Under the clear night sky, a large, well-defended camp was quietly hidden in the mountains less than eighty miles southwest of the ancient city of Jimo and the Navigation Supervision Laoshan Shipbuilding Base.

Guo Rong and 20,000 elites have been waiting here for three whole days, and in order to continue to keep their secrets and not reveal their whereabouts, there are more than 30 woodcutters, hunters and other people who have been temporarily detained.

Looking at the more and more people who were detained in the camp, and thinking about the current situation in Shandong, Guo Rong, who was patrolling the camp with his two followers and a team of foot soldiers, knew that there was not much time left to hide.

There are indeed not many Jiaodong garrisons in Mizhou, but as the hinterland of the Tang Dynasty, there has been no large-scale war in recent years, and the official functions of Mizhou are still sound.

In all fairness, when the powerful are not involved, the grassroots officials of Datang are still relatively responsible.

Although it is said that in the past few years, it is normal for wild beasts in the deep mountains and forests to be taken away by wild wolves and big insects occasionally, but it is obviously not normal for dozens of woodcutters or hunters to disappear en masse.

After the large-scale disappearance of people, the government of Michigan has the obligation and responsibility to investigate and eliminate hidden dangers.

Once the search is carried out in the name of the Mizhou Mansion, it will no longer be possible for his battalion to keep it secret, of course, even if there is no reason for the woodcutter and the hunter, I am afraid that he must be prepared to attack.

Guo Rong silently calculated the time in his heart, at most until tomorrow.

Even if the scout hadn't sent over the information that had supplemented the reconnaissance based on his own inference, he would have to attack, after all, neither the general situation nor the current situation could afford to wait any longer.

In fact, at this moment, Guo Rong had a map of the Jiaodong Army's strength made by the scouts who arrived in the early stage.

The deployment map indicates the distribution and garrison of the Jiaodong Army, including Mizhou, Qingzhou, Laizhou, and Dengzhou, which the scouts have already reconnoitred.

In addition to the cover of the terrain and the relative sparseness of population, this relatively detailed map of the distribution of troops is also an important reason why Guo Rong can easily lead his troops to easily climb over the mountains and hills of Mizhou and quietly arrive at the junction of Mizhou and Laizhou.

It is true that Mizhou is the jurisdiction of the Jiaodong Defense Envoy, but it is not the focus of Li Shidao's operation.

First, the location of Mizhou is located in the mountainous and hilly areas of Lunan in later generations, which is vast and sparsely populated, which is not conducive to large-scale garrisons and is not used for development and utilization.

The second point is that the ancient city of Jimo, which is not much in the plain between Mizhou and Laizhou, was taken away by the navigation supervisor and turned into a shipbuilding base for the navigation supervisor, and there was a large barrier between Demi and the northeastern part of Jiao.

In the entire territory of Mizhou, except for the city of Mizhou, Anqiu, and Gaomi, Li Shidao did not garrison troops in Mizhou at all, so that most of Mizhou was actually in a state of undefended.

Although Mizhou is basically unfortified, it does not mean that Li Shidao will ignore this direction.

In the junction area of Laizhou and Mizhou, west of the ancient city of Jimo, and north of the Laoshan shipbuilding base, three military camps were set up at intervals of more than ten miles, each leaving 3,000 foot soldiers.

These Jiaodong Army, which together have a total of nearly 10,000 people, actually monitor, defend, and threaten in the name of protection.

In fact, Guo Rong can understand why Li Shidao arranged it like this.

If you exclude Mizhou, Qingzhou, Laizhou, and Dengzhou have actually become a one-day long strip distribution.

This strip line is the former hometown of Qi State, which is the most densely populated and the richest place in Jiaodong.

In addition to the scattered soldiers and horses scattered in Mizhou and monitoring Jimo, the nominal main force of Jiaozhou's defense envoys was deployed by Li Shidao in the westernmost part of Jiaozhou, Qingzhou.

According to the information provided by the scouts to supplement the investigation, since the beginning of last year, Li Shidao began to hoard grain and grass in Qingzhou, prepare ordnance, and strengthen the city defense of Qingzhou City.

In addition to Qingzhou City, the city defenses of Linqu in the southeast of Qingzhou and Linzi in the northwest have also been strengthened.

In addition to reinforcing the city defenses of Qingzhou, Linqu and Linzi, Li Shidao also purchased a large amount of grain and grass from Jianghai and Jiangnan through sea ships.

Some of the purchased grain and grass were hoarded in the ports of Laizhou and Dengzhou, and a considerable part was hoarded in Shouguang, northeast of Qingzhou City.

If it wasn't so certain before, judging from this deployment, from the moment Li Shigu died of illness, Li Shidao was already preparing for rebellion.

From this deployment, it can be clearly seen that Li Shidao is preparing to use Shouguang as the rear and Qingzhou, Linqu, and Linzi as the bridgeheads to advance a defensive system that can be attacked and retreated.

Another important piece of information mentioned by the scouts is that behind the Qingzhou defense line of Li Shidao, since the beginning of spring, the huge Jiaodong Naval Division anchored in Laizhou and Dengzhou has been opened.

It was expected that the Jiaodong Naval Division would leave, and the timing coincided with the time of the rebels' secret meeting in Youzhou, but the problem was that the fleet of the Jiaodong Naval Division never returned, and it did not return until the scouts sent by Guo Rong arrived in Jiaodong.

Whether the Jiaodong Naval Division can return or not is not up to Guo Rong to decide, but the problem is that the failure of the Jiaodong Naval Division to return means that the Japanese soldiers of the island country have not arrived.

And this is inconsistent with Guo Rong's expected inference.

In fact, after repeated investigations by the scouts, not only Laizhou and Dengzhou, but also the two large-scale port cities did not have the shadow of Japanese soldiers, and even other countries such as Jiaozhou, Zhifu, Muping, and Luyang did not find any trace of half of the Japanese soldiers.

That's just so abnormal!

Could it be that Li Shidao really didn't unite with the Japanese state and introduce Japanese soldiers, and he really deduced it wrong from the beginning?

But the problem is that in addition to the water division in Li Shidao's hands, the total number of foot soldiers is more than 30,000!

With only 30,000 soldiers and horses, or 30,000 emasculated feudal town troops, what can they do in today's chaos?

Not to mention the feudal army, even if it is armed to the teeth and elite enough to command the newly formed forbidden army, if there are only 30,000 people, it will not be able to turn up the slightest storm in today's general trend.

With this little strength in Li Shidao's hands, let alone wanting to take a share of the chaos in the world, he can't even resist the Eastern Expeditionary Army composed of Changying's army and Zuo Wuwei.

Li Shidao would never know that the defense system he had carefully built had no meaning at all in front of the already specialized, modular, and segmented Changying Army.

If Li Shidao knew the process of the Battle of Wuzhou in Longnan, he would know that there is a concept in this world called dimensionality reduction strike, and he would definitely not be superstitious about the so-called Jiancheng, but unfortunately, the scene that Li Shidao did not see was seen by the Emperor Li Yu.

As the saying goes, there is no love for no reason, and there is no hate for no reason, and Emperor Li Chen's trust and love for Guo Rong is not for nothing.

There was only one reason why Li Yi trusted and loved Guo Rong, and he believed that Guo Rong could bring him and his empire endless victories.

After going through hardships and coming to Chang'an, Li Yu saw Guo Rong's loyalty to the Tang Dynasty in his heart, which made Li Yu willing to hand over his life to Guo Rong at a critical moment;

Chang'an's persuasion, Xingqing Palace's reversal of life, Li Yu saw Guo Rong's vision, ability, combat quality, and commander's potential, which made Li Yu willing to spend energy and money to cultivate Guo Rong and let Changying's army take root;

The battle of Longxi-Jingyuan made Li Yu see the amazing combat power of the Changying Army, and the battle of Longnan-Wuzhou made Li Yu understand what is called the generation gap, and understood the significance of Guo Rong to the Tang Dynasty at this moment, which is no less than Li Jing, the Duke of Weiguo who determined the establishment and combat mode of the Tang Army and laid the foundation for the invincibility of the Tang Army.

If it is said that before Longxi and Longnan, for Guo Rong, Li Yu still had a little bit of personal feelings, then after the Battle of Wuzhou, there was no need for personal feelings, just from the meaning of the Tang Dynasty, Li Chen's trust in Guo Rong can be described as rock-solid.

Guo Rong has actually always been curious about why the Battle of Wuzhou was not publicized, the reason is very simple.

After seeing the scene of 10,000 cannons firing with his own eyes, Li Yu personally ordered all the battle reports, letters, orders, and records related to the Battle of Wuzhou to be sealed in the Qinzheng Mansion of Xingqing Palace.

All records about the battle of Wuzhou, except for the Qinzheng Building, were destroyed, and even the rewards for the battle of Guo Rong and Changyingjun were shelved.

The soldiers of the Changying Army knew the scene of this battle, but the Changying Army had strict military discipline, and the sergeants without the Changying Army would take the risk of violating military regulations to brag about something.

As a result, above the court and far away from the rivers and lakes, no one knew the details of the battle of Wuzhou except for the Zaifu, who was finally the emperor.

Up to now, the record of the battle of Wuzhou in the court has only a simple sentence:

In the summer of the first year of Yuanhe, Rong led the army to attack Xiaoguan, Kezhi, and Wuzhou, and went down in a battle.

Even if Li Shidao doesn't know what a dimensionality reduction strike is, even if Li Shidao thinks that the Qingzhou defense line is as stable as Mount Tai, there is a fact that cannot be refuted:

Relying on a solid defense system, the 30,000 Jiaodong Army, which is not strong in combat, can only protect itself at most, and it is impossible to win enough benefits for Li Shidao.

The world is bustling, all for profit; The world is crowded, all for profit.

Obviously, he can rely on his brother's shadow to be the emperor of Jiaodong safely, but he tried his best to participate in the anti-thief alliance;

Obviously, he can rely on the rich hometown of Qi to enrich the world, but he spent a lot of effort and a lot of money and food to build a defense system;

Obviously, he could rely on the Jiaodong sailors who came down from Pinglu to cut through the waves and sail away, but he was thankless to transport the Japanese soldiers from the Japanese country to Liaodong:

has done so much, but it is all for other people's wedding dresses, what is he trying to do!

Guo Rong doesn't believe that Li Shidao is this kind of self-interested, dedicated to benefiting others, and he doesn't believe that Li Shidao is the kind of person with a piece of cloth on his head, I am the richest and richest person!

Therefore, Guo Rong firmly believes that everything Li Shidao does has a purpose!

Under the cocoon, gradually Guo Rong really discovered the problem of Li Shidao.

There is only one reason why Li Shidao wants to build a defense line in Qingzhou, there is no impermeable wall in the world.

Although Li Shidao has kept a low profile as much as possible and hid his anti-thief essence as much as possible, he has long been ready to be discovered.

So he built the Qingzhou defense line, thinking that even if the truth of the rebellion was discovered, he could rely on the Qingzhou line to resist the conquest of the Eastern Expeditionary Army led by himself.

In other words, the purpose of the Qingzhou defense line is only one, that is, to delay time as much as possible and strive for his real backhand!

And Li Shidao has only one backhand that he can get now, that is, after Datang showed his teeth, there was Dongying who was in danger of extinction of the country.

Although Guo Rong didn't know what confidence Li Shidao had to control those wolf-hearted dogs and dogs, pigs and dogs were inferior to the Dongying Japanese Invaders, Guo Rong dared to conclude that Li Shidao's backhand and reliance were Japanese soldiers!

The reason why the scouts didn't find them was that the little ones from the island nation might still be on the ship, or they were hiding somewhere the scouts didn't.

The former is the best for Guo Rong, and a frontal assault on Qingzhou may still need to be prepared, and there is no pressure to sneak attack from behind.

If it was the latter, then Guo Rong could only say a word to Li Shidao that he was very embarrassed, because Guo Rong came from this land before the crossing.

It came from the small seaside city that witnessed the emergence of China's first modern navy, witnessed the destruction of this navy, and bore a century-old national humiliation.

Regarding the land of Jiaodong, Guo Rong is too familiar, and it is impossible for anyone who knows this land better than Guo Rong to be familiar with this Tang Dynasty.

The scouts have found no trace of the little ones in the few ports they have, but there is more than one natural harbor on the Jiaodong Peninsula.

Weihai Port, Shidao Port, Longyan Port, Lijiang Port, Zhukou Port, Zhangjiabu Port, Rushan Port......

These are all natural harbors that can accommodate 10,000-ton cruise ships as long as they are developed, but they have not been developed and utilized.

As for the reason why it has not been exploited, it is very simple, there are too few people!

Jiaodong has been a sparsely populated place since ancient times, even if the population exploded to more than one billion in later generations, Jiaodong is not intensive.

As for this era when the total population of the Tang Dynasty is less than 60 million, a vast land and sparsely populated area is not enough to describe the desolation of Jiaodong.

Qingzhou, Laizhou, Dengzhou, and Mizhou add up to less than 100,000 households, and if Qingzhou, which is the most densely populated, is removed, the remaining three states add up to less than 50,000 households.

And this is the reason why Guo Rong chose to stay here, he is waiting for his scouts to explore these places that may become the graveyard of the little people.

Under the night sky in early summer, after completing the inspection of the camp with his two relatives and the patrol, Guo Rongping withdrew from the patrol, threw down the two relatives and walked straight outside the camp gate.

Standing in the empty valley and looking at the starry sky from afar, it is really not easy to see such a sky full of stars in the future generations.

The stars in the night sky are very bright and the scenery is beautiful, but what Guo Rong is thinking about is where these little sons from the island country will choose to become their graveyard!

But Guo Rong didn't think about it for too long because of the little devils, the fate of the little devils has been frozen, and the night sky is very bright, but it can't withstand the chaos of the current situation.

The point is that the current situation can no longer afford to wait, and the reason is of course not only that the missing people will attract the attention of the government.

The main force of the Eastern Expeditionary Army, which served as the direction of the sheep attack, should have arrived in Caozhou, and Li Shidao's attention should have been attracted to the front, and the next few days would be the best opportunity for his own attack.

There are more and more soldiers and horses concentrated in Hebei to the three towns of Lulong, Weibo, and Chengde, and Guo Rong does not want to face hundreds of thousands of Hebei troops head-on at one time.

Only by clearing the hidden dangers of Jiaodong as soon as possible can he detonate the thunder left by the Xuanwu army that he asked Han Hong to leave in Bianzhou, and kill the main force of Wei Bo's army first.

After confirming his thoughts, Guo Rong shouted directly.

"Han Xiang, Mu Yu!"

Guo Rong's call startled the two relatives who were whispering together, and then the two ran quickly in front of Guo Rong.

"Inform all the officers in the army to the big tent of the Chinese army, I need to arrange the march plan from tomorrow in advance!"

"Boss, aren't you waiting for news from the scout?"

"Don't wait, it's just a bunch of little people, it's hard to make huge waves, go ahead, don't be stunned!"

Watching his two followers leave, Guo Rong raised his head and stared at the stars in the sky again.

The Tang people may not understand, but there are some memories that Guo Rong will never forget, as long as he dares to set foot on this land, Guo Rong will promise the ancestors and ancestors that he will make the little devils regret crawling out of their mother's womb.