Lishui River Valley is a large basin with a radius of more than 100 miles formed by the confluence of Lishui and Qingjiang River, and the Lishui River Valley is divided into three pieces of land on the south bank, north bank and west bank by the Qingjiang River and Lishui River. Of the three lands, the northern bank is the most vast and fertile, and decades ago, the Yue family, who owned this land, was the richest and most powerful family in Qingjiang Prefecture. More than 30 large and small ditches, natural or man-made, crisscross and form a water network connected in a radius of 80 miles on the north bank.

Under the faint starlight, more than 100 Mengchong ships and ships carrying stubborn and stubborn warriors quietly infiltrated into the water network on the north bank from the mouth of the Jiuqu River in Lishui, and not a single pilot lamp was lit, and within an hour, these more than 100 small warships were scattered all over the north bank.

The Wulun River on the east side of Xuancheng is forty miles long, from south to north through the fertile field on the north bank of the Lishui River Valley, the mouth of the Wulun River is about six miles away from the mouth of the Jiuqu River, a huge fleet composed of four hundred warships, sixteen fighting ships, sixteen large wing ships, and dozens of Mengchong ships slowly marched along the Wulun River to the north bank of Xing'an Town, only the two pilot ships in the distance in front each lit a faint lamp, and looked like a star reflected in the river at a rough look. On both sides of the river, within a few miles of the fleet, there were more than 100 scouts in black night suits.

Two hours ago, 4,000 thieves from the Twelve Kou Leagues swept through the town of Hung Yen, which was under construction, and was now marching south along the Ulun River. Xuancheng is forty miles east of the Ulun River, the thieves have been looting all the way, Xuancheng has never sent troops to interfere, and the thieves are like entering a no-man's land.

In half a day, more than 15,000 displaced people poured into Xuancheng, and a little far away from Xuancheng, the passage to Xuancheng was cut off by the enemy, and the people who heard the news of the enemy had to abandon their homes and retreat south to the south bank under the rule of Xu Ruyu. Even so, the number of civilians along the road by the thieves has reached 1,000, and those newly ruled family businesses have been set on fire by the thieves. Standing on the high city of Xuancheng, you can see piles of green smoke burning, from the north of the city to the east of the city exactly forming a ring arc about 30 miles away from the city.

On the Qingjiang waterway on the west side of Xuancheng, thirty-two large-winged ships quietly sailed north with the banner of "Xuancheng Water Camp", and the water marks dragged behind the ship shone with a faint light.

Last night, the cordon along the Qingjiang River was paralyzed for a while, and 4,000 enemy invaders easily crossed the Beilingbao defense line from the east bank of the Qingjiang River with the help of the ships of the Qingjiang bandits, and landed on the east bank of the Qingjiang River and infiltrated the north bank. Xu Zhaorong led a thousand elite cavalry to encounter it, mistakenly thinking that Beiling Fort had fallen, and failed to return to Xuancheng in time, but went to Ulunbao, the source of the Ulun River, so that the north bank lacked the most elite cavalry to expel the enemy.

Xuancheng has 4,000 heavy soldiers, but Xu Jingcheng is afraid that the generals close to Shao Haitang will take advantage of his own troops to regain control of the political situation in Xuancheng, and he is afraid that the thieves will take advantage of the emptiness of Xuancheng to forcibly seize the city.

Xu Jingcheng's proposal caused an uproar in Xuancheng. After entering the Lishui River Valley, the Taishan village was attached to the Xiangfan Society, and the army of the village was not completely reorganized, so that Yunyi, Shao Jinlun and other generals of the Taishan village opened up a new faction. More than 10,000 troops on the north bank are mainly concentrated in the hands of the generals of the Fan and Taishan departments, and when Xu Jingcheng supported the troops to relieve Shao Haitang of his authority last night, although the generals who were inclined to Shao Haitang were full of opinions, but the matter had come to this point, and nothing was done, not to mention that Shao Haitang had no intention of fighting for power with Xu Jingcheng.

Xu Boying came to the north bank on behalf of the Qingyan Army, saying that the Qingyan Army was willing to send troops to help the north bank expel the bandits. Xu Jingcheng's categorical refusal without thinking about it made those generals of the village who had joined the Xiangfan Society completely disappointed in him. In the afternoon, the news that Shao Haitang was worshiped as the guest secretary of the Qingyan Army spread to the north bank, and those non-Fan generals were distracted, but now the city defense of Xuancheng was firmly controlled by Xu Jingcheng and did not dare to show it.

Shao Haitang did not go to the north bank with Meng Yi, Liang Bao, Wei Yu and others to stop the thieves, but stayed in the Qingyan Army base village on the south bank of Lishui. When Xu Jingcheng ordered troops to defend the city and abandon civilians outside the city, he completely gave up Xu Jingcheng.

The bright lights of the council hall in the center of the village are hanging high, guarding the Ming armor and holding the halberd, with a solemn expression. There were constantly hurried heralds entering and leaving the council hall with special emergency arrows, and the atmosphere was extremely solemn.

There are more than 10 giant candles burning in the council hall that are like the thickness of a baby's arm, there is a log long case in the middle of the hall, above the long case is a giant wooden plate, which is made of the river sand kneaded with gum to make the topographic map of the mountains and rivers of Qingjiang Prefecture, the Wulun River, Jiuqu River, Gaotang River and other large and small rivers in the Lishui River valley are outlined with hematite sand, at a glance, Beiling Fort, Ulunburg, Jiuqu Fort and other important villages are made of Xuanxi hard peach wood micro-carving, Xuancheng City and the micro-carving of Lishui New City under construction are more than two inches long, city gates, battlement walls, boarding roads, The moat is all delicate.

Shao Haitang had long heard that Xu Ruyu had put the topography of the Qingjiang River in the sand table and placed it in the council hall for everyone to study.

Xu Boying, Zi Yangqiu, Ming Xi, Ao Fang, Uncle Sun Fangwu, Jiang Youli, Mi Yusheng, Yi Tingxue, Jiang Jue'er and others stood around the sand table, their eyes were firmly fixed on a small place in the Lishui River Valley, and Mi Wusheng kept moving the red and black flags on the sand table according to the information from the scouts.

Looking at the red and black flags on the line of the Ulun River, which were only three inches apart, Mi Wusheng said worriedly: "The actual distance between these two places is only more than ten miles, and now Mr. Meng and they should have engaged the thieves, and we will have to wait for two hours to know the actual battle situation." ”

Ming has been killed for a long time, and a heart has long been trained to be as strong as a cold and hard rock. This is the official battle after the establishment of the Qingyan Army, how can it be lost? Meng also took eight of the twelve sects, 2,000 foot soldiers, and 1,000 sailors, although the number of them was slightly lower than that of the enemy, but after half a year of rigorous training, their combat power was not as good as that of the rogue bandits. There is no doubt about victory, but it is the number of casualties that will be paid for this victory.

The Qingyan Army started everything, a crushing victory is a fiasco, and achieving a brilliant victory can not only calm the hearts of the people in the Lishui River Valley, but also greatly help Xu Ruyu in Fuzhou.

The Qingyan Army desperately needs a battle, on the one hand, to test the results of half a year of training, and on the other hand, to support Xu Ruyu in Fuzhou. If it was only to expel the four thousand thieves from the Lishui River Valley, there would be no test of the actual combat strength of the Qingyan Army. Even Liang Bao and Mi Yusheng, who were surnamed Pinghe, also hoped for this battle, although Jiang Youli did not want to see blood, but he also knew that after fighting with the enemy in Pingchuan, he was far better than saying that he would forcibly attack the camp and pull out the village.

3,000 foot soldiers and 2,000 sailors in the Lishui River valley with dense water networks and warships equipped with strong crossbows are each other's horns, and they have an absolute advantage over the thieves who are purely composed of foot soldiers approaching the river bank.

Thinking of this, Ming Xi glanced at Shao Haitang, who was standing opposite. Shao Haitang had just become a guest secretary and raised objections to the battle plan drawn up by Meng Yi and Ming Xi, he believed that with such a strong combat force, it would not be difficult to defeat 4,000 enemy bandits, but the defeated bandit army would cause terrible damage to the defenseless people on the north shore than the organized bandits, and the results of the Xiangfan Society's hard work for half a year on the north bank would be ruined.

Shao Haitang understands that the people on the south bank are very resistant to him, and this situation is afraid that it will be maintained until Xu Ruyu returns, and it is possible to change one or two, but it is a matter of the survival of tens of thousands of civilians, and he can't care about personal honor and disgrace. Xu Jingcheng can abandon civilians, but he can't.

After weighing the two sides, to form a new battle plan, it is necessary to first send a large number of small warships to block the water network on the north shore to prevent the defeated bandits from wandering around and causing harm to the civilians. The number of troops that can be used for the decisive battle is only 2,000 foot soldiers and 1,000 sailors, and the number of people is at a disadvantage compared to the attacking enemy, and the battle must be much more cruel, and this village can only be defended by the army of the Baiyi tribe.

Originally, the Green Flame Army only needed to send troops to the north bank to win huge prestige, and it was more convenient for the Green Flame Army to clean up the mess after the rogue caused huge damage on the north bank; Now there are a lot of risks to be taken. However, with the support of Jiang Youli, Xu Boying and others, the proposal was reluctantly passed.

Shao Haitang pointed to the line of Beiling Fort on the sand table and said: "It has been a day since the invasion of four thousand thieves, and the lack of signs of troop transfer in Beiling Fort will inevitably arouse the suspicion of the Twelve Kou Alliance. Strengthening the defense of Beiling Fort is more important than defeating 4,000 enemies. If the Beiling Fort were to fall into the hands of the Twelve Koumeng, the Hundred Miles of Fertile Fields on the North Shore would be exposed to their sharp teeth and unprotected. ”

Ao Fang nodded, among the people present, he had the most say in tactics and strategy, and he could naturally understand the importance of Beiling Fort to the north bank. However, the south bank is now weak and has no way to whip Beiling Fort, and Ao Fang does not understand what Shao Haitang's intention is to mention Beiling Fort now.

At noon, Jiang Youli announced that the north bank would be included in the rule of the Qingyan Army, and at this point, there was no room for maneuvering between the Qingyan Army and Xu Jingcheng. If Beiling Fort is controlled in his hands, he will undoubtedly occupy the absolute initiative in the confrontation with Xu Jingcheng in the future. Xu Boying quickly turned his gaze that stopped on Ming Xi's face to Shao Haitang's face, looking at his calm expression, as if he had an understanding. Xu Jingcheng seized power last night, and now he is saying that he will support troops to defend the city and abandon the civilians outside the city, how many people will be left in the Xiangfan Association who will follow Xu Jingcheng with all their hearts?

Jiang Youli was able to affirm at this time that Shao Haitang was completely disappointed in Xu Jingcheng and wholeheartedly assisted Xu Ruyu, pursed his lips and chuckled, and said, "What is the best plan for Beiling Fort?" ”

Shao Haitang replied gloomily: "The person who is extremely disappointed in what Xu Jingcheng has done, how can I be the only one in the Xiangfan Society?" Ziheng, Xu Ji, Song Tingyi and others all had a sense of detachment, but they couldn't bear to give up in vain when they thought of the hardships of thirty years of entrepreneurship. Now Ziheng and Song Tingyi are under the order of Xu Jingcheng to lead the Xuancheng Water Battalion to intercept the Qingjiang River bandit warships that may come to meet the 4,000 thieves, please send me a speedboat, I catch up with Ziheng and I am sure to persuade him to join me to capture Beiling Fort for the Qingyan Army. ”

"Why go to take Beiling Fort, the Qingyan Army can't send a single battleship?" Uncle Fang Wu asked suspiciously, it was said that Zhang Xu led nearly 800 elite combat forces to secretly sneak into Fuzhou from Taishan, and the already limited military strength of the Qingyan Army was even more stretched.

"It's just to take Beiling Fort by surprise, how can there be so many troops to garrison?" Liang Bao hesitated to express the doubts in his heart, paused, and continued in a slightly lower voice, "Xiangfan will invest 6,000 troops on the northern front to defend the Twelve Kou Alliance, so that the southern bank can be so easy to streamline the army, in fact, it is Xiangfan who will act as a shield for us on the northern bank." Speaking of this, Liang Bao showed a trace of embarrassment on his face, glanced at Shao Haitang, saw that his expression was as usual, and thought: I want Mr. Shao to know about the various actions of the Xiangfan Club on the south bank, and it is rare to have a good spirit.

Shao Haitang naturally knew what everyone was worried about, Xu Jingcheng could abandon the civilians, but the Qingyan Army, which had always had great ambitions, could not, but the strength of the Qingyan Army was far from enough to take over the Lishui River Valley, which was surrounded by enemies.

Ziyang Qiu was eager to try, Xu Ruyu imported 500,000 quintals of grain to Wuling Mountain in the past half a year, and other necessary materials such as ordnance, cloth, utensils, etc., to save the Baiyi clan from the death line, and it was impossible not to ask for a return.

Xu Boying guessed Shao Haitang's arrangement, smiled slightly, and said in front of Ziyangqiu: "If you can pick up my uncle from Xuancheng, Mr. will have a greater grasp." "Baiyi has only been recuperating for half a year, and his strength has not recovered much, not to mention that their defense lines in the area of Taishan, Wuling Mountain, and Cuishi Peak are under great pressure from Puji bandits from Wuling Mountain and Fuzhou, Chongyi. At this time, using the power of the Baiyi clan is undoubtedly killing chickens and taking eggs.

Jiang Youli also understood that most of the soldiers of the Xuancheng Water Battalion were composed of the children of the original Ma Gang, and Xu Ji could naturally persuade the Xuancheng Water Battalion to join the Qingyan Army. Xu Boying said so surely, so he was completely sure that Xu Ji and Ji Ziheng would be able to join him, Jiang Youli said softly: "Then Mr. Hardship, Uncle Ao Fang, can you let Long Jiaoxi lead fifty Jingwei to assist Mr. in acting?" ”

Jiang Youli has only been the commander of the Qingyan Army for three or five days, and there have been so many changes in Qingjiang. Fortunately, Xu Ruyu was faintly aware when he left the Lishui River, and made many arrangements in advance, so as not to mess up. However, the situation is not necessarily optimistic.

There was discord within the Xiangfan Society, and Shao Haitang and Xu Jingcheng parted ways and were doomed. Shao Haitang is dedicated to defending the Xiangfan Society, and he must not want to see the Xiangfan Society fall into a situation of disintegration because of himself, and it is natural for him to withdraw gloomily. Xu Ruyu spared no effort to suppress the Xiangfan Society when he was in the Lishui River Valley, and did not hesitate to use the power of the Yongyang Mansion in Yongyang and Jiangjin to raise the prices of military materials and grain and grass in the two places. Connived at the Qingjiang River bandits, making the Xuancheng Water Camp useless, and the Xiangfan Society could only transport materials by land at a cost of more than ten times. A certain military confrontation was formed with the Xiangfan Society on both sides of the Lishui River, forcing the Xiangfan Society to maintain a huge armament. Compared with the various advantages of the Qingyan Army, Shao Haitang, who ranks sixth and junior, also has shorter white hair, and there is nothing to do. Shao Haitang's painstaking management has not changed the situation of the Xiangfan Society, which is easy to ignore Shao Haitang's outstanding talent. Xu Jingcheng's arrogance breeds, and he must think that Shao Haitang is nothing more than that, how can he continue to admit that he is indulging everything behind the scenes, and Xu Jingcheng, who holds military power, will seize power sooner or later. Without the Xiangfan Club of Shao Haitang and his family, Xu Ruyu would not have taken it seriously at all.

Who would have thought that in order to facilitate the seizure of power, Xu Jingcheng would remove the cordon along the Qingjiang River, allowing 4,000 thieves to take the opportunity to infiltrate, making the situation gradually show signs of getting out of control. Jiang Youli pinched his swollen temples and sighed softly: "Now I know that it is really difficult for Ru Yu sometimes, Ru Yu originally expected that Shao Haitang and the others would temporarily leave Qingjiang Mansion after being excluded by Xu Jingcheng, and we could force Xu Jingcheng's forces out of the Lishui River Valley without any scruples." After the grievances of the Xiangfan Society are completely resolved, Mr. Shao and others will be invited out of the mountain, so as not to embarrass everyone. Fortunately, he should come back and deal with this mess by himself. ”

Jue'er pursed her lips and smiled, hugged Youli's arm, and said crisply: "Seeing that you have a plan in the council hall, how can you think that you will be so upset?" Fuzhou is only separated from here by fifty miles of Taishan Mountain, Xiaoyu can walk back and forth day and night, he should know what happened here now, maybe there will be a letter sent back tomorrow, so you don't have to worry so much? ”

Youli gently twisted Jue'er's noodles and chuckled: "I'm just spitting out my grievances, how can I count on him for everything, that's not to let him underestimate us." Ru Yu values Shao Haitang and asks Ru Yu to come back to deal with Xu Jingcheng's matter, maybe it will be even more ambiguous. After that, the sparkle in his eyes flowed gracefully, and he said with jealousy, "He is now in the northeast of Fuzhou with his 'Yingxue Girl', which is four or five hundred miles away from here, and I am afraid that I can't see our hardships." ”

Jue'er's eyes dimmed, and she said faintly: "You can still complain about him like this, I don't even have the qualifications to complain about him." ”

Youli was slightly stunned when he heard this, sighed lightly, and didn't say anything. In the past, it was said that it could not be realized in the end, and Jue'er inevitably harbored resentment in her heart. It is common for men to have multiple wives, but Xu Ruyu is dedicated to his surname, not to mention that at the beginning of his business, it is difficult for him to take care of the love of men and women.

Working with others is inevitably awkward, but Jue'er has been dependent on herself since she was a child, and the three of them have been in Huafang for several years, and the relationship is even closer. After several times, Youli also felt bored to say anything, but he just felt wronged Jue'er.

Jue'er turned around and wiped away the tears on her face, secretly hating the sentimentality she had become so unprovoked, she took a light breath, calmed down her fluctuating mood, walked to the bookcase, and flickered the candlelight, picked up a silk book and flipped through it, and said with a forced smile: "Sister Youli, you lie down and rest first, and when the battle report comes back, I will call you up." ”

"There's a fierce battle ahead, how can I sleep, let's wait together. Besides, Uncle Sun and Uncle Boying are not the same in the council hall. ”

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