Although the county did not sweep the hurricane right, it also collapsed and was in a mess.

Chu Zheng's mind was heavy, and he couldn't sleep after tossing and turning in the hall at night, but Chen Xiaoyan, a scholar from Gao Zongting, came to him, pushed the door and said, "My lord, please come over and talk about it!" Mr. Gao and Master Ye were there. ”

Coming to Huaidong, Lin Zheng asked him to go over at night to talk about the old relationship, and if he was someone else, he would definitely be very excited and happy, but Chu Zheng had indescribable apprehension and heaviness in his heart, and he tightened his face and walked with Chen Xiaoyan to Lin Tie's line in Changguo.

The insects in the streets and alleys were chirping, occasionally the sound of dogs barking and baby cries came, the night was deep, Chu Zheng looked up at the sky: in the night sky that was crowded with high walls on both sides, a bright moon shone in the sky, and it was already midnight.

"Don't adults and Mr. Gao take a break at this time on weekdays?" Chu Zheng asked.

"The situation in Qingzhou is so bad, when the news came, my husband didn't sleep well," Chen Xiaoyan said, "The same is true for adults, just in time for the wind disaster to sweep Changguo, and it is even ......more difficult to rush over to inspect the relief."

Although he only fought side by side with the Jiangdong Left Army in Yangxin for a period of time, Chu Zheng had already learned Lin Lian's diligent style, but he didn't expect that Lin Lian was in a high position to this day, and he was eloquent for one party, and his diligence style has not changed.

Chen Xiaoyan said again: "I have known that Captain Chu is in Yangxin all these years, but I am looking forward to you coming to Huaidong. Not only Mr., but also Captain Chen and Captain Geng have repeatedly raised it. A few days ago, Captain Chen came to Mingzhou on business, and heard that Captain Chu was coming to Mingzhou, and he wanted to meet you before returning to Yongjia. Unfortunately, the hurricane passed through, and I don't know how long you will be delayed in Yudong, so Captain Chen returned to Yongjia - when he left, he also recommended you to Yongjia to serve as a general, but Mr. said that Captain Chu had a tiring journey, and the Advanced Military Intelligence Department served as the commander to join the army, and brought his family to Huaidong for settlement, and it was not too late to serve as other generals after he became familiar with Huaidong......"

Along the way, Chen Xiaoyan chattered non-stop; Chu Zheng was thoughtful, but he followed Chu Zheng to Huaidong and a few servants, and he was very excited to hear it.

Chu Zheng except for the five attendants, it can be said that he came to Huaidong alone, will he pay attention to Huaidong, Chu Zheng didn't say it, and the attendants who voted for Huaidong with him were very worried. I heard that Gao Zongting recommended Chu Zheng to join the army as the commander of the Huaidong Military Intelligence Department, which is a pretty good starting point.

Zhou Pu was waiting in the courtyard, and when he saw Chen Xiaoyan bring Chu Zheng over, he directly led Chu Zheng in.

In the side hall, Lin Jian was holding a charcoal pen in one hand and an oil lamp in the other, lying on the table studying the map, and Gao Zongting and Ye Junan were standing at the door talking about things. Seeing Zhou Pu leading Chu Zheng in, Lin Jian raised his head and put the oil lamp on his desk, and said, "There are still some things I want to ask you about Qingzhou......

"My lord, excuse me." Chu Zheng said.

"You also heard what Lord Meng said during the day," Lin Jian put the charcoal pen in front of his finger, invited Chu Zheng to sit down and speak, and said, "The main force of the Qingzhou Army was besieged in Yangxin, and the Liang family was more concerned about whether their own territory was consolidated. The main force of the Huaidong Army is also in the middle of a war with the luxury family in eastern Zhejiang, and the battle situation in Qingzhou is also far away and cannot save the near fire - in the current situation, we have to consider the worst consequences......"

"Are you worried that Yang Xin will be lost?" Chu Zheng's heart palpitated and asked.

"It's much more serious than this," Gao Zongting and Ye Jun'an sat down, Gao Zongting took Lin Bin's words, and said to Chu Zheng, "Yan Hu chose this time to use troops against Yangxin on a large scale, and it was very targeted, that is, to prevent Huaidong from interfering with them from the sea to encircle Yangxin - Yanhu was bound to win this time, and the troops invested in Yangxin were beyond imagination. In fact, unless Huaidong can get the authorization of the imperial court to command the soldiers and horses of the Hehuai towns, it will only rely on the Huaidong family to draw 20,000 or 30,000 elite soldiers to the north, and there is no ability to relieve the siege of Yangxin. ”

Gao Zongting pointed to the map on the table and said to Chu Zheng: "Yuan Lishan has surrendered to Yanhu, and he has been returned to Yihou, and the original Jizhen has surrendered to his army, almost all of which have been incorporated into his banner, and the new attached army of Yuan Lishan's department alone is as high as 60,000 people. We had previously considered that Yanhu would use Yuan Lishan as the main general to fight against Yangxin, but we did not expect that Yanhu would also transfer Chen Zhihu from Qinyang to the east to participate in the war - we estimate that Yanhu will eventually gather more than 150,000 troops to the south on the eastern front. ”

"Yan Hu will invest so many troops in this battle!" Chu Zheng gasped and felt a tingling sensation in his back.

Yanhu's formal formation of a new annexed army can be traced back to the Koubian in the ninth year of Chongguan, which was hastily formed by the subordinate armies of Yannan, Shandong and other places. At that time, the new annexed army was like a rabble, and it was hit hard by the Jiangdong Left Army under Yangxin City, and its actual combat strength was very bad.

Yan Hu did not despise the new annex army because of Yangxin's defeat. Just after the First Battle of Yangxin, the scale of the new annexed army increased greatly, and it participated in the siege of Datong and Jinhai one after another, and its combat effectiveness was rapidly improved.

Although the situation in the north eventually collapsed like a landslide, this was directly related to the blind command of the imperial court, and at that time, the soldiers and horses who could fight up and down the court and the opposition were mainly concentrated in the border army. Datong, Xuanfu and other armies were forced to surrender until they ran out of food.

Yanhu's new annexed army finally absorbed a large number of generals and soldiers from the surrendered Sanzhen border army, and its combat power was even more reborn, which cannot be said in the same day.

The total strength of the four towns of Hehuai was only 1560,000 people, and they were still scattered along the Hehuai defense line that was nearly 2,000 miles long, and it was difficult to imagine what it was like for Yanhu to pour in 150,000 soldiers and horses from the eastern front.

"At the beginning of the year, Yanhu's wanton invasion of Kouqingzhou and Dengzhou was just a sentinel battle," Lin said, "and its significance was to destroy the river and land routes for reinforcements from the Jiaolai River to Qingzhou, and to destroy the supply capacity that Qingzhou could provide." The total number of soldiers and horses gathered by Yanhu on the eastern front was enough for Yanhu to divide his troops to capture Linzi and Qingzhou while besieging Yangxin. At that time, the battle of the Liang family will be unfavorable, and if there is no battle, the entire flank will be exposed to Yanhu's troops - the worst consequence is that the entire Hehuai defense line is likely to completely collapse after this battle! ”

Chu Zheng also knew the military strategy, he was just in it at the beginning, and he couldn't see the great danger, but at this time, listening to Lin Jian and Gao Zongting's analysis of the situation, he was scared into a cold sweat.

"If the Liang family can decisively resist the enemy with the Qingzhou alliance at the beginning, they can also take advantage of their unstable foothold to repel it. However, the Liang family only cared about strengthening their own territory at this time, and the four towns of Hehuai were suspicious of each other - such a vicious shape, if they could be spared, there might only be a one-tenth chance, and Huaidong was helpless against this situation," Lin Jian pointed to the map and said, "But Mr. Gao and I studied the situation and thought that after the captives surrounded Shiyangxin, they divided their troops to seize Linzi first, and the Liang family's troops in Jinan and Pingyuan would definitely be absorbed to the east." Before capturing Yangxin or defeating the Liang family's soldiers and horses, Yanhu divided his troops to seize Linzi's soldiers and horses first, and did not calmly clear the surrounding walled cities, and the Qingzhou army did not give the remnants of the siege still the last line of opportunity to escape into Yishan and Kunyu Mountains - Hehuai was in a crisis at this time, and no one was able to turn the tide, but we still had to work together to expel Hu Lu from the Central Plains in the end. What can be done at this time is to preserve the resistance strength of the Hehuai area to the greatest extent. When you left Qingzhou, you met Cheng Weiyuan, I want to ask you, Huaidong sent people to contact Cheng Weiyuan and Zhang Jinxian at this time, can you persuade them to abandon the city and retreat to Yishan before the situation collapses, and save some strength......"

Fine beads of sweat oozed from Chu Zheng's forehead, and Lin Lian's question was really difficult for him to answer.

Cheng Weiyuan and Zhang Jinxian were ostracized by Gu's father and son, and fortunately they were not in Yangxin City, but before the situation in Qingzhou collapsed, they asked him to abandon the city and retreat to Yishan first.

The rights and wrongs in this cannot be clearly explained with one mouth.

Zhang Jinxian and Cheng Weiyuan are both people who cherish feathers, and it is easy for them to be calm and righteous, but it is much more difficult to persuade them to abandon the city to save their lives.

Zhang Jinxian and Cheng Weiyuan have a close relationship with Huaidong, but in fact, there are not many opportunities for the two of them to have close contact with Huaidong, and Lin Jian is not very clear about the character of the two of them, so he asked Chu Zheng to come over to ask.

Looking at Chu Zheng's expression, Lin Jian knew that his idea would not be realized.

Lin Jian can't force anything, everyone has their own way to go, thinking that for Zhang Jinxian and Cheng Weiyuan, maybe dying in defending the land and leaving a name in history is more in line with their personal wishes, patted Chu Zheng's shoulder, and wanted to expose this matter, and said: "Zongting recommended you to join the army as the commander of the military intelligence department, first familiarize yourself with the situation in Huaidong, what do you think......"

"My lord, Chu Zheng has something to ask for......" Chu Zheng stood up suddenly and knelt down on one knee in front of Lin Lian.

"Something, stand up and say." Lin Jian said.

"Cheng and Zhang, the two lords, cherish their feathers, and may not be willing to abandon the city to save their lives before the situation collapses," Chu Zheng said, "but according to your speculation, the captives will divide their forces to attack Linzi first." After the fall of Linzi, Lord Cheng was in Guangrao, and there were only more than 1,000 county soldiers in his hands, and it was difficult to recover the crisis. At that time, I will persuade Lord Cheng to give up Guangrao and retreat south, and Lord Cheng is not a stubborn person. Although it is dangerous, there is still a glimmer of opportunity to retreat into Yishan. Chu Zheng wants to go back to Qingzhou to fight for this opportunity! ”

"There is a silver lining; However, I will write to ask the scout to sneak to Qingzhou to give Cheng and Zhang two adults, and you don't need to go on this trip yourself. Lin Jian said.

"The matter is over if you have to withdraw to Yishan, you have to fight for the territory in Yishan from the hands of the bandits, and you have to face the brutal encirclement and suppression of the captives," Chu Zheng said, "I am familiar with the more than a dozen elementary schools that Master Cheng brought to Guangrao, and I believe that I can help Lord Cheng when I return to Qingzhou......."

Lin Jian picked Chu Zheng up, looked at Gao Zongting, and asked for his opinion.

Gao Zongting pondered for a moment and said: "No matter how many troops there are, no matter how many mountains can be held in Yishan in the end, it will be extremely beneficial to the tug-of-war in the Hehuai region in the future - of course, before the Liang clan has no enemies, Huaidong can't openly send troops over, but you can choose to send an elite army out of the uniform to sneak into Yishan first." At this time, the Liang family also hoped that Dong Yuan could go out of Huaidong to contain Huaidong's troops in the Huaisi area, and only in this way could the Liang family rest assured that the Yinan soldiers and horses would be transferred to the northern front to reinforce Jinan. As long as the Liang family evacuates the soldiers and horses in Yinan, their control over Yishui will inevitably weaken, and Huaidong can send some supplies to Yishan through Yishui, and the people can also be evacuated and resettled along Yishui......"

Gao Zongting suggested, Lin Jian thought to himself: Isn't this a volunteer army plus guerrillas?

Due to the fact that the world was fighting with cold weapons, guerrilla tactics were greatly restricted, but Yishan is located in the middle of Shandong, and it is of great significance to be able to preserve a part of the military strength in Yishan, and it is worth trying.

Thinking of this, Lin Jian also made up his mind, turned around and said to Zhou Pu: "You quickly go and ask Zhuwei, is there anyone who is familiar with the situation in Yishan, and is there anyone who is willing to temporarily take off the Huaidong military uniform, go north to Qingzhou with Chu Zheng, and lurk in Yishan?" Then order the Military Intelligence Department to order all the scouts who can be mobilized nearby to the island to listen to the order - make it clear to them that Huaidong will not admit their existence until Huaidong and the Liang clan are officially at odds. If there are those who are willing to go north, Huaidong will treat them well......"

Maybe you can select people from the whole army, and you can easily gather thousands of elites to go north with Chu Zheng, but time waits for no one, the situation in Qingzhou is extremely critical, and the whole line will collapse at any time, and they must be sent to Chu Zheng to return to Qingzhou immediately.

It's too late to go by land, and you even have to risk taking the sea route. Fortunately, the ability of the "Little Princess-class" super-large sea ship to resist wind and waves is much stronger than that of ordinary sailing ships, as long as it is not swept into it by a hurricane, it is still quite safe.

Zhou Pu turned around and walked out, gathered the half-battalion guards who were guarding Lin Jian to inspect Changguo Island, and selected a group of volunteers to go north with Chu Zheng.

Lin Jian said to Chu Zheng again: "This time back to Qingzhou, everything is difficult, but the people of the country will remember your achievements; I will bring your family from your hometown to Huaidong for resettlement, and for now, I can only pick some people to go north with you......"