The Western Army's suppression of thieves this time was also divided into three armies: eastern, western, and central.

Liu Yanqing, the main general of the East Road, went to Fengxiang for a meeting, and Yang Weizhong, the deputy general, led the army south.

Wang Yuan and Han Shizhong were also in the army, Wang Yuan commanded 3,000 troops, and Han Shizhong commanded 500 troops, and the two were directly subordinate to their superiors.

Han Shizhong made many contributions when he conquered Fangla and conquered Liao. Now there is only one Chengjielang, who is only a military attache from the ninth grade, and belongs to the penultimate order among the nine ranks.

This official rank was obtained by Yang Weizhong and Wang Yuan for him, and it was not a normal promotion due to merit.

In comparison, the fledgling Wu Jue is different. Captured a leader during the expedition to Fangla, and broke a group of Hebei thieves during the expedition to Liao, Wu Jue was promoted to Zhongxunlang because of his merits, and the Jilu official was four orders higher than Han Shizhong, and he was already the eleventh general of Jingyuan (3,000 troops).

The backgrounds of the two are actually not much different, and Wu Jue is even more bitter (he lost his father at a young age and lived in a foreign land).

But life experiences cannot be judged by common sense, and many times it depends on luck.

The East Route troops of the Western Army camped in Xulu (Zhou Zhi), and Han Shizhong went to find Wang Yuan: "It's all in Zhouzhi, why do you have to go south from Fu Luo Road?" And give me a thousand people to attack from the Meridian Valley, and you can go to Yangzhou or Jinzhou. ”

Wang Yuan shook his head: "The Meridian Valley is too difficult to walk, so it can only be attacked by a small number of soldiers and horses. The thieves are stationed in dangerous places casually, and it is difficult for this strange army to advance an inch. ”

Han Shizhong said: "You have to take the risk and try it." ”

Wang Yuan sighed: "Alas, since you insist, go and talk to Yang Dutong." ”

Wang Yuan took him to see Yang Weizhong, and Han Shizhong explained his intention: "All of them, no matter which way it is, it is difficult to walk, and the Meridian Valley may be able to succeed in a surprise attack." ”

Yang Weizhong asked rhetorically: "What about the success of the surprise attack?" One or two thousand elites killed it, even if they could defeat the True Fu or Shiquan County, how would it help in the overall battle situation? At that time, you will be trapped in two counties, and you will lose your elite soldiers in vain! ”

Han Shizhong was full of confidence: "As long as I succeed in a surprise attack on a county town, I can turn the rear of the Zhu thief upside down!" ”

"Don't say more, go back and lead the soldiers." Yang Weizhong terminated the conversation.

Han Shizhong had no choice but to leave in a huff, not daring to have any words of resentment in his heart. If it weren't for Yang Weizhong's support, he wouldn't even be Cheng Jielang, and it would be impossible for him to be a commander, and he is probably still doing it now.

Although Yang Weizhong is a Han Chinese, he was born in Liao and belongs to half of the "Fan people".

His mother is the daughter of the Xiao family of Liaoguo!

With such a sensitive identity, it is enough to be able to control the economy and capital, which is enough to show its cleverness.

Yang Weizhong once led thousands of people to defend the city, resisted the hundreds of thousands of troops of the Empress Dowager Liang, held on to the 14th and waited for reinforcements, and killed the Western Xia army and left.

Watching Han Shizhong leave, Yang Weizhong sighed.

The Western Army suffered heavy losses during the invasion of Liao, and although the Eastern Route Army now has 30,000 men, nearly seventy percent of them are temporarily recruited.

Although they have been trained for several months, their combat effectiveness is better than that of the village soldiers. Moreover, there is a serious shortage of armor, and the weapons and equipment are far inferior to the regular Western army.

If you want to surprise the Meridian Valley, you have to send an elite army to carry it out.

There are only a few thousand elite soldiers under Yang Weizhong, and each of them has to be used on the blade, how dare he throw it to Han Shizhong to take risks?

After more than half a month of the Xukutun army, the imperial court finally issued an order that the three-way western army could enter the army.

Liu Yanqing hurriedly came, with Wang Yuan as the vanguard general, and killed from Fu Luo Road to Yangzhou.

Wang Yuan and Han Shizhong led 3,000 troops to go first, and there were no rebels to block them along the way, but the mountains and forests were full of bandits.

Those bandits were all Shaanxi people who fled into the mountains, and many of them belonged to the Western Army.

Wang Yuan and Han Shizhong swept away the thieves near the main road all the way, and countless thieves fled deeper into the mountains and forests. They did not dare to take the lead for the time being, but as long as the main force of the official army passed, the thieves would come out to rob the grain transport team.

From Fu Luo Road to the south, there are old roads and new roads, and there are righteous troops to defend them anyway.

The Huaishu Pass on the west side has long been dilapidated, and Zhu Guoxiang sent people to reinforce it. In the east of Jinshui Town, several walled forts were also temporarily built.

Wang Yuan and Han Shizhong led their troops to approach Jinshui Town, and there were still more than ten miles away, when wolf smoke suddenly rose from the mountain.

Wolf smoke rose one after another.

The guard here is Wang Xiong, that is, the prototype of the sick Guan Suo Yang Xiong in "Water Margin".

Wang Xiong had 3,000 soldiers under his command, all of whom were locally recruited recruits, including gold miners, mountain farmers, hunters, bandits, and fugitives. It has been training for eight months, and the soldiers and armor are ready, just waiting for the officers and soldiers to kill.

Wang Yuan climbed the nearby hill to observe, returned to the camp and said: "There are three villages here, one of the main villages is built along the mountain and the river, and two auxiliary villages are built on the mountain. It is all terrain that is easy to defend and difficult to attack, and it is difficult for our vanguard to take it, so we have to wait for the main force of the army to come. ”

Han Shizhong said: "Catch a few people in the mountains and see if you can ask where there is a trail, or you can go around the back and attack the village." ”

"You can try, but don't force it." Wang Yuan reminded.

Han Shizhong's mental state is very wrong, he wants to be promoted through meritorious service, and he already wants to go crazy.

The more he was greedy for military exploits, the more he wanted to prove himself, so he was in a hurry to fight, and he had long lost his normal heart.

Han Shizhong led his subordinates to search the mountain and found that the nearby villages were empty.

"Command," said one of the soldiers, coming out of the hut, "there is still residual heat in the ashes of the stove, probably because of the wolf smoke, and all the people in the nearby mountains have fled." He fled in a hurry, and although he took food with him, he couldn't take care of his clothes and farm tools. ”

Unable to catch the mountain people as guides, Han Shizhong could only reconnoiter in person.

The valley in the north of Jinshui Town is slightly flatter, but the southeast, west and west sides of the walled fort are all lofty mountains.

Han Shizhong wandered around the mountain for two days, but he didn't find the path behind the detour, but was discovered by the rebels who were guarding the mountain, and threw more than ten rolling stones and injured one person.

Another day later, Yang Zhi arrived with reinforcements.

Zhang Guangdao commanded the Jinzhou soldiers and horses, Yang Zhi commanded the Yangzhou soldiers and horses, and Zhu Ming himself sat in the direction of Hanzhong.

"How many came?" Yang Zhi asked.

Wang Xiong said: "Two or three thousand officers and soldiers are estimated to be pioneers. I was stationed in a mountain nest a few miles ahead, and I sent people to investigate, and the camp was very strong, and there were people on guard day and night. ”

Yang Zhi personally went to reconnoiter the situation, but he couldn't find a loophole in the enemy village, so he simply swaggered and led his troops to kill.

Han Shizhong, who was anxious to fight, stood on the top of the mountain, carefully observed the situation of the rebel army, and actually ran back and said to Wang Yuan: "There are at least five or six thousand thieves, and the army is neat, not chaotic, and the armor is complete. Our 3,000 pioneers, without heavy armor, have come from afar, and I am afraid that it will not be easy to win, so we must abandon the camp and retreat to the mountains. ”

"Then withdraw." Wang Yuan's expression was grim.

The two of them didn't bring many people, and naturally there was little food, so they quickly retreated to the dangerous place in the mountains to defend.

Seeing this, Yang Zhi was also helpless, and ordered: "Burn down the enemy's camp and burn the grass and trees on the nearby mountains." On the hills north of Jinshui Town, all the trees that can be cut are cut down, and don't leave them for the enemy to build equipment. ”

In this way, Yang Zhi led his troops to guard the valley, sent some soldiers to burn down the camp of officers and soldiers, and asked the people to hide behind and go up the mountain to cut down trees.

It is estimated that after this battle, the mountains for several miles to the north will all become bare.

"Withdraw." Wang Yuan sighed.

The officers and men retreated from the other side of the ridge until they retreated to a distance of several miles, and chose a dangerous place to re-encamp.

Han Shizhong said: "Zhu thieves are not Fang La, such thieves and elite soldiers, I don't know how many they have trained. If there are 10,000 such thieves, plus some auxiliaries, it will be difficult for the 30,000 Western Army to break through Jinshui Town. ”

Wang Yuan said: "Maybe it's just a few thousand." It's only been more than half a year, and even if the soldiers can be trained, the Zhu thief doesn't have so many armor. ”

Han Shizhong said depressedly: "If it weren't for the loss of troops in the Liao State, with the original strength of the Western Army, I would have fought the enemy just now!" More than half of our 3,000 pioneers are recruits, and they are brought to fight before they have been trained. ”

The rebels could train all the time, but the recruits of the Western army couldn't.

The winter was too cold and there was not enough food, and after the beginning of spring, there was still a shortage of food.

Including veterans, they can only eat half-full every day, and occasionally gather to practice the military formation on a hungry stomach. Physical training can't be done at all, and I can't eat enough, so I will definitely exhaust the soldiers.

It wasn't until the new wheat was harvested that the Western sergeants began to eat enough.

And after a few days of eating, the commanders of all walks of life ordered the army to save rations, because even if no one deducted corruption, the newly harvested wheat would not last for a few months.

How can no one be corrupt?

Ten days later, Liu Yanqing personally led a large army to arrive, and when he learned of the situation, he scolded Wang Yuan, believing that the vanguard troops had lost the spirit of officers and soldiers.

Yang Weizhong helped to play the round, and after easing the atmosphere, he asked, "Are there really thousands of elite thieves?" ”

Wang Yuan replied: "Just looking at its march, it is no longer lost to the Western Army." ”

"How's the armor?" Yang Weizhong asked again.

Wang Yuan said: "I sent some soldiers to observe closely, there are very few heavy armor, most of them are light armor. In addition to leather armor, there are some chain mail, as well as many rattan armors. There may also be paper armor and cloth armor, but it is too far away to see clearly. ”

Han Shizhong said: "The weapons of the thieves are also very strange, and there are many very long bamboos. ”

Liu Yanqing said: "According to the officials who fled back, that kind of bamboo is called wolf milling, but I don't know what it is used for. ”

Han Shizhong said: "The wolf mill is very long, and there are many forks, which can disturb the front row of soldiers, but it is definitely useless to encounter the elite." ”

Yang Weizhong said: "On the hill near Jinshui Town, the trees have been burned and cut down. The army first set up camp here and built siege equipment, and then the whole army moved closer to camp and attack the fortress. ”

The walls are not high, and the terrain is rugged, so large siege equipment cannot be used, so you can only make simple ladders and the like.

Some cannons were also made, and Liu Yanqing also brought special artillery shells, which could be violently burned or emitted poisonous smoke when thrown.

After a delay of nearly twenty days, the eastern army of the Western Army slowly moved towards Jinshui Town.

At the same time, news came from the rear that the grain transport team often encountered bandits in the mountains.

Liu Yanqing only divided 4,000 troops to go back, set up transfer stations in various places on Fu Luo Road, and each grain transport team sent at least two or three hundred soldiers to escort them.

By the time the Western Army arrived in Jinshui Town, the three walled forts had become stronger.

Many pits were dug around the fort, and the pits were filled with sharpened bamboo and wood.

The heightened and thickened wall of the main village has four iron-cast artillery!

This place is not far from the Han River, and it can be transported through tributaries, so it is very convenient to transport troops, food, and artillery.

And the grain and grass of the Western Army, passing through the difficult Fu Luo Road, had to consume half of it during transportation.

(End of chapter)