The elite First Battalion of the Lucheng Frontier Army returned with less than 2,000 men.

"What's the specific situation? How many people are there in the Mongolian army?" Sima Rui asked impatiently before Yao Meng could sit still.

"The number of enemy troops attacking Lu City is at least 30,000 to 40,000!" Yao Meng made a rough estimate. "The most important thing is that the other party almost used the attack field to lurk hundreds of internal agents in the city.

These internal forces caught our army off guard and captured the city gate, opening the way for the Mongolian army to enter the city. Otherwise, Lucheng would not have been lost so easily." Yao Meng's tone was full of annoyance.

"Aren't the Mongolian troops coming after you?" Sima Rui then asked the question he was most concerned about.

Yao Meng said: "After the Mongolian army occupied Lucheng, they began to divide their troops. One group was led by the enemy general Balutu and attacked Anqing. The other group was led by Aslan and rushed to Xiangshan. Behind us, Jamuka led Guo Er.

Guo Si's troops and a large group of troops are following behind. We are one day ahead of them. The other party will be able to get here tomorrow. And considering that the other party is cavalry, we may be able to arrive tonight. General Sima, we want to

We made plans in advance and quickly built up positions to prepare for defense. When I came here, I saw that there was no defensive position established here in Caodian, so if we faced a cavalry charge, we would be very passive."

Sima Rui shook his head gently, "Yao Meng, I am raising food and grass now. Once the food and grass enter the camp, we will continue to retreat. The Mongols are powerful. We cannot attack them head-on now. We can only exchange space for them."

It’s time to counterattack in the future.”

Yao Meng was startled, "General Sima, there are less than five thousand Mongolian troops behind us. With the current strength of our army, we can definitely fight a battle with the opponent. Even if we cannot win the battle, we can at least weaken the opponent's spirit."

, how could we retreat so sharply before taking on the battle? With this retreat, it will be difficult to turn back."

"I have my own opinion on this matter. General Yao, you have worked hard all the way. Go and have a rest first. We will break camp and set off again tonight." Sima Rui waved his hand.

Yao Meng stood up silently, walked a few steps outside, and said, "General Sima, where are we going to evacuate?"

"Tanzhou!" Sima Rui said.

Yao Meng took a breath of cold air. Withdrawing to Tanzhou meant completely giving up a large area of ​​frontier territory. He wanted to say something, but looking at Sima Rui's face, he finally didn't say anything. He walked to the tent and felt depressed.

Authentic: "General Sima, General Wang Min and General Sima Dan died in the battle. In order to buy us time, General Wang Min and General Sima Dan led the first post at the south gate to resist desperately, and almost the entire army died in the battle."

Yao Meng left, Sima Rui and She Wenzhuang looked at each other, and both saw something bad in each other's eyes.

"Wenzhuang, the news of Wang Min's death in battle must be hidden and cannot be revealed." Sima Rui said. Although Wang Min was ignored in Lucheng, he was still a powerful general in the fourth rank of the imperial court, and his rank was higher than Sima Rui.

Gao is already a senior officer in the Dai Viet Army. If such an officer dies on the battlefield, he must report it to the court. According to common practice, the court also has to carry out a series of measures to attract people's support, such as posthumous titles and orphan care.

behavior. The problem is that Wang Min knows a lot of things. If someone from the imperial court meets Wang Min's family and learns something from them, it will be very detrimental to Sima Rui. Now Sima Rui can only

After taking tonics, I can no longer take laxatives. "It is best to report him missing. Anyway, now Wang Min is still alive and his body is nowhere to be found."

She Wenzhuang shook his head, "General, I'm afraid this won't work. First of all, Yao Meng, Wang Zhuang, Qu Lu, and Ding Jian were already familiar with Wang Min and had good friendships. Although they have now joined the general, Wang Min has

Death, they couldn't help the general hide this matter. After all, Mrs. Wang's family is in the camp now. Maybe Yao Meng has already informed Mrs. Wang at this time. Secondly, the soldiers in the first battalion must also know about Wang Min's battle.

Regarding the matter of death, even if Yao Meng agrees not to make it public, there is no guarantee that the news will leak out, and if someone with serious intentions catches it, then it will be a small matter that turns into a big deal."

"What should we do?" Sima Rui asked angrily.

"If you don't do it, you won't stop!" She Wenzhuang's eyes showed an extremely sinister light, "Since Wang Min has died in the battle, we might as well ask his wife and son to accompany him. The whole family is the same.

Huangquan Road is quite lively, so there’s no need to feel lonely.”

Sima Rui took a breath. He didn't expect that Shewenzhuang would come up with such a desperate plan. Although Sima Rui was not a good person, he had never done anything like this.

Looking at Sima Rui's expression, She Wenzhuang advised: "General, this is a matter that can be settled once and for all. When the time comes, we will report to the court that General Wang Min died heroically in battle, and his family members also disappeared during the retreat, and it will be settled. And the Lucheng border army

Even the deputy general died on the spot, which shows that the fierce battle and the heroic resistance of our army can also make the general's life easier."

Yu Ma Rui's face was filled with uncertainty, "But how could this matter be hidden from Yao Meng and the others?"

"No need to hide it!" She Wenzhuang said: "In the middle of the night today, we broke out camp and took away all the people in Caodian. By then, the war was in chaos. Several lawless people broke into Mrs. Wang's place and killed them.

What can I do? For a moment, no one noticed that there were a few people missing. After this incident, even if a few of them were suspicious, there was no evidence that it was related to the general. What could they say? What's more, they are now

We have shared weal and woe with the general, and even if we know something, time has passed, and if the general tries to win over him again, the four of them are smart people, so they will not say anything more."

Sima Rui nodded, "You're right, Wenzhuang, you need to handle this matter, find a few people you can absolutely trust, and do it without anyone noticing."

"Wenzhuang understands!"

A few miles away from Caodian, in a dense poplar forest, Yun Zhao, Hong Niangzi, Sanyanhu and others led a hundred horse bandits to hide here. From here, they could clearly see Lu Lu, who was several miles away.

The brightly lit military camp on the edge of the city.

"After they go to bed, Miaomiao and I sneak in to find out where the old boss is being held, and then prepare to rescue people. Mr. Hu, you lead the brothers here to prepare and be ready to bring people to rescue us at any time." Yun Zhao

He said to the three-eyed tiger.

The three-eyed tiger had a grass root in his mouth and chewed it hard, "Damn it, I'll go with you."

Yun Zhao shook his head, "Master Hu, we also need capable people to command here. The old boss must be detained and guarded very strictly. If we are discovered while rescuing people, Master Hu, you will have to lead an attack on the opponent's camp.

Cover our return to save the old boss."

The Three-Eyed Tiger wanted to say something else, but the Red Lady said: "Let's do it. Three-Eyed Tiger, Yun Zhao's kung fu is better than yours, let him go with me, and you will take care of me here."

The plan was settled, and the group of people quietly waited in the white poplar forest for the military camp opposite to quiet down. But to their surprise, from midnight until midnight, the military camp opposite was still brightly lit and full of people.

, the other party had no intention of resting at all, and from the direction of Caodian, there was an endless stream of convoys, with ox carts, donkey carts, and wheelbarrows pushing bags of grain, and a large number of people driving pigs and cattle.

The sheep, carrying chickens, ducks, fish, etc., approached the military camp with torches.

"Damn it, these Lucheng border troops will not stay here." Three-Eyed Tiger said with rich experience, "They will set off after collecting the food and other items they have raised. They still have to retreat."

Yun Zhao glanced at him, "They didn't fight the Mongols, but just watched the Mongols occupy Lucheng? Do they have a team of tens of thousands of people here?"

The Three-Eyed Tiger sneered, "What do you think these officers and soldiers will do? Go back and fight the Mongolians? Feng Congyi's words here are pretty much the same. Now this Sima Rui is just a bastard. They have no eggs. How can they have the courage to turn back?

Go for it."

The three-eyed tiger spoke rudely, and the red lady's face turned slightly red, "Yunzhao, let's go, take advantage of the chaos when they are handing over food and grass, and let's sneak in. Otherwise, it will be difficult to sneak in and save people once the army leaves.

"

"Okay, let's go, Mr. Hu, I'll leave this to you," Yun Zhao said.

"You two, be careful!" Three-Eyed Tiger said with concern, "Seeing that the situation is not good, save yourself first. The boss can look for opportunities to save you. If you two also lose control, it will be over."

"Don't worry, nothing will happen to us." Yun Zhao mentioned Yi Shuihan, and he and Lady Hong ran out of Baiyang Forest, and under the cover of night, ran toward the camp several miles away.

Due to Sima Rui's threat, Cao Yu, the director of Cao's store, returned to Cao's store. He immediately summoned all his subordinates and invited a group of respected old men from Cao's store. After some speeches, everyone worked together to raise food and supplies.

If these big soldiers really entered the town, it would be a catastrophe. With concerted efforts, it only took half a night to prepare all the materials requested by Sima Rui, and mobilized the people in the town to deliver them.

Later, just as the red lady expected, thousands of people pushed supplies and drove pigs and sheep into the camp gate of the Lucheng border army. Sure enough, it caused a chaos. The soldiers were busy accepting and arranging these supplies.

Sheep, chickens and ducks are not as obedient as humans. If they are not careful, they will run around. There are chickens and ducks croaking near the camp gate. Qiao Zifang, who is responsible for receiving supplies here, is sweating profusely. For a while, there is still enough time to take care of it.

other.

Lady Hong and Yun Zhao took advantage of this opportunity, climbed over the fence that was as high as one person, and entered the camp.

"How to find it?" Lady Hong looked at Yunzhao. There were many tents in the camp, soldiers were walking around everywhere, and the lights were bright. It was very difficult to find Shen Feng in this situation, but

Just imagine.

"First grab two lone soldiers and ask them." Yun Zhao said: "It would be best if we could ask where the old master is, but at worst we can also get a rough idea of ​​the direction."

"Yes!" The red lady nodded, and the two of them crouched behind a tent, waiting for the opportunity.
Chapter completed!