At night, the moonlight, which has entered the second half of the year, seems a little dim. In the wilderness north of Fanshui County, Wuyang County, Hebei Province, south of Wei County, and southeast of Qingzhang River, there are fields mixed with weeds and crops that are indistinguishable. There is a large military camp. Although the military camps are connected into one, they are clearly divided into two groups, the east and the west.
At this time, there was not much movement around, but in the center of the western military camp, around a large campfire circle, many people gathered around to discuss the situation... There was no way, they had just received an unexpected piece of information.
"What do you think?" After the messenger repeated the information for the fourth time, Zhang Xing looked at Li Ding.
Li Ding was silent for a moment and then asked, "Are you sure you want to listen to my words first?"
Among the surrounding generals, there were the leaders of the Deposed Dragon Army, the captains of the Wu'an Army, and several leaders of the reinforcements from the north. They were clearly distinguished. Even Zhang Shizhao, Protector Zhang and Qin Bao were sitting alone behind Zhang Xing, looking somewhat different from each other. Different from others, they all remained silent at this time, and the Wuyang County meritorious officer who came to report the news also bowed his head and remained silent.
After all, the matter is sensitive, the military situation is serious, and the opportunity to fight is only a moment. At this time, a decision must be made quickly, and this decision may directly lead to the victory or defeat of tens of thousands of people. Zhang Xing asked a surrendered general at this time, and he said it was better to use people. No doubt, the sad part is that you, Chief Zhang, believe him, but the leaders of the Deposed Dragon Gang who have just survived the catastrophe of life and death may not be willing to believe him.
Li Ding obviously realized this.
As for the other generals of Wu'an Army, they are even more sensitive to this issue, and their thoughts are more complicated... Haven't you seen that the only female general, Fan Lihua, has been wandering around in the world? What she wants to know most now is her brother's whereabouts and location, but she has no chance to speak, and she doesn't know how to speak.
Turning around, Zhang Xing wanted to reply, but Xiong Bonan beat him to it: "What did Li Longtou say? Since you have done justice and come to the gang, you are a family. You tell me first, whether it is okay or not." Let’s talk about what’s wrong, so why worry about it?”
Li Ding had no choice but to give an answer: "I think we can immediately send orders to everyone and send troops to surround Bai Hengqiu's main force of the Taiyuan Army early tomorrow morning."
People around him still didn't respond.
Li Ding noticed something strange and went to see Zhang Xing. Behind him, Zhang Shizhao also came to see Chief Zhang.
Unexpectedly, Zhang San asked: "What is the specific plan?"
"To be specific, on our side, we can follow the Qingzhang River to attack Liyang and back the water to intercept it; let Dantonghai be used as bait and stay stationary in Chanyuan; the rest, including the soldiers of Wuyang County and Liu Heifu , Don’t worry about anything, Duan Wei is not worth mentioning, just rush here as soon as possible, and then depending on the situation, surround the Taiyuan Army!" After Li Ding finished speaking, he couldn't help but frown. "What's wrong?"
"Wuyang County is a native of Wuyang County, and Mr. Yuanfu has been operating here for a long time. It is common sense for him to know all the news in Guixiang first, but the question is, is Wuyang County reliable? Is the news true or false? Could it be Bai Hengqiu? Join forces with Yuan Baocun to use them as bait for us?" Wang Shuyong suddenly asked seriously. "These two people are both high-ranking officials in the Wei Dynasty. They must know each other."
Zhang Shizhao raised his eyebrows slightly and couldn't help but raise the corners of his mouth... Why does this sound a bit weird?
However, the Jiyin Xingtai matter is indeed a mess. Although Zhang Xing accepted him here, he can't say much. The same is true for today's military meeting. Everyone is a leader, a big leader, and there is a man with territory soldiers and horses. For the big dragon head who came over, it is better not to put the legacy of the old dynasty prime ministers first, but to figure out what is going on.
"I don't think it's a bait." Just as he was thinking about it, Ma Wei, who was staring at the fire without raising his head, said what Zhang Shizhao wanted to say. "If it's a bait, the premise is that Bai Hengqiu is very good at knowing things. As early as that night when we were still in Dalu Ze, he guessed that the chief could convince Li Fujun and then prepared to go here... But it's us, what do you think, Fifth Brother Wang? Think about it, before yesterday, how many people thought of joining the Wu'an Army? We are still surprised to this night."
"Not bad." Cui Suchen also reminded. "It's not just this. After the battle on the 17th, the army was dispersed. I don't believe that it was Bai Hengqiu's arrangement that Han Yi Gong ran to the west, not to mention that the Dongdu Army was shattered... The situation is now chaotic. , seven out of ten were scattered Dongdu troops to confuse the public, and he could not predict this situation."
Wang Wulang nodded casually.
And Cui Suchen also continued his analysis: "Also, to take a step back, unless Bai Hengqiu is a man of extraordinary cultivation, is there any way to know that we are joining forces at the first time? Or maybe someone sent a spy to report the news yesterday, and now he has sent He lured us into his trap, but why did he use people from Wuyang County? Why did people from Wuyang County help him? It makes no sense."
"Could this person be Bai Hengqiu's secret agent? What plans did he have long ago?" Xu Dalang said suddenly. "You happened to be nearby, so you came over?"
This statement was too far-fetched and even meant to make a point, so that the four leaders of the northern reinforcements, who had no intention of interrupting, frowned... However, Cui Suchen himself did not have any dissatisfaction.
The meritorious officer was astonished and just wanted to defend himself.
However, Ma Wei retorted calmly and immediately blocked the opening: "No, because the situation is so chaotic, it is impossible for Wuyang County to know the key military information at the first time, and what is the key military information? , let’s work hard and let Wu Datou take the lead, and we’ll know in the morning, we can’t do anything fake.”
"Leave this matter to me." Wu Dalang nodded immediately and shook his head again. "No, we still can't fight Bai Hengqiu."
Several people are eccentric, as if they have something to hide.
Now it was Wu Jingfeng's turn. Li Ding glanced at this old friend who could be called a total acquaintance. Finally, he had someone to vent his temper on. He asked coldly on the spot: "Wu Dalang, tell me why you can't fight?! You two were Thousands of people guarded him with hundreds of thousands of people, but now he has only twenty or thirty thousand left, and you are about to mobilize a hundred thousand troops, so why are you afraid of him?"
Wu Dalang hesitated to speak.
Wang Chen looked at him in astonishment and half-smiled: "Is it because this idea was proposed by my master, so he doesn't want to do it?"
Everyone came together to see Wang Chen, who was stunned. Yuwen Wanchou and others cheered up, wishing that the two families would fight.
And Yuchi Qilang couldn't help but mutter: "That's right, the crisis has been resolved. Now it's time to fight even the Grand Master in front of us!"
As soon as this statement came out, it immediately triggered a discussion. Su Mu and others also spoke out one after another, but the generals of the Deposed Dragon Gang just refuted it coldly and forced themselves to distinguish.
Huang Ping's sharp eyes noticed that at this time, his nephew, who was sitting directly to the north, suddenly turned his head and said something in Li Ding's ear behind him. The latter was stunned and stared back.
It was obvious that the Deposed Dragon Gang had some internal information that they were unwilling to share in public with their reinforcements and the newly changed Wu'an Army, and it was not easy for him to ask.
When several leaders of the deposed Dragon Army saw it, they knew that Li Ding knew the whole story, so they stopped caring about it. Xu Shiying even opened his mouth at the right time and explained to several Wu'an Army generals: "In fact, there is nothing to hide. , we are too exhausted, and have suffered huge losses, especially the team generals and the backbone of the first layer, who have been prepared to lose too much, and may not be able to form a large army again, so we really don’t dare to confront the grand master again, so as not to suffer in vain again. Three chess pieces!”
Li Ding came back to his senses and nodded slightly: "Then stagger, ignore Bai Hengqiu, and go south from here to intercept Sun Shunde... The rest of the troops must catch up! Shan Tonghai is coming too!"
Wang Chen and others who still wanted to talk couldn't help but chat with each other.
Zhang Xingze looked at Xu Shiying: "What do Xu Dalang think?"
"It works!" Xu Shiying said more simply. "But is it really necessary to fight? What if Bai Hengqiu bites him to death and wants to turn around to rescue Sun Shunde? Is it really necessary to fight? If Bai Hengqiu really gets angry, he will definitely come faster than the large army. many."
"Isn't that good?!" Yuchi Qilang seemed impatient.
"Since you're not sure, there's no need to go all out." Lu Dawei took the initiative to persuade him. "It's just a waste of soldiers' lives."
Everyone started arguing again. Obviously, after Zhang Xing and a group of Deposed Dragon Army troops made it clear that there were some problems with their combat capabilities, the key point of the debate this time was whether to surround the entire Taiyuan Army to surrounding a partial division of the Taiyuan Army. It is better to simply slow down a step and release the partial troops.
And after talking for a long time, we couldn't come to a conclusion.
So, Zhang Xing simply clapped his hands, and the surrounding area immediately became quiet: "Everyone, we can't waste time. According to the rules, please raise your hands quickly!"
The people around him cheered up.
At this point, without waiting for anyone to say anything, Zhang Xing pointed his finger at the many people sitting here: "The four reinforcements from the north each count one hand, the Wu'an Army Zhongdu Lieutenant and the deputy captain each count one hand, Zhang Hufa and Qin Erlang also count one hand each. Let’s not count it for the time being. General Zhang Gongshen will show his leadership first and then discuss his merits in detail, so as to count his skills.”
As he spoke, he raised his hands. The others looked at each other and raised their hands.
However, among the twenty people below Zhang Xing who were qualified to raise their hands, there was actually a ten-on-ten fight.
Among them, Xiong Bonan, Li Ding, Jia Yue, Ma Wei, Zhang Gongshen, Yuchi Qilang, Yuwen Wanchou, Lan Zhang, Su Mu, and Wang Chenxu agreed to fight; Xu Shiying, Wang Shuyong, Wu Jingfeng, and Niu Da , Xu Shiren, Mang Jingang, Cheng Zhili, Cui Suchen, Huang Ping, and Lu Dawei all disagreed.
"It's better to let Chief Xie and Chief Wang (Xie Minghe, Wang Xiongdan) who are guarding the camp come over again, right?" Xiong Bonan felt helpless and simply looked at Zhang Xing. "According to the rules, the chief's decision is made directly. Whatever you say, just give the order!"
Zhang Xing nodded and smiled bitterly next to the fire: "Weak and tasteless! Today I finally know what is tasteless!"
Some of the people present were obviously confused.
But immediately, Zhang Xing thought for a moment and asked, "In that case, I can do whatever I want?"
No one refuted it, and without waiting for anyone to nod, he issued a military order: "Then try to surround Guan City!"
The plan was decided, and everyone around the campfire immediately cheered up. Putting aside all the previous hesitations, they discussed some details. In the end, Wu Jingfeng was asked to go to see Shan Tonghai overnight, and then go back and tell him if the information was wrong. There was no mistake, so he was asked to turn east to look for Wei Xuanding, Chen Bin and others, and summon troops and horses to come for reinforcements.
At this time, safety comes first.
At the same time, Xie Minghe, who was lazy in sleeping, was finally asked to get up and return overnight with the Wuyang County meritorious officer, asking Yuan Baocun to drop everything and also send troops to help.
Now that we are on the boat, how can we stand still without exerting any effort?
As for the main force of the local deposed dragon-Wu'an coalition forces, they have to rest for the night because the deposed dragon military committee here is really exhausted.
And just when everyone was about to disperse, and the generals of the deposed Dragon Army were about to return to their home camp in the east, Zhang Xing suddenly spoke and stopped someone: "Captain Fan, Fan Lihua!"
Fan Lihua was caught off guard and turned back in a hurry.
Zhang Xing immediately informed: "Your brother is in the Eastern Army Corps."
After saying this, he turned around and followed Li Ding to the Central Army... It turned out that Zhang Xing, Zhang Shizhao, and Qin Bao actually lived in Li Ding's Wu'an military camp.
There was nothing to say all night, and early the next morning, after making food and drinking water for the horses, the whole army set off and headed south.
By this time, the soldiers and horses of all parties in Wuyang County had also come back to life. After walking only fifteen miles, they had just crossed the county seat of Fanshui County and began to bump into scattered Dongdu Army, so that they had to pull out their formations. , two wings of cavalry were separated from the side and front to sweep and isolate, and small-scale battles were everywhere; after walking for twenty-five miles, at noon, they met a group of cavalry led by Dou Xiaoniang... This made the Dragon Army deposed. To cheer up.
There was no way. Although Zhang Xing's repeated counterattacks seemed to be effective, and the deposed dragon army that broke through seemed to be reborn, in fact, for the deposed dragon army, they had been surrounded, fighting, and fleeing, and the whole process Full of combat and non-combat attrition... Wu'an Army's defection undoubtedly opened up the situation completely, but for the Deposed Dragon Army, they immediately trusted this new force with more soldiers and horses than themselves after experiencing so much. , it would seem to be too much... This is also the fundamental reason why the two armies are stationed in separate camps, and the gap between the two sides is obvious, including the uncertainty of the battle last night.
After all, the theory is that the Wu'an Army surrendered the Dragon Army, but the Dragon Army does not have the ability to actually control the Wu'an Army. Not to mention, they even need to rely on reinforcements from the north to maintain balance, but the reinforcements from the north are completely reliable?
Especially in the middle and lower classes, there is a sense of tension and uneasiness from beginning to end.
But Dou Xiaoniang was different. This was the first force of her own that they encountered after breaking through, and it also brought the movement of a main force of friendly forces from her own family - Shan Tonghai received news about Wu Jingfeng in the early morning, and set off early this morning to lead Ji The five battalions of soldiers and horses from Yinxingtai, plus Cao Chen's battalion of light cavalry, totaling more than 10,000 soldiers, have left Chanyuan for Guancheng!
Dou Xiaoniang herself was specially sent to welcome them.
As a result, the main force of the Deposed Dragon Army immediately adjusted its direction slightly and turned to the west of Guancheng in an attempt to join forces.
Not only that, the whole army no longer tried to maintain the formation and control the marching speed. Instead, it tried its best to move towards that place using battlefield maneuvers... After all, at this point, the only way to join the other six battalions was to The safest and best battlefield choice.
In addition, there is another reason, that is, the deposed dragon army just arrived in Wuyang County yesterday. It was still okay, but now, the army of more than 20,000 people on horseback is openly crossing the prefecture and county, and it is still from Bai Hengqiu- Passing on the serious passage between Sun Shunde and Duan Wei, and Shan Tonghai also started to move, it would be deceiving himself to not be noticed.
Sure enough, under the guidance of Dou Xiaoniang, the deposed dragon army was still twenty miles away from the scheduled location west of Guancheng. Bai Hengqiu, who was heading towards Liyang, got the most critical news - Zhang Xing had brought two or three soldiers with him. Ten thousand soldiers and horses suddenly appeared from the direction of the old battlefield and headed towards Guan City.
Before that, they already knew the information about Shan Tonghai marshalling his troops to watch the city.
But at that time, the news could not bring any emotional fluctuations to Bai Hengqiu. The most he could say was 'boy cunning', which would not delay the encirclement anyway... But what about now?
Frankly speaking, now, at this moment when he heard the news, this great master and warlord felt a little panic for the first time in Hebei.
Even after he left Dongdu for Taiyuan, he felt a trace of panic for the first time when faced with the complicated situation.
A trace of fear.
When was the last time? When did you first face a moody "sage" to please you after becoming a master? Or was it the time when he was demoted to Nanling by the late emperor because he was involved in seizing the legitimate son? Or was it the time when I saw Yang Bin driving the Yellow Dragon straight down to Jingkou? ! Or when you and Chonghe traveled to Shu when they were young and noticed a hint of a secret?
Back to the present, to be fair, the Taiyuan Army's raid on the Deposed Dragon Army was not successful, but it cannot be called a failure, because it was the Deposed Dragon Army that was always being besieged and besieged, and it was the Deposed Dragon Army that was on the run, even if it was led by Bai Liben. A small number of troops were surrounded and annihilated. Considering that the Deposed Dragon Army also suffered heavy losses in the battle and flight, this is by no means an unacceptable result.
And if we zoom in to the level of the entire special military operation out of Hebei, the Taiyuan Army is even the undoubted winner.
The reason is simple, don't forget, Cao Lin is dead!
This is the biggest result of this battle. Trapping Cao Lin is a necessary prerequisite for entering Kansai, and it is also the most difficult prerequisite. He has already completed it. In comparison, he failed to encircle the Dragon Army and was unable to unite with Hebei. After all, it's just something I gain but lose my life... Just adjust your mentality.
Not to mention, he was also planning to kill several battalions of the Deposed Dragon Army before leaving, so that even the military operation would eventually become decent.
However, what happened now that Zhang Xing led 20,000 to 30,000 troops southward from the original battlefield?
"Mr. Bai."
Sensing something strange, Dou Qi stepped closer and asked. "How is this going?"
"It's nothing." Bai Hengqiu came back to his senses and laughed on his horse. "I didn't realize that this boy Li Silang was a two-faced man...he was very respectful in front of me the night before yesterday. As soon as I left, he surrendered Zhang Xing, and then led Zhang Xing to go south in turn!"
Dou Qi was stunned. After a few breaths, he suddenly realized, and then he said anxiously: "If this is the case, wouldn't we be in danger?!"
"I'm here, why is there any danger?" Bai Hengqiu glanced at the other party. "And they didn't come to us... they went to Guancheng!"
"Guancheng..." Dou Qi immediately began to analyze. "I'm afraid not only them, Shan Tonghai will also go to Guancheng! We will know the information soon."
"good."
"The Deposed Dragon Army Corps has been maintaining restraint at the back, and now it is likely that they will go crazy and rush there."
"It should be so."
"And Wuyang County..." Dou Qi suddenly felt a little dizzy. "Yuan Baocun of Wuyang County is an old fox. In this situation, he will definitely rebel."
Bai Hengqiu nodded.
Dou Qi immediately came and asked: "Mr. Bai, should we turn around and rescue him?"
"What do you think?" Bai Hengqiu asked.
"I..." Dou Qi was confused, but after thinking for a moment, he gritted his teeth and came to a conclusion. "My son is still in Wuyang. If he is not saved this time, he will be captured even if he does not die. Life or death is unpredictable... so I want to save him selfishly!"
"Selfish?!"
"Yes." Dou Qi said solemnly. "But out of public interest, I think Bai Gong, we really shouldn't waste time here... In the overall situation, Cao Lin is dead, the Eastern Capital is unavailable, and Hebei is untouchable, so we should abandon these things and move west quickly. Something will go wrong again; not only that, if we look at our current war, we were caught off guard and were beaten by them with a time difference of half a day. The coalition forces of Zhang Xing, Li Ding, and Shan Tonghai would definitely contact General Sun and the others half a day earlier than us. , and it was probably encountered in the wilderness, and there was no time to rescue. If we stayed in the city, we would be sold by the people of Wuyang County... So even if we went, we would just save some defeated soldiers and remnant generals, and then fight with them. It’s not worth it for the deposed dragon army to fight tooth and nail for another battle!”
"Isn't your son worthy?" Bai Hengqiu asked quietly.
"In terms of the overall situation, this guy is insignificant. The only one worth considering is General Sun. It would be best if we send a messenger over, ask him to surrender, and then redeem him." Dou Qi struggled to answer.
Bai Hengqiu nodded, then shook his head: "If you say so, I will definitely try to save the person! Whether it succeeds or not is one thing, but it is another to easily regard the lives of his own children as nothing! Dou! General!"
"My subordinate is here."
"Let's give it a try, mainly to support General Sun's breakout. After one attack, no matter whether it succeeds or not, we will withdraw immediately..." At this point, Bai Hengqiu's tone became a little gentler. "As for Mr. Duan and your boy, they are indeed far away, but I think Yuan Baocun is cunning and cunning. After we showed our determination to our children, he became jealous."
"Good enough!" Dou Qi was relieved.
After saying that, the two men prepared to change the direction of the army from south to southeast.
However, before the military order was issued, a captain from below came to report in person, saying that someone wanted to see him.
"Old friend of Dongdu... from the east? His name is Zhang Shizhao?!" Bai Hengqiu was speechless, but he believed the other party's report immediately, because this kind of bizarreness was exactly Zhang Shizhao's style.
Sure enough, a moment later, Bai Hengqiu saw his old friend from Nanya, who appeared in sight riding a slightly familiar yellow gelding.
"Lao Bai." Zhang Shizhao came on horseback and got straight to the point. "You should also know the situation. Chief Zhang asks you to withdraw the troops. It will be convenient for both of us."
Dou Qi was stunned.
Bai Hengqiu suppressed all his thoughts and sneered: "So, he is afraid?"
"I'm really scared." Zhang Shizhao smiled. "He said that it's not impossible to fight head-on, but he really cherishes his own gang members... Breaking through once will reduce the number of troops by 30%, especially the backbone, who will suffer more losses. If he wins again, he will be heartbroken, but it's not interesting."
"Sure enough, I'm scared." Under the western sunshine, Bai Hengqiu responded quietly, but shook his head. "It's just that his gang members are gang members, aren't our disciples disciples?"
"As long as you agree now, anyone captured after noon today can be sent back with travel expenses." Zhang Shizhao knew that the other party agreed and immediately stated the conditions. "Anyone who wants to leave can leave... The same goes for Sun Shunde. We will not arrest him and let him escape directly. If he insists on fighting, we will try to capture him and release him afterwards."
Bai and Dou looked at each other and were obviously moved. This really meant they wanted to talk about things.
"Where is the Dongdu Army?" Bai Hengqiu suddenly asked a strange question.
"Even the Taiyuan Army can go back. If the Dongdu Army wants to go back to Dongdu, of course they can." Zhang Shizhao immediately laughed.
"It's better not to go back to Dongdu." Bai Hengqiu replied quietly. "Sima Zheng took tens of thousands of the original elites of the Eastern Capital to control the Eastern Capital. After a while, Sima Huada would probably bring tens of thousands more elites back to the Eastern Capital... These 100,000 elites of the Eastern Capital back then were made up of the best from all over the world. Our top recruits are all hidden in the Eastern Capital, and we have to send them back again, aren’t you afraid that you won’t be able to sleep?”
"Are we asking them to pay for their travel expenses to go to Kansai?" Zhang Shizhao was still smiling.
"How about leaving it to Mr. Duan and letting him handle it?" Bai Hengqiu reminded seriously. "Li Ding won't let Zhang Xing kill his old commander, right?"
"It's not impossible." Zhang Shizhao agreed simply, but then asked again. "But what if Qutuda suddenly comes to us and asks for our lives, knowing that we are all going to be released?"
"Duan Gong, Qu Tuda, Zheng Shanye..." Bai Hengqiu seriously gave the conditions. "The prisoners of the Dongdu Army are divided into three. As long as the three of them are alive, whoever wants to be taken can go wherever they want!"
Bai Hengqiu watched the other party nod, then looked back at Dou Qi again, but the latter only shook his head slowly... The meaning was very simple, there was no need to mention his son specifically... Bai Hengqiu understood, and finally nodded slightly. , but still did not express his position, just came to ask: "Mr. Zhang, you are the great Prime Minister of Wei. If you come to help me, you will entrust me with state affairs."
"What about power and conspiracy? I'm actually not interested in that anymore. What you can give me is just a Nanya position, which is really meaningless." Zhang Shizhao looked up at the sun and squinted his eyes to calm down. "I just want one thing now..."
"What is it?" Bai Hengqiu asked tentatively. "Is it your long-cherished wish to destroy Dongyi and unify the world?"
"I'm old and I don't dare to think about it anymore." Zhang Shizhao shook his head slowly. "As long as I can see the Witch Clan being solved in my lifetime, that will be good enough."
Bai Hengqiu was completely puzzled: "If that's the case, why don't you help me? I'm going to war with the Witch Clan now!"
Zhang Shizhao remained silent.
Bai Hengqiu squinted his eyes and looked at the other party.
After a while, as a gust of wind blew up the seedlings in the abandoned field nearby, Zhang Shizhao gave a reply: "You are getting old too, we have to try new methods."
Bai Hengqiu stared at each other for a long time, while Zhang Shizhao only stood still on the yellow horse. The two stared at each other for a long time. Finally, Bai Hengqiu reined in his horse and turned around.
Immediately, the Taiyuan army finally turned to the west.
An hour later, the battle broke out. Shantong Haibu, who was well-rested, took the initiative to spread out his position. He did it mentally or not. When Sun Shunde's sentries noticed it, they retreated to watch the city before it was too late. A battle broke out between the two sides in the wilderness.
Moreover, neither Shan Tonghai, who had the superior force, nor Sun Shunde, whose average combat effectiveness was significantly higher than the other party, had any intention of withdrawing their troops, because both sides were waiting for reinforcements.
As expected, the reinforcements arrived quickly, so quickly that Sun Shunde immediately realized that the arrival was definitely not coming from the northwest of Chanyuan to outflank Shantonghai's main force... Sure enough, under the warm spring sun in the afternoon, the dust was flying, The big flag with the word "Deposed" on the red background appeared first, followed by the Deposed Dragon Army, which was far denser than imagined.
At first, Sun Shunde thought it was a large regiment of the Deposed Dragon Army arriving overnight... This was of course very desperate, because he would definitely collapse before the reinforcements arrived... But why did they come so quickly?
A hundred and fifty miles in one night? !
However, a turning point seems to have come. After arriving, the dusty troops stopped two or three miles away from the battlefield to organize their formation... This seemed to be an opportunity, or it represented a little opportunity.
"Chief Zhang, we can just rush into this situation! I am willing to be the vanguard!" Yuchi Qilang was obviously full of fighting spirit.
"One stick of incense will take you to surrender, but if that doesn't work, you will be the vanguard." Zhang Xing raised a finger and then looked at Xiong Bonan. "King of Heaven, go and tell Sun Shunde that Bai Hengqiu will not come. No matter when he escapes today, we will not pursue him... The war is meaningless. Try to avoid unnecessary casualties."
Xiong Bonan nodded in understanding, and the iconic purple clouds rose, immediately attracting the attention of the entire battlefield.
The same was true for Sun Shunde. He stared at the purple cloud falling in front of his flag. He did not run away at all, but instead raised his hands to face each other: "King Xiongtian."
Xiong Bonan didn't waste any time and came up to tell us: "Bai Hengqiu will not come. No matter when you escape today, we will not pursue you... Li Ding, Li Mansion Jun, raised the military security force to surrender to us, and reinforcements from the north have also arrived. , now the overall situation has changed, the war has been decided, don’t let the sons and daughters die in vain!"
Sun Shunde said nothing.
"Don't you believe it?" Xiong Bonan frowned.
"I don't believe it, but it doesn't matter whether I believe it or not." Sun Shunde came back to his senses and tried his best to answer. "In terms of personal friendship, I am an old friend of Duke Bai; in terms of identity, I am the commander-in-chief of the partial division... I may run away, but I will not run away without a fight!"
Xiong Bonan nodded, jumped up, and left here.
Seeing this scene in the distance, Zhang Xing issued a military order without hesitation: "General Yuchi, the two armies have been fighting for a while. Please lead your troops to march along the east-west battle front between the two armies and destroy the enemy's edge along the way!"
Yuchi Qilang immediately handed over his hand and left excitedly, as if he had got his wish.
Zhang Xing looked at Qin Er again: "Erlang, you are my vanguard. Let's attack directly at the banner where Sun Shunde is."
Qin Bao immediately raised his hands and said, "Hey!"
At this time, Zhang Xingfang turned back to look at Li Ding and Xu Shiying: "After I leave, you two will send out the entire army together. Wu'an's army will follow behind me to lay out, and my army will circle around the east side to outflank!"
After saying that, without waiting for the two to say yes, he reined in his horse and moved forward.
Qin Bao even held a big iron spear, literally taking the lead.
Sun Shunde had just sent Xiong Bonan away when he saw a scene that made him despair... The deposed dragon army did not leave any room at all, and immediately sent troops after the notification.
And soon, another scene appeared that shocked him so much that he gave up resistance completely. After thousands of horsemen broke away from the army and headed towards the battlefield ahead, a group of people and horses rolled straight towards him, rolling in smoke and dust. Not only did they In this way, when approaching the military formation, thick ice energy suddenly spread among the soldiers and horses, and white mist suddenly replaced the smoke.
Sun Shunde, who had participated in the siege before, knew what this meant better than anyone else - Xiong Bonan probably didn't lie a word.
A quarter of an hour later, as the military formation collapsed, Sun Shunde jumped up and fled towards the river.
Sure enough, no one was chasing him.
The battle was easily won. The combination of the six battalions brought by Shan Tonghai allowed the Dragon Army to regain the initiative. Near evening, Liu Heifu and Hao Yide gradually arrived. Before sunset, Wei Xuanding and Li Zida also led the Huaixi Battalion. arrival.
When the camp was settled in the evening, Yuan Baocun actually arrived in person.
Before that, Zhang Shizhao came back to inform him of the relevant military information.
So far, it can be said that the Deposed Dragon Gang has survived the big crisis that suddenly broke out in spring. Not to mention how happy the reinforcements were, even the main force of the Deposed Dragon Army was obviously in a commotion after entering Guancheng City. Even in a dissolute manner.
Sitting on the top of the city, you can faintly hear crying and laughter.
but……
"Everyone, you should have seen it. Our troops are strong and the crisis has been resolved. We even took this opportunity to return Li Silang to our Deposed Dragon Gang. Many heroes have also gathered here because of this time. Our family has also been united like never before. , I, Zhang San, should have been overjoyed at this situation, but it turns out that I, the chief, have been absent-minded since yesterday, even a little perfunctory and avoiding the fight, even appeasing." On the top of Guancheng City, the banquet began, and the first meal After the brothers died in the battle, everyone sat down, but Zhang Xing stood still, looked around with his wine bowl, and said what many people had hidden in their hearts for a long time. "Do you know why?"
"Are the casualties too heavy?" Wei Xuanding asked earnestly from beside him.
"The casualties are heavy." Zhang Xing replied seriously. "But it's not the reason why I behave like this. Don't you know my character? I will provide full compensation for the dead and try to treat the injured as much as possible. It will not delay me from doing things aggressively... There is only one kind of reason that delays me from doing things. That means there are other important things to do.”
Everyone at the tables around him was silent. Some of them were guessing. Some even guessed that they were worried that Bai Yousi would bump into Youzhou, but no one dared to say it was Fulongyin.
"It's not Mr. Bai's place, it's just some wrongdoing. One messenger is enough." Zhang Xing solved the mystery. "It's about Li Shu, another Li Longtou."
"Tsk!" Shan Tonghai raised his head on the spot, as if that was indeed the case, and then picked up the wine and drank it down, as if he had already expressed his thoughts on this matter.
The rest of the people had similar reactions, and they all seemed to be like that. Although they didn't drink, they just started whispering to each other. A few leaders of the northern reinforcements were not sure, so they took the opportunity to ask questions at other tables.
"So I learned from Li Silang that Li Shu was a little anxious and lost his temper after leaving." Zhang Xing continued to speak, and everyone around him listened quietly. "After learning something today, I am even more anxious... Mr. Wei, you came to Yuancheng from the other side of the river. Chief Chai Xiao and Chai Da are on the other side. Why haven't they come to you and come with you?"
"Because..." Wei Xuanding shook his head. "He was called away by Li Longtou before."
Everyone was in an uproar, and Zhang Xing waved his hand to stop these people again.
"Everyone!" Zhang Xing spoke sincerely. "I know that there are many important things in Hebei now. The war needs to be concluded. We need to reward the soldiers for their merits. We need to pay tribute to the soldiers. We need to thank the reinforcements who worked hundreds of miles across the mountains and seas to rescue us. We need to do something to Li Silang and the Wu'an Army. Personnel restructuring and military reorganization, Ji County and Wei County must be taken over, prisoners must be dealt with, and accounts must be settled with all forces in Hebei... Even the spring plowing in Wuyang County, Ji County, and Qinghe County have been delayed by the war and replanting must be arranged. In the back... I dare to ask you, what is not important? But I have to go. Tomorrow, it is confirmed that Bai Hengqiu will enter the west, and I will cross the river immediately! This bowl of wine, let me apologize first! Please continue in Hebei It’s been a hard day, I’ll be back as soon as possible!”
With that said, Chief Zhang finally picked up the wine.
Everyone did not dare to neglect, they all stood up and raised their glasses, and followed each other to finish the drink. Shan Tonghai only brought an empty bowl, but stood there and took the opportunity to pour himself wine. When the wine was poured, the others had already sat down. At a quick glance, he saw that besides himself and Chief Zhang Xing, there were two other people who did not sit down with the crowd. They were Yuan Baocun and Xiong Bonan, and he knew that he had something to say.
Sure enough, Yuan Baocun spoke at the right time: "Chief, please go. After this battle, it is still unclear who is sincerely serving the people of Hebei and who upholds the righteousness of the world? We must do our best."
After saying that, he sat down.
This is a sign of loyalty, but it is also the truth, and many people sincerely agree.
There were two people left. Xiong Bonan looked at Shan Tonghai standing there with his eyes squinted and did not speak, so he had to go ahead and say:
"Chief, I just want to say one thing. After all, Li Shu is the leader. Going to Xuzhou this time may involve Du Longtou and several managers of the Huaiyou League. You really have to go. And now that the chief is gone, it will be difficult for me to leave. But please, chief, if possible, be sure to cut through the mess quickly and bring the army back, and don’t involve too many brothers..."
When Zhang Xing heard this, he looked up to the sky and sighed: "Where did the King of Heaven think?! The reason why I am so anxious is not that I am worried that Li Shu will not come back after dragging his troops and gang brothers to Xuzhou, but because we here have successfully persuaded Li Silang , immediately reopened the situation. After being stimulated in Henan, some people would be self-righteous and directly deal with Li Shu and Li Longtou! And Li Shu always thought highly of himself, and he was probably self-righteous, and was easily kidnapped and lost his life... I am Go and save his life in a hurry! Otherwise, we will stay in Hebei to arrange things!"
It was still as noisy as daytime inside and outside the city, but there was suddenly silence at the simple banquet that was hastily set up on top of the city.
Zhang Xing had no choice but to press the wine bowl and continue to speak: "Everyone, do you think leaders like Chai Da and Zhang Jinshu can tolerate Li Longtou's blatant splitting of troops? You also want to leapfrog leaders and take away other leaders? Do you think that the local leaders of the Eastern Territory would be willing to leave their homes and go to Xuzhou without returning? Not to mention the Du Longtou of the Du Po Formation who lost their territory, and the two general managers Wang Zhuo and Wang Hou who were on both sides of Xuzhou with their own ideas... Li It was wrong for him to divide his troops at the most critical moment and should be severely punished. However, as the leader and commander-in-chief, he did have the authority to do whatever he wanted when I was trapped. At least that's the case from now on, so he was not guilty. Death; secondly, the biggest punishment in this battle must be punished by our gang, and those people in Henan, no matter whether they are kind or malicious, cannot be allowed to go their own way and cause civil strife! Don't you think so?"
No one said anything, even Li Ding was obviously a little surprised. Those from the North and the officers of the Wu'an Army were stunned when they realized what was going on. Zhang Shizhao lowered his head and was stunned.
Zhang Xing had no choice but to look at the last person still standing: "Boss Shan, what do you have to say?"
"No more." Shan Tonghai came back to his senses and handed over his hand directly. "And respect the chief of a bowl of wine!"
After speaking, the rest had not had time to pour alcohol, and saw the loyal and loyal leader in this battle.
(End of chapter)
