Duan Wencao wrote to the counties that the thieves and fangs are rampant now, and Zhu Yingyang's main force expedition in the east was seriously insufficient, which led to a very serious situation of suppressing the rebellion. However, when the eastern expedition was over, the situation would inevitably reverse. For this reason, Duan Wencao asked the counties and townships to recruit people as soldiers and actively defend. If there were traitors in the territory, they would hold on to the city and wait for assistance.

The capital Xiaqiu was centered on it, and the four places closest to Xiaqiu were built into a defensive battle formation, concentrating all the Yingyang Lu County and the local troops of Lu County in this area. The officials, military and civilians joined forces to fight the enemy, and the cities supported each other to ensure the safety of the central area of ​​Lu County.

As for areas outside the central area, including the western foothills of the Mengshan Mountains and the Wenshui provinces, they are now occupied by traitors or are being attacked by traitors. Duan Wencao was forced to appease them and ordered them to try their best to protect themselves. It was not that I would not save you, but that I could not protect myself and myself.

Duan Wencao was worried that Juping would fall, and the two hundred Yingyang Guards in the city were wiped out, so he urgently ordered the infantry captain stationed in the city to abandon Juping and evacuate quickly. He had six regiments of Yingyang Guards, who had lost one regiment and one brigade in the battle of Biancheng, and Yangguan lost another brigade, leaving only four regiments. If Juping fell again and the garrison did not withdraw, Duan Wencao would only have three regiments of Yingyang Guards left. Not only did the losses be too great, it would also seriously affect the garrison of Xiaqiu, the capital. Therefore, he would rather give up Juping than lose the strength of that regiment.

However, his orders failed to be delivered.

Juping City was shaking under the fierce attack of the Mengshan Rebel Army. After nightfall, Li Fengyun ordered the main brigade to continue to attack Beicheng, firmly attracting the main force of the defenders, and then personally led a partial division to raid Xicheng. In the first round of attacks, he successfully climbed the city tower and successfully opened the city gate. Juping City fell, and the entire defender's army was wiped out.

The next day, Li Fengyun ordered the main brigade to advance west along the banks of the Wenshui River, attacking all the towns of Shiqiu, Wenyang, Gangcheng, Nanzhang and other large and small, and asked the soldiers to loot all the Guanjian and Yijian in these towns.

Almost at the same time, Shuai Rentai, Huo Xiaohan and Meng Haigong captured Juye City, and then led their troops to Lu County, burned, killed and plundered in Rencheng and Zou County.

Niu Jinda commanded the two regiments of Yingyangwei and the four township regiments to counterattack the weak rebel army, which had just raised the flag. The rebel army was unable to resist, so they divided into three parts. Shuai Rentai retreated to Pinglu, Huo Xiaohan retreated to Juye, and Meng Haigong retreated to Jiyin Heshui and developed on both sides, waiting for an opportunity to attack again.

Duan Wencao asked for help from Zhang Xutuo, the governor of Qi County, and Cui Deben, the governor of Pengcheng County. As for Dou Xuan, the governor of Langya County, he thought about it and gave up and didn't even write a letter. Last winter, when Langya County was "dry and hot", Dou Xuan asked Duan Wencao for help, hoping that Duan Wencao could attack Mengshan from the direction of the Lu army to alleviate the crisis in Langya County. However, Duan Wencao was silly disobedient and agreed, but in fact, there was no arrow. Now the situation is upside down, Lu County is "dry and hot". Do you Duan Wencao asks Dou Xuan for help? Of course not. Besides, Dou Xuan is also in a hurry to ensure the safety of the transportation channel. In his eyes, Mengshan is just a hornet's nest. If the hornets don't come out to sting him, he will burn high incense. How dare you take the initiative to stab the hornet's nest?

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When Zhang Xutuo received Duan Wencao's letter, he was encircling and suppressing the bandits of Changbai Mountain on the south bank of the Ji River.

There were many people rebelling in Qi County, and there were many successors. The direct reason was that Qi County suffered the most severe flood last year, with the big river breaking, the Ji River flooding, homeless, and countless displaced people. Secondly, Qi County gathered the elites of Qi people. Licheng (Jinan) and Zichuan (Zibo) were both ancient cities with a long history. The large plains on both sides of the Jishui River nourished generations of Qilu nobles, so this is also the gathering place for all contradictions inside and outside the Qilu area, and it is a "powder barrel". As there is more and more gunpowder in the gunpowder barrel, the crisis is getting worse and worse. Finally one day, it exploded.

Changbai Mountain is located in the north of Mount Tai, on the south bank of Jishui, located between Licheng and Zichuan. It is only a hundred miles away from these two thousand-year-old ancient cities. The mountain is not big, neither high nor dangerous, and it has no military value in fact. However, it is famous all over the world because Wang Bo and Meng Rang raised the first anti-Sui banner here. Fame cannot be eaten, and Changbai Mountain cannot provide any protection for the rebel army. It can only silently watch Qi people of all classes and identities running and fighting around it, and can only mourn the dead silently, and can only wait for the golden sun to penetrate the black dark clouds and illuminate its beautiful face again.

Changbai Mountain saw Wang Bo and Meng Rang away, welcomed the brothers Zuo Junxing and Zuo Junheng, Pei Changzi and Shizihe, and welcomed more ragged but full of hope and passion.

However, the dark clouds became even darker. Zhang Xutuo led his army to the foot of Changbai Mountain with great momentum. On both sides of Mount Tai and Ji River, surrounded the rebels and killed bloody suppression in an area of ​​two or three hundred miles. The brothers Zuo Junxing and Zuo Junheng could not defeat Zhang Xutuo, so they could only retreat to Beihai County, intending to meet with Guo Fangyu, who was stationed in the northeast foot of Yishan and the Beihai Rebel Army led by Qin Junhong. Pei Changzi and Shizihe could not defeat Zhang Xutuo, so they retreated to Mount Tai, intending to escape to Lu County to get a chance to breathe.

The rebel army is weak in strength, and its strategy for survival is guerrilla. You advance and I retreat, and if you retreat, I will advance. If it doesn't work, it will be broken into pieces. A large group of leaders from all over the country will be separated in a row, and then they will meet at the agreed location. In short, they will definitely not face the head-on battle with the official army.

Zhang Xutuo and his soldiers surrounded and chased each other, exhausted and exhausted, but the results were very limited.

At this time, Duan Wencao's letter of help arrived. During this period, the county magistrates of Beihai, Jibei and Dongping successively sent envoys to ask Zhang Xutuo for help. Duan Wencao was the last one, and the situation in Lu County was also the worst.

Zhang Xutuo had already expected that the Mengshan bandits would go down the mountain to cause disaster, but what he did not expect was that in just a few months, not only the Mengshan bandits were causing disaster, but also the attacks and killings from the three counties of Jibei, Dongping and Jiyin. Duan Wencao was actually in the dilemma of "besieged all over the world". In fact, Duan Wencao was far more than "besieged all over the world", he also had "internal and external troubles". "Internal troubles" was that after his brother Duan Wenzhen died of illness, his backer fell, and the Qilu aristocratic group was also facing the danger of collapse, while "external troubles" was that the Guanlong aristocratic bureaucrats in the Qilu area and the political opponents of the Dongdu in the Qilu area must take the opportunity to take action. While "striking" the Duan clan in the Beihai, he "besieged" the Qilu aristocratic group to attack and weaken the Shandong people.

Zhang Xutuo snickered secretly. He wanted to use the suppression of the rebellion in Qilu to make achievements in order to go further in the official career, but Qilu's local forces were strong, and the powerful Jiangzuo who controlled the Donglai Naval Division was also domineering. He was a small county magistrate, and was squeezed in the middle by two major forces, so it was difficult to do so. Therefore, Zhang Xutuo took the initiative to show kindness to the Duan family to win the support of the people of Qilu, hoping to improve his situation. But there was an unexpected situation in the world. Unexpectedly, Duan Wenzhen, the Minister of War, suddenly died. But at this moment, the rebellion of Qilu was surging again and became more and more intense. This was equivalent to giving the Qilu noble group a "head-on-head blow" and knocking them dizzy.

This is a god-given opportunity to attack the Qi people. How could Zhang Xutuo let it go? To attack the Qilu people, the first thing to do is to attack the Duan clan in Beihai. Duan Wenzhen was dead, and Duan Wencao was still there, and then he defeated Duan Wencao with lightning speed. The Qilu noble group suffered heavy damage and would definitely be in chaos and disarray. At that time, the Qilu people would be unable to take care of themselves, and there would be no time to restrain Zhang Xutuo and block Zhang Xutuo from suppressing the rebellion? Zhang Xutuo took the opportunity to let go and suppress the thieves in a large manner. In this way, the horse would be successful and a battle would be determined.

Zhang Xutuo then summoned his trusted subordinates to discuss plans to suppress the rebellion.

The county magistrate Jia Wuben came in a hurry. The soldiers and soldiers, Shushu, rushed over from another military camp dozens of miles away. The last one arrived was Wu Heita, the infantry captain of the Yingyang Mansion of Licheng.

Because his grandfather, Yang Qian, went north to attend the funeral because of his grandfather, Wang Yangxiong, died of illness. The one who commanded the Qi County Yingyang was Wu Heita, an infantry captain. Wu Heita was a native of Dong'a, Jibei, a son of an ordinary official. He once guarded the border and fought with the Turks. He was promoted for his merits. After Yang Qian arrived in Licheng, he fell in love with Wu Heita at the same time and became a friend of his friends and trusted him very much.

The one who explained the latest situation in Qilu to everyone in the commander's tent was Gongcao Zhang Yuanbei of the County Magistrate's Office.

Gongcao was in charge of personnel and involved in government affairs, and was the absolute confidant of the county magistrate. Zhang Yuanbei was Zhang Xutuo's son, and even his confidant was not as good as a father and son with blood. Zhang Xutuo was not afraid of relatives and recruited his son to serve as the main subordinate of the county government. It was considered to be a distinct personality, but in fact he had no choice. From the army to the local area, he settled in Qilu, a place with extremely powerful local forces, and suffered repeated accidents, natural disasters and man-made disasters followed one after another. It was like being on the abyss and walking on thin ice. In such a dangerous situation, if there were not many absolute confidants around him, he would definitely have dark eyes and would not know if he was sold.

Zhang Yuanbei stood in front of the map, and explained the situation in Lu County and its surrounding areas, and then introduced the situation in Donglai, Gaomi and Langya along the coast, and everyone immediately realized the reputation.

At present, Qilu has the strongest strength and has the greatest impact on the situation in Qilu, but Xuzhou thieves stationed in Mengshan. Xuzhou thieves occupy the mountain and become king. Next, they have to seek development. They naturally have to attack the weakest and the plundering and gains from plundering. This convenient place is Langya County. Xuzhou thieves attack Langya County and plunder the coastal transportation channels will have an impact on the Donglai Navy's expedition across the sea. Therefore, Zhou Fashang urgently sent troops to support Langya County. As a result, Xuzhou thieves were very aware of affairs and immediately retreated to the mountain, not attacking Langya County, but instead attacking Pengcheng and Xia Pi. Now they are concentrating all their strength to attack Lu County.

Why is this? Why didn’t the Mengshan Bandit Army go to fight Langya, plunder war materials on the transportation channel, and not obstruct the eastern expedition, but to attack Lu County? This is definitely not a reason for strength. Everyone has learned about the strength of the Mengshan Bandit Army, and is still very powerful. They plundered the heavy fleets of the Tongji Canal, and also hijacked thousands of strong boatmen and sailors on the Tongji Canal. After another winter of intensive training, their combat power must be very strong and they have the strength to fight Langya. Therefore, there is only one explanation. The Mengshan Bandit’s recent attack target is not to obstruct the eastern expedition, but to kill Duan Wencao, to attack the Qilu people, and to further disrupt the situation in Qilu.

The chaos in Qi and Lu will inevitably affect the northern and southern Henan and even the entire Shandong region. If the entire Shandong region is in chaos, then the Central Earth will inevitably be in chaos, and the Central Earth will be in chaos, the result can be imagined.

Zhang Xutuo's mission is to stabilize Qilu. Qilu is in chaos. Although Duan Wencao and the Qilu people are in trouble, he cannot escape, so whoever wants to mess with Qilu will kill anyone.

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Chapter completed!