During the Shangyuan Festival at the Shouzhou Army in Songzhou, the envoy's residence was immersed in an atmosphere of depression and panic.
Jiedushi Xu Mingzhen was on his deathbed a year ago and might leave at any time; later in the year, news came that the main force of the Mongolian army had been destroyed in southern Shanxi.
The former may be an opportunity for some people, but the latter has plunged the young and old of the Jiedushi Mansion and most of the generals in Songzhou into panic and worry.
Zhao Mingting and Xu Jin finally took advantage of Xu Mingzhen's critical illness and led 3,000 cavalry to leave Fugou south of Bianliang City and return to Songzhou - Zhu Rang and Liang Ren of course did not allow Zhao Mingting and Xu Jin to evacuate to Songzhou without authorization, but at this time Bianliang
People in Liangcheng were panic-stricken. Xu Jin and Zhao Mingting ignored Zhu Rang's "edict", and no one came to Songzhou to question them.
Wusu Dashi, Xiao Yiqing, Xiao Siqing, Wusu Zongshu, Wusu Zongbei, Nahe Yanzhen and many other generals and 150,000 soldiers of the Mengwu Nanyuan were all destroyed in Zezhou, although the Mengwu Nanyuan was still there.
There are still many soldiers and horses in Taiyuan Prefecture, Northern Shanxi, Heshuo, and Yanyun, but everyone knows in their hearts that the power of the Mongol Southern Academy is completely over.
The power of the Mongol Southern Academy is completely over. Liang Jun only needs to retain 40,000 to 50,000 elite troops to sweep through the remaining unannexed lands in the north. This means that after the year, Liang Jun will be able to directly transfer 50,000 to 60,000 elite troops from the northern front to go south.
Enter the Hehuai battlefield.
Together with the Henan marching army, Liang Jun will be able to mobilize more than 100,000 elite soldiers and horses in Hehuai for conquests later in the year.
At present, it seems that in addition to Xu Si's army who is happy and uncertain, the Shouzhou army, Zhu Rang, and Bianliang troops directly controlled by Liang Ren have a total strength of more than 120,000. However, the strength of an army is never simple.
Measured by the number of people.
After Liang Shixiong and Wei Bo's elite troops were annihilated in Xingyang, it goes without saying that most of the Bianliang troops were new soldiers. The Shouzhou Army seemed to still have 40,000 elite troops available, but when did they take over from Han Qian in these years?
Is it cheaper to go once?
What's more, according to the accounts of the remnant soldiers and scouts who fled south, Liang Jun used a new type of weapon called smoothbore cannons on the battlefield in southern Shanxi this time. As a result, Liang Jun only needed less than 30,000 elite troops in the Gaoping and Lingchuan areas.
The main force of the Mongolian army was completely blocked from retreating north, until the main force of nearly 150,000 Mongolian soldiers was completely annihilated in Gaoping and Lingchuan.
At present, the information they have received is still sparse, but even without this new type of weapon called a smoothbore cannon, how long can they last in the face of Liang Jun's hundreds of thousands of elites?
Zhao Mingting and Xu Jin stood in front of Xu Mingzhen's bed, their expressions complex and dignified.
Xu Mingzhen fell into a dying state and was unconscious most of the time. In addition to Zhao Mingting and Xu Jin, Xu Mingzhen's eldest son, the governor of Songzhou, Xu Sizhao, the deputy envoy of Jiedu, and his eldest grandson Xu Hui were guarding the bed;
Xu Mingzhen's successor and the two young ladies he doted on in his later years were sitting in front of the hospital bed wiping tears, feeling like the sky was about to fall.
"Uh!" It was as if a mouthful of thick phlegm was stuck in his throat and his breath was stuck. The next moment, Xu Mingzhen's skinny hands like chicken claws trembled violently, and her sunken eye sockets opened, revealing clear eyes.
"My lord is awake..."
Seeing this scene, the doctor who was guarding the bed said.
Everyone knows that this may be Xu Mingzhen's last comeback.
"The Mongolian army was defeated again?" Xu Mingzhen asked tremblingly as she was dying, vaguely hearing the voices of Xu Jin, Zhao Mingting and others standing in front of the bed talking.
"Failed, completely defeated!" Xu Jin stepped forward and said, "Cong Yanyun, Heshuo
, Taiyuan and other places recruited elites, plus the original garrisons in Zelu and Luzhou in southern Shanxi, totaling 160,000 troops. It may be that only the garrisons in Luzhou, Huguan and other places that are not within the Liang Army's encirclement have time to escape to Taiyuan. However,
I heard that Taiyuan was also in ruins. After the defenders heard the news of Wu Su Dashi’s death, the Mongolian and Wu soldiers and civilians rushed northward. At this time, Liang Jun may have entered Taiyuan City..."
Taiyuan served as the capital in the previous dynasty and was an important town in the middle of Jin. The city was vast and strong, and it was not even under Bianliang City. However, the defenders had no fighting spirit and were in a state of decay. No matter how strong and majestic the city was, it was just a decoration.
.
"Iron hoofs ravaged the Central Plains, and the unbeatable Mongolian army is over like this?" Xu Mingzhen's cloudy old eyes stared at Xu Jin and Zhao Mingzhen's face in disbelief. At this moment, he would rather hope that they would find an excuse to return to Song Dynasty.
Zhou had other plans, but from their frustrated faces, they did not see what he thought was suspicious.
Xu Mingzhen weakly waved her skinny hand and signaled her wives, concubines, doctors, and waiting eunuchs and maids to retreat. She even asked Zhao Mingting and several other senior generals of the Shouzhou Army to exit the hall first, leaving only Xu Jin and Xu Sizhao.
and his eldest grandson Xu Hui were in front of the bed.
Zhao Mingting had a trace of doubt in his heart, but Xu Sizhao was Xu Mingzhen's only living legitimate son, Xu Yao was the legitimate grandson, and Xu Jin was the adopted son who received the most attention from Xu Mingzhen and held great power in the military - Xu Mingzhen had any last words before her death.
No one else can say anything to these three people.
Xu Mingzhen struggled to sit up, but she didn't expect him to have the strength to sit up at this moment because of his military life. Xu Sizhao walked over and sat beside the hospital bed, letting Xu Mingzhen lean on him.
Xu Mingzhen's chest was like a bellows and she was breathing hard, as if she would not be able to catch her next breath at any time. After a long time, she gestured to Xu Jin to close the door of the hall uneasily, and then said with difficulty: "Sima Tan has always been
The fallen grasshoppers in the wind may have been sent to Luoyang. Among the generals in Luoyang, we are all guilty of serious sins that cannot be forgiven. But except for myself and Zhao Mingting and other people who directly participated in the Jinling rebellion and killed Han Daoxun,
You may still have a chance to save your lives - are there rumors in the army that after my death, Jin'er will take charge of the Shouzhou Army, and there is still a chance to return to the Great Chu?"
"..." When Xu Jin heard this, cold sweat almost broke out on his forehead. He didn't expect that even if his adoptive father was bedridden, the actions of the army could not be hidden from his eyes and ears.
If it weren't for the look in front of his adoptive father, Xu Jin would have suspected that he was faking his illness.
Of course, after the news of the Battle of Fanchuan River came, their thoughts of returning to the Chu army were completely abandoned. They originally hoped that the Mongolian army could hold on in southern Shanxi, but they did not expect that Wusu Dashi would not be able to escape the misery of having his head missing.
end.
"The principle is the same. Without me, there will be no obstacles for you to move to Luoyang. Si Zhao's talent is not obvious, but now it is not a bad thing." Xu Mingzhen did not seem to see Xu Jin's embarrassed reaction and continued to speak with difficulty, "
Hucao joined the army, Zhou Shen, Yihecang Si Cheng Hantong, and Woyang Ling Zheng Lun may have secretly colluded with Liang Jun long ago. After my death, you imprisoned Zhao Mingting and others and went to find them.
These three people, surrender to Luoyang and surrender their weapons..."
"Sima Tan may not have sent people to Luoyang!" Xu Sizhao said unwillingly.
"Even if Sima Tan doesn't send anyone to Luoyang, if he learns about the destruction of the Mongol people, he will definitely stab us first and fight for the last bargaining chip to surrender to Luoyang!" Xu Mingzhen said with difficulty, "If you are worried about the delay of time,
, there is a jug of wine in the box on the left, I planned to give it to Jin'er before I died, please give it to me..."
Xu Jin couldn't help himself
I looked towards the small sandalwood box on the left side of the hospital bed, and I felt a chill running straight up from my tailbone...
…………
…………
After all, Xu Mingzhen failed to survive the Lantern Festival in the eighth year of Taihe.
Although the generals in the city had expected this, most of them had not yet fallen asleep when it was almost midnight. Suddenly, they heard four mourning bells ringing from the Jiedushi Mansion. In the terrifyingly silent night,
The color was raging, and Zhou Shen was still frightened in the house.
Although the situation was rotten before, everyone thought that the Liang army was going to attack, and it would be difficult for the Bianliang troops and the Shouzhou army to survive, but no matter what, if the sky fell, there would be someone high to hold it up.
Xu Mingzhen is still alive, or Xu Mingzhen is still not dead, which can make people feel more or less at ease - these years have been ups and downs, although Liang Jun (Tangyi Army) suffered successive defeats, but the Shouzhou Army
After all, it didn’t collapse in 2010, and it still managed to survive, right?
Now the backbone has completely collapsed, as if the pillar supporting everyone's last delusion has collapsed.
Zhou Shen changed into his official uniform in a panic.
He joined the army as a Hu Cao, and was among the top thirty officers in the Shouzhou army. He waited for the official to announce the funeral, and then rushed to the Jiedu envoy's mansion to observe the funeral.
Listening to the crowd of soldiers outside the house and the sound of groups of soldiers passing by, Zhou Shen was also in a panic - Xu Mingzhen died of illness, and it was necessary to mobilize the Ya army to strengthen the city's defense, but who knew
Is there any conspiracy and ambition behind this proper move that they don't know about?
"Bah bang bang!"
Zhou Shen could clearly hear the knocking on the front door while sitting in the inner house. He guessed that it was someone sent by the Jiedushi government to announce the funeral, so he took his son Zhou Zhi to the front yard and happened to see the gatekeeper.
The old servant opened the front door and saw Xu Jin, the commander of Zuodu, rushing in with a group of armored soldiers.
Zhou Shen was startled. No matter how arrogant he was, he knew that it was not Xu Jin's turn to come to announce the funeral in person. He was so shocked that he stuttered: "Xu, General Xu, supervise him?"
"My father passed away due to illness. Xu Jin has something important to discuss with Mr. Zhou," Xu Jin said.
"What's the matter, bother General Xu to come to my house at this time?" Zhou Shen asked in confusion.
Xu Jin looked at Zhou Shen. He didn't know what made his adoptive father think that Zhou Shen, the son of Zhou Shoumin, was secretly colluding with Luoyang. But at this moment, he could only state his intention straightforwardly:
"Want to ask Mr. Zhou to bring a message to Luoyang?"
Upon hearing these words, Zhou Shen felt as if he had been struck by lightning. He was so frightened that he collapsed to the ground and stammered: "General Xu must have misunderstood. How can a villain have the ability to help General Xu carry a message? He must be."
It was Zhang Mazi who framed me. He, he, he fell in love with a girl in Bai Feng Tower and thought I was fighting with him..."
"..." Xu Jin glanced at Zhou Shen disappointedly, secretly feeling that his adoptive father must have made a mistake, and he had no intention of explaining anything to Zhou Shen, so he took the people and left directly.
"General Xu, please stay a step." Seeing this scene, Zhou Kun walked out of the shadows in the passage, put his hands behind his back, and asked, "I wonder if General Xu has anything to convey to Luoyang?"
"You..." Xu Jin had some impression of Zhou Kun, but not deeply.
"Zhou Kun, what nonsense are you talking about?" Zhou Shen was so frightened that he thought it was too late to clear up the suspicion, so why did he hit the knife edge?
"Although Zhou is a disabled and useless person, he knows a few old friends in Luoyang." Zhou Kun looked at Xu Jin calmly and said. His disabled body, which had been bent for more than 20 years, was quite strong at this moment.
