Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 553: Zhang Zi Banner
Li Xin led his troops to the battle, while Xu Xiancheng stayed in Dengzhou to strengthen the city's defenses. At the same time, he stepped up the training of the troops stationed in Dengzhou to cope with the possible battle to defend the city.

Although Xu Xiancheng had enough confidence in Li Xin, fighting a war cannot be based solely on confidence. Even if one is absolutely sure, one must be prepared for any eventuality.

After all, Kong Youde is not an ordinary person. He was a famous general under Mao Wenlong. The 3,000 troops he led were the elite of the Liao army, nearly half of whom were cavalry, and even had firearms.

Xu Xiancheng was not completely sure whether Li Xin and Zhang Keda could cut off Kong Youde's retreat route and annihilate the rebel army as planned. If Li Xin and Zhang Keda were defeated by Kong Youde, Kong Youde would be able to reach Dengzhou City in less than a day.
Since Li Xin sent out his troops, Xu Xiancheng has been keeping an eye on the frontline, with scouts coming and going every day to report military intelligence. The lobby of the governor's office has now become his command center. In the center of the lobby is a hastily made sand table, which Xu Xiancheng learned from Zhu Shenzhui. Although time is tight and the design is not very sophisticated, the general terrain of the Shandong Peninsula is on it. At the Leiden location, there are several small flags planted, distinguished by different colors, and the blue flag represents Kong Youde's rebels.

"Sir! There is a military report!" Just as Xu Xiancheng was standing in front of the sand table concentrating on thinking carefully, a scout suddenly came to report.

After listening to the scout's report, Xu Xiancheng waved his hand and asked the person to go down and rest. After the scout left, he returned to the sand table and slightly adjusted the small flags. Only after confirming that the position was correct did he feel relieved.

"Kong Youde is coming quite fast. It seems the outcome will be known in these few days..." With his arms folded across his chest, Xu Xiancheng's eyes fell on the sand table, muttering to himself.

Now Kong Youde's vanguard has arrived near Zhaoyuan. This guy is really fast and arrived earlier than expected.

According to the original plan, Zhang Keda's Shandong army was located in the north of Zhaoyuan, as a barrier south of Dengzhou to meet the enemy and intercept Kong Youde's rebels. Li Xin's troops should have bypassed Laixi and moved to Pingdu, cut off Kong Youde's retreat after arriving in Pingdu, and then headed northeast to cooperate with Zhang Keda's Shandong army.

But I didn't expect Kong Youde's troops to be so fast. Li Xin's troops had just arrived in Laixi, and Kong Youde was almost at Zhaoyuan. At this time, it was meaningless to go to Pingdu. If nothing unexpected happened, Li Xin's troops would go directly north from Laixi and chase Kong Youde's rebels to Zhaoyuan, which would also achieve the effect of attacking from both sides.

Xu Xiancheng was not worried about Li Xin. Li Xin was not a rigid person. He was a man of both civil and military skills. He was familiar with military books and naturally understood the principle of adapting to circumstances. Moreover, the transmission of information from scouts had never been interrupted. Xu Xiancheng believed that Li Xin had the same idea as himself. He would directly abandon the original marching route and adjust the direction to the north.

According to the distance calculation, Kong Youde's troops will encounter Zhang Keda's Shandong troops tomorrow at the latest, and Li Xin's troops will arrive in Zhaoyuan a little later. When the two armies arrive at their locations, the next war will break out. The outcome of this war is expected to be known in the next few days.

"Brother Li! Now it's up to you." Xu Xiancheng said silently. The war was about to start, and it was impossible for him to not be nervous. If he won this battle, it would be fine. If he lost, Xu Xiancheng would definitely bear a huge responsibility. Based on his understanding of Emperor Chongzhen, it would not be as simple as just taking over the position. Kong Youde was defeated, Dengzhou was in danger, and the whole of Shandong would be in ruins. He, Xu Xiancheng, took over the defense of Leiden with the royal flag, and the responsibility was heavy.

One hundred and twenty miles south of Zhaoyuan, Li Xin was leading his troops to march northward. He got the news earlier than Xu Xiancheng. Just after arriving in Laixi, he received the information that Kong Youde's troops were heading north. When he judged that Kong Youde was heading towards Zhaoyuan, Li Xin changed the marching route without hesitation and led his troops to turn north.

Although it was his first time leading troops, Li Xin did not look like a novice at all. Instead, he looked like a veteran who had fought for many years.

Li Xin was interested in military affairs when he was young. He had read the military books at home and had good martial arts. Not to mention an ordinary person, even as a general in the army, Li Xin was considered very good.

As for leading troops to fight, Li Xin had studied it when he was studying military books. It can be said that he had extremely rich theoretical experience, far superior to ordinary generals. What Li Xin lacked was only his practical operation. When he left Dengzhou, Li Xin was still a little awkward about troop mobilization and marching, but he quickly combined theory with practice, and humbly asked for advice from the two deputy generals who accompanied him all the way south. In just two days, Li Xin had become quite capable.

The two deputy generals saw how fast he was growing. They originally thought that Li Xin, a civilian official, leading the troops was just a gimmick, because Li Xin was a subordinate of Xu Xiancheng, and this time he was asked to lead the troops to gain some military merit. In fact, how to march and how to fight still depended on them.

But soon this idea changed completely. Moreover, Li Xin was not like other civil officials in leading the troops in a high-handed manner. Wearing armor, he not only had superb martial arts, but also mingled well with the soldiers. He paid special attention to the situation in the army during the daily march. Whether they were resting on the way or staying overnight, Li Xin personally inspected the army, asked about the soldiers' well-being, and took good care of them.

Although the troops he led were half Shandong soldiers and half Liaodong soldiers, and there were conflicts between the two, Li Xin treated them equally, and with his personal charm, although the gap between the two sides could not be completely eliminated in just a few days, the initial coldness between them had been eliminated. In addition, Li Xin set an example by eating and sleeping with the soldiers, and soon won the love of the soldiers.

Li Xin's troops marched north directly from Laixi, working day and night. On the second day, scouts reported that Kong Youde's rear army had been found thirty miles ahead. Their location was not far from Zhaoyuan, and it would take at most half a day to arrive. Judging from the time, Kong Youde's front army should have encountered Zhang Keda's Shandong army, but the news said that the two sides had not yet started fighting. After all, Kong Youde came from a long distance and was not clear about the arrangements of Leiden. Moreover, although Kong Youde's troops were not bad in combat effectiveness, they did not have many troops in reality. Without knowing the movements of Zhang Keda and other Ming troops, Kong Youde would not act rashly with his experience.

Since his scouts have discovered Kong Youde's rear army, Kong Youde's experience in leading the army will not fail to send scouts to investigate. It will probably not take long for Kong Youde to discover their presence.

Thinking of this, Li Xin immediately gave an order. He asked people to change the flag immediately, changing his flag with the word "Li" to the flag with the word "Zhang". This move puzzled the two deputy generals. Li Xin smiled and said that they would know his intention in the future. The two deputy generals racked their brains to figure out why Li Xin did this. As the saying goes, a real man should not change his surname or his name. Li Xin did not fly his own flag, but instead flew the flag with the word "Zhang". What was he up to?

Not only that, Li Xin also sent a message to tell the soldiers not to reveal that he was the leader of the army. Everyone should say that it was General Zhang who led the army. As for who this General Zhang was, is there any need to say it? It was the guerrilla general Zhang Tao who was already in custody by Xu Xiancheng.

On the second day, when Li Xin was marching forward under the banner of Zhang Tao, someone arrived just after noon. The person who came was none other than three cavalrymen sent by Kong Youde. The three cavalrymen stopped advancing after 200 steps from Li Xin's troops. After they were sure that Li Xin did not attack them directly, they sent one person to identify himself and said that they, General Kong, had a letter for General Zhang Tao.

After learning the news, Li Xin asked someone to fetch the letter. After opening it and reading it carefully, he couldn't help but burst out laughing.

This letter was indeed written by Kong Youde. In the letter, Kong Youde first detailed the process of his rebellion. Of course, as for the cause of the rebellion, Kong Youde attributed all the blame to the hostility of the Shandong local government towards the Liao army and the coercion of Wang Xiangchun's family.

He poured out a lot of bitterness, told many grievances, and dressed himself up as a pitiful little girl. Then Kong Youde said in the letter that he did not want to rebel, but he had no choice at that time. If he did not rebel, the army would mutiny directly, and he would not be spared by the court if he did not die in the chaos.

Kong Youde didn't want to be the second Zhang Honggong, the general of Shanxi. As the saying goes, even ants are greedy for life, let alone humans?
In order to save himself, Kong Youde was forced to rebel, but he regretted it after the rebellion. But there is no regret medicine in the world, since he has done such a thing, he can only bite the bullet and continue to do it.

The reason why Kong Youde returned to Leiden and attacked Dengzhou directly was that he wanted to occupy Dengzhou City to protect himself. Moreover, Dengzhou also had seagoing ships, so if things didn't work out, he could seize the ships and cross the river to the north.

Kong Youde's troops have now arrived in Zhaoyuan and are about to go to war with Zhang Keda. Zhang Keda's troops are not strong, and their numbers are smaller than Kong Youde's. Moreover, Kong Youde not only has cavalry, but also firearms. Once the battle begins, Zhang Keda will definitely not be Kong Youde's opponent. Once Zhang Keda is defeated, his army can march straight to Dengzhou City.

Most of the defenders in Dengzhou City were Liao troops, and together with Liao generals such as Geng Zhongming, it can be said that the entire Dengzhou was basically Kong Youde's colleagues or even friends. Kong Youde was confident that he could take Dengzhou directly. As long as Dengzhou fell into his hands, Kong Youde would be able to advance and retreat freely without any worries.

The reason why he sent such a letter was because Kong Youde knew that the troops behind his rear army were led by Zhang Tao. Kong Youde and Zhang Tao were both from Dongjiang Town. They were old friends and comrades. As Liao generals, they knew that Shandong was hostile to their Liao army. Isn't Kong Youde's fate today the best proof?

Kong Youde said that since the Shandong people were dissatisfied with them, the Liao people, and forced him to rebel, if they could deal with him like this today, they could deal with Zhang Tao the same way tomorrow. They had followed Mao Wenlong through life and death for so many years, and had countless achievements, but what was the final outcome?

Mao Wenlong, who had made great military achievements, was killed by Yuan Chonghuan. Although the court later dealt with Yuan Chonghuan, Emperor Chongzhen never rehabilitated Mao Wenlong. Not only that, Mao Wenlong's subordinates in Dongjiang Town were constantly suppressed, leading to a mutiny. He had no choice but to live in Leiden.

Kong Youde had had enough of this kind of life. As an old friend, he hoped that Zhang Tao would stop working for the Ming court because of their friendship in Liaodong and think more about himself.

If Zhang Tao was willing, he could work with Kong Youde, and they could advance and retreat together as colleagues in the Liao army. After he and Zhang Keda started fighting, Zhang Tao's troops could attack Zhang Keda from the flank. With the combined forces of the two armies, Zhang Keda would inevitably be defeated.

After defeating Zhang Keda, there would be no more obstacles ahead. Kong Youde would write to his sworn brother Geng Zhongming and ask him to cooperate in Dengzhou City. Then it would be easy to take Dengzhou. After Dengzhou was taken, they would have the final say in Leiden. Even if they could not resist the encirclement and suppression by the Ming army, they could take a boat to the north and return directly to their hometown in Liaodong. If that didn't work, they could still seek refuge with Huang Taiji.

(End of this chapter)