After the great drought, there will be a great cold.

A major drought on Northland 4th Road this summer has made this winter particularly cold.

Because of this, all the rivers in the Northland are frozen.

For Goto Mountain, it is the only good news among countless bad news.

The thick ice on the surface of the river made it easy for the army to cross the river, greatly shortening the time.

November 28.

After walking for more than ten days in the cold and freezing Hebei, Gaotuo Mountain finally came to the territory of Dezhou, and then walked more than 50 miles to the south, and then completely entered the boundary of Jinan Prefecture.

The hardships along the way are not enough for outsiders.

Every morning, many soldiers never wake up again, turn into ice sculptures, and sleep here.

100,000 remnants of the army, frozen to death and starved to death.

Today, fewer than 60,000 remain.

"Everyone work hard to enter Jinan Mansion today. When we arrived in Jinan Mansion, we ate meat, drank wine, and slept beautifully in a warm house! ”

Gao Tuoshan shouted in a hoarse voice, and his excited expression made the open wound on his face look particularly hideous.

The wound was caused by chilblains tearing and festering.

It didn't hurt, but after a little roasting fire, it itched and scratched his heart and liver, making him want to use a knife to cut off the skin and flesh on his face.

Quietly behind him, only the creaking sound of frozen snow being stepped on.

Along the way, Mt. Goto would shout out almost every day.

But as people continued to fall, the flames in the hearts of the soldiers were blown out by the cold wind and became numb again.

At this moment, some people have even forgotten why they came to Jinan Mansion, just following the large army, moving mechanically.

Lu Dazhang swallowed his saliva with difficulty, and said in the same hoarse voice: "Brother Sheng, will Li Heihu accept us?" ”

The once 500,000 army now has only more than 60,000 people left, and they are all remnants.

These soldiers have frostbite on their hands and feet, and whether they can hold a steady knife is a question, no different from refugee beggars.

Li Heihu is not his father, why should he spend hundreds of thousands of stones of grain to relieve them of these wastes who can't lift knives?

"Yes."

Gotoshan nodded.

Lu Dazhang said in a worried tone: "But if he doesn't save him, what should we do?" ”

"Li Heihu is not a fool, our knife was sent to the door and handed to him, he has no reason not to use it." Gao Tuoshan smiled slightly, but his smile was full of bitterness.

Not surprisingly, Li Heihu would place them in a key place and give them some rice and ammunition.

Use their lives to test the quality of the Western Army and consume the Western Army as much as possible.

……

Hundreds of miles away in Licheng County, among the government offices, Li Heihu was discussing the matter of Gaotuo Mountain with a group of leaders.

In three months, Li Heihu's fair skin turned wheat-colored.

With her narrow and noble phoenix eyes, it adds a touch of wildness.

The only constant was the saber that lay across her legs.

Li Heihu's cold voice sounded: "Yesterday, the spies came to report that Gaotuo Mountain has reached the boundary of Texas, and it is estimated that it will enter Jinan Mansion today." Do you have a charter for Mount Gaoto? ”

"Gaotuo Mountain is now just a lost dog, although there are still tens of thousands of people under his command, but after surviving in the cold and freezing for so long, and the people who can still fight with knives, I am afraid that there will be no one in ten. A certain family thinks that it is enough to leave it to fend for itself, otherwise it will only waste food. ”

The person who spoke was Sun Zhi.

After two or three months of recuperation, he finally recovered.

The martial artist's physique is stronger than ordinary people, and what he practices is internal kung fu, relying on a light of qi in his chest, he unloaded Han Zhen's three-point strength.

But even so, he almost lost his life and stepped into the ghost gate with half a foot.

If it weren't for the alertness of his subordinates, he would be escorted back to the Black Mountain Cottage immediately, but he was afraid that if it dragged on for a while, it would be hopeless.

It's just that compared to before, Sun Zhi's face at this moment is a little sallow, and there is a gloomy atmosphere between his eyebrows.

This is a sign of trauma to the liver.

The doctor said that he is young and strong now, and he may not feel it deeply, but after entering middle age and declining physical strength, he will suffer it.

The seventh master nodded and agreed: "The third brother is right, the tens of thousands of people in Gaotuo Mountain are now a burden, instead of giving them food, it is better to let the brothers eat a few more mouthfuls of food." ”

"That's not true."

At this time, Mr. Yin spoke: "The three masters need to know how to make the best use of things. Now that the remnants of Zhang Di are placed in Yucheng, it is better to place Gaotuo Mountain in Linyi and give him some food, so that he can work for us. The Western Army is 100,000, and its combat strength is strong, and we are only 30,000 now, of which ninety percent are new recruits, and there is a huge disparity in strength. ”

The seventh master frowned and said: "Why does Mr. Yin want to be prestigious, there are still 120,000 Zhang Di remnants in Yucheng." ”

Mr. Yin shook his head and said with a smile: "When Zhang Di was in his heyday, more than 200,000 troops under his command were all defeated and killed by Liu Guangshi, and now these 120,000 remnants can block the 100,000 Western Army?" ”

"This ......"

The seventh master's face was stunned, and he was speechless.

Mr. Yin continued, "Today, the movements of the Western Army are no secret. Ande and Gao Tang frequently moved grain and grass, and it was clear that they wanted to divide their troops into two ways, one up and one down. Yucheng is close to Gaotang, Linyi is close to Ande, and as soon as the Western Army arrives, these two counties will bear the brunt. It just so happened that Zhang Di's remnants and Gao Tuoshan took the lead for us. Even if they can't stop it, nearly 200,000 prisoners of war are enough for the logistics of the Western Army to drink a pot. ”

Of the nearly 200,000 prisoners of war, the Western Army must assign at least 10,000 or 20,000 to take care of them, and secondly, it is also a big problem for so many people to eat, drink, and Lazar, which can slow down the pace of the Western Army.

That's why there have always been killings of prisoners in history.

In addition to boosting morale and deterring the enemy, it is more important to reduce the pressure on logistics.

If they were hungry all the time, the prisoners of war would have caused trouble and even mutinied.

Just kill it, it's a hundred.

Sun Zhi said with a solemn face: "This time, the elite of the Western Army is exhausted, and Yang Weizhong, Han Shizhong, Wang Yuan, Zhang Jun and other fierce generals are among them, and they are a hard bone to gnaw. ”

"No matter how hard it is, you have to gnaw it, it's all one head and two arms, I don't believe that the Western Army can have one more head than us!" The nine masters snorted coldly, and there was no fear in their eyes, but they were high-spirited.

His family originally had hundreds of acres of fertile land, although it was not a lot of wealth, but it was also a solid family.

A family of six, happy and happy.

Just because the new magistrate took a fancy to the fertile land in his family, he used the means to make his family respond to the front service, and finally ended up with a broken family.

Therefore, he hated the Zhao and Song courts.

Mr. Yin chuckled and said: "The combat strength of the Western Army is certainly strong, but after all, it has been hard for three months in Hebei, and we are waiting for work, and the victory or defeat is still unknown. ”

Li Heihu clapped his hands and said: "In this case, I will send someone to inform Gaotuoshan and let him be stationed in Linyi." ”

At the beginning of the uprising in the north, the situation was very good.

Uprisings occurred frequently in various places, and Zhang Wanxian, Gao Tuoshan, Zhang Di and others gathered hundreds of thousands of people and quickly swept through several counties.

This made Mr. Li Heihu and Mr. Yin feel that the time had come, and Zhao Song's luck would be exhausted.

However, soon, the situation took a turn for the worse, Zhang Di died, Zhang Wanxian was ambushed, Gaotuo Mountain was like a lost dog, and other small-scale uprisings were also suppressed by the forbidden army from all walks of life.

After arranging the matter, Li Heihu seemed to think of something, and suddenly asked, "How is Han Zhen, is there any news?" ”

Hearing the name Han Zhen, a flash of horror flashed in Sun Zhi's eyes, and he felt a faint tingling pain in his chest.

The master is right, the martial artist relies on a light of qi in his chest.

His breath, on that night, was completely shattered by Han Zhen's understatement.

Facing Han Zhen in the future, he could no longer muster up the courage.

Sun Zhi replied: "Qingzhou's recent investigation has been extremely strict, and the spies in Yidu have not sent back news for a long time, so I think it should be exposed. Therefore, there is no news about Han Zhen for the time being. ”

The harriers of Black Mountain Village have always been Sun Zhi's responsibility and training.

Since he was injured by Han Zhen, he has been bedridden for several months, so he was handed over to Li Heihu.

But Li Heihu didn't understand this, and he was extremely busy, and his focus was on dealing with the Western Army, so his intelligence work in Qingzhou was delayed.

Later, after Sun Zhi recovered, he took over the harrier again, but at this time, Linzi and Yidu had been run by Han Zhen like an iron bucket, and at the same time a severe crackdown was carried out, and all the splashes, gangs and spies were cleaned up.

Now let alone planting spies, if any suspicious person appears in the territory of the two counties, he will be arrested immediately.

Li Heihu nodded, stopped the topic, and ordered: "From now on, prepare for battle!" ”

"Order!"

Everyone answered in unison.

……

……

The sixth day of December.

The army led by Xin Xingzong and Liu Guangshi arrived in Ande and joined Liang Fangping.

At the same time, Yang Weizhong and Wang Yuan were also leading a large army on a rapid march to Gaotang.

After a few days of rest, the war will begin.

Qingzhou, Yidu County.

Qingzhou Army Barracks, in the White Tiger Hall.

Han Zhen was dressed in dragon pattern black light armor and sat at the back of the hall.

"Order Zhang He to send troops north to cut off the official road in Zizhou."

"Order Wei Da to lead the Linzi military camp with 2,000 foot soldiers to attack Changshan and Zouping counties, and be sure to take it within eight days and cut off the Jishui waterway."

"Order Liu Qi, personally lead 500 cavalry, go into battle lightly, and take Qiancheng and Boxing counties within three days."

"Order Wubao to lead 1,000 troops and take Linqu within two days."

As military orders were issued, the entire barracks began to operate in an orderly manner.

These orders had been discussed and deduced countless times before, how to march, how to fight, how to supply grain and grass, and what to do after the battle, all the generals were familiar with it.

What they need to do is to execute, and according to the changes in the battle situation, they can adapt to the situation and adjust their combat strategies temporarily.

In fact, the three counties of Qiancheng, Boxing and Linqu in Qingzhou could have been won by Han Zhen a long time ago.

It's just that for the sake of secrecy, I have always chosen to forbear.

After all, there are many people, and the secrecy work of two counties and five counties are not the same concept at all.

Now the time has come to finally get started.

For Han Zhen, taking these three counties can be said to be a search for things, and it is effortless.

You don't even need to storm it, you just need to take out the certificate of the government office, and you can easily open the city gate and enter the city with a swagger.

Therefore, the time he gave Liu Qi and others was only three days.

In addition, it is Zizhou.

Zizhou is sandwiched between Jinan Mansion and Qingzhou, and together with the war, Han Zhen is the first to take Zizhou.

Zizhou is a military state, the Xuanhua Army, there are only four counties, except for Zichuan, the remaining three are middle and lower counties, sparsely populated.

Only Zichuan is more prosperous, but it is far less than Yidu.

Thundered!

The sound of galloping horses sounded in the barracks.

Liu Qi led 500 cavalry, lightly armed, one man and four horses, and went straight to Qiancheng.

The reason why he was sent was because Xie Ding's relationship was there, and he could take Qiancheng County faster, and after he won it, it would not make any waves.

As for Boxing, it's just incidental.

The cold wind howled, blowing Liu Qi's cheeks for a while, but his heart was extremely hot.

After waiting so long, it's finally time to go to war.

The previous attack on Zhang Wanxian was just a small test, and the Western Army, the Western Xia people, and even the Jin people were the battle for him Liu Qi to make a name for himself.

Thinking of this, Liu Qi only felt that the flame in his chest was even worse, and he just wanted to let his uncle surrender as soon as possible, so that he could rush to Zichuan to meet the county magistrate.

If Xie Ding knew what he was thinking now, he was afraid that he would be angry and scolded, evil animal!

Yidu is a thousand times away, which is nearly twice as far as Linzi.

At the beginning, Han Zhen galloped from Linzi to help thousands of people, one person and three horses, set off in the morning and arrived in the afternoon.

However, Liu Qi was stunned that it only took one day, and he rushed to Qiancheng County before evening.

The soldiers guarding the city heard the galloping horses early, and they were so frightened that they hurriedly closed the city gate and lowered the jack gate.

In a short time, five hundred cavalry galloped forward with billowing smoke and dust.

The black lacquer mountain armor reflected bursts of cold light in the reflection of the setting sun.

"Come on...... Who's coming? ”

Above the castle tower, an errand officer asked in a loud voice.

When the horse came to the bottom of the city, Liu Qi pulled the door away, revealing his true face, and scolded: "Don't be verbose, open the city gate quickly!" ”

"Xiao Yanei?"

The errand officer was stunned for a moment, then breathed a sigh of relief, and said with a smile: "Where did Xiao Yanei go, I haven't seen you for a long time, but I am so majestic." ”

As he spoke, he instructed his colleagues to open the city gates.

Liu Qi replied casually: "Didn't you say it last time, I went out on a long trip." ”

Soon, the gates of the city, which had just been closed, were opened again.

It stands to reason that the army is not allowed to enter the city without a transfer order, even if it is ten miles close to the city, it must be declared in advance.

But who is Liu Qi?

Liu Xianggong's son, Xie Zhixian's nephew, will stop him when the servant is full.

Seeing that the city gate was opened, the cavalry behind Liu Qi couldn't help but look weird.

They knew it would be easy, but they didn't expect it to be so easy.

What's effortless?

That's it!

"Into town!"

Liu Qi waved his hand, no longer paid attention to the errands on the city tower, and rushed into the county seat on his horse.

Rumble!

Warhorses nailed with horseshoes galloped on the bluestone slabs, making a deafening roar.

The people in the county were frightened, and fled home one by one in a panic, closing their doors and windows.

Chen Dutou, who was about to go on a business trip, was frightened and immediately beckoned the third class of soap officials and archers to check, but when he saw it, his soul was suddenly not possessed.

Cavalry, hundreds of heavily armed cavalry!

"Huh? Isn't this a little yamani? ”

At this moment, a sharp-eyed official recognized Liu Qi from a distance.

Hearing this, Chen Dutou hurriedly looked at it, and saw that the cavalry led by him became more and more familiar with it, isn't it Xiao Yanei.

After recognizing Liu Qi, everyone couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

Even, Chen Dutou took the initiative to greet him, and laughed loudly: "I haven't seen you for a long time, but I miss it so much." ”

This is not a polite remark, but Liu Qi's relationship with them was really good before.

As a ya, there is no shelf, and he is bold.

Wow!

As soon as Liu Qi reined in the reins of his horse, the galloping war horse immediately slowed down and stopped steadily in front of Chen Dutou and the others.

"Xiao Yanei's riding skills have become more sophisticated, and he can do it well."

Chen Dutou smiled and stretched out his thumb, and patted a little sycophant.

However, the imaginary greetings did not appear.

Liu Qi had a cold face and shouted: "Kneel down and surrender, disarm and don't kill!" ”

"This ......"

Chen Dutou was stunned for a moment, and then forced a smile: "Xiao Yanei don't laugh naughtily......

Swish!

Before the words fell, the five hundred cavalrymen behind Liu Qi raised their spears one after another, and their eyes were full of cold killing intent.

Gollum!

Chen Dutou swallowed his saliva, his smile froze on his face, and he looked at Liu Qi in disbelief.

Liu Qi's eyes were like knives, and he said in a calm tone: "If you don't descend after three breaths, there will be no forgiveness for killing!" ”

Crash!

The next moment, Chen Du's head and knees weakened, and he fell to the ground.

The soap officer in the back also hurriedly threw away the saber in his hand and knelt down to surrender.

Seeing this, Liu Qi turned his head and ordered: "Huang Kai, you lead two hundred people to take over the east and west city gates, and no one is allowed to enter or leave." ”

"Order!"

Huang Kai responded with his fists clenched, then turned his horse's head and led two hundred cavalry to take over the city gate.

"Watch over them, if there is any change, kill!"

After an explanation, Liu Qi turned over and dismounted, leading a team of cavalry to stride into the county office.

As soon as I entered the gate of the county government, I saw Xie Ding sitting in the lobby.

Liu Qi shouted: "Uncle, hurry up and surrender!" ”

Xie Ding almost didn't spurt out a mouthful of old blood, his angry lips trembled for a while, and he pointed at him and scolded: "You evil animal, just talk to me like this? Gangchang ethics have been learned in the dog's belly? ”

However, Liu Qi's next words made his blood pressure soar: "Uncle don't want to be a little daughter, the military order is urgent, I have to go to Boxing after a short rest." ”

"Good, good!"

Xie Ding laughed angrily: "Today, the official will sit here, waiting for you, the thief, to come and kill." ”

There's no way to talk about that.

Liu Qi's face was helpless, and he said softly: "Uncle, don't blame, Zhu'er will compensate you." ”

It was rare to see Liu Qi deflated, and the cavalry squad behind him all held back a smile.

Xie Ding also knew that now was not the time to be angry, so he took a deep breath, suppressed the anger in his heart, and asked in a deep voice: "Han Zhen is preparing to raise the anti-flag?" ”

"That's right!"

Liu Qi responded.

Xie Ding stretched out his hand and said: "Where is the crusade against the text, present it to me and have a look." ”

Since ancient times, whether it is a rebellion or a thief, it has always paid attention to a proper name.

If the name is not correct and the words are not good, the hearts of the army and the people will be uneasy.

Even barbarians like the Jin people who attacked the Song Dynasty knew to find an excuse, let alone Huanghuang China.

Therefore, the crusade came into being.

Liu Qi shook his head and explained: "What the county magistrate means, this crusade should be written by my uncle!" ”

Xie Ding's face changed, his eyes stared at Liu Qi, and he said word by word: "Do you know, what does it mean that I have come to write a crusade against Zhuwen?" ”

"My nephew knows."

Liu Qi nodded, and said in a solemn tone: "Uncle, I am not an idiot, I can distinguish between right and wrong." ”

Xie Ding heard the implication of his words, it was time for the team.

Slowly closing his eyes, Xie Ding's mind was racing sharply, and his heart was full of thoughts.

As soon as this crusade was written, he Xie Jia had no way back.

Liu Qi knew that his uncle was making the final choice, so he stood quietly and waited.

After a while, Xie Ding reopened his eyes and said slowly: "Zhu'er, you tell the truth, what are the chances of winning this battle?" ”

Liu Qi replied truthfully: "If my uncle asks me to say, it will be ten percent." But the two armies are facing each other, and there are thousands of variables, so before the fight, it will always be five or five. ”

Xie Ding was silent for a while.

He is now extremely entangled in his heart, if he votes for Han Zhen, it will be fine if he wins, but if he loses, then the prestige that his Xie family has accumulated for a hundred years will be completely ruined.

But if you don't vote, although your life is worry-free, Han Zhen and Xu officials share the world, which is the root of the planer.

Once Han Zhen wins, it won't be long, but I'm afraid that after ten years, no one in the world will remember his Fuyang Xie family.

Whether to invest or not to invest, there are risks and gains.

After pondering for a long time, Xie Ding looked at the majestic nephew in front of him who was wearing tiger stripe black light armor, turned his heart sideways, gritted his teeth and said, "Okay, I'll take the pen!" ”

(End of chapter)