On the morning of New Year's Day, people who stay up late are drowsy. The sleepless children huddled together and discussed the excitement of the firecrackers last night. I had only seen fireworks before, but I didn't expect such a big movement.
Before the white sky appeared in the east, a team left Xinye City in the thick fog in the early morning.
When they arrived at the east of the city, a thousand cavalry were already waiting here. Zhang Jun stepped forward, counted the generals, and restrained the troops. After everything was sorted, I came back and made a promise to Wang Xiaolie. Said: "The last general, Zhang Jun, has been ordered to send an envoy. He has a thousand cavalry here to obey his orders!"
Wang Xiaolie looked at the army in front of him and felt a little excited for a moment. At this time last year, he led three thousand subordinates and crossed Lushanguan into Dengzhou. A year later, there were a thousand cavalry ready for the expedition. It sounds like a myth.
After sorting out his thoughts, Wang Xiaolie stepped forward and said loudly: "You are all sons of good families, and you are willing to abandon your homes and parents to join the army here. What is your purpose? To protect your family and country, drive away the golden captives, and return the favor." Great land for our Han people! You have been in the army for more than a year. You have endured so much hardship here in Xinye. Why do you have to endure hardship? Because if you endure more hardship in peacetime, you will bleed less in wartime! Now eight hundred miles to the north, Lou Su is leading the charge Ten thousand troops surrounded Shaanzhou. It has been almost three years since the Jin army ravaged the Central Plains, and Li Kuan and Hao Erlang recovered Shaanzhou. In these three years, Li Kuan went through hundreds of battles and killed countless Jin captives. The Jin people hated him to the bone. ! Two fists are hard to beat with four hands. The Jin people are surrounding Shaanzhou with tens of thousands of troops, and they will definitely kill Li Kuan! Shaanzhou has been defended for a month, the food and grass have been exhausted, the officers and soldiers are exhausted, and it is difficult to hold on! "
A gentle breeze blew, carrying the morning mist. It was quiet all around, no sound at all.
"If we don't go to rescue, it will be difficult to defend Shaanxi Province! Once Shaanxi Province is lost, the door to Guanzhong will be wide open! The golden captives can march straight into Shaanxi to spy on Sichuan and Shu! Once the land of Shu is lost, the golden soldiers will flow down the river, and the world will be difficult to defend. ! At this critical moment of life and death, you rush to Shaanzhou and help Li Kuan secure that city! I will lead the army to follow you and fight to the death with the Jin army in Shaanzhou! "
Wang Xiaolie's voice stopped, and there seemed to be echoes floating between heaven and earth.
A thousand cavalrymen, with one voice, loudly declared their promise.
A horn sounded, and with the sound of drums, Zhang Jun said goodbye to Wang Xiao's fork hunter. With a thousand cavalry, they headed west. Shao Yun walked behind the team. He rode up to Wang Xiaolie, dismounted, and bowed to the ground. He didn't say anything after that, mounted his horse and galloped away.
Watching the team slowly disappear into the thick fog, Wang Xiaolie felt some tears in the corners of his eyes. In the past two years, all I wanted to do was fight a few good battles with the Jin Army and let them see if the Han people in the Central Plains were so useless. Today, I finally have the capital to fight.
Wang Ruohai on the side said: "Zhizhi, the army has arrived, let's go back to the city."
Wang Xiaolie nodded and rode towards Xinye City.
After entering the yamen, Wang Xiaolie left Wang Ruohai and Xie Linong behind and let the others go back to rest.
Wang Xiaolie looked at the two of them and said, "In two days, I will set off with my army. I will leave it to you to handle the affairs of these states."
Wang Ruohai said: "Observation can eliminate all difficulties. Leading a large army to rescue Shaanzhou is a great thing for the country and the people! To be honest, Shao Yun passed by Dengzhou when he came. I didn't expect that he could really ask for reinforcements. From hundreds of Qin Wang With the development of the army to this day, it is not easy for observation. Over the past year, observation has worked day and night, but lived extremely frugally, and everyone can see it. This time when we went to Shaanzhou, observation brought almost all the soldiers who could fight, which was considered a great success. I tried my best. How many people can accomplish such a feat at this time? I will pray for you next time!"
After saying that, Wang Ruohai stood up and saluted Wang Xiaolie.
Wang Xiaolie hurriedly helped him up. Said: "I thought about this matter over and over again, and there were countless reasons not to go to Shaanzhou. But in the end, I couldn't make up my mind to stay out of the matter. Today I lost one Li Kuan, and tomorrow I will lose another Zhao Kuan. There are many people like this in the world. How many? Everyone protects himself and only thinks about preserving his strength. In the end, no one can survive! Today I save Shaanzhou, and tomorrow someone may save Chuzhou. Only by watching and helping each other can we guard against the Jinren and win the final victory. Get a victory against gold!”
Wang Ruohai said: "Those who are as open-minded as Observation are the ones who can do great things!"
Wang Xiaolie asked Wang Ruohai and Li Nong to sit down. He said: "I will lead the army to Shaanzhou, and there will be no peace in Tangzhou. Sang Zhong was originally a junior colonel of the Western Army, and he was more experienced in the army. He collected people from the chaotic army and sent them to Marshal Zong. This man is good at winning over people's hearts. , different from ordinary bandits. He knows the news of the army’s departure, and is likely to attack Tangzhou.”
Xie Li Nong Chashou said: "Don't worry if you observe, I will be guarding Tangzhou in the end, everything will be fine!"
Looking at Xie Linong, Wang Xiaolie said in a deep voice: "I warn you again and again. If Sang Zhong comes to attack, defend the city to the death. Do not go out to fight him. Do you know why?"
Xie Linong shook his head: "The last general has little talent and little knowledge. I really can't figure it out. Sang Zhong doesn't have many soldiers. I have thousands of soldiers, so there is no need to be afraid of him."
Wang Xiaolie said: "Normally when two armies meet, I believe you don't have to be afraid of him. But now that the army is out, it is inevitable that people will be confused. If you make a mistake during the battle, rumors will inevitably spread. My army is in Shaanzhou, and what I am most afraid of is The rear is unstable. If you build a strong wall in Tangzhou and clear the fields, Sang Zhong will not be able to grab food and grass. As time goes by, he will naturally retreat. Only if the rear does not move can the frontline army be stable. No matter what happens to Sang Zhong, as long as my army is If you come back, it won't be worth mentioning. Then I'll send you out to have a showdown with him."
Having said this, Wang Xiaolie sighed: "The most fearful thing about fighting is a two-front war. It is difficult to be comprehensive. If you want to save Shaanzhou, give in to Sang Zhong. You must be careful and suppress the anger in your heart. Don't make a mistake. event!"
At the Shaanzhou City Tower, Li Yanxian looked at the ant-like Jin army outside the city with a calm expression. On the table in front of him was a long bow and a jug of wine. If you kill someone with a long bow, you will drink a glass of wine.
Song Yan put down his crossbow and moved his arms. Seeing that the Jin army outside the city began to hesitate and was not attacking as fiercely as before, I couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief. When he arrived at the city tower, he crossed his arms to Li Yanxian and said, "Observe, there are many more Jin troops today than in the past."
Li Yanxian said: "I heard someone say a few days ago that starting from New Year's Day, Lou Su divided his troops into ten groups, and one group attacked the city. On the tenth day, they attacked together with all their strength, hoping to break the city in thirty days. .Today, the tenth day of the lunar month, is the day when the Jin people attack the city together. It seems that the rumors are true."
Song Yan said: "That's what I think. Observe, the food and grass in the city have been exhausted, and there are not many arrows left. If there are no reinforcements and the Jin people do not retreat, what will happen? No matter how tight we guard, we will eventually run out of arrows and reinforcements. .”
Li Yanxian looked at the Jin soldiers outside the city and was silent for a while. Cai Dao said: "Lousu only has tens of thousands of soldiers. If soldiers and horses from Shaanxi come to help, Shaanzhou will have nothing to worry about. Unfortunately, Qu Duan is jealous of me and is unwilling to send troops, so what should we do? We can only defend the city with death, and in the end it will be nothing more than death!" "
Song Yan nodded. Determined gaze. Yes, in the end, it's nothing more than death.
At this moment, a fast horse passed the Jin army and arrived in front of the city. The knight on the horse said loudly: "Li Kuan from Haojiao City knows that Marshal Lou Su of our army misses you for your loyalty and bravery. You are an extraordinary person. Now Shaanzhou has become an isolated city, and we can leave overnight. The emperor of the Southern Dynasty does not send reinforcements, what will you do?" Can you hold it? You should surrender as soon as possible, and you will have countless glory and wealth in the future! The marshal promises you the position of Marshal of the Henan Army and Yin of Henan!"
Li Yanxian stood up. He said in his mouth: "I would rather be a ghost of Song Dynasty, and I will use your wealth and honor! This boy is making noise in front of the battle, and you can't be left alone!"
After saying that, he picked up the long bow on the table, set up the bow and drew the arrow. With just one arrow, the golden envoy was killed in front of the formation.
As the golden envoy fell to the ground, a burst of cheers erupted from the city. The Song army guarding the city stood at the top of the city and laughed at the Jin army.
Jin Jun was panicked for a while. Not long after, the drums sounded again, and the Jin army came in overwhelming force.
Li Yanxian picked up the wine glass, poured a glass of wine and handed it to Song Yan. With a wry smile on his face, he said: "The food and grass in the city have been exhausted, where can we get the wine? I just put some water here to boost my morale. General, please drink a glass of water, and we will fight to the death with the Jinlu!"
Song Yan picked up the water, raised his hands above his head, bowed, and drank it all. He straightened his armor and returned to his position.
The Jin army had been besieging the city for more than a month. The Haogou outside the city had long been filled in, and countless corpses were piled under the city. Even the loess on the battlefield has been dyed red. There were arrows, swords and guns everywhere, mixed with various crushed flags.
Zhe Kaqiu sat on the horse and looked at the city in front of him. Seeing that the Song army on the city was still very brave, as soon as the Jin army got close, arrows were shot down from the city. The goose carts and ram carts on our side were targeted by artillery in the city early on, and were smashed halfway.
The crossbows in the city are so sharp that one arrow can often take away a person's life. And it is so powerful that it can often penetrate the human body.
Zhe Keqiu said to Lou Su on the side: "Marshal, the Song army's crossbows are extremely powerful. There should be experts in the city."
Lou Su said: "I heard that there is a general named Song Yan who is best at making powerful crossbows. This is his ability. When the city is broken, we should surrender this man. If our army gets this strange man, it will definitely be more powerful." sharp!"
Zhe Keqiu listened and nodded. Most of the army in this battle were Fuzhou soldiers, and only 8,000 were Jurchen soldiers from Lousu. In addition, there are more than 10,000 Khitan soldiers and Bohai soldiers.
A few years ago, Zhe Keqiu was a general who resolutely resisted gold. The Jin army invaded Fuzhou and threatened Zhe Keqiu's family, so Zhe Keqiu was forced to surrender to the Jin Dynasty. The Zhe family's history of guarding the border for Song Dynasty for more than a hundred years ended here.
Zhe Keqiu had a strange feeling when he saw his soldiers marching towards Shaanzhou City to the sound of drums. He didn't know how to describe this feeling, nor how to evaluate himself. Fuzhou is a local rich man, and these soldiers have been members of his tribe for hundreds of years. A few years ago, they were fighting for the Song Dynasty, and suddenly they came to attack the Song Dynasty. It felt a bit strange.
