Liu Shizhong and Cai Yuanyou, as chief and deputy officers of the Yan-defeating Army, personally led the main force of the Eastern Route Army to gather in Daizhou to attack Yingzhou in the north. Ge Boyi, as the Hedong Economic and Strategic Envoy, personally led the West Route Army to gather in Lanzhou.
, these three people completely ignored the threat of the Red Husbands, and intended to carry out massacres in the North. It was no longer something that others could dissuade.
Even if Wang Zhen wanted to give some advice, he was silenced by Ge Boyi and almost got angry. If anyone else dared to talk, they might be labeled as having evil intentions and secretly collaborating with the enemy!
At this moment, Xu Huai also completely gave up some of his delusions and was about to say goodbye when he heard the sound of horse hoofbeats. After a while, he saw Wang Fan and Zhu Hang accompanied a middle-aged man. In front of Zhu Zhi, Zheng Shou and others
He walked into the courtyard surrounded by people.
The middle-aged man was wearing a Confucian shirt, with a long sword with a wooden handle favored by scribes hanging on his waist, but he exuded a brave and fierce aura. Xu Huai had previously accompanied Wang Zhen to the state government office to meet Ge Boyi and many generals, but he did not see many of them.
This person is here, but I don’t know where he comes from.
"Father! I heard that you felt unwell when you went to see Mr. Ge Jinglue?" Wang Fan asked.
"It's nothing serious..." Wang Zhen also looked at the middle-aged man with confusion.
Wang Fan did not directly introduce the middle-aged man, but looked at Xu Huai, Liu Qiong'er, Lu Xiong and others with hesitation.
Xu Huai and the others also resigned knowingly.
But when Xu Huai, Liu Qiong'er, Lu Xiong, Zhu Zhi, Zheng Shou and others were about to leave the courtyard, Wang Fan stopped Xu Huai and called out: "Xu Huai, please stay for a while."
Xu Huai stopped and looked over curiously. It was a confidential matter that even Lu Xiong, Zheng Shou and Zhu Zhi had to avoid. Why did Wang Fan want to keep him after hesitating for a while?
"Cao Shili has met Mr. Wang Zhen..." The middle-aged man saw everyone leaving the yard and then stepped forward to salute Wang Zhen.
At this moment, Xu Huai seemed to be struck by an electric current, and a memory emerged in his mind:
"In September of the sixth year of Tianxuan, Wang's army marched north. Cao Shixiong and Cao Shili supported his eight thousand men to return to Shuozhou. At that time, Liu Shizhong and the main force of the Yan army fought in Yingzhou. Ge Boyi sent all the generals and Cao Shili to follow Shuozhou.
Zhou Beidao attacked Datong and captured the Yaoyang Gate to enter, and ordered the Han people to kill the Khitans and miscellaneous captives. Xiao Linshi was in Yingzhou at that time, and led 3,000 cavalry to return reinforcements. They fought in the city, and Cao's army lost all its horses.
He was captured and eventually defeated with hundreds of soldiers..."
"Xu Huai..."
Hearing Wang Fan calling him, Xu Huaicai woke up suddenly, looked up and asked, "What are your orders, Mr. Lang?"
Wang Fan asked: "The observation envoy from Xinzhou is returning from Shuozhou. The sixth general Zhu Guangwu will march north to take over Shuozhou at any time. The military envoy will send Zhu Langjun and the young prince Ge Yu to accompany General Cao to Shuozhou to supervise the army. We
I want to send you and two hundred troops to protect Zhu Langjun, are you willing?"
"Ah..." No matter how alert Ren Xuhuai was, at this moment his thoughts were confused by the memory that emerged in his mind.
Wang Fan called Cao Shixiong the "Observer Envoy of Xinzhou", which shows that Cao Shixiong's decision to lead his troops to the south was not a temporary move, but that they must have been in secret talks for a long time with the help of Yue Hailou.
The imperial court had even set a reward for Cao Shixiong, indicating that it would urge Cao Shixiong to officially change his banner and surrender when the Yan army was assembled and ready to march north.
Cao Shili secretly sneaked into Lanzhou this time, and must have secretly discussed the specific details of the southern attachment with Ge Boyi. As long as it is confirmed that the Cao brothers are sincerely attached to each other and not a scam, the next step should be to take advantage of the main force of the Khitan Xijing Road defenders to be captured by the east route.
When the army was restrained in Yingzhou, the main force of the Eastern Route Army, together with Cao's surrendered army, set out from Shuozhou to raid Datong Prefecture...
Wang Fan did not make it clear at this time, mainly because this operation was extremely confidential. As a small general, he was not qualified to know the full plan.
Wang Fan didn't even reveal the full plan to Wang Zhen; before today, Wang Zhen had no idea about Cao Shixiong and Cao Shili's brothers going south.
According to the practice of issuing orders from the Privy Council at that time, Xu Huai was completely sure at this time that before Wang Fan, Liu Shizhong, and Cai Yuanyou came to Hedong with their orders to supervise the war, the Privy Council had already formulated the overall battle plan.
And this time he escorted Zhu Hang and Ge Yu to Shuozhou to supervise the army. To put it bluntly, he was supervising the most critical part of it, so that brothers Cao Shixiong and Cao Shili could not make any mistakes.
But what's the use if this link doesn't go wrong.
This is a dead end!
And this dead end is not because the Cao brothers are deceitful, nor is there some ambush hidden in Datong City, waiting for them to fall into this death trap.
This dead end was actually a result of the raiding troops and horses who entered Datong City and looted and killed violently, which aroused fierce resistance from the Khitans and Zalu in the city. As a result, Xiao Linshi led 3,000 cavalry to return reinforcements, but was killed and the entire army was destroyed.
When Xu Huai saw Wang Zhen, Wang Fan, Cao Shili, Zhu Hang and others all looking towards him in surprise, he was filled with bitterness.
Can he say not to go?
Wang Fan used Guo Junpan and Pan Chenghu to restrain him, but in the end he thought of sending him to escort Zhu Hang to Shuozhou.
To put it bluntly, Guo Junfan and Pan Chenghu were born as thieves and bandits. In such a critical escort mission, if they were not careful, they would end up in enemy territory. They were not worthy of Wang Fan's complete trust.
Of course he could be cool and say no.
However, in the end, whether Zheng Shou or Lu Xiong takes action, they will definitely select the most elite combatants from the existing five hundred prisoners to go north.
At this time, he had no way to extract Xu Xin'an, Tang Pan and Zhufengtang guards from the Supervisory Army Envoy. How was doing this at this time different from fleeing the army? Do you really think that Wang Fan was a weakling?
The main force of the surprise attack must be the East Route Army. The six thousand Tongbai Mountain bandits are all scattered among the East Route Army. If the entire East Route Army is destroyed in Datong, there will be more than a dozen of the six thousand Tongbai Mountain bandits.