Mengshan, also known as Dongmeng, is the largest mountain in Shandong originating from Mount Tai. Due to its majestic mountains and secluded scenery, it has been favored by literati since the Tang Dynasty. In particular, celebrities from Qilu and Shandong areas like to visit or live in seclusion here.
In addition, because of its dangerous terrain and the protection of the main roads between the north and south of the Lu region, wars broke out frequently in the Mengshan area, making it a battleground for military strategists.
On this day, it was getting dark and the sun was setting on the west mountain. To the north of Mengshan Mountain, an army stretching for more than ten miles was slowly advancing. Every few feet, a yellow dragon flag fluttered in the wind, with a big "Wu" embroidered on it.
Words, this is clearly Wu Sangui's army.
In the middle of the army, there was a luxuriously decorated four-passenger chariot. In the carriage, Wu Sangui was sitting high up in a golden python robe. There were several people standing on the left and right sides. If Murong Fu was here, he would have recognized them. They are all Wu Sangui's confidants.
The bodyguards and sons-in-law include Yu Zhenzi, Gui Xinshu, Xia Guoxiang, Hu Guozhu, etc.
"Report!" Suddenly, the voice of the messenger sounded outside the car.
Wu Sangui said nothing. Xia Guoxiang bowed slightly, exited the carriage, and came in again after a while, "Prince Qi..."
"Huh?" Wu Sangui raised his brows mid-sentence.
Xia Guoxiang immediately reacted and changed his words hurriedly, "Reporting to the marshal, the former army scouts came to report. When the magistrate of Mengyin County learned that the marshal's army was about to arrive, he immediately took the initiative to open and close the city and ordered the people in the city to slaughter cattle and sheep to reward the army.
, Marshal, please tell me whether you will enter the city to camp tonight?"
Speaking of this, some people may wonder, why did he change his words? It turns out that Wu Sangui did not immediately proclaim himself king and emperor after raising the army. Instead, he proclaimed himself "the general of the world to recruit soldiers and horses" and put forward the slogan "Xing Ming to conquer the captives".
He also strictly required his subordinates to call him "Marshal" and prohibited him from calling him "Prince".
Wu Sangui's expression remained calm after hearing this. He picked up the tea cup on the desk and took a sip, but then asked, "Where are the two armies on the left and right now?"
Since ancient times, armies have to be divided into three or more groups when marching. This has almost become a routine, and Wu Sangui is no exception. First, hundreds of thousands of troops moving together are too bloated, and if the team is too long, it is easy to be attacked by someone.
Chaos, which led to the defeat of the army, and secondly, the plan was not to put all the eggs in one basket.
Xia Guoxiang pondered for a moment and replied, "According to the itinerary, the army on the left should arrive in the Yangdu County area this evening. The army on the right will be faster and should arrive near Huaide County."
"Get the map."
Wu Sangui said lightly, and a soldier immediately took the map and spread it out on the table.
Wu Sangui looked down for a while, frowned and said, "Why is there such a difference?"
What he was talking about was naturally the distance between his army in the middle and the other two armies.
Xia Guoxiang smiled bitterly but did not dare to say anything. The army in the middle route not only shouldered all the supplies and food for the three armies, but was also responsible for Wu Sangui's guard of honor. It was of course much faster for the other two armies to use simple vehicles.
Wu Sangui did not pursue this issue. After thinking for a while, he pointed to a place on the map and said, "Let's set up camp here tonight."
Several people came forward to take a look, and couldn't help but be surprised. Wu Sangui was pointing to a wide area more than 20 miles north of Mengyin County. He actually refused to allow the army to directly enter the county?
However, after thinking about it for a while, I realized that Shandong is a complex place with many powerful forces. The county magistrates here are nominally officials of the Qing court. In fact, officials and bandits collude, and imposters often happen. The army is here to wipe out the number one bandit leader in Shandong, Jin Snake.
Camp, God knows if the so-called Magistrate of Mengyin County had defected to the Golden Snake Camp a long time ago and deliberately set a trap to wait for them there.
Xia Guoxiang wanted to understand this problem and was about to turn around and go out to deliver the order. Unexpectedly, Wu Sangui said again, "I am ordering the rear troops of the left and right armies to change to the front troops and rush here to join me as soon as possible."
"Uh..." Everyone was stunned when they heard this. Even laymen Yu Zhenzi and Gui Xinshu knew that running back and forth with an army could easily lead to fatigue and damage to the morale of the sergeants. However, Wu Sangui insisted on wanting the other two armies to come back. Could it be that
Because they are ahead of you?
Xia Guoxiang and Hu Guozhu looked at each other, and finally Hu Guozhu said tactfully, "Marshal, do you have any other plans?"
Wu Sangui did not explain, but said calmly, "I have ordered the officers and men of the Chinese Army to keep their armor and horses unsaddled after setting up camp tonight. The number of sentries and patrols will be increased to ten men per squad, and they will be replaced every hour."
As soon as these words came out, Xia and Hu became even more puzzled. Could someone come to steal the camp? Even if the Golden Snake Camp had received the news, they were just a bunch of rabble. Moreover, this place was still one or two hundred miles away from the Golden Snake Camp's den.
Given the distance, they would not dare and cannot come to steal the camp.
They felt that Wu Sangui's move was really making a fuss out of a molehill and was too cautious.
"Marshal..." Xia Guoxiang hesitated, but Wu Sangui just waved his hand, "Follow this and there will be no mistakes."
"yes."
…
At the same time, in a small village dozens of miles away from Wu Sangui's army, in a mud-tiled house, Yuan Chengzhi, Jiao Wan'er, Luo Liru, Murong Fu, and Emperor Hu De of the Tiandihui were sitting around the table.
There is a simple map lying there.
"Mr. Murong, in your opinion, will Wu Sangui enter the city?" Yuan Chengzhi pointed to Mengyin County on the map and asked Murong Fu.
Murong Fu shook his head and smiled, "This old fox is very cunning and acts extremely cautiously. In my opinion, he should not enter the city."
At this time, two days had passed since the army set off. This really made him feel ashamed that his prediction failed, because according to Wu Sangui's current marching speed, it would take at least two or three days to reach Lanling Mountain. On the contrary, it was
Wen Qingqing's prediction was more accurate.
In fact, his original speculation was not wrong, and Wu Sangui set off earlier than he thought. It was just that he overestimated the marching speed in this era. Leaving aside the cavalry, the infantry could only travel forty or fifty miles a day at most.
Roads, food, grass, baggage, etc. are even slower.
Everyone was a little disappointed after hearing Murong Fu's words. Jiao Wan'er blurted out and asked, "What should we do? Once he sees through the city's layout and takes precautions, or even attacks the county seat in turn, we will be passive."
Ever since that incident two days ago, this woman had been hiding from Murong Fu whenever she could. Even if she couldn't, she would try to avoid eye contact with him. This was the first time she talked to him in a few days.
"It's not possible to see through it," Murong Fu glanced at her with a half-smile, "It's important to take precautions, but he will definitely enter the city in the end."
When everyone heard this, they were stunned again. One moment they said they would not enter the city, and the next they said they would enter the city. What did they want?
"Look," Murong Fu swiped his fingers on the map a few times and said, "here, here, and here are Wu Sangui's supply routes. No matter which route passes through Mengyin County, do you think he
Will others cut off his escape route?"
When he said this, Emperor Hu De was the first to react, "Yes, yes, Mengyin County is very important. It has almost become the throat of this area. No matter what, the old turtle will definitely control it."
Yuan Chengzhi still didn't quite understand, and glanced at Emperor Hu De in confusion. Emperor Hu De chuckled and said, "Mr. Murong means that Wu Sangui will be on guard or test, and after he is sure that there is no danger in the county, he will definitely enter."
of the city.”
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, and Jiao Wan'er asked again, "Then let's send all the troops into the city now? Otherwise, relying on heaven and earth alone..."
As she was talking, she suddenly realized that Emperor Hu De was also present, and it was difficult to say the next words.
Emperor Hu De smiled nonchalantly and said, "I understand what Gang Leader Jiao means. Your concerns are not unreasonable, but Gang Leader Jiao has thought about it. The good and the bad here in Golden Snake Camp are mixed. Once there is too much noise and the news is leaked, the gain will outweigh the losses."
"
He said this euphemistically, which means that although you have many people, you also have many spies.
Jiao Wan'er was speechless for a moment and looked at Yuan Chengzhi, "Are we just waiting and doing nothing?"
"Yes, all we have to do now is wait," Murong Fu said.
"What are you waiting for?"
"Wait..." Murong Fu said, his ears suddenly twitched, and he turned to look at the door, "Here he comes."
As the words fell, the doorway rippled, and a black shadow slowly emerged.
Everyone couldn't help being surprised when they saw this, with a hint of fear in their eyes. If there was a sneak attack from behind, wouldn't it be impossible to guard against it, and they would be killed instantly?
Even Murong Fu's eyes flashed with a strange color, but he quickly returned to his natural state, "Qier, how are you?"
Yagyu Shenghuaqi bowed and replied, "In reply to the master, that man did spread the news to the outside world, but he was very cunning and kept watching the pigeon fly away before leaving. The servant was incompetent and failed to track the whereabouts of the pigeon."
"It goes without saying that he must have tipped off Wu Sangui." Luo Liru, who had been silent all this time, suddenly said excitedly.
The others also nodded in deep agreement.
"I really didn't expect that Mr. Lu actually became a traitor's lackey. It was Yuan who didn't know who he was. Thanks to Mr. Murong for being aware of everything, he discovered it in time." Yuan Chengzhi said with regret, and then expressed his gratitude to Murong Fu.
eyes.
"Yes, we have to discover it in time, otherwise the consequences will be disastrous, but I don't know what news he sent to Wu Sangui..." A trace of worry flashed across Emperor Hu De's face.
Murong Fu smiled faintly, "What's the matter? Just continue to send scouts to find out the movements of Wu Sangui's army. Now he must know our location. What we have to do is to cooperate with Lu to put on a good show and let Wu Sangui fall into the trap himself."
, then his main army will be wiped out in one fell swoop.”
When several people heard this, their expressions perked up. Eliminating Wu Sangui's main force was something they had never dared to think about before coming.
"Okay, I'm tired, I'll leave the rest to you. I'll go back and rest first."
After Murong Fu finished speaking, he yawned, then stood up and left, while Yagyu Shenghuaqi followed closely.
"That woman is sneaky, can you believe her words?" After the two left, Jiao Wan'er couldn't help but ask.
Yuan Chengzhi and Luo Liru fell silent immediately, but Emperor Hu De showed a sly smile, "This matter is not difficult to prove, as long as you send someone to find out Wu Sangui's movements, then it will not be clear who is a human and who is a ghost.
Chu."
It turned out that he also had reservations about Murong Fu.
Let's talk about Murong Fu and Liu Shenghuaqi returning to the accommodation arranged for them by the Golden Snake Camp. Murong Fu immediately asked, "Qier, I sent you to monitor Lu Feiqing, wouldn't you just get this little thing?"