Chapter 233: Building Armor (16)

Long before Zhang Xing received the message from the eastern front, a fierce debate had broken out in Dongping County and Fan County on the south bank of the river.

The two leaders were unwilling to withdraw to Dongjun, because they knew very well that once they left the scope of Dongping County and returned to Dongjun, the Eastern Expedition, which lasted for more than half a year, would be completely defeated, and all the previous gains would be in vain.

.

It's really all in vain. Not only the money and materials, but also the talents and soldiers obtained from the three eastern counties will be separated by then.

Moreover, after returning to the Western Front, they are likely to be overwhelmed by people like Xu Shiying and Niu Da in the gang and lose their right to speak. Their combat experience, their efforts and hard work, those on the Western Front

It will also lose its meaning in front of people... The latter reason is also true for Xiong Bonan.

Cheng Zhili, the short-seller leader with nothing, also objected because it was getting further and further away from his hometown.

However, Shang Huaizhi, Zhai Qian and other leaders who were born into sub-level powerful people generally agree that they did not receive many dividends before, and now they want to go home and guard one-third of an acre, which is natural.

This kind of dispute has happened once before in Yuncheng, and the last time it was Li Shu, the leader of the left wing, who turned the tide, but this time, he inevitably had some shortcomings in his words.

Theoretically, it should be because he lost Yuncheng and lost his right to speak.

But in fact, the entire Eastern Expedition team, not just Li Shu, Shan Tonghai, Wang Shuyong, and Cheng Zhili, did not lose their territory and troops in front of Qijun Laoge? Yuncheng was able to defend in the first place only because of Li Dalongtou's perseverance

, who can laugh at whom?

Even when Zhang Xing came over, I'm afraid no one said anything, but some people still sneered in their hearts - you are only guarding the Western Front, how have you ever touched the old Ge from Qi County?

Therefore, Li Shu's silence actually has two meanings. First, he is different from last time. This is a hidden statement... In fact, his mind has reached the point of giving up all bases south of the river.

Not to mention whether to stay or not; the second and most important point is that the morale of the army is so low and the situation is so bad that these big leaders cannot stay if they want. The situation will force these people to give up.

Sure enough, in the next few days, although the Qilu army in Yuncheng strangely did not move, the morale of the troops was declining day by day due to the continuous rain, and it became increasingly difficult to supply supplies while guarding a small Fan County.

Under this situation, the complaints of grassroots soldiers and officers became increasingly clear, and many scattered rebels in Juyeze and Jibei County even wanted to flee directly.

As a result, the pressure quickly spread from bottom to top to the big leaders. When Zhang Shanxiang, Ding Shengying, Xia Hou Ningyuan, and Liang Jiading all changed their positions in just two or three days, the big leaders did not hesitate.

changed their stance.

This wave, this wave is called following the good as the flow.

The eastern front army, about 25,000 strong, began to retreat hastily.

This day was May 20th, and it was also the day that Zhang Xing received the worst news. It was rare that there was no rain in Juye Ze.

At this time, something strange happened again. Just like the previous few days, Yuncheng still did not send any pursuers. Instead, they stood still, as if they wanted to let the deposed dragon army escape... But this was not a conspiracy, nor was it a conspiracy.

It's not that they are unable to do anything, but that just when the Dragon Army was in the quagmire of May, the Qilu army, which had achieved absolute military success, fell into a huge crisis almost at the same time.

Moreover, this crisis is not external, but internal.

A fierce confrontation and dispute broke out between the local Fan brothers and Jia Wugen and other military backbones in Qijun, and the foreign elites of the Wei Dynasty such as Zhang Xuguo, Zhang Changgong, and Yu Baimei.

Or to be more precise, it was the local backbones of Qi County such as the Fan brothers and Jia Wugen who jointly attacked Zhang Xuguo in the opposite direction.

The superficial origin of the incident actually goes back to the day when Zhang Xuguo and Yu Baimei raided Yuncheng.

In that battle, Zhang Xuguo and Yu Baimei succeeded easily. The next scene was supposed to be a two-sided attack with Fan Hu, just to the east and north of Yuncheng, with Liangshan as the core, to annihilate the East Dragon Gang.

Even if the main force cannot be gathered and annihilated, half of the main force of the Eastern Front of the Deposed Dragon Army, which is not well established, can be easily disabled.

But that day, Zhonglang General Fan Hu, who led the remaining main force to fight on land, actually chose to withdraw his troops directly after Shantonghai withdrew in front of him, and went straight to Qi County.

From the perspective of the Deposed Dragon Army, including from the perspective of the vast majority of officers and soldiers, as well as from the perspective of pure passers-by, this behavior is not problematic. Because Qijun’s lair has been taken away, since here

If you succeed in one attack, you should quickly go back and quell the rebellion.

But in fact, only a few leaders of the Qi and Lu army knew that Fan Hu withdrew his troops before he knew that Yuncheng was successful. Zhang Xuguo only found out about this when he sent a messenger to ask Fan Hu to come to Yuncheng to meet up.

information.

Then everyone was confused, no more confused than Li Shu at that moment, and it was precisely for this reason that they had to face the crazy counterattack of the main force of the Eastern Front of the Deposed Dragon Army alone in the next few days.

It depends on how you characterize Fan Hu's behavior.

To put it bluntly, say it was an escape from the battle or a betrayal, that’s fine. If it was really a killing, it would be a matter of killing... But how could it be possible?

After killing Fan Hu who returned to Qijun, what did Fan Bao say? What did the Qijun soldiers that these two brothers brought in from the beginning say? What did the other Qijun soldiers who were excited about the army's return say? What if these people knew

Fan Hu was punished by military law for taking them home to quell the rebellion. Where will this military force, which has been established for a year and has made great achievements in battle, go?

What happened next fully demonstrated the unexpectedness of war and the instability of people's hearts in troubled times.

After Fan Hu braved the rain and mud in May and quickly returned to Qijun along the Jishui channel, Qijun was completely caught off guard. When he led his troops to attack Qijun's Junzhi City, Zuo Xiaoyou, the rebel in the city, unexpectedly surrendered.

Already.

At this time, as the news of Yuncheng's success came, Fan Hu, who had just settled down and took over most of Qi County, became a little afraid and frightened. In the end, it was Zhang Changgong who took advantage of the opportunity to depose Longjun.

When he had the opportunity to retreat, he personally went to Qi County and his party with Zhang Xuguo's letter promising not to pursue him. He was half forced and half military ordered, and he immediately turned back with Fan Hu.

At this time, an important remnant of Zuo Xiaoyou's party, that is, the bandit leader surnamed Zuo who sent troops from Langya into Qi County, was not suppressed at all, and even stayed in a county southeast of Qi County without moving.

In other words, while the Deposed Dragon Gang lost Yuncheng and fell into a comprehensive strategic passivity, the actions of Zhang Xuguo, the armed group in the eastern border of the Wei Dynasty, were a process based on the high-level concerns about the outbreak of conflict, mutiny, and rebellion, rather than the

A process that is measured based on the success and thoroughness of military operations.

However, from an outsider's perspective, it seems that it is just a matter of military significance.

At this point, the matter seemed to have been alleviated. At this time, Uncle Cao, who had seen the overall situation in the east and hoped for peace because of Zhang Xuguo's capture of Yuncheng, also sent someone to come and revealed the entire plan.

Actually, what’s the use of holding it out?

Uncle Cao Huang's strategy is self-explanatory. Zhang Xuguo, Han Yingong, and Qu Tuda are encircling and suppressing them on three sides. As long as the three families join forces in Dongjun or Jiyin, the Deposed Dragon Gang will naturally collapse and fall apart. Some people will have no choice but to become blind.

There is no way to go. And the East Territory, which was the most lawless before, will also completely reverse the situation.

At the same time, Zhang Xuguo's tribe will also receive 5,000 warriors from the Eastern Capital as a supplement, as well as countless grains and other supplies from Luokou Cang and Liyang Cang. Zhang Xuguo himself will also be in charge of marching from the East.

The commander of Qi County Tongshou was changed to the commander of Xingyang Tongshou, and a guard general was added.

Uncle Cao was so eager to obtain such a loyal old man from Guanxi and such an army of native soldiers from the Eastern Region who were good at fighting. He and Zhang Xuguo were truly a match made in heaven, and they were complementary in politics and military.

By then, together with Han Yingong garrisoning Tongguan and Qu Tuda garrisoning Jijun, not to mention the Eastern Capital, the situation of the entire Wei Dynasty will be reversed to a certain extent.

Even people with no strategic vision can basically realize how important the strategic significance of Zhang Xuguo's march to the west to join forces is.

The situation had reversed to a certain extent, and there was no longer any need to hide the high-level military discussions from many subordinate generals, so that day Zhang Xuguo held a banquet. Under him, about seventeen or eight people were seated, all coming to listen to General Manager Zhang's explanation of the situation.

.

But for some reason, these people just remained silent while listening to Zhang Xuguo's slightly excited explanation. This put Zhang Xuguo, who was in desperate need of support, into some kind of embarrassment.

"Since no one is talking, let me tell you." The one who broke the silence was Fan Bao, who was obviously drunk, but it seemed that he had not drunk too much just now. "Manager Zhang, we came here because we were worried that you would be surrounded in Yuncheng.

Now that we have come back and driven away the people from the Deposed Dragon Gang, shouldn't we go back to Qijun to clean up the situation? Why do we still have to go west in this kind of weather?"

"Captain Fan, this is a big plan of the imperial court." Zhang Xuguo explained patiently. "We must distinguish the important from the important."

"Is it the same imperial plan as the three conquests of Dongyi?" Fan Bao smiled directly in the audience.

Zhang Xuguo was slightly stunned and speechless on the spot.

"Fan Laoer." Yu Baimei finally couldn't bear it anymore and responded coldly from the opposite side. "Why are you pretending to be stupid? How can Mr. Zhang be sorry for you, the Fan family? You brothers are the most powerful and powerful people in this county.

I wanted to do some black and white things in Jishui. Now one is a lieutenant general and the other is a school captain. Shouldn't we be grateful for the kindness of the court and Duke Zhang? Just because our village was captured once, it's not over anymore, right?

"

Fan Bao looked at the other party with a sneer and was about to get angry.

But Fan Hu spoke before his younger brother: "General Yu is right. In fact, I, Fan Hu, have never forgotten Duke Zhang's kindness."

Yu Baimei was ready to wait for the next sentence, but found that the other party stopped talking after saying this, and he was at a loss for the moment.

But at the same time, Zhang Xuguo became serious: "Fan Hu, the kindness of the imperial court must not be forgotten!"

"May I ask Mr. Zhang, which court's kindness should not be forgotten?" Fan Hu, who was sitting in the first place on the right, paused, and then suddenly turned to look at his benefactor. "Jiangdu or Dongdu?"

"We don't need to get involved in the matters above." Zhang Xuguo also became more serious. "After all, it is Wei's kindness."

Fan Hu sneered and kept silent.

At this time, everyone had understood what Fan Hu meant. This army was essentially an army of Qilu soldiers recruited and established by Zhang Xuguo as the leader. In addition, Zhang Xuguo could win battles and bring official positions to his men.

And if he actually expands the territory and number of this army, everyone will naturally be willing to obey him.

As for the great righteousness of the imperial court, it would be ridiculous to expect people here in the east to be grateful to the Wei imperial court.

To put it bluntly, if Zhang Xuguo hadn't happened to be in Qi County, the Fan brothers would have either carried the flag themselves like the Meng brothers, or they would have become the backbone of the Deposed Dragon Gang like their acquaintance Cheng Dalang.

"General Fan." Zhang Changgong, who was wearing a mask, hesitated for a moment and tried to explain and ease. For him, this was something he could do with great effort. "I don't understand anything else, but I can only say

Pros and cons, if we go west and help Dongdu open up the Wei situation, it will only be a matter of time before Qijun is stable in the future; but if we go back to the east, even if Qijun is temporarily stabilized, we can let the dragon be deposed.

If you don't care about the gang, they will fight back sooner or later, but Qi County will still be in chaos."

Fan Hu seemed to be quite afraid of Zhang Changgong, so he just kept his head down and drank without saying a word.

Fan Bao, who had been suppressed by his brother before, finally couldn't help but get angry: "After all, what does the situation in Wei have to do with us Qijun children?! Even if we want to be promoted and make a fortune, we should go back and clean up our hometown first.

Go?"

Zhang Changgong was stunned and didn't know how to deal with it for a moment.
To be continued...