Shen Lie came to see her because he knew she was leaving the city today.
Lu Dun's army had arrived at Tao'an Mountain in the morning, and after half a day's rest, they arrived at Hengxiang. We could see them now.
This morning, Xia Zhaoyi's series of arrangements were all focused on defense.
Although she didn't want to start a fight, how could she let other people's troops pass through the border without taking precautions?
If they were really undefended, Lu Dun would be embarrassed not to fight.
The area outside Dongcheng had been cleared and sealed off by Zhao Ya in the early morning, and farmers in all villages were not allowed to go out without authorization.
Several long roads outside the city, including the north bank of Qingjiang River, were arranged with manpower to guard and watch, and fast horses were used to respond and report back the news.
To the south of Tao'an Mountains, the long line of vanguard troops had not yet closed in. The long line of military formations were staring at the vast and prosperous Hengxiang Mansion in the south.
Xia Zhaoyi bit a sesame seed cake, rode Ziyang, and followed Shen Lie's Dragon Eagle out of the city.
There was no army behind them, Xia Zhaoyi only brought Zhan Ning and Shi Guoxin, and the only one following Shen Lie was Ye Zheng.
There was a strong wind outside the city, blowing across the mountains, rivers and fields.
Xia Zhaoyi was thinking about something while eating. He ate a sesame seed cake from the sesame seed cake stall outside Qingyue Pavilion outside the city, with half of it left.
From a distance, I saw 500 elite soldiers of the Xia Family Army led by veteran General Xia Chuan standing in the north. In front of the elite troops, dozens of horse-repelling guns and huge spike boards were spread out in a row.
To the northwest, which they could not see, was the defensive formation formed by Xia Junnan and his three thousand newly recruited Yan Army recruits.
The remaining Xia family troops will all put on the armor of the prisoners of war in Xinzhou and hide deep in the hills near Hengxiang.
In the northeast is the Yan Army composed of Tanzhou soldiers and Shanjingcheng defenders, led by Chang Zhicheng and Ruan Guoliang.
The 8,000 captured soldiers from Yanzhou formed a separate battalion with the remaining tens of thousands of new recruits, led by Xu Li and Ping Yuefeng.
All the troops that Hengxiang can mobilize have been put into battle, including the Duwei Mansion in the south of the city and the Hengxiang Guard Station, which totals nearly 150,000 people.
Among them, except for the 500 elite soldiers led by Xia Chuan, the rest of the troops were "in the dark".
But this so-called "dark place" could be easily detected by Lu Dun's scouts.
Not only were they able to detect the Yanzhou soldiers and horses disguised by Yan Jun and Xia Jiajun, they were also able to detect the "bait" that Xia Zhaoyi sent Zhao Ya to place in the countryside in the early morning.
Xia Zhaoyi finished eating the sesame cakes and took the handkerchief and water from Shen Lie at the right time.
The wind in Nagano blew her ponytail and clothes, her smooth face was clear and elegant under the sun, her black and bright eyes were filled with water, and she looked confidently and brightly at the distant world.
A group of birds were suddenly released from a huge birdcage, flapped their wings and rushed into the sky, flying into the vast distance.
All soldiers hiding in the dark can see these birds.
Xia Zhaoyi also raised his eyes, watching the birds flying across the blue sky, and said lightly: "I took the bait."
·
After traveling for several days, Lu Dun felt trapped.
Hengxiang's inevitable path used to be smooth and unobstructed, but now the same barb pricked Lu Dun and made him want to sleep. If he tried to pull it out, the barb would protrude more flesh and blood.
The 190,000-strong army stopped at Tao'an Ridge. Most of the ancient mountains and forests in Tao'an Ridge were cut off by them, razed to the ground, and one camp after another was built.
In the general's camp, all the lieutenants, counselors, and generals gathered together. There was a lot of discussion, and there were many people in charge of the battle.
Lu Dun yawned, and no matter how many cups of strong tea he drank, he couldn't stop feeling sleepy.
Suddenly there was a "report" outside the big tent, and a soldier rushed in, knelt down and said: "General! We caught three sneaky farmers and found this on them!"
The assistant immediately went to get it and handed it into Lu Dun's hand, which was a secret letter.
Lu Dun frowned and opened it. There wasn't much in the secret message. After reading it, Lu Dun's eyes were a little stunned.
"General, He Xin?" Lin Kongying, one of Lu Dun's confidants, stepped forward and said.
Lu Dun handed the letter over: "Take a look."
Lin Kongying received it and first looked at the talisman on it. He was shocked: "Why is it their letter from Yun Bozhong!"
"It's Yun Bozhong's handwriting. I've seen his handwriting." Lu Dun said.
Lin Kongying read it quickly and frowned: "This Yun Bozhong's wishful thinking is really clever. Nowadays, there are many forces in the world and all parties have grudges. It is not easy to find people who have no grievances against Yun Bozhong. Even if there are, they are Yunliang Shenlie, whom he despises, is indeed worthy of this letter written by him."
"The date on the letter was four days ago," Lu Dun said.
Lin Kongying looked at the soldiers kneeling on the ground: "How could those three sneaky farmers have such an important letter?"
"In reply to what Mr. Wang said, they encountered a corpse on the road. When they saw that the corpse was wearing official boots and the clothes were of good quality, they became evil and robbed the corpse. They found this letter by the way. They were illiterate and mistakenly found the corpse. We recognized the military seal on the letter as the banker's seal, and were about to go to Hengxiang to find a literate gentleman to read the letter, but we caught him. We have already seen the body, and it has indeed been decomposed for a long time. The three farmers also handed over Other items, including a saber, can confirm that the body is one of Yun Bozhong's men."
Lin Kongying said to Lu Dun in a deep voice: "General, the tone of this letter is more threatening and warning than negotiation. It can be seen that it has been back and forth before, and it is not the first one."
Lu Dun said: "Well, I can see that Shen Lie's previous reply did not give him face."
Lin Kongying thought for a while and said: "General, how to deal with this letter has become a difficult problem."
"Oh?" Lu Dun raised his eyebrows, "What's the problem?"
"If this letter is not given to Shen Lie, Shen Lie will not know about the letter. If he does not reply, it will definitely make Yun Bozhong even more unhappy. If Shen Lie reads this letter and is angered by the threatening words in the letter, he will write in the reply If he speaks rudely, he and Yun Bozhong will completely become enemies. The general asked, will Yun Bozhong take the opportunity to avoid fighting Mou Ye and come to deal with Hengxiang?"
"How is that possible!" Lu Dun sneered, "Mou Ye is so important. Yun Bozhong has been talking about it for many years, so how could he not fight? Wouldn't his military morale be shattered?"
"General," Lin Kongying's voice slowed down and he said meaningfully, "If Shen Lie doesn't give him face, Yun Bozhong's military morale can be condensed. Let's work together to deal with him first. Just like us, if we fight against Hengxiang, the military morale will be the same. The same thing. As long as the division has a good reputation, why worry about the morale of the army? It is more likely that Yun Bozhong has long been tired from being involved in the Mouye battle, and he is eager to find a reason to temporarily turn around and attack others. Perhaps, he is using Shen Lie to set up a trap , what about using Shen Lie?"
Lu Dun didn't say anything. He was silent for a long time and said, "If Shen Lie is intimidated by the content of the letter, does he really want to cooperate with Yun Bozhong?"
"Then we cannot give this letter to Shen Lie. If Hengxiang becomes Yun Bozhong's alliance, we Youzhou will be in danger."
"This..." Lu Dun looked at the letter in Lin Kongying's hand, "I think it's not the letter that has become a problem, but the person Shen Lie."
As he spoke, Lu Dun became irritable: "This stinky boy, he wants to come to Hengxiang if he can't go anywhere! He just came here to cause trouble! If it doesn't work, we will send troops to capture Hengxiang first!"
"Absolutely not!" Lin Kongying said quickly, "General, our spies have discovered that Hengxiang has been fortified everywhere and ambushed. We do have many soldiers and generals, so taking Hengxiang is not a problem, but we may not have enough time. These are not hundreds or thousands of soldiers, but one hundred thousand soldiers and horses! Even if they are dragged, they can hold us back for more than half a month. Do you think Yun Bozhong can hold his position?"
"Yes," Lu Dun frowned, "if it weren't for Yun Bozhong, an old dog, I wouldn't be able to eat Hengxiang!"
"If it weren't for Yun Bozhong, whether it was Shen Lie or Ah Li, we would definitely have beaten him to pieces!" Lin Kongying said.
All other sounds in the big tent were silent.
No one knew what Lu Dun and Lin Kongying were talking about. Many people looked at the letter in Lin Kongying's hand, wondering what the content of the letter was.
"Report!!" Another soldier's voice came from outside.
A soldier ran in, knelt down and said, "General, the group of soldiers discovered this morning has been confirmed to be the soldiers of Duke Enyi!"
"Jiao Jinhu?" Lu Dun said.
"Yes, General!"
Lu Dun's expression tightened and he looked at Lin Kongying: "This morning I found thousands of soldiers and horses hiding in the dark, staring at Hengxiang. The armor on their bodies was different from that of Xia Jiajun and Yan Jun. In case there were others, I I sent someone directly to investigate.”
Lin Kongying narrowed her eyes and gently stroked her beard: "If it's Jiao Jinhu's person, it will be a good thing..."
"A good thing?" Lu Dun said solemnly, "Sir, what's your explanation?"
"General, whether Yun Bozhong has enmity or alliance with Hengxiang, Jiao Jinhu in the south is indeed more worried than us in Youzhou. Although Jiao Jinhu does not have many troops, he also has the power of wealth from the three states to involve them in Hengxiang. , it is most appropriate for them to bear the sin of this flesh thorn for us."
"What about us? What do we do now?"
Lin Kongying's expression became more and more serious. After a while, he put down the letter in his hand, cupped his hand and said, "I have something to say, but I am afraid of the general's punishment."
Lu Dun became impatient: "You say so, I won't punish you!"
"General, I am not very talented. I personally think that this Hengxiang has nothing to do with us. There is no need to fight when we can win or lose. Given the current situation, Jiao Jinhu should be more anxious, Yun Bozhong should be more angry, and Shen Lie should be more anxious. Even more worrying. If we fight, we will waste time and lose our troops. Yun Bozhong can cross the river at any time to the east and attack us. Jiao Jinhu is in the south, and he may be waiting for the opportunity. If we don't fight, Shen Lie will lay out these 100,000 soldiers. The soldiers and horses are waiting seriously, which shows that he is afraid of us. If we don't take action, he will not dare to act rashly! We can go straight to Mouye and meet up with the South Route Army. Shen Lie's only enemy on the face is Yun Bozhong , and Jiao Jinhu will be the evil wolf that wants to bite Shen Lie at every turn, and will not make it easy for Shen Lie. The three of them will compete secretly, and when Mou Ye wins and returns in triumph, we will decide whether to touch Heng Xiang. , it just depends on our mood.”
Lu Dun lowered his eyebrows and looked at the letter Lin Kongying put down on the case, lost in thought.
Lin Kongying took a step forward and lowered his voice: "General, the reason why we want to touch Hengxiang is because we don't want this jackal to live in the rear area. But if Yun Bozhong and Jiao Jinhu work together to restrain it, this jackal will be just a fat dog. .”
"What if Shen Lie surrenders to Yun Bo?" Lu Dun murmured.
"Our nearly 200,000 troops are pressing down on the border. He was scared to death but didn't show any intention of suing for peace. How could he succumb to Yun Bozhong? And... we still have a plan to alienate him," Lin Kongying laughed, "General, Let's just use a little trick to make Shen Lie and Yun Bozhong fight, what do you think?"
"No! If they fight, what will Hengxiang do?" Lu Dun frowned and said, "Hengxiang can't have a war. There has to be a war, and we initiated it."
Lin Kongying's smile deepened: "It is precisely because of us that Yun Bozhong does not dare to send troops easily! This Hengxiang has become a stalemate again. When the study of the world is over, I think Shen Lie will come back obediently When we go to Tanzhou, this place is not a place for him to stay for a long time. It is even less likely that we will send troops to Youzhou after we leave Youzhou. Even if we attack Youzhou, he will not be able to defend it."
"It's a stalemate," Lu Dun nodded thoughtfully, "Indeed, we, Yun Bozhong, Shen Lie, Jiao Jinhu, the four forces are in a stalemate again, and Shen Lie is very afraid, so he really doesn't dare to mess around..."
"One more thing," Lin Kongying's smile faded and her voice lowered, "General, Hengxiang is the place that Nie Huimo values the most. He has been friends with Mrs. Qu of Hengxiang Mansion for many years. If you want to fight, no matter whether you win or not, , will leave criticism on him. With his position in front of King Dacheng, he will have many ways to embarrass the general in the future. Although I am the counselor of Huiren Camp and Dacheng, I am also the general’s staff. We have to think about the general’s future future.”
"Nie Huimo..." Lu Dun repeated softly.
"Since Hengxiang is no longer a necessary place to conquer, General, we should leave as soon as possible to avoid more trouble."
After a long silence, Lu Dun nodded: "Your analysis makes sense, so I'll listen to you. It's the alienation plan you just mentioned, but it must be done well."
"General, don't worry, my subordinates will take care of it for you!" Lin Kongying said with cupped hands.
