The casualties in the storming of Zhouya were too heavy. Meng Jian gritted his teeth and ordered the defenders to withdraw from the alleys. However, he did not let all the defenders withdraw into the barracks and defend. Instead, he divided 140 or 50 people and rushed to the nearest Beicheng.
Door.
These armored soldiers rushed to the north city gate, climbed directly onto the city wall, and used horses, antlers, hammers, rolling stones, etc. to block the climbing road inside the city gate to ensure that when reinforcements arrived, they could still rush from the north as soon as possible.
The city gate entered Kelan City.
Meng Jian then retrieved door panels and other sundries and piled them into the alley as a hindrance to prevent Tongbai Mountain soldiers from chasing after him. Then he led less than 400 soldiers and dragged Cao Cheng, who was still struggling fiercely and shouting curses.
, retreated to the military camp.
In addition to the three to five or ten dozen soldiers and servants in each family of the middle and senior military officers of the Qing Shun Army, there were also many young men like Cao Cheng who were not yet old enough to join the army and had been practicing martial arts since childhood.
The Meng family was a large family in Shuozhou. Each family gathered together young martial arts students and armed soldiers, and there were more than a hundred people.
The Cao family is also only Cao Shixiong. The two Cao Shili brothers did not have separate households because the old lady was still alive. The whole family lived in the back house of the state government. However, another branch of the Cao family died in Tongbai Mountain and entered the state government, so they could not take care of it for the time being.
Too often, there were eighty or ninety young men and armed soldiers, who fled into the military camp surrounded by women and children.
Meng Jian withdrew to the military camp. Two to three hundred young men, wearing shabby armors discarded by their fathers, holding knives and sticks in their hands, clamored to go out to fight. Fortunately, they were held back by many women and servants.
Although there were no pursuers coming directly to the military camp, Meng Jian did not dare to be careless in the slightest.
In addition to blocking the front and rear gates of the barracks, he also ordered various obstacles to be placed in the courtyards of the camps, and ordered all soldiers to hold swords, spears, bows and crossbows in their hands to form formations - in addition to gathering more than 200 soldiers,
A new team was formed to make up for the lack of troops, and he ordered all the young men, women and children to return to the barracks with curses.
Meng Jian dared to breathe a little sigh of relief at this time. Although there were still many children who had not been evacuated at this time, he had no time to take care of it. He was afraid that if he divided his troops into small groups to go out to rescue, they would only be ridden in the streets.
The soldiers of Tongbai Mountain who were galloping around mercilessly ate them up.
At this time, he was just secretly glad that the number of soldiers from Tongbai Mountain who entered Kelan City was limited.
Otherwise, with the crude defensive measures in the barracks, the chillingly killed generals, family soldiers, and a group of young men who were good for nothing except hot-headedness, Meng Jian suspected that he might be slaughtered.
.
Wang Gaoxing and Qian Zerui made many arrangements for the evacuation so that they could have time to reunite with their rescued family members.
Wang Gaoxing was over fifty years old. His wife and eldest son stayed in his hometown to take care of family affairs and family property. His second son went to Bianjing to study. He only had a concubine and his youngest son who accompanied him to Lanzhou to take up his post.
Qian Zerui was over forty years old. His eldest son also got married and started a business and stayed in his hometown. He took his wife, second son and young daughter to Lanzhou to take up his post.
It was also Cao Shixiong who wanted to coerce Wang Gaoxing, and Qian Zerui surrendered to the enemy together, without embarrassing their families, and their female relatives were not harmed. However, these twists and turns made the two families feel that they had narrowly escaped death.
Time was so tight that Wang Gaoxing and Qian Zerui exchanged a few words with Jia Xiaocai, and Xu Huai sent someone to invite them.
The fighting in the alley has ended. Except for the guard troops and some prisoners who were driven to pile obstacles in the alley, the other generals were seizing the time to rest.
The war would start again at any time, and it was impossible to sleep comfortably in the house. Everyone just sat on the ground, curled up, or lay down to rest under the eaves of the verandah. Their clothes and armor were still on, and they were wrapped in a thick felt to keep out the cold; some people still had their eyes open,
They talked quietly, but most people had already fallen asleep, and the sound came one after another, like thunder.
Swords, shields and other weapons were also placed beside him.
Some people were holding wheat cakes and meat jerky in their hands, but they were so sleepy that they fell asleep after taking a few bites. The water in their bags was splashed out, but they didn't feel anything.
Wang Gaoxing and Qian Zerui walked to the east courtyard where Xu Huai served as a temporary command post.
Among the guards in the yard, only three of them were still guarding their posts in high spirits. The others were curled up in front of the corridor and sleeping. The two of them walked into the lobby quietly and saw Xu Huai and a middle-aged general sitting at the table to discuss.
What are you talking about? A young military general sat in the corner and dozed off with a spear in his arms. He was awakened by the sound of Wang and Qian coming in. He sat upright; a big man with a black face hugged an iron shield and snored louder than thunder. He was completely
He didn't notice that someone was entering the room, and saliva flowed from the corner of his mouth.
"Wang Langjun, Qian Langjun, please sit down and talk."
Xu Huai invited Wang Gaoxing and Qian Zerui to sit down. When they were about to ask about the arrangements for the evacuation, a guard came in, handed over the envelope in his hand, and said: "Mr.
Send a letter back to Bianjing..."
Xu Huai took the letter, took a look at it, and kept it close to his body.
Wang Gaoxing and Qian Zerui knew about Xun Yannian's surrender to the enemy in prison, but the matter was extremely sensitive and they had not asked in a hurry before. When Xun Yannian did not show up, they sent a letter to Xu Huai.
, he was also confused and asked: "Mr. Xun Lang, who is this?"
"Mr. Xun Lang knew that he was doing a great disservice by surrendering to the enemy. He returned to Bianjing to meet his old friend without shame. He had just committed suicide. This is a posthumous letter left to his son." Xu Huai said.
"..." Wang Gaoxing and Qian Zerui were both stunned. They didn't know whether they could hold on to their integrity as they had been imprisoned, tortured, or their children were tortured and threatened. They had no intention of demanding Xun Yannian, they just sighed.
, "Xun Langjun also went astray due to a mistake in his thoughts..."
"I invite you two gentlemen here now to introduce my uncle Wang Ju to meet these two gentlemen."
Xu Huai put Xun Yannian's incident behind him, introduced Wang Ju and Wang Gaoxing, and Qian Zerui, two acquaintances, and said,
"The right and wrong of the Jingsheng Army's change, and the disastrous defeat of the two northern expeditions to Yan, should be able to give a conclusion. My uncle and I were lucky enough to survive that year. In order to avoid persecution by our enemies, we had to hide our names, and Wang Xianggong was assassinated on Tongbai Mountain.
, Cai Zheng privately caused a monstrous banditry in Tongbai Mountain. Many of the things involved are best understood by Prime Minister Wang Chun. And we escorted Prime Minister Wang Chun to Lanzhou for thousands of miles. Whether we are loyal and loyal in our hearts or have ulterior motives, the facts will prevail.
All sophistry. Now that I invite you two gentlemen to come over, it’s not to talk about the past events of the year. In fact, the situation I am facing at this time is too dangerous. Xu Huai has little experience and is panicked for a while. There are some things that I still need to ask the king for money.
The two gentlemen can only decide on a deal through discussion..."
The first northern expedition against Yan failed. Many people in the government and the public and even in Hedong regretted the killing of Wang Xiaocheng and the evacuation of Jingsheng's army from Yunshuo. However, Cai Qing and other war-fighting officials had not yet lost power, so these voices could not be made loudly.
Surface.
This time, during the Northern Expedition against Yan, not only did hundreds of thousands of generals lose their lives, but they even directly shook the foundation of the country.
Don't mention the rumors of false edicts at this time. Even if the edict held by Cai Qing to kill Wang Xiaocheng was the real edict, no one would doubt that the old incident would be overturned.
If it were not a false edict, it would not be surprising if the official personally admitted his mistakes for the past and issued a self-incriminating edict. As the main promoter of the northern expedition to Yan, Cai Qing was only responsible for the tragic consequences of the two northern expeditions to Yan. Responsible, there are only two endings available: exile or execution.
Therefore, Xu Huai's life experience is no longer an obstacle at this time.
Wang Gaoxing and Qian Zerui didn't think they needed to hide anything. If Xu Huai asked, they were willing to write a memorial for the old events.
It's just that Wang and Qian, apart from seeing Xu Huai personally admit his life experience, they didn't expect that another important figure in the Wang family, Wang Ju, was still alive. They were really surprised and forgot to ask Xu Huai about the current situation. How bad it is.
"..." Xu Huai continued, "The day before yesterday, the Chihu siege troops arrived at the Beixing Village of Yanmen Pass. After an hour of strong attack on the attached city, the defender could no longer resist and surrendered. If nothing goes as expected, the Chihu people should have surrendered at this time. All the cities in Yanmen Pass have been captured. The only thing that is slightly fortunate is that the deputy transfer envoy Guo Zhongxiong and Guo Langjun led his troops to escape into Yingzhou City in time. He has led 20,000 troops to hold on in Yingzhou City for three days and has not yet surrendered. The Chihu people rushed into the city. However, Guo Langjun's persistence could only buy some more time for the evacuation of the periphery. There were no reinforcements to rush to Yingzhou for rescue. When the Chihu people arrived, more siege troops and horses could arrive. The equipment has been transferred to Yingzhou City, and the fall of Yingzhou will be a matter of time..."
"Where are Liu Shizhong and Cai Yuanyou?" Wang Gaoxing and Qian Zerui were not Cai officials, and there was no need to show any respect to Liu Shizhong and Cai Yuanyou in front of Xu Huai. They asked directly by calling them by their first names.
Xu Huai said: "Xiao Sheng, the main force of the Xuanwu Army broke out to the south that night. Liu Linggong fell from his horse and died under the enemy's sword. Liu Yan, Liu Junhou and Chen Yuan, Chen Junhou, led the remaining troops to break out of the encirclement and now retreated into the Western Mountains. Cai Yuanyou The whereabouts of the other commanders of Xuanwu, Xiaosheng, and Yuhou are unknown..."
"Is it really impossible to rescue Yingzhou?" Wang Gaoxing and Qian Zerui asked, feeling their chests feel tight.
"Not to mention the combat effectiveness of the two armies, just talk about the number of soldiers and horses: In addition to the 20,000 soldiers and horses surrounded by Yingzhou, Dai Viet also has 10,000 troops garrisoned on Linfu Road, and our remaining troops in Shuozhou and Langu still have more than 7,000 People, Hedong is in Xinzhou, Taiyuan, Wenhengyue, Yinchao and the two 5,000 forbidden troops - and the Chihu people, in addition to the 50,000 troops that have been assembled in Yunshuo, except for the 15,000 rebels who defected to Cao Shixiong, except for Datong In addition to the more than 10,000 surrendered troops, at least 50,000 more elite cavalry were subsequently assembled in the Zhengyunshuo area. At the same time, a large-scale mass of troops and horses was also assembled in the front of Liaoyang, which should be between 80,000 and 100,000, and would go to Yan. "Kill Ji," Xu Huai said, "To be honest, if the imperial court reacts even half a step slower, Bianjing will not be able to hold on. This is why I urgently asked the two gentlemen to come over. This involves the choice of the destination for everyone to evacuate: if Reinforcements from the imperial court can arrive at any time, so everyone should evacuate to Loufan City with their families and secure the city. If Hedong is destined to become a bloody battlefield with repeated battles with the Chihu people, everyone should evacuate to Fulin Road with their families and children. Or the hinterland of Guanzhong; if Bian and Kyoto cannot be defended, the best arrangement I can make for everyone is to evacuate everyone to Tangzhou and Dengzhou first - or in other words, to do it step by step, everyone will evacuate to Fuzhou first. , you can go to Linzhou to wait and see the situation..."
There are two main directions for escaping from Kelan City. One is to escape to Loufan County in the south, and the other is to escape to Taiyuan through Yang Guang's old road, but these two directions are not within the scope of Xu Huai's choices.
.
Needless to say, Taiyuan was doomed to fall. Loufan County was only fifty or sixty miles away from Kelan. There was an official road along the way, but it was difficult to travel due to the snow. When Cao Shixiong heard the news and led his cavalry to rush back, Jia Xiao, who was walking slowly, was still going.
On the way to Loufan County, it was difficult to say that he could escape Cao Shixiong's bloody revenge.
The fastest way is to directly cross the frozen Fen River, escape into the mountains and wilderness of the southern section of Guanchuan Mountain south of Huanglongpoyi, climb over the not too dangerous mountains in the southern section of Guanchuan Mountain, and first escape to southern Fuzhou or Linzhou.
Temporary evacuation - Xu Huai and his more than 300 cavalrymen could only use the mountains in the southern part of Guanluan Mountain to entangle the rebels, and they could cover the escape of everyone and their children...
