In September last year, the Tubo army, which failed in the Battle of the Valley, made a sneak attack on Shazhou, wiped out more than 4,000 Shatuo soldiers, and captured Shazhou. The Shatuo army immediately organized two counterattacks, both of which were defeated by the Tubo army. At the same time,
The Geluolu people who were allied with the Tubo army attacked Shatuo from the northwest. The Shatuo army was attacked from both sides and had no choice but to abandon Shazhou and withdraw its main force to Yizhou.
The Han people in Shazhou ostensibly surrendered to Tubo and paid taxes and grain to Tibet, which made Tibet give up the idea of plundering the people of Shazhou and going to the plateau, and decided to run Shazhou and build it into a logistics base for seizing the Hexi Corridor.
However, both the Cao family and the Zhang family secretly sent people to Ganzhou to implore the Tang army to send troops to recapture Shazhou. Although winter came and the Tang army was unable to send troops, they established an eagle message line to transmit messages through flying eagles.
Guo Song walked into his official room, sat down on a large chair, and then asked: "What happened in Shazhou?"
He was not in a hurry. If anything could happen in this icy and snowy environment, even if something big happened, they wouldn't be able to get there.
Zhang Qianyi handed the eagle letter to Guo Song and said: "It seems that there was a conflict between the Tibetan general and his deputy. During a quarrel, the deputy general killed the commander in anger, which caused widespread dissatisfaction among the Tibetan army."
Guo Song opened the letter and read it. It was consistent with Zhang Qianyi's statement. It was very simple. The Tibetan deputy general killed the chief general, which caused dissatisfaction among the Tibetan army generals. However, the letter did not elaborate on what conflicts they had and what conflicts they caused.
Guo Song shook his head and said: "Reply to them. I need more detailed information. I want to know what kind of impact it will have?"
"I understand, I will reply today."
"One more thing!"
Guo Song stopped Zhang Qianyi again, "It's been eight days since the New Year. It's time to calm down. Please pass on my order. All military camps must start clearing snow and then conduct training. I will go to inspect it tomorrow. Those who are slack will be punished."
Be severely punished!"
"I humbly obey orders!"
Zhang Qianyi hurried down, and Guo Song came to the map with his hands behind his back, staring at Shazhou in the north. Recovering Shazhou was one of his biggest wishes. Although there were still two months until the snow melted, the plan to attack Shazhou was
It’s time to put it on the agenda.
.........
Guo Song only stayed in Jiedushi Mansion for a moment, and then led his men to the military camp outside the city. Outside the city was still a vast world of snow. Before the first heavy snow came, the main force of the Tang army had withdrawn from Jiuquan to Zhangye, leaving only Jiuquan.
Next is a garrison of 3,000 men.
Dadou Bago and the garrison guards from various places withdrew to Zhangye one after another. Only a handful of soldiers were left in all the military forts, waiting for the spring to return.
There are currently nearly 30,000 troops stationed in the east camp of Zhangye City. Guo Song's order has been conveyed to the military camp. The soldiers have all gone out to clear the snow. They have to clear the knee-deep snow on the martial arts field, covering an area of
Thousands of acres, tens of thousands of soldiers are busy at work.
Guo Song came to the commander's tent and ordered his soldiers: "Go to the scout camp and find Zhang Yun for me."
Not long after, Zhang Yun hurriedly walked into the tent, knelt down on one knee and clasped his fists, saying: "I'm sorry to see you, envoy!"
Guo Song pondered for a moment and said, "Have the scouts been trained recently?"
"Yes! Hundreds of us went to Ganjun Mountain and Liangzhou, and we just came back yesterday."
"How can you march in such thick snow?" Guo Song asked again.
"To inform the governor, it is indeed a bit difficult to ride a horse, but we use camels. Camels have a large load capacity and can withstand heat and cold. They have no problem walking in thick snow."
Guo Song stood up and walked to the map. He pointed at a red dotted line on the map and said, "Do you still remember this road?"
"I need a scout army to go to Shazhou. You can lead a hundred brothers to ride camels and take the secret road. I will arrange a guide for you."
The guide Guo Song mentioned was naturally Cao Wannian's old servant Zhongshu. He was over sixty years old and in good health. He immediately agreed to lead the way for the Tang army. He himself also wanted to return to Shazhou, and the fallen leaves returned to their roots.
"When does the humble job leave?"
Guo Song said slowly: "Get ready today and tomorrow, and set off early the day after tomorrow."
Although Shazhou also provided them with intelligence, the information they provided was not what the army needed, or it was incomplete. Only the information obtained by professional scouts had actual combat value.
"When you arrive in Shazhou, Cao Qingyun, the head of the Cao family, and Zhang Feng, the head of the Zhang family, will assist you. Cao Qingyun is Cao County Magistrate's father, and Zhang Feng is the uncle of my staff Zhang Qianyi. I have seen both of them before. They will try their best to help you. When the time comes, you will
Lurking in the Dayun Temple in Mogao Grottoes, please remember and try not to drag down the Han people in Shazhou. You are just scouts, not a fighting army."
"Remember your humble position!"
........
At dusk, Guo Song returned to the mansion. He rushed directly to the room where his wife rested in the back house. He faintly heard his wife's laughter coming from the room. Guo Song felt relieved, someone was accompanying him!
There was a female guard standing at the door. The female guards in the Guo Song Mansion were actually four of Aunt Gongsun's disciples. Aunt Gongsun had lost her martial arts skills and was getting old very quickly. After all, she was already over eighty years old, which was relatively rare in the Tang Dynasty.
She passed away. In September last year, Aunt Gongsun came to life in Jinshen Pavilion. According to her last wish, she was buried on a grass field behind Jinshen Pavilion.
Her four disciples have been practicing martial arts since childhood and have never had contact with the outside world. Before that, Aunt Gongsun had entrusted them to Guo Song. In October last year, the four disciples came to Zhangye and settled down in Guo Song's mansion.
, continued to practice martial arts, and at the same time became a female guard in the palace to protect the safety of Guo Song's wife and daughter.
The female Taoist priest standing at the door is the youngest Dao Yue, who is only fifteen years old. The other three senior sisters are only sixteen or seventeen years old, named Dao Qing, Dao Feng and Dao Ming. They have all converted to Taoism with their master, and they usually
They are all dressed as female Taoists.
"Daoming, it's windy outside, why don't you go in?"
"Madam, I think my uncle is coming back, so she asked me to watch from the door and asked my uncle to go directly into the house."
Guo Song smiled and nodded, "I understand, you can go too!"
Daoming bowed and ran towards his yard.
Guo Song pushed the door open and entered the house. There were several people in the house, including Meng Jiao's mother Liu and his wife, who were brought here last fall, as well as the wet nurse Yang who had been invited, as well as Xiaoyu Niang and Aqiu.
When Mrs. Liu saw Guo Song coming back, she quickly stood up and saluted. Guo Song smiled and said, "You haven't eaten yet! Ah Qiu, take the old lady to eat."
Mrs. Liu waved her hands, "No, we just came here to see the children. I guess Meng Jiao is back too, so we'll leave."
They repeatedly refused to stay for dinner, so Guo Song had to ask his housekeeper to arrange a carriage to take them back. Meng Jiao was currently the chief professor of Zhou Xue, and lived in Zhou Xue, with a private courtyard.
Guo Song returned to the room. The room had been tidied up. Only his wife was lying on the bed, and the little one was sleeping soundly in the cradle next to her.
Guo Song touched his daughter's little face lovingly and asked, "Have you been sleeping all this time?"
"I woke up twice, drank enough milk, changed diapers three times, and then went to sleep. Mrs. Meng said that before the child was one year old, he mainly slept and slept for a long time every day."
Guo Song held his wife's hand and smiled: "Then why don't you sleep a little longer?"
"I have been sleeping since morning. Where can I sleep? Mrs. Meng and her daughter-in-law happened to come over and talked with me."
Guo Song pondered for a moment and said, "Doctor Li told me that after a child is born, it is best not to see outsiders, as it is easy for him to be infected with diseases."
Xue Tao felt guilty and quickly nodded in agreement, "I remember, it was my fault today, and I will never let outsiders see the child in the future."
"Actually, it doesn't matter. I'm just afraid of what might happen. Just be careful in the future."
Guo Song comforted his wife with a few words. At this time, the baby girl in the cradle began to cry softly again. Guo Song said with a smile: "She actually knew that daddy was back."
Guo Song quickly picked up his daughter and patted her gently in his arms. The crying slowly subsided and the little girl lay in his father's arms and fell asleep again.
Xue Tao was very surprised. When the child cries, no one can comfort her. Only she can comfort her. How come her father can comfort her well? Is it true that she is connected by blood and can she feel his father's presence? This is the nature of father and daughter.
!
"Husband, has her name been decided?" Xue Tao asked in a low voice.
Guo Song nodded, "It's decided, her name will be Guo Weiwei, and her nickname will be Xiaowei."
The daughter from his previous life returned to him again.