The incident of Li Chongjiu leading an army of 30,000 to Mingzhou on the water and land caused the whole of Hebei to vibrate.

While Xindu was confronting Yuchi Gong, Liu Heita was silent for a long time after hearing Ling Jing's report.

When Liu Heita heard that Li Chongjiu attacked from the water and seized Mingzhou directly, he led the entire army to launch a fierce attack on Yuchi Gong. The two armies fought fiercely for two days, and both suffered heavy casualties. Seeing that Liu Heita was in great power, Yuchi Gong finally had to retreat at night.

The Liu army camp was brightly lit, and Liu Heita was looking at the distance in the darkness on the mountain. The Zhao army was retreating with a serious look. He did not want to pursue, but the risk of chasing in the darkness was extremely high. Although he defeated Yuchi Gong today, the tenacious battle of the Zhao army under Yuchi Gong also made Liu Heita dare not pursue it in the middle of the night easily to avoid ambushing.

His brother Liu Shishan was shot in the right arm in today's battle. He now covered his arms and said to Liu Heita: "The Zhao army withdrew at night, but the main force did not suffer any major losses. At present, Li Chongjiu has already reached Qinghe County, and the distance is only a hundred miles. We cannot continue to fight with Yuchi Gong, otherwise Mingzhou will be out of danger."

Liu Heita said, "What I am worried about is not Mingzhou. If I retreat, the other county magistrates will have a different intention. Zhang Xuansu and Li Chongjiu want to remove the firewood from the bottom of the pot and force me to return to Mingzhou."

Just as Ling Jing came up the mountain, he said, "General..."

Liu Heita looked at Ling Jing's expression and knew something bad happened. Liu Heita smiled indifferently and said, "Tell me, what else can be worse now."

Ling Jing was silent for a while and said, "Raoyang garrison Zhuge Dewei, together with two thousand defenders, presented the city to surrender to the Zhao army."

Liu Heita raised his head and laughed, with a bit of desolate sound in his laughter, and the generals on the side bowed their heads.

Liu Heita said, "Zhuge Dewei, Zhuge Dewei, I didn't expect that you would let me down first."

It turned out that Liu Heita and Zhuge Dewei had a good personal relationship at the beginning. They were called brothers, but Zhuge Dewei was the first Xia army general to announce the Yiqi. Not only that, Raoyang is an important town in Hejian County. Once Raoyang was lost, the back road of Gaoyang City, which Gao Yaxian was stationed in, was cut off.

In Raoyang City, with Changlu County, which was captured by Li Chongjiu, the Xia army only had Gaoyang and Leshou, and it almost became an isolated city in Hejian County.

Zhang Junli said, "King Xia, for the current plan, Yuchi Gong retreated temporarily. Our army is about to go north to counterattack Raoyang and kill Zhuge Dewei, the traitor. Rescue Gao Yaxian and Su Dingfang from Gaoyang..."

Liu Heita took a deep breath and looked at Zhang Junli. Zhang Junli also shook his head and stopped talking. Obviously, he also felt that this matter was too unreliable.

"Brother Gao, I, Liu Heita, have you bowed." Liu Heita sighed and said, "Tell me to order me to return to Mingzhou."

On the Yongji Canal, hundreds of ships were descending along the canal, which was spectacular. Li Chongjiu's naval army was unstoppable and had already advanced to the Linqing and Guantao line.

Guantao City was already an important place before the Yongji Canal was opened. In the past, the Yellow River flowed through Guantao, which was called Dahe Ancient Du. In the second year of Yuanfeng in the Western Han Dynasty, the Yellow River was divided into a branch of the Tunshi River.

Later, in order to attack Yecheng where Yuan Shang was located, Cao Cao dug a Licao Canal, leading the Zhang River to the east to Licaokou southwest of Guantao into Baigou. After Cao Wei captured Yecheng, he built Yedu here, which was known as the canal transport to all seas.

Yecheng has long been burned down, but Mingzhou, which was rebuilt on the former land of Yecheng, has banned Yecheng. The land of Mingzhou roughly covers the former land of Handan and Yecheng. Although Yongnian City, which was established by Liu Heita, is the county seat, the increasingly prosperous city of Mingzhou is close to the canal.

In Water Margin, Cai Jing's son-in-law Liang Shijie, also known as Liang Zhongshu, was guarded here. During the Northern Song Dynasty, the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun lost, so Daming Prefecture became an important town located north of the Yellow River in the Northern Song Dynasty. It was called the power of controlling Heshuo and locking the keys of the North Gate. Later, it became the capital of the Northern Song Dynasty, called Beijing, and it was the largest city in Hebei.

Li Chongjiu looked at the map and couldn't help but think of the ancients, thinking of another time and space. Hundreds of years later, the Jin Kingdom captured the Daming Mansion and went south to destroy the Northern Song Dynasty.

"What are you thinking about, King?"

After hearing Zhang Xuansu's question, Li Chongjiu came back to his senses. The Yongji Canal has just been opened for a while. The current Daming City is of course far less prosperous than Daming in history. The Guantao City in front of him is more prosperous than Daming City. But for Li Chongjiu, Daming's geographical advantage has been revealed. This is not only an important port in Mingzhou, but also an important road connecting Liyangcang and the Yellow River to the south.

Li Chongjiu and Zhang Xuansu planned to land in Daming City. The soldiers changed from boats to walking, directly threatening Liu Heita's base camp in Mingzhou Yongnian City, forcing Liu Heita to withdraw his troops from the front line and return to Baomingzhou.

However, to reach Daming, you must pass through the Guantao Waterway.

It was about to night. The Zhao army's hundreds of ships were lit across the river, and the bows of the ships were illuminated, making the water surface clear. The river surface was full of sparks. Now the Guantao waterway was calm, but the Zhao army soldiers did not dare to take it lightly, so the hydrological and geographical location here was very complicated.

Cao Cao dug a white ditch here and connected the Nanzhang River. In addition, the river channels were crisscrossed, so the soldiers did not dare to take it lightly.

Li Chongjiu asked Zhang Xuansu: "Who is the Tao Guard General of Xia Junguan?"

Zhang Xuansu replied: "It's Cheng Mingzhen."

Li Chongjiu said, "This person is a famous general of the Xia army. Is he unwilling to subdue our army?"

Zhang Xuansu said, "This person is a bit stubborn, and it cannot be tempted by words and benefits."

Li Chongjiu smiled and said, "Since you don't know the current affairs, just capture him, the same is true."

Zhang Xuansu said, "It's about to enter night. Our army might as well stay here for a night. It's not too late to go tomorrow."

Before Li Chongjiu could speak, Xue Wanche said on the side: "Our army is advancing along the water and land, just to kill Liu Heita off guard. Now that he is afraid of Cheng Mingzhen, he dares not take a boat. It's not a joke."

General Wang Ma Hanyan said, "Yes, the waterway of Yongji Canal is just right for boating at night. Apart from being afraid of stranding, there is no need to worry about rapids and river stones at all. You are not afraid of boating at all."

Zhang Xuansu objected: "Although you can sail, the horse army and civil servants have to rest. There are no cavalry guarding each other on both sides of the strait. Our navy went deep alone. If something happened, it would be bad."

Xue Wanche said, "I am willing to lead ten small boats to open the way for the army."

Seeing that all the generals were planning to march at night, Li Chongjiu said, "It's not a short time before you can go there in one night. I'll send my general orders to stop here tonight and wait until tomorrow and then head south."

After hearing this, the generals received the order.

That night, the Zhao army was moored on the Guantao Waterway for a night. At dawn the next day, Zhang Xuansu reported to Li Chongjiu and said, "The Xia army general Li Wenxiang led 3,000 troops to the east coast to surrender our army."

Li Chongjiu asked in surprise: "Isn't it a fraud to come to surrender at this moment?"

Zhang Xuansu smiled and said, "The king doesn't know anything. Li Wenxiang is also called Li Shanghu. He was also one of the anti-kings in the past. Later, he surrendered to Li Mi and became a general of Wagang. He was a sworn brother with Xu Shiji. Later, Li Mi was defeated and had no choice but to surrender to Dou Jiande. This time the king came up to attack Liu Heita and had long agreed to be the inner support of our army."

Li Chongjiu said: "Don't you say it earlier, let him come to see me on the boat."

Not long after, Li Wenying personally boarded a boat to meet Li Chongjiu. Although Li Wenxiang was unknown, he had not yet joined Wagang Village when he rebelled against the Sui Dynasty, so he was also considered a vassal who established his own lord.

So when he saw the other party rushing to his head as soon as he boarded the ship, Li Chongjiu was not lazy, and slowly helped Li Wenxiang up and said, "With the help of Mr. Li, the great thing will be accomplished."

Li Wenxiang listened to Li Chongjiu respecting him and called him a master. He was very happy in his heart. He quickly lowered his body and said, "The King of Zhao is a villain. He is a martial artist, and he is not worthy of the praise of King Zhao like this, but he is indeed here to help King Zhao capture Mingzhou."

Li Chongjiu said, "We are going to pass Guantao today and arrive at Daming to land, but we don't know the reality of Cheng Mingzhen."

Li Wen said, "I have a confidant who is a primary school under Cheng Mingzhen's command. Last night, he came to report to me that Cheng Mingzhen was secretly hiding dozens of fire ships under a river bend on the east bank, and the fire attack will be carried out as soon as the army arrives."

Hearing this, Xue Wanche, Wang Mahan and other generals who advocated attacking last night were all ashamed.

Li Chongjiu glanced at them and said, "Send orders to let Wugunai and Qin Qiong lead 5,000 elite cavalry to search along the river. I want to capture Cheng Mingzhen alive."

Li Wen said, "I am just a newcomer and I am willing to help you."

Li Chongjiu said, "I'm sorry, Mr. Li."

After saying that, Li Wen led his cavalry to Wugunai and Qin Qiong to set off. Li Chongjiu did not ask him to get up immediately, but waited on the shore.

Not long after, Qin Qiong, Li Wenxiang and others returned together. Li Wenxiang held his fists at Li Chongjiu on the ship and said, "Fortunately, he did not humiliate his fate, and wiped out more than 2,000 Xia army members and seized all fire ships. Xia army general Cheng Mingzhen was captured."

Li Chongjiu said, "Take this person here to see him."

At the moment, a Xia army general was escorted by four soldiers, tied up and was taken to the front of the ship. Li Chongjiu looked at the other party and said, "You are Cheng Mingzhen?"

The other party struggled for a while and said, "If it weren't for the traitor Li Wenxiang betrayed Yu, how could you capture me?"

Li Chongjiu said, "After the defeat, you will make excuses. It is not for the generals. Now that Guantao is broken, our army can immediately seize Mingzhou. Liu Heita's situation is in danger. Why do you have to be loyal to the Xia army? Why should you surrender to my Dazhao earlier? How about you, please be the governor of the navy?"

Cheng Mingzhen hesitated for a while and said, "It's okay to surrender to you, but my mother and my wife are both in Mingzhou. If they surrender to you, their lives will definitely be out of order. No, no."

Li Chongjiu smiled and said, "It's okay to do this. Let's take it aside for now. What do you say when I break Mingzhou?"

Cheng Mingzhen said, "That's all, that's right."
Chapter completed!