Chapter 446 Dragon and Tiger
On August 10th, there was no fighting in Zhongren Pavilion.
It was close to sunset when the Taishan Army arrived at the Zhongrenting battlefield. They conservatively chose to camp, and the Han Army did not come out from their positions to launch an attack.
Thus, the day of August 10th ended amidst the tension, uneasiness, and excitement of the officials on both sides.
August 11th, Yinshi, Pingdan.
The Han army chose to cook and eat breakfast two hours earlier than usual. At this time, it was still dark, and a damp and cold wind was blowing.
Before the heavy rain, it was summer, and after the heavy rain, it was winter.
The huge temperature difference made officials at all levels very uneasy. They reported the situation to Lu Zhi, and then General Zhenbei agreed to distribute the reserved spirits.
Before the war, it was undoubtedly a crazy thing to let the soldiers drink, but perhaps for the officials of the Zhenbei Army, strong liquor may be what they need most, far more than empty words about loyalty to the Han Dynasty. it works.
Today the Han soldiers had a meal of mutton and braised millet rice. For most people, this meal might be their last meal.
While the baggage soldiers were still busy, two outlying sentry riders hurried to the central army with a stranger, asking to see Lu Zhi.
This strange official was a strict guard stationed at Changshan Pass. He came to see Lu Zhi now to ask about the location of his troops.
Previously, when Lu Zhi went south from Changshan Pass, he left three thousand troops behind, with his general Yan Jing as his general. Afterwards, Lu Zhi decided to fight decisively at Zhongrenting. In order to ensure sufficient troops, he asked Yan Jing to lead 3,000 troops south to Zhongrenting.
Before the battle on August 11, Yan Jingbu arrived.
Lu Zhi was overjoyed to learn that Yan Jing's troops had arrived in time, and then ordered his troops to station on the east side of the battlefield, under the control of Ma Teng's troops, so as to strengthen his left wing.
Yan Jing's troops received the order and quickly moved to the northeast of the battlefield, where they joined Ma Teng's troops.
It was also at this time that the soldiers of each battalion of the Han army, who had finished their meals one after another, began to take action.
Under the rumbling drums of the Chinese army, they carried their halberds and walked on the muddy ground, then drove to the designated position under the command of the officers at the head of each platoon.
But not all Han troops were so obedient. This battlefield is too big, and there are too many battalions participating in it, so quarrels and conflicts are inevitable.
When the officials of the Yueqi camp went to the forage yard on the back slope to beg for fodder, they had a quarrel with the warehouse officials there. The warehouse officials said that this batch of fodder was for the Youzhou Cavalry, and then they were beaten up by the knights of the Yueqi Battalion and robbed the batch of supplies.
Some troops were still sleeping when they heard the Chinese army's rally horn. It is said that one general is incompetent and the three armies are exhausted.
Li Min was drunk yesterday and still hasn't woken up, and none of the guards outside the tent dared to enter the tent to disturb him. They are all descendants of the Li family in Xiangping, and they can clearly describe the character of their head of family.
Have you seen the dozen hounds outside the tent? The most favorite crime method of my family leader is dog execution.
Therefore, even if these soldiers heard the Chinese army's gathering drum, they pretended not to hear it. They were far more afraid of the family leader than Lu Zhi's military law.
Someone has said that military discipline is the most important thing when fighting in a large corps. It seems that Lu Zhi's military law is not good either.
Li Min didn't wake up, and his subordinates were naturally snoring in the tent.
Taishi Ci was no exception. He was lying on the straw mat with his clothes open and snoring. It's not that he drank too much and didn't wake up, but yesterday the superiors asked them to be on guard in the trench to prevent the Taishan soldiers from attacking at night.
Taishi Ci and his seven brothers squatted in the trench all night. Apart from being bitten by mosquitoes, they squatted in loneliness.
So from the time they came back to now, Tai Shici and the others had actually not slept for two hours.
But Taishi Ci did not wake up. Lao Zheng, who slept with him, got up suddenly and heard the sound of the horn.
For a veteran like Lao Zheng, the sound of golden drums and horns is engraved in his dreams and has formed a conditioned reflex.
When he got up, he realized that what he had dreamed was not a dream. It was indeed a gathering of troops.
Lao Zheng hurriedly pushed Tai Shici to wake up and said in surprise:
"General Shi, the rallying call is blowing."
Although Tai Shici was powerful, he actually had very little battle experience. Compared with Lao Zheng, he was just a new recruit.
Hearing Lao Zheng calling the Chinese army to blow the trumpet, Taishi Ci didn't dare to sleep anymore. He quickly got up and listened carefully, but something was wrong.
He said to Lao Zheng:
"Isn't this from the head of our camp?"
But Lao Zheng still pulled Taishi Ci and ordered the two Hu Bin to wear armor for Taishi Ci. Lao Zheng knew very well that whether they could survive this battle all depended on their own generals.
When Taishi Ci put on his armor and led his men out of the tent, the Zhongren Pavilion outside was already abuzz, and only their camp was silent.
This left the two of them confused, so they could only wait for orders in the big tent.
However, because Li Min's department is on a back slope, it is not yet on the front line, so the delay is actually not that serious.
What really matters is the twenty battalions of Han troops on the front slope. They are frozen in formation in the cold wind in the early morning, and from time to time they take a sip of strong liquor from their water bags.
These people are either from the northwest or from Youji, and they are all people who can drink.
So this drink not only drove away the chill, but also made them more excited. They sat on the ground, leaning on each other as best they could to stay warm. There was only a sliver of light in the sky, and they whispered in the darkness.
Those who have families and those who have passed away are entrusted with the last words. Those who can write are also responsible for writing one or two parting words to the deceased. If the Han army wins the war, even if they die, these things will be sent back to their hometown and to their wives together with the rewards.
As for losing? Then what are you thinking about?
While the twenty battalion heads on the front slope were still slowly moving their troops, a group of vendors suddenly came from the back slope. They pushed carts filled with food and liquor and shuttled between the battalions and began to sell supplies. .
In fact, these people have a dual identity. They are not only the transport team of the Zhenbei Army, but also the business group accompanying the army organized by powerful people.
Before that, Lu Zhi felt the laziness and numbness of recruiting civilians, and handed over the supply and demand tasks of the Zhenbei Army to the powerful people in Zhongshan area.
Lu Zhi also drew on the dynasty's experience in conquering the Qiang. At that time, in order to stimulate the wealthy merchants in the Kanto region to actively contribute, the court gave these wealthy merchants the corresponding quota of salt and iron primers so that they could benefit.
This time Lu Zhi also used a similar method. He promised that the seizures in this battle could be purchased directly from the soldiers.
This is big business.
In every battle, officers and soldiers of the Zhenbei Army would capture something. But these seizures were diverse, including slaves, valuable furniture, and property deeds. These things are not convenient to take away, so the best way is to dispose of them at the time.
At this time, the officials of the Zhenbei Army can cash out with the business groups, and the business groups can also obtain these excess wealth at a low price.
The same is true for this decisive battle with the Taishan Army. Although everyone sees the huge risks involved, everyone also knows the huge wealth contained in it. If the main force of the Taishan Army is annihilated here, won't the central and southern Jizhou be left to their mercy? I can't even imagine how much wealth this would bring.
Therefore, in the end, the powerful people from Zhongshan Kingdom joined some powerful people from Youzhou to take over the heavy baggage work and provide supplies to the Zhenbei Army.
But the reason why a business group is a business group is to make money. The original things can be supported, but do we have to spend money to buy the extra ones?
Just like this strong bar, Lu Shuai reserves one water bag for each person. But for the men in Youzhou, what is this bag enough for?
So here comes the business opportunity.
At this time, the merchant groups drove their servants to sell strong liquor between the camps. Due to military discipline, the soldiers could not leave, but their eager eyes put considerable pressure on the officers.
They also know that if these requirements cannot be met, how can they ask the people below to work hard?
So even the stingy officers, under this pressure, crowded around these vendors and asked about the price of the drinks.
But no military officer did not gasp after hearing the price of drinks. But the situation is such that it really makes no sense not to buy it.
So these military officers could only sell some of the previous seizures to these business groups, and then gave each soldier another bag of strong liquor.
Le Shang was such a generous general. He bought all the drinks beside him and refilled the water bags of his officers.
The halberd men from Anping Camp gathered around happily, drinking heavily.
Only Xu Miao was swallowing in small mouths, with no intention of drinking it all in one breath.
The veteran soldier next to him asked him:
"Xiao Xu, why are you keeping this wine? Do you know what this wine is? It's called life-selling wine. That's why we drink like this when we are going to the battlefield. If you don't finish it now, I'm afraid it will be cheaper later. Someone else.”
What Lao Jun said is very straightforward, that is to say, even if you may not be able to keep this battle life, you still need to keep this little wine? Stupid or not?
But when Xu Miao heard this, he was not angry at all. Instead, he said to the old soldier very seriously:
"Don't worry, the arrow that killed me, Xu Miao, hasn't been made yet. I must be a general."
Lao Jun couldn't help laughing and said haha:
"Okay, okay, you will be the general. Then take care of the brothers."
But Xu Miao nodded very seriously and said:
"Yes, but only if you survive this battle."
This time, Lao Jun was so angry that his whole face turned red with anger. He stopped paying attention to this young man.
……
Li Min woke up and was furiously arranging the troops to start forming.
Just now, he was whipped ten times with a whip by Junziying, a soldier from the Chinese army who came over. After finishing the whipping, he left a sentence:
"The commander-in-chief has an order. If you continue to neglect our military orders, the whip will not come next time."
These ten whips woke Li Min up. He no longer dared to be angry and gave orders, so he lowered his head and admitted his mistake.
After that, Li Min hurriedly began to order the military drummers to play the drum horns, and arranged the troops to move out of the camp and form arrays.
Their camp was on the southern slope of the ridge, not far behind where Lu Zhi's Chinese army was. So at such a close distance, Lu Zhi would not be able to see Li Min's flaw unless he was blind.
But after all, Li Min was a veteran of the frontier army. Although he was cruel and rough, his ability as a general was not bad at all.
In a short time, thanks to the existence of Li's troops in the army, his troops quickly spread out into a vertical formation on the north side of the south slope, and the speed was breathtaking.
Medieval generals basically relied on three methods to dispatch and command their armies.
The first is the golden drum, the second is the outstanding messengers, and the third is the experienced and outstanding officer corps.
Especially the third one is particularly important. How come families like the Li family in Xiangping are often able to serve as generals from generation to generation? In addition to family experience and family education, the most important thing is that there is a group of experienced tribesmen in the clan as their officer corps.
It is precisely because of these departments that are decentralized to each camp to control the army that Li Min can control the army like an arm and a finger. Of course, there is another consequence, that is, after a long period of development, this army will easily become the general's private army.
This is also the reason why Li Min got into such a big trouble, and Lu Zhi only flogged him ten times instead of beheading him.
Li Min's actions here naturally fell into the eyes of Lu Zhi, who was watching the formation from behind. He nodded unconsciously and said to Chang Shi Zhong beside him:
"This Li Min is just a hyena. You have to use a big stick and a cage to drive him away. But once he is defeated, he is still a good dog."
Zhong Fu didn't accept this. He still felt that Lu Zhi was too rude. Then Li Min is a general in the army, how could he be so humiliated? Moreover, he now sees the conflict between the Northern Army and the Border Army.
After Wei Duan of the West was appointed as deputy commander, the frontier generals became a little dissatisfied. It was probably inappropriate to use cruel methods to tame the generals at this time.
So Zhongfu skipped this topic and said another thing:
"We have set out here, and the Taishan thieves on the opposite side should have set out. How about we go and take a look?"
Lu Zhi did not hesitate, got on his horse, and led the Junzi camp officials to the high slope of the ridge, looking at the Taishan bandits below.
Then Lu Zhi and other generals saw this scene that they will never forget.
I saw that under the hillside in the distance, people could no longer see clearly. But the endless black crowd stretched across the horizon.
As the sun in the east jumped out of the horizon, the warm morning sun shone on the hillside in front of the Zhongren Pavilion, and also on the Taishan soldiers in yellow clothes and armor.
Warm light shines on this yellow ocean. This warmth and passion are like a volcano waiting to erupt, containing infinite energy that can destroy everything in the world.
These armies kept waving their battle flags, confirming their positions with each other, and then arranged their formations in silence. Compared to the noisy Han army, the Taishan army on the opposite side seemed eerily quiet.
Lu Zhi and Zhong Fu glanced at each other, and both saw the fear in their eyes.
However, the two of them tacitly agreed not to mention this matter, but continued to observe the formation, looking for possible weaknesses in the Taishan Army.
Perhaps there was a tacit understanding, but from the huge military formation down the slope, more than a dozen riders suddenly ran out.
They stopped in front of the military formation, and the first person pointed his hand in the direction of Lu Zhi and the others.
At this moment, Lu Zhi was extremely sure that that person was the thief Zhang Chong.
Maybe it was an illusion. Many officials who survived the battle said that at this moment, they seemed to see a dragon rising from behind Zhang Chong, its head raised and chanting, and a tiger standing behind Lu Zhi rising from the slope, roaring.
A real fight between dragons and tigers.
The decisive battle finally came.
Some readers always feel that my writing is poor, and they feel miserable. Have any attentive readers noticed that this battle has a movie-like scene feel? Yes, this is what I want to show you. This scene card is the last one in this volume, so it needs to be written better. Stop talking about water. If you really wanted water, you wouldn't write it like this.
Finally, support Xiao Chen with a wave of monthly votes and get going. Let us witness the last battle in the North!
(End of chapter)