In June, the weather gradually gets hotter, and the soldiers sweat profusely during the rapid march. On the order of the right general of the Tang Army, the garrison of the Tang Army and the new annexed army from Shangqiu, Qixiang, Gucheng, and Linyi to the south began to form a semicircular net and encircled and suppressed the Shanyang Army that had been discovered a few days earlier.

The purpose of the Tang Army's mobilization of the army was, of course, not only to encircle and suppress the Shanyang Army's four or five thousand men and horses. Naturally, their tasks also included some mountain bandits, rebellious armies, and some township forts.

Nearly 100 mountain bandits, large and small, in the southern part of Liangzhou Prefecture, were originally turned into gangs of dozens or hundreds of people because of various reasons, and gradually expanded. The other large part was formed by the Tang army's southward raid and occupation of Liangzhou Mansion, the county government army, the volunteer army, and some township warriors who were unwilling to fall to the Tang army.

Most of the ordinary mountain bandits are small in number, and they generally do not take the government lightly. However, most of the mountain bandit gangs composed of remnants of the army were relatively numerous, and the bandits were well organized, and even the city military camps trained bandits.

Originally, no matter what kind of mountain bandits, they didn't dare to move the towns and towns lightly, after all, if they provoked a strong counterattack from the Tang Army, the consequences were not enjoyable. Moreover, they are a routed army, a remnant army, and they have the reputation of falling into the mountains bandits, so naturally they are not able to see the light. Therefore, all kinds of materials are extremely scarce, how can they fight with the Tang Military Mansion? At best, it's a little bit of a trivial, or a raid.

But this difficult thing to act made Zhao Xun pry. First of all, Siyang City was breached, and the road in Siyang City was nothing, but the city seized a total of 10,000 quintals of grain transported from Linyi and the treasury of Siyang City, and seized equipment that could fully arm 30,000 people. In addition to the equipment transported to the front line, these equipment were also removed from the non-commissioned officers of Siyang City, as well as the inventory of the government treasury for the use of the new annexed army.

Of course, among them, the ones that were transported from Linyi and supplied to the front line were the most sophisticated. These included 5,000 fine longbows, 30,000 bowstrings, and 150,000 arrows; 1,000 rhubarb crossbows and kicking crossbows; 5,000 delicate knives and 10,000 spears; Seven thousand light armor and one thousand heavy armor. These weapons are enough for the Tang army to feel distressed for a while. In this batch of weapons, except for 1,000 longbows and 20,000 arrows, the rest were secretly sealed by Zhao Xun, and Zhang Yongxue, who stayed behind in the city, cooperated with the big families in the city, and they were all transported out of the city step by step. The next thing to wait for is to transport it out of Siyang County. And these, doing it now, are just right, because the attention of the Tang army in Siyang City is attracted by the northwest side.

Because Zhao Xun scattered the armor and food obtained in the city, some of the young and new attached troops who were unwilling to serve in the reigning Tang army or had a grudge against the Tang army had a new choice. In addition to Zhao Xun's arrangement to gather people in the name of the Liukou mountain bandits, many cottages also began to gather those people who came out of Siyang City.

As a result, the strength of some cottages is slowly growing. Immediately afterwards, Zhao Xun broke several township forts in a row, and in addition to replenishing his own things, the rest of the things were also divided between several mountain bandits under his command and the rest of the mountain bandits.

So, under Zhao Xun's little teasing, after his own people spoke in the discussion of the mountain bandits, as a result, these mountain bandits began to cooperate in an organized manner to attack various township forts. If one can't do it, everyone will go together, with more battles and less, how can there be anything that can't be won? Not to mention anything else, even Wumeng stopped the team of nearly 10,000 people, and after colliding with these mountain bandits a few times, there were only less than 5,000 in his hands, so you can imagine how powerful these mountain bandits who are united together are.

Of course, these mountain bandits can be so powerful, and two points are more important. One is that most of them are from the original remnant army, so they naturally know how to deal with the regular army, coupled with the shameless moves among the mountain bandits, they do everything, how can Wumeng not suffer? The second is that every time the mountain bandits break a township or town, they will disperse some of the grain in it to the people, and get rid of the notoriety people everywhere on behalf of the government. In this way, the hearts of ordinary people moved closer to these mountain bandits, who were also their own people. What's more, there are still people who want to join it and fight against the Tang Army.

The Tang army is very strong, this is a matter known to the government army of Liangzhou, therefore, these mountain bandits and rogues composed of the remnants of the government army do not dare to act rashly against them and take action, but must be careful of the Tang army's encirclement and suppression of themselves. As for the ordinary people, they didn't dare to make any changes, that is, they were dissatisfied in their hearts, and resisted the Tang army to forcibly recruit young and strong soldiers to go to the front line to attack the people of the same government. Obviously, this is irresistible.

But Zhao Xun made such a move, and as a result, many people found that the front line of the Tang Army and the reinforcements of Shanyang Mansion were fighting, and the rear troops were empty, and they were not so strong. As a result, the elicited reaction was significant. When it comes to the reason for the complete stimulation of the courage of these mountain bandits, it is also the defeat of the Tang Army on the front. This was a frontal battle, and it was defeated at the hands of the Shanyang Prefecture army. And now, there is also a Shanyang Mansion army in the rear that is breaking the Chengchi Township Fort occupied by the Tang Army everywhere. As a result, those mountain bandits and rogues itched in their hearts, and they all took joint action. The captured food, armor and equipment are all very much needed by them, and it is not so difficult to deal with the opponent, how can they still do it?

Therefore, the bandits came together, or cooperated, or alliances, and the group made efforts, using the slogan of the bandits, that is, robbing money, money and food, and women, of course, armor and equipment are the most important.

The Tang army's mobilization of 20,000 troops this time was to prepare to wipe out these Tang troops who were following Li Feng and completely pacify the hidden dangers in the south of Liangzhou Prefecture. Of course, in addition to clearing out the mountain bandits and eliminating the scourge, it can also make up for the losses caused by Li Feng's attack on Siyang City last time. Otherwise, they would not have allowed these bandits to operate for more than ten days.

"General Right, all the soldiers and horses of the five roads have reached the designated position, and between the two and two, they are all separated by more than 50 miles. In this way, it will not be interspersed by enemy troops. Shall we go to the northwest now? Yuan Li reported to Meng Zhaoyu about the situation of the surrounding army.

A sneer appeared on Meng Zhao's face, shook his head and said, "Don't worry, as soon as the army moves, there are countless grains and grass materials needed, so we can't rely on ourselves to provide everything." ”

Yuan Li said in a deep voice: "General, in addition to the food and grass materials needed by our army, there are also a lot of township forts and clans from all over the country. ”

Meng Zhao looked at the army outside the city that was about to leave, and said, "Do you know why these townsmen and rich families are so willing to provide us with food, grass and materials, is it because of the strength of our army that makes them willing?" ”

Yuan Li was silent, naturally it would not be because of the strength of the Tang Army that these towns, clans, and wealthy households willingly donated grain and grass materials. Naturally, it was because of these disasters and the mountain bandits in the south of Lingzhou Mansion that were biased to the northwest. Mountain bandits break forts, cities, and villages, but they don't pay attention to anything, and they will catch everything they see, including their lives. Now that the Tang army is encircling and suppressing, they naturally want to be as fast as possible.

Meng Zhao said: "It seems that you also understand that this Li Feng's department is indeed our enemy. But for now, what he and these mountain bandits have done has already been somewhat beneficial to us. If these township forts and dock forts are not removed, it will not do us any good. Coupled with the defeat of Siyang City, we have suffered heavy losses, and naturally we need to make up for it from other places, and among these townsmen, the big families and the like are our goals. Since we can't do it ourselves, wouldn't it be better to do it through the enemy, not only to gain their finances, but also their hatred for the Sanyang Mansion army and their allegiance to us. The strength of our army in this Yanzhou land is considered to be strong, but the talent to govern the place in our hands is indeed extremely scarce. If these township forts are destroyed and the big families are plundered, they can also be used by us, which is extremely beneficial to the stability of Liangzhou Capital. ”

Yuan Li nodded secretly, he also knew that Meng Zhao was reasonable. The township forts above these places were originally only prosperous because of the Xuzhou Rebellion, in order to prevent mountain bandits. But now, these townships and villages have begun to have the idea of not cooperating with the government. If you can use the hand of the other party, it is also a good way.

"Order the rest of the troops to let them move slowly, one qiē shall prevail steadily, and the other shall prevail according to the speed of our march here. No one shall be lightly discharged, otherwise, military law will be engaged! Meng Zhao ordered sharply.

"Zhang Yongxue, Su Jia, one of you has been added to the garrison of Siyang County, and the other has been added to the county commander of Siyang County, I don't care about other places, but this Siyang City must be stabilized for me. This time, General Ben went north to pursue the enemy, and I left behind 2,000 men, plus the recruits you have recruited here, making a total of 4,000 men. You don't need to send troops out of the city, and you don't need to worry about anything else, you just need to make sure that Siyang City is safe. If you find signs of activity of the Tang Army in the south, you must not act rashly, you only need to report to General Ben! Meng Zhao summoned the two chief officials of Siyang City and ordered.

Originally, Meng Zhao was going to stay in Siyang County, but after sending someone to investigate, he learned that in Boping City, half of the government reinforcements from Shanyang Mansion had been returned by Ye Xuan, the current guard of Boping, and there was no sign of going north. Then I waited for nearly ten days before I was completely relieved. Because he learned that this Ye Xuan seemed to be at odds with Feng Ziming, the current commander of the government army in Shanyang Mansion, that is to say, Shanyang Mansion would not send troops to support him in a strong battle with himself. In this way, Meng Zhao wanted to personally lead the army to set off, kill Li Feng, and wash away his shame.

One hundred and fifty miles north of Siyang City, there is Yingling Mountain that stretches for dozens of miles. Originally, there were three small mountain bandit gangs with no more than thirty or fifty people. But later it was surrounded and suppressed by the county soldiers of Siyang County, and the cottage became a ruin.

At this moment, there is another group of people gathered here. They were none other than Zhao Xun and his subordinates. In the mountains that stretch for dozens of miles, it is not a problem to hide 4,000 people. At present, the life of nibbling on dry food is not so easy. Zhao Xun and others dispersed into dozens of large and small mountain bandits through several passages, and at the beginning of the Tang Army's operation, they jumped out of its encirclement early.

But Meng Zhao of Siyang City was stationed here and did not leave, and Zhao Xun could not get out of Siyang County lightly. Meng Zhao had in his hands 8,000 elite soldiers who had been reorganized from the front line. Zhao Xun didn't dare to guarantee that in the enemy's territory, in an area of two or three hundred miles, he could escape the interception of more than 10,000 troops. If it is delayed here, it will not be more than 10,000 troops, but tens of thousands of troops chasing after it.

"General, the Tang army surrounded the west in a semi-circular circle, do we send a message to these mountain bandits and rebel troops, no matter how you say it, we can't let the Tang army defeat it so easily." Guan Lin looked at the map drawn by Zhao Xun on the map of the deployment of the forces of the two sides, and couldn't help but say.

Qin Xiao said: "No, if you report it at this time, I'm afraid that these mountain bandits will scatter in a hurry and scatter in all directions." And the Tang army did not advance for long, even if they scattered, they would not be able to do anything to the Tang army, but would make the other party find that we had escaped. ”

"Organize them to fight back, who let them escape. When he attacked the township fort before, he was not quite organized and disciplined. Guan Lin said unconvinced.

Lu Yu said: "Lao Guan, having said that, in the past, when I fought those township forts and small towns, the opponents were all Xiangyong and some new annexed troops, but now, they are facing a large-scale regular army, like a mountain. These mountain bandits, after all, are just mountain bandits, do you think they still dare to confront the enemy head-on when they learned that the Tang army had organized and premeditated a collective extermination of them? There are more than 100 bandits, not one or two, and it is difficult to get them to really organize! ”

Guan Lin opened his mouth, and he had nothing to refute, but he still said: "Among the bandits, there are brothers we left behind, and we can't let them die there." ”

Zhao Xun waved his hand to interrupt the argument of several people, and said, "I have already sent someone to inform them, our people will scatter and leave." As for the rest, it is not yet possible to inform them. We need them to buy us time. Siyang City, Meng Zhao, this is indeed a great problem.

"General, Captain Sun is back!"

"Oh? Let him in! Guan Lin and the others were immediately overjoyed, Sun Zhuang was the one sent to investigate the situation in Siyang City, and now when he comes back, there will be news coming back.

"Subordinate Sun Zhuang, meet the general!"

"No need to be polite, tell me quickly, what's the situation?" Zhao Xun said with a smile, but there was no trace of nervousness in his tone or on his face. The rest of the generals and colonels waited for Sun Zhuang's answer. But Lu Yu, Li Guochang and Qin Xiao all guessed that Zhao Xun didn't have any excitement about what Sun Zhuang was about to say, but he was afraid that he already had a perfect plan in his heart. It's like breaking through Siyang City, who would have thought of it?

Sun Zhuang said: "I have already contacted our people, but because Meng Zhao, the right general of the Tang Army, is on the side, the original plan cannot be implemented for a while. But now, it seems that Meng Zhao has plans to leave the city and go to the front line to participate in the battle in person, so if we want to complete the established plan, we still need to wait for the situation in the city. ”

"Meng Zhao wants to leave the city to preside over the suppression of bandits? Looks like he hates us to the core! Zhao Xun said to himself.

"General, since this condition is that General Right wants to leave the city, then we don't need to contact the city anymore, just spare Siyang City and go south, back to Boping County." Li Guochang said in a deep voice.

"If Meng Zhao leaves the city directly, and there are not many defenders left, it is feasible. But I think this Meng Zhao will not directly send troops to clear the mountain bandits lightly. Zhao Xun inquired in detail about the actions of several other Tanma troops in the other Tang Army, as well as Meng Zhao's preparations in the city, then shook his head and said slowly.

"What do you mean, Lord Meng Zhao wants to use us to help them destroy these townships and forts, and get rid of these big families and wang clans who do not obey the orders of the Tang Army but are not ruthless because the other party is openly subservient?" Looking at Zhao Xun's markers on the map, Lu Yu, who was silently looking at the map, suddenly said in a deep voice.

"What Captain Lu said is very true, in this way, I am afraid that the Tang army will not move so quickly, but will move forward slowly, so we need to stay here for a little longer. But I also have to worry that after the mountain bandits find out about the movement of the Tang army, they will guide the Tang army to find that there is no trace of our army in their encirclement. Qin Xiao also leaned over to look at the map and said slowly.

"Doesn't that mean that we're not going to be doing well if we stay here? Guan Lin has a rough temperament, and he is not interested in discussing and discussing with them. For him, no matter how many troops he has, I just need to fight with one sword.

"Let our people spread the news in various places, saying that the Tang army, in order to use the mountain bandits, wants to break through the township fort and loot the property to make up for the losses in Siyang City. Therefore, the Tang army is delayed! Zhao Xun said in a deep voice.

Qin Xiao stroked his palms and smiled: "This plan is very good, with a single word, you can force Meng Zhao to wave the army to speed up the action, otherwise, he will suffer the consequences." ”

Shangjia.

Dozens of bandits gathered together, totaling thousands of people, and once again breached a township fort, leaving behind the burning ruins and screams. Afterwards, thousands of people swarmed up and carried all the belongings out of the fort.

Dozens of miles away, the same is true of another dock fort. If these mountain bandits were just simple mountain bandits, these township forts and dock forts might be able to keep the mountain bandits out of the fort. However, these mountain bandits are all from the remnants of the former government army, they are the army, and they naturally know how to attack and break the city better than ordinary mountain bandits!

At this time, those big families who have not yet broken their homes are a little unable to sit still, and they are waiting for the action of the Tang Army. Otherwise, if it goes on like this, there will be nothing. And these bandits have a tendency to get bigger and bigger.

And what about Meng Zhao and his army of 20,000 people? Now it is walking slowly, and Meng Zhao has also left Siyang City. It's just that after two days of hard work, it was only more than 50 miles forward, which had the meaning of competing with the turtle.

The leaders of the big clans in the western township, they are naturally as anxious as fire, hoping that the army can come quickly to save the people from the fire and water.

Since Meng Zhao had made up his mind to use the hands of the mountain bandits, he would weaken the other party's strength. How can you be persuaded by the other party? He was dissatisfied with these heroes, not only because they were usually dissatisfied with the government, but even the Tang military office's office was difficult to substantially reach these towns. It is also because after Li Feng broke through Siyang City, Wumeng once received grain and borrowed troops from these big households to exterminate Li Feng's troops. However, the other party has many excuses, except for some less powerful people who sent troops, those really big families and wealthy families have stopped and ignored them.

If you are unrighteous first, why should I preach morality? Meng Zhao was determined to pull out these township forts with the help of the mountain bandits and rebel army this time. Even if you can't pull out all of it, it's good to pull out some of it. The rest, naturally, is weak. So much so that Meng Zhao had an idea, did he let the Tang soldiers he brought from the north also become mountain bandits and rob these big towns?

These people from big families are not stupid, Meng Zhao was reluctant to arrive in time, so he thought of the previous time Wumeng borrowed food and borrowed troops, they rejected each other at the beginning, and now, the other party is obviously here to take revenge on him. For this, these big families had no choice but to pay money and food, express their surrender to Meng Zhao and ask for help from the other party.

"Someone, send an order to all the departments to speed up the march!" In front of the big clans, Meng Zhao ordered. But it soon made these big clans angry and anxious. The speed of the Tang army has increased, but it is not much faster, and for the big clans who are eager for help, this has no effect at all.