Traveling through the early Tang Dynasty starts with hanging

Chapter 114 Bubble
In the valley, dozens of cauldrons were exuding the tempting aroma of meat, which caused Li Shan, who had been eating dry food for many days, to twitch his nose frequently.

"They are all fat sheep just slaughtered." Fan Laosan swallowed, "The Zhang family is really rich."

Li Shan glanced at Zhang Wenguan who was talking to Zhang Xuansu, "For the grace of saving lives, dozens of fat sheep are nothing."

Zhang Wenguan was a straightforward person. After escaping from danger, he told Su Dingfang and Guo Pu what had happened, and ordered dozens of fat sheep to be slaughtered. He personally followed Tang Jun down south to the valley.

"Okay, okay, don't worry, we have everything, and there will be a pot later!"

Everyone didn't have bowls and chopsticks, and even the cauldron was brought by Zhang Wenguan, so they had to get two twigs to make chopsticks, and fished meat directly from the pot.

Li Shan had already made preparations, and Zhu Ba squeezed out of the crowd holding the peeled and washed branches, with a few pieces of mutton skewered on them.

These days are really difficult. Although Li Shan is not pampered, but eating hard dry food that can break children's teeth in winter is really... It is really not an adjective. Li Shan saw with his own eyes several seven or eight-year-old children crying. They were all destroyed by dry food.

Gobbling for a while, Li Shan killed three strings in one breath before taking a breath, and glanced at Fan Shiyi, who was about to give birth, "You were injured just now, just drink a few sips of soup."

Fan Shiyi suffered serious injuries in prison, but mainly on his upper body. His left arm was broken, but it didn't affect his riding.

Just about to take a break before continuing, Zhang Xuansu brought Zhang Wenguan over there, and introduced: "Li Langjun, this is Zhang Wenguan of the Qinghe Zhang family. His father is the county magistrate of Yangcheng, Zezhou."

Zhang Wenguan bowed deeply, "Planning with one step, three hundred cavalry smashed the enemy army, burned all the food and grass, and rushed to Wucheng overnight. He is really a hero."

Zhang Xuansu also nodded frequently. He joined the army as an officer in Jingcheng, and he was no stranger to military affairs. He saw with his own eyes that Li Shan rose up in a desperate situation, made a surprise plan, attacked the camp at night, and turned the crisis into safety.

Now in Beizhou, not counting the soldiers in the counties and townships, Liu Heita's troops are already very few left, and the two thousand soldiers and horses are almost wiped out.

If it weren't for too few troops, Li Shan would be able to take Beizhou again, move his troops westward, and break the siege of Luozhou.

"Don't dare to take it." Li Shan burped suddenly and laughed a few times, "It's a helpless move, just trying to survive."

Zhang Xuansu said with a smile: "Zhigui is 15 years old this year, just call him Brother Li."

"Brother Li."

Li Shan took Zhang Wenguan in his arms, "I also want to thank Zhigui for bringing the meat, I haven't been full for many days."

"A matter of duty." Zhang Wenguan straightened up and said softly, "I just heard what Uncle Shi said. Brother Li wants to go south to Weizhou?"

The fathers of Zhang Xuansu and Zhang Wenguan are old friends. Although the two families are not of the same family, they are of the same clan.

"Hi...uh, that's true." Li Shan saluted, "I would also like to thank Zhigui for taking me in."

As soon as Guo Pu came back, he told Li Shan that Zhang Wenguan had promised the Zhang family to take in those wounded soldiers who were unable to move. In this way, the speed of going south would be greatly accelerated.

Zhang Wenguan hesitated for a while, then turned to look at Zhang Xuansu.

"Zhigui wants to go south to Weizhou with the army." Zhang Xuansu said in a low voice, "If Su Dingfang hadn't happened to break the city this time, Zhigui would have been killed by Fan Yuan."

"Fan Yuan?" Li Shan asked in surprise, "He dared to kill the children of the Zhang family in Qinghe?"

Zhang Wenguan said frankly, "A few days ago, a Turkic cavalry passed through Wucheng. My younger brother recognized Fan Yuan's eldest son and urged the general to lead the army to attack..."

Li Shan narrowed his eyes, and suddenly interrupted: "Yellow beard and hair?"

"That's right." Zhang Wenguan was taken aback, "How does Brother Li know?"

It was the yellow-haired young man whose throat was cut by himself. Li Shan licked his lips and took a bunch of mutton from Shi Shi. No wonder Su Dingfang beheaded Fan Yuan himself.

Zhou Zhao, who had been drinking beside him, suddenly turned his head and asked, "How was the battle going that day?"

"How many Turkic Rangers?"

"Where did Fan Yuan's eldest son flee in the end?"

Li Shan's strange expression, Zhou Zhao's continuous questioning made Zhang Wenguan aware of the strangeness, he thought about it carefully for a while, and then said: "About two hundred horses, the Tang army set up an ambush that day, and the leader was Wucheng soldier Cao.

More than seventy people were beheaded, more than ten people were captured, and the remnant soldiers were divided into two groups. Those who fled westward were chased and killed. The remaining dozens fled northward, and Fan Yuan's eldest son was among them. "

Li Shan and Zhou Zhao looked at each other and asked in a low voice, "Fan Yuan is asking where his eldest son is?"

"That's right." Zhang Wenguan paused, and added: "I also asked about the whereabouts of the captives, and this time Fan Yuan came to Wucheng and brought a few Turkic people with him."

"Turks?!" Li Shan smacked his lips, "Are you sure?"

Zhou Zhao scratched the bun on his head, "It makes sense...Fan Yuan is No.1 under Liu Heita..."

The so-called people are divided into groups according to the same category, and those who mix with Fan Yuan's eldest son will naturally not be ordinary people... This was also within Li Shan's expectation, so he kept bringing the Turkic youth with him without a single blow.

But Fan Yuan brought Turkic people to Wucheng to investigate, which shows that the status of Turkic youths may be very high...

"Brother Su!" Li Shan yelled at the top of his voice, "Send the wounded soldiers to Zhangjiazhuangzi, let's go south immediately."

Su Dingfang was about to ask a question, but Li Shan pointed at Zhou Zhao, "Go and explain."

"Zhigui, you have to go south to avoid each other because of this." Li Shan patted Zhang Wenguan on the shoulder, "But if you follow us... it may not be a good thing."

Zhang Wenguan said softly: "My younger brother leads a hundred soldiers to accompany him, and they can all ride horses and charge into battle."

Li Shan didn't say any more, and hurried to arrange the departure.

Seeing the busy Li Shan yelling loudly while comforting the wounded soldiers who will be left behind, Zhang Wenguan said in a low voice, "This brother Li is really extraordinary and kind. I saw him wrap the wounded soldiers with his own hands before."

Zhang Xuansu snorted, nodded indiscriminately, and said after a while: "He is good at medical skills..."

Zhang Xuansu didn't continue talking, but he could see clearly that Li Shan's benevolence was targeted. He was rescued by Li Shan that day, and all those who pursued and captured were ordered to be executed by Li Shan.

Zhang Wenguan followed with interest, only to see Li Shan holding a dagger, methodically cutting a few cuts on a Turkic man's arm, and still comforting him, "It's good to let some blood, how many times is this the first time? "

Zhu Ba on the side thought for a while, "This is the sixth time."

When everyone set off from the valley to the south, Li Shan couldn't help looking back, the target was getting bigger and bigger.

At first, there were only three or forty people, but after meeting Su Dingfang, it became more than a hundred people, and after rescuing Liu Jun, it became more than three hundred people. Adding in the soldiers led by Zhang Wenguan, the number was almost 40.

A group of people quickly passed through the Li Pavilion, turned to the southwest, and tried to enter Weizhou as quickly as possible. Although there were many people, there were enough horses. There was only one carriage, Mother Su. If they arrived at Weizhou smoothly, then there was nothing to be afraid of. .

Even if Liu Heitai captured Luozhou and went south in a big way, at worst crossing the river to go to Shaanxi Road, Liu Heitai could still grow wings and fly across the Yellow River?

……

In Xingzhou, which had already fallen, the tall and tall Liu Heita stood beside a piece of scorched earth, gritted his teeth and waved the horsewhip vigorously in his hand.

In the battle of Xiabo, Liu Heikai showed weakness three times and lured out the main force of the Tang army. He was defeated in one fell swoop and captured Huaiyang King Li Daoxuan alive. Attack Xingzhou.

For Liu Heita, at least for Liu Heita now, Xingzhou is no less important than Luozhou.

The reason is very simple. Liu Heikai himself is from Hebei, and he knows very well that after many years of fighting, the fields have been barren, there is not enough food in Hebei Province, and the Turks are looting everywhere... There is no food in the folks.

Liu Heitai had prepared in advance to send his cronies to Beizhou to convene old ministries in Zhangnan, Wucheng, Liting and Qingyang to prepare food and grass.

But after the First World War in Xiabo, Liu Heikai interrogated the captives and learned that Shandong Road had just delivered a batch of grain and grass to Xingzhou... It was almost thirsty, and I saw the big river!
That's why Liu Heikai personally led the main force to attack Xingzhou, and tried to persuade Qi Shanxing, the general manager of Xingzhou, to surrender... After all, we were all buddies back then. Now that my old Liu is back, I still don't obediently come to vote!
But in the end, Liu Heita found that he was indeed thirsty, but what was in front of him was not a big river, but a plum forest.

After Qi Shanxing, the general manager of Xingzhou, learned of the battle report of Xiabo, he immediately summoned more than a thousand Tang soldiers under his command, and decisively withdrew south to Luozhou.

That's all, the point is, Qi Shanxing set a fire before leaving, and burned all the food and grass that had just been delivered for half a month, leaving no residue to the old comrades.

How can this keep Liu Heita from getting frustrated... You, Qi Shanxing, entered the Palace of the Prince of Qin, and you have really made up your mind after eating the weights!

"My lord, the Turkic people are making trouble again." The confidant general Wang Xiaohu said to Liu Heita in a low voice: "I'm afraid the bullets won't be able to be suppressed."

"Suppression?" Liu Heita sneered, "Who would suppress those Turkic soldiers?"

"That……"

Liu Heikai was silent for a moment, and waved his hands helplessly to express his acquiescence... Turkic people are not stupid, how could they not know that a large amount of food and grass were burned?
Now that the weather is getting colder and colder, the Turkic people went south not to kill Liu Heikai, but to grab things. Since the food and grass have been burned, the unlucky ones can only be the common people, as well as those counties and townships Wealthy.

Slowly riding the horse back to the government office, Liu Heitai quickly regained his spirits. Fortunately, he sent someone to contact the old Beizhou Ministry before, and asked Fan Yuan and Dong Kang to supervise the grain and grass.

Today's Hebei Road, there is no hope in the north. There are only two places in the middle and east and west that still have a large amount of food and grass. One is Beizhou, which has always been rich, and the other is Luozhou, where Qi Shanxing just retreated to the south.

During the reign of Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty, three large granaries were built on Hebei Road, one in Beizhou, one in Xingzhou, and one in Liyang of Weizhou.

In other words, the granary in Xingzhou was burned down by Qi Shanxing, and the Liyang warehouse in Weizhou...Liu Heitai couldn't count on it either.

Weizhou is the most southerly of all the state capitals in Hebei Province. It borders on Huazhou in Eastern Shaanxi Province and is on the bank of the Yellow River... If Liu Heita can kill Weizhou, can Eastern Shaanxi Province survive?

And because Luozhou has convenient waterways and was once the capital of Dou Jiande and Liu Heitai, it stores a large amount of grain and grass... But Liu Heitai no longer counts on Luozhou.

Qi Shanxing was able to burn down the Xingzhou granary with a single fire. If he wanted to stick to Luozhou, it would be fine. If he retreated south again, he would definitely burn down the Luozhou granary.

Therefore, Liu Heitai's only hope in a short period of time is Bei Zhou.

Without food and grass, Liu Heitai's troops will inevitably be unstable, and even the Turkic soldiers may cause big troubles.

Although there is food and grass seized from Jizhou, it will not last long.

Hearing the report from the guards outside, Liu Heita rubbed his temples and called out, "Come in and talk."

Behind the personal guard was a middle-aged general with his head down. After entering the door, he knelt on the ground on one knee and said inarticulately, "Li Ting was attacked..."

"Li Ting was attacked?" Liu Heitai repeated it over and over again, and suddenly realized, "What did you say?!"

"Where's Dong Kang?!"

"Is the grain damaged?"

The middle-aged general raised his head, his face was pitch black, not because his skin was dark, but because he was smoky from the fire, and even the horns of his hair were curled up by the fire.

"The Tang army attacked the camp at night and set fire to the food. General Dong was killed, and the entire army of [-] soldiers and horses was wiped out. The last general jumped into the Qinghe River and escaped by chance."

"How many soldiers and horses does the Tang army have?"

The middle-aged general was ashamed, he hesitated for a while before saying: "About hundreds of cavalry."

Liu Heitai was dizzy, swayed, and kept calm with his hands on the table, "Where's Fan Yuan?"

"Yesterday, Fan Yuan sent someone to report back. Beizhou is fine, and the food collection went smoothly..."

The middle-aged general moved his lips, and said in a low voice: "I learned on the way that the Tang army attacked overnight and Wucheng was breached..."

Liu Heikai finally couldn't hold it anymore, and sat down on the Hu stool, his only hope came to naught, the food and grass he raised disappeared, and the general Dong Kang was killed in battle, and Pu She Fan Yuan was likely to be captured and killed.

Just three days ago, it seemed inevitable to defeat the main force of the Tang army and sweep Hebei.

But now, it seems to be powerful, but there is a shortage of food and grass, and it has lost important ministers and generals.

Liu Heitai gritted his teeth and shouted loudly: "Call all the generals, set off immediately, and send troops to Luozhou!"

At this time, it is meaningless to think about the grain and grass in Beizhou. For the current plan, the only way is to capture Luozhou, and a large amount of grain and grass must be seized.

Without those food and grass, not to mention the Turkic soldiers who have milk and are mothers, Liu Heita is not even sure that he can control his direct lineage.

But before Liu Heita led his troops out of the city, he heard a piece of news that made him furious.

Thousands of Turkic soldiers suddenly pulled out their camps and went eastward. The Turkic general summoned scattered soldiers and horses and prepared to go eastward as well.

"Scimitar?"

"What machete?"

Liu Heita gritted his teeth and cursed, these Turkic people are really messing around!
To the east of Xingzhou is Beizhou. Liu Heikai insisted on letting Liu Shishan lead a partial division to attack Beizhou, just because he was afraid that the Turks would disrupt Beizhou.

On the one hand, Beizhou is the hometown of Liu Heita, and also the hometown of Dou Jiande. A considerable number of people in the army are from Beizhou, so naturally they don't want the Turks to invade Beizhou.

On the other hand, there are many aristocratic families in Beizhou, not the kind of families that are famous in the county, but the famous families that are well-known all over the country, Qinghe Cui family, Qinghe Zhang family.

If the Cui family in Qinghe was robbed by the Turks... even Liu Heita couldn't imagine it. The Turks can be indifferent, but can I be indifferent?

But Qinghe County is located in the center of Beizhou, and the Turkic people can quickly kill the city. Will they let Cui Shi go?

Resisting the urge to drown the Turkic coach in the toilet, Liu Heitai sped up and shouted: "Go to Luozhou, go to Luozhou!"

(End of this chapter)