On the fifth day of the Dragon Boat Festival in early May, Zhao Dangshi received a secret letter, which was delivered by Hei Bangjun himself. Since listening to Zhao Dangshi's words that day, he changed his mind and surrendered to Zhao Ying, and is currently working under Pang Jinming, responsible for using his former identity to secretly infiltrate Xiying to seize information. In the western camp, one of his close friends acts as a secret stake and exchanges news with him. As for who the specific identity of the secret pile was, under Hei Bangjun's pleading, Zhao Dangshi and Pang Jinming did not ask, and only referred to him as "General Wang" in words or letters.

The letter was written by General Nawang, and he made it clear in his heart that on the fourth day of the fifth month, Zhang Xianzhong had already sent Ma Yuanli to surround the Gucheng County Government Office, and Ruan Zhitian, the county magistrate, died in the chaos, and at the same time forcibly confiscated the gold and silver from the treasury, opened the prison and released the people. It can be seen that the rebellion of Xiying finally happened.

On the sixth day of the first month, the news of the various government offices and the demolition of the city wall in Xiying Burning Valley City quickly spread in northern Chu, and Zhao Dangshi personally led the Wuyu Battalion and the Feijie Zuo Battalion to be stationed at Shuanggoukou in advance, and watched the situation quietly across the water. After a day of waiting, there was nothing unusual except for a steady stream of refugees crossing from the west bank of the water. Another day later, Chen Hongfan's people arrived.

When the man saw Zhao Dangshi, he bowed his head and cried: "Zhang Xianzhong's wolf ambition, disregard for national law, and cruelty, my army in the middle of the Ma and Xu have taken him captive, and his life and death are uncertain!" After careful questioning, I learned that after Zhang Xianzhong's incident, the people who were originally sent by Chen Hongfan to Xiying to be appeased for a long time were all stewed with a spoonful, Ma Tingshi and Xu Qizuo were Chen Hongfan's henchmen, and the two were trapped, and Chen Hongfan lost both arms.

"Lord Lin's whereabouts are also unknown, but some people say that they saw a headless corpse hanging upside down on the gate of Xiying, and the corpse seems to be dressed similarly to Lord Lin."

Huguang Patrol Lin Mingqiu was sent by Xiong Wencan, and also went to Xiying to raise the army. The patrol exercised power on behalf of the Son of Heaven and inspected the localities, and the official position was not large but the status was very high. If he dies, Xiying's crime is unforgivable, it can be seen that Zhang Xianzhong is determined to rebel this time, and he has not left any way back for himself.

"What is the current situation in Gucheng and Xiangyang?" Zhao Dangshi asked the man.

"The thieves are still entrenched in the valley city, burning, killing and looting, and the dead and wounded and the blood is flowing in the city, so it is not an exaggeration to say purgatory! Chen Shuaizhi is guarding Xiangyang City, and he can't act rashly, so he specially invites the adults to march quickly to relieve the siege! ”

"What did Master Xiong say?"

"Chen Shuai has been with Lord Xiong for the past two days, and he wants Lord Xiong to enter the army, I think it is also Lord Xiong's idea."

That's what he said, but Zhao Dangshi thought about it, he knew that the change was sudden, Xiong Wencan's dream was shattered, and he must have been terrified, Zhang Xianzhong had been in trouble for a few days, and he was still helpless like a piece of wood, and there was no order to issue to the armies. Please Zhao Yingchi helped, the person was still sent by Chen Hongfan, and Xiong Wencan's incompetence can be seen.

"You go back and report to Xiong and Chen, and say that Zhao Ying is unswervingly committed to serving the country, and he will send troops immediately!"

The man heard the sound of the sky, and when he heard the sound of the sky, he snorted and cried, and sang the praises of Zhao Dangshi's benevolence and righteousness, and went overjoyed.

The scene naturally has to be said, but Zhao Dangshi will not really give the order to pull out. At present, the situation in Chubei is uncertain and chaotic, and every step must be extremely careful.

There are about 30,000 horse infantry troops in the west camp in the valley city, and there are tens of thousands of all kinds of disciples, Zhao Dangshi has no plan to fight a decisive battle with the west camp, and the Xiaojie battalion, the Qihun battalion and the Feijie right battalion are still stationed in Zaoyang and have not moved.

"Lord, there are still Lu Zhenguo, Chen Hongfan, and Li Anmin in Xiangyang City, why don't you invite them?" Hou Dagui asked.

"It's useless, Lu Zhenguo is the prime minister's standard battalion guerrilla, and Lord Xiong's guy who saves his life will not move lightly. Chen Hongfan just folded two generals, the square inch is in chaos, and he has no heart to fight, and his 2,500 Changping soldiers, most of the recruits, I have been to see, many of them can't even draw the bow steadily, so don't expect too much. As for Li Anmin, there are only 500 people under his command, all of whom are redundant flag soldiers from top to bottom of Xiangyang Mansion, and it will not help if they come. ”

Hou Dagui crossed his hands on his hips, looked at the west bank of the water, and said, "Then let's just wait?" ”

"Wait." Zhao Dangshi said, "Xiying will rebel against Cao Ying, and now Cao Ying has not moved, Zhang Xianzhong will wait and see in Gucheng for a while." And I judge that Zhang Xianzhong probably won't come east. ”

"Why?"

"To the east, there are Zaoyang and Xiangyang clamps, and there are still Chu generals such as Jingzhou and Chengtian behind it, and Yang Shien are stationed. To the west, Yunyang and even Shaanxi are empty, which is easy to move. ”

"Then our army ...... next"

"Next, let Lao Han take Ma Jun across the river to make a show, and by the way, investigate the situation. You arrange for people to set up a fence along the river to set up a defensive line, if there is any case, our army can defend the river and be invincible first. ”

"Yes."

"It is estimated that in a few days, when Luo Rucai also rebels, Zhang Xianzhong will persuade me to do it again. I went back and forth with him hypocritically, delaying the time, and Zuo Liangyu's people thought it was time to arrive. ”

"Zuo Liangyu?"

"Yes, Zuo Liangyu has coveted the West Camp for a long time, and if he gets the news of his rebellion, he will definitely lead the troops to come."

"But Zuo Liangyu has always been arrogant, can he help?"

"Zhang Xianzhong is extraordinary, he is one of the strongest in the world, Zuo Liangyu does not dare not move. And the property under his name, there is a lot of friction with Zhang Xianzhong, in the past, the imperial history of the DPRK and China has impeached him, saying that he 'intends to radically change', this time Zhang Xianzhong is really rebellious, he does not show an attitude, and he can't escape the catastrophe of Lantai. ”

"If Zuo Liangyu can help, Zhang Xianzhong doesn't have to worry."

Zhao Dangshi shook his head and said: "Zhang Xianzhong's rebellion is what I want, but I am not happy to fight with him." The western battalion is strong, and even if I can win the attack, I am afraid that it will hurt the enemy by 1,000 and lose 800. Therefore, for Zhang Xianzhong, let Zuo Liangyu take the lead, and our battalion will assist. ”

"But the camp in the west is uncertain, and there will never be peace in northern Chu."

"Ningri? I don't need to be at peace now, as long as Chubei is restless, our army will have the opportunity to go further. ”

Hou Dagui doubted: "What does it mean to 'go further', please make it clear." ”

At this time, Zhao Dangshi raised his whip and pointed in the direction of Xiangyang Mansion in the southwest, and said, "Go further, enter Xiangyang." ”

Hou Dagui was shocked and said, "Xiangyang? ”

"I am the general army of Yunxiang, and the city of Xiangyang is also within the scope of defense, as long as I can enter Xiangyang, the whole province is under my control, not to mention just a Zaoyang."

Hou Dagui thought about it and said: "It is not easy to enter the capital city, even Chen Hongfan's soldiers and standard battalion soldiers are stationed on the outskirts of the city. Only the militia of Li An was small and responsible for defending the city, stationed in the city. ”

Zhao Dangshi said: "Of course it's not the time now, but as long as Xiying and Caoying make a fierce fuss, we may not have a chance to enter the city later." "Actually, half a month ago, I also proposed to Lord Xiong to enter Xiangyang, but Kuang Yueguang refused. Kuang Yueguang is the magistrate of Xiangyang Prefecture, you should have heard of it. ”

"This surnamed Kuang had a close relationship with the Chu family before, and he had done a lot of things for the Chu family and solved a lot of sieges. When the lord kills his friend, he must have a grudge. ”

"I don't know if I am resentful or not, in short, he is very resolute in not wanting our army to enter the city. According to Chen Hongfan, he directly denounced me as Dong Zhuo in front of Lord Xiong, and strongly advised Lord Xiong not to lure wolves into the house. King Xiang came forward to speak for me, and he was also reported to the court for impeachment on the grounds of 'the vassal king's interference'. ”

"This guy is also powerful, but Lord Xiong really bears one, and he sprays it, so that's it?"

"Expected. Xiong Wencan is as timid as a mouse, he doesn't understand military and politics, and now his work is ruined, and the black gauze hat on his head seems to be unable to keep it. ”

"Such a waste, thanks to the fact that the lord made friends with all his might, but it was in vain."

"It's not in vain, at least he is still the prime minister in front of him, and he has to rely on him to enter Xiangyang."

Hou Dagui wanted to ask again, and on the other side, Han Gon walked quickly and walked over and said, "Lord, someone asks to see." Claiming to be Zuo Sili, he has an old relationship with the lord. ”

"Please."

Not long after, Zuo Sili arrived with Han Gon, saw Zhao Dangshi, and said first: "Chu Yu's safety is in danger, all adults are in one." ”

Zhao Dangshi walked and talked with him along the bank of the river, and said, "Zuo Shuai has already learned about the rebellion of the thieves? ”

"It is known that Zuo Shuai has personally led Jin Shenghuan, Zhang Yingyuan, Luo Dai, Ma Yingxiang and other troops on the way to Xiangyang."

Zuo Liangyu, as the commander of the reinforcement army, in addition to his own main barracks, similar to the Zhao battalion, is also in charge of many other battalion heads. Jin Shenghuan marked him as a general of the regular battalion, Zhang Yingyuan was the deputy general of the Zuo Xie's battalion, Luo Dai had also supported the Zhao battalion before, and was a general of the Zuo Xiao cavalry battalion, and Ma Yingxiang was a guerrilla in the inner middle battalion.

"Wang Yuncheng, Gao Jinku, Lu Guangzu, Zhang Yiyuan, Xu Guodong and others stayed in Henan."

"Stay in battle?"

Wang Yun became the deputy general of the Right Battalion, Gao Jinku was the general of the Right Xiao Cavalry Battalion, Lu Guangzu was a guerrilla of the Rong Banner Battalion, Zhang Yiyuan was a general of the Yi Han Battalion, and Xu Guodong was a guerrilla of the Forward Battalion.

"Oh, Mr. Zuo didn't mention it, I really forgot." During these days, the attention was on Xiying, but Zhao Dangshi didn't care about returning to the camp. Since the "mixed 100,000" Ma Jinzhong surrendered to the imperial court at the end of last year, and the iron triangle collapsed when he returned to the camp, only the "old Huihui" Ma Shouying and the "Geli Eye" He Yilong were each other's Olympic aid.

"The thief took advantage of the opportunity of my Yuzhong soldiers to go to the king of Beijing Qin, and the poison was very strong, although Ma Jinzhong surrendered, but the thief was still more ferocious than in the past, and he was like a ghost between Guangshan, Gushi and even Macheng and Huang'an. Although Zuo Shuai and Chu Fu defeated several of them, it was difficult to eliminate the evil, and the thieves rose again, and they were known by the thieves, and they were inspired and excited, and it was even more difficult to stop. Zuo Shuai had to divide his troops and move to other places, and it is really hard to say what the situation in central Henan is. ”

Zhao Dangshi already knew his heart and said: "Mr. is here, do you want me to send troops to Yuzhong?" ”

Zuo Sili's eyes flashed, and he said: "Yes, Lord Zhao is righteous and cloudy, and he doesn't want to watch the thieves get away with it." ”

"It's true that Zuo Shuai divided his troops, but I heard that there is still a brave guard battalion in Yuzhong, isn't it enough to join forces to deal with the thieves?"

Zuo Sili shook his head again and again and said, "Lord Zhao looks up to the Yongwei Battalion too much. The name of its battalion has the word 'brave', but in fact it is not brave. Those who can fight are only Sun Yingyuan, Huang Degong, and Zhou Yuji. But they can fight with the wind, and if they really fight a tough battle, they can't do anything. ”

Zhao Dangshi smiled and said: "I heard that the Beijing camp is erosive, and the Yongwei camp is the best among them. ”

"That's not it. In fact, this is okay, how can Yongwei Camp be controlled by Liu and Lu's fathers-in-law, these people are not light, and they can't talk to them. ”

At this point, the meaning is obvious. Zuo Liangyu led the army to support northern Chu, but he was not worried about the old base camp, and he might not be on good terms with the Yongwei battalion, so he found Zhao Ying, who had a relatively good relationship, and hoped that Zhao Ying would send troops to support.

"Zuo Shuai aided Chubei, and Lord Zhao aided Henanzhong, mutual benefit and mutual assistance, which can consolidate the friendship between the two families."

Zhao Dangshi pondered for a moment and nodded.