Xie Linong was sitting in the Yexian County Government Office, feeling very upset. Yang Tiansong walked too fast and did not attack Ye County. He walked directly around the city and still failed to catch up. Fortunately, Ye County was not destroyed and did not suffer heavy losses like Baofeng.
After passing Ye County, Yang Tiansong arrived at Fangcheng. Still not attacking the city, they robbed several villages and towns and headed south to Tangzhou. Wang Xiaolie was the magistrate of Ruzhou. Without military orders, Xie Linong did not dare to cross the border. For the past two days, I could only sit in the county government office and wait for Wang Xiaolie's orders.
It wasn't until the third day that Wang Xiaolie's military order finally arrived.
After putting down the military order, Xie Linong took a breath and sat there in deep thought.
In the military order, Wang Xiaolie ordered Xie Linong to enter Tangzhou. In Tangzhou now, there are no officials officially appointed by the imperial court, so there is no need to pay attention to those local officials. Use the fastest speed to catch up with Yang Tiansong. If Yang Tiansong escapes to another state army, then there will be no pursuit. The military order also stated that Yang Jin had passed Lushanguan and entered Dengzhou. Wang Xiao hunted with two thousand soldiers and horses, and then gave chase.
Xie Linong thought for a while and finally understood what Wang Xiaolie meant. If Wang Xiaolie leads his army to occupy Dengzhou, then Tangzhou, which is sandwiched between Dengzhou and Ruzhou, must be occupied. This time when he goes south, his main task is to occupy Tangzhou. Whether he can catch up with Yang Tiansong depends on his luck.
Standing up, Xie Linong paced back and forth. At this time, the world is in chaos, so there is no need to pay too much attention to the previous administrative divisions. However, officials formally appointed by the imperial court generally abide by their duties and will not cross the border easily. With this order, it is obvious that Wang Xiaolie no longer intends to be the magistrate of Ruzhou. It's hard to explain what it means to people like myself.
After thinking for a long time, Xie Linong could only sigh. These things are not what you should think about. It is better to do things according to military orders.
After leaving Lushanguan, the sun shone above his head, and Wang Xiaolie felt like he could see the sun again. Most of the Lushan Pass Valley Road runs along the river. The road is rugged and narrow, with high mountains on both sides. In some places, the sun cannot be seen all day long. This kind of strategic road is conducive to defense. Since ancient times, it has been a key area connecting the Chu region to the Central Plains. However, the center of gravity of the Central Plains later moved eastward, and Fangcheng Mountain in the east slowly replaced it.
Yang Jin fled all the way and did not set up troops to defend Lushan Pass. In fact, Yang Jin couldn't send anyone. There were no dead soldiers in his army who sacrificed themselves to protect the main force. Once he left his side, he basically had nothing to do with Yang Jin.
After fighting Yang Jin, Wang Xiaolie finally understood why when he read history in his previous life, he always found that generals in this era often defeated hundreds of thousands of bandits with only a few thousand troops. In fact, most of the tens of thousands of bandits are like Yang Jin. It's not that they really have that many troops, but that they have a large population around them and they have no concept of numbers, so they just boast about it casually.
This habit is very harmful. At this time, Wang Xiaolie could not figure out his true combat power unless he had actually fought Yang Jin.
After leaving Lushanguan, one hundred and fifty miles to the south is Nanyang County. This area is densely forested and not very populated. Yang Jin didn't stop and went straight to Nanyang County. Wang Xiao's hunting band didn't have much rations, so he traveled in a hurry.
Two days later, when Wang Xiao arrived in Nanyang County, Yang Jin had already left. The county town was looted and all shops destroyed. Not only were all the gold and silver treasures robbed by Yang Jin, but also the grain and grass were transported away. Even most of the population in the county town was taken captive.
Walking on the road in Nanyang County, looking at the burned shops on both sides and the people sitting on the ground crying, Wang Xiaolie felt an indescribable feeling in his heart. It is better to be a peace dog than to be a chaotic person. For people who live in peace, it is difficult to understand the meaning of this sentence. Only by seeing these chaos in person can we truly understand the meaning of this sentence.
Over the past few months, Wang Xiaolie had seen this kind of scene too much, and he gradually became numb. In my previous life, how could I imagine that just walking on the road, I would see dead bodies on the roadside from time to time. The bones are exposed in the wild, which means that no one has taken them to bury them. In fact, in this era, there are countless unburied bodies on the roadsides and in the villages.
The Jin soldiers marched south, and the ensuing turmoil reduced the Song Dynasty's population by tens of millions. The prosperous Central Plains region even became a no-man's land for a period of time. The cruelty of the war cannot be imagined by future generations.
Without stopping in Nanyang County, Wang Xiaolie took a short rest and led his army to follow Yang Jin closely.
The next day we set up camp in Rangdong Town. In the evening, Tan Yan's messenger arrived.
After entering the commander's tent, the messenger saluted Wang Xiaolie. He said: "I, Shi Zhen, have come to pay a visit to the magistrate of Dengzhou, Tan Zhizhou, on my orders."
Wang Xiaoxing said: "There is a thief Yang Jin who is causing trouble in Ruluo. Zhai Jin, the envoy of the Northwest Road of Beijing, fought with him and was hit by an arrow. Unfortunately, he was killed by him. My brother Zhai Xing and I fought with Yang Jin. More than a month later, he was finally defeated at the foot of Minggao Mountain. Unexpectedly, Sanya Village was unguarded, so Yang passed through Lushan Pass and entered Dengzhou. I followed him, but I haven't had time to inform Tan Zhizhou, please forgive me."
Shi Zhen smiled bitterly and said: "Yang Jin has arrived at the gate of Dengzhou City. Tan Zhizhou is guarding the city gate and is very distressed. Yang Jin claims that he has 100,000 soldiers now, so he asked Tan Zhizhou to surrender immediately. Tan Zhizhou is an official of the imperial court. How can we surrender? However, there are not many soldiers and horses in the city, and it is difficult to defend the city. Zhizhou once defeated Yang Jin, and if he can come to the rescue, Tan Zhizhou regards him as his reborn parent. Now I only hope that Zhizhou will march quickly to relieve the siege of Dengzhou."
Wang Xiaolie was a little embarrassed. After thinking for a while, he said: "When Yang entered Lushanguan, he only had a thousand soldiers and horses. In a few days, there were a hundred thousand soldiers? I only have two thousand soldiers and horses, so I have to be cautious."
Shi Zhen said: "How can you believe what these thieves say? Even if he blows, he can't blow his troops from a thousand to a hundred thousand in a few days! Zhizhou just marches, and Tan Zhizhou will support him, so don't be afraid of him! "
Wang Xiaolian asked: "Yang Jin has surrounded Dengzhou City?"
Shi Zhen said: "Not really. He is stationed in the north of the city and is searching for food and grass everywhere."
Wang Xiaolie nodded, did not speak, and was thinking. Yang Jin said he had 100,000 soldiers, but Wang Xiaolie believed him. There is indeed no truth in this man's mouth. When they were at the foot of Minggao Mountain, Yang Jin said that there were 700,000 troops. Wang Xiaolie was hesitant about how to deal with Tan Yan.
Tan Yan was born as a minor official and had few troops, but he was appointed by the imperial court as the magistrate of Dengzhou. If Wang Xiaolie wants to occupy Dengzhou, he can't directly destroy Tan Yan. Wang Xiaolie had no intention of breaking with the imperial court. As long as the imperial court does not restrict itself from resisting the Jin Dynasty and does not issue arbitrary orders.
How to deal with Tan Yan? Wang Xiaolie hasn't thought about it yet. The most ideal thing is for Yang to attack Dengzhou and Wang Xiaolie to defeat Yang Jin. Then there will be no need to worry about Tan Yan. Now Tan Yan sent someone to ask for help, which made it difficult for Wang Xiaolie.
After thinking for a long time, Wang Xiaoxian said: "Since Yang Jin has already arrived at Dengzhou City, we cannot ignore it. I will rest for a day tomorrow and set off to Dengzhou the day after tomorrow. If Yang Jin does not encircle me, I will enter the city and defend the city with Tan Zhizhou!" "
Shi Zhen was overjoyed. He cupped his hands and said, "In that case, I'd like to thank Zhizhou! I'll go back to the city and report to Zhizhou."
Wang Xiaolie looked at the sky and said, "It's getting dark. How are you going to walk?"
Shi Zhen said: "At this time, we are in urgent need, so we have to walk at night!"
After saying that, he didn't want to stay any longer, so he said goodbye and left.
