"General An, please." Li Kechong knelt on the ground and said.

"General Li Shi, I have troops in my hands, or you go to Dingzhou, I heard that General Cao, General Mi, and General Cui withdrew to Dingzhou together, and they have some troops in their hands, and Cao Zhizhou (Cao Can) has always had a good relationship with Song Gong, maybe he will agree to you." An Zhong said.

Li Kechong immediately got on his horse and galloped towards Dingzhou, he galloped from Qigou Pass to Xiongzhou, encountered many ambushes on the way, and even clearly saw two ambushes, so that ten companions came to Xiongzhou, two were wounded, and five died heroically, of course, this was expected, but he knew that the situation was serious.

Seeing the three of them leaving, An Zhong shouted: "Come on, quickly pass the order, let all the people on the border move to the rear, and the soldiers enter their respective forts and prepare for defense." ”

Song Jiu placed the connection point in Baigoutun, which was only thirty miles away from Xiongzhou.

Can An Zhong not be nervous?

Li Kechong and the three of them rushed to Dingzhou, and the sky was about to dawn, so they forcibly shouted to open the city gate and broke in.

Cao Bin fled back with Mi Xin, Cui Yanjin and others, and before Song Jiu stabilized the situation, countless soldiers and civilians had actually died, killed by the Liao army, drowned by jumping into the Juma River, trampled to death by humans and animals, including some officials and generals. For example, the right counselor, the future governor of Youzhou, Liu Baoxun, went to the front line with the army, and when he escaped, the horse fell into the swamp, and his son Liu Lishe was not saved in the back, but the Liao army came up, one by one, and both father and son died. In the palace, Cheng Kongyi followed the army to protect the grain, and in a hurry, he jumped into the Juma River, not knowing the water, and the river was the rainy and flood season. The water was turbulent, and I also met the king of Yama.

But most of the high-ranking officials died civilians. The generals are very clever, except for the death of countless low-level generals. The high-ranking generals either gathered around Song Jiu and were desperate, or they all had their own ways and fled to Dingzhou City.

Hearing Li Kechong's report, Cao Bin said in embarrassment: "The Liao army is strong, we have brought out very few soldiers, morale is low, where is the main force in Song Xianggong, how can we rescue it." ”

"Gong Cao, you don't look at Duke Song's face. It also depends on the face of tens of thousands of soldiers. ”

"Father, Song Xianggong said that he was picked up in Baigoutun, where is very close to Xiongzhou. If you can respond, you will respond, and if you can't, you can withdraw to Xiongzhou in time. Just promise him. Cao Can said.

"You kid is good, better than your old man, dare not, dare, the old man still has more than 3,000 soldiers and horses. Let's go to Xiongzhou together. Cui Yanjin said.

When he was in Bashu, the benevolence of Song Jiu's women once made Cui Yanjin dissatisfied. Later, he made many military exploits in Hebei, and Song Jiu respected him very much in the court. He also often exchanged letters to exchange information on the border defense situation in Hebei and during military reform. Although the subordinate emperor abolished the rights of the Jiedu envoys, many rights were released to the defense envoys and regimental training envoys. It gave the border generals a lot of room to move. So Cui Yanjin didn't care about it, and even thought of what happened more than ten years ago. I was saying in my heart, this kid is a civil official, what else can he say.

Cao Bin made many mistakes in command, and Song Jiu also tactfully pointed out that this point was consistent with Cui Yanjin's general opinion.

And when he escaped, he also felt that his face was gloomy, maybe he could make up for it with this trip.

If it was Cao Bin, Lao Tzu would not be too lazy to be saved.

In fact, he found many reasons in his heart, and the real reason was to make up for it in four words. So many soldiers and civilians died, and he was also one of the first generals to escape, and the sky fell.

Moreover, as Cao Can said, Baigoutun is close to Xiongzhou, which gave him some courage.

Cao Bin couldn't say anything, and said in the end: "In this way, select 3,000 strong soldiers from the army and go to help." ”

Li Kechong knelt down and said, "Thank you General Cao, thank you Cao Zhizhou, thank you General Cui." ”

But from Dingzhou to Xiongzhou, from Xiongzhou to Baigoutun...... Will it be in time?

……

"Report, General Yang, the enemy's army is divided into two, one part continues to march at night to the northeast, and the other part sets up camp in Gudaoli." The spy said.

"As the old man expected." Yang Ye said worriedly.

As the Liao army slowly moved to the northeast during the day, Yang Ye faintly guessed the plan of the Liao State.

In fact, it's easy to guess, this is a conspiracy.

However, the Liao people were also afraid of Yang Ye, so part of the Song Dynasty army chased down, and part of them set up a large camp on the valley road to prevent Yang Ye from coming to the rescue.

Yang Ye called Deng Wei and six or seven other generals to discuss.

Now there are only two ways to go, one is to listen to Song Jiu's order, stay until tomorrow, and retreat safely. The second is to save.

There are also two ways to rescue, one is to forcibly break through the Liao camp on the valley road, defeat this Liao army from behind, and then join the Song Dynasty army.

The second method is to take advantage of the speed of the cavalry, do not hesitate to go around in a circle, withdraw from Jintaitun to Suicheng, and then advance from Suicheng along the Heilu Embankment into Xiongzhou.

To Yang Ye's surprise, almost all the tooth generals agreed with the second plan.

"Don't worry."

"General Yang, do you also learn from that person, don't forget that your son is also in the army." Deng Wei was anxious.

"Nonsense, one of the old man's sons has died in battle. Have you forgotten who your opponent is? Yang Ye shouted. Deng Wei is not Wang Yu, and he will not provoke Yang Ye to lose his rationality.

But Yang Ye also felt that Deng Wei's heart was commendable, and he said it seriously, so he said in a soothing tone: "You want to save Song Gong, the old man wants to save Song Gong even more, the old man in this life, the first one to thank is His Majesty, and the second one to thank is Song Gong, I am more anxious than you." ”

"Why don't you agree?"

"It's not that the old man disagrees, the opponent is too cunning. In this way, it is to save, we must also save smartly, do not fall for the enemy's tricks, first send orders to the three armies, rest well, and prepare to set off at dawn tomorrow. ”

"General Yang is wise, and dawn is a good time to attack."

"That's that simple, it's so simple, it's so undefeated. Then send spies to investigate all the way to Qigou Pass, including the dense forests on both sides, to reconnoitre. ”

Dawn came unconsciously, and all kinds of spies came back one after another to report, and as Yang Ye expected, the soldiers and horses who divided the troops all the way did not go, but ambushed behind the valley road. The Liao army has a lot of troops, and there are many people with smart heads, Brother Yeluxiu. Han Derang, Xiao Yanyan. How could it be possible to let this Yang Wushu be a yellow sparrow.

Yang Ye has no choice, if there is no such ambush. Nine times out of ten, he can forcibly break through this camp and join Song Jiu. In fact, you are still putting yourself in danger. However, there were almost no decent cavalry in that army, and once they were in their pockets, how could they escape.

He thought for a while, until a red light flashed on the horizon, and then he forcibly gave an order: "The three armies set off and rushed to Suicheng, Heilu Causeway." ”

……

The night is getting heavier.

In early summer, the roadside grass is covered with dewdrops. exudes a faint crystal clear, like tears in the corners of the eyes of tens of thousands of Song soldiers.

The nightmare strikes again.

At the beginning, there were still many cavalry in the Song army, and Yelu Xiuge dared to come and harass him all the time, and now the number of cavalry in the tens of thousands of Song troops is almost less than 300, even these 300 cavalry are still used as messengers or scouts.

The further east you go, the flatter the terrain becomes.

The cavalry of the Liao State were like devils, shouting from time to time, coming to the Song army and firing arrows, and then flashing to the rear.

There is no clever way to deal with it. Tens of thousands of troops had to stop from time to time, shieldmen protected, and crossbowmen counterattacked with bows and arrows behind their shields.

This time it didn't carry much baggage, but the army was crawling like a snail.

"That's not going to work. It is better to use the shield hand to put on the edge, the archer is second, and fight back at the same time. While moving forward. Fan Yanzhao withdrew from the front, found Song Jiu and said.

Nearly 1,000 seriously wounded people blew themselves up with tragic self-destruction. It gave most of the Song army a valuable opportunity to retreat. There must be a terrible pocket ahead of the road, but if the march is slow. Let more Liao troops in the rear outflank it, and on this plain, the whole army will be annihilated.

"In General Fan's opinion."

One command after another was delivered.

However, the various squads of the Liao army quickly joined forces to form squadrons one after another, holding shields in their hands, and from time to time forcibly entered the Song army's formation.

Song Jiu had no choice but to change the order again: "The two sides are equipped with knives and axes." ”

The soldiers of the Song Dynasty were generally mostly crossbowmen, spearmen, and swordsmen, and there were fewer people who used axes, which were mainly used to split mountains and open roads, and build bridges when encountering water. During a few days of defensive battles, from time to time the Liao army broke through the defense line and killed in.

So Song Jiu found some knives and axes from Qigou Pass, equipped them into the hands of the soldiers, and specially cut them on the horse's legs. may not have cut down many war horses, but some of his soldiers were trampled to death by horses, but it had some effect.

However, it is used here, because the Liao cavalry has more room for activity, and the effect is not significant.

It took more than five hours to walk forty miles until dawn. But it was much better than when it came, when it was only possible to march a few miles a day.

This is also thanks to Cao Bin, all the way over, Cao Bin also had no choice, and dug many trenches on both sides of the road, which somewhat reduced the damage of Khitan harassment.

Hu Bixing looked behind him dissatisfiedly in front and said, "Father, why do you have to bring so many empty cars. ”

Without these empty wagons, the march should have been a little faster.

"What do you kid know?" Hu Yanzan scolded.

Now with thousands of wagons, and some ropes, except for a few carts loaded with arrows and a small amount of food, the rest were empty carts, which slowed down the speed, but could be used to save lives in critical times.

At this time, Song Jiu ordered the generals to go to the back to discuss.

Several main generals came to the back, and Song Jiu said: "Rest on the spot, otherwise if you continue to walk, the men and horses will be sleepy and the combat effectiveness will be weaker." ”

In fact, it is less than fifty miles away from Baigoutun, but it is also a long fifty-mile road.

In terms of military ability, Song Jiu is definitely inferior to Yelu Xiuge, and even now, Song Jiu is just following the crowd and can't control it at all, to put it mildly, he was almost led by Yelu Xiuge's nose.

But there is a basic military literacy, and even a little more ugly, maybe a little more clever than Cao Bin.

On the contrary, the weather is hot during the day, tired and thirsty, just for the Liao State to beat the water dogs. The terrain here is very good, there is a pond behind it, which is used for drinking water, and the Song army also rested here when they came, and there are some dilapidated camps.

Everyone has no good way, and as soon as they rest, it means that the Liao army will be able to catch up in the back.

But only rest.

The baggage cart came in handy at this time, and Song Jiu asked the soldiers to connect them with ropes, and simply repaired the original dilapidated barracks, and a more crude fortification was created.

The sun rises higher and higher.

In the blink of an eye, in the afternoon, the scouts hurried back to report that the Liao army was chasing after them.

I had to set off.

……

"That Yang Ye escaped?" Xiao Yanyan asked.

"He won't escape, so he will probably retreat to Suicheng, and then go to Xiongzhou along the Heilu Causeway to rescue him in front."

"This person couldn't fight in the Northern Han Dynasty, but in the Song Dynasty, he became able to fight." Handway scoffed.

"Han Qing, this person should not be underestimated," Xiao Yanyan turned to Yelu Xiuge and said, "But this person is not as good as Qingye." Although he charged into battle, bravely crowned the three armies, and was equivalent to Qing, but he commanded the three armies and was invincible, and this person was inferior to Qing. ”

Very fair evaluation.

In the end, if the two of them are single-handed, it is really difficult to say who is powerful, even in the forced and tragic attack of Song Jiu in Qigou Pass, Yang Yehe did not fight with Yelu Xiuge. However, the tiger hero Li Jixuan was still defeated by Yelu Huge, and he and Yang Yanzhao worked together to barely draw, which shows the courage of this person.

However, on the battlefield, even in the era of cold weapons, command ability is definitely more important than personal force. If you let the cripple Chen Qingzhi and the incomparable Jing Hei let everyone choose, who will they choose?

However, Xiao Yanyan was still a little disappointed, and Yelu Hugo also set up a small pocket on the valley road, but this person was not fooled, but retreated to Suizhou.

Since Yang Ye slipped away, Xiao Yanyan ordered that army come to rendezvous, and said: "Yu Yue, Yang Ye took a detour to support, and the mourning family was worried that there would be a change in the ambush in Baigoutun." ”

Jeruxiugo understood.

He also had two options, continue to let Song Jiu escape with tens of thousands of troops, set up ambushes all the way and harass all the way, and when he arrived near Baigoutun, he believed that he would be exhausted one by one, and then trap the Song army and surround the point to send reinforcements. I believe that at this time, the Song Dynasty Hebei did not have many troops, so it could easily defeat the Song army that came to the rescue.

An Zhong followed Song Jiu's advice and began to go from Xiongzhou to Suizhou, fanfting his banner, so he set up suspicious soldiers and bluffed. However, how could he deceive Yelu Huge's eyes with these little tricks, after hearing about it, he just laughed it off.

But Yelu Hugo saw the tragic scene of those seriously wounded people blowing themselves up, and faintly felt that under the grief and anger of this Song army, the morale rose again, and it was close to Xiongzhou, and if the Song Dynasty reinforcements came to help, there would be an accident.

Xiao Yanyan made it very clear to him that even if these tens of thousands of Song troops couldn't take it, they would catch that Song Jiu, and if they couldn't catch it, they would be killed. The danger of this person to the Liao State is no less than that of a million soldiers.

So it's time to fold.

Yuping suddenly said angrily: "The officials are very skilled, you are dreaming." ”

Yelu Longxu, the little emperor of Liao, tugged at the corner of her clothes on the side: "Yu Niangzi, you can say a few words." ”

Besides, the queen mother has stuck you, and I don't have the ability to save you.

Xiao Yanyan smiled and said: "Yu Ping, if you persuade your officials to surrender, the mourning family will definitely fulfill their promise, worship the king and seal the prime minister, and be under Yu Yue and Han Qing (Han Dezhao), and be a very popular minister." And the mourning family just put you back, what kind of identity are you, just a concubine. ”

Her intention in bringing Yuping over was to persuade Song Jiu to surrender.

"Queen Mother, kill the slave maid."

In fact, Xiao Yanyan really killed her several times, but Yuping taught her son arithmetic and Chinese characters when she was a child, and her son repeatedly pleaded for mercy, so Xiao Yanyan let Yuping go. This time made her angry again: "Yu Ping, if Song Jiu doesn't surrender, the mourning family will kill you." ”

Apple wisely chooses silence.

She wants to live, to live for her husband, to live for her children.

Xiao Yanyan is also worth arguing with her, and she bows to Brother Yelu Xiu.

Jeruhugo understood, and then ordered, pocket...... Put it away! (To be continued......)