In the meeting hall of the Xuanfu Si Yamen in Liaodong and Jingdong, there was the sound of riding boots stepping on the ground. In this hall, there were generals from the Song Dynasty's military camp wearing purple military uniforms and wearing various kinds of futou.
During this period of time, the battle in front of the Fuzhou Army was going smoothly. The Huachengguan defense line was impregnable. Although the Jin soldiers attacked for many days, they were unable to move forward.
Moreover, the Song army did not huddle behind a city wall that was more than ten miles long to fight defensive battles. Instead, they went out to fight against the golden thieves against the city wall of Chenghua Pass. .
The infantry and cavalry of the Song Army sent to Liaodong by Zhao Kai were all elite, and there were also outstanding men such as Niu Gao, Yue Fei, Gao Jingang, Gao Luohan, and Li Shifu in the army to command on the battlefield. The Ordnance Supervisor of Kaifeng Prefecture also made every effort to supply Liaodong under the order of Zhao Kai. They gave him as much poisonous fireworks and fireballs (paper-shell gunpowder bullets with arsenic and lime added), iron-shell thunderbolts, and fierce fire oil jars as they wanted. They also raised as much as possible and sent them to the front of the Guan Army in Chenghua. As for the heavy-duty cannons, crossbows, and divine arm bows, the supply is more abundant, and even the supply of horses is slightly more abundant... Before the army led by Wu Qimai came over, "Mr. Gao "Liu Wei"'s army once occupied the entire territory of Fuzhou, and also invaded the territory of Helanguan Road, broke many Bohai and Jurchen strongholds, and captured thousands of Jurchen horses, which was considered a big deal. "Horse wealth"!
With the above-mentioned favorable conditions, and the fact that the "997 soldiers" are working hard to earn a Kaifeng household registration (plus 10 acres of fertile land) and a house in Kaifeng city, they are very motivated to kill people.
Therefore, after repeated battles, the Song army won more than lost, maintaining a winning rate of more than 70%. Although these victories were not decisive, the generals in front of the Liaodong Fuzhou Army all gained a lot of military glory. With their military exploits in hand, the generals were naturally high-spirited to fight. Before the military meeting had even begun, they started shouting louder than the others, bragging loudly about their illustrious military exploits.
The four commanders, Niu Gao, Wang De, Liu Zhengyan, and Miao Fu, were still a little reserved. They sat there and didn't pay much attention to the arrogant generals around them. The other generals were talking to each other, and they were discussing who had more beheadings and more prisoners to see who could be ranked second... There was no need to compare the number one, it must be Yue Fei! The cavalry generals he commanded were the trump cards in front of the Fuzhou Army in Liaodong, so no matter who went into battle, Yue Fei would always be allowed to lead the cavalry as his trump card. Yue Fei's accumulated military exploits were naturally astonishing.
In the midst of this commotion, a cry came from behind a screen covering the back door of the meeting hall!
How is this going?
Why are you crying now? This is a meeting hall, how can you cry casually?
The generals in the hall were all confused and looked at each other. No one knew what had happened?
Thanks to Yue Fei, Niu Gao, who has now become the leader of all the armies in Fuzhou, Liaodong, stood up from his chair with a snap and said in a deep voice: "Stand up!" The generals no longer compared their military merits. , with a buzzing sound, they started to stand up in order according to the size of their official positions.
As soon as he stood up, he saw Ma Kuo turn out from behind the screen with a calm face... The former actual commander of the Fuzhou Army was also born as a general of the Western Army, and several of his brothers were no longer in the royal family. He himself followed his father, Ma Zheng, and Zhao Liangsi, who had surrendered to the Liao Kingdom, to join the Maritime Alliance. After running for more than ten years, the Maritime Alliance finally became a Zhijin sect.
Before the feud between the Song and Jin Dynasties, Ma Kuo's official career was quite prosperous because of the glory of regaining Yanyun. He had already become a master of martial arts and a defense envoy of Hezhou. This is a very high-level military attache. Dr. Hengxing also added Yaojunjun. If he goes further, he will be able to "fall down the rank".
However, after the Jin soldiers betrayed their alliance and invaded the south, he became a scapegoat. Before Zhao Kai ascended the throne, he was dismissed from his official position and sent to Hezhou for resettlement.
Later, Zhao Kai called on everyone to serve the king, so Ma Kuo went north from Hezhou without permission to recruit troops in Zhending Mansion, which he was familiar with. As a result, the soldiers were not recruited, and Liu Kai and Liu Ziyu, who had an old grudge with him, were arrested as gold thieves.
It wasn't until Zhao Kai won the Battle of Hecaikou, forced back the Golden Thief's East Route Army, and returned to Kaifeng Mansion that he was reminded by Guo Tiannu that there was such a "Knowing Gold Sect", so he sent people to find him. Becoming an official... The official was restored to his original position and became a high-ranking official again.
Because he missed the opportunity in the first year of Jingkang, Ma Kuo was not too popular with Zhao Kai and had been working as a counselor in the Business Counseling Department. His chance didn't come until the battle to cross the sea and conquer Liao began.
Ma Kuo was a member of the Zhijin sect and a participant in the Maritime Alliance, and was familiar with the Liaodong sea route.
In addition, he is very familiar with the situation of the Jurchen, Bohai, Khitan, Liaodong Han, Yandi Han, and Korean people, and can distinguish them at a glance.
Therefore, Ma Kuo was appointed as the chief counselor of the Xuanfu Division (Liaodong and Jingdong). Because Xuanfu Gao Qiu was in poor health and could not personally take charge of military affairs, the actual coach of Liaodong Fuzhou became Ma Kuo.
And Ma Kuo's military talent is not weak... He is a general of the Western Army, and was trained as a general. Of course he is proficient in the art of war and martial arts. And he was able to know himself and the enemy. Before the Jin soldiers defected from the alliance and went south, Ma Kuo's judgment that the Jin thieves betrayed the alliance, Guo Yaoshi rebelled, and the Hebei and Hebei defense lines collapsed was completely correct. The suggestions he made seemed good in hindsight, but unfortunately they were ignored at the time.
As for Ma Kuo's performance in front of the Liaodong Fuzhou Army, it fully met Zhao Kai's expectations - although he did not perform too dazzlingly, he performed quite calmly and had a high level of military management. So now he has "fallen down the ranks" and has become the defense envoy of Hezhou. He is now a general alongside Han Shizhong, Huang Wuji, and He Guan.
The generals in the meeting hall saw Ma Kuan coming out and were about to salute, but they found that the crying behind the screen was even louder!
So everyone stopped bowing and stretched their necks to look. Then they saw Zhao Mingcheng coming out together with the three crying Gao Yanei.
The generals felt strange when they saw San Gaoyanei crying. The three of them have good official fortunes! Especially Gao Yaoqing, who was so promoted that he was so promoted, why are you crying?
Just when everyone was wondering, Zhao Mingcheng said with a sad look on his face: "Everyone... Old Lieutenant Gao's old injury relapsed last night and he died!"
ah?
Captain Gao died again?
Everyone present was a general. Of course they knew that Gao Qiu had already died. He was transported to Liaodong in a coffin... Why did he die again now?
Seeing that the people below were all confused, Ma Kuo added next to him: "This time he officially died..."
ah?
Captain Gao died again?
Everyone present was a general. Of course they knew that Gao Qiu had already died. He was transported to Liaodong in a coffin... Why did he die again now?
Seeing that the people below were all confused, Ma Kuo added next to him: "This time he officially died..."
Ah, not pretending to be dead, no, not pretending to be alive, this is great! Everyone has long been unhappy with this coach Xuan who is lying in a coffin and refuses to come out to see anyone... Although there are worse coaches than this coach in the history of the Song Dynasty, everyone still hopes To have a living coach.
"Woooooooo..."
"Oooooo..."
"Awwww..."
The three tall and filial sons cried so sadly! My father is dead, how can I not be sad?
However, the generals in the council hall all looked down upon Gao Qiu... Why should he be praised like this for someone who plays Cuju? So no one followed the show, and everyone looked at Ma Kuo blankly.
Ma Kuo tried his best to pretend to be sad... He was looking forward to Gao Qiu's official death every day!
After Gao Qiu dies, he can become commander-in-chief!
Otherwise, would he be happy if he worked hard to fight gold thieves in Fuzhou, Liaodong, but most of the credit goes to Gao Qiu?
But no matter how happy he is, he still has to hold his nose and continue to perform this farce... The official edict has arrived!
Ma Kuo sighed and slowly raised his hands in the air: "According to the decree! I, the counselor, have been acting as commander-in-chief for the time being. I will be in charge of Liaodong's military affairs and act expediently. You should respect your sacred heart, fear military discipline, and kill the thieves bravely. I pray for an early victory."
The generals below saluted Ma Kuo and congratulated him loudly.
Ma Kuo added: "Although Lieutenant Gao crossed the sea in a coffin, he still had a great reputation... Now that he has officially passed away, the morale of the army will inevitably be shaken. Therefore, I decided not to mourn in secret, and to withdraw the entire army to the Lion's Gate. !”
It was of course Zhao Kai's intention to abandon Huacheng Pass and retreat to Shizikou... This was a bit interfering with the general's command, but it had to be done.
Because Zhao Kai doesn't want to break up with Wu Qimai just yet... He also wants to promote Wanyan Puluhu to the position of Banbo Jilie, and at the same time appoint Wanyan Yan as his concubine.
Only in this way can Zhao Kai exert influence within the Jin Kingdom and win himself a precious window of time to destroy Xixia...
"Ma Xuanshuai, Gao Xuanshuai has never shown his face in front of the soldiers. The soldiers don't know about him at all, so naturally they won't be shaken by the absence of him, so please Xuanshuai don't give up on Huachengguan!"
"Yes, Huachengguan is hard-won, and it is also the throat of Liaodong. We must not give up!"
"Commander Xuan, please take back your life!"
"Please Commander Xuan take back his life!"
The generals below unanimously opposed giving up Huacheng Pass... In fact, Ma Kuo also opposed it!
However, Ma Kuo was an old-school Song Dynasty military general and did not dare to disobey the emperor's order, but he was also unwilling to chill the hearts of the people below.
So Ma Kuo immediately snorted and said: "The purpose of abandoning Huacheng Pass is to defeat the gold thieves outside the lion's mouth... Let's kill tens of thousands of gold thieves, which is no better than guarding a pass and having an endless confrontation with the gold thieves." Is it strong?"
Zhao Kai's edict to Ma Kuo only said to give up Huacheng Pass, but not to give up Shizikou, so there was still room for maneuver.
Ma Kuo had the right to act expediently, and it was completely within his authority to beat up the gold thief outside the lion's mouth.
Seeing that our friends were talking, Ma Kuo continued: "Everyone, listen to my command now..."
