To the west of the county town, a hundred miles away.
The two armies chased each other all the way eastward.
"In the past two days, the enemy has dropped more and more remnant soldiers, and it seems that the strength of the men and horses is about to be exhausted."
Next to Xu Ponu, the person speaking was somewhat similar to him. He lost his left arm and looked a little older than Xu Ponu.
His name is Xu Zhukou, and he is the elder brother of Xu Ponu.
In the early years, the Hu Nu invaded Hedong. The adult Xu Zhukou had one arm cut off by the Hu Nu in order to protect his young brother and mother.
Later, Xu Ponu became famous under Guo Zhenyue, so he took Xu Zhukou with him to consult on everything.
"What my brother said is absolutely true. In long-distance attacks, horse power is no advantage compared to manpower." Xu Ponu grinned: "If they run further, they will enter the vicinity of the county town. When the time comes, ask the young master to send someone and call He has no way to go to heaven!"
"I was just planning to tell you about this, but something happened in the county."
"Change?" Xu Ponu frowned: "With the young master here in the county and the help of the Li family, what trouble can happen?"
"Li Qing was killed." Xu Zhukou dropped a big bombshell when he opened his mouth: "The person who did it is called Zhou Jiao. He and Shen Xin formed a salt gang..."
After hearing this, Xu Ponu's eyes were as wide as bells.
Immediately, he sighed for the first time: "Li Qing and his son killed well!"
Xu Ponu's father was originally a soldier. Unfortunately, he died in battle, leaving behind a pension and a widow and young children.
Such a family is simply the best target for a rich family to be exterminated.
If the Li family is at the top of the food chain, then the Xu family is one of the little shrimps they can eat.
After sighing, he added: "Except for Li, this is not a big deal."
"There have been a lot of people making trouble in recent years, but who started to make trouble? They were all suppressed with a flip of the hand..."
When Xu Zhukou nodded, a rider suddenly came from behind: "General Xu, Duke Guo has an urgent letter, ordering you to cooperate with the young master and the Li family to suppress the Salt Gang as soon as possible!"
Xu Ponu looked surprised: "Aren't you asking me to eat this wave of deserters from the imperial court and then return to the army?"
"No need." The visitor shook his head: "Tang Jiye has reached a dead end. It is only a matter of time before he surrenders. The general will go to the west."
"My lord has said that the affairs of the Salt Gang are extremely important, and we must not slack off in the slightest and underestimate the enemy!"
"It's just a rebellion all the way. Why should Duke Guo be so cautious..." Xu Ponu nodded and said: "Tell Duke Guo, I understand. I will deal with these two groups together."
"Okay!" The person clasped his fists and left.
Soon, another message was sent: since Zhou Jiao beheaded Li Qing, more than 20 counties in the east, north, southeast, and northeast of Hedong responded!
"It's really a toss-up!"
Xu Ponu exclaimed.
Xu Zhukou thought for a while and said: "The Yan Gang has to be dealt with, but we'd better eat Huangfu Chaoyi first."
"The Qingqi under my command are the true elites of the imperial court. They are now on the run because they have no place to rely on."
"Once we got into a fight with Zhou Jiao, we gave him an opportunity... In terms of combat power, the imperial Qingqi are far beyond what a bunch of rabble can match."
"That makes sense!" Xu Ponu nodded, drew a mark on the map, and said, "I will try my best to catch up. It can take as fast as one day or as slow as three days. I will be able to catch Huangfu Chaoyi."
"At that time, either he will fight with me and be eaten by me, or he will flee to the county."
"Brother, go tell the young master and ask him to prepare for the interception... After Huangfu Chaoyi is dealt with, I will put an end to the Zhoujiao Rebellion."
Xu Zhukou nodded: "Okay!"
Huangfu Chaoyi was in the army.
After many days of running on the run and lack of food, the whole army was already exhausted.
Fortunately, the Sentinel Cavalry came with good news: Someone in Hedong County rebelled and attacked and killed the head of the Li family.
"Very good!"
After repeated interruptions, Huangfu Chaoyi, who personally killed a dozen of Xu Ponu's front riders, stood up with a sharp light in his eyes:
"Brothers, thieves make trouble. This is a good time for us to break through."
"Don't rest anymore, get up and continue eastward!"
Upon hearing this, all the troops suddenly cheered up: "Yes!"
——Juncheng East, Salt Gang Headquarters——
Here, Zhou Che gathered more than 70,000 people.
However, these 70,000 people include the elderly, weak, women and children.
Among them, there were nearly 27,000 strongmen, that is, men who could work.
In a true sense, those who can barely meet the standard of fighting soldiers are the original guards of each tribe and the village warriors selected by the village.
This number is less than 3,000 - this group of people has the strength to barely approach the county defenders.
Further up, there are the most elite troops: Zhou Che's three hundred soldiers, and Huo's hundreds of generals.
The level of these four hundred people far exceeds that of all the troops in Hedong, and they are truly the source of hundreds of thousands of swordsmen.
The news that Guo Deng was coming to ask for help had arrived, and Zhou Che made a direct decision and came up with a countermeasure:
"Although I killed Li Qing before, in the final analysis, I was bullying the minority and took advantage of the sudden incident."
“Today, in Hedong, although there are many responders, there must be more bystanders.”
"In order for the Salt Gang to stand firm and have others completely believe in us, we urgently need a real victory."
He drew a line on the rough drawing: "Defend with the main force and drag Guo Denglin into an offensive and defensive battle."
"Then use elite troops to march along both sides, break the formation in a surprise attack, and disperse the enemy troops - if possible, behead them directly!"
Huo Zeyou immediately raised his hand: "I can lead an army."
"That's what I meant." Zhou Che nodded with a smile and said: "Xiyou leads an army, and I lead an army myself. As for the location of the Chinese army, although it is for defense, it also involves tens of thousands of people fighting..."
Zhou Che glanced at everyone.
Shen Xin avoided it in shame.
He is good at making money, but he is really bad at fighting. He doesn't dare to take the lead easily.
"I come."
There was the sound of a cart at the door. Huo Pingzhang asked someone to push it in. He raised his head and said, "I wonder if you believe me?"
Zhou Chelang laughed and threw the token directly: "You are old!"
