The 100,000 Zhao troops who set out from the camp of Yecheng of Zhao State set foot on the defense ground.

Lian Po, a veteran on horseback, looked at the several castles controlled by the Yan army in the distance, and the beacon smoke was already lit.

A general of the Zhao army rode to Lian Po's horse and hugged his fists:

"Old general, there are not many Yan troops stationed in these castles, do you want to capture these castles?"

Lian Po looked up at the sky, shook his head, and said:

"Ignore these castles, send orders to the army, march quickly, and go straight to Fan City."

"No." The general of the Zhao army replied on his horse.

A group of Yan soldiers from Jixi escorted grain trucks towards Fancheng.

From the point of view of equipment, this Yan army is all wearing leather armor, each with a scimitar at the waist and hip, and a long thing on their backs, but the steel helmet on their heads is basically the same as that of the army.

People who are familiar with the equipment of the Yan Army can recognize at a glance that this army is the navy of the Yan Army.

And the long things that these navy carry behind are flintlock pistols that have just been developed and equipped with the navy.

By the afternoon, the sun was about to set.

A naval scout in front rode to the middle of the procession and reported to one of the Yan officers on horseback:

"Brigade Commander Qiyu, nearly twenty miles ahead, is Fan City."

After hearing the report of the reprimands, the Yan army officer said:

"Tell the brethren to hurry up, and we must rush to Van City before dark. Really, the military department doesn't know what to think? We actually grasped the errand and let our navy do the logistical task of transporting grain, grass, and military supplies. ”

This Yan Army officer is the First Army of the Navy, a brigade commander under Li Min, named Wang Youde.

After graduating from the fourth phase of Xiangping College, he came to the Navy and participated in the war against Ji and Qidi, serving as the brigade commander of the First Army, the Third Division, and the Second Brigade of the Navy at this time.

The navy is in Yan State, and it has not been formed for a long time.

Most of the generals, because of their age, seniority and the relationship between the war, the military rank is generally not high.

Several army commanders, at this time, also had the rank of major general, and Wang Youde was the rank of colonel.

The Second Army led by the Navy Shi Kang, the Third Army led by Zhang Tian, and most of the troops had already been engaged in this battle at this time, stationed in Langya County and Jixi County respectively.

Only the First Army of the Navy led by Li Min, according to the military order, was responsible for the sea transportation from Liaodi to Qidi.

This made the first officers and men of the Navy extremely unhappy.

Wang Youde heard that the army commander Li Min, after receiving the military order, was so angry that he scolded.

He was even more unlucky, as soon as he transported a batch of grain, grass and military supplies from Liaodi to Linzi County, he received an order to let the officers and men of his brigade be responsible for sending this batch of supplies to the front of the guard.

Wang Youde can be said to be full of complaints about this errand, but the military order must be obeyed.

Hearing what his brigade commander said, the surrounding naval officers and soldiers also showed angry expressions on their faces.

At this moment, a personal guard beside Wang Youde suddenly said:

"Brigade Commander, have we entered the war zone? Do you see a pillar of smoke burning in the distance? ”

When Wang Youde heard this, his eyes widened suddenly.

Hurriedly took out the binoculars and looked in the direction of this guard, only to see that on a hill at the northern end of the distance, a thick pillar of five beacon flames and smoke were ignited, reaching straight into the sky.

That's right, it's a warning beacon.

And it is the highest level of warning, which means that a large number of enemy troops are coming.

Wang Youde patted his horse's thigh and shouted:

"My mother! This is in Van City, the rear of our army! No matter what, brethren, there is a war. Hurry forward, go to the city of Fancheng, hurry, hurry. ”

Wang Youde's partner, Gu Mulin, a deputy general and political commissar who graduated at the same time, was also stunned when he looked at the smoke column on the mountain in the distance.

He put down the telescope in his hand and said to Wang Youde: "Youde, we rushed into the war like this?" ”

Wang Youde was also very anxious, and said to Gu Mulin:

"My commissar, let's hurry into the city. Otherwise, if we run into enemy troops in the field, we will be in trouble. ”

At this time, Ma Liang, the defender of Fancheng, his deputy general Gu Tao and even Song Shao, the commander of Fancheng, as well as many officers and soldiers of the reserve division, also stood on the head of Fancheng and looked into the distance.

Ma Liang looked at it for a while, then turned to his deputy general Gu Tao and said, "Did you send out scouts?" ”

"It's been dispatched." Gu Tao said.

Ma Liang frowned, he was very anxious, and now he just sent an order from the front to warn Feng Yan, what is the specific situation? I'm still confused.

And Fan Cheng ordered Song Shao to raise his sleeve robe and wipe the beads of sweat rolling down his face, feeling lucky.

Fortunately, Ma Liang led the reserve division, and as soon as he arrived in Fancheng, he began to build the city wall.

The day before yesterday, the fortifications of Fan City had just been completed.

At that time, he secretly complained about Ma Liang's actions. Now that I think about it, what a wise move!

One of the scouts rushed into the north gate on horseback, dismounted, and hurried up the city wall.

Came to Ma Liang, knelt on one knee, and reported:

"Report, General Qiyu, a large number of Zhao troops are coming to my Fan City, more than 60 miles away from my Fan City. The enemy army is boundless, and the specific number is probably no less than 100,000 soldiers and horses. ”

Ma Liang hurriedly asked, "See clearly, who is leading the troops?" ”

"General, the banner of the chief general raised by the Zhao army seems to be a "cheap" word. ”

"Could it be Lian Po?" Ma Liang "blocked" in his heart.

It shouldn't be! Isn't the military intelligence a report, Lian Po is now leading troops to attack Gaotang?

"Do you really see clearly?" Ma Liang continued to ask.

"General Qiyu, I and several brothers have seen it clearly, it is indeed a "cheap" word. ”

Ma Liang suddenly understood, and suddenly felt full of pressure.

This Lian Po is worthy of his name, and he is really cunning!

The Zhao army who came to Fancheng, if Lian Po personally led an army of 100,000. Then, Zhao Jun, who went to Gaotang, must have been a move to confuse Yan Jun. Needless to say, Lian Po did this, that is, to capture Fan City and outflank the hundreds of thousands of Yan troops in the front.

Then, Fancheng is the place where Zhao Jun must take it!

Ma Liang stabilized his mind and said to this reprimand:

"You should continue to inquire about the enemy's movements, pay close attention to the enemy's movements, and report at any time."

"No." The scout took the order.

Ma Liang turned around and said to Song Shao, the county commander:

"Song County Order, is there any personnel from our Supervision Yuan or Intelligence Bureau in Fan City?"

In the regular army of Yan State, the army above the regiment level has special carrier pigeons, which are used to transmit military information. However, for the temporarily formed reserve army, only the military department has a carrier pigeon delivery system.

Song Shao stepped forward, bowed down to Ma Liang and said, "General Qiyu, the Supervision Yuan has it, and it is stationed with this official." But the intelligence bureau personnel, I don't know if they came or not? You know, the agency people ......"

At this moment, a county official walked out from behind Song Shao, came to Ma Liang, bowed and said:

"General, below is Wu Fang, the head of the Intelligence Bureau in Fancheng. General, are you going to use the emergency transmission channel of our intelligence agency to report on the military situation? ”

Fan Cheng County Ling Song Shao, looking at his henchman Wu Fang, was simply stunned.

Ma Liang knew that the personnel of the intelligence bureau who were distributed in various places were generally not allowed to disclose their identities.

nodded, and said to Wu with a fist:

"At this moment, the military intelligence is urgent, and the general has no choice but to use it and wait, please forgive me."

Wu Fang bowed in return and said to Ma Liang:

"The general doesn't have to be like this, according to the regulations of my intelligence bureau, there is such a provision. I will immediately report this military situation to my superiors, and please rest assured that the general. ”

Wu Fang turned around again, bowed to the county commander Song Shao and said, "Song county order, don't blame!" ”

The sweat on Song Shao's face came out again, and he waved his fat hand at Wu Fang and said:

"Brother Wu, it doesn't matter, it doesn't matter! It should be, it should be. ”

Wu Fang bowed to everyone and hurriedly walked towards the city.

Ma Liang shouted to his lieutenant general Gu Tao and even the generals of the reserve division:

"This time the Zhao army is coming, and my Fan Cheng is already in the forefront. Ordered our army, urgently assembled, and prepared to close the ...... blocking the city gates. ”

Before the words fell, I saw a soldier of the Yan Army dressed as a navy, climbing the city wall.

came to Ma Liang's side, knelt down on one knee with a "snap", and reported to Ma Liangyu:

"General, on the orders of our brigade commander, I have come to inform the general. Our brigade was ordered to escort the grain and grass to the front of the emperor, and there are still more than ten miles away from our Fan City, so I ask the general to send people to assist the officers and men of our brigade to transport this batch of grain and grass and other materials to the city as soon as possible. ”

Ma scolded in his conscience, but he knew that he still had to respond to it.

Turning his head, he instructed Gu Tao, the adjutant general beside him, "The enemy army is still fifty or sixty miles away from us, so send a regiment of troops as soon as possible to meet the brethren of the navy." ”

Suddenly remembered something, and said to this naval soldier:

"Is your brigade's navy at full strength?"

"Yes, General. The naval establishment of our brigade is at full strength, with more than 3,000 people. ”

Deputy General Gu Tao had already understood Ma Liang's thoughts at this time, and said to Ma Liang with a smile:

"Division commander, I will personally take one regiment, no, two regiments, to personally pick up the naval brethren. I would tell their brigade commanders that, according to our military law, in the event of an emergency, the superior officer has the right to call on other troops to be requisitioned. ”

Ma Liang saw his old buddy, understood what he meant, laughed, and said to Gu Tao:

"Political commissar, you take two regiments as soon as possible and inform the commander of the naval brigade that their brigade has been requisitioned by our department, and they will immediately escort grain, grass, and military funds into the city and devote themselves to the defense of Fancheng."