He Xu set off with the first batch of people and horses to the west. Along the way, he disdained to be with the generals, and he was even more reluctant to walk with the soldiers, so He Xu just walked alone with his subordinates and cronies. Although he deliberately distanced himself from these officers and soldiers, He Shu was extremely concerned about the sentinels of all sides.

In the past few days, several groups of sentinels have gone back and forth, reporting to He Shu whether there is a cheap place to cross the river in front, the dynamics of the north bank of the Baigou River, and the movements of Xiao Gan's army. He is most concerned about how to cross the river as soon as possible, and of course the place where the Western Route Army crosses the river can cross the river smoothly, but He Xu only feels that it is too slow to rush there and cross the river again. As early as when the army marched westward, he ordered all the sentinels of the division to go to the west to investigate the place where the river was crossed, since the western route army had penetrated deep into Liaodi, except for Yelu Dashi, who was still stupidly guarding the same place, on the north bank of the river, it must have been a smooth road. The most important thing now is how to cross the river as soon as possible.

It is only hated that in the summer season, people and horses go all the way along the river to the west, and the water of the Baigou River is deep and urgent, and the geographical and water conditions are unknown, so they dare not wade across the river. If you cut down trees on the spot and make pontoon bridges and other things to cross the river, I am afraid that you will have to delay your schedule. Therefore, along the way, He Shu almost looked at the river and hurried, only hoping to suddenly find a place to cross. He Xu pointed to the shallow part of the river several times, allowing people to cross the river, but they were all prevaricated by those big-headed soldiers, saying that they couldn't do it. He Shu couldn't, so he had to hurry up, after walking for a day, he only rested at night for a night, and then hurried the next day, regardless of whether the army followed behind, anyway, He Shu and Zhizhou had already rushed to the place where the West Route Army crossed the river.

The army of the Western Route Army has already crossed the river, leaving only Jiao Anjie to lead the left army of 7,000 men and horses to be stationed on the south bank of the river to guard the ferry. This military order arrangement fulfilled his heart. In his opinion, he is in an invincible position, and if he advances, there will be a large army to open the way, and if he retreats, he will run in the front; If he is defeated, the former army is weak, and he has nothing to do with it; If he wins, he has the merit of guarding the back road and smoothing the grain route. In this way, in this Northern Expedition, he will not lose money.

It is because of the two days that the Jiao'an Festival has been very moisturizing, and the wine and food are delicious every day, and they have a hearty time. In the afternoon of this day, Jiao Anjie was resting in the tent, and heard a report from the soldiers, saying that the East Route Army was marching here, and the East Route Army Supervisor and Xuye had come to the outside of the camp, and the commander of the East Route Army, Chong Shidao, led the army to arrive immediately. Jiao Anjie hurriedly got up and stopped, got up and went out to greet him.

He Xu was anxious to cross the river earlier, and almost all of his cronies became the vanguard of the Eastern Route Army. After the report, I learned that it was Jiao'an Festival who led the army to garrison here, and went straight into the camp to find Jiao'an Festival, and happened to meet Jiao'an Festival from the camp. Seeing that He Xu's mind was resolute, he had to order his subordinates to carry the raft out of the camp, and arranged for the soldiers guarding the pontoon bridge to remove the deer, rolling wood and other things blocking the pontoon bridge. Jiao Anjie had to personally arrange manpower and step up preparations.

After two hours of busyness, all the rafts were finally thrown into the river, and at this time, the army of the Eastern Route Army arrived one after another with heavy grain and grass. After arriving at the Jiao'an Festival camp, he saw the big head of the Jiao'an Festival on the bank of the river. Jiao'an Festival saw that it was getting late, so he hurriedly invited the two of them to the camp for dinner, and then set the line after the meal.

He Shu is helpless, but if he doesn't agree, his stomach won't agree either. The way of the planter is that if he comes, he will be safe, and everything will be listened to, and he will order the whole army to make food and rest. Jiao Anjie saw that the two agreed, so he was busy cheering up and entertaining the two with his heart.

In the face of the table full of delicacies, Heshu also swallowed unintentionally, like sitting on pins and needles, finally finished eating, and was impatient to cross the river at night. Seeing that He Shu was so anxious, he had to persuade: "He Zhizhou is anxious about national affairs, which can be an example for my generation; It's just that the night is dark and the water is urgent, and most of the soldiers are not accustomed to water, and they don't know the water conditions here. After marching for days, he was very tired, and his combat strength was also greatly reduced after crossing the river. ”

He Xu's heart is as anxious as frying, for fear that it will be late, the overall situation has been decided, but he will not have half of the credit. He can urge Jiao Anjie to prepare for crossing the river, but he doesn't dare to urge the seed master like this, seeing that the seed master is reasonable, and he doesn't give up, but he doesn't understand the march and can't refute it. Jiao Anjie had already figured out what was going on on the side, and took the opportunity to speak: "The two adults learned that after the time of the war, the front army returned, Xin Dutong had led the Chinese army to be stationed in the Laishui camp, and there were no thieves everywhere in Hebei, and the adults were worried that they could not cross the river as soon as possible, so if they sent the water soldiers in the army to cross the river at night, it was for the vanguard of crossing the river, which could not only protect the other bank, but also reduce the number of people crossing the river tomorrow, wouldn't it kill two birds with one stone?" ”

He heard the great joy and praised Jiao'an Festival again and again, and the planter saw and Xu's attitude, so he had to order the selection of water-based soldiers, cross the river from rafts and pontoon bridges, and stand guard on the north bank of the river to wait for the army.

After some tossing, He Xue finally went back to sleep in the tent. The planter sat alone in the tent, facing the candle flame, looking at the map on the table and contemplating. He spent his whole life in the war with the Western Xia, and for decades, with the strength of such a country as the Great Song Dynasty, he was able to block the Western Xia army on the west side of the Shaanxi Road. Now the Northern Expedition to Liao is so easy, it is really incomprehensible. In terms of national strength, the Liao State is more than ten times larger than the Western Xia State; In terms of combat power, this Liao State is also above the Western Xia Kingdom, and in terms of generals, this Xiao Gan and Yelu Dashi are both outstanding talents in the Liao State. As for his own side, the seed master is even more aware of it. Since the founding of the Great Song Dynasty, it has also fought hundreds of battles with Liao, and it is still a situation of losing more and winning less. Therefore, this time Xin Xingzong led the army north to the south of Zhuozhou, which was extremely strange. On the battlefield, what you don't think about is often the deadliest.

It's not that the Seed Master Dao doesn't want to recapture the land of clouds, it is the longing of the Central Plains Han'er for hundreds of years. Taizu even made a promise that "the one who restores the Youyan can be the king". If you can really recapture Youyun, you can not only recapture the Central Plains barrier land and benefit future generations, but also give them the supreme military merits and glory of the Western Army.

It's just that this time the commander of the army is Tong Guan, not a figure who came out of their Western Army, I'm afraid, but in the end it is to make wedding clothes for others, and the credit is given to Tong Guan and a cadre of military ministers, such as the generation of Hexu, and the Western Army finally ended up with a bird hiding the bow and a rabbit dead and a dog cooking.

He grew up in the army, so he naturally knew that the officials of the Great Song Dynasty were taboo and wary of leading military generals. The Western Xia State and the Liao State invaded the border year after year, and the imperial court had to rely on their military generals to contribute; But once the four borders are peaceful and the external troubles are eliminated, then it will be the time for their western army to be dismantled. There are hundreds of thousands of people in the western army, and all the wives in the family depend on the army's food and salary, and the reduction of the western army will affect the livelihood of several million people. As the head of the Western Army, he must not let the Western Army be destroyed in his hands. He said that Yang Keshi took refuge in Tong Guanmen, which was for the sake of the Western Army.

This time the Northern Expedition will be unsuccessful; If he succeeds, he also has a way to give the Khitans a chance to make a comeback. Retaking Youyan can't guarantee that the remnants of the Khitan people won't be in trouble from time to time, right?

If necessary, he can be this sinner, for the sake of the Western Army, he himself has nothing to pity. He was already in his prime, alone, without a son or a daughter under his knees, and all his sons were killed in battle. The Western Army was his son. He wants to pass on the Western Army.

(End of chapter)