Zhang Xuan's food aid will not arrive until half a month later, but Zhang Xutuo's military food can only last for ten days, which makes Zhang Xutuo's heart extremely anxious, despite the threat of food shortage, he still insists on refusing to touch the captured 5,000 stone grain, which is the evidence of Yang Qing's fornication with the Wagang army, and he will never use it.

In desperation, Zhang Xutuo had to constantly send people to Liang County and Jiyin County to urge food, especially Liang County, there are seventy or eighty thousand stone official grain in Chenliu County, which can fully support himself, which is also the will of the Son of Heaven, and Liang County and Jiyin County will supply their own military food.

For a few days, Zhang Xutuo spent his time in anxiety, there was no news from the imperial court, and he didn't know if Yang Qing had gone to the imperial court to carry out activities, thinking that Yang Qing would not sit still, he must have sent someone to open the joint.

On this morning, Zhang Xutuo was handling military affairs in the official room, and a soldier rushed over and reported in the hall: "General, the Liangjun government sent someone to report urgently!" ”

Zhang Xutuo was stunned for a moment, and hurriedly said, "Let him in!" ”

After a while, a scribe hurriedly walked up to the hall and bowed, "Below is Liang County Cangcao Military Lai Heng, and there is an urgent matter to report to the general." ”

"What's the urgency for Lai to join the army?"

"Humble duty and send 30,000 stone of grain to the general on the order of Taishou"

Zhang Xutuo was overjoyed suddenly, this was simply timely rain, and he asked urgently: "Where is the grain?" ”

Lai Heng smiled bitterly, "The problem is here, the grain is being detained." ”

"What!"

Zhang Xutuo was in a hurry, "What the hell is going on?" ”

"We put the grain directly on the ship from the warehouse of Chenliu County, and with the help of the Tongji Canal to Junyi County, fifty miles away, it was turned into a cart and transported directly to Kuangcheng from the official road, but the general also knew that Junyi County belonged to Xingyang County, and before the grain team took over Fengqiu County, it was detained by King Xun's patrol team. said that King Xun had an order that this batch of grain should be transported to Lingchang County, and it was useless for us to take out the text of Taishou. ”

Zhang Xutuo was furious, this was obviously Yang Qing taking revenge on himself, taking away his own military rations, and letting his army collapse without food.

He hurriedly said, "Where is the grain?" ”

"In Bailonggang, south of Fengqiu County. It is the territory of Xingyang County, and our grain team and King Xun's army are still in a stalemate, but the other party is a high-ranking official, and we are afraid that we will not be able to resist. ”

Jiang Ming, who joined the army next to him, reminded: "The general had better look at the map first." ”

Zhang Xutuo took the map and looked closely, Fengqiu County is located at the junction of Dongjun and Xingyang County, Bailonggang is still in Xingyang County, about 120 miles away from Kuangcheng County, Zhang Xutuo found a small road on the map can lead directly to Bailonggang, at least nearly 20 miles than the big road.

Zhang Xutuo immediately said to Jiang Ming: "I will lead 3,000 troops to recapture the grain. You have given orders to the armies for me, I am not in Kuangcheng, and all the generals must not act rashly. ”

Jiang Ming persuaded: "Why should the general go in person, just send a partial general!" ”

Zhang Xutuo shook his head, this batch of grain is not trivial to me, it is related to the survival of our army, Yang Qing also knows this, he will definitely send a general to intercept it. Except for me, I'm afraid no one can withstand Yang Qing's oppression. I had to go in person. ”

Jiang Ming nodded silently, the general is reasonable, the grain is in Yang Qing's territory, and I am afraid that only the general can take it back.

"General, please be careful, try not to clash with King Xun, he is a royal family after all."

"I know!"

Zhang Xutuo walked out of the military office quickly. He said sharply: "The first army is assembled immediately!" ”

An hour later, Zhang Xutuo left Kuangcheng County with an army of 3,000, and the army galloped along a small road to Xingyang County in the southwest.

Fengqiu County is located at the junction of the three counties of Dongjun, Liang County and Xingyang County, which belongs to the northern half of the alluvial fan plain of the Yellow River and is densely forested. The distribution of a large area of very low hills, because the Wagang Army has been active in this area for many years, so Fengqiu County has always belonged to the sphere of influence of the Wagang Army, and many soldiers of the Wagang Army are Fengqiu County.

The path that Zhang Xutuo walked was sparsely populated, the jungle was dense, and there were many small rivers, but this road was not a barren place, it was once very lively, and there was a famous post station halfway through, Chenqiao Station, where Zhao Kuangyin in history was added to the yellow robe.

Zhang Xutuo was anxious, and led the army all the way, he knew that the grain convoy would definitely not be able to withstand Yang Qing's pressure, and it was in Yang Qing's territory, and the grain must have been intercepted by Yang Qing, but he just hoped that the grain convoy would slow down and let himself catch up.

In the afternoon, Zhang Xutuo led the army to Chenqiao Station, which was still thirty miles away from Bailonggang, and the army ran for more than sixty miles in one breath, and was really a little tired.

At this time, a partial general pointed to the post station in the distance and said, "General, go to the post station to drink some water!" The brethren were thirsty. ”

Although Zhang Xutuo was anxious, he was still more sympathetic to the soldiers, so he nodded, "Drink some water and leave!" ”

The three thousand soldiers immediately cheered up and ran towards the post station, but it was less than a hundred steps away from the post station, and suddenly there was a rush of bangzi in the post station, and the arrows were fired in the dense forest on both sides, and the soldiers of the Sui army were caught off guard and fell to the ground with arrows.

The sudden change surprised Zhang Xutuo, and he hurriedly ordered: "Retreat immediately!" ”

At this time, the drums sounded loudly all around, and I saw countless troops killing from all directions, as many as tens of thousands of people, surrounding them, and the soldiers shouted: "General, it's the Wagang army, we are in ambush!" ”

Zhang Xutuo had calmed down, and he immediately understood the cause and effect, this was a trap laid by Yang Qing, so that the Wagang army could ambush him by going to Xingyang County, and the so-called grain was just a bait.

This is a tripartite collusion between the Wagang army, Yang Qing and the Liangjun government to set himself a trap, Zhang Xutuo knows that he is more than lucky today, but in any case he wants to lead the soldiers to kill, he can't let the innocent soldiers die in the hands of the enemy.

Zhang Xutuo shouted: "Brothers, rush out of the encirclement with me!" ”

He turned the dock and went north to kill, the war horse galloped, the wind was galloping, fast as flying, the Yanling broadsword glittered in his hand, followed by thousands of Sui soldiers,

His army was less than two hundred paces away from the enemy group in the north, and he could clearly see the swarthy bright light armor of the Wagang army flashing in the sun, the dense spears were like forests, and Zhang Xutuo's war horses were like flat-bottomed thunder, getting closer and closer to the Wagang army.

It was already less than 100 steps, and the panicked Wagang army began to shoot arrows, and three thousand arrows were fired in unison, forming an arrow net in the air, and the Sui soldiers held their shields high. With one hand waving the spear, the shouting of killing shook the sky, and the Sui soldiers were constantly shot and knocked down, but the archers only shot two rounds, and Zhang Xutuo's war horse rushed to the front, and the archers didn't even have a chance to turn around and escape.

He yelled. With a swing of the knife, seven or eight human heads flew up, blood burst out, Zhang Xutuo opened a bloody path and led the soldiers to kill in the depths.

This ambush was planned by Yang Qing and Zhai Rang together, Yang Qing wanted to use Zhai Rang's hand to get rid of Zhang Xutuo, and Zhai Rang also wanted to use this opportunity to get rid of Zhang Xutuo, a fierce rival, and the two sides hit it off.

Yang Qing has deep connections in the Central Plains officialdom, and he is also the leader of the Central Plains officialdom. He has been secretly ordering Liang County and Jiyin County to withhold Zhang Xutuo's military rations, which eventually caused the military food crisis of Zhang Xutuo's army, and also created conditions for Yang Qing to carry out tricks.

He got the text from the Liang County government, and ordered Lai Heng, the Cangcao of the Chenliu Warehouse, to join the army to spread false news to lure Zhang Xutuo into being deceived, in order to deceive Zhang Xutuo, everything is true, even the grain transported by Chenliu County is also true. In the end, Zhang Xutuo was introduced into the ambush circle of the Wagang army.

Zhai Rang saw from a distance that Zhang Xutuo wanted to break through from the north, and shouted: "Give me the siege." He is not allowed to break through! ”

He ordered in a loud voice: "Those who get the head of Zhang Xutuo will be rewarded with 5,000 taels of gold, and the official will be promoted to the third level!" ”

Under the heavy reward, the Wagang army surrounded the Sui army from all directions, and Zhang Xutuo also shook his spirit and constantly inspired the Sui army to fight bravely. Although the strength of the army was only half of the opponent's, it killed the Wagang army and retreated.

However, the Wagang army had too many troops, 12,000 people, and it was led by Zhai Rang himself, and the Wagang army gradually stabilized its position. Block the way out of the Sui army, and divide into four teams to fight bloody battles with the Sui army.

This battle was fought from the afternoon to late at night, the battlefield had moved fifteen miles west, and the battle reached the official road, at this time the Wagang army had suffered more than 4,000 casualties, and the Sui army also suffered nearly 2,000 casualties, most of the casualties, even the commander Zhang Xutuo was also shot in the back and thigh by two arrows of the enemy, blood gushed like an infusion, he simply bandaged it, although he had broken through three times, but killed back, he resolutely refused to break through alone, and must take the soldiers with him.

At this time, Zhai Rang shouted: "Zhang Xutuo, my 50,000 army has gone down the mountain, pretending to be Yang Qing's army and attacking Weicheng County and Kuangcheng County, your army has been defeated, but Yang Qing will not save him when he sees death, if you don't surrender again, you will die on the battlefield, and there will be no chance to avenge your grievances." ”

Zhang Xutuo was secretly frightened, could it be that his army had been defeated, and the soldiers of the Sui army around him shouted one after another: "The general will break through first!" Otherwise, no one will survive. ”

Zhang Xutuo refused to give up the soldiers, he wanted to die and everyone died together, he would never steal his life alone, Zhang Xutuo gritted his teeth and continued to lead the soldiers to break through to the north.

Seeing that Zhang Xutuo refused to surrender, Zhai Rang was immediately furious, and shouted: "Kill them, not a single one will be left!" ”

At this moment, the southwest suddenly beat drums and shouted, and I saw a Sui cavalry coming from the southwest, like a sharp long knife, which suddenly split the ranks of the Wagang army, and the Wagang army was in chaos.

There were about 500 cavalry members of the Sui army, led by a general, holding a big iron spear, it was the fierce general Luo Shixin, who shouted: "Master, break through from here!" ”

Zhang Xutuo was overjoyed suddenly, he didn't have time to think about how Luo Shixin would appear, and immediately led the remaining more than 1,000 soldiers to run towards Luo Shixin, Luo Shixin led the cavalry to kill a bloody road, escorting Zhang Xutuo's army to break out of the encirclement and flee to the southwest.

Luo Shixin got Zhang Xuan's urgent letter in Pei County, Pengcheng County, he was so anxious that the army was marching too slowly, so he gathered 550 cavalry and killed all the way to Dongjun.

Zhai Rang saw that Zhang Xutuo was rescued by Luo Shixin, and he was worried that Zhang Xuan's army would be killed, so he gave up the pursuit of Zhang Xutuo and hurriedly led the army back to Dongjun.

The Sui army ran out of more than ten miles in one go, and saw that the Wagang army did not catch up, so it stopped, at this time, Zhang Xutuo was almost unable to support it, and asked urgently: "Shixin, how is the situation in Weicheng County?" ”

Luo Shixin was gloomy, and said in a low voice for a while: "I met dozens of defeated troops on the road, and they said that the Wagang army pretended to be the Sui army to deceive Kaichengchi, Weicheng County and Kuangcheng County have been lost, and the army was unfortunately defeated. ”

Zhang Xutuo was so shocked that his liver and gallbladder were cracked, he screamed, his eyes were dark, his body shook, and he fell from the horse and fell to the ground. (To be continued.) )