Chapter 409: Zhang Zhun wants time, Zhu Dadian wants Qingzhou City!

"Sir, no trace of the enemy was found."

"Maybe they have retreated."

Then, Zhu Han's cavalry battalion came back and reported that it was Zhang Zhun's cavalry and had long known where to go. Based on the current situation, there should be only a few teams of thieves cavalry appearing around Jinan City. They were the ones who attacked Qingzhou Guards and Jinan Guards.

"I really didn't find anything?" Zhu Dadian asked gloomyly.

Of course he would not believe that Zhang Zhun really sent only two or three hundred people to harass Jinan City. If he really did that, Zhang Zhun would go crazy. However, where was Zhang Zhun's people hiding? What was their purpose of coming to Jinan City? Also, where was Zhang Zhun himself at this moment?

"Perhaps, they have withdrawn..." The people in the cavalry answered in a less affirmative manner.

"I hope so." Zhu Dadian frowned and said to himself.

If Zhang Zhu just sent someone to Jinan City to fire a few shots, provoke himself in form, and show the force of the thief army, Zhu Dadian would be relieved. However, if Zhang Zhu's purpose was not formal, but had a practical purpose, his actions would be interesting.

"Urgent report! Jiyang was attacked!"

"Urgent report! Yucheng was attacked!"

"Urgent report! Changqing was attacked!"

"Urgent report! Qihe was attacked!"

Just when Zhu Dadian thought that Zhang Zhun's cavalry might have fled far away, the counties around Jinan City rushed to send reports that were completely different from the cavalry battalion. The counties near Jinan Prefecture all said that the traces of the Hu Ben Army's cavalry were found. The cavalry of the Hu Ben Army were shot from afar, killing more than a dozen defenders, and then disappeared.

Due to the sudden appearance of the Hu Ben Army cavalry, the people in various counties were greatly frightened and had to close the city gates and wait for assistance. At the same time, there were a large number of rumors spreading inside and outside of each county. Most of the people were rumoring that the Scent of Incense was getting up to cause trouble again. Even some county magistrates wanted to get an accurate reply from Zhu Dadian, whether the Scent of Incense was really getting up to cause trouble.

"His grandma!"

"Zhang Zhun, you bastard!"

Zhu Dadian couldn't help but curse.

Although as a literati, it is very uncultured to curse like this, Zhu Dadian still couldn't help but curse it. If he didn't curse it, the anger in his heart would be unable to be vented. Zhang Zhun was really too arrogant. It was not enough to attack Jinan City, but also attacked all the surrounding counties! Did he really regard Shandong as his territory?

"Carriage Camp! Continue to find out the situation!"

"Tell all counties! Close the city gates!"

"It's all some scattered enemy cavalry, why are you panic?"

"The Scent of Incense Sect has been suppressed and has nothing to do with the Scent of Incense Sect!"

"For those who spread rumors, we must take effective measures to eliminate them!"

Zhu Dadian was so angry that his teeth were itchy, but he had to work hard to calm down and slowly launch his counterattack. While scolding these county magistrates for being incompetent, he also had to rely on these county magistrates to do things. He knew that this was Zhang Zhun's conspiracy. The so-called attack on the county town was just to add pressure to him Zhu Dadian.

What Zhang Zhun needs most now is time. Zhang Zhun used to be huddled in Aoshanwei and Lingshanwei, with only two counties in territory. Now he has controlled Laizhou Prefecture at once, and the territory has expanded several times and cannot be digested in the short term. Therefore, Zhang Zhun must actively stop the counterattack of the officers and soldiers and buy time for digesting the territory of Laizhou Prefecture.

Sending some scattered scattered soldiers to mess around Jinan Prefecture was Zhang Zhun's main purpose. If Zhu Dadian was entangled by these scattered cavalry and was frustrated, he would not have time to recover Qingzhou City. Of course, Zhu Dadian would not be fooled. Zhu Dadian concluded that Zhang Zhun's cavalry would be killed by a thousand people. Cavalry needed war horses, and Zhang Zhun's war horses could only be horse thieves from local Laizhou Prefecture, with at most more than a thousand war horses.

"Order all troops to be ready to set off!"

"Target! Laizhou City!"

After returning to Jinan City, Zhu Dadian immediately issued an order to march.

Zhang Zhun wanted to obstruct the counterattack of the officers and soldiers through the purpose of harassment and gain time to completely control Laizhou Prefecture. Zhu Dadian was determined to ignore these sporadic cavalry and march directly into Qingzhou City and attack Huanglong. As long as he took Qingzhou City, he could continue to march towards Laizhou Prefecture and march towards Zhang Zhun's hinterland. At that time, he did not believe that Zhang Zhun dared to wander outside.

Zhu Dadian thought that these cavalry of the Hu Ben Army could not conquer the city at all, and even if they attack the smallest county town, it would be impossible. The most urgent task is to concentrate the main force of the army and recover Qingzhou City. Since there is no danger in each town, why are hesitating? Soldiers are very fast, and Zhu Dadian understands it very well.

"Shao Jinguang!"

"Meng Xiangjun!"

"Reorganize your troops and set off right away!"

Zhu Dadian shouted angrily.

There were four generals under his command, including Liu Zeqing and Song Degang. However, Zhu Dadian did not trust Liu Zeqing and Song Degang. The relationship between these two people and Zhang Zhu was a bit ambiguous. Even if they did not have the intention to surrender to Zhang Zhu, they might not have the full strength when the two armies fought in the future. Moreover, both of them seemed to have been shocked by Zhang Zhun and had no courage to fight against Zhang Zhun. The battle had not yet begun and their morale was gone.

Therefore, Zhu Dadian decided to use two other generals to attack Qingzhou City, which were Shao Jinguang and Meng Xiangjun. At the same time, Zhu Dadian also ordered some troops to be mobilized from Liu Zeqing and Song Degang. Although Liu Zeqing and Song Degang were unwilling, who would be willing to hand over the military power in their hands, in order to clear their relationship with Zhang Zhu, they had to agree in the end. Therefore, although there were only two general officers, the troops under Zhu Dadian were still maintained at more than 40,000 people.

After sending his own cavalry to patrol the surroundings of Jinan Prefecture, the cavalry of the Huben Army temporarily disappeared. While the various troops were preparing for combat, Jinan City was not disturbed by gunfire. However, Zhang Zhun's worries were temporarily resolved, and the troubles within the officers and soldiers came again.

The soldiers led by Zhu Dadian just returned from Fengyang Mansion and were expecting to rest for a while. They heard that they were going to fight again, so they were naturally not happy. Moreover, the rewards for the Fengyang Mansion battle have not been finally issued. The soldiers who have made meritorious service have not received the money yet. The soldiers are purely recruited, and a large part of the purpose of everyone's fighting is for the sake of money. If you have no money, it is all fake.

The guards who were forced to join the battle were complaining. They usually had no share of their money and food, and no one would care about them when they starved to death. They had to follow them when they fought. So some people simply hid themselves and didn't know where to go. In the end, the two guard commanders, and ten thousand households, spent a lot of effort to mobilize less than three thousand people, most of whom were the servants of each commander themselves.

There was no choice but to take out 50,000 taels of silver and first distribute the rewards of the Fengyang Mansion for the court to stimulate everyone's morale. The guards' soldiers were also willing to give it a little. The 50,000 taels of silver was actually not much, and the officers in the middle had to routinely deduct part of it. In the end, the soldiers received only one tael of silver. However, this was already the limit of Zhu Dadian. After all, he was not the governor of the canal transportation and did not have that much silver.

Just now, the troops were calmed down, and Zhu Han sent someone to report that the cavalry under his command was attacked by the Hu Ben Army cavalry while patrolling, losing more than 100 people and the horses were also taken away. The other cavalry, worried about being attacked by the Hu Ben Army cavalry, hurriedly retreated. Therefore, the number of cavalry in the Hu Ben Army and where they were distributed was not very clear. In general, the cavalry of the Hu Ben Army may not be few. Perhaps, all the Hu Ben Army cavalry were coming.

"Where are the Hu Ben cavalry you caught?" Zhu Dadian asked urgently.

"Not caught..." Zhu Han answered in shame.

"You pig head! You are a cavalry, and he is also a cavalry! Why are you the only ones who were beaten but can't beat them?" Zhu Dahuan was really angry and wanted to strangle his nephew to death. Why did he lose his chain at a critical moment when he looked at a person who was smart and smart? More than a thousand cavalrymen left the city and wandered around, but no bandits were caught?

"We..." Zhu Han felt very unfair, but he didn't know what to say.

According to the description of his subordinates, the cavalry of the Hu Ben Army was so vicious. They hid in the dark and ambushed the small groups of officers and cavalrymen. If they encountered a large group of people from the cavalry camp, they immediately fled and ran far away. The cavalry of the official army did not dare to chase too far, and finally had to give up. However, once you gave up chasing, they quietly turned back and hung behind your butt to look for opportunities to attack.

I don’t know what weapons the Hu Ben cavalry uses, with a long range and a very accurate head. If several official cavalry encounters the Hu Ben cavalry, the consequences will be absolutely tragic. After a gunshot, these official cavalry will be done. The Hu Ben cavalry then comes over, stabs each official cavalry, and then pulls a war horse and runs. Even if more than a dozen official cavalry encounters them, they are often beaten to pieces.

Zhu Han felt that the cavalry of the Hu Ben Army did not come for Jinan City at all, but for the cavalry camp. They were not interested in the weapons and other equipment of the cavalry. The only thing they wanted was the cavalry's war horses. Intermittently, hundreds of war horses disappeared from the cavalry camp. There was no way, so he had to order the cavalry's large forces to concentrate on their operations. However, in this way, the cavalry's flexibility was lost and it was impossible to reconnaise too large places.

"You didn't beat Zhang Zhun to death?" Zhu Dadian felt worse and worse as he heard it. He said in anger.

"No..." Zhu Han did not dare to lie in front of his uncle. Even if he was extremely ashamed, he had to say honestly.

"You, you, you... you really angered me!" Zhu Dadian wanted the other party to make up a lie for him and comfort his fragile heart, but Zhu Han was still so honest, which really made him feel uncomfortable.

"Uncle, I'm worried that if we go to Qingzhou City along the way, these people will probably be in dispersed! If they follow us all the way, what should we do?" After Zhu Han was scolded by his uncle, he cautiously raised a fatal question.

Recovering Qingzhou City is a goal that officers and soldiers must achieve. This means that officers and soldiers must set out from Jinan City, cross three hundred miles to reach Qingzhou City. Along the way, if these cavalry of the Hu Ben Army appear like ghosts and continue to harass them, they have no effective way to deal with it.

It takes about 300 miles from Jinan City to Qingzhou City. The infantry will take three to four days. If the movement is slower, it will even take six to seven days. If the Hu Ben Army cavalry is harassing day and night, Zhu Han is worried that he will not be able to reach Qingzhou City for half a month. To successfully march, he must eliminate Zhang Zhu's cavalry in advance. The problem is that Zhu Han does not have this ability! As long as the cavalry goes out of the city, he will become the prey of the Hu Ben Army cavalry.

“The plan remains unchanged!”

“Go out now!”

Zhu Dadian said with a pale face.

No matter what kind of conspiracy Zhang Zhun uses, he must attack.

His wealth and life are all maintained on Qingzhou City, so what is the loss of a little man?

...

Yantou Town, north of Jinan City.

It is less than thirty miles away from Jinan City, and cavalry can reach it with just one impact. Because the terrain here is relatively high, standing here, you can see the movements around you.

At this moment, on the desolate slope, a red war horse stood alone, lowering its head to gnaw on the green grass that had just sprouted on the ground. Zhang Zhun stood beside the war horse, holding a thousand-mile mirror and looking around. On both sides of the war horse, there was a tiger gun and two eagle-eyed guns hanging. All the snipers around him went out to move, and only one of him was left here.

The surroundings were quiet, and there was no sign of people. The surrounding fields were not full of vitality. March was originally the season for spring plowing. In Laizhou Prefecture, people who were busy in the fields could be seen everywhere, but there were no traces of spring plowing here. This is the outer edge of Jinan City, on the edge of the Yellow River, with a flat terrain and fertile land. Logically, it should be a relatively rich place. Unfortunately, Zhang Zhun could not feel this at all here.
Chapter completed!