When Zhu Yuanzhang heard the report, he glanced at Zhao Erhu. Seeing the surprised look on his face, Zhu Yuanzhang became even more suspicious.
Because Pizhou City has high walls and thick walls, Cao Cao attacked the city for three months during the Three Kingdoms period but failed to capture it. In the end, he had to divert the Yishui and Si Rivers to flood the city before he captured Pizhou.
Now Guo Sheng only has three to four thousand cavalry under his command, and he has no large siege weapons. Even with the mysterious troops and horses, the total number is only six to seven thousand. How could he capture Pizhou so quickly?
Then he thought that Jin Yiwei's recent information was not accurate, and looked at Yang Qi again: "Where did this information come from? Is it accurate?"
Yang Qi bowed and said: "This news came from Zhang Dabiao, it should be reliable!"
Zhu Yuanzhang heard that the news came from Zhang Dabiao, and knew that it must be true, so he asked again: "Do you know how many troops Ma Shiying has in Pizhou? Has that mysterious army ever appeared?"
Yang Qidao: "It is said that there were more than 2,000 people in Pizhou City, and Ma Shiying sent another 3,000 people to defend the city. Unexpectedly, before Guo Sheng attacked the city, there was a sudden commotion in the city, and then someone opened the city gate... ..”
When Zhu Yuanzhang listened to Yang Qi's story, his heart suddenly became furious, and his face became very cold.
He originally thought that when Guo Sheng went south, he would at most take the opportunity to plunder and destroy production in the south.
But judging from what happened in Pizhou, the other party didn't just want to simply disrupt Jiangnan, but wanted to use Guo Sheng's hands to capture the city.
Because Guo Sheng didn't have many troops, he couldn't hold on to the city even if he captured it.
At that time, the people behind the scenes only need to drive Guo Sheng all the way, and they can take the opportunity to occupy large cities in the south of the Yangtze River.
Thinking of this, Zhu Yuanzhang became even more angry and wanted to fly to Jiangnan immediately to skin and cramp the man behind the scenes.
At this time, one of Zhao Erhu's personal guards came over to report that he had just received an order from Zhang Huangyan and urgently summoned him back to Linyi due to mistakes in Jiangnan.
When Zhu Yuanzhang heard this, he gave Zhao Erhu some instructions, and then he took Li Wu and others and rushed all the way to Linyi.
While on his way, Zhu Yuanzhang encountered sneak attacks by more than a dozen groups of rebels.
Fortunately, the number of rebels in each group was not large, and most of them were infantry. They could not block the impact of the Jinyiwei at all, so they did not cause much damage to Zhu Yuanzhang and his party, but their speed was slowed down a lot.
Because Zhu Yuanzhang's speed slowed down, he couldn't help but suspect that the main purpose of Guo Sheng's leaving these remaining soldiers might be to contain the Shandong soldiers.
In this way, Guo Sheng can seize a large area of Jiangnan before the southern soldiers can react.
And if everything goes well, it is not impossible for him to go directly to Nanjing.
Once Nanjing falls, the rebels will surely gain momentum and the world will probably become even more chaotic.
Thinking of this, Zhu Yuanzhang was so anxious that he galloped all the way and finally arrived in Linyi at Mao hour the next day.
Zhang Huangyan was also very surprised when he saw Zhu Yuanzhang. He hurriedly invited him into the palace and told him the bad news again. He said that because spies opened the city gate during the fierce battle, Suqian was also captured by Guo Sheng yesterday, and Ma Shiying had been forced to retreat to Huai'an. area.
Because Guo Sheng defeated two cities in a row and gained great prestige, many refugees and rebels joined him one after another. He now has nearly 20,000 people under his command.
Zhu Yuanzhang had thought of this possibility on the way here, but he didn't expect it to happen so quickly.
Especially since the city dedication had already occurred in Pizhou before, and Ma Shiying had six to seven thousand men, it was not difficult to hold on to Suqian. Unexpectedly, it fell again in less than a day.
Zhu Yuanzhang was silent for a while and then asked Zhang Huang: "How is the situation in Jiangnan now?"
Zhang Huangyan said: "Due to the sudden incident, the incident has not yet completely spread in Jiangnan, so for the time being, I have not heard of troops from other places coming to help."
"Currently, only two generals, Ma and Bo, under the command of Lord Ma, the Governor of Fengyang, and Lord Liu, the Commander-in-Chief of Shandong, are setting up defenses in Huai'an. The total strength is estimated to be between 10,000 and 20,000."
"Judging from the current situation, if Huai'an is breached again, I am afraid that only when Guo Sheng reaches Yangzhou will the south be able to organize an effective defense."
Zhu Yuanzhang thought that Yangzhou and Nanjing were only more than a hundred miles away. If Yangzhou fell, Nanjing would probably be difficult to protect, and he couldn't help but feel worried.
However, when he saw Zhang Huangyan's sad face, he comforted him and said, "Zhang Qing, you are worrying too much. The reason why Guo Sheng went to two cities in a row was because something unexpected happened, and secondly, there was a spy who offered the city."
"The situation is now clear. If he repeats his old tricks, he will never succeed. Moreover, Jiangxi Governor Yuan Jixian has asked Du Yinxi and Shen Yunying to lead their troops. They believe they will arrive soon, so it is impossible for the rebels to reach Yangzhou. "
Although Zhang Huangyan disagreed, he still followed Zhu Yuanzhang's thinking and responded.
Zhu Yuanzhang also knew that this statement could not be hidden from Zhang Huangyan. He said this just to comfort Zhang Huangyan and also give him a reason to appease others to avoid instability in the military morale.
Zhu Yuanzhang then asked Zhang Huangyan about the mysterious soldiers and horses. Zhang Huangyan told him that there should be two mysterious soldiers and horses. One might be the wolf soldiers, and the other should be the southern soldiers. However, who was behind the scenes could not be confirmed. .
When Zhu Yuanzhang heard this, he couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. Just when he was thinking about how to deal with the current situation, he saw Lu Zhenfei hurriedly walked in and said loudly: "Master Zhang, the troops and horses have been gathered, we..."
As he said this, he was stunned when he suddenly saw Zhu Yuanzhang.
After a while, he knelt down and saluted Zhu Yuanzhang.
After Zhu Yuanzhang signaled him to stand up, he said: "Are you preparing to chase Guo Sheng?"
Lu Zhenfei nodded and said: "Guo Sheng is causing trouble in Jiangnan. If Huai'an is defeated again, he may go straight to Nanjing."
"After discussing with Master Zhang and Master Ma yesterday, I decided to select eight thousand cavalry from the three armies to rush to Huai'an under the stars at night. What do you think, Your Majesty?"
Zhu Yuanzhang heard this and knew that this method was the best choice at the moment. He was about to agree, but suddenly thought of the rebels harassing him along the way, and asked again: "If you lead your army to Huai'an, who will encircle and suppress the rebels in Shandong? "
Lu Zhenfei was stunned for a moment, and said with some embarrassment: "The rebels are no longer in power, and they are running around. It may be difficult to wipe them out in a short time."
"Now that we have defended the fortress in Shandong, it will be difficult for them to do anything in the short term..."
Zhu Yuanzhang listened to Lu Zhenfei's story and frowned knowing that he was going to give up Shandong.
"Zhang Huangyan, something bad has happened. The rebels took advantage of my absence to not only attack Weifang, but also attack the grain ships. How about I lead the army to take back Weifang first, kill them, and then rush to fight... ..”
At this time, Ma Jinzhong's loud voice came from outside the house.
When he entered the room and saw Zhu Yuanzhang, he was so frightened that he suppressed his words.
"What did you just say, that the rebels attacked the grain ship?"
Zhu Yuanzhang had some doubts in his heart, but when he heard Ma Jinzhong's words, he asked again. m.
When Ma Jinzhong asked, he hurriedly replied: "Yes... yes, the general has just received news that many rebels suddenly appeared in the Weifang area. They not only captured Weifang, but also robbed a lot of food."
Zhu Yuanzhang frowned and said, "Do you know how many people there are and who is leading the troops?"
Ma Jinzhong shook his head and said: "I don't know. The person who came here only said that there were many rebels, and they did not display the general's flag."
Lu Zhenfei, who was on the side, saw Zhu Yuanzhang's hesitation and said hurriedly: "Your Majesty, as far as I know, the remaining rebel troops in Shandong are no more than 10,000 people."
"The reason they act with such fanfare is to trick us into encirclement and suppression, and buy time for Guo Sheng to attack Jiangnan."
"In my humble opinion, as long as we go south to encircle and suppress Guo Sheng, they will rush to support us. Then we will set up an ambush halfway and catch them all in one fell swoop."
When Zhu Yuanzhang heard this, he didn't pay attention, but frowned and thought deeply.
When Lu Zhenfei saw this, although he was anxious, he did not dare to speak again.
For a moment, there was silence in the hall.
Some people died, but not completely...
