There was no need to be in a hurry at all, so Chen Yingliang didn't need to be in a hurry. He led the main force to travel fifty miles a day, walking westward along the official road without any haste. After catching up, he brought two pieces of news to Chen Yingliang. One was that Wang Shichong had already sent troops across the Huaihe River and went deep into the North Sea to solve Chen Yingliang's worries. The journey was bumpy, and Wang Shichong's wife asked her to stay in Jiangdu, planning to wait for Wang Xueji to give birth before sending her to reunite with Chen Yingliang.
The two news that Qian Xiangmin brought back were within Chen Yingliang's expectations, because although Wang Shichong was a barbarian who didn't care about propriety, righteousness and shame, his environment determined that he dared not refuse Chen Yingliang's marriage proposal, so he accepted the marriage proposal and married Chen Yingliang. After marrying his relatives, Wang Shichong had to sell Chen Yingliang's face to solve Yan Xuanzheng's troublesome problem. And after seeing Wang Shichong's personal letter brought back by Qian Xiangmin, Chen Yingliang suddenly smiled even more contemptuously. The eldest grandson Wuji, who followed Chen Yingliang for the first time, met him and asked curiously: "Brother, why are you smiling?" so weird?"
"It's nothing, I just laughed at Wang Shichong's appetite." Chen Yingliang brightened Wang Shichong's letter and said with a sneer, "Let me help him give gifts to Li Guogong to confirm his relationship with Li Guogong. Ask me to help him give Mid-Autumn Festival gifts to Pei Xiang and Dr. Pei."
"It's not surprising. Wang Shichong's family relied on his ability to meet and drive. He doesn't have a strong backer in the court. Of course, he has to hug his thigh if he has the opportunity." Changsun Wuji also sneered contemptuously, and reminded casually: "Brother, just this time Oh, this time it's done, I understand your difficulties and don't say anything. Next time if you still want to accept a concubine without my sister nodding, don't blame me, brother-in-law, for objecting."
"Understood, how many times do you want to repeat?" Chen Yingliang was a little guilty, pretending to be frank and said: "Wang Xueji was really unexpected this time. If I didn't agree to her at the time, I wouldn't have the opportunity to send troops to the south to claim credit. Only when something happened, I was punished." Forced to marry her, how could there be a next time? Besides, even if I want to, how come the time and opportunity to accept the second concubine?"
The eldest grandson Wuji snorted coldly and scoffed at the promise of his unscrupulous brother-in-law. Chen Yingliang felt even more guilty, and couldn't help but think of Yang Yuer, Pei Cuiyun and Mulan. Hu Lai, I am sorry for Wugou and these good girls if I do anything wrong again, it is better to marry Wugou first, and then consider the matter of taking concubines. Fortunately, that girl Wugou is well-known for being gentle and virtuous, and she has officially become a concubine. After the kiss, she probably won't care how many wives and concubines I take."
Dreaming of this wishful dream, the main force of the Sui army composed of teams from Qiaopeng counties crossed Dangshan and Yucheng counties very smoothly. When passing through the edge of Songcheng in Liangjun County, Yang Wang went north to meet Chen Yingliang and thanked the teacher Thanks to Chen Yingliang's rescue, he brought several reliable guides familiar with the terrain and roads to lead Chen Yingliang to Wagang. At the same time, Yang Wang naturally asked Chen Yingliang to destroy the main force of Wagang in the first battle, so as to avoid these scourges from staring at the water transport every day. As a result, Yang Wang was reprimanded by the court twice in three days. Chen Yingliang was perfunctory and asked cautiously: "Uncle, have you found out the latest location of Wagang's main force?"
"Find the main position of this gang of thieves, and I don't need to ask you twice for help." Yang Wang sighed, and said very depressed: "Wagang's gang of thieves are so popular, they don't loot or burn, and they don't want to kill you. We often take out looted grain to help the people, and the people rush to hide their whereabouts for them, and instead report to them the movements of our officers and soldiers. We ran around in vain, exhausted ourselves and couldn’t find their main force, and if we were not careful, they would take the opportunity to plunder the water and transport them, and we would be scolded by the court for our hard work.”
"It's normal. A certain party wasn't like this at the beginning. After it succeeded, didn't it degenerate faster than anyone else?" Chen Yingliang muttered disrespectfully in his heart.
"But it doesn't matter to you." Yang Wang patted Chen Yingliang's shoulder again and said, "I've analyzed it carefully, and I think your strategy of encircling the spot and attacking reinforcements is really right. The bandits don’t turn back to rescue them, so I’ll leave it to you this time. Don’t worry, if you don’t have enough food, just ask me, and I’ll try my best to provide it.”
Chen Yingliang cupped his hands in thanks, but thought to himself: "I hope the main force of the Wagang Army is not in the cottage, otherwise, I won't be able to relax so easily, and maybe I will have to fight, which will hurt my vitality even more. It hurts the morale of the army, and if you win, it will seriously change history if you are not careful, so it's a dilemma."
Secretly praying not to fight tough battles with the Wagang Army, Chen Yingliang's team bid farewell to Yang Wang, and continued to march towards Waihuang. As they moved away from the Tongji Canal, which was heavily protected by the government and the army, the number of refugees and bandits on the road gradually increased. Fortunately, Chen Yingliang's team was huge and imposing. None of these small bandits dared to come up to seek death. It took more than three days to arrive in Waihuang smoothly.
The disparity in power was enormous, and the so-called target of the Sui army, Wang Dangren, had already disappeared without a trace. Of course, Chen Yingliang didn't mind, but ordered the army to suddenly speed up and march northward at Wagangzhai to seize the siege and fight for reinforcements. The tactical initiative of the Wagang Army did not give the main force of the Wagang Army the opportunity to return to the rescue first. The Qiao Peng Sui Army, who traveled no more than fifty miles a day, had sufficient physical strength, and immediately accelerated their pace after receiving the order. The guide for Chen Yingliang also went to the front to lead the way, so that Qiao Peng and the Sui army could rush to Wagang Village in the shortest time.
Waihuang is only a mere 130 miles away from Wagangzhai. Chen Yingliang sent troops from Waihuang at noon, and estimated that he would be able to reach Wagangzhai the next afternoon. There is a little trouble - all the Jishui bridges next to Jiyang City have been completely destroyed by those wicked ghosts! At the beginning of autumn, the amount of water was relatively abundant, and it was difficult for the Qiao Peng Sui army to cross the river, and it was even more difficult for the large amount of food and supplies carried by the army to pass through. They had to stop to build pontoon bridges and rush to repair bridges. The established plan to enter Dongjun County for a rest in the evening was natural. It also fell through.
Hearing this news, Chen Yingliang was of course shocked and furious, and hurriedly sent someone to Jiyang county magistrate to question the reason. The defenders didn't dare to open the city too deep, so they could only hide in the city and watch the Jishui Bridge be destroyed overnight! When Chen Yingliang heard the news, he was even more shocked and asked: "Can you find out who did it? Is it the Wagang thief?"
"No, it's the local bandit Wang Bodang's team." Jiyang County Magistrate replied truthfully: "The humble official has sent people to investigate this morning. The thief who destroyed the bridge last night is the local bandit leader Wang Bodang. The humble official will also investigate. It turns out that the wooden bridges and stone bridges in the 30 miles upstream and downstream of Jiyang City were completely destroyed by Uncle Wang's bandit army. Also, I really don't know that the deputy envoy your army is going to cross the river today. Even if the humble officials let the thieves enter the city at night, they must send troops to protect the bridge."
Chen Yingliang's face was a little ugly, and it took him a long time to wave to the county magistrate of Jiyang and said, "It's okay, since you don't blame if you don't know, I don't blame you, go and organize the people to rush to repair the bridge, and you must give me the bridge before tomorrow morning." Repair the bridge under the city so that our military grain trucks can cross the river and go up the river. Build a few more pontoon bridges to make it easier for our army to cross the river."
The county magistrate of Jiyang was obedient and thankful and hurried to organize the people to repair the bridge. Chen Yingliang then ordered: "Order the whole army to give up the plan of marching northward in a hurry. After crossing Jishui, they will still travel fifty miles a day to conserve their strength." Go north slowly."
"Brother, what should we do if the main force of the Wagang thieves rushed back to the division before us?" Changsun Wuji asked in shock.
"It's useless, the Wagang bandits are already ahead of us." Chen Yingliang said angrily: "I bet that 99% of the main force of the Wagang bandits has already crossed Jishui, and returned to the aid lair day and night, otherwise What are they doing to destroy the Jishui Bridge in Jiyang? Are they eating too much?"
"But just now the Lord of Jiyang County said that Uncle Wang was the traitor who destroyed the bridge last night?" Changsun Wuji asked in confusion.
"Wang Bodang has already teamed up with the Wagang bandits!" Chen Yingliang said even more angrily: "Otherwise, Uncle Wang will cause trouble for our army if he is a fool. His whole family was destroyed? Since Wang Bodang dared to cause trouble for us, he helped the main force of the Wagang bandits to rush back to the nest before us, which is enough to show that he is confident and has joined hands with the Wagang bandits! And I dare to bet, Wang Bodang definitely didn't just destroy the Jishui Bridge, the road and bridge we went north to Wagang must have been destroyed to some extent!"
Changsun Wuji and the others suddenly realized, but Kan Leng next to him rarely spoke, and said, "Deputy envoy, what shall we do? Although the last general has never been to Wagang village, he also heard that Wagang village is easy to defend and difficult to attack. The surrounding hills stretch for hundreds of miles, the vegetation is overgrown, the ditches and rivers are vertical and horizontal, and the terrain is very complicated. It is not conducive to deploying our troops, and it is difficult to prevent the sneak attacks of the Wagang thieves who are familiar with the terrain. Now the main force of the Wagang thieves has rushed back to help In the village, we must be at a disadvantage if we go to attack again?"
"It's okay, I've been prepared." Chen Yingliang waved his hand and said lightly: "I was stupid to enter the complex terrain and fight against the Wagang bandits. Gou Gaolei confronted the Wagang thieves, the Wagang thieves did not produce, and the supplies of food and grass depended on plundering the Tongji Canal. How much grain could there be in the thief's den? Worry about them not sending troops to a decisive battle."
The civil and military officers of the Sui army suddenly realized that they hurriedly praised Chen Yingliang's temple for his ingenious calculations. However, Chen Yingliang ignored these flattering words, and just hummed in his heart: "You can guess the target of my troops, destroy bridges and roads in advance, and buy time for the main force of the Wagang Army. Li Mi, this must be your handwriting? It's a pity, You probably never thought about it in your dreams, I never thought about attacking Wagang Village when I came this time, no matter how clever and cunning you are, you still can't guess my real purpose here!"
As predicted by Chen Yingliang's Crow's Mouth, after finally repairing the bridge and crossing Jishui, it was soon discovered that the roads and bridges to the north of Jishui were also damaged to varying degrees, and some road sections were difficult to cross even on foot. Not to mention the trucks full of food, grass and military supplies, fortunately, Chen Yingliang had given up the established tactics of encircling the points and fighting for aid, so he didn't need to rush on the road. He just patiently repaired the roads and bridges while slowly heading north. In a few days, they came to the open area fifteen miles south of Wagang Village, and set up camp to prepare for a long-term confrontation with the Wagang Army—to be precise, to delay time.
While the army was camping, Chen Yingliang had to personally inspect the camp and the surrounding terrain, and climbed up to the high ground to take a closer look at the Wagang village in the distance. It turned out that this Wagang village, which had never been attacked from the front in history, really lived up to its reputation. , cleverly used the alluvial terrain of the Yellow River in this area to build the fortifications of the village wall. The rammed-earth structure of the village wall stretches for more than 20 miles, but it uses the cover of hills, earth mountains, woods, streams and swamps to cover the extreme land. Most of the walls are in contact with the outside, making it impossible for the attacker to launch an attack on most of the walls. They can only attack the main entrance of the village through the narrow road that was artificially opened up in the front. However, the defenders of the village can use the top of the earthen wall to deploy their troops, and use long-range weapons to attack the official troops crowded on the narrow official road head-on.
Originally, Chen Yingliang wanted to visit the back of the Wagang village, but before he got down to the high ground, the messengers rushed over, saying that there was an envoy from the Wagang village, and they brought Zhai, the leader of the Wagang army. Chen Yingliang was not polite about Jean's handwritten letter, and immediately asked the soldiers to bring the Wagang Army envoy here, and directly met the envoy on the high ground in the wild. After a while, an elegant and long-bearded literati in his thirties was brought in front of Chen Yingliang. He politely greeted Chen Yingliang, and then presented a letter with both hands, stating that it was Zhai Rang's own handwriting.
After receiving Zhai Rang's letter and looking at it, what made Chen Yingliang laugh dumbfounded was that Zhai Rang, who had been a calligrapher and was fairly neat, laughed at his own stupidity and incompetence in the letter, and tried to attack Wagang Village under the guise of crusade against Wang Dangren However, it turned out that Huangliang's dream was in vain, and was easily seen through by the ingenious Wagang soldiers, who quickly returned to help the cottage and succeeded. After ridiculing and insulting Chen Yingliang, Zhai Rang challenged Chen Yingliang in a letter, asking Chen Yingliang to let his horse over to attack Wagang Village, and he would accompany him to the end!
After reading Zhai Rang's letter, Chen Yingliang, whose face is thicker than that of Wagang Village, of course laughed out loud, and said to the long-bearded scribe, "How old is your King Zhai this year?"
"Our king is fifty-three years old this year, deputy envoy, why do you ask this question?" The long-bearded scribe asked in confusion.
"So I'm fifty-three years old. I thought I was only five years old." Chen Yingliang held up the letter with a smile, and said with a smile: "Use this kind of naughty trick to provoke me, do you want me to be furious and launch a frontal attack, and then Relying on natural fortifications to make a good start and severely damage the morale of our army? It's a beautiful idea, but unfortunately you haven't heard of one thing, have you? At the head of the Eastern Capital, I almost killed Yang Xuangan by cursing. It's a small trick to provoke and irritate me, what is it if it's not a trick?"
The face of the long-bearded scribe changed color, and he bowed his hands to Chen Yingliang after a while and said: "The deputy envoy is really clever, and the grassroots admire him. Since the purpose of our army has been seen through by the deputy envoy, the grassroots can only leave. I don't know if the deputy envoy has something to say or Let the grass people take the letter back to the village, and the grass people are willing to help."
"Of course there is." Chen Yingliang smiled, waved and said, "Come here with my ear, I'll tell you a message, you can take it back to Zhai Rang."
The long-bearded scribe was inevitably a little puzzled, but Chen Yingliang's personal soldiers grabbed his arms and stepped forward, putting his ears in front of Chen Yingliang. Chen Yingliang was not polite, and whispered in his ear. Said: "Go back and tell Zhai Rang that the location of the cottage he chose is too bad. Anyone with a little knowledge of water conservancy can see that the hills and ditches in this area are formed by floods at a glance. The only big river in this area is the Yellow River in the north. , it means that this area is the legendary yellow flood zone, if so, he is not afraid of angering me, digging up the Yellow River embankment to flood him?"
The long-bearded scholar suddenly raised his head, looked at Chen Yingliang with shock, his face turned pale involuntarily, Chen Yingliang smiled and said: "Don't worry, I won't do that, I am an official ordered by the court, and I am a person who is well-known among the people. Good official of the imperial court, I can't do such a thing that harms the people. But I have more than one way to break you. Go back and tell Zhai Rang. Clean your neck and wait for death."
The long-bearded scribe was stunned, and after a while he nodded his head to express his memory, and then left the mountain under the guard of the soldiers of the Sui army. Chen Yingliang suddenly said, "By the way, I don't know your name yet. What's your name?"
"Student Chen Shengping, from Weinan, Dongjun." The long-bearded scribe replied quickly.
"Hehe." Chen Yingliang laughed again, and said casually, "What are you pretending for? You think I can't recognize you if you put on a fake beard? Your name is not Chen Shengping, nor is it from Weinan. Your name is Bing Yuanzhen, so A native of the county can be regarded as a high-ranking bandit in Wagang Village."
Bing Yuanzhen, a long-bearded scribe, was stunned, and after a while he said tremblingly, "Deputy envoy, this is the first time we meet, why can you see the disguise of the grassroots at a glance?"
"I never fight uncertain battles." Chen Yingliang said with a smile: "Before I came to your Wagang bandit stronghold, I had already sent people to sneak into your stronghold, secretly painted your faces and five sense organs and sent them back, so how many of you are there?" I know what this big thief looks like."
"There are traitors in our cottage?!" Bing Yuanzhen was taken aback, his heart beat wildly, and his expression changed drastically.
"Don't be afraid, for the convenience of communicating with the enemy, I have never been in the habit of detaining and killing you, and I admire your courage a little bit, so I will let you go." Chen Yingliang said with a relaxed smile: "Let's talk , Xu Shiji, the big thief of Wagang, once helped me a lot, and it can be regarded as saving a life. In this regard, I will not make it difficult for you. I will thank Xu Shiji for me when I go back, and say I have not forgotten the kindness of Tongjiqu."
Bing Yuanzhen was taken away in despair, but as soon as Bing Yuanzhen left, Changsun Wuji immediately jumped in front of Chen Yingliang, and asked in surprise, "Brother, when did you install an inside line in Wagang Village? You are in charge of secrets, why have you never heard of it?"
"I blackmailed him." Chen Yingliang said with a smile: "When he approached me just now, I found out that his beard was fake, and I knew right away that his background was not simple, otherwise there would be no need for makeup. Then I recalled Wa carefully. Zhai Rang's age of 53 is obviously wrong for the characteristics of Gangda Bandit. I have seen Xu Shiji. Shan Xiongxin is a famous fierce general and his thin body does not match. The other Wagang bandits are also mostly mud legs. It may be because of his elegant temperament, only Bing Yuanzhen, who used to be a magistrate in the old county, fits his demeanor, so I guessed that he is Bing Yuanzhen."
"Brother is clever, you can think of so many things in such a short time, I admire you." Eldest Sun Wuji expressed his sincere admiration, and then hurriedly said: "Then brother, you deliberately said that there is an insider in Wagang Village. We want the Wagang group of thieves to be suspicious of each other, guard against each other, and then create a rift, so we can take the opportunity to make trouble, right?"
"Smart and motivated." Chen Yingliang smiled and said, "Although I didn't guess all of them right, I guessed half of them right."
Changsun Wuji was very curious when he heard this, and quickly asked what the remaining half was, but Chen Yingliang smiled and refused to answer, thinking: "Of course, the remaining half is to scare the Wagang Army so that they don't dare to act rashly. You can stay at this favorable location next to Baimadu with peace of mind, and you don’t have to waste military power and supplies and weapons to wait for that historical event to happen. Turkic Shibi Khan, please hurry up, I’m getting impatient. "
Let’s take a look at the situation on Bing Yuanzhen’s side again. After being released by the Sui army, Bing Yuanzhen was on the way back to the village. After getting off his horse, Zhai Rang, who was waiting anxiously in front of the door, led a large group of Wagang generals to stop him. Only then did Bing Yuanzhen come back to his senses, and quickly dismounted to salute Zhai Rang. Zhai Rang asked impatiently, "Why? So? Did my handwritten letter anger the dog official Chen Yingliang?"
Bing Yuan shook his head weakly, Zhai Rang was disappointed, and Shan Xiongxin next to him interjected and asked, "Then, have you seen the dog official Chen Yingliang? Is that dog official as in the legend, born with a rogue head and eyes, so wretched?"
"Who dares to say that Chen Yingliang is so wretched, I will chop him up with my own hands!" Bing Yuanzhen gritted his teeth suddenly, and said viciously: "I have grown up so much, but I have never seen such an amazing person! Compared with him , Zhang Xutuo is simply a martial artist, not even a finger of his! I bet this Chen Yingliang is definitely a hundred times more difficult to deal with than Zhang Xutuo!"