Chapter Thirty Six: Running Hundred Miles at Night

Like a dazed young man, in broad daylight, Zhao Yu severely punished the Fengyang commander Huang Degong. Let him be the commander-in-chief, let him be a high-ranking official, but so what?

It seems that such oil-skinned soldiers are of no benefit to the country. When the prince comes to clean up the country and turn things around, people like this will definitely be purged.

Zhao Yushi didn't take it seriously.

Even if there was a trace of resentment in Huang Degong's eyes, Zhao Yu ignored it. If you are wise, you may still have some good days to live. If you don't know the signs, it's your destiny. Just turn your palm and beat him to death, which will save the prince a lot of effort in the future.

As for the following bullying, treachery and the like, Zhao Yu didn't even care. Not giving him face, or even slapping him in the face, is a matter of course in Zhao Yu's opinion. Huang Degong's reputation lies not in the fact that he has a higher official rank than Zhao Yu, but in whether Zhao Yu thinks highly of him. Even the big bosses in the cabinet department were looked down upon by Zhao Yu and also showed no face to them.

It is a time of earth-shaking, everything is broken, the old is overthrown, and the new is ushered in. What is treason? This is treason!

To put it bluntly, even if Zhao Yu doesn't like the prince or the emperor, he will still lose face.

It's not that he doesn't know how to play tricks, but he hates it from the bottom of his heart and feels it's unnecessary. He now has 50,000 troops under his command, and they are busy suppressing bandits. How can he think about going around with an oil-skinned soldier like Huang Degong?

As soon as Huang Degong came, he was arrogant. In Zhao Yu's view, he didn't know what to say at all. If you, Huang Degong, want to show off your power, you have to show off your ability to convince Zhao Yu. What's the point of killing a good person and taking credit for it? Even though the thieves were nearby and did not dare to move, it was too ridiculous to use this as an excuse because of the heavy responsibility of guarding the imperial mausoleum.

The thieves once dug up the imperial tomb, but now they are still gathering under their noses, and they are not going to exterminate them. What the hell are they doing?

Official title?

It seems like a passing cloud!

After all, Huang Degong was also called Huang Chuang'er, saying that he was brave in battles and so on. But when Zhao Yu threw him to the ground, he was so frightened that he trembled. Although he was brave, it was probably because he had never encountered such a vicious person as Zhao Yu.

Zhao Yu ignored him and turned a blind eye. It was as if he had beaten him to the ground before, just like patting the dust off his body, it didn't matter.

Zhao Yu looked at the sky and said to his left and right, "Are all the armies ready?"

Yang He was beside him. There was a commotion before, and Yang He also rushed over, just in time to see Zhao Yu take care of Huang Degong. He hesitated to speak, feeling that this was not good. When he was about to speak, Zhao Yu spoke first.

Hearing this, his expression changed: "Everything is ready."

He also glanced at Huang Degong, who was lying softly on the side.

Zhao Yu nodded: "That's good. We'll set off as soon as the weather gets dark."

"yes."

Zhao Yu turned around and returned to the tent.

The look of humiliation in Huang Degong's eyes almost turned into reality, filled with hatred and resentment. It was not until Zhao Yu entered the tent that he could no longer be seen. He slowly got up, his face was blue and black, his head was lowered, and he did not dare to see anyone, so he ran out staggeringly.

Yang He watched Huang Degong leave and said to his left and right: "Ask a team to stay awake all night and monitor the Fengyang General Army Headquarters. If there is any abnormality, report it immediately."

"yes."

Yang He sighed slightly in his heart, then opened the tent door and walked in.

"General."

Yang He bowed slightly and said seriously: "General, you are too strong today."

Zhao Yu raised his head, motioned Yang He to sit down, and said with a smile: "With such an oil-skinned soldier, why is there any need to be conciliatory? I'm about to start a war here, and I don't have time to nag him."

Yang He said: "Having said that, Huang Degong is the commander-in-chief of a town after all, and he has many troops in his hands. I know that he is not in the general's eyes, but even if I look down on him, at this time, I can't offend him." Offend him. Such people are not capable of doing big things, but they still have the ability to do bad things."

Zhao Yu laughed: "I know what you mean. But I just don't want to deal with such a scum. If he dares to do bad things, I will kill him."

Yang He smiled bitterly.

He could only say: "My subordinates have ordered Ye Bu to monitor Fengyang."

Zhao Yu smiled and said, "It's better that you think carefully."

Then he said: "It will get dark soon, in an hour at most. If you want to fight at night with the army, you can go and rest first to recuperate your energy."

Yang He thanked him and retreated.

An hour later, the sky turned completely dark. Under the leadership of the generals, the armies of each department quietly left the camp. Under the guidance of their guides, they followed their assigned marching routes and headed straight for Huoqiu.

After a while, the huge military camp became empty. Except for a few fires, there was no one there.

Zhao Yu led 10,000 troops and horses in the center and rushed straight to Shouzhou. The army extinguished their torches, their horses' hooves were wrapped in sackcloth, and they tried their best to be silent.

There are no torches for this night's march, so the 50,000 troops under Zhao Yu's command have probably gotten used to it. Came all the way from Liaodong, and spent most of the march at night.

But after all, they are not really elite soldiers, and the possibility of falling behind cannot be eliminated.

Zhao Yu had already given instructions on this point. Those who fell behind would be punished with ten lashes. The second one ordered him to still run to the direction of Shouzhou and join the army.

Along the road, Zhao Yu and Yang He rode their horses ahead. The guide is beside you.

This guide is not just a common person. But Zhao Gongming had already prepared a suitable figure in Fengyang's trading firm. He knows the topography of Fengyang Mansion and a lot of information very well.

"Shouzhou City fell into the hands of the Gezuo bandits last year. Because Shouzhou is too close to Fengyang, there are frequent conflicts with the government and the army. Therefore, Shouzhou was guarded by the five Gezuo battalions in turns."

So the guide said.

Zhao Yu nodded slightly and said with a smile: "The bandits are bandits because they have the mentality of gangsters after all. It is said that they are united together because the imperial court puts too much pressure on them. In essence, they still have their own ideas** *The reason for guarding is nothing more than to preserve our strength."

Yang He agreed: "What the general said makes sense. Shouzhou is right in front of Fengyang and is closest to Fengyang's general army. If the imperial court orders an attack on Shouzhou and the thieves are naughty, who will be willing to confront the official army head-on? Taking turns to guard is just a flow of troops. A compromise between thieves.”

Zhao Yu asked the guide: "Which battalion of bandits in Shouzhou are there now?"

"Lao Huihui is on guard with his horse." The guide said seriously: "Lao Huihui is the leader of the five bandits in Ge Zuo. He is the most powerful. He has three thousand Lao battalions under his command. They are all cavalry with one man and two horses. They are extremely fierce. Huang Degong's troops also fought with We have fought each other many times, but we didn’t get any advantage.”

"Old camp?" Zhao Yu said, "Is he the old thief among the bandits?"

The guide nodded: "Exactly. The bandits kidnapped the victims, and every time they attacked the city, they took the victims as the vanguard and took their lives to fill them. Those who were lucky enough to survive, had seen blood, killed people, and aroused their animal nature, would be charged. The old camp is for the elite.”

"But the vast majority of them are still old bandits. Those who go to attack cities with sticks and hoes can survive in the first battle, but not in the second. Such people are in the minority."

After hearing this, Zhao Yu felt deeply convinced.

He couldn't help but sneered: "We call them rogue thieves, but we don't insult these thieves. In addition to deserters, most of their leaders are long-standing bandits. They kill people like crazy and treat the people as nothing. Apart from destroying, they can't do anything at all. "

Then he said to Yang He beside him: "Old camps like this must be wiped out completely. No one can be left. Otherwise, if one is left, it will be a disaster."

Before Yang He could speak, the guide said: "General, you need to be more cautious."

Zhao Yu was startled, looked at each other and laughed together with Yang He.

This guide may not have heard of Zhao Yu's reputation, but hearing it with his ears is not as convincing as seeing it with his eyes. I'm afraid it's just like Huang Degong, just a rumor.

But how could he know that Zhao Yu was killing Tatar knights and chopping melons and vegetables. Just a stray bandit is the old camp, so what does it mean?

Not much explanation.

The entire journey was silent.

Huaiyuan is only a hundred miles away from Shouzhou. Traveling hundreds of miles at night is no longer difficult for the soldiers under Zhao Yu. Coming from Liaodong, which night did you not march hundreds of miles?

Seeing Shouzhou in sight, the sky is bright.

Zhao Yu waved his troops to stop.

"Go down with the order, repair for a while, let the soldiers have enough food and drink, and wait for my order."

"yes."

So the army took advantage of the cover of a forest and the pre-dawn night to repair themselves.

The so-called military speed is not only in the process of marching and attacking. Regardless of whether you eat or drink, you should also pay attention to speed. Divine speed is not something you can just talk about. It is this kind of habit that can create your divine speed in wartime.

For a moment, for the soldiers under Zhao Yu, after eating, drinking, and defecating, they could still squint and rest for a while.

Soon, the sky came up and became bright.

Zhao Yu's military order came down.

There were 10,000 troops, and Zhao Yu led 1,100 men. One hundred of them were the elite cavalry of Zhao Yu's personal soldiers led by Commander Zhang. The other nine thousand people were divided into three groups, each under the direct command of three generals, with Yang He in the middle for coordination.

There are only two city gates in Shouzhou, one in the east and one in the west.

Zhao Yu's tactics were very direct. He first sent two troops with three thousand troops each, one detoured to the west gate to block the way out, and the other set up an ambush at the east gate.

The remaining three thousand will be taken care of by the center. Wherever there is a problem, these three thousand troops will go.

As for Zhao Yu, he led 1,100 elite troops, broke through the city gate, and entered the city.

The geographical location of Shouzhou City is actually easy to defend but difficult to attack. Outside the east of the city, there is a swamp. It would be very difficult for a large army to attack. Outside the west of the city, there are mountains and forests. Once the bandits escape from the west of the city and enter the mountains and forests, it will be difficult to pursue them.

Therefore, the two armies blocking the gate set up an ambush outside the quagmire at the east gate. When Zhao Yu entered the city, if any bandits escaped from the east gate, they would attack them with bows, arrows and firearms from a distance. On the contrary, the disadvantages of the Dongmen Quagmire have become favorable conditions.

For the west gate, block the door directly to prevent the thieves from escaping into the forest.

When everything is in order, the sky is about to rise.

However, it was late autumn and early winter, so there was frost and thick fog, but it was also a good thing.

Around the time of Mao Shi, all the armies reported back and were all in place.

Zhao Yu picked up the iron awl from the carriage and climbed onto the horse. Behind him, a hundred elite cavalry and a thousand elite soldiers were fully prepared.

Zhao Yu put on his helmet, looked back and shouted: "Remember my general's instructions: the road to the east of the city is narrow and the swamp is dangerous, making it easy to defend and difficult to attack. Follow me with fine cavalry, and wait for me with infantry to break through the city gate. The bandits will be in chaos." When the time comes, we’ll kill you later!”

"Here!"

"Okay." Zhao Yu nodded and raised the iron awl: "Follow me and kill!"