lady, please calm down

The second day of the twelfth lunar month.

In Tokyo, which has been closed for two months, all 13 gates are open.

Jiarou, whose two lotus-rooted arms were swollen into sticks due to the beating of drums yesterday, led all the civil and military officials out of the city to meet with the generals.

Although her arms were swollen and uncomfortable, Jiarou was still so excited that she stayed up all night after witnessing last night's victory.

Just now I left the palace and walked through the imperial street. People all over the city knelt down on both sides of the street. The sound of the mountains shouting about the thousand-year-old Jiarou suddenly seemed like a dream.

However, when she arrived at Xincaomen and learned that King Chu had returned to Huaibei in the middle of last night, her joy suddenly diminished a lot.

I even felt jealous. Can't you just meet me and come back?

Outside the city, although the war had ceased, it was still a mess.

The dead soldiers of the Qi army have been buried. Cangzhou magistrate Ximen Gong and regiment commander Pan Xiong are driving a group of Xixia prisoners of war to carry the bodies of the Jinxia army into a deep pit.

At the base of the city wall, there were two rows of Jinxia prisoners of war, numbering in the thousands. Jia Zunzheng, the prefect of Zezhou, led people to screen the officers.

More than ten miles to the north, black smoke covered the sky and sun on the south bank of the Yellow River.

It is said that yesterday, a Xixia army of more than 10,000 people fled north to the bank of the Yellow River, intending to cross the river on ice.

But Tokyo is located in the Central Plains, and winters are far less severe than those in the northwest, so the river ice is naturally not that thick.

When the Xixia army fled to the middle of the river, the ice broke and countless people drowned and froze.

The rest had no choice but to retreat to the south bank, but faced with a pursuer that was several times their size, the south bank was also a dead end. Some of the defeated soldiers resisted and were killed, some surrendered and were captured, and some hid themselves in the reeds that stretched for dozens of miles. .

This morning, the Qi army began to set fire to the reeds, forcing the defeated army hiding inside to emerge.

At this moment, Zhe Yanwen, Zhang Shuye, Yang Dalang and others were still chasing the defeated army westward. The Tokyo Xiang Army's Imperial Guards and Horse Army, which were well-established and had minimal battle losses, had set out for Huaibei this morning with Jiang Huaixiong as the second echelon.

Jiarou then met with Jing Peng, Kuang Daogu, Peng Erximen Gong and others. After some warm words of praise and encouragement, he went to the hospital where wounded soldiers were admitted.

As the steward of the Suimian Street Prince's Palace in Tokyo, Bai Lu naturally had the means to follow Cai Yuan out of the city after the city gate opened.

She had been with the princess when the King of Chu and his wife were teenagers. To her, Chen Chu was not only her boss, but also a combination of younger brother and father.

Now that the war has subsided, she naturally wants to go out of the city to see Brother Chu, so that she feels at ease.

Unexpectedly, after leaving the city, he learned that King Chu had left Tokyo.

Fortunately, Peng Er, who had a close family relationship with the King of Chu, was present. After questioning, he was relieved when he learned that the King of Chu was fine.

"White Lady"

After understanding the information she wanted, Bai Lu planned to return to the city, but was stopped by Brother Peng.

"Is there anything else going on, Commander Peng?"

When Bai Lu was confused, the other party took out a butterfly hairpin from his arms. Bai Lu became more and more confused, but Brother Peng said: "Cousin Yu asked for this from the princess. When he handed it back to the King of Chu last night, he said: Give it to Please make a souvenir."

Bai Lu then took a closer look at the butterfly hairpin. Of course she had seen this hairpin before. It was indeed the one that the white-haired rat gave her as a gift in the early years but was declined. Bai Lu couldn't help but subconsciously said: "What's wrong with Camp Commander Bai?"

"Died in battle."

Brother Peng's expression was extremely plain. Bai Lu was even stunned for a moment before she realized what 'death in battle' meant.

Bai Lu slowly took the butterfly hairpin and was speechless for a moment, but Brother Peng said: "Cousin Yu didn't leave anything behind, only this hairpin. No matter what the world thinks of him, in a certain heart, he is a A good man who is upright and upright”

Bai Lu gently fumbled with the hairpin with her thumb, and after a long while she said: "Brother Bai is indeed a good and upright man. I was insulted by a thief in my early years, and I feel that I am not worthy of him."

At this point, his tone finally got choked up and he couldn't continue.

Brother Peng sighed leisurely, seemingly infinitely desolate.

At this moment, I suddenly heard a burst of cheers from the north.
Shao Qing, Tong Qi, his own soldier Tong Kefeng and dozens of other riders approached quickly.

Not only are there many important officials of the imperial court, but His Highness is also here, so naturally he does not dare to let the armored and gun-carrying sergeant get too close.

The Imperial Guard Liu Baishun immediately stepped forward to stop him, "Your Highness is here, please don't ride your horse!"

With Liu Baishun's reminder, Tong Qi reacted and saw him twist around and pick off a middle-aged Han man with his hands tied from the horse.

Immediately after, Tong Qi dismounted from his horse, took off his saber, then grabbed the man's bun and walked towards Jiarou.

Jia Rou, Chen Jing'an, Cai Yuan, Zhang Chunxiao and others who had just walked out of the wounded barracks looked at the middle-aged man. This man was wearing ordinary soldier clothes, but he was slightly fat. Although there was smoky black ash on his face, The pampering and pampering that has passed through the years can still be seen at a glance.

Zhang Chunxiao, who recognized Tong Qi, couldn't help but wonder: "General Tong, who is this person?"

Hearing this, Tong Qi grabbed the other person's hair and pulled it back, making the person have to raise his face. Tong Qi then opened his bow from left to right, slapped two ear scrapers, suddenly went up and shouted: "Old dog, I am the regent of Qi State. Princess, please tell me who you are!"

The two slaps brought Tong Qi's hatred of the family and the country, causing the middle-aged man's cheeks to swell rapidly and blood to flow from the corners of his mouth.

This person looked panicked, but still glanced at Jiarou and others quickly, and then cried and said: "General, please spare my life, I am just a villager from the northwest, and I opened a private school in the village. He was kidnapped when the Jinxia army invaded the south. I hired an old man to serve as the secretary of the army, but he has never done any evil."

Tong Qi, who had just been interrogated and already knew the man's identity, was furious when he heard this. He bent down and pulled out a dagger from his boot, and cut off the man's left ear with a swipe.

The middle-aged man let out a scream, covered the wound with both hands, and rolled on the ground in pain.

Jiarou couldn't help but frown slightly, as if she felt uncomfortable.

Huang Doudou who was following him hurriedly took a step forward. It was disrespectful for this young general to use a knife in front of His Highness, and it made no sense to torment a teacher who was being held hostage in front of His Highness for no reason.

"General, what are you going to do?" Huang Doudou shouted.

But Tong Qi ignored him, and once again grabbed the middle-aged Han man with only one ear left, and said solemnly: "I'll ask you again, who are you! If you still don't tell the truth, the other ear will be gone!"

Looking at the bloody dagger, the middle-aged man finally collapsed and howled: "I said, I said I am the Privy Councilor of Xixia, and this is the southern expedition."

"Ok?"

Tong Qi snorted questioningly, and the middle-aged Han man, half of his face covered with blood, quickly changed his words: "I am the Privy Envoy of Xixia, and the deputy commander of this southern invasion, Ren Dejing. I know my mistake, and I am willing to serve Her Royal Highness the Princess of Qi. Atonement for sins.”

"Ren Dejing!"

"Haha. Old thief, God opened your eyes and didn't let you escape!"

When Tokyo was victorious, the Qi army captured Xixia Ren Dejing alive, and pursued the remnants of Wanyan Mouyan to the west, Siyang City more than a thousand miles away was a different scene.

On the 25th of last month, Zhou troops suddenly landed in Boshan County, Sizhou.

After receiving the news, the prefect Tang Jing'an led the 19th Sizhou Regiment to rush to Siyang County on the east coast of Surabaya to take charge.

Because Sizhou fell under the Huaibei administration system not long ago, many grassroots governance and organizations have not yet been completed. Therefore, the Zhou army encountered almost no obstacles and entered Siyang City two days later.

At first, while attacking the city, the Zhou army also adopted a strategy of attacking the heart.

But Tang Jing'an, who only had one regiment in hand, did not panic and waited for the Shou and Su Huaibei troops to come for reinforcements.

It was not until November 30th that the Zhou Army's Western Route Army advanced towards Caizhou. News came that the garrison troops from Su and Shou Prefectures had marched westward to return reinforcements, and panic suddenly broke out in the city.

Due to the sudden onset of the war, the narrow city of Siyang was not qualified as the first line to resist Zhou Guodong's East Route Army.

Not only were the garrison insufficient, but the city was not deep enough, and there was no time to stock up on food and grass.

If there are no reinforcements, it will only be a matter of time before the city is defeated.

On the first day of the twelfth lunar month, countless arrows with letters flew in outside the city.

The letter said: "A few days ago, the puppet king of Qi and Chu was beheaded by the Jin Xixia coalition army at the foot of Tokyo City. The eldest princess of Qi went out of the city to surrender. After discussions between the three kingdoms of Zhou, Jin and Xia, the land in the northwest of Qi State was returned to Xixia, the Central Plains was returned to Jin, and Huaibei was returned to Jin. The five prefectures were included in the territory of Zhou Dynasty.

Today, the commander-in-chief of the East Route Army of the Great Zhou Dynasty, Wan Qixi, has a good life and cannot bear the loss of life in Siyang and the destruction of both the army and the people. He specially ordered the city chief to open the city and return to normal before midnight today.

The Heavenly Army of the Great Zhou Dynasty will ensure that no one commits any crime after entering the city, the lives of the soldiers and civilians can be saved, and the civil and military officials can remain in their posts.'

Tang Jing'an knew that this was the opponent's plan, so he ordered the city defenders to shoot arrows and reply to the letter that day. The reply with more than a thousand arrows and feathers contained only four words: "You are bragging!" '

Such a humiliating and tough response naturally angered Wan Qixi. In the afternoon of that day, the Zhou army's offensive became more fierce.

However, Tang Jing'an firmly believed that King Chu would not be defeated, but others were not as sure as him.

That night, a wealthy family in Siyang City organized servants to guard the courtyard and attacked the county government office in an attempt to capture Tang Jing'an and surrender to the city.

Tang Jing'an, who had had a fight with the Sizhou squire last year, was naturally on guard. The rebellion was quickly put out, but it also made people in the city even more panic-stricken.

The defenders outside the city seemed to sense the atmosphere inside the city, and starting from the morning of the second day of the twelfth lunar month the next day, they began to launch a thousand-man siege.

This time, the Eastern Route Army of the Zhou Dynasty besieged Siyang City, but did not encircle it to death. They only surrounded Siyang on three sides, leaving the west city for the Qi army to escape.

Surrounding three towers, Tang Jing'an could certainly see Zhou Jun's intention.

But more than ten miles to the west of Siyang City is Surabaya. Even if the defenders, mostly infantry, fled westward, there would be no chance of survival.

In addition, there is another reason why Tang Jing'an must stick to it.

Now that the garrisons of Sushou and Shou Prefectures have returned to Caizhou, if Siyang City is lost and Pingchuan is bounded to the west, the Zhou Army's East Route Army can rush to Caizhou City without any hindrance. By then, the east and west armies of the Zhou Kingdom will return to the outside of Caizhou City, and Caizhou City will be really in danger!

Caizhou City is not only the home base of the Huaibei Clan, but also the home of the King of Chu, all Huaibei bosses, including his family, Tang Jing'an, so there is no room for loss!

Tang Jing'an led the entire 19th regiment to death in this battle. As long as he could buy Caizhou a few days, it was worth it.
Around noon on the second day of the twelfth lunar month, when the Zhou army attacked again, they even sent out two thousand "young men" brought by the maritime merchant Pu Shanyou.

The so-called maritime merchants, who doesn't have hundreds of tough men? These people work as sailors on weekdays. If they encounter a lone merchant ship at sea, they will do a lot of business without money.

These two thousand young men were the elites selected by the five large merchant families in Quanzhou in order to follow the Zhou Kingdom and get a share of the Huaibei pie.

Since landing, they have been even more brave than the Zhou army. Of course, they were also more brutal during the robbery.

With the help of these young men who are good at climbing, the Zhou army's offensive was instantly more powerful.

At the end of the day, Zhou Jun climbed to the top of the city, and Siyang City was crumbling.

Tang Jing'an, who was in charge of the county government, rejected the suggestion of the commander of the 19th Regiment to evacuate, and wrote a personal letter asking the messenger to take him out of the city and hand it over to the King of Chu himself in the future.

'All three thousand of our warriors have been sacrificed, but the enemy's offensive has not weakened. If Siyang City is here, the student should be alive to see the prince. If there is a mistake in Siyang, the student will die on the battlefield and his body will be stained with wild leather. In the future, if the prince sees the breeze blowing on his face and sees the waves of wheat like waves, it will be the students who have come to see you. The mother and young son at home, please look after the prince.

And, I wish that Huaibei will sweep across Yunei, the four seas will be unified, and I will be victorious! '

On the same day, the Western Route Army of Zhou State had already entered Caizhou City.

Caizhou City is the base camp of Huaibei. Although the main army only has Liu Erhu's regiment, the retired veterans who were urgently recruited and the joint defense team from Changfang Village outside the city easily gathered more than 20,000 people to defend the city.

Furthermore, there are two battalions of thunder cannons stationed in Caizhou. Yesterday, the West Route Zhou army tried to attack the city for the first time, but it was met with disappointment. Today, it temporarily stopped.

They began to dig trenches outside the city and extended to the Ruhe River in the east of the city.

At Xu that night, Tangzhou regiment commander Zhang Bao and Tongshan County captain Xu Zhisheng led 4,000 troops and volunteers to follow the Zhou army to the outside of Pingshan Town, ten miles west of Caizhou.

On the 30th, the Western Route Army of the Zhou Dynasty passed through Tongshan in Tangzhou, but did not stop at all and walked directly around the city.

The people in the city breathed a sigh of relief, but Zhang Bao, Xu Zhisheng and others could not help but be frightened.

Going east, after passing Langshan Mountain, you will reach Caizhou.

The two men ignored asking for instructions to go up to the peak, and led Tongshan's five hundred troops out of the city that night and headed east. There were young and strong people of varying numbers rushing to Caizhou everywhere.

Among them were Xiang troops and Tongshan farmers, who gathered all the way. By the time they arrived thirty miles west of Caizhou City, there were four thousand people.

But compared to Zhou Guo's 70,000-strong army on the West Road, this improvised number of people was not enough to fill the gap between the teeth.

After all, both Zhang Bao and Xu Zhisheng had military experience, and they knew they couldn't do it by force. Only by joining a large army could they play some role.

In the night, the two of them were lying behind a hill, looking towards Caizhou.

Ten miles away, the largest city in Huaibei, there was only a spot of light left, and occasionally the rumble of cannons could be heard.

Compared to Xu Zhisheng, Zhang Bao was more anxious. He only heard him say: "I heard that there is only one regiment from Huaibei in the city, and the Zhou Dynasty's 70,000 troops, I don't know how many days they can hold it back."

Xu Zhisheng said: "Brother, we can't be in a hurry. Besides, although there are not many regular troops in the city, there are many young and strong men. I also heard that Guo Dutong of Yingzhou is still with three regiments of soldiers in the east of the city. If we can find If you get to them, you can have a chance to meet the rats from Zhou Kingdom."

"I understand what brother said, but right now there are Zhou troops everywhere outside the city, and it's difficult for us four thousand people to move around freely. It's not easy to find Guo Dutong."

As soon as Zhang Bao finished speaking, Wang Baocai, a veteran of the Tongshan Xiang Army, strode over with a woman.

"Zhang Tuanlian, I just met a woman in the field, claiming to be a member of the Huaibei Army, and asked us if we needed help."

Wang Baocai whispered, but Xu Zhisheng and Zhang Bao frowned at the same time and looked over. A woman appeared in the wild and said she would take the initiative to help. This seemed strange.

Could it be a spy from the Zhou Army?
Zhang Bao looked at it under the starlight, and then his doubts and vigilance disappeared, "Is this Mrs. Ding in front of you?"

"Hey! Isn't this the eldest brother of the Zhang family? You are here too!"

The woman had a look of surprise on her face. Xu Zhisheng didn't recognize her, but he was still looking at her carefully when he saw that this woman was about twenty-five or six years old, but she still wore her hair in a bun.

Zhang Bao then explained: "Brother, this Lady Ding is from Luliuwei, and her brother is Ding Peng, the commander of the 15th Regiment of the Huaibei Army."

OK, this sentence is more useful than any explanation, Xu Zhisheng couldn't help but feel relieved.

Ding Jiao came forward to pay tribute and talked about why she appeared here. It turned out that after the Zhou army entered Caizhou, volunteers from the villages outside the city were scattered and ambushed, but communication was inconvenient.

Ding Jiao and other female military dependents who were familiar with the local situation took the initiative to undertake the task of communicating with each village.

At this time, Zhou troops were everywhere outside the city, and women were easier to fool than young men.

Ding Jiao was simply the best helper in the world. Xu Zhisheng directly expressed his desire to contact Guo Dutong to see if he could help Mrs. Ding find him.

Unexpectedly, Ding Jiao actually knew the activity areas of several small troops in the 11th regiment to which Guo Tao'er belonged, and immediately agreed.

In the middle of the day, Ding Jiao walked along the path towards the south of the city, one foot deep and one foot shallow.

Halfway through, they ran into a group of hundreds of Zhou infantry.

At first, both sides were shocked.

Ding Jiao almost ran away, but then immediately calmed down. As a woman, she could never outrun a man.

When Zhou Jun discovered that there was only one woman, he immediately felt relieved and surrounded her with smiles.

"Hey, which girl are you, wandering around in the wild at night?"

"Aren't you a spy from the Qi Army? Hey hey hey, come and let me search you."

A soldier, wearing his military cap at an angle and dragging his sword casually behind him, casually stepped forward and raised his hand to strike at Ding Jiao's chest.

Amidst the strange laughter, another soldier said again: "Haha, Zhang Diaolv, will you search me and touch your crotch? Haha, let me do it."

The military discipline of the Zhou army was comparable to that of the old Xiang army of Qi State. At this time, they were in an enemy country and they were even more unscrupulous.

Suddenly, countless hands clung to Ding Jiao's body. Ding Jiao was so frightened that her whole body trembled.

For the first time, she thought of being touched by a thief. Brother Yao doesn't think much of me anymore.
But then, when she remembered that the relationship between the two was just a little closer than strangers, Ding Jiao felt relieved, and her extreme fear even dissipated a lot.

"Master, Master, don't panic"

Ding Jiao tried her best to pretend to be coquettish and said quickly: "There are dozens of sisters hiding in Pingshan Town. They haven't eaten all day. Master Jun, please give us some food first."

This sentence immediately made the surrounding Zhou Jun's eyes light up.

However, Marquis Yu of Zhou State was a bit cautious and said coldly: "Aren't you afraid of us?"

The strong and calm Ding Jiao covered her mouth with a smile and said: "Who knows that our Huaibei Army has a close relationship with the people. Speaking of which, this is the first time that the slave family has met such an anxious person."

There was a sudden silence all around, but the soldier named Zhang Diaolv chuckled and said, "Little girl, look at it, are we the Zhou army or the Qi army?"

Ding Jiao pretended to approach the other party, took a closer look at the military uniform on Zhang Diaolu, her expression suddenly changed, and she turned around to run away.

Nowadays, the styles of military uniforms from various countries in the world are very different. It is also the beginning of the month and the moonlight is dim. It is common for a woman to see wrongly.

But her reaction completely dispelled Na Yuhou's suspicion.

He laughed, hurried a few steps, raised his hand and grabbed Ding Jiao's hair, put the knife on the latter's neck, and said darkly and threateningly: "Be honest and lead the way for the gentlemen, but I will spare you a moment." Otherwise, I’ll cut you into pieces and feed them to wild dogs!”

Ding Jiao was so frightened that she couldn't even speak. She could only nod her head wildly to show her agreement.

At the end of Xu Shi.

Ding Jiao, whose hands were tied, was driven away by a group of Zhou troops and finally arrived at Pingshan Town.

The people here have already fled, and the town is deserted.

After walking a hundred or two hundred steps into the town, he still didn't hear any sound. Yu Hou couldn't help but become suspicious again and asked: "Where are your sisters? Shout out quickly. If you dare to play tricks, I will chop you with a knife." "

When Ding Jiao heard this, she suddenly stopped and looked back at the Zhou soldiers with a calm expression.

Zhang Diaolv even clearly felt a sense of contempt in her eyes.

But before he could get angry, Ding Jiao suddenly shouted towards Yingying's house: "Brothers, what are you waiting for! Don't worry about me, kill the thieves to protect the family!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the quiet town suddenly became agitated. Groups of men jumped out in front and behind the long street and in the courtyards of houses, holding steel knives and forks, and rushed towards Zhou Jun.

At this time, Yu Hou naturally knew that he had been deceived by that little girl, so he couldn't help but became furious and struck at her with his knife.

Ding Jiao instinctively reacted and jumped back. Although the steel knife did not hurt any vital parts, it made a diagonal cut of four to five inches on her face.

Blood gurgled down.

Ding Jiao, however, completely ignored her injuries, laughed heartily, and scolded Zhou Jun Yuhou: "If you, the rats of the Zhou Kingdom, dare to bully me in Huaibei, I will order all of you to be buried here!"

The children of Huaibei are so brave! (End of chapter)