"Let's get rid of Zhang Xutuo's old dog first, and then talk about it, when we get to the south of Pengcheng, it is of course best to join forces with Du Fuwei to ransack Qian County, if not, you can cross the Huai River into Huainan, and if you have another chance, kill Du Fuwei and annex his team!" 、

With this idea in his heart, in the early morning of the next day, Meng Rang resolutely changed the established route and led the team to the southeast of Liang County, and because he believed in Yuan Tiangang's ability of divination, and felt that it was difficult to break through the natural danger like Tongji Canal, none of the leaders of the thieves under Meng Rang's command objected to this, and they all raised their hands in favor of Meng Rang's wise decision.

Of course, Yuan Tiangang also had to follow Meng Rang's team south, Meng Rang also asked Yuan Tiangang to lead the way for his team, Yuan Tiangang, who had already been mentally prepared for this, did not panic, calmly agreed, and took the initiative to say to Meng Rang: "King Meng, we take the Mangdang Mountain to the south, although we did not pass through the land of Qian County, but after all, we have to pass through the edge of Qian County, for the sake of caution, the student thinks that the king you had better send more scouts to the south to monitor the movement of the Yongcheng official army, if Chen Dog Officer sends troops to intercept, We're so prepared. ”

"How many officers and soldiers are there in the county?" Meng Rang did not answer the rhetorical question.

"I heard that there were more than 2,000 people." Yuan Tiangang replied vaguely: "There are also some village warriors and errand soldiers, adding up to maybe 3,000 people." ”

Meng Rang laughed out loud, Wang Xinwei and Li Chou and others also laughed out loud, Yuan Tiangang was laughed a little inexplicably, seeing that Meng Rang and the others' smiles did not seem to be fake, Yuan Tiangang asked tentatively: "King Meng, are the student's words ridiculous?" ”

"Mr. Chunfeng, it's not that your words are ridiculous, it's Chen Yingliang's dog official who is ridiculous." Meng Rang said with a smile: "There is only a team of two or three thousand people, and he Chen Dog Officer also dares to call himself a famous general, look at it, if he dares to send troops to intercept him, this king will kill him cleanly." ”

"Mr. Chunfeng, you have probably been in Du Fuwei's team for a long time, and you are used to seeing his team, so the more than 2,000 officers and troops in Qian County are very terrifying." Meng Rang's more cunning Cao Wei also smiled: "Don't worry, our team is absolutely different from Du Fuwei's team, our team is not the kind of rabble that Du Fuwei brought around to make a strong noise, but the tiger and wolf warriors who fought with the main elite of the official army, even Zhang Xutuo's Eight Wind Battalion, Zhou Fashang's Zuo Wuwei and the sailors who came to Hu'er have seen it, and they are still afraid of his Chen Gouguan's more than 2,000 people?" ”

"Really?" Yuan Tiangang was skeptical, so he said: "King, then the students dare to visit your team, I don't know if it's okay?" ”

"Absolutely." Meng Rang laughed and agreed, and also instructed: "Li Chou, you take Mr. Chunfeng to visit our team, it doesn't matter, Mr. Chunfeng is his own person, let him see whatever he wants." ”

Li Chou agreed with a grin, at the moment Meng Rang's team was marching to the southeast, Li Chou took Yuan Tiangang to visit in the team, and what shocked Yuan Tiangang was that Meng Rang's team was indeed very different from the thief team he had seen before, although most of the soldiers were yellow and thin, ragged, inferior weapons and equipment, and with a large number of old and weak families, but there were four or five thousand people who seemed very elite, and the team between the large marching troops was quite neat, and the weapons and equipment could almost catch up with the regular army. Among them, nearly half of them were dressed in iron armor, and in addition, what shocked Yuan Tiangang even more was that there were many more war horses in Meng Rang's team than the Qianjun army, and there were nearly a thousand war horses that could be ridden and fought, far more than the Qianjun army, which only had more than 200 horsemen.

Seeing this scene, Yuan Tiangang was inevitably a little frightened, and began to worry that Chen Yingliang's ambush plan would be a little difficult to succeed, while Li Chou was triumphant, and kept introducing Yuan Tiangang to the glorious achievements of the elite of his own army, what was the hard resistance to the impact of the elite Eight Winds Battalion under Zhang Xutuo, the surprise attack on Zhou Fashang and the grain team of Lai Hu'er, the capture of the county seat in Kelu County, the annihilation of a certain local army that refused to hand over money and grain, and what else captured the Sui army's counterinsurgency general Che Split and executed. At the end, Li Chou said arrogantly: "Mr. Chunfeng, it's really Zhang Xutuo's old dog chasing after him tightly, otherwise, with our elite soldiers, there will be absolutely no problem in killing Chen Yingliang's dog officer!" ”

Although Li Chou's words were arrogant, he was so crazy that he had some capital, and even Yuan Tiangang admitted in his heart that if the upright Meng Rang team of the Qianjun army fought head-on, the chances of victory were not great, so Yuan Tiangang was inevitably even more worried, and said secretly: "Let's not bite the fat meat, but we will bite and break a few teeth on the bones, right?" I remember that the eldest grandson Wuji also reminded Chen Tongshou, saying that Meng Rang's team was different from the team of thieves we encountered before, and Chen Tongshou said that he would be careful, and I don't know how he would be careful. ”

Liang County is located in the hinterland of the North China Plain, in addition to the Mangdang Mountain and Yushan in the east corner, there are almost no decent mountains and forests, the terrain is extremely flat, the result is also cheap Meng Rang's team of marching flow, in the case of carrying a large number of women's baggage, Meng Rang's team marched sixty miles in one day, in the open area only twenty miles away from Mangdang Mountain and only eighty miles away from Yongcheng in the north, stopped to rest and spend the night, and during this period, the surrounding Liang County Xiayi, Dangshan two counties all chose to close the city for self-protection, Not a single soldier was dispatched to stop and delay Meng Rang's flow.

It was also when it was time to camp and rest at night, Yuan Tiangang found that Meng Rang was not as rough and reckless as he looked, and said that he didn't care about the actions of the Qianjun army, but in the evening, there were actually scouts who kept rushing back to report the situation in Qianjun, saying that the Qianjun army had blocked the Suishui ferry in the north of Yongcheng, and it was strictly forbidden for any homeless people to cross Suishui in the south, and at the same time, the homeless people on the north bank of Suishui also rumored that Yongcheng had been under martial law, and the officials and troops had withdrawn to the city to defend the city with all their might, and the city gate was closed in broad daylight. It is strictly forbidden for anyone to enter or leave the city.

For Meng Rang, who has long been accustomed to the beggar-thy-neighbor between the officials and soldiers of various counties, of course, there is no surprise about the self-protection actions of the officials and soldiers of the county, and at the same time, the closed-door self-protection actions of the neighboring Xiayi and Dangshan counties are also expected by Meng Rang, but the reaction of Zhang Xutuo's team in the north makes Meng Rang very worried - the scout who stayed in the rear reported quickly, and the old opponent Zhang Xutuo did not have any intention of giving up the pursuit, and personally led the elite of Qi County to chase and fight, after the afternoon Shen Shi, The forward team led by Qin Qiong also took the lead in arriving at the bank of the Bianshui River, and immediately began to build a pontoon bridge, which was only more than seventy miles away from Meng Rang's team.

Confirming the movement of Zhang Xutuo's team, Meng Rang's face was somewhat ugly, he snorted coldly, and then turned to Yuan Tiangang next to him and asked, "Mr. Chunfeng, is the road on the side of Mangdang Mountain good?" ”

"Back to King Meng, Mangdang Mountain is just famous, in fact, the mountain is not high, and the road is very easy to walk." Yuan Tiangang replied respectfully: "The student estimates that the team of elite soldiers of the Great King that I visited today will be able to pass through Mangdang Mountain in one and a half hours at most. The trails are not easy to walk, but they are numerous, they extend in all directions, and it is easier to evacuate and transfer when necessary. ”

"That's fine." Meng Rang nodded with satisfaction, and after a little calculation, he arranged: "Tomorrow we will go like this, the elite soldiers will open the way in front, the grain and grass will walk in the middle, and the women and children auxiliary soldiers will walk behind." Of course, it is best if Zhang Xutuo's old dog can't catch up, if he catches up, he will let the auxiliary soldiers and women and children scatter and flee on the path, and then go to Dingtao Mountain to meet. ”

Knowing that Meng Rang's arrangement was to preserve his strength, and he didn't consider the casualties of women and children at all, Wang Xinwei and Cao Wei and other generals of course agreed, and then Cao Wei also asked the elite soldiers to carry ten catties of food on their backs as a precaution, Meng Rang also nodded in agreement without hesitation, and Yuan Tiangang pretended to ask: "King, what should I do?" Do you want to go with your elite troops? ”

"Of course." Meng Rang nodded and said with a smile: "Mr. Chunfeng, don't worry, I won't let you take risks, tomorrow you walk with me, if you are really in trouble, my personal army will protect you." ”

Yuan Tiangang hurriedly thanked him, and offered to bring his four entourages to his side, Meng Rang did not doubt him, and also agreed casually, Yuan Tiangang was a little relieved, and secretly said in his heart: "The elite soldiers open the way, the grain and grass are in the middle, and the miscellaneous soldiers and the old and weak women and children are behind the palace, this is a great opportunity to win more with less, as long as our team can concentrate on defeating Meng Rang's elite team, those miscellaneous soldiers can run all by themselves." I just don't know how Chen Tongshou fought this time, can our teeth gnaw down Meng Rang's elite soldiers? ”

At this time, Li Chou's big slap slapped Yuan Tiangang's shoulder again, and said loudly: "Mr. Chunfeng, when tonight is over, you can give us another divination to see if we are lucky or evil when we take the road of Mangdang Mountain." ”

"General Li, I'm sorry, I can't tell this hexagram." Yuan Tiangang, who was thinking about the comparison between the strength of the Qianjun army and the Meng Rang army, didn't think much about it, and replied casually: "If you take other paths, I can ask you for good luck, but the road of Mangdang Mountain is not good." ”

"Why?" Everyone present was in the same place, and Meng Rang also asked, "Mr. Chunfeng, why can't the road of Mangdang Mountain be divined?" ”

"King Meng, because the road of Mangdang Mountain is the emperor's road." Yuan Tiangang said very solemnly: "The road of the emperor, blessed by heaven and earth, protected by gods and Buddhas, people who are not through the heavens and the earth can not explore, students are ordinary people, but it is a small magic technique, how dare to ask divination for this road?" If the student forcibly divides it, I am afraid that not only will he be punished immediately, but it may also backfire and bring trouble to the king? ”

Meng Rang and the others, who had long been fooled by Yuan Tiangang's magic stick methods, were even more flustered this time, and then Li Chou, who was anxious, hurriedly asked: "Mr. Chunfeng, why do you say that the road of Mangdang Mountain is the Emperor's Road?" ”

"General Li doesn't know." Yuan Tiangang said with a stern face: "When the first emperor, Liu Bang, the ancestor of the Han Dynasty, revolted in this Mangdang Mountain, creating a four-hundred-year foundation of the Han Dynasty, and there are records in the history books, saying that Liu Bang is the son of the Red Emperor, and the white snake he killed in this Mangdang Mountain is the son of the White Emperor, and the son of the Red Emperor and the White Emperor will be in this Mangdang Mountain, is this mountain road not the road of the emperor?" ”

After that, he looked at Meng Rang and the others who had all opened their mouths, Yuan Tiangang smiled again and said: "King Meng, generals, it is very coincidental that the road we are going to take tomorrow happens to pass through the place where Han Gaozu was killed, if you are interested, when you get to that place, I can point it out to you." ”

"Interested, of course interested!" Meng Rang and the others nodded like chickens pecking rice, and then Meng Rang added, "Aren't we more than interested?" When we get to that place, Mr. Chunfeng, you have to point us out, so that we can pay a good visit to the old place where Han Gaozu cut down snakes and raised troops. ”

After finishing the replenishment, Meng Rang also added another sentence in his stomach, "When the time comes, if a white snake really comes out, it will be even better!" ”

………………

At the same time, the main force of the Sui army led by Zhang Xutuo finally arrived on the bank of the Bianshui River, and joined the vanguard Qin Qiong's team, although it was dark and the soldiers were exhausted, Zhang Xutuo still ordered the army to cross the river overnight, and asked the soldiers to rest on the south bank of Bianshui so that they could launch a pursuit the next day.

Relying on the usual strict management of the army and the love of nurses, Zhang Xutuo's orders were firmly implemented, and the soldiers of the Sui army, who were so tired that they could doze off when they walked, still had a strong spirit, and walked quickly across the river under the light of torches and bonfires, and camped and rested in the open area on the south bank of the Bianhe River. -- There is no way, after two consecutive years of counterinsurgency and firefighting, Zhang Xutuo's team is really tired, this time it is from Qufu to the bank of the Bianshui River, hundreds of miles of rapid march, Zhang Xutuo's Sui soldiers are no longer able to bear it, no matter how elite and good at fighting.

Seeing the tired appearance of the soldiers of his own army, Zhang Xutuo's heart was like a knife, helpless, and then he heard the movements and reactions of the surrounding friendly troops, but Zhang Xutuo was furious and gritted his teeth! In the case of great hope, Dong Chun's team in the east and Yang Wang's team in the west all coincidentally excused themselves with the excuse of lack of time, and they had no time to return to the division from the northern front to contain and delay the southward flow of Meng Rang's team, and watched Meng Rang pass through the edge of their defense area, saving their strength and not making any reaction!

What made Zhang Xutuo even more angry and worried was still to come, when the Sui army was about to cross the Bianshui on the whole line, the scouts who followed Meng Rang's team in the south finally sent a report, saying that Meng Rang's team changed the direction of the march directly north of Xiayi and flowed to the southeast of Liang County. They all held that as long as this plague god got out, no matter where he went to beggar-thy-neighbor.

After confirming the direction of Meng Rang's flow, Zhang Xutuo, who had already memorized the map of this area, immediately turned extremely gloomy, while Qin Qiong, Mulan and the others took out the map of the army and opened it to check, and then Mulan immediately screamed: "South of Pengcheng!" Meng let the traitors go to the south of Pengcheng! Oh no, the main forces of the imperial court are all in the north, and when Meng Rang arrives there, no one can stop him! ”

Zhang Xutuo nodded silently with his back to the map, and suddenly said: "I hope Chen Yingliang can be a little bit of a bearer and send troops to contain Meng Rang, even if he only needs to buy us a day's time, we can catch up with Meng Rang." ”

Zhang Xutuo reminded that Mulan and Qin Qiong and others took a closer look at the map, and they were surprised to find that Meng Rang's wandering route must pass through the edge of the defense area of the Qian County army, although Meng Rang's team did not need to set foot on the land of Qian County, but the only way for him to enter Pengcheng to the east happened to be not far from Chen Yingliang's base camp Yongcheng, if Chen Yingliang sent troops in time, it was entirely possible to block Meng Rang's wandering road!

"Chen Yingliang's troops are too small, only about 2,500 people in 12 regiments, and it is unrealistic to expect him to defeat Meng Rang." Zhang Xutuo said to himself again: "But I don't want him to defeat or repel Meng Rang, I just need him to block Meng Rang for a day, as long as he buys me a day's time, I can catch up with Meng Rang and fight Meng Rang back and forth with him." The success or failure of our pursuit battle this time depends on whether Chen Yingliang chooses to preserve his strength or fights with all his might at any cost. ”

Qin Qiong, He Tingyu and others nodded one after another, but Mulan pouted and said: "I look at it, don't say that Chen Yingliang is unlikely to send troops, even if he sends troops, with his appearance of a rat who is greedy for life and afraid of death, if he encounters a powerful thief like Meng Rang, he will definitely flee and collapse into an army." ”

Accustomed to the greed for life and fear of death and the preservation of strength of shameless allies, Zhang Xutuo could only smile bitterly at Mulan's rumors, and after a bitter smile, Zhang Xutuo ordered again: "Bring a pen and paper, I will write another letter to Chen Yingliang, and arrange for reliable people to be sent to Yongcheng overnight, success or failure depends on his Chen Yingliang's choice!" ”

After writing the letter to Chen Yingliang, Zhang Xutuo wrote two orders in his own hand, respectively to the two counties of Xiayi and Dangshan, which were closer to each other, ordering them to send troops to contain Meng Rang at any cost. Then he sent three fast horses and sent three letters out overnight.

The night passed quickly, and the sky was just dawning, Zhang Xutuo led the army to continue south, and clearly told the soldiers to chase for another day, if they could not catch up with Meng Rang within a day, and Meng Rang's team also flowed down to the south of Pengcheng, then the team that had been fighting for many days would rest on the spot in Liang County. Upon learning of this order, the exhausted Qi Jun team suddenly burst into joy, but these heartfelt cheers made Zhang Xutuo's heart extremely bitter, knowing that he was indeed too overdrawn in the army, and the officers and men in the army were already looking forward to rest and rest.

Although it had been decided that if he could not catch up with the enemy within that day, he would completely give up this pursuit operation, but deep down, Zhang Xutuo still refused to give up the last hope of annihilating Meng Rang's team, hoping that a miracle would appear, and the surrounding friendly forces would be able to delay the enemy's escape speed somewhat, but the cruel facts quickly completely shattered Zhang Xutuo's last hope. In the afternoon, when the exhausted Zhang Xutuo team marched to the campsite of the Mengrang army seventy miles away, not only did they not see the shadow of half of the Mengrang army's soldiers, but also ran into the Xiayi and Dangshan township warriors who had just pursued here.

"After receiving the ambassador's order, Zhang Xianling, our Xiayi, immediately gathered a team to send troops, but the brothers were too tired to defend the city and walked slowly, so they couldn't catch up."

"Ambassador Mingcha, originally our Dangshan Township Yong was going to send troops immediately, but early this morning, a large group of rebels in the north robbed the township, killing people everywhere and setting fires, we can only hurry up to save the people first, so we ......."

This is the explanation given to Zhang Xutuo by the lord of Xiayi County and Dangshan, hearing these shameless nonsense, Zhang Xutuo has no strength to be furious, just silently looking at the direction of Meng Rang's team in the southeast, looking lonely and haggard, and the soldiers of Qi County, who are already unkempt and dusty next to him, looked at Zhang Xutuo silently, his eyes were full of exhaustion and expectation.

After a while, Zhang Xutuo asked in a hoarse voice, "Yongcheng Chen Yingliang's side, what is the reply?" ”

"Reply to the ambassador, there is no reply." He Tingyu, who was in charge of arranging the messengers, bowed his head and replied: "The envoy sent to Yongcheng by the last general has not returned so far, and our scouts have not found any signs of the Yongcheng garrison. ”

Zhang Xutuo's expression was blank, and after a long time, he muttered: "Starting from Changbai Mountain in Qi County, all the way to Mangdang Mountain in Liang County, I fought thousands of miles, fought more than ten battles, sacrificed thousands of soldiers, and finally seized the opportunity to destroy the enemy, so I missed it?" Our old friend Meng Rang, just slipped out from under our noses again? ”

After muttering, Zhang Xutuo's cloudy eyes were already flashing with tears, Qin Qiong, He Tingyu and Mulan and other generals all burst into tears, Luo Shixin gritted his teeth and bleed, and his fists were clenched so that his knuckles were white. Zhang Xutuo shook his head weakly, lowered his head and said: "Order the whole army, give up the pursuit, and rest on the spot." ”

The long-awaited rest order was delivered, but there was no sound of cheering, and the soldiers of the Sui army, who were covered with mud and sweat, shed tears instead, and many soldiers also cried bitterly, slashing the ground with knives and guns in their hands, and roaring wildly, "It's hard work in vain!" It's been in vain again! ”

Hearing the crying and roaring of the loyal and brave soldiers, Zhang Xutuo was full of tears, looking at the direction of Mangdang Mountain in the southeast, looking old, lonely, and lonely.

Suddenly, Zhang Xutuo's eyelids jumped slightly, because his cloudy teary eyes suddenly saw that there was a fast horse galloping from the direction of Mangdang Mountain, and the knight was constantly whipping and kicking his abdomen, as if there was something urgent. Confused, Zhang Xutuo was about to send someone to meet the knight to inquire about the situation, but the roar that tore through his voice had already reached Zhang Xutuo's ears first............

"Ambassador! Ambassador! Go to Mangdang Mountain! Go to Mangdang Mountain! Hurry up and go to Mangdang Mountain! ”