"Get rid of Zhang Xutuo's old dog first, and then wait until the south of Pengcheng. Of course, it would be best to join forces with Du Fuwei to rob Qiao County. If not, you can cross the Huaihe River and enter Huainan. If there is another chance, kill Du Fuwei and annex it. His team!"
With this idea in mind, the next morning, Meng Rang resolutely changed the established route and led the team to the southeast of Liang County. But because he believed in Yuan Tiangang's divination ability, he felt that Tongji Canal was the best place to go. It was difficult to break through the natural danger. None of the leaders of Meng Rang's gang of thieves opposed this, and all raised their hands in approval of Meng Rang's wise decision.
Of course, Yuan Tiangang also wanted to go south with Meng Rang's team. Meng Rang also asked Yuan Tiangang to lead the way for his team. Said: "Master Meng, we are going south via Mount Mangdang. Although we have not passed through the land of Qiaojun, we have to pass through the edge of Qiaojun after all. To be cautious, the students think that you should send more scouts to the south to monitor the situation. If Officer Chen Gou sends troops to intercept the movement of Yongcheng officers and troops, we should be prepared."
"How many officers and troops are there in Qiao County?" Meng Rang asked without answering.
"I heard that there are more than 2,000 people." Yuan Tiangang replied vaguely: "There are also some village braves and guards. There may be more than 3,000 people in total."
Meng Rang laughed loudly, and Wang Xin'e, Li Chou and others also laughed out loud. Yuan Tiangang was a little confused by the laughter. Seeing that the smiles of Meng Rang and others did not seem to be fake, Yuan Tiangang asked tentatively: "Meng Rang Your Majesty, are the students' words ridiculous?"
"Mr. Chunfeng, it's not your words that are ridiculous, but that dog officer Chen Yingliang is ridiculous." Meng Rang said with a smile: "There is only a team of two to three thousand people, and Chen Dog Officer dares to call himself a famous general. Let's see, if he dares to send troops to intercept , I will take care of killing him completely."
"Mr. Chunfeng, you probably have been in Du Fuwei's team for a long time and are used to seeing his team, so the more than 2,000 officers and troops in Qiao County are scary." Cao Wei, who was more cunning in Meng Rang's team, also laughed. Said: "Don't worry, our team is absolutely different from Du Fuwei's team. Our team is not the kind of mob that Du Fuwei pulled around to make a big splash, but the tiger wolf warriors who fought against the main force of the official army. You have even seen Zhang Xutuo's Eight Wind Camp, Zhou Fashang's Zuo Wuwei, and the sailor who came to protect your children, so are you afraid of Chen Gouguan's more than 2,000 horsemen?"
"Really?" Yuan Tiangang was skeptical, and then said: "Your Majesty, the students are so bold that they want to visit your team. Is it possible?"
"Of course." Meng Rang agreed with a big smile, and also ordered: "Li Chou, it's okay for you to show Mr. Chunfeng around our team. Mr. Chunfeng is his own person. Let him see whatever he wants. .”
Li Chou agreed with a grin. At present, Meng Rang's team was marching southeast, and Li Chou took Yuan Tiangang to visit the team. What shocked Yuan Tiangang was that Meng Rang's team was indeed the same as he had seen before. Although most of the soldiers are yellow and emaciated, ragged, poorly armed and equipped with a large number of old and weak family members, there are four or five thousand people who appear to be very elite. In order to be neat, the weapons and equipment can almost catch up with the regular army, and nearly half of them are wearing iron armor. In addition, what shocked Yuan Tiangang even more is that Meng Rang's team has many more horses than the Qiaojun army. , There are nearly a thousand war horses available for riding and fighting, far more than the Qiaojun army with only more than two hundred horses.
Seeing this scene, Yuan Tiangang was unavoidably terrified. He began to worry that Chen Yingliang's ambush plan would not be successful. Li Chou was triumphant, and kept introducing to Yuan Tiangang the brilliant achievements of his own army's elite. The impact of the battalion, the surprise attack on Zhou Fashang and Lai Huer's grain detaining team, the attack on the county seat of Crewe County, annihilation of a certain local armed force that refused to hand over the money and food, and what else was there to capture the Sui army's anti-insurgency general and kill him. At the end, Li Chou said arrogantly: "Mr. Chunfeng, that old dog Zhang Xutuo is really chasing after him closely. Otherwise, with our elite soldiers, we will definitely have no problem killing that dog official Chen Yingliang!"
Although Li Chou's words are arrogant, they are so arrogant that they have some capital. Even Yuan Tiangang admits in his heart that if the upright Meng Rang team of the Qiaojun army fights head-on, the chances of winning are not great, so Yuan Tiangang is inevitably more worried, and secretly said: "Don't let us miss the fat meat, and ended up biting on the bone and broke a few teeth, right? I remember that Changsun Wuji also reminded Chen Tongshou that Meng Rang's team was different from the thieves we encountered before. Chen Tong Shou said he would be careful, but I don’t know how he would be careful.”
Liang County is located in the hinterland of the North China Plain. Except for Mangdang Mountain and Yushan Mountain in the east corner, there are almost no decent mountains and forests in the territory. The terrain is extremely flat. Under such circumstances, Meng Rang's troops marched 60 miles a day, and stopped to rest overnight in an open area only 20 miles away from Mangdang Mountain and 80 miles north of Yongcheng. Both Xiayi and Dangshan counties in Liangjun chose to close their cities to protect themselves, and did not dispatch a single soldier to stop and delay Mengrang's escape.
It was also at night when he was camping and resting that Yuan Tiangang discovered that Meng Rang was not as rough and reckless as he looked on the outside. He said he didn't care about the actions of Qiaojun's army, but in the evening, scouts kept rushing back to report to Qiaojun. The situation, it is said that the army of Qiaojun has blocked the Suishui Ferry in the north of Yongcheng, and strictly prohibits any refugees from crossing Suishui in the south. During the day, the city gates were closed tightly, and no one was allowed to enter or leave the city.
For Meng Rang, who has long been accustomed to the officers and soldiers of the various counties desperately beggar-thy-neighbor, the self-protection actions of the officers and soldiers of Qiao County are of course no surprises, and the closed-door self-protection actions of the neighboring counties Xiayi and Dangshan are also no surprises. In Meng Rang's expectation, only the reaction of Zhang Xutuo's team in the north made Meng Rang very worried-the scouts who stayed behind quickly reported that Zhang Xutuo, his old enemy, had no intention of giving up the pursuit and led the team in person. The elites of Qi County have been chasing fiercely. After Shen Shi in the afternoon, the forward team led by Qin Qiong arrived at the bank of the Bianshui River first, and immediately started to build a pontoon bridge. It was only more than 70 miles away from Meng Rang's team.
After confirming the movement of Zhang Xutuo's team, Meng Rang's expression was somewhat ugly, and he snorted coldly, then turned to Yuan Tiangang next to him and asked, "Mr. Chunfeng, is the road over Mangdang Mountain okay?"
"Back to King Meng, Mangdang Mountain is only famous, but in fact the mountain is not too high, and the road is easy to walk." Yuan Tiangang replied respectfully: "Students estimate that the army of the King's elite soldiers I visited today can pass through Mangdang Mountain in at most one and a half hours. Dangshan. The small roads are not very easy to walk, but the advantage is that they are numerous and extend in all directions, and it is easier to evacuate and transfer when necessary."
"That's good." Meng Rang nodded in satisfaction, and after a little calculation, he arranged: "Tomorrow, we will walk like this. The elite soldiers will lead the way in front, the food, grass and luggage will walk in the middle, and the auxiliary soldiers of women and children will walk behind. The old dog Zhang Xutuo chased after him." Of course it’s best if he doesn’t catch up, if he catches up, let the auxiliary soldiers, women and children disperse and take the path to escape, and then meet up at Dingtao Mountain.”
Knowing that Meng Rang's arrangement was to preserve strength, and did not consider the casualties of women, children and miscellaneous soldiers at all, Wang Xin'e, Cao Wei and other generals of course agreed, and then Cao Wei also suggested that each of the elite soldiers carry ten catties of grain on their backs just in case , Meng Rang also nodded in agreement without hesitation, while Yuan Tiangang asked pretendingly: "My lord, what should I do? Shall I go with your elite troops?"
"Of course." Meng Rang nodded and said with a smile: "Don't worry, Mr. Chunfeng, I won't let you take risks. If you walk with me tomorrow, if there is any trouble, my personal soldiers will protect you."
Yuan Tiangang quickly thanked him, and proposed to bring his four entourages with him. Meng Rang did not doubt that he was there, and he also agreed casually. Yuan Tiangang was relieved a little, and secretly said in his heart: "The elite soldiers lead the way, and the food and grass are in the middle." The miscellaneous soldiers, the old and the weak, women and children are in the rear. This is a great opportunity to win more with less. As long as our team can concentrate on defeating Meng Rang's elite team, those miscellaneous soldiers can run away. I just don't know Chen Tongshou How will we fight this time, can we bite off this elite soldier of Meng Rang?"
At this time, Li Chou slapped Yuan Tiangang's shoulder again, and said loudly: "Mr. Chunfeng, after tonight, you can give us a divination to see if we are going to take the road of Mangdang Mountain." It's fierce."
"General Li, I'm sorry, but I can't predict this hexagram." Yuan Tiangang, who was calculating the strength comparison between the Qiaojun army and the Mengrang army, didn't think too much, and replied casually: "If you take other paths, I can help you." Divination asks for good and bad luck, but the road to Mangdang Mountain is not good."
"Why?" Everyone present was stunned, and Meng Rang asked, "Mr. Chunfeng, why can't the road of Mangdang Mountain be used for fortune-telling?"
"Master Meng, because the road of Mount Mangdang is the road of emperors." Yuan Tiangang said very solemnly: "The road of emperors is blessed by heaven and earth, protected by gods and Buddhas, and those who are not well-versed in heaven and earth cannot explore it. How can a student who is proficient in alchemy dare to do divination for this road? If a student forces the divination, I am afraid that not only will he be punished by the heavens, but it may also backfire and bring disaster to the king?"
Meng Rang and the others, who had long been stupefied by Yuan Tiangang's magic tricks, were even more stunned this time, and then the impatient Li Chou hurriedly asked: "Mr. Chunfeng, why do you say that the road to Mangdang Mountain is the best road?" Emperor Road?"
"General Li doesn't know something." Yuan Tiangang said with a serious face: "During the time of the first emperor, Liu Bang, the great ancestor of the Han Dynasty, revolted by beheading snakes in the Mangdang Mountains, creating the foundation of the Han Dynasty for four hundred years, and there are records in the history books that Liu Bang He is the son of the Red Emperor, and the white snake he killed in this Mangdang Mountain is the son of the White Emperor, and the Red Emperor and the son of the White Emperor will meet in this Mangdang Mountain, so this mountain road is not the road of the emperor?"
After all, looking at Meng Rang and others who had already opened their mouths, Yuan Tiangang smiled again and said: "King Meng, generals, it is a very coincidental coincidence that the road we are going to take tomorrow happens to pass through the place where Emperor Gaozu of Han was beheaded." If you are interested, I can show you where you are.”
"I'm interested, of course I'm interested!" Meng Rang and others nodded like chickens pecking at rice, and then Meng Rang added, "We are not only interested? When we get to that place, Mr. Chunfeng, you can give us some pointers. Let's take a look at the old place where Han Gaozu killed snakes and raised troops."
After finishing his mouth, Meng Rang added another sentence in his stomach, "At that time, if a white snake really emerges, it will be even better!"
…
At the same time, the main force of the Sui army led by Zhang Xutuo finally arrived at the Bianshui River and joined forces with the vanguard Qin Qiong's team. Although it was dark and the soldiers were exhausted, Zhang Xutuo still ordered the army to stay overnight. Crossing the river, all the soldiers were asked to rest on the south bank of Bianshui in order to launch a pursuit the next day.
Relying on strict military management and caring for the soldiers at ordinary times, Zhang Xutuo's orders were firmly carried out. The soldiers of the Sui Army who were already so tired that they could doze off while walking still kept their spirits up and walked quickly across the river under the light of torches and bonfires. They camped and rested in the open area on the south bank of the Bian River. As a result, almost all the soldiers of the Sui army had just arrived at the self-armed camp. They didn't even care about a bite of dry food. They immediately lay down on the ground and fell asleep snoring loudly. ——No way, Zhang Xutuo’s team was really exhausted after fighting the fire for two consecutive years. This time, they pursued from Qufu to the banks of the Bianshui River, marching hundreds of miles away. No matter how elite and skilled the soldiers of the Sui Army were, they couldn't bear it anymore.
Seeing the tired appearance of the soldiers of the own army, Zhang Xutuo's heart felt like a knife was twisted, and he had no choice but to hear the movements and reactions of the surrounding friendly troops, but Zhang Xutuo was furious and gritted his teeth to pieces! With a lot of hope, Dong Chun's team in the east and Yang Wang's team in the west both made the same excuse that they didn't have enough time to return from the northern line to divert and delay Meng Rang's team from fleeing southward. Watching Meng Rang pass through the edge of their defense zone, he conserved his strength and did not react!
What made Zhang Xutuo even more angry and worried was still to come. When the Sui army was about to cross Bianshui, the scouts who went south to follow Meng Rang's team finally sent a scout report, saying that Meng Rang's team had changed in the north of Xiayi. After changing the direction of the march, they fled to the southeast of Liang County. The surrounding Xiayi and Dangshan counties were all closed gates, and no soldiers were dispatched to intercept and delay Mengrang's team for a while! They are all determined that as long as this plague god gets out, no matter where he goes to cause harm, he is beggar-thy-neighbor.
After confirming the direction of Meng Rang's fleeing, Zhang Xutuo, who had already memorized the map of this area, immediately turned extremely gloomy. He screamed: "South of Pengcheng! Meng Rang's traitor is going to the south of Pengcheng! Unfortunately, the main force of the court is in the north. Once Meng Rang gets there, no one can stop him!"
Zhang Xutuo nodded silently with his back to the map, and suddenly said: "I hope Chen Yingliang can be a little more tolerant and send troops to contain Meng Rang. Even if he buys us a daytime, we can catch up with Meng Rang."
Zhang Xutuo reminded Mulan, Qin Qiong and others to take a closer look at the map, and they were surprised to find that Meng Rang's fleeing route must pass through the edge of the defense area of the Qiaojun army. The only way he had to go east to Pengcheng happened to be not far from Yongcheng, Chen Yingliang's base camp. If Chen Yingliang sent troops in time, it was entirely possible to stop Meng Rang's fleeing road!
"Chen Yingliang has too few troops, only about 2,500 people in twelve regiments, it is unrealistic to expect him to defeat Meng Rang." Zhang Xutuo said to himself again: "But I don't want him to defeat or retreat. Meng Rang, as long as he blocks Meng Rang for a day, as long as he buys me a day, I can catch up with Meng Rang and flank Meng Rang back and forth with him. The success or failure of our pursuit depends on Chen Yingliang Do you choose to preserve your strength, or fight with all your strength at any cost."
Qin Qiong, He Tingyu and the others nodded their heads, but Mulan pouted and said, "I think Xuan, don't say Chen Yingliang is unlikely to send troops, even if he does, he will be like a rat who is greedy for life and afraid of death, when he meets a powerful thief like Meng Rang Head, must have fled watching the wind, and was defeated."
Accustomed to seeing shameless allies greedy for life, afraid of death and preserving strength, Zhang Xutuo could only smile bitterly at Mulan's gossip. After the bitter smile, Zhang Xutuo ordered: "Bring a pen and paper, and I will give it to Chen Yingliang again." Write a letter and arrange for reliable people to send it to Yongcheng overnight, success or failure depends on Chen Yingliang's choice!"
After finishing writing the letter to Chen Yingliang, Zhang Xutuo wrote two more orders in his own handwriting, respectively to the magistrates of Xiayi and Dangshan counties which are closer to each other, ordering them to send troops to contain Mengrang at all costs, even if all the people in the county are dead. Xiangyong, as long as you can get Meng Rang's troops to stop marching for an hour! Then three fast horses were sent to send out the three letters overnight.
The night passed quickly, and the sky had just dawned. Zhang Xutuo led the army to continue southward, and clearly told the soldiers to chase for another day. If they could not catch up with Meng Rang within a day, Meng Rang's team would also flee to Pengcheng smoothly. In the south, the team that has been fighting for many days will rest on the spot in Liang County. Upon learning of this order, the already exhausted Qi County team suddenly burst into cheers, but these heartfelt cheers made Zhang Xutuo feel extremely bitter in his heart, knowing that he was indeed too overdrawn. Looking forward to rest and rest.
Although he had already decided that if he could not catch up with the enemy within the same day, he would completely give up this pursuit, but deep down in his heart, Zhang Xutuo still refused to give up the last hope of annihilating Meng Rang's team, hoping for a miracle. The surrounding friendly forces could somewhat slow down the enemy's escape speed, but the cruel fact soon completely shattered Zhang Xutuo's last hope. In the afternoon, when Zhang Xutuo's exhausted troops marched to the campsite of the Mengrang Army seventy miles away, not only did they not see half of the soldiers of the Mengrang Army, but they also ran into Xiayi, who had just chased here. He Dangshan Xiangyong team.
"After receiving the ambassador's order, our county magistrate Zhang in Xiayi immediately mobilized his troops to dispatch troops, but the brothers were too tired to defend the city and walked slowly, so they failed to catch up."
"Ambassador Mingcha, Dangshan Township Yong was planning to send troops immediately, but this morning, a large number of rioters in the north looted the village, murdered and set fire everywhere. We can only rush to save the people first, so..."
This is the explanation given to Zhang Xutuo by Xiayi County Chancellor and Dangshan Master Bo. Hearing these shameless nonsense, Zhang Xutuo lost all the strength to go crazy. Lonely and haggard, the unkempt and dusty Qijun soldiers beside him looked at Zhang Xutuo silently, their eyes full of fatigue and anticipation.
After a while, Zhang Xutuo asked in a hoarse voice: "What's the answer from Chen Yingliang in Yongcheng?"
"Reporting to the ambassador, there is no reply." He Tingyu, who was in charge of arranging the courier, hung his head and replied: "The envoy sent by the last general to Yongcheng has not returned yet, and our scouts have not found any signs of the Yongcheng garrison sending troops."
Zhang Xutuo's expression was dull, and after a long time, he murmured: "Starting from Changbai Mountain in Qi County, all the way to Mangdang Mountain in Liang County, we fought for thousands of miles, fought in more than ten battles, and sacrificed thousands of soldiers. Missed the opportunity to wipe out the enemy just like that? Our old friend Meng Rang just slipped away from our noses again like this?"
After muttering, tears glistened in Zhang Xutuo's cloudy eyes, Qin Qiong, He Tingyu, Mulan and other generals all burst into tears, Luo Shixin gritted his teeth and bled, and clenched his fists until his knuckles turned white. Zhang Xutuo shook his head weakly again, bowed his head and said: "Order the whole army to give up the pursuit and rest on the spot."
The long-awaited rest order was delivered, but there was no sound of cheers. Instead, the soldiers of the Sui army, covered in mud and sweat, shed tears. Many soldiers even cried out, smashing the ground with their knives and guns, screaming frantically, "It's all in vain!" ! It's a waste of hard work again!"
Hearing the cries and roars of the loyal and brave soldiers, Zhang Xutuo burst into tears and looked at the direction of Mangdang Mountain in the southeast, looking old, lonely and even more lonely.
Suddenly, Zhang Xutuo's eyelids twitched slightly, because his cloudy and tearful eyes suddenly saw a fast horse galloping from the direction of Mount Mangdang. What an urgent matter. Under suspicion, Zhang Xutuo was about to send someone to meet the knight to find out what happened, but the tearing roar had already reached Zhang Xutuo's ears first...
"Ambassador! Ambassador! Go to Mount Mangdang! Go to Mount Mangdang! Go to Mount Mangdang!"