The soldiers and horses from Hedong Province gathered in Taiyuan Mansion were ordered to station on the south bank of Fenhe River twenty miles away from the city.
On a vast river bank customarily called Shangnanchuan, the Hedong Army camp stretched for more than ten miles from west to east. After Liu Zhiyuan's brother and the Hedong Horse Infantry Army commanded Liu Chong to bring troops and horses from the north, this The size of the tent camp also became larger and larger. The Fengguo Army to which Guo Xin belonged was an inconspicuous one among them.
At present, except for a small number of garrison troops in Daizhou, Yizhou and other places to guard against the Khitans, almost all the combatable troops in Hedong are gathered in the Taiyuan Prefecture. There are even rumors that Liu Zhiyuan has gathered 100,000 infantry and cavalry. Army. However, Guo Xin knew that the rumors were not credible - Hedong's current combat strength should be between 50,000 and 60,000.
These tens of thousands of soldiers and horses are no longer a force that can be underestimated.
The Hu and Han people in the Daibei area of Hedong blended together, and the folk customs were strong and fertile. Since the Tang Dynasty, Liu Zhiyuan had gathered a group of stragglers from the Jin army after the Yangcheng battle with the Khitans. At present, Liu Zhiyuan is probably the only one among the towns in the Central Plains. Such a strong strength can challenge the Khitans.
The closer Guo Xin got to the camp, the more emotional he became. Not to mention the shouts of killing that came from the army during drills that shook the sky, just looking at the dozens of companies and camps was enough to make ordinary people feel awe. The sight in front of him made Guo Xin even more determined in his heart. Only the soldiers and horses in his hands were the trump cards to settle down.
Guo and Xin gradually approached the camp, and from time to time patrolling sentries came up to question them. Unlike the guards who were perfunctory when leaving the city, the sentry knight not only checked the Fu Xin to verify his identity, but also asked a few questions such as Shang Feng's name and surname before letting Guo Xin go.
After several sentry rides, Guo Xin finally arrived at the camp. The large military camp in the south of the city had been set up for more than a month. Guo Xin looked over from his horseback. There were huge groups of soldiers and loud voices. Countless felt tents covered the entire wilderness, large and small. The spire is like countless bamboo shoots sprouting from the ground, and like countless sharp spears piercing the sky.
After passing through the heavily guarded camp gate, Guo Xin also entered between these felt tents.
Decades of constant wars have made the generals in Hedong very experienced. The camps of various armies are neat and spacious. The roads crisscross between the armies, but they do not appear chaotic at all. There is even a large empty school field in the distance. For military training.
The weather was cold, but Guo Xin soon felt that the atmosphere in the army was not desolate. The expressions on the faces of the soldiers were all cheerful. There was neither fear of war nor dissatisfaction with the expedition. The words that came to Guo Xin's ears most often were words such as "wealth" and "merit".
The military camp was so big that it was boundless. Guo Pu, who was accompanying him, dismounted and asked many people, and finally found out from a soldier the location of the Fengguo Army.
After the two of them finally found their spot, and were about to tie their horses to the horse posts in front of the camp gate, a sharp-faced military man sitting idle not far away came up to him suspiciously: "Which young bud is from this family?" A place to tie your horse?"
Guo Xin smiled and hugged his fist: "May I ask if this is the left command post of the Fengguo Army?"
The sharp-faced military man nodded: "That's right."
Guo Xin patted the dust off: "That's good, it's tied in the right place."
"Are you here to deliver an order? The commander is not in the army right now..."
Guo Pu, who had just tied his horse next to him, couldn't help but interject: "This is the new capital head of the Fengguo Left Army!"
The sharp-faced military man was stunned for a moment, then sneered, and counted on his fingers: "Li Dutou, Zhang Dutou, Qu Dutou, Zhang Dutou..." He looked sideways at Guo Xin and said, "It seems there are none. You white-faced pit.”
At this time, the nearby soldiers saw the incident and came to watch the fun.
The sharp-faced military man pointed at Guo Xin and smiled at the crowd around him: "Did you hear it? This white face with no hair on its mouth actually said it was our capital."
The crowd laughed. Just as Guo Xin was about to take out his badge, he thought of something and asked, "Who is the commander on the left looking at you?"
Someone next to me quickly replied: "The third one from the left is Zhang Dutou's soldier."
Guo Xin was immediately speechless. The vacancy he saw when he registered was exactly the position of the three capitals of Zuo Command. How could it be false? My father had no reason to trick him on this matter. He thought for a moment and felt that it was useless to argue with these soldiers here because it was unclear. It was better to go back to Zan Jurun and ask for clarification.
Guo Xin wanted to get away from here, but at this time the onlookers had gathered into a wall of people, standing together with no intention of getting out of his way.
The sharp-faced military man behind him chuckled twice: "What kind of place are we, that we can come and leave when we want? You can leave if you want. Take off your armor and leave those two horses for us." .”
"You're too much of a bully!" Guo Pu suddenly pulled out his sword in a hurry.
The sharp-faced military man immediately jumped back, pointed at Guo Pu and shouted: "This guy wants to do something!"
The surrounding soldiers were not afraid when they saw this, and drew their knives in their hands.
Seeing that the situation suddenly evolved into this situation, Guo Xin had to take out his cards, mounted his horse and shouted loudly: "Stop it!"
As soon as the eager soldiers were calmed down by Guo Xin's shout, a shout came from outside the crowd: "Which kid is making a noise here! What do you guys want to do here?"
Then I saw an opening in the crowd, and a burly man came over with four or five sergeants.
The sharp-faced military man hurriedly walked over, cupped his fists at the leading man and said, "I'm sorry, Zhang Dutou, this guy pretended to be our Sandu Dutou, but he was caught by his subordinates!"
The man known as Zhang Dutou stood steadily in front of Guo Xin, his eyes were bright, but his face looked very bad. He frowned and looked at Guo Xin from head to toe, and said in a deep voice: "He is from the top." Are you here, Guo Dutou?"
Guo Xin knew that men were at best generals. Although he didn't know what the misunderstanding was, the situation just now showed that the soldiers were disrespectful to him anyway. At this time, he must not let the surrounding soldiers think that he was weak and could be bullied. impression. So he didn't say anything, and he didn't dismount. He just threw his badge far away towards the man.
The man took the waistband in the air, looked at it front and back, rubbed it with his hands, and even handed the waistband to the left and right with some reluctance: "I can't read, please look at the top of it." What is written?”
The eyes of all the soldiers were focused on the person who took over the belt. Feeling the glory that suddenly fell on him, that person cleared his throat heavily and read loudly: "Fengguo Army! Head!"
The five words came to an abrupt end, but the onlookers were all stunned on the spot. Only Jun Han, who had just finished reciting, was still unfinished. He seemed to feel that just five words were not enough for him. He looked left and right, still trying to find some words that would make him stand out.
However, the man named Zhang snatched the waist badge from his hand, walked up to Guo Xin, bent down and returned the waist badge to Guo Xin.
The man clasped his fists and saluted Guo Xin with a serious look on his face: "I humbly command Zhang Chenghua, the capital of the third capital of Feng Guozuo, and I have seen Guo Dutou."
Guo Xin took back his belt with a cold face, having already understood something from Zhang Chenghua's words.
