Yang Dong's growth made Li Xuanba very pleased, and he could finally rest assured that he would hand over the Jiang capital to Yang Tong, and then do some things that should be done.

The imperial court and Shen Faxing exchanged letters for nearly half a year, and they had been persuading him to serve in Jiangdu in a very peaceful tone. He didn't want to go to Jiangdu, and he didn't dare to go.

The imperial court is steadily recovering its vitality, and Shen Faxing's strength is gradually growing, he feels that with the army under his command, the imperial court has no way to deal with him at all, so his attitude is becoming more and more arrogant, and he has the momentum of what you can do.

Shen Faxing does have enough confidence, he has thousands of clans, has been a powerful man in the county for generations, and is very prestigious in the eyes of the people. There are not many things that the people can come into contact with, they don't know that the north is fighting, and they don't know how comfortable life is in Jiangdu, compared to these, they are more willing to listen to the words of the Shen family, at least they won't starve to death.

There are cities, soldiers and horses, of course Shen Faxing refused to be subservient, so he called himself the Duke of Tianmen to test the attitude of the imperial court.

The attitude of the imperial court was simple and rude.

Yang Tong changed the tone of the previous discussion, and directly ordered Shen Faxing to rush to Jiangdu on the first day of February, otherwise he would be treated as **** and send an army to crusade against him.

Under the couch, how can you allow others to snore? The imperial court felt that it was time to destroy Shen Faxing's power, and Shen Faxing believed that his power was not weaker than the imperial court, and he was not afraid at all.

On the first day of February in the second year of Tianze, Yang Tong ordered the world to identify Shen Faxing as a rebel and send troops to conscript.

In fact, as early as half a month ago, the imperial court had already begun to prepare grain and grass, and ordered Zhang Xutuo, Li Jing and others stationed outside to integrate the army and stand by at any time.

On February 15, Zhang Xutuo led an army of 20,000, Li Jing led an army of 10,000, Li Xuanba, Niu Jinda and others each led thousands of elite soldiers. At the same time, it appeared twenty miles outside the city of Piling.

The army was camped outside the city and was not defended, seemingly deliberately waiting for Shen Faxing to attack at night. However, Shen Faxing was extremely cautious, and after receiving the spies' return, he chose to draw 30,000 troops from Wuhang County. Rushed to Piling City overnight.

In the general account of the march, Li Xuanba, Zhang Xutuo, Li Jing, Jia Yanfu and others were sitting and chatting, not at all as if a big war was imminent.

"Wuji has never led a soldier, I didn't expect the strategy to be so terrifying." As the spies sent back the news one after another, Zhang Xutuo sighed with emotion: "He just used a little trick to let Shen Faxing really transfer troops from Wuhang. ”

"Shen Faxing is cautious, and it is not surprising that he has made such a move." Li Xuanba said with a smile: "Besides, our army appeared so suddenly, how could he dare to go out of the city to fight easily?" However, it is also fortunate that he did not send troops. Otherwise, our 40,000-strong army would have to return in vain and withdraw to Jiangdu. ”

Several people smiled, and Jia Yanfu shook his head and said, "If Shen Faxing knows that we are not in ambush outside the camp, I don't know what kind of expression he will have." ”

"Third brother, you'll be able to see it soon." Li Xuanba said confidently: "When the sixth brother and the ninth brother transport those things over, it won't take too long to capture Biling." ”

Among the thirteen Taibao, Zhang Xutuo ranked first and Li Jing second. The second is Jia Yanfu. followed by Fang Xuanling, Wei Zheng, Qin Qiong, Niu Jinda, Yuwen Chengdu, Luo Shixin, Pei Yuanqing, Changsun Wuji, Li Xuanba and Yang Tong. The sixth and ninth brothers in Li Xuanba's mouth refer to Qin Qiong and Luo Shixin.

"Don't hide it from the twelfth brother. If I see those things while I am defending the city, I am afraid that I will immediately order to go out of the city and fight, otherwise the enemy has not yet attacked the city, and the morale of our army will be weakened by three points. Li Jing sighed: "If you had built those things earlier and pacified the remnants of Li Zitong, it wouldn't have taken as long as a month." ”

"Xuanba just had a whim. I didn't expect to be able to really build a siege tower, I can only say that the court is full of talents. Li Xuanba scratched his head and said curtly: "The siege tower can only play the role of suppression, when the city is really attacked." It is still up to the soldiers to rush and kill. ”

"If there weren't a siege tower, do you think we'd agree to this expedition?" Zhang Xutuo said seriously: "Shen Faxing has more than 100,000 soldiers under his command, even if the frontal battle is not as good as the imperial army, it is not difficult to hold the city. The imperial court has only been stable for half a year, and it can't afford to consume it for a long time. ”

"Big brother is a lesson." Li Xuanba arched his hand, not daring to get carried away anymore.

"I don't know what the situation is on the eighth and tenth brothers." Zhang Xutuo didn't bother to pay attention to Li Xuanba, and his face was worried.

Fifteen is the night of the full moon, and the starry sky is as bright as day.

The army may attack the city at any time, and several people do not go to rest, but they are idle in the tent, naturally not because they are energetic, but because they have all things on their minds, and they have no heart to sleep at all.

"Four thousand cavalry went deep into the enemy's hinterland, who would dare to do such a dangerous thing?" Li Xuanba comforted: "Since no one dares to do it, then no one will think of it, I think that the starling brother and the tenth brother will definitely be able to defeat Shen Faxing's reinforcements." ”

The army of the imperial court was stationed outside the city, which attracted all the attention of Shen Faxing, and the 30,000 troops who rushed from Yuhang to Piling, relying on the many county towns of Piling in front, did not expect that there would be an ambush of the imperial court on the road.

The moonlight exposed his figure undoubtedly, and the general at the head was a little sleepy, he rode on his horse, rubbed his eyes, then looked at the sky, and ordered to speed up the march.

The cavalry was in front, and their march speed would naturally be faster, and the infantry in the rear grumbled and reluctantly marched. The ugly time is the time when people are most tired, and no one can stand the continuous march for more than three hours.

"General Shen, it's freezing, let the soldiers rest for a while, right?" Seeing that the soldiers were full of complaints, a general couldn't help but persuade: "You have to let the people eat something, otherwise you won't have the strength to hurry, even if you barely reach the city of Biling, I'm afraid they won't have the strength to defend the city." ”

Shen Teng is Shen Faxing's younger brother, brave in battle, proficient in the art of war, and a good general, but like Shen Faxing, he is not very sympathetic to the soldiers under his command.

"Okay, let the soldiers rest for half an hour." Shen Teng silently estimated in his heart, feeling that he would not waste time, and he himself was hungry, so he agreed to the general's suggestion.

"Just half an hour's rest?" When the soldiers heard the order, they put their weapons and shields aside, leaned together in twos and threes, and chewed dry food.

Behind them, four thousand horsemen quietly approached the resting army, and if you looked closely, you could see that all the horses were covered with a thick layer of cloth under their hooves.

"General, the enemy army has stopped, it should be resting." A diminutive spy appeared in front of the cavalryman, dressed in black, like a ghost. (To be continued.) )