In the evening, with the setting sun on the horizon, the children directed the soldiers to climb the city. Outside the city, Ke Shou'an led the armored army, and together with Cao Zhiyan and Shao Ling, attacked Wanyan Huonv and Xiao Haohu. Zhang Qi and Wang Xiao hunted other troops, but they had little chance of escaping.
With nothing to turn to, the armies of Lou Su and Xiao Haohu were already at a disadvantage. In particular, Wang Xiaolie's Six Thousand Iron Armors were so powerful that the Jin Army encountered them for the first time and couldn't help but panic for a while.
Looking at the setting sun in the west, Lou Su felt helpless. The Song army had already boarded Pinglu City. The Jin army outside could not approach the city, and it was obvious that it could no longer hold it. Without the city, there would be no accumulation. It would be completely unrealistic to confront the Song army here.
After thinking about it again and again, Lou Su was helpless. He had no choice but to order the army to retreat to Jiezhou in the north by night. Reorganize your troops there, replenish some troops, and then fight the Song army decisively. Zhe Keqiu led his troops to retreat to Zhangdian Town, preparing to retreat to Xia County.
Shao Ling led his army to pursue them all the way to the foot of Zhongtiao Mountain and camped at the foot of the mountain. Zhang Qi chased him all the way to the mountain road and killed countless people.
At night, all the generals rested in their own camps. Only in Shaanzhou City, Wang Xiaolie's army brought supplies, and the soldiers and the people were completely revelry.
Take a sip of wine. Li Yanxian put down the wine glass and said: "After nearly two months, I finally have wine in my mouth today. To be honest, I have forgotten what wine tastes like. Today, thanks to Wang Kuan and his troops, we have a way out."
Yang Bosun said: "I have only been in the city for a few days, but it feels like my days are like years. I don't know how I can persist in observing."
Li Yanxian shook his head and looked at the stars in the sky without saying anything. How do you persevere? I gritted my teeth and persevered. Before Wang Xiaolie's reinforcements arrived, Li Yanxian insisted on defending the city. At first, I believed that I could defeat the Jin army, just like the previous times. At the end, it depends on tenacious perseverance, a kind of inertia, and a kind of determination not to surrender. It wasn't until Wang Xiaolie's reinforcements arrived that he truly believed he could hold on.
Yan Ping said: "Looking at Dengzhou's army today, although the number is not too large, its combat power is extremely strong. It is not comparable to other armies. I heard that a year ago, Wang Kuan only had two or three thousand people. I don't know how he managed to achieve this. Such a strong army.”
After finishing speaking, he looked at Chi Yuping and Zhang Chi who were silent.
Zhang Chi saw several people looking at him and smiled and said: "We are all ordinary people. We were recruited into the army because we grew up. In the past year, we only know how to train according to regulations, but we don't know anything else."
The others listened and laughed together. These days, Zhang Chi and Chi Yuping work hard without complaining, never say a word, and are deeply loved by everyone. Without the two of them, Shaanzhou City would not be able to survive today.
Li Yanxian raised his glass and said, "Today we are like seeing the sun again, we can be said to have come back from the dead! Let's drink a glass of wine together!"
Everyone raised their glasses and drank.
At this time, the city of Shaanzhou was full of laughter and laughter. Wang Xiao didn't bring much wine, but he could give the soldiers and civilians of Shaanzhou a taste of it. Although Wang Xiaolie did not drink alcohol in his army, he still brought dozens of jars with him when traveling in large numbers.
On the other side of the river in Pinglu County, Wang Xiaolie sat in the middle, with Shao Ling, Cao Zhiyan, Zhang Jun and Chen Yuyi sitting on both sides.
Wang Xiaolie looked at the map on the table. After looking at it for a long time, he straightened up and said: "Although this map is too simple, the general terrain is correct. Now Wanyan Lousu has led Wanyan Huonv and Xiao Haohu through Zhongtiao Mountain, and they should go to Jiezhou .Zhe Keqiu went to Zhangdian Town in the east and should be evacuating to Xia County. If they are separated, this battle will be much easier to fight."
Shao Ling said: "Zhe Keqiu has besieged the city for nearly two months and lost many troops and generals. The attack was the heaviest today and there are not many soldiers and horses left. We should send troops to pursue urgently. If we do not pursue closely, we may escape back to Fuzhou. "
Wang Xiaolie pondered for a while and said: "Zhe Keqiu is a local tycoon in Fuzhou. He has served the country well by guarding the three states throughout this dynasty. Even if the enemy surrenders now, we don't need to push him too hard. As long as After defeating the Jin army, the Fuzhou soldiers are no longer a concern. You can order Zhang Qi and others to pursue them as far as Xia County. It would be best if we concentrate our forces and be able to encircle and annihilate Yan Lousu."
Shao Ling said: "I have been fighting with Xiao Haohu's Khitans for many days. To be honest, their strength is not weak. Compared with the general imperial army, they should be far superior. Plus Lou Su's personal soldiers, it is not easy to deal with .”
Cao Zhiyan said: "In today's battle, our armored army marched forward inexorably, and the Jin army could not stop it. If the two armies faced each other, and our 6,000 armored troops could come out together, how could the Jin army stop it? If the Jurchens are defeated, the Khitan people are nothing!"
Shao Ling said: "We have such a record because the Jurchens' fighting methods are just incompatible with ours. Every time they go into battle, the Jurchens wear heavy armor, their soldiers are connected, and they only know how to attack forward without looking back. This kind of fighting method is just defeated by the armored soldiers. Live. However, the Jurchens have many horses. If they don’t fight head-on, but ride roundabouts, it’s hard to say.”
Zhang Jun said: "In the past, the Jurchens were not good at using cavalry, so this may not be the case."
Wang Xiaolie waved his hand: "You can't guess at combat matters, let alone take chances. This year, when the Jin Army attacks on the East Road, they often move quickly, relying on the strength of the cavalry. Especially in the middle road, the number of attacks in a day is very high. Baili, who can stop us? The soldiers we brought are all our wealth, and we cannot compete with the Jin Army. Whether we can destroy the Jin Army can only be done by doing our best and obeying fate."
After speaking, he looked at the map and said nothing for a while. At the end, Wang Xiaolie raised his head and said: "Let's gather the army and chase the Jin army over Zhongtiao Mountain to Jiezhou. It's best if we can force the Jin army to the Hezhong Prefecture area. After that, the army will go north and take Jiangzhou with all our strength! The Jin army When we get to Hezhong Prefecture, whether we want to go north to Yanzhou or go north to take Longmen back to Jinzhou, don't worry about him!"
After hearing this, everyone was speechless. Wang Xiaolie's meaning was obvious. He didn't have many troops and he didn't want to fight head-on with the Jin army. Taking advantage of the opportunity of the Jin Army to encircle Shaanzhou, it is possible to inflict heavy losses on the Jin Army. But once the Jin Army established a firm foothold, it would be beyond Wang Xiaolie's ability to fight head-on with the Jin Army. To drive the Jin army to the Hezhongfu area was obviously to ask Zhang Jun to lead troops to fight.
Looking at everyone, Wang Xiaolie said: "You must not forget that we are here to rescue Shaanxi Province on this trip. When the Jin army retreats, it is natural to capture more states and counties. In the past two years, the Jin army has plundered Most of the craftsmen who came here are from Jiezhou and Jiangzhou, let’s go and rescue them.”
Shao Ling said: "If Jiangzhou is captured, Jinzhou, Fenzhou, and even Taiyuan Prefecture do not have heavy troops behind them, so why not keep advancing?"
Wang Xiaolie sighed: "When we arrived in Shaanzhou, the logistics of food and grass were very difficult. We kept marching, what did we eat? Now we can chase the Jin Army because the Jin Army has lost its food and grass, and we cannot defend every place. Once we pass Jiangzhou, the situation is reversed. We defeated the Jin army in this battle, and they left tens of thousands of soldiers. Don't we care? The surrounding counties and counties have all been robbed of food and grass by the Jin army. There is no hope at all. Go up. We can only let the signing army return to Dengzhou as soon as possible without wasting too much food and grass. I have calculated over and over again. Even if I try my best, I can only occupy Jiezhou and Jiangzhou. There is really nothing I can do in other places. . When fighting, you must know when enough is enough and don’t covet battle glory.”
The other people nodded, understanding what Wang Xiaolie meant.
Although Shaanzhou was saved, Shaanzhou had already been robbed completely by the Jin army and could not provide food and grass. Occupying the Jin Army's camp and seizing the Jin Army's reserves here, the Jin Army's reserves are not much and cannot support the army stationed here for a long time. In fact, the most important thing is that to attack north, Wang Xiaolie must have Zhang Jun's full assistance. But Wang Xiaolie doesn't have high expectations for Zhang Jun and Qu Duan.
After discussion, Wang Xiaolie ordered Shao Ling and Cao Zhiyan to continue chasing north, following Wanyan Lousu and Xiao Haohu all the way to Jiezhou. The Jin army's occupation in this area was not stable. Once the Song army pressed hard, they had no choice but to retreat. Only when we are far away from the Song army can we reorganize our army. Zhang Jun led a thousand cavalry and two thousand infantry to cooperate with Zhang Qi in pursuit. Without giving up, Keqiu rendezvoused with Lou Su and pursued northward until he reached Jiangzhou.
Wang Xiaolie led the remaining two to three thousand people to station in Pinglu to pacify the place. Especially the signing army to appease the Jin army. When Niu Gao arrived, he arranged to sign troops and the people in this area to withdraw southward from Dengzhou. Without strong support from the rear, Wang Xiaolie would not be able to defend this area when the Jin army from the east came to the west.
Several people were ordered to retire. Wang Xiaolie sat alone in the tent, looking at a lamp in trance.
On the way here, I kept receiving reports from Shao Ling and Zhang Jun. Wang Xiaolie understood that as long as the city of Shaanzhou was not destroyed, the Jin army would definitely not be his opponent after his arrival. It's just that the battle went so smoothly, which was unexpected.
The most important reason is that Zhe Keqiu's army siege the city is exhausted. He was defeated in one battle and could not even gather his army. With no compromise left, Wanyan Lousu's flank was exposed in front of him and was defeated in a short time.
Winning the first battle was extremely important to Wang Xiaolie. As long as Shao Ling and Cao Zhiyan hold the Jin army tightly and don't let them have time to rest, the overall situation of this battle will be decided. The subsequent results will depend on Zhang Jun, Qu Duan and Zhai Xing, and I will not be too involved.
Thinking of this, Wang Xiaolie stretched himself. Fighting must be done in moderation, with a sense of proportion, and you must not be dazzled by victory. Even if the Jin army is defeated in one battle, they cannot be underestimated. Given enough time, they can still regroup and still have combat effectiveness. Now, Wang Xiaolie wanted to calculate the outcome of this battle.
The tens of thousands of signed troops were just slaves in the eyes of the Jin Army, but they were a rare labor force for Wang Xiaolie. Moving them to Dengzhou can open up a large area of land. Wang Xiaolie plans to move all the people in this area, which means a lot of manpower. There is a large area of free land in Dengzhou, Tangzhou, and Wang Xiaolie is not afraid of too many people. With people, a place can develop.
In addition to people, there are also horses. The Jurchens who attacked Shaanzhou had at least two horses per person, or even three to five horses per person. Of course, many of them cannot be used as war horses, but they can still be used as pack horses. Including the horses from the Khitan and Zhe Keqiu armies, nearly 30,000 horses could be captured in this battle.
For Wang Xiaolie now, horses are really important. Even if there are five thousand horses here, thousands of cavalry can be developed. With thousands of cavalry in hand, plus 6,000 iron cavalry, Wang Xiaolie truly became an important force.
Wang Xiaolie even thought that these horses, which could not be used as war horses, were still important livestock. You can develop your own carriages and organize a strong transportation team. Coupled with their own reproduction, they can form an important logistical transportation force.
