Two hundred and twentieth chapters of the country (8)
"Xiaosan...Zhao Xiaosan, come down quickly! I beg you..."
"Immortal... Immortal?! Come down quickly. If you die on the mountain, what will your wife and I do?"
"Liu Qi from Linhe! The one who is the captain! Did you hear that? Your parents, wife and children are all waiting for you here! Get out of here immediately!"
Late at night on the 25th day of the twelfth lunar month, the entire Bowang Mountain camp was in chaos. Only then did Xu Shiying realize that he had underestimated his serial plan... After falling into the city in the evening, the news spread, and the military documents in the city had not yet been collected.
As soon as they got up, a group of sentries went directly into the city and surrendered.
But when he organized a night advance and took the family papers to the foot of Bowang Mountain, everything got out of control.
Bowang Mountain is not a big mountain, but because it stands out on the Hebei plain and has a clever location, it was regarded as the main camp by Ku Tuda. As the gang approached at night, Jiajuan let out a cry in the cold wind, which soon turned into a cry.
The shouting and pleading were combined with the restlessness and shouting on the mountain. In addition, the severe cold in winter, there were fire pits and braziers everywhere, and the cold wind blew, making it a chaotic mess.
The situation outside was so bad that Qu Tuda, who had been promoted to General of the First Guard after the fall, could only sit in the main hall of Dazhai on the mountain. The lights in the main hall were bright and the reflection was clear, but only his expressionless face was illuminated.
expression.
Moreover, Qu Tuda knew from the beginning that he could survive in Hebei not because he was good at fighting, how elite his troops were, and how many high-end combat capabilities he had, but because he and his subordinates were part of the Dongdu system.
Elements. As one of the last two core strategic points of the Wei Dynasty, Dongdu has both a great master and tens of thousands of soldiers and horses recruited and armed in recent years, as well as sufficient warehouses to deal with surrounding threats. However,
, the weakness of this system is also obvious, that is, it relies too much on the intimidating power of the great master himself within a certain range.
So on the other hand, as the Wu clan moved south, everyone realized that once Emperor Cao, who was the pillar of the Eastern Capital, moved west, the system would become an empty tower without its main pillar. As long as someone came to push it, it would
It collapsed.
As for the elite of the Eastern Capital in Ji County, it is even worse, because they are hanging alone in Hebei, like a high wall without any support.
The wall is genuine and the bricks inside are very strong. However, the structure is not good and it might be blown away by a strong wind.
Qutuda had expected such a strong wind, but he really didn't expect that the strong wind would come so fast, so urgent, and that he was so vulnerable... When it came, Gang didn't hesitate at all.
No, Cao Zhongcheng had just left, and he came over here, as if he was deliberately planning it; secondly, there were rumors a few days ago that troops were going to be launched, but they came to the front two days later; thirdly, the bandits were attacking one by one.
Rings, attacks, internal responses, and attacks on the heart continued one after another, leaving him unable to parry.
Of course, the last thing he expected was that this scheming was so powerful that Qu Tuda had nothing to do except asking his trusted troops to light bonfires, guard the gates of the camp, patrol the camp, and prevent the troops from escaping until dawn.
Because he can't control the main force at all.
And shoot an arrow?!
Now he is only afraid that a fire will suddenly break out inside the camp and the army will disperse in a hurry!
"I heard from General Qian Lang that General Qu Tu has no choice but to wait for dawn?"
In the middle of the night, a person suddenly walked into the hall from outside. It was Qin Bao who had just visited the day before yesterday. His expression was gloomy and he seemed a little tired, and his black armor and stomach inexplicably emitted a white gas under the firelight.
"He is telling the truth." When Qu Tuda saw the visitor, although he took the initiative to summon him, he was not at all happy.
After all, the situation is like this, so what if a master comes?
"So what if we stay until dawn?" Qin Bao was silent for a moment and continued to ask.
"What?" Qu Tuda was confused for a moment.
"I mean, so what if we stay until dawn?" Qin Bao raised his voice slightly. "I got the news when I came that Chanyuan was also surrounded. The river has become more frozen in the past two days. It should be Dongjun who sent it directly.
Reinforcements... Heavy troops are pressing down on the border, and Niu Da has been stationed in Chanyuan for a long time. It is very likely that there will be internal reinforcements in the city just like Neihuang... In this case, if we defend until tomorrow, Chanyuan City will be broken, or it has already been broken, and there is no doubt that there will be more soldiers.
Come to the foot of the mountain and call for these soldiers and auxiliaries. It's dark now, they don't know where they are, and the road is blocked by you. Maybe they can still maintain it, but when dawn comes and they see the situation clearly, the army will only collapse, or even
It will lead to organized groups fleeing or even mutiny."
Qu Tuda raised his head and asked seriously: "Then what can I do? Surrender? Not to mention that I am from Guanlong and the opposite is the Hebei rebels. The key is that for this reason, no one in the world seems to surrender.
A serious general of the First Guard, right?"
"This is why the imperial court promoted you." Qin Er replied with a smile.
Qutuda also laughed.
After the two of them finished laughing, they fell silent together, but during this period, the movement outside did not stop at all, whether it was the sound of the winter wind, the shouts and pleas from the mountains, or the scolding and crying in the surrounding military camps, including the brazier.
The sound of "bibo" never stopped.
In fact, the two of them had advanced cultivation and could hear things more clearly than others.
"How could General Qutu bear this sound?" Qin Er was the first to break the silence. "I received the message and had actually been here a long time ago, but I was frightened by the movement and stood there on the field ridge for a long time without daring to come over."
"I am older and have more experience..." Qu Tuda blurted out, but stopped and corrected it immediately. "You thought about your mother and wife, and you felt this situation, right?"
Qin Bao did not deny it, but instead suggested: "General Qu Tu is neither easy to surrender nor has a chance of winning. Prolonging it will only make things worse, but why not leave early?"
"Is it better to leave than to surrender?" Qu Tuda said with a bitter smile. "General Yi Wei led 20,000 people, and there were three or four generals who joined the army. The captain was attacked by thousands of people.
Walking away alone...If you want to be treated as a joke by the people in the world, it is better to wait for the army to surround you tomorrow. It is best that Zhang San also comes, and the Heavenly King Grandmaster also arrives, surrounded by more than a dozen big leaders, that is to die.
, and also get a good name.”
"If you leave now, you can still take some of your tribe with you. You are not leaving alone." Qin Bao reminded. "Leave Dazhai behind, return to Liyang overnight, collect Liyang troops and local family papers, and head west across Zhangshui River.
, and then take advantage of the ice-covered river to cross the river and go to the Eastern Capital... There are few people in the Eastern Capital, and General Qu Tu's qualifications, cultivation, origin, and official positions are all here, and he will definitely come back to life... On the contrary, if you leave too late, there is no chance that you will be able to do so.
Being surrounded, no one can escape."
Qutuda hesitated for a moment and then asked: "Is it too late?"
"How do you know if you don't try?" Qin Bao said calmly. "I have to say, I think Xu Shiying came too fast, and the main force of the army may not be able to follow him properly... There should be a gap of one or two days. This is the last chance."
"If that's the case." Qu Tuda asked seriously. "Can we sneak out secretly, take soldiers and horses from Liyang and Linhe at night, and counterattack here or Chanyuan?"
"No!" Qin Bao thought for a moment and gave the answer.
"Why?" Qu Tuda narrowed his eyes.
"Because the soldiers have no fighting spirit, they will have no fighting spirit." Qin Bao answered proudly. "General Qu Tu... Even if you win this battle, what's the use? Kill a few more people in the army, and then delay
Time is running out, and we are surrounded? The whole army will do a double killing? In this situation, it is good to escape, how can we commit another murder for nothing? And it is the murder of our own son?"
Qutuda was silent for a moment, nodded, and asked again: "If this is the case, how will you deal with it?"
"I'll go back to Linhe and deal with it like you." Qin Bao said seriously. "It's just that Linhe is a little to the east, and the soldiers and horses there may not have time to escape... If we can get out, we will join forces in the east capital; if we can't get out, we will still
General Qu Tu, please remember what I said yesterday, even if you see me in Dongdu in the future, you will just pretend that you don't know me."
"Okay." Qu Tuda was not a mother-in-law. After realizing that Qin Erlang had left only one way for himself, he stopped pestering him, responded immediately, and then stood up. "You go first, I'll go.
Call General Qian, arrange the situation and then leave, we will try to take as many people out as possible."
Qin Bao also stopped talking and went straight out.
In this way, relying on his cultivation, under the cover of night, wind and chaos, Qin Er calmly crossed the Bowang Mountain camp and came to the southwest field ridge. He found his lumpy spotted leopard beast, then got on his horse,
Then he wanted to return to his place of residence, Linhe.
However, for some reason, he, who had just hit the horse and was wearing black armor and a black helmet, suddenly reined in the horse and stopped, then turned around and looked at Bowang Mountain.
Qin Erlang looked at the fire there and listened to the sounds there. He paused for a while and then turned back.
Returning to Linhe County, Qin Bao paid no attention to the surrounding military situation, but immediately purged the military camp next to the city wall. At dawn, he ordered the sergeants from Dongdu to find their home papers and retreat together to Liyang, while not forgetting to free the civilians.
, and then asked the county soldiers to stay and wait for the army to surrender on their own.
After the one-hour time limit ended, almost one-third of the soldiers did not turn back.
Or to put it another way, after Qin Bao explained the situation, two-thirds of the sergeants returned with their family papers, and there were even some county soldiers who did not have family papers who were willing to follow. It can only be said that Qin Erlang usually
Li was very strict in running the army, which greatly won the morale of the army.
Although there was no heavy baggage, the troops dragged their families with them, and it was not until the evening of that day that they arrived at Liyang City, which was only twenty or thirty miles away.
Here, Qin Bao got two pieces of news, one good and one bad. The good news was that Qu Tuda was a veteran. After making up his mind, he arrived early in the day and told Qian who had abandoned his wife.
General Lang led some of the organic troops and family members to the west across the Qingzhang River in advance; the bad news was that at this time, the military information was gathered one by one, and it was confirmed that the Bowang Mountain camp was gone, Chanyuan was gone, and Linhe was gone
No more... Just as he guessed, after Shan Tonghai and Niu Da besieged Chanyuan City, at dawn, some internal forces opened the city. Shan Niu and his two men followed Xu Shiying's strategy and sent their families to Bowang Mountain.
During the camp, they did not expect that the Bowang Mountain camp had already collapsed due to the general's sudden departure at night.
The army was simply delayed in pursuit by the mess of thousands of official and military family records and their recognition, surrender, and preparation.
Therefore, they did not take down Linhe until the afternoon.
However, this also means that Li Yang's troops are unlikely to continue westward to escape pursuit - they do not have the ability to continue marching at night in winter with their family papers, and the distance of twenty to thirty miles means that they will be easily overtaken tomorrow.
"The army arrived too fast, and we really have no other choice. You guys will occupy the city and control the situation. Wait until the army arrives tomorrow and surrender directly... Those who surrender without fighting or destroying will not be punished.
Kill to death." Qin Bao tried his best to arrange it. "Don't be afraid."
Several team generals below looked at each other in confusion. After hesitating for a moment, one of them couldn't help but ask: "Do you want to leave, Lieutenant?"
"Yes." Qin Bao answered honestly. "My mother and wife are both in Dongdu, so I always have to go there."
The person who spoke nodded, but was obviously a little disappointed, and surrendered. Whether he relied on him or not was not the same thing at all, but they also knew the situation of the other party, and they were really speechless.
In desperation, another general from another team hurriedly came over and asked: "Captain, the gang is obviously coming for Liyangcang. If the city surrenders but Cangcheng does not surrender, will we be affected?"
Qin Bao nodded: "It doesn't matter, I've arranged it..."
Everyone was surprised for a moment.
"I was just afraid that General Qu Tu and the others would cause trouble, so I told Li Canjun, who was in charge of Cangcheng, in advance... to tell him that if General Qu Tu made any difficult arrangements before he left, ask him to agree to it and wait until I arrive to deal with it."
Qin Bao had something to say. "After you settle down here, I will go to Cangcheng to have a look. I will never miss anything."
Everyone was relieved.
Facts have proved that Qin Bao's precautionary measures worked - Qu Tuda's arrangement before leaving was for Li Canjun, who was stationed in Cangcheng, to withdraw as soon as possible.
To be fair, this is not good advice.
First of all, this will put the troops who are unable to escape into trouble, and may even be suspected of betraying the follow-up troops; secondly, regardless of the fact that the follow-up troops are destined to be surrounded, we have to admit that burning warehouses is a kind of behavior no matter which dynasty or generation
It is very unacceptable behavior; finally, it is quite difficult to burn Liyangcang.
This is no joke. You must know that, on the one hand, in order to prevent fires, there are not many fire starters and fuels around Liyangcang. Trees and the like are routinely cleared, otherwise the mountains next to them would not be called Tongshan. Moreover, this place
The location is relatively sheltered from the wind; on the other hand, there are too many warehouses, and they are divided into warehouses. The warehouses are often isolated by rammed earth, so you can't burn much even if you want to.
Of course, even if it doesn't burn much, it would definitely be a pity and not a good thing if it was burned. Therefore, Qin Bao's advance arrangements still played an obvious role.
On the morning of the 27th day of the twelfth lunar month, Shan Tonghai arrived in Liyang, and Liyang City immediately surrendered. Shan Dalang ignored the stability of the city and immediately went to Liyangcang behind Liyang City. He then accepted the surrender of the defenders here and took control of Cangcheng.
, took over the surrounding warehouse area.
At this time, the army's combat objectives have actually been achieved.
But it was too fast. No one expected that under Xu Dalang’s attack and a series of offensive strategies, Jijun’s army would fall apart so easily. Until today, because of the smoothness of the battle and the speed of the troops, the rear troops
They just entered the territory of Jijun.
It was not that there was no war. On the 27th, Yecheng's reinforcements, who knew nothing about the situation, tried to go south, but were easily defeated by the cavalry of the three battalions of Zhou Xingfan, Fan Wang, and Liu Heifu led by Xiong Bonan outside the city. Thousands of troops were lost.
No reaction.
At this time, it is necessary to praise the own preparedness that the Gang has set up in advance: the field soldiers have already been mobilized on the day of dispatch, which is the 24th, and have followed the Chinese army to Jijun, preparing to participate in transshipment and warehousing
, and after receiving the news that Liyangcang had to be completely acquired, the local officials in various counties also started mobilizing or notifying the people to go to Liyangcang to collect food according to the plan.
On the 28th, Zhang Xing, the chief of the gang, who learned about the war on the front line, led ten battalion soldiers including Xie Minghe, Ma Wei, Cao Xi, Sui Jia Yue, Zhai Qian, Dou Lide, Li Zida, Wang Xiongdan, etc. to arrive ahead of the tens of thousands of troops stationed in the field.
To Liyang.
"How is the situation?" Outside Liyang City, Xie Minghe saw Xu Shiying, Xu Shiren and others coming to pick him up, and asked from a distance.
"Excellent." Xu Shiying blurted out. "The storage is properly sealed and no damage has been done. It is waiting for the chief's inspection."
Zhang Xingxing was stunned, and many of the leaders accompanying him, including Xie Minghe, were also stunned.
Because this statement is too self-contradictory.
You must know that according to the plan, Xu Shiying and the others should open the warehouse at this time and let the people around them come to help themselves and collect food. In fact, when they came here, they saw with their own eyes that countless people from the surrounding area had come to collect food.
.
Next to them, there is an endless stream of food. Although these local people are not short of food because they rely on the garrison to support the economy, they still remain silent with a hint of disbelief and are unable to transport food... After all, no one knows.
When did these military bosses stop being kind?
Of course, this is going too far. Turning back to the present, the surroundings are already like this. Why is it still called "the storage is sealed and is waiting for the chief inspection"?
"Chief, when you get to Cangcheng, you'll know at a glance." Xu Shiying seemed to have anticipated the visitor's reaction and responded calmly.
Zhang Xing and others became more and more curious, so they parked the army around Liyang City, and together with more than a dozen big leaders, the leader and a team were almost all ready to move the gang elites and guards on horseback to the inner area and be surrounded by two mountains and two rivers.
The city (Dagon Mountain, Tongshan, Dahe, Qingzhangshui Extension Canal, Liyangcang) sandwiched Liyangcang and left.
Following a wide and clean rammed earth road, you will arrive at Cangcheng within a few miles.
Cangcheng is not in this avenue, but on one side of the foothills of Dagong Mountain, which has been specially leveled.
After arriving in Cangcheng and having a high-level view, everyone immediately realized the problem... It turned out that the huge storage area at the end of the official road between two mountains and two rivers had not been opened, and the endless flow of food was simply
It was transported from Cangcheng.
As a result, everyone immediately shifted their doubts.
"How much food can there be in Cangcheng?" Xie Minghe still couldn't bear it and asked out of curiosity as he walked into the city.
"I don't know the exact amount. Anyway, the warehouse officials from Dongdu ran away early. But if we guessed correctly, the food in the warehouse city alone is enough to feed 80,000 people for a year." Another person who led the way.
The big leader Xu Shiren spoke with some caution.
"How much?" Doulide questioned for everyone.
Surprisingly, Xu Shiren and Xu Shiying didn't say a word. Instead, they took three steps and entered Cangcheng, which was not large in area. The gang elites behind them also filed in.
Entering Cangcheng, turning up the city wall, ignoring the motionless Dantonghai sitting on the wall, what you see is an ordinary small city with a radius of several hundred steps, which is the same as most Cangcheng, Yingcheng and Kucheng.
There is not much difference... a simple rammed earth city wall, a simple two rows of barracks, the only thing that attracts everyone is that there are no redundant buildings in the city, only densely packed rammed earth "tables" about a hundred and a half people high.
These rammed earth "tables" are so dense, neat, and uniform in size, and there is a small brick building on them, that people first think that they are permanent barracks.
Of course, they are definitely not, because everyone has seen with their own eyes that these "small rammed earth platforms" are the source of the transshipment of grain. Some civilians, shirtless in the winter, are constantly pushing carts and loads of food from small buildings.
of grain, and then dumped it directly on the ground, and the ground was full of golden grain. The people who came to pick up the grain came in cautiously, but after seeing the grain, they all went crazy to load it. Only after loading the grain
, but when he carried it out, he became cautious again.
There is no doubt that these things are granaries.
"That's a big urn made of rammed earth." Shan Tonghai, who had been sitting on the city wall without moving and didn't get up when he saw Zhang Xing coming up, suddenly looked away from the food and introduced seriously. "Who are we?"
I've seen it first. It's a large circular cellar made of rammed earth. It's narrow at the bottom and wide at the top. It's like a large urn made of rammed earth set in the ground. Mats are spread inside, filled with grain, and the top is supported with wood and sealed with earth.
Just leave a hole to live in, build a house, and leave a door...I asked, such a rammed earth jar is made according to the military rations for a thousand people for a year."
Zhang Xing remained silent. The leaders who came around him, whether they were from Hebei or Henan, whether they were leading troops or those directly in charge, all felt a little shaky for a moment, and several of them even raised their hands.
, somewhat clumsily, but impatiently, count the number of large rammed earth urns in this small little warehouse.
"No need to count, eighty-seven, seven of which are already empty. The remaining eighty are almost enough for us to save all fifty battalion heads for a year." Shan Tonghai interrupted these people's actions again.
.
But soon, those who stopped counting, led by Dou Lide, clumsily climbed down from the city wall, and went to verify it with their own eyes, while the rest of the people simply stood there motionless.
Zhang Xing seemed to be the only one who didn't react too much. He turned his head and looked at the huge storage area at the end of the official road in front of Cangcheng.
"Chief, this is what I mean by 'sealed complete'." Xu Shiying also turned around and tried to tell her seriously. "The grain here in Cangcheng was originally just to store new grain for the army to use. It was transferred here in Hebei.
Every quarter's new grain is sent here after it is wasted... And over there, there are two large grain storage areas, one for storing money, one for storing linen, one for storing silk, and one for storing groceries... Others
It’s hard to say, but if the new grains every season include these, then the grain alone here should be enough to feed our entire army for thirty years. I suspect that the grain alone is worth millions of dan, but it’s just destined to be unclear.”
"No," Ma Wei suddenly reminded. "It won't be enough for us to survive for thirty years... Has Chief Xu forgotten the three expeditions to Dongyi and Hebei? And the past few years, he has only been able to go out and not come in...
…Besides, even if it is corn, it can last for more than ten years. If it lasts for more than twenty years, it will basically be broken and broken, and it can only be fed to pigs."
Xu Shiying opened his mouth, did not say anything, and just nodded slightly.
Ma Wei also suddenly shut up and said no more.
Let's say that the leaders in Liyangcang City at this time seemed to be quite calm, but they seemed to have different reactions.
But in fact, a pragmatic and smart person like Xu Shiying came up to make a fuss; Shan Tonghai sat there, seemingly nonchalant and in control, but his hands kept shaking when he spoke; a talkative person like Xie Minghe,
He even stopped talking midway; Ma Wei, who had always been open-minded, suddenly raised his voice... In contrast, Dou Lide and Zhai Qian did not care and went directly to do the test. Xu Shiren's cautiousness was more obvious.
To put it bluntly, everyone was shocked, and they were shocked beyond measure, so they were all losing their composure and trying to cover up their own loss. This made it appear that everyone was too calm.
As for Zhang Xing, Zhang Xing was of course shocked and lost his composure, otherwise he wouldn't have said a word from the time he met people like Xu Shiying until now.
However, what others don't know is that Zhang Xing's intense shock was accompanied by equally intense anger.
It is a kind of primitive anger that awakens the time traveler from the mixed quagmire of difficult gang politics, confused personal goals, and the complex strategic situation of the entire world. It is the original anger that makes him unable to help but want to kill, set fire, and rebel at the beginning.
Such anger!
Inexplicably, when faced with the huge warehouses accumulated in Hebei for 20 to 30 years, after the gang had just completed a classic and excellent small-scale attack, they were about to face a complex situation that was turbulent and uncertain in the world.
At that time, Zhang Xing thought of a person, an inexplicable person - Yuan Da, the rogue who insisted on snatching even shoes.
All he wanted now was to remain silent, gather the last bit of energy in his body, and stamp down hard.
Of course, Zhang Xing still maintained a trace of reason - he remembered the dream he had, and then suddenly realized that no matter what the conditions were, he would come to take Liyangcang.
Because this is what he wanted.
"The people of Hebei Province for thirty years have gathered here." Zhang Xing suddenly spoke in a calm tone. "It's time to return it!"
Xu Shiying nodded and asked for words.
But the next moment, Chief Zhang continued: "However, the Yecheng warehouse is still there. If we can't take it, we won't be able to do our best in Hebei. And the blood of the people in Hebei will be returned, so what about Henan? The Luokou warehouse in Xingyang will also be taken down!
We want everyone in the world to take back their anointed blood."
Xu Shiying opened his mouth, but surprisingly did not refute.
