The gods began by supporting Guo Jing to become emperor

Chapter 155: Conquering the Generals and Seizing Hedong

Building high walls, storing up food supplies, and slowly becoming king are the only ways to increase strength at any time. After Guo Jing took over Xijing, Su Ming guessed his future path and also praised his vision.

The most fertile lands in the north are Henan and Hebei. If you take them, you can take over the whole world. But without Youyan as a barrier, you will be in a situation of being beaten even if you take it. If Guo Jing takes over the entire Hedong area, it will be no less than Liu Bang taking Hanzhong and Liu Bei taking Yizhou.

This is the real foundation of kingship and hegemony. However, although Hedong is good, it is not so easy to take over. He needs to put in some effort.

In the tavern, many drinkers were cheering Que Yu, saying, "The enemy is our hero." The Mongols were beating the Jin Dynasty violently, and the people of Song were so happy. Even though the war had nothing to do with them, it did not stop them from being happy about it.

As long as the Jin people suffer losses and lose the battle, we should be happy, just like us neighbors.

Seeing them laughing and joking, Su Ming shook his head slightly, left the money for the wine and turned to leave. Such peaceful days would not last long.

……

In the Mongolian army, several Han generals gathered together to drink and eat.

A burly young man was holding a bowl and eating while saying, "Dad, these Mongolian cavalry are so powerful. I feel they are even more powerful than the Jurchens back then!"

The middle-aged man with a beard next to him glared at him and said, "Just eat your meal, why are you talking so much!"

Another younger youth nodded and agreed, "Brother is right. In my opinion, sooner or later the Jin Dynasty will be destroyed by Mongolia just like the Liao Dynasty."

"Hehe, it's a good thing that my father was so shrewd that he persuaded my family to join them. Otherwise, we would have been conscripted to the battlefield by the Jin Kingdom and that would have been terrible."

This group of people were the Shi family father and son, namely the father Shi Bingzhi, and the sons Shi Tianni, Shi Tianan, and Shi Tianze. After the Battle of Yehuling, the Mongolian army marched south, and the four of them led thousands of people to Zhuozhou to surrender to Mu Huali. They were ordered to lead the families of the surrendered people to settle in Bazhou. With the Shi family as an example, powerful people from all over Hebei heard the news and came to join them, and there were as many as 100,000 families from all over the country.

Mu Huali ordered them to select 10,000 strong and brave men to form the Qingle Army, led by his son Shi Tianni.

Just as the father and his four sons were about to continue their conversation, a Mongolian soldier broke into the tent and pointed at them arrogantly, "Come with me, the general wants to see you."

The few of them looked at each other, not caring about the Mongolian soldiers' attitude, and followed him respectfully.

Inside the tent, Mu Huali was half leaning on a chair, with two pretty maids massaging him behind him. He had his eyes half closed, as if he was sleeping.

"Greetings, General!" The four father and sons bowed and said in unison.

Mu Huali opened his eyes and stretched his muscles. "From now on, you will not be under my command. Take your men to Guo Jing. From now on, he will be your commander. Do you understand?"

what?
This piece of news was undoubtedly a bolt from the blue for the Shi family and his son. They had naturally heard of Guo Jing's name, but they had never had any contact with each other before. Why would they be handed over to Guo Jing?

The Shi Tianni brothers standing behind Shi Bingzhi widened their eyes and were about to say something when their father Shi Bingzhi immediately responded, "I obey your command!"

Seeing their good attitude, Mu Huali seemed to be in a good mood, and he continued, "Guo Jing is going to attack Hedong this year, and he has no one to use. He wants you to go over, and you will be his people from now on. Do you understand?"

"As ordered!"

The Shi family walked out of the tent and returned to their own camp. They all had tense faces on the way. Finally, the youngest Shi Tianze couldn't help it, "We conquered so much territory for him, but he sent us away with just one word. What does he think we are?"

The eldest brother, Shi Tianni, immediately looked gloomy, "Third brother, shut up, this is the general's order!"

Seeing that they were still arguing, Shi Bingzhi made the final decision, "Alright, let's pack up and go meet General Guo who conquered Xijing. We will work for him from now on, so you all should hold back. Do you understand?"

Shi Tianze curled his lips, looking very unconvinced.

Before, they were all immersed in the joy of being rewarded for their contributions to the Mongolian Empire, but the next second they were delivered to other people by their own commander like delivery goods. Such a gap made them very uncomfortable, and they also developed a deep resentment towards Guo Jing, whom they had never met.

……

Guo Jing's personal soldiers came over and said, "General, there are four people outside the camp asking to see you. They say they are your men."

Guo Jing was writing something at his desk. When he heard this, his eyes moved slightly and he guessed their identities. "Please let them in."

After a while, the Shi family father and son walked into the tent and saw Guo Jing sitting at the top. "Greetings, General."

Guo Jing nodded slightly, "No need to be polite, get up."

He cast his eyes on the middle-aged man in the lead and said with a smile, "This must be Uncle Shi. When I was in Hedong, I heard that some local tyrants had abandoned the dark and joined the army to attack the Jin Kingdom. In this battle, you have made great contributions. When we return to the grassland, the Khan will definitely reward you."

Before Shi Bingzhi could speak, Shi Tianze said proudly, "Of course, we followed Marshal Wan Hu and conquered Sanhe and Jizhou along the way."

Shi Bingzhi wanted to test Guo Jing and did not say anything to stop him.

"Who are you?"

"A real man never changes his name or surname. My name is Shi Tianze."

Seeing his rebellious look, Guo Jing stood up and walked in front of him, staring into his eyes, "It seems that you are not convinced that I transferred you to my team?"

Shi Tianze snorted coldly, "Humph, Wan Hu is a rare hero in the world. What ability do you have to be our commander? You are just a relative."

Guo Jing knew that the Han Chinese who could make it in the north were not ordinary people, so he was not angry. He still had a smile on his face, "Oh? You are my subordinates now, aren't you afraid? Next time we go to the battlefield, I will send you to attack the city?"

Shi Bingzhi had been observing Guo Jing since he entered the room, and was secretly surprised to see that Guo Jing was not angry at all but was smiling. If he were an ordinary young man, he would have been furious long ago, but he could not figure out Guo Jing's attitude. This man was very cunning.

Shi Tianze was not afraid at all, "Humph, what is there to be afraid of? In such a chaotic world, we should fight hard and make achievements. If you really do this, it will be exactly what I want."

Guo Jing's smile deepened. He was in need of capable people. "So you are very capable?"

"Of course!"

"Okay, since you are so confident, let's have a competition. You and your father and son will be the top four. If you can beat me, you can stay or leave as you please. I will never say no. If you lose, you will be my soldiers in the future." "Captain Shi, what do you think?"

Not long after Shi Bingzhi defected to Mu Huali, he was granted the title of a thousand households in order to facilitate his management of the Han people who defected to him. Now, although Guo Jing is also a general commanding an army, he is still a thousand households.

In the entire Mongolian Empire, there are only a few ten thousand households, and the rest, including his master Jebe, are only thousand households. However, there are huge differences between thousand households. Some can command an army alone, while some can only command a thousand people. Among them are the Qiexue Army, the Imperial Thousand Households, and so on.

The four of them, father and son, were all burly, had practiced martial arts since childhood, and were also a family. Shi Bingzhi was afraid that a fight would turn violent, so he refused, "General, swords and guns have no eyes. If you get hurt, it will be bad. Let's forget it."

Guo Jing was too lazy to test them and was ready to defeat them in the most direct way. He would not back down. "It doesn't matter. We warriors charge into battle, so a little injury doesn't matter. If I can't beat you, how can I be your commander? You guys don't accept it, right? Let's do it this way!"

Don't think that others will obey your orders as a matter of course just because you send them a transfer order. Although the military has strict hierarchy, if the commander is incompetent and cannot command his subordinates, the consequences will be disastrous.

Since Guo Jing wanted to bring them over, he must want to use them for his own purposes, and using threats to intimidate them is the inevitable choice.

Then, without waiting for Shi Bingzhi to speak, he walked out of the camp and headed for the training ground.

"Father, this?" The eldest brother Shi Tianni looked hesitant. Guo Jing's attitude clearly showed that he had them in his grasp.

Shi Bingzhi shook his head and said, "Let's go. We just need to do our best and not let him lose too badly." As it concerns the future of the Shi family, he has to fight. If Guo Jing is really capable, it is not impossible for him to be his subordinate. If he is incompetent, then I'm sorry, don't expect us to work for you.

In troubled times, it is common sense that good birds choose good trees to roost in.

In the center of the parade ground, Guo Jing was holding a spear, surrounded by the four men of the Shi family. Shi Bingzhi was holding a spear, Shi Tianni was holding a wooden shield and a sword, and Shi Tianan and Shi Tianze were both holding spears.

There were many soldiers watching from all around, enjoying the fun. After all this time, there was still a fight with the general, how could they not be surprised?

Since taking command of the army, Guo Jing has established his prestige in the army with the help of his powerful martial arts. In competitions like this, he has defeated countless people. The army is a place that admires the strong. As long as you are strong enough and can win the battle, everything will be easy.

Guo Jing glanced at them and said calmly, "Don't blame me for not giving you a chance. You and your son should attack together. As long as you can hurt me, you win!"

Shi Tianze licked his lips and glanced at Guo Jing, as if thinking about how to beat him. In contrast, Shi Bingzhi and Shi Tianni had serious expressions on their faces. When they first saw Guo Jing, they didn't think there was anything wrong, but when he picked up the spear, a heavy pressure came over them. This was the aura of a master.

Shi Tianni held the wooden shield and stepped forward, "Second brother, third brother, you follow behind me and raid the formation. Father, you take the lead!"

Shi Bingzhi stepped forward with the spear in his hand, and Shi Tianni followed closely behind him, trying to close the distance.

The spear in Guo Jing's hand trembled slightly, and the tip of Shi Bingzhi's spear touched, "Dang!"

In an instant, Shi Bingzhi felt a huge force coming from the tip of the spear to his arm. The powerful force made his palm numb and he could not hold the spear anymore, and it slipped out of his hand.

Then, Guo Jing thrust out with his spear suddenly, and the wooden shield in Shi Tianni's hand was pierced through like paper, causing him to retreat several steps. Seeing Guo Jing's spear piercing the wooden shield, Shi Tianan and Shi Tianze's eyes lit up, and they were about to step forward waving their spears.

"Oh!"

However, Guo Jing exerted a little force on his wrist, shook the tip of his spear, and the wooden shield broke in two. As he swept the tip of his spear, the broken wooden shield was knocked towards the two Shi brothers.

A strong gust of wind blew over them, and the two brothers' faces changed. They quickly put away their guns and dodged. If they were hit by the wind, they would be crippled if not killed.

The two dodged the flying wooden shield, and when they looked at the field again, the tip of Guo Jing's spear was already pointed at Shi Tianni's throat. The two men saw this scene and felt heavy-hearted. They had lost!
Outnumbered, they lost before they even touched the enemy's clothes.

When the soldiers watching saw this scene, they just showed an expression of "as expected" and did not laugh at them. They had seen such scenes many times, and every time, Guo Jing won.

"Do you want to fight again?"

Shi Bingzhi shook his head and admitted defeat, "Let's not fight anymore. The general is too brave and we lost." Anyone with a discerning eye could see that the gap was so big that they would still lose even if they fought again.

The three brothers also bowed their heads and admitted defeat, "We lost."

At this moment, Shi Tianze felt a burning sensation on his face. Thinking of what he had said before, he wished he could crawl into the ground. How could he boast about his ability in front of such a person?
The four of them immediately knelt on the ground and saluted Guo Jing with their fists together to show their submission. "Greetings, General!"

Guo Jing stepped forward and personally helped them up, with a kind smile on his face, "Get up, everyone. From now on, we are all brothers. No need to be polite. Come on, I will welcome you tonight."

……

A few months later, the war in the north broke out again.

According to Genghis Khan's order, Guo Jing had to conquer the entire Hedong region, and Genghis Khan seemed to have given him full authority to be responsible for the matter. He simply handed over both the military and political power to him without sending anyone to hinder him.

This was exactly what Guo Jing wanted. After getting Shi Bingzhi and his son, he finally had capable generals under his command, and he sent them to lead troops to attack other towns in Hedong.

He personally led the army to attack Taiyuan.

When the war just started, the Jin Dynasty's court was terrified. When they learned that Guo Jing only had a few soldiers and Genghis Khan's main force had returned to the grassland, they mobilized their troops and prepared to resist.

There was no other reason. Hedong was too important. If they took it, not only Zhongdu would be threatened, but even Shaanxi would be in danger. They had to protect it.

Soon, the Jin Kingdom assembled an army of 100,000 and planned to repel Guo Jing.

At this time, Guo Jing had only 50,000 troops, including 40,000 infantry and 10,000 cavalry. Similarly, Mu Huali, who was conquering cities in Liaodong, did not have many troops either. Most of the Mongolian cavalry had withdrawn to the grassland to recuperate and wait for the next battle next year.

The Jin Kingdom was out of reach of Liaodong and Liaoxi and was unable to provide support, but Hedong, which was nearby, had to be rescued.

Inside the military tent, Shi Bingzhi said, "General, let's retreat. We have too few cavalry. If we are surrounded by the enemy, the consequences will be disastrous!"

Deputy General Lu Guanying at the side had the same idea, "General, we have too few soldiers and horses that can fight. The infantry has been trained for too short a time and cannot be used for a long time. It is better for us to return to Xijing first and defend the place. There will be plenty of opportunities in the future!"

The gap between 50,000 and 100,000 is too big. Guo Jing only has 10,000 cavalrymen as the trump card that can fight. Many of the remaining 40,000 infantrymen are newly trained soldiers who have never participated in a major battle. If they are surrounded by the enemy, accidents are inevitable.

(End of this chapter)