In the main camp at Xialu, all the soldiers were busy packing their luggage. Although there was actually not much luggage left to pack, they couldn't just go on the road with bare hands.
In a small, inconspicuous tent in the camp, several generals were sitting in attendance, many with sad and sad expressions on their faces. The most important one was He Baren, who was about to be exiled to Huainan.
At this time, He Baren's face was haggard, his beard and hair were messy. He looked at the filled wine glass, which was now extremely precious in the camp, but he had no interest in raising a glass to drink. He had previously admitted that he was guilty and was ready to accept punishment.
Be prepared. At worst, he will return to Jinyang Jiafang to bear the burden, and he can be regarded as an old practitioner in this way.
But he didn't expect that the emperor would be so ruthless. The punishment this time was even more severe than before. He was going to be sent to the completely unfamiliar land of Huainan. Judging from his current age, this trip would probably be too much.
It is difficult to come back again, and I will die in a foreign land.
All the generals present were He Baren's colleagues, subordinates, relatives and friends who came to see him off. They were about to say goodbye and felt very sad. For a moment, they didn't know how to comfort He Baren, who looked like he was mourning more than he was heartbroken.
Just when the atmosphere in the tent was sad and depressing, another person walked in from outside the tent. It was Duan Shao, who had been quite annoying recently. Duan Shao's arrival immediately attracted everyone's attention, and at the same time, the atmosphere in the tent became...
Be subtle.
Duan Shao first nodded briefly to everyone, then looked at He Baren and said: "I'm going to inform the Grand Tutor that a division brigade will return to Yedu later. If the Grand Tutor is traveling with this team, he needs to be prepared now.
"
As soon as these words came out, everyone looked at Duan Shao with an even more unkind look, and Hu Luguang couldn't help but said angrily: "How on earth could Grand Tutor He Ba have committed such a heinous crime that the King of Pingyuan had to send a team of elite soldiers to escort him away? Could it be Pingyuan?
Is the king worried that the Taifu will abandon his country and surrender to the enemy like King Baishui?"
"It's just a coincidence, not a deliberate arrangement."
After hearing this, Duan Shao explained in a deep voice, and then bowed to He Baren and said: "The Taifu was punished this time because of his affairs. He will return it when he is pardoned. When it comes to his loyalty and bravery in state affairs,
I am ashamed of myself, so how can I suspect that the Taifu has surrendered to the enemy?"
When everyone heard what he said, their expressions relaxed slightly, and He Baren stood up from the table, looked at Duan Shao and said in a slightly begging tone: "I am already waiting to die, and I am defeated in this battle.
I know that I cannot escape my guilt, and I am willing to be punished. However, I do not want to be sent to a distant country. I sincerely ask your Majesty to spread the word before His Majesty, and ask His Majesty to allow me to go and pay my respects."
Hearing He Baren's words, Duan Shao also sighed slightly, but he somewhat understood why the emperor wanted to sanction and attack the elders of these countries. As far as He Baren in front of him was concerned, he kept saying that he was willing to be punished, but the result was that he was exiled to Huainan.
What they want, but punishment is meaningful only if it goes against the will of the person being punished. If you really want to punish yourself according to your own wishes, is it a punishment or a reward?
It can be seen that no matter what these people say, in fact, in their hearts, they still regard the national law as a human play that can be used for favoritism and bargaining, and do not regard it as an important code of the country.
Although he had this emotion in his heart, in order to avoid further seeing the evil crowd, Duan Shao still nodded and said: "The Grand Tutor's intention will be conveyed to the Supreme Lord by my subordinates. But now the Supreme Lord is also busy returning to Jinyang, so I may not have time to summon him.
"
After saying this, he left directly.
He waited until the troops arranged by Duan Shao arrived to urge him, but He Baren did not wait for the emperor's summons, and his eyes inevitably became darker and duller.
This group of armored soldiers are all sergeants of the Forbidden Army. It seems that there is no important mission to go to Yedu to perform. I am afraid it is not true as Hu Luguang said. It is because they are worried that He Baren will escape and join the enemy. They specially arranged the escort.
personnel, they were first taken to Yedu and then exiled.
After all, these distinguished veterans have extensive connections in the army and are closely connected. For example, although Prime Minister Hou Mo and Chen were detained in the army, it did not affect him from leaving the camp and surrendering to the enemy. Who secretly helped or indulged in private matters is totally irrelevant.
There is no way to investigate.
The generals reluctantly sent He Baren away from the camp. After Hu Luguang weighed it again and again, when he saw that He Baren was about to leave, he finally stepped forward to screen away the others. He looked at He Baren and said in a deep voice: "Mr.
If Fu really doesn't want to be sent to Huainan, he might as well send an envoy to appeal to King Changshan when he returns to the capital. King Changshan has been in charge for a long time and is considerate of others, so he may be able to turn things around."
After He Baren heard this, his eyes flashed slightly, and he immediately nodded to Hu Luguang, then waved goodbye to everyone, got on his horse and headed east under the guidance of a group of Baibao sergeants.
Not long after, Emperor Gao Yang also left Xialiju under the escort of tens of thousands of people. He made a short detour to the south and then turned north, preparing to return to Jinyang. As for Xialiju, only 50,000 people remained.
The men and horses are not as strong as before.
After the sharp reduction in troops, Duan Shao breathed a sigh of relief. Because now the strategic line has undergone fundamental changes, from active attack to complete defense, there is no need for such a huge force before, and too many people gathered.
On the front line, the supply of materials and food alone was a huge headache.
Fortunately, during the previous battle, Duan Shao decided to evacuate his troops in advance. Although he still failed to get ahead of the Chinese army, he still took the time to pack up a batch of food and supplies. This way he could barely maintain the recent consumption and finally persisted.
We went to Yedu to urgently send a batch of food and supplies to the front line, otherwise the army would have rioted and collapsed again due to lack of food during the retreat.
Because the Xiafa Ju defense line has not yet been fully constructed, and the enemy Li Boshan's military deployment has always been treacherous and unpredictable. He is afraid that he will send troops to detour south to attack the Qi army's food and grass retreat, making the situation more difficult to maintain. Duan Shao did not
Instead of hoarding food and grass in the lower reaches of the capital, they chose to stay further back, which was relatively safer.
As for the important task of guarding the rear route of food and grass, after weighing it, Duan Shao chose to appoint Hu Luguang to go there. Putting aside other factors, Hu Luguang's military ability was indeed impeccable.
Duan Shao was worried that his ideas were too radical before, but now the good situation has been ruined by the more radical emperor. Based on the current situation of the Qi army, they no longer have the qualifications to have radical ideas. It is exactly what needs to be united.
To work together to deal with difficulties, it is not appropriate for an outstanding general like Hu Luguang to be left idle any longer, but should be appointed.
Hu Luguang naturally hopes to fight and kill the enemy on the frontal battlefield, but now he has no choice. Originally, he was counting on He Baren to be able to support him due to the needs of the war, but now
He Baren himself was already unable to protect himself and suffered heavy punishments, so Hu Luguang naturally had no hope.
Therefore, he accepted Duan Shao's appointment without much hesitation, and directly led the thousands of disciples assigned to him to Tunliu to guard it.
Perhaps God did not want Hu Luguang to be too lonely. Shortly after he arrived in Tunliu, there were enemy traces in the Fajiu Valley on the west side of Tunliu. It was suspected that the enemy troops entered from here with the intention of disturbing the Qi army's retreat.
After learning about this situation, Hu Luguang immediately cheered up and sent scouts into Fajiu Mountain to search and inquire. Finally, he determined the enemy's route and position, and immediately led his troops to target this group of incoming enemies.
The army carried out an attack.
The last time Hu Luguang led his army to attack the rear of the Wei army, he was ambushed by the Wei army and was severely defeated. He only escaped with his own life. Now he encountered a similar situation again. The difference is that Hu Luguang changed from his original prey to
Today's hunter, after a fierce battle, won a complete victory, almost annihilating the entire enemy force, and the enemy general he led was also killed on the spot.
The only regret is that this enemy army is a little small in number, with less than 2,000 soldiers in total. Not to mention the loss of men and horses caused by the failure of the Qi army in the previous battle, even the loss of Hu Luguang's previous failed sneak attack cannot equal the losses.
.
After interrogating the remaining enemy soldiers, Hu Luguang found out that the enemy general who died in the battle was Yun Bao, who had surrendered from the Eastern Wei Dynasty to the Western Wei Dynasty. He was originally arranged to guard the Fajiu Valley to prevent the Qi army from attacking.
In the Qinshui River Valley, after learning about the great victory on the front line, Yunbao underestimated the enemy and planned to lead his troops into Tunliu territory to cause trouble and explore. However, he encountered Hu Luguang and the entire army was wiped out.
In addition, Hu Luguang also learned that the enemy's rear route in the Qinshui Valley was relatively empty. There were only 5,000 troops left in Yining City. With Yun Bao's underestimation of the enemy's advance, Fajiu Mountain's
A road has been opened.
After understanding this, Hu Luguang's thoughts suddenly became more vivid. He even planned to continue the attack to intercept the enemy's retreat. However, before officially sending troops, he did not continue to make his own decisions. First, he sent some
The soldiers went west to guard Fajiu Pass, which was currently empty and unprepared, and immediately sent envoys to Xialuju to inform Duan Shao of the situation.
After Duan Shao learned that there was such a loophole in the enemy's rear, he was very surprised. He hurriedly sent two thousand more armored soldiers to Hu Luguang and led him to quickly attack the Qinshui Valley.