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Chapter 723

Under the city of Xuzhou, Zhao Jun's barracks stretched for several miles.

In the early morning, smoke was burning in Zhao Jun's camp. There were more than a dozen people gathered in an open space near the city wall in the camp.Looking at the white smoke surrounding the iron horse bowl, and hearing the sound of gurgling, Zhao Jun's soldiers beside him were drooling.

Chen Ah Si picked up a wooden spoon, scooped it out, tasted it, nodded and said, "It looks like it's cooked."

"I want it!" As soon as a young soldier got up, he was kicked away by the old soldier next to him and cursed: "Boss Chen didn't even eat, why are you so anxious?"

"Recruit boy, go to the back, you can lick the bottom of the pot after we finish eating." Laughing and cursing came from the side.

The recruit covered his buttocks, unable to speak out because he was so wronged.

Chen Ahsi didn't say anything, took off his helmet, scooped up a few spoonfuls of steaming millet porridge and said, "Everyone has it, there's enough porridge."

Seeing that Chen Ahsi had finished scooping up the porridge, the soldiers on the side went to scoop up the porridge. The soldiers who scooped up the diced meat suddenly burst into smiles, and squatted aside with their helmets in their hands, snorting and puffing on the porridge along the edge of the helmet.Even the recruits who were kicked at the beginning got some clear soup and water, and started to eat and drink contentedly.
One person said: "This porridge is really enjoyable to drink. It is more comfortable than eating dumplings at home during the Chinese New Year."

Another person said: "Not really, although this porridge is a bit rough, we still have a bowl of warm food to eat here, but the Jianghuai army in the city is different. I heard from the people who stepped on the white army that the former A few days ago, I caught a tongue, saying that after more than half a month of besieging the city, the city is almost out of food, and the guards only have two taels of food per day."

"Well, the Jianghuai army can't get enough to eat, and they still fight with us. It seems that Xuzhou City will surrender without a fight without us."

Danzi, a recruit, asked, "If the city of Xuzhou surrenders, will we not have to attack the city?"

A veteran shouted: "You have no guts. If we don't attack the city, we won't be able to kill people. If we don't kill people, there will be no military exploits."

The recruit said: "But if we attack the city, we will die."

"Damn it, dare to talk back!" The veteran kicked him again.The recruit, who was protecting his porridge helmet, was kicked.

Chen Ahsi couldn't see it and said, "Don't do it."

Hearing what the captain said, the veteran stopped.

A person on the side asked: "Boss Chen, speaking of which, we shouldn't have our part in this attack."
Chen Ah Si shook his head and said, "Probably not."

Since he was in the army, Chen Ah Si has been assigned in the camp, either to escort the supplies or to take care of the army rations, and he seldom went into battle to fight the enemy head-on.

Knowing his temperament, Chen Ah Si joined the army to fight just for a bite of food and to support his old mother, and he didn't want to risk his life.He never thought about rewarding meritorious service, so he has been a soldier for so long, after the emperor attacked Luoyang, and crossed the sea to conquer Goguryeo, the other gang leaders were promoted, and he was the only one waiting here. .

It's nothing like his brother.The opponent is now a brigade leader, and he can be regarded as a high-ranking official in Zhao Jun.

But go with the flow, just go with the flow, and after two more years of fighting, I have almost saved enough money, so I applied to the court to withdraw from the military.Although it is said that he cannot be exempted from taxes after quitting the military, but with his savings in the past few years, it is no problem to do whatever he wants, start a small business, and support his mother.It's just a little difficult to marry a daughter-in-law.

Who told him that he was from Youjing? Everyone said that living in Chang'an was not easy, and it was the same in Youjing.He is old Chen in Youjing, even a girl from a small family is very easy to marry, but it doesn't matter, it's easy to find a foreign country.

"Who is it!" a soldier yelled suddenly, his butt off the ground.

Chen Ahsi's body was as if bitten by a snake, and he reacted very quickly. He immediately put the helmet that had been filled with rice on top of his head to protect his head first, and then drew out the knife.The soldiers on the side also got up one after another, picked up the bows and arrows beside them, and faced the outside of the camp.

"I saw you, don't hide, or you will shoot an arrow."

At this time, on the ditch of the camp, a man gradually stood up and said timidly, "Don't shoot arrows, I'm here to surrender, I can't walk without smelling your porridge!"

Looking at the other party's appearance, Chen Ahsi did not dare to relax his vigilance and asked, "You are the only one here?"

The man said: "It's not just me, brothers, get up."

Speaking of which, many people from far and near climbed up from the trench, and there were hundreds of people from a distance.

Chen Ahsi was so frightened that he broke out in a cold sweat, if this Jianghuai army came for a sneak attack, how could he survive.

In the camp of Zhao Jun's middle army.

Li Chongjiu and several generals of the Zhao army were discussing military affairs while having a meal.A large pot of beef is boiling in the tent.

The army rations at the front line in Xuzhou were not very sufficient. Liang Jun was still in the hands of Li Tang, and his general Cheng Jiahui was guarding Kaifeng, cutting off the Bian River, so that the Tongji Canal was not opened.Therefore, Zhao Jun's rations must be transported from the rear to the front line by land.The cow that Li Chongjiu ate broke its leg a few days ago when it was carrying a cart, so the soldiers killed it and made it for Li Chongjiu.
The beef in the pot was already boiling, and the tent was full of fragrance. Li Chongjiu asked several Jianghuai soldiers kneeling on the ground under the tent, "I heard that there was a fight in the city yesterday?"

The soldier was already hungry when he smelled the beef soup, and he nodded after hearing Li Chongjiu's words: "Yes, Your Majesty."

Li Chongjiu smiled gently and said: "Don't be nervous, just speak up, come here, first scoop up a bowl of beef soup to calm him down."

"promise!"

Ting Wei immediately scooped up a bowl of soup for the other party, and the other party eagerly gurgled as soon as he took the bowl.A bowl only takes a moment to see the bottom. After having this bowl of soup to fill his stomach, the man boldly said, "I beg Your Majesty to give me another bowl!"

"Presumptuous!" General Zhao Jun scolded.

Li Chongjiu pressed the table, smiled and said: "It's okay, this cow is a bit old, it needs to be cooked a little longer to get the taste. If you answer my question honestly, you can eat as much as you want in a while."

"No!" The Jianghuai soldier was overjoyed at the moment, and bowed down again.

Li Chongjiu asked: "What's your name? Where are you from? What year did you vote for the Jianghuai Army?"

"Reporting to Your Majesty, a certain man named Gao Yihu, from Gaojia Village in Danyang, killed our party leader five years ago and fled. Later, I heard that King Wu was recruiting troops in Danyang, so I voted for him. Under the general's account is the former school lieutenant."

"The captain can be regarded as a general. The general Ximen you are talking about is Ximen Junyi?"

The man said happily: "I didn't expect that Your Majesty would have heard the name of General Ximen. Yes, it was General Ximen. It's just a pity that General Ximen died at the hands of Fu Gongyou last night."

Li Chongjiu said: "So last night, Fu Gongyou sent troops to kill Ximen Junyi in the battle in the city?"

"It can also be said that it was Fu Gongyou who did it. Your Majesty, people in the city panicked after learning that Danyang was captured. Ximen Junyi's wife and children are all in Danyang. So I asked Fu Gongyou to break out of the siege, but Fu Gongyou refused. There was a dispute. Afterwards, several people who were dissatisfied with Fu Gongyou contacted General Ximen to carry out a mutiny."

"Then General Ximen agreed?"

"I don't know the specifics of this general, but I think General Ximen has always been loyal to King Wu. King Wu was killed by Wang Shibian. Although everyone didn't say anything, they all suspected that Fu Gongyou was behind the scenes. So General Ximen Not for myself, but also to avenge King Wu."

Li Chongjiu tapped his index finger on the table and said: "Your explanation is reasonable. Then General Ximen was killed by Fu Gongyou because of his failure in the army. Could it be that the matter was leaked?"

The man sighed and said: "It's not because General Ximen was careless, one of those people was Fu Gongyou's confidant, he deliberately took this opportunity to test General Ximen, and then contacted those who opposed Fu Gongyou in the city to rebel together. Give Fu Gongyou a chance to catch them all."

"You guessed this?" Zhang Xuansu asked back.

The man said: "Do you still need to guess? None of the generals who communicated with General Ximen made an incident. When Fu Gongyou led the upper camp to kill, General Ximen led our brothers to fight alone. We all broke our throats. , and no one came to rescue. In the end, General Ximen surrendered himself to Fu Gongyou in order not to hurt the brothers, so he exchanged his life for the brothers of our first battalion."
Speaking of this, the man couldn't help crying.

Li Chongjiu said with emotion: "So that's the case, that Fu Gongyou was also careless and let you escape?"

The man lowered his head and said, "Almost, after Fu Gongyou killed General Ximen, he hypocritically told us that only General Ximen was killed, and the rest will not be held accountable. Afterwards, he took all the lieutenants in the camp who were loyal to General Ximen and locked them up." .A certain saw the opportunity quickly, and fled with his brothers, so he saved his life."

"What about the other generals in the city?"

"I'm not too sure about this, I heard that the little general Kan Ling was also taken down."

Li Chongjiu nodded in satisfaction, and immediately said: "Reward him and his brothers, each with a bowl of beef!"

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Several people were full of gratitude at the moment, and walked out of the tent with bowls in hand.

After these people left, Li Chongjiu said to the generals in the big tent: "News came from Luoyang. Although Li Tang's north army was blocked on the north bank of the Yellow River, the south army was aggressive. Li Xiaogong and Li Jing had already divided their troops and sent general Zhang Gongjin to break through Wuguan. , crossed the Songshan Mountains, and joined forces with Li Tang Bianzhou Inspector Wang Yaohan, directly threatening our army at Hulao Pass."

These two generals are not ordinary people, needless to say Zhang Gongjin, Wang Yaohan is the younger brother of Wagang General Wang Bodang, although his reputation is not as good as his elder brother, but he is also a veteran from Wagang.

Hearing what Li Chongjiu said, all the generals were surprised. As Li Tang's main force, the northern army was blocked. On the contrary, Li Tang's southern army, led by Li Xiaogong and Li Jing, fought so well. .

Everyone knows that when Hulaoguan was cut off, Luoyang fell into a dead end.

Li Chongjiu immediately said seriously: "So we can't procrastinate in Xuzhou any longer, we must make a quick decision, and after the current enemy is resolved, we will move eastward and reinforce Luoyang!"

(End of this chapter)