The old city of Chungling fell in one day, and Han Gon, Meng Aocao and Cui Shuqiang, who had stood out from the siege, led the remnants of the Feijie battalion to flee north and retreated to Miaozipo, forty miles east of Zaoyang County. Meng Aocao led more than a dozen people to the west for a while, and the report confirmed the speculation that Zaoyang County had been invaded by thieves. What Han Gon didn't expect was that he also brought back nearly 100 horsemen who had fled from Zaoyang County.

"Subordinate Zhao Chenglin, I have seen the system!" Zhao Chenglin, who was anxious, turned over and dismounted, walked past Meng Aocao, and bowed to Han Gon.

As soon as Han Gon agreed, Cui Shuqiang rushed forward eagerly, grabbed Zhao Chenglin's collar and said, "Where is Yang joining the army?" ”

Zhao Chenglin pointed to the officer who was behind him and was protected by soldiers and was lying on a bareback horse weakly and said: "Yang was hit by an arrow in the chest when he joined the army and went out of the city, but fortunately there was a thick armor to block it, and it did not hurt the heart, but the skin and flesh turned out, although there was no danger of life, the injury was not light, and he was in a coma after bandaging. ”

Cui Shuqiang listened, didn't talk, went straight to visit Yang Zhaofeng, Zhao Chenglin waited for him to pass, his face immediately darkened, knelt on one knee, tilted his head and said to Han Gon: "The incorruptible sentry officer died in battle, Yang was seriously injured in the army, and his subordinates were not able to assist effectively, so it is difficult to escape the blame, please control and punish him!" ”

Han Gon sighed, gently helped him up, and comforted: "It is a great achievement to rescue Yang from the army and ensure that hundreds of people break out of the city. The sentry officer is not there, and you take his place for the time being. ”

Zhao Chenglin bit his lip and agreed. Han Gon asked about the causes and consequences of the loss of Zaoyang County, and Zhao Chenglin replied: "The thieves should cooperate with the outside and open the city gate at night, and our army was defenseless, so it lost. ”

"Is it a Cao Ying thief?"

"Exactly." Zhao Chenglin was worried, "Cao Ying's thieves attacked at night, and as soon as the city gate was opened, he rushed in with fine cavalry, led by Cao Ying's cavalry general Yang Jinshan, and the follow-up into the city were He Jin, Lin Yangyang, Li Wanqing, Liu Xiyao and other departments, with a total of more than 3,000. After leaving the city, Zhao Chenglin did not blindly flee, but secretly went back to the vicinity of the county seat to inquire about the news, and gained a lot.

"I see." Han Gon thought about it for a while, and thought through the strange behavior of Li Rugui and Wang Kehuai Ma Jun outside the city of Chungling before. Now it seems that Li and Wang Jun are the suspicious soldiers set up by Luo Rucai to attract the attention of Zhao Ying, while Yang Jinshan, He Jin and others secretly Chen Cang, cooperate with Neiying, and attack Zaoyang The officers and soldiers were not prepared to conquer the city in one fell swoop. Then he turned the head of the gun and attacked the old city of Chung Ling from both sides. In less than a day, the two cities were captured, and the strategies were interlocking, and "Cao Cao" Luo Rucai was worthy of the name of cunning.

Han Gon briefly described the situation in Chungling City, and Zhao Chenglin frowned and said: "Cao Thief has taken the two cities, and he will definitely use this as a base to continue to advance northward, and his troops have many men and horses, and now they cannot be trapped in the mountains, which is greatly disadvantageous to our army." ”

"Tens of thousands of people have come out of Qingtan City, and it will take two or three days to say the least, so Luo Rucai is cautious in using his troops, and he will not fight lightly during this period. Our army does not need to rush back north. Han Gon muttered. Since Luo Rucai has captured the city, whether it is from the perspective of strategic deployment or military replenishment, he should seek stability first, and will not be in a hurry to take the next step, "Miaozipo and Longdengchong are densely forested, and our army can rest and hide here for the time being, and wait and see what happens." ”

While the two were talking, Meng Aocao came over and said: "There are a total of 513 horsemen and horses who meet in Chungling and Zaoyang, 498 who can fight, and the other 15 people are each slightly injured. After speaking, he frowned and said hatefully, "Commander, I am responsible for not guarding Chungling City." There is no joke in the army, I said that 'people are at the gate', and now that the city gate is lost, there is no shame to face the system, and I am willing to accept military law! As he spoke, he knelt on his knees.

Han Gon, who had always been calm, suddenly scolded at this moment: "bastard, when is it, you still come to make trouble?" ”

"I ......," Meng Aocao was speechless for a while.

"Lao Lian's bones are not cold, you don't want to take revenge, your mind is full of death and life. Who is the mother-in-law and mother-in-law doing to show it? Han Gon scolded angrily, "If you want to be subject to military law, it's a hundred?" It's not that cheap. I want to suffer the ghost head knife of the Feijie battalion, and wait until the Cao thief is defeated to talk about it! ”

Meng Aocao stood up and nodded, "Yes, yes......"

Han Gon let out a long breath to suppress dissatisfaction, turned sideways, and asked Zhao Chenglin, "Is there any movement at Shuanggoukou?" ”

Zhao Chenglin shook his head and said: "My subordinates don't know, and I have never seen the reinforcements of the Shiping Battalion. ”

Han Gon had a calm face, did not speak, raised his eyes and saw Meng Aocao standing in place with a stunned expression, and suddenly said: "Old Meng, I heard that you promised yesterday that you can marry your sister if you kill ten enemies first?" ”

Meng Aocao didn't expect him to come out like this, swallowed his spit, and said, "Yes...... Domination of your ......"

Han Gon smiled and said: "Sister Ah Liu is a good girl, don't talk nonsense about this kind of thing in the future, otherwise she will suffer for the rest of her life, and she will regret it." After speaking, he shook his gray robe and walked away.

Although the Feijie battalion was defeated by Zaoyang and Chungling, and lost more than half of it, the military spirit quickly stabilized due to the existence of the command, the army, the Chinese army and the sentinels. Han Gon temporarily promoted Zhao Chenglin to be a temporary sentry officer, and asked him to take some soldiers and horses to cruise around the periphery of the garrison, guarding and detecting at the same time. Meng Aocao was responsible for reorganizing the garrison's troops and horses, redeploying the establishment, and maintaining the garrison's defense. At the same time, Han Gon sent someone to report to Lutoudian, informing him of the battle situation in the south and relaying his next thoughts to Zhao Dangshi, and then came to Yang Zhaofeng's resting house to visit, and only after knowing that he was okay was at ease.

For a long time, Han Gon has been regarded as the number one fierce general of Zhao Ying, but in addition to being brave, most people do not think that his ability to command troops can be compared to Xu Hui, Guo Ruke and other generals, which is largely related to his early experience. Whether in Liaodong or under Gao Yingxiang, the army's requirements for him are basically based on battle formations. Repeatedly in the last link of military operations, as an executor, he naturally has no access to a series of decision-making plans in the early stage.

However, since coming to Zhao Ying, the situation has changed a lot, Zhao Ying's talents have withered, the grass stage team has been set up, and there are not many actors who have the head to sing on stage. In the camp, Han Gon was just an eagle dog to fight, but in the Zhao camp, he was pushed into the ranks of decision-makers from the beginning.

Due to his pragmatic and low-key personality, although he was in a high position in Zhao Ying, Han Gon rarely talked about various military discussions, but this gave him more opportunities to listen to other people's opinions and absorb their views. Human growth requires an environment, and after a long time and a natural talent, his strategic vision has naturally improved by more than one notch. Zhao Dangshi saw it in his eyes, and always gave him the opportunity to lead the troops independently, and this time the war between the north and the south began, arranging Guo Ruke to the north and him to the south is a manifestation of great trust.

When the Feijie battalion went out to the south, Chang Zeyu had doubts about Han Gon's ability, feeling that although he was brave, he lacked the talent to command. Zhao Dangshi did not waver because of this, but said to Chang Zeyu: "Han Gon is a young leader, but he is not without a leader. Its people are not arrogant or discouraged when they win, and they are the most rare. ”

"Luo Ru is full of wisdom and scheming, after all, Han Gon is not experienced enough, I am afraid that it will be difficult to match."

Zhao Dangshi said silently: "Guo Ruke to the north, Xu Hui is in charge, except for the two of him, all the generals in the camp, no one can come out of Han Gon's right." As Mr. was worried, Han Gon may not be Luo Rucai's opponent when he deploys troops, but I know very well that his nature is the most tenacious, and even if he is defeated, he will not be defeated. He is the main general who delayed Cao Ying's northward journey. ”

In terms of knowing people, Zhao Dangshi is far away in Chang Zeyu. As he firmly believed, even if he suffered the most painful defeat now, Han Gon's eyes were still not at all turbulent, he didn't say much, but the confidence exuded around him was the most needed faith support for the newly defeated Feijie Battalion generals.

At present, Cao Ying has pulled out the nail of the old city of Chungling, and has Zaoyang County as a stronghold, so that tens of thousands of troops in the mountains can safely and steadily enter the 'plain', and it is no longer realistic to want to use the Feijie battalion alone to limit it to the south.

Han Gon thought about this, and the words "Dragon in the Field" flashed in his mind. The Shiping camp stationed at Shuanggoukou is not far from Zaoyang County and Chungling City, but it has done nothing in the face of Cao Ying from the south. Unlike the sneers of Meng Aocao and others, Han Gon thought more and never had the idea of reproaching Long Zaitian for standing by and watching. Shiping Camp is known for its ability to fight, and Long Zaitian is not a rat who is greedy for life and afraid of death, otherwise how could he be ordered to enter the treacherous place of northern Chu without hesitation. Through the information revealed by Zhao Dangshi and his own speculation, the reason why Long Zaitian did not move his troops was probably because of Zhang Xianzhong's troops stationed in Gucheng County further west. Up to now, Xiying is still calm, but when I think of Zhang Xianzhong's friendship with Ma Shouying and Luo Rucai, as well as the various perverse performances after Zhao'an, no one is so popular that they ignore it.

If you lose Zaoyang County, you can still justify a few words, but if you lose Xiangyang City, Long Zaitian will die and it will be difficult to redeem it, and Han Gon believes that Long Zaitian has a scale in his heart. The soldiers and horses of Xiying are majestic, and at the moment Long Zaitian and Chen Hongfan can form a confrontation with them, at this delicate season, the south is chaotic, how dare Long Zaitian act rashly.

Long Zaitian couldn't count on it, and there were no other reinforcements nearby, so Han Gon thought about it and still had to turn to Zhao Dangshi for help. Zhao Dangshi's strategy of first going north and then south is clear, the original plan was to drag Cao Ying in the south for at least three days, but now the four days have passed, Han Gon has actually overfulfilled the task, but the expected situation of Zhao Dangshi leading the victorious army from the north to the south has not happened for a long time.

"What is going on in the north?" Han Gon thought deeply. There are only 500 cavalry left in the Feijie battalion, and it is okay to attack the Cao battalion, but if the Cao battalion moves north, it will definitely not be stopped, "For today's plan, we can only take one step at a time, and wait for the lord to reply to the letter before making a plan." ”

It was nearly twilight, and Han Gon walked among the dilapidated houses of Miaozipo. Originally, there were four or five villages in this area, but recently the thieves and riots, the villagers fled one after another, and the houses were empty, and they were deserted.

The sunset illuminated the muddy dirt road at the entrance of the village, and Han Gon retracted his thoughts when he heard the sound of horses' hooves at the far end of the road. After a while, more than ten horses galloped in front of him, and one of them jumped off the horse, bowed and said: "Subordinate Zhao Chenglin, I have seen the system!" ”

Han Gon was puzzled, "Caught a thief?" "Zhao Chenglin and others were sent to the southwest Zaoyang County and the old city of Chung Ling to reconnoiter the area, this way back and forth for dozens of miles, let alone until the middle of the night, who thought that the sky was not dark, they came back, the only possibility is that they encountered a major emergency, must be reported immediately.

"No thief." Zhao Chenglin looked extremely excited when he spoke, swept away the previous depression, only to see him wave back and say loudly, "Bring it up!" ”

Han Gon looked behind him, and three or five soldiers were pulling a middle-aged man off his horse.

"Be honest!" Zhao Chenglin stepped forward, grabbed the middle-aged man's loose bun with his hand, and said sharply, "Hold up the big move, meet my battalion commander!" After finishing speaking, he kicked the middle-aged man on the waist, and the middle-aged man cried out in tears.

"What is this?" Han Gon looked at the middle-aged man with a white face and beard, dressed in a wide robe, as if he was a scholar, and he didn't know what to do.

Zhao Chenglin gritted his teeth and smiled, pulled the middle-aged man's head up forcefully, and said: "Command, this guy is the Zaoyang Warden Chu Rhidi!" ”