In February, it rained.

In the upper reaches of the river, ice floes flow. The snow in the south of the Yangtze River is beginning to melt.

In Jindi, the snow-covered mountain road is still rugged and difficult to walk, but the outside world has gradually woken up from the breath of harsh winter, and the conspirators have been acting in the cold winter for a long time.

For all this, Lou Shuwan has been able to take it calmly.

After inspecting the warehouse where the seedlings were stored, she got into a carriage and headed in the direction of Yulin's main camp. There was still a light rain outside the car, and the emperor of the carriage was sitting next to Shi Jin, the "eight-armed dragon king" with a copper stick in his arms, which made Lou Shuwan not have to worry too much about the danger of being assassinated, but could concentrate on reading the information that had been collected in the car.

After the New Year, she gained a little weight, maybe a little more beautiful, and the previous dress was finally able to hold up again. Of course, in front of outsiders, Lou Shuwan has become accustomed to an unsmiling style, which can increase her majesty even more. Only occasionally when no one is around, she will show her vulnerable side.

On this day, after picking up the information and flipping through a few pages, there was a moment of trance on her face.

The information that came from all over the country was large and small, and the information that made her look dazed for a moment was only a few lines, reporting the number of people who had frozen and starved to death in a small county town in the direction of Jinning in winter, and the name of a squire who died of injury and illness was also recorded.

That name is Zeng Yuhuai.

Lou Shuwan held the information, her thinking was slightly confused, she didn't know who was the information that came up, and what kind of purpose the other party had. When have you ever told anyone to pay attention to this person? Why did you deliberately add this name? Because he participated in the war against the Jurchens, and later went out of his home to save food to help the refugees? So his injuries worsened and he died, did the people below think they would be interested in knowing such a person?

Why is the name here?

Her mind circled around this place for a moment, turning the page of the information, reading a few lines, and then turning back to confirm the content of the lines.

Zeng Yuhuai.

Before the war, he scolded her for not paying too much attention to her own reputation in the general's other business, and then confided in her in a serious manner that he had participated in the battle against Liao Yiren and the Jurchens, and soon lost his legs on the battlefield. She had seen the middle-aged man unconscious on a stretcher in the retreating crowd, and she was too busy to pay any further attention.

…… Time picked up, after returning to the rear home, his injuries with broken legs were good and bad, he got up and saved food at home to help the refugees near Jinning this winter, and on the unsurprising days of the first month, he was deteriorating due to his injuries and finally died.

Lou Shuwan's eyes were cold, her lips were pursed, and she clenched her fists and hammered twice on the wall of the carriage.

Ahead, the royal man of the carriage and Shi Jin both turned around, and Shi Jin said in and out: "Lord Lou." ”

“…… It's okay. ”

Lou Shuwan turned the page of the information in her hand.

If it was in Hangzhou more than ten years ago, just such a story would make her cry. But after going through so many things, the strong emotions will be diluted - maybe more like being weighed down by more heavy things like a mountain, and before people can react, they have to devote themselves to other things.

The intelligence turned the next page, and there was news about the war situation in the southwest, which was the core of the entire world's fighting and conquest, and the conflict of hundreds of thousands of people was breaking out fiercely. Since mid-January, the entire southwestern battlefield has been blazing and chaotic, and it is difficult to distinguish many details in the aggregated intelligence thousands of miles away, and the plans and tricks of both sides.

It is also for this reason that before the outcome of the matter falls, Lou Shuwan just looks at this information and feels the heat of the conflict. In the face of the Jurchen army in the past two or three years, or even twenty or thirty years, no one has been able to stop the Liao, Jin, Central Plains, and Jiangnan troops, but this black flag is indeed making a fierce counterattack - it can no longer be said to be a resistance, it is indeed an evenly matched hedge.

She once admired and liked that man.

Although it is only said that it is a secret infatuation, a deformed emotion...... She was infatuated and admired by the mysterious, calm and powerful appearance of this man, but to be honest, no matter what standard she judged him, in those past days, she really did not regard Ning Yi as an existence that could wrestle with the entire Dajin.

Perhaps the relative proximity obliterated the mystery to a certain extent, Ning Yi's calculations and strategies made people feel numb and breathtaking, until now, when Lou Shuwan took the position of the opponent's enemy, she would also feel powerless. But in any case, these are always traces to follow, the use of conspiracy shows that his own strength is not strong, and there are always flaws so that the sword goes sideways, and he killed the king in anger because of Qin Siyuan's affairs, which is also considered by many to be a hasty and inconsiderate act.

In the final analysis, there are many limitations to his strength, if he was really strong enough, he would not have been trapped in Hangzhou back then, if he was really strong enough, the Su family would not have been slaughtered by Liangshan in half, if he was really strong enough, he could protect Qin Siyuan and not watch Qin Siyuan die. It was precisely because this series was not strong enough that Ning Yi could only hastily move to the northwest after killing the monarch in a fit of rage, and finally endured Xiaocanghe's three-year fight and escape.

In fact, in the final analysis, his strength has specific traces after all. But the strength of the Jurchens is the strength that crushes the whole world. It is also for this reason that in the past, people always felt that the Huaxia Army was inferior to the Jurchens, but until this time, many people, at least Lou Shuwan's side, had clearly seen that in the battle in the southwest, the Black Flag Army was an opponent of the same level or even superior to the Western Route Army of the Jin Kingdom, and it was throwing an irresistible punch at the other side.

If such an attack falls on your own body, your own side...... Maybe it can't be picked up.

The fighting from late January to early February can only be seen in the information that has been received.

Originally, in everyone's prediction and calculation, the Huaxia army, which was inferior in strength, would take a defensive position in this battle, and make up for the lack of numbers with the bonus of fortifications. If this policy continues, after Huangming County is broken through, the Huaxia army will pin the possibility of victory on the city defense of Zizhou, and in the process of advancing the Jurchens, it will continue to attack and take advantage of a small number of elites, and a steady retreat will be one of the best strategies.

However, there should not be large-scale field battles, because even if the Huaxia Army will have a slight advantage in attack because of the terrain advantage, the victory or defeat of field battles is sometimes not as easy to control as defensive battles. In several attacks, once the opponent catches a flaw and bites the next bite, it may be an unbearable loss for the Huaxia army.

However, in the information that came, from mid-January, the Huaxia Army chose such an active mode of operation. There are still fifty miles from Huangming County and Yushuixi to Zizhou, since the Jurchen army crossed the fifteen-mile line, the first wave of offensive raids has appeared, and after twenty miles, the Huaxia army's Yushuixi army took advantage of the fog to disappear and retreated, and began to intersperse the offensive road with the detachment of the speedy station.

The further the Jurchen army went, the greater the distance between each army became, and the troops in front tried to fight steadily, clearing and familiarizing themselves with the nearby mountain roads, and the troops in the rear were still coming, but the troops of the Huaxia army began to attack the slightly lone troops in the mountains.

At this time, the two road networks of Huangming County and Yushuixi began to merge, and the forks in the surrounding mountains began to increase, in late January, the Huaxia army launched an attack by virtue of the fog and forks in the mountains, and in ten days, the battle with more than 8,000 people between the Jurchens broke out six times one after another, and three times successfully defeated the Jurchen troops, annihilating more than 6,000 enemies. At one time, the retreat was too late, and the two sides almost fought a large-scale positional battle.

Even on 27 January, the three divisions of the Huaxia Army even showed their intention to encircle and raid Yanshanwei, but due to the rapid response of the pull-out speed, the nearly 20,000 troops of the Huaxia Army, which had once exposed a clear movement, chose to retreat in a gloomy manner -- although the intelligence news was an understatement, it is conceivable that if the action of pulling out the speed was a little sluggish, for example, leaving more than half a day for the Huaxia army, they were likely to launch a partial decisive battle against the mourning army commanded by Wanyan Xiebao.

Lou Shuwan couldn't think of what Huaxia Jun was relying on to show such self-confidence.

At the beginning of February, the Jurchen army exceeded the middle line of twenty-five miles away from Zizhou, and the Jurchen troops at this time were divided into three heads and marched forward, the 30,000 people who came down from the side of Yushuixi were presided over by Da Lai and Saba, the middle and lower roads, and there were also 30,000 horses and horses who rushed to the front quickly, and the revenge army led by Wanyan Xiebao with Yanshanwei as the main body came over with nearly 20,000 cores. More troops were still in the rear and kept chasing.

The mountain road ahead cut the Jurchen troops to a certain extent, and although the three heads echoed each other, they still chose the strategy of camping and holding on to the camp step by step. They use the camp as the core to release troops and scouts, and are familiar with and master the terrain of the surrounding mountains and forests. However, once the larger forces were drawn out of camp and advanced, they were struggling. From here, the troops that were the first to poke forward could barely gain a foothold on the farther road.

When the intelligence from the southwest was sent to Jindi, it was still early February, but on the seventh day of the first lunar month, there were two Jurchen vanguards who were raided by the Huaxia army in the process of advancing and had to retreat in discouragement......

The situation is blazing, but it is stale. Lou Shuwan couldn't estimate its direction, even if the Huaxia army was brave and good at fighting, slapping the Jurchens in the face in such a way, with his strength, how long could it last? What the hell was Ning Yi thinking about, would he be so simple? What about Zong Han in front of him?

“…… Pretending to be a ghost...... I don't know how much is true. ”

After being silent for a long time with the information, Lou Shuwan whispered to herself.

Her mind can stay for this big battle in the southwest, but it is impossible to put down too much energy to investigate the development of the war thousands of miles away. After thinking about it for a while, Lou Shuwan cheered up and read the other reports one by one. In Jindi, there are also things that belong to her and are about to be dealt with.

Towards the evening of this day, the carriage arrived in Yu Yulin's camp, and the atmosphere in the barracks was a little solemn.

This general, who has the power of the Jindi military center and can be regarded as a battle-hardened general, is frowning slightly, and there is an ominous aura in his eyes. Lou Shuwan stepped forward: "What's going on in Qi County?" Did Li Guotang find it? Anti-water again? ”

"Qi County was slaughtered ......"

“……”

Lou Shuwan's eyes widened for a moment, and then gradually narrowed: "Liao Yiren...... Are the whole family really tired of living? What about Li Guotang? How come there are more than 3,000 horses under his command, and all the things I gave him are fed to the dogs? ”

Li Guotang died, his head was cut off, and he was hung in the county seat. Also, it was said that Liao Yiren did not do it. ”

"The head was cut off, maybe it was a golden cicada coming out of its shell." Lou Shuwan frowned, compared to other things, at this moment, the first thing she paid attention to was the possibility of betrayal. Of course, after a moment she calmed down: "What's going on?" ”

“…… found some people who survived by luck, saying that there was a group of businessmen, who came from other places, and they could get a batch of seedlings in their hands, and contacted Li Guotang. Li Guotang let people into the county seat, about dozens of people, after entering the city, he suddenly attacked, killed Li Guotang on the spot, repelled the guards around him, and opened the city gate...... I don't know how many people went in the back, but they only know that Qi County was slaughtered for three days, and the one who reported the news did not run out. Yu Yulin paused slightly when he said this, "The people who survived said that looking at the dress of those people, they looked like barbarians in the north...... Like steppe people. ”

Lou Shuwan thought for a moment: "Dozens of people seized the city...... Is Ban Dingyuan far away? ”

Yu Yulin said: "Liao Yiren's subordinates, there is no such character, and General Li opened the door, I think he was sure that the other party was not Liao Yiren's subordinates, so he really wanted to do this business - he knew that we lacked seedlings." ”

“…… Then check. Lou Shuwan said, "Even if the Jurchens really send him reinforcements, it won't be too much, or maybe he took advantage of the winter to find help...... If he can afford it, we can defeat him. ”

In her eyes, the anger gradually calmed down: "As long as Li Guotang does not rebel, we will always avenge him." ”

It was still raining lightly outside the tent, the sky was overcast, and the wind was a little cold. Almost at the same moment, Liao Yiren, who was hundreds of miles away, saw Li Guotang's head.

This is the beginning of this year, Jindi.