The prince is very fierce

Chu land, Ezhou.

The beacon fire was ignited, and soldiers were everywhere in the grass and trees across thousands of miles of Chu. Outside the four gates of Ezhou City, recruiting platforms were set up. In front of the platforms, there was a sea of ​​people, all of them men from all walks of life carrying swords and weapons.

The people of Chu were very fond of martial arts, and besides Youzhou, it was the place with the largest number of Jianghu people.

Like other vassal kings, Chu King Song Zhengping maintained an excellent reputation in the territory under his jurisdiction and was deeply popular among the people. In addition, Song Zhengping was a martial artist since he was a child, and he liked to treat people in the world as brothers and had a wide range of friends.

Now if you want to recruit troops, all you need to do is to say something like "The king is unjust, the King of Chu wants to seek justice for the victims of Tie Ying hunting deer, etc.", and there will be countless stupid people with deep hatred and passion. Qing, come over and be cannon fodder. Although the Jianghu people are not good at cooperating in the battle formation, even if they are not good at it, they are still better than the farmers who only know how to dig the ground with hoes.

Seeing the banners flying and coming to help from all directions, there was naturally a prosperous atmosphere in the Prince of Chu's palace. In the main hall of the palace, the King of Chu was sitting at the top. In addition to various generals, there were also leaders of Jianghu forces such as Hutoushan and the Boat Gang. They were changing cups and cups, and compliments such as 'Benevolent King and Wise King' were heard endlessly.

The King of Chu, Song Zhengping, was wearing a python robe, playing with the tea knife in his hand, with a warm expression. However, as a local vassal king, Song Zhengping had not yet been dazzled by his apparent strength.

The land of Chu is backed by the Three Kings in the East, with Guanzhong in the front, and most of it is a plain area. It is true that the land is vast and rich in resources, but the geographical location is not very good.

They said they were in alliance with the three eastern kings and would discuss who would be the emperor after Song Ji was brought down. But the three eastern kings obviously wanted Song Zhengping to be a pawn.

Song Zhengping was angry, but there was nothing he could do. Standing on the side of the imperial court, it was impossible for Song Ji to give him the throne, which would be equivalent to working in vain. Standing on the side of the Three Kings of the East, right next to Guanzhong, if he doesn't come first, who will?

In order to obtain the maximum benefit from this civil strife, Song Zhengping's only way was to take the lead, win the first victory in the "Four Kings Conquer Ji" battlefield, suppress the other three kings, and then be the first to lead troops into Chang'an. Let Song Ji take the Zen position. But it is obviously not easy to take this road.

On the right side of Song Zhengping is Zhou Kai, the head of the Zhou family of Chu land, who is also the father-in-law of the King of Chu. Zhou Kai was holding a wine glass in his hand. After thinking for a long time, he said:

"Your Majesty, I have a plan. I don't know if it will work."

Song Zhengping put down the tea knife and turned slightly sideways:

"It doesn't matter, Duke Zhou said."

Zhou Kai touched his beard and thought about his words for a while before speaking:

"The day before yesterday, an old acquaintance from Chang'an City sent over the defense of Wuguandao. The imperial court's counter-rebellion force included 20,000 Chinese troops, 100,000 government soldiers, 50,000 militiamen, and more than 70,000 engineers and civilians. Government soldiers, Only 70% of the militiamen are fully armored. Most of the crossbows and war horses have been sent to the north. The weapons used are still old goods dug out from the warehouse. The weapons supervisor is working hard to build them, but they are still mainly in the northern Xinjiang. Very few were sent to the counter-rebels..."

Song Zhengping knew all this clearly. He dared to conspire with the three eastern kings? He was sure that the courtiers would rather change the emperor than let Northern Qi enter the pass. The emperor Song Ji simply could not take into account both internal and external considerations.

Moreover, after Song Ji came to power, he was too strong in power. The military attache class was dissatisfied? Before the war started, someone sent all Guan Hongye's defenses. The four kings in the east were equivalent to a full-map war. If they still couldn't get into Guanzhong, He deserves to be cut off.

Song Zhengping listened for a moment and felt a bit verbose, so he raised his hand and said:

"I know all this, but the six dangerous passes before and after Wuguan Road, even if only civilians throw stones at them, it will be very costly for the Chu army to attack them. If we attack the pass in advance, when King Wu and others come, I will not have any men. "

Zhou Kai nodded: "That's true. But the current situation is not without variables. Guan Hongye has obtained 50,000 Xiliang troops, doubling his combat power, but the government soldiers and militiamen under him are really difficult to use. No matter how courageous Guan Hongye is, Guan Hongye did not dare to lead troops and horses out of Wuguan Road, so he would definitely play it safe and choose to defend Wuguan Road and wait for the situation in northern Xinjiang to turn around. Guan Hongye placed all the Xiliang troops in Shangnan, Wuguan and other places to attack Ma Pass. However, they secretly built high walls and built city defenses, which also proves this conjecture. "

Song Zhengping nodded: "Guan Hongye only has so few troops under his command. If they come out and fight them, they will be gone. He will definitely become a tough bastard. If he wants to touch Song Ji, he will not let him move."

Zhou Kai stroked his beard and continued: "The Xiliang army belongs to King Su. The imperial court wanted soldiers, but did not want King Su's army to have too much merit or even seize the military power, so he allowed Prince Su to run away with three thousand soldiers. Went to Luanshan County outside the battlefield..."

"Yes, I thought that Xu Buling would be dissatisfied and fall out with the court. I never thought that Xu Buling would hand over the military power without saying a word..."

Zhou Kai chuckled lightly: "As the saying goes, 'If you don't use people you trust, you don't use them.' This move by the court is obviously inappropriate. Prince Su and Prince Su will definitely be dissatisfied even if they don't say anything. If at this time, the prince sends more than ten thousand elite troops to leave. 'Nanzhao County' detoured and made a surprise attack on Luanshan County; Luanshan County's terrain is remote and worthless, and Guan Hongye did not station troops nearby, so he would definitely not be able to come to his aid; if Prince Su's son died in Luanshan County..."

When Song Zhengping heard this, his eyes narrowed slightly:

"If Xu Buling died in Luanshan County, and the imperial court deliberately transferred Xu Buling so far away, he would definitely not be able to escape the blame. Moreover, Guan Hongye would not have thought that if I left Wuguan Road unattacked, I would waste our troops on Luanshan. Shan County fights..."

Zhou Kai nodded: "That's exactly what it is. The soldiers are in a deceitful way, attacking the city first and attacking the heart first. As long as Xu Buling can be captured and killed, the imperial court will inevitably fall into civil strife. King Su is so angry that he counterattacks. Both are possible.”

Song Zhengping rubbed his fingers, thought carefully, and shook his head:

"It's easy to attack Luanshan County, but it's harder to kill Xu Buling than to climb to the sky. Xu Buling is a tiger with only wings. Chen Daozi, Zhang Buzheng, and Chen Chong are gone. If Xu Buling wants to break out, no one under me can." stop."

Zhou Kai shook his head: "I couldn't catch Xu Buling and destroyed the three thousand Xiliang troops. King Su is still in pain. Anyway, we can just retreat when we can't attack them, and we won't lose anything."

Song Zhengping thought about it for a moment and felt that it made sense. He raised his hand and called his general over... -

On the other side, Luanshan County.

Luanshan County is located in a mountain valley and is small in scale, with only about 300 households. Because there are high mountains behind it, there is no road for large groups to march. It has been a marginal area since ancient times. The walls of the county town were still built by the previous dynasty. , and now there is only an earth barrier left, and the city gate is just a gap, without even a door beam.

In early April, the weather was already a bit hot, and engineers and civilians were cutting down trees and digging trenches in the surrounding mountains in preparation for war. In the small county government office in the county seat, the county magistrate was boiling tea on a small stove, and the only two government officials stood guard outside the door.

In the lobby, a dozen bamboo chairs were arranged in a circle. Yang Guanyu was too big and had no stool to sit on, so he could only stand beside him with his hands behind his back, like a blind bear standing with his hands behind his back.

The nightingale with big braids stood on a hand-drawn diagram and explained in detail:

"...The defense at the east gate is the weakest. We will take a detour from here and arrive at this location within a quarter of an hour. After the city gate is broken open, we can quickly enter the city to prevent soldiers and horses from other places from reacting and rushing to help..."

In the courtyard behind the Yamen, Xu Buling stood in front of the two cannons that had just been delivered, wiping them carefully with a cloth as if they were his daughters-in-law. Zhongli Jiujiu stood in front, holding an umbrella to help Xu Buling shade from the sun.

Zhongli Chuchu was leaning on the recliner and feeding the sparrows millet, while Ning Yuhe was meditating beside him. Ning Qingye leaned against the pillars and listened to the battle plan outside.

In the blink of an eye, it has been seven or eight days since they arrived in Luanshan County. At first, the four girls still held the ambition of "advancing together, retreating together, living together and dying together" and thought about standing on the city wall with Xu Buling to fight the enemy bravely.

The result was good. When I went to Luanshan County, I saw that the city wall was not as tall as Ning Qingye. Three thousand soldiers and horses could only stay outside the county seat. Even the road into the county seat would be impassable.

As for fighting, let alone fighting. The original garrison in Luanshan County only consisted of a small group of soldiers in charge of the beacon tower. There was not even a bandit to be found within ten miles. According to the county magistrate, the last time soldiers came, it was from the Northern Qi Dynasty. When the country was founded, a group of soldiers went astray.

Why fight in this damn place? It is estimated that when the battle outside is over, the four of them can rest here.

After Ning Qingye listened for a while, she felt a little confused, so she walked up to Xu Buling and asked softly:

"No one will attack here at all. You only have three thousand soldiers at your disposal. Are you ready to fight out?"

Xu Buling explained with a bit of smile in his eyes:

“In ancient times, those who used military force paid attention to ‘attacking the city first and attacking the heart first’…

... I was placed in this remote area, far away from the main battlefield, and the court would not care what I did; the King of Chu was busy fighting at Wuguan, and he would not even notice me. Guan Hongye's general direction was to defend Wuguan Road instead of running out to fight. I guess the King of Chu could also see that, so he would not have thought that someone would go out of Wuguan Road and take a detour to take the back route...

... With two thousand light cavalry, I can reach the north of Nanyang by taking a detour from Nanzhao County. With the speed of the Xiliang cavalry, I can rush to the gate of Nanyang City in just two hours. This is called "tactical tactics". road'……"

Ning Qingye frowned and thought for a while: "The man named Guan asked you to guard here. Will it cause trouble for you if you leave without permission?"

Xu Buling waved his hand: "Just say hello to him in advance. What does it mean to be absent without leave?"

Ning Qingye didn't know much about this aspect, so she only nodded...