In the autumn of the third year of Qingguan, 90,000 troops of the Southern Huai Army and 50,000 troops of Chuxiang confronted each other at the border of Chuxiang in the Southern Huai, Poyang Lake.

Li Yaoyang was anxious for revenge, and the march was extremely fast, and in just five days, he marched all the way from Suzhou City to Poyang Lake. The Nanhuai army was fast, and the Chuxiang army was faster, and it was already located in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, down the river. When the sentinels on both sides learned of each other's news, they stationed on the east and west banks of Poyang Lake.

At night, in the camp of the Nanhuai Army, Li Yaoyang discussed countermeasures with a group of Nanhuai generals. Li Yaoyang sat in the main seat in the tent, the second master Li Rongcai, the third master Li Rongyi, the fourth master Li Rongneng and a cadre of generals sat on both sides.

"Yang'er, this is a God-given opportunity, my Nanhuai army is the best at water warfare, and now we are facing off against the Chu Xiang army at Poyang Lake, which is a good opportunity to annihilate the Chu Xiang army in one fell swoop! And now it's late autumn, and it's about to enter winter, why not let the soldiers build warships, wait until the spring and early summer of next year, and fight with Chu Xiang! The second master, Li Rongcai, has the highest seniority, and he put forward his own views without giving up.

"Waiting until next year? So why are we here so quickly? It's about a quick fix! The fourth master, Li Rongneng, was eager and hurriedly denied the second brother's proposal.

"The speed of the soldiers is true, but the speed of this Chuxiang army is not slow, we were just about to enter the territory of Chuxiang, and their 50,000 troops arrived. Moreover, the Chu Xiang army confronted us from east to west, and the benefits of Poyang Lake were shared with me, according to my opinion, it was better to wait for the attacker. If we delay until the imperial edict comes down, can we still lose if we wait for the reason? The third master, Li Rongyi, is more conservative.

"Yes, the second master's suggestion is feasible! We can't lose a water war! ”

"Is the land war afraid of them? I don't believe it, so I have to fight on land! It's good to fight tomorrow and avenge the prince as soon as possible! ”

"Attack the city for the bottom, attack the heart for the top. Our momentum is so huge, the longer we delay, the more beneficial it will be to us, the court is under pressure, and can only lean towards our side, don't forget, every year of tribute, Nanhuai is the majority! ”

For a while, there was a lot of discussion in the camp tent, some supported the water war, some supported the emergency war, some supported the plan to delay the army, and there were also divisive plans, beauty plans, and noisy and noisy.

"That's enough." Li Yaoyang sat on the main seat, not to mention everyone's discussion, "The second master, the third master, and the fourth master are all good, you might as well give it a try." ”

"The last general is stupid, the second master, the third master, and the fourth master are quite contradictory, how to try?" A bold general asked out loud, everyone nodded again and again, and even the three brothers Li Rongcai were confused, looking at Li Yaoyang, waiting for his thoughts.

"Build a warship tomorrow, not only to build it, but also to repair it with great fanfare, and it is best to let the Chu Xiang army on the opposite side see it. Not only Chu Xiangjun, but also Sichuan Shu, Xigui, and the spies of the imperial court can see our undying posture! Li Yaoyang pointed to Poyang Lake on the map and said.

"The fourth master's..." The bold general stopped talking, worried that Li Yaoyang didn't take it into account, so he said it to refute his face.

Li Yaoyang smiled coldly: "Tomorrow, I will take 3,000 cavalry and make a detour to the north to Lushan and catch them off guard!" ”

Only then did everyone understand that Li Yaoyang wanted most of the troops of Nanhuai to build warships in the east of the Nanhuai Army to attract attention, and he led light cavalry to attack behind him.

"This law... Or feasible, Yang'er bravely crowned the three armies, and this plan to repair the plank road is also feasible. It's just that... There are 50,000 people on the opposite side, and only 3,000 horsemen, is it too risky? The cautious second master Li Rongcai saw the risks in the plan at a glance.

"Three thousand horses are more than enough, as long as I rush and kill a few times, I can scare the courage of the other side! Moreover, Nanhuai war horses are scarce, and there are not many elite cavalry, so if you bring more people, it is easier to attract the attention of the opposite side. Li Yaoyang told Nanhuai's weaknesses, which is indeed an indisputable fact.

"Yang'er, the fourth uncle will go with you tomorrow!" The fourth master, Li Rong, was gearing up and seemed a little impatient.

The second master, Li Rongcai, stood up and stopped: "Fourth, you can't go, you have an impatient personality, and both of you are anxious in case of trouble, don't think about persuading anyone." Third, it's hard for you to make a trip, you and Yang'er should go on a trip. ”

"Okay... How sure are you? The third master, Li Rongyi, responded with his mouth, but his heart was still a little empty.

"100% sure!" Li Yaoyang said confidently.

"Since it's decided, everyone should rest early and recuperate." The second master, Li Rongcai, said to everyone, "Jiang Ping, Han Wu, you two have superb riding skills, and you will go together tomorrow." ”

The named second general was just about to give up his order, Li Yaoyang raised his hand and said: "No, I'll leave tonight, I'm worried that something will change later." After speaking, Li Yaoyang looked at the second master, Li Rongcai.

Second Master Li Rongcai had no choice but to nod: "Since you have made up your mind, then tonight." ”

Everyone withdrew from the camp one after another, Li Yaoyang, Jiang Ping, and Han Wu's second general also went out to order soldiers and horses, leaving only the three old brothers in the camp tent.

"Ugh." Second Master Li Rongcai sighed and sat back in his chair.

"What is the second brother sighing for?" The fourth master, Li Rongneng, saw the second brother sigh and asked.

The second master, Li Rongcai, said quietly: "I'm waiting for the old, the junior hero!" But I've always felt a little uneasy, if Xing'er was here, I would definitely be able to come up with a better plan. ”

The fourth master, Li Rongneng, said with a smile: "The second brother likes to worry about it, I think this idea is very good, the art of war everywhere, don't always underestimate Yang'er, the eldest brother's affairs hit him a little hard, I thought that Yang'er would only use force, but now use wisdom, isn't it a good thing?" ”

"I hope I'm just fooling around." The second master, Li Rongcai, comforted himself.

The continuous autumn rain has long stopped, but the weather has not cleared, and the dark clouds are still not dispersed, and the large dark clouds cover the moonlight, and the four fields are pitch black.

A cavalry left the big tent of the Southern Huai Army in a uniform manner, Li Yaoyang and Li Rongyi walked side by side, Jiang Ping and Han Wu followed and headed north.

……

As soon as Yi Xiaodao and Li Dingxing returned to Sioux City, they saw Li Yaoyang's army leaving Sioux City in a mighty manner. When Li Yaoyang decided to start a war with Chu Xiang, he also understood that he had misunderstood Yi Xiaodao, but he couldn't find it for a while, and when the front line was employing people, he withdrew all the scouts. Therefore, Yi Xiaodao and the others happened to witness the departure of the army.

The two of them didn't know what to do, they followed the army from a distance, and asked questions along the way, only to learn that it was Chu Xiang's beggar gang who assassinated the king of Nanhuai, and Li Yaoyang had raised troops to avenge his father. The two didn't dare to slack off, and hurriedly chased after them, but Li Yaoyang led the army all the way to hurry, where did the two have the speed of the army? Yi Xiaodao was okay, but he suffered Li Dingxing, running all the way, chasing and catching up, after all, he was still half a day behind the army.

"Big brother... Big brother is running too fast..."Li Dingxing gasped and said.

"It's human nature that the eldest prince is anxious for revenge. Where is this... I'm afraid it's almost to Anhui City, right? In the dark night, Yi Xiaodao couldn't figure out the direction, in fact, the two of them didn't know where they were all the time, they just knew that they were chasing the Nanhuai army behind their butts.

"It stands to reason ... Anhui City is over... We should now... It's almost time to get to Changcheng..."Li Dingxing finally couldn't run, and stopped and gasped for breath.

Yi Xiaodao also hurriedly stopped: "Second son, it's not easy for you... When have you ever suffered like this..."

"I've eaten... This bitterness? I... Think about it... I don't dare to think... I can run... So far away" Li Dingxing glanced at Yi Xiaodao angrily. The two of them slept in the open along the way, and Li Dingxing only brought a little bit of broken silver with him, and he had already run away. It's all Yi Xiaodao's food along the way, but those foods are very common for Yi Xiaodao, but Li Dingxing is difficult to swallow. So much so that Li Dingxing often wondered if Yi Xiaodao deliberately corrected himself in order to avenge the revenge he had tricked into going to the Nanhuai Palace.

"That's..."Yi Xiaodao pointed to a group of torches in the distance and asked Li Dingxing.

"It's big brother... Feed... Eldest brother! Li Dingxing recognized the military uniform of the Nanhuai Army and opened his mouth to shout. However, the Nanhuai army had just lit torches and was speeding up its march, and tens of thousands of horses' hooves trampled on the ground, blocking Li Dingxing's shouts out of the cavalry ranks.

Li Dingxing was a little puzzled: "Big brother... Where are they going..."

Yi Xiaodao looked at the cavalry team in the distance and asked, "Could it be... Are they going to go on a night raid? ”

"Night raid? How can you go with a torch..."Li Dingxing finally took a breath, and before he could finish speaking, he couldn't help but let out an "ah" and fell into the mud.

Yi Xiaodao grabbed Li Dingxing and dragged him out, and said: "This place is close to Poyang Lake, the ground is muddy, and there is a swampy place. If you don't light a torch, it's really a bit difficult..."

"Big brother... The eldest brother is going to sneak attack. To the north of Poyang Lake is Lushan, and the eldest brother wanted to bypass Lushan to sneak attack Chuxiang, but he was defeated! Li Dingxing reacted and yelled badly.

"What's wrong?" Yi Xiaodao asked.

"Lushan is located in the northwest of Poyang Lake, the Chu Xiang army is on the west bank of Poyang Lake, Lushan is within their range, and such highlands as Lushan will definitely send people to guard it. The eldest brother is still lighting torches at night, which is simply telling the enemy that he is coming to attack at night! Li Dingxing pulled Yi Xiaodao and said.

Yi Xiaodao hurriedly reassured Li Dingxing and said, "Don't worry, I'm not sure if the eldest prince went to attack yet, let's talk about it." Even if it was to go for a sneak attack, even if the cavalry rushed over, it would already be dawn. If we catch up, we might be able to stop the eldest prince! ”

Li Dingxing and Yi Xiaodao hurriedly chased after the cavalry that was gradually moving away. The poor two chased the army all the way from Nanhuai without resting for a moment. Yi Xiaodao is okay, he had the experience of traveling long distances from Anhui City to the capital before, although the speed was not fast, but it was with Xianglian'er and He Yue'er. Now that he is on the road with Li Dingxing, Li Dingxing looks weak, but after all, he is a person who practices martial arts, and he still has the foundation, and Nanhuai was almost healed from the arrow wounds shot by the two scouts along the way.

Li Yaoyang was in front, Yi Xiaodao and Li Dingxing were behind, chasing after each other, and ran for most of the night.

Li Dingxing really couldn't run, so he sat on the ground: "Yi Xiaodao, you... You go after it... Big brother, don't worry about me... I want to rest..."

Yi Xiaodao looked at Li Dingxing who was sitting on the ground, and understood that he had indeed reached the limit, but leaving Li Dingxing here in the middle of the night, Yi Xiaodao was really a little relieved. In this swamp, there are not many fierce beasts, but there are still a lot of poisonous insects and pythons, and Li Dingxing has no experience in the wild, which is really reassuring.

"Hey, big brother... Stopped. Easy knife, fast... Help me... Get up. Li Dingxing looked at the torches in the distance, his heart was overjoyed, and he hurriedly motioned for Yi Xiaodao to pull himself up.

The two of them held each other and hurried towards the torches.