To the west of Suning is Li County, and to the west of Li County is Qizhou.
Fortunately, Lao Jiu didn't know Chang Yu's whereabouts, otherwise he would have been doomed if he went there hastily. That was the center of the thieves' den, and with two hundred people crossing the border, there was no chance of life or death.
Moreover, Chang Yu was too busy taking care of himself at this time and was extremely embarrassed.
Qizhou already belongs to Baoding Prefecture, which is also the hardest hit area for three hundred miles. There are refugees gathering in every town. Chang Yu narrowly escaped from Li Guo's nose and galloped northward for more than twenty miles. When they arrived outside the city, they were immediately dumbfounded.
If the refugees on the banks of the Hutuo River can be said to be crowded with people, the place here can be said to be a sea of blue sea and vast sky. It is really endless as far as the eye can see. What makes a few people even more nervous is that small groups of thieves can be seen wandering around among the refugees everywhere to maintain order. This fierce and arrogant man cursed the refugees wantonly.
A few people did not dare to pass through the refugees, so they took a detour from the west. After passing Qizhou City, an endless sea of people could still be seen, and refugees gathered in villages, towns, rivers and wilderness along the way.
What's more, several people were repeatedly questioned by the bandit patrols. It was not that their identities were discovered, but that the four detectives took a girl with them to deliver the message, which is really suspicious.
And every time at this time, Wuzhong would wink, put a lewd smile on his face, and look like you understand. Those interrogating bandit soldiers really understood, and some even took the opportunity to try to touch Nangong Yu, but Qiao Sanxiu was Tan hand blocked it, leaving it to General Quan: "You are so brave!"
Naturally, these words were the excuse Chang Yu taught him. As expected, those thieves did not dare to do anything wrong when they heard Liu Zongmin's name. Liu Zongmin was famous for his brutal killings. He killed court officials and gentry and common people without mercy. , Even if he kills his own people, he will show no emotion at all. If he is unhappy, he will cut you down no matter who you are. His reputation for cruelty is known to everyone in the army.
The reason why I brought Nangongyu out was because she had just lost her parents and was left alone in the city, feeling restless and insecure. Secondly, it could also be used as a cover. She just wanted to go back to the city for a while, but now she has gone deep into the tiger's den and headed north. A burden.
Although he could make excuses at this time, Chang Yu knew that as he got closer and closer to Baoding City, the interrogation would become stricter, and if the security was not complete, flaws would be exposed, and the consequences would be disastrous.
Chang Yu made the uneasy journey north until he finally arrived at Qingyuan County at dusk. Chang Yu decisively decided to abandon his horse and walk. This was the heart of the bandit army. He did not dare to take too many risks, so it was best to hide among the refugees.
Fu River is also called Qingyuan River, from which the name of Qingyuan County comes. Qingyuan is an ancient city older than Baoding City. It was under the jurisdiction of Baoding Prefecture in the Ming Dynasty and was more than 20 miles away.
The crowds of refugees on the riverside were like mountains. Chang Yu and the others looked across the river to the north. They saw the small town of Qingyuan submerged in the endless crowds. They couldn't help but frown. They knew that the main camp of the rebel army was located a few miles ahead. How worried were they? Pass through the camp to the north of Baoding City and return to Li Yanbu.
Here, Chang Yu was worried about crossing the line of fire, but he didn't know that the people on the northern defense line were killing people.
But he said that Li Yan hated Liu Fangliang for plotting against him that day, and ordered his troops to advance southward and use offense as defense to expand the buffer zone of the defense line. All preparations were completed overnight, and troops were sent south at dawn.
According to the spy's report, Liu Fangliang was defeated the day before and retreated dozens of miles to Xushui City. Since the city was small and his troops camped on the river bank a few miles south of the city, Li Yan decided to give him a heavy blow and personally led 5,000 cavalry and 8 infantrymen. Thousands, and at the same time, the Shenji Battalion artillery went there with more than fifty field artillery.
At ten o'clock in the afternoon, they arrived a few miles north of Xushui. When they encountered resistance from Gu Ying's troops, they first used cannon fodder to distract them and then used their main force to attack from the side in an attempt to capture Li Yan and move south. However, they did not know that Li Yan was so murderous after being humiliated the day before that he ordered his subordinates to kill all thieves and civilians. .
When the two sides were fighting fiercely, Liu Fangliang led his troops to arrive and attacked from the west flank in an attempt to go around to the north to cut off his retreat. At this time, Li Yan's general Qin Songwang led the main force of the infantry to kill him. A bloody battle turned the sky dark and the earth dark.
Both sides were holding their breath in their hearts, gritting their teeth and fighting without giving in. The battle involving thousands of people spread for several miles, and the sound of killing was deafening and could be heard more than ten miles away.
After half a stick of incense, Liu Fangliang's men were finally defeated. After all, their morale was low after yesterday's defeat in the battle, and most of his men were cannon fodder for refugees. Although there were direct members of his family who acted as the main force, it was difficult to defeat Li Yan's overwhelming fighting spirit.
So he decided to make a strategic retreat. He didn't believe that Li Yan dared to pursue him in depth alone.
He guessed right. Of course, Li Yan did not dare to pursue in depth. Yesterday he was almost deceived into going to rescue Baoding City. He learned a lesson from his mistakes. How could he be fooled again? He went south today just to give him a chance to vent his anger and expand the buffer zone.
Liu Fangliang asked the cannon fodder and the side troops to stay in the rear. He and Gu Ying led the main force to retreat. Unexpectedly, they had just walked a few miles when they suddenly saw the fire in the camp on the south bank of the river, and a group of cavalry came towards them.
Heavy armored cavalry!
Fuck! The two couldn't help but exclaimed.
Unexpectedly, Li Yan tricked them. In fact, while Li Yan sent troops to attract the attention of the rebels, Jia Waixiong led the Black Panther Battalion to detour from the east to the enemy's rear, and took advantage of the fierce battle between the two sides to rush into the rebels. The army camp was killing people and setting fires. When Liu Fangliang was withdrawing his troops and came back, he rushed over without saying a word.
Liu Fangliang made two fatal mistakes. First, he underestimated the enemy. He did not expect that Li Yan was so bold that he dared to send troops southward. Second, he did not camp in the city because he suspected a minor trouble in the city.
When the troops were withdrawing this time, they were intercepted and burned down by Jia Waixiong's heavy-armored cavalry. They had no power to fight back. Although the Black Panther Battalion only had more than two hundred people, they were heavy-armored warriors who were brave and good at fighting and could be as strong as ten. The thieves After the army retreated, there were pursuers. They were already panicking. At this time, they were not interested in fighting. They collapsed at the first touch.
Li Yan led the main force to cover up the attack, and the blade passed by without a blade of grass. He killed Liu Fangliang and Gu Ying until they lost their helmets and armor and were defeated. They chased them until they were ten miles away.
A great victory boosted the morale of the officers and soldiers, and their morale was so high that even some soldiers began to feel a little elated. After surrendering, they rushed thousands of miles outside the customs to kill the Tatars and made great achievements, and then went south non-stop to kill the thieves. They also used the sword to kill their former colleagues without hesitation. I couldn't help but Shouting that the Justice Army is awesome!
They are the teachers of justice who were given titles by the emperor!
However, Li Yan was extremely calm. Liu Fangliang's retreat would soon lead to a violent retaliatory counterattack. Although Li Zicheng wanted to lure him closer, he could not tolerate the thorn hurting people repeatedly and had to break him.
But Li Yan also got angry. He wanted to have a head-on confrontation with Li Zicheng. In addition to the turbid anger in his heart, he also felt that the horn of a siege was about to sound, and a fierce battle was about to begin. Anyway, Li Zicheng also let Li Zicheng know his true ability through brilliant methods, and also showed his determination to the court!
Ming Jin withdrew his troops and rested his horses at the rebel camp by the river. At the same time, he sent people into the city to clear the area. All the people were forcibly driven away within an hour. Then he ordered Qin Songwang to lead 3,000 troops to garrison Xushui City and deploy more than 50 field artillery pieces from the Shenji Battalion. On the city.
He also ordered the army to dig several trenches and build defensive fortifications outside the city. When the work was completed at nightfall, Li Yan led his troops back to the northern defense line to the Juma River. At this time, the scouting horse came to report that Zhou Yuji from the west was preparing to capture the city.
Zhou Yuji was pleasantly surprised when he contacted Li Yan in a desperate situation. At that time, he planned to capture Mancheng. However, the situation was unclear and he was worried that his whereabouts would be exposed too early and an army of thieves would besieged him, so he hid in the mountains to inquire about information from Li Yan.
One day later, Li Yan received a secret letter, laying out the encirclement plan previously discussed with the young eunuch, and also informed him of the general situation. He established a defense line in the north, with reinforcements in the southeast, and at this time, the young eunuch was setting up nets in the south to prepare for the encirclement. , let Zhou Yuji act according to the situation and prepare in advance.
Zhou Yuji was overjoyed after the review and summoned his subordinates to discuss. A group of people held wooden sticks and scratched on the ground for a long time. The situation suddenly became clear. At this time, all the friendly troops from the southeast, north, and south were in position, and only his troops on the west flank were waiting.
After some discussion, Zhou Yuji decided to capture Mancheng.
The city is forty miles northwest of Baoding and Xushui due north takes advantage of the horns, and the straight-line distance between the two places is only more than thirty miles. With the two cities as outposts and Dingxing County behind as the main defense line, both offense and defense can jointly advance and retreat.
Just do it. Although Mancheng is only more than 40 miles away from Baoding City, the terrain is relatively remote due to its proximity to the mountainous area. It does not have much military use for the bandits. There is no large band of bandit troops stationed there. It is only a resting place for a few exploring horses. stronghold.
So when the Ming army spies sent the information to Li Yan, Zhou Yuji had already led his troops to garrison the city and was busy restoring troops and building city defenses.
Li Yan was overjoyed. All parties were in place and would attack and kill the intruders with all their strength just waiting for the little eunuch's order. But where was the little eunuch at this time and when would he give the order?
