"Sergeant Zuo, I wonder if there is any news about the naval command officer Shen Chenshan?"
Although he noticed many strange things, Yuan Shu decided that it would be better to do less than to do more.
Yuan Keli has already retired to the official position, and he is too old to be able to protect him from the wind and rain.
After thinking about this, Yuan Shu directly stated the purpose of coming.
But how did Zuo Mengeng know who Shen Chenshan was? He looked confused when he asked.
Fortunately, the Dengzhou Navy is now in his hands. He only needs to give an order and someone will go find it.
An hour later, a man in his forties was carried in.
He looked a bit miserable, skinny as a stick, covered in blood, and half of his left ear was missing.
"Brother Chenshan!"
Yuan Shu exclaimed and rushed forward, looking at the other party's miserable eyes blurred with tears.
Originally he thought not to cause trouble, but when he saw his old friend's appearance, Yuan Shu still exploded.
"Young Master Zuo, I wonder what crime Brother Chenshan committed to deserve this torture?"
Zuo Mengeng's head was filled with mud.
He didn't remember that he had ordered the execution of the rebel general. Could it be that the people below discovered some crime of this man and executed him because of the interrogation?
He looked at Qiao Shuangcheng, who quickly denied it.
"Take a seat, this man has been like this since we took over Shuicheng. If we hadn't arranged for a doctor, he would have died long ago."
The man also spoke.
"Bo Ying, I was harmed by rebellion, not Zuo Shenzuo."
As he spoke, the man looked at Zuo Mengeng with strong reverence.
"Sitting on the left, Shen Shouyue thanks you for saving your life."
It turned out that this person's name was Shen Shouyue, Zuo Mengeng still didn't know who he was.
"There is no need to be polite. Since you are unwilling to surrender and are rebellious, it shows your loyalty."
Shen Shouyue looked dejected, and it was clear that he couldn't bear to look back on the past.
"What's the use of one person's loyalty? The entire navy fell into the hands of the enemy, and Dengzhou City was brutally poisoned. How can I go to see my late father?"
Zuo Mengeng looked over and Yuan Shu explained to him.
"Zuo Shenzuo doesn't know that Shen Chenshan is the son of Shen Ninghaigong, the former chief soldier of the Denglai Navy."
When he said this, Zuo Menggeng immediately reacted.
It turns out that Shen Shouyue is Shen Yourong's son.
Shen Yourong is a famous general, and his life experiences are very colorful.
Korea defeated Japanese pirates, Liaodong killed Jurchens, Jizhen defeated Duoyan, Dongsha captured Japanese pirates, Southeast conquered Taiwan, Penghu shocked the Netherlands, and Dengzhou established a navy.
After Yuan Keli resigned as governor of Denglai, Shen Yourong lost his backer, so he resigned and returned home.
Within a few years, he died of illness.
Shen Yourong had eight sons, among which the fourth son Shen Shouyue, the sixth son Shen Shouchong, and the eighth son Shen Shouyao were the most outstanding.
Shen Shouyue served as the Inspector of Denglai Road and commanded the Qianshi of the Dengzhou Navy. He was the de facto commander of the Dengzhou Navy.
He was in the army when Dengzhou City was defeated. After Zhang Ke ran away, the navy was leaderless, and Shen Shouyue tried his best to maintain it, but to no avail.
After the rebels took control of the navy, all their former generals were placed under house arrest.
Because he would rather die than surrender, he was severely tortured by the rebels and even prepared to kill him.
It was Kong Youde who was far away on the front line who learned of the situation and sent the message in person, which saved him.
When Shen Yourong served as the commander-in-chief of Denglai, he was responsible for transporting supplies to Liaodong, so he made good friends with Mao Wenlong, Kong Youde and others. Only with this relationship did Shen Shouyue save his life.
But he is still under house arrest by the rebels and has no news at all.
His eighth brother Shen Shouyu (also known as Jingshan) followed Zhu Dadian to Shandong to quell the rebellion. He was worried about his brother and thought of his old friend Yuan Keli's well-connected people in Dengzhou, so he wrote a letter asking Yuan Keli to help find out about Shen Shouyue.
Only then did Yuan Shu's trip to Denglai begin.
Fortunately, Yuan Shu came, otherwise, Zuo Mengeng would not know who Shen Shouyue was. He had no interest in taking care of these old officers, and he might not know how long they would be imprisoned.
"Brother Jingshan is coming with Zhu Zhongcheng. When he and Zuo Shenzuo attack from both sides, the rebels will definitely be defeated."
Speaking of this, Yuan Shu became very interested.
But Zuo Mengeng had a bright expression on his face and had to say: "I'm afraid you haven't learned yet that the reinforcements led by Zhu Zhongcheng were defeated in Shahe a few days ago. Zhu Zhongcheng died for his country, Jin Guoqi and many other generals died in the battle. There will be no more reinforcements from the imperial court."
Yuan Shu and others, who were in high spirits just now, were all dumbfounded.
Shen Shouyue asked eagerly: "Zuo Shenzuo, is there any... is there any news about my brother-in-law?"
Zuo Mengeng shook his head silently and did not answer.
In fact, he couldn't answer either.
Shen Shouao is a small person, and no one cares about him in such a big event. No one cares about his life or death.
Qi Zuoguo thought of a more serious problem.
"The imperial reinforcements were defeated. Doesn't that mean that... the only one who can suppress the rebellion now is Zuo Shenzuo? But Zuo Shenzuo and the Xie soldiers..."
Everyone knows how many soldiers and horses an association has.
There are tens of thousands of rebels.
Even if Zuo Menggeng's magic soldiers descended from the sky and attacked Dengzhou City, wouldn't Dengzhou City still have to fall when the main force of the rebels returns?
But if the rebels come back again, they will definitely become angry and start killing people once they break the city...
No one dared to think about it anymore.
Zuo Mengeng didn't care about them, but just said: "Everyone, please be patient. With Zuo here, the traitors will not be allowed to enter Dengzhou."
He never thought about defending the city.
While he was dealing with affairs in the city, the First Division had already advanced westward, and the vanguard was approaching the foot of Huangxian City.
After Li Jiucheng abandoned the city and fled that night, he did not dare to stay at all. He fled until he reached Huang County, and then stabilized his position with the help of the defenders. Without saying a word, he immediately sent a message to Kong Youde, Geng Zhongming and others in Laizhou.
Kong Youde and others were celebrating their victory and dreaming of separatist control of Shandong. When they learned that Dengzhou had been captured, they were all dumbfounded.
But Dengzhou must not lose anything, because Dengzhou's navy is their only retreat.
Kong Youde and others immediately mobilized their troops and returned to Dengzhou at starry night, preparing to recapture Dengzhou.
"Brother, you are so good, where do the officers and soldiers come from?"
In Huang County City, Kong Youde arrived first and saw that Li Jiucheng was injured. He was concerned and still wanted to solve the mystery.
Li Jiucheng is quite embarrassed.
"What a ghost! Your army is to the west, and Tianjin's navy has already fallen into our hands. I still can't figure it out to this day, where did this group of officers and soldiers come from?"
The rebel generals talked a lot, but no one could figure it out.
Li Yingyuan discovered a blind spot.
"Father, do you know who the general is leading the army?"
Li Jiucheng will not neglect this.
"Who else is there in Shandong now? It's naturally Zuo Mengeng from Dongchang Xie."
Kong Youde squinted his eyes and after thinking for a while, he showed a confident smile.
"If it's this person, it doesn't matter. How can a mere confederation of soldiers carry tens of thousands of my elite troops?"
Thinking of the sharp guns and artillery of the New Army that night, Li Jiucheng was extra cautious.
"Brother, don't be careless. Zuo Menggeng is a famous general in the world, and even the Tatars are no match for him."
Kong Youde raised his thick eyebrows and said loudly: "There are no heroes who make Zhuzi famous. Brother, don't panic, brother, I will take Zuo Mengeng's head to avenge you."
Li Jiucheng remained silent for a long time, then forced out a smile.
"Hehehe, okay, the outcome of this battle depends entirely on you, brother."
Kong Youde put on a simple face and gave the order directly.
"General Chen Shen, you immediately led the scouts across the river and checked the enemy's report."
Chen Shichou took the order and took three hundred cavalry out of the city to the east, crossed the Yellow River, and planned to rush to Dengzhou.
However, after walking more than ten miles, he was faced with billowing smoke and dust, and soon a cavalry force approached.
The huge "Left" flag showed his identity, which really frightened Chen Shishi.
Isn't it said that Zuo Menggeng only has one army of soldiers? Why are there thousands of cavalry alone?
Seeing the opponent's well-equipped soldiers and powerful military formation, Chen sometimes felt guilty and timid, so he turned around and ran away.
Even so, more than thirty people were killed before they could escape the Yellow River.
Standing on the bank of the Yellow River, watching the rebel scouts disappear into the distance, Wang Siyi lifted up his visor and sneered.
"With such virtue, he can actually beat the shit out of the officers and soldiers. I think there are no strong soldiers in the world."
Zuo Shi joked: "With Commander, you, the most powerful general in the world, who dares to be brave?"
Wang Siyi was not happy, and hummed: "Listen up, our cavalry regiment must fight well this time. Why is that guy Zuo Rong already a division commander, and we are still a cavalry regiment? We also have to be a cavalry division."
Everyone cheered loudly and dispersed, isolating both sides of the Yellow River.
In the afternoon, Zuo Mengeng, Bai Xiaoqi, Jia Yunzhi and others followed the engineering troops and arrived at the east bank of the Yellow River in advance.
"Surrounded by plains, Weiyang Mountain and Liujia Mountain are crucial and must be in our hands. Fortifications must be built in other places and the rebel forces must be eliminated on the east coast."
After checking the terrain, Zuo Mengeng quickly formulated a battle plan.
Abandon the Yellow River coast, retreat five miles, rely on Weiyang Mountain and Liujiada Mountain, and establish positions along the Liujiacun and Qujiazhuang lines.
In this way, the New Army's heavy artillery can be placed on Liujia Mountain to cover a larger battlefield area.
The engineering troops received the order and immediately began to take action. With the help of the arriving troops, they established complete fortifications with crisscrossing ravines starting from the coast in the north and ending at Shazhongzi in the south.
The strength of the First Division can just cover these areas. Further south to Xiaojushan area, it is handed over to the cavalry regiment for mobile defense.
If the rebels want to attack, they can only attack from this area.
It can be said that the new army blocked the only way for the rebels to regain Dengzhou.
