Dusk, after dinner.

On the official road west of Yuanyang City, more than 3,000 troops were stationed.

More than 3,000 people belonged to Yuanyang City, Yuanyang Guard, City Defense Battalion, Meishan Guard, and Shangdu Heavenly Cavalry. The commanders of this expedition were Xuan Zhongxian and Zhou Dongcang, and the generals were Sun Tu, Jiang Tao, Hong Xian, Mei Shuanglin and the deputy commander of the left battalion of the Shangdu Heavenly Cavalry.

In Xuan Zhongxian's tent, it was a little stuffy, but not too hot.

Zhou Dongcang is an old man who is afraid of heat, he is impetuous and restless, he hopes to use Xuan Zhongxian's Shangdu Heavenly Cavalry, so he patiently agrees with Xuan Zhongxian repeatedly on the way to attack.

He not only wanted to defeat the Shuangyang soldiers on the border, but also wanted to take the opportunity to capture Shuangyang City and increase the living space of Yuanyang City. The unknown creatures at the South Gate give him a sense of crisis, and he has to use it to avoid the unknown threat.

There are also six people in the camp tent: green tea, black tea, Fang Qiushui, Xin Huwei, Li Xiao, and Wu Xiaoze. Green tea fanned Xuan Zhongxian, and black tea looked at a volume of "Atlas of Everything" with dull eyes.

Fang Qiushui and Xin guards acted as Xuan Zhongxian's guards, and they were inseparable from Xuan Zhongxian. Li Xiao had to follow Xuan Zhongxian in order to make black tea remember him, and Wu Xiaoze had to follow Li Xiao in order to get Li Xiao's attention.

Xiao Tie did not accompany the army, he stayed in the mansion of the Shang Gang, gave his godfather Mei Yicai, and prepared for the construction of the Pingshan Academy, which was about to start.

Daoist Sunset was worried that the Vermilion Bird Great Protector and Wushang Immortal Elder would find trouble with him, and he had already returned to the imperial capital with the Yun sisters and Xuan Sinuo in the Colorful Birds.

Mao and Wen Daochang had no plans to return to the main hall of Daozong in Yuanyang Mountain, so they borrowed three hundred taels of silver tickets from Black Tea, and together with a team of heavenly cavalry escorting the Yun sisters back to the imperial capital, they followed the colorful birds and went to the imperial capital to play.

Xuan Zhongxian didn't plan to fight Shuangyang City at all, his purpose was to "attract" Zhou Dongcang from Yuanyang City, and then let Pinkyu lead the bandits to intercept and kill Zhou Dongcang. After regaining control of Yuanyang City, he will destroy the carnivorous night insects in Nanmen Pass, control the first Xiongguan of the Great Xuanguo - Nanmen Pass, and complete the task assigned to him by Dongge University Scholar Xuanming - control Yuanyang City and Nanmen Pass.

The hot Zhou Dongcang took a sip of tea and said, "Shizi, are you afraid of the bandits in Wusheling Ridge because you are reluctant to march to attack?"

Xuan Zhongxian was frightened, without any superfluous expression, and said flatly: "You can't attack now, so you won't attack." How could I worry about a few bandits?" After calming down, he continued: "Aren't the bandits in Wusheling being edicted?"

"Zhao'an is just a delaying tactic, and when the world is too peaceful, the bandits will fall apart. What's more, we have just gone through a big war, and we will be exhausted and outnumbered, and if we press the bandits tightly, I am afraid that the officials will force the people to rebel. Yuanyang City has a lot of business to prosper, and we must focus on maintaining internal stability. ”

"Internally stable, externally scalable?"

"Ahem. Zhou Dongcang smiled: "We need the resources of Shuangyang City. ”

Xuan Zhongxian said in his heart: It's really cunning.

Zhou Dongcang changed the topic again, "It is said that Pinkelu, under the pseudonym 'Jia Ping', sat in the third position in Wusheling and became the third master. ”

"What? Pinker is in the grass? How is this possible. "How did Zhou Dongcang know about such a confidential matter, there is really no impermeable wall.

"He followed you from birth to death, but he didn't get anything. Zhou Dongcang guessed.

"When I return to the Imperial City, will I still treat him badly? I really don't know what he thinks. ”

Zhou Dongcang secretly said in his heart: The information provided by the guard under Ma Baiyu turned out to be true. Thinking of the "Scarface Guard" who followed Ma Baiyu closely, Zhou Dongcang felt a sense of distrust in his heart.

Through deception, Xuan Zhongxian's words confirmed the information of the "Scarface Guard". Sooner or later, Pinklu will have a chance to get ahead and rise to prominence, so why should he engage in the unpromising profession of a bandit? There must be a conspiracy.

Zhou Dongcang saw that it was already dark outside, and everyone was very sleepy, so he took his leave. Breathing the air outside the camp tent, blowing the cool night breeze, and looking at the eighteen Meishan guards on both sides of the camp tent, Zhou Dongcang sighed: There is no life in vain, everything is in my calculations.

The breeze chirps cicadas in the middle of the night.

Xuan Zhongxian, Green Tea, Black Tea, Li Xiao, and Wu Xiaoze were sleeping in the same tent. Suddenly, they were awakened by the sound of the army running and running.

Wake up from a dream of a thousand miles of fighting.

Xuan Zhongxian put on a thin coat, through the curtain of the tent, and asked, "Outside, what happened?"

The Xin guard outside the door rubbed his eyes and replied, "Back to the world, Chief Zhou said that in the ravine three miles away, a bandit was found. ”

"Where are the bandits?"

"It seems to be a bandit from Wusheling Ridge. ”

"Oh. "Xuan Zhongxian feels that the situation is not good.

"Director Zhou said, time is pressing, and a few thieves don't need to report to you. He had already urged Fang Qiushui to lead five hundred heavenly cavalry to go on a crusade. ”

"What?" I checked, Zhou Dongcang cheated me, Fang Qiushui mistook me, and Pinker was less lucky.

Guard Xin said again: "Before Lord Zhou left, he left three hundred-person teams behind, and let the three hundred-person officials take turns to protect you and prevent you from leaving here." ”

Xuan Zhongxian understood the meaning of Xin Huwei's words, trembled with anger, sneered, and did not speak again. He found that he was not sure if the Xin guards were loyal to him. He felt that Fang Qiushui was not "mistaken" him, but wanted to "assist" Zhou Dongcang to "trap" him.

###

The Wusheling bandits, who were hidden in the ravine near the left, were in their sleep, and suddenly they were attacked by the Shangdu Heavenly Cavalry, Meishan Guards, Yuanyang Guards, and City Defense Battalion soldiers, and they were suddenly in chaos and suffered heavy losses.

The bandits are surrounded by well-armed regular soldiers and guards in the middle and late stages of cohesion, and the heavenly cavalry is one enemy and one hundred in the sky, and there is no reason to be invincible.

Overhead, there was the sound of birds flapping their wings, and the panicked and disheveled Xue Hu twisted Pinker's arm and asked sharply: "What's the matter, did you leak the news? You deliberately brought us into the encirclement?" Pinkeryu said: "How is it possible? I am a person from Xuan Zhongxian Xuan Shizi, how could I harm you." ”

Liu Donghui said: "Tonight's march, only the three of you, eldest brother, me and you know, why was it surrounded?"

Pinker was speechless, and my life was at rest.

The shouts of killing and cries turned the ravine into "hell".

Zhou Dongcang's army of nearly 3,000 people won a complete victory, more than 30,000 bandits from Wusheling surrendered more than 17,000 people, and the core leaders of the bandits represented by Xue Hu, Liu Donghui, Jia Ping, and Zhang Xiyu wanted to surrender but couldnnot.

There were many corpses in the ravine, and in the end, there were only more than 300 people left in the encirclement, such as the "Black Snake Emperor", "Shoufu Palace University Scholar", "General of the Seven Domains", and "Supervising the Imperial History of the Capital", who were struggling to support.

The exhausted Xue Hu was so desperate that just as he was about to commit suicide with his sword, Liu Donghui used his knife to cut off the saber that wiped his neck. "Big brother, you see, the officers and soldiers have retreated. ”

Xue Hu fell to his knees in a daze, and said blankly: "What...... What's going on?"

"I don't know, big brother, let's go. ”

More than 300 people, who had thought they would die, stepped over the bodies of their accomplices and fled in the direction of Wusheling Ridge.

More than 300 people only ran ten miles before they fell to the ground, they were too tired.

Xue Hu panted and said to his accomplices: "I'm still very strange, why didn't Zhou Dongcang kill us all? If he sends cavalry flying in the sky to pursue us, we will definitely die." ”

Liu Donghui's face turned red, he covered his abdomen, panted and said, "I'm also very strange, I can't figure it out." ”

Pinker, who was lying on the ground, breathed heavily, and said with a dry smile: "Zhou Dongcang, this old fox, is naturally useful if you keep us." ”

"What's the use?"

"The ancients said: 'When the cunning rabbit dies, the lackeys cook, the high birds are exhausted, the good bow is hidden, the enemy country is broken, and the ministers are destroyed.'" ’”

"What do you mean? Please be more plain with the 'General'. ”

"In order to avoid 'rabbits and dead dogs cooking' and 'birds hiding all their bows', Zhou Dongcang kept us, so that we could use the excuse of exterminating the bandits to have thousands or even tens of thousands of troops for a long time, and we could also use this to ask for food from the Daxuan court. ”

"Will this be the case?" Xue Hu was a little puzzled, not very understanding.

"Of course it is. Liu Donghui understands the truth of "unloading the mill and killing the donkey" and "crossing the river and demolishing the bridge".

The physical fitness of the "Scarface Guard" is excellent, he does not gasp, does not blush and heartbeat, or that he is just "out of work" and does not contribute. He was the most ill-intentioned person in the group.