What Dou Xuan, the prefect of Langya County, was most worried about and the least unwilling to see, happened.

Mengshan bandits went down the mountain and launched an attack on Philadelphia. Linyi was in danger. What was particularly serious was that the transportation passage through Langya County was at risk of interruption at any time. In desperation, Dou Xuan rushed to the right guard's mansion and Zhou Fashang for help, and from the commander of the Donglai Naval Division, the procurator of the Donglai Prefect came to Hu'er for help, trying to persuade Hu'er and Zhou Fashang to send troops to support Langya on the grounds that the situation in Langya had seriously endangered the Navy's Eastern Expedition.

Dou Xuan asked Xuzhou for help again and asked Pengcheng County Magistrate Cui Deben. Recently, Lu, Pengcheng and Langya counties have reached an agreement on joining forces to encircle and suppress the Mengshan traitors, but the agreement is one thing, how to make a plan and how to implement it is another thing, and it is still far from reaching the final goal. Since the thieves controlled Mengshan, the connection channel between Lu County and Langya County was immediately interrupted, and the transmission of information between the three counties was very inconvenient. Now, if Lu County and Langya County want to send messages to each other, they must transfer through Pengcheng. Fortunately, Pengcheng County Magistrate Cui Deben was born with a noble family. Whether it was the Duan family of Qilu or the Dou family of Guanlong, the surname of Guanlonglu had to give Cui a little bit of etiquette, so it is most appropriate to coordinate with Cui Deben.

Cui De was determined to defeat the bandits and made contributions. Liang Dezhong, the military chief of Xuzhou, also gave him support to his best. However, it takes time to integrate loose local armed forces like Zongtuan Township and form local troops that are prohibited by orders and prohibitions. It is also necessary to coordinate the interest relations between local forces. It can be imagined how much energy it consumes, especially in powerful places like Pengcheng, where interest disputes are extremely complicated. If Cui Deben did not have the golden signboard of Cui, the number one wealthy family in Shandong, he would not dare to take this situation at all.

Cui Deben then urgently wrote to Duan Wencao, Lu County, and sent Dou Xuan's letter of help, begging him to attack Mengshan from the direction of Sishui. The local army in Pengcheng attacked Mengshan from the direction of Lanling County, and used two attacks to force the bandits of Mengshan to give up attacking Linyi and withdraw back to Mengshan, and then achieve the goal of rescuing Langya County.

Duan Wencao agreed, but he could do very little in fact. He had not completed the establishment of the local army, and the army of Qi County was taken away by Zhang Xutuo. Only four regiments and one brigade of Yingyang Mansion could attack Mengshan. Since the defeat of Biancheng, Duan Wencao and Yingyang Mansion were very afraid of Xuzhou thieves and dared not launch an attack easily, especially before gaining an absolute advantage in military strength, the army of Lu County would no longer take the initiative to attack Mengshan.

Now the Xuzhou thieves went to fight Langya County, which allowed Duan Wencao to relieve his nervousness. He is now afraid that Xuzhou thieves will burn, kill and loot in Lu County. The previous incident has already made him anxious. If the Xuzhou thieves came again before the New Year and Zhang Xutuo was far away on the banks of the river to suppress the thieves, the far water could not save the near fire. By then, he would not be frustrated, but to settle the new and old accounts together, and he would have to lose his official hat. Well, now it is easy. Xuzhou thieves went to fight Langya County. Dou Xuan was frustrated. Duan Wencao could concentrate on accelerating the construction of local troops. He only had the troops in his hands and felt unhappy. He could also get paid back the previous "debts".

However, the three counties had already agreed to jointly suppress the bandits. Driven by common interests, Duan Wencao was not able to go back on his word. The public "strike from the wrongs" was too ugly, so he responded in a false sense and sent all the Yingyang Prefecture troops of Lu County, three regiments and one brigade to launch an attack on the Bangshan Pass, making a move.

At the same time, the letter told Zhang Xutuo that the Xuzhou bandits attacked Langya County in detail, urging him to kill Wang Bo and other Qizhou bandits as soon as possible, and then dispatch troops to Lu County to support him. The date of the Eastern Expedition was getting closer, and the situation in Qilu not only showed no sign of improvement, but instead, because the Xuzhou bandits attacked Langya County, the transportation channel connecting Donglai and Jianghuai was in danger of interruption, which made the situation in Qilu become more and more serious. If the Eastern Expedition was delayed, the emperor and the central government were furious, and the military and political officials of the counties around Mengshan would be punished, so Duan Wencao had enough reason to urge Zhang Xutuo to mongshan to immediately suppress the bandits.

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Meng Rang captured Philadelphia and swept Fei County, but Fei County was very poor and the rebels were very little. The local wealthy man heard that Mengshan was trapped in the hands of a thief, so he hid in Linyi, the capital with his property early, and some even fled far away to Xuzhou. When Meng Rang went down the mountain to attack, the bureaucrats fled again. Therefore, although the rebels easily captured Philadelphia, they were far from the target of attack.

Meng Rang was in a dilemma. It was impossible to retreat. He had only two targets of attack, one was to attack Linyi, the capital of Langya County, dozens of miles away, and the other was to attack Jucheng, more than two hundred miles away, going north.

Don’t look at the area of ​​Langya County that covers seven counties, but the mountains and steep mountains occupy most of them. Five counties are in the mountains. Only Linyi and Jucheng are located in a flat terrain on the coastal area and are located on the main transportation roads. Therefore, only these two places have a large population and are relatively wealthy. If the Changbai Mountain Rebel Army wants to spend this long winter, it must attack these two cities and plunder along the transportation channel connecting these two cities, otherwise they will have to hide in the mountains and live a hard life of hunger and cold.

So, next, should we go south to attack Linyi or north to attack Jucheng?

Linyi is the capital of Langya, and it is stationed in Yingyang Mansion. Although the rebels did not see Linyi, dozens of miles away, sending troops to counterattack during the attack on Philadelphia, or even after conquering it, they did not see Linyi sending troops dozens of miles away to counterattack. Based on this, it can be inferred that the number of defenders in the city was very limited, but it is precisely because the number of defenders in the city that they must stick to the city and rely on solid defense to defend and wait for assistance. This strategy is correct. The government's strategy is correct, and the rebels will catch it blindly. Linyi City is surrounded by mountains and rivers, tall and strong, while the rebels lack clothing and food, especially lack of siege equipment and siege experience. Even if they have an advantage in their military strength, they cannot conquer the city. What's more serious is that Linyi City is too close to Xuzhou, and Pengcheng County, Xiapi County, and Donghai County, which borders Langya County, have troops. As long as Linyi asks for help from Xuzhou, the troops of these three counties of Xuzhou will soon be able to reach the city of Linyi.

Meng Rang had no choice but to lead his army north to attack Jucheng.

Jucheng is in the north of Langya County, more than 100 miles away from Gaomi County in the eastern Shandong region, and even further from Donglai Naval Division, thousands of miles away. Ju County is a county in Langya County. When Jucheng was attacked, it could only ask for help from its capital Linyi. Even if it had no choice, it asked for help from its neighboring Gaomi County or Donglai, which had a Zhongtu Navy stationed, but because it surpassed the level, it would not receive rescue from the other party in the short term. In this way, it gave the rebel army enough time to attack Jucheng and plunder Ju County.

When Meng Rang decided to fight Jucheng north, his generals under his tent raised questions. When the rebel army went north to fight Jucheng, it would inevitably cut off the transportation channel connecting Donglai and Jianghuai. This would definitely anger the Donglai Navy Division and make the right guard in charge of Qilu military furious. The official army would pour into Langya County to suppress the rebellion. By then, the rebel army would be in a difficult situation and would have no way out except to hide in the mountains.

Don’t you know that Meng Rang’s purpose was to attract a large number of Shandong officials to enter Langya County to suppress the rebellion. For the official army, Changbaishan Rebel Army and Xuzhou Rebel Army were both rebels, both hiding in Mengshan, posing a fatal threat to the transportation channel and they were both going to be suppressed. Therefore, when Changbaishan Rebel Army hid in Yishan along the Yishui River and quietly hid, the target of Shandong Official Army must point to Mengshan and Xuzhou Rebel Army. This is a plan to lead the water east. When Shandong Official Army attacked Mengshan, Changbaishan Rebel Army could quickly go north to enter the eastern part of Shandong. Taking advantage of the Shandong Official Army's rebel army's rebel army swept across Gaomi and Beihai at the time of Langya County's rebellion, and returned to Qi County again.

Meng Rang told the truth. The generals under the tent smiled at each other without any guilt or anxiety. If others do not care about themselves, they will be punished by heaven and earth, especially their own death. What does it matter if they care about their lives or death?

Du Fuwei and Fu Gongyou did not participate in the military due to their low official positions, but Meng Rang's decision and the secrets hidden behind them were still revealed by some interested people.

Du and Fu were in a complicated mood and looked at each other speechlessly. From the perspective of the Qi people, Meng Rang did everything for his brothers under his tent, and he was well-behaved, but from the perspective of the moral point of view, he was not kind. After all, the Xuzhou rebel army had helped the Qi people with righteousness in the moment of crisis. He did not take any harm when the Qi people were scarred. He generously gave money, food and weapons when the Qi people were hungry and cold. As a result, the Qi people repaid their kindness with grudges and revenge their kindness. It is conceivable that when the official army encircled and suppressed the Xuzhou rebel army, the Chu people would find the truth, and the hatred between the two families would be formed. If the Chu people did not die in the future, they would revenge the Qi people, and there would be endless troubles.

Du and Fu had the first intention of leaving, but with their strength, how can they survive if they left Meng Rang and the rebel army? Therefore, the most urgent task is to endure patience, keep a low profile, accumulate strength, and wait until the time comes, and then they will be reborn and spread their wings and soar.

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Zhou Fashang initially disagreed with Dou Xuan's request for help, but considering that the safety of Langya County was directly related to the preliminary preparations for the Navy's Eastern Expedition, he still paid enough attention and ordered Zhucheng Yingyang Mansion stationed in Gaomi County to immediately send people to Langya County to inquire about military information and make preparations for support. Once the situation in Langya is indeed bad and has affected the safety of the transportation channel, he will go south to support quickly.

Soon, Zhou Fashang received a reward from Zhucheng Yingyang Mansion. The bandits of Mengshan were burning, killing and looting in Langya County. One of the bandits was attacking Jucheng and robbing Ju County. The transportation channel connecting Donglai and Jianghuai was interrupted.

Zhou Fashang was furious and immediately ordered five regiments of troops to be drawn from the Beihai, Donglai and Gaomi counties in the eastern Shandong region to rush to Langya County to quell the rebellion day and night.

He also urgently wrote to Zhang Xutuo, the governor of Qi County, and warned him severely. He immediately suppressed the rebels in the territory, then quickly entered Lu County, fought with Zhu Yingyang of Lu County, and attacked Mengshan from the Si Shui line. At present, only the local army of Qi County was built with the special approval of the emperor and the central government, and was affiliated with the right guard palace. As the commander of the local army of Qi County, Zhang Xutuo naturally had to obey Zhou Fashang's orders.

Considering that Zhu Yingyang in Xuzhou was relatively sufficient, Zhou Fashang urgently reported to the emperor and the center, begging the Eastern Capital to issue an order, asking Xuzhou Zuoxiaowei Mansion to dispatch troops to support Langya County, and cooperate with Lu County and Langya County Zhu Yingyang in three directions to encircle and suppress the bandits of Mengshan on three sides.

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Chapter completed!