In the dense forest of Yangou, the firelight flickered uncertainly. Chen De looked sternly as he slowly glanced at the soldiers who were willing to follow him to Hexi. More than 7,000 people came from the original Hedong Army, which was classified by the imperial court as a Xiang Army to transport food and grass, and more than 5,000 people came from the Longjie, Hujie, Konghe, Xiaowu and other forbidden armies. He sighed slightly in his heart and retreated from Yangou. There are more than 200,000 Song troops in Zhuozhou, and more than 30,000 people are willing to stay in the north of Yangou to intercept the Liao people. Only 5,000 people are willing to join the Anxi Army. The invisible and intangible thing of the imperial court's righteousness still has a great influence.
"Old General Yang, please take these men who dare to fight for the army to Zhuozhou and write a letter to the court to express your merit for them." Chen De said to Yang Ye beside him, while pointing to the man sitting on the ground resting on the other side. There are more than 20,000 forbidden troops. "Cao Han has assembled **10,000 forbidden troops in Zhuozhou to form a formation. It will be difficult for the Khitans to find favor." Yang Ye nodded and looked at Chen De with a complicated expression. After a while, Fang said in a deep voice: "Chen Jiedu, if you leave without telling me, you will be in conflict with the imperial court. Even if you surrender in the future, it will be difficult to win your trust. If you take this step, it will be difficult to reverse it. Have you thought clearly?"
Chen De listened to what he said from the bottom of his heart, nodded and said: "Thank you very much, Old General Yang, for your concern. I have made up my mind. As a man, why should I bend my knees to serve the rats? If there are traitors in the court who are in trouble with General Yang, all the Anxi army will definitely go to the prime minister." Welcome General Yang." His words were sonorous. Yang Ye heard that there seemed to be treachery in his words. He shook his head and said no more. He pointed at the grain trucks piled up in the salt ditch and said in a deep voice: "It's a long way to Hexi. I know that you have the Xingu Hussars to support you in the north of the Great Wall, but you suddenly have so many subordinates, so I brought all the rations and pack horses to prepare for emergencies." Chen De was not polite, and said with a cupped hand: "Thank you, Mr. Yang. General." Yang Ye sighed, turned and left. Yang Yanzhao accompanied him and said to Chen De: "Brother Chen, take care." He also rode his horse and turned around. More than 20,000 forbidden troops got up under the rectification of the Yang family's cavalry. They made a fuss for a long time before arranging the queue. Everyone knew that the Khitans numbered in the tens of thousands. The cavalry were watching eagerly from the north of the salt ditch. They all took caution and did not use fire, and retreated southward along the salt ditch in the dark.
Watching Yang Ye and his son lead the army away, Chen Defang turned to Wang Qian and said: "The battle in Youzhou has made the officials very disappointed in you. Why don't Brother Miquan go to Anxi for a trip." Wang Qian looked south in the distance and said slowly: "Father, As a legacy, although the Wang family's children believe in the Holy Religion, they should always serve Zhongyuan Zhengshuo and never forget their roots." His mood was extremely heavy, Zhao Jiong had already shown his intention to distance himself, and recently he used the treacherous Taoist priest who pretended to be a ghost. The famous Prime Minister Wang Pu also had his own considerations in passing down this legacy. In his view, during the Five Dynasties, vassal towns arose and barbarians repeatedly invaded the Central Plains. A large number of talented Han people fled to all directions, and in the end they all ended badly. Zhengshuo has always been there. The Central Plains will not move. In the future, it will only be the Central Plains imperial court that will cover the world.
Chen De was reluctant to force him, so he tapped the saddle lightly with his riding whip. After thinking for a long time, he suddenly said: "The generals in the army recently wanted to support the martial arts princes. If brother Mi Quan wants to make Zoroastrianism flourish in the Central Plains, he might as well change his tune and join forces with him. We have many close contacts with this son." Wang Qian looked at him sideways and said, "Although Dezhao has won the hearts of the military, His Majesty is also very wary of him. If a courtier like me associates with the vassal king, he will be seeking death." Chen De said with a smile: "It's natural to communicate with the vassal king openly. Brother Mi Quan, who has many talents under his command, naturally has a way to communicate secretly." Wang Qian sighed: "Brother Chen, although you are hostile to the imperial court, I still I regard you as a friend, so why would you use me to stir up trouble and disrupt the Central Plains court?"
Chen De looked slightly embarrassed and said: "Zhao Jiong is a man who is unjust and bullies the weak but fears the strong. If he is in power, the Northern Expedition cannot defeat the Liao people, and he will definitely turn to the west in an attempt to gain some benefits west of the river. I am the leader of the imperial court. I'm just trying to save myself by causing him some trouble." He paused, then suddenly said: "But in my opinion, this martial arts prince may not survive more than ten months." Although Wang Qian opened his mouth to rebuke Yu In his mind, he was thinking about whether to change his mind. After all, Zhao Dezhao was supported by senior generals such as Shi Shouxin, and Pan Mei, Cao Han and others also had ambiguous attitudes. Hearing this, he couldn't help but ask: "Why?" Chen De said in a deep voice: "De Zhao is profound. If he wins the hearts of the army, he must be feared by Zhao Jiong. With his strong character, Zhao Jiong originally stole his position, and now he is criticized and suspected by the officials. He is afraid that he will even die to prove his ambition." Wang Qian was surprised, He said with a smile: "Brother Chen's words are too much. You have never spoken to Zhao Dezhao. How can you know his temper well and still say that he will seek death?" Chen De said with a smile: "You don't believe it even if you say it. I said it last night He had a dream in his sleep. In the dream, Dezhao suggested to Zhao Jiong that although Youzhou could not be defeated, he should still be rewarded for the three armies' capture of Taiyuan. Unexpectedly, it actually touched Zhao Jiong's objection to defeat and severely punished him. Zhao Jiong originally liked to hide his suspicions in his heart, but in a hurry he actually cursed, "It's not too late to reward you if you do what you want". In shame and anger, De Zhao returned home to look for a sharp knife from his family, but couldn't find it, so he went to his house to find a sharp knife. He went into the study, took a fruit knife and killed himself."
Wang Qian, who deeply believes in Zoroastrianism, heard Chen De say this earth-shattering thing as if he was talking to himself, and it was also a future event foreseen in a dream. He couldn't help but widen his eyes and was quite surprised, thinking that Chen De could not be missing something. I'm crazy, but give it to himHis subordinates were so flattered that they thought they were King Wen of Zhou and some kind of born saint like Duke Zhou, who could predict the future in their dreams. He despised Chen De in his heart, but when he thought about it, he became even more angry: "I regard you as a friend, but you entertain me like this, but are you making fun of my belief in strange powers and chaotic gods?" Thinking of this, he smiled instead of being angry, and said with cupped hands "What an interesting dream. Brother Chen spends so much time and energy every day that he actually even dreams about the unrest in the court and the conflict between the clans. It's so troublesome. Farewell!" After saying this, he urged Ma Nan to go without waiting for Chen De's reply. Because Yang Ye was a surrendered general of the Northern Han Dynasty who was deeply feared by the imperial court, Wang Qian did not want to return with him, so he deliberately stayed for a while, but was ridiculed by Chen De in a pretentious manner. He couldn't help but get angry and didn't care about anything else.
Chen De looked at Wang Qian's back as he walked away angrily, with an unpredictable smile on his lips. Wang Qian, who believed in gods, didn't know what he would think after his prediction came true.
Seeing that all the outsiders had left, Zhang Zhongyao came up to report the selection of officers at all levels by the more than 10,000 sergeants he had brought to Hexi. In addition to the Baiyu Army, more than 12,000 soldiers were organized into the three armies. Most of the officers were veterans of the Ya Army Camp. Some of the most prestigious soldiers in the Forbidden Army were promoted to captains of ten and centurions. Chen De nodded when he heard the words and looked at the camp where there were already many troops. The march was long and an organizational system had to be established. Unqualified officers would be replaced in the competition and re-election. Zhang Zhongyao, Zhu Dao and Li Ran were promoted as the commanders of the three new armies. Zhang Zhongyao also served as the captain of the Chengying Battalion. The Yajun Battalion, which had been dispersed into various armies, had to be re-selected during the march. Chen De's intention is to select soldiers from the Forbidden Army and the Hedong Army who are brave, intelligent, and supported by their colleagues into the Ya Barracks. On the one hand, the original small group of soldiers will be stripped of their muscles and bones, so as to facilitate the integration of the veteran soldiers in the Ya Barracks. On the other hand, when leading a battalion, it is still necessary to cultivate these capable sergeants as officers' seeds and confidants.
"The officers and soldiers of the three armies, please give me the military trumpet." Zhang Zhongyao bowed and said. Chen De also looked at the expectant eyes of his subordinates and thought: "The newly established cavalry army can be called the Taoyan Army. There are two new infantry armies, one for The Iron Bone Army." He saw the soldiers from various departments of the Forbidden Army with different hats on their heads. With a thought in mind, he said, "The first is the Flower Hat Army." Zhang Zhongyao frowned. The name of the Flower Hat Army was the same as The majestic bugles of the other armies were too far apart, so he said: "Lord, there seems to be something wrong with this flower-hatted bugle. Can it be replaced with a more powerful one?" Chen De said with a smile: "Battles are not based on words. Those who fight, wearing flower hats and red coats, may not lose to Pengri Tianwu." Zhang Zhongyao had no choice but to call his army the Flower Hat Army, and Li Ran's more than 4,000 cavalry were known as the Yan Army. Director Zhu led the Iron Bone Army.
When the troops received the bugle, they were supervised by generals at all levels and secretly withdrew from the south of Congyangou, followed the Sanggan River to the west, and led two thousand white feather troops to the rear at Furen Rail. Before leaving, they followed the ancient method of hanging sheep and beating drums, which disturbed the Liao army all night.
At dawn the next day, Lan Zima, a Liao man, explored the salt ditch again and found that the Song army had disappeared, and their footprints were scattered in all directions, some going south and some going west. To the south of Yangou is Zhuozhou. Cao Han had originally gathered more than 90,000 forbidden troops to prepare for the attack. Yang Ye brought back more than 20,000 forbidden troops with great momentum. The Liao people did not dare to approach, and only patrolled from a distance. However, the Lanzi horses who followed the footsteps heading west were chased and killed by the White Feather Army, and no one could return the news. Brother Yelvxiu learned that more than 100,000 Song troops were reorganizing under Zhuozhou City, and immediately commanded more than 50,000 horses to go south. After several days of confrontation with Cao Han, Brother Yelvxiu returned to Youzhou.
"Later, according to detailed information, the people who confronted our army in Yangou a few days ago were only 30,000 defeated troops captured by Anxi Jiedushi Chen De with hundreds of personal guards. That night Chen De led his soldiers who were willing to follow him to Let's march westward." Brother Yelvxiu smiled bitterly at Handerang. When he went to Beijing, Handerang reminded him that a new hero had emerged from the Central Plains. Brother Yelvxiu only thought that Han people were happy to compliment each other, but unexpectedly, he actually got eaten by Chen De. It is a shame to remember that he was unable to pursue Zhuozhou City with all his strength, but gained tens of thousands of heads and hundreds of thousands of slaves.
"Brother Yelu, even though it was just a defeated army, if you had marched forward at that time, would you have been sure to capture Chen De and defeat the defeated army in one fell swoop?" Handejang brought him a cup of tea and asked leisurely. Brother Yeluxiu recalled that time The neat formation of the Anxi Army advancing and retreating could not help but fall into silence. Han Derang had already heard about the battle from his subordinates, and now he knew it even more clearly. He handed the teacup to Brother Yelvxiu and said with a smile: "The Southern Dynasty has been at odds with Anxi for a long time. Fortunately, this tiger returned to the northwest and returned to the northwest. Our country, Liao Dynasty, is far away from each other, so the trouble we have now is that foolish emperor of the Southern Dynasty. With him to check the northwest, the people of Song Dynasty cannot concentrate on heading east. Speaking of which, Brother Yelu's return to the mountains is actually beneficial to our country, Liao Dynasty. More. But those ambitious and mediocre people in Beijing should be careful." Brother Yeluxiu heard his comfort, took the tea cup and took a sip, chewed the tea leaves and water, and nodded.
??Outside the window, the night is like paint, and there are loud noises in Youzhou City, but there is no sign of anyone. Many Han people who were secretly in the city to support the internal forces during the siege of the Song Army have had their homes confiscated and imprisoned.Waiting for the day to be executed, in the deep prison, there are a few quiet Yan men who seem to be singing in harmony: "The ambitious people are hungry, eating Hulu meat, laughing, talking about being thirsty, drinking the blood of the Huns." Although the voice is hoarse, it is full of sorrow and indignation. Spread around the cell. Even after the prisoners were interrogated and executed, the jailer still felt the faint echo of excitement in the cell.
Author: This is the end of this volume "Laughing and Talking about Drinking the Blood of the Huns", please enjoy the next volume "Walking to the West".
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