In the drizzle, a lilac stream of light passed through the air and landed outside the mouth of the Jishui River, which was re-conquered on the northeast side of Juye Ze. It turned out to be Xiong Bonan, the top master of the Deposed Dragon Gang, the Purple-faced King.
When he came here, he ignored the panic of the Qilu officers and soldiers below, found a few high places, and took a look in the rain. Seeing that no masters of Chengdan and Ningdan appeared, he grabbed a horse and immediately followed it. Jishui headed east. Along the way, we saw a lot of well-covered material ships coming and going on the Jishui River. There were also many officers and soldiers on both sides of the river, and there was even some congestion. When we got to the mouth of the Wenshui River on the Jishui River, we saw a huge Pinghe River. A transit military camp was established.
The two sides fought directly for half a year, and the intermittent confrontation in Yuncheng lasted for several months. Xiong Bonan naturally knew that this was the logistics center of the Qilu army. During the attack, supplies were transferred from here, and in the past, they had to transfer back from here. , he and Zhang Changgong had been entangled here countless times.
Today, King Xiongtian also stopped here as usual. Sure enough, soon there was a white light leaping from the military camp. However, it did not take the initiative to approach, but monitored it from a distance. Crossbowmen gathered one after another regardless of the rain.
Seeing this situation, Xiong Bonan immediately knew that this was probably Yu Baimei or Fan Hu who was responsible for transporting the broken rear. Then he didn't bother to meet the other party to demonstrate. He just hesitated for a moment, but first moved to the three supplies and soldiers in front. I chose the nearest one, which also leads south to Pinglu in Lu County.
Arriving at Pinglu, there were some soldiers and horses here, but very few. Xiong Bonan turned around in a circle, but didn't find the person he wanted to see, so he simply left immediately and headed north again.
This time, he bumped into Zhang Changgong outside Sucheng at the junction of the three counties. The two fought endlessly, and soon, when the leader of the Deposed Dragon Gang with a reconnaissance figure saw him during the fight, After the various military villages around Sucheng became obviously empty, they no longer cared about it and turned back immediately.
As for Zhang Changgong, who had taken the title of Sheriff of Lu County, probably in order to ensure the safety of the troops' retreat, he chased the opponent all the way to the edge of Juye Ze, where the water had begun to rise, and then turned back.
However, he returned to Sucheng first, but actually rode back to the transit camp at the entrance of Wenshui River to Jishui... It was a big circle in vain.
"how?"
Unexpectedly, entering a side tent inside the camp, not only was the Yu Baimei that Xiong Bonan thought was waiting here, but almost all the core of Qilu officers and soldiers, including Zhang Xuguo, were here, and in the end The first person to ask was naturally the most impatient Yu Baimei.
"I probably didn't notice it. I just thought that I was in Sucheng originally. I also thought that everyone else had retreated further." Zhang Changgong behind the mask seemed calm and composed, but when he looked at Zhang Xuguo sitting there, he couldn't help but feel The tone was a little more urgent. "Manager, when I sent Xiong Bonan to Juye Ze, I found that the water there had begun to rise, and many narrow lanes had disappeared."
"It's not just raining here, it's also raining upstream, so the water is rising very fast." Zhang Xuguo didn't speak, but Jia Wugen sighed, and continued to look at Zhang Xuguo after saying something. "I estimate that tomorrow we can bypass those swamps and islands and go straight to the city... General Manager, what should I do?"
"How far has our ship arrived?" Zhang Xuguo asked calmly, but he asked a question that he had asked several times before. "If we launch a surprise attack at this time, how many people can we carry?"
Sure enough, Zhang Xuguo's strategy was to survive in death, counterattack first, capture Yuncheng, and then talk about other things.
"Five thousand." Jia Wugen repeated. "In three days, ships from other places in Jishui will come together, and they will have a transport capacity of 7,000."
"Is the morale of the military still stable?" General Manager Zhang continued to ask.
"Every day makes a difference." Fan Hu said one thing. "Those generals have noticed something is wrong and started to make insinuations."
"You can tell them that the news about Qijun's rebellion is false. The thieves attracted by Li Shu happened to vote for us this time. We are ready to use the trick..." Zhang Xuguo thought for a moment and responded seriously. "But don't say specific plans."
Fan Hu nodded.
"So, aren't the managers ready to start in advance?" Yu Baimei also became a little uneasy.
After all, the current situation is that channels for sneak attacks have emerged and it seems that they can be launched. At the same time, they will be under increasing pressure from all aspects every day, which is likely to cause the plan to fail.
Of course, the earlier the raid is carried out, the higher the level of security in Yuncheng will be, the greater the number of troops will be, and the lower the success rate of counterattack. This is also a fact.
"Wait another three days and attack on the sixth day of May." Zhang Xuguo reiterated his original plan under tremendous pressure. "Send troops on the sixth day of May! Send troops on both land and water!"
Everyone was silent.
Next, it was to suffer in the drizzle.
However, after all, the Qilu army did not reach the sixth day of May... On the fifth day of May, Yuncheng's deposed dragon army was the first to lose patience and began to try to regain the town and stretched its arms. Not only was the Liangshan military stronghold pulled out, but even several large The leaders also sent out their own troops to Shouzhang, Fanxian and other surrounding areas. Along the way were Shan Tonghai and Cheng Zhili, who had recovered from their injuries, and led five thousand people to the direction of Pinglu.
Obviously, they must have known the situation in Qi County, and even knew the specific situation. They knew that the Qilu army had encountered unprecedented difficulties in the rear, so they had the confidence to take advantage and take the initiative.
At this time, it is no longer a situation where you can compete if you want to compete with determination.
"Fan Hu."
In May, the rain continued intermittently, as if nothing had changed in the past few days, but now, Zhang Xuguo is calm. "I will only take 6,000 people away. The rest will be left to you and Fan Bao to fight against Cheng Zhili and Shan Tonghai... If you lose, just retreat here and try to hold on. If you win, don't chase too fast. .”
"Here!" Fan Hu's eyelids twitched, but he immediately responded with his hands raised.
"Counter Zhang." Zhang Xuguo came to see Zhang Changgong again. "Please move out immediately. Don't take the Juye Ze waterway, but take the land route. Follow the battle route between General Fan and Dan Tonghai. Find Xiong Bonan quickly and entangle him... before the end. , don’t let him realize our real killer move.”
Zhang Changgong, who was wearing a mask, bowed his head silently.
As a matter of fact, Shang Xia should be cheering up, but for some reason, it feels a little dull instead.
Obviously, everyone is thinking, what will happen after winning?
Don’t we have to go back and clean up Qijun’s mess?
After cleaning up, will we continue to the west, but how many more disasters will Qijun suffer in the process?
It's endless, right?
While thinking about it, Zhang Xuguo put away his thoughts, stood up with the sword in his waist, glanced around the crowd, and calmly issued the last military order: "Send troops."
The generals gathered their strength and shouted loudly.
The fifth day of May, generally speaking, this day is either terribly hot or extremely hot and humid because of the rain...high temperature and rain. A little further south, because the plums are just ripe, it is called the plum rain season, even in Henan and Hebei. Talk about the idea of getting out in the rain as little as possible to prevent diseases.
But perhaps because of this, the deposed dragon army here in Yuncheng instead sent out troops in large numbers, in order to prevent the continuous rain from causing irreversible effects. Try to expand the control area as much as possible and obtain a so-called strategic situation.
Li Shu was originally opposed to it.
He is very clear about the mentality of these leaders and big leaders. It is nothing more than a powerful instinct to demand territory, population, and military resources. He cannot sit still without something that belongs to him. But in fact, due to the obviously superior combat effectiveness of Zhang Xuguo's troops and the many successful suppressions since the war began, this temporary expansion does not make any sense.
Unless the two sides decide the winner, either Zhang Xuguo dies and the strong army disperses, or Yuncheng is lost and the deposed dragon army is completely defeated, it will be difficult for both sides to make substantial progress.
But Li Shu still did not object or interfere.
There are two reasons. One is that as the overall situation worsens, he does not want to really offend these big bosses and leaders, including the old Shan Tonghai men who had been gathered up before, and they have also returned; the other is that Zhang Xing is in white clothes. The enemy's information came over, and he also hoped that this place would look a little better, or at least create a general situation of strategizing and playing with Zhang Xuguo in the palm of his hand.
In a sense, Zhang Xing's comments about Li Shu that night were actually correct at all.
For these two people, some manipulations of the Deposed Dragon Gang had a tacit meaning.
After writing a letter and giving it to Du Caiqian, with a few words of advice, Li Shu lay down in a rare afternoon, and then fell asleep listening to the sound of rain outside the window for a while, with his dreams naturally coming together.
In the dream, the Deposed Dragon Gang seemed to easily defeat Zhang Xuguo and Han Yingong, successfully penetrated the eastern border, and then attracted the response of Jianghuai and Hebei groups, becoming a major force that is difficult to ignore in the world and the actual leader of the rebel army.
At this time, Dawei could not sit idly by and decided to take action before the Dragon Gang could rise. Three great masters arrived.
Unexpectedly, Zhang Xing in the dream did not escape. Instead, he persuaded Bai Yousi and Sima Zheng, who had become masters, to rebel, and attracted the Wu brothers, five young masters and the three great masters. In the decisive battle, Bai Yousi died first, and the old Taoist priest at Taibai Peak lost his Taoist heart and withdrew directly. Then Old Master Zhang could not hold on, and in the end it was Uncle Cao who risked his life to kill everyone else.
But after he escaped back to Luoyang, he had to face the collapsed black tower, and he died in a month.
At this time, he took up the banner of avenging Zhang Xing and went west to the east capital, living in Hebei and the east. Bai Yousi's father, Bai Hengqiu, also went west to Guanzhong, but because of his dispute with the old Taoist priest from Taibai Peak about his daughter's death, he It greatly damaged my vitality.
In the end, the two sides fought a decisive battle between Tongguan and Dongdu. They won the battle and settled the situation. The unfinished achievements of the ancestor Emperor Tang Huang were also in front of him...
However, just as he was dreaming about this, as a heat wave with water vapor came unexpectedly, Li Shu opened his eyes after turning over with a sticky back, and then began to reflect on himself.
That's right, years of being on the run and an earlier experience of vigorous but sudden failure made Li Dalongtou, who rarely had a beautiful dream, regard this dream as a warning as soon as he opened his eyes.
Where does all this luck come from?
Why did it go so smoothly?
Why do our opponents kill each other while we enjoy success?
You know, if you are not careful, if you make a mistake in judgment, if you make a decision that is not decisive enough or the choice is not wise enough, you may die and let others benefit.
You must live, of course you must live to achieve great things!
It must be a big deal!
While he was reflecting, another wave of heat with water vapor came from behind him from the window, which made Li Shu's limbs a little sore and weak. He knew that this was the inevitable result of the rising water in Juyeze mixed with the smoky south wind. ...It is very unbearable. It will probably take another five or six days of rain and the heat to pass before things will get better, but then mosquitoes will breed again and the walls will become moldy.
As soon as he thought of this, Li Shu released a little bit of his true energy to cover himself up and wanted to fall asleep again.
Then, he heard some weird noises.
It seemed like someone was quarreling, there seemed to be some shouting from the direction of Juyezawa, and it seemed like it was just the sound of waves and wind.
Li Shu rarely hesitated for a moment, but rationality prevailed over inertia. He quickly struggled to get up, ready to go out and take a look... At this time, it was still only the afternoon.
After walking out of the door and entering the courtyard, he bumped into the panicked confidant and leader Fang Yanlang.
The latter got straight to the point: "Mr. Li, something bad has happened. The army is here! The city defense has been broken!"
Li Shu was stunned for a moment, really stunned for a moment, and then he forced himself to calm down and asked calmly: "Where did the army come from? How many people are there? Several leaders just went out to regain lost ground this morning, and they came here. They were the ones who retreated first, right? Why wasn't there any other direction to send a message? Besides, with Qi Jun's behavior, could Zhang Xuguo really just leave it alone?"
"Come up from the water! Come from the opposite side of Juye Ze!" Fang Yanlang stomped his feet in the rain, then looked anxious and pointed directly to the south. "Coming from the south! Although the flag is not visible, it is definitely the army! As for the number, how can we find out clearly at this time?! Big dragon head, make a quick decision!"
Li Shu was stunned, and then he fell into an extreme fear, because at this moment, he thought of a possibility, and then made a huge misjudgment-that is, Sima Zheng, or Han Yingong led the Xuzhou camp The soldiers and horses came from the south and chose the fighter plane Juye Zeshui to conduct a waterway raid.
This is really not to blame for Li Shu's imaginative thinking, but rather that he and Zhang Xing had discussed war many times before, and both believed that this possibility existed, and that it would be the most difficult outcome if it happened.
As long as Xuzhou's elite troops are willing to join forces with Zhang Xuguo's Qilu disciples, there is no way that the Deposed Dragon Gang, a ragtag group of people, can be their opponent.
Zhang and Li even discussed that if Sima Zheng or Han Yingong did this, they would simply abandon Yuncheng and Jiyin and retreat all the way to Dahe, preparing to rely on the non-community between Hebei and the East to preserve the core troops as much as possible.
In fact, the subordinates of Xu Shiying and Niu Da were already here.
And now, the Wei army is coming up from the water in the south. Isn't this just the right thing to do? Doesn't it make people panic? Wouldn’t it make people fascinated?
"What should I do?" Fang Yanlang asked anxiously. "Mr. Li, all the big leaders are not here, and King Xiongtian is not here either. There are only seven or eight thousand soldiers in the city..."
Li Shu came to his senses in a daze, opened his mouth, and hesitated to speak, but then he remembered his previous dream, and a strange feeling arose in his heart.
"Mr. Li!" Another confidant, Du Caiqian, also came running out of the rain in a panic. "Make a decision quickly! The officers and soldiers took advantage of the rising water to suddenly attack and approach the city directly. Most of the soldiers in the city were hiding from the rain, so they were caught off guard... It is still raining now, and the leaders of the army are not here. How should we make arrangements? What should we do? Counterattack? Also, Cheng Zhili and Shan Tonghai have just sent an urgent report, saying that they have encountered a counterattack by the Qi and Lu troops on the road, and are fighting fiercely on the north bank of Jishui... King Xiongtian also met Zhang Changgong in Liangshan!"
"Abandon the city!" Li Shu was so excited when he heard the last two sentences that he almost blurted out.
Fang and Du were stunned for a moment, but then fell silent.
"Don't do anything. Don't waste your life. Abandon the city first, gather your troops and leave from the south!" Now that Li Shu had made up his mind, his words became smoother and even more sincere. "Send a messenger and ask the leaders to go west and gather together at Fan County...Fight and retreat along the river, and retreat towards Dongjun! If we don't leave at this time, not only us, but the entire eastern front army will be surrounded. Dumplings!”
Fang and Du did not object. Instead, they both handed over their hands and immediately did it.
If I had to say what I was thinking about, it was just that I felt that this day had finally arrived.
Who makes the two leading figures both pessimists? In other words, except for the powerful locals in the East, which of these outsiders and knowledgeable people are not pessimists?
We've all been waiting for this day.
In this way, the deposed dragon army abandoned the city in panic and retreated hastily, leaving the streets in chaos.
But Yu Baimei, the vanguard of the official army who had just climbed up the southern city wall, was a little unbelievable... This was because the Qijun soldiers were already very exhausted from this raid. It was raining, the water flow in Juye Ze was sluggish, and the waterway was chaotic. I don't know how many ships capsized along the way, and several more ran aground. How many soldiers were washed away, or were forced to wait on isolated islands and swamps. Waiting for rescue, the remaining people who rowed hard were already out of touch, and almost everyone was exhausted.
At this time, although Yuncheng was unprepared and the raid was successful, Yu Baimei, whose troops were already limited, ordered to cease operations immediately after breaking through the south wall. They were hoping to take a short rest while waiting for backup, and even planned to ambush and launch a counterattack when the Dragon Army was deposed to counterattack.
However, many ships were still circling in Julu Ze, and Zhang Xuguo hadn't even gone to the city yet. How could the most difficult opponent in a few months just run away without a fight?
This battle went too smoothly.
Could it be that Manager Zhang is really the person who saved the world at the right time? Is Dawei really saved?
His thoughts were mixed, but without delay, Yu Baimei recovered his senses and did not hesitate. He reported back and urged the generals behind him and Zhang Xuguo to quickly climb to the city. At the same time, he raised a flag and personally led his subordinates to attack in order to quickly Take over the city.
Just like this, about two or three quarters of an hour later, Li Shu, who was hurriedly arranging his troops in the rain in the south of the city, trying to achieve the best escape effect, suddenly raised his head, and then he was stunned on the spot, his hands even trembled, and he wished he could chop himself with a knife. ...Because he clearly saw that the officers and soldiers who had just taken over the southern city wall suddenly raised a familiar "fish" flag.
This means that the visitors are not Xuzhou's powerful enemies at all, but just Zhang Xuguo's troops.
Since Zhang Xuguo chose a sneak attack, it must have been a hasty move. The quantity, quality and condition of the army at this time must be very poor, especially since this guy also divided his troops to deal with Xiong Bonan, Shan Tonghai and Cheng Zhili... ...So the deposed dragon army may not be able to rely on tenacious persistence and timely counterattacks to defend.
But he, Li Dalongtou, easily gave up on this throat of Jishui and the capital of the Eastern Front because of temporary fear and wavering.
"Mr. Li."
Another big leader who seemed to realize something, Zu Chenyan, who came from a well-known family, stepped forward and tugged Li Shu's sleeve. "It's useless to think about it now. Let's go!"
In the rain, Li Shu looked back at Zu Chenyan, who had no shoes on one foot, and nodded expressionlessly. He even asked someone to get a new pair of shoes for Zu Chenyan to put on before leaving.
Speechless that day.
In the next three days, the deposed dragon army gathered in Liangshan unexpectedly discovered that there were not many reinforcements in Yuncheng, and the main force led by Fan Hu also quickly moved eastward along Jishui after breaking away from the battle, turned back to the direction of Qijun, and There is no pincer attack.
This gave them a little hope. With Xiong Bonan and Zhang Changgong actually cheating, they began to concentrate their superior forces and try to counterattack. However, for four or five days in a row, they were still unable to achieve a breakthrough. On the contrary, the influence of the rain became more and more serious. It became more and more obvious, making the situation worse and worse.
By May 14th, the morale of the deposed dragon army had reached a certain level, and the troops officially chose to withdraw eastward, to Fan County.
And on the same day, Zhang Xing, who was on the western front, received an obviously slow report on the sudden changes in military information on the eastern front... But he had no time to say anything because he had just completed the layout of the southern front, which meant that he annexed the Meng rebel army and controlled Bianshui. To the north, after Liangjun's officers and troops took control of Yucheng and the internal servants returned to Dangxian's deployment, he almost simultaneously received a military intelligence report that completely reversed the situation on the entire Western Front.
Specifically, Han Yingong suddenly moved.
The 15,000 people were divided into two armies, the front and rear, and officially left Xiao County. The 10,000 people were in the south, and they obviously wanted to switch their logistics routes and rely on the Huaiyou League's Huanshui supply line; the 5,000 people were in the north, directly Follow the south bank of Bian River to Dang County, which has just changed hands.
This time, no one dared to say that they had captured the five thousand soldiers, because the two opposing armies were too close, and the last great victory made everyone aware of the strength of the Dongdu warriors and the Kansai garrison.
Of course, the most important reason is that Yuncheng suddenly fell inexplicably. It is not clear what the situation is on the eastern front and whether it will be completely defeated. This makes the western front dare not take any action at all.
On May 17, Zhang Xing, who did not wait for Bai Yousi to turn back and never even saw Wang Zhen, who had an ambiguous attitude, was forced to return to Jiyin in a hurry.
At this time, the counterattack on the eastern front failed, and the intelligence that was forced to evacuate to Fan County had also arrived. Jiyin City was also in chaos... Messengers continued to come and go, and the middle and high-level left-behind gang members gathered here began to spread. There was a fierce and chaotic debate, and everyone was yelling at the incompetence of the Eastern Front, but everyone was arguing but could not reach a consensus... Panic and chaos began to spread again.
Even Zhang Xing, who had cheered up a little before, now felt a little depressed and helpless, because so far, at least the Bianshui defense line that he had worked so hard to reshape was completely ineffective.
The hard work of the past few months was in vain.
The annexation of the Meng's rebel army, the introduction of Liang County officials to take over Yucheng, all the little tricks seemed ridiculous at this time.
In fact, Zhang Xing knew better than anyone else that if the government troops pursued him further, whether or not to abandon Jiyin City would become a practical issue that must be considered.
This is something that is difficult for people to accept psychologically, especially when the Western Front performed relatively well with the relatively inferior remaining forces.
"Where is the residence of Protector Zhang Daxuan now?"
In the rain in May, after a day of meetings, Zhang Xing realized that he could no longer get effective advice from most of the gang's senior leaders. As soon as he returned to the backyard of the county government, he thought of one person.
"I moved out and found a place to live in the officials' office next to the county government." Yan Qing was also in a panic in the rain. At this time, almost everyone was in a panic.
Zhang Xing nodded and motioned for the other party to lead the way.
The two of them went to look for Zhang Shizhao without even drinking tea.
However, when he arrived at Zhang Shizhao's residence in the rain, Zhang Xing barged in without even shouting a notice. However, he just came in and took a look. He was stunned on the spot again because Zhang Shizhao was actually packing his damn luggage and all his furoshiki. Got it!
In an instant, Zhang Xing understood why Cao Cao wanted to kill Yang Xiu.
However, understanding is understanding, Zhang Dalongtou did not kill the other party after all. He just laughed dryly at each other, showing their big white teeth, and then left with his hands behind his back, and walked calmly.
It was as if he didn't want to lose his battle and face in front of this person.
Li Shu had been defeated, Han Yingong arrived at any time, it was difficult for the deposed dragon gang to reach a consensus, and Zhang Shizhao was unreliable. After Zhang Xing returned to his residence, he naturally began to rely on his new magic weapon, which was to take out pen and paper. Start trying to make a final summary and analysis.
However, to say that it is a summary and analysis is just to calculate some superficial things on the surface.
First of all, by this time, it is too late to recruit troops, so we need to analyze how many people are left in terms of military strength:
The original total number of troops on the Western Front, including Zhang Jinshu's military inspection team and the local security forces, was 20,000. However, this time they went south to recruit and annex 5,000 to 6,000 troops. In addition to the 4,000 to 5,000 troops from Mangdang Mountain, the total number was about 20,000. Thirty thousand.
There were originally 356,000 people on the Eastern Front, but after this defeat, there should be 30,000 people left... Of course, this number includes the 5,000-strong Po Tai Army and the uncertain number of Juye Ze water bandits.
The total number of people on the east and west lines is 55,000 and 56, which is consistent with what Zhang Xing said when he made an alliance with Du Po Zhen before.
As for the official army, Han Yingong's 15,000 men came from the south of the eastern front and were approaching Dang County; Zhang Xuguo's troops were relatively large, and they should have expanded to the total after taking control of Jibei and Lu counties and recruiting large-scale surrenders. Over thirty thousand.
Altogether there are 45,000 people.
In terms of numbers, it seems that there are still more deposed dragon troops, but considering the combat power, it should be the same.
But as soon as Zhang Xing wrote down an equal sign, he immediately realized that it was still wrong, because many troops of the Deposed Dragon Army were attached to local areas. Once they retreated, the troops would definitely attrition, but it seemed impossible not to retreat, because the counterattack We couldn't concentrate our troops to deal with the Wei army.
Moreover, due to their semi-independent nature and geographical location, the Putai Army and Mangdang Mountain are difficult to play a role in actual combat.
So from this perspective, the troops of the Deposed Dragon Army are actually on par with the official army on paper, or even slightly worse, and their actual combat effectiveness has also fallen significantly behind.
Taking into account the morale of the army, especially the fact that the Eastern Front had never defeated Zhang Xuguo, an old soldier, on the frontal battlefield, it is impossible to say that the actual combat power comparison will continue to decline, or even collapse along the way.
Secondly, it is also necessary to calculate the comparison of cultivation masters, because once there is a gap in the master level, it is likely to cause a strategic gap, which will then trigger a series of collapses in combat power:
The top Cheng Dan master seems to be Dui Zi, because when Bai Yousi came, he exchanged it with Xuzhou Sima, and Zhang Changgong and Xiong Bonan had been entangled on the Eastern Front for almost half a year.
As for the masters of condensing pills, this is a very troublesome thing because they can't calculate it clearly.
Moreover, judging from the failure of the Three Expeditions of the Wei Dynasty and the rebellion of the Dragon Gang, the people of the world, including those within the Dragon Gang and the Qilu officers and soldiers who mainly fought against them, have clearly shown the attitude of a dragon and a snake rising from the land. Many of them were originally qualified. After being involved in the general situation, the generals started to rise one after another, so that every month there were rumors about who might be able to condense the elixir. Zhang Xing himself was one of the rumors, and he was indeed in a strange state that was neither embarrassing nor embarrassing. He had not been in a strange state for a long time. Even if he moves, he might be able to condense the elixir at any time.
Moreover, Zhang Xing couldn't make direct statistics like he did on the Western Front. He could only make a list of these possible masters of condensing pills and quasi-condensing pills.
Among them, among the officers and soldiers, Han Yingong, Zhang Xuguo, Yu Baimei, and Fan Hu should all be considered masters of elixir condensation.
At home, similar people include Xu Shiying, Shan Tonghai, Cheng Zhili, and Wang Shuyong. He can barely count himself as half, and Li Shu's situation is unknown, so he can also be counted as half... Five against four, it seems that he has taken advantage.
But in fact, are there any other masters of condensing pills in Han Yin's archery army?
have no idea.
Did Han Yingong break through to Chengdan?
have no idea.
Are there any masters like Yu Baimei who have made breakthroughs recently among the local officials in the nearby counties?
do not know either.
Will Dongdu City temporarily dispatch high-level combat reinforcements?
Don't know yet.
However, if these are put together, a result can be deduced from basic logic, that is, it is impossible for the answer to any question to be negative.
So, it’s basically a tie here.
In other words, the most basic combat power should now be that the official army is slightly stronger, and the army's combat power should have a clear and obvious advantage, but it is not yet to the point where it makes people feel completely unable to fight.
But at the same time, the situation was taking a turn for the worse.
Zhang Xing sighed and drew a circle again on the paper. It was on the names of Bai Yousi and Sima Zheng that there was a certain probability that Sima Zheng would not leave Xuzhou. In this case, Sisi would become a breakthrough point... This It was the only outstanding point that he could think of at the moment.
Just as I was thinking about it, amidst the sound of rain outside the door, a familiar guard suddenly announced loudly: "Longtou, Protector Zhang Daxuan asks to see you."
Zhang Xing was stunned for a moment, but did not change his expression. Instead, he sighed, stood up, and took the initiative to open the door. Sure enough, Zhang Shizhao, who was standing at the far end of the corridor, clasped his hands, laughed dryly, and walked over with his head lowered.
The two of them entered the house and sat down respectively, but they both felt speechless because the scene before made people really didn't know what to say.
Of course, both of them were shameless. After a while, Zhang Xing took the initiative and asked sincerely: "Does Protector Zhang have any advice for me?"
"Yes." Zhang Shizhao glanced at the paper covered upside down on the table and responded sternly. "I heard about the situation, and when I saw Zhang Longtou, he seemed a little at a loss... I felt it was necessary to remind Zhang Longtou about two things."
"Your Excellency, please speak." Zhang Xing also immediately braced himself to answer.
"First of all, no matter what Zhang Longtou wants to do, if he doesn't quickly convince Li Shu and other leaders on the eastern front, it will be nonsense, because once they collapse or make up their mind, you will want to do something again. Whatever, I'm afraid it's just a joke." Zhang Shizhao responded sincerely.
Zhang Xing also squinted his eyes. He understood the other party's hidden meaning - if he wanted to do anything in this situation, he had to work together on both sides.
"Second," Zhang Shizhao continued to speak calmly. "Han Yingong has been motionless. He did not move in time when Ma Hu's army was defeated. Now he suddenly moves. It cannot be ruled out that he is responding to Zhang Xuguo."
Zhang Xing laughed on the spot and wanted to ask the other party, how could Han Yingong and Zhang Xuguo pee in the same pot? If they wanted to cooperate, they would have been invincible a month earlier, and he, Zhang Shizhao and Protector Zhang, would have packed his bags long ago.
However, when the words came to his lips, Zhang Xing swallowed them back and replaced them with a serious question: "Your Excellency, are you saying that because Zhang Xuguo made a breakthrough and opened up the situation, it prompted Emperor Cao and Han Yingong to reach a compromise?"
"The defeat of Ma Hu must also have played a role." Zhang Shizhao immediately twirled his beard and nodded.
But Zhang Xing couldn't refute it. He had even thought of a compromise plan for Dongdu and Han Yingong - for example, five thousand warriors from Dongdu would serve as the vanguard and advance north to join Zhang Xuguo. Han Yingong would lead 10,000 people. The Xitun army went north to ensure that the five thousand people would join Zhang Xuguo, and then they could take ten thousand of them back to their home base in Tongguan or something like that.
It's entirely possible.
Seeing Zhang Xing wake up, Zhang Shizhao hesitated for a moment, probably because he felt a little embarrassed about being caught red-handed while packing his luggage, so he reminded him again:
"This matter is actually easy to verify. Let's see if there is any response from the imperial court in other directions in the next few days, because Uncle Cao definitely wants to do his best to wipe out the Dragon Gang; let's see if Han Yingong is eager to go north, and Zhang It will be clear at a glance whether Xu Guo is eager to move westward..."
Of course Zhang Xing knew this.
On May 18, Dang County fell into the hands of the army again. Unlike last time, five thousand officers and soldiers took control of Dang County without bloodshed, and immediately braved the rain to march north to Yucheng, with their troops directed towards Bianshui River.
On the 19th, there was no resistance from the officers and soldiers of Liang County. Cao Wang seemed to have expected it. This basically confirmed that Zhang Xing was being smart in giving up Yucheng.
Han Yingong, who had switched to the Huanshui supply channel, did not stop for long. He quickly led his troops northward and surrounded Xiayi on the Huanshui channel on the same day.
The internal servants in Xiayi City immediately tried to negotiate with Han Yingong, but Han Yingong refused repeatedly. His attitude was tough and he could only surrender naked in the city. This made the internal servants terrified and uneasy.
On the 20th, the rain stopped for a while, at least temporarily in Jiyin, and the two most serious news arrived in the afternoon and evening respectively.
One came from the eastern front. Li Shu sent Du Caigan to personally deliver the document, informing him that Fan Hu had left and returned to join Zhang Xuguo in Yuncheng, and that he was very likely to attack on his own initiative. He also asked Du Caigan to tell Zhang privately. Okay, he was already prepared to abandon Dongping County and withdraw to Dongjun, and asked Zhang Xing to be as prepared as possible.
This means giving up the base area completely.
It was just a matter of abandoning the original plan.
In the evening of that day, Niu Da, who had just returned to Chanyuan, Ji County, returned to Jiyin in person and met with Zhang Xing.
"Are you serious?" Even though Zhang Xing had been mentally prepared, even though he felt that Bai Yousi could rely on him, his heart was still beating wildly when faced with this news.
"really."
Niuda looked pale. "Qutuda returned and appeared in Ji County, preparing for Luokou Warehouse... This is the news that was sent back and verified by multiple clues in the county."
"how many people?"
Zhang Xing tried his best to ask, but his mouth felt dry.
"Ten thousand." Niuda replied simply. "They are all from Dongdu."
"I know." Zhang Xing's expression remained unchanged, as if that was all he could say. "Go back quickly and take the ship to the south bank if necessary. Contact us at any time... By the way, tell Xu Dalang personally about this matter so that he can understand."
Niuda seemed to want to ask something else, but after thinking about it, he just handed over his hand and turned around to leave.
As soon as the person left, Zhang Xing let out a long breath.
At this point, it is no longer necessary to say more about the multi-pronged encirclement and suppression by the government and army under the coordination of Dongdu. However, in such a difficult situation, Uncle Cao was still willing to throw out Qu Tuda and 10,000 soldiers and horses, who were almost like strategic reserves, and prepared to participate in the encirclement and suppression, achieving a three-sided encirclement situation, and even left Xingyang. Hebei, it was obvious that the Deposed Dragon Gang might want to flee to Hebei. Relying on the repeated situation in Dahe, Zhang Dalongtou still felt a little guilty and his hands and feet were weak.
Do you really want to go away alone and be a knight for a few years?
Thinking of this, Zhang Xing almost had the urge to pack his luggage secretly like Zhang Shizhao. After a while, he really got up and rummaged through the bedside table and took out something that had not been touched for a long time.
That's a compass.
By the candlelight, Zhang Xing could see that the writing on the compass was still clear and unmistakable. And this reminded him that it was time to ask his heart and make a choice.
But after hesitating for a moment, he put the compass back.
Not that he forgot the command.
Rather, Zhang Xing was very sure that Bai Yousi, who had heard the news, would come back soon, or even appear in front of him at any time. He hoped to wait until his heroine came back before making a decision.
He believed in Bai Yousi and the other person's strength and true intention. He was eager to make a decision together with the other person and to walk on a common path with the other person.
If you want to fail, let's fail together. If you want to be a hero, let's be heroes together.
ps: Good night everyone.
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