Song Dynasty

Chapter 252

Wu Tuo: "It should be near Chongxiao Town, only thirty or forty miles away from Dingzhou."

"Ah, it's so close." Du Shu rejoiced in his heart, "Looks like we'll be able to meet Daosi tomorrow morning. My God, the road has been full of water, so we've reached the end of the road."

Wu Tuo frowned suddenly: "Judge Du, the general always feels that something is wrong. I'm afraid it won't be that easy to walk for thirty or forty miles?"

Du Shu: "What's wrong?"

Wu Tuo looked at the soldiers who were sleeping soundly with their heads covered all over the ground, and said in a low voice, "Judge Du, I also served as the deputy commander of the Sizhou Army. My general attaches great importance to intelligence in every battle. Every time he goes to a place, the scout The security circle of the scouts will spread out for thirty or forty miles. This place is so close to Dingzhou, it is supposed to meet our light cavalry long ago. But yesterday, after walking all day, the bird feathers did not come across. , don't you think there's something wrong?"

"So...there is only one possibility?"

Du Shu: "What's possible?"

Wu Tuo showed concern: "Maybe this area is under the control of the Zhongzhong monster, and our scouts can't penetrate it."

"How is it possible?" Du Shu knew the formidable fighting power of Sizhou Army soldiers. In his opinion, even the Jurchen Iron Cavalry was no more than that.What kind of thing is Zhong Xiang's monster? It is no different from the army of rogues. How can they control the outskirts of Dingzhou, the base camp of the Song Army.

Could it be that Wang Daosi and Li Cheng watched the demons so rampant outside the city but ignored them, allowing them to come to the countryside to surround the city?
Du Shu couldn't help shaking his head: "No, no, General Wu may have guessed wrong."

Wu Tuo: "No, the military envoy said: For a general, reading and memorizing maps is the basic quality. If you don't even know where you are, how can you fight with your eyes darkened? This is definitely a tripod. State, there is no mistake. As for why we didn’t meet our scout cavalry, that’s the only possibility.”

"My Sizhou army is fighting bravely, but Judge Du has also seen what's going on here. There are rivers, swamps and reeds everywhere, which is not conducive to cavalry action at all. Monsters are good at water, and they come here by boat, so they can advance and retreat smoothly. Even if the envoys have thousands of troops, they can't help it."

"After all, our Sizhou Army's strength is limited, and the people are unfamiliar. This area has gradually been controlled by the Zhongxiang monster. According to the military envoy, this is called..."

"What's this called?" Du Shu couldn't help asking.

Wu Tuo: "This is called the security war, the most difficult battle in the world. No wonder the dignified Li Cheng and Li Tianwang came to Dongting Lake for half a year, but they couldn't meet each other."

"Advance and retreat properly, fight if you win, and leave if you don't win." Du Shu also felt that the problem was a bit serious. He looked at the reeds rippling in the wind, and suddenly a cold air surged in his heart, and he fell asleep immediately. Disappearing beyond Jiuxiaoyun: "General Wu, we will be able to enter Dingzhou in one day, maybe I have already been targeted by monsters, so I have to be more careful tomorrow."

"It's not that it's bad, it's inevitable." Wu Tuo said: "It's just that it's hard to say whether the enemy will attack or not. You and I should stop sleeping and watch here."

"It's okay, we've only been on our way for a while, but we haven't spoken to each other, and today we just happen to get close."

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More than 100 people from Wu Tuo and Du Shu, and ten heavy carts walked on the road for a day. Now there is a prosperous bonfire, which has indeed attracted the attention of the enemy.

In a deserted village twenty miles away, two small rivers gurgled and ran, separating the village into a small island.

The village is dilapidated, full of ruins.Ragged soldiers crowded the roofless houses.They were all asleep, and their loud snoring echoed through the village.

Outside the house, another group of soldiers patrolled back and forth with weapons.

Like the soldiers in the house, their clothes were so badly worn that they were all tattered, and their flesh was exposed everywhere.When the cold wind blows, everyone is shivering, and some people can't help stomping their feet vigorously.

Looking at the weapons in their hands, they didn't look like they were there, and some of them even only carried a hoe.

"The Sizhou thief really deserves his reputation, and Bei Wei is an elite under Wang Shen. It's really hard to deal with." In a room lit by oil lamps, a rough young man was talking.Unlike the beggar-like soldiers, this man was wearing a red robe and a hat made of black gauze, with a pearl the size of a pigeon egg inlaid on it.I was illuminated by the light, and it was dazzling: "I have fought repeatedly with Beiwei in the vicinity for the past few days, and I have suffered a lot. If I just go back like this, I will not be able to calm down in my heart, and I will have no way to complain to my father. Explain. It is said that Yue Yun is here, and tomorrow we will concentrate our forces to take the head of this little boy. Hehe, I have thousands of troops and dozens of boats on hand. The surname Yue is on the list. I heard that there is only There are more than a hundred people, the opportunity is not to be missed, and it will never come back. General Beiwei, hehe, tomorrow I will show you that our God Sect is also a hero who never retreats."

Hearing what he said, several other officers who looked like officers were shocked and said in unison: "His Royal Highness, I heard that this Yue Yun is the number one warrior under Wang Shen, and he has undeserved courage. This place is too close to Dingzhou If we can't win the battle tomorrow, if the enemy in the city is alerted to come to help, even if it is not Wang Shen's main force behind us, even if Li Cheng's troops come, we will be in big trouble."

"Yes, what a noble status the prince is. His Majesty the King of Chu ordered me to collect food and fodder, not to fight. If you have something good or bad, how can we explain to His Majesty?"

All of a sudden, the generals spoke again and again.

That's right, the young man in the red robe and black hat in the room is Zhong Zi'ang, the son of Zhong Xiang.

Just in February of this year, Zhong Xiang led the crowd to revolt when the golden man Tu Tanzhou, which is later Changsha, Hunan, and Li Cheng's army invaded Lizhou and Dingzhou.The name of the founding state was Chu, and the name of the year was Tianzai. Zhong Xiang was called the king of Chu, and his son Zhong Ziang was made the prince.

Zhong Ziang has a violent temper and is about to explode.

Seeing his uneasy expression, another general said: "His Royal Highness, it is better to be careful in everything. Even if the reinforcements in Dingzhou City come out, it will be difficult to eat Yue Yun."

"Why is it difficult, but there are more than a hundred backs, but I have a thousand soldiers and horses on hand." Zhong Ziang scolded angrily.

The man sighed: "His Royal Highness, you have also seen the soldiers of the Wei army in the past two days. Everyone is wearing iron armor. Our weapons can't even leave a mark on them. Those old Western soldiers and northern soldiers The savages are all tall and strong, with heavy weapons in their hands, and they can knock down a large part of us with a single blow. General Xia Cheng can be regarded as one of the heroes under King Chu's command. It took more than 300 people to attack an ordinary backyard, and it took half a day to eat it, but Lao Xia was severely injured and is still lying on the bed. According to General Yi Mo, it seems that more than 1000 of us went to attack Yue Yun, I'm afraid we may not be able to take it down."

"Yes, yes, the prince, think twice!" Thinking of how powerful the Wei army was, and thinking that they would have to face more than 100 enemies tomorrow, everyone felt a little apprehensive.During this period of time, the "Rebel Army" has often suffered under Wang Daosi's hands.Not only Xia Cheng, but Huang Zuo, Zhou Lun, Yang Qin and other generals and officials were all wounded.

They were scared of being beaten by others.

Sizhou Beiwei's army of [-] troops, plus the navy, no more than [-], suddenly entered the Ding and Li prefectures, and attacked the cities and villages all the way.

No matter how many elites the "Great Chu Army" mobilized, they were defeated all the way, until now, no one dared to fight with them again.

At this time, the Great Chu Army discovered to their surprise that although the Sizhou Army came less, they were a more formidable opponent than Li Cheng.

"His Royal Highness, we came out this time to collect food and fodder. If we go to fight Yue Yun, there will be troubles. His Majesty is afraid that we will be punished for not obeying the order!"

Another person persuaded: "His Royal Highness, in view of the fact that our army has been defeated by Wang Shen recently, Mrs. Yang has reported to the King of Chu and temporarily took a defensive position against the Sizhou army. He said that it is not a good idea to fight like this now, not only If it can’t solve the problem, it will destroy the morale of our army. He said that our army’s tactics must be changed.”

Zhong Ziang was annoyed when he saw that they resisted three times and refused to fight.Especially after his subordinates mentioned Mrs. Yang's name, he was even more jealous.

Mrs. Yang was one of his father's companions during the uprising. He was outstanding in martial arts and won the hearts of the soldiers.Although it is said that he is a talented courtier of the father and emperor, in the final analysis, he is actually a colleague.Generals in the army such as Xia Cheng, Huang Zuo, and Zhou Lun are all under his command.This person is very powerful, even if his father saw him, he would call him "Brother Yao" politely and would not offend him.

There have been rumors in the army that when the father ascended the throne, he even thought about making Mrs. Yang the crown prince.It's just that the two used to be considered brothers, but calling Mrs. Yang the crown prince was a mess of seniority, and Yang Yao couldn't hold back.

But this incident made Zhong Ziang more vigilant, feeling that his position was greatly threatened.

"You are afraid of Yue Yun and the Sizhou Army, but I am not. Yang Yao is nothing. Don't think that he is the only one who can fight in our Dachu, and I am not weaker than him. Stop talking, everyone has dispersed, first Go to bed. Wait until tomorrow morning, we will go to find that Yue Yun, and take off that little thief's head and kick it as a ball."

Having said that, Zhong Ziang's face was full of anger: "If you are talking nonsense, military law is ruthless."

Seeing that he had made up his mind, the generals felt unlucky when they thought of fighting Yue Yun and those monsters covered in steel tomorrow.

At this time, there was a sudden commotion outside, and someone came to report: "His Royal Highness, the scouts are back, the scouts are back!"

Zhong Ziang lifted his spirits and strode out of the room.There is a river at the door, and a small sampan has already docked, and the scout leader on the boat jumped up: "I have seen Your Highness."

Zhong Ziang: "What's going on with little thief Yue?"

Scout: "A hundred people from the Yueyun Division suddenly disappeared, and the camp was empty."

"Where did they go?" Zhong Ziang asked in surprise.

(End of this chapter)