At the end of January, the south wind suddenly stopped.
There was chaos on both sides of the Qingzhang River in Hebei Province.
The Deposed Dragon Gang is facing a formidable enemy, troops and trains are gathering and moving everywhere, messengers are flying all over the sky, and a large number of confusing messages are being spread. In fact, until this time, most people in Hebei still regarded Dongdu's revenge for the Qilong Gang's seizure of Liyangcang as the basis for the battle, and thought that the Dongdu troops in Wuyang County were the main force in this method to defeat the Qilong Gang. , including the head coach of the army, generally believed that he was Uncle Cao Lin.
Until one after another public announcements from the Deposed Dragon Gang were released.
At this time, not only were the appointments of Wei Xuanding, Chen Bin, and Dou Lide, as well as the mind-numbing supervision of spring plowing, but also some additional afterthoughts. Although Bai Hengqiu killed Cao Lin, he was also an official of the Wei Dynasty. Xing is an announcement that he is coming to oppress the people of Hebei.
However, although the news has spread, it takes time to spread, and many people are unable to turn around for a while.
In fact, one thing that makes people feel absurd but realistic is that as the news of the Deposed Dragon Gang spread, the first person who was clearly in turmoil due to this news was actually the one who was still marching in Wuyang County. There are soldiers and horses in the east.
"Are you asking what's going on?" Beside the official road on the south bank of Qingzhang River in Wuyang County, Qu Tuda and a group of close relatives waited for the close guards they sent.
"Asked clearly, someone ran away." The confidant guard spoke concisely. "It turns out that the subordinates of the Great Taibao, who are said to have come from Jing'antai, saw what the Inspector of the Dragon Gang deposed on the roadside wrote with lime on the wall. He immediately believed it, and then wanted to take people back to Dongdu, but was killed by the Seventh Taibao. If caught, he will be executed in public.”
Qutuda nodded without saying a word.
However, the confidant guard looked at his general and asked seriously: "General, is Emperor Cao really killed? Is the Chinese flag fake?"
Qutuda continued to be silent for a moment, and then looked at the guards and officers around him staring at him, and then he had no choice but to answer: "You just understand in your heart, why do you have to ask me clearly? I won't give it to you that night. Have you said anything?"
"If you don't ask clearly, people's hearts will be uncertain." A close staff member next to him reminded seriously. "Isn't this chaos in front of us a lesson to others?"
"The emperor's uncle was not killed, but was defeated and fled to Henan. And..." Qu Tuda glanced at the people around him, but he had no choice but to explain. "And don't get confused. The British Duke himself is also a great master. He led tens of thousands of Taiyuan soldiers out of Hongshan. He also kidnapped Li Ding and contacted General Xue. You are also the only one in a thousand. You are such a talented person, can’t you understand where the overall situation lies?”
"Isn't it true that General Xue has two minds?" A direct team general couldn't help but ask. "Everyone is talking about it, saying that the Deposed Dragon Thief knows more and more than us. One is that the British can't trust us, and the other is that someone has communicated with the Deposed Dragon Gang, and it is very likely that it is General Xue... "
"People wrote this just to sow discord and make us suspicious." Qu Tuda looked a little helpless. "You are all heroes in the military, don't you understand?"
"It's natural to sow discord, but the key point is that according to the current situation, Xue Changxiong does have a reason to communicate with the Deposed Dragon Gang." Another lieutenant sighed. "Once the Dragon Gang was defeated, it stands to reason that Xue Changxiong took the opportunity to go south and recover the area south of Zhangshui. But the British Duke came from Hongshan, obviously to support Li Ding and to prevent Xue Changxiong from getting bigger... Don't blame us. Suspicious.”
"It's not just that." The former soldier couldn't help but get closer and lowered his voice. "In terms of family status in Guanlong Neili, the Bai family is considered to be the first-class family, but the Xue family is also second only to the first-class family... What's more important is that although the British father is tyrannical, he has He is only the second son of Xiaofang in the clan, but Mr. Xue is a serious master of the Xue family. In addition, Mr. Xue is also a serious master. He is only one step away. You may not be convinced, right?"
Qutuda remained silent, truly speechless.
But the close subordinates around him seemed to have no intention of letting him go.
"Actually, Xue Changxiong's matter can be put aside for a while, but my subordinates are more worried about another matter... General, how injured is Zhong Cheng? If Zhong Cheng returns to the Black Tower and recovers after a while, maybe he will recover. It was hopeless but determined to strike the last blow... Then when the two sides were fighting, Cao Zhongcheng suddenly appeared and ordered us to fight back against the British. What should we do? What will the people below choose?" The first trusted guard came to ask seriously. "To say the least, if the British public could easily repel and kill Zhong Cheng in public, how should we deal with it?"
Qutuda finally couldn't shut up anymore... He was already a long-legged general, but he could no longer be a shut-up general.
It must be understood that the long-legged general only affects how outsiders view him, while the shut-up general will affect the loyalty of his subordinates to him.
"What you said all makes sense." Qutuda spoke sincerely. "But why do you think I haven't thought about these things? What if I just thought about it? Things not only depend on these principles, but also the current situation... That day in Ji County, the British father-in-law came in person, you said , what can we do? Anyone who disagrees at the time will be expelled alone. Now that the British Duke is not in the army, there will naturally be some instability. And what about the future? The future will naturally depend on the current situation. The British Duke is coming. , or the armies have merged and the army has stabilized, then it will be natural to work hard..."
"General, why do you need to say more? What if Zhongcheng comes?" Someone asked, unable to follow up.
"Then I won't go against the trend." Qu Tuda sighed. "I clearly stated that I will have to look at the situation when the time comes... Since I am the general, I have to protect everyone's lives. The current situation is chaotic and there is no individual system at all. I will not let you fall into the reverse trend. But if you all agree, no matter whether you return to Dongdu or fight with someone, I will naturally put this first."
After everyone heard this assurance, they chatted among themselves and said no more.
When Qutuda came back to his senses, his expression was actually not very good, because he knew very well that the scene just now echoed the turmoil that happened before, that is, the morale of the army was disturbed and caused a commotion, but his troops did not. They fled, and just a group of people came to "question" them, which was already a big deal.
However, just as he himself said perfunctorily just now, the situation is indeed too chaotic for people to easily draw conclusions.
The Wei Dynasty collapsed rapidly, and the government and army completely lost their legitimacy. The soldiers and horses that originally belonged to the Eastern Capital were confused about their own position, not to mention the upcoming military pressure, the change of coach, and the deception of the top management. Wait.
"If you say so." At this moment, someone suddenly said again. "General, why don't you go rescue those people? Firstly, to ease the situation and not let the Seventh Taibo make people angry. Secondly, it's time to win over more friendly troops."
"Okay." Qutuda thought for a while, but had nothing to say, so he rode forward himself.
Immediately, the surrounding crowd split into two, and the guards swarmed forward, while the remaining officers stayed behind to wipe their sweat in the early spring sunshine.
When we reached the intersection ahead, we saw a mess, corpses, bloodstains, and bound soldiers... However, unexpectedly, the killings did not expand and extend, but instead converged.
It was obvious that the killing had been stopped.
Qu Tuda turned around the intersection, looked at another general Zheng Shanye who happened to turn around, and then lowered his head and moved forward, arriving in front of Duan Wei, the actual marching commander.
"How could you kill your own soldiers like this?" Duan Shangshu was waving his riding crop and severely scolding Ji Zeng, the Seventh Taibao who took action. "Ci Bu Zhang Bing talks about war and military discipline on the battlefield. Is it the same thing now? The rebellion of the troops must be instigated by the officers. What do the soldiers know? Even the officers can only deal with the captain and above, and all others are pardoned. !”
Ji Zeng half-knelt in front of him the whole time. At this time, he repeatedly apologized and called Hu Tu.
Qu Tu and Zheng looked at each other again, each becoming awe-inspiring.
After a moment, Ji Zeng left to finish the work, while Duan Wei looked at the two generals and felt a headache: "Is there also a commotion in your army?"
"Yes." Qu Tuda blurted out. "A group of subordinates almost surrounded me, and they were not allowed to leave without giving me an explanation."
Zheng Shanye also sighed: "Duan Gong, the great Wei Dynasty has lost its decency, but Cao Zhongcheng still has some decency. Everyone is dissatisfied."
Duan Wei took a long breath and looked at the horizon: "This is the truth. What I am most afraid of now is that this old immortal will not recover from his injuries, but will only hide by the river and wait for us to fight. Come here...then there will really be trouble."
Zheng Shanye wanted to speak but stopped.
Qutuda didn't say anything anymore.
Duan Wei glanced at the two of them and said seriously: "Don't worry, you two, I have sent a message to the British Duke, asking him to temporarily change the route. Let's meet at the Qingzhang River in the north of Guixiang City, Wuyang County tomorrow. Then we march on... You two can't even be stable in the army for a day, right?"
"Of course not!"
"Mr. Duan is at ease."
The two quickly bowed their heads.
Immediately, Duan Wei had no choice but to mount his horse and leave.
Seeing this, Qu Tuda and Zheng Shanye faced each other again. After a while, Qu Tuda could bear it. On the contrary, Zheng Shanye was the first to speak, saying, "General Qu Tu, I have a shallow opinion. In troubled times, kneeling slowly If you kneel down too quickly, you will inevitably die quickly; but if you kneel down too quickly, you might as well die!"
Qu Tuda knew that the other party was talking about Ji Zeng, the seventh Taibao who had completely lost his dignity, but he also knew that the other party just wanted to say something to himself, so he simply nodded: "General Zheng is right, I think so too."
Zheng Shanye felt relieved and nodded repeatedly.
In this way, the time came to the night of the 31st day of the first lunar month. By this time, Zhang Xing's garrison remained unchanged for two consecutive days. On the north bank of Qingzhang River in the northwest of Qinghe County, there were seven military battalions, all of which were elite;
Wei Xuanding and Chen Bin have joined together and are located in the west of Jiangling in Pingyuan County. According to the orientation, they are two hundred miles east and north of Zhang Xing's regiment across the river. At this time, they only have five battalions, most of which are military law, sentry and cavalry battalions;
Dou Lide and the 14th Battalion of the Deposed Dragon Army Corps were on their way to Jiangling. They stayed that night in the east of Qingyang County, Pingyuan County, sixty miles across the river to the east of Zhang Xing's Corps;
The soldiers and horses of the other camps have also received military orders and are heading to the general's tomb.
At the same time, Xue Changxiong led an army of 30,000 troops and marched towards Hexian County, the prefecture of the capital. At a position tens of miles away from the north bank of the Qingzhang River, he went upstream in the direction of Zhanghang and stayed at the border of Hexian County and Zaoqiang County that night. One hundred and sixty miles away from Zhangxing;
Duan Wei, Qu Tuda, and Zheng Shanye led the 30,000 elite soldiers of the Eastern Capital in Tianshan, Wuyang County, located 130 miles southwest of Zhang Xing's Corps across the river;
Bai Hengqiu and Li Ding led Taiyuan to recruit 30,000 soldiers and Wu'an County soldiers to 12,000 soldiers, a total of 42,000 soldiers. They were in Qingzhang County, the easternmost part of Wu'an County, a hundred miles away from Zhangxing, and both sides were in the Qing Dynasty. North bank of Zhangshui River.
At this time, Cui Suchen, an important figure at the center of the Deposed Dragon Gang and the one who single-handedly designated the "Law of Deposed Dragon", had been silent for two days in Wuchen County, which was only fifty miles away from Zhang Xing's regiment.
Obviously, the Cui family of Qinghe made a choice that was not surprising at all - Bai Hengqiu must have made a political commitment, while Zhang Xing could always give it, but never did.
"Mr. Duan is overthinking." Under the light, Bai Hengqiu, who was still wearing armor, stood up, flicked the military paper in his hand, and looked at Li Ding beside him with a smile. "He actually thought that Zhang Xing's heart-attacking strategy would delay the war."
"I think that neither Duke Xue's attitude nor the influence of Emperor Cao's message on the troops of Dongdu should be underestimated." Li Ding stood aside, also wearing armor and holding a sword, standing solemnly like a confidant. "It still needs to be taken seriously."
"I know what you mean..." Bai Hengqiu put away the military paper and paced around the tent with his hands behind his back. "Actually, to be clear, I made a sudden move and acted like I was seizing the opportunity to take advantage of the situation. Therefore, although the situation was established, people were not in favor... So Duke Xue was afraid of me, and the troops in the Eastern Capital were unstable. This is all natural... Are the troops and horses here even stable?"
Li Ding pretended not to understand and shouted on the spot: "Indeed, although Bai Gong's soldiers and horses were recruited from Taiyuan, most of the officers are from famous tribes in Guanxi, so naturally they want to take Guanzhong first... I have been chatting with them these past two days. For a moment.”
"But there are also people who support me to attack Hebei first. The local noble families in Jin are very interested." Bai Hengqiu turned around, still smiling. "Huai Tong Guild and Mr. Xue are coming together."
Li Ding nodded immediately, and then returned to the original question: "So, what does Mr. Bai mean? Do you have to let it go and ignore it?"
"Yes, that's what I meant." Bai Hengqiu put away his smile and answered proudly. "The only way to solve this problem is to ignore it!"
Li Ding was slightly at a loss, but almost instantly, he realized what the other party said when they first met: "What Mr. Bai means is that no matter what, he personally leads the main force of Taiyuan's army and pounces on it. As long as he fights After winning, repelling, or even just fighting, the rest of the soldiers and horses, whose hearts are shaking, will put away their half-heartedness and pounce together?"
"Not bad." Bai Hengqiu looked at Li Ding. "Li Silang, you are indeed the most outstanding among the new generation of talents in Guanlong... I am not wrong about the person."
"It's just a comparison. If it were me, I would do the same thing..." Li Dingqian laughed, but seemed slightly absent-minded.
"Then let's do this! Regardless of other people, or whether Zhang San will continue to stay where he is, we will just rush forward. The wiring will be available on the second day of February, and we will fight with all our strength on the third day of February! At that time, no matter No matter how much people in Hebei are in turmoil, no matter how many methods Zhang uses and how much construction he does, he will only suppress him in one fell swoop, regardless of the result, and bite him in his mouth. This way, even if he has something to rely on and cannot win quickly, he will be trapped to death. , just sit back and wait for the deposed Dragon Gang to relieve itself, and Hebei can be determined!" Bai Hengqiu spoke clearly, dressed in armor, and full of momentum, as if he had a plan in mind.
At this point, the British Duke looked at Li Ding solemnly: "When the time comes, I will personally lead Taiyuan to recruit troops for the main attack, and you will be my rearguard!"
Li Ding had nothing to say and could only bow his head.
PS: Thank you Mr. Wu Mu for another alliance.
