Lord: Start with a book of Water Margin

Chapter 623 Huzhou
As Sun Jing expected, Gao Qiu went to the emperor to cry and complain, and because Zhao Zhen married the daughter of Fang La from Jiangnan, Gao Qiu hired someone to fight Zhao Zhen, and the emperor indeed agreed.

After burying Gao Shide, Gao Qiu asked Sun Jing to deliver a letter to Liangshan on his behalf. At this time, the situation had already changed.

In the Jiangnan area, Fang La thought he had a good plan, but he didn't know that Tong Guan had already made arrangements.

After Fang La's left prime minister Lou Minzhong arrived in Huzhou, he ordered people to spread the news that Liangshan had raised an army to attack Bianjing. After hearing this, Tong Guan ordered his commanders and militiamen to lead the troops to pretend to be in chaos, retreating 20 miles in one day before setting up camp again.

After Fang Jie and Du Wei led 50,000 troops into Huzhou, the chaos in Tong Guan's camp stopped.

In Huzhou City, Lou Minzhong met Fang Jie and Du Wei and said to them, "Since the rumor of Liangshan's uprising was spread, Tong Guan's army has retreated 20 miles. The two generals are here to make achievements."

Fang Jie said, "We all know what the imperial army looks like. They took a few cities before, but it was only because our elite troops were not there. Now the imperial army has no intention of fighting. This time, we must not only defeat Tong Guan, but also retake Xuanzhou. If we can reach Dantu, and attack from both sides with Third Uncle, we can drive all the imperial lackeys out of Jiangnan."

Du Wei said: "The Song Dynasty has no one, and they have let two eunuchs lead the army. Now the king has sent us to lead the army. Not only do we want to recover the lost territory, but we also want to cross the river and seize Yangzhou while the Song Dynasty has no soldiers available."

Several people talked about the current battle, and they all looked confident of victory.

Even Gong Wen, the garrison commander of Huzhou, no longer looked worried. After listening to Fang Jie, Du Wei, and Lou Minzhong's thoughts about the future, Gong Wen said, "My three lords, I have been guarding Huzhou with trepidation for many days. Now that we have finally reached the day to be proud, why not let the vanguard position be given to the soldiers of Huzhou?"

Fearing that Fang Jie would not agree, Gong Wen continued, "I have a duty to defend my territory and dare not leave Huzhou. I cannot share the credit for retaking Xuanzhou. I hope the Prime Minister, the Imperial Guards, and the General will take notice and support me."

After hearing this, Lou Minzhong said, "Don't worry about Gong's defense. Tong Guan's camp outside the city will certainly have its share of defense contributions."

"There is chaos outside the city now. Although there is no more chaos in Tong Guan's army after the withdrawal, Tong Guan must be asked to suppress it. It is better to attack Tong Guan's camp sooner rather than later. We can't wait for him to find out the truth. By then, there will be many more variables. It will be impossible to win in one battle."

Fang Jie heard this and said, "In that case, how about we have breakfast at 3am tomorrow and attack Tong Guan's camp at 5am?"

Du Wei said: "It's better to deal with this guy early, so that Suzhou will not win first and our contribution will not be shown."

The four of them discussed it and went down to prepare.

In Tong Guan's camp, [Flying Dragon General] Feng Mei, [Flying Tiger General] Bi Sheng, Chief Manager Liu Guangshi, Wuzhou Surveillance Envoy Wang Bing, Military Commanders Wang Huan, Wang Weizhong, Xin Xingzhong, Duan Pengju, Chen Zhu, and the emperor's trusted eunuch and military supervisor Wang Renrui, as well as other military leaders, gathered together.

Tong Guan spoke first, "The spies have found out that Fang La has sent the fake prime minister Lou Minzhong, the fake imperial edict Fang Jie, and the fake general Du Wei to lead 50,000 troops to rescue Huzhou. They will attack us in the next two days. Do you have any ideas?"

General Liu Guangshi spoke first, "Prime Minister, I have 100,000 elite troops here, and we will surely win a great victory. In my opinion, the Huzhou army must come out in full force."

"Huzhou is empty. If we use a part of our elite troops to seize Huzhou and set the city on fire, Fang La's army will be thrown into chaos without a fight. Then, you can lead the army to rush out and drive Fang La's army to Dusong Pass and Deqing. If we can capture these two places, Hangzhou will be shaken."

"Suzhou will be unstable. If Minister Tan from the east can take Suzhou, the two armies will join forces and we will be close to annihilating Fang La."

After hearing this, [Flying Tiger General] Bi Sheng smiled and said, "If that's the case, maybe we can return to Bianjing before the end of the year."

[Flying Dragon General] Feng Mei also said: "It is all thanks to the strategies of the Prime Minister and Zhao Anfu that we were able to be so successful. After this battle, the Prime Minister wrote a letter to the Emperor to request credit for Liangshan's Prime Minister Zhao Anfu." Wang Huan and others also spoke up to praise him.

After listening to the generals' words, the military supervisor Wang Renrui also said, "Mr. Zhao Anfu is the son-in-law of the Prime Minister. He had made great efforts in suppressing Tian Hu in Hebei before. Now in Bianjing City, who doesn't praise the Prime Minister for knowing people? If we win this battle, I will not agree if Mr. Zhao Anfu's name is not included in the Prime Minister's request for credit."

When everyone heard this, they all laughed.

After laughing, Tong Guan said, "He just came up with this idea because of chance. Even if he didn't come up with this idea, it would not be difficult for us to take Huzhou. It just took some time. If we talk about the merits, who among you present is not greater than him."

"My daughter wrote to me, saying that my son-in-law is injured and is looking for precious medicine everywhere. If we can win a big victory over Fang La this time, we will add his contribution as the counselor and ask the emperor to give him some secret medicine from the palace to heal his wounds."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

Tong Guan continued, "Taking Huzhou is inevitable, but I am not completely satisfied with this. Dusongguan and Deqing are even more dangerous than Huzhou, but I am thinking of taking these two places at the same time. What do you think?"

Liu Guangshi heard this and hesitated for a moment before saying, "Prime Minister, isn't this too risky? There are at least 70,000 rebels in Huzhou now. We have to divide our forces to take Huzhou, plus Dusong Pass and Deqing. Our forces are too dispersed. Please think twice."

As soon as he finished speaking, Wang reported: "The general is too cautious. We have fought Xuanzhou from Dantu and attacked Huzhou. Fang La's troops are nothing more than that. I am not talented, but I am willing to lead 5,000 troops to attack Deqing."

"I am willing to lead 5,000 soldiers to attack Dusong Pass." Wang Weizhong also spoke.

Feng Mei and Bi Sheng heard this and said, "I am willing to lead 10,000 soldiers to take Huzhou."

Tong Guan laughed loudly after hearing this and said, "If you generals are so dedicated, there is no need to worry about not being able to capture these three strategic locations."

"Then, Wang Bing and Wang Weizhong, you two can pretend to be Fang La's soldiers and sneak out of the camp tonight. There is no need to rush to attack the city. I will drive away Fang La's white army here, and you two can take advantage of the chaos to sneak in and seize the pass. You will definitely succeed."

"In this battle, taking Huzhou is the most important. Feng Mei and Bi Sheng, you two will each lead 5,000 soldiers. Once the fighting starts here, you will attack the city."

After hearing this, everyone accepted the order.

The next day, the gates of Huzhou were opened wide, Gong Wen led 10,000 elite soldiers of Huzhou to open the way, Fang Jie led 40,000 soldiers in the middle, Du Wei led 10,000 soldiers to form the rear, and Lou Minzhong led 5,000 old and weak soldiers to guard the city of Huzhou.

The army had breakfast at three o'clock in the morning, left the city at four o'clock, and arrived at Tong Guan's camp at five o'clock.

Gong Wen didn't wait for Fang Jie to arrive, he jumped on his horse and whipped the horse to challenge him.

Tong Guan did not go into battle here, but only asked the soldiers to guard the camp carefully.

When Fang Jie and Du Wei led their troops to attack, the three armies joined together and challenged each other for battle. However, Tong Guan did not send out troops to fight as planned.

(End of this chapter)