I

  Chapter 109 107【Walking the dog】

   At noon, a few miles northwest of Fucheng.

  Zhao Han was marching fast when suddenly a cavalry appeared in front of him. Seeing them coming, he retreated dozens of steps immediately, but stayed there to observe the situation.

  The target has been exposed, someone must have rushed to Fucheng to report.

  There are not many horses in Jiangxi, and there are water nets everywhere. Riding a horse is far less convenient than taking a boat.

   Being able to send sentry cavalry out to investigate, it is obvious that the government has become alert!

"Have a meal!"

  Zhao Han left in no hurry, and ordered eight hundred soldiers to gather for dinner.

  Fei Ruhe gnawed on the pancake, and said worriedly: "We missed our whereabouts, and the gate of Fucheng must be closed."

Huang Yao also said: "I used to go to the county government with grain deposits, but I was left behind to build the city. The city is very tall and large, with the Gan River on the east, and moats on the south and north sides. There is no moat on the northwest side, but there are hills far away. If you block it, it will be a depression."

Jiang Dashan said: "I also went to the county government with my food. If there is no warship, I can only attack the city from the north and south. But outside the city are all street houses. When we pass through the market, the city can quickly close the city." Door."

  Stealing a city is not so easy to steal, especially in a big city near water like Ji'an.

   Even if there are no soldiers to defend, as long as the city gate is closed, you will have to climb the wall for a long time, and you have to get a lot of ladders.

   Filling his stomach, Zhao Han patted his buttocks to stand up, and suddenly said: "Go north!"

  The eight hundred soldiers suddenly turned around. They had just had a full meal, and their marching speed was very slow, as if they were on an armed outing.

  The sentry cavalry trailed far behind, following them all the way until it was getting dark, and then galloped back to Fucheng to report: "My lord, the bandits have gone to the north and west, and they may be fleeing to Anfu County."

   "It's fine if you don't come to Fucheng, it's fine if you don't come to Fucheng!" Xu Fusheng finally breathed a sigh of relief, although Anfu County is also under the jurisdiction of his prefect.

   After calming down a little, Xu Fusheng ordered again: "Hurry up and report to the governor by boat. He said there was a group of bandits heading towards Anfu County."

  Zhao Han marched too fast. Although his whereabouts were exposed, no one knew his details. They only knew that he was a bandit in Xuanhua Township.

   In fact, thieves are running around all over the place right now.

  …

  Yongyang Town.

  Xie Xuelong received reports from various ministries, and his face was very ugly. His initial combat intention had already been declared a failure.

   Except for Zhao Han, he didn't pay attention to the other rebels, so he divided his troops north and south to expel them. The purpose of driving those unprofessional thieves towards Wuxing Town is to get together big and small rebels.

   At that time, the rebels seem to have many soldiers, but in fact the sources are complicated, and there are bound to be many internal contradictions.

   Moreover, gathering in the direction of Wuxing Town, there are mountains on three sides blocking it, and it is more convenient to catch them all in one go. The worst situation is that the rebels escape into the mountains.

  Switched to other peasant army leaders, if anyone has great prestige, he will definitely gather troops in series to fight against the government together. The rebels in Shanxi and Shaanxi provinces have always done that, because they can't beat officers and soldiers alone.

  But Zhao Han didn't accept the trick. Instead of going out to gather thieves, he even went missing.

  The thieves in the neighboring villages thought that Zhao Han had led someone away, so they also thought about running away.

  The peasant army north of Heshui, dragging their families and their families, crossed the mountains and fled straight to Anfu County. The peasant army south of Heshui bypassed the mountains and headed to the west of Taihe County.

   Killing the landlord and dividing the land is an act of banditry.

  When the officers and soldiers arrived, the thieves were frightened and turned into two bands of rogues from the north and the south.

  Zhao Han also miscalculated, he wanted those thieves to help him stop the officers and soldiers for a few days. But others are not stupid, since they can't beat the officers and soldiers, they just play fleeing tactics and go to the neighboring states and counties.

   "What do you think?" Xie Xuelong asked.

  Staff Li Zongxue said: "Fu Shuai, immediately send an order to Anfu and Taihe counties to order the county magistrates to unite with the gentry to recruit village braves to defend the place as soon as possible. Bandits, bandits, don't let them run around, otherwise the bandits will grow bigger and bigger."

  Zuo Xiaocheng said: "Zhao bandits are the serious troubles, but don't care about those rogues, take a boat and go straight to Huangjia Town!"

Li Zongxue also suggested: "Break Huangjia Town first, and then go back to chase and kill the bandits. By then, it will be winter, and Anfu County and Taihe County should also have Xiangyong. We will send troops to hunt down and intercept the bandits. Dong will also kill the bandits." freeze to death."

  Xie Xuelong thought about it for a long time, and then he made a decision and said: "Let's follow this strategy and send troops to Huangjia Town immediately!"

  Others were ordered to go to work, Xie Xuelong sat alone in the handsome tent, with a deep worry in his heart.

  According to the confession of the rebel captives, "Mr. Zhao" refused to join forces, completely disregarding the life and death of other rebels, and seemed to lead his troops into the mountains to become bandits.

  However, Xie Xuelong always felt something was wrong.

  Because Zhao Han's behavior in Huangjia Town doesn't look like he wants to be a bandit at all, so he is aiming at changing the dynasty!

  Thousands of officers and soldiers set off from Yongyang Town by boat, and soon came to Lijiaguai to land.

  Xie Xuelong sent out scouts and waited for the news by himself on the warship.

   Another half day passed, and the spies came to report one after another. There was no one around Lijiaguai, and many human and animal footprints were left on the way into the mountain.

  Xie Xuelong's face was gloomy, and he simply sent several small troops to investigate along the villages on both sides of the river.

  All went into the mountain...

  Xie Xuelong moved to Huangjia Town, which was also empty, and there was not even a hair in the town.

How to do?

  Xie Xuelong didn't dare to go into the mountains to pursue him, because the training of his soldiers was too low. Once there is an ambush in the mountains, if there is a slight disturbance, the whole army will surely collapse.

Staff Li Zongxue came up with an idea and said: "It will be winter in a month or so. How can you make trouble for a long time in the bitter cold place in the mountains? You only need Chen Bing Huang's Town, while training soldiers, while waiting patiently. Let those rebels freeze to death in the mountains I will starve to death. I will not enter the mountains until the spring of next year, when the brave men will be more elite, and the rebels will lose their morale, so we can defeat them in one fell swoop!"

  Xie Xuelong closed his eyes and meditated hard. He always felt that something was wrong.

   At this moment, a fast boat came suddenly, but it was a sailor who stayed in Yongyang Town to supervise the grain.

   "Fu Shuai, Meitang Town was captured by bandits, and the bandits crossed the river and headed east. Before leaving Meitang Town, the bandits killed several landlords, and many tenants took advantage of the opportunity to revolt. Now there are bandits everywhere around Meitang Town!"

  Xie Xuelong was startled suddenly, and shouted: "Hurry back to Fucheng!"

  Meitang Town is on the edge of Lushui River, so the report should have been quick.

   Ke Xie Xuelong confiscated all the boats, so Zhao Han couldn't grab the boat, so he had to use the door panels to tie the raft to cross the river. Similarly, the gentry who reported the news did not have a boat, so they had to gallop all the way on mules, and the news was delayed until now.

  That mule was left by Zhao Han...

  Xie Xuelong quickly returned to the teacher by boat, and halfway received a report from the prefect Xu Fusheng.

  Yes, it is Baojie!

   There were thousands of bandits who wanted to attack the city of Ji'an, but they were easily defeated by the wise and mighty prefect Xu, who led the young and strong in the city. The bandits had already turned their way to Anfu County.

  This news made Xie Xuelong feel a little confused.

After reading the letter, Li Zongxue thought about it: "The bandit Zhao is so bold that he definitely wanted to surprise the city. But he leaked his whereabouts halfway, and the prefect Xu closed the city gate. Bandit Zhao had no choice but to return in vain and flee to Anfu County as a bandit." The thieves from the north of Heshui also crossed the mountain to Anfu County, and the Zhao thieves must have joined the thieves."

  Xie Xuelong agrees with this explanation, because Ji’an Prefecture is really not easy to capture, and the officials of Ji’an Prefecture and Luling County alone can hold on.

  For the sake of safety, Xie Xuelong separated the eight hundred guards and asked them to return to Ji'an Mansion by boat to defend the city.

  The combat effectiveness of these guards is low, even inferior to the courage of the country, and they like to plunder, so it is just right to throw them back to defend the city. Forgive them for not daring to rob in Fucheng.

  As for Xie Xuelong, he sailed into Lushui with the main force.

  Lushui has a tributary, and it can go west to Yongxin County, which is the detour route of Li Banghua. To the north, go to Anfu County, where you can chase the bandits, or you can wait for Zhao Han to come to die.

Xie Xuelong sailed towards Anfu County for a day, and once again received military information from the clipper: Eighty miles north of Ji'an, bandits ransacked Baisha Town by the river, looting the landlord's livestock and food along the way, and headed towards Anfu County. direction to flee. In the villages and towns we passed, many tenants were incited to rebel, please the governor to send troops to suppress it.

   Various signs indicated that Zhao Han really went to Anfu County, trying to join the rogues from Xuanhua Township who had fled there.

  Xie Xuelong suddenly made up his mind, no longer going back along the Ganjiang River, and continued to go up the Lushui by boat, speeding up and going straight to Anfu County.

  He was not afraid at all that Zhao Han would steal the capital, because he sent 800 guards back to help, and those wastes were more than enough to defend the city.

  …

  The junction of Luling County and Anfu County.

   Zhao Han's more than 800 soldiers have expanded to more than 1,300.

  The new entrants are mostly young and strong with no worries at home, and there are also some poor people who secretly leave their families to join the army.

  When Baisha Town on the banks of the Gan River was looted, Chen Maosheng recruited a few actors into his gang, and Zhang Tieniu recruited more than 20 coolies into his gang.

  They still have many donkeys, mules and cattle, which are used to carry the grain borrowed from the landlord's house. Hmm... These animals are also borrowed from the landlord.

   "What? Back again?"

  Fei Ruhe said depressedly: "We are here, wandering around for several days, I am about to be dizzy! Didn't we go to Anfu County? Why did we go back to Fucheng?"

   "You are dizzy, and the officers and soldiers must be even more dizzy," Zhao Han said with a smile, "Nowadays, there are rebels everywhere in the villages and towns around Fucheng. We won't be afraid of showing our whereabouts when we go back."

  Master Huang Shunde murmured: "It is true that you are not afraid of exposing your whereabouts, but there are riots everywhere outside the city, and the city is not heavily defended?"

   "Who said that after returning to Ji'an Mansion, they must go to attack the city?" Zhao Han asked back.

   Huang Yao asked: "Then what shall we fight?"

   "Chaoguan!" Zhao Han laughed, "Chaoguan has a lot of silver, and there are also a lot of boats. If you grab the silver, you can slip away by boat."

  Jiang Dashan scratched his head and said, "But when we set off from Wuxing Town, didn't we agree to attack Fucheng?"

Zhao Han explained: "In this war, you have to adapt to the situation. How can you do whatever you want? We found out and the magistrate closed the city gate, so we can only go to other places. After disrupting the surrounding villages and towns, The government is very confused. They only know that we are going to Anfu County. I have already asked someone. The shortest way to Anfu County is to take a boat from Lushui River. The governor Xie Xuelong must have been lured to Anfu. At this time, Let's kill the carbine again, how can the Ji'an mansion bear it?"

  Fei Ruhe also learned the art of war, and realized: "This is called attacking east and west, and it is also called attacking the enemy unprepared. It is false and true, and false and solid. Next time I lead troops, I can do the same."

  (end of this chapter)