Coming out of Anzhai, Man Gui and Liu Yuxuan did not stay, they hurried and hurried, if Zu Dashou had already attacked Zichang, they would have come in vain.

But no matter how anxious Man Gui was, he couldn't force the soldiers to hurry at night. The mountain road is so rugged that even the guide said that it is too dangerous to walk at night, and even the locals will not be able to walk at night.

In the mountains, when it was dark, the soldiers lit bonfires, looked for shelter from the wind and a slightly smoother place, set up military tents, and then sat together in groups of three or five, lit bonfires, drank cold water and nibbled on dry food.

Liu Yuyan personally inspected it, and then came to Man Gui's bonfire: "General Man, the soldiers are marching and fighting continuously, it's too hard, I have already arranged the sentry, let the rest of the soldiers rest early!" ”

"Is this considered hard?" Man Gui's mouth was still dry food, and he couldn't open it too much, "I think when I was in Liaodong, the soldiers faced the siege of Jiannu, and they could sleep for seven consecutive days, thirsty, eat some ice, and when they were hungry, they nibbled on a few bites of cake, and when they were sleepy, they would nap against the city wall." ”

"General Man, they all say that Jiannu is as cruel as beasts, and they will cook and eat Han people, is it true?" Liu Yuyan sat down beside Man Gui and asked with a crooked face.

"Jiannu?" Man Gui's eyes were hollow, and his soul seemed to wander out, returning to Liaodong, "Will they cook and eat people, I haven't heard of it, but their ferocity is not what you can imagine." ”

"General Man, is that Jiannu a human?" Liu Yuyan has never been to Liaodong, and in any case, he can't imagine what Jiannu looks like.

"Why aren't you human? They are all afraid of pain, they are going to die, and the blood that comes out is all red. Man Gui is immersed in the memories of Liaodong.

Liu Yuxuan was even more curious: "General Man, you say, if the Siwu Battalion meets Jiannu, will we win?" ”

"It's hard to say, if you meet Jiannu in the wild, the four martial arts battalions may be at a disadvantage, and Jiannu's riding and archery skills are indeed powerful." Man Gui and Jiannu have fought many battles, and they still respect Jiannu's combat effectiveness.

"General Man, the Liaodong Army can have a draw with Jiannu, so isn't the Liaodong Army very powerful?"

"The Liaodong Army does have the strongest combat effectiveness - maybe, the four martial arts battalions are already very good under the training of His Highness." Man Gui originally admired the Liaodong Army, but now he found that the Four Martial Arts Battalions were also invincible, although his opponents were some tofu troops.

"Yes, General Man, the combat effectiveness of the Four Martial Arts Battalions is also very strong now." Liu Yuyan personally experienced the changes in the Four Martial Arts Battalions, and the battle has been smooth.

"But Liaodong, I don't know what's going on now." Man Gui said quietly that Liaodong was the place where he fell, and it was also the most passionate place. "Bolt, let the soldiers go to bed early! I have to go tomorrow. ”

"Yes, General Man, I'll inform them." Liu Yuyan got up and left, and Man Gui also went back to the tent to sleep.

Liu Yulu's cavalry ran for another half a day, and in the afternoon, they came to Zichang County.

Zu Dashou was anxiously wandering outside the southern city, the bandits in the city could not hold out, and he did not have many siege equipment, so he had to be in a hurry. He had already ordered the Yaowu battalion to attack twice, both because there were no weapons, and the soldiers were wounded a lot, but the city walls could not be approached.

It's like an offensive and defensive battle in Liaodong, but at that time he was the defender, and Jiannu was the attacking side, and now, he has become the attacking side, and the bandits are defending the city. Although Zichang County is only a small county seat, if it is really to be taken, there are probably not a few casualties.

"Da Shou, don't worry, I'll come." Man Gui is full of confidence. "According to the latest instructions of His Royal Highness King Shin, besiege the city. As soon as my soldiers arrived, let me besiege the southern city! Don't you have three guards in your Yaowu camp? Each guard surrounded one of the gates. As long as you can secure the other three gates, I will be able to break the city. ”

"What good way does General Man have? It won't be for your cavalry to siege the city, will it? "Zu Dashou doesn't believe that Man Gui has any good way, if it comes to bravery, Man Gui will never be behind, but when it comes to strategy, he can throw Man Gui a few streets. However, it is also a good idea to besiege the city, otherwise the bandits in the city will join the others once they have fled. So he divided his troops and surrounded the other three gates.

Since Man Gui is at the South City Gate, Zu Dashou is ready to go to the North City Gate in person. If the bandits escape, the North Gate is the closest passage to the other bandits.

"Don't go, Da Shou. My brother asked you to watch a play, please enter the urn. Have you seen it? Man Gui grinned and gestured proudly to Zu Dashou.

"General Man, what the hell are you doing?" Zu Dashou found that it was full of strange things.

"You often say that my brother is rude, and today my brother and I can make the bandits in the city surrender obediently with only three inches of tongue, believe it?" Man Gui is really a little weird, this is not his usual character.

"Really?" Zu Dashou frowned, could it be that Zhu Youzhen brought any special weapon to Man Gui?

"You're on your side, brother." Man Gui no longer plays dumb riddles with Zu Dashou, Zu Dashou has been firmly attracted to him, his soldiers are not around, and now he will not ruin his plan. "Well, who's louder? Go and shout under the city gates, and let the city guards come to see me. ”

There are really not many voices that surpass Man Gui, but Man Gui will not shout by himself. In the end, I finally found a soldier with a big head and a thick neck. Generally, men with short and thick necks have a high voice and can sing tenors.

The soldier trembled and roared a few times under the city, and sure enough, a man who looked like a guard appeared at the head of the city.

"Tell the guard that I'm going to give him a gift." Man Gui let the loud soldier go to the city again. After a while, he ran back, "General Man, the bandits asked you what gift you gave him?" ”

"Let them see for themselves." Man Gui turned his head to look at Liu Yuyan, "Send the box to the city." ”

"General Man, what's in the box?" Zu Dashou became more and more confused, which tendon is wrong with this Mangui today? But the soldiers who delivered the box had already gone to the city gate, and the defenders at the head of the city lowered a wooden frame and hoisted the box up.

Man Gui and Zu Dashou looked at the city from afar, and there was a commotion at first, and soon it calmed down.

Man Gui was not in a hurry, and chatted with Zu Dashou about unreasonable things, but he didn't say what was in the box.

After a quarter of an hour, the south gate suddenly opened without warning, and all the soldiers and horses in the city were gone.

"General Man, quickly line up the formation, there are five or six thousand bandits in the city." Zu Dashou was shocked, and all his soldiers were transferred to the other three city gates, and there was only one cavalry guard from Liu Yuyan that Man Gui had just brought outside the southern city.

"Line up." Man Gui shouted, no matter what the bandits do, it is always not wrong to be prepared.

The cavalry quickly adjusted their horses and spread out outside the southern city in an offensive formation.

It turned out that Zu Dashou's worries were completely unnecessary. After the bandits left the city, they did not rush towards Mangui, but put down all the weapons in their hands, piled them outside the city gate, and then stood in two rows, as if they were being reviewed by the leaders.

The bandit generals led by him rode a horse to Mangui, turned over and dismounted thirty steps in front of Mangui, knelt down on one leg, and held his sword and helmet in his hand: "Xing Shilin, the criminal general, led 5,000 soldiers in the city to surrender." ”

This is a standard surrender ceremony, Zu Dashou was even more surprised than seeing the bandits rushing over, what kind of gift did Man Gui give? The bandits came out and surrendered so quickly? Is it gold and silver? But looking at the box, it doesn't look very heavy!

Man Gui didn't move on the horse, he glanced at Liu Yuyan, Liu Yuyan dismounted, walked closer, took Xing Shilin's sword, but put the helmet on Xing Shilin's head: "General Xing can get lost and know how to return, avoid using swords, and be very good!" ”

"General Zu, this is the collection of bandits and the resettlement of the people in the city, but it is a matter handed over to you by His Royal Highness." Man Gui was impatient with these specific government affairs, so he simply pushed it to Zu Dashou, anyway, Zhu Youzhen ordered Zu Dashou to attack the city, and he was just assisting him. Now that he has assisted him in capturing Zichang County, the rest is naturally Zu Dashou's business, Man Gui wants to take a good rest, and think about how to do what he wants to do before Zhu Youzhen arrives.

"General Man, now tell me what's in the box, right?" Zu Dashou believes that Xing Shilin's surrender must have a direct relationship with the box.

"A letter of persuasion." Man Gui glanced at Zu Dashou, and knew from his angry gaze that he didn't believe it at all, so he hurriedly added: "There is also Wang Zuo's head." ”

I see. No wonder Man Gui asked the Yaowu battalion to surround the city gates on all sides, leaving no way to retreat.

Xing Shilin must have been frightened when he saw the official army surrounding the city gate on all sides, and when he saw Wang Zuo's head, he knew that if he continued to defend it, he would not get any reinforcements. Since there was no possibility of victory, and there was no way to escape, surrender was his only option.

Before Man Gui could do anything, Zhu Youzhen's army came to Zichang. Now in front of him are Wang Jiayin on the left and Wang Daliang on the right, both of which have more than 20,000 soldiers.

Zhu Youzhen convened a meeting of the generals in the big tent of the Chinese army: "Everyone, which bandit soldiers are we going to fight next?" ”

"Your Highness, we should attack Huaiyuan Fort, where Wang Jiayin's department is located. As long as Huaiyuan Fort is captured, the northward escape route of Wang Jiayin's and Wang Daliang's troops can be cut off. Yuan Chonghuan was angry that some of the bandit troops had fled into Wang Jiayin's department, and now, he wanted to catch them all.

"However, in this way, our army will be attacked on three sides, with Wang Jiayin's department in the west, Wang Daliang's department in the east, and Gao Yingxiang's department in the north. Although our army is strong, it is really insufficient in strength. "Zhu Youzhen has not yet been carried away by the victory in front of him.

"If Huaiyuan Fort cannot be captured, then both bandit armies may flee north. If the three bandit armies merged, the number of people would exceed 100,000, which was three times that of the four martial arts battalions, and it would be more difficult to exterminate them. "Zu Dashou's worries are also good, the key is who can attack and occupy Huaiyuan Fort.

"Your Highness, the pigeon in front of you is passing the book." Just as Zhu Youzhen was about to use cavalry to storm Huaiyuan Fort, Liu Lin was interrogated to report.

"What's the message?"

"The bandit army of Jingbian Fort abandoned the city and fled, and they have all retreated to Huaiyuan Fort, and now Jingbian Fort is just an empty city."

"Empty city? Since there were no bandits in Jingbian Fort, the two generals' methods were feasible, and the bandits could not be allowed to flee north. Yuan Chonghuan? ”

"Yes."

"Quickly lead the soldiers and horses of the Xianwu battalion, go to the northwest of Huaiyuan Fort and set up camp, and guard against Gao Yingxiang in the north."

"Zu Dashou?"

"Yes."

"Quickly lead the Yaowu camp to the east of Huaiyuan Fort and set up camp, and guard against the reinforcements of Wang Daliang's department."

"I led my own army and attacked the city south of Huaiyuan Fort. This is a quick victory, and you can use all means to force the bandits to surrender. ”