Late Tang Dynasty Floating Life

Chapter 34 Hehe County

On the seventeenth day of the second month of the sixth year of Qianfu, the north wind roared and the sky was gloomy.

Kelan Army City, or Kelan Town, is located on Kelan Mountain, two miles east of Langu County.In the first year of Empress Wu's Dazu, the Kelan Army was set up. At the beginning, it had a thousand soldiers, and later increased to 6000 people.It was abolished during the Kaiyuan period, and at the end of the Tang Dynasty, the Kelan Army was reestablished, with more than 12 soldiers in charge.Also in the third year of Chang'an after Empress Wu, Yifang County in Xilan Prefecture was set up as Langu County here, Shenlong was abolished in the second year, and it was relocated in Kaiyuan [-] years.

It can be said that the existence of Langu County and Kelan Town is purely for military purposes, in order to prevent the cavalry from the northern grasslands from moving south and to block the two states of Lan and Shi on the flanks of Taiyuan Prefecture.Last year, Li Keyong defeated Cao Xiang in Honggu, more than ten miles east of the Kelan army, which perfectly confirmed the necessity of the existence of Kelan Town.Without this city, the Datong Army would have already moved south!
After the Tiande army passed Honggu, they sent the vanguard horse team to Langu County, while the infantry brigade accelerated their marching speed and went straight to the military city of Kelan.Everyone knows that this is the time to make achievements, so everyone is fighting for the first place, everyone is brave, and they only encounter obstacles when they reach the vicinity of Kelan Town - a group of soldiers and soldiers of Kelan are guarding the passage and shouting at the sky who came. Germans, make them retreat.

The one who played the vanguard was the capital of Sun Ba in Xicheng.He already knew that the Kelan Army was a "random soldier", so he ordered an attack without any psychological hindrance.The defenders were few, and after resisting for a while, they fled into the mountains.Sun Ba laughed, and immediately led someone to chase after him, before rushing into the military city of Kelan before giving up.

Hao Zhenwei and Qiu Weidao, who were waiting for news outside the city, were a little surprised when they heard that Sun Ba's soldiers took down the military city of Kelan without blood.Thinking about it carefully, but it is reasonable, most of the people who stay here are the old, weak, sick and disabled from the Lanzhou army.
Not long after, You Yi sent Tian Xing's troops to report: When the cavalry rushed to Langu County, some soldiers of the Kelan Army wanted to close the city gate. into the city.The cavalry took advantage of the situation and rushed to kill, killing and wounding more than [-] soldiers. At present, they have firmly controlled the county seat.

The first battle to pacify the chaos went so smoothly, which made Hao and Qiu quite excited.They did not delay, and immediately led the main force of the army to the county town, while Sun Batu was guarding in the military city of Kelan on the mountain, waiting for the next order.

Langu County is not big, with a total of five townships and less than 30,000 people.A typical mountainous agricultural county, part of the river valleys and flat lands on both sides of the Kelan River (now Lanyi River) are reclaimed and planted, which is the essence of the county.However, due to the raging chaos, few people were seen along the way. A large number of Tutuan villagers gathered in Weiwubao Village, equipped with long guns, bows and arrows, watching the Tiande Army Brigade nervously.

At noon, the army entered the city in batches.Hao Zhenwei did his part in occupying the county office, while Qiu Weidao signed an empty courtyard as a place to stay.After lunch, the generals entered the county government office to discuss matters. Shao Shude was not a high-ranking person and stood a little far away, but it didn't matter.

"This general is on behalf of Beibei to envoy Cui Dashuai's order to calm down the Kelan army's rebellion." Hao Zhenwei sat on the head, looked at the generals, and said in a deep voice: "You are not new recruits anymore, you should know that you need to fight the chaos. Cut the chaos quickly, don't let the rebel army have time to react. Last time it was reported that the rebel army pushed ten generals Jin Zhi to stay behind the Kelan army and occupied Lanzhou. Wu Bin took 2000 people to Shizhou with him. The whereabouts of Jia Jingsi, the envoy of the Kelan Army, is unknown, and Li Shao, the envoy of Hedong Observation, went to Hehe County. His troops are few and few, and he is in danger. Gentlemen, the Datong rebels are sharpening their swords in the north, and there are elbow and armpit chaos inside. I will not plan to Delay, I want to march quickly."

Hao Zhenwei's words were spoken in a firm tone, and it was not a discussion, but a decision.None of the generals had any objection, but Qiu Weidao, the military envoy, made a point: "General, I want to go to Hehe County and invite Li Shao back. In the situation of Lan and Shi, I still need him to come forward and join the camp. communication.”

Hao Zhenwei pondered for a while, and said, "The troops are tight, so we can't divide them any more."

"This..." Qiu Weidao was also a little blind, he cherished his life very much.Although the [-] or so people of Shao Shude's Department of Protecting the Army look quite decent, but after all, there are few people. If they encounter a brigade of disorderly troops, wouldn't it be dangerous?
"Supervisor, don't panic. The Lan army is scattered everywhere now, how much can Jin Zhi and Wu Bin be restrained? Even if they swallow some state and county troops, they will definitely not be many. Qiu Shi You just need to be careful, and Deputy General Shao is invincible, what can you do?" Someone suddenly said, "Since I'm going to invite Li Shao, can I do it without taking some risks?"

Shao Shude glanced at the speaker, who seemed to be Shi Rong, the tenth general of the North City, and Hao Zhenwei's confidant.This fellow spoke in a frivolous tone, and he didn't pay any attention to the No. [-] figure in the Tiande Army, which was really hateful.

Qiu Weidao also glared at Shi Rong when he heard the words, but this guy didn't take it seriously at all. Instead, he looked at the supervisor with a smile. He was indeed a martial artist and was extremely arrogant.

"The military envoy, Shi Rong is right. From Langu County to Hehe County, the road is smooth and easy to travel along the Lanhe Valley. Two hundred miles, it will arrive in seven or eight days. Now that the chaotic army is scattered, your troops There are more than [-] people in the army, and the general will send fifty elite cavalry to see them off.In fact, he also wanted to set aside the supervising army. There are a lot of things that the Tiande army has to do next. Whether it is collecting money or annexing the Kelan army, it is best not to have anyone hindering the army. Although this Qiu Shijun had previously Seems to have always been acquainted.

"The general will talk like this, and the envoy has nothing to say, so let's go." After that, Qiu Weidao, who looked a little unsightly, got up and left the county office. Shao Shude quickly followed and returned to the military prison together.

In the military prison, the atmosphere was somewhat solemn.Qiu Weidao did not speak with a dark face, and Shao Shude did not know how to persuade him.

He witnessed the whole process and knew that Qiu Weidao wanted to show his face and make a contribution, that's all.Civilians and military officers have different pursuits. Like the Tiande Army, they just want to calm the chaos and make money. The officers of a certain level also want to gather up the chaos and enrich their ranks. The warlords are true.But the supervisor Qiu Weidao was different. He was in a hurry to find Li Shao, the observation envoy of Hedong. Once he was invited back to Lanzhou to sit in town, it would be an opportunity to appear in front of big figures in Beijing. How could he miss it?
However, he was a little afraid of death after all.If there were only two hundred people around, it would be a bit inappropriate.Even though Hao Zhenwei had promised to send an additional fifty cavalry to him, he was still not at ease.But the matter has come to this point, self-pity is useless, he mentioned this matter, but he is not willing to change his mind.The more than [-] miles from Langu to Hehe will be finished with tears in my eyes.

"Your Majesty, the dispatchers have sent a batch of equipment, and the subordinate officials have already signed for them, and there are steps in the plan—"

"You can watch the distribution for yourself, the ambassador still has something to do." Qiu Weidao waved his hand and went straight to the backyard, leaving Song Le alone there.

After the Tiande Army took Kelan Town and Langu County, they captured some prisoners, about 300 people.Hao Zhenwei was quite reasonable, knowing that Qiu Weidao's fifth guard army had only 210 people, which was not enough, so he selected 50 strong and strong people to send them over. After making up the shortage, Shao Shude could still send ten soldiers.

Of course, Shao Shude was rude to these soldiers. After they were scattered, they were mixed into each team. At the same time, ten people were drawn from the old five teams to serve as personal soldiers. His original two personal soldiers had already joined the team. Yes, this time the ten people are mixed, but Cai Songyang, the leader of the team, is an old man in Xicheng.

And with people, there must be equipment.Hao Zhenwei brought some arrows, spears, spears, horizontal knives and the like over, but he refused to give the others.After all, he wanted ten iron armors, and Shao Shude distributed them directly to his personal soldiers, which made the combat effectiveness of these ten men reach a new level, and the number of iron armors in the whole team reached more than thirty, which is only 260 people in a team. For a small team of people, it is very impressive.

Military travel has never been an easy task.Although it is less than a ten-day journey, food, medicinal materials, weapons, workhorses, carts and even camping equipment are indispensable.Shao Shude is a very strict person. At the same time, with the help of the mature and serious Li Yanling, he quickly gathered these things and put them on a cart and a packhorse.

In the early morning of February [-], after having breakfast at the Military Academy, the army maintained the equipment for a while, and then received the order to set off.Hao Zhenwei didn't send anyone to deliver it. He was very busy, and the big and small army leaders under his command were all over the city to make money.The arrested officers of the Kelan Army were really bloody mildewed. They were tortured into human form, forcing them to spit out the goods they swallowed.Qiu Weidao was not bothered by sight, and hurriedly urged everyone to go on the road.

The road to Hehe County is not difficult, just walk along the Kelan River Valley, there is a direct road, and the total is about two hundred miles.From February 25th, Qiu Weidao, Shao Shude and his group stayed overnight at Xiaoxing, and went all the way until noon on February [-]th, and finally arrived near the mouth of the lower reaches of the Kelan River.

At this time, the Kelan River had just thawed, and the clear water was flowing quietly. It turned a bend here and turned south, forming a rare shoal ferry.There is a village at the bend of the river, where more than a hundred families live.Shao Shude sent Li Yanling forward, exchanged silk for some water, and borrowed a few houses for Qiu Weidao and others to rest—more than 300 people, as well as horses and carts, it is impossible to live in the village without all the villagers. drive away.

Along the way, no one encountered any danger.Qiu Weidao was very worried at first, but after walking for seven or eight days, he encountered a group of rebels, probably dozens of people.Seeing them from a distance, they ran away, and Shao Shude didn't order to pursue them. After all, they only have two legs, so they might not be able to walk fast.As for the cavalry of 50 people that Hao Zhenwei sent to escort, hehe, they didn't mean to move at all.

Go here, and then go south for less than five miles, you will be Hehejin.Next to Hehejin is Hehe Pass, which is the pass of the Sui Great Wall and has been abandoned.There are about 10,000 people in Hehe County, which is on the south bank of Weifen River Estuary, forty miles away.Weifen County was established in Weifen Valley in the Northern Wei Dynasty. In the seventh year of Wude of Tang Dynasty, it was changed to Linjin County, and in the first year of Zhenguan, it was changed to Hehe County. Because there is Weifen River under the city, it joins the Yellow River in the west, so it is called Hehe River.Li Shao, who was observing the east of the river, was startled by Kelan's rebellious army, and now he is hiding here to watch the situation.

Qiu Weidao didn't plan to stay here too much. After resting for an hour, he ordered to set off and spend the night in Hehejin tonight.

(End of this chapter)