Chapter 413 The whole journey south
On the north bank of Jinshui, after making such a big noise last night, the Mangshan prisoners of war quickly collected a batch of ordnance supplies in Jinyang South City and then returned to the previous camp to station themselves.
Based on this alone, it is much more disciplined than the prisoners and bandits who are still wandering around and taking advantage of the situation. With the groups of powerful people from various families disbanding and returning to support, there are already street fighting everywhere in the south of the city, and it is already very difficult for those people to escape.
"Does Li Boshan still recognize me? Is it surprising that I am still alive in the world?"
As soon as Li Tai led his troops here, Gao Le and several captains strode forward to greet him, pointing at him from a distance and laughing loudly.
Looking at this burly man, Li Tai felt a little strange at first. After thinking about it for a while, he was surprised and said: "Gao Liangbi, you are not dead yet?"
This was certainly not a curse on the other party. Li Tai was indeed surprised. This strong man named Gao Le was a relative of Gao Zhongmi's clan. He once followed Gao Aocao in the army, and also followed Gao Zhongmi to visit their family in Qinghe Township. Li Tai, the predecessor, admired him quite a lot and even paid homage to him. He asked for advice.
The meeting between old friends was naturally extremely cordial. Li Tai got off his horse and faced Gao Le. In his memory, he was only a boy and a half when we got along before, but now he is as tall as this strong man, but not as round and burly.
Gao Le felt sad for a while when he saw that the image of Li Tai and Yu in his memory had changed greatly. He had grown from a rural boy full of longing for military service to a brave general who led troops to directly attack enemy cities.
"Boshan, it is a disaster for you to follow my uncle to the west, but it is also a great opportunity. Seeing that you are the founder of the government, commanding the powerful army, and being unrivaled across Jinyang, it can be seen that my uncle's old intention to go to the west is not You have made mistakes, and your achievements are far better than those of the old people in the Eastern Dynasty! On the other hand, I was arrested in the country before I had time to respond, and I wasted a few years in the slave camp, alas..."
Listening to Gao Le's emotion, it seemed that he attributed his current position and strength to Gao Zhongmi's Xitou, and Li Tai did not explain too much. His existence itself is contrary to common sense. No one would have thought that a teenager in a foreign country could make such great progress in just a few years with his own efforts.
"Liangbi doesn't need to be humble. If you hadn't responded to the righteousness of the masses, our troops would still be besieged in Jinyang Palace and would be difficult to get out."
He first smiled and praised Gao Le, and then looked at the commanders among the Mangshan prisoners of war. Through their introductions, he found out that they were also generals in the Western Wei army in the past years.
Everyone was a little surprised when they saw Li Tai's appearance. They just felt that it was a little inconsistent with the image they imagined. Let's not talk about his appearance. The key is that he is too young, maybe not even twenty years old. If they hadn't met here in the hinterland of the enemy's country, and if they had personally witnessed the chaos in Jinyang City, they might have subconsciously felt that this Kaifu must be a lucky man.
Gao Le saw Li Tai's polite words and calm posture, and the commanders were talking and encouraging one by one. He couldn't help but sigh loudly in his heart. As expected, the Taoist priest had to look at him with admiration after seeing him for three days. Li Tai's growth had far surpassed his. old acquaintance.
He calmed down his disappointed mood for a while, and when he turned his eyes, he found the long and eye-catching horse-shaped horse hanging on the side of Li Tai's saddle. He couldn't help but strode forward to observe it carefully and raised his hand to rub it. He couldn't help but say Asked: "This horse, this..."
"It is indeed an old artifact of the late Situ. Yuwen Daxingtai appreciated it and gave it to me, inspiring me to use it to make great achievements."
Li Tai walked over again and said with a smile, raised his hand and grabbed the horse in his hand, and said to Gao Le, an old friend who was both a teacher and a friend, with pride: "This time we entered the country to attack the thieves, the Eastern Army died under this front." There are more than a hundred soldiers!"
Gao Le naturally didn't believe this when he heard this. He rubbed his hands and said with a smile: "Situ's old stick is already heavy, and it is difficult for ordinary people to hold it for a long time. Boshan, your old skills are indeed impressive, but it is still unknown how they are now, so why not take the stick and compete for a while?" "
"Master Lang is tired from fighting for a long time. Since the general is not very skilled, it is better for the general to do it for him."
Zhang Shinu didn't know the old relationship between Master Lang and this man, but he was dissatisfied with his tone that seemed to be a test for school. He immediately stepped forward and spoke, and at the same time several other governors also took a step forward.
Of course, Gao Le didn't mean anything else. He just said it subconsciously because he was moved by his uncle's old things. He was not used to Li Tai's change of status yet, so he felt a little embarrassed when his subordinates misunderstood that he was provoking.
Li Tai stopped everyone with his eyes, then turned to Gao Le and said with a smile: "I also often miss the old years when Brother Liangbi taught me martial arts in my hometown. Now we meet again after a long separation, so it's a show."
While he was talking, he led his team to bring a war horse and handed Gao Le a horse pole. Both parties mounted their horses, and the people around them also spontaneously cleared a field, and then they galloped toward each other.
Seizing the spear is divided into single seizing and double seizing. As the name suggests, the form is as follows. The two people are doing the double seizing. They must not only avoid their own seizing by the other party, but also work hard to seize the opponent's seizing, and compete with the riding skills. , physical skills and arm strength all have extremely high requirements.
After several confrontations and tests, the two finally grasped each other's poles and made several movements. Not only were their veins exposed due to their exertion, but even the war horses under their crotches neighed quietly due to the force.
The onlookers around were still applauding and cheering, but when they saw the situation reached a stalemate, they all held their breath. They saw the two horses' bodies slightly arched in trembling, which showed that they were struggling under this calm appearance. , I am afraid it can penetrate several layers of armor.
Finally, with a muffled roar, Gao Le's shoulders and arms trembled, and Li Tai snatched the horse in his hand. Then he gasped loudly, almost losing his strength, and was helped off the horse. He looked at Li Tai and said with a bitter smile: "I have been in a slave camp for several years, and my skills are no longer what they used to be. It makes you laugh, Boshan."
Li Tai could feel that Gao Le had given up at the last moment before he could use up all his strength. However, when he heard the cheers from the surrounding people, and the eyes of the Mangshan prisoners of war looking at him with even more reverence, he did not expose it and just walked up. He came and said sternly to Gao Le: "Now that the old prison has been broken, now that we, brothers and sisters, are returning to Kansai together, we have a vast world to build meritorious deeds!"
After meeting each other and having a preliminary understanding, the next step is to discuss what to do.
For Li Tai, when things have developed to this point, the harassment behind enemy lines has been overfulfilled. It is best to evacuate as soon as possible so that the personnel gains made previously can be settled.
These Mangshan prisoners of war also hope to return to Kansai as soon as possible. They have been tortured here for a long time and do not want to stay any longer.
Now that both parties have reached such a consensus, even though there seem to be some opportunities and benefits that can be grasped and extracted in the currently chaotic Jinyang City, neither party wants to continue. After all, the risks are too high. Rabbits bite people when they are anxious, not to mention that Bafu of the Eastern Wei Dynasty has never been a rabbit.
But if you retreat, you will face some problems. First of all, these Mangshan prisoners of war hoped that Li Tai could take their Paoze companions who were left behind in Jinci. They really couldn't bear to abandon these old, weak, sick and disabled people here to die.
The old town soldiers who were in desperate situation had a very deep friendship with each other. Luo Chao, who had previously detoured to the south of Xishan Mountain, also planned to persuade these old and sick soldiers in Jinci to revolt. Although the effect of this strategy is obscured by the presence of Gao Le, the friendship between these veterans is unfailing.
Li Tai pondered for a moment and then nodded in agreement. First of all, these prisoners of war had really helped him a lot in revolting. Secondly, if these Mangshan prisoners of war were rescued and returned to Chang'an, it would also be a double gain for him, especially in the government. The reputation gained by the lower ranks of soldiers may even be greater than that of conquering Jinyang Palace, not to mention that these veterans themselves are a valuable resource.
Of course everyone would be happy to rescue all these prisoners of war, but if so, it would inevitably affect the choice of the retreat route.
The relatively safe option at the moment is to bypass Jinyang City and follow Li Tailai Road back to the Lishi area. This area had long been cleared by Jinyang's defenders. Now Jinyang's city defenses are in chaos and they can't retreat. Li Yunxin's department is responsible for restraining the defenders of the Beishan Great Wall, so there is no danger of pursuit and interception in the short term.
However, this road is winding and long, and many of the old and weak prisoners of war in Mangshan cannot even move on their own, which will inevitably slow down the journey greatly. The longer they stay on the road, the more dangerous they will be. The bigger.
If they return through the northern border, Li Tai is worried that not only the old, weak, sick and disabled will not be able to bear the hardship of the journey and die on the way, but other troops may also be greatly affected.
If you retreat via the southern route, you don't need to turn around on the journey. You can go south along the Fen River to Fenzhou, and then go west via Huangshuling Ridge to reach Lishi.
But there are two problems with this path. The first is that it is not known whether the Jihu troops led by Han Guo have conquered Liubi City and a series of defenses. The second is that they are very likely to encounter reinforcements from the Eastern Wei Dynasty's Yubi front line.
Faced with various difficulties, no one can come up with any effective strategies, and Li Tai, the master, still needs to make a decision. After weighing the situation, Li Tai decided to move to Jinci to rest for a while, and sent scouts to explore the south.
Before leaving, Li Tai specifically asked Luo Chao, a great hero, if it was necessary to evacuate his family from Jinyang City. At present, the cities of Jinyang were still in chaos, and there was still an opportunity to take advantage of it.
After hearing this, Luo Chao shook his head directly and said: "The desire to return to justice is as strong as an arrow coming off the string. I am not the only one who has a wife and children in the world? How can I bring trouble to the masses because of this!"
Hearing that this guy was so enlightened, Li Tai could only admire him and hope that Lu Taiji would not give up on his career development because of this. Being abandoned by your husband in other places might be a disaster, but here it can only be said that it opens the door to a new world, with endless possibilities for the future.
The dispatched scouts soon found out that there were many groups of villagers heading north along the Fen River. After questioning, most of them were villagers from other places who had escaped from Fenzhou and had been harassed by the Jihu siege bandits. He had no choice but to flee towards Jinyang.
After learning the news, Li Tai was overjoyed. Li Shihu entered Kou Fenzhou earlier than his troops arrived in Jinyang, and Fenzhou was geographically closer to the Yubi front line. Gao Huan must have already Although they knew that Fenzhou was being invaded by Jihu, they still failed to provide effective assistance and allowed the villagers of Fenzhou to flee.
It can be seen that in Gao Huan's mind, the Yubi War is the most important thing at the moment, and small things like Jihu's invasion of Japan are not worth the distraction.
Therefore, the road going south should be relatively safe at the moment. Even if Gao Huan gets the news of the riots in Jinyang, he may not be able to make the decision to give up the attack on Yubi City and return with a large army. It is very likely that he will only send a small number of elites. If this time difference can be grasped well, then the southern route return has a much higher chance of success than the northern route detour.
With this understanding, Li Tai immediately no longer hesitated and ordered the cavalry team to set off immediately. Hundreds of ranger scouts were in front, followed by his own troops, and the Mangshan prisoners of war were at the end of the team, a group of more than 8,000 people. It goes south along the Fen River in a mighty way.