Fenghou

Chapter 466 Captured
Cao Baozong led more than a hundred of his own soldiers to escape from the barracks and fled northward in a hurry. The old army leaders had mutinied and forced the palace, so they would not let him go. He had to flee back to Lanzhou first, and then return to Xingqing Mansion to file a complaint.

Although Cao Baozong was in a hurry like a bereaved dog, he was in a good mood. At least he got rid of the guilt of losing soldiers and generals. Let the five old army leaders bear everything!
More than a hundred cavalry rushed north all the way, and arrived at Xinxia City in less than an hour. There were [-] soldiers inside, and Cao Baozong was going to take them all away.

The gates of Xinxia City were ajar, the city was empty, there was no one there, the barracks were still there, but there were no people there, as if some mysterious incident happened and the soldiers suddenly disappeared.

Cao Baozong felt something was wrong, he immediately ordered: "Go get some dry food and water, and then leave immediately."

They left in a hurry, did not bring any dry food, and expected to get supplies in Xinxia City, but Xinxia City seemed to be haunted, which really made them panic.

The soldiers ran to the barracks, and soon found more than a hundred dry food and water bottles.

Cao Baozong waved his hands and shouted, "Let's go!"

The crowd turned their horses and rushed out of the city. Unexpectedly, as soon as they ran out of the city gate, they found that the opposite side was full of cavalry from the Song Army, as many as a thousand people. A general shouted, and the cavalry raised their crossbows and aimed at them. .

Cao Baozong shouted in fright: "Don't shoot the arrow, we surrender!"

This is the true face of the children of the Xixia family. At the critical moment, what they thought of was not desperate to break through, but to surrender and beg for mercy.

His subordinates put down their weapons one after another, got off their horses, and a group of Song Army cavalry came up to lead away the horses and seized the weapons.

Hundreds of soldiers rushed up and ordered them to kneel down and tied them behind their backs.

The leading general was Tang Qian. He was ordered to lead a thousand cavalry to stay in Xinxia City. Once the main force of the enemy army entered Xinxia City, his subordinates would crawl out of the tunnel and poison the wells. But they did not wait for the main force of the Xixia Army. , but waited for more than a hundred Xixia cavalry.

If Cao Baozong was not wearing a golden helmet, Tang Qian would have ordered them all to be shot. It was Cao Baozong's golden helmet that made Tang Qian feel strange, and they escaped.

The soldiers found the soldier talisman and command arrow from Cao Baozong's body, and presented them to Tang Qian. Although the soldier talisman was engraved with Xixia characters, Tang Qian knew that these two things were very important.

He urged his horse forward, pressed Cao Baozong's chest with a sharp spear point, and asked coldly: "The commander ordered us not to keep anyone alive, tell us your identity, and see if it's worth saving your life!"

The majesty of Cao Baozong's coach has disappeared. He is eager to save his life at this time, and only wants to be captured by Chen Qing, and then let the emperor redeem him to return to Xixia.

"I am Cao Baozong, the coach of the Xixia Southern Expedition Army!"

"Bullshit!"

Tang Qian scolded angrily: "Why did the head coach of the Xixia Army come here alone? I'll give you one last chance to say! Who are you?"

"I am indeed Cao Baozong. There was a mutiny in the barracks. I escaped overnight and was going back to Lanzhou. The name of the official position is engraved in Chinese characters on my helmet, which can be used as evidence."

Tang Qian picked up his helmet with the tip of a spear and looked closely in front of his eyes. Sure enough, there were two lines of writing on the back, one line was in Xixia script, and the other line was Chinese characters: Cao Baozong, the great general of the Xixia Kingdom conquering the South.

Tang Qian questioned the other soldiers, and it turned out to be Cao Baozong. The matter was very important. He sent someone to report to Yang Zaixing, while leaving the scout capital Lin Tao and [-] soldiers to continue to monitor Xinxia City.

He himself led [-] cavalry to escort Cao Baozong and others to Longxi County by another path.

Chen Qing was awakened by the soldiers in his deep sleep. He heard an unbelievable news that Cao Baozong led the soldiers to flee, but was captured by Yang Zaixing's subordinates and escorted to Longxi County.

This news made Chen Qing surprised, happy and confused, he immediately asked Cao Baozong to be taken to the barracks.

Cao Baozong was taken into a large tent, and he was quite disturbed, he knew that Chen Qing was going to see him.

Of course he had met Chen Qing. Before the battle between the two armies, Chen Qing beheaded several of his generals, which left a deep impression on him.

At this time, the curtain was lifted, and Chen Qing walked in with Niu Gao and Liu Cui.

Cao Baozong quickly stood up, but he didn't salute, and stood there straight. After all, he was the general of Zhengnan, and he couldn't afford to be ashamed of bowing and kneeling in front of the enemy general.

Chen Qing glanced at him and said, "Sit down!"

Cao Baozong sat down silently, and Chen Qing also sat down opposite him. Niu Gao and Liu Cui stood beside Chen Qing like two door gods.

Of course they were not bodyguards, Chen Qing asked them to listen to it and discuss it together.

Chen Qing said calmly: "I know that General Cao is a person of status, and I don't intend to humiliate you and give you some dignity, but the first question is that you must answer my question truthfully. If you answer in detail, let me Satisfied, I will contact Xixia as soon as possible, and ask your emperor to redeem you with [-] sheepskins."

Cao Baozong's eyes suddenly lit up with hope. Thirty thousand sheepskins are not many, and his family has at least [-] sheepskins.

Chen Qing saw the hope in his eyes, and said lightly: "But if your answer dissatisfies me, you can only go to the iron mine to mine with other Xixia prisoners of war. We will talk about it after five years of mining."

"I have nothing to hide, what does Jiedushi want to know?"

"What happened to your barracks, why did you escape?" Chen Qing asked first.

Cao Baozong sighed and said: "These fifty thousand Xixia troops were transferred from various military divisions, each led by five commanders. I myself have no seniority in the army, and I was also despised by the five commanders. The siege lost [-] soldiers, and the five army leaders were angered, and they no longer believed in me, so there was a mutiny."

"What kind of mutiny happened?" Chen Qing asked.

"It's that the United Nations has lifted my command of the army and forced me to agree to their plans. I agreed to them, but I know that Xia Lian, the leader of the five army chiefs, will definitely kill me, and then say that I am seriously ill and die. , it is impossible for him to let me go to the emperor to complain."

It sounds unbelievable, but it makes sense when you think about it carefully. Whether it is the Xixia Army or the Song Army, no general is willing to let a fool control his own destiny.

"It makes sense!"

Chen Qing nodded, "And then?"

"Because I was pretending to be sick and deceived them, and then I escaped from the barracks with my own soldiers just after dark. Get on me in time."

Chen Qing thought for a while and asked again: "You just said that the five military leaders have prepared another plan. What plan?"

"They are planning to withdraw their troops from Lintao Prefecture. I don't know whether they want to occupy Lintao Prefecture or just want to pass through Lintao Prefecture. They just informed me and asked me to agree, but they didn't elaborate."

The other party wanted to go to Lintao Mansion, which was a bit beyond Chen Qing's expectation. He immediately said to Liu Cui: "Send scouts to monitor every move of the other party's camp. If the other party shows signs of withdrawing, please notify me immediately!"

"Follow the order!"

Liu Cui turned and left.

Chen Qing continued to seduce Cao Baozong and said: "As the commander of this army, you must be very clear about its weaknesses. If you can help me wipe out this army, then I don't even need to inform Xixiazi, just directly Inform your family to redeem you and keep it a secret for you, after all, being caught by Song Jun will affect your resume, what is the condition?"

Cao Baozong's heart was as hard as iron at this time. He didn't care about the life and death of this army at all. If the other party wanted to kill him, why couldn't he take revenge on them?
What's more, Chen Qing offered such a tempting offer that he couldn't refuse it.

He sighed: "I can't refuse Jiedushi's offer, and I don't want to refuse, those five bastards should have gone to hell long ago!"

Chen Qing said with a smile: "You tell me! How can I wipe out this army?"

Cao Baozong pondered for a long time and said: "They have many weaknesses, such as low morale of soldiers and hope of returning home, but these are not important. I think their biggest weakness at present is that they cannot cross the Yellow River. Once they have problems with their supplies and food, they will definitely flee to Lanzhou. City, but if your army occupies Lanzhou City first, then they can only go to Agan County, where there is a batch of food stored."

"Can't cross the Yellow River, why?"

"The reason is very simple. They retreated to the Yellow River and encountered ice floods. The river was full of ice floes, and the leather rafts could not withstand it. They had to wait until late February to cross the Yellow River!"

Chen Qing nodded, he knew what to do.

(End of this chapter)