"Yes, we can only rely on the knife in our hands to eat, but my lord, this Suchang City is only ten miles away, and the scouts also show that the lake bandits don't have many troops in the city, are we ......?"

Cao Zhilun wanted to speak and stopped, of course Hu Biao understood his deputy's thoughts.

Why didn't he want to take this Suchang City? This is where Yunzhou Prefecture is located.

Although it has been plagued by lake bandits for many years, it is also the center of a state, and if it can take the county seat of Xuchang, this Xuntian will be ironclad.

It's a pity that there is an order from above, and the task of the Third Army of the Wuning Left Army is to clean up along the south of Xuchang and the lake area, and completely cut off the connection between the lake bandits and Xuchang City, so that they can advance step by step.

There have been more than ten battles of all sizes, and the losses are not small, and there are thousands of lake bandits killed, but there is really no hearty victory, and today's battle is already quite good.

The Third Army of the Wuning Left Army lives on the south road, the middle road is the first army of the Wuning Left Army that has just been put into the battlefield, the second army of the Wuning Left Army on the north road, and the Pinglu strategy in the south is the Fifth Army of the Wuning Left Army (formerly the Fifth Army of the Huai Right Left Army).

The Fifth Army of the Wuning Left Army, which was immediately behind the First Army of the Wuning Left Army in the middle of the road, had five battalions scattered and spread out in battalion units, mainly to clear out the lake bandits who had slipped through the net and escaped, as well as the lake bandits who had left the lake bandits and wanted to return home.

According to the principle determined by Wang Xu, whether it is a captured lake bandit, or a person who voluntarily broke away from the lake bandits, or a lake bandit who voluntarily surrendered to the official army and surrendered, they all need to be taken to Sucheng for examination and screening.

These people need to explain to the officials in charge of the examination their time, experience, and deeds in participating in the lake bandits, and they must also list no less than three or more witnesses to corroborate them.

In order to make meritorious service and atone for their crimes, there are also two ways: one is to report and expose others, especially those gentry and people who have secretly colluded with the lake bandits and committed evil; and the other is to take the initiative to join the army and guide the officials and soldiers to attack the lake bandits.

This hand is very old and ruthless, for the lake bandits who want to be good, it's not as simple as you just taking the initiative to confess your own problems, these people are more or less stained with human life and blood, the latter has engaged in robbery**, so if you want to atone for your crimes, you must make meritorious contributions.

The first method is basically to isolate itself from the locality, and the second way out is to only join the army.

"Zhilun, let's know enough, our third army has made great contributions in the first battle of the Northern Expedition, although the deputy envoy of soldiers and horses has been promoted, but our brothers below are still waiting for the merit of the division, although we are taking the southern line in this battle, but these more than ten battles have been fought down, how much credit is there?" Hu Biaole said happily: "If this Suchang City is also occupied by us, how can you let the first army and the fourth army embarrass them?" But they have just caught up with the first battle after joining our county lord, and they expect to earn some merit from this battle. ”

Cao Zhilun also grinned.

This is indeed true, and in the army, we must also talk about equal opportunities, and we can't eat alone.

Everyone knows that there are not many decent battles in Yunzhou, and the capture of a few county towns is probably the greatest credit, and it is not easy for the First Army to catch up, and the Fourth Army is following behind, I am afraid it is even more difficult.

"My lord, according to the current situation, it will take some time to clean up Suchang and Shouzhang, right?"

Cao Zhilun was really afraid that he would finish the battle in a few clicks.

The Wuning Left Army is not bad, picking up a Yunzhou, and it can fight a few battles in a good size.

But on the side of the right army of Wuning, although it was determined that it would fight Haizhou, it was said that it was still negotiating with the Lu army, and if the negotiations were successful, the battle would not be completed.

For the army, if the army can't fight, then it's really sad.

According to the strategy determined by the Privy Council Staff, with Sucheng and Pinglu as the base and Sucheng as the bridgehead, the three routes went hand in hand, advancing towards Suchang.

The southern front, that is, the Third Army, had a heavy responsibility, mainly responsible for cleaning up the lake bandits and cutting off the connection between the lake bandits and the lake, the central line was to conquer Suchang, and the northern line was to detour, marching along the border line between Yunzhou and Jeju in advance to prevent the lake bandits in the direction of Shouzhang from reinforcing the Suchang Lake bandits.

Judging from the current situation, the lake bandits obviously realized the general situation and began to withdraw from the territory of Xuchang County to the west and south one after another, but the retreat of the lake bandits still seemed to be very strategic, not fleeing in a swarm, but in a small-scale counterattack to prove that they still had the strength to fight, so that the officers and troops did not dare to rush forward.

"Once Xuchang is taken, it will be fast, take Xuchang, Suchang, Sucheng, Pinglu will become a triangular area, the lake bandits will not dare to go deep into this area easily, social security will be greatly improved, as long as the strategic place of Liangshan is taken, you can directly suppress Shouzhang, it is estimated that by that time, Shouzhang water bandits can only take the initiative to withdraw to the lake. Hu Biao stroked his chin and said with certainty.

"Now the key is that Liangshan is still in the hands of the water bandits, if this throat is not taken, the lake bandits can still run rampant for a while. Cao Zhilun also sighed a little, "So you have to take Liangshan first, I don't know if this good thing can be our turn?"

At this time, Liangshan is not near Juyeze, there are still ten miles away from Juyeze, but it is close to Jishui, which can be called the throat of the lowlands of the northern plains of Yunzhou.

Hu Biao was also weighing in his heart.

He knew the hidden meaning of Cao Zhilun's words, in addition to the Wuning Left Army sending Xizuo, he also sent Xizuo to understand the surrounding situation.

There must be brave men under the heavy reward, and now the people in this area can not see that the good days of the lake bandits are coming to an end, a large number of lake bandits have surrendered, and would rather take the initiative to go to Sucheng for education.

In these successive battles, they also captured a lot of lake bandits, many of whom were lake bandits near Liangshan, and they were also very familiar with the situation in Liangshan.

The two exchanged glances, Hu Biao lowered his hand from his chin, and said lightly: "Zhilun, if you have something to say, just say it." ”

"Hehe, my subordinates can't hide this little bit from the adults. Cao Zhilun also smiled secretly, "A few days ago, I was thinking, Xuchang City can be taken sooner or later, but Shouzhangcheng will take a few days, although the Privy Council did not set a time for our Wuning Left Army, but we also know that if we take Yunzhou one day earlier, the county prince can also feel at ease." ”

Hu Biao nodded slightly, motioning for the other party to continue.

"Many of the lake bandits captured in the past few days have been among the bandits in Liangshan, and a few have been small leaders among them. Cao Zhilun paused, "In addition, a certain person who came to take over the capture of the Yunzhou regiment training army yesterday also discussed, he mentioned that there was once a defector who used to be the leader of the bandits in Liangshan Lake, and talked about the willingness to return to Liangshan Zhongli to cooperate with the outside and atone for his ,......crimes."

"Oh?" Hu Biao's interest increased, and his eyes were shining, "Then what did Zhilun think about?"

"I'm thinking that if this is true, we can sum it up. "Cao Zhilun saw that the Lord was interested in the future, and he couldn't help but rub his hands, if this battle is fought well, he can make a great contribution over there," I think so, if the person who surrenders to the city is willing to sneak back to Liangshan to join the outside, you might as well let Wuwentang carve it well, and after being sure that there is no doubt, you can send it back, it is considered a path, in addition, among our captured lake bandits, there are also many people who are willing to atone for their sins, and they can also be returned, and we keep these people back secret, this is the second path,......

"No, we can ,...... like that," Hu Biao's face showed a deeper and grim smile.

"Leader Ruan, Leader Ruan!"

Turning around, he was covered in dark pimples, and the strong man casually burped, "What's the matter?"

"Second Brother Chao said that he would invite Leader Ruan to come over and discuss important matters. The man who ran over smiled and bowed.

"Hmph, what do you have in mind for Second Brother Chao?" the strong man's face was full of impatience, "I know what he said, but the brothers who escaped back can't help but follow, right?

"Hehe, Leader Ruan, we don't understand these words, and I ask Leader Ruan to discuss with Second Brother Chao. A fierce color flashed in the man's eyes, but there were also two men following behind the strong man, holding the knife at his waist with both hands and not leaving for half a step, but he could only hold his temperament and accompany the smiling face.

"You go and tell the second brother that he has drunk some wine and is a little tired, how about going to his village to make amends for his sins?" the strong man waved his hand.

"Hehe, Leader Ruan, aren't you embarrassed little ones? Second Brother Chao ordered the matter, how dare we delay, please ......" The man cursed secretly in his heart, but he didn't dare to make a mistake.

"Don't be noisy, you have your own ideas. The strong man's face turned cold, and he waved his hand, "You go and tell the second brother, and the second brother will not embarrass you." ”

After finishing speaking, he turned around and left, and the other two men also glanced at each other coldly, and followed the leader surnamed Ruan.

The man stood on the spot, his fists almost clenched out of the water, but he didn't dare to explode, he could only look at the back of the other party leaving hatefully, stomped his feet, and finally could only sigh and turn back.

The three of them turned around the foot of the mountain, and the face of the black-fleshed strong man had become more gloomy, "I'm afraid something will happen tonight!"

"Oh, is the Chao family really going to do it?" asked a man who followed the black-fleshed man.