.     The elite Lucheng Border Army First Battalion returned less than two thousand people.

"What's the specific situation? How many people are there in the Mongolian army?" Sima Rui couldn't wait to ask without waiting for Yao Meng to sit down firmly.

"The enemy troops attacking Lucheng City are at least no less than 30,000 to 40,000!" Yao Meng made a rough estimate, "The most important thing is that the other party has used the field to lurk hundreds of internal responders in the city. It was these internal responders who captured the city gates when our army caught us off guard and opened a passage 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.

"Didn't the Mongolian army chase after him?" Sima Rui then asked a question he was most concerned about.

Yao Meng said: "After the Mongolian army occupied Lucheng, they began to divide their troops. One was led by the enemy general Barutu, attacking Anqing, and the other was led by Aslan, and rushed to Xiangshan. Behind us was Jamukha, led by Guoergos' troops and a large tent soldier followed. We were leading them a day ahead of them. Tomorrow, the other party could arrive here. And considering that the other party was a cavalry, maybe they could arrive tonight. General Sima, we should make plans early, quickly build positions, and prepare for defense. When I came, I saw that Caodian did not establish a defensive position here, so that if we face the 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 people in the country are in great power. We cannot directly defeat the enemy now. We can only trade space for time and counterattack in the future."

Yao Meng was shocked, "General Sima, there are less than 5,000 Mongolian troops behind us. With our current strength, we can fight a battle with the other party. Even if we cannot win, we can at least defeat the opponent's spirit. How can we retreat sharply before we take over the battle? It will be difficult to turn back again."

"I have my own opinions on this matter. General Yao, you have worked hard all the way. Let's take a break first. We will set off again tonight." Sima Rui waved his hand.

Yao Meng stood up silently, walked a few steps out, and said, "General Sima, are we going to retreat there?"

"Tanzhou!" Sima Rui said.

Yao took a deep breath and retreated to Tanzhou, which meant that he had completely given up a large area of ​​territory on the frontier. He wanted to say something, but looking at Sima Rui's face, he didn't say it. He walked to the tent and said in a depressed voice: "General Sima, General Wang Min and General Sima Dan died in battle. In order to buy us time, General Wang Min and General Sima Dan led the first post at the southern gate to fight to the death, and almost the entire army died in battle."

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

"Wenzhuang, the news of Wang Min's death in the battle must be hidden and cannot be revealed." Sima Rui said. Although Wang Min was under the cover of Lucheng, he was still a fourth-rank general under the imperial court. He was higher than Sima Rui and was already a senior officer in the Great Yue army. If such an officer died on the battlefield, he would definitely report to the court. According to convention, the court also carried out a series of acts of capturing people's hearts, such as posthumous enthronement and slapping orphans. The problem is that Wang Min knew a lot of things. If someone from the court met Wang Min's family and knew something from them, it would be very unfavorable to Sima Rui. Sima Rui now can only take tonic medicine and never take any more medicine. "It is best to report that one is missing. Anyway, Wang Min is still alive and corpse will not be seen."

She Wenzhuang shook her head, "General, I'm afraid this will not happen. First, Yao Meng, Wang Zhuang, Qu Lu and Ding Jian were familiar with Wang Min and had a good relationship. Although they have joined the general now, since Wang Min died, they would not be able to help the general hide this matter. After all, Mrs. Wang's family is in the camp now, and maybe Yao Meng has already informed Mrs. Wang at this time. Second, the soldiers of the first battalion must also know that Wang Min died in battle. Even if Yao Meng agrees to keep this matter silent, there may be news leaked. If someone is caught by someone, then it will be a small matter that will turn into a big problem."

"What should I do?" Sima Rui said angrily.

"Don't do it, never stop!" She Wenzhuang's eyes showed a vicious light, "Since Wang Min has died in battle, then let his wife and son accompany him together. The whole family will be lively and there is no need to feel lonely."

Sima Rui took a deep breath, but he didn't expect that the one who came out of She Wenzhuang was such a terrible plan. Although Sima Rui was not a good person, he had never done such a terrible cigarette.

Looking at Sima Rui's expression, She Wenzhuang advised: "General, this is a matter of one thing once and for all. When the time comes, General Wang Min of the court will be reported to him to death in battle. His family will also disappear in the retreat, and all of them will be lost. Moreover, even the deputy generals of the Lucheng border army will be killed on the spot. This shows how fierce the war is and how brave our army resists, it will also make the general live a better life."

The faces of Ma Rui are unstable, "But how can you hide this from Yao Meng and the others?"

"No need to hide it!" She Wenzhuang said: "In the second half of the night today, we set up camp and took all the people in Caodian. At that time, the war was in chaos, and a few illegal people broke into Mrs. Wang and killed them. What if they did? For a moment, no one noticed that there were few people missing. After this matter, even though they were suspicious, there was no evidence to show that they were related to the general. What could they say? What's more, they have now shared weal and woe with the general. Even though they knew something, the time had changed. The general deliberately showed good intentions to win over. The four of them were smart people and would not say anything."

Sima Rui nodded, "You are talking about it, Wenzhuang, you can do this and find a few people who are absolutely trustworthy, so that they can do it without anyone noticing."

"Wenzhuang understands!"

Several miles away from Caodian, in a dense poplar forest, Yun Zhao, Hong Niangzi, Sanyan Hu and others led a hundred horse bandits to hide here. From here, they could clearly see the brightly lit camp of the border troops in Lucheng City several miles away.

"After they went to bed, Miaomiao and I sneaked in to find out where the old boss was locked up, and then we were ready to save people. Master Hu, you are here to take your brothers and be ready to take people to pick us up at any time." Yun Zhao said to the three-eyed tiger.

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

Yun Zhao shook his head, "Thu Master, there is also a need for effective command here. The old leader must be detained and guarded extremely strictly. If we are discovered when saving people, Tiger Master, you will lead people to attack the opponent's camp and cover us to save the old leader's return."

Three-eyed Tiger wanted to say something else, but Hongniang said, "That's it. Three-eyed Tiger, Yun Zhao Kung Fu is better than you. Let him go with me, and you will be here to help."

The plan was settled, and the group waited quietly in the Baiyang forest for the military camp to calm down. But to their surprise, from the first half of the night to the second half of the night, the military camp opposite was still brightly lit and crowded, and the other party had no intention of rest. Moreover, from the direction of Caodian, there were endless convoys, including ox carts, donkey carts, wheelbarrows, and packs of grain. A large number of people drove pigs, cattle and sheep, chickens, ducks, fish, etc., and approached the military camp with torches.

"Damn, these Lucheng border troops will not stay here." Sanyan Tiger has rich experience. "They will drive away after collecting these raised food and other items. They will also retreat."

Yun Zhao glanced at him, "They won't fight with the Mengren anymore, just watch the Mengren occupy Lucheng? Do they have a team of tens of thousands of people here?"

Three-eyed tiger sneered, "What do you think these official troops will do? Go back and fight against the Mengren? Feng Congyi's words here are almost the same. Now Sima Rui is just a bastard, eggless thing, so he has the courage to turn around and fight to the death."

The three-eyed tiger spoke rudely, and the Hongmao looked slightly red, "Yun Zhao, let's go, while they were handing over the food and grass, we sneak in, otherwise it would be difficult for the army to sneak in and save people once the army set off."

"Okay, let's go, Master Hu, please give me here." Yun Zhao said.

"You two, be careful!" Sanyanhu said caringly, "Seeing that the situation is not good, save yourself first. The old leader can find an opportunity to save him. If you two lose the wind, that's all."

"Don't worry, we won't have any trouble." Yun Zhao mentioned Yi Shuihan, and Hong Niangzi rushed out of the Baiyang Forest, and under the cover of the night, he rushed towards the camp several miles away.

Cao Yu, the head of Caodian, took the threat from Sima Rui. When he returned to Caodian, he immediately summoned all his subordinates and invited Caodian to a respected old man. After some remarks, everyone worked together to raise food and supplies. If these big-headed soldiers entered the town, it would be a catastrophe. With the concerted efforts, it took only half a night to prepare all the supplies requested by Sima Rui and mobilized people from the town to send them over. As expected by the Hongniang, thousands of people pushed supplies and drove pigs and sheep into the camp of the border army in Lucheng City. It really caused chaos. The soldiers were busy accepting and arranging these supplies. The cattle, sheep, chickens and ducks were not as obedient as people. They accidentally ran around. There were chickens shouting and ducks near the camp gate. Qiao Zifang, who was responsible for receiving supplies here, was very busy and sweating. For a moment, he could take care of other things.

The Hong Madam and Yun Zhao took advantage of this space and climbed over a fence that was more than one person high and touched it into the camp.

"How to find it?" Hong Niang looked at Yun Zhao. The tent layer in the camp was quite different, and soldiers were walking around everywhere, with bright lights on it. It was so difficult to find Shen Feng in this situation.

"Catch two soldiers who are alone first and ask." Yun Zhao said: "If you can ask where the old boss is, it is the best, but at the worst we can also know the general direction."

"Yeah!" The Hongniang nodded, and the two of them lay behind a tent, waiting for the opportunity.

About half an hour later, Yun Zhao said, "Miaomiao, it's them, I'm ready to take action." On their left, three soldiers were coming.

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Chapter completed!