Not long after, Zhang Dingbian, who was burly, with thick eyebrows and big eyes, and a rough look on his face, was brought to Li Jing. Li Jing saw Zhang Dingbian with a strong back and strong waist, and exclaimed: "What a strong man!"
Zhang Dingbian bowed his hand towards Li Jing and said, "I wonder why General Li summoned the last general?"
Zheng Chenggong, who was on the side, chuckled and explained for Li Jing: "General Zhang, it was General Su Dingfang who recommended you to General Li, saying that you have outstanding martial arts skills and extraordinary bravery. General Li just recruited you now to see if you are really like this." Is that what General Su Dingfang said? If you really have good martial arts skills, General Li will not bury your talent."
Zhang Dingbian was overjoyed when he heard this. Knowing that his opportunity had come, he immediately handed over his hand and said, "I would like to thank the generals!"
Zheng Chenggong waved his hands lightly, "You don't have to thank us. I, Da Sui, always use talents according to their abilities, but as the saying goes, hearing is false and seeing is believing. After all, we have never seen your martial arts, so we still have to test it. General Su is very seasick right now, so let me fight with you!"
Zhang Dingbian cupped his hands towards Zheng Chenggong and said, "In that case, General Zheng, please forgive me for being rude!"
Zheng Chenggong drew his sword in his hand and shouted in a deep voice: "Stop talking nonsense and come on!"
Zhang Dingbian roared angrily and rushed forward. Within three turns, he snatched Zheng Chenggong's sword with his hands and put it on Zheng Chenggong's neck. He immediately withdrew the sword and stepped aside, complaining that he was offended.
When Li Jing saw this, he immediately laughed and said: "General Zhang is indeed brave. It is a hidden gem to have such martial arts but only serve as a general. I will appoint you as the vanguard general of my army first. When this Central Plains campaign is over, I will definitely report to Your Majesty." Recommended to you."
Zhang Dingbian was overjoyed and bowed his head, saying, "I would like to thank General Li for his appreciation."
. . . . . . . . . .
After another half day of turbulent winds and waves, at the end of the sea, a thin, winding line appeared looming in the eyes of tens of thousands of Sui soldiers.
"Land, land is here!"
The soldiers of the Sui army who were watching from the deck burst into cheers. The dozens of days of rough seas finally came to an end, after so many days of torture and so many storms. Now, I can finally let go of the bad breath in my chest.
Li Jing also beamed with joy, and quickly turned around and ordered: "Zhang Dingbian, you immediately lead the five thousand elite vanguards to change squadrons, quickly land ashore and occupy the county seat. I will bring my army shortly after."
"yes!"
Zhang Dingbian responded, with a gun in his hand, Pegasus disembarked from the large sea-going ship, drove a walking boat himself, and rushed ashore quickly.
The fishermen who were working on the beach looked blankly at the Sui troops coming from a distance, and were very curious as to why a large number of Sui troops appeared from the sea.
Zhang Dingbian had no time to pay attention to these civilians. He led his army directly to the nearest Qushan County without stopping at all after landing.
In order to capture Luoyang in one fell swoop, Li Mi transferred all of General Zhu Wen's 100,000 troops stationed in Xuzhou. Later, Fangla and Du Fuwei defeated Qixian. In order to defend Pengcheng, many troops and horses were transferred from other counties, resulting in empty garrisons in other counties in Xuzhou.
Qushan is close to the sea. Li Mi never dreamed that the Sui army would send troops from the sea. Instead of strengthening the defense, he felt that it was safe by the sea. The Wagang army left here was only 500 old, weak, sick and disabled.
Zhang Dingbian led his army to attack Qushan County. Although they encountered obstacles at the city gate, how could a few hundred old and weak soldiers withstand five thousand elite soldiers and strong generals? In just a moment, Zhang Dingbian wiped out the entire city. It was almost effortless to be planted with the battle flag of the Sui army.
Not long after, Li Jing also led tens of thousands of troops to the county seat. Taking inventory of the warehouse, he was pleasantly surprised to find that there were nearly 100,000 dan of grain and grass stored in the granary, as well as 80,000 dan of fodder.
After interrogating the stewards in the granary, they learned that these grains and fodder were hoarded by Wagang General Liu Lancheng. This was prepared by him just in case, so that he could still retreat to Qushan after the unfortunate loss of Pengcheng and continue to contain Xue Rengui's troops.
It's just that he never expected that Li Jing would lead his army to make a surprise attack from the sea. All the food and grass he had worked hard to prepare were at a discount to Li Jing.
Su Dingfang, who had been looking gloomy because of seasickness, grinned and said: "Master, these tens of thousands of stones of food and grass can be used to reward our troops. After eating seafood for so many days, we can finally have a change of taste."
Li Jing shook his head, smiled slightly and said: "I'm afraid you are the only one here who has such a blessing. I don't have the time to enjoy such fine wine and food."
Su Dingfang was stunned and asked: "Master, are you planning to send troops immediately?"
Li Jing nodded and said: "Yes, as the saying goes, soldiers are valuable and quick. According to the account of General Wagang stationed here, General Xue Rengui is currently blocked in Pengcheng by General Fang La and Liu Lancheng of Wagang. The division plans to take advantage of the news from Qushan County. When the news did not reach Pengcheng, Xingye led his troops to attack the city and assisted General Xue Rengui in capturing Pengcheng."
Su Dingfang suddenly understood and said with understanding: "The master said that I still have this good fortune, maybe he plans to let me lead an army to occupy the entire Donghai County."
"Not only Donghai County, but also Gaomi County and Langya County adjacent to the East China Sea are also entrusted to you." Li Jing said in a deep voice, "At present, in addition to the 30,000 to 40,000 Wagang troops garrisoned in Pengcheng area, the entire Xuzhou has garrisons in other places. It’s not much different from Qushan County. I’ll leave you 10,000 troops here, and you must capture these three counties for me.”
"Yes!" Su Dingfang steeled himself and stood up straight, clasping his fists towards Li Jing to take the order.
. . . . . . . . . .
Half an hour later, Zhang Dingbian led three thousand elite troops and rushed out of Qushan County at lightning speed. Soon after, Li Jing also led more than 40,000 elite soldiers out of the city, followed Zhang Dingbian from a distance, and headed towards Pengcheng.
Although the distance from Pengcheng to Qushan is a bit long, and there are many cities in between, the entire Xuzhou is now like a racecourse, allowing the Sui army to roam freely. The number of Wagang troops stationed in the city ranged from one thousand to two to three hundred. With this meager force, not to mention blocking Li Jing's army, there are very few who can defend the city without surrendering.
Li Jing ignored these cities at all and led tens of thousands of troops to march westward. When they reached the outskirts of the city, even if there was a lowered flag on the city, they walked around the city and handed all these cities to Su Dingfang behind.
Zhang Dingbian led 3,000 elite soldiers to disguise themselves as Wagang troops using the armor captured in Qushan County warehouses. They marched day and night. They also turned a deaf ear to the cities they passed along the way. They only sent some capable soldiers to ambush outside the cities or from time to time. On both sides of the official road, they were waiting for opportunities to intercept and kill any messengers who might appear.
After four days and three nights of rapid march, the towering city wall of Pengcheng County finally appeared within Zhang Dingbian's sight.
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