Following the advice of his aide Xiao Jing, Prince Yong'an Chen Su decided to divide the rebellion-suppressing army into two routes.
He personally led the entire route, including the Jingwu Town and Chaowu Town of the Imperial Guard, as well as the Ganyang Army, Huaide Army and Shaochang Army, including civilians, a total of 400,000 soldiers and horses, directly attacking the bandits entrenched in Wanqiu County, Zibo Prefecture.
The other route was led by Sun Hao, the Grand Commander of the Zhenxi Protectorate, which included the Zhenxi Army, Zhenrong Army, and Nankang Army, totaling 320,000 troops, to wipe out the bandits in Linghe County, Zibo Prefecture.
Now, of the six counties in Zibo Prefecture, except for Shengping County where Qingyuan Protectorate is located, the other five counties have basically fallen into the hands of bandits.
The bandits in Zibo Prefecture were divided into four groups. The strongest group was led by the brothers Liu Hu and Liu Bao, who occupied Suiping County and Xinxi County in Zibo Prefecture. The total number of bandits under their command was as high as over one million.
The bandits who occupied Wanqiu County in Zibo Prefecture were led by a leader named Tang Ba, who had about 500,000 bandits under his command.
The bandits who occupied Linghe County in Zibo Prefecture were led by a man named Cai Wu, who had 400,000 bandits under his command.
There was also a group of bandits, whose leader was named Gao Bao, who occupied Changge County in Zibo Prefecture and had more than 300,000 bandits under his command.
In fact, Prince Yong'an Chen Su was not willing to divide the troops.
He personally led a large army to wipe out the bandits in Zibo Prefecture and even Yizhou. However, his purpose was not only to wipe out the bandits, but he also wanted to get rid of a few vassal states at the same time.
Unfortunately, the Zhenxi Army, Zhenrong Army and Nankang Army that joined together could only temporarily make Prince Yong'an give up the idea of dealing with these three vassal states.
The strategy of dividing the troops was mainly to avoid mutual vigilance within the rebel suppression army, thus affecting the suppression of the bandits.
Since he could no longer take advantage of the opportunity to take back the military power of the Zhenxi Army, Zhenrong Army and Nankang Army, Yong'an King Chen Su focused all his attention on how to wipe out the bandits as soon as possible.
Linghe County, located in the northwest of Zibo Prefecture, bordered the Khitan Khanate. Its county seat, Yingshan City, was the largest trading place between Liang State and the Khitan Khanate. It had previously been captured by bandits led by Cai Wu.
When the Zhenxi Army, Zhenrong Army and Nankang Army entered Linghe County, Cai Wu transferred all the bandits in the counties within Linghe County to Yingshan City, the county seat.
In addition, in a camp east of Yingshan City, there were 10,000 Southern Qiang cavalry, 8,000 Western Qiang cavalry and 7,000 Khitan cavalry stationed.
The Qiang people are the only ethnic group that has ever unified the northern grasslands. However, due to internal divisions among the Qiang people, the four Khanates today emerged.
The Southern Qiang and Western Qiang peoples both split from the Qiang people.
In the Khitan Khanate, the Southern Qiang and the Western Qiang were the two most populous nomadic peoples besides the Khitan.
Cai Wu was originally a businessman engaged in trade with the Khitan Khanate and knew many tribal leaders of the Khitan Khanate.
Upon learning that the imperial court had formed a large army to suppress the rebellion in the northern states, Cai Wu used the money he had robbed to hire 25,000 grassland cavalry from some southern Qiang tribes, western Qiang tribes and Khitan tribes near Linghe County.
At the county government office in Yingshan City, a burly man reported to Cai Wu: "Brother, the brothers stationed in the various counties have all withdrawn to Yingshan City, and the food has been brought back."
The burly man's name was Qian Tie. He was originally a constable in the Yingshan County Government Office and was a sworn brother of Cai Wu.
The reason why Cai Wu was able to lead the bandits to capture Yingshan City was that Qian Ping, the insider, played a crucial role.
Cai Wu pointed to a map of Yingshan City on the table and said to Qian Tie in a deep voice, "A Tie, the camp west of Yingshan City has been built. I plan to send you to lead 50,000 brothers to garrison this camp.
According to military manuals, the two camps east and west of Yingshan City can serve as a support for Yingshan City."
Ever since Cai Wu became the leader of the bandits and conquered the entire Linghe County, he began to like studying military books.
Originally, the bandit leaders under Cai Wu all advocated concentrating all the troops in Yingshan City and relying on the more than six-meter-high city wall of Yingshan City to resist the attack of the government army.
However, Cai Wu insisted on building two camps outside Yingshan City according to what was written in the military book.
Qian Tie hesitated for a moment and said, "Brother, although we have 400,000 men, only 170,000 or 180,000 of them are capable of fighting. I will lead 30,000 men to defend the western camp, which is enough."
Cai Wu shook his head and said, "According to the latest intelligence, the government troops coming to attack us are composed of the Zhenxi Army, Zhenrong Army, and Nankang Army, all of which are famous border troops of our Liang State, with a total strength of over 300,000.
I asked you to take 50,000 men to guard the camp west of the city, but I think that number is a bit insufficient."
Qian Tie said worriedly, "Brother, I feel this situation is a bit risky. Why don't we retreat to Suiping County and unite with brothers Liu Hu and Liu Bao to resist the soldiers!"
Cai Wu said in a deep voice: "Linghe County was won by my brothers and I at the cost of our lives. I really can't bear to give it up just like that.
Moreover, if we retreat to Suiping County, we brothers will become dependents on others. Given the temperaments of Liu Hu and Liu Bao, they might just swallow us up."
After a pause, Cai Wu continued, "Of the 150,000 civilians in Yingshan City, we can at least recruit 50,000 young and strong men to help us defend the city.
Even if you take away 50,000 brothers, there are still 170,000 to 180,000 soldiers defending the city. If necessary, the elderly, the weak, women and children can also go up to the city wall.
I don't believe the Zhenxi Army, Zhenrong Army, and Nankang Army are really willing to attack the city regardless of casualties. After all, these three border armies are no longer on the same page with the imperial court."
After the Zhenxi Army, Zhenrong Army and Nankang Army entered Linghe County, they found that the bandits in various counties had all retreated to Yingshan City, the county seat, so they hurried all the way and arrived outside Yingshan City.
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