The Beacon of Kyushu

Hou Renbao quickly came to his senses and asked, "What happened?"

The soldier said: "Sir, all the food and grass we have stored in Beining Mountain have been burned, and none of the soldiers guarding the camp have survived!"

"What!" Hou Renbao's eyes suddenly widened, his face changed several times, he suppressed the shock and anger in his chest, and said: "Are the other places of food and grass safe?"

The soldier said tremblingly: "The granaries in Qizhen, Gouwo and other places have also been burned down, and there is not much grain left in the granaries. According to this, there is no news from distant places such as Lang Son and Binh Gia, so I am afraid that they will not be able to escape the murderous hands." "

Hou Renbao slammed the table and said angrily: "The place where the army stores food is a top secret in the army. No one knows except me, Kou Xiandi, General Sun and you scouts. Who on earth revealed this top secret to Qu Yue! "

The soldier was so frightened that he knelt down on one leg and said, "Sir, I really don't know who did this. But I dare to swear to God, if it is me who betrays military intelligence, I will be struck by lightning and die a good death!"

Hou Renbao waved his hand with a straight face, "I believe you are not so courageous, so continue to inquire about the military situation in various places. If there is any trouble, please report it to me as soon as possible."

"Yes!" the soldier said, cupping his hands, standing up in a hurry, and quickly walked out of the camp.

As soon as the soldier walked away with his front legs, Kou Zhun stepped into the tent with his back legs. Seeing Hou Renbao's gloomy face and his eyes full of anger as he looked at the map, he couldn't help but be slightly startled, "Master Hou, what's wrong with you? Are you worried about not capturing Beining City?"

Hou Renbao sighed and said: "Brother Kou Xian, I have just come to report that all the food and grass our army has stationed in various places has been destroyed. If we cannot conquer several cities in a few days, I am afraid that we will starve to death without the enemy taking action."

Kou Zhun frowned and speculated: "How could this happen? Could it be General Sun..."

Hou Renbao looked up at Kou Zhun, "Brother Kou Xian, do you suspect that General Sun colluded with Qu Yue and secretly told the enemy where the grain was stored?"

Kou Zhun said: "Master Hou, the place where the food is stored is a top secret in the army. The person who knows it is Liao Ruoxingchen. As the commander of the army, you will naturally not collaborate with the enemy. Although I am not talented, I will never dare to commit such a treason. Those family members who were spying on the horse were all in Tokyo. Once the collaboration with the enemy was found out, the nine tribes would be killed at any time. They would not act rashly, but General Sun was alone. Even if he colluded with Qu Yue, he could escape intact. I think..."

Hou Renbao shook his head, obviously unwilling to believe this possibility, "Kou Xiandi, General Sun is an official of the imperial court, a dignified fourth grade. I don't think he would be so confused as to betray the Song Dynasty and humiliate his ancestors. Bar!"

Kou Zhun said: "Sir, you ordered General Sun to go to Baitengjiang yesterday to help. I think this will test whether General Sun is loyal or not." Hou Renbao said in confusion: "Oh? How to test, please tell me in detail."

Kou Zhun explained: "Sir, if General Sun really surrenders to Qu Yue, there will be two situations in this expedition. One is that he directly leads the troops to join Qu Yue. The other is that he persuades these soldiers to surrender on the way and allows them to prepare for the battle. He defected and helped the enemy kill General Liu. But if he did neither of these two things, but really helped General Liu take Baitengjiang, it means that he was loyal to the Song Dynasty, and there was someone else who colluded with Qu Yue. ”

Hou Renbao nodded, "Brother Kou Xian, although this is a wonderful thing, what should we do if General Liu is killed?"

Kou Zhun smiled and said: "Shaoxia Wan is now with General Liu. He has always tried his best to make plans, but he has also turned against General Sun. If General Sun really secretly kills him, he will only bring humiliation to himself."

Hou Renbao also laughed after he reminded him, "Haha, what Brother Kou Xian said makes sense! If he is loyal to the Song Dynasty, it will be his advantage. If he really dares to have any plans, he will become the dead soul of Wan Shaoxia!" But he only laughed a few times. , his expression froze, "But our food and grass were destroyed, and the army's food and grass are limited. If General Sun takes away some more, how can we continue to fight for days?"

Kou Zhun pointed to Beining City in the distance and said: "Sir, the only plan now is to capture this city within ten days, so that we can solve the urgent need."

Hou Renbao said: "Brother Kou Xian, do you have a plan to help our army capture Beining in ten days?"

Kou Zhun thought for a while and said: "Sir, it is better for our army to move to camp under the city, surround the three sides of Beining City, and leave the south side alone for the enemy to retreat. The defenders in Beining City are several times smaller than our army. I believe they will not hold on. In the end, you are fighting with us as a trapped beast!"

Hou Renbao thought: "Brother Kou Xian, the method of opening a fence has been around since ancient times, and it can indeed break the morale of the army. But if they really retreat, where will we get food and grass? Why not follow the example of the judge and surround the city on all sides, even if we can capture it temporarily It’s better to lose than to lose an empty city.”

Kou Zhun said: "My lord, what you said is not unreasonable. It's just that a strong attack will cause too much damage. It's better to find someone in the army who looks similar to Wan Shaoxia and let him scold and fight under the city. I don't think that Wang Shaozuo will be so heavy in the past." Don't be angry, but after the tragic defeat in Lang Son, why don't you rush to take revenge? Once he orders the city open and takes the initiative to fight with us, we can take advantage of the situation and take Bac Ninh!"

Hou Renbao raised his thumb and said with a smile: "Brother Kou Xian, your plan is very clever. Let's go and prepare it now. I believe that Wang Shaozuo will not be able to withstand it for three days. By then, he will capture Beining City and the army will be able to attack Guluo." !”

After what happened last night, the Song Army's military morale was inevitably weakened, but the Qu Yue soldiers in Beining City were no less relaxed than them. Wang Shaozuo was sitting in a spacious and clean room in the Yamen of Beining Mansion. His face was like the sky before a heavy rain, so gloomy that it made people breathless, and the atmosphere in the room was extremely solemn.

He stared at the map of Quyue hanging on the wall, feeling heavier than ever before, "I thought that after Zhao Kuangyin's death, the Song army would be extremely weak, and I still dreamed of helping your majesty to unify the world. Unexpectedly, Hou Renbao and Kou Zhun led the army for the first time. , and the two men and women are so powerful that they can easily capture dozens of cities in Quyue and kill tens of thousands of people in Quyue. The current situation is not to say that they want to unify Kyushu, but they just want to drive them out of Quyue. It’s as hard as climbing to the sky!” (End of this chapter)