Guiyi Fei Tang

Chapter 345: The Duty of a Shepherd
"Susu-"

On the fifth day of July in the fifth year of Xiantong, there were anxious cries in Qingzhou.

At the foot of Mount Yi, outside Yidu County, flags were fluttering, divided into two camps.

In front of the Yidu city tower, all the officials of Qingzhou, the seat of government, ventured onto the top of the city wall under the protection of state soldiers, and squatted behind the parapet to watch the outside of the city.

The sun shone on the land of Qingzhou, making the armor of the soldiers in the two camps outside the city shine brightly.

The flags with the word "Pang" and "Wang" belong to two armies. One side has only the flag of "Wuning Army", while the other side contains flags of Huainan, Zhongwu, Xuanwu, Zibo and Qing towns.

At this moment, the people fighting outside the city were Pang Xun, who called himself the Jiedushi of Wuning Army, and the rebel soldiers he led.

Standing opposite the Wuning rebel army was Wang Shi, who was leading his troops northward, ready to end the battle in one go, and the elite troops from various towns led by him.

People say that "there are over ten thousand soldiers and horses, and they are boundless", but this scene was perfectly presented in front of the Qingzhou officials.

Wang Shi led more than 37,000 troops from various towns to line up on the right side of Yidu City, while Pang Xun led more than 100,000 rebel soldiers under his command to line up on the left side of Yidu City.

Although there were more than 100,000 soldiers and horses, half of them were Qingzhou people who were held hostage.

In addition, half of the troops were mountain bandits who came down from Yishan, Lushan, Taishan and other places to seek refuge.

Half of the remaining troops were bandits from Xu Su who were led north by Pang Xun.

There are no more than ten thousand men in the army who are wearing heavy armor and good at fighting.

"Uuuuuu——"

"Boom! Boom! Boom..."

There was no fighting or shouting, and the two armies deployed their battle formations, with trumpets and drums sounding in unison.

"Kill, kill, kill!"

On the direction of the official army, Wang Shi used the Huainan Army as the vanguard, followed by the Xuanwu Army. Five thousand heavily armored "Long Spear Commanders" were guarding Wang Shi's central army. The rear army was the Zhongwu Army and Ziboqing Army led by Li Yan and Wang Congjian.

After Wang's training, it was not difficult for the Huainan Army to form a large formation and lead the charge.

The 20,000 men were divided into ten teams, each with 2,000 men. The front team was the vanguard, and the remaining nine teams used bows and crossbows to provide interference and also took on the task of alternating between the vanguard and the front.

The Xuanwu Army led by Li Fu did not need to do anything else but to guard against bandits and surprise attacks and to provide support to the front and central armies.

It must be said that Wang Shi did not spend too much time to find out the abilities of the military governors of various towns and the quality of the soldiers under their command.

"Strong, weak, strong, weak, weak" is the composition of this military formation, with the strong soldiers of Huainan Town as the vanguard, and the elite spearmen are stationed in the center to keep the coordination orderly.

The remaining three divisions are nothing more than bridges to protect the front army and the central army.

"Kill, kill, kill!!"

The soldiers of the vanguard team of Huainan Town were shouting and killing, and all of them were pressing forward step by step with bows and crossbows. The bandits showed their cowardice before they even started fighting because of the shouting of the government troops.

On the battlefield, Pang Xun of the central army gritted his teeth as he looked at the government troops approaching step by step.

They have been serving as grassroots military officers in the Silver Sword Army for more than ten years, so they can naturally see the gap between the enemy and us from the battle formation.

The troops from Hehuai Province were under Li Fu's command, and the lack of coordination among the three armies was a common topic. More importantly, there was insufficient communication among the various departments, and they were unable to provide support in the event of a war.

But now in Wang Shi's hands, the formation and deployment of the three armies were impeccable, and people lost their courage before the battle even began.

Li Fu could at most command the troops of various towns, while Wang Shi could give detailed commands to a specific brigade or team.

If there is a problem with this kind of detailed command, it means that the micro-control has failed. If there is no problem, it means that the troops are used well.

There were no flaws in Wang's command, at least Pang Xun couldn't see any.

"Damn it, Wang Shi is such a killer!"

Pang Xun was cursing, and so were Xu Ji and others beside him, which showed how guilty they felt.

The Silver Knife Army had a deep impression of being dominated by Wang Shi. Back then, Wang Shi had eliminated the stubborn problems in the Xu-Si area in just a few moves.

If Li Yi and his friends had not taken Wang Shi's words seriously, Pang Xun and his friends would not have achieved what they have today.

Before the battle even started, Pang Xun and his men had already thought of a way to retreat.

"Damn it, there are tens of thousands of people on the other side marching in a controlled manner, what can we use to fight them?"

"If you ask me, we should just take advantage of the chaos and lead the army to retreat to Lushan, then flee south to Yanzhou."

"Escape? Wang Shi has already arranged this assassination. As long as Yanzhou sends out two to three thousand soldiers, they can block us in the mountains."

"You bastard, what are you afraid of? The truth will be revealed in battle!!"

Xu Ji, Zhang Guan and others were cursing, but Pang Xun forced himself to give command calmly.

"They will use bows and crossbows to disrupt us. The front troops should not be afraid. Charge forward with shields raised and engage them in close combat!"

Pang Xun said this, but he gathered nearly 10,000 armored soldiers in the army into his central army. The soldiers in the front army had only a single piece of clothing, a cheap sword and a wooden shield.

These wooden shields were not even covered with a layer of animal skin, let alone copper, iron and other materials.

"Uuuuuu——"

When the horn sounded, Pang Xun personally stood on the drum cart and hit the drum hard with a drumstick.

"Dong dong dong..."

"Kill!!"

Without any rules or strategies, tens of thousands of troops in the front resolutely launched a charge as trumpets and drums sounded.

"put!"

On the battlefield, Li Xiang in the government army waved his hand with a cold face, and the crossbowmen of the vanguard team attacked first.

The crossbow arrows crossed a distance of a hundred steps and easily pierced through many of the chaotic soldiers, but were still blocked by the wooden shields.

Li Xiang was not in a hurry. Instead, he watched the chaotic soldiers rush within a hundred steps, then picked up the wooden whistle and blew it loudly.

"Beep--"

Following Li Xiang's order, half of the soldiers in the front line quickly changed their weapons to bows and arrows and shot them into the sky.

Arrows flew like rain towards the charging bandits.

Amid the swish sound of falling arrows, countless bandits fell on their way to charge, and their wails and screams intertwined together, as if the sounds came from the underworld.

But the bandits did not stop. At this moment, they were less than a hundred steps away from the front of the government army, and the momentum of the charge became more and more fierce.

Li Xiang was not afraid, but continued to give commands according to the flag signals from the central army and the military orders issued by Wang Shi.

As the bandits rushed within thirty steps, Li Xiang silently retreated dozens of steps, then waved his hand and ordered: "Front team, draw your guns!"

With the command flag waving, the two thousand soldiers of the first team of the vanguard quickly abandoned their bows and switched to spears. The spears formed like a forest, flashing cold light.

After the orders from the lieutenant colonel and the captain were given, they shouted in unison: "Kill!"

The government troops' gun array charged at the bandits like a torrent.

Although their formation was somewhat unstable, the bandits lacked sufficient elite cavalry, and even if they could see the flaws, they could not counterattack effectively.

On the contrary, the Wuning Army's vanguard soldiers were horrified when faced with the charge of the government army's spears, and they turned around and fled.

"Run away! Run away!"

The morale of the bandits collapsed in an instant, and the originally fierce charge turned into a rout.

The spears pierced through the clothes and flesh. Countless civilians and bandits fell under the charge of the government troops, and the blood dyed the ground red.

The bandit army of tens of thousands was chased by a vanguard of 2,000 people, and the scene was in chaos.

"Kill, kill, kill!!"

The morale of the government troops was greatly boosted, and many of the remaining soldiers raised their guns and pounded them on the ground, while the sound of the government army's war drums became more and more intense.

Wang Shi was standing on the nest car, and he had a full view of the situation of the front army, so he did not hesitate and shouted the order: "The front army will pursue, and if the enemy is stationed, then station!"

As his order was conveyed to the Zhanfeng Army through the flag soldiers waving the command flags, Li Xiang no longer hesitated and immediately ordered a pursuit.

The government troops' gun formation continued to advance like a tiger descending from a mountain, while the bandits fled in all directions without any ability to fight back.

The morale of this group of bandits and civilians who were dragged along by the government troops completely collapsed as they were pursued by the government troops. They dropped their weapons and knelt down to beg for mercy.

"Spare your life! Spare your life!"

The government troops were merciless with their swords. They ignored the bandits' pleas and hacked them all to death.

Barely two quarters of an hour after the battle began, the battlefield outside Yidu City was already littered with corpses and rivers of blood.

There were quite a few people who were able to escape back, but they were already frightened out of their wits, which made Pang Xun look even uglier.

He could clearly see that the vanguard of the government army did not lose too many soldiers in this attack, at most a hundred were injured, but nearly ten thousand of his own people were hacked to death, and more than twenty thousand were frightened.

Pang Xun's eyes flickered, and he finally gave the order: "Xu Ji, you lead the rear army to retreat to Zibo first, and I will lead the central army to retreat later."

"Yes!" Xu Ji breathed a sigh of relief. He was most afraid that Pang Xun and Wang Shi would fight to the death.

The current situation is too clear. Even if more than 100,000 of them were tied together, they would not be a match for Wang Shi. The only way to save their lives is to seek a breakout.

After he calmed down, Xu Ji immediately went to the rear army, ready to retreat to Zibo with the rear army and the families of the three armies.

However, their movements were soon discovered by the elite cavalry released by Wang Shi.

Before they had retreated ten miles to the west, Wang Shi learned that the enemy army was preparing to retreat.

"Are you sure there's no ambush?"

Wang Shi looked at Zhao Qian, who shook his head quickly: "All the way west to Zibo is plains and hills, there is no place to ambush."

"Okay!" Wang Shi nodded, then decisively drew the sword from his waist as a general: "The enemy army is fleeing, the entire army will pursue them!!" The morale of the enemy bandits has already fallen to the bottom, Wang Shi will not miss this opportunity to beat the fallen dog.

"Uuuuuu——"

The horn sounded, and Pang Xun's face changed in the chaotic army. Then he shouted sternly: "No retreat, anyone who retreats will die!"

He looked at Zhang Guan and said, "You lead two thousand armored soldiers to supervise the battle. Anyone who dares to retreat from the front will be killed!"

"Yes!" Zhang Guan responded quickly, and then led two thousand armored soldiers to support the battle.

At the same time, Pang Xun took all the bandits in the central army except the armored soldiers to the front army.

On the battlefield, more than 60,000 rebel soldiers managed to stabilize their position under the supervision of 2,000 armored supervising troops.

The government troops pressed forward step by step, and arrows from the vanguard kept falling. Countless bandits were shot and fell to the ground.

Seeing their comrades falling to the ground after being shot by arrows on both sides, many bandits went crazy and kept fleeing backwards.

"Those who retreat will die!!"

Zhang Guan led the supervision team to execute the escaped bandits. His cruel method frightened all the bandits in the front army.

They lined up again, holding simple spears, and faced the elite government troops, their hearts filled with fear and despair.

"kill!!!"

The outcome of the war was as expected. At the moment the two armies clashed, the government troops were like a tiger descending from the mountain, and almost unilaterally defeated the rebel army.

"Hold on! Hold on!"

Zhang Guan kept issuing military orders, but he could not stop the bandits from retreating.

"You bastard! You won't give us a chance to live?!"

"If we can't win, withdraw! Why hasn't Commander Pang ordered a withdrawal yet?!"

The bandits shouted in the battle formation, but their voices were too small and the shouts of killing were repeated over and over again.

People in front of them kept falling down, and the government troops skillfully killed all the bandits who tried to resist.

"Those who surrender will not be killed!"

Li Xiang raised his arms and shouted, and the front army's vanguard team also echoed him.

The soldiers were advancing like a wall, and the bandits were like pigs and sheep waiting to be slaughtered. Except for a small number of people who could kill the armored government troops through cooperation, everyone else died under the government troops' attack.

"Damn it! Run!!"

When the casualties exceeded what all the bandits could bear, they unsurprisingly began to flee.

Despite the deterrent force from the supervisory team behind them, for the more than 60,000 bandits wearing only single clothes and holding simple spears, advancing or retreating would mean death.

Fear and despair made them lose their minds, and they began to turn around and attack Zhang Guan's supervisory team.

"Kill! Kill the supervisory team! Only then can we survive!"

A bandit shouted loudly, his voice filled with anger and despair.

"Kill the Supervisory Team!"

"Damn it! If they don't let us live, we will let them die!"

"Do it!!"

Under his instigation, all the bandits began to attack the supervisory team.

"Who dares to do it?!"

Zhang Guan shouted angrily, swung his sword and knocked down several bandits, trying to stabilize the situation.

"Zhang Guan, your mother's head!"

"That's not what you said when you recruited us!"

"We're leaving!"

The supervisory team's front line was attacked by bandits. Even though they were elite troops carefully selected by Pang Xun, they were unable to hold their ground facing bandits that outnumbered them by ten times.

Soon, a large number of bandits broke through the encirclement and began to attack the central army.

"Damn it!" Zhang Guan's face suddenly changed when he saw the situation was not good. He hurriedly ordered: "Retreat! Retreat quickly!"

The supervisory team retreated quickly under the command of Zhang Guan, while the more than 60,000 troops in the vanguard army completely fled under the pursuit of the government troops.

Zhang Guan retreated to Pang Xun's side and said breathlessly, "General, we can't hold on any longer!"

"The front army has collapsed. The momentum of the government army is unstoppable. They will soon reach here..."

Upon learning that the front army was defeated, Pang Xun's face suddenly changed, and a trace of panic flashed in his eyes, but he quickly calmed down and waved his hand and said: "Order the Wuning Army to retreat to Zibo Prefecture!"

The so-called Wuning Army refers to the armored soldiers in the army, and Pang Xun's move undoubtedly meant giving up the 60,000 bandits.

After all, there are refugees everywhere on the Hehuai and Huaihe River routes. As long as the elite troops are preserved, it is not difficult to form a new refugee team.

"Withdraw! Retreat to Zibo!"

"Beep--"

As Pang Xun's military order was issued, the 10,000 Wuning troops in the central army began to surround Pang Xun and retreat towards Zibo.

Wang Shi did not order a pursuit, but instead led his troops to persuade the bandits and rioters who tried to escape to surrender on the battlefield and to kill them.

By noon, all the bandits outside the city were hunted down and killed, leaving the battlefield littered with corpses and rivers of blood.

Wang Shi did not lead his troops into the city. Instead, he repeatedly emphasized military rules and ordered the army to camp outside the city.

Half an hour later, he ordered the officials in the city to send out all the poultry, livestock and vegetables in the city, prepare to reward the troops and further reduce Pang Xun's escape space.

Inside the tent, Wang She, Li Xiang, Li Fu, Li Xun and other generals gathered together, waiting for Wang Shi's arrival.

As Wang Shi walked into the tent, all the generals came forward and raised their questions.

"My Lord, why don't you take advantage of the victory to pursue Pang Xun? Now is a good time to wipe out the bandits!"

Li Xun, the governor of Yicheng Army who had been defeated by Pang Xun, could not help but stand up and questioned in an urgent tone.

Facing his question, Wang Shi was not anxious, but calmly said: "Although Pang Xun was defeated, his main force was not lost. If we pursue him rashly, we may fall into his ambush."

"As long as Yang Fugong and Yang Gonghan lead their troops to defend Qizhou, and Weizhou Town will not allow bandits to roam in, Pang Xun's death is imminent."

The generals nodded when they heard this, obviously convinced by Wang Shi’s analysis.

"Everyone, please go back and have a good rest. I should also write a report..."

"I'll take my leave..."

Wang Shi said nothing more, but dismissed everyone, who then bowed and left the tent.

After they left, Wang Shi sat down in the main seat, wrote a report on the great victory in Qingzhou, and after confirming that it was correct, he sent someone to deliver it to Chang'an.

During the more than one year he served as an official in Chang'an, Wang Shi learned how to please his superiors.

In the current situation, he needs to keep creating great victories to please the Supreme.

Even if it was just a small victory, he would write it as a great victory.

As for the defeat, he was not shameless enough to hide it, but he believed that he would not suffer a defeat when facing the bandits.

The report was sent to Chang'an, and after Wang Shi rested for three days in Qingzhou, he continued to pursue Pang Xun...

"Well, Wang Shi really lived up to my trust. The great victory in Qingzhou... is great!"

In the Xianning Palace in Chang'an, Li Yi leaned back in a chair, a wine glass in his hand, while in his ears he could hear Tian Yun's interpretation of the music.

There was a comfortable expression on his face, unlike the excitement and happiness he had shown before.

Ever since Wang Shi defeated Wang Xianzhi, he knew that he had chosen the right person, so he gradually relaxed.

Tian Yun looked at him and sighed inwardly.

When Li Yi first ascended the throne, he also thought about working hard to govern the country and solve the problems of Helong, Heshuo and refugees.

It’s a pity that ever since he found out what the Shen Ce Army was like, he became disheartened.

This attitude of lax governance has lasted for more than three years.

Except for the time when Wang Xianzhi and Pang Xun were very powerful and he was a little nervous, the rest of the time was just like normal.

This kind of life makes Li Yi feel comfortable. The inaction in government affairs only has a beginning, but no end...

Thinking of this, Li Yi asked again: "By the way, how is the grain purchase in Longyou going?"

Upon hearing this, Tian Yun bowed and said, "This matter is under the responsibility of the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Finance, but I heard that the progress is good."

"As long as the court pays, Liu Jilong will sell all the grain..."

"Hmm!" Li Yi smiled and sneered, "It seems that Liu Jilong is not as ambitious as I thought."

"Food is precious nowadays. If he had ambitions, he would have stored food and raised an army. I didn't expect him to be so honest."

"Now that he is selling grain in large quantities, I feel much more relieved."

Tian Yun echoed: "Yes, Your Majesty is wise..."

"Haha..." Li Yi laughed heartily a few times, then turned his attention back to the actors in the hall.

Soon, the music began to play in Xianning Palace, and Tian Yun and the musicians came out on their own accord...

(End of this chapter)