Huaiyang County is located on the west bank of Surabaya, about 30 miles away from the Huai River, more than 100 miles away from Shanyang County on the south bank of the Huai River, and has been the southeast gate of Xiapi County since ancient times.

Huaiyang is a small county, the circumference of the county seat is only ten miles, the population is more than 2,000 households, the city wall is low, the city gate is dilapidated, it is impossible to garrison troops in the city, the five thousand thieves who have just arrived in Huaiyang County have set up a large camp on a high ground about five miles south of the county seat.

The main general of the thief army is named Luo Bingqian, is a black-faced man in his thirties, burly and tall, making a fifty-pound iron gun, strong martial arts, he was Li Zitong's subordinate, after Li Zitong died in Luoyang, he accepted Meng Haigong as the main prince, loyal, deeply valued by Meng Haigong, this time he led 5,000 troops to the south, but also he can implement Meng Haigong's intentions, test Zhang Xuantun's intention to soldiers Huaihe.

Luo Bingqian has a nickname in the Menghai Gongjun, called Crazy, mainly saying that he is war-loving, no matter whether he wins or loses, he will be happy only if he can fight, although he is good at fighting, but he listens to Meng Haigong's words very much, and does not dare to easily disobey military orders.

Luo Bingqian stood on the sentry tower and looked at the Surabaya a mile away, Surabaya is the most important river in Xiapi County, originating in the mountainous area of Surabaya County, Lu County, the river is wide, and a large number of rivers are irrigated along the way, because the water flow is stable, flowing through the plain area, which is extremely conducive to shipping, Luo Bingqian is looking forward to the appearance of the mighty Sui warships on the river, so that he can have a vicious battle with the world-famous Zhang Xuan, this day he has been looking forward to for a long time.

Luo Bingqian had been waiting in Huaiyang for five days, and the Sui army had never come, which made him impatient, although Luo Bingqian was very eager for the war, but Meng Haigong gave him a strict order, not allowing him to take the initiative to provoke the Sui army, and could only passively wait for the Sui army to come to meet the battle, and he could only continue to be patient.

"General Luo, it seems that there is a military order coming!" A sentry pointed to the north and shouted.

Luo Bingqian looked back to the north. I saw that the three cavalrymen were rushing towards the big battalion, looking at their outfits, they should be messengers sent by the lord, Luo Bingqian's spirits lifted, there must be a new order coming.

He got out of the watchtower and went to the camp to wait. In a moment, the three cavalrymen galloped over, turned over and dismounted, and reported: "General Qiyu, the king has an urgent order!" ”

Luo Bingqian was illiterate, he took the order arrow, but handed the order to the clerk next to him, and the clerk looked at it and said, "General, the king ordered us to advance to the north bank of the Huai River." ”

"Really?" Luo Bingqian was overjoyed and confirmed.

The order said so, relying on Huaiyang, the soldiers continued to move forward. It is stationed on the north bank of the Huai River. ”

"Good!" Luo Bingqian was so excited that he struck his fists, he understood what the lord meant, and asked him to further test Sui Jun, which was in his arms.

"Go and call General Ma!"

After a while, a partial general ran over, his name was Ma Xu, he was Luo Bingqian's general, he clenched his fists and bowed and said, "Listen to the general's instructions!" ”

"I am about to lead the army to the Huai River. You may lead a thousand brethren to guard Huaiyang, and you shall not leave your post without permission. Do you hear that? ”

Ma Xu's scalp was numb for a while, and he said for a while: "Of course, I don't dare to leave my post without permission, but in case the Sui army comes to attack in a big way, the soldiers are small and the city is small, and I am afraid that I can't hold it, and it is not a pity to die in my humble position." I'm afraid of breaking the general's big thing. ”

"Useless stuff!"

Luo Bingqian scolded, he thought for a while and said: "If the Sui army comes to attack in a big way, you can immediately give up the north of the county and retreat to Suyu County, and defend Suyu for me, I don't blame you for losing Huaiyang." But if Suyu County is lost, you don't want to live. ”

"Obey the order!"

After Luo Bingqian finished arranging military affairs, he immediately shouted: "The army is assembled and marches to the Huai River!" ”

Half an hour later, 4,000 thieves, under the leadership of Luo Bingqian, left Huaiyang County and slaughtered the Huai River more than 20 miles away.

Zhang Xuan braked quietly, but did not start, and after five days of garrisoning troops in the Huai River, Meng Haigong finally couldn't hold his breath and ordered Luo Bingqian to continue southward to further test Zhang Xuan's motives.

Just as the thieves in Huaiyang County had just gone south, they were immediately discovered by the scouts of the Sui army, and the information was sent to the camp in Shanyang County, which was more than 100 miles away, by means of flying pigeon messages.

At this time, Zhang Xuan was not in the camp, but on top of the fleet patrolling the Huai River.

The reason why Zhang Xuan did not send troops for five days this time was that on the one hand, Meng Haigong did not go north to Qingzhou to eliminate Zhang Xuan's crisis pressure, and on the other hand, Zhang Xuan needed the permission of the Son of Heaven, so he always stood still.

But there was another tactical reason, which was that he had to wait for the warships on the Yangtze River to arrive at the Huai River.

It was not until yesterday that 30 2,000-stone warships arrived in Shanyang County, and together with the previous cargo ships, the total number of Zhang Xuan's large ships reached 90, and the number of small ships reached hundreds, so that the Sui army occupied an absolute water advantage in the Huai River valley, which was densely covered with rivers.

The night was deep, twenty large warships in the Huai River slowly marched in formation, the two banks were endless forests, Zhang Xuan stood in front of the window with his hands, looking at the woods and fields on the north bank, and on the table behind him put a piece of information that had just been sent, the thieves stationed in Huaiyang had left the camp and went south, and it was estimated that they were on the north bank of the Huai River not far from him at this time.

But the battle between the two armies should not only look at the appearance, but also look at the essence through the phenomenon, why did the thief army suddenly go south, there are only more than 4,000 people, and the Sui army is 15,000 people, the thief army is clearly here to send death, but is it that simple?

It should be said that the thief army came to challenge on purpose, whether he wanted to march north or not, he would swallow this arrogant team in one go and teach the thief army a cruel lesson, but what is the significance of this kind of death to Meng Haigong?

Intuition told Zhang Xuan that Meng Haigong must have mastered the information he had not yet mastered, so he was anxious to let his subordinates come to die, and he was eager to let himself send troops to annihilate the enemy.

At this time, Wei Chigong's anxious voice came from outside the cabin, "Please tell the general for me, I have something important to see." ”

A personal soldier walked into the cabin and reported, "General, General Wei Chi has urgent business to see!" ”

"Let him in!"

'Boom! Boom! Boom! The sound of heavy and hurried footsteps came from far and near, and Wei Chi Gong had already entered the cabin, clasped his fists and saluted: "Humble Captain Chi Gong see the general!" ”

Zhang Xuan glanced back at him and smiled, "What's the urgency?" ”

"General, the lowly has just received the news that thousands of thieves have been found on the north bank ten miles ahead of us, and the lowly has come to ask for battle!"

"Wei Chi, haven't you fought for a long time, and you're a little itchy?" Zhang Xuan smiled slightly.

"There is indeed a point of lowly duty, but lowly duty is a little difficult to figure out, since the Son of Heaven has approved the general to fight, why does the general delay in moving? In fact, our warships can go north along Surabaya or Tongji Canal, and put pressure on Meng Haigong so that they dare not go north to Qingzhou, what is the general worried about? ”

Wei Chigong spoke very straightforwardly, this tone was a bit like a question, and it was definitely easy to offend his boss, but Zhang Xuan knew Wei Chigong very well, knew what he wanted to say, and was absolutely not disrespectful to himself, he just wanted to know what he thought, as long as he gave him an explanation, he would accept it respectfully.

Zhang Xuan walked to the map, picked up the wooden pole and pointed to Xiapi County on the map: "Does General Wei Chi think that Xiapi County is important to Meng Haigong?" ”

"The four counties of Xuzhou, Xiapi County are second only to Pengcheng County in importance, and of course they know about Meng Haigong."

"In this case, Meng Haigong has more than 100,000 troops, why is there only a few thousand troops deployed in Xiapi County, of course, there were originally 40,000 troops, but I got information that the 40,000 army has been withdrawn to Pengcheng County, and now only Luo Bingqian's 5,000 troops are left to defend Xiapi County, and Luo Bingqian led 4,000 people to the north bank of the Huai River to die, is it a bit of an intention to lure us into Xiapi?"

As soon as Zhang Xuan said this, Wei Chigong suddenly came to his senses, and he scratched the back of his head, "The general has a point, but he looks too shallow." ”

After a pause, Wei Chigong asked curiously, "What does the general think is the problem?" ”

Zhang Xuan pondered for a moment and said slowly: "I suspect that Du Fuwei is about to move again. ”

Wei Chigong was taken aback, "Could it be that Du Fuwei wants to take the opportunity to attack Jiangdu?" ”

Zhang Xuan nodded, "Other than that, I really can't think of any other reason, I think they have formed an alliance and have a tacit understanding." ”

"General, I still don't understand a little, what does this have to do with Meng Haigong luring us into Xiapi County?"

"Actually, it has a lot to do with it."

Zhang Xuan stared at the map and said: "Because we are stationed in the Huai River, Du Fuwei can't see our true intentions, so he doesn't dare to attack Jiangdu, what if we are luring troops?"

But once we attack Xiapi, Du Fuwei will think that we have declared war with Meng Haigong, and he will attack Jiangdu desperately, so the current situation is very delicate, not so much that Meng Haigong is luring us to fight, but that Meng Haigong is luring Du Fuwei to take risks, do you understand? ”

Only then did Wei Chigong suddenly realize, "I understand my humble position." ”

"So what are we supposed to do?" Wei Chigong asked again.

Zhang Xuan said with a smile: "The premise is that my inference is correct, if it is correct, then we will do the opposite, hold Shanyang County, and at the same time withdraw the army back to Jiangdu." ”

"When does the general plan to retreat?"

Zhang Xuan stood in front of the window with his hands in his hands, stared at the south for a long time, and said lightly: "At least wait until Du Fuwei arrives in Jiangdu County." (To be continued.) )