Chu Chu's jade cheeks immediately turned red and shook her head, saying: That's against the rules.
Kou Zhong said in astonishment: What rules?
Chu Chu bit her lower lip and said softly: That's the difference between master and slave!
Kou Zhong said in confusion: I am just your friend. We got to know each other by throwing snowballs. When did we have the distinction between master and slave?
Chu Chu showed a sweet smile, seeming to recall the moving scene of throwing snowballs for a show in Dalongtou Mansion that day, and said happily: How could we be the same at that time? You and Mr. Xu are Sister Su's adopted brothers. But now you both have
People with status and status, even your sister, should respect you. Naturally, they should observe etiquette!
Kou Zhong felt an indescribable feeling in his heart when he saw that she still maintained the lovely expression that had made his heart flutter.
He wanted to tell her that he was still wearing the chain she had given him at that time, but another thought made him give up. He sighed and said: Damn etiquette, I, Kou Zhong, am still the snowball thrower!
If life could start again from that time, Susu would not marry Xiangyushan.
Chu Chu whispered: If Master Kou doesn't have any instructions, Chu Chu will go back to see if sister has anything to serve!
Kou Zhong suppressed the urge to hold her in his arms and love her as much as before and let her leave.
※※※
At dusk, Zhang Zhenzhou led five thousand light cavalry and marched towards Jinyong.
Yang Gongqing, Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling led another twenty light cavalry to see them off until they were sure that Shan Xiongxin's new army had done nothing unusual, and then turned back to Yanshi.
At this time, Linglongjiao, who went to explore the enemy's situation, came back.
Everyone listened to her report in the lobby of the Commander's Mansion. Zhai Jiao, Tu Shufang and Xuanyong were all present. Wang Xuanshu went to inspect the camp on the south bank of the Luo River to strengthen defenses.
Linglongjiao said: Just as the Kou military advisor expected, Li Mi immediately reorganized his army after he led the defeated army back to Luokou. He only stayed for one night and then led 7,000 cavalry from the west of the city, seemingly to join Shan Xiongxin's army.
Zhai Jiao's eyes spurted out the flames of hatred and sneered: "This trip will teach him whether he can come back with his life or not."
Tu Shufang said in a deep voice: Li Mi is an arrogant and conceited person who wants to win but not lose; now when morale is low and he wants to lead his troops to counterattack, he will only bring about his own destruction.
Kou Zhong shook his head and said: Although he cannot afford to lose and is eager to save face, he will never be stupid enough to join Shan Xiongxin's lone army who is about to run out of food. This matter should not be ignored lightly, otherwise we will make the mistake of underestimating the enemy.
Yang Gongqing said: He wants to lure us to attack Luokou.
Zhai Jiao was also puzzled: "There is no danger to defend Luokou. If we attack Bing Yuanzhen and hope that the wind will defeat him, why did Li Mi go here?"
Xuan Yong said: Li Mi would never give up Luokou to others. I guess he hopes that we will mistakenly think that he is going to join forces with Shan Xiongxin and take the opportunity to attack Luokou and block his way back east. And when we crossed the baggage
At Luoshui, he launched a fierce attack on our troops crossing the river, while Shan Xiongxin attacked the city with all his strength. This strategy was indeed very vicious, but it hit Lord Kou's plan.
Kou Zhong exhaled a long breath and said: Li Mi's fatal injury was that he thought that we were still short of food and had to rush to Luokou to seize Luokou's sufficient food reserves. This was a trick to lure the enemy.
Luokou was one of the five major granaries in the old Sui Dynasty, with 2,000 large cellars each storing 8,000 dan of grain. Although Li Mi once opened a warehouse to provide relief to the people, he continued to store grain in Luokou warehouses in the past few years to meet the needs of the Wagang Army.
Zhai Jiao said: Then we can pretend to cross the river and lure him to attack!
Kou Zhongdao: He is in a hurry now but we are not. We must first wait until General Zhang captures Jin Yong and we have the capital to force Shan Xiongxin to surrender, then we can concentrate all our efforts on dealing with Li Mi.
Then he asked Linglong about the situation of the military camp on Jiaomang Mountain.
Linglongjiao replied: That army is all old, weak and remnants. This morning, they started to withdraw north to check the situation. They want to cross the river to Heyang.
He also said: The morale of Shan Xiongxin's troops was unstable and some people abandoned their weapons and fled the barracks. Therefore, although there are many people, they should not have the fighting spirit and ability to fight.
Kou Zhong looked moved and said: Do you know how many people escaped?
Linglongjiao said: They climbed over the wooden fence to escape. Eight of the ten sentry towers outside the camp were not monitored, but it is difficult to estimate the exact number because they escaped at night. I once arrested several deserters and interrogated them in the capital camp. Rumors were flying all over the sky, and some even said that Li Mi had been killed by us. Therefore, everyone had no intention of fighting and Shan Xiongxin even stopped making siege equipment and made a gesture of withdrawing.
boom!
Yang Gongqing slapped his palm on the stage and said in great spirits: Li Mi's biggest mistake in his life was to use this kind of mob to attack us.
Linglongjiao said: Shan Xiongxin's troops are almost all infantry and have less than 500 horses. Now they have begun to limit the daily rations of each person to only half of the normal amount. I'm afraid they won't be able to support it for long.
Kou Zhong glanced at Xu Ziling who was silent and said happily: That's it. We don't have to wait for Jin Yong to fall before we can use the strategy of crossing the river to lure the enemy. I can guarantee that Shan Xiongxin will ignore Li Mi and follow him to attack us. He ordered his troops to defend themselves until we moved to Luokou, and then fled. At that time, he could bargain with us on the terms of surrender.
Everyone agreed.
If it were Shen Luoyan or Xu Shiji instead of Shan Xiongxin, the situation would naturally be very different.
Because Shan Xiongxin had always been deeply dissatisfied with Li Mi's reuse of the generals from Pushan Gongying and the troops assigned to him were too weak to fight, how could a ragtag group risk their lives for Li Mi?
Yang Gongqing concluded: Tomorrow we will pretend to cross the river and set up two ambush troops. One will monitor Shan Xiongxin's movements and the other will be responsible for dealing with Li Mi. If Li Mi loses again, he will have no more usable troops.
※※※
Tuk! Tuk! Tuk!
Xu Ziling recognized Kou Zhong from the sound of his footsteps and said, "Come in! Why are you so polite this time and know how to knock on the door?"
Kou Zhong pushed the door open and smiled bitterly: "I have knocked on the door at least five times out of ten. Young Master Ling seems to be very angry tonight!"
Xu Ziling waited for him to sit down on the other side and said: Ever since I saw the eldest sister, I have thought of Sister Su. How can she be in a better mood?
Kou Zhong said: There is no point worrying about Sister Su, and we must not act rashly, otherwise we will only fall into the plot of the old thief Xiao and the Xiang thief.
Then the story about Wang Shichong's preparation to ennoble his family caused dissatisfaction between Zhang Zhenzhou and Yang Gongqing.
Xu Ziling felt annoyed and changed the subject: If Li Mi didn't fall into the trap tomorrow or still let him escape, should we continue to grind here and help people like Wang Shichong to conquer the world?
Kou Zhong smiled bitterly and said: The problem is not with us but with the elder sister.
Xu Ziling pondered: As long as we tell the eldest sister that we are going to pick up Sister Su, she should be willing to accept it!
Kou Zhong became energetic and said: This is a feasible plan. If Li Mi escapes back to Hulao or Yingyang, it will not take ten and a half days to kill him. Frankly speaking, I am worried that Pegasus Ranch will be in danger when Dad and Shen Faxing capture Jiangdu. How could they have to deal with Zhu Can's murderous maniac and their father and Xiao Xian at the same time?
Xu Ziling agreed: After seeing the power of the cavalry, I understand why so many people are eyeing Pegasus Ranch.
Only their improved horses through breeding can cope with the black-armored hussars of Tiance Mansion. So if I were my father, I would consider seizing the Pegasus Ranch a top priority.
Kou Zhong said happily: "It's rare for Master Ling and my brother to have such a consensus. Although Sister Su's matter is important, it is not as urgent as the Pegasus Ranch. Regardless of whether we can kill Li Mi tomorrow, we will rush back to Luoyang immediately. After meeting Bu Tianzhi, we can reconcile with Xu Xing."
Just run away and let Wang Shichong worry about other things.
Then he sighed again and said: Only now do I understand why Brother Liu obviously fell in love with Sister Su but did not dare to show his love.
Xu Ziling frowned and said: What do you understand?
Kou Zhong said in a deep voice: Brother Liu really likes Sister Su.
Xu Ziling asked in confusion: What on earth are you thinking about?
Kou Zhong smiled bitterly and said: We have finally experienced the dangers of the battlefield. With Li Mi's skill, once he is at a disadvantage, he will often end up in the battlefield. Therefore, every time he goes to the battlefield, his life must be left in the hands of God instead of decided by himself.
In such a precarious situation, how dare you harm the fragile heart of your beloved daughter?
Xu Ziling was silent for a moment and said slowly: Why do you suddenly feel this way?
Kou Zhong said dejectedly: Back then in Dalongtou Mansion, I took Chu Chu into my arms and made love without even thinking about it. But today, knowing that she was absolutely willing, I didn't dare to touch her even half a finger. How could I not feel this in my heart?
Xu Ziling was speechless.
※※※
The next morning, as soon as the city gates opened, mule carts and baggage trucks began to leave the city and headed towards the pontoon to prepare to cross the river.
At this time, a group of 5,000 elite cavalry led by Yang Gongqing and Kou Zhong had been ambushing in a dense forest north of the pontoon bridge. Sentries were set up at all commanding heights to monitor movements far and near.
Information keeps arriving like snowflakes.
Zhai Jiao's surprising calmness made people feel even more determined to kill Li Mi.
Xu Ziling acted as her personal bodyguard, fearing that if there was an uprising, she would ignore the danger and be taken advantage of by the enemy.
Wang Xuanshu's baggage troops began to cross the river.
At this time, intelligence came that Wang Bodang's troops stationed in Jinyong had heard the news and retreated. The people guarding Heyang opened their doors to welcome Zhang Zhenzhou's army as they entered the city.
Without spending a single soldier, Jinyong City fell into the hands of Zhang Zhenzhou.
As expected, there was no movement from Shan Xiongxin.
At this time, Linglongjiao rode up and reported: Li Mi's cavalry are all coming, and they have obviously found out about our crossing the river.
Yang Gongqing was overjoyed and hurriedly ordered the generals to prepare for battle.
Kou Zhong couldn't help but praise: If Jiaojie hadn't been good at eavesdropping on the enemy and had accurate intelligence, we would have been able to get half the result with half the effort, and we wouldn't have had the miraculous effect of predicting the enemy before us.
Linglong smiled sweetly and said: You know how to coax people best.
Kou Zhong asked humbly: Is there any secret to detecting the enemy?
Linglongjiao replied: Before using troops, you must first detect the enemy's situation. If you don't know the enemy, it will be strange that you will fight with the enemy with your eyes tied and you will not be defeated. Therefore, the three armies have not moved their reconnaissance cavalry first. And all military governors must have a group of good soldiers who are good at reconnaissance to achieve this goal.
Know the enemy's purpose.
For the sake of his own future, Kou Zhong thought it was better to tease this Qiuci beauty at this time than to wait and wait. Zhu asked:
How can we cultivate good detectives again?
Linglongjiao said: First of all, people must be selected who are good at walking and smart to take on this kind of task; secondly, they must be familiar with the geographical environment and local dialects to facilitate hiding and eavesdropping on information. It is best to know how to disguise and modify so that they can do everything. If possible.
Spending a lot of money to bribe local or enemy people will be even more foolproof.
Kou Zhong sighed: It turns out to be so complicated.
Linglongjiao lowered her voice and said, "Why do you seem to be so interested in these things that only belong to Taoism in the army?"
Kou Zhong didn't answer but asked: Can I ask you another question that you shouldn't ask?
Linglongjiao stared at him for a long time and said: Ask!
Kou Zhong came closer and said: What is the relationship between Sister Jiao and the prince? Why did you come all the way from Qiuci to help him conquer the world?
Linglongjiao lowered her head and said: Why do you ask?
Kou Zhong pretended to be nonchalant and said: "I'm just curious!"
Linglongjiao shook her head and said: If you just asked casually, I wouldn't tell you.
Kou Zhong said in astonishment: Is this actually a secret?
Before Linglongjiao had time to reply, Kou Zhong suddenly looked up to the sky and said in a voice: This time it's a mistake!