The sun in the western sky was shaking, casting rays of light all over the sky. The sky and the earth are covered with white everywhere, and even the Yellow River is covered in white snow.
Zheng Qiao pressed his hands on the earthen platform and looked around. After a long time, he said: "Twelve consecutive cities choke the ditch, which is the barrier of Tongguan. Why is there not a single Jin army here? Could it be that the news of the battle in Guozhou reached here and the Jin army fled?"
Du Cai said: "How is it possible? We will leave on the second day after entering the city. The road has been blocked by heavy snow these days. Is there anyone who can walk faster than me? Wei Yi is just a bad boy from the countryside. How clever are his subordinates? ? They are all probably stationed in the city, and no one is guarding these places."
Zheng Qiao nodded: "If so, Tongguan City will be easier to fight. - If we don't camp here tonight, the whole army will go to Tongguan!"
Du Cai looked at the sun in the sky and said: "It's getting dark right now. It's too late to set up camp now, so it's hard to make a fire for cooking. If we go to Tongguan, it will probably be midnight when we get there. The whole army can't rest tonight."
Zheng Qiao said with a smile: "If we don't defend Twelve Lian City, the Jin army guarding Tongguan probably won't be well-defended. Let's make a bet and attack the city overnight! After Tongguan is conquered, why do we need to camp outside? There are so many houses in Tongguan City! "
After hearing this, Du Cai lowered his head and thought for a while. He gave a high-five and said, "That's what the commander said. If we don't defend this place, Tongguan City may not be well defended either!"
After saying that, the two ordered their soldiers to tidy up their uniforms, and headed towards Tongguan before the sun went down.
The weather is cold these days, the snow has not melted, and there is not a single pedestrian on the road. As the sun went down, the wind gradually picked up, blowing on my body like a knife cutting me. The snow on the ground melted into a thin layer during the day and froze again at night, making it extremely slippery.
Zheng Qiao, as the vanguard of the Song army, marched quickly. It took about two hours to arrive at Tongguan City.
Looking at Tongguan City, there are fires here and there, in a mess. In the light of the fire, the few soldiers at the top of the city gathered together to warm themselves by the fire, and there were no guards in many places. Zheng Qiao took a breath and said: "Tongguan City is indeed poorly defended. And it seems that they don't know that Guozhou has fallen into the hands of our army. Order the entire army to rest in place and prepare to attack the city!"
The generals and colonels next to him agreed together and went separately to deliver the military orders.
In the official hall of the city, several generals gathered around a fire. While eating meat and drinking wine, they chatted all over the world.
Guard general Qin Beiyang said: "It is extremely cold this year. It has not snowed so much for many years. Fortunately, Inspector Wei ordered us to reserve enough food and grass in advance so that we can eat and drink even in the weather. If we go out to look for food at this time, who can Can you bear it?"
Zhang Xiandao: "I don't know what happened to the Dujian in Guozhou. The fourth prince went to Luoyang, and only the Dujian remained in Guozhou. I heard that Wang Xiaolie from Dengzhou led tens of thousands of troops to rescue Li Yanxian. If he were not careful, he might be eaten. Their loss.”
Qin Beiyang laughed: "In the battle of Fuping, the Jin army destroyed 200,000 troops of the Southern Dynasty. The generals of the Southern Dynasty were frightened. The governor led tens of thousands of troops to attack the Lu family. Who can stop it? No matter how powerful Wang Xiaolie is, , can it still be better than Privy Zhang who has an army of 200,000 men?"
Several generals nodded together. Pick up the wine bowl, drink from a big bowl, and eat large pieces of meat.
After eating for a while, Zhang Xian said again: "It's cold today, so the men guarding the city must gather together to hide from the wind and neglect to guard. Do you want to inspect the city wall and ask them to be careful? There are many rebels in the mountains around Tongguan. , it’s better to be cautious.”
Qin Beiyang shook his head repeatedly: "What are you thinking! Who would go out of the house in such weather! Hundreds of us are guarding this pass, so what if someone comes? We can only blow the wind under the city!"
As soon as he finished speaking, a soldier slammed into the door. He crossed his hands and said, "It's bad, the Song army is coming to attack the city!"
"What?" Qin Beiyang stood up suddenly. "Tell me carefully what's going on!"
The soldier said: "Just now, many Song troops suddenly appeared on the city wall, shouting and killing us. The brothers were unable to defend themselves for a while, and they drove them down the city, so they opened the city gate. Unknown to the Song troops outside the city, How many there are? Judging from their appearance, there are probably tens of thousands of them! They are pouring into the city like ants, killing everyone they see! General, they are about to kill the government office!"
Qin Beiyang looked at the soldiers and couldn't believe his ears. After a while, he said: "With this kind of weather, where did the Song Army come from!"
The soldier said: "How did you know that? They are so large in number that they don't look like a small army nearby. I think it's possible that Wei Dujian lost Guozhou and Li Jinglue's army came to kill him? How can we stop hundreds of us? !”
How can Qin Beiyang believe it? Just as he was about to ask the soldiers again, Zhang Xian next to him said: "The city has been destroyed. If we don't run away, when will we wait?"
After saying that, he grabbed his helmet next to him and put it on his head. He picked up his sword and ran towards the door. Someone took the lead, and the rest of the generals agreed and ran with Zhang Xian.
Qin Beiyang drank too much and stood there looking at the people running out, and was stunned for a while. Then he turned around and said to the soldiers: "Did the Song army really attack the city? If you lie, I will take your life!"
The soldier hurriedly said: "How dare you deceive the general! The Song army has indeed entered the city!"
After Qin Beiyang heard this, he did not dare to ask any more questions. Stretching your ears and listening, there was indeed a cry of death coming from outside. He sighed and threw the wine bowl on the fire. He picked up the knife beside him and rushed out the door.
Looking at Qin Beiyang's back as he rushed out, the soldiers were stunned for a moment. After a while, I grabbed a large piece of meat and took a bite. Then he picked up the wine bowl on the ground and drank it all in one gulp. Cursing, he took the meat and went out.
Zheng Qiao led his troops and horses straight to the government office. There was only sporadic resistance along the way. Most of the Jin army saw the Song army entering the city and fled early. Those who could not escape threw away their swords and guns and squatted on the roadside holding their heads.
I rushed into the government office and looked around, but there was no one there. Zheng Qiao led his people into the official hall and saw that the fire was burning brightly, with a large pot of cooked meat hanging above it. There are several wine jars nearby, and some wine bowls on the floor have wine in them and some are empty.
I turned around and saw no one. Zheng Qiao said: "We came in from the east city gate, and the remaining Jin army must have gone to the west city gate. In such weather, and in the middle of the night, where can they escape to?"
The soldier next to him said: "This is not far from Huayin County. They must have all fled there."
Zheng Qiao shook his head repeatedly: "In this weather, the snow on the road has not melted, can you run dozens of miles in one night? Forget it, ignore them!"
After that, he ordered the soldiers to search carefully and find all the Jin soldiers who were hiding. He also ordered Zhang Xian to take a hundred people out of the city to check. Don't let your guard down when you enter the city, and the Jin army will kill you and take back the city.
After all the instructions were in place, Zheng Qiao said: "Search the military camp to see if there is any meat or chicken. They have been cleaned and cooked. The soldiers have worked hard all the way and eat something good to replenish their bodies. Except for the guards, everyone else should rest early. .Early tomorrow morning, we will continue our journey westward!"
The general agreed and hurried away.
