"Your Majesty, Houba is back." At the moment when Shi Hu was anxious, Hou Ba, the owner of the Longteng Guards Battalion, rushed back and walked into Shi Hu's Chinese army tent as soon as possible.

"Houba, you're finally back, why have you been gone for so long." Shi Hu asked with concern.

Hou Ba's face was overjoyed, and he hugged his fists and said: "Your Majesty, the last general rode his horse directly to the north bank of Huaishui, and after resting for a while, he rode his horse back again, so he delayed some effort. ”

"Ride directly to the north bank of Huaishui." Shi Hu was stunned when he heard this, and then said with great joy: "Houba, you mean that the Huaishui is frozen, and you can run directly to the other side." ”

"Back to the king, that's exactly the case, now, the Huaishui moat that blocked my army from going north has become a smooth road, and my 20,000 troops of Zhao can easily withdraw to Yecheng." Hou Ba said excitedly.

"Hahahaha! God won't kill me! Huaishui froze, this is the will of heaven, is God's favor for the king, the order to go down, the three armies immediately assembled, ready to retreat. Shi Hu ordered loudly.

"Yes, Your Majesty." Hou Ba clenched his fists and turned to give the order.

Half an hour later, the 20,000 horses under Shi Hu's command had already assembled in Xiquyang, and they could immediately march to the shore of Huaishui after Shi Hu's order.

Shi Hu was draped all over his body, and with the support of the guards, he stepped on the war horse, and the generals under his command rode the horse behind him.

At this time, it was already noon, and the snowflakes in the sky still did not stop, and the climate was still unbearable.

Shi Hu looked at Hou Ba beside him and said softly: "Open the city gate, all the soldiers, prepare to go." ”

"Open the gates. Ready to go. Hou Ba yelled.

......With a heavy friction sound, the north gate of Xiquyang was slowly opened.

After the gates were opened. The light cavalry battalion, which was the pioneer of the way, a total of 1,000 light cavalry, immediately set off. Take the lead in running to the shore of the Huaishui River due north.

Shi Hu and his generals, under the protection of the Longteng Guards Battalion, then marched, walking behind the vanguard battalion, and then the main cavalry and infantry in turn.

Since the baggage troops had been wiped out by the Northern Expeditionary Army as early as the Overlord Valley, the Zhao army did not have baggage troops. All rations were put on each soldier's body.

The 20,000 troops of Zhao State, braving the heavy snow and stepping on a foot of thick snow, slowly marched to the shore of Huaishui north of Quyang in the west, and such a large-scale withdrawal was soon discovered by the scouts of the Northern Expeditionary Army.

After the scouts of the Northern Expeditionary Army learned of this situation, they immediately rode back to the camp of the Northern Expeditionary Army and prepared to report to Hua'an.

At this time, Hua An was taking Tie Niu, Wang Wu and other generals. Inspect the stables and instruct the soldiers on how to keep the horses warm and build a windbreak wall, so that the soldiers must build a sturdy one. Don't leak.

Looking at the war horse trembling because of the hair loss, Hua An's heart was very uncomfortable. When he was fighting in Jiaozhou, the reason why he ordered the hair of the war horse to be reduced. It's all about making the war horse cooler, and it's also to love the war horse.

But Huaan couldn't have thought of it. In just over a month, the war horse whose hair has not grown all has to face the test of severe cold.

"Big brother, big brother." Just when Hua An touched the war horse and sighed, Wang San hurriedly walked over.

Hua An looked at Wang San and said, "Wang San, what's the matter, so in a hurry." ”

"Big brother, the army of Zhao in Xiquyang has made a big move." Wang San hurriedly replied.

Hua An frowned and asked, "What big moves did Shi Hu make?" ”

"According to the scout's report, Shihu's main army has quietly withdrawn from Xiquyang and marched due north, with unclear intentions." Wang San replied truthfully.

Hearing this, Tie Niu frowned, and interjected: "Marching in the direction of due north, big brother, there is a Huaishui barrier there, where is the army of Zhao Guo going?" ”

"Big brother, is it possible that Shihu's army wants to swim across the Huaishui?" Wang Wu interjected.

Hearing this news, Hua An's mind was also a little inexplicable for a while, paused, looked at the generals, and said, "Let's go, go to the big tent to discuss." After speaking, he strode in the direction of the big tent.

"Click." Hua An had just taken a few steps when his feet slipped and he almost fell.

"Big brother, big brother." Wang San and the others saw that Hua An was about to fall, so they hurriedly stepped forward to help Hua An up.

Hua'an stood up and stared at his feet, it turned out that he had stepped on a piece of frozen ground, the ice was easy to slip, and it was not surprising that Hua'an was almost fallen.

"It's freezing in the stables, it's really cold." Tie Niu said casually.

The speaker had no intention of listening, Hua An was stunned for a moment when he heard this, and suddenly his eyes widened, and he shouted: "Oh no, the Shihu army should have slipped away, and I blame me for being careless!" With that, he paced in the stable.

Seeing Hua An's remorseful expression, all the generals were a little puzzled, and hurriedly asked why.

Hua An pointed to the ice under his feet, frowned, and said, "You see, the stables are frozen, so will Huaishui also freeze?" ”

When the generals heard this, they were all taken aback.

Tie Niu first said: "Big brother, we have lived between Jianghuai for so many years, and Huaishui has never frozen. ”

"That's right, I've heard of the Yellow River frozing, but I've never heard of Huaishui frozen! Probably not! Wang Wu followed.

Hua An looked at Wang San and asked, "Wang San, what is your opinion?" ”

"Big brother, although Huaishui has never frozen, the shore of Huaishui has never been so cold! Since Shi Hu personally led the main army to the shore of Huaishui, it seemed to tell us that Huaishui had frozen. Wang San frowned and analyzed.

Seeing that what Wang San said was reasonable, all the generals nodded approvingly.

"General, General Zhao's personal army captain is here, and I have something important to report." At this moment, the captain of the pro-soldier under Zhao Wu hurriedly came.

"Let him in." Hua An ordered.

Soon, the captain of the pro-soldier under Zhao Wu walked in, this person, Hua An knew, was indeed the owner of the pro-military camp under Zhao Wu, and he was a veteran from Thundercloud Castle.

"You're in a hurry, what's the matter?" As soon as Captain Zhao Wu walked in, Hua An asked.

The captain hurriedly hugged his fists and said: "General Yu, the last general was ordered by General Zhao to lead five hundred soldiers with good water in the army, take fifty small boats, go upstream, and ambush in the place where the Zhao army of Xiquyang must cross the Huaishui in the north, but unexpectedly, last night's cold wind together, all fifty small boats were frozen, and the soldiers all hid in the cabin to avoid the cold, early this morning, there were more than a dozen Zhao cavalry riding horses to cross the Huaishui directly, and the last general did not take it to heart, but then thought about it carefully, since more than a dozen cavalry of the Zhao army can cross the Huaishui on horseback, Then the main force of the Zhao army of 20,000 horses can naturally cross the Huaishui, so the last general took a few personal soldiers and rushed to report to the general, but it was a step too late, when the last general went ashore, he had already seen the main force of the Zhao army, which was pressed to the shore of the Huaishui in the dark, and the last general horse was fast, so he escaped, and several soldiers who came together were shot by the Zhao army. ”

"What, the Shihu army has fled." Suddenly, the generals beside Hua'an all looked at each other.

Hua An sighed secretly and said, "It's really better to be a human being than a heavenly one!" Our army has encircled Shihu's army, and even Shihu's retreat to the north across the Huaishui River is under the control of our army. ”

"Big brother, maybe it's the will of God, Shi Hu's life shouldn't be extinguished!" Wang San whispered a word of comfort.

"Hmph, Shi Hu is cruel and unreasonable, and he has done a lot of evil, his life should have been extinguished a long time ago." The thunderstorm roared loudly.

Wang Wu looked at Hua'an and said, "Big brother, Shihu's army has just left, and our army is pursuing now, maybe we can catch up." ”

Hua An shook his head and said, "The snow is so thick, it is not convenient for the army to pursue, besides, the soldiers of our army are thinly dressed, so forget it!" This time it is Zhao Jun's fate, and the next time we meet, I won't have such good luck. ”

"Big brother, since Xiquyang is already an empty city, why don't we drive the army into Xiquyang, the city must be warmer than this wilderness!" The iron bull opened his mouth to build a yì road.

Hua An nodded and said, "Okay, the army will march in batches and march to Xiquyang." ”

"Yes, big brother." Thunderstorm and others took the order.

Half an hour later, the 10,000 infantry under the command of Tie Niu first marched to Xiquyang, and occupied the entire Xiquyang very smoothly.

Subsequently, the Thunderstorm Legion also entered Xiquyang, and then the men and horses under Wang Wu and Wang Liu, all entered Xiquyang smoothly, and the entire Xiquyang, so to speak, has been filled with Hua'an's Northern Expeditionary Army.

After successfully occupying Xiquyang, Hua'an hurriedly sent his own soldiers to the Yangzhou Army to inform the generals of the Yangzhou Army that Shihu's army had successfully escaped.

Knowing that Shihu's army had all fled, and that Xiquyang had been recovered by the Northern Expeditionary Army, the generals of the Yangzhou Army were slightly disappointed, and after discussing for a while, they led the army to retreat and enter the nearest city in the south to rest.

######

The 20,000 troops of Zhao State, braving the goose feather snow and stepping on a foot of thick snow, finally crossed the Huaishui under the leadership of Shi Hu.

At the moment of arriving at the north bank of Huaishui, Shi Hu's heart was finally let go, and the soldiers under his command were also greatly relieved, they could finally return to their hometown alive.

On the north bank of Huaishui, Shi Hu rode his horse and stood on the shore, looking at the soldiers who walked by one after another, and there was a trace of sadness in his eyes.

This time in the southern expedition, Shi Hu wanted to set foot in the south of the Yangtze River in one fell swoop, but he did not expect to not only fail to get his wish, but also lost a large number of soldiers and horses, which was the heaviest loss among his several southern expeditions.

Of course, the reason why the losses were particularly heavy was not that the combat strength of the soldiers and horses under Shi Hu's command was inferior to that of the Jin army, but because of the reason for the two consecutive fire attacks. (To be continued......)