On November 11, 696 in the Continental Calendar, the two main forces of the Taiping Army launched the Battle of Heshuo again after joining forces. On November 13, the Battle of Hejian broke out first. Fierce fighting broke out again between the imperial army and the main force of the Taiping Army in the southern part of Hejian Prefecture. The two sides mobilized 150,000 troops to fight fiercely. After five days of fierce fighting, the battle situation had become a stalemate. On November 16, a small-scale Taiping uprising broke out in Hejian City. Tan Keren, the governor of Heshuo County, dismissed Fang Chengsong, the governor of Heshuo County, for neglecting military affairs and conniving at the Taiping rebellion. The director of the Internal Affairs Department of Heshuo County also served as the acting city guard of Hejian Prefecture. This move aroused strong opposition from the scholars and merchants in Hejian Prefecture. The situation in Hejian Prefecture changed three times a day and became turbulent.
On November 19, a small group of elite Taiping troops who detoured from Heishan to the northern border of Tianshui and entered Hejian started another riot in the west of Hejian Prefecture. They once again rioted with the hidden Taiping Sect elements lurking in the local area, and echoed the remnants of the Taiping Sect in Hejian Prefecture. Due to the replacement of the city guard, the Hejian Prefecture Garrison Division also had its senior officers replaced at the same time. The army was demoralized and completely lost its combat capability. On November 21, the storm set off by the Taiping Army in the western part of Hejian Prefecture finally took shape, and with The Taiping Rebellion in Hejian Prefecture colluded inside and outside the city and took control of the entire Hejian Prefecture in one fell swoop. Tan Keren, the governor of Heshuo County in the empire, fled Jinzhong in embarrassment, which once again caused shock in the empire.
On November 22, after receiving news of the fall of Hejian Fucheng, the Imperial Army on the northern front line of Hejian was forced to retreat. The main force of the Taiping Army launched a general attack on the Imperial Army from three directions: east, west, north, and west. The Imperial Army was completely defeated, and the Imperial Western Military District Commander Wuda committed suicide and died for his country after escaping into Jinzhong Prefecture. Xie Lihou, commander of the Imperial Third Army Corps, was immediately sentenced to death by His Majesty the Emperor.
On November 24, the emperor issued an order to dismiss Yusuf, commander of the Imperial City Guard Corps. He was appointed deputy minister of imperial affairs and ordered Qian Pojun, deputy commander of the city guard corps, to take over. However, Yusuf, who received the order, refused to accept the order, citing it as chaos.
Taking advantage of the victory, the Taiping Army pursued. On November 26, the main force of the Taiping Army, led by Chief Cheng, captured Jinzhong Fucheng, which was completely defenseless, and occupied the entire territory of Jinzhong. The closest place to the imperial capital was only 200 meters away. Here, the door to the imperial capital has been opened. On November 27, the third prince of the Empire, Situ Jun, immediately led two divisions of the Empire's Fifth Army and the only remaining division of the Empire's Third Army to march into Tianshui after receiving a request for help from Tianshui Fucheng Shou, and officially took over on November 28. Go to Tianshui Mansion.
When the exhausted Situ Yutang finally saw his fiancé-in-law, it was already three days later. He saw the guy in front of him who had lost a lot of weight, with an unkempt beard and disheveled clothes. Situ Yutang swallowed the words that originally came to her mouth silently, and just stared hatefully at the guy in front of her who she couldn't describe in words.
"Yutang, come, come, come and sit." A smile of relief appeared on Wufeng's face when he saw the beauty. There was nothing unusual about him, so he naturally and generously invited the beauty to sit down.
Situ Yutang snorted softly. Although Situ Yutang had many things to ask in his heart, seeing the other party's appearance, he couldn't directly question him, so he had to sit down and wait for the servant to bring the tea. There were only two people left in the tent, and the atmosphere suddenly became a little subtle.
"Yutang, you seem to be in a bad mood. What's wrong? Is there anything unpleasant?" Wu Feng put down the pencil in his hand and left the desk with a concerned look on his face.
"Wufeng, let me ask you, why haven't you sent troops yet? The war in Heshuo is so tense, why are you still lingering here? Do you really want to see Heshuo fall into the hands of those thieves? Do you really want to be satisfied? Are you really not willing to do your part for the empire?" Thinking of running around these past few days, Situ Yutang couldn't help but feel angry. He rushed from Lulong City to the Black Stone Collection in the south of Lulong. They chased him from Heishiji to Yangmakou in Bonan Mansion, and finally from Yangmakou to Partridge Pass without stopping, and finally stopped this guy who was "running around".
"Are you hiding from me? If you don't want to see me, you can tell me directly. I won't pester you like those women, but I still want to remind you of your responsibilities and obligations as a frontier official of the empire." Situ Yutang may have felt that the previous few sentences were a bit extreme, so he softened his tone slightly, but the underlying meaning remained unchanged.
"Empire?" A wry smile appeared at the corner of Wu Feng's mouth. He seemed not to be touched by the fierce words of the beauty. Wu Feng slowly sat back in the chair behind the desk and said in confusion: "Yutang, you probably still Are you not sure what happened in the past few days? The world has changed so fast, beyond our expectations and probably beyond our imagination. I have been running here and there in the past few days not because I want to avoid anyone. , it’s really the changes in the situation that force me to run around.”
"The situation has changed?" Situ Yutang's heart tightened. She has been traveling on the road these days. Originally, the intelligence information was relatively limited. In addition, in the northwest, who else's intelligence could be faster than the guy opposite, but from the tone of her voice It sounded like something bad had happened again. Without worrying about anything else, Situ Yutang quickly asked: "What exactly happened?"
Shaking his head, Wu Feng casually glanced at the stack of information piled on the desk, and sighed: "The situation has changed so fast these days. I originally wanted to tell Yu Tang slowly, but since Yu Tang is here Yeah, I guess there’s nothing to hide.”
After a pause, Wu Feng considered his words before saying: "The Taiping rebel army has captured the Hejian and Jinzhong prefectures, and the empire's army in the Heshuo area has been completely wiped out. Only the Tianshui Prefecture is currently led by His Highness the Third Prince. Control, the Imperial City Guard Corps staying in Qinghe Mansion has escaped from His Majesty the Emperor's control and refused to accept His Majesty's orders. I think Yusuf has betrayed the Empire!"
Wu Feng's voice was not loud, but his words were like thunder hitting the head of the seventeenth princess who had always maintained a certain grace. Her eyes were in a trance, and the tea cup in her hand fell to the ground with a clang. Situ Yutang could no longer do anything. Keeping calm, he stood up suddenly and said sternly: "What did you say? Li Wufeng, how dare you spread rumors to confuse the public?"
"Spreading rumors to confuse the public?" A contemptuous smile flashed across Wu Feng's lips, "Yutang, you underestimate your future husband too much. Could these news be created by spreading rumors? You should calm down and think about it carefully. .”
He casually threw the stack of information on his desk in front of the beautiful woman who seemed to be still awake. Wu Feng didn't say anything more, but just sat down and closed his eyes quietly in meditation.
Slowly sitting back down, Situ Yutang's heart was full of emotions, but the habit she had developed since childhood still made her calm down and carefully read the information Wufeng threw to her, piece by piece, piece by piece, every piece of information. The news was like a steel needle piercing her already overwhelmed heart, especially the last few messages that Wu Feng had not yet said, which caused a burning pain in her heart. Yusuf's disobedience, Lin Guowei and Lang Yongquan's unanimous request to be crowned king were clearly a provocation and contempt for the empire. All of this happened in just a few days. Situ Yutang only felt the pain on both sides of his head. His temples were beating hard, and before he even had time to take a breath, his eyes went dark.
It seemed like I couldn't move, and I was in a trance again. I didn't know where I was. I struggled hard, and it felt like I had fallen into an endless abyss. A series of vague and confusing plots flashed through my mind. What on earth was going on? where
Slowly adapting to the somewhat dazzling sunlight outside the window, the delicate woman was finally able to see clearly the environment she was in. A familiar tall figure was still waiting beside her bed.
"Yutang, you're finally awake." Wufeng felt relieved when he saw that the woman finally opened her eyes. Although she still looked a little haggard, she finally woke up. Although a doctor had come to diagnose and said that it was just a temporary heat attack, and that it would be fine to take a rest and take some decoction to calm the mind and clear the heart, Wu Feng still felt uneasy. When he saw the beauty open her eyes, My heart suddenly felt much more at ease.
"Where is this?"
"Oh, this is my bedroom in Partridge Pass. You should have a good rest. Don't think too much. Things have already happened, and it is not something you or I can change or stop. When you feel better, we will think about a solution. "Wufeng pulled the thin quilt for the beauty and comforted her considerately.
"No, I don't have anything. Wu Feng, the situation is so urgent now. We can't do nothing here. We have to find a way to regain Heshuo as soon as possible. We can't let those thieves succeed." Situ Yutang spoke too hastily, with a look on his face. There was a flush, and a pair of almond-shaped eyes stared at Wu Feng's face with longing and longing, making Wu Feng unable to say the words he wanted to avoid.
Slowly turning his head to the side, Wufeng calmed down and sighed deeply before saying: "Yutang, it's not that I don't want to, but now that the situation has reached this point, I'm afraid I can't hold on even with my own strength. The overall situation. In the battle of Lulong, our Northwest Army has already suffered a lot of losses, and now the Taiping Army has been based on the dangerous pass in the west of Anyuan. It is obviously not easy to break through there; and Longdong has now become the eyes of the Taiping Cult. The throat is so important that it would be too difficult to capture it in a hurry."
Her heart gradually sank again, and Situ Yutang turned her head to the side helplessly. At this moment, she only felt that the face of the person in front of her was so ugly and despicable. She didn't even want to hear the other person's clear voice anymore. "Okay, Mr. Li, since you said so, I have nothing to say anymore. Please go back. I want to take a rest."
Unexpectedly, Wu Feng shook his head and smiled bitterly: "Yutang, listen to what I have to say. I didn't say that I won't send troops. I just said that this requires a lot of planning. If I can get Tianshui and With the support of His Highness the Third Prince of Jincheng, I think the Northwest Army is still confident that it can capture Longdong!"