The weather was so cold that Ge Ling froze into a stooped iceman, and the Henghe River froze into a silver ribbon.
Old Liu Tou squinted his eyes and looked at the sun above his head, exhaling clouds of white air, "What a damn weather!" He muttered and stretched his hand to the stove to keep warm.
Hou Juntou pulled at the cold leather armor on his chest, took a breath of air, and cursed: "The sun is shining on my body, and I have no strength at all. His grandma, how can I endure it! I told you, Old Liutou, to buy a gourd of wine. , buy some beef, don’t sit there stupidly, your butt will freeze!”
Old Liu Tou looked a little embarrassed and muttered in a low voice: "My salary has been cut off this month..."
Hou Juntou took out a broken piece of silver from his arms, threw it at Lao Liutou's feet, and said with a smile: "You were cheated by that smuggler by the river again? Go back quickly, don't steal, take the rest." , if you dare to steal your pants and pay for it, you will freeze to death!"
Old Liu Tou hurriedly picked up the silver and said with a smile: "Hou Juntou still can't trust me... Let's go now, go now..." He picked up the gun barrel, picked up the gourd, and ran to the river in a hurry.
Walking downstream along the hard river bank, about three miles away, there is a restaurant that specializes in military camp business. Although the army has a ban on alcohol, the winter in this area is too cold. No one can survive the cold without drinking some wine. The superiors also turned a blind eye. As long as the restaurant did not open to the entrance of the military camp, they just pretended not to know.
Old Liu rubbed his frozen hands and caught a glimpse of a squirming black spot on the Heng River. He guessed it was a hard laborer escorting grain and grass, so he didn't pay attention to take a closer look. There is a border guard army in the north of Henghe River. They have been stationed in the bitter cold land all year round to guard against the Hu people in the north. If there is any disturbance, they will start to make a fuss. Moreover, the Hu people are afraid of the cold and always attack in the autumn when the grass is long and the horses are fat. In the Central Plains, in this kind of weather, they would just stay in their tents and consume dried meat and kumiss in vain.
Old Liu Tou was warming up the stove in the restaurant and drank a few glasses of hot wine. His body felt warm and he felt so comfortable that he almost fell asleep. He was afraid that Hou Juntou would blame him, so he didn't dare to stay any longer. He bought a gourd of strong liquor, bought five kilograms of beef, wrapped them in oil paper, put them in his arms, and hurried back.
The black spots on the Heng River are clearly distinguishable. It seems that someone is leading the horses and walking cautiously on the ice. They are too far away to see their faces clearly. Judging from the armor and clothing, they are obviously not Hu people, but probably the border guards of the imperial court. . "Those guys couldn't rob the barbarians, so they crossed the river to hunt wild food, rob me of wine, meat, and women. They are really nothing!" Old Liu Tou took a bite from them and trotted back to the sentry tower.
Hou Juntou was already impatient with the wait. He grabbed the gourd and drank a few sips. He opened his eyes and cursed: "Old Liu Tou, who killed a thousand swords, stole wine again and only came back half a day ago!"
Old Liu Tou took out the warm beef from his arms and argued: "There were officers and soldiers guarding the border on the Heng River. I looked at them a few more times, so I was delayed."
"Nonsense! What are they doing back here? This is the territory of our Snake Pan Camp!" Hou Juntou picked up a large piece of trembling beef and threw it into his mouth, saying vaguely.
"The military leader is brilliant! I think they couldn't bear the cold and sneaked back to drink and have fun!"
Hou Juntou took a few more sips of wine, handed the gourd to Old Liutou, and said, "Take it, I'll go up and take a look - don't drink it to death, keep half of it!"
Old Liu took the gourd with a smile, took a sip of wine, stuffed a piece of beef with tendons into his mouth, squinted his eyes and chewed hard, with a look of enjoyment on his face.
Hou Jun's head slipped, and he stepped on the ice-covered wooden ladder to climb the sentry tower. Looking far into the distance, he saw that there were quite a lot of people crossing the river. Nearly a hundred people and horses had already arrived at the south bank. They were all light cavalry, standing in the frozen sea. The formation was organized on the ground, and the large troops were still on the ice, moving towards the south bank in a steady stream.
"Good fellow, look at this formation, everyone has withdrawn! Hey - it couldn't have been a sneak attack by the barbarians, and they were defeated and retreated, right?" Hou Juntou looked left and right, muttering in his heart, those cavalry troops have been reorganized. , obviously a well-trained and strong soldier, he did not remember that the officers and soldiers guarding the border were so elite.
"It's better to report it to your superiors first. I can't afford it if something goes wrong!"
Hou Jun scrambled to climb down. His foot slipped and he fell straight to the ground. He was hit hard by a stone on the back of his head and fainted on the spot. Old Liu was startled. He dropped the gourd and helped him up. He tried to breathe. Fortunately, he was still alive. "A natural disaster and a man-made disaster, it really is a natural disaster and a man-made disaster!" He sighed, struggled to carry Hou Juntou on his back, and staggered all the way to find a military doctor.
The sentry tower was empty, the cold wind howled, and the wooden boards rattled.
An hour later, the light cavalry who came across the river were assembled, bypassed the Tucheng and launched a charge, piercing the heart of the defenders like a sharp knife. At the same time, the rebels shouted in unison, came out of Jiaguan in the east, and under the leadership of Marshal Zhao, they attacked Shepan Camp one after another.
Zhao Bohai set up a trap surrounded by monsters, and the monks retreated to the line of the Heng River in Ge Ling. The two sides were in a stalemate. The court took the opportunity to increase troops and sent the Snake Pan Battalion to the front line. The veteran Hu Yifu sized up the situation and relied on the Heng River in Ge Ling to dig earth for the city and build the first Unable to hold on to the defense line, Zhao Bohai attacked Shepan Camp several times but failed.
The cold winter was coming, and in the ice and snow, Zhao Bo's turtles huddled in the pass and remained dormant for dozens of days. No one expected that the rebels actually sent light cavalry deep into the north, and attacked the border guards with the barbarians, cleared the obstacles, and then emerged from the ice. After crossing the Heng River and going south, they attacked Shepan Camp from both front and rear. The defenders were attacked from both sides and suffered heavy casualties. Hu Yifu had been on the battlefield for a long time, and he knew that although the rebels coming out of Jiaguan in the east were powerful, they were not strong in combat power. They were blocked by the earthen city, so they were not in serious trouble for the time being. The light cavalry coming across the river was a fatal threat. He made a prompt decision and personally led the main force north to meet the attack, holding on to the three waves of attacks and keeping the formation stable.
With one burst of strength, it weakened again, and three times it was exhausted. As soon as the defense turned into attack, the elite rebels could be annihilated. The light cavalry dispersed with a roar, and a large number of barbarians roared behind them, holding scimitars and roaring, like ferocious beasts. . The army was caught off guard and was penetrated by the Hu people. The defense line collapsed immediately. Hu Yifu died in the rebel army. The door of Snake Pan Camp was opened wide, and the rebels swarmed in and quickly took control of the overall situation. Three days later, the news of the destruction of Snakepan Camp reached the capital. The court was shocked and the emperor and his ministers were in panic all day long!
The current emperor Liang Yuanhao was born in a deep palace, was skilled in women's hands, and had a cowardly temperament. He was neither a holy master nor a wise king, nor could he be said to be fatuous and incompetent. He has never taken a step outside Tianjing, he doesn't know the affairs of the world, he finally knows how much he has, and he has no willpower. Since he came to the throne, the Daliang Kingdom has been peaceful, without any big mistakes. Zhao Bohai and other groups of rebels were originally wandering in the northwest border, and they were in trouble. However, the monsters intervened and dug a huge hole. The pass was lost, the Snake Pan Camp was defeated, and the capital was completely exposed to the rebels. Is it possible to take it seriously? Want to subjugate the country?
Liang Yuanhao hurriedly summoned Zhongshu Ling Wei Guoxiang and Privy Councilor Wen Da to inquire about countermeasures. The two officers rarely agreed and asked the emperor to urgently mobilize the Huai army to go north to defeat the enemy outside Tianjing.
The general who commanded the Huai army was Hu Guanhai, the son of Hu Yifu. He was brave and good at fighting. He built an army from scratch and built an army from scratch. He was known as "the Huai army of 800 soldiers can defeat 100,000 soldiers."
