The main force of the Qi army retreated to a temporary suspension five miles north of Gongqiu.

Zhang Xutuo closely monitored the Ningyang battlefield. Although he accepted Zhang Yuanbei's suggestion and made the decision to evacuate Lu County, he was not willing to return empty-handed. He still hoped that Duan Wencao could take the Lu army to the battlefield in time, so that he could enter the battlefield again, first encircle and annihilate the white-haired thieves, then capture Ningyang City, and completely annihilate the thieves in southwestern Shandong. It was determined by one battle and stabilize the situation in southwestern Shandong. The stability of the situation in southwestern Shandong would quickly reverse the entire Qilu situation and give him an excellent opportunity to kill the thieves in east Shandong, so as to ensure that the Donglai Navy crossed the sea as scheduled.

There is no doubt that global interests are higher than local interests, and kingdom interests are higher than group interests. Zhang Xutuo also believed that Duan Wencao was like himself. At this critical moment, he would always put overall interests first. As long as the overall interests are protected, local interests will not be damaged. This truth is very simple.

However, Zhang Xutuo was disappointed.

The scouts kept sending news and found no trace of the Lu army. Although the Qi army's scouts were only more than twenty miles away from Ningyang City and a long distance from Xiaqiu City, considering the time constraints, if the Lu army could not reach the battlefield before entering the dusk, even if Zhang Xutuo attacked in advance and threw the main force on the battlefield, it would not be able to encircle the Cangtou Army. The white-haired thief Li Fengyun still had enough time and space to evacuate calmly. As long as the white-haired thief Li Fengyun is alive and the Cangtou Army still occupies Mengshan, then there is no possibility of reverse the situation in the entire southwestern Shandong and even the Qilu region.

The west mountain is dusk, and the sunset is like blood.

Qin Qiong, Wu Heita, Luo Shixin and other generals surrounded Zhang Xutuo, all of them looked indignant. Although they did not ask for the order and beg for the withdrawal of troops, the expression on their faces had already exposed this idea.

Zhang Xutuo looked up at the sunset and sighed. At this moment, even if Duan Wencao and Lu army had already left Xiaqiu City and were rushing to the battlefield, they could not stop the arrival of the night, could not save the situation of the war, and could not encircle and annihilate the white-haired thieves and Cangtou Army. As for the bandits surrounded in Ningyang City, they were still clear-headed and did not take advantage of Li Fengyun's fierce battle outside the city to break through, otherwise they would be attacked by the main force of the Qi army and wiped out the entire army. Fear and timidity saved their lives. The Qi army would not fight such a remnant army without combat, so they would leave it to Duan Wencao and Lu army. No matter what, the battle reached this point, which was considered a result. Among them, the Qi army fought half of the battle and achieved half of the battle record, and the remaining half of the battle record would be obtained by the Lu army. We must not get it without effort.

"Retreat." Zhang Xutuo waved at the generals, "Cross the river and heading north immediately."

The generals bowed to take the order and scattered. Qin Qiong hesitated for a moment, walked to Zhang Xutuo, and asked in a low voice, "Ming Gong, have you ordered Zhang Sigong and Master Jia to continue to stay under Ningyang City for a while?"

Zhang Xutuo glanced at Qin Qiong, "Are you worried that Duan Jun will not come?"

Qin Qiong smiled bitterly and shook his head, "Zhang Sigong, Master Jia and the white-haired thief fought for the whole afternoon, and the fight was very fierce, and the sound of killing was shocking the sky. It is impossible for Duan Jun to know, but look..." Qin Qiong pointed to the sunset in the sky and said angrily, "If he wanted to come, he would have come long ago. If he didn't come, but we retreated and let the thieves join and escape within and outside the city, then the responsibility would be Ming Gong."

"He will come." Zhang Xutuo's tone was very certain, "He is also a veteran of the hundred battles and knows the whole situation well. How could he miss the opportunity?"

Qin Qiong stopped talking.

Zhang Xutuo ordered, "Order Zhang Yuanbei and Jia Runfu to evacuate quickly after dark."

=

The sun sets westward and gradually approaches the horizon.

Duan Wencao came and took the main force of the Lu army to the city of Ningyang with great momentum.

Li Fengyun evacuated quickly, and the Cangtou soldiers turned around and ran away wildly.

Zhang Yuanbei and Jia Runfu also evacuated with their soldiers.

When the Lu army entered the battlefield, the first thing they saw was the thief army that fled in a hurry, and then they saw the Qi army bathed in the bloody sunlight and gradually drifting away.

A Qi army scout presented a letter written by Zhang Yuanbei to Duan Wencao and galloped away.

Duan Wencao was very angry, and he almost cursed. You, Zhang Xutuo, was responsible for the important task of suppressing bandits in the entire Qilu area. As the prefect of Lu County, you were just to cooperate with you to suppress bandits. Therefore, your Qi army naturally had to take on the important task of attacking. Now, when you come, you don’t even beat anyone, turn around and leave, throw a Ningyang City occupied by the thieves to someone, and ask someone to fight. What do you mean? You old man is planning to someone?

Seeing Duan Wencao's face dark and throwing the letter to the ground angrily, Niu Jinda couldn't help but sigh in secret, leaned over and picked up the letter, and opened it to take a closer look.

The letter was written by Zhang Yuanbei, not by his father Zhang Xutuo. This shows how angry Zhang Xutuo was, how violent he responded, and how deep his opinions about Duan Wencao were, the two sides were basically considered to have broken up. The letter was very sloppy and not neat. It can be seen that Zhang Yuanbei received an order and drafted it temporarily. This can be reflected in the extreme contempt of Qi army for Duan Wencao's betrayal of his promise, and it can also be regarded as a hint of breaking. If you are unkind and I am unrighteous, the Qi army will not come again. No matter how bad the situation in southwestern Shandong is in the future, the Qi army will not help.

The reason why Duan Wencao was so angry was that he took it for granted that Zhang Xutuo, under the pressure of the Dongdu and the Right Guard Mansion, had to seek help from Duan Wencao and his Qilu noble group. For this reason, he had to swallow his anger and knock down his teeth and blood. Unexpectedly, Zhang Xutuo was very violent and turned against Duan Wencao directly in anger.

If you turn against each other, you will turn against each other. This is the territory of the Qi people. Since ancient times, Qi people have had a fine tradition of uniting with the outside world. You, Zhang Xutuo, a Guanlong man, want to show off his martial arts and power in Qilu, and do whatever he wants, it is purely a daydream. You old man, wait for death.

Now that things have come to this point, what should we do? Niu Jinda put away the letter and asked respectfully, "Empress, should you attack the city overnight, or set up camp and attack again tomorrow?"

"Get a camp." Duan Wencao waved his whip and said with a resentment, "It is very difficult for us to suppress the thieves alone. Ningyang City is tall and solid, and there is sufficient food in the city. Before, the Qi army only took two hours to attack. Even though the thieves suffered heavy casualties, at most half of the damage was lost, thousands of people still defended the city. Our Lu army was newly built, and the soldiers lacked combat experience, and it was even more difficult to attack, so we should just surround us first and see the situation."

Niu Jinda understood it and agreed with Duan Wencao's decision.

The thief army in the city is actually a turtle in a jar, not to be afraid of, sooner or later it will be something in its pocket. The real threat to the Lu army is the Cangtou army, which had just evacuated the battlefield.

Judging from the battle traces on the battlefield, the Qi army and the bandit army fought a tacit battle, which was lively, but in fact there were very few casualties and injuries. Zhang Xutuo was obviously angry by Duan Wencao. He retreated the main force to Gongqiu, leaving Zhang Yuanbei to block the Cangtou army with an army. This deployment clearly told the Cangtou army that if you fight desperately, I will transfer the main force. On the contrary, if you cooperate with me to fight a tacit battle and trick Duan Wencao to the battlefield, I will let you go and let you evacuate calmly.

The white-haired thief knew that Zhang Xutuo's Qi army surrounded Ningyang City, and also knew that Duan Wencao's Lu army was eyeing Xiaqiu City. If he rushed to Ningyang, he would definitely be in a dilemma of being attacked from both sides. Since that is the case, why did he still rush to Ningyang? When he arrived in Ningyang and saw the formation set up by Zhang Xutuo, he immediately cooperated with the Qi army to fight a tacit battle. What is this purpose?

Niu Jinda thought for a long time, and the only explanation was that the white-haired thief knew the conflict between Zhang Xutuo and Duan Wencao. He cleverly seized and took advantage of the conflict. Then he concluded that Zhang Xutuo was going to leave Lu County. As a result, the situation in Lu County suddenly changed, and he and Duan Wencao were left on the battlefield, so the white-haired thief had the opportunity to defeat Duan Wencao.

There must be some political support behind the white-haired thief. Duan Wencao told Niu Jinda, and the changes in the situation today also confirm this speculation. If the white-haired thief does not understand his opponent, he will not be able to use his opponent's shortcomings to change the development of the situation.

Zhang Xutuo left, and before leaving, he set up a battle for Duan Wencao, forcing Duan Wencao to do his best to deal with the white-haired thief and the Cangtou army, which was a clever method.

=

Zhang Xutuo really left, and walked very firmly and very fast. He walked more than 100 miles a day and one night to reach Feicheng. More than 100 miles north of Feicheng was Licheng, the capital of Qi County.

The Qi army went south from Qi County to Jibei County, from Jibei County to Dongping County, and then from Dongping County to Lu County. They circled a large circle and suppressed the bandits all the way, driving all the bandits in northwestern Shandong into Lu County. This time they returned, they chose a shortcut and went straight north and killed back to Qi County within two days, which was enough to catch the rebels who had caused trouble to Qi County.

The news quickly returned to Gangcheng. Zhang Xutuo crossed the Wenshui River and headed north, and Li Fengyun rushed into Gangcheng. Gangcheng was only a few dozen miles away from Ningyang City, and Cangtou Army soldiers were here and directly confronted the Lu army outside Ningyang City.

"Zhang Xutuo is really back this time." Yuan An smiled happily, and while handing the scout secret report to Li Fengyun, he said happily, "Ming Gong, we can safely and boldly deal with Duan Wenfu."

Li Fengyun took the secret report and glanced at it, gently placed it on the desk, with a look of worry.

"Mr. Ming was worried?" Yuan An asked, "Are you worried that Duan Wencao had seen through Ming Gong's plan and fled back to Xiaqiu City and never came out?"

"I'm worried about Ningyang." Li Fengyun shook his head, "When I left Ningyang that day, although I secretly told Han Jinluo about the secret about the Rencheng hero Xu Shiren, Han Jinluo did not agree. If he continued to trust Xu Shiren and Duan Wencao came to Ningyang City again, Ningyang City would be in danger."

"Ming Gong is worried too much." Yuan An shook his hand and said, "According to the current situation of the war, the food and rebel army in Ningyang City are just a bait. We lack food and have to rescue the rebel army in the city, so we have to go to Ningyang City to fight the decisive battle with the official army. So it is certain that even if Duan Wencao has Xu Shiren, he will not take down Ningyang City before defeating us. In a certain opinion, the one who should be really worried is Meng Hai Gong."

Li Fengyun nodded slightly, "This battle cannot be delayed. The longer the time is, the greater the variables will be."

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Chapter completed!