“……”

Tong Yan, who was holding the tree and gasping, subconsciously raised his head, but saw the scene of his guards falling to the ground one after another.

Among them, one of the guards was lucky not to be fatally injured, he looked at the black tiger who attacked him with a shocked gaze, and exclaimed with a great change in expression: "You, what are you doing?" ”

As soon as he finished speaking, he was cut to the ground by several black tigers, one of whom cleanly wiped his neck.

“……”

Tong Yan's mouth slowly opened wide, and he couldn't believe what he was seeing.

Why? Why do these Zhou Hu's subordinates want to ......

Zhou Hu?!

Only then did he react, and suddenly turned his head to look at the masked man, but saw him standing not far away with his hands behind his back, ignoring the scene in front of him.

"Virtuous, virtuous brother......"

Glancing at the twenty or so black tigers around him who had faintly surrounded him, Tong Yan endured the shock in his heart, and said with an almost flattering smile: "Don't make such jokes......

However, Zhao Yu didn't have the heart to talk nonsense with him, and sneered: "Brother Xian? Do you know who I am? ”

The cold tone showed that he had torn through his previous disguise at this moment, and finally revealed his original face in front of this enemy.

He raised his hand and pointed at Tong Yan and shouted in a low voice, "Catch him." ”

Hearing this, Tong Yan's expression changed suddenly, and he subconsciously wanted to draw his sword.

But just then, he saw a hand reach out from the side, grabbed him by the throat, and slammed him against a nearby tree.

"Click, click......"

Being pinched by his neck and hanging in the air, Tong Yan's face turned red, but the hand that grabbed his neck was like an iron hoop, and he didn't move.

With the help of the faint moonlight, Tong Yan immediately recognized the owner of this hand, which was the chief of the guard beside Zhou Hu, a reckless man named Niu Heng.

He is no stranger to this reckless man, according to his impression on weekdays, he is honest and honest, but that week is the first to look forward, but at this moment, Tong Yan saw a strong killing intent from the other party's expression.

He was not mistaken, the reason why Niu Heng was full of murderous intent towards Tong Yan was because He Shun finally told him about Tong Yan and Zhao Yu.

Although Niu Heng ate and drank in Tong Yan's mansion during this time, when he learned that Tong Yan was one of the murderers who killed his brother Zhao Yu's family, he did not hesitate to be ruthless to Tong Yan and arrested him in one fell swoop.

"Boss, don't miss and die."

He Shun had no doubt that Niu Heng would be able to subdue Tong Yan, what he was worried about was that Niu Heng would kill this Tong Yan by mistake, after all, this Tong Yan still had many secrets that their big leader wanted to know, and he couldn't die now.

Hearing He Shun's words, the killing intent in Niu Heng's eyes gradually retreated, and he withdrew his hand and let Tong Yan, who was almost suffocated, fall to the ground and be taken down by the black tigers who had already prepared from the side.

By the time Tong Yan gradually sobered up, he had been tightly tied by a group of black tigers with ropes, and his mouth was also stuffed with a ball of cloth by a black tiger thief, and he could only whine.

Seeing this, Zhao Yu breathed a sigh of relief.

He spent so much effort, even at the risk of secretly helping the rebels, just to capture this Tong Yan without leaving a trace, and now, he finally got what he wanted.

"Great Chief, what next?" He Shun asked Zhao Yu for instructions.

Zhao Yu looked at Tong Yan when he heard this.

Although he couldn't wait to extract the truth from Tong Yan's mouth, reason told him that he didn't have much time left at this moment, firstly, this Tong Yan might not be willing to tell those secrets honestly, and secondly, in order to take advantage of the chaos to help this Tong Yan, he finally suffered a defeat, so he must clean up the mess as soon as possible, so as not to be suspected by Xue Ao.

After all, this is related to thousands of people in his 'Zhou Hu Force'.

Thinking of this, he pressed the urgency in his heart and said in a deep voice: "First bring this secret back to Kunyang, you personally bring people there, and wait for me to deal with the affairs here, return to Kunyang, and then deal with it." …… Remember, don't let anyone know, not even a cottage brother. ”

He Shun nodded and said, "Then I'll leave Gong Jiao." ”

The Gong Jiao in his mouth, that is, the black tiger who had told Xue Ao about the wolf in the name of Zhao Yu a while ago, belonged to Niu Heng and He Shun, and was the closest black tiger group around Zhao Yu.

Zhao Yu nodded: "Hmm." ”

After getting Zhao Yu's approval, He Shun immediately took the about twenty Black Tigers and escorted Tong Yan to leave quickly, leaving only Zhao Yu, Niu Heng, Gong Jiao and the other two Black Tigers.

Looking at the back of He Shun and the others leaving quickly, Zhao Yu's mood was also a little troubled, for fear that something would happen to He Shun and the others.

Just when he was worried, Niu Heng stretched out his hand and grabbed his Zhao Yu, and said with relief: "Ah Hu, don't worry, He Shun is still very careful in doing things, and it will definitely not be bad." ”

Zhao Yu nodded, and immediately instructed Gong Jiao: "Gong Jiao, deal with the corpses, don't let people recognize that these guards are handed down from behind, and then throw the corpses away...... No, they were buried after disposing of the bodies. ”

"Yes!" Gong Jiao hugged his fists, but then said hesitantly: "The big leader is here......"

Before the words fell, I heard Niu Heng urging: "I'm here, what are you worried about, go quickly!" ”

Gong Jiao was also an old brother who had followed Niu Heng for many years, so he naturally didn't dare to disobey, so he immediately took the two black tigers to dispose of the corpses.

The so-called disposal of corpses, in fact, is to cut these corpses beyond recognition, completely unable to identify faces and wounds, because it is too bloody, Zhao Yu simply took Niu Heng out of this woods.

He stood outside the woods, looking south.

Although Tong Yan was caught, there were many things he was worried about or hidden dangers left behind.

First of all, he was worried about the casualties of the Yingchuan army under his command, after all, this defeat was deliberately done by him, it can be said that his soldiers were sold by him in a daze, if the casualties were too heavy, Zhao Yu would naturally have some bad feelings in his heart.

After seeing the tragic situation of the Henan Army that time, he decided not to do this kind of thing as much as possible in the future.

About half an hour later, Hao Shun, the wolf governor, took the lead in leading people to find Zhao Yu and Niu Heng.

"Great Chief, you're fine......"

When he saw that Zhao Yu was safe and sound, Hao Shun and his brigade wolves were overjoyed.

Don't look at Hao Shun once complained to Zhao Yu, but he is also a vested interest in Zhao Yu after he took the throne, he has gone from being an ordinary villager to now being the governor of the wolf, the most important thing is to marry the daughter of a small family, these are all things that Hao Shun once dared not think of.

Because of this, Hao Shun is now a staunch supporter and supporter of Zhao Yu, just like the vast majority of other Black Tiger people.

"It's Hao Shunna."

Zhao Yu patted Hao Shun's arm with a smile, and then said, "What is the situation now?" ”

Hearing Zhao Yuke's incident, Hao Shun immediately restrained the smile on his face, and said, "I'm not too optimistic, our people ...... I mean our brothers in the Yingchuan army, they were repelled by the rebels, Wang Ping and Lexing went to contact Wang Qingyou, and Xu Bai and I came to find you, the big leader, and we lost contact with each other......"

Speaking of this, he looked left and right with a puzzled expression, but said, "Big Chief, is it just you and Boss Niu?" What about He Shun? ”

"He Shun ......"

Zhao Yu casually withdrew a lie: "The situation is chaotic, and there are rebels chasing us, He Shun and I are separated, and there are only a few Gong Jiao and them around me......"

Hao Shun naturally did not suspect Zhao Yu, and immediately said that he was temporarily responsible for Zhao Yu's safety, and Zhao Yu did not refuse.

Not long after, the brigade wolves led by Xu Bai, as well as hundreds of black tigers led by Liu Tu, all gathered on Zhao Yu's side one after another.

These people don't care about Tong Yan's life or death, and naturally they don't think about Tong Yan.

Similar to Hao Shun, Xu Bai was also relieved when he saw that Zhao Yu was safe and sound.

Looking at Xu Bai's sincere happiness, Zhao Yu smiled and quipped: "Xu Bai, I didn't expect you to care so much about Zhou, I thought you actually wanted something to happen to me." ”

"What does the big chief say?" Xu Bai Zhengse said: "I am willing to serve the big leader because the big leader is worthy of our follow...... As for hoping that something will happen to the big chief, it is absolutely not. Only the presence of the big leader can restrain some of the restless brothers in the cottage......"

"Xu Bai, what do you mean by that?"

Hao Shun, who was not far away, felt that Xu Bai's words were extremely harsh.

"It's not interesting." Xu Bai said lightly.

Unlike Hao Shun, Xu Bai is not a die-hard member of the 'Zhou Zhai Lord', he is just willing to serve Zhao Yu.

Moreover, Xu Bai also knew very well that only Zhao Yu was alive, and the Black Tiger Group was a 'harmless bandit', and once this 'Zhou Zhai Master' made any mistakes, the Black Tiger Village would immediately fall apart, and there might even be a group of people who would become a scourge.

For example, Hao Shun, he is an egoist, he doesn't care about the life or death of ordinary people at all, if it weren't for Zhao Yu's restraint and control, these people would not be able to cause harm to ordinary people.

In short, Xu Bai and Hao Shun don't want Zhao Yu to have an accident, but their interests are completely different.

And they also represent two very different factions in the 'Zhou Hu Force'.

"Alright, alright."

Zhao Yu didn't expect that his joke would cause a disagreement between Xu Bai and Hao Shun, so he immediately stopped the two.

He Xu Bai said: "Is there any news from Wang Qing's side?" ”

Xu Bai immediately replied: "When I came, the commander of Wang You, together with Qin Yu and Jia Shu, had led my Yingchuan army to successfully retreat from the rebel ambush...... The rebels seem to be more inclined to annihilate the Liangcheng army and let us go, and they did not pursue ......"

"Not in pursuit?"

Zhao Yuhu repeated it suspiciously, and after receiving an affirmative answer, he couldn't help but feel a little strange in his heart.

Obviously, this is the rebels' mercy on his Yingchuan army.

But why?

In his opinion, his friendship with Chen Miao is far from the point where Chen Miao is willing to let him go of the Yingchuan Army, not to mention Cheng Zhou, Zhao Yu has never seen it, why should the rebels show mercy to his Yingchuan Army.

Thinking about it, Zhao Yu only thought of one person, that is, his brother, Zhao Yin.

"It seems that that kid is by Chen Miao's side at the moment...... Count this kid on a conscience. Having said that, Zhao Yin was by Chen Miao's side, which showed that Jiangdong Yishi's retreat to the east was mostly a cover...... Ah, I'm afraid I'm going to pounce on him."

In an instant, all kinds of thoughts turned in Zhao Yu's heart.

However, at present, he didn't have time to think about Li Meng's affairs, and after a little contemplation, he ordered: "Xu Bai, immediately get in touch with Wang Qing and them, order Wang Qing to retreat ten miles, reorganize the formation, and tell him not to act rashly before I go to join him!" ”

"Yes!" Xu Bai clenched his fists and left.

About half an hour later, Xu Bai and others sent by Zhao Yu finally got in touch with the Yingchuan army led by Wang Qing.

According to Zhao Yu's order, Wang Qing led his army to retreat for nearly ten miles, and then ordered his soldiers to light a fire and camp on the spot.

Around midnight and midnight, under the guidance of the wolves, Zhao Yu took hundreds of people, including Niu Heng, Gong Jiao, Liu Tu, and Hao Shun, to join the Yingchuan army led by Wang Qing.

Knowing that Zhao Yu was coming, Wang Qing took Qin Yu, Jia Shu, and Le Gui out of the camp to greet him.

I don't know if it's out of the crisis, Wang Qing once again opened his mouth, and he said to Zhao Yu with a smile: "I thought that I finally had a chance to sit on the seat of the big leader......

Of course, Zhao Yu knew that this was a joke, and he didn't get angry when he heard the words, but just smiled and said: "Your popularity is so bad, you can compete with Chen Mo?" ”

"Uh, ......," Wang Qing was speechless.

Indeed, with his character, his reputation and popularity in the cottage are indeed very average, and he can't compete with Chen Mo, who is more affinity, and I'm afraid that even Chu Yan can't compete.

"Alright, tell me about the current situation."

"Okay......"

Shrugging his shoulders, Wang Qing Zhengse told Zhao Yu about the current situation, which was similar to what Xu Bai had described before, successfully ambushed their rebels, intentionally or unintentionally let go of his Yingchuan army, and captured the more than 10,000 Liangcheng troops, and when Wang Qing led the army to retreat, the Liangcheng army was still surrounded by rebel regiments.

Of course, Wang Qing is not the kind of chivalrous man who sacrifices himself for others, in line with the idea that the dead Taoist friends will not die and the poor will not die, he immediately fled with the Yingchuan army, regardless of the life and death of Liang Chengjun, because this guy had previously called Wang Xun and Zhang Qi brothers.

"What about the losses of our army?"

After listening to Wang Qing's story, Zhao Yu frowned.

"Not much." Wang Qing shook his head and said: "Although there is no specific statistics, as far as I can see, the loss of our army is probably less than five hundred, and it may be even less......"

"That's good, that's good......" Zhao Yu nodded again and again, muttering to himself in his heart.

It is undeniable that the small loss made him really relieved, but at the same time, he also knew that this was a great flaw.

was also ambushed, why did the Liangcheng army suffer heavy losses, even the life and death of the commander Tong Yan were unknown, but the losses of his Yingchuan army were minimal? There is no way to explain this matter to Xue Ao.

If Zhao Yu has a clear heart, there is no need to worry about this matter, but the key is that he is indeed weak-hearted.

"Although Zhao Yin's kid has good intentions, it's so obvious...... I'm afraid it's not good to explain to Xue Ao. What can I do?'

Zhao Yu thought to himself.

Just as he was thinking, Wang Qing looked left and right, puzzled: "By the way, why don't you see He Shun?" and Tong Yan...... Didn't that Captain Tong retreat with you? ”

"On the way, we were separated because of the pursuit of the rebels." Zhao Yu said succinctly and perfunctorily.

Wang Qing was stunned, and said suspiciously: "Is that Tong Duwei?" Or is it He Shun? ”

"They're all separated." Zhao Yu said in a regretful tone.

A hint of surprise flashed in Wang Qing's eyes.

Zhao Yu and Tong Yan were separated, Wang Qing believed in this, after all, just like he left Liang Chengjun, when the danger came, Zhao Yu really didn't have to take Tong Yan to escape with him, but even He Shun was separated, this is a bit of a problem, who doesn't know that He Shun will not leave Zhao Yu for a moment?

“…… Did you send someone to find it? Wang Qing said quietly.

"I've sent Liu Tu to find it." Zhao Yu said casually: "I believe He Shun will be fine." ”

He knew that Wang Qing was a little suspicious, but there was no way, Zhao Yu could only rest assured that he would only hand it over to He Shun when he handed it over to Gong Jiao and others, and he was afraid that something would happen halfway through.

"That's good......"

Wang Qing looked at Zhao Yu meaningfully and nodded.

He knew that there must be something inside this, just like when his Jin army camp was attacked that day, the big leader in front of him deliberately supported Legui.

But Wang Qing wisely chose to turn a blind eye.

What does Tong Yan's life or death have to do with him? Even if the big leader in front of him captures that Tong Yan, it has nothing to do with him.

After all, he still admired the young leader in front of him so far.

So, he quietly diverted the topic: "Liang Chengjun's side...... What to do? ”

"Send the wolf to investigate, see if Wang Xun and Zhang Qi are still insisting, if so, wait for tomorrow to dawn, let's find a way to help them; If they are routed by the rebels, they will regroup here tomorrow......"

"Okay."

Wang Qing nodded, and Qin Yu and Jia Shu from the side also clenched their fists to receive their orders.

Looking at the backs of the three of them leaving, Zhao Yu breathed a sigh of relief.

Of course, he knew that Wang Qing was already suspicious, but he knew that Wang Qing would not betray him, after all, this guy was still very righteous to his brother, and besides, Zhao Yu had never treated him badly so far.

The key is how to explain to Xue Ao.

That night, the Liangcheng army, which had been scattered one after another, found the Yingchuan army and sought protection from friendly forces, and Zhao Yu ordered Jia Shu to temporarily lead them.

Around two o'clock in the morning, when Zhao Yu, Niu Heng, and Gong Jiao were sitting around a bonfire to roast the fire, the wolf governor Wang Ping hurriedly came.

"Captain."

"Well, sit down." Zhao Yu nodded, motioned for Wang Ping to sit down by the bonfire, and then Wang Ping said, "How is the situation of Liang Chengjun?" ”

"Not optimistic." Wang Ping said solemnly: "The Liangcheng army was almost defeated by the rebels, Wang Xun and Zhang Qi led the army to break through several times, but they were all blocked back by the rebels, and the rebels have sealed the two ends of the valley, just waiting for tomorrow after dawn to defeat Wang Xun and Zhang Qi in one fell swoop, if our army does not support, Wang Xun and Zhang Qi are afraid that they will die......

"Hmm."

Zhao Yu nodded thoughtfully, and immediately sent someone to invite Wang Qing, Qin Yu, Jia Shu, Le Gui and others, and asked Wang Ping to tell the current situation of the Liang Cheng army again.

"You're going to save them?"

Wang Qing heard a little meaning, and said to Zhao Yu: "The rebels over there are several times as many as us......

"Then you can't help it, otherwise it will be difficult to explain in the future." Zhao Yu said wistfully.

Jia Shu said hesitantly: "Is it because the Liangcheng army has suffered heavy losses, and the losses of our army are minimal, and the captain feels bad to explain to that General Xue?" …… Du Wei is afraid that General Xue will misunderstand? ”

As soon as Zhao Yu nodded, he heard Qin Yu say expressionlessly: "What's so bad about this?" We have a clear conscience. ”

This made Zhao Yu's heart empty.

Coughing, he said with a straight face: "After all, it's a friendly army, and we still have to save it...... As for the huge disparity in troops, in this way, the brigade wolf was called to go to Kaifeng County overnight, and Zhang Ji and Cao Wu were asked to lead the army to support. Zhang Ji and Cao Wu still had 7,000 men under their hands, and there were 5,000 Taiyuan cavalry over there, as long as this support army arrived, the rebels would never dare to act rashly. ”

"That's all there is to it." Jia Shu nodded slightly.

So, Zhao Yu sent people to Kaifeng County overnight to ask for help.

The next day, under the order of Zhao Yu, Wang Qing, Qin Yu, and Jia Shu led the Yingchuan army to advance to the Tangu again.

At this time, in that valley, the rebels also began to attack the remnants of the Liangcheng army led by Wang Xun and Zhang Qi, trying to annihilate it in one fell swoop.

Just as the two sides were fighting, several rebel scouts hurriedly came to Chen Miao, Cheng Zhou, Zhao Yin and others, and reported to Chen Miao's movements of the Yingchuan army.

"Report! The Yingchuan army has regrouped and is rapidly coming towards this place. ”

Hearing this announcement, Cheng Zhou sneered unhappily: "This Zhou Hu doesn't know each other, yesterday I waited for him to let him go, and he actually dared to come and be the enemy of my righteous teacher...... With the little strength he had, what did he think he could do? ”

On the side, Zhao Yin pondered: "Cheng Shuai, don't underestimate the enemy. …… Cheng Shuai, don't forget, this place is not far from Feng, and Kaifeng County still has 7,000 Yingchuan troops and 5,000 Taiyuan cavalry...... Anyway, the Liangcheng army is about to collapse, so there is no need for us to entangle with that Zhou Hu anymore, and it is the best policy to withdraw to Chen County as soon as possible and prepare for the Jin army's counterattack. ”

Hearing this, Chen Miao and Cheng Zhou both felt a pang in their hearts.

Chen Miao immediately nodded and said, "Childe is right. ”

After saying that, he immediately issued an order, ordering the whole army to stop attacking the Liangcheng army and retreat to Xianping County at full speed.

The rebels' large-scale retreat made Wang Xun and Zhang Qier, who had already fallen into despair, finally see the hope of life.

Wang Xun said happily to Zhang Qi: "It must be the Yingchuan army that is coming to help!" ”

Sure enough, only half an hour later, Zhao Yu, Wang Qing and others led nearly 6,000 Yingchuan troops to support.

Perhaps it was a coincidence that more than 1,000 Taiyuan cavalry arrived at the same time, probably at full speed.

Seeing these Taiyuan cavalry, Wang Xun and Zhang Qi suddenly realized: no wonder the rebels retreated, it turned out that Tong Duwei and Zhou Duwei invited friendly troops from Kaifeng County.

Suddenly, they personally came forward to greet Zhao Yu.

When he saw Zhao Yu, Wang Xun said gratefully: "Thank you Zhou Duwei for coming to help, if it weren't for Zhou Duwei, I'm afraid I would only ......die today."

Looking at Wang Xun and Zhang Qiman's bloodstains, Zhao Yu was really a little weak in his heart.

After all, he has at least half of the unshirkable responsibility of the Liangcheng soldiers everywhere in this Tanggu - as for the other half, it is naturally caused by Wang Xun and Zhang Qi's greed.

He comforted the second general and said, "You two can rest assured, I have contacted the army in Kaifeng, and they will come to join us soon......

Wang Xun and Zhang Qi nodded with relief.

Suddenly, Wang Xun seemed to think of something, looked left and right, and said in astonishment: "Zhou Duwei, I don't know where my Duwei is?" ”

"Huh?" Zhao Yu pretended to be surprised and said, "The two of you don't know? I was separated from Captain Tong last night due to a surprise attack by the rebels, and then I sent someone to search for him privately but found nothing, I thought Captain Tong was here...... Isn't it? ”

"Uh......"

Wang Xun and Zhang Qi knew that Zhao Yu was a thief shouting to catch the thief, and they looked at each other, their faces turned pale.

Unlike Zhao Yu, a spy hidden in the Jin army, they are self-aware and know that they were ambushed by the rebels this time, and they have an unshirkable responsibility for their greed for merit.

If this is the case, the Tong Du Lieutenant is killed by the rebels......

Swallowing saliva, cold sweat broke out on Wang Xun and Zhang Qi's foreheads, and their hands and feet were cold.