On the fourth day of the seventh month, at dusk, a touch of red dyed all over the sky, and the river outside Luokou was bathed in a gorgeous afterglow, sparkling and beautiful.

Zhou Fashang stood on the deck with his hands in his hands, overlooking the sunset in the distance, and his depressed mood was relieved.

Yesterday, he received an urgent report from the province that the Xijing army was surrounded by Yang Xuangan on the front line of Mianchi, and there was a danger of annihilation of the whole army. This is bad news, although he is willing to see the Xijing army and Yang Xuangan lose both, but the premise is that the Xijing army cannot be wiped out, and Yang Xuangan cannot be allowed to enter the pass unimpeded, and this mutiny cannot be allowed to become more and more intense so that it is out of control, so Zhou Fashang still accepted the order of the province and intensified the attack, but his troops are limited, and he has to take into account the three directions, and he is powerless.

Today's battle situation changed abruptly, and the rebels supported the front line of Luokoucang and Tiger Prison with the main force, and their intentions were obvious, and they did their best to prevent the water division from entering the battlefield of the Eastern Capital. Zhou Fashang immediately had a sense of ominous, the decisive battle between Wei Wensheng and Yang Xuangan may be over, Yang Xuangan may have won the victory, has gotten rid of the dilemma of being attacked by the enemy on the back and fighting on two fronts, and has begun to stride towards Guanzhong, only in this way will Yang Xuangan free his hands and dispatch the main force on the battlefield of the Eastern Capital to launch a counteroffensive against the naval division, so as to destroy Zhou Fashang's strategy of division and encirclement, continue to support the Xingyang battlefield, continue to play the role of the Xingyang battlefield in containment, and then give Yang Xuangan enough time to enter the pass in the west.

Zhou Fashang's premonition was quickly confirmed by the urgent report of Laizhen. Just came to report urgently, Zhou Zhong suddenly appeared in front of the two armies, and told him that Yang Xuangan had defeated Wei Wensheng in the direction of Mianchi three days ago, although the Xijing army finally fought out of the encirclement, but paid a heavy price, has lost the strength to fight again, and Yang Xuangan followed and pursued, and was rapidly advancing towards Tongguan, and the shape was very beneficial to Yang Xuangan.

The purpose of Zhou Zhong's message on behalf of the rebel high-level was very simple, to warn Zhou Fashang and force Zhou Fashang to withdraw to the river, so as to relieve the heavy pressure of the rebels on the eastern front and buy time for the rebels to break through Tongguan on the western front. Zhou Fa Shang has limited troops, and the other reinforcements have their own goals and are scattered, so it is impossible for Zhou Fa to fight a decisive battle with the rebels in the current situation, so he can only retreat to protect himself.

After Zhou Fashang received this news, he did not hesitate at all, and ordered Fei Qingnu to evacuate from the battlefield of the Tiger Prison, and ordered to hold off the rebels in the direction of Luokou to help Fei Qingnu, who was attacking the Tiger Prison, have enough time to evacuate safely.

After giving the order, Zhou Fashang was restless and anxious, so he walked to the deck to watch the sunset, but no matter how beautiful the sunset was, he couldn't resolve his low feelings.

The sound of hurried footsteps broke the quiet twilight, and a sturdy, heroic, and imposing young officer strode over, "Ming Gong, Xiangyang Gong (come to the whole) to report again, the rebels are swarming, the offensive is like a tide, Luokou is in danger, and another rebel army is moving rapidly in the direction of Huangmaban, according to the judgment of Xiangyang Gong, the rebels will definitely cut off the retreat of Qi Gong (Fei Qingnu)." Forced by the urgency of the form, the Xiangyang Gong built yì, and immediately sent warships down the river to meet the retreat of the Duke of Qi, but it was too late. ”

Zhou Fashang's brows furrowed even deeper, and after thinking for a moment, he slowly turned to look at the young officer standing behind him.

This young officer's name is Mai Mengcai, and his father is Mai Tiecane, the first fierce general of Jiangzuo. The right guard general Mai Tiecane was born as a thief, after being arrested, he changed his evil to good, became a general in the army, brave and good at fighting, and made many meritorious deeds, and was the absolute cronies of the Holy Lord, who unfortunately died in battle when he forcibly crossed the Liaoshui River in the Eastern Expedition last year, and was the highest-ranking officer killed on the battlefield of the Eastern Expedition. The Holy Lord lost his humerus and grieved, and ransomed his body and buried it. Mai Tiecane's three sons were promoted to knighthood because of their father's merits, among which the eldest son Mai Mengcai inherited his father's title.

"Shape shì critical? Do you also think that the shape shì is critical? Zhou Fashang seems to be interested in taking the school entrance examination for Mai Mengcai, and is not in a hurry to make a decision.

Mai Meng knew what Zhou Fashang wanted to ask, hesitated for a moment, and replied, "Ming Gong, if Zhou Zhong's news is accurate, it is indeed not good for us. Once Yang Xuangan broke through the Tong Pass and entered the pass, the consequences would be unimaginable. ”

"Is there a chance of a reversal?" Zhou Fashang asked again.

"Xijing is not a monolith, and the Northwest crisis has restrained the Northwest Army, the situation is very passive, in this case, if Yang Xuangan breaks through Tongguan, we will indeed have a chance to reverse in the short term, unless the same track Gong (Wei Wensheng) and Yang Xuangan have a defeat, Xijing army is still vigorous, can still defend according to the danger, and can still buy us more time. In addition, there is another key point ......" Mai Mengcai said this, hesitating and not continuing.

Zhou Fashang waved his hand, signaling that he didn't need to worry and said boldly.

"There is also a key point that is King Qi." Mai Mengcai said cautiously, "If the threat of King Qi does not exist, we will no longer be in danger of being attacked by the enemy, and we can attack Yang Xuangan with all our might, then the shape will definitely be reversed." ”

"Don't think about King Qi's affairs for the time being." Zhou Fashang sighed, "That's not a problem we can solve. ”

Mai Mengcai also sighed, "If the threat of King Qi always exists, we can only pin our hopes for a reversal on Tonglianggong, but judging from Yang Xuangan's mobilization of more than 20,000 troops to launch a counterattack on Luokou and reinforce the Xingyang battlefield at any cost, Tonglianggong should have been defeated miserably, while Yang Xuangan won very easily, and his strength did not decrease but increased, otherwise he would never be able to mobilize heavy troops in Luokou and Huluo on the first line, and fight on two fronts." ”

Zhou Fashang bowed slightly, turned his eyes to look at the last ray of light that gradually disappeared into the horizon, and sighed, "The tiger father has no dog, Yang Xuangan can defeat the same rail prince, it can be seen that he still has a certain talent in military affairs." ”

Mai Mengcai understood. Since Zhou Fashang is optimistic about Yang Xuangan, it shows that the current situation is indeed pessimistic, and Zhou Fashang is also at a loss, and he can't find a way to reverse it.

"Tell the order." Zhou Fashang said in a calm tone, "According to the construction of Xiangyang Gong (to rectify), send a warship to pick up the evacuation of Qi Gong (Fei Qingnu)." In the current situation, we cannot afford to make any mistakes, let alone lose anything. The same track is a lesson from the past, careless and underestimating the enemy, one wrong step and one wrong step, and there is no power to return to the sky.

Mai Mengcai had already prepared the order, and Cao Peng, the soldier in charge of issuing the order, was already standing in the distance and waiting. As soon as Zhou Fashang's words fell, the Peng subordinate rushed away

Mai Mengcai was about to bow down and leave, but Zhou Fashang was still unsatisfied, and asked again slowly, "What is your prediction for the battle in Xingyang?" ”

Mai Mengcai was slightly puzzled. Yang Xuangan transferred troops to reinforce the Tiger Prison, the purpose was to continue to hold on to the Xingyang battlefield, in order to continue to cut off the Grand Canal and continue to contain the reinforcements of the Navy Division and other guards, so the Xingyang battle situation will not change much in the short term, but since Zhou Fashang asked, it means that the Xingyang battle situation still has zài variables, but he didn't see it.

"After the safe evacuation of the Duke of Qi (Fei Qingnu), the Duke of Xiangyang (Laicheng) will also give up Luokou, and the rebels will regain control of Luoshui and restore the connection between Luokoucang and Tiger Prison, and the rebels on the Xingyang battlefield have both reinforcements and Luokoucang as the backing, and their strength is even stronger, and they can ensure that they can achieve all the expected goals on the Xingyang battlefield."

Mai Mengcai said as he racked his brains to find possible variables, but found nothing.

There must be a reason for Zhou Fashang's question, the more Mai Mengcai thought about it, the more curious he became, and finally couldn't help but tentatively say, "Ming Gong, if the situation in Xingyang can change, if we can use these changes to suppress the rebels in the shortest possible time, end the war in Xingyang, and concentrate all our forces to kill the eastern capital, then as long as Yang Xuangan has not broken through Tongguan, we will have a chance to reverse." It's just that so far, the battle situation in Xingyang is still developing in a direction that is not favorable to us, and I don't see the possibility of variables. Ming Gong's eyes are like torches, has he found something? ”

Zhou Fashang smiled, looking unfathomable, "Xiangyang Gong said, judging from the banner, this army reinforced from the Eastern Capital should be Han Xiangguo's Songyu rebels, but from what he saw with his own eyes, this army has considerable combat effectiveness, and it should be the Eastern Capital Garrison that surrendered to Yang Xuangan. However, the decisive battle of Michi is very important, and it is related to the life and death of Yang Xuangan, how can he abandon the Eastern Capital garrison and not use it? If Yang Xuangan fought a decisive battle with all the main forces, then after defeating Wei Wensheng, he would face the danger of Tongguan, and he would have to invest all the main forces in order to fight a battle, how could he transfer part of the main forces to the Xingyang battlefield? And Han Xiangguo has only been in rebellion for more than two months, can he build such an elite army in such a short period of time? Apparently impossible. ”

Mai Mengcai's eyes showed a look of surprise, indeed, he ignored this "detail", but Zhou Fashang saw this "detail", but a new question came again, this reinforcement army was neither the Eastern Capital garrison that surrendered to Yang Xuangan, nor the Song Yu rebel army of Han Xiangguo, so where is it sacred? Obviously, Zhou Fashang was able to see this "detail", and he should have guessed the "true face" of this reinforcement army.

"Does Ming Gong have any guesses?" Mai Mengcai asked cautiously.

Of course, Zhou Fashang had some guesses, and he could even be sure that his guess was right, but he couldn't say it, he couldn't say it anyway.

At the beginning of the year, he joined forces with the King of Qi in Qi County to suppress the thieves, and the "tacit understanding" between the King of Qi and the white-haired thieves can be described as insightful and clear at a glance. What happened after the end of the thief? The white-haired thief killed Tongjiqu directly, the king of Qi then chased and killed, and then Yang Xuangan raised troops to rebel, if you think about it in a targeted way, there may be some kind of unknown connection between the three.

Where is the white-haired thief now? It is said that he crossed the river and fled north into the Taihang Mountains. When he was in Liyang before, Zhou Fashang was full of doubts about this statement, he couldn't figure it out, it didn't make sense, what reason did the white-haired thief have to give up Mengshan, give up Qilu, go to Hebei, and go to Taihang Mountain to be the king of the mountain? Now I know that this is a cover. The white-haired thief participated in Yang Xuangan's mutiny, if the shape shì was allowed, the king of Qi entered Beijing, and the white-haired thief became the "vanguard officer" of the king of Qi, and the hard work was high, on the contrary, the shape shì was not allowed, and the king of Qi did not enter Beijing, and the white-haired thief would have fled, otherwise he would either be "eaten" by Yang Xuangan, or "exterminated" by the king of Qi.

Such a secret, can Zhou Fa still say? Of course, he can't say, don't say that he has no evidence, even if he has definite evidence, he said it is to put the king of Qi to death, and to be an enemy of the king of Qi is to deeply intervene in the battle for the imperial system, the result can be imagined, it is not that he does not report, the time has not come, and one day he and his family will have to pay the price of death and annihilation, so Zhou Fashang closed his mouth tightly and did not understand a word.

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