In the big tent, Zhang Xutuo's face looked ugly.

Qin Qiong, Zhang Yuanbei, Wu Heita, and Jia Runfu stood opposite Zhang Xutuo, with complex expressions, ashamed, angry, and a little heavy.

Although both sides only used dozens of cavalrymen in this battle, the impact on the two armies was very great. One side was the commander himself to fight, and the other side also sent three generals. As a result, Qi army was killed and nine were injured, and the other side retreated calmly. Zhang Xutuo admitted that the white-haired thief was too strong and had the upper hand in close combat. However, the strength of the cavalrymen on both sides should be similar. His side should have the ability to kill and kill some of the cavalrymen in the confrontation. However, the facts made him unacceptable. The cavalrymen on the other side were intact, which shows that the cavalrymen on the other side were higher than that on their own, whether in their personal force or combat formation use.

What is the origin of the white-haired thief? What experience did he have? Zhang Xutuo finally saw the mystery of the white-haired thief with his own eyes. This witness did not make him understand his opponent better. On the contrary, the little uneasiness in his heart increased. This thief would not really become the strongest opponent in the battlefield of Qilu's rebellion?

"How is the injury of Luo Tuan Master?" Zhang Xutuo's "black" face finally eased and he asked in a low voice.

"It's okay to have a small injury to the skin and flesh." Qin Qiong replied.

Zhang Xutuo nodded slightly, "He is young, arrogant, and boasts of himself by force. Unexpectedly, he was defeated by the white-haired thief within a few months and suffered heavy setbacks. Once he becomes weak and loses confidence, the consequences are worrying. You should comfort him more and don't be careless."

Qin Qiong bowed and agreed.

"This battle is not nothing," Zhang Xutuo continued, "Now we finally know his name, his name is Li Fengyun. Whether this name is true or false, we can explain it to Dongdu. If we can't even figure out the name of the thief head for many days, wouldn't it be ridiculous? Today, Juping, Yangguan, and Liangfu's three cities thieves were dispatched at the same time, and they acted as if they were proactive in seeking war, which was enough to infer a lot of things from it, and it could also be

To let us understand the white-haired thieves. Why didn’t the thief army retreat to Mengshan under the attack between us and the Lu army? Since the thief army had to stand on the Yangguan line, why did the thief army take the initiative to attack? Obviously, this white-haired thief Li Fengyun was very clear about the situation in Qilu. He knew that we were in a dilemma and knew that we did not dare to attack. In this way, as long as he dragged us to Lu County, the situation in Qi County could deteriorate rapidly, and then force us to withdraw from Lu County."

Zhang Xutuo's face showed anger, "There is an invisible black hand behind the white-haired thief. This black hand controls him and provides him with all conveniences, so the situation in Qilu will become worse and worse."

"Ming Gong, based on this reason, wouldn't the white-haired thief fall into the Ming Gong's plan?" Wu Heita sneered, "Just wait for the Ming Gong to withdraw his troops, the thief will fall into the trap, so that he can be wiped out in one fell swoop."

Zhang Xutuo pondered for a moment and said slowly, "Don't be careless. Dong Chun of Zuo Xiaowei Mansion is a famous general of the Wei Mansion, and Liang Dezhong is also a brave man. As a result, he fell into the hands of the white-haired thief. From this, we can infer that the white-haired thief is treacherous."

"Ming Gong was worried that the 'black hand' was everywhere?" Qin Qiong asked.

Zhang Xutuo did not speak, his eyes showed a melancholy look. He was not worried that the "black hand" was everywhere, but was very sure that the "black hand" was everywhere.

Why did Yu Wen Shu, the general of the Zuo Yiwei, escort the white-haired thief from Liaodong to Dongdu? When the white-haired thief arrived at the white-haired thief, something happened to the white-haired thief, and a major case broke out. Then the two sides of the Tongji Canal suffered disasters, which not only made the Shandong people anxious, but in the end, even Dong Chun, a famous general of the Longxi local forces, fell to his head. From this analysis, the appearance of the white-haired thief was by no means accidental. There must be a manipulator behind it. This person's purpose was not only to hinder the Eastern Expedition, nor to only aim at the reform forces in the court, but also to have other deeper and more hidden purposes. From this, it is inferred that Qi and Lu are already the arena of various political forces in the Dongdu today, and the white-haired thief is a gladiator of a certain political force. He was also forcibly pushed to the arena without realizing it, and he also became a gladiator who had no life.

Zhang Xutuo's silence made Qin Qiong and others feel inexplicable pressure. If the black hands behind the white-haired thief were really everywhere, Zhang Xutuo's plan to suppress the thief might be leaked. The thief knows everything about his own actions, but he knows nothing about the thief army. How can he fight this battle?

"Ming Gong, the victory or defeat on the battlefield will ultimately depend on strength." Jia Runfu said carefully, "With the courage and strength of the Qi army, it is easy to kill the thieves in northwestern Shandong. Even if we encounter difficulties temporarily, a few months later, the situation will inevitably change. Just wait for the expedition to return, and all the thieves will be wiped out in ashes."

Zhang Xutuo looked bitter and shook his head slightly. Jia Runfu's words were not wrong. The future situation in Zhongtu and even Qilu areas was dependent on the Eastern Expedition. The Eastern Expedition was a great victory. Today's bad situation would inevitably reverse quickly. On the contrary, the situation was difficult to predict. Once the Eastern Expedition was defeated, the authority of the emperor and the central government would be seriously damaged, and the reforms would be difficult to sustain or even regress. The political storm would become more and more intense. The intensity and density of the political storm directly affected the situation in Zhongtu and even Qilu. Today, the rebellions in the north and south of the Great Henan Province were repeatedly manifested in the Shandong opposition to the Eastern Expedition, but in essence it was the conservative aristocratic forces in Zhongtu joined forces to oppose the central government's radical reform, attacking the emperor from top to bottom and supporting him. It is not difficult to see the serious consequences of the failure of the Eastern Expedition.

The general public in Central China firmly believed that the Eastern Expedition would win. Before, Zhang Xutuo was also full of confidence in the emperor and the Guards. However, after winter, the situation in the north and south of the Great Henan deteriorated sharply, and the tide of rebellion surging, gradually forming a roaring vortex. Zhang Xutuo was at the center of this vortex and experienced the danger of destruction. Although he still had confidence in suppressing the rebellion, his confidence in the Eastern Expedition was swallowed up little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little by

Zhang Xutuo did not intend to reveal his secrets, and did not want to shake the confidence of his subordinates. So after pondering for a moment, he said, "Time is very tight for us. First, we must ensure that the navy crosses the sea as scheduled for an expedition. Secondly, we must complete the important task of suppressing the rebellion and suppressing the thieves before the eastern expedition is over. Only in this way can we achieve merits. Now the white-haired thief has come up with a plan to confront our army. Although it is exactly what we think, considering that the trust between the two envoys and Duan is very limited, in order to avoid misunderstandings between the two sides, he still needs to explain to Duan Envoys and advise him to immediately order his troops to evacuate Biancheng and the Sishui line. While showing the enemy as weak, he creates the illusion of conflict between Qi and Lu, so that when our army pretends to evacuate Lu County, we can induce the rebels to quickly and difficult to attack Xiaqiu, so that we can kill the thieves in the northwest of Shandong in the shortest time."

Qin Qiong and others understood it, but Duan Wencao may not be able to understand it.

Zhang Xutuo's strategy of suppressing the bandits takes into account both Qi and Lu counties. It is very difficult to attack the rebels in northwestern Shandong and northeastern Shandong at the same time. It is suspected that they are fat. From Zhang Xutuo's own position, the interests of Qi County are of course supreme. Therefore, Duan Wencao has no reason to believe that Zhang Xutuo will do his best to help him kill the bandits in northwestern Shandong. For this reason, he will inevitably use the powerful force of Zhang Xutuo and the Qi army to take advantage of the opportunity of the bandits in northwestern Shandong to form a alliance with Mengshan, and find ways to fight and reverse the crisis in Lu County in one fell swoop. In this case, Duan Wencao followed Zhang Xutuo's strategy to kill the bandits in northwestern Shandong, which would be a bit wishful thinking.

Duan Wencao hesitated and never ordered Niu Jinda, who was attacking Biancheng, to voluntarily withdraw from Qufu. His reply to Zhang Xutuo was that it would be more appropriate to order the Lu army to withdraw Xiaqiu after the Qi army pretended to evacuate Lu County?

Zhang Xutuo explained again that the Qi army was in a stalemate with the rebels, and never took the initiative to attack, and acted as if they were to preserve their strength and were ready to withdraw from Qi County at any time. Then the Lu army would definitely respond. The Lu army withdrew Xiaqiu and also made a preservation of strength, which was equivalent to exposing the "contradiction" and "conflict" between the two sides. It just so that the rebels could make a wrong judgment based on this and determined that the Qi army had really withdrawn from Lu County. The Lu army was also really not strong, so that they would go south to attack Xiaqiu after the Qi army "evacuated". Zhang Xutuo believed that although the strength of the rebels was not enough to attack the capital city, due to food scarcity and hunger, they had to attack the surrounding towns around Xiaqiu. Therefore, it was completely feasible for the Lu army to preserve their strength and stand firm in the capital to show that the enemy was weak and lure the enemy to attack.

Just as the two of them frequently exchanged letters, the rebels on Juping, Yangguan and Liangfu were also frequently dispatched, doing their best to provoke, as if they were intentionally tempted the Qi army to launch a siege. The Qi army was guarding the camp and ready to go. When the heroes and soldiers from all walks of life in the rebel army saw that the official army was not moving, they became brave and courageous. At this moment, Chen Rui called out to Li Fengyun that the Lu army attacked Biancheng fiercely, and the key pass of the Weishan Mountain was in danger, begging Li Fengyun to rescue him quickly.

Li Fengyun immediately ordered four regiments of Lu Mingxing, Guo Ming, Hai Dongqing, and Nanyutang to go south quickly, cross Sishui at night, attack Sishui City, besiege Wei to rescue Zhao, and force the Lu army attacking Biancheng to retreat quickly.

Just as Lu Mingxing and others led their troops to cross the Si River at night, Duan Wencao was in the mansion to welcome Xiao She, the commander of the two thousand soldiers of the township group who came from Pengcheng, who were supported by Pengcheng.

Since Pengcheng wants to support Lu County, of course, he dispatched troops from the area closest to Lu County. Therefore, the troops heading north to support Lu County mainly came from the township groups and clan groups in Lanling and its surrounding areas. The township groups of the Xiao clan of Lanling are the strongest, and Xiao She, who came from the Xiao clan of Lanling, naturally became the commander of this army.

The Xiao family is a first-class wealthy family in the Jiangzuo noble group. It has a long history and is also a royal family in the Southern Dynasty. It has a very prominent position and power. The queen of the current generation comes from the Xiao family in Lanling. Among the close ministers around him, there are several children of the Xiao family. As a royal relative of this dynasty, the power of the Xiao family is no less than that of the super wealthy families in Shandong and Guanlong.

As the main hall of the great wealthy family of the Xiao family in the Jiangzuo, the foundation of the Xiao family in the world, even if they do not have outstanding children who are at the center or are generals, their influence is also amazing under the protection and care of many powerful branches, family members and subordinate nobles.

The Duan family in Beihai is a second-rate noble, and the disparity with the Cui family and the Xiao family is too great. In addition, a series of complex factors such as history and region have no affiliation with each other. However, when Duan Wencao was in crisis, Cui Deben resolutely took support, which actually reflected the resolute protection of the Shandong nobles' overall interests of the group. The Boling Cui family and the Lanling Xiao family joined hands to attack, and the Shandong people and Jiangzuo people went on a joint move, which was enough to make the Qilu nobles headed by the Duan family stand against the Guanlong people more firmly.

At the banquet, Xiao She, who had a low rank but aristocratic rank, rank high on the upper seat, while Duan Wencao, who had a high rank but aristocratic rank, sat on one side with a smile, without any dissatisfaction. On the contrary, he was a bit flattering.

There is no way, the situation is unwilling. Duan Wenzhen, the Minister of War, died, the Duan clan of the Beihai clan and even the Qilu noble group fell, and the rebels continued to suppress it repeatedly. The Duan clan and the Qilu noble group were full of crises. If you want to reverse the situation, you can only rely on external support, and the external force is the Shandong noble group. The Boling Cui clan is the core force of the Shandong noble group, and it is natural for Cui Deben to support Duan Wencao, but the Xiao clan belongs to the Jiangzuo noble group. As the core force of the Jiangzuo noble group, the Xiao clan suddenly sent an army to support the Qilu noble group. The profound meaning behind it is impossible to make people think a lot.

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Chapter completed!