"General Right, the bandits will not be exterminated this time, but they will return to the mountains and forests, and there will be a chance to slowly figure it out in the future. But if something really goes wrong in Siyang County, the blame will be hard to escape! Meng Zhao's lieutenants Xu Feng, Chen Chang and others said in unison.

Why didn't Meng Zhao understand what they meant, the last time he failed in Boping, he let the Shanyang Mansion army enter the southern part of Liangzhou Mansion, which had already caused many people's ideas and dissatisfaction in the rear, if Siyang County was lost again, he, the right general, would also do it.

However, he just didn't want to. Seeing that the more than 10,000 bandits trapped in the west were about to be caught, he would be able to make up for the grain and grass materials looted by the army in Shanyang Mansion in the north of Siyang City. But it was destroyed by this Shanyang Mansion army, and the hatred in his heart was really difficult to eliminate.

"Squeak...... Meng Zhao squeaked the hilt of the sword in his hand, almost bursting. How could he not know this? But he knew better that the Shanyang Prefecture army would not really occupy Siyang County. Although he failed in his southern expedition, it does not mean that the Shanyang Mansion Army is stronger than himself, and it does not mean that the Shanyang Mansion Army dares to fight back. If you really want to fight back, you will fight back when you are retreating. The Shanyang Mansion Army is not the Yanzhou Mansion Army, he is just a place of government. Full of calculations, including Boping, that is, a county, with a population of only seven or eight hundred thousand, how dare it compare with the Tang Army?

In comparison, the bandits who have now gathered together because of the sacking of hundreds of towns and towns in the west are more harmful. It would be even more difficult not to take advantage of them to gather together and destroy them and wait for them to disperse. Moreover, because they have looted a lot of materials from the big families of the Haogin clan, they only need to stabilize it, and they will gradually develop and grow.

For this, Meng Zhao is not the most worried, what he is most worried about is that these bandits are beginning to be organized. Once they are connected in tandem in the future, it will be an army of tens of thousands, which is enough to pose a deadly threat to them. More importantly, because the Shanyang Mansion Army first thwarted the Tang Army's attack on Boping, and then smashed into its own rear and robbed the property transported to Siyang County. The morale of the bandits was greatly boosted, and with the agitation and provocation of the Shanyang Mansion Army, now many of the former Liangzhou Prefecture Army who have fled incognito or fled have joined them, and even among some new annexed troops, there have also been deserters, not to mention ordinary people. If they are not cleared out in time, when the war breaks out again in Liangzhou Mansion in the future, there is a good chance that these bandits will be able to gather tens of thousands of bandits, and they cannot be underestimated.

In fact, Meng Zhao also regretted a little in his heart, regretting that he had recruited too much from the local government in order to take all parts of Liangzhou Mansion and consume the Shanyang Mansion army in Boping, and at the same time, he did not send people to stabilize the newly captured counties in the south of Liangzhou Mansion in time, which suddenly made the people in the southern counties no longer support. This is also the reason why these bandit activities have not been bravely counterattacked by the people.

Meng Zhao also knew that if he ignored Siyang County, then the local victimized clans in Siyang County would react to the rear, saying that they would sit back and watch the Shanyang Mansion army cause trouble to the people in Siyang County. Even those who are keen on their position as the right general will attack themselves.

"Pass on my order, the armies of all roads will speed up the encirclement, and we will clean up these bandits who are causing trouble in the southern counties of Liangzhou Prefecture within three days." Meng Zhao gritted his teeth and ordered in a deep voice.

"General, so...... Otherwise, the general still sailed westward, and his subordinates led part of his men to retreat to Siyang County. Meng Zhao made a decision, and Yuan Li had no choice but to think of another way.

Meng Zhao said with a solemn face: "No, plus the township brave private soldiers, each road is only about 5,000 soldiers and horses, how dare you divide the troops and retreat?" The group of bandits on the opposite side showed signs of gathering in separate units, and many of their predecessors were from the Liangzhou Prefecture Army, but they were not ordinary mountain bandits, they knew how to arrange troops and understand the rules of the battlefield. As far as 5,000 people are concerned, the general thinks that it is insufficient, and if he divides the troops again, he is afraid that it will be more dangerous. After all, these townsmen can't be counted on. ”

After a pause, Meng Zhao continued: "Don't forget, there are nearly 5,000 Shanyang Mansion troops in Siyang County, and they can fight for hundreds of miles, but they are not simple troops, especially that Li Feng, who has a lot of tricks." If you go less, you will only suffer a loss, and you will not take advantage. Besides, they still have two thousand cavalry in their hands. Although these two thousand cavalry are beginners at best, they are still cavalry, aren't they? ”

Xu Feng said hatefully: "It's all these damn squires and wealthy families, when we collected horses and bought them with money, they didn't want to give them out, but now it's good, all of them have become trophies of the Shanyang Mansion Army." Damn it! These people, they all deserve to die! ”

Speaking of which, none of these soldiers and generals have a good impression of these wealthy gentry families who occupy countless lands, countless domestic slaves, and countless money and grain, but for the time being, they can't move each other, at least until the Liangzhou Mansion is stabilized.

"Okay, there is no need to say more, just do what you say, I don't believe it, this Shanyang Mansion army really dares to stay in Siyang County." Meng Zhao waved his hand and said in a cold voice.

…………

Siyang City.

After the seven or eight hundred soldiers sent to make the bait also turned back, Zhao Xun was completely relieved. So far, the actions of the line are expected, as for the effect below, it depends on the response of the other party.

"General, you say, is this Meng Zhao coming back, or will he not come?" Lu Yu asked in a deep voice, and Zhang Yongxue, Guan Lin, and Li Guochang on the side also listened attentively.

"What? Is it the recent streak of victories that have made your tail? Seeing that Guan Lin and the others all showed interested expressions, Zhao Xun asked with a smile.

Guan Linhan smiled: "How is it possible? The subordinates are just concerned about the overall situation, after all, whether the enemy will come back or not, it is all related to this. ”

Zhao Xun smiled: "If other people care, I still believe it." But you? It's the first time I've heard that you, who are careless, have also begun to pay attention to the overall situation. ”

"However, whether he comes back or not, it doesn't have anything to do with us directly. After all, we can't stay here for long. If we have the entire Yanzhou army as the backing, we can fight. But ......" said, Zhao Xunren sighed without knowing it.

But what, among all the people, except for Zhang Yongxue, everyone knows very well. Xu Jie was ready to abandon tens of thousands of troops and the land of the two provinces and the Tang army in exchange for the sincerity of the alliance with the Tang army. Then, Xu Jie naturally disagreed with the victory of the Shanyang Mansion Army over the Tang Army. Therefore, fighting against the Tang Army has also become a separate task for the Shanyang Prefecture Army. If they want to fight with the elite who occupy the land of the three mansions with the land of one mansion and change their name to the Shanyang Army, they are really not opponents. If it weren't for the fact that the Xiaoguo Army had restrained the Tang Army at this moment, they would have no chance of winning at all, and maybe Shanyang Mansion would have been taken by the Tang Army a long time ago.

It would be nice if Yanzhou Mansion could be taken, in that case, Shanyang Mansion and Yanzhou Mansion would be connected with the southern part of Jizhou. Then there will be no fear.

The news that Siyang County was broken by the Shanyang Prefecture army again spread to the surrounding counties in less than a day. But Meng Zhao did not immediately return to help, and still ordered to encircle and suppress the bandits. Some people don't understand, they don't know why Meng Zhao did this, and some people are even dissatisfied with it. But there are still a small number of people who know that the threat brought by the bandits is greater than that of the Shanyang Prefecture Army. After all, the army of Shanyang Mansion is the army of Shanyang Mansion, but these bandits have to settle down in the south of Liangzhou Mansion. And the southern part of Liangzhou Mansion is bordering Shanyang Mansion. On weekdays, the bandits naturally didn't dare to do anything to the Tang Army. But if the Tang army and the Shanyang army were at war, this rear would be a big problem.

Tang Jun acted like this, not to mention that Zhao Xun had arranged someone to inform him, but no one informed him, and the bandits also knew that Tang Jun wanted the right to exterminate himself. After learning of the Tang Army's net-like encirclement plan, the bandits were also taken aback. Especially those bandit leaders who were born as government army officers understand the meaning of this.

Understand, knowledgeable bandit leaders will naturally not leave alone. And those small gangs and some bandit leaders who panicked because of the approach of the Tang army naturally wanted to flee immediately. But soon, their ending made the remaining nearly 100 mountain bandits understand that this time, these Tang troops seemed to be in earnest.

After the discussion of the bandits, the first alliance was formed, and finally the bureau of eight families was formed, and it became eight large gangs. The eight mountain bandits controlled by Zhao Xun were also mixed together, led by Zhao Xun's personal guard battalion led by Wang Yue, with a total of more than 1,500 people. It is also the smallest of the eight families. However, it is also the most sophisticated armor and equipment, and the soldiers are the most strong. It's not because of anything else, but because Wang Yue and the others don't just recruit homeless people to join, and wantonly expand their manpower.

Wang Yue's armor and equipment were excellent, and that was because he exchanged some of the captures in his hands and other mountain bandits, including the armor and equipment that he exchanged from the Shanyang Mansion army.

The total number of these eight families is quite large, only more than 20,000. But everyone knows that only half of those who can really go to the battlefield and fight with the Tang Army. Therefore, for the comprehensive encirclement of the Tang army, the bandits were also helpless. After exploring the horse, I learned that the Tang army had formed a large encirclement of hundreds of miles, like a big net, slowly covering it.

Wang Yue wasn't very worried about this, after all, they weren't really mountain bandits. There is an order from above, and if necessary, you can get out. In addition, in Liaocheng County, there are more than 1,000 people lurking in the mountains for later use. Moreover, they also know the situation in Siyang County, which is also an ambush for them to live. The scouts of the Eagle Eye Division in the three western counties have long been paying attention to the development of the situation, and once there is a loophole, they can get out immediately.

It is also because of this that the strength of the eight families is equal, but they are not convinced, and after proposing to leave each other, Wang Yue agreed without hesitation.

…………

"Bastard, how dare you do this? It's too much of a deception! Meng Zhao's face turned blue and roared angrily.

In the handsome tent, Yuan Li, Chen Chang, Xu Feng and Wumeng, who rushed back with 2,000 people, also sat on both sides of the lower hand with ugly faces.

"Good! This Li Feng is not bad, in order to force me to return to the army, he actually resorted to such a means! Damn it! Meng Zhao's fists creaked, and the anger in his heart could be imagined.

There is no other reason, the day before yesterday, the soldiers reported the news, Meng Zhao ignored it, but led the army to suppress, and in the process of moving forward, he also exterminated a group of 3,000 mountain bandits. Although he knew that there were only more than 500 people who really belonged to the mountain bandits, the rest were just ordinary people. But the harvest is still satisfying.

But soon, today, June 5th. He received the news again, received the news from Siyang County. But this news made him feel like he was on pins and needles, and he had to think about it carefully.

After the Shanyang army broke the city on June 2, after noon on the same day, they moved 30,000 people south and looted the large households and treasury in Siyang City. But because of the inaction of the Tang army, in just two days, the Shanyang Mansion army in Siyang City began to be unscrupulous. Dozens of dock forts, township forts, and walled cities in Siyang County were broken, and countless properties were looted. Subsequently, on the 4th of June, 5,000 Sanyang troops marched north from the south. In the afternoon of the same day, the 5,000-strong army once again moved nearly 50,000 people in Siyang County south, and the opportunity made Siyang County an empty county.

Meng Zhao also didn't expect that the Shanyang Mansion army would have reinforcements to go north, maybe the spies had found it, but he didn't know the situation in the rear, and he hadn't yet learned which way Meng Zhao was in the Five Route Army. However, it is an unchangeable fact that 5,000 Shanyang Prefecture troops have entered. He could tolerate the entry of enemy troops, and the generals and even the generals in the rear could understand the situation in Siyang County and give him support. But now the Shanyang Mansion Army's desperate plan has made him unable to sit idly by.

The total population of Siyang County is only 1230,000 people, and more than half of it was transported away by the Shanyang Mansion Army twice, you say, how can Meng Zhao ignore it? If he ignored it, he believed that the Shanyang Mansion army would be rough next time, and the remaining people would also be relocated.

Without the people, what else can Siyang County do? Now, the actions of the Shanyang Mansion Army have left him with no way out.

"Umeng, I will leave you a thousand regular soldiers and all the village warriors, and you will stay here to fight for me. Don't let the bandits know the news. The remaining 4,000 people immediately returned to Siyang County with the general. Meng Zhao ordered with bitterness.

Although Wumeng and Meng Zhao were both acting in secret, they couldn't hide it from the people of the Eagle Eye Division. After all, this was the transfer of thousands of troops, and besides, the people of the Eagle Eye Division were staring at Meng Zhao all the time, how could they let him slip away?

Of the 4,000 men in Meng Zhao's hands, 1,000 were cavalry, which was still the sum of the cavalry from the remnants of Boping's army. But he couldn't just take these 1,000 people back south, and leave the lack behind. After all, the opponent has 2,000 cavalry in his hands, and if he faces each other head-on without the cooperation of other arms, he will suffer a big loss.

After learning that Meng Zhao had returned, Wang Yue immediately secretly asked people to inform the bandits. After receiving the news one after another, some people mentioned that the source pointed out, that is, Wumeng rushed to break the interception net and withdraw to various cottages. Some people naturally disagree and are unwilling to fight hard with Tang Jun.

In the end, including Wang Yue, only three families were willing to take the lead, and the rest were ready to wait for the results.

A group of stupid pigs, if we were gone, how could the rest of the four-way Tang army not notice? Can you still get out? Wang Yue sneered and glanced at the group of bandits who were watching, secretly mocking in his heart.

On June 8, the third day after Meng Zhao left, the three families suddenly entered the direction where Wumeng was. Although Wumeng resisted strongly, he could not withstand the rush of five or six thousand bandits. As Meng Zhao said, the township is brave and private, and it is okay to guard the city wall and fort, but the field battle is far behind! After a bitter battle for a stick of incense, the village brave private Ding fell apart. It didn't matter if they retreated, all of a sudden, along with the army in the hands of Umeng. In an instant, the three thousand Tang troops were scattered, and suddenly the big net broke through a big hole that was nearly several miles away, and the three mountain bandits instantly killed and fled away.

You must know that the encirclement has reached this point, and the distance between the two is only ten miles away. Therefore, before the surrounding Tang troops surrounded and filled the loopholes, they had to leave in an instant. As long as the encirclement is dragged out, they are considered safe. After all, there were still five or six bandits in the encirclement of the Tang Army, but there were only three here, and they were still bandits who could scatter at any time.

The five bandits who were watching from the rear were stunned, and they didn't expect that these three brothers would really be killed. reacted immediately, and immediately commanded the men and horses to go east, preparing to follow the three teams to escape from the encirclement. It's a pity that when they arrived, the three Tang armies, totaling seven or eight thousand regular soldiers, were already ready. A big battle is naturally indispensable, and the final result is naturally needless to say, the bandits escaped a little, but half of them were intercepted back. As for the remaining three or four thousand people, they have all died at the hands of the Tang army.

The remaining bandits had no choice but to retreat westward. At this moment, it is too late for them to regret it, after all, after the loophole appears once, it will naturally take advantage of the situation to make up for it. In addition, there are three fewer men and horses, and three or four thousand are lost, and the remaining men and horses are already difficult to break through the Tang army's interception. As a result, the bandits who were involved in the ordinary people immediately threw down their weapons and turned around and went home. As for the rest, they also began to flee for their lives. Scattered in all directions.

"Meng Zhao has finally returned to the army!" After receiving the news from Tanma, Zhao Xun said with a smile.

"If he doesn't come back, he's afraid that we'll empty Siyang County." Lu Yu couldn't help but laugh.

Speaking of which, this relocation of the people again is also a temporary intention. After the 30,000 people who moved away from the city and the neighboring towns of Siyang City on that day, the people of the surrounding towns were willing to follow them and leave this war-torn land when the army of Shanyang Prefecture attacked the Wubao and Xiangbao with the army of Shanyang Prefecture in the city. After all, the Shanyang Prefecture army has already relocated 30,000 people, and it treats the people well and has a good reputation. The people also hoped that they could get rid of the unrestricted conscription and taxation of the Tang army. This Siyang County was too close to the front line, and when attacking Boping City, most of the dead and wounded people were from Siyang County.

Originally, Zhao Xun did not plan to relocate the people, but the 5,000 Shanyang army supported by Boping rushed here. After Zhao Xun inquired, he learned that the 30,000 people who had gone back earlier had been escorted back by another 5,000 soldiers who came to the aid in a hurry, and they came to Zhao Xun to listen to them. It happened that Zhao Xun had no intention of fighting to the death with the Tang army, but Meng Zhao had no intention of withdrawing the army, so this plan to relocate the people and despair appeared.

"Order the whole army, let's prepare, prepare to withdraw." After confirming that Meng Zhao had evacuated the camp, Zhao Xun also issued a military order to withdraw the army.

"If you go on like this, when Meng Zhao rushes back, you will vomit blood with ironclad anger!" Lu Yu chuckled.

Zhao Xun said: "It's good to vomit blood, after all, attacking Boping City has caused a lot of casualties to our army!" ”

"Report ...... Emergency military intelligence! ”

At this moment, there was a sudden rush of shouts from outside the hall.

Zhao Xun and the others were stunned, and they didn't know where the problem was.

"Let him in!" Zhao Xun said urgently.

It's okay to the north, that's ...... Zhao Xun and Lu Yu looked at each other, and their hearts suddenly jumped.

A moment later, a soldier soaked in sweat hurried in.

"Report! General, Lord Feng is in a hurry, there is a change in Yanzhou Mansion! As he spoke, he took out a secret letter from his body that had been soaked in sweat and had some traces.

Zhao Xun took a look, his face suddenly became solemn, and after a while, he said in a deep voice: "Order the whole army, set off immediately, and return to the army!" ”