Chapter 305 The First Death

Whenever a big event is approaching, you need to be calm and composed. Courage and wisdom are the foundation of survival in desperate situations.

After taking the military information from the soldier, Chen Heng reviewed it with a stern face. After confirming that Shi Ding's handwriting and tiger seal were correct, he looked up at the messenger with hope on his face.

"Do you have any questions, sir?" The soldier saw that Chen Heng had not spoken for a long time and immediately asked anxiously.

Chen Heng, who was lost in thought, reacted immediately. He turned his head and looked around the tent. Liu Xianglian was protecting him by his side, and in front of him were Xinda and Lu Yingxiong who looked worried.

Thinking that these people were the forces he could mobilize, and seeing their expressions, Chen Heng immediately calmed down and said, "No hurry. I already know the military information, and the matter of asking for help is urgent."

The messenger's face suddenly dimmed after hearing this. He got Shi Ding's order and followed a few brothers to fight all the way out, just for the fallen comrades in the army.

Knowing that the lord in front of him was not a coward. The messenger hurriedly softened his tone, clasped his fists and said gratefully: "If there is anything you want to know, just ask me."

"Go get the sand table." Chen Heng ordered Xinda. When the other party carried the simple utensils into the tent, Chen Heng hurriedly pulled the messenger forward, pointed to the mountain and river trails on the sand table, and said: "Tell me everything in the army."

"Yes." The messenger took a deep breath and began his own story.

Since the whole army entered the mountains, it was immediately harassed and confronted by the bandits in Ping'an Prefecture. The mountains and forests have complex terrain and are very easy to hide.

The army that is dedicated to suppressing bandits is inherently lacking in initiative. Fortunately, Shi Ding is not a mediocre person. Faced with the constant harassment of the bandits who have the advantage of the terrain, Shi Ding immediately chose to divide his troops.

This time, the court arranged a total of 40,000 soldiers and 50,000 civilians to suppress the bandits. In addition to leaving 5,000 soldiers and horses in the rear camp to guard the baggage, the remaining 35,000 people, with another 10,000 civilians to assist in the war, were divided into ten teams and began to sweep Wumeng Mountain.

There are three reasons why Shi Ding dared to do this. First, the officers and soldiers were well-equipped, far from being comparable to the roaming bandits.

Second, he had more than a dozen noble sons and their family generals under his command. This is the so-called family background.

It is really hard to find a commander who can read and read some military books these days. Good generals are easy to find, but the small commanders between good generals and soldiers are also very important.

With Feng Ziying, Wei Ruolan and other helpers on hand, Shi Ding had no reason not to make use of them.

Even if one of the teams was surrounded, the comrades wandering nearby could provide support as soon as possible.

The last point is that Wumeng Mountain is too big and there are too many bandits. There are small groups of three or four hundred people who dare to occupy the mountain as kings, and there are also large camps with more than a thousand or tens of thousands of people.

Considering the difficulty and long battle line of bandit suppression, it is undoubtedly a good way to gather the other side in one place by driving sheep and decide the outcome in one battle.

This is also the reason why there were frequent reports of victory in the early stage.

Chen Heng did not interrupt until he heard this. He was waiting for the other party to tell him where the battle turned.

His eyes moved along the fingertips of the messenger, and Chen Heng soon found the suspicious points. As the bandits kept fleeing, the army of Dayong walked out a zigzag route on the sand table.

Is it to lure the enemy deep into the depths? Or to gather sand into a pile? The final success of the strategy depends entirely on the results of tactics.

The fingertips of the messenger soon stopped at the turning point of the lower half of the zigzag.

"This is the Qingfeng Village of the bandits. They gathered here and resisted us for more than ten days."

That was what happened in mid-September? Chen Heng judged the time in his mind and asked, "How many people are there?"

"I don't know." The messenger shook his head decisively. The other side was not a regular army, so naturally there was no move to announce the troops.

The messenger pondered for a moment and explained to Chen Heng, "The commanders in the army said 50,000, 30,000, and 70,000 or 80,000."

Chen Heng couldn't help but take a deep breath when he heard it. He knew that estimating the number of enemy troops across a hard drive was a test of the ability of a general.

There is a way in history to judge the number of enemies by the rising smoke from the stove. Chen Heng didn't believe that Shi Ding didn't know, so he asked, "What did the general say?"

"The general said at least 40,000." The messenger whispered.

Chen Heng couldn't help frowning when he heard this. This number is no less than the number of officers and soldiers. He nodded and signaled the messenger to continue.

"We have been attacking here for ten consecutive days. Every soldier is brave and has killed countless enemies. We have also captured more than 2,000 surrendered soldiers. The general felt that the time was ripe, so he ordered the soldiers of the three armies to rest for a day and launch a general attack the next day."

"Then what?"

"Who knew that this group of bandits would take advantage of the night and abandon the elderly, weak, women and children in the village and run away directly." When the messenger said this, his face immediately showed the pleasure of chasing and killing the enemy.

"Go on." Chen Heng, who already knew the result, was not happy, and still had a gloomy look.

"The bandits are running very fast... We... We are here..." The messenger withdrew his fingertips somewhat embarrassedly, and only used his eyes to replace them, saying dejectedly, "We were ambushed by the enemy."

Chen Heng looked at the map for a long time, thought about it, and asked, "But it is a dangerous place."

"Yes." The messenger nodded and sighed, "This place is a dangerous place with a narrow gap. The army had only passed most of the way, and many bandits emerged from the mountains, pushing down rocks to block the road."

How could such a greedy and reckless person not fail? Chen Heng could not bear to listen any more.

The messenger's story continued: "I followed the vanguard battalion into the valley first, and there were eight thousand brothers left behind. We...at that time...we could only hear their screams..."

Confused. Chen Heng sighed and saw that the orderly soldier was crying and hurriedly asked Xinda to take him down first.

When the other party was gone, Lu Yingxiong hurriedly stood next to Chen Heng and said cautiously: "Sir, how are you going to save him?"

Rescue, what to save? He only had 40,000 civilians left on hand, so he asked them to make food for the soldiers. If you expect them to hold swords and guns and go into battle to kill the enemy, isn't that making fun of human lives?

Chen Heng walked towards the case and while writing, he said: "First report to the court and ask your Majesty to send reinforcements."

This was a matter of course. Lu Yingxiong followed Chen Heng step by step. After the other party had written the memorial document and handed it to him, Lu Yingxiong asked aloud: "Where are the trapped soldiers and horses?"

Chen Heng also had a headache. After thinking about it carefully, he said: "The dry food carried by the soldiers now can last more than ten days. Shi Ding is also good at fighting. Even if he is at a disadvantage for a moment, he will not be able to fight quickly." Defeated."

Sorting through the thoughts in his mind bit by bit, Chen Heng's thoughts gradually became clear. "The top priority is to find a way to send food and grass there..."

People have to eat, and tens of thousands of soldiers are trapped in a tight siege. Once they reach the end of their rope, these people have no choice but to surrender.

Chen Heng couldn't even imagine how rampant the bandits would be if they got the weapons of these people.

Thinking of this, Chen Heng subconsciously looked at the nervous Lu Yingxiong. Now in the rear army, the only men and horses that can go into battle are the five thousand men the opponent has on hand.

Seeing this, Lu Yingxiong couldn't help but smile bitterly. He knew that he couldn't escape, so he had to say: "Don't worry, sir, I know what to do."

Chen Heng also knew that it was a bit difficult, so he directly comforted him and said: "Let's wait for a day or two and see if any deserters come back. Try to keep them in one place and get more information about the bandits from their mouths."

Lu Yingxiong nodded hurriedly. As long as Chen Heng didn't order him to send troops immediately, it would be good news.

"We only have five thousand soldiers and horses now, we can't lose them easily." Chen Heng knew that the safety of the rear army camp depended on these people.

"Don't seek to defeat the enemy, but focus on harassment first. See if you can use some deception and some strategies to attack the east and west to mobilize the besieged bandits..."

Chen Heng warned him word by word, and he and Lu Yingxiong continued discussing until late at night before deciding on some rescue matters.

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From Ping'an Prefecture to the capital, it's an expedited walk of eight hundred miles, and it only takes three days to arrive. The moment Li Zhi received the military information, his first reaction was disbelief. He couldn't think of how to punish Shi Ding for a moment, so he laughed out loud in anger.

After finally suppressing his anger, Li Zhi ignored the silence of the night and directly summoned all the ministers to Linjing Hall to ask for advice.

It was certain to send troops for rescue, and even Gu Zaiyong didn't dare to touch Li Zhi's troubles.

That night, a group of messengers rushed out of the capital. By the time they arrived at Qingniwa, two more days had passed.

The soldiers of the border army who had been waiting here for a long time began to board the ship overnight as soon as they received the message to go to the peak.

"Don't be in a hurry, don't rush. One team at a time, we board the ship, with the leader walking at the end. Keep an eye on the people in your hands."

It will rain tonight, the moon is unclear, and the stars have retreated. In such an environment, in order to keep 8,000 people on board the warship, several generals in the army were busy running around in the rain.

As the leader of this group of people, Xin Suzhao was specially transferred back from the border by Li Zhi. Even before the war, he still wore neat armor.

Holding the reins in one hand, the other hand rested on the long knife at his waist. Xin Suzhao looked at the subordinate who walked up to him and said concisely: "Hurry, we must leave the port before Xu Shi."

It's already half past midnight. Is it really so urgent? What if a brother falls into the water?

The subordinate in front of him couldn't understand, but he had followed Xin Suzhao for a long time, and he knew that this superior had a character that meant nothing.

If you are not kind enough to control the troops, if you are really going to fall into the water and die, then consider yourself unlucky.

"I understand, I understand." The subordinate responded, raised his hand to wipe the rain off his face, and then asked, "Commander, does he know where we are going to disembark?"

If he hadn't considered that the other party was relatively reliable, Xin Suzhao would have whipped the other party for this problem alone.

"Don't ask questions that you shouldn't ask." Xin Suzhao replied coldly and waved his hand away.

Seeing Xin Suzhao's unkind look, the subordinate shrank his neck, turned around and ran towards the boarding area.

Damn it, I can't even light a torch on this rainy day in the dark. Apart from telling the soldiers to be more careful, what else can the commanders do?

Under Xin Suzhao's urging, although some soldiers fell into the water and disappeared without a trace, a large number of ships still rushed out of the port of Qingniwa before Xu Shi.

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The military camp has begun to accommodate the first batch of defeated soldiers who escaped. All of these soldiers were injured, and the information they could provide Chen Heng was messy.

What was talked about the most was not the information about the bandits. Instead, he said that the other party had the help of God and Mother Earth, so the mountain god acted in anger.

Chen Heng couldn't laugh or cry when he heard this, so he had to arrange for someone to take good care of them and not deal with the deserters according to military law.

The defeat was due to the general's mistake, and it had nothing to do with the soldiers under his command.

However, considering that there will be no organized grain transportation team in the future, Chen Heng has arranged for civilians to cut down trees nearby in advance.

These civilians from all over the world have skillful hands. They are not good at fighting in battle, but they are good at making convenient wheelbarrows.

It has been sunny in recent days. Considering that this weather may continue, Chen Heng asked the civilians to remove the soaked cowhide and other things, make fire prevention measures, and wrap them on the wheelbarrow.

When everything was going well, Chen Heng heard a strange news from Liu Xianglian who came to report.

Xue Pan is dead.

"Do you want to say it again?!" Chen Heng thought he had heard it wrong, and looked at Liu Xianglian in astonishment.

"The wounded soldiers who just entered the camp brought a corpse. I saw it, it was Xue Pan." Liu Xianglian himself didn't believe how Xue Pan got into the three armies.

Chen Heng felt a little strange and hurried to Jia Baoyu's tent. As soon as he entered the tent, he saw Baoyu kneeling in front of a stretcher, lying on a white cloth and crying loudly.

Chen Heng walked around Jia Baoyu's side, squatted down and slightly lifted a corner of the white cloth. Seeing that the person inside was indeed the elusive Xue Pan, Chen Heng let out a surprised hiss.

Jia Baoyu, who was crying, saw Chen Heng appear. He raised his head and cried to his cousin-in-law: "Brother-in-law... Brother-in-law Chen... You have to avenge my brother-in-law!!"

Seeing Jia Baoyu rushing over and hugging him, Chen Heng quickly winked at Liu Xianglian. After the latter pulled Jia Baoyu away, Chen Heng patiently checked Xue Pan's wounds.

The cause of death was an arrow in the chest, and there were also some sword wounds on the body. Chen Heng looked at a few places and did not go into detail.

What else does it matter? It is more realistic to expect Xue Pan to change his mind and study the scriptures than to expect Xue Pan to die for the country.

Jia Baoyu obviously wants to understand this, so he keeps saying the word of revenge to Chen Heng.

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After escaping from Jia Baoyu's tent, Chen Heng immediately summoned Lu Yingxiong to discuss countermeasures. The latter was somewhat indifferent to Xue Pan's death. The Xue family is not even a noble, but just an imperial merchant. It is also the honor of the Xue family to die for the country.

Chen Heng couldn't explain the strangeness of Xue Pan's death, so he had to tell him to be extra careful when traveling.

"Don't worry, Mr. Chen," Lu Yingxiong didn't waste any words, and answered confidently.

Seeing him like this, Chen Heng felt even more uneasy. The person who might lead the army is now the other party. Where can I find a good general who can fight to draw the wolf smoke?

Seeing that Chen Heng didn't say anything, Lu Yingxiong turned around and left in high spirits. He couldn't help but feel a little happy in his heart. If he really solved Shi Ding's predicament, would he be promoted to a higher level?

Thinking of Shi Ding's angry face, Lu Yingxiong suddenly got excited and hurriedly asked his men to leave the camp quickly.

After the other party led 3,000 soldiers and horses away first, Chen Heng hurriedly asked people to build fences and lock the camp gates.

Just waiting for Lu Yingxiong to come back and tell him some accurate and reliable news.

Who knew that Lord Lu left quickly and came back even faster. Before sunset, he had already run back with his men in a panic.

Seeing that they all had some minor injuries, Chen Heng hurriedly invited Lu Yingxiong to the tent to ask for details.

"Sir, you don't know!!" Lu Yingxiong, who was injured after falling off his horse, cried and complained, "These bandits are really fierce."

After telling his own experience, Chen Heng learned that Lu Yingxiong and others had just entered the forest and encountered a small group of bandits.

These people were a good place, and Lu Yingxiong sent them away easily. But as they went deeper, their movements soon attracted more enemies.

"Are you saying that there are several times more people fighting against you?" Chen Heng couldn't tell for a moment whether the other party was telling the truth or Lu Yingxiong was exaggerating to avoid the impact of defeat.

Seeing that Chen Heng looked a little unbelieving, Lu Yingxiong hurriedly explained: "It's true!!! If you don't believe it, I can call the soldiers directly for you to ask."

That's strange. Chen Heng saw that Lu Yingxiong's expression didn't seem to be fake, and frowned deeply. Why are there so many thieves? ?

Happy New Year's Eve, book friends! ! ! I've been so busy today, ahhhh.