In fact, as early as when Meng Xinghe set fire to the Tang army's food and grass, Miss Du, who had been suffering from insomnia for several days, immediately saw the fire lighting up the mid-air in the center of the army.
She immediately realized that the food and grass were burned. It was a tense period right now. If the food and grass were not guaranteed, their southward campaign to suppress the bandits would be affected. And yesterday, she also heard about the Turks at the border and the Yang family who fled to Lingnan. There are also some actions. Although the Tang Dynasty has no internal worries, it is still surrounded by enemies on three sides. If this continues, after several years of war, it will be the same as the chaotic times of the late Sui Dynasty. The world will be in chaos.
Thinking of this, Master Du led a large group of troops and ran almost non-stop to the place where grain and grass were stored. Li Chengqian also came after hearing the news at this time. The fire could no longer be extinguished. Countless fire dragons roared up from the ground. No matter what they wanted, Still unable to give up, he could only watch the food and grass being devoured by the fire demon.
Hou Junji hurriedly ran to Li Chengqian and knelt down with a plop. He knew how important food and grass were to the army. Now he was burned to pieces. It would be magnanimous for Li Chengqian not to hold him accountable for his dereliction of duty. If he really wanted to kill him as a warning to others, .Even if Hou Junji had ten heads, he wouldn't be able to chop them off.
But at this moment, before Li Chengqian could hold Hou Junji accountable for his negligence, outside the big tent, Zhang Shigui, who was in charge of night watch, also rushed in in a panic. He was originally responsible for guarding the military camp to prevent the Taiping Sect from sneak attacks at night. But since the Taiping Sect After the battle, he hid in Taihu Lake and did not dare to come out. Zhang Shigui thought that he might be afraid of the Tang army's prestige and did not take the night patrol to heart. He was having fun in a restaurant with several of his generals. Unexpectedly, not long ago, he His soldiers hurriedly came to report that "tens of thousands of boats appeared in Taihu Lake. They may be coming to attack the camp." Zhang Shigui didn't believe it at first. He followed him and saw the Taihu Lake in front of him. There were densely packed boats with torches coming quickly, and the sound of war drums. The sky was shaken. Zhang Shigui suddenly panicked. He immediately came to report the news. He found that the barracks was already in flames. He immediately had a bad premonition. When he saw Li Chengqian, he knelt down on the ground and said: "Marshal, the demon from the Taiping Sect is attacking me at the moment. The army is attacking. There are about tens of thousands of people."
"What?" Li Chengqian and the military advisor shouted at the same time: "Look carefully."
"It's absolutely true. The opponent has a huge momentum and is heading straight for our barracks." Zhang Shigui did not dare to conceal the truth. His current idea was to let the marshal decide to evacuate decisively. Otherwise, the entire army may be annihilated due to unstable military morale.
"This Taiping Sect demon is so powerful. First he burned my food and fodder and made our troops confused. Now he raises his troops to invade. The enemy is strong and we are weak. What should we do?" Li Chengqian was also a little flustered. He captured several cities in a row in the past few days. His pride was gone at this moment. In a hurry, all he could think of was to retreat to Taihu Lake for the time being and wait for the imperial court to distribute food and grass before making another comeback.
Du Junshi was extremely cautious and said: "Marshal, beware of fraud. The Taiping Sect has always acted cautiously. Now they are attacking in full force. It seems unreasonable. Why not wait to find out the situation before making a decision." Du Junshi is probably the more powerful one among this group of people. She was a calm person. The burning of food and grass had made her suppress her anger. At this moment, she heard Zhang Shigui reported that the Taiping Army had arrived at the city. Her strong will suddenly fell apart. She only missed ordering Hou Junji and Zhang Shigui to beheaded on the spot. human brain.
Hearing what the military advisor said, Li Chengqian thought to himself, I'm afraid you want to watch the army on the right be annihilated. I've known for a long time that you, Du Xuan, are heading for the army on the left. You want to move me, the prince, down. Now you are asking me to think twice. What the hell. Think twice. When not one of them is left alive by the Taiping Army, who will be willing to be loyal to me, a powerless prince? Li Chengqian brought all his confidants with him when he went south this time. He did not dare to let his last confidant sacrifice in vain. Almost There is no doubt. He said: "The commander-in-chief ordered the three armies to immediately withdraw to Taihu County and wait for reinforcements from the imperial court. Then he ordered people to quickly issue a collection order to Lu Yi, the governor of Jiangdu. Let him quickly collect grain from Jiangdu's prefectures and counties and prepare military supplies to protect Taihu Lake. The county prevents the Taiping Army from invading."
"Marshal." Commander Du wanted to comment. I'm afraid it's inappropriate to disturb the people in this way.
Li Chengqian waved his hand to stop him: "There is no need to say more, military advisor. I have made up my mind. No one can change it."
Military Master Du hesitated to speak, turned around and left. She did not go back to the military camp. Instead, she sat cross-legged on a high ground in the military camp. The fire behind her shone red for a long time. She just stared blankly into the distance and talked to herself. : "Are you not dead yet?"
######
At this moment, on the Taihu Lake, several small boats were not in a hurry. Instead, they were paddling forward leisurely. Meng Xinghe, who had already taken off his night clothes, was wearing a green shirt. His eyes were glaring at the sky full of fire behind him. The Tang Army's military camp. There was a hint of excitement after revenge in his eyes.
"Third brother, the Tang army has retreated. Xue Rengui is such a good boy. He actually saved a hand. Haha. If he hadn't made this trick out of thin air, the Tang army would not have retreated so quickly." Chai Shao was standing next to Meng Xinghe at this moment. There had been no violence for a long time. The event has passed. This trip tonight was really fun.
Meng Xinghe knew in his heart that Xue Rengui was a military god. But he was also surprised that this boy could even think of using a feint to scare the Tang army after burning the Tang army's food and grass. Li Chengqian has always been timid. Even if Du Xuan recommended it, he would not be able to stop him from decisively retreating. But although Li Chengqian withdrew his troops, he still threatened Taihu. Meng Xinghe thought for a moment and said: "Li Chengqian will definitely station troops in Taihu County. Next time, we will drive him to Jiangdu. The Taiping Army is in Taihu. Even if Stand firm."
Everyone agreed with Meng Xinghe's words. Xue Rengui listened in his heart and asked: "Brother-in-law, how do you want to fight?"
"Taihu County is a land of plenty. You can win the best without losing a single soldier." In the past, when I made a bet with Shi Luoshen, I had spared no damage to every plant and tree in Taihu Lake. Now, if Meng Xinghe wants to defeat the Tang army at his doorstep, of course he must I want not to harm Taihu County, a land of plenty.
Xue Rengui scratched his head: "Let me go down and think about it. Brother-in-law, you taught me before. Subduing an enemy without fighting is a very profound art of war."
Meng Xinghe laughed, touched Xue Rengui's head and said, "Xiao Xue, tell me, is it right for my brother-in-law to do this now?"
"I don't know. As long as my brother-in-law does anything, I will follow you. My sister asked me to protect you. I can't forget my sister's instructions." Xue Rengui answered sincerely. In his heart, there is only one sister. Now There is also Meng Xinghe ranked first.
Meng Xinghe felt a sense of sadness in his heart: "I'm afraid that these brothers will be desperate after following me."
Xue Rengui had nothing to say. Chai Shao was also relatively speechless.
Meng Xinghe continued: "Li Shimin is a talented man and has great strategies. I'm afraid he has already thought of a way to deal with the Taiping Religion. But he has been holding back and not taking action. There must be some reason. We are fighting in Taihu Lake. After all, it will not become a problem. I I just think that one day I will have the confidence to talk to Jiang Xia, so that these brothers under my command will have a good future." Meng Xinghe said something that was heartfelt this time. He remembered when the wretched old man left Chang'an. Li Shimin knew he would let the tiger go back to his mountain, but he still let him leave. Meng Xinghe remembered it very clearly at that time. Li Shimin was definitely not the kind of king who sat high in the temple and listened to his ministers' words. In fact, he was more talented and resourceful than anyone else. Otherwise, how could he be so powerful back then? Hong's Taiping Sect was completely defeated.
He might be waiting for something. Meng Xinghe sighed to himself. He didn't know exactly what Li Shimin was waiting for. He only knew that if he didn't seize the terms of negotiation with him now, when Li Shimin took action in the future, Meng Xinghe might It was the same as before. He was just a clown in his hands. He didn't even have a chance to refuse. He was attacked and had no power to fight back.
"Third brother, don't think too much. Now everyone outside thinks that you have died under Hukou City. No one knows what it will be like tomorrow. Who is that Chen? He said that princes and generals are willing to be in peace. I think three Brother, you are born to be a noble person. You will definitely be crowned king in the future."
Mr. Chai didn't know what to say. He said something carelessly. Meng Xinghe immediately rolled his eyes and said, "My name is Chen Sheng. Second brother. I want you to read and study more if you have nothing to do."
Mr. Chai blushed: "I have been studying. It's just that the knowledge I learned is different."
Meng Xinghe knew that it was some knowledge that was inappropriate for children. He just laughed and stopped talking.
This group of people wandered leisurely on Tai Lake. Meng Xinghe also knew that everyone was tired and were not in a hurry. They returned to the water village at noon the next day.
As soon as he stepped off the boat, he saw a woman he hadn't seen for a long time.
"Ling'er." Meng Xinghe walked over quickly. Ling'er had not followed him to the south of the Yangtze River in Chang'an. Now he saw her in the Taiping Army's water village. Presumably all his relatives in Chang'an had been rescued. He ran over happily. . He picked up the slim girl who had already left home. He pinched her small nose and said, "I don't miss you, Brother Meng."
Zhao Ling'er pouted her mouth. Her crystal clear lips were like two pink peach blossoms.
"No. Not at all." She whispered.
Meng Xinghe knew whether she said it or not. In fact, she thought about it to the extreme. He asked again: "Your sister Ning'er and my mother."
The girl said: "They are all in the water stronghold. Brother Meng, I heard from Sister Mengdie that you almost died under Hukou City, right?"
Meng Xinghe didn't know how to get back. When he heard the word "Mengdie", he felt even more difficult to face it. He said, "Who said that? Didn't I stand by your side properly? You should be spanked."
"Who deserves a spanking?"
A cooing cry came from behind. Then a beauty who was obviously much thinner appeared in front of her.
"Ning'er. My husband misses you so much." Meng Xinghe immediately walked over and hugged the woman who had lost a lot of weight. He could clearly feel that the woman in his arms was obviously crying. However, he tried his best to suppress the sound. He just kept silent. His head was pressed against his chest, and a large piece of his clothes was wet.
Meng Xinghe sighed inwardly. He raised her delicate and pretty face, wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes, and said, "Now that the whole family is reunited, it should be a happy thing. Why are you crying?"
"Yeah." Miss Lu burst into tears and smiled: "Don't cry. I should be happy to see my husband."
Meng Xinghe sighed with emotion, but finally couldn't help but asked: "Where is Mengdie? Why doesn't she come to greet me?"
Miss Lu did not answer, but a resentful voice sounded from behind Meng Xinghe: "Do you remember Mengdie?" The person who came was none other than Mengdie, whom Meng Xinghe least wanted to meet now.