"It's really a secret from Xiao Shisi! Just come back alive! Just come back alive!"
The Ge family served as generals in Hedong for several generations. Before the Northern Expedition, from Ge Boyi, Ge Huaicong, Ge Huai, and Ge Yu, there were hundreds of people in the clan serving as military generals and middle and low-level military officials in the Tianxiong Army. It can be said that they are deeply rooted.
More than ten years ago, Tianxiong's army was defeated, resulting in the fall of Lanzhou and other places. In the end, it was only with the reinforcements of Jingsheng's army that they regained the lost territory. However, Ge Boyi was not only lightly punished that year, but a few years later he was promoted to Hedong Economic and Strategic Envoy.
The key is that the Tianxiong Army retained most of its strength back then, and the Ge family was deeply rooted in the Tianxiong Army. The court still needed the Ge family to resist the Khitan in Hedong.
The main force of the Tianxiong Army was destroyed in Datong. Only seven or eight people from the Ge family who served as generals and military officials at all levels in the army fled back with Ge Huaicong, Ge Huai, and Ge Yu. The losses were so heavy, how could Ge Boyi not
Heartache?
He also knew very well that the Ge family was no longer the mainstay of Hedong.
This will inevitably make the court less scrupulous about looking forward and backward when deciding to prosecute his father and son.
At this time, Ge Boyi was filled with relief, if not overjoyed, when he heard that two other commander-level figures from the Ge family had fled back with more than a thousand defeated troops.
Wang Zhen, Wang Fan and his son confirmed that Xu Huai and others had escaped and were not suspected of surrendering to the enemy. Ge Boyi, Ge Huaicong and the others heard Ge Congmi and Ge Jie's familiar voices at the top of the city. How could they suspect others?
?
Ge Boyi immediately ordered the city gate to be opened. In order to allow the returning generals to remember the kindness of the Ge family, he personally walked out of the city gate with Ge Huaicong, Cao Shixiong, Cao Shili, Ge Huai and other generals to welcome the returning soldiers.
Yin Peng and Han Qi each led a team of cavalry into the city and stayed on both sides of the city gate. They seemed to dismount and rest and wait for the follow-up arrangements. They actually separated the city gate opening from the city climbing roads on both sides, and separated dozens of guards from the city gate opening.
There are thousands of guards on the east gate tower and on the walls on both sides.
Then Xu Xin'an and others led their soldiers into the city one after another.
After all, Ge Boyi, Ge Huaicong and others could not block the excitement of the returning soldiers who were eager to go to the city to rest. They were still brewing in their hearts how to perfectly integrate their feelings of guilt and self-blame into the joy of welcoming home.
.
"I've met the Commander-in-Chief!"
Ge Congmi and Ge Jie had no idea what was going on. Wang reported that Wang Fan rushed to Dietou'ao and only asked them to follow the first batch of troops into the city. Their hearts were filled with the excitement of surviving the disaster. They were just under the city.
I wanted to say a few more words, but was rudely interrupted by Xu Huai and didn't think much about it.
At this time, meeting Ge Boyi, Ge Huaicong and others in person, they were even more excited. They knelt on the ground, their bodies were shaking slightly with excitement, and they cried,
"If it weren't for Zhu Langjun and Congmi, Ge Jie and nearly ten thousand soldiers would have no hope of seeing the commander-in-chief!"
"What? Aren't there just over a thousand of you who have escaped?" Ge Boyi was brewing his emotions, thinking about how to lift Ge Congmi and Ge Jie from the ground so that the generals on the left and right could look at them most movedly.
, when he heard Ge Congmi and two men talking about Zhu Hang and nearly ten thousand soldiers, he was immediately slapped with a stick from the back of the head and asked in shock.
"How is that possible?" Ge Congmi raised his head in confusion and said, "We are just the first batch of soldiers to withdraw from Shuozhou. In addition, there are nearly 9,000 soldiers led by Zhu Langjun and Zhu Run and Lei Teng.
Let’s rest and recuperate at Diotou’ao, and we can retreat to Shuozhou City at any time!”
"..."
What Lu Xiong said when he returned to the city were all lies! Ge Boyi looked around in fear, and suddenly realized that he, Ge Huaicong, Cao Shixiong, Cao Shili and other generals were standing outside the city gate, and their guards had unknowingly formed a team of armored soldiers.
The soldiers were blocked in the city gate.
"Wang, old man, what do you want?" Ge Boyi shouted in a trembling voice.
"Generals Ge Huaicong, Ge Huai, and Ge Yu were afraid of the enemy and feared to fight. They abandoned the army and fled alone, causing tens of thousands of Tianxiong's soldiers to be buried in a foreign land. However, these ten cowardly men were afraid of being held accountable by the court, and they all unanimously blamed them.
Zhu Hang and many loyal generals such as Xie Zhong, Zhu Run, Lei Teng, and Xu Huai were at the head. If Zhu Hang and the generals had not gone through countless hardships and led tens of thousands of Tianxiong troops to escape from Datong,
, my military envoys will also be deceived by them,"
Wang Fan raised his troops and horses to supervise the orders and edicts, and said in a loud voice,
"Wang Fan was ordered to supervise the army and relieve Zhong. Xu Huai listened to the order and immediately arrested the defeated generals such as Ge Huaicong, Ge Huai and Ge Yu and sent them to the Supervisory Army Envoy to investigate their crimes. Those who dared to resist without restraint were captured and punished for resisting the order.
!”
"Jie Zhong! I, the Ge family, have treated you badly. You actually colluded with outsiders to harm my father and son today?" Ge Huaicong glared at Jie Zhong and asked with anger.
"Ge Huaicong, hand over your weapon. You still have a chance to wait for the imperial court to send envoys to give you a fair trial. If you don't put down your weapon within ten days, don't blame me for going on a killing spree today," Xu Huaijiang picked up the sword.
He came down, held his hands in front of him, stared at Ge Huaicong and others, and said sternly, "I don't mind seeking justice for the 30,000 Vietnamese generals who have surrendered now!"
"Who do you think you are, you piece of shit?" How could Ge Yu endure such humiliation? When the long sword was unsheathed, a sharp arc of light struck Xu Huai head-on.
There were generals and soldiers on the left and right, and Xu Huai had no room to dodge. His swords crossed each other, and the two swords struck each other and brought out a stream of sparks.
Xu Huai immediately counterattacked with his sword, without any hesitation, using extremely sharp left and right slashes. The light of his sword danced rapidly across several feet in a radius like lightning, forcing Ge Yu to take several steps back.
However, Xu Huai did not pursue him with force, but waved his hand behind him and said: "Ge Yu will be punished for resisting, shoot him!"
"How dare you!"
Ge Huaicong saw more than 20 knights on the left side of the city gate raising the strung-up divine arm crossbows. He was shocked and shouted, and at the same time, he stood in front of Ge Yu.
"Whoosh whoosh!"
Twenty or so sharp clusters passed through the night sky like the sound of wind, causing the firelight to sway, breaking through the leather armor Ge Huaicong had found in a hurry after returning to Shuozhou City, and shot into his chest, abdomen, waist, armpits, and crotch.
"You are so cruel!" Ge Huaicong stared at Xu Huai and shouted.
"Young people don't need to practice martial ethics!" Xu Huai curled his lips and sneered.
"The biggest failure of our Ge family is that we didn't realize you were a person!" Ge Huaicong's body collapsed softly at this time. He asked his eldest son Ge Yu to hug him from behind, so that he didn't fall completely, and pointed tremblingly.
Xu Huai said.
Before Yue Hailou left Shuozhou, he hinted to him that Xu Huai was not a simple person and should be able to escape from Datong and asked him to be on guard against Xu Huai, but Ge Huaicong did not take Yue Hailou's words to heart.
He even thought that Liu Shizhong, Cai Yuanyou, Yue Hailou, Guo Zhongxiong and others would do everything possible to put the blame for the defeat on his Ge family. Deep down in his heart, he was wary of Yue Hailou.
The person was about to arrive and the spiritual platform was empty. At this time, he finally figured it out.
Zhu Hang had an upright temperament, but how could he have the ability to bring out tens of thousands of defeated troops? And Wang Zhen, Wang Fan and his son, even if they learned that Zhu Hang had returned with tens of thousands of troops at nightfall, they would not have been able to do so so quickly
That's why the seizing of the army was so carefully arranged.
Everything in front of him was planned by Xu Huai who didn't even bother to take a look!
"You have the guts to fight me!" Ge Yu yelled wildly.
Ge Huaicong hugged Ge Yu tightly with his backhand, used the last bit of strength before his death, snatched the knife from his hand, and shouted: "I, Ge Huaicong, deserve to die, but Ge Yu is not guilty. He has already surrendered the knife at this time, Xu
If you dare to kill me indiscriminately today, there will be countless people in the world who want to kill you quickly!"
"Ge Yu, stop!" Ge Boyi stood in front of Ge Yu, who was about to grab the sword, and stared at Xu Huai.
The ruler, the Marquis of Weiyuan County, the Observer of Xiangzhou, Wang Zhi, Wang Fan can’t convict me of the crime. You, a coward, have the guts to order me to be killed. I’ll see how you end up?”
"We don't dare to kill the Jinglue envoy without permission, but Ge Yu and other crazy people are unwilling to admit their crimes and intend to rebel, causing the Jinglue envoy to die in the military chaos. It depends on who can survive and open his mouth to tell the difference!" Xu
Huai stared at Ge Boyi coldly, then stared at Ge Huai and others, and said, "If you don't want me to be accidentally injured in the chaos, please kneel down and surrender!"
Seeing that more than 20 riders at the rear were reloading their crossbows, Ge Huai and others stepped forward to snatch the weapons from Ge Yu's hand, and pressed him to the ground to express their acceptance.
Xu Huai didn't even look at Ge Huaicong's body, which was still twitching. Blood was flowing out, and his eyes swept over Ge Huai, Ge Yu and others with cold and ruthless eyes. Then they stared at Cao Shili and said,
"According to the order of Wang Fanlang, the envoy of the supervisory army, if you surrender your arms at this time, the court will give you justice. But if you do not surrender your arms and are detained at this time, and you want to resist, Ge Huaicong will be a lesson to you!"
"I won't kneel down!" Cao Shili handed the knife to his brother Cao Shixiong, turned his back and let Xu Huai send someone to tie his hands, but he would not kneel down and be humiliated.
After Xu Huai tied up Ge Huai and others and disarmed the guards who were blocking Ge Boyi and others in the city gate, Wang Fan stepped forward with Zheng Shou, Guo Junpan and other guards and shouted.
said:
"Ge Boyi, as the economic envoy to Hedong and the commander of the military capital of the route to conquer Yanxi, you were supposed to formulate strategies, improve military discipline, and lead the army to attack Datong. However, you were self-willed and indulged in military discipline, which was the root cause of Datong's defeat. According to the imperial decree
In addition to the official decree, at a time of critical life and death, our military envoy will temporarily take over the control of the military capital of the Western Route on your behalf. Do you have any objections? You can willingly hand over the military symbols and orders to our military envoy.
?”
"I can temporarily hand over the military power of the Western Route Army to conquer Yan. However, for this northern expedition to conquer Yan, the imperial court appointed Liu Shizhong and Cai Yuanyou as the chief and deputy envoys. I want to lead Ge Huai, who is responsible for the defeat of the army.
When we are about to go to Liu Shizhong, Cai Yuanyou protests, you can't stop me." Ge Boyi straightened his robe and armor and said.
Wang Fan and Wang Zhen discussed for a long time and replied to Ge Boyi:
"My king, Fan, is a bright man, and I am acting in accordance with the imperial decree to seize your military power. The sun and the moon can tell you from this heart. You are afraid that I will kill you and the generals, and you want to take all the guilty generals to Liu Shizhong's Xuanfu Envoy for trial. I
It shouldn’t and won’t stop you!”
Cao Shixiong quickly expressed his position and said: "Shili is a defeated general. I would like to be imprisoned in Shuozhou and wait for the imperial court to punish him!"
In any case, the Cao brothers surrendered Shuozhou, and their merits outweighed their faults. They only needed to cooperate with Wang Fan to defend Shuozhou. Where could they find shelter from Liu Shizhong and Cai Yuanyou, whom they were not familiar with?
