In the first month of the second year of Xuanren (961 AD), 120,000 horsemen of the Tokyo Forbidden Army went out of the city in four ways (the more concentrated the people, the slower the march and the easier it was to be congested). Guo Shao led the army to walk through Chenqiaomen, each gate is connected with a post road, and the road of Chenqiaomen is to pass Chenqiaoyi.

Guo Shao's troops were all cavalry and cavalry infantry, and they arrived at Chenqiaoyi on the same day.

The army passed by this station, just passing by, and the soldiers did not feel anything special. Only Guo Shao came here for extra attention, Chen Qiaoyi ...... In his memory, there are few historical place names that can be more famous than Chenqiaoyi (because of the Chenqiao Mutiny).

However, the Chenqiao mutiny in this world does not exist, Guo Shao said that the emperor was in Songzhou, so Chenqiaoyi was just a post station.

Guo Shaobu rode all horses, and arrived in Huazhou only two days later, on the morning of the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, a two-day journey of about 240 miles.

The army did not enter the city, and the festival had become an unimportant factor.

On the same day, the army crossed the Yellow River from a ferry near Huazhou...... The divisions spread out on the flat river beach, and the horses ran directly across the Yellow River in batches. At this time, the Yellow River was still frozen, and the ice on the river was cold, and there was no movement for driving and horses.

Two days later, on the morning of the seventeenth day of the first lunar month, the army galloped 230 miles to the Daimyo's Mansion.

The four armies crossed the Yellow River from Weizhou, Huazhou and other places, and they would pass through the Daimyo's Mansion. But Guo Shao did not wait for the follow-up men in the Daimyo's Mansion, nor did he go to see his father-in-law Fu Yanqing, but continued to march.

The 120,000-strong army will form an extremely long formation at the front and back, so that the overall march will be faster. The first part of the road was marching in the interior, and the march was unimpeded, and even the scouts did not need to be sent too much.

Then, according to the deployment of the Privy Council, the whole army will gradually move forward, middle and rear as it goes. The front army took Shi Yanchao as the vanguard, with about 18,000 cavalry; Guo Shao, the main force of the Chinese army, led more than 70,000 cavalry, including all cavalry and the cavalry infantry of the Tiger Ben Army; There were more than 30,000 people in the rear army, and they walked the slowest, including the infantry on the left and right sides of the Longjie Army and the left side of the Hujie Army.

The total strength of the forbidden army was about 120,000, and the cavalry and cavalry infantry were close to 90,000.

The Daimyo's Mansion was already the boundary of Hebei, and the advance of the Great Zhou Army and the main force of the Chinese army marched quickly north to Beizhou, and then crossed the frozen Yongji Canal (Grand Canal) on horseback. Hebei is all famous cities, Beizhou is also a famous city, (later) the Jin Dynasty is regrettably not in Beizhou to block the Liao army, only by the Liao army to capture the capital, resulting in the death of the country.

Now, the people and horses of the same place have changed their country names, and a mighty herd of horses is passing through this ancient city to the north.

Yizhou, Shenzhou, Xiongzhou...... The route of the Great Zhou army is completely a straight line in the direction of due north on the map. Then approached Yizhou, the march distance was more than 1,200 miles, and the main force of the Ma army completed the journey in less than half a month. To the north of the Juma River was the territory controlled by the Liao State.

……

Guo Shao, Wang Pu and others took the guards to run across the front of the army, and first arrived at the south bank of the Juma River, but they didn't see anything, the two banks were still frozen soil, and there was not even a single figure, and they could only observe that the terrain on the opposite bank was slightly higher than the south bank.

At this moment, I suddenly saw a horse galloping from the direction of Yizhou. was first blocked by Guo Shao's guards from a distance to ask, and soon the man was brought to Guo Shao.

The man bowed on one knee and said: "The lowly position is the messenger of the Youzhou Division of the Bing Cao Division, and he has been ordered by the peak to come to the top to report urgently." ”

"Bring it." Guo Shao said directly.

He took a lacquer-sealed envelope, took out a piece of paper stamped with the letter, and looked through it, his expression changed slightly.

Wang Pu couldn't help but ask: "Is it a secret report of the military situation in Youzhou?" ”

Guo Shao quietly handed it to Wang Pu.

Wang Pu looked at it and said in surprise: "Youzhou still doesn't know? ”

Guo Shao called Jing Niang over and asked her to check the handwriting of the newspaper, and there was nothing wrong with the newspaper. The main station of the spies of Bing Cao Si in Youzhou, Hebei Province is located in Yizhou, and the report is urgently reported from Yizhou...... At least when Youzhou Xizuo sent back the news, the signs of Youzhou City showed that they still didn't know anything about Zhou Jun!

Guo Shaoqiang suppressed his excitement and looked back and said: "It seems that the situation is even better than we expected!" ”

Wang Pu said: "It's been more than ten days since we left Beijing, and more than 100,000 people and horses have nothing to hide along the road, and the Liao people haven't gotten the news, it's really an accident, God help me!" ”

A military general said happily: "If we rush to Youzhou City and they only know, then it will be more convenient!" The horse team rushed in from the city gates! ”

Wang Pu smiled: "That's impossible, there are so many eyes on the boundary of Youzhou, not everyone is blind." However, the Liao people in Youzhou knew too late that the preparation would be insufficient, and the city defense could not be so perfect, which was an extremely favorable start for the Great Zhou. ”

He turned his head to look at Guo Shao, waiting for Guo Shao to give an order. Wang Pu is in charge of the military palace in Youzhou, but with the emperor here, he still has to wait for Guo Shao's Jinkou Yuyan to give an order.

Guo Shao sat on the horse, squinted his eyes and looked at the road ahead, the Juma River in front of him rested on the ground like a white satin, the water had condensed and motionless, so there was silence between heaven and earth.

As Wang Pu said, the Northern Expedition started very well, not only did it not leak the military aircraft in advance, but even the army went to Yizhou and could hide it from the Liao army, and the suddenness of the surprise attack was no better than the current situation! Excellent timing.

"Most of the men and horses guarding Zhuozhou and other places are Han troops, so they can ignore it, whether they surrender or not, it is impossible to go out of the city to fight a decisive battle with our army." Guo Shao's voice was very steady.

Guo Shao looked up at the sky again. The sky was dark and heavy, as if the canopy was pressed very low, and although there were no dark clouds to be seen, the clouds were very thick. And there was a north wind blowing in the air.

"What the hell!" Guo Shao scolded lightly.

Everything was perfect, and the weather was really the only thing that didn't go as planned. It's cloudy and windy, and I'm afraid that the temperature won't rise for too long; At that time, it was more laborious to build fortifications on the frozen soil of Youzhou.

Guo Shao took a deep breath and looked at Wang Pu: "Then, at this time, you can order Shi Yanchao to lead the army straight to Youzhou?" ”

Wang Pu's voice was very anxious, and he said very quickly: "Of course, the forward will force Youzhou first, and then the Chinese army will surrender to solve Zhuozhou and other places, and follow up." ”

Guo Shao's gaze narrowed, and then he said in a tone without hesitation: "Order, Shi Yanchao's troops immediately cross the Rejection River." Don't attack the city, drive directly to Youzhou City; If the road encounters resistance, it can be swept away, and there is no need to play. ”

Wang Pu hugged his fists and said: "The old minister received the order, and immediately issued the official military order of the former camp military government to Shi Yanchao. ”

He immediately turned the horse's head and kicked it in the belly: "Ride! The horse screamed in pain and ran away.

Guo Shao sat on his horse with his sword, facing the north wind, and looked at the land in the north for a long time...... The land of Hebei is now the border of an enemy country!