Nanyang, Henan.
In Nanyang City, Dong Zhonglou hosted a banquet for Li Jinglong, the commander of the reinforcements sent by He Tengjiao, the Governor-General of Huguang, to support him.
"General Li, I am truly grateful to you for coming to assist me in suppressing the rioters."
As he spoke, Dong Zhonglou raised his glass to General Li Jinglong, who had come to his aid.
Li Jinglong also raised his glass in response:
"They're just some troublemakers; Li can wipe them out with a wave of his hand."
This time, in order to rescue Governor Dong, our Governor He entrusted me with most of the troops from Huguang to rescue you.
There were a total of 60,000 troops.
I heard that Governor Dong is also preparing for war in Nanyang and now has 40,000 troops under his command.
If we add them all up, it weighs a hundred thousand.
Suppressing a few rioters is merely using a sledgehammer to crack a nut.
After he finished speaking, the two of them laughed, and the others present also laughed at each other.
It was as if Li Hongji's peasant army could truly be wiped out with a wave of his hand.
Just as the atmosphere was cheerful, a soldier suddenly ran in and said:
"Great General."
"What's wrong? Why are you in such a panic? Can't you see I'm entertaining distinguished guests?"
Dong Zhonglou saw his personal guards suddenly enter and said unhappily.
The guard, trembling, said:
"General, scouts from Ruzhou have reported that tens of thousands of Li's troops have appeared outside the city of Ruzhou."
There were also enemy soldiers carrying rat-tail pennants.
"What did you say!"
Upon hearing the report from his personal guards that Li Qin's regular army had actually appeared in Ruzhou, he realized that Li Qin's army was indeed present.
Dong Zhonglou was so terrified that he trembled all over, and even dropped the wine glass in his hand.
Li Jinglong, who had never fought Li Qin before, saw Dong Zhonglou's performance.
It was also a dismissive glance.
Everyone said that the Governor-General of Henan, Dong Zhonglou, had been terrified by Li Qin's army.
They feared Li Jun like a fierce tiger.
Seeing it today, I can confirm it's true.
He then stood up and said to Dong Zhonglou in front of him:
"Governor Dong, we now have an army of 100,000. What do we have to fear from those mere tens of thousands of Li troops and those rioters?"
I will lead my large army from Huguang to attack, first defeating Li's army to bolster our morale.
After hearing Li Jinglong's words, Dong Zhonglou, who was sitting in his seat, nodded repeatedly and said:
"Good, good. I will entrust Nanyang and other places to the general to guard. I wonder if the general could write a letter to Governor He?"
Let me go to Huguang first to provide support for the general and serve as backup.
Li Jinglong was also taken aback when he heard Dong Zhonglou's words, because he understood what Dong Zhonglou meant.
He's trying to run away.
He actually heard that Li Qin's army was coming, and he actually tried to run away.
He was completely terrified by Li Qin's army.
Looking at the trembling Dong Zhonglou in front of him, Li Jinglong said with disdain:
"What is there to fear from a mere tens of thousands and some rioters? Governor Dong can wait for news of my great victory in Nanyang."
After saying this, he stood up and said he would muster his troops to defeat the invading enemy forces.
Watching Li Jinglong's departing figure, Dong Zhonglou sent men to reorganize his own troops.
They also reloaded their gold and silver jewelry onto the cart, then put it on the boat they had prepared, and sailed down the river straight to the Han River.
Once Li Jinglong's 60,000-strong army suffered a defeat, he immediately led his remaining 40,000 troops to flee to Huguang.
He was well aware that in this day and age, as long as he had an army, he could enjoy wealth and luxury wherever he went.
The next day, after watching Li Jinglong lead his army off, Dong Zhonglou continued to have his men make preparations.
Meanwhile, in Ruzhou, with the arrival of Li Qin's army, hundreds of thousands of peasant soldiers, who had already made preparations, began their grand march south towards Nanyang.
Behind them, Li Qin's army, in neat formation, looked at the scattered peasant army in front of them.
My face is getting darker and darker.
This isn't an army; it's more like a bunch of refugees.
There was no formation, no organization, and no unified flag.
This looks exactly like a village fight.
Most importantly, he actually saw quite a few people here who had casually broken away from the group over some trivial matters.
Some peasant soldiers even fainted from hunger on the roadside due to poor management and lack of logistical support.
This would be unimaginable in any other army.
It was just like a group fight in the countryside, where some people remembered they had other things to do and went back first.
During this time, he had been observing the appearance of this peasant army.
They found that most of them were unusable and were just junk.
However, among this pile of junk, they did find some decent items.
That was the army of Li Hongji, the leader of this peasant army.
Although he claimed to have more than 100,000 men under his command, most of them were just like refugees, mostly there to boost his morale.
However, there are still about 20,000 people, which looks somewhat like an army.
Zhang Bingwu also had approximately 20,000 men under his command.
These 40,000 troops appear to be roughly the same size as Dong Zhonglou's army.
Although they still appear vulnerable to them, it is clear that some of the peasant armies have begun to resemble an army.
If we continue to let it develop unchecked, allowing them to continue fighting amongst themselves in Henan like a breeding ground for venomous insects.
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