Pingyang Fu of the Red Chamber

Chapter 457 The whole army turns south
"Hurry up, hurry up!"

"Damn it, I haven't even eaten."

On the official road leading south from Jingnan, dense soldiers gathered together and rushed southward.

The fire stretched for more than ten miles, crawling on the ground like a fire dragon. After careful estimation, the reinforcements here were not the 2 people before, but [-] elite soldiers led by Gu Ping, with complete armor and helmets.

at the front,

Gu Ping led his soldiers to a high ground, looked towards the south with a solemn face, and there seemed to be a faint light of fire, and asked,

"Where is that place in the south?"

The deputy general spread out the map by the light of the torch, looked at it, pointed at a small town and said,
"Back to General, it's Chenzhou City, the city closest to us and the only way to go south."

"how can that be possible?"

Gu Ping didn't believe it, and vaguely felt that something had happened in Chenzhou City. However, this place was so close to Linshan County, and there were scouts passing by here a few days ago. Everything was as usual. Could it be that those rebels had already captured Lin Yue Mansion.

Seeing that the general remained silent and had a thoughtful look on his face, the deputy general next to him asked in confusion,
"General, you noticed something! The general has already sent out scouts, and there is nothing found for more than ten miles ahead!"

Gu Ping touched the saber on his waist, with a resolute look on his face, and clicked on Chenzhou City on the map.

"I feel that something has happened in Chenzhou City. Now that we are close to this place, we need to send out scouts to observe closely. Our army will take a detour to the west and take a longer route, and then go south to avoid Chenzhou City!"

"But General, if it is true as you said, something happened in Chenzhou City, we will go around the city and go straight to Linyue Mansion. Chenzhou City is the halfway point between the two places. If the battle ahead is unfavorable and we are attacked from the back and flank, we and our company will There is no chance of retreat, and I’m afraid I will be alone at that time!”

The lieutenant general did not dare to speak. He stared at the map, looking at the map of the vast Jingnan area and the Chenzhou City in front. He really did not understand the general's intention. Although the so-called rebels were made up of hungry untouchables, there were too many of them. , Suppression also takes time, and the food and fodder behind the march can only last more than half a month, so the deputy general feels that it is appropriate to proceed slowly and steadily.

But Gu Ping obviously disagrees. Today is not a spontaneous riot by those mud-legged people. There are many forces involved.

"What you said makes sense, but now the problem is a bit troublesome. General Qin of Lin Yue Mansion sent me a secret message. Dingzhou City and Zhaozhou City in the south have been captured long ago. If Chenzhou City is not stable today, Linzhou and Linzhou in the east will Weizhou is probably no longer safe."

"How is it possible, General? No matter how fast those rebels are, they can't conquer four cities in a row in the past few days. It's too fast."

The deputy general had a look of disbelief on his face. Time went too fast. In such a short time, no matter how rubbish the government army was, they could defend the city for a few days even if they occupied a good location.

"Yes, it's too fast, but you know, those so-called untouchable mud-legged people have other figures inside, so they are naturally not ordinary rebels."

Gu Ping looked at the south with a gloomy expression. He also hated those shameless corrupt officials. He was afraid that if he failed to suppress the rebellion this time, there would be no peace in Jingnan again.

"Where did the general say? Could it be the White Lotus Sect? Are they back?"

The deputy general suddenly trembled with fear and did not dare to recall the tragic situation in Jingnan that year, with ten rooms and nine empty rooms.

"Haha, you're right, but it's not the White Lotus Sect, it's the Taiping Sect. General Qin came to report that the rebels outside the city have already set up the Taiping Sect's flag, and there are many weapons and armors. The number of refugees has exceeded 20, so We cannot take it lightly and directly crush the situation. We need to fight quickly to solve the crisis in the city and save the south of Beijing. As for the White Lotus Sect in the early years, there has been no news in the past 20 years. It must have been led by the old Duke of Ningrong's Second Mansion. The Beijing camp directly defeated them, and I'm afraid they won't have the strength to cause chaos anymore, but it's a pity that the two old princes have no successors."

Gu Ping sighed. If it weren't for the two old princes who led the elite of the Beijing camp to turn the tide and annihilate the main force of the Taiping Sect in the south of Beijing, the imperial court would have been unstable. Now, I haven't heard of any outstanding juniors in the two palaces. , there is only one Jia Lian in the capital camp, and he is not relying on the protection of his in-law Wang Jieshuai's wings.

"It's over, don't talk about this anymore,"

"Yes, general, even if there are not two princes and the capital camp, in the south of Beijing, the general is enough. The last general must be the vanguard, clearing the way for the general, killing them without leaving any trace."

"Okay, give me the order to advance at full speed, bypass Dingzhou City, and attack Lin Yue Mansion."

"Yes, General."

The deputy general put away the map and followed the order. Gu Ping also mounted his horse, pulled the reins, and looked back at Linshan County. Only blurry black spots remained.

here goes,

The road ahead is slim, and it's better to succeed. If it doesn't succeed, I won't tell the truth to the lieutenant. If this battle fails, or the other party hides its strength, I will join the remaining soldiers of Lin Yue Mansion, join forces and break out to the northwest. Withdrew and stationed at the junction of Qingchuan County, waiting for reinforcements. The land south of Jingnan was completely undefendable.

Watching the army galloping south, Gu Ping put aside all his worries. This time he would definitely defeat the enemy army and let them know how powerful I, Gu Ping, was, and then shouted,

"Everyone speed up and turn west,"

In Chenzhou City,

Xun Wen stood at the top of the city with his troops and horses, looking to the north. There seemed to be fire flashing in the sky.

"General Kong, can the Crown Prince and Commander Zuo leave?"

"Back to the military advisor, my young master, they have returned to Weizhou now. The general doesn't understand why they want to give up Chenzhou City again. Just to maintain their strength, Gu Ping can have as many men as he can. If it doesn't work, just kill him here. "

Kong An looked impatient. He had just conquered the city and hadn't finished plundering it yet, so he wanted to run away. It was really boring.

Military Advisor Xunwen snorted coldly,
"Damn it, who told you that the reinforcements are vulnerable? The scouts came to report that the reinforcements from the south of Linshan County are all elite troops. Gu Ping has 3 infantry and cavalry under his command. All of them are fully equipped. We are only [-]. A little more, we lost a lot of people here, what's the follow-up plan?" "What, so many,"

Kong An had a look of surprise on his face. If it was true, then the governor of Jingnan had evil intentions.

I wanted to ask again,

The scouts from the city immediately ran up,
"Report, military advisor, general, and subordinates are investigating. General Gu Ping of southern Beijing and his 3 troops turned westward seventy miles north, and then headed south at a very fast speed."

"What! He didn't come. Come on, get the map."

Xun Wen immediately felt something unusual, and asked General Kong to spread out the map, find the route to the west of Chenzhou and look over it. He detoured to the west, followed the official road on the border of Wuhu County south, and went straight to Linyue Fucheng. It was a smooth river, so decisive. .

He is worthy of being a strong player in Jingnan. As expected, Kong An beside him asked,

"Military advisor, since Gu Ping has already turned, does that mean we don't have to withdraw?"

Xun Wen squinted at the map and finally said quietly,
"General Kong, immediately order the whole army to take the loot and withdraw to Weizhou immediately. Chenzhou doesn't want it now, so hurry up."

"Military division, why is this?"

Kong An really didn't understand that everyone had taken a detour and still had to run.

"Just follow the order. There are still [-] troops in the county. If Gu Ping makes a false move and surrounds Chenzhou, it will be too late."

"Yes, Sergeant."

as a last resort,
General Kong immediately sent someone to inform the other three generals to prepare to withdraw. The military advisor looked at General Kong’s reluctant eyes and consoled him,

"Don't worry, General. We are still back here. Be careful. Gu Ping fights as he pleases. It seems his purpose is to go to the south. If someone kills him on the way, this place will become a desperate situation and must not be defended."

Furthermore,
Xun Wen was still thinking that the strength of the Taiping Religion must be consumed, otherwise if it is allowed to develop and grow, the consequences will be unpredictable. It is really unexplainable why those untouchables believe in these things.

"Don't worry, military advisor, Lao Kong knows it and will send the order right away."

Just when the former prince's old troops were preparing to withdraw from the city, Commander Zuo came straight to Weizhou City with 3000 troops to protect Zhou Yumin.

Weizhou City has long been captured by Zuo Commander's people, and the deputy general Cao Changzhong is the guard general of Weizhou. Now in the county government office, a lot of people are sitting around the hall, whispering, with excitement on their faces.

There was a fat merchant sitting there drinking tea and eating cakes. Seeing that no one had come yet, he shouted at the top of his lungs,

"This is how you treat guests. I've come all the way here. I've been waiting for so long. If I don't come back, I'll leave."

"That's right, let's talk about business."

"If you don't come here, you will leave."

Other merchants were also impatient and started shouting.

at this time,

Weizhou guard Cao Changzhong walked in from the Yamen gate with his soldiers. He looked at the noisy group of people and laughed.
"Everyone, please be patient, there was something delayed just now."

Lu Dake, the grain merchant sitting in the first place, asked impatiently,
"I said General Cao, what can delay our business? Do you know that in Jingnan now, food is gold? If it hadn't been for the sake of our regular customers, I would have left long ago."

General Cao laughed, walked to the main seat and sat down.
"Everyone, please be patient. Just now, the master captured Chenzhou. Linzhou not far away should also be occupied by a group of people, so let's go and communicate. Will this not delay Shopkeeper Lu's business?"

Lu Dake's face froze. What happened? Wasn't it okay yesterday? He couldn't hold on all night. He was a bunch of losers. He looked at General Cao sitting behind the desk with a smile on his face.
"No delay, no delay. I have been sitting for a long time and I am a little irritable. Since the general has something to deal with, I am waiting for Meng Lang."

"Yeah yeah."

The businessman sitting behind also nodded and bowed, and agreed repeatedly. Cao Changzhong sneered inwardly,
"In that case, let's get down to business. The general wants all the food from all of you, and the price is three times higher than the market price. It's feasible,"

"This this."

Lu Dake had a look of embarrassment on his face. Now in the south of Beijing, a stone of grain had been sold for ten times the price. Now it was three times the price. That was a loss. He didn't want to agree, but he couldn't say anything.

Seeing that the people below were silent, General Cao asked again,
"Why, I don't want to, or I still have other ideas. Shopkeeper Lu, please tell me if this price is feasible. Of course, in the future, when you do business in the south of Beijing, as long as you name me as general, everything will be smooth."

It seemed to be a guarantee, but it was actually a threat. The merchants present heard the implication. Everyone couldn't help but look at the grain merchant Lu Dake sitting in the first place. They saw that this man's fat face was dripping with water. Sweating and trembling at the corners of my mouth, I don’t know how to reply.
"Shopkeeper Lu, what do you think?"

"Return to the general, yes!"

(End of this chapter)