Delong

Chapter 289

At the end of October, the weather turned cold rapidly, and the Hebei area began to freeze at night.

On the twenty-sixth, early in the morning, the cold air was overwhelming. Zhang Shiyu, the prefect of Bohai who was stationed in the south of Leling City, got up early, put on his leather armor, and then put on a big cloak, and went with Xue Wanbi, the general of the Hejian camp To the north of the city, I saw the generals of Beiying Hejian and Xue Changxiong, the leader of Hejian Daying, the head of the Hebei Marching, and the leader of Zuo Weiwei, who hurriedly arrived last night.

Besides, Leling City has not been completely encircled... 7 people and such a large city, only 4 to [-] people, can't be completely encircled... Instead, two rivers from southwest to northeast in the south and north of the city were used to establish a Two large camps were set up to roughly block them.

Among them, more than 1 Bohai soldiers led by Zhang Shiyu, and [-] Hejian soldiers led by Xue Wanbi, Wang Changhe, and Guo Shiping were listed on the south side; Xue Wannian, Xue Wanquan, Zhang Shirang, and Wang Fu Generals Bei, Wang Changxie, Chen Bin, and Wang Yu led [-] Hejian troops and lived on the north side.

Of course, Xue Changxiong arrived in a hurry last night, and there was a new commander in Beiying, and even the entire battlefield.

In this way, Zhang Junshou came to Beiying, but he did not enter any camp, but transferred to a mansion - Leling is surrounded by the essence of Bohai Sea, and there are settlements everywhere outside the city. , or the rebel army under the city, they all built camps directly on top of other people's houses.

Xue Changxiong, who was not wearing armor, personally led the generals of the northern camp to welcome him. He wanted to let him go to the hall, but Zhang Shiyu declined politely. He only said that his family was old and wanted to bask in the sun, but he stopped in the courtyard and sat down indiscriminately.

Of course, Zhang Shiyu is still second only to Xue Changxiong.

No way, really no way, don't look at someone shouting all day about Hebei being divided up by warlords, etc., but the specific situation must be treated in a specific way, such as Zhang Shiyu's age, identity, seniority, and background, Xue Changxiong also respects So, even if Xue Changxiong doesn't come, it's hard to say who is in charge here in Leling.

Or to be more direct, the generals who besieged the city, the supervisor Sima, the internal history, Wang Changhe, and Wang Changxie brothers are basically Zhang Shiyu's fellow villagers in Jin, and Zhang Shirang is even a fellow of the same family... Even if it is Hejian The military town of Daying has separatized half of Hebei, so Zhang Shiyu can learn from the other side of the river to become a big leader or even a leader in the power of Hejian.

In fact, the siege of Leling was originally led by Zhang Shiyu.

And from this point of view, the Pingyuan Tongshou next door who couldn't hold back even a few Zhonglang generals and even a retired emperor's secretary dared to hide letters privately should not be too embarrassing.

Everyone sat down in disorder but in an orderly manner. Xue Changxiong, whose son died and was dressed in civilian clothes, spoke first, but his tone was flat: "Everyone, the military situation is urgent, and we should have made a decision early, but I came here in a hurry last night, and the situation is more than a day away." However, I still need to ask more questions...Who can tell me, what is the result of my second child and the West Road side teacher? What about General Zhuge and General Wang?"

"The three generals were all killed, the whole army was annihilated, and then they were massacred, but after the massacre, there were still 6000 to [-] people, and the wounded were released together." Zhang Shiyu blurted out, repeating the information.

"Is it true?" Xue Changxiong asked with a dark face.

"It's true." Zhang Shiyu sighed. "Qian Tongshou has been in Pingping for a while, and his character is trustworthy. He would not lie about such a big matter. Moreover, if the West Route Army hadn't been wiped out, where would the Destroyer Dragon Army go straight to Ban County? The East Road Pianshi came back in fright?"

Xue Wanbi, the fourth son of Xue Changxiong, who was the chief general of Donglu Pianshi before, got up quickly, his face turned red, as if he was about to explain something.

Unexpectedly, General Xue just waved his hand to let his son sit down, and then continued to ask Zhang Shiyu: "The defeat of the army is inevitable, and the annihilation of the entire army seems to be inevitable, but is it that the camp was defeated within an hour? And Or build a large array of true energy and break through it in one fell swoop? The three Zhonglang generals, and one of them is a master of alchemy, and they are all dead?"

Zhang Shiyu frowned slightly. He didn't know what he thought of, but he nodded seriously: "That's what I said."

Xue Changxiong sighed on the spot.

Everyone thought it was the general's dead son, and it was difficult to accept the reality, but because of his identity, except for Zhang Shiyu, it was difficult for anyone else to take the initiative to say anything.

At this time, Zhang Taishou unexpectedly remained silent, but tightened the cloak around his body.

After a while, Xue Changxiong continued to ask: "What is the strength of the Dragon Bandits? Who knows?"

"Report to Commander-in-Chief." Xue Wanbi hurriedly stood up again, shaking his armor and saluting. "There are more than [-] of our own army, of which more than [-] came from the west plain, seven or eight thousand came directly from Douzigang, and the rest of the Hebei vassal bandit army also has [-] people, all equipped on foot, heavy equipment and military equipment. , the rules and regulations for marching into and out of the village are also very strict, but this is only the strength of our troops when we retreated from the south..."

"Are there no other follow-up reinforcements?"

"It's hard to say." Zhang Shiyu finally spoke again. "The Dragon Thieves themselves occupy the land of eight counties. There were no less than [-] people in the first battle of Lishan Mountain. Now, no matter what, there should be [-] to [-] to [-] main forces, but that's all in Hebei right now... Those seven or eight thousand should be the Putai army, and Qi County should have two or three thousand."

"So, there must be reinforcements in the future." Xue Changxiong immediately sighed and asked again. "Then were the [-] soldiers handpicked, or sent out hastily?"

Everyone was silent, and Xue Wanbi who was standing there was also a little embarrassed. They all lacked information about the dethroning dragon army.

After a while, Zhang Shiyu had no choice but to answer: "It should be both a hastily dispatched soldier and a carefully selected soldier...Before, there were dragon thieves who wanted to come to Hebei from Mr. Qianfu in Pingyuan and Qinghe. Rumor has it that the thieves should have been preparing to cross the river a long time ago. The reason why we mobilized so quickly is to kill Gao Shitong before the ice freezes and prevent the dragon thieves from coming to help... Unexpectedly, they knew that we had mobilized here, and followed Desperately mobilized, and then killed Gao Shizan, and sent troops to attack the lonely partial division in the west, and now came to rescue Gao Shitong, one ring after another, the goal is too clear."

"Indeed." Xue Changxiong thought over and over again, and replied seriously. "Judging from the timing and accuracy of these campaigns, the Dragon Thieves are planning on Hebei. I'm afraid that there are already spies and internal agents everywhere. There should be a saying there, but we don't know anything about them, which is why we suffered such a big loss."

Zhang Shiyu nodded sincerely, he also felt the same, otherwise how could Gao Shizan's death be so coincidental?Otherwise, how could they pounce on the West Route Army so quickly and accurately?Why did Gao Shitong come to the rescue just when he was about to die?
only……

At this moment, the person below did not hold back, and suddenly spoke, but cautiously, it was Chen Bin, the supervisor of the army: "General... Are there rumors that deposing the dragon thief is Bai's method?"

Xue Changxiong was slightly taken aback, but he immediately scolded: "Absurd, the Bai family is the pillar of the country, but there are only three Dukes, two general managers, and one Shangshu. How can it be your turn to make wild guesses here?!"

Chen Bin shut up immediately, but the expressions of the people around him were already different.

Seeing this situation, Zhang Shiyu sighed, and interrupted helplessly: "Is it true that you really believe this kind of words?"

"Bai Sanniang has become the governor of Dengzhou." Xue Wannian immediately answered with a smile. "Even if you don't believe it, you have to be prepared."

Obviously, many people really believed it.

"So what?" Seeing this, Xue Changxiong had no choice but to refute the rumors. "The situation has come to this point, and all the territory of the eight counties that have dethroned the dragon thief has been occupied. Don't say it's just a rumor in the countryside, but if you take a step back, Zhang Sanlang and Bai Sanniang are indeed the way arranged by the British government. Well, now there is a new way of saying... They just want to give the land to the Bai family, but how can they be willing to dethrone dozens of leaders of the Dragon Gang and tens of thousands of troops? Moreover, Zhang Sanlang's own power lies in the Here, how can it be unreasonable? Not to mention Weng son-in-law, even father and daughter, there are real differences at this time!"

Everyone nodded, but there was no doubt that even General Xue seemed to believe a little bit of the saying, what does it mean to step back ten thousand steps?

However, at this moment, Chen Bin, the supervisor of the army, simply sneered and said: "The general misunderstood, how can I not understand this truth? Today the courtyard is full of generals, Sima, and prefects who have entered the hall, so I will not cover it up." I mean... I mean, isn't Ping Yuan Tong Shou Qian Tang the former subordinate of Bai Sanniang and Zhang Sanlang? Was he recommended by the British government? Naturally, this person can contact Taiyuan and the East. What's more terrible Yes, the Second General died in Pingyuan this time, and that prefect Qian knew all about the plan..."

Xue Changxiong narrowed his eyes, thoughtful, and the rest of the generals also looked at each other in blank dismay, some were outraged, some were dumbfounded.

"But if it follows General Xue's previous reasoning." But Zhang Shiyu couldn't listen anymore, and refuted it with a sneer on the spot. "Qian Tongshou is also the prefect of a county, or a large county like Pingyuan, how can he be a spy for someone?"

Xue Changxiong was slightly taken aback, and Chen Bin was also silent.

"If it really goes on like this..." Zhang Shi met the situation, knowing that these people really have no vision and tolerance, so he continued to speak angrily. "I, Zhang Shiyu, can also recruit a few prefects, and find a few fellow clansmen and old friends, so as to make a future for the Zhang family? It is that Zhang San, whose surname is also Zhang, maybe it is the Zhang family of Hedong What about the marriage with the Bai clan of Guanlong! There is also Hejian Daying, they say that Hejian Daying's surname is not Cao, but Xue..."

"Mr. Zhang thinks too much." At this point, Xue Changxiong couldn't pretend to be dead, so he quickly waved his hands. "Chen Sima is young, it's just a random guess, we make up our minds, we won't take it seriously."

"That's good." Zhang Shiyu said seriously. "But I still want to say something...Qian Tongshou and Cao Tongshou from Qinghe, although they are not of high background, are rare talents. People who do things. The current situation is chaotic, and no one dares to say what will happen, but if this kind of person really hooks up with the dragon thief, it will definitely not be because of any personal relationship, but because the current situation is difficult. , Qinghe can't hold it anymore, that's all."

Xue Changxiong stood up and cupped his hands in the courtyard: "I already understand what Mr. Zhang means, and I will never underestimate these two people or become suspicious for no reason."

Zhang Shiyu nodded.

And Xue Changxiong turned his head after sitting down, glared at his confidant Chen Sima, then glanced around, and then asked the next and most critical question: "Don't talk about irrelevant things, just talk about dethroning the dragon thief two or three times." It will be here in a few days, how should we deal with the battle situation?"

However, after saying this, there was a silence below.

Obviously, everyone has scruples, but the object of scruples may not be uniform.

"What about the question? Fourth child!" Xue Changxiong called his name directly.

"What did the commander-in-law say! I just charge forward and avenge my second brother!" Xue Wanbi immediately jumped up and bowed to the ground again.

"A brave husband!" Xue Changxiong reprimanded angrily, but he didn't make things difficult for the other party, and then looked at the other son. "What does the third child say?"

Xue Wannian hesitated for a moment, and also bowed in the courtyard: "Reporting to my father, it is necessary to avenge my second brother, but they are by no means easy to get along with because of the wave of dethroning the dragon thief and killing my second brother. Be fully prepared."

"Nonsense!" Xue Changxiong continued to look at the youngest son. "Lao Qi, tell me."

Xue Wanquan also bowed down in the courtyard, and answered earnestly: "My child thinks that the key is to make a choice... The dragon thief came too fast and too resolutely, but Gao Shitong still has [-] to [-] people. a city..."

"Yes, here lies the trouble." Xue Changxiong patted his thigh and sighed immediately. "We prepared a table of dishes, but two tables of guests came! The second child and that side teacher are so confused!"

The generals below have different expressions. Obviously, some people have understood it, but only understanding General Xue seems to be unable to make a conclusion.

Sure enough, after thinking about it, the three Xue brothers, Chen Bin, and Wang Yu gradually focused on the general Xue Changxiong, while Zhang Shirang and Wang Changxie looked at Zhang Shiyu, the prefect of Bohai.

Zhang Shiyu's face was ugly, he glanced over, and saw a person who seemed to be eager to try, and immediately called his name: "General Wang, do you have any ideas?"

This king is not Wang Yu or Wang Changxie, but the third surnamed Wang here, called Wang Fubei.

This man was born in a small local tyrant in Hebei, and he was a "rebel". Later, he was surrounded by the clan's Weizi during the raid of the Hejian army, and he voluntarily surrendered... At that time, he was already a talent with both Ren and Du. , and the Hejian Army also needed an example, so they accepted his surrender.

This year, Ningdan was also promoted to be a Zhonglang general.

Logically speaking, there is no room for him to speak here.

"The last general means..." Wang Fubei stood up and cupped his hands, and saluted Zhang Shiyu and Xue Changxiong in turn. "At this time, there is no need to worry about a table of food and a table of people, because Gao Shitong has been suppressed, leave him alone, and join the whole army to go south to directly meet the dragon thief."

Xue Changxiong frowned slightly.

But Wang Fubei didn't notice it at all, or thought that the other party was thinking seriously, and kept talking more and more:
"On paper, there are more than 3 elites, but they have just finished a battle and marched across the river. We can win! In addition, there is another thing, that is, Gao Shitong's [-] to [-] bandit army is too numerous. It is one thing to talk about combat power, but another thing to deal with it. , once it is broken, it will inevitably flee to the other side, but it will not delay our return and deal with Gao Shitong."

Xue Changxiong listened patiently, but shook his head slowly: "Too anxious! According to your statement, Gao Shitong and these 7 to [-] people are all useless, and they didn't move when they saw us going south?"

"It's not that it doesn't move, it's that it's too late!" Wang Fubei quickly explained. "As long as we fight fast enough, it's like the dragon thief who beat the West Road division..."

Xue Changxiong's face darkened.

When Xue Wanbi saw this, he also went black, and immediately scolded: "Wang Fubei, what do you mean? My second brother died for the country, and he died in battle, so he still wants to be ridiculed by you?"

Only then was Wang Fubei stunned, and then his face turned red, saying he didn't dare.

But Xue Wannian also reacted, and then scolded: "Wang Fubei, the military and state affairs are decided by the father commander and Zhang Gong."

Wang Fubei was even more embarrassed, and could only bow his head in silence.

Xue Changxiong, on the other hand, quickly waved his hands when he saw this: "It's about business, don't quarrel..."

"Since General Xue and I are in charge, you all go out!" At this moment, Zhang Shiyu suddenly had an inexplicable seizure.

Everyone was stunned, but Zhang Taishou seemed angry and kept urging him. Seeing this, Xue Changxiong had no choice but to chase them away... After a while, these people left one after another, and only Xue Changxiong in casual clothes and a man in a suit were left in the yard. Zhang Shiyu, who is wearing a cloak.

"General Xue, tell me the truth." Zhang Shiyu asked with a dark face. "Is your master true or false?"

Xue Changxiong sighed: "You can't hide anything from Mr. Zhang... Actually, I just found a way after cleaning up Hebei this year, and the people below couldn't wait to spread it... I can't say that this master is fake, but I want to tell you I don’t know how much is worse than Dugong Niu’s level.”

"I should have thought of it earlier." Zhang Shiyu sighed. "You are worried that you have just reached the level of a master, and there are too many masters who have defeated the dragon thief, right? At the beginning, you asked how long it took for the bandit army to break through the camp, then asked about the life and death of the three Zhonglang generals, and then asked the dragon The thief reinforcements are all guessing how many masters will gather to dethrone the dragon thief...Is it right? They thought you were thinking about your second child."

"Of course I care about my second child, but I joined the army when I was young, my family has been in the army for generations, and my sons are all practicing martial arts to join the army. How could the army's morale be shaken by the death of one son?" Xue Changxiong said seriously. "Mr. Zhang, this time, I'm afraid that the Dragon Bandit had no intention of attacking us. It's not that we don't have enough experts, but some are in Changshan, some are in Xindu, some are in Hejian, and there is another The masters of alchemy crossed the sea and went to the northern land of Bohai. Now there are only me, a half-master, half-alchemist and seven or eight alchemy masters here, while the bandit army has at least four or five famous alchemy masters, and a dozen or so alchemy masters. Experts... They are so determined, so quick, I'm afraid they really calculated, and maybe even lured me over to get rid of my scheme... You don't know, I have seen Bai Sanniang's tricks, then She is a real master, she can't be judged by ordinary Cheng Dan, she may have followed secretly."

Zhang Shiyu's face turned black: "So, you want to withdraw the troops?"

Xue Changxiong nodded: "You can't ruin the real situation because of a moment of anger... Mr. Zhang, if I die, or if these tens of thousands of soldiers are defeated, the Hejian camp will be abolished, and the Dragon Bandit will really succeed." At that time, not only the Bohai Sea and the plains, but the whole of Hebei will fall into the hands of thieves... and as long as we go back and prepare our troops and horses, everything will be fine."

Zhang Shiyu took a long breath, but calmed down, and immediately asked: "Then what should we do? I just ask you, what will we do in Bohai County when you leave?"

"It won't delay things." Xue Changxiong explained seriously. "The dragon thief has just crossed the river, and his aura is menacing, but his target is clear. He doesn't even look at the big cities like Ander and Pingyuan. Plans and material preparations for Bohai and Plain... Bohai County is so big, you just need to retreat a little bit, but if they really dare to go to the north, it will be their own death, and we will take the opportunity to gather troops to turn back Eat it."

"General Xue!" Zhang Shiyu sneered: "Since you are a half-grandmaster, and you are so decisive and resolute this time, I am also suspicious, not to mention that you died in my plan. Son, I lost [-] soldiers... In fact, the old man can only admit it. But there is a saying, the old man must tell you that if you still have the mentality of a military leader, you only care about soldiers and horses in everything, and don't consider people's hearts If you don’t know the reason and know the place and the army formation, don’t expect to compete with Taiyuan! It means that the old man is old, otherwise I can boast of my ability and compete with you in the Hejian Camp site!”

Xue Changxiong's expression was normal: "If Zhang Gong is willing to take care of this mess, I am willing to be a deputy."

The other party was so bachelor, Zhang Shiyu was speechless.

After a while, the two of them finished their discussion, but they called everyone back and announced the decision to withdraw... As Xue Wannian said, Xue Changxiong and Zhang Shiyu made the decisions, and the rest had no right to say anything, they could only be bored He agreed.

The specific plan is to move the camp tonight, from the south camp to the north camp, and then tomorrow Wang Fubei will lead the army to protect Zhang Shiyu and transfer to the Wudi area.

In this way, when the dragon thief arrives the day after tomorrow, there is nothing he can do.

The shocking decisive battle that was originally guessed disappeared because of the overly resolute posture of the Dragon Army and the successful attack on the West Road Division.

Don't say anything else, just say that Zhang Shiyu ended the military discussion here and returned to the South Camp. Of course he still felt uncomfortable.

Unexpectedly, as soon as he arrived in Nanying, his subordinate Du Wei came to greet him early and reported an unexpected situation to him.

"Someone wants to surrender?" Zhang Shiyu was slightly surprised. "The bandit army inside the city is still the bandit army outside the city, didn't they all escape on their own before outside the city?"

"It's outside the city, but it didn't freeze before, and the water in the Mamian River can still bear it at noon, and it's all small streams, not as many people as this wave." The captain's words seemed to be muttering something.

Zhang Shiyu nodded, expressing his understanding, and asked by the way: "How many people? What's the origin? How do you say it?"

"3000 people, on the side of Gaojibo, the leader is Dou, from Qinghe, and most of his subordinates are from Qinghe and Xindu areas. He himself was a county official, so he has a clear background, and the leaders of his subordinates are also similar... ... If it is accurate, he will directly bring 3000 people into the camp we designated, just to survive." The captain hurriedly explained. "After the news came, everyone was quite arguing, and we just waited for the governor to make the decision."

Zhang Shiyu nodded again, and then stopped in the camp.

He knew very well what the so-called "quite controversial" meant, including the meaning of the captain in front of him. In fact, everyone wanted to recruit and surrender.

The reasons are self-evident.

To put it bluntly, the local prefectures and counties are naturally at odds with Hejian Daying. No one is willing to pay the county's money and food to those military towns for nothing, and they are not happy to see the local powerful households directly related to the military towns. People who refuse to obey the protection of military towns, and no one likes the behavior of military towns when they "clean up" places.

This is a natural contradiction and opposition.

But there is no way, the power of the state and county is limited, and there is nothing they can do in the face of Gao Shitong, a large group of fleeing rebels, let alone such a fierce dragon thief, so they can only count on Junzhen.

Under such circumstances, it is a matter of course for the locals to instinctively pursue some of their own military power.

But this time, the condition of the person surnamed Dou was unexpectedly good.

The 3000 people are not too many and not too few, which is easy to control; it is the so-called newly attached local bandit army in Hebei, who can't even enter the city, so it is reasonable to think about it in the face of this situation; He should have some ability; he even worked as a county official, and all the members of the tribe are regarded as "clean in origin" in the eyes of local people in Hebei.

Zhang Shiyu hesitated for a moment. Yesterday he might have refused, but he had just left Xue Changxiong with dissatisfaction with the Xue family and his son. He also felt that his family should have enough strength... Maybe facing demotion The ruthless role of dragon thief is not enough, but in a disadvantaged and defensive state, it is better than nothing.

Especially when we are about to retreat to the north, we need someone with a firm stand to resist the bandits from the Dragon Bandit and Gao Shitong... After passing this village, there will be no such shop, and they may not be willing to surrender when the camp is moved tomorrow.

"Let him meet the old man alone without a weapon." Zhang Shiyu glanced at the sun. "Come and see me before noon, otherwise we won't talk."

After finishing speaking, Eunuch Zhang wrapped his cloak again, and went into the small courtyard where he lived in the camp.

Almost at the same time, a hundred miles away, in Ande City, Pingyuan County, to the west, Qian Tang, who didn't know whether he was relieved or disappointed that Zhang Xing led the Dragon Army to leave, also received an unexpected news.

"Who's here?" Qian Fujun, who was still powerless for the rout of soldiers all over the city, was extremely surprised.

"My Mr. Cao's Mansion led five thousand soldiers from the county, so he should have crossed the line at this time." The official of Qinghe County who came to report solemnly presented a letter, and then spoke boldly from the hall. "He said that dethroning the dragon thieves is unusual, and the plan is huge. This time, it seems that he wants to fight decisively in the Bohai Sea once and for all, and seize the Bohai Sea. And if there is a decisive battle, every bit of power can determine the outcome. When this time At that time, I also asked Lord Qian not to be constrained by the gains and losses of one city and one place, and the interests of one county and one state... Therefore, he asked Lord Qian to gather the county soldiers as much as possible, then throw down the city defense, and follow him to the battle. East support!"

Qian Tang was stunned for a long time, speechless for a moment.

On the other hand, Lu Changheng was the first to sigh: "It is said that there are many heroes in Hebei. I only found out today. What I said is true."

PS: Good night everyone, I miss this chapter.

(End of this chapter)