Just when the Broken Army launched an attack on the Southern Governor's Mansion and the Northern Governor's Mansion of Gaochang Kingdom at the same time, the Canglong City area, thousands of miles away, the battlefield that had been silent for more than two months became lively again.

In the past two months, the Suzhou Xiang Army, which had gathered in the Revolving Gate Pass and south of the Revolving Gate Pass, not only had the losses of the previous 14 guards been replenished, and basically all of them were restored to a full state, but also had eight more guards, making the strength of the Suzhou Xiang Army in the Canglong City area reach 22 guards, exceeding 2.7 million people.

Originally, there were only 25 guards in Suzhou, each of which had five brigades, and each brigade had five battalions, each battalion had about 5,000 people, and one guard had more than 100,000 soldiers and 20,000 auxiliaries.

Now there is almost no change in the establishment of each guard of the Suzhou Xiang Army, but the entire Suzhou Xiang Army has swelled to forty guards in just over two months, and it is forty full guards.

The territory of the Suzhou Xiang Army is now not only limited to the territory of Suzhou, but also the adjacent Qiongzhou and Lianzhou of Suzhou have been occupied by the Suzhou Xiang Army.

According to the order of Zhang Mingqi, the commander of the Suzhou Xiang Army, the Suzhou Xiang Army set off a large-scale conscription operation in the territory of Suzhou, Qiongzhou and Lianzhou, which made the scale of the Suzhou Xiang Army swell to forty guards in just over two months, and the expansion speed of the Suzhou Xiang Army has not weakened in the slightest.

After controlling Canglong City in this way, Zhang Mingqi had the strength to control the entire twenty-four states of the Great Jin Dynasty.

The thirteenth family on the side of the imperial court has not been idle for more than two months, and now the imperial army has gathered about 1.7 million troops just north of the revolving gate pass, including 700,000 forbidden troops, 550,000 Wanding troops and 450,000 troops of the 22nd Route Ping Rebel Army.

Originally, before the Suzhou Xiang army came to Canglong City, there were only 700,000 people left in the sixteen guards of the imperial forbidden army, and because of the battle with the Suzhou Xiang army, the forbidden army lost another 80,000 or 90,000 people, but in more than two months, the sixteen guards of the forbidden army not only recovered to the full state, but also exceeded a lot, and the soldiers needed for the expansion of the forbidden army were selected from the ranks of the families of various families.

Now the total strength of the sixteen guards of the forbidden army exceeds 1.1 million, and the number of each guard is about 70,000.

Originally, according to the meaning of Dou Yan, the captain of the military department, all the families of various families were incorporated into the forbidden army, after all, most of the generals in the forbidden army were much better than the generals of the family team on the battlefield.

However, this suggestion was opposed by all the families, and even many people in the Dou family were opposed, the forbidden army also belonged to the army of the imperial court anyway, and the family was indeed the private army of each family.

On the side of the imperial court, in addition to the 1.7 million troops north of the revolving gate pass, there are 420,000 forbidden troops and nearly 500,000 family troops in the entire Canglong City area, as well as one million young men temporarily requisitioned.

On the evening of December 24, 428 of the Great Jin Dynasty, in the tent of Zhang Mingqi, the commander of the Suzhou Xiang Army in the city of Xuanmen Pass, Zhang Mingqi said loudly to several strategists and many generals under his command: "Now our Suzhou Xiang Army has gathered 22 guards in and south of the Spiral Gate Pass, with a total strength of more than 2.7 million people, and the grain and grass transported from the southeast is enough for the 22 guards of our Suzhou Xiang Army to eat for three months. It's time to attack the imperial army! ”

Strategist Tang Yan immediately said: "According to reliable information, the elite troops of the Broken Army have already left Canglong City, including the traitor Zhang Shaohua, and now the army gathered by the imperial court in the Canglong City area is mainly based on the forbidden army and the family team of the thirteenth family, in the past two months, the sixteen guards of the imperial forbidden army have been expanded, with a total strength of more than 1.1 million, and there are currently seven guards of the forbidden army north of the revolving gate, about 700,000 troops. ”

After a pause, Strategist Tang Yan continued: "The team of the thirteenth family in the Canglong City area is about a little more than one million, in fact, it should be more, but part of the team of the thirteenth family has been incorporated into the forbidden army, otherwise it is impossible for the forbidden army to expand so many people in such a short period of time!" ”

When Zhang Mingqi heard Zhang Shaohua's name, the corners of his mouth couldn't help but move slightly, a peerless general like Zhang Shaohua took refuge in the Broken Army before the battle, which was definitely an eternal pain in Zhang Mingqi's heart.

Zhou Jiling, the general of the Suzhou Xiang Army, said to Zhang Mingqi at this time: "My lord, the family team of the thirteenth family, the combat effectiveness is basically not weak, in this way, although the forbidden army is also the same as our Suzhou Xiang army, in more than two months to expand a lot of people, but the combat effectiveness of the forbidden army at all levels has not weakened, once the imperial army north of the revolving gate pass is launched, we have to pay attention to this aspect." ”

The reason why the Suzhou Xiang Army was able to expand so many troops in more than two months was because a large number of young and strong men were recruited in Suzhou, Qiongzhou and Lianzhou, and some of the newly formed guards, except for a small number of veterans and generals, most of them were new soldiers.

Zhang Mingqi nodded and said: "Our Suzhou Xiang Army has expanded too fast during this time, and the combat effectiveness of each guard is indeed not as good as before, but only the guards fight bravely, and the chances of our Suzhou Xiang Army in the Canglong City area are still very large, only if we can control Canglong City, then the entire Great Jin is our Suzhou Xiang Army!" ”

Liu Fengbao, the veritable first fierce general of the Suzhou Xiang Army, said to Zhang Mingqi: "My lord, we have fought with the forbidden army and the family team of the thirteenth family before, and the combat power of the forbidden army and the family team is only average, if it weren't for the elite troops of the broken army, our Suzhou Xiang army might have entered Canglong City!" ”

Since learning that Zhang Shaohua and Liu Meng, two fierce men with great strength, left Canglong City with the elite troops of the Broken Army, Liu Fengbao's heart finally breathed a sigh of relief, he didn't want to encounter these two monsters on the battlefield again, as for the other fierce generals in the imperial court, Liu Fengbao was really not afraid of anyone.

Zhang Mingqi then said to Liu Fengbao: "Fengbao, don't underestimate the enemy on the battlefield, tomorrow morning, we will go out of the revolving gate pass and launch an attack on the imperial army. ”

"Yes, my lord!" Liu Fengbao shouted loudly.

On the morning of 25 December, the troops in the city of Xuanmen Pass and the Suzhou Xiang Army south of the Xuanmen Pass suddenly marched out of the north gate of the Xuanmen Pass, and the imperial army gathered in the north of the Xuanmen Pass, found that the Suzhou Xiang Army was out of the pass, and immediately under the leadership of the hussar general He Guangzong and the hussar general Li Hong, they fearlessly greeted it, and a tragic battle was immediately staged in the north of the Xuanmen Pass.

Starting from the 25th, the Suzhou Xiang army fought fiercely with the imperial army north of the revolving gate pass for five consecutive days, and at the cost of more than 600,000 casualties, finally forced the imperial army gathered outside the revolving gate pass to retreat to Canglong City.

On the afternoon of 30 December, in the meeting hall of Dou Yan's mansion, the military department's military department, Yang Zhong, the military department's military department, Wang Zhihuan, the courtier's department, Zhao Boran, the courtier's captain, Sun Mingtao, the department's chief lieutenant, Zheng Kai, the secretary's officer, Han Renji, the secretary's secretary, Wu Ziyu, the secretary's secretary, Zhang Shunran, the secretary's secretary, Chen Sikai, the secretary's secretary, and Xiao Su, the hussar general, all gathered here.

Dou Yan, the captain of the military department, said in a hoarse voice: "Our plan to envisage blocking the rebels in Suzhou at the Revolving Gate Pass has failed, starting from the 25th until yesterday, we lost almost 700,000 troops north of the Revolving Gate Pass, and now the two generals, He Guangzong and Li Hong, have retreated to the outside of Canglong City with the remaining million troops. ”

Sun Mingtao, the chief lieutenant of the Ministry of Works, frowned and said: "We still have hundreds of thousands of forbidden troops and hundreds of thousands of family members in Canglong City, and there are also one million young and strong people recruited, why don't we send reinforcements to the two generals He Guangzong and Li Hong?" The two generals He Guangzong and Li Hong retreated, and the rebels in Suzhou could be in Canglong City! ”

Hussar general Xiao Su immediately sighed and said: "The problem is not that the troops in the hands of the two generals He Guangzong and Li Hong are not enough, but that we and the Suzhou rebels can't afford to consume them at the Revolving Gate Pass, according to the information we have obtained, now the Suzhou rebels have gathered more than 2.7 million troops in the Revolving Gate Pass, if we continue to fight like this at the Revolving Gate Pass, our imperial court will run out of troops in the Canglong City area, and we may not be able to wipe out the Suzhou rebels. ”

Zhao Boran, the chief lieutenant of the Criminal Department, immediately asked, "Then what should we do next?" Will you shrink all the troops to Canglong City? ”

Dou Yan, the captain of the military department, coughed and said: "In today's situation, the only way to do this is to let the two generals, He Guangzong and Li Hong, bring the troops into Canglong City and rely on the walls of Canglong City to resist the rebels in Suzhou." ”

Zheng Kai, the captain of the household department, sighed and said: "Although we have been trying our best to transport grain to Canglong City, but at present, the food in Canglong City is only enough for the army and the people to eat for five or six months. ”

Xiao Su, a hussar general, said: "The other seven passes of Canglong Eight Passes are still in the hands of our imperial army, and it is not easy for the Suzhou rebels to completely surround Canglong City. ”

Wang Zhihuan, the captain of the Ministry of Rites, suddenly said: "By the way, the Lu State took advantage of the rebellion of the Suzhou rebels to launch an invasion of our four vassal states of the Great Jin Dynasty in August, Jiao State, Xun State, Gu State and Lai State, in the middle of this month, Jiao State, Xun State, Gu State and Lai State have all been captured by Lu State, and now the territory of Lu State has bordered Zhejiang and Fuzhou of our Great Jin Dynasty!" ”

Dou Yan, the captain of the military department, shook his head with a wry smile and said: "The old man has long known about the affairs of Jiao Guo, Xun Guo, Gu Guo and Lai Guo, and even these four vassal countries have asked our Great Jin for help, but now our Great Jin itself has the same trouble, and we can't take care of these four vassal countries at all, as for the Lu State...... Let's wait until we get through this difficult time! ”

After a pause, Dou Yan, the captain of the military department, continued: "There is also good news to tell you, the Broken Army broke the coalition of the four great powers in the Western Regions a few days ago, and the old man has already sent a letter of help to the captured general Liu Ji with a carrier pigeon. ”

In the temporary camp of the imperial army outside Canglong City, the hussar general Li Hong walked into a tent, looked at the hussar general He Guangzong with a bloody white cloth wrapped around his left arm, and said with a gloomy face: "General He, the specific losses have been calculated, and the previous estimate is about the same, the ten guards of our forbidden army have lost a total of nearly 250,000 people, and the families of various families have also lost about 250,000, and the 22nd Road Breaker Army has lost more than 200,000 people. ”

Hussar General He Guangzong smiled miserably and said: "It's only been five days, I didn't expect such a big loss, it seems that we can only rely on the benefits of the walls of Canglong City to resist the rebels in Suzhou!" ”

The hussar general Li Hong sighed and said: "This can only be the case, we can't fight all the troops at the revolving gate!" General Ho, how are your injuries? ”

He Guangzong shook his head and said, "I'm not in the way, it's just a skin injury, is there any news from Canglong City?" When are we going to let the army outside the city into the city? ”

Li Hong said: "It should be soon, Captain Dou and they are already studying the entry of our troops outside the city, and the news must come out soon." ”

He Guangzong said with some emotion: "It's really an eventful time now, let's not mention the rebels in Suzhou, I heard that Jiao State, Xun State, Gu State and Lai State have all been annexed by Lu State!" Lu is a fierce tiger, after Lu annexed Jiao, Xun, Gu and Lai, our seven southeastern states of the Great Jin Dynasty are facing the threat of Lu! ”

Li Hong said bitterly: "Let's go through the hurdle in front of us first, and then talk about the rest!" ”

He Guangzong hesitated for a moment and suddenly said: "I heard that the Broken Army defeated the coalition forces of the four great powers in the Western Regions, and I don't know if I can let the general Liu Ji send troops to rescue Canglong City, once the reinforcements of the Broken Army can come to Canglong City, the Suzhou rebels will not have to worry!" ”