The person who arrived was none other than Chen Xi, who had been ordered by Azig to go to the north bank to inspect grain and grass.
Zhou Bin and the guard Puama agreed to deliver the grain tomorrow. Chen Xi could have waited until tomorrow to go out of the city to inspect the grain and grass together, but if he really waited until tomorrow to inspect the grain for delivery with the grain inspector, he would have to take the benefits extorted from the Chaishan grain transport officer.
Go and share it equally with the grain inspector and Fancheng guard Puama.
Puama was born in the Punacha family of the Yandong aristocracy. Later, because Emperor Tianming promoted Han surnames, he changed his surname to Pu.
Puama is a tactful person. He usually smiles when he sees Chen Xi, but when he sees the actual benefits, he refuses to give Chen Xi more than half of it. He was born in Punachale and is not afraid of Chen Xi's identity as an Azig family slave.
Azige is the younger brother of Yufei, the favorite concubine of Emperor Tianming.
If he wanted to get more benefits, Chen Xi naturally had to go to the grain camp and contact Captain Chai Shan, who was escorting the grain and grass. Zhou Bin wanted Captain Chai Shan to understand that he was the key person to receive the grain and strengthen the people, so he insisted on leaving the city before it got dark.
Come and take a look at Liangying.
Zhou Bin came to the main road to greet him. After listening to Chen Xi's chatter on the phone, he understood the purpose of his visit and cursed in his heart: Hu people have only been in the customs for a few years, but they have learned a lot about the greedy and despicable things in the customs! That's good, Hu.
The more powerful and rapid people become corrupted, the smaller the resistance to the Northern Expedition will be in the future.
Thinking about it in my heart, I still wanted to welcome Chen Xi into the camp to see the food, grass and baggage as well as the baggage brought to Fancheng with the army.
The grain and grass going south from Fancheng was mainly grain and grass transported from Luoyang in the north to the south. Later, the grain collection in Zaoyang County was brought under the jurisdiction of Xiangyang to make up for the shortage of grain and grass on the southern route. Therefore, it is rare to have inspections here in Fancheng.
An opportunity to deliver food and fodder and blackmail the place.
Chen Xi entered the grain camp, first to see the grain and grass, and secondly to see the strength of the people.
There were no problems with the grain and grass. There were nearly two thousand carriages, most of which were loaded with real grain and grass. Zhou Bin was leading the way. Naturally, Chen Xi couldn't reach those carts equipped with armor and arrows, but Min Zhuang could tell.
question.
Azig was worried that Luo Xiancheng would send some old, weak, women and children to Chengdu as perfunctory, but he did not expect that Luo Xiancheng would send all the young and strong people. He just hoped that it would be about the same and not too ugly - and outside the east city of Fancheng, in addition to the escort
In addition to the soldiers, those three to four thousand escorting civilians were all strong and healthy. How could they look like the slightest bit of emaciated mountain people?
Although Chen Xi is greedy and despicable, he has been with Azig in the army for many years and his eyesight is still much sharper than ordinary people.
Seeing this, Chen Xi became suspicious: He didn't believe that Luo Xiancheng would be so kind as to use the rare and healthy soldiers in his army to supplement the shortage of civilians here. Then there was only one possibility left: Huaidong or Huaixi
The ambush soldiers disguised themselves as civilians and came to seize Fancheng. It may be that Luo Xiancheng has rebelled——
Thinking of this, a cold sweat broke out on Chen Xi's back. Fortunately, the autumn weather was already cold and he still had many clothes. The sweat could not be seen through the clothes. The cool breeze blew by and he couldn't help but shiver. Fortunately, the sky was dim and pale.
His face wasn't that clear either.
Seeing the suspicion, Chen Xi did not dare to stay in the grain camp for a long time. He was anxious to join the hundreds of soldiers outside the grain camp who were given a show by Puama. He said to Zhou Bin: "Chaishan is a good source of grain and the people are good. Look.
I feel relieved now that I have to rush back to the south bank tonight to report to General Azige, and I will ask Captain Zhou to cleanse the city tomorrow..."
"General Chen, there is another place you must take a look at!" Zhou Bin squinted and smiled, holding Chen Xi's arm and asking him to go to a tent on the left. He smiled as he walked, "That's Chaishan Mountain."
Mr. Wang Xiangwang asked the last general to bring some good things to honor you, and asked General Chen to pick them first..."
Just like foreign troops are not allowed to enter the city casually, the grain camp is still a military camp no matter how simple it is, and foreign troops are not allowed to enter the military camp casually - Chen Xi entered the grain camp to inspect the grain and grass, and the people were strong. The soldiers accompanying him gathered in the open space in front of the camp gate to wait.
.
Seeing the healthy soldiers beside Chaishan Captain Zhou Bin on both sides, Chen Xi was stiff and did not dare to struggle. He could only follow Zhou Bin to a tent.
As soon as he opened the curtain, Chen Xi wanted to soften his expression and say something, but Zhou Bin didn't give him a chance. Chen Xi only felt his neck tighten, and with a dull cry, Zhou Bin's thick arm was strangled from behind and he couldn't move.
No.
Zhou Bin took the waist knife and cut Chen Xi's neck. After watching him convulse and lose his breath, Zhou Bin let go of his hand, dropped the body, put the waist knife back into the scabbard, and wiped the blood on the arm armor with a sweat towel.
At this time, Huang Zuyu lifted the curtain and walked in. Zhou Bin said: "This guy's eyes are poisonous, but the poison in his eyes will make him die early - we have to take action in advance!"
No plan can be perfect. Killing Chen Xi is easy. Even if Chen Xi screams before dying, it will not cause much noise in the grain camp. But if you want to kill Chen Xi silently,
It would be impossible to deal with the hundreds of soldiers without alerting Fancheng and Qiaodu.
Huang Zuyu said: "I have asked Deng Qiaoshan to surround the hundreds of soldiers. Now I will ask the generals to change their armor. When they are alert, they will take action..."
"I'm afraid this won't buy much time," Zhou Bin said. "Ask Deng Qiaoshan to surround Chen Xi's troops and hold the troops there first. Gao Hu and I will each lead a team of troops to attack the bridge crossing and the east gate of Fancheng. Zu Yu, you stay in Liang.
Camp, wait until the generals and soldiers have put on their armor before coming to support us! Otherwise, once the Fancheng defenders are told to close the city gates, it will be difficult to fight."
At this time, they were close to the city, so they could naturally catch the defenders off guard. However, this did not mean that a large force of troops could directly attack the east gate of Fan City and the Qiaodu barracks. The defenders would be too stupid to be alert at all. Although Zhou Bin's troops were full of manpower,
There were weapons, but in order not to arouse the enemy's vigilance, there were not many people wearing armor beforehand, and there were also few bows and crossbows. At this time, if they rushed directly to engage the defenders in a sudden battle, it would be difficult to control the casualties.
The elite of this trip were exactly three thousand warriors disguised as civilian husbands, who had not yet had time to wear armor and distribute weapons.
However, Huang Zuyu was not one of his mother-in-law. He followed Yu Wangao and Tang Fu in his early years and endured such hard times in the deep mountains and old forests of southern Fujian. He knew that in order to win, a certain price must be paid, and he must be brave enough to pay the price - Huang Zuyu's press
He pressed Zhou Bin's shoulder and agreed to his arrangement without saying anything else.
As dusk deepened, Zhou Ta led thirty or forty sergeants, clumsily blocking the city gate, asking the military academy guarding the city gate to let them go into the city to enjoy themselves. He said with a smile on his face: "It took more than ten days to travel through wind and frost.
, I haven’t rested for a while, and I have to rush back tomorrow after delivering the food and grass. I dare you to ask my brother to drive for a while, so that we country bumpkins can have a taste of what it’s like to be a woman in a big city..."
They had stuffed their money in, and although the gatekeeper military academy blocked Zhou Ta and the others from entering the city, they did not look at them harshly, nor did they move their swords and guns across to prevent them from standing in the city gate. They just shouted and said: "This is the rule.
, why not wait until the grain and grass are delivered tomorrow, and ask your leader to speak to General Pu. If the superiors say to let people in, we will naturally not stop them..." It's almost time to close the city gate, but Chen Xi has to wait for Chen Xi, who leaves the city to go to the grain camp.
return.
At this time, two people came from behind, walked up to Zhou Ta's ear and whispered: "Get ready to take action..."
The defenders also noticed that a large group of men and horses were coming towards this place in the dusk. There were many more people than Chen Xi brought out of the city, and they became suspicious.
The city gate principal ordered his men to drive Zhou Ta and the others out and prepare to close the city gate. Zhou Ta and the others shouted: "There are bandits, brother, don't drive us out!" They were shouting, and they pulled out sharp knives and stabbed them.
Come.
The Chengmen School was caught off guard, and sharp knives penetrated both sides of the school, causing blood to spurt out.
There was chaos at the east city gate. The dozen or so defenders in the gate were completely unprepared and were killed. However, the defenders above the city tower occupied the narrow road to the city and suppressed the Zhou Tower under the city gate, unable to attack it.
The alarm bell sounded at the same time, and the sound spread for miles...
************
When Azig heard the alarm bell ringing on the north bank, he was dancing with a knife in the yard. He just took a sweat towel to wipe the sweat from his forehead.
Azige stretched out his muscles every morning and evening, practicing bow and knife, just to be able to fight on the battlefield. When he heard the alarm bell ringing, it was not so real. After all, he was two or three miles away in Xiangyang City again, and then in Xiangyang North City.
The alarm bells were also loud, and Azig confirmed that Fancheng on the north bank had encountered an enemy...
There is a watchtower in the west corner of Azig's house that is more than six feet high. It was built to facilitate military command in the city. It can directly overlook the situation on the north bank. Azig wore a single shirt and walked straight to the watchtower with a knife in hand.
The servants in the mansion heard the alarm bells on the north and south banks and became confused.
When Azig walked to the foot of the watchtower, the military academy hurried over to report: "We encountered enemies in Fancheng, and there were random enemy invasions at Qiaodu and the east gate of Fancheng..."
"Where did the enemy soldiers come from?" Azig asked.
"I don't know the details. General Tong is sending a detective horse to the north bank to check."
"Shit-eater, you only know how to check now. How can you alert the enemy soldiers until they hit the city gate?" Azig shouted loudly. Just as he was about to swing his whip, he suddenly thought of where the enemy soldiers who attacked Fancheng came from.
Azig didn't know about Luo Xiancheng's bad relationship with the king, and it was impossible for Luo Xiancheng to expose himself in front of Shewenzhuang and Ye Jiluorong, letting others know that he couldn't even control his own men - in Azig
It seems that the Chaishan grain escort troops and horses were sent by Luo Xiancheng. The Chaishan grain escort troops and horses attacking Fancheng can only mean that something is wrong with Luo Xiancheng...
Azig subconsciously concluded that something was wrong with Luo Xiancheng. He asked the soldiers to take out his armor and sword, and at the same time asked people to ring the big bell and gathered all the troops in Xiangyang to prepare to cross the river to aid Fancheng.
Azig climbed up to the watchtower in the west corner of his garrison general's mansion. The prefect Shen Haobo also ran over with sweat on his face and panting. Looking from the watchtower to the north bank, the east city gate and the bridge crossing, there were fires. The position of the grain camp outside the east gate was somewhat
The fire is strong, but it is weakening.
It seems that there was a battle at the grain camp, but it was over. This also proves that the soldiers and horses escorting grain in Chaishan were attacking the enemy.
The east city gate was blocked, making it difficult to see clearly, but on the other side of the bridge, which was more than a thousand steps away, the fire was rising, burning the twilight blood red and bright, and one could clearly see that the east base of the Qiaodu garrison had been surrendered to the enemy.
Occupied, corpses were lying on the ground. In addition to the more than a hundred defenders at the iron pile pier, the west base was far away from the attack site and had not been affected by the war. However, there were only fifty or sixty defenders left at the pontoon bridge.
With twice as many troops and horses pressing down on them, we could only barely hold on to the bridge.
There were no enemy soldiers near the South City Gate yet, but the defenders closed the South City Gate in a panic, without even thinking of supporting the bridge crossing! Otherwise, as long as the South City Gate sent troops to support the bridge in time, the disadvantage could be reversed.
The south bank needs to support the north bank, and the pontoon bridge is the most important.
"Why did Puama lead the troops!" Azig shouted in anger.
After a while, Deputy General Tong Ruilin also climbed up to the watchtower and said: "The grain security troops in Chaishan rebelled and attacked the east city gate and the bridge crossing. The general has sent the South Bridge garrison troops to cross the bridge first to aid the north bank. I don't know any other details!
"
"I don't know the details, but you won't open your eyes to see it!" Azige said in a bad tone towards Tong Ruilin, who was older than him.
The Qiaodu is divided into the north and the south. The defenders of the bridge on the north bank were an elite battalion, and the defenders on the bridge on the south bank were also an elite battalion. At that time, there were no baggage vehicles on the pontoon bridge, which was a great blessing. A battalion of soldiers on the south bank could quickly rush to the bridge on the north bank.
Reinforcements are much faster than taking a boat.
Azig saw all this, but the defenders of the bridge crossing on the north bank were divided into three parts. Except for the west barrier, the bridgehead and the iron pile pier were all in danger, especially the defenders at the bridgehead who only had forty or fifty people left.
If you arrive, you can't even stand at the end of the bridge, so you have to retreat to the pontoon.
To the northeast of Qiaodu, the attacking enemy has another large group of troops rushing over to cross the east fortress and attack the bridgehead. Even if the reinforcements from the south bank arrive at the north bank in time, they will be suppressed and driven out at the bridgehead.
How wide should the bridgehead be? If it cannot be opened from the bridgehead to the north and is suppressed at the bridgehead, even a hundred thousand reinforcements will not be able to have any effect.
Azig looked at the enemy attackers who later came to attack the bridge on the north bank. Their armor was extremely bright under the firelight, and they should be the main force of the attackers. Since it was confirmed at this time that the Chaishan grain escort soldiers and horses were the enemy soldiers who attacked by surprise, then the attackers
It is not difficult to judge the scale. There are five to six thousand people - Puama has more than two thousand soldiers and horses on the north bank. They were caught off guard and even the east city gate was lost. Azig frowned in pain.
: He wanted to go to the battlefield so much that he went crazy, but he never thought about going to the battlefield under such circumstances...
Now five to six hundred reinforcements are blocked at the head of the bridge and cannot be opened. To send more reinforcements, we can only cross the river by boat; otherwise, Puama's troops and horses will be attacked and annihilated by the enemy in Fancheng, which is called an attack.
If the enemy captures Fancheng, the problem will be very serious - Azig has a clear understanding of the seriousness of the problem.
He said to Shen Haobo, the prefect of Xiangyang, and his deputy Tong Ruilin: "I will go to the north bank to help. You two will guard Xiangyang City and send a quick horse to Jingzhou. Shicheng will report: Luo Xiancheng has rebelled, and more than 5,000 elite soldiers are attacking Chaishan to guard the grain."
"How do you know he didn't fight back?" Azige stared at Shen Haobo. From the moment Fancheng was attacked, his trust in the surrender dropped sharply.
"Luo Xiancheng has 80,000 soldiers. If he wants to rebel, why can't he? He has to sacrifice Nanyang and then devise this plan to trap us in Beiyan?" Shen Haobo still has some knowledge, otherwise he would not have sent Xiangyang to assist Azige in mastering it.
Jingxiang important land.
Azig was also knocked unconscious by the attacking enemy. It would be right to think carefully about Xi Haobo's words.
If Luo Xiancheng had asked Huaidong to bribe him, the She family would have been suffocated in Jiangzhou, and there would be no way to survive on the north bank. Beiyan would not be able to defeat Nanyang at all, and would probably suffer a major defeat under Nanyang City.
Not to mention why Luo Xiancheng lost his mind and might have defected to Huaidong. Luo Xiancheng had 80,000 soldiers and more than 100,000 soldiers in the garrison. With such a force of soldiers and horses defecting to Huaidong, Huaidong could control Jingdong in one fell swoop.
Xiang, the whole of Jiangxi, why do you need to play the dangerous trick of luring you into a trap?
"Luo Xiancheng didn't protest, so what's the problem?" Azig asked Shen Haobo.
"Someone under Luo Xiancheng must have secretly defected to Huaidong. It is very likely that there is a problem at Chaishan." Shen Haobo was also quick-witted and said, "At this time, people should be sent to various places immediately to report the news. Just say that Chaishan is guarding the grain soldiers.
When horses attack Fancheng, military generals from various places will make their own judgments, instead of just reporting to Jingzhou. If there are other ambush troops sneaking into Huaidong, just reporting to Jingzhou will cause other areas to be at a loss..."
Shen Haobo was worried that there were still ambushes sneaking into Huaidong without being exposed, but he did not expect that there would be as many as 50,000.