At night, Zhang Xutuo hung a map in his tent and told Zhang Xuan, Wei Yunqi and others about the current pattern in Shandong.

Zhang Xutuo pointed at the counties around Qi County with a wooden pole and said, "In recent years, we have fought more than 30 battles, and we have all won and lost. The biggest victory was to annihilate Liu Badao, Wang Bo of Changbaishan and Sun Xuanya of Dongzigang. This time, Xu Yuanlang was wiped out completely, and more than 100,000 enemies were wiped out. However, the problem was that the rioters and bandits were repeatedly suppressed. At present, the counties we controlled are mainly Qi County and Beihai County. This time, Xu Yuanlang was wiped out, Jibei County and Lu County could be taken back, and we had four counties in our hands.

However, the surrounding bandit forces are still very strong. To the east are Zuo Xiaoyou and Meng Rang who control Donglai County and Gaomi County, with more than 100,000 troops, Sun Xuanya and Wang Bo from Langya County, with nearly 100,000 troops, and to the south are Li Zitong from Xuzhou, with more than 100,000 troops.

Needless to say, the Wagang Army in the East County is powerful. Although the troops are only 50,000, it is strong and difficult to deal with. At present, the Wagang Army shows no signs of eastward expansion, so we will not consider dealing with them for the time being."

Zhang Xutuo's wooden pole pointed to the north again, "There are three powerful rioters in the north, Zhang Jin said, Gao Shida and Dou Jiande, Zhang Jin said, occupy Qinghe County and Wuyang County, Dou Jiande's forces were in Pingyuan County and Xindu County, Gao Shida occupied Bohai County, and the three men's army was as many as 200,000. In fact, we were all enemies on all sides, and they echoed each other. Once I led my army south, they would attack Qi County. If I led my army north, the rioters in the south would enter Qi County. We are a little lost in our minds at the moment."

"But we can't keep going like this and keep going like this!" Zhang Xuan said frankly.

"General Zhang is right. If the stalemate continues, it will only form a pattern of siege of the rioters siege Qi County. The deadlock must be broken and passive into active."

Zhang Xutuo looked at the map and said, "I also considered it last night. This defeat to Xu Yuanlang is a good opportunity. We can push the defense line to Lu County and expand the depth of the defense. Then I plan to concentrate my troops to annihilate Zuo Xiaoyou and Meng Rang from Donglai County and Gaomi County, and recover Gaomi and Donglai County before the Yellow River freezes. In this way, the entire peninsula will be almost controlled in our hands, and the military food problem will be solved."

"Lu County can defend against the rioters in the south. What about the north? Zhang Jin said that would take the opportunity to attack Qi County?"

"The north is also a problem, but Zhang Jin said he was incompatible with Dou Jiande. Once his army headed south, he might be killed by Dou Jiande."

Speaking of this, Dou Jiande seemed to realize something. He glanced at Zhang Xuan and smiled and said, "Is it possible that the general wants to settle the old accounts with Zhang Jincheng?"

Zhang Xuan stood up and saluted. "I am obedient to the commander's arrangement!"

After experiencing the Tiansi Pavilion case, Zhang Xutuo also knew that Zhang Xuan was a member of the King of Yan. Although he was assigned to the Feiying Army by the soldiers, Zhang Xuan was still different from generals such as Qin Qiong and Luo Shixin. First of all, his army was relatively independent and he could not be split at will.

Secondly, the Ministry of War’s transfer order on Zhang Xuan was very clear, and it was the first time that Zhang Xutuo had seen such transfer order. Even Pei Renji’s appointment did not have the four words “independent”, which obviously allowed Zhang Xuan to maintain independence.

Of course, from a personal perspective, Zhang Xutuo did not object. He has always been grateful to Zhang Xuan, and as long as the two sides cooperate happily, it would have no impact on becoming an independent mansion.

Zhang Xutuo pondered for a moment, then nodded and said, "Let's do this! Go back to Qi County first. Let's take a look at the situation."

Zhang Xuan bowed and bowed, "Abide by the orders with humble duties!"

Two days later, Zhang Xuan followed Zhang Xutuo's army to return to Licheng County, Qi County, which is later Jinan. It is currently the governing county of Qi County and is also the base camp of the Feiying Army.

Licheng County is also the largest city in Shandong. It has a circumference of 30 miles, a population of hundreds of thousands, and a tall and sturdy city wall, which is easy to defend but difficult to attack.

Since Licheng County has not been captured by the bandits, it has become a gathering place for the wealthy families of all the major gentry in Shandong. Especially after Wang Bo took the lead in rebelling in Changbai Mountain, Qi County the previous year, a large number of refugees fled to Licheng County, which once reached one million people and was overcrowded.

However, since Zhang Xutuo became the chief magistrate of Qi County, he wiped out all the bandits in Qi County and used Zhangqiu County, Linyi County and Tingshan County to divert the population of Licheng, gradually reducing the population of Licheng to 500,000.

Despite this, Licheng County is still very crowded, and many people can only squeeze into one house. However, although it is a little crowded, the people are very content. The sense of security they gain is difficult to replace any wealth.

On the official road, Luo Shixin, who had just obtained a war horse, introduced the surrounding scenery to Zhang Xuan with great enthusiasm. He pointed to the endless fields on both sides of the official road and said: "These are our life-saving fields, including the grain of four counties, which are as large as tens of thousands of hectares, half of which are private land and half are official land, which feeds our Qi County's millions of people and 20,000 troops."

"Have any thief army attacked in?"

"Everyone wants to attack in! But it's not so easy. The most dangerous time. At the beginning of the year, Liu Badao led his uncle's army to cross the Yellow River to destroy the fertile fields. As a result, I led the army to attack them, and they were beaten to death. More than 100,000 troops were destroyed, and all prisoners of war were thrown to the court. Why are you all so weird?"

When Luo Shixin saw that the soldiers around him were looking at him with time, he scratched his head in confusion, "Did I say something wrong?"

Zhang Xuan smiled and said, "These brothers under my command are the uncles who were beaten to the point of being beaten by you."

Luo Shixin opened his mouth wide and couldn't close it for a long time, "Haha! What a coincidence!"

Everyone talked and laughed and entered Licheng County, and a lively and prosperous atmosphere came towards us. There were many shops and all kinds of goods filled the shops, mostly daily necessities, and hawking sounds came one after another.

On both sides of the street, there are wine shops, inns, brothels, martial arts halls, etc., especially dozens of martial arts halls of all sizes. You can see teams of young martial arts halls wearing warrior uniforms and holding swords.

"These martial arts halls are supported by the Grand Marshal. Since two years ago, there are free martial arts halls run by the government. If you want to learn better martial arts, it is just going to a private martial arts hall. In order to strengthen the attractiveness of the official martial arts hall, the general requires all generals to go to the martial arts hall at least one day a month. These are the reserve forces of our army."

Zhang Xuan didn't say anything, he was still carefully observing the bustling city. The prosperity of Licheng County was really beyond his expectations, and it was a world of difference from the deserted Feicheng County and Qinghe County, but some details still made him feel strange.

"Since the surroundings are surrounded by bandits, where do the goods from these shops come from?"

Luo Shixin said: "It was mainly coming from the west. It turned out that Wagang cut off the business road, but starting this year, Wagang actually opened the business road again. The road was relatively safe, and caravans appeared."

Zhang Xuan nodded. He knew the reason behind this that it should be related to Li Jiancheng's visit to Wagang. Li Jiancheng's first change in Wagang was to transform the Wagang army from a rebel bandit to a political separatist force.

Luo Shixin accompanied Zhang Xuan to Licheng County from the west gate, and after a visit, he went out from the east gate. Except for 3,000 people stationed in the city to maintain order, the rest of the troops were stationed in the north and south military camps outside the city. Zhang Xuan's army is currently stationed in the North Military Camp, which is the main camp. Sima Jia Runfu of the Flying Eagle Army has properly placed Zhang Xuan's army.

When Zhang Xuan walked into this camp that covered an area of ​​thousands of acres, he felt a festive atmosphere, and cheers kept coming. The soldiers ran over, their faces filled with excitement, which made Zhang Xuan very strange. What happy events happened in the military camp?

"General Zhang!"

Someone was calling Zhang Xuan next to him. When Zhang Xuan turned around, he saw Pei Xingyan running quickly. Zhang Xuan smiled and bowed, "Pei Zhengshi, it's been a long time since we saw him."

Pei Xingyan ran forward and bowed and said with a smile: "The general was happy that Yuan Qing could join the Flying Eagle Army. It was Yuan Qing's blessing to be able to kill the enemy side by side with the general."

"Pei Zhengwei has been awarded the award. I should be honored that I can actually join the Flying Eagle Army."

Pei Xingyan whispered again: "Do you have time now?"

Zhang Xuan nodded. "What's the matter now?"

"My father wants to meet the general, so I will ask the general to come over."

Zhang Xuan immediately thought of Pei Ju. Pei Renji wanted to see him. Does it have anything to do with Pei Ju? Zhang Xuan didn't ask too much and said happily: "Since that's the case, please lead the way!"

Pei Xingyan was overjoyed, "General, please come with me."

Zhang Xuan followed Pei Xingyan and walked quickly towards Pei Renji's tent. At this time, Zhang Xuan faintly heard the cheers again and asked curiously: "What kind of happy event seems to have happened in the camp?"

"It was General Qin who sent people to send news from Lu County. It was indeed good news. We took Xu Yuanlang's nest and seized 20,000 stones of grain and 100,000 jin of money, as well as many other spoils. The key is food, which solved the urgent need for our insufficient military rations at once."

Zhang Xuan also knew that Feiying's military food was tight, otherwise Zhang Xutuo would not have sent Luo Shixin to Feicheng County for one thousand stones of grain. The 20,000 stones of grain would be enough to support the army to launch an attack on Donglai County and Gaomi County.

"This is indeed a good thing. It seems that my arrival will bring you some luck." Zhang Xuan said with a smile.

"We all say that General Zhang is a lucky general. As soon as General Zhang comes, we wiped out Xu Yuanlang. I hope General Zhang's blessing can bring us greater results."

Zhang Xuan touched his nose and smiled, "Try to do it!"

The Flying Eagle Army uses the army organization during wartime, namely the head coach, deputy general, tooth general, side general, school captain, brigade commander, team leader, fire chief, soldiers, etc.

Among them, Zhang Xutuo was the head commander. His military post in the court was General Zuo Xiaogu, who belonged to the general level, while Pei Renji was the deputy general. His military post in the court was General Hu Ben, which was the highest level among the generals, and he was one level higher than General Xiongwulang, who had just taken office as General Zhang Xuan.

Once Zhang Xuan officially takes office, he will be promoted to the level of a general, one level from his previous general, but he is a bit different from others and can become an independent mansion, which is equivalent to an independent regiment in the army of later generations.

In other words, Zhang Xuan was controlled by Zhang Xutuo and obeyed Zhang Xutuo's command in military operations, but he could pass Zhang Xutuo in the appointment of soldiers and directly request an appointment letter from the Ministry of War.

Therefore, Zhang Xuan is not under the jurisdiction of Pei Renji, but is controlled by the commander Zhang Xutuo. On this level, Zhang Xuan and Pei Renji are in an equal position, but their official positions are one level lower than Pei Renji and their military qualifications are much worse.

Zhang Xuan walked into Pei In-ki's tent and bowed and said, "I'm not going to know the deputy commander Pei!" (To be continued)
Chapter completed!