Chapter 39: The War of True Decision (4)

The sky is high and the clouds are light, and the return geese fly north. The fields in autumn carry golden wheat ears and also carry the farmers' hope for the year.

There are thousands of hectares of fertile fields outside Zhending City. This is the harvest season. A large number of soldiers rolled up their sleeves and closed their trousers and went to the fields to harvest wheat. Since August, Zhending has become the front line. People from all over the country have fled. The crops grow in the fields and will not run away.

No one cares about it when it is mature.

The food and grass for the anti-rebellion army were supplied from the south, so naturally they looked down on these crops, and even if they were rotten in the fields, they would go there. However, the Yan army cared very much that the area controlled by the King of Yan could not control was Xuanfu in the east, Daning in the north, Kaiping Zhigu in the east, and Xincheng Bazhou in the south, and there were no fields in the Daning area.

The Southern Army did not take these foods around Zhending, but the Yan Army was very concerned about them. Zhu Di sent two guards and ten thousand soldiers to harvest them from Wuji. Every day, thousands of stones of wheat entered the Yan Army's camp.

The city of Zhending had already had a great uproar. Some newly arrived guard commanders asked to go out of the city to drive out the Yan army who ran to collect food. The early arrival officers who stood by and watched coldly lowered their eyes but looked disdainful.

Every day, Geng Bingwen watched the Yan army come and go at the top of the city, cutting wheat, harvesting, loading cars, and running to the fields from time to time to pee at the top of Zhending City.

Not far away, the southern military camp outside Zhending City was only three miles away. The assault cavalry could reach the front with only three arrows. Geng Bingwen knew that if he was 30 years younger, no matter what he was, he would take a group of people out to kill his mother.

On that day in Changxing, Zhang Shicheng's army arrived, and he did not even set up his battalion. Geng Bingwen led his only five hundred cavalry to kill Zhang Shicheng's vanguard, and penetrated the formation twice, beheading a hundred levels.

However, now he did not have such impulse. The soldiers in his hand were not the soldiers of the past. Even he was over 60 years old. Geng Bingwen looked at the sun, closed his battle robe and turned to the city.

Geng Rui looked at his father's slightly hunched back and felt a sense of desolation in his heart. He felt like a hero's end. He looked at Li Jian still staying in the battlements and said, "Are you just letting them harvest wheat and supplement military use?"

Li Jian gently patted the battlements with his hand and shook his head and said, "So what if you leave the city? Haven't you seen the hill over there? I can conclude that there are cavalry behind the mountain."

Geng Rui said: "According to General Li, he would not be able to fight if he was hiding his cavalry. What kind of battle would this be? In this way, the morale of the anti-rebellion army would be defeated.

"As he was talking, Geng Rui noticed that there were more than a dozen riders on the hillside at some point. They pulled out long shadows in the sunset. A strong feeling hit him. Among the shadows, Geng Rui blurted out: "King Yan!!"

The sunset enveloped the big city in front of you. Zhending, the most solid city in Hebei, with military flags flying, war horses silenced, and there are many camps outside the four gates.

"Your Highness. There are two more guards." A general next to him said.

There was a majestic red horse in the middle, with a burly man sitting on it. His red face had five long beards but were powerful without anger. His black battle robe was fluttering in the north wind. It was no one else, it was Zhu Di, the King of Yan.

Zhu Di responded to Li Bin's words: "Well, how many of them are there now?"

Li Bin replied: "There are a total of 18 guards inside and outside Zhending City, with a total force of about 130,000."

Zhu Di said: "Didn't there be soldiers going to Baoding the day before yesterday?"

Li Bin replied: "It's the land, Your Highness, there are more than 10,000 guards." Zhu Di nodded.

Qiu Fu, who was separated by a man, said, "Your Highness, if you want to fight, you have to start quickly. This mass of people is getting bigger and bigger like a snowball. I'm afraid it will be less easy to fight if you wait."

Zhang Yu, beside him, jumped off the horse. He squatted on the ground, stared at Zhending and watched carefully. Zhu Di noticed Zhang Yu's actions, but did not answer Qiu Fu.

Zhang Yu looked at it for a while, stood up and bowed to Zhu Di, "Your Highness, although the Southern Army is numerous, it is just a must in the eyes of the last general. Look, the flag is not in order. The position is not solid.

The soldiers came and went around in the camp, and the military discipline was scattered; and we were already approaching a few miles away from the city.

The Southern Army had no soldiers attacked, and their morale had been seized. In addition, the three types of the Southern Army seemed to be in a horn-like manner, but our army had cut off the three places and could not cooperate with each other, just waiting for us to defeat each other.

Therefore, this is the three defeats of the Southern Army. If there are these three defeats, the Southern Army is just a walking corpse, so it is not worth fearing."

After hearing Zhang Yu's words, Zhu Di smiled and said, "Zhang Yu's words are very consistent with the king's wishes! It's a pity that Geng Bingwen is also a former general, and he is placed in such a dead place.

If he gave up on Baoding and Hejian Prefecture concentrating his troops here, we really had no choice; if he did not divide his troops on the south bank of the Hutuo River, but instead set up camp steadily, we would have no chance; if he bravely led his army out of the city to harass us for food collection, he could also increase his morale.

Unfortunately, he didn't do this, but chose the only way to fail, so we can't blame us. Tomorrow morning, the army will set off the camp and advance south. Just wait for the enemy on the south bank of the Hutuo River to cross the river and attack halfway!"

The generals under his command agreed: "Abide by Your Highness's order."

...

The sun slowly rose, the morning light gradually dispersed, and the rhythmic drums were as shocked as thunder. The eight guards on the south bank of the Hutuo River began to cross the river.

Geng Bingwen sat upright on the top of the city, and the breeze strodes of white beards on his chest. The generals around him lined up, and they all looked like Vajra descending to earth in the morning light.

Two days ago, the Southern Army built three floating bridges on the river surface. The rivers in the north were not wide, and the Hutuo River was only about forty steps, so it was not troublesome to build bridges. However, the efficiency of the auxiliary soldiers of the Southern Army was too poor, and it took three floating bridges to be built in two days.

Time can't be waited anymore. According to the scout report, more and more Yan cavalry were appearing around Zhending, and the Yan army's attack was only a matter of time.

Geng Bingwen was very angry that he issued a five-day order and could not be implemented until today. They lacked morale, lacked training, and lacked the ability of soldiers. This was no longer the powerful brigade that swept the north of Mo thirty years ago.

Geng Bingwen became less and less confident in relying on them to fight against the rebels.

A cannon shaking up on the floating bridge. This was the latest giant cannon equipped by the Shenji Camp. It was cast by a craftsman from Liaodong. It was a full three thousand kilograms, and a total of four horses were dragged in front. But at this time, the giant cannon was trapped in the gap between the wooden boards and could not move forward or retreat.

Several soldiers tried their best to move behind them, but they still couldn't move at all; the groom in front was also desperately whipping the horse, but no matter how the horse neighed, the giant cannon still didn't move at all.

The pontoon bridge was blocked, and the soldiers waiting on the south bank had long been impatient. The soldiers shouted and shouted to let the people on the bridge get out, and the cavalry tried their best to comfort the uneasy horses.

An officer rushed to the bridge from the north shore, and his whip was greeted on the groom's head with no brainstorm. But if the beating could solve the problem, the groom was really willing to get a few more whips.

After delaying for a while, Geng Bingwen couldn't sit still. Who arranged the order of crossing the river? How could he let the Shenji Camp, which had a lot of belongings, cross the river first? Geng Bingwen moved his lips: "Who arranged to cross the river?"

Ning Zhong replied with an awkward look: "It will be arranged last."

Geng Bingwen said: "Can't you think of a solution?"

Ning Zhong said: "I will solve it immediately." As he said that, he went down the city tower with a look of bitterness. Ning Zhong flew on his horse and ran from the city to the riverside. Ning Zhong had his own considerations for this order.

Geng Bingwen's arrangement obviously did not want to fight against the Yan army. Ning Zhong wanted the Shenji Camp to cross the river quickly and put the cannon on the top of the city to consolidate his true defense, but unexpectedly, this arrangement went wrong.

When he arrived at the river, the giant cannons on the bridge were still blocking there, and the south bank had already become a mess. Ning Zhong's personal soldiers waved their whips to drive away the soldiers watching the fun on the bridge on the north bank, and finally let Ning Zhong come to the river.

Ning Zhong shouted: "Who is responsible here?! Hurry up and push the cannon into the river."

An officer on the bridge heard it and turned around and shouted: "Who dares!"

A personal soldier rode a horse onto the bridge and cursed: "You don't have eyes, how dare you contradict Deputy General Ning like this?!"

The officer saw Ning Zhong's general flag and realized that his disaster was coming from his mouth. He hurried to the bridge and knelt down for Ning Zhong and begged: "General, the villain is unintentional mistake, I hope to forgive him for his crimes."

It was just that this cannon took half a year to make tens of thousands of taels of silver, so you can't just abandon it."

Ning Zhong said: "I'm confused, push the cannon into the water. When the army passes, just find some horses to pull it up. But now it blocks the army's path. When will it end? Go quickly! If you block it, just do military law."

The officer had no choice but to return to the bridge, greet his subordinates, and execute the order. With a plop, the giant cannon was revealed. Ning Zhong ordered the two remaining giant cannons in the Shenji Camp to stay on the south bank and wait for everyone to cross the river before making a promise.

The congestion on the bridge was finally cleared, and the bustling soldiers and horses crossed the river one after another.

The eight guards had 50,000 troops crossing the river in a messy order. The speed was imagined. It was only after three strokes of the sun that the three guards had completed crossing the river.

The commanders of other guards asked to continue to act after lunch, but Geng Bingwen angrily refused. It was time, these people were still thinking about eating.

An ominous premonition hit Geng Bingwen's heart, and he occasionally glanced at the north horizon anxiously.

If the Yan army appeared at this time? Although he had already arranged four guards on the north road to protect the ferry of the Hutuo River to prevent attacks from the north.

However, at the current speed of crossing the river, Geng Bingwen could not guarantee that these undisciplined subordinates could maintain their formation and continue to cross the river when the front line was hit.

Once the Yan army's cavalry infiltrated the ferry, the troops that had just crossed half of them would have a fate of collapse.
Chapter completed!