Long Gongfu and Li Yong's fifty cavalry rushed to the Xiakou camp all night long. Since Hongxia was not here, she had to entrust Gui Huaiyuan to bring the elixir to Hongxia.
After resting for a while in Xiakou Village, he hurried to Nanyang Town. Passing by Tianchi Village, he immediately selected a shrewd and capable soldier from among the fifty cavalry and quickly sent him to Yuan Gufu Village with a pill of Duobaodan. In the hands of Chong Li.
By the time we arrived at Nanyang Village, it was already Maochu time.
When Li Shoujun knew that General Manager Long was coming, he opened the gate of the village and went to greet him in person. He knew very well what Director Long was like. He must do everything personally, and he is honest and frugal, so he is deeply trusted by the Duke of the country.
The two of them walked into the tent hand in hand. It was still dark, and the soldiers in the tent lit many candles.
"Hurry up and prepare food and drinks for Chief Long and the brothers who are accompanying him!" Shoujun ordered the soldiers standing next to him.
"Yes," the soldier agreed and went.
After traveling all night, Mr. Long felt really hungry, so he didn't give up. After explaining his purpose, he took out the remaining two yellow pills from his bag and handed them to Shoujun. Shoujun thanked the Duke and chatted with Duke Long for a while.
The food and wine outside will be ready in a moment.
Shoujun still wanted to talk to his father-in-law, so he sat down with him.
Shoujun raised his cup and said:
"Brother Long, I respect you." After saying that, he drank the wine in one gulp.
The father-in-law looked at Shoujun, as if he was worried, and after a moment's hesitation, he finished the meal. Then he said:
"Brother Li, I still need to hurry, and the Duke will be waiting for me to return at noon!"
"In that case, I won't persuade Brother Long to drink. You can eat more food!" At this moment, the soldier outside the door reported:
"Master Li, Master Hei from Xihe is here again!"
"Okay, I'll come right away."
"Brother Long, please use your discretion. I'll come as soon as I can." After saying that, he cupped his fists and turned around to leave.
After a while, Shoujun returned to the tent.
The master had finished his meal and was drinking a bowl of tea.
"Brother Long, our black boss fought a beautiful night battle yesterday, which severely dampened the enemy's spirit!" Li Shoujun couldn't hide his excitement and called out all the "black bosses" he usually called in private.
The father-in-law quickly put down his tea bowl and listened carefully to Shoujun's account of the incident. After listening, he couldn’t help but slap the table with his hand and cheered:
"good!"
"It's just that Bai Rumei and the others will not be reconciled to this loss and will definitely come back. Brother Shoujun, you need to be extremely cautious when you are waiting for an important attack here. We rely very much on Brother Li for matters here. I, Mr. Thanks!" After saying that, he clasped his fists and was about to bow to salute, but was held up by Shoujun's hands.
"Brother Long, you are too polite! We are no longer the Thirteenth Army many years ago. Are you being too foreign?" After a moment, he said:
"Hei Yougong and I will defend this place to the death, and we will never retreat even if we fight with one man or one horse. Please convey this message to the Duke, Brother Long. Don't worry, don't worry!"
…
Halfway up Maolu Mountain, there is Jiulianping.
There are 3,000 soldiers from the Chinese military camp stationed here, which is Li Laiheng's personal camp. The soldiers are all well-trained and can be as good as ten, and they are quite brave. A large area was opened up on the mountainside, and many huts and shacks were built, as well as some gray-white tents scattered everywhere.
At this time, on an empty platform inside the village gate, all the Chinese military battalions headed by deputy commander Zhang Shun had assembled and were waiting for Li Laiheng and Song Qingping to come down the mountain. Today we will move the big tent to the foot of the mountain.
Zhang Shun and others waited under the gentle breeze and warm sun from 10 o'clock to 4 o'clock before they saw a large group of moving people coming down from the mountain from a distance. Of course, most of these people are from the Guards Camp, and only a few of them are from the "Loyalty Camp" at the foot of the mountain. But whether they are from the Guards Camp or the Loyalty Camp, they are all the iron-blooded guards of Laiheng, and they are sworn to live and die together.
"I've seen the general!" The soldiers of the personal camp uniformly crossed their hands and bowed to Laiheng who was approaching.
"Brothers, thank you for your hard work!" Leghorn said with a smile. This smile suddenly blew through the hearts of all the soldiers like a spring breeze.
Seeing Laiheng walking towards him, Zhang Shun hurriedly crossed his hands and saluted, shouting, "I have met the Duke!"
Leghorn's smile still hung on his face and he said kindly:
"Zhang Shun'er, there's no need to be polite. Are Li Yong and the others back?"
"Your Majesty, I haven't returned to camp yet."
"Well, if he returns to camp, ask him to go to the stronghold at the foot of the mountain. I have something to ask him!"
"Yes, Lord Guo."
"Zhang Shuner, Kuang Hanju went to Xingshan to donate medicine. Did he give you your medicine?"
"Thank you, Mr. Guo, I gave it!" Zhang Shun replied respectfully.
"When Han Ju comes back, ask him to come over and help you. You have to train your troops hard. Niu Xi won't be back for a while, so you have to shoulder the burden of the military camp for me."
"Yes, Zhang Shun understands!"
Laiheng looked at the young man in his early twenties who had been promoted from the children's camp. His eyes were full of the love of the elders for the younger ones. After a while, he put away his smile and walked down the mountain with Qingping and others.
Turning the corner outside Jiulianping, the view down the mountain gradually broadened. I could vaguely see a large group of cavalry running towards the mountain. Laiheng and others stopped and waited, because the mountain road was rugged and most places were only large enough for a single biker to walk on it. It was too narrow!
For a moment, the leader was none other than Li Yong. With a move of his hand, he stopped the people and horses behind him. He quickly jumped off the horse, half-knelt in front of Laiheng, and said to Laiheng:
"My lord, I will finally live up to my command." After saying this, he took off the "Xiaotian Sword" from his waist and handed it to Laiheng with both hands.
"Okay, okay! Get up and talk!" Lai Heng smiled happily and stepped forward to help Li Yong up.
"It's not very convenient here. How about you move down the mountain to the stronghold to talk to General Li?" Qingping stepped forward and asked.
Lai Heng nodded in agreement, then patted Li Yong twice on the shoulder and said:
"Okay, let's talk down the mountain. You go and hand over troops to Zhang Shun first." Laiheng said as he walked down the mountain. Li Yong stared blankly at this group of people, walking eastward and westward down the mountain, some Zhang Er Jingang was confused. But it didn't last long before the deal was made with Zhang Shun. Except for the fifty cavalrymen who followed General Manager Long, the remaining four hundred and fifty soldiers were uninjured.
"Brother Li Yong is awesome!" said a short soldier standing behind Zhang Shun. Zhang Shun turned around and tried to pat him on the head.
"As long as you can speak, this is what I should say, right, Brother Yong?"
"Don't praise me. There are many people around our Lord who are better than me. First, tell me what they are doing carrying things down the mountain?"
"Oh, you don't know yet? All the big tents on the mountain will be moved to Baiyangzhai at the foot of the mountain today. I heard that this will save Tang Ma who travels to the front line a lot of time going up and down the mountain, so the Duke and the others have decided this." Zhang Shun answered.
"Oh, that's right. Well, Xiao Shunzi, I'll give you the soldiers as well. I'm leaving, and the Duke is still waiting for me!"
When Li Yong came down from the mountain and was still a stone's throw away from the Baiyangzhai tent, he noticed something unusual. It was already noon, but there were many soldiers wearing Tangma costumes outside the tent. They were squatting or sitting, not talking to each other, and the atmosphere was dull.
Li Yong walked outside the tent, and the guards stepped in to salute him, and then lifted the door curtain for him. Leghorn saw him and greeted him quickly.
"I've met the Duke!" Li Yong half-knelt and saluted.
"No need to be polite, tell me about the situation there." Laiheng said with a smile. At this time, Song Qingping, who was reading at the desk next to her, put down her book and walked over.
"Reporting to the Duke of the State, Mao Shoudeng was killed with an arrow by Feng Yingzhao on the spot, but Wang Jincai let him run away. It is the last general who did not think carefully and was willing to accept the punishment!"
"Where are Mao and Wang's troops?" Qingping asked.
The sound of horse hooves "De, De" could be heard coming from outside the door, and the soldier outside the tent reported:
"My lord, Chief Long is back."
"Go and invite him in quickly," Li Laiheng ordered, looking at Li Yong, waiting for his reply.
"About 9,000 people from Wang Jincai's troops all surrendered and returned to Langwu together with Mao Chongying. In addition to demobilizing some of the soldiers, Mao Shoudeng's subordinates also had about 8,000 people who had followed Fou Yingzhaopi Xingyong to Huangliang Town to guard the palace last night. Gone." Li Yong replied.
"Well, not bad, not bad." Lai Heng touched the back of his head and looked at Song Qingping. Qingping understood, nodded with a smile and said:
"General Li's contribution this time is not small. Your Majesty has a reward for you. Go back to the mountain to rest."
"Thank you so much, Mr. Guo, for your kindness. I won't have to rest for the rest of my life," Li Yong said.
"Go ahead, go to Ciqing Palace to pay your respects to the Queen Mother!" Laiheng said. Just yesterday evening, Li Yong's mother, wife and daughter were picked up by people sent by Laiheng to the mountain.
"Yes, I will obey your orders!" Li Yong said no more, turned and left the tent.
At this time, the master greeted Li Yong outside the tent, hugged his fists, opened the curtain and walked into the tent. The Duke and the others were looking at him with smiles, and Laiheng said:
"Master, thank you for your hard work, come and sit here!"
"I've met the Duke and joined the army." The Duke clasped his fists again and walked over. After sitting down, he told the Duke and others about the experience of going down the mountain, especially when Hei Yougong successfully attacked the enemy camp. Laiheng felt very satisfied, but like Qingping, he felt that the situation was not so optimistic.
"Well, okay! Master, please go up the mountain to rest for now. I have sent someone to pick up Li Yong's family members. You can take good care of them for me."
"Yes, that's natural. Don't worry about it!" After saying that, he immediately stood up and left. After Qingping saw her father-in-law leaving, she said to Laiheng:
"My lord, according to the Tang newspaper from Xingshan, the number of enemies in Dangyang is increasing."
"How do you see it?" Laheng asked.
"The lights of carriages and horses outside Dangyang City stayed on all night, so why not increase the number of troops?" Qingping asked back. After a pause he said:
"It is an undeniable fact that Dorgon is in Xiangyang City. Qingping speculates that within three days, the Hu people will launch a large-scale attack. I hope the Duke has been mentally prepared!"
Li Laiheng felt worried when he heard what he said, so he asked Qingping for advice. Song Qingping stroked his beard and paced slightly. After a long time, he stopped and said:
"Our army in Xingshan Village has 38,000 troops. It can be defended with danger and is safe for the time being. The 18,000-plus troops at Huang Lianggu obviously will not be defeated by Jingzhou Duoduo, but the existing troops at Langwu Division are 20,000. The remaining troops can reinforce that place. There are 20,000 soldiers and horses in the distance of Guihuai at the mouth of the gorge, and there is no danger of being in an angle with Hongxia. Only the black meritorious troops in the direction of Wollongong are slightly weak, and they may not be able to defeat Bai Rumei and others. This is the foolish intention. , I hope the Duke will make his own decision!"
"Qingping, what you said makes sense. We should prepare reinforcements to go to the place where Hei Yougong is located. In your opinion...how should we respond?"
"For this plan, only General Niu Xi can take on this important task! But after transferring General Niu, Baiyangzhai may have to resort to the empty city strategy!" Song Qingping looked at Laiheng and said.
Li Laiheng thought for a moment and couldn't help but patted his thigh and said: "An empty city is an empty city. Okay, Qingping, I'll do as you say!"
Within half an hour, the gate from Baiyang Village to Nanyang Town suddenly opened, and countless soldiers and horses were seen filing out of the village in four columns. A powerful general stood at the head of the village gate. While he was talking to his soldiers, two big flags stood upright behind him, and the words "loyalty" and "cow" could be seen from a distance.
"I hope he lives up to everyone's expectations." Li Laiheng and Song Qingping, who were standing high up, watched the team drift away and thought silently in their hearts.
…
