Yang Zaixing looked up at the hot sun wheel in the sky, took out a leather bag from his arms and handed it to Zhao Xingde, "Let's try this!" Zhao Xingde took it, leaned in front of his nose and sniffed, the faint smell and aroma of wine. Moromio? A hint of discoloration flashed on his face, if it wasn't special, it was forbidden to drink alcohol in the army, especially the Zhenguo Army, if Yu Hou found out, it would be light to eat military sticks. Yang Zaixing agitated: "Take a bite." ”

A few soldiers of the White Battalion around him gestured with their eyes, and looked at them with a smile on their faces.

Zhao Xingde poured a sip, and a stream of sweet and sour slurry water flowed through the internal organs, his mouth and tongue were full of energy, and he praised it: "Not bad!" Ma Rui took a sip of the leather bag, wiped his mouth, and laughed: "This thing is also wine?" Yang Zaixing himself also took a big sip and said with a smile: "Just quench your thirst and quench your hunger." All the cavalrymen of the White Battalion laughed. After this play, everyone's spirit has recovered a little, and it seems that they can catch up with more than 20 miles.

Encountering a clear stream in front of him, Zhao Xingde suggested: "Let's take a rest first." Although he was anxious, he knew the way of "if you want to hurry, you can't reach it", and every time before Yang Zaixing Ma Rui, he proposed to let his subordinates rest and rest their horsepower. Galloping hundreds of miles from Jiangzhou, although a few horses were killed, in general, more than 1,000 cavalry were in good condition.

"Dismount—" "Rest—" Ma Rui and Yang Zaixing ordered loudly respectively.

Although the cavalry was extremely tired, they still tried their best to lead the horses to a shady place by the roadside, first took out the oil wheat cakes from the brigade bag and fed the horses, and then carried the cylinders to the roadside to get clean water and drink the horses. The war horses that step on the white camp are all selected good horses, and only such war horses can carry heavy loads and run well. But ordinary forage is not eaten at all, and drinking unclean water will also spoil your stomach. Because good horses are extremely precious, Yue Fei has military regulations in the Zhenguo Army, strictly prohibiting cavalry from eating weeds and dirty water for war horses, so that horses will be beheaded and will not be spared. Although the rules of the Baoyi army were not so strict, the cavalry took care of the horses, so they took out their dry food from the saddle bag and sat cross-legged on the ground to chew.

Gong Liuyi was also bold, took a sip of rice wine, and said to his partner beside him: "I heard that the 100,000 army of Xiangyang is going south, and it is not enough for us to send back such a small number of people to help." "This time to help Ezhou, many people are worried in their hearts.

"Scared, we have General Zhao here," Lin San pursed his lips, disapproving, "It's enough for 100,000 troops." He leaned over and touched the neck of the mount, and shook the sweat of his hand rather heartbrokenly, "Brother Temu is not powerful?" From the north to the south, what Xijing camp, Hedong camp, and southeast camp are all afraid like mice seeing cats, but aren't we cowardly? ”

"That's it," Xin Tang grinned despite the pain in his chapped mouth, "Let's General Zhao lead the troops, then it's like catching soybeans, what's the matter?" A grab is a handful, and if you throw it out, you are a good man who can fight. I know that there is nothing else in Ezhou, and there are a lot of regimental exercises in states and counties. No matter how many people come to Xiangyang, as long as General Zhao's banner is out, Ezhou will be as stable as Mount Tai. ”

Gong Liuyi seemed to have a smile on his face, his eyes turned to the side, and without speaking, he swallowed the rice dumplings with rice wine.

In the vanguard army that came to aid Hubei this time, there was a fine cavalry of the Baoyi Army under the command of one and a cavalry of the Tabai Battalion under the command of the other. Gong Liuyi was from the Zhenguo Army, but Lin San and Xin Tang were from the Baoyi Army. Since the Battle of Fangzhou, the Baoyi Army has grown from a rabble to a strong army on an equal footing with the Zhenguo Army, and the top and bottom have worshiped General Zhao like a god. And Zhao Xingde was also named by the scholars and the common people as "good at leading soldiers", "the more the merrier", the scholars verbally, the word "soldier" should be preceded by a "miscellaneous" word, it seems that no matter what material, when it comes to Zhao Xingde's hands, it will be like turning stones into gold. The word of mouth spread that it was so miraculous that even the state and county battalions that were next to the Baoyi Army believed it. In the battle of the small mountain forts, the stockades of many prefectures and counties were also raided by the cavalry of the Liao army, but the township soldiers were able to desperately defend the villages and scattered. The fact that the township soldiers were able to fight to this level is a miracle compared to the fact that many officers and soldiers were defeated in front of the Liao cavalry.

"Mr. Zhao is both civil and martial, in the future, the court will level the world, a rude person like Lao Yang will be released in Nanshan, Mr. Zhao will enter the phase, don't forget your old friends." Yang Zaixing poured a saliva of wine on the water bladder, and there was a little depression in his heroism. The generals of the Baoyi Army privately called Zhao Xingde "sir", and Yang Zaixing was also unconsciously affected by it. Unlike others, who were afraid of the Khitan like a tiger, Yang Zaixing decided that the luck of the barbarians was not long, and the Central Plains had many heroes, and after a setback, sooner or later they would turn defeat into victory and expel the northern captives. But at that time, it is impossible to say that he will be like the Taizu Dynasty, he will release the military power, disarm the elite soldiers, and waste the rest of his life.

"General Yang, don't worry," Zhao Xingde shook his head and said, "After this calamity, the imperial court should also make some progress, and it will not blindly cultivate martial arts." ”

"Let's fight to the death, and there is a seal in the yamen." Yang Zaixing smiled and handed the water bladder to Zhao Xingde, "Before leaving Ezhou, I heard that this battle has not yet been fought, and the list of meritorious service from the military department has been prepared." Chen Xianggong coordinated in the middle, and the credit of the military department's strategizing, Yue Shumi, General Han, and your Mr. Zhao's command were all gone. He is a bit of a doorman, well-informed, and heroic by nature, and even told Zhao Xingde about these private things in the yamen, purely recognizing him as a friend and meeting him honestly.

After the words came out, he remembered that Zhao Xingde was not from a reckless background, Yang Zaixing was also slightly remorseful, and changed his tone and asked: "When Liaogou rolls out of the Central Plains, welcome back ,......," He frowned, "After welcoming back to the saint, what are your plans, Mr. Zhao?" ”

"Me?" Zhao Xingde was stunned for a moment, he thought about it, he came to this world, driven by the times, displaced, fighting in the south and the north, thinking about it carefully, there have been a lot of major events, but there are really few things that he "intended" to do, he pondered for a moment, sighed, "If the world is really peaceful, find a place, set up an account to teach the disciples to preach." He felt that his words were a little twilight, and smiled and said, "If you follow the ancestral system of this dynasty, the generals will all buy good fields and beautiful houses, support singing and dancing girls, and live for a long time." If General Yang has that day, don't forget to teach poorly. ”

Yang Zaixing was stunned for a moment, Fang Xingde was joking with him, spit on him, and said in a low voice with a smile: "What is there and nothing, if it is not controlled by the imperial court, Yang will go to be happy and happy." He looked at Zhao Xingde, saw that he was not surprised, and said with a smile, "Mr. Jiaoshu doesn't go down to the field or the mountain, and there is wine and meat on the side of his mouth." I'll open another tea stall next to your teaching stall to sell some herbal tea, meat, steamed buns, and so on, and Mr. Zhao will definitely take care of the business by then. The two of them talked about what they didn't have, full of worries, and their fatigue gradually subsided.

Seeing that Ma Li was almost resting, Yang Zaixing confessed, Huo Ran stood up and said loudly: "Let's go!" Settle down in Huangzhou at night! At this order, more than a thousand cavalry mounted their horses, and soon galloped again, leaving only a piece of dust on the official road.

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

On the surface of the Ezhou River, several iron cables are hung high, and several miles away on the opposite side of the iron cable, countless large and small warships gather. Boats shuttled back and forth, constantly transporting people and horses from Xiangyang to the other side of the river. More than a dozen artillery pieces were erected in the city of Hanyang, which had been bombarded to the point of no return, and although the number and power could not be compared with the Han gunboats, once the gunboats got too close to Hanyang, there would be shells coming at them immediately.

Cao Di looked at the three gunboats across the river, and before the iron ropes were hung up, these three boats were almost rampant on the river with their sturdy hulls and fierce artillery fire. Fortunately, the iron cable temporarily restricted the movement of the gunboats, and the brigade was able to move freely in the upper reaches of Ezhou. Cao Di's eyes turned to the Ezhou city wall, the brigade of crossbowmen formed a neat arrow array under the Ezhou city, and with each order, thousands of arrows broke through the air, and the arrows fell on the city like raindrops, densely filled with gray-white arrow feathers, and the city walls of Ezhou were like hedgehogs. The soldiers are approaching the city, such as Mount Tai pressing the top, however, Chen Dong's group of rebels has not yet surrendered.

"Within three days, Ezhou must be conquered." Cao Di said coldly.

"Yes!" The generals in the tent did not dare to raise their heads. Although Cao Jieshuai's tone was flat, it was much more worrying than scolding. Cao Di regarded himself as a Confucian general, and he had always been light and slow in the army, but now although he went into battle in person, he wore armor and hung a saber at his waist, which was unusual.

No one expected that the army had just marched south, and the Liao Emperor Yelu Dashi immediately sent troops to attack Xiangyang. The Liao army made a fierce attack on one side and opened a three-sided plan. No one thought that under the bombardment of tens of thousands of catties of iron barrels and cannons of the Liao army and the elite of the Jurchen naval division day and night, Liu Jieshuai did not survive for three days, so he abandoned the city and fled under the escort of more than 50,000 elite soldiers. Now the cavalry of the Liao army is chasing the north, I am afraid that the army will come to Ezhou in a few days, if Ezhou has not been captured at that time, the Xiangyang army is afraid that it will have to fight with the Liao army in the field. Such a scene, the generals felt a chill down their spines when they thought about it.

Because the gunboats blocked the river, the Xiangyang army had to land upstream, and then reach the periphery of Ezhou by land. The obstruction of water and land not only delayed time, but also made it impossible for the iron bucket siege artillery, which weighed tens of thousands of catties, to reach the city of Ezhou as expected. Because the waterway was not completely controlled by oneself, Ezhou City could not be besieged. Under the pressure of the situation, the Xiangyang army had to adopt the method of attacking the city with ants, and from the camp to the command, they offered a generous reward for conquering Ezhou, hoping to use the method of not sparing human life to overwhelm the state, county and township soldiers who defended Ezhou. In the eyes of the regular court officials and soldiers, these people should have no power to resist.