Pirate Song

Gao Huaiyuan's baggage battalion was also dispatched separately this time, and acted together with an officer named Shen Ning. Their number of troops was more than a thousand, among which Shen Ning led about 500 Song troops, and Gao Huaiyuan still had 500 rural soldiers under his command, and the remaining 200 or so rural soldiers were assigned to the other three armies to take on miscellaneous tasks such as transporting supplies.

Basically, the strength of the four armies is relatively balanced, but Gao Huaiyuan is young after all, and he is also the commander of the rural barracks. Although he claims to be as capable as Shen Ning, he can only serve as a deputy under Shen Ning.

After receiving the order to divide the troops, Shen Ning immediately ordered his troops and horses, took Gao Huaiyuan's rural military camp and left the main force, heading west of Suizhou.

Shen Ning was a little dissatisfied with the distribution of Hu Zaixing this time. In his eyes, rural soldiers were rural soldiers, how could they be compared with the regular army? Moreover, he looked at Gao Huaiyuan a little displeased, thinking that at such a young age, he Hu Zaixing was boasting in front of him. Although the idea he came up with was acceptable, it was a bit too conceited!

However, Shen Ning could also see that Hu Zaixing liked Gao Huaiyuan, so although he was dissatisfied, he didn't say anything and took Gao Huaiyuan with him to lead an army and leave the army.

This time, before they divided their forces, they had already agreed that each of the four troops would be responsible for an area, specifically to pick off the stragglers of the Jin Army. They could not go head-to-head with the Jin Army's large forces, and the area Shen Ning was responsible for was to the west of Suizhou.

Suizhou is the place where Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty left his legacy, and it can be considered a famous city. Moreover, when the Jin army invaded the south last year (the 10th year of Jiading), Song Army general Liu Shiguang once defeated the Jin army here, and the Jin army also robbed everywhere. The local people suffered a lot from the looting, so the local people hated the Jin Army deeply, so it also provided a good mass base for the Song Army to fight guerrillas in this area. As soon as they heard that the Song Army was coming, many people helped them lead the way. , and also proactively provided them with some information about the Jin Army’s movements.

Gao Huaiyuan paid great attention to collecting this information, asked Jia Qi to sort it out, and then used this information to sort out the movements of the Jin army. Since he was Shen Ning's deputy this time, he made up his mind to be a good adviser to Shen Ning, so he took the opportunity to Experience the beauty of guerrilla warfare.

But what he didn't expect was that Gao Huaiyuan put his hot face on Liang's ass this time. When he excitedly told Shen Ning the information he had compiled, Shen Ning refuted it coldly.

"No need to say more, tomorrow we will go to Lishan Town, where we will attack the Jin Army and let the Jin Army see how powerful Shen is! Commander-in-Chief, just follow my orders!" Shen Ning interrupted impatiently. Gao Huaiyuan's words.

Gao Huaiyuan immediately saw that Shen Ning didn't like him very much, and knew that he still looked down upon him, so he patiently said to him: "Vice-general Shen, please listen to me. You can't fight in Lishan Town. The Jin Army is there now." On the only way to Zaoyang, the Jin army comes and goes very frequently. Maybe we will encounter the main force of the Jin army. And we only have a few thousand people. If we encounter the main force of the Jin army, we will probably suffer a loss! It's better! For your information, let’s head to Gaojiagang first, where a small group of the Jin Army’s Youyi Army have often appeared in the past two days. With our strength, it’s no problem to beat them. It’s too risky to attack Lishan Town!”

"Is the high commander a little scared? It has been said since ancient times that wealth and honor can be found in danger. We are generals and serve the country. We should face difficulties and go forward. Lishan Town is a place where the Jin army hoards food and grass. As long as we succeed in the raid, we will burn Losing the food and fodder of the Jin Army in Lishan Town, where the Jin Army was defeated without a fight, is a great achievement. Gaojiagang is just a small village, how many Jin soldiers can we take care of there? Brother Gao, no need to say more. Yes, Shen has decided to leave for Lishan Town tomorrow. After nightfall, we will launch a raid on Lishan Town!" Shen Ning said to Gao Huaiyuan with a look of disdain, waving his hand for Gao Huaiyuan to leave.

Gao Huaiyuan was very unhappy. This Shen Ning was obviously a little overjoyed with his success. Since Lishan Town was a transit place for the Jin army's supplies, a large number of soldiers and horses would be stationed there. Among the thousand of them, Shen Ning's The five hundred Song Army might be better, after all, they have undergone formal training, but the five hundred rural soldiers under his command have only been trained for a short period of time and have not undergone formal night fighting training at all, and Shen Ning wants to do it at night There was no advance preparation for the raid on Lishan Town. There was no detailed arrangement on how to communicate at night or how to allocate manpower. Just running into it like this would be like committing suicide.

Thinking of this, Gao Huaiyuan still said patiently: "Vice General Shen, I also know your eagerness, but it is really difficult for us to take action against Lishan Town at the moment. Our soldiers have limited manpower, and the country soldiers below have not accepted a night battle. Training at night will inevitably lead to chaos, and since Lishan Town is a transit point for the Jin Army's food and fodder, there will definitely be a lot of Jin Army troops stationed there. Moreover, the surrounding mountains in Lishan Town are relatively flat, so we want to keep our whereabouts secret. There are certain difficulties. Once the attack fails, it is easy to be pursued by the Jin army when retreating. It is really unwise to attack Lishan Town!"

"Shut up! General Shen has made up his mind. You are still blabbering here. Are you trying to disobey orders and be disrespectful? Since you are General Shen's deputy, you should obey General Shen's arrangements, but you are trying to stop General Shen. , Do you still want to shake the morale of the army?" A voice suddenly sounded from the side, loudly reprimanding Gao Huaiyuan.

Shen Ning raised her hand to stop the speaker with an unhappy look on her face, and said to Gao Huaiyuan: "Although what Commander Gao said is reasonable, Shen took these points in mind. Since even Commander Gao also thought of Knowing this, it is expected that the Jin Army will also think of these things, so Shen Mou predicts that the Jin Army will never expect that we will launch a surprise attack on Lishan Town. As long as we work together in this battle, we may not be able to defeat Lishan Town! In this battle, we may not be able to defeat Lishan Town! Commander-in-Chief, please stop talking about it. Shen has already said that the decision cannot be changed. Commander-in-Chief, please go down and make preparations!"

Gao Huaiyuan glanced at the low-ranking officer standing behind Shen Ning. He seemed familiar, but for a moment he didn't expect that he had seen this person somewhere. Why was this person so rude to him? After all, he was also a commander now. , and he is still a disgraced officer. This guy dared to scold me like this. It was really disrespectful to him.

But at this time, he didn't want to have a head-on conflict with Shen Ningsheng. Since Shen Ning had already made up his mind, it was useless to say more. Unless he and Shen Ning broke up and each led their own troops to act alone, it seemed that nothing could change Shen Ning's decision. Ning’s decision was made.

But it would obviously be unwise to fall out. After all, he was now Shen Ning's deputy. Once he fell out, the army would be in chaos, which would inevitably cause unnecessary conflicts. So he held back a breath and glared at the station. The person behind Shen Ning glanced at him, then cupped his hands and said: "Vice-General Shen has underestimated Gao. Although I am just a commander of rural soldiers, I am not a person who is greedy for life and fear of death. Now that Deputy-General Shen has made up his mind, , then all I have to do is say goodbye, I’ll go get ready here and set off early tomorrow morning!”

After saying that, Gao Huaiyuan turned around and left Shen Ning's military tent and returned to his hometown barracks.

Looking at Gao Huaiyuan's leaving figure, the man standing behind Shen Ning stepped forward and sneered: "What the hell! Isn't he just a broken commander of the country soldiers? He actually dares to point fingers in front of General Shen. This guy is too much." You are overestimating your capabilities!”

Shen Ning glanced at him, waved his hand and said: "It doesn't matter, after all, he is the person that General Hu values ​​​​and he has indeed done a good job. Du Hu, please don't say anything more. Although Gao Huaiyuan is not old, he is still thoughtful. It’s careful, Lishan Town may not be easy to fight, we have to be more careful in this battle, and we have to think of a way out if necessary!”

It turned out that this man was Du Hu, the defeated army officer whom Gao Huaiyuan met outside Xiangyang Prefecture. This time he was recruited into the army by Hu Zaixing and worked under Shen Ning. He had long been resentful of Gao Huaiyuan. This time he saw Shen Ning didn't like Gao Huaiyuan very much, so he decided to seize the opportunity to retaliate against Gao Huaiyuan. This guy is a standard villain, the kind of person who is bound to retaliate. There is no distinction between good and evil in his heart. He doesn't care about any war. Success or failure, as long as you can get revenge on Gao Huaiyuan.

"General Shen, don't worry. I have a solution. This raid on Lishan Town is indeed risky. Once it succeeds, it will certainly be a great achievement, but if the raid fails, it will also be a bit dangerous. I think, Isn’t this guy named Gao unwilling to raid Lishan Town? Anyway, his men are a bunch of local warriors and of little use. It’s better to let them stay in the rear. Once our raid fails, let him stop the enemy’s pursuit, and we can take advantage of it. Get away! I wonder what the general wants?" Du Hu said to Shen Ning with a sinister look on his face.

After hearing this, Shen Ning felt something in his heart. He was indeed a little cold towards Gao Huaiyuan. Moreover, he saw that Gao Huaiyuan was young and had obtained the title of Baoyi Lang with only a few military exploits. He followed Hu Zaixing through life and death, and worked hard to survive. It's really unfair for him to be just a small and unqualified officer. In fact, he also knew that this attack on Lishan Town was a huge adventure. If it succeeds, he will get a lot of credit. Promotion and wealth are not a problem, but if the attack goes wrong, , if the Jin army’s food and grass are not burned, then the Jin soldiers will definitely pursue them. Whether they can escape then is a question!

And Du Hu is right. If Gao Huaiyuan's rural military camp is involved in this battle, Gao Huaiyuan will naturally take credit if he succeeds, and a lot of his achievements will be shared. But if it fails, Gao Huaiyuan will not bear any responsibility. As for the blame, it would be better to follow Du Hu's method and let Gao Huaiyuan to the rear. Once the army is defeated, leave them to stop the enemy and retreat by himself!

After making up his mind, Shen Ning did not answer Du Hu's words and waved his hand: "You go down and make arrangements. I have my own sense of responsibility for this matter. I would like to greet our brothers. You must obey my orders in the battle tomorrow and don't mess around." !”

Du Hu looked at Shen Ning's expression and felt a little happy in his heart. He had already seen that Shen Ning had made up his mind. Now Gao Huaiyuan was about to get something good, so he quickly bowed to accept the order and turned around to make arrangements. Already.

After Gao Huaiyuan returned to the camp, he felt quite uneasy, so he summoned Jia Qi to discuss the matter. When Jia Qi heard that Shen Ning was going to attack Lishan Town, he immediately became anxious: "How can this be done? Lishan The town is heavily guarded by the Jin Army. If we rush over like this, we are throwing ourselves into a trap, which is almost like committing suicide. This is absolutely not allowed!"

Gao Huaiyuan smiled bitterly and said: "This is not a matter that you and I have the final say. Now Vice-General Shen in the army has the final say. We can only obey his orders. The key now is that we have to plan. If the raid fails, how will we protect ourselves?" We have to retreat! Otherwise, we might end up in Lishan Town with Vice General Shen this time!"

After Jiaqi thought for a while, he shook his head and said: "This matter is not easy to handle. After all, we are new here and know nothing about the terrain of Lishan Town. It is useless to think about it here. We can only check the terrain near Lishan Town on the spot." , you can come up with a solution! I don’t have any good ideas!”

Gao Huaiyuan thought for a while and then said: "It's true. Sun Tzu said: The way of the earth must be observed when it is carried out! Now that Shen Ning has made up his mind, we can only obey orders, but we can't just do it. It's such an adventure, so you pack up immediately and set off for Lishan Town with Huang Yan overnight. You must check the terrain around Lishan Town tomorrow and find an escape route for us to ensure that when the raid fails, we can survive. Come out with a way out! We will probably arrive near Lishan Town tomorrow afternoon, you can meet me then!"

Jia Qi immediately accepted the order, and Gao Huaiyuan called Huang Yan again. After giving some instructions, he recruited a few smart men for them, and took two local Suizhou guides with them to rush to Lishan Town overnight.

After seeing them off, there was no word for the whole night. After dawn, Shen Ning sent out the order. The soldiers of the two battalions immediately packed up and headed towards Lishan Town.

Because the main road was full of Jin soldiers heading towards Zaoyang, they could only choose some inaccessible paths, so they walked very hard. Fortunately, there were guides to guide them, otherwise, they would not have been able to survive. The soldiers and horses might even get lost in the mountains. In some places, even Gao Huaiyuan was a little confused and couldn't tell the difference between east, west, north and south!

"High Commander, I thought about it last night, and I think what you said makes sense, but in order to deal with the Jin army as soon as possible, it is worth taking the risk. After all, as generals, we must think about the Song Dynasty and the soldiers at all times. It is natural for a soldier to be loyal to the country, but what you said is also reasonable. The rural soldiers have not gone through any decent night fighting drills. Once they start fighting at night, there is no guarantee that chaos will not occur, so I want to raid Lishan Town this time. I will personally lead my battalion of soldiers to take action. Commander-in-Chief Gao may wish to lead your rural military camp to the rear of Shen. Once the matter is completed, we will withdraw from Lishan Town quickly. I hope Commander-in-Chief Gao can take over for me. How about stopping the pursuers?" On the way to Lishan Town, Shen Ning approached Gao Huaiyuan and said to Gao Huaiyuan pleasantly.

Naturally, Gao Huaiyuan did not immediately understand what Shen Ning had in mind. He was quite moved in his heart, so he said: "Since Deputy General Shen said so, then Gao is not a greedy person who is afraid of death. What Deputy General Shen said Well, a soldier must be loyal to his country. If Gao is willing to lead the township barracks and Lieutenant General Shen to attack the Jin army's food camp in Lishan Town tonight!"

"That's not necessary. The high commander should take your people with you and wait for me at the rear! That's settled. I will be responsible for leading the troops to raid in the evening, and the high commander will be responsible for covering me and retreating after I succeed!" "Shen Ning immediately waved his hand and said.

Gao Huaiyuan saw that Shen Ning was resolute, so he no longer insisted on accompanying him to raid Lishan Town. In his opinion, this was a good thing. After all, Shen Ning had already considered a retreat, which was better than rushing the whole army into Lishan Town and dying. Quite a few, who would have thought that Shen Ning was trying to trick him and his village barracks!

After traveling in a hurry for most of the day, they finally sneaked to about five miles southeast of Lishan Town. Because there were traces of Jin soldiers ahead, they found a forest to hide temporarily.

Not long after, there were sounds of birdsong in the distance. Gao Huaiyuan immediately recognized that the sound was made with a bamboo whistle, so he immediately took out a bamboo whistle and blew it a few short times. Soon several people followed The sound reached the woods where they were hiding and found Gao Huaiyuan's location.

"Boss, we are back!" Huang Yan wiped the sweat from his forehead and ran to Gao Huaiyuan and whispered.

"Well! That's right, tell me about your inspection of this place!" Gao Huaiyuan was most worried about this right now, so he asked Huang Yan and Jia Qi as soon as he saw them coming back.

At this time, Jia Qi also arrived in front of Gao Huaiyuan, took out a piece of white paper from his arms, and drew a flat map with charcoal on it, which was displayed in front of Gao Huaiyuan.

"Master, please look, after we arrived here in the morning, we found a few local people who helped us and quickly figured out the surrounding terrain!

Lishan Town is the only way to Zaoyang. It has been controlled by the Jin Army for a long time. It is said that there are two thousand Jin troops stationed there, and every day Jin soldiers continue to come from the direction of Suizhou and rest here for a short time. Therefore, the Jin army here The number of troops is really large, I am afraid that Lieutenant General Shen's operation will not be successful this time!

Moreover, there is a river on both sides of Lishan Town. The river in the north is relatively deep and wide. The north of the river is a flat land. We can't do anything there. Otherwise, once the Jin army pursues us, we will not be able to escape at all. of!

The river to the south is relatively narrow and not deep. There are mountains on the south side of the river, which is more suitable as a retreat. If we fail, we can quickly cross the river and escape into the mountains on the south bank of the river. It is safer than taking the north side of the town. many.

Here, about two miles away, there is a ravine. After entering, there is a large mountain forest. As long as we retreat into this ravine, we are basically out of danger. Even if the Jin army pursues here, it will be difficult to send a large army to pursue it, and there is no guarantee that it will be possible again. We've bitten you back!" Jia Qi explained to Gao Huaiyuan while pointing at the map.dd