Less than 20 miles to the south of Ande City is the frozen Yellow River, an ancient river with a wide water surface and a turbulent current, but now it seems to be still, and what remains in the eyes of people is only a meandering, wide and smooth ice that shines in the sun. The whole river was frozen by the bitter winter temperatures. On the south bank of the river, there are 50,000 troops lurking in a dense yellow reed, waiting quietly for the night to come.

"Report to General ---, Chu, the little one has just returned from Ande City, there is no abnormality in Ande City, there are not many soldiers and horses, only 5,000 people, the guard general Wu Lie is lustful, and he will go to the concubine's house in the city every night to mess around." A villager dressed as a meticulous worker, under the leadership of the junior colonel of the Chinese army, came to the side of the senior general Chu De to report the latest situation of the Ande garrison.

"Okay, go down and rest. Ordered the whole army to lie in ambush, eat some dry food, and immediately cross the river after dark to attack the city of Ande. Chu De was overjoyed when he heard the news.

"General, there are already our army lurking soldiers in the city of Ande, and he and others will solve the city gate defenders tonight and open the city gate for our army. When our army saw three fires burning on the opposite bank, it was not too late to attack. The adjutant general reminded in a low voice.

"Okay, just wait for the three fires on the other side of the river, and the master and apprentice general will take 10,000 horses from his headquarters to immediately attack and seize Ande City, don't let the Jin army in the city react."

"Yes, General."

At the same time, the army of Jinan Prefecture on the other road, under the leadership of Tang Xian and Tang Long, was rushing to the direction of Liyang City in the heavy snow, and now it was less than 100 miles away from Liyang after Weinan.

"Mr. Xuan Sui, just passed from the bottom of the mountain, but Tang Bi's men and horses attacking Liyang City?" Yang Xuangan, who was lurking in Weinan Mountain, whispered to Li Mi, the military advisor beside him.

"It should be, the banner is the word "Tang", and the whole army passed under the mountain for more than an hour, not to mention 4 or 50,000 horses, who else would it be if it wasn't for the Tang Bi army? ”

"Mr. Xuan Sui, according to the agreement, our army will go to attack Neihuang, disperse the people who dig the ditch, and capture the two people who opened the ditch, Ma Shumou and Li Chun. It is only 200 miles away from Neihuang. It's getting late, so it's better to camp on this mountain first and leave tomorrow. ”

"Hmmm! It's according to Brother Xuangan's arrangement. However, our army is not in a hurry to rush to Neihuang, and it is not too late to wait for the Tangbi army to cross the river. It is best to wait for Tang Bi's general Chu De to capture Ande City, and then it is the time for our army to take Neihuangcheng. Li Mi suggested, patting the snowflakes on his head with his hand and tightening the placket of his neckline.

"What the gentleman said is very true. The order went down, set up camp on the spot, and lit a fire to make food. Yang Xuan, who was originally a little anxious, felt that what Li Mi said was reasonable, and felt more down-to-earth in his heart, so he ordered his subordinates to rest on the spot.

It was late at night. The city of Ande was silent, and only the military camp in the city was on alert.

"Pass the order, if the enemy army enters from the south gate, let the soldiers of Ande City fight in front, we don't have to resist, go out from the north gate, and abandon Ande." Wu Lie instructed several lieutenants in the tent.

"General, my main force has withdrawn, so won't these 2,000 soldiers in the city be slaughtered by the enemy?" A Chinese army flag officer general asked.

"We need to act according to General Wu's orders, besides, there are tens of thousands of people who sneak attack the enemy, and only these 3,000 cavalry in the hands of this general can't match him. 2,000 soldiers will surrender with a maximum of hundreds of casualties, and they will not die so much. Wu Lie said helplessly.

After listening to Wu Lie's explanation, the lieutenant flag officer didn't say anything more.

For Chu De, who was on the attacking side, tonight's sneak attack was very successful, and the small group of men and horses lurking in the city successfully solved the dozen or so guards of the south gate of Ander who were baking a bonfire in the cave of the city gate to avoid the snow. After opening the city gate, he lit a torch and shook it three times against the black wildness outside the city, and the Chude army, which had already been ambushed outside the city, poured into the city of Ande. The noise at the city gate still alarmed the soldiers patrolling the city, and after a burst of alarm gongs, hundreds of Ande soldiers rushed out of the barracks to resist the Jinan army rushing into the city at the south city gate. However, this resistance was completely futile, and after 300 of his own casualties, he was surrounded by the Jinan Army that rushed into the city and had to give up resistance and kneel down to surrender. More than 1,000 soldiers were disarmed and taken prisoner in their sleep.

At the moment of chaos at the city gate, Wu Lie took the 3,000 elite cavalry that had been prepared from the gate and fled to Wei City. The Jinan army was mostly infantry, and when they saw thousands of cavalry fleeing from the north gate, they had to watch and give up the pursuit.

Chu De led the Chinese army into the city, accepted the surrendered troops, and pacified the people of Ande City, then left the deputy general Shi Tuxu to lead 5,000 men and horses to garrison in Ande, and at the same time received the rear army into the city, and he immediately rushed to Pingma Town, 60 miles away, at night with his brigade.

Everything is like a reappearance of the scene, there are fewer defenders in Pingma Town, only 2,000 cavalry led by Wu Tianxi's deputy general He Lun and 1,000 soldiers in the original city are stationed. At the dawn of the day, the soldiers on duty at the head of the city saw the black-pressed Jinan army appearing in the distant snow line. After informing He Lun, the general who defended the city, he and He Lun's 2000 cavalry directly abandoned Pingma Town and went straight to Wei City behind. An empty city was left for Chu De's Jinan army, which came from afar at night.

The two cities were won without blood overnight, and Chu De was excited, and sent a letter of good news to Jinan Mansion. After resting for a day in Pingma City, he raised troops and forced Wei Cheng to go.

At this time, Wu Tianxi, the defender of Wei City, was already ready, and more than a dozen deputy generals and 20,000 elites went to the city. These more than a dozen deputy generals are all from Luzhou Wutang Han Baohumen, among which there are many wise and brave people, among them, the most outstanding one of the deputy generals surnamed Su Minglie, the word Dingfang, originally from Wuyi County, Jizhou, is only 18 years old this year, and the military rank is the captain of the Jin Army. The rest of the generals are also in the rank of captain, and they all have outstanding points. With such a new force to help defend the city, Wu Tianxi is even more fearless and full of confidence. In order to ensure the important town of Weicheng in Jizhou, Yu Wenhua also used all kinds of resources in his hands, and all the dozen or so young generals who were originally assigned to his subordinates were transferred to Wu Tianxi's subordinates as the deputy general of Weicheng.

"Humph! Just 100,000 horses want to capture my Wei City, it's just a fool's dream, and the old man of Tangbi doesn't know what he thinks? Wu Tianxi stood on the city gate tower, looked into the distance, and said with a sneer to the young heroes beside him, although the current strength is 1:5, it can be described as quite a huge disparity.

"General, according to a certain general, these 100,000 foot soldiers came to send them to death, and this big meal depends on how our army can eat cleanly. Don't say that the 15 days of the city demanded by the lord are not lost, and with my existing 20,000 elite cavalry, I can defeat the invading enemy in 3 days. Su Dingfang said softly on the side, and the other lieutenants around him were also fearless, nodding their heads with a relaxed face.

"Huh! The lord has an order, and my Weicheng army and horses are not allowed to go out of the city to attack the enemy without the order, but on the contrary, they must try to drag the enemy army, so don't let him run. How to eat the big meal in front of you, only listen to the arrangement of the lord. Wu Tianxi emphasized loudly, but also to suppress the arrogance of this group of tigers.

"General, it's better to let the last general go to face a battle first, so as to pick off a few of his generals."

"Shut up! Ben will say it again, and those who do not have the command to fight again will be immediately killed. After that, Wu Tianxi didn't care about the group of young generals who were still stunned in the city, and went down to the city by himself, leaving the generals to talk about it.

Let's not talk about the generals of Weicheng, but Lu Zhaolin was ordered to lead the two generals to Hu'er and Luo Cheng to lead 3,000 Baima Yi soldiers to Neihuang for reinforcements overnight.

Although, after two days and one night, the 3,000 White Horse Righteous soldiers did not have the slightest resentment on their faces, on the contrary, everyone had a strong fighting spirit in their eyes. This is the temperament of a victorious army.

Because, Lu Zhaolin was all cavalry and traveled all night, which was at least a day earlier than Yang Xuangan's infantry army who attacked Inner Yellow City. After arriving, after settling the soldiers and resting, Lu Zhaolin led the way, and General Luo Er rushed to the temporary marshal's mansion to meet He Ruobi, the Duke of Song Guo, who was sitting here to open the canal.

Different from the anxious look on Lu Zhaolin's face, He Ruobi was now completely relaxed, without any sense of urgency that a big war was imminent, and even Jiao Fang and Wu Kui, two of his subordinates in the Shuaifu, were surprised that Lu Zhaolin hurriedly came to the place where the Inner Yellow Canal was opened. Especially when he brought his father-in-law's closest future protector to come over.

"Huh! Old Guogong, the lower officials have come to disturb Guogong. In front of He Ruobi, Lu Zhaolin was just a junior, so he didn't dare to be disrespectful, so he stepped forward and said with a smile.

"What are you doing here? There is no shortage of people here! He Ruobi stroked the silver beard and quipped with a smile.

"Huh! Lao Guogong, there are only 5,000 soldiers here to guard the canal, and there will be no more than Jiao and Wu, so why not lack people? Even if you add the 3,000 people brought by the lower officials, it is not more than 10,000. However, the enemy's generals are tens of thousands, at least. ”

"Oh? What did Lord Lu say about this? He Ruobi was taken aback when he heard this, and the second general Jiao Wu beside him also widened his eyes with a look of disbelief.

"Today, Yang Xuangan and Zhu Deng rebelled in Caozhou Red Peach Mountain, and if they want to gain the support of the Central Plains scholars, they will inevitably block the opening of canals in the east of the river, and do what Jinan, Luoyang and other gate valve towns dare not do. His Royal Highness the King of Jin expects that his first battle will inevitably attack Neihuangcheng, and this is my command center for opening canals! Lu Zhaolin explained with a smile.

"Oh? Yang Xuan felt that the child was reversed? If the saint knows, he should punish Yang Suman. In this case, I have less than 10,000 troops and horses here, how can I resist Yang Xuangan's rebellious army? It is better to urgently transfer Liyang City Wu Yun to summon people and horses to help. He Ruobi was shocked and worried after hearing Lu Zhaolin's words.

"Don't worry, listen to the words of the officials first. Now, in order to recapture Weicheng and Liyang, King Tangbi of Jinan has taken advantage of the freezing of the Yellow River to send troops to capture the second city, and there are no reinforcements to help in both places. Please Jiao and Wu Er will immediately send a probe horse to the south to explore, and when it is not more than a hundred miles, you can find out the information of Yang Xuangan's rebels. ”

"Yes, my lord, the two of us will personally lead the troops out to explore a hundred miles." After Jiao Fang and Wu Kui finished speaking, they hurriedly left the house after giving up their hands to the two.

"Old Guogong, please go to the construction site with the lower officials, and the lower officials have their own plans." Lu Zhaolin got up and stretched out his hand to invite this He Ruobi, Lao He looked puzzled, so he had to get up and go to the canal construction site not far away with Lu Zhaolin.

Soon, the group walked to the construction site of a fiery canal. From afar, I saw the yellow balloon rising in the middle of the construction site. Lu Zhaolin, Lai Hu'er, Luo Cheng and others had never seen this kind of spectacle, and looked at the divine object floating in mid-air with a demented look.

"Have you ever seen the man in the basket under the thing above? Hehe! Master Ma and Master Li Chun are commanding from above! Master Ma said to the old man what kind of "hot air balloon" the hanging artifact was, and the old man didn't understand it at first, he said that it was the common "Kong Ming lantern" among the people, but this "Kong Ming lantern" was bigger. Looking at Lu Zhaolin and the others with a bewildered face, He Ruobi couldn't help laughing and explained to everyone.

"Oh! This Ma Da fruit is extraordinary! Ask the old man to let the two of them come down and talk first. Lu Zhaolin suddenly realized after listening to the explanation, and couldn't help laughing. Who would have thought that a super-large Kong Ming lantern would be able to carry people? On this snowy day, he didn't feel the cold on it?

After a while, Ma Shumou and Li Chun came to everyone, and then walked into the headquarters tent on the construction site together, which was hot and steaming.

"Master Ma, I'm afraid this construction site will be suspended for a few days, and Yang Xuangan's rebellion will lead the troops to attack."

"Huh? Yang Xuangan really rebelled? The timing is wrong, isn't it? Uncle Ma blurted out questioning. I don't realize that my words are easy to make people suspicious.

"Ma-sama, what did you say? What time is wrong? He Ruobi asked Uncle Ma with a strange expression.

"This --- hehe! I've heard my brother say that it is not advisable to use troops in winter, so I think it should be after the beginning of spring. Uncle Ma reacted that he accidentally said something, and hurriedly said it for himself.

"Huh! There is no impermanence in the form of soldiers, there is no normalcy in the water, everything is possible. He Ruobi preached to Ma Shumou. Ma Shumou only smirked when he heard this, nodded his head, and didn't dare to talk nonsense.

After everyone sat down, Lu Zhaolin asked straight to the point: "The enemy army is coming, there are less than 10,000 defenders here, Xiaguan will let you stop working here for a few days, and Xiaguan will select 100,000 strong men to be the people's army in the construction of canals and people's strength, how about resisting the invading place together?" Lu Zhaolin looked at Ma Shumou and said.

"Sir, I'll take a holiday for a few days, it's okay. It's just that there is no one like such migrant workers who is willing to act as a militia temporarily, I can't say! Uncle Ma replied.

"It's okay, please ask Lao Guogong to ascend to the heights, and there will be more than 100,000 responders." After that, Lu Zhaolin looked at He Ruobi, who was sitting upright in the middle.

He Ruobi was stunned when he heard this, and even the hand stroking the silver beard paused. Only a moment later, I heard He Ruobi look up to the sky and laugh: "Hehehe! Lord Lu, what a means! The old man raised his arms and shouted, how many 100,000 male soldiers! It's up to you. He Ruobi smiled, got up and walked out of the account. The crowd hurriedly followed.

"Master Ma, please follow the old man to the --- and --- to the sky, I saw you go up many times, you had a good time, the old man is the first time to sit on this artifact today."

"I told you to go up to play a long time ago, but you always cherish your life and don't dare to go up. It's safe, get on! When he came to the hot air balloon hanging basket in front of him, Ma Shumou personally opened the hanging basket door and made a letter of invitation to let He Ruobi board the basket.

In full view of everyone, the hot air balloon carrying the two slowly rose into the air. Everyone in the underground was shocked, no one could have imagined that people could rise to the sky like this?