Outside the military camp, looking at the army meandering northward, Zhou You who stayed behind was quite unwilling and confused.
"Going to Gyeonggi Province, there are many dangers. Even if the whole army goes out, I'm afraid it won't be enough. Why do you still leave two hundred soldiers?"
Zuo Mengeng looked around quietly and said in a voice that only the two of them could hear: "Believe it or not, there must be Xu Yaqing's spy nearby."
Traveling around can be scary.
"You mean..."
Zuo Mengeng slowly shook his head, his eyes serious.
"There is no reason for Xu Yaqing to go to Dengzhou for no reason. As for what she is going to do, I haven't figured it out yet. But after thinking about it, with a big tiger like me squatting next to her, she wouldn't dare to move in any case. . You have to give her a chance, let her see hope, and then she will reveal her purpose."
Zhou You understood.
Zuo Mengeng took the initiative to request to go to Gyeonggi to participate in the war. On the one hand, he wanted to use Hou Jin to train the army, and on the other hand, he also wanted to lure the snake out of its hole.
If he doesn't leave Shandong, Xu Yaqing will definitely be worried and dare not move lightly.
But once someone like Xu Yaqing lurks, it is impossible to find her.
Only by letting her jump out on her own can she have a chance to be eliminated.
Informing Zhou You of his thoughts, Zuo Mengeng then ordered: "There must be people at Qu Ming's Mansion and Zhang Bingxian, and the two sides must keep in contact from time to time. As well as Zhuangzi and the military camp, no one is allowed to go out or enter. If anyone spies, just kill them. Zhuangzi will dispatch another group of people to strengthen the security."
While Zuo Menggeng focused on military training, he did not ignore the role of the militia.
Therefore, the farmers and workers in Zuozhuang must also receive military training in addition to their daily work.
At the very least, these people have mastered basic formation, shooting, and assassination techniques, and can also follow orders.
This was the reason why Zuo Mengeng was relieved to only leave two hundred regular soldiers.
After everything that needed to be explained was done, Zuo Mengeng rode up and caught up with the army, all his thoughts focused on the upcoming battle.
The rear camp went all the way north, under the banner of Linqing Association.
Just because the scale of the entire battalion is too large, if you still use the banner of the rear battalion, people will easily get into trouble when they see that you have so many people in the battalion.
But under the banner of Linqing Association, it doesn't matter.
With the help of various fleets, the army took the canal all the way north. The first half of the journey was very easy. When they arrived in Cangzhou, water transportation was interrupted and the army switched to the land route.
Here, Zuo Mengeng suddenly gave an order and the army turned around.
Abandoning the normal Cangzhou-Xingji-Qingxian-Jinghai-Tianjin-Wuqing-Xianghe route, we instead took Jinghe Town, bypassing the west of Dacheng, sticking to the Triangle Lake, and passing through Yangzhou late at night. On the outskirts of the village, they arrived in the Daliang Town area south of Baodi without anyone noticing.
Now, people from the Intelligence Department and the Reconnaissance Brigade have already spread all over Gyeonggi. As the army marched all the way, they completed the battlefield cover, allowing the rear battalion to successfully reach the resettlement point.
In other words, in today's Gyeonggi battlefield, Hou Jin thought they had opened up the entire map. As everyone knows, there is still such an army hidden in the mist.
Of course, even a battalion of Ming troops might not be favored by Hou Jin.
Because of this march route, it was already November 13th when the rear camp arrived at Daliang Town.
As soon as he entered Daliang Town, Zuo Mengeng ordered to isolate the inside and outside and block the news, but as a result, there was a commotion.
"Qianzuo, there is a scholar who disobeys the military order and insists on leaving the town. Do you think he is following the military order?"
Scholar?
What kind of scholar can not be afraid of the army and insist on his own way?
Zuo Mengeng rushed to the scene of the incident and saw a thin scholar in his thirties making a noise.
"Is this really unreasonable? Let me tell you that I have received an appointment from the imperial court and must go to Beijing to take up a post. What do you want to do if you obstruct this?"
How could the soldiers pay attention to him? They just held him with bayonets.
But it was obvious that if this person really broke in, the soldiers would take action.
Zuo Mengeng came closer and held his hands in greeting.
"I am the local general. I wonder what I would call you, senior?"
Seeing that he was a young general, the scholar was displeased and shook his sleeves with a rather arrogant expression.
"I, Hou Ke, would like to offer wine to the Nanjing Imperial College. How dare you, a young general, to block the passage privately?"
Zuo Mengeng laughed loudly when he heard that this person introduced himself.
"Who did I know? It turned out to be Mr. Ruopu."
The other person was stunned for a moment, wondering where his closeness came from.
"Who are you……"
Zuo Mengeng said cordially: "This junior Linqing Zuo Menggen listened to Ruogu Gong's teachings many years ago."
Hou Ke suddenly understood and couldn't help but feel happy.
"Ah, are you Zuo Mengeng? I heard my brother mentioned you a long time ago, and I didn't want to meet you here today."
It turns out that Hou Ke is Hou Xun's younger brother, one of the three famous heroes of the Hou family.
After Zuo Menggen asked, he found out that Hou Keben was serving as the Imperial College's sacrificial wine in Nanjing. Not long ago, he received a transfer order to serve in the Imperial Academy of Sciences in the capital.
As a result, he went north along the canal and couldn't reach Cangzhou, so Hou Ke had to take the land route instead.
After learning that Hou Jin was ravaging Zunhua and other places, Hou Ke did not dare to go north, so he turned back to the west, intending to go to the capital via Xianghe, but he happened to bump into Zuo Menggeng.
After the greetings were completed, Hou Ke still said: "Since you are leading the army, it will be easy. Let them go quickly and don't delay my journey to the capital."
Zuo Mengeng didn't know whether to laugh or cry, so he stopped him.
"Oh, my Lord Ruopu, we are at war. How dare you run around? You don't know yet that the Donglu have arrived at Jizhou City? Jizhou is only more than two hundred miles away from here, and the cavalry can arrive in an instant. What if you do this? I met a Tatar on the way, how can I stay with the Ruogu bus?"
During the march of the rear camp, military information kept coming, so Zuo Menggeng knew the situation of the entire battlefield very well.
It's still the same as in history.
After the Hou Jin Dynasty captured Zunhua and Santun camps, they took a short rest. As a result, Yuan Chonghuan was given time to rush to Jizhou to set up defenses on the tenth day of November.
From Zunhua to the capital, you must pass through Jizhou.
So on the 12th, Huang Taiji marched west from Zunhua, approaching Jizhou, and had a small battle with Yuan Chonghuan's Liao soldiers at Ma Shenqiao, not far from Jizhou.
If nothing else happens, Hou Jin will sneak across Jizhou today, bypassing Yuan Chonghuan, and attack the capital.
Under such circumstances, how could Zuo Mengeng dare to let Hou Ke, a weak scholar, travel alone?
After hearing what he said, Hou Ke was very satisfied.
"What should we do? The Imperial College ordered me to arrive at the capital on the 15th."
Zuo Mengeng advised: "With the current chaos of war, who can care about this? Why don't I send you to Tongzhou, where Duke Ruogu will be. Then you can act accordingly, and it will be easier to go to the capital."
Zuo Mengeng must go to Tongzhou.
In addition to reporting to Hou Xun, you also need to understand the meaning of the superiors so that you can have a strategy for action.
When he heard that Hou Xun was in Tongzhou, Hou Ke was overjoyed and immediately urged Zuo Menggeng to set off.
During the war, Zuo Mengeng could no longer take care of Hou Ke's health. He threw him on the horse and galloped all the way to Tongzhou.
For more than a hundred miles, Zuo Mengeng only took Zuo Rong and Zuo Hua with him. A few people rode fast horses and arrived in Tongzhou in only half a day, but Hou Ke almost fell apart due to the jolt.
When they got to the city, they saw a commotion.
A young man was pushing and yelling at the guards.
"You bastard, let me in quickly. If you delay something important, you are guilty of an unpardonable crime!"
However, the guard just didn't listen and even pushed him.
"The elder of the pavilion has an order that no idlers are allowed to enter the city. Get out quickly, or else we will kill you as a Tatar sentry."
Zuo Mengeng stepped forward and saw clearly.
"Hey, Brother Geng, why are you here?"
It was none other than Geng Zhangguang.
In September, he signed a cooperation agreement with Zuo Mengeng on behalf of the Geng family, and then went to Shanxi to ask his father for instructions. Since then, Zuo Mengeng has not seen him.
Unexpectedly, I saw him at the foot of Tongzhou City.
It's just that at this time, Geng Zhangguang completely lost his noble bearing. He was in rags and rags, and his expression was even more anxious.
When he looked up, he saw that it was Zuo Mengeng. This guy jumped up as fast as a cheetah.
"Brother Zuo, help!"
Zuo Mengeng jumped off the horse and said comfortingly: "What happened, don't be anxious, speak slowly."
How could Geng Zhangguang not be in a hurry and talk like a volley of words?
"Brother Zuo, my father is in danger!"
It turned out that Geng Zhangguang's father, Shanxi Governor Geng Ruxi, received the imperial edict from King Qin at the end of last month. He did not dare to neglect and immediately raised 5,000 elite troops with the commander-in-chief Zhang Honggong to support him.
That is to say, together with the reinforcements from Xuanfu and Datong, Shanxi soldiers also arrived in Gyeonggi.
But at this time, something outrageous happened.
"My father led the troops behind, and General Zhang led the troops in front. They were originally going to rush to the capital. On the way, they received an order from the Ministry of War to come to Tongzhou. My father did not dare to neglect and immediately turned around. Unexpectedly, halfway through, he received another order. Let's go to Changping. This morning, the army has just stopped in Changping, but the Ministry of War has sent another order to move to Liangxiang. It's a pity that the five thousand army has been running for hundreds of miles for three days in a row, without water or rice, and it can no longer support it. Zhang Zongrong is already unable to suppress him, and a mutiny is imminent. Once the mutiny occurs, all the troubles will be attributed to my father. What can I do?"
Zuo Mengeng couldn't help but change his expression after hearing this.
He knew that the unlucky guy who had changed the most was about to be born.
