Chapter 4: Cai Wei (2 I)

The sound of the horn was long and cold, skimming the surface of the river with only a thin layer of ice remaining, and the knife pierced into the marrow of a person.

The meaning of the horn drums coming from the Sui army on the other side of the strait is very familiar to Cheng Mingzhen. When he was a child, he stood on the edge of the school yard in Beijing almost every day and listened to the same sound, often inspired by its generous and heroic melody. Even now, the familiar voices of yesteryear have a nostalgic tinge to him, each one like a call. It's just that he can't get close enough to listen, and several waves of soldiers and horses on the other side are full of enemies, and they all want to arrest them and show them to the public.

"It's all recruited by Zhang Jincheng!" Following behind Cheng Mingzhen, Duan Qing scolded and complained in Hebei dialect. "When we were bullied, there was a kind of Shangguan Army, but they immediately fell into the mud!"

"If you want me to say, we should have gone on our own. \ Let the love surnamed Zhang die, where to die! Team Zheng Guo Liu'er muttered in agreement. The voice was not loud, but it was just enough to ensure that Cheng Mingzhen, who was walking in front of the team, could hear it. This is the unique way for these people to make suggestions, which is not tactful enough, but it is not easy to provoke Cheng Ming's anger.

In the Zhaozhou Army, there are not a few generals who hold the same attitude. Everyone generally believes that since Zhang Jin said that he had tried to use the strategy of diverting the tiger from the mountain to forcibly seize the three counties of Ping'en, the Zhaozhou army had been cut off from Juluze since then. No matter whether Cheng Mingzhen led everyone to support Zhang Jincheng more than a month ago, whether it was out of righteousness, or in order to repay his kindness, at this juncture, there is no need to persist anymore. The three officers and soldiers who came from the other side of the Zhangshui River were all running for Zhang Jin. The Zhaozhou army will not betray its fellow people, but there is no need to sacrifice itself to protect others. \Give the remnants of the Zhang family army a few days of dry food, let them get out of the way as soon as possible! Love goes anywhere! Anyway, don't stay in the control of the Xuzhou Army. As for how many days the remnants of the Zhang family army who escaped the protection of the Zhaozhou army can survive, that is their own business. It is not easy for the Xuzhou army to accumulate this bit of family wealth at present, and there is no need to toss it clean in order to protect a group of white-eyed wolves.

"Which of you will go across the other side of the strait to contact us, and let the officers and soldiers guarantee that after Zhang Da Boss's family leaves Ping'en, they will definitely not call?" Cheng Mingzhen turned around with a smile and reminded lukewarmly.

The grumbling stopped. Everyone knows that wanting the officers and soldiers who have the absolute upper hand to take the initiative to stop on the other side of the Zhangshui River is tantamount to seeking the skin of a tiger. Zhang Jin said that he was a thorn in the side of the imperial court, but his own coach Cheng Mingzhen was not? I'm afraid that in the eyes of some people, Cheng Jiaotou's threat is greater than Zhang Jin's, and he needs to be cut off in one fell swoop!

"Lips and teeth are cold! As long as Zhang Da is in charge for one day, the main target of the official army will not be us. \ One day Zhang Da is killed, and it will be our turn next. Seeing everyone's indignant expressions, Cheng Mingzhen couldn't help but shake his head and smile bitterly. He doesn't blame everyone for being short-sighted, these cronies under his command are all from humble backgrounds, if it weren't for the troubled times, I'm afraid that he has been guarding the hot stove of his wife and children all his life, and he won't even go to a place fifty miles away, so it is impossible to have any foresight. But as the backbone of this group, he didn't dare to just care about the two acres and three points of land in front of him. Any wrong decision may plunge the Xuzhou army into an abyss from which it will never recover. And when the Zhaozhou army is over, the hundreds of thousands of people in the three counties of Ping'en will also follow. In these troubled times, what kind of military discipline do you expect the officials and troops to maintain against the chaotic people who have fallen into the bandit area? As the saying goes, "If you have entered a bandit, you have been a bandit, and if you have a bandit, you will toss twice with soldiers and bandits, and no matter how prosperous the city is, there is only artemisia grass left. \

"The river is about to open!" Of course, Duan Qing didn't expect to persuade Cheng Mingzhen in a few words, and grinned to remind. The reason why the officers and troops failed to fight Zhangshui some time ago was not entirely because of his proper deployment. To a large extent, everyone can still ensure that the war does not burn to the west bank of Zhangshui, because God blesses. At this moment, it is the end of winter and the beginning of spring, and the wind blowing from the south is warm and cold. Part of the ice of the Zhangshui River has melted, and part of it is smooth as a mirror. The team stepped on it, and there was a good chance that they would fall into the river to feed the king. If you force a raft to cross, you will be blocked by the residual ice in the river, and it will be difficult to get close to the shore.

In order to avoid a sneak attack by the official army, Cheng Mingzhen sent out all the scouts in his hands and the cavalry that Wang Ermao brought back. Day and night patrol along the riverside. This act of vigilance inadvertently caused several officers and soldiers from different routes to misjudge the strength of the Zhaozhou army. Cavalry is a noble class, not counting armor, and a light horseman only consumes six times as much food as a foot soldier per day. And since Cheng Mingzhen can afford to raise "thousands" of cavalry, the total number of minions under his command is definitely not the legendary more than 7,000. According to the ratio of cavalry and foot soldiers of Zhang Jiajun and Gao Jiajun, the generals who came to suppress the bandits judged that Cheng Mingzhen's minions should be at least more than 20,000. This only refers to the soldiers, if the displaced people who are wrapped in are also counted, at this moment in the vicinity of Qingzhang City and the government across the river, there should be at least 50,000 troops.

Cheng Mingzhen is also happy to cause this misunderstanding to his opponent. Forced by the weak supply capacity, he has been following the line of elite soldiers in the three places of Ping'en. In fact, at present, the number of all those who can go to the battlefield in the Zhaozhou Army is less than 10,000. \ With the more than 5,000 soldiers in his hands, more than 4,000 old, weak, sick and disabled, want to withstand the attack of the three-way army on the other side of the river? That's a fool's dream! Once the Zhangshui River is completely thawed, the officers and troops will have the conditions to force the crossing. You don't need to go on the three-way army, just kill him all the way, and you will force him to be powerless.

"Woo, woo, the horn on the other side of the river is incomprehensible, and the people are irritable, and they blow hoarsely. It was three armies from different directions trying to communicate with each other in case they could cross the river and fight together. Among them, the team with the most majestic tune and the most accurate meaning is said to have come from the Jingshi, and was a subordinate of Qu Tutong, the general of Zuo Wuhou. Originally, he followed Qu Tutong to plug the siege of Jieyanmen. Now that Yang Guang has returned south safely, this army of soldiers and horses has been freed up, and Huyalang will lead Sang Xianhe to Hebei to suppress bandits.

"Woo, woo woo Sang Xian echoes the most closely with the ministry, and it is a Xiaoguo from Luoyang. \ The leader of the team is Duan Lingming, the general of Hu Benlang. He was only twenty-two years old, and he had not made any military achievements. But because his uncle was Duan Da, an important minister of the court, he was able to lead an army alone and follow Sang Xianhe to make a name for himself.

Compared with the high morale of these two well-established regular armies, the morale of the soldiers of Wuyang County stationed opposite Qingzhang was too depressed. It's no wonder they were listless, just a year ago, Wang Ermao killed a Wuyang County soldier ten times his own with five hundred light horses. After more than a year of lying on the salary and trying the courage, the Wuyang County Shouyuan Treasure almost smashed the pot and sold iron to make a new county soldier, and the general who led the team was still the same Wei Deshen last year. In the past two days, across the Zhangshui River, the county soldiers have seen Wang Ermao and Xiong Kuohai show off their power almost every day. \ They are willing to serve Yuan Bao and Wei De deeply, but when the enemy army does not reach the doorstep, no one can mention the courage to casually cross the river to die.

Lacking confidence in victory, the sound of horns coming from the Wuyang County military camp was also soft and weak. It sounded like a terminally ill man with his last moans. Wang Ermao happened to return from a patrol on horseback, couldn't help but take his mount, and shouted at the other side: "What a thing, don't come out and be embarrassed if you don't want to die!" Go back early to pick up the child, and save Lao Tzu from looking upset! ”

"If they are as highly motivated as the other two officers, we will be in even more trouble!" Cheng Mingzhen greeted him with a smile and stopped the other party's horse's head. With a good friend around, his smile is always a little lighter. Although Wang Ermao's martial arts are almost half a catty and eight taels with Duan Qing and others. \

"What are you going to do with the gold scale? Delicious and delicious? Wang Ermao didn't seem to be able to see the continuous military camps on the other side, so he asked with a smile. He didn't agree with Duan Qing and the others to drive Zhang Jincheng away as soon as possible, but he was also unwilling to raise the thousands of remnants under Zhang Jincheng's command in vain. There are too many enemy troops on the other side, and although Zhang Jin's soldiers and horses are a little less combative, they can at least come over to fill the number of people and increase the momentum of their own side. There is also a very important point, what Wang Ermao can't say in public means that if the Xuzhou army and the officers and soldiers are defeated, will Zhang Jin be called a person, will he be ungrateful and take the opportunity to win Ping'en? Very difficult to guarantee.

"A demoralized team, pulling it up will only drag everyone down!" Cheng Mingzhen shrugged and explained with a smile.

"You!" Wang Ermao shook his head helplessly, and did not comment on the answer given by Cheng Mingzhen. \ A good friend is this kind of person, sometimes clever and clever, sometimes confused and stubborn. He didn't have the ability to convince the other party, so he didn't bother to do that.

Cheng Mingzhen was amused by Wang Ermao's expression, and brought a mount again, standing side by side with the other party, watching the other side of the river. In fact, he couldn't explain why he had to speak for Zhang Jin. If it was said that the other party had advanced the front too quickly, the reason for leading troops to meet the situation was that considering the relationship between Yuzhou and Julu Zenai, the lips were cold and the teeth were cold. Up to now, Zhang Jincheng and the remnants of his command have indeed completely become a burden to the Zhaozhou army. He stood in front of Zhang Jincheng without hesitation, maybe to repay the other party's life-saving grace, maybe it was for the righteousness of the green forest colleagues, maybe it was compassion in the depths of his heart....... there were many reasons, which one was the main one, he didn't think about it carefully, and he didn't want to force himself to think clearly.

"The snow is so fast that it won't take three days for the river to be completely washed away!" Seeing that Cheng Mingzhen didn't speak, Wang Ermao lowered his voice and suggested that only a few people who were close at hand could hear it. "It's definitely not a way for us to blindly guard against it, Xie Yingdeng suggested that we strike first and kill the weak ones across the river to kill the weak ones all the way?"

"Which way?" Cheng Mingzhen's brows jumped quickly, and he asked in a low voice.

"Over there!" Wang Ermao picked at the other side with his chin and suggested. "They are not all the way to the other two, even if they are beaten, no one may rush to the rescue!"

The officers and soldiers of the three routes were not in unison, which was the only weakness of the Zhaozhou army. Therefore, Wang Ermao suggested that he first kill the weakest Wuyang soldiers. First of all, the strength of the Zhaozhou army was stronger than that of the other party, and the two sides fought each other, and the certainty of victory was great. Secondly, with the experience of fighting last time, everyone was very contemptuous of the combat effectiveness of the county soldiers, and they were full of morale when they rushed to kill. Third, judging from the position of the camp, the elite of the Great Sui from Zuo Wuhou and the Xiaoguo from the Eastern Capital obviously disdain to be with the county soldiers, if they can let the Wuyang county soldiers fight with the Xuzhou army first, they will definitely be optimistic.

This is a very safe idea, but Cheng Mingzhen did not agree with his good friend's idea. Looking at the bend of the Zhangshui River, he said in a low voice: "I want to fight over there more, what do you think?"

This book.

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