Qin Sang stepped up, flew up to the treetops, and came down to meet him.
"Old Zhou, what happened?"
"General Qin!"
When the water monkey saw Qin Sang, he looked happy and said loudly: "The general has just received a message from Fei Ge. The admiral has given an order for General Qin to take his people to evacuate Guling Mountain immediately and return to Dazhai within three days."
Qin Sang frowned when he heard this, "What's the reason? Are you asking me to go back by myself, or are you asking everyone to evacuate?"
The Water Monkeys jumped over and took out a letter wrapped in oil paper from their arms, "The letter said that the general was asked to take everyone back, without giving any reason."
Qin Sang took the letter and read it carefully. Sure enough, he was ordered to take all the scouts to withdraw from Guling Mountain within two days. The words were much harsher than Water Monkey's.
Holding the letter in hand, Qin Sang looked around at the barren mountains, full of doubts in his heart.
Now King Dongyang has captured Xitai County, and all armies have mobilized to attack the three counties of the imperial capital. It has been two months since the Xuanwei Battalion entered Guize County, and has conquered several cities. The current target is Raven Pass.
Duyaukou is actually a large city. It was originally a ferry crossing of Lingshui River and later gradually developed.
The Lingshui River is the largest river in Guize County. It runs diagonally through the entire county from northwest to southeast. Although it is not as wide as the Wuling River, it flows continuously all year round and never dries up. The Lingshui River is used by troops to transport food.
Due to the convenient ferry crossing, the largest granary of the defenders is now located at Raven's Pass.
By taking Raven's Pass and cutting off the Lingshui River, the seven cities downstream of the Lingshui River became isolated cities, which was equivalent to having their lifeblood cut off. There was no other way but to surrender.
Originally, it was impossible for Xuanwei Camp to take action against Duyaukou because there was a huge mountain range called Guling Mountain to the south of Duyaukou.
If you want to reach Raven Pass, you must cross Guling Mountain.
Guling Mountain has steep mountains, dense jungle, and is so deserted that it is said that even birds cannot fly over it.
Except for hunters who go into the mountains to hunt, ordinary people will definitely lose their way and die without being able to get out, let alone a large army.
According to the original plan, they had to march hundreds of miles eastward, make a detour from Guling Pass, and then fight through the seven cities downstream of the Lingshui River, city by city.
At this time, Gulingguan has already deployed a large number of troops and is ready to fight. Such a fight will not only be time-consuming, but also inevitably cause heavy casualties.
A few days ago, when the Xuanwei Battalion captured the small town in front of Guling Mountain, Qin Sang learned a piece of news from an old man who had been a hunter in Guling Mountain. There was an ancient road in Guling Mountain. According to local legend, it was the march of the founding emperor of the previous dynasty.
It was excavated at that time but was later abandoned. It has been around for nearly a thousand years and is little known.
Qin Sang reported the information about the ancient road and was ordered to lead the scouts into Guling Mountain to investigate. As soon as he came in, he dispersed the scouts and was about to be called back.
The letter is signed with the commander's seal, and this letter is a military order.
Wu Chuanzong, who stayed in Dazhai, did not receive any news in advance. It was probably a sudden decision made by the senior officials of Xuanwei Camp.
Seeing Qin Sang's troubled face, Water Monkey also knew that gathering all the scattered scouts couldn't be done in a day or two, "General, what should we do now?"
Qin Sang thought for a while and said: "Old Zhou, you are now summoning Zheng Kun and Zhang Wenkui, and all the personnel will be transferred to them. They will stay in Guling Mountain and continue to search for the ancient road. You and I will return to Dazhai."
"yes!"
…
It rained heavily, and the two of them didn't rest all night. They rode out of Guling Mountain and rushed back to Dazhai the next morning.
Outside the stronghold, Qin Sang felt that something was wrong. There was a different solemn atmosphere in the military stronghold, and the patrols were much tighter than before.
The two of them were tired of their travels. Qin Sang put on his armor and was about to go to the camp to find Wu Chuanzong when he found Wu Chuanzong waiting for him outside.
"Sir! Vice General Feng came to me personally and asked you to see him immediately after returning to Dazhai."
Qin Sang nodded and asked, "Have you found out what happened?"
Wu Chuanzong said with shame: "Zhuanzong is incompetent. The Chinese army camp was suddenly closed late at night the day before yesterday. It was heavily guarded for twelve hours. No one is allowed to approach without orders, otherwise he will be killed. Chuanzong inquired everywhere, but never got accurate information.
."
Qin Sang noticed that Wu Chuanzong looked haggard and had dark circles in his eyes. He knew that he had tried his best. If something happened to the Chinese army, Wu Chuanzong would not know about it, so he patted him on the shoulder and comforted him: "It's not strange.
You, go and rest first, I’ll go find Deputy General Feng.”
Walking in the camp, Qin Sang looked at the soldiers group after group, feeling secretly strange and hesitant.
He didn't get a summons from the princess, so it probably wasn't a problem at the rear.
However, even if a mutiny occurs in the Chinese army camp, there is still considerable danger.
Qin Sang believed that he was no longer a mortal, but if he faced hundreds of powerful crossbows and could only close his eyes, his death would definitely be miserable.
When he was approaching the Chinese army camp, Qin Sang hesitated for a moment, secretly summoned the King of Hell, covered him with a ray of divine consciousness, and sneaked into the camp.
The King of Hell quietly passed by the camp. There was no murderous scene as expected, and then he led the King of Hell to Lieutenant General Feng's military tent.
Lieutenant General Feng was in the tent, and there were no ambush men around, so Qin Sang felt relieved.
At this time, he had already walked to the gate of the Central Military Camp and took out his waist badge. With his dignity as a general, he actually had to inform Vice General Feng before he could be allowed to go.
"Finally, I will meet General Feng!"
Seeing Vice General Feng approaching from a distance, Qin Sang immediately saluted.
"Brother Qin!"
Lieutenant General Feng walked a few steps quickly, supported Qin Sang, and said with a somewhat anxious look, "You are finally back, come with me!"
The two of them walked into Lieutenant General Feng's tent arm in arm. Lieutenant General Feng looked out cautiously, and then said shocking news in a low voice, "The Admiral suddenly became seriously ill and fell into a coma. He is now in critical condition. I'm afraid he won't be able to hold on for a few more days."
!”
Qin Sang said "Ah" with a surprised look on his face. Of the two admirals of the Xuanwei camp, Wang Liu was just the right admiral, while the left admiral was the real general in charge of the army. He was familiar with the art of war, marched well, and had strict military discipline.
Admiral Zuo was a confidant of King Dongyang and was only loyal to the prince. No one was allowed to discuss major military matters in front of him. He also had an attitude of not helping each other in the dispute between the crown prince and the princess.
With his suppression, Wang Liucai did not dare to act recklessly and use tricks to deal with Qin Sang.
Qin Sang took out the military order and asked, "Who is using the commander's seal on the letter I just got yesterday?"
Vice General Feng said with an angry look on his face: "Before the Admiral fell into coma, the general's affairs were entrusted to Wang Liu, including the commander's seal and tiger talisman...all were given to him!"
Qin Sang was silent.
Now the situation is quite clear. It is only a matter of time before King Dongyang comes to Dabao. There are already people in the small court talking about the crown prince.
Apart from the eldest son, only princesses are eligible to compete for the position of prince.
But since the founding of the Sui Dynasty, there has never been a precedent of a female chicken sitting in the morning. It is easy to imagine where these people will stand.
When he was in Hening County, Master Heihe secretly made peace with the prince.
When Admiral Zuo was on his deathbed, it was normal for him to hand over the military power to Wang Liu to express his goodwill to the prince and help his descendants to have a good relationship.