Just after noon, the army ate some dry food, and did not have time to rest. Suddenly, the south gate opened, and two light horsemen galloped in, and the city gate was hurriedly closed. Not long after, he heard the sound of the big drum "dong dong ......" from the city tower, and the soldiers around Guo Shao stood up and looked up. But in the city, you can only see the soldiers of Zhou coming and going on the wall, but you don't know what happened.

A general in the army said: "I'll go to Beicheng to have a look, you guys should be calm and don't be impatient, and wait for the lord to come back." ”

"Whoa!" Several other generals answered.

At that time, the drums were beating loudly, as if there was a military situation, and more and more soldiers were sent up to the city, and the atmosphere suddenly became urgent. But everyone was still calm and unflustered, but there was gradually a lot of talk and talk in the army.

"Isn't it rumored that the Khitan soldiers have only come with a few thousand horsemen, and they will not attack the city!" I don't know who broke the mystery in one word. No wonder everyone in the city seems to be unhurried.

I heard another person say: "Don't talk about thousands of horsemen, even tens of thousands of horsemen may not be able to capture Xinzhou City when they will be able to capture it." ”

This person is not wrong, it is rumored that the Liao people are not very good at attacking cities, and they are not even good at defending cities.

After the Khitan people entered the Hebei region, they could no longer be regarded as pure nomads, but were in a state of semi-herding and half-farming, and even animal husbandry was very popular, and they learned a lot of things from the farming country. However, the Han people were good at managing and playing the military role of the city, and the Liao did not seem to pay much attention to this.

But this time the Liao army is to save Jinyang, if they don't pull out Xinzhou, how peaceful will the road to Jinyang be?

For five generations, the Liao State has not given up its attempt to expand southward and encroach on the territory of the Central Plains Dynasty, and they have done a good job. Occupy the sixteen states of Youyun, opening the gateway to the core area of the Han people from Hebei on the eastern front; The western front supports the Northern Han Dynasty to occupy Jinyang, which overlooks the entire Hedong region from a high vantage point, and can drink the Yellow River in the south, approaching the hinterland of the Central Plains. In terms of the situation, the Liao State has stepped into the threshold of the Central Plains with both feet, and occupies strategic points, which can be attacked and defended.

Therefore, Jinyang is very important to the Liao State, and they have to gather elite soldiers to save them even if they are in the midst of civil strife.

The Zhou Dynasty sent heavy troops to Xinzhou, the purpose of which was to block this Liao reinforcement and prevent them from threatening the besieging forces of Jinyang.

…… Until the afternoon, the military general who went to Beicheng to see the situation came back, and everyone waited for him to give back the news. Because the training department did not get the military order for the city defense, the soldiers did not dare to move, and they could not see anything if they stayed in the city wall.

Between the generals' words, Guo Shao knew that the name of the returning general was Zhang Jianxiong. This person left a deep impression on Guo Shao, not because of his appearance, but because he was the first person Guo Shao talked to after he came to the Northern Han Dynasty. In Jinyang, he asked, "Where did the infantry army get so many war horses", and he was the one who saw Shi Yanchao indiscriminately killing innocents and almost went out in the middle of the road.

Zhang Jianxiong said succinctly: "There is a force of Liao cavalry, there may be more than 1,000 horsemen, and the rangers are wandering around outside the city. King Wei ordered the forward Shi Yanchao to lead the cavalry out of the north gate to fight, and it didn't take long for the Khitans to resist and fled north. Shi Yanchao got the order of the king again, and followed the pursuit. ”

A general standing next to him sighed when he heard this: "Shi Yanchao is really brave!" ”

Zhang Jianxiong lowered his face when he heard this: "I think it is most likely a plan by the Khitan soldiers to deliberately feint and lure the enemy, so that Shi Yanchao can lightly attack the enemy and let this guy fall into the scheme!" ”

The general muttered, "Didn't Shi Yanchao pursue after the order of King Wei?" ”

Zhang Jianxiong blurted out: "King Wei is old. ”

The generals listened to it and kept silent, and it was inconvenient to talk about King Wei in public. After all, Wei Wang Fu Yanqing is the commander of all the armies in Xinzhou, and he has such a high status and prestige, and a group of middle and lower-level generals say that he is not and really shouldn't be.

At this moment, I saw Xiang Xun and several horses riding from the central axis road in the north. When Xiang Xun returned to the army, he vigorously turned over from his horse and threw the reins in his hand to his entourage. The generals also gathered.

Xiang Xun first glanced back at the north before he spoke: "Shi Yan went beyond the battle, chased him to Xinkou, and bumped into the Liao army brigade. King Wei was worried that he would not have any mistakes due to his lack of troops, so he asked me to lead my headquarters to meet him, and everyone was ready to prepare. ”

Guo Shao, Yang Biao and others were not familiar with Xiang Xun's subordinates, and they didn't talk much all the way, but they also understood what was going on in the war and military situation when they came and went in Xinzhou City. At this time, Guo Shao was very puzzled.

The mission goal of Wei Wang Fu Yanqing is very clear, that is, to garrison Xinzhou and other places to block the Liao reinforcements to save Jinyang; Usually it seems that this kind of thing is best understood, and passive defense is enough. Even if they can't defeat the Liao army, as long as they work hard to manage the defense, the Liao army doesn't want to have a way to take Xinzhou. Anyway, if the Liao army wants to pass from here, it is not only worried but also restless, which is right...... In such a situation, what is Fu Yanqing's intention to ask Shi Yanchao to take the initiative?

Could it be that seeing Shi Yanchao win the first battle, King Wei wanted to take the opportunity to capture Xinkou? Along the way, Xiang Xun kept asking local officials and people about the topography of Xinzhou, and Guo Shao also learned a lot, this Xindai basin is the main road into the Jinyang region in the north, and there are mountains between Xin and Dai that are difficult to cross; Only there are two traffic passages in front of Xinkou Town, and the dangerous passages are like the nostrils that ventilate to the outside in the Xinzhou area.

If the Zhou army occupies Xinkou and sends troops to block the two nearby holes, then the Liao army wants to go south, and I am afraid that the only way to fly over the mountains and mountains is to change birds. If this is the case, what is Fu Yanqing's main force still doing in Xinzhou? It should have taken advantage of Shi Yanchao's fierce general to rush forward, and the army should have covered its back to keep up, and drove the Liao army out of Xinkou in one fell swoop at any cost...... But at present, he only asked Xiang Xun to answer this point, and I really don't understand what the mystery is.

The number of soldiers and horses brought by Xiang Xun was 2,000, but only more than 300 light cavalry could really fight tough battles. Such reinforcements allowed Shi Yanchao to fight a decisive battle with the main force of the Liao army? Or pick up Shi Yanchao and hurry back...... So what did Shi Yanchao do when he chased him out?

For a while, Guo Shao felt that the front and rear tactics of Wei Wang simply lacked a basic logical relationship. However, it is not easy to say, Fu Yanqing's family is a warlord of three generations of kings, this kind of high-ranking person should always have extraordinary wisdom, maybe people have some foresight, it is not something that Guo Shao can guess after the age of eighteen or nineteen.

However, it was about the lives of himself and his twenty brothers who had traveled a long way, and Guo Shao couldn't care much about it at this time, so he changed his previous style of knowing the rules and not talking much, and when he saw the opportunity, he asked: "General Xiang, should we go to save Shi Qianfeng back, or should we continue to fight with him?" ”

Xiang Xun turned his head and glanced at Guo Shao, who was speaking, and responded calmly: "King Wei didn't say it. ”

Guo Shao asked again speechlessly.

At this moment, Zhang Jianxiong scolded: "Mother! Shi Yanchao doesn't leave any face for the lord, and he gets angry when he thinks about it! And told us to save him? If he is so capable, let him beat the Liao people back alone! ”

When Guo Shao heard this, he also thought of the incident at the edge of the village halfway, and Zhang Jianxiong's words "don't give face" are probably the stubble.

At that time, Shi Yanchao killed those robbed innocent women, and Zhang Jianxiong almost came forward, but was later stopped by Xiang Zuo general. At that time, Guo Shao thought that Zhang Jianxiong was a good young man with compassion and a sense of justice, but now when he heard him just scold Shi Yanchao for not giving face to Xiang Xun, he suddenly woke up: Zhang Jianxiong's dissatisfaction was not because of sympathy for those innocent women, but because he was angry at Shi Yanchao's attitude in front of the lord, and he was upset with Xiang Xun for the lord.

The five generations of martial artists, I'm afraid they didn't treat those slaughtered women as human beings at all.

At that time, as soon as Xiang Xun saw Shi Yanchao, he used the official's order to teach Shi Yanchao a lesson, and it was all reasonable. I am afraid that the reasonable reason is difficult for Shi Yanchao to refute...... But Shi Yanchao shouldn't be happy in his heart, he was taught a lesson by a military general he looked down on, why?

So Shi Yanchao didn't reason with you verbally at all. Isn't it asking what to do? According to Xiang Xun's meaning, it should be to let go of innocent women and punish rebellious soldiers who do not abide by military discipline. But Shi Yanchao is very simple, kill them all, what can you do to me?

He is not killing people, but he is determined to get over with Xiang Xun in public, and he wants to slap Xiang Xun's face and sulk.

It's just that I pity those innocent women, who didn't do anything wrong, and were cut down like props for anger. Guo Shao is still somewhat of the mainstream values of modern people, and of course he does not agree with this kind of disregard for life...... But he didn't think it was wise to stand up and fight for right and wrong in the world of five dynasties and ten kingdoms, so he also became an indifferent bystander; The key is that Shi Yanchao didn't know who you were at that time, and he was angry, what should I do if I saw you as a junior and pulled out his sword and cut it over without saying a word? Do you want to win or lose internally with the first fierce general of the Zhou Dynasty, or wait for someone to seek justice for you after being killed? Besides, in a place where there is a shortage of soldiers, there are more than such tragedies, which are not something that a mortal can manage.

…… Everyone was very dissatisfied with Shi Yanchao, and scolded a few words in front of Xiang Xun.

At this moment, Xiang Xun raised his hand to stop the generals' discussions, and said unhurriedly: "Shi Yanchao is a little arrogant, but did he kill our people or did something unjust?" None of them! So what are you doing with him? are all generals of the Great Zhou, don't have to care about the length of a little thing. ”

Zhang Jianxiong said indignantly: "I'm afraid that we will save him, he still doesn't appreciate it, blame us for being troublesome." ”

Xiang Xun said: "Shi Qianfeng is not a person who does not know grievances. We must focus on the overall situation, and do not spoil the situation of the war by being rash. You have to say it again, and order all the troops and horses to go out of the city lightly! ”

Only then did the generals stop and receive their orders.

Guo Shao also beckoned his people to lead their horses and weapons and set off. Luo Mengzi asked, "Where did we leave our things here?" Will it be picked up by someone else......"

Before Guo Shao could answer, Yang Biao scolded with his head and face: "It seems that you have a lot of money in your pocket, you search carefully, except for the things on the horse, it is worth a few copper coins!" ”

Luo Mengzi gave up at this time, and muttered again: "I don't have a good opinion of Shi Yanchao, those women, it's better to wait for the rebels to snatch them away, maybe they can live better if they are snatched back by the sergeant." ”

Yang Biao also said coldly: "Shi Yanchao is not a thing. ”