The New Year is approaching, but there is no trace of festive atmosphere in Dongyang Road, Beiyan.

With the four fortresses connecting the north and south, Yongquan, Gushu, Qingtian and Tongshan, fell into the hands of the Huaizhou army, the other side has completely grasped the initiative on the battlefield.

During this period of time, a large number of squires and wealthy families fled from Ruyin City, and they all went to Heluo City with their families without exception, because no one could guarantee that the Yan army could block the advance of the Huaizhou army.

Once the Huaizhou army is under the city, no one will be able to leave at that time.

Naturally, Li Shouzhen could not sit idly by and watch this situation occur, because the departure of a small number of wealthy households from the city would have little impact on the city's defense, and acquiescing in and conniving at such behavior would deal a devastating blow to the people's hearts in the city.

Since six days ago, the city of Ruyin has declared martial law, and no one can leave the city at will without a note from the General's Mansion.

This is just one of the events that gave Lee Shouzhen a headache, and it was a relatively unimportant situation.

"Is there an update on the latest military intelligence report today?"

At the end of the day, Li Shouzhen just walked into the conference hall and couldn't wait to ask, his eyes were bloodshot, and it was obvious that he had not slept well during this time.

The staff members shook their heads one after another, and one of them, a middle-aged man named Ling Xiushan, said, "General Hui, the previous situation can still be maintained on the border for the time being. Although the Huaizhou Army made some moves, they were basically small-scale sorties and did not advance the front to the north. ”

Li Shouzhen walked to the side of the sand table and looked at the border situation that he was already familiar with, as if this would make him feel a little more at ease.

After the Huaizhou army captured Gushu, it had already occupied the southern gate of Dongyang Road, and whether it was to force Ruyin in the north, Ningling in the west, or continue to expand the territory it occupied in the east, there was not much obstacle in theory.

However, after the other party achieved a huge advantage in the early stage, he suddenly took the initiative to slow down the progress and showed a posture of being a little rich and peaceful, which was obviously too abnormal in Li Shouzhen's view.

"What is the current situation of the arrangement of the Huaizhou Army of Southern Qi?"

Li Shouzhen turned his head to look at a man in his thirties, whose name was Yan Xu, who was the person in charge of the Prosecutor's Office on Dongyang Road.

After Wang Shidao returned to Heluo, Yan Xu commanded the secret agents of the Prosecutor's Office here to provide intelligence support to the military.

Of course, Li Shouzhen also has a scout system in his hands, but at this moment he doesn't want to leak any useful information.

Yan Xu replied calmly: "General Yu, recently, the brothers of the Prosecutor's Office have fought with the Southern Qi Weaving Division and the scouts of the Huaizhou Army, and the other party is very strong, so we have not taken much advantage. Judging from the information collected at present, the Huaizhou Zhenbei Army is stationed in Tongshan City, and the Lai'an Army is stationed in Gushu City, and these two armies are the strongest elite main force in the Huaizhou Army. In addition, we found the banners of the Guangling Army and the Taixing Army near Gushu City, and they gradually invaded the surrounding area with Gushu City as the core. ”

Li Shouzhen bowed slightly, this is roughly the same information he has, Yan Xu is at least an official who is willing to tell the truth, regardless of his ability.

He stared at the logo on the sand table, and asked, "Now the Huaizhou Army is personally commanded by Xiao Wangzhi?" ”

Yan Xu replied: "Our people risked their lives to investigate and found that the commander of the Huaizhou Army was set up in Yongquan Pass, but they couldn't be sure that Xiao Wangzhi was here. General, the chief generals of the various departments in Huaizhou have arrogant temperaments, and no one can suppress them except Xiao Wangzhi, so Xiao Wangzhi must personally take command. ”

"Your analysis makes sense, too."

Li Shouzhen laughed at himself, and then said with a straight face: "Actually, what I really want to ask is, where is Lu Shen and his Ruishi battalion now?" ”

Yan Xu shook his head and said: "General Hui, we still don't know, we can only confirm that the last time the Ruishi battalion appeared was in the Battle of Wanting, and it hasn't appeared on the front line since then." ”

Hearing him mention the battle of Wanting, Li Shouzhen suddenly felt a violent irritability in his heart, if the 15,000 soldiers and horses led by Cheng Weimin had no losses, why would he be so worried now, but this was his own decision, and no one was to blame.

At this moment, a scribe walked quickly into the council hall and hurriedly said, "General, the messenger from the capital is here!" ”

Li Shouzhen's eyes lit up, and he quickly nodded and said, "Bring him in!" ”

After a while, a man in his thirties came to the front, bowed slightly, and said: "General Li, Pang Shu ordered the villain to come and deliver the message, and the 10,000 reinforcements led by General Lu Huan, the female daughter of the Jing Dynasty, will be stationed near Lei Ze, and they will not come directly to Ruyin City for the time being." ”

"What did you say?!"

Li Shouzhen's face changed suddenly, and the staff and subordinate officials next to him couldn't help but look at him worriedly.

The person who came looked slightly embarrassed, lowered his head and said: "General, please calm your anger, this is a strategy confirmed by the Privy Council and the Lord of Yongping after consultation, and it has been agreed by His Majesty." ”

Li Shouzhen directly ignored his later sentence, the authority that the Son of Heaven can use in the Yan Kingdom court is almost known to everyone, the key is that this is the common opinion of Qingyu Huaijin and Pang Shigu, which means that he is powerless to change it at all, not to mention that the female Lu Huan will not follow his advice at all.

However, if reinforcements do not arrive, the risk of the loss of Ruyin City will greatly increase.

The messenger added: "Pang Shumi also said that the general can withdraw the defenders stationed in the area of Fengqiu to fill the empty defense line in the south. ”

Li Shouzhen's expression softened slightly, there were 20,000 defenders on the northern line of Fengqiu on Dongyang Road, and the original intention was to guard the main transportation routes to prevent the Seven Star Army in Baotai Mountain from attacking south. If this army is transferred to Ruyin, it can indeed solve his urgent needs, but it will lead to a new hidden danger.

"After the northern army retreats south, who will guard against the bandit army in Baotai Mountain?"

"Don't worry, General, the Privy Council will take care of this."

The messenger did not elaborate, or he did not know the specifics, so he could only promise vaguely.

However, Li Shouzhen did not lose his temper this time, he suddenly realized that this should be Qing Yu Huaijin's plan, and the main force of the Jing Army must be prepared to solve the Seven Star Army.

As soon as he thought of this, he bowed his head slightly and said, "I've worked hard for you, let's go and rest." ”

"Yes, General."

After the messenger retreated, Li Shouzhen looked at Ling Xiushan and said, "You immediately drafted a military order on my behalf, and ordered Wu Xinzhang to lead 20,000 soldiers and horses to the south immediately, come to Ruyin City first, and then wait for the next arrangement." ”

Ling Xiushan said with a slight hesitation: "General, all 20,000 soldiers and horses are going south?" ”

Li Shouzhen said: "Yes, since this is Pang Shumi's suggestion, then we don't have to worry about the bandit army in the mountains in the north." ”

Ling Xiushan bowed down.

Li Shouzhen looked at Yan Xu again and said: "The brothers of the grievance procuratorate are working harder, I need the specific arrangement of the Huaizhou army on the border, the more detailed the better, especially the information of Xiao Wangzhi and Lu Shen." Brother Yan, I know that your prosecutor's office has some low-level shadows in the south, and they will not be used until the last resort, but now that it has reached an extremely critical moment, it cannot be delayed any longer. ”

Yan Xu's face was embarrassed, and he said slowly: "General, this matter is very important, and it is really difficult for the lower officials to make decisions, and it must be approved by Lord Wang, and there must be a necessary reason." ”

Li Shouzhen sighed softly, and said quietly: "Wang Shizheng and Pang Shumi are far away in the capital, and they don't know the situation on the border, even if there is information to review, it is still not as real as what I feel here." The biggest problem at the moment is that we don't know the plans of the Huaizhou army, don't you think that the border battlefield is in an eerie silence now? ”

Yan Xu was slightly stunned, and his expression gradually became serious.

Li Shouzhen continued: "Let me ask you, what are you going to do next after the Huaizhou army captures Gushu? Is it to take Ningling in the west or to go north to Ruyin? They didn't do anything, they just walked around the area around Gushu City, don't you think there's a great conspiracy hidden here? If you were the commander of the Huaizhou Army, would you take the initiative to stop when the early momentum was overwhelming? You can't tell me that this is Xiao Wangzhi's preparation for the soldiers to have a festive New Year's festival before they do it. ”

Yan Xu was stunned, and then said with a straight face: "The lower official immediately asked Lord Wang." ”

"I'm tired."

Li Shouzhen looked tired and walked to the handsome seat and sat down, supported his chin with one hand, and sighed slowly.

He had a hunch that those people in the south were weaving a big picture that would affect the safety of the Yan Kingdom's thousands of miles of border defense, but what was in front of him was a fog, let alone finding a way to break the situation.

This made him extremely frightened, but helpless.

While Li Shouzhen was meditating, a secret conversation was going on in a quiet dark room in a mansion in the northern area of Ruyin City.

Sitting on the south side was a man in his thirties who was not good-looking, and he said in a modest tone: "Wen Dujian, I have already analyzed the current situation of Dongyang Road for you, I don't know what you think?" ”

The man opposite him was a little older, and although he was wearing regular clothes, he could see a bit of the temperament of a horse, and it was Wen Xiguang who was now excluded from the Dongyang Road military general system with a false position.

In the battle of Baotai Mountain, Wen Xiguang was ambushed by Lu Shen and the Seven Star Army because of the rescue of the vanguard army that was advancing lightly, and became the first middle-level general of the Yan Army to be captured. This encounter is naturally very aggrieved, but compared with the fate of others in the future, Wen Xiguang, who withdrew from the battlefield early, was a blessing in disguise.

Although he was robbed of military power by Li Shouzhen, at least he saved his life and did not suffer much loss.

Wen Xiguang looked at the thirty-year-old man opposite, looked at the other party's ordinary face walking on the street and almost no one cared, and asked unhurriedly: "If I guessed correctly, you should not have a low status in the warp weaving department?" ”

The thirtie man smiled and said: "Prison Wendu has taken a high look at me, there is a dragon and a crouching tiger hidden inside the warp weaving department, and I am just a nobody who was forced to hide on Dongyang Road." ”

Wen Xiguang shook his head and said: "You are now a subordinate official of the Great General's Mansion, although you are not Li Shouzhen's cronies, but you can also have access to a lot of secrets, such an identity is destined to be not a nobody in the Warp Weaving Division." ”

The man's name is Feng Xiaowen, as Wen Xiguang said, he works in the General's Mansion, which is of course a fake name, and no one knows his true identity.

Even in the Huaizhou Yamen of the Warp Weaving Division, only Su Yunqing and Lu Shen knew about his existence, and they only knew that his code name was Gray Harrier.

Last year, before Zhang Junsi led the Dongyang Road army into Huaizhou to defend the line, he sent the important information of Dongyang Road back to Southern Qi for Qin Zheng and Xiao Wangzhi to make a correct judgment.

Feng Xiaowen said: "It's better for people like us to be nobodies. ”

Wen Xiguang was silent for a moment, and said curiously: "Actually, I don't understand why you appeared in front of me, aren't you worried that I will let people arrest you and send you to Li Shouzhen to ask for credit?" ”

Feng Xiaowen looked indifferent, and said unhurriedly: "Lu Duwei said that Wen Dujian is not that kind of person. Besides, if I want to win your trust, I have to go myself, and naturally I should take some risks. ”

"Lu Duwei refers to Lu Shen?"

"It's him."

Wen Xiguang couldn't help but think of the experience in Baotai Mountain, the long conversation between him and Lu Shen that night, and then looked at Feng Xiaowen in front of him, who put life and death aside, he sighed softly: "I finally understand why the Huaizhou Army can win successive battles, because there are people like Xiao Dadudu, Lu Duwei and Your Excellency, the victory or defeat of this war has long been doomed." ”

Feng Xiaowen looked at him with a smile on his face and said, "Actually, I have secretly observed Wen Dujian for a long time, you are different from Li Shouzhen, who is determined to be a dog for Jing Chao. From the bottom of my heart, you still think that you are a Qi person, so I decided to come to see you in person according to Lu Duwei's arrangement. ”

Wen Xiguang didn't know this, which can be seen from his name as the coaches on both sides.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but shake his head and smile, and asked again: "I stayed at home during this time, although I didn't know the specific situation of the war, but I probably felt that Governor Xiao and Captain Lu were not planning one place, but planning the victory or defeat of the overall situation. Brother Feng, I won't inquire into their detailed arrangements, but you must at least let me understand what you need me to do? ”

"As it should be."

Feng Xiaowen nodded, and then said solemnly: "Captain Lu asked me to tell Wen Dujian that he knows that you have a wide network in the Yan army, which is why Li Shouzhen only seized your military power but did not go further. At the beginning of Baotai Mountain, Captain Lu told you that there may be a time to fight side by side in the future. Now that the time is gradually ripe, he hopes that you can contact a group of reliable people to assist our army in taking Ruyin City at the lowest cost when our army is approaching the city! ”

For some reason, he was already past the age of being easily impulsive, but Wen Xiguang felt that the blood in his body that had been dormant for a long time was boiling.

"At the beginning, I didn't have the right to choose, because the whole family was in the sight of others, even if I could risk my own life, but I really couldn't let a whole family follow me to death. Now that you are willing to give me such an opportunity, if I don't know how to cherish it, won't I be the stupidest person in the world? ”

Wen Xiguang's tone was gentle, but he revealed a little bit of indignation, and continued: "Please tell the south, Wen does not ask for high-ranking officials, and is willing to make a modest contribution to the Huaizhou army to recover his homeland!" ”

Feng Xiaowen's heart was touched, and he raised the teacup and said, "Thank you!" ”

The two drank the warm tea, and each other's eyes were full of grandeur.

(End of chapter)