Chapter 17 Section 1 Iron Chain Hengjiang

Huashan is a road, Liu Xiu and others have no more distracting thoughts - stay in Hebei, and fight Wang Lang to the end! However, the first difficulty in marching and fighting is that there are too few troops.Not to mention that there are only 6,000 troops now, even if you add a zero, you still feel stretched if you want to take care of the vast Hebei region.Liu Xiu then discussed with Ren Guang: "I want to borrow troops from Chengtou Zilu and Lizi. What do you think?" Chengtouzilu and Lizidu, like Fan Chong of the Red Eyebrow Army, were also the leaders of the refugees who emerged in Wang Mang's last years.Chengtouzilu, surnamed Yuan, given name Zeng, styled Zilu, gathered as many as 200,000 people, and the bandits plundered between the Yellow River and Jishui.In Lizidu, there were also 60,000 to 70,000 people gathered, and they copied and attacked in Xuzhou and Yanzhou.After Liu Xuan proclaimed himself emperor, both of them accepted their titles and surrendered. Lu, the head of the city, was named the prefect of Donglai County, and Lizi was named Xuzhou Mu.Although the two accepted the canonization of Liu Xuan's court, they still had their original strength, which was similar to an independent warlord separatist regime.

At this time, both Chengtouzilu and Lizidu were stationed not far to the east of Hebei.In Liu Xiu's point of view, even though the two were divided by warlords, they were still on their own in name, and it was always okay to borrow some soldiers. When Ren Guang heard this, he immediately crushed Liu Xiu's fantasy, and said bluntly, "Has Mr. Ming forgotten Bo Sheng's lessons learned?" How could I forget!When Liu Xiu's elder brother Liu Yan rebelled, he thought he had too few troops, so he recruited the Green Forest Army to join him. In the end, it was easy to ask God to give up, but he was plotted against by the Green Forest Army, and he was deprived of his leadership. Forced to commit suicide.

Liu Xiu was hit in the head by this and immediately woke up. Ren Guang said again: "If you borrow troops from Chengtouzilu and Lizidu, even if you can recover Hebei, Hebei can't be owned by Ming Gong. Although the situation is difficult now, you have to grit your teeth to support it. Only in this way can you get the people's land. It’s Duke Ming’s own, so it’s not like making a wedding dress for someone else in vain.” Liu Xiu sighed: "What Qing said is exactly in agreement with my heart. However, it is difficult to fight with few soldiers, what can I do?" Ren Guangdao: "If the Duke of Ming thinks there are too few troops, he can recruit troops and go out to attack nearby counties. If he doesn't surrender, he will listen to them and plunder them. People are greedy for money and things, so soldiers can be recruited."

Ren Guang's conscription strategy is different from Wang Ba's.When Wang Ba conscripted troops in Jicheng, he intended to recruit regular troops, so he made a big effort to mobilize the army, but ended up being frustrated.Ren Guang's recruits are equivalent to mercenaries, not only with fixed salaries, but also with generous bonuses-if the city refuses to surrender when attacking a city, after the city is broken, they can search and plunder at will. As soon as the recruitment strategy was changed, the effect was immediate. Within a few days, 4,000 people were recruited from nearby counties.These four thousand recruits were recorded in Liu Xiu's name, plus the original six thousand soldiers and horses, the total was ten thousand.

There are only so many troops, and all of them have never been in actual combat, and there is no way to test their combat effectiveness. However, they can't take care of it. Since Wang Lang's foundation is not stable, let's start the battle first, and then seek development and growth in the battle. Unlike the battle of Kunyang, the battle of recovering Hebei was a brand new subject for Liu Xiunai.The Battle of Kunyang was a decisive battle, with concentrated forces, a fixed battlefield, and tactics more important than strategy.The recovery of Hebei this time is destined to be a mobile and protracted war composed of many small battles, with many battlefields and long fronts.At this time, strategy is far more important than tactics, and it will test Liu Xiu's wisdom as a coach even more.

Liu Xiu's deployment is as follows: With Deng Yu and Yaoqi as one, two thousand troops were assigned, and they marched northwestward, passing through Julu County and Zhending Country along the way, and the destination was locked at Leyang City in Changshan County.Move forward with leapfrog tactics all the way, while recruiting soldiers, capture as many cities as possible. With Feng Yi as the other department, one thousand soldiers were awarded, and they entered Hejian County in the northeast, focusing on recruiting troops and taking into account the siege of the city. Among Liu Xiu's direct descendants at this time, only Deng Yu and Feng Yi are the only candidates who can be independent.Liu Xiu not only entrusted the two with a heavy responsibility, but also said heart-to-heart: "The only thing I can give to the second gentleman is these three thousand soldiers. Although the number of soldiers is small, I have high hopes for the second gentleman. Two gentlemen, one east and one The west is a strategy of crossing the river with iron chains, which is intended to cut off Hebei in the middle and completely cut off the connection between Handan and Youzhou, so that they can fight on their own and cannot look after each other. Deng Yu sent an extra thousand soldiers because the task was more serious. The king of Zhending, Liu Yang, has 100,000 people under his command, and he has already surrendered to Wang Lang. Leyang City is on the flank of Zhending. The reason why I want you to take Leyang is to let you hold Liu Yang in the rear and make him feel better Be cautious and dare not act rashly. As long as Liu Yang dare not move, Wang Lang will lose one of his most powerful ally, and he will save a lot of worry when going on a crusade. The two monarchs are both talented in various fields, and they will surely live up to their trust."

Deng Yu and Feng Yi took orders to go, but did not show their intentions. Liu Xiu recruited four thousand soldiers, and after giving three thousand to Deng Yu and Feng Yi, he had only one thousand left. Therefore, the six thousand soldiers led by Ren Guang and Pi Tong became the main force he had to rely on. force.So he worshiped Ren Guang as the general of the left, Pi Tong as the general of the rear, and Li Zhong, the captain of Xindu, as the general of the right, and they were all named Liehou. Deng Yu, Feng Yi and others followed Liu Xiu through life and death, and the highest they worshiped was partial generals, while Ren Guang, Pi Tong and others directly worshiped them as great generals. It is a person who has to bow his head under the eaves. As long as he can stabilize the hearts of Ren Guang, Pi Tong and others, what a pity it is for mere officials!

Ren Guang, Pi Tong, Li Zhong and others were worshiped as generals, and seeing that Liu Xiu still ordered them to lead the troops they belonged to instead of taking the troops themselves, they were all very grateful in their hearts, and they admonished each other: "Mr. Wait for me to be sincere, and I dare not try my best!" Liu Xiu appeased the army, so he paid homage to Zong Guang, a direct descendant of his fellow countryman, as the prefect of Xindu, guarding Xindu City, and then sent all 7,000 troops to attack Julu County.