After dealing with Li Wen here, Deng Zilong sent someone to pass the news to Ma Wei who was overseeing Hanzhong, reporting to him the conclusion of the war and suggestions for the next step. Then, he reorganized the troops at Liuba, preparing for the journey north.
At the same time, Li Xia and a group of old brothers from the Ningxia Firearms Camp also surrounded Wang Hui, wanting to hear how he survived in the Ningxia army camp.
"This is a long story. That night, I was surrounded by Shen Yicheng in the army camp. Shen Yicheng used poison to kill many of our brothers, and then launched a surprise attack. We fought bitterly for more than two hours, but we couldn't defeat Shen Yicheng's men. We wanted to rush to the capital to rescue Silang, but we were powerless. In the end, we were forced to retreat to the west.
Originally, we thought that after retreating to the west to shake off the pursuers, we could make a detour to the capital. Who knew that the pursuers would be so close to us. As we fled, they chased us all the way to the border of Shanxi. The remaining hundred or so brothers of ours changed into ragged clothes and mixed with the refugees. Only then did we finally shake them off.
At this time, although we wanted to take revenge, our strength was weak and we couldn't go back. Then, we remembered that Silang's big brother and second brother were leading troops in Ningxia, so we decided to rush to Ningxia to contact big brother and second brother. We might as well send troops to take revenge for Silang … "
Wang Hui recounted his legendary journey, greatly shocking Deng Zilong, Li Xia, and the others.
They didn't expect that this matter would have the secret help of Ningxia's Inspector-General Zhu Zhengse. They didn't know what Zhu Zhengse was thinking, but he actually secretly acquiesced to Niu Bingzhong to suppress the mysterious disappearance of Deputy Commandant Xiao Rulan and General Xiao Ruhui. He quickly promoted Zhang Yanshou to the position of Deputy Commandant and suppressed the matter in the army.
With Zhu Zhengse's tacit approval and help, Niu Bingzhong was able to tide over the crisis smoothly. He also conveniently accepted Wang Hui and the others into the army. When he received the conscription order, Niu Bingzhong directly arranged for Wang Hui and the others to be his bodyguards for the sake of safety.
At that time, the situation was already relatively clear. Although Wang Hui concealed his identity and wasn't noticed by Black Water, he guessed that Xiao Rulan and Xiao Ruhui must have been secretly protected by Black Water. Furthermore, he also knew that Xiao Ruxun didn't die and instead rose up to rebel against Shen Yicheng. Furthermore, he even successfully conquered Sichuan and Hanzhong, forcing the governor of the three borders, Li Wen, to send troops south to attack Hanzhong and open up the grain route.
Overjoyed, Wang Hui began to persuade Niu Bingzhong to rise up in the army and capture Li Wen alive and hand him over to Xiao Ruxun's troops. Then, the counterattack on Guanzhong could be accomplished. However, Niu Bingzhong hesitated. He thought that doing so was a rebellion. Although he sympathized with Xiao Ruxun, it didn't mean that he would betray the imperial court.
The situation was getting worse day by day. When Niu Bingzhong himself was dismissed by Li Wen on the spot because of his persuasion, Zhang Yanshou's position wasn't so stable anymore. He realized that if he didn't do anything, he would at least follow in Niu Bingzhong's footsteps.
These literati wouldn't care about the soldiers' life and death.
Therefore, Zhang Yanshou decided to do something according to Wang Hui's suggestion. The result was perfect. The soldiers in the army were extremely resentful. After Zhang Yanshou led people to kill all of Li Wen's bodyguards, the whole army expressed their obedience. Li Wen was easily taken down just like that.
All the Ningxia soldiers were incorporated into the Zhennan Army.
After that, there were also Li Ruzhang's and Du Tong's troops, a total of sixty thousand people. If the persuasion was successful, the northwest and Guanzhong would really be no problem.
For Li Ruzhang and Du Tong, the choice wasn't difficult at all. Wang Hui had even thought of a way to persuade them.
He could tell Li Ruzhang that Du Tong had already surrendered, and tell Du Tong that Li Ruzhang had already surrendered. In any case, the two were separated by thousands of mountains and rivers. How could they communicate with each other?
How could they not surrender?
Therefore, after resting for two days, Ma Wei's order came. He had Niu Bingzhong and Zhang Yanshou split up. Niu Bingzhong would follow Deng Zilong's troops out of Baoxie. Niu Bingzhong would persuade Li Ruzhang to surrender. Zhang Yanshou would go to Lueyang and assist Liu Gu in persuading Du Tong to surrender. Then, they would advance through the Qishan Ancient Road.
Ma Wei personally led the elite troops to Liuba and met up with Deng Zilong there. Then, together with Wang Hui, they would march north along the road that Li Wen had taken to the south.
This was an advance strategy.
The army marched north. Liu Gu would lead the troops to attack Tianshui. Then, together with Du Tong, they would advance in the direction of Guyuan.
Ma Wei would lead the army out of Daisan Pass and attack in the direction of Baoji and Fengxiang Prefecture.
Deng Zilong and Li Ruzhang's troops would go out of Baoxie Pass and attack in the direction of Mei County. Then, they would attack Xi 'an Prefecture along the river. They would seize Tongguan and close the gate of Guanzhong. Then, they would attack the surrounding areas and wait for the other two troops to meet up.
They decided to directly seize the northwest and Guanzhong. Then, the army would leave Tongguan and march eastward to meet up with Xiao Ruxun's northern expedition army.
After the strategy was finalized, everyone looked forward to the future with confidence.
On the second day of the twelfth month of the 26th year of Wanli, Ma Wei led the army to Liuba. He first had a touching meeting with Wang Hui. Then, he interrogated Li Wen. He decided to imprison him and bring him along with the army. When the time came, he would hand him over to Xiao Ruxun.
Then, in Liuba, Ma Wei announced the official start of the second northern expedition. The time, place, and people were on their side. There was no reason not to continue.
Ma Wei led the army in the direction of Daisan Pass. Before that, Niu Bingzhong and Zhang Yanshou had set off respectively to persuade Li Ruzhang and Du Tong to stop fighting. It was not a bad choice to surrender directly.
Then, Deng Zilong led the army in the direction of Baoxie Road.
Liu Gu did not fight a single battle and did not reap any benefits. He mustered all his strength to leave Qishan to attack Tianshui and Guyuan Town. He wanted to accumulate military merits.
Therefore, under such circumstances, the northern expedition of the Sichuan Front Army began again.
Li Ruzhang was not clear about this situation. Anyway, after entering Baoxie Road for a few days, he chose a slightly flatter place to set up camp. He let the army rest there. While exploring the south, he did not intend to continue south.
Would it not be foolish to continue south at this time?
Moreover, he did not have an army supervisor here. He could decide the time to march. Of course, he would not be foolish enough to rush to his death.
With the general situation like this, he still had to consider whether he should lead the army to directly attack Mei County and Xi 'an. He wanted to capture Liu Guangguo, Tan Xisi, and the King of Shu. In that case, it would be a good gift for Xiao Ruxun.
While he was thinking and struggling, Niu Bingzhong came to him. Li Ruzhang was very surprised. When they met and talked, he was even more surprised.
Li Wen was finished. The Zhennan Army had decided to go on a northern expedition. He hoped that he could cooperate and stop fighting. They were all martial artists. What was there to be worried about? Li Wen was finished. Guanzhong and the northwest must belong to the Zhennan Army. Shen Yicheng was finished. Now it was time to bet on Xiao Ruxun.
You and I are the same.
Li Ruzhang thought about it for half an hour and then shook hands with Niu Bingzhong.
To put it bluntly, he did not even need a second to think about it. But thinking for a while could give people the impression that he was loyal. He was not the kind of person who would suck up to others.
Du Song was completely unprepared for this situation. When he heard that Li Ruzhang announced that the army would directly attack Mei County, Du Song felt that he had heard wrongly. It was not until Li Ruzhang announced that he really realized that Li Ruzhang was not lying.
Li Ruzhang was really planning to side with Xiao Ruxun and launch a counterattack.
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