Gao Bufan was walking quickly in the direction of Hejian County. Suddenly he found a horse in the grass beside the road. It was standing there motionless and its movements were very strange. So he got closer and took a closer look. It turned out that the horse's reins were caught in thorns.

It was tightly entangled and twisted into a twist, with traces of a violent struggle around it.

Unfortunately, the horse failed to break free. Instead, the reins became shorter and shorter. Now its nose is touching the ground, unable to move at all. There are even deep blood marks on its ears, and its body is even more exposed to the scorching sun.

It's going to be boiling hot. If it continues like this, I'm probably going to die of starvation and thirst, but it'll probably be sunburned to death in the end.

Gao Bufan cut off the thorns with a knife and freed the horse. He found that one of the latter's ears was half missing. It seemed to have been injured by a sharp weapon. There was no owner around. It should be an ownerless horse that escaped from the battlefield.

War horse.

"Man, you are thirsty. Let's go and take you to drink water." Gao Bufan led the war horse to a small river. When the latter saw the water, his eyes immediately lit up, he jumped into the river, and drank happily.

The war horse soaked in the river for half an hour before climbing up the bank, eagerly gnawing on the fat and tender grass by the river. Gao Bufan waited patiently for the war horse to be full, and then he gently jumped on the back of the horse and gently clamped the horse.

Belly, riding the horse leisurely.

In the evening, Gao Bufan finally arrived at Jiaohe. He set up a pergola and looked upstream. He saw billowing dust rising and two black spots hovering in the sky. He couldn't help but feel moved and turned his horse's head to go upstream.

At this time, in the upstream direction, Zhang Xutuo and Yang Yichen's troops were withdrawing like a tide from the Youzhou Army's camp. After a day of fierce fighting, the Youzhou Army's Meihua camp was well defended, and Zhang Xutuo and Yang Yichen had not been able to attack for a day.

We were unable to take advantage and lost some men, so we had to withdraw and make long-term plans.

Gao Bufan approached from the lower reaches of Jiaohe River unhurriedly. When he arrived, Zhang Xutuo and Yang Yichen's people had retreated to their respective camps. There was smoke everywhere, and they were obviously burying pots for cooking.

"Look, everyone, that man seems to be Mr. Gao?" A Youzhou Army sentry standing on the balcony in charge of security suddenly shouted excitedly.

As soon as these words came out, several figures immediately flew up to the balcony. It was Xu Shiji, Lu Sheng, Wu Daqing, Gao Dahe and others. They looked around and saw a man and a horse walking slowly from the lower reaches of Jiaohe River.

The setting sun in front of us coated the people and horses with a layer of gold, just like the light of Buddha shining all over the place.

"It's your lord, really your lord, your lord is back!" Wu Daqing waved his fist excitedly, and Lu Sheng also said excitedly: "I knew that your lord would turn danger into good luck."

Xu Shiji breathed a sigh of relief and waved his hand relaxedly: "Your Excellency is back, let's go and greet him." After saying that, he jumped down from the balcony, but Gao Dahe, the captain of the soldiers, had already jumped down first.

The middle gate of the camp suddenly opened, and Xu Shiji and others galloped out, dismounted in front of Gao Bufan, saluted, and said in unison: "See you, sir!"

Gao Bufan looked at the excited expressions of everyone in front of him, and couldn't help but feel warm in his heart. He smiled and said: "No need to be polite, thank you for your trouble, brothers. From now on, you don't need to call me Lord Liu anymore. I will no longer be the official of Sui Dynasty."

.”

Everyone looked at each other. Now that your Excellency has broken with Yang Guang, this Sui official is indeed inappropriate, but what should he be called in the future?

Gao Dahe scratched the back of his head and said, "Then how should we call you, sir, in the future?"

Xu Shiji's eyes flashed and he said: "Your Excellency is the Lord of Youzhou, so how about temporarily calling him the General Manager of Youzhou?"

Everyone's eyes lit up and they all said in unison: "What a great idea, then from now on we will call you Lord Manager."

Lu Sheng smiled and said: "See Mr. General Manager."

"See Lord Steward!"

"See Lord Steward!"

The Youzhou military camp was filled with thunderous cheers that reached into the sky, and morale was unusually high.

Such a big movement naturally alarmed Zhang Xutuo and Yang Yichen. They hurriedly walked out of the tent and looked towards the Youzhou Army's camp. When they heard clearly what the Youzhou Army was shouting, their expressions were quite complicated.

"Gao Changqing is back, and Shadow has indeed failed to do anything. Now we are in big trouble." Yang Yichen sighed.

Zhang Xutuo was also in a heavy mood at this moment. Gao Bufan himself was a very powerful person, and now that he had experts assisting him, he was undoubtedly even more powerful. After escaping the disaster, he was completely free from restraints. From now on, the sky is high and the sea is wide, and the harm is probably greater than that of Li Mi.

What's more.

Is the Sui Dynasty really exhausted?

Zhang Xutuo looked at the sunset in the west, his eyes as sad as ever.

Qin Shubao and Luo Shixin were silent. Cheng Yaojin looked at the Youzhou military camp with high morale, then turned to look at the silent camp behind him, and an ominous omen arose in his heart.

The Bafeng Battalion under Zhang Xutuo has a total of 5,000 cavalry and 10,000 infantry, all of whom are Qijun sons.

That year was the sixth year of Daye. Zhang Xutuo took office as the governor of Qijun. He loved the people like a son and was deeply loved by the people of Qijun. The next year, there was a severe drought in Shandong. This year coincided with Yang Guang's preparation for the eastward expedition to Goguryeo.

The people of Qi County were miserable because of Da Suo's men. Wang Bo was the first to raise a flag in Changbai Mountain to rebel against the Sui Dynasty. He responded to the call with great momentum.

At that time, the officials in Qi County were helpless and did not dare to open warehouses to release grain to help the victims without the emperor's orders. It was Zhang Xutuo who defied all opinions and opened the official warehouses to help the victims. There were countless people alive, so the people of Qi County were grateful.

Zhang Xutuo’s kindness.

Afterwards, Yang Guang not only did not convict Zhang Xutuo, but also greatly commended him. After that, Zhang Xutuo led his army to fight against Wang Bo, winning every battle and finally annihilating him. Yang Guang also promoted Zhang Xutuo to the general governor of Qi County.

, allowing him to recruit troops to build the Eight Winds Camp.

Qijun Erlang was grateful for Zhang Xutuo's kindness and joined his army one after another. In these years, Qijun Erlang followed Zhang Xutuo in the east and west, and was invincible. He wiped out countless rebels and shocked the north and south of the Yangtze River.

However, the years of fighting have also made these Qijun men tired. Mainly because they are too tired. On the one hand, there are endless rebels, and on the other hand, the declining Sui Dynasty makes them unable to see the future. There are still many years.

While fighting abroad, my longing for my parents, wife and children could not be relieved.

These negative emotions were greatly diluted with victory after victory, but today, the invincible Bafeng Camp finally tasted the taste of setbacks. The long-standing negative emotions broke free and magnified infinitely in an instant.

Morale plummeted.

Zhang Xutuo obviously noticed something was wrong at this time and couldn't help but frowned and returned to the tent. A trace of worry flashed in Yang Yichen's eyes, and he slowly turned around and returned to the tent, while Qin Shubao and others followed in silently.

"The Youzhou Army's camp is strong. Does General Zhang have a good way to defeat the enemy?" Yang Yichen asked.

Zhang Xutuo nodded and said: "This general has been observing for a day and has discovered that the weakness of this formation is on the pontoon bridge. The Youzhou Army connects the camps on both sides through the pontoon bridge and can respond to each other, both in terms of materials and personnel.

It is deployed through the pontoon bridge. As long as the pontoon bridge is destroyed, the Youzhou Army will definitely not be able to defend it."

Yang Yichen frowned and said: "It's not easy to destroy the pontoon bridge. You need at least a navy to do it."

Zhang Xutuo nodded and said: "This is easy. My old friend Zhou Fashang happens to have a navy under his command, and he is currently stationed in Donglai. I just need to send him a letter immediately asking him to come for reinforcements."

It is said that Zhang Xutuo is currently the governor of Qi County, leading the twelve counties of Henan Province to recruit and depose the ambassador, and control the troops and horses of the twelve counties. He has the power to mobilize the navy led by Zhou Fashang.

Yang Yichen said happily: "That's good. It's just that it will take at least ten days and a half for General Zhou to lead the navy to arrive. I'm afraid something may happen during this period. How about this? I will lead the army to cross the river tomorrow and attack the Youzhou Army from the other side.

Camp, this two-pronged approach will make Gao Changqing tired of dealing with it, and at the same time it will cut off their food supply."

Zhang Xutuo nodded when he heard this: "Mr. Yang is good at planning, so let's do it like this."

…………

That night, a raging fire broke out in the Youzhou Army camp, which alerted Zhang Xutuo and Yang Yichen again. They hurriedly put on their clothes and went out to check.

"Report to Mr. Yang and General Zhang that the pontoon bridge on the river is on fire." The scout who went out to investigate soon came back to report.

Yang Yichen and Zhang Xutuo looked at each other and hurriedly led a cavalry group to approach the Youzhou Army's barracks. They found that the building was empty and the entire camp and pontoon were in flames. It was obvious that the Youzhou Army had already

They crossed the river at night and evacuated, burning the camp and the pontoon before leaving.

At this moment, several fires broke out in the Youzhou military camp on the other side of the river, and soon spread, lighting up the night sky as bright as day.

Yang Yichen and Zhang Xutuo fell silent, and then they discussed how to defeat the enemy. However, they broke up the appointment and burned the pontoon bridge and the camp that night to withdraw directly. They did it neatly and without any sloppiness. Gao Changqing's son is really as cunning as a fox!

"Master Yang, General Zhang, the Youzhou Army must not have gone far yet. Why don't we cross the river immediately to pursue them." A general suggested.

Cheng Yaojin rolled his eyes and said: "What a bad idea you came up with. Now you are crossing the river in vain. If you are killed by someone else, you will be dead if you turn back the carbine. Don't treat Gao Changqing as an idiot. Since he dares to withdraw, he must have something."

What you rely on.”

The general under Yang Yichen was so angry that he was blushing. He wanted to refute but was unable to do so, so he could only remain silent in anger.

Yang Yichen glanced at Cheng Yaojin and said: "What General Cheng said is true. As the saying goes, before crossing the river, hit the middle stream. There is a high probability that Gao Changqing has ambushed men and horses on the other side, waiting for us to cross the river. We must not be fooled at this time.

.”

Even Master Yang said this, so the general naturally had nothing to say. Luo Shixin frowned and said, "Then we just watch the Youzhou Army withdraw?"

Zhang Xutuo remained silent, apparently acquiescing.

At this time, in the darkness on the other side of the river, Wu Daqing was lying in ambush with a thousand light cavalry, staring coldly at the other side. However, he was disappointed. Until dawn, the enemy troops on the other side made no move to cross the river, so he had to order to mount their horses and leave, chasing the large army.

Went.

The rumble of horse hooves shattered the pre-dawn tranquility and alarmed the enemy troops on the other side. The enemy general on duty on the other side happened to be the one who proposed crossing the river to pursue him. He couldn't help but sweat dripping down his back.

Let us say that when Wu Daqing led a thousand light cavalry to catch up, the large force of Youzhou Army had already arrived outside Hejian County, the county seat of Hejian County.

The governor of Hejian County was so frightened that he closed the city gate tightly and did not even dare to let out his breath. He was afraid that Gao Bufan would attack the city because he had received a notice from Yang Yichen that Gao Changqing, who was left behind in Zhuo County, had "rebellion".

As a result, the Youzhou army passed directly outside the city and continued northward back to Zhuojun, without invading the villages and towns along the way.

After the Hejian County Sheriff learned that the Youzhou Army had gone far away, he was relieved, but he was a little disappointed. His mood was like a little girl meeting her lover in the middle of the night, afraid that he would not come, but also afraid that he would mess up.

It is not difficult to understand why the governor of Hejian County has such an ambivalent mentality. First of all, Hejian County and Zhuo County are bordering each other and have very close economic ties with each other. Many people from Hejian County seek work in Zhuo County.

, and many of the daily production materials in Hejian County also come from the wealthy Zhuo County. In other words, Hejian County cannot do without Zhuo County.

Secondly, Gao Bufan once led an army to annihilate Wang Xuba in Hejian County. The Youzhou army had strict discipline, so the people and gentry in Hejian had a good impression of Gao Bufan. If they could be under Gao Bufan's rule, I believe many people would

and the gentry will support it.

Thirdly, the Youzhou Army is so powerful that if it really wants to attack Hejian County, Hejian County will definitely not be able to withstand it. Therefore, the governor of Hejian County sometimes cannot help but think that instead of worrying about it all day long, it is better to directly surrender Hejian County to

Gao Bufan forget it, but Yang Yichen and Zhang Xutuo's army is south of Jiaohe. What if they come over?
Chapter completed!