Chapter 4: The Smoke of Gunfire Returns

The Liao army did not stop expanding after achieving two great military victories. Liao Emperor Wanyan Shengcong hoarded grain, grass and ordnance in Haizhou, which had just occupied, transferred troops and sent generals, and immediately sent troops south to attack Gaizhou, Fuzhou, Jinzhou and other places in order to expand the results of the war. In order to eliminate the threat posed by the Zhao army in the southeast of Liaodong to the hinterland of Liaodong once and for all.

The orange sunset slowly sank into the horizon, and the afterglow of the setting sun fell on the castle of Pingshan Fort. Everyone was already able to see the city tower from a distance, as well as the big Zhao flag fluttering on the flagpole of the city tower.

Seeing that the hearts of the people in the city tower were hanging all the way, half of them fell, and they accelerated the pace of moving forward. He Tengxiao saw the big banner of Zhao Zi fluttering in the wind on the head of the city, and his heart was also a lot more settled, and the fluttering flag at least showed that there was still a garrison in Pingshan Fort. He was right, the people in the small military fort had already run out, and only some large and important military forts would have garrisons, and the two or three small military forts that passed by on the road had already been empty, and not a single flag could be seen.

In the middle of the line, there was a rapid sound of horses' hooves at the back of the line. He Tengxiao's heart tightened, thinking that something had happened, and when he looked back, he saw a cavalryman fall off his horse before he could reach the team. The blood stains on his body could be clearly seen in the distance. This soldier He Tengxiao recognized that he was the only scout he sent out, at that time they only had one horse, and they could only send one scout, and now this scout has returned like this, is there something wrong? He Tengxiao thought uneasily in his heart.

The scout was carried in front of He Tengxiao, covered in blood, with seven or eight arrows on his back.

He Tengxiao grabbed his shoulder, and the scout seemed to feel much more relieved when he saw He Tengxiao, and the scout vomited two mouthfuls of blood and opened his mouth with difficulty, "Yao...... Yaojiayi ...... Yes...... Yes...... There is a very ...... Lots of manyu"

After saying that, He Tengxiao only felt that his hands sank, and when he looked at the scout again, the scout had already closed his eyes. He Tengxiao remembered that this scout was only sixteen or seventeen years old, and he was sent out as a scout because of his cleverness and good equestrianism, but he didn't expect that a child who was still alive the day before would die in front of him today. He Tengxiao rubbed his eyes, and his vision became clearer.

Yaozhou Station is about ten miles north of Pingshan Fort, and it is a very inconspicuous small military fort. The appearance of the Manshu people in Yaozhou shows that the Manshu people did not intend to stop their troops after the great victories in Yingzhou and Liaoyang, but continued to use troops in the southeast of Liaoning. The use of troops to cover the state in the southeast of Liaoning was the first to bear the brunt, and if it wanted to cover the state, the Pingshan Fort in the north of the state was the first to bear the brunt......

Before sunset, the vanguard troops of the Liaoguo Southern Army chose an abandoned small military fort to garrison, which was the Yaozhou Station.

Several Liao army scouts were very disappointed, and they retreated from the headquarters of the commander of the Liao army in Yaozhouyi to conquer the southern army. They found a Zhao scout before sunset, and thought that they could easily capture this Zhao scout and ask for a reward, but they didn't expect that this Zhao scout was very good at equestrianism, and not only escaped, but also shot the two brothers who were pursuing. Several scouts reported this matter to Prince Mu, the commander of the Southern Army, Wan Yan Fu Shen, and was scolded by Wan Yan Fu Shen, Wan Yan Fu scolded them for being a few wastes, and the scouts of the Liao army were all elites who were transferred for ten miles, and a few people couldn't even catch a scout of the Zhao people. How can you not be angry?

"Why did you provoke the fourth uncle so angry?" Wan Yan Haiya heard Wan Yan Fushen's scolding and walked out of the back hall and asked. The inheritance principle of the Liao people is different from that of the Central Plains Dynasty, and the Liao people uphold the principle of inheritance based on merit rather than seniority. Wanyan Shengcong ranks fifth among the brothers, Wanyan Fushen is Wanyan Shengcong's half-brother, and Wanyan Fushen is still Wanyan Haiya's uncle in terms of generation.

Wanyan Fushen is good at military affairs, and among the nine brothers, Wanyan Fushen's ability to lead troops is second only to that of Liao Emperor Wanyan Shengcong. In the two battles of Liaoyang and Yingzhou, which determined the fortunes of the Manshu people, Wanyan Shengcong personally sat in Liaoyang, and Wanyan Fushen faced the Liaobei Expeditionary Army of the Great Zhao Empire to support Liaoyang, which was a kind of affirmation and trust of Wanyan Fushen.

Wanyan Haiya is still young and lacks experience, Wanyan Shengcong asked Wanyan Haiya to follow Wanyan Fushen to lead the troops, hoping that Wanyan Haiya can be tempered by Wanyan Fushen's side, after all, Wanyan Fushen has more than 30 years of experience in leading troops, and he is a well-deserved veteran of the Liao army. Of course, Wan Yan Fu is cautious, and there is another purpose for sending Wan Yan Haiya as the deputy marshal to follow Wan Yan Fushen's side.

"A few useless things, a few people can't even catch a scout of Nanzhao!" Wan Yan said cautiously.

"The little nephew heard that in the eyes of the Zhao people, the Zhao army in Liaodong has a sixth rank." Wanyan Haiya smiled and asked, "Is the fourth uncle interested in listening?" ”

After hearing Yan Haiya say this, Wan Yan Fushen became interested, "Where did the third nephew hear about the wild news?" Let's hear it. ”

"The lineage of Huang Yongtao, King of Jingliao in Jinzhou, western Liaoning, is the first class, the lineage under the command of Gonghe Fangxiong of Wu'an in southeast Liaoning is the second class, the lineage of Wu Tingzhen, the son of Yongyi Bo Wu Tingzhen of Liaoyang, and the palace guard of Song Yuli, the king of Liao, the lineage of Yu Yansong in northern Liaobei is the fourth class, the town army of the Southern Zhao court is the fifth class, and the tun army of various places is the sixth class."

Wan Yanfu thought about it cautiously, nodded and said, "What you said is also reasonable, the town army and the tun army in Liaodong are not to be feared, but the private soldiers of the four major and four families have the strength to fight." ”

"The Yu family has surrendered to my Great Liao, and the Wu family was also defeated by my Great Liao in Liaoyang, as for the remaining two, the Huang family in Jinzhou, we have not yet fought with their descendants, the He family in the southeast of Liao, and the Xiao cavalry battalion under its command showed no less combat power than my Great Liao Iron Cavalry in the first battle of Yingzhou." Wanyan Haiya said, "Before the Southern Zhao Imperial Court sent guest troops into Liaodong, my Great Liao and Southern Zhao fought for Liaodong, but it was better to fight for Liaodong with the Huang family and the He family. ”

Wanyan Fushen agreed with Wanyan Haiya's view, and fought with the Southern Zhao army in Liaodong for many years, and Wanyan Fushen was deeply touched by this. More than 200 years after the founding of the Southern Zhao Empire, the military discipline of the town army in various places was lax, the combat effectiveness was low, and the town army system had long existed in name only. The town army in Liaodong is already a very effective town army in the town army of the Great Zhao Empire, but it is vulnerable in front of the Liao army. On the contrary, the army of the wealthy family has relatively strong combat effectiveness, which is most obvious in Liaodong, which relies on the family to maintain the central rule of the imperial court. Wanyan Haiya is not yet twenty years old, and it is quite rare to have this kind of opinion, and he is worthy of his position as deputy marshal of the Southern Army. It is no wonder that Wanyan Shengcong prefers this son.

"The Huang family in western Liaoning, my Da Liao will not fight against them in a short period of time." Speaking of this, Yan Fushen paused and said, "But the He family in the southeast of Liaoning will be your and my opponent tomorrow, the third nephew, tell me what you think of the He family." ”

Wan Yan Haiya shook his head, "Fifth uncle, I can't see through it, for a long time, the Yu family, the Wu family and we have fought more frequently, and it is the first time that my Daliao has gone deep into the hinterland of eastern Liaoning, and there are not many opportunities to fight with these two families." On the He family's side, we have only fought with the Xiao Cavalry Battalion under his command, and the combat power of the He family's Xiao Cavalry Battalion is not under our Great Liao Army, but my nephew does not know how many teams like the Xiao Cavalry Battalion the He family has. ”

Wanyan Haiya still remembers the Xiao cavalry camp vividly, and the battle with the Xiao cavalry camp is the first vicious battle he encountered in his life, for two days and two nights, the Xiao cavalry camp of 3,000 people actually blocked the strong attack of more than 20,000 Manshu iron cavalry, and finally the Manshu army annihilated the He family's Xiao cavalry battalion, but also lost 5,000. The most humiliating thing for the Manshu people is that they did not find the military flag of the Xiaocai battalion after the war, and the fact that the military flag was not captured means that the Xiaocai battalion has not been completely defeated by him! Where is this flag hidden?!

"We really don't know enough about the He family, my Great Liao's entry into Liaodong is a rare opportunity in two hundred years, and the control of Liaodong is related to the survival of my Manshu people. Although our Great Liao occupies most of the eastern part of Liaodong, our two wings are not safe, and the western and southeastern Liaonings still pose a great threat to us. The emperor ordered us to wait for the southern expedition in the hope of eliminating the threat of southeastern Liao, so as to avoid the formation of an embarrassing situation of being attacked on both sides in the future. Wan Yan said cautiously, "This ...... It's a risky move. ”

"But my Da Liao has always been in danger to survive!" Wan Yan Haiya clenched his fists tightly.

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Pingshan Fort is built on a small hill, and the terrain is about twenty or thirty meters higher than the surrounding area. Twenty or thirty meters is not high, and the walls at the height of Jingshi City have the elevation of this small hill, but these twenty or thirty meters are very abrupt on the flat field. He Tengxiao stood at the north gate of Pingshan Fort and could even vaguely see the campfire in the Liao army camp in the north.

The situation at Pingshan Fort was not as he imagined. He Shifa, a thousand households of Pingshan Fort, had just absconded a few hours before they entered the fort, and he was nowhere to be found, and there were nearly five hundred Pingshan Fort defenders who fled with him. Only the defenders of the general banner remained and did not flee. Now He Tengxiao is standing on the city wall with Zhang Yuyang, the general flag who stayed behind, staring at the north.

"They'll be calling tomorrow at dawn, what do you do?" He Tengxiao asked with a sideways face.

"The soldiers are coming, the water is coming to cover the earth, what countermeasures can the subordinates have, they can only defend to the death." Zhang Yuyang replied with a relaxed face.

"Are you sure you're holding on to Pingshan Fort?" He Tengxiao stared at Zhang Yuyang with wide eyes. There are about sixty or seventy defenders left behind in Pingshan Fort, and there are nearly three hundred remnants of soldiers brought into Pingshan Fort by He Tengxiao, even if you count the young and strong, their total guard strength is only seven or eight hundred. Tomorrow they will face thousands of Manshulo soldiers.

"Nope."

Zhang Yuyang's answer made He Tengxiao feel vomiting blood, and he felt that you are ready to die. He Tengxiao flashed the idea of sneaking back to Gaizhou overnight in his mind at this time, but quickly dispelled this shameful thought, what if he absconded back to Gaizhou and stayed here now? He was originally a disciple of the He family who was (been) (side) (edge) (yuan) (transformed), and if he went back like this, would the He family accept him?

"But you're here, we may have hope to hold on to Pingshan Fort." Zhang Yuyang added.

He Tengxiao looked at Zhang Yuyang suspiciously, Zhang Yuyang slapped the solid female wall of Pingshan Fort hard, "As long as there are enough manpower, it will not be a problem for Pingshan Fort to be defended for two or three days, and within two or three days, the people of Manshu will retreat!" ”

Looking at Zhang Yuyang's sworn appearance, He Tengxiao really wanted to ask him, brother, where did you get your confidence?

"I'll take you somewhere." But Zhang Yuyang didn't give He Tengxiao this chance, and before He Tengxiao could speak, Zhang Yuyang turned around and went back to the castle.

"Where to go?"

Zhang Yuyang stepped down the steps with one foot, "Arsenal." ”