Finally sent troops!

Xu Liang was excited in his heart when he heard this, he had been in Yutian City for almost two months, and even the New Year was spent in Yutian City, and now, the opportunity to make contributions has finally arrived!

Xu Liang immediately asked Rou'er to take the battle armor, and after putting it up neatly, he called the iron head and went to the Liang army camp with Sima Qiudao to gather drums and soldiers.

In the barracks, He Huchen had already received the news and gathered other troops, and Sima Qiudao went to the camp to gather the Liang army.

When the soldiers in the barracks learned that they were finally going out of the city to engage the Houjin soldiers, they were all gearing up, and the speed at which the army was assembled was much faster than usual.

A quarter of an hour later, in addition to the 3,000 soldiers and generals who stayed in Yutian, Xu Liang gathered the other 16,000 soldiers and horses, and all the sabers were unsheathed and immediately wound, waiting for the order to leave the city with an excited expression.

Xu Liang and Sima begged, and He Huchen looked at each other excitedly in front of the general's platform, looking left and right, and several people were shocked to realize that the most important person was absent.

The commander of the Shaanxi soldiers, Hong Chengchou, the governor of Yansui, didn't come!

Xu Liang and the others looked at each other, it was impossible for Hong Chengchou not to know the news of the court's dispatch of troops, and according to common sense, he should be the first to get the news. Now that Xu Liang and the others have gathered their troops, they are waiting for him, the commander, to come and wave his hand and give the order to send troops!

How could he be absent?!

"How's Lord Hong?" Sima Qiudao asked Xu Liang in surprise.

Xu Liang rolled his eyes and said angrily: "Don't look at me, I don't know." ”

Sima Qiudao looked at He Huchen again, but saw that He Huchen also had a confused expression.

Xu Liang stomped his foot fiercely and said, "Don't look at it, let's go, let's go to Hong Zhongcheng in person." ”

So Xu Liang ordered several generals in the army to restrain the soldiers and seek advice from Sima himself. He Huchen and the three of them rushed to Yutian County to see Hong Chengchou.

The three of them successfully entered the Yutian County Ya, and when they entered the second hall, they saw Hong Chengchou, the governor of Yansui, wearing a set of court clothes and a black cloak on his back, and was anxiously walking around the house.

When Xu Liang and the three of them entered, Xu Liang asked, "Zhongcheng." The court has sent troops! The lower officials and others have gathered 16,000 soldiers and horses, and the whole army is ready to go, just waiting for Zhongcheng to give your order to send troops! ”

Hong Chengchou's face was even more anxious, looking at Xu Liang, Sima Qiudao, and He Huchen, facing the eager eyes of the three people, Hong Chengchou sighed and said slowly: "The official of the court has long known about sending troops. It's just that. So far, this official has not received the order to go out from Lord Sun Chengzong. Sending troops without a military order is a big sin to lose your head. ”

When Xu Liang and the others heard this, they felt panicked for no reason. Xu Liang hesitated and said: "Zhongcheng, our army has been assembled, maybe Lord Sun is busy with affairs and has left out our Shaanxi soldiers." ”

Xu Liang said, but he couldn't even convince himself. Who is Sun Chengzong? It was a cabinet scholar and a secretary of the military department, and he was strategizing. The decisive figure of a thousand miles, marching and arranging. Will the 20,000 Shaanxi soldiers stationed in such a conspicuous place in Yutian City be omitted?

The joke is not funny at all.

Sima Qiudao and He Huchen's faces were ugly, and Hong Chengchou sneered: "Maybe." ”

He Huchen was holding back the anger in his heart, looked at Hong Chengchou, and asked in a deep voice: "Zhongcheng, what should we do now?" Sending troops or not? ”

He Huchen's purpose in coming to the capital was very clear, he wanted to get some military merits and good officials to be reinstated. If he can't even go to the battlefield in the end, won't his desire to be reinstated become an extravagant hope?

Everyone present understood He Huchen's situation, and Hong Chengchou frowned and hesitated.

Seeing this, He Huchen's face became even more difficult to look at, and he faintly felt annoyed.

Xu Liang took two steps forward. Chao Hong Chengchou suggested: "Zhongcheng, in my opinion, let's pull the army out of the city and set up a formation. In this way, when the army of the court passed through Yutian, we could also see the determination of our Shaanxi soldiers to serve the country. If Master Sun really forgets our Shaanxi soldiers, he can also think of us when he sees our military formation. ”

Hong Chengchou's eyes lit up when he heard this, and when he saw He Huchen looking at him with blank eyes, he nodded slowly and said, "Well, just pulling the army out of the city to line up is not a violation of military orders. ”

With Hong Chengchou's consent, Sima Qiudao and He Huchen returned to the barracks, and pulled the assembled 16,000 soldiers to the east gate of Yutian City, and set up formations along both sides of the official road, waiting for the arrival of the army of the court.

Xu Liang and Hong Chengchou, Huang Daozhou and others then also arrived outside the East City Gate, and soon a sentinel Pegasus returned and reported to Hong Chengchou: "Report, the court officials and troops are marching in the direction of Yutian, thirty miles away from here. ”

Hong Chengchou waved his hand and said, "Explore again!" ”

After waving off the sentry, Hong Chengchou faced the west, his face sinking like water. Xu Liang tightened the cloak on his body and said to Huang Daozhou on the side: "Dao Zhou, the court officials and soldiers must be tired after a long march, you go and prepare some white-flour steamed buns or something, put them on the side of the road, and reward the court officials and soldiers." ”

Huang Daozhou saw that Hong Chengchou did not object to Xu Liang's proposal, so he said yes, turned around and went back to the city, and prepared his things.

Soon another sentinel Pegasus returned, and the official army was only twenty miles away from Yutian City.

An hour later, from the west of Yutian City, a burst of yellow clouds suddenly floated, and when they got closer, Xu Liang and others could see it clearly, it was a cavalry galloping on horseback, the sound of heavy horse hooves came from far and near, and every stampede seemed to sound in Xu Liang's mind, and a cavalryman carried a red military flag on his shoulder, with a big "ancestor" on it.

The knight galloped on the horse, the ancestral banner hunted and hunted, behind the banner, there was a neat cavalry formation, among which a middle-aged general in cyan armor, with a cold face, facing the Shaanxi military array standing on both sides of the official road, his face remained unchanged, when he passed by Hong Chengchou and Xu Liang and others, his gloomy eyes swept Xu Liang and others, and he passed by the horse expressionlessly.

This cavalry is enough to have thousands of people, facing the black pressure of the Shaanxi army formation on both sides of the official road, the pace of the cavalry did not see the slightest confusion, the middle-aged general did not stop, although the cavalry behind him also looked curiously at the Shaanxi army formation on both sides of the official road, but no one left the team.

As for the several baskets of steaming white-flour steamed buns that Huang Daozhou specially ordered people to place on the side of the official road, no one took a look at the entire cavalry team.

After the cavalry, the dust raised covered the entire official road. The Shaanxi soldiers on both sides of the official road were turned into disgrace.

Xu Liang and the others all watched the cavalry team of thousands of people shuttle through with complicated expressions. Seeing the military flag, Xu Liang and the others understood the identity of this cavalry team, the Liaodong Iron Cavalry led by the Liaodong General Soldier Zu Dashou! Hong Chengchou sighed: "I think that among the millions of troops in the Ming Dynasty, only the Liaodong Iron Cavalry can have such momentum." It is said that the soldiers are bearing. will be a nest of bears, the ancestral general soldiers are so strong that they are all brave when they wave the cavalry! ”

Xu Liang, Sima Qiudao, He Huchen, Huang Daozhou and others all nodded in agreement. Although Zu Dashou and his cavalry did not give Hong Chengchou any face, everyone felt that such Zu Dashou and Liaodong Iron Cavalry were in line with everyone's expectations.

If only the Liaodong Iron Cavalry didn't shuttle without squinting. Instead, he stopped to shake hands with the Shaanxi army, or enjoyed the food specially prepared by Huang Daozhou, or the general soldier of Duzu personally dismounted and greeted Hong Chengchou politely, with a scene of hello, hello, hello, everyone, Xu Liang and others will be disappointed a lot.

Watching Zu Dashou's cavalry pass with a complicated face, Sima Qiudao and He Huchen returned to the Shaanxi military formation and re-stopped the slightly scattered team. Keep the military formation neat.

And not long after Zu Dashou left, the heavy sound of horses' hooves sounded again in the distance. Xu Liang and the others looked at it. This time, it was another cavalry team, dressed in the same way as Zu Dashou's troops, except that the number was only about 2,000 people, and the flag was changed from the ancestral character to the horse character.

Xu Liang and the others' eyes shrank, and their expressions became complicated again.

This time the team came over. is also an acquaintance of Xu Liang and others: Ma Shilong, a general in Liaodong.

The cavalry team rode in front of Xu Liang and others, and Ma Shilong, who was on the horse, suddenly raised his right hand, and the cavalry behind him drank their mounts one after another, and the entire cavalry team stopped in front of Xu Liang and others.

Ma Shilong bent down from the horse's back and smiled coldly at Hong Chengchou. Yin Yang said strangely: "Yo, isn't this Lord Hong stationed in Yutian?" Lord Hong, what do you mean by pulling all the troops in the city outside the city and setting up in formation? ”

Ma Shilong squinted his eyes and looked at the Shaanxi military formations on both sides of the official road, and suddenly laughed: "General Ben understands, you are sending our Liaodong Iron Cavalry out to kill the enemy!" Oh, Lord Hong is too polite, you and I are both serving the country, why do you have such a grand farewell ceremony? ”

Xu Liang and the others all had angry faces, and their eyes were quite unkind when they looked at Ma Shilong.

Hong Chengchou arched his hand with a calm face and said: "General Ma said that he laughed, this official gathered the army, and he also wanted to follow Master Sun to go on the expedition. ”

Ma Shilong faced the angry gaze of Xu Liang and others, he didn't realize it, he looked up to the sky and snorted, his eyes rolled wildly, and suddenly he saw the baskets of steaming steamed buns, and couldn't help grinning and laughing: "Lord Hong is so enthusiastic!" I actually prepared a reward for General Ben to eat! ”

Xu Liang couldn't help but shouted: "General Ma misunderstood, these freshly steamed steamed buns are the breakfast of our Shaanxi soldiers, in order to gather the team to go out with Lord Sun, some of our soldiers don't have time to eat breakfast, and plan to take them with them on the march to eat." ”

Xu Liang is talking nonsense with his eyes open, since receiving the news of the court's dispatch of troops, all the Shaanxi soldiers have been waiting for so long outside the city, the time is past noon, and it is said that it is early at this time, but it is far-fetched.

Ma Shilong's face changed, and he stared at Xu Liang with cold eyes.

Xu Liang glared back without showing weakness.

Ma Shilong suddenly looked up to the sky and laughed, the whip in his hand made a crisp sound, and shouted to the cavalry behind him: "The soldiers of Liaodong, cheer up the general!" It is rare that the brother troops of Shaanxi will send us off on the road, but they can't fall into the majesty of our Liaodong Iron Cavalry! ”

"Yes!" The cavalry behind him burst into a deafening echo.

Ma Shilong smiled coldly, slammed the horse's belly, and shouted: "Go!" ”

The cavalry led by Ma Shilong rolled up even more choking dust, passed through the Shaanxi military formation, and walked away.

"Phew! What is it! Xu Liang scolded.

Ma Shilong's attitude made Xu Liang and the others very unhappy, and if everyone waited any longer, the atmosphere was a little heavy.

Hong Chengchou looked in the direction of the west and muttered, "Next, Lord Sun should arrive, right?" ”

Everyone can see that Zu Dashou and Ma Shilong in the past can only be regarded as the vanguard of this expedition, and the real main force should be the infantry team led by Sun Chengzong.

Everyone waited patiently for nearly an hour, and the nearly 50,000 foot team led by Sun Chengzong finally arrived. The court infantry who could not see the end at a glance lined up in a long line, marching in a neat pace, passing outside the east gate of Yutian City in turn, following the footprints of the previous Liaodong Iron Cavalry, and marching in the direction of Luancheng.

Xu Liang and the others stared at the marching infantry without blinking. Finally, Sun Chengzong's carriage drove over.

The carriage deviated from the infantry ranks, turned to the side, and stopped in front of Hong Chengchou and the others. The curtain of the carriage was lifted, and Sun Chengzong, a cabinet scholar and secretary of the military department, poked his head out of the carriage and looked at Hong Chengchou and the others.

Hong Chengchou hurriedly walked to the carriage and bowed his hand to Sun Chengzong: "My lord, the lower official has 16,000 Shaanxi sons, and he has been waiting here for a long time. ”

Sun Chengzong stroked his long beard, nodded approvingly, and said: "Lord Hong and you stick to Yutian City, raise troops for the court, and prepare for the war to gain valuable time. ”

Saying that, Sun Chengzong even bowed his head slightly to Xu Liang, Sima Qiudao, He Huchen, Huang Daozhou and others behind Hong Chengchou.

Xu Liang listened to the meaning of Sun Chengzong's words, and secretly said something bad in his heart. Sun Chengzong saw the Shaanxi army formation that was driven to the outside of the city, and did not mention the matter of going out with the army, but talked about the credit of sticking to Yutian City.

Hong Chengchou's face also changed slightly, and he reported respectfully: "My lord, I heard that my lord personally led the army of tigers and wolves in the court to go on the expedition, and the lower officials and 20,000 Shaanxi sons were overjoyed. Now, in addition to arranging the troops stationed in Yutian City, the remaining 16,000 Shaanxi soldiers are gathered outside the city, willing to follow Lord Sun to wave down, drive out the Houjin soldiers, resist the enemy outside, and serve the heart of the country with fists, hoping that Lord Sun will be fulfilled. ”

Sun Chengzong frowned when he heard this, and said in a deep voice: "Lord Hong, the expulsion of Houjin and the recovery of lost territory are major matters of concern to the court, and the determination of Shaanxi soldiers to be loyal to the country is understood by this official, but the two countries are at war, not child's play, and need to be arranged as a whole." Frontline encounters are important, but holding the rear cannot be ignored either. Lord Hong, the commander of the expedition has been carefully arranged, and the task of the others is to continue to hold on to Yutian City and prevent the Houjin soldiers from attacking the Beijing Division again. ”

Although Sun Chengzong spoke slowly, his tone was quite resolute. Xu Liang and the others heard it clearly, and they couldn't help but become anxious, and they couldn't stop signaling to Hong Chengchou with their eyes.

Hong Chengchou anxiously begged: "But, my lord, my Shaanxi soldiers prefer to follow your lord into battle to kill the enemy." ”

Sun Chengzong's face was slightly gloomy, and he looked at Hong Chengchou unhappily, and said: "The capital is important, there is no room for mistakes, Lord Hong should know the priority of things." ”

Hong Chengchou was stunned when he heard this, and looked at Sun Chengzong in a daze.

Xu Liang heard it clearly, and when he saw that Sun Chengzong had finished explaining this sentence, he planned to sit back in the carriage, so he couldn't help but take two steps forward in a hurry, and said loudly: "Lord Sun, my Shaanxi soldiers were originally the pawns of adults, charging into battle, and serving the country with death!" ”

Behind him, Sima begged, and when He Huchen and others saw this, they also stepped forward and bowed their hands with Xu Liang.

Sun Chengzong's figure froze, he looked at Xu Liang and the other three deeply, his eyes fell on Hong Chengchou again, and he said in a deep voice: "Hong Chengchou, this official has handed over the important task of guarding the Beijing Division to you, if the Beijing Master has the slightest mistake, this official is the only one who asks!" That's it, you're doing it yourself! With that, Sun Chengzong sat back in the carriage, lowered the curtain, and the carriage returned to the marching infantry and marched with the team.

That's ...... Finished? Xu Liang's body stiffened, and he watched Sun Chengzong's carriage drift away in a daze, lost, and depressed emotions instantly filled his entire chest. (To be continued......)