On October 6 of the seventh year of Longsheng, Pei Yun, the main general of the Xuzhou battalion, went south from Bian and Si and attacked Sikou.

――《Zizhi Tongjian・Yongji III》

On October 5th, the big camp in Chuzhou, Huaidong, the night was dark, but the Chinese army tent was singing and laughing, singing and dancing, Luo Lou, the main general of the Southern Chu Huai, and the generals feasted and drank, inside the big tent, more than a dozen dancing girls were dancing, dancing gracefully, the light gauze clothes, and the faintly exposed snow-white skin, all made the drunken generals in the tent and the sergeants guarding outside the tent stunned, and the corners of their mouths drooled. Luo Louzhen, who sat on the top, hugged two sixteen or seventeen-year-old delicate girls left and right, raised his head and laughed from time to time, the two girls smiled and poured wine and cloth dishes for him, and from time to time a girl would use red lips to cross the wine, Luo Louzhen did not refuse, drunk and beat with the dance music, few people could notice, in fact, his eyes only occasionally swept over those dancing girls. Luo Louzhen was not interested in these women who were picked by others, and most of his attention was on those generals. Several high-ranking generals are also accompanied by flowery girls, and those middle and low-level generals are all focused on those gorgeous dancing girls. Luo Lou really smiled proudly, he has a handsome appearance, has strong martial arts, the only thing he does not have is the talent above the military strategy, after getting the support of Shang Weijun and taking charge of the Chuzhou battalion, in order to consolidate his position, he wasted a lot of thoughts, and used money and beauty to envelop those arrogant generals, and those really talented generals were squeezed out by him, so as not to endanger his position. Relying on money and beauty and military power in his hands, the Chuzhou battalion is also a monolith, at least wreaking havoc in Huaidong, and no one can stop it.

Luo Lou Zhen was also a little self-aware at the beginning, knowing that if he was compared with the Lu family who had been the generals for generations, his foundation was too shallow, and although he knew Shang Weijun's intention to support him to deal with the Lu family, he never dared to really offend the Lu family, in addition, he just firmly controlled Huaidong and obeyed Shang Weijun's orders, Shang Weijun also knew that the Lu family could not be taken lightly, so Luo Lou was really good to live in Huaidong. As for Dayong's threat, he was originally worried about it, but there was no movement for seven or eight years, and he was surrounded by villains who were good at touting, and he had already been fluttering, and basically he had forgotten the power of Dayong's iron horse.

Just when Luo Lou really felt a little excited, a personal soldier hurriedly ran in and said, "General Qiyu, General Lu has a letter." ”

Luo Lou said lazily: "What can it be?" Let the messenger in. ”

The soldiers hesitated to glance at the erosive scene in the big tent, and did not dare to raise objections, the general Lu Can is the general with the highest authority in Southern Chu, Luo Louzhen ignored his envoy so much, this is really a bit rude, and I heard that the general governs the army very strictly, if the envoy sees this kind of scene, it is not very appropriate, but this soldier knows that if he says it, he will most likely be punished by Luo Louzhen, so he has to lead the order to lead the envoy into the meeting.

After a while, the envoy strode in, and when he saw the scene in the tent, his eyes were cold, and he gave a military salute and said, "The last general, Lu Qun, sent a letter on the order of the general, and asked General Luo to check it." A young sergeant who came in behind him looked motionless and saluted.

Luo Louzhen beckoned, a pro-soldier stepped forward to take the letter and presented it to Luo Louzhen, Luo Louzhen looked at it and smiled, and said: "The general is too worried, this is not ** years ago, now our army has Jianghuai Shuzhong, and there is the Yangtze River natural danger, Yongjun wants to be as free as before, that is whimsical, the general's mind is the general's leader, please report to the general, the last general was ordered by the king to be in charge of Huaidong military affairs, do not dare to have the slightest slack, as for what the general said in the letter, the general understands, but when it comes to reinforcements, It's not necessary, I, the 70,000 people in Huaidong, can't I still deal with the attack of the Yong army? ”

The messenger was the general of the Lu family, seeing that Luo Louzhen's words were lukewarm, with contempt, he couldn't help but get angry from his heart, and had a heart attack, the young sergeant next to him gently pulled his robe, and the messenger couldn't help but say angrily: "In this case, please return the book to the general, and let the last general bring it back." ”

Luo Lou said impatiently to a scribe at the banquet: "Huang Senjun, you write a letter of reply to the general for me, and let him take it back when you finish writing." When he said that, he pointed at the messenger, and his expression was very arrogant and rude. This time, the young sergeant's face also changed, and his eyes flashed with murderous intent.

After taking the book, the messenger and the young sergeant turned around and went out of the tent, until they went out of the gate, they still heard the ethereal music from the camp, and the young sergeant said coldly: "When you go back, you need to tell your father, if you let Luo Lou really guard Huaidong, the Yongjun army will definitely drive in, so let your father prepare to clean up the mess." ”

Lu Qun sighed and said: "Don't worry, the young general, the general already knows that Luo Lou is really a person, this time we came to pass the message just to do our best, the general will have a solution to the next thing, after the young general and the pro-soldiers meet, go to Shouchun, the general Shiguan who guards Shouchun is strictly surnamed, the general's military order is to ask you to arrive before the twelve, if you violate the military order, I am afraid that he will beat you board." ”

The young sergeant couldn't help but move slightly, and restrained the urge to go to the place where he was tortured.

At this time, in the Chuzhou camp, Luo Louzhen drove away the envoys, and he was very interested, and when he saw that the generals at the table were already itching, he laughed and said: "That's it, the singing and dancing have been fun, and the generals will have fun together." This is exactly what the generals have been looking forward to for a long time, seeing Luo Louzhen walking out of the tent with the support of two girls, a general who has long been impatient and rushed towards a dancing girl. When the senior generals walked out of the camp tent with their gorgeous maids in their arms, the voice of * came from the Chinese military tent, which was supposed to be dealing with military aircraft.

Luo Lou really returned to his sleeping tent with satisfaction, and after a while, he fell asleep, and just after the third watch, suddenly a personal soldier hurriedly ran in and said: "General, the envoy of the Xiangye asks to see." Luo Lou, who woke up from his sleep, was really scared into a cold sweat, although it is normal for people to act on the spot, but if Shang Weijun's envoy sees himself like this, go back and say a few words, he will inevitably lose the face of the prime minister, his power and wealth are all given by Shang Weijun, and he married Shang Weijun's niece, he would never dare to offend Shang Weijun. Hurriedly asked his soldiers to hide the two girls in another camp, hurriedly washed his face with cold water, and personally went to welcome the messenger in. However, the messenger ignored Luo Louzhen's drunken body and the aroma of rouge pollen on his body, and hurriedly left after handing over Shang Weijun's handwritten letter to Luo Louzhen.

After opening the letter, Luo Louzhen only felt as if a basin of cold water was poured from his head, which clearly stated that the Yongjun army might invade Huaidong recently, so that he could hold the Huaisi mouth steadily, not to fight in waves, and to retreat from the enemy.

In fact, Shang Weijun wrote this letter when he still did not think that the Yongjun army would march south, in the past seven years, the Yongjun army was self-contained, so that Shang Weijun had a delusion, according to Jianghuai Jingxiang, the defense line in Shuzhong is also impregnable, plus the Yangtze River as the backing, compared to the overnight surprise of the year, now Shang Weijun fully believes that the 400,000 army of Southern Chu can keep half of the south of the Yangtze River, and he dare not have the idea of going north to the Central Plains, but the idea that Dayong is categorically difficult to go south has been deeply rooted, not only him, but Jianye Baiguan, Most of them are unsuspecting. Because Shang Weijun not only had no agreement with Lu Can's book, but even had disgust.

A few days ago, Lu Yun's disappearance had already been known to Shang Weijun, and even Shang Weijun knew most of what Lu Yun did in Chang'an, and he originally intended to take the opportunity to blackmail Lu Can and further seize military power. However, his henchmen advised him that there was no conclusive evidence for this matter, so it would be better to put it on hold for the time being, and wait until he got the evidence of Lu's collaboration with the enemy, so Shang Weijun only strengthened his surveillance of Lu. However, if it weren't for the fact that Lu Can lived in the Jiangxia camp next, barely out of the country, and kept silent about the politics of the Southern Chu Dynasty, even Lu Yun was sent directly to the camp, Shang Weijun would definitely make some articles about this matter.

In Shang Weijun's opinion, since the Lu family and Chang'an have secret news and endless exchanges, if Dayong really intends to go south this year, it will be impossible for Lu Yun and Lu Can's two henchmen to return safely from Chang'an, and they will leave Lu Yun to coerce their father, so Lu Can's alarmist words are mostly to compete for military power. Even now the Yongjun is attacking under Jiameng Pass, in Shang Weijun's view, it is just a deterrent, after all, the matter of tribute has indeed lost the face of Dayong, and unlike Jianghuai Jingxiang, although there has been no big war in Jiameng Pass over the years, it is not very calm, besides, maybe Yu Mian was ordered by Lu Can to fake the military information, even if it is not, with the danger of Jiameng Pass, can't it stop the Yongjun? What's more, the main army of Southern Chu now, 30,000 people under the command of Yu Mian under Jiamengguan and 50,000 people under the command of Xiangyang Rongyuan, plus 60,000 people each in Jiangxia and Jiujiang, a total of 200,000 are under the direct control of Lu Can, although the 50,000 defenders of Huaixi are nominally not under the jurisdiction of Lu Can, but the main general Shi Guan is a general promoted by Lu Xin, and he has always respected Lumen, that is, the 100,000 forbidden army of Jianye, of which 40,000 forbidden troops are inclined to Lu Can, and the remaining 60,000 forbidden troops are not strong, if there is no 70,000 troops in Huaidong, Even a change of dynasty is not impossible.

However, for the sake of prudence, Shang Weijun still wrote a letter to Luo Louzhen, after all, it is good to be prepared, with the geographical advantage of Huaisikou, if the Yongjun army really attacks Huaidong, it should not be a problem to block the Yongjun offensive, and he also specially reminded Luo Louzhen that if the Yongjun army is defeated, it should not be pursued, so as not to anger Dayong and provoke the whole army of Dayong to attack, then it is a victory and a defeat.

Shang Weijun's original intention Luo Louzhen naturally didn't know, on the contrary, because he still had some understanding of Lu Can's ability, coupled with Shang Weijun's might, he immediately believed the news of the Yongjun's possible southern expedition, he thought for a while, the Great Yonghuai Southern Festival made Pei Yun sit in Xuzhou, which was originally aimed at Huaidong more, and from Xuzhou down to Bian, Si, the first thing to bear the brunt of was his Chuzhou camp. Thinking of this, he said angrily: "What about the general's letter, where did you throw it, bring it to me." ”

A soldier hurriedly handed over the letter that Luo Louzhen had abandoned, Luo Louzhen opened the letter with trembling hands, and soon saw the paragraph he was most concerned about, and the original cliché became the words of Jin Shi.

"Guarding the river must first guard Huai, Huaidong to Chuzhou, Sizhou, Guangling as a table, can be winged Yangzhou, Liyang, if the two places are lost, then Jianye is in danger, the general Daying town of Chuzhou, Beiying Town Sizhou, Nanying Town Guangling, then Huai Sikou has no worries, only Sikou is a place, is the key to Surabaya into Huai, on the side of Chuzhou, the Yongjun south, if not through Sikou, there is no way to invade Chuzhou. If the general listens to my words and divides his troops into Sikou, he can slightly ensure the safety of Huaidong. ”

After reading the letter, Luo Louzhen shouted: "Raise the account immediately, raise the account, this general will transfer troops." ”

The guards were shocked: "General, Deputy General Zhou, Huang Senjun and all the partial generals are all drunk and have not woken up. ”

Luo Louzhen frustrated his hand anxiously, and scolded bitterly, but he also knew that he was the culprit, thought for a while, and said, "Go find Sun Dinglai." The soldiers were stunned for a moment, Luo Louzhen had already kicked him out of the sleeping tent, and said loudly: "Don't go yet." "The soldier crawled away. That Sun Dingben was a very talented general, just because of his upright surname, he repeatedly offended Luo Louzhen, Luo Louzhen demoted him from a partial general to a captain, but Luo Louzhen still has some eyesight after all, knowing this person's talent, he has never expelled him from the Huaidong Army, just ignored him, and even sometimes comforted a few words. This time, when it was a critical moment, he naturally thought of this person.

After a short time, Sun Ding entered the meeting, this person was less than thirty years old, his appearance was heroic, not like a Jiangnan person, but he had been in Huaidong for a few years, and he was depressed, so his expression was cold, and when he entered the tent, he turned a blind eye to the aroma of wine on Luo Louzhen's body, and bowed down and said: "Sun Ding knocks on the general, please give the general's orders." ”

Luo Louzhen said calmly: "This general will give you 5,000 people, and you will immediately lead the army to Sikou, take over the defense there, and beware of the invasion of the Yong army." ”

Sun Ding was stunned, he was a school captain, and he could only lead a thousand people, how could Luo Louzhen give him five thousand people.

Luo Louzhen said again: "The matter is urgent, this general will temporarily promote you to the position of partial general, and wait for the investigation of the movements of the Yongjun, and this general will report to the imperial court to make you live up to your name." ”

Sun Ding listened to it and understood in his heart, it must be that the Yongjun army had moved, and Luo Lou really had no one in the battle, so he remembered himself, but he didn't mind, if he had the opportunity to make war exploits, why not do it, although this Luo Lou was really jealous of the virtuous and jealous, but there were some benefits, that is, his military exploits were taken away by him, at least this partial position of general could not run away. So Sun Ding immediately took the order, out of the camp and ordered 5,000 soldiers, one of the 5,000 soldiers was led by him, and he had been trained strictly, and the other four battalions were barely usable, and there was no cavalry in the Chuzhou battalion, so Sun Ding took 5,000 men and horses to Sikou with stars and moons. Sikou because Luo Lou is really negligent, only 500 people are stationed, if once the Yong army invades, there is no possibility of holding, Sun Ding thought of this, he was also anxious, and hurried to Sikou.

Approaching Sikou, you can already see the garrison barracks of the Southern Chu army here, it is dawn at this time, it is bleak, Sun Ding shilling ordered his own soldiers to inform the captain of the Sikou garrison, seeing that the soldiers were stopped and interrogated by the sergeant who patrolled the night outside the camp, Sun Ding suddenly frowned, and there was doubt in his heart. Originally, if it was a garrison place, it was most reasonable to have a sergeant patrol at night, but Sun Ding knew that Hu Duwei, who was now guarding Sikou, was a greedy person who was afraid of death, and the military discipline was very loose, if it was not for the wheel defense of Sikou, it would be easier to promote the military position, and Dayong had never made a move in the past seven years, this person would never come to this dangerous place, if it was his camp, with his own confidant and personal soldier's ability, he was afraid that when he walked to the camp gate, no one would find out, look at the Surabaya not far away, Huaishui, and then look at the silent camp, Sun Ding suddenly had a strange thought, he gently passed down the military order, asked the sergeants to tidy up their armor and blades, and then brought a dozen guards with excellent martial arts skills, and slowly walked towards the camp gate.

Before he reached the camp gate, a handsome young man dressed in a long uniform hurriedly walked over with five or six sergeants, greeted Sun Dingdao: "You are Lord Captain Sun, our captain was said to have suffered from the wind and cold yesterday, and now he can't get up, his subordinate Tian Cheng was ordered to come to greet Lord Captain." ”

Sun Ding's eyes fell on the young man, there was no problem with the accent, clothing, and rhetoric, but there was more and more chill in his heart, if there was such a talent under Hu Duwei, he would be very happy, and the look on this young man's face was a kind of pride and self-confidence, which was by no means the numbness and dazed look that could be seen everywhere in the Huaidong Army, and more importantly, there was a faint bloody aura on this young man, which Sun Ding would never ignore. He took a deep breath and said as calmly as he could, "In that case, please lead the way." ”

The young man turned around and was about to start, Sun Ding suddenly pulled out a knife and slashed, this knife was like a shocking lightning, and it was a sneak attack from behind, originally the young man was absolutely difficult to dodge, but the young man seemed to have been on guard, his body fell backwards, very fierce, but when his back was less than a foot from the ground, he suddenly stopped, as if he was obliquely inserted on the ground, Sun Ding swung his knife and slashed, the young man's body stood upright, and at the same time pulled out the knife to counterattack, "Zheng" A knife sounded, Sun Ding was shocked and took a step back, and the young man had come out of his knife control, The other sergeants scattered a little, and surrounded Sun Ding and a few of his personal guards.

Sun Ding sighed and said: "A good iron plate bridge, it is the secret of Shaolin authenticity, who is your Excellency under the command of General Pei Yunpei, the envoy of Huainan Jiedu?" ”

The young man raised his eyebrows and said loudly: "Since you have seen through it, I might as well say bluntly, I am Du Lingfeng of the white-clothed battalion, and General Pei is my uncle." ”

Although Sun Ding had expected it, he still looked miserable, the white-clothed battalion was created by Pei Yun himself, and the people in the rivers and lakes are often unruly and unaccustomed to military regulations and national laws, Pei Yun established the white-clothed battalion to recruit talents, and those who enter this camp are very light-restricted, and they can be disarmed and returned to the field by only needing to inform Pei Yun, and if they have a meritorious reputation, they can also officially join the army. The people in this battalion are all first-class or above, and there are only eighteen people at most, because of Pei Yun's identity, most of them are outstanding children of Shaolin or other famous and decent families, if they appear, it means that Pei Yun is bound to Sikou. These people must have been ordered by Pei Yun to secretly remove the Sikou defenders and prepare to meet the Yongjun army to the south, Sun Ding's heart was very bitter.

But Sun Ding is also an excellent soldier after all, he immediately figured out one thing, since Du Lingfeng intended to lure himself into the camp, it means that the Yongjun army is not strong here, so he still has a chance to return to Sikou. Thinking of this, Sun Ding raised his arms and shouted: "Kill!" ”

With his shout, the Southern Chu army attacked the barracks, the handsome young man personally broke off, retreated to the camp, hundreds of people poured out of the barracks, lined up to greet each other, against the five thousand enemy troops, and dared to line up, Sun Ding also admired in his heart, but it would be better if they did not go out of the camp, they only needed to surround the barracks and use fire to attack, and they could win.

In the shouting, the two armies began a bloody battle, the importance of Sikou, both sides are well aware, no one hesitated at all, this confrontation, Sun Ding couldn't help but be even more worried, in addition to his own 1,000 sergeants, the rest of the 4,000 are basically unfamiliar with the battle formation, the martial arts are not proficient, it is difficult to come in handy, although the number is numerous, but can not effectively compress the enemy formation. Although the enemy army has few people, they are all brave and good at fighting, and Du Lingfeng is brave and brave, killing several Southern Chu warriors in a row, and for a while, the battle situation is actually cemented together. Sun Ding was worried that the reinforcements of the Yongjun army were coming, so he couldn't help frowning, he wanted to fight quickly, but he didn't expect to be entangled instead. He thought about it for a while, so he transferred two hundred of his own battalion of sergeants and let them shoot arrows on the periphery, these sergeants are familiar with water warfare, and bows and arrows are naturally not weak, so that the Yong army is gradually weakening, just when Sun Ding urged the sergeants to prepare to destroy this Yong army. The besieged Yongjun suddenly cheered loudly, the cry became higher and higher, as if coming from a distance, Sun Ding was startled, looked up, the sky had turned white, and subconsciously looked at Surabaya, only to see the flag waving, the boat covering the river, the bow pennant waving, on which is a big "Pei" word.

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