Warrior in Turbulent Han Dynasty

On a simple, blood-stained wooden frame, half of Zhao Hu's face was rotten, and the other half of his face was covered with bones and blood. The plate armor on his body had been trampled out of shape, and his clothes were covered in blood.

Xu Erniang knelt on the ground, crying as if she was tearing out her heart and lungs.

The soldier next to him faltered and murmured: "Usually such a corpse looks miserable, but he didn't suffer much. It's only because of his death that he became like this...There are many troops on the battlefield, and they will inevitably be trampled on the ground."

Xu Erniang couldn't speak, she cried loudly at first, sobbed there when she was tired, and then just knelt there blankly. It's been too long, her legs are numb, she doesn't go, and she doesn't know where to go, she just spends here in a daze.

The military man tried to persuade him several times, but he couldn't persuade him. Later, I don't know when to go away.

In Xu Erniang's heart, the short reunion had already moved her heart, and Zhao Hu's appearance and personality made her think he was a good man; moreover, such a good man was really kind to her...Unexpectedly, he disappeared so suddenly, Xu Erniang's heart was suddenly hollowed out.

After a long time, some peasants came up to carry Zhao Hu's body to clean it up, and asked Erniang Xu a few words, but she didn't say anything, and they continued to work on their own. Xu Erniang got up from the ground, almost lost her footing, and followed the civilian husband who carried the corpse. She didn't know what to do, let alone what to do.

Later, a civil servant came over and asked Xu Erniang kindly, "Who is Zhao Hu?"

Xu Erniang opened her mouth, but couldn't make a sound. She felt a little physically and mentally disabled now.

The civil servant was not angry either. He sized up Xu Erniang's demeanor, and still said nicely: "Zhao Hu is a soldier of the Forbidden Army. He served the country and fought bloody battles to recover the rivers and mountains. The officials and the court will never forget the merits of the hero. Zhao Hu's family will definitely have a generous pension."

Xu Erniang stood there blankly. Whether it is a country or a river or a mountain, no matter how tall something is, in her heart, it cannot compare to Zhao Hu. She only knows that Zhao Hu is dead.

She doesn't care about pensions and benefits, if Zhao Hu is here... She suddenly remembered that when she met Zhao Hu before, Zhao Hu gave her the military payment notes|receipts and tokens stored in the Tokyo Bank.

Xu Erniang suddenly burst into tears again. Everyone around looked at her helplessly, not knowing what had offended her.

The civil official asked the soldiers next to him in a low voice: "Why is the family member of the forbidden army coming to the army? Which battalion is she in, the people's strength recruited by the healing battalion?"

He immediately said again: "My lady, how do you deal with this matter? Go back where you are, and then go home and wait for the funeral of the dead. The soldiers who died in the imperial army will be sent back by the military government, and the imperial court will also allocate funeral expenses and pensions."

Not long after, someone finally found it, someone sent by Lu Lan, who persuaded Xu Erniang to go back first.

After some persuasion and comfort, Lu Lan asked Erniang Xu, Zhao Hu is dead, if she wants to go back to her hometown.

Xu Erniang only cared about being sad, and didn't know what to do for a while. Going home like this, she couldn't imagine how she would spend her days after returning home... Losing everything, she was very desperate.

In fact, after being snatched away by the Khitan people, she had no hope. But if there is no hope all the time, there will be no despair.

Xu Erniang suddenly felt helpless and extremely lonely. She didn't want to go home and face it, she just wanted to escape. I want to hide in a corner where no one knows her, I don't want to face accusations, and I don't want to be comforted... What's the use of comforting a man who didn't die as her?

...

In the camp of the Chinese army, Guo Shao, who was sitting at the top, looked haggard.

At this time, a civil official walked in quickly, first performed the salute, held a letter in both hands, and said, "Your Majesty, General Han has an urgent report."

Guo Shao raised his head, waiting for Lu Chengyong to come up to him. Holding it in his hand, he saw the words "Happy News" written on it.

Han Tong got the news from the left, and the whole army came. When they met the Liao army who wanted to escape from the Deshengkou (Xishan) route, the two armies fought. After the battle, the Liao army was chaotic and defeated.

Han Tong's troops were smaller than the Liao army, but they won a complete victory; but because of the small number of people, they could not encircle and suppress the Liao army.

At this time, Li Chuyun and other troops did not have time to join the Xishan battlefield.

It was not until evening that the camp of the Chinese Army received Li Chuyun's report. Wenyuhe won the battle... First, Li Chuyun's troops fought with the Liao army, gaining the upper hand. After the horse army of the Luoyan Huan Department in the north approached, the main force of the Liao Army fled eastward in light clothes, and was killed by Li Chuyun's troops, causing a lot of losses.

When Wang Pu saw the report, he hurriedly said loudly in public: "In this battle, the victor is still the Great Zhou Army."

Guo Shao knew he was trying to boost morale.

Seeing that the reaction from the crowd was not too enthusiastic, Wang Pu explained: "Three major battles. The infantry in Youzhou City fought against the Liao army's surprise attack, the battle of Xishan, and the battle of Wenyu River. The Liao army was defeated and retreated!"

What Wang Pu said was true, but Guo Shao was still not happy.

It is meaningless to only talk about the winning rate of the battle. The victory in the defensive battle failed to annihilate the main force of the Liao army, and could not play a decisive role... The truth is that the Zhou army was passive everywhere and was disturbed in the morale of the siege; the most important loss was the loss of the general and the emperor's sworn brother!

General Zhan Yun will lose the spirit of the army... This is also the reason why the first emperor ordered the Jinyang North Route Army to rescue Shi Yanchao when he was besieged. If the first fierce general of the Great Zhou Dynasty died in battle, he would be "deprived of energy"; the general reason is that it would have a psychological impact on the morale of the army.

This time it was the same, the emperor's sworn brother died or was seriously injured, and his life and death were uncertain, which had a great impact on the morale of the army.

Guo Shao neither said he wanted to reward Li Chuyun, nor blamed him.

Wang Pujin said: "The Liao army's reinforcements have been defeated, and it is difficult to threaten Youzhou for a while. I think the cavalry can go back to the camp to rest first. Tomorrow morning, the siege troops will continue to attack the city according to the deployment."

Guo Shao said, "Just follow what Wang Shijun said."

Privy envoy Wang Pu's talent and prestige were recognized by the soldiers of the Forbidden Army, and he had always been relied on by the emperor. When he was sick, the emperor asked the emperor to seek medical treatment in person. His status can be imagined. Guo Shao must maintain Wang Pu's prestige at this time.

... Earlier, when Guo Shao saw Yang Biao and Luo Mengzi, he had already woken up.

In this battle, the scenes were chaotic everywhere, and the chaos still had its essence: the attacking Zhou army was harassed by the Liao army.

The Liao army's reinforcements were essentially a large-scale raid, and it was difficult to truly defeat the elite Zhou army under Guo Shao's command in terms of the size of the troops. Guo Shao made a mistake in losing the general.

Guo Shao was depressed and racked his brains to sum up the lesson.

The first is that they have lost the initiative, and the Great Zhou Imperial Army, which has been victorious in all battles, is not quite suitable for the war mode with the Liao Kingdom. The Liao army did not rely on a decisive battle like the other countries, and it didn't even seem to care about the outcome. Harassment and running are their strategies.

Secondly, he couldn't let go of the casualties of the two general brothers, thinking that it was his responsibility... There are still omissions in the layout.

Guo Shao kept flipping through maps and reports, deducing the battle situation carefully from beginning to end, feeling very anxious.

He has fought many battles in the past. Although he has worked hard, the overall layout is very smooth... The rhythm of the battle is under control, and he has a kind of casual and decisive self-confidence. Even if the risks are often high, self-confidence can make him unrestrained and aggressive.

For example, in the battle to annihilate the Southern Tang Dynasty, it was still very risky to let Li Chuyun's army go deep alone under an accidental opportunity;

But now, the miss caused him to lose his rhythm, and instead he felt a sense of restraint.

Guo Shao flipped through the thick handwriting of the Battle of Youzhou, and returned to the original strategic goal: to capture Youzhou City.

Now, he questioned whether he could still capture Youzhou City.

After the Zhou army arrived at Youzhou City in advance, it took half a month to repair the siege fortifications, and then the siege of the city was not smooth... The artillery failed to effectively suppress the interference of the defenders, which led to the current moat not being filled quickly; tunnels were dug to bury gunpowder, but water seeped.

Gunpowder must be buried in the ground and reinforced and sealed to produce enough explosive power. After all, black | gunpowder is based on the principle of rapid combustion, because the air pressure in a confined space suddenly increases and the pressure cannot be released before it explodes. This Guo Shao knows very well that when Zhao Kuangyin supported the "Er Li" rebellion and besieged Jinzhou, he dug a tunnel but the airtightness was not good, and it turned out to be useless.

At this moment, Wang Pu begged to see him and entered.

Wang Pu signaled Guo Shao's attendants to back away, and said with guilt on his face: "The old minister has betrayed His Majesty's trust."

Guo Shaodao: "I am the one who makes the decision."

Wang Pu sighed, and said in silence for a moment: "The Liao army's reinforcements were routed, but their strength has not received a fatal blow. Although they need time to regroup, sooner or later there will be a threat of harassment."

Guo Shao nodded, unable to deny this possibility.

Wang Pudao: "If the Zhou army and the horse army shrink too much to Youzhou City, the Liao army will control the peripheral activity area, and it is very likely to harass the Zhou army's rear grain road. Therefore, the old minister thought that the horse army would still deploy in the front to gain depth.

The battalions of the Youzhou Infantry Army have to re-fortify the fortifications and build camps and ditch walls outside the siege fortifications to prevent this accident from happening again..."

Guo Shao put down his brush and said suddenly: "Wang Shijun thinks that according to the current situation, before the main force of the Liao Kingdom goes south, can we really capture Youzhou City?"

Wang Pu's face changed slightly after hearing this, and he didn't answer right away.

After a long silence, Wang Pucai said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty has always been victorious in countless battles. Many people even believe that you are the reincarnation of a god. Before attacking Youzhou, both inside and outside the court believed that Dazhou would definitely recover the lost ground. If you return without success due to the loss of the general, I am afraid that the public opinion will be unfavorable..."

Not only the people of the world, but Wang Pu also looked a bit unacceptable: "It will take time for the Liao Kingdom to gather the main force. The undercover soldiers of Cao Si, secret agents of the Privy Council, and secret posts of the forbidden army are all deployed in the enemy's territory. Our main force is not damaged at this time. There is still time and opportunity."

Guo Shaodao: "If it is judged that the city of Youzhou cannot be captured quickly, delaying it will increase the risk. What's more, we have a large number of infantry to attack the city, and we can't escape temporarily. We have to plan ahead."

Wang Pu is silent.

Guo Shaodao: "The momentum is no longer on our side, the difficulty of attacking the city has increased, and morale has been affected. I feel that the opportunity to fight has been lost."

Thinking of Luo Mengzi who had turned into a dead body, Yang Biao who was unconscious, and thousands of casualties, he said softly with difficulty: "The most difficult thing in the world is to afford to lose..."\u003c