The joy of the New Year has not washed away the dark clouds of war.
After the 15th day of the New Year, in the early morning of the 16th day of the first lunar month, Shi Dakai led 60,000 elites to continue northward and entered Xuzhou Prefecture in the north of Jiangsu Province. Wherever the army passed, they were invincible and crushed all the Qing soldiers who resisted. Approaching Shandong, Shi Dakai's military front caused panic in the counties and towns in Shandong and also frightened the governor of Shandong. On the one hand, the governor of Shandong asked the court for help, and on the other hand, he sent a letter to Li Zhen, asking for Li Zhen's support.
Jiangbei camp, the Chinese army's tent.
Li Zhen sat at the head of the conference table and looked up at the soldiers standing in the tent.
This soldier was sent by the governor of Shandong.
The soldier took out a letter from his arms and handed it to Ye Chengzhong respectfully. After Ye Chengzhong passed it to Li Zhen, he said: "Admiral, Shi Dakai led countless bandits to attack Shandong. The army is strong. It is difficult to resist, so my lord asks the admiral to send troops to help."
Li Zhen nodded slightly, took the letter and browsed it quickly.
The content of the letter is roughly the same as what the soldier said.
However, the letter contained more gifts from the governor of Shandong to thank Li Zhen, such as money, food, firearms, etc.
As a member of the officialdom, the governor of Shandong knew where the interests were and he had to pay for Li Zhen's help, so he listed a series of gifts. After Li Zhen read it, he laughed in his heart and handed the letter to Ye Chengzhong. He looked at the soldier and said in a deep voice: "You go back and tell the governor of Shandong that I will mobilize the soldiers immediately and arrive in Shandong in the shortest possible time. However, Shi Da is about to enter Shandong. I hope the governor of Shandong can delay. Wait for me to resolve the danger Shandong is facing."
"Thank you, sir. Time is urgent. I have to return to my post as soon as possible. I say goodbye."
The soldier clasped his fists in salute, turned and left.
Ye Chengzhong waited for the soldiers to leave and said in confusion: "Commander, years ago, you and the lieutenant general discussed the strategy to deal with Shi Dakai. At that time, you decided to sit back and watch. Why did you change it to sending troops now?"
Li Zhen smiled and said: "At that moment, at this moment, please send the order, the army will break out of camp and pursue Shi Dakai."
Ye Chengzhong had a puzzled look on his face, but after Li Zhen gave the order, he could only leave the tent obediently and pass on the order. In less than three hours, the Jiangbei camp had been cleaned up, with more than 8,000 people, including Huan Xiaolang. , Mu Ziqing and other doctors all left Yangzhou and headed north towards Shandong.
Lu Shaochuan was the happiest when the army attacked.
This guy is extremely warlike, and there is going to be a big war right now, so he leads the troops on the road in a hurry.
Huang Shihai, Yang Banhou, and Smith came to Li Zhen. Huang Shihai asked: "Commander, we have already agreed on a strategy to deal with Shi Dakai, and are preparing..." What he said was what Ye Chengzhong had asked, and now Li Zhen Li Zhen changed his order, but no one could figure out Li Zhen's intention, so Huang Shihai took the lead in asking.
Smith and Yang Banhou looked at Li Zhen and waited for Li Zhen's explanation.
Li Zhen said: "The governor of Shandong came to ask for help. As a colleague, I should go to the rescue."
After hearing this, the three of them stared at Li Zhen with strange expressions.
These words are so unreliable.
Colleagues.
They are all old people who follow Li Zhen. They know Li Zhen thoroughly and know Li Zhen's methods. They treat people who are close to Li Zhen or friends of Li Zhen quite well. However, officials who are irrelevant or hostile to Li Zhen are treated very well. Zhen Zhen would never take a glance at it, or even deal with it harshly. Think of Yang Nengge, the former Shanghai Taoist, and Qi Ling, the governor of Guangdong appointed by Xianfeng. These are bloody lessons.
If Li Zhen really cared about his colleagues, I am afraid these things would not have happened.
The three of them were extremely disbelieving. Huang Shihai turned his eyes and looked at Huang Qiang.
However, Huang Qiang shook his head and expressed ignorance because he had not received the news.
The three people looked at Long Ao again. After all, Long Ao had information about Li Zhen and was equivalent to Li Zhen's staff. He knew a lot. Long Ao smiled and said: "Everyone, the commander-in-chief is indeed considering it." When we arrived at the difficulties faced by Shandong and considered the dangers faced by the governor of Shandong, we decided to lead the army to attack. It is really inappropriate for you not to believe the commander-in-chief."
When Huang Shihai and others heard this, they felt a faint urge to vomit blood.
These words made the three of them even more convinced that there was something fishy going on.
Huang Shihai saw that Li Zhen and Long Ao were silent, so he stopped asking. It must be an extremely important matter for Li Zhen and Long Ao to keep it secret. Huang Shihai led his people back to the army and continued to lead the troops on their way.
On the eighth day of January, the sky cleared up.
On this day, Li Zhen finally entered Shandong.
At this moment, Shi Dakai's army had entered Shandong. After his army entered Shandong, it did not occupy the city. Instead, it swept through various towns like locusts. Shi Dakai had extremely strict requirements for the soldiers of the army and strictly prohibited soldiers from harassing the people. After breaking the city, Qiu Qiu did not commit any crime and did not cause any harassment to the people. However, the government's county offices and government offices were plundered cleanly, which can be called a melon field.
Shi Dakai's move did not affect the people, but made them faintly excited.
Because the people were facing exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes, they were extremely poor and resented the government. Now Shi Dakai has solved the problem of the government and killed corrupt officials, which made the people happy and vented their sullenness. Everywhere Shi Dakai went, the people cheered and celebrated. If Shi Dakai had not strictly limited the number of soldiers recruited, there would definitely be no less than one hundred thousand soldiers now, and there might even be more soldiers.
However, Shi Dakai also knew that the further north, the more dangerous it became.
Fortunately, he got the news that Li Zhen had arrived, and he felt relieved.
Shandong, Yizhou Prefecture, Fei County.
Military camp outside the city.
Shi Dakai is dealing with military matters. Because too many places have been raided recently, there is a backlog of countless things that need to be handled by Shi Dakai every day. Although he is tired, Shi Dakai is extremely happy when he looks at the news reported because he has raided many counties in Shandong and the food supply Now that we have weapons, we have money, and the army no longer has any hidden worries.
Although tired, but happy.
"call,."
The tent door curtain was rolled up, and Zhang Suimou walked in with a happy face.
He saluted Shi Dakai and said happily: "Your Majesty, Li Zhen led the soldiers into Shandong. Next, we can change direction and head to Anhui. As long as we leave Li Zhen behind, our chance will come."
Shi Dakai stood up and said loudly: "Give me the order, continue to pretend to attack various towns in Shandong, and then transfer the army."
"As commanded."
Zhang Suimou also responded excitedly and left the camp with brisk steps.
After Zhang Suimou left the camp, he stood in the camp and looked up at the fiery red sun hanging in the sky. It seemed that his future was so bright and dazzling. He even thought of Shi Dakai getting rid of Li Zhen's pursuit and entering Sichuan according to his next plan. By the time he achieves great things, he will be a founding hero, which is countless times better than staying in Nanjing and following Hong Xiuquan.