Han Fang, the former champion of the Liao State, now the prime minister, the mastermind of Wushu, was called "Mr" by the fourth prince. He sensed King Shen's hesitation. It is no wonder that since the Song Xuanhe period and the Jin Tianhui period, since the two countries started the war, although they have won and lost each other, there has never been a battle, just like this time Xiangyang, from October last year to the end of August this year, a full ten months, three hundred days, the two countries used at least hundreds of thousands of troops, around Xiangyang bloody battles, desperately fighting.

The army of the Dajin Kingdom is no longer like the beginning of the war, when tens of thousands of Jurchen troops and Bohai Navy were at every turn. Years of conquest caused the number of Meng'an Mook to continue to decrease, and the Khitans and Han people had to be requisitioned to enrich the ranks. The army in the south has gradually become stronger in more than ten years of campaigning. It does not refer to how many troops the other side has, but a momentum.

Back then, in Lianghe, the warriors of the Jin Kingdom were invincible, and even in the face of several times or more than ten times the Song army, they could easily win. This situation is now a thing of the past. The current Song army is all soldiers who have survived a hundred battles, they know how to fight, and they know how to deal with the Jurchens.

This is easy to see from the battle of Xiangyang in front of him, for the sake of a city, the Song army soldiers will not give an inch. Even though the city has fallen, they have no intention of retreating, and immediately reorganize their army and make a comeback! This kind of momentum that is not afraid of death is exactly the same as when the Jurchens raised troops to resist Liao!

The resolute and resolute King Shen will hesitate, precisely because of this. But Xiangyang must be taken, and it must be firmly held in the hands of Dajin Guo!

"The King." After thinking about it again and again, Han Fang spoke.

"Sir?" Wushu raised his head and looked at his mastermind with trust, hoping that the other party would help him with an idea.

"In the bloody battle of October, both sides are exhausted, and whoever bites down and holds on will be the winner. At this time, you can't retreat! Han Fang said firmly. There were many civil and military officials in the hall, and no one echoed his opinion.

Wushu sighed slightly, how could he not know this truth? It's just that the current situation is too difficult. The Song army in Xiangyang launched a frenzied counterattack, and many prefectures and counties in Jiangbei and Huainan were captured by the Song army...... Seeing that Wushu was silent, Han Fang was a little anxious, and said loudly: "The size of Xianghan land cannot be abandoned!" I don't have this place today, and he wants to come again one day, hundreds of thousands of people! ”

Wushu is still silent, not to mention his day, even now, he has used 200,000 steps. Although, most of them were Gao Shiyou's troops in the past, but now the Dajin Kingdom can drive them.

After a while, he waved his hand weakly: "Go ahead." ”

Tang Chinese Wu withdrew gloomily from the Shuai Mansion, and ten months of arduous hard work had exhausted these people physically and mentally. Wushu looked at his subordinates who had lost all their sharpness on the handsome seat, and said with a wry smile: "Sir, look at the usual battles, which of my generals is not scrambling?" After fighting for almost a year, they had no food, no silver or gold, no women, and they were all in need. ”

Han Fang walked a few steps quickly, stepped forward, and said: "King, with all due respect, for more than ten years, the army of my Dajin Kingdom has maintained an absolute advantage, and it can be said that the Song army is fighting. But today, our army is no longer sharp, and the Song army is becoming more and more courageous. If this continues, the offensive and defensive momentum will be easy! ”

These words couldn't help but make the vultures change their color! Although, most of Han Gongmei's words were to provoke himself, the Song army wanted to attack and defend and change hands, and he didn't know if it was the Year of the Monkey and Ma Yue, but after all, there was already an omen.

"Xia Guan believes that if he occupies Xianghan, he can solve the problem once and for all. The Southern Dynasty is like a big snake, Xianghan is its seven inches, as long as you hold seven feet, even if the Southern Dynasty struggles, it is all in my hands! If we do not stabilize Xianghan before our army's sharp spirit is exhausted, how the situation develops in other days cannot be controlled by manpower! Han Fang said quickly.

Wushu stood up on his knees, walked to Han Fang's side, and said in a deep voice: "Mr. is insightful, I naturally understand, let me think about this matter carefully." ”

Seeing this, Han Fang knew that it was useless to say more, so he bowed and turned around and withdrew from the Shuai Mansion. As soon as he left, Wushu sighed, shook his head and said, "It's difficult......"

In the third year of the establishment of the military, in September, Xianghan was still shouting and killing. The elite of the Chang Jie army led by Zhejia and He Ji came out together and stormed the area around Xiangyang. The Lumen Mountain camp set up by Wushu south of Xiangyang was breached, and the Song army went straight to the city of Xiangyang. On the other hand, Xia Jinwu took 7,000 Jurchen troops and tens of thousands of signed troops to attack Tangzhou. Although he defeated Yue Fei's general Wang Gui in the field battle, he suffered a defeat in the siege battle.

In Huainan, the two Shenwu Chinese armies met, and the sword pointed to Suzhou. But at this time, there was an accident in the court. At the beginning, Xu Shao opened up the Jianghuai battlefield in order to relieve the pressure of Xianghan and force Wushu to retreat. Now, the emperor and some ministers of the court saw that Zhao Ding was making rapid progress, and thought that the expected goal had been achieved, and it was not appropriate to go far, otherwise Jiangnan would not be defended, and in case of an accident, it would be too late to rescue.

Emperor Zhao Huan personally summoned Xu Shao and repeatedly admonished him, and Emperor Zhao Chen even went to the political hall where Xu Shao worked in person and asked him to order the Shenwu Chinese army to withdraw. The ministers headed by Prime Minister Zhu Shengfei also continued to play. Xu Shao's staunch ally, Xu Han, remained silent, and only Qin Hui, the governor of the political council, strongly supported him.

But soon, Qin Huizhi was hit. First, the emperor personally issued an edict to reprimand him, and then deprived him of the right to participate in decision-making, and removed him from the detailed council. In the end, seeing that Xu Shao still refused to budge, Zhao Guanjia instructed the relevant ministers to impeach Qin Hui and remove him from his position as governor. Some people even sent a message to Xu Shao that if he didn't strangle his troops, Qin Hui would be far away.

Qin Hui has always been a staunch supporter of Xu Shao, and he can be seen everywhere in Xu Shao's implementation of the new policy. Now the top moves to Qin Hui, and it is clear that it is to kill chickens and show monkeys. Under unprecedented pressure, Xu Shao was forced to order Zhao Ding to rein in his troops and return to Yangzhou.

During this period, although there were many ministers who impeached Xu Shao, almost no one called for his removal as deputy prime minister. Because everyone knows that at this juncture, only Xu Shao can shoulder the heavy responsibility of resisting gold.

Just when the situation in the Xianghan theater was unpredictable, the Western Army occupying the Tiger Pass never entered Zhengzhou. Sa Liyu believed even more that Xu Hu'er came here only to bluff and cause chaos to the Jin army, and did not intend to recover the Central Plains. He wrote letters to Wushu who was at the forefront many times, and repeatedly claimed that Xu Hu'er was not worried, this guy was here to make trouble, and the king could fight Xianghan with peace of mind.

In early September, after hesitating to make the three major Jin Kingdom Shen Wang Wushu, he finally listened to Han Fang's opinion, and made up his mind not to retreat and swear to seize Xianghan. At the military meeting, Wushu said something heavy, saying that even if the households of the Central Plains are desperate, they must take Xianghan, and those who dare to withdraw from the army will die!

The reason why Wushu was able to make up his mind was because of Han Fang's words, second, because the Song army's offensive in Jianghuai stopped, and third, because Xu Wei was bluffing and was unable to threaten Zhengzhou and Tokyo. Just kidding, if Xu Huer really mentions the main force of the Western Army to collect the Central Plains, doesn't he want his Shaanxi nest? Although the Jin army in Shaanxi was in decline, Hezhong Mansion still had considerable troops, and could cross the Yellow River at any time and attack Guanzhong, Xu Wei could not ignore this.

In order to express his determination to take Xianghan, Wushu left the Guanghua Army Marshal's Mansion and came to the front line of Xiangyang with his troops, personally commanding the Jin army to block the counterattacking Song army. The arrival of King Shen boosted the morale of the Jin army, and on September 19, the Song and Jin armies fought fiercely in the southern suburbs of Xiangyang. On September 22, the commanders of the two armies, Wushu and Zhi Yanzhi all came to the front line to supervise the battle.

After months of hard fighting, the Song army was finally defeated by the Jin army's best efforts to counterattack and retreated to Yicheng County, south of Xiangyang. Wushu was overjoyed, seized the time, and set up camp again to prevent the Song army from coming again.

But at this time, not only the Jin army was exhausted, but the Song army was also the last of the strong crossbows. In the past ten months, the casualties have been tens of thousands, from officers to soldiers, they are all miserable! Zhe Yan was shaken, and when the old and strong He Guan found him and insisted on organizing another offensive to recapture Xiangyang, the minister who had become a minister of the Great Song Dynasty as a party member had an ambiguous attitude and flickering words.

He Guan was angry and angry, Xianghan was his defense area, once this place was lost, the door of Jinghu was wide open! He even did not hesitate to threaten Zhe Zhonggu with death, saying that if Zhe Xuanfu refused to enter the army, then He would give up his body and personally lead the Shenwu rear army to counterattack, although he died without regrets!

At this time, he was rescued by Xu Shao, ended residential surveillance, and learned about Li Gang, who was in Shaozhou, and was entrusted by the prime minister to come to the front line. After learning of the situation, he moved with affection and reason, and bitterly persuaded Zhi Yanzhi not to give up, even if the loss was great, he would recapture Xiangyang. Otherwise, if Xiangyang is lost, the period of death is not far away!

Although Li Gang has now stepped down, his prestige in the government and the opposition cannot be underestimated. As a banner of the main battle faction, it is widely respected. However, Zhi Zhonggu did not give much face to this veteran of the Anti-Japanese War, and although the reception was very warm and respectful, he never had a clear attitude.

At the same time, Wushu was stepping up the deployment of troops, repairing the Lumen Mountain camp, and sending additional troops to Xia Jinwu, in an attempt to seize Tangzhou and fly Yue to the south. All signs show that the fall of Xiangyang is a foregone conclusion!

On September 30, the Tiger Prison was closed.

After the capture of Guancheng, the Western Army has been repairing here for more than a month. In Xu Wei's troops, there were many soldiers from the Central Plains of Henan. This time, following the commander, these soldiers are looking forward to returning to their hometown! But since they captured the Tiger Prison, they have been eating, drilling, drilling, and eating here every day, and there seems to be no sign of soldiers coming out of the Tiger Prison at all.

Some well-informed, lively-minded and even legendary, Dashuai brought us here this time, just to scare the golden people, and I didn't plan to do anything. You don't want to think about it, why should we have more than 30,000 troops to recover Tokyo? Besides, as soon as we leave, something may happen to Guanzhong, wait, it won't be long before the marshal will order the class teacher.

In a wide military tent, Xu Wei was alone, wearing a straight shirt and no military uniform, apparently because he had not fought for more than a month. At this moment, he had his back to the tent, his hands behind his back, and he was staring at the map frame. On the low table next to him, a bowl of tea has been cold for a long time, and a layer of colorful tea stains has formed on the water, but he has not bothered to drink it.

The Purple Gold Tiger was nailed there like a wooden stake, not moving at all, and I don't know what is so beautiful about a map?

After a long time, he finally turned around, sat down at the table, picked up the cold tea, and took a sip. When he vomited, his eyes became more and more sharp!

The curtain is lifted, and you will quickly step inside. Forty miles away, it is not tall, but it is as strong as a truncated iron tower! There is a long and deep beard under the chin, and one of them is red! It is Xu Wei's cousin, Xu Hong, who is nicknamed "Red-Haired Tiger" in the army!

"Everything is ready! Just waiting for your order! Xu Hong said in a deep voice.

Xu Wei's face was solemn, he put down the tea bowl, called in his own soldiers, took off the armor from the shelf next to him, and put it on for him. This iron leaf armor has followed him for many years, and it was used by Xu Zhang during his lifetime. Guangxu Jiu has been wearing it for more than ten years and has repaired it many times.

The soldiers meticulously put on the armor for the commander, tied the leather belt, tied the cover arm, and put on the battle robe. The iron leaf sounded loudly, and the purple gold tiger looked resolute!

"Fifth brother, this time, we have to make the vultures really startled."

"Exactly! This time, I don't want to be around, I just let the Wushu know that the Western Army is coming! Xu Hong rarely showed a hint of a smile.

After putting on the armor, Xu Wei took his pocket and put it on his head, shook off his robe, and said loudly: "Pass my order!" Let's go! ”

Zhengzhou is located in the west of Kaifeng Prefecture, less than 150 miles from Tokyo. Because it is located in the East Henan Plain, Zhengzhou has no danger to defend. On the same day, after Sa Lijiu withdrew from the head of the tiger cell, in order to prevent Xu Wei from entering the army, he set up troops outside the city of Zhengzhou, set up many camps of all sizes, placed earthen fortresses, set up more bows and crossbows, and guarded the city like an iron bucket.

Sali is also very conceited, thinking that even if Xu Wei comes, he will not want to bargain. Later, the Western Army had been retreating behind the Tiger Prison Pass, and for more than a month, there was no other action except to send some rangers to work and spread rumors everywhere. Sa Liyu saw Xu Huer's "strong outside and dry in the middle" more clearly, and it was expected that he would definitely not take a step out of the tiger prison.

Sa Li's self-confidence is reasonable, although he folded Yang Desheng, but now he still has 40,000 steps in his hand. And the camp outside the city is quite orderly, cut down the giant trees of Meishan, set up as a fence, watchtower, corner tower, abound, there are strong bows and crossbows arranged on it, once the police are encountered, it is not out of the camp to fight, just with this strong camp, it is enough to resist for a while.

Most of the Jin army in Zhengzhou was the former Korean army, and the real Jin army was less than 5,000 people. When I heard that the Western Army had recovered Luoyang and captured the Tiger Pass, I was really shocked. But more than a month has passed, and the Western Army has no intention of attacking. This more than a month should have been the most precious time for the Western Army, and they could have come to capture the city with the might of victory, but the Purple Gold Tiger did not do so. Therefore, the soldiers of the Jin Army are no longer worried.

On this day, Sa Liyu was not in the city, but led a team of Jurchen warriors to Meishan in the southwest of Zhengzhou City to hunt. Anyway, it's nothing, it's better to move your muscles and bones.

Everything seemed so ordinary, so calm, the sun was shining, the breeze was gentle, what a pleasant day.

By noon, the weather changed, first the sun hid in the clouds, and then the wind rose and blew so hard that the soldiers thought it was going to rain.

"Damn, it's windy! Brother military envoy, are we still patrolling? "In a camp, dozens of horsemen were leading their horses out of the camp.

"Patrol a bird! He is still eating wine in his tent! Let's go out for a spin and come back, such a strong wind, be careful to blow down from the horse! A Ma Jun envoy said. After that, dozens of people got on their horses and went out of the camp to patrol.

On the barracks floor, the soldiers in charge of the guard were all sitting with their guns against the fence, and someone stretched out his head to look out, and scolded with a smile: "That gang of thieves and patrols!" ”

"Haha, it's best to let this flock of birds bump into the Western Army!" The companion quipped.

"Ghost Western Army! Xu Hu'er shrunk in the tiger prison and didn't come out, you haven't had to fight if you want to fight. Don't you see? Early this morning, Lang Jun had already led the dog and eagle to hunt. "Sali drank is the Dajin clan, so these Han soldiers are called "Langjun".

While he was laughing, one of them suddenly said, "Hey, brothers, what is that Wangzi talking to?" ”

"Where?" The companion climbed up, patted his butt and asked.

"Where else could it be? Look upstairs! ”

The soldiers looked at the watchtower in the camp, and saw that on the top, a watchman was dancing and calling something, but the wind was too loud to hear his words clearly.

"Is there a policeman?" One soldier changed the iron gun in his hand and said nervously.

When everyone heard this, they were all taken aback, and they all looked west, but they didn't see anything abnormal? After waiting for a while, I suddenly saw the group of horses who had come out of the camp before rushing back like a lightning speed! Right? How can you be so good at patrolling? These thieves are afraid of being lazy! Not right either! Even if they are lazy to come back, they are almost at the camp gate, so they need to run so quickly?

"What sound?"

"The wind? The sound of hooves? ”

"Listen carefully!"

Everyone held their breath and listened, feeling that the sound of the call was faintly mixed with other sounds. At first, it was not very clear, but the more it came later, the louder the movement became, like a muffled thunder rolling, and the sound was endless!

"The Western Army is coming! The Western Army is coming! The cavalrymen who rushed back to the camp gate shouted! And at this time, the soldiers on the barracks finally saw a terrible scene! In the wilderness to the west of the camp, a dark shadow surged in! The movement mixed with the sound of the wind is from them!

"Not good! The Western Army is coming! The Western Army is coming! "From the barracks, there were exclamations! The soldiers scurried around without a head, and some of them ran down the barracks, and were brought up again, not knowing what to do. The calmer ones hurriedly took their bows and crossbows and prepared to fight, but when they saw that their comrades around them were running around like headless flies, how could they still be calm?

The roaring hooves finally sounded! The black cavalry is coming! Seeing the terrifying formation, the soldiers involuntarily retreated, you look at me, I look at you, and finally act in unison, turn around and run!