In fact, from the moment Fang Sheng and the others set out, they had been under the surveillance of the Ming army.
The sky is vast and it is simply too easy to hide a few people. These spies closely monitored Fang Sheng and his party.
The horse galloped, and half an hour later, the first scout who brought back the intelligence entered Baishan County on horseback.
Soldiers on horseback can be seen everywhere in the county, and Zhu Jinzhang stored the main force here.
He had nearly 2,500 troops, including 1,500 cavalry, which he gathered in Baishan County.
Among the remaining one thousand cavalry, some were responsible for escorting grain and fodder, and the other were responsible for garrisoning the city and maintaining public order along the way.
Especially the second one is the most troublesome for Zhu Jinzhang.
Food is the most important thing for the people, and the most important thing for the people is to fill their stomachs.
However, Liaoping Prefecture is short of food. Except for the soldiers who can barely eat enough, the ordinary people are almost hungry.
No matter how close Zhu Jinzhang is to the people, no matter how miserable he is under the Yongwang Mansion in the south, no matter how big a cake he draws for the people... it will always be difficult to solve the fact that the people are hungry.
Therefore, things like theft and robbery happened from time to time in the city, forcing Zhu Jinzhang to severely suppress them every time.
And this is even if he does not conduct a large-scale search and rescue of people, otherwise the population under his rule will be larger and the problems exposed will be even greater.
In fact, if there were no threats from the south, this year would be Zhu Jinzhang's respite. By carefully organizing spring plowing, he could gradually improve the food shortage situation.
It's a pity that Zhao Yanxun didn't give him a chance.
To be honest, Zhu Jinzhang has achieved the ultimate level of a mortal, but it is a pity that he met the cheating Zhao Yanxun.
In the Baishan County government office, Zhu Jinzhang and Zhang Ziming were discussing countermeasures.
A battle of this level was naturally led by Zhu Jinzhang himself.
"The Yong army is stationed around Tianma Fort, blocking the road to Yuanyang. Ziming... what you said about taking the initiative to attack is simply not feasible!" Zhu Jinzhang said with worry.
Zhang Ziming's expression was serious, and he couldn't think of any good solution at the moment.
Not only did Zhang Ziming have no good ideas, Wu Pingxuan, who was regarded as a think tank, was also silent at this moment.
At this moment, a report came from outside to report.
"Bring him in!" Zhu Jinzhang said immediately.
After a while, the scout who reported the news was brought into the lobby.
There was no time for any etiquette, so Zhu Jinzhang immediately asked: "What's going on?"
"Your Majesty, the Yong army from the south is coming to the county seat!"
"Did they come all the way, or did they come all three ways?"
"The only thing I saw was the 700 people at the front!"
"How did you know he was going to Baishan? It's not impossible if they were going to Xingyuan!"
"My lord, they are taking the official road to Baishan Mountain!"
"Are they walking fast?" Zhu Jinzhang asked again.
"Maybe we can reach Zhangjiapo at noon..." the scout expressed his guess.
The so-called Zhangjiapo is a village about twenty miles away from Baishan County.
"Continue to inquire..."
"yes!"
After the scout retreated, the hall fell into silence again.
Finally, Zhang Ziming broke the silence and said: "Your Highness, we can't wait any longer. Yong's army will besiege the city!"
"How can he surround a city as big as Baishan County?" Wu Pingxuan asked rhetorically.
"As long as we block the city gate, we can't get out!"
"Besieging the city does not mean attacking the city. There is not much food in the city, so they can easily trap us to death!"
Zhu Jinzhang nodded and then asked: "What happens after we leave the city?"
"Harassment... We are cavalry, we must use our strengths!"
"If they want to attack the city, we will continue to harass them. Even if we cannot defeat them, we can still escape outside the city!" Zhang Ziming said solemnly.
"Your Majesty, please report back..."
"Bring him in!"
As a result, Zhu Jinzhang received news that Wang Cheng and Gao Zheng'an were marching northward.
"The entire army of Prince Yong's Mansion was dispatched and all rushed to the county seat. Prince Yong is quite brave!" Wu Pingxuan couldn't help but speak.
But I heard Zhu Jinzhang say: "With soldiers and food, it's normal to be brave!"
If he has this condition, he is more courageous than Zhao Yanxun. After all, he is someone who dares to rebel without cheating.
"Your Highness, we can't delay it any longer... We must get out of the city as soon as possible!"
Just after Zhang Ziming finished speaking, Wu Pingxuan added: "If we really want to leave the city, the army will have to bring more food. We will eat and sleep on horseback. We don't need this city!"
Wherever there are people, there will be rivers and lakes, and internal competition is unavoidable. Only when the most critical situation is eliminated can both parties put aside their past grievances.
"The city is still needed. There are still two hundred people in the city who are transporting grain. Let them defend the city and set up many flags to confuse the enemy!"
The main force left and handed over the city to two hundred ordinary people to collect it. In Zhang Ziming's opinion, it was the choice to maximize profits.
There is no doubt that those who stay to defend the city will die.
This also corresponds to the old saying, kindness does not lead to troops.
Zhu Jinzhang naturally had such courage. He just thought for a moment and then heard him say: "That's it!"
Just listen to Zhang Ziming continue to say: "Your Highness, after leaving the city, our troops will be divided into two groups. One can support each other, and the other can confuse the enemy!"
Zhu Jinzhang was not in a hurry to answer. After he thought carefully, he said: "I will do as you say. The whole army will be divided into two teams, and I and Zhu Xiaoan will be in charge respectively!"
Hearing this, Zhang Ziming felt disappointed, but he didn't show it on his face.
Zhu Xiaoan was a member of Zhu Jinzhang's clan, and assigning troops to him at this time was undoubtedly a blow to Zhang Ziming.
He has made a lot of contributions in the Ming Dynasty for more than half a year. It is not an exaggeration to say that he is ranked first among military commanders. But now he doesn't even have the chance to lead troops.
It seemed that Zhu Jinzhang also felt that what he was doing was too uninteresting, so he went on to say: "Xiaoyong is young after all. Ziming, you are experienced. If you are willing...just go and assist him!"
On the one hand, these words are to arrange things for Zhang Ziming so that his talent will not be wasted.
On the other hand, it was to test Zhang Ziming's next reaction to see if he was dissatisfied.
Zhang Ziming understands these truths in his heart.
But he still said: "Your Highness, I would like to lead a group of people to attack the Yong army's food road in a detour!"
Although Zhang Ziming's answer disappointed Zhu Jinzhang, he still asked: "How to detour?"
"Detour from Tiejiang Mountain...surprise attack on Tianma Castle!"
Tiejiang Mountain is not a single mountain, but a large mountain on the west side of Tianma Fort, which has become the boundary mountain between Liaoping and Tianjin Mansion.
Marching in the mountains, the road is rugged and difficult, not to mention there are zombies wandering in the mountains.
"We are all cavalry, do we need to use infantry to cross the mountain?" Zhu Jinzhang asked.
Zhang Ziming replied: "You can ride a horse to the foot of the mountain first, and then walk across the mountain!"
"Your Highness, even if you narrowly escape death, as long as there is a slight possibility of success, it is worth a try!"
"Once their food and fodder are destroyed, Yong's army will be self-defeating. It can give us a month or two of reprieve!"
Zhang Ziming said this last sentence very conservatively.
He knew very well that burning food and grass would not be able to damage Prince Yong's palace, and at most it would only delay the opponent's attack.
Zhu Jinzhang was caught in a trade-off, and finally he asked: "How many manpower do you want?"
"Since it's a surprise attack, we don't want too many people, a hundred is enough!"
Zhu Jinzhang could still approve a force of one hundred men.
So he solemnly said: "Okay, I'll give you a hundred people!"