Chapter 26 Draw the Snake Out of the Hole

It is said that Cao Quanyu and Cao Yi's father and son led troops to reinforce Runzhou and were defeated by the navy set up by Qiu Tao and Qiu Hong brothers and sisters on the Jiangzhou River. After Cao Quanyu set up a camp in the north of the river, the more angry he became. The house leaked in continuous rain. Before Cao Quanyang had time to drink a mouthful of hot soup, he received a report from his own soldiers that Duan Yanmo and Zhu Jingmei escaped from the battle, and 5,000 people did not know where they were going.

Cao Quanhai listened to the report of his own soldiers and cursed Duan Yanmo and Zhu Jingmei. Yao Qing took a step forward and said, "General Cao, it's useless to scold. Let's think about what to do next!"

Cao Yi lay on the stretcher, his eyes full of blood, and said to Cao Quanyu, "Dad, this time the soldiers we brought from Qilu suffered heavy casualties, and there is not much combat effectiveness. It is not a way to station here. There is no village before and no store in the back. In case of a thief attack, it can't be resisted."

Cao Quanqi nodded helplessly: "Yi'er is right. We will rest here for one night, leave for Ezhou tomorrow to reorganize, and then recruit some strong men around to replenish our troops."

Yao Qing said, "General Cao has a very good plan. Let Yang Fuguang go to Runzhou from the land road to reinforce him. Let's take a break and report the matter of Duan Yanmo and Zhu Jingmei to the court, so that we can cleanse ourselves."

Cao Quanqi sighed: "Well, that's it! Huang Chao Thieves, our Cao's father and son will make a comeback. This time we lost for a while, and next time we will make you lose worse than us!"

Huang Chao and Chai were very happy when they learned the news that Qiu's brothers and sisters broke Cao Quanyu's reinforcements on the river side of Jiangzhou. Huang Chao said to Chai Cun, "Next, we will try to mobilize Yang Fuguang's reinforcements to continue to reinforce Runzhou. I think we can let Cao Min's second village people act openly."

Chai Cun smiled and said, "Yes, when the lady's soldiers and horses move in Pengze, Qiupu and other areas, Yang Fuguang will definitely go to attack desperately, and let the second village people stop for a while. After the soldiers of the division and horses spread to western Zhejiang, they will release Yang Fuguang's reinforcements."

Huang Chao smiled cheerfully, stood up, raised his thick eyebrows, waved his right hand hard, and said, "As long as Yang Fuguang's troops eastward to Runzhou, our strategic goal will be achieved. Next, we can safely act in the Jiangnan area. I think we can inform Meng Kai and Lingfei now and ask them to make full preparations for the Jiangnan march and take down Jizhou and Qianzhou in one fell swoop!"

Chai Cun also stood up, walked around the room for a while, and said, "Notify Sun Mei and Shang Rang to strengthen the patrol of Jiangzhou and must firmly guard this forward base. Madam's second village must choose the blocking area and choose a place with convenient transportation, so that they can attack and defend freely."

Huang Chao and Chai Cun discussed the military situation for a while and went to their own business.

After Cao Quanyang led his troops to Runzhou, Yang Fuguang quickly made preparations before the expedition and sent Ma to collect intelligence. One day, Yang Fuguang was studying the strategy of suppressing with his two generals in the government office. A personal soldier came in and reported: "Yang Jianjun, General Duan Yanmo sent a messenger to report the military situation."

Yang Fuguang nodded: "Let the messenger come in. I'm about to ask about the progress of the navy."

The soldier answered and went out. After a while, Duan Yanmo's messenger came to Yang Fuguang and said with a sad face, "Yang Jianjun, the big deal is not good. When the sailors crossed the Jiangzhou River, they were ambushed by the thief navy because Cao Quanyu and Cao Yi underestimated the enemy, and most of our warships were burned. General Duan and Zhu Jianjun saved 5,000 people because they were good at leading the troops and waiting for them so that there was no gap for the bandits to take advantage of. Now stationed on the river in the Guangji area, I have been sent here to ask Yang Jianjun what to do next?

Yang Fuguang looked up and down at the messenger and asked, "Are you telling the truth?" Where are General Cao Quanyu's people stationed now?

The messenger replied: "General Duan and Zhu Jianjun have sent a number of teams to find the whereabouts of General Cao. Only some remnants have been found, but they don't know where General Cao himself is."

Yang Fuguang's eyes got angry and scolded, "Grandma, they are all a bunch of strawbags. As soon as they came out of Ezhou, they lost the battle. Cao Quanyu's defeat disrupted my entire encirclement deployment, and I will never forgive them!"

Xue Tao stood up and said loudly, "Yang Jianjun, the last general is willing to lead a light horse and Liang Yu to quickly reinforce Runzhou from the land. You will lead the army to advance later. Our army is strong and can still defeat the bandits and relieve the siege of Runzhou."

Liang Yu also said, "Yang Jianjun, give the order. General Xue and I are determined to fight to the death with the thief on land to save the unfavorable battle."

Yang Fuguang pondered for a moment and said helplessly, "It seems that we can only advance from the land route. Xue Tao and Liang Qian, I will allocate 10,000 cavalry for you and go to Runzhou day and night to break through the siege of the bandits, enter the city and join the Runzhou defenders, and stay there for help. I will lead a large army and then."

Xue Tao and Liang Yu agreed and went to the barracks to order troops. Xue Tao and Liang Yu are both proficient in martial arts and have a lot of strategy. They are Yang Fuguang's confidants. Xue Tao is good at making a jagged golden-top wolf tooth, and Liang Ying is used to using a crescent chain iron mallet, all of which are unreasonably brave. The second general ordered 10,000 elite horses, left Ezhou, along the south bank of the Yangtze River, and went straight to Runzhou.

Xue Tao and Liang Yu's 10,000 elites were really powerful and their attack power was quite strong. Wherever they passed, a small group of volunteers along the road could not resist and retreated one after another. Xue Tao and Liang Yu urged the army to advance urgently and arrived in the area of Peng Ze a few days later. The righteous army explored Ma Fei and reported to Cao Min: "Master Caozhai, Yang Fuguang sent Xue Tao and Liang Yu to lead a fine horse to reinforce Runzhou day and night. At present, they have arrived in the Pengze area."

Cao Min was shocked and gathered Lin Yan, Qiao Yu, Niu Feng, Li Hanzhi and other generals to discuss military intelligence. After the generals arrived at Qi, Cao Min said, "Just now, Xue Tao and Liang Yu led a fine horse to break through the Jiangzhou defense line of Sun Mei and Shang Rang and went straight to Peng Ze. It was very fierce."

Lin Yan said: "In this way, Yang Fuguang will definitely set up troops to go to Runzhou to reinforce. General Huang Chao's plan to lead the snake out of the hole is about to be realized. I think we still symbolically block it for a while. At the same time, we notified Cao Shixiong to prepare for the siege and transfer to western Zhejiang. In this way, we can well realize our Jiangnan march. The strategic intention."

Qiao Qi also said, "I agree with Lin Yan's suggestion. If we resist a little, we will make way and let the "little snake" of Xue Tao and Liang Yu go first. Yang Fuguang, the "big snake", will definitely come later. Let this "big snake" pass through our defense area. When it arrives in Runzhou, it will be too late to return to find us, hahaha!"

Cao Min said, "Well, let's do what the two brothers say. Lin Yan and Hanzhi, you two led 3,000 men and horses to contact Xue Tao and Liang Yu's men and horses, and retreated south with a little resistance. Qiao Qi and Niu Feng led 2,000 people to block them in Qiupu and retreated south after a little resistance. We will let the Tang army pass this time!" I led the main force to Shezhou, which was occupied by Shixiong, and the people must support us. After you retreated to the south, you went to Shezhou to meet me. I informed the Qiu brothers and sisters to lead the navy to gather in Shezhou. In this way, we can well respond to the soldiers and horses in western Zhejiang.

Li Hanzhi said, "Madam's deployment is scientific and rigorous, which will definitely make Yang Fuguang and others suffer."

Cao Min smiled and said, "What can I do? It's all up to your brothers. I won't say more. Let's act separately. We will go to Shezhou for a celebration wine. I will treat you with the best wine, hehe!"

Shortly after the departure of Xue Tao and Liang Qian, Yang Fuguang also urgently dispatched 50,000 horses and set out in the direction of Runzhou. Yang Fuguang ordered Duan Yanmo and Zhu Jingmei to lead their troops back to Ezhou for patrol. After receiving the order, Duan Yanmo was furious and said to Zhu Jingmei, "Yang Jianjun really trusts us, which makes me very moved."

Zhu Jingmei smiled sharply and said, "Follow Yang Jianjun, we are in charge of eating and drinking spicy food, like Cao Quanyu and Cao Yi, the father and son of stupid donkeys, who only know how to fight on the battlefield and don't know the world. Huaxia is a personal society. Only by learning to be a man can you better live in society. It's useless to have the ability alone.

After Zeng Yuanyu was responsible for defending the periphery of Luoyang, he had nothing to do all day, that is, to inspect the barracks and teach the military array. One day, Zeng Yuanyu had breakfast as usual and began to walk around the barracks. On the way, he suddenly heard a rapid sound of horses behind him. A general rushed over anxiously and said to Zeng Yuanyu, "General Zeng, please stay. There is someone from the court who said something important to tell you!"