After Cao Shancheng died, Qinghe was settled.

But at this time, Liaocheng was still untouched, Tangyi was gathering heavy troops, and Wuyang County needed to make a statement. This march still needed a resounding ending.

The time came to the last day of March, which was also the last day of spring. With the massive and rapid advance of the Army's Third Army, which was far beyond everyone's expectations, the heavy army of Tangyi officers and soldiers who had realized the situation on the battlefield decisively abandoned Tangyi.

Yi, heading south to approach Liaocheng.

This move was not only an attempt to break the siege of Liaocheng and rescue the two officials who were trapped in it, but also to rely on the soldiers and horses who had stayed along the river for defense to ensure a retreat. After all, the imperial officers and soldiers who came in response to the situation in Qinghe this time

Although there were many, the core main force was still the more than 10,000 Dongdu elites headed by Qu Tuda, and this army came along the river.

Of course, there is also the practical consideration that if we don't leave, Tangyi and the elite Wandongdu will also be surrounded by heavy troops from the fast-moving gang.

This action also prevented the army from being entangled in the whims of Tangyi and Liaocheng due to the rapid progress. Instead, it immediately sent orders to all cities, gathered heavy troops, and rushed to Liaocheng.

In the morning, the military sentry cavalry who paid special attention to the direction of Tangyi in the north noticed the strange movement. Before noon, countless scout teams, including Guo Jingke himself, witnessed the imperial officers and soldiers in the direction of Tangyi desperately approaching Liaocheng.

Then he immediately delivered the exact news in person to the cavalry troops who were encamped three miles west of Liaocheng and were taking a break.

"Thirteen or four thousand, ten thousand are the elite of the Eastern Capital, and there are more than three thousand cavalry among them. The cavalry should all have iron armor, because except for the scouts, no leather armor is seen. Less than a thousand people have vests and silk to cover them.

They must have burned most of the baggage, and only brought part of the dry food and drinking water, and then used animals to carry it. The speed was very fast. They are already twenty miles away, and they must have started to add more clothes from thirty miles away.

." Guo Jingke's face turned a little pale, but his tone was very steady. "That's not all. There is also a change in the direction of Wu Shui. It should be that the thousands of defenders who were placed there before have been summoned. Guanshi, Guantao, Guixiang.

I really didn’t have time to take a look, so I’m not sure if there are any other arrangements.”

"Fourteen plus five thousand, plus three thousand, that's twenty-two-three. If the soldiers from Xiangguo and Wu'an counties really come, it will be 40,000? How about another fight at Ma Face River?" Cheng Zhili asked in surprise.

."Where did Qutuda get the courage?!"

"It's just a false show!" Zhou Xingfan breathed heavily and blurted out, almost yelling. Several cavalry leaders went to watch.

But Zhou Xingfan was not afraid at all and spoke boldly:

"Think about it, if he really dared to fight, why didn't Queen Ma Lianhe continue to fight before? Why did he come now instead? It's just that the two gentlemen in Liaocheng are too important, and they have five thousand soldiers and martial arts.

In the Yangjun area, we had to try to save someone, so we concentrated all our troops and put on a desperate attitude, hoping to defeat us newly formed cavalry in a moment of anger. It would be better to scare us away directly! In fact,

Go ahead, as long as we survive this wave of impact and wait for the reinforcements to arrive, Qutuda will run away with his tail between his legs three times!"

"That's good!" Liu Heifu, who was the most junior, couldn't help but follow him, but he almost shouted. "That makes sense." Cheng Zhili also nodded immediately.

Fan Bao hesitated for a moment and said seriously: "It makes sense to say this, but the opponent is very aggressive. We only have 7,000 cavalry and one battalion of scouts. There are hundreds of scattered cavalry on the road that have not been gathered together. The opponent is three times more powerful."

As for me, I’m ready to ride and walk, I still have a city in hand, and I’m not short of elites. So, the question is, how can we survive this confrontation?”

"Indeed!" Cheng Zhili, who was still quite excited at first, thought for a moment and suddenly became a little uneasy. "And if we guard the stronghold for a while, wouldn't it be possible for the people in the city to be escorted out directly?

Then there was no explanation?"

"How can the cavalry guard the stronghold?" Liu Heifu blushed, not caring that the other party was a senior leader.

"With such a fierce momentum, even the infantry cannot defend the stronghold." Zhou Xingfan was also rude. "Chief Cheng Da must not forget what happened to Xue Laoer before. Defending the stronghold at this time means retreating, and the cavalry defending the stronghold will retreat even more. Once

Retreating means that one thing will disappear and the other will rise. Qu Tuda is not a bad general.

The others are all veterans who stayed behind in Dongdu. If you get a chance to pry, what should you do if you pull out the tiger's teeth?"

Zhou Xingfan is not an empty-handed leader. As soon as he said this, Liu Heifu immediately got excited and followed him on the spot: "Instead, we, the cavalry battalion who invited us to fight, will become the joke of the whole Hebei!"

"It doesn't matter if it's a joke." Fan Bao took a long breath. "If you lose the fifth battalion of soldiers, it will really hurt your muscles and bones. The entire situation in Hebei will be greatly compromised."

"That's what I mean." Cheng Zhili immediately spoke seriously, his momentum no less than that of Zhou and Liu. "No matter what, whether it's walking, fighting, defending the stronghold, public or private, you have to do it.

Only by preserving the family foundation of the fifth battalion of cavalry can we say that we are all leading troops. We all should know how precious these seven thousand cavalry are!

Let us also say that Leader Cheng looks majestic, but he is actually uneasy on the inside.

But this uneasiness is not simply uneasiness about possible situations, but multifaceted - he is a meticulous person and has clear judgments on many things. He thinks a lot or thinks thoroughly.

, in short, I have some thoughts about myself and the surroundings.

First of all, he didn't know whether others had read the "Six Tao" that he was handed out, but he had read it anyway, so now he knew very well that those three people, Guo Jingke, Zhou Xingfan, and Liu Heifu, were actually the "Six Taoists".

The kind of dead soldiers mentioned in the soldier selection section of "Tao" are at least half dead soldiers.

For example, Guo Jingke is a typical person who fights to the death. The so-called person who once made a mistake in the past and wants to make a contribution to regain his position may not be desperate on the battlefield, but he will definitely be determined; Zhou Xingfan is a typical person who is angry and angry. His father is dead.

, desperately wanted revenge, as long as he could fight the imperial soldiers, he would be happy; while Liu Heifu was half a mortal man and half a dull man. The so-called poverty and anger, he was used to being poor, and he was used to being in abjection.

, and have nothing to lose. If you finally get the opportunity, you will definitely want to enjoy it, regardless of life or death. Even if you have a future, you are eager to cover up your miserable and ridiculous first half of your life by making meritorious deeds.

These three dead men must insist on fighting. No one can persuade them, not even a big leader like themselves can stop them.

Fan Bao, on the other hand, has obviously outgrown this stage. As a descendant and with a family fortune, he is safe, and he is a fellow countryman, so he can be relied on.

At the same time, Cheng Zhili himself was also a little confused.

He knew very well that he had an excessive fear of the annihilation of the entire army and the loss of military power. Once bitten by a snake, he would be afraid of the rope for ten years. Ever since he had been self-righteous and repeatedly jumped around and refused to obey orders, the two armies collided.

After all the eight hundred cavalrymen with the same background died, he became particularly sensitive to such matters.

But the lesson from that incident was not only the loss of family foundation, but also the frustration of not being able to see the situation, recognize the true hero, and not knowing the importance of oneself.

So at this time, he was not only afraid that the cavalry army would be exhausted again, causing him to lose his capital, but also afraid that he would lose Liaocheng because of his conservatism, or that his radicalism would annihilate the entire army, causing him to fall into despair.

After a change of thought, he looked at Shan Tonghai, the justified leader of the attack and one of the three oldest leaders in the gang, and then his heart sank.

Of course this person also has something to say.

"What's there to say? Are you afraid of losing so you won't fight?" Shan Tonghai patiently listened to the five leaders in front of him and immediately raised his eyebrows. "Besides, we have five battalions with seven thousand riders and three Ningdan.

, where can’t we go?! Since he comes to fight, fight with him!”

Everyone around him was speechless.

When Shan Tonghai saw no one refuting, he immediately issued a specific military order: "Xiao Guo, go and arrange your scout camp yourself. Information from all parties must be sent to you in time! Let the leader of Heshang Lu pay attention to the situation. If the officers and soldiers dare to attack

If we want to retreat, he can also abandon the ship and make a move. This is what I want him to come! The rest of the people will follow me to organize the army, and then abandon the camp and go out. Three thousand armored cavalry will be in the center, and four thousand light cavalry will be divided into two wings to meet them face to face! As long as our cavalry

While they are still going around outside, the two big gentlemen in the city dare not move at all!"

really!

Cheng Zhili screamed in his heart, but said nothing more. In the entire small group, his objections were meaningless.

In the afternoon, the sunshine of the last day of late spring was already very dazzling. Amidst the gentle breeze coming from the south, countless troops were marching hard in the green fields.

As expected, both the imperial court and the gang's armies were dominated by farmers. They instinctively avoided the crop fields and marched from the official roads and fields. But it has to be admitted that with the war,

With the development of the country, the focus gradually focused on time, and the marching needs became more and more urgent. This instinctive maintenance of military discipline was gradually let go.

In fact, when the army marched to about twenty miles away from Liaocheng, the scouts from both sides were already chasing each other unscrupulously in the fields just up to the horse's knees. And when they marched fifteen miles away from Liaocheng, they

At that time, as the troops were dressed up, the forward formation of three thousand armored cavalry also unfolded, marching linearly in the fields without any scruples.

Among them, there was a group of cavalry with about 800 to 1,000 people in black armor and silk hoods. They were leading the way and seemed to be unstoppable.

The military cavalry also did not hesitate at all. After completing their formation on the official road between the camp and the city, they headed north and gradually laid out a formation several miles wide, with armored cavalry in the middle and light cavalry on both wings, like a

A giant bird.

"Yuanfu-kun, do you think you can win?"

Standing on the tall Liaocheng city wall, dressed in cloth and looking like an ordinary petty official, Lu Daobin, the Yecheng palace ambassador, held the hand of Yuan Baocun, the prefect of Wuyang beside him, and asked with sweating profusely.

"I don't know." Yuan Baocun said with a wry smile. "Logically speaking, if General Qu Tu comes with his whole army, there is no reason why he can't win. But the reinforcements of the gang will arrive at a moment's notice. Even if they win for a while, they won't win. Moreover, look at the cavalry posture of the army."

, I don’t even know if I can win for a while.”

Lu Daobin let go and became more and more at a loss.

At this time, a man suddenly went up to the city tower and shouted from a distance: "Lv Gong, Yuan Gong, please send troops to me, let me organize the army immediately, and attack the bandit camp immediately, so that he can't look at each other from head to tail."

The two of them turned around and saw Li Qingchen, the deputy envoy to the Yecheng Palace, who had already dressed up. They were not surprised because the army cavalry had just arrived the night before, and Li Qingchen took the initiative to invite a thousand soldiers to harass them at night, but he came back defeated.

The three Ningdan even attacked the city in turn, causing the city to almost collapse on the spot, and frightened the two men into hiding in civilian houses.

For this reason, Li Qingchen asked for a fight again yesterday, but the two of them jointly rejected it.

As a result, at night, this guy took hundreds of people out to burn the camp without permission. Although he didn't cause any more trouble, it was just a small fuss and half of the camp was not burned down.

And now, it would be strange if he didn't come to ask for a fight.

However, this time, Lu Daobin suppressed his uneasiness and did not directly deny it, but responded seriously: "Deputy Ambassador Li, how many troops do you want this time?"

"Three thousand." Li Qingchen blurted out.

Lu Daobin was helpless: "The two families here joined forces and only had 5,000 weak troops in Liaocheng. That day, the small camp outside the city was caught off guard and suffered a defeat. You lost another one or two. It is estimated that there are only 4,000 soldiers in the city. You still need 3,000."

,How to defend the city?"

"Then two thousand." Li Twelve seemed to have no bottom line. "Two thousand is fine." Lu Daobin remained silent and only looked back at Yuan Baocun.

"Li Twelve Lang, you have lost several games in a row, but you still want to fight. Do you have anything to say?" Yuan Baocun also asked seriously. "Look, almost all the cavalry are out, and there is an empty stronghold. There is a difference between taking and not taking."

What’s the use?”

"There is a saying." Li Qingchen came closer and replied seriously. "According to the art of war, the best way to deal with cavalry coming from afar is to constantly harass and tire Yuanfu. Lord Yuanfu, think about it, these cavalry are really

Don’t they have any weaknesses? The biggest problem they have coming from afar is that they are tired. It may not be obvious at first, but if you can seize every opportunity to harass them non-stop, they will expose this problem sooner or later, so you must keep harassing them.

If I go down now and seize their camp, even if they turn around and get another big defeat, and then go back and run into General Qu Tu, will it be possible for them to lose their strength earlier? Will it be possible then?
To be continued...