Dou Jiande was secretly taken aback, and hurriedly ordered: "Bring him to see me!" ”

Not long after, a tall and thin civil official of the Sui army was brought to Dou Jiande, and he bowed his hand and said: "I am recruiting Li Qingming, who is riding Cao to join the army under the envoy's tent, and I came to deliver a message to Dou Gong on the order of my envoy." ”

Seeing that he was not afraid and talked eloquently, Dou Jiande couldn't help but sneer: "Aren't you afraid that I will kill you?" ”

"If the two countries compete with each other, if they don't kill them, why should I be afraid?"

Dou Jiande snorted, "That's not necessarily, where is the letter?" ”

"There are no letters, only oral communication."

"Say it! What does Jang Hyun want to tell me? ”

"My envoy said that he should remember his kindness, he once saved Dou Gong's life, why did Dou Gongen take revenge and lead a large army south to harass the people of Qingzhou?"

"Nonsense! When did he save my life? ”

Li Qingming smiled slightly: "My family envoy said that three years ago in the forest of the Beihai Lake, Dou Gong was surrounded by Shi Shu Hu Xi, and his life was not guaranteed, it was my family envoy who shot Shi Shu Hu Xi to death, so that Dou Gong escaped with his life, does Dou Gong still remember this incident?" ”

Dou Jiande's eyes widened, of course he didn't forget, three years ago he led a hundred cavalry to Beihai to compete for a batch of armor, but was surrounded by thousands of Turkic troops, Shi Shu Hu Xi forced him to tell the whereabouts of the armor, seeing that his life was not guaranteed, a wolf tooth arrow shot Shi Shu Hu Xi from behind, he and his subordinates took advantage of the chaos to escape, and have been thinking about this matter for several years, who saved himself?

But Dou Jiande never thought that it would be Zhang Xuan, and then Dou Jiande suddenly remembered something, Zhang Xuan was named an official because of his meritorious service in the grassland, is it in Beihai?

Dou Jiande's face was red and white, this was too embarrassing, Zhang Xuan was actually his savior. After a while, Dou Jiande asked in a soothing tone, "What does he want me to do?" ”

"Zhang Yuanjun hopes that Dou Gong can withdraw his troops back to the north bank of the Yellow River."

"Is this what he wants?"

"It's not!"

Li Qingming shook his head, "My family envoy is looking at the face of saving Dou Gong, give Dou Gong another chance, and immediately withdraw to the north bank of the Yellow River, otherwise the army of Lu County will be wiped out!" ”

Dou Jiande's eyes widened in shock. Suddenly, he looked up to the sky and laughed, "It's fucking ridiculous, it turns out that he has to save me again." ”

He laughed and said coldly: "What kind of person does he think I am, a beggar who can only survive by giving alms?" ”

Li Qingming said calmly: "My envoy is now in Jibei County, with 20,000 troops under his command, he gave Dou Gong two days to retreat north, if Dou Gong refuses to retreat north." There will be no regrets. ”

"I'd love to see it!"

Dou Jiande said slowly: "Please Li Senjun tell him that I will remember his life-saving grace to me in the past, but the two armies don't talk about personal feelings in front of the battle, if I, Dou Jiande, die in his hands, then even if I give him back this life, but if he falls into my hands, I will spare him once." To settle the grievances, please! I don't embarrass you. ”

Li Qingming bowed his hand. Turning around without saying a word, Dou Jiande shouted: "Let Mr. Li go back!" ”

Although Dou Jiande was very hard-mouthed, he was secretly frightened in his heart, he didn't expect that Zhang Xuan had already led the army to Jibei County, and he didn't care about the pressure of the army of Pingyuan County and Qinghe County, he only had 20,000 troops at present. And Zhang Xuan is also 20,000 troops, and the strength of the two armies is similar, so I am afraid that he will not have an advantage.

Dou Jiande also knew that Zhang Xuan was powerful, and together with Zhang Xutuo and Yang Yichen, he was known as the Three Tiger Generals of the Great Sui, and fought in the south and the north. His military achievements are impressive, and his army is extremely combative, and if he fights hard, he will lose more and win less.

Now do you withdraw your troops to the north, or do you order reinforcements to go south as soon as possible?

Dou Jiande was in a dilemma for a while, and after pondering for a long time, he finally made up his mind that 70,000 against 20,000, he might not lose.

"Pass my order, and the army on the north bank will cross the river immediately!"

Zhang Xuan only led an army of 20,000 to Jibei County last night, Dou Jiande crossed the river from Jibei County to the south, forming an encirclement and flanking situation against Zhang Xuan, if Dou Jiande once he gained a firm foothold in Jibei County, and then entered Dongping County, echoing with the Wagang Army, he would be passive.

Therefore, Zhang Xuan wants to defeat Dou Jiande in the shortest possible time, recover Jibei County, and ensure the safety of the six counties of Qingzhou, although he is the envoy of the twelve provinces of Hebei, Qingzhou is not under his jurisdiction, but it is only an appointment of the imperial court, after witnessing Zhang Xutuo's unfortunate fate, he will never give up Qingzhou again.

Jibei County was overcrowded, and most of the tens of thousands of people who had fled from Lu County poured into Jibei County, and civilians who had fled from Pingyin County and Dong'e County also entered Jibei County, which was protected by the Sui army, making the county full of people and overcrowded.

Accompanied by the county magistrate Sun Jian, Jaung-hyun inspected the streets full of fugitives, with tents next to each other and several families living in one tent.

"Qi Yu envoy, there is still some grain in the county, which can last for about twenty days, although there are many fugitives, but compared to Linzi County back then, I think the situation is much better, and my subordinates have enough experience to deal with this situation."

Zhang Xuan nodded, "To prevent the emergence of epidemics, prepare more quicklime." ”

"Please rest assured that his subordinates have not only prepared quicklime, but also prepared a large amount of plantain decoction, which all the fugitives can take every day, which can effectively prevent the occurrence of epidemics."

Although Sun Jian was deposed by the imperial court, he did not complain, and still worked diligently, which moved Zhang Xuan and felt a little guilty, he smiled and said: "Sun County Order will handle things well, and after I recover Qinghe County, Sun County Order can serve as Qinghe County Cheng and take charge of Qinghe County government affairs for me." ”

"Thank you for your trust, and my subordinates have no complaints."

Zhang Xuan smiled and patted him on the shoulder, "Although you have no complaints, it is difficult for me to explain to the Qingzhou fathers." ”

At this time, Song Wenqian, the Taishou of Jibei County, hurriedly came and bowed to Zhang Xuan, "See General Zhang!" ”

Zhang Xuan knew that this Song Wenqian was Pei Yun's protégé, and it was Pei Yun who recommended him to serve as the Taishou of Jibei County, Zhang Xuan didn't want to turn his face with the court for the time being, and this Song Wenqian had a good reputation, and he was an honest official, so he could slowly win him over.

"Song Envoy Jun doesn't have to be polite, I led the army to be one step late, so that Song Envoy Jun was wronged."

Zhang Xuan was very polite to Song Wenqian, first of all, he cleared the responsibility, Lu County was captured is not his Song Wenqian's responsibility, but the Sui army did not arrive in time, which made Song Wenqian breathe a sigh of relief, he hurriedly pulled a general behind him over, and said to Zhang Xuan: "This General Zheng was the first to discover Dou Jiande, and it was he who blocked Dou Jiande from going south, so that most of the people in the city could escape, if General Zhang wants to know what the situation is, you can ask this General Zheng." ”

Zheng Lin's face was flushed, and he secretly complained that Song Wenqian couldn't speak, and he was General Zhang and General Zheng in his mouth, and he juxtaposed himself with Zhang Xuan, which was obviously disrespectful to Zhang Xuan.

He hurriedly knelt down on one knee and hugged his fists and said: "The lowly Zheng Lin sees the marshal, the humiliation is guilty, and he is willing to be punished by the marshal!" ”

Song Wenqian was startled, he realized that he had said the wrong thing, and he shouldn't call Zhang Xuan a general, and his face suddenly became a little unnatural.

Zhang Xuan hurriedly helped Zheng Lin up and said with a smile: "General Zheng doesn't need to explain, I know in my heart that this kind of thing is not so simple to lead troops to fight, if General Zheng has a lot of money, maybe the ending will be different." ”

Song Wenqian understood what Zhang Xuan meant, he was saying that he was not the master of the county soldiers, so he couldn't control the escape of the county soldiers, he was grateful and ashamed in his heart, it turned out that Zhang Xuan already knew that the county soldiers were about to flee in battle, and he didn't dare to tell Song Wenqian the truth about this matter, but said that the number of county soldiers was too small and could not defeat Dou Jiande's army.

He said in a low voice: "Thank you for your understanding!" ”

Zhang Xuan smiled and asked: "I want to know about Dou Jiande's crossing of the Yellow River, such as how many ships he has, as well as the equipment and morale of Dou Jiande's army, etc., I want to know more about it." ”

Zheng Lin thought about it and was about to report, but Zhang Xuan smiled and said: "This is not the place to talk, let's go back to the barracks, I plan to let General Zheng lead an army to garrison Jibei County and assist Sun County to defend the city." ”

Zheng Lin was overjoyed and knelt down on one knee again, "I am willing to serve the handsome dogs and horses!" ”

Song Wenqian next to him was dumbfounded, Zhang Xuan pulled Zheng Lin over in just a few words, so won't the county soldiers of Jibei County be controlled by Zhang Xuan in the future?

On the Yellow River, more than 100 small boats loaded with Dou Jiande's army sent troops to the south bank of the Yellow River, and the small boats could only send more than 2,000 people at a time.

He also knew that time was pressing, but he was helpless, he only had so many ships, in Jibei County, he didn't even find a boat, and Zhang Xuan had already concentrated the boats in the Yellow River and Jishui to Qi County in the way of a ban on boats.

Dou Jiande could only hope that within two days, 40,000 troops could be transported, and he could fight Zhang Xuan to the death.

But although the expectations are very full, the reality is very cruel, more than 100 warships were transported twice, and at noon, a fleet of twenty thousand-stone warships suddenly appeared on the Yellow River, which was the Beihai division led by Qi Liang arrived.

Twenty warships puffed up their sails and sped up to crash into the small boats transporting the thieves, and with a bang, in a terrible roar, the first warship smashed two small boats full of soldiers to pieces, and more than forty thieves and soldiers fell into the water. (To be continued.) )