Mu Guangling has been very troubled these days, and there is hardly a day when he is in a good mood. Although there were no major changes in the battle in Eastern Xinjiang, the sensitive position he was in now made him have to think more. Several lines of attack by the foreigners were blocked, and it was not particularly easy to attack. The most important thing is that the Phoenix Terrace is guarded by the Black Banner Army, which is the best thing for the Mu Mansion.
When the man named Nalan Dingdong led troops to guard the Phoenix Terrace, Mu Guangling was still a little worried. That is a whole army of one hundred thousand, placed directly in front of the Mu Mansion, if the Phoenix Terrace falls, the foreign army will drive straight in, and the Mu Mansion will bear the brunt.
However, later Mu Guangling found that placing the Black Banner Army in Phoenix Terrace was the most suitable choice. First, the 100,000-horse army of the Black Banner Army is indeed very powerful, with not only elite light cavalry, but also a firearms battalion. If such a team was placed behind him, Mu Guangling might be even more worried.
Second, the Black Banner Army is the most powerful force among the reinforcements from all sides. Many small forces are moving towards the Black Banner Army. Status is a challenge.
To be honest, it's not that Mu Guangling doesn't want to put all his energy on fighting foreigners. But as the situation in Eastern Xinjiang became more and more complicated, he had to take back some of his energy from the war. Of course the foreigners want to fight, but they also want to keep their status. Everything has two sides. It is not because of Mu Guangling that he is more and more focused on intrigue. If other people are not staring at his position, he is not so troubled.
The Black Banner Army he was most worried about was pinned to death on the Phoenix Terrace and could not move, and the Black Banner Army's food supplies were in his hands. Another threat to Mu Guangling's status is the Zhao family army who came from Jiangdu to support him. A few days ago, the foreigners took advantage of Zhao's army. Mu Guangling didn't receive the news. When he was hesitating whether to send troops to support them, the foreigners had already won. Zhao's army was defeated for hundreds of miles, and it was estimated that it would be difficult to recover in a short time.
Of course, he hesitated for a little longer, three days.
"My lord."
Mu Guangling had several important generals under his command, one of them was Yan Li who died in battle on Penglai Island. Secondly, it is the person who is talking to him now. This person is about fifty years old, he has been with Mu Guangling for many years, he is able to lead the army well, and he is quite resourceful.
This person's name is Mu Zihuan, and he is Mu Guangling's cousin in terms of seniority.
"You don't have to worry too much about the Black Banner Army now. My subordinates estimate that the Black Banner Army still has at most half a month's food and grass. As long as we hold it down for a few more days, they will have nothing to fear. As long as Let them suffer a big defeat and reduce their strength by half, so there is no threat to us. Then send food and grass over, and just find someone to kill to take the blame and make Nalan Dingdong shut up."
"As for the Zhao family in Jiangdu, there is no need to worry. Foreigners are chasing after Zhao Jiajun's buttocks. Zhao Jiajun is too busy to take care of other things. If these two teams are not worried, there is a mess of people put together People and horses have to be taken seriously."
Mu Guangling thought for a while and asked, "Red eyebrows?"
Mu Zihuan nodded: "That's right, this red-browed army has been in the limelight recently, and I don't know who is leading the army, and it is quite talented as a general. At first, this person only led a few hundred people to fight against foreigners. Just leave, don't stick to small details, and have extremely flexible tactics. In just half a year, it has grown to more than ten thousand people. Although most of them are gangsters, green forest robbers and the like, their combat power should not be underestimated."
Mu Guangling said: "Those quacks and bandits are tough, but they lack a commanding officer who can convince the crowd. What is the name of the leader of the Red Eyebrow Army, can we find it?"
"No."
Mu Zihuan shook his head: "This man is extremely mysterious. Even when meeting with his subordinates, he would cover his face with a black scarf. But it is said that he is tall and thin. Because he dyed his eyebrows red, he was called Red Eyebrows." General. As a result, this team is called the Red Eyebrow Army."
"You can send someone there later. If the Red Eyebrow Army is willing to submit to our Mu Mansion, I don't mind giving him a real or fake general position."
Mu Guangling said.
Mu Zihuan nodded: "I remember, I will arrange for people to go there later. However, the Red Eyebrow Army does not stick to one pattern. Today it is in Mu County, and tomorrow it may kill Tao Guan. They come and go without a trace. It takes a lot of work to find them."
"It's nothing more than ten thousand grassland bandits."
Mu Guangling said: "There are quite a few people like this in my mansion, but the casualties were heavy at the beginning of the war. If the red-browed army is willing to submit, they will submit. If they are not willing, find a chance to let them fight to the death with foreigners. It is a well-deserved death. I have the intention to fight against the enemy, but now the military order is unclear, and the order is not beneficial to the war. This is also a last resort. After the foreigners are beaten out in the future, I will just compensate their relatives and descendants. "
"My lord, why should you worry about this?"
Mu Zihuan said: "These people are rebellious, and it will be a curse sooner or later if they keep them. After the foreigners are repelled, these people have already formed a group, and their strength is scattered all over Eastern Xinjiang. It will be difficult to clean up when the time comes, why not let them fight with foreigners now, and it will be considered as their fulfillment."
"correct."
Mu Guangling said: "The Black Banner Army, you send someone to meet Nalan Dingdong, and tell them that the food and grass were robbed by the Red Eyebrow Army on the way."
Mu Zihuan was taken aback for a moment, then laughed: "My lord's plan to kill two birds with one stone is wonderful!"
He had just finished speaking when he suddenly heard a rush of footsteps outside: "My lord, something is wrong!"
…
…
Mu Guangling's face changed suddenly after hearing the words of the soldiers who had just rushed in: "Say it again!"
Frightened by Mu Guangling's ferocious expression, the soldier took two steps back, lowered his head and replied, "Just ten days ago, a group of people who came from nowhere suddenly appeared in the Maoran warehouse, and they attacked us." The banner of the Mu Mansion deceived the gate of the city, and as a result, at least ten thousand cavalry rushed in, disarmed our defenders in the city within an hour, and then transported less than half of the food and grass from the Maoran warehouse in one go. It took three days and three nights."
"I don't know where it came from?"
Mu Guangling asked angrily: "Is Ding Hai of Maoran City an idiot! He was beaten into the city and robbed of food, and he didn't know who he was!"
"Actually, there is no need to guess."
Mu Zihuan sighed at the side: "My lord was also impatient for a while, why did I forget that among the various troops in Eastern Xinjiang, besides the Black Banner Army, who has 10,000 cavalry?"
"Nalan Dingdong?"
Mu Guangling's eyes changed: "It takes at least seven days to walk from Phoenix Terrace to Maoran City, even if the cavalry is fast, it will not be less than three days. If it is Nalan Dingdong's troops, they have to pass through the surrounding area I have arranged behind them." Ao's subordinate, Zhou Ao has 30,000 horses in his hand, how could it be so easy for Nalan Dingdong to bring 10,000 Qingqi through?"
"There are indeed some doubts."
Mu Zihuan said: "If the Black Banner Army breaks into the camp, Zhou Ao will definitely report to the lord, and will send someone to Maoran City to deliver a letter quickly, but Zhou Ao firstly did not report to the lord, and secondly, he did not send a letter to Maoran City. Could it be...Could it be that Nalan Dingdong dared to sneak attack Zhou Ao's troops? And...and didn't let anyone go?"
"impossible!"
Mu Guangling said angrily: "Zhou Ao is a general trained by me personally. Even if he was attacked by someone, he would definitely not send all the 30,000 troops to the Black Banner Army. If 10,000 Qingqi attacked at night, wouldn't there be a single person?" Escape? I would rather believe that Zhou Ao got some benefit from Mu Guangling, pretending not to know!"
"Report!"
Just as he was talking, another soldier from outside ran over quickly, and said out of breath, "Master, Ding Hai, the guard of Maoran City, sent someone to send a message, saying... that General Zhou Ao's troops were defeated by someone. , disappeared overnight. After the Black Banner Army left Maoran City, General Ding Hai went to General Zhou Ao’s headquarters in person and asked why General Zhou Ao didn’t warn in advance. It turned out that General Zhou Ao’s camp had been destroyed. The camp is in a mess, and there is no living person in sight."
Hearing these words, Mu Guangling's body shook involuntarily: "How...how is this possible?! There are a total of 30,000 horses, even if they are attacked by surprise, it is impossible for none of them to survive. Send people quickly Check it out, I want to know what happened that night!"
"No..."
Mu Zihuan could still stay awake. After thinking about it carefully, his heart suddenly brightened: "Master, why don't you quickly send someone to the Beiliao people's camp to see if the Beiliao people's cold cavalry soldiers have come out! Even if it is The Qingqi Army of the Black Banner Army is powerful, but I absolutely do not believe that Zhou Ao’s troops were captured and killed alive overnight. My subordinates suspect that it was the Hanqi Army of the Beiliao people who joined forces with the Black Banner Army. Regarding this matter, you must know that Nalan Dingdong is from Beiliao!"
Only then did Mu Guangling think of it, and his face turned black, "I forgot, the reason why Fang Jie sent a little-known little man to lead a hundred thousand troops to the eastern border was because he was from the Northern Liao Dynasty. Immediately send someone to look at the Beiliao people's garrison, if their cavalry is not there, I'm going to ask Wanyan Yong what he did!"
"I'm afraid it's too late."
Mu Zihuan sighed: "The cold cavalry soldiers of the Northern Liao nationality come and go like the wind. They set off from their station to Maoran City, and then avoid all the troops along the way. It will only take six or seven days at most. It has passed now. In ten days, I'm afraid the cold cavalry soldiers from the Beiliao people have already returned."
"There are so many people along the way, why didn't anyone tell me!"
Mu Guangling slapped the table, furious.
"My lord, although there are many people along the way, there are no soldiers from our Mu Mansion. The Luling Army is blocking that road, but the Luling Army will report to us before we see it, and the subordinates even return it. Nalan Dingdong must have reached some kind of agreement with the Luling Army, for example... some of the looted food will be distributed to the Luling Army."
Mu Guangling was very resourceful, but he was just confused by anger. After listening to Mu Zihuan's analysis, he felt even more uncomfortable.
"Report!"
Before he calmed down a bit, someone came running over like flying: "My lord, the Red Eyebrow Army passed through our defense area last night and headed straight for Changping City."
"Changping City?"
Mu Guangling strode to the front of the map, slid his finger across the map and finally stopped at the location of Changping City: "This gang of robbers and civilians, I am afraid that they have already received the news that the Black Banner Army has food, so they went straight to the Phoenix Terrace Go. After passing Changping City, another three hundred miles is the Phoenix Terrace, and the Luling Army is now in Changping City!"
"Now that you know where the Red Eyebrow Army is, it's easy to say."
Mu Zihuan sneered speculatively and said: "To go to Changping City, you must go to Shili Gorge. Liu Juan's team is just east of Shili Gorge. My lord can order Liu Juan to lead troops to block Shili Gorge, and my subordinates will lead the troops there personally. Blocking both ends of the Red Eyebrow Army in the Ten Mile Gorge, since keeping it is the root cause of disaster, it is better to get rid of it as soon as possible."
Mu Guangling was silent for a while, and finally nodded: "Go, clean your hands and feet, and don't let people publicize this matter."