Jiuxi

Chapter 244 242 [A little light]

The New Year is approaching, but there is no trace of festive atmosphere in Beiyan Dongyang Road.

With the four fortresses connecting the north and south, Yongquan, Gushu, Qingtian and Tongshan, falling into the hands of the Huaizhou Army, the other side has completely grasped the initiative on the battlefield. Even if it just attracts no troops to garrison, it can still make the Yan Army's defense line rumble.

During this period of time in Ruyin City, a large number of wealthy gentry families fled. Without exception, they took their families and families to Heluo City, because no one could guarantee that the Yan army could stop the advance of the Huaizhou army.

Once the Huaizhou army comes to the city, no one can leave.

Naturally, Li Shouzhen could not sit back and watch this situation occur. A few wealthy households leaving the city would have little impact on the city's defense, but acquiescing and condoning this behavior would cause a devastating blow to the people in the city.

Since six days ago, Ruyin City has declared martial law. Without a note from the General's Office, no one can leave the city at will.

This was just one of the incidents that gave Li Shouzhen a headache, and it was a relatively unimportant situation.

"Is there any latest urgent military report sent today?"

At three o'clock in the morning, Li Shouzhen had just walked into the meeting hall and couldn't wait to ask. His eyes were bloodshot, and it was obvious that he had not slept well during this period.

All the staff shook their heads. One of them, a middle-aged man named Ling Xiushan, said: "Back to General, the current situation on the border can still be maintained as before. Although the Huaizhou Army has made some moves, they are basically small-scale. The dispatch did not push the front northward.”

Li Shouzhen walked to the sand table and looked at the border situation that he was already familiar with, as if this could make him feel a little more at ease.

After capturing Gushu, the Huaizhou Army has already occupied the south gate of Dongyang Road. In theory, there is no big obstacle whether they advance north to attack Ruyin, go west to capture Ningling, or go east to expand the territory they occupy.

However, after gaining a huge early advantage, the other party suddenly took the initiative to slow down the progress and showed an attitude of being content with being rich. This was obviously too abnormal in Li Shouzhen's view.

"What is the current layout of the Southern Qi Huaizhou Army?"

Li Shouzhen turned to look at a man in his thirties, named Yan Xu, who was the person in charge of the Procuratorate on Dongyang Road.

After Wang Shidao returned to Heluo, Yan Xutong led the secret agents of the Procuratorate here to provide intelligence support to the military.

Of course Li Shouzhen also has a scout system, but at this moment he doesn't want to miss any useful information.

Yan Xu replied calmly: "General, the brothers from the Procuratorate have had many fights with the Southern Qi Sutra Weaving Department and the scouts from the Huaizhou Army recently. The other party is very strong, and we have not taken much advantage. According to the current collection Judging from the information received, the Huaizhou Zhenbei Army is stationed in Tongshan City, and the Lai'an Army is stationed in Gushu City. These two armies are the strongest elite main forces among the Huaizhou Army. In addition, we are near Gushu City After discovering the flags of the Guangling Army and the Taixing Army, they took Gushu City as the core and gradually invaded the surrounding areas."

Li Shouzhen nodded slightly. This was roughly the same as the information he had. Regardless of his ability, Yan Xu was at least an official who was willing to tell the truth.

He stared at the sign on the sand table and asked, "Is Xiao Wangzhi personally commanding the Huaizhou Army now?"

Yan Xu replied: "Our people risked their lives to get closer to investigate and found that the Huaizhou Army's flag was set up in Yongquan Pass, but they were not sure that Xiao Wangzhi was here. The general and the leaders of Huaizhou's various departments were arrogant and arrogant, except for Xiao Wangzhi has no one to control them, so Xiao Wangzhi must personally take command."

"Your analysis also makes sense."

Li Shouzhen laughed at himself and then said seriously: "Actually, what I really want to ask is, where are Lu Chen and his Rui Shi camp now?"

Yan Xu shook his head and said: "Back to General, we don't know yet. We can only confirm that the last time the Rui Shi Battalion appeared was in the Battle of Wanting, and it has not appeared on the front line since then."

Hearing him mention the Battle of Wanting, Li Shouzhen suddenly felt a strong irritation in his heart. If the 15,000 troops and horses led by Cheng Weimin had not been lost, why would he be so worried now? However, this was his own decision. , no one is to blame.

At this moment, a clerk quickly walked into the meeting hall and reported hurriedly: "General, the messenger from the capital is here!"

Li Shouzhen's eyes lit up and he nodded quickly: "Bring him in!"

After a while, a man in his thirties came forward, bowed slightly and said: "To General Li, Privy Pang ordered me to come and deliver the message. Ten thousand reinforcements led by General Lu Huan, a woman from the Jing Dynasty, will be in Lei." We are stationed near Ze and will not come directly to Ruyin City for the time being."

"What did you say?!"

Li Shouzhen's expression suddenly changed, and the staff and officials beside him couldn't help but look at him worriedly.

The visitor looked slightly embarrassed and lowered his head and said: "General, please calm down. This is a strategy confirmed by the Privy Council and Princess Yongping after discussion, and has been approved by His Majesty."

Li Shouzhen directly ignored his last sentence. Almost everyone knew the power that the emperor could use in the Yan court. The key was that this was a view shared by Qingyu Huaijin and Pang Shigu, which meant that he was unable to change it at all, let alone Nu Lu Huan would not listen to his advice at all.

However, if reinforcements do not arrive, the risk of Ruyin City falling will greatly increase.

The messenger added: "Privy Secretary Pang also said that the general can withdraw the garrison stationed in Fengqiu area to fill the empty defense line in the south."

Li Shouzhen's expression softened slightly. There were 20,000 defenders on Dongyang Road on the north line of Fengqiu. Their original intention was to guard various traffic arteries and prevent the Seven Star Army in Baotai Mountain from attacking southward. If this army is transferred to Ruyin, it can indeed solve his urgent need, but it will also lead to a new hidden danger.

"After the Northern Army withdraws south, who will guard against the bandits in Baotai Mountain?"

"Don't worry, General. The Privy Council will resolve this issue."

The messenger didn't elaborate, or he didn't know the details, so he could only agree vaguely.

However, Li Shouzhen did not lose his composure in a hurry this time. He suddenly realized that this should be Qingyu Huaijin's plan, and the main force of Jingjun must be prepared to deal with the Seven Star Army.

When he thought of this, he nodded slightly and said, "Thank you for your hard work, please go and rest."

"Yes, General."

After the messenger retreated, Li Shouzhen looked at Ling Xiushan and said, "You immediately drafted a military order for me and ordered Wu Xinzhang to lead 20,000 troops and horses to go south immediately. He came to Ruyin City first and then waited for the next step." Ling Xiushan hesitated slightly He said: "General, all 20,000 troops and horses are going south?"

Li Shouzhen said: "Yes, since this is Privy Pang's suggestion, then we don't have to worry about the bandits in the mountains to the north."

Ling Xiushan bowed in agreement.

Li Shouzhen looked at Yan Xu again and said: "Brothers from the Procuratorate, please work harder. I need the specific arrangements of the Huaizhou Army on the border. The more detailed the better, especially the information about Xiao Wangzhi and Lu Chen. Brother Yan , I know that your Procuratorate has some high-level secret agents in the south, and they will not be used until absolutely necessary, but now we have reached an extremely critical moment and cannot be delayed any longer."

Yan Xu looked troubled and said slowly: "General, this matter is of great importance. It is difficult for a lower official to make the decision. It must be approved by Mr. Wang, and there must be a necessary reason."

Li Shouzhen sighed softly and said quietly: "Wang Shizheng and Privy Council Pang are far away in the capital, and they don't know the situation on the border. Even if there is intelligence to review, it is still not as real as what I feel here. The biggest problem right now is that we don't know the situation in Huaihe Don’t you think the border battlefield is in an eerie silence due to the state army’s plan?”

Yan Xu was slightly startled, and his expression gradually became serious.

Li Shouzhen continued: "Let me ask you, after the Huaizhou Army captured Gushu, what did they plan to do next? Should they take Ningling to the west or Ruyin to the north? They didn't do anything, they just circled around the area around Gushu City. Could it be that Don’t you think there is a huge conspiracy hidden here? If you were the commander-in-chief of the Huaizhou Army, would you have stopped the situation when the situation was overwhelming? You can’t tell me that this is Xiao Wangzhi’s preparation for a happy celebration for the soldiers. We’ll do it again on New Year’s Day.”

Yan Xu was stunned, and then said seriously: "I will ask Mr. Wang for instructions immediately."

"Good work."

Li Shouzhen walked to the commander's seat with a tired look and sat down. He supported his chin with one hand and sighed slowly.

He had a hunch that those in the south were plotting an overall situation that would affect the security of the Yan Kingdom's thousands of miles of border defenses. However, there was a fog in front of him, let alone finding a way to break the situation.

This made him extremely frightened, but he was helpless.

While Li Shouzhen was thinking hard, a secret conversation was taking place in a quiet darkroom in a house in the north area of ​​Ruyin City.

Sitting to the south was an unattractive man in his thirties. He said in a humble tone: "Superintendent Wen, I have just analyzed the current situation of Dongyang Road for you. What do you think?"

The man opposite him was a little older. Although he was wearing regular clothes, he could tell that he had a military temperament. It was Wen Xiguang who was excluded from the general system of Dongyang Road because of a false post.

During the battle to suppress bandits in Baotai Mountain, Wen Xiguang was ambushed by Lu Chen and the Seven-Star Army because he was rescuing the advance vanguard who underestimated the enemy. Wen Xiguang became the first mid-level general of the Yan Army to be captured. This experience was naturally frustrating, but compared to what happened to others later, Wen Xiguang, who left the battlefield early, was a blessing in disguise.

Although he was deprived of military power by Li Shouzhen, he at least saved his life without much loss.

Wen Xiguang looked at the thirty-year-old man opposite him, sizing up his ordinary face that almost no one paid attention to as he walked on the street, and asked unhurriedly: "If I'm not wrong, you should have a high status in the warp weaving department. ?”

The man in his thirties smiled and said: "Superintendent Wen is looking down on me. There are dragons and crouching tigers inside the Sutra Weaving Department. I am just an unknown person who is forced to hide on Dongyang Road."

Wen Xiguang shook his head and said: "You are now an official of the General's Mansion. Although you are not Li Shouzhen's confidant, you still have access to many secrets. With this status, you are destined not to be an unknown person in the Sutra Weaving Department."

The man's name is Feng Xiaowen, and as Wen Xiguang said, he works in the General's Mansion. This is of course a false name, and no one knows his true identity.

Even in the Huaizhou Yamen of the Sutra Weaving Department, only Su Yunqing and Lu Chen knew of his existence, and they only knew that his code name was Gray Harrier.

Last year, before Zhang Junsi led the Dongyang Road army to advance towards Huaizhou Lai'an Defense Line, he was the one who sent important information about Dongyang Road back to Southern Qi for Qin Zheng and Xiao Wangzhi to make correct judgments.

Feng Xiaowen said: "It's better for people like us to remain unknown."

Wen Xiguang was silent for a moment and said curiously: "Actually, I don't understand why you appeared in front of me. Aren't you worried that I would have someone arrest you and send you to Li Shouzhen to claim credit?"

Feng Xiaowen looked calm and said calmly: "Captain Lu said that Governor Wen is not that kind of person. Besides, if I want to win your trust, I have to go there myself, and naturally I should bear some risks."

"Liu Duwei refers to Lu Chen?"

"It's him."

Wen Xiguang couldn't help but think of his experience in Baotai Mountain, the long conversation between him and Lu Chen that night, and then looked at Feng Xiaowen, who didn't care about life and death. He sighed softly: "I finally understand why the Huaizhou Army can win consecutive battles." , because of the existence of people like Governor Xiao, Captain Lu, and Your Excellency, the outcome of this war has already been determined."

Feng Xiaowen looked at him with a smile and said: "Actually, I have been secretly observing Wen Dujian for a long time. You are different from Li Shouzhen, a person who is determined to be Jing Chao's dog. From the bottom of his heart, you still I think I am from Qi, so I decided to come to see you in person according to Captain Lu’s arrangement.”

How could Wen Xiguang not know this? This can be seen from the names he addressed to the coaches on both sides.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help shaking his head and smiling, and then asked: "I stayed at home during this period. Although I don't know the specific situation of the war, I probably felt that Governor Xiao and Captain Lu were not plotting for the same place, but Decide for the overall outcome. Brother Feng, I won’t pry into their detailed arrangements, but you at least want me to understand, what do you need me to do?”

"As it should be."

Feng Xiaowen nodded, and then said solemnly: "Captain Lu asked me to tell Governor Wen that he knows that you have a wide network of contacts in the Yan army. This is why Li Shouzhen only took away your military power but did not go further. Back in Bao In Taishan, Lieutenant Lu told you that there may be a time to fight side by side in the future. Now that the time is gradually ripe, he hopes that you can contact a group of reliable people to assist our army at the minimum cost when our army is approaching the city. Take Ruyin City!"

For some reason, Wen Xiguang felt that the long-dormant blood in his body was boiling even though he was past the age where he was easily impulsive.

"I didn't have the right to choose at the beginning, because the whole family was in the sight of others. Even though I could ignore my own life, I really couldn't let the whole family die with me. Now since you are willing to give me such a If I don’t know how to cherish this opportunity, wouldn’t I be the stupidest person in the world?”

Wen Xiguang's tone was calm, but with a bit of compassion, and he continued: "Please tell the south that Wen does not ask for high-ranking officials or big salaries, but is willing to do his part for the Huaizhou Army to regain their homeland!"

Feng Xiaowen was touched in his heart, raised his tea cup and said, "Thank you very much!"

The two drank the warm tea, looking at each other with passion and passion.

(End of this chapter)