At the end of October, the weather quickly turned cold, and Hebei began to freeze at night.

On the 26th, early in the morning, it was very cold. Zhang Shiyu, the governor of Bohai who was stationed in the south of Leling City, got up early, put on his leather armor, and then put on a big cloak, and went there in person with Xue Wanbi, the general of the Hejian camp.

In the north of the city, I saw the generals of Hejian in the Beiying camp, as well as the leader of the Hejian camp who arrived in a hurry last night, the general manager of the march in Hebei, General Zuo Weiwei and the Hejian prefect Xue Changxiong.

Let's say that Leling City was not completely surrounded... Sixty-seven thousand people and such a large city, with only thirty or forty thousand people, couldn't be completely surrounded...but they were set up by taking advantage of the two southwest-northeast rivers in the south of the city and the north of the city.

Two large camps were built, which was just a rough blockade.

Among them, there are more than 10,000 Bohai County soldiers led by Zhang Shiyu, and 10,000 Hejian soldiers led by the three lieutenant generals Xue Wanbi, Wang Changhe, and Guo Shiping. They are listed on the south side. Xue Wannian, Xue Wanquan, Zhang Shirang, and Wang Fubei

Generals Wang Changxie, Chen Bin, and Wang Yu led 25,000 Hejian troops to the north.

Of course, Xue Changxiong arrived in a hurry last night, and Beiying and even the entire battlefield had a new coach.

In this way, Commander Zhang came to Beiying, but he did not enter any camp, but moved into a mansion - Leling is surrounded by the essence of the Bohai Sea, and there are settlements everywhere outside the city, and both the officers and soldiers from the north and the south

, or the rebels under the city, they all built camps directly on other people's houses.

Xue Changxiong, who was not wearing armor, personally led the generals of Beiying to greet him. He wanted to let him go to the hall, but Zhang Shiyu declined. He only said that he was an elder and wanted to bask in the sun, but he stopped in the courtyard and sat down haphazardly.

Of course, Zhang Shiyu is still second only to Xue Changxiong.

There is no way, there is really no way. Don't look at someone shouting all day about Hebei being carved up by warlords, etc., but the specific situation must be treated concretely. For example, with Zhang Shiyu's age, identity, qualifications, and origin, Xue Changxiong must also respect

Even if Xue Changxiong doesn't come, it's hard to say who is in charge here in Leling.

Or to be more direct, the generals who besieged the city, the supervisor Sima, and the brothers Wang Changhe and Wang Changxie in the internal history were basically fellow countrymen of Zhang Shiyu in Jin Dynasty, and Zhang Shirang was the same clan who was assigned to the house... even in Hejian

Daying, a military town, had divided up half of Hebei Province, so Zhang Shiyu could learn from the gang on the other side of the river and become a big leader or even leader among the forces in Hejian.

In fact, Zhang Shiyu led and promoted the siege of Leling.

From this point of view, the Pingyuan Tongshou next door who couldn't even suppress several lieutenant generals, and even dared to hide letters from a retired emperor's secretary, shouldn't be too shameful.

Everyone sat down in a chaotic but orderly manner. After his son died, Xue Changxiong, who was dressed in casual clothes, spoke first, but his tone was calm: "Everyone, the military situation is urgent. We should have made a decision as soon as possible, but I arrived in a hurry last night, and the situation has been going on for more than a day.

Changes have occurred, but I still need to ask more questions... Who can tell me, what is the outcome of my second son and the West Road partial army now? Where are General Zhuge and General Wang?"

"All three generals were killed and the whole army was wiped out. They were immediately massacred, but after the massacre there were still five or six thousand people left, and the wounded were released together." Zhang Shiyu blurted out and repeated the information.

"Is it true?" Xue Changxiong asked with a dark face.

"Sure enough." Zhang Shiyu sighed. "Qian Tongshou has been in Pingyuan for a while, and his character is trustworthy. He will not lie about such a big matter. Moreover, if the West Route Army was not completely wiped out, where would it be?"

The army went straight to Ban County and frightened the east-route division back?"

Xue Wanbi, the fourth son of Xue Changxiong and the commander of the East Road Division, stood up quickly. His face turned red and he seemed to be preparing to explain something.

Unexpectedly, General Xue just waved his hand for his son to sit down, and then continued to ask Zhang Shiyu, "Defeat is inevitable, and it seems that the whole army is annihilated. Is it just that the camp was broken and defeated within an hour? And it is still possible."

The great formation of Zhenqi was defeated in one fell swoop? Three generals, including an elixir master, were all dead?"

Zhang Shiyu frowned slightly, not knowing what he was thinking of, but he still nodded seriously: "That's indeed what he said."

Xue Changxiong sighed on the spot.

Everyone just thought that the general's son had died, and it was difficult to accept the reality. But with his identity here, except for Zhang Shiyu, no one else could take the initiative to say anything.

However, Prefect Zhang unexpectedly remained silent at this time, and just tightened his cloak.

After a while, Xue Changxiongji

He continued to ask: "How strong are the thieves? Who knows?"

"Return to the commander-in-chief."

The vassal bandits in Hebei also numbered 30,000, and they were fully equipped with horse, foot, baggage, and weapons, and the rules for marching to the stronghold and entering and exiting the city were very strict, but this was only the strength of our troops when we retreated from the south..."

"Are there no other follow-up reinforcements?"

"It's hard to say." Zhang Shiyu finally spoke again. "The thieves themselves occupied the land of eight counties. Back then, there were no less than 30,000 people in the battle at calendar mountain. Now, there should be 60,700, 70,800, or 80,000 as the main force.

Yes, but that's all in Hebei at the moment... The seven or eight thousand should be the Pu**, and there should be two or three thousand from Qi County."

"So, there will definitely be reinforcements in the future." Xue Changxiong sighed immediately and asked again. "Then were these 30,000 soldiers carefully selected, or were they sent out in a hurry?"

Everyone was silent, and Xue Wanbi who was standing there was also a little embarrassed. They all lacked intelligence on the army.

After a while, Zhang Shiyu still had no choice but to answer, "It should be both hastily sent troops and carefully selected troops... Previously, there were rumors about thieves coming to Hebei from Qian Fujun in Pingyuan and Qinghe, so

The thieves should have been preparing to cross the river a long time ago. The reason why we launched so quickly was to cut off Gao Shitong before it froze and prevent the thieves from coming to rescue us in large numbers... Unexpectedly, they knew that we were launching the attack and followed suit regardless.

They killed Gao Shizhan again, sent troops to attack Guxuan's partial division in the west, and now come to rescue Gao Shitong, one after another, the target is too clear."

"Indeed." Xue Changxiong thought over and over again and replied seriously. "Judging from the timing and accuracy of these launches, the thieves have carefully planned for Hebei. I'm afraid that there are already spies everywhere, internal agents, and camps in Hejian.

The counties in Pingyuan and Bohai, including Gao Shitong, should have explanations, but we know nothing about them, and that's why we suffered such a big loss."

Zhang Shiyu nodded sincerely, he also felt so, otherwise how could Gao Shizhan die so coincidentally? Otherwise, how could the West Route Army pounce on him so quickly and accurately? How come Gao Shizhan came to the rescue just when he was about to die?

only……

At this moment, the person below could not hold back, and suddenly spoke, but cautiously, it was Supervisor Sima Chen Bin: "General... are there rumors that the thief is the trick of the Bai family?"

Xue Changxiong was slightly startled, but he immediately scolded him sternly: "Absurd, the Bai family is the pillar of the country, but there are only three dukes, two stewards, and one minister. How can it be your turn to make random guesses here?!"

Chen Bin shut up immediately, but the people around him already had different expressions.

Seeing this situation, Zhang Shiyu sighed and reluctantly interrupted, "Don't you really believe this kind of words?"

"Bai Sanniang has become the general manager of Dengzhou." Xue Wannian immediately answered with a smile. "Even if you don't believe it, you have to be prepared."

Obviously, many people really believe it.

"So what?" Seeing this, Xue Changxiong had no choice but to refute the rumor. "The situation has reached this point. The territory of the eight counties has been occupied by thieves. Not to mention it is just a rumor in the countryside. To take a step back,

Zhang Sanlang and Bai Sanniang were indeed arranged by the British father. Now there is naturally a new theory... They just want to give the Bai family the territory with both hands. They can help dozens of leaders and count them.

How could Wan Dajun be so happy? Moreover, with Zhang Sanlang’s own power here, how could he not care about it? Not to mention Weng’s son-in-law, I’m afraid that there are real differences between father and daughter at this time!”

Everyone nodded, but there was no doubt that even General Xue himself seemed to believe a little bit of what he said. What does it mean to take ten thousand steps back?

However, at this moment, Supervisor Sima Chen Bin simply twisted his beard and sneered: "The general has misunderstood. How can I not understand this truth? Today, the courtyard is full of generals, Sima, and prefects who have invaded the palace. I will not cover it up."

Oh... I mean, isn't Pingyuan Tongshou Qiantang the former subordinate of Bai Sanniang and Zhang Sanlang? And was he recommended by the British Duke? This person can naturally contact Taiyuan and the Eastern Territory. What's more terrible is

Yes, the second general died in the plain this time, and Prefect Qian was also aware of the relevant plans..."

Xue Changxiong narrowed his eyes, thinking thoughtfully. The other generals also looked at each other, some looked as if they were stunned, and some

They were simply filled with indignation, while others were dumbfounded.

"But if we follow General Xue's previous reasoning." Zhang Shiyu couldn't stand hearing it anymore and sneered on the spot. "Qian Tongshou is also the governor of a county, and it is a large county like Pingyuan. Why should he go and give it to him?"

As a spy?"

Xue Changxiong was slightly startled, and Chen Bin was also silent.

"If you really want to be so cruel..." When Zhang Shiyu saw this, he knew that these people really had no vision and magnanimity, so he continued angrily. "Can I, Zhang Shiyu, also win over a few prefects?

How can we find some relatives and old friends to figure out the future of the Zhang family? It’s Zhang San, whose surname is also Zhang. Maybe it’s the marriage between the Zhang family in Hedong and the Bai family in Guanlong. There’s also the Hejian camp.

It is said that the surname of Hejian Camp is not Cao, but Xue..."

"Mr. Zhang is overthinking." At this point, Xue Changxiong couldn't pretend to be dead anymore and quickly waved his hand. "Chen Sima is young after all. It's just a random guess. We make up our minds and we won't take it seriously."

"That's good." Zhang Shiyu responded seriously. "But I still want to say something... Qian Tongshou and Cao Tongshou of Qinghe, although they are not of high origin, they are all rare talents. They are the kind of

I dare not say that someone has both talent and virtue, but is worthy of being appointed and is willing to do things. The current situation is chaotic, no one dares to say what will happen, but if such a person really hooks up with a thief, it will never be because of

It’s a personal relationship, but it’s because the current situation is difficult and Pingyuan and Qinghe can’t hold on anymore, that’s all.”

Xue Changxiong stood up and held his hands in the courtyard: "I already understand what Mr. Zhang means. I will never look down on these two people or cast doubt on them for no reason."

Zhang Shiyu nodded.

Xue Changxiong sat down and turned around, glared at Chen Sima, his confidant, then glanced around and asked the next and most critical question: "Don't say too much about irrelevant things. Just say that the thief will be killed in two or three days."

When the time comes, how should we respond to the war situation?"

However, as soon as these words were spoken, there was silence below.

Obviously, everyone has concerns, but the objects of concern may not be the same.

"I'm asking a question, how do you say Lao Si!" Xue Changxiong directly called his name.

"What does the commander-in-chief say? I just rush forward to avenge my second brother!" Xue Wanbi immediately jumped up and bowed to the ground again.

“A brave husband!”

Xue Wannian hesitated for a moment, and also bowed down in the courtyard: "Reply to my father, handsome, it is necessary to avenge the second brother, but when it comes to killing the second brother against thieves, they are by no means easy to deal with. We must do a good job."

Be fully prepared.”

"Nonsense." Xue Changxiong continued to look at the youngest son. "Old Qi, tell me."

Xue Wanquan also prostrated himself in the courtyard and answered seriously: "I think the key is to make a choice... The thieves came too fast and too determined, but here in Gao Shitong, there are still 60,000 to 70,000 people in a city.

…”

"Yes, that's where the trouble lies." Xue Changxiong patted his thigh and sighed immediately. "We prepared a table of dishes, but two tables of guests came. The second one and the partial master are so confused!"

The generals below had different expressions. It was obvious that some of them had understood, but just understanding General Xue did not seem to be enough to make a final conclusion.
To be continued...