Lan Zhen immediately realized that this was a very critical matter after receiving the message sent by Zhu Gaoxu. If he could prevent King Yan's army from entering the city, then it could be said that the matter was settled. Did he know that Xu Huizu had already led ten soldiers?
Tens of thousands of troops marched around Hebei.
But unfortunately, Lan Zhen was on the east side of the city at this time, far away from the north gate, and it was not very convenient for cavalry to march from the city.
Lan Zhen then made a prompt decision and asked Lieutenant General Li Ding to lead a small number of people to continue gathering surrender troops in the city. He led 2,000 people out of the east gate and detoured to the north gate. Then the army led by Lan Zhen finally rushed over at this moment.
Lan Zhen led not only two thousand cavalry, but also two or three thousand unrided horses, which was no less powerful than the Yan army commanded by Zhu Neng.
Although Zhu Neng was very angry at this time, he still had some sense left. When he saw the reinforcements from the counter-rebel army coming, and he didn't know how many reinforcements would arrive if the struggle continued, his reason immediately suppressed his anger and stopped.
pursuit.
Zhu Gaoxu originally wanted to retreat, but Lan Zhen did not lead as many soldiers as others. Now that he was far away, it was easy to spot the clues now that he was close, so he did not dare to pursue him anymore. After catching up with Zhu Gaoxu, he retreated.
After the two sides retreated, Lan Zhen and Zhu Gaoxu were naturally happy. They seized Dezhou before Zhu Di went south, wiped out the army far away and the defenders of Dezhou City, and also killed one of Zhu Di's generals. Although he lost his troops,
A lot, but totally worth it.
As for whether Zhu Di went crazy and attacked the city later, they were not afraid. By the time Gu Cheng escorted the rebels, they had already arrived in Dezhou City. They now had more than 20,000 troops and more than 20,000 prisoners, so they were not afraid of attacking at all.
city.
On Zhu Di's side, there were all kinds of gloom and gloom. Zhu Di's face turned livid after hearing Zhu Neng's report that Qiu Fu died in battle and failed to capture the North City Gate, but in the end he was still not angry, and instead turned all the generals on.
He called over to mourn Qiu Fu, and cursed his son Zhu Gaoxu for a while, saying that after Gao Xu was captured, Gao Xu would kneel down in front of Qiu Fu's tomb and beg for forgiveness, which moved all the generals.
But when everyone dispersed and Zhu Di was the only one in the big tent, he couldn't hold himself any longer. Zhu Di had a look of panic on his face. He realized that all his previous plans had failed. Shandong could not enter, and there was no way to get in.
No matter whether the army in the distance is still there or not, it is impossible for him to reach it. They will be completely divided into two parts. After the imperial army has eliminated the Shandong rebels, they can go north to eliminate them.
Now his chance of winning has dropped from the previous 20% to less than 10%, making it almost impossible to win.
Just when Zhu Di was becoming more and more pessimistic as he thought about it, he heard the sound of someone lifting up the curtain of his tent. Zhu Di looked up and saw Dao Yan walking in.
Zhu Di smiled bitterly and said to Dao Yan: "The previous plan has failed, and now I can only return to Peking. I thought that otherwise I would surrender, and then I would become a monk together with the master. It would be a pleasure."
Dao Yan listened to Zhu Di's words and walked up to Zhu Di. However, he did not salute Zhu Di today. Instead, he stretched out his hands and grabbed the collar of Zhu Di's clothes and said loudly: "Your Highness, we have already fought against the Southern Army. It's already...
The rebellious ministers and traitors have committed the crime of treason. If it fails, even if His Highness is spared a life, he will just be lingering on. Is Your Highness willing to live such a life!"
Zhu Di was stunned for a while. After a while, he finally realized what he was doing. His expression returned to calm and he said to Dao Yan, "I understand."
But after Daoyan loosened the collar of his clothes, Zhu Di couldn't help but think to himself: 'If I surrender now, is the only way out is house arrest within a high wall?'
In any case, Zhu Di led his troops to retreat northward the next day, intending to withdraw to Peiping and fight again the next day.
Zhu Di acted very quickly. Although his soldiers had just learned that they had become rebels, they were still very enthusiastic since they were going home. It only took one day to evacuate Shandong and return to Henan. Bei was stationed in Anling Town.
But in Anling Town, Zhu Di learned the bad news: the army led by Xu Huizu had arrived in Jing County, just to the east of them, and the total number of troops was definitely over 50,000, which was more than their army!
Zhu Di knew that his brother-in-law, who was also Yunxi's brother-in-law now, was very capable. Although he had never led an army alone before in a battle, Zhu Di really could not pin his hopes on Xu Huizu's own command errors.
Zhu Di led his troops to continue marching north. At the same time, in order to prevent Xu Huizu's attack, he arranged the army to march in a large formation. Although safety was ensured, speed was sacrificed. After that, Zhu Di spent another ten days and crossed the east coast on the first day of November. Guangxian County came to Botou Town and settled down on this day. Along the way, Xu Huizu just let the cavalry hang at a distance and did not attack.
In the evening, when Zhu Di had a meeting with his generals, he said very puzzledly: "Why did Xu Huizu never send troops to attack, but just sent cavalry to hang at a distance?"
Zhu Neng said: "It must be to wait for the reinforcements from behind. Xu Huizu only has about 60,000 people, and His Highness also has more than 40,000 people. His Highness has been at the border for a long time and has repeatedly gone to Mongolia. If the army really goes to war, Xu Huizu may not be your Highness's opponent." , Xu Huizu probably knew it himself, so he kept waiting for reinforcements from behind."
Dao Yan said: "The poor monk's views are similar to those of General Zhu. And why didn't His Highness try to persuade Xu Huizu to surrender to His Highness? Your Highness's princess is Xu Huizu's eldest sister, and Your Highness has a good relationship with Xu Huizu, so why didn't you try to persuade him to surrender?" Even if it is unsuccessful, it doesn’t matter. Maybe we can alienate the relationship between Your Majesty and Xu Huizu and allow Your Majesty to replace the general."
Zhu Di said: "If he is really waiting for reinforcements from behind, even if he doesn't fight with me, he should use the cavalry flexibly to cause us more trouble. Now our cavalry is about the same as them, and he can definitely use the cavalry." Cause more trouble."
"As for persuading Xu Huizu to surrender, there is no need to mention it. It will be useless. Xu Huizu is loyal to your majesty and there is absolutely no way he would surrender to us."
"As for alienation, it is even more impossible. I have just learned that His Majesty has married the little county head of the Duke of Wei State as his concubine, which has completely eliminated the barrier between the monarch and his ministers. From then on, he confidently and boldly used Xu Huizu to command these hundreds of thousands of people. The army can see that Your Majesty trusts Xu Huizu very much, and the stratagem of alienation will not work."
After listening to Zhu Di's words, Tan Yuan hesitated and said: "Then, what should we do next?"
Zhu Di said: "No matter why Xu Huizu did not attack, our plan remains unchanged, which is to return to Peiping with all our strength."
But the next day, when Zhu Di planned to lead his troops back to Peiping, the detective horse he sent out yesterday brought news that stunned him.
