After sitting for a while, Han Shouzhong took out a small tin wine jug from his arms, drank the liquor in the jug one by one, and his thoughts gradually returned to two days ago.

On the 25th day of the fifth month of the lunar calendar in the twentieth year of the Ying calendar (the seventh year of Jianlong), Han Shouzhong had just finished training the villagers from the school field, and before he returned to his house, his buttocks were not hot, and he was called by his old master, Han Deshu, the prime minister of Tokyo, and got a surprise and shocking news from the latter's mouth - about 50,000 or 60,000 horses of the Zhou army had landed at the mouth of the Liaohe River the day before yesterday, and now they are advancing by land and water, killing in the direction of Liaoyang Mansion. In other words, the previous judgment of the Great Liao court that the Zhou army attacked the west and defended the east, and there was no sign of sending troops from Jinzhou to Shanhaiguan, was completely wrong. The Zhou army not only dispatched the same number of men and horses as the western and central lines on the eastern front, but also took a different path, not taking the land passage densely covered with horses and horses of the Liao army, but taking advantage of its superiority at sea, landing directly at the mouth of the Liao River, and then advancing by land and water, tracing the Liao River upstream, and directly attacking Liaoyang City. In this way, not only did it disrupt the original defensive deployment of the Liao army in Tokyo Province, but also received the support of its own ships in terms of firepower, grain and grass, and military baggage from beginning to end, so that it could move forward boldly and without worrying about the grain route being cut off and the logistics being poor.

If Han Shouzhong was surprised and shocked by the news of the Zhou army's slaughter from the sea, then Han Deshu's next secret to him made him feel terrified and uneasy--due to the unfavorable situation of the war, the emperor of the Great Liao, the important ministers of the court, and the last elite soldiers and horses of the Great Liao had traveled thousands of miles from Changchun Prefecture to Liaoyang Mansion on the eighth day, intending to join forces with the defenders of Tokyo Province and fight to the death with the Zhou army.

If it weren't for this strange army from the sea, this decision of the imperial court would undoubtedly be correct. After all, the more than 40,000 elites of the imperial court, the 30,000 defenders of Liaoyang Prefecture in Tokyo Province, plus the young and strong people in the city who were temporarily recruited, with more than 100,000 horses relying on the strong and grand Liaoyang City, to confront and maneuver against the middle route army of the Zhou army, which should be less than 40,000, still have the strength to fight. According to the previous experience of Zuzhou and Fengzhou, unless the Zhou army went out and destroyed Liaoyang City and used tens of thousands of people in the city for burial. Otherwise, it is obviously impossible to take Liaoyang City in a short period of time. With the passage of time, the veterans of the Zhou army were tired and the logistics were poor, and the Liao army may not have a chance to turn defeat into victory. But now with this Zhou army that came across the sea, the return of the holy driver to Liaoyang Mansion is tantamount to putting himself in danger. Because on the one hand, as long as this Zhou army captures Liaoyang Mansion before the arrival of the holy car, the more than 40,000 people of the imperial court will lose their foundation, and the morale of the army will be severely damaged. At that time, whether it was the Zhou army on the east route out of the city to pursue, or the Zhou army on the middle route to follow, the Liao army could not escape a crushing defeat. Even if the Son of Heaven is lucky, I am afraid that he can only survive in the deep mountains and old forests. In that case, it is estimated that without the Zhou army doing it himself, those raw girls who have always been dissatisfied with the rule of the Great Liao will exhaust the last bit of strength of the Great Liao for the Zhou army; On the other hand, even if the Son of Heaven was able to join up with the Wenwu of Tokyo Province before the Zhou army captured Liaoyang City on the Eastern Road, the numerical advantage of the Liao army would be minimal in the face of the Zhou army on the Eastern and Central Routes, which had 80,000 troops and horses. If the Son of Heaven doesn't even have a chance to hide in the deep mountains and old forests, he will be trapped and die in Liaoyang City.

In this way, the top priority of the Liaoyang Prefecture was to send a large number of scouts and scouts to conduct a comprehensive search along the road where the Son of Heaven might go south, in order to inform the Son of Heaven that the Zhou army had been killed by sea before he arrived in Liaoyang City, so that he and the important civil and military officials would have time to deal with it. The second is to send people to lead the troops south and intercept the Zhou army along the way, in order to slow down the advance of the Zhou army and buy more time for Liaoyang City and the Son of Heaven to come up with a countermeasure. And Han Deshu called Han Shouzhong in order to lead the army to reinforce Heye City and block the Zhou army.

Although for the three generations of his ancestors and grandchildren who have been on errands for the Han Mansion and have been favored by the Han family, he has been promoted from a small guard all the way to the commander of the Dingdu Township of Liaoyang Mansion in Tokyo Province, and Han Shouzhong, who is among the generals, it is also an unshirkable duty to serve his own master, relieve difficulties for the imperial court, and lead soldiers and horses to fight fiercely with the Zhou army. But considering that there are not a few generals of the Khitan, Xi, Bohai, Jurchen and other ethnic groups in Liaoyang Mansion who have experienced a hundred battles and can fight habitually, it is a little incomprehensible to let themselves, a novice general with limited combat experience and only command the townspeople, take on such a heavy responsibility. Therefore, although after listening to Han Deshu's arrangement, Han Shouzhong immediately agreed without hesitation, but the expression on his face still showed his incomprehension of this arrangement.

Han Shouzhong's reaction was naturally within Han Deshu's expectations, so he immediately threw out another news that shocked Han Shouzhong - the vanguard officer who led the vanguard of the Zhou army on the Eastern Road this time was probably the guard of the Han Mansion and Han Shouzhong's sworn brother, who was believed to have died in the Battle of Youyun eleven years ago with the emperor's brother Yelu Enemy Lie in Gubeikou Pass.

The shocking news came one after another, and Han Shouzhong was stunned. Although it cannot be ruled out that this Zou Zhen is far from Zou Zhenyuan, but just a general of the Zhou State with the same name and surname. But this fifty percent possibility alone has already made Han Shouzhong a little angry. Of course, the excitement was short-lived. As the blood gradually cooled down, Han Shouzhong's mind quickly regained his senses, and he realized why Prime Minister Han did not choose those generals who were more brave and resourceful than himself, instead of allowing himself to lead an army to reinforce Heye—the former hoped to use his brotherhood with Zou Zhenyuan to influence and impress him, slow down the Zhou army's attack, and buy more time for the imperial court and the Son of Heaven to deal with the current crisis.

But the question is, is this realistic? Not to mention that the one who led the army may not be the Zou Zhenyuan back then, and his departure may just add some numbers to Zhou Jun's record. Even if it is really him, now that the two of them are each protecting a country, how much can the brotherhood that has been interrupted for eleven years play a role in this kind of life-and-death war to destroy the country. Don't say that sworn brothers like yourself and Zou Zhenyuan, even if they are brothers, since they are already their own masters, they will not leave any affection for each other. What's more, it is said that in order to firmly control the army, especially the "Flying Dragon Army", the "Qingyuan" brothers not only planted the secret agents of "Dark Feather" in the army at the beginning of its establishment, but also set up the supervision army to the team (company) level for the first time - even if its title was changed to supervision. In this way, even if Zou Zhenyuan really wanted to secretly communicate with him and deliberately let himself go, his generals and the supervising army accompanying him would not agree. If you are not careful, not only will you not be able to help yourself, but you will be caught by the spies of "Dark Feather" or the overseers accompanying the team, and you will be ruined and even lose your life. Especially when Zou Zhenyuan still has the title of "surrendered general" on his head, this situation will be more likely to occur - even if it has been 11 years since he surrendered to the Zhou state. In that case, I, as a brother, will really have no shame to live in the world anymore.

Perhaps seeing the hesitation and doubts on Han Shouzhong's face, Han Deshu didn't wait for him to raise an objection, and then continued: "I also know that each is the master on the battlefield, and even if it is a brother, there will be no softness. Therefore, this prime minister sent you to Heye City this time, not to summon him and persuade him with the affection of righteousness with Zou Zhenyuan, but to make other arrangements. Thou hast thou heard, and thou hast heard, and thou shalt hear thee. ”

Immediately, Han Deshu commanded in the ear of Han Shouzhong, who was confused, so and so and so in the ear of Han Shouzhong, who was full of Then, Han Deshu stared at Han Shouzhong, who was full of astonishment, and asked solemnly: "At this time when the society is in danger, I don't know if you are willing to contribute to the death for the true appearance, for the society, and for His Majesty, and complete this important task?" ”

After speaking, without waiting for Han Shouzhong to answer, he changed his expression to a more relaxed expression, patted the former's shoulder, and comforted: "The prime minister also knows that whether you go here or not, it will be nine deaths and one life, so the prime minister has agreed with Yelu to stay behind, and jointly ask the court for merit for you, sympathize with your family, and seal your wife and son." Moreover, in addition to the rewards of the imperial court, the prime minister will also do his best to take care of and protect your wife, children, and children, as long as I, Han Deshu, live for a day, I will definitely protect their high-ranking officials, glory and wealth. ”

Han Deshu's words not only blocked Han Shouzhong's retreat, but also amounted to using the lives of the latter's entire family as bargaining chips in disguise to force him to comply. Seeing that he had almost no possibility of refusing, Han Shouzhong had no choice but to change the topic and said: "Shouzhong is not only a courtier of the Great Liao, but also favored, promoted, and reused by grace, and he should be loyal to the court, the son of heaven, and the grace to die." led the army to reinforce Tsuruno, and it was incumbent on him to be loyal. It's just that the lessons of the tragedy in Jurong in Jiangnan are not far away, and for the lives of tens of thousands of people in Heye, this strategy to resist the enemy is also expected to be able to think twice. ”

When Han Deshu heard this, his face changed, and he said coldly: "When the national disaster is at the head and the society is in danger, the people of Daliao should be loyal to the country and worry about the monarch." In order to protect the great Liao Guozuo, it is said to be a city in Heye, even if it is the life of the gentry and ordinary people and civil and military officials of the entire Liaoyang Mansion and Tokyo Province. ”

Speaking of this, Han Shouzhong had no choice but to keep silent, solemnly salute Han Deshu and receive orders, and turned around to go out to prepare for reinforcements of Heye. Looking at Han Shouzhong's distant back, Han Deshu changed from cold to gloomy, and ordered in a deep voice to a Han man who came out of the inner room after Han Shouzhong left: "You go to Heye with Han Shouzhong and supervise him to follow the plan." If there is any abnormal movement, he will use this waist card to behead his head, seize his military power, and fight to the death with the Zhou army. As he spoke, he took out a palm-sized bronze medal from his bosom and handed it over.

"The last will obey." The Han general accepted the order without hesitation, respectfully accepted the bronze medal, and carefully carried it into his arms. Then he saluted Han Deshu again, and then turned to leave.