At noon the next day, Gong Duan's army withdrew to Luzhou and set up camp outside Luzhou City.
In the afternoon, there was an urgent meeting at court. Wang Qing reorganized his defenses and spread out a joint camp of 50,000 troops outside the city, surrounding the northern city of Luzhou.
Wang Qing removed Gong Duan from the post of Grand Marshal of the Army and Horses, and dismissed Du Pu as Deputy Marshal. He appointed Duan Er as Grand Marshal and Fang Han as Deputy Marshal, leading dozens of generals to resist the enemy outside the city.
At dusk, Tan Ma returned to the city to report that traces of the Song army were found thirty miles north of Luzhou City.
Wang Qing was shocked when he heard this and hurriedly ordered people to investigate again.
Half an hour later, a Song army took advantage of the darkness and came to the joint camp in the north of Luzhou City. They fired a hail of arrows and then turned around and left.
Duan Er was afraid that there would be an ambush by the Song army ahead and did not dare to pursue him, so he ordered his troops to stand still.
The court meeting was held again in the evening. Wang Qing was talking from above with a livid face. Duan Er suddenly sent someone outside the city to deliver news that the Song army had set up camp more than ten miles outside Luzhou City and built various fortifications.
Wang Qing sneered and said, "The attack is coming right to our doorstep. Don't you, my dear friends, have any clever ideas to resist the enemy?"
Fan Quan came out of the squad at this moment and said: "Your Majesty, although the Song army has arrived outside the city, it is only blocked by the soldiers and covered by water and soil. I am watching the battle report. Although our army was damaged before, it has now united with the five thousand troops of Guangzhou and Huangzhou. , and the defeated Shouzhou army still numbered 80,000, which was only much more than the Song army."
Another Qiu Xiang came out of the squad and said: "What Fan Dianshuai said is true. The Song army originally only had more than 70,000 soldiers. After several battles in Shouzhou, there were many casualties, which were far less than the number of our soldiers. In the past, our army faced other Song armies, even if Although there are fewer men and horses than the opponent, they can still win a great victory. There are few soldiers in Song Dynasty at the moment, so even if they come to the gate of Luzhou City, they will not be afraid."
Wang Qing said angrily: "Since there are more soldiers than the opponent, why are they defeated again and again?"
When the ministers saw that he was angry, they remained silent and did not say a word. Even Li Zhu, who was at the head of the class, closed his eyes and fell asleep.
Wang Qing saw that no one was speaking, so he got up and left angrily. After a few steps, he turned back and said, "The Prime Minister is staying here to preside over the important affairs. I'm a little tired, so I'll go back to the palace first."
After saying this, he rolled up his sleeves and turned to the back of the palace.
When everyone saw Wang Qing leaving, they all looked up at Li Zhu. After a while, Li Zhu slowly opened his eyes and said, "Everyone, please go back first and have a good night's rest. We will discuss the military affairs tomorrow."
When everyone saw this, they knew that Li Zhu had no plan in mind, so they all left together.
Eighteen miles north of Luzhou City, a large camp has long been established, with fences, deer forks, horse barriers, trenches, and all the fortifications in place.
In the camp, the flags were fluttering, and on the bright red handsome flag about three feet high, there was embroidered the word "Qi" for "大大".
Under the banner, inside the large tent of the Chinese army, the lights were brightly lit and people were crowded, discussing matters.
Zongze sat on the commander's seat, flanked by Liu Qi, Zhe Kecun, Wang Zhen, Lu Junyi, Huang Gu and others.
Zongze put down the secret letter in his hand at this moment, looked at Huang Gu and said: "General Huang, I have seen the plan made by the prince. The prince said that this plan is only tentative and everything should be adjusted accordingly. But I am a little confused. Why is this Luzhou West City like this?" Is there any chance to open it?”
Huang Gu originally only held a position in the Military Affairs Department, but it was too humble for Zongze to address him, so he was addressed as a general.
Huang Gu heard this and said: "The guard of Xiping Gate in the west city of Luzhou is an old acquaintance of the prince. Unexpectedly, he met in the bandit army. If Wang Qing does not change his position, he will be the internal correspondent of Ximen in the future."
Zongze pondered for a moment, nodded and said: "I see, did the prince say when will the next contact be?"
Huang Gu said: "Your Majesty said that whenever the troops meet at the top of the city, they can contact each other by sending out flags."
Zongze said: "If there is any undecided matter..."
Huang Gu smiled and said: "The Zong Supervisor Army can make the decision."
Zongze said: "If you want to cooperate with the inside and outside, you must first break the barracks in front of the city. According to the reports from the scouts, there are no less than 50,000 or 60,000 troops in front of Luzhou City. Although I don't know what's inside the city, there should be 20,000 to 30,000 troops. This is the same as what we learned before in Haozhou." Battle reports are different.”
Liu Qi said: "Supervisor, although the traitor army is more numerous than our army, after these few battles, it can be seen that the opponent's combat power is extremely ordinary, and their military discipline is not as good as our army. My subordinates thought that the traitor army in front of the city It is easy to break, but the city is difficult to break. If the prince really has internal arrangements in the city, then as long as the rebel army in front of the city is defeated, the attack on Luzhou will be just around the corner."
Zongze looked at him and said, "Does General Liu have any clever ideas?"
Liu Qi said: "My subordinates think that the bandit army is greedy for merit, so it is better to lure the snake out of the hole and lay an ambush."
Zhe Ke stood by and heard the words: "The rebels have been ambushed several times before. They just sent troops to shoot a round of arrows in front of the city, but the rebels didn't even go out to fight. I'm afraid it will be difficult to ambush again."
Wang Zhen said at this time: "Now the bandit camp is only in front of Beicheng. It can harass the other three gates and lure the bandit army to guard it. Several times in a row, the bandit army will be in chaos."
Liu Qi said: "This method is difficult to implement. Let's not talk about the three gates that only defend but not attack. There are many rebels in Beicheng. If we outflank them and the rebels inside come out to meet them, and attack from both sides, our army will suffer heavy losses."
Wang Zhen said: "Our rear army can also join the front army. It's hard to say who will attack who."
Liu Qi said: "That would be a chaotic battle, and the outcome is no longer in our control."
Zongze said: "This battle in Luzhou can only be won but not defeated. If we lose, we will not have the face to return to court, and the prince is still among the rebels. If there is another mistake, we will kill ourselves to apologize!"
Everyone was speechless when they heard the words, and suddenly Zhe Kecun said: "I have a way to try here."
Zongze said: "If General Zhe has any clever plans, please tell me directly."
Zhe Kecun said with a smile: "I only thought of this method after listening to what General Wang and General Liu said. General Wang said to harass the other three sects, and General Liu said to set up an ambush. I think it is better to combine the two, pretend to harass, and then ambush. Seduction, what do the Zong Supervisors think?"
"Fake harassment..." Zongze pondered for a while after hearing this, and then nodded slightly.
Early the next morning, it was a sunny day with clear blue sky without a trace of cloud.
In the second camp outside Luzhou City, flags were flying, people shouted and horses neighed, and swords and guns flashed.
With the sound of three drums, the wide gate opened, and a group of sentry cavalry ran out. Each of these cavalry was led by a general in front of the sentry, and there were more than a dozen of them.
After the cavalry came the infantry, and the infantry was divided into several types, including spearmen, swordsmen, and archers. They all followed the cavalry out of the camp.
Then the horse and infantry separated from each other like flowing water. The handsome flag was raised in the camp. Duan Er, wearing golden armor, was surrounded by a group of generals and walked out on horseback.
Zhao Tong was in the crowd at the rear. He wore a chainmail armor selected from the armory in the west of the city, carried an iron gun, and rode a yellow horse. There was no expression on his face.
This departure from the camp was ordered by Li Zhu. It was not really to go to the front to fight the Song army and fight to the death, but to boost morale and test the Song army's reaction.
Zhao Tong could probably guess what Li Zhu was thinking. Luzhou had many soldiers and generals, and it was backed by the city. It was absolutely impossible to come up and defend directly.
Moreover, the terrain in front of the north city of Luzhou was relatively flat. It would be difficult for the Song army to ambush along the way, so they ordered the entire army to call for formation early this morning.
There are many soldiers in Luzhou. If they were not ambushed by a trick, the Song army would not be afraid of a frontal attack. However, after several defeats in succession, morale was relatively low. Li Zhu also wanted to boost morale, so he could not let the Song army send a large army first. Call the formation, and your morale will be even higher.
This time, Duan Er ordered a total of 40,000 horses and pushed forward all the way. The scout horses came back every half mile to report the movement ahead.
In this way, after walking more than ten miles for more than half an hour, we finally saw Song Camp in the distance.
Zongze, on his side, had long known that the bandits outside Luzhou City were approaching, but he did not send troops to fight. The entire Dazhai was heavily fortified and put on a defensive posture.
When Duan Er saw it under the commander's flag, he couldn't help laughing and said: "This Song army dare not send troops. Is it because they are afraid of my army?"
Fang Han said from the side: "This place is naturally not as good as Shouzhou Road. There are many dense trees there and it is easy to ambush. If we fight head-on on the battlefield, how can our army be defeated?"
Duan Er stroked his beard and said, "That's the truth. It's a pity that that idiot Gong Duan didn't understand and fell into the trap repeatedly. Otherwise, our army would have defeated the Song army in a head-on fight and captured Zhao Tong'er."
Fang Han said: "Marshal, since the Song army is unwilling to fight now, look..."
Duan Er squinted his eyes and looked at the distant Song Army camp, thinking in his heart without saying anything.
At this time, a general from the rear said: "Marshal, I think it's better to just rush over and take over the Song Army's camp."
Fang Han glanced back and sneered: "I didn't hear the report from Tan Ma. This Song army has built many fortifications and traps. Even if they want to rush into the camp, it's not like this!"
The general immediately shrank his neck and stopped talking.
Duan Er thought for a moment and said: "Who is willing to be the vanguard and step forward to find out the true strength of the Song army?"
At this time, General Zhang Shou from the rear urged him forward: "Marshal, I am willing to go!"
Duan Er nodded: "Okay, then I will give you two thousand people to investigate immediately. Be careful not to trap the Song army, and don't rush to kill by force!"
Zhang Shou clasped his fists and said, "The last general has written it down!"
Zhang Shou had a dark face, wore a suit of iron armor, held a snowflake ax in his hand, ordered two thousand men and horses, and marched out of the army.
Although he asked to be the vanguard, he was not reckless. He just led the troops forward cautiously, but he became more and more frightened as he walked.
It turns out that the trenches on the Song Army's side were dug in a weird way. Unlike ordinary fortifications, which were level and progressive, they were a bit messy.
Once the people and horses passed around, the formation was immediately disrupted. If they went deeper, it would be difficult to merge.
However, since he had asked for his life, he could not retreat. He walked awkwardly for a while, and suddenly there was a bang from the Song Army camp in front, and then all the arrows were seen flying. I don’t know how many arrows came from the camp. Creampie came out.
Arrows were also shot out of the trenches closer to the camp. Apparently there were people hiding in them.
The team led by Zhang Shou had already entered the range of the feather arrows. When he saw this, he shouted "Retreat", turned his horse's head and ran away.
However, even though they saw the opportunity early, the trench was indeed too tortuous and confusing, and many soldiers still fell in while dodging the arrows.
The bottom of the trench was filled with bitter bamboo sticks, iron caltrops and other objects. The ordinary soldiers who fell in were not covered with armor, and most of them were stabbed to the point of crying. Although the trench was not that deep, once they were injured, it was difficult to climb up. It’s difficult, not to mention there are arrows flying behind.
Duan Er frowned under the commander's banner and said, "This Song Army's defense seems a little weird!"
After a while, Zhang Shou came back, but he had lost dozens of people. Duan Er didn't blame him, he just said: "Can you find any difference?"
Zhang Shou smiled bitterly and said: "Marshal, this Song army doesn't know what kind of evil they are doing. They actually dug the ditch in front of the camp into a crooked and messy mess. Although we are not allowed to enter, it is inconvenient for them to get out!"
Duan Er nodded: "This Song army is assuming a defensive posture. It seems that it will be difficult to steal the camp and rob the stronghold."
Fang Han said: "It's not impossible to steal the camp. Those trenches only block the soldiers. As long as you bring wooden boards and other things, it's not difficult to get through."
Duan Er nodded and said: "The Song army chased Gong Duan all the way to Luzhou, why are they in such a defensive posture at this moment?"
The generals were silent after hearing this. The Song army won a great victory on the Shouzhou Road and pressed Gong Duan. Instead of fighting high, they set up camp and started to defend. No one could figure out the reason.
At this time, Du Bo suddenly said: "Could it be that... the Song army is planning a sneak attack?"
Duan Er looked back at him: "Where is the sneak attack?"
Du Bo said: "It's definitely not the main camp. The main camp is backed by the city, so a sneak attack would be useless."
Fang Han thought for a moment and said, "Isn't this Song army trying to sneak attack the city gates in other directions?"
Du Bo said: "I'm just thinking about this. There are no camps outside the other three gates. Will the Song army have plans for those three sides?"
Fang Han said: "This is possible. Although our camp is longer on the Beicheng side, there is always a way to get around it..."
Duan Er said: "Although a camp of 50,000 soldiers can surround Luzhou City, the troops at each location are too weak, and they are afraid of being driven away in a single charge, so it is impossible to build a stronghold like that. But the Song army wanted to To sneak attack on the other three sides is to seek death. As long as our army from the north city outflanks us and the troops in the city come out to charge and kill us, then the Song army will have no luck in attacking us."
Fang Han nodded and said: "That's true, but it seems that the Song Army doesn't want to have a head-on conflict with our army at the moment. It always seems to be playing some conspiracy."
Duan Er smiled and said: "With your back to the city, are you afraid of some conspiracy? Zhang Shou, take the archers and go to the front of the Song army's camp, return them a round of bows and arrows, and then withdraw the troops and go back to prepare things to attack the camp."
Zhang Shou was ordered to lead his troops again, but this time he learned a lesson. He first shot at the ditches close to the camp, and then slowly stepped forward and fired a round of arrows back, but there was no damage at all.
Later, Duan Er withdrew his troops, wrote a battle report on today's events and sent it to the city, and then began to cut down trees everywhere to make tools for building trenches.
A few days passed like this, and just when the tools were almost ready, that morning, bursts of killing sounds suddenly came from the east of Luzhou City.
The soldiers in the tent hurriedly came to report: "Marshal, a Song Army cavalry was found on the east side of the city. They bypassed it from nowhere and are shooting arrows at the top of the city."
Duan Er was stunned for a moment, then suddenly laughed and said: "He actually came up with the idea of those city gates. This kid Zhao Tong is too bold... Someone is coming to prepare horses. I will personally lead the troops to kill this Song army." !”
(End of chapter)
