"Zu Shuai, someone came over there, and he also brought a letter from Zerun and Kefa."

In the study room of the Liaodong Forward General's Mansion in Jinzhou City, Zu Dale whispered to Zu Dashou, Zu Dashou on the Taishi chair snorted, and there was nothing to say, Zu Dale had to turn his head to look at Wu Xiang next to him.

Wu Xiang pondered for a while and turned his head to Zu Dale and said, "Who is here?" ”

"The people who came refused to say it clearly, but the last general looked at his appearance, he should be a Han official, and he should be a person like Bao Chengxian and Gao Hongzhong."

"Then let him hand over the letter from Zerun and Kefa first."

Zu Dale agreed to go out, Wu Xiang said to Zu Dashou at this time: "Zu Shuai, they are coming at this time, the intention is really hard to say, the subordinates feel that it is better for the subordinates to see the people who came, to figure out their intentions, and then Zu Shuai will set a strategy, and it is not too late to see the people again." ”

Zu Dashou opened his eyes, patted the handrail leisurely and said: "Coming at this time, it is nothing more than buying food and cloth, otherwise...... It is the sum that comes. ”

Wu Xiang said in surprise: "Sug? ”

Zu Dashou nodded, "You have read the report of Dengzhou Town, their spring offensive is quite fierce, from Hetuara to Gaizhou, there are battles everywhere, the slave chieftain is bleeding in Caohe Fort, according to Dengzhou Town's own words, more than 400 soldiers repelled the East Road army led by Huang Taiji, Zhong Caisheng then repelled Yue Tuo, and attacked Lianshan Pass for several consecutive days, I am afraid that there is some boasting here, but there is no doubt that Jiannu was defeated in Lianshan Pass and Caohe Fort. ”

Wu Xiang groaned: "This area of Gaizhou is dominated by Dengzhou Town, our sailors went to the vicinity of Gaizhou, where there are ships from Dengzhou Town, it is reported that Dengzhou Town has continuously attacked Gaizhou, and the city wall is more damaged. In addition, even the mouth of the Sancha River has a Dengzhou bird boat, and when the wind is down, there are boats that sail into the Sancha River, and when they reach the left of Niuzhuang, our boats dare not go in. ”

Zu Dashou patted the handrail while listening, Wu Xiang said that Niuzhuang used to be an important port, in the Sancha River, from the Ming is the shipping channel to Liaozhong, after the Jin occupied Liaozhong, this place became one of the most important places, Dengzhou Town's boat arrived here, and Liaoxi to Houjin ** was affected.

"That Chen Zongbing is not an uninteresting person, and his ship will not stay there and not leave." Zu Dashou thought about it and said, "In the general trend, Huang Taiji is in a predicament right now, it doesn't matter if Gaizhou gains or loses, even if Dengzhou Town is captured, it may not be able to hold on, but the trend of Dengzhou soldiers threatening Liaozhong is becoming more and more obvious, the Mongols will not listen to Jianzhou in the future, and if they have a few more offensives, Huang Taiji may have to lead his troops to retreat north." ”

Wu Xiang sighed and said: "This Chen Zongbing of Dengzhou Town is not an ordinary person, he has been in southern Liaoning for two or three years, and he has hit Gaizhou, and he doesn't want to think about how he will get along with the imperial court if he defeats Houjin." ”

Zu Dashou snorted, "This is the important place, how he gets along with the imperial court is his business, and we Liaozhen also have to think about how to get along with the imperial court, and how to get along with Dengzhou Town." Liaozhen can not fall in Ningjin, the first thing is to build slaves, millions of salaries every year, far from what we can get, how many people in the court share the profits, and this Liaozhen is not a positive tax, it is an additional levy. Once Dengzhou Town defeated Houjin, there would be no reason for this Liaoyu, let alone how to divide the profits, and even levy it. Huang Taiji also understood it when he thought about it, so he sent someone at this time. ”

"Then the lower official will go and meet the people over there first."

Zu Dashou straightened up and whispered to Wu Xiang: "When you go to see the people of Houjin, you must not promise anything, the power of Houjin is not as good as before, even if it is to negotiate peace, then Dengzhou Town may not listen to the imperial court." Let's not get too involved. is still the same sentence as before, if General Chen really has the time to recover Liaodong, we have a room to speak. ”

Wu Xiang comprehended and said: "If the Tartars want to negotiate peace, it is impossible to start from the military town, they have to follow the path of the governor of Liaodong and the governor of Jiliao, and they all have to be civilian officials on the surface, so we will do something in the Beijing division secretly, and the general soldiers of Chen will not be able to catch anything." ”……

Outside the old city of Xiuyan, a group of horseback riders walked slowly from the mountain road in the direction of Gaizhou, all of them looked red uniformed Dengzhou cavalry, but there were also some people dressed in Mongolian, their hair braids were many small pigtails, different from the money rat tail of Houjin.

At the forefront was Huang Side, who looked quite complacent, these Mongols were invited by the Tongguò trading company to show the Mongolian military might of Dengzhou, who had been in Fuzhou in safety, and invited them to Gaizhou to watch the battle after the Dengzhou army began to attack Gaizhou.

The Later Jin used to be quite prestigious in Mongolia, and at this time the remaining prestige was still there, and these Mongols wanted to see the battle between the two sides, but also worried that the Houjin would find out, so they had been dressed as Dengzhou cavalry, and did not take off their helmets until they entered the mountain.

Dengzhou Town has set up a defensive line in Shimen Fort, Shanghatadun and other places, every time they arrive at Dengzhou's position on the mountain road, these Mengren will be blindfolded, and at this time to Xiuyan in the rear, they are allowed to watch.

After turning a bend, Xiuyan's dilapidated city has appeared in front of you, the military flag fluttering on Xiuyan Tucheng, but the Tucheng is still the same as before, the Dengzhou army has not been reinforced, but only dug a complex trench around, at this time there are still a large number of Dongjiang troops working, these people are Shang Kexi and Mao Chenglu's ordinary military households, their establishment still belongs to Dongjiang Town, after the spring offensive began, they will receive Dengzhou Town's combat subsidies, all the strong laborers in the front line one or two monthly salaries, are directly issued to each person, This kind of ticket can buy daily necessities at the comprehensive stores on each island, which belongs to the hard currency of Dongjiang Town. With the stimulation of materials, these military households also burst out of labor enthusiasm, and they used the building materials in Xiuyan City to build rows of barracks, and Xiuyan is becoming a new fortress.

From time to time, sand boats are pulling up the Wuchong River on the edge of Xiuyan City, and several simple wooden trestle bridges have been built along the river, where some military households are unloading their goods and carrying down batches of military rations and armaments.

"Huang, Lord Huang." A somewhat non-standard Chinese voice behind him asked.

Huang Side turned his head and looked, it was Donoyi of the Karaqin Department, this person had been to Houjin Chaohe many times, and he had been beaten by Houjin before, and he was afraid of Houjin, and he had constant problems along the way, always worried that the Houjin army would suddenly emerge from somewhere. Huang Side has a gentle attitude along the way, and he is already very familiar with these people.

"Donoi emissary, please have something to say."

Donoyi looked at Xiuyan and said: "Lord Huang, the Dengzhou Heavenly Army is indeed extraordinary, but Xiuyan has changed hands many times over the years, since the Heavenly Army has occupied it, why just dig some trenches, why not increase the height of the city and wrap bricks, so that it is more stable." ”

Huang Side smiled slightly and said, "Donoyi Envoy's words are right for ordinary Ming officials and soldiers, but not for me Dengzhou Town. I am invincible in Dengzhou Town, Jiannu has no chance to re-enter this place, Xiuyan is just a place where my army set out to attack Jiannu, not a place to fight with Jiannu. ”

A person behind Donoyi probed and said, "Lord Huang, is Dengzhou Town going to continue to attack Liaozhong now?" As a friend, I should warn your lordship that the armor soldiers of Houjin are fierce and good at fighting, and if they mobilize a large army to attack Xiuyan, they will not be able to stop them by relying on these ditches. ”

Huang Side said to the man: "Angkun Taiji, my Dengzhou army used these ditches to eliminate tens of thousands of Houjin soldiers in Lushun, and their heads were finally piled up outside several gates of the Beijing Division. The armor of Houjin is indeed brave, but my Dengzhou soldiers are even braver, and in this spring offensive, our vanguard of 460 men broke the 5,000 soldiers and horses of the slave chief Huang Taiji at Caohe Fort. ”

Ang Kun Taiji and Donoi exclaimed at the same time: "Five thousand soldiers and horses? ”

"Not bad." Huang Side said proudly, "You can see the head of Jiannu in Xiuyan, and then this official will take you to Caohekou to see the battlefield of the day, and the bodies discarded by Jiannu are still there." ”

The Mongols behind him hissed and inhaled, some of them had participated in the Battle of Lushun and had a deep understanding of the combat power of the Dengzhou army, but now that they were in it, they felt very different. This army is forbidden, everyone is like a template, and it is difficult for them to distinguish which are family members and which are ordinary soldiers. According to Huang Side, there are no families in Dengzhou Town, and all soldiers are elite.

After arriving outside Xiuyan City, Mao Chenglu hurried to greet him, he met Huang Side with an official salute, according to the imperial court military position, Huang Side is just a praise general, Mao Chenglu is the deputy commander of Dongjiang Town, but in the Dengzhou system, Huang Side's status is far from being comparable to Mao Chenglu.

Huang Side introduced more than 20 Mongolians to Mao Chenglu, Mao Chenglu was perfunctory, he didn't have a good impression of these Mongolians, if it wasn't for Huang Side to bring them, he would have raised a knife and cut them over.

Mao Chenglu asked Huang Side in a low voice: "Lord Huang, I heard that Gaizhou City is about to be unbearable. ”

Huang Side nodded, "The Jiannu people and horses are pinned down in other places, our cavalry has penetrated deep into the area of Yaozhou Fort, they have difficulty transporting food, Lord Chen is surrounded by three people, and Jiannu is afraid that they will withdraw." ”

"Xiaguan has a reluctant request, Kong Youde and Li Jiucheng are stationed in Gaizhou City, Xiaguan and Kong Youde were also fatal friends back then, he should not be sincere in joining Jiannu, Xiaguan wants to write a letter to that Kong Youde, if the Tianyou Army can take refuge, can Lord Chen let that Kong Youde live."

After hearing this, Huang Side pulled Mao Chenglu to the side and whispered: "You can tell Lord Chen about this, but don't contact Kong Youde without authorization, if Lord Chen agrees, you can hand over the letter to the Foreign Affairs Department or the Intelligence Bureau, and they will send it." ”

"That's what Xia Guan meant." Mao Chenglu, who was five big and three thick, seemed quite shrewd at this time, "The lower officials will never contact Kong Youde privately, then Li Jiucheng is just fine, and he didn't want to deal with him before." I just thought that if Kong Youde could take refuge in him when he was dying, then Jiannu would definitely be caught off guard, and he might be able to make a contribution to Lord Chen. ”

Huang Side patted Mao Chenglu and said: "Lord Mao bother, you can report this matter to Lord Chen first, Lord Chen has seen thousands of miles, so he will naturally have proper arrangements." ”

Mao Chenglu agreed, and the two walked all the way to talk, and when they arrived at the west gate of Xiuyan City, there was a Dengzhou Flying Tiger Army flag, and the open space was covered with stone slabs, and hundreds of boxes were placed on the stone slabs, on which were placed a set of Dengzhou Army's regular uniforms.

Mao Chenglu said respectfully: "Lord Huang, this is it." ”

Huang Side solemnly took off his military hat, went to the table next to him to take incense, lit it in the place of worship and then stood up and saluted, and the Mongolians behind him whispered on the side for unknown reasons.

After Huang Side finished the ceremony, he turned to them and said: "These hundreds of warriors here are the forward headquarters of Caohe Fort in my Dengzhou Town Barracks, and they have destroyed the slave chieftains with 460 people and beheaded thousands of them. ”

A group of masked people looked at each other, they were a little unbelieving, and a little overwhelmed, they came to Dengzhou as guests, and they should worship these people, but they themselves still have a suzerainty relationship with Houjin, and Dengzhou can be regarded as enemies.

Huang Side didn't explain, so he waited coldly, and a few Mongolian people finally felt that it was not a problem, and went up to receive incense to worship, and after someone took the lead, others also followed.

Huang Side achieved his goal, and he figured out a way to get these Mongolian people to take a stand, even if it was superficial. After standing still for a moment, he turned his head to Mao Chenglu and said, "Where is the gray box of Zhao Xuan's training officer?" ”

"The front is in the center."

"Take the officer to see my old subordinates." (To be continued.) )