On the way back to Queqiao Pass from Xikang, Situ Yutang never paid any attention to Wufeng, and Wufeng also tactfully did not come to harass the other party. He knew that it seemed a bit unnecessary to say anything else at this time, and at this time he did not have much energy to pay attention to these things, because the battle situation in the east had begun to change greatly.

On October 10, 696, the Taiping Army divided into two groups and headed south, heading straight to Heishan and Longquan Prefectures, and the battle between Taiping Holy Sect entering the heartland of the empire officially kicked off.

On October 13, 696, the commander of the Taiping Army, Yu Zhiyong, led a 100,000 elite Taiping Army troops to fight fiercely with the second, third, and third legions of the Imperial Fourth Legion in the north of Longquan Prefecture. The two sides fought for three days and suffered heavy losses.

On October 14, the Taiping Army Commander Cheng Dayou led 30,000 elite troops out of the road, bypassing the northern natural dangerous Dashanping of Heishan Prefecture, and slid into the hinterland of Heishan Prefecture. Fortunately, the Fifth Division of the Imperial Third Army and the Heishan Security Division, which were stationed in Heishan Prefecture, noticed it in time and intercepted the Taiping Army south of Dashan Prefecture, and the two sides fought fiercely again. Cheng Dayou sent a probe to attract the people of the Taiping Cult who had been prepared in the Heishan Prefecture to take the opportunity to incite. The unexpected imperial army collapsed after being attacked on both sides and the supply line was cut off. Only 8,000 people from the Third Division of the Imperial Third Army were able to escape. The empty Heishan Prefecture was captured by Dayou on October 17.

Cheng Dayou, who took down Heishan Prefecture, led his army to advance eastward without stopping. On October 21, he detoured the flanks of the Longquan Prefecture Empire's garrison, which had not yet been heard. The army of the three divisions of the Empire and the guards of one division were jointly surrounded by Yu Zhiyong's troops and Cheng Dayou, who were reinforced by the Taiping Army. On October 28, the imperial army, which had been exhausted from ammunition and food, was dug up by Cheng Dayou after repeated failures in breaking through the siege, the Bailong River dike, the tributary of the Shanjiang River, broke the water and poured it into water. The imperial army was almost wiped out, and the imperial army was almost wiped out, and only 10,000 troops were left to surrender and rescued. In this service, the main force of the empire's garrison in the Heshuo area lost more than half, and the entire Fourth Legion was still complete.

On October 31, the Taiping Army Yu Zhiyong's troops captured the city of Longquan, which was already unprepared without bloodshed. The entire northern two prefectures of Heshuo County fell. The situation suddenly became extremely bad. The Taiping Sect and the troops formed after occupying Heishan and Longquan, more than 200,000 troops were pressed on the border of the three prefectures in the southern part of the Heshuo area. The entire Heshuo area suddenly fell into extreme panic. The wealthy family of the three prefectures fled to the Jiangnan or Wuhu area to avoid the coming war. Even many middle-class families moved their families to prevent unrestrained disasters after the war.

The imperial capital was also panicked, and rumors changed three times a day. Many visionary clans and big merchants have begun to move their funds and industries to Jiangnan and Wuhu Lakes, and of course, many have moved to the northwest. Although there is a bit remote, at least there seems to be Taiping Army not daring to touch Li Wufeng's tiger beard.

Even Wufeng, who was prepared, was caught off guard by the sudden change in the Heshuo area. The rapid fall of the two northern prefectures in Heshuo put the entire Heshuo County in an extremely dangerous situation. At this time, the Taiping Army had just won a great victory and its morale was strong. The two Heishan Longquan Palaces, Tianshui, Hejian and Jinzhong Prefectures were already flat, and the cavalry could reach it one day and one night. Compared with the Taiping Army, the imperial garrison in the Nanheshuo area was already in the

Absolute disadvantage, not to mention that the tens of thousands of Taiping troops in Longdong can invade Tianshui at any time. If Heshuo is lost, it is a matter of time before the fall of the imperial capital. Although the imperial capital has the most powerful fortifications and defense system on the mainland, the Taiping Army that occupied Heshuo is equivalent to having already taken half of the empire into its hands, and its arrogance will definitely increase in geometric proportions. No matter how strong and powerful an isolated city is, it is probably difficult to deal with it for a long time.

Looking coldly at the terrain deduction map on the sand table, Wufeng gently pinched his jaw with his left hand. It seemed that the Taiping Army was preparing quite well this time. Not only did the troops of Situ Tai and his team remained unmoved in the north, but even the city guard army of Yusufu was soaking mushrooms in Qinghefu County. Situ Jun was also pretending to be deaf and dumb in Jincheng. He even dispatched three divisions of the Third Legion into the Heshuo area, but for some reason, he retreated back and only swirled in the Five Lakes.

"Tian Fang, what do you think?" Wu Feng turned his gaze to Ling Tianfang who had been thinking hard. Ling Tianfang rushed back from Taixuan front line overnight after receiving Wu Feng's order. The huge change in the situation was also beyond his expectations. Originally, even if the Taiping Army attacked Heshuo, it would have been a protracted battle. Unexpectedly, the Taiping Army was in a state of unstoppable power, which surprised Ling Tianfang. Especially the Taiping Army Cheng Dayou's troops sent surprise troops to conquer Heishan, and used the water-breaking strategy to flood the Longquan Empire's army to make Ling Tianfang feel more extraordinary.

"Sir, it seems that the Taiping Army has made up its mind to turn Heshuo into their territory this time. It has used such a large amount of troops and has colluded with His Highness and the Third Highness in private. If the situation continues like this, I am afraid that the Heshuo area will really become the Taiping Army's pocket." Ling Tianfang, who had been silent for a long time, finally spoke.

"Well, Situ Tai and Situ Jun are just not able to control their troops for their own selfish interests, which is barely unreasonable. However, Yusufu's guy also pretended to be a turtle at such a critical moment. I don't know who lent him such courage. He is not afraid that His Majesty the Emperor will cut off his head?" Li Wufeng's words were no longer cynical in his usual words. The huge change in the situation in Heshuo forced him to reconsider his next plan. He originally planned to take advantage of the Taiping Army's battle with Heshuo and fall into a protracted war before sending troops, but the combat effectiveness and command wisdom of the Taiping Army surprised him.

"Sir, have you decided to hit Lu Long or Long Dong first?" Ling Tianfang couldn't help asking. Seeing the coach's face showing a hesitation that he had never felt before, Ling Tianfang was a little surprised. Could it be that Wufeng had any other concerns at this time?

Shaking his head, Wufeng turned around and walked up with his hands behind his back. The atmosphere in the room seemed particularly dull. Ling Tianfang couldn't understand what the coach was thinking at this time. More than 100,000 troops gathered in Lu Long and Queqiao Pass, and just waited for an order, but the coach was hesitant at this time. This was not like Wufeng's style.

"Tianfang, the Taiping Army is here to send a messenger." As if he had made up his mind, Wufeng raised his head and looked out the window and said lightly.

"Oh?" Ling Tianfang was shocked. It turned out that he did not make any comments, but just quietly waited for the coach's later words.

"I brought Bo Jinchen's handwritten letter. They were willing to hand over Hanzhong Prefecture to us in exchange for not sending troops to Heshuo and Beiyuan for a year. If we keep the agreement in a year, they will hand over Longdong Prefecture to us." Wufeng's tone was very plain, but the content of his words was as heavy as Qianjun.

A trace of splendor flashed in his eyes, and Ling Tian was overjoyed: "This is a good thing. My subordinates see that the deal may be completed. As long as they get Hanzhong and Longdong, they go south and east, and let us go. Since they have proposed this way, there must be a way to fulfill it. How to ensure the implementation of the treaty between the two parties."

Wufeng sighed lightly. He knew that this condition would definitely be a great thing for Ling Tianfang. The purpose of sending troops eastward was to expand the territory, especially areas with relatively developed economic foundations, which were the target of the northwest. Hanzhong Prefecture had superior natural conditions, developed economy, and easy defense and difficult attack. It was a place of dominance and was always one of his goals. Of course, it was impossible to win without any attack. However... such a transaction was probably difficult to cover people's eyes and ears. Once it was revealed, he would fall into a situation where thousands of people were pointed out.

Ling Tianfang was not a native imperial family, so he naturally didn't care much about the opinions of the people from the empire. In his opinion, strength determines everything. As long as he can strengthen his own strength, all opinions and public opinion are nothing but vague things, and it is difficult to play a decisive role. But he was born and raised in the empire, and now he is a vassal of the empire. If he doesn't save him, he or she may even collude with the rebels, so he is afraid that he will not dare to do such things.

"The way of fulfillment has not been discussed yet, but I'm afraid we can't accept the other party's conditions." Wufeng scratched his head in distress, obviously helpless: "These things cannot be hidden from the human eye. The impact will be extremely unfavorable for us to enter the Central Plains in the future to gain people's hearts. We cannot be too short-sighted, and only caring about immediate interests will make us lose more things."

After the excitement, Ling Tianfang gradually became colder and slowly considered the problem from the perspective of his superiors. Tanghe people had a deep old feelings and hated and despised the betrayal. This time, the other party spent so much money to naturally drag Wufeng into an invisible quagmire. Once Wufeng lost the foundation of public opinion, if he wanted to gain a foothold in the Central Plains, he would probably cause a lot of trouble. But this bait was indeed big enough that Ling Tianfang couldn't help but salivate.

"Bo Jinchen is really willing to give up. He dares to exchange two mansions in one breath. He is so brave." Ling Tianfang frowned and thought hard: "But even a party can do this big deal? And they don't even have a detailed plan for such a big deal? Isn't it too hasty or abrupt?"

Wufeng's eyes also lit up, and he raised his head and the two of them collided: "Tianfang, do you mean that these guys from Taiping Sect use delaying strategies?"

"It should be no mistake. I have analyzed You Daofang. Although this person is smart, he attaches too much importance to the gains and losses of one city and one place. Lu Long's gains and losses fully illustrate this point, which is very related to Bo Jinchen's freedom of restraint in this regard. It is not You Daofang's style in exchange for Hanzhong and Longdong prefectures in one breath. Bo Jinchen cannot make decisions like this. This only means that they have no intention of implementing this plan at all." Ling Tianfang carefully said: "Their purpose is obvious, to paralyze us, let us slow down the pace of eastward advance, and to win them more time!"
Chapter completed!