"Zhang Qi?" After hearing the report from his subordinates, Shao Ling was silent. Shaanzhou is the gateway to Henan Prefecture, so it is not unusual for Zhai Xing to send people to help. The strange thing is that Dong Xian was nowhere to be seen in front of him. When he came, Zhang Qi suddenly appeared.
After pondering for a long time, Shao Ling said: "Send someone to ask Zhang Qi to meet in the army tomorrow and discuss how to arrange it. I don't know how many soldiers and horses he has, how powerful he is, and how many golden soldiers he can attract. There are about 10,000 people blocking us in the front, and a large number of people in the rear. At a rough glance, there are tens of thousands of people in the camp. The Jin Army has an absolute advantage in terms of strength, so it’s always good to have helpers.”
Zhang Jun said: "When we surrounded Wanyan Huonv, Zhang Qi led three thousand troops to help. This time when we come to Shaanzhou, I'm afraid it's still the same three thousand people."
Shao Ling said: "Three thousand people are considered a large army. The Jin soldiers cannot ignore them!"
Zhang Jun shook his head: "Brother, the rest of the army cannot compare with our army. I have seen Zhang Qi's three thousand men. If we follow the format of our selection, not even one thousand men will be qualified. And they are not trained well." Yan, his combat skills are not proficient either. It's fine when he has the upper hand, but when he encounters a strong army, he will be easily defeated. Zhang Qi's three thousand army can only be better than nothing."
When he was in Kaifeng Mansion, Shao Ling saw many armies and was not surprised by Zhang Jun's words. Wang Xiaolie's army was as strict and orderly as the Forbidden Army in the heyday of the Song Dynasty. At this time, I'm afraid no other army could compare.
After thinking for a while, Shao Ling said: "No matter how bad things are, the Jin Army will always divide its forces to defend, so our pressure will be much less. Two days later, the observation team arrived, and the Jin Army had more flaws. As long as we solve the problem of Shaanzhou If the Jin army loses its strength, how can they still fight us?"
Zhang Jun nodded and lowered his head to think. After thinking for a while, he couldn't help but said: "Based on Zhang Qi's distance, he should be following me. It would not be such a coincidence that he arrived in Shaanzhou just when Xu Yang entered the city. If they had arrived earlier, Why don’t you come to discuss it?”
Shao Ling looked at Zhang Jun, shook his head and said nothing. Seeing that Zhang Jun still refused to give up, he had no choice but to say: "Brother, it's fine if you understand some things in your heart. There is no need to speak out. They are all anti-golden troops. There is no need to ask about other things."
Of course Zhang Qi would not come by such a coincidence. He must have been watching from the side and saw that he couldn't come out, so he suddenly appeared. Wang Xiao and tens of thousands of troops came to rescue Shaanzhou. The Jin army didn't know. How could Zhai Xing and Dong Xian not know? However, they have no confidence in Wang Xiaolie and have always adopted a wait-and-see attitude. Zhang Jun fled to the mountains and asked Dong to send troops first. Zhang Qi immediately led 3,000 people to support him.
It wasn't until Shao Ling's army approached Shaanzhou that Zhang Qi led his army. Later, when Wang Xiaolie's army arrives, Dong Xian may add more troops. Of course Shao Ling understands this. I just understand in my heart, but I can't alienate myself from Zhang Qi because of this.
Wang Xiaolie led the army away from Guozhou and marched along the main road. By the time we set up camp to rest at night, we had already reached the east of Lingbao County.
Arriving outside a small village, Cao Zhiyan came over and said: "Zhizhi, within a radius of two miles, there is only this small village. Let's rest here tonight and go there early tomorrow morning. If everything goes well, Qian Hou can go to Shaanzhou City tomorrow outside."
Wang Xiaolie dismounted, adjusted his clothes, and asked casually: "Shao Ling reported that 10,000 gold troops blocked the road and prevented him from approaching Shaanzhou City. He fought for a day or two. What was the result?"
Cao Zhiyan said: "Those Jin troops are not very strong, and they are on par with Shao Tongzhi, and they are still in a stalemate. - However, Shao Tongzhi said that the information he got from scouting horses may not be Jurchens, but Khitan and Bohai people. .The general at the head is Xiao Haohu."
Wang Xiaolie said: "Xiao Haohu is a sarcastic person. It seems that the Khitan people are blocking the road. These Khitan people hate this dynasty for betraying their alliance, and they are particularly brave in fighting. I tell Shao Ling not to underestimate the enemy."
Cao Zhiyan said yes.
A lot of information was obtained while on the road. Wang Xiaolie knew it, but his generals did not. After walking on the road for more than half a month, Wang Xiaolie tried his best and still got a lot of news. This time we attacked Shaanzhou, there were three parts of the army. There are about 8,000 Jurchens led by Lou Su, about 12,000 Khitan troops led by Xiao Haohu, and about 18,000 Fuzhou soldiers. In addition, about 50,000 people signed up to join the army. Lou Su said it was an army of 100,000, which was not entirely false. However, the signing army is similar to a slave. It is only responsible for transporting food and grass and serving people as messengers. It has no combat effectiveness.
The main force in the siege was the Fuzhou soldiers who could be found at any time. The armies of Lou Su and Xiao Haohu were mainly used for reinforcements.
The attitude of asking for anything is playful. He was originally a general of the Song Dynasty and actively resisted the Jin Dynasty. Although he was defeated many times, he continued to fight fiercely with the Jin army. Later, the Jin people occupied Fuzhou and threatened Zhe Keqiu's family before surrendering to the Jin Dynasty. After depositing the gold, the Jin Dynasty gave Zhe Keqiu a task. One was to persuade Xu Huiyan of the Jinning Army to surrender, and the other was to attack Shaanzhou. The Zhe family in Fuzhou was a local tycoon in this area. They were powerful in Xixia in the west and also a powerful force in the east.
As a wealthy person, the Zhejia family has its own special characteristics. It was obviously impossible to expect them to die for the Song Dynasty, and Zhe Keqiu had already surrendered. But expecting them to be loyal to the Jin Dynasty is also questionable. For wealthy people, the most important thing is the continued prosperity of their family.
In fact, after Zhe Keqiu dropped the gold, the Song Dynasty did not treat the children of the Zhe family differently, and they were still used in the court. On the other hand, the Jin Dynasty also attached great importance to Zhekeqiu, and Zhejia was regarded as an important force.
Can we instigate rebellion and subjugate the family and let them serve the Song Dynasty? Wang Xiaolie didn't think so. Again, for Zhe Keqiu, the prosperity of the family is more important than anything else. Whoever can occupy Hedong will be loyal to the Zhe family.
The Jin Dynasty did not care about the loyalty of forces like the Zhe family. In the hearts of Jin people, especially people like Wanyan Zongfu and Lou Su on the West Road, Zhe Keqiu is a rare talent. At this time, the Jin people intended to establish a puppet emperor as a buffer force with the Song Dynasty. The most likely candidates are Liu Yu and Zhe Keqiu from JD.com. The East Route Army of the Jin Dynasty supported Liu Yu, while the West Route Army supported Zhe Keqiu.
Therefore, the most important thing in this battle is to relieve the siege of Shaanzhou. As long as the Jin army gives up attacking Shaanzhou, Zhe Keqiu's determination to fight will be shaken.
Wang Xiaolie called Chen Yuyi, and together with Cao Zhiyan, the three of them entered the village.
There was a yellow dog lying under a tree at the entrance of the village. It was skinny and skinny, and one of its legs was broken. When he saw the three of them, he raised his head, opened his mouth, showed his fangs, and let out a fierce growl. It's just that he didn't have any strength in his body and couldn't stand up anymore.
Wang Xiaolie shook his head. He said to Cao Zhiyan: "Send someone to feed the dog two mouthfuls of food later. We are here, even the chickens and dogs suffering under Jinlu's iron cavalry should be able to have a full stomach."
Cao Zhiyan smiled bitterly: "Zhizhi, I don't know how many people are hungry in the front, how can we care about these beasts."
As soon as I entered the village, I saw a child in front of the house. I couldn't tell whether he was male or female, lying on the side of the ditch on the roadside. One hand reached into the ditch, but he didn't know what he grabbed. He looked up at Wang Xiaolie and the others, but they didn't say anything and still buried their heads in the ditch.
Wang Xiaolie saw that his clothes were ragged and his body was extremely thin. It seemed that only a pair of big eyes were left on his face. Involuntarily, he bent down and asked: "What are you catching in this ditch? There is no river, so there should be no fish or shrimp in this ditch."
The child looked at Wang Xiaolie again. Suddenly he yelled and his hand jerked back. Wang Xiaolie took a closer look and saw that it was a mouse.
The child was so happy that he ran towards the door with the mouse in hand. He shouted: "There is meat! There is meat!"
Looking at the child's back, Wang Xiaolie felt sad for a moment. He asked Cao Zhiyan, "Who lives in this house?"
Cao Zhiyan said: "They were a mother and son. The men in his family refused to obey when the Jin came to arrest Ding and were killed. The eldest sister was in her teens and was raped to death. The second brother was eight or nine years old and was arrested by the Jin. Carrying burdens, I was exhausted when I went to the neighboring village. The youngest fifth brother was disliked by a golden man and was thrown to death on the millstone at the entrance of the village. This woman was tortured so much by the golden man that she could not get out of bed at that time. He died. This child, because he was not at home at the time, hid in time and saved his life."
After hearing this, Chen Yuyi stepped forward, held the door frame, and looked into the room.
Wang Xiaolie was silent for a moment. After a while, he said: "Instruct the soldiers not just to find a place to sleep, but to send someone to every household in the village. Ask them how many people there are and what they lack at home. Give them some food. The water tank should be filled with water and the house should be cleaned——"
For a moment, Wang Xiaolie didn't know how many things to order, and he just felt filled with panic.
The former Annuity people fought all the way to Xiangyang, but they came and went in a hurry, and the damage to those places was not great. It's different here in Shaanzhou. The Jin people have attacked several times. This time they besieged the city for nearly two months, and everyone within dozens of miles around suffered damage.
When I read history in my previous life, I just said that the Jin attack caused great damage and many Han people fled to the south. There is no clear impression of the extent of the damage. White bones are exposed in the wild, and there are no roosters crowing for thousands of miles. It is just a poem, and I don’t know what it means. Only after experiencing this can we realize how cruel it is. After leaving Guozhou and entering the range where the Jin army could invade, what he saw challenged Wang Xiaolie's nerves.
If I had to describe it in one sentence, Wang Xiaolie felt that it should be hell on earth.
He saw so many things on the road that Wang Xiaolie didn't even have the courage to walk through the door and really ask about the mother and son.
Chen Yuyi returns. Wang Xiaolie said: "You are a person who has been homeless all the way from Chenliu to Xiangyang, and you have seen suffering on the way. But have you ever seen such suffering? This time I brought you here, in addition to recording the course of the war, I also wanted to We must record these things. We want future generations to understand what kind of suffering the people here have endured. War is not just about the swords and shots on the battlefield, but also the people who suffered in the war."
Chen Yuyi nodded, but for a moment he didn't know what to say.
