The sky was not yet fully bright, a touch of morning glow quietly dyed the eastern sky red, and in the morning light, Zhang Xuan led the main force of the Sui army to the city of Suyu.

At this time, the gate of Suyu County has been opened, and Chen Miao, the Taishou of Xiapi County, led dozens of officials out of the city to greet him, Chen Miao stepped forward and knelt down, and said with tears: "We waited for the people of Baoli, and we had to surrender to the thieves, but our hearts still yearn for the imperial court, and we hope that the general will be clear!" ”

Dozens of officials knelt down behind, Zhang Xuan hurriedly turned over and dismounted, stepped forward to help Chen Miao, and comforted him: "Chen Yuanjun doesn't have to blame himself, I have experienced too much, I believe that Chen Yuanjun will not really be a thief!" ”

Zhang Xuan said to everyone again: "I know that everyone is a dignified person, and he will not be willing to commit himself to a thief, please get up!" ”

Everyone was grateful, and they all stood up and saluted Zhang Xuan, Chen Miao was moved in his heart, and said: "The general is a reasonable person, and it is our luck to meet the general." ”

"Chen Yuanjun has won the award!"

Zhang Xuan changed the topic and asked, "How is the situation of the thief army in Xiapi County?" ”

"The thief army originally only had 5,000 garrisons in Xiapi County, commanded by Luo Bingqian, but I heard that Meng Haigong stationed 30,000 troops at the junction of Pengcheng County and Xiapi County to meet the army, if Pengcheng County is in danger, these 30,000 people will support Pengcheng County, but if Xiapi County is in danger, they will support Xiapi County."

"But how does this army know that Xiapi County is in danger?" Zhang Xuan asked again.

Chen Miao sighed, "Don't hide it from the general, Ma Xu, who has just retreated, has already sent a pigeon letter to inform the receiving army, and this army will soon enter Xiapi County." ”

Zhang Xuan immediately said to Pei Xingyan: "You can lead the cavalry to Xiapi County, if you encounter the thief army retreating north halfway, don't care about them, give me the first to occupy Xiapi County, I will immediately lead the army to support." ”

"Obey the order!"

Pei Xingyan turned around to leave, and Chen Miao, the Taishou next to him, hurriedly suggested: "There may be a small number of garrisons in Xiapi County, if the general can't take the county seat." It is possible to turn to the bridge. ”

"What bridge?" Zhang Xuan asked puzzled.

"General Hui, there is a pontoon bridge on Bianshui and Yishui in the north, which can be seen in the county seat, if the general sends someone to burn the bridge first, it can stop the thief army from going south!"

"Thank you for the reminder!"

Zhang Xuan instructed Pei Xingyan to say a few words, and Pei Xingyan arched his hand. Turning over his horse, he galloped towards the cavalry behind, and in a short time, more than 700 cavalrymen left the team and galloped north.

Zhang Xuan did not stay too long in Suyu County, he left 1,000 troops to defend the city, and personally led the army to kill Xiapi County, 300 miles to the north.

Xiapi County is located in the north of Xiapi County, just in the north-south traffic artery, in the north of the county seat. Yishui and Bianshui converge here, renamed Surabaya, and flow into the Huai River to the south, which makes the strategic location of Xiapi County very important, far more than Suyu County in the south, so to speak, to seize Xiapi County, and control the entire Xiapi County.

As Taishou Chen Miao said. Meng Haigong did not really give up on Xiapi County, although he and Yang Yichen fought fiercely in Pengcheng County. But he still put 30,000 troops at the junction of Pengcheng County and Xiapi County, about 150 miles away from Xiapi County, on the north bank of Bianshui, and this army could support Pengcheng County or Xiapi County at any time.

This army of 30,000 men was commanded by Meng Haigong's younger brother Meng Qigui, who would receive a safe pigeon letter from Suyu County every day, once a day in the morning and once in the evening. If you don't receive it once, it may be an accident, but if you don't receive it twice in a row, it means that something happened in Xiapi County, and Meng Qigui will immediately command the army to rush to Xiapi County.

Meng Qi Ghost is also a fierce general. Brave in battle, won the trust of Meng Haigong, he looks vicious, burly, makes a sixty pounds of three-pointed two-edged knife, martial arts are very strong, at the beginning of the year at the heroes' meeting, he entered the top 100, much more brave than Luo Bingqian.

Although Meng Qi is brave and strong, he also has a cautious side and is not reckless, so Meng Haigong handed over the responsibility of backup to him.

The time has reached noon, Meng Ghost stood in front of the tent door, anxiously looking at the south, last night's peace letter was not received, this morning's peace letter was not delivered, Meng Ao Ghost began to have a bad feeling in his heart.

The pigeon letter was not sent to the camp, but to Longgang Town, which was about three miles away from the camp, at this time, a personal soldier rushed from the camp gate, Meng Qi's heart suddenly hung up, and he quickly stepped forward and asked, "Is there any news?" ”

The pro-soldier shook his head, "General, there is no pigeon letter!" ”

Meng Qi didn't hesitate anymore, Luo Bingqian must have had an accident, Xiapi County was in danger, he turned over and shouted on his horse: "The army is leaving!" ”

Since the pigeon letter last night was not received, the thief army had been cleaned up early in the morning, and under the order of Meng Qigui, the 30,000-strong army left the camp and marched towards Xiapi County, which was one hundred and fifty miles away.

Xiapi County is very important because of its strategic location, and the city wall is therefore built tall and strong, surrounded by water, easy to defend and difficult to attack, at this time Xiapi County is not an empty city, Meng Qigui has sent a thousand troops to guard the county seat, to prevent the Sui army from sneaking up on this strategic place.

Pei Xingyan led seven hundred cavalry all the way to gallop, they ran three hundred miles in one day, and killed in Xiapi County at dusk, Pei Xingyan restrained the war horse, looked at Xiapi County from afar, only to see that the city gate was closed, the banner of Meng Haigong was erected on the city wall, and there were thief soldiers running at the head of the city, although there were not many defenders at the head of the city, but for the Sui cavalry who did not have any siege weapons, it was also helpless.

But one thing is certain, the main force of the thief army has not yet arrived, Pei Xingyan whipped his war horse violently, "Follow me!" ”

He led the cavalry around the city to the north, and sure enough, he saw two pontoon bridges three miles north of the city, respectively above Surabaya and Yishui, two rivers flowing from the north and west, converging in the north of Xiapi County, and a big mountain to the west, like a huge barrier standing beside Xiapi County.

Pei Xingyan gave an order, and the soldiers started together to set fire to the two pontoon bridges, but the city defenders did not dare to come out to put out the fire, and watched the smoke billowing out, mixed with flames, which quickly engulfed the two pontoon bridges

Because the distance was nearly half that of the Sui army, Meng Qigui's army of 30,000 was the first to arrive in Xiapi County, but they were stopped on the other side of Surabaya.

Although the 30,000 thief army arrived in Xiapi County, they could not cross the river into the city, and more importantly, they did not know the situation on the other side, whether Xiapi County had been occupied by the Sui army, and in desperation, Meng Qigui had to order the whole army to camp on the spot and wait for dawn before acting.

At the same time, Zhang Xuan led the main force of the Sui army to about 80 miles away from Xiapi County, but the army did not stop to rest and still marched along the east bank of Surabaya.

The army was silent, there was no fire, no one was noisy, from time to time there was the sound of coughing and the noise of war horses, and in the great river to the west, dozens of large ships full of food and military supplies lined up in the river to follow the Sui soldiers.

Zhang Xuan was at the front of the team, he rode on the war horse, and looked at the north with stern eyes from time to time, from the time calculation, the thief army should have arrived in Xiapi County, but Pei Xingyan never had any news, indicating that the thief army had not yet crossed the river, and the two sides had not yet broken out into a fierce battle.

Zhang Xuan got the exact news last night that Yang Yichen led 30,000 elite Sui troops to fight fiercely with Meng Haigong's 100,000 troops in the area of Xiao County, although the thief army was three times larger than the Sui army, but its combat effectiveness was much weaker than that of the Sui army, so although the battle was very fierce, it was impossible to distinguish victory or defeat for a while.

If the two sides of Pengcheng County are evenly matched, then his military operation in Xiapi County will become the key to the whole battle, and Zhang Xuan has been thinking about his next move, but he needs to get accurate news from Pei Xingyan now.

At this moment, a personal soldier galloped over, followed by a person, "General, General Yuanqing sent someone to deliver a letter." ”

Zhang Xuan was immediately overjoyed, he was waiting for Pei Xingyan's news, and he happened to deliver the letter, which was simply providence.

"Bring him up!"

A short time later, a messenger soldier was brought up, and he bowed on his horse, "See the commander!" ”

"Is there any news from General Pei?"

"Returning to the commander, we have burned the pontoon bridge and are ready to ambush the enemy army to build a pontoon bridge at any time, General Pei said that he is sure to prevent the thief army from crossing the river."

"Are there any defenders in Xiapi County?" Zhang Xuan asked again.

"There were about a thousand or so people, but they didn't dare to go out of the city, so there was nothing to worry about."

Zhang Xuan got the clear news, he pondered for a moment and said, "Pass my order, the army will cross the river and go west!" ”

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[Lao Gao greets all book friends, Happy Chinese New Year's Eve, Happy Spring Festival! ] (To be continued.) )