Fenghou

Standing on the top of the city, Chen Qing calmly looked at the raging fire below the mountain. He already realized in his heart that after the fire, at least in a short period of time, the Xixia Army was out.

The soldiers next to them were all very excited, and a little bit regretful. So much food and supplies were burned, and they should have known that an army should be ambushed on the outskirts to take advantage of the fire to loot.

At this time, Chen Qing calmly ordered: "Pass my order, the whole army is ready to attack!"

The 1 Song army had already assembled, including [-] cavalry and [-] infantry. The morale of the Xixia army was low and the soldiers were chaotic, which was a good opportunity for a decisive battle.

Chen Qing ordered Yang Yuanqing to lead 1 militia soldiers and thousands of old and weak soldiers to defend the city. He led an army of [-] out of the east city and marched along the Baishui River to the north of the enemy's camp.

At this time, tens of thousands of soldiers of the Xixia Army had just escaped from the camp. The army was panicked, their morale was low, there was no food, insufficient weapons, and the horses were not rescued. Tens of thousands of people were in chaos.

The fire in the camp continued unabated and had engulfed the entire camp. The surrounding fences and sentry towers were not spared either, and were ignited by the fire.

Tens of thousands of soldiers stood numbly in the wilderness, staring blankly at the burning of the fire. Their own belongings were not able to be snatched out, and they were burned by the fire. Everyone was heartbroken.

When the Xixia people fought wars, weapons, armor and horses were purchased by individuals, and the wealth captured by individuals was owned by individuals.

This fire burned almost half of their family property, filled everyone's heart with despair, and strong war weariness filled the hearts of every soldier.

Li Liangfu was equally distraught, he had no intention of rectifying the army, the situation in front of him could only be decided after dawn.

But what worries him is, how should he explain to the emperor?Not only is it impossible for him to capture Ganquan Castle anymore, but he even lost his camp. I am afraid that dismissal from office is a light matter, and he might be beheaded by the emperor. If his own is dead, what will happen to dozens of wives and concubines? ?What about the children?

At this time, Murong Tao hurried over, half of his beard and hair were burned off, he was very embarrassed, but he was very anxious, why didn't the commander consider that the Song army would attack?

"Commander, the soldiers are not prepared. They must either retreat north immediately or line up to prepare for battle. Once the Song army comes, the consequences will be disastrous!"

Li Liangfu slowly raised his head and glanced at Murong Tao, and said hoarsely, "At this moment, do you think the Song army will come again?"

As soon as the words fell, there was a scream from the east, the army was in chaos, and the cavalry of the Song Army came to kill.

Li Liangfu was stunned, and suddenly shouted: "Send the order, the whole army retreats to the north immediately!"

In fact, there was no need for Li Liangfu's orders anymore. The soldiers of the Xixia Army collapsed. Tens of thousands of soldiers fled desperately in the wilderness. Five thousand Song Army cavalry chased and killed them.

Chapter 226 Detour

The fire in the Xixia barracks was not completely extinguished until the next day. Twenty thousand large tents were burned, and more than 3000 soldiers and nearly ten thousand horses did not escape. burn.

At noon, the fire was extinguished, and the camp that was more than ten miles long was burned into a white field, and the surrounding camp fences were also burnt to charcoal, some fell down, and some stood black in the soil.

The air was filled with the scorched stench of corpses, and charcoal-burned corpses could be seen everywhere, and it was hard to distinguish whether it was a human or a war horse.

In the wilderness outside the camp, groups of Xixia soldiers were dejected and escorted by the Song Army to Ganquan Fort.

In a night hunt last night, more than 8000 Xixia soldiers were killed and about [-] were captured. This was also due to poor visibility at night, and a large number of Xixia soldiers ran away. In addition, thousands of patrolling soldiers outside were also captured. He retreated and withdrew to Baochuan County.

Despite this, most of the 2 troops brought by Li Liangfu were wiped out by the Song army in fierce battles, and finally withdrew to Baochuan County with less than [-] Xixia soldiers.

Of course, Chen Qing tasted the sweetness in the exchange with Wan Yanchang, and the eight thousand prisoners of war were enough for him to blackmail Xixia.

……

In Shangzhou, a Jinbing army of 2 people is heading south rapidly. The leading general is Wanyan Salihe, Marshal of the Jinbing West Route Army. His Hanzhong plan was approved by Marshal Wanyanchang, and he immediately began to implement it.

The [-] Jin soldiers have already passed Shangluo County, and headed south along another rugged and narrow official road. This side belongs to the remaining veins of the Qinling Mountains and the junction with Funiu Mountain. This area is called Fuling Mountain. There are many mountains, but it is not difficult. There are many rivers passing through the mountains beyond the mountains, making the mountains relatively broken.

Although war horses can be used, it is not like Shangluo Road where luggage carts can be used. This road cannot travel luggage carts. The [-] Jin soldiers walked on foot, and let war horses and tens of thousands of mules and donkeys carry grain and other supplies.

This is actually a shortcut to the middle road of the Han Dynasty. Although it is difficult to walk, as long as they do not carry luggage, [-] Jin soldiers can still cross the Falcon Ridge along the Jiashui River and arrive at the Hanshui River.

In and out of Hanzhong, there are not only the north-south Sichuan-Shaanxi Passage, but also the Qinfeng Road leading to Xihe Road in the west, which is the Beixianrenguan Passage. In addition, you can enter Hanzhong from the east along the Han River from Xiangyang. The Hanshui Channel of the road.

This was the idea of ​​Wanyan Sali drinking and beating. He detoured thousands of miles and took the Hanshui channel to kill the Song army by surprise, and entered Hanzhong.

There are several key nodes in this detour strategy. One is Shangjin County. After capturing Shangjin County, the gate of the Hanshui Channel will be opened, and they will be able to ride horses on the flat official road to Hanzhong to speed up.

The second key node is Xicheng County. Xicheng County is the prefecture of Jinzhou and belongs to Hanzhong.

The third key node is Raofengguan. The core of Hanzhong is Nanzheng County, Xingyuan Prefecture. The logistics center of the Western Army and the Xuanfu Division of Sichuan and Shaanxi are all here. Raofengguan is the center of Xingyuanfu and Nanzheng County. East Gate.

Once Raofengguan is captured, Nanzheng County will be at your fingertips, so Raofengguan is also the most important node in Wanyan's strategy of letting go of Hanzhong.

Wanyan Saliyao's current goal is to seize the first node, Shangjin County.

Shangjin County is just a small mountainous county, close to Jiashui, a tributary of the Han River, with a population of only a few thousand people. In the early morning of this day, the city guards of Shangjin County opened the city gate as usual, and farmers waiting outside the city entered the city to sell vegetables. , the atmosphere is very peaceful, here is far away from Guanzhong, and there is no worry of war, everyone seems to live in a paradise.

The two soldiers who opened the city gate yawned and were about to go back and squint for a while. At this moment, there was a commotion outside the city, and countless people were running desperately.

The two soldiers looked to the north and were stunned for a moment, only to see a mighty golden soldier coming from the north.

……

Wu Jie was really depressed, he thought Zhu Shengfei called him to Nanzheng urgently for something important, but it turned out that he was going to Bashu to suppress the bandits, which made Wu Jie speechless for a while.

Wu Jie came out of the Xuanfu envoy's office, he was a little dazed, Zhu Shengfei was the Sichuan-Shaanxi Xuanfu envoy, he did have the right to transfer himself, but if he went to Bashu to suppress the bandits a month or two ago, it would be fine, but now... ...One hundred thousand puppet Qi troops stationed troops on the south bank of the Weihe River, ready to attack Dashan Pass at any time. At this juncture, he was transferred to Bashu to suppress the bandits, and Fu Xuan was appointed as the general of Dashan Pass. Is this appropriate?

What made Wu Jie even more resentful was that there was not a single soldier who went to Bashu to suppress the bandits. Letting himself go to Bashu to recruit 2 people was actually depriving him of his military power in disguise and handing over the military power to Fu Xuan.

Wu Jie pondered for a moment on the street, then urged his horse to go to the Xingyuan Mansion.

"Hey! What gust of wind brought Old Wu to my place?" The magistrate Liu Ziyu greeted him with a big smile.

Wu Jie smiled wryly and said, "This gust of wind is too strong, you are just passing by here, and you will blow me to Bashu immediately."

Liu Ziyu was slightly taken aback, "Brother Jinqing, where did you say that?"

"Go in and talk! I'm thirsty, pour me a bowl of herbal tea first."

Liu Ziyu hurriedly invited Wu Jie into the inner hall to sit down, and then asked his attendants to serve tea. After a while, two attendants brought tea in.

Wu Jie took a few sips of herbal tea, then sighed, and briefly explained the meeting with Zhu Shengfei today.

Liu Ziyu suddenly turned pale with shock. At this critical moment, Zhu Shengfei actually deprived Wu Jie of his military power and asked Fu Xuan to guard the Dasan Pass. That bastard was suspected of being a master of gold!

"What is he doing? Where did you offend him?"

Wu Jie pondered for a while and said, "It is estimated that it has something to do with the discussion on the establishment of a military intelligence agency some time ago."

Zhu Shengfei wanted to follow the example of Zhang Jun and set up a military intelligence office. He had to keep abreast of the military situation and command the front enemy to fight. Zhu Shengfei was the envoy of Xuanfu. It was understandable for him to make this request, and Wu Jie fully agreed.

But on the details of military power, they had huge differences, that is, Zhu Shengfei refused to delegate power, the command of the former enemy must be in his hands, and all deployment and combat decisions must be approved by him.

Is Zhu Shengfei's request too much?In the Song Dynasty, this request was not excessive at all. This is what it meant for civilian officials to control military power. Generals were only responsible for fighting on the battlefield, but how to fight?Whether it is a field battle or a siege battle, and how many troops need to be mobilized are all decided by civilian officials.

For example, if one day Dasan Pass cannot be defended, Wu Jie is in a hurry to mobilize the army of Xianrenguan to support him. Sorry, Wu Jie must first file a report application, and the army of Xianrenguan can only move after Zhu Shengfei approves. However, if the reinforcements came too late and the Dashan Pass had already been captured, the responsibility would also be Wu Jie's, and it had nothing to do with Zhu Shengfei.

Zhang Jun was also like this at the beginning. The Battle of Fuping was entirely decided and commanded by him. He did not listen to the persuasion of the generals at all, which led to a final disastrous defeat. 20 troops were defeated, and more than half of the casualties.

It was only after Zhang Jun suffered this great loss that he reluctantly handed over the wartime command power to Wu Jie.

And Zhu Shengfei hasn't suffered a big loss yet!How could he give up power?

So he vetoed the seemingly absurd practice of handing over the command during the war. He asked Wu Jie to send someone on a fast horse to Nanzheng County to ask for instructions and report to him, and then he decided how to fight and how to deploy troops.

Of course, Wu Jie also knew that Zhu Shengfei was not Zhang Jun, and it was impossible to follow Zhang Jun's method, so he put forward three conditions. First, he hoped that Zhu Shengfei would be in charge of Dasan Pass during the war;

Second, if Zhu Shengfei is really unwilling to sit in Dashanguan, it is okay. The military intelligence office is located in Dashanguan, and then communicates through Xinying.

Third, ask Zhu Shengfei to give himself a certain right to deal with emergencies in wartime.

Zhu Shengfei vetoed all these three conditions, which also led to the establishment of the military intelligence office, which made Zhu Shengfei extremely annoyed.

Liu Ziyu sighed and said, "This Zhu Shengfei is notoriously narrow-minded and self-willed in the imperial court. How could he accept your terms? You should agree to him first! It's better than being deprived of military power and going to Bashu to find a job."

Wu Jie shook his head, "If I agree to him, I will become a sinner who lost Dasanguan. I would rather be idle than bear the responsibility!"

At this moment, a entourage came rushing outside and reported in the hall: "Xuan Fu envoy asked Liu Zhifu to go to the Xuan Fu envoy's office immediately, and discuss urgent matters. If Wu Du is here, please go together !"

Chapter 227 Crisis

Zhu Shengfei has never been so afraid in his life as he is today. He just got the news that a 2 Jin soldiers have entered Jinzhou and are heading towards the west city.

Zhu Shengfei was so frightened that his hands and feet were cold, he didn't know what to do, Sima Wang seemed to ask him to go to Liu Ziyu to discuss countermeasures, it is estimated that Wu Jie was also there, Zhu Shengfei went to the doctor in a hurry, and sent someone to invite Liu Ziyu and Wu Jie.

Not long after, Liu Ziyu and Wu Jie hurried over.

"Xuanfu envoy, what is the urgent matter?" Liu Ziyu asked as he entered the door.

Zhu Shengfei said in a trembling voice: "The big thing is not good. I just got the news that a golden army of 2 people has entered Jinzhou, and will soon go to Xicheng."

Both Liu Ziyu and Wu Jie were taken aback. They looked at each other, and they realized at the same time that the Jin soldiers were attacking Hanzhong from the east, and the opponent had 2 troops. .

Wu Jie asked urgently: "May I ask whether the Xuan Fu envoy received the pigeon letter or the horse riding express?"

"It's a letter sent by Jinzhou Tongjuan, Wu Dutong, what should we do now?" At this moment, Zhu Shengfei suddenly realized that Wu Jie couldn't go to Bashu and had to stay in Hanzhong.

What Wu Jie was worried about was the time. It would take a day and a half at the earliest to travel from Jinzhou to Nanzheng County. It is very likely that now that the west city has fallen, the Jin soldiers will definitely rush to Raofengguan as soon as possible.

Wu Jie frowned and said: "The key is Rao Feng Pass, as long as you guard Rao Feng Pass, even Jin soldiers can't kill it!"

He knew that Raofengguan was guarded by an army of [-] troops led by Tian Sheng, who could resist it for a few days, so he immediately asked Liu Ziyu, "How many troops are there in Nanzheng?"

Liu Ziyu thought for a while and said, "Nanzheng County has just recruited [-] new recruits, and they are currently being trained by the commander Guo Zhongxun."

Wu Jie clasped his fists at Zhu Shengfei and said, "The situation is critical now. Please envoy Xuan Fu envoy to hand over [-] new troops to Beizhi, who will lead them to Raofengguan. As long as we guard Raofengguan, Hanzhong will not be lost!"

At this time, Zhu Shengfei obeyed Wu Jie's words, and he immediately took out the command arrow and handed it to Wu Jie. He hesitated and asked, "There are only 9000 troops, is it not enough?"

Wu Jie smiled wryly and said: "There must not be enough troops, and they are still new recruits, first rescue the emergency!"

Zhu Shengfei thought of Fu Xuan, and said to Wu Jie: "Fu Xuan's [-] troops are at Immortal Pass, why don't you transfer his troops to Raofeng Pass?"

Of course Fu Xuan was in Nanxianrenguan, and he was waiting for Wu Jie to go to Bashu, and then he would come to Nanzheng to accept Zhu Shengfei's conferment of military power, so that he could go to Dashanguan to take office!

Although Wu Jie hated Fu Xuan extremely, he knew in his heart that most of Fu Xuan's [-] troops were Wang Yan's eight-character army with strong combat effectiveness. .

Without waiting for Wu Jie to agree, Liu Ziyu next to him interjected, "I suggest that the Xuanfu envoy should appoint Wu Dutong as the chief general and Fu Dutong as the deputy general. Temporarily take over the position of chief general to prevent the puppet Qi army from taking the opportunity to attack Dasan Pass."

Zhu Shengfei was really helpless. The plan of seizing power and changing generals that had been planned was disrupted by the invasion of Jin soldiers. He could only nod his head, "Prefect Liu's suggestion is very timely, so it's decided!"

……

Wu Jie immediately led [-] recruits to Raofeng Pass, Zhu Shengfei sent people to Nanxianren Pass, and ordered Fu Xuan to lead his troops to Raofeng Pass immediately to assist Wu Jie in guarding Raofeng Pass. order decision.

Wu Jie led the army to Raofengguan, Zhu Shengfei was relieved a little, and went back to the inner hall to rest and drink tea.

At this time, Fu Jingyi, his aide, found an opportunity and said to Zhu Shengfei: "A gentleman does not stand under a dangerous wall. Why doesn't Mr. Zhu go to Chengdu first?"

Zhu Shengfei was also afraid that Wu Jie would not be able to defend Raofeng Pass, Hanzhong would fall, and he would have to bear the main responsibility. He pondered for a while and said, "I would like to go to Chengdu, but isn't it a bit inappropriate to go to Chengdu at this critical time?"

Fu Jingyi smiled and said: "Mr. Zhu has already handed over the power to Wu Jie, and he is in charge of all military affairs. Besides, the situation is critical now. Sichuan has to organize the army and civilians to deal with the invasion of the Jin soldiers. It is necessary for the Xuanfu envoy to sit in the town to coordinate.

The humble official suggested that a meeting of the Xuan Fu envoy be held, that Hanzhong's government affairs should be handed over to Liu Ziyu, and military affairs should be handed over to Wu Jie. Wu Jie and Liu Ziyu are fighting against each other! "

"Sichuan also needs to organize the military and civilians to deal with the Jinbing invasion, and the Xuanfu envoy is required to sit in the town to coordinate." What a good reason this sentence is!

Zhu Shengfei immediately convened a meeting of the Xuanfu envoy. He proposed the idea of ​​integrating the defense of Sichuan and Shaanxi. He personally went to Sichuan to coordinate and organize the army and civilians to deal with the invasion of the Jin soldiers. Fengguan, Liu Ziyu, the magistrate of Xingyuan, is responsible for assisting Wang Si.

After the military and political affairs in Hanzhong were arranged, Zhu Shengfei and a group of Xuanfu officials left Nanzheng County under the escort of hundreds of cavalry that night, and fled to Chengdu overnight.

……

In fact, Liu Ziyu also hoped that Zhu Shengfei would leave as soon as possible. He would only do bad things if he stayed in Hanzhong. The next morning, Liu Ziyu found Wang Si to discuss.

"Although we all hope that Wu Dutong can defend Raofeng Pass, the terrain of Raofengling is complicated. Wang Sima, we have to worry about the future."

Wang seemed to be Zhang Jun's old subordinate, and he was more pragmatic, not as flamboyant as Zhu Shengfei. He immediately said: "If you have anything to say to the prefect Liu, just say it, and do it quickly if you can."

"In fact, what I mean is that we have to evacuate the people of Nanzheng to Bashu as soon as possible. Once Raofengguan falls, the Jin soldiers will kill the city if they come over."

Wang Si frowned, "But what if Nanzheng still has so much food and supplies? Our army is gone too."

Liu Ziyu had an idea long ago, and he quickly said: "I have an idea, distribute food to the common people, as a condition, the common people have to carry weapons and armor and other military supplies for us, if there are not enough manpower, then recruit civilian husbands, it doesn't take long , just put it at Jianmenguan.”

Wang Si thought for a while and said, "You mean that all the common people follow the Jinniu way and not the rice barn way. Is that what you mean?"

"Taking the Micang Road is unrealistic. To cross Micang Mountain, the mountain road is dangerous and steep. It is too difficult. These ordinary people with their families and carts must be taking the Jinniu Road to Jianmen."

There are three roads from Hanzhong to Shu. The Lichee Road in the east was abandoned in the Northern Song Dynasty. The middle road is Mi Cang Road, which is almost deserted. , the road is very difficult and dangerous, not to mention the carts, and even the livestock carrying goods cannot go.

Therefore, the main channel for entering and exiting Shu in the Song Dynasty was Jinniu Road, which led to Tongzhou through Jianmenguan.

Wang Si thought for a while and said: "It's up to you, start transferring people and military resources today, leave part of the food to Raofengguan, and distribute the rest to the people!"

On the same day, Liu Ziyu sent someone to post a notice, and the large-scale evacuation of Hanzhong's population and materials to Bashu began.

……

Wanyan Saliyin persuaded Wanyanchang to temporarily give up the attack on Ganquanbao and fully implement the plan to attack Hanzhong on the eastern front, focusing on the overall situation of Sichuan and Shaanxi.

At the same time, Li Cheng led [-] puppet Qi troops to set up camp in Weinan, ready to attack Dasan Pass at any time, while Guo Zhen's [-] puppet Qi troops were scattered to station in various states. At this time, Wan Yanchang also led [-] Jin Bing went to Shangjin County, on the one hand, to urge the Eastern Front to fight, and on the other hand, to prevent the Xiangyang Song Army from cutting off the Jin Bing's retreat.

Wan Yanchang had completely put Ganquan Castle aside at this time, and completely handed it over to the Xixia people to deal with Chen Qing.