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Just when Chen Ling was a little panicked, he saw Yuan Liang and Chen Zhiyong leading their five thousand Zuowu Guard soldiers to come.

At this time, Chen Ling was very determined, secretly thinking that these 5,000 soldiers were his descendants, and although the combat effectiveness could not be as strong as Zuo Lingwei's, it was also a long-fought division, and he had fought many battles with Du Fuwei, so it was expected that there should be no problem in dealing with these Khitan barbarians.

"Chen Zhiyong, you led a thousand soldiers to outflank from both wings! Brother, you lead 2,000 soldiers to meet the enemy from the front! Let these Khitans taste our awesomeness! Chen Ling shouted and ordered. When he saw that these Khitan soldiers were so poorly equipped, he was relieved. Such a force, not to mention more than 10,000 people, even if it is twice as many, he can easily defeat it.

After the two received the order, they immediately led a soldier to attack the Khitans, and after a moment of fighting, the Khitans were indeed defeated and fled to the mountains.

After Chen Ling put his hand on the canopy and looked ahead, he couldn't help frowning slightly, and shouted loudly: "Don't chase after the poor!" You're all going to give it back to me! ”

But Yuan Liang and Chen Zhiyong had just started to kill, and they didn't want to retreat, but they had been under Chen Ling's authority for a long time, but they had to obey his orders. So he ordered his soldiers to retreat in the direction of Liaodong City.

Unexpectedly, as soon as they retreated, the Khitans chased after them again, and shot down several of them with arrows.

At this time, Chen Zhiyong and Yuan Liang could no longer suppress the anger in their hearts. They looked at the situation ahead, but there were only shallow hills and streams, and there were no woods and canyons that could easily hide ambushes. There is no need to worry about an ambush by the enemy army.

So they ran after them howling. After crossing a hillside, I saw the Khitans in front of me stop by a small stream, and then dismounted and lay on the water, as if they were feeling something in the water.

Although Chen Zhiyong was a little inexplicable, he thought that these Khitan barbarians were stupid. So he raised his spear and killed the stream, secretly thinking that he would not drive all these Khitan barbarians into the stream, and would never stop the army.

However, Yuan Liang ordered his two thousand soldiers to slow down and only follow behind the two troops from a distance.

Just when Chen Zhiyong led the army to rush to only twenty steps away from the Khitans, he saw that all the Khitans who had their backs to them turned around at the same time, and what they were holding in their hands was a Lianzhu crossbow.

This Lianzhu crossbow is one of the great and powerful bows of the Sui army, the other two are ballistas and iron-tired bows. The range of the Lianzhu crossbow is relatively short, generally only about 20 zhang, and the penetration is also poor, and even the armor of heavy cavalry and heavy infantry is difficult to penetrate, so it is rarely used in general siege warfare and field warfare.

However, since it can become one of the Sui army's powerful bow weapons, it naturally has its uniqueness. That is, it has a fast rate of fire, twice as fast as a normal longbow and twice as fast as a short bow. And it can be loaded with two crossbow arrows at a time to shoot. At the same time, only one arrow can be shot with a normal bow and arrow, but six arrows can be shot with a repeater.

In close-range archer shots, the advantage of the crossbow is obvious, especially if the opponent is not wearing heavy armor.

Chen Zhiyong obviously didn't expect that these Khitans would have strong bows and sharp weapons used by the Sui army, and when he was caught off guard, he was immediately shot into a hedgehog, and more than 1,000 of his own soldiers were killed and injured under this stormy arrow attack.

At the same time, there were also shouts from behind the hillsides on both sides, and the Khitan ambush men and horses swarmed out, killing the Zuowu Guards, and immediately rushed across their formation, killing them to the point of crying and calling their mothers.

The situation suddenly turned from a big victory to a big defeat, which made it really difficult for these originally arrogant Left Guards to adapt, but seeing the enemy rushing forward with their teeth and claws, they instinctively began to flee backwards...... However, due to the close distance, Chen Zhiyong and his thousands of soldiers were soon wiped out under the pursuit of the Khitans.

When Yuan Liang led the remaining 2,000 soldiers under his command to flee back to Chen Ling, Chen Ling was looking at the Khitan cavalry approaching step by step in front of him with a frightened expression.

"Master Chen, you have to find a way! These Khitans are cunning and ferocious, we are not opponents! General Chen Zhiyong has been killed! Yuan Liang said with a sad face.

"What else can I do now?" Chen Ling's face was as colored as earth, so he had to order the remaining 2,000 soldiers to retreat to Liaodong City.

He felt his heart dripping blood. Originally, he had eight generals under him, and he was known as "the wind from all directions". As a result, he fought with the rebels and lost a series of battles. Five of the eight generals were killed, and one was also assigned to the command of others by the imperial court, and his younger brother Chen Zhiyong was unfortunately killed just now. At present, his cronies are only Yuan Liang.

And these 5,000 Zuowu guards were also recruited from his hometown in Lujiang, and even after he was dismissed, he had always been loyal to him. When they came to Liaodong this time, many soldiers of the Left Guards were reluctant to come. Only these 5,000 soldiers were willing to follow him to Liaodong.

Originally, he wanted to promote and reuse the officers and soldiers under him, but he didn't expect that in the hands of these completely inconspicuous Khitan barbarians, most of them would be killed or wounded.

Chen Ling also vaguely felt that something was wrong at this time. I have been in Liaodong for more than 20 days, and not a single difficult thing has happened. But why is it so abnormal today, and all kinds of miscellaneous disasters have come out.

At present, the lack of food and wages has caused the soldiers to mutiny and refuse to fight, and if these Khitans are allowed to attack Liaodong City, it will cause heavy casualties and losses to the merchants and residents in the city. The imperial court will definitely hold him accountable, after all, Yuming has put a stable Liaodong in his hands. But as soon as he came, the Khitans broke through the location of the state capital, how could this be explained to Yang Guang? Even Pei Ju can't keep him.

Even if he exhausts his family wealth and can escape questioning and avoid going to the prison of the Criminal Department to squat, at least he will be dismissed from his military position, his official position and fame, and he will never be hired.

Of course, Chen Ling never dreamed that these Khitans were not tribes from the northern steppe who came to fight the autumn wind, but civilians who had long been subdued by Yuming and others, and there were many martial arts masters of the Zuo Ling Guard. And their standard weapons such as beaded crossbows were also borrowed by Wei Zheng from the treasury. Otherwise, how could he suddenly kill Chen Ling's Zuowu Guards by surprise?

When Chen Ling was at a loss, Yuan Liang's eyes lit up, looked behind him, and said in surprise: "Lord Chen, we are saved!" Lord Du, Lord Wei and General Cheng are here! ”

Chen Ling, who was helpless, looked back and saw the arrival of these high-level figures from the original Liaodong camp, and hurriedly stepped forward as if he had seen a savior: "A few adults, now that the Khitan army is pressing the border, and our soldiers are unwilling to go to war because of unpaid wages, how can this be good?" Do you have a good plan for me? ”

Du Ruhui and Wei Zheng glanced at each other, and Fang Qiqi arched his hand and said, "Lord Chen, if you can find a way to borrow money and repay the arrears, you will naturally be able to drive the soldiers of the Zuo Ling Guard Army to fight!" ”

"Borrowing money? Who do you borrow money from? Chen Ling Yingtian sighed, he only had enough money on him, and it was all his private money. But these copper coins are just a drop in the bucket for the arrears of the entire Liaodong.

Cheng Yanjin smiled slightly at this time: "Lord Chen, have you forgotten?" General Redsleeve is Marshal Yu's wife! Behind the family is the first big valve Yu in Guanlong. Don't say that it's just a few thousand yuan in arrears, even tens of thousands of dollars in arrears can afford it! ”

After Chen Ling heard this, he hesitated. He glanced at the Khitans who were slowly approaching, and it was a little difficult to make a decision in his heart. It is not difficult to find Red Sleeves to borrow money, but after this borrowing, he will inevitably live with his nose. Since the salaries of the soldiers and officials in Liaodong Prefecture are all paid by Yuming's wife, it is natural that others will listen to whom. How can he, who stayed in Liaodong, have any prestige?

At this time, Yuan Liang took a step forward, bowed to Chen Ling and said, "Lord Chen, I think I can borrow money from Mrs. Red Sleeves!" It doesn't really matter! ”

"Oh? Yuan Liang, do you think so too? After hearing this, Chen Ling was slightly surprised.

Yuan Liang still replied calmly: "My lord, my subordinates want to take a step to speak!" ”

Chen Ling followed Yuan Liang to a small hill more than twenty zhang away with a puzzled expression, and Fang hurriedly asked, "Yuan Liang, what do you have to tell you?" ”

Yuan Liang looked at Du Ruhui and the others who were still in the distance, and Fang quietly asked Chen Ling: "My lord, do you think it must be a good choice to take refuge in Pei Xiangguo?" ”

After Chen Ling heard this, his face changed slightly, and then he said: "Yuan Liang, you have followed me for many years, and I won't hide anything from you!" Yes, I want to take refuge in Pei Xiangguo. Because this is my only chance to turn around. Chen doesn't want to be idle in the military department like this! At present, Pei's power is tilted towards the government and the opposition, and the imperial grandson Yang Tong he supports may also become the crown prince, and I also exhausted my family wealth to catch Pei Yun's line, otherwise I would not be able to win the errand of staying in Liaodong. Although this place is located outside the fortress, extremely desolate and dangerous, Pei Yun has promised me that after two years, when the situation in Liaodong is stable, he will transfer me back to the eastern capital to take up a post! ”

Yuan Liang shook his head at this time and sighed lightly: "My lord, I don't think it's appropriate to do this!" At present, there are not a few ministers who support Huang Yang Gaowei, and the saint has not decided who will be appointed as the crown prince. Although Yang Tong, the current king of Yue, has the support of Pei Xiangguo's faction, he may not be able to become the crown prince......"

He paused for a moment and then continued: "Actually, it is too early to discuss the issue of the crown prince, the saint is very afraid of the military general's interference in the matter of the prince, and two years ago, Dugu Luo was very dissatisfied with the matter of the prince because of the proposal in the book. And the saint is only in his forties, and he passed away too early. The most important thing at the moment is: Can Pei Xiangguo always control the government like this? ”

Chen Ling's face changed suddenly after hearing this, and he said suspiciously: "The Holy Lord has always trusted Pei Xiangguo, and most of the ministers of the DPRK and China are now Pei Xiangguo and other people from the Shandong Shi clan. ”

Yuan Liang smiled bitterly: "It doesn't matter whether Pei Xiangguo loses favor or not, the key is that Pei Xiangguo is over sixty years old, although the Guanlongmen valve has lost power, but the foot worm is dead but not stiff, Li Yuan, Yuhua and the eldest grandson Wuji still have to be reused." I don't think the saint will completely beat the Guanlongmen valve to death, he will inevitably seek a balance between the Shandong Shi clan, the Guanlong Gate valve and the Jiangnan Shi clan, this is the emperor's technique. If Pei Xiangguo passes away once. Who do you think the Holy One will make the Lord? Can Pei Yun's guy beat Yuming? ”

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