Although with the assistance of Xu Huai and others, the military supervisory court judged that Zhu Hang almost miraculously brought back tens of thousands of Tianxiong troops from the collapsed battlefield of Datong, but this did not change the fact that 30,000 Tianxiong troops were defeated in just three years.
In four days, the cruel reality of Datong was destroyed, let alone the cruel reality that there were only 20,000 old, weak, sick and disabled soldiers left in the west wing.
There were refugees fleeing south all the way, as well as Shuozhou Han people who moved south in batches from Ningwu to Kelan and Loufan. The road was congested. Xu Huai and Xu Wuqi led two battalions of Tangzhou Xiang troops to move north from Taiyuan at a high speed.
No matter how fast it was, it took seven days to reach Ningwu County after a journey of more than 400 miles.
"Master Lu!"
Ningwu City could not accommodate many soldiers and horses, and he did not want to enter the city and occupy the houses to disturb the people. Xu Huai led two battalions of Tangzhou Xiang troops to camp outside the city, but he did not want Lu Xiong to come out of the city to greet him. Xu Huai and Xu Wuqi
He walked over and said hello,
"Has Mr. Zhu Hang arrived in Ningwu?"
"Mr. Zhu Kang just arrived in Ningwu at noon and was discussing matters with Mr. Wang Fan, Mr. Guo Zhongxiong, Wang Gaoxing, and Mr. Xun Yannian. My husband was originally going to come out of the city to greet you in person, but the weather is freezing. Wang Fan
Langjun, Zhu Kang, Langjun, was afraid that my husband’s body would be too much for him, so he forced him to stay in the city, and asked me to be my representative. You really caught everyone off guard this time!"
"Yue Hailou and Guo Zhongxiong had a private meeting with Ge Boyi in Lanzhou. We received the message on the same day, but we didn't think much about it at the time. It wasn't until the next day that we suddenly thought that Yue Hailou might ambush Ge Boyi and frame the blame.
It was on us. Time was too short, and we had to avoid many eyes and ears of Yue Hailou and others in Lanzhou. I only had time to say a word to Mr. Zhu Kang, and then sneaked back to Lanzhou with my men, not even a step away.
He couldn't catch up with the prison car team; he didn't even have time to say a word to Mr. Wang Zhen and Mr. Wang Fanlang." Xu Huai said.
Xu Huai had no time to tell Zhu Hang about setting an ambush at Yuehai Tower from beginning to end. He didn't know whether Zhu Hang arrived at Ningwu at noon and had time to tell Wang Fan the details. Wang Fan knew.
"Yes, if Ge Boyi had to die in the Luliang Mountains without any explanation, things would be really twists and turns. Now the government is very complicated, and there are many things that cannot be explained clearly by us. Fortunately, you responded in time.
It won't cause a big disaster." Lu Xiong said with emotion.
"Kong Zhou and Liu Wugong were the commanders of the Tangzhou Xiang Army. They were stranded in Taiyuan with my fifth uncle Xu Wuqi escorting grain and grass. We rescued Ge Boyi and did not ask for anything else in return. We just asked him to temporarily transfer the two Tangzhou Xiang troops.
The army entering the West Route will follow Wang Fanlangjun's orders. Later I will go into the city with them to pay homage to Wangfanlang Jun, and I will ask Mr. Lu to help introduce him!" Xu Huai said.
Except for a brief encounter in Shuozhou, Xu Huai had never really faced Wang Fan with his true face until this moment. When he was in Shuozhou, Xu Wuqi even always showed his false face to others, and it was only at this time that he officially became a Tangzhou official.
, the identity of the police officer appeared in front of everyone in Lanzhou.
Wang Fan may not be narrow-minded, but he certainly doesn't have any ideas in his heart.
In order to avoid embarrassment or a cold start, Xu Huaide begged Lu Xiong to say a few words to warm up the situation.
"I didn't expect that it would take until now to really see Master Xu's true face. Master Xu really hides it very deeply!" Lu Xiong raised Xu Wuqi and cupped his hands, smiling.
"The traitors are in power, and Wu Qi doesn't want the tranquility of Tongbai Mountain to be broken because of some personal grudges." Xu Wu Qi said.
Lu Xiong did not ask any more questions. After meeting with Kong Zhou, Liu Wugong, Yuan Lei and others, while waiting for them to set up camp, he told Xu Huai and Xu Wu about the development of the situation in Ningwu and Shuozhou in the past few days. Qi knows.
Under Zhu Hang's control, Xie Zhong, Cao Shixiong and other troops had withdrawn to Yangkou Village and nearby villages the day before yesterday.
According to the original plan, only Xu Wukun, Pan Chenghu, Guo Junpan, Xu Xin'an, Tang Pan, Tang Qing, Yin Peng and others are left at this time. They also lead three thousand Tongbai Mountain soldiers as rear troops and are still staying in Shuozhou.
After the news of the destruction of the Tianxiong Army came back, most people were panicked and felt that the captive cavalry would engulf Shuozhou at any time like a torrent. Even if Zhu Hang led the remaining ten thousand soldiers of the Tianxiong Army to escape back to Shuozhou, it would not make people feel at ease. .
However, after the soldiers and civilians of Shuozhou had almost withdrawn, and the Khitan was in Datong, the main force of Yingzhou's troops was indeed not in a hurry to attack Shuozhou. On the contrary, there were different opinions in Lanzhou about whether to completely abandon Shuozhou.
Wang Zhen had always advocated a truce with the Khitan people and put the focus of defense on the fiercely rising Chihu people. Now that he had withdrawn all the Han people from Shuozhou City, he still insisted on his consistent opinion and thought of giving up directly. Shuozhou, withdrew all troops and horses to the south of Yangkou Village for reorganization.
Of course, Wang Fan and Zhu Hang did not want to cause trouble, but Guo Zhongxiong, Wang Gaoxing and others opposed giving up Shuozhou at this time.
After Ge Boyi handed over his command, he returned to Taiyuan. At the same time, he imprisoned several other defeated generals in Taiyuan and sent envoys directly to Bianjing to plead guilty. However, Guo Zhongxiong still led the transfer envoy of the West Route Army as the magistrate of Lanzhou. As a dispatch, he was responsible for the supply of food, fodder and ordnance to the entire West Route Army.
Furthermore, since the establishment of the Dai Viet dynasty, great precautions have been taken against generals who exercise power, Guo Zhongxiong, as the military transport envoy, also has certain powers to report violations.
When Ge Boyi was in charge of the Western Route Army as the military envoy and commander of the capital, in addition to Ge Huaicong, the commander of all the capitals, and the Marquis of Du Yu, the military commanding agencies under the imperial envoy's office all deployed Si Nai to Ge Boyi's side. The officials pointed out the country.
At that time, let alone Guo Zhongxiong, the military transport envoy, Wang Fan, the military supervisor, existed in name only and did not have much say.
Now that Wang Fan has taken over the West Route Army and the command has actually been transferred to the Supervisory Army Envoy, the only generals around Ge Boyi are Yin Chao and Wen Hengyue who can continue to command the old army.
At this time, not only did Guo Zhongxiong serve as the transfer envoy, his voice in the Western Route Army also increased, including Wang Gaoxing, the general judge, Xun Yannian, who joined the army as a recorder, and Qian Zerui, the manager of the army, and other Lanzhou officials were also able to participate in the decision-making.
"Liu Shizhong, the envoy sent by Cai Yuanyou just arrived in Ningwu in the afternoon to discuss the issue of Shuozhou's abandonment," Lu Xiong said, "It's just the right time for you to come here. My husband also said that he wants to ask your opinion!"
In addition to a truce with the Khitan people, the Tianxiong army was in a mess at this time, with extremely poor combat effectiveness and in urgent need of rectification. Logically speaking, Wang Zhen, Wang Fan, and Zhu Hang's ideas were right, but Xu Huai He has his little Jiujiu, but he can't tell Lu Xiong in detail.
Besides, the defeat in the battle against Yan was so ugly that Liu Shizhong and Cai Yuanyou would strongly urge the Western Route Army to defend Shuozhou even if they wanted to explain something to the court.
Therefore, Xu Huai did not need to forcefully ask him to take charge of guarding Shuozhou in front of Wang Zhen and Wang Fan. At this moment, he just smiled and said: "Such important matters are decided by the ministers. How can the generals have room to comment?"
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After the generals of the two battalions of the Xiang army had set up camp, leaving Han Qi to supervise the soldiers in the camp, Xu Huai and Xu Wuqi led Kong Zhou, Liu Wugong, Yuan Lei, Zhong Jitang and other generals into the city to see Wang Zhen and Wang Fan.
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The headquarters of the envoys who controlled and supervised the army temporarily stayed in the county government office. Wang Zhen, Wang Fan, Zhu Hang and others also lived directly in the rear house of the county government office.
Representatives sent by Guo Zhongxiong, Wang Gaoxing, Liu Shizhong and Cai Yuanyou stayed in the post house.
Xu Huai and the others rushed to the palace. The meeting at the palace had just ended. Wang Zhen, Wang Fan, and Zhu Hang had not been able to rest well for several days, and they all looked exhausted.
At this time, the sky was getting dark, and the back house directly arranged a reception banquet for Xu Huai and the others, with very simple dishes and drinks. After paying homage, they went directly to the table to eat and talk about things.
At this time, eleven days had passed since the capture of the army. The withdrawal of the remnants of Tianxiong's army and the seizure of Ge Boyi's military power had already been reported to Bianjing immediately.
Bianjing hurriedly did not directly take responsibility for the defeat of Datong, but officially issued an edict granting Wang Fanquan the authority to attack the Yanxi Route Army.
The new imperial edict, together with the envoys sent by Liu Shizhong and Cai Yuanyou, was officially delivered to Ningwu in the afternoon. Lu Xiong did not know about it when he went out of the city to meet Xu Huai.
The entire West Route Army is still in chaos. The relatively complete organization includes Yin Chao and Wen Hengyue's two divisions of 5,000 Tianxiong Army guards, Cao Shixiong's 3,000 Qing Shun Army infantry, and the three divisions of Jie Zhong, Zhu Run, and Lei Teng.
There are 3,000 jailers and 800 military supervisors, but it is difficult to say how much fighting power they still have when the morale of the army is in turmoil.
In addition, the 17,000 to 8,000 troops were either broken troops whose organization was broken up and their armor was abandoned in Datong, or they were old and weak troops responsible for transporting grain and fodder and building cities, let alone expect them to go into battle.
The problem now is that in addition to the Khitan Xijing soldiers and horses who will attack Shuozhou City from the west at any time, the party members in the west are also ready to move, and there are signs of gathering troops and horses in the Piantou Pass area in the northern part of Fuzhou.
The new decree dealt with Cao Shixiong and Cao Shili's service to the south of Shuozhou, and the merits were not considered. They were temporarily granted the title of inspector of Shenchidu and informed of the affairs of Langu County. The two brothers Cao Shixiong and Cao Shili were ordered to lead the Qing Shun army to garrison Guanshui Shanxi.
Langu County, Shenchi, Guangwu and other villages in the foothills were used to relieve the military pressure from the party members on the side of Piantou Pass, and also to express their full trust in Cao Shixiong and Cao Shili.
The new decree did not have specific instructions on Shuozhou's departure or stay, but the Yan army was not disbanded. Liu Shizhong and Cai Yuanyou, as the chief and deputy Xuanfu envoys, still had the final decision-making power.
The envoy they sent resolutely asked the West Route Army to defend Shuozhou so that the East Route Army could still wait for an opportunity to attack from Yanmen Pass. However, with the remaining troops of the West Route Army, it would be difficult to defend Shuozhou and Ningwu.
Very big.
The two battalions of the Tangzhou Xiang Army are now temporarily under the West Route Army formation, which can give people some comfort.
Since the founding of the Dai Viet Dynasty, in order to ensure the combat effectiveness of the Forbidden Army, it has been a common practice to select strong men from the Xiang Army to join the Forbidden Army every three to five years, and to eliminate the old, weak, sick and disabled from the Forbidden Army to the Xiang Army.
In an emergency like this, directly transferring the two battalions of the Tangzhou Xiang Army to the West Route Army would not be considered an overstep.
However, many of the conversations during the banquet were general. After the banquet was over, Wang Fan did not ask about the details of the ambush on Yue Hai Tower in Luliang Mountain.
Xu Huai knew that Wang Fan had a grudge against him, or that his life experience had spread to his ears. After the banquet, he said that the military situation was urgent and the enemy troops might attack Shuozhou at any time, and he thought of taking Han Qi with him overnight.
As well as Yin Peng and others who had previously protected Wang Zhen and Wang Fan, they rushed to Shuozhou...
