"Marshal, the naval fleet urgently sent a message, the Jing Navy attacked Danzhou, and the sea off Danzhou fought fiercely with our navy for half a day, and Qu Chengxing was captured." In the Tiance Army camp outside Huzhou City, Chen Yu was thinking about how to send troops to attack Nanzhao, when he was interrupted by the voice of the guards outside the door.

Before he could react, a black-clothed Xuanyingwei messenger broke in again and handed over an urgent letter, Chen Yu didn't care about anything else, took it and looked at the map again, and Chai Jia beside him said, "Could it be that Xuanyingwei also has urgent news over there?" ”

"Xiao Si sent it, and he also went to Danzhou, saying that it was for us to find a way to change the combat goal, and the main force went south to attack Jiaozhou and force Qu Chengmei to surrender." Chen Yu handed Xuan Yingwei's letter to Chai Jiadao: "It seems that there is a problem on Qu Chengmei's side, and the battle of Danzhou has been completely dispersed, otherwise Xiao Si would not rashly let our main force go south." It's just that in this way, Xue Yang's side will have to face Nanzhao Kingdom alone. ”

"Attacking Nanzhao's troops is not a problem, it is mainly a matter of path, they are only afraid of facing rugged and difficult mountain roads when they enter Nanzhao from the northern front." Chai Jia looked at the map and shook his head, "I think it's better to urgently send the situation here to Xue Yang, right?" He is now the son-in-law of Qi Qi, and he will definitely get the support of Qi Qi, the head snake of the land, maybe there will be a way. ”

"In this way, you will lead the partial army to continue to carry out the plan of attacking Nanzhao, and I will lead the team south to attack Jiaozhou to respond to the actions of the navy. Since Qu Chengxing was taken down by us, then Qu Chengmei may not be so stubborn. Xiaosi is here, and this matter will be done by him. Chen Yu smiled and began to arrange the plan of dividing the troops, the army on the southern front was divided into two routes, Chai Jia led an army of 50,000 troops from Huzhou to the north into Nanzhao, and he himself led the army from Huzhou to Qinzhou to the south to join the marines to the west to carry out the plan to attack Qu Chengmei.

At this time, the navy escorted these dozens of Jinghai naval division warships back to Lianzhou Port, and all the prisoners were detained on the spot after landing, and the captured warships were temporarily handed over to the logistics department for processing, while the navy stayed in Lianzhou to replenish foster care and rest. After Guo Chongtao handed over the command of the fleet to Luo Dahai, he and Hu Xiaosi set out from Lianzhou to Qinzhou to find the marines, preparing to join Chen Yu's army southward to attack Jiaozhou.

Jiaozhou has been under the jurisdiction of China since ancient times, but it is located in a remote area that is difficult to enter the eyes of the rulers of the Central Plains, and has always been a place of exile for criminals.

After Hu Xiaosi arrived in Qinzhou, he immediately summoned the personnel of the Jiaozhou Xuanyingwei Branch to understand Qu Chengmei's current situation, and soon the news came up, but Hu Xiaosi frowned after reading these messages, Qu Chengmei was not as unbearable as he imagined, but this person's rule in Jiaozhou was relatively solid, and the local natives were more supportive of him, plus the participating forces of other feudal towns that escaped from Lingnan were concentrated in Jiaozhou, and even Ye Guangluo also went to Jiaozhou.

Guo Chongtao went to welcome Chen Yu's army into the city, leaving Hu Xiaosi alone in the city to think about the next plan, originally he thought that he could use Qu Chengxing to force Qu Chengmei to surrender, after all, Qu Chengxing and Qu Chengmei have an extraordinary relationship, they are his own brothers, he has asked Qu Chengxing to surrender, and he can achieve the goal by doing Qu Chengmei's work, and now it seems that if he doesn't fight, he may not be able to have an effect. Moreover, the Jing Navy has become the last bastion of those feudal forces, even if Qu Chengmei wants to surrender, he must consider the feelings of these forces, but he is afraid that he may not let go easily.

Thinking of this, Hu Xiaosi urgently asked Xuan Yingwei to go to Jiaozhou in advance to make arrangements, and he mobilized a large number of people from the rear to concentrate on Jiaozhou and other places, no matter whether Qu Chengmei could surrender or not, the army would definitely drive over, and if it didn't work, he would start fighting directly.

"I think we still have the old way, the troops are divided into two routes, the marines go south to attack from Aizhou and other places, and after occupying Aizhou, they cut off Qu Chengmei's inevitable way to escape, and the main force of our Tiance Army immediately set off from Qinzhou and advanced along the north bank of the Red River. At that time, the two warships of the Navy will escort the army and transport the army across the river with the warships that have just been captured, so that they can directly approach the city of Jiaozhou, and they are not afraid that he will not surrender. After Chen Yu entered the city, Guo Chongtao immediately reported his plan.

"Little Four, what about your Xuanying Guard's plan? How do you need us to cooperate? Chen Yu had no opinion on Guo Chongtao's plan, looked back at Hu Xiaosi and asked.

Hu Xiaosi said thoughtfully: "You beat you, don't worry about me." I plan to take a squad of the Flying Eagle Brigade into Jiaozhou City, negotiate with Qu Chengmei when your troops are in the city, and then find an opportunity to eradicate the remnants of the feudal towns in the interior, and clear Qu Chengmei's concerns in advance, so that he will not have any chance if he does not surrender. ”

After the plan of several people was decided, in addition to reporting to the Chang'an base camp, Guo Chongtao returned to Lianzhou with the Marine Corps to gather people to drive the boat, Luo Dahai led the Fuxing-class battleship to set off south to Aizhou, and he himself took some sailing ships and two Izumo-class ironclad battleships to set off to wait near the mouth of the Red River. Hu Xiaosi secretly set off from Qinzhou that night with the Flying Eagle Brigade team and Qu Chengxing to enter the Jiaozhou boundary. Chen Yu's army began to advance towards Jiaozhou with great fanfare early the next morning.

Jiaozhou is located in the tropics, the mountain road is rugged and difficult, and the heat is abnormal, even if it is winter now, the climate here is still humid and hot, but for Chen Yu's army, last year was basically fighting in the south, basically ready, plus after this change, the whole army abandoned the armor and other bulky equipment, and changed into military uniforms and muskets suitable for southern operations, but it was also a lot easier.

However, even so, there were still a lot of attritions along the way, and the attacks of fierce beasts and poisonous insects along the way made these soldiers miserable. Some soldiers even saw these fierce beasts and shot them directly, regardless of the three, seven, twenty-one, and so on, which was regarded as practicing new weapons.

Chen Yu's army walked slowly, but Hu Xiaosi and his party were very fast, and the Flying Eagle Brigade had already carried out adaptive training here in advance, so these terrains were almost nothing to this group of soldiers, and along the way, Hu Xiaosi and Hu Xiaosi talked and laughed towards Jiaozhou, and even with Qu Chengxing, they were very curious about this group of people.

However, Hu Xiaosi has always hidden a trace of solemnity on his brows, along the way, passing by more than a dozen large and small tribes, these few tribes living in Jiaozhou have already interbred with the Han people, and their living habits and language are no different from the Han people, which shows that the sinicization of Jiaozhou has done a good job, and it also shows that Qu Chengmei's rule in Jiaozhou is relatively stable. It's just that Jiaozhou is related to the main route of the Nanyang voyage to the sea, if Qu Chengmei is allowed to occupy this place, he will inevitably cut off the Nanyang route, then the Nanyang trade will not be able to be carried out. If there was no Nanyang trade, Guangzhou would not have been able to return to the prosperity of its predecessors.

Thinking of this, Hu Xiaosi suddenly felt that the burden on his body was not light, if he couldn't make Qu Chengmei surrender, he was afraid that it would be difficult to stabilize after Jiaozhou, and this place was not like the Central Plains, if the empire spent all its energy here, it would inevitably involve the empire's external attention.

"Qu Chengxing, are you sure you can move your brother to surrender?" Hu Xiaosi looked at Qu Chengxing, who was following him, and asked.

Hu Xiaosi's words made Qu Chengxing stunned for a moment, and then said: "Don't worry, general, my brother still believes in my words very much, and this time Danzhou lost, my Jing Navy Navy Division troops were completely wiped out, but I am afraid that my brother will not be able to fight against the imperial court." ”

Hu Xiaosi glanced at him, a little strange about this guy's mentality, since this guy was captured, he saw the navy's ironclad battleships and artillery as if he had changed a person, if it wasn't for persuading Qu Chengmei to need him this time, this guy would have been killed and unwilling to get off the ship, staring at those ironclad ships and not letting go.

Hu Xiaosi's eyes embarrassed Qu Chengxing, and he snorted: "General, don't laugh, I want to make up for my mistakes now, and I can follow the ironclad ship to sea in the future." It's a godsend, and I must go up there. ”

"What is the situation of Ye Guangluo in Jiaozhou City now?" Hu Xiaosi asked, Ye Guangluo's Qin Kong of Xuanyingwei had dealt with him when he was in the southwest before, this person has a cunning temperament, and his scheming is too heavy, he will definitely think of the purpose of his trip to Jiaozhou, and with the results of the Danzhou naval battle transmitted back to Jiaozhou, I am afraid that Ye Guangluo will also be tempted.

"I don't know much about Ye Guangluo, but my brother seems to value him very much, and now he is the military advisor of my Jiaozhou Jiedu Embassy." Qu Chengxing has been in charge of the Jing Navy Naval Division before, so he doesn't know much about the situation in the Jiedu Embassy's mansion, and the Jing Navy Naval Division is stationed in Aizhou, and the connection with Jiaozhou is actually not big, so fortunately Qu Chengxing and Qu Chengmei are brothers, otherwise this is equivalent to being self-reliant in Aizhou.

Qu Chengxing's words made Hu Xiaosi's face become solemn again, and he looked back at Li San'er, the leader of the Flying Eagle Brigade, and nodded silently towards the latter, only to see that the team of 100 people was unconsciously divided into two teams, one of which disappeared quietly and went forward quickly.

"You sailors have their own troops in Jiaozhou, right?" Hu Xiaosi thought about it and asked? However, his words obviously made Qu Chengxing think more, and the latter suddenly exclaimed: "General, you don't plan to let me launch a war, right?" It can't be, that's my brother, I can't do anything to him. ”

"What do you want? Returning the war? What's in it for me? If I really want to do something to your brother, do I need you to do it? Really, when the hundreds of thousands of troops of the Tiance Army are vegetarians? Hu Xiaosi pursed his lips and said: "I asked you to cooperate with me to take down Ye Guangluo when necessary, this guy is typical of uneasy and kind, I am afraid that he will calculate your brother when the time comes." Playing intrigue and trickery, I'm afraid that your brother may not be someone else's opponent. ”

Hu Xiaosi's words made Qu Chengxing put his mind down, but then he began to worry about his brother again, but Hu Xiaosi smiled when he saw this: "Don't worry, Ye Guangluo ran into me this time, I will definitely let him not eat and walk around." ”

Several people went all the way to Jiaozhou, and arrived at the ferry of the Red River the next morning, after Qu Chengxing revealed his identity, a local county order immediately prepared a boat to send the group across the river to Jiaozhou Mansion, where Qu Chengmei's base camp was located. Jiaozhou is located in the Red River Plain, its land is located in the tropics, crops are three crops a year, but a small number of local tribes are basically not very good at farming, a large amount of fertile land is wasted, as long as the Han people in Jiaozhou City have opened up part of the land outside the city for rice planting, to meet the food needs in the city.

"How many descendants of our Tang Dynasty are there in Jiaozhou City?" Hu Xiaosi asked as he walked into the city with Qu Chengxing.

After Qu Chengxing entered the city, he suddenly shook the majesty of his naval general, heard Hu Xiaosi ask behind him, and replied: "There are not many Han people, the population of the entire Jiaozhou City is 100,000 households, only forty percent are my descendants of the Tang Dynasty, and the rest are natives, but many of these natives are intermarried with my Tang people, so I can't tell which ones are native and which ones are descendants of the Tang Dynasty." ”

When he arrived at Qu Chengxing's own mansion, Hu Xiaosi settled in his mansion, and Qu Chengxing himself went to the Jiedu Embassy's Mansion to find Qu Chengmei. Hu Xiaosi looked at this full mainland-style mansion and nodded, and nodded towards the Flying Eagle Brigade behind him, and suddenly these people disappeared one after another, and then hid in all corners of the city.

"Go find the Dark Guard and ask them to bring the latest news." Hu Xiaosi gave a few words to a few entourages around him and then returned to the room to rest.

At this time, Qu Chengxing's return made Qu Chengmei overjoyed. Qu Chengmei was only about thirty years old at this time, and she had no heirs of her own, so she loved this only brother very much, and when she heard him come back, she hurriedly pulled him to ask what happened. Qu Chengxing didn't hide anything, he told the story of the battle of Danzhou in general, and told him about the Tiance army letting him back after he was captured.

Qu Chengmei was silent after hearing this, his face was solemn, although his younger brother was always domineering, but he was indeed a natural obsession with naval warfare, and the sailors he commanded were defeated by the opponent's eight ironclad ships, he could imagine how powerful this ironclad battleship was. However, Qu Chengmei was a little puzzled by the other party's persuasion request, but she didn't say much, just arranged for Qu Chengxing to sit there alone and ponder after he went back.

After a while, Qu Chengmei went to summon the guards outside the door and asked them to go to Ye Guangluo and his henchmen, and at the same time summoned the Jiaozhou defenders to be on full alert and ready to go to war at any time.

But then the guard's face changed drastically, and he came quickly towards Qu Chengmei, and shouted at the same time: "My lord, the big thing is not good, the military advisor was assassinated in the mansion, and the family members were also taken away by the other party, and they are missing." ”

The words of the guards made Qu Chengmei gasp, although she expected it, but what she didn't expect was that the other party would start so quickly, this was almost a simultaneous shot, didn't they plan to persuade themselves to surrender? Or do you think you won't be honest in the first place? Thinking of this, Qu Chengmei almost immediately began to ask people to go to the north bank of the Red River to check on the movements of the Tiance Army.

Hu Xiaosi's side turned a blind eye to the sudden tense atmosphere in the city, and was just secretly thinking about what Qu Chengmei should do next, and then asked Xuan Yingwei and the Flying Eagle Brigade to arrange it immediately. For him, everything must be done one step ahead of Qu Chengmei, so that he can negotiate with Qu Chengmei smoothly when Chen Yu's army arrives, and use the army as the backing to force Qu Chengmei to completely rest his mind and return to the Tang Dynasty.