Although Zhang Chong thought that he mobilized troops from the rear quickly and covertly, in fact, the Taishan Army's dispatch had long been noticed by the Zhenbei Army.
In fact, the Han army has always had an advantage in intelligence on the Taishan army.
Although the scholar-bureaucrats from Wei, Zhao, Julu, Changshan, Anping, Zhongshan and other places fled north one after another, these people had been serving as masters in this land for hundreds of years and had their own complex network of relationships.
Even after being restored to free status, many disciples still felt grateful for their master's past kindness and continued to send some information about the Taishan Army to the Han army outside.
Therefore, the Taishan Army's large-scale troop mobilization within the territory could not be hidden from the Zhenbei Army in the north.
Of course, the Zhenbei Army didn't believe it at first. Because they didn't know how much of this kind of information they had to deal with every day. True and false information sent by those powerful remnants were not taken seriously by their Zhenbei Army.
But in addition to these unprofessional channels, Lu Zhi arranged intelligence back-up in Jizhou.
On the way to Youzhou, Lu Zhi kept spreading his capable men to lurk in order to grasp the situation in the Jizhou area. He knew that sooner or later there would be a decisive battle with the Taishan Army that would decide the Northland, so the sooner he buried his head, the better.
As this professional intelligence was gradually collected in the new city, for example, the troops stationed in Jingxing had changed their defenses, and all the straight roads were filled with marching people. The villages between Zhao and Wei were being recruited to supply drinking water along the road.
What finally came to Lu Zhi’s hands was this conclusion:
It is estimated that one hundred thousand Taishan troops are marching towards Zhending.
But Lu Zhi did not panic, because what he really trusted was a group of spies rooted within the Taishan Army. Although these people were small in number, they were the essence of Lu Zhi's entire intelligence system.
So he has been waiting for these people's military reports, and finally he finally got it, but it took a little longer for this information to be sent.
Eight days later, a piece of important information came from the other side:
"The thief is bluffing with a number of 100,000, but the actual troops are less than 10,000, which is not enough to have an impact on the overall situation."
Now Lu Zhi understood.
What a little thief Zhang Chong is, why do you want to play a trick to increase the number of kitchens? As a soldier, he can understand what Zhang Chong is playing after just a little thought.
It is nothing more than using the same group of people to leave the city during the day, secretly return to the city at night, and then continue to leave the city during the day the next day, so as to create the appearance of a continuous army.
Now that you have seen through the opponent's trick, you need to think about why the opponent did it.
Lu Zhi discussed with his staff and thought that there might be several situations. One is that the little thief is about to run away, and he is bluffing now, just to get him to throw a rat weapon. Then he can lead the army south across the Hutuo River, and then use
This water is his boundary.
Another possibility is that the little thief has other main directions of attack. It is obvious that he wants to trap Lu Zhi's main force in the Xinting area, and then he will attack elsewhere.
As for this elsewhere, it is still unclear.
But Lu Zhi had a way to test the enemy. He decided to abandon the Xinshi and Xianyu areas and led his troops to withdraw to the Lunu area in Zhongshan to the north.
Aren't you bluffing? Then I will show weakness and see how you respond.
In fact, in addition to this reason, Lu Zhiben also planned to withdraw his troops to Lunu.
This was the result of his analysis of the superiority of the enemy's and our own troops. The core armament of the Zhenbei Army now is the cavalry. Even though Gongsun Zan's troops were slightly damaged, the overall number of cavalry is still around 10,000 cavalry.
To make full use of the strength of the cavalry, there must be a wide depth for the cavalry to pass back and forth.
But what now?
He and the troops of the Taishan bandits across from him were all piled up in Kuandian, which was only thirty or forty miles between Zishui and Hutuosui. Just spreading out all his troops seemed crowded, let alone letting the cavalry play its role?
Another reason is that Lu Zhi has initially achieved his goal of going south, which is to prevent the Taishan bandits on the north bank from robbing the millet harvest. As for the timing of the decisive battle, he wants to delay it. The weather is still too hot now.
In September, the grass grows and the horses are fat, and it is the time for the decisive battle.
Therefore, Lu Zhi had already made such a plan after Gongsun Zan failed to capture Sanhe Pavilion, and now this information only facilitated this.
Therefore, after plundering all the corn in the new city, Lu Zhi moved Dingkou on the north bank of Zishui and took it to Lunu, turning the north bank of Zishui into a no-man's land.
This is another tactic of Lu Zhi's.
Setting up no-man's land would be a great barrier to Lu Zhi's Zhenbei Army, because most of them were cavalry and could quickly pass through no-man's land. However, most of the Taishan bandits were infantry and there were no supplies along the road, so they had to rely on food road transportation.
When the time comes, Youzhou's sudden cavalry will attack everywhere and cut off their food routes. This no-man's land will be the burial place of these traitors.
As for how many Li people here died in the ravines due to migration during this process, Lu Zhi could not see it.
If you can't see it, then it doesn't exist.
Here, Lu Zhi planned everything beautifully. But as everyone knows, he was wrong from the beginning.
In fact, during the past six months, spies from the Taishan Army's Military Division continued to conduct internal investigations, and with Dong Zhao's shrewd work, several spies were arrested one after another.
After that, he followed the clues and basically uncovered the intelligence.
Later, Zhang Chong specially kept these spies and kept passing on some true and false information to Bei Fang, so that Bei Fang never doubted it.
But this time, Zhang Chong once again ordered this side to pass on false information, which led to a misjudgment on the other side's part.
At present, Zhang Chong still doesn't know how much impact these methods will have in the end, but at this time, he will naturally use whatever can be used.
Who knows that the result of tomorrow will not be the cause of today.
But compared to Lu Zhiyan sitting in the hall, obtaining information on paper, and then deducing strategic military information.
His friendly troops, the ragtag local tyrants in the Zhongshan Kingdom, only believed what they saw with their own eyes.
But saying that they are Lu Zhi's allies really puts a premium on his own face.
In fact, Lu Zhi looked down upon these people at all and did not even send any manpower to recruit them. He just regarded them as weeds in the wild and dismissed them.
But the local tycoons in Zhongshan clearly felt something was wrong.
Local tyrants and powerful families are definitely not the same thing. If you add dirt, you will know that the mud on these people's feet has not been cleaned very well.
These people are usually gangs of thieves or powerful rangers, and each team may only have less than a hundred or two hundred people.
And with the fall of the Prime Minister of Zhongshan in the Battle of Handan, such local tyrants and rural folk songs became numerous in Zhongshan territory.
Just like at this moment, in the dense forest near the Jiumen in the west of Wuji, a fat man with his chest exposed to cool down, with a piece of chest hair exposed, is such a little rich man.
This man's name is Lu Zhong, and he is a small ranger in Wuji. Because of his courage, he was elected as the leader by the villagers during the chaos in Zhongshan, and he led a group of poor people to survive.
At this time, they were collecting these dates in this jujube forest to use as food rations later.
Zhongshan has been in chaos until now, and only the powerful people in the dock wall still have food left over.
Lu Zhong was fat and fat, and the hotter the day, the harder it was to endure, so he simply lay down in the shade to rest and watch the people over there collecting dates.
Soon, a boy who was as dirty as a mud monkey held up crispy dates and handed them to Lu Zhong.
Lu Zhong didn't mind being dirty, he took one jujube in one mouthful, and then he breathed a sigh of satisfaction and said:
“That’s the taste! It’s right!”
Seeing that Kui was enjoying the meal, the clay monkey also stuffed the last two remaining ones into his mouth.
He chewed the dates carefully, letting the fragrance and sweetness of the dates slowly bloom in his mouth and tongue. The dates in his hometown are really delicious.
But when he thought about leaving his hometown, the mud monkey became depressed again, and even the dates in his mouth no longer tasted.
Who is Lu Zhong? He could see what this mud monkey was thinking at a glance, and then he cursed:
"Monkey, don't abuse the dates. The dates in this forest are earned by Nai Gong and three nearby Xiangqu masters. They are delicious when eaten. I don't think about how many people are still eating dirt there!"
The mud monkey nodded fiercely, and without thinking any more, he ate the remaining dates cleanly. If the core hadn't had a bad tooth, he would have even chewed the date core.
But for pariahs like them who eat grass all day long, the teeth in their mouths have long been worn out.
The mud monkey finished eating and was about to leave when he was left by Lu Zhong. Lu Zhong also sighed:
"Monkey, we know you don't want to leave your hometown, but who wants to leave? How could I not understand why people are humble when they leave their hometown? But after all, this world is not just for you."
At this time, the fat Lu Zhong looked out of the forest with a story-telling look and sighed:
"Monkey, when I was your age, I went out to the countryside with a wooden sword. At that time, I heard a saying from Lu Weng in the village, saying that wherever the wind blows, the grass will fall.
When I was young, I thought I was the wind. It was only after I returned home bruised and bruised that I realized I was the grass."
Then Lu Zhong grabbed a handful of Clay Monkey's scattered hair and said dotingly:
"So now that the wind direction has changed, we grasses must also change directions, otherwise they will be blown away."
Nihou didn't quite understand these principles. He just felt that Boss Lu was particularly sad today. But he was a good boy, so it was better for him not to speak if he knew he was going to do this.
After a while, the hundreds of Xiangqu people left with more than ten baskets of jujubes. Obviously, the harvest this time was not as expected.
But yes, everyone near this jujube forest knows that the nearby people with the means have already searched it. The harvest of more than ten baskets can be regarded as the hard work of Lu Zhong and others.
Lu Zhong took these gains and rushed all the way to Wuji's biggest powerhouse, Wuji Zhen clan.
They were going there to exchange for some food to use as food for the road.
For Lu Zhong, these dates could not carry them to their destination, so they might as well exchange some millet chaff with the Zhen family and make do.
The Zhen family is the largest tycoon in this area, and their popularity among the people is pretty good. Moreover, a good friend of Lu Zhong's ranger career worked as a general in the Zhen family's manor.
Lu Zhong felt that with this kind of affection, it would be enough to change something.
In fact, this was indeed the case. When Lu Zhong and the others arrived at Zhen's manor tired and hungry, they not only gave them a meal, but also collected more than ten baskets of dates, and finally gave them five in exchange.
Stone millet, ten stones of chaff, obviously too high.
Lu Zhong was surprised and wondered why the Zhen family was so generous. But if you don't eat the meal that was given to you, you won't get it for free.
So, he and his subordinates squatted under the corner outside the manor and wolfed down the food. It was just a meal of millet rice, which was nothing but extremely delicious.
After almost eating, Lu Zhong’s former ranger friend came over. He smiled and said to Lu Zhong:
"Second brother, let me tell you that you are lying in a deep mountain without anyone noticing, and your roar can be a storm. You see, our husbands all know your second brother's reputation. When he heard that second brother was coming, he specially set up a table to entertain you.
What about you, brother?"
Lu Zhong has gone beyond the naivety of being famous when he was young. In his past life, he has encountered this situation countless times.
The master is so thirsty for talents that he wants you to risk your life.
Originally, the life of the evil young knight-errant was not worth much, so he sold it to me after a meal of wine and meat. But later, Lu Zhong was injured due to the tragic death of a friend, and was eventually abandoned by his master like a shoehorn.
While waiting to die.
Lu Zhong, who recovered from his injuries later, became disheartened and did not want to wander in this muddy pond anymore, so he returned to his hometown.
At this moment, seeing such a familiar scene appear again, how could Lu Zhong not feel vigilant?
But Lu Zhong knew that he had no choice, so he had to respectfully follow this man into the manor and let his men wait for him outside.
Soon Lu Zhong saw the so-called husband, but he was a weak man with no hair on his mouth.
He first looked up and down at Lu Zhong's magnificent and fat figure, and praised him repeatedly:
"He is a good warrior."
Then he asked Lu Zhong what martial arts he knew.
Lu Zhong hesitated for a moment and said modestly:
"We know a few sticks, but they are just a ranger's skills, not martial arts."
But Lu Zhong’s friend next to him was not polite and assured:
"Lang Jun, Brother Lu is the most powerful brother we have ever seen. I once fought side by side with Brother Lu. In that battle, he alone crushed the heads of more than ten evil boys. That scene will last a lifetime.
I can’t even forget it.”
Lu Zhong frowned and glanced at his friend next to him, obviously dissatisfied with why he said this.
But the friend's eyebrows were flying and he replied:
"That's my second brother. Don't worry, great fortune is coming."
Sure enough, after hearing that Lu Zhong had such a strong record, the young man was very excited.
The things he was going to do later needed experts like Lu Zhong, so during this period, he went to great lengths to recruit all the heroes and knights who came to their Zhen's Manor.
The man did not hesitate and said directly:
"I heard Hou Jin call you Brother Lu. I'm young, so I followed suit and called you Brother Lu."
Lu Zhong became even more nervous after hearing this. He lowered his head and said he didn't dare to shout like that.
But the man insisted on this, and Lu Zhong couldn't continue, so he said:
"We have a big event here, and we need the bravery of my second brother. You also know that our Zhen family, here in Wuji, no matter how good our reputation is, it has not harmed our fellow villagers. So, second brother, please relax.
My heart, as long as my second brother can help me complete this matter, regardless of my future wealth, you will be my brother from now on."
Lu Zhong lowered his head silently, chewing on the meaning of Lang Jun's words, his heart getting hotter and hotter.
Finally, Lu Zhong raised his head and said brightly:
"As long as Mr. Lang can take good care of my fellow villagers, I will do it."
The young man of the Zhen family was also generous. He directly sent people to let the people from Lu Zhong Township outside Wubi come in and made them disciples of the Zhen family.
At this time, Lu Zhong asked what was going on.
I saw the young man of the Zhen family facing west and said excitedly:
"Send my sister to meet a great hero!"
My family's monthly tickets are taking off. In the past two months, my monthly tickets have not exceeded 1,000, and I am running out of money.