Qin Liang's army crossed the Qinghe River from Jieqiao and arrived at the southern part of Anping County. Within two days, they crossed the Zhangshui River westward from a place called "Boluojin" and entered the boundary of Julu County as planned.
Previously, Deng Ai sent his official Duan Zhuo to report the matter, and Qin Liang sent Huang Yuan to escort Duan Zhuo back to Nanpi, Bohai County.
After Huang Yuan came back, he told some stories about what happened in Nanpi, "General Deng gathered all the people in the city and prepared a lot of gold juice (dung water), tung oil, rolling wood and stones. The rebel army sent people to shoot the surrender letter. City, General Deng asked me to bring it back."
Qin Liang reached out and took the silk book. When he saw the handwriting on it, he recognized it was Guan Qiu Jian's handwriting again. This was the second time he had received a letter from Guan Qiu Jian.
Huang Yuan continued: "General Deng said in public that General Wei had entrusted him with important tasks before he left Luoyang, and he trusted him even more after that. How could he not do his best? If he could not defend Nanpi, he should apologize. !”
Qin Liang nodded in response without making any comment. Of course he did not believe that Deng Ai would surrender to Guanqiu Jian. Otherwise, if he surrendered at the first sight, Deng Ai would really become the Lu Bu whom everyone hated.
However, Deng Ai's wish to serve Qin Liang in Nanpi did not come true.
Soon Qin Liang got the news that Guanqiu Jian failed to persuade him to surrender, but there was no sign of attacking Nanpi again. Guanqiu Jian's army had occupied Chengping on the north bank of Zhangshui River, and Hejian County was successfully established, and they were at the intersection of Zhangshui River and Qinghe River. , built camp fortifications to prevent Deng Ai from attacking the grain road.
When Qin Liang saw the situation, he immediately understood. Guanqiu Jian didn't care about anything and didn't want to drive south. He was here to fight with the main force!
Guanqiu Jian's army was very strong and looked confident.
Guanqiu Jian was a very tolerant person. He was provoked and tempted several times, but his decision-making was not affected. But he was also very stubborn, and it seemed that no one could change his determination.
It stands to reason that the more the enemy wants to realize his or her plans, the more it is convenient for oneself to prevent them from being realized. Because the two warring parties are contradictory entities, as long as something is beneficial to the other party, it must be detrimental to oneself.
But it happened that Qin Liang didn't want to avoid the battle at this time.
The imperial court is in a troubled time, and if the war is delayed, there may be unpredictable changes. What's more, Qin Liang has already issued an order to gather troops. If he chooses to retreat at this time, his momentum will be lost first!
Qin Liang made no response and continued his previous deployment in Qingyuan County.
But every evening, after the army set up camp, he would ask those around him if there was any news about Changshan County.
The four armies that set out from Luoyang all came from the south of Jizhou. Although they marched separately, they were not far apart. There were plains between the armies and they were easy to maneuver. It was very simple for the Chinese army to meet up in Julu County. .
Only Tian Yu's army had to cross the Taihang Mountains, and coming from the north, it was neither easy to contact nor far apart.
The key is that Tian Yu is not one of Qin Liang's people, he just obeys Luoyang's orders. If he wants to obey the orders of Luoyang, Qin Liang can't do anything about Tian Yu, especially now.
The rain has stopped, but the sky has not cleared up. It is still covered with gray-white clouds and no sunlight. There is an extremely wide lake in front of it, called Dalu Ze.
Qin Liang stood at the gate of the military camp and could vaguely see the waters to the north. The lake was like a sea, and the other side could not be seen.
At this time, Du Yu, a soldier beside him, said: "We can wait for a few days on the south bank of Dalu Ze. If Tian Yu cannot cross Taihang in time, our army may be mobilized to Anping County in the east. Then Deng Shizai's Jizhou Army will be ordered to move along the Qinghe River. Going west, the army gathered in Anping County and then dealt with Guanqiu Jian."
Qin Liang nodded and said: "This is also a way."
Of course he knew that once Deng Ai was transferred from Nanpi, Bohai County would completely fall into the hands of the rebels. Moreover, Deng Ai was in Nanpi and had no chance to fight the rebels for the time being. However, he also restrained Guanqiu Jian's troops and started to fight. When it comes to dividing his troops, Guanqiu Jian must guard against Deng Ai at the mouth of the Zhangshui River.
But if Tian Yu's army cannot join up in time, Qin Liang will only have less than 40,000 troops from Luoyang's central army. The side with fewer soldiers needs to fight decisively, and it is more necessary to gather troops. It is necessary to move closer to Deng Ai.
At this moment, two horsemen carrying feathers came from the northwest direction of Mainland China. They found the Chinese army camp and appeared on the plains in the distance.
Qin Liang and others looked at the incoming person with anticipation. After being interrogated by the rangers, a messenger came over, and it turned out to be Zhen Yan's subordinate.
The messenger presented Zhen Yan's report. Tian Yu's troops had already left Jingxing! Zhen Yan sent Qin Liang's military orders to Tian Yu. Tian Yu did not stop and continued marching towards Julu County.
After Qin Liang read the report, he immediately showed it to the subordinate officers and generals around him.
The messenger said: "When Mr. Zhen Yan saw General Tian, he sighed that the general had finally arrived. General Tian said that when the army was at Jingxing, it rained and the mountain roads were slippery, so it was delayed for some time. But the man should True to his word, since he has promised General Qin to send troops, he will climb the mountain with both hands and feet to reach Jizhou!"
"Good!" Qin Liang praised happily, looked back and said, "General Tian is still reliable."
Everyone agreed, and the noise of talking also started. It was originally a very common thing, but the friendly troops were ordered to come to join them, but at this time, the generals suddenly showed a little joy.
At this time, Qin Liang thought that Tian Yu had been with Gongsun Zan, a man of Cao Cao, and had experienced almost the entire troubled times since the end of the Han Dynasty. He was already in his seventies, and seemed to be older than Wang Ling! The old general seemed to be clear-headed and determined. , Qin Liang had never met him, but he suddenly felt a little better about him.
Qin Liang quickly left the entrance of the camp, turned around and said simply and decisively: "We will break camp early tomorrow morning and go to Julu from the east coast of Dalu Ze."
The generals cupped their fists and said, "Here!"
Returning to the Chinese army tent, Qin Liang took the map and looked at it again. The map was wrinkled by him, and the annotations on it were already familiar to him, but he would still look at it when he was free, perhaps because the map was more intuitive. Can save thinking power.
Du Yu's voice said: "The general used his troops calmly and chose a good place. Julu is indeed suitable as a base for the camp."
Qin Liang nodded without raising his head and said: "There are grain and grass baggage stored near Yecheng, which can be transported north to Julu along the Ming River or Zhang River. Moreover, this place is close to Taihang, with a mainland swamp to the south, and several rivers as barriers. The road, side and rear are not easily threatened. Guanqiu Jian can only come from the east, and there is no room for tricks."
Fu Gu said: "Will Guanqiu Jian take the initiative to attack?"
Du Yu said: "Deng Shizai threatened Pinglu Canal in Nanpi, but Guanqiu Jian didn't even care about Nanpi. He just wanted to fight with General Qin! But if our army chooses a good place and relies on the river to build fortifications in advance, Guanqiu Jian may not Too anxious."
When Qin Liang heard this, he also agreed with Du Yu's judgment.
Guanqiu Jian had a lot of cavalry under his command. In addition to Youzhou fine cavalry, there were also cavalry from the Wuwan people. On the preset battlefield on the plain, fortifications could still be used to deal with the cavalry. Simple fortifications such as blocking horse lances and trapping horses were all effective. It's just difficult to move.
Judging from Guan Qiujian's record, this person at least has a lot of combat experience. Once he finds that the battlefield is not good for him, he will most likely not be willing to send him to his door.
If the army adopts a conservative strategy, Guanqiu Jian's troops may cross the Zhang River and spread their control area to Anping County, even Qinghe County and other places. When Qin Liang takes the initiative to find him, he may enter Guanqiu Jian's predicament. Set up a battlefield.
Since both sides seemed to be willing to fight at this time, Qin Liang didn't want to avoid it.
The Youzhou army and the Wuwan people claim to be fierce. The two armies have not yet fought. If Qin Liang behaves timidly, it seems as if he is afraid of them!
A few days later, Qin Liang's army arrived at the north of Dalu Ze.
Xiong Shou, Yang Wei, and Wen Qin also successively approached the Chinese army in Litao County, Julu County. Tian Yu had arrived in the southern part of Zhao State in the north of Julu County. The main force of the official army gradually completed its assembly and began to move along the north bank of Zhang River. Slowly advance eastward.
The large groups of troops on both sides are still far away, but the battle has already begun. Every day, the two armies' rangers will fight and chase each other everywhere, trying to drive away the other party's scout rangers to reduce the amount of prying eyes of the other party's rangers. scope.
Guanqiu Jian should also understand that Qin Liang's army is willing to fight.
Otherwise, the main force of Qin Liang's army will appear on the south bank of Zhangshui River. Across a relatively wide river, it is easier to form a confrontation.
Scouts kept reporting all kinds of news. At this time, Chang Shi Fu Gu, Du Yu and others were even more busy. Most of the news was handled by them, and they were summarized before reporting to Qin Liang. Both of them were quite talented. Able to independently judge which information is important and which information can be ignored. After getting along in the military, Qin Liang felt that the two of them should be able to handle it independently.
At this time, Qin Liang could clearly judge that Guanqiu Jian was also advancing towards the army! Because there were many pontoon bridges on the Baima Canal, a large number of people crossed westward every day.
Baima Canal is a canal connecting Hutuo River and Zhangshui River. The bandits crossed the river in large numbers from there, heading towards Julu County.
The battle is already in sight. Unless one side retreats first, the distance between the main forces of the two armies will only get closer and closer. After the rebel army passed the Baima Canal, there was no obstacle in the middle!
There are neither rivers nor mountains, and even a county seat is rare. There is only a lonely county seat on the eastern border of Julu County.
At this time, Qin Liang's mood calmed down. Compared with the previous constant calculation of the pros and cons of both sides' terrain, troop strength, situation, etc., his originally complex mentality has become simpler.
Guanqiu Jian wrote a letter to insult Qin Liang, taking advantage of the situation to rebel and add insult to injury, and wanted to punish Qin Liang to death. The anger, hatred, etc. in it are no longer important. Worrying too much about the results is useless and will only affect your determination!
Now Qin Liang just wants to kill Guan Qiu Jian calmly.
The Zhangshui River flows slowly toward the northeast. The sun has just peeked out and the weather has finally cleared up.
Qin Liang turned his head and looked over. Perhaps because of the light, the scenery on the Zhang River was very dim. Only the waves on the water reflected the brilliance of the stars. Countless people and horses lined up in long queues. Looking from a distance, People are like black shadows.