Chapter 387 Huangniu River in Huangyang Road

On the tenth day of the army's march, the Xuanzhi Qincha arrived in Yongzhou after many obstacles. Along the way, the enthusiasm of the local officials was unbearable, blocking the line, and if they didn't stay for a meal and a glass of wine, it would be difficult for anyone to have a good time. Not only that, crossing the bridge, the bridge breaking. Crossing the river, no boat. So much so that he arrived nearly a month later than the scheduled time, and unsurprisingly did not see Luo Yao.

The holy decree of transferring 100,000 troops could not be left in his hands like this, Qin Cha thought about it, so he simply did not stop in Yongzhou, and chased north with the team in one go.

At this point, he just wants to give the will.

Huangyang Road and the southernmost of the three northwestern roads occupied by the rebels were separated by only one river, and although this river was a branch of Yishui, the channel was extremely wide. The local people call it the Yellow Cow River, and the official name on the Great Sui Atlas is Huishui. The origin of the name of the Ox River is a mythical story, it is said that there was a cattle who became a victim of the spirit, and there was a sword fairy who went down to the mortal dust and fought with the ox spirit by this river.

The sword fairy injured the scalper, and the scalper jumped into the river in a hurry and refused to come out again. The Sword Immortal set up a rune and sealed the scalper essence in the river.

Then there was a major drought one year, and the water level dropped a lot. There are many people who swear that they saw the ox, which has turned into a big rock.

Luo Yao's vanguard army was not slow, and the three armies led by Xiongweilang General Wen Xiaodao traveled in the stars and nights, opening the way for the army. It only took a month to rush from Yongzhou to the south bank of the Huangniu River. The governor of Huangyang Province greeted him personally, but he was politely refused by Wen Xiaodao for a banquet. Although Huangyang Road is far away from Yongzhou, it does not belong to the Fourth Southwest Road. But Yang Yanye, the governor of Huangyang Road, is also very familiar with the style of Zuo Qianwei, and knows that this is a group of soldiers with high eyes.

After Wen Xiaodao arrived on the south bank of the Yellow Cow River, he sent someone to choose the address to build the barracks. The camp of nearly 400,000 troops cannot be built in a moment and a half. Wen Xiaodao asked Yang Yanye for help and recruited a group of craftsmen to assist, of course, don't expect the left avant-garde people to pay for the salary.

Not only that, the first thing Wen Xiaodao did when he arrived here was to inform Yang Yanye to prepare the grain and grass for a month for the 400,000 army, and his attitude was a matter of course.

With an army of 400,000 troops, plus war horses and livestock, this amount of grain and grass for a day is enough to make people staggering. But Yang Yanye could only cooperate, after all, the left avant-garde was here to quell the rebellion, and if someone said that he did not provide food and grass for the army, the emperor probably didn't even want to listen to the explanation.

On the north bank of the Scalper River is the camp of the rebels, which can be seen with clairvoyance. It seems that the rebels have long known the news of the left avant-garde heading north, and heard that the north bank has continued to increase its troops recently, and the number of troops has exceeded 200,000. The rebels took control of the granaries in the northwest three provinces, and the people could not survive and had to join the rebels. In just one year, the rebels' strength snowballed.

According to Yang Yanye's analysis, the total strength of the rebels is likely to exceed 1.5 million now.

But Wen Xiaodao scoffed at this.

It's not just a knife in the hands of a common man who can be called a soldier. What about 1.5 million people? In his opinion, most of them are local chickens and tile dogs with grass labels waiting to sell their heads.

Luo Yao's army arrived on the third day after Wen Xiaodao had set up camp, and they walked on the road for more than two months. After the edict caught up with the team, he returned to Chang'an without staying for another day after issuing the decree. After this errand was done, he knew that he would never have the opportunity to pass on the decree again in his life. If you are lucky, the emperor will just reprimand you, and if you are unlucky, it is a trivial matter to lose your official position, and your head may have to be moved.

On the day Luo Yao arrived, he was invited to the Governor's Mansion by Yang Yanye and was hospitalized. Luo Yao praised Yang Yanye's achievements in governing Huangyang Road in recent years, as if two old friends had met, and the atmosphere at the banquet was exceptionally harmonious. After Yang Yanye sent Luo Yao away, his heart was not yet steady, and Luo Yao sent someone to urge food the next day.

In this regard, Yang Yanye could only swallow his anger.

In a fit of rage, he withdrew all the county soldiers and civilians who had been deployed on the south bank of the Huangniu River in Huangyang Road, in the name of giving up the camp to the left avant-garde. If it weren't for the fierce counterattack of the county soldiers and the people of Huangyang Road, the rebels might have rushed into Huangyang Road in one go and wreaked havoc.

In this regard, the soldiers of Huangyang Dao naturally had grievances.

For the past two years, they have been fighting the rebels almost every day. He even organized a surprise attack to kill on the other side of the Yellow Cow River, how many people died and how many people were injured, and the rewards of the imperial court have not come down for a long time, which has made people unconvinced. The county soldiers are better, after all, they are the army within the local establishment, and the salary can barely be paid. Those people joined the battle with enthusiasm, and now they will withdraw when they say they will withdraw, without giving an explanation or comfort.

Huangyang Road is regarded as an excess area in the northwest and southwest regions, and it is not as rich as the land of fish and rice like the southwest. It is close to the northwest, and in the past, it had to allocate grain every year to help the people north of the Huangniu River. In the past two years, the governor's palace yamen has almost emptied the treasury in order to prepare for the construction of the people. Yang Yanye would hand it over almost once a month, and he didn't know why, so he didn't have a will.

Later, he was really helpless, so he took the lead in contacting some officials and squires of Huangyang Dao, scraped together a large amount of silver and sent it to the capital, and secretly sent it to Pei Yan, the squire of the Yellow Gate. On the third day, His Majesty's reply to Huangyang Dao's reduction of money and grain came down. even transferred a batch of weapons and armor from the treasury of the Ministry of War, and after transporting them, everyone looked at the materials of the imperial court and had nothing to do except smile bitterly.

Yang Yanye was angry and withdrew all the county soldiers and people, in fact, he didn't want to let these men who had served the country for two years rest. The rebels can unscrupulously occupy the granary and rob the treasury on the north bank, but Yang Yanye can't, if he wants to keep Huangyang Road, he has to raise soldiers, and the court has no will, he tightens his belt, and the annual money and grain have to be handed over in full. Sometimes he even thought of opening Xinkoucang, but unfortunately, in the end, he still didn't have the courage.

He knew that the people were on fire in their hearts, but what could they do?

In desperation, he had to borrow grain from the local rich squires again.

This governor, who does not seek merit but no fault, has obviously aged in the past two years. People say that sitting in the position of the governor is already a very good minister, and how many people envy the robe of a second-class officer. But only he knows the bitterness, and he has nowhere to vent it.

……

……

Standing on the south bank of the Yellow Cow River, Luo Yao looked at the opposite side with clairvoyance. The rebels on the opposite bank are laying wooden piles along the river, which is to prevent ships on the south bank from approaching. On the high slope, the arrow tower wooden village has been built. You can see the soldiers patrolling the wooden village passing by, and there are quite a few of them.

The people, driven by the rebels, stood in the river and struggled to knock down the stakes one by one. They had ropes tied around their waists to prevent them from being swept away by the river. But even so, it was the summer flood season, and this year's rain was a little more abundant than usual, the river widened and the river rose, and people were swept away every day and no trace was seen again.

Standing in the water for a long time, many people's legs began to rot and grow maggots.

Many small boats patrolled back and forth in the river, and the rebel soldiers on the boats stared at the people with whips, and if anyone moved a little slower, they immediately whipped down without mercy.

"It is said that the people of the North Shore have been tortured to death by thousands in the past month."

Wen Xiaodao stood beside Luo Yao and whispered, "The rebels have been forcing the people to work since a few months ago, and they treat human life like a mustard. ”

"Who are the rebels?"

"It is said to be Yin Poshan, one of Li Yuanshan's generals. was named the champion Hou by Li Yuanshan, and he was a general, and the scenery was very beautiful. Most of the soldiers under this man were young and strong people who had been taken captive, and the exact number was unknown. It is not clear how many soldiers there were, but the total number of troops should not be less than 200,000. ”

"Hmm"

Luo Yao snorted: "Can't you find many ships nearby?" ”

"Yes"

Wen Xiaodao leaned over and said: "A few months ago, the rebels continued to move south, the target was the fishing boats on the south bank, and there were no soldiers stationed in Huangyang Road. Yang Yanye later ordered that all the remaining fishing boats be towed ashore, but the number was limited, and it was impossible to support the army to cross the river. ”

"There's no need to rush across the river."

Luo Yao looked at the enslaved people on the other side, his face was still flat as usual.

"The north bank embankment is higher than the south bank, and the rebels have been laying it out for months. Even a rabble should not be underestimated, and recently many people have been sent along the banks of the river to survey the terrain. ”

"Whoa"

Wen Xiaodao responded.

"Forty miles to the west is the camp of those county soldiers and people in Huangyang Road, and now the people have withdrawn, and the camp is empty...... General, do you want to send someone to garrison? The subordinates thought that the stockade was fairly well built, and the rebels might not dare to cross the river rashly, so there was no need to send heavy troops. ”

"Let Liu Kuo take a soldier and horses to garrison ......"

Luo Yao paused for a moment and then ordered: "Let Fang Jie's Shanzi camp also pass." ”

Wen Xiaodao was stunned, not understanding what Luo Yao meant.

Luo Yao didn't mention it again after giving the order, but looked at the north shore and said, "Although the battle is not in a hurry, you can't have no understanding of the enemy at all. Select elite scouts, cross the river to find out the troop deployment of the rebels, and inquire about all the news about the rebels. It's best to bring back a few tongues, and you arrange for someone to do it. ”

"Why don't you do it?"

Wen Xiaodao suddenly understood the meaning of Luo Yao's previous words: "Why don't you send General Xiaofang to do this?" The soldiers of the Yamaji Battalion under him are well-trained, and Lord Xiaofang also has a team of Ouchi guards under him, which is the most suitable for searching for information. ”

"Good"

Luo Yao replied lightly and did not continue.

Wen Xiaodao sighed in his heart, and couldn't help but think, could it be that Fang Xie is really the son of the general? Otherwise, how could the general be so partial?

First of all, he let him lead the army to live in the large camp before the Huangyang Dao soldiers, because the big camp was operated by the Huangyang Dao military and civilians for two years, it was very solid, the terrain was well chosen, and the river embankment was very steep, even if the rebels crossed the river, they could not attack directly. Ready-made things are available, and the soldiers of the provincial Shanzi battalion built them themselves. Liu Kuo is a steady and old man, and if Fang Xie and him are stationed at the same time, there will never be contradictions. And the general followed up with the mention of crossing the river to find out the news, this matter is not difficult to do, the rebels are mostly ordinary people, just catch a few people back, select elite soldiers to go over, a very simple thing. But, this is the credit, the first credit of the left avant-garde to the north!

General, this is to share the credit for Fang Jie.

He secretly glanced at Luo Yao, and the turmoil in his heart could not be calmed.

At this time, Fang Xie was taking the Shanzi camp to find a place to rest. All the way north, Fang Xie was always worried that Shi Yuan would find him. But when he got here, Shi Yuan still didn't come, and he really couldn't figure out what the purpose of the old monk was.

"General!"

A herald came quickly on horseback, pointed to the west and said, "The general's military order, order the Shanzi battalion to be stationed in the camp forty miles to the west!" In addition, General Wen asked the general to send people to cross the river to investigate the enemy's situation. ”

Fang Xie raised his eyebrows slightly, hugged his fists and said, "Order!" ”