The wilderness is endless, and the streams are like knives, cutting the dark yellow ground into strips.
This is a typical landscape along the Yellow River. All streams, no matter how wide or narrow, eventually converge towards the galloping yellow dragon in the distance.
The giant yellow dragon, holding a huge amount of sand, roared down from west to east. Wherever it passed, the mountains were split, the ground was torn, and the yellow soil stood as steep as a wall. (Note: The Yellow River was still flowing in the Song Dynasty.
Not a river hanging above the ground.)
Because we are approaching the battlefield of Chanzhou, there are very few people in the wild. Several typical forts are no longer inhabited by ordinary people. Only the blood-stained walls and the ruins of the walls burned by fires behind the walls are left. On the evening of early winter,
In the wind, there was a sound of "wuwuwuwu". It seemed that there were many souls unwilling to leave, accusing God of the crimes of the Khitan invaders.
However, God seemed to be asleep and had no strength to take a look at the evil happening in the world. He allowed the killing and looting to be repeated over and over again in the cities and villages on the north bank of the Yellow River.
As a result, the large area on the north bank of the Yellow River close to the battlefield became more and more desolate day by day.
What was once a school has been turned into a pile of rubble, and what was once a market has been turned into a mass grave.
Before the sun sets, there are wild dogs with red eyes walking in groups among the ruins of the fortress.
Look for corpses that have not yet completely decomposed, or keep your eyes on the former official roads, ready to attack lone wounded soldiers or fleeing civilians at any time.
A dozen pedestrians riding war horses suddenly appeared from near the river, walking along the official road from far to near. Standing outside the ruins was a wild dog the size of a calf, which immediately let out a "wuwu" sound from its mouth, trying to
Notify others of the same kind around you that fresh meat has appeared.
However, it soon realized that the situation was not good. It turned around decisively, tucked its tail, and ran away. It was afraid that it would run too slowly and become a hunting target for those humans.
From the ruins of the fortress, dozens of wild dogs also emerged one after another, scrambling to escape.
Dogs are extremely sensitive to murderous aura, especially wild dogs that have been raised by humans and have eaten corpses. Even from a distance of twenty feet, they can clearly feel the murderous aura on a veteran or butcher. Or they can hold their tails between their legs.
If you run for your life in a hurry, you can either lie on the ground and wait for death. Even if you are held down by a veteran or a butcher and stabbed to death, you will never dare to show your teeth to him.
"Right here, Wu You, you take your brothers to ambush behind the stronghold wall. Zhang Fan, you and Dou Sha go to prepare the tripping rope. Rongwa, you go and take out the fire bombs for emergencies. Ye Nuxia,
You are agile, go to the highest point of the fort and serve as a lookout. Brother Zhang Huan, you are injured, hide the horse in the fort and feed it some soybeans and salt. Don't worry about other things..." That team was very fast.
They arrived near the fort. The man in the lead was not interested in chasing wild dogs. He jumped off his mount and quickly assigned tasks to everyone around him.
"Yes, inspection!"
"Understood, Brother Han!"
"Brother Han, don't worry, leave all your mounts to me!"
…
Everyone agreed unanimously, and then started to act separately according to the instructions.
The man leading the group lifted the dust-blocking curtain on his head, raised his eyes and glanced around. His young and resolute face was quickly coated with a layer of golden light by the setting sun.
Yes, this person is Han Qing. Han Qing quietly left Bianliang more than ten days ago.
I saw him quickly scanning the surrounding situation, and then strode towards his mount. Following closely, he took off a long gun and a water bag from the back of the mount, and found a shelter from the wind.
He sat down to drink water and silently wiped the tip of the gun with a handkerchief.
"Brother-in-law, will the man surnamed Zhang come? This place is not far from the west camp of the Liao army. If we are scouted by the Khitan people..." Dou Sha finished setting up the trip horse rope, panted and passed by him, lowered his head, and used
a small voice asked.
"Definitely. After Zhang Tingyu escaped from the Zhenrong Army, he had no other place to go except to defect to the Liao Kingdom. If he wanted to take credit for poisoning Li Dujian, it would definitely be better to go directly to the Liao Emperor Yelu Longxu than to find someone else.
"Knowing that Dou Sha was not at ease, Han Qing put down his spear, raised his hand and patted his shoulder, explaining softly.
"But, why didn't he cross the river from Jixian County and go around Yangwu instead?" Dou Sha's nervous mood relaxed a little, but he refused to leave immediately and continued to pester Han Qing to find out.
.
"Ji County is too close to Huazhou. He has a guilty conscience and is afraid that the Prime Minister will send troops to intercept and kill him from the Huazhou camp." Han Qing had already thought about this question and quickly gave the answer with a smile. "And he
There is also a group of King Yong's gang members around him. The target is too big. Going east will definitely attract Zhao Heng's attention. He deliberately ran west. At present, all the soldiers of the Song Dynasty have gone to Huazhou. Even if the local government discovers him,
We don’t have the strength to send people out of the city to pursue and intercept them.”
After a pause, he found that Dou Sha's expression was still a little nervous. He continued to add with a smile, "Are you worried that Zhang Tingyu deliberately used himself as bait to trick us into killing him? There is no need, he can't tell fortunes and can't guess.
Come, he has escaped across the Yellow River, and there are still people waiting to cut his head in front!"
The last sentence was the key point. Dou Sha nodded vigorously after hearing this.
The veteran general Li Jihe has been in charge of the army for many years, and his close friends and old friends are spread throughout the army. However, these people have a common weakness, that is, they are all officials.
As he holds an official position, he cannot casually lead his brothers to hunt down Zhang Tingyu. So when he learned that King Yong had failed, Zhang Tingyu immediately took the followers of King Yong in the right wing of the Zhenrong Army and abandoned the army and fled.
In this way, other generals of the Zhenrong Army, Li Jihe's relatives and friends, and even Li Jihe's brother Li Jilong were unable to deal with him in a short period of time.
First of all, around Zhang Tingyu, there were no less than a hundred members of King Yong's party, and more than two hundred of his own cronies. Sending a small number of servants to hunt him down was tantamount to committing suicide.
Secondly, if you want to lead a large army of soldiers and horses to hunt down Zhang Tingyu, you must first obtain the approval of the court. And with the efficiency of the Song Dynasty court, it was impossible for the official documents to be completed in less than half a month!
Therefore, after Zhang Tingyu and others abandoned the army and fled, they detoured upstream to cross the river.
The further away they are from the other forbidden armies led by the officials, and the further away they are from the left wing of the Zhenrong Army, the less likely they are to be intercepted, pursued, and intercepted.
And as long as they successfully crossed the Yellow River, for them, it meant escaping from death.
After Xiangzhou was captured by the Liao army, there was no organized Song army in the two to three hundred miles wide area on the north bank of the Yellow River from Xinxiang eastward to Chanzhou.
As long as Zhang Tingyu and others worked a little harder, after crossing the Yellow River from Yuanwu, it would take them another two days to reach Yelu Longxu's handsome tent.
At that time, they can use Li Jihe's death and the secrets of the Song Dynasty in their hands to exchange for their glory and wealth in the rest of their lives!
"Quack, quack..." A crow's cry suddenly came from a dilapidated watchtower in the village, which was mysterious and shrill.
"Here we come!" Han Qing used the spear as a crutch and quickly propped himself up.
The moment he left the imperial city, the Emperor of the Song Dynasty and the court had nothing to do with him.
However, Li Jihe once protected him, and he dared not forget it. Nor could he watch the thief who poisoned the old general escape punishment.
