Although Yu Chigong was tall and majestic, his sensitivity was not weak at all, and as soon as he lowered his head, the mace swept over his head.

Wei Chigong was annoyed in his heart, and he actually attacked himself from behind, and he hit him with a backhand, this stick was full of power. 'When! With a loud bang, the iron rod and the mace collided, the flames splashed, and Zheng Ting, the leader of the thief army who was sneaking up behind, was shocked and took a few steps back.

Zheng Ting only felt that his throat was sweet, and a mouthful of blood spurted out, he was frightened, turned his horse's head and fled, Wei Chigong did not chase, and killed the enemy troops on the other side.

At this time, the sound of horses' hooves outside the city gate was like thunder, and the captain Yang Xu led 250 cavalry to rush across the suspension bridge like a long dragon and enter the county seat.

The city gate has been lost, and the fifty cavalry led by Wei Chigong have firmly controlled the city gate, and the more than 1,000 soldiers guarding the east city gate have scattered and fled one after another when they see that the general trend has gone.

Immediately after that, thousands of Sui soldiers under the leadership of the main general Zhang Xuan waved their troops to kill, and the more than 10,000 thieves stationed in Gaoli County did not dare to resist, and retreated to the pontoon bridge on the glue water, and the army was defeated for a while.

Zheng Ting saw that the situation was critical, in order to prevent the Sui army from crossing the river, he immediately ordered the bridge to be burned, and in a moment, thick smoke billowed on the water, the pontoon bridge was disconnected from the middle, and the soldiers on the bridge rushed and fell into the water one after another, and thousands of thief soldiers who had not had time to cross the bridge cried on the west bank.

At this time, thousands of Sui troops came to cover up, and the soldiers on the west bank had no way to escape, so they knelt down and surrendered.

．．．．．．．

The thief Meng Rang was in Jiaoxi County at this time, he had a big house in the county, and raised more than a dozen wives and concubines, at this time he was having lunch, but he heard the alarm bell outside, he was taken aback, and hurriedly dropped his chopsticks and walked to the yard.

At this time, a personal soldier rushed to report: "Your Majesty, the Sui army has captured Gaomi County!" ”

"Ahh Meng Rang was stunned.

After a while, Meng Rang reacted. He roared and ran towards the city, "Zheng Ting! Let Zheng Ting come to see me! ”

Meng Rang was angry, and Gaomi County was lost. It means that his outer barrier has been breached, and if Zhang Xutuo comes to attack in a big way, Jiaoxi County will not be able to defend it at all.

Gaomi County and Jiaoxi County are less than five miles apart, standing on the head of the city, you can clearly see Gaomi County on the other side of the river, and the big flag on the city tower has been replaced by the regimental dragon battle flag of the Sui army. Hunting and fluttering in the cold wind, Meng Rang only felt that his eyes were black for a while, how should he resist Zhang Xutuo's fierce army?

At this time, Zheng Ting walked quickly, knelt down on one knee and pleaded guilty, "The first battle of the humble post is unfavorable, and I am willing to be punished by the king!" ”

Meng Rang snorted heavily, "Lose Gaomi County silently, is this what I want to see?" ”

Zheng Ting was extremely ashamed and said: "The lowly post has strengthened the vigilance according to the requirements of the king, and the city gate is only open for one hour a day. But the other side came with cavalry, and they suddenly moved, and the battle was very strong, which caught the defending army by surprise, and they were unfortunately injured in their humble duties. ”

He coughed again and again, a trace of blood flowed from the corner of his mouth, Meng Rang himself is not good at martial arts, there are not many strong generals he can rely on, Zheng Ting is one of them, and more importantly, he is loyal to himself. If he was killed, it would greatly weaken his own strength, and Meng Rang had to think twice.

"Have all the troops been withdrawn?" Meng Rang glared at him again and asked.

"Qiyu Jun, sixty percent has already withdrawn, and the army behind is really too late. The pontoon bridge had to be burned, otherwise the enemy would fight along the pontoon bridge to the east bank, and the consequences would be even more serious. ”

Meng Rang stared at him for a long time, and waved his hand, "Take him down to heal, and deal with him later!" ”

Zheng Ting knew that the king had actually spared himself. He knelt down and kowtowed three times, and followed the soldiers down, Meng Rang turned his head and looked at Gaomi County on the other side, and he was really worried in his heart, although he had the upper hand in the number of troops, twice as many as the Sui army.

But the equipment and combat effectiveness are too far apart, and the army he can really fight with is only more than 10,000 people, and the rest of the army is a rabble, so how can he get through this difficult situation in front of him?

Early the next morning, Zhang Xutuo led 12,000 main troops to Gaomi County, although Zhang Xuan used a counter-strategy to prompt Zuo Xiaoyou of Donglai County not to save Meng Rang, but Zhang Xutuo was cautious, he still could not pull all the troops to Gaomi County, he left 8,000 troops to garrison Qi County, and he personally led the army to Gaomi County.

At the city gate, Zhang Xuan led his subordinates to welcome Zhang Xutuo's arrival, "See the big handsome!" Zhang Xuan stepped forward and knelt down on one knee to salute, and more than a dozen lieutenants knelt down together.

Zhang Xutuo hurriedly dismounted and helped Zhang Xuan up, "The general doesn't have to be polite, the generals, please get up!" ”

"Thank you to the marshal, I did not disgrace my mission and took Gaomi County."

"This battle is well fought!"

Zhang Xutuo smiled approvingly at everyone: "Only at the cost of less than 100 casualties, he defeated the enemy's 10,000 garrisons and captured the county seat, which can be described as a thunderous blow. ”

"The handsome man has won the award, and he won by luck, so he doesn't dare to bear this reputation."

Zhang Xuan said modestly, pulled Wei Chi Gong up, and introduced Zhang Xutuo with a smile: "This is the hero who captured Gaomi County, General Wei Chi." ”

Wei Chigong hurriedly bowed and saluted, "See the big handsome!" ”

Zhang Xutuo had seen the competition between Yu Chigong and Pei Xingyan, knew that he was brave, and saw that he was majestic, half a head taller than himself, like a god, and couldn't help but praise: "It is worthy of being a giant spirit god, although Yuanqing's martial arts are high, but not as strong as you, you are the first fierce general of my Flying Eagle Army!" ”

"Thank you for the praise, Wei Chi is ashamed!"

"You deserve it!"

Zhang Xutuo laughed, and rode towards the city surrounded by the generals, Zhang Xuan saw Pei Xingyan pouting, looking unconvinced, he knew that it was Zhang Xutuo's words just now that hit Pei Xingyan, so he smiled and patted Pei Xingyan's shoulder, "Behave well next time, let the handsome be impressed." ”

Zhang Xuan also urged the horse to follow Zhang Xutuo, and everyone entered Gaomi County together.

．．．．．．

Gaomi County is a small county, the circumference of the city is only ten miles, but the city wall is built tall and strong, and there is a wide moat, easy to defend and difficult to attack, it is for this reason, Meng Rang used it as an outer line of defense against the Sui army, and garrisoned 10,000 troops around, once the Sui army killed, they would quickly enter the city, close the city gate and fight fiercely with the enemy.

Unexpectedly, the Sui army attacked the county town by surprise attack, so that Meng Rang's carefully deployed outer defense was easily destroyed, and not only that, but a large amount of grain and grass materials also fell into the hands of the Sui army.

Zhang Xutuo's mood was particularly good, he knew that there were 5,000 stone of grain stored in Gaomi County, if he could capture the 5,000 stone grain, it would save him the trouble of transporting grain from Qi County, Zhang Xuan did not let him down, not only easily captured Gaomi County, but also seized 5,000 stone of grain before the enemy burned the grain, so that all his ideas were implemented.

"Why are there so many women over there?"

Zhang Xutuo saw dozens of young women in ragged clothes standing at the gate of a compound, he pointed with a horsewhip and asked strangely, "Are there no other people in the county?" ”

"Qiyu Marshal, the population of Gaomi County has been moved to Jiaoxi County on the other side, and the population in the county is only more than 300 people, all of whom are young women who cook and wash for the thief army."

Zhang Xutuo's face suddenly became gloomy, he knew Meng Rang's true purpose in using these women, he couldn't help but sigh softly, "They are all miserable sisters who have been ravaged, they are not allowed to abuse them again, let them go after the war, and let them go back to reunite with their families." ”

"Obey the order!"

Zhang Xutuo's mood was a little not good, he directly climbed the east city wall, slowly walked to the head of the city, and looked at Jiaoxi County on the opposite bank, in contrast, Jiaoxi County is much larger, the city wall is also tall and strong, surrounded by a large area of endless hills, this is Meng Rang's lair.

After staring at it for a long time, Zhang Xutuo turned back to Zhang Xuan and smiled: "The art of war, knowing oneself and knowing one's opponent can win all battles, how much do you know about Meng Rang?" ”

"The lowly office knows nothing about him!"

"You're being frank!"

Zhang Xutuo smiled and said: "I have been dealing with this person for a long time, two years ago he and Wang Bo rebelled in Changbai Mountain, gathered more than 100,000 people, Wang Bo is positive, he is deputy, it is said that both of them are people from the Bohai Society, Bohai will be afraid that they will establish themselves as kings, so let the two of them supervise each other, as a result, the two of them turned against each other, I led the army to attack Changbai Mountain last spring, he betrayed Wang Bo, and led tens of thousands of people to withdraw to Gaomi County, from this incident it can be seen that this person is not a person who fights to the death, and will definitely leave a way back for himself. ”

Zhang Xuan pondered and asked: "The back road mentioned by the marshal refers to Meng Ranghui's withdrawal to Langya County and defection to Sun Xuanya?" ”

"Other than that, he has no other way out." Zhang Xutuo said slowly.

"Does the marshal want to send troops to intercept him in the way he must go?"

Zhang Xutuo shook his head, "We don't have many troops, but the other side still has nearly 50,000 troops, we don't want to divide the troops before the other party is completely defeated, I just said that if a person has the intention of retreating, he will not fight to the death with the enemy." ”

"The lowly position understands, but the lowly position still wants to know, when does the marshal plan to cross the river?"

Zhang Xutuo stared at the river for a moment, and said lightly: "I plan to start building a pontoon bridge this afternoon, but I plan to send another surprise army." ”

Speaking of this, Zhang Xutuo glanced at Zhang Xuan, Zhang Xuan nodded and smiled: "I understand what the handsome means." ”

Glue is a major river on the Shandong Peninsula, originating in the hilly and mountainous areas of the southern part of the peninsula and winding its way north to the Bohai Sea.

Gaomi County is located in the upper reaches of the glue, this section of the river is not wide, only dozens of zhang, and the downstream is at least half narrower, but the water is very turbulent, it is very difficult to cross the river, Zheng Ting ordered to burn the pontoon bridge, it is not so easy for the Sui army to cross the glue.

However, Zhang Xutuo also took this into account, so he chose to attack Meng Rang in winter, after entering the winter, the glue flow is decreasing day by day, and the water is no longer as turbulent as in summer.

At the same time that Zhang Xutuo's army arrived in Gaomi County, Meng Rang deployed nearly 20,000 troops on the other side of Gaomi County, closely monitored the Sui army on the other bank, and waited solemnly to defend the Sui army from crossing the glue, and this fast-flowing river became Meng Rang's second line of defense.

To break through this line of river defenses, the Sui army had only one way. (To be continued.) )