"Report! Governor Lu sent an urgent document, please ask Lord Li to take a look!"

On the muddy official road behind the snow, a pond horse cavalry riding on two horses, covered in sweat and black mud, emitting an unpleasant smell, galloped to Li Xiao's mount, who was leading the army forward, and then dismounted and knelt down.

"oh?"

Li Xiao and Zu Dale looked at each other unconsciously, and their eyes were full of surprise.

Li Xiao quickly ordered the team to stop moving, then turned over and dismounted.

Tang Ma immediately wiped his hands covered with dirty mud on his body, then carefully took out a letter sealed with wax from his arms, and then respectfully handed the letter to Li Xiao with both hands.

Li Xiao waved his hand and asked Tangma to retreat to rest and have dinner, and immediately opened the letter to watch.

After reading it quickly, his face suddenly became full of heavy expression, and finally he sighed a long time.

"Li Xiao, what is Governor Lu's urgent letter?" Zu Dale asked in a low voice.

"My father-in-law, Lord Lu said that the situation in the north and south routes is very critical now. He hopes that the two divisions of our troops can divide their troops to rescue the two places, thinking that it is a complete plan." Li Xiao sighed and handed Lu Xiangsheng's letter to Zu Dale.

Zu Dale took the letter and read it quickly, and frowned deeply.

"Mr. Lu is now forced to be forced to the critical situation of the North and South Second Routes." Li Xiao stared at the overlapping hills in the distance and said slowly; "Now, the official troops of the North and South Second Routes are all defeated by the bandits' offensives, and they have lost cities and land one after another. Lord Lu's subordinates have been unable to summon reinforcements for a while. It is probably because of helplessness that they came up with this stupid move to divide our troops to rescue."

"Then Li Xiao, what do you mean?"

"The general is outside, and the emperor will not accept the order. The entire army continues to travel south and give priority to the rescue of the South Road." Li Xiao said calmly: "My father-in-law, you and my troops have a total of more than 10,000 people. If you divide the troops into two places and there are thousands of people in each place, you will be unable to resist the bandits with more than 50,000 people in each way. Only by concentrating your strength, defeating the whole route with all your worries, and then planning another route, can you make a complete plan."

Zu Dale nodded and agreed: "Li Xiao, what you said is that our army is about to arrive in Nanyang Prefecture, so we should do our best to help the South Road official army. How can we divide the troops here and go north to rescue them?"

Zu Dale pondered for a moment, and he murmured with hesitation: "But I am worried that when our army resolves the trap of the South Road here, the Northern Road official army, which was defeated for a long time, was worried about being defeated for thousands of miles."

Li Xiao frowned and sighed: "I, Li Xiao, are just an ordinary general, not a god. The situation is so bad now, what can I do? I can only make a decision after our army has solved the enemy in the south. What's more, our army has arrived at the Nanyang Prefecture, so how can we go far? If Governor Lu wants to blame him, I, Li Xiao, will be alone."

Zu Dale hurriedly said, "Don't worry, Governor Lu really wants to hold him accountable. I will definitely share the burden with you and will never let you be under this pressure alone."

Next, Li Xiao thought for a while, then wrote a reply letter to Lu Xiangsheng, explaining the specific situation and difficulties, as well as his own difficulties in not being able to divide the troops, all of which were explained to Lu Xiangsheng in the letter.

Afterwards, Li Xiao packed the letter and handed it to the Tangma to take it back, and led his army to continue south.

Two days later, when he arrived more than 200 miles away from Nanyang Prefecture, Li Xiao saw that several cavalrymen were coming from the official road to the south.

Li Xiao saw that the cavalry were all wounded, and the armor on his body was covered with bloodstains, as if he had just broken free from the enemy's attack.

"The person coming in front is the reinforcements sent by Governor Lu?" The cavalry leader, who saw Li Xiao's troops from afar, immediately shouted in surprise.

"That's right, who are you waiting?" Li Xiaoyi shouted from afar.

The man rushed over and tied the horse's hooves five steps away from Li Xiao, then flew off the horse immediately, then knelt on the ground, and reported loudly: "I am Xia Niu Biao, the captain of Li Bei, the general of Ruzhou. He is specially ordered by my lord to risk his life to go out of the city to invite reinforcements. It is a blessing to meet your army now. Where are the soldiers?"

"We are Chifeng Guards and Shanhaiguan Guards. This is General Li, the general of the commander of the army." Tian Wei, the commander of Chifeng Battalion, interjected.

Niu Biao's eyes lit up and he said respectfully: "It turned out to be General Li who defeated the Tartars that day. Unexpectedly, you personally led the army to rescue. Now Nanyang Prefecture is saved!"

Li Xiao frowned: "What, are the enemy starting to attack Nanyang now?"

"Sir, the enemy is only surrounding Nanyang Prefecture, but I don't know when to start siege the city. However, I think that the military situation is extremely critical now, so I would like to ask the Lord to send troops to rescue quickly." Niu Biao said hurriedly.

"Oh, how many soldiers are there in the besieged bandits now, and how many officials in the south are left, let's talk about it one by one." Although Li Xiao was anxious, his face calmly asked about the situation first.

"Sir, our southern official army originally had five thousand general Li of Ruzhou, three thousand soldiers of Zu Kuan, three thousand soldiers of deputy general Liu Zhaoji, and three thousand soldiers of guerrilla general Luo Dai, and one thousand soldiers of guerrilla general. Unfortunately, in the battle to defend Neixiang County, he was trapped in the two sides of the old Hui and Hui troops and Scorpion block. The entire army lost nearly half of its strength and retreated to Zhenping County. Because each army did not obey the command and fought on its own, the result of Zhenping's loss. The generals fought their best to escape."

"Niu Biao, there is no need to say much about the defeat of the South Road official army. You just need to tell our soldiers that the number and distribution of the troops of the South Road official army are now." Seeing that Niu Biao had no focus on his words, Li Xiao quickly corrected him.

Niu Biao responded and said hurriedly: "Since Zhenping broke through, General Zu Kuan was a foreign guest army and unknown path, he retreated to the Wadian area in the south. General Li, Deputy General Liu, and Luo Guerrilla led his troops to retreat to Nanyang Prefecture City. Each of them suffered heavy losses. Among them, General Li had only more than 1,500 soldiers, Deputy General Liu had more than 800 soldiers, and Luo Guerrilla had more than 300 soldiers, plus the remaining hundreds of veterans and weak soldiers in Nanyang Prefecture, the total number of soldiers was only more than 3,000."

After Niu Biao finished speaking, Zu Dale, who was standing beside him, interjected with concern: "Li Xiao, the total number of bandits on the southern route is more than 50,000, but the number of officials guarding Nanyang Prefecture is only more than 3,000, which is in danger."

Li Xiao also tightened his heart. He frowned and asked again: "How many troops are there in the siege of the enemy? Are the enemy attacking all over?"

Niu Biao replied: "No, the one who besieged Nanyang Prefecture City is the bandit Lao Huihui tribe. The bandit Scorpion block is in the middle of Zhenping County. However, the old Huihui tribe also has more than 27,000 people, nine times the number of troops guarding the city. If there are no reinforcements, I am afraid that the Nanyang Prefecture will be lost, but it will be in the evening."

Li Xiao said oh, but a flash of light flashed in his eyes.

He thought to himself that there is another reason why these two bandits did not send troops to attack Nanyang Prefecture City, but this reason is not something Li Xiao can know now.

"Niu Biao, you are leading the way ahead and lead our army to Nanyang City." Li Xiao ordered Niu Biao.

Immediately, Li Xiaofu shouted to the soldiers of the army: "The whole army is ready for combat and move quickly. Be sure to rush to Nanyang Prefecture before dusk!"

The soldiers of the entire army shouted in unison, speeding up their pace.

......

Standing sixteen miles long, with blue bricks and an irregular rectangular city outside the city, looking at the sparse and deserted Ming army guards in the Nanyang Prefecture City, surrounded by his own troops, Ma Shouying, the old Hui Hui leader, had an indescribable pleasure and indescribable depression in his heart.

Lao Huihui was once a soldier from Liaodong and was promoted to the 100th General of the Ming army. Later, when he was stationed in Guangning, he was defeated by Lao Nu because his troops were defeated. In order to avoid being punished by military law, he fled back to his hometown in Suide, Shaanxi.

In the first year of Chongzhen, Lao Huihui led his hometown tribes to rebel. He was originally affiliated with the King of Chuang Gao Yingxiang and had long been wandering in eastern Gansu and western Shaanxi. By the fourth year of Chongzhen, he led his troops to Shanxi and was incorporated into one of the 36th battalions of Zijinliang King Ziyong, becoming an important leader second only to Wang Ziyong and Gao Yingxiang.

At the end of the seventh year of Chongzhen, Lao Huihui led his troops to attend the Xingyang Conference and became one of the leaders of the thirteen families. Later, he and He Yilong, nicknamed "Geliyan", as well as He Jin, Liu Xiyao and Lin, who were nicknamed "Geliyan", became the main force of these five major bandits, and were collectively called "Geliwu Camp" and also called "Huijiewu Camp". Lao Huihui and his subordinates eventually became a famous bandit with strong combat power.

The soldiers under Lao Huihui were all ****. Due to religious beliefs, this army was very united and able to fight tough battles. Since the rebellion, the bandits of Lao Huihui's army have never suffered too much setbacks. Until now, all the soldiers have grown to nearly 30,000.

The division of soldiers and horses under Lao Huihui was also unique. He did not appoint his generals as generals, commanders, or the likes of other bandit leaders, but divided his soldiers into several plates, each plate led by a palm plate, and these plates were basically held by his brothers and relatives. Among them, the most elite part was not only a plate of more than 5,000 soldiers and horses he personally led, but especially a plate of four thousand soldiers and horses by his brother Ma Shoucheng, and a plate of three thousand soldiers and horses by his son Ma Chao, who was the best at fighting.

Because the old Hui Hui troops only recruited **** and did not need to supplement troops from the captured Ming Dynasty surrendered troops and Han people, they were particularly cruel to the soldiers and people under the prefectures and counties they captured. In addition to leaving behind some craftsmen who had to accompany the army and provide for the pleasure of the army, they would kill them, regardless of men, women, old and young. Their tribes were suffering from all over the place where they lived, and they were extremely miserable.

After joining forces with Gao Yingxiang into Henan, according to Gao Yingxiang's arrangement, the old Huihui and Scorpion blocks broke into the south from Lu's County, intending to invade the entire Nanyang Prefecture.

The battle invaded Nanyang Prefecture was extremely smooth. The two bandits merged with more than 50,000 troops, and they defeated the Ming army blocking the southern route. Unexpectedly, when Lao Huihui was full of confidence and wanted to take advantage of the Ming army's defeat to conquer Nanyang Prefecture, they were opposed by Scorpion.

The objection of Scorpion's block was that King Gao Chuang had said that the division of troops this time was to reorganize troops in Ruzhou to advance to the more prosperous Nanzhili, thereby obtaining abundant food and grass supply. Instead, it was not that this year of war was already a broken Henan for a long time.

Scorpion block believes that Nanyang Prefecture City is the most solid stronghold of the Ming army in Nanyang Prefecture. Although the Ming army now has few troops, if they want to defend the city, if they want to attack, they may be difficult to conquer immediately. They may be afraid that they will delay their time and lose a lot of troops. In this way, it will not be worth the loss.

Moreover, if the Ming reinforcements arrive when siege the city, they will be in a dilemma of being attacked by the enemy and being unable to defend themselves. Such a situation is something that Scorpion will never want to see.

According to Scorpion Block's opinion, when the Ming army in the south has basically been defeated, the most important thing should be to take advantage of the Ming army's inability to pursue and counterattack. The entire army of the bandits from the south will go directly to Ruzhou Prefecture, so as to meet with Gao Yingxiang's troops as soon as possible and strive to attack Nanzhili in the southeast as soon as possible.

Scorpion block's words made Lao Huihui sneer. He retorted that the Nanyang Prefecture City is now defeated by the Ming army guarding the city, and the city guards are extremely weak. How could there be no reason to seize the opportunity to seize and eat such a piece of fat meat in front of you?

The two argued for a long time, but in the end no one could convince anyone. In the end, Lao Huihui became anxious and led his troops to attack Nanyang Prefecture City. When Scorpion saw that he sent troops without authorization, he was angry, so he stayed in Zhenping County with anger, and did not send any soldiers to help.

Today, it has been siege for four days. He has ordered the craftsmen and people to make a lot of siege equipment and equipment to be captured. Old Hui thought to himself that after today, he began to attack the city with all his strength early tomorrow morning.

He firmly believed that the remaining Ming troops stationed there were already scared when they were defeated in a row. As long as the powerful troops under his command attacked the city, the Ming troops guarding the city would be defeated immediately.

He recalled that just now, a small group of cavalry broke through the Ming army in the city and even though he was immediately intercepted, three or four cavalrymen escaped and disappeared.

Lao Huihui thought to himself that the Ming army who was desperate to leave the city should have gone to rescue soldiers, but the entire Ming army in Nanyang Prefecture was destroyed by their own hands. If they wanted to go to other places to invite reinforcements, it would be impossible for them to come back within ten days and half a month.

If by then, I was afraid that I would have captured Nanyang City and plundered all over the place, the Ming army, who had been invaded, would have to follow behind his butt and eat dust.

I always turned to the corner of my mouth and a sarcastic smile surged.

His eyes turned from Nanyang City in front of him to the surging river of water that flowed south west of Nanyang City, but a fleeting light of greed flashed quickly in his eyes.

In this Nanyang Prefecture city, there are more than 100,000 children of the people, and the entire Nanyang Prefecture transports abundant food and grass and a large amount of wealth. If we can win this city like delicious fat, it is much better than getting broken county towns such as Neixiang and Zhenping.

However, he soon began to sigh again, and in his heart hesitated to the point of scorpion blocking the stage and hesitating. He thought hatefully that if the Nanyang Mansion was captured, he would never let the bastard of scorpion block get any benefits. At that time, if Scorpion block is going to take it forcibly, he would not hesitate to fight with him.

As the sun was gradually setting in front of him, Lao Huihui inspected the troops and was about to return to the camp to rest, suddenly a cavalry under his command came to report that there were large groups of Ming reinforcements that had suddenly reached outside Nanyang City.

Lao Huihui looked shocked and incredible. He simply wondered if he had heard it wrongly.

Why did the Ming army reinforcements come so soon?

How is this possible?!

"How many soldiers and horses are there in Ming Gouzi's reinforcements?!" Lao Huihui quickly came back to his senses from his sudden consciousness and shouted angrily at the whistleman.

"Report to the leader, the Ming army reinforcements, are vast and endless, and have come along the north bank of the Qingshui River to the north of Nanyang City!"
Chapter completed!