Zhenzhou soldiers entered Jiangdu the afternoon before yesterday, a total of 15,000 people, led by Xu Baisheng personally.
Tongzhou soldiers also returned to Jiangdu yesterday morning, a total of 10,000 people, led by Shanzhu.
All 20,000 reserves have been called up.
Zhang Yangquan planned to leave only 10,000 reserve troops to defend the city, and then lead the remaining 65,000 soldiers to fight a tough battle with Chahan Timur of Shaobo Town.
He couldn't just watch Fang Yuan, Li Er and others run out of food and die, nor could he watch half of the artillery and gunpowder fall into the hands of the enemy, so this battle was inevitable!
The army was assembled yesterday, and Zhang Yangquan has given orders to prepare food at the ugly hour tomorrow and march at the Mao hour.
According to Geng Si's intelligence, Fang Yuan and Li Er will lead 10,000 naval troops to break through Shaobo Town tomorrow morning. They will attack from both front and back, and they will have a superior force, so they have a great chance of winning!
Having said that, after all, it was a battle with everything on the line. That night, Zhang Yangquan could not fall asleep and tossed and turned in bed.
Qin Lingjun on the side said softly: "Husband, are you worried about tomorrow's battle?"
Zhang Yangquan sighed: "Yes, Chahan Timur was a famous general in the Yuan Dynasty, and he defeated Liu Futong many times. I really have no confidence. If he loses..." I can't say anything else.
Qin Lingjun was silent for a while, then suddenly sat up and said, "I'll take you to see something. You shouldn't worry after seeing it!"
Zhang Yangquan wondered: "What are you looking at?"
"We'll find out later!"
The two put on their clothes and quietly left the mansion with only a few personal guards.
It was already the third watch outside, and in the dead of night, Jiangdu City showed a completely different look from that of the day.
The two rode their horses and headed north. After walking for a while, they suddenly encountered a group of patrolling city guards.
The guard originally heard the noise and came over to check what was going on. After discovering that it was Zhang Yangquan and his wife, they quickly dismounted to pay tribute.
The two continued to move forward, and after a while they arrived at the North Gate. Zhang Yangquan asked doubtfully: "You don't want to take me out of the city, do you?"
Qin Lingjun smiled and shook her head, holding his hand up the city wall and pointing towards the outside of the city gate.
Zhang Yangquan looked up and saw four camps set up outside the city gate under the bright moonlight, which were the assembled 65,000 troops.
These four barracks are Tongzhou Barracks, Zhenzhou Barracks, Jiangdu Main Barracks and Reserve Barracks.
Although stationed right next to Jiangdu City, the four camps are still heavily guarded, and soldiers patrolling the camps can be seen everywhere.
For some reason, Zhang Yangquan's restless heart calmed down after seeing these four military camps.
Qin Lingjun had been observing his expression, and when he saw his brows stretched, he said softly: "In the past, when the village was in crisis, I would go talk to the soldiers and villagers in the village. As long as I talked for a while, my mood would calm down. Don't you think so?
It’s amazing!”
Zhang Yangquan turned to look at his wife and said with a smile: "It's indeed amazing."
After a pause, he suddenly pointed to the camp on the far left and said, "Whose camp is that?"
Qin Lingjun's eyebrows moved and she said with a smile: "This is Xu Baisheng's Zhenzhou Army Camp. Do you think his camp is particularly well set up?"
Zhang Yangquan nodded. Although the four camps were all very tight, only Xu Baisheng's camp gave people an unbreakable feeling.
Qin Lingjun said: "Uncle Fang is also very good at setting up camps. I don't know which one of them is better!"
Zhang Yangquan sighed: "Looking back now, he was quite foresight when he wiped out the 20,000 troops in Hezhou. If not, it would be impossible for Zhenzhou to have only 5,000 people to guard it!"
Qin Lingjun hummed and said, "This person has a good character and will be of great use in the future!"
Zhang Yangquan suddenly showed a distressed look and said: "He has made great achievements this time, how do you think he should be canonized?"
Qin Lingjun thought for a while and said: "It is better to learn from Yuan Ting and open a Marshal Wing mansion in an important city, set up the position of Marshal Yi, and select strong generals who are good at conquering and fighting!"
Zhang Yangquan hesitated for a moment and said: "Can I, the general manager, be canonized as Marshal Yi?"
Qin Lingjun smiled and said: "You are not the general manager of the Tatars! Everyone regards you as their lord. Besides, when the Yuan army retreats, don't you plan to become king?"
Zhang Yangquan looked at her and joked: "Madam, are you anxious to become a princess?"
Qin Lingjun gave him an elbow and hummed: "Since I am thinking about joking, it seems that I am not nervous at all. Let's go back!"
In the early morning of the next day, both the couple put on armor. Qin Lingsi looked at Qin Lingjun tying Zhang Yangquan's cloak and pouted.
"Brother-in-law, I think you should defend the city. Let me fight for you. Maybe the chance of winning will be higher!"
Zhang Yangquan glanced at her and said with a smile: "I call this a personal expedition, and it has a great boosting effect on the morale of the soldiers!"
Qin Lingsi chuckled and said: "If you still conduct the military expedition in person, do you really think of yourself as an emperor?"
Qin Lingjun said calmly: "Stop talking nonsense and guard the city, especially be careful of the Yuan army in Zhenjiang!"
Qin Lingsi muttered: "I know!"
The two of them came to the North Gate Tower together. The sky was still gray at this time, but more than 60,000 soldiers were already lined up outside the city gate. They were all in high spirits and had high morale!
Zhang Yangquan walked slowly to the city wall and pressed his hands on the female wall.
"Sirs and soldiers, ten thousand navy brothers defeated the Tatars several times in Gaoyou with less and attacked more, which strengthened our army! Now they are blocked by the Tatars on their way back and are about to starve to death. Can we agree?
”
All the soldiers waved their weapons and said: "No! No!"
Zhang Yangquan added: "We have finally lived a good life, but the Tatars are coming to destroy it. If they attack the city, all your and my relatives will be slaughtered! Our homes will also be destroyed!"
All the soldiers shouted in unison: "Kill the Tatars! Protect our family and our land!"
Zhang Yangquan pulled out the long sword from his waist, pointed it diagonally upward, and said: "We have more troops than them, and our morale is higher than theirs. Our army will win this battle! The enemy will be defeated!"
All the soldiers said in unison: "Our army will win! The enemy will be defeated!"
Zhang Yangquan said loudly: "Let's go!"
All the generals received the order and marched with their own troops and horses.
Zhang Yangquan then passed down an order, appointing Xu Baisheng as the forward general and Sun Hu as the deputy general of the front army, leading 20,000 people to go ahead. He led 40,000 Chinese troops to follow, Guo Niansheng was in charge of logistics, and Monkey led 5,000 people to protect the grain road.
Not long after the trip, Xu Baisheng suddenly sent someone back with news that the enemy had removed all the iron cable ships blocking the waterway and actually opened the waterway!
Zhang Yangquan was stunned for a moment, frowned and said: "What do they mean?"
Wang laughed and said: "They must be afraid of us, so they obediently let the waterway pass!"
Qin Lingjun shook his head and said: "Chahan Timur is a famous general in the Yuan army, how could he take the initiative to show weakness?"
The mountain boar said solemnly: "There must be a conspiracy!"
Zhang Yangquan waved his hand and said: "No matter what conspiracy they have, we will ignore it. This time we will fight them head-on and see who wins or loses!"
All the generals agreed in unison, and the army continued to move forward.
Shao Bo Town, expand camp.
"Expansion, who asked you to move the boat?" Chahan strode into the camp and asked angrily.
Kuo Kuo was sitting behind the case studying the map. Hearing this, he quickly stood up and said seriously: "Father, come over and take a look."
Chahan was stunned for a moment, then slowly walked to the map and found that what Chahan was looking at was the map of Gaoyou Lake, with many marks on the map.
"What is this?" Chahan asked.
Kuan Kuo said in a deep voice: "This is Dong Tuanxiao's troop deployment during the Battle of Gaoyou. He ambushed a total of twelve interception teams to form a tight encirclement network to deal with the Jiangdu Navy!"
Chahan frowned and said, "Why are you studying this?"
Kuangkuo said: "Actually, ever since Dong Tuanxiao was released, I felt that something was wrong with him. First, there was the Battle of Xinghua, which he couldn't defeat for more than ten days. But as soon as the King of Xining left, he immediately defeated it.
!"
Chahan said: "Maybe the King of Xining competed with him for control of the army, and that's what held him back!"
Kuo Kuo's eyes flashed coldly and he said: "I'm afraid the Prime Minister thinks so too. However, I sent people to Xinghua to investigate carefully. They are each responsible for two departments, and no one can hinder the other!"
Chahan frowned and said, "That might be because he doesn't want to give the credit to King Xining!"
Kuo Kuo nodded and said: "This is indeed a possibility, but when I studied the Battle of Gaoyou, I found that it was not the case!"
Chahan's expression became solemn: "What did you find?"
Kuang Kuo pointed at the map and said slowly: "Dong Tuanxiao deployed a total of twelve interception teams, but the interception routes of the last two teams were different from the first ten teams, as if he deliberately let Jiangdu's army leave!"
Chahan's eyes darkened and he said: "You mean, he deliberately let the rebels go... Could it be that he colluded with the Jiangdu rebels?"
Kuangkuo said: "It's not certain yet, but one thing is certain, Dong Tuanxiao is no longer trustworthy!"
Chahan was silent for a while and said: "So you are worried that Dong Tuanxiao and Jiang Dujun will attack us from both sides!"
Kuo Kuo nodded and said slowly: "With Jiangdu Army alone, our army has no chance of winning. If Dong Tuanxiao is added to the mix, our army will definitely be defeated!"
Chahan didn't say anything anymore. He silently walked behind the case and sat down. After thinking for a while, he said: "If he wanted to join Jiangdu Army, he could have let them leave when he was in Xinghua, and then occupied Xinghua himself!"
Kuangkuo said: "That's what you're considering, so I don't think he surrendered to the enemy!"
Chahan said: "Then why do you think he is like this?"
Kuo Kuo sighed and said: "Father, you might as well think about it from Dong Tuanxiao's point of view. He was once made a scapegoat by the Prime Minister. Can he not feel resentful in his heart?"
Chahan frowned and said: "I heard that Dong Tuanxiao is upright and loyal to the court. Even if he is resentful, he will not abandon public service for personal reasons!"
Kuo Kuo shrugged and said: "People change. He is a Han Chinese and is in a more difficult situation than us. He may not be able to maintain his original intention!"
Chahan nodded, touched the three hairs on his cheek, and said, "If we let the Jiangdu Navy go back, how will the Prime Minister explain it?"
Kuo Kuo said calmly: "The war situation has reached this stage. The only one the Prime Minister can rely on is us. Nothing will happen to him!"
Chahan said: "What if Jiangdu's army still comes to attack after letting them go back?"
Kuo Kuo said coldly: "That proves that Jiang Dujun and Dong Tuanxiao have indeed colluded! We should return to Gaoyou immediately and inform the prime minister of the matter!"
Chahan nodded and said: "Then go and pass the order and let the army prepare to retreat!"