To the west of Suning is Li County, and to the west of Li County is Qizhou.
Fortunately, Lao Jiu didn't know Chang Yu's whereabouts. Otherwise, if he went there rashly, he would definitely be dead. That place was the center of the thieves' den. With two hundred people passing through, there would be death or no life.
Moreover, Chang Yu was too busy taking care of himself at this time and was extremely embarrassed.
Qizhou already belongs to Baoding Prefecture, which is also the hardest-hit area with a continuous flow of 300 miles. There are refugees gathering in every town. Chang Yu narrowly escaped under Li Guo's nose and galloped northward for more than 20 miles.
When we arrived outside the city, we were immediately stunned.
If the refugees on the banks of the Hutuo River are crowded with people, it can be said that the place is a sea of blue sea and waves. The endless horizon is really endless. What makes a few people even more nervous is that small groups of thieves can be seen everywhere wandering among the refugees to maintain order.
He was a fierce and arrogant man who cursed at the refugees wantonly.
A few people did not dare to pass through the refugees, so they took a detour from the west. After passing Qizhou City, an endless sea of people could still be seen, and refugees gathered in villages, towns, rivers and wilderness along the way.
What's more, several people were repeatedly questioned by the bandit patrols. It was not that their identities were discovered, but that the four detectives took a girl with them to deliver the message, which is really suspicious.
And every time at this time, Wuzhong would wink, put a lewd smile on his face, and look like you know it. Those interrogating bandits really understood, and some even took the opportunity to try to touch Nangong Yu, but Qiao Sanxiu was
Tan hand blocked it, leaving it to General Quan: "You are so brave!"
Naturally, these words were the excuse Chang Yu taught him. As expected, those thieves did not dare to do anything wrong when they heard Liu Zongmin's name. Liu Zongmin was famous for his brutal killings. He killed court officials and gentry and common people without mercy.
, even if he kills his own people, he does not change his expression. If he is unhappy, he will cut you down no matter who you are. His reputation for cruelty is known to everyone in the army.
The reason why I brought Nangongyu out was because she had just lost her parents and was left alone in the city, feeling restless and insecure. Secondly, it could also be used as a cover. She just wanted to go back to the city for a while, but now she has gone deep into the tiger's den and headed north.
A burden.
Although he could make excuses at this time, Chang Yu knew that as he got closer and closer to Baoding City, the interrogation would become stricter, and if the security was not complete, flaws would be exposed, and the consequences would be disastrous.
Chang Yu made the uneasy journey north until he finally arrived at Qingyuan County at dusk. Chang Yu decisively decided to abandon his horse and walk. This was the heart of the bandit army. He did not dare to take too many risks, so it was best to hide among the refugees.
Fu River is also called Qingyuan River, from which the name of Qingyuan County comes. Qingyuan is an ancient city older than Baoding City. It was under the jurisdiction of Baoding Prefecture in the Ming Dynasty and was more than 20 miles away.
There was a huge crowd of refugees by the river. Chang Yu and the others looked across the river to the north. They saw the small town of Qingyuan submerged in the endless crowd. They couldn't help but frown. They knew that a few miles ahead was where the main camp of the rebel army was. How worried were they?
Pass through the camp to the north of Baoding City and round to Li Yanbu.
Here, Chang Yu was worried about crossing the line of fire, but he didn't know that the color of the sky and the earth that was being killed on the northern defense line changed.
However, it was said that Li Yan hated Liu Fangliang for plotting against him that day, and ordered his troops to advance southward and use offense as defense to expand the buffer zone of the defense line. All preparations were completed overnight, and troops were sent south at dawn.
According to the spy report, Liu Fangliang was defeated the day before yesterday and retreated dozens of miles to Xushui City. Since the city was small and his troops camped on the riverside a few miles south of the city, Li Yan decided to give him a heavy blow and personally led 5,000 cavalry and 8 infantrymen.
Thousands, and at the same time, the artillery force of the Shenji Battalion went there with more than fifty field artillery pieces.
At ten o'clock in the afternoon, we arrived a few miles north of Xushui. When we met the resistance of Gu Ying's troops, we first used cannon fodder to distract them and then used our main force to attack from the side in an attempt to seize Li Yan south. However, they did not know that Li Yan was so humiliated the day before that he was so murderous that he ordered his subordinates to be both thieves and civilians. kill.
When the two sides were fighting fiercely, Liu Fangliang led his troops to arrive and attacked from the west flank in an attempt to bypass his route to the north. At this time, Li Yan's general Qin Songwang led the main force of the infantry to kill him. A bloody battle turned the sky dark and the earth dark.
Both sides held their breath in their hearts and gritted their teeth and refused to give in. The battle involving tens of thousands of people spread for several miles, and the sound of killing was deafening and could be heard more than ten miles away.
After half a stick of incense, Liu Fangliang's men were finally defeated. After all, their morale was low after yesterday's defeat in the battle, and most of his men were cannon fodder for refugees. Although they had direct descendants serving as the main force, they still had no chance of defeating Li Yan's overwhelming fighting spirit.
So he decided to make a strategic retreat. He didn't believe that Li Yan dared to pursue him in depth alone.
He guessed right. Of course, Li Yan did not dare to pursue in depth. Yesterday, he was almost deceived into attacking Baoding City. He learned a lesson from his mistakes. How could he be fooled again? Today's trip south was just to give him a chance to vent his anger and expand the buffer zone.
Liu Fangliang asked the cannon fodder and the side troops to move to the rear. He and Gu Ying led the main force to retreat. Unexpectedly, they had just walked a few miles when they suddenly saw the fire in the camp on the south bank of the river, and a group of cavalry came towards them.
Heavy armored cavalry!
Holy shit! The two of them couldn't help but exclaimed.
Unexpectedly, Li Yan tricked them. In fact, while Li Yan sent troops to attract the attention of the rebels, Jia Waixiong led the Black Panther Battalion to detour from the east to the enemy's rear, and took advantage of the fierce battle between the two sides to rush into the rebels. They killed people and set fire to the army camp. When Liu Fangliang was withdrawing his troops and came back, he rushed over without saying a word.
Liu Fangliang made two fatal mistakes. First, he underestimated the enemy. He did not expect that Li Yan was so bold that he dared to send troops southward. Second, he did not camp in the city because he suspected a minor trouble in the city.
When the troops were withdrawing this time, they were intercepted and burned down by Jia Waixiong's heavy-armored cavalry, who had no ability to fight back. Although the Black Panther Battalion only had more than two hundred people, they were heavy-armored warriors who were brave and good at fighting and could be as strong as ten. The thieves After the army retreated, the pursuers were already panicking. At this time, they were not interested in fighting, and they would collapse at the first touch.
Li Yan led his main force to cover up the attack, and the blade passed by without a blade of grass. He killed Liu Fangliang and Gu Ying until they lost their helmets and armor and were defeated. They chased them until they were ten miles away.
A great victory boosted the morale of the officers and soldiers, and their morale was so high that even some soldiers began to feel a little elated. After surrendering, they rushed thousands of miles outside the customs to kill the Tatars and made great achievements, and then went south non-stop to kill the thieves. They also used the sword to kill their former colleagues without hesitation. I couldn't help but Shouting that the Justice Army is awesome!
They are the teachers of justice given the title by the emperor!
However, Li Yan was extremely calm. Liu Fangliang's retreat would soon lead to a violent retaliatory counterattack. Although Li Zicheng wanted to lure him closer, he could not tolerate the thorn hurting people repeatedly and had to break him.
But Li Yan was also furious. He wanted to have a head-on confrontation with Li Zicheng. In addition to the turmoil in his heart, he also felt that the horn of a siege was about to sound, and a fierce battle was about to begin. Anyway, Li Zicheng also let Li Zicheng know his true ability through brilliant methods, and also showed his determination to the court!
Ming Jin withdrew his troops and rested his horses at the rebel camp by the river. At the same time, he sent people into the city to clear the area. All the people were forcibly driven away within an hour. Then he ordered Qin Songwang to lead 3,000 troops to garrison Xushui City and deploy more than 50 field artillery pieces from the Shenji Battalion. On the city.
He also ordered the army to dig several ditches and build defensive fortifications outside the city. When the work was completed at night, Li Yan led his troops back to the northern defense line to the Juma River. At this time, the scouting horse came to report that Zhou Yuji from the west was preparing to capture the city.
Zhou Yuji was pleasantly surprised when he contacted Li Yan when he was in a panic. At that time, he planned to capture Mancheng. However, due to the unclear situation, he was worried that his whereabouts would be exposed too early and an army of thieves would besiege him, so he hid in the mountains to inquire about information from Li Yan.
One day later, Li Yan received a secret letter, laying out the encirclement plan that he had previously discussed with the young eunuch, and also informed him of the general situation. He had established a defense line in the north, and there were reinforcements in the southeast. At this time, the young eunuch was setting up nets in the south to prepare for the encirclement.
, let Zhou Yuji act according to the situation and prepare in advance.
Zhou Yuji was overjoyed after the review and summoned his subordinates to discuss. A group of people held wooden sticks and scratched on the ground for a long time. The situation suddenly became clear. At this time, all the friendly troops from the south, south, north, and south were in position, and only his troops on the west flank were waiting.
After some discussion, Zhou Yuji decided to capture Mancheng.
The city is located forty miles northwest of Baoding and Xushui due north takes advantage of the horns. The straight-line distance between the two places is only more than thirty miles. With the two cities as outposts and Dingxing County behind as the main defense line, both offense and defense can jointly advance and retreat.
Just do it. Although Mancheng is only more than 40 miles away from Baoding City, the terrain is relatively remote due to its proximity to the mountainous area, which does not have much military use for the bandit army. There is no large group of bandits garrisoned, and it is only a resting place for a few groups of exploring horses.
stronghold.
So when the Ming army spies sent the information to Li Yan, Zhou Yuji had already led his troops to garrison the city and was busy restoring troops and building city defenses.
Li Yan was overjoyed, all parties were in place, and they would only wait for the little eunuch's order to attack and kill the intruders. But where was the little eunuch at this time, and when would he give the order? (To be continued)