Chapter 142 Where is safe to go
Despite their haste, Zhao Yulin still arrived at Cuiping Mountain in the middle of the night. As soon as they got ashore, they headed straight for the military camp.
Zhou Ping reported: Li Yunqing and Bao Wenli have already set off with the special forces brigade, but the intelligence collected by Zhang Qi in Shunfeng at the border of Dali Kingdom showed that their troops were frequently mobilized and constantly transported weapons and food to Yongshan Village.
Lu Youpeng said that this time when we suppress the rebellion in Renhuai, we plan to mobilize 40,000 people, so that Mahujiang will appear empty.
The Dali Kingdom has been prosperous in recent years, especially after the fourth young lady got married and started trading with us, the silver in the Zhennan Palace has been growing like a hen laying eggs, and most of it has been used for military supplies.
It is said that the young emperor of Dali wants to give up his throne to the Prince of Zhennan. We dispatched troops to Renhuai to quell the rebellion, but they recruited troops from the border of Song Dynasty. Their intention is too obvious. They are definitely planning to take advantage of the situation. There is no news from the fourth lady.
Zhao Yulin knew that Lao Lu hoped to get accurate information from his sister Zhao Sihan.
Zhao Sihan is very smart, there must be a reason why she doesn't move around.
The Dali Kingdom definitely had an idea and put it into action. It wanted to take advantage of the fact that the Shenwei Army went east and the border was empty to cause trouble.
Otherwise, he had been back for a while, Zhao Sihan should have heard the news, and she and Duan Xiaolin didn't come back to see him, which meant they couldn't leave. Even if they could come to Yibin, they would be accused of leaking the news.
Zhao Yulin thought for a while and said, "We have plenty of soldiers, what are we afraid of?"
He asked Lao Lu to go to Xinshi to take charge. Now the entire Jiading Prefecture is under the control of our Shenwei Army. He asked Chen Chen to issue orders to all prefectures and counties, to gather all the prefecture soldiers and militiamen, and transfer them to Yongshan Village and Shimen Village for a major rotation of defense. Let's see if Dali dares to take action?
After making such arrangements, if they really dare to invade, we will be able to resist for a while, and then recover what we have lost after quelling the rebellion in Renhuai Fort.
After the two men agreed, Zhou Ping immediately took action, first transporting the government troops concentrated in Yibin, and then transporting the regular troops to Luzhou when they returned ...
The suppression of the rebellion in the south was about to begin, and there was still a detachment of troops surrounded by the Mongolian army at Hangu Pass in the north.
This team was the first and second battalions of the Third Column. They were left behind to act as snipers when the Eastern Expeditionary Army set out for Luoyang. Eight days had passed, and there was no order to retreat from Luoyang. Their troops were getting fewer and fewer, and their food was running out. The temporary captain Gu Shan sent out scouts to gather information.
After this investigation, I realized that something had happened. The common people said that the Song army in Luoyang was defeated and had fled eastwards and southwards. There was indeed no Song army in the city, and the Mongolian army had returned.
Gu Shan and his brothers were getting nervous and were discussing countermeasures together. They all knew that they were now an isolated force, with less than 2,000 men lacking food and weapons. It was impossible for them to hold on and wait for help, so they had to find a way to escape.
There were more than a dozen generals in the room, and the air suddenly froze .
At ease, someone sighed and said that General Cao and the column had abandoned them and they could only die here.
Then everyone started talking at once.
A pessimistic mood quickly spread in the room.
Gu Shan suddenly slammed the table and told them to stop talking. He was the boss here and he was responsible for taking everyone back. The Third Young Master told us about the reason why we lost people in Chendi. We won't do such a stupid thing. Now that the sniper mission has been completed, why are we still staying here? We must go back.
After Gu Shan's speech, the two battalions reached a consensus and immediately went back to count the number of people, check the equipment and food in preparation for the transfer.
But if we have to go, where is it safe to go?
Gu Shan was unsure.
The sniper team was guarding Hangu Pass. Although ignored them, this was an enemy-occupied area with enemies all around. They were deep behind enemy lines and were on the away side. They did not have the intelligence support from the favorable direction like they did in Guanzhong, and they were not familiar with the surrounding area.
Gu Shan was very nervous as this could determine the fate of more than a thousand people.
After much deliberation, he decided to leave Lingbao and go through Lu's County to Shangnan, because this route was the shortest and relied on mountains, which was suitable for the infantry to move covertly. Even if they were exposed, they would not be afraid of the attack of the Mongolian cavalry.
He and the captain of the second battalion were about to set off after making their decision when the last wave of scouts came back, bringing a local with them.
This man was called Liu Qiangguang and he was the leader of the local powerful militia. Some time ago he had invited a team of nearly 10,000 people to Luoyang to join the Song army. However, when he saw that Quan Zicai's troops had lax military discipline and low morale, he was unwilling to go there and die in vain, so he turned around and disbanded this group of brothers on the spot, telling them to go their separate ways.
However, nearly three thousand of his family members were unwilling to leave. They hid all the way here, and there were still more than two thousand people hiding in the mountains.
The scouts of the Shenwei Army were also groping their way back to Hangu Pass, and by chance, the two sides met.
When Liu Qiangguang came here, he heard along the way that there was a very powerful fighting team in Hangu, and he also wanted to go and take a look, and if he found a suitable one, he could join them. So he followed the scout to the sniper team's command post.
When he saw the real Shenwei Army, he immediately became energized, because this team was established by Zhao Yulin using new military concepts, and even though they were wearing tattered uniforms, they were full of energy.
But the two team leaders hesitated. Liu Qiangguang had more than 2,000 people, which meant they had a team of 4,000 to 5,000 people. What would they eat along the way?
A large target is easy to be exposed.
Liu Qiangguang knew that the Shenwei Army could only return to Guanzhong, so he told them that it would be dangerous to take the Xiaohan Road. He had a way to lead them into the mountains, bypass Lingbao to Lu's County, and perhaps go to Shangnan, where he heard that your Shenwei Army brothers were.
This route coincided with Gu Shan's idea, so Gu Shan decided to take a gamble.
When he went to meet Liu Qiangguang's militia, he was in trouble again. Almost all the members of this militia had the surname Liu, and they had become a standard Liu family army. The mountain master would not allow the family system to form a clique.
He told Liu Qiangguang that all the generals of the militia had the surname Liu, which was called the family system and warlordism. Our Shenwei Army does not practice this and must obey orders and follow commands.
Liu Qiguang was stunned for a moment, and said in embarrassment that there were many people with the surname Liu and Li in Luoyang, and he had no choice. Now that men from every household followed him out, he couldn't just do nothing and starve to death. We will do whatever the general arranges, as long as we can serve as the Divine Power Army and fight against the northern barbarians for revenge.
Seeing that he was willing to join the group, Gu Shan simply explained everything to him, telling him that the Shenwei Army was fair and just, with clear rewards and punishments, and rewards were based on military merit. By then, his team would definitely be disbanded and reorganized, so if he was willing, he could go with them.
Some of the militia leaders started to complain, wondering what kind of army this was, with so many rules and regulations, can't we just kill the northern barbarians?
Liu Qiangguang said firmly: We came out to kill the Northern Barbarians and avenge our father. Even though there are only more than a thousand of them, the Shenwei Army took over Guanzhong from the Northern Barbarians. Only by following them can we have a future.
Liu Qiangguang made the final decision and the two sides immediately came together.
Gu Shan sacrificed a lot of soldiers and had 300 empty crossbows. He asked Liu Qiangguang to select 300 people to form a battalion and use them as a reserve team after a simple training.
The young men of the militia were holding the new crossbows with a big smile on their faces. My god, this crossbow is so cool. It is easy to string and has a long range. Everyone held it like a treasure.
On their way back, the soldiers reluctantly killed the skinny horses, and several thousand people left a day's rations behind, eating half full before setting off...
Things in the north were so far away that Zhao Yulin could not see them at all. Dali in the south was what he was worried about. If it was not because his sister married in Dali, he would have called for a fight there.
Zhao Yulin and Lao Lu worked hard for two days, their eyes were red. He asked Lao Lu to send Zhang Qi to Renhuai as a forward scout, and Lao Lu, who was old, would take charge of the overall situation here.
The two of them took a rare half-day break and went to Jiangbei to eat firewood chicken together.
As soon as I got to the dock, I saw Yang Zhishan coming hurriedly and asked me to have a drink with him.
Yang Zhishan shook the document bag in his hand and said, "There's no need to delay. We've received a letter from Jiading Prefecture and we have to go to a meeting."
Zhao Yulin said that sharpening the knife would not delay the chopping of wood, so they should eat before leaving, and he forced him to sit down.
Yang Zhishan was a little confused and asked if it was Zhao Yulin who taught Chen Chen. Now Jiading Prefecture has officially issued a document requiring the chief officials of all prefectures and counties to go to the government office for a meeting every month to report on what they have done that month and the problems that need to be solved.
Zhao Yulin laughed and said that he had never taught these things, it was all done by Chen Chen himself, so the old man didn't need to pay any attention to it.
Yang Zhishan said seriously, "I wouldn't dare. The young lady has sent official documents with official seals to all counties and cities, and included attendance on time into the assessment of officials. Why do you have to harm me, brother?"
After Yang Zhishan finished speaking, he raised his glass, drank it, and hurriedly said goodbye and went to the dock.
Zhao Yulin looked at his panicked back and shook his head.
Lu Youpeng said that his wife wrote a personal letter to his father Chen Yun, saying that since she had taken the position of the chief official of Jiading Prefecture, she should really do something and ask his father for more support.
Chen Yun was embarrassed to discuss matters in front of Chen Chen, so she pretended to be unwell and arranged for Yang Zhishan to go to the meeting.
Haha, Zhao Yulin knew that in the past these local officials would not go to Jiading unless there was something wrong. They would only run away when there was an official document from above.
Now Chen Chen has to hold regular meetings, and he certainly won’t be used to it all of a sudden.
However, Zhao Yulin felt it was okay. Regular meetings were a good way to focus on handling affairs and were predictable, so efficiency would definitely improve a lot.
Lu Youpeng said that Hanzhong had done this a long time ago, and Ma Linger thought Chen Chen’s idea was good.
After the two men had their meal, they returned with urgent news from Zhejiang and Sichuan. Wang Gui had already received news from Cao Youwen that the troops had lost 80% of their strength, and Cao's cavalry was almost wiped out. There was still a 2,000-man team from the Third Column left behind at Hangu Pass, and the situation was unclear.
Lu Youpeng looked at Zhao Yulin's troubled face and said that good things will come to those who are lucky, and he believed that the brothers could find a way to escape from the predicament.
He asked if Qu Zhengxiang had left?
Lao Lu said he had left a long time ago, taking with him fifty spy elites from Shunfeng, who were sent there by Zhou Ping in a speedboat.
Zhao Yulin placed his hopes on Qu Zhengxiang. So many elites were scattered in the Battle of Luoyang. He hoped that his activities behind enemy lines could gather these brothers scattered behind enemy lines to fight against the Mongolian army together.
He said he was tired and wanted to rest early.
