On the twenty-seventh day of the lunar month, the land of northern Sichuan is cold and windy, the wind and snow are like blades, and the faces are painful, and a layer of solid ice is condensed on the plank road, which is more and more steep and rugged.

Daniel Zhang, the general of Han Anxi, dressed in cotton armor, sat on a dilapidated grain cart, staring at the distant mountains in front of him and was stunned.

From the moment he received the battle report of Wang Fuchen's defeat, he immediately led his troops to quickly pull out the camp and march in the direction of Zitong with difficulty. More than 40,000 troops have been pulling along the plank road, stretching for nearly 30 miles, the red military uniform actually reflects this white snow land bright red, the mountains are rugged, after the front team stepped over, the road that was originally condensed into ice has long been muddy, slippery, and the marching road is extremely dangerous, this plank road has not been well repaired since the years of Mingshenzong, and it is decades ago, after the famous peasant rebel army general Zhang Xianzhong successfully seized Sichuan, in order to protect himself, and even selectively carried out large-scale destruction, so it is still today, this dangerous road into the river is even more dangerous.

The Han king's edict arrived at the commander's tent of the Chinese army three days earlier, the advance of the army was foiled, the court was furious, and the king of Han strictly ordered the 8th and 10th infantry armies under the command of General Anxi to quickly reinforce and rescue the king's auxiliary ministers.

This time, the edict of the King of Han was contrary to the kindness of the past, and the words were extremely fierce, almost pointing at Daniel Zhang's nose and scolding: "...... My Han is mighty, the king is going out, all of them are gone, all of them are taken, but the battle of the Sichuan River is heavy, do you know? ! Do the ministers have a heart?! The general's life? Can the soldiers be used? The widow tossed and turned, couldn't sleep at night, and pondered deeply: the general was conquest outside, the court dispatched inside, the grain and grass were not good, and the baggage was not effective, the blame was on the widow, and the general had nothing to do; However, who is to blame for the unfavorable planning and the loss of the teacher and the land? ! …… This battle has hundreds of thousands of divisions, nearly 10 million taels of money, the world is watching, the subjects of the Han Dynasty are waiting for Seoul, but it has lasted for half a year, the old division has no success, and the general 'wants' to the widow Where is it? ! …… Be kind, be good, think about it, don't take the court law as a child's play......"

Daniel Zhang sweated profusely, without any hesitation, and after receiving the edict of the king of Han, he immediately "wept bitterly and was ashamed", and in front of the messenger of the edict, he stabbed a sword in his face on the spot, to show that he would definitely not live up to the expectations of the king of Han, and he must rescue Ma Harrier's department and take Sichuan.

In all fairness, Lin Feng's order was already late at this time. From the moment he received Wang Fuchen's battle report, Daniel Zhang realized the seriousness of the problem, in the history of the Han army, there has never been a whole army unit annihilated in formation, so if this kind of thing happens under his command, then his career may end here.

Even if it doesn't count the influence and reputation, just in terms of the battle situation, Wang Fuchen's army can not help but save, at present, the Han army is attacking Sichuan in two ways, echoing each other in a two-pronged manner, completely occupying the initiative on the battlefield, and firmly clamping the main force of Wang Ping Domain, but if one of them is eliminated, then the battle situation will immediately change greatly, Wang Ping Domain's department in addition to the morale of the great boost, can occupy the initiative, retreat can stick to Mianzhu, Chengdu, into can go south to attack, attack Wang Jizhen's department.

In addition, it may even have an impact on the political situation of the Nanzhou Dynasty - the Southern Zhou Dynasty was extremely discouraged and disappointed in the prospects of Sichuan under the strong political and military pressure of the Lin Han Empire, and put on a gesture of giving up, Wang Pingfan is almost alone, and if this battle is won, I am afraid that there will be people who think that "there is something to be done in Sichuan, and it is possible to plot slowly and deal with the Han army", if this is the case, Wang Pingfan can get troops and material replenishment from Hubei, Hunan, Guizhou and even Yunnan and other directions, Then the Sichuan battlefield is very likely to be in a stalemate, which greatly undermines the overall deployment of the General Staff.

Since passing through the Sword Pavilion, the troops have abandoned most of the war horses, and also dropped more than 1,500 catties of artillery, almost all of the army's food and baggage materials rely on wheelbarrows to transport, the front-line combat units are all lightly armed, the Eighth Army, the Ninth Army of the Infantry and the heavy artillery units directly under the Anxi General's Mansion, the cavalry brigade, the Langzhong battalion, and the civilian organs were all thrown in Jianzhou, at this time, the troops moving in the direction of Zitong had only nine brigades of musketeers and some field artillery units under 1,000 catties, a total of 20,600 people, Together with more than 16,000 auxiliary militia members, the total strength is 37,000.

Since entering the territory of Zitong County, the terrain is becoming more and more steep and rugged, the perennial war has been damaged, the place is decadent, the army has crossed, the surviving people have already run away without a trace, there are not a few people in a radius of hundreds of miles, fortunately, since the time of departure, the troops have recruited a number of hunters in the mountains in Jianzhou, otherwise I am afraid that I am afraid that I will not even be able to find a guide at this time.

Daniel Zhang's line was set up on a team of heavy carts at the rear of the army, unlike other generals, he went out to fight, has always been in a big car, sitting in a warm sedan chair, rarely riding a horse, many people when they first know about this matter, often surprised, because Daniel Zhang's combat style has always been known for its bravery, a long time ago, collated and released in ωар.ㄧбΚ.Сn When he was still serving in the Daming border army, he was also a famous warrior in the Gan and Shaanxi regions, good at riding horses and 'shooting' arrows, and even 'fine' Meng's ancient wrestling, when he was young, won the championship many times in the market and temple fairs in the border county and the martial arts tournament held by the "Mongolian" ancient and Hui departments.

But now, the former heroes are dying of old age, wind and frost like knives, warriors in the south and north war, the graceful and suave have long been put into flowing water, the eleventh year of Chongzhen of the Ming Dynasty, he led his troops to participate in the battle of encircling and suppressing the Shaanxi peasant rebel army, in the battle several knives, one of which was cut on his knee, at that time almost his right "leg" knee-length cut off, and then although the famous doctor diagnosed and treated, but always fell "hair" disease, and then come, this "leg" is also considered to be wasted.

Although he is disabled, his career is very smooth, of course, here can not be praised by character or virtue, if it comes to this aspect, Daniel Zhang this person has almost no shame at all, can be said to be a rebellious figure who greatly violates Chinese tradition. He was originally born in the border army of the Ming Dynasty, and was promoted to deputy general after accumulating merit, after the Qing army entered the customs, he surrendered to the puppet Qing in the second year of Shunzhi, and was trusted and reused by the puppet emperors of Shunzhi and Kangxi dynasties. However, the good times did not last long, Lin Feng suddenly led a large army into Beijing, subverted the center of the Qing court in one fell swoop, the world was paralyzed, the general of the overseers everywhere panicked and did not know where to go, the Ganshan Green Battalion sat in a barren land, without food and clothing, sitting and waiting to die, the army was disheartened, mutiny in an instant, helpless, Daniel Zhang took advantage of the opportunity of the Han army to conquer the Zhun Geer Department, led the army to annex, sure enough, the reward was generous, and was once again reused by the new master, and was awarded the rank of lieutenant general of the army, the general name "General Anxi", and led the army to sit on one side, comparable to Baotu Fengmao.

If the surrendered general is regarded as a "second minister", then he is a "third minister", but at this time, he can be a little lucky, because the horse harrier Wang Fuchen he rescued this time is "Wu Chen", if compared with these bastards, he feels that he is comparable to Guan Yunzhi's length and Zhuge Zhiliang.

The weather was very unsuitable for war, the road was rough, the grain routes were difficult, and the mobility of the troops was greatly reduced. Daniel Zhang led his troops to set out from Jianzhou, and it took two days to cross the Jiange Pass Plank Road and enter the territory of Zitong through Wulianyi, where the mountainous and hilly terrain of northern Sichuan came to an end, the mountain gradually eased down, showing a small basin state, and the official road was much smoother after freezing, and the speed of the troops' movements was greatly accelerated. The army marched for a day, both tired and cold, everyone was silent, and tens of thousands of people marched, only the sound of their boots could be heard, and they stepped on the fine layer of snow, like the sound of rice.

At this time, there was a sudden sound of horses' hooves in front, from far and near, until about dozens of zhang away did not stop, a personal soldier gently buckled the car 'door', "Qiqi army 'door', the eighth army General Chen has a report!" ”

It was very different from Wang Fuchen's troops, although they were also troops that surrendered to the Han army, Wang Fuchen's troops did not have time to accept the reorganization of the General Staff because of the urgency of the war, nor did they undergo officer transfer and training, so his troops did not receive any strengthening except for temporarily provoking an artillery brigade, while Daniel Zhang's Ganshan Green Battalion had surrendered for a long time, and all the officers under his command had been transferred and rectified by Beijing and had won the complete trust of the Lin Han Empire. The military system and the establishment of the troops have undergone a major transformation, becoming an all-firearms unit, complete supply, strong morale, most of the officers and soldiers of the department have participated in the battle to suppress the Hui people, the war against Wang Fuchen, has always been known for fierce and brave white-edged warfare, the proportion of veterans with actual combat experience is not less than the first cavalry army, the sixth cavalry army, the first army of the guards infantry and other trump card main forces, so the Lin and Han empire up and down, has always believed that this former Ganshan green battalion has become the Han army's battle sequence of the 'elite' elite troops, relying on the northwest Gancheng.

Because for the sake of pacification and political influence, according to the adjustment of the General Staff, the Eighth and Tenth Armies of the Han Infantry are called two independent army numbers, which can actually be regarded as an integrated corps, and the Ganxi Theater has set up a special "Anxi General's Office" organization, under the jurisdiction of the Eighth and Twelfth Infantry Corps, of which the Tenth Infantry Army is a large army under the rank of lieutenant general, with an additional infantry brigade, and the commander is concurrently served by Anxi General Daniel Zhang; The Eighth Army was held by Chen Qi, a close general of Daniel Zhang and a former commander-in-chief of Xining in the pseudo-Qing Dynasty, and was awarded the rank of major general and the general "General Jingping Zhonglang."

Hearing the report of the pro-soldiers, Daniel Zhang casually pushed the 'door' of the car, and the wind and snow outside the car immediately poured in, pouring the stove in the car with a loud sound, Daniel Zhang looked up at the sky 'color', and asked the pro-soldiers, "What did Chen Qi say?!" ”

Without waiting for the personal soldiers to respond, a lieutenant officer strode forward, knelt on one knee in the snow, and hugged his fists and said, "Marshal Qi, the lowly position is Yang Fengwu, the communications officer of the first battalion of the Eighth Army Cavalry Brigade - in the name of General Chen Qi, face the military situation!" ”

"Speak!"

"Back to the marshal, our vanguard has arrived on the east bank of the Zitong River, and no enemy scouts have been found!" Yang Fengwu raised his head slightly and looked at Daniel Zhang, "Our sentry horse went south to search for the remnants of the Twelfth Infantry Army......

Daniel Zhang raised his eyebrows, cut off his words, and asked urgently, "What did he say?!" - What about Liu Zheng?! Do they know where Liu Zheng is?! ”

"......" Yang Fengwu lowered his head and said astringently, "Returning to the 'gate' of the army, the two soldiers confessed, Liu Zheng and Lord Liu...... ...... already killed"

There was silence.

"Get up and talk," Daniel Zhang pinched his beard and sighed, "How did you die?" Is there anyone else?! ”

"Yes, yes! Xie Dashuai's grace," Yang Fengwu hugged his fists, "Returning to the marshal, the soldier said: The enemy suddenly killed out that day, and our army struggled to resist, but the enemy army was actually too numerous, and after a while, the artillery brigade was cut off from the front team, and each looked for an opportunity to break through...... But...... It's a pity that the enemy 'shot' the rocket later, and the 'medicine' car was hit, and Lord Liu was blown up on the spot...... The rest of the officers and soldiers of the department were all divided and surrounded, either captured or killed in battle, and only a few brothers who were left behind ran out!! ……”

"Got it!" Daniel Zhang nodded, this information was not much different from what he received a few days ago except for the clear whereabouts of Liu Zheng, he waved at the communications officer, "It's hard, go down and drink soju!" ”

Yang Fengwu was slightly inferior, but he did not go to the Chinese army to get the soju, and hurriedly got on the horse and ran back. Before the sound of horses' hooves fell, the chief of staff received the news, hurriedly rushed from behind, and asked loudly from a distance, "Isn't it Brother Xiong, are there any traces of the thief army?!" ”

Daniel Zhang turned around and shook his head, "No, Wang Ping Fan has always fought hard, this time the horse harrier is in trouble, his eight thousand remnants of the army are guarding Hekou Town, and the grain and grass are heavy and lost, I estimate that 'touching' can hold on for a few days at most!" ”

Daniel Zhang's chief of staff was also a former general of the Ganxi Green Battalion, named Yin Huaxing, and he was completely different from Daniel Zhang and Wang Jinbao, a group of soldiers who were born in food.

At this time, although there was always a danger of engaging in battle, he rarely brought his own soldiers with him, and the chief of staff did a very competent job. Seeing Daniel Zhang's composure' expression, he cheered up, "Okay, okay, Ma Harrier is on the road this time, but he is old in the army, and his subordinates are irons brought out for many years, and they can still hold on for a while." ”

Daniel Zhang smiled bitterly and was speechless. This time the horse harrier actually fell into an ambush, it was indeed a big surprise to the two, in the past few years, the Ganshan green battalion and the horse harrier's troops have been fighting for several years, each other is knowing, Wang Fuchen has been in the army for decades, experienced, sophisticated, cautious in the use of soldiers, the war has always been very stable, the Ganshan green battalion and he fought for a few years, each other are equal to each other, quite sympathetic to each other. This time with his troops as the vanguard, Daniel Zhang and Yin Huaxing were very relieved, but they never expected that this famous general who has been famous in the northwest for more than ten years would actually be ambushed, which is a bit incredible.

Now that I think about it, Wang Fuchen suffered a big loss this time, and it was mostly because of his impure mind. After surrendering to the Han army this time, Ma Harrier gave the Han king a "Pingchuan Zazi", one is to show loyalty, and the other is to pave the way for his son Wang Jizhen, and the retreat of the rapids is hidden, Daniel Zhang estimates that if everything goes well, after Ma Harrier conquers Sichuan, most of them will 'hand' over the right to send troops, and then return to their hometown, so when everything goes well in the early stage of the war, he is 'lost' for the war situation Confused', thinking that Wang Fuchen was fighting alone, his strength was not enough, and he had the meaning of withdrawing from Sichuan to preserve his strength, so he went straight into the army alone, and marched forward vigorously, and actually wanted to take Sichuan with the strength of an army, and presented a great gift to the King of Han, and also left a perfect end to his military career.

"After the battle of the horse harrier, I'm afraid I will have to step down from office!" Daniel Zhang sighed heavily and said with a bitter smile, "It's dawn, a bubble of 'urine' is pulled on the 'bed', I really don't know what the old horse feels like in his heart." ”

Yin Huaxing felt the same way, shook his head and sighed, "Feng Tang is easy to be old, Li Guang is difficult to seal, this has been the case since ancient times, Ma Harrier has been in the world for decades, and it is not a loss to live to this day." ”

The two sighed for a long time, and Yin Huaxing asked, "Brother Feixiong, this place is still a day and a half away from Hekou Town, our army has come from the morning to the present, and the soldiers are also very tired when they think about it, according to the younger brother, it is better to rest for a camp and go to help Wang Fuchen tomorrow?!" ”

Daniel Zhang looked at the sky 'color', at this time the sky 'color' 'overcast' haze, the snow in the air was flying, lined with a little torch, the earth was white, his heart really wanted to take advantage of the snow light to go for another hour, this time he was strictly ordered by the king of Han, issued a military order to save Wang Fuchen, the pressure on his body was too great, just want to hurry to the battlefield, expel it, fight a decisive battle, even if he does not defeat Wang Ping Clan, then at least he must make a hole in the heavy encirclement, save Ma Harrier's old life, otherwise, his life may be quite sad.

While hesitating, the horse's hooves suddenly sounded again in the distance, and a small group of cavalry held torches high, galloping from the front, until the Chinese army was more than ten zhang away from the horse, Daniel Zhang was shocked in his heart, and asked first, "-Which one?!" ”

"Back to ...... Returning to the handsome...... The cavalry led by the lowly ...... gasped for breath, but refused to regain his breath a little, and reluctantly said, "Yang Feng and the fifth ...... of the first battalion of the cavalry brigade of the Eighth Army."

The voice seemed to be somewhat familiar, Daniel Zhang recalled, and said in amazement, "Didn't you just say that you wanted to rush back?!" …… Why did you come back again?! ”

Yang Fengwu finally came back to his senses, knelt down on one knee, and hurriedly reported, "If you go back to the marshal, I met General Chen's second 'wave' emergency report on the road - this time it's an emergency military situation!" ......" He stood up, helped a knight from behind him, borrowed a little snow, and Daniel Zhang could see clearly, the person who came was wearing the official uniform of the Han Military Academy, but his body was covered with dirty blood, his hair was unkempt, his expression was aggrieved, and even the epaulettes indicating his rank were 'lost', and the shape was 'wave' It took a lot of money, Yang Fengwu supported the body of this school officer, and continued, "General Qiqi Anxi, this is Wang Youyi, an officer in the town standard battalion under the command of General Lang of the 12th Army of the Infantry!" ”

Daniel Zhang was startled, and looked at Yin Huaxing, Huo Ran stood up, "Ma Harrier's middle officer?!" He asked anxiously, "How's the harrier?!" ”

The 'spirit' of the person who came was very poor, and he seemed to be a little delirious, between lucid and unconscious, Daniel Zhang asked several times, but he was at a loss.

Yang Fengwu hurriedly said, "General Anxi, Lord Wang was found by the sentry horse by the Zitong River, when his war horse ran to death, he was hit by two arrows in his back, and his shoulder blade was also pierced by a shotgun. ”

Daniel Zhang looked at the officer carefully, and said suspiciously, "He's really ......."

"Absolutely! ——When the artillery brigade of our Eighth Army was transferred to the past, it was he who came to do the 'handover', we all knew him, and he had drunk a few times," Yang Fengwu said firmly, and took out a sweat-stained blood letter from his body, "This is the handwritten letter of the lieutenant general of the town army, please take a look!" ”

Daniel Zhang casually took the results and did not browse immediately, "How is the horse harrier doing now?!" ”

"The Danger Is !!" Yang Fengwu said in a deep voice, "General Qiqi Anxi, after General Wang Fuchen was ambushed, he was forced to trap Hekou Town, but at that time, the rear team was annihilated, the baggage and artillery were all lost, and the grain, grass and ammunition 'medicine' were all available, and the thief army Wang Ping Fan transferred a lot of cannons, bombarded the town, and the twelfth army suffered heavy casualties, in desperation, the town army Zhonglang led his troops to break through in the early hours of yesterday morning...... "He bowed to the Daniel Zhang and clenched his fists, "This Wang Youyi is the nephew of the general of the town army, and he was ordered to break through to the front and want our army to ask for help!" ”

Daniel Zhang looked cold, stared at the injured officer, was silent for a long time, and suddenly asked, "Where is the Ma Harrier Division now?!" - Are they still there?! ”

Yang Fengwu shook his head and said, "I don't know if I am humble, but according to Lord Wang Youyi, the main force of General Wang's personal guard battalion is still there, and there are more than 500 cavalry, and they are now converging on our side, but we haven't found it yet!" Seeing that Daniel Zhang's face was ugly, he hurriedly added, "When the humble post came, General Chen Qi had already ordered to send additional scouts and search everywhere!" ”

"Good!! It's better to fuck the day than to hit the day - pass my orders......"

Before he finished speaking, Yin Huaxing, the chief of staff next to him, was shocked and grabbed his arm, "General, our army has been marching all day, and the soldiers are extremely tired, and they think it is ...... to be lowly in their duties."

Daniel Zhang stretched out a palm, pressed back Yin Huaxing's words, and said categorically, "Gather all the horse sentinels and transfer General Chen Qi to listen to the three armies, camp on the spot, eat, roast the fire, and sleep!" ”