The time goes back to the morning of October 20, that is, around the time when Zhao Yu and Cao Wu agreed on the ten-hour period, at this time, Guan Shuo, Chen Miao, and Liu De had each led their soldiers to withdraw south from the Kunyang boundary, returned to the camp on the south bank of the Shahe River, and joined the nearly 20,000 soldiers led by Zhai Shang and Tian Xu.

During this period, Guan Shuo and Chen Miao retreated at the same time, and naturally there were thousands of green forest thieves from Zhang Tai and Xiang Hu - these cunning guys would definitely not be cut off for the righteous teacher, and the righteous master did not trust them.

However, even after withdrawing to the barracks on the south bank of the Sand River, the threat faced by the volunteers was not lifted.

At the same time as Guan Shuo, Chen Miao and others withdrew to the barracks on the south bank of the Shahe River, traces of cavalry appeared in the distance.

I saw the famous cavalryman, who stopped on the high slope in the distance, and watched them from afar.

"It's the Nanyang cavalry of Ye County."

Guan Shuo immediately guessed the identity of those cavalrymen, after all, in a radius of several hundred miles, only Ye County had about five hundred cavalry.

And the appearance of a large number of these Nanyang cavalry means that Ye County has increased the surveillance of the military camp on the south bank of the Yishi Shahe River.

The message behind this is self-evident.

After giving the order for the whole army to rest, Guan Shuo and Chen Miao discussed in the grass hut in the camp that served as the tent of the Chinese army.

Chen Miao clearly pointed out: "If Kunyang just wants to fall into the well, then Yexian is definitely more than just taking advantage of the fire to rob ......"

"Hmm." Guan Shuo thought so.

He believed that his righteous master and Kunyang already had some kind of 'tacit understanding' - to put it simply, the righteous master had seen Kunyang's tenacity and easily didn't want to provoke him again, and on Kunyang's side, Zhou Hu should also understand that his righteous teacher still had quite a strong strength, and he would not easily have the idea of trying to take the opportunity to 'defeat' his righteous teacher.

In other words, Yishi and Kunyang are jealous of each other, and there is still the possibility of a 'truce' in the future, after all, there is no essential conflict between the two themselves.

To put it bluntly, the rebels can actually fight Kunyang or not: it is better to fight, and if they can't fight, it will not affect the entire strategy.

But Ye County is different.

In order to complete the strategy of 'joining Jing Chu Yishi in Nanyang', Guan Shuo had to defeat Ye County, and Ye County obviously knew this, which meant that conflict between the two sides was inevitable.

If Kunyang's pursuit only wanted to expand the results of the battle, then Ye County, it obviously wanted the righteous master to die.

Therefore, Chen Miao suggested that he should evacuate as soon as possible before Kunyang launched a pursuit, so as not to be pursued by both Yexian and Kunyang at the same time.

Just as the two rebelled, as the county commander of Ye County, Yang Ding attached great importance to this pursuit of the rebels.

Therefore, when the Nanyang cavalry was sent to monitor the military camp on the south bank of the Shahe River, Yang Ding, a noble son, also appeared on this side with his general, Wei Dong, to personally observe the situation of the rebels.

"Zhou Hu didn't lie to us......"

Le Ma stopped on a high slope, and Wei Dong, the general of his hometown, said with a little surprise: "Kunyang really forced the rebels to retreat, unbelievable......"

In this regard, Yang Ding said lightly: "The cold winter is coming, and the rebels have been attacked and occupied by my Ye County, and they have lost the rear, except for withdrawing troops, what can Guan Shuo do?" ”

As he spoke, he asked a Nanyang cavalryman beside him, "Have you ever found Kunyang's pursuers?" ”

"Not yet."

The Nanyang cavalryman clasped his fists and shook his head and said: "According to the scout's report, the rebels were not pursued by the Kunyang people on the way to the military camp here, and the Kunyang people were not found to be pursuing ......the Kunyang people north of the Shahe River."

"Huh?"

Yang Ding frowned, and said suspiciously: "What the hell is Zhou Hu doing?" Told me that the rebels were about to retreat, but he didn't move, did he want me to pursue the rebels alone? ”

From the side, Gao Chunhu, the county lieutenant of Yexian County, said suspiciously: "Could it be that Zhou Hu has reached an agreement with the rebels?" ”

"That's not going to happen."

Wei Dong, the old general, chuckled and said, "If Zhou Hu really reached any agreement with the rebels, wouldn't it be over if he didn't remind us that the rebels were going to retreat?" It can be seen that no matter whether Kunyang has any secret agreement with the rebels, Zhou Hu still hopes to take the opportunity to weaken the rebels...... As for whether he even calculated with us, it is unknown. ”

Yang Ding frowned and thought for a moment, shook his head and said, "Then Zhou Hu shouldn't be so stupid. …… This time Kunyang can be preserved, and my Ye County has also contributed a lot, without my Ye County sending troops and transporting materials before, why should he hold the city? Without my Ye County sending troops to attack Dingling, how could he let the rebels retreat in a hurry? With his cunning, he should understand that he was able to hold Kunyang this time, even if my Ye County stood by and watched, it actually helped him share a lot of pressure, not to mention that my Ye County gave him many key assistance. …… If he thinks that he Kunyang can just withdraw and no longer need to be involved, then his evaluation of Zhou Hu in my heart will be much lowered......"

Despite saying that, he still gave an order to the two Nanyang cavalrymen: "You two go to Kunyang immediately to see what the situation is on the Kunyang side, and ask Zhou Hu why he didn't send troops to pursue the rebels." ”

"Yes!"

Two Nanyang cavalrymen responded and left.

About an hour and a half later, the two Nanyang cavalrymen came back to pay their respects.

They said to Yang Ding: "The people of Kunyang said that they are clearing the remnants of the rebels in the city, and only after the rebels in the city have been eliminated can they pursue ......."

Yang Ding frowned and asked, "How long will it take?" ”

A cavalryman clenched his fists and said: "The people of Kunyang said that they will not be able to pursue until tomorrow and tomorrow." ”

"What?"

Yang Ding couldn't believe his ears, he said in disbelief: "Tomorrow tomorrow? It will take him nearly ten hours to clear out the rebels in the city? …… Is he Zhou Hu when I am a three-year-old? If his Kunyang soldiers were so weak that it would take ten hours to wipe out the remnants of the rebels in the city, would Guan Shuo still withdraw his troops? ”

From the side, the old general Wei Dong chuckled and said, "I see, that Zhou Hu wants us to take the lead......

The so-called taking the lead is to take the lead in pursuing the rebels, and if you think about it, you also know that the army of the side that takes the lead in pursuing the rebels will inevitably be counterattacked by the rebels.

On the side, some soldiers suggested: "The county commander can send someone to negotiate with Zhou Hu and tell him that if he doesn't send pursuers, it will be a big deal to scatter and let the rebels retreat." ”

“……”

Yang Ding was silent.

But Wei Dong smiled and said, "No." …… Although Kunyang can hold it this time, and my Ye County has also made a lot of efforts, the fundamental reason is that after all, the people of Kunyang have held on to the city. I believe that after this battle, the rebels will never dare to provoke Kunyang easily, unless they are sure of victory. …… In other words, whether Kunyang sends troops to pursue and whether it can take the opportunity to inflict heavy losses on the rebels is not of much stake to Kunyang itself, but my Ye County is different, as long as the rebels still do not give up attacking our Ye County in the coming year, our Ye County will have to hit the rebels hard today...... Therefore, if Zhou Hu wants me Ye County to take the lead, he will be willing to send troops, and we can only accept it. ”

As if to verify Wei Dong's words, Yang Ding instructed the two Nanyang cavalrymen: "You two will go to Kunyang again and tell Zhou Hu that if Zhou Hu can send troops to pursue the rebels in advance, my Ye County can deliver a sum of money and grain to help Kunyang rebuild." ”

"Yes!" Two Nanyang cavalrymen responded and left.

At the same time, Guan Shuo and Chen Miao had already discussed the specific regulations for the retreat.

For the sake of face, Guan Shuo will naturally put the nearly 10,000 Jiangxia volunteers under Chen Miao's command in the position of being the first to evacuate, after all, the Jiangxia volunteers are 'guest troops' and are here to help, how can they let people break off?

Even if Chen Miao took the initiative to bring it up, Guan Shuo couldn't lick his face and agree, not to mention, Chen Miao didn't mention it.

And after the Yishi of Wanjiang Xia, the armies of Huang Kang and Liu De also need to retreat as soon as possible.

The reason is very simple, because the casualties of these two people's troops in this battle are close to or even more than half, and the strength is almost gone, and the morale of the soldiers is even worse to the point that it is difficult to fight again.

At present, the only ones left are the more than 10,000 troops under the command of Guan Shuo, as well as the two complete armies of Zhai Shang and Tian Xu.

As for the Green Forest Thieves, although Guan Shuo didn't think that these people could be of any use, he didn't want them to retreat first—after all, he could use these people to delay the pursuit of the army if necessary.

Under Guan Shuo's order, Zhu Yuan, Huang Kang, and Liu De took the lead in retreating, leading about 20,000 nominal divisions and soldiers, and slowly headed towards the east.

Around the end of the afternoon, Guan Shuo took Chen Miao and led the troops directly under his command to evacuate to the east, leaving only the two armies of Tian Xu and Zhai Shang. ——According to his order, the two armies of Tian Xu and Zhai Shang will be evacuated early tomorrow morning.

Seeing that the rebels withdrew twice, Yexian County ordered Yang Ding not to chase after him, because the rebels still had far more soldiers in the barracks on the south bank of the Shahe River than Yexian.

At this time, the cavalry he sent to Kunyang also returned to him again.

Zhou Hu said that he Kunyang could only send troops to pursue after dawn tomorrow, not only because he wanted to clear the remnants of the rebels in the city, but also to make other preparations. …… But he promised that tomorrow he would pursue the rebels with the county troops of Xiangcheng and Runan counties, and asked the county commander not to forget the promise of money and food......"

"This Zhou Tiger ......"

Yang Dingqi was happy.

He said in his heart, you summoned the county troops of Xiangcheng and Runan counties, this is what you have thought about a long time ago, why should you ask me for money and food assistance in this matter?

He frowned and asked, "Then Zhou Hu Ke said how many soldiers he can dispatch tomorrow?" ”

"Yes."

One of the cavalrymen clenched his fists and said: "He said that he can send 5,000 people from Kunyang, plus no less than 3,000 county soldiers in Xiangcheng and Runan counties......"

『…… Eight thousand?'

Yang Ding thought about it for a while, and finally decided to agree to Zhou Hu's conditions.

After all, for him, the aid given to Kunyang in terms of money and food is only a small matter, and whether he can take advantage of this rebel withdrawal to inflict heavy losses on him in order to relieve the pressure on his Ye County in the coming year is the only thing he currently considers.

Therefore, of course, he would not refuse Zhou Hu's 8,000 soldiers.

He said to Wei Dong: "That Zhou Hu refused to send troops immediately, then we can only delay the rebels as much as possible......

After Wei Dong nodded, Yang Ding instructed Gao Chundao: "County Lieutenant Gao, you immediately return to the county seat, ask the soldiers to prepare dry food for a few days, and before dawn tomorrow, before the last remaining rebels in the military camp on the south bank of the Shahe River retreat, our army will take the lead in launching an offensive and drag the rebels as much as possible, so as to wait for the soldiers of Kunyang, Runan, and Xiangcheng counties to ......."

"Yes!" Gao Chun hugged his fists in response.

The next day, just as Yang Ding judged, around midnight, Zhai Shang and Tian Xu, who were stationed in the military camp on the south bank of the Shahe River, really took advantage of the dawn to evacuate eastward.

Fortunately, Yang Ding had already prepared and immediately led the Yexian army that was ready to go in pursuit.

At dawn, when Zhao Yu accepted Cao Wu's surrender in Kunyang and stood on the recovered southern city wall and shouted victory, on the white snow south of the Shahe River, Yang Ding, Wei Dong, Gao Chun and others led thousands of high-morale Yexian troops to fight against the rebels led by Zhai Shang......

"It's dawn, what about the Tiger Man Zhou?!"

Seeing Zhai Shangjun fighting and retreating, Yang Dingxin scolded.