In a large open space in the Raozhou camp, hundreds of soldiers sat on the ground around large and small pots. The big guy stared at the middle of the camp. The Huotou Army of the Tooth Barracks, who had arrived in advance, had already boiled a pot of water, and a large piece of pork that was half fat and half boiled rose and fell in the pot, and the smell of meat was bursting, almost hooking out people's souls, and they couldn't help but swallow their saliva.

"I heard that there is meat to eat every day in the Ya Barracks." Xu Qiqi said enviously.

"Scared," Ma Yuanyi said, "You have to have the ability to eat meat if you have to risk your life." The big brother in the tooth barracks is not as big as a fight, and he also fights in turns when he eats. After this time, there was a commotion in the camp, and the meat was cooked, and the firehead army fished out the large pieces of meat from the pot and cut them into slices of meat as thick as a little finger and half the size of a palm, and the smell of cooked meat became more and more intense. Ma Yuanyi couldn't help but lick his lips.

"Steamed buns, steamed buns!" With the shouting of the Huotou Army, the captains of each team stepped forward to receive the steamed buns in turn, and the steaming steamed buns were quickly distributed to the soldiers. Before he could eat it, Ma Yuanyi opened the steamed bun and exposed the thick piece of meat, only to see a piece of fat meat, as white as snow in the sun, shining with crystal clear light, and the edge of the fat was connected with narrow shreds of meat.

Xu Qiqi couldn't help but exclaim in a low voice: "Brother Ma is lucky, what a big piece of fat!" ”

Ma Yuanyi smiled proudly at him, and then carefully put the meat slice back, and took a bite of it gently, only to feel that it melted in his mouth, his mouth was full of oil, and every pore in his body was about to open comfortably.

"This is the steamed bun that the commander rewarded the adult," Ma Yuanyi swallowed this mouthful, and sighed with satisfaction, "Brilliance!" ”

Xu Qiqi was also holding the steamed bun with meat, looking at the steaming pot in the middle of the camp, his eyes flickering. "I want to eat meat, I want to eat meat, I want to eat meat. Eat meat at once. A voice rang in his head like a devil. A paw seemed to burst out of the abdomen and grabbed the meat steamed bun into it.

Not far away, the soldiers began to cheer. The commander Zhao Xingde came to the middle of the soldiers, found a pot and sat cross-legged at random, made a bowl of porridge mixed with chestnuts and wild vegetables, and drank it calmly.

"Even if it is the appeasement of these roads," Zhao Xingde held the porridge bowl and smiled at Zhang Jiurong beside him, "It's not as good as me who has tasted the flavors of various states and counties, Zhao is really lucky!" ”

"Yes, yes." Zhang Jiurong nodded. His face was pretending to be calm, but his trembling hands betrayed the excitement in his chest.

"Since your battalion was stationed in Shuzhou, is there anything you are not used to?" Zhao Xingde asked with a pleasant face, "What complaints do the soldiers have about military affairs and salaries?" ”

"No, no." Zhang Jiurong shook his head vigorously and repeatedly, afraid that Zhao Xingde would misunderstand.

Although he was in the army, he was like a master who had just been pulled out of the study for the examination, and it was really difficult to learn from him about the actual situation in the camp. In addition to studying military books and war strategies, Zhang Jiurong almost handed over all the mundane affairs in the camp to his subordinates, not only as the shopkeeper, but also at times pointing fingers. Fortunately, Zhang's is quite popular in Raozhou. Although his subordinates are miserable, they are also dedicated, but they also look down on this official in private. Zhao Xingde sighed in his heart, Zhang Jiurong's brain was like paste, he could be regarded as an "honest and good person". Despite this, Zhao Xingde still did not speak lightly about commanding officers, and only said good words and enlightened him every time.

Zhao Xingde groaned: "In this case, let's listen to the soldiers' feelings." ”

This is also a common practice, Zhao Xingde inspects the camp every time, and listens to the soldiers' statements when he has a pot of food with the soldiers. And there is a rule, in order to avoid the difficulty of the officers in the battalion, all the soldiers who express their feelings, if they are not untrustworthy, will be taken away by Zhao Xingde and enter the Chinese military camp. Compared with the left and right armies under the command of Lu Mingyu and Luo Xianshi, the number of the Chinese army under the command of Gongwei Zhao Xingde was very small, only about 1,000 people, of which hundreds were the tooth barracks of Commander Du Fujiao, and the other one or two hundred people were mostly ordinary soldiers who were brought into the Chinese army because of their feelings. These people left the base camp full of fellow villagers, and they were not qualified to be selected as soldiers in the Ya barracks, and their salaries were no different from those of ordinary battalion heads. And the commander Zhao Xingde himself was unfortunate enough to enter the left and right personal soldiers. Therefore, unless there is a real grievance or grievance, the soldier will not plead to the commander. The officers, in turn, will not be too disgusted and resisted by this.

"The commander has listened to his case!" "Pleading!"

The commander's personal soldiers struck the gong and walked around twice, and these people had resolved their grievances because of their grievances. Therefore, his expression is very solemn, as if he is doing something extremely sacred. However, no one in the Raozhou battalion stood up, and some looked curiously at the commander's personal soldiers, and when the personal soldiers looked over, they turned their heads one after another. This battalion is all fellow villagers, and they don't look up to see each other, if it weren't for the deep hatred, who would be willing to stab the matter to the commander and banish himself from the Raozhou camp.

This is the case for most of the battalions. Zhao Xingde saw it in his eyes, knew it, and said with a secret smile: "It seems that Zhang Jiurong has a good way of governing the army. The Raozhou camp is not a plate of loose sand. He picked up the big hand of coarse porcelain, "The art of war is cloudy, and those who want the same up and down win." A glass of water and wine, Ben will salute the brothers of the Zhou camp, expel the northern captives in the coming day, and then drink with the kings! ”

"General Xie Zhao!" Zhang Jiurong was a little flattered and picked up the wine bowl.

"Thank you, sir!" "General Xie Zhao!"

The whole Raozhou battalion picked up the bowls, and the voices shouted loudly. Because of the shortage of food during the war, this water wine is genuine, it is a jar of wine poured into a large vat of water and mixed, with a slight taste of wine. What is rare is the face of the commander and the envoy in person. Everyone was happy, and the slightly embarrassing atmosphere just now because no one was complaining suddenly disappeared.

............

Heng Hai was originally one of the few elite naval forces in the Great Song Dynasty. After the invasion of the north and the south, Jingdong Road was expanded, and the military capacity was better than before. Han Shizhong led the sailors south to aid Hubei this time, and there were hundreds of warships, more than 10,000 soldiers, and thousands of war horses. Compared with the warships of the Zhenguo Army and the Baoyi Army, the size of the sea ships of the Henghai Navy is particularly tall, and the largest warship can not only carry hundreds of soldiers, all kinds of grain, grass and daily necessities, but also enough to drift at sea for more than a month. Some officers even placed their dependents on the ship to show that they would never give up the ship and share life and death with the robe.

The fleet of the Henghai Navy sailed mightily in the middle of the river, and all kinds of small boats on the periphery were mostly the troops and water invaders who were recruited by the Henghai Navy to break through the Liao Army's naval division and go up the river from the sea. The majority of the fleet consisted of 2,400 warships, with wooden walls on the sides of the ships for the defense of sailors, and thick wooden war-towers in the bow and stern of the ships, where bed crossbows, fire oil tanks, and iron barrel cannons were placed. In addition to the style and row of oars, many warships also have treadmills protected by thick skirts on the sides.

In the middle of the ordinary warship, there is a big warship, which is the ship of Han Shizhong, the commander of the Henghai Navy. Like a marshal in the army, it is far taller and longer than an ordinary sea ship, and although the hull is huge, it is by no means clumsy. There are several masts of various sizes, and sails of various shapes catch the wind in all directions and turn them into navigational power. There are also thirty or forty water wheels on both sides of the ship, and they can advance and retreat freely even when there is no wind.

In the cabin, Han Shizhong carried his hands behind his back, and on the table behind him, two letters were spread out. A letter from Qingzhou, the pacification envoy Hou Huanyin specially sent a letter to tell him that he must act seriously in the decisive battle with the Liao army, and not to take advantage of the fire for others and damage the children of Jingdong who have lost the navy. If the war was unfavorable, the Henghai Navy would give up aiding Hubei and instead retreat to the lower reaches of the river, making every effort to seize Jiangning and Hangzhou, and operate the Jianghuai area near the sea. Another letter came from Yue Fei, the envoy of the Zhenguo Army, asking him to go to discuss the defeat of the Liao army.

Over the years, Han Shizhong first followed Wang Yan to the south to conquer Fangla, and after the change of commander in the southeast, he was squeezed out and forced to go to Jingdong, but because of a blessing in disguise, he returned to the command of Wang Yan in Hebei Xingying. Wang Yan relied heavily on this old department, and took great care of it, acquiescing in Han Shizhong's business with Liaodong, imitating the Han army's artillery warships to build new ships, and greatly reorganizing and expanding the Henghai Navy. After the invasion of the north and the south, after Wang Yan died in battle, the camp of Hebei was scattered. The pacification made Hou Huanyin have the wisdom to know people, and almost handed over the entire Jingdong Road soldiers and horses to him to command. After breaking the Liao Army's naval division, Han Shizhong also changed from an unknown officer to a well-known general. As his power and fame grew, he had to weigh the stakes much more than before.

In all fairness, Hou Huanyin's letter just proves Yue Fei's worries. "If Ezhou is lost, with the strength of the Henghai army and more than 10,000 men and horses, how can Jiangning be kept?" He smiled helplessly, "If the Liao army breaks through Bianliang and Xiangyang, the general trend has gone." Why can't Hou Xianggong understand? However, these thoughts, he has never said to others, in the eyes of others, Hou Huanyin handed him over, and he has the grace of knowing him, Han Shizhong does not want people to say that he is an ungrateful villain.

Looking at the hundreds of boats competing on the river, Han Shizhong didn't make up his mind for a long time, and let out a long sigh.

A small footstep came to mind behind him, and the person who came happened to hear this long sigh couldn't help but be stunned, and then stopped. The sound of flipping letters sounded behind him, and Han Shizhong didn't turn around and drink. Without his permission, there was only one person who dared to do this. Although Mrs. is not very innocent, she acts decisively and reasonably, and Han Shizhong often asks her when she is in trouble.

This situation is not surprising in the army, some officers are promoted by their own bravery, and they are not very able to read and hyphenate, rather than handing over confidential texts to others, it is better to get a reassuring concubine to help with the writing. It's just that Han Shizhong has been promoted to the commander and held the position of power all the way to the army and horses, and the status of this lady from a Qinglou is still untouchable, so it is quite gossip-provoking. Jingdong Road appeased Hou Huanyin and hinted at him twice, asking him to change to a famous Shuyuan with a comparable status as his wife. In addition, some tongue-chewing rumors rumored that Mrs. Han was scheming and relied on her very powerful wrists to catch Han Shizhong firmly.