Chapter 11: Thousand Miles of Raid (1)

Five thousand soldiers and horses were not too much, nor too little. Zuo Liangyu led a large army to fight for the first time, and it was a battle of thousands of miles. In the past, he had Man Gui and Zu Dashou, so he could obey military orders and charge into battle. Now it is not possible. He is the commander of the first army and has to make his own decisions on everything. Thinking of this, he was both excited and nervous.

Before every famous general becomes a famous general, he needs an opportunity, an opportunity that can make him a famous general. Now this opportunity is in front of Zuo Liangyu, it depends on whether he has the ability to seize this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

When hiking during the day and walking at night, the most important thing is to have a guide who is familiar with the road. Xiong Tingbi had already thought about this. This guide was originally a businessman who was traveling and doing the shameful business, such as smuggling salt, etc., as long as he could make money, he had done it. This time he was in the hands of Lu Xiangsheng, and he had this opportunity to atone for his sins, so he became the guide of Zuo Liangyu's five thousand army.

Five days after Zuo Liangyu set out, Xiong Tingbi led his army south and led a 45,000 army south. The difference between Zuo Liangyu was that his army route was that he went south through Xi'an Prefecture, Lantian, Shangzhou, Danfeng, Shangnan. He passed by Bashui Fort, entered Henan, then passed by Zhengzhou, Fancheng Pass, detoured by Xiangyang, eastward into Suizhou, then headed south through Anlu, Yingcheng, and arrived at his destination Hanyang.

Zuo Liangyu first went south, passed Xi'an, passed west by Baoji, went south by Hanzhong Prefecture, and then went east, entered Huguang from Baitu Pass. After entering Huguang, he avoided Xiangyang, walked south to Yicheng, and rushed straight to Yidu. Xiong Tingbi was in the bright and Zuo Liangyu was in the dark. The two lines took Huguang, and the strategic goals of the two people were different. Zuo Liangyu was a strange soldier, while Xiong Tingbi's 45,000 troops were the right ones. The effect of the surprise soldiers was to disrupt the enemy's formation, and they still needed to confront each other head-on.

Wei Zhongxian has always focused on the Yangtze River defense area on the east side of the Yangtze River, because the 50,000 troops entrenched on the other side, and the defense of the central and western regions was relatively neglected. Although he had added troops to Jiujiang and Wuchang and other important military cities, he had never paid much attention to it because the strength of the other side was weak, and Wei Zhongxian had limited financial resources. He also had to take care of his personal enjoyment and the corruption of the government, which restricted him from pulling out a powerful army. Therefore, Zhu Yinglong saw that the Yangtze River defense line he created was vulnerable. If Huang Taiji from Liaodong had tied up his hands and feet, he would have lacked enough troops, he would have sent troops south to deal with him, and he would have survived for nearly a year, which would have been too cheap.

In order to win the most favorable conditions for Xiong Tingbi, Zhu Yinglong drew nearly 15,000 troops from Shandong and Shanxi, and was commanded by the general Liu Zeqing to go south to Xiong Zhaolian to control him and ordered him to attack the south, confusing Wei Zhongxian.

"General Zuo. Where are we going?" A small school in the private guard beside Zuo Liangyu couldn't help but ask. It's been almost ten days since he arrived at his destination, so it's no wonder he had a question.

Zuo Liangyu looked at him with a cold expression, and he was so scared that he immediately stopped talking. Xiong Tingbi's king was very strict. By the way, all the generals under his command did not dare to be careless. Zuo Liangyu spared no effort to learn Xiong Tingbi's approach to military governance. If military orders were issued in the Liaodong Army, there would be no doubts, because obeying military orders had already penetrated into the bones of the Liaodong Army.

This personal guard school was discovered when Zuo Liangyu came to Shaanxi. His name was Cao Hu. He studied in a private school in his early years, and later his hometown was famine. He left his hometown with his family to find a way out. He survived, but his family died. Because he had studied and had some brains, he was taken by a thief leader and adopted son. Later, he was killed by the imperial army. He led the remaining thieves to surrender to the court. In fact, although he was accepted as the adopted son by the thief leader, he actually did not have the so-called adopted father in his heart. But he didn't follow him, so he had to obey his fate in order to survive. Because he surrendered with others, he was assigned to Xiong Tingbi's army by Lu Xiangsheng. Zuo Liangyu took a look at him with some wisdom, so he became his personal guard school.

"Cao Hu, send the order to rest on the spot. Go and call the guide over!" Zuo Liangyu said to Cao Hu.

After a while, the guide who had made meritorious service was invited by Cao Hu to Zuo Liangyu.

"General Zuo, what are you looking for for villains?" The guide was very afraid of Zuo Liangyu and said a little timidly.

"Where are we now?" Zuo Liangyu ordered people to take the map and torch, spread out the map and ask the guide.

The guide followed the fire and pointed to the map and said, "General Zuo, we have arrived at Tingzi Mountain now."

"Tingzishan?" Zuo Liangyu closed his eyes and thought for a while and said to himself, "The army has three days left for its food, which means it will arrive in Yidu within three days?"

The guide looked embarrassed and said, "General Zuo, it may be difficult to arrive in Yidu within three days."

"Why?" Zuo Liangyu opened his eyes and asked at the guide who shot a tough Li Mang.

"General Zuo, the more you walk south, the more rugged it becomes. It may be difficult to pass in three days." The guide said in a very scared look at Zuo Liangyu, who was almost murderous.

"What if I'm rushing day and night?" Zuo Liangyu said withdrew his gaze.

"This, this will take at least two and a half days!" The guide hesitated for a moment before he said.

Xiong Tingbi is probably not enough. How can he arrive in Yidu in ten days? But everyone has the limit to bringing food for ten days, so Xiong Tingbi gave Zuo Liangyu 50,000 taels of silver notes. Once the food is eaten up, people can be sent to buy it along the way. If Xiong Tingbi hadn't thought of being ahead, it would probably be hungry now. So Zuo Liangyu's time is very precious and he can't afford to delay it.

"Two and a half days are only two and a half days. I will pass on my order. From now on, he will march day and night, and no one will be allowed to fall behind!" Zuo Liangyu ordered people to put away the marching map and issue military orders to the scout who sent the order.

The guide complained secretly, even if he was selling private salt before, he was surrounded by officers and soldiers, he had never suffered as much as he is now. He had been walking for ten days, and his feet were blisters. He still had to leave, otherwise he would have to spend the rest of his life in prison. Who would like to go? He gritted his teeth and walked on, not only could he be exempted from the charges, but he could also have a reward that was enough to live comfortably for the rest of his life. He also gave up, gritted his teeth, endured the heart-wrenching soreness from the soles of his feet, and walked to the front of the army.

The army quickly passed Jinzhuping, winding towards Baihu Pass, entered Nanjinkou, and arrived in Yiling Prefecture the next day.
Chapter completed!