Xu Huai did not wait for the results to come out. Taking advantage of the chaos inside and outside the city, he sneaked out of the city through a secret passage surrounded by Xu Wuqi, Xu Xin'an, Yan Xiaoyi, Zhu Chengjun and others.
It was past dawn. Xu Huai was walking in front of the woods and turned to look at the city wall behind him.
The hidden line they installed in the army was retracting the rope from the city wall.
The sky had not really brightened up yet, and the dark city wall lay across the misty morning light. At this moment, they were outside the city, unable to hear the chaotic shouting of Guo Cheng, and they seemed to be in two worlds.
This feeling is very strange, but it can also help people understand why so many ministers in the court are so insensitive. Two city walls and hundreds of thousands of defenders can indeed give people the illusion of indestructibility.
What's more, since the Chihu people invaded the south, no real troops have come to Bianliang City. In addition to countless hungry people who failed to escape into Bianliang and were forced to stay outside Guocheng, there are still hundreds of Wuzhai still standing in Bianliang. Outside the city lies a plain that resembles a wilderness.
Although the imperial court ordered all cities and villages outside Bianliang to be abandoned, and the defenders were withdrawn into Bianliang City to defend the city, Wang Zhen was appointed as the defense envoy for the four walls, and his support for the villages outside the city was never interrupted.
Wang Zhen not only encouraged these Wuzhai organizations, trained village warriors, reinforced the Wuzhai's defenses, and presented military supplies such as armor and weapons, he also sent troops out of the city from time to time to jointly expel small groups of horsemen who harassed these Wuzhai.
These Wu villages, which were organized into clans and villages, also selected strong ones from the hungry exiles to strengthen the fighting strength of the rural soldiers. Before the main soldiers of the Red Husbands gathered at the gate of Bianliang City, they faced the nuisance of small groups of soldiers and bandits. There is also a certain degree of self-protection, and it also forms a buffer zone between Bianliang and the area controlled by the Japanese soldiers, ranging from ten to thirty to forty miles wide.
Everything has advantages and disadvantages.
Now that the main force of the captive soldiers has not gathered, these Wuzhai rural soldiers are relatively well organized. After the captive soldiers withdraw north, it will become more difficult to persuade the people of these Wuzhai villages to withdraw southward in advance.
In the morning light, Xu Huai and others walked through a forest and came to an inconspicuous looking village.
"Are you really not afraid of breaking the truth by doing this?" Xiao Yanhan was wearing a black outfit, carrying a long wooden bow behind her back, sitting on a big black horse, and she was talking to Chen Zixiao and Zhang Xiongshan. The figure seemed to have just returned from a distant place, and his clothes and armor were still stained with dew.
Hearing Xiao Yanhan ask this, Xu Huai knew that Chen Zixiao, Xiao Yanhan and the others had other channels to learn what was happening in Bianliang City in time, and asked: "Where did you just go?"
"We went to Malinggang at night and just came back soon - the Chihu people should also know the situation in Bianliang City at this time, but there is no change at present..." Chen Zixiao turned over and dismounted and said, what are they doing? I was worried, so I sneaked into the largest camp of the Chihu people in the southeast of Bianliang to investigate.
"How can you be so sure that the Chihu people will not take the opportunity to send troops to attack Bianliang?" Xiao Yanhan looked at Xu Huai curiously and asked.
"If the Chihu people really want to send troops to attack Bianliang, it will be easy to deal with them. I'm afraid they won't move!" Xu Huai saw that the gate of the village had been opened from the inside, talking to Chen Zixiao and Xiao Yanhan as they walked into the village.
Unlike Dangxiang, the Khitan and Dayue have been entangled for more than a hundred years. They have a deep understanding of each other and deep penetration in all aspects. The Chihu people had just annexed the population and the land before Dayue's second northern expedition to Yan. The Khitan, which was twice as big as the Qidan, was still unfamiliar with the land south of Yanyun.
The Chihu people even had huge internal differences over whether to invade the south.
The preparations of the Chihu people for this southern invasion were actually extremely inadequate. It can even be said that the Vietnamese troops and horses were too weak and the generals were too useless, which directly contributed to the Chihu people's adventure.
The Red Husband Cavalry drove straight into the Hehuai area. Strategically, they were extremely bold, but they were very cautious in every battle they fought.
The middle- and lower-level generals of the Red Husband Army are hard-working, surprisingly obedient, brave and good at fighting, and the middle-level and upper-level officers have rich combat experience and clear thinking. This is actually the most feared thing.
For the Chihu people, after they first securely and effortlessly capture Taiyuan, Xiongzhou, Dingzhou and other important towns in Hedong and Hebei to consolidate the foundation in the north, they can move south again in four or five months and capture Bianliang.
Why bother to take the risk of attacking Bianliang at this time if you are lucky enough to find something?
Besides, the Red Hu people's infiltration into Bianliang was far from comparable to that of the Khitan people.
Even though there must be some weaklings in the court who are secretly flirting with the Chihu people and secretly communicating with them, but before the Chihu people have established their own intelligence network, do they dare to trust them without reservation?
Besides, it is almost mid-April now. In addition to the arrival of the flood season, the water levels on both sides of the Yellow River have skyrocketed, floods have occurred frequently, and the terrain has become more complex. The hot and humid weather has also adversely affected the people who have just stepped out of the grassland and headed south.
The war horses will also be a severe test.
The Chihu people had not tried to attack Bianliang a month ago, and they had been delaying it until now. How could they take the risk and attack Bianliang City because of some indistinguishable chaos that suddenly appeared at this time?
Seeing that Xu Huai was so determined, Xiao Yanhan, who couldn't help but want to be stronger, curled her lips rather boringly and said:
"There is no unreserved trust in this world. Many of your actions this time can be said to be treasonous. Even if King Jing is an open-minded person, it is impossible for him to have no grudges in his heart, right? Which master wants to see that?
Is there anyone under your command who is so difficult to control?"
Chen Zixiao looked at Xu Huai and asked: "If you stir up trouble this time, the arrogance of the Yue Ting peace negotiation faction will be suppressed, and the peace negotiation will be interrupted. At present, it seems that the Chihu people will soon be
Withdraw troops, but when they invade south again, they will definitely use this breach of trust by the Yue court as an excuse - this will also make those timid people above the Yue court put the responsibility on you! You really
Do you have no scruples at all?"
"The sky is about to fall, how can I have so many scruples?" Xu Huai smiled lightly and asked Xiao Yanhan and Chen Zixiao in turn, "Besides, if I don't do this, how can I convince you that there is still room for improvement?
By the way, I have already made it this far, can you tell me how many people in Xishan are willing to stay and hold on?"
Xiao Yanhan glanced at Chen Zixiao and said nothing.
Xiao Linshi originally ordered Chen Zixiao to sneak into Bianliang and nearby areas to observe the situation. If it was determined that the situation was not right, all the infiltration personnel over the years would be withdrawn. However, Xiao Yanhan thought that she had not really entered the hinterland of the Southern Dynasties.
After taking a look, I followed him. Chen Zixiao still had to take the lead in many matters.
"Even though Bianliang has gone through all this trouble, it has reduced the arrogance of the Congress and the faction, but it has not really reversed anything. I think there are not many people in Xishan who are really willing to stay and wait and see the situation. In short,
, even if we go to see King Jing, we can't give you any clear answer, and neither can Mr. Lin Shi." Chen Zixiao said.
Xu Huai nodded, he could understand the difficult situation of the remnant Khitan clan at this time.
Dayue's two northern expeditions against Yan not only accelerated the Khitan's demise and intensified the hatred of the remnants of the clan, but also seemed extremely stupid.
There are people within the remnant Khitan clan who have long-standing grievances and are opposed to cooperation here. This is not something unpredictable.
"What about you?" Xu Huai asked.
"If we didn't want to stay, we wouldn't have come to Bianliang!" Xiao Yanhan said first.
Chen Zixiao smiled bitterly. There was no way to blame Xiao Yanhan for not having the slightest scheming. However, Xu Huai completely ignored his retreat in many of his actions, and felt that they should not have any reservations. He said honestly: "Before we came here, there were many people who advocated making a decisive decision.
, it was Lin Shi who overcame the public opinion and asked us to come over for a visit. To be honest, even if you go through this trouble, the arrogance of your peace negotiators will be reduced a lot, but the situation will be better than what we expected before we came here.
, a lot of difference!”
"Xiao Shijun did not give up, he is stronger than anything else," Xu Huai said, "We entered the stronghold to rest for a while, and then set off to build the county!"
The retreat of the Khitan remnant tribe to the west is by no means easy. Xu Huai believes that Xiao Linshi will still convince the generals of the Khitan remnant tribe to stay as long as there is a slight chance. Xiao Linshi's prestige within the remnant Khitan tribe is still strong enough.
With Chen Zixiao as his friend, Xu Huai was more confident and walked towards Gejiazhuang with Chen Zixiao, Xiao Yanhan, Xu Wuqi and others.
Gejiazhuang is located on the west bank of Bian River. It has a small population. It is a small village with only 60 or 70 households. In the early years, many people in the village made a living by selling horses. It is small, has acquaintances, and everyone has the same hatred and the same stance against the powerful enemy.
Naturally, it soon developed into Chushan's most important secret stronghold outside Bianliang City.
In addition to Chen Zixiao, Xiao Yanhan, Zhang Xiongshan and others who left the city first and Princess Yingyun settled here, the group of craftsmen and families who had previously been persuaded by Shi Zhen to settle in Chushan also took advantage of the chaos at night, both inside and outside.
When the city was slack, they were also transferred in batches.
The commotion in the inner and outer cities of Bianliang did not arouse the strong interest of the Chihu people. It can be predicted that the Chihu people will soon withdraw to the north bank of the Yellow River, and their blockade in the east, southeast, and south of Bianliang will also become increasingly loose.
Xu Huai and the others spent the day recuperating in Gejiazhuang. When night fell, they saw that there was nothing unusual in the prison camp, so they took Princess Yingyun, who was disguised as a woman, on their way to Zhuxian County - and before that, Bianliang City
There was also news that Wang Qiyong resigned as Prime Minister, Zhu Hang was appointed as the Privy Council Commander, and Wang Fan was appointed as the Deputy Defense Envoy of the Four Walls of Gyeonggi Province to assist Liang Fuzhong in defending the city...
