The Song Dynasty has been deliberate for 16 years, only to know that it is the Water Margin

Chapter 252

"Song Bing, it's Song Bing!" Lu Cheng immediately shouted in a low voice, with an expression on his face as if he had seen a ghost: "Why did Song Bing come here?"

Zhao Tun's expression was solemn, he looked down the city, and saw that the team stopped at a stone's throw away from the city. Although he could see the shape of the opponent's armor at such a distance, he couldn't see the face of the leading general clearly. who brought the team.

Lu Cheng's expression was extremely ugly, he called a few soldiers around him, and hurriedly said: "Immediately send a letter to the palace and the Prime Minister's mansion, saying that the Song army is approaching the city...about 3000 cavalry!"

Several soldiers were ordered to run down the city. Lu Cheng wiped the sweat off his brow, looked at Zhao Tong and said, "General Li, why did the Song army come to Luzhou? It shouldn't be. With our army, especially the East Road, General Duan Wu has just set off for a few days, if he found the Song army, he would have sent scouts back to report."

Zhao Tun took a few steps forward, although he still couldn't see the face of the commander of the forbidden army clearly, but he saw the flag next to the torch, raised high and drew three circles in a row.

His heart suddenly relaxed, and he said slowly: "General Lu, could it be that something happened to General Duan Wu, and this Song army can come to Luzhou?"

Lu Cheng was taken aback when he heard the words, and then said: "It's also possible, otherwise this is a lone army, wouldn't it be death to come here!"

Zhao Tong said: "General Duan Wu led [-] soldiers away, if something happens to so many people, then Marshal Gong Duan..."

Having said that, Zhao Tang looked at Lu Cheng.

Lu Cheng immediately shivered and said, "General Li, you mean that Marshal Gong is defeated?"

Zhao Tong shook his head and said, "I didn't say that, it's just that this Song soldier went deep alone, where did he get the courage? The military situation ahead is definitely not optimistic."

Lu Cheng gritted his teeth, and suddenly said harshly: "I don't believe it anymore. The Song army was weak before, and we beat them to the ground twice when they attacked. What's so strange this time? The prime minister said the Song army There is no difference from before, nothing to worry about, if this Song army dares to show off its power without knowing life and death, it will definitely let him come and go!"

Zhao Tong looked at him and said, "The Prime Minister is right. The Song Army must still be the same as the Song Army. Even if the commander has changed, the battle must be different from before."

Lu Chengdao: "General Li said that the king of Qi, Zhao Tun? Didn't he say that this man is under twenty, and he is just bluffing?"

Zhao Tong shook his head and sighed softly: "It's hard to say in the court, but I have been to Tokyo, but I heard that the king of Qi, Zhao Tuo, is a rare young talent!"

Lu Cheng was stunned: "Is that true?"

Zhao Tong nodded and said: "That's the case, General Lu, think about it, how can someone who can be accepted as a personal disciple by Zhou Tong be an ordinary person? Then Master Zhou is a prince of Xiaoao. If he doesn't have real skills, don't say Prince, even if he is a prince, he won't take a second look..."

"Ah!" Lu Cheng thought for a while and said, "That's true. Master Zhou is not interested in ordinary people!"

"That's the reason." Zhao Tong nodded and said: "So the Song army outside the city must not have come here to show off their power and die with fever. I reckon there must be a change ahead!"

Lu Chengdao: "According to this, let's not mention Marshal Gong, but something must have happened to General Duan Wu?"

Zhao Tong said: "I guess, otherwise, if the [-] troops on the east road march north, how could these Song troops come over? General Lu, you should be careful, they are all cavalry, they cannot cross mountains and ridges, unlike infantry who can walk The small road is sneaking in, and these cavalry can only take the main road!"

Lu Cheng touched his stubble-covered face, and said in surprise, "What happened to the five generals?"

Zhao Tong shook his head and sighed, "Yes, what happened to General Duan Wu?"

The two looked at each other, and Lu Cheng didn't believe in his heart that Duan Wu had been quietly wiped out by the other party within a few days with his [-] troops. There is no way to explain it.

At this moment, a soldier suddenly said: "General, General, they are leaving!"

"Going away?" Lu Cheng looked down the city, and saw that two or 3000 cavalrymen from the Song Army turned their horses around and ran into the distance, before disappearing completely in the darkness.

But the more this happened, the heavier Lu Cheng's heart became, he couldn't help saying: "General Li, I want to go to the palace to see the king, can we come together?"

Zhao Tong shook his head and said: "This Beicheng can't make any mistakes. Only one of us can leave now. If we both leave, it would be wrong if the Song Army came back to harass us!"

Lu Cheng gritted his teeth and said: "This is a serious matter. I must meet the king and tell the king that since General Li is the defense envoy of Luzhou, he can also guard the city gate. Please ask General Li to suppress here for a while, and I will go to the palace. Come back after reporting!"

Zhao Tang looked at him and said, "It's okay to suppress Beicheng on behalf of General Lu, but General Lu has to go back quickly, otherwise if something happens, if I can't make the decision to cause any trouble, it will be General Lu's responsibility!"

Lu Cheng heard the words and thought to himself, although this Li Fei is highly skilled in martial arts, he is also unwilling to take responsibility, but no matter what, even if the cavalry who ran away just turned back, it is estimated that nothing big will happen, after all, there are only two to three thousand people , There is no vehicle and luggage, and it is impossible to attack the city at all, so just go back to your own home.

He clasped his fists at Zhao Tun and said, "If something really happens, then of course it won't drag General Li down!"

Zhao Tong said: "That's good, General Lu, go and come back quickly."

Lu Cheng turned around and went down the city wall. Zhao Tang watched his back disappear, and then came to the edge of the crenel again. Looking at the vast night in the distance, he fell into deep thought.

Although he didn't know who the general of the cavalry team was just now, since the other party played the semaphore, everything was in his calculations.

Two mornings ago, he sent Huang Gu out.

Although it is uncertain whether Zongze will send troops to attack Luzhou, he must always be prepared so that Zongze does not send troops and cannot communicate with the inside and outside.

He asked Huang Gu to hide and wait on Luzhou East Road. If Song Jun really came, he would contact him and report the situation in the city, and then find a way to inform himself.

As for how to tell himself, he made an agreement with Huang Gu that in the future, he would stay at the head of the Beicheng city at midnight for a period of time, so that if there was an army coming, it would be convenient for him to make a semaphore outside the city.

As for how to play the semaphore and what each action represents, these Zhao Tun had discussed with Huang Gu long ago. The semaphore on the battlefield is complicated. If it is a specially agreed semaphore, outsiders will not be able to see the specific meaning.

Moreover, the semaphore set by Zhao Tun and Huang Gu is relatively simple, and there are no special movements, and they will not reveal any telltale signs.

Just like the Song Army flag outside the city just now, three circles were drawn. First, Zhao Tang knew that Huang Gu had contacted the opponent, and second, the opponent had a total of more than 3000 cavalry.

In this way, Zhao Tun had a good idea, Huang Gu would tell the other party about the general situation in Luzhou City, including any positions in his family, and what rights he held, and he would even inform the other party about the fact that he had his own people at the West Gate.

As for what plan the other party will draw up to attack Luzhou, they will also raise the semaphore again at the right time to give a general idea, so that each other has a clear idea.

Zhao Tun stood at the top of the city, not moving for a long time, the city was empty at the moment, since Duan Wu led the troops away, no troops were stationed outside the city, all the bandit troops retreated inside the city, and only scouts were sent out every day to investigate .

But at the moment, at least the scouts on the east road have been found and killed, otherwise the three thousand cavalry would not be able to run directly to the city of Luzhou.

As for what happened to Duan Wu, Zhao Tuo actually couldn't tell, but Wang Qing didn't receive the military report sent back by Duan Wu, and Duan Wu was not mentioned in Gong Duan's military report, so it is likely that the two did not meet.

Just as Zhao Tun was contemplating, hurried footsteps suddenly came from behind.

He turned his head and saw a lot of people came up from the city, the leader was Prime Minister Li Zhu, followed by Duan Er, Fan Quan and other court ministers.

There was no expression on Li Zhu's face, which was completely different from the usual spring breeze. He walked quickly to the battlements and looked out.

Zhao Tong said: "Prime Minister!"

Li Zhu glanced down and said, "General Li, Song Bing left and never returned?"

Zhao Tong said: "I haven't come back, and I haven't seen anyone staying behind to investigate secretly!"

Li Zhu nodded: "I underestimated Zhao Tun, I didn't expect him to be able to go to Luzhou."

Zhao Tun's eyebrows trembled, and he stepped aside.

Duan Erdao: "Prime Minister, I also received Gong Duan's battle report today, saying that he has not seen Duan Wu. I think Luzhou is not too far from Shouzhou. Gong Duan's army is stationed halfway, so there must be scouts looking around, so what? Didn’t even find Duan Wu’s army?”

Hearing this, Li Zhu thought for a moment and said, "There is no way of guessing about this matter. The important thing now is how to deal with the Song army outside the city!"

Fan Quandao: "Two to 3000 Song troops are not enough to cause trouble, just go out of the city at dawn tomorrow to search and kill."

Fang Han shook his head and said, "How do you know that the other party really only has 3000 or 3000 people? Don't forget that Gong Duan and others were put down. Maybe the two or [-] people are just bait."

Fan Quan thought for a while and said, "What does the privy secretary think?"

Fang Han said: "Anyway, don't go out of the city easily, and make plans after the scouts have found out the reality outside the city and the number of soldiers on the other side."

Fan Quan shook his head and said, "Wouldn't that mean letting the other party arrange it outside the city?"

Fang Han said: "Since there are horse scouts, how can we let the other party arrange them?"

Li Zhu said: "Don't fight anymore, the Song army will not come again tonight, just go back and rest first, prepare the army for battle tomorrow morning!"

Everyone stopped talking when they heard the words, looked outside for a while, and then filed down the city.

At this moment, just a dozen miles away from Luzhou City, a group of cavalry is resting.

There are no big mountains in the north of Luzhou, but there are many small hills and hills, which go continuously and stretch without end.

The cavalry was resting in the woods on the hill, and inside a temporary tent, the three were talking to each other.

The first person is broad, with a square face, thick eyebrows and beard, and piercing eyes.

The second person is a young man, wearing bright silver armor, with a handsome appearance and delicate eyebrows.

The last person was Huang Gu who came out of Luzhou City two days ago.

The leader said: "Brother Huang, did you see clearly that the prince is at the top of the city?"

Huang Gu nodded and said: "It's not wrong. If you look at the soldiers and horses in the city, you will not be able to recognize us, but if you look at the city from the bottom, it's different. The prince and I grew up, and we can recognize each other just by looking at the figure." .”

The leader seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, and said: "It's fine as long as it's the prince. This time the Zongjian army sent me out to contact the prince. Now that I see it, I will let go of my heart."

Huang Gu said: "General Wang, when will the army come over?"

The leader said humanely: "The battle ahead is going well. According to the arrangement of the Zongjian army, Gong Duan's team has been cut off. I'm afraid they will press forward in three to five days. As expected, Gong Duan will definitely be defeated. Retreat, and then the Zongjian army pursued closely, heading straight for Luzhou."

The young man on the side also said: "We have been leading Duan Wu's team for a few days. At this time, I am afraid that we are in a dilemma. If we want to continue to join Gong Duan, we have come to their rear again. If we want to chase us, we must come out." In two days, we will turn around and return to Luzhou."

The leader smiled and said, "It's Jingren's plan, otherwise I'm afraid it would be very difficult to reach Luzhou city so quickly."

Huang Gu looked at the young man and said with a smile: "Xiao Lang has been studying military books with the prince for a long time, he is resourceful."

The young man blushed a little when he heard the words, and said: "What can Xian do, it's all taught well by the prince."

The boy is none other than Zhang Xian, who is now an envoy of the Ninth Battalion of the Dragon Guard Army.

And the head of the big man with a broad stature is the infantry commander Yuhou Wang, but before the army set off, he also served as the commander of the left wing of the Dragon Guard Army.

Wang Zhi's trip to Luzhou was mainly to contact Zhao Tun, and his subordinates brought the first to tenth commanders of the left wing of Longwei.

In the Dragon Guard Army, only the Nine and Ten Commanders had a staff of 500. At that time, when Zhao Tun went to Longyou, each battalion selected people to fill up these two Commanders. In fact, the Ma Army had fewer Commanders than the Infantry Army. With 50 people, these two conductors are a bit overstaffed.

As for the remaining commanders of Longwei, there are no more than 300 people at most. Due to the lack of salary and lack of horses, it is impossible to fill the staff at all. The Ninth and Tenth Command took these two with them when they went out, and they were trained to death during practice, which is also the reason why they threw Zhang Xian into the Ninth Command.

Originally, Zhang Xian was not qualified to sit in the tent according to his official position, but the military knew more or less about the relationship between Zhang Xian and Zhao Tun, especially the big drill by the Yellow River last winter, it was obvious that Zhao Tun was deliberately cultivating This boy.

During the rehearsal last winter, Zhao Tun specifically hinted to Zhang Xian to learn the art of defending the city with Wang Ting, and the two have been very close since then.

But this time Wang Zhi brought ten commanders to Luzhou, and specially called Zhang Xian from the army to follow him.

They rushed to Luzhou from the east road, and after meeting Duan Wu, they made a detour. Although poor Duan Wu led [-] troops, the infantry accounted for the vast majority.

And Wang Zhi's three thousand cavalry, although their fighting strength is ordinary, they win because they come and go like the wind. Duan Wu was dizzy, and finally ran behind Duan Wu, then ran all the way to Luzhou, and met Huang Gu again.

After the two talked with each other, it was only then that they rushed to the city at midnight to contact Zhao Tun with flags.

(End of this chapter)