Chapter 268 Move to Songjiang
However, as soon as Huang Degong retreated into Suzhou City, he received news from someone sent by Lou Xingye that Suzhou Dongping Gate was opened and the officers and soldiers entered the city.
After the two men joined forces, they had no choice but to take the new auxiliary troops who were unwilling to fight anyway and stick to the three streets of the governor's Yamen, entangled with the officers and soldiers with their skilled street fighting skills.
Even after Song Che arrived, he started a fierce street battle with You Shiwei and others in Suzhou City. The casualties on both sides were on the same level. If Huang Chunyao hadn't arrived in time with the Shenwu Army, Huang Degong's entire army would have been wiped out. Danger.
"You Shiwei?"
Only then did Chen Cao realize: "It turns out it's them..."
The reputation of the three brothers of the You family is well-known in Yulin, Shaanxi Province. They have always oppressed the chieftains in Qinghai and other places to dare not make mistakes. This time, the three of them led the army to South Zhili. Even if they were defeated, it was natural. .
"Most of our army are new recruits, so it makes sense that we can't stop them."
Although Chen Cao tried to comfort Huang Degong and others, they still felt that they were embarrassed and humiliated.
"However, after this battle, our army can become a warrior capable of hundreds of battles." Chen Cao made a definition. The focus was to restore the confidence of these people: "quickly arrange for people to rescue the fire point in the city, and in addition to the Shenwu Army With the exception of the First Division of the Dingwu Army, the rest of the troops are resting in Suzhou, waiting for my orders."
Chen Cao was also preparing to rest for a long time. Before he arrived, You Shiwei's troops responsible for breaking up the rear had just withdrawn from Suzhou City, so he quickly called Huang Chunyao to discuss countermeasures.
Looking at the map, Huang Chunyao also frowned: "If the enemy has the attitude of just shooting and running, they will never be able to catch up now."
Chen Cao also agreed with this point of view. The Shenwu Army did not have all the troops equipped with horses. It was only the Dingwu Army that had horses to travel. The Shenwu Army also traveled a long way to attack. After the siege of Suzhou was solved, the entire army rested in place. , not to mention them, even Chen Cao who came on horseback was so exhausted that he couldn't come back without resting for a long time.
"If they don't attack Songjiang, they will still have an uninhabited territory if they want to continue south. They can easily take the road to Hangzhou. There are hundreds of thousands of people in Zhejiang Dusi, so they cannot be underestimated at all."
This was the first year of Chongzhen, so it was naturally not comparable to the last years of Chongzhen. There were still more than one million troops in the country. Even if they were unable to fight a battle, this number was frighteningly tight.
Chen Cao stared at the map closely and asked, "Do you think it is possible for You Shiwei to take a detour and come back through Qiandun to enter Qingpu?"
Huang Chunyao thought for a while and then shook his head: "The students thought it was impossible. Most of them were infantry. The more than five thousand cavalry were not enough to attack Qingpu. Besides, the students had asked General Hong of the Shence Army to attack Qingpu before they came. Send people to help defend Qingpu. If they attack the city with five thousand cavalry, they will be asking for death;
Now there are only two roads. The first is to go south directly through Wujiang and enter Zhejiang. After joining the soldiers and horses of Zhejiang Dusi, they go north. However, they must face the obstruction of Tianxiong Army in the direction of Jiaxing;
The second is to go east from Pingwang, bypass Dianshan Lake and go directly to Huating. Fortunately, the students let Mr. Hong lead the troops first, so there should be no problem in blocking them. "
Chen Cao looked at Huang Chunyao with admiration, then patted him on the shoulder: "Yunsheng's work really makes me worry-free."
"Master, Miao Zan, most of the students' abilities are learned from the master," he added: "But the ability to kill is your own."
These words could not help but make the tense combat atmosphere much more relaxed. After Chen Cao laughed, he looked at Yuan Shizhong, who was the deputy commander-in-chief of the Shenwu Army, and said: "Shizhong will set off first with a division of men and horses, and must follow You Shiwei." Behind you, remember, the Yulin frontier army has a strong fighting capacity, so don’t underestimate the enemy and advance rashly. You have only one task, which is to follow and wait until I lead the army to arrive."
Yuan Shizhong clasped his fists: "Master, please rest assured..."
After arranging the pursuit mission, Chen Cao was still worried, so he asked: "Yunsheng, if you are You Shiwei, attack Huating and take Pingwang Road, what will you do if you are surrounded by my army?"
Huang Chunyao took a deep breath, then frowned and looked at the map, and then said for a long time: "There are more than 50,000 Tianxiong troops in Jiashan, and Shence troops in Huating. Our troops are chasing after them. Under such siege, if they are students, they can only You can choose to go north to Shanghai, but if you go to Shanghai, the rushing Wusong River and Yangtze River will be a big problem;"
Chen Cao also thought of this key, but he couldn't imagine what You Shiwei was thinking.
Huang Chunyao then shook his head: "On the surface, attacking Songjiang is the path to self-destruction. Now the students really can't figure out what You Shiwei and the others want to do."
Chen Cao suddenly turned his head and looked at Xin Zhao beside him: "Is there any news from the capital?"
"My subordinates will send someone to investigate right now."
Chen Cao thought that it would be the best thing if he could get the specific action plan of the imperial court against Songjiang from Zou Weilian. However, the lights were dark in front of him, and even he could only take one step at a time: "You Shiwei. ..."
.
"Ah, cut..."
You Shiwei sneezed unexpectedly, then wiped his nose and looked at the resting army: "I heard that Zuo Liangyu set a fire in Wu County and sent troops to plunder?"
You Shilu nodded: "During the attack, his soldiers dared to fight hard, and I really couldn't stop him."
You Shiwei also agreed that if Zuo Liangyu was killed before the battle, it would probably cause his soldiers to defect before the battle. Now that his important goal had been achieved, it was not up to him to decide when reinforcements from the south would arrive.
"The most important thing for our army now is to compare speed and time with Chen Ni's army," You Shiwei said and asked someone to spread out the map: "If we attack Huating, it will be a dead end."
You Shigong also came over and took a closer look before saying: "Shanghai County is Chen Cao's hometown, and it must be heavily defended. The last wave of spies who came back said that there were many rebels stationed in Huating, and I heard that Songjiang's local The people were bewitched by Chen Cao and admired Chen Cao's every move. If our army enters in large numbers..."
You Shigong looked at You Shiwei meaningfully, and You Shiwei frowned tightly, and then said: "Songjiang River is full of water nets, and the cavalry cannot spread out. Our army's advantages cannot be used. Zuo Liang There are many good and bad people under Yu's command, and if there is no big benefit to attract them every time they attack the city, they will never fight to the death."
You Shilu looked sideways and said: "Brother is right. The benefits Zuo Liangyu promised to his men during the siege were all acts of banditry. As a result, the combat effectiveness of the guard soldiers who have been poor all year round is comparable to that of our veteran soldiers on the frontier. , Although the people of Songjiang are rebellious, they are still the people of the imperial court after all. This group of people did not take this into consideration at all when they were robbing. If it goes on for a long time, it will not be an option."
Originally they were discussing specific trends before the war, but the three brothers finally talked about Zuo Liangyu. It took a long time for You Shiwei to conclude: "Our army came from afar and belonged to the guest army, and Zuo's army has been here for a long time." The people in Nanzhili are familiar with the geographical environment here. After several battles, we have lost more than 5,000 people. They are all old brothers brought from Yulin. No matter what happens, we have to take them all back;
We should try our best to restrain Zuo Jun's actions. As for other matters, we can leave it to Wei Guogong to make a final decision in the future. Now is the time to use them. "
You Shigong raised his eyebrows. He was very familiar with the thoughts of his brothers. He immediately asked: "Should we leave the main task of conquering Songjiang to them?"
You Shilu also reacted, and immediately smiled and said: "Second brother, why don't you let me take the lead?"
You Shiwei shook his head: "Your qualifications are not enough..."
Zuo Liangyu was born in the Liaodong frontier army. He has gone through so much in these years. If you want him to willingly enter a place of death like Songjiang, if I don't personally hold the battle, he will definitely not agree, and maybe he will rebel against you. "
You Shiwei is ready to use his identity and reputation to suppress Zuo Liangyu, a little-known general. Moreover, Zuo Liangyu now has an army of 30,000 people, and his official position is still only that of Ning Guo. On You Shiwei's side The army commander-in-chief was also a subordinate, not to mention Xu Hongji's military order before his arrival, asking him to control Zuo Liangyu's troops.
Just as You Shiwei and others said during the discussion, they all saw that after entering Songjiang, they were surrounded by a dead land. Zuo Liangyu was in Nanzhili. How could he not know the doorway in between? If you let the general You Shilu To control Zuo Liangyu, the cunning Zuo Liangyu will definitely not die willingly, even if there are countless gold and silver treasures in front of him.
Therefore, You Shiwei planned to lead 5,000 cavalry as the main force, supplemented by 10,000 infantry, and cooperate with Zuo Liangyu's 30,000 people to attack Songjiang with 45,000 people. Together with various captured firearms, he would attack Songjiang's army. Rebels.
The three brothers discussed the details carefully again, then called Zuo Liangyu, and then gave Zuo Liangyu a detailed explanation of the next plan. Originally, Zuo Liangyu had some small calculations, but after hearing the last part, You Shiwei wanted to go with him, immediately dispelling his concerns.
Although he knew that Songjiang's wealth in recent years was second to none in Southern Zhili, he was unwilling to go to Songjiang alone. But in the end, the commander-in-chief You Shiwei actually wanted to go in person. Zuo Liangyu suddenly felt This deal is a good deal. Even if he loses half of his tribe, as long as he can get a large amount of gold and silver, he can still make a lot of money.
After sending Zuo Liangyu away to prepare for dispatching troops, You Shiwei looked at the two brothers You Shigong and You Shilu: "The chance of winning in Songjiang is at most 30%. Even if I use Zuo Liangyu as bait, I will We’ll see if we can save most of the people and evacuate calmly, and you may be the focus of this march.”
The Tianxiong Army is stationed along the way to Jiading, and its composition is still the 30,000 Guangning border troops Wang Xiaojie brought back from Guangning. In addition, there are many veterans of the Dingwu Army as officers. The combat effectiveness is naturally not that of the newly established Shence Army. The Shenwu Army and the Longwu Army can be compared.
And You Shiwei also inquired about this news early. The people leading the troops were two former members of the Ministry of Household Affairs and the Ministry of War. They were both civil servants. In his opinion, the tedious energy of doing things for the Chinese civil servants was not what he wanted. The two brothers are likely to find a way out from Jiading.
