Fengtian City, the county seat of Zhongping County.

The base camp of the anti-thief army on the east road, but only 50,000 anti-thief troops are stationed here.

Don't look at the fact that there are only 50,000 troops, but these 50,000 troops are carefully selected, and the combat effectiveness cannot be compared with the 200,000 troops of Marshal Pingtian.

The commander of this Eastern Route Army was Zuo Shizun, the anti-thief army, and he was stationed in Fengtian City.

After Marshal Pingtian suffered the defeat, he returned to Fengtian City without rest all the way, and told Zuo Shizun the reason why he failed.

Hearing that someone in the Beijing army could actually control the dreadnought soldiers, Zuo Shizun's first reaction was disbelief.

But then, the news that Marshal Ember was killed by the Beijing army came again.

This made Zuo Shizun have to believe it.

And next, he has to face the Beijing army that has just defeated him, after all, they defeated the soldiers and horses of the two marshals, and the next step must be to come to Zhongping County.

"Lord Shizun, it's really not that I'm incompetent, the main thing is that the dreadnought army is controlled by the other party, and the combat effectiveness of other people can't be compared with the Jing army at all." Marshal Pingtian is still defending Zuo Shizun.

After he heard the news of Marshal Ember Tian's death in battle, he was afraid that the commander of the Eastern Route Army would be angry with him, after all, if he didn't retreat, Marshal Ember might not die.

At the beginning, the Great Lord of Tian Yuan also praised Marshal Ember Heaven, saying that he was the first warrior in the rebel army.

Now that the first warrior has been killed, it is difficult for him not to be afraid!

Just as Zuo Shizun was about to speak, a middle-aged man in his thirties behind him pulled Marshal Pingtian back.

Seeing the man behind Zuo Shizun speak, Marshal Pingtian suddenly breathed a sigh of relief.

Because he knew that Zuo Shizun was obedient to the man in front of him, and their original plan to encircle was also the man's handiwork.

Sure enough, Zuo Shizun listened to the man's words, waved his hand, and let Marshal Pingtian retreat.

After Marshal Pingtian retreated, the man behind him spoke.

"Now that the ability of the Dreadnought Army has been cracked, although the number of the Jing Army is not much, it is not much different from our troops stationed in Fengtian City, but in terms of combat effectiveness, we are still slightly inferior!"

Zuo Shizun nodded, "Then in your opinion, what should I do?" ”

"Retreat from Fengtian City, you can't fight with them, their 200,000 people will disperse when they are scattered, those are all rabble, but the 50,000 people in Fengtian City are all elite forces, and they can't be used here!"

"If you retreat, the Beijing army will definitely chase you!" Zuo Shizun hesitated.

If they retreat, the Beijing army will advance, and there will inevitably be a battle at that time!

"It's a pity that there is no news from the people sent to the Hengyuan Plain of Tianfu County, otherwise we can retreat over there! At present, we can only retreat to the land of the three counties and unite with the Western Route Army to contain this group of Beijing troops! ”

Hearing this, Zuo Shizun was a little unhappy.

The Western Route Army is the force of the Right Shizun, if it is really a turn, the Western Route Army will definitely be stronger than the Eastern Route Army, but he can't run to the territory of the Western Route Army without doing anything and seek the protection of the other party!

If this spreads, he, the Eastern Route Army, will have no face.

Thinking of this, Zuo Shizun directly refused: "Walking in the direction of the Western Route Army will only attract ridicule from the people of the Western Route Army, since the Great Venerable Lord handed over this side to me, I naturally have to guard every inch of land!" Zhongping County is not easy to come by, if it is so easy to give it to them, I am not reconciled! ”

After Zuo Shizun said this, the man frowned, and then sighed.

"Okay, since you insist on staying, I won't say anything, but the Beijing army is menacing, just in case, you must send a letter of help to the Western Route Army, at this time, don't care about the East Road and West Road, as long as the imperial court's troops are defeated, the rest of the matter will be much easier!"

When Zuo Shizun heard this, he also knew that he couldn't refuse anymore.

Although this man is not a member of their anti-thief army, he can't afford to mess with this man's background, plus the other party only exists in the form of a staff member, people like them who have never fought in half their lives can have a guide who can fight, and it can be much easier.

In the end, Zuo Shizun agreed to the man's request to send a letter asking for help.

Next, Zuo Shizun cleared the wilderness again at the suggestion of the man.

Seeing that those food crops that were about to ripen were harvested, Zuo Shizun's heart was dripping blood, these crops were ripe in the first half a month, and then they would be fat and ripe grains, and now they are shriveled and thin, what a waste!

But according to the man, when the Beijing army arrives, these fat grains will become the rations of the Beijing army, and it will be the most dangerous for them at that time!

Thinking of this, Zuo Shizun immediately ruthlessly ordered all the crops to be cleaned up, all that could be taken from the periphery of Fengtian City was taken, and the houses could not be demolished and burned, but whenever there was a well to bury directly, all the people on the periphery of Fengtian City moved into the city.

The big landlords outside the city have long been looted.

It doesn't look like an insurrectionary army, it's more like a bandit!

In fact, there is nothing wrong with calling it a bandit!

By the time the 50,000 Beijing troops arrived at Fengtian City, there was only one lonely city left within a radius of 100 miles!

Seeing this scene, Huang Zhang's eyes narrowed.

"It seems that there are high-ranking people in the anti-thief army!"

Suo Yan was also shocked by the scene in front of him, although he knew that this group of anti-thieves would definitely not do good things, but he didn't expect that they could scavenge cleaner than locusts, which was really outrageous.

Fortunately, there was a salute with the army, but the surrounding trees were either burned or cut down, and for a time they could not make siege equipment.

Liao Jie had already taken the lead in leading the troops to Fengtian City to call for battle, but after calling for a while, he came back again!

"His Royal Highness the Great Prince, General, the last general has been shouting under Fengtian City for a long time, and none of the thieves responded!"

The reaction of the anti-thief was also expected by Huang Zhang.

After all, it is a bit troublesome to be able to strengthen the wall and clear the wilderness like this, and expect them to come out to fight.

"Immediately surround Fengtian City on all sides, don't let go of a thief!"

"Wait!" Huang Zhang suddenly stopped.

Hearing Huang Zhang's stop, Suo Yan was puzzled: "Your Highness thinks something is wrong?" ”

"Surround three sides and leave the west side empty!"

"Why is that?" Suoyan asked curiously.

It was Cen Shang behind Huang Zhang, who immediately understood after hearing Huang Zhang's suggestion, and couldn't help but nod.

"As long as we have the oppressive force, we can force the thieves to abandon Fengtian City and flee to the west! In addition, it is only surrounded on three sides, which can also minimize the resistance of anti-thieves to defend the city! It is more useful to give them a path than to seal them off! ”

"What if the thief runs away?" Liao Jie, who was on the side, spoke.

"Therefore, it is necessary to place an ambush outside the West Gate, and once the enemy escapes from the West Gate, use the ambush to deal with them!"

After listening to this, Suo Yan clapped his hands directly and said, "Wonderful! In this way, we will have much less pressure to siege the city! ”

Thinking of this, Suo Yan was a little impressed by Huang Zhang, originally thought that this eldest prince had average ability, at most he could have a special drum technique, but he didn't expect his brain to be so easy to use.

Thinking of this, Suo Yan continued to ask: "Your Highness, at present, the enemy has burned down the trees and houses outside Fengtian City, and it will take a long time to transport wood from a distance to make siege equipment, I wonder if Your Highness has any way to break the city quickly?" ”

"The way to break the city! I have an idea for this! ”

As soon as he heard that Huang Zhang really had a way, Suo Yan immediately became happy, he wanted to hear what Huang Zhang had to do!

"I just looked around Fengtian City, the north of the city is on the high side, if you build an earth mountain in the north of the city to connect a piece, you can condescendingly look down on Fengtian City, when the time comes, send troops to attack the north of the city, and then shoot arrows from the earth mountain outside the city to the city wall, you will definitely be able to get twice the result with half the effort, and overwhelm people with potential!"

"Do you want to build a mountain?" Suo Yan thought about it, and then clapped his hands and said, "Okay, then build a mountain of earth!" ”

After speaking, Suo Yan asked Huang Zhang again, "Your Highness thinks where is the best place for the ambush soldiers to ambush?" ”

Hearing Suo Yan asking another question, Huang Zhang glanced at him.

"In this way, you give me the command of the Beijing army, and let me command you for you, can you see it?"

"This ......" Suo Yan was stunned for a moment, not knowing what to say.

"You are also the commander of the Beijing army, don't let me make decisions about everything, I'm just here to motivate the army, not to help you fight! Don't reverse priorities. ”

When Huang Zhang said this, Suo Yan also knew that his behavior just now was a little excessive, and he hurriedly smiled at Huang Zhang.

"This ...... Don't you think the eldest prince is capable, don't worry, just leave the rest of the matter to me, I'll arrange it, Your Highness, just watch it! ”

Huang Zhang's words just now immediately woke up Suo Yan, he is the commander of the Beijing army, Huangzhang is not, although Huangzhang has the identity of the eldest prince, but in principle, there is no command, he can express his good impression of the eldest prince, but he must not let the eldest prince offside and usurp power, otherwise he will be used by someone with a heart, and when the time comes, he will be sent back to the capital, and he, the commander of the Beijing army, will probably be taken down.

In the days that followed, the Beijing army strictly implemented Huang Zhang's recommendations.

First, they surrounded the southeast, north and south gates of Fengtian City, leaving only the west gate undefended.

Then, he built an earthen mountain in the north of the city, and rushed to work day and night.

Originally, the terrain in the north of the city was higher than that of Fengtian City, and once the earth mountain was repaired, the entire north of the city was covered by a towering earth mountain, and the anti-thief soldiers defending in the north of the city were a little scared when they saw this battle!

Zuo Shizun was also puzzled when he saw the movement of the Jing army.

Fortunately, the men in the city are still there, and they won't let him run around like headless flies!

"In the past few days, several generals have asked me for orders to break through the siege, and the soldiers in the north of the city are afraid when they see that dirt mountain, do you say that this Fengtian City, can we still defend it?"

Zuo Shizun was also afraid in his heart, after all, the earth mountain in the north of the city was being repaired higher and higher day by day, and the day the earth mountain was repaired, I am afraid it would be the day when the Beijing army attacked the city.

At that time, it is unknown whether the north of the city can be defended!

When the middle-aged man heard this, he sneered: "Shou, why don't you keep it?" Think I can't see through such a shoddy trick? ”

"What shoddy tricks?" Zuo Shizun was puzzled.

"Do you know why they surrounded three sides and left one alone?"

"Isn't it because the number of troops in Beijing is not enough?"