Jiuxi

Chapter 755: Birthplace

Over the past ten years, although Chengzhou Military Governor's Office was not as good as the two Jiangbei states, its status was at least stronger than Taipingzhou Military Governor's Office in the southwestern border. However, as Lu Chen repaired the relationship between Da Qi and Shazhou, the importance of Chengzhou Military Governor's Office plummeted and was inevitably streamlined by the court.

From the original four armies with more than 50,000 people to only 30,000 people now, the Chengzhou Army's strength has been reduced by nearly half, but its strength has not been weakened too much.

This was naturally Lu Chen's work.

Although he did not directly interfere in the appointment and dismissal of Chengzhou generals, as the Minister of Military Affairs at the time, he naturally had the confidence to make suggestions. Therefore, the Chengzhou Governor's Office took this opportunity to remove the rotten meat and took the opportunity to solve the problem of empty salaries left over from the past.

Although there were nominally more than 20,000 fewer soldiers, in reality the remaining 30,000 were real personnel, and they tried their best to keep those capable soldiers.

Chengzhou Governor Tong Shiyuan was happy to accept this. He originally thought that he would definitely not be able to keep his official position. After all, he was Hou Yu's trusted subordinate back then. Unexpectedly, Lu Chen gave him a chance in the end.

Therefore, Tong Shiyuan was very grateful to Lu Chen. After receiving the order from the other party this time, he gathered his troops without hesitation and led them to Shazhou in person.

The mountain road was difficult to travel, but Tong Shiyuan did not act like a commander-in-chief and shared the hardships with the soldiers.

He looked at the sturdy man beside him and smiled, "Inspector Yin, I heard that you once fought side by side with Lord Lu in Heluo City?"

The man was Yin Shangfu, the inspector of Chengzhou in the Weaving Bureau.

Although both of them worked in Chengzhou, they never had any private contact. Tong Shiyuan was still wary of the Weaving Bureau, so there was no question of how close their friendship was.

Now that Yin Shangfu is accompanying the army with elite spies from the Weaving Bureau, Tong Shiyuan doesn't mind showing some goodwill.

Yin Shangfu said humbly, "I am fortunate to be by Lord Lu's side and help him with some minor matters. How dare I talk about standing shoulder to shoulder with him?"

“Even so, it’s enough to be envied.”

Tong Shiyuan sighed sincerely, and said, "This time, the defense line of Jingzhou is in crisis, and it is Lord Lu who saves the situation. Which of his generals is not full of vigor and vitality? I am not afraid of being laughed at by Brother Yin. If the court allows it, I would like to resign from the post of governor, even if it is just to be a commander under Lord Lu."

Yin Shangfu's heart was slightly moved, and these words seemed a bit too profound.

He turned to look at Tong Shiyuan, and seeing the other party's sincere expression, he suddenly came to his senses.

There are also a lot of disputes and infighting in the army. After all, where there are people, there will be fighting. But compared to the vagueness among scholars, the scale in the hearts of warriors is more intuitive.

Whoever can achieve more victories will surely have higher prestige, and military merit is the only criterion for judgment.

For the generals in the army, following Lu Chen would mean continuous military merit, which would make them willing to follow him.

Thinking of this, Yin Shangfu chuckled and said, "Grand Commander, isn't there an opportunity in front of you now?"

Tong Shiyuan smiled knowingly, looked towards the north, and nodded, "That's right, we will definitely not let the Jinglian people escape this time."

At this time, 30,000 soldiers of Chengzhou Army had already crossed the Yunling Mountains, and in the distance were the green mountains and clear waters of Shazhou.

However, this army did not continue to move westward into Shazhou territory. Instead, under the leadership of the Shazhou people led by Luo Hengshan, it turned north and accelerated its advance.

The target was directly aimed at the Jing army that broke into Shazhou.

The atmosphere inside Feiniao Pass is a little depressing.

Nan Yong has sent several urgent reports in the past few days, sent to Wu Yanshu and the emperor who was far away in Dadu, Jing State.

This time he led an army of 50,000 to break into Feiniao Pass. Logically speaking, even if he could not achieve great merit, he at least had the power to protect himself. However, the sudden intervention of the Dai army instantly cut off Nan Yong's possibility of retreat. Now his troops were trapped in a very narrow strip area from Feiniao Pass to the southwest of Jingzhou of Qi.

The Dai army did not launch an attack. Geshu Songping's strategy was relatively conservative. After all, Dai would not gain any benefit from this battle, and it might even provoke revenge from Jing. However, Geshu Kui was ambitious and had a long-term vision, so he urged Geshu Songping to cooperate with the Qi army and trap the Jing army.

With his retreat route cut off and his way eastward blocked by the Huaizhou wing troops, Nan Yong was like an ant on hot pot, hoping that Wu Yanshu would receive the urgent news as soon as possible.

He knew that the emperor would certainly not sit idly by and watch these 50,000 soldiers fall into desperate situation. Besides, it was not his responsibility that Dai State suddenly sent troops. The problem was that distant water could not quench a nearby fire. By the time the emperor received his urgent report and sent troops south to Shazhou, he would probably have become a skeleton in the wilderness.

The only one Nan Yong could count on was the main force on the western front under Wu Yanshu. Wu Yanshu had to give up his plan to seize Jingzhou of Southern Qi. He had to either send enough elite troops to repel the Dai army north of Feiniao Pass, or open up a key road directly from the west of Jingzhou to rescue the Jing army.

Now it is impossible for Nan Yong to attack the southwest of Jingzhou again. He has called back both armies and built a well-defined defense line in the Feiniao Pass area, preparing to hold on and wait for reinforcements.

"Report!"

A confidant walked quickly into the hall.

Although he knew it was impossible, Nan Yong still held on to a glimmer of hope. What if Wu Yanshu noticed something was wrong in advance and sent someone to tell him that reinforcements would be arriving soon?
He stood up and said, "Hurry up and tell me."

The confidant bowed his head and said, "Your Majesty, tens of thousands of Southern Qi Huaizhou troops have appeared 150 miles to the east."

Nan Yong sat back down in disappointment, but he was not panicked, because this was what he had expected. The Jing army's plan to attack the southwest of Jingzhou had failed, and the Qi army would certainly take advantage of the situation to counterattack. Nan Yong left 6,000 infantrymen in the east to guard the main road, so there should be no danger in the short term.

"Report!"

Another centurion rushed into the hall.

Nan Yong asked unkindly, "What's the matter?"

The centurion said cautiously, "My Lord, our scouts have discovered a large group of Qi troops more than a hundred miles to the southeast. They have tens of thousands of troops and are flying the banner of the Southern Qi Chengzhou Governor's Office!"

"What did you say?!"

Nan Yong stood up suddenly, his eyes widened instantly.

If it were any other time, he would not even bother paying attention to the Chengzhou Governor's Office. However, for the Jing army now, this is like adding insult to injury. The tens of thousands of unknown Chengzhou troops are very likely to be the last straw that breaks the camel's back.

"Quickly gather everyone to come here to discuss this matter!"

Nan Yong looked anxious, and his confidant immediately took the order and left.

However, this military meeting did not come up with a solution to break the impasse. Some people believed that they should hold their ground and wait for help, waiting for rescue and support from the main force on the Western Front with minimal losses.

Some people believed that there were enemies on all sides now, and the wisest choice was to let some people continue to hold on, and then use elite tiger soldiers to break through the Dai army, while the rest of the people returned along the original route and retreated to the territory of Dajing.

The two sides argued endlessly, and Nan Yong was given a headache, but he still couldn't make a decision.

Only then did he understand how much pressure a commander of an army had to bear in difficult times.

In the end, Nan Yong just asked everyone to continue thinking about countermeasures, and the military meeting ended hastily.

While the generals of the Jing army were in a gloomy mood, an extraordinary conference was being held in Baoding Village, located in the territory of the Jinchuan tribe, more than 70 miles southwest of Feiniao Pass.

On the wide and flat open space in the village, nearly ten thousand Shazhou men lined up in a fairly neat queue, all looking up at a man in red on the high platform.

Luo Yaozong, Yang Jin, Na Yan, Hardy and other backbones of Shazhou stood at the back, quietly looking at the young woman in front of them.

Luo Jiujiu took a deep breath, and with the help of her internal energy, her clear voice spread all around.

"My name is Luo Jiujiu, and I am the eldest daughter of Luo Yaozong, the leader of the Yalong tribe. Some of you may know me, and some of you may have only heard of my name. Regardless of whether we have known each other in the past, from today on we will be comrades-in-arms fighting side by side against the enemy."

"In the past ten years, the people of Shazhou have lived in peace and contentment. Although they live in poverty, they are peaceful. However, there are always tigers and wolves in this world. They use their butcher knives to disturb the peace of Shazhou. A month ago, at Feiniao Pass in the northeast, the Jinglian people killed 927 soldiers guarding the pass. They are our brothers and sisters, and they are the good men of Shazhou. They died at the hands of the Jinglian people to protect our homeland."

"Do you want to avenge this?!"

As soon as the words fell, everyone roared in unison: "Revenge!"

"That's right, we will make the Jinglian people pay with blood!"

Luo Jiujiu raised his voice and continued, "According to past practice, our Shazhou warriors can exchange the enemy's head for silver. The reward for a soldier's head is ten taels of silver. But this time is different. With the unanimous agreement of all the leaders and elders, the reward for each enemy's head in this battle is fifteen taels of silver!"

These words made the soldiers in the audience even more eager. Who would object to such a generous reward?

Luo Jiujiu waited for them to digest the news, and said sincerely: "Perhaps everyone will wonder why I am standing here today, and not my father or other chiefs. In fact, I had the same doubts at the beginning, but the chiefs told me that since I will lead everyone to fight the enemy this time, let me make a promise to everyone."

"No matter how fierce the enemy is, no matter how difficult the battle is, I, Luo Jiujiu, will be the first to kill the enemy and the last to retreat."

"Shazhou ancestors, if I break this oath, I will be condemned by both humans and gods!"

Looking at the solemn and resolute young woman on the stage, everyone's expressions became serious.

Luo Jiujiu said word by word: "I will fight with you until the last drop of blood is shed for Shazhou! This is where I was born and raised. I will never allow my homeland to be occupied by those despicable enemies, and I will never accept this piece of green mountains and clear waters falling into a miserable situation."

"For this, I am willing to give my life!"

"I will never regret it!"

In the chilly mountain wind, Luo Jiujiu's words were loud and powerful.

The Shazhou warriors stared at her face, and countless roars burst out from their chests, then swirled and gathered upwards, like a strong wind rising from the earth.

"kill!"

(End of this chapter)