Zhou Shixian didn't know that Gu Kecheng and Hao Yaoqi had already joined forces in Qing County. By that time, he had already headed straight to Cangzhou, and the scouts on the shore responsible for reconnaissance had also shrunk to within thirty miles to the north.

After all, within a hundred miles, a horse is faster than a boat. A hundred miles away, a boat is traveling day and night. How can it catch up with horse power alone?

Unless the Shun army was one man and three horses, and they spared no effort in chasing after him, or the river was curved, the boat was blocked, the wind direction changed, and other reasons that caused Zhou Shixian to waste time.

After the two armies joined forces, Hao Yaoqi naturally understood that he was being plotted by Gu Kecheng, but he could only swallow it by himself. After all, Gu Kecheng had already considered this and would not let him get any leverage.

Besides, what happens even if you get the handle? There is a reason why Gu Kecheng dares to be so confident.

He was an old brother who had followed Li Zicheng through life and death for more than ten years. He was one of the famous "Eighteen Riders". He was also by Li Zicheng's side when he was at his lowest and lowest.

Although Hao Yaoqi was rude and fierce, he also knew some ways about the world, and naturally he did not dare to offend the other party rashly. Not to mention, one was the commanding general of the forward battalion, and the other was just a middle-level general who followed the army.

However, when the two of them learned that Zhou Shixian had successfully seized the canal and had already moved south along the river, these quarrels no longer mattered.

If Emperor Chongzhen was really on the boat and successfully escaped south, it would definitely be a major hidden danger for the Dashun Dynasty. At least the resistance of the remaining Ming army in the south would be stronger, and many battles would be inevitable.

For the two generals who were on the pursuit mission, this would be an irreparable mistake.

The first establishment of a new dynasty is the time to make achievements. If you are left out in the cold for this reason, you will have bad luck for eight lifetimes!

But equally, if they can catch Chongzhen and arrest the former emperor back to Beijing, it will be a great achievement and their future is limitless.

Under such a situation, the two people immediately abandoned their previous suspicions. Gu Kecheng quickly gathered his two thousand cavalry, and Hao Yaoqi also separated more than a thousand cavalry under his command, and immediately pursued them without taking any rest.

At this time, Zhou Shixian had successfully passed through Cangzhou, and the city was indeed guarded by Shun troops. However, the nearby Cao Gang did not clearly submit to Li Zicheng's Dashun Dynasty. However, their family businesses were all in Cangzhou, and they were powerless against the Ming court.

Zhou Shixian naturally took this into consideration, and just asked the other party to cooperate in a show. The ships from both sides chased each other on the canal for a long time, but without much delay, Zhou Shixian's fleet was able to continue southward.

However, when Zhou Shixian continued southward and entered Dongguang County at noon on the second day, he ran into trouble.

Although there is no big canal gang here, Gu Kecheng has sent scouts in advance to report the news. After the Shunchao County Magistrate, who had taken over Dongguang County, got the news, he immediately organized civilians to set up obstacles on the canal to intercept it.

Zhou Shixian's fleet.

Fortunately, six of the eight scouts sent by Gu Kecheng were intercepted and killed by Zhang Hong. Although the other two successfully broke through the blockade and entered the city to report the news, it was too late. The Dongguang County magistrate had not had time to organize the civilians to complete the obstacle.

When the things were set up, Xue Laoer had already led the cavalry to kill them.

It was only at this time that Zhou Shixian realized that the Shun Army's pursuers were less than a hundred miles away from him, and that the Shun Army's scouting capabilities were not weak at all. After Zhang Hong fought with them, he basically confirmed that these were elite soldiers from the original frontier army.

Not accepted.

In other words, those who came to pursue them should also be veterans of the Shun Army and elite border troops from the original Ming court. If Zhou Shixian ran into them in the wild, he might not be able to gain much advantage.

But what Zhou Shixian never expected was that while deploying obstacles, the Dongguang County magistrate also had people dig up the berms of the canal. Although Xue Laoer dispersed the civilians, it was still a step too late.

In just one hour, more than ten water outlets have been dug in the canal embankment, making it difficult for large ships to sail smoothly in the canal, which was not yet deep in water due to the spring floods.

In desperation, Zhou Shixian had no choice but to organize soldiers and recruit those civilians who had no time to escape back to the city, and quickly started work to repair the canal's berm.

As a result, the main force of 3,000 cavalry from Gu Kecheng and Hao Yaoqi, who had just set out from Cangzhou, had already reached Nanpi County, which is about 60 miles north of Dongguang.

The movement speeds of the main cavalry and scouts naturally vary greatly, especially the ancient war horses, which do not have good endurance after a short burst.

Although Zhou Shixian did not know the actual distance between himself and his pursuers, he realized the seriousness of the situation after some mental calculations based on the speed of the scouts.

But at this time, Dongguang had been occupied by the Shun army, and there were probably no soldiers in the city to equip his army. Zhou Shixian had no choice but to continue southward and enter Shandong.

However, the situation was serious, so Zhou Shixian did not panic because of this, and remained sober - naturally it would be better not to fight this battle, and if it could be fought later, it would be more advantageous to fight it later.

The elite cavalry of the Shun army that came after them must have extraordinary combat effectiveness, and their equipment was definitely not bad. This was by no means comparable to the defeated troops that Pang Lun gathered temporarily. This was the reason why he did not fight if he could.

But the problem is that the endurance of the cavalry is not very strong. If the subordinate army comes in desperate pursuit, the men and horses will be tired. And his soldiers and horses go south by boat. If they obtain armor and equipment and wait for work, they will not be unable to fight.

Therefore, what Zhou Shixian has to do now is to first calm down the restless soldiers and horses under his command. As the backbone of the entire convoy, his performance at this time will directly affect the morale of the entire army.

When Zhou Shixian faced the crisis, he showed calmness, calmness and orderly command, which once again gave these "southern soldiers and horses" a shot in the arm.

"Listen to the command of the consort and follow the command of the consort, and you will never go wrong!" Gradually, this became the consensus of everyone in the entire convoy.

After calming the morale, the soldiers were organized to take turns rowing, speeding up the boat, and trying to distance themselves from the Shun army as much as possible. It was best to escape the pursuit. If they could not escape, they would turn around and give the Shun army a big surprise.

And these soldiers are all well-trained veterans, and they have had enough to eat and drink these days, so it is not difficult to row the boats in an orderly manner.

Hurrying slowly, Zhou Shixian's fleet finally arrived at Dezhou at 11:00 a.m. and entered the city overnight to deploy defenses. Xue Laoer and Zhang Hong led their troops into the city earlier and took control of the canal.

important towns in the world.

Dezhou is the water and land hub for Shandong to enter Beizhili. Grains, merchants, goods from the south, as well as officials and students entering Beijing basically all pass through this city.

Therefore, Dezhou City is also being expanded and repaired again and again. From an ordinary acropolis in the early Ming Dynasty, it has become tall and solid, becoming the "Gateway to the Divine Capital". There are countless warehouses for storing supplies in the city.

But at this time, all the Ming court officials in the city had already fled, and even the common people were barely alive. The huge city was occupied by a group of government officials who occupied the government warehouse and controlled the food and soldiers. They colluded with more than a hundred government officials.

The green-skinned gangsters took advantage of the chaos and took control.

Since the Shun Army's Eastern Expedition, Ming court officials in various prefectures in Shandong who heard the news either chose to wait and see, or dragged their families with them, packed up their gold and silver, and fled south directly. Only a few were still holding on.

Although no troops from the Shun Army have entered Shandong yet, it has already been in chaos. Not only have many civil servants fled, but most of the troops that were supposed to resist the Shun Army have also disappeared.

When Xue Laoer and Zhang Hong led their troops into the city, they were blocked by the group of government officials and green-skinned gangsters.

At this time, the sky was getting a little dark. Seven or eight government officials and twenty or thirty green-skinned gangsters were armed with swords, guns, and armor. Some even had bows and arrows. On the grounds that "the current situation is chaotic, the city has a curfew, and there are no ultimatums," they simply

We do not intend to let this group of cavalry of unknown origin enter the city.

After all, there is no room for two tigers in one mountain. If the Ming army is allowed to enter the city, how can they continue to dominate the city? Moreover, with the virtue of the Ming army, after entering the city, I am afraid that they will also be attacked and destroyed.

However, these people had no formal military training at all. When Xue Laoer and Zhang Hong saw that one of the government officials who came to stop him only wore a piece of cotton armor and no helmet, they knew what level these people were.

As for Zhang Hong's violent temper, how can he endure it when Zhou Shixian is not here?

And the fact was just as they expected, in less than a quarter of an hour, the dozens of government officials at the city gate were defeated.

Then, the green skinned government officials in the city were either captured or killed before they could figure out the situation, and their behavior was much worse than that of the villagers in Lujiazhai.

After all, they can just bully the people.

With such a disparity in strength, and the fact that the people in the city were already boiling with resentment because of the oppression of these people, when they saw the fully armed and innocent Ming army entering the city, although they were still afraid and could not be said to support them, they also did not obstruct or harass them.

way of doing.

Xue Laoer and Zhang Hong sent troops to take over several city gates and took control of the government offices. Then, according to Zhou Shixian's instructions, they first posted a list in the county government office, summoned the wealthy businessmen in the city, and made three chapters. Then, with the influence of these people,

Presided over the opening of warehouses to help the people and distribute food.

However, because those yamen Qingpi had done too much evil these days, Xue Laoer and Zhang Hong acted for heaven and killed all the eleven little leaders among the captured yamen Qingpi before Zhou Shixian could even enter the city.

The people were angry.

And this combination of punches is neither ingenious nor ineffective.

In less than two hours, by the time Zhou Shixian entered the city, the escorting army had already won the full support of the people in the city. Xue Laoer and Zhang Hong had already taken control of the city under the guidance and cooperation of the locals.

However, under the relentless pursuit of Gu Kecheng and Hao Yaoqi, as evening approached, they were less than twenty miles away from Dezhou. Of the three thousand cavalry under their command, there were still two thousand who could keep up.

the crowd.
Chapter completed!