On the first day of February, Duan Wei led an army of 30,000 from Dongdu. When Yuan Baocun, the governor of Wuyang County, took the initiative to send an envoy, he passed through Guixiang without entering, and went straight to Qingzhang, which is directly north of Guixiang, the governor of Wuyang County. Water channels, waiting to merge.
However, when I walked there in the morning, I only saw the messenger coming across the river, and the messenger conveyed Bai Hengqiu's oral message.
"The Taiyuan Army is marching westward with all its strength, and the battle will begin tomorrow at the earliest? We just need to follow up from the south bank to prevent the reinforcements and rebels from escaping across the river?" Duan Wei was obviously hesitant while repeating the other party's words, but with his rich military experience, he immediately realized The other party meant it, but immediately turned back. "Do you understand?"
Behind him were the three actual leading generals, Qu Tuda, Zheng Shanye, and Ji Zeng, who became more enlightened after hearing this.
"As long as you understand." Duan Wei responded with awe. "How come I don't know your little thoughts? I'm just worried that I will ruin my soldiers and horses for nothing, and there will be no consequences afterwards... I won't hide it from you, I am also a soldier, and I have similar thoughts in my heart... But now look , The British Lord has already considered that in this battle, we will use our own troops to fight the front line and be the main attack. We only need to be responsible for the containment. Do you have anything to say?"
The three of them did not dare to neglect, and they all raised their hands and saluted to show their approval.
"That's good." Duan Wei continued. "Each of you go back and use your methods to push the troops forward... We will fight tomorrow, and it's only for one day. Can't you, the great general, still be able to maintain it?"
The generals just nodded and hurried away.
In this way, I don’t know what means the generals used to cheer up the troops. In short, the Dongdu soldiers and horses continued to march eastward and arrived at Guantao that night. The next day, they continued to march and arrived at Qinghe before noon. County boundaries.
At this time, Tan Ma came to report that in the camp on the north bank of the Qingzhang River, the red-bottomed word "Deposed" on the deposed dragon army was still in place, and the soldiers and horses were not moved either. Instead, there were many pontoons on the river, still transporting grain and grain. , ordnance, and continue to deliver supplies to the elite military camp of the Deposed Dragon Thieves on the north bank of the river. Not only that, but spies came to report that the base camp of the Dragon-Deposed Army had been repairing fortifications and building earthen barriers and ditches, and it seemed that they wanted to imitate the Battle of Ma Mian River.
On the other side of the river, the Taiyuan-Wu'an troops and horses were mighty, and the Dongdu troops and horses could already see some of the lagging troops across the river.
At this time, the generals of Dongdu knew that there might be a battle on the other side of the river tonight, and whether there was a battle or not, at least the two armies on both sides of the river would complete their camp confrontation tonight, and then face off against the Dragon Army. Make military contacts.
It is precisely because of this that many people's ideas have changed. Some people feel that at the moment, the deposed dragon thief seems a bit difficult to defeat the British public. They can't help but be tempted and want to stand out in front of the British public who has a promising political future. Others felt that the deposed dragon thief seemed to be emboldened and timid, and did not want to lose troops or even lose his life in the deposed dragon gang.
As a result, another group of three to four hundred soldiers and horses actually ran away, and this time they were discovered very late.
"No matter whether he is arrogant or bluffing, he is on the defensive at most. We just need to move forward quickly and cut off the pontoon bridge!" After noticing another commotion in the army, Duan Wei also became fierce at this time and directly ordered the general. . "Qutuda, go! You don't need to worry about this anymore. You don't need many elites. One or two thousand is enough. Grab the pontoon bridge, drive the people away, stand by the river, and cut off the pontoon bridge. That's a great achievement!"
When Qutuda heard this, he knew that he could not shirk it no matter what today, so he handed over his hand and said yes. Then he organized his troops and led the team in person without any hesitation... In fact, this was not just about executing Order, but rather, as a general, an old enemy of the Deposed Dragon Gang and a defeated general who has repeatedly failed to catch up with the battlefield, he has some expectations for the battle ahead.
As for what the specific expectations are, he himself can't say.
On the afternoon of the second day of February, Qu Tuda led a thousand elite troops as the vanguard. They advanced lightly and easily reached the south bank of the Qingzhang River in the western part of Qinghe County...or rather the east bank, because the Qingzhang River runs from southwest to northeast as a whole. The flow direction is more north-south in this section.
Taking this section of the Qingzhang River that turns north and south as the boundary, Linqing County is to the east and Zongcheng County is to the west. Zhanghang and its main camp are located a little north of Zongcheng County next to the river, and there are 100 kilometers away from here. More than ten miles.
However, from this point where the river turned north-south, floating bridges began to appear on a large scale. It can be seen that the deposed dragon army provided great support to the camp where Zhang Santhief was on the other side of the river.
Of course, these floating bridges have long been disconnected, and they were disconnected from the east bank.
"What does this mean?" After Qu Tuda went down to the river to inspect the pontoon, one of the accompanying team generals was slightly surprised. "Our mission is to cut off the pontoon bridge. Should the Dragon Dragon Gang cut off the pontoon bridge themselves?"
"Yes." He joined the army and answered casually.
"Why?"
"Of course they are worried about us going to support the other side."
"Are they afraid of us?"
"That's not necessarily the case..." Joining the army looked at Qu Tuda. "General, the Deposed Dragon Army is more confident than we think."
Qu Tuda nodded slightly.
The rest of the people behind him are also more aware - the British government asked the Dongdu soldiers and horses to cut off the pontoon bridge to prevent the Dragon Army from escaping or reinforcements from here, and the Dragon Army's decision to cut off the soldiers and horses certainly meant to hinder the attack of the Dongdu soldiers and horses. , but it also showed the determination to fight to the end on the other side.
"Let's go!" Qu Tuda looked at the clearly visible Taiyuan-Wu'an coalition forces on the other side of the river and became more decisive. "He breaks down theirs, and we put in ours."
There were many people around who were speechless, so they went ashore together, returned to the official road, and continued to lead the army northward. And sure enough, after walking for another three or four miles, the broken pontoon bridge on the river seemed to be in a hurry; after walking for another three or four miles, it was already You can see a few civilian husbands and patrols from the Dragon Gang who retreated hastily.
His subordinates asked for instructions one after another to pursue them, but Qu Tuda rejected them all, and they just insisted on marching along the official road along the river.
In this way, after walking for another three or four miles, it was already evening. On the other side of the river, countless Taiyuan and Wu'an coalition forces began to set up camp. The camp was so vast that you couldn't even see the edge.
The camp of the Deposed Dragon Gang also appeared in the field of vision under the setting sun. It was slightly smaller in scale, but because of the complete construction and the color of the soil and wood, it looked like a huge gray-yellow fortress.
Kutuda stopped his march, reined in his horse and stood in the sunset.
On the other side of the river, the British male Bai Hengqiu, who was fully clothed throughout the whole process, also learned that Qu Tuda was in place. However, when he realized yesterday that the Deposed Dragon Gang camp was not moving at all, he did not pay much attention to the matter. .
"What do you think this guy Zhang San is relying on?" Bai Hengqiu drove for a whole day and was on the horse the whole time. He did not show any of the Grand Master's methods. At this time, he was still on the horse, and he was on horseback. Observe from the height of a small slope.
There were more than dozens of generals around, but everyone knew who the coach was asking about.
"It's nothing more than those." Li Ding answered calmly in the spotlight. "Either there is a great grandmaster hidden inside, or there are a few more grandmasters, or the Dragon Sect has been filled with masters over the years who are able to form a zhenqi army formation...and it should be a large army formation, otherwise there is no need to prepare. With such a specific number of soldiers and horses, the whole army should fight."
Bai Hengqiu looked at the outer base of the Qilong military camp, which was shaped like a perfect pentagon, and said nothing.
On the other hand, the general Liu Yangji beside him frowned slightly: "The army formation is a true energy formation that combines all the soldiers and horses?"
"good."
"Does the deposed dragon thief have this ability?" Liu Yangji asked seriously. "This is not something that can only be done with dozens of masters of condensation. They have to be layered according to their cultivation level, like arms and fingers, in order to open up the formation, cover and lead the soldiers and horses in it. Where did a group of traffickers and pawns come from? What’s the secret to this command?”
"That's not necessarily the case." Dou Qi, another Chinese general, frowned slightly. "You can't underestimate the deposed dragon thief, otherwise the thief will underestimate the heroes in Hebei and the East. When he was in the East, my nephew was easily dealt with, and if you say these juniors are not worth mentioning, Are Han Yingong, Qu Tuda, and Xue Changxiong also useless?"
"General Dou misunderstood. I don't underestimate the Deposed Dragon Bandits. I just said that for the Deposed Dragon Gang, this large army formation is a bit unbelievable." Liu Yangji replied proudly. "You must know that I have never seen many large military formations in the world. Even when the British Duke defeated Yang Shen, he only concentrated the practitioners down the mountain to attack, but did not cover several battalions of soldiers and horses. Who can the third thief Zhang learn from? of?"
"It should be Xu Shiren, right?" Dou Qi sighed. "Xu Shiren has been in the army for more than ten years, and he is still at the level of General Ying Yanglang. There are some things that are really indispensable..."
"But it's still not enough." Liu Yangji thought for a while and shook his head. "I'm not talking to General Dou, but I'm saying that Xu Shiren is not enough on his own. He knows at most a thousand military formations at the human level, but for more advanced things, someone still needs to be taught...who taught him?"
Even Dou Qi didn't speak.
"I taught you."
At this moment, Li Ding suddenly raised his sword and answered in the slightly surprised eyes of the generals. "Zhang San's own family has a long history, and there is always a lack of regulations on military formations. So that when Xue Gong fought that day, he thought it was the Bai family's family knowledge that had been passed down to Zhang San. Later he also asked me about some of the secrets of designing military formations. , I told him some of my own experiences and what I learned from my uncle; in addition, there are not only experienced officers like Xu Shiren with more than ten years of military experience in his army, but also people such as Xu Shiying and Wang Shuyong. , they are also rare young talents who can understand some things with just a few clicks."
Dou Qi and Liu Yangji smiled together almost instinctively. They obviously wanted to say something, but neither of them came out.
"If this is the case, although things are troublesome, we are not afraid of him." Bai Hengqiu's expression did not change. "Because after all, I am still here! If he doesn't fight in person, he won't understand what a great master is! When the time comes, I will hold my own sword and kill this thief and end Hebei!"
Everyone was awe-struck, and they all said yes.
Only Li Ding looked uncertain: "I'm afraid he has a back-up plan!"
"Then I'll trouble Mr. Li to test it out." Bai Hengqiu said calmly as usual. "Since it is expected that he will be able to form a large formation, it doesn't matter if he is ready tomorrow or the next day before sending out troops. We have to be on guard tonight to prevent a sneak attack."
The surrounding generals all said yes.
Li Ding hesitated for a moment, then asked seriously: "It's just a test, don't you need to surrender? Zhang Sanlang is recognized by the world as Sanniang's husband, and he is a first-class person. If he comes to surrender, wouldn't it be a beautiful thing?" thing"
This time, it was Bai Hengqiu's turn to hesitate. He was silent for a moment, his eyes swept over the many generals who couldn't help but look up at him, and he chuckled: "I'm just afraid of humiliating myself."
"Young man also thinks he will humiliate himself." Li Ding said with a smile. "But when I go to recruit surrender, it's only me who is being humiliated. Duke Bai doesn't have to worry."
Bai Hengqiu looked at the other party, nodded, and turned to leave.
Seeing this, Li Ding asked again: "Does Mr. Bai have any words to explain?"
Bai Hengqiu was startled for a moment, and immediately realized that the other party was asking him what political commitment he could give. Even though he had already made up his mind to leave no room for it, he couldn't help but smile bitterly: "If he comes with Sanniang, I, Bai Hengqiu, will Even if I want to give my inheritance to those sons in the future, I’m afraid I won’t dare to, right? If he agrees, the child’s surname will be Bai.”
Many people around him were stunned for a moment, and then burst into laughter, but Li Ding remained calm.
Just like that, after a moment, with the sun about to set, Li Ding asked Su Jingfang to raise the flag, called his subordinate Wang Chenxing to invite people to come as a guard, and then went straight to the north of the Dragon Army camp.
When he arrived at the camp, he reported his name. Within a moment, Zhang Xing rode out of the camp on a yellow gelding horse and led Wang Xiongdan and more than ten other horsemen out of the camp, but he did not bring any flags.
The two sides handed over their horses, and the knight behind him fell more than ten steps away, allowing the two to talk.
"Why do you have dark circles under your eyes?" Li Ding smiled.
"I've been really tired these past few days... You taught me this camp, and it was really troublesome to build it." Zhang Xing, who had sunken eyes, also smiled. "You are obviously in good spirits."
"The future of military affairs has been properly arranged by Duke Bai. There is no need to worry about anything, and you will naturally be in good spirits." Li Ding responded with a smile. "Stop talking, Bai Gong asked me to ask you, is there still room to turn back after what happened now?"
"I have a word of conscience." Zhang Xing thought for a while and answered sincerely. "I really thought about surrendering this time, but it was the night after I received Xue Changxiong's letter three or four days ago and learned about the situation... and after I made the decision that night, I would no longer consider surrendering... Tell Bai Hengqiu that Old thief, if he wants to fight, he will fight, and I will just wait for him here."
Li Ding nodded and reminded again: "But this time you lose more than you win, and once you lose, you are likely to be beyond redemption."
"So what?" Zhang Xing asked immediately. "what else?"
"Mr. Bai asked me to ask, can you tell him what else you rely on besides this immovable Qi formation?" Li Ding continued to ask, causing a slight commotion in front of and behind him.
Is this okay to ask?
Will you answer the question?
Zhang Xing leaned over, looked at the dozen knights behind him, and suddenly laughed: "Yes, our biggest reliance is Hebei Yiyi. Not only Xue Changxiong, but also Feng Wuyi also promised to defect in secret. As long as We hold on, and the soldiers and horses of Taiyuan gradually become exhausted. The so-called army encirclement and suppression of the Long Gang will become Hebei against Jin. We encircle and kill Bai Hengqiu... Li Silang, since the Wei Dynasty has reached this level, where can we go? What are the officers and soldiers and rebels? Even if there are officers and soldiers, it’s not Bai Hengqiu and Xue Changxiong, right?"
The knights on both sides were in commotion again, but they seemed to be a little panicked.
Li Ding's expression changed slightly, but then he shook his head: "Even if there are no official troops and rebels, there are also Guanlong and the rebels. How can it be as easy as you said? The matter of Xue Gong sending a message to you is also a rift, right? ?”
"They are people from Guanlong who came to Hebei to establish themselves. All the soldiers are from Hebei, and their food and wages are all taken from Hebei. So, do you think this is a Hebei military town or a Guanlong military town?" Zhang Xing looked at the other party and said proudly, avoiding the direct response. question. "Li Silang, how many of the famous Guanlong clan are from Guanlong? Isn't it the result of the heroes from other places who built the army in Guanlong and made great achievements? Others don't know this truth, don't you Li Silang know? ? Are you and your Wu'an soldiers considered to be Guanlong soldiers?"
Li Ding remained silent.
Zhang Xing continued to laugh: "That's good. If you are interested, I will attack the camp while you are still on your feet tonight. Don't fight me. Then I will know your intentions."
Li Ding finally smiled again: "It's a deal."
Zhang Xing also nodded: "It's a deal."
The two men immediately cut their horses and turned their heads.
But just after returning to their respective entourage queues, the two of them looked back at each other as if they had a clear understanding.
"Li Silang, I have something to ask of you." Zhang Xingxian said with a smile.
"Come on." Li Ding was a little serious.
"If the Deposed Dragon Gang is really defeated this time, and I don't have the courage to die in battle, I hope you will take advantage of our previous friendship and kill me before I am sent to Bai Hengqiu..." Zhang Xing was still smiling. , seems to be joking.
"Are you afraid of surrendering?" Li Ding asked seriously.
"That's right." Zhang Xing also answered seriously. "Three years ago, no matter how big the issue was, I would have risked my life by myself. But now that my foundation is getting heavier and my actions are getting smoother and more reasonable, I am afraid that I will gradually lose the power of the past because of this. Bloody... That would be too shameful... And if you kill me, at least Sisi and close friends like you will forgive me, and for the sake of kindness, they will still recognize me as a hero."
"Okay." Li Ding was silent for a while. Seeing the sunset between the two of them about to set, he still smiled and nodded. "I also want to ask you...Did I say something?"
"Which sentence?"
"If you win this time, I will bow down and let you run around!"
"It seems there is, but I really can't remember it." Zhang Xingye said with a smile. "Anyway, ever since you settled in Wu'an and I came to Hebei, I have been thinking like this... Is it true this time?"
"Of course I am." Li Ding nodded: "I was reluctant before because you have never defeated me. This time I am opposite you. We will win in the end."
"That's good." Zhang Xing nodded and glanced at the sunset in the west. "That's good."
"Take care, take care." Li Ding also nodded.
Then the two of them returned to their camps together with the Supreme Being to the west.
ps: Even though I have reported it to everyone a long time ago, I still have to apologize... I ran out of coffee at the confinement center, and people seemed to be groggy in the past two days, no different from ordinary people who quit smoking.
