In the thirteenth year of Qi Jianwu, the fourth day of December.

In the battle of Wanting, the Huaizhou army mobilized nearly 30,000 troops, and strangled 15,000 reinforcements of the Yan army under the command of Lu Shen, and finally only more than 3,000 remnants of the defeated generals fled.

With the collapse of this support force, Li Shouzhen was unable to mobilize mobile forces to rescue various places in a short period of time.

On the sixth day of December, the Huaizhou army successfully conquered Gushu City, which had only 5,000 defenders, with the power of Wanting's great victory, and the defender Xu Huaibin killed himself.

The military order of the Huaizhou Governor's Mansion arrived immediately, the Guangling army was stationed in Gushu City, the Taixing army replaced the Zhenbei Army to garrison Tongshan City, and the Lai'an army withdrew south through Yongquan Pass.

On the ninth day of December, the Huaizhou Feiyun, Pingshan, Lai'an and Zhenbei armies gathered under the city of Qingtian and launched a series of surging offensives under the personal command of Xiao Wangzhi.

At this time, Qingtian City had been completely reduced to a lonely city, and after being besieged by the Qi army for more than half a month, the morale of the defenders had dropped greatly compared to the beginning of the war.

If Xiao Wangzhi's command is determined, Pei Di, Duan Zuozhang, Song Shifei and Gong Shiwang and other tiger generals take turns to fight, and the soldiers are even more brave to fight. Finally, five days later, on December 14, the first part of the Zhenbei Army successfully landed in Qingtian City and sounded the horn of victory.

At this point, the beginning of the first phase of the Northern Expedition has reached Lu Shen's expectations.

The Huaizhou Army successively regained strategic points such as Yongquanguan, Qingtian, Gushu and Tongshan, and successfully entered the territory of Dongyang Road in Yanguo.

Qingtian City is only a military city, compared to those cities with hundreds of thousands of residents, the facilities in the city are very simple, and the subordinate officials of the Metropolitan Mansion finally managed to clean up a relatively tidy house, which was used as a temporary accommodation for the Metropolitan Governor.

There was no underfloor heating in the house, so the brazier burned vigorously.

The sound of charcoal beeping sounded from time to time, and Xiao Wangzhi sat next to him, holding tongs and playing with the charcoal in the brazier, his eyes were gentle and far-reaching.

Lu Shen sat opposite him and looked at the border army marshal who was over fifty years old in silence.

Compared with the tall Li Tianrun, Xiao Wangzhi's appearance is more like a very ordinary middle-aged man, but the tiger eyes under the thick eyebrows are impressive.

With the passage of time, and the heavy military affairs that have to be managed, and the huge amount of effort and blood to plan the war, Xiao Wangzhi has gradually become old, but fortunately, his spirit looks very good, and Lu Shen can feel a little at ease.

Feeling the young man's concerned gaze, Xiao Wangzhi asked curiously: "I heard your father say that a martial arts master like Lin Jie can live to be 100 years old without illness or disaster, is there any water in this sentence?" ”

Hearing him mention his unfathomable old man, a smile appeared on Lu Shen's face, and he said indifferently: "This matter cannot be examined, but as long as a person with advanced martial arts is not subject to serious internal injuries, he can indeed live for a long time." ”

"It's a pity that I haven't had the talent to practice martial arts since I was a child, and Xiao Lin and Xiao Hong are also mediocre in qualifications."

Although Xiao Wangzhi was so emotional, his face was still calm.

Lu Shen has never seen Xiao Lin, but he has seen Xiao Hong many times recently, this second young master is now the deputy commander of the Guangling Army, although he is not as fast as him along the way, but he has a solid foundation, and he will definitely be able to stand out in the army in the future.

Xiao Hong's attitude towards him was very polite on the surface, and he did not have the pride and conceit of the disciples, and he did not even have the slightest jealousy. Maybe he was not convinced by Lu Shen in his heart, after all, Xiao Wangzhi really valued Lu Shen too much, but because of the extremely strict family style of the Xiao family, and Lu Shen's performance in the past two years, the two got along quite peacefully.

These thoughts flashed in Lu Shen's heart, he looked at Xiao Wangzhi's indifferent expression, and said solemnly: "Uncle Xiao will definitely live a long life." ”

"Promise your good words."

Xiao Wangzhi smiled, and then said: "Life and death are fate, I understood this truth many years ago. Your father and Ling told the story of Yang Dashuai, so you should know that Yang Dashuai is not only a once-in-a-century master of the art of war, but also a talented martial arts wizard. When he led a thousand cavalry to break the Jing Lian cavalry, which was four times his own, he slashed hundreds of Jing Lian people with the strength of one person, killing the opponent's head, and finally cutting off the head of the second uncle of the current Jing Emperor. ”

Lu Shen had naturally heard about this past, and now he heard Xiao Wangzhi add some details, and he had a strong sense of reverence for the unmasked Jinghe marshal.

It is rare in the world to be able to break into battle alone to destroy the enemy with a single sword, and to lead a large army to protect the territory and the people.

Xiao Wangzhi's eyes dimmed slightly, and he sighed lightly: "How high is the martial arts?" Yang Dashuai still died at the hands of his own people after all. ”

Lu Shen was touched and muttered: "Uncle Xiao, the past is over, please take care of yourself." ”

"Don't worry, although my body is not as good as Lin Jie, it must not be a problem to live for ten years, at least I have to see Heluo recovered, and the court is returned to the old capital, so that I can close my eyes and go to Yang Dashuai to say goodbye."

Xiao Wangzhi's expression was open-minded, and then he changed the topic and said, "Let's talk about the war." ”

"Yes."

Lu Shen responded and said calmly: "After taking Gushu and Qingtian, our army will completely occupy the initiative, and from then on, it can be attacked, retreated, and defended. Even if the war does not go well in the future, as long as our army firmly holds the three places of Qingtian, Tongshan and Yongquan Pass, it will be able to choke the throat of the Yan army going south, and even if we abandon Gushu City on this basis, it will not matter. ”

Xiao Wangzhi smiled and said: "It's a good habit to think about defeat before you win." ”

Lu Shen nodded and continued: "For Li Shouzhen, the problem in front of him right now is that there are no soldiers available. Ningling City was in danger, and the defenders of Gaoyuan and Fengfu in the north were brought out by Cheng Weimin and buried in the Battle of Wanting, so the defense line was extremely empty. Now Li Shouzhen has to think about how he can fill the troops in the south of Ruyin City and prevent our army from attacking Ruyin. ”

Xiao Wangzhi was also very familiar with the terrain of Dongyang Road, and muttered: "Pseudo-Yan will not sit idly by and watch this. ”

Lu Shen responded: "That's true, the Su Inspection School has sent the latest information, and the Puppet Yan Imperial Court has said that Qing Yu Huaijin will be mobilized to send a part of the troops from the Jing army stationed in Heluo City to help Dongyang Road. ”

"Jing Jun, ......"

Xiao Wangzhi's tone was leisurely, and his eyes seemed to appear as if he was the Jin Ge Iron Horse of the year.

When the Jing army was at its peak, only Yang Guangyuan could suppress the other party in the entire Great Qi, and people like Xiao Wangzhi and Li Tianrun were still young juniors in their twenties and thirties at that time, and they did not have the strength and prestige to compete with the famous generals of the Jing Dynasty.

After Yang Guangyuan died unjustly, the Jing army rode across the land of Jiangbei, and the infantry army also had a glorious moment of conquering Heluo for more than ten days, and almost the vast majority of Qi people had an extremely complicated perception of the army that rose in the northern grassland.

hated the other party's burning, killing and looting in the territory of Daqi, and was afraid of the opponent's invincible strength.

Lu Shen probably understood Xiao Wangzhi's mood, and pondered: "Uncle Xiao, if a divine weapon is not wiped and seen for a long time, it will inevitably become rusty and dull. More than ten years have passed since the change of Yuanjia, and the current Jing army is actually not comparable to their peak. ”

Xiao Wangzhi raised his eyes to look at him, and said slowly: "I know that you have dealt with a lot of Jing Jun in the past two years, under Guangling City, in Baotai Mountain, and at Yongquan Pass, the other party has never taken advantage of you, but has lost troops and lost battles and defeats, and your attitude towards Jing Jun is understandable." However, you have to pay attention to one thing, the Jing Jun who has fought with you in the past two years are basically Jing Lian people who are not taken seriously, and most of them belong to the leftovers of Jing Jun. ”

Lu Shen did not show a look of resentment, and he has always been far more mature than his peers in the matter of valuing the enemy.

Xiao Wangzhi continued: "It is true that the strength of the Jing army has declined after more than ten years, but the tens of thousands of Jing troops in Heluo City, as well as the main force of the Jing army that is now sweeping through the Zhao State under the command of Qing Yugong, these people still have quite strong combat power. If we take it too lightly, we will definitely suffer on the battlefield in the future. ”

Lu Shen lowered his head and said, "Uncle Xiao, don't worry, I won't be careless about the enemy." ”

"That's the best."

Xiao Wangzhi's point stopped, and he said: "There won't be too many Jing troops coming from Heluo City, and more than 10,000 people have died, after all, their most important task is to control Heluo City." As long as there is no problem with Heluo, Qing Yugong will not care too much, he is confident enough to go back and clean us up after pacifying Zhao Guo. ”

"In that case, I think our army can continue to pursue the established strategy of the past."

"Clear the periphery and enter Ruyin?"

"It's best to force this Jing army reinforcements into Ruyin City as well."

"Catching a turtle in an urn? Ruyin is not Qingtian or Gushu City, the city wall here is about three zhang high, the city defense facilities are extremely comprehensive, the people in the city are more than 300,000, and the grain and grass are countless. Such a big city, if the defenders are determined to defend it, we may not be able to take it for a year and a half. ”

After listening to Xiao Wangzhi's narration, Lu Shen smiled and said, "Uncle Xiao, our goal was not to attack Ruyin directly. ”

Xiao Wangzhi also laughed and said with emotion: "It is still a little difficult to interpret this scene seamlessly. ”

Lu Shen bowed his head and said, "So we need the assistance of the Jingzhou Governor's Mansion." ”

"I've already arranged this matter, and Jingzhou will also send troops to attack Moyang Road recently, but-"

Xiao Wangzhi paused slightly, and said with a slightly solemn expression: "There is bad news, don't mention it to others." ”

Lu Shen's heart tightened, and he hurriedly said, "Yes, Uncle Xiao, what is the matter?" ”

Xiao Wangzhi sighed: "Li Tianrun was seriously injured back then, and his health has not been very good. Although he told me not to worry, the various armies in Jingzhou will put pressure on Moyang Road as agreed, but how can I rest assured? ”

This sentence made Lu Shenleng on the spot.

He didn't have much contact with Li Tianrun, but during his time in Jianghua City, the governor of Jingzhou was extremely gentle to him, and he was mentioned in many places, and repeatedly insisted on making a name for him, allowing him to successfully enter the sight of the Son of Heaven and lay a solid foundation for future development.

What's more, in the capital and his party, he and Li Bingxue get along very well.

In the past year, he has not taken the initiative to contact Li Bingxue, not because he forgot the red dress in the snow, nor because he deliberately pretended to be an infatuated and single-minded love saint, but because he knew Li Bingxue very well.

She has her own ideals and persistence, and Xuedi's heartfelt complaint is not a confession, but wants to cut off that feeling.

In that case, of course, he would not engage in any more flirtatious acts, even if he did not mean to flirt.

Now that he heard Xiao Wangzhi talk about this, he couldn't help but have those bright and pure eyes in his mind.

"Although life and death are fateful, if Brother Li is willing to recuperate with peace of mind, he will not make his condition worse. It's just that now that the war has begun, and the whole body will be affected, Jingzhou and Huaizhou must move in unison, and no one can persuade him at this time. ”

Xiao Wangzhi had a heavy heart, stared at Lu Shen and said, "Lu Shen, you have to remember your responsibilities. Next, I will command the battle on Dongyang Road, and you will return with the Ruishi Battalion to wait for the next move. ”

Lu Shen got up and said earnestly: "Uncle Xiao, please take care of yourself." ”

Xiao Wangzhi nodded and said: "Don't worry, Wei will come in the next two days, and I am in the army, so there will be no danger." ”

Lu Shen saluted and retired.

Walking on the street where people came and went, there were Huaizhou soldiers and soldiers saluting him around him, Lu Shen responded as usual, but the name of Li Tianrun lingered in his mind.

In case the governor of Jingzhou can't hold on, the Northern Expedition will inevitably have changes that he can't predict.

Relying only on the strength of the Huaizhou army, if you want to completely shake the defense line of Beiyan and then achieve the ultimate goal, this is obviously not a realistic idea, unless all the officers and men of the Huaizhou army can kill one enemy like a god.

No wonder Xiao Wangzhi did not have the joy after the big victory today, on the contrary, his mood was very low.

At this moment, a name suddenly appeared in Lu Shen's mind.

His eyes lit up instantly.

……

(Note: The global map, the map of Qi country, the map of Huaizhou, and the map of the First Northern Expedition, these maps have been posted in the top post in the book review area of the starting point client, and book friends can watch them against each other.) ）

(End of chapter)