Thief Emperor

Chapter 613 Uprising!

Suizhou, Zaoyang.

Meng Qing led a battalion of commanders and was groping towards Xiangzhou from Zaoyang.

At this time, it was getting dark. Meng Qing ordered to set up camp about sixty miles outside Zaoyang City. When it was getting dark, Meng Qing entered the tent that had just been set up and sat down to look at the map.

A young man who was shorter than him, only about seventeen or eighteen years old, carefully handed a map to his desk and said with his head down, "Seventh Brother, this is the map of Suizhou and Xiangzhou sent by the Ninth Department. The people from the Ninth Department said that the Jingnan Army was found in Zaoyang. Please pay more attention to it, Seventh Brother."

Meng Qing looked up at the young man and frowned, "How many times have I told you, in the army, don't call me Seventh Brother."

Meng Qing is the seventh among the same generation cousins ​​in the Meng family, and Meng Hai is the fourth.

As a result of the change in Shidai Hexi Village, less than twenty people survived in the entire Hexi Village. Only four cousins ​​of their generation, including Meng Hai and Meng Qing, survived.

Among them, Meng Hai works in the Nine Departments, Meng Qing joined the army and became a general, and he has a brother who follows his elder Meng Chong to mint coins. The youngest brother of the same generation, Meng Yan, who ranks ninth, also joined the army after he turned sixteen last year and now follows Meng Qing.

Meng Yan lowered his head and whispered, "There are no outsiders..."

Meng Hai shook his head slightly and said nothing more. He flipped through the document from the Ninth Division and said, "Tell the people in the scout camp to patrol ten miles further out today, especially in the direction of Zaoyang. If there is any movement, report it immediately."

Meng Yan lowered his head and clasped his fists, saying, "Yes, Captain."

He turned around and was about to leave when Meng Qing called him back. General Meng thought for a moment and said, "Ask Jiusi to report to General Zhao that we will be able to reach Zaoyang tomorrow."

"The follow-up troops can advance into Suizhou."

"Yes!"

Meng Yan responded again, turned around and strode away.

……

At midnight, when Meng Qing had fallen into a deep sleep, Meng Yan's voice was heard outside the tent again. After Meng Yan called out twice, he opened the curtain, walked in, and shook Meng Qing.

Meng Qing suddenly woke up. When he opened his eyes and saw that it was his cousin, he wiped the sweat from his forehead and frowned, "What's the matter?"

"Kyushi sent it in a hurry."

Meng Yan took a deep breath and said, "Seventh Brother, General Su has made a move!"

Hearing this, Meng Qing's eyes widened immediately, and all sleepiness disappeared. He said in a hoarse voice: "What did you say?"

"According to the intelligence sent by Jiusi, General Su's main force has already begun to move. Let us cooperate with them!"

Meng Qing quickly found the map and, with the help of the candlelight, found the location of Jingzhou on the map. He thought for a moment and asked, "Will General Su start from Lizhou or Mianzhou?"

"Mianzhou, the army started from Chanyang and has now entered Fuzhou!"

Meng Qing looked at the map again. After thinking about it carefully, he muttered to himself, "Yes, we should start from Mianzhou."

Originally, Su Sheng's troops were stationed in Lizhou, which borders Jingzhou. From Lizhou, they could directly enter Jingzhou, which was convenient and fast.

There is Fuzhou between Mianzhou and Jingzhou, which makes the situation more complicated.

However, the last time, after the two generals Su and Zhao discussed it, they unanimously decided that Su Sheng's troops should start from Mianyang Prefecture.

Because Jingzhou was divided into two parts by the river.

The capital of Jingzhou is on the north side of the Yangtze River. If one enters Jingzhou from Lizhou, one can only reach the south bank of the Yangtze River and face Jingzhou city across the river. However, if one fights westward from Mianzhou, one can directly reach the city of Jingzhou.

Of course, Su Sheng did not deploy all his troops in Mianzhou. He still left some troops in Lizhou to make it convenient for him to occupy the entire Jingzhou when the time comes.

At this time, Su Sheng had indeed advanced westward along the Mian River, entered Fuzhou, and arrived at the city of Mianyang in Fuzhou.

The so-called Mianyang is the south of the Mian River, and this Mian River will eventually flow into the river near the city of Jingzhou.

It is worth mentioning that Xiangzhou, like Jingzhou, is located at the confluence of several rivers. It is precisely because of the confluence of waterways that these two places are particularly important and have almost become a battleground for military strategists.

After looking at the map for a while, Meng Qing asked, "Does General Zhao know about this?"

Meng Yan immediately lowered his head: "The information from the Nine Departments was sent to each army at the same time. General Zhao in the rear should have known it by now."

He looked at Meng Qing and whispered, "Captain, should we take advantage of this opportunity and march into Zaoyang?"

"Yes, I will go in."

Meng Qing closed his eyes and said, "But that's tomorrow's business. It's the middle of the night now, and sleep is more important."

"We can't disturb the soldiers' rest, Meng Yan."

Meng Yan quickly stood up, bowed his head and said, "I'm here!" "Tell our messenger to send a message immediately, and the scattered troops nearby will gather in the direction of Zaoyang at dawn tomorrow."

"Write to General Zhao again. I'm sending troops to Zaoyang!"

"Yes!"

Meng Yan was a little excited and laughed loudly, "I'll go right away!"

Meng Qing looked at him and shook his head slightly: "We're going to have a war, and you're still so silly."

Meng Yan had already walked to the door of the tent. Hearing this, he looked back at Meng Qing and said with a smile, "If I don't fight, how can I become a high-ranking official like Brother Qi?"

After saying that, he strode away without even looking back.

Meng Qing was lost in thought for a while, then lay back on his bed, looked at the ceiling of the tent, and sighed softly.

As he gets older and has spent more time in the army, Meng Qing has witnessed too many separations and deaths.

When he was young, he only felt the passion of youth and had no other thoughts at all. As he is now in his twenties, he has witnessed many comrades die in front of his eyes. Now Meng Qing has become a little more calm and a little more sad.

“I just hope to be promoted.”

In the darkness, General Xiao Meng sighed softly: "I hope this chaotic world can end as soon as possible."

…………

The next day, Meng Qing led his troops and nearby forces of nearly 2,000 people and attacked Zaoyang directly. The main force behind him, that is, Zhao Cheng's troops, had also received the news from Jiusi. After dawn, Zhao Cheng's troops surrounded Sui County in Suizhou.

Sui County did not have many troops, and it could even be said that it did not have any decent army, so Zhao Cheng only attacked once, and before noon, the city of Suizhou was captured in one battle.

After taking Suizhou City, Zhao Cheng left a brigade stationed here. Then he stood on the city wall, waved his hand, and shouted: "Hang the Li flag, advance west, advance west!"

According to established practice, the army usually flies the flag of the commander-in-chief. For example, Zhao Cheng's troops flew the flag with the word "Zhao" on it, and Su Sheng's troops flew the flag with the word "Su" on it.

Now, the flag with the word "Li" hanging high means that Li Yun, the lord of Jiangdong, has officially started his own and the entire Jiangdong army's westward expedition from Jiangnan!
As for the news of the action in Jingxiang, the Nine Departments naturally reported it to Jiangbei as quickly as possible. Deng Yang in Fengyang was the first to receive the news. Then the General of Jinling immediately ordered to strengthen patrols along the entire Huai River defense line to be prepared for the Pinglu Army to move south at any time.

Li Yun in Chuzhou, further east, received the news about half a day later. After receiving the news from Jingxiang, he was not very surprised.

At this moment, although there are still a few days before the originally scheduled time of action, he has given the front line enough authority.

After all, this was an era without timely communications. If you want to have enough flexibility in fighting on the front lines, you must delegate power.

As long as the time is right, the front line can naturally take action on its own.

Mr. Li stood on the northern city wall of Chuzhou, looking silently to the north in a trance.

Behind him was Feng Qi, the captain of the Jinling Army, who was bowing respectfully to Li Yun: "Sir, Jingxiang has already taken action, should we send more people to patrol the Huai River?"

Li Yun turned around and looked at him.

Feng Qi, originally when he was in the anti-theft team, had no name. Because he was ugly, others gave him the nickname "Aguai". Later, it was Xue Yun'er who changed his name to Feng Qi.

Feng Qi is a tall man, almost as tall as Li Yun. Although he is no match for Li Yun in a fight, he is very brave on the battlefield.

He previously served as a brigade commander in Yuezhou, and was now promoted to captain, all based on his military merits, without a trace of water.

Moreover, because he was born ugly, it was impossible for him to find a wife before. Now that he is an officer, although the wives he finds are still not good-looking, he finally has a family and offspring.

Because of this incident, Feng Qi can be said to be the most loyal general to Li Yun in Jiangdong.

"We have to send people, but there's no need to be too nervous. The Huai River is so long, and with 5,000 of us, it's difficult for us to defend Chuzhou's entire Huai River defense line."

Mr. Li paused, then smiled and said, "Forget about today. The Pinglu Army in the north will receive the news from Jingxiang tomorrow at the earliest. Starting tomorrow, you will lead your men to inspect the Huai River."

"If you see the Pinglu Army's ships, fire flares and I will bring people over to support them."

Feng Qi quickly bowed his head and clasped his fists in response: "I obey your command!"

After he retreated from the tower, Li Yun called another captain and said with a smile: "Hang up my general flag."

The captain quickly lowered his head, answered yes, and then retreated.

Mr. Li put his hands behind his back, looked towards the north, and whispered softly.

"Come on, come on."

(End of this chapter)