Volume 3: A Generation of Tianjiao - Chapter 30: A Generation of Tianjiao (4)

The last of the rafters was loaded onto the cart, and the driver gave the command, the whip snapped, and the four horses threw off their hooves in unison, and marched slowly along an apparently improvised paved road toward the west. Behind the two large trucks, there was a large dusty construction site, all kinds of earthwork and timber were randomly piled on both sides of the road, waiting to be loaded, and a dull explosion was heard in the distance, which was the blasting operation of the engineer battalion, and with this muffled sound, the last piece of ruins and ruins collapsed, and a garbage pile of broken earth and broken wood squares was created on the flat ground.

Driven away by a few Han slaves wielding whips, the shirtless Khitans hobbled up and began to clear the rubble, piling up clods of soil on a cart that could be pushed by one person and transporting them to the side of the road. This kind of trolley is a new product after the Chen family acquired the military industry department of the carriage and horse society, which is quite popular in Yanzhou at present, the process is simple, and it is not difficult to manufacture, but the damage rate of parts is high, and it is not cost-effective to build privately.

Behind this pile of civil rubbish is a vast flat field, and traces of the city wall can be faintly seen along the slopes that occasionally rise above the ground, and those faint rectangular marks of clear color distinction are remnants of the old Lifang regulations......

Cloudsdale has been wiped off the face of the earth......

This is a rather vast project, the Great Zhou Dynasty Huo Guo Public Inspection School Taiwei Right Guard General Eighth Route Army Jiedu Envoy Tongzhong Shumen Pingzhangshi Comrade Li once again proved this truth with iron-like facts - Rome was not built in a day, but it can be demolished within a month......

This task, in the initial meeting of the military and political secretary of the South Road, was once considered impossible to complete, this time the army to the east, the battle forbidden troops a total of 14,000 foot cavalry, nearly 16,000 logistics soldiers, 15,000 soldiers and civilians - these new refugees can not be divided into the fields for the time being, it is better to put food in vain than to invest in the war as human resources input, the camp of displaced people in Yan'an County was originally under militarized management, and it is convenient to organize these people into groups with the army, and it is inevitable that there will be some attrition along the way. But this would be counted as war attrition. These numbers are not small at first glance, but they are not enough to share seriously, the strength of the infantry regiment and the cavalry regiment is to be used for combat, it is impossible to use it for transportation, the strength of the van soldiers to ensure that the food and straw of the army are already very tight, and the people are also responsible for transporting a large number of materials 6 back to Yanqing, compared to the amount of this task, more than 10,000 people are really not much, so Li wants to dismantle Yunzhong, it is basically impossible to do it in a short time.

The final solution to this problem was Wei Xun's Prison Division, which was responsible for supervising all captured Hu and Han prisoners. Under the sweep of the army, one Khitan tribe after another was uprooted, and a large number of Khitan nobles, family members and Han slaves were all taken prisoner. Wei Xun repeated his old tricks, tied the Khitan family lords and nobles in one place, and all the Han slaves stepped forward to whip a whip and accepted the vote, and then the Han slaves were divided into the first batch of standard equipment in the early days of the Eighth Route Army - sharpened wooden sticks, and these Han slaves were organized to supervise the Khitan nobles and family members to do coolies.

This method is not immediate, at the beginning quite some aristocratic owners refused to admit their heads, Han slaves are cowardly and habitual, often really make trouble and run away, so the prisoner camp riot in the first five or six days is not a new thing, the result is also very bloody, all the Khitan tribes who riot belong, all marching methods to kill, all escaped Han slaves, captured back with the Khitan captives to do hard labor, so several times, cut off more than 200 heads, the number of people is gradually fewer.

Of course, there are auxiliary measures, all Khitan captives only have half a dry grain flour cake a day, and they are all naked when they work, and the Han slaves who supervise them are rationed two dry grain flour cakes a day, and the high-level ones can also have some pickled radish to accompany the meal.

The cavalry regiment that killed the cattle was beating grass valleys everywhere, and there were at least four or five thousand Khitan prisoners who had been collected, and these people only consumed 2,000 breads a day, which was less than 13 stone of grain, and no more than 400 stone of grain in a month, and the harvest was to demolish Cloud City.

Of course, there was another price, more than eight hundred people fell in the heavy labor.

Hunger, malnutrition, combined with the heavy labor of being naked in the climate of early spring, caused a very high rate of illness among the captives.

Fortunately, Wei Xun announced a policy before the project began—as long as the city was demolished, the captives would be let out, and each of them would be given three days of water.

It's good to have hope......

The earthwork and timber that were demolished, Wei Xun was originally going to be transported back to Yanqing - the poor slag of the Eighth Route Army Treasury would not let go of anything that might become a means of production. But soon, everyone realized that this was unrealistic, it was easy to dismantle the clouds, and it was a fool's dream to transport one of the clouds back to Yanqing. Being able to transport all the timber away is already the limit, and earthwork is completely impossible.

In this regard, Li Yiyi set the tone - it does not have to be shipped back, how far can it be transported......

As a result, the former Cloud City was scattered within a radius of fifty or sixty miles......

As for whether Da Liao will have the ability to pick up these earthworks piece by piece and build a cloud city again in the future, Li didn't think about it - instead of doing this, it would be easier to dig the earthwork again and build another cloud city.

Without these Han slaves, the Khitans, who have never been good at building, can build a soil enclosure in situ and create a miracle.

After a month of hard labor, the captives who were originally thick and strong were yellow and thin, many of them were swollen and swollen every day, and people died of unbearable labor every day, and the cruel reality made people feel closed, and those Han slaves who gradually adapted to it became the most cowardly people in a month, and they were extremely cold to these original masters, but the serious officers and soldiers of the Eighth Route still had some compassion, as long as these prisoners did not, they ignored them.

A troop of cavalry galloped along the makeshift paved road, kicking up a cloud of smoke and dust, and the captives who were toiling raised their puffy eyelids and glanced at them, and then hung their heads weakly, not daring to look any more.

This group of cavalrymen was dressed in leather armor and two horses, and at first glance it was clear that they were soldiers of the cavalry regiment, for a sturdy man with sharp eyes, a thick layer of beard stubble on the chin and upper lip, and his body sat upright on the horse and rose and fell naturally with the rhythm of the horse, and it seemed that it did not take half an effort.

Xi Feng Minda galloped all the way through the construction site, and stopped at a fork in the road in front of him, the intersection was passing the convoy, the baggage convoy composed of six carriages was slowly passing by, and a young officer with the rank of lieutenant on his military uniform was standing at the intersection waving a red flag in his hand.

The captain of the school saw that the leather helmet of the fine seal Minda was decorated with two bronze five-pointed stars that had been rusted a little green, and hurriedly stepped forward to salute the flat chest of the fine seal Minda, and the thin seal Minda returned the salute on the horse, and reached out and took out a bronze medal from his arms and handed it to the captain of the school, and the captain of the school took it over and saw that the bronze medal was inlaid with two stars shining with a pale yellow luster, which was real gold, and the left side of the star was written from top to bottom with the words "Cavalry Commander", and on the right side was written the words "Captain of the Cavalry".

Captain Rong handed back the bronze medal, saluted again, turned back, ran back to the intersection, put a whistle in his mouth, and blew it vigorously.

With the whistle, the last two carriages that had not yet passed the intersection stopped, and the captain was waving the red flag at them, and when he saw them stop, the captain turned around and waved another flag towards the fine seal Minda, which was a green flag.

Fine Feng Minda did not hesitate, urged the war horse, and passed the intersection in a blink of an eye.

After crossing several intersections all the way, Xifeng Minda came to Li's old camp, turned over and got off the war horse, handed over the war horse to the soldiers, he strode towards the handsome tent, and Zhang Guizhi was actually on duty at the door of the handsome tent, which made Xifeng Minda frown. Although it was an old acquaintance, Zhang Guizhi still meticulously checked the finely sealed documents, and then waved his hand to let him go.

As soon as he entered the tent, he saw Shen Chen, who was tired and puffy with puffy eyes, sitting on the bed of the hu and baking dough in front of the brazier, and on an empty wooden box in front of him was a wide-mouthed urn that he didn't know where to go, and inside the urn was steaming broth.

Li, who was standing in front of a map and contemplating his eyebrows, turned his head to look at the fine seal Minda, and shouted, "Xiao Liao——! ”

A young non-commissioned officer opened the tent and walked in, standing upright: "Arrived——! ”

Li waved his hand: "Bring a bowl of broth to General Xifeng, and bring a cake!" ”

The non-commissioned officer saluted with a flat chest: "Yes!" ”

The non-commissioned officer turned to go down, and Li smiled: "The nephew of Liao Zhaowu of the Liutao Pavilion has gone through the door and transferred to the internal guard battalion as a service soldier. ”

He looked at the fine seal Minda and waved his hand: "Sit!" ”

Fine Feng Minda was not polite, dragged a crooked Hu bed and sat down, took a big sip of the broth in front of Shen Chen, Shen Chen did not react, and continued to bake the dough. Xifeng Minda let out a sigh of relief, and the whole person immediately refreshed a layer of energy, he put down the broth that he had drunk half of in one gulp, and raised his head to look at Shen Chen: "Yang Gon didn't go to Yanmen?" ”

At this time, Xiao Liao brought in a steaming mutton soup, but it was served in a stoneware bowl and placed in front of the thin cover, and a hard cold noodle cake was placed on the soup bowl, and the thin seal pushed the bowl to Shen Chen, Shen Chen was not polite, took the bowl, and began to break the hot dough cake and soak it in the soup.

Shen Chen answered the question of the fine seal Minda while breaking the dough: "The Zhejia met the former expeditionary column horse, the number of people is not large, the alarm signal, the stone took people to personally investigate, the Khitan people did not have a brigade to go north, and the forward palace tent crossed the Fenshui near Yangqu...... They also set up guards in places where the water flow is gentle......"

The expression on the face of the fine seal Minda suddenly became solemn, and he asked with some surprise: "Jinyang?" ”

Shen Chen nodded: "The good tables on the two tables are all ready, and people just want to go to the kitchen to steal their mouths......"

Xi Feng Minda's eyes were blazing: "What do you mean by the head of the folding family?" ”

Shen Chen shook his head: "Zhe San Lang will not use the children of the Zhe family to fight hard with the Liao army brigade, he will have to wait and see for a while, but the mountains in the northwest of Jin are criss-crossed, and the prefectures of Qilan have been attached, only Shizhou has not yet been lowered, the current situation cannot be supported for too long, the meat in the mouth of the Yang family of the Zhe family is already too much, and it is not good to chew it if you are greedy, and the northern Jin Dynasty will fight, I am afraid that it will not succeed!" ”

The fine seal shook his head: "Jinbei is not successful...... If you don't do your homework, it's an adventure! ”

Shen Chen looked at Li, who pondered for a moment and asked, "There is no news from the south yet?" ”

Shen Chen shook his head: "It doesn't matter if there is or not, Yang Gon is willing to go north to Taiyuan, either the imperial court has won the battle, or he has reached a secret agreement with the emperor in private, no matter which one it is, the Liu family of the Northern Han Dynasty will be dead this time!" ”

Li shook his head and said disapprerovingly: "The secret agreement in front of the army, that is the story in the book, the possibility of winning the battle is the majority, count the days, Gaoping's side, there should be a result!" ”

Xifeng Minda frowned: "The enemy is strong and I am weak, and it is not a new thing for the Han court to unite with the Khitan!" ”

Li Xiaoxiao: "Shi Jingjiao maybe, Liu Zhiyuan may be, Chai Rong may not!" ”

He sighed: "In front of interests, what is the difference between Huayi and Hu and Han is bullshit, it's just that Chai Rong is a person who doesn't have the elegance to share the world with others!" ”

Xifeng Minda and Shen Chen glanced at each other, and they were not surprised at Li unceremoniously calling the emperor by name, but they were quite skeptical of his full confidence.

Li Dao: "There are four parties participating in this war, and they are all competing for the position of the protagonist. The Liu family of the Northern Han Dynasty sent troops to the party in order to compete for a leading role, but they really became a leading role; Chai Rong personally conquered Gaoping, but he was also unwilling to give up the position of the protagonist, in the battle of Gaoping, Chai Rong was the protagonist; Yang Gunbing went out of Taiyuan, but also to be the protagonist, otherwise he would have gone like that, and he would have come back, and his hometown let us copy the bottom up, he is the saddest supporting role in this play. ”

He paused and looked at the two: "It's just us, from beginning to end, we have always been supporting roles, beating the side drum for others, although we have the highest salary, but it's not a thing!" ”

Shen Chen frowned: "I agree with the fine seal, Jinbei is not suitable!" ”

Li nodded, and he suddenly asked, "Do you think Yang Gon can beat Jinyang?" ”

Both of them were stunned, and Shen Chen took the lead in speaking: "The elite soldiers of the Liu family have all been brought to the party, in Taiyuan City, there will be no more than 3,000 people left behind, with 3,000 old and weak, guarding a city as big as Jinyang, it is difficult to climb to the sky, and it is only a matter of time before the city is broken!" ”

Li nodded: "So, do you think Yang Gon has time?" ”

Shen Chen replied: "Even if Gaoping fights, the imperial court wins a complete victory, the damage to his own family will not be too small, the whole army will fight again, and it will also mobilize reinforcements, this is the battle of destroying the country, unlike Gaoping's one-on-one, there is no tens of thousands of horses, even if it is the emperor, it is difficult to win easily, this comes and goes, Yang Gon can slowly attack the city for at least two months...... For two months, fifty people died every day, and the soldiers of the city perished......"

Li looked at the fine seal Minda, and the fine seal Minda shook his head: "Taiyuan can't hold it!" ”

Li Dao: "So, what do you think, why did Yang Gon attack Taiyuan?" ”

This time, Shen Chen nodded slowly: "I've also been thinking about this question, what is the purpose of Yang Gon's attack on Taiyuan!" ”

He took a breath and said, "It stands to reason...... His hometown was raided, and the back road was cut off, he either led his troops back to fight us to the death, or went east out of Hebei and turned to Nanjing Road to return to China, but he turned around and attacked Taiyuan...... Is it to slaughter and get some military funds after the city is broken...... Still not right......"

Xifeng Minda said softly: "He calculated that we will stay for ...... short"

Shen Chen's face turned grim and nodded slightly.

Li sighed and muttered, "Who said that the Liao people must be a species?" ”

Yelu's mind was actually very simple, he had already figured out that if he led the army to take Yanmen directly, after all, he would have to fight hard against the enemy army of unknown strength on the complex mountainous terrain, and the Khitans' cavalry advantage and strength advantage would not be unfolded; On the other hand, if you want to go to Wuruan Pass in the north, the road is too long, and the flanks and baggage cattle and sheep of the army are all under the threat of the enemy army north of Zheyang and Yanmen at any time. What's more, even if he arrives in Yizhou successfully, it is also the territory of Nanjing Road, and Yelu Tart Lie will naturally not prevent him from crossing back to Yunzhong, but the palace tent in Shangjing is not easy to explain.

After all, Li is a guest army, stay in the clouds for a short time, no matter how much damage he causes, after all, he will retreat, if he dares to stay in the cloud area, I am afraid that the first Yelu Tart Lie on Nanjing Road will not be able to sit still, as long as he leaves, the army will return to the division, even if the tribe suffers some losses, the military strength is still complete, then it is the time for Yelu to return a tooth for a tooth, he will lead an army of 30,000 to the west, since Li is bold and dares to fight the grass valley of Daliao, he must be mentally prepared to pay the price. In this way, as long as Taiyuan can be conquered, and enough war captures can be brought back to China, only those small tribal leaders who have little right to speak in Shangjing will have nothing to do with themselves!

To put it bluntly, Yelu Dilu just wanted to fight with Li to see who could last longer, and in his opinion, compared with the Khitan cavalry that only needed very little military supplies to maneuver and fight, Li's Han army could not afford to drag it out no matter what......

In fact, Li really can't afford to drag it out, and the logistical pressure on a military operation of this scale has increased to an extremely terrifying level, and if it drags on, it is not a big problem for the whole division to be returned, but the input-output ratio of this battle is very problematic.

Li looked at Xifeng Minda: "How are your soldiers doing?" ”

Thin Seal Minda was expressionless: "What can I do?" Able to walk, able to hold a knife...... That's all! ”

Li looked at Shen Chen: "Inform Jinghai that if Taiyuan City is broken, he will transfer two more regiments to him and strictly guard the Yanmen Valley Road; If Taiyuan City is not broken, Yang Gon will go north and ask him to abandon the Yanmen Gate and retreat to the line of the Greywater River! ”

Shen Chen's eyes flickered, and then he was relieved: "It's okay, let Yang Gon see how different we are from the Western soldiers and the wrecks in Hedong!" ”

Li picked up the remaining broth from the fine seal and drank it dry in one go, and threw the urn on the ground casually: "He ***, Lao Tzu wants to be the protagonist!" ”Ro！ ~！