Fenghou

"The pontoon bridge next to Jiangling County was built successfully, but the other party didn't notice it. Thousands of our brothers have already crossed the river."

Ba Lisu was overjoyed, and immediately ordered: "Order the whole army to set off and go to Jiangling County."

Jiangling County was [-] miles east of them, and it was also the easternmost pontoon bridge. Ba Lisu didn't have much hope at first, but he didn't expect it to succeed.

It's no wonder that the Western Army has just destroyed the pontoon bridge in Wucheng County. Wucheng County is [-] miles away from Jiangling County. The warships are too weak to separate them. It is impossible to be completely careless. There will be omissions. , Your chance has come.

At five o'clock, [-] cavalry arrived at the pontoon bridge in Jiangling County. The pontoon bridge was still there and hadn't been destroyed. The warships of the Western Army were following them northward, but the warships were not as fast as the cavalry. The warships of the Western Army were still thirty miles away from the pontoon bridge. Coming at full speed.

Fifty thousand cavalry began to cross the river quickly. The cavalry were excellent in horsemanship, controlling their horses to walk quickly on the pontoon bridge. The pontoon bridge was also wide enough for several horses to ride side by side.

At dawn, all the [-] troops had crossed the Yellow River. At this time, the warships of the Western Army had appeared two miles away.

The warships of the Western Army began to destroy the pontoon bridge, and the flames engulfed the entire pontoon bridge.

Wanyan Bali quickly watched the western army's warships set on fire angrily, couldn't help laughing up to the sky, and ordered the army to set off for Jinan Mansion.

Li Qingong watched the other party's army rushing far away, and couldn't help shaking his head. If it wasn't for His Highness's order, they really thought they had missed this pontoon bridge?

I'm afraid the next thing I have to do is to intercept the defeated soldiers and flee back to the north bank.

……

At noon, the news that [-] reinforcements had crossed the Yellow River reached Wan Yanchang.

"What! Did they cross the Yellow River?"

Wan Yanchang was so angry that he punched the table fiercely, and cursed: "These useless bastards of the Western Army, thanks to me leaking military information to them, they can't even do such a small thing well!"

The general who reported the letter tremblingly said: "The warships of the Western Army destroyed the seven pontoon bridges of the reinforcements, but they changed their strategy and adopted the method of building bridges at multiple points at the same time, which made it difficult for the warships of the Western Army to defend against them. crossed the Yellow River."

The general who reported the letter was more pertinent. It was not that the Western Army's warships were incapable, but that the speed of pulling out was too stubborn and cunning, which made the Western Army unable to defend against it.

Wan Yanchang waved his hand, and said helplessly: "Forget it, if Ba Lisu really wants to go, let him go! I can also explain to the emperor."

Wan Yanchang immediately ordered to the commander of the soldiers: "Send someone to monitor the pharmacy, and once someone comes back from the pharmacy, arrest them immediately!"

After tossing for a long time, not only failed to intercept successfully, but also let him let go of the Western Army's spies for nothing. The typical stealing of chickens and losing a handful of rice really made Wan Yanchang very depressed.

……

After crossing the Yellow River from Jiangling County, on the other side is Ande County in Dezhou. This used to be a famous ferry of the Yellow River. There is a flat and wide official road leading to Licheng County, Jinan Prefecture, which is more than [-] miles away.

The [-] Jurchen army did not stop, and continued to go south along the official road. Their speed was not fast, and the team was very dense, compressed to only three miles. Even if there was an enemy sneak attack halfway, they could quickly gather to fight back.

It was safer on Hebei Road, and they would not worry about being attacked halfway, but it was different when they entered Shandong Road. He was extra careful, not daring to let go of his horse and gallop, and tried to keep his formation and march.

In the evening of that day, they passed through Dezhou, and after entering Jinan Prefecture, there were more mountains, almost all of which were low and continuous hills, and the army walked through the hilly areas.

The biggest feature of the hilly area is that the mountains are not high, only a few tens or hundreds of feet long, continuous, and there are many valleys. The army walks through one valley after another, and the mountains on both sides are covered with forests.

At one o'clock, a large valley appeared in front of the team, which looked very long. It was the Eagle Valley, only eighty miles away from Licheng County.

The first thousand and 210 six chapters of fire

Ba Lisu looked at the valley for a while. The road at the bottom of the valley was about two feet wide, with lush pine forests on both sides. Looking from the outside, this valley was quite long, longer than all the valleys they had passed through before.

At this time, the spies in front came to report, "There is no abnormality in the valley, and you can pass through normally!"

Every time the team passes through a valley, spies will go ahead to explore the way. Only when there is no abnormality, the army can pass through, which can avoid ambushes and sneak attacks to a large extent. The spies have explored more than a dozen valleys in a row, but have not found any abnormalities.

Ba Lisu glanced at the deep valley, he felt a little strange in his heart, which made him hesitate, but this kind of hesitation only flashed in his mind, and he waved his horsewhip, "Forward!"

The army of [-] began to rush into the valley in a mighty manner. The hillsides on both sides were steep and covered with big trees, all of which were towering pine trees. The starlight and moonlight are blocked, making the light in the valley very dark.

After entering the valley, I found that the valley was much longer than expected, at least ten miles long, and it was indeed a good place to ambush.

Ba Lisu felt a little uneasy. It would take at least half an hour to investigate all the valleys of more than ten miles, but his spies only investigated the matter of a cup of tea, so they came in to take a look. What can this detect?

It is unrealistic to go back at this time. They have already walked halfway, so Ba Lisu had no choice but to bite the bullet and shout: "Speed ​​up and cross the valley!"

The cavalry suddenly accelerated and rushed towards the exit of the valley. When they were still five miles away from the exit, a gunpowder arrow suddenly shot out from the top of the mountain and flew into the night sky.

But it was too late, only a series of hurried bangs sounded, "Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!"

Thousands of arrows were fired in the mountains on both sides, and the [-] crossbow troops ambushing in the woods fired intensively. The arrows shot into the crowd like a storm, and the team that was several kilometers long suddenly turned their backs and screamed.

"Boom! Boom!"

Hundreds of iron hedgehogs were thrown out and exploded in the crowd. The poisoned iron nails inside were scattered and scattered. The iron fire thunder was much more powerful, and the poisoned iron nails also shot far away. The soldiers could not hide, and the casualties Extremely tragic.

After three rounds of arrows, the Jurchen cavalry suffered tens of thousands of casualties. Many soldiers raised their shields and hid behind their horses. Although the iron fire thunder was sharp, the number was too small. Many soldiers were only shot by poisoned iron nails, but for a while But nothing happened.

"Ugh-"

The horn blew on the top of the mountain, and the big trees on the mountain suddenly fell down. One after another, the thick trees smashed at the Jurchen cavalry on the valley road, one after another, like dominoes falling, thousands of trees fell down. Hissing miserably, soldiers screaming, I don't know how many soldiers were smashed to pieces, bloody and bloody, and suffered heavy casualties.

But what is really frightening is that the objects that rolled down the valley road with the big tree turned out to be kerosene barrels filled with black kerosene. Countless kerosene barrels rolled down and hit the big tree heavily, causing the barrels to shatter. cracked, black kerosene flowed all over the bottom of the valley.

"It's kerosene!"

The soldiers shouted in horror, dropped their horses, and ran towards the entrance and exit of the valley.

Hundreds of rockets were shot down, and the kerosene was ignited with a bang, forming a sea of ​​flames several miles long in the valley, and the flames even spread to the mountains.

The raging fire in the valley, the kerosene and the pine trees burned rapidly, and the thick smoke filled the valley. I couldn't see anything, only heard a stern cry, like hell in the dark.

All the bows and crossbows of the Western Army in ambush retreated to the other side of the hill, and they retreated quickly. If they were slower, they would be swallowed by the burning fire.

The fires on the hillsides on both sides were extremely fast, and the big trees followed one after another. The fire took advantage of the wind, and even fire tornadoes and explosions occurred, 'Boom! 'With a bang, hundreds of big trees were instantly ignited.

Pulling out speed led tens of thousands of Jurchen soldiers to rush towards the exit of the valley, but soon they were desperate to find that the official road was blocked by countless fallen trees, and the big trees were burning, and there were burning valleys on both sides. People were blocked on the mile-long official road.

At the beginning, I could still see the surroundings, but the smoke became thicker and darker, and it gradually turned into pitch black. The soldiers coughed desperately, and the oxygen became less and less. Many soldiers could no longer breathe. More and more soldiers were trapped by the thick smoke. Choked and passed out.

Ba Lisu yelled twice, a puff of thick smoke choked into his throat, his vision went dark, and he immediately passed out beside a boulder, and the soldiers around him also fell down one after another, and he didn't care about the life and death of the general again.

Six thousand barrels of kerosene and tens of thousands of trees dumped on the official road became the incarnation of death, depriving the soldiers of their hope of survival.

The soldiers of the Western Army had already retreated several miles away, but they still felt the scorching fire blowing towards their faces. The soldiers had to continue to retreat until they retreated ten miles away before stopping.

In the distance, the two mountain tops were engulfed in flames. Looking from a distance, there was a sea of ​​flames in a radius of tens of miles, and the flames were raging. People seemed too small in front of this boundless fire.

Yang Zaixing decided to withdraw his troops and go back. There was absolutely no need for an army of [-]. He was already sure that the Jurchen army could no longer go south. The fire had completely blocked all passages going south.

He doesn't know if he can escape north, but there are [-] troops led by Li Fuxing to the north. Even if a small number of soldiers can escape from the valley from the north, they cannot escape Li Fuxing's sniper.

Yang Zaixing ordered Xu Qing to lead an army of [-] to stay in the south to stop the enemy, while he himself led an army of [-] to quickly return to the camp.

Licheng County, eighty miles away, also saw the fire. Wanyan Wushu stood on the top of the city and looked into the distance. He could see the flames and the night sky reddened by the fire.

Wanyan Wushu was anxious. He had already received a pigeon letter from Wanyanchang from Daming City. The letter said that [-] reinforcements would arrive in the next few days. This was the reinforcements sent by the imperial court. All Jurchen soldiers. It's cavalry.

With the arrival of these 18 cavalry, his total strength will reach [-], which is completely capable of fighting the Western Army to the death, and he is even sure of defeating the opponent.

But the reinforcements have not arrived for a long time, so what happened to the distant fire?

Wanyan Wushu hastily dispatched a team of spies to investigate.

At this time, Chen Qing also got the news. He stood in front of the big tent and looked into the distance. They were on a slightly lower ground and couldn't see the stars and fire, but they could see a dark red in the night sky. It can still be seen from hundreds of miles away.

Wanyan Wushu may not know what happened, but Chen Qing knows very well that he allocated [-] barrels of kerosene to Yang Zaixing in anticipation of the fire, which should be the Eagle Valley being completely engulfed by the fire.

……

The fire burned for three full days and three nights, and all the flammable woods within a radius of [-] miles were burned up. There was no wood to burn, and the fire was gradually extinguished.

Two days later, the army began to enter the Eagle Valley to clear the field. All the trees were turned into black charred wood, and the people and horses were also turned into charred corpses. They were burnt and huddled together. Horses, or how many people pile up twisted together.

The soldiers of the Western Army had no choice but to dig hundreds of large pits on the mountain, and buried the charred corpses of the men and horses. The [-] Jurchen elite cavalry were completely engulfed by a raging fire, and none of them survived. Tens of thousands of corpses were dried, but they were not burned to death, but choked to death or suffocated by the smoke, piled up on the mile-long valley road.

The armor of the chief general Ba Lisu was recognized, and he also turned into a black mummy. The golden helmet and armor were smudged black, but with a light touch, the golden light was still shining. The soldiers of the Western Army found his golden wolf head card, It has his name on it.

All the armor and weapons that could be taken were taken away, as well as the gold and silver and other belongings they carried with them. The mummified corpses that had been pulled out were buried in a large pit together with the corpses of other soldiers.

More than ten years later, Eagle Valley has turned into a lush forest valley, and the most tragic scene has been washed away by the years, without any trace.

The corpses of fifty thousand soldiers ended up as fertilizer for the growth of trees.

The first thousand 210 seven chapters of pressure

In Lin'an, Qin Hui received a letter from Wanyan Wushu, and he also knew that Empress Dowager Wei also received the same letter, but it was from Wanyan Zongxian, the husband of Empress Dowager Wei in the Kingdom of Jin, Wanyan Zongxian official Ren Bianliang He stayed behind and retreated to Jinan Prefecture with Wanyan Wushu, and is currently trapped in Licheng County.

Qin Hui paced back and forth in the study with his hands behind his back, he was quite troubled in his heart, Wanyan Wushu's request made him not know what to do?

"Master, the fourth prince has made a difficult request again?"

Qin Hui nodded and sighed: "Wanyan Wushu asked me to persuade the officials to take advantage of the emptiness of the Central Plains and send troops to the Central Plains. He is responsible for defeating Chen Qing and driving the Western Army back to Sichuan and Shaanxi."

"how is this possible?"

Wang shook her head and said: "How could the officials agree, the one hundred thousand army has just been defeated miserably."

Qin Hui squeezed his forehead, and said with distressed expression: "Wanyan Wushu said in the letter that if I can convince the emperor, I will return the letter of loyalty from before."

Wang was startled, "Isn't that letter of allegiance in Ta Lan's hands?"

"I don't know, but it's also possible that it fell into the hands of Wanyan Wushu, otherwise he might know the exact date."

"Maybe he just saw it, but it's not in his hands."

Qin Hui shook his head, "I don't know the details. He said he could return it to me, but he was actually threatening me with this letter of loyalty. Wushu, a bastard, was probably beaten to death by the Western Army, so he had no choice but to use Weiwei to save Zhao. method to solve the crisis on Shandong Road.”

Wang said worriedly: "Master, do you think officials can be persuaded?"

"If you persuade Queen Mother Wei together, the chances of success are very high. At least I know that Chen Qing made the officials restless, especially after Chen Qing launched the Shandong Road War, the officials have suffered from insomnia for several nights."

"Is it that serious?"

Qin Hui sneered and said: "Seizing Shandong Road is equivalent to regaining the south of the Yellow River. In the end, there is only one Hebei Road left. Chen Qing's prestige in the world cannot be increased, and the threat to the official throne has far surpassed Jurchen.

The official is not a fool, he knows who is the real threat. After Chen Qing led the army to visit Lin'an, the official wanted to crush him, but they were afraid that he would go to the extreme. This time, the official decided to attack Shandong Road. Wanting to prevent Chen Qing from annexing Shandong Road, at this time, Jin Guo is the only hope for the officials to keep the throne. "

Wang said in a low voice, "I'm afraid Xu Xiantu will persuade you."

"you're right!"

Qin Hui raised his eyebrows and said: "This time Xu Xiantu saved his position because he was successful in negotiating with Chen Qing and rescued [-] soldiers. He will definitely become the biggest obstacle for me to persuade the officials. It just so happens that the officials want to send someone to supervise him. I suggest that Xu Xiantu should go to Jiangnan West Road for taxes and transfer him away, and Tao Lin, a senior scholar, will go to Fujian Road again, and once these two leave, no one will hinder the Song army from going northward to the Central Plains."

Wang worried: "What if Chen Qing retaliates?"

"That's for later!"

Qin Hui let out a long sigh, "Now not only the officials are afraid of Chen Qing, but I am also afraid! If Chen Qing really takes over the Great Song Dynasty, the officials may not die, but I will definitely not survive. As long as Jin Bing is still on Shandong Road , we have a glimmer of hope, this time, even if Wanyan Wushu doesn't ask me, I will do my best to help, saving Jin Guo is actually saving myself."

……

Early the next morning, Qin Hui persuaded the emperor Zhao Gou to send Xu Xiantu to Jiangnan West Road to supervise taxes on the pretext that several of Xu Xiantu's disciples were state officials on Jiangnan West Road. Xu Xiantu went to Jiangnan West Road to appease the people and urge taxes.

Xu Xiantu accepted the imperial decree, and left Lin'an by boat the next day, and went to Jiangnan West Road to inspect and appease the states.

As soon as Xu Xiantu left, the queen mother suddenly fell ill and was seriously ill. Zhao Gou quickly sent an imperial doctor to treat the queen mother's illness.

Inside the Fuqing Palace of the Empress Dowager, the imperial physician Wang Yanzhong said to the Emperor Zhao Gou who came to visit him: "Your Majesty, the empress dowager's pulse is stable, and there is no major disease in her body. I think the empress dowager has a heart disease, and she is sick from worry!"

Zhao Gou was startled, and quickly asked, "What is the queen mother worried about?"

"I don't know, but it must have been a long time."

Zhao Gou nodded, "I see, you step back!"

Zhao Gou came to his mother's sick bed and knelt down, separated by a veil, but he could still see his mother's thin face.

"Official, is that you?" Queen Wei asked in a low voice.

"The queen mother is the child."

"Ai's family may be dying. I'm going to see your father. Remember, the funeral should be kept simple."

Tears welled up in Zhao Gou's eyes, and he said in a crying voice, "No, Queen Mother, you must be fine. My son will treat Queen Mother with the best medicine in the world."

"Officials, I've been worried all these years! Worried! I'm extremely anxious. I'm afraid that what your father said back then will come true."

"What did the emperor say back then?"

"Back then, your father told me in Wuguo City that there was a phoenix named Qing in Xiqi, and its song soared into the sky. The phoenix danced for nine days, and the country of the Song Dynasty was not guaranteed. So why did the Ai family always hate Chen Qing? It was your father. An ominous dream! Huanger, Chen Qing cannot be allowed to seize Shandong Road. He unified the south of the Yellow River. The next step must be to seize your country. Huanger, he is too powerful. You have to join forces with Jin Guo. Jin Guo is afraid Subjugated country, why aren't you?"

……

Zhao Gou came out of the palace in a daze. He went back to the imperial study and sat down. His mother's anxiety seemed to be echoing in his ears, "His surname is Chen. If he doesn't believe in Zhao, if he seizes your land, the century-old foundation of the Great Song Dynasty will be destroyed in your hands. How do you explain to your ancestors? How can I have the face to meet your father.

Emperor, don't worry about the Kingdom of Jin, the Kingdom of Jin only wants money, but Chen Qing wants your country, and he wants to join forces with the Kingdom of Jin to drive Chen Qing back to Xiqi, Xiqi has a phoenix named Qing..."

At this time, an eunuch reported at the door, "Your Majesty, Qin Xianggong and Zhu Xianggong are asking to see you outside the palace."