Zhao Guo, Pan Xian and others had already decided, and the generals and battalion leaders who went out that night were selected.

He also sent fast horses to the Yellow River, and ordered them to collect ships first.

He also ordered the garrisons around Weishan Lake and Yizhou to prepare for the south as soon as possible.

- Weishan Lake is on the east side of Shanzhou, south of Shanyang Lake, and flows north into the Yellow River. The first fierce battle in which the Yan army entered Jining was fought on the east bank of Nashanyang Lake. Yang Wanhu and Monk Li desperately crossed the river and opened up the east-west road, so that they could echo with Zhao Guobu in Juye and Hu Zhongbu in Jiaxiang, and finally defeated Wang Baobao and forced him to Shanzhou.

Later, although Yang Wanhu and Li Shangduo led their troops to cross the river, or joined with Qing Qianxing or Zhao Guo, there were still some troops left on the east bank of Weishan Lake and Shanyang Lake. You can't just rush forward and ignore the back road. The east shore of Weishan Lake and Shanyang Lake is the rear road of the main force of the Yan army that entered Jining in the west. And now, it's time to use these military horses.

As for Ruoyizhou, this place was originally under the jurisdiction of the East and West Dao Xuanwei Division of Mengyuan, and it was on the east side of Weishan Lake, the south side of Yidu, and the north bank of the Yellow River.

In Deng She's earlier defensive deployment, there were not many elites in this area, most of them were local troops, mainly Shicheng's old department, and there were also some incorporated landlord armies. Originally, this piece of defense was assigned to Qing Qianxing. Qing Qianxing entered Jining Road from east to west, laid down Yanzhou, and took this road.

Now, Qing Qianxing has been transferred to take charge of the Yanzhou Defense Zone, although he is still nominally still the commander of this "Southern Defense Zone", but Zhao Guo, as the commander-in-chief of the front, naturally has the power to mobilize the troops in this area.

To tell the truth, the combat effectiveness of the troops in this defense area is not strong, compared to the elite like Haidong Wuya, it can be described as an underground and a sky. But in any case, Xuzhou is always a big city, only with more than 4,000 people to capture, always feel a little insufficient, not to mention anything else, only one "siege", these more than 4,000 people can not be surrounded. Even if they are besieged, they all go to besiege the city, and who will attack the city?

Therefore, Zhao Guo is ready to mobilize the troops of this "southern defense area" to the south, not expecting them to attack the city and seize the land, as long as he can help the battalion head who went to Xuzhou to wave the flag and shout. In other words, this part of the army is used to besiege the city, and the main elite of the expedition will only besiege the city when the time comes.

It is much closer to go from Yizhou to Xuzhou than from Shanzhou to Xuzhou, and the troops of the "Southern Defense Zone" have never participated in any war, so they do not need to recuperate, let alone reorganize, even if they are not elite, they will always go south when they are ordered. Therefore, according to Pan Xianer's speculation, when Hu Zhong, Yang Wanhu, and Gao Yanshi arrived in Xuzhou City, they would also be able to arrive on time.

……

Early the next morning, before dawn, Zhao Guo, Pan Xianer, Ju Sheng and others came to the gate of Yuan in person to see off Hu Zhong and Yang Wanhu.

Hu Zhongbu was a cavalryman, and went first. Yang Wanhu's department was infantry, and he was in the rear.

In order not to alarm the Wu army prematurely, neither of these troops raised the real banner of their own army. It must be known that Hu Zhong and Yang Wanhu are both at the level of "generals" in Haidong, and they each lead a "ya", if their banners are displayed, Wu Jun will be suspicious when he sees it. Even if Wang Baobao united with the Wu Yuan Army and wanted to counterattack Chuqiu, it wouldn't take one time to send two "generals", right?

As a result, they are playing the banner of other motley battalions.

Because it was not yet dawn, the torches were lit, like two fire dragons, and they left the camp so openly and persistently.

"General Hu, General Hu, General Yang, this is going to Xuzhou, it is the first time that our army has gone south to the Yellow River, and the stakes are very high. Two or two generals must not take it lightly! ”

"Your Excellency, rest assured, the last general will definitely act according to the plan, and will never miss a major event."

"Good, good! With your words, Ben and Ben will rest assured. It's not early, you, you please, time is in a hurry, the road, the road must be hurried. Ben is waiting for good news in the camp! ”

"I will live up to the trust of my lord."

……

Not to mention how Zhao Guo invited Chang Yuchun to participate in the banquet, and how to reward Wu Jun instead of Deng She, just say that Hu Zhong and Yang Wanhu, the two military horses, after leaving the camp, swaggered and ran straight in the direction of Chuqiu without any disguise.

They were all carrying torches, and there were more than 3,000 people, both cavalry and foot soldiers, and the momentum was not small, and they had already alarmed the Wu camp. It was Cai Qian who was on duty, and after hearing the news, he was surprised and hurriedly sent someone to inquire; It was not enough to send all the way, so I sent all the way to Yanying to inquire about the situation.

In the Yan army camp, there is Pan Xian'er perfunctory.

said that this was up to Yang Wanhu and Hu Zhong's exploration horses, and the sky was not yet dawn at this time, although there were torches to illuminate, but it was not easy to find the location of Yang and Hu for a while; In fact, even if he found it, with the identity of these detectives, he was not qualified to talk to Yang and Hu directly, so he found an officer behind him, but who was it? It was Liu Saburo.

Liu San was neatly draped, straddled his horse, and was watching the passage of the battalions on the side of the road. While looking, the battalion flags that were ordered to pass were written down. The Wu army's scouts came, led by people, and met Liu San.

"The general is invited."

Liu San turned his eyes and saw that these people were all dressed as Wu Jun, and the highest identity was a deputy Qianhu, and he knew in his heart that this must be to listen to the news, so he hurriedly smiled and returned the salute, and said with a smile: "Several generals are invited." ”

"I am under the command of General Wu Jun Cai."

"Oh! General Cai. I don't know what's going on? ”

"It's still dark, and I haven't heard of any fighting around, so I wonder why your army suddenly left the camp at night? ......, where is this going? ”

"Several generals don't know. It is said that it was General Fu in our army who discovered Wang Baobao's whereabouts. ”

"Where?"

"I'm a humble man, and I don't know where I found it. I just heard that Wang Baobao and Chengwu's Tartar have been in contact again, and they seem to have plans to counterattack Chuqiu. Therefore, our lord sent us to rush to Chuqiu to help. ”

"I see! ......, but I don't know what battalion the general belongs to? ”

Liu San pointed to a camp flag that he had just passed by, pouted, and said with a smile: "Look, this is the battalion!" ”

Wu Jun and a few people looked at it, but none of them knew this battalion flag.

There are 100,000 military horses in Haidong, and there are hundreds of battalion flags. Even if Wu Jun is a caring person, it is not bad to be able to write down the banners of the elite battalion.

Seeing that they seemed to want to ask, Liu San arched his hand and said, "I'm sorry, a few generals!" I have military orders in my body, so I really don't have time to talk about it at this time. Take a step forward. When we come back from the Chuqiu battle, we have time to invite you to drink again! "Turn the horse and whip it, and urge the horse away.

When the generals of the Wu Army still wanted to ask, there were many people and the sky was dark, but in a blink of an eye, they couldn't find Liu San's figure, they looked at each other, and they were not at ease, and they found two Yan Army Hundred Households in a row, and the same question was asked, and the answers were all the same.

After asking the officers, they secretly asked the two non-commissioned officers who had fallen behind at the end of the line.

A sleepy-eyed replied that he didn't know, saying that he had just woken up and was pulled out, where he was going, what he was going to do, he didn't know anything, he only knew to follow the brigade forward. The other one's answer was somewhat similar to Liu San's, except that Liu San said "I heard", and he replied "it is said".

A few people stopped on the side of the road, watching Yan Jun go away in the night, whispering.

"It seems that I did go to Chuqiu."

"Yes, have you noticed, but not only are we not familiar with the leaders of the battalions, but they are not the elite of Haidong; And they are all lightly armed, without too much baggage, grain and grass, and it is indeed not like a long journey. It should be to Chuqiu. ”

"But why didn't you tell us beforehand?"

The leading deputy Qianhu fox was suspicious, turned his face, glanced at Yan Jun who was gradually moving away, made a decision, and said to the others: "That's it." I will go back to the camp first and report the matter to the general. You divide two people, hang far behind the Yan army, and follow them to see where they go. ”

The Wu army that crossed the river north this time was all elite, but all the generals and non-commissioned officers could be said to have no fuel-efficient lamps, and they were not so easy to fool. When in doubt, they don't need an order from the official, they will definitely take the initiative to find out.

At that moment, the plan had been decided, and the two people who had separated followed the Yan army to the south.

Between Shanzhou and Chuqiu, there is an official road, which is very wide.

Although in recent years, because of the war, the local government of Mengyuan has long been wiped out, and few of the rebel regimes that have experienced before and after have thought of maintaining the road, and there will inevitably be many damages, but after all, there is a previous foundation, and the overall road facilities are still complete.

Around noon, a troop passed the official road.

Cavalry in front, foot soldiers in the rear. I don't know how many people there were, but judging from the length of the procession, there were at least three or four thousand, and there was an endless stream of them, stretching for several miles. Horses' hooves, human feet, and baggage carts trampled and crushed billowing dust and smoke. It's no longer the rainy weather of the previous days, and the sun is shining brightly at this time.

The blazing sun was shining down, and both people and horses were sweating.

This army was the military horse led by Yang Wanhu and Hu Zhong to Xuzhou.

Along the way, I saw that the villages on both sides of the road were sparsely populated, and the fields around the village were overgrown with weeds due to the war. Even if wheat is occasionally planted, it has basically not been harvested due to the continuous fighting on Jining Road in recent months. Under the scorching sun, heavy ears of wheat and weeds swaying in the wind, against the endless and sparsely populated background, can not help but give people a bleak impression.

However, since they were born in troubled times, and with Deng She's southern expedition to the north, the soldiers have long been accustomed to this kind of "desolation", and they have not been surprised or surprised at all. To tell the truth, Shandong is not bad, I think that when I was in Liaodong, the climate in Liaodong was already harsh, and coupled with the wars, it was just summer, as soon as winter came, I went out for a walk, and almost everywhere I could see a piece of starvation falling on the snow.

And now, it's just that there is no one to harvest the grain in the field, and there are fewer people in the village, so what is it?

According to Haidong's military law, when marching long distances, especially when rushing quickly, soldiers are not allowed to talk nonsense during the march.

When I first came out of the military camp outside Shanzhou, I sang a wave of military songs. As the sun rises and the temperature gets hotter, the soldiers who have walked dozens of miles without stopping, even if they are well-trained, they can't help but feel tired, and their clothes and armor are soaked with sweat, dusty, and their mouths are dry.

Those in front followed closely with the camp flag, and those behind followed closely in front, as if they were blind to the bleak scene on both sides of the road, and remained silent, just hurrying away.

Hu Zhong led the cavalry in front, and the foot soldiers fell about two miles behind.

Yang Wanhu shared weal and woe with the soldiers, refused to ride a horse, took his big axe, and walked in the middle of the brigade, and from time to time an officer of the front or rear team galloped over to report to him the situation of the march.

On a long-distance march, the most feared thing is that the soldiers will be left behind. Originally, there were 1,000 people, but there were 800 left on the walk, and the establishment could not be complete, so how could they fight if they saw the enemy?

Therefore, according to the military law of Haidong, as long as it is not a covert military operation, but for any long-distance march, in addition to scouting horses and scouts, a guide officer must be set up in the front team, and where he goes, he will erect markers, so as to facilitate the soldiers who have fallen behind to catch up; At the same time, there must also be a containment officer in the rear team, who is responsible for the rear of the palace, and follows the last, and the soldiers who have fallen behind are arranged by them.

Although it is only a few dozen miles from Shanzhou to Chuqiu, which is not a "long distance", Yang Wanhu still meticulously implements this kind of regulations and systems. Fortunately, his subordinates are indeed of excellent quality, and none of them have been left behind on the march.

Military newspapers were sent from the front team: "Report! Checkmate. Our front team has arrived at Xiaohuai Mountain, less than ten miles away from Chuqiu. ”

"Report! Checkmate. General Hu sent a military report that the vanguard of the cavalry was about to reach Chuqiu, a distance of less than three miles. ”

"Report! Checkmate. General Hu's vanguard has seen the messenger of General Gao Yonsei. General Fu Youde's envoy was also about to arrive in Chuqiu. ”

If the military reports sent from the front team are all related to the various battalions that participated in the battle of Xuzhou, then the military reports sent from the rear team are completely different.

"Report! Checkmate. The two scouts of the Wu army were still watching behind, about seven or eight miles away from our troops. ”

Yang Wanhu took a sip, glanced back, and said, "I was really guessed correctly by the adults and Mr. Pan, this Wu Jun must have a ghost in his heart." Otherwise, they wouldn't have been following our army all the time! ......, how far is it from Chuqiu now? ”

"Less than ten miles."

"The order will go down, and our department will rest on the spot." Yang Wanhu looked at the sky and said, "It's already noon, bury the pot and make rice!" and sent someone to the front to tell Hu Zhong, saying that I would drag Wu Jun's spies for him first, and tell him to join Gao Yanshi and Fu Youde as soon as possible. An hour later, he bypassed Chuqiu and rushed to Xuzhou! ”

"No!"

As soon as the military ordered, someone rushed to deliver a letter to Hu Zhong.

A general on the side said: "General, it is good to invite General Hu to meet with Gao and Fu first." However, now that the sky is blue and white, our army has passed through Chu Township without entering, so that the two Wu army's probes can see it, and they will definitely be able to guess that there must be a mystery in it. If they go back and report to Chang Yuchun, I am afraid that it will be unfavorable to our army's actions. Otherwise....... ”

"Or what?"

"Just ,......。" The colonel reached out and pulled it around his neck and said, "Forget about them!" "The general's courage is really big, and he actually wants to kill the sentinel of the friendly army, but it is none other than Yang Wanhu's nephew Yang Si.

Yang Wanhu rolled his strange eyes, smiled and scolded: "You kid is really bold!" Can you figure this out? The military order given by the adults was only called the sentry of the perfunctory Wu army, but it didn't tell us to kill people! In case of a bad cause and a dispute, you will be responsible? ”

Since the formation of the army, Haidong has fought from Liaodong to Goryeo, and from Goryeo to Shandong, and has been invincible and invincible. Although on the battlefield in Shanzhou a few days ago, Chang Yuchun and other Wu army officers and soldiers were very brave, but which of the generals such as Yang Si was not unruly? As Yang Wanhu said: "Bold", I really didn't take them seriously. Therefore, Yang Si dared to make this proposal.

Listening to Yang Wanhu's laughter and scolding, at the moment, he scratched his head and said with a smile: "The general knows my temper, and he is the most annoying thief who steals chickens and dogs." Dozens of miles to follow them, but they are still not satisfied, it is really annoying. Since he knew that Yang Wanhu had no intention of killing people, he couldn't help asking, "But general, if you don't kill them, the news that our army will go to Xuzhou will reach Chang Yuchun's ears sooner or later!" What should I do then? ”

Yang Wanhu said with a sneer: "Shanzhou is dozens of miles away from Chuqiu, more than 100 miles back and forth, even if those two probes know that we have not entered Chuqiu, when they send the news to Wuying in Shanzhou, I am afraid that it will be nightfall." And if we wait for Lao Chang to react, we will get tomorrow morning at the earliest. With this one-and-a-half-day buffer, wouldn't our army have crossed the Yellow River long ago? Not to mention, Lord Zhao will not be idle in Shanzhou, and he will never let him go out of the army easily, so there is no need to worry about fighting Xuzhou. ”

Yang Siyi thought that this was indeed the case, and praised: "The general is really clever. ”

"Haha! This is all a conspiracy between adults and Lao Pan, what does it matter to me? Besides, no one in our Haidong knows that my old Yang has always only charged into battle and never paid attention to intrigue. ......, Xiaosi, you have to keep in mind that we are military generals after all, just take care of the war, and don't get involved in anything else! ”

Although Yang Wanhu is honest, he is not without heart. "After all, we are military generals, just take care of the war, and nothing else must be involved"! Just such a sentence is comparable to the reasonableness of the words.