Sixteen miles north of the county seat of Huolu County is Lijiazhuang.
At this time, Lijiazhuang became Yuan Zongdi's temporary central army. The 170,000 soldiers and horses of the bandits' right battalion were centered around it, and several camps were set up on the spot. They have been resting here for two hours.
The place where a red banner flutters is where Yuan Zongdi lives. This is the best courtyard in Lijiazhuang. The original owner has long since disappeared. Yuan Zongdi cleaned out the best house in the courtyard. He actually planned to stay, which made General Liu Tichun of Youguoyi and Deputy General Dang Shouxu very anxious.
At this time, Yuan Zongdi had received the news sent by Liu Fangliang and Liu Zongmin. The two men had led Zhongying and Zuoying to rush to Lingshou County to intercept Liu Yan's troops, allowing Yuan Zongdi to follow and attack north as soon as possible.
However, when Yuan Zongdi received this letter, he changed from his previous anxious state and directly ordered the army to stop advancing. Then he ordered the army to retreat to Huolu County and began to collect the belongings and luggage of Liu Yan's tribe scattered around.
"General Zhi, is it really okay for us to stay here?"
Dang Shousu asked worriedly, but Yuan Zongdi said indifferently: "You may not think that the strategy formulated by Hong Chengchou is very complete, but Hong Chengchou forgot one key point, that is, the opponent in this battle is Liu Yan, and Liu Yan Yan's subordinates have a large number of elites who stay at night, and it is too easy to detect the traces of our army's battalions. Although the battalions of our Dashun Army have been reorganized and their combat power and discipline are no longer the same, they are still far behind Liu Yan's troops. big."
"So if you want to have all the battalions pursue and intercept Liu Yan's tribe while Liu Yan's tribe has the upper hand, do you think you can succeed?
? I don't think it will succeed! "
Yuan Zongdi said with great certainty: "In my opinion, Liu Fangliang and Liu Zongmin will not only be unable to stop or pursue Liu Yan's tribe, they may even be led by Liu Yan until they collapse and die. It’s time for Liu Yan to lead his army in a thunderous strike!”
At this time, Liu Tichun and Dang Shousu were very shocked when they heard Yuan Zongdi's words. The dignified General of Dashun Army Right Camp was actually speaking for Liu Yan at this time?
Yuan Zongdi looked at the shocked eyes of the two, smiled playfully, and said: "Why, you are all surprised? I just told the truth!"
"We have fought against Liu Yan several times. Which time did we take advantage? Didn't we end up with a disastrous defeat every time?"
"This time with the addition of Hong Chengchou, Wu Sangui and others, it seems that the strength of our army has greatly increased, and in fact it is true. But hasn't the strength of the new army in Liu Yan's hands increased? I don't think so!"
"In this battle, both His Majesty and the generals of the battalions were too confident and optimistic. It seemed that the battalions of the Dashun Army would be able to run rampant and be invincible after Hong Chengchou's reorganization. They did not think carefully about it. , if Hong Chengchou is really so capable, how could he defeat Xinzhou and become my military advisor in Dashun?"
At this time, both Liu Tichun and Dang Shousu looked very ugly. They actually thought that Yuan Zongdi's words made sense, so they sat down one after another and listened quietly to Yuan Zongdi's continued words.
"That's why I made up my mind. Our right battalion will take a rest in Huolu County now, and let Liu Fangliang and Liu Zongmin lead their troops to fight for it in front. We can follow behind and act according to the situation. This can be considered as a reason.
Dashun has preserved his strength. "
Dang Shousu frowned slightly and said: "General Zhi, then why do you send people to collect the scattered belongings of Liu Yan's department?"
Yuan Zongdi suddenly became energetic and said: "That's money, it's just free money, why not? I have to rest here anyway, and get this huge amount of property by the way. Silver is a good thing, it can be exchanged for food." , recruiting soldiers and horses, and building military equipment, these are our Dashun’s assets!”
Liu Tichun said: "But we can't stay here forever without setting off, right? The army carries so much property, and the march will be very slow!"
Yuan Zongdi laughed and asked: "Slower, wouldn't it be good?"
Liu Tichun was speechless.
Yuan Zongdi then led his troops to rest for more than a day in Huolu County. Finally, with the persistence of Liu Tichun and Dang Shousu, he finally ordered the entire battalion to march north toward Lingshou County.
However, at this time, there were already thousands more carts in the army of the Liuthief Right Camp, loaded with hundreds of thousands of taels of silver and a large amount of various supplies, and went north with the army.
Liu Tichun and Dang Shousu looked at the slow-moving army. They were extremely anxious, so they found Yuan Zongdi together.
"General Zhi, the army is marching too slowly. If we continue at this speed, all the battalions in front and Liu Yan's troops will probably be finished. We are still moving slowly on the road!"
Looking at Liu Tichun who was a little angry, Yuan Zongdi said: "Don't be anxious. I have already sent people to the front. There is the Lituo River dozens of miles ahead. I have arranged for people to go to the front to prepare boats to cross the river in advance, so that the speed will be faster." , it will take some time to catch up.”
Liu Ti
Chun laughed angrily and said: "The weather is dry now, the scouts have reported back, and the water in the Lituo River has decreased. The army can walk across it on foot, so why use boats?"
Yuan Zongdi smiled and said nothing, just riding his horse slowly.
Dang Shousu on the side said: "General Zhi, I think we can bury this property temporarily. When the battle is over, we can send people to retrieve it. How about it?"
Yuan Zongdi frowned slightly and said: "You think I am greedy for this money? You are wrong! I am saving money for Dashun's future. Regardless of victory or defeat after this battle, Dashun will need a lot of money and food, so regardless of whether there is No matter how difficult it is, I will never give up this batch of property!"
Seeing that Yuan Zongdi could not move, Liu Tichun and Dang Shouxu had no choice but to do anything. At this moment, a group of people came quickly. The leader was a captain from the old camp. After seeing Yuan Zongdi, he was shocked and said: "Control the general! It has been so many days, why haven't the soldiers and horses of the right camp crossed the filtering Tuo River and headed north?"
Yuan Zongdi did not answer, but asked: "Did His Majesty give an order?"
The captain frowned slightly when he saw this, took out an order, handed it to Yuan Zongdi, and said: "General Zhi, your Majesty already knows that Liu Yan's troops have withdrawn from Jingxing Pass and may raid Xingtang County. Order all battalions to immediately go to Xingtang County." Get closer and look for opportunities to surround and annihilate Liu Yan’s tribe!”
After reading the order, Zongdi Yuan said with a smile: "Report to Your Majesty, my right battalion soldiers are rushing to Xingtang County at full speed. Your Majesty, please rest assured!"
"Since General Zhi said so, it's best to do the same!"
The captain gave Yuan Zongdi a thoughtful look, then rode away with his men.
Yuan Zongdi sent Li Zicheng's
He put the order away and then said: "The whole battalion and all units are marching towards the Lituo River!"
Liu Tichun said: "General Zhi, since His Majesty has given the order, will the army speed up?"
Dang Shousu also said: "Yes, now His Majesty has led his troops to Xingtang County. If His Majesty leads more than 400,000 family members to Xingtang County before us, he will definitely blame us!"
Yuan Zongdi looked at Liu Tichun and Dang Shousu with slight dissatisfaction, and then said: "Then tell me, what should I do with so much property? I still say the same thing, these properties are my escape route for Dashun, and I must not give up!"
"General!"
"No need to say any more!"
Yuan Zongdi said loudly: "The whole battalion of soldiers will continue to carry their belongings to the north and must not give up. In the future, if your majesty blames you, I, the general, will bear the responsibility!"
The 170,000-strong army of the Rogue Bandit Right Camp marched northward in a mighty manner. The army also carried a large amount of supplies, so one can imagine how slow the march was.
Although Liu Tichun and Dang Shousu were anxious when they saw this, they could only say nothing, secretly urging the soldiers of various ministries to move faster.
However, the soldiers and horses of the brigade had to march long distances and had to carry a large amount of supplies. They were already physically exhausted. Now Liu Tichun and Dang Shousu continued to urge the ministries, which immediately caused the soldiers and horses of the right battalion to be very dissatisfied, overtly and covertly. also deliberately delayed it.
The actions of Liu Tichun and Dang Shousu were naturally noticed by Yuan Zongdi, but seeing that the marching speed of the army did not increase much, he was too lazy to argue with them.
"snort!"
Yuan Zongdi thought to himself: "Now all the soldiers and horses from all the battalions are attacking Xingtang County.
, if we can block Liu Yan's tribe and defeat Liu Yan's tribe, there will be no shortage of one from my right camp. But if this battle is lost again, it will be difficult for millions of troops to defeat Liu Yan's tribe. What future will Dashun have in the future? When the time comes, my right camp will be Dashun’s future, and this batch of property will be Dashun’s last hope! "
At this time, more than ten miles south of the Lituo River, behind a hidden slope, Laidong and a dozen of his subordinates were lying here, looking warily at the army of bandits marching in front.
Today's Laidong, who was also the original Xiaodongzi, is already the commander of the new army's central camp, making his subordinates stay up all night. Years of bloody battles have made Laidong grow from a young recruit to a qualified A junior officer of the New Army.
"Boss, the soldiers and horses of the Rogue Right Camp over there, look at that big banner, the big red color is the flag of the Rogue Right Camp."
Laidong said in a low voice: "We came all the way from Xinle County. We didn't find any other battalions of bandits around us. Only the right battalion is here! The right battalion, according to the information provided by the Military Intelligence Department, the general of the battalion is Yuan Zongdi. What is he doing, so arrogantly disconnected from the main army of bandits? Is he looking for death?"
The dozen or so people around him couldn't figure it out, and one of them said in a low voice, "Does Zongdi Yuan want to preserve his strength?"
Laidong nodded and said, "It's possible! Yuan Zongdi probably wants the other battalions of the bandits to take the lead, while he takes advantage from behind."
"Boss, what should we do now?"
"go back!"
Laidong immediately said: "Elder Ge has formulated the next strategy, mobile warfare! Now Zongdi Yuan's right camp is out of touch with the main force of the bandits.
This place is more than a hundred miles away from Xinle County. We need to go back as soon as possible to report the military situation! "
Everyone immediately lay down on the ground and retreated. At this time, everyone's horses were tied to a forest dozens of steps away behind the slope.
Soon, Laidong and others came to the woods, mounted their horses one after another, waded across the river from a bend in the Lituo River, and then galloped north.
At the same time, the army of the Liuthief Right Camp continued to advance north, and the forward was less than ten miles away from the Lituo River. Yuan Zongdi ordered the army to stop advancing, and all troops were stationed in place to rest and recuperate.
"General!"
Liu Tichun and Dang Shousu rode their horses to find Yuan Zongdi. Then Liu Tichun looked at the high sun and said, "It's still early and the army can reach the south bank of the Lituo River and set up camp. Why don't you leave now?"
Dang Shousu also advised: "General, please hurry forward."
Yuan Zongdi said: "All the soldiers in the battalion have worked hard all the way. They must ensure sufficient physical strength to prepare for possible raids by Liu Yan's tribe. How can they go all the way until dark?"
There is some truth in what Yuan Zongdi said. Liu Tichun and Dang Shousu were very anxious at this time, but they also knew that they could not persuade Yuan Zongdi.
Dang Shousu immediately turned around and left angrily, while Liu Tichun said: "What the general did today, I will definitely report it to His Majesty truthfully in the future. I hope the general will not blame you!"
Yuan Zongdi was not afraid at all, but said: "In the future, you will know the painstaking efforts of my general. You can report it to your majesty, but I will not blame you!"
