Chapter 757 The oriole is behind!

"Madam, Director Huo came out of the Marshal's study, looking a little distraught..."

An Miaoyi's beautiful eyes couldn't help but flash with a strange look as she listened to Qiqige's words. There was a major arms case in Liaoyang. Although the Coordination Office was investigating it secretly, it was not hidden from her eyes and ears. She knew that with Ye Mingsheng's personality, he would definitely investigate the matter to the end.

Therefore, this incident is likely to sweep across the Fengwu Army and form a huge political storm, so An Miaoyi is also paying close attention to the direction of this incident.

Originally, An Miaoyi only thought that the Ye family, the First Manufacturing Bureau, and the Liaoyang Censorate were all problematic in this matter, but now it seems that the Coordination Office is not clean either, and it is very likely that even more people will be involved in the future.

This couldn't help but make An Miaoyi a little worried. After all, many of the people who supported her in the Fengwu Army were from Liaoyang!

Just yesterday, Su Junjie from the Second Manufacturing Bureau asked someone to secretly send a letter, saying that Zhang Dehui, the director of the First Manufacturing Bureau, had heard some rumors and was very worried, so he asked him to plead with An Miaoyi and say a few good words to Ye Mingsheng, and was willing to give a tribute of one thousand taels of silver, and would send the tribute during every festival in the future.

An Miaoyi naturally would not accept their filial piety. She did not want to offend Ye Mingsheng with just a small amount of money, but she really wanted to help Zhang Dehui.

In An Miaoyi’s opinion, Zhang Dehui is Ye Mingsheng’s confidant and beloved general. Since the establishment of the First Manufacturing Bureau, he has served as the director and presided over the work of the First Manufacturing Bureau. He is always able to complete the tasks assigned to him by Ye Mingsheng in time and in quantity. The rapid expansion of Fengwu Army in recent years has his great contribution...

This time the First Manufacturing Bureau was involved in this matter, and Zhang Dehui, as the director, naturally had an obligation to do so. However, An Miaoyi felt that he was just greedy for money at most!
Now the Fengwu Army's counterattack in Yunbing is in full swing, and this is when the First Manufacturing General Administration is needed to provide support in the rear. Therefore, the First Manufacturing General Administration is now inseparable from Zhang Dehui's overall command.

And the most important thing is that Ye Mingsheng has always admired Zhang Dehui's abilities. Within the Fengwu Army, Zhang Dehui is also known as the Minister of Works of the Fengwu Army. His future prospects are limitless. Therefore, An Miaoyi judged that nothing serious would happen to Zhang Dehui this time. Ye Mingsheng would most likely raise the stick high against him and then put it down gently.

Therefore, if you can speak up and say a few words for Zhang Dehui at this time, you can easily establish a good relationship!
Although she wanted to say a few good words for Zhang Dehui, An Miaoyi also knew that Ye Mingsheng was very sensitive about her interfering in government affairs, so she was not in a hurry. Instead, she planned to wait until the matter was settled and then make some indirect remarks based on the situation!

Among the women in the backyard of the Governor's Mansion at this time, An Miaoyi was not the only one who was paying attention to the Liaoyang case. After Murong Qingwu in the room heard the report from the maid Ying'er, a solemn look appeared on her face, which was pale due to dry heaving just now.

She knew that this matter had really become a big deal. According to what she had learned, the case in Liaoyang did not happen recently, but had occurred for some time. This also meant that this case occurred when her father Murong Yuliang was the governor of Liaoyang...
Although Murong Qingwu had 100% confidence in her father's integrity and character, and believed that her father would not go along with this group of people, this incident happened when her father was in office. If you really think about it carefully, Murong Yuliang, as the governor of Liaoyang at the time, must have a responsibility for negligence, and he even has to bear joint responsibility!
But if that were all, Murong Qingwu would not be worried. After all, Ye Mingsheng trusted her father very much now, and this little thing would not have any impact on her father. However, Murong Qingwu was a little worried that some villains might be up to something. If someone took advantage of this opportunity to exaggerate, then things would become a little tricky!

Thinking of this, Murong Qingwu frowned slightly. After pondering for a while, she asked Ying'er:

"Is there anything unusual about those two people?"

Although Murong Qingwu did not mention any names, Ying'er understood what her master was referring to, and immediately said softly:

"Those two people are relatively safe and sound, and there's nothing unusual about them! I've arranged for someone to keep an eye on them!"

After hearing the news, Murong Qingwu thought for a while, then said with some regret:
“Let them show some flaws, and then let Ye Cheng catch them…”

Hearing Murong Qingwu say this, Ying'er asked in surprise:
"Ma'am, aren't you planning to use them to catch that big fish?"

Murong Qingwu shook her head and said helplessly:
"That big fish is very smart. She may have realized the danger, so she swam away long ago. The two small shrimps left are of no use, so now they can only be recycled!"

In response to Murong Qingwu's explanation, Ying Er also responded softly:

"Ma'am, I'll do it right away!"

After Ying'er left, Murong Qingwu looked at the fallen leaves outside the window, her expression becoming somewhat sad, and she said quietly:

"The storm is coming, I hope everything will be fine!"

...
...
Jinzhong, thirty miles east of Wankang County.

In a hidden valley, thousands of imperial cavalry were resting. They were all former Liang cavalrymen, but were later assigned to the imperial cavalry by Shangguan Hongyuan.
When Shangguan Hongyuan returned to the capital, he appointed Wang Muzhi as the new governor of Yunbing. He was well aware of the great pressure on Wang Muzhi, so he deliberately left these thousands of cavalry and many firearms to Wang Muzhi to increase Wang Muzhi's bargaining chips to deal with the threat of the Fengwu Army.

At this time, under the order of Wang Muzhi, these cavalrymen were divided into several groups to harass the logistics supply line of the Fengwu Army. It was also because of these people's mischief that the Fengwu Army in Pingyuan County could not get enough supplies, and its firepower advantage was greatly reduced. The planned Yunbing counterattack also fell into a stalemate. In a tent in this small valley, a scout leader was reporting the situation.

“Commander-in-chief, the scouts have just reported that a large amount of food and fodder supplies from Jinzhong are concentrated in Lingyuan County. Among them are 1,000 dan of food, 3,000 artillery shells, and countless medicines and equipment. At present, the Fengwu Army in the city seems to be gathering these supplies together and transporting them to the Pingyun front line…”

After hearing the news from his subordinates, Liang Army Cavalry Commander Sun Bufang stroked his mustache and asked his subordinates:

"How many soldiers does the Fengwu Army have in Lingyuan County? What is the equipment like? When will they set out?"

“Reporting to the Lord, looking at the flags of the Fengwu Army in Lingyuan County, it is probably a battalion under the Third Division of the Fengwu Army, with about 3,000 people. As for the equipment, the Third Division is a reduction of the Third Army of the Fengwu Army, so their equipment is still very good!
"According to my men's observation, they have at least five light red cannons and twenty tiger squat cannons, and there must be several hundred Fengwu guns!"

"Oh, they also have a scout of several hundred cavalrymen, all riding purebred grassland horses, with good speed and endurance! As for when they will set off, I think it will be tomorrow at the latest!"

Upon hearing the news, Sun Bufang began to make calculations in his mind. Lingyuan County was an important logistics transit station from Jinzhong to the Pingyun front line, so the Fengwu Army also stationed a lot of troops here.

According to the intelligence from his subordinates, there should be about 4,000 Fengwu troops in Lingyuan County. They will probably send 3,000 people to protect these supplies and send them to the Pingyun front line.

One thousand dan of grain and three thousand artillery shells. Once these things are transported to the Pingyun front by the Fengwu Army, it will greatly improve the Fengwu Army’s predicament of lack of supplies, and this may very likely lead to an imbalance in the situation on the Pingyun front, so I must not let these supplies go...

As long as the Fengwu Army's supplies are destroyed, even if Jinzhong can raise so many supplies, it will take at least seven days to deliver them. During these seven days, the Fengwu Army in Pingyun County will become very weak due to the lack of supplies. By then, Governor Wang may be able to win a beautiful victory in one battle!
Thinking of this, Sun Bufang no longer hesitated and immediately ordered:

"Order our troops in the surrounding areas to come closer immediately. Also, strengthen surveillance of Lingyuan County. If the Fengwu Army in the city shows signs of setting off, report immediately!"

"Yes!"

The next morning, just after daybreak, more than fifty horse-drawn carriages, escorted by thousands of Fengwu soldiers, slowly drove out of Lingyuan County and headed westwards towards Pingyun County. In Pingyun County, more than tens of thousands of soldiers of the Second Fengwu Army were engaged in a bitter battle, and the supplies in these fifty-odd carts would become an important weapon to improve the situation.

Because the battle situation on the front line was extremely tense, the team transporting supplies was moving at a fairly fast speed. They had traveled thirty miles in just one morning.

At noon, the sun was high in the sky, and everyone in the convoy was allowed to rest for an incense stick of time to eat, drink water, and go to the toilet. It was at this moment that the ground beneath their feet began to tremble slightly. The Fengwu Army general in charge of the guard was also very experienced. He knew that the imperial cavalry was going to attack!

A shrill horn sounded from the caravan immediately. Everyone in the caravan put down what they were doing and began to form a circle around the carriages to resist the attack of the enemy cavalry...
In the blink of an eye, thousands of Imperial Guards cavalry had rushed to the front. At this time, the firearms of the Fengwu Army were also ready. With an order, thousands of muskets and cannons fired at the same time. The Imperial Guards cavalry at the front were all knocked to the ground like wheat being cut!
Some of these imperial cavalrymen who were knocked to the ground were killed directly, but most were just injured. However, none of this mattered anymore, because their comrades had already rushed up one after another, and with thousands of horses galloping, only a pile of blood and mud was left!
After paying a huge sacrifice, the cavalry of the Imperial Guards finally arrived in front of the Fengwu Army. They did not try to kill the soldiers of the Fengwu Army, but focused all their attention on the supplies in the carts. They ignored their own casualties and lit torches to burn the supplies in the carts.

At this critical moment, two cannon shots were suddenly heard, and then countless Fengwu Army cavalry rushed out from all directions, trying to surround the harassing Imperial Guard cavalry.

Seeing this situation, Sun Bufang, who was in charge of the operation, understood that he had fallen into the Fengwu Army's trap of catching the cicada while the oriole was waiting behind. Although he was heartbroken, he also wanted to lead his troops to break out of the encirclement and fight his way out before the Fengwu Army completely completed the encirclement.

But the Fengwu Army would never let the cooked duck fly away. Each unit held on to them tightly, leaving Sun Bufang to watch helplessly as the Fengwu Army completely surrounded them. After the encirclement was completed, the Fengwu Army did not immediately strangle them. Xun Ke, who planned this hunting operation, looked at the more than 2,000 imperial cavalrymen in the encirclement and said lightly:

“Tell them that they will not be killed if they surrender…”

Hearing the Fengwu Army's call for surrender, the Imperial Guards cavalry in the encirclement all turned their eyes to their leader Sun Bufang. Although they now hung the sign of the Imperial Guards, in fact the Luoan court did not regard them as its own people. Not only did they let these Liangzhou people charge in the front and serve as cannon fodder, but they also withheld some of their military pay.

Therefore, now facing a desperate situation, they all want to save their own lives and do not want to work for the Luoan court anymore!

Although he really wanted to repay Wang Muzhi's kindness, Sun Bufang couldn't help but soften his heart when he saw the soldiers' eager eyes for survival!
After hesitating for a while, Sun Bufang sighed and dropped the sword in his hand. With Sun Bufang's throw, the more than 2,000 imperial cavalrymen defected one after another. Seeing this scene, Xun Ke showed a faint smile on his face.

Three days ago, Lin Huaiwu was tasked with ensuring that the logistics routes were unobstructed. This very difficult task was handed over to him. Knowing the importance of the matter, he also carefully planned the operation.

Wang Muzhi had no more than 3,000 cavalrymen in his hands. Now more than 2,000 of them were killed here. Even if the remaining 1,000 came out in full force, they would not be able to pose any threat. He could finally report to Lin Huaiwu...
(End of this chapter)