In the thirteenth year of the establishment of the Southern Qi Dynasty, November 27.

At dawn, Lu Shen, the commander of the Huaizhou Ruishi Battalion, led 3,000 strange soldiers, rushed to Yongquan Pass on a snowy night, killed more than 2,000 Yan Jing soldiers in just two hours, captured more than 1,000 people, and beheaded Hu Linzhong, the commander of the Yan army, and four deputy generals, only Shi Ge, the commander of the Jing army, escaped with more than ten personal soldiers.

At this point, the southeast gateway of Dongyang Road in Beiyan changed hands, and Yongquan Pass became the bag of the Huaizhou Army.

On the morning of the 29th, the Huaizhou Zhenbei Army and the Lai'an Army arrived at Yongquan Pass.

In the afternoon of the same day, the Huaizhou Feiyun army entered Qingtian City in the west and camped five miles outside the city to intimidate the 8,000 defenders in the city.

The Taixing Army, the Guangling Army, and the Pingshan Army set off to the north one after another, and the 100,000 troops gathered in the line from Qingtian City to Yongquan Pass, and countless grains and grass began to be transferred to the north, and the baggage line was established.

On the afternoon of the 30th, the Zhenbei army went north from Yongquan Pass, then turned to the west, and captured Tongshan City, which was empty of troops, in only half a day.

This place is located at the northern end of Yongfeng Road, and to the south is Qingtian Castle in the valley.

At this point, Qingtian City has been completely reduced to an isolated city.

Letters of help from various military fortresses in Beiyan flew to Ruyin City in the north like snowflakes that had been blowing in recent days.

In the General's Mansion, the hall was full of dead silence.

Li Shouzhen looked at the partial general who reported the news in a daze, and he didn't say anything for a long time, and suddenly his body shook back.

"General!"

A group of staff officials hurriedly stepped forward to help, only to see Li Shouzhen's face pale and his eyes closed.

Everyone was worried, and they pinched people and asked people to go to the doctor.

"No need."

Li Shouzhen slowly opened his eyes and struggled to spit out three words from between his teeth.

The crowd fearfully lifted him to the top of the handsome.

Li Shouzhen barely got his breath down, stared at the partial general and said coldly: "In other words, now the southern line pass is lost?" ”

The partial general said with a dejected expression: "General Hui, Yongquan Pass and Tongshan City have fallen, but now Qingtian City is still in the hands of our army. The walls there were strong, and the garrison could hold out for a long time. ”

"Heh......"

Li Shouzhen sneered and said, "Hold on for a long time? There are Qi troops on all sides, and in this isolated and helpless situation, you say they can hold out for a long time? ”

The general shrunk his neck, knowing that the general was suppressing his anger at the moment, so he didn't dare to answer.

Li Shouzhen slowly calmed his breath and asked again, "What about the people in Yongquan Pass?" All dead? Or did they surrender to Nanqi? ”

The partial general said cautiously: "General Hui, only Brother Shi, the commander of the Jing army, escaped with more than ten people. ”

"Bang!"

Li Shouzhen slapped the handrail and said angrily: "What about others? Why don't you come and meet the general?! ”

The general bowed his head and said: "General, Commander Shi Qianfu only asked people to send a message here, and he took those personal soldiers straight to the capital." ”

"Fuck it!"

Li Shouzhen couldn't help but curse, gritted his teeth and said: "Such a person who is greedy for life and afraid of death, Lao Tzu will definitely not let him go!" ”

The staff and subordinate officials in the hall all lowered their heads, and they inevitably lamented in their hearts, although Brother Shi was only a mere commander, and Li Shouzhengui was the general of Dongyang Road, he might not be able to punish the other party. Because Brother Shi is a military general of the Jing Dynasty, if His Royal Highness the county lord doesn't speak, Li Shouzhen really can't do anything about him.

Although he sighed like this in his heart, everyone would definitely not speak out at this time to provoke Li Shouzhen's anger.

One of them plucked up his courage and said, "General, the Qi army will definitely not stop, and our army must deal with it early." ”

Li Shouzhen frowned, the biggest problem he was facing now was the lack of troops, especially the veterans who had experienced the tempering of the war.

Yongquan Pass lost 4,000 people in the first battle, and lost the southeast gate that blocked the Qi army's northward advance, making the already difficult situation of the defenders of Dongyang Road even worse.

He got up and came to the sand table, staring at Yongquan Pass and Qingtian City in the south, and his eyes immediately moved upward, looking at Gushu and Ningling City in the south of Dongyang Road.

Gushu is located in the northeast of Yongquan Pass, and Ningling is located in the north of Tongshan City, both of which are strategic points that enter the heart of Dongyang Road from the south.

After being silent for a long time, Li Shouzhen asked coldly: "You say, where will Qi Jun choose next?" ”

A subordinate official said: "General, the lower official thinks that after the Qi army occupies Yongquan Pass and Tongshan City, it will take Gushu City as the main direction of attack. Gushu City is located at the southern end of the official road in Dongyang Road, and you can go all the way to Ruyin City through the official road. At the moment, the Qi army will not whimsically open to the west to expand the front, and their target will definitely be Ruyin City. ”

This inference won the approval of some people, Ruyin City is the southeast town of Northern Yan, and it is the core of the entire Dongyang Road, and the rich merchants and hoarded grain and grass in the city alone are enough to feed the Huaizhou army of Southern Qi.

If this is the case, it is imperative to send troops to reinforce Gushu City.

However, the problem was that the Qi army's movements were too fast, and the loss of Yongquan Pass caught Li Shouzhen off guard, and he had not made any plans in this regard at all, after all, no one could have imagined that Xiongguan, which had been as stable as a mountain for ten years, would fall overnight.

In short, it will take time for Li Shouzhen to dispatch troops to support the border, and it is impossible for reinforcements from the rear to fly directly over, and hasty action will have greater hidden dangers.

At this moment, another staff member shook his head and said, "General, the villain thinks that the Qi army may not rush north to attack. Although Yongquan and Tongshan have fallen, Qingtian City is still stuck there like nails, how can the Qi army let go of this place? In the villain's opinion, the Qi army will definitely use Tongshan City and Yongquan Pass as a stronghold to cut off our army's reinforcements, and then gather heavy troops to storm Qingtian City. Only by taking this place can the opponent attack north with confidence. ”

Li Shouzhen looked at him and asked, "Then in your opinion, how should our army respond?" ”

The man replied: "You can send an order to the guards of Gushu and Ningling, order the defenders to strengthen their vigilance and be careful, and then urgently report to the capital to ask the imperial court to send reinforcements quickly." At the same time, the general can send an elite army to carry grain and grass south to support Gushu City. ”

This is indeed a relatively safe approach, but the premise is that the Qi army will adopt the same prudent step by step.

Li Shouzhen fell into hesitation.

He paced back and forth with his hands in his hands, and after a while, he said awe-inspiringly: "Immediately report to the capital with an eight-hundred-mile fast horse, and ask the imperial court to send reinforcements as soon as possible." Judging from the current situation, the target of the Southern Qi border army is Dongyang Road, and Moyang Road and Jiangbei Road should not have too much pressure for the time being, and they only need to maintain the existing defensive forces. ”

A clerk stepped forward and said, "Obey!" ”

Li Shouzhen looked at Cheng Weimin, the deputy chief of soldiers and horses, and said: "Deputy chief Cheng, I will order 5,000 soldiers from the defenders in the city, and then take my general order to Fengfu City and Gaoyuan City, and bring a total of 10,000 soldiers and horses from those two places, and bring all the grain and grass all the way to the south, and assist in the defense of Gushu and Ningling." ”

Cheng Weimin said proudly: "The last general is ordered!" ”

Li Shouzhen glanced at the sand table again, there seemed to be a storm in his eyes, but there was a faint worry in his heart, but this worry could not be dissipated in a short time, he could only sigh secretly.

The emergency military intelligence was sent to Heluo City at a speed of 800 miles.

It was the third day of the twelfth month when the imperial court received this urgent report, and after several important ministers had a brief discussion in the palace, and the Son of Heaven did not give a practical and effective will, they hurriedly rushed to Zhuoyuan in Xicheng.

Now the Qi army is menacing, Dongyang Road is in a difficult situation, Moyang Road in the south has to deal with more than 100,000 troops under the command of Li Tianrun in Jingzhou, and the army on Jiangbei Road can't save the thirst from far water, and if you want to relieve the crisis of Dongyang Road, you can only ask for help from the main force of the Jing army stationed in Heluocheng.

In the Jade Tea Hall, Qing Yu Huaijin was holding a tea cup in his hand, and his eyes were quite cold.

The privy envoy Pang Shigu said with a solemn expression: "This time the Qi army moved faster than we expected, especially that Lu Shen, this person is not only scheming, but also too bold, and dared to take three thousand people to attack Yongquan Pass on a snowy night, so it caused an extremely passive situation for our army. ”

Qing Yu Huaijin looked down at the tea leaves floating in the tea cup, and her red lips were slightly open and gently blowing.

Pang Shigu continued: "Now that the situation on Dongyang Road is urgent, Li Shouzhen has sent someone to send an urgent report asking for help, but where can the imperial court rush to the border with tens of thousands of elite troops? ”

Everyone looked at the county lord of Jing Dynasty, who was sitting on the main seat.

Qing Yu Huaijin naturally felt the gaze of these eyes, she turned her head to look at Pang Shigu, and asked unhurriedly: "Huge man, did Li Shouzhen mention his follow-up arrangements?" ”

Pang Shigu bowed his head and said, "Yes." Now that the Qi army has captured Yongquan Pass and Tongshan City, Qingtian City, which is isolated in the south, is afraid that it will be more auspicious, but I don't know how long they can hold on. Li Shouzhen judged that the next target of the Qi army should be Qingtian City, and then it was to go north to force Gushu City, because there was an official road connecting it with Ruyin City. ”

Qing Yu Huaijin slowly put down the teacup and asked again, "How is he going to deal with it?" ”

Pang Shigu replied: "He said in the military intelligence report that a total of 15,000 soldiers and horses will be transferred from Ruyin, Fengfu, and Gaoyuan, and Cheng Weimin, the deputy chief of soldiers and horses, will go south to protect the two cities of Gushu and Ningling. ”

Qing Yu Huaijin's complexion changed slightly.

Seeing this, Pang Shigu asked, "Your Highness, is this move inappropriate?" ”

Qing Yu Huaijin said in a deep voice: "Didn't the huge people inform Li Shouzhen before, if the Qi army invades on a large scale, don't move troops at will, and be sure to stick to one city and one place?" ”

Pang Shigu said with a little puzzlement: "Naturally, the notice has passed. It's just that Yongquan Pass and Tongshan City were lost too quickly, Qingtian City became a Jedi again, and the southern border of Dongyang Road was already very dangerous. If Gushu City was captured by the Qi army again, they could wave their army north to Ruyin City, and Li Shouzhen had no choice but to do it. ”

"Li Shouzhen, this idiot."

The evil aura on Qing Yu Huaijin's face flashed, and he said slowly: "He still hasn't understood that Lu Shen is the best at taking chestnuts from fire, this person will definitely not storm Gushu City, he will definitely take the opportunity of besieging the city to attack the reinforcements sent by Li Shouzhen!" ”

As soon as these words came out, everyone in the hall changed color.

Pang Shigu muttered, "Your Highness, is this true? ”

Qingyu Huaijin slowly exhaled a breath of turbidity and said: "Father said that Lu Shen is young and vigorous, which is both a disadvantage and an advantage, and it is destined that he can lead troops to fight without being tasty, and dare to take risks to make decisions." Whether it was last year's frontier war or this year's battle in Baotai Mountain, the characteristic he showed was to find opportunities to fight more and fight less in the process through the mobilization of our army. ”

Pang Shigu hesitated slightly, but finally decided to tell the truth: "According to the report of the messenger sent by Li Shouzhen, he has asked Cheng Wei to send troops south, and at this time he may be approaching Gushu City. ”

Qing Yu Huaijin raised his hand and pinched his eyebrows, recalled Qing Yugong's earnest teachings last time, forcibly suppressed the irritability in his heart, and said to Pang Shigu: "Huge man, you immediately send someone to reply to Li Shouzhen, let him stick to the strategy of waiting for help, and definitely not fight the Qi army in the field." I'll go to Mou Lianghu now and ask him to send a main force to Dongyang Road to rescue. ”

Not only was Pang Shigu overjoyed, but the others were also immediately relieved.

The iron cavalry of the Jing Dynasty was rampant in the world, and as long as they were dispatched, the Qi army would inevitably be defeated.

Qing Yu Huaijin told the others again, it was nothing more than to maintain the stability of the imperial court and the supply of grain and grass for the soldiers of the border army, and this short meeting ended.

After a few moments, Prime Minister Wang An walked out of Zhuo Garden, said goodbye to his colleagues, and suddenly turned his head to glance at the plaque on the gate of this elegant garden before getting into the carriage.

At this moment, his expression was extremely meaningful.

(End of chapter)