Originally, according to Li Guo's intentions, the peasant army should go east with all its might, regardless of day and night, and only eat and rest when necessary, and could camp and rest until it entered the territory of Shanxi. Because it is impossible to hide the whereabouts of the peasant army from the official army for too long, as long as Hong Chengchou marks the whereabouts of the peasant army on the map, he can judge their intention to go to Shanxi. At that time, Hong Chengchou would inevitably fly to pass on the book, put the officials and soldiers in Shanxi on guard, and even defend the river, forcing the peasant army to pay a heavy price. However, the complex composition of the peasant army made it impossible for it to act in accordance with Li Guo's requirements, and after only two or three days of walking, the battalions were distanced, and the front even opened up the rear for a day's journey, and even Li Guo's camp, which had always been strict on weekdays, was less than 100 people, and some of them fell behind, and some of them could not endure the struggle and fled, which also aroused contradictions between the battalions.

In the evening of that day, Li Guo had already arrived at a place thirty miles away from Ganquan City, and it was almost dusk. He commanded his subordinates to camp and rest in a sheltered place in a valley, and it was already November of the fifth year of Chongzhen, and the cold wind blowing from the Mongolian plateau was like a sharp blade, blowing on people's faces. People sat around the fire, waiting for the soup in the iron pot to be hot, and the dry food in the skin was dry and hard, and it was impossible to eat without a mouthful of hot soup.

Li Guo squatted beside the fire, the light of the fire shone on his face, gilding the young man's face with a layer of bronze luster, compared with more than a month ago, he had lost a little weight, the lines of his face contour appeared sharper, and the harsh war life was like a hammer striking him fiercely, removing the weakness, hesitation and panic on his body little by little, leaving only a body and will like steel. From the mouths of the two woodcutters he met on the road, he already knew that there were only 200 guards in Ganquan County, and most of the officers and soldiers were in Yan'an Fucheng in the north. He planned to let his subordinates rest until two o'clock and set off, and then take the defenders by surprise at dawn and capture the county town to replenish the army's rations.

People after eating something. They all wrapped their cloaks and lay down on hay or something else to sleep, and the horsemen tied the reins to their arms and let the horses graze. Only the fireheads of the various teams had not yet slept, they were busy chopping wood, fetching water, and preparing hot meals, so that the raiders who had risen from the two shifts could have a hot and energetic meal to attack the city.

Unlike his own subordinates. Li Guo didn't sleep, he had been to Ganquan County before he rebelled, so he drew a map of the county town according to his memory in front of the fire, thinking about whether there was anything wrong with his plan for tomorrow morning. At this time, there was a human voice in Li Guo's ears, Li Guo stood up, and when he looked back, it was Cao Cao coming.

"Big Boss!" Li Guo arched his hand in some surprise, in his impression Cao Cao is a person who pays attention to enjoyment, and he should be sleeping in a warm tent at this time, how can he run here.

"Brother Li!" Cao Cao made a gesture. A few of the attendants walked away a few steps and walked towards Li Guo alone: "I heard that you are going to fight Ganquan City tomorrow morning?" ”

"Hmm!" Li Guo nodded: "There is not much food, I plan to get some food." ”

"How many guards are there in the city?"

"I met two woodcutters on the road, about 400 people, the officers and soldiers of the brigade are over there in Yan'an Mansion!"

Cao Cao nodded, pointed to a small mound not far away, and said, "Come, Brother Li, let's go there and talk!" ”

Li Guo saw this. Knowing that Cao Cao had something to say to him that he didn't want the third party to hear, he nodded. followed Cao Cao up to the mound. Cao Cao looked around at no one and said in a low voice, "Brother Li, I plan to divide the troops." ”

"Division?" Li Guo was stunned when he heard this, and then asked, "Why do you want to divide the troops?" ”

"Some of them are fast, some are slow, and they have been pulling for more than 30 miles, and some people say strange things. It's better to be separated! Cao Cao smiled: "Brother Li, I know you are kind-hearted, but people are virtuous and foolish, and ten fingers are not of ordinary length, and people may not receive your affection!" ”

Li Guo did not speak. He also heard some rumors, but he didn't take them to heart, thinking that his approach was fair, and when he crossed the Yellow River and arrived in Shanxi, he got rid of the pursuit of Shanxi officials and soldiers, and everyone would naturally understand his hard work. But seeing Cao Cao running to him at night, it was obvious that he was going to break up.

"Divide the troops, how do you divide them?" After half a ring, Li Guo asked in a low voice.

"Brother Li, don't worry, the two of us are donkeys on a set of carts, and we can't be separated!" Cao Cao patted Li Guo on the shoulder affectionately, and said with a smile: "Actually, it is not a bad thing to divide the troops, those who don't know what to do and what is bad will let them disperse, let's cross the Yellow River, and as soon as the recruitment flag is erected, there will naturally be a lot of poor men to vote, let them deal with the surnamed Hong in Shaanxi." The officials of the imperial court are like the countrymen sweeping the snow, they take care of their own courtyards, sweep their own houses clean, and they don't bother to move a finger next door, let's cross the Yellow River, and the surname Hong will not come to provoke us! ”

"That's what the big boss said!" Li Guo smiled reluctantly, he knew very well that what Cao Cao said was good, at that time, officials from all over the Ming Dynasty said that it was their responsibility to defend the land, and what they said was that they were all cleaning the snow in front of their own doors. Regardless of the frost on the tiles of others. Hong Chengchou, the trilateral governor, will not care about this matter unless he adds the military affairs of the two provinces of Qin and Jin. It's just that in this way, those poles that divide the troops with themselves become bait to attract officers and soldiers.

Cao Cao saw that Li Guo had agreed, so he walked down the hill by himself, but after walking a few steps, he suddenly found that Li Guo had not followed, and when he looked back, Li Guo was still standing on the top of the hill and did not move, looking thoughtful. Cao Cao was so clever, he had already guessed six or seven points of Li Guo's thoughts, so he walked over with a smile and patted the other party's shoulder: "What's the matter, are you still thinking about attacking the city tomorrow?" Shall I lend you 300 soldiers? ”

"Thank you, big boss, no need!" Li Guo smiled awkwardly: "I plan to let people disguise themselves as the people who entered the city in the morning, the elite soldiers of the big boss are not familiar, but it is inconvenient." ”

"I knew you had a way!" Cao Cao laughed happily, and suddenly lowered his voice and said: "Brother Li, I know you have a good heart, but it is not enough to have a good heart these days, be careful to help others and even plant yourself in it!" ”

The next day, Ganquan County.

The sky was not yet fully bright, gray, and in the corridor inside the city gate, the guards were napping for a while, and the fire next to it was almost burning. Only a little white charcoal ash remains, giving off a little bit of heat. Outside the city gate, there were already more than 100 people waiting to enter the city, most of them were farmers in the suburbs who had entered the city to sell vegetables, and people gathered in groups of three or five, huddled up, waiting for the time to open the city.

Li Guo put the flat burden on his shoulder on the ground. As was customary for northern farmers at the time, they tucked their hands into the sleeves of their padded jackets to avoid the cold morning winds. He was accompanied by a dozen or so men dressed as local peasants, some carrying firewood loads, some driving carts full of turnips and cabbage, which was simple for them, because most of them were peasants before the rebellion, and most of them were rice fat people, with similar accents, and even if they spoke, they did not have to worry about being discovered.

Li Guo carefully observed the situation near the city gate, where the war had left indelible traces: bullet marks on the city gate, the newly repaired female wall on the city tower, and the moat that had just been cleared. He was even more determined to break the city by stratagem, even though the garrison was only a few hundred. But in addition, Ding Zhuang in the city was enough to withstand the siege of tens of thousands of peasant troops.

Li Guo was thinking about his thoughts, and there was a drum sound from inside the city gate, and the people who were about to enter the city stood up one after another, crowded to the city gate and waited for the door to open. Li Guo also stood up, glanced at his subordinates, took out a white cloth from his arms, tied it to his arm, and squeezed it into the crowd. Others followed Li Guo's example. Tie a white cloth around your arm.

The gates were opened, and the drawbridge was lowered. A few officers and soldiers who were still a little sleepy-eyed walked out, and the people who wanted to enter the city still crowded across the drawbridge, Li Guo lowered his head and squeezed in with the flow of people as little as possible. Seeing that he was about to sneak into the city, a cold shout suddenly sounded in his ears: "Wait, you." You stop! ”

Li Guo turned his head and happened to see a boss with a scar on his face pointing at him, he had to pretend to be at a loss, pointed to his nose and asked, "My lord, you called me?" ”

"Yes, that's it!" The general sneered. Pointing to the white cloth strip on Li Guo's arm, he asked, "What are you doing here?" ”

"This, this is the filial piety of the villain's family who died, Dai!" Li Guo had an idea and hurriedly replied.

"Dai Xiao?" The boss sneered, and suddenly pointed to the crowd behind him and shouted, "Then are all the dead people in their family?" ”

Li Guo looked back, and it turned out that more than a dozen of his subordinates subconsciously squeezed together, and more than a dozen sturdy men with white cloth strips tied to their arms stood together, which was very conspicuous. Before Li Guo could come up with a countermeasure, he heard someone shouting: "The city is broken!" It turned out that someone couldn't bear it anymore and simply attacked hard, and Li Guo had to pull out his saber from the pyre and fight with the boss.

Li Guo wanted to divide the opponent in front of him by dividing it by two, and he had the idea of directing his subordinates to send a signal and control the city gate. But he didn't want that to be a hard hand, and he couldn't take him after killing four or five rounds, and seeing that there were more and more officers and soldiers coming around, he had to buy a flaw, turn around and leave. The boss was already numb in his hands and feet, and he didn't dare to chase tighter, so he only dared to stand in place and beckon his men to pursue.

Li Guo led his men out of the city, and when he counted the number of people, he found that there were three or four less, and he should have just fallen into the city, and saw the defenders on the city tower poking their heads out, knowing that they were about to shoot arrows down, so they had to retreat quickly with their men, they ripped off the white cloth on their arms, and mixed with the people who fled into the city, and the Ming army on the city tower did not know which one to shoot for a while. After a short run, the group met the people who answered the horse, and a soldier snorted angrily: "It's strange, how can the officers and soldiers guarding the city be so delicate, it seems that they are clear about our common methods!" ”

The others also scolded a few words, and suddenly a voice said: "It's strange to say, I seem to know the general of the city guard!" ”

"Acquaintance?" Li Guo's attention was attracted, and he turned around and asked, "Who, who said he knew the general?" ”

"It's me!" A black-faced man raised his hand and replied: "It's a small leader under the Collapse of the Sky, it seems to be a distant nephew of the Collapse of the Sky, the most good gambler on weekdays, and the gambling is poor, once he and I made a move for a few taels of silver, that guy has good martial arts, there is a scar on his face, it is almost from the left eye, and when he starts a fire, he seems to have an extra eye, nicknamed 'Three Eyes', so I always remember." ”

Li Guo recalled for a while, and sure enough, the boss was similar to what his subordinates said, although he knew that Liu Guoneng had surrendered to Hong Chengchou, but according to common sense, Liu Guoneng should still be dozens of miles behind, and he couldn't help but have a question in his heart: "If this is true, then how could Liu Guoneng come to Ganquan?" “

As an old proverb goes, "War is always full of accidents of all kinds." "Something happened that was completely unexpected by Li Guo. Liu Guoneng, who had just been appointed as a garrison by Hong Chengchou, was eager to show his loyalty and ability in front of his superiors, so he worked very hard to catch up with all the officers and soldiers, and also made small gains in several contact battles with the end of the peasant army. Compared with the official army, Liu Guoneng knew much more about the marching habits and combat rules of the peasant army, so when he found that the peasant army crossed the Taibai Mountains and entered the boundary of Yulin Town, he deduced that Cao Cao and Li Guo would not continue to the north, but turned south, and took the official road to Ganquan Town the day before Li Guo, and the two woodcutters did not know this at all, naturally Li Guo did not know, and the guards happened to be Liu Guoneng's men, so they saw through Li Guo's plan to deceive the city.

Ganquan City, county office, torture room.

"Say, Who is your leader?" The jailer shook the whip vigorously in his hand to shake off the slippery blood on it. The man tied to the shelf in front of him was covered in bruises and almost a bloody man.

"Stop!" Liu Guoneng, who was on the top, said in a deep voice, and the county magistrate on the side of him turned around and explained with a smile: "My lord, it's not good to be killed!" ”

"Liu Shoubei is loyal to the imperial court, and the official has seen it with his own eyes today!" The county magistrate smiled and stroked his beard under his chin: "If it weren't for the eyes of the adults today, I am afraid that thousands of people in this city would have fallen into the hands of thieves." ”

"Don't dare!" Liu Guoneng humbly owed his body: "This is just the villain's reliance on Lord Hong and the Hong Fu of the imperial court." ”

"Huh!" The county commander laughed: "Liu Shoubei is too modest!" This official has also seen a few officers and soldiers, but it is the first time that someone like Liu Shoubei has worked so hard! (To be continued.) )