Two hundred steps outside the east gate of Gucheng County, Zhao Dangshi immediately whipped and looked at the city. Hao Mingluan, the new lieutenant officer of Feijie's left battalion, came back from the city gate and said: "My lord, the generals on the left are all gutsless rats, and they shirk in every possible way, but they don't want to go out of the city. ”

This situation was expected by Zhao Dangshi, a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth, and said: "Let them go, the east is not bright and the west is bright, they are counting on Zuo Liangyu, but Zuo Liangyu can't count on others." Our army will go down to this valley city. As he spoke, he turned to Han Gon beside him, "Old Han, have you sent it?" ”

Han Gon replied solemnly: "Yang has joined the army. ”

Zhao Dangshi bowed his head, looked at the tightly closed east gate of Gucheng from afar, and was confident.

100 miles away, southwest of Shihua Street, Shen Ya.

From Fang County of Yunyang Mansion to the west of the mountain, first go to Qingfeng Town, Siping Township and then turn northeast through Shenya to Shihua Street. This was originally the main road connecting Fang County and Gucheng County, but now, Zuo Liangyu's army was unable to move an inch in Shenya.

For no other reason, the road ahead was blocked.

Shen Ya poor mountain and bad water, but there is a large fan temple is located in the territory of the Mupan Mountain, I heard that the temple is dedicated to the God of the West, good men and women are called by "church", it was founded in Chongzhen seven years, there is also a red-haired and blue-eyed fan person in the temple to preside. That person was proficient in Chinese, called himself "He Dahua", and stayed in Daming for more than ten years. I heard him say that because of the ban on foreign religion in the Ming Dynasty, it is difficult for God to gain a foothold in the big state city, so he can only come to this deserted place to settle down, Shen Ya is not well-known, but the scale of the church in the Ming Dynasty can really be called one of the best.

Zuo Liangyu sat sullenly on the steps of the church gate, and He Dahua kept chattering in his ears to persuade him to convert to God. He turned a deaf ear, and all he thought about was the word "out of the mountain".

There is only a narrow valley road between Siping Township and Shihua Street, and there is no fork in the road, and Shen Ya is in the middle of this road. The left and right cavalry battalions are highly mobile, open the road in front, and go to Gucheng in advance, and now in addition to the thousands of people in the inner middle camp are still behind the palace of Siping Township, a total of more than 5,000 people in the main barracks and the left assistant battalion are crowded in this small Shen Ya.

An officer walked behind the camphor tree in front of the church, Zuo Liangyu's eyes lit up, and he suddenly stood up, so He Dahua thought that his bitter heart had finally come to fruition, and he was relieved, but saw that Zuo Liangyu didn't pay attention to him, but went straight to the officer and asked, "Lao Zhang, is there a result?" ”

The officer was Zhang Yingyuan, the deputy general of the Zuo Xie's battalion, and shook his head and said sadly: "It's useless, the other side said, without General Zhao's personal order, even a bird doesn't want to fly over the Jiulian lantern." "The mountain pass at the end of Shen Ya Valley Road is the Nine Lights.

"Damn it......" Zuo Liangyu's voice popped out from between his teeth, but he lost the resentment he had at the beginning. From early morning to now, he has sent people back and forth to Jiulian Deng to negotiate seven or eight times, and every time he gets an answer, there is no difference, and the soldiers and horses of Zhao Ying, who are stationed there, have always refused to let Zuo Liangyu's soldiers pass.

"The hand surnamed Zhao is playing with the intention of trapping Lao Tzu in the mountains." Zuo Liangyu was half sad and half helpless.

Last night, he received a good news from Gao Jinku and Zhou Fengwu from the front, saying that Gucheng County and Chen Hongfan were all under control. After the victory in the first battle, he made up his mind, so he led the army to garrison Siping Township overnight, preparing to arrive in Gucheng County at noon today to arrange the next move. But there are unforeseen circumstances, earlier in the front army Zhang Yingyuan suddenly out of the mountain road has been Zhao battalion soldiers and horses to defend the death, he was shocked to personally rush to the front line to check, sure enough, the Jiulian Dengshan Pass up and down the garrison is heavily guarded, the garrison is afraid of no less than 2,000 people.

The combat effectiveness of Zhao Dangshi's army is famous Chu Yu, and the officers Qin Jinxiao and Li Yanlang are famous generals in the Zhao camp.

As soon as he had this thought, Zuo Liangyu seemed to be seen through by others, and his heart was a lot weaker at first. He led the army out of the mountain this time, but it was caused by the urgency of the grain and straw, and the idea was to take advantage of the Zhao camp to be caught off guard, kill him by surprise, seize the time to loot in the rich and prosperous northern Chubei and quickly withdraw to the old camp Xuzhou. It can not only nourish the military supplies, but also give Zhao Ying destruction, and when Zhao Dangshi asks about it, he can only prevaricate with the words "guest soldiers fight abroad, because of the local food".

Now, the situation has changed abruptly, and everything is in chaos.

"Have you ever found out about Gucheng?" Zuo Liangyu asked, he was extremely uneasy, and he wanted to know what happened to Gao and Zhou.

Zhang Yingyuan replied: "No, the people in Zhao Ying said that even a bird can't get by, but it can't get by." Our army privately sent a number of elite sentry horses to lurk across the mountain, but they were all captured by Zhao Ying's people. It can be seen that Zhao Ying is really prepared. ”

Zuo Liangyu put his hands behind his waist and paced back and forth anxiously. Zhao Ying's army that seized the Jiulian Lantern came too strangely, a mountain pass did not let his main force go out of the mountain, and the news blocked the information in the direction of Gucheng, even as an opponent, in addition to resentment, Zuo Liangyu couldn't help but secretly sigh at the ingenuity of the Zhao Ying officer.

Marching to fight a war requires learning, and it also requires talent. Improvising and turning decay into magic is one of the talents.

Zuo Liangyu claimed to be unexpected, taking the lead, and the forward occupied the city, and the rear advanced, even if Zhao Dangshi raised troops back to rescue the city, his own army could also obtain the advantage of being flanked on both sides in the field battle, and it could be said to be invincible. It's a pity that he couldn't have imagined that Zhao Ying could rush to Jiulian Lantern in one night, trapping all his main forces in the narrow mountains in one fell swoop.

If you can get out of the mountain pass, rely on the horse army in Gucheng to respond, and fight in the plains, why should you be afraid of Zhao Dangshi? Zuo Liangyu regretted it and regretted that he shouldn't have rested in Siping Township for that night. But it's too late to say anything now.

"Zuo Shuai, why don't we rush at the fuck?" Zhang Yingyuan looked viciously in the northeast direction and spat vigorously.

"No." Zuo Liangyu said a little frustratedly, "Our army took Gucheng without blood, and no one died, it was a good situation, the court asked, but just prepare some rhetoric to deal with it." With such a good start, the follow-up went to northern Chu to raise grain, and there was really a conflict, and it is expected that the first person to do it will be Zhao Ying, and he will be stabbed to the imperial court, and we still have a way to maneuver. The words changed at this time, "But if you attack the Nine Consecutive Lights at the moment, it is certain that our army will do it first, and then it will be a loss to raise food for the army." Even if we return to Henan smoothly, above the court, our army will no longer have the slightest reason to rely on, and it will fall into injustice. This is a stupid thing to gain a small profit but lose the big picture. ”

Zhang Yingyuan snorted and hung his hands silently. Zuo Liangyu's concern is on the one hand, on the other hand, the Zhao battalion resisted with dangerous strength, and his own army attacked strongly, and it was impossible to spread a formation in this mountain to give full play to the advantage of troops. Once the morale of the war is unfavorable and the morale falls, and the military rations run out, the consequences can be imagined.

"Why not reroute?" Zhang Yingyuan proposed again.

Zuo Liangyu said with a bitter face: "Without passing through the Nine Lights, our army can only return to Siping Township." The army was in short supply, and it was impossible to stay in Yunyang, so they could only find an outlet nearby to continue the march. From Siping Township to the south, you can go to Baokang County, but there has been exploited by officials and thieves countless times, and the poverty of the officials and the people is probably second to none in Yunyang Mansion, and it will never be able to stay...... Either continue south through the mountains to Yilingzhou, or east to Xiangyangfu. ”

"Yiling Prefecture ......" Zhang Yingyuan hesitated, "There are hundreds of miles of rugged mountain roads, and with our army's current grain and grass reserves, it will not be able to support it at that time!" ”

Zuo Liangyu snorted coldly: "It's good that you know." But if it is to the east, our army will not end well. Baokang County goes out of the mountain pass to the east and goes directly to the north of Nanzhang County. One step away from Xiangyang Fucheng, where the Zhao Ying army is deployed, it is no more free to come and go than the junction of Chu and Yu, once you fall in, you want to get out? Humph......"

Zhang Yingyuan was puzzled: "If you can't advance or retreat, can your army really just resign yourself to fate in this deep mountain and old forest?" "It's really paradoxical, no matter where the thousands of troops of our own army were originally placed, they were enough to look down on the crowd, where did I think that Zhao Ying only lightly and skillfully sent 2,000 soldiers to strangle a small mountain pass, which could make thousands of soldiers of the Zuo family, including himself and Zuo Liangyu, in a dilemma, and at a loss.

"This battle is a bad move for Lao Tzu!" Zuo Liangyu gritted his teeth secretly, his heart jumped to his feet, and his red face turned into a pig's liver for a while. Although he couldn't figure out the actual situation between Gao Jinku and Zhou Fengwu, it could be inferred from Zhao Ying's daring to ignore the Gucheng behind him to send troops to seize the Jiulian Lantern that Gao and Zhou Tu Ding had also lost the ability to come back and respond. The soldiers who surrender without a fight, this way is a tricky word in the book of war, who knows that one day it will really be staged. However, it is a pity that it is himself who has no choice but to give in.

Zuo Liangyu stood silently and fought with heaven and man for a long time, and finally convinced his heart with the saying "stay in the green mountains and don't be afraid of no firewood", and said with a calm face and a long breath: "Go and find the red-haired monk in the temple." ”

Zhang Yingyuan looked at the church standing abruptly and majestically in the middle of the distance suspiciously, and hesitated: "That...... What is Dahua? He Dahua, who was dressed in a white robe, said that Zuo Liangyu could not move, and was now going back and forth at the door of the church trying to persuade the soldiers on the left who were sitting or standing.

"That's it." Zuo Liangyu didn't have a good breath and said, "Find a middleman and go to Zhao Ying to talk." ”

Zhang Yingyuan immediately understood what Zuo Liangyu meant, it seemed that he was as arrogant as this Zuo Shuai, and now he had to lower his arrogant head.

Qin Jinxiao's golden sword and tiger stood at the commanding heights of the nine lights, looking down on the left army at the foot of the mountain. At first, he thought that even if he seized the lead, the unwilling Zuo Liangyu would come to fight, so he was ready for a fierce battle. But seeing that the sun rose from the east to Zhongtian, during this time, Zuo Liangyu's soldiers and horses entered and retreated, retreated and came, grinding and grinding, grinding and chirping, and for most of the day, a single arrow was not fired, and the most skilled thing was to send all kinds of people to fight.

On the battlefield, he made a quick decision, and according to Qin Jinxiao's past experience, Zuo Liangyu did not attack immediately, which can completely show that he has lost his fighting spirit.

"The left family army, strong on the outside and strong in the middle. Zuo Liangyu has its name. Qin Jinxiao gave a comment to the enemy on the other side. At this time, he had no worries, because the two points he had worried about before were no longer a problem - Zuo Liangyu did not dare to attack, and Zhao Dangshi tacitly cooperated with this operation.

The loss of Gucheng County was too sudden, and Qin Jinxiao was keenly aware that the real purpose of the Zuo family's army to occupy Gucheng was to advance the whole army into northern Chu, so at the moment of burning his eyebrows, he was able to stabilize his mind, see the crux of the problem and prescribe medicine. Gao Jinku and Zhou Fengwu are just pioneers, and the real big head is still behind. Qin Jinxiao thought that Zuo Liangyu himself would definitely go out of the mountain, so he agreed with Li Yanlang on a military plan to march in advance to Jiulian Lantern to set up defenses.

It's just that the time for the implementation of this plan is too urgent, and Qin Jinxiao knows that the fighter plane is fleeting, and he has no time to make this thought before Zhao Dangshi. He learned from Chen Hongfan's cronies that Chen Hongfan also sent people to Xiangyang Mansion to ask for help, and while urging the army to rush to Jiuliandeng, he temporarily sent Tangma to inform Zhao Dangshi of his decision.

Zhao Dangshi first met Chen Hongfan's cronies, similar to Qin Jinxiao, and he immediately ordered the left and right battalions of Feijie, which had the strongest mobility, to drive to Gucheng overnight, but on the way he ran into Qin Jinxiao's Tangma. In fact, he originally wanted to divide a battalion of horse troops to intercept the mountain road and block the mountain pass, but in this way, the 3,000 horse army that wanted to besiege Gucheng would inevitably be at a disadvantage. Qin Jinxiao's move was exactly what he wanted, so he gathered up two battalions of horsemen, abandoned his worries and went straight to Gucheng.

Qin Jinxiao and Li Yanlang guarded the Jiulian Lantern, and Zhao Dangshi's soldiers came to the city in the early morning, and at this time, the Zuo family army in the mountains and outside the mountains had just come back to their senses.

Victory or defeat is a matter of victory and defeat overnight.

Yang Zhaofeng, who was ordered from Gucheng, climbed to the commanding heights of the Nine Lights, and said to Qin Jinxiao: "The lord has stared at the county seat, Gao and Zhou dare not move, when I came, the Wuqi camp of the Hou command was on the way, and now it may have been joined with the main guild, and the overall situation of the county has been decided." ”

Qin Jinxiao smiled rarely: "The lord is wise, Zuo Liangyu will be a coward, don't worry." ”

Yang Zhaofeng said: "The lord asked me to negotiate peace with Zuo Liangyu. There are people from the imperial court on the left and right, and it won't do my battalion much good if I really tear my face. ”

While the two were still talking, Li Yanlang, who was in charge of specifically supervising the defense line, walked quickly to the front and said, "Zuo Liangyu has sent someone." ”

Qin Jinxiao jumped up from the rattan chair and said coldly: "If you come to talk nonsense about begging me to let him go, this time it is not easy to spare him, you need to whip someone, so that the surname Zuo knows that grandpa is not a good pastime!" Then he picked up his horsewhip and walked to the front to look.

Li Yanlang hurriedly said: "It's not ...... this time."

Halfway through speaking, the soldiers had already brought the person Zuo Liangyu had sent to negotiate. Looking at the past, there were two people, in front of him was a middle-aged man with red hair and blue eyes wearing a white robe, followed by a girl in Han costume. The girl was sixteen or seventeen years old, and her eyebrows were a little less exotic than the middle-aged Fanhan, but she still had a tall nose, bright eyes and bright teeth, and her appearance was slightly different from that of the Han people. With a bright smile, she was bouncing, and her lively posture was as dazzling as the daylight hanging high in the sky at the moment.