In the continuous spring rain, a large army is advancing in the rain, but it is different from the regular army of the Great Song Dynasty, although this army is extremely numerous, but the soldiers in the army are dressed differently, some of the generals with higher status are wearing armor, but the soldiers below are dressed differently, most of them do not even have leather armor, and the weapons in the hands of these soldiers are not the same, and even some people directly hold farm tools or wooden sticks, and many people drag their families and mouths mixed in, and the cries of women and children are connected.

At the heart of the front of this army, a majestic middle-aged man in armor rode on a horse, his eyes swept in the direction behind him from time to time, and his eyes occasionally showed a little anxious look. This majestic middle-aged man was none other than Shi Fozi, the leader of the Manichaean rebels.

"Buddha, you don't have to worry about the Song army behind you, although Guo Kui is proficient in the art of war, but he doesn't take advantage of the time and place, and now he has been slowly dragged down by us, not boasting, even if Guo Kui's army catches up now, we can win the battle, but now Guo Kui is like a sick wolf, we don't need to consume too much strength on him, or lay down Hangzhou first, and then use Hangzhou as the foundation to develop outward, then Buddha, your great cause has been completed, and no one can help you!" At this time, I saw a gray-haired old man riding a horse next to the stone Buddha and said with a smile.

Hearing the old man's words, the worried look on Shi Fozi's face subsided a little, and then he turned his head and smiled at the old man: "Mr. Cui, Guo Kui is a smart person, he probably guessed that we just wanted to use this method to slowly drag him to death, but why did he still fall for it?" ”

Although Shi Fozi is the head of the Manichaean side, he was only a businessman before, and he was not familiar with the affairs of the court, but the Mr. Cui in front of him was different, and the other party was not only a scholar. And he used to be an official, but unfortunately because his hands and feet were not clean, he was greedy for some money, and he was found out, so he ended up ruined and disgraced, but this Mr. Cui not only did not repent. Instead, he joined the Manichaeism and became a counselor by Shi Fozi's side, and Shi Fozi was able to defeat the other Manichaean leaders and unify the Manichaean rebels, thanks to this Mr. Cui.

When Mr. Cui heard Shi Fozi ask, he smiled proudly and said: "Buddha Zi doesn't know, the Great Song Dynasty has always emphasized literature over military force, and the suppression of military generals by civil officials is extremely serious, especially military generals like Guo Kui, who have made great achievements, are the focus of attention of civil officials, as long as they make even a little mistake." It may be reported to the court as a handle, which will lead to extremely serious punishment, these Guo Kui know better than anyone that this time he was ordered to lead troops to encircle and suppress us, although he took advantage of it in the early stage, but a few months have passed, we are still alive and well, so Guo Kui is also under great pressure. If he lets us wander around, then he will wait to be impeached. So no matter where we go, Guo Kui has to follow honestly, even if he knows that he can't catch up, and even the army is dragged tired, but he doesn't dare to stop! ”

Although Mr. Cui was dismissed, his analysis of the situation in the court was extremely accurate. Even if Guo Kui's weakness was found out at once, he also took advantage of Guo Kui's involuntary weakness to drag the Song army behind him to death, and even in order to prevent the other party from losing it, he would release some news from time to time. Even if Guo Kui knew that he was luring him to catch up, he had to follow honestly, because he had no choice at all.

"Sir, if it weren't for your guidance, I'm afraid I wouldn't have thought of these things anyway!" At this time, Shi Fozi listened to Mr. Cui's words, and immediately bowed his hand to him and complimented him, for this Mr. Cui, he is also very respectful, although the other party is a little greedy for money, but money is a foreign object, he has always been very open, and as long as people have weaknesses, it is more conducive to his control.

Hearing Shi Fozi's praise, Mr. Cui also smiled slightly, and then suggested that Shi Fozi speed up and rush to Hangzhou, as long as he can reach Hangzhou earlier, the defenders there will not be able to stop their attack at all, and wait until Hangzhou is defeated, and then use the city wall of Hangzhou City to block Guo Kui's army, then they don't need to defeat Guo Kui at all, they only need to drag the other party for a while, and then the Song Dynasty will definitely make some moves, and even directly dismiss Guo Kui, after all, Hangzhou is lost, and they are the main generals who clean up them. Guo Kui must have a responsibility that is difficult to escape.

Shi Fozi also deeply agreed with Mr. Cui's suggestion, and immediately conveyed his orders downward, and accelerated to Hangzhou City, speaking of which, in addition to tens of thousands of major rebels in his army, there were also many people who were held hostage on the road, these people mainly had two roles, the first was to disturb the local situation and create more trouble for the Great Song Dynasty, and the second was to force these people to go forward when the Song army was cleared, so that the officers and soldiers could throw themselves into the trap, so that they could take the opportunity to escape.

But now the drizzle, it has been raining for several days and nights, making the road all muddy, which has also caused great difficulties to the march, especially the old and weak women in the army, which has seriously dragged down the progress of the march, which makes Shi Fozi's face also show an impatient look, at this time someone suggested that it is better to kill all the people who came from these kidnaps, so as not to drag down the itinerary of the army again.

Shi Fozi was also a little moved by this suggestion from his subordinates, after all, these people were originally used as cannon fodder, if they were just released, I was afraid that the whereabouts of their army would be revealed, so it was better to kill them cleanly, anyway, the population around Hangzhou is dense, and more people can be supported anytime and anywhere.

Seeing the expression on Shi Fozi's face, Mr. Cui opened his mouth to persuade at this time: "Buddha can't, killing these people can be easy, but Buddha is a person who wants to do great things, especially after occupying Hangzhou in the future, he needs the support of the surrounding people, so at this time, you must not kill on a large scale, otherwise if you lose the hearts of the people, it will be a big trouble for the Buddha!" ”

When he said this, he saw Mr. Cui pause for a moment and then said: "As for letting go of these things that may reveal the whereabouts of the army, the Buddha doesn't need to worry, with Guo Kui's intelligence, I'm afraid I already knew that we were going to occupy Hangzhou, and now I'm afraid that we are desperately chasing after us, let's let go of these people, and the pursuers behind them will definitely not be able to ignore them, so that they can also stop Guo Kui's footsteps, which can be said to kill two birds with one stone!" ”

Hearing Mr. Cui's analysis, Shi Fozi also woke up suddenly, since the rebellion, he has been dreaming of dominating the world, so Mr. Cui's previous reason moved him suddenly, and he immediately issued an order, throwing the people supported by the general on the road, and then led nearly 40,000 troops to Hangzhou City.

Guo Kui was also very anxious after learning that Shi Fozi's army was likely to go straight to Hangzhou City, and immediately followed the footsteps of the Manichaean rebels after resting for a night, but unfortunately God seemed to be against them, and the drizzle did not stop at all, which also made the soldiers wet from morning to night, coupled with the cold wind blowing so much, many soldiers had wind cold, and those who were less ill were forced to act with the army, and only the soldiers who were sick and couldn't walk would be sent to the nearby state capital for settlement. Wait until you get well before you go to the army to report.

After nearly two days of travel, Hangzhou City was not far from them, but what Guo Kui didn't expect was that there were a huge number of refugees on the road ahead, this group of refugees stretched for several miles, blocking the road tightly, it seemed that there were absolutely no less than 10,000 people, and only after he sent someone to ask did he know that these refugees turned out to be people held hostage by Manichaeism, and it was only because Shi Buddha was in a hurry to leave, so he left them on the road.

Hearing that Shi Fozi was in such a hurry, Guo Kui was even more anxious, and immediately wanted to let people separate these refugees, at least to make way for their army, so that their army could pass, this should not be a difficult thing, after all, ordinary people are most afraid of the army, as long as they shout twice, they can get out of the way.

However, what Guo Kui didn't expect was that when this huge group of refugees saw them, they sent some old people to kneel on the road and beg the army to give them some food, because when the Manichaean rebels threw them down, they also scavenged the last bit of food they carried, and now they have not eaten for two days and two nights, plus it is drizzling, they are cold and hungry, and the adults are better, but some children are really unbearable.

Hearing the request of these refugees, although Guo Kui was in a hurry, he couldn't bear to send troops to forcibly drive them away, and finally only sent hundreds of sick soldiers to stay to take care of these refugees, and he also left some food, although it could not support a few days, but if he saved some food, he should be able to support these refugees to the nearby state capital.

In order to settle these refugees, Guo Kui's army had to delay for half a day, and when it finally passed through these refugees, Guo Kui was also more anxious, urging the army to catch up in the direction of Hangzhou, because he was very familiar with the defense of Hangzhou, a few months ago when the Manichaeism just rebelled, His Royal Highness the King of Yue, who was far away in Guangzhou, also sent an army of 5,000 people to Hangzhou to assist in the local defense, and it was with the help of that army that the Manichaeism failed to take Hangzhou.

But then the king of Yue led the army to the north to rescue Yang Huaiyu's army, and the army of 5,000 people also went north, and now there are only some local defenders left in Hangzhou, and those defenders usually bully the people, let them fight against the Manichaean army, I am afraid that they have just reached the city, and most of them will flee immediately.

Thinking of the above, Guo Kui also hurried more desperately, after a day and a half of difficult marching, their army finally chased to the city of Hangzhou, but when Guo Kui and others saw the situation under the city, they were all stunned on the spot. (To be continued......)