Zhao Haiping had also thought about whether he could forcibly capture all the real Shence Army members and those rich children and let them go to the battlefield?

After thinking about it, I came to the conclusion that it can't be done and it doesn't make sense.

First of all, these rich children are all powerful children with great status and power in the capital. Since they can bribe eunuchs and join the Shence Army, it means that their families must have a strong background and power.

If such a person is hiding, even if he knows the place, can he catch him?

Secondly, the military situation is urgent, and the court has been urging them. With the people under Zhao Haiping at this time, if he wants to capture all these rich children, there is simply no time.

In the end, even if they are all captured, what will happen?

These pampered rich kids don't even train at all. They cried when they heard the rebels arrived on the spot. Their combat effectiveness is not necessarily higher than these ruffians and unemployed homeless people.

Thinking of this, Zhao Haiping could only sigh silently and rush to the battlefield with these three thousand people.

Before leaving, the imperial court vowed: "You take the first step, and reinforcements will arrive soon!"

Zhao Haiping laughed in his heart, basically not having much hope for this.

Reinforcements?

His vanguard is so stupid, and he still expects reinforcements?

If there were reinforcements, they would have been allocated to him by now to fight against the rebels.

The army sets out.

For Zhao Haiping, who has experienced many wars and commanded tens of thousands of troops, it can be said that he is basically stress-free with 3,000 men.

There is often a saying in the art of war of famous generals in ancient times, which is "governing a few is like governing a multitude", or it can also be called "the more troops you have, the better".

This means that it is the same for a famous general who is truly skilled in the art of war to command 3,000 people, 30,000 people, or 300,000 people.

Because a very important point in the art of war is the uploading and issuing of orders, marching rules, marching formations, etc. Real famous generals are already familiar with these and have their own systems, so no matter how many soldiers under their command are added, they will not

Causing confusion in command.

But some mediocre generals are different. The more people there are, the more chaotic they become. Even when commanding an army of hundreds of thousands, it is good to be able to maintain the formation without collapse.

Although Zhao Haiping has not yet reached the state of "governing a few as well as governing a multitude", after receiving the guidance and teachings of two famous generals, Deng Yuanjing and Han Fuyue, he has basically reached a level of 70 or 80 and is able to command tens of thousands of armies.

Combat.

Leading three thousand people at this time is naturally no problem.

It's just that these three thousand people are not a well-trained army. There are many local gangsters, hooligans and refugees who were temporarily pulled over by wealthy children. This is what General Deng Yuanjing clearly stated when selecting soldiers.

Moreover, these people basically know nothing about military matters. How to form formations, how to identify flags, how to recognize military orders, etc. Most of them have no idea.

Time is running out, and it is impossible for Zhao Haiping to train his troops as slowly as he did in the "Eight Thousand Miles of Road Yunheyue" dungeon.

He could only rush to the battlefield with these 3,000 people, while constantly observing on the road, selecting candidates suitable to be grassroots commanders, gradually establishing the organizational structure of the entire army, and working hard to teach this ragtag group of people the secrets of the military.

All kinds of details.

Two days later, we successfully arrived in Huazhou.

But at this time, all the soldiers and civilians in Huazhou had fled to the mountains to avoid the rebels, and Huazhou was just an empty city.

Zhao Haiping had no choice but to order a search in the city.

Because before this army embarked on the journey, the imperial court did not give them any supplies at all. Not to mention sufficient weapons and equipment, even the military rations had been consumed.

It is now at least three days away from Tongguan. If we cannot find food in Huazhou, we will have to go to Tongguan hungry.

In that case, I am afraid that the commander-in-chief Zhao Haiping would have been killed by mutinous soldiers before reaching Tongguan.

Fortunately, after some searching, more than 1,000 husks of dendrobium millet were found in a warehouse in Huazhou.

These things are basically enough to feed three thousand people for three days.

Apart from this, there is nothing else edible in the entire state of Washington.

Obviously, the soldiers and civilians in the city had plenty of time to retreat, and basically took away all the food they could.

After getting these barely edible old rice, Zhao Haiping took people to Tongguan again.

Three days later, three thousand people rushed to Tongguan.

And all the millet collected from Huazhou happened to be eaten.

Zhao Haiping met Qi Kerang, the guard of Tongguan, but after seeing this guard, Zhao Haiping felt cold again.

Seeing that Zeke had nothing to eat, the soldiers all lost their spirits.

Zhao Haiping asked tentatively: "General Qi... Do you still have military rations in Tongguan?"

Qi Kerang was silent for a moment: "General Zhang, you brought the Shence Army from the capital to support you. Didn't you bring military rations?"

Zhao Haiping realized that the situation was not good: "No."

Qi Kerang was silent again, and then said: "That's a coincidence. Of course there is none in Tongguan. General Zhang, we can only peel tree bark together and catch mice to satisfy our hunger..."

The two looked at each other in silence.

Obviously, the situation on Qi Kerang's side is indeed very desperate.

Tongguan only had more than 10,000 defenders at this time. Before that, Qi Kerang realized that the rebels were too powerful and there was basically no possibility of victory in the field, so he retreated to Tongguan. At this time, the 10,000 people under his command had been continuously

After many battles, there was a lack of military resources, and the surrounding areas of Tongguan were ruined and deserted. The condition of these soldiers could be described in four words: hungry and cold.

It can be said that it was not easy for Qi Kerang to restrain these soldiers and keep them in Tongguan without fleeing in all directions.

Qi Kerang was eagerly awaiting reinforcements from the imperial court. When he heard that General Zhang Chengfan had arrived with reinforcements, he was a little happy.

I thought that the imperial court would send at least tens of thousands of troops, as well as a large amount of arrows, armor, food and grass, etc.

As a result, Qi Kerang was also a little dumbfounded when he saw the people led by Zhang Chengfan.

Where is the promised Shence Army?

General Zhang Chengfan's question made Qi Kerang completely stunned.

Just these three thousand people, yet there is no food?

Staring at each other, the two realized that the defenders at Tongguan could only continue to chew the bark.

"General Zhang, I guess you have experienced hundreds of battles. Do you think it is possible for us to defend Tongguan?" Qi Kerang asked.

Zhao Haiping was silent.

He didn't know whether Zhang Chengfan had experienced hundreds of battles, but he himself could indeed be called one.

He had experienced such a tough battle more than once before.

For example, the soldier trial is to lead the gray-haired veterans to defend the city until reinforcements arrive.

But Tongguan at this time is much more difficult than the original Martial Soldier copy.

Because there is not enough food and weapons.

The soldiers are hungry and don't even have many arrows, so why should they fight 600,000 rebels?

Of course, Tongguan is naturally difficult to defend and difficult to attack, but throughout history, the ability to defend key areas often relies not on terrain, but on people.

During the An-Shi Rebellion in the Liang Dynasty, Ge Shuhan led an army of 200,000 to defend Tongguan. However, due to a stupid order from the emperor, he was forced to leave the border to meet the enemy. The army of 200,000 collapsed and the rebels also took advantage of the situation to capture Tongguan and advance towards Chang'an.

Although this was the result of the emperor's blind command, it was enough to show that Tongguan was not a golden city that was absolutely impossible to defeat.

But now that things have come to this, we can only give it a try.

Zhang Chengfan, played by Zhao Haiping at this time, was regarded as the supreme commander of Tongguan, and his status was higher than Qi Kerang. Therefore, he asked Qi Kerang to call all the generals in the army at this time and assign tasks to them in Guancheng.

Let a small force go to nearby villages to search for villagers to help carry rocks and water. If there is food, they will also be recruited urgently.

Redistribute the garrison in various areas of Tongguan.

Convince Zeke and all relatively high-level officers to take out all their personal belongings and distribute them to the soldiers.

Finally, after a simple mobilization speech, Zhao Haiping sent someone to write to the court and once again requested reinforcements and material support.

After doing all this, Zhao Haiping inspected Tongguan, reorganized the city defense, and directed the soldiers to place some supplies and moved stones to specific locations on the city.

In this way, the entire Tongguan garrison got busy, preparing to face Huang Xianzhi's army.

…

The sky is gradually breaking.

Zhao Haiping, who had just completed the layout of Tongguan and was wearing armor and wanted to lie down and take a rest, heard the earth-shattering cry of killing.

In the faint morning light, Zhao Haiping saw the army coming from a distance.

The mountains and plains are endless as far as the eye can see!

Huang Xianzhi claimed to have an army of 600,000, but in ancient times such an order of magnitude was actually impossible to judge with the naked eye.

You can only see people everywhere outside Tongguan.

The so-called "ants attack the city" means that people are like dense ants climbing up the city wall and clinging to the entire city.

At this time, Zhao Haiping was about to see such a scene.

He has experienced a lot of city defense battles, so he naturally knows the huge advantages that the city defenders can gain when relying on geographical advantages.
To be continued...