At the beginning of May, when it was learned that the main force of the Khitan soldiers was coming, all the units of the Zhou army were laid out in the wilderness north of Zhuoshui to wait for work.

Guo Shao's cavalry was located in the rear army in the middle and seemed to be unable to participate in the battle...... Because he is not the main force of cavalry, the first main force of cavalry is the iron cavalry army under Zhao Kuangyin; And then there's the Zhubanzhi.

Shi Chai Rong rode in the center, and the generals temporarily gathered around the emperor. Chai Rong rode on a tall horse and looked around at the generals and said, "The Northern Expedition is fighting here!" This victory will take over the land of clouds. Everyone! ”

The generals bid farewell one after another, and successively rode their horses away from the Chinese army and returned to the barracks.

Guo Shao returned to the army, and several generals of the Hujie Army also gathered to speak, and he had to say: "And wait for the results later." ”

After several years of preparation, the vigorous Northern Expedition finally came to the most critical step. But Guo Shao did not need to bear any responsibility in this campaign; This kind of field battle is the home of the cavalry, and he seems to use it to attack the city in the emperor's heart.

The people had to get off their horses and wait in line by the horses in order to save their horsepower. The hooves of the horses in front of him roared, and countless war horses were moving, which made Guo Shao feel as if he had arrived in the African plain, and countless wild beasts were migrating.

The sound of fighting came from afar, but I couldn't see where the battlefield was, as if there were fights everywhere in the north.

In the afternoon, countless wounded soldiers and horses were transported back from the main road, and the battle situation should have been very tragic. A large area of cavalry close to the Chinese army did not move for a whole day, and in the evening, Guo Shao received an edict to camp close to Zhuoshui.

That night, he and other generals went to the camp of the Chinese army again, only to see two generals injured, one of them with a white cloth wrapped around his shoulder, it should be Zhang Guanghan, the commander of the left wing of the Long Jie Army, Guo Shao is not familiar with him.

Zhang Yongde said: "In today's battle, the strength of the Liao army is still there, and the two wings attack our army at the same time, and there is a degree of advance and retreat, and there is no opportunity to take advantage of it...... The Liao army has more cavalry than us, and I am afraid that it will not be pleasing if we continue to fight for a long time. ”

Zhao Kuangyin and the others also had no intention of fighting, and everyone did not compete for battle, and their morale could be seen from the atmosphere.

Chai Rong's face was very bad, as if he was angry. The generals are not to be killed, and they want to lead the cavalry into battle tomorrow. Shi Yanchao immediately asked to fight as a striker, and Chai Rong did as he requested.

Early the next morning, the two armies fought again. Shi Yanchao led the cavalry from the middle to storm into the Liao army formation, and killed the enemy camp, only to see the Liao cavalry on the plain like a vast sea; The front army of the Liao army could not stop Shi Yanchao, so they cut off his back road in a roundabout way.

Most of the Zhou army's Iron Cavalry Army, the Crane Control Army, and the Long Jie Army were forced to take the initiative to attack from the left and right flanks to prevent Shi Yanchao's troops from falling into a heavy encirclement, and they rushed back and forth until dusk. In the end, Shi Yanchao's subordinates lost more than half, almost lost their combat effectiveness, and returned in vain.

That night, Guo Shao and other generals were summoned to the camp of the Chinese army, and Chai Rong's expression was already very depressed, and it was difficult to describe his expression...... It seems to have aged ten years all of a sudden.

Chai Rong made a quick decision and ordered the rear army to retreat to Zhuoshui South early tomorrow morning. and ordered Guo Shao and Zhang Guanghan to return to Zhuozhou and Gu'an to deploy the defense along the Zhuoshui coast; Let them meet the army and hold back the pursuing troops of the Liao army.

The situation is already very bad, it seems that the decisive battle between the Great Zhou and the Liao army did not please anything, and there is no hope of winning...... Otherwise, with Chai Rong's mood, he would definitely not be willing to give up.

Early the next morning, Guo Shao, together with Zhang Guanghan, the left side of the Long Jie Army, took the lead in leaving the battlefield, crossed the Zhuoshui River directly, led the army to build a camp on the riverbank, and deployed troops in formation.

Sure enough, it was late that day. Suddenly, I saw a group of horsemen pouring in from the wilderness in the north, which was the retreating force of the main force of the Zhou army. The Zhou army seems to have taken advantage of the opportunity to break away from the battlefield when the Liao army retreated in the evening...... It was all soldiers on horseback, and the baggage vehicles were missing, and it is estimated that most of them were thrown away.

……

After the Zhulu army crossed the Zhuoshui, there were elite soldiers stationed in the organized guard division on the riverbank, and the men and horses were a little safe. The army was stationed on the shore of Zhuoshui, and the camp continued to Qigou Pass.

When they retreated in a hurry, the armies caused confusion, and for a time the morale of the troops was low. However, the Zhou Dynasty actually did not suffer losses, occupied a lot of places, and the main force did not suffer major losses.

It was night, and I didn't hear the news that the Liao army was coming. It was getting late, and the generals ordered to camp and rest on the spot, so as not to cause further chaos due to the bad lighting.

In the big tent of the Chinese army of the Iron Cavalry, Zhao Kuangyin asked the generals to return to restrain their subordinates. Staff member Zhao Pu didn't leave, and sat on one side without saying a word, as if he had something to say between his expressions. Kuang Yin retreated left and right and talked with him at night.

"It's really a pity for the Northern Expedition, don't blame me for not working hard, there is really no good chance to make a breakthrough." Zhao Kuangyin spoke first.

Zhao Pu said in a deep voice: "Now is not the time for the lord to take care of the Northern Expedition...... It is already difficult for the official family to ride a horse today, and they can only cross the water by enduring it. ”

When Zhao Kuangyin and the others were not by the emperor's side, they couldn't help but let out a questioning tone of "oh".

Zhao Pu said: "After the tribes crossed Zhuoshui, they were afraid that the Liao army would chase them overnight, so they tried their best to run south. But the official stopped on the riverbank, and I guess he couldn't run......"

Zhao Kuangyin was speechless.

"Guo Shao and the Zhao family have a deep grudge, he is Empress Fu's person and married the queen's sister; Therefore, Queen Fu and the lord are not all the way. Zhao Pu whispered, the head wearing a hood was illuminated by the candles, and the shadow was cast on the tent, and it seemed that a ghost was shaking in the dim light, and the atmosphere was very gloomy.

He continued: "The lord is the commander of the army in front of the palace, and he must not be trusted by the queen. The situation ahead is precarious and cannot be ignored. ”

Zhao Kuangyin was still silent, these joints didn't need Zhao Pu to say, he already knew it in his heart. It's just that there's nothing you can do about the other party for a while.

At this moment, Zhao Pu said: "I have a plan. Didn't Guo Shao lead the left wing of the Hujie army to guard Zhuoshui? The lord can enter the official's house, and let Guo Shao stay in Zhuozhou to guard on the grounds of occupying the bridgehead north of the Juma River, and don't let him return to Beijing. ”

When Zhao Kuangyin heard this, he immediately became interested, and he didn't speak just now, and suddenly said: "Zhuozhou has no danger to rely on, and it is not easy to keep it for a long time." ”

Zhao Pudao: "The strength of the Zhou army has not been greatly damaged, and the time for the expedition is not too long. I guess the official family is still unwilling, but now the army has no heart to fight, and will not continue the Northern Expedition for the time being...... But he must still be thinking about Youzhou in his heart.

The lord can make a statement, withdraw the troops for the time being, and after our forbidden army has a short rest, he will choose another good opportunity to march north for the second time. The official family will be very happy to hear that the lord supports his Northern Expedition! At this time, you said that Zhuozhou should be held first, and you could directly threaten Youzhou and reduce the setbacks of the Second Northern Expedition. Most officials will listen to you. ”

Zhao Pu's voice became smaller and smaller, and he whispered: "The person who the queen is blocking in the forbidden army is Guo Shao, who is married to the Fu family. As long as Guo Shao is not in Tokyo, the situation will be beneficial to us; Whatever you plan to do in the future, be much more relaxed. ”

Zhao Kuangyin nodded slightly, and suddenly felt that Zhao Pu had a good idea...... This method is very low-cost, and there is almost no risk to take; It can also draw salary from the bottom of the kettle, which is really a wonderful plan!

The staff was not wrong at all, Zhao Kuangyin and Zhang Yongde persuaded the emperor not to advance together, in order to take care of the military strength of the Zhou Dynasty, but the emperor was bent on the Northern Expedition and persuaded it was very troublesome; This time, if he showed that he wanted to support the Second Northern Expedition, and his generals expressed such a statement, the emperor would definitely be happy.

Zhao Kuangyin thought about it and felt that this plan was easy to succeed and very feasible. At the moment, he couldn't help but brush Zhao Pu's back and said kindly: "I lost a brother, but I often treat you as a brother." ”