Baibo Valley is not actually a valley. It is sandwiched between the Luliang Mountains and the Taihang Mountains. The four counties of Yangxian, Xiangling, Pingyang, and Yongan are now included in the Baibo Valley. The Fen River passes through it, and the water and soil are rich and fertile. Baibo Valley is a collective name.

, According to the information that Man Chong sent people to collect and inquire about over the past year, the internal structure of the Baibo bandits is very loose. Most of them are clans from various places who lead the villages and bravely occupy the local areas. Taking advantage of the civil strife in the court, they segregated themselves in this area under the banner of the Yellow Turbans.

.

Over the years, they have joined forces to fight against the imperial court, while also devouring each other. Now the most important ones are four groups, Yang Feng, Hu Cai, Li Le, and Han Xian, each with more than ten thousand troops.

It is obviously impossible to raise 40,000 soldiers and horses in the land of four counties. Most of these people are still engaged in farming, and some of them rob passing merchants. Of course, after so many years, they have formed their own internal rules. Passing merchants only need to stay behind

With some property, you can pass by, and even if you encounter trouble, the Baibo thieves will come forward to deal with it. In addition, they are also distributed in Taiyuan County, Xihe County, and Shangdang County.

"In other words, in fact, most of these Baibo thieves are local clans?" Looking at the information collected by Man Chong, Chen Mo asked with a smile. He was not surprised by this result. Pure thieves may be able to occupy the city for a while, but if they don't understand

How can governance be able to stay here all these years?

Just like the original Gebei thieves, although they were very powerful, they were quickly suppressed.

"Most of them are like that." Manchong nodded. In fact, it's not just the Baibo bandits. Most of the bandits with some influence in various places have some relationship with the local gentry, but few are as big as the Baibo bandits.

"So, if I send troops, the Baibo thieves will definitely get the news?" Chen Mo asked with a smile.

Man Chong nodded. This is also the difficulty in eliminating the Gebei thieves. If they cannot be defeated, they will directly transform into civilians. But as soon as the soldiers and horses leave, they will immediately gather people to become bandits. However, Baibo Valley is an important area for Chen Mo to annex the state in the future. It must be

If Chen Mo kills him, he may be ostracized by the nobles in Hedong and even Bingzhou.

"Send someone to send a letter to Baibo Valley, telling them that I have no intention of starting another war. If the Baibo thieves are willing to submit, they can apply for official positions from the court." Chen Mo thought deeply: "You will secretly release the names of these thieves that you have collected.

Go and let them know that we already know the identity of the thief."

Since there is no way to make a surprise attack, let's be more upright and write a letter first. If the other party doesn't agree, then we can send out troops. If they can't fight as usual, they will disperse among the people. Then Chen Mo will just send the army to Baibo Valley, and all the recorded thieves will be killed.

, that was all for the purpose of liquidation. Even for self-protection, we could only confront him head-on.

Here, Chen Mo was not afraid of him confronting him head-on, but he was afraid that the other party would hide and disappear.

"My Lord, I'll do it now." Man Chong nodded. Even if those clans were willing to reconcile with Chen Mo, the thieves on the list would obviously not be willing to wait for death. The best outcome would be for these thieves to come with the clans.

In a melee, no matter who loses or wins in the end, it is Chen Mo who will profit in the end. Then he will lead his army to drive these thieves towards Taiyuan. Not only will he gain the land of four counties, but Chen Mo will also have an excuse to invade Taiyuan. When the time comes, he will provoke

After a while, the Taiyuan gentry even begged Chen Mo to go and suppress the bandits.

"One more thing." Chen Mo thought for a while and said: "Tell everyone, because there have been a large number of refugees this year, the grain stored in Hedong has been used to resettle the people. I hope everyone can donate some food for this troop dispatch."

"I understand." Man Chong nodded, said goodbye and left.

"Bo Dao shouldn't fight quickly now? If so, the Bai Bo thieves might try to fight with you." Zang Hong, who was handling official duties, smiled after Man Chong left.

"In this way, they will relax their vigilance and concentrate on defense. However, the four counties are neither big nor small. To defend, the troops must be dispersed and they can be defeated one by one." Chen Mo said with a smile, Baibo Thief.

The total number is quite large. If a swarm of swarms come up to fight, Chen Mo's soldiers and horses may not be able to defeat them no matter how elite they are. However, if the opponent's soldiers and horses are separated, the fight will be relatively easy.

"You are too calculating." Zang Hong shook his head and smiled.

"If you meet a powerful person, the disciple would not dare to do this." Chen Mo smiled and said: "But Baibo Thief, the disciple still has some confidence."

"When will the troops be launched?" Zang Hong asked as he spread out the bamboo slips he had written on in his hand and waited for the ink to dry.

"In the past few days, although the disciple now has a lot of soldiers and horses, Jiguan and Puban need to be heavily guarded, as well as the security of various places. This time the disciple is planning to mobilize 5,000 soldiers and horses to participate in the battle. It will be easier to mobilize, but the food and grass will be consumed.

Not many." Chen Mo smiled and said, "As soon as Gao Shun comes, we will send troops."

"Don't underestimate the enemy. There are countless capable people in this world. Although Bo Dao has strategies, don't underestimate the world's heroes." Zang Hong looked at Chen Mo and frowned.

My disciple has indeed become a talented person now, but there are also many smart people who are arrogant after becoming talented, which is not a good thing.

"Disciple, remember this!" Chen Mo said with cupped hands.

…

Three days later, Yang County.

After sending away the people who came to report the news, Yang Feng immediately treated Hu Cai, Li Le and Han Xian and came over to discuss how to deal with Chen Mo.

"The young man Chen Mo became famous because of the praise of his time, and he may not be that powerful." Hu Cai said with a smile: "Now that we haven't even collected the army rations, you want us to surrender? Don't you know that in this land east of the river, whenever there is trouble?

, can An escape from our eyes and ears?"

"Then according to Brother Hu's wish, we will not surrender?" Yang Feng looked at Hu Cai and said.

"Of course we can't surrender." Hu Cai nodded and said: "He has no food in his hands, so what can he do if he has soldiers and horses? We only need to defend for more than a month, and when the food and grass are exhausted, we will send our troops southward, just in time to capture this unknown enemy."

The arrogant young man is driven out of Hedong, and we can replace him."

If Chen Mo had military rations, they might still consider it, but since it was determined that Chen Mo would have to ask the wealthy families in each county for his military rations, what should they be afraid of? As long as he held on, Chen Mo would have to retreat without food.

"That's right." Han Xian nodded and said, "Although Chen Mo is famous, most of his reputation is for opportunism. If we fight head-on, are we still afraid of him?"

Behind Yang Feng, a general frowned and said: "Generals, if this happens, our army's strength will inevitably be scattered. If Chen Mo is defeated one by one, won't our army have to sit back and wait to be killed?"

"Who are you? When will it be your turn to speak here?" Hu Cai frowned and shouted.

"This is my general Xu Huang." Yang Feng said with a smile: "I was once an official in Yang County. After being persecuted by Shangguan, he defected to me. He is quite knowledgeable in the art of war and is brave and good at fighting! What Gongming said is also true, but what about Chen Mo's men?

It’s only over ten thousand, and no one of us can be inferior to him in terms of troops and horses, and we are defending the city, so Gong Ming doesn’t need to worry too much.”

Xu Huang bowed slightly and said no more.

Hu Cai frowned and glanced at Xu Huang and said, "It's still the same as before. The four of you and I are helping each other and helping each other. This time, Chen Mo will know that we are powerful and this Hedong is not his."

Yang Feng nodded and said, "Then each will guard a county."

"That's right!" Hu Cai said with a smile.

At that moment, the four people discussed how to rescue if something went wrong and how to jointly defend, and then they left separately.

…

The words were divided into two parts. Chen Mo waited in Anyi until Gao Shun came to join him, then said goodbye to Zang Hong and led his army straight to Baibo Valley.

"Lord!" Outside Linfen City, Bao Geng brought several sentinels to join Chen Mo. He saluted Chen Mo and said: "Most of the villages outside Xiangling are no longer occupied. It seems that they have all been moved to the city.

The thief didn't give me a chance to wait here to collect food."

"You retreated quickly enough." Chen Mo smiled and nodded.

"It's just that they all retreated into the city. I'm afraid it's difficult for our troops to attack the city." Cui Geng, who was beside Chen Mo, frowned and said, "We are attacking more with less, and we are still attacking the city. No matter how elite Chen Mo's army is, this battle will not be good."

beat.

"The other party has made up its mind to consume our army, so naturally it will not leave the city easily. However, it just happened to take this opportunity to divide the land and divide the fields, and recruit a group of refugees to settle here. Since the fields here are no longer owned, then as the governor of Hedong, I

, it is also very reasonable to re-divide these ownerless lands." Chen Mo said with a smile.

"Here!" Cui Geng understood, nodded with a smile, and immediately went to call the refugees to come and allocate the land. Most of the refugees who migrated from Luoyang have now gathered in the Linfen area, and now they will allocate this area.

Hu Cai was ready to fight a defensive battle with Chen Mo. He had found out that Chen Mo only brought 5,000 troops and horses this time, and he had tens of thousands of troops stationed here. He did not believe that Chen Mo could still attack.

After waiting for a few days, except for Chen Mo's scouts, he did not see Chen Mo's army coming. Hu Cai was a little suspicious and sent people to find out the information. Chen Mo was dividing the land along the Fen River. The Fen River area was the most fertile land. If those in the city were allowed to

If the clan knew about it, it would be a big deal. Hu Cai immediately ordered everyone to block the news and prevent others from knowing about it.

Anyway, it is the cold winter now. Even if Chen Mo divides the fields, after he drives Chen Mo away, will these fields still return to their hands?

Several days passed like this, but Chen Mo still didn't come to attack, and Hu Cai was not in a hurry. In addition to patrolling the city every day, he drank and had fun with the generals.

It's just that one month has passed and there is no news of Chen Mo's action. Now that the New Year is over and spring plowing is approaching, Hu Cai can't wait. Doesn't it mean that Chen Mo's food and grass are insufficient?

On this day, I was about to send someone to spy on the news. Suddenly someone came to report that a broken army came from the north of the city. It seemed to be Li Le's command in Pingyang.

"Why are Li Le's men here?" Hu Cai's expression changed after he heard the news. He quickly led his men and horses to the enemy tower in the north of the city. He saw hundreds of remnant soldiers outside the city, and some were already sitting there.

Under the city, some were anxiously pacing back and forth outside the city, while others were constantly beating the city gate, begging the officers and soldiers on the city to let them through.

"Put down the hanging basket and ask one of their generals to come up." Hu Cai frowned and said, Li Le is in Pingyang, how come the other party's subordinates are here? He has to ask clearly!
Chapter completed!