"What happened? Why are you so panicked?" Tian Hu said dissatisfied.
"Brother, I just received news that Wei Sheng City and Fenyang City have been conquered and occupied." Tian Bao said anxiously.
"How is that possible?" Tian Hu said in disbelief, and looked at Tian Bao with suspicion, fearing that Tian Bao had some conspiracy.
"Brother, how dare I lie to you about such an important matter?" Tian Bao was almost crying. His home was occupied, and his relatives didn't know what to do. His eldest brother actually doubted him at this time.
.
"Did the officers and soldiers occupy Weisheng, Fenyang?" Tian Hu saw that Tian Bao didn't look like he was faking it, and he became anxious and asked.
"They are not officers and soldiers, they are said to be rogues," Tian Bao said.
"Do the mere bandits dare to seize my Tian Hu's territory? I'm so impatient!" Tian Hu was furious. Although he was known as the "King of Jin", he was actually a grass bandit and the overlord among the grass bandits.
The grass bandits didn't dare to mess with him at all.
His mind turned quickly, thinking about what bandit dared to rob his territory, could it be Song Jiang? There was no news about Song Jiang these days. Maybe Song Jiang escaped and took over Weisheng and Fenyang.
Weisheng and Fenyang both have a lot of gold and silver treasures, a lot of grain and grass, and he has many beautiful concubines in Weisheng, and his parents are also there. He must not lose these two cities.
"Brother, let's go back quickly!" Tian Bao said anxiously on the other side.
"Okay, call the army immediately!" Tian Hu said hurriedly.
At that moment, Tian Bao hurriedly went to gather the army, while Tian Hu was restless in the barracks. After half an hour, Tian Bao led a man in. This man was covered in travel dust, his clothes were tattered, and he looked extremely tired.
He prostrated himself on the ground.
"Fang Qiong, why is it you?" Tian Hu hurriedly helped the man up and said.
Fang Qiong was one of the four powerful generals under Niu Wenzhong, and Niu Wenzhong was a close confidant of Tian Hu, so Fang Qiong was also a close confidant of Tian Hu. Fang Qiong was supposed to be guarding Gaizhou Town, so why did he come to this place?
?
"Your Majesty, Gaizhou City was captured. I hid for several days. I ran out two days ago and traveled across mountains and rivers to Puzhou, begging your Majesty for help!" Fang Qiong cried.
It turned out that after Fang Qiong hid for several days that day, he finally waited until the gate of Gaizhou City opened. He stole a piece of clothing from a common man's house, and then pretended to be an ordinary common man and ran out secretly. Liangshan did not catch him.
.He came here after he came out.
"What?" Tian Hu was stunned for a moment.
Just now, Tian Bao said that Wei Sheng and Fenyang had been captured by the enemy. He was already very anxious at that time, but he did not expect that Gaizhou City had also been captured. No wonder the grain and grass that were supposed to be shipped from Gaizhou these days have not been available until now.
Shipped.
"Your Majesty, it's true..." Fang Qiong lowered his head and said.
"How could you lose Gaizhou City?" Tian Hu grabbed Fang Qiong's collar, shook it constantly, and said angrily.
"Your Majesty, the enemy is really too powerful... Although they appear to be rogues, they are much more powerful than the officers and soldiers. Everyone is brave and fearless of death. We simply cannot stop them." Fang Qiong said hurriedly.
"Do you know where they are from?" Tian Hu said.
"This... I'm not sure." Fang Qiong said a little ashamed.
Tian Hu really wanted to chop Fang Qiong in half with his sword, fight with the enemy, and lose the city, but he didn't even know where the enemy came from.
"Brother... Fang Qiong said... said..." Tian Bao said a little unspeakably.
"What did you say?" Tian Hu said.
"Say... Zhaode City and Jinning City have also fallen into enemy hands." Tian Bao said.
"What..." Tian Hu felt dizzy and almost fainted. Fang Qiong next to him hurriedly supported him.
"Brother, we still have 70,000 troops. We will definitely destroy these bandits and take back our city." Tian Bao said.
"Yes... there are still 70,000 troops... Hurry, hurry, gather the army immediately... We will rush back overnight." Tian Hu said.
At that moment, Tian Bao and Fang Qiong went out to gather an army. Unfortunately, there was no food these days, and the soldiers went out to grab food. By night, only 50,000 troops were gathered. Tian Hu couldn't wait any longer, so he left General Sun An behind.
Here he continued to gather the rest of the army, and then he led an army of 50,000 towards Wei Sheng.
Just after leaving for a moment, Tian Hu realized an important problem. Originally, he wanted to "borrow food" from Puzhou City before leaving, but now he was leaving in a hurry and there was no time to "borrow food". In other words, the army had already
There is no food. Going back all the way, hunger alone can paralyze the troops, and it is impossible to hold on to victory.
Tian Hu hurriedly summoned all his generals to discuss the matter. At this moment, Fang Qiong said: "Your Majesty, we can go to Zezhou first... There are thousands of elite soldiers in Zezhou and a lot of food and grass. We will wait.
After Zezhou, we will obtain food and grass, and then go to retake Weisheng and other places."
Zezhou is a city around Gaizhou. Although it is only a county town, its status is very important, equivalent to Gaizhou's auxiliary city. Because Gaizhou is one of the main channels that prevents the imperial officers and soldiers from going north, Gaizhou's status is important, as
Zezhou, which is the auxiliary city of Gaizhou, also has an important position. In the original Water Margin, when Song Jiang conquered the fields and tigers, Zezhou was the first to be attacked.
"Okay, let's go to Zezhou." Tian Hu said.
Now Tian Hu led the army in the direction of Zezhou. Needless to say, the army was in disorder along the way.
****
Gaizhou City has finally calmed down. The bloody smell has gradually dissipated, but the streets are still deserted. At this time, not many people dare to come out for fear of being killed.
Hu Sanniang also discovered a huge granary in Gaizhou City. She knew that the people in Gaizhou City were suffering terribly and many had no food to survive the winter, so she scattered food at the street entrance.
At the beginning, no one dared to collect the food. In the end, those who really couldn't live went to collect the food and slowly spread the news. In the past two days, the people who received the food gradually went into hiding. There were slightly more people in the city.
A little bit of excitement.
Hu Sanniang stood on the city wall, looking at the "Northern Scenery". Although it was sunny, the snow had not melted yet, and it was still covered in ice for thousands of miles.
There were footsteps from behind, and Yang Xiong strode to Hu Sanniang's side and said, "Colonel Hu, are you looking for me?"
Hu Sanniang nodded and said: "You order 2,000 troops and horses, and we will set off right now."
Yang Xiong was slightly stunned and said: "Where are you going?"
Hu Sanniang said: "Let's go to Lishan."
Yang Xiong was surprised and said, "What are you going to do there?"
Hu Sanniang said: "I just got the information that Tian Hu's 70,000 troops have returned. They are heading towards Gaizhou and will definitely pass by Lishan. Let's go to Lishan to ambush Tian Hu's army."
"What?" Yang Xiong was surprised and said, "We don't have enough troops. I'm afraid it will be difficult to deal with so many enemies?"
"It's not impossible." Hu Sanniang smiled.
"What method?" Yang Xiong asked.
"Set fire...burn the mountain..." Hu Sanniang said through gritted teeth.
At that moment, Yang Xiong ordered 2,000 troops and horses, and followed Hu Sanniang towards Mount Li.
Lishan is the only way from Puzhou to Gaizhou, and is one of the mountains in southern Shanxi. This mountain is densely forested. In later generations, it was the only place in North China with virgin forests, and it was also the earliest place established by the country.
One of the nine nature reserves. In the Song Dynasty, the trees here were even more densely packed, and there were many wild beasts in the dense forest, which were very dangerous.
Legend has it that Mount Li was the place where Shun plowed his fields. "Historical Records" records that "when Shun plowed Mount Li, everyone in Mount Li gave way."
The mountain is not very steep, but there is a lot of snow on the mountain and the road is very slippery.
"Isn't Shi Xiu back yet?" Hu Sanniang asked.
"No." Yang Xiong said.
"Order the soldiers to camp nearby." Hu Sanniang said.
At present, Liangshan soldiers camped at the foot of the mountain, waiting for Shi Xiu's information to arrive.
Tian Hu's army was extremely slow. It took 50,000 troops three days to reach the foot of Mount Li. Moreover, many people were separated along the way. Many people went to the surrounding people's homes to grab food. Now there are only 30,000 people there.
Beside him.
Tian Hu kept urging, but the soldiers refused to leave. He even chopped off more than a dozen heads, but it was of no use. Instead, it made the army even more chaotic.
"My Tian Hu's army has become like this... It's only been two years..." Tian Hu frowned secretly. If he hadn't come out this time, he wouldn't have known that his army had become like this. It was simply
It's just a mob.
He has decided that after returning this time, he must train his troops well and strive to improve the combat effectiveness of the army. In the past two years, he has been staying in the palace, not paying attention to the outside, and has forgotten about military training.
Hu Sanniang stood on the top of the mountain, looked at Tian Hu's army in the distance, frowned slightly, and said: "It seems that there is not an army of 70,000, but only 30,000 or 40,000."
Shi Xiu had already come back and said: "Captain Hu, Tian Hu's troops are in great confusion. He came back in a hurry. Many soldiers were separated along the way, so there were fewer and fewer people around him. I think after he arrived in Zezhou,
We should wait until the rest of the soldiers arrive."
Shi Xiu has received information and knows that Tian Hu is heading for Zezhou.
Hu Sanniang nodded, but there was some hesitation in her heart. She had miscalculated Tian Hu's army. She originally thought that 70,000 troops would arrive. Once the mountains were burned, Tian Hu's army would be completely finished and would no longer be able to threaten Liangshan.
But now there are only 30,000 to 40,000 troops here. Even if these people are burned, there will still be countless rebels.
"Thirty to forty thousand is thirty to forty thousand... If Tian Hu is here and burns Tian Hu to death, his army will be considered useless..." Hu Sanniang thought to herself.
If Tian Hu is burned to death, then his men will be leaderless. Even if there is still a threat to Liangshan, the threat will be minimal.
Tian Hu kept urging the soldiers to go up the mountain, but the soldiers were tired, hungry, and cold, and could no longer walk. Tian Hu was so anxious that he had no choice. He was afraid that Zezhou City had also been occupied, which would be bad.
"Brother, we still have a little bit of food and grass, which can feed ten thousand people. You take these ten thousand people to Zezhou first. I will urge the soldiers and horses behind here to let them follow. What do you think?
." Tian Bao said.
"This is the only way." Tian Hu had no choice but to agree.
Immediately, the last remaining bits of food and grass were distributed to the 10,000 elite soldiers. After the 10,000 elite soldiers were half full, Tian Hu led the 10,000 people towards Mount Li and gradually entered the depths of Mount Li.