At the end of January, the south wind suddenly stopped.
There was chaos on both sides of the Qingzhang River in Hebei Province.
The gang was facing a formidable enemy, troops and trains were gathering and moving everywhere, messengers were flying all over the sky, and a large number of confusing messages were spreading. In fact, until this time, most people in Hebei still wanted to retaliate against the Dongdu gang for taking Liyang
On the basis of this battle, everyone thought that the Dongdu troops in Wuyang County were the main force of this crusade, including the commander-in-chief of the army, who also generally believed that it was Emperor Cao Lin's uncle.
Until Bang Ji’s public announcements were released one after another.
At this time, not only were the appointments of Wei Xuanding, Chen Bin, and Dou Lide, as well as the confusing supervision of spring plowing and other matters, there was also some added afterthought. Although Bai Hengqiu killed Cao Lin, he was also an official of the Wei Dynasty.
Xing is a declaration that he is coming to oppress the people of Hebei.
However, although the news spreads, it takes time to spread, and many people are unable to turn around for a while.
In fact, one thing that makes people feel absurd but realistic is that as the news of the gang spread, the first target of unrest that was clearly caused by this news was actually the Dongzhi that was still marching in Wuyang County.
All soldiers and horses.
"Are you asking what's going on?" Beside the official road on the south bank of the Qingzhang River in Wuyang County, Qu Tuda and a group of close relatives waited for the close guards they sent.
"I asked clearly, someone ran away." The confidant guard said concisely. "It turns out that the subordinate of the Great Taibao, who is said to have come from Jing'antai, saw what the patrolman wrote on the wall with lime on the roadside, and he immediately believed it, and then
I wanted to take people back to the Eastern Capital, but I was caught by the Seven Taibos and wanted to be executed in public."
Qutuda nodded without saying a word.
However, the confidant guard looked at his general and asked seriously: "General, was Uncle Cao really killed? Is the Chinese flag fake?"
Qutuda continued to be silent for a moment, then looked at the guards around him, and the officers were all staring at him, and then he had no choice but to answer: "As long as you understand in your heart, why do you have to ask me clearly? I won't give it to you that night.
Have you said anything?"
"If you don't ask questions clearly, people's hearts will be uncertain." A close adviser next to him reminded seriously. "Isn't the chaos ahead a lesson for others?"
"The emperor's uncle was not killed, but was defeated and fled to Henan. And..." Qu Tuda glanced at the people around him, but he had no choice but to explain. "And don't get distracted, the British prince himself is also a big man.
The Grand Master also led tens of thousands of Taiyuan soldiers out of Hongshan, kidnapped Li Ding, and contacted General Xue. You are all talented people selected from a thousand miles apart. Don't you understand the overall situation?
"
"Isn't General Xue double-minded?" A general in the direct team couldn't help but ask. "Everyone is talking about it, saying that the thieves know more and more than us. One of them can't be trusted by the British, and the other one can't trust us."
Someone has communicated with the gang, and it is very likely that he is General Xue..."
"People write this just to sow discord and make us suspicious." Qu Tuda looked a little helpless. "You are all heroes in the army, don't you understand?"
"It is natural to sow discord, but the key point is that according to the current situation, Xue Changxiong does have a reason to communicate with the gang." Another lieutenant sighed. "If the gang fell, the logic is that Xue Changxiong took the opportunity to go south to Zhangshui.
To recapture the south, but the British prince came from Hongshan, obviously to support Li Ding and to prevent Xue Changxiong from becoming bigger... Don't blame us for being suspicious."
"It's not just that." The former soldier couldn't help but get closer and lowered his voice. "In terms of family status in Guanlong, the Bai family is considered to be the first-class family, but the Xue family is second only to the first-class family.
The kind of people with the same family status... What's more important is that although the British Duke is tyrannical, he is only the second son of the small house in the clan, but Xue Gong is the serious master of the Xue family, and Xue Gong is also a serious master, just one step behind.
, you may not be convinced, right?"
Qutuda remained silent, truly speechless.
But the close subordinates around him seemed to have no intention of letting him go.
"Actually, Xue Changxiong's matter can be put aside for a while, but my subordinates are more worried about another matter... General, how serious is Zhong Cheng's injury? If Zhong Cheng returns to the Black Tower and recovers after a while, or he can recover
It was hopeless but determined to strike the final blow... Then when the two sides were fighting, Cao Zhongcheng suddenly appeared and ordered us to fight back against the British. What should we do? What will the people below choose?" The first trusted guard came to ask seriously. "
To put it another way, if the British can easily repel and kill Zhong Cheng in public, how should we deal with it?"
Qutuda finally could no longer keep his mouth shut... He was already a long-legged general, but he could no longer be a shut-up general.
You must know that the long-legged general only affects how outsiders view him, while the shut-up general will affect the loyalty of his subordinates to him.
"What you said all makes sense." Kutuda spoke sincerely. "But why do you think I haven't thought about these things? What if I just thought about them? Things not only depend on these principles, but also on the current situation...
…That day in Ji County, the British Duke came in person. What can we do? Whoever disagreed at that time would have been expelled alone. Now that the British Duke is no longer in the army, there will naturally be some instability.
And what about the future? The future will naturally depend on the current situation. If the British Duke comes, or the army has merged, and the army has stabilized, then it will naturally be done with all your heart and strength..."
"General, why do you need to say more? You just said what if Zhongcheng comes?" Someone asked, unable to follow up.
"Then I won't go against the trend of the times." Qu Tuda sighed. "I clearly say that I will have to look at the situation at that time... Since I am the general, I have to protect everyone's lives. The current situation is chaotic.
, there is no individual system at all, I will not let you fall into the reverse trend... But if you are all consistent, no matter whether you return to the Eastern Capital or fight with whom, I will naturally take this as my priority."
After everyone heard this assurance, they chatted among themselves and said no more.
When Qu Tuda came back to his senses, his expression was actually not very good, because he knew very well that the scene just now echoed the turmoil that had happened before, that is, the morale of the army was disturbed and caused a commotion, but his troops did not.
He fled and was just a group of people coming to "question" him, which was already a great deal of face.
However, just as he himself said perfunctorily just now, the situation is indeed so chaotic that it is impossible to easily draw a conclusion.
The Wei Dynasty collapsed rapidly, and the government and army completely lost their legitimacy. The soldiers and horses that originally belonged to the Eastern Capital were confused about their own position, not to mention the upcoming military pressure, the change of coach, and the deception of the top management.
Wait.
"If that's the case." At this moment, someone suddenly said, "General, why don't you go and save those people? Firstly, to ease the situation and not let the Seventh Taibao make people angry, and secondly, to win over more people.
Allied troops are on the same line."
"Okay." Qutuda thought for a while, but had nothing to say, so he rode forward himself.
Immediately, the surrounding crowd split into two, and the guards swarmed forward, while the remaining officers stayed behind to wipe their sweat in the early spring sunshine.
When we reached the intersection ahead, we saw a mess, corpses, bloodstains, and bound soldiers... However, unexpectedly, the killings did not expand and extend, but instead converged.
It was obvious that the killing had been stopped.
Qu Tuda turned around the intersection, looked at another general Zheng Shanye who happened to turn around, and then lowered his head and moved forward, arriving in front of Duan Wei, the actual marching commander.
"How can you kill your own soldiers like this?" Duan Shangshu was waving his riding whip and severely scolding Ji Zeng, the Seventh Taibao who took action. "Ci Bu Zhang Bing talks about war and military discipline on the battlefield. Is it the same thing now? The troops rebelled.
It must have been instigated by the officers, what do the soldiers know? Even the officers can only deal with the gang leader and above, and all others will be pardoned!"
Ji Zeng half-knelt in front of him the whole time, and at this time he repeatedly apologized, calling him Hu Tu.
Qu Tu and Zheng looked at each other again, each becoming awe-inspiring.
After a moment, Ji Zeng left to finish the work, while Duan Wei looked at the two generals and felt a headache: "Is there also a commotion in your army?"
"Yes." Qu Tuda blurted out. "A group of subordinates almost surrounded me. They are not allowed to leave without giving me an explanation."
Zheng Shanye also sighed: "Duan Gong, the great Wei Dynasty has lost its decency, but Cao Zhongcheng still has some decency. Everyone is dissatisfied."
Duan Wei took a long breath and looked at the horizon: "This is the truth. What I am most afraid of now is that this old immortal will not recover from his injuries, but will only hide by the river and wait for us to fight.
Come here... when the time comes, there will really be trouble."
Zheng Shanye wanted to speak but stopped.
Qutuda didn't say anything anymore.
Duan Wei glanced at the two of them and said seriously: "Don't worry, you two, I have sent a message to the British Duke, asking him to temporarily change the route. Let's meet at the Qingzhang River in the north of Guixiang City in Wuyang County tomorrow.
Then we’ll march on... You two can’t even be stable in the army for a day, right?"
"Of course not!"
"Mr. Duan is at ease."
The two quickly bowed their heads.
Immediately, Duan Wei had no choice but to mount his horse and leave.
Seeing this, Qu Tuda and Zheng Shanye faced each other again. After a while, Qu Tuda could bear it. On the contrary, Zheng Shanye was somewhat shallow and spoke first: "General Qu Tu, I have a superficial opinion. In troubled times, kneeling is slow.
If you kneel down too quickly, you will inevitably die quickly; but if you kneel down too quickly, you might as well die!"
Qutuda knew that the other party was talking about Ji Zeng, the seventh Taibao who had completely lost his dignity, but he also knew that the other party just wanted to say something to himself, so he simply nodded: "General Zheng is right, I think so too."
Zheng Shanye felt relieved and nodded repeatedly.
In this way, the time came to the night of the 31st day of the first lunar month. By this time, Zhang Xing's garrison remained unchanged for two consecutive days. On the north bank of Qingzhang River in the northwest of Qinghe County, there were seven military battalions, all of which were elite;
Wei Xuanding and Chen Bin have already met, located in the west of Jiangling in Pingyuan County. According to the orientation, it is two hundred miles east and north of Zhang Xing's Corps across the river. At this time, there are only five battalions, most of which are military law, sentry and cavalry camps;
Dou Lide and the 14th Battalion of the Army Corps were on their way to Jiangling. They stayed overnight in the east of Qingyang County, Pingyuan County, sixty miles across the river to the east of Zhang Xing's Corps;
The soldiers and horses of the other camps have also received military orders and are heading to the general's tomb.
At the same time, Xue Changxiong led an army of 30,000 troops and marched towards Xiuxian County of Xidu County. At a position tens of miles away from the north bank of the Qingzhang River, he marched upstream in the direction of Zhanghang and stayed that night at the border of Xiuxian County and Zaoqiang County. One hundred and sixty miles away from Zhangxing;
Duan Wei, Qu Tuda, and Zheng Shanye led 30,000 elite troops from the Eastern Capital in Tianshan, Wuyang County, one hundred and thirty miles southwest of Zhang Xing's Corps across the river;
Bai Hengqiu and Li Ding led Taiyuan to recruit 30,000 soldiers and Wu'an County soldiers to 12,000, a total of 42,000 soldiers. They were in Qingzhang County, the easternmost part of Wu'an County, a hundred miles away from Zhang Xing, and both sides were in the Qing Dynasty. North bank of Zhangshui River.
At this time, Cui Suchen, an important figure in the Central Committee and the one who single-handedly appointed the "Law", had been silent for two days in Wuchen County, which was only fifty miles away from Zhang Xing's regiment.
Obviously, the Cui family of Qinghe made a choice that was not surprising at all - Bai Hengqiu must have given a political commitment, while Zhang Xing could always give it, but never did.
"Mr. Duan is overthinking." Under the light, Bai Hengqiu, who was still wearing armor, stood up, flicked the military paper in his hand, and looked at Li Ding beside him with a smile. "He actually thought Zhang Xing was trying to attack his heart. The policy will delay the war."
"I think that neither Duke Xue's attitude nor the influence of Emperor Cao's message on the troops of Dongdu can be underestimated." Li Ding stood aside, also wearing armor and holding a sword, standing solemnly like a confidant. "Still. It should be taken seriously.”
"I know what you mean..." Bai Hengqiu put away the military paper and paced in the tent with his hands behind his back. "Actually, to be clear, I made a sudden move and acted like I was seizing the opportunity to take advantage of the situation. Therefore, although the situation was resolved, People's hearts are not attached to me... So Duke Xue is afraid of me, and it is natural that the troops and horses in the Eastern Capital are unstable... Or is it even possible that the troops and horses here are stable?"
Li Ding pretended not to understand and shouted on the spot: "Indeed, although Bai Gong's troops were recruited from Taiyuan, most of the officers are from famous tribes in Guanxi, so naturally he wanted to take Guanzhong first... I have been chatting with them these past two days. For a moment.”
"But there are also people who support me to attack Hebei first. The local noble families in Jin are very interested." Bai Hengqiu turned around, still smiling. "Huaitong Guild and Xue Gong came here together."
Li Ding nodded immediately, and then returned to the original question: "So, what does Mr. Bai mean? Do we have to let it go and ignore it?"
"Yes, that's what I mean." Bai Hengqiu put away his smile and answered confidently. "The only way to solve this problem is to ignore it!"
Li Ding was slightly dazed, but almost instantly, he realized what the other party had said when they first met: "What Mr. Bai means is, no matter what, he personally leads the main force of Taiyuan's army and pounces on it. As long as he fights
After winning, repelling, or even just fighting, the rest of the soldiers and horses, whose hearts are shaking, will put away their half-heartedness and pounce together?"
"Not bad." Bai Hengqiu looked at Li Ding. "Li Silang, you are indeed the most outstanding among the new generation of talents in Guanlong... I am not wrong about the person."
"It's just a comparison. If it were me, I would do the same thing..." Li Dingqian laughed, but seemed slightly absent-minded.
"Then let's do this! Regardless of other people, or whether Zhang San will continue to stay where he is, we will just rush forward. The wiring will be available on the second day of February, and we will fight with all our strength on the third day of February! At that time, no matter
No matter how much people in Hebei are in turmoil, no matter how many methods Zhang uses and how much construction he does, he will only suppress him in one fell swoop, regardless of the result, and bite him in his mouth. This way, even if he has something to rely on and cannot win quickly, he will be trapped to death.
, sit back and wait for help, and Hebei can be determined!" Bai Hengqiu's words were clear, his clothes were arrayed, and he was full of momentum, as if he had a plan in mind.
At this point, the British Duke looked at Li Ding solemnly: "When the time comes, I will personally lead Taiyuan to recruit troops for the main attack, and you will be my rearguard!"
Li Ding had nothing to say and could only bow his head.
