After Wang Baobao escaped from Chuqiu, he wanted to go directly to Chengwu.

Although he is not very old, only in his early twenties, he is very tenacious and refuses to fail lightly. If he really went to Chengwu, Chengwu still has thousands of Yuan troops, echoing Yan Sixiao in Shanzhou, and maybe it is really possible to hold out until the arrival of Li Chahan's reinforcements.

However, it is a pity, because Zhao Guo and Pan Xianer sent people in time to control the various roads leading from Chuqiu to Chengwu, he tried his best, but he still failed to enter Chengwu. In desperation, coupled with the fact that the Yan army's pursuit was getting tighter and tighter, he had to give up this plan, turn south, and then turn west, according to the latest information, he has already left Jining Road and went to Jin and Hebei.

The messenger who came to deliver the military newspaper not only brought this information, but also brought another information: "Li Chahan personally led a large army, day and night, and came straight to Jining Road, which is only three or four days away from Shanzhou. ”

It's good news and bad news.

The good news is that Wang Baobao has already left, and there will be no more trouble in the short term. The bad news is that Chakhan Timur is coming, and if Shanzhou cannot be taken within three days, the results of the Battle of Jining will inevitably be lost. However, Zhao Guo and Pan Xianer were not nervous at all.

Because Shanzhou has long been in the bag.

Whether it is good news or bad news, only the Yan army knows, and as for the defenders of Shanzhou, because the city is surrounded and cut off inside and out, of course, there is no way to know about this. And since he pulled Sainchi around the city a few times and showed the heads of the generals such as Hu Linchi and Bai Suo to the city, the defenders in the city were panicked even earlier.

It only takes one general attack to easily defeat the city.

Xuzhou has been taken, and Wu Jun has left. After listening to these two military reports, Zhao Guo issued a military order with a sinking face and an unchanged expression: "That is, immediately send orders to the three armies and launch a general attack!" ”

On the one hand, there is a well-being soldier who has been recuperating for many days, and on the other hand, there is a lonely city defender who is panicked, although there is Yan Sixiao's dying struggle, although there are also some loyal Yuan army generals who are loyal to Richard, but how can manpower compete with the sky? After all, the general trend of the Yuan army on Jining Road has gone, but the morale of the Yan army is like a rainbow.

In less than half a day, Shanzhou was declared lost.

When the city fell, I saw the banner of the Yan army outside the city covering the mountains and fields, shouting and killing to curb the clouds, and the eastern, southern, and northern gates, seven or eight battalion heads all rushed to be the first to enter, wanting to win the first merit of "entering the city first".

Those who can snatch the first credit for entering the city after the fall of the city must be the elite of each department, and they are all in the vanguard position during the siege, otherwise they would not have had the opportunity to be so close to the city gate.

is not only an elite, but needless to say, the generals and colonels of the team led by him must be Deng She's henchmen, so most of the battalion generals at the head of the battalion are old men who are thieves on horses, and a small number of them are rising stars, and the most dazzling of them is the head rider of the Tong Shengyang Institute.

I saw hundreds of war horses galloping, kicking up dust and smoke; The white robe and white armor rushing in front of him are eye-catching. The banner is unfurled, and the spear is like a forest. Tong Shengyang took the lead, rushed to the front, and shouted: "Those who enter the city first, reward!" Whoever breaks the Tartar General's Mansion first, reward! Capture Yan Sixiao alive, heavy reward! ”

In troubled times, the first priority is military merit. And among the military achievements, the siege of the city is the first-class great achievement. And in the siege of the city, the first to enter the city is the first achievement. If you can grab the first credit, you will not only get a big reward, but also definitely help you in the future. With such benefits, it is no wonder that the battalions are desperate.

At this time, if you look down from the sky, you can see the huge Shanzhou city with wolf smoke billowing and fires soaring into the sky.

The defeated army of the Yuan soldiers was like a mountain, and most of them either lost their weapons or took off their armor and ran in embarrassment, and some rushed into people's houses, hoping to hide and save their lives; Some formed groups in the hope of breaking out of the city and escaping.

In the chaotic situation, there are also a small number of more tenacious fighting spirits, organized by hundreds or thousands of households in the headquarters, fighting and retreating along the streets, but they are facing the advantageous Yan army that has already entered the city, but it is like a mantis arm as a car, and no matter how desperate they fight, in exchange for fewer and fewer comrades.

Some of the generals surrendered, and were dejected and taken prisoner with their weapons confiscated. Some generals killed themselves, and their bodies were robbed of their heads on the streets as military merits. The streets were full of corpses and rivers of blood.

Following the camps that entered the city, more than a dozen knights galloped into the city through the gates. These more than ten horsemen were all in black armor, controlled the reins with one hand, held a small flag high with the other, and crossed the camps that entered the city non-stop, while constantly shouting loudly: "Lord Zuo Cheng strictly ordered: All the troops entering the city, except for chasing and suppressing the remnants of the enemy, are not allowed to kill innocents indiscriminately!" There are those who dare to kill a people, and those who dare to rob a people, behead! ”

This was followed by dozens of rides.

These dozens of horsemen are also in black armor, and they all have small flags, but their small flags are not held in their hands, but are inserted in the head of the horse. In addition, every rider carried a saber in his hand, galloping back and forth among the camps, and anyone who dared to disobey military orders and harass the people did not say a word, but went up with a sword.

The Haidong army is strictly disciplined, and veterans have long been accustomed to these heralds and military judges. Almost every time the city is broken, there will be such a play. However, although it seems to be the same drama every time, after careful comparison, there are still different ones,—— the key depends on who the commander of the army is.

Depending on the main general, the severity of law enforcement will also be different.

Zhao Guo's law enforcement is certainly very strict, but at best it is "strict". There is a saying in the army that says: "Chen Tuzi, Zhang Shatou, and Li Yanwang", which refers to Chen Hu, Zhang Zhen'er, and Li Ye. These three people are not only "strict" in enforcing the law, but also not only harsh, but simply harsh.

In fact, the reason why the three of them enforce the law "strictly" is also understandable.

Zhang Zhen'er and Li Ye, a town guarding the twin cities, living together with various ethnic groups in the jurisdiction, the people are fierce, and they have been dealing with the Jurchens and Koreans for a long time; One is to stay in western Liaoxi for a long time, which has been the forefront of eastern Liaodong for a long time, and has been constantly fighting with Shijiabao; Chen Hu sits in Liaoyang, the responsibility is even greater, and dozens of miles to the north is Shenyang Naha, and further north, it is the Mongolian departments.

The ancients: Troubled times. Therefore, they also have to do it as a last resort.

The city of Shanzhou was broken, Yan Sixiao was captured alive, more than 1,000 people were beheaded, and more than 2,000 people were captured.

On the day of the victory, Zhao Guo left Pan Xianer to sit in the city, and personally led Tong Shengyang generals to turn to the army. General Chengwu was frightened, looked at the wind and fled, and was intercepted by the rest of Fu Youde on the way, and was defeated and defeated. In less than two days, two cities were captured in succession, killing more than 1,600 enemies and taking more than 3,000 prisoners.

At this point, there was no Yuan army on the whole road in Jining, and all of them had fallen into the hands of Haidong.

……

Jinning Road, Bowl City.

Wanzi City is located in the south of Zezhou City, ninety miles, and its location is exactly on one of the "Taihang Eight Mountains". "陉", that is, the place where the mountain range is interrupted.

"The head of Taihang Mountain begins in Hanoi and reaches Youzhou in the north, where there are eight ,......."

A Taihang Mountain, stretching for thousands of miles from north to south, is connected by steep mountains, dividing the abdomen of Mengyuan into east and west. The east is Jinning, Jining and other roads, and the west is Zhangde, Guangping, Shunde, Zhending and Jining Zhulu. And here on Zhangde Road, Taihang Mountain turned to the west, and isolated Jinning Road from Weihui Road and Huaiqing Road in the south.

Jinning and other roads now belong to Shanxi; Guangping Road now belongs to Hebei; Zhangde, Weihui, Huaiqing and other roads now belong to Henan. In other words, that is to say, Taihang Mountain is located at the junction of these three provinces, which naturally separates the three provinces. No matter which side you want to get into the other, there are only eight feasible paths, which are the most important.

In the "Taihang Eight Mountains", the first one is Yiguan, and the old site is in the east of Jiyuan City, Henan Province. The situation is precipitous, and it has been a place for soldiers since ancient times."

The second is called Taihang Cheng, in the northwest of Qinyang County, Henan Province, "three steps wide, forty miles long". Straight up along the mountain, you can now be Pingyang Pass in the south of Jincheng, Shanxi; Go south along the Chen, you can go straight to the Tiger Prison Pass in the east of Luoyang, Henan Province, "the north reaches the Jingshi, the south is Yiluo", it is a key road from Shanxi to the Central Plains.

This bowl city is located on the Taihang Mountain, which is said to have been built by Guo Ziyi, a famous general in the Tang Dynasty. "Taihang is at the top, the mountains are far away, the road is dangerous, and the small city built in the middle is like an iron urn. At the beginning of the Tang Dynasty, it was built to control Huai and Ze's rush, and its city was very small, hence the name; And with its steep mountain, the shape is like a bowl, and the cloud bowl is a city. ”

In the eighteenth year of Zheng, Wang Shicheng, who occupied Shandong at that time, had crossed Taihang and entered Jinning in the north, Chakhan Timur fought with him, and was defeated, and then divided his troops to garrison Zezhou, "Stuffing Bowl City". Since then, the city of bowls has become a military stronghold in Chahan.

Although it is said that his forces have entered Guangping, Shunde, Jining Zhulu and Gaotang Prefectures, because these roads and prefectures are not too dangerous to defend, it is said that his last line of defense against the Shandong Red Turban Army is actually still in Wanzicheng.

As long as the bowl city, or "Taihang Bacheng" is not lost, the Shandong Red Turban Army will have no way to enter the west, and he will be as stable as Mount Tai in Jin and Hebei.

The day after Zhao Guo and Pan Xianer conquered Shanzhou and Chengwu, three groups of people came to Wanzi City one after another.

The first batch is thousands of soldiers, who are galloping thousands of miles to aid the Chahan army from Jining. The second group has more than 100 people, all of whom are dressed in armor of the Yuan army, but Wang Baobao who gave up Jining and left. There were only two people in the third group, but they were messengers from Caozhou.

Three groups of people arrived on the front and back feet. The front foot Chakhan Timur had just entered the army's Qianhu Mansion, and the back foot king Baobao and the messenger also came.

Hearing that Wang Baobao appeared, Li Chahan didn't care about resting, and immediately called to come in. Wang Baobao entered the mansion, and when he saw Li Chahan, he saw that he hadn't even changed his clothes and armor.

The father and son met in different moods. Wang Baobao was ashamed and guilty, fell to the ground, bowed his head and said: "The child is incompetent and did not keep Jining." Not only was he defeated and lost his ground, but he humiliated the prestige of his father, and now there are only 100 people left in the 100,000 heroes. May the army lead the law! ”

Li Chahan helped him up, looked up and down, and saw that he didn't seem to have too serious injuries except that his complexion was not very good, so he immediately put his mind at ease, grabbed his arm, and said with a smile: "The old man knows about your defeat in Shanzhou." Since ancient times, there have been no generals who have won a hundred battles, and they are just defeated, so why be frustrated! ”

"Father!"

Wang Baobao became more and more ashamed, broke free from Li Chahan's support, knelt on the ground again, kowtowed, and said: "Only one child escaped from the 100,000 army!" Hu Linchi, Bai Suo, Ba Busha, Cai Ziying, and even Mr. Zhao Heng Zhao were all captured by thieves or died in battle, including the child's biological father,......。 ”

When he said this, he didn't feel tears, choked up, couldn't speak, just kowtowed again and again, and said, "The child is incompetent! Lose my hero. The child is incompetent! Lose my king's land! The child is incompetent, and he can't save his biological father when he becomes a thief and prisoner! If you cannot restrain a thief, you will be unfaithful; If you can't save your father, it's because of unfilial piety, and you should have apologized for your sin, so you still have the shame to come to see your father, not for anything else, but to ask your father to strictly condemn the child's sin, so as to show that the father's military law is strict. Make the three armies vigilant! ”

Chakhan Timur was also uncomfortable.

100,000 elites were lost, and Jining fell to the enemy all the way. And not only that, Sainchi Dahu, Hu Lin Chi, Ba Busha, Bai Lock, etc. are all fierce generals, and Zhao Heng and Cai Ziying are all shogunate think tanks, and now they are all lost. What is a loss of soldiers? This is the loss of soldiers!

He sighed and said: "The defeat of Shanzhou, of course, is your responsibility, but it also has the responsibility of the old man!" I thought that with you, Sainchi and others, no matter how bad it was, I would be able to make a draw with Zhao Guoxiaoer, but I never expected that the old man would underestimate this thief! ......, the enemy is unknown, and this is my fault. ......, Wu'er, you don't have to blame yourself too much, get up quickly. ”

Wang Baobao refused to get up, insisted on punishment, and said: "The child lost his teacher and humiliated the country, if he is not punished, how can he serve the three armies?" Please punish the father severely! ”

Richard Han galloped in Hebei, shocked the south of the Yangtze River, famous everywhere, can stop children crying at night, if you talk about majesty, the heroes of the world are really unmatched, but in the final analysis, he is now a father's identity, the son who has always been favored has returned from defeat, and he is punishable, how can he be ruthless?

Li Weixin was present next to him, and then interjected and said, "Lord, the little general is reasonable." In this battle of Jining, although the little general fought bravely, he unfortunately first had the defeat of Juye, and then the defeat of Shanzhou, lost my 100,000 soldiers, lost my place all the way, and lost all the lieutenant generals and colonels, and only 100 people escaped. The lord has always been strict in rewards and punishments, and if he doesn't punish him at all this time, I'm afraid it won't be justified. Yu Sanjun Ho! Yu Jiang Shi He! What will the soldiers think when they find out? ”

"......, what Mr. said is true, but the old man can't do Yue Wumu!"

Yue Fei's military law is very strict. Once, Yue Yun practiced riding a horse with heavy armor downhill, and accidentally fell to the ground, and the person turned on his back. Yue Fei was furious and reprimanded: "The great enemy who is the front is also like this? He ordered him to be beheaded on the spot, but because of the persuasion of the generals, he was beaten with a hundred sticks instead. In the Battle of Yuncheng, Yue Fei ordered Yue Yun to lead the troops through the battle first, to outnumber, and before going out to fight, he warned: "We will return victorious." If you don't need to die, I will kill you first! ”

Although military discipline should be strict, Yue Fei has been a famous general through the ages, but not everyone can do it.

Chahan licked the calf deeply, and saw Wang Baobao choking and crying, insisting on asking for punishment, but not only could not harden his heart, but became more and more soft-hearted, and said in a harmonious voice: "Wu'er, get up quickly!" Isn't it just a single-state defeat? The old man heard that although Zhao Guoxiaoer surrounded Shanzhou, he refused to take the city in a hurry, but instead Longwangshu sent thousands of elites to fight Xuzhou. Since entering Jining, the red thief has gone through a great war, and he is already tired, and now he is not able to measure his strength, but also divide the army, the old man concluded that although he won, now he must have been the end of the strong crossbow. Now, my relatives led 8,000 elites to help Shanzhou, and they could arrive in two or three days at most. When the time comes, with my shameful army and the enemy's tired army, victory will be won! ”

He helped Wang Baobao up again, and said with a smile: "When I fight Zhao Guoxiao'er in a decisive battle, my son can be a pioneer and make meritorious contributions!" ”

While he was talking, someone from outside the hall came to report: "Caozhou messenger." "Caozhou is close to Jining, to the west of Jining. Chengwu and Chuqiu are all under the jurisdiction of Caozhou.

When Li Weixin heard this, her expression moved, knowing that there must be the latest military report from Shanzhou, so she said on behalf of Chahan: "Call him in." ”

The messenger entered the hall, bowed to the ground, and said in a loud voice: "Urgent! ”

"Tell me."

"The red thief was trapped in Shanzhou the day before yesterday, and he was taken into force yesterday."

"Huh?"

"Now there are less than 2,000 defenders in Caozhou, all of whom are in Caozhou City. If the red thief continues to take advantage of the victory to go north, I am afraid that Jiyin will also be difficult to protect. The military situation is urgent, please send reinforcements quickly! ”

There are not many cities and counties in Caozhou, only a few in Chuqiu, Chengwu, Dingtao, Jiyin and Caozhou. Dingtao, Jiyin, and Caozhou are all in the northwest of Chengwu. Hearing that Shanzhou and Chengwu had been lost, Wang Baobao was extremely ashamed, kowtowed fiercely, and shouted: "The child is incompetent, ask the father to punish him!" ”

Chahan asked Li Weixin: "In my opinion, in my opinion, what should I do now?" ”

"Caozhou is in the middle of the world, for the four of the rush, south of Huaisi, north of Hebei, located in the main road of Jiyan, remote control of the suburbs of the Biansong Dynasty. If Caozhou is lost, then Bianliang will definitely have trouble! ”

Caozhou, that is, Heze, has the reputation of "in the world" in ancient times, is located in the hinterland of the Central Plains, extends in all directions, can go to Huaisi in the south, enter Hebei in the north, the most critical point, it is not far from Bianliang, about more than 300 miles. It is true that Chengwu and Chuqiu are not far from Bianliang, but as long as Caozhou is in the hands of Chahan and the Yan army is flanked by the enemy, they will definitely not dare to drive south and attack Bianliang; However, once Caozhou is lost, the Yan army has no worries, and it can appear under Bianliang City at any time.

Bianliang is the capital of the Northern Song Dynasty and has important political significance. Chahan finally recaptured it from the hands of King Xiaoming and Liu Futong, and of course he categorically refused to lose anything more.

Li Weixin continued: "Jinling Zhu thief Chen Chongbing, Tun Henan, although it is common sense to say, in the current situation, he should not have the intention of coveting Bianliang, but there is no absolute, in case he joins forces with Yan Thief, one goes south from Caozhou, the other goes north from Haozhou, and Anfeng pseudo-Song also sends remnants to help, then my Bianliang is in danger!" Therefore, in the next thought, there is only one plan for today. ”

"Rush to Caozhou?"

"Exactly!"

The military situation is like fire, and I can't think about it carefully. Chahan was about to give an order, but Li Weixin stopped him again and said, "Lord! Before rushing to Caozhou, there is one more thing that needs to be done. ”

"What?"

"The defeat of the junior general caused our army to fall into passivity. If there is no punishment, it will be difficult to convince the people! Now that Caozhou is in an emergency, it is necessary for the soldiers to work hard and the three armies to die, no matter what, please punish the little general a little! Li Weixin also knelt on the ground and said, "Please think twice!" ”