Not to mention Wang Jing and the Taiping Army, after the collapse of the former Qin Army, some of the defeated troops fled towards the north, and more fled to the east. They all knew that General Liang Cheng was still stationed in Sihong, and the former Qin Army still had prestige in their hearts. .
On the way to escape, waves of broken soldiers gathered together, gradually forming a group of hundreds of people.
Sihong is the place where more than ten water streams such as Sishui River, Bianhe River and Suihe River meet.
Not far to the east is Hongze Lake. The word Hong in Sihong represents Hongze Lake.
The rivers meet here, and whether you are going up or down the river, you cannot avoid this place.
The former Qin army chose to settle here, so they naturally had plans to attack and expand their power along the river.
Here water flows together, the land is fertile, and many people come here as refugees.
Liang Cheng sent troops to gather more than 100,000 people and let them farm near Sihong. When the former Qin army came, they brought a lot of food and grass, but they ate less of it.
As a general, he naturally knew the importance of food and grass to the army, so he arranged for the people to farm in advance.
On the Sihong City Wall, former Qin soldiers were patrolling carefully.
This city is not big, and it took tens of thousands of people more than half a year to build it. The atmosphere in the city is solemn, and many people are hiding in their houses unnecessarily.
Under the control of the former Qin army, except for a few capable people who became civil servants and assisted Liang Cheng in handling some chores.
The other common people were under military control and usually worked hard to cultivate fields. Sometimes they were drafted as civilian husbands to transport grain, grass and baggage to the military divisions outside.
Liang Cheng's family had a good academic background, and he was not said to be talented in literature or martial arts, but he was at least proficient in writing. He accepted the suggestions of some literary officials and used the method of military settlement to settle more than 100,000 people.
Much better than Sun Ru, who has a strong military but is not productive.
"There's a situation!"
Due to the implementation of the military garrison law, Sihong City Gate was rarely visited by people except for arranging for people to cut wood and collect firewood.
The former Qin soldiers on the city wall immediately sounded the alarm after discovering a large group of people approaching in the distance.
Soon, the people and horses in the distance approached and revealed their appearance.
They were holding each other up, panting, their clothes were stained with dust and blood, and they were in a very embarrassed state.
"I am Qian He, the captain of the Zuo Military Academy. I have something important to report to the general!"
Hundreds of people did not approach the city gate rashly, but a big man stepped out and reported his identity. Then he stood there and waited.
"Captain Zuojun? Didn't Zuojun go out with the second general?"
When the soldiers on the city wall heard this, some smart people were shocked. Seeing the embarrassed appearance of the soldiers below the city, they could guess that something was wrong with the left army.
This matter is important.
Wang Xian, the governor of Yangzhou of the Qin Army, personally climbed to the top of the city, used a hanging basket to ask the other party to present the talisman, confirmed the identity of everyone in the city, and then hurried to the general's camp with Captain Qian He.
"General Wei!"
Wang Xian led people to the palace hall. At this time, a general was standing high in the hall. A dozen beautiful women were performing dances, and several lieutenant generals were sitting on both sides.
Seeing Wang Xian's arrival, Liang Cheng looked anxious and waved his hand to ask the dancing woman to step back.
"what happened?"
When he saw Qian He walking in behind Wang Xian, Liang Cheng's expression changed slightly.
"General Wei, the second general was encircling the Taiping Army and was about to succeed. Suddenly a group of troops appeared from the west. Our army was caught off guard and the enemy broke into camp..."
Qian He kneeled down and said bitterly.
"Where's Liang Yun?"
Liang Cheng's face turned a little blue and he suddenly interrupted him.
"The second general... unfortunately died in battle!"
Qian He originally wanted to speak more tactfully, but seeing General Wei's bad expression, he did not dare to delay and directly told the story of the recent defeat of the former Qin army.
"Second brother... died in battle? I didn't expect that someone nearby would dare to be an enemy of our army!"
Liang Cheng was so angry that he laughed instead.
"My condolences, General! The most important thing now is to find out the origin of this army!"
"It is said that there are only two or three thousand soldiers in this army. The only way to defeat our army is to sneak attack by taking advantage of the opportunity. Once we find out the identity of this army, our army can kill them with a thunderous strike and avenge the second general!"
Wang Xian said.
As the saying goes, kindness cannot lead an army. Liang Cheng is known as a famous general, so he can naturally control his emotions.
He took a deep breath and his eyes turned red.
He said: "Okay, leave the investigation to Inspector Wang... Pass the order and mobilize 10,000 elites. As long as the whereabouts of these people are found, I will personally go out and kill them all!"
Inside Sihong City.
Liang Cheng's words were the highest military order. The city, which was originally filled with a solemn atmosphere, began to become lively. Many generals began to mobilize their elite troops and began to prepare for sending troops.
…
Somewhere in the city.
In front of a courtyard adjacent to the street, a man inadvertently turned around twice and saw no movement nearby.
He moved his steps, entered the courtyard, and closed the door quietly.
"There's no one outside!"
The man said softly. At this time, there were two people in the courtyard. One of them was a man with a black beard, his eyes were shining, and he looked quite powerful. The other was a man with elegant appearance and extraordinary temperament.
"Liang Yun's army was defeated! The 10,000-strong army suffered heavy casualties, and only a few hundred have escaped so far... What a tragedy!"
The man sat down and told everything he had found out.
He was very knowledgeable about the information brought back by Captain Qian He, whether it was Liang Yun's death on the battlefield or the sudden appearance of the East Lake Army... he had found out all of it very clearly.
"Brother Lin had a good evaluation of Liang Yun before, but he is indeed somewhat incompetent!" the elegant man sighed.
The man with the black beard is called Brother Lin.
"Haha, if you are an incompetent general, you will be defeated sooner or later. Brother Bu, didn't you expect it a long time ago?"
"The former Qin army of Liang Cheng and Liang Yun seems to be elite, but in fact it is a mixture of Hu and Han. They can persist when they encounter ordinary enemies, but they cannot fight for a long time when they encounter strong enemies!"
"Historically, Liang Cheng was defeated by Liu Laozhi who only had 5,000 troops!"
"This kind of character has already established his character. No matter how great his power becomes in the future, he will eventually be defeated by the hero!"
His voice was thick and he deliberately lowered his voice.
"So, Brother Lin deliberately hid his ability and did not serve the former Qin army?"
The elegant man said.
Brother Lin glanced at the two of them and sighed: "Yes, I, Lin Renzhao, was loyal to the emperor back then, but the Emperor of Tang fell into Zhao Kuangyin's alienation plan and killed me!"
"After knowing my destiny in history, I swear that I will never surrender to the incompetent master again!"
The black-bearded man is Lin Renzhao, a famous general of the Southern Tang Dynasty in history.
After he was reborn in the world of China, he had no soldiers in his hands and was taken to Sihong as a refugee. During this time, he made two friends in Sihong.
Perhaps people flock together and birds of a feather flock together, and capable people tend to make friends of the same kind. Of the two people he knew, one of them had outstanding martial arts, and the elegant man was a famous minister recorded in history books.
"Brother Lin makes sense! Isn't it because Liang Cheng is incapable of hiding his name and not showing off his strength?"
"It's just that we are trapped in Sihong now, and we have no chance to defect to the Ming Lord!"
said the man who had just let loose.
