On the eighth day of the fifth month of the third year of Yankang, Lan Jing'an left Chenliu with one hundred shadow guards, as well as the quartermaster Bai Qingfeng, the general Xiao Meng and others, and went straight to Zhending. Jiang Shaoheng, who had set off a few days in advance, had already arrived in Handan and was leading his troops north, and was expected to arrive at the same time as Lan Jingan and others.

On May 12, Lan Jing'an arrived in Zhending, at this time, Jiang Shaoheng's 20,000 elite soldiers and some grain and grass had reached this place, and the rest of the baggage would also arrive within five days.

The first thing Lan Jing'an did when he arrived at Zhending was to arrange for the troops to be led. No matter how Xie Weining's appearance disturbed Lan Jing'an and Xiao Qingyun's mood, in military affairs, the two had great tacit understanding and trust. Therefore, Lan Jing'an has absolute autonomy and control over the 50,000 people in his hands.

Although these 50,000 people had briefly cooperated before, most of Jiang Shaoheng's hands were composed of the Jingzhou Army and the Northwest Army, while the 30,000 people in Chen Yang's hands were basically composed of Qingzhou soldiers and Jizhou soldiers, and there was not much contact between them. Therefore, Lan Jing'an took over, and he was not in a hurry to immediately go to the state, but first let the two armies mix together and run in for a while. At the same time, the left, center, and right armies were rearranged.

To everyone's surprise, Xiao Meng did not come with a single soldier and a pawn, but instead served as the general of Pingbei, becoming the highest-ranking general in the two armies, leading the Central Route Army. Jiang Shaoheng served as the general of the left and led the left road; Chen Yang is the right general and leads the right flank.

In addition, Lan Jing'an also recruited women from Jizhou who volunteered to join the army, and Biluan was responsible for management and training. Many people in the army watched as if they were jokes and watched the great commander order to recruit female soldiers. Many people estimated that there would not be a few women who would sign up. Unexpectedly, the number of women in Jizhou who signed up for the army reached 5,000 in just half a month.

Lan Jing'an also left Su Mei and Siyun Siying to Bi Luan to take care of, not asking them to fight, as long as they could ride a horse to save their lives. Among the three maidservants, Si Ying was originally interested in martial arts, and now she is even more like a fish in water. And the other two maidservants didn't want to be compared to other female soldiers, so they practiced very seriously.

Except for the occasional suggestion to Yue Qi, Lan Jing'an didn't care about other specific training, and left it all to a few generals to deal with.

At the end of May, Xiao Qingyun's army of 80,000 besieged Yingchuan, the last county in Yuzhou that belonged to Dayong. Zhao Hu led 110,000 troops, and Yu Yingchuan and the cadres fought again. Wan Mingde in the northwest sent Yan Chong as the main general, and Wan Ping as the deputy general to go around Anding and attack the north.

On June 20, when the battle of Yingchuan was in full swing, Lan Jing'an led 50,000 elite soldiers, with a total of 100,000 troops, to Taiyuan County in Bingzhou. Xiao Jian, the governor of Bingzhou, did not borrow a single soldier from Yonghua City, and organized the six counties of Taiyuan, Shangdang, Xihe, Yanmen, Dingxiang, and Yunzhong, with a total of 120,000 troops, stationed in Jinyang, the capital of Taiyuan County, to respond to the cadre army.

When Lan Jingan heard the news, he couldn't help but admire Xiao Jian for being a hard bone. She knew that the entire state had a population of only more than 700,000, and Xiao Jian actually drew more than 100,000 people to fight her in one go, and it seemed that she had brought over all the old, young, sick and disabled.

The first battle between the two sides was fought in Shangai, on the border of Jizhou and Bingzhou. The battle did not last long, but for Chaumont, it was the most painful war of his life. He went to war with his own brother, but as an enemy, he drew his sword against each other.

Xiao Meng was stationed in Bingzhou before, so he was naturally extremely familiar with the topography of Bingzhou and the military generals of Bingzhou. Similarly, Xiao Jian grew up behind him since he was a child, has received similar training, and is also very familiar with Xiao Meng's style of play. The two are on a par here in Bingzhou, and they can't get too much advantage from each other.

Lan Jing'an knew Xiao Meng's difficulties, but she had to let everyone in the state see Xiao Meng's attitude. So she not only put him in charge, but even made him show his face in the striker. However, once the fight really started, for the sake of the safety of Xiao Meng's eldest son Xiao Bei, she did not let Xiao Meng go to the front line to stimulate Xiao Jian again.

Lan Jing'an personally bowed his horse into battle to boost morale. Her fame was so loud that many people believed that she was a person protected by the heavens. Seeing that she was under the protection of the shadow guard, the Bingzhou army led the Yue cavalry to charge into battle, but instead restrained her hands and feet, lost her former bravery, and the formation was scattered at once.

Lan Jing was fast, and even suddenly came to a place less than two hundred steps away from Xiao Qian. Xiao Jian knew that her riding and archery was not ordinary, and seeing that she was full of round bows, she was a good man who did not suffer the loss in front of her, and hurriedly hit her horse to dodge, but was shot by Lan Jing'an with an arrow on the top of the iron gauntlet. Lan Jing'an did not make up the shot, nor did he pursue, but reined in his horse and let Xiao Jian escape.

After Xiao Jian returned to the heavy protection, he saw the sharp arrow that pierced through the top of the iron girth, and calmed down for a long time before he could give orders again. He knew in his heart that this was Lan Jing'an's warning to him, she could shoot very accurately at the top of the iron gauntlet, and she could also shoot through his façade with an arrow. She didn't kill him, but she just gave him a chance to surrender voluntarily.

Xiao Jian held out in Shangai for less than 20 days before he had to retreat. This evacuation led to Yuci, more than 200 miles away, and it was already mid-July.

After the hot summer, the temperature in Mengqiu has not weakened at all. Lan Jing'an sat in the tent of the Chinese army, still wearing full armor. She was seriously discussing with Bai Qingfeng and the others: "You all talk about it, how will this Yuci City be broken next?" ”

Chen Yang opened his mouth first: "Yuci City is small, and it is a direct attack." Anyway, most of Xiao Qian's people have already withdrawn to Jinyang, and if we attack strongly, we will definitely be able to take it. ”

Qiu Shaoze disagreed: "Attack? How to attack? No matter how small a city is, it is difficult to storm and take it without losing a few thousand people. It's better to go around Yuci and go directly to Jinyang. ”

Jiang Shaoheng shook his head: "Now go to Jinyang, and as soon as the 20,000 people in Yuci City come out, isn't it just right for us to outflank?" ”

Lan Jing'an looked at Xiao Meng again: "General Xiao, what is your opinion?" ”

Since Lan Jing'an commanded Shang Ai's first battle against Xiao Qian, Xiao Meng has admired Lan Jing'an so much, especially since she deliberately spared Xiao Qian's life, which made him even more grateful. No matter how hostile he and Ah Jian are now, Ah Jian is his own brother after all, and his favorite eldest son is in Ah Qian's hands, and he doesn't want to see Ah Jian have three long and two short.

Xiao Meng pointed to the map and said objectively: "Yuci is the gateway to the south of Jinyang, as long as you capture Yuci, you can lock the southern line of Jinyang." Therefore, I agree that before fighting Jinyang, I must first win Yuci. As for the way of fighting, I don't think it's worth it just for a few Yuci, thousands or even ten thousand people were killed or wounded, after all, the bulk of the Bingzhou army is still in Jinyang City. ”

After hearing this, Lan Jing'an thought about it and asked Bai Qingfeng: "If the city is besieged, how long will it take to be trapped in Yuci?" ”

Bai Qingfeng had already calculated and replied very fluently: "Why does it take three months." ”

Lan Jing'an asked Bi Luan an an irrelevant question: "How is the training of your Red Armed Army this period?" ”

Bi Luan replied: "Although it is not comparable to the elite soldiers, at least it should be possible to go to the battlefield." ”

Lan Jing An'an knew in his heart that these female soldiers, who had only been training for two months, could learn the formation clearly, and it was already good to hold a knife without flinching, and they would definitely not be able to compare with those elite soldiers who had been fighting for several years.

However, Lan Jing'an still favored these girls and let them all learn the crossbow. A repeater is not like a longbow, it does not require strong arm strength, and it can be mastered in a month, while girls generally have flexible hands and feet, faster loading, and better accuracy, which is most suitable for using machine crossbows. But Lan Jing'an's equipping the Red Warriors with crossbows has been hidden from the outside world, just waiting for them to be used as secret weapons at critical moments.