Zhu Nao

In the alley, the soldiers quickly shuttled around, searching for the surviving people in the city, and carrying the bodies of the dead.The footsteps stepped over the mud pond in turn, continuously splashing black mud.

The torrential rain has been falling all night, but it still hasn't washed the ground clean. The rain is gurgling along the terrain, and every stream is mixed with muddy water and plasma, carrying turbid matter, and there is also a faint smell in the air. The stench.

Huang Dongxuan stood on the top of the city, watching the soldiers below load corpses on carts and push them out of the city gate.There was no expression on his face, just watching silently.

After an unknown amount of time, footsteps approached behind him, his head sank, and the rain that hit him suddenly became smaller.He looked back, and it was Ge Lingcha who buckled a pair of bamboo hats on his body.

Huang Dongxuan is in a very bad mood right now, very bad, if one or two uninterested people bump into and say a few inappropriate words at this time, it will give him a chance to vent, and he is also waiting for that chance.It's a pity that Ge Lingcha is not that person.After putting on the bamboo hat for Huang Dongxuan, he stood aside silently.

The soldiers carried out a few more corpses. When Huang Dongxuan saw one of them, he was slightly startled for a moment, then suddenly turned around and walked down from the tower.Brother Lingcha hurriedly followed.

Huang Dongxuan walked to the corpse and motioned for the soldiers to put the corpse down.It was an old man, already very old, his skin was wrinkled like cracked ground, and his flesh was deeply sunken into the bone socket.His complexion is gray and dark, and his two white eyebrows hang down long.Although he lost his face after death, it can be imagined that he was not a kind-hearted old man during his lifetime.

Huang Dongxuan kicked the corpse with his feet, and said coldly: "Hey, old man, are you dead? If you don't die, open your eyes and snort."

The corpse naturally did not respond.

Huang Dongxuan didn't give up, and squatted down again to check the breath of the corpse.In fact, he didn't have to do this, there was a big black hole in the chest of the corpse, which was pierced with a knife, if the old man still had gas in his nose, he should not call a doctor, but a Taoist priest.

He withdrew his hand, squatted beside the corpse, lowered his head, and didn't know what he was thinking.

Ge Lingcha walked behind him and asked in a low voice, "Do you recognize him?"

"I know...heh, of course I do." Huang Dongxuan slowly stood up on his knees, his eyes wandering, "When I was a child... well, how old was I then? I don't remember. I just remember, one day I was hungry, Eat a few fruits from his field. Later, every time this old thing saw me, he would chase me and beat and scold me, saying that I was a born thief, that I was destined to be a failure in my life."

Ge Lingcha was slightly taken aback: "You...are you from Gong'an County?"

"Yes." Huang Dongxuan nodded.

Brother Lingcha's heart tightened.He only knew that Huang Dongxuan was from Jiangling before, but he didn't expect that Huang Dongxuan was from Gong'an County!He wanted to ask about the whereabouts of Huang Dongxuan's family, but he thought that after Huang Dongxuan made a fortune, he had already taken all his family members with him.

But the people in this county are all his fellow countrymen after all...

Huang Dongxuan looked down on the old man's corpse: "Brother, General, don't get me wrong. Thanks to this old man, I was a traitor when I was young in the county, and I left the county when I was 13. I don't have much tolerance, but I hold grudges very much. Since I became a general and took over Jingzhou, I have long wanted to come back and clean up these blind county citizens. If I was not afraid of going too far, Zhu Nao dismissed my post, I would have long ago That's it!"

Brother Lingcha didn't answer, but looked at him with serious eyes.

Huang Dongxuan wanted to say something, but his throat rolled up and down, but he didn't say it right away.The rain was getting heavier and heavier, like a bead curtain shrouded around him, making it difficult to see the expression on his face.

After a while, Huang Dongxuan said with a low smile: "Ha! Next time we meet, I must thank Sun Xiang well. Thank you for solving this serious problem for me..."

Ge Lingcha asked, "How do you thank him?"

"Thank you?" Huang Dongxuan tilted his head and thought about it seriously, pulled out his saber, and raised it up to face the gray sky, "You say, I'll hang him up, surround him with a group of hungry dogs, and then let someone use a knife to slice him The knife must be as small as possible, the smaller the better, just take out a piece and throw it away, so that he can see with his own eyes how those hungry dogs swallowed his flesh and blood piece by piece...Brother General, what do you think? Is this thank you too light?"

Brother Lingcha remained silent.

Huang Dongxuan's temper is not very good, and his patience is not very enough. If someone speaks some big truths to spoil the scenery at this time, he does not guarantee where his fist will be swung in the next moment.

However, Ge Lingcha only asked calmly: "Are you sure?"

Huang Dongxuan was slightly startled, squinted his eyes and gritted his teeth: "I really want to...but I'm afraid that he's running too fast and I won't be able to catch up. Look, in just a few days, he has escaped hundreds of miles away It's..."

At this moment, a fast horse rushed over through the rain curtain: "Report...to the general!"

Huang Dongxuan and Ge Lingcha turned their heads, only to see the scout rushing in front of them, reining in their horses and stopping.

"General," the scout reported panting heavily, "the advance department of the Changsha Army has arrived in Yueyang, and they will garrison there!"

Huang Dongxuan frowned: "...It really is Yue Yang!"

Sun Xiang retreated temporarily, obviously wanting to find a safer place to wait for his allies to arrive.At the same time, his food and grass were burned, and he also needed a place with more convenient transportation with Changsha, so he urgently collected food and grass from Changsha.Yueyang's water system extends in all directions, which is indeed a good choice.

——And this is not only a better choice for Sun Xiang, but also for Huang Dongxuan!

Huang Dongxuan sneered a few times, wiped the rain off his face, turned his head and ordered: "Leave 200 people here to settle the living, collect the corpses for the dead, and the rest wait..."

He paused for a moment, then turned to Gelincha.Ge Lingcha looked calm, this time, he didn't have any objection.

Huang Dongxuan said: "Brother, General, I want you to stay in Jingzhou for me. If the Central Plains army comes, you should block them first. When I destroy the Changsha army, I will come back to you immediately."

Brother Lingcha readily agreed: "Okay."

Huang Dongxuan said: "How many people will I leave for you?"

Ge Lingcha said: "2000 people are enough."

Huang Dongxuan grinned and said, "Only two thousand? Okay, that's great! Then take out the posture you used to guard Yunyang, and let me guard Jingzhou City!"

He immediately gave orders to order 2 elite soldiers to be reserved for Ge Lingcha to defend the city, and the remaining [-] people were ready to go out, rest for half a day, and immediately follow him to send troops tomorrow morning!

=====

On the other side, Yue Yang.

Sun Xiang led the army into the city, and had just settled down, and before he had a good night's sleep, his two lieutenants, Zhou Liao and Mu Cong, found him worriedly.

"Fu Yin..." Mu Cong said, "I just received the news from the spies that Huang Dongxuan is leading troops towards Yue Yang..."

"What?" Sun Xiang was drinking tea, and almost threw the teacup in his hand when he heard the words, "Huang Dongxuan came after him? How many people did he bring?"

Mu Cong and Zhou Liao looked at each other.

Sun Xiang had a bad premonition, and asked loudly, "How many people did you bring?"

Mu Cong bit the bullet and said, "According to the spies' report, there may be twenty to thirty thousand."

Sun Xiang: "..." He let go of his hand, and the porcelain cup fell to the ground, and instantly shattered into a pile of rotten porcelain.

He said in disbelief: "Twenty to thirty thousand? He has mobilized all the troops in Jingzhou?? Doesn't he know that the Central Plains Army is coming soon?!"

Mu Cong and Zhou Liao remained silent.When the two of them first received the news just now, they also suspected that Huang Dongxuan didn't know that the oriole was behind.But if you think about it carefully, you can see that it's wrong: Tao Bei has already started to mobilize soldiers and horses, collect food and salaries, and the army is already on the road.The Shu army has always been famous for being well-informed, and it is impossible for Huang Dongxuan's news to be blocked to this extent.

If Huang Dongxuan knew that Tao Bei's army was approaching, if Huang Dongxuan sent the army out to pursue them, then there was only one possibility...

Sun Xiang quickly thought of it, his face changed, he stood up suddenly, and turned around in the room: "What does he mean? Ah?! Does he not plan to take Jingzhou?? Could it be that he wants to take Jingzhou before the Central Plains army arrives? We repel? Can he lead troops back to help?!"

Mu Cong and Zhou Liao's faces were also very ugly.Repelling is too polite. After all, if it is just repelling, they can make a comeback as soon as the allied forces arrive.Jingzhou is such an important place, neither Huang Dongxuan nor Zhu Nao can give up.There is only one possibility for Huang Dongxuan's unreasonable approach: that is, he has strong self-confidence, and he can wipe out the Changsha army before the Central Plains army arrives—at least he will be severely injured and lose his combat power! !

The Central Plains Army is not far away, and if there are no accidents, it should arrive in about a month.And Huang Dongxuan only has more than 2 people, and he actually wants to wipe out more than 1 of them in a month?You must know that although Huang Dongxuan has the upper hand in the number of soldiers and horses, they have now become the one who occupies the geographical advantage!They occupied Yueyang City, how did Huang Dongxuan defeat them?are you crazy?

"Crazy, what a crazy!" Sun Xiang couldn't help cursing, his shoulders trembling.His trembling was not from fear, but from anger: How much did Huang Dongxuan look down on them to make such a decision?

There was a bad breath in Sun Xiang's chest, and this bad breath made him want to immediately order Mu Cong and Zhou Liao to send troops to fight, and give Huang Dongxuan a head-on blow, which made the shit out of him.However, before he could speak, Zhou Liao spoke first.

"Fu Yin," Zhou Liao said worriedly, "the enemy army will catch up soon, the situation is dangerous, Fu Yin might as well go back to Changsha Mansion..."

Sun Xiang was stunned for a while, then suddenly felt chills all over his body, and the hairs all over his body stood on end.

The situation is so dangerous that he needs to go back to Changsha Mansion for refuge? —No, of course not!They have a strong city for defense, they have too many soldiers and horses, and the allied forces will come soon.They are the ones who clearly have the upper hand!

But why are Mu Cong and Zhou Liao so worried?Worried that you will let yourself escape back to Changsha?Maybe they don't want to stay here to tell others what to do; maybe, they are really scared...

Thinking of this, Sun Xiang suddenly calmed down.

He took a deep breath, and said calmly; "The two love generals think that this mansion is in the way? So you want to drive this mansion back?"

Mu Cong and Zhou Liao were shocked, they knelt down and said, "The last general dare not!"

"Really not?"

"Fu Yin is wise and powerful, the last general will never dare!"

Sun Xiang was silent for a while, then asked again: "Then are you afraid of Huang Dongxuan?"

Mu Cong and Zhou Liao were startled, but did not reply immediately.

In fact, they persuaded Sun Xiang to go back home for two reasons.Sun Xiang is a self-willed person. He led the troops to conquer, and the two lieutenants became vases on several cases. They were useless at all except for good looks, so they naturally hoped that Sun Xiang would return as soon as possible; The abnormal behavior really worried them a lot.They didn't know what Huang Dongxuan was relying on, but if Huang Dongxuan dared to take such a big risk to chase after him, he must be sure.

Seeing that the two of them didn't answer, Sun Xiang knew it.He closed his eyes, and the anger gradually turned into turbid air and spit out from his mouth.

Suddenly, he forced a smile, and said: "That's great, Huang Dongxuan is reckless and impulsive, and he really fell into my trap!"

Mu Cong and Zhou Liao looked at each other.Huang Dongxuan fell into Sun Xiang's trap?Where did this come from?

Sun Xiangdao: "The ancestral home of Huang Dongxuan is from Gong'an County. I ordered the massacre of Gong'an County that day, because I knew that he was irritable, and I intended to provoke him! He really caught the trick, and he abandoned Jingzhou and led a large army to pursue him. Now as long as we don’t get out of Gucheng, drag his army here, wait until the Central Plains army arrives, capture Jingzhou, and cut off his retreat, his more than 2 people will die here!"

The two lieutenants were dumbfounded.

Just now when I heard that Huang Dongxuan led troops to chase after him, Sun Xiang was more shocked than anyone else. In the blink of an eye, everything turned out to be Sun Xiang's plan?As for the massacre of Gong'an County, although Sun Xiang killed the villagers of Huang Dongxuan to vent their anger, the more important reason was clearly that the county residents were inclined to the Shu government and refused to work for them.Instead of leaving the county residents to the enemy, it is better to kill them all, and plunder the people's wealth to make up for the loss of their food and grass.

However, the two of them quickly understood: Sun Xiang deliberately said this to appease people's hearts.

Huang Dongxuan led the troops to attack, which seemed to be an extremely irrational behavior, but it caused great fear to the Changsha army.This is because Huang Dongxuan won a big victory before, and the Changsha army was burned half of the food and grass. Now everyone in the Changsha army is in danger.

And if morale is allowed to go down like this, it will undoubtedly be very detrimental to them.That's why Sun Xiang came up with this rhetoric to boost morale and inspire people.

As for why Huang Dongxuan chose to pursue them, whether it was caused by reckless impulse... Sun Xiang didn't know either, he just had to say so.

And Sun Xiang decided not to fight behind closed doors in Yueyang, waiting for the allied forces, which also made Mu Cong and Zhou Liao heave a sigh of relief.They were afraid that Sun Xiang's temper would force them to send troops to fight.In case they suffer another defeat, the hearts of the people will really be completely scattered—maybe, this is also Huang Dongxuan's purpose?

All in all, as long as they closed their doors and thanked them for a month, it would be hard for them to imagine that Huang Dongxuan could defeat them with any supernatural ability.After all, Yueyang is different from Gongan County, Yueyang has always been under the rule of Changsha Mansion, and the people here are not close to Shu.No matter how you think about it, avoiding war and procrastinating is the best way for them right now.

Perhaps, this time, Huang Dongxuan really made a wrong decision rashly and impulsively?

Thinking of this, the two lieutenants also gained some confidence.

"The governor knows Huang Dongxuan like the back of his hand." Mu Cong said, "This plan is very clever!"

Zhou Liao reluctantly twitched the corner of his mouth, and said, "Fu Yin is wise."

The two said so, which means that they have understood Sun Xiang's intentions and know how to appease the hearts of the soldiers.

Sun Xiang was already exhausted, so he forced himself to say: "You all step back."

Mu Cong and Zhou Liao saluted and were about to leave when they turned around when they heard Sun Xiang's hoarse voice from behind.

"The two love generals... I really can't retreat anymore."

The two were slightly taken aback.Sun Xiang has always been strong, but the weakness he showed at this moment made the two realize: Maybe this time, it is not Sun Xiang's stubbornness, but that he really has no way out.Changsha Mansion has been in decline for many years. If it can't stand up again, it can only be reduced to a fish on other people's chopping boards.And they retreated all the way from Jingzhou to Yueyang, neither Sun Xiang nor the Changsha Army could take another step back.Even if they take another half step back, the hearts of the Changsha Army will instantly become a mess, and they will no longer be able to fight together.

This battle is Sun Xiang's last chance.If he wins, he may not have the hope of competing for world hegemony; but if he loses...

If King Xiang crosses Jiangdong, will Jiangdong's disciples come back again?

I'm afraid it's impossible.If he loses, Sun Xiang's power, prestige and everything will be wiped out in this troubled world...