In August, Qingzhou City was a prosperous and full of waste. With the efforts of Sun Tu and his subordinates, Gao Xiang and others had a past harm to the city. The fields outside the city were already golden, and there were also many caravans on the official roads. The population in the city increased by 30% compared to a few months ago, and the army's strength increased significantly. Not only the newly-entered female soldiers reached 800, but also the male soldiers had already exceeded 2,000. The Qingzhou Army combined reached 30,000.

Under all the smooth trend, there are only two things that Sun Tu is a little worried.

One of them was that the soldiers and horses of the subordinate prefectures were unwilling to obey his orders. After knowing that he would definitely fight with Liangshan, in addition to continuing to train the Qingzhou soldiers under his command, Sun Tu also ordered that a part of the rural troops of the prefectures of Jingdong Road were transferred to Qingzhou to temper them. In this way, the troops and horses of all parties could cooperate without any conflicts on the battlefield.

However, after the transfer order was issued, no soldiers from the prefecture government officials sent to the government. Instead, they each found reasons to swear and delay. Or they were almost autumn and the township soldiers were still busy in the fields and could not get rid of them. Or they were quite uneasy in their own governance recently and did not dare to transfer the official army... Anyway, they all mean the same thing, and Sun Dujian could not mobilize these nominal soldiers.

In fact, more than a year ago, when Sun Tu was promoted to the chief of military commander of the country by the court, the attitudes of the states and prefectures were quite cooperative, and no one even asked them to send troops to Jeju to practice. But today, Sun Tu's official position has not changed, so these people have changed their minds. In this regard, Huang Wenbing once speculated that this should have a lot to do with some people in the court talking to officials of the states and prefectures early.

This time, Sun Tu suddenly returned and started a massacre in Qingzhou, killing all officials such as Gao Xiang, which naturally made a big taboo. The people may applaud this, but for other officials, it is inevitable that the thought of the rabbit's death and the fox will be sad. Naturally, they will have other thoughts about Sun Tu. Some officials are even more worried that the generals under him will be affected by him after following Sun Tu for a while, and they will also give themselves such a trick when they go back, and there will be no place to cry.

What's more important is that the military pay and rations of these prefectures and township soldiers are in the hands of officials from all over the country. As long as they don't nod, even if their generals are willing to lead their troops to Qingzhou, they will not be able to travel. After all, there is no supply of food and grass, and hundreds or thousands of soldiers are really hard to move forward.

If the secretly causing the troops of the prefectures of Jingdong Road to disobey the order was to stumbling Sun Tu, the officials in the court led by Gao Qiu and others also put Sun Tu in a considerable amount of pressure above. In just over a month after Zheng Guan left, the Ministry of War had issued several military orders urging Sun Tu to send troops to attack Liangshan as soon as possible.

Although Sun Tu would submit a reasonable statement to the court every time, there was no response from the above. Often, in just a few days, a new military order would be conveyed, and the words would be more harsh than the other. If a general sat in this position, he could no longer withstand this pressure and could only raise a rush to rise up. However, Sun Tu was extremely comparable to ordinary people and did not react at all, as if the military order of the Ministry of War did not exist.

However, the generals under his command also knew how much pressure Sun Tu was under now. Seeing that the Qingzhou army had improved a lot in the past few days, many people really had the intention of attacking Liangshan again to avenge their previous shame. However, in the face of their voluntary request for battle, Sun Tu still refused sternly, believing that it is not the time to use troops to Liangshan now.

Just like this seemingly prosperous but in fact there are many hidden worries, August finally passed. After September, it is the autumn harvest season.

Because Sun Tu had already divided the fields with his soldiers before, he simply temporarily disbanded the village army and asked them to go home to harvest wheat and harvest grain, which completely cut off the thoughts of some soldiers who were eager to take revenge. Maybe when autumn and winter come, heavy snow will come, and then he will have to wait until after spring next year.

He wanted this result. Last year's defeats caused the Qingzhou army to be seriously injured. This was not something he could come to kill a few officials and then comfort and practice to help the soldiers recover from their failure. Only by resting and taking time to wash away the scars from the beginning, and when he went out again, he would not feel timid because of returning to the old place. Although Sun Tu did not make this clear statement to the public, he had already made a comprehensive plan. If he used troops to the public, he would have to wait until February and March next year.

But sometimes plans often fail to keep up with changes. Just when Sun Tu felt that this year would be so peaceful, a news came that forced him to change his plans temporarily.

At noon on September 11, two fast horses broke the tranquility of Qingzhou City. The two knights covered in blood and dust completely ignored the constant pedestrians coming and going at the city gate and rushed to sprint. The people around were so scared that they screamed and made way out in a hurry. Many people even stumbled down on the ground, turning the originally orderly city gate into chaos.

This made the defenders who were just taking care of the order here at will and felt angry and nervous. After a command, more than 20 soldiers rushed up quickly, held up their guns and knives and stopped the two doormen on the spot. The officer in charge even stepped forward, raised his hand and grabbed the bridle of a cavalry, shouting angrily: "Who dares to be arrogant in my Qingzhou City? I wonder if my chief supervisor has already had strict orders. Do you not be able to gallop inside and outside the city?"

The knight on the horse was not wary of this move. He stopped the horse in his screams, but the man was almost dropped by inertia. Although he stabilized, he seemed particularly embarrassed. He said in a hurry: "The Dongping Mansion has an emergency military report, please... I ask the Sun Dujian to send troops to rescue quickly..." Until he finished speaking, the man was relieved and fell off his horse and fainted.

This caught the guards off guard. The matter was of great importance. They did not dare to pursue the guilt of breaking through the city gate. While turning to ask about the specific situation of another knight who was also under control, he had already escorted them into the city. However, the incident was quickly known to the people, and everyone showed fear on their faces. Unexpectedly, it was not long before chaos broke out in Shandong.

In just half an hour, the two knights were brought to Sun Tu. At this time, after listening to their stories, he also frowned deeply: "The Liangshan bandits suddenly invaded Dongping Mansion? How many soldiers and horses have they gone? Can't you even defend the city?"

"The Liangshan bandits came this time, and the leader was Chao Gai, their big leader of the village, and dozens of other big and small leaders. Although our Dongping soldiers were all in defense of the city under the leadership of General Dong, the military strength was very different, and the city was not high enough, so I am afraid it would not last long..."

"The five thousand Liangshan bandits suddenly came to Dongping Prefecture?" Sun Tu's brows became deeper and deeper. "The two places were hundreds of miles apart, and there were several state prefectures in the middle. How did they appear in Dongping Prefecture without knowing it?"

No one in front of him said the heartbreaking answer to his question. Obviously, when the Liangshan bandits appeared in their territory with great fanfare, officials from all prefectures chose to protect themselves, so a strange scene appeared. This army of 5,000 was so swaying through the prefectures and then successfully killed them, and they were caught off guard depending on the situation.

"Damn!" Sun Tu cursed in a low voice, not knowing who he was referring to. The two cavalrymen were looking at Sun Tu at this time: "Sun Dujian, we have been asking for help since we left the city, but several cities have said that the city has insufficient troops and dare not send troops to rescue them. They can only ask Dujian to save me, Dongping, the people in Dongping are in trouble. If you don't even want to send troops, then the tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians in Dongping will die under the sword of the bandits." As they said that, the two knelt down again and kowtowed at Sun Tu.

Obviously, it was physically and mentally exhausted that these two people had been rejected repeatedly. Now their only hope was the Qingzhou elite who had rushed to Zhujiazhuang and defeated the Liangshan Army, and Sun Tu, the great hero in the hearts of Shandong soldiers and civilians.

Seeing this, Sun Tu sighed and came forward in person, helping them up and said, "You two don't have to do this. I am the military commander of Jingdong Road. I already have the responsibility to protect the safety of all cities under my rule. Since Dongping Prefecture is in danger, how can I sit back and ignore it? Don't worry, I will..."

Just as he was about to say that he would gather his generals and prepare to go to rescue, Huang Wenbing next to him suddenly let out a low cough and gave Sun Tu a wink. Although he didn't know the purpose of his doing so, Sun Tu quickly changed his mind: "I will discuss with others now and send troops to rescue Dongping Prefecture as soon as possible."

The two below did not notice anything unusual. Seeing that Sun Tu responded to this matter, they were overjoyed and hurriedly bowed to thank him again. Then they were helped to rest. It was not until this time that Sun Tu looked at Huang Wenbing with doubts: "What are the concerns you have just stopped me from making a decision?"

"The governor, the officials always feel that this matter is a bit strange. Why did the Liangshan bandits take risks to cross hundreds of miles to attack Dongping Mansion, which has no hatred for them at this time? Moreover, with the combat power of the Liangshan army and the thoughts of the bandits such as Song Jiang, can these two people break through successfully and ask for help?" Huang Wenbing frowned and said.
Chapter completed!