Jiuxi

Chapter 287 285 [The trumpet sounds]

Dongyang Road, Ruyin City.

The Huaizhou army has been besieging the city for more than five days.

General Li Shouzhen stood behind the city wall, pressing his hands on the wall stacks, looking at the continuous Qi army camps outside the city, his thick eyebrows furrowed like the word "Chuan".

To this day, the vast area from Ruyin City to the south has fallen into the hands of the Qi army. Most of the territory along Dongyang Road has been lost. Only a small half of the land north of Ruyin is still under the jurisdiction of the Yan government. However, this is only in name. jurisdiction.

As far as Li Shouzhen knew, some officials in the north either fled to Heluo to seek protection from important officials in the court, or simply went away to hide from the people. At this moment, less than 40% of the officials were still adhering to their duties.

Looking around the world, Ruyin has become an isolated city.

However, this is the capital of Dongyang Road after all. There are more than 400,000 residents in the city, mountains of food and grass, towering and solid city walls, and nearly 30,000 soldiers waiting for them.

If the Yan army had not suffered too many defeats in the past two years and the morale of the army had fallen to the bottom, how could Li Shouzhen be worried about the 50,000 to 60,000 Qi troops outside the city.

The sun was fading, but there was still no movement in the Qi army camp outside the city.

Li Shouzhen suppressed the annoyance in his heart, turned to look at the unimpressive subordinate officer, and said, "Go and notify the idle generals in the city one by one, and ask them to come to the General's Mansion tomorrow at 2:00 to attend the military meeting."

Feng Xiaowen responded respectfully: "Yes, I will do it immediately."

He turned around and walked quickly down the city wall, asking for a horse to gallop around the city of Ruyin. He notified the generals of the Yan army who were idle at home in order of distance, and came to Wen's house at the fourth stop.

Wen Xiguang invited him into the main hall, then dismissed the servants and asked with gleaming eyes: "How could you come to me so blatantly?"

"It doesn't matter, I'm here today on Li Shouzhen's military order."

Feng Xiaowen smiled lightly, and then repeated Li Shouzhen's order.

Wen Xiguang guessed Li Shouzhen's thoughts as soon as he heard this, and shook his head and said: "Our general is really ill and seeks medical treatment. To put it nicely, he is preparing for a rainy day. He is worried that the middle-level generals will suffer heavy losses in the fierce battle and have no one to command. But he didn't Have you ever thought about the consequences of not knowing the generals and the soldiers? This is a taboo for military strategists."

The smile on Feng Xiaowen's face came from this, and he said softly: "This is not a bad thing for us. If Wen Dujian can control the army, it will be more convenient."

Since that secret meeting in the darkroom, the two met twice more to update each other on news and progress. Naturally, there was no need to hide things, so Wen Xiguang asked directly: "I have contacted a group of reliable people here. , I wonder how we can cooperate with the army outside the city?"

"Captain, don't be anxious."

Feng Xiaowen changed his usual timidity and humility and said leisurely: "Before the city was closed, I received a secret order from the south. When the army outside the city launches the third offensive, we will take action at the same time. I will find a way to restrain Li Shouzhen by then. , the governor will lead people to open the east gate of Ruyin."

"the third time……"

Wen Xiguang nodded and said: "No wonder the army outside the city has not launched an attack. I guess Li Shouzhen has been having a very hard time these days because he has not thought about food or tea."

"He has only been suffering for a few days, but I have been suffering for several years."

Feng Xiaowen expressed a rare emotion, then he stopped smiling and said with cupped hands: "If this battle is successful, Daqi and the Huaizhou Governor's Mansion will not forget Governor Wen's contribution!"

Wen Xiguang also smiled, shook his head and said: "Wen doesn't dare to be greedy for credit. Brother Feng, there are masters from the Jinglian clan around Li Shouzhen, you must be careful. If something cannot be done, don't force it, I will definitely open the east gate."

"Thank you for your concern. Wen Dujian should also take care of himself! It's not appropriate for me to stay for a long time, so I'll take my leave."

"Okay, walk slowly."

The two parted ways.

Arriving on the street outside Wen's house, Feng Xiaowen glanced at the westward slanting sunlight above his head, and then looked outward. Unfortunately, he could not see past the rows of houses and the towering city walls, and could not see the Huaizhou army waiting outside the city.

He soon lowered his head and eyebrows, looking as ordinary as ever.

At the Huaizhou Central Army camp outside the city, Xiao Wangzhi stood on the ground and practiced a set of swords. After putting away the sword, he raised his hand to wipe his sweat and sighed: "You are indeed old if you don't rely on your muscles and bones for strength."

Yu Chigui, who was standing next to him, smiled and said: "Everyone has his own destiny, why force it? You envy the people in the world who have honed their martial arts skills since childhood and become strong and strong. Some people can even live for hundreds of years. Who knows that those people don't envy you for holding one hundred thousand in your hand?" A large army, conquering cities and territories while chatting and laughing, and still leaving a mark in history thousands of years later?"

"It does sound comfortable."

The two of them knew each other well, and Xiao Wangzhi naturally would not act pretentious in front of him, and then said: "It's okay to be weak and weak. I don't even have the courage to compare with young people now. This is what really makes me feel sad." .”

Yu Chigui heard something he said and asked, "You mean the differences between you and Lu Chen?"

Xiao Wangzhi nodded slightly, turned to look at Ruyin City to the west, and said with a sigh: "At first, I just wanted to recover Dongyang Road smoothly, so that I could give an explanation to His Majesty and the Right Minister. But Lu Chen talked a lot that day. He planned the tactical details, and finally he changed my mind with one sentence."

Yu Chigui asked curiously: "What are you talking about?"

Xiao Wangzhi's eyes were filled with confusion, and he said with a complicated expression: "He said that the decision of whether to attack Ruyin City is in my hands, but the decision of whether to save Ruyin or not is in the hands of the other party. In this case, why not give it to him? Where is the opportunity for the other party to rack their brains and fall into a trap?"

Yuchi Gui couldn't help laughing, and after a moment he asked again: "What if the enemy doesn't come?"

Xiao Wangzhi also smiled and said: "Then we have to reluctantly take over Ruyin City."

While joking, the two came to the commander's tent. Xiao Wangzhi said to the soldiers: "Instruct all the generals to launch the first siege at three o'clock tomorrow morning to test the strength of the Yan army in the city according to the previously planned strategy."

The soldier's face was full of excitement and he said proudly: "Follow the order!"

……

As winter passes and spring comes, everything in Baotai Mountain comes to life, and the sounds of birds, animals and insects gradually begin to sound.

Although Lu Chen has been away for more than half a year, he has left many traces in the mountains, and the arrangements he made before leaving are gradually taking shape.

The construction of the main stronghold and the two branch strongholds has been basically completed. Compared with the loose and haphazard way at the beginning, the three strongholds now have the meaning of military cities. If the Yan army goes into the mountains for encirclement and suppression again, the Seven Star Army will have enough confidence to repel the enemy even without Lu Chen's command.

As news of the progress of the battle in the south reached the mountains, all the young generals of the Seven Star Army were excited and wanted to go out to fight alongside the Huaizhou Army immediately. However, no one dared to disobey the young woman's order and honestly hid in the mountains to continue. practice.

On the hillside, the slim figure was sitting on the grass. The breeze blew through her hair and caressed her slightly slimmer face. There were gentle footsteps behind her. If her martial arts had not improved over the past six months, it would have been hard to hear. At the same time, a gentle man's voice reached her ears.

"Xier."

Lin Xi stood up, turned around, lowered his head slightly and said, "Dad."

Lin Jie took a look at the terrain here. Only the south side had a wide view, and he could see mountains and rivers at a glance. He immediately understood why she liked to come here to stay quietly.

When he came closer, he took out a letter from his sleeve and handed it to Lin Xi, smiling and saying: "This is a letter from your junior brother."

Lin Xi's lips curled up slightly, and she opened the letter and read it in front of her father, her eyes suddenly brightening.

Upon seeing this, Lin Jie said: "Lu Chen asked someone to tell me that you can prepare to leave."

Lin Xi nodded and said softly: "Dad, I'm going."

Lin Jie nodded and said, "Go ahead. After this battle is over, I will discuss your marriage with Brother Lu in person."

After hearing this, Lin Xi's ears turned slightly red and he hurriedly bowed and left.

Lin Jie looked at her figure that seemed to suddenly become lithe and pretty, with a bit of relief and a bit of unknown sadness in his eyes.

On the morning of the next day, nearly 4,000 people lined up on the broad flat ground south of the mountain gate of the main village. More than 500 of them were cavalry based on Lin Xi's personal entourage. Most of the rest were infantrymen who had experienced the war. Death.

The sound of horse hooves gradually came, and Lin Xi rode her horse. She was wearing navy blue light armor, with a ponytail tied high, and her beautiful face had a bit of sharpness.

Arriving in front of the Seven-Star Army formation, Lin Xi held the seven-foot saber with one hand, raised his arm and swung the sword, and a clear and firm voice reached everyone's ears.

"Brothers, do you dare to follow me to the south to fight the enemy?"

The voices of thousands of people suddenly erupted, echoing throughout the mountains and fields.

"southward!"

"southward!"

"southward!"

……

In the northern Yan capital, there is a common city.

The sound of killings reached into the sky like a tidal wave.

Under the personal command of Duan Zuozhang, the Lai'an army launched an extremely fierce attack on this small county town on the official road of Yan State.

To the northwest of the county, three thousand Jingjun cavalry looked at each other from a distance, but did not take any action and watched indifferently as the Qi army besieged Gongcheng.

This is of course not because they are too cold-blooded and do not want to save anyone, or because they are looking for opportunities to harass the Qi army from behind.

Just because they were far away from them, Li Chengen led the Ruishi Battalion cavalry to stare at them.

After the Battle of Leize, Xiao Wangzhi gave priority to replenishing the battle losses of the Rui Shi Battalion. Therefore, the strength of Lu Chen's troops even exceeded the initial number of 6,000, and the combined cavalry and infantry were approaching 8,000.

This is enough to show that Xiao Wangzhi recognizes Lu Chen's ability to lead troops.

At sunset, the city was destroyed.

After witnessing this scene with their own eyes, the Jingjun cavalry immediately retreated westward, apparently intending to return to Yaoshanguan.

The Rui Shi Battalion did not pursue it, and the order Li Chengen received was just to ensure that the other party would not interfere with the Lai'an army.

At this point, this partial division led by Lu Chen defeated Qingliuguan, Raoyang and Gongcheng, and was less than 200 miles away from Heluo City.

Under the banner of the Chinese general, Lu Chen raised his eyes and looked ahead, and said calmly: "Actually, Qing Yu Zhongwang did something inappropriate."

Song Shifei, who was watching the battle, asked curiously: "Which point?"

Lu Chen said: "He cherishes the troops in his hands too much. Compared with the previous Jingjun generals in the Battle of Leize, he is undoubtedly going to the other extreme. Brother Song, if you are the coach of Jingjun and have the With more than 30,000 elite main force, will you sit back and watch me easily capture three cities in a row?"

Song Shifei replied directly: "Of course not. Why should I let all my troops shrink in Heluo and let you attack the city so easily?"

Lu Chen smiled, nodded and said: "That's the problem. Under normal circumstances, even if he is worried about an ambush behind our troops and doesn't want to fall into our army's trap, he doesn't have to fight with our army in the wild. He only needs to fight at Qingliu Pass, Raoyang, Gongcheng, Yaoshanguan and other places each sent thousands of Jingjun infantry, how much price did we have to pay to get here?"

Song Shifei was slightly startled and murmured: "In other words, he just wants us to keep moving westward..."

"I can't confirm until this moment that Qingyu Zhongwang really intends to give us a chance."

Lu Chen raised his head and raised his eyebrows, and said calmly: "In this case, how can we let him down? I just don't know if the impregnable Yaoshan Pass in his heart can stop our army from continuing to advance."

"I don't think so."

Song Shifei grinned.

Lu Chen rode his horse forward and said loudly: "The whole army will obey the order and prepare immediately. The troops will march to Yaoshan Pass tomorrow!"

Soon, a high-pitched and melodious trumpet sounded between heaven and earth.

This majestic voice conveyed a very clear order to all Qi army soldiers.

Target: Heluo City!

(End of this chapter)