Delong

Yingtao is about sixty miles away from Pingji. Practitioners above the Qijing and above can fly away regardless of horsepower, and they can arrive within an hour. However, if an organized and well-equipped cavalry unit does not carry luggage, it may take two Hours, if you count the preparation time, you may have to add half an hour or an hour.

The first group of messengers, that is, about an hour after Su Jingfang left, after guessing that the other party had arrived, Li Ding sent out the second group of messengers and documents.

It was to tell Deng Long that the Wu'an army was extremely exhausted after a long journey, and obviously left some high-level combat power behind to ensure the rear, so the siege was very slow, and the soldiers were gradually exhausted. Please come to help quickly, otherwise Wu'an The army is likely to withdraw and flee directly to Xindu in the east, and it will be troublesome then.

Another hour later, after the first wave of messengers, that is, Su Jingfang went back without hesitation and confirmed that the other party had promised reinforcements, and estimated that the other party had already set off, Li Ding continued to send out the third wave of messengers and documents.

It was to inform the Youzhou army that the Wu'an army could not hold on and had already withdrawn, and the main force was indeed fleeing towards Xindu, but a small number of soldiers and horses obviously broke up and went to the surrounding countryside. Don't dare to move lightly, please General Deng to speed up to Pingthorn for discussion.

After the envoy left, Li Ding ordered one after another. First, two thousand soldiers and horses were assigned by Su Mu to go out of Pingthorn City to "pursue" them around, while avoiding idlers and others to approach the official road; The remaining soldiers and horses went to the city separately, hiding in towers and barracks, and preparing more spears and crossbows; of course, it was inevitable to appease Qi Ze with good words, and let the other party lead the troops that had just surrendered to the north side of the city... After all, at this time, You can't do too many bells and whistles, you can only pick the key points and deal with them as much as possible, and then resign yourself to fate.

After the second wave of messengers turned back and told them that the meeting distance was about [-] to [-] miles away, which was estimated to be less than [-] miles away from Pingji, Li Ding sent out the fourth wave of messengers and documents again.

Then, he ordered the civil servants in the city to hold a big action and prepare dinner.

The person who carried the paperwork was still Su Jingfang who was dying of exhaustion... But there was no other way. Li Ding was a small general and didn't have many people around him. Gao Shisheng and today's Qi Ze were both very good. You have brains, but how dare you use them at this time?

Fan Lihua can be trusted and is a great strength, but she is too straightforward.

So for the time being, I can only rely on Su Jingfang. Fortunately, this time I go out, the distance is very short.

"Preparing food?"

Deng Long glanced at the panting young man in front of him, and at the sky. He got the message in the afternoon, then mobilized the cavalry, and galloped another fifty miles to this point. It is estimated that the remaining ten miles to Pingji would be considered evening. "Forget it, I can only have dinner... That guy Li Ding has been running for almost an hour?"

"It should be two hours." Su Jingfang's face was covered with sweat and dirt, and he just tried his best to correct it. "According to the time, it should be shortly after General Deng came out, but my family's lord did not dare to issue the document until he was sure that he had really withdrawn, and then there was a lot of delay on the way..."

"Understood, that is to say, the documents of your family's lord are actually a step behind." Deng Long was frustrated after confirming that Li Ding had gone far, so that his tone was slightly mocking.

However, that was the end of it, and he didn't continue to utter more sarcasm words, because Deng Long knew very well that he had wasted a lot of time... At first he didn't believe that Li Ding was here, so it was a bit awkward to start. He dragged his feet, and walked at a leisurely pace in the first half, and walked halfway. After confirming from the villagers on the roadside that there was a large group of soldiers and horses going from south to north in the morning, he truly believed that Li Ding was indeed running for hundreds of miles to send off the head, and finally accelerated to the north.

But it seems to be too late.

Moreover, it was almost evening, so I had no choice but to go to Pingji for a meal first.

In this way, knowing that there was no war ahead, and there was no opportunity to fight, Deng Long only ordered the horses to slow down, and then continued to move forward.

After walking for a mile or two, he saw that the roads between the Siye fields were full of soldiers with Zhaojun banners and Zhang and Qi banners everywhere. Don't you dare to move lightly?"

Su Jingfang next to him immediately laughed awkwardly: "I guess uncle is eager to do meritorious service, and also means to clean up the battlefield..."

Deng Long curled his lips, but he couldn't help being curious: "You kid ran away twice, he must be a member of the Zhang family, but I don't know which one is your uncle?"

"Uncle's surname is Qi, he is the captain of this county." Su Jingfang blurted out.

Deng Long was surprised for a moment: "Lao Qi and I were bandits in Hengshan with Wang Chenkuo, the mountain cutter. Later, when the officers and soldiers became powerful, Wang Chenkuo fled to the mountains. He came to Zhao County, and I went to Youzhou, but I never heard what Lao Qi said. miss you."

Su Jing didn't change his face: "Uncle, you can tell from my accent that I didn't grow up here. My family lived in Xindu in the early years, but was taken to Kansai by the imperial court. I grew up in Kansai and only returned this year. Township."

"That's right." Deng Long came to his senses immediately, but reached out his hand on the horse's back to caress the opponent's shoulder. "Since you called me uncle, it can be seen that he is more knowledgeable than your uncle. In the future, the county will feel that there is no future, so my good nephew will only come to look for me."

Even if I went to surrender to the Dragon Gang, I wouldn't have to look for you!
Su Jingfang was speechless in his heart, but his face was full of gratitude and flattery.

While talking, Pingthorn City has already appeared in the field of vision, and at the same time, there is also the obvious water vapor and green smoke above the old county city that served as a garrison point... It can be seen that it is indeed cooking .

Some people have sharp noses and even smell the aroma of rice.

So, everyone accelerated forward.

After a while, the hungry and exhausted cavalry arrived at the foot of Pingji City. My good nephew Xiao Su went up to talk to the officer at the head of the city, and the city gate opened immediately, and then turned back: "Your Majesty likes to be clean and doesn't want to come out. I just ask General Deng to lead the people into the city to rest."

"It's okay, I'm the lord of the palace." Deng Long responded and looked around. The soldier's instinct prompted him to consider the danger of entering the city without authorization... This has nothing to do with the position, even friendly troops have to be on guard... But, thinking that the other party had only Three thousand county soldiers, but along the way, they saw no less than 2000 people chasing and cleaning the battlefield in the wild, but they immediately felt relieved and wanted to enter.

In any case, there are no soldiers in the opponent's city, so what are you afraid of?

But when he came to the city gate, he felt that something was wrong, and then asked seriously: "Is the battle so random? Didn't you even try to attack the city gate?"

Su Jingfang was taken aback, and immediately replied with a wry smile: "My lord uncle asked about me... As soon as the bandit army arrived, I went around the city by the north gate to report to my lord uncle... I guess there are twists and turns in this matter, but I still have to ask Only the Lord of my family will do."

Deng Long also laughed, but he thought that the other party was implying that Zhang Dunli might exaggerate the facts in the letter, and the siege never happened...Maybe Li Ding traveled a long distance, the whole army reached the limit, and he fled directly to Xindu when he saw that no one was scared It may also be that Li Ding intended to join the Hejian army in Xindu, and went through this place specifically to try to intimidate, but he left without success... As for why Zhang Dunli was so timid, but he was not bluffed, I am afraid it must be attributed to His old acquaintance Qi Duwei is gone.

Just as Deng Long was thinking wildly, the Youzhou knights behind him had already gathered forward, and he was impatient with the smell of rice, so he no longer persisted, nodded directly, held his head high, and led the horse into the city .

Su Jingfang entered the city with him, but stood still inside the city gate, and then called the knights behind him to enter.

On the other side, Deng Long thought about the dignity of the host and the guest, so he took the initiative to go to the hall of the county mansion, and then he saw the pale-faced Sheriff Zhang himself sitting behind the table in the hall.

Deng Long saluted and asked a few words, but Mr. Zhang just held his forehead and sideways his face, casually perfunctory.

The former didn't seem to be a problem, but he didn't know how to deal with it, so he said a few words casually and took the initiative to leave.

At this time, the sun was still setting and the autumn wind was blowing slightly. Deng Long, who was suspicious but didn't know what went wrong, stood outside the lobby of the old county mansion. Looking around, he saw that the city was bustling with soldiers and horses. Once they entered the city, there was a lot of commotion. Those who tied horses, those who removed their armor, those who asked for fodder, those who went directly to eat, and some even went to find a place to live first, it was a mess.

This made General Deng's brain completely incapable of functioning.

However, there was no need for him to think too much, because as soon as he turned around, he immediately discovered the strange phenomenon on the city wall—all around, troops poured out of the towers on the city wall, and then assembled on the city wall.

There is nothing to say about this phenomenon itself, it is always possible to switch defenses...but the number is completely wrong!
You know, there are already one or two thousand soldiers outside the city. It stands to reason that there should not be many Zhao County troops in the city... But what we saw now is obviously beyond expectations.

Not only that, with the sound of an inexplicable trumpet, the flags on the top of the city were shaking, and several of them were thrown down together, and replaced with some Li character flags. Then, suddenly, I and others entered There was an obvious muffled sound from the south gate, followed by exclamations and noises.

Deng Long's body shook, and he realized what was going on—the heavy pendant in the city gate to prevent the master from breaking through was put down!

His first reaction was to return to the hall and question Zhang Dunli.

But as the general of the Youzhou army turned back to the hall, he was surprised to find that Zhang Dunli had stood up awkwardly and stood aside, and the person sitting in the middle of the hall was a middle-aged man in his 30s.

This person was not wearing any clothes, only ordinary plain brocade clothes and a small warrior crown, his eye sockets were slightly darkened, and he was staring at himself coldly after the case, and beside this person stood a female general in leather armor, faintly The body-protecting zhenqi was obviously glowing red, as if he was a master of Lihuo zhenqi, above condensed pill, maybe it was Chengdan like the rumors.

Deng Long was silent for a moment, then suddenly bowed to the ground: "Master Li, it is because I don't know Hongshan with my eyes that I took this matter by mistake. Please, Mr. Li, let us go for the sake of the brothers from the [-] counties in Youzhou. way of life."

"Yes, the armored horses will stay." Li Ding replied softly.

After losing these [-] horses, the Youzhou Army will have to bite him off as a surrender... Therefore, Deng Long still wanted to discuss it, but after thinking about it, he didn't dare to open his mouth, because of the situation. , once things are not in harmony, it may be a massacre.

The slaughter after luring the pigs to the pigsty.

I am that pig!
As soon as he thought of this, the man couldn't help asking: "I beg your pardon, is Qi Ze still alive?"

"Surrender, in the north of the city." Li Ding narrowed his eyes slightly.

"The last general is also willing to surrender, please let Mr. Li Fu give me an appointment." Deng Long fell on the ground and spoke earnestly.

"Okay." Li Ding responded with a blank expression on his face.

But his heart was unavoidably turbulent, but after unloading the heavy pendant, he felt a sense of pride again.

In the evening of that day, Li Ding, who had regained his clarity, immediately wrote several letters, sending people to Youzhou, Hejian, Jiangling, Taiyuan, Hengshan, and Daijun respectively to explain the situation according to the original plan, in order to ask for understanding.

However, when the letter was delivered by flying horse, there was no response from everywhere.

This made Li Ding uneasy.

Then, the time came to the beginning of August, and the land of Hebei began to harvest in autumn from south to north.

At this moment, Feng Wuyi, the patriarch of the Feng family in Xindu Changle and a former important minister of the imperial court, suddenly sent a letter, claiming to invite Hejian Director Xue, Youzhou Director Li, Wu'an Li Taishou, Jiangling Chief Zhang and other key officials The characters only brought a hundred horses, and then they went to the Nangong area on the border of Hejian to meet together to mediate the war in Hebei and guarantee the autumn harvest.

It is said that Zhang Xing, the leader of the Dragon Gang at Jiangling, has promised to go there in person.

Li Ding was inexplicably panicked. How could he not know that this matter was all Zhang Xing's handwriting... But after hesitating all night, he followed his reason and immediately wrote back, expressing his willingness to attend the meeting in person.

On the fifth day of August, Xue Changxiong left Hejian without saying a word, and went to Nangong without a word, which undoubtedly declared his attitude.

In Youzhou, there was also a large army going south, but a hundred cavalry were dispatched in Shanggu to escort the two banners of Li and Luo into Boling.

On the sixth day of the eighth month, Zhang Xing's flag with the character "解" left Jiangling.

On the seventh day of August, Li Ding, who was the closest, dared not wait any longer, and set off with Zhang Shiniang.

By the appointed time on August [-]th, the forces from all directions gathered in Nangong County openly, regardless of whether one of them was a recognized traitor... And Li Ding also saw the long-lost Zhang Xing. At that time, the other party, the great traitor Chatting with Feng Wuyi by the Nangong Lake in the east of the city.