Chapter 396 Quiet on the Lake

When Song Nan led a large army to Jining, she was already worried, because after passing Jining, she entered the cobweb-like lake and river terrain, which was exactly what Song Nan did not want to see. This terrain was conducive to the flow of thieves and soldiers, but the cavalry power of the imperial army was lost.

Especially after hearing that the north of Pei County, where Liu Liu's thieves are surrounded by soldiers, is a large lake and wetland composed of Nanyang, Zhaoyang, Dushan and Weishan, Song Nan's heart was half cold. The news of the army going south will not escape Liu Liu's thief soldiers who are attacking Feiyundu. In this case, Liu Liu will immediately find a way to deal with it if he is a little aware of it.

Song Nan made three estimates of the movement of the thief soldiers led by Liu Liu. There are many choices for Liu Liu. One is to lead the main force of the thief soldiers to the west and fight against the army led by Song Nan. The strength of the two sides is almost the same, and they may kill a bloody way to break through the west. However, Song Nan believes that Liu Liu will not do so, because although the strength is equal, However, the combat power is very different. If Liu Liu dares to face the enemy, he will have little chance of winning.

Another way is to seize the road to the east and attack the remnants of Shenwuwei and Yingzhouwei who retreated from Teng County after retreating from Gonzhou. The total number of these officers and soldiers is about six or seven thousand, and it is not a problem to defeat them. The only thing to worry about is that if these 6,000 or seven officers and soldiers lose the front line of Teng County, it will take three or five days, led by Song Nan More than 30,000 soldiers and horses can chase behind the buttocks of the thief, and then they will have to fight head-on.

The above two countermeasures are expected by Song Nan. Song Nan is hoping that Liu Liu will choose one, so that sooner or later she will force Liu Liu to fight head-on.

However, when he learned that the Weishan Lake area composed of the four southern lakes was in the north of Pei County, Song Nan shouted that he had failed and gave Liu Liu the third way to go, which was to retreat into the Weishan Lake to hide, which should be the safest way.

The four lakes of Weishan are connected, spanning nearly 200 miles from north to south, and nearly 50 miles wide from east to west. Not only is the water surface is vast, but also the surrounding wetland and grass and beaches are huge. Water, grass and reed rivers are intertwined, and there are several large lake islands. It is said that there are more than 30,000 soldiers and horses led by Liu Liu, which is 100,000 million soldiers. It is also difficult to find in the reeds of the water network lake within a hundred miles.

Song Nan remembers that during the Anti-Japanese War in later generations, this Weishan Lake area was a base for anti-Japanese, surrounded by hundreds of Japanese enemies, but in the middle of the lake, it was still the territory of railway guerrillas. The Japanese enemy soldiers were strong and had advanced firearms and ammunition, but they could not eliminate the railway guerrillas, which showed that.

If Liu chooses to retreat into the four lakes of Weishan, and slowly say that more than 40,000 soldiers and horses in Teng County are helpless, even if he mobilizes more than 100,000 Beijing battalions, he may not be able to besiege thousands of square miles of water and wetlands.

Song Nan deeply regretted her mistake and failed to judge the situation so early that she made such a big negligence. Now the only expectation is that Liu Liu will be confused and won't think of retreating to Weishan Lake to deal with himself.

In order to make up for the lost sheep, Song Nan immediately ordered Lu Wan to lead all 4,000 cavalry to rush north of Pei County, intending to block their way before the thief soldiers retreated to Weishan Lake. However, two days later, Lu Wan's cavalry felt a small town called Yangtun in the northwest of Pei County, and only saw the thieves retreating into the dense reeds of Zhaoyang Lake.

Lu Wan launched a pursuit, and 4,000 cavalry chased 2,000 thieves, but only killed hundreds of thieves, and the rest retreated into the endless reeds. As he got closer to Zhaoyang Lake, the ground became softer and softer, and the muddy water surged under the horse's hoofs and could not enter. Lu Wan also had to announce that he would stop pursuing and station his soldiers and horses in Yangtun Town. At the same time, he sent people to inform the subsequent army of this frustrating news.

After receiving the newspaper, Song Nan was in a bad mood. What were he afraid of? Liu Liu was indeed not a fuel-efficient lamp. In this way, hundreds of miles of lakes and reeds, where to find the shadow of thief soldiers.

It was useless. A few days later, the army arrived in Yangtun to set up a camp. After emergency consultation, Song Nan ordered the mobilization of the three guards of Xuzhou on the south bank of the Yellow River to cross Hebei to jointly encircle and suppress it. At the same time, he ordered 7,000 soldiers stationed in Teng County to quickly seize the north bank of Zhaoyang to prevent the thieves from returning to Gunzhou again. The area around the house.

At the same time, hundreds of soldiers and horses searched for the hidden traces of the thief soldiers along the lake, and confiscated all the fishing boats in dozens of small fishing villages on the south coast of Zhaoyang for military use, so as not giving the thief soldiers the opportunity to get boats and receiving gifts from the people.

The next morning, Song Nan led more than 100 riders and guards from Yangtun Town to check the lake to check the terrain. Standing on the low lake embankment, the reeds spread endlessly in front of him. Waterbirds soared in the air, black water surged on the ground, and the surface of the water in the distance was white. He could not see the other side of the lake. He was amazed in his heart. ; Standing in such a place, you can feel the helplessness in the hearts of the Japanese enemies in those years. There seems to be a familiar "the sun in the west is about to set, and the Weishan Lake is quiet, playing my beloved pipa and singing that touching song." The tune of

"Big Governor, although the thief soldiers are hidden, after all, there are more than 30,000 soldiers and horses, and it is impossible to be traceless. The hundreds of teams we sent will definitely find their traces. The governor does not have to worry about it." Lu Wan saw Song Nan's deep frown and comforted him in a low voice.

"Yes, my lord. More than 30,000 people got into the lake. It's not easy to eat, drink and consume. How long can they last? It always has to rise." Hou Dabiao also said.

Song Nan said: "The thief soldiers plundered all the way, and the grain and fodder must be enough. After the two state governments of Dongchang Prefecture and Gongzhou Prefecture were broken, all the official warehouses and military warehouses were swept away by them. I'm afraid that there would be millions of stones. With so much food, it would not be no problem for them to hide for a year or two."

The generals were speechless. Zhang Yong sighed and said, "How should the military newspaper of the imperial court be written?"

Song Nan turned around and said, "Mr. Zhang, the thief and soldiers have slip into the four lakes. This is my mistake. Mr. Zhang reported it according to the truth. Don't be embarrassed."

Zhang Yong thought for a moment and said, "Well, I believe that the governor will have a strategy to deal with it. My report said that we can drive the thief soldiers into the mountains and lakes to trap them. Although it is not small to eliminate them for a while, it is better than the thief soldiers who kill the people between the prefectures and counties and hurt people's livelihood."

Wan Zhi clapped his hands and said, "Good way, Mr. Zhang, just write like this, so as not to be caught by some dogs and say bad things behind our governor behind their backs."

Zhang Yong looked at Song Nan and waited for Song Nan to make a statement. Song Nan waved his hand and said, "Eunuch Zhang, I take it, but you don't have to do so. Since the emperor asked me to lead the army to suppress the thieves, he will give me the greatest trust. The governor is not afraid of villains, and the thief's escape into the lake area is indeed unexpected, but I don't have to cover it up. But you're right. I'm sure I'll have a solution. Although it's better to be bitten by a dog while closing the door and hitting the dog, it's better than not being able to catch up outside.

Zhang Yong smiled and said, "Okay, then our family will report it according to the truth. The governor is open and aboveboard and unwilling to do anything, but I have to make these words clear in the memorial."

Song Nan nodded and said, "That's your father-in-law."

In fact, the two were tacit. Song Nan also knew that Zhang Yong would not say anything that should not be said in the memorial, and she was just pretending to say some high-sounding words to the people around him. Song Nan didn't have to guess at all. Along the way, Zhang Yong, as a Chinese officer, was responsible for reported the situation of the army to the emperor. I'm afraid he didn't even say a bad word about himself, because Zhang Yong had completely turned to himself. Song Nan was very clear about Zhang Yong's mind. The purpose of following him was nothing more than to take charge of the inner court one day. There was a fire between himself and Liu Jin, and Zhang Yong pressed the treasure on himself.

A few days later, the officers and soldiers sent to search along the lake got the news that in a small fishing village in Chenjia Village 30 miles to the west, a fisherman found many people on the reed high ground by the lake while fishing. According to the fisherman, the number of people was really not small. They set up tents with reeds one by one, and there were many boats around them. Snoring.

There is no one in the other two small fishing villages five or six miles away from Chenjia Village, and more than a dozen people and more than a dozen small fishing boats in the village have disappeared. According to fishermen, it is impossible for the whole family to go fishing in the lake to fish or stay on the lake.

The officers and soldiers searching to the east of Weishan Lake also came to find traces of a large number of thieves scattered from Zhaoyang Lake to Weishan Lake. Several fishing villages by the lake were also harassed, and dozens of fishing boats were also robbed.

Based on the above news, it can be basically concluded that the thieves are scattered and hidden in the four lakes of the mountains. After all, a large number of thieves gathered together, and it is not easy to hide their tracks in terms of concealment or survivability; and the thieves also use the reeds several miles wide by the lake to transfer, and some even live. In the reeds.

Song Nan asked the local fishermen and learned that the reeds were not all water, and there were also many dry land inside. In the past, opening up lakes and digging canals would make the surrounding terrain higher. Some places were dry ground, but they could not be seen outside. There was also a lot of water on the Weishan Lake. He Their landing place is also in the open space among these reeds.

In view of the inability to surround the whole lake area, Song Nan is very worried that the thief soldiers will suddenly emerge from the shore of the lake to attack the surrounding states and counties. He can't let the thief soldiers have enough time to choose the direction of attack, so he must immediately know all the movements of the thief soldiers. Xuzhou guards will arrive in Yangtun Town with more than 300 ships. Before that, you have to find a place for the thief soldiers to settle down to facilitate the attack.

Song Nan made a difficult decision.