The city was preparing for a decisive battle in an orderly manner. The new emperor stepped onto the city tower of Xuzhou City for the first time, and in the central army tent on the Huai Army, the commander Meng Chuliang was also making final plans.

Since Meng Chuliang escaped from Xuzhou City, he followed the instructions of the Huai King to enter the northern route army to coordinate the control of the Huai Army. The movements of the entire Huai Army have been following his orders. This time he had to gather all the Huai Army who had siege the city to the west of the city. It was because he received a news that the cavalry of the Marquis of Dingguo on the border had been mobilized. What he was most worried about might have happened.

"The Prime Minister, now he is trapped in Xuzhou City, and Xuzhou will collapse without attacking. Why do you still take such a risk?" asked Hua Ji'an, the commander of the Northern Route Army of the Huai Army.

"How many times have you said, don't call me the prime minister of the country. The old emperor has not been eliminated and the world has not yet stabilized, so you can't be too hasty." Meng Chuliang's words were filled with anger. He had always disagreed with the matter of King Huai's proclaiming emperor, but King Huai refused his proposal on the grounds that he could win the hearts of the people and claimed to be the emperor early. Perhaps because of this, the resistance of the court army is so fierce now.

Hua Ji'an dared not offend Meng Chuliang and said no more.

Meng Chuliang lowered his head and explained: "Yesterday, he received news from the border six days ago that it was the Marquis of Dingguo who guarded the border. The 30,000 cavalrymen under his left wing were mobilized. These are the most sophisticated cavalry in the border army. They fight against the Turks all year round. If these 30,000 cavalry go south quickly, it will take only ten days to reach the city of Xuzhou. At that time, will it be too late to attack the city?"

Hua Ji An was relieved. Ten days ago, the cavalry in the border gate had been mobilized. Now there are only five days to attack the city. This is the most time. If the time is not enough, it may only be three days. It is necessary to conquer the city and also to set up defenses in Xuzhou City. Time is very urgent.

But Hua Ji'an soon felt that Meng Chuliang did not pay any attention to him at all, and had not even informed him of such important military news before. He was the commander of the Northern Army and the general who was appointed as the emperor by the King of Huai.

"But the Prime Minister, if he gathers troops in the west of the city, wouldn't he be afraid that the emperor will escape?" Hua Ji'an said with concern.

"I'm still afraid that he won't escape! Now the territory of the new emperor is included within a radius of 700 miles of Xuzhou City. Where can he escape? When the fortifications we have built these days are decorations? He can't do anything in Xuzhou City. If he leaves the city, it will be difficult for him to get through!"

Hua Ji'an sighed and said nothing. Now all the orders were arranged by Meng Chuliang. Now the entire army, including the King of Huai, trusted the prime minister very much, and his dignified commander of the Northern Army was just a decoration and a small person who obeyed orders.

The commander of the Southern Army was very arbitrary. Now the Southern Army is heading north and conquering the city and territories. It is almost time to reach Luoyang City. At this speed, I believe that it will be able to reach Tongguan or even Chang'an City before the end of the year. By then, the life or death of the emperor in Xuzhou City is no longer important. The world is gained by the King of Huai, so I don't care about the gains and losses of a city. Now, the trends of the border army have become the most critical point in this war.

The Marquis of Dingguo has not expressed his attitude for a long time. The border army has not moved. This time it is said that an envoy from the court went to the border. Meng Chuliang immediately thought that it was Liu Wenyan who went to the border to personally express his interests and interests to his father. So there was news of the cavalry mobilization at the border.

A man entered the central army tent in a dusty manner. When Hua Ji'an saw the visitor, he could only avoid him. Although this man had no military position, he was the future son-in-law of King Huai and the student of Meng Chuliang, so he was still pressing on his head. This man was Zhou Ying.

"Prime Minister Huai, this is the news that has just been sent back from the border." Zhou Ying passed the secret letter in his hand to Meng Chuliang.

Meng Chuliang hurriedly opened it, and the smile on his face suddenly burst out. Then he burst into laughter. The smile was full of pride and conceit, which made people seem to be sure to win.

"It turns out that the border army was mobilized because of chaos in the Turks. The New Khan was killed less than a year after becoming a country. The Turks were fighting for the Khan's throne. The Marquis of Dingguo mobilized cavalry. They had already left Shaowu Pass to fight with the cavalry of the Southern Yan of Turks!" Meng Chuliang smiled, "Marquis of Dingguo, Marquis of Dingguo, it seems that you really don't take your son seriously. You would rather take the initiative to fight against the Turks than come back to save the emperor in danger. Whether it is better to do this old man's move is completely abolished."

Hua Ji'an couldn't understand Meng Chuliang's meaning, but Zhou Ying knew it very well.

The old man Meng Chuliang mentioned was the first emperor. Before the throne was passed, the late emperor asked the Marquis of Dingguo to lead troops. It was obviously intended that the Marquis of Dingguo and Liu Wenyan, father and son, should take care of their internal and external attention and ensure the stability of his son's throne. Who knew that the Marquis of Dingguo was stubborn and would rather let the new emperor he looked down upon to die than come back to rescue him.

Zhou Ying asked for instructions and said, "Prime Minister Huai, will you still attack the city tonight?"

"Wait first." Meng Chuliang said, "Let the troops go back to the camp first, step up the defense, and then make a decision tomorrow. In addition, instruct the Southern Army that if the border troops are found to go south, they will intercept them no matter what. Even if the entire army is wiped out for a day, it will be a great achievement!"

On the one hand, Zhou Ying acted with respect, but on the other hand, he was puzzled. Why didn’t Meng Chuliang cut the mess directly tonight and join forces to attack Xuzhou City? In this way, he would probably capture Xuzhou. Although the losses would be greater, wasn’t it what King Huai and Meng Chuliang wanted to capture the emperor in the city?

I heard Meng Chuliang look at the entire military picture and murmured to himself: "Liu Wenyan, where are you? He pushed the old coach across the river and ran away. Are you planning to kill this old coach and set another one by yourself?"

Zhou Ying was shocked when he heard this. No wonder Meng Chuliang would hesitate. It turned out that he was afraid that even if he could capture Xuzhou City and kill the emperor at a terrible price, as long as Liu Wenyan was still alive, Chang'an City and Guanzhong were still in the hands of the court army, he could establish a new emperor again, and then the whole country was mourning and the court army would be more likely to condense. If this is true, then Liu Wenyan would be too cunning and insidious. He would send the emperor to death in exchange for victory in the war. Are there any more unjust officials in the world than this?

Zhou Ying asked for instructions again: "Prime Minister Huai, then we will still attack the city next?"

"Siege but not attack, wait for news." Meng Chuliang said, "If all the people in Xuzhou City starve to death, the emperor will definitely be the last one to starve to death. Of course, the subjects should give them food to him first. You can't fulfill Liu Wenyan's wish! General Hua, convey my meaning to the soldiers of the entire army, and make arrangements quickly."

Zhou Ying should have done this errand. Now it was a general's turn to go, and Hua Ji'an was still quite helpless in his heart. He turned around and left the tent.

Originally, we wanted to fight and conquer Xuzhou City quickly, but now that we have experienced Liu Wenyan's sinister intentions, the city is meaningless. Things in the world are changing so quickly.

After Meng Chuliang said this, he was like a scholar studying science, staring at the military map, and the location he was staring at was the Jianggan area where King Jing was located.

Zhou Ying said: "Prime Minister Huai, there is another thing. The food that King Jing should have transported to Jiangbei six days ago has not yet been shipped. This is the third time."

Meng Chuliang raised his head when he heard this: "What do they say?"

"It's said it's a bandit!"

"Bandit trouble, bandit trouble! It's another bandit trouble! How big can the bandits be enemies of the government again and again? Unless these bandits don't want to survive!"

Zhou Ying hesitated and said, "What does Huai Prime Minister mean is that King Jing lied to report the bandit's affairs?"

"Maybe there are really one or two people who make trouble, but who doesn't know that Jianggan and Gan suffered floods this year? The north is drought and the south is flooded, and this year's Dashun is not peaceful in the north and south. But the emperor bought a large amount of military rations from King Jing every year. In order to prevent the old man from pursuing the old man, the grain has been stored in King Jing's land." Meng Chuliang said angrily, "King Jing wants to use grain to rescue disasters. Tell the emperor that the new emperor will treat his subjects and workers badly? But... the old man has not transported a grain of food to Jiangbei for more than half a month. Without food, what should my Huai Army soldiers eat?"

Zhou Ying said: "For the past half month, the Southern Army has been urging military rations, and the Northern Army has almost exhausted the food. Fortunately, the next batch of grain in Huai land will arrive tomorrow, which will temporarily relieve the pressure."

Meng Chuliang was silent for a long time and said, "Anyway, Xuzhou City is only siege but not attacking for the time being. Let Hua Ji'an lead 5,000 cavalry to go to Jianggan area to assist King Jing in suppressing bandits."

"Suppressing bandits?" Zhou Ying smiled bitterly, "King Jing has tens of thousands of troops, and a soldier has not come to Jiangbei yet. Do we still need us to help?"

"It is to make the old man have nothing to say, and let Hua Ji'an escort the food northward. The army has not moved the food and grass first. Now the army is out, but the food and grass cannot keep up. Wouldn't it be that it cut off its own way of retreat?"

Meng Chuliang's words were correct, but Zhou Ying still had doubts and said tentatively: "But Huai Prime Minister, Hua Ji'an is the commander of the Northern Army, with the rank of general!"

A commander of the Northern Army and a proud general, he wanted to suppress bandits and escort military rations as grain transport officers. It's okay to say on weekdays, if he met the commander of the Southern Army, would Hua Ji'an have a good face? Perhaps Zhou Ying has been dealing with people and has the most troubles about these worldly affairs.

"Whether he is the commander of the Northern Army or the general, after all, he is also the general of the emperor. Do you care about the situation when fighting for the emperor?" General Meng Chuliang said in a scroll, "Let him go, and let him order the military orders to assist in the military power in Jianggan and Jiangxi to restrain King Jing. If he fails to suppress the bandits this time, he doesn't have to come back!"

Zhou Ying smiled bitterly in his heart. It seemed that Meng Chuliang was a little stubborn after the recent siege. He knew that this gentleman would not listen to anything else. As a student and as a subordinate, he understood the importance of respecting his destiny.

But he felt that it was not worth it for Hua Ji'an. It would be fine if he was a puppet commander of the Northern Army. Now he had to suppress bandits. That was an errand that the local garrison camp would not bother to do. What could a few bandits do?
Chapter completed!