night.
"Sir, Gao Junliang from the Governor's Office has arrived."
Shen Yuanbin reports.
Zhao Lin was slightly startled and said, "Please come in."
Gao Junliang came over quickly and saluted, saying, "Master Zhao."
Zhao Lin quickly stood up and said, "Master Gao, you are so polite. Please take a seat."
After Gao Junliang sat down, Zhao Lin said, "I won't say polite words. Sir Gao rushed here overnight. Is there something important?"
Gao Junliang smiled and said, "Master Zhao is indeed straightforward. It was Master Feng who sent me here."
"Feng Siyuan?" Zhao Lin frowned slightly.
Aside from the one time Zhao Lin met Feng Siyuan upon arriving in Qingzhou, they had no further contact. Zhao Lin went about his business, and Feng Siyuan never interfered. Furthermore, the two were considered members of the same faction, so they had always been at peace. During the Lunar New Year, Zhao Lin even gave Feng Siyuan a gift and even credited Feng Siyuan's contributions in the victory report.
Why did he suddenly send Gao Junliang to find him?
Gao Junliang said: "The army sent by His Majesty to suppress the rebellion has arrived. The reward for leading the army is Zhao Chenhan, the former Tongzhi of Qingzhou, who is now a guerrilla general."
Zhao Lin nodded and said, "I already know."
Gao Junliang said, "Zhao Chenhan's first target is the Wuzhou rebels. We must pacify them within three days so that we can ask for a reward from His Majesty."
Zhao Lin laughed: "Zhao Chenhan has great confidence."
Gao Junliang said: "Lord Feng is very dissatisfied with Zhao Chenhan. It is said that Zhao Chenhan is very disrespectful to him."
Zhao Lin nodded and said, "I understand. Tell Master Feng, I don't know about other places, but in Jiujiang Province, let alone a small guerrilla general like Zhao Chenhan, even if Zhao Jingzhou, the Marquis of Zhenbei, comes, he has to obey Master Feng."
Gao Junliang worriedly asked, "Will it work? Zhao Chenhan is leading the Zuo Yu Lin Guard. The Zuo Yu Lin Guard's duty is to protect the capital. His Majesty assigned it to Zhao Chenhan, obviously to help him establish his authority."
Zhao Lin smiled slightly and said, "That's your Majesty's intention, not mine."
Gao Junliang was shocked.
What does Zhao Lin mean by this?
Is he going to rebel?
Zhao Lin didn't explain, saying, "Master Gao, you've worked hard. Go and rest first. You can report back to Master Feng tomorrow."
"Okay! I'll take my leave now." Gao Junliang said.
He didn't care at all that his official position was actually higher than Zhao Lin's.
Zhao Lin did not correct himself. He sent Gao Junliang away, thought for a moment, wrote a letter, and told Shen Yuan, "Send it to Song Huaian."
…
There were over ten thousand men and horses, and the number was endless.
Twenty thousand troops are more than twenty thousand people.
This refers only to 20,000 soldiers, in addition to a large number of baggage troops.
A total of 30,000 people.
If this were not a domestic war, where supplies could be received along the way and there was no need to carry food and fodder, the number of baggage soldiers would have been even greater.
When two armies engage in battle, food and supplies go first.
This is true in any world.
Zhao Chenhan was riding on a tall horse, with a large flag with the word "Zhao" on it fluttering in the wind. Surrounding him were elite soldiers in full helmets and armor. A feeling of pride and satisfaction surged in his heart.
Soon, they arrived at the location of the rebels in Wuzhou.
Wuhu.
This is the base camp of the Wuzhou rebels.
Wuhu is not very big, but it has a radius of 200 miles and contains dozens of small islands. The largest is only a dozen miles in radius, and the smallest is only as big as a house.
The rebels' headquarters is on the largest island.
In the past, the deepest water in Wuhu was more than ten meters, and the shallowest was only one or two meters, which was enough for boats to pass through.
But now the water is shallow in winter, and it is not yet spring when the water volume increases. The deepest part of the water is only three or four meters, and the shallowest part has exposed the pebbles on the riverbed.
This means that the rebels can be attacked without ships.
"God helps me!" Zhao Chenhan was overjoyed.
Han Renjie nodded. "It's definitely God's help. Otherwise, in the summer, there's a lot of water, and we'd need to take a boat. The Zuo Yulin Guards have been in the north for a long time, and they're not good at naval warfare. They might not be a match for the rebels."
At this time, the rebels sent people to make a statement.
"You lackeys of the imperial court, if you want to pacify us, wait for your next life. It's not too late to leave now, or I'll throw you all into the lake to feed the turtles."
Zhao Chenhan wasn't angry either. He had someone shout, "Zhao Chenhan, the prince of the Zhenbei Marquisate and the guerrilla general, is leading the Left Winged Guards here. If you surrender, everything will be settled. Otherwise, once the swords are unleashed, you will be doomed."
After thinking for a moment, Zhao Chenhan added, "Tell Song Huaian that if he surrenders, I will forgive him and make him my master."
Carp Island.
This is the largest island in Wuhu and the base camp of the Wuzhou rebels.
It gets its name because the part exposed above the water in the dry season looks like a carp.
The leader of the Wuzhou rebels was a pale-faced scholar named Wang Li. Because "li" and "li" are homophones of "li", Wang Li believed that this place was his chosen place, so he set up his base camp here.
The Wuzhou rebels called themselves the Qianlong Army, which was also derived from the idea of a carp leaping over the dragon gate.
Isn’t the carp a latent dragon before it leaps over the Dragon Gate?
So each of these names has a corresponding one.
The Qianlong Army has 60,000 men, 25,000 of whom are capable of fighting, and the rest are middle-aged men. Although they are not as good as veterans, they can still be as useful as 10,000 or 20,000 men if they rush forward.
Together with the rebels from all over the country who came to seek refuge, there are now as many as 100,000 people on the small Carp Island.
Including their families, etc., the number exceeds 150,000.
With such a crowded environment, there are naturally all kinds of conflicts and contradictions. Wang Li is exhausted just from mediating the conflicts every day.
The main tent of the Qianlong Army.
Wang Li sat there and said to the crowd, "Everyone, the court has not used local troops, but instead called in the Left Winged Guards, which protect the capital. It is obvious that they intend to wipe us out in one fell swoop. Although they only have 20,000 men, they are all elite soldiers with armor and sharp weapons. Who knows if there are any more hiding in the dark? If a real battle breaks out, we have absolutely no chance of victory. Does anyone have a plan to repel the enemy?"
No one answered.
Wang Li could only look at one person: "Mr. Song, I heard that you are resourceful and known as a military advisor. Do you have any plan?"
Song Huaian had no choice but to stand up and say, "To the great leader, Song has only one solution, which is to delay. If you can endure it, the officers and soldiers will collapse without a fight."
"Oh? Tell me about it." Wang Li said.
Song Huaian said, "The soldiers have come from afar and are already exhausted. Furthermore, they are led by the 17-year-old son of the Marquis of Zhenbei. I've dealt with Zhao Chenhan before; he's a loser, ignorant of military matters. I even cut off one of his ears. If we can hold him off for a few days, he'll surely lose his temper. Then we can set an ambush and lure him in. He'll surely fall into the trap, allowing the leader to achieve his heroic feat of defeating the soldiers."
"good!"
Wang Li said, "Just do as Mr. Song says."
Zhao Chenhan ordered his men to shout, but the people inside refused to surrender. Finally, he couldn't help it and said, "Everyone, who is willing to lead the troops and help me defeat the rebels and take the first place? I will ask the emperor for a reward for him!"
Everyone looked at each other, but no one agreed.
They had long been unhappy about Zhao Chenhan's airborne arrival to lead these 20,000 people.
Only a fool would agree to send people to attack without knowing the other party's strength.
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