It was the end of April in the third year of Qianyou. Guo Wei formally led the Privy Council officials and part of the imperial army to leave Beijing and go to Daming Mansion in Weizhou to take up the post of Tianxiong Army's Jiedu Envoy. Two days later, on the dark day of April, Guo Xin also bid farewell to his family and marched on the east road. The infantry commander commanded more than 2,000 troops from the headquarters of the Fifth Army on the left side of the national army, as well as temporarily recruited civilian and military servants, etc. Under the control of Guo Qiong, deployed by the army and camp capital, they left Tokyo City from Chenqiao Gate and headed east.
According to the stated strategy, the goal of the camp on the east route was to form a deterrent in Mizhou and Yizhou to prevent the Tang army from crossing the Huaihe River to the north. If the Tang army did not make any major moves this year, the Tang army would take the initiative to eliminate the Tang army's previous attacks on the north bank of the Huaihe River during the war in Guanzhong. Set up a navy and army stronghold. However, the Eastern Route Army does not go directly to the front line of the Huaihe River at this moment. Instead, it first goes to Qizhou to gather Qizhou soldiers and horses, and then waits in Qingzhou for the subsequent preparation of grain and fodder and the manufacture of equipment. After it is ready, it will go south along the Yishui or Shushui rivers to Mizhou, etc. to seek fighter opportunities.
Therefore, when the army left Tokyo City, it actually marched northeast along the river. Since the army supplies were supplied by the prefectures and counties along the way, the army moved very lightly.
The weather is already warm at this time of year, and people and horses will kick up dust as they march along the official road. Guo Xin rode on horseback and marched with the soldiers. As far as he could see, there was a vast plain. The official road was therefore straight, sandwiched between rows and rows of plowed fields, leading straight to the distance. , like a plumb line, which has been pressed smooth by countless people's feet, livestock hooves and wheels for many years. After being exposed to the sun, it is as hard as bricks. But no matter how far away we are, we can no longer see clearly.
Guo Xin raised his whip and pointed it in the distance, and said to the subordinates around him: "From Tokyo City to the east, the fields are all flat, and there are real mountains until Yanzhou. Therefore, if the Khitans penetrate deep into Hebei, the towns in Hebei will not be able to effectively contain them. The city of Tokyo could only defend the river and voluntarily surrender its military to the north. Therefore, my father could only station troops in Daming Prefecture until he waited for an opportunity to recover the Sixteenth Prefecture of Yanyun. Only then would the south of the river be free from being trampled by Khitan horses."
Xiang Xun, the Marquis of Du Yu, agreed: "The stationing of troops in Hebei can only be a temporary measure. Only by recovering You and Yun can we avoid the story of the previous dynasty."
Zhao Kuangyin also followed and said: "My lord has a far-sighted view, but when I wait for my squad to return to the court, maybe Guo Gong has already raised troops to capture Youzhou!"
Everyone was obviously on their way to deal with the Tang Dynasty, but they were talking about the war in the north. In fact, it was because Guo Xin and others did not take the Tang army seriously. In the past two years, the Tang army occasionally crossed the Huaihe River, but it was difficult for the generals in Huaibei Prefecture to gain a foothold. This fully demonstrated the weakness of its soldiers and prevented the warriors from taking it seriously.
At this time, a scout came from the front on horseback and reported that the general Guo Qiong and the military and horse supervisor Yan Jinqing invited Guo Xin to come to discuss matters. Guo Xin then asked Xiang Xun, the Marquis of Shangdu, to take several cavalry soldiers with him to the front army to discuss the matter.
Guo Xin searched for the flag and soon found Guo Qiong who was resting on a mound along the road. Guo Xin dismounted in front of the mound and went up to the mound with Xiang Xun to pay homage to Guo Qiong.
Flags and umbrellas stood on the mound, and Guo Qiong and several generals were discussing military matters under the shade of the umbrellas. Seeing Guo Xin coming up, the group stopped talking. Guo Qiong personally returned the greeting to Guo Xin and said: "The sun is burning hard today. This place is not far from Pucheng. I want to take a rest in the jujube forest in the village ahead. As the sun goes down in the afternoon, and we rush to Pucheng to spend the night, what does General Guo think?"
The general, Guo Qiong, was nearly sixty years old. He took charge of the army this time because he had served as the governor of Yizhou, was familiar with the geography of the front line, and had a great reputation in Huaibei.
At this moment, there were still beads of sweat on the gray-haired Guo Qiong's forehead, and he used a polite discussion tone. The war was not urgent. Guo Xin naturally had no reason to object to the general, so he turned to look at the warriors who were standing with their hands behind their backs, wearing robes. Yan Jinqing, the military commander of the camp, asked: "If Yan has no objection, I will send an order and follow it."
Yan Jinqing didn't seem to expect that Guo Xin would come to ask for his opinion, but he immediately responded: "The use of troops and marching must be decided and implemented by the two generals. Even if a certain person is the governor of the capital, all military forces should obey the orders of the two generals."
So Guo Qiong issued a military order and invited Guo Xin to dine with the Chinese army. Guo Xin did not refuse and asked his soldiers to go first to follow the orders from the national army, and then had lunch with Guo Qiong and others on the mound.
Guo Xin's infantry accounted for half of the army ranks on the east road. In addition to Guo Qiong's headquarters, Yan Jinqing, the military and horse supervisor, also had 200 cavalry. They claimed to have 10,000 horse infantry, but in fact the total number was probably more than 4,000. Therefore, the army moved quickly, and the supplies in the prefectures and counties along the route were relatively abundant. Guo Qiong and other Chinese generals could also eat fine grain during the march.
During the meal, Yan Jinqing chatted with Guo Xin from time to time, and mentioned: "I heard that General Guo once shot tigers, and his subordinates are also known as the Tiger Shooting Army. I recently watched General Guo's troops, and it is true that the armored soldiers are bright and the troops are well-organized. An elite division, General Guo learned the art of running an army from Duke Guo?"
"Haha, Guo is not worthy of what the governor said. When he was in Guanzhong the year before last, Prince Wang Jun once inscribed the name "Shooting the Tiger" on our military flag. It has been jokingly called "Shooting Tigers" by the soldiers ever since. As for the deployment and training of the army, Most of them are due to the service of Yuhou and other generals. Guo is just a general and has no way of running an army. He just keeps his peace and follows steps."
Xiang Xun on the side also said humbly: "I will be ashamed in the end."
"Otherwise." After finishing the meal, Guo Qiong took the water bottle from the soldier and took a sip. His face had regained his energy and he said to everyone: "Being able to do things step by step in the army is also a skill."
All the generals agreed, and soon Guo Xin reported to the general Guo Qiong to return to his own army.
Some distance away from the central army, Guo Xin rode on horseback and asked Xiang Xun who was accompanying him: "What do you think Marquis Xiang Yu thinks of Yan Jinqing, the governor?"
Xiang Xun, who was on horseback, muttered slightly and said: "In the camp on this road, our infantry is the main force, so the general and the governor are polite to the lord and us, especially Yan Dujian is very complimentary to the lord in his words. I don’t know what his military strategy is, but at least he knows the importance of it. I think that when the camp battle is over, Captain Yan will have to pay more tribute to the Lord."
"False!" Guo Xin snorted after hearing this, turned to Xiang Xun and said, "I will never deal with this person. Something else may happen on this trip. Please pay more attention to the army, like Xiang Yuhou and me. If Any abnormalities must be reported promptly.”
Xiang Xun was obviously stunned for a moment, but he reacted and immediately clasped his fists to accept the order.
Guo Xin looked at Xiang Xun's appearance and guessed that he didn't know why he suspected Yan Jinqing. But in fact the reason why Guo Xin suspected Yan Jinqing was very simple, that is, this military supervisor was formerly the envoy of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and had always been a close minister of Emperor Liu Chengyou. Considering Liu Chengyou's recent active actions, it is difficult for Guo Xin to I believe that Yan Jinqing came here simply to do the gold plating.
As for Xiang Xun, since he was promoted and appointed by Guo Wei, Guo Xinsui has always regarded him as a confidant to appoint military officers. Of course, there are hills in the towns of the Han army and the Forbidden Army, and the largest hill among them is currently his home.
