sjar Chapter 272: Dispatching Border Troops
Chapter 272: Dispatching Border Troops
Chen Guo.
Guangning City.
A large number of officers and soldiers were entering and leaving Guangning City.
There has been no peace in Guangning City during these few days.
After the Battle of Zhucheng, the uprising in the northeast not only did not subside, but became more and more intense.
Pan Hou, the prefect of Guangning, was standing on the city wall at this moment, looking towards the north with a serious expression.
Ten miles north of Guangning City is Linghe River, and on the other side of the Linghe River is the fortress that the State of Yan had just built.
The people of Chen were naturally extremely unhappy about the emergence of this fortress, but no matter how they protested to the State of Yan, all they got in return was humiliation.
"We shouldn't have negotiated with the people of Yan in the first place."
Pan Hou murmured.
The fortress built by Yan State on the north bank of Ling River was like a sharp knife, almost piercing into the weakest point of Chen State.
After several rounds of troop deployments, there are now 20,000 Chen Dynasty troops stationed on the border around Guangning City.
But this force was completely insufficient to resist the first wave of offensive by the Yan army.
According to intelligence from Chen's frontline spies, the number of Yan troops on the north bank had already reached 50,000, and the area that Chen wanted to garrison was not just the Guangning City area.
The subordinate came to Pan Hou and whispered, "Sir, there is movement from the rebels again. I heard that more than 5,000 rebels appeared near Zhucheng and headed towards Baiyang Town."
Upon hearing the news, Pan Hou looked even more uneasy.
I don't know why the rebels' movements have been so strange these days.
These peasant armies were only active in towns and villages and did not attack cities at all.
This meant that the imperial army had no way to wipe them out.
"Are they going to attack Baiyang Town?"
Pan Hou frowned, completely unaware of the rebels' movements.
Baiyang Town is not a rich place. Are these rebels so powerful just to capture a small town?
"My Lord, it seems that these 5,000 rebels are about to occupy Baiyang Town."
"Which rebel group is this?"
Pan Hou asked doubtfully.
The subordinate replied: "We don't know yet."
Pan Hou felt more confused.
I had heard before that there were traces of rebels in the Qishan area, and I even heard that the Qin family was calling on the volunteers to rebel.
"Didn't the remnant of the Qin family die before?"
Pan Hou couldn't help but doubt.
After the previous battle in Zhucheng, it was thought that the Qin rebels had already reached their end, but now they are back in full force.
Just as I was thinking about that, I suddenly heard an officer come and say, "Your Excellency the prefect, General Wang has arrived."
Upon hearing the name of General Wang, Pan Hou's face showed a trace of displeasure, and then he reluctantly left the city wall and went to meet General Wang.
This man is Wang Qilei, the general of the northern border of the State of Chen. He is in charge of the command of tens of thousands of imperial troops in the northeast. Now that uprisings are constantly breaking out in various places, the Yan army is mobilizing troops again.
Wang Qilei's responsibilities became heavier and heavier, and he had to ask for help from local governors like Pan Hou.
But when dealing with these local officials, Wang Qilei usually used an ordering attitude. When he saw Pan Hou this time, he sat down and asked in a serious tone, "How are the river defenses in the north of Guangning City being prepared?"
"General Wang, everything is ready."
Looking at the bearded and arrogant general in front of him, Pan Hou did not dare to complain to him even if he had resentment.
After all, Wang Qilei's uncle is the powerful official Liu Xiangguo.
If you dare to offend Wang Qilei, you will definitely have a hard time.
After experiencing so many twists and turns, Pan Houcai was able to keep his position as prefect. He handled everything very carefully, fearing that he would make a mistake in any link.
At this time, Wang Qilei said again: "This general needs you to dispatch 3,000 soldiers from Guangning City to join the bandit suppression army."
Transfer again?
Hearing this, Pan Hou looked extremely displeased.
"General Wang, the Yan army in the north has already taken action. The warships have arrived in Linghe. We need to send more troops to defend the north. We cannot withdraw troops from the border army."
It seems that the progress of the bandit suppression in this area is definitely not smooth, otherwise, the border troops would not have been transferred so many times.
Hearing that Pan Hou dared to disobey his orders, Wang Qilei was quite displeased and said, "Just do as I say. The Yan army dare not start a war, so don't worry."
Pan Hou said anxiously, "But they are indeed mobilizing troops, and there are rumors outside that Yan State is about to declare war on Dachen. Hasn't General Wang heard about it?"
Wang Qilei frowned and snorted, "This is just the Yan army bluffing. It has happened before. Governor Pan is so nervous. Could it be that he is concerned about the soldiers under his command?"
"No, General Wang, please don't misunderstand me." Pan Hou quickly explained, "I am just worried that if we withdraw more troops from the border, the enemy will probably cross the river and head south to attack Guangning."
Wang Qilei said disdainfully: "There are so many defensive forces on the south bank, what is Magistrate Pan afraid of? Could it be that the Yan army dares to cross the river and attack under the noses of our Chen army? If they dare, my army will definitely make them fall into the Ling River to feed the fish!"
"But……"
Pan Hou wanted to say something, but Wang Qilei quickly interrupted him.
"Stop talking. This is the will of the imperial court. Could it be that Magistrate Pan wants to delay the entire war for his own personal gain?"
This sentence is undoubtedly an accusation against Pan Hou.
Pan Hou quickly explained, "Of course I don't dare, but I just think that the biggest enemy of our imperial army at this time should be the Yan army. Those rebels don't dare to attack the city now. We can just leave them alone and concentrate on dealing with the foreign enemies."
Wang Qilei said solemnly: "Pan Zhifu, you really don't understand military affairs. Now the rebels are extremely rampant. If they are not eliminated, they will threaten the capital. This is the order of the court. You don't need to say anything more."
This sentence left Pan Hou speechless.
Wang Qilei added: "Tomorrow, you will also lead 5,000 officers and soldiers to assist our army in besieging the rebels in Baiyang Town."
"Poplar Town? Where did the rebels come from?"
Pan Hou frowned.
Wang Qilei turned his head and glanced at Pan Hou, and said in a cold voice: "The rebels have already occupied Baiyang Town. Could it be that Governor Pan doesn't know about this?"
"Captured? These rebels acted so quickly..."
Pan Hou was shocked. He never expected that the peasant army would move so quickly. He had just received news that the peasant army was heading towards Baiyang Town, but he did not expect to hear the news of its occupation now.
"General Wang, are you going to withdraw our Guangning City garrison?"
Pan Hou was feeling uneasy.
Wang Qilei's expression revealed impatience, and he said, "Of course it's from your Guangning City, otherwise what other forces do you have?"
Pan Hou sighed secretly and could only nod and said, "Then I will follow General Wang's orders."
A higher-ranking official can crush a person to death, and this Wang Qilei is the nephew of the prime minister. How can Pan Hou argue with him? He can only obey his orders.