The situation in Yangzhou has indeed undergone major changes.

The iron-blooded army surrounded Yangzhou, but did not prohibit the entry and exit of ordinary people in Yangzhou City, Zhu Wen had insisted that Yangzhou City and the outside contact should be completely blocked, but this suggestion was vetoed by Li Rupei, if Yangzhou City was completely blocked, the first unlucky people in the city were the people, and then the people in the city were allowed to enter and exit freely, in fact, it was beneficial to the iron-blooded army, as long as any materials were not allowed to enter Yangzhou City, it was equivalent to cutting off the grain and grass of the 70,000 army in the city.

A series of events that happened later proved that Li Rupei's decision was correct.

The news of the capital Chang'an and Jiangnan Province has entered Yangzhou City in a steady stream.

Bi Shiduo, who was in Yangzhou, learned all the news, although it was a little late, especially after knowing the news that Li Rupei was appointed as the Grand Xingtai of the Southern Road, the depressed Bi Shiduo almost couldn't hold back.

Worse news followed, the Huainan Province Jiedu envoy was afraid that the candidate would have to be adjusted, Li Rupei proposed that Qian Shiqu be the Huainan Provincial Jiedu envoy, which meant that Bi Shiduo lost the official position of the Huainan Provincial Jiedu envoy, once he lost this official position, then he was not qualified to command the 70,000 troops in Yangzhou City.

Li Rupei's hand is too vicious, so that Bi Shiduo lost all his support, you must know that the 70,000 army is not particularly stable, if the sergeant knows that Bi Shiduo is no longer the Huainan Jiedu envoy, how can he continue to obey the order, if there is really an internal problem, I am afraid that the iron-blooded army surrounded outside does not need to consume any strength, and can easily take Yangzhou City.

Under such circumstances, Bi Shiduo did two things, the first thing was to block all the news, strictly control the people who went out of the city, if anyone was found to spread the news at will, the whole family would be implicated, and even the whole family would be beheaded. The second is to start sending personnel and contacting the generals of the Iron Army outside, hoping to solve the problem in other ways.

Despite being in a very disadvantageous position, Bishiduo still had to fight for his own best interests.

The first thing he thought of was to protect the 70,000 army, he was willing to withdraw from Yangzhou with the 70,000 army and leave Huainan Road, as for where to go, that was the next thing to decide, if this requirement could not be met, then protect about 20,000 troops. Disbanding the rest of the sergeants, he withdrew from Huainan Province with 20,000 troops and went to other places.

All the conditions that Bi Shiduo thought of were to be able to preserve the army under his command, because after losing the army, he Bi Shiduo was nothing, no one would pay attention to him, and Gao Yu and others would not let him go.

Bi Shiduo still hasn't seen through the situation, and it's difficult to really see through the situation.

When the envoy he sent first came into contact with Gao Chibang and others. As soon as the request for the preservation of the 70,000-strong army was put forward, it was unceremoniously denied by Gao Chibang, so that the envoy was not given a chance to continue speaking.

The second request for the preservation of the 20,000-strong army was also denied.

This made Master Bi angry. Since the Iron Blood Army means that he can't protect any army, then he will be killed, and the Iron Blood Army will have to pay a price if he wants to attack Yangzhou. Yangzhou is not so easy to take.

People are not as good as heaven.

The news that the imperial court appointed Qian Shiqu as the envoy of Huainan Province soon spread to the city of Yangzhou, and began to spread widely among the 70,000 troops. Began to track down where the news came from, but it could be checked and checked, and it could not be found out at all, on the contrary, more news began to spread, what emperor has allowed His Royal Highness King Fu to control Huainan Road, if the army stationed in Yangzhou continues to resist, the outcome is the same as Huangchao.

What's even more terrible is that Bi Shiduo tried to squeeze out Gao Yu and poison Qin Yan and Li Hanzhi, which began to circulate quietly among the army, Gao Bi is Bi Shiduo's benefactor, Qin Yan and Li Hanzhi are Bi Shiduo's best friends, think about Bi Shiduo for his own interests, can do such a vicious thing, what else can't be done.

These rumors were like poison, which began to disintegrate the fighting spirit of the army, and made Bi Shiduo's prestige among the army significantly reduced.

The sergeants didn't want to die in vain, they knew the bravery of the Iron Army, and besides, their resistance in Yangzhou had become meaningless, so they would not do it if they worked for Bi Shiduo without regrets.

Bi Shiduo would never have thought that it was Qin Erhei and others who stayed in Yangzhou City who spread these news.

This is an arrangement made by Li Rupei, requiring Qin Erhei to disintegrate the fighting spirit of the Yangzhou army to the greatest extent, especially exposing Bi Shiduo's viciousness and selfishness, showing that Bi Shiduo killed his colleagues and excluded his benefactors for his own interests.

These rumors spread rapidly, first among the armies and then among the people.

In less than a month, Bi Shiduo has become a demon in the eyes of everyone.

When Bi Shiduo found out all this, it was already too late, and even the henchmen and officers around him began to waver, and some sergeants took advantage of the two hours a day to open the city gates, and fled together and left Yangzhou City, and in less than a month, the sergeants who quietly left were close to 10,000.

If this situation is left unchecked, I am afraid that in another month, Master Bi will become a bare-bones man.

Bi Shiduo took decisive measures and began to close Yangzhou City, closing the city gates, and not allowing anyone to enter or leave Yangzhou City.

The officers around him dissuaded Bi Shiduo, whether to discuss with the iron-blooded army outside again, as long as he could leave Yangzhou City, everything would be easy to say, but the angry Bi Shiduo actually killed the officer who entered the speech.

Yangzhou City fell into a state of fear, Bi Shiduo sent a sergeant to control the entire Yangzhou City, all matters in the city are under the jurisdiction of the army, the state government and the government can not speak, and no one listens.

It was under such a situation that Li Rupei came to the military camp outside Yangzhou.

Gao Chibang and others reported the situation in Yangzhou City, and most of the information was sent by Qin Erhei, but recently, Bi Shiduo closed Yangzhou City and did not allow anyone to enter or leave.

Li Rupei read all the information and thought about it alone for a long time.

When it was dark, Gao Chibang, Zhu Wen and others entered the Chinese military tent.

"Bi Shiduo really doesn't know the times, so many opportunities are not willing to seize, and want to protect the army, what qualifications does he have to ask, Huainan Jiedu has made Qian Shiqu have taken office, but can not enter Yangzhou City, Bi Shiduo does not obey the emperor's holy decree and the imperial decree, this move is already a rebellion, tomorrow the army will arrive at the moat of Yangzhou City, shoot arrows into the city, expose Bi Shiduo's rebellion, tell many soldiers, if you are not willing to follow Bi Shiduo to rebel, open the city gate, let the iron-blooded army enter, If you want to follow Bi Shiduo to rebel, then you will wait to be beheaded, and your family will also be implicated in the future. ”

Gao Chibang was a little hesitant, but Zhu Wen was gearing up and eager to try.

After thinking for a while, Gao Chibang spoke.

"Marshal, Qin Erhei's intelligence shows that Bi Shiduo's supply is still sufficient, in this case, will Bi Shiduo use the method of distributing money and property to make the sergeants desperately resist, at this time, the iron-blooded army will attack, and the losses may be very large."

Li Rupei shook his head.

"General Gao, you are too worried, you can be sure that the sergeants in Yangzhou City will not support Bi Shiduo, let alone accompany Bi Shiduo to die, you must know that Bi Shiduo's most trusted army, that is, the army he led when he surrendered to Gao Biao, in Haozhou, Luzhou and Shuibo, it was basically wiped out, and the army in Yangzhou City is not his henchman, although Bi Shiduo adjusted most of the officers, but the sergeants below are still not convinced, in this case, there may be fluctuations if there is a slight disturbance, Not to mention such a dangerous situation. ”

"Tomorrow, the sergeants guarding the city gate will open the city gate and surrender, the iron-blooded soldiers need to make all the preparations, and enter the city of Yangzhou in one fell swoop, as long as they control the Yamen of the Jiedu Envoy, the battle will be completely over."

"Tomorrow's battle, commanded by Gao Chibang and assisted by Zhu Wen, is in the Chinese military tent, waiting for the news of your victory."

"There is a request, don't leave Bi Shiduo's life, there is no mercy for killing, no matter whether Bi Shiduo surrenders or not, and X doesn't want to see this Bi Shiduo."

Late at night, Li Rupei did not feel sleepy, and paced back and forth in the Chinese military tent.

Gao Chibang entered the Chinese military tent and saw Li Rupei pacing, and stopped talking.

"General Gao, just say whatever you want to say."

"My subordinates have been following the prince for so many years, and I have long wanted to say some things, the prince has pacified the south, as for the Qianzhong Road and Lingnan Road, it is only a matter of time to take it, and there is no need for the prince to worry too much, and the subordinates think that the prince should put his mind on the north."

"Lao Gao, do you mean those feudal towns in the north?"

"The subordinates mean this, the northern feudal towns and the southern army are completely different, they have experienced many years of fighting, and most of them are cavalry, coupled with the cold climate in the north, in order to be able to keep out the cold, the men in the north need to constantly work and work, which makes their body more burly, in comparison, the army of the northern feudal town is indeed brave, if the iron-blooded army encounters the northern feudal town, the victory or defeat is still difficult to determine."

"You understand what you mean, you want to expand the scale of the Iron Army, recruit more sergeants, and also hope that the soldiers of the Iron Blood Army will not ignore the feudal towns in the north, these things you said, I have been thinking about it for a long time, the matter of recruiting sergeants, after the south is basically stabilized, you can consider expanding the total number of soldiers of the Iron and Blood Army to about 150,000, as for the feudal towns in the north, don't move them for the time being, you need to take Dongchuan and Xichuan, and after completely stabilizing the south, you can consider the feudal towns in the north." (To be continued......)