Xie Ming

Chapter 265: Leading the Army South to Xingtang

May 15th, noon discussion!

After planning by Xiao Jingchuan, Qiu Zhizhong, Sun Peizhong, Li Huchen and others, they decided to leave behind Wang Chuanwu, who was injured in the leg and could not join the army, and some of his troops!

Here in the Taihang area, we are guarding the two fortified cities of Shouzhen and Bao, and are starting to take care of the specific matters of establishing the Taihang base!
Xu Baoyi of Baoding, being a local wealthy family with a solid popular base and high prestige, was also a chivalrous man of the green forest and could do the job properly, so he was also left behind to serve as Chuanwu's deputy!

In addition, in order to accomplish the task, Xiao Lang decided to allocate another 10,000 taels of silver to these two generals as start-up capital.

I think, with these two armies of several hundred soldiers and ten thousand taels of silver, at worst, it would be enough to last them for a year or two!
Xiao Lang pointed out that the establishment of this Taihang base could cooperate with the Sanpojie base to the north in guerrilla warfare. It was an exploratory military strategy for mutual communication and assistance to jointly expand the sphere of influence of western Ji!

If we can carry out the plan as we wish, then in the future, the joint attack from the two places will be able to block the important and dangerous passes along the Shanxi-Northern Zhili line!

No matter it is the Jiannu barbarian soldiers or Li Zicheng of the Dashun, as long as they attack each other, they can reap the benefits from these two bases and take the initiative to find opportunities to cut off the enemy's logistical transportation lines, and gain countless benefits from it. It is also unknown whether it can play a role in destroying the enemy's inherent strategic intentions!

On the morning of May 14th, this matter was completed!

In the city of Baoding, all the troops were organized as ordered.

After Xiao Lang drove the horses to inspect the various units, the general gave the order.

Sun Peizhong's troops numbered over 1,800 men, and Li Hongsheng's troops numbered over 800 men, followed Xiao Langchong's vanguard team and set off immediately, heading straight for Xingtang County, just north of Zhending!

Li Huchen's troops numbered over 1,300, Liu Wenbing + Gong Yonggu's troops numbered over 800, and they also protected Ma Minglu's supply troops numbering 300. They set out the next day to pursue Xiao Lang's troops.

Baoding Prefecture is temporarily handed over to Xu Jizu's troops of more than 300 people, Wang Chuanwu's troops of more than 500 people, and Xu Baoyi's troops of more than 200 people, for garrison!
Noon on the 15th!
After a day and a night, Xiao Lang's army rushed for more than 250 miles along the Baoding-Quyang-Xingtang line, and reached the south of Xingtang County, the northern bank of the Hutuo River bay!
This place is surrounded by water and dense forests, which is convenient for hiding, so Xiao Lang ordered the vanguard troops to set up camp here, cook and rest.

Along the way, Quyang and Xingtang counties are both small towns.

Xiao Lang and his troops learned that the bandits in these two areas had already fled, leaving them in a state of military vacuum. All the bandits and puppet troops were withdrawn to the city of Zhending ten days ago in an attempt to defend themselves from the strong city.

In this way, Xiao Lang saved a lot of trouble in the march.

12:45 p.m.

After Xiao Lang temporarily set up camp, he made his usual inspection of the camp. Just as he was returning to the tent, he suddenly smelled the aroma of meat wafting in the wind from in front of the tent.

So the man quickened his pace, sniffed greedily, and hurried forward.

"Yeah! Yeah."

"Hahaha"

"What a nice smell!" Xiao Lang ran over following the smell. From a distance he saw Zhizhong, Sangmenxing and Liu Erye. They were chatting and laughing and sitting around a fire. They were roasting some food next to the fire!
"hey-hey."

"What delicious food did you three make?!"

"It's a good thing I turned back just in time!"

"Ah? Haha!" Xiao Lang said carelessly, with a gleam in his eyes, he moved closer and sat down in front of the three people.

"hehe!"

"have to!"

"Look, you two, you've attracted this big-eyed hungry thief, haven't you?!"

"Look at how greedy he is!"

"That's what I said. There's no need to wait for him to come back before roasting him!"

"As soon as the aroma of meat comes out, Lao Xiao will definitely come back to kill me at the smell!"

The mind is relaxed, there is a fresh breeze in the pine forest near the water, and the mood is good, so the energy of making jokes and sarcasm comes up.

Xiao Lang, who had just sat down, didn't care much when he heard this. His mind and eyes were fixed on the barbecue, and he had no time to look at anything else!

"Hoho, roast chicken!"

"Okay! This one works!"

"Today, it seems that I don't need to eat those dry biscuits!"

"Eh?!"

"Who caught this chicken?!"

"It's quite big, really big!"

"Tell me, who caught him? This is a meritorious service! Ah, haha."

The glutton in Xiao Jingchuan's stomach was aroused by the roast chicken in front of him for a moment, and now, it was probably clamoring and making a big fuss in his stomach!
As a result, he and the other three people in front of him did not hesitate to come up and stretch out their hands to grab a chicken leg and eat it.

But unexpectedly, the pheasant in front of the fire was not fully roasted yet, and the meat was close to the fire. Xiao Lang's hand, which had just been stretched out, was immediately burned, so he quickly pulled it back.

Xiao Lang was so hot that he was grinning and shaking his head wildly.

"Ouch!"

"Ouch, ouch!" Xiao Lang gasped in pain. "Ouch! You, haha, you old Xiao!"

“It’s not baked yet!”

"Master Liu showed off his power, this credit should go to him!"

Zhizhong saw Xiao Lang's greedy and embarrassed look, and responded with a smile. As he spoke, he also glanced at Master Liu.

Mr. Liu was a man of very cold temperament. When he was called out, he just responded with a faint smile.

In contrast, Xiao Lang's behavior was much more straightforward.

He patted Master Liu's shoulder approvingly, but when he turned his head, he suddenly remembered that Gu Changting, who had come with him to recuperate, could not help but say something in reply.

"Ugh!"

"That's how I put it, Changting, this kid just doesn't have the good fortune to eat!"

"This is a big piece of delicious game, but he is not here!" Xiao Lang said casually.

"Humph!"

"You still have the nerve to say that!"

"When someone is chasing you in front of the long courtyard, you call him a good-for-nothing!"

"He's the one who's always finding faults. He's the one who's always getting into trouble!"

"Now, the two of you can't stand each other anymore, but you're thinking of me!"

"What were you doing earlier?!" Zhizhong tried to sabotage him.

"what?!"

"Who?!"

"Hi!"

"I'm thinking how good it is!"

"I'm nagging him because he has the habit of carrying salt and pepper with him!"

"Think about it!"

"This big, juicy and delicious game would be great if it could be sprinkled with some salt!"

"That's really beautiful!"

Xiao Jingchuan kept smacking his lips, as if he had tasted the flavor out of thin air, and his saliva was dripping.

But in this relaxed situation!
Suddenly!

A messenger came out from the forest behind the camp!
"Report——"

"Report!"

"General!"

"There's a scout coming from Baoding in the rear!"

"The man's name is Qi Gang. General, please tell me whether we should bring him here!" The official knelt on one knee and bowed.

"oh?!"

"Qi Gang is here?!"

As they spoke, Xiao Lang collected his thoughts and looked hurriedly in the direction where the scene was.

"quick!"

"Hurry up and call him over!" Xiao Jingchuan urged.

"Yes! Obey!"

The official took the order and left. After a while, Qi Gang appeared alone in the woods behind the camp.

"General Xiao!"

"Ti Shuai (referring to Qiu Zhizhong)!"

"The operatives sent from the north to the capital have sent back news!"

Qi Gang observed the etiquette and came closer, bowed to Xiao and Qiu, and spoke cautiously.

(End of this chapter)