Yizhou, Hebei, Yongle County.

Li Keyong, who lightly took Yizhou, was discussing with Wang Jingchong, who had successfully captured Dingzhou and went north, and this time the dispatch of troops was extremely smooth. Before sending troops, Li Keyong and Wang Jingchong thought that it would be a vicious battle, thinking that Li Quanzhong would inevitably fight the trapped beasts, and they had the heart to break the net, but they never thought that Li Quanzhong would flee without a fight, while the Qin troops in Hejian and Mozhou Sanguan did not move and did not react for a long time.

Although Li Jing's intentions could not be guessed for a while, the recapture of Yiding Erzhou by them still made the two armies happy.

Today's discussion in Yongle City, on the border of Yiding and the two states, is to discuss the next action.

Wang Jingchong's dispatch of troops this time was originally at the invitation of Li Keyong, and he was not really willing to fight this battle. Now, things are going well, and the other seven counties of Dingzhou have been recaptured at once, and the Sha people have also recaptured Yizhou, and he believes that although Li Jing has not moved before, it does not mean that he can ignore Li Jing. Therefore, Wang Jingchong advocated that he should accept it when he saw it, anyway, the territory was also taken, and the revenge of the Shatuo people was also avenged, just when the matter was favorable, he collected the troops, Chengde Town occupied Dingzhou, and the Shatuo people occupied Yizhou, and everyone stopped fighting, so as not to expand the matter uncontrollable.

However, Li Keyong did not approve of withdrawing the army, and he believed that Li Quanzhong's withdrawal without a fight was entirely due to the fact that he could not get the support of the Qin army in advance. And Li Jing did not send troops to rescue Li Quanzhong, there were only two possibilities, one was to kill people with a knife, and Li Jing wanted to borrow their hands to get rid of Li Quanzhong. Or, as with the latest information he got, Li Jing didn't want to save it, but he was too busy to take care of himself. Because he had intelligence to learn that the motley army of more than 100,000 people sent by Li Jing to the grassland was ambushed by the Khitans. At the moment, there is nearly half a war. The rest are still trapped in the grasslands. Li Jing is in a hurry to send troops to rescue, how can he have the strength to rescue Li Quanzhong?

Li Keyong and his subordinate generals carefully discussed these two possibilities, and they all felt that it was impossible to kill people with a knife. After all, Li Quanzhong still has more than a dozen counties under his command, and Li Jing may want to get rid of Li Quanzhong, but he will never sit idly by and watch them get rid of Li Quanzhong, and swallow the territory of Yiwu Town. Therefore. The biggest possibility is that the matter of the grassland is indeed true, Li Jing is in trouble at this time, and he is unable to look south to rescue Li Quanzhong.

If this is really the case, then now they have an excellent opportunity in front of them, a chance to fight back against the Qin army.

"King Zhao, this opportunity is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, don't miss it?" Li Keyong and Wang Jingchong sat side by side, pulling their new brother and daughter's future father-in-law patiently.

Wang Jingchong was also said to be a little moved. The Qin army's momentum is getting stronger and stronger, and it is difficult to restrain it. If things are really as Li Keyong said. Then they really have a great opportunity this time. "It's just that Li Jing has always been cunning, and I'm afraid that this is Li Jing's plan to get away with it, and he wants to lure us into a scheme!" Although Wang Jingchong is eight or nine years older than Li Keyong, when it comes to war planning, he is still a little worse. But he is very cautious, this is not because he is cowardly, he has really fought with Li Jing a few times, and he has suffered a lot.

"But at least fifty percent of them are possible, isn't it?" Li Ke looked directly at Wang Jingchong with blazing eyes, "King Zhao should be clear, if we can't contain Li Jing's momentum, according to the current momentum and development, sooner or later, one day, maybe three years, maybe two years, we will all be swallowed up by Li Jing." Instead of sitting and waiting, it's better to fight hard, at least we still have a fifty percent chance now, right? ”

Wang Jingchong thought for a long time, nodded and said, "Okay, just let it go!" ”

After finally deciding to let Yibo go, the two armies immediately began to discuss the next step.

"Then we will send troops to Zhuozhou next and uproot the treacherous villain Li Quanzhong!" Wang Jingchong clenched his fists.

"Nope! We won't hit Li Quanzhong next! Li Keyong waved his hand on the side, "King Zhao, I think that there is no point in beating Li Quanzhong." Our enemy is Li Jing, Li Quanzhong is already a lost dog, and he can't make waves. Since we want to fight, we have to concentrate on the strength and punch hard, this time, we must beat Li Jing painfully, and the most important thing is to knock him out. ”

Li Keyong asked the guards to open a bundle of sheepskins and put them together one by one, forming a huge map of Hedong and Hebei on the east and west sides of Taihang Mountain.

He found the location of the five prefectures of Yi, Ding, Zhuo, Mo and Ying on the map, pointed to it and said, "King Zhao, please see, now the soldiers and horses led by this king are in Yizhou, the soldiers and horses led by King Zhao are in Dingzhou, and Li Quanzhong is in Zhuozhou in the north of Yizhou, where there is a horse Pingchuan, Leaning on Youzhou in the north, Mozhou in the south, and the sea in the east, Li Quanzhong is not afraid, but beating Li Quanzhong will make us fall into the open pocket of the Qin army, and if we are not careful, we will be blocked by the Qin army and surrounded on all sides." ”

"And King Zhao, you have also seen that the second state of Mo Ying is just east of the second state of Yiding, if we go north to attack Zhuozhou, then the heavy army of 60,000 people that Li Jing is stationed in between the three passes of Mozhou and the river of Yingzhou can be inserted from our right flank into our rear at any time and cut off our retreat. At that time, we will still be under siege. Therefore, this king's proposal is that we will not beat Li Quanzhong's lost dog, we will directly beat Li Jing. And we don't send troops to Youzhou, Youzhou City is difficult, we don't fight Hejian, we fight Mozhou. Mozhou is exactly in the middle of the heavy defense line of Li Jing's Youzhou, Mozhou, and Hejian. Youzhou and Hejian are one south and one north, all of which are important fortress towns managed by Li Jing's heart, not only the city is high and the walls are strong, but also a large number of materials, grain and grass have been accumulated, which is difficult to attack for a while. But Mozhou is different, although there are three passes here, the garrison is relatively small, and the troops are relatively scattered. The key thing is that the north of Mozhou is now separated from Youzhou by Li Quanzhong. ”

"Mozhou is the weak point of Li Jing's Hebei chain, as long as we act quickly and gather heavy troops to raid Mozhou, as long as we can take a guancheng, then Li Jing's entire chain will be broken. Take control of Mozhou, we can divide Li Jing's Hebei soldiers and horses into two and divide them on both sides, and then we can unite with Wei Bo to besiege Hejian and eat Li Jing's tens of thousands of elites in Hejian in one fell swoop. ”

Li Ke drew a heavy circle on the map with his large hand, as if he had already besieged the city of Hejian with this stroke.

Wang Jingchong's eyes gradually lit up when he heard this, if they could really do this, then they would be able to take the original Yichang Town Zhuzhou, and then join forces to go north and drive Li Jing out of Hebei. Then he stopped Li Jing outside the gate. They had Hebei at that time. You can go south and swallow Shandong in one fell swoop. Thinking of that beautiful prospect, Wang Jingchong smiled.

"Just do what King Jin said, do it!" Wang Jingchong waved his arms vigorously.

Li Keyong immediately ordered that the whole army should end its rest and recuperate, and tomorrow the fourth watch will make food, and the fifth watch will send troops to attack Mozhou directly.

The Jin army and the Zhao army marched all the way despite the wind and rain. Head east.

On the march, the rain continued until dusk. The next day, the Jin army and the Zhao army did not see the sun, and under the gray sky, everyone shrank their heads and wore leather helmets and iron helmets to avoid the cold rain. It rained heavily, the roads were muddy, the water was standing all over the fields, and the cold wind was howling.

From time to time, the cavalry group galloped by. The mud trampled by the horses' hooves tossed at the infantry, one foot deep and one foot shallow, and the foot in the mud drew bursts of shouting and cursing. All sorts of swear words are flying all over the place. It seems that this is the only way to vent the annoyance in everyone's hearts.

"The pace of such a march is too slow, and by the time we reach Waqiao Pass in Mozhou, it will be three days later at the earliest. For such a long time, our march will be completely impossible to conceal, and the sentry of the Qin army will definitely be able to detect it, and it will be impossible for the Qin army to make a surprise attack at Waqiao Pass. Li Keyong frowned tightly and said worriedly. The army walked for almost two days, but it only walked less than a hundred miles, and it was only a few dozen miles into Mozhou. In winter, it was already dark early, and in the rainy days, it was just after the afternoon, and the sky was already completely dark.

Although he was in a hurry to march, he had already entered the territory of Mozhou, and Li Keyong did not dare to march at night, so he had to camp on a hillside as soon as it was dark. Sitting in the leather tent that had just been tied, Li Keyong already had some bad feelings about this march.

"The march can't be hidden, so just fight all the way, tomorrow we will first beat down the county seat of Qingyuan, and rest in the city, at least we can take a hot bath and have a dry and warm bed to sleep in." Wang Jingchong took off his already soaked cloak and said with a wry smile. The rain for days is not the biggest problem, the biggest problem is that after the rain for several days, the road is overturned, the army walks, it almost becomes a swamp, it is difficult for people and horses to walk, and the supplies and vehicles they accompany the army are almost completely trapped in it, and they are still outside Mozhou, and they have not been able to follow.

Li Sizhao also nodded with a sad face, although there were many cavalry in the two armies, but the three passes in Mozhou were all dangerous passes, and they could not be defeated by cavalry alone, and they had to be attacked by infantry. And only infantry is not allowed, but also has professional and sufficient siege equipment. But now, the food, grass and equipment are stuck on the road, and the infantry can only walk dozens of miles a day.

Li Siyuan maintained an optimistic mood, "This ghost weather is certainly not good for us, but the Qin army will definitely not be able to send too many patrol ranger horses in such weather. However, our baggage, grain, grass and equipment could not keep up for a while, and the speed of travel could not be improved, and the original plan of the raid seemed to be no longer possible. I agree with King Zhao's meaning, it is better to change the raid on Waqiao Pass to advance step by step. Let's fight all the way over, attack the city and break the county, first, we can wait for the baggage battalion behind to come up, second, we can solve our grain and grass problem on the spot, and third, we can also sweep the periphery of Waqiaoguan. ”

There was no better way, so Li Keyong had no choice but to consider this proposal. At dawn the next day, Li Keyong sent Li Cunzhang to lead 3,000 light cavalry as the vanguard to Qingyuan County to fight the front station.

When Li Cunzhang led 3,000 Shatuo cavalry to brave the heavy rain and rushed to Qingyuan County in the mud, he found that the city gate had already been closed, and the neat guards under the banner of the black flying eagle Qin army on the city were already waiting. He couldn't help but scold his mother, knowing that it was impossible for him to raid and take this county. Although there may not be many defenders in the city, with only 3,000 cavalry under his command, he is unwilling to attack, so he can only send cavalry back to report.

When Li Keyong received the news, he couldn't help but shout loudly, scolding the damn weather, and scolding the vigilant Qin army. His good luck seems to have run out after taking Yizhou, and it has been three days since he sent troops from Yizhou, but these three days make him feel like he has spent three years.

And now, the plan to enter Qingyuan County to replenish food and take a temporary break has also failed.

Heaven seemed to have done it on purpose, and when he thought that it would be difficult to attack Yiding, the result went smoothly and unexpectedly. And when he thought that the army would go smoothly in Mozhou, the result was unsatisfactory and difficult everywhere.

In the evening, Li Keyong and Wang Jingchong's Chinese army had already arrived at the city of Qingyuan, which was only a small city, and the defenders in the city were only 3,000, but at this time they were holding the city, ignoring the tens of thousands of troops surrounding them. Li Keyong sent people to the city to persuade them to surrender, but they were responded to by a bow and arrow, and the persuaders fell in the rain and cement of the city.

As the sky grew dark, Li Ke suppressed his anger and ordered the whole army to camp under the city and wait until tomorrow after dawn to attack the city.

Zhao Jun and Jin Jun were a little disappointed, they thought that they could spend the night in a house with no wind and no rain and a fire tonight, and maybe even take a hot bath, eat a hot meal, and even have a bowl of hot soup to drink, but they didn't expect that when they arrived in the city, they would have to endure the wind and rain in the open mud and wet ground.

After eating a few mouthfuls of cold and hard dry food, the soldiers of both armies took off their frozen and hard armor early, and threw aside their muddy, stinking boots, and everyone went to bed early, hugging the only warm blanket, hoping to fall asleep early and have a good dream.

Although there were still 3,000 enemy troops in the city in the midst of them, no one paid attention to them. Tens of thousands of troops surrounded them, and the soldiers on duty and patrol were arranged early, and they didn't think that the three thousand Qin troops would dare to go out of the city in the middle of the night to find death.

After inspecting the camp with the guards, Li Keyong quickly fell asleep. Lying in the tent, he couldn't help but think of his wife who stayed in Yanmen, his baby daughter, and his newborn son. He now has three sons and one daughter, although the Liu family only gave birth to one daughter for him, and the three sons were all born to concubines, but Li Keyong likes them all the same. The daughter is engaged to the nine-year-old eldest son of Wang Jingchong in Chengde Town. Wang Chongrong of Hezhong Town chose his newborn third son as his future son-in-law.

Although the three sons were all concubines born to concubines, the mother of the eldest son and the second son were just slave girls in his tent, and they didn't even have an identity. Although the mother of the third son is a concubine, the family is also a wealthy family in Daibei, Wang Chongrong is very good at choosing, and he himself does prefer this third son.

Perhaps, after returning from this victory, he should give those two women a name, at least he can't let them continue to be a female slave. The third child has already been engaged to Wang Chongrong's daughter, so the eldest and second child, he should also order a good family affair for them. Perhaps, it can also bring a few allies because of this.

Sha Tuo is still weak after all, he should seize the opportunity to make more allies.

Thinking of this, he was a little envious of Li Jing, who married a lot of women, except for the main wife and the second concubine, the rest were all daughters of famous families, adding countless help to Li Jing. I heard that he had just been engaged to marry the Yu family's daughter, and he wanted to marry the Yu family's daughter as a flat wife, and this time the Yu family, the other three brothers even had to give out a daughter to marry, which really made him jealous and jealous in his heart.

With these thoughts in his mind, Li Ke gradually lowered his eyelids and sank into sleep!

Half-asleep and half-awake, he seemed to feel a slight vibration under him, but he was too sleepy, and he was exhausted during the rainy days for days, and he didn't wake up immediately for a while! (To be continued......)