The current situation is so dangerous that it is only speculation that Cao Shixiong will attack Guangwu. However, Xu Huai and the remaining soldiers of the Western Army who gathered in Jingong Mountain faced the main enemy cavalry pursuit and interception. When they wanted to retreat to Shuozhou City and Xishan, they needed troops. The horse responded, there is no doubt about it.
Xu Wukun's tendency was really unsatisfactory, so Xie Zhong led his troops to abandon Guangwu Village and retreat into the Western Mountains.
However, Xu Huai personally led 300 fine cavalry to sneak into Jingong Mountain for guerrilla warfare. Anticipating that once the main force of the Yan army was defeated, Huairen, Jincheng and Shuozhou were all chased by ruthless soldiers, making it inconvenient to convey information, so he ordered Xu Wuqi to command The main troops left behind in Shuozhou and Xishan.
Therefore, when Xu Huai was unable to be contacted in time, Xu Wuqi had to come up with the idea.
"Have anyone sent someone to contact the two military lords Zhu Lei? What's their attitude?" Zhou Jing asked.
It is difficult to measure the strength of an army by the personal strength of its generals. Even weapons and armor are not the most important. What is more important is strict military discipline, tenacious fighting will and high morale.
The three troops of Xie Zhong, Zhu Run, and Lei Teng were all completely withdrawn from Datong City. This matter is extremely important for shaping the morale of the generals. The combat effectiveness of the two troops of Zhu Run and Lei Teng is worth looking forward to. .
In Zhou Jing's opinion, if Zhu Run and Lei Teng can be persuaded to advance and retreat together with Shuozhou, the problem of insufficient military strength can be solved.
However, after Wang Fan left Lanzhou and publicly parted ways with everyone in Tongbai Mountain, Lei Teng and Zhu Run deliberately avoided contact with Shuozhou.
In order to avoid unnecessary misunderstandings, Xu Huai did not let Liu Qiong'er and Zhou Jing place informants around Lei Teng and Zhu Run - as long as they are human beings, they all have tempers. There are eyeliners around the two of them. Once things leak out, it is hard to imagine that they will not fall out.
Therefore, last night Cao Shixiong sent troops to besiege Zhouya, Xu Wukun, and Zhou Jingzai Kelan sent people to report to Lei Teng, Zhu Run, and Jie Zhong. However, they rushed to Guangwu Village and did not know where Lei Teng and Zhu Run were. His reaction after learning that Cao Shixiong had indeed betrayed the enemy.
Of course, Xu Wuqi and Shi Zhen had already arrived in Guangwu first, and Zhou Jing and the others should have sent people to contact Lei Teng and Zhu Run again.
Xu Wuqi shook his head and said: "But we sent people to Langu to meet Lei Teng and Zhu Run. Linfu's military commander Ma Guan Jiqian also sent people to Langu, Lei Teng and Zhu Run perfunctory our people. came back!"
Prefecture and Lin Prefecture are located to the west of Guanxun Mountain and east of the Yellow River. In the early years of Dayue, everything was subordinate to Hedong. However, due to the special geographical strategic location and the fact that there were few local Han people and many Tibetan households, during the Xiaozong Dynasty, it was the local Tibetan tribe in Luanluo. For wealthy households, they set up Linfu Road.
For more than a hundred years, matters such as the field, grain, grain, and prison trials on Linfu Road have been under the jurisdiction of the Hedong Road Transportation Department and the Tidian Prison Department. However, there is also a Military and Horse Department to oversee the military, horse, and defense of the two states, and are not subject to the control of the Hedong Economic and Strategic Envoy Department. , the imperial court did not send imperial troops to station, and the defenders were mainly rural soldiers and Tibetan soldiers recruited from the local area.
However, since the founding of the Dai Viet Dynasty, in many wars with the Dangxiang people and the Khitan people, the Linfu Road defenders and the local wealthy Tibetan families have shown loyalty and have always been trusted. Dujunma, the core of the strategic envoy level Important positions were also allowed to be hereditary for local wealthy families.
This is an extremely special existence in Dai Viet, where civil and military forces are the ancestral law.
Linfu Road Army Ma Guan Jiqian sent people to Langu at this time. Presumably after learning the news that the Yan army was defeated and Cao Shixiong rebelled, he rushed to invite Zhu Run and Lei Teng to lead their troops to retreat to Fuzhou or Linzhou; The attitude of Zhu Run and Lei Teng towards the messengers from Shuozhou and Guan Jiqian was enough to prove their choice.
Think about it, this is normal.
Linfu Road is narrow and sparsely populated, and the size of the garrison is also very limited, even less than 10,000 people. However, the status of Linfu Road Army Ma Si Dayue is equivalent to that of the Jinglue Envoy; the Dujun Commander Guan Jiqian is the same as the Jinlue Envoy A person of equal rank, he is also the head of the Guan family in Fuzhou.
Zhu Run and Lei Teng, as ministers of Dayue, were not in a desperate situation. Of course, it was unlikely that they would follow Cao Shixiong and other Shuozhou surrender generals and then surrender to the enemy. But why didn't they accept Guan Jiqian's invitation and lead their troops to avoid the mansion? The state, Linzhou, has to take great risks to advance and retreat with Tongbai Mountain?
Seeing Xu Wuqi frowning and keeping silent, Xu Wukun looked at Jie Zhong and said: "Although the Guangwu stronghold is solid and dangerous, easy to defend and difficult to attack, Cao Shixiong really wants to lead the rebel army to kill them, and Lin Mansion cannot send troops to contain it. Guangwu is still prone to being cut off by the rebels - the Marquis of Jiejun may lead his troops to withdraw into Xishan, and the rebels should not easily enter Xishan to compete with us..."
"It's hard to say," Shi Zhen said. "The Chihu people have always had strict control over the surrendered troops. Cao Shixiong's actions in Kelan City this morning also proved this. It's hard to believe that the Chihu people will not force Cao Shixiong to lead the rebels. Fight into the Western Mountains and cut off our retreat to the south..."
As an official of the Ministry of War, Shi Zhen was invited to temporarily stay in Shuozhou. He did not make up his mind. He was also cautious and cautious. Even though he advocated that Guangwu should not be abandoned lightly, he did not have strong confidence in his words.
Xie Zhong also spread his hands, indicating that he could not make up his mind.
Since he has chosen to advance and retreat with Shuozhou, he is willing to listen to the opinions of the people in Tongbai Mountain whether Guangwu should defend or abandon it. Of course, the people in Tongbai Mountain think that Guangwu should defend and should mobilize some troops from Shuozhou to participate in the defense. His subordinates The 1,500 Jinxiang troops were all a bit panicked at this time, and it was too difficult to hold off Cao Shixiong's rebels alone. If Xu Wuqi now said to give up Guangwu Village, he would have no objection.
Xu Wuqi frowned, pondered for a while, and said: "Guangwu is holding its troops for the time being. I will send Tang Pan to lead a thousand elite troops to Tanzibao to see the situation. What do you think..."
Tanzibao is the closest Tibetan village to Guangwu in the Western Mountains. Xu Wuqi could not make up his mind for a while whether to abandon Guangwu or defend it. The expedient plan was to first transfer a thousand elites to Tanzibao to wait and see the situation. , withdrew the subordinates in Guangwu Village and the generals and soldiers to Xishan.
Xu Wukun, Zhou Jing, and Xie Zhong discussed it and felt that this arrangement was the safest.
In addition to dispatching Xu Wukun to assist Jie Zhong in Guangwuzhai and immediately start arranging for the subordinates and the generals to evacuate from Xiaobei, Xu Wuqi, Zhou Jing and Shi Zhen hurriedly hit the road at noon and rushed to Wuchizhai.
The mountain road from Guangwu Village to Wuchi Village is more than 30 miles away. Even after repairs, it is not possible to go fast by horse. It was already dusk when we arrived at Wuchi Village. Xu Wuqi immediately arranged for the Tangpan headquarters stationed here to go immediately. Turn south and prepare to meet Guangwu.
After that, Xu Wuqi, Zhou Jing, and Shi Zhen rushed to Shuozhou City without stopping.
Xu Wuqi and Zhou Jing were military generals who were not afraid of hardships and bumps, but Shi Zhen was so tired that he felt like his bones were being torn apart while sitting on the horse.
Although most of the baggage, as well as the few remaining Hu women and children, and the work camp have already withdrawn to Wuchi Village, the main soldiers are still concentrated in Shuozhou City, with the purpose of containing the Red Husband cavalry and connecting with the remaining troops of the Western Army. Retreat westward - this is impossible without enough elite troops.
Liu Qiong'er, Su Laochang, Pan Chenghu, Guo Junpan, Tang Qing, Han Qi, Fan Yong, Fan Zongqi, Wang Jun and others were also in Shuozhou City.
After listening to Xu Wuqi and Zhou Jing talk about the latest situation in Kelan City and Shi Zhen's judgment, everyone felt that it was difficult to make a choice.
At this time, everyone discovered that perhaps everyone in Tongbai Mountain had no shortage of generals who dared to charge into battle or lead troops in battle, and they also had certain ability to analyze and judge the situation. However, when faced with such a complicated situation that required making choices, Xu Wuqi, included, They don’t have the experience to truly stand alone, so it’s difficult to make a decision.
It is also difficult for everyone to imagine the banditry in Tongbai Mountain, the first northern expedition to Yan, and before that, how did Xu Huai make decisions in the face of such a complicated situation?
After everyone discussed it, they all felt that Xu Wuqi's decision was the safest. After all, the elite soldiers and horses in their hands were too limited - except for the Tangpan Division who went to Tanzibao to support them, the troops from Wuchi Village and Houerwu Counting the guards, horses, and auxiliary troops from the engineering and supply camps, they could only mobilize 3,600 to 700 troops at this time.
Xu Huai had not thought about joining forces with Xiao Linshi before to fight one or two beautiful counterattacks in Xishan, but after several communications, Xiao Linshi made it clear that in this war, as long as the Chihu people did not If you attack his troops directly, they will choose neutrality.
The main strategic intention of the Chihu people was to go south as quickly as possible, taking advantage of the situation when Dai Viet was caught off guard. Therefore, Xiao Linshi withdrew his troops from Huairen and Jincheng in a short period of time, and withdrew them all to the northern part of Xishan and In the mountains at the southern foot of Yinshan Mountain, I didn't expect the Chihu people to bite them to death.
Of course, it was impossible for him to take the initiative to attract the main force of Chi Hu.
On the other hand, they intended to take shelter from Dangxiang, and the princes and ministers of Dangxiang were also extremely wary of the Chihu people and never wanted them to provoke the Chihu people at this time.
Although Xiao Linshi knew very well in his heart that all this was an expedient measure, and he knew very well that after the Chihu people captured Bianjing, they would probably attack the remnants of the Khitan clan and the Dangxiang people, but he had no way to use it at this time. The remnants of the 30,000 young men and tens of thousands of women and children went to fight with the Red Husbands; they couldn't afford it.
This also determines that the soldiers of Tongbai Mountain can only fight alone on such a chaotic and disadvantaged battlefield.
In such a complicated and bad situation, if you are not careful, you will lose everything. How do Xu Wuqi, Guo Junpan, Pan Chenghu, Su Laochang and Liu Qiong'er make a decision?
This was also the third night that the Yan army was defeated. In addition to intercepting a large number of defeated troops east of Yingzhou and fleeing to the east ridge of Changshan Mountain in the south, the Red Guards also surrounded Yingzhou City.
The troops invested by Chihu in Yingzhou and the area west of Huairen did not increase significantly, and more than half of them were attracted to the southern foothills of Jingong Mountain between Huairen and Jincheng.
This indeed created conditions for the remnants of the Western Army to flee to Shuozhou and Xishan. Currently, there are 2,000 remnant soldiers who have entered Shuozhou, Houerwu and other fortresses to escape disaster, and a large number of remnant soldiers have fled directly into the mountains of the Xishan Mountains.
It's a pity that these soldiers and horses are frightened, their organization has been broken up, and Shuozhou is on high alert. It is difficult to reorganize them in a short period of time and become a reliable combat force.
Although they traveled all night and arrived at Shuozhou in the early morning, and the meeting was at dawn, Xu Wuqi and Zhou Jing were still not sleepy at all. They boarded the South City Gate. There were many red scouts and reconnaissance riders from far and near, but they did not dare to do so for the time being. Approaching Shuozhou City unscrupulously.
Xu Wuqi soon saw a figure emerging from the mountains to the east, running very fast, and caught up with the cavalry coming out from Dongcheng before the Chihu scouts from the south jumped in on horseback.
"It's Xu Huai who sent someone to deliver the letter!"
Seeing this scene, Zhou Jing speculated quite excitedly.
