The Zhishi Army turned back, and the Dragon Army that had crossed the Weishui River followed suit. The two armies combined to number more than 40,000 people, and they followed the wide galloping road built by the Wei Dynasty to conquer Dongyi and headed eastward. , Go straight to Dengzhou City.
Under the afternoon sun, 40,000 soldiers with their armor shining like scales and swords like forests formed one piece from front to back. They were also covered by smoke and dust that could not be seen to the end. The smoke and dust undulated and formed continuous strings, like a giant dragon that came to life. , it is shocking.
If nothing unexpected happens, as long as this army relaxes its restrictions and regardless of physical strength, it can reach Dengzhou City tonight. No matter how late it is, it won't be tomorrow.
Besides, Zhang Xing was basically Fang Jingbo whom he met on the way to the march. There were only a few people such as Xiong Bonan and Dan Tonghai beside him. Then he just had a conversation and immediately moved forward. As a result, the army of the Deposed Dragon Gang After crossing the Weishui River, the banner with the word "deposed" was already holding the Zhishi Army, and all of them had turned around.
The whole journey only takes about half an hour.
Therefore, many leaders of the Deposed Dragon Army were simply confused. They originally knew that the Zhishi Army was on the other side of the river, and then they received military orders to complete preparations before crossing the river. They thought they were going to fight. However, as soon as they crossed the river, they came to deliver the order again, saying that it was Zhang Da. The leader has already convinced Zhishijun to defect in person, but now that they are friendly forces, they are even more confused.
As a result, the leaders, big and small, were either curious, worried about Zhang Xing's safety, or simply wanted to control the situation. Others wanted to see what the legendary Chishiro looked like. Most of them hurried forward and swarmed forward. Take a look under the flag.
Zhang Xing could not help but explain one by one, make introductions by the way, and then ask these people to return to the layout one by one - the situation was still unstable, and the deposed dragon army must control the situation and be fully prepared.
However, there are still many people who choose to stay beside Zhang Dalong for various reasons.
"How can my dear brother easily persuade an army of 20,000 to defect?"
Another stream of light green light flew over, and he asked excitedly without even taking the horse, but it turned out to be Xie Minghe, the only idler master on this trip.
Although this guy is already in his forties or fifties, and he usually has an immortal demeanor, in fact, it is probably because his life was abruptly cut off by the great Wei Bingfeng, and his family has been suppressed by the great Wei for decades. In addition, he was probably frightened by the power of Yang Bin, the leader of the Wei Dynasty who destroyed Chen, and went down the river. Therefore, he obviously had a dragon-loving attitude toward the military, so much so that after he deposed the dragon army and suddenly launched the third eastward march, he kept jumping up and down, everywhere. participate.
When he killed Cui Yuanxun before, he had regretted it for a long time because he was late.
Facing this person, Zhang Xing, who was already thirsty, didn't bother to waste any saliva. He just pointed his finger and introduced Chishiro Wanghou to him, and then looked to the other side:
"What kind of people are you two, Gao Sun? You have lived in Dengzhou for a long time. Please give me some advice."
Under the banner with the word "deposed", Zhang Xing spoke like this, but his eyes only looked at the nearest descendant Fang Jingbo. Of course, his meaning was obvious. The other leaders and officers who followed were Bai Yousi and Xiong. Bonan, Shan Tonghai, Zhou Xingfan, Wang Xiongdan, and Jia Runshi also looked at this person.
When Fang Jingbo saw many deposed Dragon Army leaders coming to see him, and his old boss Wang Hou was also there, he was a little cautious, so he didn't dare to speak directly for a while, but thought about it seriously.
Zhang Xing didn't rush him.
A moment later, probably after Xie Minghe mounted his horse, the former ninth leader of the Zhishi Army finally spoke cautiously: "I think these two are both smart people and people with some skills."
"how to say?"
This answer was obviously somewhat unexpected by the surrounding leaders of the Deposed Dragon Army. Many of them raised the corners of their mouths slightly, but there were also many who had no unnecessary expressions like Zhang Xing who couldn't follow up on the question.
"I have three simple explanations." Seeing that Zhang Xing was still serious, Fang Jingbo immediately answered seriously as if asking for instructions.
Zhang Xing had no choice but to raise his hand immediately and urge the other party to speak.
"The first explanation is that both of these two people are of relatively low background. Chief Sun Da was originally from a wealthy family in Pingyuan, and Chief Gao Da was born in the Bohai Gao family. Both of them were educated in both civil and military arts. They were both good at studying and practicing. Before the incident, they He is a prominent figure in the local area, but he was forced to take action by the imperial court... by the Three Zhengs of Wei Dynasty, because if they don't take action, the people below will have to do what they want." Fang Jingbo raised his first finger.
And in the middle of saying this, all the people from the Deposed Dragon Gang couldn't help but laugh. Even Bai Yousi couldn't hold it in, and Shan Tonghai was a little embarrassed... Zhang Xing shouted powerful every day, and the Deposed Dragon Gang The big bosses here are numb themselves, let alone others?
However, Xie Minghe on the side intervened from another unexpected angle: "The Bohai Gao family is fake."
"Impossible." Fang Jingbo, who had long been nervous because of the reaction of everyone in the Deposed Dragon Gang, quickly explained. "The tall leader is from the Gao family in Bohai, and everyone in the world knows it."
"That's true." Xiong Bonan also confirmed.
"That's not what I meant. I meant that the words "Bohai Gao Family" are fake." Xie Minghe waved his hand and smiled. "This family has never been a high-ranking gentry, but a third-rate gentry. They first attached themselves to the ancient Gao family in Dengzhou, and then attached themselves to the Gao family in Huaiyang. Anyway, they gained a high-ranking name through fraud during the war. , it was good to fool those military leaders in troubled times... This is not to mention, later the Eastern Qi royal family moved from northern Shanxi to south, because this was the only family with the surname Gao in Hebei, so they turned around and clung to them. Who dares to say anything about the royal family; and General Gao, a general from Bohai Prefecture in Dongyi, crossed the sea and became a prefect in Youzhou. Now he went to the Northland and became one of the Eight Dukes of the Northland. He also called himself the Bohai Gao Clan. Because of his clever clinging, he was also unable to Distinguish... The result is that, relying on the strongman's forgery and clinging, this famous noble family that was created by fraud has become a famous noble family in Hebei that is difficult to deny in the world. The Cui family of Qinghe can only bite the bullet and admit it. Down."
Everyone was dizzy after hearing this.
However, Zhang Xing couldn't help but chuckle: "It doesn't matter, being able to make fakes is a talent. Besides, according to me, whether it's the Eastern Qi royal family, the Duke of the North, and the Bohai Gao family, they all have what they need... who else can do it?" Do you look down on the Dong Qi royal family because they have attached themselves to the Bohai Gao family? And now, the Dong Qi royal family has branched out to a certain extent, and they don’t care about it anymore."
"That's true." Xie Minghe also sighed. "Sometimes I often wonder, which one is more important, a family that has lasted for thousands of years, or a hero who has been running rampant for a while?"
Most people didn't respond, but when Bai Yousi heard this, his smile remained unchanged, but he raised his head slightly and looked above his head.
Zhang Xing went to see Fang Jingbo.
Fang Jingbo did not dare to neglect, and quickly continued: "The second statement is that since our big leader initiated the rebellion, rebels have been surging all over the world, with most of them in Hebei and the east. But in fact, at least half of the rebels are here They disappeared in the first three months, and most of the remaining ones were annexed... And these two were both fought in Hebei. Instead of being destroyed, they rose to the challenge and became major forces in their respective counties, gathering tens of thousands of people. More than ten thousand."
Everyone stopped making fun of them this time, because it was really remarkable. When Zhang Jinsheng and his like were destroyed, many people in the Deposed Dragon Gang had already noticed the impact of the first wave of poverty and wealth in this troubled world. , will make many people get lost, and they will not know where they made mistakes until they perish. There are many similar people in the Deposed Dragon Gang, but they were restrained by the gang as a whole and did not cause big mistakes.
The most obvious wave was the complete defeat of the first Eastern Expedition.
"The third theory is that after these two men rose up, they did not fall in love with the situation in Hebei. Instead, they fought against all opinions and joined forces to cross the river to capture Dengzhou... In hindsight, it was this move that avoided the Youzhou camp in time. The joint raids on Hebei with the Hejian Camp have been carried out for a long time." At this point, Fang Jingbo paused for a moment and spoke seriously. "I'm sorry to say that if Zhang Longtou hadn't been a wise man and defeated Zhang Xuguo in the battle of Lishan, otherwise, even if Zhang Xuguo had risen, he would have only gone to the west instead of coming to Dengzhou. It is impossible to say that these two people would still be here. We can rely on Dengzhou’s storage and have follow-up ideas.”
Now, more people nodded in agreement.
After all, looking back in hindsight, the opportunity to fight in the Lishan battle was really rare. It was only a strategic window of a few days. If Zhang Xingli had not chosen to attack decisively despite all the opinions, I am afraid that the Deposed Dragon Gang would have collapsed at this time.
Therefore, even with hindsight, we have to admit that the strategic choices made by Gao Shitong and Sun Xunzhi are not a big problem, and can even be called brilliant.
Unexpectedly, when everyone agreed, Zhang Xing shook his head: "If it were six months ago, I would have thought this was brilliant, but now, I feel that the people who stay in Hebei are really wise."
Everyone around was surprised, but after Zhang Xing said something, he stopped talking and changed the topic: "No matter what, what the leader said is correct. Gao and Sun obviously have insights and ideas, and they are not nothing." You fool... then, Chief Fang, what do you think they will do if they know our current situation?"
Fang Jingbo hesitated for a moment, but still told the truth: "I really don't know... Because if I put myself in their shoes, I can't imagine what they can do? The army of the Deposed Dragon Gang came too fast and too fierce, and the situation changed too quickly. ”
"Then I'll ask you this." Zhang Xing nodded and changed the way he asked. "If there were clear rumors before that Zhishijun had made an agreement with us, and they saw Zhishijun leaving the city before, would they have prepared in advance?"
"No." Fang Jingbo still hesitated for a moment on the horse, and his eyes clearly glanced at Wang Hou, who was distracted by something, and then gave a clear judgment. "They are not so confused...because they are in Dengzhou City, and they know better than anyone else whether Shijun has colluded with the Deposed Dragon Gang, and what happened today, I still feel like I am in a dream, What about others? And this is because I don’t know how they will respond, because Mr. Zhang didn’t give them time to react.”
"Then I'll ask directly." Zhang Xing nodded again. "Do you think it's better to give them time to react, or not to give them time?"
Like several other leaders of the Deposed Dragon Gang who had been listening attentively, Fang Jingbo finally realized what Zhang Xing wanted to ask, and this time, the person being questioned did not hesitate at all:
"I think these two are aware of current affairs and very smart. They should be given time to react."
Zhang Xing nodded again and again: "That's good. The army will camp ten miles outside Dengzhou City tonight, and then please go back to the city to meet the two big leaders and say, I invite them to be guests..."
Fang Jingbo was stunned for a moment, and then he immediately agreed, "I'm willing to do my best."
Zhang Xing nodded with satisfaction, and Wang Hou finally came back to his senses and looked at Master Jiu, whom he had not valued in the past, but said nothing.
In this way, on the evening of that day, more than 40,000 soldiers of the Deposed Dragon Army and the Zhishi Army joined forces on the bank of a small river. The small river is considered a tributary of the Weishui River, but it flows out of the mountains in the northeast that are very meaningful to someone... ...This place is about thirty miles away from the foothills and about ten miles away from the city of Dengzhou. Inside and outside the city, there should be 60,000 combined troops of the Bohai Navy and Pingyuan Army, plus 10,000 remnants of the Zhishi Army, as well as countless troops from the northwest of Dengzhou. There are all kinds of escapees in this direction, about 100,000.
After Fang Jingbo received the military order, he rushed into the city of Dengzhou at night. At this time, the city was already in chaos. However, he was not in a hurry to see Gao Sun and Gao Sun. Instead, he went to see the remaining troops of Zhi Shijun who stayed in the city first, and told him clearly. Wang Hou has led his people to surrender, and he wants every family to keep to their own safety, guard their place, and be careful at the same time.
After the message was over, he still did not go to see Gao Sun and Gao Sun. Instead, he found Zhuge Dewei, an important leader under Gao Shitong's command and who had previously escaped from Yidu, and told him clearly about today's experience, and then asked him to pass it on to future generations.
Only then did he meet Gao Shitong.
As expected, Gao Shitong didn't sleep either, and was discussing how to deal with it with several of his close subordinates. After receiving the notification, he did not summon the general public. Instead, he asked Zhuge Dewei to transfer the people into the lobby of the Cang City where he was occupying, and then came to see him alone. Then, after the head of the Hebei Rebel Army listened to the visitor's story and invitation, he remained silent and did not even let Fang Jingbo sit down. He just sent someone to invite another head of the army, Sun Xunzhi, who came over. , also entered the Cangcheng lobby alone, and remained silent after listening.
The time was getting later and later. Maybe he felt that Zhang Dalongtou had trusted Zhang Dalong so much that he could not let go of his kindness. Fang Jingbo gritted his teeth and took the initiative to break the silence: "Both of you, please forgive me for being rude. There are some things that you can't avoid. Yes, can I ask the two leaders, under the current situation, if the Dragon Gang really comes to attack, given the chaotic situation inside and outside the city, even though there are many soldiers in Dengzhou, can they really resist Duke Zhang?"
Gao Shitong remained silent, but Sun Xunzhi smiled bitterly at this time: "Don't say that we are caught off guard now. In fact, when the Zhishi Army was dispatched in large numbers yesterday, I discussed the situation with Gao Gong. At that time, I felt that even if the Zhishi Army and the If we unite together and fight hard, we may not be able to stop it.”
"Not bad." Fang Jingbo responded seriously. "Don't say that the people in the East are incompatible with the people in Hebei. We know that the Shijun controls part of the city defense. We only talk about military power. With Zhang Xuguo's soldiers from Qilu as a reference, everyone understands... To take a step back, according to the Deposed Dragon Gang The current power can only imitate Linzi's old trick of dealing with Xu Pinglang, and no one in Dengzhou City can stop it... Haven't you seen King Xiongtian's ability? At this time, there is an additional White Heroine, who is with seven or eight Ningxia. Dan master."
Gao Shitong finally sighed: "Of course we knew we couldn't win, but the Deposed Dragon Gang came with great force. In just a few days, they killed the two top leaders of our two families, and also seized the Beihai Sea, blocking the way to and from the Beihai Sea. The road...isn’t it clear that everyone is going to be killed?”
"If you want to kill them all, why would Mr. Zhang ask me to invite you two at this time?" Fang Jingbo continued to persuade.
"Isn't it to make it easier to kill us Hebei people?" Gao Shitong shook his head.
"If Mr. Gao thinks so, he will be dead." Fang Jingbo said sincerely. "I speak softly and dare not vouch for it, but the truth is clear... If Gao Gong does not go, he will only live a few more days, but in the end he will surely die and make the world laugh. What will be the difference between that time and those of Zhang Jinscale when the uprising first started? And if you go, you may die, you may be exterminated, but you may also survive and even save the Dengzhou rebels!"
After talking about this, Gao Shitong still hesitated for a while and only went to see Sun Xunzhi, who was also obviously hesitant.
In fact, everyone present knew that since the two big bosses were both smart, they should have been moved. But since they were moved, another issue was involved - although Zhang Xing invited two people, in actual operation, two people may not Need to go together.
And who is going and who is not going is also a dilemma. It is not only the danger of going, but also the danger of what is left behind.
In short, in the current situation, whether we go or not, and who goes, may lead to uncertain and serious consequences.
It can only be said that when a disaster is approaching, the two rebel leaders from Hebei certainly know that they must unite sincerely, but people's hearts are unpredictable. How can the word "unity" be so easy to handle? I think that the reason why the deposed dragon army was able to overwhelm the Qilu official army that day was because they had a little more unity when necessary, and I don't know how much effort it took to come up with this unity.
However, the envoy Fang Jingbo, who knew that the situation was frozen, remained silent and just stood with his head lowered in the lobby of Cangcheng where Gao Shitong occupied.
Of course, soon everyone knew what he was waiting for.
"Master! Why don't you let me go, brother?"
Zhuge Dewei, the introducer who had not participated in the discussion, suddenly knelt on the threshold of the lobby with a plop, and then burst into tears and spoke sincerely. "Ever since Yidu escaped, I have felt extremely guilty. I always feel that I can't do anything to the master! Everyone in the Deposed Dragon Gang wants to kill them all, so let me, my brother, die first! If there is a chance of survival, I will definitely give it to the master. Come here! Please give me a chance to redeem myself!"
Gao Shitong took a breath of cold air, glanced at Uncle Fang Jing standing in front of him, and then at the people on the ground outside the threshold in the distance, then looked at each other with Sun Xunzhi, and finally slammed the table and shouted:
"Fourth brother, what are you talking about? We brothers share hardships and share blessings! Isn't it just a banquet? Let's go together!"
Sun Xunzhi opened his mouth at the side, but he couldn't hold back a single word.
Half an hour later, only half an hour later, the leader of the Hebei rebel army, Gao Shitong, who was born in the Gao family of Bohai, and was probably one of the top five rebel leaders in the world, took his fourth master, Zhuge De, who had abandoned the city before. He was so powerful that he rushed into the military camp of the Dragon Army ten miles away.
Zhang Xing heard the news and led dozens of leaders and officers to meet him.
Outside the camp gate, Gao Shitong, who only had a hundred riders with him, was still thinking about how to speak.
On the other side, Zhang Xing was already far away inside the door and raised his voice and laughed: "Gao Gong! We, the Deposed Dragon Gang, are working together with Gao Gong to fight against Wei. Gao Gong is the leader of the rebels in Hebei, and we are the leaders of the rebels in the east. 豼How can you quietly cross the border, come to our eastern border, and become our enemy?"
Gao Shitong was stunned for a while, and saw countless heroes including Xiong Bonan approaching one person. He knew it was his last chance, but he pointed back and pointed directly at Deng. In the direction of Zhoucheng, he was as sincere as his subordinate Zhuge Dewei before:
"Mr. Zhang doesn't know, but Master Sun persuaded me to do this."
PS: Good night everyone.
(End of chapter)
