Looking at the bird's nest taken out of the cannon in front of him, the old soldier shook his head obviously with some distress. However, he said: "Because Yanshan Mansion is an important place in the north, because we are afraid that our old soldiers will go to Northern Liao, we have always attached great importance to the dismissed old and weak soldiers. Severance pay is paid 10% and has never been deducted. When we withdrew, the old man who was the defense ambassador of Yanshan Mansion at the time was another kind man. ”

"Remembering that we have never made a big mistake in the border army for decades, we gave each of us an extra fifty yuan when we were dismissed. The salaries of the border army have always been high, and after serving in the army for decades, each of us has accumulated a lot of money in our hands. Coupled with the severance pay and the eldest man's reward, our brothers also have a few hundred yuan in each of them. ”

"People are old, and they are people who have survived a hundred battles. The older he gets, the more homesick he becomes, and after retiring from the army, he returned to this tiger prison with his wife and children, and settled down on 100 acres of land. This is the mainland, and it is better than Yanshan Mansion, the bitter cold place where you fight with the Liao army all day long. ”

"Since this is the case, there are a few old men. Whether these cannons can play a role is directly related to whether the Tiger Prison Pass can hold out until the imperial army arrives. The old men are also the people who have been eating the court for a long time, and they also ask a few old men to come forward when the court is in danger. ”

"Please ask a few old men to be wronged, and first temporarily serve as the position of one hundred households in the artillery of this tiger prison. The king will allocate 200 soldiers, commanded by several old men. After the end of the war in Tiger Prison, the king will definitely report the exploits of several old fathers to the emperor and the court, and give several old fathers heavy rewards. After that, Huang Qiong bowed deeply to several old men.

Huang Qiong's humble style made these veterans very grateful. Without waiting for the 200 sergeants allocated by Huang Qiong to arrive, he rolled up his arms and sleeves to clean these cannons. These veterans saw that what they said was true. When wiping the cannon, take a bowl filled with water and carefully drench one cannon at a time to check whether there are any gaps in the cannon.

The carefulness of his inspection and the professionalism of his actions made Huang Qiong admire. It is estimated that the same person will take a certain amount of time to send the cannonballs and **, so Huang Qiong put his mind on the rebels. According to Zhao Wuxian's statement, the rebels' scouts had been found outside Dongguan, indicating that the rebels were not far away.

According to Zhao Wuxian's judgment, the rebels still had fifty miles at most, and this speed of movement was somewhat unexpected. The question now is, how long will it take for Yu Du to command the main force over there to arrive? At this time, the Henan Jiedu envoy who should be dispatched by edict, where have the soldiers entered? Thinking of this, Huang Qiong realized that her eyes were black now.

Not only is the surrounding enemy situation unclear. Even the movements of his own allies are unknown. Turning his head, Huang Qiong said to Fan Jian: "Now that all aspects of the palace have arrived, have you arrived?" Where are the Henan guards over there in Bianzhou now? When this king sent troops, my father had already ordered the Henan local guards to cooperate with this king, how was the progress on their side? ”

"Lord Wang, how can it be so fast? We set out from Mengjin and galloped all the way, but without entering any towns, we could not receive the report at all. After rushing to the Tiger Prison Pass, the sword flipped through the Yamen of the Dutong and did not find the recent Di Bao. Lord, it is very likely that we have no way of knowing anything about the situation until the army arrives. ”

Regarding Huang Qiong's question, Fan Jian answered neatly and neatly, without dragging his feet at all. Although Fan Jian also knew what Huang Qiong was thinking about. But the problem is that if there is nothing, there is nothing, and he can't make it up. Although Tiger Prison Pass is very close to Jingzhao Mansion, it may not be able to get the latest report from the imperial court in the shortest possible time.

Just as Huang Qiong was talking to Fan Jian, a soldier from the cavalry battalion hurriedly ran to the top of the city to play. According to the report of the reconnaissance cavalry dispatched, the main force of the rebels was already less than thirty miles away from the Tiger Pass. It is estimated that the rebels will rush to the outside of the Tiger Prison Pass this evening, and ask His Royal Highness to get ready.

Hearing the report, Huang Qiong and Fan Jian glanced at each other and almost saw the shock in each other's eyes. Fan Jian was silent for a moment and then said, "Lord Wang, something is wrong. King Jing's actions were procrastinating before, but now they are moving so quickly. It has only been three days since the official release of the proclamation, and he has traveled more than 200 miles. ”

Regarding Fan Jian's thoughts, Huang Qiong shook his head and said, "It doesn't matter what he thinks, let's go first to block the water and cover the earth." As long as this battle is won, and the rebels are wiped out cleanly, we know everything. As for now, let's make every effort to prepare for the battle. What do you want to do so much? ”

After saying that, Huang Qiong turned around and ordered the fellow who came up with him, as well as the two hundred soldiers he carried, to immediately transport the six great general cannons back to Dongguan. The ** that has been transported to the city has also been transported over. He took Fan Jian and Liu Hu and his party and quickly rushed in the direction of Dongguan.

Just when Huang Qiong had just arrived at Dongguan, some of the rebel cavalry had already appeared under the city. Although the number is small, there are only five or six hundred. But these cavalrymen decided that they did not dare to go out of the city to fight, and they showed off their might under the city. And to the surprise of Zhao Wuxian in Dongguan, the war horses used by these cavalry were actually the best Khitan horses.

You must know that the Khitan horse was not used as the main war horse of the cavalry in Daqi. The cavalry of Daqi is still dominated by Dangxiang horses and Tuyuhun horses. There were also a certain number of Khitan horses in the army, but they were mainly used in the border army of Yanshan Province. The rest of the border armies, not many of which were used. Of the various horse farms in Daqi, there are only a few horse farms around Yanshan Mansion, and some Khitan horses are domesticated.

And the Khitan horse used by the rebels at the moment is a war horse at first glance, and it is definitely not a civilian horse. Where did these good Khitan horses come from, it was very surprising to Zhao Wuxian. Unless the Khitan horse was obtained from the Yanshan Mansion Horse Farm, the only possibility was smuggled from Northern Liao. However, the export of military horses in Northern Liao has always been extremely strict.

Although Daqi itself was not short of war horses, Northern Liao still strictly prohibited the export of Daqi horses. Because the cavalry of Northern Liao is equipped with three war horses as standard, and the cavalry of Daqi is not short of horses. But after all, the Han people are not like the Northern Liao, they are nomadic people, and it is impossible to be equipped with three war horses like the Northern Liao.

This is also the main reason why Daqi's counterattack against the Northern Liao invaders can only stop at the outer Great Wall for about 200 miles, and it has never been able to penetrate into the hinterland of Northern Liao. In addition to the difficulty of supply. The war horse equipment could not reach the number of cavalry of the Liao army, and the continuous combat ability was not as good as that of the Liao army, which also restricted the Daqi offensive to the north.

Of course, this is also related to the comparison between the national strength of Great Qi and the national strength of Northern Liao. In addition to the Uighurs and Tibetans in the west, and Annam in the south, they were invaded many times, which also distracted the energy of the Great Qi to a certain extent. But the number of horses was still a key factor in the duel between the cavalry. Just because there is no shortage of horses doesn't mean that horses can be overstaffed like nomads.

The rebels are equipped with so many Khitan horses, and if they want to smuggle them from Northern Liao, they also need a lot of effort and property. Not only does the Northern Liao side need quite a lot of contacts to get out of the customs, but after entering Daqi alone. Through the passes of Hebei Road, it is transported to the vicinity of Zhengzhou, which is not considered to be the feed for horses along the way. Just opening up the joints requires a lot of money.

With so many war horses, not King Jing, the price paid can be imagined. King Jing actually spent so much effort for these rebels, which can't help but be shocking. For Zhao Wuxian, who only thinks about things on the battlefield, the combat effectiveness of the rebels may need to be reconsidered.

Facing the rebel cavalry under the city, Zhao Wuxian did not go out of the city to meet the battle, but only told the troops in the city to be prepared. The number of cavalry in the city was not large, only the five hundred elite cavalry brought by Zhao Wuxian, and the three hundred cavalry equipped in the garrison of Tiger Prison Pass. The main force of the rebels is about to arrive, and even if it is a defensive battle, the role of cavalry is still very large.

Zhao Wuxian, who had a new understanding of the rebels, still adopted the tactics of relying on stability, and did not rush into battle because the rebels outside the city showed off their might. Seeing that there was no movement in the city, the rebels outside the city were even more arrogant. But although he is young, Zhao Wuxian shows the side of youth and old age. No matter how arrogant the rebels outside the city are, they turn a blind eye.

And Huang Qiong did not express a single opinion on any deployment of Zhao Wuxian. Just sat on a Taishi chair at the head of the city, under the escort of Liu Hu on the left and Wang Dalong on the right, watching Zhao Wuxian constantly adjust his deployment. He said that he would not interfere with Zhao Wuwu's command, and he really did what he said.

Just when the same acquaintance, with more than 100 young men and 200 sergeants, moved those heavy cannons from Xiguan, there were bursts of dust outside the city, and people shouted for a while. The main forces of the rebels have also arrived one after another. The infantry of the brigade, under the pressure of cavalry and crossbows, spread out one after another outside the city.

As the main force of the rebels arrived, Huang Qiong's brows became tighter and tighter. The main forces of the rebels who arrived outside the city were tens of thousands of people. This shows that the Henan local guards should have been dispatched, and they did not play any role in restraining at all. Bianzhou, where Henan's pacification envoys and Henan Jiedu envoys were stationed, was even closer to Zhengzhou than Zhengzhou was from Jingzhao.

Because of the responsibility of being located in the important area of Gongwei Gyeonggi, the number of Henan guards ranks first in the country. There were 20,000 horses, not to mention, and there were only 3,000 cavalry among the other roads except Hebei Road. Although Huang Qiong didn't know the situation of the Henan Guards, whether it was also erosive. But these 20,000 guards can't all be tofu scum.

The old man's holy decree must have reached Bianzhou at this time. But with Bianzhou so close to Zhengzhou, the rebels were still able to move out without any restraint, which showed that there must be something wrong with the Henan Guards. But the question arises there, whether the Henan Guards are also involved in this rebellion, or whether there are other problems, which Huang Qiong can't think of.

The only thing he knows now is that the Henan Guards can't count on this time. It's not even good that the rebels that the cavalry battalion has to face are not just these in front of them. Thinking of this, Huang Qiong realized that although she did not underestimate this rebellion. But in some ways, he still despises his opponent a little. Of course, the opponent he was referring to was not King Jing in front of him.

Zhao Wuxian was heavily guarded above the city, and after the main force of the rebels arrived, he was not ambiguous. Ignoring the fatigue of the march, a tentative attack was launched. Under the cover of bed crossbows and strong bows and crossbows outside the city, a wave-like offensive was launched against the Tiger Prison Guandong Pass. Suddenly, the calm of the city was shattered by the shouts and the sound of fighting.

When the rebels appeared outside the Tiger Prison Pass, it also meant that the rebellion, which had been concealed before, officially kicked off this time. At this time, whether it was the emperor or King Jing and King Duan, there was no way out. There will be no third ending except for the complete defeat of one of the two.