Li Bing immediately understood and put away the flag of their King Qin and replaced it with the red flag prepared in advance. Guo Song then ordered the soldiers to mount their horses. The opponent was an infantryman, so he needed to prevent the opponent from attacking and seizing the horse.
Not long after, an army of more than 10,000 people came forward in a mighty manner. As expected, a huge red flag was flying at the front, which was a public statement of support for Zhu Si. The other big flag was a yellow background with black characters, saying "Hao"
Guo Song immediately understood that this was Hao Tong, the military envoy of Hezhou, who was promoted by Zhu Si when he was appointed as the military envoy of Longyou. Of course, he was loyal to Zhu Si.
At this time, the spies of the Longyou Army also discovered the cavalry in front and quickly reported to the general.
Hao Tong is about forty years old. He has a square face, thick eyebrows, protruding eyes, and a big mouth. He has a very fierce appearance. He is tall and strong, and can use a big iron gun weighing seventy kilograms to kill thousands of people.
Courage to block.
Although he was highly skilled in martial arts, he was very cruel in character. When he served as Lintao's military envoy, he often used to drive away border residents as prey for them to shoot for fun. As for raping young women, it was commonplace. In the end, Yan Zhenqing, who patrolled the border, was annoyed and dismissed from office.
He was demoted, but was re-employed by Zhu Si within a few years.
In fact, Longyou's army has a relatively wide defense area. From Shanzhou in the Hehuang Valley to Lintao, Hezhou to Diezhou and Qinzhou, the defense line stretches for thousands of miles. The army has more than 35,000 people and is divided into four parts.
There are armies that support the imperial court, and there are also armies that support Zhu Si. It mainly depends on the general. However, the Hehuang military commander Dai Lan who supported the imperial court was killed by his generals Zhang Tingzhi and Duan Cheng. The Longyou army basically supports Zhu Si.
Already.
After receiving the report, Hao Tong felt doubtful and ordered his generals to inquire about the situation. Now that all armies were marching towards Guanzhong, it was difficult to distinguish their respective positions.
After a while, General Ya came back and reported: "General Qi, in front is the army of Guo Song, the governor of Hexi Province, with about five thousand cavalry, holding high the red flag."
Hao Tong frowned, and it turned out to be Guo Song. He had heard Zhu Si say that since the Chang'an nursery rhyme incident, Emperor Li Shi was very afraid of Guo Song. Not only did he send supervisors, he also wanted to find opportunities to transfer him back to Beijing.
It’s not surprising that Guo Song is independent, it’s completely reasonable, but it’s a bit puzzling that Guo Song actually supports Zhu Si.
At this time, a Hexi cavalryman ran over, clasped his fists and said, "My envoy would like to ask General Hao to come and talk to us."
Hao Tong nodded and ordered the army to rest on the spot. He took a dozen soldiers to meet with Guo Song.
"Guo Shijun, the march is so fast!" Hao Tong urged his horse forward and laughed heartily.
Guo Song smiled bitterly and said: "The Hexi Army has been unable to uncover the pot for a long time. The military salary for half a year has not been paid. If we don't run faster, the soldiers will rebel."
The military salary issue is the easiest to resonate with all the armies. Hao Tong also sighed and said: "Who says otherwise! It would be fine if the court really can't come up with the money, but I heard that there are actually two treasuries in Qionglin and Daying.
He has tens of millions of dollars, but he is so stingy. He doesn’t care whether the soldiers live or die. Who would be willing to sacrifice their life for him?”
Guo Song nodded, "The emperor is indeed unkind and criticized. I don't want to be against him, but he should at least be a little considerate of the soldiers. In his eyes, the soldiers are just like straw men and there is no need to
You don't have to support your family to eat, and as the general said, no one is willing to sacrifice their life for him."
"Well said, if you go to serve Captain Zhu this time, you will definitely be granted the title of King of the County. I would like to congratulate you first!"
"I don't care about the title. I just hope that Lieutenant Zhu can pay his military salary in time. I will continue to guard Hexi."
The two chatted for a few words, and Guo Song took his leave and took a step forward, leading five thousand cavalry and galloping eastwards.
Hao Tong shook his head and said to several generals under his command: "This Guo Song is very shrewd. If you want the military salary, let him work for Lieutenant Zhu. It is probably impossible. Didn't you listen to him? After you get the money, go back to Hexi.
This is what I call retaining my strength and going back to Hexi to become the local emperor."
Hao Tong ordered the army to rest for half an hour and then continue to advance eastward.
.........
The night was getting darker and it was already past the first watch. Behind a hill about three miles away from the official road, five thousand cavalry were already lined up. They were about twenty miles away from Hao Tong's army and were patiently waiting for the enemy to camp.
At this time, a scout rushed over, clasped his fists at Guo Song and said, "This is to inform the envoy, the enemy has camped ten miles away to rest."
"Do you have a tent?" Guo Song remembered that he had brought some of the heavy luggage with him.
"There are tents, about three hundred tents, with hundreds of thousands of spears used to build a spear array around it, and large carts blocked the entrance."
"How is the patrol situation around?" Li Bing asked next to him.
The scout shook his head and said, "The humble officer did not find the patrolling sentry."
Li Bing asked in confusion: "Your Majesty, why is Hao Tong so careless?"
Guo Song said with a smile: "Maybe he thinks it is unnecessary. There will be no Tubo army here. Everyone is a Tang army. They either support Zhu Si or go to Qin Wang. Who knows what the relationship between Zhu Si and the court is? In short, it is a mess, only
Only when the imperial court and Zhu Si's army engage in a large-scale war will they distinguish between ourselves and the enemy."
"I understand the humble position!"
Guo Song turned around and said to the generals: "If you pass on the order, they are all Tang troops. Those who surrender will not be killed!"
Time passed little by little, and at about two o'clock, Guo Song waved his hand and led the cavalry to set off.
The horses walked slowly, their hooves making no sound on the grassland. About half an hour later, they saw the camp of Hao Tong's army in the distance, less than a mile away from them.
"Spread out!"
Guo Song gave an order, and the five thousand cavalry began to disperse and surrounded the enemy camp from five directions. At this time, the cavalry suddenly accelerated and rushed to the big tent in a moment. Around the big tent were hundreds of thousands of sharp spears.
The spear head is tilted outward.
At this time, the 10,000 Longyou troops were already very tired after a day's march and were in a deep sleep. The Hexi cavalry came from all directions and fired countless rockets at the tent. The tent burst into flames and spread very quickly under the night wind.
The soldiers inside were awakened by the fire. They were panic-stricken, shouting and running in all directions.
There were spears on all sides, but the spear array was mainly used to deal with cavalry. It was not very dense. There was a gap about half a foot wide. The soldiers crawled out from the gap between the spears. After running a few steps, they were faced by the Hexi cavalry. They were unarmed.
With no choice but to kneel down and surrender, he begged for mercy.
Hao Tong led more than a hundred cavalry guards to open up the cart and open a road. They fought out of the mouth and were immediately surrounded by a thousand cavalry. Hao Tong was not wearing armor, his hair was disheveled, and he was waving a big iron gun.
The appearance is very vicious.
Of course he knew that he was ambushed by the Hexi cavalry, which made him hate him so much that he wanted to find Guo Song and knock him off his horse with one shot to vent his hatred.
Unfortunately, he had no chance. He suddenly heard Guo Song shouting from his left: "Hao Tong, Guo Song is here!"
Hao Tong suddenly turned his head, and a sharp arrow hit him between the eyebrows. The arrow was so powerful that the tip of the arrow came out of his head. Hao Tong screamed and fell off his horse immediately.
The enemy general was dead. The Hexi cavalry immediately boosted their morale and surrounded more than a hundred guards. In just a moment, more than a hundred guards were killed and no one survived. This is a rule on the battlefield. Once the general is dead, generally
None of the personal guards will survive, and they must all be killed to avoid future troubles.
This sneak attack ended in only half an hour. None of the 10,000 Longyou Army soldiers escaped. Hundreds of them were burned to death, more than 800 people were killed, and more than 8,900 people surrendered, while the Hexi Army
Only a few people were slightly injured and no one was killed.
Nearly nine thousand surrendered soldiers sat on the open ground until dawn. The soldiers of the Hexi Army immediately pulled out a dozen of Hao Tong's confidant generals from the prisoners of war and killed them without mercy.
Guo Song stepped forward and shouted to the 8,900 prisoners of war: "The Hexi Army fought against Tubo and never kept prisoners of war, but you were Tang soldiers before and fought against Tibet like us, so I kept you all, most of you."
Everyone has been deceived and did not know that they were going to Chang'an to join the rebels. It is excusable. I will give you two ways. Either go back to your hometown to support your parents and take care of your wife and children. If you are willing to continue to join the army, I will send you to Hexi.
, join the Hexi Army, you can choose these two paths yourself."
The soldiers made their choices one after another. Most of the soldiers were willing to return to their hometowns to farm, and nearly 3,000 soldiers were willing to continue serving in the army. Guo Song immediately ordered a general to lead 500 cavalry and 3,000 soldiers to Hexi.
He ordered that the food obtained by cleaning the battlefield be distributed to the prisoners of war for dry food. In addition, he also seized about 100,000 taels of silver from Hao Tong's personal property. Guo Song gave each prisoner 3 taels of silver as travel expenses, and the remaining 70,000 taels of silver were rewarded.
After receiving five thousand cavalry, everyone was very happy for a while.
At this time, Li Bing handed a gold medal to Guo Song, "Your Majesty, I found this from Hao Tong."