"PS: I'm stuck in the main line and branch line, and I've been struggling with who should come first."

———— the following text————

On December 30, when the people of the world were generally welcoming the upcoming New Year, in the Jin army camp in the western suburbs of Liangcheng, Zhao Yu was in his tent, gathering all the generals to give combat orders.

"This expedition is ...... by Zhang Ji and Cao Wu."

Glancing around at the five generals Wang Qing, Zhang Ji, Cao Wu, Qin Yu, and Jia Shu sitting in the tent, Zhao Yu fixed his eyes on Zhang Ji and Cao Wu, and said in a deep voice: "This long-range attack is very important, and Kaifeng must be taken down no matter what." ”

"Yes!"

Zhang Ji and Cao Wu responded with fists.

"After taking Kaifeng, immediately turn to the defensive, be vigilant against the rebel counterattack, and wait for the next order." Zhao Yu continued.

"Yes."

Cao Wu clenched his fists in response, and immediately asked, "I don't know when to start acting?" ”

"Tonight." Zhao Yu said in a deep voice: "All of them left the camp before the time, and I will send a brigade wolf to cover you and other actions......"

Hearing this, except for Wang Qing and Zhang Ji, the other three generals Cao Wu, Qin Yu, and Jia Shu all showed a little surprise.

This was due to the secrecy of Xue Ao, Zhao Yu, and Li Meng—although the three of them had discussed the entire strategy long before the futile 'rush to Xianping' incident, few of them received a clear answer to this matter.

For example, in the Yingchuan Army under Zhao Yu, except for Zhang Ji, who learned about this matter for reasons other than his position, only Wang Qing, who held a position similar to that of 'Chinese Army General', learned about this matter early.

After a while, after the generals left one after another, Wang Qing asked Zhao Yu in a rare and serious tone: "After taking Kaifeng, will that General Xue immediately take action against the rebels?" ”

"I'll have to wait a little longer."

Zhao Yu did not hide it, and explained truthfully: "After Kaifeng and Kaoxian are successful, General Xue will dispatch the Taiyuan cavalry under his command to use Kaifeng and Kaoxian as strongholds to cut off the rebels' grain routes...... In general, our side will not take the lead, and it should be the rebels who will act first, whether it is advancing or retreating. ”

Wang Qing nodded thoughtfully, and then laughed and said, "I never thought that one day under the command of a Chenmen Five Tigers, in the name of the generals of the Jin State, would crusade against Buchen...... Hey! ”

Zhao Yu said angrily: "This kind of meaningless self-deprecation is unnecessary. …… What happened to the two batches of county soldiers from Xiangcheng and Runan? Is it worthy of a war? ”

Wang Qing naturally understood Zhao Yu's concerns, nodded and said, "It's barely okay, with the county army on the side, it should be able to be useful......"

"Don't be careless." Zhao Yu said in a deep voice: "Once the head-to-head confrontation with the rebels begins, my Yingchuan Army will be the Chinese army and bear most of the pressure from the rebels, and I don't need to explain anything else, right?" ”

Wang Qing raised his eyebrows, then nodded and said, "I will ask Legui to step up ......"

"Hmm."

After nightfall that day, according to Zhao Yu's arrangement, Zhang Ji and Cao Wu each led the soldiers under the command of the headquarters to quietly leave the camp in the western suburbs, braved the severe cold of deep winter, and went straight to Kaifeng.

In the silence of the snowfield, a wolf howl sounded from time to time, which was the brigade wolf secretly escorting this friendly army, as far as possible to avoid Zhang Ji and Cao Wu's army from colliding with the rebel scouts.

Don't underestimate the role of the brigade wolf and how seriously the rebels attach it to the brigade.

The next day, that is, on the first day of the first month of the new year, Chen Miao, the coach of the Sanlu Volunteer Division, just woke up and immediately received the relevant news.

"Last night, a large number of 'wolves' under Zhou Hu's command appeared?"

After learning about this, Chen Miao immediately showed a solemn look.

Zhao Yu's brigade wolf was registered as a 'wolf warrior' by the Yingchuan Governor's Office, and the righteous generals who dealt with him, such as Xiang Xuan, called him a 'pack of wolves' and regarded him as a very powerful scout.

Even, Changsha Yishi Qu Shuai Guan Shuo also made an evaluation of it as 'divided into wolves and gathered as tigers', although the number is not large, but because of the elusiveness, it has become a big problem for the righteous teachers early.

"Immediately invite Xiang Xuan and Zhou Gonger to come over." Chen Miao immediately commanded in a deep voice.

After a while, Xiang Xuan and Zhou Gonger came to Chen Miao's barracks one after another, and Chen Miao's situation was explained, and then he said in a deep voice: "Last night, Zhou Hu's brigade wolves attacked the patrol of my righteous division, this is the first large-scale operation of this group of people in the past two months, what do you two think about this?" ”

"Jin Jun is ready to make a move?" Zhou Gong frowned and asked rhetorically, his tone not so certain.

From the side, Xiang Xuan frowned deeply and didn't say a word.

Seeing that the second general couldn't come up with any useful suggestions, Chen Miao thought for a moment and ordered left and right: "Order all armies, starting tonight, the number of patrols sent outside the camp should be doubled, and it is best to send two patrol guards to act together, one in the light and one in the dark." ”

The arrangement he made, that is, the trick that Xiang Xuan used to deal with the traveling wolves when he was in Yingyang, had a good effect, at least it tricked the traveling wolves, but because of this, the traveling wolves became more and more cunning and slippery.

"Yuzhang and Jiangdong, do you want to send someone to remind you?" Left and right asked Chen Miaodao.

"Of course." Chen Miao frowned and glanced at the person who was asking, and immediately ordered: "If the people from Yuzhang and Jiangdong ask the reason, explain to them the 'Kunyang Wolves'." ”

About a moment later, the people sent by Chen Miao came to the camps of the Yuzhang and Jiangdong armies, and reminded Cheng Zhou, the commander of Yuzhang's righteous division, and Wu Yi, the general of Jiangdong, respectively.

Immediately, Chu Xiao, who heard about this incident, informed Zhao Yin of the matter.

"Kunyang wolves...... Is it? ”

Zhao Yin paced back and forth in the barracks thoughtfully, his expression very solemn.

He didn't doubt that those Kunyang wolves were as difficult as Chen Miao said, what he cared about was the deep meaning behind the whole thing.

His younger brother Zhao Yu is currently holding the position of Lieutenant of Yingchuan under the pseudonym of 'Zhou Hu', and it seems that he has also been valued by Xue Ao, one of the Five Tigers of Chenmen.

Therefore, there is no doubt that the large-scale operation of the 'Kunyang Wolves' last night is bound to involve Xue Ao.

"Xue Ao...... Is he really just an arrogant man who doesn't know the situation?'

Zhao Yin has a hard time judging.

I have to say that in view of Xue Ao's 'blindly' rushing to Xianping before, which led to the 60,000 Jin Kingdom being forced to retreat by his righteous teachers twice in Xianping and Xiaohuang, and even the righteous division took the opportunity to advance to the territory of Liang County and set up a camp only more than 20 miles away from Liangcheng, which made his righteous division's previous jealousy of Xue Ao drop sharply.

Even, his younger brother Zhao Yu, or Zhou Hu, the commander of Yingchuan, became the most dangerous figure in the current Jin army around Liangcheng in Chen Miao's mouth, but Zhao Yin didn't feel right.

The reason is very simple, because his younger brother Zhao Yu is fighting against the righteous teacher.

In the eyes of outsiders, Zhou Hu, who is the captain of Yingchuan, takes it for granted to oppose the rebels, but Zhao Yin knows that his younger brother Zhao Yu should not oppose the righteous teacher, at least he should 'remain neutral', that is, support the army and self-respect, deliberately let the righteous teacher go, etc., because Zhao Yu can be sure that the righteous teacher cannot threaten him - he Zhao Yin will not allow it, and the Jiangdong righteous teacher will not allow it.

And in this case, his younger brother Zhao Yu still made the choice to go against the righteous teacher, which is only one possibility, that is, he was directly instructed by Xue Ao and could not be disobeyed.

"With my brother's intelligence, he still can't 'convince' that Xue Ao, either Xue Ao is conceited and stupid, or ......."

Zhao Yin's brows furrowed deeper and deeper, and he suddenly turned his head and instructed Ah Zhu, who was taking care of the camp, "Ah Zhu, I'll go to General Wu to ......."

"How?" Seeing Zhao Yin's solemn face, Ah Zhu asked in surprise.

I saw a few hints of caution flashing in Zhao Yin's eyes, and said in a deep voice: "I suspect that we have made a wrong judgment on that Xue Ao...... Even I miscalculated. ”

After that, he walked out of the barracks with Chu Xiao, leaving Ah Zhu with a worried look on his face.

On the same day, Zhao Yin had a discussion with Jiangdong General Wu Yi, but due to the lack of relevant evidence, Zhao Yin did not put forward any practical suggestions, and could only remind Wu Yi to remain cautious.

At the same time, the nearly 7,000 Yingchuan army led by Zhang Ji and Cao Wu was rapidly heading towards Kaifeng.

On the second day of the first lunar month, nearly 7,000 Yingchuan troops led by Zhang Ji and Cao Wu quietly came to a place only 20 miles away from Kaifeng.

At this time, Zhang Ji and Cao Wu respectively ordered the whole army to stop advancing and wait for the brigade wolf to send back the news.

Around midnight, Bai Xu Bai, the brigade wolf governor, came to the army of Zhang Ji and Cao Wu with a number of brigade wolves.

Don't look at Zhang Ji and Cao Wu are both generals at the level of 'Thousand Generals', and Xu Bai is only at the level of 'Hundred Generals', but because the brigade wolf is independent of the Yingchuan County Army and the brigade camp, there is no relationship between the two sides, even if it is Zhang Ji and Cao Wu, they have to treat Xu Bai politely.

Of course, Xu Bai will not offend these two.

After a few words of politeness that were not nutritious, Xu Bai informed Zhang Ji and Cao Wu of the situation that he had found by the wolf, only to see him squatting on the snow, holding a dead branch and scratching a few times on the snow, and dictated: "At present, the two of them are here, Kaifeng is here, according to the news sent by Wang Ping, there are no rebel scouts on this road, of course, for the sake of prudence, Wang Ping and I will still protect the two of them and kill the rebel scouts encountered along the way in advance...... As for Kaifeng County, according to the news sent by Wang Ping, the rebels stationed in Kaifeng were not very well defended, and only a few dozen people guarded the city wall on one side, and only a group of people patrolled for half an hour, during which there were hardly a few people on the city wall......

Listening to Xu Bai's dictation, Zhang Ji nodded and said, "It seems that the rebels did not expect our side to attack Kaifeng at this time, but it is still necessary to fight quickly......

"Hmm." Cao Wu also nodded, and immediately asked Xu Baidao: "Xu Dubai, I wonder if the traveling wolf will act with us this time?" ”

Xu Bai glanced at Cao Wu and said, "I, the brigade wolf, have the right to self-determination, and in principle, I should give you assistance, but ......" He made a gesture that ordinary people did not understand.

Cao Wu smiled and said, "Of course, Cao will never let the traveling wolf get into danger. …… I think so, if the brigade wolf builds a few long ladders in advance, blends into the city at a certain time tonight, kills the guards of the gate, and opens the city gate, Zhang Ji and I can lead the soldiers to drive straight into the ......."

Xu Bai frowned slightly, and said, "Although the two soldiers under their command have worked hard in this trip, I am afraid that they are not as good as my brigade wolf......"

"Of course." Cao Wu said with a smile: "That's why, this time to win Kaifeng, Zhang Ji and Cao will never forget the credit of the brigade wolf, let's divide the account ...... three points."

"Is it worth three points of credit for Kaifeng?"

Xu Bai was slightly moved.

It's not that he's greedy for merit, after all, he also wants to make some profits for their wolf system and the wolf cubs under him.

Preferably, expand the preparation.

He touched his chin and muttered: "Although there are only two teams of me and Wang Ping, but in view of the fact that Kaifeng's defense is not very strict, it is not impossible to try it according to General Cao's words...... But I don't know what General Zhang Ji means? ”

He turned his head to look at Zhang Ji, after all, he also knew that Zhang Ji was the henchman of their big leader, although this person suddenly appeared with a bit of a strange origin.

Zhang Ji is also a smart person, and said with a smile when he heard this: "Du Wei ordered me to take Kaifeng as soon as possible, and there must be no mistakes, I only care about whether I can complete Du Wei's orders." If the brigade wolf can help the two of us to take Kaifeng, Cao Wu and I will naturally report the merits of the brigade wolf truthfully. ”

"Happy." Xu Bai smiled, and immediately clenched his fists and said: "In this case, at the latest tonight, at the latest, at the second hour of tonight, my brigade wolf will seize a city gate and wait for the two of you." ”

"Okay."

Zhang Ji and Cao Wu glanced at each other and agreed.

After Xu Bai left, Zhang Ji asked Cao Wu, "Can this be done?" ”

Cao Wu let out a long breath, and said inexplicably: "Don't underestimate the brigade wolf, because of the expansion of the organization, there may be a mixture of good and bad in the army, but this brigade wolf, but all of them are fierce pawns who have killed people...... Send them a credit, save us from climbing the wall and stealing the door, why not? ”

"Yes."

Zhang Ji chuckled, and then glanced at Cao Wu meaningfully.

Although they haven't been together for a long time, he has already felt that this Cao Wu is a person with a very big picture.

"Under the command of Childe, there are also many talents now."

Zhang Ji thought secretly.

After resting for a while, Zhang Ji and Cao Wu once again ordered to advance towards Kaifeng.

Just as Xu Bai had just informed them, they didn't encounter rebel scouts from Kaifeng County along the way, which made the two more excited.

In order to prevent getting too close to Kaifeng and attracting the attention of the Kaifeng rebels, before sunset, Zhang Ji and Cao Wu did not get too close to Kaifeng, and stopped eight or nine miles away from Kaifeng, until after sunset, they slowly approached Kaifeng.

After a hard march on the road where the snow barely reached his thighs, he looked up at the night sky, and it was pitch black except for a few stars that twinkled rarely.

In such a situation, one can imagine how difficult it is to march on the march.

Zhang Ji and Cao Wu only used the matter of 'after the capture of Kaifeng' to boost morale, for example, promising to reward the soldiers after entering the city, enough meat and food, enough wine, and even allow the soldiers to hide some booty without plundering the people in the city.

Under this kind of promise, the soldiers under the command of Zhang Ji and Cao Wu were able to maintain high morale after braving the wind and snow to travel 40 miles.

It's just that this morale is actually very fragile.

"Kaifeng must be taken in one go, once defeated, not only will the rebels be vigilant, but our soldiers will also collapse due to demoralization......

While lurking in the snow outside Kaifeng City, Zhang Ji thought secretly in his heart.

As it turned out, his worries were unfounded, and when the Kaifeng rebels were negligent in their precautions, they escorted two hundred brigade wolves along the way, sneaked into the city with only a few siege ladders, and then opened the west gate.

Zhang Ji and Cao Wu saw that they could not miss the opportunity, and immediately led a flood of troops under their command to attack the city.

The rebels in Kaifeng City were originally small in number, only 3,000 people were stationed, and they were not well guarded, where was the opponent of nearly 7,000 Yingchuan troops, and when the two sides fought for only a moment, the rebels in the city were all defeated, some were captured, and the rest fled in a hurry.

On the night of the third day of the first lunar month, on the night of the third day of the new year, the 7,000 Yingchuan army suddenly captured Kaifeng.

A day later, the news reached the main camp of the rebels in Liangcheng and reached the ears of the commander Chen Miao, who immediately sensed the threat.

"The Jin army is going to wipe out my righteous teacher!"