Chen Zhihu led his troops to capture Linzi on July 22nd and conducted a massive plunder. The news of the fall of Linzi City reached Chongzhou on July 29th.
Lin Fu did not stay in Jiangmen and rushed back to Chongcheng without stopping. That night, he summoned the officials and generals who stayed in Chongzhou for a meeting. He rushed Lin Mengde and Zhou Guangnan had just returned from Jiangning. The lights in Dongyan were bright all night.
It started raining in the night, and the patter hit the bamboo leaves, making a constant rustling noise. The stone steps were slippery with moss. Gu Ying held an oil-paper umbrella in her sleeves and, accompanied by the maid, rushed to the other side of the mountain at the northern foot of the mountain.
In the courtyard.
Gu Junxun stood in front of the corridor, with a complicated expression on his face, mixed with pain.
Seeing Jun Xun like this, Gu Yingxiu put away the umbrella that was dripping with rain, and held her hand sympathetically. Liu Yuer and Xiaoman listened to the sound, walked out of the room, and asked Gu Yingxiu: "Dong Xun
How long will it take for the Yamen meeting to take place?"
"Things haven't calmed down, and I might have to stay up late..." Seeing Jun Xun's sad face, Gu Yingxiu said, "Why don't you go directly to Dongya and listen to how they discuss matters? It's better than worrying here?"
Gu Junxun shook his head and said: "My husband, he has gone through a lot of hardships to get where he is today. I shouldn't make it difficult for him, but I can't help but worry about Qingzhou - my mother lived in exile with my father in the border areas for ten years before returning.
, I have endured all the suffering in the world, and my sister-in-law has just given birth to a child who has just turned one year old. Yang Xin may not be able to save her in time, but I thought that I might still be able to get my mother, sister-in-law, and the infant child out of Qingzhou in time!"
"It will take seven or eight days for a man to ride alone and rush to Qingzhou. If he sends three to five hundred troops there, the speed will be even slower," Gu Yingxiu said. "Now we can only wait patiently - Linzi has been lost, and Qingzhou is in
On the east side, we can always be somewhat defensive, so that thieves will not be able to easily succeed..."
"My husband may have made arrangements. Why don't we call Miss Song and ask?" Liu Yue'er said.
"That's right, it's better than sitting here and waiting." Xiaoman said.
When they went to Dongya as a group of female relatives, they were suspected of women interfering in politics and had a bad influence. However, Song Jia had been with Lin Fu all year round, and she knew the arrangements for Huaidong's military and political affairs best.
It would be better to call Song Jia to another courtyard alone for questioning than for them to speculate like headless chickens here.
Linzi fell, and Yangxin's retreat was cut off. It was already a narrow escape - no matter what, Gu Wuchen and Gu Siyuan were her father and brother. Now that they were trapped in Yangxin and in danger, how could Gu Junxun not be worried or worried?
Listening to Liu Yue'er, Xiaoman suggested calling Song Jia over, but Gu Junxun hesitated again, fearing that Song Jia would be delayed in the East Yamen due to something, so she sent someone to call her, which would cause a disturbance. Just as she was hesitating, Juan'er walked in from the outer courtyard.
, said: "Song Dianshu is here..."
"Your Excellency summoned all the officials to discuss matters. I don't know when we can rest. I specially asked me to come here..." Song Jia walked into the hanging flower hall and looked at the ladies standing in front of the corridor. She paused for a moment and looked at Gu Yingxiu.
After looking at his face for a moment, he said, "Let me come over and give the three ladies a word..."
Gu Junxun looked at Gu Yingxiu hesitantly, not knowing whether to keep Song Jia for questioning. Gu Yingxiu said: "Miss Song, you are always with Qi Shi. Is there anything Huaidong has done to deal with Qingzhou?"
means?"
"The main force of Huaidong's soldiers and horses are trapped in the south. It is impossible to lead a large army to aid Qingzhou." Song Jia, holding a red silk umbrella, stood under the dripping garden tree and responded to Gu Yingxiu's words.
He asked and said, "It's not that there are no coping methods at all, but it's hard to say whether they can be used..."
"Let's talk inside the house, the rain has soaked our clothes..." Liu Yue'er shouted softly, asking Song Jia to go to the eaves to take shelter from the rain.
The relationship between Song Jia and Lin Fu is well known to the people in the inner house - this is nothing at all. For a beautiful woman like Song Jia to follow Lin Fu without any name or status, generally speaking, the situation is even more pitiable.
.But in fact, not only did Song Jia serve as a female official, but she could also follow Lin Fu for a long time. No matter how generous a woman was, she would still have opinions in her heart, be hostile to Song Jia, and have a cold attitude.
Both Gu Junxun and Gu Yingxiu subconsciously asked Song Jia to stand in the courtyard and ask questions; only Liu Yuer, who had the gentlest temper, thought of asking Song Jia to come into the room to talk.
"The military commander sent a lot of men to Qingzhou. General Wu actually went to the north after May. But no matter how many men were sent, it would be difficult to do anything big in the face of the hundreds of thousands of soldiers from Yanlu who entered Qingzhou.
," Song Jia rested his umbrella and handed it to Zuo Lan. He then walked into the house, sat down and said, "With the fall of Linzi, Yang Xin's retreat to the south was cut off. However, the rebel general Yuan Lishan took action against Yang Xin.
It is still a strategy to encircle three enemies. The siege to the east of Yangxin has not yet been completely completed - the Military Division has no ability to organize troops to land and support. If Yangxin can break through along the Zhulong River, Jinwei Island will also organize some sea ships to arrive.
However, in fact, the opening of the gap by the Japanese soldiers also led to the escape of the Yangxin defenders, which was conducive to field annihilation. It is also very likely that there were ambushes hidden on the way from Yangxin to the Zhulong River. How many people can finally break out will depend on the actual situation.
It’s hard to predict! Moreover, what Master Gu plans to do in Yangxinhui is beyond our control..."
This involved the question of whether Gu Wuchen and Gu Siyuan could surrender to the enemy. Song Jia spoke cryptically, but Gu Junxun was smart enough to figure it out instantly. His face turned pale, and he just shook his head and said: "My father has been exiled to the border for ten years. He has endured all kinds of hardships, but there is still a chance.
I will never give up the opportunity to get out of trouble..."
Gu Yingxiu took over the conversation and asked Song Jia: "Except for Yangxin, most of the cities in Qingzhou are poorly defended and difficult to defend. Do you have any plans for the Seventeenth?" Thinking about the misfortune of her uncle and cousin in Yangxin.
Although he was young, he had to take out his aunt and Siyuan's wife and children no matter what, so as to leave a root for the Gu family.
"After the fall of Linzi, if Dengzhou Town did not send troops in, the total number of defenders in Qingzhou counties would only be in the thousands," Song Jia said. "The thieves only need to send a small number of cavalry to penetrate deeply, from Qingzhou to Jiao Lai
The road to retreat from Henan will be dangerous - now we can only retreat to Yishan. General Chu went south from Yangxin to Huaidong, but did not stop. He met with the Lord in Changguo in early June and went back to the north. If I
If people are willing to evacuate to Yishan, Yishan will support them. As long as they enter Yishan, it will be easier to go to Huaidong..."
After listening to Song Jia's introduction, Gu Yingxiu understood that the situation in Qingzhou was completely ruined. Huaidong's arrangement could allow some people to escape, but it would only happen if the Gu family was willing to cooperate - if the Gu family could remember their previous resentment.
, still insisting on going his own way at the last moment and not cooperating with Huaidong, the situation will be even more dangerous.
But for Huaidong, this was the only thing that could be done. Gu Yingxiu thought to herself that maybe this would make Jun Xun feel better. After all, he was not sitting here watching the Gu family die.
****************
When Lin Fu returned to Dongya, he immediately decided to divide the General Intelligence Department into two divisions, the North and the South, to specifically deal with the collection and analysis of military intelligence on the southern and northern fronts. Wu Qi and Gao Zongting were in charge of both divisions.
Huaidong planned to use Yishan to receive soldiers and civilians who had withdrawn from northern Shandong. In order to avoid being overshadowed by others, it was necessary to send a high-level general to take charge in Yishan - and Wu Qi was also used to working behind enemy lines, so the Northern Division set up another
The deputy governor presides over daily affairs.
We still don’t know the situation in the counties of Qingzhou Prefecture, but after Lin Fu returned to Dongya, he asked Qin Chengzu to immediately transfer 200 military attachés from various ministries and war training schools to sneak into Yishan urgently to deal with the collapse of the military and civilian situation in northern Shandong Province.
Escape en masse into the chaos of Yishan.
Except for the main seat, the ordinary public hall has a long row of chairs against the wall on both sides. Lin Fu has adopted the round table discussion method in the side hall of Dongya where he handles official business daily. Lin Fu, Qin Chengzu, Lin Mengde, Gao Zongting, Ye Junan,
Sun Jingxuan, Sun Jingtang and others sat around the table.
"Do you want to transfer the Jinhai Navy up?" Lin Fu asked. Even if he recruits forty battalions of supply troops and equip them with armor, it will take two or three months to form combat strength. He only has three Jinhai Battalions left on hand.
Brigadier soldiers can call.
Although news of the fall of Laizi has just come from the north, the entire Qingzhou and Dengzhou in the east have extremely limited military forces. It is really difficult to predict how the Liang family and his son will react in the west - Qingzhou is in chaos, which can't be tolerated
Due to the collection and transmission of intelligence, it will take some time for further and more detailed information to be sent back, but the collapse of the situation in northern Shandong is already something that can be seen with the naked eye.
In order to quickly break the situation on the southern front, Lin Fu considered whether to invest all his last reserve troops.
Qin Chengzu, Lin Mengde, Gao Zongting and others looked at each other, and finally Lin Mengde spoke up and said: "This time Zhou Guangnan and I went to Jiangning, Huaidong's reputation in the streets and alleys has greatly increased, but the more the reputation in the streets becomes clearer,
, he is also becoming more and more suspicious in the temple - the most threatening people to Huaidong, besides the She family and the Hulu, cannot underestimate Jiang Ning..."
No matter how deep the conflict with the Gu family is, there is still a bottom line between them. When Gu Wuchen was in Jiangning, he still controlled the Jiangning water camp, so there was no need to leave many garrison troops in Chongzhou. This was not the time. As usual, Jiangning had to maintain the distance between the north and south defense lines.
Huaidong is not open, but in history, countless people have destroyed the Great Wall. Huaidong cannot be without garrison troops in Chongzhou. This is almost the consensus reached by Lin Mengde and others.
Besides, no matter how critical the situation is, it is the most basic military principle that it is only possible to control a part of the reserve force.
Lin Fu sighed lightly, knowing that it was not the time to use the last bit of reserve troops - he could only make plans based on the development of the situation on the north and south fronts.
At this moment, the guard came in and reported: "The Marquis of Yongchang has sent me a message and wants to see you..."
Lin Fu took the invitation, threw it on the table, looked at the people on both sides, and said, "What are you doing in Chongzhou when Yuan returns to the government?"
"Perhaps he came to Chongzhou a long time ago, and it was only the news of Linzi's fall that forced him to show up to contact Huaidong..." Gao Zongting guessed.
After all, Chongzhou was still under the jurisdiction of the imperial court. Since Lin Fu wanted to restrict people's entry and exit into Chongzhou, he did not have the energy. For the Empress Dowager Liang and Hailing Prince Yuan Jianwu, Lin Fu only sent troops to guard the palace and had no intention of house arrest or surveillance.
There was no need—Jiang Ning had started discussing the matter of asking the Queen Mother to return to the court in early July. It was not surprising that Yuan Guizheng quietly entered Chongzhou.