Lu Xiangsheng of Sutian Village was stationed outside the camp gate.
Lu Xiangsheng watched as Yang Tinglin, escorted by four personal guards, galloped away under the dim starlight, gradually disappearing.
He stood outside the camp gate for a while longer. Dressed in linen and filial piety, he allowed the cold wind of winter night to blow mercilessly on his body. He stood motionless, looking up at the stars, as if looking for a shining star. Starlight is like your own destination.
After a long time, he sighed, turned around, and walked back into the camp.
Lu Xiangsheng seemed to have decided to die on the battlefield, thinking that this separation from his old friend might be an eternal farewell, and he suddenly felt sad in his heart.
He knew in his heart that Liu Yuliang would not give him any assistance. The reason why he still sent Yang Tinglin was because he had the idea of "doing his best and obeying fate".
But more importantly, he wanted to send Tinglin away in order to preserve a useful talent for the country.
Yang Tinglin had no way of knowing about Lu Xiangsheng’s last bit of selfishness!
…………
In the afternoon of the next day, Lu Xiangsheng led his army to Nangong County and set up camp in a wilderness.
Further forward, we reach the border of Julu County. At this time, there is not much food left in the army. It can barely last for a few days, but if the soldiers are fed, it cannot be done.
After setting up camp, each battalion sent some sergeants to dig wild vegetables, grass roots, bark and other materials in the nearby wilderness. After washing, they chopped them into small pieces and mixed them with a small amount of grains to satisfy their hunger.
Lu Xiangsheng was in the Chinese military tent. He was eating the same food as everyone else, which was wild vegetable lumps mixed with grass roots and tree bark.
He knew in his heart that the Qing army would either continue to go deep into Jinan, or turn to Shandong to plunder. Therefore, he wanted to rest his troops and horses here for a while, and then march to Julu tomorrow to find the captives and cavalry for a battle.
Lu Xiangsheng was quite surprised when he marched into Jinan this time. The Qing army sentries and cavalry he encountered along the way all avoided their sharp edges and stayed far away. Even the Qing troops who were attacking the city took the initiative to retreat after receiving military information. go.
Lu Xiangsheng was thinking when suddenly some soldiers came in to report that Zhang Cheng, the guerrilla general of Xuanzhen, was outside the tent asking for an audience.
Zhang Cheng walked into the military tent and saw Lu Xiangsheng reading military reports from various places behind the desk. When he heard Zhang Cheng coming in, he put down the military reports, raised his head, and said warmly: "Zhongchen, take a seat."
After Zhang Cheng sat down, he asked again: "Zhongchen, you have always been very insightful. Do you have any suggestions today?"
Zhang Cheng saw Lu Xiangsheng's sunken eye sockets and mental exhaustion. His heart tightened and he almost burst into tears. He quickly turned his eyes to the felt curtain of the tent door and took a deep breath to calm down his emotions.
Just then he said: "My Lord Governor, after our army routed the slaves of the Hauge Tribe from the foot of Gaoyang City, we marched all the way into Dingzhou, passed through Zhending, and rescued deer. All the captives and cavalry we encountered retreated.
Even Dorgon, the puppet king of the slave chieftain, shot him with an arrow at the end, but did not anger him. Zhang Cheng was worried that there might be some conspiracy here, and the governor must be on guard against it. "
Lu Xiangsheng pondered for a moment, then suddenly stood up from his seat and said loudly: "Zhongchen, come with me for a walk, okay?"
Zhang Cheng was delighted when he saw Lu Xiangsheng's interest and hurriedly said, "Zhang Cheng, don't you dare disobey me."
The two of them looked at each other and smiled in the military tent.
…………
Zhang Cheng followed Lu Xiangsheng and rode out of the camp. He stationed his horse on a small soil bag not far to the north, and dozens of guards and followers were scattered around the bag to keep watch.
There was silence and desolation all around this earthbag, except for the withered yellow, there was no trace of human beings, and it seemed as if everything was dead and silent.
The two dismounted their horses, walked a few steps north, and stopped at the edge of the earth bag to look north. The war horses were beside them, scratching the frozen solid ground on the earth bag and snoring.
"Further north is Julu, and a few dozen miles to the south is Jize. The military report came that the high-ranking supervisor's army was stationed here. The governor preliminarily led the army to the southwest, marched into Julu, and joined the high-ranking supervisor's army. We are each other's horns, hoping to help each other."
When Zhang Cheng heard the word "giant deer", his heart skipped a beat.
In his memory, during the Battle of Julu in history, Lu Xiangsheng led only more than 6,000 troops, fought a bloody battle with the Qing army in Julu Jiazhuang, and finally died heroically.
Today, the army has more than 12,000 people, twice as many as recorded in history. Although the army is still short of food and grain, it is far from running out of food and is much better than in history.
However, Zhang Cheng remembered that Lu Xiangsheng seemed to have a chance to break out, but it was only because he wanted to die that he finally fought and died. Yang Guozhu and Hu Dawei, who were with him in the bloody battle with the Qing army in Jiazhuang, led their servants at the last moment. The guards broke through the siege and escaped with their lives.
Only his uncle in this life, General Zhang Yan of Xuanzhen, did not break out and followed Lu Xiangsheng to fight and kill Julu Jiazhuang.
Regarding this ending, Zhang Cheng didn't know if he could change it, but no matter what the outcome was, he had to do what he should do.
Thinking of this, Zhang Cheng once again brought up the topic in the military tent and said: "Master Governor, since Zhending broke out of the camp, our army's sentries have rarely detected the movements of the captives. The slaves seem to be deliberately avoiding us. , I’m afraid there’s some fraud involved.”
Lu Xiangsheng looked thoughtful, looking at the withered fields in Julu County to the north. After a long time, he said: "The slave thieves invaded for the purpose of plundering. They passed through fortified cities without attacking them, but only picked small towns to plunder. That's right. to this end,
The governor asserted that he did not dare to fight me decisively and bring casualties on his own, and he would not dare to stay with me in one place for a long time. He was also afraid of the encirclement power of my army. "
Lu Xiangsheng paused for a moment, then continued: "I will write a letter today and send it to the garrison of the Jize High Supervisor Army, asking him to lead the army to the north and respond to me from a distance. We can act as horns to divide the slave and bandit forces. Prevent them from encircling our army."
"Supervisor, if this is the case, then it would be best. But Zhang Cheng has something to say, but he has to say it." At this point, Zhang Cheng stopped and just looked at Lu Xiangsheng.
"You speak."
Lu Xiangsheng was still looking at the wilderness to the north.
"Supervisor, I am afraid that our allies will not be able to hold on!"
Zhang Cheng said sincerely.
Lu Xiangsheng was stunned when he heard this, and turned to look at Zhang Cheng. After a while, he said: "Although Gao Jianjun and I have different opinions on military strategy, I don't think he will be confused when it comes to major events."
Zhang Cheng was silent. He knew Gao Qiqian too well. How could there be any etiquette, justice, shame, benevolence and morality among this notorious eunuch in history?
Everything is based on his personal interests and personal preferences. For such a bitch, you can't give him a trace of trust.
But Lu Xiangsheng was so insistent, but Zhang Cheng had no choice. The two chatted about other topics and then rode back to the camp.
Zhang Cheng accompanied Lu Xiangsheng back to the military tent. He watched him writing a sincere handwritten letter, and sent a Pegasus from a small school to Jize, asking the supervisor to rise high and dive to guard Guan Ning's army. Head to Julu territory so that the two armies can support each other and disperse the slave and bandit forces.
