First use Qin Qigong to make suggestions, earn yourself and others to go up the mountain, and then lend the road to Zhao Ying, so that he can avoid his own sentinels and calmly surround the mountain. It was only at this time, seeing with his own eyes, that Qin Maoqi woke up like a dream. Day and night prevention, it is difficult to prevent thieves, and the old saying is true.

He was stunned for a moment, his gaze was as sharp as lightning, and in the blink of an eye, he threw the willow leaf gun in his hand towards Qin Jinxiaofei. Qin Jinxiao is not comparable to an idle role, the other party suddenly made a difficulty, he reacted quickly, started to pick it up, turned around, and neatly defused the blow of Qin Maoqi with all his strength.

"Lord Qin is so skilled!" Zhao Dangshi applauded, and the soldiers behind him also cheered.

Qin Maoqi hated and said "bah": "Good thief, my father said that you harbored evil intentions, I still don't believe it, hehe, hehe......" He sneered in his words, and his eyes stared at him as if they contained infinite hatred and contempt.

Qin Jinxiao was uncomfortable with him, and he didn't speak, and walked away. Qin Maoqi suddenly roared angrily: "Thief, don't go, fight, fight with grandpa, fight ......" Speaking of this, "Wow", a mouth full of blood foamed, his body was crooked, and he lay down reclining.

He was so angry that he fainted, but the surrounding Shi Nanbing thought that he was angry with Qin Jinxiao, and they were all indignant and rushed out with a roar. Zhao Dangshi shook his head and turned to leave. Wang Laixing saw the situation and waved his hand, and the more than ten Shi Nan soldiers were quickly overwhelmed by the soldiers of the Zhao Battalion who kept coming up.

In the first battle of Qiyao Mountain, more than half of the Shizhou soldiers were killed and wounded, and only more than 2,500 people returned alive. Qin Fu was waiting to receive the good news, but when he heard that he was defeated, and the whereabouts of his beloved son were unknown, he was so angry that he fainted on the spot.

Not only him, but Deng Zongzhen and others were all full of sadness and silenced. Every Xuanfu envoy and pacification envoy present had a few subordinates folded in Qiyao Mountain, and no one took the initiative to mention the word "war" again. After a long time, Deng Zongzhen remembered something and asked, "How is Zhonglu?" ”

Qin Qixun's father and son met with Zhao Dangshi about the confluence, they didn't know yet, and someone said: "There are more than 5,000 people in Qiyao Mountain, and they are still fighting according to the mountain. If you want to come to Zhonglu District, more than 1,000 people and horses, it is difficult to support it. ”

Deng Zongzhen sighed and said no more. The situation is bleak and unexpected, and we have to make an idea as soon as possible about what to do next.

Qiyao Mountain has been based on Zhao Ying, a single loyal road, it is not enough to fight against it, all over the country is exhausted and fishing, it is difficult to regather troops and horses in the short term, Shi Zhouwei commanded the envoy to garrison and defeat the army of 3,000, plus 1,000 people in Zhonglu, full of calculations, at most only about 4,000. In the face of more than 5,000 newly victorious troops, it is unrealistic for an army of 4,000 to break the enemy in a field battle.

Deng Zongzhen's meaning, it is best to gather the remnants of the army, with the Shizhou Wei command of the city wall of the envoy to fight again, the best victory, not winning, but also to frustrate the Zhao Ying's sharp spirit and then abandon the city is not too late - think that the Zhao battalion is only 5,000 soldiers and horses, although the city of Shizhou Weishou is not large, but only 5,000 people want to trap the city, it is impossible.

However, few of the appeasement and pacification envoys present were in favor. After Zhao Ying opened the gap from Qiyao Mountain, the direction of the troops could be directed at Zhongxiao, Jintong, Shi Nan, Sanmao, and even Datian, Tangya, etc., and they might not attack Shizhou Weisho. These places are where they have lived for generations, and they must not be abandoned, rather than following Deng Zongzhen to sit in the city of sorrow, it is better to go back to their own territory and defend their own defenses, even if they die in battle, they are worthy of their ancestors and ancestors.

Deng Zongzhen understands the local concept of the toasts, but without the help of these toasts, how can he resist Zhao Ying with the men and horses in his guard alone? Therefore, he tried every means to persuade him, and almost cried out, hoping to leave a few people of insight in the city, but his sincerity could not impress the toasts who put the interests of their own clan first. The scattered hair Xuanfu envoy frankly admitted that the headquarters had suffered heavy attrition, and left first with a gloomy face. After him, the Tusi left one after another, but in half a day, there were still more than 3,000 soldiers in the Shizhou Guard, and there were less than 2,000 left.

Shi Nan Xuanfu suffered the greatest losses in the Battle of Qiyao Mountain, and among the 2,000 men and horses who went to battle, only 1,000 people who retreated to Shizhou Wei could still fight. After lunch, everyone returned to their positions, and on the originally crowded and noisy hall, only Qin Fu and a few families such as Zhongxiao, Jintong, and Dongxiang Wulu who were attached to Shi Nan remained.

Deng Zongzhen pinned his last hope on him, and said cautiously: "Gong Qin, what do you think?" ”

Qin Fu's eyes were empty, he lost his former brilliance, and he didn't react when he listened to the question. Deng Zongzhen asked three times in a row before he turned his head. It can be seen that the defeat on the battlefield is good to say, and the loss of his beloved son hit him hard.

Deng Zongzhen comforted: "The people of Qin Zhangyinji have their own natural appearance, maybe they have broken through elsewhere, and they are now on their way." This was a mere consolation, and even he did not believe it.

Qin Fu smiled bitterly and shook his head, but did not respond. Deng Zongzhen noticed that in the middle of the day, Shi Nan Qin Gong, who was imposing and bright-eyed in the past, seemed to be more than ten years old, and his twilight was like a pool of stagnant water that had not flowed for many years.

Half sympathetic, half apprehensive, he asked the question again.

Qin Fu was bored for a long time, and finally spoke: "Commander, let me ask, what is the number of soldiers in the guard now?" ”

The two of them knew each other, Deng Zongzhen looked stunned, and said truthfully: "The right people know the same reward, and there are only about 1,900 soldiers in the city." ”

"The commander made the preface to fight according to the city, Zhao Ying may not be victorious, there were 3,000 people at that time, and now there are only less than 2,000, how can you defend the city?" He said to himself, ignoring how ugly Deng Zongzhen's expression was, "Besides, the stars of all departments are scattered, and there is no weather of concerted efforts in front of the head, the morale is falling more and more, and it is not the best policy to covet the gains and losses of one city and one place." ”

Shi Zhouwei commanded the envoy to be the head of the whole guard, and in Qin Fu's view, it became an insignificant stronghold, Deng Zongzhen was unhappy in his heart, but he recognized the situation in front of him and asked: "Then Qin Gong is also going to abandon the guard?" ”

Qin Fu closed his eyes, not allowing or refutating, it was time to acquiesce.

"In that case, please forgive me for not being able to sit here again." Deng Zongzhen was full of despair and rose up in his robe. Since he couldn't get Qin Fu's help, he didn't want to waste it. It's better to immediately start arranging the defense of the city. There are still more than 800 soldiers in the guard, and if you catch some people, beggars, and the like, you can still get together a thousand people. didn't rely on the city to fight, after all, he was unwilling.

"Command slowly." Deng Zongzhen just took two steps, and Qin Fu said in the back of his head.

"What advice does Gong Qin have?"

Qin Fu looked at him, sighed lightly, and stood up leisurely in his chair: "Commander, if you listen to me, Shizhou may not be a dead end." ”

In the past, Qin Fuxin was straightforward and resolute, and he never dragged his words into words, maybe the loss of his beloved son hit him too hard, or maybe the defeat of the army gave him too deep shadows, and now his words and deeds are a bit of a mother-in-law.

"It doesn't hurt for Gong Qin to say it directly."

Qin Fu stood with his hands in his hands and said, "It's true that all the walls of the city are guarded, but doesn't the commander hear the story of Xiang Nianchuan?" Zhao Ying's soldiers are like Pixiu, and they can even beat Tongdu Dayi like Jianzhou and Dazhou, how can Shizhou Acropolis be placed in the eyes of Zhao thieves? At this point, he observed Deng Zongzhen's color, saw that he was a little stunned, shook his head and said, "I know that the command is brave and not afraid of Zhao thieves." But if you think about it, what good is it in the city of death? There are not many officers and soldiers in Shizhou, and if you lose these hundreds of athletes in vain, you are not fighting thieves, but helping thieves! ”

The last sentence is really a heart-wrenching word, Deng Zongzhen was shocked, and repeatedly chewed this sentence in his mouth, "It's not to fight thieves, but to help thieves", the more he thought about it, the more he felt reasonable, and then thought of Qin Fu and said, "It may not be a dead end", a fire of hope suddenly burned in his heart, and he walked up and said: "If you are reckless, you will lose some public mentions, otherwise it will be a small matter to die in vain, and it will hurt Wei so that the whole state is a big matter." ”

Qin Fu had a rare smile on his face: "It's good that you can think like this." He smiled as he spoke, "I have a discussion, please consider it." ”

At the moment when Qin Fu said his proposal, Deng Zongzhen was speechless for a long time, thinking about it for a long time, weighing the interests and disadvantages of all parties, and finally there was no better way, so he nodded and agreed.

Because of the convenience of Zhonglu, Zhao Ying's first battle in Shizhou achieved the result of destroying more than 2,000 enemies, and the whole battalion rejoiced. At this time, the snow has been eliminated day by day, but the spring snow has not melted, and the officials and soldiers in central Sichuan heard that there have been several roads to Shunqing Mansion, but it will take time to chase here by trekking through mountains and rivers. What's more, Shizhouwei does not belong to Sichuan but to Huguang, Wang Weizhang finally sent Zhao Ying out of Sichuan, and it is still ambiguous whether he will send troops to pursue across provinces. In general, for at least a month or two, the situation is promising.

Zhao Dangshi did not want to give the officers and soldiers of Shizhou a chance to react to Bu Ce, so he divided his troops into two routes one day after the Battle of Qiyao Mountain, one way he and Hou Dagui led the middle camp and directly took the command of Shizhou Wei, and the other road was customary for Xu Hui to lead the front camp and attack Datian to the south.

There are three reasons why Shiju Health Office and Daejeon Thousand Households Office were chosen.

First, most of the upper and lower parts of Shizhou are mountainous, the land is barren, and it is not easy to raise grain. The two most fertile plots are in Shizhou Health Station and Datian Office. According to the information provided by Qin Qigong, more than 2,500 stones of grain were stored in Shizhou Health Office and more than 2,000 stones of Datian were stockpiled, which were not small amounts. Generally speaking, the salary of each person in the Ming army is three cents of silver, one liter of rice and five he, and a bunch of grass for horses, two cents of silver and three liters of beans. Zhao Dangshi paid attention to the nutrition of soldiers, perhaps not as good as the Ming army in terms of money, but the food was supplied as much as possible, and the daily share of individual soldiers in the Zhao battalion was two liters of grain. If you can get all the grain from the two places, it will be enough to support the consumption of 5,000 men and horses in Zhao Ying for nearly two months.

Second, in the entire Shizhou Guard, only the Shizhou Guard and the Daejeon Thousand Households have a city wall. Although Zhao Ying is strong, he is stationed at the boundary of Tusi, and it is difficult to guarantee that he will not be attacked by sneak attacks. If there is a city wall to protect it, the protection capacity will undoubtedly be greatly improved. If you fight with the city, even if the foreign officials and troops support, the Zhao battalion can also repeat the old tricks and defend the city.

Third, most of the people in Shizhou are natives, and there are not many Han people. First, because the land is barren, it is difficult to attract outsiders, and second, because the local people in various places have a deep clan concept, the phenomenon of xenophobia is extremely serious, especially for the Han people whose cultural customs are very different. It seems that Rong Mei, Tian Xuan, Tian Ganlin, father and son, are a minority after all. Zhao Ying was able to conquer the Tusi region, but he may not be able to easily manage and rule, in contrast, the proportion of Han people in Shizhou Weisuo and Datian Qianhusuo was relatively high, and it was relatively convenient to control.

The brilliant achievements of the local army alliance made Qin Qixun and Qin Jinxiao look down on Zhao Ying. Because he couldn't help openly, during this period, Zhonglu secretly sent Qin Qice to send maps of various places in the south of Shizhouwei, with these, plus the guidance of the local natives in the various armies, the whole situation of Shizhouwei was in the hands of Zhao Dangshi.

The front battalion and the middle battalion set off successively. Xu Hui took the front camp and set off early in the morning. This was the first time that Zhao Ying's army had been divided. When the number of people in the camp is large, they cannot go from place to place in a swarm as they used to. There are many mountain roads in Shizhou, which are not wide and difficult to travel, and 5,000 people go together, and the marching army column is bound to be very long, which is not only unfavorable to the command, but also seriously delays the speed. There are more than 2,000 people in the front camp and the middle camp, and they go separately, and the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. The new defeat of the Shizhou army makes it difficult to make a large-scale comeback in the short term, and 2,000 people on both sides are enough to cope with the situation. Moreover, Zhao Dangshi has strong confidence in Xu Hui's command ability. It is true that the ability to organize and command can be slowly improved the day after tomorrow, but some people are born with strong ability, and in Zhao Dangshi's eyes, with Xu Hui's current level, it is more than enough to command five or six thousand people.

The middle battalion set out in the evening, the soldiers went first, and the baggage team followed. Traveling dozens of miles at night, he approached the Shizhou Health Station at noon the next day. Shizhou Weishou is actually not small, there is a prototype in the Song Dynasty, based on the mountain, Hongwu 14 years rebuilt, "the northeast with the Qingjiang River, the south ring of the stream, five gates and four bridges, there are strange in the nine miles around the city", it is the stone city again, the highest place is three zhang five, the string of buildings, the police shop, the female wall are all prepared.

In this attack on the Shizhou Guard, Zhao Dangshi specially transferred a few cannons from the former battalion in case of emergency. I also knew that the terrain of the city wall was complex, the wall was high and thick, and I was ready to fight a tough battle, but when I arrived outside the city, I found that there was no defender in the city for a long time, and it was easy to enter.

Because Deng Zongzhen retreated too quickly, the residents in the city did not have time to escape, and most of them were still in the city. Everyone knows that the person who came is the giant who hit here in the middle of the river, and all of them are in danger, and their families are closed, secretly praying that they can avoid a sword disaster.

Zhao Dangshi crossed the horse into the city. In front of the main road in the city, there were five or six people kneeling, looking at their costumes, all dressed as Confucian scholars.

Zhao Dangshi adheres to the consistent style, not annoyed by a few people blocking the road, but jumps off the horse, personally helps up the person kneeling in front, and says: "Mr. is a Sven person, why bother to do this big gift." ”

The man was dressed in a green shirt and a scarf, about thirty years old, with a long body and a rather delicate appearance. After he stood up, several people behind him also stood up. I only heard him say: "Xiao Ke Liu Xiaohong, leading the representatives of all ethnic groups in the city, welcomes General Zhao into the city." The mouth is respectful, but the eyes are wandering, obviously unbelievable.

Shizhou Guard, the native people live outside, and the Han people live inside. Listening to what the self-proclaimed Liu Xiaohong said, it was actually the Han family in the city who came to welcome him, and Zhao Dangshi was very happy when he heard it at first glance.