"Boom, boom, boom!" The thunder was rolling, and the rain was like a waterfall. The ancient Qinghe City flickered in the lightning.
There were not many troops stationed in the city, only a little over 2,700. However, the grain and grass piled in the official warehouse in the city amounted to a hundred thousand stones.
Such a huge amount made Hao Wei, the commander of the signing army, so nervous that he could not sleep every night. He was afraid that if he was not careful, he would be quietly killed like Wang Xingzu, the commander of the signing army stationed in Pingyuan City.
The Song army was blown to pieces with fire and thunder bombs.
There is a river running across the north entrance of Pingyuan City, and the northwest of Linqing City was once the most prosperous dock on the canal waterway.
Although the Daliaodong Route Army, which retreated from the Yellow River, withdrew to Mingzhou City, it stopped retreating. The Song Army wanted to sneak attack Linqing City, but they could not bypass Mingzhou no matter what.
However, Pingyuan City was also located behind the Liaodong Route Army at the beginning. However, Han Qing secretly killed his way outside Pingyuan City at night.
Immediately, in just half an hour, the Song army blew apart the city gate and killed all the soldiers hiding in the city together with the elites of the Pingren Division in the south of Daliao.
He was so nervous at night that he couldn't sleep. During the day, Hao Wei's temper would become extremely bad. In addition, there was a sudden heavy rain today and the thunder was rolling. He irritably held the ghost-headed sword and wanted to hit the neck of anyone he saw.
Come up here.
All the sign-signing soldiers were frightened to the point of panic.
Who doesn't know that Commander Hao Du has been a professional executioner since his grandfather's generation? He is as skilled at chopping people's heads as he is at chopping vegetables.
It is unlucky enough for everyone to be forcibly recruited into the army. What if Commander Hao Du accidentally gets into trouble and he takes the opportunity to display his "ancestral skills"? Wouldn't it mean that there would be no place to complain if he had any grievances?
"Keep an eye on them all. Don't think that the Song army won't dare to attack if there's a heavy rain. That man named Han is the reincarnation of a broom star. You can't use common sense to figure it out! Wang Xingzu and his brothers all died because of their carelessness.
It's unclear." Hao Wei walked around the enemy tower three times with a pair of scarlet goldfish eyes, but couldn't find the target for his sword. He stopped unwillingly and threatened in a vicious voice.
"Yes!" The sign-signing officer trembled in his heart and responded tremblingly.
The rumor that Han Qing was the reincarnation of the calamity man spread at a flying speed north of the Yellow River because of the deaths of Xiao Moke, Xiao Pai and others.
What the instigator, the Empress Dowager Xiao Chuo, could not have expected was that the damage caused by the rumors to the Liao Dynasty was actually much higher than that of the Song Dynasty.
The Song Dynasty court was always slow in doing things. Even if it started to deal with Han Qing, it would not immediately transfer Han Qing back to Bianliang and imprison or kill him.
On the Liao side, many generals and disciples had heard from their fathers the story of Zheng Ziming, the previous reincarnation of the calamity man. They had deep doubts about whether the goal of this southern expedition could be achieved.
Since the reincarnation of calamity people appears, it means that the world must turn from chaos to great order, or from great order to great chaos.
At present, the Liao cavalry is marching straight in. To the people of Song Dynasty, doesn't it mean that the world is in chaos?
Since they are destined to turn from chaos to great rule, why should the Liao soldiers fight hard? If they go home early, they can still save their lives and the proceeds from previous plunders. If they continue to fight, they may have to return their profits and their lives.
opponent!
The generals' disciples began to be suspicious, which quickly spread to other middle and lower-level generals. Discussions about the possible failure of the Southern Expedition arose in private.
If there are too many similar discussions, it will definitely affect the stability of the military's morale. And if the military's morale is unstable, morale will naturally plummet.
In particular, the warriors from various grassland tribes who were taken as servants by the Liao Kingdom, as well as the military commanders who were used as coolies by the Liao Kingdom, many people have begun to quietly pack their luggage. As soon as the main force of the Liao Dynasty is defeated, they will immediately leave to the north.
If he didn't even get the news, he would be sacrificed by the Liao State and stayed to stop the pursuing troops.
"Commander Yelu Longxing is still in Mingzhou!" As if he could guess the thoughts of most of his brothers, Hao Wei wiped the blade with his finger a few times and curled his lips to remind, "He is the emperor's biological brother. His current position is
It's two to three hundred miles further south than us. As long as he doesn't continue to retreat north, who among us can run home early and won't be dead in the end?"
"The general is right, as long as General Yelu doesn't continue to retreat north, we won't be able to go anywhere." Commander Zhang Qian grinned and agreed with a sad face.
"Cheer up, even if you have to endure the day, you have to wait until Marshal Yelu retreats to the north of Linqing." Yang Huan, the Marquis of Du Yu, was a scholar. He also looked sad and helped Hao Wei mobilize.
"That's right! You can't get ahead of the commander-in-chief!"
"Hey, just hang on, it shouldn't take too long. As long as the commander withdraws, we will have to load the grain and grass on the river boat to transport it north. At that time, everyone will have the opportunity to go home in good faith!"
"Stay with it, it won't take too long!"
"well……"
Several other low-level generals nodded and agreed with the words of Hao Wei, Zhang Qian and Yang Huan.
No one noticed that before speaking, he had already predetermined his position. That is, after the Eastern Route Army commander Yelu Longxing withdrew from the bank of the Yellow River to Mingzhou, he would continue to retreat northward. It was impossible to regain the momentum and fight again.
He sent his troops south to compete with Li Jilong, Han Qing and other Song generals.
"General, there are boats, there are boats on the river!" A soldier, who was soaked like a drowned rat, suddenly rushed into the enemy tower, pointed in the direction outside the city, and shouted loudly.
"Boom!" There was a muffled thunder blast, and lightning illuminated the faces of everyone in the enemy tower. They were all as if they were covered with a layer of incense ash.
"Fight, prepare to fight. All the brothers come out, demolish the houses, and block the four gates of Linqing City with bricks and tiles!" After all, he is a former executioner. Hao Wei has the highest psychological quality. After seven or eight fingers, he was the first to slow down.
After coming to his senses, he raised the Ghost Head Sword high above his head.
"Fight, fight!"
"Demolish the house, demolish the house and block the city gate!"
…
Inside the enemy tower, exclamations followed. The leaders of the signing army, big and small, rushed out to greet the brothers under their command while shouting.
The rainstorm was like a waterfall, and there was lightning and thunder, and they were all drowned in a short time. However, they didn't care.
After all, compared to losing your life, being caught in the rain is a huge gain. At this moment, who can think about whether you will get sick after being caught in the rain?!
With their full mobilization, all the soldiers in the city also used all their strength. It only took less than an hour to demolish more than twenty large blue brick houses and close the four gates of Linqing City.
, all made of bricks, sealed tightly.
In this way, even if it is exploded with gunpowder, there will be no problems with the four city gates until the Linqing city wall is blown down.
However, what made them dumbfounded was that the large ships coming up from the canal did not dock at the dock northwest of Lincheng.
Braving the heavy rain, large ships headed straight north along the canal, as if Linqing City and the signing troops in the city had never existed at all.
"General, it looks like it's a cargo ship." Zhang Qian, the well-informed commander, got into the watch tower with his wet head and reported to Hao Wei in a low voice. "It's a passing cargo ship. It went straight north. I didn't plan to go there."
Stop at the dock.”
"Cargo ship? Nonsense, there is a chaos of war, how can a cargo ship pass through?" Hao Wei suddenly felt relieved, then jumped up and ran towards the guardrail in three steps and two steps.
The rain was much lighter than before. Looking through the rain curtain, he saw that several ships were going away, all with square heads and square heads.
There were no sails on the deck, only a cabin the size of a house. At the stern of the ship, several boatmen, wearing raincoats, slowly lowered their bamboo poles, and then with a slight push, the ship continued to drift away despite the light rain.
"Grandma, some bastard made a fortune and actually transported it on a cargo ship!" Hao Wei was angry and envious. He pointed at the cargo ship in the distance and cursed.
They had seen cargo ships on the canal before. At least 70% of the food stored in Linqing City was transported from cities farther north on these stupid-looking cargo ships.
In this era, there was war and chaos. Of course, it was impossible for ordinary merchants to sell goods along the canal. However, the nobles of Daliao were able to commandeer cargo ships and send the good things they grabbed all the way back to Nanjing (now Beijing).
"General, please take a step to speak!" Yang Huan, the Marquis of Du Yu, followed quietly and pulled Hao Wei's sleeve and said.
"What's wrong? Do you know the sign on the ship? Whose family is it?" Hao Wei glared at the other party unhappily and asked angrily, "Don't worry, no matter how loud I scold you from such a distance, the people on the ship will also
can not hear!"
"No, that's not what I meant!" Yang Huan remembered stamping his feet repeatedly, grabbing Hao Wei's wrist, and pulling him into the enemy tower.
Although Hao Wei was born in the executioner's profession, he has always respected scholars. He hesitated, took a step forward, and allowed Yang Huan to pull him away.
"What is carried on the ship is not cargo. The cargo is heavy, and the river boat transporting the cargo must have a deeper draft than this." When no one was around, Yang Huan immediately let go of his hand and reminded in a very low voice.
"Ah?" Hao Wei was startled again and blurted out his questioning words, "It's not to transport goods. Why are they heading north in the heavy rain? Are they free? If you want to convey military information, no matter how fast the ship is, it can't be as fast as the horse!"
"I don't know!" Yang Huan looked around and shook his head slightly.
"No, the origin of these boats is strange. I have to stop them and examine them carefully. Someone, please dismantle the north gate and prepare your horses!" Hao Wei's heart was filled with alarm, and he turned around and rushed towards the footpath to the lower city.
No matter how fast a cargo ship moves on the canal, it cannot move faster than a horse. The water surface of the canal is only two or three feet wide. After the brothers catch up with the cargo ship on their fast horses, they can stop all the cargo ships with flying claws, ropes and bows and arrows.
"No!" Before he could take three steps away, Du Yuhou Yang Huan had already screamed and caught up with him, grabbing his wrist firmly, "No, General Hao, it's best if you just pretend that this didn't happen.
.You just said that the man named Han is a broomstick. If there is one of his people on the ship..."
"What, Han Qing's people? Han Qing's people, go north..." Hao Wei frowned and asked sharply.
Immediately afterwards, he trembled again and nodded vigorously, "Yes, yes, we didn't see anything just now. We were worried about ant thieves attacking the city in the rain, so we blocked the four gates. Hurry, go ahead and do it.
Call me all the brothers from head to up. I will give them a warning. If anyone dares to gossip about this matter from now on, I will cut off their heads and light up sky lanterns!"
