The news that Ning Zechen successfully took over the defense of Shouzhou reached Suizhou on the 29th; On the 28th and 29th, Zhong Rong, the general of Suizhou, selected 20,000 soldiers from the Lishan camp to go north - at the same time, Dong Yuan sent Chen Jingrong to Suizhou to meet Cao Ziang to discuss the Huaixi Army's northward recovery of Ruzhou and grain, as if all the things that had happened before did not exist.

The sound of ruts was vivid, Chen Jingrong opened the curtain, and regardless of the cold wind, he blew into the carriage and took away the only cold air in the carriage.

The road south to Suizhou passes through a hill named Luquan; Luquan Mountain is not high, but it is abruptly above the Pingchuan in the north of Suizhou City, and the terrain appears precipitous. There is a village on the west slope of Luquan, which was once a private residence for the general of the Suizhou army, at this time the elite of the first brigade of the Huaidong Army was stationed as a fortress, standing in the north of Suizhou City - within the scope of Chen Jingrong's field of vision, in the northeast direction of the same a barracks based on the steep terrain and erected, holding the passage from the south of Lishan to attack Suizhou.

Now it seems that Huaidong has a careful plan and deployment for Huaixi.

The weather was hazy, the lead-colored clouds seemed to be pressing on the top of the mountain, and I didn't know whether it would rain or snow next......

Chen Jingrong felt sad in his heart, since he had given up resisting, but the initiative was in the hands of Huaidong, he really didn't know what results he could talk about when he came to Suizhou this time. In September, Luo Xiancheng led his troops out of Xinyang, north of Huaishan, making Xinyang Mansion a remnant again, and the military rations stored in Guangshan and Lishan camps could only support more than a month, and if it was delayed, the situation would only be more unfavorable to Huaixi.

When he entered the city, he reported his intentions, and the accompanying horsemen all confiscated their blades and went to the post house to put them under residential surveillance, and Chen Jingrong also collected his body several times before he was brought to a gray house.

Although the Huaidong Military Marshal's Office is accustomed to frugality, but there should always be a sign erected in front of the house, Chen Jingrong said to the Huaidong military general who led the way: "Chen Jingrong, a certain secretary of the Huaixi Camp, specially ordered by the Privy Deputy Envoy and the head of the Huaixi Camp, Lord Dong, to come to Suizhou to meet Cao Ziang, the garrison of Luzhou, to discuss important matters, where is this?" ”

"Jing Rong, don't dislike this envoy, this place is shabby!"

Chen Jingrong looked back, but saw Yue Lengqiu standing in the courtyard with his sleeves in a purple official robe, looking over with a smile on his face.

Chen Jingrong didn't know that Yue Lengqiu was already in Suizhou, but looking at his smiling face, he intuitively felt that there was a murderous edge in his smiling face.

"How dare you, Jing Rong didn't know that Yue Du was in Suizhou." Chen Jingrong had no temper, so he could only bend his waist and salute.

"You're welcome," Yue Lengqiu waved his sleeves and said, "You were ordered to come to see Cao Ziang, Cao Ziang is busy with military affairs, and he may not have time to see you; However, this envoy is also specially ordered by the Privy Council to go north, and what do you have to say to this envoy......"

"......" Chen Jingrong was stunned for a moment and asked, "Dare to ask Governor Yue, what are the strict orders of the Privy Council?" ”

Yue Lengqiu's eyes were like knives slashing at Chen Jingrong, thinking that the seizure of Shouzhou had really taken root in the hearts of the Huaixi people like seeds, and said: "This envoy was ordered by the Privy Council to supervise the armies of Huaixi and Henan and supervise the grain, and the Deng Yu Department of the Chizhou Army is also about to be ordered to transfer north and merge into the sequence of Huaixi and Henan armies, what questions does Jingrong have?" ”

Chen Jingrong naturally knew that Lin Lian would have a follow-up against Huaixi, but he didn't expect it to come so quickly, and he didn't expect Lin Lian to let Yue Lengqiu share Dong Yuan's military power......

In particular, Yue Lengqiu's title was marked with the words "Huaixi and Henan Armies", which made Chen Jingrong tremble:

It is not difficult to imagine that Dong Yuan's title will soon be correspondingly changed to "recruit envoys to control the armies of Huaixi and Henan", it seems that Lin Jian wants to use the power of the Privy Council in wartime to dismantle the Huaixi army into several towns, and only give Dong Yuan the right to control and Yue Lengqiu to supervise the army, and increase the authority of Tao Chun, Xiao Kuian, and other town defenders, so as to achieve the purpose of weakening Huaixi and making Huaixi check and balance each other.

If someone else is the military envoy, it will not be too big for Dong Yuan, but Yue Lengqiu led Deng Yu's troops to the north to serve as the military envoy, which is of great significance.

Tao Chun's minister Huaijun was almost founded by Yue Lengqiu, since Tao Chun and below, they are all Yue Lengqiu's cronies, although Changhuai Army has been weakened a lot in Huaixi in recent years, but its strength is still not to be underestimated.

Tao Chun was under the Huaixi sequence in the past, so he couldn't struggle out of Dong Yuan's grasp, but when Yue Lengqiu entered Huaixi, Tao Chun's generals would inevitably fall to Yue Lengqiu.

After the collapse of the Chizhou army in Zongyang, Yue Lengqiu's influence and actual military power were weakened by half, Chen Jingrong thought that Lin Lian would continue to weaken Yue Lengqiu's power and influence, but he never thought that Lin Lian would use Yue Lengqiu to go north to balance Huaixi......

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Although Chen Zhen's department recovered Shicheng on the 23rd, it was not until the 29th that Lin Jian moved his line to Shicheng, and Zuo Chengmu also accompanied him to Shicheng as an envoy to watch the army; A little later, Hu Wenmu, Senior Hu's father and son rushed from Jiangxia to Shicheng to see Lin Bin.

The shipwrecks and hidden piles at the mouth of the Han River were not cleaned up until the 26th, and at this time, the Han River from Hanjin to Changlin was all the warships of the Huaidong Water Camp.

After the winter, the wind blows from the northwest, the headwind and the current, the water is dry and thin, and the speed of the warship on the surface of the Han River can be imagined. From Hanjin to Shicheng, there are 300 miles by land, and more than 500 miles by water; Hu Wenmu, Senior Hu's father and son crossed the river from Jiangxia before the afternoon of the 28th, and rushed all the way north to Shicheng to meet Lin Bin.

The warships of the Huaidong Water Camp did not enter the Han River until the river was completely cleared, at least when Hu Wenmu and Hu Xuechang's father and son arrived at Shicheng, there were hundreds of Huaidong warships parked on the Han River outside Shicheng.

On the west bank of the Han River, the main force of Ye Ji Luorong's western front has also completely withdrawn to the line of Xiangyang, Nanzhang and Zhongyi, and nearly 8,000 cavalry of his palace's soldiers and horses and scorpion stone divisions have also abandoned Jingzhou, Changlin, Yiling and other southern line cities, and retreated to the north of Jingmen......

Although it has the conditions to cross the Han River from Shicheng to enter the west bank, it is necessary to maintain the smooth flow of the Han River, so that the Huaidong Water Camp warships can go straight to Xiangyang, so it is not possible to erect a pontoon bridge in Shicheng.

Before driving into Shicheng, the car passed through the slope of Nanhu, and Jimu could have a panoramic view of the Hanshui River twenty or thirty miles long upstream and downstream and the Pengwan Ridge on the opposite bank: the Huaidong Army, which had entered Shicheng in advance, had already divided its troops to occupy Pengwanling on the opposite bank to establish a river-crossing camp, and was using warships to transport more soldiers and supplies to the past......

"It's not okay to cross the river from Shicheng and chase it!" Senior Hu pulled the reins lightly, approached the carriage his father was riding, looked at the situation above the Han River, and said.

Hu Wenmu nodded.

His father and son originally intended to stand on their own feet in Jinghu, and they were naturally very familiar with the terrain of Jingxiang.

The main force of Ye Ji Luorong has withdrawn to the front line of Xiangyang, and its flight north is from the west of Xiangyang to Gucheng to cross the Han River and go north through the Danjiang River.

Lumen Mountain in the southeast of Xiangyang, Hanshan Mountain is twisted, and the terrain is steep; The southwest is the former residence of the Three Kingdoms Shu Xiang, and then the north foot of Jingshan Mountain in the south, all of which are natural shields on the periphery of Xiangyang. Therefore, the Huaidong army crossed the river from Shicheng into the west bank of the Han River, and it was difficult to pursue the enemy army west of Xiangyang.

Of course, the Huaidong Water Battalion warship can trace the Han River to the north, enter the Hanshui River section west of Xiangyang, and directly cut off the passage for Yanhu soldiers and horses to flee north, which is the most straightforward way. However, the Han River is thin, and the main force of the Huaidong Water Battalion will advance to the Hanshui River section of the Xiangyang line, and it will take a long time.

Chasing down the enemy is still not a simple matter.

Hu Wenmu sighed lightly again and said: "For Huaidong, even if there is no way to completely annihilate Ye Ji Luorong's troops this time, it is a foregone conclusion to recover Jingxiang and Nanyang; And after the war, Haoshou and other places should also be carved out of Huaixi - the situation is like this, and after time, the Northern Expedition can be expected! ”

Hu Wenmu has been able to base himself on Jinghu for several years, and his eyesight is very incomparable, and the battle of Jingxiang is coming to an end, and whether he can eliminate more Yanhu soldiers and horses will not hinder the overall situation.

"Father said that Dong Yuan wouldn't jump off the wall in a hurry?" Senior Hu asked.

"No, the dog jumping over the wall in a hurry is just throwing himself into the net, Dong Yuan can't even see through this, let alone the opponent of the privy envoy......" Hu Wenmu said.

"The privy envoy sent Yue Xiang to the north, and the child was a little puzzled," Senior Hu asked, "The privy envoy has been fighting with Yue Xiang for so many years, and finally has a chance to completely weaken him, how can he be told to go north and have a chance to regain control of the army?" ”

The news that Yue Lengqiu transferred the troops of Huaixi and Henan to the north, Hu Wenmu and Senior Hu crossed the river to Hanjin to know, what made Senior Hu puzzled was how Lin Lian gave Yue Lengqiu a chance to sit back on his feet!

After the collapse of Zongyang, the strength of the Chizhou army controlled by Yue Lengqiu was greatly weakened, but Yue Lengqiu led the Chizhou army to the north and had the opportunity to regain control of the Changhuai army, and the military power controlled by Yue Lengqiu would quickly recover to its peak.

"Everything is in the hearts of the people," Hu Wenmu said, "Yue Lengqiu has been fighting with the privy envoy for all these years, with ups and downs, even if he still has ambitions, he should know better where the bottom line is, he is more reliable than Dong Yuan, safer than Dong Yuan, instead of following Dong Yuan's soldiers to take risks." Again, who to send north can immediately divide Tao Chun from the Huaixi army? After all, Huaixi is not a big mistake, and the privy envoy can only drive him to the north of Huaishui this time to provide him with grain to contain Yanhu's soldiers and horses in Henan, but how can he not prevent Dong Yuan from covering up the secret peace with the superficial war? Yue Lengqiu led the Chizhou army to the north, and he was able to immediately pull Tao Chun from Dong Yuan's command, and he had the strength to fight against Dong Yuan on the north bank of Huaishui, even if Dong Yuan had the intention to make peace with Yan Hu secretly, how could he hide from Yue Lengqiu's eyes? Even if Yan Hu didn't guard against Dong Yuan, how could he not guard against Yue Lengqiu? Therefore, it is inevitable to contain a large number of troops and horses in Henan, so as to share the pressure on Huaidong on other fronts......"

"A child is not as clear as a father." Senior Hu pondered for a moment and felt that his father was reasonable, and the advantages of using Yue Lengqiu outweighed the disadvantages for Huaidong.

"You can see through it when you put it down!" Hu Wenmu sighed lightly.