I am Emperor Shizu of Song

Chapter 88: Stillness and Movement, Freedom of Control
"Congratulations, Tongpan! Here is Shi Bao's head! Our army fought bloody battles in the middle of the night, and the main force of the Fang La bandit army has been completely defeated! We captured and forced to surrender over 4,000 people! Over 5,000 heads have been beheaded in several battles!"

After dawn, Yang Zhi's face was covered with dust and blood, but he could not hide his excitement. He brought the battle results he had just calculated and reported the good news to Zhao Zicheng.

The troops Shi Bao brought with him numbered between 10,000 and 20,000 men, though the exact number of 10,000 was currently unknown. This number was likely a realistic figure, but there were also some elderly and weak auxiliary soldiers who provided food transport and logistical support, so the actual number of frontline combatants was probably less than 10,000.

But no matter what, Zhao Zi said that after two battles, one to defend the city and counterattack, and the other to lure the enemy into a comprehensive counterattack and general attack, he killed at least 9,000 enemy troops.

However, the number of government troops was too small, so they could only be defeated, but it was impossible to surround and annihilate them. A small number of enemy troops fled in all directions.

The scattered soldiers will cause chaos in the countryside between Suzhou, Xiuzhou and Huzhou for at least the next few days. There is no way to deal with this, and it will indeed slow down Zhao Zicheng's future counterattack. It can only be resolved slowly.

Zhao Zicheng was very satisfied with the result: "Very good, we have defeated half of the enemy army. Next, our army will have a sufficient excuse to pursue them out of the country. This is a great victory, which is enough for two reasons."

Killing Shi Bao and annihilating over ten thousand enemies is one joy. Helping our army break the court's rigid and outdated laws is another joy. Otherwise, we would have been tied up and waiting for Fang La to come and defeat us one by one."

Zhao Zicheng knew very well that in the early days of Fang La Rebellion in history, the Song army suffered repeated defeats. Although there were many reasons, one of the important reasons was that the various states were unable to work together, work together, and organize a higher level of joint defense.

It was necessary to wait for a figure like Tong Guan, who held the highest and overall authority of the emperor, to come in person, capable of dispatching 150,000 imperial guards and all the resources in the southeast, before "the whole of Jiangnan could be turned into a chessboard."

Now, Zhao Zicheng was finally able to break through the constraints of the Song Dynasty's laws, at least to chase the enemy out of Suzhou and into Huzhou and Xiuzhou, which were adjacent to Suzhou, pushing the defense line further forward and gathering the military forces of the three states together. Together they would be stronger.

Of course, there are still a lot of small troubles to deal with. Zhao Zi said that he had already thought through the pros and cons and constraints before this battle.

The first constraint is that if he wants to use the excuse of "preventing counterattack and pursuit" to pursue the enemy out of the country, then he must act quickly, so that he can suppress the gossip of the world and not be afraid of the review and reckoning by the court officials and censors in the future.

This is easy to understand. If Shi Bao had just been killed and the rest of the people had just fled, and Zhao Zicheng immediately chased them all the way out of the country, it would be easier to explain in the future.

If Shi Bao's remnants retreated and Zhao Zicheng rested for a few more days in Suzhou, the "pursuit" would have been broken. Next time you chased them, perhaps the civil officials would not dare to say anything due to the critical situation during the war, but after the war, those dirty guys would definitely jump out to seek attention.

In other words, the Song Dynasty's restrictions on civil and military officials "defending against counterattacks and pursuits and leaving the country" were even stricter than the restrictions on legitimate defense in later rule-of-law societies. Legitimate defense requires that "unlawful infringements must continue uninterrupted before you can counterattack or pursue them."

If the illegal infringement is interrupted in the timeline and you take a break before pursuing it, it will definitely become excessive self-defense or even intentional injury.

Therefore, Yang Zhi, Lin Chong, Lu Da and others could not rest. Although the days of hard fighting were very tiring, they still had to grit their teeth and continue to persevere, not letting up until Shi Bao's rear troops were dead.

The second constraint is that the imperial armed forces in Huzhou, Xiuzhou and other places may not be willing to obey Zhao Zicheng's command during wartime. After all, he does not have the legitimate power to command troops, and even the armed forces of neighboring states may not cooperate with him in battle.

However, this constraint was relatively easier to resolve than the first one. Because of the butterfly effect caused by Zhao Zicheng, his father, Zhao Linghua, was now serving as a county magistrate in his hometown of Jiaxing, and the prefect of Huzhou, Wei Xian, was also transferred from Suzhou and had previously been an ally of Zhao Zicheng.

Zhao Zi said that although he could not command the military commanders of Huzhou and Xiuzhou, he could indirectly get it done through his father's official relationship with Wei Xian.

After figuring out these two constraints, Zhao Zicheng did not dare to delay. That morning, he hastily summoned Yang Zhi, Lin Chong, Lu Da and others on the battlefield, held a simple military meeting together, and directly issued orders.

"...That's the situation. According to the imperial law, our army cannot delay in pursuing the enemy and must depart immediately. Therefore, I will trouble you all to grit your teeth a little longer. Although we haven't even had time to reward the merits of last night's battle, I, Zhao, have always been clear about rewards and punishments, and I will definitely not treat you unfairly in the end."

All the generals bowed their hands in defiance and said, "Please give the order, General. We swear to obey it until our death."

Zhao Zicheng nodded. "Yang Zhi, take five hundred veteran soldiers from your own lineage, along with two former battalions of our garrison troops, and proceed immediately to Jiaxing County, Xiuzhou, to assist the local garrison commander. Upon arrival in Jiaxing, first seek out my father and give him this letter. Then ask him to take you to see General Wang Ziwu, the commander-in-chief of Xiuzhou."

You should work together to defend Jiaxing and prevent the Hangzhou bandits from spreading further eastward. This will be a great achievement. Lu Da was injured last night while fighting Shi Bao with you and is unable to fight for the time being. Let him accompany you to Xiuzhou.

Lin Chong, Li Jun, Lü Fang, and Guo Sheng, the rest of you will follow me. Lead the remaining five hundred veterans and the four former camps of our state's wing troops. Take the Taihu waterway to Wuxing and Wucheng in Huzhou to reinforce Prefect Wei and repel Deng Yuanjue.

Lin Chong and the others immediately jumped at the chance to continue fighting, so they readily agreed. However, Yang Zhi was puzzled. He felt that he had the most seniority among his followers, so why was he sent to assist in the defense of Xiuzhou, which was not a pressing matter at the moment?

After a few pleadings, Zhao Zicheng gently explained, "Brother Yang, it is precisely because you followed me the earliest that I allowed you to go to Xiuzhou. You once escorted me back to Xiuzhou to visit my relatives, and you did meet my father.

If someone else were to go, and I couldn't go myself, I'm afraid my father would be worried and unwilling to follow my letter. Furthermore, although Xiuzhou isn't under immediate enemy attack, if Fang La makes any progress in Hangzhou, he'll definitely launch a massive attack on Xiuzhou if he wants to retaliate against me.

Xiuzhou is located between Hangzhou and Suzhou, right on a major road, while Huzhou can bypass it. Xiuzhou must be fully prepared at all times."

Lin Chong, Lu Da, and the others are still unregistered. Even if they have achieved meritorious service, they are not publicly known by their original identities. It will take a long time to clear their names. Yang Zhi, on the other hand, has a clean identity. This alone means that Zhao Zicheng can only send Yang Zhi to fight alone. Of course, if Lu Da goes along, as long as he does not deal with external affairs and only focuses on fighting, that is not a problem.

After hearing this, Yang Zhi felt that he was valued and said no more.

He felt like Guan Yu in the opera, who was highly valued. Zhang Fei and Zhao Yun had to follow Liu Bei and fight as vanguards, but Guan Yu was the only one who could lead a separate route and govern a province on his own.

Thinking of this, he no longer objected to going to Xiuzhou.

As for whether Zhao Zicheng was truly so desperate to make such an arrangement without further discussion, honestly speaking, it wasn't the case. He did have a bit of selfish motives, as his parents were still in Xiuzhou. When making the decision, he considered the safety of his family to a certain extent and wanted to ensure that nothing could go wrong.

But that's not wrong. Who doesn't have selfish desires? Is there anything wrong with wanting to protect your parents and family?
……

Zhao Zi said that the division had been decided. In order to save time, he divided his troops into two groups that day and hurriedly left Suzhou for Huzhou and Xiuzhou.

Yang Zhi and Lu Da will not encounter any battles along their route for the next few days, so let's leave it aside for now.

Just talking about the journey to Huzhou, Zhao Zicheng personally led the team, with Lin Chong as the vanguard, and they meandered along the southern bank of Taihu Lake. They set off in the morning of the first day and arrived in Huzhou in the evening of the second day.

Deng Yuanjue, the main general of Fang La's army in Huzhou, had fought two fierce battles with the Huzhou defenders before and suffered some damage, but the scale of the losses was far from comparable to that of Shi Bao's army.

Firstly, the government troops in Huzhou lacked elite soldiers and famous generals, so they were unable to launch an effective counterattack.

Secondly, Zhao Zicheng was not in charge here in person, so he could not use the strategy of "pretending to have an insider to open the door, luring the enemy into the city, and then closing the door to beat the dog" to lure the enemy.

The prefect Wei Xian was just an upright gentleman, without any cunning schemes. He was not good at conspiracies and was far inferior to Zhao Zicheng.

He only knew how to act righteously, personally inspecting the city walls to boost morale and encourage the soldiers and militia to defend the city with all their might. Without encirclement and annihilation tactics, Deng Yuanjue's losses were limited to those who scaled the walls first, with hundreds dying every day. When he realized he couldn't break in, he became discouraged.

When Zhao Zicheng arrived, Deng Yuanjue had also scouted it in advance, so he divided his troops to continue blocking the gates of Wuxing County, and at the same time moved the main force to the east of the city, lined up in the camp and confronted Zhao Zicheng who came from afar.

Zhao Zi said that he could not enter the city to contact the Huzhou defenders, so he could only set up camp from a distance and form a pincer attack with the defenders in the city.

Over the previous few days of attack, Deng Yuanjue's troops had lost over a thousand men, with many more wounded and seriously injured. His auxiliary troops had also suffered some injuries and casualties from the heavy work of building camps, filling rivers, and crafting siege equipment.

In general, the cumulative number of casualties in Deng Yuanjue's troops was only one-tenth of their total strength, and they were lost over many days.

Judging from the absolute number of people, the losses can be fully sustained, but the decline in morale is more serious.

By this point, his men had realized they had been deceived by false intelligence from the government forces. The government had deliberately spread the rumor to deceive Sheng Gong into believing Huzhou had sufficient internal support, prompting them to rush all the way, regardless of their food supply. Upon arrival, they discovered the internal support had been completely eliminated. They had no choice but to attack head-on, only to suffer repeated setbacks.

In this situation, even if the number of deaths is not large, morale will definitely not be high.

……

After both sides set up camp and roughly understood the situation on the other side,

Zhao Zicheng said to Lin Chong and Li Jun, "This Wei Zhizhou is too inflexible. We have created such good conditions for them. If he can learn half of Zhao Tongpan's flexibility and come up with a plan,
Lure some of the enemy troops into the city, then use the sluice gates to block the rear, and kill or force all the enemy troops entering the city. Now Deng Yuanjue's military strength and morale can be weakened by at least 30%!"

"Yes, we also know that he does not have elite soldiers and generals under his command. It is probably impossible for him to lure and kill the enemy's vanguard and then counterattack and defeat the entire enemy army like we did. But even if he doesn't learn the second half of our method, and only learns the first half, it would be enough to annihilate part of the enemy's vanguard. Now, an opportunity has been wasted in vain." Lin Chong and Li Jun each saw several points where the friendly army was not strong enough, and sighed.

Zhao Zicheng was more optimistic and open-minded than them: "Wei Zhizhou is an upright man, not as cunning as me, and this cannot be forced. Besides, the rebel army will also share information with each other. How can we ensure that Shi Bao and Deng Yuanjue will be attacked at the same time?

Huzhou and Suzhou are only a hundred miles apart. While the enemy's main force might take two days to march, scouts on horseback could arrive in less than a day. If we strike first, and Shi Bao's defeated troops report the situation, the enemy troops in Huzhou will naturally be alerted and won't fall into the same trap again. Therefore, Prefect Wei was right to hold firm and avoid luring the enemy.

We'll take care of the rest. Compared to the Battle of Wujiang, the current situation has both advantages and disadvantages. The disadvantage is that the enemy wasn't lured into a siege and annihilated, and their forces are relatively strong. But the advantage is that the enemy forces in Huzhou have learned of the defeat of their allies in Xiuzhou. Whether they knew of Shi Bao's murder is currently unknown.

Therefore, compared to the Battle of Wujiang, today's enemy is more numerous and well-prepared, but their morale is insufficient. I have decided to attack their hearts and minds first, and then supplement this with a decisive frontal battle to quickly defeat them.

If we delay for too long, and Fang La in Hangzhou wakes up and realizes that dividing his forces and advancing rashly will only lead to our defeat one by one, and recalls Deng Yuanjue, we won't have the chance to annihilate part of the enemy first."

Zhao Zicheng knew exactly what he wanted from the beginning. His forces were too weak to engage in a direct battle with Fang La.

The two detachments sent by Fang La alone were at least five times larger than the troops under Zhao Zicheng's command. Zhao Zicheng had to take advantage of the enemy's initial underestimation and reckless advance, and randomly split his forces, and defeat them as many times as possible to weaken them.

If they were to directly collide with Fang La's main force, there would be at least 70,000 or 80,000 bandits, or even more. That would be at least 20 to 30 times the total number of soldiers under Zhao Zicheng's command. A head-on confrontation would be courting death.

Therefore, we must act decisively and not miss any opportunity to seize the enemy's divisions, and take as many bites as possible.

This time, we must not let Deng Yuanjue go back, so we must fight quickly and decisively. At the very least, we must pursue and defeat Deng Yuanjue when he realizes the situation is unfavorable and is ordered to return to the army.

When fighting Shi Bao, you can wait and delay, but when fighting Deng Yuanjue, you must do it in one go. That's the reason.

After listening to the commander's analysis, Lin Chong, Li Jun, Lu Fang and Guo Sheng were all impressed, and the vague ideas in their minds became clear.

Lin Chong and Li Jun couldn't help but think to themselves, "I didn't expect Zhao Tongpan to be so knowledgeable about military tactics, to have such a good grasp of the overall situation, and to have a thorough understanding of the principles of urgency and effectiveness." "To be able to achieve great things under such a commander is truly a blessing. I'm sure my name will go down in history."

"Early tomorrow morning, deploy your troops and challenge Deng Yuanjue's camp. Before the battle, call him out for a response. I have my own way to demoralize the enemy army. Afterwards, you will act according to the situation and launch a general attack upon my command."

Lin Chong and the others eagerly obeyed the order. Lin Chong also kindly reminded them, "According to the confessions of Shi Bao's captured followers, Deng Yuanjue's martial arts skills are inferior to Shi Bao's, but he is also very brave. If the Tongpan wants to have a conversation with him, it would be better for me to accompany him and protect him."

Zhao Zicheng nodded and said, "Okay, I'll take you alone tomorrow, so he won't be afraid to come if there are too many people."

……

The night passed quickly. Zhao Zicheng's camp was busy repairing and recovering, and preparing for battle. In Deng Yuanjue's camp opposite, Fang La's army was also quite nervous.

Because they saw that Zhao Zicheng's camp seemed to be quite large, and the number of government troops coming to Huzhou was probably quite large.

But how could they know that Zhao Zicheng had specially chosen to send the entire army to the rescue via the Taihu waterway in order to have more boats and take advantage of the huge transport capacity of the waterway to transport several times more tents and other items, so as to bluff when setting up camp and make it appear that the government troops coming here are far more than two thousand people.

Zhao Zicheng's efforts went far beyond simply bringing extra tents. He also thought of preparing more firewood and using additional stoves when setting up camp and cooking, so that the stoves in the camp would be able to cook enough for five, six, or even seven, eight thousand people.

He also brought many flags with him for show, including Yang Zhi and Lu Da, who were sent to Xiuzhou by him. Although they were in Xiuzhou, their flags were brought to Huzhou.

However, of all the tricks Zhao Zicheng used, a small portion were completely unnecessary preparations, a battle of wits and courage with the air. Deng Yuanjue, born a monk, was quite skilled in martial arts and courage, but not in strategy. Of all the tricks Zhao Zicheng used, he hadn't even noticed some of them.

The soldiers of Fang La's army only watched part of the performance and mistakenly thought that the government troops were quite numerous, and there was a lot of panic in the camp.

After finally making it to dawn, Deng Yuanjue still wanted to use static to counter dynamic strategy, but he heard the government troops beating drums and horns early in the morning, marching out of the camp and forming a battle line, heading towards Fang La's army camp.

"The government troops neither raided the camp nor launched a surprise attack before dawn? They just waited until dawn and marched in with drums beating? Is Zhao Zicheng very confident?" Deng Yuanjue couldn't help but think so in his heart, and he became more and more unsure in his heart, but he could only urge the army out of the camp to form a battle line and confront Zhao Zicheng.

"I heard that the enemy commander on the other side is named Deng Yuanjue? Come out and answer him immediately! I will give you a chance to turn from evil to good and forgive your past mistakes!"

The two vanguards were at least three hundred paces apart when Zhao Zicheng emerged from the crowd, calling out to Deng Yuanjue to join in the verbal exchanges. Lin Chong, spear in hand, followed Zhao Zicheng, a few steps behind.

Zhao Zicheng wore a brocade robe on the outside, and fine steel-wire soft armor, also known as chain mail, underneath. A copper mace hung from his waist in place of his usual sword. As usual, a steel spear and a precious carved bow were hung from his saddle.

Obviously, Zhao Zichang wore this outfit to prevent the other side from suddenly attacking during the negotiation.

Zhao Zi said that he was now quite confident in his martial arts. Long before he impeached Zhu Zhen and was imprisoned for more than a month, he had been able to withstand at least thirty moves from Lu Da during martial arts training in the army.

Now he thought he should be more advanced than he was then. According to the description in Water Margin, Deng Yuanjue was just like Lu Zhishen, wielding a Zen staff and using his moves like a madman. His martial arts should be slightly inferior to Lu Zhishen's.

Zhao Zicheng knew that the sword he usually used was too light, soft, and flexible to block or parry heavy weapons. If he insisted on using the sword, he wouldn't be able to fully utilize the "return the enemy's own way" technique, which he had practiced for almost a year. Switching to a short, blunt weapon like a copper mace, while still using sword techniques, would be far more effective. This was something he had verified in private sparring with Lu Da before the battle.

In the opposing camp, Deng Yuanjue's face was initially sullen, fearing he would not be able to gain an advantage in today's fierce battle. He was pleasantly surprised to learn that the leading civil servant was actually going to attack his opponent's mind with a powerful attack.

"How dare the dog emperor's dog official speak to us in front of the battlefield? Prepare the horses! The Buddha will go and meet him himself!"

Tang Feng, a general beside Deng Yuanjue, was a little worried and advised: "Do you want me to bring a team of cavalry guards? Look at that dog officer over there, he also brought a guard."

Deng Yuanjue immediately shouted down his plan, "If I bring people with me, won't I scare that bastard officer away? Even though there are only two of us, a civil official isn't considered a human being. Do I really have to be afraid of his one guard? If this guy really dares to talk nonsense and irritate me, and shake the morale of my troops, I'll knock him down with my Zen staff. No one in the world can accuse me of bullying the weak. He was the one who brought the guards first and spoke rudely!"

Deng Yuanjue had already thought of all the excuses he could use in case of a quarrel.

He had only been a bandit for a short time, and his gangster habits were still very strong. He valued his reputation very much and did not want to be known as someone who "agreed to negotiate, but actually used his superior numbers to bully the weak and launch a surprise attack."

So in less than a cup of tea, Deng Yuanjue jumped on his horse, holding a Zen stick, and came to a distance of about twenty steps opposite Zhao Zicheng, then reined in his horse.

Looking at his posture, Zhao Zicheng couldn't help but become more certain in his heart: this is a monk from the south. Even if his martial arts skills with a Zen stick are not inferior to Lu Da, it is obvious that his horsemanship is not up to par.

He is probably an expert in infantry combat but weak in cavalry combat.

Zhao Zicheng didn't waste any words. He took out a hollow trumpet made of wood and shouted at Deng Yuanjue and the bandits more than a hundred steps behind him:
"Deng Yuanjue, since you have turned from evil to good today, I can recommend you to a position of commander in the government army, and your past crimes will be forgiven. If you delay any further, and this battle is over, and innocent civilians are killed or injured, you will not be able to turn back!"

Deng Yuanjue was furious: "You dog official! How dare you be so rude? The dog emperor oppresses the people of Jiangnan, and the Holy Lord saves the people. You should abandon the dark and join the light!"

Zhao Zicheng didn't waste any words with him, but took the opportunity to shout to undermine the enemy's morale: "Listen up, all the people who are being held hostage on the opposite side! Zhu Jie died at my hands! The emperor has repented and given me the power to rule. You don't have to rebel, good times will come! It's not too late to turn back now!"

Some of you may not have heard, but Shi Bao is dead! Not only was he defeated, but he was also killed by the gun of this commander beside me..."

Of course, Shi Bao was not killed by Lin Chong, but Zhao Ziwei just made up a story to make the propaganda more intuitive. The result is the same anyway.

He took advantage of the opportunity to negotiate in front of the battlefield and shouted a series of words that shook the morale of Deng Yuanjue's soldiers, which made Deng Yuanjue shocked and angry.

"How dare you, a dog official, spread rumors and mislead the people? Prepare to die!" As he said this, Deng Yuanjue whipped his horse and brandished his Zen stick, rushing towards Zhao Zicheng to kill him.

He also realized that Lin Chong, who was beside Zhao Zicheng, must be a martial arts master, so he had to take advantage of the opportunity of a sneak attack to kill or subdue Zhao Zicheng as soon as possible, so that he could take control of the situation.

Therefore, he adopted a desperate attitude of attacking without defending, waving a Zen stick like a madman, swinging it towards Zhao Zicheng with all his strength.

"Be careful, judge! How dare this bastard do this!" Seeing this, Lin Chong also raised his spear and jumped on his horse and rushed forward at full speed, aiming directly at Deng Yuanjue's vital points.

(End of this chapter)