Wang Shichong's strategy was very effective, crossing the Huai River from Shanyang in a big way, stationing troops on the north bank of the Huai River, setting up more banners and fences, beating drums during the day and sounding gongs at night, and the camp stretched for more than ten miles, making the already very huge momentum even more huge. With such a big move, even if the Du Fuwei team that was wandering south of Shuyang was blind, they knew that the official army was coming, and the number of them was quite large.

Chen Yingliang soon knew about Wang Shichong's actions, and as a result, Chen Yingliang also scolded on the spot, "Wang Shichong raised by a son of a bitch!" You're really a fucking dog from the Western Regions, it's really yin and ruthless, and you can use such a shameless trick, you're fucking here to help me? Or are you going to pit me? ”

Since beating Chen Yingliang as a cow and a horse, it was the first time that Yuan Tiangang and Wei Zheng had seen Chen Yingliang scold so out of shape and so ungracefully, and in surprise, Yuan Tiangang hurriedly asked: "Deputy envoy, what's wrong?" Wang Shichong offended you, why are you so angry? ”

"Wang Shichong, this son of a bitch, didn't offend me, he was just deliberately cheating me!" Chen Yingliang said angrily: "He deliberately made the momentum so huge, it was clear that he wanted to sue Du Fuwei and Li Zitong, saying that his people were numerous and powerful, and the troops were strong and difficult to provoke, so he lured Du Fuwei and Li Zitong to pick up soft persimmons, and led their thief army to the west first, and fought with me first, and then no matter who wins or loses, he Wang Shichong can hide behind and pick up the cheapest, and when we and Du Fuwei and Li Zitong are both defeated, Wang Shichong can reach out and pick peaches, and exchange the most harvest at the lowest price." ”

Yuan Tiangang was dumbfounded, and then he understood why Chen Yingliang and Wang Shichong could become high-ranking officials, but they couldn't even keep the official position of a seven-grade county order. Wei Zheng on the other side was silent, and only said after a while: "Wang Shichong is a person who is duplicitous, has honey in his mouth, and has a sword in his belly. ”

"Deputy envoy, what should we do next?" Yuan Tiangang cautiously asked, "Wang Shichong is so uneasy and kind, should we give up this battle?" ”

"It's all come to this, how can you give up?" Chen Yingliang said sullenly: "Wang Shichong has already put on a posture to intimidate Du Fuwei and Li Zitong, if we give up this battle plan again, Du Fuwei and Li Zitong will definitely go west to Xiapi to kill people and set fire." ”

After finishing speaking, Chen Yingliang sighed and ordered: "Let the army advance eastward according to the original plan, first cross Surabaya, set up camp outside Suyu City, and then slowly consider countermeasures." ”

Two days later, the Sui army of Qian County, which had only more than 5,000 troops, crossed Surabaya and came to the east bank of Siabaya, Xia Pi County Zhisu Yu City to set up camp, Xia Pi Taishou Zhu Yong led the city officials to greet him, Chen Yingliang, who was in a bad mood, was not polite, and said directly to Zhu Yong: "Zhu Taishou, these ushered in the passing scene will not go, immediately give Pei Juncheng stationed in Tan County an order, let him immediately strengthen the defense of Tan County and Liangcheng in the north of Xiapi, once it is found that Du Fuwei's thief army and Li Zitong's thief army are advancing westward, they cannot fight, only defend the city, Do not let the city fall into the hands of thieves. Again, I'll be useful if I report the latest enemy whereabouts. ”

Zhu Yong hurriedly agreed, while going to order the two northern counties to let the county defend immediately, and at the same time report the latest enemy movements, the result was quite surprising to Chen Yingliang that after Du Fuwei's team was stationed on the south bank of Shushui in the east of Shuyang, there was no new big move, but Li Zitong's team, which had been plundering Qishan before, suddenly let go of those poor fishermen and took his team directly south, judging from the road that the destination was likely to be Du Fuwei's camp. After carefully looking at the map to confirm this, Chen Yingliang couldn't help frowning, and muttered: "Could it be that Du Fuwei and Li Zitong have hooked up?" Ready to join forces? ”

"Deputy envoy, it's not supposed to, it's for sure." Kan Liang, who had a taciturn personality, rarely spoke, and said in a deep voice: "When the last general was under Du Fuwei's account, I once heard about his army in Qi County, and knew that he and Li Zitong had known each other as early as Changbai Mountain in Qi County, and I heard that there was still a lot of friendship, so it was natural for them to join forces. ”

Chen Yingliang's brows furrowed a little more, because there had already been a report from Shuyang, saying that after Du Fuwei annexed Zhao Po's formation, the strength of the army had reached more than 35,000 people, and at the same time, Yin Weng, the Taishou of the East China Sea, also reported to Chen Yingliang, saying that Li Zitong's team also had 15,000 or 6,000 people, and if the two bandit armies were really combined into one, the number of troops would immediately exceed 50,000, and Chen Yingliang, who only had more than 5,000 troops in his hand, did not want to fight head-on with so many enemies - it was not that he could not fight hard, but he would definitely suffer heavy casualties if he did so.

After thinking for a while, Chen Yingliang made up his mind and instructed Yuan Tiangang: "Mr. Yuan, immediately write a letter for me asking for help to Wang Shichong, just say that we have found out the exact news, Du Fuwei and Li Zitong and the two thieves have decided to join forces, and the army of the two thieves will exceed 50,000 after the two thieves join forces, which is more than ten times that of our army, and our army has few soldiers and is difficult to fight, so we can only give up the planned tactics of entering the East China Sea in the east, temporarily stay in Suyu to ensure the safety of Xiapi County, and ask him to lead the army west to Suyu, join forces with our army, and then discuss the strategy of breaking the enemy. ”

"Deputy envoy, Wang Shichong will never agree." Yuan Tiangang said with some surprise: "If Wang Shichong goes west to Suyu, then there will be a huge flaw in his Huaishui defense line, and Du Fuwei and Li Zitong will take the opportunity to break through the Huaihe defense line and enter the territory of Jiangdu, then he will be in big trouble." ”

"Of course Wang Shichong won't agree, how could that old slippery head suffer such a loss?" Chen Yingliang sneered: "I know he will refuse, but after he refuses, I have a chance to bargain with him, right?" As long as I can bargain, I can find a way to let Wang Shichong fight this main force, first fight hard with Du Fuwei and Li Zitong, and then I will pick peaches. ”

Yuan Tiangang suddenly realized, so he hurriedly wrote a letter, and then sent someone to send it to Wang Shichong's camp urgently, and there is also a Surabaya channel between Suyu and Shanyang, and under the smooth wind, Chen Yingliang's letter for help was sent to Wang Shichong who was still stationed on the north bank of Huaishui the next morning. And after reading Chen Yingliang's letter, Wang Shichong scolded like Chen Yingliang without grace, but sneered and said: "Sure enough, he is a treacherous boy, obviously afraid that the official will hide behind and pick up the bargain, and use such an excuse to bargain, thinking beautifully!" ”

"Is Mr. Chen Yingliang trying to bargain?" Wang Shichong's fourth brother, Wang Shiyun, asked in surprise.

"Yes, I want to bargain." Wang Shichong nodded, sneered and said: "He knew that it was absolutely impossible for me to throw down the Huaishui defense line and get closer to him, but he deliberately asked me for help, just to make me refuse, let me and him carefully discuss the strategy of entering the army, and then take the opportunity to push us to the front and carry the front for him, so that he could take the opportunity to hide behind and pick up the cheap." ”

"Damn it, this treacherous boy." Wang Shiyun scolded a dirty word, and then said: "Brother Xian, then just ignore him, let's go back to Huainan directly, and let him fight with Du Fuwei and Li Zitong by himself." ”

"You are underestimating Chen Xiaozi too much." Wang Shichong smiled and said: "Chen Xiaozi's garrison in Suyu is no longer advancing eastward, it is clear that he is guarding against us suddenly retreating to Huainan, if we retreat to the south bank of the Huai River, he is not afraid of Su Yu even if he alone deals with the combined forces of Du Fuwei and Li Zitong, because he has a strong city to rely on in Xiapi County to govern Suyu, and there is a natural danger in Surabaya to defend, it is not difficult to block the westward advance of Du and Li and the two thieves." Then as long as he held on for a period of time, once the grain and grass of the two thieves Du Li who relied on looting and supplies in the rear ran out, he could only retreat obediently. At that time, we, who had withdrawn from the army, would not be able to explain in front of the court and the emperor. ”

"Treacherous thief." Wang Shiyun scolded again, and then asked, "Brother, what should I do?" ”

"Count, count." Wang Shichong waved his hand very easily, and said: "First negotiate with Chen Yingliang's thief, bargain, lure him to leave Suyu and enter the wilderness where there is no city to defend, and then design Du Fuwei and Li Zitong to clean him up first." ”

"It's easy to bargain, but how to lure Du Fuwei and Li Zitong to clean him up first?" Wang Shiyun asked worriedly.

"It's easier." Wang Shichong said with a smile: "Send someone to recruit An Du Fuwei, pretend to persuade Du Fuwei to surrender to us, and take the opportunity to tell Du Fuwei the truth of Chen Yingliang's boy, Du Fuwei last time he went west to Qian County, but was overshadowed by Chen Yingliang's boy, which greatly injured Du Fuwei's vitality, and almost sent his life to Qian County, he must have always held a grudge, and found that there was a chance to take revenge, where would he miss it?" ”

"Brother Xian is clever, and he really has a clever plan." Wang Shiyun laughed loudly, and hurriedly acted according to Wang Shichong's arrangement, while sending Wang Renze to Suyu to bargain with Chen Yingliang, and at the same time sent an envoy to Du Fuwei's camp with Wang Shichong's handwritten letter to surrender, and told the envoy to take the opportunity to tell Du Fuwei Chen Yingliang's false truth.

Under the deceit between each other, a very ridiculous scene appeared, saying that they would join hands to break the thief, but Chen Yingliang led the army to be stationed under the Suyu City on the east bank of Surabaya, the deep ditch and high fortress refused to go further east, Wang Shichong was also very cautious stationed on the north bank of Huaishui, backed by Liyang Duoli fence, refused to continue to go north, the distance between each other and the Du Fuwei camp was about one hundred and twenty miles, but no one refused to move first, each other looked forward to each other to take the lead, and they all looked forward to each other to carry the front of the battlefield, but no one refused to suffer this loss, Everyone also wants to take advantage of the big attack.

Chen Yingliang and Wang Shichong, the two sluts, of course, cheapened Du Fuwei, who was being attacked from both sides, so that Du Fuwei had a thrilling time to survive the most dangerous moment of fighting alone, and successfully waited for his old friend Li Zitong to go south with reinforcements to join the division, and the combined army had more than 50,000 troops, and its strength increased greatly. At the same time, Du Fuwei also unexpectedly ushered in Wang Shichong's surrender envoy, and also saw Wang Shichong's sincere surrender letter written by himself.

Just over half a year ago, Wang Shichong burned incense in front of the Buddha statue in Tongxuan Temple in Wu County and swore that Liu Yuanjin's remnants would surrender and not kill, but when Liu Yuanjin's remnants surrendered almost, Wang Shichong buried all these 30,000 people in the field to make fertilizer! There is evidence in the past, Du Fuwei will only believe Wang Shichong's surrender letter if he is stupid! So after reading Wang Shichong's letter of surrender, Du Fuwei not only laughed out loud, but also immediately ordered the messenger to be pushed out of the tent and beheaded.

Fu Gongqi spoke in time to stop Du Fuwei's impulsive behavior, and behind Li Zitong, who had just joined Du Fuwei, a middle-aged scribe also stood up, and said to Du Fuwei: "King Du, please calm your anger, although Wang Shichong is despicable and has no faith, but the two countries are still not killed, not to mention that this person is also a de facto official envoy, killing him is not only useless, but also hurts morality, which is not conducive to King Du's reputation." ”

"Who are you? How come I haven't seen you before? Duvowe looked at the scribe and found that he was about thirty years old, and that he was thin and inconspicuous, but his demeanor was very elegant and polite, and he seemed to be well educated.

"Brother Du, let me introduce you." Li Zitong opened his mouth and introduced Du Fuwei: "This is Mr. Mao Wenshen Mao, who likes to read military books and history since he was a child, and once served as the county lord in Dong'an, just because he hated the darkness of officialdom, he resigned from the official position, and I went south through Dong'an this time, and he defected to my army, helping me to give advice and deal with paperwork and accounts, and he is a rare talent." ”

Du Fuwei is a very ambitious thief, he knows the importance of civilian talents, and when he heard Li Zitong say this, he immediately nodded and said: "It turns out that it is Brother Li's henchman, come here, quickly set up a seat for Mr. Mao." ”

The thieves in the tent agreed, and immediately brought a stool to Mao Wenshen and put it next to Li Zitong, Mao Wenshen politely thanked but did not sit, but pleaded with Du Fuwei for the messenger, Du Fuwei saw that Fu Gongqi also opposed the beheading, so he waved his hand and said: "Okay, since Mr. Mao intercedes with Brother Fu, let him go." ”

Wang Shichong, who escaped death, was overjoyed, hurriedly saluted and thanked him, and then hurriedly said goodbye, but Mao Wenshen stopped him again and said: "Wait, it's not without a price to let you go, there is a question I want to ask you, since your Shangguan Wang Shichong sent troops to recruit us, then after his army crossed the Huai River, why did he not move and no longer go north?" ”

"Mr. Mao, it's not that the villain doesn't want to answer you, it's that the villain really doesn't know." The messenger said with a sad face: "The villain is just Wang Juncheng's military secretary, and he is not qualified to participate in the military affairs, I don't know why Wang Juncheng is standing still." ”

"It's okay, I'll ask you another question, and you can answer it truthfully." Mao Wenshen said quietly: "I heard that your army is ten miles away from the camp and has a lot of military flags, how many troops did you Wang Juncheng bring to cross the Huai River north this time?" ”

"30,000 elite soldiers are the main force of our Wang Juncheng when he pacified Liu Yuanjin."

The envoy was a little timid and confessed a false number according to Wang Shichong's instructions, and then hurriedly added: "Mr. Mao, I am also very clear about the situation on Deputy Envoy Chen's side, Deputy Envoy Chen brought more than 5,000 people from 25 regiments this time, of which four regiments are cavalry, seven regiments are heavy infantry, and the rest are all light infantry. ”

"I also know that Deputy Envoy Chen did not bring much grain and grass in this expedition, before relying on the Tongji Canal to transport grain supplies, and later after leaving Xiaqiu and marching eastward, Deputy Envoy Chen's army relied on the local government of Xiapi to supply, at present his grain and grass are mainly supplied by Suyu, and there are only more than 1,000 township guards in Suyu City, and the guard will be Deng Chengchun, the commander of Xiapi. In addition to these, the villain also knew that Deputy Envoy Chen had no rear army, and the rest of his army was all in Qian County, and he would not be able to catch up with the East China Sea battlefield for a while and a half. ”

Hearing the introduction of Wang Shichong's envoy, Du Fuwei, Fu Gongyi, Li Zitong and others, who are not very clear about Chen Yingliang's strength, were suddenly overjoyed, but Mao Wenshen looked strange and asked suspiciously: "Aren't you Wang Shichong's military secretary?" How could he be so clear about Chen Yingliang's army situation? Do you even know about his grain and grass situation and the situation of the rear army? How do you know about these situations? ”

The messenger was dumbfounded, not knowing how to answer Mao Wenshen's question, but Du Fuwei, who had already suffered a big loss, was suspicious and shouted: "Say, otherwise I will kill you!" ”

Wang Shichong's envoy was sweating like rain, but he still didn't dare to answer, but Mao Wenshen suddenly showed a smile and said with a smile: "If I am not wrong, Chen Yingliang's situation in the army should be Wang Shichong to give you a detailed introduction, and then let you deliberately sue us, right?" ”

"How do you know?" The messenger was shocked and blurted out rhetorical questions.

"Mr. Mao, how do you know?" Du Fuwei and Fu Gongqi and others were also shocked.

"As I guessed, with Wang Shichong's person, it's normal to do such a thing." Mao Wenshen replied with a smile, and then bowed his hand to Du Fuwei and said, "King Du, please temporarily detain this messenger outside the tent, the student has a few words to say." ”

Du Fuwei waved his hand and asked the thief to escort the messenger out of the tent, and as soon as the messenger left, Mao Wenshen immediately saluted Du Fuwei and Li Zitong and smiled: "Congratulations to King Du, congratulations to King Li, congratulations to Brother Gongyi, this good opportunity is in front of us, this time the official army is coming, not only do we not need to worry about being unable to resist, but also have a good chance to break the two armies of Chen Yingliang and Wang Shichong." ”

"What does Mr. Mao mean by this?" Du Fuwei asked with great joy.

"Chen Yingliang and Wang Shichong are in a fight, neither of them wants to send troops to fight with us first, and they both want to hide behind and pick up the cheapest." Mao Wenshen smiled and said: "Wang Shichong crossed the Huai River but did not go north, and set up more camps and banners, his purpose is nothing more than bluffing and intimidating us not to fight with him. Chen Yingliang's troops did not advance eastward because he lacked strength and was not sure to break our coalition army, so he was forced to defend the city. Both of them are counting on the other party to send troops first, and after the other party has lost both of us and us, they will take advantage of the battle and defeat the other party at the lowest cost. ”

Seeing that Du Fuwei and the others nodded and agreed with their analysis, Mao Wenshen said again: "The students can guess that Wang Shichong's envoy's introduction to Chen Yingliang's military situation came from Wang Shichong's personal introduction, and this is exactly the reason. Students can conclude that Chen Yingliang's military situation introduced by Wang Shichong's envoy must be true, and even if there is a discrepancy, it is definitely not big! Because Wang Shichong hopes that we will seize the opportunity of Chen Yingliang's lack of strength and take the initiative to attack Chen Yingliang, and then no matter who wins or loses, as long as our strength is consumed to a certain extent, he Wang Shichong can immediately pick up the cheap! ”

"It makes sense." Fu Gongqi hurriedly nodded, and said with a sneer: "Doing such a thing is also in line with Wang Shichong's personality!" ”

"Mr. Mao, what do you mean by the God-given opportunity you just mentioned?" Li Zitong hurriedly asked.

"A heaven-sent opportunity, of course, is this messenger sent by Wang Shichong." Mao Wenshen smiled and said: "As long as the kings send this envoy to Chen Yingliang, and then write a letter to tell Chen Yingliang the truth about his military situation and what this envoy said and done, do you think it is possible for Chen Yingliang and Wang Shichong, two traitors, to continue to work together?" These two traitors have turned against each other, and the heaven-sent opportunity for us to defeat each of them will come soon? ”

"Brilliant plan!" Du Fuwei jumped up and said happily: "Quick, act according to the plan, separate the two traitors Chen Yingliang and Wang Shichong, and let them turn their faces into enemies, we will immediately send troops to the west to find Chen Yingliang traitor to take revenge!" ”

"King Du, how can it be Chen Yingliang first?" Mao Wenshen was a little surprised, and hurriedly said: "After separating Chen Yingliang and Wang Shichong, the two traitors, our first choice should be Wang Shichong, right?" He smiled deeply and said: "Wang Shichong crossed the Huai River but did not go north, and set up more camps and banners, the purpose of which was nothing more than bluffing and intimidating us from fighting with him. Chen Yingliang's troops did not advance eastward because he lacked strength and was not sure to break our coalition army, so he was forced to defend the city. Both of them are counting on the other party to send troops first, and after the other party has lost both of us and us, they will take advantage of the battle and defeat the other party at the lowest cost. ”

Seeing that Du Fuwei and the others nodded and agreed with their analysis, Mao Wenshen said again: "The students can guess that Wang Shichong's envoy's introduction to Chen Yingliang's military situation came from Wang Shichong's personal introduction, and this is exactly the reason. Students can conclude that Chen Yingliang's military situation introduced by Wang Shichong's envoy must be true, and even if there is a discrepancy, it is definitely not big! Because Wang Shichong hopes that we will seize the opportunity of Chen Yingliang's lack of strength and take the initiative to attack Chen Yingliang, and then no matter who wins or loses, as long as our strength is consumed to a certain extent, he Wang Shichong can immediately pick up the cheap! ”

"It makes sense." Fu Gongqi hurriedly nodded, and said with a sneer: "Doing such a thing is also in line with Wang Shichong's personality!" ”

"Mr. Mao, what do you mean by the God-given opportunity you just mentioned?" Li Zitong hurriedly asked.

"A heaven-sent opportunity, of course, is this messenger sent by Wang Shichong." Mao Wenshen smiled and said: "As long as the kings send this envoy to Chen Yingliang, and then write a letter to tell Chen Yingliang the truth about his military situation and what this envoy said and done, do you think it is possible for Chen Yingliang and Wang Shichong, two traitors, to continue to work together?" These two traitors have turned against each other, and the heaven-sent opportunity for us to defeat each of them will come soon? ”

"Brilliant plan!" Du Fuwei jumped up and said happily: "Quick, act according to the plan, separate the two traitors Chen Yingliang and Wang Shichong, and let them turn their faces into enemies, we will immediately send troops to the west to find Chen Yingliang traitor to take revenge!" ”

"King Du, how can it be Chen Yingliang first?" Mao Wenshen was a little surprised, and hurriedly said: "After separating Chen Yingliang and Wang Shichong, the two traitors, our first choice should be Wang Shichong, right?" ”