After more than three months of recruitment, training, and screening, the officers and men of the Red Turban Army took on a new look. According to Shi Junshi's suggestion, those who dragged their families with their families, were weak and sick, and those who had been screened out for training were all divided into cultivated land for resettlement. Originally, less than 50,000 of the 100,000 troops that could really be put into battle, but now the 100,000 troops can be sent to the battlefield with 100,000 horses. The current situation faced by the Red Turban Army is that it is far from enough to divide up all the allotted land in the jurisdiction of Fu'an County, and it is urgent to expand its territory to accommodate more army defectors.

As a result, everyone's eyes invariably turned to the entire prefecture and county. In the following month, the Red Turban army was divided into three routes, led by Liu Qian, Ruan Wu, and Tang Wannian, to conquer the nearby Ping'an County, Yong'an County, and Xin'an County one after another, and the troops pointed directly at Pingzhou City, the seat of the county capital---

In the lobby of the county government, Li Hongchang's eyebrows were tightly locked, and he was at a loss in the face of urgent letters from all over the country covered with books. After returning from the capital, he has been worried that he will be implicated in the affairs of his father-in-law, and several months have passed, but he has not received the holy decree, so he put his heart back in his stomach and concentrated on dealing with the red turban bandits. However, considering the limited number of government soldiers, it is still doubtful whether they can protect themselves, and if they want to fight fires everywhere, they can only feel that they are unable to do anything.

"Report to the county government, someone outside the mansion asks to see you!" The old butler's words interrupted Li Hongchang's contemplation.

"Who?"

"Lord Hui, the person who came was dressed in military uniform, saying that he was ordered by the military department to come to assist the county government to suppress bandits."

"Oh? The imperial court has finally made up its mind to make a move?! Invite him in. Li Hongchang stood up happily, as if he saw the sunshine of hope from a thick fog, and paced back and forth with his hands behind his back.

"The last general, Xiao Chenggui, meets the lord of the county government!" The person who came was in his early thirties, his face was red and black, his physique was strong, he was dusty, and his body revealed a calm and capable body that had been on the battlefield for a long time.

"General Xiao invited, and the imperial court sent Wang Shi to come to eradicate the bandits, and Li was very pleased. However, why haven't I received a letter from the Ministry of War? Who is the commander of the army? ”

Xiao Chenggui replied with a slight smile: "The Holy Lord received an urgent report from Lord Li and the county governments, and Long Yan was furious. Ma Yu, the general of the hussar battalion, commanded 100,000 troops, and traveled in the starry night, according to which there were still two days' journey here. Xiao Mou came to make a front stop, and I also brought a letter from the Ministry of War. ”

Li Junshou couldn't help but blush when he heard this, stretched out his hand to take the document submitted by Xiao Chenggui, and hurriedly covered it up: "General Ma Yu is famous, Li Mou has heard of it for a long time, three years ago, he led me to break the army of 200,000 barbarians. With him in charge, the red scarves are in chaos! Pingzhou City is safe! ”

Guan Yu's troops have always been mixed with Zhai Longbiao and Liu Qian's men, and the reason why he was not allowed to command the troops alone was that he had some self-knowledge: his position was too low and his qualifications were too shallow. Therefore, the state of mind is quite peaceful. As for every high-level military meeting, he is dragged to participate, and he also knows that firstly, this is the eldest brother and the second brother who really regard him as their own, and secondly, the two elder brothers have the intention of supporting and cultivating him.

Stepping into the big tent of the Chinese army, the generals have already gathered. I could only hear the third brother Ruan Wu's loud voice shouting indignantly: "What's the matter with the fifth brother? It has long been agreed that the three armies will gather under the city of Pingzhou and work together to attack the city. But he took the lead in attacking himself, didn't he take a few brothers in his eyes and didn't even listen to his eldest brother's words?! ”

Liu Qian was not angry, but smiled with a red face. The last few battles have been fought smoothly, and he has conquered three county towns, and the entire county government is just around the corner, and his mood is unusually happy, so he not only has no sense of blame for the behavior of the fifth brother, but has a little appreciation.

Shi Tiangong showed displeasure on his face, habitually stroked his long beard, and said in a low voice: "The fifth brother is young and vigorous, greedy for merit, so it's easy to suffer!" ”。

Zhai Longbiao waved his hand and said, "Fuck it, we have to take Pingzhou sooner or later anyway, since the fifth brother is one step ahead, then what are we waiting for?" Send troops to attack immediately, so you can help him! ”。

Shi Tiangong shook his head and retorted: "Although our army has won three battles and three victories, the soldiers are tired and need a short rest. Labor expedition, a taboo for soldiers! ”。

Liu Qian stood up, raised his arms with a smile and pressed down weakly, stopping everyone's argument. opened his mouth and said: "The second brother doesn't need to worry too much, the so-called one is vigorous, then declines, and three is exhausted." Our army with the remnants of consecutive victories, it is not too late to take Pingzhou City and rest! The spies have already reported that there are only more than 40,000 frightened soldiers in Pingzhou City, and they can't play any tricks! Brothers, go back immediately, prepare the troops and horses of the institute and prepare to set off immediately, and together they will kill the city of Pingzhou, set foot in Pingfu County, and sweep Pingzhou! ”

Shi Junshi hesitated for a moment, and it was not easy to say anything, so he clasped his fists together with the generals and said, "Obey the general's orders!" ”。

Under the city of Pingzhou, the smoke of gunpowder was filled, and the sound of killing shook the sky. Seeing that a row of cloud ladders was pushed down by the government soldiers on the city tower, and the brothers who climbed the cloud ladders screamed and fell, Tang Wannian's fair and thin face protruded, and he scolded: "Damn, it seems that this state capital Jiancheng is indeed much more difficult to attack than the county seat!" ”。 One of the generals beside him said loudly: "Fifth Master, why don't we wait for the leader to lead the team to arrive before attacking the city, the loss will be too great if we continue to fight like this!" Tang Wannian waved his hand with a blushing face: "Fart!" Lao Tzu is going to grab this to win the first credit of Pingzhou! Tell the brothers to work harder, take Pingzhou City, have meat to eat, drink wine, and a lot of women to play casually! ”。

Before the words fell, a scout ran to the front in a panic and shouted: "Report to the fifth master, I found countless government reinforcements fifty miles away, and they are rushing to this side!" Tang Wannian said angrily: "Grandma's, you can't learn how many times you teach it!" How many people are counted? Where are the reinforcements? The scout said with a red face: "It's too far away to see clearly, it's just that the flag covers the sky and the sun, and the direction of the killing should come from the capital!" ”

The general hurriedly persuaded: "Fifth master, the one who came is not good!" Let's withdraw our troops first! Don't get dumplings! ”。

Tang Wannian gritted his steel teeth hatefully, glanced at the back of the team, and said in a deep voice: "Mingjin withdraws the troops!" The infantry retreated first, and the bow and crossbow battalions and cavalry battalions were cut off. Pay attention to order and don't let the soldiers in the city find out about the abnormality. Once there are pursuers, kill them on the spot, so that they have no return! ”

Looking at the Red Turban Army that suddenly retreated slowly, the officers and soldiers on the city tower couldn't help but breathe a long sigh of relief. A short and fat general with a thick beard turned to the herald and said, "Go and report to the county government, and say that the red turban bandits have been defeated by me, and the city of Pingzhou is as stable as Mount Tai, so let the adults relax their minds." The herald took the order and left, and a tall and thin commander beside him approached and said, "My lord, the bandits have been defeated, should we open the city gate to chase and kill, so as to please the head?" ”。

When the short and fat general heard this, he immediately blew his beard and glared, twisted his neck and scolded: "Chase-chase-chase your mother's big feet!" Are you blind? Didn't you see the back team of the thief army change to the front team, and the retreat was orderly?! If you don't like to die, you hit the wall yourself, don't bother Lao Tzu and the brothers! The Commander snorted and stepped aside.

The team had withdrawn ten miles away from Pingzhou City, Tang Wannian grabbed the reins of his horse and asked, "Is there a Pingzhou government soldier behind our army to pursue?" A war horse quickly ran from behind him, and the person on the horse saluted: "Back to the fifth master, our army has withdrawn, and the four gates of Pingzhou City have always been closed, and no government soldiers dare to go out of the city to pursue."

Tang Wannian nodded with relief, secretly relieved, and suddenly heard a commotion behind the team, and the rumbling sound of the galloping horse's hooves hitting the road violently in the distance was heard in his ears.

"The whole army stopped and turned around, and prepared to meet the enemy!" Tang Wannian shouted angrily as he took off the long knife hanging from his horse. The failure to quickly take Pingzhou City had already annoyed him, and now the officials and soldiers who had disturbed his good things dared to gallop after him, which made him even more angry. He hated in his heart and said: Today, your Fifth Master Tang is going to kill on a large scale, so that you can see the power of the long knife in my hand!

The pursuit was full of cavalry, and the dark green banner of the Chinese army fluttering in the wind was embroidered with a big word "horse". On top of a sturdy white horse sat an imposing middle-aged general, who was squinting his phoenix eyes slightly, and nodding slightly while twisting his beard to observe the enemy formation.

After a while, he turned his face to Xiao Chenggui beside him and said, "The thief army retreats without chaos, and the formation is orderly, so don't underestimate it too much." This road bandit must not be regarded as a rabble! No wonder you can conquer my three cities! Xiao Chenggui's black and red face showed a trace of contempt, and he snorted coldly: "We are not incompetent defenders of the prefecture and county, today it fell into our hands, even if their ancestors did not accumulate virtue, I will send them back to their hometown!" When General Fengyan heard this, he looked up to the sky and laughed, waved his hand and said, "Go!" Fight the majesty of my hussar battalion. Let those thieves who can survive by luck be terrified, even if they die in the next life, they will not dare to rebel again! ”。

"The last will be ordered!" Xiao Chenggui's black and red face burst out with excitement, and he casually picked up the lance hanging on the saddle bridge and raised it above his head. "Woo---woowoo" The low horn sound rose to the sky, tens of thousands of lineups were purged, and the officers and cavalry in black gold armor attacked at the same time in three directions, and the war horses roared and rolled up the dust and smoke, just like three deadly blades, pointing directly at the Red Turban Army and stabbing at it.

"The cavalry battalion is divided into left and right flanks to resist the incoming enemy, and the rear team of the Chinese army uses siege artillery to bombard the cavalry in front of me, and when they get closer, the bow and crossbow battalion aim at me and shoot to the death! When they rushed in front of them, the spearmen went up and stabbed them on their backs! Tang Wannian calmly issued the order, and the herald waved colorful flags and notified all parties in flags.

"Boom--- boom", the rumbling cannon sounded, and thick smoke rose from the ranks of the officers and cavalry of the first phalanx in front, and the stumps of several war horses rolled in the air along with their owners. But the living centaurs were unmoved, and continued to rush forward without slowing down, and soon entered the range of the crossbow arrows.

The five thousand crossbows of the Red Turban Army fired a volley of bows and arrows like flying locusts. Another hundred and ten people in the hussar battalion were planted on their horses, but someone immediately took the initiative to fill the vacancy, and the speed of the attack was still not reduced in the slightest. There were still more than fifty steps left from the camp of the Red Turban Army, and the cavalry of the hussar battalion invariably took off the short-handled crossbows from the side of the horses and raised their hands to fire a volley. Due to the excessive contraction of the formation of the Red Turban Army, the strafing of the repeating crossbows caused great damage, and almost all the front rows of the Red Turban Army's bow and crossbow battalion were spared, and blood was splashed everywhere in an instant, and a piece was planted.