After Liang Dezhong entered Xia Pi City, he did not pursue the right person, nor did he feel happy after defeating the rebels. On the contrary, he was worried and even more an ominous feeling enveloped his heart.

The battle of Yishan made him clearly see the strength of the white-haired thief, and he was very surprised. When he and Dong Chun surrounded and killed the white-haired thief, the strength of the white-haired thief was very limited. Although during the encirclement and suppression, Fei Huai, the general of Yongcheng Yingyang Mansion, was killed, and the four regiments of Yongcheng Yingyang Mansion were wiped out, and even Dong Chun himself finally "built" in, the official army still had an absolute advantage at that time. The white-haired thief went through hardships before fleeing to Mengshan. However, a year later, the strength of the white-haired thief grew unbelievable. Not only was the number of people, but the army's weapons and equipment were also good. If it weren't for the obvious lack of experience in the battle, the officers' quality was generally low, which seriously limited their combat effectiveness, and Yingyang Mansion would have been unable to compete.

Why did the strength of the white-haired thief develop so quickly? Just rely on burning, killing and looting? This summer, the 20,000 troops of the King of Qi went out of Beijing to encircle and suppress the white-haired thief. According to the truth, even if the white-haired thief fled back to Mengshan, they should have suffered a certain degree of loss. But now it seems that the white-haired thief is not only unscathed, but is stronger. Why? Liang Dezhong had to re-examine the Tongji Canal crisis this summer, rethink the truth behind the King of Qi Yang Nan's out of Beijing to suppress the rebellion, and have to consider the current Xuzhou crisis from a political perspective.

Now Xuzhou Zhuyingyang can still compete with Mengshan bandits, but from the perspective of the battle in Yishan, this kind of competition is limited to local battlefields. Once both sides invest in all the troops and launch a head-on decisive battle, Xuzhou Zhuyingyang will inevitably be in danger of defeat due to the disadvantage of numbers. Therefore, Liang Dezhong decided to suspend the pursuit from his own security perspective.

The white-haired thieves went south to attack Suyu City, but Suyu City was the capital of Xia Pi. The city was tall and strong. There was also an Yingyangfu garrison army with strong defensive power. The white-haired thieves rushed from Mengshan, light and simple, without large siege equipment. If they forced to attack, the huge losses would be self-evident. The white-haired thieves were able to conquer Tancheng, which was the advantage of "attacking the enemy without preparation", but when they arrived in Xia Pi, they would not do so. They dared not attack the toughest, and could only plunder around the city. The purpose of fighting with the official army in Yishan was only

Blocking him and gaining more time for plundering. Liang Dezhong inferred from this that after the white-haired thief arrived at Suyu City, he surrounded him and did not attack, and he also plundered the surroundings of the city. More importantly, Suyu is only more than 100 miles away from the Huai River. After crossing the Huai River, it is Jiangdu. The white-haired thief rushed from Mengshan and rushed to the bank of the Huai River. What is the purpose? This time he went south, was the target of the white-haired thief Xuzhou or Jiangdu? Liang Dezhong had no way to guess in the complex situation, so he could only be cautious and temporarily stayed in Xia Pi and wait and see what happened.

At this time, the scout came to report that the King of Qi's army suddenly crossed the Si River and headed south.

Liang Dezhong was secretly surprised, looking at the map and repeatedly deducing it, trying to see the purpose of King Qi.

The white-haired thieves went south to Suyu and were in the Huaihe River, which made the war situation develop in two directions. One was that the white-haired thieves were forced to deteriorate rapidly in southwestern Shandong. As a result, they planned to cross the Huai south, enter Jiangdu to fight, and survive and develop in Jianghuai; the other was to deliberately threaten the security of Jiangdu and induce Jiangdu troops to cross the Huai River and enter Xu.

If the battle situation develops in the first direction, Liang Dezhong is happy to see it. He just needs to keep an appropriate distance from the white-haired thief and advance slowly, and the fruits of victory are at your fingertips. As for the King of Qi who was chasing him at the right end, he can live outside to suppress the rebellion because of the existence of the white-haired thief. So if nothing unexpected happens, the King of Qi will also cross the Huai south. In this way, all the crises will be transferred from Xuzhou to Jiangdu. This is undoubtedly good news for Liang Dezhong, Cui Deben, and the local forces in Xuzhou headed by the Xiao family of Lanling.

However, if the situation of the war develops in the second direction, it will be bad news for Xuzhou. According to the law, the Jiangdu army cannot cross the boundary or cross the Huaibei region. However, the Jiangdu County Magistrate Wang Shichong is the confidant of the Holy Lord. Once the Holy Lord wants to attack the King of Qi and find a legitimate excuse to "catch" the King of Qi back to the Eastern Capital, secretly ordered Wang Shichong to deal with it. It can be foreseen that Wang Shichong may be ready to go on the bank of the Huaihe River. As long as he sees the white-haired thief appearing on the north bank of the Huaihe River, it poses a threat to Jiangdu, he will inevitably lead his troops to cross the Huaihe River and go north to suppress the rebellion.

After Wang Shichong entered Xuzhou, the primary goal was to kill the white-haired thieves. It was to "hardly damage" the King of Qi. If he could use the "knife" of the white-haired thief to kill the King of Qi, and finally satisfy the wish of the Holy Lord and "drive" the King of Qi back to Dongdu, Wang Shichong's contribution would be great, and the day of his success was right in front of him. But the people of Xuzhou were terrible, and he could not argue. Offending the King of Qi was still a future crisis. Offending the local aristocratic group of Guanlong led by the Wei family was a real disaster. The people of Guanlong did not dare to revenge Wang Shichong, but dared to wave the "big sword" at the people of Xuzhou to vent their hatred.

Liang Dezhong immediately strengthened his idea of ​​stationing troops in Xia Pi and watching the changes. Although he was the highest military commander in Xuzhou, he was very weak and could not afford to offend anyone. He could not stand in a team and seek death. He had to be a turtle with his head.

But he did not move, and was passive and lazy to fight, which did not mean that the King of Qi did not move, and he also had passive and lazy to fight. On the contrary, in view of his own interests, in order to prevent the Jiangdu army from crossing Huaibei, he would inevitably go straight to the north bank of the Huaihe River as quickly as possible, cut off the road of the white-haired thieves to cross the Huaihe River, and cut off the road of Wang Shichong's crossing Huaihe River. However, Wang Shichong did not dare to cross the river forcibly to avoid breaking openly with the King of Qi, but the King of Qi was also dragged on the north bank of the Huaihe River and could not move.

The King of Qi was "the dragon trapped in the shallows" and could no longer move. The white-haired thief could "season". He got rid of the enemy who had been following behind him all day long and could plunder in Xuzhou. Is this the purpose of the white-haired thief to run wildly all the way to the Huaihe River?

Liang Dezhong ordered the scout to investigate again and closely monitor the movements of King Yang Nan of Qi and the white-haired thief Li Fengyun.

Soon, Li Fengyun commanded Hu Ben, and the two armies of Fengyun surrounded Su Yu, the capital of Xia Pi, and did not attack. The other alliance troops plundered on both sides of the Si Shui River. However, Li Fengyun issued a deadly order, and no regiments and brigades should approach Huaiyang City, which was located at the intersection of Si Shui River and Huai River, and they should not bend the Huai River. Violators would be killed.

Soon, King Yang Nan of Qi arrived at the north bank of Sui River. The 20,000 troops lined up with Panshi Mountain as the center, and built several floating bridges on the river surface, making a move southward. However, no one knew whether to go south to kill Su Yu or go straight to the north bank of the Huai River, even his 20,000 soldiers were suspicious.

Liang Dezhong was confused. Soldiers are more important. From the perspective of the white-haired thief, they should be in the Huaihe River at the fastest speed and take the initiative in the battle situation first. Similarly, from the perspective of the King of Qi, they should enter Xiapi County as quickly as possible and kill Sishui. While attacking Su Yu, they should quickly enter the north bank of the Huaihe River. This will ensure control of the battle situation, otherwise they will inevitably be passive. However, the actions of these two people are very strange. One does not move when he reaches Su Yu, and the other does not move when he reaches Panshi Mountain. However, Su Yu is only more than one hundred miles away from the Huaihe River, and Panshi Mountain is more than three hundred miles away from the Huaihe River. If the white-haired thief decides to fight in the Huaihe River, the King of Qi will not have time to stop him. In this case, why did the King of Qi stop when he arrives Panshi Mountain?

Liang Dezhong's unknown premonition suddenly spread. He once again thought of the Tongjiqu crisis, and the white-haired thief not only escaped unscathed under the encirclement of the 20,000 troops of King Qi, but also grew stronger. If there is no secret behind this, who believes it? So what is the secret?

The more Liang Dezhong deduced, the more he became more afraid. Suddenly an idea rushed into his mind. Is the secret behind the Tongjiqu crisis the secret between the King of Qi and the white-haired thief? The King of Qi wants to seize the imperial throne and develop his strength, but he cannot do anything, so he just openly rebels, so he has to use a knife to kill people. If the King of Qi’s target is Xuzhou, then he and Cui De are the ones that King of Qi must kill, and the white-haired thief is the "sword" in the hands of the King of Qi, but the "sword" must be sharp, otherwise he cannot kill people. Therefore, after the Tongjiqu crisis, the white-haired thief not only did not lose, but developed and grew stronger.

Based on this inference and looking at the current situation, Liang Dezhong was surprised to find that Su Yu was a trap. If he chased and led his army to Su Yu, he would inevitably be in danger of being wiped out. Liang Dezhong thought hard for a long time and could not find a countermeasure, so he could only continue to stay in Xia Pi and watch the changes.

This "silent observation" took more than ten days. At the end of October, the situation suddenly changed. Wang Shichong, the governor of Jiangdu, set up a military force on the south bank of the Huai River, made a move to cross the Huai River at any time, and wrote to the general Liang Dezhong of Wu Ben and Cui Deben, the governor of Pengcheng, and made a solemn promise that as long as Xuzhou needs to suppress the rebellion, he will enter the Xuzhou battlefield as soon as possible. This is actually equivalent to telling Liang Dezhong and Cui Deben that the attitude of the Holy Lord and Dongdu toward the Qi King Yang Nan is "containment". You must see the situation clearly and not make mistakes into eternal regrets.

This action of the Jiangdu army immediately affected the Xuzhou battlefield.

King Yang Nan of Qi decisively led his army to cross the Sui River south, but at the same time, Li Fengyun also led his army to evacuate Suyu and cross the Si River westward. The two armies met on the south bank of Sui River and fought fiercely. The King of Qi was unfavorable at the beginning of the battle and withdrew back to Panshi Mountain. Li Fengyun led his army to follow up, and the two sides fought fiercely again at the foot of Panshi Mountain.

Liang Dezhong was in Xiapi City, more than a hundred miles away, and widened his eyes and looked at the battlefield of Panshi Mountain, fearing that if he was not careful, he would be cut off by the white-haired thief by the King of Qi.

Wang Shichong also paid close attention to the south bank of the Huai River. His purpose was to "force" the King of Qi to suppress the rebels. As long as the King of Qi encounters a little setback and the people of Xuzhou are worried that they will "stand by and watch" by their implicated people, he will have reason to march north.

Just when Panshi Mountain was fighting "heat", Li Fengyun and his alliance army suddenly appeared at the city of Pengcheng, catching Cui Deben off guard.

Cui Deben was shocked and rushed to ask for help from King Yang Nan of Qi and Liang Dezhong. Now only the three thousand village clan armed forces led by Xiao She in Pengcheng. Zhu Yingyang all brought Liang Dezhong to Xia Pi to suppress the thieves. Pengcheng was actually vulnerable and was in danger.

King Yang Nan of Qi replied to Cui Deben that the white-haired thief and his main army were all at the foot of Panshi Mountain. Gu was fighting fiercely with him and it was impossible to appear in Pengcheng. So it is certain that the rebels attacking Pengcheng came from Mengshan. They were the plan to surround Wei and save Zhao. They came to rescue the white-haired thief. Don’t panic, hold on to the city and wait for help.

The King of Qi could refuse to support Pengcheng, but Liang Dezhong could not. He had to return to support, and he also believed that the small rebels from Mengshan attacked Pengcheng.

Liang Dezhong kept staring at the battlefield of Panshi Mountain. His scouts did not find any rebels leaving Panshi Mountain from beginning to end. Although he was full of doubts about the battle of Panshi Mountain, neither the King of Qi nor the white-haired thieves showed any flaws, which made him unable to find any evidence to prove his inference. Since the King of Qi and the white-haired thieves were fighting head-on, he was unwilling to help, and just stood aside and watched coldly, he would definitely give someone a handle, so of course he had to take this opportunity to return to Pengcheng quickly. Liang Dezhong decisively ordered to return to Pengcheng quickly.

However, just one day later, when Liang Dezhong led his army to Taoyuan City on the northern foot of the Luliang Mountains, he was surrounded by Li Fengyun and the seven alliance corpses.

Liang Dezhong's unknown premonition finally became a reality. Although the Taoyuan battlefield is less than 100 miles away from Pengcheng and only more than 100 miles away from the Panshishan battlefield, Liang Dezhong knew that he was plotted and fell into a trap and could not get support. Sticking to wait for assistance would definitely be a dead end. He could only fight to the death and fight a bloody road.

After a fierce battle overnight, Liang Dezhong finally broke through with "lucky" and left with only dozens of personal guards left, and all the rest were gone.
Chapter completed!