As soon as Wang Daiji left and on his way back, his nephew Guo Zhu came to ask questions.
"First of all, among the so-called six counties in Huaixi, only Yiyang is in the south of Huaihe River. The reason why Yiyang County can exist in Huainan is because there are mountains to the west and us to the east... In other words, the Huaiyou League has only one on the south side of Huaihe River.
We are a family and we are fighting alone. This is the trend." Wen Renxunan lowered his head and carried his hands behind his back, carefully analyzing his nephew while walking. "Secondly, if Du Pozhen chooses to enter Huainan, I will definitely take it seriously.
Be his pawn, but Du Pozhen obviously wants to stabilize the surrounding area of Xuanpao City first, and then clean up Huaibei. Huainan is an abandoned son. On the contrary, what Wang Daiji said here is absolutely correct. We are his henchmen, and if we don't reconcile, we will only
Being able to fall into conflict immediately, so taking refuge at this time, we are the top of the mountain under his Wang Daiji, this is called time..."
"But can Wang Daiji succeed?" Guo Zhu interrupted impatiently. "He is a grammar official who only knows a few articles about the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Punishment. He hastily acquired four counties, and all the soldiers and horses were recruited temporarily. In comparison, Leader Du
There is a gang that is so big and organized behind the scenes! What will we do if Chief Zhang takes over the world?"
"First of all, we did not join the gang." Wen Renxun'an continued to answer seriously. "We are members of the Huaiyou League who had a good relationship with the Huaiyou League before joining the gang and separated... Therefore, the gang will not care about us.
, let alone regard us as traitors; secondly, judging from Wang Daiji’s behavior today and his past interactions with Zhang Sanlang, I am afraid he is not a mortal, and the future may not be easy to say; finally, Huainan, this place, has always been a place between the north and the south.
This is the core of the struggle, so don't talk about Wang Daiji and Du Pozhen. I'm afraid there will be Zhang Xing, Xiao Hui, and Bai Hengyuan in the future. As long as we have the foundation of Huainan, we will have three points of confidence to face anyone.
"
Guo Zhu thought for a while and continued to ask: "But how can we do big things like this? Isn't it just a capital-guaranteed business? It also depends on people's looks."
"Do you think it's easy to maintain capital investment in troubled times?" Wenren Xun'an was speechless and finally stopped outside the gate of the inner city.
Guo Zhu thought for a while and did not argue: "Don't all the wealthy families place their bets separately? Then uncle, come and look after the house, and I'll go to Huaibei?"
Wenren Xun'an was startled, but he did not reply to his nephew. Instead, without saying a word, he lowered his head and entered the inner city.
Guo Zhu understood and didn't say much. He gathered 300 companions that day, opened the treasury, got enough weapons, dry food, dozens of horses and donkeys, and left the north of the city early the next morning.
We went up, found a wild harbor, and headed to the other side.
And arrived at Xuanpao City on September 14th.
Then, he met Fu Boshi, who almost became his godfather, here.
Fu Boshi, who looked a little depressed, was not surprised when he heard the other party's words, nor was he angry at having his love taken away by a sword. He just nodded, comforted him for a while, and sent the other party along the Ru River to the upstream front line of Yancheng.
.
On September 17, Guo Zhu saw Du Po Formation, Kan Leng, Yue Qi, Fan Shiyong, Ma Sheng, Slender King Kong, and even Mang King Kong on the river embankment here...
In the past, almost all the members of the Huaiyou League came out, and they also recruited Mang Kingang, a non-internal and external foreign aid. The warships and grain ships almost blocked the Ru River.
Obviously, Du Pozhen was determined to capture Yancheng.
"I don't blame him." On the river embankment, Du Pozhen's face tightened, and he rubbed a handful of moist loess with calluses in his hands. His words were dull. "He has worked hard in Huainan for the past two years. When I asked him to leave that day, I felt sad.
I probably knew that today's situation would happen, not to mention that you are still here, Xiao Guo. You are loyal enough. If I have the opportunity in the future, I will try my best to be thorough... However, with Wang Daiji's ability, I have to be on guard... Old
Yue!"
The veteran Yue Qi immediately cheered up and handed over his hand: "Alliance leader."
"Call me the leader or the commander-in-chief, don't always call me the alliance leader." Du Pozhen reminded, and gave the order. "No matter what, we must be on guard against the other side. Go back to Xuanpo and discuss it with Lao Fu. Don't worry about Huai Shang.
Be sure to lock Rushuikou to ensure the stability of Xuanpao City."
Yue Qi was old and already lacked energy, so he naturally agreed after hearing the words.
"As for Xiao Guo, you stay here and work with Kan Leng. You are all familiar with it." Du Pozhen continued to make arrangements. "From now on, I will treat you the same as I treat Kan Leng and the others...
Let’s take a rest.”
In the end, he became his godson, but Guo Zhu could only nod.
But after Guo Zhu left, the few people on the river embankment did not move. Without him, there was no explanation for how Lin City was destroyed. They had gathered here to discuss this matter.
Let us say that Yancheng has a very distinctive feature, that is, the two Huaihe River tributaries, Rushui and Yingshui, as well as multiple upstream tributaries of the two tributaries, meet here. There are natural factors and man-made factors, and Yancheng is
At this intersection, a city was built next to the river on the north bank of the river, with a warehouse city inside and a port city outside. This feature allowed Du Po Formation's troops to successfully move upstream and force themselves in front of the city.
The support could easily and continuously follow other tributaries to reach Yancheng.
In fact, when the Huaixi Army first arrived, it faced only 4,000 Yingchuan County soldiers, plus a Ningdan Captain. It was completely possible to directly use force, attack by land and water, and rely on the superior force to try to seize the city defense in one wave.
But it was obvious that the Huaixi Army seemed a little careless (or perhaps cautious) and actually waited for two or three days until Mang Kingang, the most advanced man, arrived with his troops before trying to attack the city.
The result was that at this time, not only did the 3,000 official and military reinforcements from Xiangcheng County upstream arrive, but the Eastern Capital also sent a veteran General Ying Yanglang to arrive with 3,000 elite troops. Moreover, this general was called Song Changsheng, and he was
Grandmaster General Yu Jiuluo's favorite disciple, a veteran Chengdan master, was originally stationed in Hedong, but now it has shrunk to be directly under Dongdu, so he was sent to be the commander-in-chief at this time.
Yesterday, Mang Kingang called for formation on the narrow ground in the east of the city. The opponent did not panic at all. He dressed up in person and went out to fight. The two sides fought from day to sunset, and there was no sign of victory or defeat.
At this moment, everyone couldn't help but feel depressed.
Because I can't see the way to win and defeat the enemy.
"Besieging the city is not possible." The Huaiyou League, which was suppressed by Zuo Youxian at that time, now has many masters of condensing pills. Fan Shiyong, who was still young, was one of them. At this time, he clasped his fingers and said, "Because of the ferry in the south of the city.
It is difficult to pass through the stronghold, and the government troops have a steady stream of reinforcements from upstream; it is also difficult to attack the city, because the government troops and horses are enough to fill all parts of the city, and there is no water leakage, and they can also worry about several water fortresses. Today I saw them setting up a stronghold in the north of the city.
Obviously there will be reinforcements in a few days, so we need to be like horns and build a multi-layered defense line; we are counting on the masters to crush us and force a breakthrough, needless to say, Song Changsheng is really powerful!"
"I have a plan." Kan Leng waited for a while, and when he saw that the others were silent, he spoke seriously. "Didn't Zhao Tuo from Huaiyang insist on calling himself an official army? Can the troops pretend to be from Huaiyang?
Soldiers and horses, secretly sail into the Yingshui channel downstream at night, and then come back through that road during the day, just to deceive the other party that they are Zhao Tuo's reinforcements, and then enter the city in order to bloom both internally and externally?"
"There is a problem." Ma Sheng, who was in charge of ship deployment, answered seriously. "We control the entire downstream, so how can we explain that the government's reinforcements easily passed through our water defense line? Is it necessary to make a show in person? If it is a show,
How far can you go without being discovered? Do you want to burn your own boat?"
Kan Leng immediately shook his head: "What I want to do is to pretend to be relaxed or withdraw the troops and let go of the river. How can I be willing to damage my own ships?"
Fan Shiyong and Shou Jingang also shook their heads and said no.
"In that case." Mang Kingang frowned and said, "Then how about letting go? Retreat along the Ru River, and then send people to disguise. Or simply wait for Li Longtou to really force Huaiyang to turn against him, and let the Huaiyang people
Are you really going to be an internal response?"
"In which year and month?" Kan Leng immediately shook his head. "Why don't we wait until winter?"
"How about fire?" Mang Kingang continued to try. "Their water fortress is so thick, but they still have to go out of the city to build a fortress? Use fire to attack!"
Everyone was lost in thought and quite interested.
Mang Jingang continued to come up with ideas: "Why don't you ask Liangjun to see if they can invite Wu Dalang and Wu Erlang to come over? Suddenly..."
"I have a plan." At this moment, Du Pozhen, who had been looking at the dirt on his hands, suddenly said, "How about we flood Yancheng?"
Mang Kingang immediately stroked his head and laughed: "Commander Du, please don't attack with water just because I say fire."
"I'm not joking." Du Pozhen answered seriously. "We moved down the camp slightly and crossed the river to the highland diagonally opposite Yancheng. Then we built dams upstream and downstream across the city at the same time. This way we can prevent enemy reinforcements.
The source of protection is constantly coming from upstream, and it can also store water for water attacks."
"It's easy to build a dam, but with Song Changsheng as the enemy, it's also easy to destroy the dam, right?" Shou Jingang analyzed carefully. "Moreover, there has been a drought for more than half a year, and there is very little water upstream. Our big ships have difficulty moving, so we built the dam in a hurry.
In the end, can we really store enough water to overwhelm the city of Yan?"
"How easy it is to destroy the dam depends on whether you guys can try your best, Chief Mang. Besides, Song Changsheng has a fierce personality. If he gets into a fight, he may not get entangled." Du Pozhen answered immediately, his voice
But he suddenly lowered his head and spread out the wet loess in his hands for everyone to see. "As for the issue of water storage, I hope they think so, because as I expected, there will be heavy autumn rain within a few days.
This place is where many tributaries converge. So-called heavy rains during a long drought may cause flooding overnight... So we don’t need to support it for long."
Everyone was awe-inspiring.
On the other hand, Mang Kingang frowned slightly: "The idea is good, but what if the other party also notices the weather? What if he comes out to destroy the dam regardless of risk? If Song Changsheng desperately wants to destroy the river embankment, I will try my best to stop it, and
How effective is it?”
"This is a gamble! There are only two dams. If you lose the bet, you will lose. But if you win the bet..." Du Po Zhen said this, and he also glanced around, his eyes and words were both sharp. "A real man is born.
In this world, if you want fame and territory, you have to get it yourself. What's the point of looking up to others every day?! Don't you want to win a big one with your own skills?"
No one answered, and everyone knew that Leader Du, Du Longtou, Commander Du, had been wanting to say this for more than a year and a half.
"Let's start moving the camp now." Du Pozhen saw this and stood up directly. "Starting tomorrow, I will personally be responsible for building the dam upstream, and Ma Sheng will be responsible for the downstream...Song Changsheng will be handed over to leader Mang Da, and Kan Leng and Lao Fan will be responsible for both the shore and the shore.
The soldiers and horses are responsible for blocking the attack, and they are also responsible for the two captains in the city."
Upon hearing this, all the generals stood up solemnly on the river embankment.
In this way, the Huaixi Army's large-scale actions naturally triggered a reaction in the city. Song Changsheng left the city that day and headed west, trying to lead troops from the north bank to block the dam construction. As a result, the Huaixi Army was well prepared and divided its troops to fight to the death. Mang Kingang even used
He tried his best to fight against Song Changsheng, which was an earth-shaking battle.
It was like this for two or three days in a row.
Seeing that the dam was gradually being built, and on September 20th, it suddenly rained. The rain was not heavy and just muddy the ground. However, the local magistrate in the city became completely uneasy because he was repeatedly reminded by the locals.
I came to Song Changsheng that evening to talk about the risks in detail.
Who would have thought that Song Changsheng was from the north, so how could he know the seriousness behind the hydrological conditions in the Jianghuai region? In addition, he had been fighting for days, fighting against the mighty King Kong, and he was already impatient, so he immediately scolded: "You think I don't want to demolish that?
Two embankments?! Or do you think I'm just going out to show off my power these days?! If you really want to, you can come with me tomorrow and personally lead the troops to seize the river embankment. If you don't dare, what's the point of just urging me? Isn't it in vain?
Shake the morale of the military?!"
The county magistrate was so frightened that his face turned pale, and he could only obey, but he was still worried, so he came to find the captain of the county again. He was a mature man named Hu Yan.
But okay, let’s make a detailed report:
"Captain Hu, I think what these locals said is absolutely right. I have been here for several years and have seen dangerous situations when the water rose too high. What they said is also correct. After the severe drought,
There are too many debris in the rivers and ditches, but it is easy to silt up and then flood. This can be seen in the city. As for the Huaixi thieves, they specially stationed their army on the opposite slope, and then built dams up and down at the same time, and added others to the original
With so many ships, the meaning of a water attack is too obvious. As for us, although we have a city, we are defenseless. We attack for days, just want to break the dike, but we don’t even have a wooden fence or a high platform to store military supplies and prevent flooding.
, once flooding occurs, it will be too dangerous, so you should make plans in advance."
Hu Yan hesitated for a moment, how could he not know that the other party was absolutely right, and how could he not know that the other party only thought that he was an official from Jing'an, the eastern capital, and could speak in front of Song Changsheng? But in fact, because it was Bai
A thoughtful old subordinate, Zhang Xing's old boss, he usually only works in a low profile and is not willing to show off any prestige.
Seeing that Song Changsheng had a typical Guanlong Juntou temper, he was even more reluctant to get involved.
However, the matter was of great importance, and he knew the stakes, so he hesitated again and again, and finally nodded with gritted teeth: "Your Excellency is absolutely right, but General Song is angry. We can't offend him for the moment. I will only use the soldiers of this county tomorrow."
First, build a wooden fence and a high platform, move the military supplies there, and later raise the military garrison... It only takes a day or two for him to build a dam like this, and it will only take a day or two to flood the city wall. It is impossible to damage the city wall.
It’s done.”
The county magistrate thought for a while and felt that this was the most appropriate way. He breathed a sigh of relief and made an appointment to bring the remaining strong men in the city to help him tomorrow.
However, in the evening of that day, the plan was just being finalized. In the middle of the night, the autumn wind suddenly picked up and it rained heavily.
Hu Yan and the county magistrate first managed to sit quietly, but neither could fall asleep. Then, seeing the water gradually rising in the city, they couldn't bear it any longer. They only gathered at one of the city wall towers, lit up lamps and stood guard, and just watched the rain in fear.
As a result, the rain kept coming, but after the second watch, it actually became smaller, which made the two of them feel relieved for a while, and even fell asleep. But when the fourth watch came, it suddenly started pouring down like a supreme being angry,
It woke the two of them up.
Now, the two of them were completely uneasy and wanted to go to see Song Changsheng together.
As a result, a foot of water had accumulated in the city at this time, and it was rising faster and faster. The county magistrate was okay at first, but when he reached the halfway point, he had difficulty walking. Hu Yan was an expert in the early years, and now he is even more powerful.
He wanted to help, but he was ready to disregard his propriety and lift the other person up before talking.
But just when the two of them were standing in the water in the city, they suddenly heard a loud noise from the southwest, as if thousands of horses were rushing to be the first, and thousands of drums were beating in unison. There was also a clear vibration under their feet, causing everyone to change their expressions, and the whole city was also shocked.
Wake up with a start.
However, how could the two of them not know that this was the fortress on the north bank of the Yangtze River and Huaihe River, where could all the thousands of horses and drums come from? Such a movement must be the power of God under a heavy rain overnight. And if the power of God is moving, how can manpower stop it?
They also looked at each other with ashen faces.
Sure enough, within a moment, the south side of the port city could be heard thundering like the wind howling, and countless soldiers began to cry. It was seen that the water stronghold deep into the river was washed away first, but this was not counted. As the harbor
The city collapsed, the water beneath our feet kept rising, and there were cries in all directions and even the slightest depression.
It seemed that the Huaixi Army's water attack was effective. The water was released upstream and blocked downstream, and the water flooded towards Yancheng.
The two of them did not dare to neglect, and immediately fled up the city wall, hugging each other. They hesitated for a moment whether to abandon the army and flee, but they were both honest people and did not have the courage.
Just as I was hesitating, the sky was already getting brighter. I saw water gushing all over the city, and countless people drowned. The city walls were densely packed with fleeing officers and soldiers, almost all of whom had no armor or weapons. Then I saw countless Huaixi troops, each in different sizes.
When the ship comes, the big ship sails around the city, beating drums and waving flags, and only shoots arrows at the city wall full of officers and soldiers to demonstrate and call for surrender. The small ship goes straight into the city from the collapsed port city. They are all lightly armored and have long soldiers, and they sail through the streets as if they were walking on shoes.
On the ground, when they saw the surviving officers and soldiers on the roof, they used long soldiers to poke them to force them to stop making noise.
The two men were visible to the naked eye, and the entire army collapsed quickly.
Suddenly, a stream of light flew up and hurried northward, but no one stopped it. After a while, another stream of light flew straight to the west without stopping it. It was as if Song Changsheng and the reinforcement general from Xiangcheng County ran away separately, and
When the whole army saw this scene, they were completely helpless. For a while, people were everywhere kneeling and begging for surrender.
"Captain Hu... you should leave too!" The county magistrate had no choice but to say, "If you leave, it will be easier for me to surrender."
Hu Yan was soaked all over. He smiled bitterly and held his hands towards the other party: "I can't help you this time. Your family is in the county. I will do my best to protect you. You just need to survive."
After saying that, he also tried his best to create a glow, lighting up the protruding structures on the water, and jumped to the north to escape.
In the afternoon of that day, I arrived at Yingchuan County alone, only to find that Song Changsheng had not come at all. Knowing that he had gone directly back to Dongdu, he went to find the county guard and made a report, regardless of the mess he was in.
The county guard heard about the fighting on the front line and knew that the 10,000-strong army had been wiped out. He was stunned on the spot.
It was better for Hu Yan to speak carefully and tell the other party that the Huaixi Army relied heavily on the navy and could not go deeper into the north. After taking Yancheng, they could at most take advantage of the rising water in autumn and follow the tributaries of the Ru River to capture several counties in the south of the county.
That's all.
But the county guard was still uneasy. After confirming that Song Changsheng and Na Heishou had all escaped, he asked Hu Yan to quickly organize the military equipment, recruit strong men and officers, and then strengthen the city defense and absorb the defeated troops.
After several days, the result was just as Hu Yan had expected. Du Po Formation took advantage of the power of heaven and earth to defeat Yingchuan in one battle. There were 7,000 soldiers from Xiangcheng County and 3,000 elite troops from the Eastern Capital. It was indeed a powerful force in the Central Plains, but fortunately in Huaihe
The Western Army's strength was limited and it mostly relied on the navy. It only took advantage of the situation to force Beiwu and a few cities in Ye County to surrender.
This can be regarded as ensuring the upstream fulcrum of Xuanpao City.
Just when Hu Yan thought the matter was over and was about to wait for Dongdu to deal with it, the county guard suddenly found him again.
"Captain Hu, I know you are an old man from Jing'antai." The governor's face turned pale and his hair was sticky. It was obvious that he had worked hard for days. "So no matter how hard it is to defend the city here, there is something that you have to do personally.
, go and make it clear to Zhong Cheng..."
Hu Yan's scalp was numb, but he could only hand over his hand: "Master Fu, even the lower officials are afraid of Zhongcheng."
"Are you afraid?" the county guard said helplessly. "It's a very important matter. Someone has to go there quickly, and they have to go there quickly, and they have to meet with Zhongcheng. It can't be me, the county guard, right?"
Hu Yan had no choice but to answer with all his strength: "May I ask Mr. Fu, what kind of bad news is it?"
"Two pieces of bad news." The county guard said helplessly. "You should know that Liang County Cao Wang and Huaiyang County Zhao Tuo have been flirting with thieves, right?"
"I know." Lieutenant Hu answered bravely. "But don't you mean that everyone is considerate?"
"Being considerate was in the past, but now that the situation is like this, no one is willing to be considerate, at least the gang is not willing to be considerate... The first news is that Li Shu, one of the thieves, sent troops to Liang County with the Wu brothers as the vanguard, and easily and directly
They defeated Gushu, which was only 20 to 30 miles south of Song City, the county seat. Then they suppressed the territory with a large army and mobilized internal response, forcing Liang County to change its banner." The county guard said with all his strength. "I just don't know whether it was the promise of Cao Cao's family or whether he was put under house arrest by his subordinates.
Already."
Hu Yan was not surprised, and just sighed: "Half of Liang County has been taken away by gangs, and the local officials have also been taken away long ago. Songcheng is too far east, so I can't blame Governor Cao."
.”
"No wonder it's not our place to say." The prefect of Yingchuan continued to sigh. "Then the time when Liang County changed its flag was probably around the same time that Yancheng was flooded, and the result was Zhao Tuo of Huaiyang County. It is estimated that almost
At the same time, they knew that the 10,000-strong army of the imperial court in the northwest was wiped out, and the Wu brothers from the gang led their troops to Zhecheng in the northeast. In panic, they directly followed Li Shu's advice to surrender and changed their banner... Not only did they change their banner, they also accepted it.
Added the position of general manager signed by the third thief Zhang."
Hu Yan wanted to say that there was no other reason for Zhao Tuo's situation, but when he thought of the embarrassment of the Li Qingchen brothers and sisters being kicked out by the other party, he couldn't say anything sympathetic. Especially since he was about to be responsible for breaking the bad news about these two top leaders.
Tell your home minister personally.
"That day in Luoxia, Dongdu, when Zhang San was my subordinate Bai Shou, how did I know that he would stir up such a storm within three or four years?" Hu Yan has never told anyone about his former relationship with Zhang Xing.
, is the kind of person you can't avoid, but now after digesting the news, especially thinking about the big defeat that I personally experienced, I couldn't help but feel a kind of fear and confusion. "That day in the capital, I saw that the other party was extraordinary.
When I came here, I just thought that this guy wanted to marry Mr. Nanya, but he became a thief somewhere, and now he has reached this point?"
Lord Yingchuan was startled for a moment. He thought for a moment in the pattering autumn rain, but he just waved his hand and urged the other party to go to Dongdu as soon as possible.