It snowed again at night, and the weather became colder and colder. The dripping water turned into ice, and the cold wind blew on my face, like a knife.
Xu Huai planned to leave the city overnight to rush to Shuozhou. When the horses were brought in, he was arranging the swords, bows, shields and quivers hanging next to the saddle in the alley. When he was about to get on the saddle and drive away, he saw Wang Zhen and Lu Xiong.
walk out.
"Why did my husband come out in such a cold weather?" Xu Huai asked.
"No matter how hard I work, it will never be more difficult than how hard it is for you to brave the wind and snow all night to go to Shuozhou. I will give you a ride!" Wang Zhen ignored the wind and snow that messed up his frosty white beard and hair, stepped forward to help Xu Huai hold the reins, and headed towards
Walking down the alley, he kept asking, "Do you think Shuozhou should be guarded?"
"My husband and the princes are plotting this matter, so who am I to comment on it?" Xu Huai glanced at the Xingyuan Courtyard with the door half-opened, and said, "My husband and the princes felt that it was inappropriate, so we withdrew from Shuozhou.
Come, my husband and your gentlemen feel that Shuozhou should be guarded, so we will make a nail to bite it there!"
"..." Wang Zhen raised his head and glanced at the deep and unpredictable night sky ahead. He sighed and said, "Wang Fan was a military commander at the beginning, and he was high-spirited. If I say a few words to him, he may not be impatient. Now. Now
Suddenly there is a general under his command who cannot figure out the details and seems not to listen to his orders at all. Don't blame him for being cold. The return of the remnants of the Tianxiong Army should be all your fault, right? Zhu Hang has an unyielding temperament.
, is by no means a person who is afraid of death, but he is not a thoughtful person either. He cannot cope with the complicated situation when the Tianxiong army suddenly collapses. What's more, at the beginning of the attack on Datong, his judgment of the situation was also optimistic...
"
"Although we had anticipated the defeat for a long time, without Mr. Zhu Hang standing up at the critical moment and making Jie Zhong, Zhu Run, Lei Teng and others obey orders, we would not have been able to save so many people," Xu Huai said quietly.
, "However, these are no longer relevant. The situation may change more fiercely and rapidly than we imagined. Even discussing whether Shuozhou should be defended at this time is completely meaningless! At this time, the imperial court did not urgently realize that Chihu
Human threats, Liu Shizhong, Cai Yuanyou and others want to retain Shuozhou, and what they are thinking about is not to reduce the responsibility of the government and the opposition for the defeat of the Datong Army!"
"How long do you think the Chihu people's iron cavalry will go south?" Wang Xuntan asked.
"We are not yet able to send reconnaissance cavalry to the north of Yinshan Mountain, but after the Eastern Route Army retreated to the south of Yanmen, the Datong soldiers delayed their actions. This may not be purely a conflict between Xiao Xinhan and Xiao Linshi.
As a result. I predict that in the next two or three months, the Chi Hu people may capture Linhuang Mansion, Dading Mansion and other places in the heart of the Khitan," Xu Huai said. "If there had not been this northern expedition against Yan, Chi Hu would have
The Hu people may not be in a hurry to go south. Dayue spans thousands of miles and has a population of hundreds of millions. Simply in terms of population size and wealth, it is far superior to the northern barbarians. Even if the Chihu people annexed the entire Khitan, the population would only be thousands.
About 10,000 people, if they can't see through our reality, they may still want to digest the Khitan land first. However, the collapse of Datong has torn the last fig leaf of Dai Viet, and the so-called wealth has simply become the most naked temptation.
Mr. Wang, sir, if you were the Khan King of the Red Hu people, would you have any more forbearance? Two years. I estimate that the time left for us is only two years at most. Maybe next autumn at the earliest, the Chi Hu people’s cavalry will be gone.
Like a torrent, it either takes Yunshuo from the gap in the Yinshan Mountain north of Datong to the south, or goes straight to Yanji and other places in western Liaoning..." "Is it so fast?" Wang Zhen took a breath of air and asked in disbelief.
Xu Huai held the knife in his hand and said directly without repeatedly answering this meaningless question:
"I know Wang Fanlang has opinions about me. This is human nature. I have no complaints in my heart, but in my opinion, time is so tight. So I won't take Wang Fan too much into account in my next actions.
Lang Jun’s feelings. Lang Jun Wang Fan should have noticed that the troops staying in Shuozhou at this time are all soldiers of Tongbai Mountain, and the military commanders are all soldiers of Tongbai Mountain; this is indeed the most taboo thing in Dai Viet.
Mr. Wang Fanlang might try to keep the two battalions of Kong Zhou and Liu Wugong in Ningwu under his direct control, but there were 400 Tongbai soldiers in these two battalions. When I went north from Taiyuan, I had actually separated them.
It's coming out. I want to take these people away too!"
"Okay, just take these four hundred Tongbai Mountain soldiers with you. Kong Zhou and Liu Wugong don't seem to want to go to Shuozhou themselves, so just leave them in Ningwu," Wang Xun waved his hand.
, said, "I may have to return to Bianjing in a while. I hope I can make some recovery!"
Xu Huai didn't think that Wang Zhen's return to Bianjing at this time would have any effect. He didn't even want Wang Zhen to fall into the quagmire at this time, but there were obviously many things that he couldn't stop if he wanted to.
…………
…………
Ningwu City is not big, only one mile from the county government office to the west city. After insisting on sending Xu Huai and others out of the city, Wang Zincai and Lu Xiong walked back in the snow and wind.
Walking back to the county government house, Wang Xuan's clothes were soaked by the wind and snow. Wang Xuan looked around in the yard to see them coming back. She jumped over and asked, "Where are Xu Huai and the others? They must sleep here at night. I just
I ordered people to tidy up their rooms and set up a brazier - it must be extremely hard for them to march and fight. I also made some ginger tea, and Grandpa, Uncle Lu also came to drink it!"
"Xu Huai wanted to rush to Shuozhou overnight, but he has already left the city!" Lu Xiong said.
"Why did you leave in less than an hour after arriving in Ningwu? You don't have such a boss anymore!" Wang Xuan pursed her lips and said melancholy.
"Father," Wang Fan walked in with Zheng Shou at this time and asked, "did you personally send Xu Huai and others out of the city just now?"
"The situation is treacherous and murderous. Xu Huai has been running around for days. There is no time for them to rest in Ningwu for a night, so I will give them a ride." Wang Zhen said.
"Xuan'er, it's so late, why don't you go back to your room to rest?" Wang Fan looked at his daughter and asked in a deep voice.
"I'm not a child. I know everything. What does dad have to say that requires me to leave?" Wang Xuan pursed her lips, stepped forward and helped Wang Zhen take off his robe that was soaked by the wind and snow, and said,
"I still have to take care of grandpa!"
"Xuan'er, go and help me, your father, Uncle Lu, and Uncle Zheng make ginger tea." Wang Xuan sent Wang Xuan to make ginger tea. He walked into the house and sat in front of the brazier and asked Wang Fan, "What's going on tonight?"
Have you finished handling military affairs so early?"
"There are rumors now that Xu Huai is Wang Xiaocheng's son. My father and Mr. Lu have known about it for a long time, right?" Wang Fan sat in front of the brazier and used iron tongs to stir up the charcoal to make the fire burn brighter.
"I have already made some guesses, but I haven't asked directly," Wang Zhen said. "Xu Huai can help Zhu Hang bring back the 10,000 remnants of Tianxiong's army this time, so there is nothing to ask!"
"We may not ask, but there must be someone in the court who will make a fuss about this matter," Wang Fan frowned and took out two thick booklets from his sleeves and said, "The remnant soldiers who fled back to Shuozhou
The volume has just been sorted out in the past two days, father, please take a look!"
"What's interesting is that all the soldiers who were recruited from Tongbai Mountain last year are now staying in Shuozhou - Xu Huai is so petty, it's not hard for me to see through it." Wang Zhen didn't take the booklet and looked at Wang Zhen.
Xuan made ginger tea and brought it in. She took a cup of ginger tea and drank it slowly.
"It is said that Xu Huai is the son of Wang Xiaocheng. This is just a rumor. Cai Zheng and others do not dare to dig up old cases, but the military register is clearly there. If someone says that he harbors evil intentions, how can he explain it?
Wang Fan asked in a deep voice, "It's fine if we don't know, but if we all know now and still don't care, how will we be able to get away with it in the future?"
"I have been thinking about a question these days. The Tianxiong Army was defeated by Datong so easily. Is it just because generals like Ge Huaicong are timid and incompetent?" Wang Zhen stared at the burning brazier and murmured to himself,
"To say that the Tianxiong Army has always been weak in combat power, and those who were incorporated into the East Route Army are elites from the northwest, and the court has high hopes, why are they so cowardly that they dare not fight, and the military discipline is often corrupted, making it difficult to control the top and bottom? Maybe it needs to be done fundamentally.
changed--"
"The imperial regulations may be unreasonable, but it cannot be changed by the commander-in-chief," Wang Fan said. "If Liu Shizhong and Cai Yuanyou were aware of this, how could they not attack you, father?"
"Then tell them directly," Wang Chen said, "the current situation of the West Route Army, with mixed soldiers and generals, and panic-stricken soldiers, it is impossible to defend Shuozhou. If Liu Shizhong and Cai Yuanyou have any objections to this,
Then just abandon Shuozhou, take back all the troops from Shuozhou, and reorganize them after breaking them up. Naturally, there will be no violation of the system. And if Liu Shizhong and Cai Yuanyou still want to hold on to Shuozhou in this situation, they will only
If you can implement an expedient plan, you may be able to defend Shuozhou with Tongbaishan soldiers. Otherwise, you can ask them to replace the Tongbaishan soldiers with any general and lead their troops to defend Shuozhou in place of Tongbaishan soldiers!"
"Father!" Wang Fan shouted with a headache.
"You are the commander of an army. I should not interfere with you, but you have the right to listen to me on this matter. There are two battalions of the Tangzhou Xiang Army, including four hundred Tongbai Mountain soldiers. I have also promised Xu Huai to let him take these four
The soldiers of Baitongbai Mountain were taken away, and the remaining troops, led by Kong Zhou and Liu Wugong, stayed in Ningwu and obeyed your orders!" Wang Chen said, "Give Xu Huai two years. After two years, whether you or Zhu Hang are there,
If I were not in Lanzhou, I would ask for Xu Huai to be transferred away! There are only three or four thousand soldiers from Tongbai Mountain. Even if they have ulterior motives, they won't be able to cause any trouble. You and I should not be afraid of getting involved. Today we are afraid of this, tomorrow we are afraid of that, etc.
We have to be cautious in everything and engage in intrigues, so how are we any different from Cai Ting and others?"
"..." Wang Fan frowned and said, "I can't convince my father. Looking at the new imperial decree, he seems to be disheartened about the attack on Yan. It is impossible to say that we will all return to Beijing to respond to the decree soon. In the past, I would have
I think Zhu Hang might be able to stay in Lanzhou, but since my father insists on it, I'm thinking that this matter involves too much, and Zhu Hang might not be able to stay in Lanzhou anymore to take on this relationship that we can't afford! What does father think?"
