Dong Tianxing originally wanted Hejian County Prince and others to investigate the case, but he didn't expect that Emperor Li Bing actually had a more suitable candidate. He quickly asked: "Your Majesty, who is the person you are talking about?"
"You don't know him, maybe you haven't even heard of him," Li Bing waved his hand, obviously not wanting to tell the ministers too much in detail: "However, as I just said, he has nothing to do with the courtiers, is unknown, and has little ability. But it's not bad, and he can take charge of this matter. Dong Aiqing, I will ask him to find you later and hand over the Japanese bandit named Hamano."
Seeing the suspicious expressions on the faces of several distinguished ministers, Li Bing added: "Don't worry. I will never tolerate a traitor in the court. No matter who is involved in this matter, they will be severely punished and will never be tolerated." !”
-
Dong Tianxing left the palace and stood outside the palace gate with Li Maoxun and others, chatting about investigating and dealing with traitors.
Although everyone was a little disappointed at not being able to take over the case, the emperor had made it clear that he would not let the Sanfa Division and the Nilin Division interfere, which would isolate Wei Zixuan, Tian Mu and others from causing trouble to the greatest extent. For the court, it is still more beneficial.
Several people briefly analyzed the situation at hand and said that they would continue to keep an eye on the matter in the future, striving to dig out the spies and clear out the court as soon as possible. Then they said goodbye to each other, mounted their horses and sedans, and left each other.
Lao Dong was worried about the war on the front line, and he didn't bother to go home to see his wife. He immediately ordered his men to go to the Yamen of the Ministry of War and convene a meeting of various departments.
Unexpectedly, as soon as he entered the Ministry of War, someone came to report that the emperor had sent a special envoy to the door.
Dong Tianxing secretly praised Li Bing for his quick actions. Sure enough, the safety of the court was involved, and the emperor would not dare to neglect at all. So he straightened his official robe and asked his men to invite the special envoy in.
"Ouyang Lin, a humble official, please see the Master."
"You're welcome, special envoy." Dong Tianxing looked at the middle-aged official across from him and responded with a smile: "Although I am temporarily in charge of the affairs of the Ministry of War, I have not been formally appointed as minister. General Ouyang cannot call me minister."
Ouyang Lin smiled faintly, nodded and said: "Master Dong is a veteran of the Ministry of War. From the beginning of the fight against the Turks, to the suppression of the Huaiyang rebellion, to now the crusade against the south and the eradication of the Japanese bandits, you have always been in charge of the Ministry of War. It can be said that you have made the greatest contribution. The position of Minister is well deserved."
Dong Tianxing smiled without comment and invited Ouyang Lin to sit down. While ordering his men to serve tea, he asked casually: "Which legion did General Ouyang serve in before? I think you are a bit unfamiliar."
"To be honest with you, I once worked in the patrol camp in Luoyi for several years in my humble position," Ouyang Lin replied calmly: "Later, I almost got killed by the traitor Xie Guang because I offended him. Later, the emperor came forward and saved my life. A small life, but in the end he reduced his position to serve the people and escaped disaster."
Dong Tianxing was stunned when he heard this: "Luoyi patrol camp? Is that under the jurisdiction of the governor of Yuzhou?"
Ouyang Lin nodded: "That's right. At that time, the emperor came to the Eastern Capital to assist in the administration and supervise the country under the order of the late emperor. The governor of Yuzhou and other major officials were driven away one by one by Xie Guang, and they were all replaced by his cronies. Low-ranking officials were in low-ranking positions. , couldn't catch Xie Guang's eyes, so he was not eliminated. However, later, because of a small matter, his humble position angered the traitorous minister, and then he encountered misfortune. "
Dong Tianxing suddenly realized: "Oh, so you were recently recalled by the emperor to serve."
Ouyang Lin was obviously not afraid of the old Dong touching his bottom, and smiled casually: "This life of humble position was given by the emperor, and it has belonged to the emperor a long time ago."
Seeing that the other party's answer was not what he asked, Dong Tianxing knew in his heart that Ouyang Lin might have been working under Li Bing for a long time, and he would never tell the truth about the details, so he stopped talking and asked: "How is the general going to investigate the traitor?" How can I cooperate with this matter?"
Ouyang Lin said calmly: "Let's hand over the Japanese bandit to the humble position first. As for how to proceed next, I haven't thought about it yet. I can only take it one step at a time."
These words were spoken lukewarmly, and at the same time they also contained a hint of caution, which immediately made Dong Tianxing feel worried. However, this was also expected by him, so he was not unhappy and ordered his subordinates to hand over Hamano Masao to Ouyang Lin's people.
After a while, all the prisoner handover procedures were completed, and Ouyang Lin stood up to say goodbye. Before leaving, Dong Tianxing specifically told him: "General, this case involves high-ranking officials in the court, and the imperial capital is a mixed place. You must be careful."
A trace of imperceptible contempt flashed in Ouyang Lin's eyes, but he still responded with a smile: "I will remember Mr. Dong's reminder. I also hope that you can keep it secret as much as possible and don't let others know."
After saying that, he bowed his hands and turned around.
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"The left-wing front has broken through! General Du and the others have entered!"
"Great! General Du is so tough! Xu Shuai, let's charge too."
"Yes, Xu Shuai, let's launch a general attack! In cooperation with our brother troops, our seventh battalion is willing to take the lead!"
Xu Youchang looked at the fierce battlefield with smoke billowing in front of him. The urging sounds of his subordinates kept coming from his ears, but his expression was extremely serious.
A quarter of an hour ago, Du Jian commanded an 8,000 assault group, directly tearing apart the rebel defense line, and was continuing to advance at this time.
The Xuanjia Army formation, which had been supporting them for a day and a night, had become a little panicked.
However, Xu Youchang did not launch a fierce attack as usual. He observed attentively for a while, then turned around and ordered to his subordinates: "Ming Jin! Tell Du Jian and the others to withdraw immediately!"
"Withdraw?" The Chinese military officer was shocked: "It took a lot of effort to get in..."
Xu Youchang waved his hand and interrupted the other party's questioning: "Ye Rongcheng deliberately let Du Jian charge into the formation. The main force of the rebels was not in chaos at all. They were tempting us to charge. Quick! Send the order immediately!"
The lieutenant general reacted and quickly ran to make arrangements. After a while, the gong rang, and three long and one short trumpet sounds were also heard.
Du Jian, who was charging deep into the enemy's army, heard the signal and knew that Xu Youchang must have discovered something was wrong, so he urgently ordered him to withdraw his troops. Therefore, Du Jian did not hesitate and immediately ordered his men to stop the offensive and move towards the enemy. The array direction shrinks.
However, the Xuanjia rebels followed suit and made corresponding changes. As soon as they saw that Du Jian and the others were about to leave, the eight infantry phalanxes located behind the battle line, which originally looked a little panicked, changed their appearance in the blink of an eye. Nearly ten thousand soldiers and horses suddenly swooped in from three directions with extremely fierce momentum!
"Damn it! You are really acting with me!" Du Jian cursed angrily when he saw this, and immediately led his personal barracks to block the way. At the same time, he ordered the rest of the troops to cover alternately and withdraw from the enemy's front as soon as possible.
The next moment, the Xuanjia defense line, composed of 100,000 troops, also moved at the same time. The war drums roared, the sound of killings spread, and they swept in overwhelmingly.
Xu Youchang saw this scene from a distance and knew that the enemy had decided to change his strategy and launch an attack because Du Jian had withdrawn his troops. So he raised his iron spear and shouted: "The enemy is about to counterattack! Firm the position with fierce waves of fire. The cavalry regiment is ready, kill me!"
"kill!"
Roars suddenly rose into the sky, and the 40,000 armored cavalry of the Gale First Army suddenly moved into action, heading towards the enemy like a huge surging black wave.
The war horse gradually picked up speed, and finally started galloping across the wilderness. The soldiers of the First Army held their swords diagonally or stabbed their spears flat. They kept lowering their bodies forward and urged their mounts to charge forward.
At the same time, the rebels had already moved forward two to three hundred steps, trying to suppress the reinforcements of the Xinjiang Army and completely surround Du Jian who was retreating.
In the blink of an eye, two sets of huge waves collided violently, with the war horses neighing and flesh and blood flying everywhere!
Xu Youchang took the lead, staring at Du Jian's military flag in the distance, and led the most elite cavalry to quickly get closer there.
As long as they can successfully rendezvous with Du Jian, the eight thousand formation-breaking soldiers and horses can receive timely support from the First Army, and the entire team will be safe!
However, just when Xu Youchang was still a few hundred steps away from Du Jian, a dense burst of arrows suddenly flew into the sky, with a whooshing sound, and enveloped him like heavy rain.
"Xu Shuai, be careful!"
Following the words, the soldier closest to him suddenly accelerated and raised his shield to resist. Others also came closer at the same time, preparing to rescue.
Although heavy cavalry and war horses are protected by iron armor, they are not 100% invulnerable after all. Especially when the extremely powerful hard crossbow is fired at close range, it can often directly penetrate armor and kill people.
The soldier who responded quickly used his shield to block the rain of arrows flying towards Xu Youchang at the last moment. However, he was directly shot into a hedgehog by seven or eight crossbow arrows, and fell off his horse and died on the spot.
At the same time, dozens of knights were also unfortunately hit by arrows. In an instant, they fell onto their backs and fell into chaos.
Xu Youchang's horse was also seriously injured. After running forward for a few steps, it fell to the ground. Xu Youchang reacted quickly, rolled onto his side and fell to the ground, swinging his gun to steady his body.
The next second, the cavalry rushing from behind shouted to Xu Shuai and stretched out their hands at the same time. Xu Youchang didn't hesitate, raised his hand to grab the other person's arm, spun lightly, and jumped onto the horse again.
Seeing that the commander was safe and sound, the cavalryman immediately felt relieved. After saying hello, he jumped off his horse and gave his mount to Xu Youchang, while he advanced on foot to fight with the enemy.
At this time, the battle was fierce. Xu Youchang didn't care about giving in. He tightened his legs on the horse's belly and continued to sprint towards Du Jian.
At present, the eight thousand formation-breaking soldiers have been completely surrounded by the rebels. If it is too late, they will be in danger!
Xu Youchang shouted, and the spear in his hand was like a dragon entering the sea. All enemies who dared to stand in front of him were stabbed and knocked down. Thousands of cavalry followed closely behind, fighting and charging all the way, and the strong wind swept into the core area of the rebels like falling leaves.
After completely defeating an infantry square formation, Xu Youchang finally reached the vicinity of the assault troops who broke the formation.
At this moment, more than half of the original 8,000-strong formation-breaking cluster had been lost, and everyone who was left alive was injured.
However, despite this, these brave warriors still had no fear and followed their generals to the left and right, killing the rebels so that they did not dare to approach.
Du Jian was even more exaggerated. His whole body looked like a blood gourd. It was difficult to tell whether it was his blood or the enemy's blood.
Seeing Xu Youchang rushing towards him, Du Jian immediately shouted: "Shuai Xu, the enemy is also in a bloody chaos. Do you want to take the opportunity to kill them?!"
Xu You picked up a rebel with his spear, rode up to him, and asked, "Are you okay?"
"If it works, just ask me for my big sword!"
"Okay! Then continue and completely destroy Ye Rongcheng!"
