Chapter 32 Xiangyin's Enemy

Hu Zhen and Gu Yanlang camped on the east bank of Xiangshui and formed a horn with the Tang army in Tanzhou, trying to drag Meng Kai and Yue Lingfei's army to attack the city, waiting for Zeng Yuanyu and the surrounding Fangzhen to lead reinforcements to relieve the siege. Zhu Wen made a speech to Meng Kai, led 3,000 elite soldiers across Xiangshui from Qiaokou Town, and suddenly appeared on the back of Hu Zhen and Gu Yanlang's camp.

According to the original plan, Zhu Wen allocated 1,500 people to lead Zhu Zhen and Pang Shigu to move forward lightly and quietly approach Hu Zhen and Gu Yanlang's camp; Zhu Wen led 1,500 horses to ambush near Xiangyin, waiting for Hu Zhen and Gu Yanlang to lead the defeated soldiers to come, so that they can be defeated.

At the same time, after discussion, Yue Lingfei volunteered and led 5,000 people to camp on the west bank of Xiangshui, across the river from Hu Zhen and Gu Yanlang. Yue Lingfei arranged many volunteers to cut down the surrounding trees, weave rafts, and make a forced crossing of Xiangshui, which confused Hu Zhen and Gu Yanlang.

Gu Yanlang said to Hu Zhen, "Brother Hu, the thief made a raft. It seems that he is going to cross the river to attack us."

Hu Zhen shook his head gently: "I guess it's just a bluff. Its real purpose is to cross the Xiangshui nearby and attack our army's side back, causing chaos to our army. At this time, our frontal bandits crossed Xiangshui and attacked our army.

Gu Yanlang was really anxious when he heard this and asked, "Brother Hu, what should we do?"

Hu Zhen narrowed his eyes, thought for a while, and said slowly, "This time, the thief Meng Kai and Yue Lingfei led tens of thousands of elite people to attack Tanzhou. The intention is to take Tanzhou. Yanlang, to be honest, even if Zeng Yuanyu and the reinforcements from the surrounding towns come, they are not necessarily the opponents of the bandits. Don't forget that the thief has been operating in the Dongting Lake area for several months, and his strength is not what it used to be. In addition to attacking Tanzhou, the thieves still maintain a strong military strength in Yuezhou and Langzhou, and can help Tanzhou at any time. It seems that we have to leave this place quickly!"

"Depart from this place? Then didn't we come for nothing?" Gu Yanlang looked confused.

Hu Zhen smiled mysteriously and said, "Yanlang, do you think I made this plan? Do you and I really lead the troops here to resist the thief Meng Kai and Yue Lingfei? Not! Think about it, Tanzhou has less than 20,000 troops in total. The contradiction between Cui Jin and Gao Jie is very deep and has shown a tense trend. Do you think Gao Jie will resist the thief attacking Tanzhou? Absolutely not! Your family is all in Luoyang. If you don't come out of Tanzhou, you will lose your life in Tanzhou this time! In order to save my life, I had to make this plan to hide it from Cui Jin and lead the soldiers to escape.

Gu Yanlang suddenly realized when he heard it and gave birth to his thumbs: "Brother Hu, we have arrived in Luoyang. I will definitely treat your family warmly to repay Brother Hu's life-saving kindness!"

Hu Zhen patted Gu Yanlang on the shoulder and said, "Yanlang, you and I am a life-and-death brother. I can fool others, but I will never fool you!" This time, we should not only retreat safely, but also cause a fight with thieves. We can't leave without fighting at all, otherwise we will be sent to the court by others, and the emperor will be blamed, and our official positions will be difficult to protect. I will leave hundreds of people stationed here, and you and I will each lead 2,000 horses to break out to the north. To get to Luoyang, we must pass through Xiangyin. In order to prevent the thief army from ambuing in Xiangyin, you, as the front team, try to choose an empty place to march. If the thief army comes to attack, you have to order the people and horses to stay still and order the crossbowman to keep shooting arrows. When the thieves approach, you send elite soldiers to fight, and I will soon come up to reinforce you, so that we can safely pass through Xiangyin and cross the Yangtze River to the north.

"That's great, Brother Hu, shall we go to Ezhou after passing through Xiangyin?" Gu Yanlang asked.

Hu Zhen waved his hand and said, "Let's not go to Zeng Yuanyu. Since Huang Chao's army crossed the Yangtze River and entered the south of the Yangtze River, I don't expect Zeng Yuanyu to do much. In this way, the court will definitely transfer him to other places. I think Zhang Zimian, the main general of the Northern Front of the Central Plains, is good. He is a virtuous and brave man in battle. Among the generals of the Tang Dynasty, he is a general with both wisdom and courage and good character. All forces in the court recognize him. Therefore, it is wise to go to Zhang Zimian first after crossing the river and then find a way to Luoyang.

"Well, according to Brother Hu's words, let's start quickly. If it's late, we'm afraid that the thief army will attack." Gu Yanlang said anxiously.

"Ha ha, Yanlang is right this time, and this is what I'm most worried about. Hurry up and order 2,000 horses and set off for Xiangyin now. After I arrange the remaining hundreds of horses to be stationed, I will bring 2,000 horses. We told our soldiers that we were going to attack the thief's military food channel and cooperate with Tanzhou's defense. Hu Zhen's face was solemn.

Gu Yanlang answered, walked out of the tent and ordered soldiers.

In the middle of the night, Zhu Zhen and Pang Shigu led volunteers to the outskirts of the Tang camp. Seeing that the lights inside were sparse and there were not many Tang soldiers standing guarding, the second generals couldn't help but be overjoyed. Zhu Zhen said, "Sugu, it seems that Zhu Wen's brother expected the enemy to be like a god. The Tang army is still in the dark. Let's start attacking!"

Pang Shigu nodded: "I agree with you and launch an attack on the Tang camp now!"

Zhu Zhen held an iron pen barrel gun, and Pang Shigu waved a golden dipping axe and led the volunteers to rush to the Tang camp. At this time, Hu Zhen and Gu Yanlang had led 4,000 Tang soldiers to leave the camp and went in the direction of Xiangyin. Hundreds of Tang soldiers guarding the camp were caught off guard and killed by the volunteers and ran around. In this way, Zhu Zhen and Pang Shigu easily captured the Tang camp on the east bank of Xiangshui.

Gu Yanlang led 2,000 Tang soldiers all the way north. As soon as he arrived near Xiangyin, he could only hear the sound of killing everywhere. Zhu Wen led the ambush volunteers to surround him from all sides. Gu Yanlang quickly ordered the Tang soldiers to stay still, and the archers shot intensively. Other arms were waiting for the volunteers to fight when they approached.

Zhu Wen saw that the attacking volunteers fell down in a short time and quickly ordered to stop the attack. At this time, Hu Zhen led his troops over and merged with Gu Yanlang. Hu Zhen saw Zhu Wen and shouted, "Can you inform me of your name?"

Zhu Wen replied, "I'm Zhu Wen from Daqi's first village. I'm here to clean up your department! Are you Hu Zhen?"

Hu Zhen smiled faintly: "In the army of Su Wen, there is a famous general with both wisdom and courage. I didn't expect to meet you today. You can hide this plan from others, but you can't hide it from me! General Zhu, if we fight today, you and I will both be defeated. It's better to turn war into jade and silk. You let me go, Hu Zhen promises that he will no longer be the enemy of General Zhu in the future!"

Hearing this, Zhu Wen thought that the "matching fox" was really shrewd and could expect the enemy first and saw through his plan. Now Hu Zhen and Gu Yanlang are in a joint force, and their strength exceeds that of their own. If you fight hard, both sides will definitely suffer heavy casualties. It's better to be a personal favor and let Hu Zhen go. Maybe it will be useful in the future.

"General Hu, I also know that you are wise and good at leading troops. Zhu Wen will let you go today. The teacher of Daqi is the teacher of benevolence and righteousness. I hope General Hu will not be an enemy of Daqi and Zhu Wen in the future." After saying that, Zhu Wen ordered his subordinates to make way and let Hu Zhen and Gu Yanlang pass.

Several generals of Zhu Wen came and asked, "General Zhu, is this appropriate?"

Zhu Wen explained: "We attacked Tanzhou this time, and this time we set an ambush and did not reach the predetermined goal. Hu Zhen was so alert that he led most of the people and horses to suddenly leave the camp and go north, disrupting our plan. If we fight hard now, it will not be good for us, and it will be difficult to win this battle. Therefore, after letting Hu Zhen and Gu Yanlang go, we will meet with Zhu Zhen and Pang Shigu, cross the Xiangshui River, and attack Tanzhou with all our strength. We can take Tanzhou with all our strength and achieve our campaign goals.

After listening to Zhu Wen's words, the generals understood Zhu Wen's intentions and ordered the volunteers to disperse to both sides and let Hu Zhen and Gu Yanlang pass through Xiangyin.

Hu Zhen and Gu Yanlang immediately saluted Zhu Wen: "Thank you, General Zhu, for your generosity. We will be a picture!" After saying that, the second general commanded Tang Bing and quickly marched north through the Xiangyin area.

After Zhu Wen and other Hu Zhen and Gu Yanlang's men and horses went far away, they quickly gathered people and marched south, and soon joined Zhu Zhen and Pang Shigu. After crossing Xiangshui, Zhu Wen came to Yue Lingfei's tent and told Yue Lingfei about the attack on Hu Zhen and Gu Yanlang's troops.

After hearing this, Yue Lingfei did not agree with Zhu Wen's practice of letting Hu Zhen and Gu Yanlang go. He slowly said, "Brother Zhu Wen, although you have preserved the strength of the Rebel Army, this practice of releasing the battlefield will affect the morale of the Rebel Army and must not do it again in the future!"

Zhu Wen is a personal elite. As soon as he heard Yue Lingfei's words, he knew that Yue Lingfei did not agree with his move. He quickly came to Yue Lingfei, gave a deep salute and said, "Brother Yue, this time my reckless behavior has affected morale. I won't do such a stupid thing again next time!"

Yue Lingfei nodded: "Well, I believe in you. Zhu Wen brothers, let's go to Meng Kai now. Tonight we are going to discuss the attack on Tanzhou. I guess Zhao Zhang and Lu Qice's work against Gao Jie have also made new progress.

Yue Lingfei and Zhu Wen led their troops back outside Tanzhou City. After settling down their troops, they went to Meng Kai's camp and met Meng Kai. As soon as Meng Kai saw it, Ma and the two shouted into the tent. After sitting down, Zhu Wen talked about the attack on Hu Zhen's soldiers and horses. Meng Kai was a rude person. After hearing this, he smiled and said, "Brother Zhu Wen fought this battle very coincidentally, which scared the 'Sai Fox' away, hahaha!"

Yue Lingfei was beside him and listened to Meng Kai's words without squeaking.

Zhu Wen said, "Brother Meng, do you have any news from Zhao Zhang?"

Meng Kai stood up, circled around the camp a few times, suddenly stopped and said, "The news is one thing. At present, there is no formal talk about the uprising with Gao Jie. However, now that we have driven away Hu Zhen, we can let Zhao Zhang step up against Gao Jie.

Yue Lingfei opened his mouth and said, "I don't think it's too late. Now we will organize a death squad to enter the city from the tunnel. We sent two soldiers to attack the north gate of Tanzhou all the way and the east gate all the way. The death squad took advantage of the Tang soldiers in the city to defend the north gate and the east gate, and drilled in from the west gate tunnel. Join Zhao Zhang and Lu Qi and kill Tang Bing alone!"