Something is indeed wrong with Linhuang Mansion, very wrong.
Ever since he lost contact with Xiao Chao in early March, Liu Ling had expected that something big would happen in Linhuang Mansion. That's why Liu Ling advanced the date of dispatching troops and sent troops to Linhuang in Beijing without getting the exact information about Chao Qiuge.
The government is inherently a very dangerous thing.
The scouts of the Han Dynasty could not carry much food and grass, so they could not go deeper than three hundred miles beyond the North Great Wall. The Overwatch Council also sent people deep into the grasslands, but the supplies could not keep up, and the people in the Overwatch Council were not omnipotent.
He had no choice but to retreat. News from Linhuang Mansion was cut off, and because he was worried about changes, Liu Ling had to move forward the date of dispatching troops a few days.
Liu Ling was worried mostly because of Xiao Chao. He didn't want anything to happen to his loyal subordinates.
The 60,000-strong army was stationed less than 200 miles away from Linhuang Mansion. They could arrive there in a day, but for some reason, Liu Ling had an ominous premonition in his heart.
Instead of rushing to Linhuang Mansion, Liu Ling divided the 70,000 horses including auxiliary troops into three teams. He personally led the first team of 10,000 elite cavalry to Linhuang Mansion, and the second team of 40,000 main troops.
Led by Hua Ling, the third team consisted of 10,000 combat soldiers and 10,000 auxiliary soldiers, protecting the grain, grass and baggage and falling at the back of the team.
This arrangement is to avoid any crisis.
The news reported by the scouts was shocking, and the unknown in Liu Ling's heart came from the reports of the scouts.
The scout said that from a distance, Linhuang Mansion looked like an empty city.
The city gate was wide open, and the wolf flag on the city wall was in pieces. There were corpses everywhere on the ground that had not completely decomposed, including Dangxiang people and Khitan people. Xu Xuan sent people to search around the city and found that the corpses of Linhuang Mansion
The four city gates were all open, and the traces of the tragic battle could still be clearly seen. However, the scene looked more like a war in hell, without a trace of humanity. When the scouts came back, General Xu Xuan was organizing
People went into the city to check, but from the outside it seemed that there was no one alive in Linhuang Mansion.
The capital of Daliao became an empty city. Where did the people in the city go?
Where have the 200,000 party troops and the 250,000 Khitan main force gone?
With wreckage all over the place, it can't be counted that all six or seven hundred thousand people died in the battle, right?
Liu Ling divided his 10,000 fine cavalry into five armies, front, rear, left, and center, and each deployed a small-banner force. The center and rear armies were all Shura heavy-armored cavalry, and they slaughtered the heavy armor. Liu Ling placed them in the third echelon to protect the food and grass. The front army
A small flag of two thousand elite light armored cavalry selected by Liu Ling. Their speed is comparable to the Khitan Wolf Cavalry. In terms of combat effectiveness, they are also not among the Golden Horde Army during the most powerful period of the Liao Dynasty.
Liu Ling himself was not with the central army, but with a small banner of light armored cavalry in the front army.
Looking at the majestic black horse sitting down, Liu Ling suddenly felt a bit sad in his heart. After many years of fighting, even the red lion was old and could no longer carry him on a long journey. As for the black panther, he stayed in Youzhou.
The new war horse is a Botau in its prime, a famous Khitan breed that is as famous as Teller. The big black horse is far stronger than the old red lion in terms of speed and physical strength, but Liu Ling has been fighting since he left seclusion.
, seems to have not adapted to the big dark horse's burden.
It's not that the dark horse is not good enough, but that Liu Ling is nostalgic.
This is true for horses, but what about people?
Liu Ling was actually very anxious. He didn't know if Xiao Chao was still alive. Judging from the scouts' reports, a large-scale battle must have broken out in Linhuang Mansion, but it was difficult to tell from the scouts' words that it was the Khitans who won.
Wei Mingxiao will still win. There will never be a lose-lose situation. In a life-and-death battle, even if one side is still half alive, it will be a victory. If Wei Mingxiao wins, he will definitely not withdraw based on his food supplies.
Linhuang Mansion, he would rather wait until early summer for the grass to fertilize than return to Swan City without supplies.
If the Khitans were victorious, then why was Linhuang Mansion empty?
There are so many questions, but I am worried about only one.
Xiaochao, are you still alive?
When Liu Ling led the front army to arrive outside the city of Linhuang Mansion, even though he had been fighting for more than ten years, had seen too much life and death, and was used to killings, Liu Ling could not help but be moved by the brutality of that place. What Liu Ling arrived at was
It was the west gate of Linhuang Mansion. Because the route we took out of the customs was not precise enough, we did not reach the expected south gate.
It seems that the difference is only a matter of the south gate and the west gate. But in total, the Han army traveled at least three hundred miles more. Now it is too difficult to find Khitan people on the grassland to determine the route. The guides of the army can only rely on
As I recall, there were no roads on the grassland. It was a miracle that he could bring the army here.
When a cavalryman with a small flag appeared outside the city gate, the first thing he saw was the darkness on the ground. When Liu Ling ordered the horns to be blown and the war drums to beat, the darkness in that area suddenly rose into the sky.
It turned into dark clouds that covered the sky on one side and hovered for a long time.
There were countless crows, eating the dead bodies on the ground.
Annoying cries resounded across the sky, and some Han soldiers couldn't help but shoot with bows and arrows, but in vain the white feathers were sent up into the sky, and then fell down and stuck on a rotting corpse.
There was no blood splashing, just dark corpse water.
There is no need to count, because there is no way to count how many corpses there are on the ground. From the broken leather armor on the corpses, you can barely tell whether they are Khitan or Dangxiang people, but you can't tell anything unless you get closer and look carefully.
.Dead bodies are everywhere, and they all look the same.
Liu Ling ordered the soldiers to light torches to disperse the birds. He jumped off the big black horse and lowered his head to take a closer look at a corpse at his feet.
Judging from the torn clothes, he must be a Party member. The corpse was highly decomposed and exuded a strong fishy smell. There was a big hole in the stomach, and the residual blood was black and looked disgusting. The stomach was empty, and there were no internal organs.
Whether it was eaten by wild wolves or eaten clean by those crows. It is no longer possible to tell where the fatal wounds were on the battlefield that day. The body was rotten enough and a lot of meat was eaten away. The only thing that could be done
, which is to infer the approximate date of death.
It will not exceed twenty days.
Liu Ling secretly calculated that the war broke out around the tenth day after he led the army out of seclusion. He stood up and walked forward slowly. Looking down along the way, he found that the ratio of Khitan corpses to party members was almost the same.
Quite, judging from this, Wei Mingxiao should have lost.
Did Wei Mingxiao die in battle? Or did he have no choice but to return to Swan City without food and grass?
Liu Ling was thinking about it when a group of cavalry came galloping from a distance. Seeing that the flags were those of Xu Xuan's people, the cavalry group dismounted from their horses and walked toward Liu Ling on foot. There were dead bodies and war horses everywhere.
When galloping, even the best rider will fall badly.
The person who came was none other than Xu Xuan. His face was ugly, as ugly as the blackness hovering in the sky.
Walking in front of Liu Ling, Xu Xuan stood solemnly, raised his fists, and performed a standard military salute: "I see you, Your Majesty."
"Empty city?"
Liu Ling asked two words directly.
"Empty city!"
Xu Xuan's answer was equally simple.
"My subordinates have sent people to search the city. There is not a single living person in the city. There are no soldiers or civilians. However, you can still see messy traces from the north gate. It should be that a large number of people have left. In addition... on the south gate
There is a corpse hanging. I...I am asking the prince to go over and identify it. I...I am suspicious. I am suspicious. I am asking for a song."
Liu Ling was shocked, and her face couldn't help but change.
"My subordinates only infer that the man's face is still vaguely distinguishable. The Supervisory Yuan officials in the subordinate camp do not recognize Chao Qiu Ge."
Xu Xuan explained, but it was obviously a bit pale. Since he came to ask Liu Ling to identify it, he should actually have some confidence.
"Are you still late?"
Liu Ling murmured, then jumped on the big black horse and slowly headed towards the south gate. Finally, after leaving the main battlefield and the corpses became sparse, Liu Ling's riding whip hit the big black horse's buttocks,
The big black horse neighed, spread its hooves and galloped away.
Xu Xuan and his men followed closely behind, and the 10,000 horses brought by Liu Ling also formed a team and followed Liu Ling to assemble towards the south gate.
Outside the south gate of Linhuang Mansion, Xu Xuan's soldiers have cleared a passage. The soldiers spread out and were on guard outside the city. Many Han troops could be seen walking back and forth on the city wall, checking for signs of siege.
, thereby judging the victory or defeat of the party and the Khitans. This is not a boring thing, it is an important basis for the army's future actions. Liu Ling followed the cleared passage and flew to the south gate. He left
From a distance, I saw the corpse hanging at the city gate, swaying from side to side, like a soul-calling flag at the gate of hell.
The body had rotted, its two eyes had been eaten by crows, its face was covered with black wounds, and its white facial bones could be seen.
The armor on the corpse had fallen off, perhaps because it had been stripped off by someone. He only had the clothes underneath, which were already in tatters. His two bare feet were swaying from side to side in the wind.
The Han troops on the city gate tower were looking for where the rope was tied and trying to lower the body from the sky.
The corpse was very slender. Judging from his body shape, he should have been a very majestic person. But without the armor, it was difficult to identify his identity.
The Han soldiers slowly lowered the body along the city gate. Liu Ling jumped off the big black horse and let go of the reins, trembling slightly.
The body shape is very similar to Xiao Chao.
Liu Ling took the deerskin gloves Xu Xuan handed him and turned the body over with the face facing up. The arm bones of the body had been broken into powder and were bent randomly like noodles. There was a jade machine on the thumb of his left hand and a jade machine on his right hand.
He also wears a ring with a gemstone on his index finger. This man has a large frame, and thick calluses can be seen on his right hand, which are the marks left by frequently holding a knife. (Note 1)
He has thick eyebrows and a square face. The brow bones are relatively high and the eye sockets are relatively deep. The forehead is very wide. You can imagine that this person must be a very determined person. It is not obvious from the forehead. The bones in this person's body are almost broken.
The bones in his neck were even hanging outside the skin. He should have been hung on the city gate after his death, but his mouth was closed. In other words, he endured tremendous torture without uttering a cry.
There was a hole in it, the heart was gone, the wound had rotted, and the slimy rotten flesh grinned ferociously.
I can still vaguely recognize his handsome face before he was born.
A familiar shadow could be vaguely seen. After Liu Ling saw his face clearly, his heart was shocked, and a sadness instantly spread throughout his body.
(Note 1: Jade machine, similar to a wrench, is used for archery) (To be continued)