Everyone didn't say anything, Zhao Shi, Ma Mian, Yu Zhilong, Wu Side, and Hou Ying got up one after another, picked up their respective weapons, and arrived at the ancestral hall hall one after another. It is said to be a hall, but it is just a large ancestral hall in the village, because it is large enough to gather nearly a hundred people to hold a worship ceremony.

The big boss is what everyone calls "bigger than the head", and he is also surnamed Yu, whose name is Yu Hai, and he is more than forty years old. Because he is the eldest brother of the team, gradually everyone calls him "bigger than the head", Yu Zhilong is only eighteen years old, quite witty, because of his young age, everyone gradually calls him "less than the head", and some people who are closer are called "Yu Xiaoge". The pock-faced Ma Yunlong, Wu Side, and Hou Ying are all the brand leaders of the scout team, and they can also be listed.

There is a large table in the middle of the hall, Yu Hai is now sitting at the table in the middle of the hall, facing the door of the hall to the south, there are already many leaders sitting on the left and right, and the low position naturally stands on the outermost. Gradually, more than 60 people gathered in the hall, everyone sat or stood. Yu Hai coughed, stood up and said loudly: "Everyone, now that everyone has arrived, let's start the discussion." ”

"First of all, please tell me about the news I found today." Yu Hai continued.

A big man with a yellow turban stood up, mainly talking about what Yu Zhilong heard in the wing room just now, and finally said: "Everyone, we don't have much time, now the officers and troops in the north, east, and west are no more than a hundred miles away from us, and it only takes a day and a half for the forward attack to arrive; Ye Zhicheng in the south has been accumulating strength, they are the strongest, sooner or later they will go north and drive us to the south bank of the Qingshui River. ”

Yu Zhilong took a closer look at the leader of Liu who spoke, this leader Liu took the position of a thousand households in the front team, the big name Liu Zhengfeng, he worked carefully, bold, good kung fu, and he played as a striker many times, and he turned danger into a disaster, and it was rare to be able to reasonably dispatch people and horses, be good at taking advantage of the location, and reduce the casualties of his subordinates. When encountering the official army, Liu Zhengfeng often charged ahead, if it were not for him, it is estimated that the losses in the early battle would have to increase a lot. In the more than a year of mobile campaigns, Liu Zhengfeng played a prominent role and was Yu Hai's right-hand man.

"Daddy, we are now concentrating on defeating Meng Jiaxun first, going north from Qingshui River and going to Zichuan, where it is densely populated and there are relatively few officers and soldiers, just to recuperate and develop!" A young man sitting next to Yu Hai said quickly. As soon as everyone heard it, they knew that it was Yu Hai's only son, Yu Shichang.

Yu Shichang fought bravely, once he started fighting, he was enthusiastic, because he was Yu Hai's son, he was a little arrogant, and now the front team was a hundred households, under the command of Liu Zhengfeng. Because Yu Zhilong has performed well recently, and both of them are young people, Yu Shichang has a lot of thoughts to compete with Yu Zhilong.

"No, Meng Jiaxun is not Meng Jiashan, Meng Jiashan is impatient and irritable, last time he was eager to grab credit, he went out alone, disconnected from Meng Jiaxun, and was ambushed by us. Meng Jiaxun is cunning, often if he doesn't see a rabbit or an eagle, he didn't take the initiative to rescue his third brother last time, and he may not have the idea of borrowing a knife to kill people. This old thief Meng is old, and his four sons all want to be on the throne, don't look at the people in front of them are all like a father and a son, and they eat each other dog-eat-dog behind their backs, and they can't wait for each other to die. Moreover, Meng Jiaxun's strength is relatively strong, the forward already has 600 people, and the follow-up brigade is about 2,000 people, which is not yet something we can touch. At this time, Qin Zhanshan, a thousand households on the right team, was the first to oppose the speech.

Liu Qidao, a thousand households in the left team: "I still think that going south, trying to bypass Ye Zhicheng, and going south to vote for Fang Guozhen or Zhang Shicheng, they are powerful, I heard that there are hundreds of thousands of people and horses, and they occupy many county government offices, and the officials and soldiers are helpless." ”

"Fang Guozhen and Zhang Shicheng are just salt dealers and fishermen, what are the benefits? If you want to vote, it is best to vote for Liu Futong, and it is said that people are the first Song dragon veins, and they have the qi of the true dragon emperor. "Another suggestion was made.

Zhao Shi and Yu Zhilong, Xiucai Qian Zheng, Wu Side, etc. all belong to the scout team, Zhao Shi is a hundred households, known as prestige in the team, and the scout team is the essence of the combat effectiveness of this army, so Zhao Shi's actual status can be compared with each thousand households. Zhao Shi glanced at Yu Zhilong first and said, "Now that the official army has pressed up around us, the top priority is to jump out of this circle as soon as possible, so as not to be wrapped in dumplings." Zhao Shi paused, and then said, "We were discussing this matter just now, and everyone wanted to hear what Brother Yu thought. ”

"Oh, what do you think?" Yu Hai turned his head to Yu Zhilong and said.

Yu Zhilong hurriedly stood up, arched his hands at Yu Hai, saluted, and said: "Big leader, I think Meng Jiaxun has basically achieved his goal, Meng Jiashan's strength has been damaged, and he has lost face in front of his father, and now he is shrinking near the Qingshui River, and it will be impossible to threaten us for a while; Meng Jiaxun only needs to block our way north, which is the credit of the steady victory, so he will never let us cross the Qingshui River. If we go north, we are likely to have a hard time with him. ”

"Ye Zhicheng's official army is the strongest, and now it has basically been assembled, in order to grab credit, get promoted and make a fortune, their actions must be the largest, so going south is not a good place." Yu Zhilong continued.

"The men and horses of Yidu Road have fought with us several times, and we are more familiar with their combat effectiveness, and after they suffered several losses, their desire to fight with us is the lowest, and now they are still shrinking behind Meng Lao Thief. In contrast, the official army in Lushan in the west was stronger, and the county government in Zichuan was relatively close to them, and the reinforcements were fast, and even if they were defeated, they would soon be able to recover their strength. In particular, Zichuan is located on the main road from north to south and east to west, and many of the officials and soldiers who went south to Zhejiang and the grain and grass went to Zichuan, if we went there, it was very likely to stimulate the local government, and once they felt that the government was threatened, they were likely to ask the imperial court for help. The officers and troops who are heading south may divide their forces and turn around to attack us first, and then the situation will be even worse. ”

"So we can only go east." A small boss in his forties said.

"Yes! We defeated the Yidu army, jumped out before they were encircled, and now we can't stay near Yidu, to the east, we go to Laizhou, and even Dengzhou. Yu Zhilong said firmly.

"If there is no team to echo in the east, won't we be alone when we go east?" Yu Shichang immediately asked rhetorically. "If we go south or west, Zhang Shicheng and Liu Futong can pick it up!"

"Now the military horses of the capital are constantly moving south, which shows that the situation there is very tense Zhang Shicheng, and it is too risky to rush south before the victory is divided!" Yu Zhilong disagreed.

"If you go west now, you have to cross Jinan Road, Dongping Road, Jining Road, etc., to meet Liu Futong. Jinan Road and Jining Road are the only way for the officers and troops to go south, and now there are many officers and soldiers on the road, the road is convenient, and the strength of the rebel army formed by the local clans is relatively strong. At present, the southern part of the belly, Henan and Jiangbei provinces, and Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces are the areas with the most fierce fighting, and I heard that Liu Futong and the others have suffered several major defeats, and it is still unknown whether they will be able to win in the future. If you lose, the consequences are unpredictable. Yu Zhilong said slowly, carefully sorting out his thoughts.

"If you go east, Laizhou and Dengzhou have large populations, mountains and land, the terrain must be complicated, and the power of the government is relatively weak. If troops are transferred from the vicinity of Dadu, the labor expedition will not last. And at present, the attention of the Tartar court is more focused on Zhang Shicheng and Liu Futong in the south, so if the officers and soldiers come to suppress it, Yidu Road is the most likely to send troops, but we are most familiar with them, as long as they gain a foothold in Laizhou and Dengzhou, we can plan the next step. ”

When Liu Futong in the 11th year of the Yingzhou uprising, has so far defeated the Yuan court sent by the Heguo, Bal Chi and also the first Timur army, continue to occupy the state and seize the county, the momentum is huge, the later uprising of the rebel army is far away to worship it as the co-master, respected as the marshal.

"I think it's better to fight here, as long as I find an opportunity to win the battle, I will rush out from where there is an opening." There was a leader in the Dao. The rest of the leaders had different opinions, some were in favor of going south, some were in favor of going east, and some were in favor of going north first, then turning west, and converging with Liu Futong, etc., and the scene was divided for a while.

"Everyone, time waits for no one, and now the officers and soldiers from all walks of life have pressed up, and it will be too late if they don't decide the direction. Everyone already understands the situation, I think it is better to go north first, at least to break through the defense line of Meng Lao Thief before making a decision. Yu Hai listened to everyone for a while, and finally stood up and said.

"Now except for the rebel army of Meng Lao Thief in the north, the other directions are all officers and soldiers, they are well equipped, their morale is high, and they are supervised by Dalu Huachi, and they are full of fighting energy; As I said just now, the Meng family's righteous army is divided into several roads, and the brothers are not aligned, and there must be many loopholes in cooperation. Heading north, I think the odds are better, what do you think? ”

"Then fight Meng Lao Thief, we will listen to the big leader!" In the past, every time this rebel army was encircled, it was to seize the opportunity to quickly break through and flee quickly, which led the officers and troops to run around, tired of coping, and often there were loopholes in the defense.

Eventually, the officials and soldiers realized that there was a problem with their coordination, and in March, the imperial court sent a member of the Zhongyi Doctor from Dadu to the Yidu Road Governance Office to supervise the overall situation. Therefore, in this month, the rebel army obviously felt the pressure increased, and there were more and more officers and troops around, and they had just broken through the first layer of encirclement and suppression, and soon the second line of encirclement and suppression came.

The other chiefs were unable to form a majority because of their disagreements, and finally agreed. In the more than a year of warfare, the rebel army continued to eliminate the weak and the strong, and those who had two hearts and were not firm in their will basically left the team in the early stage of the campaign, or turned into dry bones on the battlefield, leaving behind those who were more determined and more skilled in bows and horses. Although some people have different ideas, at least they can still form a group at the moment, so as not to fight for power and profit, and the swords and soldiers will meet each other, resulting in the division of the team.

"Alright, let's go back and get ready now, and we'll leave tomorrow. Tanma reported that the Meng thief had just arrived at the Qingshui River, and the terrain of the Tiger Hill in the west of the river was complex, with many dense forests, and the road was dangerous, and the men and horses of the Meng thief had not completely blocked the Qingshui River. After crossing Tiger Hill, we went straight to Xiaoqing River, and after crossing the river secretly, we bypassed the follow-up Meng Lao Thief Brigade as much as possible, and then decided where to go after getting rid of the officers and soldiers. ”

Yu Hai continued: "Brother Zhao, the scout team will set off tonight, and they must find out whether there are any changes in the official and military banners near Tiger Hill, as well as the areas where the Meng thieves and horses are mainly scattered. Be careful not to take them lightly, lest you alarm them. ”

Yu Zhilong frowned slightly, stood up with everyone and arched his hand at Yu Hai, and followed Zhao Shi out of the hall. Halfway through, Zhao Shi saw that his face was worried, and said, "Less than a head, are you not optimistic about the plan to go north?" ”