Jiuxi

Chapter 229 227 [Red gallbladder suppresses the cold weather]

Beiyan Dongyang Road, the capital Ruyin City.

In the General's Mansion, Li Shouzhen stood next to the sand table, his brows furrowed into the character "Chuan".

The staff and Xiangzan stood not far away, all concentrating and holding their breath, not daring to make any noise to disturb the general's thoughts.

Li Shouzhen's annoyance was not a feigned emotion.

Although there has been no movement from the Southern Qi border army, based on his understanding of Xiao Wangzhi and Li Tianrun, these two people will never miss the opportunity of Jing Chao to visit the south, and they will definitely bite the flesh and blood of the Yan Kingdom on the border.

The imperial court has sent a written order strictly ordering the Dongyang Road defenders to stick to the city and not to send troops to the field to seek a decisive battle.

Of course, Li Shouzhen would not disobey this order. He had never thought of openly confronting Xiao Wangzhi. The problem was that the court's text could not solve the current predicament of the Dongyang Road defenders, so he secretly greeted Privy Councilor Pang. Shigu’s wife.

His biggest difficulty now is the lack of troops.

Yongquan Pass in the southeast, Qingtian City in the south, and Pingli City in the southwest. These three strategic points must be heavily guarded, and they must be elite veterans to prevent the Huaizhou Army of the Southern Qi from moving north.

Troops should also be stationed on the Fengqiu line in the north to guard against the Seven Star Army in Baotai Mountain going south.

Coupled with Ruyin City and several dangerous cities within the territory, Li Shouzhen's troops were stretched thin.

He stared at the border situation map on the sand table and asked in a deep voice: "What are the garrison strength in Yongquan, Qingtian and Pingli respectively?"

All the staff around him looked at each other in confusion and secretly asked, "You, the general, don't even know the number of troops stationed in important border areas?"

Fortunately, some clever people noticed that Li Shouzhen was in an extremely depressed mood and said honestly: "General, there are four thousand troops stationed at Yongquan Pass, including one thousand infantrymen of Jingchao and three thousand generals of our court. There are eight garrison troops in Qingtian City. Thousands, Pingli City has ten thousand defenders, all of whom are soldiers of our court."

At its peak, Dongyang Road had more than [-] troops. However, last year's Battle of Qingxia suffered more than [-] losses, and this year's suppression of bandits in Baotai Mountain suffered more than [-] losses.

Although the imperial court promptly replenished Li Shouzhen with [-] troops, nearly half of them had never been on the battlefield. It was okay for these new soldiers to fight with favorable conditions. If the war went unfavorably and the situation was difficult, who knows what ridiculous actions they would do.

Li Shouzhen calculated over and over again, but was still unable to get more troops from elsewhere to support the border, unless he gave up the defense of some big cities in the country and left only a small number of troops to maintain stability in the city.

He sighed and asked again: "Has the latest information been sent from the Procuratorate's Office?"

An official in the general's office replied: "General, the latest information from the Procuratorate is still the one sent three days ago. Both Huaizhou and Jingzhou in Southern Qi are actively preparing for war, but there is no discovery yet. The other side shows signs of large-scale mobilization of troops."

Sending out a large army is certainly not a trivial matter. If the Huaizhou Army wants to attack Qingtian City and Yongquan Pass, they must make sufficient preparations, including but not limited to food and grass, siege equipment, and the establishment of a stable baggage line.

Li Shouzhen's expression softened slightly and he circled the sand table twice. Suddenly his eyes lit up and he said slowly: "In your opinion, do the green forest troops in Baotai Mountain have the courage to leave the mountain and go south?"

All the staff were stunned, and one of them advised: "General, regardless of whether the opponent dares to come out or not, the imperial court has strictly ordered that the defenders on the front line of Fengqiu cannot be evacuated. The Green Forest Army is very powerful, even in the previous battle. Taking advantage of the terrain in the mountains, they still cannot be underestimated. If you remove the defenders in the north and the Green Forest Army takes advantage of the situation and moves south, the consequences will be disastrous."

"But not necessarily."

Li Shouzhen shook his head, feeling that the thoughts in his heart were getting clearer and clearer, and there was a calm look in his eyes: "The key depends on how the war progresses on the southern front. If our army cannot stop the Qi army's offensive, then there will be troops in the north. The reason why the local garrison was transferred to the south will give the Green Forest Army an illusion that they have the opportunity to invade the heart of Dongyang Road."

Someone finally came to his senses and murmured: "The general wants to deal with the Green Forest Army in Baotai Mountain?"

Not to mention that this idea is whimsical, it is a bit too naive after all.

In their opinion, the biggest enemy on Dongyang Road is the Huaizhou Army of the Southern Qi Dynasty. Even if they mobilize forces to deal with the Green Forest Army, once the southern battlefield falls into a disadvantage, the situation will be extremely critical.

To focus on the Green Forest Army in the north and ignore the difficulties on the southern border is an act of neglecting the good and chasing the weak.

Li Shouzhen naturally knew what these people were thinking, and he did not rebuke them. He just said calmly: "I just want to find a reason to let Jingjun's main force support Dongyang Road."

After the war ended last year, the Jing Dynasty's troops headed north one after another and returned home, leaving only the tens of thousands of troops in Heluo City to control the overall situation.

Li Shouzhen personally went to beg Qingyu Huaijin to let the thousand Jing Dynasty troops in Yongquan Pass stay. They are also the only Jing Dynasty warriors in Dongyang Road today.

An aide said in awe: "The general's intention is to ask the main force of the Jing Army to come out to deal with the Green Forest Army and take advantage of the situation to rush south to support the border pass?"

"That's right. If they are passively defensive, Jingjun will definitely have no interest in intervening, but if there is a chance of victory in front of them, I believe they will not sit idly by. Don't forget, more than half of the Xiashan Army's [-] people died in the mountains. "

Li Shouzhen slowly let out a long breath, then looked at a clerk and said: "You can formulate my idea into a memorial, and then send it to the capital immediately and hand it over to Privy Pang and Princess Yongping."

"Follow the order!" The clerk responded loudly.

Li Shouzhen nodded slightly, and then said to several staff: "You guys immediately drafted military orders and sent them to the garrison generals in Yongquan, Qingtian, and Pingli, warning them to be careful and not to give the Southern Qi border troops an opportunity."

"Yes!"

Several staff immediately went to write military orders, and then asked the general's office to quickly send them to various places.

When the military order arrived at Yongquan Pass, the first snow of winter had already fallen for several days, and the mountains and fields were filled with pure white.

Yongquan Pass is built on a mountain road, and the terrain is quite steep. In particular, the slope leading to Huaizhou in the south is very steep, while the slope leading to Dongyang Road in the north is relatively gentle. It can be said that it is a unique and excellent defensive place.

From a certain point of view, Yongquan Pass is to the Northern Yan Dynasty what Panlong Pass is to the Southern Qi Dynasty, except that the terrain characteristics of these two passes are just reversed between the north and the south, thus becoming each other's gateway.

This pass was probably built more than [-] years ago. It is surrounded by high mountains on the east and west sides. Although it is not as dangerous as the Feiniao Pass controlled by the Seven Divisions of Shazhou in the west of the mainland, it is definitely not suitable for most people to pass.

The interior of the pass is about two miles long and is divided into two front and rear passes. Among them, the front pass is located on a steep slope and has all the defensive facilities. If the Qi army wants to attack from behind, they have no other choice but to use their lives to build a path. Houguan is relatively simple, just in case of construction obstruction.

The military order from the General's Mansion was first sent to Houguan and handed over to the local Jingjun general Shi Ge. This man was originally a domestic slave of the Pula clan of Jingchao. Later, he was able to lead thousands of troops because of his bravery in battle, and because he was not a royal family He and the Qingyu family were therefore sent to remote, bitter and cold places like Yongquan Pass.

"I know, it's so damn verbose."

Brother Shi didn't take the military order at all, he only asked the messenger to read it once, then muttered with an unkind expression, and returned to his warm hut with the wine bag in hand.

The messenger had no choice but to bring the military order to Qianguan and find Hu Linzhong, the military supervisor of the Yan army stationed here.

"Are you exhausted over there?" Hu Linzhong took the military order and said with a smile.

The messenger sighed.

Hu Linzhong raised his hand and patted his shoulder and said with a smile: "Okay, our army has been keeping a close eye on it, and there has been no movement in the south recently. If they really want to send troops to knock on the pass, they will have to transport the food and baggage for half a month. , it’s impossible to hide it from our eyes and ears.”

The messenger complimented: "It's the best. I'm sorry for the trouble."

Hu Linzhong put his arm around his shoulders and said, "It's the coldest month of winter, and it's snowing so heavily again. It's hard for you to make such a trip. Come on, I'll treat you to two cups of hot wine to warm yourself up."

The two of them walked back to the check-in room arm in arm. This scene caught the eyes of many soldiers.

On the wall, the soldiers gathered around the brazier, rubbing their hands and moving their bodies slightly, occasionally glancing at the lonely and empty world to the south.

Someone put the frozen steamed bun next to the fire and roasted it, and said with a sneer: "It's better to be an official. You don't have to patrol and guard like us Kuhaha. You can hide in the house and drink wine and eat meat."

Another person couldn't help but remind: "Keep your voice down. If the people above hear it, you will feel better."

"Afraid of him!"

The man said angrily before, but his voice was much quieter after all.

Another person said in a cold voice: "It's okay for Superintendent Hu to enjoy himself. After all, his military position was obtained by killing enemies on the battlefield and making meritorious service. If we have the opportunity in the future, we can be like him. I just don't accept it." Why can they stay in the back gate of these jails and eat, sleep and eat all day long, while we have to patrol every day? In this way, they still show off their power in front of us all day long, a bunch of bastards !”

The rest felt sad, but no one persuaded him to keep silent.

It was discussed that Shangguan might be exposed, but none of the three thousand Yan troops in the front pass disliked the Jing army in the back pass.

At this moment, there was sudden movement outside the pass. Someone with keen eyesight said quickly: "One of us, don't panic."

After a while, more than a dozen Yan Jun scouts covered in snowflakes walked up the wall and came to the brazier shakily. They were obviously very cold.

Someone among the soldiers behind the closed door asked, "Have you discovered anything today?"

One of the scouts shook his head and said angrily: "Someone discovered that the south is as quiet as a cemetery."

Everyone laughed, then looked up at the dim sky and the snowflakes still falling in the sky, and couldn't help but curse God a few times.

As night falls, Yongquan Pass gradually falls into silence.

In the dark night, three or four miles away to the southeast, thousands of figures appeared quietly.

The team suddenly stopped. Lu Chen looked at the tightly wrapped soldiers around him and ordered: "The former army will continue to move forward with me. The others will stay where they are and wait for the signal. Be careful to stay active and not freeze in the snow."

Captain Bao An hesitated for a moment and asked for orders: "Captain, let the last general lead a surprise attack!"

Lu Chen shook his head and said without any doubt: "You may not be as skilled as I am in doing this kind of thing."

Bao An had no choice but to accept the order.

The team was divided into two, and Lu Chen led [-] people to continue trekking to the northeast, to the side of Yongquan Pass.

He looked at the thirty-year-old man beside him and said with a smile: "Master Su, actually you don't have to make a trip."

Su Yunqing's eyes were piercing, and he said: "I personally led people to discover this mountain trail. I don't trust others to come. Furthermore, this battle is the key to the Northern Expedition. You should understand that I want it more than anyone else." The army is victorious."

Lu Chen remembered his experience in Guangling and couldn't help but suppress his smile and said solemnly: "Our army will win."

"I believe you."

Su Yunqing agreed without hesitation.

Under the cover of night and falling snow, eight hundred people approached the side of Yongquan Pass little by little, and then climbed up the mountain.

Lu Chen now has the blessing of the Shangxuan Sutra and the teachings of two of the world's top masters, Lin Jie and Yuchi Gui. Martial arts are no longer what they used to be. The [-] people he selected also have very good martial arts foundations, most of them are The master who followed him in the night attack on the enemy camp in Guangling City.

Of course, for this strange soldier who made a surprise attack on a snowy night, martial arts was not the most important thing at this moment.

There is only the courage to go forward and die.

(End of this chapter)