As Zhao Xun expected, after Murong Cheng learned that Tang Xian had entered Jingzhou and occupied Nanyang Mansion, a key place in the north of Jingzhou, he had no intention of returning to Yuzhou and competing with the Yanzhou army. On the one hand, he let the army move south, drove under Huaiyin City, and prepared to storm Huaiyin City. On the one hand, Zhang Tu was asked to send someone to negotiate with Zhao Xun to cede the land of Yuzhou to reach an armistice agreement, and in addition, he was also ready to buy grain and grass from Zhao Xun.

Although Murong Cheng was very unwilling in his heart, it was true that anyone in his position should be unwilling. It's really uncomfortable enough to pay for your own things. However, the current situation has made him understand that now, all the princes are looking at him, and they have been prepared for a long time. Therefore, although he hated Yanzhou Jun to death in his heart, he had to put him aside first.

And in Xuzhou, as Zhao Xun said, the current Li Chi also rushed to Jiangdu Mansion to command the current operational policy of the Xuzhou Army. Although Murong Cheng's front army has lost 30,000 or 40,000 people, Murong Cheng's army in Huaiyin Mansion still has more than 150,000, which is still a behemoth for Li Chi. Especially now he also hopes to enter Yangzhou, conquer Yangzhou and occupy it. If he fights with the Qi army and the loss is too much, then his idea can only be an idea, not a reality.

"Our army has taken the land of the two northern provinces of Yangzhou, and has completely opened a gap in the Yangzhou defense line. Lord, thanks to this strategy, the Qi army in Yangzhou was completely annihilated, and the Qi army was caught off guard. Otherwise, we wouldn't have been able to take this important place in the north of Yangzhou so quickly, so that the defenders of Yangzhou and the civil and military officials would be taken by us without knowing it. Jiangdu Metropolitan Governor's Mansion, Xuzhou Military Guard General Li Wu said with a happy face.

Li Chi didn't care about this victory, he knew that if he couldn't achieve victory if he was prepared and defenseless, then there would be no need for the Xuzhou army to save it. After all, at the beginning of the war, the main force of the Qi army that went north was completely annihilated, and only a small number of troops were left behind. In addition, as early as a few months ago, Li Chi had a lot of internal responses in Jiujiang and Lu'anbu in the north of Yangzhou. Winning now, in his opinion, is also a matter of course.

"Li Yan, where is Murong Cheng now? It stands to reason that now he should have known that the Yanzhou army had entered Yuzhou, cut off his back road, and seized the grain and grass of his army. If he wanted to minimize his losses, he should swing his army back, return to Yuzhou, and fight on both sides with the Jingzhou army, forcing the Yanzhou army to spit out the fat they had swallowed. In this way, we can sit and watch Murong Cheng and the Yanzhou army fight, one wants Yuzhou, and the other wants to take revenge for the betrayal, but it just cheapens us. Li Chi asked Li Yan, who was in charge of intelligence.

Li Yan's face changed uncertainly, and he didn't answer directly for a while.

"Huh? How? No news? Li Chi suddenly snorted coldly, "You are in charge of the news, why didn't you sort out the news in time?" ”

Li Yan saw that Li Chi was angry, and said urgently: "Back to the Governor, according to the report of the spies, the army under Murong Cheng's personal commander has rushed to Huaiyin City, joined Xu Yandong, and the army of 150,000 has the right to storm Huaiyin City, and the defenders of Huaiyin City have sent people to ask for help." ”

"What? How can it be? Li Chi was suddenly shocked and exclaimed, "When is the news?" Reliable or not? Li Chi's face was full of disbelief.

Li Yan smiled bitterly: "The news I just got, my subordinates were originally preparing to report to the Metropolitan Governor. ”

"Impossible? Murong Cheng was betrayed by the Yanzhou army, how could he bear to be betrayed, and the betrayer was still a prince who was far weaker than him? ”

"Even if the Yanzhou army occupies Yuzhou, the strength in Murong Cheng's hands can still suppress the Yanzhou army. Besides, as long as the stalemate lasts for a few days, Jingzhou will definitely be able to send troops to attack, and the Yanzhou army alone is not enough to deal with it. But why didn't Murong Cheng return to the army and turn back, but had to fight to the death with the governor of Pontus? ”

The news reported by Li Yan made Li Chi a little incredulous, and he also felt that the situation was a little out of control. In his plan, the current Murong Cheng should be furious, immediately wave his army back, fight a big battle with the Yanzhou army in Yuzhou, and then defeat the Yanzhou army, return to Jingzhou, and finally fall into the battle with Situ Lei.

But now, Murong Cheng not only did not go back, but attacked Huaiyin City. In Huaiyin City, Li Chi left only 30,000 defenders. This is still because there are tens of thousands of Qi troops onslaught, and so many troops are deliberately left behind, just in case. But now, the Qi army under Huaiyin City suddenly almost doubled, making Huaiyin City, which had been fighting hard for more than half a month, and only had less than 20,000 defenders, could not hold on, but began to ask him for help.

"No, there must be a problem here, could it be that Situ Lei dispatched from Yongzhou? So that Murong Cheng didn't dare to turn back lightly? So abandon Yuzhou and attack the road to the south? ”

"No, what Situ Lei said at the beginning, his goal will be Jiaozhou, and it is ......right to open the road to the sea."

Li Chi immediately frowned, not knowing what had happened to the west. Although this matter is mainly due to the change in Murong Cheng's direction, now, it has completely affected his overall plan.

Just when Li Chi was unpredictable, the new news finally made him understand the reason for this.

"It turned out to be Tang Xian! I didn't expect Tang Xian to be so capable, and it was not shallowly hidden. I thought that this Tang Army was a bystander this time, but I didn't expect that Tang Xian would take advantage of the Yanzhou Army and then occupy Nanyang Mansion. It seems that Tang Xian's intention is Jingzhou. Ay...... Miscalculated, miscalculated! Li Chi shook his head and sighed.

"Lord, since Tang Xian wants to fight Jingzhou's idea, why does the Yanzhou army want to ...... Lord, could it be said that the Tang Army has colluded with the Yanzhou Army? Li Yan said in surprise.

Li Chi nodded and said, "That's right, they colluded, and we were tricked by Tang Xian." Originally, I thought that we would join forces with the Tang Army to suppress the Yanzhou Army. In this operation, the governor of Pontus did not take the Tang army in the north into account, after all, he was not close to the southern Qidi. ”

"Hey...... Who would have thought that he would actually take the road of the Yanzhou army and seek to seize Jingzhou. Now, Jingzhou was attacked by the Tang army, and Yuzhou was occupied by the Yanzhou army, in addition, the Yanzhou army also captured the grain and grass of the Qi army. In this way, if Murong Cheng wanted to turn back, he would not be able to fight with the Yanzhou army. After all, without Jingzhou reinforcements and not enough food, the 150,000-strong army would not last long at all. Moreover, the importance of Yangzhou is far more important than that of Yuzhou and Jingzhou. ”

"So what do we do now? Huaiyin City asked us for help, and our subordinates guessed that they would not be able to hold out for long. The current Murong Cheng is surrounded by enemies, except to take Huaiyin City, open up the southbound passage, and return to Yangzhou, there is no better way, so this time, Murong Cheng will ignore it. ”

Li Chi gritted his teeth and said in a deep voice: "In this way, let the army going south transfer 20,000 people, gather the soldiers of Jiangdu Mansion, and immediately rush to the aid of Huaiyin City." As long as Huaiyin City is still in our hands, then this Yangzhou is our meal, let us ask for it. ”

…………

When Li Chi transferred men from the south to aid Huaiyin City, Zhao Xun had already met the negotiating envoy sent by Murong Cheng. For this situation, neither Zhao Xun nor Feng Ziming expected it.

In their opinion, Murong Cheng at this moment would either fight back desperately or go south immediately. Moreover, in the eyes of the two of them, Murong Cheng at this time should directly attack the Xuzhou army, and then return to Yangzhou to plan a counterattack.

Regarding Murong Cheng's peace, after Zhao Xun and Feng Ziming discussed, both of them thought that it was acceptable. First, Zhao Xun's purpose this time was Yuzhou, and he had no intention of fighting Murong Cheng in an all-out battle. Now that Yuzhou is in hand, then Murong Cheng has nothing to do with himself.

Of course, Zhao Xun understood that he betrayed Murong Cheng this time, and Murong Cheng would definitely hate him to the core. But Zhao Xun also knew that this time Murong Cheng was attacked by the Xuzhou Army, the Yanzhou Army, the Tang Army and the Yongjun Princes. Whether it can turn over or not, it's still two words. By that time, he was no longer able to continue to entangle with himself. Of course, if he can rise again, the most important thing for Murong Cheng to fight back should be the Xuzhou army, not himself. Although Murong Cheng hates himself the most, it is the Xuzhou Army that is the most deadly to Murong Cheng now. Because the Xuzhou army attacked his base camp.

Second, Zhao Xun was really worried that Murong Cheng would not be able to go south, and finally return to Yuzhou, but would have to fight to the death with himself. After all, this time it was the other party who betrayed himself. If you can negotiate with the other party and take the remaining prefectures and counties of Yuzhou without blood, then this is naturally the best. And Murong Cheng, who also hopes to be replenished, can lead the army to compete with the Xuzhou army, so that the Xuzhou army can also fight with the Qi army. Since Li Chi wants to sit on the mountain and watch the tiger fight, why can't he be?

The last reason is that Situ Lei also began to move. Situ Lei sent troops from Ningzhou and Yizhou, and the entire Jiaozhou and half of Jiangzhou were under Situ Lei's blow. Zhao Xun didn't want Murong Cheng to delay here for too long, and he didn't want to be defeated here, but in the end, he let Situ Lei take the biggest advantage. Therefore, Zhao Xun also hoped that Murong Cheng would go back and form an opposition with Situ Lei again.

Immediately, Zhao Xun reached an agreement with Murong Cheng, and Zhao Xun took over the eastern prefecture and county of Yuzhou. As for the civil and military officials in these prefectures and counties, those who are willing to stay and are willing to serve as officials will continue to be officials after the assessment. If you don't want to, you will naturally leave. As for the local soldiers, most of them were from Yuzhou, so they naturally stayed in Yuzhou and became a member of the Yanzhou army.

As for the grain trade, Zhao Xun naturally would not directly agree. After all, now Murong Cheng is also in the territory of the enemy army, and there are no materials that can be traded. But Murong Cheng's envoy said that if the Yanzhou army was willing to sell grain to the Qi army, then the Huaiyin Mansion in Xuzhou could be handed over to the Yanzhou army. Of course, it was the Yanzhou army that took it from the Qi army. As for whether the Yanzhou army will occupy it or redeem it with money in the future, this has nothing to do with the Qi army.

Zhao Xun understands that this Qi army trades grain with himself in Huaiyin Mansion, in addition to really needing food, why not to directly create contradictions between himself and the Xuzhou army? Huaiyin Mansion is located in the south of Xuzhou to the west, bordering Yuzhou. The three important cities of Huaiyin Mansion are the key points of the Xuzhou army's resistance to the southwest. Now, Quyang City fell into the hands of the Qi army, and if Huaiyin City was subsequently captured by Murong Cheng, then the entire southwest flank of Xuzhou would be under the blade of the Yanzhou army. In particular, these three important cities that used to defend against foreign enemies will become the fortress of the Yanzhou army to defend against the Xuzhou army and the sharp knife inserted into the ribs of the Xuzhou army.

If Zhao Xun agreed, then Li Chi in Xuzhou would definitely be extremely dissatisfied. But now that all the princes are seeking development for themselves, Zhao Xun will naturally not let go of this opportunity. It can not only defend the field, but also suppress the enemy army. In addition, it can also cut off a piece of land from Xuzhou.

After discussing with Feng Ziming and others, Zhao Xun finally decided to make a deal with Murong Cheng. However, Zhao Xun needed to take over Quyang City and the three surrounding counties, and then hand over half of the grain to the Qi army. As for Li Chi and Xuzhou Jun, the current Zhao Xun no longer cares about these things. And Li Chi didn't have time to think about the problem of Huaiyin Mansion when he thought about it.

Now that an agreement has been reached, with Murong Cheng's cooperation, it will be much more convenient for the Yanzhou army to take over Yuzhou. Those who are loyal to Murong Cheng can naturally lay down their weapons and government affairs in their hands and leave, and those who are willing to stay will also go home to stand by. The Yanzhou Army began to take over the prefectures and counties. I have to say that the people of Yuzhou still welcome the Yanzhou army. At the very least, when the Yanzhou Army took over the place, it did not cause life problems, and even won the support of the people.

"I didn't expect Murong Cheng to retreat so simply!" In the territory of Xiangzhou Mansion in the east of Yuzhou, looking at the Qi Army Banner slowly falling and the Yanzhou Army Banner slowly rising, Feng Ziming couldn't help but sigh.

Feng Ziming and Zhao Xun directly joined Wei Dong and Xu Qing's troops who had previously marched in, divided their troops into multiple routes, and at the same time began to take over the eastern part of Yuzhou. In addition to trying his best to stabilize the place, Zhao Xun also did not want any supplies from the eastern prefectures and counties of Yuzhou to leave Yuzhou and enter the Qi army. However, the attitude of submission in the eastern part of Yuzhou is still relatively simple, which makes Feng Ziming feel like he is in a dream. For Murong Cheng and Qi Jun, Feng Ziming still understood it relatively well, so he was defeated and succumbed, which simply made him a little unimaginable.

Zhao Xun shook his head and smiled lightly: "It's getting more and more lively now, Murong Cheng doesn't dare to wait any longer, so he can't just order if he doesn't show it." If it were just us and the Xuzhou army, the current Murong Cheng would only be afraid to directly wave the army back to Yuzhou and fight to the death with us. Of course, with Jingzhou reinforcements, we are certainly not opponents. But now Tang Xian began to plot to seize Jingzhou, and he also achieved a lot of results, leaving Murong Cheng without rear support and logistical supplies. ”

"The most important thing is that the news that Situ Lei is now mixing with Jiaozhou and Jiangzhou should also reach Murong Cheng, and he can't help but be anxious. If we say that we are all minions, we are not in the eyes of Murong Cheng, and even, even if we take away some of the prefectures and counties in Yuzhou, Yanzhou and Jingzhou, he Murong Chengdu can not take it to heart. But as soon as Situ Lei moved, he Murong Cheng couldn't help but worry. ”

"Lord, since we have returned to Quyang City, why not take Huaipu City as well. The remaining Huaiyin City is about to be destroyed under the strong attack and rule of Murong Cheng's army, so that we can completely occupy Huaiyin Mansion. In this way, we are equivalent to building a bridgehead in Xuzhou, which is not only conducive to defense, but also conducive to future counterattacks. More importantly, it is one of the few important cities in the southwest of Xuzhou that can form a key point with the surrounding terrain. Feng Ziming said suddenly.

Zhao Xun was stunned and asked puzzledly: "Since the beginning of the war, we and the Xuzhou Army have been both allies and competitors, and at the same time, we and them are also enemies. Since we want Quyang City, even if we have a confrontation with Li Chi. ”

"Besides, when it was discussed, it was said that the Qi army passed through Huaiyin Mansion, and then cut off the three cities of Huaiyin Mansion, so that it could not retreat, while the Jiangdu Mansion and Guangling Mansion had their armies turned back to disperse or defeat Murong Cheng's army after defeating the Yangzhou army. But now, he is blocking Huaiyin City to the death, isn't it just to let Murong Cheng fight with us. In that case, what else are we polite? Ziming, tell me what you think, we have to act, it's not an easy thing. In this Huaipu City, there are still 15,000 Xuzhou troops garrisoned. Huaipu City is a strong city, easy to defend and difficult to attack, coupled with the equipment that has been stored for a long time, I am afraid that there will be no tens of thousands of casualties, and it will be difficult to capture it without ten days and half a month. ”

Feng Ziming said with a smile: "What the Lord said is that this Huaipu City is the same as Huaiyin City, the city is strong and thick, and it is difficult to attack. In Huaipu City, Xu Yandong paid 30,000 or 40,000 casualties and fought for half a month, but he failed to take Huaiyin City. If this Huaipu City is attacked, I am afraid that the situation will not be much better than the siege of Huaipu City. ”

However, Xu Qing took the road back from Huaipu City and knew Huaipu City better. Similarly, the defenders of Huaipu City should also know that Xu Qing has an allied relationship with them. In that case, why not bring out some of it, and then let Xu Qingshun take it? ”

Zhao Xun was puzzled: "Although in the territory of Huaiyin Mansion, in addition to Huaiyin City in the southeast, there is a large army, and there are still 15,000 troops in Huaipu City. But if we want to lure it out, where is the bait? ”

Feng Ziming said with a smile: "Lord, this Quyang City is the best bait." If the Huaipu City Defender learns that Murong has become a strong attack on Huaiyin City and has given up Quyang City, do you say, will this Huaipu City Defender send someone to take over Quyang City immediately? ”

"Of course, Li Chi will definitely explain to the three city guards of Huaiyin Mansion, and he must control the three important cities well, and he must keep my Yanzhou army or Qi army out of the country. This is a good idea, this time let Xu Qing move, take a detour, and then need to pass through Huaipu City. When the time comes, take advantage of the situation ......" Zhao Xun laughed and said. Feng Ziming's meaning, he naturally understood. Zhao Xun will not let go of this kind of opportunity.