North of Luoyang, there are "Seven Ferry Crossings" on the south bank of the hundreds of miles of Yellow River, forming a group of crossings that have been a battleground for military strategists since ancient times. After the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the world was unified and Chang'an was the capital. Therefore, water transport on the Yellow River was prosperous, and the Mengjin River section was the link between Chang'an and Chang'an.
The "marshalling station" for water transport ships in Luoyang is also the choke point for water transport ships from Chang'an to Luoyang.
Under the heavy snowfall, countless soldiers gathered at various ferries. The generals organized the soldiers to step onto the simple pontoon bridge laid by the vanguard, and then crossed the Yellow River one by one and arrived at the other side.
The pontoon bridge was erected on the ice floe. Due to the rush of time, it was inevitably not strong enough. Soldiers and horses walked tremblingly on it. From time to time, some soldiers turned around and fell under the bridge. If they were lucky, they would fall on the ice floe, and if they were unlucky, they would fall directly into the ice.
In the gap, I was soaked in the cold river water.
Huayuan Ferry is located upstream of the "Seven Ferry Crossings". Qiu Xiaozhong's troops and Xue Wanche's troops were assigned to cross the river here. He rode his horse and stood on the north bank of the Yellow River, watching the soldiers leading their horses onto the swaying pontoon bridge, and then looking around not far away
Xue Wanche, who was also riding his horse everywhere, had a flash of excitement in his eyes.
He turned his head and nodded to the soldiers beside him.
The soldiers understood this and rode forward to the shore, mingling with the troops crossing the river...
Qiu Xiaozhong rode up to Xue Wanche and said hello with a smile: "Although this Eastern Expedition has not been fully successful, my consort has made great achievements many times. I think he will definitely be promoted to a higher position after returning to Chang'an. I am very happy and congratulated."
Xue Wanche withdrew his eyes from the troops crossing the river at Mengjin River downstream, glanced at Qiu Xiaozhong, nodded and said: "We are just the front soldiers of His Majesty, marching forward in the direction of His Majesty's orders. How dare we talk about meritorious deeds? We have never expected to be promoted to a higher position.
General Qiu made a mistake."
His face was solemn and he had the demeanor of a celebrity.
Qiu Xiaozhong was a little embarrassed, and also a little annoyed in his heart. They said that Xue Wanche was better than Fang Jun. It seems that what he said was true. In the officialdom, isn't it that you support me and I support you, and everyone carries the sedan chair? I am like this
While complimenting you, it’s fine that you don’t appreciate it. Instead, you ridiculed me with words. No wonder I was able to say that I wanted to massacre the Prince of Qin’s palace...
But since it is a solid product, the implementation of my plan becomes smoother and more stable.
He chuckled in his heart, shut up and looked at the army crossing the river with burning eyes.
Suddenly, some commotion occurred among the neat and orderly river crossing team. The troops marching in parallel stopped and the sound of shouting was heard. After a moment, dozens of soldiers suddenly fell from the pontoon to the river, and many people fell "plop plop" into the river.
There was a gap in the ice floe, and countless people started fighting on the spot.
Xue Wanche's heart tightened and he shouted loudly: "What's going on?"
The pontoon bridge was narrow, and his troops were crossing the river together with Qiu Xiaozhong's troops. A disturbance would affect the speed of crossing the river. Once Li Ji was blamed, a punishment would be inevitable.
The soldiers on the left and right hurriedly went to check.
Not long after, Qiu Xiaozhong's soldiers were the first to return, came to Qiu Xiaozhong, and reported loudly: "General Qi, the right military guards were fighting for each other when crossing the river, and just now they pushed our soldiers into the river, causing our army to be overwhelmed."
Ten soldiers fell into the water, and despite rescue efforts, several are still missing."
While soldiers pay attention to military discipline, they are also murderous and unwilling to give in. It is normal for the armies to compete with each other and refuse to give in to each other. But at this moment when they were crossing the river, a fight broke out and several people from the other side were missing.
It really shouldn’t be.
Qiu Xiaozhong immediately looked sulky, raised the whip in his hand, pointed at Xue Wanche's nose, and yelled: "This is simply unreasonable! Although Youwuwei has outstanding merits, how can he insult the robe and violate military discipline? General Xue has great achievements, but he also
We cannot treat our friendly forces as if they are nothing! This matter will never be settled, come on, come on, let’s discuss it in front of the British public!”
As he spoke, he put down the riding whip in his hand and reached out to grab Xue Wanche's horse rein...
Xue Wanche was completely confused. It was just a fight between soldiers that caused one side to fall into the water. What's the big deal? The stronger the army, the more arrogant and unruly the soldiers are, and they fight fiercely with their friendly forces.
It is common, not to mention falling into the water, even being beaten to the head and bleeding.
How could it be that the Youwu Guard under my command insulted Paoze?
Why the hell am I relying on my high status to show my friendly forces as if they are nothing... Is there something wrong with your head?
Xue Wanche was not a soft-tempered person. He stared at Qiu Xiaozhong with a pair of copper bell eyes. He grabbed Qiu Xiaozhong's hand that was holding the reins of his horse, broke it with force, and shouted angrily: "Get your hands off me!"
He was very strong, and he struck out in anger, but found that he could easily break Qiu Xiaozhong's hand away, and then the opponent leaned forward and immediately rolled off the horse to the ground.
Xue Wanche: "..."
Even if I am as strong as an ox, you, Qiu Xiaozhong, are not papery, are you?
What's going on...
As Qiu Xiaozhong fell from his horse, the soldiers behind him rushed forward with a roar. They were all furious and surrounded Xue Wanche. Xue Wanche's soldiers were frightened. How could they allow their general to be in danger?
They all stepped forward to block Xue Wanche in the middle, and even drew their swords to confront Qiu Xiaozhong's soldiers.
The two sides were at war with each other, and a melee was about to break out.
Qiu Xiaozhong got up from the ground in embarrassment and shouted angrily: "Brothers, although Youwuwei has done more than us, we can't let them bully us! Those who have eggs, follow me!"
"Here!"
The soldiers under his command were also filled with anger. The soldiers had the ultimate honor. Seeing their general being thrown off his horse by Xue Wanche, how could they hold back? They drew their swords out of their sheaths, waiting to follow Qiu Xiaozhong forward to kill him.
"boom!"
The sound of a musket blast startled both sides of the conflict. They all turned to look, and saw a cavalry rushing in not far away. The horse's hooves trampled the ground and the wind and snow raised countless ice slag and snow foam with a fierce momentum.
Murderous!
Then, the leader of the cavalry shouted from a distance: "Stop!"
Qiu Xiaozhong's heart thumped. He heard the sound of Lu Guogong Cheng Yaojin, and wondered why this person appeared here. When he turned back to look at Xue Wanche, he pressed his hand on the handle of the horizontal knife at his waist, feeling surprised and confused.
Uncertain, hesitant to continue.
He and Guanlong Paoze had planned what happened today for a long time, just waiting to cause chaos, cause turmoil, and inflame the emotions of Guanlong soldiers. Then the rest of the army responded in large numbers and suddenly launched a mutiny. Even if Li Ji could not be killed,
We can also take the opportunity to break away from the large army, go west along the north bank of the Yellow River, cross the Yellow River from Fenglingdu, pass through Tongguan and reach Guanzhong to support the Guanlong army fighting against the East Palace.
But the sudden appearance of Cheng Yaojin made him hesitate in his heart. If he failed to succeed and was suppressed by the armed guards on both sides, he would die without a burial place, and his children and family members in Chang'an would not survive either.
After all, if he revolted at this moment, he would be plotting rebellion and would be punished by death! Even if Guan Long wins in the future, in order to maintain the stability of the army and ensure that military discipline is clear, there is no possibility for him to escape the crime.
While hesitating and struggling, Cheng Yaojin already led thousands of cavalry to gallop over. With cries and roars, they surrounded both sides.
Cheng Yaojin sat on his horse with eyes wide open under his arms. He pointed at the chaotic soldiers on the pontoon bridge and ordered: "Go quickly to organize the chaos, dredge the road and cross the river quickly. Don't cause large-scale riots. If anyone violates military discipline,
, shoot to death without mercy!"
"Here!"
A deputy general immediately led more than a hundred people on horseback and headed straight for the pontoon.
Cheng Yaojin then glared at Qiu Xiaozhong and Xue Wanche with burning eyes, and shouted: "You two are both veteran generals. Don't you know that private fighting in the army is a serious crime against military discipline? And each is the commander of an army. When crossing the river,
If you cause chaos in the entire army, you should be punished!"
Xue Wanche looked innocent and argued: "Xue Wanche didn't want to have a private fight. There was chaos among the soldiers over there. This idiot rushed up to pull Xue's horse rein without any reason. Xue just resisted for a moment, and then he became furious and wanted to fight.
Life and death...it's simply inexplicable."
He was full of grievances, thinking that Qiu Xiaozhong had taken the wrong medicine. He was just a mess of soldiers. How could he be so aggressive?
Cheng Yaojin's eyes were fixed on Qiu Xiaozhong's face, and without asking why, he said in a deep voice: "Tell your soldiers to put down their weapons."
Qiu Xiaozhong was shocked and hurriedly said: "Lu Guogong clearly knows that it was Youwu Wei who was at fault in this matter..."
"I want you to put down your weapons!"
Cheng Yaojin shouted, and with a "choking" sound, he pulled out the horizontal knife from his waist, pointed the tip of the knife at Qiu Xiaozhong, and said word by word: "Resist orders and disobey, Qiu Xiaozhong, do you want to rebel?"
As soon as he said this, thousands of cavalry behind him rushed forward with a roar, and surrounded Qiu Xiaozhong and Xue Wanche. Their swords were unsheathed, their bows were strung, and they were filled with murderous intent. As long as anyone made the slightest move, they would be killed.
It's the ending of thousands of arrows piercing the heart and knives dismembering the body.
No matter how cunning Xue Wanche is, he still senses something is wrong. Even if the two armies are fighting, can he be so prone to betrayal and kill people? And judging from Cheng Yaojin's attitude, it is obvious that he is well prepared, and he is targeting Qiu Xiaozhong...