Chapter 586 Dividing

Taking down Hancheng was really a very inspiring thing for those uprising people. You must know that Wang Zuogui died under this city. Now they easily took down this city, which greatly increased Gao Yingxiang's reputation. With such a strong city as a backing, Gao Yingxiang's eyes naturally became longer-term. Although they knew that the army sent by the court was now taking their ideas, they were not afraid at all. After all, they had surpassed these imperial troops once.

But when he heard that Tang Feng led his army to advance towards Hancheng, most of the generals of the rebel army were still full of worry. He heard that this time the one who came to attack him was Tang Feng, the famous Marquis of Anping. He seemed to have no rumors of failure on the battlefield. Moreover, this time he had tens of thousands of troops under his command. That was not the person who had just put down his hoe and rebelled. That was a real official army. Can he defeat him?

When such worries were revealed, Gao Yingxiang could only constantly motivate everyone, and the burden on their hearts was heavier. Compared with them, Wang Jiayin's army was better, because Wang Jiayin knew very well that under Li Yan's strategy, his troops had become extremely inconspicuous than Gao Yingxiang's army. As long as the official generals kept their attention in Gao Yingxiang's army, his chance would come.

Li Yan's heart was filled with trouble again. Tang Feng, the culprit who completely destroyed the Holy Sect, had to live under someone else's roof. He actually appeared again. It was really a narrow road for enemies. He decided that this time he must win the previous game, so that Yixue's hatred back then. However, before that, they still had to keep their original low-key. In order to keep their low-key, Wang Jiayin did not lead his army to Hancheng, but instead stationed not far behind him, saying that he could take care of him. Gao Yingxiang was naturally happy to let the entire Hancheng be in his own hands.

On March 16th, Tang Feng finally led his army to the front of Hancheng thirty miles. Because of the teleportation of the Jinyiwei spies, the situation inside and outside Hancheng was now under control. Unexpectedly, Wang Jiayin's troops were not in the city and were so low-key, which really surprised Tang Feng. According to the strategy he had set with Hong Chengchou before, he chose one of them after knowing where the two anti-army troops were defending themselves, and then used means to provoke the relationship between the two sides. But now it seems that this method is not possible. So when he was thirty miles away from Hancheng, Tang Feng ordered the army to temporarily station and set up a strategy before marching.

Guan Zhengjie, Sun Chuanting, Zuo Liangyu, Hong Chengchou and other generals surrounded Tang Feng. After listening to him explaining the current situation, everyone began to express their thoughts. After thinking about it, Sun Chuanting was the first to propose: "Master, now it seems that we can only take down Hancheng first before we can attack Wang Jiayin's army. It's just that with the city as a support, and the morale of the anti-army is in full swing, it is probably not that easy for us to succeed in a battle."

"I thought it was inappropriate!" Zuo Liangyu shook his head and said, "Although Wang Jiayin's army is now east of Hancheng, they are mobile after all. If they find that our attack is tight and suddenly send troops, it will only be very unfavorable for us. So I think it's better for us to attack Wang Jiayin's army first."

Sun Chuanting frowned and said, "But what should Han Cheng do if this happens? Our troops are no longer able to divide the troops into two groups, which not only surrounds Hancheng, but also annihilates Wang Jiayin's army. Now the two anti-army armies are already connected. Once we attack Wang Jiayin's army around the city, Gao Yingxiang will never ignore the truth."

Tang Feng was also worried about his position. He now realized that the 30,000 to 40,000 troops in his hands were still too few. It seemed that he had underestimated those anti-army forces before. Although they were mobs, once they had the advantage, it would not be so easy to reverse. He had thought of sending some troops to attack Hancheng to restrain Gao Yingxiang's tribe, and then defeating Wang Jiayin's tribe with elite troops, but he could not guarantee that this would be hidden from Gao Yingxiang's tribe.

The same idea as his was Guan Zhengjie. He later proposed the same method, but was rejected by Sun and Zuo. Because he was not as good as Gao Yingxiang's troops in terms of military strength. If they were to notice and go out of the city to attack, they were afraid that the feint attacking would be dangerous and even lead to the failure of the entire battle situation. In this way, everything returned to the starting point, and there was still no unified idea about the current situation. If you talk about a strategy, someone would deny it. I said that one was also deficient. After discussing it for more than an hour, there was still no conclusion.

At this time, Tang Feng's eyes fell on Hong Chengchou's face. From the beginning of the discussion, the only person he brought from Xi'an was not speaking. Judging from his calm appearance, he seemed to have some ideas. So after a general finished speaking, Tang Feng asked Hong Chengchou, "What do Yan Yan thinks about this?"

Hong Chengchou smiled and said, "The lower official is thinking about one thing. Since we can't solve the current dilemma only in using troops, why don't we start from other places?"

"Other place? What direction are you pointing?" several generals asked with interest.

"From the hearts of the people," Hong Chengchou bowed to Tang Feng and said, "You have told you before that although the anti-army is united, it is difficult to be united because of their leaders. So I want to break the trust between them by attacking and releasing. However, because of the location relationship between the two armies, it is impossible for us to do this, so I can start from other places."

"You mean?" Tang Feng seemed to have some insight, and a smile appeared on his face. The problem that had troubled him for a long time was about to be solved.

"The attackers of the enemy are the best at attacking the heart! These rebels cannot understand this at all. Why can't we use it? As long as the Gao Yingxiang tribe who was guarding the city gave birth to the news that Wang Jiayin tribe had surrendered to my Ming Dynasty, I think they can only guard the city to the death. At that time, we can arrange it calmly, first eliminate Wang Jiayin tribe, and then attack Hancheng."

"This is indeed a clever plan. But what should we do to make Gao Yingxiang suspicious of Wang Jiayin?" Tang Feng asked again, and he could see that Hong Chengchou was already in mind.

"In fact, judging from the secret report, Gao Yingxiang should have had a certain doubt about Wang Jiayin. Otherwise, he would not have let Wang Jiayin's 40,000 troops be stationed behind him, but should have kept them in the city. Now, as long as there is a little more evidence of 'facts', everything will naturally develop in the direction we want." Hong Chengchou paused and said, "As for this 'facts', let's do it."

"Do you want to see Wang Jiayin or Gao Yingxiang?" Tang Feng guessed his idea at the time. To make the other party believe that this is true, someone must say something to them directly.

"Go to meet Gao Yingxiang, but my target is where Wang Jiayin garrisons."

"Now those thieves are actively preparing for the war. If you fall into their hands, wouldn't it be..." Tang Feng said worriedly. Hong Chengchou looked at Tang Feng gratefully: "The Xiaguan has a low status, and they won't be like even if it falls into their hands. Moreover, the Xiaguan wants to do some effort to break the city, so even if he takes a risk, he will still go to Hancheng."

Seeing Hong Chengchou's expression of no hesitation or fear at all, Tang Feng was very moved. This was the manifestation of the loyalty of the Ming scholars to the country. The Hong Chengchou in front of him and the Hong Chengchou he knew were completely different. In fact, this is easy to understand. Hong Chengchou in history also made great contributions to the country at the beginning, and even when Chongzhen learned about his "death", he was still very sad. He was not a minister with great contributions, so why could the emperor do this? It was only in his later life that he lost his previous intention for the country because of various reasons. But now Hong Chengchou is obviously still holding the sincere intention of serving the country, and even if he sacrifices his life, he is willing to do so.

After looking at Hong Chengchou for a while, Tang Feng stood up solemnly, bowed to him and said, "Then it's all for Brother Yan. After the rebellion is quelled, I will definitely want the emperor to tell everything truthfully."

Hong Chengchou was a man who thought about it. Although it was getting darker and he had just been traveling for a day, he immediately took two servants and rode out of the barracks and went straight east. He had already decided on his strategy to pass Hancheng while the night was dark, and he would look back until tomorrow morning. As long as he was caught by the anti-army guarding the city, his mission would be halfway. For this reason, he also brought a letter of persuasion written by Tang Feng himself, with very polite words and promised that Wang Jiayin would not only not blame him for the past, but also award him a fifth-rank military officer.

It was still very cold, but Hong Chengchou, who was slapped, felt warm in his heart. With this gift from Tang Feng, he felt that it would be better if he really died in Hancheng.

As he thought, the anti-army guarding the city at night only paid attention to the large group of people and ignored the others. After dawn, the Hancheng defenders also checked the passersby very closely. In fact, there were very few people passing by in the past few days, so Hong Chengchou and his group of three were soon stopped by Gao Yingxiang's men.

"What are you doing?" The anti-army soldiers who were wearing Ming army armor but were not decent no matter how they looked, looked at Hong Chengchou and the other two with suspicious eyes. Hong Chengchou hurriedly stepped forward, took out some scattered silver and handed it to the man and said, "June, we are just passing merchants, please make a convenience..."

The soldier was also a peasant, and no one had ever bribed him so much that he couldn't help but feel happy and wanted to reach out to take it. At this moment, a voice suddenly came: "Wait!" A big man with only broken clothes but a much stronger temperament than the soldier walked over quickly, pressed Hong Chengchou's hand, and stared at him tightly and said, "Are you really just a passing merchant?"

"Look at what Mr. Jiang said, besides making some hard money by traveling to business, what else can a villain do?" Hong Chengchou said with a smile on his face. The big man's eyes suddenly narrowed: "Ordinary merchant? You are not a simple merchant. You can actually see at a glance that I am not an ordinary soldier and call me General. Moreover, you can still be so calm under our siege. It seems that your courage is not bad. Who are you?"

"The villain is really just an ordinary merchant. You are very handsome and you can tell at a glance that you are not an ordinary soldier. And I have some goods here..." Before Hong Chengchou finished speaking, the man waved his hand and ordered: "Take them all down!"

Both followers were all following Hong Chengchou's family. When they saw the anti-army army being rude, they stepped forward and blocked their way. The man was even more sure that this person had a problem. He pulled out the sword on his waist and shouted: "Listen to my order, as long as this person dares to resist, he will kill him!"

Hong Chengchou knew that the show had been done, so he sighed and said, "Since you don't believe it, let me search it."

"Check it for me!" The big man gave the order, and the three of them were pressed to the ground by several anti-army soldiers and searched them all. However, after searching, there were no suspicious items on their carry-on luggage or on them, which made the soldiers helpless. Even the big man was a little confused. Could it be that he was really worried?

At this moment, the big man discovered something strange. When the two followers stood up, they straightened their clothes, but the one who took the lead touched his hair with his hands. "Haha, you're finally exposed!" After the big man sneered, he stepped in front of Hong Chengchou and reached out to grab his hair.

Sure enough, Hong Chengchou's face changed suddenly, but it was too late at this time. The hairpin inserted on his hair was held in his hand by the big man. After carefully observing the hairpin for a while, the man found the flaw and swung the hollow hairpin away, and a piece of paper appeared inside. After a smile, he said to Hong Chengchou, whose face changed drastically: "What, are you still insisting on calling yourself a businessman now?"

Hong Chengchou looked at the ball that was already deflated and said nothing. After the man smiled proudly, he ordered, "Take me into the city!" As he said, he had already spread the paper in his hand and looked at it. Then his expression changed, and he walked towards the city faster. But he didn't notice that at this time, a hint of pride flashed in Hong Chengchou's eyes, who should have been hit hard.

The secret letter was placed on the table, and Gao Yingxiang's expression was extremely ugly. He had already believed that the court wanted to recruit Wang Jiayin and asked him to help the official army attack him together. Gao, Wang and the two armies had their own subordinates after all, so it was normal that the two armies could not trust each other. In this way, Gao Yingxiang would naturally think about the disadvantages.

"Although he gave me all the armor and weapons of the Ming army in the previous period, or the decision he made was not allowed, I had much more people than him. After capturing Hancheng this time, he refused to send people to the city. Could it be that it was just to facilitate him to lead his army to surrender to the court? There were also those imperial court personnel who had been stationed near Hancheng for two days, but they had not sent troops to attack for a long time. Could it be that they were really waiting for Wang Jiayin's decision?" The more they thought about it, Gao Yingxiang felt that this matter was very likely.

At this time, the man who sent the secret letter to him said, "King of Chuang, you must not underestimate this matter. If Wang Jiayin really had that intention, we would be attacked from both sides."

"Li Zicheng, you have made a contribution this time, what do you think we should do?" Gao Yingxiang looked at him and asked. This man was Li Zicheng who was conquered in the rebellion army. He was valued by Gao Yingxiang for his bravery and extremely strategic battles in several small battles, and thus became one of his confidants. This time, he captured Hong Chengchou, the messenger, and naturally he was more valued by Gao Yingxiang.

Li Zicheng thought for a while and said, "King of Chuang, now everything is just our suspicion. It is too early to judge that Wang Jiayin has indeed surrendered to the court. Why don't we try him again?"

"You said, how should we try him?"

"It's very simple. Please send troops to guard the Hancheng with us. If he is willing to send troops, we can still believe them. If he refuses to send troops, it means they have really had a strange intention."

"Well, this is indeed a solution. I will order someone to send him a letter and ask him to send troops to help on the grounds that the government and army are in great power." Gao Yingxiang nodded deeply and said.

After seeing the Gao Yingxiang sect explain everything, Wang Jiayin found Li Yan and asked him for advice. Li Yan didn't know that the other party was suspicious, but instead doubted Gao Yingxiang's intentions: "General, our people have been paying attention to the situation in Hancheng, but I have never heard of the official army attacking. In terms of the high military strength, the army is far better than the official army, and they have cities in hand, how could they be afraid that the official army is powerful? They want us to send troops, are they trying to annex our people at this time? I heard that Gao Yingxiang's ambitions are getting bigger during these days, so we must be on guard."

"Your knowledge is better than Mr. Li. Our original intention was to let Gao Yingxiang fight with the official army and the clam, so that we can only reap profits. This time, we must not do as he wishes. Let's do this, just because we are afraid of being ambushed by the official army." In the end, Wang Jiayin did not agree to send troops.

In this way, Gao Yingxiang completely believed that Wang Jiayin was no longer the same as him. "Now we can only defend the city, hoping to drag the official army to death!" This decision was made for the anti-army who had no confidence in himself.

At this time, Tang Feng, who had been waiting for two days without any movement, decided to send 5,000 people to bluff and attack Wang Jiayin's army in Gengdong according to his previous plan...
Chapter completed!