In the early morning of the next day, Zhao Tong and Zhuo Mao had just changed defenses and returned home when they heard the sound of horse hooves in the distance and the ground trembling. He knew that this was the cavalry from Luzhou City dispatched.
The army Wang Qing sent out did not have many cavalry. There were more than 30,000 soldiers left in Luzhou City at the moment, and there were about four to five thousand cavalry.
At the beginning of Wang Qing's rebellion, only some leaders had horses, and there were no cavalry at all. In fact, even if they could occupy the entire Huaixi area, they would not be able to gather many war horses at all.
To be honest, these war horses were given to Wang Qing in vain by the Gyeonggi Forbidden Army twice before. As for the cavalry on horseback, many of them were surrendered by the Gyeonggi Forbidden Army.
Zhao Tong stood in the courtyard and listened to the noise outside for a while, then walked into the house expressionlessly.
Now that they have contacted each other, the Song army will not stay outside the city for a long time. Even if Luzhou's cavalry goes out of the city to look for them, they may not be able to find them.
Three or four days later, the military defense in Luzhou City became increasingly tight, and the battle report from the front was very unfavorable. Gong Duan had already gathered the five thousand troops of Guangzhou and Huangzhou, and Duan Wu's army had also gathered in one place, but even though In this way, the Song army was still suppressed step by step and lost several games in a row. Although the casualties were not too great, their morale was completely lost.
Wang Qing has sent an order for Gong Duan's army to withdraw to Luzhou, and the atmosphere in the court has become increasingly tense.
When he went to court that day, Wang Qing's face was as gloomy as water. He looked at the people below and said: "The Song army is still the same Song army, and its combat power is still weak. Judging from Gong Duan's battle report, although he lost several games in a row, he suffered no casualties. It’s too much, but it still can’t stop the Song army from moving forward. My dear friends, tell me, what’s going on?”
No one below said anything, even Li Zhu closed his eyes slightly, wondering what he was thinking in his heart.
Seeing that no one spoke, Wang Qing's expression became more and more gloomy: "Isn't it possible that there is no Aiqing who can tell the truth and break the plan?"
Everyone lowered their heads at this time. They didn't even see the appearance of the Song army that was attacking this time. How could anyone guess the reason? They probably just wanted Gong Duan to do nothing, but no one dared to say this. After all, Gong Duan was Wang Qing's personally appointed military marshal.
Wang Qing's eyebrows were furrowed at this moment. When no one spoke, he felt a little angry. He was about to lift the table when he saw Zhao Tong walking out.
His expression suddenly changed and he said, "Does Li Aiqing have anything to say?"
Zhao Tong said: "Your Majesty, I thought of a reason, but I didn't think of any way to defeat the enemy."
Wang Qingdao: "It's up to you, Aiqing."
Zhao Tong thought about it and said, "I think that since the Song soldiers have not changed, but the war is unfavorable, the reason is that the other party's commander is different. The soldiers have not changed, but the commander has changed, so this kind of thing happened."
Wang Qing thought deeply: "Ai Qing means that Gong Duan's strategy is not as good as his opponent's? That's why he retreated steadily?"
Zhao Tong said: "Your Majesty, it's not that Marshal Gong is too weak, it's that Zhao Tong is too strong. I heard that the two previous Song soldiers attacked, and Marshal Gong also led the troops, but they won a complete victory. It can be seen that this time Marshal Gong encountered opponent."
Everyone's face twitched when they heard this, and they secretly thought that Li Fei had a good word to say. He didn't say that one's own side was weak, only that the other side was strong. They must learn to use it next time.
Wang Qing asked doubtfully: "Then Zhao Tong is only 20 years old, so how can he get the ability to lead an army? Could it be that he has an expert under his command?"
Zhao Tong said: "This minister doesn't know..."
Wang Qing looked at Li Zhu: "What does the Prime Minister think of this matter?"
Li Zhu left the class and said: "Your Majesty, it seems that you have indeed underestimated the King of Qi, Zhao Tu. Since he is a prince, he is naturally different from Deng Xunwu and others. He may have some strange people around him, and he can make suggestions." It's easy to say, I think the current plan is to wait for Gong Duan to come back, and then set up a joint camp in front of Luzhou City to prevent the other party from besieging the city and trying to break it."
Wang Qing frowned and nodded, but he really couldn't think of any good ideas. He glanced at the two civil and military teams below, pondered for a moment, and finally his eyes fell on Zhao Tong and said: "Li Aiqing is superb in martial arts. He has worked hard to defend Luzhou recently, but for now Resign from your post and lead a force to prepare for war."
Zhao Tong hurriedly said yes.
Then Wang Qing named a few more people and gave the same order. These people were all highly skilled in martial arts and originally had other duties, but they were all exempted and allowed to lead troops alone to prepare for war.
After allocating the troops and horses under each person's charge, and arranging some food and grass matters, the dynasty was announced to disperse.
Zhao Tong was assigned to a small army of soldiers and horses. After going to court, he went to the military camp for a brief handover and then returned directly to his home.
Liyanaza's position as guard of the Xiping Gate has not been replaced, which makes him relieved. In fact, it is not easy to coordinate the inside and the outside. It is not enough to control the city gate alone. You have to find a way to break it after Gong Duan comes back. The army garrisoned in front of the city.
The so-called siege has always been about attacking the weak with the strong. As now, the two sides have similar military strength and there is no huge disparity in combat power. It is impossible for them to retreat into the city and wait for the other side to attack.
Most of them have to camp outside the city, with the city behind them, and fight a few battles. It is impossible to escape back to the city until something is impossible.
Once the two armies reach this point, ordinary strategies will have little effect. They will probably fight to suppress the opponent's morale.
Although Shouzhou had been recaptured at this moment, there were still five states and one army behind Luzhou to watch over each other, which was actually very disadvantageous to the Song army.
In particular, the longer the delay, the advantage will often turn into a disadvantage, so the battle against Luzhou should be the same as the battle against Shouzhou. It is best to fight quickly.
But this quick victory gave Zhao Tong a headache. If his subordinates were not the unsatisfactory Gyeonggi Forbidden Army and replaced by the Western Army, Gong Duan's team would have been overwhelmed by the previous wave, and then went straight to Luzhou.
But he did not have the Western Army under his command, so he could only push forward steadily. As for how to arrange the arrangements when he arrived at Luzhou City, it could only depend on the situation at that time. However, Zongze was not the kind of coach who was only upright but not surprising. Zhao Tong felt that Zongze could not If they are willing to confront each other under the city, there will definitely be other arrangements.
After returning to the house, the food became even simpler. It turned out that since the Song army appeared outside the city that night, the city gates were completely sealed. People were not allowed to enter or leave except for the soldiers. No food from outside could be brought in at all. It can cause internal friction in the city.
Because of the inspection last night, Zhao Tong lay down to rest after eating. He slept in the evening. After waking up, he went out and walked to the front, only to see Yao Pingzhong and Diya playing with the yellow horse.
Yao Pingzhong said: "Little Dia, my yellow horse eats a lot. If it doesn't have enough forage, it can even chew up dry tree sticks."
Dia shook her head: "How can there be such a horse? Fresh branches are edible, but where can there be a horse that eats wooden sticks?"
Yao Pingzhong said: "If you don't believe it, you can try it!"
Dia naturally didn't believe it, so she went to find a stick nearby and said, "Big man, if you want to lie to me, just chew the stick yourself."
Yao Pingzhong smiled and rubbed his hands: "How can I still lie to you, a little girl!"
Dia put the wooden stick to the horse's mouth, and sure enough, the yellow horse started to bite "click, click", and Dia couldn't help but be surprised.
Yao Pingzhong watched the horse eat for a long time, and Diya stepped forward to touch the horse's head again, but the horse didn't move. He couldn't help but wonder, why didn't this horse stop spitting?
Dia touched it for a moment and said: "Big man, this horse seems to be indeed unusual, but I can't tell what is so strange at the moment."
Yao Pingzhong nodded and walked forward in confusion. Before he could get close enough, he saw the horse suddenly opened its mouth and sprayed a mouthful of broken wood slag all over his face. He was so angry that he jumped to his feet and cursed: "What the hell!" You beast, I treat you the best, but you criticize me every time, do you have any conscience at all?"
Dia looked on in a daze, and suddenly realized that Yao Pingzhong wanted to trick her, and couldn't help but said: "Everyone knows that you are a big guy, so if I don't criticize you, who will I criticize!"
When Zhao Tong saw this, he couldn't help but twitching the corner of his mouth, coughing slightly, and the two of them immediately came over to greet him.
Zhao Tong looked at Yao Pingzhong and frowned: "It's embarrassing, why don't you wash it off!"
Yao Pingzhong's face suddenly turned red and he trotted away. Dia said at this time: "General Li, my general invited you to come over to discuss the art of war. I couldn't interrupt you just now, so I kept waiting."
Zhao Tong raised his head and glanced at the sky. It was now slightly dark. The Jade Rabbit slowly rose, and he couldn't help but nodded.
(End of chapter)
