Zhao Gou left 8,000 troops, plus local soldiers, a total of 10,000 people, to guard the two cities of Shuozhou and Huanzhou. As for the remaining 15,000 people, as well as the Guo brothers and their soldiers, they went to Yingzhou City together.

Song Jiang and others were stationed a hundred miles away from Yingzhou City, and the order given to him by Zhao Gou was to stand by in place, not to rush for victory, and to attack Yingzhou and wait for the army to converge before making an action. What they have to do at the moment is not to reveal the slightest rumor.

As long as the rumors leak out, then Yingzhou City must take precautions, which is not good for itself.

Song Jiang and the others waited for several hours, and Zhao Gou and the others finally came. Zhao Gou asked the army to be stationed in place, and all the other generals gathered in the camp tent.

"General Guo, the two of you have been operating in the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun for many years, so you must be very familiar with this area, do you know the situation of Yeluming, the general of Yingzhou?"

Zhao Gou directly asked about the Guo brothers, and when the two of them heard that Zhao Gou actually knew the name of the guard, Zhao Gou took out the strategic map; It really shocked them, and they realized that the two of them were not wronged.

"Yeluming claims to be a Khitan royal family, and he has won victories all year round, so it can be said that his military talent is also admired by our brothers."

"However, this person is so happy, and he is stubborn and self-serving, and the most important thing is that he has been operating in Yingzhou for many years, and the soldiers used are all Liao, and none of them are Han."

"He looks down on us Han people in his bones, and even the people in the city complain about him."

Zhao Gou was surprised: "He is unpopular with the people? ”

Guo Zhiquan nodded and said in a deep voice: "This person continues to exploit the people in the city for their enjoyment. It can be said that the people hated his rule very much, but he had a heavy army, 3,000 heavy armor troops, 3,000 light cavalry, 2,000 archers, 3,000 infantry, and more than a dozen generals under his command, all of whom were highly skilled in martial arts. ”

Lu Junyi answered: "The two generals are the same generals who defend the city as him, why do they treat them differently? ”

Guo Zhimin smiled bitterly: "Although the responsibilities are the same, the powers are very different. Yeluming is a son of the Liao royal family, and we are Han. No matter how hard we try, the Liao people are always wary of us. ”

"It can also be said that he is the general who supervises us, and he is subject to the will of the imperial court, as long as we have any trouble, he will send troops to suppress it, which is also their means."

Everyone was silent, they were all Han Chinese, and they were also generals, knowing that the generals could not exert their abilities and were restricted everywhere. This situation is just like the former Great Song generals who were controlled by civilian officials. If it is excusable in peacetime, the problem is that when the two armies face each other, this is a big taboo, and if there is a slight disturbance, it will be played back to the emperor, and it will be unreasonable to explain it at that time.

The Guo brothers guarded the border passes in Shuozhou and Huanzhou and served the imperial court. No matter how many times they are born and die, they cannot be trusted. The Liao people were afraid that the two of them would support their own troops, and they were even more worried that they would defect to the battlefield and let Yelu Ming come to supervise.

Yeluming has some skills, but he is so happy that he doesn't like the Han people. In his eyes, the Han people are like slaves, and it is better to let him exploit and oppress.

Because of this, the people of Yingzhou City dared to be angry with him. Even if it is the Guo brothers, he will not give any good faces, and there is no one in his eyes.

Zhao Gou said in a deep voice: "If that's the case, then we can repeat the old trick and catch him off guard." ”

"Dashuai, how to 'repeat the old trick'?" Song Jiang asked.

Zhao Gou looked at Guo Zhiquan and Guo Zhimin with a smile, "This needs to rely on the help of the two!" ”

Guo Zhiquan and Guo Zhimin looked at each other, "If the marshal has any orders, you might as well say it bluntly, our brothers will definitely do it!" ”

Zhao Gou replied: "If our army forcibly attacks Yingzhou City, even if it is attacked, it will hurt 1,000 enemies and lose 800, and Yingzhou City is easy to defend and difficult to attack." ”

"I'm afraid that this bone, if you beat it strongly, I'm afraid this road will not work, and we need to change another way, that is, we can swagger and enter the city openly."

Everyone looked at Zhao Gou in disbelief, this was simply impossible. As long as they appear, I am afraid that Yeluming will not give them a chance, and the army will be killed directly, and it will be difficult to leave.

Guo Zhiquan said in a deep voice: "Dashuai means let us lead the way?" ”

Zhao Gou nodded and said, "That's right, that's what it means." Since Yeluming is empty-sighted and has no good impression of the Han people, presumably General Guo will not have any precautions when he goes to visit him, and besides, he may not have thought about such a thing at all. ”

"Now, there is only this method to capture Yingzhou City as quickly as possible, and no other method will work. However, General Guo Zhiquan did not need to go, as long as General Guo Zhimin went. ”

"If both of them went, then he must have been suspicious. General Guo guarded the city of Huanzhou, must have had a lot of contact with Yingzhou, those generals saw more, the guard will be relaxed, at that time we disguised as retinue, directly seized the city gate, and then slaughtered into the general's mansion, with Yeluming's head to sacrifice the flag. ”

Guo Zhimin said: "So who are the generals who went this time?" ”

"Yue Fei, Lu Junyi, Lin Chong, Gao Chong, Guan Sheng, Li Kui......" Zhao Gou said lightly, "And me!" ”

"Marshal......" shouted everyone in unison.

Zhao Gou smiled: "The brothers have all gone up, as a marshal, how can I stay in the rear?" As for the army, the army is under the command of Deputy General Song, and the other generals perform their duties, and you must follow immediately after taking the city gate. ”

Song Jiang hurriedly said: "The marshal is the marshal of the Great Song Dynasty, how can he take risks in person, if there are three longs and two shorts, how can we continue to fight?" ”

Zhao Gou said: "This is a military order, and no one is allowed to disobey it!" ”

"Yes!" The crowd had to agree.

Zhao Gou ordered people to prepare immediately, the eight of them were dressed in Liao army armor, and Li Kui was larger, and the general armor could not wrap it, and in the end it was still a little ill-fitting, because they acted at night, they couldn't see it really, so they didn't care.

At nightfall, Guo Zhimin walked in front and ran straight to Yingzhou City, and Zhao Gou and others immediately followed with weapons in hand.

"Open the gates!" Guo Zhimin shouted, "I am Guo Zhimin, the guard general of Huanzhou, and I have important military affairs to report to General Yelu!" ”

The general defending the city replied lazily and impatiently: "What is it called, just wait!" ”

Guo Zhimin shouted again: "If you delay the military situation, will you suffer from the crime?" ”

"Got it!" The man remained unmoved, and let Guo Zhimin wait under the city wall, but he was unwilling to open the door and let them enter the city.

"General, if there is really any important military business, what should I blame from above? Why don't we let him into the city! ”

"You know what?" The man rebuked, "They have come here only to ask for some weapons, or food, or anything like that." Now we ourselves are dwarfed, and if we give them again, then we will drink the northwest wind! ”

The soldiers around him thought about it, so they stopped persuading. That person is a Liao person, even if Guo Zhimin is a general defending the city, he is still a wolf cub in his eyes, and he is not familiar with it.

So, he thought about giving Guo Zhimin the prestige to kill him. Besides, even if Yelu knew about it, he would not punish them, because this was also the acquiescence of General Jerod. Because of this, they will be empty-eyed, and the fox is pretending to be a tiger.

(End of chapter)