Zheng Rong moved to Bozhou.
After receiving the news, Bozhou Mu quickly evacuated the government office and used it as the temporary residence of King Youyan.
But Zheng Rong felt that the Bozhou government office was a small place with few houses. The three thousand guards and soldiers he brought had nowhere to live, not to mention the generals from all sides who would come here at any time to discuss military affairs. He also thought that if he occupied the magpie's nest and occupied this government office, the government affairs of Bozhou would definitely be affected.
So Zheng Rong simply found an open place, set up a large camp, and let the three thousand guards stationed on the spot, and then set up a Chinese military camp in the center, where Zheng Rong handled military affairs.
Unexpectedly, as soon as the camp was established, adverse battle reports came.
It turned out that Zheng Sen was ordered to attack the imperial army, but he accidentally fell into Dai Luanxiang's trick of waiting for work, and was lured into a tight siege. He was unable to break out of the siege even with attacks from the left and right. The general Wei Hu who was responding from the rear was not good at attacking, but he thought that Zheng Sen was the biological son of King Youyan and would be in serious trouble if he was captured by the court, so he had no choice but to bite the bullet and lead 30,000 troops to rescue the siege. At first, the battle went smoothly, and Zheng Sen was successfully rescued from the heavy siege. However, on the way back to the camp, he was ambushed by Dai Luanxiang and was blocked midway.
At this time, Dai Luanxiang saw that Youyan's army could not unite in one place, and the two generals were not in the camp, so he divided his troops with 50,000 troops to attack the Dengzhou camp. For a time, the situation of Youyan's army in Dengzhou was precarious.
Fortunately, at this time, Zheng Miao and Cui Nan from the Bianzhou direction had learned of this military situation. They reported to Zheng Rong's camp and started taking action. First, Zheng Miao used offense as defense, leading 50,000 troops to stop the imperial army responsible for guarding Bianzhou at the local area, so that they did not dare to return to Dengzhou to aid. On the other side, Cui Nan led 50,000 troops and rushed to the rescue of Zheng Sen and Wei Hu. They covered 200 miles in a day and night, and finally arrived at the battlefield before Zheng Sen and Wei Hu collapsed, and immediately launched a surprise attack.
When Dai Luanxiang saw that Youyan's reinforcements had arrived and that his own reinforcements were still arriving, he retreated as soon as possible, lifted the troops besieging Zheng Sen and Wei Hu, and directed his troops towards the Dengzhou camp, using all his strength. There was an onslaught.
Generals Zheng Sen and Wei Hu, who returned to the Dengzhou camp, saw that the situation was critical and that the camp could no longer be defended, so they had no choice but to resist, transport all the baggage and food and grass back, hurriedly retreated to the Hutuo River, and set up camp in Bozhou. Confronted Dai Luanxiang across the river. After this battle, the Youyan Army did not gain any advantage. Instead, it damaged an arrowhead used to attack the Central Plains. The number of casualties was more than 10,000. It was a complete defeat.
Therefore, when Zheng Rong was sitting in the Chinese army tent and saw Zheng Sen standing in front of him with a gray face and blood all over his body, he was really angry and said bitterly: "I have already told you, this is Dai Luanxiang is well versed in military strategy and should not be underestimated. However, you still underestimated the enemy and lost the Dengzhou camp, destroying my family's spirit. Just drag him out and kill him!" After saying this, he held the command arrow, but he still didn't go to the ground. Throw.
Qiu Yi saw Zheng Rong's hesitant look and knew that he might not be willing to kill his second brother for this reason, so he simply went along with it, knelt down and said, "Father! Victory or defeat is a common thing for a military strategist. A small defeat is just a matter of course." Just kill the general, which will be detrimental to the morale of the army. I also ask my father to make my second brother guilty and meritorious service!"
Zheng Sen had already knelt on the ground, waiting for someone in the tent to come out and beg for him. Unexpectedly, the first person to come out was his sworn brother. He knew that his father, Zheng Rong, valued this son of a worm as no more than his own sons, so his life was saved, so he said: "I know my crime, and I ask your father to be merciful and allow me to pay for my crime and make meritorious deeds!"
Zheng Rong originally had no intention of embarrassing him. After listening to him begging for mercy, he waved his hand and said: "Since Yi is begging for mercy for you, let me record this first. However, death crimes can be avoided, but living crimes cannot be forgiven. I ask you, you are so sad What kind of crime should the master do for losing his land?”
Zheng Sen didn't expect that his father would have more to say. He knelt on the ground and scratched his head, unable to say a word.
This is Zhongli Kuang sitting aside, waving the folding fan in his hand and saying: "Zheng Sen, do you know now that you can't conquer the world with your mere bravery, right?"
Zheng Sen is usually more afraid of Zhongli Kuang than Zheng Rong. After hearing the master's question, he nodded quickly and said: "Student knows, student knows!"
Zhongli Kuang nodded and said: "It's good that you know. I will make the decision for your father here. If I don't punish you, I will punish you by copying "The Art of War" five times tonight and memorizing it to me tomorrow. Listen! If you can't recite it, I'll slap you on the wrist in front of the whole army!" He turned to look at Zheng Rong with a smile and said, "Your Majesty, is this okay?"
While listening, Zheng Rong managed to hold back his laughter and replied: "Mr. Zhongli is so depressed, just in line with his wishes." Then he said to Zheng Sen, who had been kneeling for a long time, "Zheng Sen, your master is doing this for your own good. You should stand aside and listen to our discussion."
Zheng Sen stood up and patted the dust on his knees, but then he handed it over and said, "I'd better not listen to military affairs. I don't know when I will copy "Sun Tzu's Art of War" five times. I have to go back to the camp to study in ink and endorse it!"
After hearing this, all the generals in the camp were amused by him.
Being disturbed by Zheng Sen, the tense atmosphere in the big tent caused by the defeat in the first battle immediately eased a lot.
Wei Hu, who was also the defeated general, found an empty space and also knelt down in the tunnel and said: "This battle failed, the general is also guilty of the unforgivable crime, please forgive me, the prince!"
Zheng Rong waved his hand and said: "This is all caused by Gu, this unsatisfactory son. It has nothing to do with you. You can get up and talk first. Thanks to your strong Dengzhou camp, you were able to withstand Dai Luanxiang for two days and one night. Otherwise, I The army on the left will inevitably be wiped out. Therefore, the merits and demerits are equal, so there will be no reward or punishment." He changed the subject and glanced at the generals in the tent. "However, this Dai Luanxiang is a must-win general. I don't know who has good advice to offer. , can you take advantage of this?"
There were more than a dozen generals standing in the Chinese army's tent, all of whom had followed Zheng Rong in his northern and southern campaigns. But they boasted that they were inferior to Zheng Sen in charging and inferior to Wei Hu in setting up camp. Seeing that these two famous generals were defeated in front of Dai Luanxiang, they considered that they were no match for Marshal Dai. Therefore, after they listened to King Youyan's question, they all bowed their heads and said nothing, and the big tent fell into a deathly silence for a while.
At this time, someone said: "I would like to meet Dai Luanxiang for a while, so that I can appreciate the style of the first general in the dynasty."
The generals were stunned for a moment and turned their heads following the sound to see who this ungrateful guy was.
But he saw Qiu Yizhi, the adopted son of King Youyan, standing half a step forward, bowing and saying: "Yizhi boldly asked his adopted father to lead the army to suppress the battle. Yizhi is willing to lead the army to fight Dai Luanxiang in close combat. Even if he cannot win, his adopted father will be found behind him. His flaws for reference.”
After hearing this, Zheng Rong pondered for a while and said: "Yi Zhi, I have received your filial piety. However, you have never led an army alone in a battle, so you have to face such an opponent, which may not be good for the morale of the army."
Qiu Yizhi smiled and replied: "How can I have the ability to compete one-on-one with a famous general like Dai Luanxiang? I would also like to ask my adoptive father to give an order to ask my second brother and General Wei to come with me to fight with the court officials." If we are defeated again, we will have to ask my adoptive father to take command, and we will definitely succeed!"
With Zheng Rong's permission, Qiu Yizhi promoted the army as a general for the first time.
In the past, if Zheng Sen and Wei Hu were to be Qiu Yizhi's lieutenants, they would be extremely unhappy. However, they were all newly defeated generals, and they had experienced Qiu Yizhi's various tricks during the Tianzun Sect's rebellion a few months ago. Therefore, they had to be convinced even if they were not convinced, and had no choice but to quietly listen to his mercy.
Although Qiu Yizhi has always been known to Youyan for his boldness, he is not completely unreasonable. He has no confidence in the face of these two people whose status and qualifications are far better than his own. After carefully counting the remaining troops, , couldn't help but admire: "After all, both of them are famous generals in the world. It is not easy to gather the army during a huge defeat. Although our army was damaged, its vitality has not been shaken. This kind of credit is not something that ordinary generals can earn. Come. That’s what it means to be a good loser.”
Zheng Sen didn't like reading the most, and Wei Hu was born as a soldier and couldn't recognize a few words. Hearing Qiu Yizhi's praise based on scriptures, his whole body was already in a state of excitement, and the little prejudices in his heart were thrown away. where it goes. So the two of them vigorously assisted Qiu Yizhi, and it took only three days to reorganize the defeated group of remnants and head to the front line.
After Dai Luanxiang led his army to defeat Youyan's left army, the army took advantage of the victory and pursued it until they regained the entire territory of Dengzhou, Henan. They did not stop until they reached the Hutuo River and built a camp across the river from Youyan's army.
Qiu Yizhi led his army to the north bank of the Hutuo River. He saw that the army camp on the opposite side was very strict, but the flags were a little chaotic and the morale was a bit loose. He thought that this battle would not have a big impact on the overall situation, and it was just a test. . Therefore, he simply had the courage to take advantage of the dark night and heavy fog to lock the river, and commanded the troops to build six pontoon bridges on the Hutuo River overnight.
The officers and soldiers on the other side did not seem to notice this action and allowed Youyan's army to successfully complete their mission. When Qiu Yi saw it, he couldn't help but wonder: Could it be that Dai Luanxiang was using another trick to lure the enemy deeper into the enemy, luring him to cross the river hastily, and then annihilate him in one fell swoop
But Qiu Yizhi was extremely bold. After hesitating for a long time, he ordered the soldiers of the Toya camp to advance in six directions. Taking advantage of the dawn fog before it cleared, they crossed the river through the pontoon bridge and attacked the official camp. If the war goes unfavorably, they have made plans to withdraw their troops and demolish all the pontoon bridges.
What Qiu Yizhi didn't expect was that this action progressed even more smoothly. The officers and soldiers seemed to be disorganized, and they were even more helpless in the face of the sudden Youyan army. They abandoned the camp and left after the slightest contact. They even had no time to burn the food, grass and weapons, let alone take them away with the army.
Seeing this, Qiu Yizhi became even more puzzled: With such fighting power, how could his second brother Zheng Sen and general Wei Hu be defeated by them? The more he thought about it, the more suspicious he became, so he urgently ordered the leading troops not to pursue after occupying the official camp, and personally led a large group of troops across the river to support them, stabilize the front, and then take further action. (To be continued)