Chapter 23 Far and Near

Yang Fuguang appointed Cao Quanyu as the vanguard, Duan Yanmo as the deputy general, and Zhu Jingmei as the supervisor, leading 30,000 troops to reinforce Runzhou. Cao Quanyu led his troops away from Ezhou, took hundreds of large and small warships, and went down the east of the river and went straight to Runzhou.

Qiu Tao and Qiu Hong, the leaders of the Second Village Water Army of the Rebel Army, learned from the volunteers inspecting Jiangzhou that Cao Quanyu led a large number of Tang troops to reinforce Runzhou. They were shocked and quickly sent messengers to report the enemy situation to Huang Chao and Cao Shixiong.

Huang Chao was stationed in Hongzhou at this time, recruiting troops and preparing military supplies. After being reported, Sun Mei, Chai Cun, Shang Rang, Cao Min and other major generals were urgently summoned to discuss countermeasures. Chai Cun said, "According to Ma Feibao, Cao Shixiong is currently preparing to attack Runzhou. I think Cao Quanyu went east this time to reinforce the enemy of Runzhou. I suggest that Qiu Tao and Qiu Hong continue to attack Cao Quanyu's fleet and slow down its propulsion speed.

Huang Chao listened and slowly said, "In the battle of Xuanzhou, the brothers were killed, and more than 20,000 brothers in the fifth village were stained with blood on the battlefield, which was heartbreaking! According to the established strategy, the main offensive direction of the Rebel Army is Jiangnan and Xidao, establishing our strong regime in this area. Therefore, we must tell Shixiong that he should attract as many main forces as possible to facilitate our army to carry out large-scale operations in the south of the Yangtze River.

Shang Rang said, "Brother Huang, in order to make Qiu's brothers and sisters boldly attack Cao Quanxuan's troops, I suggest that Mrs. Cao Min's second villager Ma go north to Jiangzhou and go east to Pengze and Qiupu to attack Runzhou."

Huang Chao thought for a moment and nodded: "Shang let his brother's suggestion be very good, so let Cao Min lead the second villager to Jiangzhou north and attack Runzhou to the east."

Cao Min said loudly, "I will try my best to intercept Cao Quanhai's troops, go east to Pengze and Qiupu, and attack the city."

Chai Cun smiled and said, "Sun Ziyun's husband's terrain is also the help of soldiers. It is expected that the enemy will win, and the way is far and near. It means that the terrain is a supplementary condition for soldiers. It is the responsibility of the general to correctly identify the enemy, formulate a winning plan, study the danger of the terrain, and calculate the distance of the road. You must be cautious when fighting on the river. I believe that the second village horse will successfully complete the difficult task of stopping Cao Quanyu's department.

Huang Chao stood up, punched the chairman's table, and said decisively, "Then make such a decision, and inform Shi Xiong to attack Runzhou according to the scheduled plan!"

Cao Shixiong got Huang Chao's handwritten letter from the messenger. After reading it, he closed the letter paper and told Gai Hong about it. Gai Hong said, "Supervise all departments to make preparations for the siege, inform Ye Xiang and Duan Meng, lead the fifth village water army to attack the Runzhou water army, and be sure to destroy the Runzhou water army before the enemy reinforcements arrive in Runzhou! The plan of the first and second echelon to attack the city remains unchanged. You and I will lead the main force to prepare for the attack of Ye Xiang and Duan Meng and cut off the contact between the Runzhou water army and the city.

Cao Shixiong's eyes were angry and said to a personal soldier, "Take a few brothers and quickly inform Ye Xiang and Duan Meng that they are scheduled to attack the water village garrisoned by the Runzhou water army in the middle of the night today! I want a fire to burn the water village in Runzhou! I led a large army to respond in the south.

After receiving Cao Shixiong's order to attack the Tangrunzhou navy, Ye Xiang and Duan Meng began urgent consultations. Ye Xiang said, "This time, Caozhai asked us to burn the Runzhou navy. The purpose is to cut off the waterway connection between the Runzhou Tang army and the Jiangbei Tang army. Therefore, the elimination of the warships and camps of the Runzhou navy is the first important thing, and the second thing is to weaken its combat strength."

At this time, the city of Runzhou was also in a mess. When many Tang soldiers heard the sound of killing in the north of the Yangtze River, they climbed up to inspect the fire in the northwest Guazhou and talked about it. An Renyi learned that the Guazhou water village had been attacked and was restless, and quickly attracted Zhou Bao and Xue Lang to ask questions. After a while, Zhou Bao and Xue Lang came to the government office. After sitting down, An Renyi said, "Just now, the messenger of Guazhou Water Village came to report that the thief water army attacked Guazhou Water Village. The offensive was very fierce. Zhuang Guo and Murong Po asked us to send troops to reinforce."

Xue Lang shook his head helplessly: "It's late. It's over. It's all over. I've just climbed the tower to see it. The fire of the water village in Guazhou is soaring to the sky. Cao Shixiong's sneak attack must have been successful. I estimate that the two generals Zhuang Guo and Murongpo are more or less auspicious. If we send troops to reinforce now, it can only be futile. Cao Shixiong must have set up an ambush waiting for us halfway, and our army will definitely be made dumplings.

An Renyi was so anxious that he said anxiously, "General Xue, according to what you said, can't you save him?"

Xue Lang was about to answer when he saw several defeated soldiers who fled from Guazhou Water Village to Runzhou. Seeing An Renyi, he knelt on the ground and cried, "General An, Guazhou Water Village has been burned by the thief bandits. The two generals Zhuang Guo and Murongpo have been killed in action, and the elite of the Runzhou water army has been fully reimbursed!"

"Ah?!" After hearing this, An Renyi was stunned, fell to the ground and communicated with tears.