On the fourth day of the seventh month of the fourth year of Chongzhen, Shi Dayong, a general of Jinzhou, led 2,000 soldiers and horses to rescue Dalinghe City and withdrew without a fight.

When the news came, there was an uproar in Jinzhou City, the wind direction changed suddenly, and everyone said that Shi Dayong was a "general who does not fight", and the people in the market scolded him. Some indignant literati made up nursery rhymes for children to sing them, and the lyrics were extremely mocking, so that none of the soldiers dared to go out of the camp, and they all felt gloomy.

There are several officials and gentry to the governor's yamen, wanting to ask the governor Qiu Hejia to severely punish the "general who does not fight", Qiu Hejia was angry and ordered Shi Dayong to be tied up left and right, to treat him for the crime of not fighting, fortunately the general soldier Song Wei interceded, and said that Shi Dayong had a bloody battle before, and today he is outnumbered by the enemy without fighting, and he can be saved by manpower, and he can be lightly dismissed. After this plea, Qiu Hejia ordered Shi Dayong to listen to the army in front of the guilty body.

…………

On the eighth day of the seventh month, Jingluo Sun Chengzong urgently summoned Qiu Hejia, the governor of Liaodong, Wu Xiang, the general soldier of Liaodong, and Song Wei, the chief soldier of Shanhaiguan, to the gate for urgent discussion.

Sun Chengzong, who had been sick for many days, had a sallow face and was very weak when he spoke. Originally, he couldn't get out of bed with this body, but he felt that the military situation was urgent, so he insisted on being supported by his subordinates and summoned a group of civil and military officers in the main hall.

"Hong Tai's move is intended to cut off the connection between Dashou and Jinzhou, if Hong Tai's conspiracy succeeds, Daling River will become a lonely city, and Dashou's 15,000 elite soldiers will be in danger. Therefore, this official can't wait for the will of the imperial court, and I want you to immediately organize people to come to the rescue and drive away the Jin soldiers between Jinzhou and the Daling River to relieve the siege of the Daling River! ”

Hearing this, Qiu Hejia was overjoyed, but he got up and was embarrassed: "The lower officials have long had the intention of breaking the siege, but Jinzhou is empty, and the lower officials have no soldiers to send." After speaking, he glanced at Wu Xiang and Song Wei intentionally or unintentionally.

Sun Chengzong understood what he was referring to, nodded slightly, and said: "The affairs of Jinzhou, the officials all know about it. Looking at Wu Xiang and Song Wei, he said: "The two commanders, this official wants to make the two of you return to Jinzhou, and then lead the military department to help Dalinghe, I don't know if you two have any objections?" ”

Wu Xiang hurriedly took two steps forward and blurted out: "The last general is ordered!" ”

Song Wei hesitated slightly, then stepped forward and nodded: "If you have a little fate, how dare the last general disobey." ”

Sun Chengzong said meaningfully to Song Wei: "The headquarters is there, and the official will explain that Song Taibao does not need to have any worries, and the relief of the siege of the Daling River is related to the great plan of Pingliao, and I hope that Song Taibao and General Wu can work together to solve this crisis." ”

Hearing this, Song Wei glanced at Wu Xiang, although he was unwilling to help with this person, but Sun Chengzong had already said this, and he couldn't help but express it. Chong Wu Xiang hugged his fist and said in a deep voice: "To be able to rescue Da Linghe with General Wu is a blessing for Song Mou's third life." I also hope that in this battle, I can go hand in hand with General Wu and break the siege in one fell swoop! ”

Wu Xiang hurriedly returned the salute and said with a smile: "With Song Taibao fighting together, Wu's heart can be regarded as steady." Inside and outside the closed door, who doesn't know that those who can fight well will not be able to leave the Taibao! ”

"General Wu is polite, when it comes to killing the enemy on this battlefield, it still belongs to your Liaodong Army, but Song's subordinates are inferior."

Song Wei said this obviously wrong, in his heart, he looked down on Wu Xiang, if it wasn't for the light of his brother-in-law's ancestral birthday, how could Wu Xiang be able to be a high position in the general army of Liaodong. Moreover, his ancestors' soldiers and horses fought desperately, and they all worked hard to fight with the wind, and when there was a problem, they ran faster than anyone else. If you fight with his Liaodong ancestors, you must keep an eye on it, otherwise you will be sold and help the other party count the silver.

Wu and Song didn't know each other, Sun Chengzong knew the Tao in his heart, he didn't want to ask these two to come to the aid together, but the approval of the imperial court had not yet come down, and the closed army could not be mobilized. The only ones that can be adjusted are the soldiers and horses under the command of the governor of Liaodong, that is, the two departments of Song Wei and Wu Xiang. At this point, there is no other choice, good or bad is them.

Qiu Hejia organized reinforcements the day before yesterday, and Shi Dayong, who led the troops, also won a great victory under the Daling River last month, but he didn't want to flee without a fight this time, and he was angry, I heard that he saw the shadow of the golden soldier from a distance and fled, it was really embarrassing! If it weren't for the fact that he had just made a great achievement, he would have been cut down. How can my Ming army tolerate such gutless rats!

Zu Dashou, Zu Dashou, you must hold on to me, the old man will never abandon you, but I hope you can guard until the reinforcements arrive.

Staring at the northeast, Sun Chengzong's face was a little worried. He can't help but worry, he can't be afraid, this time it is the main force of the Eight Banners led by the slave chief Hong Tai personally who surrounded the Daling River, and he is determined to win. And the elite of the Liaodong Army is all in the Daling River, if this is defeated, not only the elite of the Liaodong Army will be lost, but the Dalinghe City will be destroyed again, so when will the plan of Pingliao be realized?

Your Majesty, the minister has done his best.

The minister is old, and he is afraid that it will not be long before he closes the door, but he looks forward to relieving the siege of the Daling River, and the minister will return to his hometown.

(Author's note: "Headquarters" here refers to the meaning of the book of the Ministry of War; Song Wei was awarded the title of Prince Taibao for his merits, so he was also called "Song Taibao". ）

…………….

Jinzhou, Governor's Yamen, in the study. Qiu Hejia and Shi Dayong sat opposite each other.

After a moment of silence, Qiu Hejia opened his mouth to break the silence: "The two general soldiers of Wu and Song will come to the aid tomorrow, have you thought clearly?" ”

Shi Dayong nodded and said: "The last general has thought clearly, the last general is incompetent, he lived up to the high expectations of Lord Futai last time, and fled without a fight, and this time he has no face to go to the aid of the two general soldiers of Wu and Song." ”

"Do you really blame you?"

Qiu Hejia sighed and said slowly: "After you left the city that day, Benfu regretted it. At that time, Ben Fu only said that you can't come back if you go, but I don't want you to come back, to be honest, after Ben Fu heard the news that you left without a fight, he was not angry, but happy. ”

"Rejoice?" Shi Dayong was stunned.

Qiu Hejia nodded: "It's joy, it's good that Benfu didn't send you to Huangquan Road with his own hands." Speaking of this, he sighed again and said with a wry smile: "But although you didn't die in battle, you got the notorious reputation of "general who doesn't fight", presumably you have had enough of the world's attention these days." Alas, it's all because Benfu is too impatient, bent on saving the ancestors' birthday, but ignoring the fact that the enemy is outnumbered, so that you are not advancing or retreating. ”

Qiu Hejia, with the respect of the governor, was able to say such intimate words to himself, Shi Dayong was moved in his heart, and said busily: "In fact, I am afraid of death at the end, and Lord Futai doesn't have to blame himself too much." ”

"If you are afraid of death, then there is no one in this world who is afraid of death. That's it, there is no need to mention the past. Dayong, if you think about it, it's not that Ben Fu is forcing you to go, but that Wu and Song have 6,000 cavalry under their command, which can fight with the Jin army. Wouldn't it be good if you let them go, even if you can't make meritorious contributions, and you can also wash away the shame of being a non-fighting general? ”

Qiu Hejia is really thinking about Shi Dayong, there is no way, who let this Shi Dayong be his only descendant, and let him be so optimistic. He really wants to cultivate Shi Dayong, so that he can become his right-hand man better. With this aid to wash away the shame of the "non-fighting general", if he can make great contributions to Dalinghe City again, not only Shi Dayong's future can be guaranteed, but he also has a bright face as the governor.

But Shi Dayong still refused, he said his true words, and said: "Forgive the last general, the last general is not optimistic about the two general soldiers of Wu and Song to come to the aid this time. ”

Qiu Hejia was surprised and asked, "Why do you say that?" ”

Shi Dayong said in a deep voice: "The last general heard that the two commanders were not in harmony, and led the army to fight, and the most taboo friendly troops were suspicious of each other. In case the time of reinforcement, the two commanders will be at odds again, and the battle will be lost if it is not fought. ”

"This aid is deployed by Lord Liu, and it is related to the safety of Dalinghe City, and the safety of thousands of soldiers and civilians, I am afraid that Wu and Song will not ignore the overall situation, right?" Qiu Hejia didn't believe that Wu Xiang and Song Wei dared to have a discord over such a big matter.

Shi Dayong couldn't tell if the two were at odds, anyway, he knew that tomorrow's aid would definitely be a defeat, and if it was a defeat, he didn't want to join in the fun. Anyway, now everyone in Jinzhou City thinks that he is a general who does not fight and a general who escapes, and it doesn't matter if he is infamous as a coward.

There are many opportunities to prove yourself, and there is no need to accompany Wu Song and the others to this troubled water.

Luck doesn't always befall you.

"The last general is not sure whether the two general soldiers of Wu and Song will be defeated, but the last general feels that the two general soldiers will definitely take away all the elites in the city tomorrow. Therefore, the last general must stay, although the last general's subordinates do not have many soldiers and horses, but it is not a problem to hold on to the city. ”

In order to make Qiu Hejia no longer want to go with him tomorrow, Shi Dayong came up with the best excuse, that is, Jinzhou is empty.

Qiu Hejia thought about it and felt that Shi Dayong's concerns might not appear, so he nodded and said: "In this case, you have to take on the heavy responsibility of defending the city tomorrow, and nothing can go wrong." ”

Shi Dayong breathed a sigh of relief and responded: "Lord Futai can rest assured, but if there is still a mouthful in the end, this Jinzhou will not be lost!" ”