Chapter 8 Lost in the Inspection

Du Yu did not listen to Wang Chucun's dissuasion and insisted on sending troops to chase Huang Siye's men and horses. He was ambushed by Lu Jingren in the valley north of Pucheng. Seven thousand Tang soldiers suffered heavy casualties and most of them were killed and injured. Fortunately, Wang Chucun led 3,000 of the rear team to rescue in time, and Du Qian, who was on the line, took back the battle. After Wang Chucun broke up in person, Lu Jingren saw that the Tang army was neat and Wang Chucun was extremely brave, so he did not chase and kill him. He ordered the volunteers to quickly clean the battlefield, and then went south to chase Huang Siye's army.

After Wang Chucun led the defeated Tang army to retreat to Huazhou, Du Yu was too seriously injured to be a director and treated at home. A few days later, Du Yu suddenly felt chest tightness and dizzy. He knew that his fate was no longer there, so he urgently called Wang Chucun, Li Yu and other departments to come to his house to pay for the afterth.

Wang Chucun, with his son Wang Gao, hurried to Du Yu's house and saw that Du Yu was angry and pale on the sickbed. Li Wei and other generals had serious expressions and a heavy heart. Wang Chucun hurriedly took a step forward and came to Du Yu's side and said, "Lord Du, Chucun has arrived with his son Wang Gao."

Du Yu stared at Wang Chucun with turbid eyes and said with trouble, "Chucun, I didn't listen to your persuasion this time. I was single-ited to pursue and kill the thief and was injured in the middle. Now my condition has worsened and I know that my life is not in order. I am over 50 years old, and I don't regret to die. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to eliminate the yellow nest bandits. I have seen all the generals of Huazhou. Only you and Li Yu are the most capable, wise and brave, and can be entrusted with great things. You are born as a general, knowledgeable and good at people. After my death, you will take over the stall in the state, and Li Yu will be your deputy. I once worked as a governor in Dingzhou. The geographical location of that place is very important. You can refuse Huqi in the north, protect the Central Plains in the south, defend Xijing, and revive the foundation of the Tang Dynasty. Dingzhou is an important strategic fulcrum. I expect that the Huangchao thief will definitely win the Central Plains and attack Luoyang and Chang'an, so I have written a chapter and recommended you to the emperor to be the jiedushi of Yiwu and sit in Dingzhou; Li Yu will be the jiedushi of Yicheng and sit in Huazhou. You two must unite sincerely, eliminate the yellow-nest thieves as soon as possible, and protect the foundation of the Tang Dynasty!"

Wang Chucun and Li Yu said at the same time, "Please rest assured, Lord Du, we will unite sincerely, eliminate the yellow nest bandits as soon as possible, and protect my Tang Dynasty!"

Du Yu listened and nodded with satisfaction. He glanced at the generals in the room. When he saw Wang Gao, he waved his hand, and Wang Gao hurried over. Du Yu said to Wang Gao, "You are young and powerful, skilled in bows and horses, and strong in martial arts. You must kill thieves with your father and guard the Tang Dynasty!"

Although Wang Gao is only in his early twenties, he is tall and strong. He replied with tears in his eyes, "Lord Du, don't worry, I will definitely do what you say!" Lord Du taught me the axe method, and I will use my goldfinch axe to kill the bandits and make contributions to the Tang Dynasty!"

Du Yu nodded, struggled to hold his head high, looked at his family and subordinates in the room and said, "Guys, you have said what Du Yu should say, and you have heard it. Throughout his life, Du Yu was loyal to the king and loved the people, had no wealth, studied martial arts diligently, and had a strong temperament. After my death, I am not allowed to have a funeral, just prepare a thin coffin, and bury me in the western suburbs of Huazhou City. Facing Xijing, I will protect the Tang Dynasty underground! Kill the thief and protect the country!"

Speaking, Du Yu's body sank down, his head tilted, and his eyes closed.

Du Yu's wife and children rushed to the bed and cried. Wang Chucun, Li Yu and other generals tried their best to persuade each other. After a while, they stopped crying in the room. Du's wife's eyes were red, like pear blossoms in the rain. She was extremely desolate. She choked and said to Wang Chucun, "General Wang, you are the most reliable general of the master. You must avenge the master!"

Wang Chucun also cried at this time and said with tears, "Please rest assured, you must follow Lord Du's words!" At present, we will take good control of Lord Du's affairs, and then Li Yu and other generals will exercise our troops and horses. Once the imperial edict is issued, we will be ordered to go on an expedition and fight against the thieves to the end!"

Du's wife listened and nodded with satisfaction: "General Wang, General Li, generals, I believe you. I'm waiting for the day when you destroy the bandits!"

More than half a month after Du Yu's funeral, the imperial edict of the imperial court came down, and the king was transferred to Dingzhou to serve as the jiedushi of Yiwu. Li Yu replaced Du Yu to sit in Huazhou as the jiedushi of Yicheng. Wang Chucun and Li Yu said goodbye to each other, recruited soldiers and horses, trained soldiers, and prepared to "opamine the thief", so they didn't elaborate.

It is said that Huang Siye's army went all the way south and easily beat Yang Zhai. After a little rest, they went to Ye County. The generals of Ye County were Sun Ru, Ma Yin, Liu Jianfeng and Xu Dexun sent by Qin Zongquan. These four generals were able to fight and had strong martial arts skills and led 20,000 elite soldiers to garrison Ye County.

Huang Siye had a feeling of underestriguing the enemy because he had won several victories in a row. He ordered the army to set up dozens of large camps in the north of Ye County and allocated 10,000 horses to Wang Ying and Bi Shiduo to take Ye County within three days. The army would be stationed in place to prevent Qin Zongquan from sending troops to reinforce Ye County. After Wang Pan and Bi Shiduo got the order, they ordered 10,000 horses and began to attack Ye County. On the first day of the siege, the rebels used siege vehicles, stone throwers and other equipment to launch several charges to Ye County, all of which were repulsed by the Tang army. At dusk, Wang Yu saw heavy casualties and damaged 2,000 to 3,000 people, but Ye County was still motionless, and the Tang army was waiting in the city. Wang Yu had to order the withdrawal of troops back to the camp and prepare to fight again the next day.

When night fell, in the large camp of Wang Yu and Bi Shiduo, many volunteers were quite tired because they attacked Ye County for a day because of their continuous march. They leaned on the tent and fell asleep. Only a few volunteers were on duty sleepily. Sun Ru and Ma Yin took advantage of the night and led 5,000 Tang soldiers to quietly touch the battalion of Wang Yu and Bi Shiduo. When he left the camp two or three hundred steps, Sun Ru waved his hand and the Tang army's bow and crossbowman began to shoot. Most of the volunteers on duty were suddenly killed and injured, and one or two hundred people went to Huangquan Road for some unknown. Ma Yin waved the cold light knife and shouted, "Brothers, kill me!"

The Tang army killed the Rebel Battalion with lightning speed. The volunteers woke up from their sleep and suddenly responded to the battle. They could not resist the enemy and defeated the army. Sun Ru ordered Tang soldiers to set fire everywhere in the rebel camp. For a moment, the fire in the camp soared to the sky and thick smoke rolled. Wang Pan and Bi Shiduo were sleeping soundly. Suddenly, they heard the shouts outside the tent and the sound of the golden drums. Knowing that the Tang army came to rob the camp, they quickly put on their armor and got on their horses and commanded the volunteers to smoke to break through the siege. Wang Pan picked up the phoenix-headed axe, chopped left and right, and led the people and horses to rush north; Bi Shiduo waved a mace, opened a bloody road under the escort of his own soldiers, and ran straight to Huang Siye's camp.

Sun Ru and Ma Yin ordered Tang Bing to stop chasing, grab the loot, and then quickly retreat to the city.

Huang Siye and Lu Jingren heard the shouts of killing in the southern Rebel Battalion. It was expected that the Tang army would attack at night. Huang Siye ordered Lu Jingren to guard the camp. He ordered 10,000 horses to rush south and walked halfway and met the defeated people of Wang Yu and Bi Shiduo. Huang Siye took the retreating righteous soldiers back to his camp. When they arrived at the camp, the 10,000 horses brought by Wang Ying and Bi Shiduo had been more than half of the soldiers, leaving only two or three thousand people left. Huang Siye was very angry and scolded Wang Fei and Bi Shiduo. They didn't say a word and withdrew from the account.

The next day, Huang Siye ignored Lu Jingren's dissuasion and ordered 30,000 horses. The rest of the people were garrisoned by Lu Jingren, Wang Qi and Bi Shiduo and personally attacked Ye County. Sun Ru and other four generals commanded the Tang army to counterattack, killing countless corpses of the righteous army. On that day, the volunteers lost 6,000 to 7,000 soldiers and still could not beat Ye County.

That night, Huang Siye gathered generals to study countermeasures. Lu Jingren said, "In the two days of attacking Ye County, our army has lost 10,000 soldiers. According to the reconnaissance, the four Tang generals stationed in Ye County, Sun Ru, Ma Yin, Liu Jianfeng and Xu Dexun, are extremely brave and very good at using troops. The Tang army had 20,000 people from the beginning. Ye County is high and deep, which is conducive to defense, so they can't attack for a long time. If we continue to fight, I think it will be futile. As soon as the Tang army arrives in Luoyang, Caizhou and Xuzhou, our army will suffer more losses. There is not much food and fodder in the army. I think we should get up as soon as possible, enter the mountainous area, meet Meng Kai and Zhao Zhang, and take a rest. As soon as General Huang Chao's army arrived, we would cross the south of the Yangtze River together.

Huang Siye nodded helplessly: "Jing Ren said that I am responsible for causing such a large number of casualties for my brothers. Yesterday I complained about Wang Ying and Shi Duo, and today I apologize to them. I agree with Jingren's proposal that the third village will all go to the bald mountains early tomorrow morning. In order to prevent the Tang army from chasing and attacking, Jing Ren and Wang Yu worked hard and led 10,000 people to cover the retreat of the army to the south.

The generals listened and had no objection, and the matter was settled in this way.

Ma, the third village of the Rebel army, left the camp and went south. The Tang army visited Ma Fei and reported to the city. As soon as Sun Ru heard this, he wanted to send troops to pursue him. Ma Yin discouraged: "General Sun, Du Yu sent troops to chase and kill Huang Siye, a thief. As a result, he was ambushed and almost the whole army was destroyed. Fortunately, Wang Chucun tried his best to save him and was able to return to Huazhou. Shortly after returning to Huazhou, Du Yu died of his injuries. This time, the thief attacked Ye County and lost only a small number of people, and their elites were still there. In Huang Siye's army, there is a general named Lu Jingren, who is wise and brave above you and me. This is the person who ambushed Du Yu last time. I expect that Huang Siye will still send him to ambush us this time. If it's good, just accept it. We just need to guard Ye County. Don't be greedy and take advantage of it!"

Hearing this, Sun Ru walked back and forth a few steps, stopped and said, "General Ma said very well. This time, I won't send troops to chase and kill these thieves. Everyone, let's celebrate tonight and drink enough!"

Ma Yin, Liu Jianfeng, Xu Dexun and other Tang generals listened to Sun Ru's words and laughed wildly. Liu Jianfeng crossed his waist and said rudely, "Others are afraid of Huangchao thieves, but I, Liu Jianfeng, am not afraid!" If the thief dares to provoke us, he will kill them alone, hahaha!"

When Huang Siye's army bypassed Ye County and was about to approach the Lushan Mountain, Huang Siye suddenly saw a plut in the distance. Huang Siye was shocked and said to Wang Yu, "Is it that the Tang army is ambushed here? You lead a man to scout and report it to me quickly!"