"Hurry up!"

"Follow the whole army!"

"Don't wait for the infantry, bring dry food, mount the horse, then find a horse to load the armor, and the whole army will go north!"

"Throw away those pots and horse spoons! Once you enter Taihangxing, Zezhou is so big, you won't need a horse spoon!"

On the afternoon of the fourth day of the first lunar month, just a few days after the tenth year of Jianyan, the ice and snow have not yet melted, and the rivers have not yet opened. On the north bank of the Yellow River, east of Wangwu Mountain, and south of Taihang Mountain, countless cavalry are marching eastward in a hurry. The scene is

Make a mess.

"I wonder what year it is today in the palace in the sky?"

But in this chaotic scene, surrounded by several knights, on a hillside somewhere in the north, there was a majestic armored general astride a particularly majestic war horse, speaking absurd words.

Of course it is absurd.

After all, at this moment, it is the official time of the year. This situation and this scene are clearly a war and chaos. This place and this division are obviously the old place of Hanoi and the current boundary of Meng and Huai.

No matter from any angle, this poem is too inappropriate.

However, many high-ranking officers around the general seemed to understand the deeper meaning of their own poems... Most of the imperial cavalry now don't know what year it is in the palace in the sky.

'?

That's right, the person who recited this sentence was Qu Duan, the commander of the Imperial Cavalry Army. Many of the people who agreed with him were also officers of the Imperial Cavalry Army.

Therefore, the recognition of this sentence is nothing more than the fact that the situation of the Imperial Cavalry at this moment is indeed in line with the artistic conception of the poem "Da Su Xue Shi".

In addition, in order to prevent the main force of the Jin army from crossing the Yellow River from Hunnan, the heavy cavalry of the Imperial Cavalry and some of Li Qiong's eight-character army, a total of more than 30,000 people, were thrown on both sides of Zhiguanxing as a defense.

Participating in the key battles between Daming Prefecture and Taiyuan Prefecture, the imperial cavalry was very dissatisfied at that time.

But now, with the two loud noises a year ago, Daming Prefecture and Taiyuan Prefecture opened the city together, and the situation completely changed. In a few days, good news came from the north, and the imperial cavalry simply received the news passively. Naturally,

More dissatisfied.

It was as if someone had left him behind, and he seemed to have been isolated from the core battle. Anyway, there was a fearful feeling of being abandoned.

As I said before, it is much rarer for the senior officials of the imperial cavalry to have both civil and military skills. How could they not know the military and political implications of the change of hands between Taiyuan Mansion and Daming Mansion? And how could they not know that those Jinshi who had accompanied the army under Taiyuan City and stayed there?

How would the "preparatory consultants" at Queshu Valley, including the Xianggong, Mige, and Gongge in Tokyo, exaggerate these two great victories in the newspapers?

But what then?

And this big victory has nothing to do with them!

The Daming Mansion was commanded by Yue Fei, and Zhang Rong and Tian Shizhong were all nestled in that big village. Their merits could not be hidden, and others could not take advantage of them even if they wanted to. And when Taiyuan City was destroyed, who would

Everyone is present, but you and the imperial cavalry are hundreds of miles away, and you can't even get together if you want to!

At this time, wouldn’t this poem by Bachelor Da Su be suitable for the occasion?

However, no matter how dissatisfied everyone is, they must not complain about the officials and the central government's arrangements, so they can only point it out through poetry and quickly change the topic.

"Is it too late?" After a period of silence, Liu Qi, the deputy commander of the imperial cavalry, looked at the hastily marching troops down the hillside, obviously feeling uneasy.

"It's hard to say." Commander Zhang Zhongfu frowned. "It's true that we are cavalry, but the people in the north knew about it two days earlier than us. Zezhou must be ours. It's hard to say about Longde Mansion."

"If that's the case, isn't this battle a waste of time for us?" Liu Qi couldn't help but let out a long breath when he heard this.

"What did the deputy commander say?" Zhang Zhongfu obviously misunderstood and tried to console him. "We are cavalry, we should be used for field battles, seizing cities and so on. It's good to have merit, but we just suffered a loss in grabbing these white areas, so why bother?" Care too much? The decisive battle in Hebei Wild Land is about to take place with all your heart!"

"It may not be possible to fight in the field." Liu Qi whispered a piece of news that was only known at the level of the capital. "The logistics cost is much more than the previous plan, and it will last for another three months at most... This is why Qu Dutong would rather The reason why you have to give it a try even if you are whipped by the officials... You said that if the Jin people were decisive in retreating and directly gave up all the land east of Hebei and Hebei and retreated to the city of Yanjing, then considering spring plowing, what if the officials What if we just go with the flow and stop for a while?"

Zhang Zhongfu's expression did not change when he heard this, but he was shocked in his heart. He immediately reined in his horse and took a few steps forward, came to Qu Duan's side, and looked at him with his eyes, as if seeking confirmation.

After all, he is his direct descendant from Xifu, and Qu Duan, who is riding on the new 'Iron Elephant', has no choice but to nod slightly: "What Deputy Dutong Liu said is the truth... But according to me, Qu Da, the decisive battle still has to be fought... ...Because the war has reached this point, the officials have no reason to stop. If we stop, let the Jin Army brigade go, and send troops again after two years, it will be a waste of military resources and manpower."

Zhang Zhongfu nodded slightly, but after thinking for a moment, he asked seriously: "Capital, no matter what, it is always right to advance to Longde Mansion as soon as possible... The Jin Army lost Daming Mansion and Taiyuan Mansion, and Longde Mansion was caught in the middle. It’s a dead place, there’s absolutely no reason to hold on, it’s always a credit to be able to capture it… How about I personally supervise the army?”

Qu Duan thought about it for a while, but couldn't refuse, so he immediately nodded: "Let's go... come back soon, but be careful!"

Zhang Zhongfu immediately responded, then rode downhill and galloped away with a few of his trusted officers.

As soon as the people left, except for Liu Qi, Qu Da only had Xia Houyuan and a few guards. He couldn't help but turn around and complain: "Why bother telling the people below... It was already a mess, isn't it even more messy now? Moreover? It’s not like the Jin army lost its fighting strength after losing two cities. If it encounters someone who is stupid and loses another battle, who’s fault will it be?"

"Why should the Commander-in-Chief blame me?" Liu Qi shook his head repeatedly. "It's like this. If I don't say anything, wouldn't it be chaotic? Besides..."

"Besides what?" Qu Duan stared at the commotion of the army below and responded perfunctorily.

"Besides..." Liu Qi sighed from behind. "Du Tong, let's be honest. Based on what Kansai did that day, it's really difficult for you to get a big banner, but you can't stop the people below if they want to go further. ?It’s just me, although I don’t expect to live in peace, why don’t I want to make meritorious deeds so that I can ask for grace in front of the officials and let my brother have a good result? He is just a pardoned white body now and feels that he is a shame to the family. .And, is it just our cavalry army that is like this? I don’t believe that Wang De doesn’t want his eldest son to have a bright future, and he doesn’t want his second son to return to the army and get a favor! Although you are difficult, everyone is ordinary of!"

Qu Duan sighed when he heard the words, knowing that what the other party said was the truth, so he stopped talking, while the cavalry below continued to advance in confusion.

Not to mention Qu Duan, who was thousands of miles away and quickly dispatched troops after receiving the message, but in Taiyuan City, Zhao Guan's family, although they were relieved of military responsibilities due to Wu Jie's arrival, they were still very busy in the next few days after the year.

First of all, you still have to participate in military discussions, and you still have to talk about war on paper.

Secondly, in addition to the military discussion, Zhao Guan's family has been constantly talking to the ministers in the past few days, "in preparation for consultation", going around to comfort the army.

For example, on the morning of the first day of the Lunar New Year, Zhao Guanjia, who had washed his hands, had a meal with the wounded who were placed in the city. Not only that, in the afternoon he sent Wang De to lead his army to attack Dingxiang and Yanmen in the north.

He gave up the inner city and returned to live in the camp outside the city.

On the second day of the Lunar New Year, he went to the city again and participated in the city defense repair activities, carrying earth and repairing the city together with Yang Yizhong.

On the third day of the Lunar New Year, he personally inspected the camp of the civilian husbands, expressed condolences to the former civilian husbands, and even wrote a letter in Chinese for a veteran Dangxiang soldier, telling his wife to be careful about the cow tripe at home.

calf inside.

There are all kinds of behaviors.

Of course, all of this was accomplished under the watchful eye of countless courtiers, guards, and many southeastern "preparatory consultants" who were good at writing stories... Wherever he went, he carried more people than a full command camp.

Entourage.

All I can say is that as long as the Zhao Guan family is not embarrassed, others will be embarrassed.

"The battle must be lost."

Back to the present, on the afternoon of the fourth day of the first lunar month, after walking around the military camp, Zhao Jiu got the news and entered the city to attend the military meeting. When he saw Wu Jie, Han Shizhong and others, he blurted out something shocking.

"Why do officials say this?"

In a strange silence, Wu Da, who was still yellow-faced, bravely answered the call to the official.

"Taiyuan City was destroyed too quickly, and the army was arrogant." Zhao Jiu avoided the main seat and sat aside, speaking calmly.

"It is true that there is such a concern." Wu Jie laughed when he heard this. "But please let the officials make a clear decision... Arrogance is arrogance, but it is true that Taiyuan City is so easy to win, and the overall situation is controlled by your Majesty. Arrogance is a reality.

Because... Besides, in this kind of national war, victory or defeat is normal. As long as it does not affect the overall situation, some things are just like that."

Zhao Jiu thought about it for a moment and found that there was no refutation. Besides, he had always trusted Wu Jiu and his ministers in military affairs. He stopped talking about the matter and just asked about the military situation seriously: "I heard that

Yelu Mawu refused to surrender even after seeing his reduced head?"

"So that the officials will know." Wang Yan turned from one side and responded with a serious look. "Not only was he unwilling to surrender, he also had the envoy's head converted into a decapitated one and returned."

"He is a Khitan, what does he want?" Zhao Jiu sneered. "With the capital in his hands, after going to Xiliao, Yelu Dashi could make him the king of Beiyuan, which is only half a head shorter than a few people named Xiao.

, is stronger than Yelu Yujian! But if he stays in the Jin Kingdom, can the Jurchens truly treat him?"

"It's hard to talk about this kind of thing. As long as you hold on for one breath, you don't care about life or death." Li Yanxian, who was standing with his hands tied, couldn't help but interject. "The war is like a tidal wave, the waves are rolling into the sky, and the mud and sand are falling. The difference between people is this tone...

…”

"It makes sense." Zhao Jiu was also thoughtful, but for some reason, he just said this and didn't say much.

Let us also say that Wang De led an army of 20,000 to the north to attack Dingxiang and Yanmen, while Yan'an County King Han Shizhong and others, Li Yanxian, Ma Kuo, Wu Jie, and Wang Yan all stayed in Taiyuan City to take charge.

They were all in front of the emperor, and it was obvious that the officials were speechless. Although the hall was full of people, it was difficult to answer the conversation for a while.

After a while, Zhao Jiu, who realized that he had affected the atmosphere, shook his head and stopped expressing any emotion. He just continued to ask about the military situation: "Yelü Mawu is unwilling to get out of the way, so what about Sa Lihe who is in a dead end?"

"Report to the official." This time it was Li Yanxian who came to report... Obviously, there is a tacit understanding between these commanders, and they have their own responsibilities and division of labor in front of the emperor. "Sa Lihe remained silent and closed the city to defend.

.”

"He doesn't believe that Taiyuan has fallen?" Zhao Jiu frowned.

"There is no reason not to believe it." Li Yanxian said sternly. "The heads of several meng'an and dozens of Mou Ke in Taiyuan City were sent to him, as well as reinforcements sent to replace Deputy Li Dutong Party Xiang Qingqi's siege of the city. He

You shouldn’t disbelieve it…”

"That's just pretending to be dead." Zhao Jiu didn't know whether to laugh or be angry. "Such people are also common... plug their ears, refuse to surrender or fight, sit and wait to die... knowing that this continues.

, no matter what the result is, I can't spare him, and Wu Shu can't spare him, but I still dare not move...is this what you mean?"

"I'm afraid that's the case." Li Yanxian's words were concise and to the point.

"It's also a trouble." Zhao Jiu was also a little helpless. "What else? What about east, west, south and north?"

"Longde Mansion in the south has asked Vice-President Li to lead the army to advance carefully..." This time it was Ma Kuo who answered.

"Is it to save face for Qu Duan and the imperial cavalry?" Zhao Jiu shook his head in reply, but was too lazy to say more. "How about the north?"

"So that the officials know that the defenders of Xinzhou in the north do not believe that Taiyuan has fallen and are resisting tightly. However, Wang De's fellow is still a good man after all. After leading his troops, they fought five fierce battles in two days and won one after another. Baijing

Zhai, Chitang Pass, and Shiling Pass have all been captured. We should be approaching Xiurong, the capital of Xinzhou, by now. If Xiurong is captured again, Dingxiang will be right in front of us..." This time it was Han Shizhong who came to report. "Get it.

If we are in Dingxiang, we can attack Yanmen and threaten Datong."

"In this way, it can be considered that the progress is going smoothly." Zhao Jiu nodded, noncommittal, but looked at Wu Jie with some doubts.
To be continued...