There was a map of Heluo in the hall, and Zhu Xicai was talking endlessly about the rebel situation east of Yanshi.

"Li Huaixian, who was stationed in Xingyang, had already led his troops to support Chen Liu, and Lang Jun may have fought with him for miles. I used to be under Li Huaixian, I am very familiar with him, he is a Khitan, proficient in riding and archery, but he has no loyalty at all, and he can rebel with An Lushan because of the benefits he gives. ”

"In the battle of Yongqiu, we defeated Li Huaixian's department." Wang said casually.

Zhu Xicai was in awe and said: "As long as Lang Jun leads his troops eastward, occupies Xingyang, and attacks Li Huaixian with the Tang army in the east, he will surrender Lang Jun and let him be my general." ”

Xue Bai listened and listened, and only knew about the rebel generals. However, he did not have much interest in attacking Xingyang to the east.

He took a long time to detour through Songshan, and the news that the imperial court was going to detain him had already reached Yanshi, and the counties of Henan, Huainan, and Shandong must have also known about it.

The most in his interests was to attack Luoyang, and contact Ge Shuhan and the Tongguan army to flank the main rebel forces before and after, and then wave his army to support Li Cong.

It seems to be the most dangerous way, and you have to face the most elite more than 100,000 border horsemen, and face Luoyang City, which An Lushan personally guarded. But in fact, as the situation in Hebei reversed, the main force of the rebels was surrounded in several states in Henan, and even An Lushan panicked. If Luoyang can be broken in one battle, the more than 100,000 elite soldiers between Tongguan and Shaanxi County will suddenly become turtles in the urn, with no food and grass, morale collapses, and there is only one way to surrender.

If this is the case, if Xue Bai convinces Ge Shuhan again, they will have far more than 200,000 soldiers and horses, but more than 300,000 elites in hand, why can't they reorganize the rivers and mountains and establish the new monarch's power as the Son of Heaven?!

At that time, all accusations and suspicions will be gone.

But when it comes to how to fight this battle, there is still a lack of intelligence at the moment, and it is not enough to rely on Xue Bai's thousands of troops, he also needs a certain degree of cooperation from Ge Shuhan in the west and Yan Gaoqing and Zhang Xun in the east.

So he did not take the liberty of attacking Luoyang, but built a city and dug ditches, stuck to the county seat of Yanshi, and sent a large number of sentinels to investigate intelligence and at the same time create a momentum, preaching that the rebels had fallen into a desperate situation and shaking their morale.

In one day, almost all the regimental training and people in Yanshi County were recruited to participate in the construction of defenses, and each person could get two to five loaves a day. This grain is not in the warehouse of Yanshi County, but the grain in Luhun Villa.

In addition, Xue Bai had more encouragement to the soldiers and the people, telling them that "the king division has recovered Henan and Hebei, and the rebellion is about to be quelled", and promised a large number of rewards, and the rewards and punishments are clear. Among them, many residents are full of enthusiasm when they hear that after the rebellion is suppressed, their money tickets can be redeemed for the belongings stored in the bank.

In winter, when the soil was hard, they shoveled snow in front of the city to build a low wall, freezing the sharpened bamboos in it, forming a natural repellent horse. After nightfall, it carries water and pours it on the city wall, which freezes before dawn, making it solid and smooth, and difficult to climb.

There are many fortifications built in the north of the county, in order to ensure that it can be used as a horn with Shouyang Mountain and support each other. A large number of people moved the baggage on Shouyang Mountain into the city, and then the regimental trainers were also equipped with armor and bows and crossbows, which were practiced by the veterans under the command of Wang Yuan.

Inside the city wall, huge stone cannons are being erected, and it is not only boulders that can be ejected, but also bags of explosives.

"Whew-"

A shrill trumpet sounded, and from a great distance, the defenders could see the sentry horses rushing back from the sky, and even the color of the flag they waved.

"The rebels are coming! Enter the city! ”

With such a reconnaissance weapon, coupled with the rejection of horses all over the ground, the soldiers and civilians outside the city had calmly retreated into the city without waiting for the rebel cavalry to get closer.

……

In the wind and snow, the flag is half-hidden.

Tian Qianzhen frowned, and shook the war horse under his crotch without hesitation, vowing to raze the Yanshi and avenge the noble.

When he saw from afar that the last group of people outside the city were entering the Zhanluo Gate in the west of Yanshi City, he ordered, "Kill it!" Don't slow down! ”

"Report! General, there is a rejection of horses ahead. ”

At the forefront, there were already a few galloping cavalrymen who had been blinded by the wind and snow and had crashed into the bamboo poles frozen in the low wall, or were pierced in the stomach or injured their legs, and some of the horses had their bellies cut and were falling to the ground screaming sadly.

Tian Qianzhen went over, finished off the war horse in sorrow with one sword, and shouted: "Cut off these bamboo poles!" ”

Although he was extremely angry and impatient, he still knew how to boost morale, and shouted: "Tang Jun is smart, lest we go to find bamboo and firewood for camping!" ”

But no matter what, the rebels came all the way, thinking of killing, but they had to stop and chop bamboo in the wind and snow, and they were still frustrated.

It was getting dark, and a soldier stepped forward on the snow, chopping the bamboo that was diagonally inserted in the ice wall, when he suddenly heard the sound of the wind, and he looked up, and saw several falling rocks flying towards him in the sky.

But he was still more than 200 steps away from the city wall.

"Bang."

The boulder smashed his helmet, then smashed the wall of ice in front of him, splattering ice slag everywhere.

Only more than ten people died, and the casualties were not large, Tian Qianzhen's voice was still ruthless, and he ordered: "Pass the order, take fifty steps back and set up camp!" ”

In the evening, when the wind was howling, the soldiers finally set up camp and rested, when suddenly they heard a clamour, and then rockets were fired on the tents on the outskirts of the camp. The rockets of this Tang army are somewhat different, they can drip out black graphite, which is very easy to ignite.

Tian Qianzhen didn't expect Xue Bai to dare to send troops to attack at night, after all, behind him was Luoyang and the main force of the rebels. Fortunately, out of the habit of marching and fighting, he had arranged precautions, and the soldiers were all elite, so there was not much loss in the night, but it only affected morale.

The next day, the rebels advanced in a more sparse formation, destroying the Tang army's fortifications and consuming the stones thrown by the Tang army with small casualties.

A small group of daring cavalry rushed to the city gates.

The Tang army in the city listened, and immediately returned Prime Minister Gao's body! Otherwise, on the day the city is broken, everyone in the city will be slaughtered! ”

The defenders of the city did not shoot arrows at them, but fought back with verbal threats.

"The noble instigated thieves to rebel, and it is difficult to atone for their sins with a thousand cuts! Today, only Luoyang still exists, and he is in a desperate situation, so the guilty edict exiles the noble, kills the noble, and also An Lushan! ”

Subsequently, an old eunuch was escorted to the city, and was forced, chanting aloud An Lushan's noble edict in a shrill voice.

As Tian Qianzhen said, when this matter spread, the morale of the army was shaken, and coupled with the fall of Yanshi City, Xue Bai was embedded in the rebels like a nail, which was a huge blow to morale.

He even had the illusion that once he didn't capture Yanshi County, he would even be defeated by Xue Bai. Then the defeated forces of his men will be like a plague, bringing fear to all.

After that, there was another question at the head of the city that attracted Tian Qianzhen's attention.

"Hanjiacang has no food, how long can the thief last in Luoyang?!"

~~

The snow was falling, and some cavalry bypassed Kaifeng City, went south along the canal, and rushed to Yongqiu.

Soon, Zhang Xun rushed to Yan Gaoqing.

"Yan Gong, there's news!"

Yan Gaoqing was looking at a letter, his eyes showed a worried look, he raised his head when he heard the words, guessed slightly, and asked, "Xue Bai has news?" ”

"I'm still worried that Xue Taishou won't be able to get around Yanshi, it seems that it's really unfounded."

This is a joke between cultural people, because Yongqiu is the fiefdom of Qiguo.

As Zhang Xun spoke, he quickly walked to Yan Gaoqing, pointed to the map, and said: "The sentry horse has detected the enemy's movements, and Li Huaixian, who supports Kaifeng City, is leading his troops westward. This move must be because of Xue Taishou. ”

He is not guessing, but has many bases.

Previously, they feinted to attack Chenliu and recovered the city of Qizhou north of Yongqiu. Now Helan Jinming led his troops to cross the Yellow River and stationed in Qizhou, but the first thing he did was to order Yan Gaoqing to hand over Xue Bai and obey his dispatch.

Regardless of Helan's purpose in advancing to the Ming Dynasty, as far as the rebels are concerned, the Tang army has increased its troops, and there are quite a few troops.

In this case, Li Tingwang is too late to ask for support, how can he let Li Huaixian go? It can only be because of the enemy on the back of the abdomen, and it is necessary to rush back to Xingyang, where the troops are empty.

Then, the most likely scenario is that Xue Bai has already occupied Yanshi, and if Ge Shuhan comes, the rebels' reaction will be to surrender or flee.

"Li Huaixian actually retreated west?" Yan Gaoqing was a little surprised that the rebels ignored Helan Jinming's threat, and said, "But in this way, Xue Bai's risk is even greater. ”

He squinted his old eyes, leaned over, pointed to the map, and said, "Yanshi is only a small county, and the terrain is not dangerous. Xue Bai has few troops, he is trapped in thieves, and he is surrounded by enemies on all sides, how can he win? ”

"Therefore it is necessary to send troops immediately." Zhang Xun said: "The previous feint attack has made the rebels tired to deal with, and now Xue Tai is guarding behind the thieves, which is the opportunity to recover Kaifeng and severely defeat the thieves." ”

He had already thought very clearly, as long as troops were sent here, Xue Bai's belly and back attack would be able to capture Kaifeng and Xingyang. Even if this plan fails, it can reduce the pressure on Xue Bai, and then continue to cut off the communication between the rebels and Kaifeng and Luoyang.

This is when troops must be dispatched.

"Look at this." Yan Gaoqing handed the document he was reading to Zhang Xun.

Zhang Xun first looked at the payment, and frowned when he saw that it was the words "Helan Jinming", not because he didn't like this Hebei envoy, but now when the society is in danger and the common people are suffering, the other party is coming to lead the army, but he is not a thief to help the world, but he only knows how to squeeze out the heroes every day.

After patiently reading the letter, Zhang Xun was even more angry, and said, "How dare he? ”

The letter said that Wang Chengye had not seen Xue Bai for a long time, and suspected that Yan Gaoqing was suspected of harboring him, and Yan Quanming has now been arrested. Helan Jinming claimed that he had been turning around for this matter, but he needed Yan Gaoqing's cooperation, as for how to cooperate? is to hand over the military power, and he will take over Yongqiu's soldiers and horses.

If Yan Gaoqing agrees, let's not talk about the overall situation, a general in the army who has offended Helan Jinming like Li Zejiao will die. In fact, for the death of Helan Zhijia, Yan Gaoqing also has an unshirkable responsibility.

"Report!"

At this time, Nan Jiyun hurried over and said, "The soldiers and horses of Helan Jinming in the north bypassed Yongqiu and went to Ningling City in the south. ”

"What?"

Zhang Xun and Yan Gaoqing glanced at each other, and their faces became serious.

Helan Jinming's move should have several layers of deep meaning, or guessed that Li Huaixian's soldiers and horses were going west to attack Xue Bai, and intended to let the rebels have no worries and kill people with knives; If you don't enter Yongqiu, you should have no trust in them, and you can even say that you are extremely wary; Retreating from the front line to the rear, abandoning Qizhou City, not to mention, obviously wanted them to stand in the way of facing the rebels and harboring evil intentions.

Zhang Xun paced and thought about it, worried that these things would hit the morale of the army, so he immediately wrote a handwritten letter, asking Helan Jinming to send troops together to fight the rebels.

In addition, in order not to make the soldiers feel wronged, he did not hesitate to ask Helan Jinming in the letter why he was fighting for power when the sect was still in danger.

After writing a letter, Nan Jiyun volunteered to send a letter to Ningling, Zhang Xun was not at ease, and sent thirty horsemen to follow him.

~~

If it weren't for this rebellion, Nanhachi, who was boating on the canal, would not have been discovered, and it turned out that he had an amazing talent for riding and archery.

With the rapid improvement of martial arts, in just a few months, he has undergone earth-shaking changes, full of sharpness and the bearing of a general.

Running from Yongqiu to Ningling, on the way met a group of rebel sentry horses, Nan Jiyun was very fierce, did not hesitate to lead people to kill the past, shot two enemy soldiers with a bow in a row, took advantage of the rebel fright, thirty Tang soldiers killed them to a rout, Nan Jiyun was sharp-eyed, recognized the small leader of the enemy, and killed the other party with an arrow.

After a small encounter, he rode over to check on the capture and got the news that the rebel sentry had sentry.

"Jin Ming suspects that the generals will intersect the East Palace, and if you want to fall into white, you will not come out."

Nan Jiyun had just started to learn calligraphy, and after thinking about the military situation for a long time, he still didn't understand it, and he wondered how the rebel cavalry learned the news?

He continued to hurry, and arrived outside the city of Ningling, and after the report, the Tang army in the city opened the door and led him to the county office.

Before entering the gate of the county office, I faintly heard the sound of silk and bamboo coming from it.

Further inside, there is a beautiful voice singing.

"Chonglan is at the bottom of the stream, and the fragrance is full of secluded forests. If you want to give it away, who is the same ......"

The blood stains on Nan Jiyun's body had not yet dried, and he walked to the hall, clenched his fists, and deliberately shouted loudly: "Yan Taishou, Zhang County ordered me to deliver a letter!" ”

Ahead, the singer who was still unable to cover her snow-white skin in a colorful silk turned around, frightened by his appearance, and timidly covered her mouth.

Nan Jiyun had never seen a beauty dressed like this so closely, and when she smelled the fragrance on her body again, her crotch immediately stood up and pressed against his robe armor.

But only in the next moment, he didn't look at her again, handed the letter over, and said: "Yan Taishou and Zhang County Order invite Helan Taishou to send troops together to fight the rebels and recover Kaifeng!" ”

Helan Jinming sighed and said, "The thieves are surging, and our army has not yet gained a stable foothold, so it is not the time to rush out of the army. ”

As for forcing Yan Gaoqing to hand over power, he didn't have to talk to someone like Nan Jiyun, he just looked down at the letter. Yan Gaoqing also replied, although it sounded good, saying that he was willing to rely on his drive, if Kaifeng was recovered, he would be willing to push Helan Taishou as the first meritorious, and would never submit the right to send troops, and he would not care about Yan Quanming.

Zhang Xunxin actually had a sense of deterrence, saying that all the prefectures and counties in Henan were working together to resist the thieves, and advised Helan Jinming not to touch the anger of the people at this time, and in the end, he dared to ask a few words about the next offense.

Helan Jinming was angry, and he had the intention to give Zhang Xun a dismount, and he threatened to oppose the other party. When he was thinking about it, he noticed that Nan Jiyun was very heroic, so he decided to rebel against him first.

"You've come from all the way here, and sit down and have a glass of wine. Come on, give the strong man some more meat. ”

As soon as he spoke, Helan Jinming beckoned, and a beautiful maid holding a light yarn stepped forward to help Nan Jiyun sit down.

Before the slender jade hand fell on Nan Jiyun's blood-stained armor, he was so shocked that he took two steps back and said, "The villain doesn't dare to drink and eat meat, so he just asks Taishou to send troops." ”

"Sit down." Helan Jinming accentuated his tone, "Won't you give me this thin noodles?!" ”

Suddenly, many generals in the hall stood up, not allowing the lord to lose face, and the guards outside the hall also turned to Nan Jiyun one after another, their armor clanging, as if he didn't sit down, they wouldn't let him leave here.

Nan Jiyun was just a boatman before, and when he encountered such a battle for the first time, he inevitably felt helpless for a moment. He glanced at the hall of beautiful women, wine, food, and blades that could slash at him at any moment.

The authority of the important ministers of the court was pressed, and he was not allowed to refuse.

"Boom!"

Nan Jiyun suddenly pulled out the saber at his waist.

"Stop him!"

"Protect Taishou!"

Everyone in the hall was immediately shocked, but they didn't expect this reckless man to really assassinate Helan Jinming.

However, with a flash of the knife, Nan Jiyun simply cut off the middle finger of his left hand.

The middle finger fell on the bluestone slab and jumped lightly twice.

"What are you?" Helan Jinming was originally frightened, but at this time he was surprised.

"Before I came, everyone in Yongqiu County had been hungry for a long time, and I was too obedient to sit down and eat meat, I didn't dare to disobey, but I really couldn't eat this alone. Just leave this finger to accompany the Taishou, and please allow me to go back and report to the county order on state affairs. ”

This is the style of the people on the canal, but Helan Jinming is the first time he has seen it, and he was indeed frightened by that bloody finger, and he didn't know what to say for a while.

Nan Jiyun clenched his fists again, turned around and left, everyone was intimidated by his momentum, and no one dared to stop him.

After leaving the county office, the soldiers who came with him rushed up one after another, looking like they had something to say.

"Let's go."

When everyone left the city, someone took out a few sea fishing documents and said, "Look, they are searching for Xue Taishou." ”

The painting is good, and it paints a handsome young man, but unfortunately there is no Xue Bai charm. They directly saw through the documents below that this was a search for Xue Bai, and the words of the crime were very complicated, although they didn't know the words, they knew that it was "falsely claiming to be a deed, accusing and reprimanding public opinion".

"Weird, what's the use of that?"

"Knowing that Xue Taishou is not here, why do you still want to catch at sea?"

Only then did Nan Jiyun know why the rebels' sentry horses were able to find out the news, and he thought about it for a while, and suddenly cursed.

"Eat dog intestines! I understand that Helan Jinming deliberately released the news so that the rebels would know that he would not send troops, and he could transfer troops to attack Xue Taishou without worries. ”

"How can this be the case at the moment of national crisis?"

Nan Jiyun thought about it, and only then did he understand. Yan Taishou and Zhang Xian ordered him to pass the message, because they were worried that Yongqiu would send troops alone, and Helan Jinming had a small move behind his back.

"Drive!"

He turned his horse's head and rode his horse towards Ningling City again, while ignoring the bleeding of his fingers again, he picked up his bow and mounted his arrows.

This formation frightened the defenders of the city, and they also took bows one after another. Nan Jiyun had just arrived at the place of an arrow, and an arrow had been shot, nailed to the city wall with a "whoosh", and half of the arrow rod did not enter the crack in the wall.

Suddenly there was a cry of amazement in the city, and arrows were fired at him.

Nan Jiyun had already returned to the horse, and at the same time shouted: "Leave the arrow Mingzhi today, and when I return from the thief, I will kill Helan Jinming!" ”

~~

The horses' hooves were rolling, and a team of soldiers and horses had appeared to the east of Yanshi City.

This was the seventh day after Tian Qianzhen attacked Yanshi, and Li Huaixian finally arrived.

He was afraid that if he didn't arrive again, Yanshi would have been captured, and all the credit would go to Tian Qianzhen, and he would only be charged with arson. But when he arrived, he found that the situation was completely different from what he thought, and instead of capturing the county seat, Tian Qianzhen seemed to have suffered a lot of losses.

They are all people who often fight, and when they look at the battlefield, they know that Tian Qianzhen used the strong attack method of attacking the city with ants, and the casualties were very large, but the results were very small.

"Ah Hao, the battle shouldn't be fought like this."

Li Huaixian took his own soldiers to Tian Qianzhen's camp, and because he was older than the other party, he taught a few lessons.

"Xue Bai has a lot of city defense equipment, and if you let the soldiers fill it with their lives, it will only make the morale weaker and weaker. In my opinion, just besiege the city. Within half a month, the grain and grass in the city will be exhausted. ”

Tian Qianzhen was not very old, but his temper was not small, so he was immediately furious and said: "Xue Bai is based on Yanshi Xiaocheng, which is to cut off the communication between Luoyang and Kaifeng. If you don't pull out this city quickly, within half a month, the army's morale will be scattered! Li Huaixian, I think you only care about preserving the troops, not thinking about the overall situation! ”

Li Huaixian was scolded so much that he couldn't get off the stage, and he didn't want to lose troops like Tian Qianzhen to attack Yanshi, so he said: "I know that you have the best relationship with nobles, and you are carried away by hatred, but if you are angry, you will be defeated." Calm down first, and then I'll find a way to break the city. ”

"I let you come, nothing more than razing this city with a large army." Tian Qianzhen said, "Needless to say, tomorrow the two sides will attack together, and the siege will be!" ”

Although the words are ugly, it is true that only after annihilating Xue Bai can Luoyang and Xingyang be worry-free, and Li Huaixian can be regarded as passing the test in front of An Lushan, he has no choice but to respond and return to his camp.

When I arrived at Yuanmen, I was greeted by soldiers.

"General, the enemy has sent a letter."

"What's the use?" Li Huaixian said disdainfully, "Does Xue Bai still want to persuade me?" No way. ”

"It's Zhu Xicai's letter."

"Traitor."

Li Huaixian's eyes showed disgust, but he still took Zhu Xicai's letter and read it.

The content surprised him a little, and at first he was even a little dazed, saying that Xue Bai was not a traitor like Yang Guozhong who was bent on doing things for the faint monarch, but a loyal minister who thought about the overall situation of the society like An Lushan.

"What bullshit, we're anti-thieves."

Then looked down, and when he saw that Xue Bai wanted to support Li Cong and force Li Longji to abdicate, Li Huaixian remembered the slogan of "Qingjun Side" and understood that Xue Bai was indeed a loyal minister like An Lushan.

After that, Zhu Xicai began to analyze the current situation. On the rebel side, they were blocked outside Tongguan, unable to get through, surrounded by officers and soldiers in a few prefectures in Henan, the situation was very unfavorable, and Xue Bai's plan was also discovered by the faint monarch and was wanted. So, what if the two sides joined forces? If this is the case, Xue Bai persuaded Ge Shuhan to open Tongguan, and more than 300,000 troops entered Chang'an, supported the crown prince, and named An Lushan as the prince, according to the land of Hebei, the best of both worlds.

In the end, the letter said that if Li Huaixian was interested, he only needed to reply to the letter, and Zhu Xicai would definitely bear the guilt and explain in person in the camp.

After reading this letter, Li Huaixian groaned, turned back to the big tent, and turned out several pieces of information, including the sea fishing documents, the attitude of the Tang general Helan Jinming and others found by the sentinel horse.

"No wonder, I suddenly ran to Yanshi."

Li Huaixian muttered in a low voice, thinking that this matter could be exploited, even if it was a deception, a deception to Xue Bai, as long as he won this son, he might be able to calculate Tongguan.

He thought of Tian Qianzhen's fiery temperament, but he didn't have to share the work with him, so he spread out his pen and ink and wrote a reply to Zhu Xicai, inviting him to go out of the city to meet.

The worst is to take down Zhu Xicai, a traitor, and behead him to show the public......

(End of chapter)