Jing Xun was pulled up from the ground by those soldiers who were all bathed in water. He looked at the soldiers who were following him with excited and evil smiles on their faces and asked who he was.
Jing Xun, whose mind was still numb at this moment, quickly revealed his identity in horror.
"A certain person is Jingxun, the magistrate of Huaizhou. Who are you? Killing an official will be punished as treason..."
"He is actually a magistrate of the state, hahaha, that's wonderful. Watch carefully and don't let the credit you get slip away."
"I wonder how much land our brothers will get if we capture a magistrate?"
"Capturing a magistrate alive is better than killing ten ordinary soldiers."
"Aren't you talking nonsense? You can only bear fifty heads..."
"You, who are you?" Jing Xun asked with a trembling face.
"We are under the command of General Zhe Yanzhi of the Western Army of the Great Song Dynasty."
Jing Xun's eyes widened exaggeratedly, and he shouted in disbelief.
"You are Song people?! No, this is impossible. This is the hinterland of Daxia, and the capital of Daxia is only a few dozen miles away. How could you Song people wait here for the cold winter?..."
"Stop being so verbose, it's safe to say, don't let those brats take away our credit."
By the time Gao Zhang led the main force and braved the wind and snow to arrive in Huaizhou near noon, the battle here was over.
It was even easier than taking down the Jingyuan Fort. After asking around, I found out that most of Huaizhou's soldiers and horses had been transferred south to reinforce the Xishou Baotai Army.
Presumably at this moment, they were staring at the 20,000 elite Western troops in Jingyuan Fort and the city.
"Jing Xun... what is your relationship with the Hanchen Jingxun, the confidant of the Xixia King?"
Gao Zhang looked at the magistrate of Huaizhou in front of him, and vaguely remembered that there was a record in the Imperial City Department's intelligence that there was a confidant of the Han Dynasty next to the leader of the Xixia Kingdom, named Jing Mingxun.
#####
"...That is the minister's father."
Jing Xun looked pale and lowered his head. At this moment, the room was full of Song generals wearing helmets.
At this moment, Huaizhou City fell directly into the hands of the Song people without even a struggle. Jing Xun seemed to see that his future had turned into darkness.
"Are you willing to take the letter of surrender and go to Xingqing Mansion on behalf of me to persuade the leader of your country to open the city and accept the surrender?"
"Ah, this..." Jing Xun looked at the overly young Song Army coach in front of him in confusion, and then subconsciously glanced at the Song generals around him.
But he found that all those people were silent and seemed to obey from the bottom of their hearts the young and famous Song coach Gao Zhang.
"I am a surrendered minister. If I return to the Xingqing Mansion, I am afraid that I will not be able to live before the lord of this country."
Gao Zhang chuckled when he saw Jing Xun's eyes rolling as he spoke.
"If you don't want to, that's okay. I'll have your head sent to Xingqing Mansion along with the letter of surrender. Come on!"
Suddenly, Jing Xun fell to the ground without hesitation and promised Gao Zhang with a face full of confidence.
"If I am willing, I will definitely present the letter of surrender to the lord of my country, and I will not let down the order of the commander-in-chief of my country."
"It seems that he is quite sensible. Please take him under custody and don't treat him harshly."
After carefully questioning Zhong Shidao and confirming that no one escaped when Huaizhou was attacked, Gao Zhang naturally felt relieved.
We decided to rest here for a day and wait until tomorrow. If the wind and snow subside, we would head towards Xingqing Mansion.
After all, Laidu has arrived next door to Xingqing Mansion. At this time, no matter it is a general or an ordinary soldier.
They all look forward to seizing the capital of the Xixia Kingdom as soon as possible and destroying this little piece of trash that dared to attack the Song Dynasty for more than a hundred years.
To the former Song Dynasty, Xixia was definitely a stinky, annoying and somewhat dangerous lone wolf.
But now, for these Song Dynasty Huben, who has easily entered Huaizhou without breaking a muscle.
The capital of the Western Xia Kingdom is the most plump prey and lamb. If you don't eat it quickly, you will be greedy.
"Zhongguan Liang..." Gao Zhang turned his head and his eyes fell on Liang Shicheng, the supervisor behind him.
"What is the order from Duke Zhuangyuan when he calls our family?"
"Thank you for your hard work today. Go with me, Wang Gongcao and others to record the merits of the meritorious officers and soldiers who captured the general today."
"Dong Zhuangyuan, you are the commander-in-chief. Why do you need to go there in person for such a trivial matter as recording merit? We can just go with Wang Gongcao."
Although Liang Shicheng was a little unhappy, he still advised him respectfully.
All the generals also agreed, thinking that Gao Zhang, a young commander, was busy with military affairs, so there was no need to go in person for this matter.
Gao Zhang shook his head and said to the Song generals in front of him.
"Tomorrow, we will go to Xingqing Mansion and record our merits today in order to let the soldiers understand their every move and every contribution.
Whether it is Wang Gong Cao, supervisor of the army, or even an official, they will check carefully to prevent those who have meritorious service from not receiving rewards, and those who pretend to have merit will not be allowed to..."
The best thing to boost morale is to lead by example. The reason why Tiger Tigers of the Song Dynasty was able to brave the wind, snow and cold for thousands of miles to attack Xingqing Mansion.
It was precisely thanks to Gao Zhang's example that the soldiers felt Gao Zhang's personal charm and maintained their morale.
Now, with Xingqing Mansion right in front of him, Gao Zhang naturally wanted to continue to contact and exchange feelings with the soldiers.
And let the officers and soldiers understand that their merits are personally watched by this officer, and no one dares to embezzle your military merits.
Only by letting the soldiers see it with their own eyes can the soldiers die with their lives.
Seeing the young and handsome Gao Shuai personally accompanying the meritorious officers and others to record their merits, the officers and soldiers were very happy.
Some are even worried about how much land they can get from the military achievements they have accumulated.
Gao Zhang simply calculated it for him personally to let him know how much land he could get for each meritorious service.
He also told all the soldiers that when Xingqing Mansion was captured and the country was destroyed, all the soldiers who participated in the crusade against Xia would be credited with a collective great achievement, and each person would be granted thirty acres of land.
Of course, this does not include the soldiers' achievements in killing enemies, beheading generals and capturing flags...
Listening to Gao Zhang's loud preaching at the crowded recording place, from time to time, the soldiers would cheer.
Although Gao Zhang only stayed here for less than an hour, Gao Zhang's appearance was spread by word of mouth among the soldiers.
This is enough to make tens of thousands of soldiers full of energy and sharpen their knives. They want to grab the knives and rush to Xingqing Mansion to kill them all today, so that they can make great achievements.
#####
The wind and snow finally subsided that night, and in the second half of the night, we could still see the stars in the sky.
The next day, although it was not sunny, there was no obstruction from the wind and snow. We rested in Huaizhou City for half a day and a whole night.
The Song Dynasty Tiger Ben, who had been fully nourished, left five thousand men and horses to guard here.
The central army was still composed of infantry, and 20,000 cavalry were cruising on both wings, heading towards Xingqing Mansion, which was sixty miles away.
In the early morning, we began to march towards the west on this vast snowfield.
Although it was necessary to trek through the heavy snow that was about a foot deep after the snowfall, it was impossible to defeat the great Song Dynasty Tiger Ben who was dedicated to making great achievements. He walked thirty-five miles in just one morning.
After resting for an hour, we set off again and walked nearly ten miles.
News came from the scouts ahead, and the city outline of Xingqing Mansion could already be seen.
Gao Zhang then focused his attention on Jing Xun, who was sitting on the back of a crossbow horse with his hands bound.
(End of chapter)
