"Yes," Mei Jian nodded, "Judging from what happened last night, the Japanese assassins acted decisively and had very clear goals and division of labor. I will never believe it without the guidance of an insider."
Murong Fu was silent after hearing this, and after a while he hummed noncommittally, "Go on."
"I think that those assassins may not know the whereabouts of Yagyu Muneyan, and Yagyu Muneyan will never contact the assassins at this time. If he wants to know the situation of the battle last night, there is only one way."
"That ghost!" Murong Fu immediately realized that there is a ghost in Lanling Mountain. There is no doubt that there is a ghost in Lanling Mountain. The last time the Japanese were able to easily sneak into Lanling Mountain, they took advantage of the lack of defense in the mountain and poisoned the defender.
Only the camp army could do it, and this time was no exception. Without the help of the insider, it would be difficult for the assassins to get into Lanling Mountain, let alone accurately find the camp residences of each leader.
"A bunch of stupid heads." Murong Fu couldn't help but curse. After the painful lesson last time, Yuan Chengzhi did order an investigation of spies, but it obviously had no effect at all.
With Yagyu Sogan's sophisticated calculations, he must have thought in advance that no matter whether the assassination was successful or not, the assassins would be followed, so they would definitely not contact the assassins at this time. Of course, the only one left was the mole. As long as he found the mole
, it is not difficult to find Yagyu Muneyan.
It is said that, but it is very difficult to do. There are thousands of people on Lanling Mountain, and everyone is a mixed bag. Anyone can be a mole, and you can't torture or follow them one by one. How to check? Even if you want to monitor the incoming and outgoing information, it is not easy to do.
Because Murong Fu's side was seriously short of manpower, Lanling Mountain was so huge that it was impossible to defend against it.
"Forget it," he sighed after thinking for a moment, "It's not easy to find out this mole at the moment. In contrast, it's easier to find out the whereabouts of Yagyu Sogan. You can contact Shandong later.
Go to each branch base to see if there is any news about Yagyu Sogan, and also ask the Golden Snake Camp. They have been entrenched in Shandong for a long time, they are familiar with the land and have a wide range of people, maybe..."
Suddenly, Murong Fu stopped talking, his eyes gradually brightened, and he slapped his forehead one last time, "Why didn't I think of that!"
Mei Jian was stunned, "What did the Lord think of?"
Murong Fu suppressed his joy and did not explain. He changed the subject and asked, "By the way, how many of the assassins escaped last night? How many casualties were there in the Golden Snake Camp?"
Mei Jian immediately replied, "The assassins were almost wiped out. Only a dozen or so were left. However, the Golden Snake Camp was not much better. All the patrol posts in and outside the mountains were killed, and more than half of the defenders were killed. The total number was about
There are six to seven hundred people, and some important leaders have also been lost. I will compile a list here and ask the Lord to take a look."
As he spoke, he took out a page of paper and handed it over.
Murong Fu took it and looked at it. There were dozens of names recorded on it, the first of which was actually the leader of the Qingzhu Gang, Cheng Qingzhu!
"Cheng Qingzhu died too?" Murong Fu was surprised. Cheng Qingzhu was Ah Jiu's master. Although the two had little contact with each other, their friendship was not shallow because of Ah Jiu's relationship. Some time ago, the old man occasionally
I would take the time to come to his place and treat him to a drink. Although I had some ulterior motives, we always got along quite happily. I didn't expect that I would die at the hands of a Japanese assassin.
In addition to Cheng Qingzhu, there are also names on the list that may be familiar or unfamiliar, such as Liu Dahong, the iron-backed Canglong of the Mu Palace, Luo Liru, the deputy leader of the Golden Dragon Gang, Fang Dahong, the incense leader of the Hongshun Hall of the Tiandihui.
Murong Fu was also sighing for a while. Although these people had no friendship with him, they were in the same camp. What was more serious was that the Golden Snake Battalion had lost so many key members. If the news spread to the army, it would definitely affect the morale. After Wu Sangui got the news,
Most likely they would not miss such a good opportunity, and they might send troops to suppress it right away.
Thinking of this, Murong Fu couldn't help but look a little solemn. It was definitely too late to block the news now. The only thing he could do was to notify the Golden Snake Battalion to prepare for the war. But how much combat power can the Golden Snake Battalion use in its current situation? There is no city to rely on, so
It is extremely difficult to defend the city.
In addition, according to the news from the Crystal Palace, Wu Sangui was not idle during this period. He was like the autumn wind sweeping away fallen leaves. He occupied almost all the cities and towns south of Jinan and north of Linyi. He was almost the same as Jin Sheying or Murong.
Different from the others, Wu Sangui had already prepared a team long ago, and with those Qing court officials who were able to adapt to the changing circumstances, there was no need to expend much manpower and material resources to occupy the land, and only a very small number of troops were left to garrison.
Therefore, it can be said that Wu Sangui now has many soldiers and generals, sufficient food and grass, and his morale will naturally rise accordingly. Comparing the two, one is decreasing and the other is increasing. How should we fight this battle?
"We should have abolished Yagyu Sogan directly from the beginning." Murong Fu couldn't help but feel a little regretful, but then he thought about it, even if Yagyu Soyan was abolished, nothing would change. Wu Sangui could still invite other killers and assassins, such as
The mysterious envoy in his army has not yet directly participated in the assassination operation, but when the trump card is finally revealed, once he takes action, it will be earth-shattering. Even he is not sure that he will be able to save the top brass of the Golden Snake Battalion.
In addition, without looking at the monk's face and looking at Fu Mian, the two sides did not break up at that time, and Yagyu Kaqi was present. The most he could do was beat Yagyu Sogan, and it was impossible to really kill him or cripple him at that time.
After thinking for a moment, Murong Fu rubbed his sore eyebrows, and did not think about these troublesome problems for the time being. Now it is better to find the whereabouts of Yagyu Sogan.
At this moment, Lan Jian's crisp voice sounded outside the house, "Your Majesty, Mrs. Yuan of the Golden Snake Camp, and Taoist Priest Mu Sang would like to see you."
"Invite the two of them to the living room to serve tea. I will be there soon."
After speaking, Murong Fu frowned and pondered for a long time. Finally, he gritted his teeth, took out a token from his sleeve, and used a secret method to transmit his voice to Mei Jian, saying, "Immediately pass on my command to allocate disciples from the north and south branches of the Crystal Palace."
, plus all the idle personnel in Blood Shadow Palace and Lingxiao Pavilion, we must ensure that within ten days, at least 500 first-class masters will be here for me to dispatch."
This is not a small number. Now the Crystal Palace is vigorously expanding its strongholds in the Western Region, Shuzhong, and even the Changbai Mountain area in the hinterland of the Qing Dynasty. Later, there will also be Japan, Taiwan and other surrounding areas. Manpower is not abundant, and more than half of Lingxiao Pavilion's strength remains.
Half of Xiangyang City has to protect its nest, Yanziwu. Only the Blood Shadow Palace has nothing serious to do, but there are not many people in the Blood Shadow Palace itself.
Mei Jian was slightly surprised, took the token solemnly, and quickly responded.
Murong Fu thought for a while and suddenly asked, "What's going on at Lingjiu Palace now? Where is Child Elder?"
Regarding the news about Lingjiu Palace, Mei Jian was very concerned about it. He immediately replied after hearing the words, "Lingjiu Palace is still responsible for the transportation of grain and military equipment from Xiangyang City to Hulao Pass. However, Child Lao's whereabouts are erratic. I only know that
It appeared in Kaifeng Mansion more than a month ago, but I didn't know about it afterwards."
Murong Fu couldn't help but was stunned. The task he gave Lingjiu Palace was to secretly build a granary north of the Yangtze River. Later, after the granary was completed, he asked them to be responsible for the safety of grain routes from Xiangyang City to various granaries in the north. Little did he know that Tianshan Tonglao
Why did it appear in Kaifeng?
After pondering for a long time, he ordered, "Send a message to Lingjiu Palace. Except for the disciples who stayed at Piaomiao Peak, all the elites of the other Nine Heavens and Nine Ministries will be transferred to me. As for the safety of the food road... I will leave it to the Shennong Gang for the time being. Thirty-six Islands and Seventy
There is also the Blood Knife Sect in charge of the Second Cave, and we will also send letters to Yanziwu to transfer out the inventory of armaments, including the latest batch of weapons forged by the Emei Sect, and transport them all to Shandong, and leave the escort task to the Wuyue Sword Sect."
"Transporting weapons to Shandong?" Mei Jian couldn't help but was startled after hearing this, and asked a little uncertainly, "The Lord wants to send the weapons to the Golden Snake Camp?"
Murong Fu shook his head, "It won't be enough to send them down, but they will still have to bleed some."
Even so, Mei Jian was still frightened. You must know that armaments are no better than other things, not even food and grass. You can buy them back after selling them. However, armaments are important materials that cannot be bought even if you have money. The Murong family just took them.
Having spent so much money and using up inventory, if something happened elsewhere at this time, it might be a disaster.
"Lord, would you like to think again and take out part of it first..."
Mei Jian wanted to persuade him, but before he could finish his words, he was interrupted by Murong Fu, "Okay, I've made up my mind, and I can't go wrong with this."
"Yes." Mei Jian had no choice but to agree. She knew in her heart that her lord was serious about it, but she didn't quite understand. What was there about a mere Golden Snake Camp that he could protect so hard?
At this time Murong Fu added, "Send a message to Ah Jiu in Fujian and tell her about the death of the old gang leader Cheng."
"yes."
Mei Jian took the order and left.
After a while, Murong Fu changed his clothes again and walked slowly to the front hall. There were two people sitting in the hall. One was dressed as a Taoist priest, with a thin figure and a pale face. He was Taoist Mu Sang, and the other Jing Chai wore a cloth skirt and had a figure of
Slender, with a slightly haggard face, but without losing color, it is Wen Qingqing.
Seeing Murong Fu's arrival, the two of them stood up and bowed solemnly. Wen Qingqing was the first to speak, "Mr. Meng helped the base camp retreat last night. I am here to express my gratitude on behalf of my humble husband and on behalf of the Golden Snake Camp."
"Yes, if little friend hadn't turned the tide at the critical moment, we would have been in trouble last night. Thank you very much, little friend Murong." Taoist priest Mu Sang changed his usual style and expressed his gratitude with a serious expression.
If Murong Fu had not taken action last night, the losses of the Golden Snake Camp would have been much more severe than they are now. Even Yuan Chengzhi might have been in danger. Then it would not be a matter of morale. At the very least, it would have fallen apart.
Murong Fu waved his hand nonchalantly, "We are both part of the anti-Qing alliance, so there is no need to say thank you for the things we do. Please sit down, both of you."
The two parties sat down separately, and Murong Fu asked straight to the point, "I wonder why you two came here?"
Taoist Mu Sang sighed, "My little friend is quick to talk to others, so the old Taoist won't hide it. The main reason for my visit today is for two things. One is to thank Mr. Murong for his help last night."
"I can thank you verbally, but don't come empty-handed..." Murong Fu rolled his eyes and said, "I wonder what the other thing is?"
"After this battle, the Golden Snake Battalion lost troops and generals. Wu Sangui will definitely take advantage of the situation and send troops to fight. I wonder if you have any good strategies to defeat the enemy?"
"I'm not too stupid. I know that Wu Sangui will not miss this opportunity..." Murong Fu cursed, with a slightly troubled expression on his face, and said in a solemn tone, "It's difficult. In my opinion, your camp should be early."
To make a plan, it is best to withdraw the army from Shandong and choose another good place to recuperate."
(I wish everyone a happy New Year’s Eve and may all your wishes come true)