Although after receiving the telegram from the committee and learning that Xu Shao'an had led his troops to Gu'an, which was only fifteen miles away, Wang Feng really wanted to meet with this old boss, catch up with the old man, and talk about everyone's views on this battle of Youyun -- Xu Shao'an was the head of the security department before he went to Kaifeng, and Wang Feng was an important backbone of the security department, and Xu Shao'an was a very arrogant and brotherly person, so the relationship between the two was very good. However, as soon as the committee came to the committee, it instructed Wang Feng and others to leave the "No. 94" Grange and return to the "Liangyuan" as soon as they joined up with the "Rangers" troops, so as to avoid any further changes in the situation. Second, Xu Shao'an was only the deputy commander of the vanguard of the Later Zhou army, and there was also Zhang Zangying above him, and Wang Feng went to meet him It was not conducive to the realization of the purpose of the crossing team hoping that it would exist for a long time in the Later Zhou army and the Later Zhou court. Therefore, Wang Feng could only suppress the desire in his heart to talk to his old boss, and only sent a telegram to Xu Shaoan describing his brotherly friendship at the appointed time when Xu Shaoan contacted the committee, expressing his heart.

Receiving Wang Feng's telegram, Xu Shaoan was very happy. He immediately called back, on the one hand, to catch up with Wang Feng, and on the other hand, to ask Wang Feng about the specific situation in distress in Gu'an County, and told him to turn back to the "Liangyuan" this time, and to be more careful along the way. In addition, in the telegram, Xu Shaoan also assured Wang Feng that once he captured the county seat of Gu'an, he would definitely send people to do his best to search for the whereabouts of Zhou Sanlang and others, and whether they were alive or dead, they would give Wang Feng an exact news -- Wang Feng was in distress, and Xu Shaoan learned about it through a telegram sent to him by the committee explaining the situation in Gu'an County.

Of course, in this long telegram from the committee to Xu Shao'an, the content of the story of Wang Feng and others in distress occupies a small space, which is only used to remind Xu Shao'an that he should no longer expect his own people in the city to fully respond, and everything must be solved by the strength of the vanguard of the Later Zhou army. Most of the telegram is about the various news and situations in Gu'an County that the crossing team has learned, as well as the information of some of the "Dark Feather" agents who are still in the city and have not been suspected, so that Xu Shao'an can learn more about the situation in the city through these agents after breaking through Gu'an County, so that he can stabilize the situation in the city as soon as possible and buy more time for the Northern Expedition in the future.

After receiving Xu Shao'an's promise, Wang Feng felt a little better - at least those brothers who sacrificed their lives for the safety of themselves, their father-in-law, and others could be buried in peace.

On the second day after receiving Xu Shao'an's telegram, Wang Feng, Zhong Youpeng, and a group of personal guards left the "No. 94" Grange and returned to the "Liangyuan" under the protection of a reinforced company of the "Rangers" unit together with Muter. However, the master of the "Dark Feather" Gu'an Branch and his subordinates still stayed in the Grange, so that they could return to the city as soon as possible after the Battle of Gu'an and revive the majesty of the "Dark Feather" Gu'an Branch.

At the same time that Wang Feng and others left the grange, the vanguard of the Northern Expedition of the Later Zhou Army, which had originally camped fifteen miles south of Gu'an County, also set up camp again, moved northward, and went straight to the place only five miles away from Gu'an County to re-encamp, and sent a number of rangers and scouts to reconnoiter Gu'an County and the surrounding areas, and as far as possible to clear the scouts sent by the defenders in the city, so as to achieve battlefield blocking.

In the face of the pressure of the Later Zhou army, Cao Jiyun, who has now firmly controlled the entire Gu'an County in his hands, is actually still a little apprehensive in his heart. Although according to the art of war, it is usually "ten and encircle, five and attack", and now there are more than 5,000 defenders in the city, and only 15,000 Zhou troops outside the city, and the ratio of strength between the two sides is one to three. Such a ratio seems to be beneficial to Cao Jiyun, who is defending the city, but Cao Jiyun, who is well versed in the art of war, knows very well that the comparison of strength is not only a comparison in numbers, but a combination of factors such as the command of generals, the combat strength of soldiers, and logistics and supplies. Especially among the more than 5,000 defenders in Gu'an County, in addition to the hundreds of cavalry he brought, the only ones who can really be regarded as elite are the 1,500 regular soldiers who are responsible for defending the city in the original Gu'an City, and the remaining more than 3,000 people are temporarily recruited villagers. These villagers let them pave roads and build bridges, transport baggage, and set up camps, and if they really want to let them go into battle with real swords and guns to kill the enemy, their combat effectiveness is only afraid that even 30% of the regular soldiers will not be able to reach it. In this way, the liliang in his hands is equivalent to 2,500 regular soldiers, and the ratio to the enemy army is equivalent to 1 to 6, which is already very dangerous for the side defending the city. What's more, among the 15,000 Zhou troops under the city, there were still 5,000 people who had been praised by the world before, and had never suffered defeat in siege warfare since its establishment -- a "victorious army" that was fully equipped with firearms and regarded the siege and plundering as if it were a bag to get something. ,

Moreover, over the years, there have been rumors that the mysterious army of more than 10,000 Han reinforcements led by Liu Jiye (Yang Ye), who was known as "Liu Invincible" in the seventh year of the Han Dynasty, captured and captured a Han garrison, captured and captured a thousand Han garrisons, and defeated the more than 10,000 Han reinforcements led by Liu Jiye (Yang Ye), who was known as "Liu Invincible". Although Cao Jiyun always looked down on the combat strength of the Han army, he was still convinced of Liu Jiye's (Yang Ye's) strategy and force - after all, the title of "Liu Invincible" was earned in his battle with the Liao army that went south to "fight the grass valley". Therefore, from the bottom of his heart, Cao Jiyun is actually quite afraid of this "magic army" that he has never met or fought against - especially when his own strength is weaker than his opponent.

Therefore, when it was confirmed that the Zhou army was camped fifteen miles south of Gu'an City, Cao Jiyun had already sent people back to Youzhou to ask Xiao Siwen for reinforcements while continuing to strengthen the city defenses -- according to Cao Jiyun's handwritten letter asking for help, it was best for Xiao Siwen to personally lead the main force of the Youyun Liao Army to the south and fight a decisive battle with the Zhou army on the line from Liangxiang to Gu'an. Even if it can't completely defeat the Zhou army, at least it can buy enough time for the reinforcements led by the Liao Emperor to arrive. Now, the camp of the Zhou army has been set up five miles away from the city, and seeing that the two sides are about to fight with real swords and guns, Cao Jiyun personally climbed to the top of the city on the one hand, inspected the city defense, encouraged the defenders, and cheered them up. On the other hand, he once again sent several batches of messengers to Youzhou City, imploring Xiao Siwen to raise troops as soon as possible, and take advantage of the opportunity that the Zhou army had only one vanguard force under Gu'an City to defeat it in one fell swoop. In this way, it can not only reverse the dilemma that the Liao army has been losing its city and land since the Zhou army invaded the north, but also take this rare opportunity to eliminate the "divine army" that is always fearful.

However, although the messenger sent several batches, and the rescue letters became more and more earnest and urgent, the more timid and fearful Xiao Siwen Xiao who was always looking forward to his brother-in-law leading an army to save him, would he see the opportunity to defeat the Zhou army this time, and no one could guess if he really led the troops south to relieve the danger of Guzhou. Therefore, while constantly sending rescue letters, Cao Jiyun could only rely on more than 400 Khitan cavalry in his hands and the 5,000 Yuan Gu'an defenders whose combat effectiveness was doubtful.

In order to find out the strength of the Zhou army's forwards and find out when the follow-up brigade of the Zhou army will arrive, Cao Jiyun has sent out many batches of reconnaissance cavalry and meticulous work, wanting to infiltrate the Zhou army's camp to find out the news. However, due to the very tight defense of the camp of the vanguard troops of the Zhou army, the patrol posts shuttled back and forth, and there was no chance for the fine work sent by Cao Jiyun to approach the camp. The battlefield sheltering operation of the cavalry units of the Zhou army also achieved great results, making it very difficult for the Khitans to even see the Zhou army's camp from a distance. As the saying goes, "knowing oneself and knowing one's opponent, and not being defeated in a hundred battles", Cao Jiyun's side knows very little about the situation of the Zhou army after the city, which makes Cao Jiyun, who was already a little apprehensive, even more bottomless.

Compared with Cao Jiyun, who "has two eyes and one touch in the dark", the intelligence sources of the vanguard troops of the Later Zhou Army are much more unimpeded, and they can almost be called familiar with the situation of the defenders in the city. Of course, in addition to a small amount of information detected by the scouts and scouts sent out, most of the information about Gu'an County in the vanguard of the Later Zhou Army came from a series of telegrams sent to Xu Shao'an by the crossing team committee. As the commander of the vanguard force, Zhang Zangying has never figured out how his deputy got in touch with his powerful brothers and got the detailed and accurate information. But for Zhang Zangying, who is bent on making meritorious contributions, taking the opportunity of this Northern Expedition to show his face and leave a good impression in front of today, as long as Xu Shao'an's news is useful for the capture of Gu'an City, why must he find out the other party's news channels - after all, this is the territory of people who have been operating for many years, and it is reasonable to have some secret channels that only they themselves can control to transmit news.

And Zhang Zangying's intention to make contributions also prompted the commander of the vanguard troops to be somewhat impatient in the process of capturing Gu'an City. On the second day after the vanguard troops camped five miles outside the city of Gu'an, Zhang Zangying ignored the fact that the sky was cloudy and it might rain at any time, and he couldn't wait to pull Xu Shao'an, who could not persuade him at all, to lead 12,000 main forces out of the camp and rush directly to the city of Gu'an, preparing to break the city in one fell swoop.