Delong

Chapter 542: Wind and Frost (1)

In late September, Britain and Ming sent large armies to Hanoi.

Henei County was established during the Former Tang Dynasty, with a total of 16 counties. During the Wei Dynasty, Cao Che divided the eight eastern counties into Ji County, and the remaining eight western counties remained Henei County. The new Henei is in the shape of a long ladder, with mountains on two sides and a river on one side. Only the east side is unobstructed. In theory, it is a corner of the Hebei Plain extending into Jin. However, due to the existence and importance of Dongdu, the so-called Tianyuan of the world, Henei actually became a subsidiary of Dongdu and the northern gateway of Dongdu.

Three years ago, the Chulong Gang, as the controller of Hebei, voluntarily handed over half of Henei County, which was of great significance to Dongdu. In fact, this condition was crucial for the non-war agreement to be reached that day.

This action also directly led to the reconstruction of the famous Heyang City cross-river fortress in Dongdu, and made Henei County the intersection of the three forces.

When the war really broke out, some rumors appeared involuntarily... Many people said that these were all calculated by Chief Zhang. The reason is simple, this location is too convenient for the Chulong Army to be dispatched, which is equivalent to fighting on the inside. In contrast, Guanzhong has obvious logistical pressure, but it is difficult to give up this battlefield, because starting a war here can take care of both Dongdu and Yecheng at the same time.

But some people scoffed at this, because on the other hand, setting this place as a battlefield is equivalent to putting Yecheng on the front line. Once the front line fails, Yecheng will be in danger of collapse. Given the explosive development of Yecheng in recent years, who would be willing to give it up?

Is it okay to repair the Wind Swallowing Platform?
You see, as soon as the war broke out, the people of Yecheng cheered, but the next day many merchants quietly withdrew to the hinterland of Hebei, and some people in Yecheng also secretly sent their children to the countryside.

There was even talk within the Grand Secretariat of moving half of the personnel back to the General's Mausoleum. Everyone was used to that place anyway. Wei Xuanding was furious about this and directly signed the document for the corresponding personnel to go to the front line. It was transferred to the Document Department through the Ministry of Personnel and then to the Ministry of Military Affairs, and the people were sent away that same day.

That’s right, Chen Bin was just stunned for a moment, then he signed and sealed the document silently. In the afternoon, Xu Shiying also sent the man to exile without saying a word.

However, while the rear was still in this obvious state of combat readiness and pre-war dilemma, the army on the front line had already encountered the enemy.

On the second day after the army set out, the vanguard arrived at Xinwen City.

This place is located at the junction of the Chulong Gang in Henei County and the Dongdu forces. Because of the need to protect Xingyang, Linqing Pass and Yanjin in the easternmost section of Henei were not transferred to Dongdu, but remained under the control of the Chulong Gang. In order to continue to control the trade route and supplement the defense system of Heyang City, Dongdu built the new Wencheng on the east side of Qinshui and in Wen County to replace the previous Linqing Pass and Yanjin.

The effect was also significant. Hebei and Dongdu lived in peace for several years, and Hebei merchants continued to travel here as usual, making this place literally making a fortune.

"I, Old Liu, have something in my heart for years, but I still don't understand it." Liu Hei looked at the setting sun, then looked at Xinwen City in front of him, frowning slightly. "Can anyone tell me why Xinwen collects taxes from merchants so diligently, but we don't collect taxes at Linqing Customs? Is it a clause in the peace treaty?"

In this situation, everyone was a little confused when asked this question.

However, the interesting thing is that someone actually answered it, and it was a very unexpected person... Cao Chen was confused for a while, and suddenly clapped his hands: "I remembered, I heard this from my sister... It's not the article, but the business strategies of the two families are different. We only collect large-scale transaction taxes on livestock and horses to encourage the circulation of merchants, so we don't collect tolls; as for Dongdu, they followed the old practice at first, and later they wanted to learn from us to only collect transaction taxes. After all, their Dongdu city is there, so it is easier to do this. As a result, because Dongdu is now small, the things in the warehouse are all terrible, and the army needs fresh supplies to encourage morale, so instead of abolishing this tax, they changed it to collecting physical goods when passing through. As for Dongdu city, you can bring the voucher and don't have to pay transaction tax anymore."

"I see." Liu Hei nodded, pretending to understand, and looked at Cao Chen again, answering sincerely. "Old Cao, Manager Cao has a bright future."

"Of course." Cao Chen responded proudly.

Liu Hei suddenly laughed out loud: "You don't understand what I mean..."

"What do you mean?" Cao Chen was confused for a moment.

"Let me ask you something. Let's make an assumption. If your steward Cao didn't get married in Gaojipo back then and is still unmarried now, would you still be willing to let your sister marry Brother Dou?" Liu Heiyu asked jokingly.

Cao Chen's face immediately darkened: "Liu the scoundrel! Why do you talk so much nonsense today?!"

"I'm tired of waiting." Liu Heiyu smiled and glanced at the sun again.

In this way, everyone laughed and joked for a while. Although they said they were tired of waiting, there was no intention of deliberately delaying in Xinwen City. They quickly responded - they had not received any news of so-called reinforcements from Dongdu, and Dongdu and Yecheng were not allies, so they refused to open the city.

Not only that, if the Qulong Army forced its way into the city, they would rise up to resist.

"Let's do it!" Cao Chen thought for a moment and tightened his whip. "Although we are all cavalry, if we dismount and fight side by side, five or six thousand elite soldiers will drown them! Besides, Han Erlang's infantry battalion is right behind us, and Wang Longtou's army is also behind us, so we will definitely be able to catch up!"

"That's right." Xiahou Ningyuan also gritted his teeth and expressed his opinion. "I suggest fighting! If you fight, you will be the first to achieve success!"

"I don't want to fight." Unexpectedly, Liu Heiyu, who has always been in favor of fighting and took the initiative to fight for the vanguard position, frowned slightly and showed an unexpected attitude.

"Are you afraid that we can't take it?" Xiahou Ningyuan panted. "Captain Liu, I must remind you that this city is located on the riverside, it is the gateway to the battlefield ahead, and it is also the hub of logistics. Whether the Eastern Capital garrison commander is willing or not, we have to take it down, there is no way around it."

"Captain Xiahou is right." Cao Chen was also a little anxious. "Old Liu, since we are the vanguard, we can't lose our share..."

"What do you know? I just think my contribution is not big enough!" Liu Hei laughed coldly. "Of course we have to take this city, and we can take it, but our cavalry battalion ran so fast, more than a hundred miles in a day and night, just to dismount and attack the city? Or to attack a city that will be flooded by the arrival of the rear army? Besides, this city is a newly built fortress after all. Although the city is small, it has deep walls and high fortifications, and is well-equipped. Now there is no shortage of money, and the garrison commander is also a condensed Dan. Our cavalry battalion dismounted to attack the city without any equipment. Even if the chieftain Xiahou and I go in and kill the garrison commander, it will not delay the casualties of the men outside."

The other two calmed down, and Xiahou was the first to ask solemnly: "What does Chief Liu mean?"

"Just go around it. This isn't the Dragon Prison Pass on the other side. We can't get through it." Liu Hei pointed behind the city and said, "Now we just need to buy time. If our three battalions can rush into the heart of Ji County today and fight one or two battles on the other side of Qinshui before tomorrow, we can disrupt Daying's deployment and force our army to move in. Then we can gain a foothold in front of the key point of Heyang City... That would be a great achievement for the whole situation."

Cao Chen was immediately at a loss and instinctively looked at Xiahou Ningyuan.

Xiahou Ningyuan reined in his horse and turned around, looking at the sun and the army behind him, and gave his answer: "Captain Liu is right, we are cavalry, the Military Affairs Department asked us to be the vanguard and will not let us stop to attack the city. The original mission of 'try to advance as far as possible' definitely does not refer to this place! Let's go!"

"Then let's go. We'll just take a rest here, cross the Qinshui River and go west. Let Han Erlang come and surround the city." Cao Chen immediately responded when he saw that the two leaders agreed.

"Send someone to tell Han Erlang to let the people behind come to surround the city, and he should not worry about this place." Liu Hei continued to make arrangements. "Tell him to go upstream along the Qinshui River to conduct espionage. We must be on guard against the British people crossing the river from upstream to surround this place and also respond to us across the Qinshui River."

After hearing Liu Heiyu's arrangements, the remaining two had nothing to say. As the saying goes, speed is of the essence in war, so they set off immediately. Five or six thousand cavalrymen directly crossed the Xinwen City and built a pontoon bridge from Qinshui to cross the river. They did not care at all that doing so was tantamount to throwing their three battalions of cavalry into the feet of the British main force, which was said to have 200,000 troops.

Seeing this, more than a thousand soldiers from Dongdu, plus hundreds of tax collectors and laborers in Xinwen City, were all excited, and they couldn't help but whisper to each other, thinking that the Chulong Gang was indeed unwilling to break the alliance with Dongdu, and they could be safe this time.

When most of the cavalry had crossed the river, the rear battalion of infantry arrived hurriedly. They did not even cross the river, but directly abandoned the city and went upstream along the Qin River. This kind of discussion became even more frequent.

However, the military chief on the city wall, General Hu Yan, had a grim expression on his face. As a senior middle-level official of the Wei Dynasty and a model of someone who had risen to prominence after the turbulent times, he understood the current situation better than anyone else. Since the Chulong Gang had come to join the battle, and their troops were advancing so quickly, then Xinwen City must be taken... That's right, the core of the problem was that the Chulong Army came too fast, so fast that it changed the situation.

In fact, the strict preparedness in Xinwen City was simply aimed at possible enemies coming from the west, not the east. Otherwise, so many pontoon bridges on the Qinshui River would not have been dismantled... As long as the Chulong Army arrived later, just one or two days later, then when the British troops arrived first and attacked Xinwen City, the local military and civilians could hold on for a while, and then choose to abandon this strategic enclave with the attitude of calmly fighting against the powerful enemy, and then return to the Eastern Capital from Yanjin from the territory controlled by the Chulong Army.

Of course, it is useless to think about these things now, because the Dragon-killing Army has arrived, so the question is what to do?
"General Hu." Chai Yu, the local ambassador of Guancheng, came from a distance. His expression and movements were originally quite relaxed, but the closer he got to Hu Yan, the more he was influenced by him, and his expression became serious. "Will the Chulong Gang let us go?"

"Impossible." Hu Yan said bluntly. "For us, Xinwen City is just a point of defense outside Heyang, and it may even become an enclave soon. But for Hebei, it is the key to our advance, and we must take it."

"Then how about we abandon the city now?" Chai Yu was stunned, but his mind was working quickly. "There should be more infantry battalions behind them. We should abandon the city and turn south, walk along the river, and walk overnight... They are indeed coming fast, but they are also in a hurry. From the first few battalions, we can see that they don't know how to deal with us. We may be able to cross the river from Yanjin while the chaos is going on."

"It's difficult." Hu Yan sighed. "The city has accumulated customs duties for a whole autumn. With so much money and goods, even if the Chulong Army has strict military discipline, they will be tempted. When they pounce on us, we will have no chance of survival in the wild."

"Uncle Hu." Chai Yu changed his address in a low voice. "What I mean is, let's leave the money and goods here!"

Hu Yan glared at his former colleague from Jing'antai and said, "The Chulong Gang is going to turn against us if they want to. Isn't this aiding the enemy?"

Chai Yu looked at the other party with obvious surprise and continued to discuss: "How about burning it?"

"They are all the people's hard-earned money..." Hu Yan still found it hard to accept. "Besides, Dongdu has always been short of these fresh supplies. Now that they are trapped, I don't know how long it will take to get them back. If we can send them over, it will be even more worthwhile."

"But now I am at the mercy of others, aren't I?" Chai Yu became more and more earnest. "Uncle Hu, you can't kill people just for things. If you delay it, once the war starts and blood is seen, nothing will work!"

Hu Yan was silent for a while and didn't answer.

Chai Yu lowered his head and asked, "Uncle Hu, do you think that we are all the foundation of Jing'antai, and our old comrades in the Chulong Gang can still care about the old friendship? But even so, they are now rich and powerful, and the army is rushing up, how can they be involved with an old friend from Dongdu? And to put it bluntly, now that we are enemies, why should we care about the old friendship?"

"It's not about old friendship. How can I expect people to be sentimental? I'm talking about habits and tempers." Hu Yan suppressed his emotions and tried to explain. "Xiao Chai, you don't know, Zhang Sanlang is a man of integrity, Qin Erlang is a man of honor, Qian Tang is a man of rules... So, if we can really wait for this group of people, or even Chen Bin, Xie Minghe and other Southern Chen people, we might be able to leave safely... As for these people from Hebei and the Eastern Border, they all come from humble backgrounds and are really hard to trust."

Chai Yu was still unwilling to give up, and continued: "We can't wait forever, they may attack the city at any time...Uncle Hu, how about this? We should be cautious now, and start preparing at night. If we can't find anyone who can talk to us before midnight, we can set off directly and escape in the dark. We should only take the cloth and goods that Dongdu urgently needs, and leave all the gold, silver and copper coins behind!"

Hu Yan thought about it for a while and could only nod.

Seeing this, Chai Yu stopped caring and went back to work.

Another half hour later, all the members of the Qulong Army Cavalry Battalion crossed the river, abandoned the pontoon bridge, and continued to move westward. The cavalry rolled forward, with extraordinary momentum on the plain, but soon disappeared behind the trees of the village... On the other side, another battalion of Qulong Army arrived. Their leader was surnamed Jia, which caused tension in the city. If it was Jia Runshi, although he was not trustworthy, they might be able to communicate like they did just now, but if it was the killer Jia Yue, then it would be troublesome.

But it doesn't seem like it, because almost everyone in Jia Yue's camp is equipped with a northern straight knife for chopping off heads.

Just when everyone in Xinwen City was hesitating because of Chulong's rapid advance, Han Erlang and his subordinates unexpectedly became the vanguard troops because Liu Heilong's several battalions needed to cross the river.

Before sunset, they had walked along the river for another dozen miles, and the vanguard scouts could almost see Anchang County on the other side of the Qinshui River across the river.

"Han Er... Leader." Just when the troops took a break and decided to look for a place to set up camp outside the sight of Anchang County, Wang Laowu, who was already the first team leader in the camp, came over.

"What's up?" Han Erlang, who was standing on the hill observing the situation, put down his sword and turned around to ask. "Old Five, do you have anything to say?"

"I...I, second brother, the brothers below are talking about something." Captain Wang spoke cautiously.

"How to say?"

"They said we were all from Qinghe. Chief Liu and his men were the rebels, and we were the government troops. They crossed the river together, and we came to provide flank cover. It's dangerous to run so far... In fact, we were ostracized by Chief Liu and his men." Wang Laowu tried his best to clearly relay the information he had obtained.

Han Erlang was stunned for a moment, but did not rush to refute. Instead, he asked seriously, "Are there many rumors like this?"

"Quite a lot." Wang Laowu nodded quickly.

"It's because he was too tired after two days of rapid march." Han Erlang thought about it and made some guesses.

"Not only is he too tired, he's probably also a little afraid of fighting." Wang Laowu also thought about it and added.

"Cowardly?!" Han Erlang was shocked.

"Yes." Wang Laowu explained. "They say we advanced too fast. We are so tired after two days. Some people even complained that an infantry battalion went so deep into the front line..."

"How can this be called cowardice? It's just complaining." Han Erlang finally breathed a sigh of relief, but also became serious. "But we can't just ignore it. Go and prepare now. Let everyone set up camp without waiting. Use some dry food and water first, but be restrained. Then call the clerks who accompany the army to the eighth team with the most recruits. I will also go there to explain everything to them, and then let the clerks go back to persuade them in the evening."

Wang Laowu was about to say something else, but he held it back and obediently followed the military order.

Up to this point, everything has been calm. In the mid-autumn season in Hebei, there are plains under your feet, towering mountains to the north, and rivers on your side. There could be no more comfortable weather and pleasant scenery than this.

In fact, one unexpected thing is that as the rest began, even though they had not yet set up camp, they just drank some water and ate some dry food, and the complaints of the troops were soon relieved naturally, and the atmosphere began to become harmonious. Even so, when Wang Laowu came to the eighth team after finishing his work, he found that the clerks had left, but Han Erlang was still here, holding a fried pancake in one hand and a water bag in the other, chatting with dozens of new recruits.

"Captain Han, I want to ask you something... I've been holding it in for a long time." Seeing the harmonious atmosphere, an older officer couldn't help but interrupt and ask. "You're already a leader, and you've been given a sword by the chief. You've even married a wife who's the chief's female official. Not to mention that you have a bright future, you're already a nobleman. Why are you still called Han Erlang? Why don't you learn from others and come up with a new name?"

Han Erlang immediately smiled bitterly: "To be honest, some people did advise me to change my name, but I just didn't dare to. I was afraid that if I changed my name, I would forget my roots... Think about it, what happened to those leaders who changed their names? Which family didn't have a lot of relatives and clansmen? Some simply brought the entire village to join the Jianye Gang. Now he changed his name and changed his clothes, and the whole village became famous. But what about me? My family was originally a poor family in Qinghe, and now I have no relatives. Only some of the villagers I knew in the past are still farming in the village. Tell me, if I change my name again and put on the airs of an official, what's the difference between that and dying and changing someone else?"

Most of the people around were confused, but the few who understood sighed, and everyone sighed together.

Han Erlang was helpless when he saw this, so he pointed at the newly arrived Wang Laowu and joked: "If you care about this, Brother Wang Wu is the one who should change his name the most, but he always refuses to change it and doesn't listen to advice. The leaders don't like to call him..."

Everyone was stunned for a moment, then suddenly realized what was going on and started laughing together.

There is no other reason, because there is a more famous Wang Wulang in the gang, and he is even the most serious boss of everyone.

After making a joke and chatting for a few minutes, Han Erlang also made up a few more stories about why it was impossible for Liu Heilongjiang to be estranged from him... After all, he, Han Erlang, was an official soldier, but he was from Qinghe after all, and the camps behind him were simply from Henan and the north. It was better to trust him more in covering the flanks.

Seeing that the atmosphere was good, Han Erlang was ready to get up and arrange for setting up camp. At this time, several riders came galloping from the north in the sunset, led by a general and heading straight here, but he had to turn around to meet them.

The surrounding eighth team of recruits naturally stopped, and many officers, clerks, and soldiers naturally gathered together.

Sure enough, before the general dismounted from his horse, he came to report: "Captain, there is a large enemy force about 20 miles to the north, nearly 4,000 to 5,000 people!"

"To the north, practicing martial arts?" Han Erlang was stunned.

"It's not Xiuwu. They are on the east-west official road just north of us and are setting up camp now." He was about to dismount and continue reporting.

"Xiuwu is in the northeast... Are you planning to go to Xiuwu?" Han Erlang thought for a moment and seemed to come to a conclusion.

"It should be, but it might be directed at us."

"Coming for us?"

"No... it means we should cross the Qinshui River from the upper reaches, and then surround the east side of Xinwen from here, leaving the people of Xinwen with nowhere to escape."

"That's right." Han Erlang nodded. "Then where do you think they came from?"

"The scouts saw the people first and came here, but they haven't found out the traces yet... but they are coming from the west, or from the north."

"Indeed, and it doesn't matter." Han Erlang thought for a moment and continued to ask. "Are you sure there is only this one army in the north?"

"We can only confirm that there are no reinforcements to the south of this army, and we can't even say what the situation is like in Xiuwu to the east."

"We can find them, and they can also find us, right?" Han Erlang still asked, but his body had already turned to the side, and the scouts fell behind him.

It turned out that many of Han Erlang's confidants had gathered around at this time, including clerks, military recruits, team leaders, and reserve leaders. As for the previous and current discussions, they all knew that it was not that Han Erlang really did not understand military affairs. In fact, their commander had always had a keen sense of the battlefield. He was just using this form to review military intelligence and think about himself at the same time. It was Han Erlang's personal habit.

"That's for sure." The soldiers below also spoke up. "Even if they didn't find us, we have to act as if they found us..."

"That's right." Han Erlang nodded and continued to ask, "According to the plan, the battalion that Feng Duan is in charge of will go to practice martial arts?"

"Captain Feng will lead the charge, and Chief Wang Fubei and the other two battalions will follow."

"Is it time now?"

"It's hard to say. We are not on the same path as them, and we are going too fast."

"That's right." Han Erlang nodded again and again, then looked around. "I think the best strategy right now is to give up camping and take the initiative to attack... What do you think?"

Even though the close associates around him had already considered attacking as an option, they were still a little panicked when they heard the commander's straightforward statement.

There is no problem tactically. Although there is a difference in numbers, attacking at this time would be a night raid. The enemy has been marching for a whole day without rest, and there is enough support within a dozen miles behind them, and there may also be support on the flanks.

but……

"I thought about it. Based on the military orders we have received and the current military situation, there are only two options: either we stay here and defend, or we take the initiative to fight." Han Erlang explained to the key members of the camp seriously. "But what are we doing here? Since we are here as the vanguard to fight, why should we stop and wait for others to come and fight? If a large army is fighting and everyone is afraid, how can we expect to fight for the world?!"

Everyone was in awe.

But Wang Laowu still reminded: "It's not that we can't fight, but I'm afraid that Leader Liu will think we are stealing the credit... This may be our first battle!"

"For the sake of the country and the gang, how can we care about these things?" Han Erlang responded without hesitation. "Let's learn the rules of the chief, who else has anything to say?"

At this point, everyone had no more concerns and agreed to it. The military order was then issued, and the trusted men immediately dispersed to make preparations. The messengers also went to contact and inform the surrounding camps behind them. The scouts also hurriedly started off, regardless of their tiredness, to investigate the military situation.

Han Jilang was also preparing to return to his own team.

However, at this time, he noticed the new recruits of the eighth team in the camp. These people were obviously attracted by the scouts before and did not disperse. Now they received the order directly and were obviously excited and nervous... After thinking about it, the battalion commander walked over again.

"Do you know what tricks are there for new recruits when they go into battle at night?" Han Erlang asked with a smile, holding the sword at his waist.

The new recruits looked at each other in bewilderment, but since they had just started chatting, they were not afraid. One of them boldly asked, "What's the trick?"

"It's just one word." Han Erlang held the knife with one hand and raised a finger with the other, with a smiling expression on his face. "Do you know what it is?"

Everyone was talking at once, some were confused, and some wanted to guess.

The next moment, Han Erlang's expression suddenly changed, his sword half exposed, and at the same time, his true energy surged out, and he shouted on the spot, like thunder: "Kill!"

Most of the new recruits were so frightened that they fell down, and could only watch their commander, who looked like a completely different person, walk away with his sword in hand.

However, Wang Laowu, who was not far away, was a little confused for a moment... It's not that he didn't understand why Han Erlang wanted to scare these young people. This was a righteous battle. It was right to scare them before the battle to boost morale. It's just that this guy's behavior reminded him of the time when they were thieves and officials in the army. At that time, the word Han Erlang said was not "kill"... but "escape".

If it weren't for the word "escape", how could he have gone from being a thief to an official, and then from an official to the leader of the Chulong Army?
But it doesn't seem right, as if it wasn't as simple as "escaping" when he was an official, and being a commander of the Chulong Army didn't mean "killing" from the beginning. But it was really difficult for Wang Laowu to think clearly in a short time.

Just like that, after thinking for a while and having no clue, he went back early to execute the military order - his team was recognized as the "first team" in Han Erlang's camp, and he was the "first team commander", and he would be the first to rush to the front when the battle broke out.

The sky darkened, and the camp had run out of dry food. They prepared torches and threw away the excess baggage... They didn't have much baggage because they were marching on the inner line until noon today... Then they headed north under the starlight that had already appeared.

During the march, only the leading patrol cavalry and the squad leader in the team lit the fire, and everyone below the team leader kept silent. Fortunately, the road was wide on the plain, and Han Erlang quickly gave additional orders, asking the leading troops to spread out the team, further reducing the possibility of getting lost.

At the same time, more than ten miles west of Wencheng, Liu Heiyu, who took advantage of his cavalry's mobility, saw the enemy in the wild as he wished, and then fell into silence.

There was no other reason. What appeared before his eyes was a camp that stretched as far as the eye could see. In the camp, a specific number of fire pots were fixed in an orderly and neat manner. These fire pots were connected together, as dense as starlight...That was not all. In the sky deep in the farthest end of the camp, there appeared horizontal and vertical lines like some kind of building, with no less than a dozen black, white and gold chess pieces arranged in the middle.

The backbones of the Dragon-killing Army must be very familiar with this thing, and at that time, there were only three chess pieces.

"Where is that..." On the hill, Liu Heiyu forced himself to suppress his unnecessary emotions and asked while pointing there.

"Old Wen City..." Xiahou Ningyuan uttered a word with difficulty.

"Three Wencheng?" Cao Chen didn't react for a moment.

"Yes, from west to east, Old Wencheng, Wencheng, and New Wencheng." Liu Heiqi reined in his horse and said, "We have passed two, and the Old Wencheng should be in front of us."

"Why haven't I seen it on the map?" Cao Chen was still a little uneasy. "Am I so confused that I can't understand the military analysis?"

"I don't blame you." Xiahou Ningyuan explained. "The old Wencheng was demolished before... It's just that the British Emperor set up the central army camp there."

Cao Chen nodded, but immediately realized the problem: "He deployed the main force of the central army to the east of Heyang?"

"Yes." Liu Hei said with narrowed eyes. "He is waiting for us, the Dragon-Chu Army, to challenge him!"

Cao Chen fell into the same silence as the other two, and then he was the first to break the silence: "Then are we still going to fight?"

"Fuck!" Liu Hei was speechless. "No one knows whether this dog emperor can immediately start the battle. If he rushes over and is discovered, who will be responsible for the death?"

"So today... we didn't play against Xinwen, nor did we play against Wencheng... shouldn't we take a break?" Cao Chen said listlessly.

"Let's go north." Liu Heihei was also a little helpless. "I really didn't expect that he would place his main force here... We have to go north, and maybe we have to find a shallow beach to cross the Qinshui River before we can rest."

Cao Chen was a little confused.

"Xiaojishui." Xiahou Ningyuan pointed to the far end and said, "This river is not big, but it is always a problem before winter... The narrowest part between it and Qinshui is only a stone mountain."

"Two rivers, no, three rivers." Cao Chen turned his head and looked at the big river Jindi in the south, and came to his senses. "A triangle of land fifty miles long and wide, the dog emperor is so cunning... If we want to attack him, we have to cross the Qinshui River... By then, the troops will be too dense."

Liu Heiyu's face turned even worse because he found that the independent battlefield he had been looking forward to did not exist at all. His cavalry battalion would most likely become a tactical burden in this war instead of taking on strategic tasks.

There's no way, the terrain is too narrow.

By then, this triangular area will be a battle of soldier against soldier, general against general, iron against iron, and blood against blood.

There is no room for maneuver.

After verifying this personally, even though Liu Heihei was full of heroic spirit, he seemed to have no choice but to grit his teeth and leave with his troops in the dark, preparing to find a safe place to spend the night.

However, if this is the case, how can he still be Liu Heiyu?

"Since we are here, we must say hello and tell the Guanxi people that our Chulong Army has arrived, otherwise it will be a joke," Liu Heiyu ordered. "Leave three cavalry teams to me from our three battalions, and you lead the main force. After you leave, I will rush in and set fire!"

Xiahou Ningyuan wanted to persuade him.

Liu Heiyu waved his hand and said, "I know. I am just an inspector here. I have to see for myself what kind of people the Guanxi people are."

The other two had nothing to say and just did as they were told.

The battle broke out at the moment when Liu Heilong gave up large-scale combat and turned to armed reconnaissance.

In the plains more than ten miles north of the Qinshui River, Han Erlang's camp ran into the British army that was also coming for a night attack! Neither side was afraid of the stage!

At the beginning, there were only sporadic encounters of scouts, and then there were probing and fighting between dozens of people. Soon, Han Erlang realized what was happening. Under his command, everyone spat out the copper coins in their mouths and shouted and killed in the fields where the crops had been harvested!

"Wang Laowu!" Before going into battle, Han Erlang suddenly turned around and grabbed the arm of the captain he trusted the most. "This is a chaotic fight at night, there will be no result, don't rush in! Go around, understand?! Go around from the side, use your best way to go around, go around from the east to their camp, no matter if there are still people inside, no matter how many people there are, set fire, set a fire from the east, and the victory will be decided here!"

Wang Laowu was in a daze. He didn't know why just going around and setting a fire could decide the outcome, but it did not prevent him from understanding the order and turning around and leaving.

As soon as Wang Laowu left, Han Erlang drew his sword and shouted in the wilderness of Hebei: "Kill!!"

Then he leaped to the front line.

On the other side, in Xinwen City, there seemed to be shouts and screams in the wind, but Hu Yan knew it was an illusion. The reason for this was that he saw with his own eyes that Jia Runshi’s camp, which had originally planned to besiege him, gave up the siege and went directly north.

Apparently, someone called for their backup.

It was still far from three o'clock in the morning and people in the city had already started packing up. Hu Yan was obviously hesitant. Since the Chulong Army outside had already engaged the Guanxi troops, should he take this opportunity to escape?

However, Hu Yan is not a surprising person, especially since the city has already begun to implement the plan.

However, before the city was cleaned up, another battalion of soldiers arrived at the hastily built camp of the Chulong Gang outside the city.

With the help of the firelight on the top of the city, Hu Yan discovered something in a daze, that is, this newly arrived battalion of the Dragon-killing Army actually carried the strange yet familiar banner of "Kan". After noticing that the soldiers of this battalion were almost uniformly armed with spears and hearing the familiar accent below, he quickly fell into some kind of panic-stricken memory.

Kan Leng looked at the top of the city wall, then turned to ask the people left behind by Jia Runshi: "Is the commander of the city called Hu Yan?"

"Correct."

"Born in Jing'antai, and served as the commander of Huaiyin?"

"That's not clear."

"Ask..." Kan Leng pointed to the top of the city wall.

The man did not dare to neglect it and immediately went to the city. After a moment, he gave a reply: "The one on the city suddenly ignored me."

Kan Leng sneered, then looked around and issued a military order: "Since you don't answer, then ignore it. Guard the four gates, prepare ropes, and send a small group of troops to try to climb the city first."

The Huaixi disciples around answered loudly and dispersed immediately.

Half an hour later, the troops on the city discovered the surprise attack and both sides fired bows and crossbows. The originally restrained atmosphere disappeared.

Hu Yan walked down the city wall with half of his face covered, feeling mixed emotions.

He knew that since the enemy's sneak attack had failed and they had no siege equipment, it would be unlikely for them to attack in a short time; he also knew that no matter what, since the war had begun, the Chulong Army would arrive sooner or later, so the city would inevitably fall; finally, he became even more clear that it was his previous incompetence that made the soldiers familiar with Huaixi under the city think that the city could be easily captured, so they took the risk; it was also because of his indecision that he missed the opportunity to communicate effectively with the leaders of Hebei and the East Border, and instead waited for the Huaiyou League Yizi Army that had defeated him before.

"Prepare to break out." With this thought, he put away his extraneous expression and turned to look at Chai Yu, the son of his old boss Chai Changjian. "Leave your valuables behind. I will lead the way and then cover you. Let's go to Yanjin and give it a try."

Chai Yu could only nod.

On the other side, at the far end of the old Wen City, Liu Heiqiu stood on his horse, watching coldly as the harassment of his three cavalry teams was confined to the periphery of the camp. After realizing that the other side would not be agitated by this level of harassment, the attention of the Chulong Gang leader was inevitably attracted by the central army further west.

He always felt that Bai Hengqiu's chessboard was too bright.

And why?

Why is it always on? Isn't he tired? Who is he demonstrating to?
Another half hour later, Wang Laowu, who had taken a detour, arrived at the British camp and set it on fire without hesitation. The Dongdu army, which had made some preparations, opened the gate of Xinwen City. Hu Yan led the way, shouting and killing, with torches like dragons behind him.

In response to this, Han Erlang in the north and Kan Leng in Xinwen City had unexpectedly the same reaction. They all laughed with their heads raised.

In Yecheng, which was more than a hundred miles away, Chief Zhang Xing, who had no idea that wars had already broken out in many places ahead, did not laugh. He just calmly signed a series of appointments of Zhang Shizhao, Lu Sidao and others in Tingfeng Pavilion, and then went out, mounted his yellow horse, and slowly left the Yecheng Palace under the escort of Qin Bao, ready to join the army that was setting off overnight from the south of Yecheng.

Also accompanying them were almost half of the Military Affairs Department, including Xu Shiying, who would go to the front line to handle everything.

At about this time, Liu Heiyu suddenly came to his senses beside the retreating harassing cavalry and grabbed the military officer beside him: "Send a messenger back immediately and tell the chief that not only Bai Hengqiu, but Sima Zheng is here too!"

PS: I'm sorry, I was sick for the past week. I started having diarrhea, dehydration and fever before I recovered from the flu. I finally stopped the diarrhea, but found that my cold was not fully healed yet and I felt groggy the whole time.