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  Chapter 376 374【Cunning Zhang Xianzhong】

   It's the second watch.

  Shi Yongen walked towards the outside of the camp with difficulty. As he walked, he suddenly heard footsteps, and saw two civilian men running away quickly.

   ran over at once, and went straight to the direction of Zhao Han's camp.

   Not long after, a few more civilians escaped from nearby.

what's the situation?

  How could Zhang Xianzhong be negligent and let the civilians flee, exposing the news that he retreated at night and set up an ambush?

   Could it be that there are too many civilians fleeing, and Zhang Xianzhong is busy withdrawing troops, so he really can't handle it?

  It is very possible, and it belongs to the normal state of war.

  Shi Yongen was extremely confused, and Zhao Han was equally confused.

   In front of Zhao Han were two civilian husbands kneeling, and he didn't know if they were spies, so he didn't bother to make him stand up and speak.

   "Zhang Xianzhong really wanted to withdraw his army overnight, but you found out and asked you to escape and report to me?" Zhao Han asked with a frown.

  A civilian husband said: "Zhao Tianwang, we really did not lie."

  Another civilian husband said: "The eight thieves asked us to carry food and grass before it was dark, and moved all of them to the valley in the northwest. They must be thinking of leading the troops to escape at night."

  Zhao Han asked many more details, and waved someone to take them down.

  Li Zheng still had that cautious personality, and asked, "Do you want to interrogate them separately?"

Zhao Han shook his head and said, "No need. These two are real civilian husbands, and there will be no result in the retrial. What is worrying now is whether Zhang Xianzhong deliberately let them go to lure us into the camp, but set up an ambush in the camp. Or lead us to chase into the ravine and set up an ambush attack in the ravine."

  Lu Xiangsheng said: "First attack the camp with hundreds of elite infantry and cavalry to test whether there is an ambush in the enemy's camp. No matter what, first occupy the camp of the bandits."

   "Yes, fight steadily, don't chase into the mountains for now." Li Zheng said.

  Holding a candle, Xiao Zongxian brought the candlelight close to the map of Huangzhou Prefecture, and asked, "Will Zhang Xianzhong not flee to the northwest?"

   "He either goes out of the mountains to the northwest, or goes out of the mountains to the north. No matter which way he goes, he is surrounded by us step by step." Li Zheng said.

  Xiao Zongxian pointed to a map and said, "Isn't there a large space here?"

Wang Hui, who had already returned to the team, explained: "There is a swamp, and it is impossible for the army to pass through. Even if it can pass here, it will take two or three days for tens of thousands of troops to cross the swamp. Besides the swamp, it is not far from the main force of our army. , he can easily catch up, he might as well flee to the northwest."

  Zhao Han re-observed the map, and always felt that something was wrong.

   Zhang Xianzhong stayed in the camp, that is to stick to it. Fleeing to the northwest, fleeing to the north, and finally crossing the river to the west, he fell into Zhao Han's trap and mobilized various troops to encircle and wipe him out step by step.

  If you were Zhang Xianzhong, how would you choose?

   It seems that there is no choice, no matter how you choose, it will lead to a dead end.

   There is indeed a valley in the west. After passing through the valley and going southwest, you will face a large swamp. It was very close to Zhao Han's main force, and it was impossible to get out of the swamp for a while. If he was found to be more deadly than half-crossing, it was impossible for someone who knew how to fight to walk in the swamp.

  But Zhao Han just didn't feel right, because Zhang Xianzhong couldn't be dealt with so easily!

   While everyone was discussing the military situation, a few more civilians were brought in.

  Some people said that Zhang Xianzhong's elite infantry entered the mountain ahead of time and might set up an ambush in the ravine.

  Some people say that Zhang Xianzhong's elite went north, probably to forcibly cross Henggang Mountain.

  The three pieces of information before and after can all confirm each other, but it makes everyone even more puzzled.

  Li Zheng said: "I suggest that first capture the enemy's camp, and then divide the troops to pursue after dawn. The infantry enters the mountain and advances carefully, and the cavalry goes around the exit from the mountain to block the response."

  Wang Hui reminded: "If the elite of the enemy army goes north to Henggang Mountain, Guangji City cannot relax its vigilance. Zhang Xianzhong may return to attack the city with his carbine at any time."

Lu Xiangsheng also felt a little tricky: "Zhang Xianzhong is forcing us to divide our troops, and he is also deliberately leaking the news, so that we don't dare to go into the mountains to pursue, so as to buy time for ourselves to withdraw. He retreats at night with a lot of food and grass. Even if he sets up an ambush, as long as we Chasing him may also cause his army to flee."

   "But we don't dare to gamble. Who knows what's going on in the mountains? It will be troublesome if we crash into the ambush circle." Li Zheng added.

  Zhao Han's brain is not enough, not only the generals lack experience in commanding in battle, but he himself is not as good as those generals under his command.

  Zhao Han could only ask Lu Xiangsheng: "If General Lu were Zhang Xianzhong, how would he choose to fight?"

  Lu Xiangsheng thought to himself: "This is the only way to do it. Set up an ambush, divide the troops to go north, and deliberately leak the news so that we don't dare to chase after them. Even if we chase, we must be careful not to steal the city."

   Zhao Han didn't think about it for the time being, and ordered: "Immediately send hundreds of people to attack the camp. If there is an ambush in the invincible camp, immediately block the passage into the mountain after occupying it."

  Night attack troops rushed into Zhang Xianzhong's camp, and found that the outer camp was completely empty, but there were a large number of civilians around the inner circle. Moreover, more and more civilians found that Zhang Xianzhong's army had left, so they ran for their lives towards Zhao Han's camp.

   Noisy and chaotic, even if Zhao Han wanted to go into the mountains to pursue him, he was temporarily blocked by the civilians.

   "Under Heaven!"

  Shi Yongen yelled weakly, and reached out to grab the ankles of passers-by.

  The night raider was startled, and was about to draw his knife to slash it, but he retracted it when he heard "Tianxia Datong", squatted down and said, "Let go of my feet first, and someone will come to rescue you later."

  Shi Yongen smiled bitterly: "Comrade, I can't wait, I have an urgent military report."

   "Are you from Datong Society?" the night raider said in surprise.

Shi Yongen's head became more and more confused, and he pulled himself together and said, "Go back and tell Mr. Zhao that Zhang Xianzhong will probably go to the swamp. I've been there. There are farmers and paddy fields on the edge of the swamp. It's not easy for an army of tens of thousands to bring food and grass. It is very easy to pass with only cavalry and cavalry.”

  Night raiders dare not be negligent, calling for their companions to come and help, one of them went back with Shi Yongen on their backs, and the other rushed to report the military situation.

  Shi Yongen said to the soldier who was carrying him on his back: "I can't hold it anymore, please tell the doctor, and I will amputate my arm quickly."

   "I know, don't fall asleep." The soldier warned.

  Shi Yongen thought he would be in a coma, but he didn't expect to be sober all the way. He even admired his willpower a little bit.

  If he survived, he might be able to become an official. After making such great achievements, why should he arrange for a small official to do it.

  Shi Yongen is a scholar, but it's a pity that he didn't pass the exam as a scholar.

   Zhao Han got the news, including Lu Xiangsheng, who was puzzled.

  Lu Xiangsheng was puzzled: "If we only take the cavalry and cavalry to leave through the swamp, Zhang Xianzhong will lose the tens of thousands of elite infantry and food?"

   "Yes, how can there be such a war?" Li Zheng was even more puzzled. With his character, even if the entire army died in battle, he would not leave tens of thousands of troops behind.

   "Can he do such a thing?" Zhao Han asked.

"He could do it before, but now that he has a territory, how can he..." Lu Xiangsheng suddenly had a flash of inspiration as he said, "Zhang Xianzhong must have set up an ambush in the northwest valley. He can delay our army and keep food and grass as much as possible. The elite who crossed the Henggang Mountains are also really sent. They can return to Guangji City according to the situation, or they can go around to the northwest according to the situation. Even if our army kills them, all the elite infantry can escape to the north through the valley. It will take at least several days for the army to completely surround these people."

  Wang Hui was confused: "But he escaped directly from the northwest mountain passage, wouldn't it have the same effect? ​​And he can escape faster. What is the purpose of his cavalry and horse team crossing the swamp?"

   "Could it be attacking us from behind?" Xiao Zongxian couldn't figure it out either.

Lu Xiangsheng stared at the map and pondered for a while, then suddenly clenched his fists and said, "He wants to take the cavalry and run for dozens of miles overnight to surprise our troops besieging Qizhou. If he succeeds in the attack, the next target is Wujiaxue. There are If our army's food and grass are destroyed by him, our army's food and grass may be burned to nothing."

  Everyone suddenly realized that Zhang Xianzhong was really cruel.

  Zhang Xianzhong must have made a good deployment. Once the infantry in the mountain can't hold on, he will probably burn his own food before he escapes through the mountain, and he will rush to burn Zhao Han's food and grass.

   This style of play has a high probability of losing both sides, and everyone will lose food and grass together.

   Moreover, Zhang Xianzhong's cavalry and cavalry may not go back to join the infantry after burning the food and grass at Wujiaxue. He will continue to fight eastward, burning, killing and looting in Zhao Han's hinterland, and coercing the people with war support. The elite infantry crossed mountains and ridges all the way, and did not choose to cross the river at all. They would definitely starve to death on the way, but as much as they could go back, it was better than being hit by half-crossing the river.

  Lu Xiangsheng gritted his teeth: "This guy has become a rogue again, this is the usual way of rogues!"

Zhao Han quickly made a decision: "Li Zheng led the troops, rode mules to Chilong Lake, and returned to Qizhou by boat for rescue. Lu Xiangsheng led the cavalry and ran straight south to the Yangtze River, blocking the way from Qizhou to Wujiaxue. Kuaiqi told the mayor and peasants and soldiers of Wujiaxue to be wary of thieves and cavalry."

  Zhao Han wanted to surround Zhang Xianzhong step by step, but Zhang Xianzhong took the initiative to divide them into several groups.

   Most of the civilians threw it to Zhao Han, and the remaining half of the civilians were ready to throw it at any time. Tens of thousands of elite infantry were divided into two parts, and they were always ready to flee into the mountains or fight guerrillas during the ambush. As for Zhang Xianzhong's food and grass, it is estimated that all the fire starters are ready, and all of them will be burned and will not be left to Zhao Han.

   Zhang Xianzhong himself led more than 10,000 cavalry and horse teams, and also led thousands of empty mules. First cross the valley in the west, then march from the edge of the swamp, and after passing through the swamp, rush around Chilong Lake to attack Qizhou!

  Qizhou City is Zhang Xianzhong's territory, and under the attack of the defenders, and it is also a night attack, Zhao Han's siege troops are likely to collapse.

  Li Zheng led the whole army on mules and rushed to Chilong Lake desperately.

   Really desperate, desperate for the life of the mule.

  Mules have great stamina, but they are not good at running fast. If they are forced to speed up and march, they will die even if they reach the destination.

  Before the mule team, there were a few warrima horses, who rushed to Chilong Lake as messengers, and then changed boats to report to the friendly army outside Qizhou City.

  Zhang Xianzhong set off when it was dark, but he needed to cross the edge of the swamp and run around Chilong Lake. However, the messengers sent by Zhao Han were dragged until the second watch, but they could ride horses or boats in a straight line.

   It's really hard to say who will arrive at Qizhou first.

   (Ask for a monthly pass.)

  (end of this chapter)