After a whole day of tossing, it was easy to cross the Black Mountain Gorge.

In the blood-like remnant sun, those rafts successively drilled out of the Hessian Canyon, as if they had returned to the yang world from the netherworld.

When they approached the shore, the boatmen were almost paralyzed from exhaustion, and many of the soldiers on the raft were too bluffed to stand up.

As far as the eye can see, swollen eyes and white faces abound, white is frightened, and swollen is crying.

One by one, they were depressed, as if they had lost a big battle, and their morale was extremely low.

Lao Cao asked people to stack up several rafts, and climbed up at home, as if they were standing on a high platform.

He stood high like this, his face sinking like water, until Hua Rong, Shi Bao, and even Qu Duan, Yao Xing and others all arrived, and saw that there was a famous general Zuo who had not lost a single one, and his expression improved a little.

When the raft came out again, Lao Cao made people count the losses, and lost more than 2,000 officers and soldiers, grain, and horses, which were difficult to calculate for a while.

When Lao Cao heard this, his face was full of sadness, and he looked up to the sky and sighed: "Woohoo! Huaxia Haolang, the elite warrior of the Han family, in order to go to the country, did not hesitate to go to the country, followed Wu on an expedition to Western Xia, and now he is on the way to death, and he is not allowed to return to his hometown, which is Wu's fault! ”

Standing on a high place, he stomped his foot a few times in front of the soldiers, then beat his chest and shouted, "Hurt me, hurt me!" ”

There was a long breath in my heart.

At the beginning of the river crossing, the worst he had in mind was to lose four adult horses.

Now the actual loss is less than 20%, and the famous generals are all intact, and he really feels fortunate in his heart for this result.

At present, this heart-wrenching style is actually seven or eight points of acting-

It's like "cutting the hair and acting as the head" and "killing people in my dreams".

After all, so many people have been folded, if they die on the battlefield, it will be repaid, since they are soldiers, they die before the battle and die immediately, it is their duty, and anyone can understand it.

It's just that this kind of death of capsizing and sinking into the water is inevitable for everyone to feel aggrieved, not to mention that everyone who survived was also frightened by the boss, and naturally there was a lot of dissatisfaction in their stomachs.

Lao Cao compared his heart to his heart, knowing that at this moment, if he didn't reveal some painful emotions in time, the soldiers would probably show their anger.

His demeanor, in the eyes of all the troops, really felt a little comforted.

At least the Lord still cares about everyone's lives.

Lao Cao shouted "hurt me" a few times, and the tears were already rolling down skillfully.

Shi Qian glanced around, leaned on Hu Sanniang's side, and said in a low voice: "Sister-in-law, you should say two words at this time, and then say, 'Destroying the country for a thousand miles, this is a feat, I am a woman, I do not hesitate to die, you are the main general, what is this woman's attitude'?" ”

Hu Sanniang said "ah", understood, nodded again and again, took a deep breath, jumped into the body, and jumped to Lao Cao's side.

She is tall and tall, with a peugeot face, and has been on the expedition with Lao Cao for a long time, who in the army does not look at it?

At this moment, although he is still a thin armor and phoenix helmet, he is covered in water stains, his hair is scattered, and his face is pale, which makes me feel even more pitiful.

But I heard Hu Sanniang say in a loud voice: "Husband, you are the commander of the army, how can you be this woman's attitude?" You led us to attack the capital of the Western Xia Kingdom, it is a feat of destroying the country for thousands of miles, it is rare in the past and present, how can there be immortals? Walking this dangerous road of the Yellow River is also to avoid the army, less robes and deaths, I am a woman, and I do not hesitate to die, let alone these warriors under your command? ”

Cao Cao saw Hu Sanniang showing up and making a generous statement, and he was surprised in his heart: When did this mother-in-law also open the seven tricks?

immediately shouted: "Although I am the boss, my heart is also long, how can I not be sad when I see these good men die here?" That's it! After the peace of the Western Xia, they will return to their hometown, and build a Pingxi Martyrs' Shrine here, dedicated to the dead brothers and boatmen, so that they can receive eternal incense to show their merits, and if there is a family, they must also be heavily compensated! ”

Hu Sanniang felt that this should be the case, nodded immediately, and shouted boldly: "You can rest assured that you will fight, the aftermath of these good men has their own intentions for their wives." ”

He sang and sang a harmony between his husband and wife, how honest and simple are the soldiers below? I felt much more comfortable immediately.

They all hugged their fists and said: "Wu Shuai is so benevolent and righteous, we will work hard for you, and it will not be in vain." ”

Another person shouted: "Thank you General Hu for building a temple for the dead brothers." ”

Lao Cao saw that his morale had recovered greatly, and he was sure in his heart, so he asked people to bring out the drinks prepared in advance, so that everyone could drink to keep out the cold.

The next day, the army re-boarded the raft and returned to the north, and in a few days, they successively passed Qingtongxia and Lingzhou.

Qingtong Gorge is also the dangerous place of the Yellow River, but this gorge is only ten miles long, compared with the Black Mountain Gorge, it is not the same.

But even so, it also lost one or two hundred people, and the losses before and after were added up, which was not inferior to a big battle, but there were no wounded soldiers.

At this time, it has been eight days from Lanzhou, and it is only a stone's throw away from Xingqing Mansion.

Seeing that the sun was sinking in the west, he happened to encounter a reed, so Lao Cao ordered to anchor here, hid the army in the reeds, and found Huang You to discuss the strategy of attacking the city.

Huang You has followed the seed master for nearly 20 years, and has accompanied the army to conquer Western Xia several times, although he has never really hit Xingqing Mansion, he is also familiar with its general situation, so he will tell Lao Cao and others about the situation of Xingqing Mansion in detail.

Xingqing Mansion, originally from Huaiyuan County, Lingzhou, Song Dynasty, east of the Yellow River, west of Helan Mountain, is also a place of beauty.

Xianping four years (1001), the leader of the party Li Jiqian occupied here, 20 years later, his son Li Deming built a palace here, set as the capital, is the name of Xingzhou.

It was not until Li Yuanhao, the son of Deming, officially called the emperor and founded the country, that he had the name of Xingqing Mansion.

Built for a hundred years, several dynasties repaired, now the circumference of the city is eighteen or nineteen miles, the moat is ten zhang wide, two gates in the north and south, one door in the east and west, the wide street is long, and it is divided into more than 20 squares.

It's just that Western Xia is barren after all, even in the capital, except for the imperial palace and the mansions of the magnates, the rest of the dwellings are also low earthen houses.

"Shizhang Chenghe?" After hearing this, Lao Cao's eyes lit up, and he pondered: "The northwest is not as good as the south of the Yangtze River, and the Shizhang River is really not narrow!" Xingqing Mansion is only twenty or thirty miles away from the Yellow River, and if it does not run through the Yellow River, how can it have such majestic water potential? ”

It is a common practice for the city river to pass the nearby river, just like the city river in Bianjing and Zhengzhou, all of which lead to the Yellow River, and the city river of Suzhou leads to the canal.

Huang You also understood what Lao Cao meant, but he was puzzled: "Wu Shuai's intention is to take a raft to the city?" Just ......"

Lao Cao saw that he wanted to speak and stopped, smiled, held his arm and said: "Lao Huang, you and I are now a friendship between life and death, what can't you say in person?" ”

His means of entrapment are really familiar, and a small action made Huang You's heart warm, and he immediately expressed his concerns.

"The last general felt that acting like this had the effect of surprise, but the raft could not carry the ladder and so on, and the city wall was high, but it was difficult to fly on the wings."

Cao Cao smiled and said, "I see, General Huang and relax." Among my brothers, there are many people with superb skills, no matter how high the wall of Xingqing Mansion is, how is it compared to Yanmen Pass? ”

After that, he turned around and shouted: "Time has changed!" ”

"Little brother is here!" Shi Qian grinned, revealing a mouthful of sparse millet teeth, and jumped in front of him.

When Cao Cao saw his clever appearance, he immediately felt at ease, and said with a smile: "Good brother, you quit your hard work today, let Zhang Liang take you to explore the road for the army, and by the way, glance at the city wall, and have a preparation in your heart." ”

"Little brother has to order! This is the departure, and the elder brother is just relieved. ”

Shi Qian hugged his fists, pulled Zhang Liang to the river, untied a small raft, and the two of them took it, and floated far north along the golden river under the sunset.

Time moved this time, until the next day, when the light returned, it was Zhang Liang and Zhang Liang, carrying a raft, walked back from the land.

Tong Cao Cao said: "Brother, the younger brother has made it clear that the city river in Xingqing Mansion really leads directly to the Yellow River, and it is a big boat, and it can also be entered." The place where the river enters is where the Yellow River crossing is, and if it is in normal times, there are 5,000 Western Xia troops guarding here to prevent the Song army from crossing the river. ”

When Lao Cao heard this, he was startled at first, and then smiled and said: "Since it is to prevent the Song army from crossing the river, it must have been transferred away now?" ”

Shi Qian admired: "What my brother said is exact! Li Qianshun that fight, only worried about the soldiers and horses are not enough, all the soldiers who can be transferred, have been killed with him to the Song realm, and now sitting in the city, it is the prince Li Renai, this son is only thirteen or fourteen years old, assisted by the Minister of State Li Yuchang. There were only five thousand soldiers and horses, of which four thousand were the army of Makui. ”

Huang You was on the side, seeing that Cao Cao was puzzled, and hurriedly said: "The Makui army was formed by the Empress Dowager Liang who selected the healthy women of Zhuzhai back then, that is, the female army of Western Xia. ”

When Cao Cao heard this, he did not disdain, but praised: "Li Qianshun is also a person who dares to bet!" Guarding the imperial city with a female army, it can be seen that he is really going all out, and he wants to complete his work in one battle, if we don't do this, maybe he will really lay a great foundation! If this person can have such a will, after taking all the Qin soil, he will work hard for a while, and he may not be able to compete with the Jin State. ”

Hua Rong smiled on the side: "If you talk about guts, is my brother's boldness smaller than his?" Treading the waves for thousands of miles to take the royal city, this great cause that the ancients never had! What's more, my brother's methods are even more clever, it has been more than a month since our soldiers came out of Tongguan, and the Xixia people are still ignorant and unknown, even if they destroy the country, they are not wronged! ”

Lao Cao laughed: "What the virtuous brother said is good, since I am here, it will be destroyed in Western Xia!" ”

Immediately made a plan: "Yao Xing, Qu Duan, Huang You, Jiao Ting, and Shi Bao listen to orders!" ”

The five were in high spirits, straightening their waists and clenching their fists: "The end will be!" ”

Cao Cao said: "Order five of you, each with a thousand soldiers and horses, kill him by land, surround him on the south, west, and north sides, a total of five city gates, bluff, but you don't have to really fight the city, just let him leave alone, it will be considered a credit." ”

He also said: "Sanniang, Hua Rong, and Shi Qian, all go with me, wait for dark, take a raft to the east city, and rob him in one fell swoop!" ”

Qu Duan exclaimed: "Wu Shuai, this is a deliberate attempt to catch turtles in the urn!" ”

Lao Cao said with a smile: "I have spent countless twists and turns to get this, so naturally I want to eat a fat round in one bite, hehe, wait until the concubines and ministers who left him behind are captured in one fell swoop, and then see how I manipulate that Li Qianshun!" ”

Yao Xing and the others saw that he was excited, and they couldn't help but be proud, and when they had a war meal at noon, as soon as the sun and shadow moved, they led their own troops and left.

Cao Cao was not in a hurry at this time, and it was not until it was getting dark that he led the army on the raft and went along the river.

However, it is said that since the Western Xia sent troops, all the way forward, today is victorious, tomorrow the next city, for several months, good news, the entire Xingqing Mansion, all day long immersed in the carnival.

Anyone can see that the situation is good - strong gold and remnants of Liao, they are all competing for Song Tu, where does he still have the strength to look west?

As for the Jin Kingdom, although it is powerful, after all, there are few people, and it occupies a huge amount of land, and then takes the Song soil, and it has already a round belly.

And the Western Xia sent troops this time, it was the right time, the right place and the right people, the west of Tongguan, all into the palm of the hand, maybe the fight went well, Jindi, Hanzhong, also have to start.

As a result, the territory has increased dramatically, and how many more important eunuchs will be created?

Therefore, those noble children, who have a little way, have to squeeze into the front-line army in order to snatch military merits, so that the dignified national capital is extremely empty.

And Cao Cao's sneak attack to capture Lanzhou, treading the waves and wading down the Yellow River, this measure is now fully effective:

In the area of Longyou, Li Zhu sang and marched forward, and Liu Qi joined his father Liu Zhongwu, leading three or four thousand Hexi troops to help the battle, and the messengers who asked for help were still running wild in the rugged mountain road, but Lao Cao had come to the city of Xingqing Mansion, which he didn't know anything about.

At dusk, one after another Song troops appeared outside the five city gates of Xingqing Mansion in the south, north and west.

The defenders saw it from afar, and in a panic closed the gates of the city, warning the city.

Prince Li Renai and Minister of State Li Yuchang seemed to have been hit on the head.

In any case, I can't imagine that the Xingqing Mansion, which was attacked by the Great Song Dynasty Fifth Route Army and hundreds of thousands of soldiers, and never killed, was suddenly surrounded by people on three sides when the good news was frequent?

After thinking about it, there is only one reason to eliminate all impossibilities:

These Song troops were all Song troops who had been killed and dispersed by the lord of the country before, and they didn't know how to gather in one place, just because there was no way back, and they had the audacity to think of a clever plan to "attack Xingqing Mansion".

"Seeing clearly" the way Song Jun came, Li Yuchang roared angrily: "The Lingzhou guard is really a killer!" Thousands of people crossed the river, and he turned a blind eye? ”

Immediately wrote a military order, let people take a fast boat, from the east gate, to cross the river to Lingzhou, transfer the remaining soldiers and horses back to help King Qin.

The messenger went out of the city in a panic, sailed against the current, and finally came into the Yellow River, and suddenly saw a large raft, covering the surface of the river, and went down the river.

The messenger was stunned, turned back to the rowing sailors, and said, "How can there be so many rafts?" ”

The sailor didn't answer him, and on a raft first, Hua Rong pointed to the messenger and said, "This must be a messenger asking for help, and let him recognize Hua Zhi's arrow." ”

After that, he felt a feather arrow and put it on the string, opened the bow upward, and felt the wind.

The messenger saw Hua Rong draw his bow from a distance, and said in surprise: "Could this guy be Song Jun?" With such a distance, who is he going to shoot? ”

Hua Rong adjusted the direction slightly, and with a throw of his hand, the feather arrow went straight to the sky.

The messenger was amused: "Do you think this guy is ridiculous? He thought he was ......"

Before he could finish speaking, a feathered arrow fell from the sky and thrust into the messenger's throat with a pop.

On the raft, the sound of color was everywhere, and Hua Rong laughed and said, "Catch up, don't let one go!" ”

The boat was about to flee back to the city, but the raft was going down the river, how fast?

There is also Hua Rong, an arrow is shot from the back, and the arrow is not missing, and it will not take long to shoot all the sailors over.

When the boat was empty, it spun around on the water, and several rafts took the opportunity to catch up, and a sergeant who knew how to do water jumped into the boat, searched for it, and in a short time found a letter for help.

Hua Rong took it and said with great joy: "This thing will be of great use if it falls into my brother's hands!" ”

Besides, in Xingqing Mansion, the prince of Western Xia and others, where did they know that the letter for help had been intercepted?

was arranging to hold on behind closed doors, waiting for reinforcements, when suddenly they heard the sound of armor, everyone turned their heads to look, but it was a bald man, dressed in heavy armor, striding up to the hall.

The big man was full of mockery, and sneered: "You party members are really cowardly, no wonder even the Song people can suppress you and bully, I heard that there are only a few thousand Song troops who come to fight the city, and they are still distributed in various gates, isn't it just right to break through?"

Minister Li Yuchang said unhappily: "The Wushu Horse left you here to protect the princess for you, this is my country's own business, how can you speak?" ”

Dahan shook his head and said, "It's because I can't trust your ability that the vultures left me here!" You're not my business? Hehe, if the princess is frightened by the Song army, Wushu will definitely blame me in the future. You don't have to talk nonsense, I will bring fifty people from my headquarters to retreat from the enemy. ”

Li Yuchang's face was angry, and he was about to speak, but he was stopped by the crown prince Li Renai.

Li Renai said lightly: "Prime Minister, the supplement is my brother-in-law's subordinate, and he is not a general of my country, he is going to fight at home, how can we stop it?" It just so happened that I had heard for a long time that the Jurchen soldiers were brave and crowned, and I was about to see their demeanor. ”

It turned out that at the beginning, Aguda sent Wushu to Xixia to marry, because he had not dealt with the Xixia people, he couldn't figure out his habits, and he was afraid that someone would challenge him bravely, so he specially ordered a few famous warriors in the clan to be a subordinate general of Wushu and came with him.

This preparation was not used at all, and Li Qianshun learned that the vultures were intended, and the two sides hit it off.

When the troops are dispatched, the Wushu will show his ability, lead the troops to go to battle with Li Qianshun, and the generals will also go with him, leaving this supplement alone, and asking him to stay in Xingqing Mansion to protect the princess, so as to show his care and love for the princess.

Mending is a belligerent, but now the war is repeated, but there is no part of him, his heart has long been impatient, today suddenly learned that there is a Song army to besiege the city, and the Western Xia people dare not go to war, this time is not scratching the itch?

Seeing that the prince of Western Xia allowed him to do his own thing, he made up for the ecstasy, laughed, went back to pick up the knife and got on the horse, so he led his subordinates fifty Jurchens, randomly chose a nearby city gate, put down the drawbridge, opened the door and killed, and met a thousand Song troops, lined up an arrow away.

A general in front of the battle, holding a big knife in his hand, his figure is majestic and majestic.

Seeing that Hunter was happy, he turned around and smiled: "Look at this guy seems to be a brave general, wait for me to take his head and make a wine glass, everyone can drink." ”

After that, he rode his horse across the drawbridge, and screamed and killed him.

The Song general on the opposite side is not the next one, it is the "Nanli Divine Knife" Shi Bao!

He originally expected that no one would dare to fight, who would have thought that someone would kill him, he was slightly stunned, and then rejoiced: "Hahaha, Shi is blessed!" Everyone came all the way to come, and it was my Shibao who was the first to make a fortune! ”

In the midst of laughter, he slapped the horse and greeted him with a dancing knife.

This is exactly what it is: the heavenly soldiers flew under the emirate, and the sound of singing and dancing was still heard in the city. The horses stepped on Helan and the courage was cracked, and the soldiers went out of the plug and the dust was clear.

(End of chapter)