Chapter 832 Goodbye Liu Xuande

As the army grows, the organization should be expanded. Previously, Wang Yan led the army and had 1,500 soldiers. It was not appropriate to call him the army. So Wang Yan named himself the Great General of Tianwu on horseback.

According to history, the emperor walked along the wild path of Anci and collected hundreds of Yellow Turbans. The emperor wore a green shirt and straw sandals, stood on his horse with his hands behind his back, and said to the army: "From now on, I will be called the Great General of Tianwu, and you should call me the general."

At that time, there was a strong wind, thunder roared in the sky, birds flew away, and people and horses were all startled. Only the emperor looked up to the sky and asked: "Can I not be an emperor?" After speaking, the sky returned to normal, and the emperor began to fight for hegemony...

He named himself the Great General, and newly set up the chief and deputy army marquises above the hundred generals. Because the army marquis led 500 soldiers, he added the military steward, who was responsible for supervising military discipline and leading the logistics of the army. Some of the functions of this position are similar to those of the political commissar, but now it only assists the army marquis in leading the troops. The army marquis is the first person responsible for these more than 500 soldiers, followed by the military steward, and then the deputy army marquis.

In the future, the authority may be increased to compete with the military chief, but not now. The main reason is that the people under him are uneducated and unenlightened. Excessive power will only make them think inappropriately and affect the combat effectiveness of the team. They must establish a territory to manage military affairs. Now there is only one premise for everything, training soldiers, fighting, and improving combat effectiveness.

More than 1,500 people are not a small number. Although half of them threw away their weapons when they fled, more than 1,000 people can be called a mighty force.

So Wang Yan decided not to take the small road, but the big road. Although this place is also a disaster area for the Yellow Turbans, the main battlefield is still around the three brothers Zhang Jue, mainly in Jizhou, and the rest of the small forces are everywhere. After all, the Yellow Turbans were originally responded to by the states, and the organization was not strict and scattered.

Even after the demise of the Yellow Turbans, uprisings were still common, and a considerable number of them were fought under the banner of the Yellow Turbans. Other rebels were also more or less affected by the Yellow Turbans.

Now Wang Yan led his troops in Yuyang County, which roughly covers the east of Langfang, west of Tangshan, north of Tianjin, and part of Yanshan Mountain in the north. Occasionally, there are defeated soldiers, and there are also troops dispatched by Liu Yan to the south, which is not a big concern for Wang Yan.

To be irresponsible, even if they encounter a large army of tens of thousands of people, it is not impossible to win with Wang Yan leading the charge. And even if they are defeated, Wang Yan will definitely be able to run away, and it is not a big deal to raise another team. For example, Lao Cao was killed more than once and lost his armor and armor. There were only a few people left around him, and he was chased and hacked. After escaping from the dead, he repeatedly pulled out a team to fight the world again.

Moreover, it is not so easy to mobilize troops. It is almost impossible for tens of thousands of people to act together sparsely, and there is no such stupid commander.

In ancient times, when marching and fighting, if 10,000 troops were dispatched, there would be thousands of civilians doing logistics, and there would be troops to protect logistics and transport grain. These people did not go with the large army. Either the food and grass go first, or they go behind and move slowly. The simplest truth is that once an encounter is fought, the food will not be completely gone.

The remaining thousands of people must also be divided into several parts. The so-called front army and rear army are separated by several miles or even dozens of miles. There are also cavalrymen who explore the way, which is the so-called scouts, and two thousand years later they are called scouts.

Further subdivided, each army has a division with different functions, choosing a site to set up camp, chopping wood and trees, burying pots and cooking, and feeding horses, all of which are done by dedicated people. In short, during the battle, eating, drinking, defecating, and moving must be considered, and what is more important is the safety of the entire team, as well as the mutual support, etc.

It is not possible to lead the army to fight by pulling one person up. Without talking about the subdivision of the march, just say that if you can lead the entire army from one place to another, a distance of 100 miles, it is already a very capable person. In fact, during the march in ancient times, there were many people who fell behind, got lost, and escaped.

Even if General Wang had 1,500 troops under his command, the entire army did not move together. Instead, they were divided into three parts, front, middle and back, separated by ten miles. The 500 in the middle army were food, supplies, and wounded soldiers. The 500 in the front army were pioneers, and the 20 rangers were scattered in front for another 30 miles. At night, the front army was responsible for cutting wood in the mountains and cooking. The 500 in the back army were the rear guard, and there were 20 rangers in the back for 15 miles to prevent being stolen.

Wang Yan would walk with the three armies from time to time, chatting and communicating with people on the way, practicing marching in step, and then chatting with military officers such as the military marquis about how to lead troops and how to fight. The overall marching speed was based on the baggage team of the middle army. Every quarter of an hour, there were communication knights coming and going to Wang Yan to report the situation, and the horses' legs were worn out.

Moreover, when the two armies faced each other, there was also a saying that the army was defeated like a mountain, that is, the army collapsed and the whole army was scattered. This is a matter of comprehensive factors such as the quality of soldiers, the ability of generals, and the situation on the battlefield. Excluding the situation of fighting, a pure battle between two armies may cause one side to collapse as soon as they meet, or both sides may kill each other and fight to the death even if 80% or 90% of the people are killed.

From the overall level of the Three Kingdoms, those who can withstand high losses and not be defeated are usually special troops such as Gongsun Zan's Baima Yicong, Ju Yi's Xiandeng Shishi, Cao Cao's Hubaoqi, Liu Bei's Baierbing, and Lu Bu's Xianzhenzhen, which are talked about with great relish.

In summary, the more than 1,000 people led by Wang Yan, with his personal bravery, have few rivals. If there is really an opportunity for a large-scale field battle, then his troops will only become stronger and stronger.

But unfortunately, there was no opportunity to fight a big battle along the way. In addition to the large and small Yellow Turbans who strengthened the team, some Han army teams of only a few hundred or a thousand sent weapons and food.

Of course, these grains and grasses are not enough for the army, but when the army is in hand, there is no need to worry about grains and grasses. There are only two kinds of resources, population and land. Where there is population, there is land, where there is land, there is population, and there is real estate.

What is the nature of Wang Yan's team? Until now, they have all been known as the Yellow Turbans and have no name of their own. And what is the Yellow Turban? Rebellious thief. Then you must do what rebels should do, such as looting.

Especially now that the team is getting stronger and stronger, if they encounter Wubao along the way, they will inevitably block the gate and ask for food and supplies. As General Wang had taught his subordinates before, they would not ask for too much and could not let the large number of innocent people in Wubao starve. Basically, they ask for food and grass based on the size of the Wubao. As for horses, silk, etc., then the lion has a big problem.

If you don't follow, then besiege Wubao. General Wang will ascend first in person, hold the gap, expand the advantage, and attack from the inside out. He tried the wealthy family for their crimes, robbed the wealthy family's accumulated letters, and finally took away the wealthy family's tools to accumulate property, and also took away many of the people in the castle who had defected. Anyway, as long as it is useful, then take everything, leaving only food, seeds, some farm tools, and cattle for the people in the fort. It is equivalent to a measured process of attacking local tyrants and dividing their fields.

It's just that the fruits of victory cannot be retained. After they left, after a period of struggle in the castle, another powerful family was bound to appear, but all the background was stolen by Wang Yan. It only takes a few days to accumulate, and after a few good years, it becomes prosperous again. It seems to be an unbreakable cycle, and someone will always stand at the head of the people.

In addition to raiding Wubao and holding the population hostage, Wang Yan would also lead troops to attack the county seat. Nowadays, the Yellow Turbans are raging everywhere, and there are not many soldiers and horses in the county. They don't even need Wang Yan to attack first. Some of his screaming soldiers die, and the city is broken.

They have all added military deacons, and military discipline must be strict, and the most basic thing is to have no rules with the people. Of course, the people mentioned by Wang Yan are the people of Guizhou, farmers, domestic slaves, non-officials, wealthy households, and wealthy families. These are the people mentioned by the scholar-bureaucrats.

Entering the city, plundering the treasury, ransacking the homes of wealthy people, and taking away all available supplies, all of which will be used to settle down in Liaodong in the future. After all, the land of Liaodong has not been developed yet. Later, Gongsundu separatized Liaodong and subdued the surrounding barbarians, and then developed the land of Liaodong. In this regard, Gongsun Du is considered a pioneer, and his position allows him to make contributions to China.

Of course, Gongsun Du is not yet the governor of Liaodong. Later, Dong Zhuo came to power and restored the governor of Liaodong. The process is unknown, I just said it was recommended by friends, but I guess I also paid for it. After all, when Dong Zhuo was in power, the places where he could give orders were Hedong County and Bingzhou. This is the place where Dong Zhuo ruled before he came to Beijing. In fact, his main location is Hedong County. The rule over Bingzhou is slightly weaker. The governor of Bingzhou is Nai Dingyuan. He has a good boy named Lu Bu...

Therefore, when he appoints others, he can only give them official positions in name. In fact, it is in vain if he is incompetent. This is the same as letting the bullets fly when the master buys the county magistrate. Therefore, Gongsun Du became the governor of his hometown, and his family was powerful.

At this time, Gongsun Du is either studying in the Central Plains or working as a local tycoon in his hometown in Liaodong, developing his family and accumulating power. This kid would never have imagined that someone would lead a team of tens of thousands of people, plunder construction supplies, and go straight to his hometown to kill him.

Yes, after a lot of time, Wang Yan had more than 23,000 soldiers, and more than 50,000 women, old and young. Along the way, many wealthy families were wiped out and four counties were destroyed. They were all people who were half deceived and half coerced by Wang Yan. In addition, during the march, Wang Yan continued to send troops to search for the defeated Yellow Turban soldiers and their families, and to capture them and join the team. It was difficult not to strengthen them.

For this reason, the establishment was updated, and the positions of chief and deputy captain were placed above the military princes, as well as military commander Shi. The military commander Shi was the superior of the military deacons and was responsible for supervising military discipline and commanding logistics. The captain led the three armies, that is, 1,500 people. The full strength of 1,500 men is a constraint, but the actual strength can reach 2,000 men. After all, with a force of thousands of troops, there are more functions in the army, as well as the captain's headquarters and so on.

The captain and deputy captains are placed above the captains, and they have titles, which are the names of the army where they serve. At this time, Wang Yan organized and trained the four guards, Weiwu, Guangwu, Xingwu, and Yingwu, and their chief military officers were Weiwu Xiaowei, Guangwu Xiaowei, and so on. The Sima of the army was appointed as the senior military commander. He had the same functions and was also the second in command of the first guard. One guard leads three capitals. It was originally said that the full strength of the army was five thousand, but the actual full strength could reach seven thousand soldiers.

Originally, Xiaowei, Duwei, and Zhonglangjiang all used the title of "Bai" instead of "Qian", which shows that these three positions have high authority, rank as high as two thousand stones, and are serious officials. But when it comes to Wang Yan, what he says is what he says. Anyway, he uses the official name of the Han Dynasty to build his own military system. He can even change the captain to Agou, add a title and call him Mighty Agou, etc. What's the big deal?

Anyway, as long as he has a powerful military attaché commanding 7,000 troops, who cares whether he is Agou or not? Anyone who dares to complain about calling Agou a bad person will probably be stabbed with a knife. The name is just a code name, it represents actual power.

Then there is Wang Yan, the self-proclaimed Tianwu General, the leader of the rebels. At this point, he can only do it by commanding himself. Otherwise, they will not be able to tell whether his subordinates want to rebel against him, but they will not be able to lead the team.

He, the Tianwu general who commanded more than 20,000 troops, now had to directly command the military princes to fight, which was a third level. This was a taboo for military strategists. But there is no way, the school captain and the captain are unable to bear the heavy responsibility. Let them lead the troops to fight and they will die.

He had no capable people under him, and because of the special opportunity, he was too powerful. All his people who could read were basically officials. There was really no one who could take charge of things on his own. General Wang had to work hard on his own. After such a long time, his beardless face was covered with stubble.

It was also because of his rapid growth that he slaughtered several local nobles and attacked several county towns, which finally attracted the attention of Liu Yan, the governor of Youzhou. It was impossible not to pay attention to him. Wang Yan's behavior was really bad for them. Killing nobles, destroying county towns, plundering people, and seizing supplies were really treasonous.

In addition, Liu Yan also heard that Wang Yan called himself the General of Tianwu. Looking at Wang Yan's behavior, it was not difficult to guess that Wang Yan wanted to establish himself as a king outside the Great Wall. Although at present, this is less harmful than the harm caused by Zhang Jue and others, Wang Yan cannot bully Liu Yan like this.

Therefore, when Wang Yan and his group of more than 100,000 people entered the Liaoxi area in late June, they encountered a blow from Youzhou Governor Liu Yan.

That afternoon, the large army was marching slowly northward under the scorching sun. The children were better, some sitting on the baggage carts, some riding on the backs of old cows, mules, donkeys, etc., in short, there were places. The old and weak women were not so good. Their men were forcibly conscripted soldiers. They carried their belongings behind them, although not much, but it was always heavy.

Fortunately, they robbed many water carts along the way. There were many rivers and wells along the way, and they could drink water at any time, which relieved a lot.

Wang Yan smiled and took the pulse of the person who fainted in the carriage due to heatstroke to confirm the situation. Although he was the initiator of all this, he was good to these people here, and they also recognized it. And they didn't think Wang Yan was harming them. After all, it was difficult to live anywhere. Wang Yan was very good to them and promised a lot of conditions. He didn't have the majesty of ordinary officials at all. People were still willing to believe in the general.

At this time, smoke and dust were rising in the distance, and a burst of rapid horse hoof sounds came. A messenger jumped off his horse and said, "General Bing, there are 1,000 Han troops in the south 15 miles away."

This time, they couldn't stop. After a while, two more riders came and said that there were 1,000 Han troops 20 miles west and 2,000 in the north 30 miles away. They were surrounded.

Wang Yan walked on the road with his hands behind his back, thinking about the enemy's strategy in his mind.

Now his troops are near Lingzhi in Liaoxi. If they go north for another 30 miles, they will reach Lingzhi County, which is the area of ​​Luanzhou and Qian'an in Hebei Province two thousand years later. He was not in a hurry along the way, and even attacked the county town and destroyed the fortress in a roundabout way, just to snowball and grow. So now, after more than two months, he has only walked 500 miles.

On the other hand, the team was growing, with many women, old and young, and there was no urgent matter. Now that they were in Liaodong, they could not farm. It was too late to farm, so they simply went north while robbing and hoarding winter supplies. In addition, they also captured a lot of carpenters, blacksmiths and other craftsmen.

Now is not two thousand years later, but the climate is changing, and it is also the ice age that must be in the end of the dynasty. At this time, Liaodong is really bitter and cold. If you are not well prepared, you will die if you go there. Or he said that he has more than 100,000 people now, and half of them will die of starvation and freezing.

Lingzhi pillows Yanshan and steps on Bohai, shields Beijing and Tianjin and strangles the outside of the pass, lying in the south of Wuhuan, the east of Youji, and the north of Luyu, which is considered a strategic location for military strategists. The terrain is plain and hilly, without high mountains and obstacles.

The cavalry reported that 3,500 soldiers came. According to the usual principle of rounding up troops, the upper limit of the army is about 5,000 soldiers. Liu Yan can't take out more, after all, Youzhou is not the only one to attack Wang Yan's group, and Qingzhou and Jizhou also need to send troops to support. The most important thing is that the Yellow Turban Army is not strong in combat. There are more than 20,000 people, and Liu Yan sent 5,000, which is enough to fight in the field and beat the Yellow Turban Army.

So there should be another 1,000 to 2,000 troops waiting for support, or waiting for him to make a move and attack the central army to kill Wang Yan.

Dividing the troops in this way is to underestimate General Wang's ability to lead troops. After such a long time, a relatively sound military structure has been built, and the basic method of infantry warfare has been passed down. Every day, there are always teams marching hard to exercise their bodies and practice martial arts in the scorching sun to prepare for war. Although they are still a mob, they are much stronger than before.

After thinking for a while, Wang Yan called the troops: "Send the order, Weiwu Guard will camp 20 miles ahead, Guangwu Guard will camp 10 miles west of Lingzhi City, Xingwu Guard will march quickly to protect the baggage and family, and the Yingwu Guard will stop for another 10 miles. Each army will find an opportunity to fight the army from the south. If they are defeated, they can flee to our place."

Fighting in the wilderness, there are no mountains and rivers to block the enemy. The enemy will divide its troops to harass, which is nothing more than letting Wang Yan mobilize his troops and leave gaps. The so-called military strategy, in the general direction, the instructor has explained the essence of the military strategy with practical actions, which is to fight with more people against fewer people. Except for special situations such as fighting with one's back to the water and being trapped in a dead city, all flexible movements are for the purpose of fighting with more people against fewer people.

Don't say that Liu Yan sent troops to the south, northwest, and eight directions, Wang Yan would just stand still. I will go my own way and see if you dare to come and fight. His original purpose was to break through Lingzhi and rob it, so he just kept moving forward. Of course, this is also because his army is not strong enough. Otherwise, Liu Yan would dare to send thousands of people to fight? This is also a hypothesis. After all, if his army is really strong enough, why would General Wang have to travel thousands of miles to Liaodong? Just kill Liu Yan, split off Youzhou, plant the land for three to five years, go south, plant for another three to five years, and go south again, and the big things will be settled.

As for the Yingwu guards he sent to the rear to look for opportunities to fight, one was to see the quality of the one thousand enemy troops, and the other was to find out where the ambush was. If the enemy army was not good, more than 5,000 Yingwu Guardsmen would be wiped out directly. If the enemy army is too strong to defeat them, more than 5,000 people are not so easy to kill. His military lord is not good at anything else and can run around very quickly. He mainly fights local tyrants and robs the county town in the past two months. He eats quite well and maintains a good body. He has been training his legs a lot in the past two months...

No matter what, Wang Yan judged that there could be two small fights today, which was equivalent to the two sides touching each other in the ring. The punches were regarded as polite greetings to understand each other's strengths and weaknesses, and a big fight could not start. Whatever happens next, we have to take advantage of the situation.

The cavalrymen followed the order and left. Liao Hua, who was behind, stepped forward and said, "General, my subordinates invite you to fight."

"You haven't grown up yet, and your muscles and bones are weak. Please wait for two more years. In today's troubled times, the Han Dynasty is about to fall. If a man has practiced martial arts, why worry about having no place to use it? Don't be impatient, and protect the children of our generals and their families. It’s a great achievement.”

Wang Yan casually taught Liao Hua that young people are like this, they always want to show off. He is only sixteen years old. Although he has been a father for many years, he is indeed far behind and is not suitable for fighting on the battlefield. He still needs to practice more.

He can serve as a soldier only if he is over seventeen years old. If he is under seventeen, he will be sent to work in the baggage brigades.

Liao Hua nodded in resignation and asked again: "General, do you want to wear armor to fight?"

"I don't expect there to be a big battle today, so don't be impatient and just go and rest."

Wang Yan waved his hand, and then continued to smile and chat with these people who came to treat them. Give full play to your abilities and win people's hearts.

After the transport team had advanced for fifteen miles, tens of thousands of people were sparsely camping for several miles to rest. Wang Yan rode a horse, and Liao Hua and other personal guards came to the front army camp, carrying his armor and carrying his weapons. .

At this time, a signal trooper came running up and reported to the general: "To the general, the Yingwu Guards engaged the enemy. Halfway through the battle, two thousand soldiers and horses came out. The Yingwu Guards were defeated. The casualties are unknown. . The captain said that the enemy general is Liu Bei, please let me know."

Wang Yan raised his eyebrows. In his impression, Liu Bei should have gone to Qingzhou to fight the Yellow Turban at this time. Anyway, the time is unknown. After Liu Bei defeated Cheng Yuanzhi, he first went to Qingzhou and then to Yingchuan County. He also rescued Dong Zhuo in Yingchuan, but was looked down upon by Dong Zhuo.

Now come over and beat him. General Wang either didn't leave or was recalled by Liu Yan. After all, Wang Yan's abuse was widespread and caused considerable harm. The three brothers Liu, Guan, and Zhang had outstanding records in the past, and Liu Yan had no one available, so it was possible to recall him.

Wang Yan ordered: "The Yingwu Guards will withdraw the baggage team, reorganize the team, count the number of casualties and enemy kills, report to me, and leave as soon as possible."

Liu Guan and Zhang led the troops. Three thousand versus six thousand were killed, and his men were severely defeated. This is really normal. Three people led the charge, but he didn't have any generals under his command. It would be strange to be undefeated.

It's not that his subordinates are useless, they are actually Liu Guan and Zhang Qiang. As usual for the Han army, he has more people and fewer people, and has never been defeated so far. It is understandable that we can only fight smooth battles but not tough battles.

As for casualties, in ancient wars, as long as the prisoners were not slaughtered and the city was massacred, not many would die in battle. They all died due to post-war treatment. At this time, the medical conditions were not good and there was no anti-inflammatory method.

There are no conditions now. When he settles down in Liaodong, he will organize manpower to prepare penicillin on a large scale using local methods, which can always reduce battle losses. This is a must for travelers, and it is also his traditional craft. He relied on this to conquer the world before. He worked hard to build a health system, anti-inflammatory drugs that were ahead of his time, and saved more injured soldiers. With so many veterans of hundreds of battles under his command, and generous treatment, the generals all risked their lives, and their combat power was strong. .

After a long time, the Signal Corps reported casualties. More than 2,000 people were killed in the battle. They either died, ran away, or were captured by Liu Guan and Zhang. Those who have run away will come back on their own after some time. It was also reported that this battle was not all in vain, it caused a lot of casualties to Liu Guan and Zhang's troops. If Liu Guan and Zhang were not too strong and penetrated the military formation, they would have won.

After a while, the scouts came to report that Liu Guan and Zhang led troops to escort the prisoners into the city. At this point, all the previous soldiers have entered the city, and they are going to fight the city defense battle with General Wang.

Wang Yan shook his head and laughed. He appeased the sergeants as usual, arranged for night defense, and sent the Yingwu guards back to the battlefield to look for Brother Paoze, so that he could have a full night's sleep ten miles outside the city.

Early the next morning, before dawn, after breakfast, Wang Yan let the soldiers eat and drink, then sent 15,000 soldiers and horses to escort the grain and grass trains to restart their journey, and continue northward around Lingzhidong Mountain. He led 15,000 troops and horses, armored and armed, and marched to the city.

At this time, Lingzhi City was heavily guarded, the four gates were tightly closed, and there were crowds of people on the city wall, waiting in full formation. Outside the city, Wang Yan could smell the stench of golden juice.

From this point of view, what Yingwuwei said yesterday was true. Liu Guanzhang must have suffered a loss, otherwise he would not have fought a city battle with General Wang, but would have pulled up a team to come out for a guerrilla attack and wear him to death bit by bit.

Outside the south city gate, Wang Yan was wearing a suit of armor newly made by craftsmen in the past two months, boots made by an old woman who was skilled in needlework, carrying a horse gift from nature on his shoulders, riding Zhang Fei's red-maned war horse, lightly Knocking on the horse's belly, he slowly arrived at the foot of the city and reined in the horse to stand still.

He raised his head and smiled and said: "Xuande, it's been three months since we parted ways in Zhuojun. Today you and I are meeting each other with swords and swords. Why don't you come down to the city and reminisce about old times..."

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