At noon the next day, Gong Duan's army withdrew to Luzhou and set up camp outside Luzhou.

In the afternoon, Wang Qing rearranged the defenses, and a joint camp of 50,000 troops was spread out outside the city, and the northern city of Luzhou was horizontally inside.

Wang Qing dismissed Gong Duan from his official post as generalissimo of soldiers and horses, dismissed Du Biao as deputy marshal, appointed Duan Er as generalissimo and Fang Han as deputy marshal, and led dozens of generals to resist the enemy outside the city.

At dusk, Tanma returned to the city to report that thirty miles north of Luzhou City, traces of the Song army were found.

Wang Qing was shocked when he heard this, and hurriedly ordered someone to investigate again.

Half an hour later, a Song army took advantage of the night to come straight to the joint camp in the north of Luzhou City, shot a round of arrow rain, and then turned around and left.

Duan Er was afraid that there was an ambush of the Song army ahead, so he didn't dare to chase after him, so he ordered his troops not to move.

In the evening, when the court meeting was held again, Wang Qing's face was pale and he was talking above, and Duan Er outside the city suddenly sent someone to send a message, saying that the Song army had set up camp more than ten miles outside the city of Luzhou and built various fortifications.

Wang Qing sneered: "This is all at the doorstep, don't you Aiqing have a clever plan to resist the enemy?" ”

Fan Quan came out of the squad at this moment and said: "Your Majesty, although the Song army has arrived outside the city, but the soldiers will come to block it, and the water will come to cover it, and the ministers will watch the battle report, although our army has been damaged before, but now it has converged with the 5,000 troops of Gwangju and Huangzhou, as well as the defeated army of Shouzhou, there are still 80,000 people, which is only a lot more than the Song army." ”

Qiu Xiang came out of the class and said: "What Fan Dianshuai said is very true, the Song army only has more than 70,000 soldiers, and there are many injuries in several major battles in Shouzhou, far less than our soldiers, before our army faced other Song troops, even if the men and horses were less than the other party, but they could win a big victory, at this moment the Song army is small, even if they come to the city of Luzhou, they are not afraid." ”

Wang Qing said angrily: "Since there are more soldiers than the other party, why have you suffered defeats again and again?" ”

When the ministers saw that he was annoyed, they were silent, and they didn't say a word, even if Li Zhu closed his eyes at the head of the class and pretended to sleep.

Wang Qing saw that no one spoke, so he got up and left angrily, and after a few steps, he turned back and said: "The prime minister stayed to preside over the big things, and he was a little lonely, so go back to the palace first." ”

He brushed his sleeves and went to the back of the temple.

When everyone watched Wang Qing leave, they all looked up at Li Zhu, and after a while, Li Zhu slowly opened his eyes and said, "Let's go back first, rest for a night, and discuss the military tomorrow." ”

Seeing this, everyone knew that Li Zhu had no plan in his heart, so they retired together.

Eighteen miles north of Luzhou City, a large camp has already been built, fences, deer forks, horses, moats, all kinds of fortifications are complete.

In the camp, the banner is displayed, and on the bright red handsome flag about three zhang high, a big word is embroidered.

Under it, inside the big tent of the Chinese army, at this time the lights and candles are bright, and the crowds are crowded, and they are deliberating.

Zong Ze sat on the handsome seat, flanked by Liu Qi, Zhe Kecun, Wang Yu, Lu Junyi, Huang Gu and others.

Zong Ze put down the secret letter in his hand at this moment, looked at Huang Gu and said: "General Huang, I have seen the plan set by the prince, the prince said that this plan is only tentative, everything is adaptable, but I am a little puzzled, why does this Luzhou Xicheng have a chance to open?" ”

Huang Gu originally only hung up a position in the pro-military department, but he was too lowly for Zong Ze to be called, so he was called a general.

Huang Gu heard the words and said: "The Xiping Gate guard in Xicheng, Luzhou, is an old acquaintance of the prince, I didn't expect to meet in the thief army, if Wang Qing did not transfer his position, he would be able to respond to Ximen in the future." ”

Zong Ze pondered for a moment, nodded and said, "I see, the prince said that he didn't say when the next contact will be?" ”

Huang Gu said: "The prince said, but whenever the army meets in front of the city, they can get in touch, and the flag is played." ”

Zong Ze said: "If there is something indecided......

Huang Gu smiled: "The Sect Supervisor Army can call the shots. ”

Zong Ze said: "If you want to cooperate with the outside, you must first break the camp in front of the city, according to the scout's report, there are no less than 50,000 or 60,000 troops in front of the city of Luzhou, although the city does not know, but there should be 20,000 or 30,000 people, which is different from the battle report obtained in Haozhou before." ”

Liu Qi said: "Prison army, although the thief army is more than our army, but after these battles, it can be seen that the opponent's combat power is extremely ordinary, and it is not as good as our army in military discipline, and the subordinates think that the thief army in front of the city is easy to break, but the city is difficult to break, if the prince really has an internal arrangement in the city, then as long as the thief army in front of the city is broken, the attack on Luzhou is just around the corner." ”

Zong Ze looked at him and said, "What is General Liu's clever plan?" ”

Liu Qi said: "My subordinates thought that the thief army was greedy for merit, so they still lured the snake out of the hole and laid an ambush. ”

Zhe Ke said on the side: "The thief army has suffered several ambushes before, that is, they just sent troops to shoot a round of arrows in front of the city, and the thief army has not yet fought, and if you want to ambush again, I am afraid it will be difficult." ”

Wang Yu said at this time: "At present, the camp of the thief army is only in front of the north city, and it can harass the other three gates, luring the thief army to guard, and several times in a row, the thief army is in chaos. ”

Liu Qi said: "This method is difficult to do, let's not say that the three gates are only defended and not attacked, just say that there are many thieves in the north city, if they outflank the past, the thieves inside will meet them again, and they will attack from both sides, and our army will inevitably suffer heavy losses." ”

Wang Yu said: "My rear army can also meet the front army, and it is difficult to say who will attack who at that time." ”

Liu Qi said: "That would be a chaotic battle, and the outcome would not be in control." ”

Zong Ze said: "This battle of Luzhou, can only win but not lose, if defeated, there is no face to return to the court, and the prince is still in the thief army, if there is a mistake, I will wait for the lunch to apologize!" ”

Everyone was silent when they heard this, and suddenly they said, "I have a way to try here." ”

Zong Ze said: "General Zhe's clever plan can be said bluntly. ”

Zhe Kecun said with a smile: "I also listened to the rhetoric of General Wang and General Liu, and then I thought of this method, General Wang said to harass the other three gates, General Liu said to set up an ambush, I think it is better to unite the two, pretend to harass, and then ambush and lure, what does the Zongjian Army think?" ”

"Pretend to harass ......" Zong Ze pondered for a while when he heard this, and then nodded slightly.

Early the next morning, it was a resounding sunny day, with a clear sky and no clouds.

The second battalion outside the city of Luzhou, the flag is flying, people are shouting horses and neighing, and swords and guns are flashing.

With the sound of three drums, the wide gate opened, and out of it came a sentry cavalry, each of which was led by a general, and there were more than a dozen of them.

The cavalry was followed by infantry, and the infantry was divided into several types, including pikemen, broadsword soldiers, and archers, all of whom followed the cavalry out of the camp.

Then these horse infantry separated from each other like flowing water, and the handsome banner was displayed in the camp, and Duan Er, wearing golden armor, surrounded by a group of generals, came out on horseback.

Zhao Ta was in the rear crowd at the moment, he wore chain mail selected from the armory in the west of the city, carried an iron gun, and rode a yellow horse, without a trace of expression on his face.

This time the camp was ordered by Li Zhu, not really to go to the front to fight the Song army and fight to the death, but to boost morale and test the reaction of the Song army.

Zhao Ta can probably guess what Li Zhu is thinking, there are many soldiers and generals on the Luzhou side, and the city is backed by it, so he must not come up to defend directly.

Moreover, the terrain in front of the northern city of Luzhou is relatively flat, and it is difficult for the Song army to ambush all the way, so he ordered the whole army to go to call the battle early this morning.

Luzhou soldiers have a wide range of generals, if it is not for the ambush, the frontal rush is actually not afraid of the Song army, but after several defeats in a row, morale is relatively low, Li Zhu also wants to arouse morale, and he can't let the Song army send a large army to call the battle first, so that the morale will be even lower.

This time, Duan Er ordered a total of 40,000 horses, and pushed forward all the way, and the horses came back every half a mile to report the movement ahead.

In this way, he walked for more than half an hour for more than ten miles before he saw the Song camp in front of him from a distance.

On Zong Ze's side, he had already learned that the thief army outside Luzhou City was pressing, but he did not send troops to meet the battle, and the entire Dazhai was heavily fortified, putting on a defensive posture.

Duan Er saw it under the handsome banner, and couldn't help laughing and said: "This Song army actually didn't dare to send troops, isn't it because I'm afraid that my army won't succeed?" ”

Fang Han said on the side: "This place is naturally not as dense as Shouzhou Road, there are many forests and trees, and it is easy to ambush, if it is a hard fight on the battlefield, why will our army be defeated?" ”

Duan Er touched his beard and said: "That's the truth, it's a pity that Gong Duan's idiot doesn't understand, and he actually hit the trick again and again, otherwise he would have fought head-on, and our army would have defeated the Song army and captured Zhao Ta'er." ”

Fang Han said: "Marshal, now that the Song army is unwilling to fight, you see ......"

Duan Er squinted at the continuous Song army camp in the distance, thinking in his heart and not speaking.

At this time, a general in the rear said: "Marshal, I think it is better to rush over directly and take this Song army camp." ”

Fang Han glanced back and sneered: "I haven't heard the Malay report, this Song army has built many fortifications and traps, even if you want to rush the camp, it is not such a rush!" ”

The general suddenly shrank his neck and stopped talking.

Duan Er thought for a moment and said, "Who wants to be the vanguard and step forward to explore the reality of the Song Army?" ”

At this time, there was a general Zhang Shou in the rear who urged him to step forward: "Marshal, the last general is willing to go!" ”

Duan Er nodded: "Okay, then give you two thousand people to go forward to investigate immediately, don't be trapped by the Song army, don't forcibly rush to kill!" ”

Zhang Shou hugged his fists and said: "The last general has written it down!" ”

This Shou was a black-faced, wearing an iron armor, carrying a snowflake in his hand, and ordering 2,000 men and horses to go out of the army.

Although he asked to be a pioneer, he was not reckless, he just led the troops forward cautiously, but the more he went, the more frightened he became.

It turned out that the trenches on the Song army's side were dug strangely, unlike ordinary fortifications, which were flat and progressive, but a little disorganized.

As soon as the people and horses passed around, the formation was immediately disrupted, and if they went deeper, it would be difficult to converge.

However, since he asked for his life, he couldn't retreat, and walked awkwardly for a while, when a bangzi suddenly sounded in the camp of the Song army in front of him, and then he saw feather arrows flying, and I don't know how many arrows shot out of the camp.

And in the trench closer to the camp, arrows were also shot, and it was obvious that there were people hiding inside.

The team led by Zhang Shou had already entered the range of the feather arrows, and when he saw this, he shouted "retreat", turned his horse's head and ran.

However, although the opportunity was seen early, the trench was indeed too tortuous and chaotic, and many small soldiers still fell into it while dodging the feather arrows.

The bottom of the trench is sprinkled with bitter bamboo sticks, thistles and other things, the ordinary soldiers who fell down are not covered with armor, most of them are pierced to cry and cry for their mothers, although the trench is not so deep, but once injured, it is difficult to climb up, not to mention that there are feather arrows flying behind.

Duan Er frowned at the Shuai Qi and said, "This Song Army's defense seems to be a little weird!" ”

After a while, Zhang Shou came back, but he lost dozens of people, and Duan Er didn't blame him, but said, "What difference can you find?" ”

Zhang Shou smiled bitterly: "Marshal, this Song army doesn't know what kind of evil style to smoke, and actually dug the trench in front of the camp crookedly and miscellaneously, although we are not allowed to enter, but it is inconvenient for them to come out!" ”

Duan Er nodded: "This Song army is putting on a defensive posture, so it seems that it is difficult to steal the camp and rob the village." ”

Fang Han said: "It's not impossible to steal the camp, those trenches to block the small soldiers are okay, as long as you bring things like wooden planks, it's not difficult to go over." ”

Duan Er nodded, and said: "This Song army chased Gong Duan all the way to Luzhou, why did he put on such a defensive posture at this moment?" ”

The generals were silent when they heard this, and the Song army won a great victory on the Shouzhou Road, pressing Gong Duan over, but the result was not high, but after camping, he began to defend, and no one could understand the reason.

At this time, Du Yan suddenly said: "Could it be...... Song Jun is pondering a sneak attack? ”

Duan Er glanced back at him: "Where is the sneak attack?" ”

Du Yan said: "It's definitely not a big camp, the big camp is backed by the city, and it's useless to sneak attack." ”

Fang Han thought for a while and said, "This Song army doesn't want to sneak attack the city gate in other directions, right?" ”

Du Yan said: "I just want to do this, there is no camp outside the other three city gates, will the Song army fight the idea of those three sides?" ”

Fang Han said: "This is possible, although our camp is longer on this side of the North City, there is always a way to get around......

Duan Er said: "Although the camp of 50,000 soldiers can also envelop Luzhou City, but the strength of each place is too weak, I am afraid that it will be opened as soon as it is rushed, so it is impossible to build such a stockade, but the Song army wants to sneak attack the other three sides but is looking for death, as long as my Beicheng army outflanks the past, and the army in the city comes out to rush and kill, then the Song army of this sneak attack will not be lucky." ”

Fang Han nodded and said, "That's true, it's just that at the moment, the Song army doesn't want to clash head-on with our army, and it always seems to be playing some conspiracy." ”

Duan Er said with a smile: "With his back to the city, are you afraid that he will play some conspiracy?" Zhang Shou, you take the archers and go to the Song army camp again, return them a round of bows and arrows, and then withdraw the army and go back to prepare for the attack on the camp. ”

Zhang Shou was ordered to lead the troops again, but this time he learned to be obedient, first shooting those trenches close to the camp, and then slowly stepped forward and released a round of feather arrows to return, but there was no damage.

Subsequently, Duan Er withdrew his troops, wrote today's events into a battle report and entered the city, and then began to cut down trees everywhere to make tools for building trenches.

A few days passed like this, and just when the tools were almost ready, this morning, suddenly there were bursts of shouting and killing in the east of Luzhou City.

The soldiers in the tent hurriedly came to report: "Marshal, a sentry of Song cavalry has been found in Dongcheng, and they are bypassing from nowhere, and they are shooting arrows at the head of the city. ”

Duan Er was stunned, and suddenly laughed and said, "I really started the idea of those city gates, this Zhao Ta'er is too bold...... Come and prepare horses, Ben Shuai will personally lead the troops to kill this Song army! ”

(End of chapter)