Chapter 152: Empty City Strategy (I)
The Dengzhou Town Camp was destroyed, and there were no organized Qing troops in the entire Jiaodong Peninsula. In addition to the previous battles, there were only a few scattered Qing troops and Manchu government offices in the area covered by the Zhongfu platform.
Under such circumstances, only with the organization of the Taoist priest Chang Xin could the spectacular scene of tens of thousands of people participating in the transportation appear. After the Han army crossed the Daqing River, the captain Hong, who had received the reward, immediately commanded the fleet to leave. The people waiting to be divided divided up all the food left north of the Daqing River and also transported the food back to the poor mountainous areas.
Even so, in the end, nearly 800 strong men who still felt that they did not earn enough joined the transportation team. They were all promised that if they were willing to transport the goods all the way across the Xiaoqing River to the final destination, Linzi County, they would get more compensation. The Han army would even send people to escort them back to their hometown.
With such a promise, coupled with the appeal of Master Changxin and the reputation that Huo Chongzhongfu Platform has established since entering the Jiaodong Peninsula in recent years, the strong men all worked hard.
When Qian Qing led his army, he brought a thousand vehicles, or more precisely, a thousand tires that combined wheels and axles, as well as iron parts and ropes to fix the simple frames.
At this time, all that was left were the spoils that needed to be transported back to the base. After reorganizing and bundling them, two thousand troops escorted the transport team straight to Linzi.
Qian Qing was very happy. The unexpected help not only exceeded the target, but also greatly increased the amount of spoils. Even the return trip time was shortened a lot. It was originally planned to add three days, but now it is expected to only add one day.
As they walked, they were in a good mood. Hu Haoran came over and asked, "Sister, what did the Taoist priest say so much about?"
"I didn't understand it either." Qian Qing answered frankly.
Hu Haoran asked in confusion: "Then why is the elder sister listening so seriously?"
Qian Qing lowered his voice, "We can't afford to offend the Taoist priest. If he wants to talk, I can only listen. It's not hard anyway. Next time if the Taoist priest tells you this, you must learn it."
"Forget it." Hu Haoran shook his head repeatedly, "I don't have that kind of patience."
The others had similar ideas to Hu Haoran. Since Qian Qing said he didn't understand, they stopped talking and started discussing how much they had captured and what kind of praise they would get from Huo Chong after they returned.
Qian Qing was not as indifferent as she appeared to be. It was true that Master Changxin's words were not easy to understand, but Qian Qing did not have the intention to look down on him. She had never seen Huo Chong and Master Changxin talk so freely. Huo Chong always seemed to be thinking about something, and what he had in his heart was far more than what he said. So Qian Qing could not forget Huo Chong's high spirits, as if he had become ten years younger.
As he continued walking, he saw Lei Hu next to him looking at him, as if he was thinking about something. When Master Changxin was talking about those things, Lei Hu also came over to listen for a while. Qian Qing thought that Lei Hu might have understood something, so he smiled and said, "Lei Xiucai, are you also trying to understand the truth?"
During this period, Lei Hu felt that Qian Qing had always treated him with courtesy, that is, very cold, and only said a few words because of official business. At this time, he heard Qian Qing take the initiative to talk to him, still with a smile. Puzzled that he had already smiled before, Lei Hu sighed: "I didn't expect that Master Changxin seemed to be a true Taoist."
When Qian Qing heard this, he didn't dare to let Lei Hu continue the topic, and immediately frowned, "Mr. Huo respects Master Changxin very much, what do you mean by this?"
Lei Hu had no idea what Qian Qing was thinking. He just felt that this woman's mind was really hard to guess. She was smiling and talking just a moment ago, but why did her expression change so much now?
There was no other way, Lei Hu could only continue to move forward in silence. Fortunately, Master Changxin's words were really interesting, and Lei Hu recalled what he heard and didn't feel bored at all.
"Miss Qian. Ordinary people think that if they have a certain star pattern, they can stay where they are and wait for God to give them the ability to call the wind and rain. This is a big mistake. Although Mr. Huo is not a cultivator, his knowledge of cultivation is better than that of countless Taoists. I won't teach you about this. The great way is like a torrent, moving forward without hesitation, and never looking back. Since Miss Qian may have the Seven Killings Fate, please move forward. As long as Miss Qian does this, she will not lose this favor."
Lei Hu originally thought that the Taoist priest would talk about some supernatural things, or karma, or some secret techniques. But he didn't expect that the Taoist priest would talk about some profound meanings. Even now, he still couldn't figure it out, and he felt that the Taoist priest was very powerful.
Qian Qing's answer impressed Lei Hu as much as the Taoist priest. After hearing what the Taoist priest said, Qian Qing replied, "What the Taoist priest said...isn't this luck?"
"Haha, you are really smart. Some people call this heaven's will luck, and some people call this weather destiny. I am a cultivator, so I naturally think there is a great way in the world. I am not saying this to ask Miss Qian to find this great way. I just want to tell Miss Qian that since Miss Qian's fate has been favored by heaven, she should move forward according to the current choice. Mortals will be confused. If Miss Qian encounters confusion, she may even question this path. It is better to hand yourself over to heaven and follow this path to the end. If you don't change, heaven's favor will not change."
Lei Hu was amazed at the profound knowledge of Master Changxin, and also suspected that this guy was playing tricks. He could understand the first part of the sentence, but he couldn't understand the second part at all.
Just as I was thinking, there was a commotion on the road. Soon, I saw three strong donkeys stopped in front of the commanders. Donkeys are stubborn and not as humane as horses. They were running very happily at this time, but suddenly they were stopped. They were unhappy and started to get angry.
However, Huo Chong's army had few other animals at this time, only donkeys. The messenger on the donkey jumped down and handed a document to the guard. The guard handed it to Qian Qing, and Qian Qing opened it and saw that Huo Chong wanted her to march according to the plan. Thinking that she would see Huo Chong in two days, Qian Qing was full of joy and said to the messenger: "I will keep in touch with Linzi. You go back and tell the gentleman that we can advance two days. It's only one day later than the previous plan."
The correspondent did not leave. Seeing the correspondent's hesitation, Qian Qing put away his smile and asked, "What happened?"
When the messenger came, he received an order not to force Qian Qing to speed up the gray army. At this time, Qian Qing took the initiative to ask, and told him that Li Shude had already forced Linzi, and Huo Chong personally led the remaining 300 troops in the base to deal with Li Shude's 2,000 Qing troops.
Qian Qing was shocked and immediately called others to discuss. Everyone was also very anxious when they heard the news. If Huo Chong had a mishap, all the victories would be meaningless. It didn't matter whether the base was in Linzi or Mengyin. What mattered was that where Huo Chong was was where everyone belonged.
Liu Shiwang and Hu Haoran immediately asked the whole army to abandon the spoils and rush back. Qian Qing immediately told them not to be so hasty, "Sir, even if there are only 300 men in the battle, we can kill Li Shude's 2,000 men without leaving a single piece of armor. That's why you let us return calmly. In this case, I will take 600 men back first. You march carefully. Li Shude's sudden attack on Linzi must be strange. Maybe his target is not you, but us."
While Qian Qing was trying to appease the troops, Li Shude arrived at the foot of Linzi City with two thousand men. He saw that the city gate that Li Shude took was wide open, and a man was sitting high on the top of the city wall, with two attendants standing beside him.
Li Shude was already very confused when he heard the scout's report. As he got closer, he saw that the scene was indeed the same as the scout had said. Although there were no old soldiers cleaning the road at the city gate, the scene still infuriated Li Shude and ordered the loud-voiced soldier who challenged him to fight to curse: "Huo Chong, you bastard. What on earth are you trying to do? Are you using the empty city plan?"
