When the Xiping army led by Liao Hu won a great victory on the south bank of Huangshui, Li Yanzhao and Ma Ping were staring at the tent in the temporary station, looking at the simple map in front of them.

Now, the strategy of dividing the enemy has worked, a man-made flood has divided the thief army in two, and listening to the return of the sentry cavalry, the thief army on the south bank of Huangshui has been beheaded under the fierce attack of the Xiping defenders, and most of them have been scattered. At present, the Xiping Army is in the process of organizing the pursuit and annihilation of the remnants of the enemy. With Liao Hu, a big victory is already a sure thing. However, what bothered Ma Ping and Li Yanzhao at this time was the other more than 6,000 thieves who had crossed the north shore.

"Where will the thieves go next, as far as you can see?" Ma Ping stared at the map for a long time, and then asked.

Li Yanzhao sighed, the current situation, if from a military point of view, it is undoubtedly the most advantageous move to lure all the remaining thieves on the north bank to Guangwu County. On the one hand, Guangwu County has the strongest military strength compared to other places where the thief army may enter, and Guangwu County has long been fortified and cleared, and now the thief army has run out of food and grass. If you enter the territory of Guangwu, there is nothing to plunder, the city cannot be attacked, it will not take a few days, and even if the reinforcements of Guzang arrive, the thieves will inevitably disperse.

However, Li Yanzhao was reluctant to let the thief army enter the territory of Guangwu, if the thief army really went to the territory of Guangwu, it would inevitably destroy the facilities of the counties and burn down the houses to vent his anger. In this way, even if the rebellion was put down by a military victory, the losses caused by the rebellion to Gwangmu County were still immeasurable. From the bottom of his heart, Li Yanzhao rejected this kind of strategy that harmed his own stability. However, it seems that there is no better way to do it than this one way at the moment.

"In my opinion, the next step for the thief army is to take Changning." Li Yanzhao looked at the map and pondered.

"Changning is only a county seat, and there are no more than 1,500 soldiers, how can you resist the enemy?" Ma Ping muttered, looking at Li Yanzhao at a loss. The brow couldn't help but wrinkle deeply.

Li Yanzhao looked at the map and muttered: "Changning, Changning, Changning......" I don't know how many times he muttered, his eyes suddenly lit up, and then he flashed a long-lost look.

Ma Ping saw Li Yanzhao's expression change, and then he became excited: "What kind of good strategy did you kid think of to break the enemy?" ”

Li Yanzhao hurriedly stood up and said to Ma Ping: "Captain, when the thief army went down the river that day and wanted to attack Xiping County, did you notice anything that was not right?" ”

Ma Ping was really stunned for a moment when he heard this, thought carefully for a moment, and then said: "When the thief army went to attack Xiping, what was wrong?" The number of thieves is roughly correct, and the food and grass are also readily available...... What's wrong? ”

"What about the families of the thieves? Dependents? The thieves were nomads, but when the thieves were going down the river that day and wanted to attack Xiping, we waited carefully on the north bank to avoid being discovered by the thieves. But not a single woman or child ever saw it! ”

When Ma Ping heard this, he thought about it carefully and said, "That's true, but what are you going to do?" Does this have anything to do with whether Xiping can keep it or not? ”

Li Yanzhao got up and said, "It's a big deal!" I want to find the families of these thieves overnight, and then forcibly move them to the county town of Changning. When the thief army comes to attack, pull them to the city wall and shout, the thief army will not attack and chaos! If this is not done, then the county town of Guangning has no reliance, and the thief army has lost its grain and grass, and there is no way to retreat, if it does not capture Guangning, even if the Guzang army does not come to help, they will all die of cold and starvation in the wilderness. Therefore, capturing Quang Ninh is almost the only way for them to go now. ”

"However, I'm afraid it's too late!" Li Yanzhao sighed, then clasped his fists and knelt down: "Your subordinates ask for your life, please send a messenger to Changning to state the situation to the local county order." And sent another Sima, led half of our cavalry, set off quickly, went deep into the lair of the thief army, and coerced the thief's family to Changning County! Please order our troops to go to Sayuki! ”

"What will happen to the North Shore Bandits? Xiping is only twenty or thirty miles away from Changning, and those thieves have already crossed the river, if they go straight to Changning, they can reach it in just a few hours! Ma Ping couldn't help frowning when he thought of this more serious matter.

"Since the thief army has stayed in Linqiang for more than ten days, presumably their families will not be far from Linqiang!" Li Yanzhao was calm, and then thought of the question of crossing the river, and couldn't help asking: "Is there a place to cross the river nearby?" If not, then we will have to be assisted by the commander to build a pontoon bridge, so that after we have crossed the river, we will trouble the captain to go to the north bank of Xiping and harass most of the thief army. I'll be quick when I'm going. If it is done, he will send someone to inform the captain. ”

When Ma Ping heard this, he was silent for a moment, and then ordered several sentry horses to go out to find a place to cross the river nearby, and ordered the sergeants of the camp to urgently pick up tools and cut wood to prepare for the construction of a pontoon bridge.

Li Yanzhao stood up uneasily and walked around. What would the thieves do if they saw that there was no hope of rescuing the southern shore and immediately rushed out to Quang Ninh?

Li Yanzhao thought for a while, if Changning fell, the thief army would be able to slow down for a few days. However, when the Guzang reinforcements arrived, the thief army was inevitably destroyed, but it only suffered the people of Changning County.

At a loss, a sentry made a report and entered the account.

"The villain was on patrol the day before yesterday, and he saw a wooden bridge fifteen miles upstream, and when he heard that Ma Duwei was looking for a place to cross the river, he came to report." The sentry clenched his fists and knocked on the ground, and said respectfully.

Li Yanzhao jumped up instantly when he heard this, and then stepped forward to pull the sentry horse: "Where is that wooden bridge, can you take me to wait?" ”

The sentry only knew that Li Yanzhao had raised horses in the army before, including Li Yanzhao, a dry horse breeder, who raised horses, fought, received military sticks, and practiced hard, and then he had seen or heard of his outstanding performance during the Taishou school review. is no stranger to Li Yanzhao, not to mention that on this expedition, the cavalry captain in the army is also a blind eye to Li Yanzhao and his cadres, and he asks about everything, as if he has introduced Li Yanzhao as a think tank. Naturally, these horsemen no longer regard Li Yanzhao as an ordinary chief. When he saw Li Yanzhao jumping up in excitement, he grabbed himself, and asked to take him to find Muqiao, and said with a respectful demeanor at the moment: "The villain is willing to go with him." ”

When Ma Ping heard the news, he was also overjoyed and applauded again and again. A moment later, Ma Ping asked Sima Fanting, a cavalry soldier from Lingju County, to find him.

Not long after, Fan Ting came nervously, but he secretly slandered himself in his heart, and he didn't know what kind of project Du Wei was going to do. After entering the tent, I saw Li Yanzhao, Ma Ping, and a cavalry soldier in the tent. was puzzled for a moment, but he hugged his fist at Ma Ping and bowed: "The last general ordered Sima Fanting, a cavalry pawn, to meet the cavalry captain." ”

Ma Ping smiled and said, "Fan Sima, please get up." Now I want to send you to lead my cavalry to find the families of those thieves, and after finding them, take them to Changning County as a hostage, and let Li Yanzhao accompany him. If you don't know how to do it, you can ask him. Would you like to? ”

Fan Ting was overjoyed in his heart, this time the lieutenant assigned the task, and finally he was not going to engage in engineering. Naturally, there was no reluctance in his heart, so he hugged his fists and said: "The last general will take the order!" ”

Ma Ping was also overjoyed when he saw this: "The thief army is strong, and the situation is urgent, so I ask Fan Sima to lead his troops to set off immediately." ”

Fan Ting received the order, went out of the account with Li Yanzhao, and gathered more than 400 men and horses outside the account. The horsemen, who had rested for a day and a half, heard that they were about to set off again, but they did not complain, they all got up quickly and excitedly to pack up their armor, weapons and dry food, etc., and under the orders of their respective military officers, they led their horses and lined up neatly, waiting for the order to set off.

Although these soldiers were tired a few days ago, they had only rested for a day and a half, and many of them began to complain that they were too idle. Li Yanzhao was speechless when he heard these complaints. However, they have a deeper understanding of the cavalry under these Guangwu Army. These horsemen are undoubtedly worthy of the title of elite.

The soldiers of an elite army may complain about things like successive battles and continuous marches. However, complaining is complaining, they will always try their best to complete any task that needs to be completed, and they will do their best to defeat any enemy that appears. If the drudgery of hard fighting and marching is over, and they are allowed to rest for a few days, they will complain again and again that they are too idle. Li Yanzhao summed it up in his heart, and summed up the mentality of the generals in one word: cheap!

When the horsemen were ready, they mounted their horses and lined up, and then they went upstream, led by the sentry. Li Yanzhao's plan was completed, and if he crossed the river, he would order the sentry riders to go out to find the residence of the thief's family. The rest of the cavalry took advantage of the situation and stationed in Linqiang County. Thinking that there were many families of the thief army, and it was difficult to settle in a small Changning county, he selected some of them and sent them to Changning, and the rest stayed in Linqiang.

After making up his mind, Li Yanzhao exchanged words with Fan Sima beside him for a while. Fan Ting also had some unclear things, and asked Li Yanzhao in detail about his strategy. After listening to Li Yanzhao's explanation, he immediately had a clear idea of this action.

This army of more than 400 horsemen rushed upstream along the Huangshui at this dusk.