Warrior in Turbulent Han Dynasty

Xiande four years (AD 957) month ten days, Jinzhou.

Hedong is "mountains and rivers on the outside and inside", the mountains and rivers run from north to south like ravines, and the terrain is like the word "Chuan". Hedong is also the north road on the Shenzhou chessboard, and has always been the core of the offensive and defensive forces on the east and west sides of the north; it is also a corridor for the north to enter the original. The basin corridor between the mountains is also a place where wars often occur... such as the place where the battle of Changping (Gaoping), such as Jinzhou (Linfen).

Now Jinju is once again shrouded in the flames of war.

It is the dry season, and the Fen River flows slowly in the west. The majestic city tower on the east side of the river and the mountainous Luliang Mountain on the other side face each other far away. To the south of the city, the sky was covered by dust and mist, and Huang Chenzhi's horses and soldiers were like riding on clouds and fog.

Ballistas and stone bullets were flying in the air, and the "cracking" and "bang bang" sounds of wood rubbing against each other were mixed with people's yelling, making the city walls full of noise.

Murong Yanzhao looked at the countless siege equipment and the dust covering the sky below the city, widened his eyes and said, "Why didn't the rebels rush up to attack the city this morning? Are they going to blow up the city?"

As soon as the voice fell, there was a loud "bang" sound, and a large stone fell to the wall outside the city tower, and the broken stones, bricks and soil were immediately splashed, and the surrounding soldiers hugged their heads to avoid it. "Ah..." A soldier hissed while hugging his thigh, "My leg!"

Xiang Gong looked over, turned to Murong Yanzhao and said, "If it explodes, just plug the gap and call the strong men to repair it overnight."

Murong Yanzhao frowned and said, "The key is when will the imperial reinforcements come? Li Chongjin is also marching towards Jinzhou. At that time, Jinzhou will be besieged by thousands of troops. Can we hold it?"

Xiang Gong was silent.

Murong Yanzhao said again: "Tokyo is nearly a thousand miles away from Jinzhou, and Guo Shao is too late. It seems that you and I are really going to die here!"

A forced smile appeared on Xiang Gong's face: "Death in battle, shrouded in horse leather, has always been the ending I've been looking forward to. As a martial artist, is there a better way to die than this?"

"Xiang Jieshuai..." Murong Yanzhao's broad face between the beard and beard revealed a look of emotion.

Xiang Gong patted Murong Yanzhao on the shoulder and said: "If Guo Shao doesn't come, I will lead the Zhen'an Army's two thousand cavalry out of the city for a decisive battle; the direction of Jinzhou will be left to Marshal Murong Jie in full control, and there will be no force."

At this moment, there was a sudden "boom", the expressions of Xiang Gong and Murong Yanzhao changed, and the city wall seemed to tremble. In an instant, earth and rocks splashed not far from the city wall in the east, and a large puff of white smoke rushed up quickly and flew straight into the sky.

Immediately afterwards, another puff of white smoke rose from the ground in front of the fence under the city. The gunpowder smoke took off rapidly, and soon half of the city wall was shrouded in the gunpowder smoke, and nothing could be seen.

The screams from a distance soon passed through, Xiang Gong looked into the distance, gunpowder smoke was flying in the rebel fortification about 200 paces away, many people ran with their heads in their hands in the fog, the war horses panicked, and a large number of horses galloped chaotically.

"Did the wall collapse?" Xiang Gong shouted after a while.

The surrounding area was soon shrouded in smoke, the voice of "cough cough cough..." was everywhere, and Murong Yanzhao's voice said: "Fuck! What the hell, the city wall didn't move, the smoke is too heavy..."

At this moment, Zhang Jianxiong, who was deployed on the north-south main road, shouted loudly, and his horseshoes roared immediately. Zhang Jianxiong led cavalry to swarm towards the place of thick smoke regardless of the frightened horses.

...

"Reinforcements from the Forbidden Army are here!" A general entered Li Jixun's army camp and hurriedly reported.

The atmosphere of Li Jixun's troops was gloomy because of the failure of the bombing of the city just now, and the incident that turned their own camp into a mess. This news made the situation worse, and the generals were in an uproar.

"Impossible!" Li Jixun said angrily, "Thousands of miles away from Tokyo, did the imperial guards fly over with wings!"

The general who came in said: "I don't know the general, but the flag is 'Guo Shao, Generalissimo of the World's Armed Forces and Horses'. It can be seen that the brigade is all elite soldiers, all equipped with horses; except for the imperial army, where are there so many horses..."

Zhao Kuangyin's black face was very gloomy, and he was embarrassed to speak for a while.

Li Jixun asked, "Where did the troops go?"

The general said: "The last general came from Jiangzhou, and the enemy soldiers arrived in Jiangzhou. The governor who surrendered half a month ago must surrender again... The last general waited for his troops to be weak, so he had to evacuate that place first."

"Jiangzhou is only a hundred miles away." The staff reminded.

Li Jixun asked: "How many people?"

The general replied: "It seems... there are 20,000."

Li Jixun paced back and forth in front, "It may be the left wing of the Hu Jie army, which is Guo Shao's direct descendant. The horses should be mobilized from various armies to supplement them. The Hu Jie army is mainly infantry. The mounted infantry don't need to care about the horsepower consumption before the battle; they run so fast... But he should leave some people in the left wing to guard the situation in Tokyo. These people may not be mainly from the Hu Jie army."

Everyone watched Li Jixun make up his mind. At this moment, Li Jixun turned around and said, "There are only 20,000 people, and we can still fight! We have come a long way and are exhausted, so let's go forward and fight!"

After hearing this, Zhao Kuangyin couldn't help it, and hurriedly persuaded him: "Don't do it! The imperial army is the most powerful in the world. Brother Li doesn't have much advantage in numbers, and he is a local town soldier. The chances of winning are not great. In addition, you are facing south, and there are Jinzhou defenders behind. It is very likely that you will go out of the city to attack Brother Li."

Li Jixun said: "Then Brother Zhao, what do you think we should do?"

Zhao Kuangyin said: "For the present plan, retreat to the north, retreat into the Northern Han Dynasty, wait for Li Chongjin's army to join forces, and then we can decide the outcome."

Li Jixun shook his head and said: "A few days ago, someone came from Tokyo to report that there was no movement from the imperial army; plus the time spent on the road, it took only twelve days. That is to say, Guo Shao's troops rushed from Tokyo to Jiangzhou in a maximum of twelve days. At this speed, the distance is only a hundred miles. We can win? Unless everything is lost, then what do I eat for tens of thousands?

Besides, we have been fleeing to the north, and if there is any confusion, Xiang Gong will go out of the city and make trouble! "

Zhao Kuangyin sighed: "Li Chongjin, Li Chongjin! This guy is definitely a big deal!"

Li Jixun also scolded: "It's less than 500 miles in a dog day, and it's less than 800 miles for others to start too late."

Zhao Kuangyin pondered for a long time, and said solemnly: "Immediately build a pontoon bridge on the Fenshui River, and the army retreats to the Luliang Mountains on the spot, and confronts Guo Shao and Xiang Gong across the river. Hold the line of defense first, and wait for Li Chongjin to arrive."

Li Jixun frowned and said, "Li Chongjin knows that we are trapped in Luliang Mountain, will he hold back? Guo Shao will first go north to deal with Li Chongjin, and then withdraw to deal with our troops. At that time, we have to retreat to the mountainous area in the north of Guan. The terrain is complicated and the land is barren. Tens of thousands of us will be dragged down."

Zhao Kuangyin said: "There is no other way now, if we go south for a decisive battle, we will definitely lose if we face the enemy! I hope Brother Li will make a decision soon."

Li Jixun rubbed his hands: "Okay! Immediately send an order to build a bridge on the river as soon as possible."

Zhao Kuangyin said: "Working overnight, the more bridges the better; in case the enemy soldiers come quickly, we should form a defensive formation with our backs."

... The city gate of Jiangzhou was wide open, and the governor led the officials, soldiers and civilians to kneel on the ground along the way. Looking up at the yellow thick banner with dragon patterns, "Guo Shao", the general of the world's soldiers and horses, and another line of "calling for rebellion", he shouted: "The bandit army is coming fiercely. The officials and soldiers are few. To save the people of the city from being ruined, they have to surrender...Although people surrender, their hearts go to the Great Zhou..."

Wearing heavy armor, Guo Shao rode his horse forward, pointed to the round-robed officer on the ground and said, "I forgive you for your innocence, the officer will return to his post and the people will guard the land, there must be no mistakes!"

"The next official kowtows to Marshal Guo for his great kindness!" The governor hurriedly kowtowed on the loess, regardless of face.

At this moment, several riders rolled up a pile of loess and came galloping from the post road. One of the knights dismounted from his horse, knelt down on one knee and cupped his fists and said, "I report to Marshal Guo, Li Jixun's bandits are building a bridge in Fenshui."

Guo Shao beckoned, Qin Dashi hurriedly bent over and stepped forward to unfold a map. Guo Shao pointed with his horsewhip: "The opposite bank of the Fenshui River is the Luliang Mountains. Li Jixun intends to delay time by crossing the river." He turned to Shi Yanchao and said, "Shi Qianfeng, you immediately lead the crane horse army to march straight towards Li Jixun's troops and march overnight." Turning back, he said, "Ma Quanyi, immediately lead the crane bow and arrows and follow behind."

"Decree!" "The last general has an order!"

Guo Shao warned again: "Shi Yanchao, you are exhausted from marching all night tonight, so you must not fight lightly; when you arrive in Jinzhou, you will set up camp to rest and wait for the main force. Your purpose is to threaten Li Jixun's troops and force him to line up to fight and not dare to rush across the river."

Shi Yanchao said calmly, "I understand."