Late Tang

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Winter in the Northland is empty, vast and bleak.

The new wind howled in the wilderness, and the frost-stained leaves suddenly drifted in the cold wind, swirling and flying with the wind on the dry ground.

Riding on the horse, Li Jing looked around, and as far as he could see, except for the cavalry line behind him, the clouds were low and heavy, and it seemed that they would soon fall to the top of his head.There is a vast expanse of unmelted snow everywhere, and the glaciers are frozen and frozen.

A few crows landed on the icy poplar trees by the river in the distance, spread their wings, and screamed.

In such a cold weather, looking at this ominous crow, the knights whose noses were so cold that they could no longer feel a sense of desolation couldn't help but feel a sense of desolation in their hearts.

At this time, it was the first day of the first month of the sixth year of Qianfu. I had just resigned from the old year to usher in the first day of the new year. Confronting the rebels in Hebei, Li Jing, the king of Andong County and Daxingtai of Northeast Dao, who sat on the sidelines and watched the success or failure, would choose such a day to intervene in this war.

Li Juyi had just been transferred from the director of the Crane Control Army to the leader of the Jin Jiasheng Jie Army. Although he was somewhat reluctant to part with the Crane Control Cavalry Army founded by his father back then, after Li Jing's transfer order was issued, he still accepted the transfer order happily.In his opinion, the crane-controlling cavalry has always been the most elite cavalry among the armies in the Northeast, but the Jinjia Shengjie Army has always been the image of Li Jing's first army.He has always taken on the important duty of guarding Li Jing, which is completely equivalent to Emperor Chang'an's Shence Army.

Being able to be transferred by his uncle to be the leader of the Jin Jia Sheng Jie Army is a promotion after all.

Li Juyi is more looking forward to the position of one of the six towns' Jiedushi, but he also knows in his heart that when the county king employs people, he pays attention to the separation of civil and military affairs, and uses Wen to rule the military. Literati are all appointed for such important positions as teaching envoys, and it is impossible for military generals to hold these positions.Although he thought in his heart that the Jiedushi was the general who commanded the army and he should use a general who knows the soldiers better, but the county king said that he was his uncle privately, and that he was his master in public. He has to obey.

And from some aspects, he himself admits that under the rule of Dongbei Province, both civil and military affairs are emphasized, and the atmosphere is very good.It is obviously much better than other places that simply emphasize martial arts and restrain literature.

However, the position of Jiedu Envoy of the Six Towns is still vacant, and Li Juyi has not completely given up on the position of commander in chief. In his heart, he is still full of hope for these six commander in chief positions.This time, Jie Shuai suddenly mobilized the Crane Control Cavalry and the Jin Jiasheng Jie Army to go south quietly during the Chinese New Year. Li Juyi called out good luck in his heart.

According to the Marshal, the four towns in Hebei dared to publicize their support for him as the emperor in the newspapers. This was obviously a deliberate use of him.And how can the commander-in-chief be so easy to use? If they don't teach them a lesson, they will really think that the 20 Northeast Army will be sick cats in the future.In addition, the court's recent attitude towards the Northeast Army and the Marshal also made the Marshal feel some pressure.Now that he has accepted the conferment of Northeast Daxingtai from the imperial court, he has to make some statements.

No matter how you look at it, in order to teach the four towns in Hebei a lesson, or to give the court a statement to reassure them for the time being, the commander-in-chief has already decided that the Northeast Army should move at the right time.

Although it was cold winter and it was the New Year, Li Juyi couldn't help feeling excited when he thought that if he could make military achievements this time, he would be one step closer to his dream of being a Jiedushi.

It is now the sixth year of Qianfu, and it has been three years since Qingni Town was destroyed, and his family was ruined and thrown into his uncle Li Jing's command.

From the Crane Army to the Shengjie Army, he was not only an envoy of soldiers and horses, but also the title of Duab Yamen, and the title of Marquis of the Founding County of Qingni, the third rank.Since the county king Li Jing has no brothers, in the army, the two young nephews of Li Jing, Li Wei and Li Yuan, and Li Juyi, the righteous nephew, are the representatives of the Li family in Li Jing's army. The eleven disciples are all the most staunch supporters of the king of the county in the young and strong faction.

This year, Li Juyi was at an age with a bright future.

For this dispatch of troops, Li Jing's plan was to fight a small-scale local battle to push the boundary between the Northeast Army and Lu Long Army from Baoqiushui to the north bank of Lushui.

Liaoxi, Huairou, Luxian, and Yongnu counties will be the targets of the Northeast Army this time.

Take the four counties north of Lushui, and to the west, the Northeast Army has reached the vicinity of the Northwest Gate of Youzhou.In the southeast, the section of the canal after the confluence of the Lushui River and the Sanggan River to the north of the mouth of the Zhangshui River will be completely occupied by the Northeast Army. .

As long as it succeeds, in this way, Lulong Town will lose the land along the coast, and the territory of the Northeast Army will directly connect with Cangzhou, the Hebei Yichang Army that is still under the control of the imperial court.The four towns in Hebei will lose their access to the sea completely.

So far!

Li Jing didn't intend to go directly to Youzhou, the hometown of Lu Longjun. This attack was not only to show Li Jing's current position to the court and the world.At the same time, it is also to show their strength to the four towns in Hebei.Of course, if this operation is successful, it will bring many benefits to the Northeast Army.At least, by mastering more coasts and swallowing four counties at a time, they can approach Junduguan Fortress and Youzhou City at any time.

Between Youzhou and Tanzhou, upstream tributaries such as Lushui River and Baoqiu River are all over the place.

Among the Liaoxi County and Huairou County here, there are also three Jimi Prefectures: Yanzhou, Guishun Prefecture, and Xianzhou, where the Xi, Khitan, and Uighur people who were originally located in Liaoxi and moved to Youzhou in the early years were settled.To the west is the gate of the northwest gate of Youzhou, Guanjimen, and to the south is the city of Youzhou.

Lushui.

Taogushan Post in the north of Liaoxi County.

Zhao Xiong, the envoy of Liaoxi Township, led more than a dozen soldiers and a cavalry infantry from the capital, was patrolling and condolences to this outpost located in the northernmost part of Youzhou Town.This outpost is leaning on the Jundu Mountain on the left, with high mountains on the left, and to the west is the Junduguan Fortress.And in front of it is a plain, Tanzhou surrounded by Yanshan Mountain on three sides.

The west half of Tanzhou is surrounded by plains on three sides, and the east half is Yanshan hills.

The Taogushan outpost is leaning against the west mountain wall and guarding the passage from Tanzhou to the south, with Lushui to the west.

Originally, this outpost was used by the defenders to close the flanks, but now that Tanji Prefecture is lost, it has become the front line of the confrontation between the north of Youzhou and the Northeast Army of Tanzhou.

This was just a routine patrol. Facing the Northeast Army in the north, Youzhou Jiedu made Liu Yue unable to eat well and sleep. worried.After losing the three prefectures of Tanjiping and Pingzhou, Youzhou Town has become a flat plain. For Li Jing, who is guarding the front line of Yanshan Mountains, he has no defense at all.

Liu Yue didn't have the slightest hope that this outpost could play a defensive role in the war, he just hoped that it would be able to detect the changes of the Northeast Army as soon as possible and serve as an alarm.

This outpost is now completely serving as a beacon tower.

Before the New Year, the imperial court appointed Li Jing as the Daxingtai Minister of the Northeast Province, on behalf of the imperial court, he had full authority to manage the military, political and civil affairs of the six towns, 21 states, and [-] counties in the Northeast Province.Afterwards, Li Jing took the decree, presented a form of thanks to the court, and submitted a list of the main officials of Daxingtai to the court.The imperial court approved all of them, and then directly published Li Jing's memorandum and the approval of the emperor and prime ministers in the Royal News.

This matter made the situation in the four towns of Hebei suddenly tense.

Li Jing's attitude made the four towns in Hebei very worried that Li Jing would send troops south.Although the current cold winter does not seem to be the season to send troops, Liu Yue, who is next to Li Jing, dare not be careless. Even if it is the Chinese New Year season, he has issued strict orders to all armies to strengthen their vigilance.

The beacon tower reports every day, and there must be soldiers and horses patrolling the Jiehe River every day.

Zhao Xiong didn't think that Li Jing would really go south, especially during the Chinese New Year, but the military order of the commander-in-chief made him dare not take it lightly, and he always felt uneasy these days, as if foreshadowing Something bad is about to happen.

At the moment when he was in a trance, his head had already run to the river ahead, and he was rummaging through the camels, horses and mules of a caravan.

His loud voice can be heard from a distance, "You businessmen are the same as us soldiers. You can't stay at home with your wife and children on the first day of the new year, but you have to travel outside. .You are still on the road on the first day of the Lunar New Year, what business is so important?"

In a blink of an eye, Zhao Da, the head of the capital, came over with a purse clanging, and said with a smile: "General, I just met a group of traders. They went to Tanzhou to collect fur goods, but the owner of the caravan I was delayed for some time due to illness, so I couldn't go home before the year. The host family is not bad, not only paid the tax in full, but also had good wine in his bag, and gave us two altars. It's freezing cold Yes, how about we leave them at the outpost overnight to avoid the wind and have a hot meal together."

Zhao Xiong looked at the sky, it was indeed not too early, it was too late to go back today.

"Is there anything else to eat besides the wine caravan?" Zhao Xiong asked.

"They still have canned food, some beef hind legs and sheep!" Dutou said immediately.

"Buy all of these, and then invite the caravan. Let's celebrate the new year together. Everyone has a good meal today, and we will return to the county tomorrow morning."

There was a burst of cheers behind them, and several soldiers immediately followed Dutou to the caravan, took them back to the outpost, and went to pay money for the cow's legs, lead the oxen and carry the wine.

"It just so happens that we still have a few fish caught yesterday, which can be cooked in fish soup." The team leader at the post said with a flattering smile.

"Well, there are wine, meat, and fish. This year is not bad!"

The caravan came with the soldiers. This is a small caravan with only about 30 people. There are ten camels, twenty pack horses, and more than [-] mules. They are all fully loaded. It seems that the harvest in Tanzhou is good. .These people also look very ordinary, they are the kind of common leather dealers, not eye-catching.

Zhao Xiong took a few glances, and saw that there was nothing eye-catching, and these people were wearing official certificates issued by Youzhou. Their identities were very clear, so they didn't pay attention. After saying hello, they went back to the fort of the outpost. .

There used to be ten soldiers at the outpost, but Zhao Xiong brought ten soldiers and one hundred horse-riding infantry with him when he went out for inspection this time. There were more than 120 soldiers at the outpost, plus more than twenty people from the caravan. , suddenly became lively.

The one who killed the sheep killed the sheep, and the one who lit the fire, and soon a sumptuous dinner was ready. With the good wine brought out by the caravan, except for a group of soldiers on duty who only drank a small bowl, the rest of the people drank I had a great time drinking.

Eating wine and drinking meat, punching and bragging, soon it was late at night, the banquet was over, and everyone went back to the house drunk.

The [-] or so members of the caravan were also arranged to rest in the stone castle of the outpost. In the middle of the night, the merchants who were already in a mess opened their eyes one by one.

Climbing up one by one, these unremarkable businessmen didn't speak in the dark, they just made various gestures, and then quickly divided into several teams and disappeared into the night.

Behind the outer guard post of the outpost, a businessman suddenly sneaked up, covered his mouth, and then cut a dagger painted in black coldly across the sentry's throat. Before the sentry could make a sound, the light in his eyes shone Dissipated, his body temperature gradually cooled, and he fell limply into the arms of the businessman.

One after another, the guard posts were silently killed, and the leader of the businessman appeared. After some hand gestures, he nodded in satisfaction, took out a lighter from his pocket, and lit three torches in succession. The caravan guys each held one and shook it in circles towards the opposite bank of the river in the north.

A moment later, three torches lit up on the other side.

Suddenly, a group of people sneaked in.

"Has the outpost been cleared?" A young officer walked in the front, and the badge on his chest showed that he was a team leader and a nine-rank accompanying captain.

The leader of the caravan said in a deep voice: "Things have changed. Suddenly, Kaohsiung, the governor of Liaoxi County, came to the outpost. He brought 11 people to inspect and is now in the outpost. We have cleared the sentinels in the outpost. There are still people in the fort. There were 100 people. Most of them were fast asleep, though."

Hearing this unexpected change, the accompanying captain frowned a little, and patted the merchant leader's arm, "Good job, just enough to kill them all."

Although Zhao Xiong had more than a hundred people, the new team leader also led a team of 50 people.Although it was one against two, the sentinels had been cleared before, which was considered a surprise attack against their unpreparedness.

"Turn up the crossbow, surround the fortress, and rush in in a team of three, and kill the rebels on the spot!" The team leader ordered in a low voice, and then rushed over directly holding the crossbow.

Raiding in a group of three, coupled with a hand crossbow, it is completely one-sided **.

When Zhao Xiong was awakened by the screams, less than half of the people in the outpost were left, and they were completely surrounded.

After waking up his own guards, Zhao Xiong wanted to rush out with a knife in his hand, but as soon as he rushed out of the room, they were greeted by a rain of arrows.

Zhao Xiong blocked from left to right, but in the end he was hit by several arrows and fell to the ground. Before he died, when he saw the previous group of businessmen among the people standing in front of him, he finally smiled wryly and remained silent. .

The leader of the businessman stabbed each of the enemy's corpses in the outpost, and then came back to report.

The team leader nodded, "Tell the back, we have taken the Taogushan outpost!" (To be continued.)