Jiuxi

Chapter 237 235 [Hidden worries]

In the thirteenth year of Qi Jianwu's reign, it was the fourth day of the twelfth lunar month.

In the Battle of Wanting, the Huaizhou Army mobilized nearly 30,000 troops and strangled 15,000 Yan Army reinforcements under the command of Lu Chen. In the end, only 3,000 remaining defeated soldiers escaped. Cheng Wei, the deputy general manager of Dongyang Road soldiers and horses of Yan State, The people and more than ten generals under his command were captured.

With the destruction of this supporting force, Li Shouzhen was no longer able to deploy mobile forces to rescue various places in a short period of time.

On December 6, the Huaizhou Army, with the power of the Wanting victory, successfully captured Gushu City, which had only 5,000 defenders. The defender Xu Huaibin committed suicide.

Military orders from the Huaizhou Governor's Office arrived immediately. The Guangling Army garrisoned Gushu City, the Taixing Army replaced the Zhenbei Army and garrisoned Tongshan City, and the Lai'an Army retreated south through Yongquan Pass.

On December 9th, Huaizhou Feiyun, Pingshan, Lai'an and Zhenbei armies gathered at the foot of Qingtian City and launched successive surging offensives under the personal command of Xiao Wangzhi.

At this time, Qingtian City had been completely reduced to an isolated city, and after being besieged by the Qi army for more than half a month, the morale of the defenders had dropped significantly compared to the beginning of the war.

Xiao Wangzhi's command was determined, and tiger generals such as Pei Sui, Duan Zuozhang, Song Shifei, and Gong Shiwang took turns in the battle, and the soldiers fought bravely. Finally, five days later, on December 14, the first unit of the Zhenbei Army successfully landed on Qingtian City and sounded the horn of victory.

At this point, the start of the first phase of the Northern Expedition has met Lu Chen's expectations.

The Huaizhou Army successively regained strategic key points such as Yongquan Pass, Qingtian, Gushu and Tongshan, and successfully entered the Dongyang Road territory of Yan State.

Qingtian City is just a military city, not comparable to those cities with hundreds of thousands of residents. The facilities in the city are very simple. The officials of the Governor's Mansion managed to pack up a relatively neat house as a temporary residence for the Governor. .

There was no floor heating in the house, so the brazier burned very vigorously.

The sound of charcoal peeling sounded from time to time. Xiao Wangzhi sat next to him, holding a poker and flicking the charcoal in the brazier, his eyes gentle and far-reaching.

Lu Chen sat opposite him, silently sizing up the border army commander who was over fifty years old.

Compared with the tall Li Tianrun, Xiao Wangzhi's appearance is more like that of a very ordinary middle-aged man, but the tiger eyes under his thick eyebrows are impressive.

As time went by, and he had to take care of heavy military affairs and spend a lot of energy and energy planning wars, Xiao Wangzhi gradually became old. Fortunately, he seemed to be in good spirits, so Lu Chen could feel at ease.

Feeling the young man's concerned gaze, Xiao Wangzhi asked curiously: "I heard your father said that martial arts masters like Lin Jie can live for a hundred years without illness or disaster. Is there any truth to this statement? "

Hearing him mention his unfathomable father-in-law, a smile appeared on Lu Chen's face and he said calmly: "This matter cannot be tested, but people with advanced martial arts can indeed live for a long time as long as they do not suffer serious internal injuries."

"It's a pity that I have no talent for martial arts since I was a child, and Xiao Lin and Xiao Hong also have mediocre qualifications."

Although Xiao Wangzhi was so emotional, his expression remained calm.

Lu Chen has never met Xiao Lin, but he has met Xiao Hong many times recently. This second young master is now the deputy commander of the Guangling Army. Although his speed along the way is not as amazing as his, he has a solid foundation and will win in the future. You can also stand out in the military.

Xiao Hong's attitude towards him was very polite on the surface, without the pride and arrogance of a general disciple, and he didn't even have the slightest hint of jealousy. Maybe he was not convinced with Lu Chen in his heart. After all, Xiao Wangzhi really valued Lu Chen too much. However, because of the extremely strict family tradition of the Xiao family and Lu Chen's performance in the past two years, the relationship between the two was quite peaceful.

These thoughts flashed through Lu Chen's mind. He looked at Xiao Wangzhi's indifferent expression and said solemnly: "Uncle Xiao will live a long life."

"Thank you for your blessings."

Xiao Wangzhi smiled and then said: "Life and death are determined by destiny. I understood this truth many years ago. Your father and I have told you the story of Marshal Yang, so you should know that Marshal Yang is not only a master of the art of war who has emerged in a century, He is also a talented martial arts wizard. When he led a thousand cavalry to defeat Jinglian's cavalry four times his own, he used the force of one man to kill hundreds of Jinglian people, killing the opponent's head, and finally slashed with his sword. Take the head of the second uncle of the current Emperor Jing."

Lu Chen had naturally heard of this past incident, and now that Xiao Wangzhi had added some details, he felt a deep sense of respect for the Marshal Jinghe, who had never been masked before.

It is rare in the world to be able to go into battle alone and destroy the enemy with a single sword, and to also lead a large army to protect the environment and the people.

Xiao Wangzhi's eyes dimmed slightly, and he sighed softly: "No matter how high your martial arts skills are, so what? Marshal Yang will still die in the hands of his own people."

Lu Chen's heart was touched and he sighed: "Uncle Xiao, the past is over, please take care of yourself."

"Don't worry, although my body is not as good as Lin Jie's, I think it won't be a problem to live for ten years. At least I have to see Heluo regained and the court returned to the old capital, so that I can close my eyes and go to Marshal Yang to say goodbye."

Xiao Wangzhi looked open-minded, and then changed the subject and said, "Let's talk about the war."

"Yes."

Lu Chen agreed and said calmly: "After taking Gushu and Qingtian, our army has completely taken the initiative. From now on, it can advance, attack, retreat or defend. Even if the war does not go well in the future, our army only needs to securely defend Qingtian, Tongshan and Yongquan Pass. With the land, we can choke the Yan army's march south. On this basis, it doesn't matter even if we give up Gushu City."

Xiao Wangzhi smiled and said: "Think about defeat before thinking about victory. This is a good habit."

Lu Chen nodded and continued: "For Li Shouzhen, the problem before him right now is that there are no soldiers available. Ningling City is in danger, and the defenders in Gaoyuan and Fengfu in the north were brought out by Cheng Weimin. They were completely destroyed in the Battle of Wanting, so the defense line is extremely empty. Now what Li Shouzhen has to consider is how he can fill up the troops in various places south of Ruyin City to prevent our army from directly attacking Ruyin."

Xiao Wangzhi was also very familiar with the terrain of Dongyang Road, and said thoughtfully: "Puppet Yan will not just sit back and watch this."

Lu Chen responded: "That's true. Su Inspector has sent the latest information. The puppet Yan court has persuaded Qing Yu Huaijin to dispatch some troops from Jing's army stationed in Heluo City to rush to Dongyang Road."

"Jing Jun..."

Xiao Wangzhi's tone was leisurely, and his eyes seemed to reflect the golden warriors of those days.

When Jing's army was at its peak, only Yang Guangyuan in the entire Da Qi could suppress the opponent. People like Xiao Wangzhi and Li Tianrun were still young men in their twenties and thirties at that time, and they simply did not have the strength and prestige to compete with the famous generals of Jing Dynasty.

After Yang Guangyuan died unjustly, the Jingjun cavalry galloped across the land of Jiangbei, and the infantry also had a glorious moment of conquering Heluo for more than ten days. Almost most people in Qi had extremely complicated perceptions of the army that rose up in the northern grasslands. . He hated the other party for burning, killing and looting in Daqi, and he was also afraid of the opponent's invincible strength.

Lu Chen probably understood Xiao Wangzhi's mood and thought carefully: "Uncle Xiao, if a magic weapon has not been wiped and exposed to blood for a long time, it will inevitably become rusty and dull. More than ten years have passed since the Yuanjia Incident, and now Jing Jun In fact, it can’t compare to their peak period.”

Xiao Wangzhi looked up at him and said slowly: "I know that you have dealt with many Jingjuns in the past two years. Under Guangling City, in Baotai Mountain, and at Yongquan Pass, the other party has never taken advantage of you. , but lost troops and generals and lost consecutive battles. Your attitude towards Jingjun is understandable. However, you have to pay attention to one thing. The Jingjun you have fought against in the past two years are basically Jinglian people who are not taken seriously, and most of them belong to Jingjun. scraps."

Lu Chen didn't show any dissatisfaction. He had always been far more mature than his peers when it came to paying attention to his enemies.

Xiao Wangzhi continued: "It is true that the strength of Jing's army has declined after more than ten years, but the tens of thousands of Jing's troops in Heluo City, as well as the main force of Jing's army sweeping across Zhao under the command of Qing Yugong, these People still possess considerable combat power. If we underestimate it too much, we will definitely suffer losses on the battlefield in the future."

Lu Chen lowered his head and said, "Uncle Xiao, don't worry, I won't be careless and underestimate the enemy."

"So best."

Xiao Wangzhi stopped and said: "The Jing army coming from Heluo City will not be too many, and more than ten thousand people will be killed. After all, their most important task is to control Heluo City. As long as there is no problem in Heluo City , Qing Yugong won’t care too much, he is confident enough to turn around and deal with us after pacifying Zhao State.”

"In this case, I think our army can continue to implement the previously established strategy."

"Clear the periphery and advance into Ruyin?"

"It's best to force this Jingjun reinforcements into Ruyin City."

"Catch a turtle in a urn? Ruyin is not Qingtian or Gushu City. The city wall here is about three feet high. The city defense facilities are extremely comprehensive. There are more than 300,000 people in the city, and there are countless grains and grasses. For such a big city, if the defenders are determined to defend it, If so, we may not be able to win it in a year and a half.”

After listening to Xiao Wangzhi's narration, Lu Chen smiled and said, "Uncle Xiao, our goal was not to attack Ruyin directly."

Xiao Wangzhi also laughed and said with emotion: "It is still difficult to perform this scene perfectly."

Lu Chen nodded and said: "So we need the assistance of the Jingzhou Governor's Office."

"I have already arranged this matter. Jingzhou will also send troops to attack Moyang Road recently, but -"

Xiao Wangzhi paused for a moment, then said with a slightly solemn expression: "There is bad news, please don't mention it to others."

Lu Chen's heart tightened and he quickly said: "Yes, Uncle Xiao, what is going on?"

Xiao Wangzhi sighed: "Li Tianrun was seriously injured that year, and his health has not been good. Recently, he has been overworked and had a recurrence of his old illness, and he has been in bed for a while. Although he told me not to worry, all the armies in Jingzhou will deal with it as agreed. Moyang Road exerts pressure, but how can I rest assured?”

This sentence made Lu Chen stunned on the spot.

He didn't have many interactions with Li Tianrun, but during his time in Jianghua City, the Jingzhou Governor was extremely kind to him, mentioned him in many places, and repeatedly insisted on making him famous, allowing him to successfully enter the emperor's sight. And laid a solid foundation for future development.

What's more, he and Li Bingxue got along very well with the Jingcheng group.

He has not contacted Li Bingxue in the past year, not because he forgot the red dress in the white snow, nor because he deliberately pretended to be an infatuated lover, but because he knew Li Bingxue very well.

She has her own ideals and persistence, and Xue Di's heartfelt confession is not a confession, but an attempt to cut off the feelings.

In this case, of course he will not flirt again, even if his intention is not to tease.

Now that he heard Xiao Wangzhi talking about this matter, those bright and pure eyes could not help but appear in his mind.

"Although there is a fate between life and death, if Brother Li is willing to take care of himself, he will not make his condition worse. But now that the war has begun, a single move can affect the whole body. Jingzhou and Huaizhou must be in step, and no one can persuade them at this time. Move him."

Xiao Wangzhi was in a heavy heart. He stared at Lu Chen and said, "Lu Chen, you must remember your responsibilities. Next, I will direct the battle on Dongyang Road. You can return to Laian with the Ruishi Battalion and wait for the next opportunity to take action." ."

Lu Chen stood up and responded, saying sincerely: "Uncle Xiao, please take good care of yourself."

Xiao Wangzhi nodded and said: "Don't worry, Yu Chigui will be here in the next two days. Besides, I am in the army, so there will be no danger."

Lu Chen bowed and left.

Walking on the busy street, Huaizhou Army officers and soldiers were constantly saluting him. Lu Chen responded with a normal expression, but Li Tianrun's name lingered in his mind.

If the Governor of Jingzhou cannot hold on, there will inevitably be changes that he cannot foresee in the Northern Expedition.

It is obviously an unrealistic idea to completely shake Beiyan's defense line and achieve the ultimate goal with the strength of the Huaizhou Army alone, unless every officer and soldier of the Huaizhou Army can fight one against a hundred like a god of death.

No wonder Xiao Wangzhi was not as happy as he was after his victory today. On the contrary, he was in a very depressed mood.

At this moment, a name suddenly appeared in Lu Chen's mind.

His eyes lit up instantly.

……

(Note: The global map, Qi State map, Huaizhou map, and the First Northern Expedition map have been posted in the pinned post in the book review area of ​​the Qidian client. Book friends can compare and view them.)

(End of this chapter)