Delong

Chapter 311 Tiger Row (12)

That night, the Chulong Army's night attack failed, and the next day, the two sides did not fight again, and early in the morning, the high-level officials of both sides also confirmed that Chanyuan City was broken by Qu Tuda, and that Niu Da fled westward. information.

By this time, the Chu Long Army was naturally hit hard. The excitement brought about by the undefeated scene in the previous battle could not be said to have been swept away, but there was not much left.

However, what's interesting is that the officers and soldiers here are not completely rejoicing, and even broke up in another bad mood.

The reason couldn't be simpler. The Dragon Army was worried that after Qu Tuda broke through Chanyuan, he would quickly reach the battlefield without any scruples. The generals of these Hejian camps were generally worried that after Qu Tuda broke through Chanyuan, he would gain enough The perfunctory meritorious service will no longer go east... It's like whoever took the head of a leader and then lay down.

This can be regarded as a sincere conclusion drawn from heart to heart.

In short, the high-level officers and soldiers on this day are basically a continuation of the chaos after returning yesterday.With everyone having their own ulterior motives, the situation not only did not ease, but became more chaotic and tense.

This made Xue Changxiong even more frustrated.

However, he did not stop all kinds of military affairs despite his anxiety, anger, disappointment and uneasiness. In the morning, Luo Shu and Li Li led the Youzhou Army to leave the battlefield as planned and march towards Yangxin to the east, and ordered to dismantle the army. The "pillar" military order was also circulated last night.

And just after the Youzhou Army left, a person suddenly invited Xue Changxiong to meet in private.

"Let him in!" Xue Changxiong thought for a while, although he was a little annoyed, he decided to come and listen, because what happened in the past two days brought out the reliability and sincerity of this person.

After a while, a person was transferred into the small half of Xue Changxiong's private tent at the back of the big tent of the Chinese army, but it was Qinghe prefect Cao Shancheng.

"What advice does Master Cao have?" Even if it was a private meeting, Xue Changxiong was really a little perfunctory, and he didn't even make a gesture of asking to sit down.

"My subordinate has a military suggestion, which is also a strategy. Please listen to it, General." Cao Shancheng also didn't care about these things, but just surrendered directly in the small tent.

"You said."

"General, please divide your troops and go around, pass Douzigang from the west, and attack the bandit army's back." Cao Shancheng's calculation was straightforward.

Xue Changxiong paused for a moment, but shook his head and laughed: "Your Majesty Cao is really persistent."

"Perseverance is there. Cao's determination to wipe out the thieves, restore Hebei Qinglang, and regain peace in the world has not changed a day since he saw Zhang Jincheng slaughtered indiscriminately. In this world, there must be Rules and order, otherwise it will be the result of heavy casualties among scholars and civilians, and the result of spreading bones in the fields." Cao Shancheng continued to lean forward and answer earnestly. "However, the strategy this time is actually quite different from what I said before."

Xue Changxiong thought for a while, then sighed in the seat behind the table, and then slightly raised his hand to signal: "I believe this is the words from the heart of Cao Fujun, Cao Fujun is truly caring about the world... Please continue to talk about it." .”

"It's like this." Cao Shancheng stood up straight and explained seriously. "As far as our army is concerned, the current situation is that the chessboard camp facing the opponent head-on has actually encountered resistance, or has made no progress, so that it cannot see the prospect of this battle, and then the morale of the army is shaken, so breakthroughs and results are urgently needed; As far as the enemy army is concerned, although they are holding on to the face at this time, they cannot stop the defeat of Chanyuan. I don't know if the imperial troops from all walks of life on the western front will come to attack, so even if they are holding on on the surface, they will inevitably There will be hesitation and fear..."

"So, sending troops at this time may not have a miraculous effect?" Xue Changxiong also listened.

"More than that." Cao Shancheng took a step forward and continued talking next to the table. "Have you ever thought about it, if we are careful, we can send a main force of elite troops separately under the cover of carrying large trees in the back city, and then gather from the rear and launch a surprise attack from Lujiao Pass, the westernmost point of Douzigang, Then ask the general to use the banner of General Qu Tu, whose army will they think this is? How will they react?!"

"It's interesting!" Xue Changxiong suddenly clapped the case, and then pointed to a chair beside him. "Let's talk about it in detail!"

"There's no need to elaborate, some things can be revealed immediately." Cao Shancheng answered with his head held high. "General...the reason why I have a private meeting today is because I just learned of General Qu Tu's victory in Chanyuan at the military meeting, and it was a timely strategy; Having said that, this matter should be kept as secret as possible and carefully covered up; the third is, I actually know that the strategy of inviting people to go around Douzigang for a surprise attack several times before has been refuted. All the reinforcements on the road are dispatched from the Eastern Capital. With the support of Cao Zhongcheng, there is a possibility that someone will become a new leader of Hebei. But this time, I want to make it clear that with the General, we will divide our troops here. The General can use Hejian soldiers to do this. For this matter, I can just be a leader and lieutenant general."

The third one obviously made Xue Changxiong a little embarrassed, but it was only a moment of embarrassment, and the Hebei Marching Chief began to think seriously.

And the more he thought about it, the more he realized that what the other party said made sense.

From a military point of view, whether to divide troops or not is just a matter of choice.

But the problem is that now that the two heavy-armed groups are gathered around Ban County, north of Douzigang and south of Mamian River, they have virtually lost the possibility of making a major breakthrough in a short period of time, so it is not a bad idea to take a risk and divide up their troops to open up a new front. No.If considering the military situation of both sides, pretending to be Qu Tuda to launch an attack may really have a miraculous effect.

In addition, there is another point that Cao Shancheng does not know, that is, what is going on in the east, Xue Changxiong only said that there are some bandits arranged by Zhang Xing on the Bohai Sea to harass, and let Luo Shu and Li Li go to Yangxin as a coordinator. Guard against, and pay attention to the possibility of the bandit army moving eastward, and did not dare to publicly mention that the bandit army's Dengzhou direction may be rushed before the end of the ice flood, that is, it will provide large-scale support within a few days.

Therefore, his desire to open up the situation is actually more urgent than Cao Shancheng imagined.

From a political point of view, although the other party's words were obviously resentful, it seemed to be the case.

Moreover, there is something Cao Shancheng didn't think of or just didn't say here, that is, if his family attacks from the west in the name of Qu Tuda, even if it doesn't work completely, it can still play an excellent role in urging Qu Tuda Tuda and others couldn't stand still, so they asked reinforcements from all over the West Road to come quickly.

Even, considering how difficult it is to dethrone the dragon thief, including the complexity of the entire battle situation, Xue Changxiong must consider the possibility of a long-term battle.And if it is a long-term battle, it is necessary to divide the troops from north to south to trap the bandits and cut off the most direct and effective support route from the east, that is, around Lujiao Pass on the west side of Douzigang.

In a word, from one moment to another, Xue Changxiong was not only tempted, but was directly persuaded to a considerable extent.

With this in mind, General Xue picked up the straight knife on the table in front of him, and patted the table in front of him with the scabbard. As soon as the table rang, a bell outside the tent also rang inexplicably. Several armored guards turned to salute.

"Go and call Chen Sima." Xue Changxiong ordered immediately.

Hearing this, Cao Shancheng also breathed a sigh of relief. He knew that Chen Bin was Xue Changxiong's deputy and think tank who handled military secrets in daily life. He called this person to ask for his final opinion; If so, it is very likely that the other party will be asked to help arrange the execution.

"Subordinates think it's feasible." After listening to it, Chen Bin thought for a moment before directly expressing his approval. "But there is one thing... Who is the actual head coach? The fourth general or the seventh general? Or the third general? It can't be the general manager, you can go there yourself?"

Xue Changxiong smiled, but immediately became embarrassed.

On the contrary, Cao Shancheng still had the bearing to consider the overall situation at this time, and immediately suggested: "In name, he is under the banner of General Qu Tuda, but judging from the strength of dethroning the dragon thief, it is best to have a master of Chengdan sit in the middle. In order to achieve the best vibration effect and self-protection ability, as for several major generals, it is natural to send a few more, but we still have to respect the overall situation."

"It's natural." Xue Changxiong waved his hand. "But Mr. Cao Fu thinks about it, if I don't send a few of their brothers to set an example, it will make others worry that this division of troops will lead to death, and they will delay it at that time. Instead of this, I might as well wait for General Qu Tuda... ...As for Chen Sima and I, the main reason is that they are afraid that the brothers will not accept each other."

"If the major generals don't go, the manager is also worried that they won't march properly?" Cao Shancheng shook his head, but immediately passed the topic. "However, according to me, if you have to choose someone to make the decision among the several major generals, you should still choose General Xue Wanbi... The fourth general is the one with the highest cultivation level, the best martial arts, and the most determined to fight among the several generals. A vanguard general on the front line, commanding separately, he is none other than him, and the others can't do it."

An embarrassment flashed across Xue Changxiong's face, then he thought about it for a while, and finally nodded.

Because it is.

Chen Bin still didn't express much, just agreed.

In other words, Xue Changxiong liked the youngest son very much, and when the eldest son was in Jiangdu as a hostage, he vaguely regarded Xue Wanquan as the successor of Hejian Daying. Xue Wanbi, the fourth son with the most outstanding abilities, although he did not dare to express his dissatisfaction with his father, and because his eldest brother was still alive in Jiangdu, it was difficult to discuss this matter with the seventh son, but for this reason he hated Chen Bin, Xue Changxiong's confidant. people.

Since the start of the war, Chen Bin has been ridiculed and attacked by Xue Wanbi many times, but it's not really because he, Chen Sima, is running errands.

But Chen Bin still agreed, not because of his generosity, but because he has not been able to get out of yesterday's incident until now, and it is estimated that before the end of this battle, he will only perfunctory Xue Changxiong, and everything will go according to the other party's wishes coming.

"How many people do you think to send?" Xue Changxiong continued to ask after seeing that the matter had been decided.

"I'm afraid it won't be effective if the number of troops is too small. The core force must at least exceed the size of General Qu Tuda, and there must be a strong army... I think it should be four Zhonglang generals, preferably five, [-] elite... ...Mixed with Qinghe County soldiers led by me and Pingyuan County soldiers led by Lord Qianfu, this is appropriate." Cao Shancheng said solemnly. "Boss, Mr. Qian's resentment yesterday was justified, but he never thought that if the culprits are not eradicated for a day, the whole county of Pingyuan will be poisoned, so he will be angry... In short, he will turn the corner sooner or later. What's more, the county soldiers of his department know more about the terrain of Douzigang than all other departments."

"You can't use him." Xue Changxiong waved his hand. "It's not that I'm stingy, it's such an important matter that concerns the success or failure of hundreds of thousands of troops, and the strictest military conditions come first. According to his resentment yesterday, even if it's for his own good, he shouldn't be allowed to go...you can let him go When his pawn from Pingyuan returned to Ande or Jiangling, he only said to transport the big logs, and then you will take them as guides, and he himself must stay with me and take care of them personally."

Cao Shancheng sighed, he wanted to defend Qian Tang one more time, but he was more worried that the plan would fail and things could not be done, so he simply stopped mentioning it.

And Chen Bin just took advantage of the trend to skip this topic and continued to go down: "If this is the case, how about letting Ande's three generals directly participate in this battle? The troops from the three cities of Ande, Pingyuan, and Jiangling followed. There are only four generals and one Cheng Dan general, plus two counties..."

Xue Changxiong hesitated for a moment: "Is the force still too small?"

"If you don't move too much, wouldn't it be dangerous here in Daying?" Even if Chen Bin wasn't going to act against Xue Changxiong, he couldn't help feeling overwhelmed at this moment. "We have already divided the Youzhou army into Yangxin, and together with the soldiers and horses from Leling, we have transferred another [-] people at this time, plus the casualties of the previous few days, in fact, only about [-] people are left. The Hejian battalion has become more elite, and more soldiers will be dispatched to suppress the most critical Ande City...there can't be any less."

"That's not necessarily true." Xue Changxiong said disapprovingly. "The 25th Battalion of the Bandit Army, [-] people is accurate, but you have also seen that their combat power as an organic unit is actually not as good as ours, but they can barely hold steady when defending. For the garrison in Shangban County and Pingchang County, even if it is an emergency, how many people can go to war? Moreover, we still have earth mountains, camps, countless auxiliary soldiers and civilian husbands, and many local states and counties sent to deal with errands in advance But it’s not a small number of county pawns, I’m not afraid of them going to our place, but I’m afraid that if they don’t move, they will be noticed and suffer a loss in a hurry.”

"Then..." Chen Bin lost his temper in an instant. "Add another three thousand soldiers or six thousand? One general or two generals?"

"Let the fifth child go too." Xue Changxiong thought for a while and spoke seriously. "Let Gao Zhan sit in charge."

"General Murong Zhengyan seems to be safer." Cao Shancheng couldn't help but suggest.

Xue Changxiong's eyelids twitched, and he wanted to refute, but Chen Bin shook his head again and again: "General Murong Zhengyan's unit has fought many times, and the number of staff has been reduced..."

At this point, without waiting for Cao Shancheng to speak, Chen Binfu hurriedly asked Xue Changxiong: "The fourth general also suffered a lot of losses, what should we do?"

"I'll send out the elite from the headquarters to make up for him." Xue Changxiong didn't hesitate. "Give him my bodyguard too!"

Cao Shancheng was speechless, but at this time he dared not say any more, for fear that his long-cherished plan would go wrong again.

"Then it's settled?" Chen Bin finally asked. "On the pretext of going to the three cities behind to get the big trees, let General Gao Zhan take the Lord Cao and the soldiers of the two counties to supervise and transport this matter, and then let the fourth general, fifth general, and change defenses in Pingyuan, Ander...except Except for these generals, there is no need to tell anyone else in the battalion, even the three generals and the others, just ask a few generals to notify in person with military orders and tokens?"

"Gao Zhan and the fourth and fifth children don't need to be notified." Xue Changxiong made up his mind. "Write down the military order and let them cross the Mamian River to read it again! If you don't know it's a trick, how will the culprit know? And if the culprit finds out, it will be too late... This is called a surprise attack!"

"Exactly." Chen Bin finally nodded. "Once the restless army has passed Douzigang, we can attack across the board. The zhenqi army formed by the masters is enough to travel twenty or thirty miles to support each other, so as to ensure that the thieves cannot use it and defeat each other."

"Why is that so?" General Xue said with a smile. "As soon as they start to pass through Douzigang, we will move the whole army to Tushan and oppress them face to face... This will make them even more panicked and ensure the safety of the troops." At this point, Xue Changxiong paused, suddenly Made a correction. "No, if the plan succeeds, they only thought it was General Qu Tu's troops, and they were overwhelmed by us, and the whole army would inevitably be shaken. At that time, they would either continue to retreat and be beaten passively, or they would be dispatched from the Qipan stronghold. Concentrate our forces or divide our forces to take partial divisions, then we can try to launch a general attack head-on, so that we can’t take care of both ends, so why ask for the safety of partial divisions?”

"That's right." Cao Shan let out a long breath.

"That's right." Chen Bin also took a long breath.

Xue Changxiong is not a hesitant person. Once this strategy is decided, it will be implemented immediately. The simple military discussion will be reopened immediately. Gao Zhan was ordered to send troops to supervise the transfer of large trees in the three cities. He was required to strictly enforce the military law. Cao Shancheng led Qinghe and Yuanjun soldiers went to transfer the big wood.

Immediately, Chen Bin suggested at the right time that after this incident, the people of the three cities must resent the troops stationed in the three cities. In addition, the troops had been battling for days and were quite damaged. , Xue Wancheng, Wang Chang and the three generals replaced the garrisons in the three cities of Pingyuan, and replaced the defenders in Leling with Wang Fubei.

The arrangement of the matter was reasonable, and even Xue Wanbi was slightly dissatisfied with it, and made a fuss. In the end, it was his father who promised to split the headquarters to fill up his department, and then agreed to go to Ande City to replace his third brother Xue Wannian.

As for Qian Tang, perhaps because he knew that he was a father and son, he was really troublesome, and his family had no room for resistance at all, so he unexpectedly did not protest, but just watched coldly and watched his county soldiers be taken away.

In one day, 3 or [-] people left the camp, but it didn't seem empty at all, because in addition to the nearly [-] soldiers from Hejian and Youzhou, there were tens of thousands of county soldiers, auxiliary soldiers, and civilian husbands.

Moreover, this kind of thing will not last long, because the cities they need to go to, that is, Leling, Pingyuan (county), and Yangxin are a little farther away, and the other two cities in Pingyuan County, Jiangling He and Ander are really too close, they can always be regarded as one with the camp.

This past exchange, without the need to move large-scale luggage, it is estimated that the two cities can arrive at night, and the replacement can be completed at noon tomorrow. Xin, although it is far away, considering that the Youzhou Army has many cavalry and set off early, it is estimated that they will arrive tonight.

It's just about the transportation of Big Wood, everyone can't help but murmur, and they all feel that some time may be delayed due to the confusion of changing defenses.

In fact, until dark, everywhere seemed calm, without words or fights.

Even, that night, Sima Chen Bin, the supervisor of the Hejian Camp, received a letter delivered by a fast horse, which caught him off guard, and at the same time he was a little bit annoyed.

The letter was written by the prefect Zhou of Bohai. This guy was probably frightened by the threat in the last urgent letter, so he publicly admitted in the letter that he was indeed afraid of the war before, and most of the excuses were his. He did not know whether it was true or not. For example, pirates, it seems that some thieves went to Yanshan in the east of Wudi... He begged Chen Sima to intercede with General Xue on his behalf, and at the same time said that he He had set off from Wudi at noon today, and was expected to arrive at the front line at noon tomorrow.

Chen Bin immediately handed the letter to Xue Changxiong, and General Xue was utterly pissed off, but there was nothing he could do... This is obviously a temporary top administrator, what else can he expect?

So, after the two were angry, they went to rest separately.

Not to mention the various other situations of the parties that night, just before the second watch, Luo and Li Er led [-] Youzhou iron cavalry for a day's journey, and finally arrived in the evening of the same day. Yangxin City, the capital that had been abandoned for more than half a year.

And people went to call the door.

But those who responded to these Youzhou cavalry were silent for a while.

Luo Shu and Li Li were anxious, but after looking at each other, they muttered inexplicably. They all started to think about the real reason why Xue Changxiong asked them to come here to guard against this place.

But fortunately, someone appeared on the city wall with the brazier immediately, but only wrapped in a turban and a short white-haired cloak, came to drink and asked: "In the middle of the night, do you think you are officers and soldiers, or what kind of Youzhou?" Jun, who will believe it? Where is the seal and ribbon? Where is the document for dispatching troops? Is there a joint signature of my new mansion?"

Luo Shu smiled, and only laughed on his horse: "You man, why do you pretend that you don't know anything? We sent sentry cavalry to report first this afternoon. Why don't you know the basics? Why did you close the door? ?”

The man was stunned for a moment, but he also came to laugh: "I know who is coming, but I am not the one to entertain, I just care about the safety of the city gate... If you want me to say, there are so many of you, you are the officers and soldiers, my county magistrate You won't all be allowed in."

Luo Shu nodded, turned his horse's head, and suddenly the icy qi flowed from his body, then turned around, bent his bow and set an arrow, and shot straight towards the city wall.

The man in the city was caught off guard, but still burst out his body-protecting zhenqi, leaned back, wiped his body to avoid the arrow, but he still staggered, and before he could recover, he drank on the top of the wall. scold:

"I didn't have time to send someone here, did I? Is it to scare me? Could it be the uncle of Qin Er's grandson who is so slippery?"

Luo Shu was startled for a moment, and then he was startled, but before he could speak, he saw a golden light rising from behind the city wall, like a golden phoenix rising from the ground, which was particularly eye-catching in the dark night.

But in an instant, the golden phoenix flew over condescendingly with an afterimage.

Luo Shu Li Li and below, including Luo Xin and many Youzhou army masters, instinctively burst into true energy, and they all fought hard, but many people were caught off guard and were knocked off their horses on the spot.

"It's Yitianjian Bai's Sanniang!" Luo Xin was horrified when he was knocked off the horse. "This person can't be regarded as Dan Duzhi by common sense, father be careful!"

"Don't be afraid!" Luo Shu blurted out, feeling panicked after receiving that blow. "In fact, I have already touched Cheng Dan, and with Lao Bai and the others, we can form a formation together, so we may not be able to stop her!"

In the dark night, the male voice who yelled before sounded again: "You are so calculating, where do you put me, the leader of the Dragon Gang and the one-armed sage Wang Zhen?"

Immediately, another ray of light rose from the top of the city.

At the same time, the city suddenly became brightly lit, and armor burst out, as if a group of sergeants were ambushing in it.

Even, there was another stream of light rising, and someone couldn't help laughing in the night sky: "Xianyun Yehe, come to meet the famous general of Youzhou!"

Li Li came to his senses and cursed: "This is the reinforcements from the brigade from Dengzhou Hailu! Xue Changxiong is a bastard! I guessed that it was so possible, and deliberately tricked us into doing this kind of hard work, but it was still a step too late!"

Luo Shu was dumbfounded, and just about to say something, in the end, another golden light with a width of several feet flew towards him in the dark night, and he could only block it with all his strength, but this time he was obviously startled by the movement in the city, and he was not prepared enough, but felt There was a churning in my chest, it was almost unspeakable.

However, this did not prevent him from scolding all eighteen generations of Xue Changxiong's ancestors in his heart.

And after this blow, not to mention how furious the two generals Luo Shu and Li Li were, but only Luo Xin, who was easily wiped out early, but at this moment there was only one thought - that day, the opponent must have kept his hand!

Relying on the sky and slaying dragons, the reputation is well-deserved.

(End of this chapter)