This sudden war was something Shen Yi had not expected before.
According to his original calculations, even if Northern Qi gathered all its forces now, it would still take at least several months to almost complete the gathering of hundreds of thousands of troops.
In fact, this is also true. It is impossible for Northern Qi to suddenly send magical soldiers from the sky and start "going south to pursue thieves."
However, two days ago, Zhou Shizhong's troops began to move southward from Zhending Mansion and Hejian Mansion, and simultaneously attacked Shen Yi's left and right armies.
The documents handed over by Jiang Sheng were also sent by the two route armies at about the same time.
Although Ling Su and Su Ding are both trustworthy generals, Shen Yi also believes that they can deal with it reasonably and there will be no problems in a short time. However, with such a sudden war, he still cannot sit around in Jinan and must go. Take a look at the front lines.
Seeing that he was about to leave, Zhang Jian complained to Cheng and Chen, pulled Shen Yi to the side, and whispered: "Zi Heng, there is no rush to fight for a day or two. You are the first constitution of Shandong, and now Henan The governor and the vassal are all here. Isn’t it inappropriate for you to leave suddenly?”
He paused and said, "At least, it's not too late to finish this meal before leaving."
What Zhang Jian said was about relatively basic human sophistication. After all, those two were also high-ranking officials of the second and third grades in the imperial court. Even if they were familiar with each other, they should not be treated lightly.
Shen Yi thought about it seriously and shook his head slightly: "Senior brother, the meal has actually been finished, and the things that need to be explained have been explained. The rest is nothing more than chatting, or taking them to the pavilion to listen to music. "
"Although I don't have to go to the battlefield personally, and I don't have to personally command, but I can't still eat, drink and have fun in Jinan at this moment."
He looked serious and whispered: "When I was in Jiangdu, I heard a poem sung by an old soldier. Would you like to hear it, senior brother?"
Zhang Jian frowned: "What poem?"
"The warrior army is half dead and alive."
"There is still singing and dancing under the beauty's tent."
Zhang Jian was stunned when he heard this, then shook his head helplessly: "If you advise me, just advise me. Why do you always blame others?"
Mr. Shen shook his head and smiled: "Because I didn't write it."
He looked at the direction of Cheng Tingzhi and the two men, and said: "Brother, I will leave for the front line now. These two are here to receive me. Among them, Cheng Futai is an upright person and will not be so idle. As for Chen Yu..."
Mr. Shen narrowed his eyes slightly and said softly: "If he wants to be angry, just get angry. Now, I don't have to care what he thinks."
Zhang Jian nodded helplessly and sighed: "I advise you not to move. Just be careful along the way."
Shen Yi nodded silently and continued: "Northern Qi has occupied Shandong for seventy years. When we cleaned up Shandong, we must not have cleaned it up. Now that the Qi people in the north suddenly rioted, their people in Shandong may also start to move."
"When I go north, I will only take my personal guard with me. My five thousand guard camp will still stay in Jinan, and will be deployed and commanded by my senior brother."
"If someone takes the opportunity to cause trouble."
Marquis Shen took a deep breath and showed his murderous intent: "Immediately strike hard to frighten Xiao Xiao."
At his level, the so-called heavy hand basically means killing without mercy.
Zhang Jian looked solemn, nodded and said, "I understand."
After the two briefly discussed for a few words, Shen Yi returned to the room, raised his hands to Cheng and Chen and said: "My lords, the military situation is urgent and cannot be delayed. Shen will leave Jinan immediately. If you two have nothing to do, you can come here." If you stay in Jinan for a few more days, my senior brother will entertain you two well."
Cheng Tingzhi and Chen Yu quickly returned the gift.
Cheng Futai said seriously: "Zi Heng is busy, I and Chen Fantai will also leave for Kaifeng tomorrow to take office."
He sighed and said: "After hearing what Zhang Fantai just said, I am also a little worried about whether I can serve as governor of Henan."
Chen Yu lowered his head and cupped his hands, and said, "Military matters are important. Lord Marquis just goes to work."
…………
Hejian Mansion, Zuo Route Army Camp.
When Shen Yi arrived in a hurry, the left route army had been fighting fiercely with Zhou Shizhong's troops for more than four days.
The fighting was extremely fierce.
Zhou Shizhong's troops had almost 50,000 to 60,000 troops in Hejian Prefecture. They began to advance southward in an all-round way. Even if they were slightly damaged during the advancement, they were not afraid and still attacked the left army.
The left army's strength was slightly weaker. In four or five days, it had been forced back more than fifty miles. If it retreated further south, it would have retreated to Shandong.
After Shen Yi arrived at the Zuo Route Army camp, Su Ding and others immediately came to pay their respects. Without hesitation, Lord Shen immediately raised his tent at the Central Army camp and summoned the senior generals of the Left Route Army for discussion.
Soon, except for the generals who were directing the war on the front line, all the other generals gathered in the Chinese army's tent. Shen Yi looked around at everyone and frowned: "What's the situation now?"
Su Ding took a deep breath and said: "Mr. Shen, the last general has been sending people to keep an eye on Hejian Mansion. Zhou Shizhong's department has not added any troops."
"However, they suddenly went crazy and stormed our camp, forcing us to even withdraw from Jiaohe County and retreat all the way here."
After Su Ding finished speaking, the generals below began to report to Shen Yi what they knew about the battle situation.
Mr. Shen rubbed his temples and let all kinds of news be summarized in his mind. After a while, after these generals had finished speaking, he slowly opened his eyes.
"How's the battle going?"
Su Ding said seriously: "When we were in Jiaohe County, we had artillery and a large amount of gunpowder, which caused them a lot of losses. They lost at least two to three thousand lives in Jiaohe County."
"In the past few days, Beiqi's casualties have been more than double ours."
"But even so, they seem to be unafraid of death and are still advancing south."
"In the past few days, the last general has also read the news from the Di newspaper department. Before the war broke out, Northern Qi should have sent an imperial envoy to Hejian Mansion. A few days later, the Zhou family and his son, who were originally stubborn, went crazy. Start attacking our army."
Shen Yi was thoughtful.
This makes sense.
After all, he had tried to provoke Hu and Han in the Northern Qi Dynasty. Now Zhu Li, the real person in the north, could not trust Zhou Shizhong and sent an imperial envoy to put pressure on him and force him to go out of Hejian Mansion to fight. There is no logical problem with this whole thing.
But looking at the overall situation, it is problematic.
Because Northern Qi has suffered many defeats in a row, they are suffering from the overall situation.
According to Zhou Shizhong's current style of play, he has to kill two people before he can be replaced by another Huai'an army. This kind of bottomless consumption of his own strength, even if it can be effective in a short time and regain some land, in the long run, it is tantamount to drinking poison to quench thirst.
It will only make the entire Northern Qi die faster.
In a country as big as Northern Qi, even if Emperor Zhaowu couldn't figure it out, there would always be smart people. Moreover, Emperor Yongping of Northern Qi did a pretty good job. There must be many people in the court who could see the situation clearly. How could they just sit back and watch? Does this happen?
Shen Yi pondered for a long time, but still couldn't figure out the cause and effect. After being silent for a while, he slowly said: "Then Ling Su's place should be similar to here."
"yes."
Su Ding nodded and said: "The general has communicated with General Ling, and the same is true for him. I guess..."
"Is it because the war in Henan made Zhou Shizhong or the Northern Qi court so anxious that they wanted to use a fierce attack to stop the war in Henan?"
Shen Yi shook his head slightly.
"Ignorant people like Zhou Shizhong are not enough for me to mobilize troops from Henan to return reinforcements."
He said slowly: "Let's fight like this for two days, then I'll see if..."
Before he could finish speaking, a messenger from outside the tent hurriedly came to report. He lowered his head and said, "Master Marquis, Deputy Marshal Du of the Internal Guard wants to see you. He is already outside."
Shen Yi stood up.
"Let him in."
Du Yong, the commander of the inner guard, walked in in a few steps. After seeing Shen Yi, he lowered his head, clasped his fists, and said: "Master Marquis, all the northern frontier troops of Northern Qi have begun to move south!"
Shen Yi was silent for a while, then slowly exhaled a breath.
"Where's the Tatar department? Is there any action?"
"Not yet."
Du Yong said: "The Northern Qi Dynasty sent envoys to the Tatar tribe."
Master Shen raised his head and looked at the sky.
"So, it seems to make sense..."
(End of chapter)
