Xuanwu Town, Bianzhou, Chenliu Six Towns Coalition Army Camp.

In the Chinese army tent, the camp of Zhudao recruited the grass thief to supervise the army, Ximen Sigong, and said loudly: "The old man went out of Beijing this time, that is, on the order of the Son of Heaven, to conquer the grass thief rebels, so as to determine my Tang Central Plains. This battle is won and undefeated, all the monarchs must fulfill their duties and never slack off, otherwise the military law is ruthless, don't blame the old man for being spicy! ”

Everyone agreed in unison.

Yang Fugong also sat on one side and said loudly: "We are all ministers of the Tang Dynasty, eating the king's fortune, and being loyal to the king." We must not abandon loyalty and righteousness with our own selfish thoughts and the struggle of will, so that we can make the night smaller than the military and political hall? All the marshals are the dry cities of the country, the pillars of the court, the high power, and the hearts of the people. This way of the monarch and the minister, for the righteousness of the official, I want to know it in my chest, what should I do and say, what should I follow, and not let the envoy say more? ”

Li Zhuo, Li Chong, Du Xian, Cui Anqian, Du Xianquan, and Mu Renyi nodded in unison, and the six festival marshals present, except for Li Chong and Mu Renyi, whose reputation was slightly insufficient, the rest of the four were all holding the title of envoy, and even Du Xianquan was once the prime minister in the political hall. And the six of them are all from famous families, and if any one of them is pulled out, it is also a prestige party. Ximen Sigong and Yang Fugong also know the prestige of the six marshals of the Dao, but no matter how strong the marshals of the Tang Dynasty are, they are still two levels lower in front of the eunuchs who came out of the palace city of Chang'an.

"All the preparations for the march of grain and grass are all decided by Yang for the army. This time, the 100,000-strong army swept away the grass thieves, the soldiers and horses did not move, the grain and grass went first, and the life and death of the grain and straw were at stake, and there could be no mistakes. "Simon Sigong is nearly seventy years old, but he is still full of red face, although his head is full of silver threads, he does not show the slightest old color, and he is still in good spirits. He turned his head and asked Yang Fugong. "How is the grain and grass ready now?"

Although Yang Fugong has been fighting with Ximen Sigong in his early years. But the last two of them were used by Tian Lingzi. Let Tian Lingzi get the benefit of the fisherman. This time, the two were kicked out of the capital at the same time, and the alliance between the two went further. Both of them are looking forward to sweeping away the grass thieves as soon as possible and returning to Beijing with a great victory. Yang Fugong naturally didn't joke about his future, and said: "The weapons and armaments have been completed, and there is still a shortage of feather arrows, but Du Shuai and Mu Shuai have arrived with a batch of secondments." The donkeys, horses, and livestock transported by logistics are the most scarce, and it is not possible to recruit them for the time being, and 60,000 auxiliary troops have been negotiated to help. Grain and grass cannot be transported from Chang'an for the time being. Now I have asked for a holy decree to temporarily withhold a part of the grain in Bianzhou for military rations."

"The imperial court has already made a decision, the twelve towns are fighting for thieves, and the budget is set at 3 million stones of grain and grass, and 1.2 million yuan of money. These money and food budgets are for a year, but as a minister of the Son of Heaven, how can I let His Majesty worry day and night? Now Li Zhenguo only used the Zhenguo army to defeat Wang Xianzhi's 100,000 thieves, and the remaining Huangchao is not to worry, we should take advantage of the victory to attack and wipe out the grass thieves in one fell swoop. Although the grain and grass of the imperial court have not yet arrived. But the towns can pay in advance, just wait for the grass thieves to be cleared. Then it will be sent along with the reward. The towns of Dongdugi, Heyang, Zhaoyi, Yicheng, Xuanwu, and Zhongwu are on guard together, not only to ensure the smooth flow of Cao Yun, but also to strictly investigate the passing merchants, shock and subdue the wandering grass thieves, and determine the rear, and there must be no mistakes! If the military plane is delayed, it will be punished heavily from the general on duty to the guard guard! ”

Everyone was awe-inspiring, and no one could say a word about the battle against thieves that Simon Sigong was determined to win. Although it was Song Wei who recruited the grass thief, Song Wei was still far away in Zizhou, and Ximen Sigong issued an order, and there was nothing wrong with it.

"When the army goes out, you must prepare at least a month's worth of food. The October army, 90,000 foot soldiers and 10,000 cavalry troops, foot soldiers eat six buckets of rations in January, and war horses eat three stones of millet in a month, adding up to nearly 100,000 stones. At the very least, you must first prepare 100,000 people for a month's grain and 200,000 stones. When will these 200,000 stone grains be transported in place? ”

Yang Fugong is also pulling grain everywhere these days, and the soldiers and horses in various towns are begging for thieves, and all the grain and grass have to be borne by the imperial court. The standard set by the imperial court, considering that it was in the Central Plains, the roads were smooth and the water network was convenient, so the monthly food standard was set at 250,000 stones. Now Ximen Sigong has set 200,000 stone for the January grain and grass of the six towns, which is obviously on the high side. However, in a war, grain and grass are a major event, so it is natural to prefer to prepare more than to have no food in the middle of the war.

"A batch of grain from the southeast into Beijing has just been intercepted, about 50,000 stones. In addition, 50,000 stone grains were also transferred from Xuanwu and Dongdu towns. There is still a gap of 100,000 stone grains, and I have already borrowed grain from rich grain merchants such as Luoyang and Bianzhou. 200,000 stone of grain has been transported to the city of Bianzhou. ”

Ximen Sigong patted his thigh with satisfaction, swept his eyes over the generals and commanders under the seat, and said loudly: "The soldiers and horses have not moved, and the grain and grass go first." Now that the grain and grass are in place, the soldiers and horses are about to start moving. Li Dashuai of Songzhou has replied that he will send troops to Yanyun on May 20 to prepare to intercept the thief army. In this battle, our six towns are responsible for launching an attack and defeating the grass thieves. Li Zhenguo, the Tianping Army, and the Taining Army were responsible for intercepting and completely exterminating the thieves. ”

The decision to send troops was decided, and the grain and grass were mobilized, and the marshal of the six towns carefully discussed the offensive plan with Ximen Sigong and Yang Fugong. Due to the abundance of grain and grass and the large number of soldiers and horses, there was no need to worry much about the upper and lower levels. In particular, this battle was fought in Caozhou, which was a plain with a flat river, and there were no mountains. It is most suitable for the rear army to fight, especially the six towns and 10,000 cavalry. On that plain, the terrain was the most suitable for cavalry warfare.

After gathering 100,000 troops in Chenliu and stationing for several days, they began to move north into Bianzhou City, and after taking grain and grass baggage, the army marched eastward. The route taken is along the north bank of the White Gully.

Baigou, also known as the Nanji Water Ancient Road, connects the Bianqu Canal in Bianzhou in the west, passes through Bianzhou and Caozhou in the east, and then merges into Yunzhou Juyeze in the back. To the west of Junoze, it is called Baigou, and to the east of Junoze, it is called Jishui.

On May 20, the army of the six towns entered Caozhou, and the army approached the city of Huangchao's hometown, and the grass army in the city had already retreated in advance. After Ximen Sigong led the army to arrive, he directly ordered the execution of more than 1,000 old and weak people left in the city of Injustice, and ordered the ancestral grave of Huangchao to be dug up, and the bones were broken and ashes scattered.

Subsequently, the army pointed directly at Jiyin City, the city of Caozhou Prefecture.

Meng Kai, the chief general of the grass army in Jiyin City, led the army to meet the battle, and the 40,000 officers and 15,000 soldiers led by Meng Kai and Lin Yan fought fiercely. Although Meng Kai's soldiers were few, they had a city to rely on, and the two armies fought fiercely for a day and a night, with heavy casualties on each other. However, the next day, Yang Fugong led a large number of auxiliary troops to arrive, and in addition to grain and grass, there were also a large number of siege equipment and craftsmen.

Thinking that after three days of continuous confrontation, the officers and soldiers had already set up hundreds of catapults and transported a large number of crossbow machines. Under the blows of powerful catapults and crossbow machines, the grass army in the city suffered heavy casualties.

That night, Meng Kai and Lin Yan opened the four gates and led the army out of the city to break through to the east.

Subsequently, the officers and troops marched all the way, recovering the two cities of Chengshi and Leize along Baigou one after another, and the soldiers and horses chased straight to the edge of Juyeze. At this time, Huang Chao had also mobilized all kinds of soldiers and horses, converged with Meng Kai's defeated troops, and arrived at Juye Xiazhai.

Juye, in the territory of Yunzhou of the Tianping Army, is Juyeze in the north, and further north, it is Yuncheng and Juancheng, the city of Puzhou.

More than 300 miles from north to south, more than 100 miles from east to west, due to the bursting of the Yellow River in August last year, Liangshan on the north bank of Junoze became an island in the lake.

Huangchao camped against the water, leaned on Juyeze Xiazhai, more than 100,000 people and horses, and set up a company camp for 40 miles.

After the officers and soldiers of the Six Towns arrived, Ximen Sigong followed Cui Anqian's suggestion and stationed the army at the foot of the mountain in Juye, forming a formation behind the mountain. The whole Caozhou is a flat river, but only there is a group of low mountains that stretches for more than 20 miles in Juye. Now the officers and troops are facing the east, relying on the giant wild mountain as a formation, holding their positions and not advancing.

At first, neither Ximen Sigong nor Yang Fugong thought it was a good strategy. They meant to kill Wang Xianzhi Huangchao as quickly as possible, finish it early in the morning, and have a lot of dreams in the province, and they were escaped by grass thieves, or they were rushed over by Li Jing and others to share the credit.

However, Cui Anqian's strategy was agreed by Du Xianquan, Du Xian, Li Zhuo, and Li Chong, and among the six marshals, only Mu Renyu curry favor with Ximen Sigong and Yang Fugong did not agree with Cui Anqian's strategy. But the five section marshals in the six towns all held this opinion, and Ximen Sigong had to agree.

Cui Anqian's strategy is very simple and direct, Huang Chao gave up fighting a defensive battle in a fortified city like Juye City or Juancheng, but camped on his back to prepare for a field battle, which is a grass thief preparing to fight against the water. Regarding this situation, Cui An thought that as long as he calmed down and held it up, the momentum of the thief army would inevitably decline, and the longer it dragged on, the more unfavorable it would be for the grass thief.

The officers and soldiers can be delayed, because the officers and soldiers of the six towns have not been dispatched, and the grass thieves must be afraid. This forced them to take the initiative to attack, and for the officers and soldiers, this was the least fearful. If the thief army does not dare to attack and turns around and retreats, then when the enemy army retreats, pursue all the way and keep attacking, and soon the thief army can be easily and completely defeated.

Therefore, although this is a defense, it is an excellent move.

The soldiers and horses of both sides continued to gather, and the 40,000 officers and soldiers at the end of the battle and the 60,000 auxiliary soldiers all arrived at the foot of Juye Mountain. On the grass army's side, Huang Chao also called all the departments back, although Caozhou lost tens of thousands of people in the first battle, but these days it has been replenished, and now there are 50,000 soldiers, 100,000 auxiliary soldiers, and an army of 150,000 people gathered again.

250,000 people gathered in Juye, which was the largest battle since the grass army raised the army. For the official army, dispatching 100,000 troops at a time is also a big battle, and the scale even exceeds the Battle of Daibei and the Battle of Xichuan.

The scouts on both sides went out day and night, thinking of the temptation, but the two sides kept standing still, facing each other forty miles apart!

For ten days in a row, the two armies faced each other in a stalemate! (To be continued......)