northern Liao cavalry, it was very difficult for three thousand to defeat one thousand. The outcome was 30% to 70%, and 70% of them would lose.

Five thousand Khitan Xi cavalry were defeated by one thousand Jurchen cavalry. In the future, we may face tens of thousands of Jurchen cavalry. How many imperial troops are needed to have a chance of winning? "

Wang Xun, Zhong Lan and others looked horrified.

In their minds, the Bianhe Zuohu Camp had been trained by Liu Guozhang and had become the elite of the Gyeonggi Forbidden Army. But in his mind, such an army can only be ranked at the bottom.

"Commander, one thousand Jurchen cavalry defeated five thousand Khitans, is this too exaggerated?"

Zhonglan asked suspiciously.

Liu Guozhang just smiled and did not answer, and it was not easy to answer.

You can't say, Brother Zhong, two years ago I led a thousand cavalrymen from my headquarters and beat five thousand Khitan cavalrymen like dead dogs, driving them all over the mountains and plains. At that time, wars were fought entirely based on talent, and all one wanted was to defeat, regardless of whether it was a battle of defeat or a battle of annihilation.

Later, the current Liu Guozhang came through and brought a wealth of Chinese and foreign ancient and modern combat knowledge and theories. Coupled with the rich combat experience of his predecessor Zhen Wuhuan, his horizons suddenly improved.

Looking horizontally and vertically, the Forbidden Army is really not enough! As for the Western Army, which you have always been proud of, I have not seen it with my own eyes, so I cannot comment at the moment.

The team soon arrived at Gaoxin Town, south of Nanjing.

The two cavalry galloped over and were quickly brought forward by the soldiers.

The person who came was none other than Li Xinghan. He dismounted in embarrassment and said breathlessly: "Zhizong, we are being chased by Zhu Meng and his son. Zhou Juan is carrying important items and his whereabouts are unknown."

(End of this chapter)