In the east camp of the Tang Army, batches of officers and soldiers of the Qing-Huai Army were rushing out of the camp one after another to assemble. The firelight was swaying everywhere. The archers on the arrow towers were already drawing their bows and ready to go. Prepare for the coming war.
At this time, Chongzheng was commanding his soldiers to build a defense line under the arrow tower in charge of the headquarters. He only heard a few rapid sounds of horse hooves. He looked up and saw the familiar golden armor. He quickly stopped his movements, straightened his waist and communicated with everyone around him. Like a general, he greeted: "Marshal Li!"
Marshal Li nodded slightly, then looked around with his heroic face, and finally his eyes fell on the tall and powerful Duan Chong.
"May I have your name?"
Duan Chong was so nervous that he quickly took two steps forward and said, "General Duan Chong has seen Marshal Li!"
Li Yuan stared at Duan Chong's tall body and still childish face for a while, seeming to think of a familiar person in the distance, but he quickly retracted his thoughts and spoke decisively: "At this time, the rebel Li Song's headquarters is in the camp. Besides, if I ask you to go and deliver a message, do you dare to go?"
Duan Chong was not timid at all and replied loudly: "The last general will take orders!"
"Okay!" Li Yuan nodded approvingly, then explained something to Duan Chong, and then watched the young man get on his horse neatly and gallop away from the camp gate.
After a while, Duan Chong lived up to his expectations and returned safely. After a few brief reports, the soldiers only saw Li Yuan's face beaming with joy, and then led Lin Sichang and several soldiers out of the camp gate.
A hundred steps outside the camp is the shooting range of the arrow tower.
Although the soldiers of the Tang Army in the camp did not understand Li Yuan's intentions, they all held their breath and opened their eyes wide, nervously calculating the pace of coach Li Yuan's march. After all, the coach's safety was related to the entire army.
And Li Yuan seemed to be counting silently in his mind. As his pace stopped within a hundred steps, Li Yuan breathed a sigh of relief, then turned around and shouted: "Don't move without the commander's military order!"
From the rebel array in the distance, several fast horses were seen running towards the Tang Army camp at high speed. Looking closely at their attire, it was the same general leading several soldiers. The only difference was that these people did not carry weapons either on their hands or on their waists.
"The guilty general Li Song, pays homage to Marshal Li!"
As soon as Li Song got off his horse, he quickly stepped forward and saluted Li Yuan respectfully. Obviously, Li Yuan's eye-catching golden armor made it difficult not to remember.
Seeing that Li Song really dared to come to meet him as he requested, Li Yuan suppressed the excitement in his heart and nodded calmly: "Li Shishi doesn't need to be polite!"
Li Song always remained humble, smiled bitterly, and replied: "Commander, I will not be held responsible for being a governor! Your Majesty has already issued an order to deprive the guilty general of his official status..."
Such useless courtesy, Li Yuan was too anxious to respond and asked directly: "Well, General Li, you mentioned in your letter that you are willing to help our army break the city. Do you have any clever ideas?"
Li Song lowered his voice and said: "Commander Li is quick to speak, and the guilty will admire him! Commander, since Li Jinquan wants to make our two armies fight, why don't we take advantage of his plan..."
After hearing this, Li Yuan frowned and began to think. Li Song's plan was simple. It was just to let the Tang army engage in a night offensive and defensive battle with him, and by the way, set a fire in the camp to show Shouzhou City. Then Li Song pretended to lead the remaining troops to flee and retreated along the dense forest path to the south gate of Shouzhou City, while the Tang army could take the opportunity to follow behind. Once the Shouzhou defenders opened the south gate, Li Song's troops could act as the vanguard to seize the city gate, and finally join the Tang army to attack the city in one fell swoop.
The plan sounds perfect, but the risks are high.
Li Yuan quickly raised his doubts and said calmly: "General Li, if the rebels at the top of Shouzhou City saw my camp on fire, they would definitely think that our army was in chaos. How could they not take advantage of the chaos to attack? If You have ulterior motives, what if Li Jinquan and you lead an army to attack our camp at the same time? What if the south gate defenders refuse to open the city gate? "
"Commander, if Li Jinquan really has such courage, the general will have to admire him!" Li Song shook his head decisively, and then said with a joking smile: "It's a pity that Li Jinquan only cares about Shouzhou City and him. Those Holy Guards under his command. Not only would he not come to help, but he would also secretly pray that both me and the commander would be injured. Once the general is defeated, Li Jinquan will definitely think that our troops have suffered heavy casualties, and it is too late to be happy. We are no longer a threat to him. How can we not open the city gate?
Even if Li Jinquan doesn't want to open the door, it doesn't matter. Now the defenders at the south gate are all Guangzhou soldiers, and the guilty general has already deployed an internal response! As long as Li Jinquan sees a fire in the commander's camp, he will climb to the east gate tower to investigate, but the south gate may not have time to pay attention! "
Li Yuan nodded and responded: "General Li has thought carefully!"
Then Li Song continued: "Commander, the trebuchets in your camp must have been made recently. I'm afraid they are not many in number, right? According to General Sui, although those trebuchets are powerful, if they don't have 30 or 40 trebuchets, Despite the fight, Shouzhou City still cannot be defeated! Sin Jin recently heard that the Northern Expedition army has been defeated in Xuzhou, and the Zhou army may soon go south. If the commander delays for too long under Shouzhou City, I am afraid there will be another disaster. misfortune......"
These words were inexplicably harsh. Li Yuan suddenly darkened his face and said coldly: "According to General Li, without your help, I will not be able to defeat Shouzhou City?"
Seeing that Li Yuan's face was slightly sulky, Li Song replied calmly: "Commander, the guilty general has no such intention! Li Jinquan is tyrannical and capricious, brave and unintelligent, how can he be the commander-in-chief's opponent? The guilty general is just hope. Please help me, Commander-in-Chief, to end the Shouzhou war as soon as possible. Please don’t misunderstand me!"
Li Yuan finally couldn't help it and said bluntly: "General Li, I am confused. Since you are determined to help me break the city, why do you always talk about helping me? You have escaped from the traitors and want to make meritorious deeds. Why don't you Lead your troops to surrender like the Qing Huai Army? As long as you are willing to return to the imperial court, there is nothing wrong with me interceding for you in front of His Majesty!"
Hearing this, Li Song sighed, then cupped his hands and said: "Thank you so much, Commander-in-Chief! It's just that we are different from the Huai Army of the Qing Dynasty! The General and his subordinates are all from the north, and now they have committed a serious crime of treason. They surrendered and then rebelled again." , even if you can get rid of the crime and perform meritorious service, how can your majesty tolerate us? I'm afraid that the Tang Kingdom will never be able to live in it again! The guilty general is only willing to help the soldiers to find a way out for them! Please be brave and ask the commander-in-chief to help you!"
This was said sincerely. Li Yuan smiled noncommittally and turned to ask: "May I ask General Li, after the city of Shouzhou is destroyed, where will you go? Is your way of life returning to the Central Plains and going to the Zhou Kingdom? "
Li Song suddenly raised his head and looked at the clouds in the sky, and said sadly: "We and the Northerners miss our homeland every day! But now the Zhou and Tang Dynasties are at war, and Li Jinquan has surrendered to the Zhou Kingdom. I'm afraid we won't be able to go back. !”
Seeing that Li Yuan still had a calm face, Li Song seemed to have made up his mind. He bowed and spoke boldly: "The guilty general boldly asks Marshal Li that if we can break through Shouzhou City in this battle, I will ask for your permission after the war is over." Sin will lead the soldiers to evacuate from Shuimen, we are willing to abandon our swords and armour, and never harass the people of the states and counties along the way!"
Li Yuan was surprised and said: "Shuimen? Go along the river...Does General Li want to lead his troops to Jiangling? I heard that Jingnan is a small area with few people, and the Nanping King Gao Baorong has worshiped the Zhou Dynasty as Zhengshuo. How can this be done?" Can we accommodate you? It’s better to go to Langzhou..."
Hearing this, Li Song looked incredulous, and then replied in a deep voice: "Commander, after all, Langzhou is within the territory of the Tang State. If we go there, I am afraid we will harm Marshal Li! The guilty general has already been prepared secretly at the mouth of the Shuimen River. After getting off the ferry, our soldiers and their families are already waiting in Guangzhou. Although Gao Baorong has become the master of the Zhou Kingdom, he may not dare to leave us behind!"
Then Li Song smiled intriguingly and said: "Commander, if the guilty general can be lucky enough to gain a foothold in Nanping, I think Langzhou is only three days away from Jiangling. If the commander has any errands in the future, he only needs to order the horse to deliver a letter. Come!"
After a moment of silence, Li Yuanwu turned around and whispered: "After Shouzhou City is defeated, you can leave on your own. You don't have to throw away your weapons. You only need to keep some of your armor and battle flags."
"The crime will be obeyed! The commander-in-chief's kindness will be unforgettable!"
