ps: Thanks to Bawanlilu for the reward, thanks to Sika Deer, ququ, and leeyichin for their monthly tickets, and I also want to thank Brother Angry.
Lu Longjun, who had been dormant for more than half a year, suddenly became active. Scouts were sent out in all directions, casting a large net over the surrounding area to collect information from all aspects. At the same time, Zhou Zhiyu, who was in charge of the grain station, also tried his best to contact his subordinates who were still in control.
The various states urged for grain and fodder, and supervised the delivery of weapons and armor, as if they were about to achieve great results.
The three towns of Yiwu, Chengde, and Weibo, which had been paying close attention to the movements of the Lulong Army, immediately became nervous and continued to recruit strong men from the civilian population to make up for the vacancies, organize city defenses, and arrange war defenses.
The situation across Hebei became tense again.
The envoys of the Lulong Army risked their lives to break out of the encirclement, bypassing the towns of Chengde and Yiwu, passing through the Chengtian Army occupied by the Xuanwu Army through remote mountain trails, arriving in Shouyang, and under the protection of Shouyang guard Li Sizhao, they entered Jinyang.
If it were placed in March and April, it would have been very difficult for the Lulong Army's messengers to enter Jinyang. At that time, Jinyang was besieged by the Xuanwu Army Corps. With the army gathered, the four gates were closed and there was no way to enter. At that time, there was no way to enter.
The eunuch Zhang Maoan accompanied the Hedong messenger out of the city to ask for help. They all fell from the city with rope baskets at night. Even the horses they were riding were hung down in this way. The situation was so embarrassing that even the King of Jin himself wanted to break out.
The idea of evacuating Yunzhou to the north.
Fortunately, Li Cunxu tried his best to stop him, and the Hedong army regained its fighting spirit and took advantage of the heavy rain to fight to the death. Li Siyuan and Li Sishao respectively led troops to attack and drove back the Xuanwu army.
But even so, the Xuanwu army still did not retreat. King Zhu Quanzhong of Dongping personally took command of Qinzhou, and Xuanwu armies surrounded Taiyuan Prefecture on three sides. From Jiaocheng in the west, from Taigu in the south, and from Chengtian Army in the east. The total number of troops was
Sixty-seven thousand, more than one hundred thousand civilians, and three hundred thousand soldiers!
The Hedong Army has actually abandoned a large area of land in the south, and its defense lines are only at Qingyuan to the south of Jinyang and Shouyang to the east. The two places defend Jinyang, forming a horn.
Although the siege of Jinyang has been eased slightly, the city is already in dilapidated condition. The crenellations of the city wall are in various places, and the walls are mottled and sunken. It can be seen at a glance that they are the result of large slinging tools. The four walls are all black and gray, which should be fire.
The sign of attack. Under the city wall is even more messy, with pits, walls, and trenches everywhere, and many civilian workers are still busy repairing it.
Jinyang was the ancient capital, and it was the capital of Zhao State during the Warring States Period. Later, it was the seat of Taiyuan County of Qin Dynasty, and the state seat of Bingzhou during the late Han, Wei and Jin Dynasties. The Li family of the Tian family flourished from here, and then swept the world, so in this dynasty, Jinyang
Yang held an extremely important position and was the northern capital of the Tang Dynasty. At its peak, there were nearly 100,000 residents in the city!
But such a large city with a radius of nearly ten miles is now too dilapidated. Entering from the east gate, you pass along the street. The bricks and beams on the houses have been demolished, and the bricks and stones next to the houses have been demolished.
It was taken down and used to defend the city. The entire city was seriously damaged, which was no less than a disaster of burning the city. This shows how fierce the battle was that day.
As the Hedong sergeants passing by the brigade patrolling the city passed by countless people with dark and yellow faces, the messenger became increasingly aware of the critical situation in Hedong.
Entering the Jin Palace where even the screen walls had been demolished, and passing through the empty vestibule, the messenger finally met the world-famous Hedong generals.
In the middle, on the tiger-skin handsome seat, is the King of Jin, Li Keyong, squatting on one leg. One of his eyes is slightly closed, revealing only one fierce eye staring at the messenger. Under the handsome case, there are more than a dozen helmeted men.
The generals in armor spread their geese wings and stared at him eagerly.
On the screen at the back is a picture of a general squatting on the ground with an arrow shooting at an eagle. The painting is none other than Li Keyong.
This painting is famous all over the world, and the messengers who worked hard before coming here also know it. When Yang Xingmi first settled in Huainan, he admired Li Keyong who was conquering the east and west. He wanted to see what Li Keyong looked like, so he secretly ordered the painter to rush to Hedong.
, looking for an opportunity to draw a portrait. However, the painter was captured by the Hedong Army. In a few words, he revealed his flaws and confessed everything. This kind of thing is very taboo, because Li Keyong was lame with only one eye, and Yang Xingmi's actions were tantamount to exposing people's scars.
So Li Keyong was furious. He summoned the painter and asked him to paint the portrait on the spot. In fact, he wanted to make things difficult for the painter, and then executed him after teasing him.
The painter worked hard. He first painted a seated portrait of Li Keyong, and then asked the person in the painting to cover his face with a fan. This not only avoided Li Keyong's lameness, but also concealed Li Keyong's eye disease. He was quite clever.
But Li Keyong deliberately found fault with the painting. How could he let the painter pass the test like this? So he scolded the painter for deliberately covering up the painting, calling him "flattery" and ordered him to paint again.
The painter was extremely smart. After thinking hard, he painted again. This time he painted Li Keyong kneeling on one leg, bending a bow and shooting a vulture. Especially when shooting the bow, Li Keyong squinted one eye, seemingly aiming.
The whole painting was majestic and showed the temperament of a military commander. This time Li Keyong was finally moved and copied the painting on the screen to show his love. The painter also received a heavy reward and was sent back to Huainan.
At this moment, Li Keyong was sitting under the screen, glaring coldly at the messenger: "Sign up if you come!"
The messenger knew at a glance that the King of Jin was very angry. So he bowed and saluted, saying respectfully: "Gao Jingyi, who joined the army in Lulongjiedu Mansion, respected the order of the Liaodong County Prince, and came here to pay a visit to the prince."
Of course Li Keyong knew Gao Jingyi's name. Li Sishao, who was guarding Shouyang, had already sent a flying cavalry to report it, but he did not know the purpose of Lu Long's messenger. In Li Keyong's heart, Lu Longjun was very hateful, Liu Rengong was even more hateful, and he himself
Sending troops to assist him repeatedly has helped the other party a lot, but when he was in critical condition, the other party ignored him again and again. He was really a treacherous person. He had already made preparations when he summoned the Lulong messenger this time.
Be prepared to scold Liu Rengong once again when the other party refuses to send troops, and then gouge out the messenger's ears to let out the bad breath in his chest.
This is the temperament of Li Keyong, a Shatuo person, rough and simple.
Unfortunately, Li Ke used the wrong materials this time. Gao Jingyi got straight to the point and told Li Keyong directly that the Lulong Army was ready again and would send troops to attack the three towns of Yiwu, Chengde and Weibo east of Hedong to break the siege east of Hedong.
In the letter, Liu Rengong gave a detailed explanation for the reasons for his previous refusal to send troops for assistance. He hoped that the King of Jin could forgive him and said that he would fight to the death this time. The two sides would first open up a communication channel. Then the troops would move south to deal with Xuanwu!
At the same time, Liu Rengong also gave a specific commitment to dispatch troops - 30,000 troops, at the end of September in Weiwei.
King Jin couldn't believe his ears. He asked again. After getting confirmation from Gao Jingyi, he finally smiled up to the sky and his attitude immediately changed. He immediately set up a banquet and put out wine to receive Gao Jingyi.
There were very few dishes on the wine table. Thick flour cakes, bran vegetables, and then large pieces of mutton - this is the current embarrassment of Hedong. In the midst of the war, they can only rely on cattle and sheep from the north. There is no shortage of meat, but no food and vegetables.
Very little, very lacking. If it were placed during a siege, it would not even be able to eat thick flour cakes. But there is a lot of wine. This is due to the good wine of the King of Jin, and there is a lot of wine stored in Jinyang.
There was great joy at the table. Li Keyong's adopted sons, Li Siben, Li Si'en, Li Cunxin, Li Cunjin, Li Cunzhang, Li Cunxian, Li Cunzhi, Li Cunhao, Li Cunshen, Li Jianji, and Li Keyong's young biological son Li Cunxu, all came to the table one after another.
He went to Gao Jingyi to drink. Li Keyong also invited Zhang Juhan, the military supervisor of Lulong who had been in Hedong for more than a year, and he was accompanied by Zhang Chengye, the military supervisor of Hedong. They had a banquet together.
When the wine was getting thicker, Gao Jingyi apologized to the generals east of Hedong and once again explained the reasons why he had been unable to come to the rescue. Among them was the invasion of the Khitans in the north.
Don’t we have to worry about the Khitans now? Someone asked.
In this regard, Gao Jingyi explained that the Lulong army was already shifting from defense to attack against the Khitans, and Li Chengzhong, the governor of Yingzhou, expected to annihilate the Khitans within the year. Therefore, the northern part of Lulong had no worries and could concentrate on fighting southward.
Gao Jingyi was a close aide of Liu Rengong and was close friends with Zhou Zhiyu and Guo Bingcheng. He was very clear about the deeds of Li Chengzhong, the governor of Yingzhou. When he got excited, he recounted all the battles of Li Chengzhong. This was to highlight the Lulong Army in front of the generals of the Hedong Army.
It was a good opportunity for force, so Gao Jingyi spoke very hard, and his eloquence was so good that the generals in Hedong were stunned.
The capture of Liucheng in the first battle, the second battle of Shuyingzhou, the eastward campaign to pacify the Bohai Sea, and the capture of Silla along the way. These battles were all performed by Gao Jingyi just right, scratching the itch of the generals in Hedong. The generals in Hedong once heard Zhang Juhan chatting about Li Cheng's death in eldom.
The early wars in the Guan Dynasty and the later deeds of annihilating the vassal state had only been vaguely heard. This time Gao Jingyi described it in detail, and all the generals were fascinated by it. Even Jin King Li Keyong was a little dazzled.
What fascinates the Hedong generals is not just how good Li Chengzhong is in fighting. When it comes to combat, the Hedong generals here, from the King of Jin on down, are all famous people. Any one of them is second to none among the generals in the world.
. It is a fact recognized by the world that fierce generals emerge from Hedong. Whether it is the King of Jin, Li Cunxu, the adopted sons drinking in the hall, or even Li Cunxiao who died unjustly many years ago, they are all recognized by the world as capable.
A figure who took the enemy's general's head out of ten thousand armies. Most of the peerless generals of the late Tang Dynasty who were popularized by the people in later generations came from Hedong, such as Li Keyong, Li Cunxiao, Kang Junli, Li Cunxu, etc. They were all men who frightened the enemy.
To make a simple comparison, the Xuanwu Army came out in six directions, and now besieged Taiyuan Prefecture on three sides. There were hundreds of generals in the army, and there were no less than twenty or thirty famous generals in the world who were awarded titles by the imperial court, such as Ge Congzhou, He Delun, Zhang Cunjing, Shi Shuzong, and Zhu Youning.
, Kang Huaiying, Zhang Guihou, Hou Yan and others were all powerful officers who stood alone, but the Hedong Army only sent two generals, Li Siyuan and Li Sishao, to block Xuanwu's offensive in Qingyuan and Shouyang, leaving Dongping King Zhu Quanzhong helpless.
This is the foundation of the Hedong Army and the tradition of Hedong's martial arts. Unfortunately, Hedong is remote and lacks people. Although the generals are strong, the soldiers are few. In the face of Xuanwu, who is generally dominant, he can only defend with all his strength.
Therefore, Li Chengzhong's ability to fight does not really arouse the interest of the Hedong generals. What fascinates them is that Li Chengzhong's war targets are not the vassals of the Central Plains, but foreign invaders. Fighting the Khitan, pacifying the Bohai Sea, and conquering Silla, this is what
The real battlefield where military commanders dream of galloping - what achievement can be greater than resisting aliens? What achievement can outweigh the power of conquering a country? What is the meaning of fighting in your own home? What a good man goes out to show his prestige!
Gao Jingyi added: "Currently Governor Li is on the Northern Expedition. It is expected to be completed by the end of the year and the grassland will be determined in one battle."
"One battle will determine the grassland"! These five words alone are enough to make the Hedong generals think about it.
"I wish I could have known Governor Li!" Li Keyong, the king of Jin, who took it as his mission to protect the Tang Dynasty, sighed. This sentence immediately made the generals in the hall nod.
"Will Governor Li go south this time when troops are sent out?" Young Li Cunxu's eyes were filled with stars.
"What I don't know is that the Khitan is cunning and not easy to deal with."
Li Keyong suddenly stood up, raised his cup and said, "Congratulations to Governor Li!" All the generals stood up and invited them to drink with them.