Hanyang, early morning
Ye Pengchao rode a carriage and arrived at the government office of the Jingchu Police Department on time. After meeting and greeting Liang Xin, the prosecutor's envoy, he was ready to start his new day's work as the deputy envoy of the Jingchu Police Department... ···················
After Jingchu surrendered to the Fengwu Army a few months ago, the Fengwu Army's forces should have entered Jingchu, but at that time the Fengwu Army's strategic focus was in the north to deal with the Kipchak Khanate.
Therefore, it was not possible to spare too many manpower to garrison Hanyang at the same time, so they only detached a battalion of 6,000 troops from the First Division and the Fourth Army each and garrisoned Hanyang. Zhang Shengli, commander of the First Division, was appointed as the deputy commander of Hanyang. Commander-in-chief of the Fifth Army, Li Zhengyong, commander of the Fifth Army, also serves as the commander-in-chief of Hanyang.
In terms of the civil service system, Fengwu Army also arranged for several people to be stationed in Jingchu Chief Secretary, Chief Inspector, and other yamen!
Because Ye Pengchao made great contributions to the capture of Hanyang by the Fengwu Army, and because he had worked hard in Hanyang for many years and was familiar with the situation in Hanyang, the above also issued a transfer order for him to leave the Central Coordination Office system, temporarily. Take the post of deputy envoy of the Jingchu Department on behalf of Jingchu!
Ye Pengchao is also very happy about the above arrangement. Although the Coordination Office has great power, after all, as a secret service agency, its reputation is not very good, and the room for advancement is limited and the ceiling is low!
The deputy envoy of the Ancha Division is a real official of the fourth rank. Although he is currently only temporarily considered a fifth rank, compared with the previous rank of the sixth rank, he has been promoted by two levels in a row!
At the same time, Ye Pengchao is also very familiar with the rules of the Fengwu Army system, and knows that as long as he is in the position of deputy envoy of the Chasi Division, he will not make any big mistakes that will cause anger and resentment... ·········
Then in a year or two, he can take off this temporary title and become a truly fourth-rank Deputy Envoy of the Ancha Division!
Therefore, Ye Pengchao was grateful for the above arrangement and wanted to work hard to serve the commander-in-chief.
In order to better shine in the position of deputy envoy of the Ancha Division, Ye Pengchao also transferred several of his subordinates in the Coordination Office to the system of the Jingchu Ancha Division.
However, because the Fengwu Army only nominally controlled Jingchu, its actual control over Jingchu was very limited, and there were not many available manpower in Jingchu.
Therefore, before Ye Pengchao left the Coordination Office, he also recommended his subordinate Huang Dale to take over his position in the Coordination Office of Hundred Households. He was responsible for spying on the intelligence of the Zhennan Army at the frontier, resisting the infiltration of Qianhu Guards, and internal control tasks, etc. .
However, due to the long distance, the approval opinions from above have not yet been sent, so Ye Pengchao, who could not wait for the opinions from above, handed over the work of the Coordination Office to Huang Dale, and then focused on the work of the inspection department!
In order to maintain the stability of Jingchu, the Fengwu Army temporarily does not have the Chief Secretary of Jingchu, the Chief Inspector, and the heads of various state capitals to make any major changes. However, this does not mean that the Fengwu Army will continue to tolerate Jingchu maintaining this status. status quo.
Therefore, Ye Pengchao's position as deputy envoy of the Ministry of Justice is also very critical. He was also given a secret order from above to find out the depth of the officialdom in Jingchu and make some preparations for the next Fengwu Army to rectify the officialdom in Jingchu... ···················
In order to complete this secret mission, Ye Pengchao also transferred several of his capable subordinates from the Coordination Office to the Ancha Division to secretly take charge of this matter.
After sorting out the evidence of a Chief Secretary's corruption and bribery, and an Inspector's experience of managing people's lives, Ye Pengchao put their evidence into the drawer of his desk and locked it.
He has collected evidence of the crimes of dozens of Jingchu officials. He is just waiting for the commander-in-chief to give an order from Yi Jing to set off a link storm in Jingchu, so that these worms who suck up the people's wealth will be exposed for their true colors and receive the punishment they deserve. !
At this moment, a petty official came to Ye Pengchao's room and reported:
"Sir Ye, Huang Dale from the Coordination Office would like to see you!"
Hearing the news, Ye Pengchao frowned slightly with some surprise in his expression. Logically speaking, the Tongtong Coordination Office, as the secret service agency of the Fengwu Army, had a reputation that was not very good to be honest.
Many officials are disgusted with their existence, and the special nature of the responsibilities of the Coordination Office also requires them to maintain a certain distance from some yamen.
Although he was born in the Central Coordination Office system, he has now left the Central Coordination Office system. Therefore, even if Huang Da Le, his former subordinate, had something to come to him for, he should approach him privately instead of coming to Chasi Yamen in such an upright manner. Find yourself·······················
Huang Dale definitely understands this truth, and yet he still comes to find him like this. There is no doubt that he must have encountered something, and it is an urgent matter, otherwise he would never do this!
Thinking of the responsibility in his heart, Ye Pengchao let go of some scruples and asked the clerk to invite Huang Dale into his room.
Soon a seven-foot-tall man with dark skin came into the room. This man was Huang Dale, Ye Pengchao's old department and now the temporary head of the Jingchu branch of the Coordination Office!
Huang Dale, who came to the room, didn't wait for Ye Pengchao to speak, closed the door directly, and then said to Ye Pengchao anxiously:
"Sir, something big happened. The main force of the Fifth Army was lost in Xiaowushan!"
Ye Pengchao was immediately startled when these words came out, and then subconsciously asked:
"Come on, tell me, what's going on?"
Huang Dale preached without thinking:
"On July 11, the Fifth Army dispatched 50,000 troops to Xiaowushan to annihilate a partial division of the Zhennan Army. And until today, no news of the Fifth Army came back from Xiaowushan. A total of 50,000 troops Completely lost contact!”
Thinking that today was already July 20th, Ye Pengchao couldn't help but asked angrily:
"Why is such important news only delivered now? What do you do for food?"
Faced with Ye Pengchao's filial piety, Huang Dale didn't even dare to wipe the spittle from his face. He could only say very humbly and helplessly:
"My lord, after they were reorganized into the Fifth Army, the brothers became a little lax about their intelligence..."
"And this is also a normal military deployment, so the brothers didn't think much about it. Who knew such a thing would happen!"
Hearing what Huang Dale said, Ye Pengchao closed his eyes in pain. He knew that after the Hanyang Incident, as the main planning department of the incident, a group of people in Jingchu had received heavy rewards from above.
Although this heavy award is an affirmation of the past work of the personnel in the Jingchu Branch of the Coordination Office and the reward they deserve, it also makes everyone immersed in the joy of victory. Many people have slacked off because of this, and they have lost their previous alertness and enthusiasm. alert!
And the current situation may be God's punishment for them!
Huang Dale, who first knew about the Fifth Army's action, actually didn't take it seriously. After all, according to the intelligence he received, the Zhennan Army's partial division to attack Xiaowushan only had 5,000 people, while the Fifth Army dispatched a full five thousand troops. Ten thousand people, even if the Fifth Army is seriously underpaid, there are still 30,000 people in the name of 50,000.
In addition, Xiaowushan originally had thousands of troops from the Fifth Army, so the strength ratio between the two sides was almost seven to one. Therefore, Huang Dale felt that even if the Fifth Army's combat effectiveness was not strong, the seven to one force would win over Zhennan. The army's partial division is also 100% certain that there will be no problems!
So on July 15th and 16th, when there was no news from Xiaowu Mountain, Huang Dale didn't take it seriously. He just thought that the mountains were high and the road was far away, and the news of the Fifth Army was delayed on the road... ·····················
But it was not until two days ago, on July 18, that Xiaowushan had not sent back any news, and Huang Dale realized that something was wrong!
But he was still lucky and waited for another two days. It was not until today was July 20 that Huang Dale realized the seriousness of the matter. On the one hand, he sent people to Xiaowushan to investigate, and on the other hand, he I also hurriedly came to the old leader Ye Pengchao to get help from the old leader and investigate the truth of the matter!
Although he had realized that the main force of the Fifth Army might have encountered something unexpected in Xiaowushan at this time, Ye Pengchao still asked Huang Dale with a sense of luck:
"What's going on with the Zhennan Army?"
Huang Dale hesitated and said:
"Based on the previous situation, except for a partial division of 5,000 people, the Zhennan Army is stationed locally and there is no change!"
After hearing the news, Ye Pengchao still frowned. At this time, Huang Dale continued to speak:
"Sir, I have sent dozens of people to Xiaowushan and Tanzhou, but I am worried that the Fifth Army may encounter something unexpected in Xiaowushan, so please go to General Li and ask him to prepare. Be prepared for emergencies!”
Ye Pengchao nodded slightly and said:
"That's all we can do for the time being, I'm going to find Li Zhengyong now!"
Huang Da Le's solemn expression was slightly relieved after hearing this, although he had good expectations for the Fifth Army's encounter in Xiaowu Mountain... ·····
But Huang Dale also knew in his heart that if no news came out for such a long time, the Fifth Army was likely to encounter something unexpected.
And once the Fifth Army encounters an unexpected event, the defenders of Tanzhou will probably not be able to hold on for too long. The Zhennan Army will probably march straight in to Hanyang City!
As the economic and political center of Jingchu, Hanyang is also the basis for the Fengwu Army to control Jingchu. As long as Hanyang is not captured by the Zhennan Army, even if the Zhennan Army captures some state capitals, it will not be a big problem for the Fengwu Army. .
As long as the main force of the Fengwu Army is transferred from the north, it will not be difficult for the Fengwu Army to regain the lost territory!
Therefore, the top priority now is for Hanyang's defenders to be prepared to be killed by the enemy. They cannot be caught off guard by the enemy and must resolutely defend the city to prevent the enemy from taking advantage of it!
After discussion, Ye Pengchao and Huang Dale immediately began to separate. Ye Pengchao also immediately went to find Li Zhengyong. Currently, there are about 18,000 defenders in Hanyang City.
Twelve thousand of them are under the command of Commander-in-Chief Li Zhengyong, so now Li Zhengyong must realize the seriousness of the situation!
After a stick of incense, Ye Pengchao came to the yamen of Hanyang General Military Mansion. However, at this time, people in the yamen of Hanyang General Military Mansion said that Li Zhengyong did not come to the yamen at all today... ········
Although he didn't know what Li Zhengyong was up to, Ye Pengchao immediately went to Li Zhengyong's residence. At first, the housekeeper of Li's house was hesitant, but under Ye Pengchao's questioning, the housekeeper of Li's house still said honestly:
Li Zhengyong was not in a good mood recently, so he went hunting with his soldiers and several concubines. They didn't know where Li Zhengyong was!
Hearing this news, Ye Pengchao was so angry that his teeth were itching. He knew that Li Zhengyong and Duan Zhibao had been refusing to deal with the position of the commander of the Fifth Army!
Although the marshal did not give the position of commander to Duan Zhibao, Duan Zhibao's commanding officer was still one level higher than Li Zhengyong's commanding officer and became the de facto commander of the Fifth Army.
Li Zhengyong was also very angry about this, although in order to appease him, in addition to giving him some property, his superiors also gave him the official position of Hanyang Commander-in-Chief.
But Li Zhengyong is still angry. He has recently put down a lot of work in the army. Forget it at other times, Ye Pengchao still feels very angry when he can't find anyone at such a critical time.
Since Li Zhengyong could not be found, Ye Pengchao simply stopped looking for him and went directly to the military camp in the east of Hanyang City, where Hanyang Deputy Chief Zhang Shengli and the 6,000 Fengwu troops transferred from the Fourth Army of the First Division were... ·················
When Ye Pengchao arrived at the military camp in Dongcheng, he met Zhang Shengli soon and told Zhang Shengli the general story. Zhang Shengli was also very surprised by this.
And Ye Pengchao also suggested to Zhang Shengli very solemnly:
"General Zhang, I suggest you immediately declare martial law throughout the city and recruit the young and strong defenders in the city to prepare for the worst!"
Faced with Ye Pengchao's suggestion, Zhang Shengli said with some embarrassment:
"Master Ye, you can rest assured that our brothers are always ready, but as you know, Mr. Li Zhengyong is the chief soldier. If I do this, I'm afraid Mr. Li will have some ideas and think that I am overstepping my bounds. !”
Looking at Zhang Shengli's troubled expression, Ye Pengchao also thought of the idea of discord between Li Zhengyong and Zhang Shengli. It is said that Zhang Shengli couldn't stand the corruption within the Jingchu Army, the lack of pay, and the lack of military discipline, so he suggested to Li Zhengyong to rectify military discipline!
But everyone knows that Li Zhengyong is one of the big tigers who is corrupt within the Jingchu Army and takes the most empty pay, so Zhang Shengli's suggestion was naturally rejected by Li Zhengyong... ··········
