Zhou Huai was ordered to lead his army northward to attack Cangzhou.
The purpose of attacking Cangzhou this time was very complicated. Most of the starting points were naturally to attract some Qi troops to share the pressure on the main battlefield and to cooperate with the naval operations at sea.
Another reason is that if the Qi people are really indifferent to Zhou Huai's army, Shen Yi really has the idea of letting them go directly north to attack the three guards of Tianjin.
Even if doing so may put this army in danger, once it succeeds, it will have a huge impact on the entire battlefield situation.
After Zhou Huai received Shen Yi's general order, he did not dare to neglect and led his troops directly out of Yanshan and marched directly to Cangzhou.
Before they arrived at the gate of Cangzhou City, a scout hurriedly came to report, half-kneeling in front of Zhou Huai, bowing his head and saluting: "General Zhou!"
Zhou Huai said without hesitation: "Tell me."
"Di reported to the Division that the Qi people from Hejian Prefecture have sent additional troops to Cangzhou!"
Hearing this, Zhou Huai breathed a sigh of relief.
Shen Yi's purpose of letting him go north was to attract the Qi army. Now that the Qi army has divided its forces in Cangzhou, regardless of whether the subsequent attack on Cangzhou goes smoothly or not, at least their initial purpose of going north has been achieved.
At least, Mr. Shen can already explain it.
Zhou Huai nodded first, and then asked: "Can you find out how many people they added to Cangzhou?"
The messenger soldier lowered his head, hesitated for a moment, and then said: "According to the news from the Di Reporting Department, there are at least 20,000 people!"
"Now, those Qi troops are still pouring into Cangzhou. In the end, the number may be even more."
"many…"
Zhou Huai was stunned: "How many people?"
The messenger lowered his head again: "More than 20,000 people..."
Zhou Huai suddenly raised his head and looked at Cangzhou in the distance, feeling shocked but also a little ecstatic.
More than 20,000 people!
Being able to attract so many Qi troops, even if they no longer attack Cangzhou, it is still a great achievement for Shen Gong!
Zhou Huai took a deep breath and murmured: "Why are there so many people here? This general from Northern Qi..."
"I'm dizzy!"
The number of soldiers under his command has not increased. Even including the newly-replenished Leling garrison, there are only fifteen or six thousand men. With this number, it would be difficult to attack the city of Cangzhou.
Even if there are only two or three thousand people in the city, it is not that easy to fight.
But now, tens of thousands of Qi troops have arrived, so Cangzhou can basically give up.
He quickly ordered his soldiers to camp fifty miles outside Cangzhou City, and then asked Gao Yong to be summoned.
Gao Yong, who was originally in charge of Qianhu of the Leling Guards, has been promoted to the commanding officer due to his meritorious service in the Leling Battle, and is now Zhou Huai's deputy general.
After seeing Zhou Huai, Gao Yong immediately lowered his head and clasped his fists: "General Zhou!"
Zhou Huai pulled Gao Yong to the side and said in a deep voice: "Brother, I am going to go to General Su to discuss the military situation with General Su. I will leave the army to you for the time being."
Gao Yong was stunned.
He looked up at Zhou Huai, hesitated, and whispered: "General Zhou, even if you want to leave, if you don't still have General Peng of the Forbidden Army and General Zhang of the West Route Army, how can you let the last general..."
Zhou Huai shook his head and said, "They..."
"After all, I'm not from the Huai'an Army."
"It's not that there is any difference between closeness and distance, it's just that they have never been in our Huai'an Army and don't understand our Huai'an Army's tactics. Although our army is just a partial division, I still don't trust them to take over."
"I will go to the Left Route Army to see General Su this time. It may take three to five days, or six or seven days, and I will be back. General Gao will remember one thing during these few days."
"There are too many enemies in Cangzhou now. We should not take the initiative to fight, but we cannot take the initiative to retreat."
"No matter what the Qi people think, if we can attract their heavy troops to Cangzhou for one day, it will be an extra day for the main battlefield."
Gao Yong lowered his head and thought for a moment, then clasped his fists and said, "The general will understand!"
Zhou Huai then nodded and handed his seal to Gao Yong. Then he took a few soldiers and rode out of the camp, all the way to the left army camp.
Because the distance was not very far, Zhou Huai arrived at the Zuo Route Army camp the next night.
Zhou Huai is now one of Shen Yi's "hand-picked" generals. Even if he is the commander of a partial division, his status in the Huai'an army is already very high. After knowing that Zhou Huai had arrived, Su Ding, who was patrolling the camp, also hurriedly arrived at the camp.
At the gate of the camp, I went to greet Zhou Huai.
After seeing Su Ding, Zhou Huai directly bowed and clasped his fists: "The last general, Zhou Huai, has seen the great general!"
Su Ding hurriedly stepped forward, pulled his sleeves, shook his head and said: "We don't belong to each other, we just need to be brothers."
He looked at Zhou Huai and said seriously: "I heard that Xiandi's troops are preparing to attack Cangzhou. Why are they here at this critical moment?"
Zhou Huai looked serious, lowered his head and said: "General, the situation in Cangzhou is very strange, simply out of the blue. The general will not be able to understand it for a while, so he came to discuss with the general."
Su Ding nodded and pulled Zhou Huai all the way to his Chinese army tent. After the two sat down one after another, he looked at Zhou Huai and asked: "Is it about the Qi army's massive reinforcements in Cangzhou?"
Zhou Huai nodded: "General, do you know?"
"I just found out about it not long ago."
Su Ding chuckled and said, "I'm not blind about such a big troop movement, so I naturally know something about it."
"The general can't understand."
Zhou Huai lowered his head and said slowly: "The last general's troops are just diverting troops along the way. Not to mention whether they can capture Cangzhou, even if they can capture it, it will not have much impact on the battle situation. Why do the Qi people need to deploy heavy troops?"
, stationed in Cangzhou."
"this matter…"
Su Ding reached out and poured a cup of hot water for Zhou Huai, and then said slowly: "According to the intelligence, the Qi troops transferred to Cangzhou should all be Northern Qi's Southern Conquest Army."
"In the past few days, Nuo Yong from Northern Qi has begun to attack General Ling's right army."
At this point, Su Ding said softly: "Combining this information, it is not difficult to guess that there is nothing more than some trouble within Northern Qi."
General Su smiled and said: "I guess...the troops transferred to Cangzhou are the real elite of the Southern Conquest Army."
"General Zhou."
Su Ding looked at Zhou Huai and said slowly: "Do you believe me?"
Zhou Huai's face was serious: "If you don't believe in the general, how can the general come to the general with flying horses?"
"Since you believe me."
Su Ding touched his chin, and then said slowly: "Then I want you to start attacking Cangzhou City immediately after you return!"
"You can first send three to five thousand people to try to attack Cangzhou and see if the same people will come out."
Zhou Huai lowered his head, considered it carefully, and then looked up at Su Ding: "General, what do you mean, they won't leave the city?"
"I guess not."
Su Ding lowered his head and took a sip of water, and continued: "If they don't leave the city, then the more you attack Cangzhou, General Zhou, the more reasons they will have to stay in Cangzhou."
General Su said with a smile: "In this way, the Southern Army will have an account with the Northern Qi court."
Zhou Huai also took a sip of water, and then whispered: "After the last general returns, he immediately begins to attack Cangzhou."
"If the noise gets louder, artillery and catapults will be used."
Su Ding said softly: "At this time, the Cangzhou defenders may be in a hurry and wonder why you haven't started to attack the city yet."
After hearing this, Zhou Huai smiled and said, "From what the general said, it seems like we are cooperating with each other."
"Isn't it just about cooperating with each other?"
Su Ding chuckled softly and said: "The person in charge of the Southern Conquest should be Zhou Yuanlang. Others don't know that General Zhou was the commander of the guard camp next to Duke Shen. You should know it very well..."
Zhou Huai was startled, then suddenly thought: "Yes, yes, Mr. Shen has met that Zhou Yuanlang. Could it be said, could it be said..."
Su Ding shook his head: "I don't think they can reach any written agreement."
"However, since Mr. Shen has let Zhou Yuanlang go back, I feel that at least some kind of tacit understanding has been formed between them."
"At this time, Mr. Shen is not here. Let's not lose this tacit understanding."
Su Ding thought for a while and continued: "However, we cannot be completely defenseless. When attacking Cangzhou, once the city gate is opened, you must leave without hesitation."
Zhou Huai lowered his head: "I will finally understand!"
He thought for a while and asked: "General, is there any place where the junior general can help?"
"You have attracted 30,000 main troops in Cangzhou."
Su Ding smiled and said, "You have already done me a huge favor."
General Su looked to the north and said softly.
"Maybe they will help me create a gap..."
Yesterday I was confused and then fell asleep. I will make up for this chapter~