The mountains in southern Shandong are vast and deep, with majestic peaks standing tall. They connect Yanji to the west, Xuhuai to the south, the sea to the east and Taidai to the north.
The Cangshan and Aishan areas south of Yizhou and north of Pizhou are the southern edge of the Lunanni Mountains. The undulating mountains and scattered cliffs coming from the north are scattered here and become sporadic small peaks. Between the peaks
The plains are lush and green, and there are Yishui River and Shushui River that meander and flow, intersecting with the mountains.
In the early years, the Southern Dynasty general Du Chong opened the Yellow River embankment to stop the Jin army. The Yellow River swallowed Bian, captured Si, and entered Huai. The water potential of the Yishui River was strengthened and became an important channel for water transportation between the north and the south. As a result, the two states of Pi and Yi were prosperous.
Qi Emperor Liu Yu, his son Liu Lin, and nephew Liu Yi frequently stayed here.
However, this area has declined for a long time, and now it is just the boundary between the Ding Haijun and the remnants of the Red Coat Army.
Going further north into the hinterland of Xiong'er Mountain, you can see the stockade built by the remaining members of the Red Coat Army no more than fifteen miles away. Liu Erzu, who actually controlled the Red Coat Army, had his base in Damugu deep in the Nishan Mountains.
Passing through the plain area between Nishan Mountain and Mengshan Mountain, you can quickly reach Yanzhou and Dongpingfu, the important towns on the East and West Road of Shandong. Therefore, the road Guo Ning rode on became wider in the direction of the town, and continued to branch out into mountain roads.
, directly into the hinterland of the mountains.
In the past few years, the Red Coat Army and the Jin Army fought fiercely between each other. Most of the mountain roads were dug out or blocked with huge rocks and trees. As Guo Ning and others traveled along the way, there were still traces of horse traps on some forked roads.
There are ruins of villages on both sides of the mountain road, but the earliest ruins should be from twenty or thirty years ago. Almost all the villagers have gone deep into the mountains.
Since the founding of the Jin Dynasty, rebels fighting against the imperial court have emerged one after another in Shandong.
During the Zhenglong period, Geng Jing, Zhang Anguo, Xin Qiji and others took Yanzhou, Tai'an, and Dongping as their bases, with hundreds of thousands of people. During the Cheng'an period, the imperial envoy Wanyan Zonghao was in charge of the area. In just one year, they established the bases in Shandong and Hebei.
More than 300,000 hectares of fertile farmland cultivated by the common people for decades were all taken away by the Jurchen nobles. Countless people lost their families and fled to the mountains, which once again expanded the power of the rebels.
When the power of these rebels was at its peak, Yang An'er gathered hundreds of thousands of people and swept across most of Shandong, invaded Henan, and founded his country and proclaimed himself emperor.
But Yang An'er died in a battle with the Nanjing Road Jin Army. After the remaining Red Coat Army returned to Shandong, they were suddenly raided by the Ding Navy. In the end, only the mountainous areas of Tai'an, Yanzhou, and Tengzhou and half of the mountain below were left in their territory.
Dongping Prefecture, half of Pizhou.
Among the remaining main leaders of the Red Coat Army regime, Li Quan was defeated and died, Yang Miaozhen led his troops to retreat into the Song Dynasty, and Liu Erzu took Peng Yibin, Hao Ding, Shi Qing and others back to the mountains, still relying on the mountain stronghold to protect themselves.
These mountain strongholds were slowly built by bandits or deserters over the years. The rebels fought countless battles with the Jin Army relying on the mountain strongholds. Most of the ones that were not so reliable were captured. They were treated like the Jin Army.
With the brutal tactics used by the rebels, the residents in the village would be massacred almost immediately.
Therefore, the cottages that have survived to this day all rely on huge gorges and are very dangerous and strong.
For example, the road leading to Xiong'er Mountain Village passes through a three-mile-long rift valley with extremely twists and turns. Peng Yibin stood on the top of Xiong'er Mountain and looked down. He saw rock cliffs connected to the rift valley, which were hundreds of feet steep.
It's so dark that you can't see the bottom, and the cliffs are so jagged with strange rocks that not even the mountain apes can climb up.
The last time Peng Yibin saw Guo Ning, it was at the foot of Moqi Mountain in Juzhou. The terrain of Moqi Mountain is far less steep than Xiong'er Mountain, so everyone at that time watched with dumbfounded eyes as Guo Ning came and went freely, unable to stop him.
Peng Yibin couldn't help but think that if Guo Ning came to visit again, it would be up to him. If he could push a big stone into the rift valley at the right time, he might be able to eliminate this scourge? Guo Ning has now become the master of the central capital.
A powerful minister, he is still so courageous and so frivolous in his actions. If he is stoned to death, will it cause warning to those who come after him?
Thinking of this, Peng Yibin walked a few steps to the edge of the cliff and looked around.
The strong wind in the canyon immediately became much stronger. Before it could pick up the sound of the cavalry's hooves running deep in the canyon, it first brought the noisy voices from the other side of the canyon.
Opposite the canyon is Split Mountain, which is adjacent to Xiong'er Mountain. The terrain of Split Mountain is more complex than that of Xiong'er Mountain, and there are many caves and strange rocks. At this time, many figures appeared among the caves and strange rocks, as if the vegetation were all under control.
However, these people were not preparing for war. Some of them were clearing obstacles along the mountain road, some were waving flags to signal to the group of people at the bottom of the mountain, and some were shouting and cheering. Peng Yibin did not hear clearly what they were enjoying, he
Their moods were both high and low, very complicated, so they were not in the mood to differentiate between their cheering words.
Those people are Ding Haijun.
Three months ago, Ding Haijun mobilized a considerable force to go south to intimidate the Song Dynasty and Huaidong. The troops made a fuss in Chuzhou, Baoying and other places, and then turned back, but not all returned to the starting station.
A considerable number of these troops, covered by the mobilization of friendly forces, entered the mountainous areas controlled by the Red Coat Army and stationed themselves there.
Peng Yibin was Liu Erzu's right-hand man. Of course he knew that the remnants of the Red Coat Army had begun discussing cooperation with Ding Haijun two years ago and had reached a tacit understanding in private. Later, the two parties acted as if they were in harmony with each other, which was just an act.
Even Ding Haijun's commander-in-chief in Shandong, Monk Luo, visited several times and it was just an act.
The situation in the world has changed so quickly. The originally ferocious and powerful Jin Kingdom has now fallen into the hands of Han'er. On the border of Shandong, the remnants of the Red Coat Army who have been fighting the Jurchens for decades can no longer find their enemies. They
Just relying on long-term habits, he continued to guard his own mountain stronghold and rejected all forces under the mountain.
But as the leader of all the cottages, Liu Erzu needed to find a way for everyone to continue, so the two parties had a secret cooperation.
Peng Yibin understood these principles, but every time he saw these Dinghai navy officers, he still felt uncomfortable.
He always remembered that it was these people who suddenly sent troops, seized the vast territory of the Red Coat Army, and killed many of his comrades. So he shook his head and snorted: "These generals in the navy are very good at flattering.
To create such a big battle."
Beside him, Hao Ding said with some sigh: "I'm not flattering you. This Guo Ning arrived in Juzhou first, then went south to Qushan in Haizhou, from Qushan to the west, crossed Shu River, Yishui River, all the way here, I
I followed Lao Peng from a distance throughout the whole process. Every time he went to a place where soldiers and horses were stationed, it would always be like this when the soldiers knew that Duke Zhou was coming."
Peng Yibin was surprised: "Why is this so? Is this Guo Ning a chicken with golden eggs?"
Hao Ding chuckled: "If you were a soldier of the Ding Navy, you would see that Guo Ning was invincible, that he had arranged land for countless soldiers, that the world under his rule was becoming more and more stable, and that there were even new ones replacing the Jurchens.
The attitude of the new dynasty...are you convinced by him? If you were about to have a big responsibility and suddenly saw him coming to encourage you, would you be happy?"
Peng Yibin was stunned and shook his head.
After a while, he said dullly: "Speaking of heavy responsibilities, isn't it on our shoulders? In the final analysis, we have to use our own lives as a pledge of surrender!"
Hao Ding knew that Peng Yibin often compared the management of Ding Haijun with his own. The more he compared, the more unsatisfactory he found, so he had been a little too depressed recently.
He leaned over and looked into the canyon, and found that Liu Erzu and others had already gone down the winding mountain road to greet him, so he whispered to Peng Yibin: "Ding Haijun has mobilized thousands of people to come to the mountain, isn't it just to eliminate your doubts? We are really going to fight.
When everyone is watching, can you really let your brother die?"
He patted Peng Yibin on the shoulder: "Okay, okay, don't complain. Come to my village in the evening. I got a big piece of good beef and wine in the past two days. Let's have a good drink. What should we do next?"
, just do whatever you want!”
Peng Yibin was a little resentful: "Which group of people secretly killed the cow again? Ah? They say that the people are safe and sound under Guo Ning's rule. Why can't we live up to expectations? Why can't we manage the local government in a decent way?"
This topic is quite complicated. Hao Ding pulled Peng Yibin away and said repeatedly: "Go down the mountain first, don't complain!"
