"I know." Zhang Xing waved his hand to signal the other party to relax. "I saw the documents you sent from Gaoyang in advance, and there is no reason to stop you from trying to persuade you to surrender. It would be a good thing if you could persuade a few Youzhou generals to surrender...

It’s just Chief Zhang, I have a few words to tell you in advance.”

When Zhang Gongshen heard this, how could he relax? Instead, he became serious: "Chief, please speak."

"Boss Zhang, you are a man of both ability and political integrity. This is why I and the gang value you. But the more you do this, the more I need to make it clear to you." Zhang Xing said calmly. "I allow you.

The reason for persuading surrender is because the military mission has been completed, or this military operation is too easy, and things can be done according to political considerations. And from a political perspective, naturally some favors can be said...I have listened to people for a long time

We have said, 'Politics without human feelings will not last long', and this is probably the case today... However, when we do these things today, we must understand in our hearts that this is politics, and once things are classified as military, the so-called human feelings will be the opposite.

Something bad will happen.”

At this point, Zhang Xing pointed to the person in front of him, who didn't know whether it was a soup bowl or a sword: "I will drink from the golden cup together, and you will drink from the white blade... We must be prepared for surrendering."

The people around him didn't interrupt, but for some reason, there was a sudden feeling of silence after these words. Xu Dalang even raised his eyes to look at the pale-faced Hou Junshu opposite.

"I know." Zhang Gongshen stood up and assured. "If you can persuade me, I will persuade you. If you cannot persuade me, I will kill you. I will never miss the official business."

"Go after eating." Zhang Xing reminded kindly.

Zhang Gong Shenfu sat down again, finished the cake and drank the soup, then put on his helmet, picked up the Qingming Sword and left... Zhang Xing seemed to have remembered Hou Junshu at this time, and called him to sit down and eat the cake.

Hou Jun Shuzhan tremblingly took his seat without mentioning it. On the other side, Zhang Gongshen left the town, took dozens of his cavalry, and headed for the battlefield in the northeast.

They had barely traveled a mile, and when the town behind them was still clearly visible, they came face to face with a full battalion of soldiers and horses. It was none other than Su Jingfang and his subordinates who had been awarded the Hundred Mile Sword at the conference at the end of last year.

The two sides met on the official road, and Zhang Gongshen naturally asked: "Chief Su, why are you going west, but there are also Youzhou troops besieged in the west?"

Su Jingfang quickly reined in his horse and waved his hands, feeling a little frustrated at the same time: "No, my camp is at the far west of the battlefield. It's just the division... It's just the military order from Li Longtou. I was told to rush forward as soon as possible to block the west side of Xushui to prevent the ghosts.

The Youzhou army fled from the west, but the battle went so smoothly. Within half an hour of blocking the west, the Youzhou army was completely defeated. I was about to go east, but another military order came, telling me to continue.

West, be a northwest flanking vanguard for the chief and the leader."

What else could Zhang Gongshen say, he could only nod his head, and then asked the other party if he knew about the several Youzhou Army strongholds that were still surrounded. After receiving the news, he hurried on his way.

As a result, just after passing this camp and walking no more than two miles, I met another group of people. They were a large group of local people supporting the elderly and children. They were returning south under the leadership of a group of sergeants and had been controlled.

At home... it is obvious that the situation has developed too fast, and the place where these people were originally hiding has now become a war zone.

Zhang Gongshen had already taken the initiative to move into the fields to get out of the way, but he remembered the behavior of some Youzhou Army prisoners after the riot last night, and couldn't help but come over to remind them, telling these people to be careful and distinguish between ourselves and the enemy.

In this way, although Zhang Gongshen was determined to save his brother from Youzhou, he actually encountered a lot of things along the way... fleeing people, injured soldiers, transferred troops, including patrols from the military law camp

The troops were enforcing military law, and the defeated Youzhou army was taking advantage of the chaos to plunder. Of course, they would inevitably encounter battles.

This was not over yet. Zhang Gongshen, who was in an increasingly complicated mood, came to the first scheduled place, but was dismayed to find that Youzhou General Zhao Bazhu abandoned the army again and left, and all the remaining soldiers surrendered to General Xu Shiren.

So we could only hurry up and rush to the place where Bai Xiangui was besieged. Halfway there, we realized that Bai Xiangui had just tried to break out of the siege. Wang Shuyong, who was in charge of the battle, had ordered to deliberately let go of the north, and now he had fled north.

Zhang Gongshen became more and more anxious. He abandoned his guards and horses, jumped up, and went to the north to search. Then he found out on the edge of Xushui that there were troops besieging a Youzhou army that was obviously still resistant.

There is still a flag of "Youzhou General Manager Luo" flying in the military formation.

Zhang Gongshen fell behind and came to find the general in charge of the siege. When he saw him, he couldn't help but be surprised and uneasy.

It turned out that the commander of the battalion who was chasing the hardest and fighting the most fiercely was Dou Xiaoniang, who had just been promoted to leader and led the troops, and the subordinates he led were surprisingly formed from the old troops who had eliminated the leaders from the entire army...

How could such soldiers fight so fiercely?

But after thinking about it, I can understand that when Dou Xiaoniang was promoted to leader, she encountered quite a few leaders who failed her. She was eager to prove herself, and her talent and ability were not bad, so it was natural.

Correspondingly, Zhang Gongshen was also worried that the other party would not be willing to cooperate.

"Do you have the military orders from Chief Zhang, Deputy Commander Xu, and the leaders?" Sure enough, there was no burqa, but the armor was covered with blood stains dried by Lihuo Qi. It was as if Dou Xiaoniang had added burqas out of thin air, and she was obviously dissatisfied.

.

"After receiving the chief's command, I am allowed to persuade him to surrender freely." Zhang Gongshen responded seriously.

"Then go!" Although Dou Xiaoniang was obviously emotional, she obeyed immediately. "I will let the troops stabilize for the time being."

While Zhang Gongshen was pleasantly surprised, he couldn't help but feel a little moved in his heart... He was keenly aware that the young leader in front of him might be the first young leader in the gang who had been fully trained at the grassroots level and then grown up.

In this regard, not even Han Erlang can compare with him, nor is he on the same level as Wang Xiongdan, Jia Runshi, and Ma Ping'er.

"It won't take too long." With this thought, coupled with Chief Zhang's instructions when he came, Zhang Gongshen immediately responded solemnly. "If I can't come back within two quarters of an hour, you will attack immediately... something is not right, I will advance

I will tell you when I escape."

Only then did Dou Xiaoniang relax a little.

After a while, Zhang Gongshen, who had lost his armor and wore only a new-style red blouse and a sword, borrowed a horse and rode alone to the banner of "Youzhou General Manager Luo" on the edge of Xushui.

When the two parties met, it turned out that Bai Xiangui was waiting here.

But Zhang Gongshen's eyes first fell on a corpse under his banner. The corpse was wearing a pair of gorgeous armor, but it was Qin Gong who also belonged to the Eighteenth Cavalry of Yanyun in the past. Bai Xiangui, who was obviously injured, stood up hard and looked at himself.

Qin Gong, who died beside him, could not hide his sadness.

Immediately, the two people who were considered the most outstanding among the eighteen riders of Yanyun began to face each other.

Zhang Gongshen suppressed all kinds of complicated emotions and spoke first, but he did not talk about brotherly feelings. Instead, he talked about it from an unexpected angle: "Xue Changxiong died. Although Hejian's defeat is inevitable, but he died so quickly, it is still

Because his subordinate Dou Ru was a vanguard and broke the bridge on the battlefield, forcing him to fight to the death alone..."

Bai Xiangui was obviously stunned for a moment. He first looked back at Xushui, who was still smoking behind him, and then looked at Zhang Gongshen, with a puzzled face: "Dou Ru?"

"good."

"Didn't he have a grudge against the gang for killing his father?"

"Chief Zhang also asked him this..." Zhang Gongshen then recounted the words that Dou Ru had said in front of Zhang Xing and Li Ding without any omission, and finally pointed out the key point. "Brother Bai, I said this is

I want to tell you, stop deceiving yourself and others... Even a noble boy like Dou Ru knows that the situation in the world is clear, and those who can compete for supremacy... At least the only one in Hebei who can compete for supremacy in the world is Gang, who has already established his mighty virtue.

The general trend has been reached, whether it is Hejian or Youzhou, they are just meat in people's mouths and are destined to be swallowed."

Bai Xiangui listened carefully and was silent for a moment. He didn't refute, but just took advantage of the situation and asked: "So, two years ago, you, Lao Zhang, realized that only help can achieve things, so you left early?"

This statement was obviously meant to be sarcastic.

"That's exactly it." Zhang Gongshen answered calmly. "When I went there before, of course there were some reasons and reasons, but I didn't understand what those reasons were... But today I have woken up... Brother Bai, let me ask you, you

What do you think we rely on to conquer the world?"

"Of course he has a big fist and a lot of energy." Bai Xiangui saw that the other party was not overwhelmed by his words at all, and even became more sincere, which in turn made him a little frustrated. "Otherwise? What if the three masters hadn't taken down Wei Dadao at once last night?

How come we don't even have a chance to fight back? If the three masters weren't there, Dou Ru is so smart, how could he dare to disobey that golden sword?"

"Brother Bai is right." Zhang Gongshen is still sincere. "And not only are the three masters helping themselves to form elixirs, but the number of elixirs they can condense is more than that of Youzhou and Hejian combined... But I dare to ask Brother Bai,

Why do these masters and heroes submit to the gang? Don't you know any of them? Don't you know the ability and courage of those people? Why don't they come to Youzhou?"

Bai Xiangui was refuted again and lost the strength to speak.

"I'm here to tell Brother Bai what's going on. That's because the gang values ​​not only the fists, but also the system, the people's hearts, the laws and regulations, and the people in the fields." At this point, Zhang Gongshen, who had always been calm, finally felt a little calm.

He became excited. "I was just vague before, but now I have been helping for a few years. Today, I finally understand this truth... Brother Bai! If you want to do big things, you must have something upright! But Luo Shu really doesn't have this! He

You attach too much importance to deceitful ways and don’t follow the right path!”

Bai Xiangui was finally stunned, but he lowered his head and thought for a few breaths, and then tried his best to refute: "You are right, if you can persuade him well, wait for the time..."

"There is no time left." Zhang Gongshen reminded the other party. "The Youzhou Army will be dead today... Luo Shu didn't even realize this and ran away! He was so used to doing this kind of thing that he never had any carelessness in his heart.

If you care about personal gains and losses, you will end up losing everything.”

Bai Xiangui looked back at Qin Gong's body, pursed his lips, and said nothing.

"Brother Bai, please surrender." Zhang Gongshen bowed his hands and finally said these words. "Youzhou must perish, Luo Shu must perish. All previous ambitions are all vain and will never succeed... At this time,

Why don't you make a calculation for the rest of the brothers? You must know that there are still five or six places that are resisting at this time. I came here specifically to find you because I know that if you can surrender, they can also surrender."

Bai Xiangui fell silent again and again, then slowly but firmly shook his head.

Seeing this, Zhang Gongshen almost wanted to persuade the other party to leave if he didn't surrender. The remaining sergeants could be killed at most eleven, no more, no less, no less than the other party... But when the words came to his mouth, his eyes

Brushing his sword, he held it back after all.

Bai Xiangui finally looked at his former brother and said: "Old Zhang, you have your own way. I have nothing to say. Even I believe you now. Your way is more right, but I just want to ask you one thing...

It is doomed to fail, even if Luo Shu is ineffective, but the loyalty we have had for so many years when the eighteen knights gather together, is it all in vain?"

Zhang Gongshen is a smart man. He actually had a premonition that similar words would be said, and he had already thought of countless reasons to excuse himself. But when this time came, he still couldn't control himself, and burst into tears for a while, and

Speechless.

The two looked at each other for a moment. Following Bai Xiangui's slightly impatient urging, Zhang Gongshen turned around, mounted his horse and left. Just after walking a few dozen steps, he heard an exclamation from behind him, and then a cry... He wanted to turn back, but was forced to do so after all.

He endured it and did not look back. Instead, he beat his horse and slowly came out of the formation.

After it was out of the battle, within a few moments, the largest remaining force of the Youzhou Army south of Xushui formally declared its surrender. Its commander-in-chief was the actual No. 3 figure in the Youzhou Army and Luo Shu's second-in-command.

, Bai Xiangui, the leader of Yanyun's Eighteen Cavalry, committed suicide.

Time passed little by little, and the battlefield began to wrap up quickly.

Facts have proved that war is not a child's play, even if it is an extremely boring war, a one-sided war, and a very fast war, it is still cruel enough.

In the core battlefield from the south of Xushui to the periphery of Mo County, which is twenty miles long and thirty or forty miles wide, there are death and maimed people everywhere.

Don't forget, this does not include those Youzhou troops who participated in the resistance... including those Youzhou troops who were driven away by the army's deliberate indulgence... They will also be shot to death for the reason of active resistance.
To be continued...