Gao Bufan was moving towards Hejian County and suddenly found a horse in the grass forest next to the road. He stood there motionless, and his movements were very strange. So he approached to see what happened. It turned out that the horse's reins were entangled with thorns, twisted into a twisted shape, with traces of violent struggle around him.

Unfortunately, the horse did not break free, but instead wrapped the reins shorter and shorter. Now that his nose is pressed against the ground, he cannot move at all. He even had deep blood marks in his ears, and his body was even hotter by the scorching sun. If he continues like this, he will probably not starve to death and die of thirst, and in the end he will be sunburned alive.

Gao Bufan cut the thorns with a knife and rescued the horse. He found that half of the latter's ear was missing, as if it was injured by a sharp weapon. No master was found around him. It should be a masterless war horse that fled from the battlefield.

"My man, be thirsty, go and take you to drink water." Gao Bufan led the war horse to a small river. The latter immediately glowed in his eyes when he saw the water, jumped into the river, and started drinking happily.

The war horse soaked in the river for half an hour before climbing ashore. He couldn't wait to eat the fat and tender grass by the river. Gao Bufan patiently waited for the war horse to eat, then he jumped onto his back and gently clamped his belly, and rode his horse slowly.

In the evening, Gao Bufan finally arrived at Jiaohe and looked upstream with his hand on the awning. But he saw rolling dust rising and two black dots hovering in the sky. He couldn't help but feel moved in his heart, turning his horse's head and heading upstream.

At this time, in the upstream direction, Zhang Xutuo and Yang Yichen's men were retreating like a tide in front of the Youzhou Army's camp. After a fierce battle, the Youzhou Army's plum blossom camp was as solid as a god. Zhang Xutuo and Yang Yichen attacked for a day but failed to gain a advantage. They also lost some people, so they had to withdraw and make a long-term plan.

Gao Bufan approached from the lower reaches of Jiaohe River slowly. When he arrived, Zhang Xutuo and Yang Yichen's people retreated to their respective camps, and smoke was everywhere in the cooking pot, obviously burying the pot to cook.

"Look, everyone, that person seems to be a tall man?" A Youzhou Army sentry standing on the gaze building responsible for the alert suddenly shouted excitedly.

As soon as this said, several figures immediately flew up to the overlooking tower. It was Xu Shiji, Lu Sheng, Wu Daqing, Gao Dahe and others. Looking around, they saw a man and a horse slowly walking from the lower reaches of Jiaohe River. The sunset facing him painted the people and the horses with a layer of gold, as if the Buddha's light shining.

"It's an adult, it's an adult, I'm back!" Wu Daqing waved his fists excitedly, and Lu Sheng also said excitedly: "I knew that an adult would turn bad luck into good luck."

Xu Shiji breathed a sigh of relief and waved his hand easily: "Sir, I'm back, let's go and welcome him." After that, he flew down to look out of the stairs, and Gao Dahe, the captain of the personal soldiers, had already jumped down first.

The middle gate of the camp suddenly opened, Xu Shiji and others rode out, ran to Gao Bufan to dismount and salute, and said in unison: "See the left-behind lord!"

Gao Bufan looked at the excited people in front of him, and couldn't help but feel warm. He smiled and said, "No need to be polite. Thank you brothers. From now on, you don't have to ask me to stay at the master. I am not accused of this official in the Great Sui Dynasty."

Everyone looked at each other and said that now the Lord has broken up with Yang Guang. It would be better if this official from the Great Sui Dynasty was not good, but what should I call him in the future?

Gao Dahe scratched the back of his head and said, "Then how should we call you, sir?"

Xu Shiji's eyes flashed and said, "Sir, the Lord, is the lord of Youzhou, so what if he is temporarily called the lord of Youzhou?"

Everyone's eyes lit up and they said in unison: "Good idea, then we can call the Lord General Manager from now on."

Lu Sheng smiled and said, "See Lord General."

"See Mr. General!"

"See Mr. General!"

The sound of joy and thunder in the Youzhou military camp was coming into the sky, and the morale was extremely high.

Such a big noise naturally alarmed Zhang Xutuo and Yang Yichen. The two hurried out of the camp and looked at the Youzhou Army's camp. When they heard clearly what the Youzhou Army was shouting, their faces were quite complicated.

"Gao Changqing is back, and Shadow is indeed unable to accomplish anything. Now it's a big trouble." Yang Yichen sighed.

Zhang Xutuo was also in a heavy mood at the moment. Gao Bufan himself was an extremely powerful figure. Now he had a help from his side, and he was undoubtedly like a tiger. After escaping the disaster, he was completely free of restraint. From now on, the sky was high and the sea was wide, and the harm was probably even worse than that of Li Mi.

Has the energy of the Great Sui Dynasty really gone?

Zhang Xutuo looked to the sunset west, his eyes as sad as ever.

Qin Shubao and Luo Shixin were speechless. Cheng Yaojin looked at the Youzhou Military Camp with high morale, turned to look at the silent camp behind him, and an ominous sign came in his heart.

The Bafeng Camp under Zhang Xutuo had a total of 5,000 cavalry and 10,000 infantrymen, all of which were Qijun Erlang.

That year was the sixth year of Daye. Zhang Xutuo took office as the governor of Qi County. He loved the people like his son and was deeply loved by the people of Qi County. The following year, Shandong had a severe drought. This year coincided with Yang Guang preparing to fight against Goguryeo in the east. The people of Qi County were suffering. Wang Bo was the first to erect a flag on Changbai Mountain to fight against the Sui Dynasty. He responded with a hundred calls and was very powerful.

At that time, the officials of Qi County were helpless and did not dare to open warehouses and release grain to provide relief to the victims without the emperor's order. Zhang Xutuo tried his best to decree first and then report, and opened the official warehouse to provide relief to the victims. There were countless living people, so the people of Qi County were grateful for Zhang Xutuo's kindness.

Afterwards, Yang Guang not only did not sue Zhang Xutuo, but also commended him greatly. After that, Zhang Xutuo led his army to fight against Wang Bo, and he would win every battle and eventually wiped him out. Yang Guang also promoted Zhang Xutuo to the garrison of Qi County, allowing him to recruit troops to build the Eight Wind Camp.

Qi Jun'erlang was grateful for Zhang Xutuo's kindness and joined him one after another. In recent years, Qi Jun'erlang followed Zhang Xutuo to fight in the east and west, and was invincible. He wiped out countless rebels, which were powerful across the country.

However, the years of warfare made these Qi County men tired, mainly because they were too tired. On the one hand, the rebel army that could never be suppressed, on the other hand, the Great Sui Dynasty, which was declining, made them unable to see the future, and they were fighting outside for many years, and their longing for their parents, wife and children could not be resolved.

These negative emotions were greatly diluted in victory after victory, but today, the invincible Bafeng Camp finally tasted the taste of setbacks. The long-standing negative emotions broke free from the constraints and instantly amplified infinitely, and their morale plummeted.

Zhang Xutuo obviously noticed something was wrong at this time, so he frowned and returned to the tent. A trace of worry flashed in Yang Yichen's eyes, and he slowly turned around and returned to the tent, while Qin Shubao and others followed in silently.

"The Youzhou Army's camp is solid, can General Zhang have a good way to defeat the enemy?" Yang Yichen asked.

Zhang Xutuo nodded and said, "I have observed for a day and have discovered that the weakness of this formation is on the floating bridge. The Youzhou Army connects the camps on both sides through the floating bridge, and can echo each other. Whether the supplies and personnel are allocated through the floating bridge, as long as the floating bridge is destroyed, the Youzhou Army will definitely not be able to defend it."

Yang Yichen frowned and said, "It's not easy to destroy the floating bridge. At least one navy must be needed."

Zhang Xutuo nodded and said, "This is easy. My old friend Zhou Fashang happened to have a navy under him. He is currently stationed in Donglai. I will send a letter to him and ask him to help him."

It is said that Zhang Xutuo is currently the governor of Qi County, and leads the 12 counties of Henan Road to recruit and arrest ambassadors, and controls the troops of the 12 counties. He has the power to mobilize the navy led by Zhou Fashang.

Yang Yichen said happily: "That's good. It's just that General Zhou led the navy to come, which will take at least ten days and half a month. I'm afraid of any changes during this period. Why not do this? I will lead the army across the river tomorrow and attack the Youzhou army's camp from the other side of the river. This two-pronged approach will make Gao Changqing exhausted and cut off their food supply."

Zhang Xutuo nodded after hearing this: "Mr. Yang is good at planning, so do it."

…………

That night, a raging fire ignited in the Youzhou Army camp, which alarmed Zhang Xutuo and Yang Yichen again. The two hurriedly went out of the camp to check.

"Report to Lord Yang and General Zhang, the floating bridge on the river is on fire." The scout who went out to inquire quickly came back to report.

Yang Yichen and Zhang Xutuo looked at each other and hurriedly led a cavalry to approach the Youzhou Army's camp. They found that the building was empty, and the entire camp and the floating bridge were trapped in a fire. It was obvious that the Youzhou Army had already taken advantage of the night to cross the river and retreated, and burned the camp and floating bridge before leaving.

At this moment, several fires rose in the Youzhou military camp across the river, and soon spread, illuminating the night sky as bright as day.

Yang Yichen and Zhang Xutuo were silent. They discussed the way to defeat the enemy. As a result, they stopped making an appointment. That night, they burned the floating bridge and the camp to withdraw directly. They were clean and neat, without any delay. Gao Changqing's son is really cunning!

"Mr. Yang, General Zhang, Youzhou Army must have not gone far. Why don't we cross the river and pursue it immediately?" a general suggested.

Cheng Yaojin rolled his eyes and said, "What a bad idea? Now he is crossing the river in a daze. If someone kills him, he will die if he is shot. Don't treat Gao Changqing as an idiot. Since they dare to withdraw, they must have some support."

The general under Yang Yichen was blushed with a blushing face. He wanted to refute but had no way to refute, so he could only keep silent.

Yang Yichen glanced at Cheng Yaojin and said, "What General Cheng said is true. As the saying goes, before crossing the river, you will hit the river. Gao Changqing was probably ambushing people on the other side of the river, just waiting for us to cross the river. At this time, we will never be fooled."

Even Lord Yang said this, and the general naturally had nothing to say. Luo Shixin frowned and said, "Then let's just watch the Youzhou army withdraw?"

Zhang Xutuo did not make a sound, obviously he made a default.

At this time, in the darkness on the other side of the river, Wu Daqing led a thousand light cavalry to ambush and stared at the other side coldly, but he was disappointed. Until dawn, the enemy troops on the other side did not cross the river, so he had to order to get on the horse and leave and chase the large army.

The rumbling sound of horse hooves shattered the tranquility before dawn and also alarmed the enemy troops on the other side. At this time, the enemy general who was on duty on the other side happened to be the one who proposed to cross the river to pursue him. At this time, he couldn't help but sweat.

Let’s talk about when Wu Daqing led a thousand light cavalry to catch up, the large army of Youzhou Army had arrived outside Hejian County, the county seat of Hejian County.

The county magistrate of Hejian County was so scared that he closed the city gates and did not even dare to show up with his butt. He was afraid that Gao Bufan would come to attack the city, because he had received a notice from Yang Yichen that Gao Changqing, the left-behind Zhuo County, had already "rebelled".

As a result, the Youzhou army actually passed directly outside the city and continued to return to Zhuo County, without any offense to the villages and towns along the way.

When the Hejian County Magistrate heard that the Youzhou Army had gone far away, he breathed a sigh of relief, but he was a little disappointed. He felt like a little girl meeting a lover in the middle of the night, afraid that he would not come, and afraid that he would do anything randomly.

The reason why the Hejian County Magistrate has such a contradictory mentality is not difficult to understand. First of all, Hejian County and Zhuo County are bordered by each other and have close economic ties. Many people in Hejian County are seeking life in Zhuo County, and many of the living and production materials in Hejian County also come from the wealthy Zhuo County. In other words, Hejian County cannot do without Zhuo County.

Secondly, Gao Bufan once led his army to wipe out Wang Xuba in Hejian County. The Youzhou army was disciplined strictly, so the people and gentry in Hejian both had a good impression of Gao Bufan. If they could be subordinate to Gao Bufan, I believe that many people and gentry would support him.

Again, the Youzhou army has strong force, and if it really wants to attack Hejian County, Hejian County will definitely not be able to resist it. Therefore, the Hejian County Governor sometimes thinks that instead of being worried all day long, it is better to give Hejian County to Gao Bufan directly. However, Yang Yichen and Zhang Xutuo's army are on the south side of Jiaohe River. What if they fight?

Therefore, the mood of the Hejian County Governor was so complicated. He wanted to attack the Youzhou army, but was also afraid that the Youzhou army would attack.
Chapter completed!