Chu Zheng was sure that Cheng Weiyuan chased after him, first, to tell the feelings of the old man, and second, to persuade him to go to Huaidong.

Chu Zheng was originally worried that it would involve Zhang Jinxian and Cheng Weiyuan to be doubly suspicious of the Gu family's father and son, and because the two of them had taken care of him over the years, he abandoned Huaidong and went back to his hometown in Jiangxi to temporarily observe the situation, but he didn't expect Cheng Weiyuan to chase after him, but he repeatedly persuaded him to go to Huaidong.

Chu Zheng looked down at the candlestick on the table, and Cheng Weiyuan said under the lamp: "It is a foregone conclusion to keep the yang letter in front of me; If Yang Xinzhen unfortunately becomes the main direction of Hugou's southern invasion, there are three reinforcements that can be relied on, one is the Liang family in the west, the other is Dengzhou Town, which is controlled by Liu Yefei, and the other is Huaidong ......."

Among the three-way reinforcements that may be used in the future, the Liang family and Liu Yefei are not trustworthy, and Cheng Weiyuan pins his hopes on Huaidong.

"Qingzhou and Huaidong are at loggerheads, I have a few catties and taels, and Lord Cheng is not unclear, what can I do if I go to Huaidong?" Chu Zheng smiled bitterly.

"Lin Huaidong and Gu Qingzhou's son-in-law have a bad relationship, selfishness and righteousness are mixed, and it is difficult for others to judge right and wrong," Cheng Weiyuan said, "But if Qingzhou is in danger in the future, please ask Huaidong to help, it is righteous and selfishness is not harmful; When the time comes, I hope that someone will be in the middle to talk about this matter, which is better than cutting off the news now. ”

Zhang Jinxian and Cheng Weiyuan were so repelled by the Gu father and son, but they still thought of Qingzhou so much, Chu Zheng said movingly: "Lord Cheng and Lord Zhang are so concerned about Qingzhou, Chu Zheng does not dare to resign," and said again, "It's just that tens of thousands of soldiers and horses in Huaidong are currently entering eastern Zhejiang to contain the rebels of the luxury family on the eastern front to reduce the pressure on Jiangning." Although Huaidong had Yongjia's victory before, but the main force of the luxury family in eastern Zhejiang and western Zhejiang remained intact and did not suffer major losses. In addition to this, what is even more worrying is that Gu Qingzhou thought that Yanhu would not be able to invade the south again after the winter was frozen. However, looking at the recent concentration of Hu Gou in Cangnan and the density of a large number of scouts sneaking and harassing, before autumn and winter, if Hu Gou forcibly crosses the Zhulong River, I am afraid that he will be caught off guard. Even if Huaidong wants to help, it won't be too late to ...... in time."

"Do your best to obey the destiny of heaven," Cheng Weiyuan felt that the situation was difficult, he and Zhang Jinxian were rejected again, there was a deep sense of frustration in his heart, and he cheered up again, and said, "You can't sit back and watch, right?" ”

Chu Zheng and Cheng Weiyuan talked at night in the separate courtyard of Hengtai Post Shop, and they broke up and went on their own roads until dawn. Cheng Weiyuan returned to Guangrao in the north, and Chu Zheng, surrounded by Hu Cong, changed his original itinerary, borrowed the road from Linzi and Qingzhou, and went south along the Jiaolai River.

At the beginning of the year, Hu soldiers plundered the border, causing great damage to the Jiaolai River, bursting embankments and filling dozens of places.

The drought in Shandong is serious after spring, and there has been no serious flood or waterlogging caused by the destruction of the Jiaolai River until now, which can be regarded as a fluke, but almost all the resources of Qingzhou have been pumped to the north line to build the Yangxin-Zhulong River fortification, and they cannot spare their hands to repair the Jiaolai River for a while.

After the spring, the fields in Qingzhou have been greatly affected and have become a disaster, but looking at the unrecognizable appearance of the Jiaolai River, until the rainy season, it will turn from a drought to a serious waterlogging, and the fields, villages and roads along the river will be flooded beyond recognition.

The Jiaolai River is not only the lifeblood of the waterway running through the Shandong Peninsula, with vertical and horizontal roads along the coast, but also the most important land hub between the two mountain systems of the Shandong Peninsula, Yishan and Kunyu Mountain.

If Yangxin was in danger, it would not be possible for 35,000 soldiers and horses to get out of the siege, and it would not be a simple matter for the 350,000 troops to cross the border to receive reinforcements.

When the Jiaolai River is unobstructed, the main force of the Huaidong Army can land from Jimo and advance along the Jiaolai River by land and water, and can enter Linzi Mansion at the fastest speed. At this time, the Jiaolai River was destroyed, and the Gu father and son had no intention of repairing the Jiaolai River as soon as possible, and it was no longer realistic for the Huaidong Army to go north from Jimo to the shore to receive reinforcements from Linzi Mansion.

Putting these aside, Chu Zheng was most worried about not having enough time.

A year later, Yan Hu drove a large number of people to build a large number of roads from Hejian and other cities to Cangzhou and Cangnan to concentrate, and a large number of materials and troops were also gathered in Cangnan.

On the one hand, the Yanhu troops gathered in Cangnan to strengthen the defense of the coastal area, and to guard against possible attacks by the Huaidong and Dengzhou Zhenshui divisions from the sea; On the other hand, Yanhu is likely to rely on Cangnan to cross the Zhulong River and launch a strong attack on Yangxin.

Cangnan is only more than 100 miles away from Yangxin, although it is the same as the lower reaches of the Yellow River, the river Ze is vertical and horizontal, which is not conducive to the movement of a large number of cavalry in summer and autumn, but Yanhu has gathered a large number of craftsmen in Cangnan to build bridges, and the troops gathered in Cangnan are mainly the new Han army, and the degree of influence by Heze is much smaller than that of cavalry.

In Chu Zheng's opinion, the soldiers and horses that Yan Hu had assembled in Cangnan might cross the Zhulong River at any time. The Zhulong River is in the north of Yangxin, although it accommodates part of the Yellow River, but it is only two or three hundred zhang wide, far from being a natural danger that soldiers and horses cannot overcome.

It was in this situation that Chu Zheng repeatedly clashed with Gu's father and son, and finally took away his position as a general and expelled him from Qingzhou.

Chu Zheng traveled non-stop south, and arrived in Shanyang County with five Hu Cong on the 24th.

The people of Huaidong couldn't wait to dig the foot of the wall in Qingzhou, Chu Zheng and Huaidong also had a deep relationship, he came to vote, Cao Ziang personally came forward to receive him, and Qiao Ning Zechen was also in Shanyang, and he also rushed to talk about the old feelings.

When I met, I received Cao Ziang's trip in Shanyang City, and just sat down to drink two sips of tea, and I couldn't talk about the old feelings, Chu Zheng couldn't wait to tell Yangxin about the current critical situation.

Cao Ziang smiled bitterly and said: "Brother Chu Xian may not know, just on the way to Huaidong, Chen Zhihu led his troops eastward from Qinyang, crossed the Wei River from Raoyang, crossed the Pingyuan Mansion, traveled 300 miles in three days, and conquered Leling ...... on the 21st."

"Ahh Chu Zheng was stunned on the spot, unable to speak for a long time.

Although the Gu family and his son insisted that the Yanhu soldiers and horses would not go south in a big way until winter, they were not without vigilance about gathering the Yanhu troops in the north, and always strengthened the many ferries on the south bank of the Zhulong River to prevent the Hu soldiers from crossing the river to the south, but who would have thought that Chen Zhihu would lead his troops to suddenly cross the Wei River from the western front, interspersed with the Pingyuan Mansion where Liang Chengchong led the heavy troops to garrison, and from an unexpected direction, he attacked the key village Leling in the northwest of Yangxin?

Leling is about 70 miles away from Yangxin City, is the most important ferry port in the upper reaches of the Zhulong River, and is also the beginning of the western line of the Yangxin-Zhulong River fortification to be built by Gu's father and son. Chen Zhihu's seizure of Leling was naturally to prepare for the main force of Yanhu soldiers and horses assembled in Cangnan to cross the Zhulong River south.

I was really worried about what was coming, and it came so suddenly, as if the storm was suddenly coming, which caught people off guard and was helpless.

"Chen Zhihu raided Leling, and he also had to disturb Liang Chengchong's sight in the plain, there will not be many soldiers and horses, can Gu Qingzhou drive troops to recapture Leling?" Chu Zheng asked.

"Indeed, as you expected, when Chen Zhihu forcibly crossed the Wei River from Raoyangdian, he had more than 10,000 foot cavalry and divided his troops in the north of the plain city. One disturbs the vision of the Liang family, and the other is lightly armed and simple armor rushes to Leling; There were no more than 3,000 soldiers and horses attacking Leling. However, whether Yangxin has organized a counteroffensive or not, and whether the counteroffensive has succeeded, there is no news back for the time being. Ning Zechen briefed Chu Zheng on the situation.

Yangxin and Huaidong are too far apart, and the territory controlled by the Liang family is separated in the middle, and it is far from as convenient as imagined for the Huaidong sentinel to pass on the news.

Huaidong has always been worried that Yanhu will take advantage of the laxity of Qingzhou and the Liang family in the summer and autumn to use troops against Shandong, although it is not clear that Yanhu may use specific tactics, but for the news that came last night, he was psychologically prepared.

As for whether the Gu family and his son can counterattack to recapture Leling and drive Chen Zhihu away, Cao Ziang, Ning Zechen and others are not optimistic.

Although Chen Zhihu's surrender to Yanhu is shameful to the world, he has to admit that he is one of the few generals in the world who can fight vicious battles; The Qingzhou Army had recently expanded on a large scale, with unfavorable armor, weak soldiers, and low morale, and the Gu father and son were eager to control the military power and exclude dissidents at this time, and the possibility of recapturing Leling in a hurry was really slim.

Of course, if the Liang family reacts in time, can decisively transfer troops from close range, join forces with Qingzhou, and recapture Leling, there is still a glimmer of hope - so at this time, it is impossible to judge the direction of the situation in Yangxin, everything depends on whether the Gu father and son and the Liang family react quickly and whether their determination is firm enough.

Once Chen Zhihu is allowed to gain a firm foothold in Leling, and the soldiers and horses gathered in Yannan by Yanhu cross the Zhulong River to the south in a big way, it is difficult to say whether the Liang family dares to transfer the main force to the east, and the tens of thousands of people, soldiers and horses gathered around Yangxin in Qingzhou to repair the defense of the Zhulong River will be withdrawn, and the situation will be very dangerous......

Chu Zheng thought of Cheng Weiyuan's entrustment when he was leaving, but he didn't expect that as soon as he arrived in Huaidong, the bad news came, like hearing a thunder on a sunny day, he was anxious, but the current situation, except for the Liang family being able to send reinforcements nearby, Huaidong was thousands of miles away, and it was beyond the reach of the whip.

When he opened his eyes, he looked at Cao Ziang and Ning Zechen, he was an iron-clad man, his eyes were red, and he was so anxious that he was about to shed tears.

In the current troubled times, there are people who are reluctant to make a living, and there is no shortage of loyal people, if it were not for the exclusion of the Gu family and his son, even if he knew that Yangxin's situation was critical, Chu Zheng would never abandon Yangxin and go away - at this time, he could only watch powerlessly and watch Yangxin slowly slide towards the catastrophe, so that how could he not hate, not be anxious, and not hurt in his heart?

"The military situation only reached Shanyang yesterday, and I have sent people to inform Jiangning and Chongzhou at the same time, but at present, I can only patiently see how the situation in Yangxin will develop next?" Cao Ziang said.

"Where is Lin Zhizhi at this time?" Chu Zheng asked.

"Your Excellency and Gao Zongting are still in Mingzhou," Cao Ziang said, "If you want to go to Mingzhou, I will send someone to send you there." ”

"I want to leave tonight," Chu Zheng said, "Lord Lao Cao has arranged a ship......

"By boat? At this time, the storm in the East China Sea was very strong, and it was too dangerous to take a boat. Besides, the southward journey is against the wind, not faster than the horse," Ning Zechen dissuaded, "From Shanyang to Chongzhou, a post shop has been built, and the cavalry can walk three or four hundred miles a day; Crossing the river from Chongzhou to Yudong, borrowing from northern Zhejiang, crossing the Qianjiang River to Mingzhou ......"

Regardless of whether Chu Zheng has the heart to rescue Qingzhou or not, Chu Zheng is an important general from the Eastern Fujian Army, like Gao Zongting, Chen Dingbang, Geng Quanshan, Tang Fuguan, Yang Zichen and other people from the Eastern Fujian Army are all serving in Huaidong, Cao Ziang and Ning Zechen will not snub Chu Zheng, not to mention that when they were in Yangxin, they also had the friendship of joining hands and fighting side by side.