Number of People

Chapter 2149 Gui Zi Juan Bao Qin asked for advice, Xiu Yan made a decision

Duan Xipeng did not dare to make a sudden decision.

If there were just a bunch of warriors like them, that would be no problem. He could make the decision categorically. But with a few roles similar to mistresses, he had to think twice and listen to the other party's opinions, even if the other party kept saying that Everything I say is based on my own professional advice.

When Duan Xipeng reported all the comprehensive information to Xue Baoqin, Lin Miaoyu and Xing Xiuyan, Miaoyu could not make up her mind and could only keep silent. However, Xue Baoqin and Xing Xiuyan both felt their hearts sinking. The rebellion was coming so fiercely. , greatly exceeded previous expectations.

It seemed that Jiangzhou had been lost. Fortunately, the news from the scouts came back that Jiangzhou had just been lost. The rebels were still looting the city, leaving some time to digest the new results.

But the scout was also discovered by the rebels. How much time can be left for our side? If this matter goes south at night, what is the chance that the enemy will catch up and chase our group?

"Jiulang, you said that enemy troops appeared in Wenxi and Anyi, and the Yi family was lost two days ago. Then when do you think the Yi family's rebel army will be able to cut off this post road at the latest?" Xue Baoqin's expression remained unchanged, meaning Calm attitude.

 At this point she knew she must not panic.

Although Duan Xipeng and Feng Jinchang are leading the army, this army has not been formed for a long time. Duan Jiabing, Feng Jiabing, and some Minzhuang, although they all have some combat experience, they still need time and tempering to integrate.

Now many people are still looking at their group. If the three of them panic, or even look lost and confused, it is inevitable that these recruited people will have other thoughts.

The children of Duan and Feng are not in danger, but what about those Minzhuang? Once chaos breaks out, then this group of people will have no power to restrain the chicken, and they will really die without a place to die.

"Wenxi is about seventy miles away from the Yi clan, and the road is not easy to walk. The rebel army has just captured the Yi clan, so they may not attack Wenxi. The appearance of scouts is just an inertial investigation, but The situation in Anyi is more serious, because the Yi family is only fifty miles away from Anyi, and there are salt ponds near Anyi, and Si Yancheng is twenty miles west of the county seat, where the salt envoys from Hedong and Shaanxi are located."

Duan Xipeng swallowed his saliva and said, "The place where the Salt Envoy Department is located will have a lot of salt and money. Of course, it is also guarded by guards. The main responsibility of Puzhou Guards Qianhu Post is to guard Si Yancheng. It is reported that , the Guards should have a battalion of more than 2,000 men stationed here."

"Siyan City?" Baoqin suddenly realized, "I know, this is the old Yanshi City, which was built on the salt pond. In the Han Dynasty, there was a Siyan Commandery here, so it was named Siyancheng. It is now the capital of Hedong and Shaanxi. We are really unlucky that the Salt Transport Department is here, so the rebels will definitely come here."

"I will definitely come, but the key is time. The rebel army also suffered a lot of casualties when they captured the Yi clan. In addition, they looted and divided the spoils. They will definitely stay in the Yi clan for a few days. Moreover, they also have the local rebel army here to join forces. They know Si Yancheng Garrison, the guards guarding Qianhu Station in Puzhou should be the most powerful force in the entire Shanxi Dusi. Without them, firstly, the court pays attention to it, and secondly, with the support of salt tax, Jin Dynasty will have higher requirements in all aspects. The Pingyang Guard, Ningshan Guard, Luzhou Guard and even the Qinzhou Guard in the south are not as good as the guards. Perhaps only the Zhenxi Guard and Ningwu Guard in the north, which are directly controlled by Shanxi Town, can compare in terms of combat effectiveness. superior."

Shanxi Dusi is much stronger than Shaanxi Dusi, and his performance is much better. Among the nine guards and nine institutes under his control (two of them are second-level institutes), the eight guards are Taiyuan left, right, and avant-garde, Luzhou guard, and Pingyang Wei, Zhenwu Wei, Sun Chuanting's family belongs to Zhenwu Wei, Fenzhou Wei, Zhenxi Wei, Ningshan Wei. Except for Yanmen Institute and Cizhou Institute, the other seven are all under the direct control of the Dusi. The institutes include Ninghua Institute, Ningwu Institute, Bajiao Institute, Pianguan Institute, Laoyingbao Institute, Baode Institute, and Puzhou Institute.

Among the nine guards, the most powerful ones are known as the three guards and the four guards, Zhenwu Guard, Zhenxi Guard, and Taiyuan Left Guard. The four are Laoyingbao, Ningwu, Pianguan, and Puzhou.

It can be said that the strongest troops in the Shanxi Guards are basically the northern guards under the direct control of Shanxi Town and only nominally affiliated with Shanxi Dusi. There is only one guard from Puzhou in the south. One of the reasons is that Puzhou The status of the state is different, and it strangles the throats of the three provinces. The second is where the salt pond is located. Hedong and Shaanxi both transfer salt envoys here.

"You mean that the rebels are going to attack Anyi, and they may have to make some preparations?" Baoqin keenly captured the meaning of Duan Xipeng's words.

"This is just my judgment, and it may not be accurate. Because according to the news from Long Jinwei, there were more than ten rebel armies attacking the Yi family. In addition to Zijin Liang, Yizi Wang, Huo Songjiang, and Eight-clawed Dragon from Shaanxi, Outside the department, there are also seven or eight local rebel armies in Shanxi. The number of people inside varies from one hundred thousand to twenty or thirty thousand. No one can tell what their combat effectiveness is."

"The total number of guards in Puzhou is two battalions and more than 6,000 people. However, it is said that Shanxi Town transferred one battalion when it replenished the frontier troops in the early stage. Three units were transferred from the guards stationed in Puzhou. Two of the Puzhou guards stationed in Yancheng were mobilized to form one battalion, so now there is only one incomplete battalion of the guards in Yancheng, with more than 2,000 men from three divisions."

Unknowingly, Duan Xipeng regarded Baoqin as his boss when reporting the situation.

"Even if the rebel army only has 20,000 or 30,000, even if half of it comes to Anyi, there will still be more than 10,000 people. It is difficult to say whether the guards of Puzhou can resist it." Duan Xipeng made the final conclusion.

 This difficult problem faced Xue Baoqin, Lin Miaoyu and Xing Xiuyan.

Xue Baoqin also hesitated. Five times or even ten times the enemy was coming. Can the more than 2,000 people from Puzhou withstand it?

This is the Guards, not the Border Army. No matter how capable the Guards are, there is still a gap between them and the Border Army. Even the two thousand Border Army may not be able to say that they can withstand several times the siege of the rebel army.

"Miaoyu, Xiuyan, two sisters, what do you think?" Baoqin looked at Xiuyan, and Miaoyu just followed.

Miaoyu could only shake her head and look at Xiuyan.

Xiuyan calmed down and said, "Jiulang, Silang, you said that the rebels will definitely attack Si Yancheng, but will they definitely attack Anyi County? Let's bypass the Yanchi..."

"It is not feasible to bypass the salt pond, because the northeastern side of the salt pond is Shenghui Town, where the inspection department is located, and there is also a customs office. The rebel army must capture that place first. If we go around, it will be easily detected by the rebel scouts. "Feng Jinchang replied.

The Inspection Department of Shenghui Town mainly targets salt thieves and illicit salt dealers. The tax card is also located there, and part of the tax money is usually temporarily stored there. It is also a major target of the rebels.

 In comparison, Anyi County was not as coveted by the rebels as Siyancheng and Shenghui Town.

"Is it possible that there are still money in Siyancheng and Shenghui Town now?" Xiuyan couldn't help but ask.

"Back to Aunt Xing, we don't know if there is money or silver, but there must be some salt in Si Yancheng, and the rebels will not care about it. As long as they believe there is, they will definitely come." Feng Jinchang explained.

Baoqin and Xiuyan both exchanged helpless glances. There was simply no way out, "Then what do you think we should do if we want to bypass this dangerous section of road?"

Duan Xipeng hesitated for a moment, "Then we can only go west to Jiangxian County, but Jiangxian County is almost all steep and mountainous. Firstly, it is difficult for carriages and horses to travel. Secondly, due to the influence of the rebel army from the west, I am afraid that the situation in Jiangxian County may not be optimistic. , maybe it seems safe now, but maybe it will be a fire once we pass."

Xing Xiuyan shook his head, took a deep breath, and then said: "Then Jiulang, if we put aside other factors, just from your perspective, what is the best way to go?"

Duan Xipeng gritted his teeth, ignored Feng Jinchang's gaze, and said directly: "Then we will cross the river immediately and go south as quickly as possible. We can cross Suoshui before arriving at Wenxi and rush along the south bank of Suushui. Even if the rebel army captures Wenxi, they will not be able to cross the Su River for the time being. They will at most be active on the north bank of the Su River. This way we can pass Wenxi and enter Anyi before the rebel army crosses the Su River. If it is really dangerous, We then diverted to the southwest and passed through Xia County, but that was a last resort, because taking Xia County meant that we had to take a longer detour, which was also very risky."

Xing Xiuyan nodded: "Very good," and then turned around: "Sister, I think that's it. We'll cross the river right away. We sisters will have to work harder. Hold on, we won't rest if we can. We'll go south at night and try to get there as early as possible. Guo Wenxi, once we get to Xiezhou, the situation will be much better."

Xue Baoqin didn't expect that Xing Xiuyan would become so decisive all of a sudden and make the decision just like that. He just put the words on his head. If he didn't make the decision, it would be bad. After thinking about it, he could only nod: "Okay. That’s it, Kuro, Shiro, just do it. If there are any setbacks or even accidents because of this, it will not be your fault. It can only be said that our sisters’ fate is at odds..."

 Duan Xipeng and Feng Jinchang were both shocked. They quickly stood up, clasped their fists, and clapped their fists. "Don't worry, three grandmas. Even if our bodies are gone, we will ensure that the three grandmas get to Xi'an smoothly!"

Duan Xipeng and his party were still very strong in execution. After issuing a series of orders, they began to cross the river.

Although only one small boat was found, which could only accommodate one carriage across the river at a time, it was better to just cross one carriage in the best condition and abandon the other carriages. A few horses could also be saved, and other unimportant supplies could be used. Discard them all.

After crossing the river, Duan Xipeng continued to send out scouts to keep track of the movements of the rebels from all sides, and the rest of the group quickly headed south.

 (End of this chapter)