Chapter 91 Encounter

Next, the army stayed on the north bank of the Yellow River for five days. After the captives were taken back by the Fengxian government, the food and wages that the surrounding prefectures and counties promised to pay were almost the same. Then they set up camps and turned around and returned to Xuzhou.

Wujiazhuang is actually only one hundred miles away from Xuzhou City. When he returned, he had enough manpower and didn't have to worry about encountering the enemy halfway, so the team walked very fast. In just one day, the Yellow River was already far away. Seeing that it was getting late, it was inevitable that he would encounter danger when walking on the floating bridge. He ordered his brothers to find a slightly higher position and set off the camp and have a meal and rest. He just waited for the sun to come out tomorrow, and the whole army would cross the Yellow River.

Unexpectedly, after dinner, the Chief Zhao Junyong hurried into the Central Army tent with a secret report. Immediately afterwards, the low drum sounded outside the Central Army tent, "Dongdongdong, dongdongdong, dongdongdongdong", which made the scalp suddenly hit. When Zhu Bashiyi heard this, he immediately put down the military book in his hand and ordered loudly, "Iwan, please inform all the soldiers to wear armor and stand by. The general in charge, I will go to his place first and will come back soon!"

After saying that, he took Xu Hongsan and other personal soldiers to the outside of the Central Army tent. He saw that the people at the entrance of the military tent were yelling and neighing, and Mao Gui, Peng Da, Wei Zixi and others rushed over. Some had rice grains on their mouths, while others had obviously just drunk wine and blushed like a drunk shrimp. They greeted each other with their eyes, and everyone's eyes were full of confusion.

"What's up with him? Let's talk about it first!" Peng Da was the oldest among the generals, and his prestige was second only to Sesame Li. He left a sentence and opened the door of the tent first.

"Go in, go in and talk!" Everyone followed closely and entered the tent one after another. Sesame Li held a letter in his hand and sneered. Zhao Junyong slapped his mouth, his face as heavy as water. It seemed as if someone had just stole his cow, and would jump up at any time to fight with people.

"There is a dog official named Lu, who brought 30,000 salt diced to Xuzhou while we were not at home. If there weren't a gentry who had just passed by Zhangjia Market Wharf this morning, if there weren't a gentry who reported the message to us, when we cross the river tomorrow, he would just come and attack us." Seeing that all the generals were almost here, Sesame Li sneered and took the secret letter in his hand on the handcuff's case and introduced loudly.

"Grandma, he is looking for death. I will lead my brothers to kill him and bring his head to everyone first!" Peng Da heard this and immediately became furious, walked forward a few steps, and volunteered loudly.

"Damn it, I dared to attack our Xuzhou Army with a group of salt dicks! Chief Manager, let's cross the river overnight and catch him off guard!" Wei Zixi also waved his arms and said gritting his teeth.

The vast majority of other generals were also full of righteous indignation, and no one could accept the fact that a group of salt dicks came to you. Only Mao Gui, the former army governor, Zhu Bashiyi, the left army governor, and a few around them discussed with each other, and then Mao Gui stood up and asked, "Master General, Chief Secretary, is this news true? I will remember that just five days ago, Daluhuachi from Pizhou sent a messenger to you. The food and money that he promised was delivered to you was just delivered yesterday morning."

"It has been verified, and the news is certain!" Zhao Junyong responded loudly without thinking, "The Daluhua Chi Baolige of Pizhou obviously knew that Yan Ding would come long ago. The reason why he pretended to lose to us was to confuse us and create a chance to attack Xuzhou for the dog official surnamed Lu!"

"Did Yan Ding come by boat?" Mao Gui nodded and continued to ask in a low voice.

"Half of them took the boat, and the other half walked from the south bank. The food, grass and supplies were also loaded on the boat!" Zhao Junyong thought for a while and responded quickly.

These are all clearly written in secret reports. He has always been able to remember them all, so when he heard Mao Gui's inquiry, he could recite them without any fault. After hearing the answer, the latter frowned a few times and whispered, "If all the food and supplies are pulled by boat, they will have to go upstream along the Yellow River. The consumption of 30,000 people is not a small amount. Based on one kilogram of grain per person per day, the food for ten days will be at least 300,000 kilograms. Using a large ship carrying 30,000 kilograms to go upstream on the Yellow River, you can walk up to twelve miles in one hour. The waterway from Zhangjiaji is about seventy miles away from the Xuzhou Ferry. Even if you stop to rest and try your best to move forward, the surname Lu will have to walk at least five or six hours!"

"You mean, the dog official named Lu is still halfway through the way?!" Sesame Li's eyes lit up immediately, he patted the table with his hand and asked loudly.

"The general of the Imperial City cannot guarantee it!" Mao Gui thought for a while and shook his head gently. "If the general of the Imperial City was named Lu, and when he learned that the general of the Great will be crossing the river in the next few days, he would definitely send some elite troops first, either to change to a light boat or walk, and to ambush at the bridgehead on the other side of the shore as quickly as possible!"

"Military advisor, have the scouts we sent across the river in the afternoon not back yet?" Li Zhima immediately turned his head to Zhao Junyong.

"No, I sent three waves of scouts across the river, but no one has come back yet!" Zhao Junyong thought for a while and shook his head hard. At the same time, he looked at Mao Gui, and showed a bit of admiration.

The other generals who were clamoring also looked at Mao Gui with admiration. They were all leading troops to fight. When they heard the enemy attack, they only thought of rushing across the river and fighting with the other party. But when they looked at the Mao brothers, they actually guessed so many things in a blink of an eye. Sometimes this person is incomparable to people.

The former military governor Mao Gui was embarrassed by everyone's eyes. He coughed a few times and explained with a smile, "It's not what I thought of alone. Brother Zhang, Brother Xu, and Brother Zhou all thought of this."

"Who would say it later!" Sesame Li slapped the table hard and quickly brought the topic back to the topic. "Brother Mao, what do you mean is that the dog official named Lu should have arrived on the other side of the shore now, and is ambushing the other end of the pontoon bridge with some elite troops?"

"If he knew some military tactics, this should be the case!" Mao Gui smiled and nodded slightly. "But the number of people will not be too many. Although the salt dicks in Huainan are all hard-working, they can still take up swords and guns for sixty or seventy miles a day. At most, one of the five can be picked out! So I boldly estimated that the dog official named Lu had only more than 5,000 elite soldiers around him. In addition, five or six hundred who might be riding on war horses, the six thousand tribes are already at the top!"

"Six thousand, that's not enough! If we deduct auxiliary soldiers here, we have to do it. The combined soldiers under our command are only more than ten thousand!" Sesame Li nodded, with a faint concern on his face.

It is the end of March and early April. The water flows in the Yellow River is quite fast. It is really blocked by the dog official named Lu on the north bank, so it is difficult for everyone to attack. The only ones who are left in Xuzhou City are only more than 10,000 elderly and weak, led by the governor of the rear army. Pan Laizi himself was seriously injured in the defense battle of Xuzhou last year. He still has an arm that is not very obedient and cannot lead the team to the front line as before.

If Xuzhou City is snatched away by a dog official named Lu, and the more than 30,000 people blocked on the north bank will become a group of bandits. At that time, not to mention that the soldiers of the Mengyuan would pounce on them like wolves that smelled blood, even the local officials and fortress lords who had lost their lives in the past would bring their respective subordinates to get a share of the pie.

"Six thousand is indeed not a small amount. But it depends on who leads it!" Seeing that Sesame Li's face was gloomy, Mao Gui, the former general of the army, thought about it, and suddenly raised his voice by several points. "If only the general manager or the brave general like Zhu brothers lead, six thousand people will be enough to block the pontoon bridge and the ferry, starving us to death on the north shore. But if it is someone else, haha."

As he spoke, he sneered repeatedly. At the same time, his eyes were raised high, as if there was no one in the world worthy of his attention.

When the generals heard this, they felt relieved. Yes, with a sword in their hand, it depends on who the owner is?! Everyone with the dog official surnamed Lu had never heard of it before, and they might not be a great person. Why can he make everyone feel anxious if he stands on the other side? At worst, he can send thousands of people to kill him tomorrow morning and call him a big deal! What if he is a fool, wouldn’t everyone worry about it tonight?!

After hearing Mao Gui's words, Sesame Li also felt that the situation might not be as serious as he imagined. He smiled and tilted his head to ask Mao Gui, "Then what are you doing? Or are you guys who have already discussed a solution just now?"

"The solution is not too late to discuss!" Mao Gui shook his head and answered honestly. "But the last general thought that the person named Lu must be exhausted now. Let's go directly to the floating bridge, and he will definitely not agree. But if a surprise soldier is sent to find a place to cross the river from the upper reaches, he may not be able to kill him off guard tomorrow morning!"

"How to cross the river? Within a radius of two hundred miles, there is only such a floating bridge?!" Zhao Jun blurted out with a shocked and questioning words.

"Find a place with a gentle shore and take off your clothes and swim over!" Mao Gui smiled again, revealing his teeth that were not neat. "Our brothers from Xiaoxian and Xuzhou have lived a flood every year since we can remember. If you can't swim, you really can't find a few!"

"Midnight?" Zhao Junyong was shocked again and confirmed with a pale face.

"It's too late at night when it's dawn!" Mao Gui continued to smile and nodded, as if talking about the harvest in the field. "Cut down the wood and hug each other, and connect them with ropes to cross the river quietly. Early tomorrow morning, you, the chief manager and the chief clerk, will continue to walk the floating bridge. I guess the person named Lu will definitely play a half-crossing activity. As soon as he shows up, I will immediately take his brothers to stab him in the butt! Look at how long can he, the silly yellow bird, pounce?!"
Chapter completed!