Early the next morning, the Huai'an army led by Shen Yi crossed the Shu River and continued to march westward, heading straight for Xuzhou.
In order to appear staged, Shen Yi also deliberately accelerated his march on this day to give Zhou Shizhong the illusion that he was rushing to Xuzhou.
Counting the days, almost half a month has passed since Shen Yi arrived north of the Huaihe River. During such a long time, every move of the Huai'an army during the day has been exposed to the Qi people's scouts, so he just moved here. News had already reached the Southern Conquest Army camp, which was only about thirty miles away from them.
However, when the news reached the Zhengnan Army camp, a strange face greeted him in the Zhengnan Army camp.
This man looked to be in his early forties, wearing a high-ranking official uniform, and was sitting opposite Zhou Shizhong in the handsome tent.
It is worth mentioning that this person sits at the top and has a higher status than Zhou Shizhong. The man lowered his head and took a sip of tea, then looked at Zhou Shizhong and said calmly: "General, the news of the southerners' northward movement has reached Yandu. Not only is your majesty furious, but the government and the public are also in an uproar."
"How many years has it been since a southerner entered our Daqi territory?"
"Master Ma." General Zhou clasped his fists and said with a wry smile: "You are the Minister of War, and you also know the situation of our Conquest of the South Army. Last year, the Conquest of the South Army fought for a year, with a lot of casualties. This year, there are two soldiers in the army. Thirty thousand people are all newly recruited soldiers, and their combat strength is insufficient..."
"Besides, the Huai'an army on the south bank is recruiting troops again this year. As of now, the number of southern troops along the Huai River is over ten or two hundred thousand!"
"We were short of warships and couldn't prevent the southerners from crossing the Huaihe River, so we were attacked by them..." This man
"Master Ma" looked at Zhou Shizhong indifferently, with no expression on his face: "The general's family background is ancient, and General Zhou once defeated the southerners with one fell swoop for twenty years. Ma naturally believed that The General’s are only those in the imperial court who don’t know the current situation on the front line or the situation of the Southern Army.”
"Now, there is a huge commotion in Yandu." Ma Shilang looked at Zhou Shizhong quietly and said, "Even the chief of our Ministry of War said that he would consider changing generals. Some time ago, the three chiefs of our Ministry of War, I was called to the palace one after another by the emperor to give lectures.”
"No, even I have been sent down." Ma Shilang sighed and said: "General, you must understand that the battle is so ugly now. It has lost the face of the emperor and the court, and the Ministry of War is also under pressure." Zhou Da The general did not speak, but looked back at his son standing behind him. Zhou Yuanlang immediately understood and quickly brought a wooden box over and handed it to Zhou Shizhong.
General Zhou took the box, held it in front of Ma Shilang with both hands, lowered his head slightly and said: "Master Ma, this is the wish of my father and son. I hope that Master Ma will be with the emperor, the Ministry of War and Prime Minister Ma, how beautiful it is." Say." Ma Xuan, the left minister of the Ministry of War, is a real person of Zhu Li. The surname Ma is his Han surname.
Originally, he was a third-grade minister, and Zhou Shizhong was a second-grade powerful general. The status between the two should not be much different. Zhou Shizhong might even be higher. After all, the status of military generals in Northern Qi was not higher than that of Chen Guo. Less.
But Ma Shilang had an elder brother who was the prime minister, which made his status rise rapidly. Even Zhou Shizhong had to be careful in front of him.
Ma Shilang glanced at the box, with a smile on his face: "What are you doing, General? Ma came here to share the emperor's worries, not to take advantage of anyone." Zhou Shizhong squeezed out a smile on his face. : "Master Ma accepted this box to share the emperor's worries." He said softly: "Here are some of the assets that our Zhou family has accumulated over the years, a total of two hundred thousand taels of redemption notes, and a building in Yandu. The mansion is a little bit of my father and son's affection for Mr. Ma and Prime Minister Ma." Ma Shilang took a look at the box, held it calmly in his hand, coughed, and said: "The general is too polite. , but I have agreed in advance that my brother does not know about the benefits I take from your family." This sentence means that the money can buy him, the minister of the Ministry of War, but it is not enough to spend it on his brother, the prime minister.
When Zhou Shizhong heard this, his heart twitched! On weekdays, this money could be used not only to go to the prime minister, but also to take the prime minister to visit a brothel. Now, this Ma Shilang clearly saw that the Zhou family was in trouble and maliciously raised the price!
But at this time, he had to endure it no longer. Zhou Shizhong forced out a smile: "In that case, after my father and son return to Yandu, we will visit Ma Xiang again." Speaking of Ma Xiang, Ma Shilang shook his head slightly and sighed. He sighed: "My brother went to Northern Xinjiang and has never come back."
"But." He smiled at Zhou Shizhong and said, "But come to think of it, I should be back in a few months." As he said that, he took out a document from his hand and placed it in front of Zhou Shizhong. , said with a smile: "General, this is the troop deployment document from the Ministry of War. The 20,000 troops transferred from Jining Prefecture have arrived in Yizhou, and are now under the command of the General." At this point, he said meaningfully He glanced at Zhou Shizhong and said quietly: "General, I heard that the southern thieves were interested in spying on Xuzhou. Xuzhou is an important city, and we must not make any mistakes. Otherwise, don't say that your Zhou family will be punished by the court, and even the Ministry of War will , I'm afraid I will be punished as well." Zhou Shizhong bowed his head deeply and said: "Don't worry, Mr. Ma, the Southern Conquest Army will definitely defend the territory for the imperial court and drive the southerners back to the Southern Dynasty!" At this point, he looked back at his son, He handed the document to Zhou Yuanlang and said in a deep voice: "Immediately take this document and go to Yizhou to lead the army. Bring all 20,000 people into Xuzhou City and defend Xuzhou without any loss!" Zhou Yuanlang lowered his head and took it. This document, and then looked at his old father with some worry.
Zhou Shizhong frowned: "What are you doing standing there? Why don't you go quickly?" Zhou Yuanlang lowered his head slightly, and then said: "Dad, the Huai'an army stayed at the foot of the Pagoda Mountain near the Shu River all night. The scouts reported that they were still there until midnight. You can also vaguely see movement, and my son feels..."
"If you want to continue chasing the Huai'an army, you need to pay more attention to Pagoda Mountain." After hearing this, before Zhou Shizhong could speak, he heard Ma Shilang on the side said with a smile: "General, is this Mr. Ling? Why do you look so bookish? ?" Zhou Shizhong lowered his head slightly and said, "It's Quanzi. He has liked reading since he was a child. He is a little cautious by nature, which makes adults laugh."
"It's better to be cautious." Ma Shilang clapped his hands and said with a smile: "If it weren't for this caution, the Southern Army would not have been trapped in Haizhou and would not have dared to go out of the city to meet the enemy. Let this Southern Army be in Daqi territory They are running rampant and are now threatening Xuzhou." After hearing this, Zhou Shizhong's expression changed slightly, he glanced sideways at his son, and shouted: "Why don't you go to Yizhou to mobilize troops?!" Zhou Yuanlang had no choice but to keep his head down. The head said yes, then turned and left.
After he left, Zhou Shizhong smiled awkwardly and said, "You are stupid for studying. Don't take his words to heart."
"Zhou immediately broke camp and followed the southern army. No matter what moves they made, our army would be able to catch up in time. If these southern thieves dared to directly encircle Xuzhou, Zhou could lead Wang's division to attack from both inside and outside. These invading enemies should stay under Xuzhou City!"
"Then the general should hurry up." Ma Shilang stood up and walked out with his hands behind his back and said, "I heard that the Southerners' Western Route Army is approaching Xuzhou." Zhou Shizhong followed. Behind him, Ma Shilang, escorted him all the way out of the military camp and put him on the sedan. After the Shilang's sedan left, the smile on General Zhou's face slowly faded.
He silently glanced to the west, squinted his eyes, and then spoke slowly.
"Send the military order, break camp and march westward, follow Shen Qi!"
"Send an order to the defenders of Suqian and nearby counties." General Zhou took a breath, his voice hoarse.
"Be ready to join Xuzhou at any time to encircle and annihilate the southern thieves." The messengers below did not dare to neglect and bowed their heads respectfully.
"yes!"
