Chapter 36 Great Counterattack

Cao Shixiong sent troops to attack Hongzhou, and he must first take Jianchang. The Rebel stone throwers and siege vehicles were continuously transported to Jianchang City. The stone throwers made the north wall rattle, and the rebels climbed along the ladder to the tower one after another. Liu Bingren, the general of the Tang army in Jianchang, commanded the Tang army to fight back desperately, and the battle was very fierce. Cao Shixiong organized the rebels to attack twice in a row, but they could not break through the wall.

Cao Shixiong was furious, took off his robe and said to Gai Hong, "You commanded the archers to shoot densely at the Tang army. I personally took a thousand death squad members to attack the city!" After saying that, Cao Shixiong wrapped a meteor hammer around his waist, held a ripe bronze stick, and shouted to climb the ladder to kill the tower with a thousand darede soldiers ready to go. Gai Hong had no time to stop him, and Cao Shixiong had left.

Gaihong ordered the crossbow hand to shoot intensively at the tower, and the arrows of the Rebel Fuyuan crossbow, Zhang crossbow and horned crossbow flew out, which made the Tang army's bow crossbow hand unable to raise its head for a moment. Cao Shixiong took the lead and shouted to rush to the tower. Liu Bingren quickly ordered Tang soldiers to smash the righteous army who attacked the city with stones. Cao Shixiong opened the stone with a familiar bronze stick with his left hand and waved a meteor hammer in his right hand. Liu Bingren's brain burst with a hammer. He fell down the wall and died in his life.

The Tang army lost its main general and suddenly became a mess. The rebels bravely went up and climbed to the tower in one fell swoop. Cao Shixiong's ripe bronze stick played loudly and swept a large area, which made the Tang army abandon their armor and fled in confusion. The Rebels finally conquered Jianchang City and pulled out the nail leading to Hongzhou.

After the peace of the people, Cao Shixiong took the generals of the three armies and gathered together. Cao Shixiong held Liu Bingren's head in both hands, knelt down on his knees, looked at the direction of Jiangzhou with tears in his eyes, and choked and said, "Brother Yanzhang, today Shixiong has revenged for you. Liu Bingren's head is in my hand. Thousands of knives can't vent my hatred! Brother Yanzhang, rest in peace!" After saying that, Cao Shixiong pulled out his knife and chopped Liu Bingren's head in half. The volunteers rushed up and cut Liu Bingren's head into mud in an instant.

The rebels captured Jianchang and killed Liu Bingren. After Hongzhou's observation made Gao Xiang report, he couldn't help but be shocked. He sat on the Nanmu chair and muttered to himself, "It's over, it's all over! Liu Bingren has been fighting for a long time and is not Cao Shixiong's opponent. What should we do if we don't know how to fight?" A staff member said, "Lord Gao, the thief is very powerful. For today's plan, we can only avoid its edge. I think so. In order to ensure the safety of adults, you should first take your soldiers out of Hongzhou, go to the mouth of the lake to avoid it, wait for the limelight, and then return to Hongzhou.

Gao Xiang nodded: "That's the only way. We are definitely not Cao Shixiong's opponents. You go and inform the generals that Hongzhou is critical. In order to preserve their strength, the main force immediately withdrew to Hukou, leaving only some old, weak and disabled soldiers to symbolically resist for a while. Otherwise, if you don't fight at all, the court can't pass. Remember, this retreat must be quick and move all the valuable things to the mouth of the lake. Anyone who plunders official wealth in the process of retreat will be executed on the spot!"

The staff agreed and urged Gao Xiang to do it.

The generals of Hongzhou received this order from Gao Xiang. Some were for and some were against. Because of the disagreement, they quarreled constantly during the retreat. In the whole city of Hongzhou, people shouted horses and became a mess. Some Tang soldiers took advantage of the fire to rob, rob official wealth, * good women, and then rushed into the mountains to steal.

The rebels have not arrived in Hongzhou, and the civil strife of the Tang army is already out of control. Gao Xiang took his family and, under the protection of his own soldiers, carried a large number of gold and silver treasures, got on a big boat and went straight to the mouth of the lake.

Cao Shixiong and Gai Hongbing came to Hongzhou, and the defenders of Hongzhou deterred the prestige of the righteous division, and hated Gao Xiang for escaping from the battle. Without resistance, they opened the gate and released the righteous army into the city. Cao Shixiong ordered the volunteers to go door to comfort the people, confiscate the grain of the rich and distribute it to the poor, which soon stabilized the hearts of the people. Many young people signed up to join the army, and the Rebels were stationed in Hongzhou, adding more than 10,000 recruits in a short time.

Zeng Yuanyu heard in Jiangling that Cao Shixiong went to Jianchang and Hongzhou, and Gao Xiang fled to Hukou, and he couldn't help but be furious. He immediately ordered that the Tang army quickly dispatched to kill Jiangzhou. Duan Yanmo and Zhu Jingmei led 30,000 troops from Ezhou to attack Jiangzhou. Li Fu and Liu Jurong led 30,000 troops from Xiangzhou to receive Duan Yanmo. Zeng Yuanyu led 50,000 Chinese troops, and Yang Fuguang set out by boat from Jiangling, went down the river to the east, and went straight to Jiangzhou.

Duan Yanmo drove his troops forward and encountered several rebels along the way, which were killed and dispersed by the Tang army. Duan Yanmo's soldiers rushed in, ordered local officials along the river to recruit ships and forced the boatman to sail across the Yangtze River. The captured boatman dared not say anything, so he had to drive large and small boats to serve the Tang army.

I saw the smoke and waves above the river, and I couldn't see the edge at a glance. A gust of river wind blew, and Duan Yanmo felt particularly cool and couldn't help but feel proud in the bow of the boat: "I think of Cao Mengde's southern expedition to Jingxiang, and he wrote poems across the river, leaving a famous article for thousands of years and achieving a good story. Today, I, Duan Yanmo, imitated Meng De's "Short Song" and also said a few words about it. Left and right, bring the wine! I want to drink and write poems!"

Hearing this, he quickly picked up the wine glass, poured the wine from the wine jar, and handed it to Duan Yanmo. Zhu Jingmei squeezed into Duan Yanmo's side and flattered, "General Duan, let's listen to your work of Dajiang. It will definitely be better than Cao Mengde and strengthen the military power of the Tang Dynasty!"

The soldiers suddenly rejoiced and urged Duan Yanmo to write poems quickly.

Duan Yanmo proudly brushed his short beard, looked at a round of red sun in the sky, shook his head and said, "Drink and play songs, fly across hundreds of people; suppress thieves and people, and run around the rivers and lakes. This scene is deeply engraved; the red sun is brilliant and shining. The world is vast, and the Tang Dynasty is benevous; he immediately made contributions and duties. Heavenly soldiers are powerful and unstoppable; flatten the four seas and turn to the Buddha with one heart!"

Duan Yanmo did have a little literary talent. He recited these poems in one breath. Everyone listened to it and praised them. Zhu Jingmei even praised it even more: "General Duan's poem is magnificent and has traveled through ancient and modern times. Since Yao Shun, such a masterpiece has rarely been seen. Praise one!"

Suddenly, there was a burst of ** on the north side of the Tang army fleet. More than a dozen small boats came to Duan Yanmo's big ship like arrows. The Tang soldiers in the small boat shouted repeatedly, "General Duan, it's not a big deal! The thief navy attacked our ships, and hundreds of soldiers have fallen into the water!"

Duan Yanmo was shocked when he heard the news. He knew that he must not panic when fighting on the river. Once the army fluctuates, he will be defeated and it is impossible to win. Duan Yanmo hurriedly issued a military order: "Notify all ministries as soon as possible. Be sure to calm down, don't be afraid of the attack of a small fleet of thieves, maintain the formation and resolutely fight back!" If there is a person who is afraid of the enemy and retreats, there will be no mercy!"

At this time, countless Rebel ships sailed out of the reeds on the north side of the Yangtze River and launched a fierce attack on the ships on the north side of the Tang army under the command of Ye Xiang. Ye Xiang held a steel fork and led 12,000 well-versed volunteers to quickly approach the Tang army ship. He saw a fight and Tang soldiers fell into the water one after another.

Many volunteers jumped into the water, held iron chis and hammers, and knocked under the Tang army's ship, frighting Tang soldiers and Tang generals into a mess. Many boatmen saw that Tang soldiers were panicked and took advantage of the chaos to dive to the other side. Many ships of the Tang army slid around in the heart of the river.

Duan Yanmo couldn't stop drinking and had to lead his own soldiers to rush out. At this time, I only heard the sound of drums on the south bank. Many big ships of the Rebel ships cut the waves and killed the Tang army ships. In the middle of a big ship, Duan, the general of the Rebel navy, was naked and armed with a steel knife. When he approached the Tang army's ships, he commanded the volunteers to jump on and cut randomly.

The bottom of the Tang army's ship leaked and bumped on the river. Many Tang soldiers came from the north and did not understand the water. They were still unstable on the ship, let alone killed them with knives and guns. Tang Bing fell into the water like dumplings and disappeared after fluttering for a while. The rest had to kneel down and beg the righteous soldiers to spare their lives.

When Duan Yanmo saw that the three armies were in chaos and the shape of the ship was scattered, he knew that if he held on, the whole army would be destroyed. He hurriedly ordered him to rush north. Finally, he rushed open a waterway, fled to the north shore, and ran 30 or 40 miles before stopping to stationing, count the people and horses, losing more than half of them, leaving only six or seven thousand people left. Duan Yanmo couldn't help but lament: "These elites I have accumulated for many years are empty today! God, why are you so unfair to Duan!"

Zhu Jingmei also cried and bowed her head at this time. Before the expedition, he boasted to Yang Fuguang about Haikou, saying that after entering Jiangzhou, he presented Jiangzhou's specialty silver fish and asked a special chef to process it for Yang Fuguang to taste it first. Now the silverfish has not been seen, but has become a drowned chicken and made a big joke.

Li Fu and Liu Jurong's progress was also not smooth. When the Tang army marched to the area of Yingcheng, they were suddenly attacked by Sun Mei's headquarters in the fourth village of the Rebel Army and suffered heavy losses. Yue Lingfei was the first and shouted with a gun: "Yue Lingfei is here. Who dares to come to fight!"

Li Fu was shocked to hear that it was Yue Lingfei leading troops to intercept him. His voice also changed. He trembled and said to Liu Jurong, "I heard that the thief Kou Yue Lingfei has the courage of thousands of people. You and I are definitely not enemies. Let's avoid it!"

Liu Jurong replied, "At this point, if the three armies withdraw, the whole army will inevitably collapse. It's better to move forward desperately. There is still a way to survive." After saying that, Liu Jurong suddenly pulled the snowflake horse, waved Qifeng Chaoyang knife, and took Yue Lingfei directly. Yue Lingfei urged the green horse, opened the iron point steel gun, and killed Liu Jurong. The second general shook his spirit and fought in the 40s and 50s. Liu Jurong's knife skills were scattered and did not increase his strength. He pulled his horse to look at this array and left.

Sun Mei pointed to the whip, and the Rebels were killed by the Tang army. They measured Li Fu's 30,000 Tang troops and traveled a long journey. They were not the opponents of the Hundred Battles of the Fourth Village of the Rebels. They were killed three times and stopped for two stops. Liu Jurong and Li Fu commanded the Tang army to sacrifice their lives to kill, opening a bloody road and heading for Ezhou. After entering Ezhou, he closed the city gate and never dared to fight again.

Just when Duan Yanmo and Li Fu were defeated, Zeng Yuanyu and Yang Fuguang led 50,000 Tang troops from Jiangling and took hundreds of large and small warships. Back to the east of the river, they saw the boats connected, banners hunting and hunting, and coming to Jiangzhou. Before the army arrived in Ezhou, Li Fu had sent a courier to take the express ship to send the urgent documents to Zeng Yuanyu's case.

Zeng Yuanyu sat in the cabin and looked at the emergency document. Only then did he know that he had lost two times in a row. He was so angry that he tore the emergency document to pieces. Anger filled his chest and shook the house: "Duan Yanmo, Li Fu, incompetent people, are all big strawbags! Their defeat on land disrupted our army's combat deployment, and a good pot of soup was all fucking spoiled! I will hold them accountable for their failure!"

"Investigate responsibility? Hey hey, if you want to pursue responsibility, I think we should start with you first. Yang Fuguang, like a ghost, suddenly got into the cabin and appeared in front of Zeng Yuanyu. As soon as Zeng Yuanyu saw Yang Fuguang, he suddenly vented his anger and had no way. Yang Fuguang is a close relative of Tian Lingzi and an eunuch in charge of the army, and he can't be offended. Yang Fuguang said helplessly, "Yang Jianjun, now the two people on land have been defeated. If we make a breakthrough on this road and attack Jiangzhou, Cao Shixiong is likely to attack the rear supply line of our army while defending Jiangzhou. Once our army's supply line is controlled by the bandits, we will be all done!"

Yang Fuguang puffed up his fish eyes and said sharply, "General Zeng, it's reasonable for you to think about it. Now our army is alone on the river, and it is completely possible to encounter an end like Duan Yanmo. Once Jiangling, Xiangzhou and other important towns fall into the hands of thieves, you and I will all be buried on this river. Soldiers can't march and fight when they are hungry. I think it's better to withdraw from Jiangling as soon as possible, so as not to have many dreams at night. Scums out the thieves, be careful that you are also killed!"

At this moment, a personal soldier hurried into the cabin and reported to Zeng Yuanyu: "General Zeng, the big thing is not good. Tan Bing and Jiang Fei, the defenders of Yuezhou, sent messengers to meet, saying that Yuezhou encountered a fierce attack by the thief Wang Chongyin and Xu Tangju, and they were in danger!"

Zeng Yuanyu was shocked and muttered to himself, "Cao Shixiong, you are so awesome that you dare to attack Yuezhou, the important town behind our army." After saying that, Zeng Yuanyu felt sore that he fell into the cabin, heard the roaring river wind outside, and closed his eyes in pain.