"Old Li Gu, please accept your fate!" Liu Renzhan roared and rushed towards Zhou Jun's commander's tent.

Before Liu Renzhan could get closer, a group of cavalry rushed out from behind the commander's tent. The leader was also a veteran. He had a dark face and one eye, holding a cavalry bow and raising his hand to shoot an arrow at Liu Renzhan.

The arrow moved very quickly, and in the blink of an eye it was nailed to Liu Renzhan's chest. Liu Renzhan grinned in pain, raised his hand to break the arrow shaft, shouted "Kill!", and then rode towards him.

The other party rushed over.

Although Zhao Hongyin's official career was not smooth, he had real abilities, otherwise he would not have been favored by Li Cunxu when he was young. He threw away his riding bow and struck the horse's belly with both feet. The horse's speed suddenly increased, and the gun in his hand went straight.

Liu Renzhan's chest and left.

Liu Renzhan didn't have a long-handled weapon, so he couldn't fight Zhao Hongyin head-on. He immediately raised his sword to block Zhao Hongyin's spear head. This time, he felt that his right hand was numb, and he exclaimed in his heart, "So stable, so strong!"

"

The black cloud sword in his hand flipped, and it was drawn directly along the barrel of the gun towards Zhao Hongyin's neck. Zhao Hongyin missed the blow and stabbed instead, and the gun barrel hit Liu Renzhan's ribs directly. At the moment when the two sides passed each other,

They both gritted their teeth and groaned.

Liu Renzhan received a blow on his ribs, and his body couldn't help but tilt. The long sword that was originally aimed at Zhao Hongyin's neck only fell on Zhao Hongyin's shoulder. Both of them were injured, but neither of them had the intention to stop, and they rushed forward.

Entering the enemy's formation and killing them wantonly.

Liu Renzhan pierced the heart of a Zhou soldier with his sword. The moment he drew the sword, blood was like a fountain. At this moment, Liu Renzhan's body was like a blood bath. The thick plasma dyed the silver armor red and kept flowing along the armor leaves.

Didi Luo, seeing an opening, he rushed into the Zhou army's tent, but the tent was already empty, and there was no trace of Li Gu anywhere.

No one in the Zhou army would have thought that Liu Renzhan would take advantage of the Ming army to retreat and kill them. Without great courage, they would never be able to do such a thing. They were running away from Li Valley, and they both hated Liu Renzhan and wanted to kill him.

Qingpei, the arrogance accumulated in the past has turned into full of discouragement. Maybe he is really not suitable to be a general in charge of the army. When he returned to the camp, he went to Emperor Shu to ask him to change his commander.

As soon as they entered the camp without even taking a breath, Han Lingkun, who was staying behind in the camp, came up to him. Seeing Li Gu's embarrassment, he asked, "Commander, what happened?"

Li Gu rested his head on his elbow and sighed: "Liu Renzhan took the opportunity to cover up the attack while I was calling for gold to withdraw the troops. I suffered a big loss. Please quickly bring a group of troops to pick up the defeated troops."

Han Lingkun didn't seem surprised, "I'm afraid Tang Jun has been planning for a long time and has been waiting for this day."

"you know?"

"My subordinates just found out! Bai Yanyu and Xu Xian sent a message that 20,000 Tang troops have entered Shouzhou."

Li Gu was not nervous when he heard this. Instead, he was happy and said, "We happened to besieging the city for reinforcements. Where are these 20,000 people now?"

The two siege battles made him extremely frustrated. There were 20,000 Tang troops outside the city. It was just a good opportunity to give full play to the Zhou army's field advantage. Winning the battle would not only be a credit but also boost morale.

Unexpectedly, Han Lingkun said: "Of the 20,000 people, 15,000 are in the southeast of Shouzhou. They seem to be targeting Bai Yanyu and Xu Xian. Another 5,000 navy troops have entered the Huaihe River."

Li Guyu didn't want any credit for being struck by lightning, and he didn't want any morale at all. "Where are the five thousand naval troops of the Tang Army now?"

"The two of them didn't say anything, so they probably don't know either!"

"These two people!" Li Gu sighed and said, "Immediately send scouts to explore along the Huaihe River. If there is any movement of the Tang navy, report immediately, and then personally lead people to meet the troops outside Shouzhou City."

Facing the defeated Zhou army, Liu Renzhan did not take advantage of the situation and lead his troops to cover up the attack. It was not that he was soft-hearted, but he was afraid of encountering the supporting Zhou army and did not want to take any greater risks. Therefore, the casualties of the Zhou army were not too great.

But it was enough to make Li Gu's body hurt. He had to keep asking people to gather his soldiers and defend the camp. The Zhou troops sent to attack the fortress also came back one after another. Only Xu Xian and Bai Yanyu did not come back and there was no news. This is called

Zhao Hongyin couldn't help but be anxious.

He walked into the Chinese army's tent again, and when he saw Li Gu, he asked straight to the point: "Has the commander had any news about the Red Scarf Capital?"

Li Gu put down his paper and pen and smiled bitterly: "Zhao Yuhou, this is your third visit today. If there is any news, I will send someone to inform you when I get back. Just stay in the tent and recuperate."

"It's just a small blade that won't get in the way. It won't affect my subordinates from going into battle to kill the enemy."

"That's good. Thanks to you and your men, you stopped the enemy army yesterday. Otherwise, I might have been killed by Liu Renzhan. I have already stated your merits in the memorial."

"This is my duty as a subordinate and I don't dare to take credit for it. I would like to ask..."

Li Gu shook his head and said: "There is no news yet!"

"Has the commander sent any scouts to look for him?"

"They have gone, but there is no trace of them for twenty miles around Shouzhou, and there is no trace of the Tang reinforcements."

At this time, a soldier came into the tent and reported: "Commander, a soldier from the Red Scarf City came to the camp and said he came to ask for help!"

Li Gu hurriedly said: "Bring it up quickly!"

At that moment, a soldier from the Red Scarf City was helped up. It was not that he was injured, but that his whole body was limp and he had obviously lost all strength.

The visitor forced himself to hold up his hands and said: "Luo Fubang, the vice-president of the red scarf capital, has met the commander-in-chief, Zhao Yuhou!"

Li Gu asked: "Where are Xu Xian and Bai Yanyu now, and why haven't they come back yet?"

"We encountered reinforcements from the Tang State and were unable to escape. They should be fifty miles east of Shouzhou at the moment. Please ask the commander to send troops to rescue them quickly."

Zhao Hongyin asked impatiently: "Are they already surrounded?"

"No, I'm just being chased by the Tang army. If I don't go to the rescue, I'm afraid I'll run even further."

Zhao Hongyin turned around and knelt down on one knee, "Please, Commander-in-Chief, give your subordinates 5,000 troops and let them lead us to the rescue!"

Li Gu held his beard and pondered for a long time before saying: "Okay, go and come back quickly!"

Just as he was about to issue an order, a scout suddenly broke into the tent and reported: "Commander, we have discovered the movement of the Tang navy!"

"Where?"

“It takes at most half a day to reach the pontoon by water!”

Li Gu stood up abruptly after hearing this. He was stunned for a moment and then said: "Send the order and raise the account!"

The drums were beating loudly, and the lieutenant general immediately discussed the military situation with Li Gu. Facing the Tang Dynasty's navy, they, the infantry and cavalry, had no way of making a move. The most important thing was whether to withdraw or not.

Just like what Bai Yanyu analyzed before, even if the pontoon bridge is destroyed, as long as the pontoon is defended, the Zhou army can calmly deal with the 50,000 to 60,000 Tang troops. However, after yesterday's defeat, morale was extremely low. If this is the only way out,

If it is destroyed again, with the usual conduct of the soldiers, I am afraid they can do anything.

It took Li Gu and the generals a quarter of an hour to make a decision and immediately withdrew their troops back to Zhengyang County on the west bank of the Huaihe River. After receiving the military order, the generals left their tents, and only Zhao Hongyin stayed.

"Commander, the matter of rescuing Xu Xian and Bai Yuhou..."

Li Gu waved his hand to interrupt him, "Zhao Yuhou has been a soldier for several dynasties in half his life. There are some things that I understand more clearly than I do. Even if I order a rescue at this time, I'm afraid you can't take them away. Besides, how can you take five thousand people?"

In exchange for three thousand people, even if they are rescued, they will not be trapped on the east bank and be slaughtered by the Tang army!"

As Li Gu said this, he raised his hands and bowed towards Zhao Hongyin, "I'm sorry, Zhao Yuhou!"

Zhao Hongyin didn't say anything else, he just turned around and left the handsome tent with an expressionless face. Luo Fubang, who had been waiting outside the tent for a long time, hurriedly stepped forward and asked, "When shall we set off, Marquis Zhao Yu!"

Zhao Hongyin had a troubled expression on his face and said, "I can't go rescue Zhixian anymore!"

Luo Fubang's eyes widened and he said in disbelief: "Why?"

Zhao Hongyin replied: "The Tang navy will arrive in half a day, and the commander-in-chief and the generals have decided to withdraw!"

Luo Fubang was startled and laughed loudly: "If my palace hadn't informed the Chinese army directly, you wouldn't have known when the Tang Dynasty navy broke off the pontoon bridge, but now you are abandoning him and running for your lives. How can there be such a reason in the world!"

"It's not that the commander-in-chief doesn't want to save him, it's just that no one wants to stay on the east coast and wait to die."

"Then Marquis Zhao Yu is not willing to save him?"

"It's not that Zhao didn't save her, it's that Zhao was incompetent. Could it be that Zhao didn't want his daughter to be a widow?"

Luo Fubang snorted loudly when he heard this and turned around to leave. Zhao Hongyin asked: "What are you going to do!"

Luo Fubang said without looking back: "Marquis Yu can live without a son-in-law, but I cannot live without a brother!"

——————

Xu Xian and Bai Yanyu were not yet besieged by the Tang army, but they had already reached a dead end. More than 10,000 Tang troops blocked their way and kept approaching.

Xu Xian and Bai Yanyu could only flee when they saw the road, and were gradually forced farther and farther east of Shouzhou, not fifty miles as Luo Fubang estimated, but seventy miles. They were already a month away from the Zhou army's camp.

More than a hundred miles away, even if Li Gu really sent someone to rescue him, it might be too late.

Xu Xian suddenly reined in the horse's rein, turned around and said to Bai Yanyu behind him: "We must not run away anymore. If we run away again, we will end up in Haozhou, and then we will not face fifteen thousand Tang troops."

Bai Yanyu also said: "We can't escape anymore. It's better if the red scarves are all riding horses. Look at the brothers behind me, all of them are as beaten by Shuang. If we continue to escape like this, we will be tired before the enemy comes to kill them."

die."

"What do you propose?"

Bai Yanyu snorted and said, "You already know what's going on, but you still ask me!"

Xu Xian patted Bai Yanyu on the shoulder and said: "Old Bai, I know you are loyal, so I will take my brothers and leave first. If I am lucky enough to return to Kaifeng, I will definitely take care of your family and the children for you."

Bai Yanyu rolled his eyes, "How long has it been and you are still joking! If you had abandoned me earlier, you might still have a chance. Now we are grasshoppers on the same rope. Where can you escape? You can

Let’s be honest, I’ll fight as many as I can, I’ve killed enough people in my life, I’m good at whatever I do.”

"I'll just beat you and watch. If I win, you can take advantage of the situation and attack the enemy's formation. If I lose, you can also attack the enemy's formation and then come down and accompany me!"

"You look down on me, Bai Yanyu, too much. You think I am greedy for life and afraid of death. You are asked to fight hard in front while I watch from behind. There is absolutely no reason for this."

"Old Bai, you misunderstood. What I meant was that I was afraid that you would get in the way, do you understand?" Xu Xian glanced around and saw that the surrounding area was a wilderness with extremely open terrain, "This place is good, let's fight here!"

Xu Xian asked everyone to eat, drink and rest where they were. He also took the small cloth bag containing beans and water bag from the horse's back and fed it to the horse, "Come here, Dakui!"

"What are your orders from the Emperor!"

Xu Xian pulled off his own belt and handed it to Da Kui, "Take our two belts and go see the enemy coach!"
To be continued...