At the beginning of May, when the war in Yexian County finally broke out, the war was in full swing in the Xuchang area.

First, there was Changsha rebel general Xiang Xuan attacked Changshe, and came to support the Henan Governor Li Mengyan fought in the wilderness, and then Jiangxia rebel general Zhou Gong broke through Yanling, and lowered the county order Cai Cheng and the county lieutenant Tian Ju, if Changshe lost, Xuchang will be completely surrounded by the rebels.

On the eighth day of the fifth month, seeing that he could not capture the Changshe guarded by Li Meng, the governor of Henan, Yan Xuan, the general of the Jiangxia rebel army, who was with Xiang Xuanhui, discussed with the latter: "Now that Li Meng is defending the Changshe, why don't you try to attack Xuchang again?" ”

Xiang Xuan had no other way for the time being, so he nodded and said, "This matter needs the help of Zhou Gong and Zhong Fei." ”

Yan Yu immediately sent people to contact Zhou Gong of Yanling and Zhong Fei of Linying, and made an appointment to attack Xuchang two days later.

Yan Xuan, Zhou Gong, and Zhong Fei were all generals of the Jiangxia Army sent by Chen Xuan to support Xiang Xuan, although they each commanded the troops, but they got along well with Xiang Xuan.

On the tenth day of the first month of May, Xiang Xuan, Yan Xuan, Zhou Gong, and Zhong Fei jointly attacked Xuchang.

Unexpectedly, Li Meng, who had been cowering in the Changshe before, suddenly sent troops at this time, wanting to sneak attack the rear of Xiang Xuan and Yan Xuan.

Although Xiang Xuan and Yan Xuan repelled Li Meng's army, the siege of Xuchang was undoubtedly sabotaged by Li Meng.

In this regard, Xiang Xuan said angrily: "It is necessary to punish Li Meng first, and then take Xuchang." ”

Yan Xuan thought so, and he also realized that Li Meng, the governor of Henan, was a brave general, and with him on his side, it was indeed difficult for them to besiege Xuchang step by step.

After some discussion, Xiang Xuan sent someone to contact Zhou Gong and Zhong Fei, and asked the second general to continue to maintain the suppression of Xuchang so that he could use troops against Changshe.

Zhou Gong and Zhong Fei agreed to this and built camps about ten miles east and south of Xuchang respectively.

During this period, Zhou Gong also sent Tian Ju, the captain of Yanling County, who had surrendered to his righteous division, to lead troops to Xuchang City to persuade him to surrender, so angry that Li Min, the county guard, did not care about etiquette and scolded Tian Ju for being shameless.

On the other hand, Xiang Xuan and Yan Xuan began to seek the Changshe.

However, the problem is that Changsha is also a county town where wars have occurred frequently since ancient times, and the ancient people built the walls of this city hundreds of years ago to be very strong, and it is definitely not a wise choice to storm it.

Seeing this, Xiang Xuan came up with a plan: "Li Meng is the governor of Henan, since he led the Henan army to come here, the garrison of Henan County will inevitably be empty, we might as well send one or two partial divisions to attack Henan, put on the illusion of wanting to attack Henan on a large scale, and force Li Meng to withdraw his troops." …… At that time, I led the army to ambush halfway, while General Yan covered the killing, and you and I worked together to defeat it in one fell swoop. ”

"Okay, that's it." Yan Yu nodded in agreement.

On the same day, Xiang Xuan summoned his brother Xiang Ji, and Yan Xuan summoned his subordinate Zhou Zhong, and ordered the two to lead more than 1,000 troops to attack Henan County.

A day later, Xiang Ji and Zhou Zhong led their troops to Xinzheng.

On Xiang Xuan's orders, the two men ordered their soldiers to trample on the farmland outside Xincheng and search the nearby countryside – once they found the village, they expelled the villagers, then harvested grain in the village, and then burned the village.

The expelled villagers had nowhere to go but to flee to Xinzheng.

Knowing that there was a rebel attack in the territory, Xin Zheng was frightened and strengthened the garrison of the city wall.

Unexpectedly, Xiang Ji and Zhou Zhong did not attack Xinzheng, they continued to the north and went straight to Zhengcheng, that is, the county seat of Henan County.

Along the way, the armies of Xiang Ji and Zhou Zhong destroyed the countryside, destroyed farmland, and drove villagers from place to place to flee to the county seat, thereby increasing the pressure on the counties of Henan County.

At the same time, they spread rumors to those villagers, claiming that they were the pioneers of the 'attack on Henan County', and spread this rumor through the mouths of these villagers.

As Xiang Xuan expected, after learning the news that 'the rebels will attack Henan County on a large scale', everyone in Henan counties was in danger, and Zhang Jian, the county guard, was even more frightened, and hurriedly sent people to Changshe to confirm the incident.

On 14 May, the envoy of Zhang Jian, the guard of Henan County, rushed to Changshe day and night to report the incident to Li Meng, the governor of Henan.

Li Meng was very suspicious and said: "I am guarding here, containing Xiang Xuan and Yan Xuan, how dare they attack Henan, aren't they afraid that I will cut off their grain routes?" ”

The envoy hurriedly said: "However, Xinzheng and other counties have reported to the county that there are indeed rebels in the territory, and many villages and farmlands have been destroyed one after another. ”

Li Meng frowned and thought for a moment, and then suddenly realized: "I understand, this is a trick to force me to withdraw my troops and return to Henan." …… You go back and tell Zhang Junshou, with me sitting here, the rebels will never dare to cross the Changshe to attack Henan, and the rebels in Henan at the moment are just a small force used by Xiang Xuan to attack the riots, intending to trick Zhang Junshou into ordering me to withdraw to the county. Ask him to send an army to expel him on his own...... You tell Zhang Junshou again that now our garrison is in Changshe, and the rebels cannot wantonly attack Xuchang; But if I withdraw our troops, the rebels will break Xuchang. Once Xuchang falls, Yingchuan County will fall into the hands of the rebels, and only then will the rebels really attack our Henan County. ”

The envoy did not dare to delay, and immediately returned to Zhengcheng and informed the county guard Zhang Jian of the judgment of the commander Li Meng.

Knowing that Li Meng was safe and sound and that the garrison was in Changshe, Zhang Jian was relieved, and immediately summoned officials to organize the army to encircle and suppress the two forces of Xiang Ji and Zhou Zhong who had fled to his Henan County.

However, the encirclement and suppression went very badly, and the team sent out, instead of expelling Xiang Ji and Zhou Zhong, was defeated by them.

This time, Xiang Ji and Zhou Zhong saw through the weakness of Henan County, and led the army to intersperse more and more frequently, and acted more and more unscrupulously.

From mid-May to late May, Xiang Ji and Zhou Zhonger will destroy countless villages and farmland in Henan County.

Henan County was originally a grain-rich county, but the fields in the territory were so badly damaged that Zhang Jian, the county guard, could not imagine how much grain production would be lost this year.

What's more, the squires of various counties gathered in Zhengcheng, begging the county to expel the two rebels as soon as possible, and at the same time jointly exerting pressure on the county, which made Zhang Jian can't help but waver.

As of 23 May, more than 30,000 refugees had fled to various counties, and more than 10,000 refugees had fled outside Zhengcheng. The only Chinese network

Worse still, this is far from the upper limit – if the rebels are allowed to raid the villages in the country, it won't be long before he faces hundreds of thousands of refugees in Henan County.

Under all kinds of pressure, Zhang Jian had no choice but to send someone to urge Li Meng again, demanding that Li Meng immediately withdraw his troops and return to help.

When the envoy saw Li Meng again and said the order of the county guard Zhang Jian, Li Meng said angrily: "If Yingchuan County is captured by the rebels, the rebels will inevitably increase their strength, why don't the county guards understand?" ”

The envoy persuaded: "The county guard knows the stakes, but if this continues, my Henan will have no harvest this year, and there is no need for rebels to attack Henan, and the people of Henan will starve to death." ”

Li Meng was speechless and angry.

The huge county of Henan was helpless because of the harassment of thousands of rebels.

In addition to being indignant, Li Meng invited Xu Gui, the county commander of Changshe, and Wu Bi, the county governor, to inform the two of them of the reason.

Xu Gui and Wu Bi were shocked and pleaded: "Du Wei can't leave lightly." …… If the governor withdraws to Henan, our Changshe will be lost. ”

Li Meng said helplessly: "If it weren't for Li Meng's abandonment of the two and his abandonment of Yingchuan, there was really no one in Henan who could stop the rebels." ”

Xu Gui and Wu Bi repeatedly persuaded them, but Li Meng did not agree after all.

During this period, he persuaded the two of them: "Since the Changshe can no longer be defended, it is better to lead the county soldiers to Xuchang as soon as possible." …… Xiang Xuan used tricks to force me to withdraw my troops, and he would inevitably ambush me halfway, and he would definitely not take care of the Changshe at that time. ”

“……”

Xu Gui and Wu Bi looked at each other.

On the same day, Li Meng wrote a letter and sent it to Xuchang to explain the situation to Li Min, the warden of Yingchuan County.

After nightfall that night, an envoy sent by Li Meng arrived in Xuchang.

When the soldiers guarding the city heard that it was the envoy of Li Meng, the governor of Henan, they naturally did not dare to delay, and immediately put the envoy into the city and brought the envoy to the county guard's mansion.

At this time, Li Min, the county guard of Yingchuan, was busy reading a book in the mansion, and when he heard the messenger sent by Li Meng, he sighed in his heart.

After all, he understood that Li Meng specially sent someone over in the current situation, and it was bad news nine times out of ten.

With apprehension, Li Min summoned the messenger and took the letter from the latter's hand to look at it carefully.

After seeing the contents of the letter, his expression changed greatly, and despite the fact that it was getting late, he immediately sent someone to invite the county to write it.

After a while, when Song Shu came to the study, Li Min said to him with a little uneasiness: "I just received a letter from Li Meng, in which he said that the rebels invaded Henan, destroying countless fields and villages, and Henan could not defend itself, and the county guard Zhang Jian ordered him to withdraw his troops immediately to return to the ......."

Before Li Min finished speaking, the face of the county Cheng Song Shu was full of horror, and he hurriedly said: "The county can't be guarded, don't ask Li Meng to withdraw his troops!" If he withdraws his troops, the Changshe will not be able to protect ......."

Hearing this, Li Min became more and more depressed in his heart, and said depressedly: "He is the governor of Henan, this time he helped me Yingchuan, how can I forcibly leave him?" ”

He knew very well that if Li Meng had already made up his mind, no matter what he did, it would be useless, after all, he was the county guard of Yingchuan, and he couldn't control Li Meng, who was the governor of Henan.

“…… How good is that? "The county is also anxious, and the place is in chaos.

Apart from Henan, where do they have reinforcements?

…… No, there is also a support army.

Li Junshou, who had calmed down, immediately thought of his 'foreign army' in Yingchuan County, and hurriedly asked Song Shu in a deep voice: "Xiuwen, where did Zhou Hu's army go?" ”

After Li Junshou's reminder, Song Shu was also bright-eyed.

But immediately, he frowned again and said hesitantly: "According to the battle report sent by Kunyang, Zhou Hu's army is still blocked in Yingyang and cannot ......advance an inch."

"I heard that he hasn't taken Yingyang yet?" A little unsettling color flashed on Li Junshou's face.

After all, at the end of March, the three counties of Kunyang, Xiangcheng, and Runan organized 5,000 'coalition troops' to attack Yingyang.

Seeing that Li Junshou's face was unswerving, Juncheng Song Shu arched his hand and said, "Yes." …… My lord, Zhou Hu was ambitious that day, I'm afraid he didn't fail to conquer Yingyang, but he didn't want to do it. ”

“……”

Li Junshou pondered for a long time, and said in a deep voice: "Tell Xun Yi to go and talk about the benefits and disadvantages again." ”

Seeing this, Song Shu persuaded again: "Xun Yi is friendly with Zhou Hu, and opposes the persecution of Kunyang, I am afraid that I am unwilling to tear his face with Zhou Hu and force him to send troops, it is better to send Changshi Xu Lang to ...... with him."

"Hmm."

Li Junshou nodded slightly.

Without further ado, Li Min immediately sent someone to recruit Xun Yi, the governor of the western region, and Chen Lang, the chief of the history, and ordered the two to go out of the city overnight and go to Kunyang.