Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

Boarding must also be done in order, with Xin Xingzong and his soldiers boarding first, then his direct generals and soldiers, followed by the Tokyo Forbidden Army, the Gyeonggi Province Forbidden Army, the Gyeonggi Province Xiang Army, and the Gyeongsinnan Road Xiang Army.

A large number of rural soldiers and civilians from Jingnan Road were thrown into the camp by Xin Xingzong.

Because there were too many people and the navy suffered heavy losses, the existing warships could not load them all at once.

The previous situation frightened Xin Xingzong. He once thought that Heguan's entire army would be wiped out, and he was even forced to plan to storm the enemy fort. He Guan suddenly returned with the remaining warships, and Xin Xingzong seemed to have returned to the world from hell, abandoning his troops and food and fleeing as quickly as possible.

He is really afraid of starving to death here!

He Guan couldn't bear it, and knew that there was nothing he could do to dissuade him, so he said, "Why don't I hold on to the camp for you while Xin Dutong goes to recruit more warships, so that they can train hard and then fight back. With the remaining troops and food in the camp , two months is more than enough.”

"They are just a group of rural soldiers and civilians. What does the old general care about them?" Xin Xingzong felt that He Guan was mentally ill.

He Guan said: "If we abandon these soldiers, Jinzhou will be difficult to capture."

"You can stay if you want." Xin Xingzong was too lazy to say anything else.

As a result, Xin Xingzong's troops boarded the ship overnight and escaped, but He Guan took his son and took the initiative to disembark.

It was relatively orderly at first, but after all Xin Xingzong's soldiers boarded the boat, the remaining troops started fighting and shoving each other. In the absence of enemy interference, boarding a ship and running away can lead to chaos, and friendly troops are often pushed into the river.

"Dong dong dong dong!"

Further upstream on the river, the sound of war drums suddenly sounded, and countless firelights reflected the river's sparkle.

"Hurry up and get on the boat!" Xin Xingzong was shocked.

The soldiers fought more fiercely, and the speed of boarding the ship dropped seriously. From time to time, the sound of soldiers falling into the water was heard.

Seeing the rebel warships getting closer and closer, Xin Xingzong shouted: "Go quickly!"

Without his order at all, the navy had already started running away.

How do they care whether all the infantry have boarded the ship? The officer directed the sailors to quickly lift the anchor, and a large number of boatmen used long poles to push the warship away from the shore, and then rowed with all their strength to escape.

The sound of falling water came one after another, and the infantry fell into the river together with the pedals.

He Guan said to his soldiers: "Blow the trumpet to gather the troops, and all return to camp!"

The bugle sounded immediately, and the infantry who had not had time to board the ship suddenly had a backbone and followed He Guan and ran towards the camp.

At the same time, Zhang Guangdao also led the army and rushed towards the officers and soldiers camp as quickly as possible.

If He Guan hadn't taken charge of the situation, the remaining officers and soldiers would have collapsed.

Before He Guan could lead his troops back to the camp, Zhang Guangdao had been discovered by the sentry. The gong sound sounded, and there was another noise from the riverside. The officers and soldiers staying at the camp were in a mess, and they couldn't guess what was going on.

"We can't go back to the camp. Keep blowing the trumpet and go to the mountains to the east!" He Guan said to his son.

The bugle sounded repeatedly, and countless confused and confused officers and soldiers had completely lost their organization and only knew how to run away in the direction of the bugle sound.

"ah!"

Zhang Guangdao also encountered troubles. Many rebels stepped on thorns or pits, causing nearly a hundred casualties.

Most of them were injured in the legs and feet, but not many died.

The rebels immediately slowed down and carefully picked up the caltrops by the light of the torch. They formed a bunch as soon as they were picked up. He poked the ground in front of him with his spear to check for hidden pits.

By the time Zhang Guangdao led his troops to occupy the official camp, all the enemies inside had already escaped.

Seeing the various ministries trying to pursue him, Zhang Guangdao shouted: "Ming Jin retreats his troops and guards the camp!"

He Guan took the troops who had not had time to board the ship and fled for four or five miles, and finally found a valley.

He stopped at the mouth of the valley and did not go in. He just continued to play the trumpet where he was.

These officers and soldiers in a semi-collapsed state were running out of breath at this moment. Those who still had the strength to continue running away, most of them slumped down at the mouth of the valley and gradually gathered around He Guan.

He Guan asked his son to go to the valley to play the trumpet, and sent his own soldiers to beat the shouting soldiers. When the troops were a little quieter, he walked back and forth again, shouting along the way: "Officers above, come here and listen to the order!"

One after another, some officers stood up.

He Guan ordered: "Lead teams to ambush on both sides of the valley."

The officers were unable to carry out military orders because the troops were completely confused and they could no longer distinguish which of their own soldiers were their own.

He Guan said angrily: "Then we will temporarily select troops to set up an ambush!"

These defeated soldiers only knew how to run away with He Guan. They were defeated but not completely defeated. At this moment, they stood at the mouth of the valley and didn't know what to do.

"You, you, you, and you, all of you, come with me!"

The officers randomly selected soldiers and led them into an ambush on both sides of the valley.

This unorganized ambush may collapse at any time. Orders don't work anymore. If you really encounter an enemy, you can only rush down in a swarm or flee in a swarm.

He Ji was ordered to go deeper into the valley to blow the trumpet. Gradually, officers and soldiers from the camp fled. Listening to the bugle, they rushed to He Ji's side, and then sat down to rest due to exhaustion.

He Ji asked people to continue blowing the trumpets, and at the same time singled out the officers among the defeated troops, preparing to take up arms to fight the pursuing rebels.

However, many of the defeated soldiers had no weapons at all, and did not even wear armor. They could only find temporary sticks and stones.

If it really got into a fight, it would probably collapse at the first touch.

The reason why I haven't scattered yet is that firstly, the bugle has not stopped, like a beacon in the storm; secondly, I am unfamiliar with the place and the surrounding environment is too dangerous, and I don't know where to run, so I can only run following the sound of the bugle. .

He Guan and He Ji, father and son, led a group of defeated soldiers to set up ambushes on three sides. They waited until dawn but did not find the enemy.

When the sun rose from the east and light returned to the world, the defeated soldiers finally calmed down completely.

After regaining their senses, the more they thought about it, the more afraid they became. They had no way out and even lost their camp and food.

He Guan sent some soldiers out to inquire about the news, and then ordered all the soldiers to gather separately according to their place of origin.

First divide the roads, then the states, then the counties, then the townships.

Those who have officers will continue to lead the troops, and those who do not have officers will recommend their fellow villagers. Some villages and counties have few soldiers, so several counties are organized into one team.

Finally a little bit of organization has been restored, at least we can count the number of people.

Last night, some troops followed Xin Xingzong on board the ship and escaped, some troops fled in the mountains, some unlucky ones fell into the Han River and drowned, and more than 16,000 people were gathered by He Guan.

However, it included a large number of civilians, and even the soldiers lacked armor.

He Guan was so angry that he wanted to kill Xin Xingzong. The tens of thousands of troops who were in good condition were reduced to this by that guy's greed for life and fear of death.

In fact, Xin Xingzong was already pretty good, but Liu Yanqing was more powerful when he conquered Liao Dynasty.

Liu Yanqing had 100,000 Western troops at that time. He did not see the enemy at all. He only saw fire in the distance, so he ordered the troops to burn the baggage and evacuate. In the darkness, panic spread. Not only did they burn their own food and grass, they also collapsed and ran away, trampling on each other. The corpses of the defeated soldiers stretched for more than a hundred miles.

And from beginning to end, not a single enemy appeared...

Xin Xingzong at least ran away when he saw the rebels, and he was considered a brave general.

"Sir, due to lack of soldiers and armor and food, the morale of the whole army is low and it is impossible to fight." He Ji said worriedly.

He Guan originally planned to lead a force to attack and recapture the army's camp, but he looked at the soldiers around him and immediately gave up this outrageous idea.

Everyone was hungry, so they sent troops everywhere to collect wild vegetables, grass roots, leaves, and berries. There was not even a pot around them, so they could only stuff them into their mouths and swallow them whole.

At noon, He Guan announced his withdrawal and tried to cross half of Shennongjia to Yunxiang on foot.

After the military order was issued, the rural soldiers from Yunxiang and Wudang counties were the first to fry the pot. They refused to go back like this even if they were beaten to death.

An officer from Wudang ran to He Guan and said, "General, you are an outsider and don't know how dangerous the mountains are. We don't even have food. If we go back on foot, not one of us will die."

Soldiers from Yunxiang and Wudang counties came to remonstrate one after another, and soon the rural soldiers from Gucheng County also began to make noises.

Everyone agrees, don't go back!

He Guan inquired about the situation carefully and realized that he was just having a whim.

He really thought he could walk back, so he took the initiative to get off the boat and lead the troops. If he had known this, he would have escaped by boat.

The soldiers from Xiang, Deng, Tang, and Suizhou all realized that they had a narrow escape after hearing the words of the soldiers from Junzhou. So they instigated surrender and promoted Zhu Xianggong's name of benevolence and righteousness.

An officer in Xiangyang said: "Last year there were a lot of refugees. They went to Hanzhong in groups. I heard that they could live a good life there."

"I also heard that Mr. Zhu was benevolent and righteous, and no excessive taxes were collected there." A Junzhou officer agreed.

A small number of soldiers on Gyeonggi Road and even those in Tokyo did not have time to board the ship.

A Tokyo officer said: "My family is still burning Tanhua coal. Zhu Tanhua has an excellent reputation. If he surrenders, he will definitely survive."

The released captured navy officer also said: "The rebels do not kill prisoners, so I was released last time."

He Guan, who still wanted to fight back to the camp and die with the bandits, could no longer say a word in front of these officers who were eager to survive.

He got kicked in the head by a donkey last night, so he took the initiative to get off the ship!

Song Huizong may have been sorry to the people of the world, but he was certainly worthy of He Guan.

He was born as a martial artist and was initially just an ordinary officer. He was promoted by Song Huizong himself.

He Guan has had only one thought for half his life: Be loyal to the emperor and serve the country!

But he was loyal to the emperor and served the country. He could not force the soldiers to do the same. A mutiny would kill him in a minute.

He Ji, who did not have the life experience of his father, whispered: "Sir, surrender. Withdrawing the troops is a life-and-death outcome, and we cannot command the troops in battle. There is no other way out except surrender."

He Guan turned to look at the many officers, who also looked at him, waiting for him to give the order to surrender.

He Guan still had difficulty making a decision.

In the afternoon, soldiers escaped one after another and fled towards the camp to surrender.

With the excuse of needing to relieve himself, He Guan went into the forest and found a tree. He drew his knife and carved several large characters on the trunk. He took off his belt and knotted it to make a noose. He also brought stones to stand on his feet and put his head into the noose.

He Ji waited for his father for a long time and did not come back, so he could only go to the woods to look for him.

A corpse was hung on a tree, swaying back and forth with the mountain wind, but the inscription on the tree trunk read: I have repaid your kindness, and my son can come down.

"Sir...Dad!"

He Ji hurriedly took off his father's body and found that he had died. He hugged the body and cried loudly.