Under the close attention of the government army, the thief An of Linqing was not panicked, but moved faster. Tens of thousands of ragged mobs with sticks and ragged clothes were chaoticly advancing along the embankment on the south bank of Yongji Canal. However, beyond the expectations of the government army, Wang An did not cross the canal to attack Qinghe City, but quickly passed the outer defense line of Qinghe City and continued to head northeast.

Now Duan Da is probably targeting the Linqing thief, and Wang An wants to attack Houcheng.

Houcheng is located dozens of miles northeast of Qinghe City. It is one of the important satellite cities around Qinghe City, the location of the Guancang of Qinghe County, and the place where the food, grass and supplies were stored for the army led by Duan Da to suppress the rebellion.

Houcheng is the main hall of the Hou family, the second-class nobleman of Qinghe. Its predecessor was the fort of the Hou family. As a town-level city, the official investment in expansion was very limited. The city was not tall and strong, and its defense facilities were relatively simple. The garrison power was mainly armed by the Hou clan regiment.

In the past period of time, rebellions in Hebei have occurred one after another, especially on both sides of Yongji Canal. However, whether it is the thieves of Gaojipo, which are close to each other, or the relatively far away Qinghe Zhang Jin said that Hao Xiaode and other thieves in Pingyuan have never attacked Houcheng. The reason is self-evident. Houcheng is the territory of the Hou clan of Qinghe. Attacking Houcheng is to attack the Hou clan of Qinghe. The official warehouse of Houcheng is actually to grab the private possession of the nobles and rich people of Qinghe. Isn’t this your own people beat your own people and your own family?

This time Duan Da entered Qinghe to suppress the rebellion. The reason why he placed the army's food and supplies was placed in Houcheng. First, Houcheng was an important storage place along the Yongji Canal, which facilitated the army to receive the supplies transported from the Eastern Capital. Secondly, once there was a problem with the supply of food and grass in the army, he could rely on the Qinghe Guanjian nearby to replenish it in time. The third purpose was very sinister. Duan Da intended to treat Houcheng as a "bait" and set up a "trap" in Houcheng. If the Hebei people intentionally asked the Hou clan of Qinghe and the thieves in Hebei to cooperate with the thieves inside and outside, and looted his military supplies and the Qinghe Guanjian, it would just give him the opportunity to catch them all. If the plan was properly and the luck was better, he could not only severely damage the thieves in Hebei, but also take the opportunity to attack the Hou clan of Qinghe, and use this as a threat to force the Hebei nobles to bow their heads and have to compromise.

However, Duan Da's plan has never been successful, and neither the bait nor the trap has worked. Unexpectedly, when he was helpless, the people of Hebei finally couldn't help but "take the bait". The thief king An of Linqing led tens of thousands of thieves to jump into the trap set by Duan Da.

Zhao Shizhu was happy and changed the deployment as quickly as possible. He ordered the regiments to prepare for battle. Just waited for Duan Da's order, he rushed to Houcheng and gave a fatal blow to the rebels.

Duan Da was worried and uneasy. He felt that the situation was strange and there were many abnormalities.

The thief King An of Linqing was an inconspicuous "little character" among the thieves in Hebei. He was weak and always hid and never had direct contact with the official army. This time he was abnormal, and he was yelling all the way, fearing that the official army would not know about it, so he ran to attack Houcheng in a hurry. This was not the case that the cautious Wang Anyu had come out. If something happened abnormal, it would be a monster. There must be a mystery here.

Seeing Duan Da always frowning, he looked worried and worried, Zhao Shizhu asked with a smile, "Don't Ming Gong worry that Hebei people saw through the trap we set up in Houcheng, so he used his own way to cure him, and used the thief An of Linqing to attack Houcheng to use the tricks to dig a trap for us?

Duan Da nodded slightly and whispered, "We have no definite evidence to prove that the movements of Gao Shida and Zhang Jin who were found by the scouts were accurate. This is Hebei. In order to deal with us, the noble bureaucrats and the traitors colluded with each other and did everything they could. For us, the real terror is not the traitors, but the noble bureaucrats in Hebei. If they conspired to deal with us with severe damage in Houcheng, are we sure to use the tricks and give them a heavy blow?"

Zhao Shizhu looked at Duan Da and secretly slandered himself. He was so indecisive and worried about gains and losses. How could he be competent for the commander of the army? At this critical moment, he should be determined. There is no need to think too much. If he thinks too much, he will be bad things, be undecided and at a loss, which will only miss the opportunity to fight.

"The mantis stalks the cicada, and the oriole is behind." Zhao Shizhu smiled and said, "Donald Ming was worried that after entering the battlefield of Houcheng, he would be suddenly attacked by Gao Shida and Zhang Jinxie, and would be in a dilemma of being attacked by the enemy from both sides?"

Duan Da remained silent, but from the solemn expression on his face, it can be seen that he did have such concerns.

"Why did Ming Gong overestimate the strength of the traitor?" Zhao Shizhu was surprised, "Although the traitor fled before and deliberately avoided our edge, we later had fought with Gao Shida in the Zongcheng area. Zhang Jin said that the traitors had fought with him. The traitors were too poor and vulnerable. Take a step back and say that even if the traitors had some reservations on the battlefield in order to preserve their strength, the battle in Houcheng was cold and cold, and fighting in such bad weather, our advantages would be more obvious, and the gap between the two sides would be even more powerful.

With a huge gap, we are still absolutely sure to defeat the traitors. Of course, the number of traitors on the battlefield may be far more than us, but those farmers who are holding sticks and iron rakes are all hungry and cold, dying people, and they cannot change the strength comparison between the two sides. Therefore, even if Gao Shida and Zhang Jin said that the thieves were "yellow birds" and flew to the battlefield of Houcheng. However, they were ultimately the weak and weak. Not only could they not reverse the fate of defeat, but they gave them a great head."

Duan Da shook his head and said in an unquestionable tone, "Be careful. Before the Eastern Expedition, did we take the Goguryeo seriously? What is the result? The 360,000 soldiers of the water and land attacked Pyongyang. Even if they could not conquer the city, they would not be defeated. But the fact is that 200,000 soldiers died in the battlefield and buried their bones in a foreign land, so..." Duan Da looked at Zhao Shizhu with a serious expression and said in a very solemn tone, "It is impossible to forgive the capsized ships in the gutter, let alone twice, especially now that the political situation in Dongdu is turbulent, the second Eastern Expedition is on the string. At such a critical moment, if we are defeated in the Hebei anti-rebellion battlefield, do you know how serious the consequences will be? Do you know how much trouble and passive it will bring to the Holy Lord? Do you know it will further deteriorate the political situation in Dongdu and affect the decision of the Second Eastern Expedition?"

Zhao Shizhu immediately closed his mouth. Although he was very disdainful of Duan Da's excessive caution like a archer, Duan Da was of high power and all his thoughts were all about Dongdu politics. Even a small battle like Houcheng that was worth mentioning, Duan Da raised it to a political level. So what else can he say? You are the commander of the first army, and you can fight whatever you say.

"You lead the main force first, and follow up, but remember not to rush into the Houcheng battlefield." Duan Da solemnly warned Zhao Shizhu, "You must advance slowly, watch the changes, see the situation clearly before taking action.

"There must be a mystery behind the sudden attack on Houcheng by the thief An of Linqing. The goal of the Hebei people is definitely us. Therefore, the principle of this battle is to respond to all changes with the unchanging conditions, first stand invincible, always take the initiative, fight if you can, and leave if you can't. In short, you would rather evacuate the Qinghe battlefield, and would rather bear the crime of undermining the rebellion than defeat the war, and you should not lose troops and generals. This is our bottom line, and it is also the bottom line of the Holy Lord and the Guardian. If you exceed this bottom line, we will have life worries and our heads will inevitably be difficult to protect."

Zhao Shizhu was shocked and his attitude changed, and he became cautious from his original arrogance. Hebei rebels are not scary, but what is scary is the Hebei nobles. If the Hebei nobles were attacking behind their backs, even if they had the strong strength of three thousand Youzhou elites, they would probably have to be stabbed and blood flowed.

Soon, news came from Houcheng that the thief king An of Linqing surrounded Houcheng and launched an attack as soon as possible, Houcheng asked for help.

Zhao Shizhu was thunderous and vigorously and immediately led his army to set off. However, after thirty miles, he stopped and looked at it. However, the thief An of Linqing, who was attacking Houcheng forty miles away, turned a blind eye and was not afraid. He continued to attack the army with great enthusiasm and aura.

Zhao Shizhu noticed the abnormality, and there must be something wrong with it. Under normal circumstances, if Wang An had no "backhand" and no way to deal with the official army, and there was a very certain way. Even if he dared to stroke the "tiger beard" and hit Houcheng, which was close to the official army, once the main force of the official army rushed over, he would never be able to continue attack Houcheng unless he was determined to die and did not want to live.

Zhao Shizhu ordered the scouts under the tent to expand the scope of exploration to see if he could find other rebel troops ambushed around Houcheng.

The next day, Duan Da also left the city and met with Zhao Shizhu. At the same time, the scouts reported to him. They searched all the places within about forty miles centered on Houcheng, and found no other rebels, nor any abnormalities.

Duan Da and Zhao Shizhu were confused. Could it be that the thief king An of the Linqing was extremely hungry and lost his mind, so he made a crazy move to attack Hou Cheng?

After repeated discussions and deductions, the two decided that Houcheng was a "trap". The people of Hebei had already sharpened their knives and were waiting to "kill pigs and sheep", so they became more cautious. In the afternoon of the same day, Zhao Shizhu led the main force forward five miles and slowly advanced.

Wang An ignored the situation and continued to attack the city, and despite the severe cold and fatigue, he attacked the city overnight. Houcheng was in danger and was shaky under the tide of rebels. Fortunately, Duan Da stayed in Houcheng to guard the food and supplies and the three hundred guards who were guarding the food and supplies in Houcheng played a role, and the local armed forces, mainly the Hou clan regiment, also firmly believed that the official army would arrive soon, and everyone worked together to fight bloody battles to temporarily protect the city.

On the third day, Zhao Shizhu advanced five miles again, only about thirty miles away from Houcheng, and it was within a short time.

Duan Da followed up, both of which were both slow and slow. However, bad news suddenly came, Houcheng was lost, and Linqing thief An actually captured Houcheng at noon on the third day.

This is an incredible thing. With Wang An's weak strength, it is impossible to capture Houcheng, so there is only one explanation. Houcheng fortress was broken from the inside by rebels. The inside of the city was riding the scars of the defenders in the city and took action when they were exhausted, but the city fell.

The situation suddenly changed, and the situation was very unfavorable to the official army, because the official army lost food and supplies, lost Qinghe Guancang, and lost military morale. On the contrary, the rebels had food and grass weapons and Houcheng fortress, and the bad weather, and the morale was high, so they could hold on for a long time. After a long battle, the advantages of the official army would be lost one by one, and eventually fell into a dilemma of no food and grass weapons, no reinforcements, the soldiers were tired and sluggish. By then, Gao Shida and Zhang Jin said that if the thieves came from the north and south sides of Yongji Canal, the official army would inevitably be defeated.

Duan Da is in a dilemma, or not to fight? If he fights, he will be defeated. If he doesn't fight, he will fail to fight and will be punished by Dongdu.

At the same time, the soldiers of the rebels cheered in Houcheng, but they did not loot Houcheng in large numbers. Instead, they seized time to strengthen the city defense and rest in shifts to prepare for the next battle to defend the city.

Wang An followed Li Fengyun to patrol the city defense, his soul was absent-minded, like a sleepwalking. The strong sense of unreality made him feel excited and he was still immersed in the thrilling battle and could not extricate himself.

This was an incredible victory. Without Li Fengyun's strong strength as a guarantee before, and without his determination to take this opportunity to develop and grow, he would not have followed Li Fengyun to attack Houcheng. In the process of attacking Houcheng, the focus was not on siege, but on blocking and supporting the official army. For this reason, Li Fengyun placed half of his troops on the blocking battlefield and prepared to fight a bloody battle. But what was incredible was that the official army was actually delayed by dozens of miles away. This was simply a "miracle", an incredible "miracle". As a result, Li Fengyun captured Houcheng and reversed the situation in one fell swoop.

The headache now is Duan Da. He is too passive and has to pay a heavy price for his mistakes. Wang An is sure that Li Fengyun has "decided" Duan Da and is waiting for Duan Da to attack the city. Duan Da has no idea that his opponent is Li Fengyun, the number one traitor in Middle-earth. When he knows himself but not his opponent, Duan Da's crushing defeat is a foregone conclusion.

Li Fengyun stood on the city wall, Yuan Chunyuexing, white hair dancing wildly in the wind, black buckles, and imposing momentum

Wang An stood aside in awe and followed Li Fengyun's gaze to the endless vast land outside the city.

"Are the general waiting for Duan Da's arrival?" Wang An made a nonsense without saying anything.

Li Fengyun shook his head and asked back, "Gao Shida and Zhang Jin said that if you have captured Houcheng, will you come day and night?"

Wang An was stunned for a moment, and suddenly thought of something, his eyes lit up, "The general is completely indecisive, just like a god."

Li Fengyun smiled slightly, "The mantis has made a mistake and fell into a trap. Whether it can be killed depends on whether the two yellow birds are flying fast."
Chapter completed!