Qiu Yizhi hurriedly helped him up and said, "General Wu, why should you be polite, you are a five-grade inspection school, and I am a seven-grade county commander, so I should give you a salute." ”

Wu Changxi hurriedly said: "How dare you, how dare you." Lord Qiu is my savior, if I bow against me, won't the rumors say that I am ungrateful and an ungrateful villain? ”

It turned out that this Wu Changxi was a member of the Mingzhou Mansion in Jiangnan Province, and he also had a lot of connections with Qiu Yizhi - when the Japanese were in turmoil, almost the whole city of Mingzhou City was eroded, and Qiu Yizhi fought side by side with Wu Changxi and saved his life several times, so there is this "life-saving benefactor".

Qiu Yizhi was also very happy when he heard Wu Changxi speak so politely, so he asked again: "General Wu, I remember that Mingzhou City seems to have been taken by the prince of Lingnan, I don't know how you came to me?" ”

Speaking of this, Wu Changxi immediately put away the joy on his face, sighed and said, "Alas! It's a good thing to fall into the hands of the Lingnan prince, but it's a pity that it fell into the hands of that Yin Tai. Oh, adults don't know yet, Yin Tai's Laozi, the original Jiangnan Festival envoy Yin Chengliang is not dead yet, and he has come back to life......"

Qiu Yizhi had known about this for a long time, and he also sighed and scolded: "This old immortal actually knows how to borrow a corpse to return his soul!" I had already met him, but unfortunately I was too late to protect myself, otherwise I would have stabbed the thief. ”

Wu Changxi also hated and said: "After Yin Tai and Yin Chengliang captured Mingzhou, they introduced the Japanese to make a rebellion, and they also wanted the original Jiedu army to be loyal to them. In the end, many of the generals, some of whom were under pressure, and some of whom were already spineless, had already submitted to them. The last general was unwilling, and heard that Lord Qiu was recruiting troops in Shanyin County, so he rushed to defect. ”

Qiu Yizhi heard that Wu Changxi came to defect, and he was even happier in his heart. When he fought side by side with Wu Changxi in Mingzhou, he saw that although his soldiers lacked combat ability, he himself was quite impressive whether he was commanding or going into battle, and he was also a bright and upright person.

Therefore, Qiu Yizhi said with a smile: "I can't ask for it, I can't ask for it." It's not about what defects or doesn't defect, now that the king of Lingnan is in turmoil, we are just going to the national disaster together. ”

He turned his head to look at the soldiers and horses led by Wu Changxi, and saw that although they had come from afar, they were still in good spirits, and although their faces were inevitably a little hungry, they did not have that languishing appearance.

So Qiu Yizhi praised again: "General Wu really led the troops well, and although the group of soldiers under his command suffered a small setback temporarily, their morale was quite strong. After a little rest in my Shanyin County, I will be a tiger and wolf army again. ”

When Wu Changxi heard this, he was also quite proud in his heart: "This is thanks to Lord Qiu's guidance that day!" ”

Qiu Yizhi was stunned when he heard this, and then remembered that when he was fighting against the Japanese, the soldiers under Wu Changxi were not in a good position, and they were besieged by the Japanese who were far less than his own, and he almost couldn't break through, so he was taught a lesson by Qiu Yi and asked him to train the army well.

Seeing that Wu Changxi really took his words to heart today, Qiu Yizhi became more and more happy, and praised repeatedly: "Good, good, good." This is not the place to talk, and if we still have a belly, let's go back first. ”

He turned around and instructed Zhao Chengxiao again: "Brother Zhao, General Wu is your own person, you can Mingjin withdraw your troops and go back to the city." ”

Zhao Chengxiao listened to the order, and immediately ordered someone to ring the gong, and nearly 10,000 horses and horses in ambush on both sides listened to the order, got up and came out together, and went down the mountain in an orderly manner.

When Wu Changxi saw such a scene, sweat almost oozed from his back, and he swallowed his saliva and said: "Fortunately, General Zhao recognized me, otherwise it would be a moment and a half late, and Lord Qiu gave an order, wouldn't I have been crushed into powder by the ambush soldiers here?" ”

So along the way, Qiu Yizhi and Wu Changxi walked side by side and talked.

Only then did I know that Wu Changxi had listened to the lesson of Qiu Yi and was determined to rectify his army, but he was suffering from the fact that he could not pay enough military salaries for a while, so he simply cut off more than half of his sergeants, leaving only more than 500 elite soldiers. Later, the Lingnan army attacked Mingzhou City, and the other Jiedu troops were either easily defeated or simply surrendered, only Wu Changxi broke through, relying on these 500 men and horses.

Qiu Yizhi asked again: "General Wu said that Yin Tai and Yin Chengliang took over the defense of Mingzhou. I have met with them before, and they say that they have gathered a large number of Japanese pirates, and there are many ships on the sea. However, the imperial court had already agreed with the Japanese general Zhengyi before, asking him to carefully restrain his subordinates and not to invade the territory of the Han Dynasty. Didn't the Japanese stop after that? ”

Wu Changxi frowned and replied, "This general is not very clear. I only know that the country is not very peaceful, and the general of Zhengyi cannot order the whole country not to dare to disobey, and there are many opposition forces in the country. Therefore, it is not surprising that Yin Tai and Yin Chengliang gathered the sea ships of other Japanese robbers. ”

Wu Changxi whispered in Qiu Yizhi's ear again: "In fact, whether it is the Lingnan Army or the Japanese Kou, the strength is not enough to maintain law and order in Mingzhou, and it still relies on the surrendered Jiangnan Jiedu Army. However, judging from the end and the future, in addition to a few of these people who are willing to rebel, there are also the vast majority of them who are not sincere in submission. As long as the adults lead the army forward, when the time comes, the city will inevitably put things right, and Mingzhou will be able to recover in one fell swoop. ”

When Qiu Yizhi heard this, his eyes were already full of light - Wu Changxi brought this is an extremely important piece of news, if it is really as Wu Changxi said, then it will undoubtedly be able to take Mingzhou City at a very small price. Mingzhou is a very important foreign port for communication between China and foreign countries, which can raise a large number of military salaries and lay an excellent foundation for quelling the rebellion of the Lingnan king.

However, Mingzhou is still far away from Yuezhou, where Qiuyi is located, and if you want to go there, you must pass through Suzhou, Hangzhou and other places, and the risk is too great, which cannot but be carefully considered again and again.

So Qiu Yizhi frowned and said: "This matter is too big, and there are many difficulties and variables, I'm afraid that you and I will be in the middle of the horse, and it will be difficult to make up our minds." Let's go back to the city first, and then we'll take counsel. ”

Originally, based on Wu Changxi's friendship with Qiu Yizhi, and then looking at the strict discipline of his soldiers and horses, he could enter the city and station. However, now that the county town of Sanyin is overcrowded, it is really impossible to find a place for these 500 people to stay, so they have to camp outside the city.

Wu Changxi entered the city to discuss with Qiu Yizhi, Lin Shuhan, and Zhao Chengxiao, but he felt that although it was not difficult to capture Mingzhou, it was far away from thousands of mountains and rivers, and the army's actions were inevitably blocked by the enemy.

After thinking about it for a few times, they still thought that now that the imperial court still had the advantage and could not afford to take such a big risk to run thousands of miles, it was better to slowly expel the Lingnan King's troops in Jiangnan nearby, so as to consume his strength and gradually recover the lost territory, and at the same time reduce the pressure on the front line for Huguang, Shanxi and other places is the right way.

In this way, everyone has decided to choose Yuezhou City, which is not far from Shanyin County, thinking that if they can break through this place, it will be good if they can't break it, so they will beat the defenders in it and try their own soldiers.

So Qiu Yizhi and others chose a sunny day, in order to keep it secret, they only said that they went out of the city to practice, but they personally led more than 200 people from their cronies, and then Zhao Chengxiao commanded the army under Zhang Qi and Wu Changxi, and marched all the way to the northwest to Yuezhou City.

Yuezhou City Qiu Yizhi once went once, although the road is not familiar, but also know, just into the border of Yuezhou felt that the atmosphere was tense. He had dealt with the king of Lingnan several times, and knew that this person's use of troops was unexpected, and he attached great importance to monitoring the enemy's situation, and he would fall for the trick if he was not careful.

So Qiu Yizhi discussed with Lin Shuhan, Zhao Chengxiao and others, and asked the eighteen soldiers such as "Tietou Jiao" to rush forward along the official road, and when they encountered enemy posts, post stations, and military stations, they immediately broke through and gouged out the eyes of the Lingnan Army to monitor themselves. The brigade of men and horses followed closely behind, and did not look for secluded paths, but marched quickly along the wide and straight official road of Jiangnan Road, using the strategy of the speed of the soldiers, and before the Lingnan army reacted, they had to come to the city.

After Qiu Yizhi suffered several defeats in a row, today's strategy finally got what he wanted, and when he led the army to the city of Yuezhou, the Lingnan army was still open and unguarded.

Qiu Yizhi saw that the opponent showed a big flaw, so he hurriedly called "Tietou Jiao" and others, and ordered: "Quick, hurry up and rush into the door for me, kill the soldiers guarding the door, and I will give you the first credit!" ”

As soon as the "Iron Head Jiao" agreed, he led his brothers and galloped towards the unsuspecting city gate.

However, after all, the Lingnan army has experienced a hundred battles, and the soldiers who were stationed at the head of the city saw that the enemy army was coming to charge the city, and reacted very quickly, and immediately sent people to slowly close the city gate, and countless soldiers stood at the head of the city with bows and arrows, just waiting for the cavalry to shoot when they approached.

According to common sense, when encountering such a fortified city, it is already a lucrative deal to be able to grasp the initiative in attacking the city at the cost of only seven or eight cavalry.

However, at this moment, Qiu Yizhi was selfish, knowing that his eighteen personal soldiers and two hundred village warriors were the only elite division that completely obeyed his orders, and they were the guarantee of his own life, and one and a half could not be easily broken.

Therefore, when he saw that the opposite side was already on guard, he hurriedly rang the gong and asked the soldiers who were attacking in front to retreat quickly.

"Iron-headed Jiao" When they heard the order, although they were a little unwilling, they had no choice but to retreat.

So Qiu Yizhi ordered Zhao Chengxiao to settle down the army, led his own soldiers to escort him, and went around the city from afar, carefully inspecting the city defense, and wanted to find the flaws. It turns out that this Yuezhou city is in the hinterland of Jiangnan Province, and has never been affected by military disasters for hundreds of years, so the city wall is in disrepair, and the height is only one zhang high, the moat outside the city has long been dried up, and the riverbed is also very shallow, and a person can climb up and down when he steps forward.

Therefore, Qiu Yizhi returned to the army, and when he saw that it was still early, he asked Zhao Chengxiao to prepare the siege equipment briefly, line up the attack formation, and did not do the response work of the Lingnan Army's support troops, and wanted to capture the city in one go.

Everything was ready, Qiu Yizhi was about to order the siege of the city, but Lin Shuhan secretly walked to his side and said, "My lord, didn't you say that the Lingnan Army listened to the method of Wen Honghui, the sect leader of that day, and used the method of tunnels to attack the city?" I think it's still early, why don't you look for the entrance to the tunnel outside the city? ”

Lin Shuhan's words reminded Qiu Yizhi that being able to use the existing tunnel, bloom from the center, and attack both inside and outside will inevitably have twice the result with half the effort.

Qiu Yizhi thought about it again: Didn't the eighteen cavalry under him learn the techniques of digging tunnels and identifying the shovel from Shi Dajian, a master of digging sand and holes in the Tianzun Sect? So he hurriedly called them and asked them to immediately look for the entrance to the tunnel outside the city.