Fenghou

Chapter 525 Retreat
The fiasco in Hanzhong was extremely bad. The officials of the Xuanfu Department of Sichuan and Shanxi became prisoners of the Jin soldiers. Ten thousand elite soldiers who had followed Wu Jie for many years were also killed and captured because of Liu Guangshi's incompetence.

This time Wan Yanchang learned the lessons of the previous failures. He was not in a hurry to attack Bashu, but completely controlled the northern line of Jinniu Road and wiped out the Song army in Hanzhong.

The [-] Song troops at Dasan Pass went all the way south under the leadership of Cao De, and were about to rush to Jianmen Pass to join Li Qiong's army. Unexpectedly, when they got news in Hechi County, Liu Guangshi's main force had been wiped out in Nanzheng, and he went south Jinniuguan has been controlled by Jin Bing.

Cao De was shocked by this news, and he made a decision without hesitation. He led his army to turn northwest and take Qilian Road, retreat to Beixianrenguan, and retreat to Qinzhou.

As the news spread, tens of thousands of people in Hechi County withdrew their families and retreated with Cao De's army.

Qi Lian cried loudly and walked very slowly. It took him only three days to walk a hundred miles.

The soldiers were very anxious, the commander Sun Gu stepped forward and said to Cao De: "This will be dragged down by them, it is better for the army to go first."

Cao De smiled wryly and said to the generals: "Do you think Chen Qing will accept us if we leave the common people alone?"

"But. We are Liu Guangshi's people. Will he have prejudice against us?"

Cao De shook his head and said, "Probably not. Although our commanders and generals belong to Liu Guangshi, the army is not. The five thousand soldiers belong to the Wu rank army. He will definitely accept them. Besides, Chen Qing and I are old, so he should be able to accept them." Give me some face."

At this moment, a soldier shouted: "Look, general!"

Everyone looked in the direction of the soldier's finger, and saw black smoke floating into the sky from the southeast, and everyone's hearts sank at the same time. This must be a fire in Hechi County.

It means that the enemy army has chased him to Hechi County.

Cao De shouted: "Let the people go first, and the army will follow me!"

Five thousand Song troops found two commanding heights and set up a large array of crossbows. About an hour later, the fierce sound of horseshoes came from the south, and two thousand Jurchen cavalry came after them like lightning.

The cavalry was getting closer and closer, and after crossing the hundred-pace line, Cao De shouted, "Shoot!"

Five thousand Song troops fired crossbow arrows at the same time, and the five thousand crossbow arrows shot at the Jurchen cavalry from three directions like a storm. Hundreds of people were shot.

The rest of the cavalry were so frightened that they turned their horses and fled south, and they fled without a trace in a blink of an eye.

Cao De didn't retreat right away, he waited until it was dark and there were no more enemy pursuers, and then he led the army northward. .

Perhaps because the Jurchens were chasing them at the same time, the speed of the people's fleeing was significantly accelerated. They went northward overnight, and at noon the next day, they finally arrived at Beixianrenguan. There were also two thousand Song soldiers defending here. The general was Zhang Xuefei, who was originally Liu Zan's His subordinate, who has been in Beixianren Guan for many years, was the deputy commander and was not purged by Liu Guangshi.

Zhang Xuefei's head was as big as a bucket, and he stammered: "General Cao, why don't you lead the people to retreat north! If the Northern Immortal Guan is lost, Chen Dutong will not spare me!"

"If the enemy army comes from the south, can you hold it?"

"It should be possible. The inner pass defends the south, and the outer pass defends the north. This pass is originally designed to defend both the north and the south. I am afraid that there will be troops from Longzhou, but it probably won't happen for a while."

Cao De nodded. He led [-] soldiers to guard tens of thousands of people, passed Beixianren Pass, and headed towards Chengji County along the newly built official road.
The news that Liu Guangshi's main force was destroyed in Hanzhong reached Pingliang County three days later.

Chen Qing, who was about to lead his army to the south, had to change his plan, suspended his attack on Siyang County in Longzhou, and ordered Niu Gao to lead [-] troops to defend Pingliang City.

The main purpose of Chen Qing's arrangement for Liu Zan to guard Lanzhou was to exchange for Niu Gao. Liu Zan guarded Lanzhou City, while Cheng Heng, the guard of Lanzhou City, was transferred to guard Liangzhou. In this way, Niu Gao was transferred back.

The reason why Niu Gao was transferred back was that he was better at defending against fire attacks, and his commanding power was also very high, so he was completely capable of being alone.

On the top of the city, Chen Qing said to Niu Gao: "The significance of Pingliang City is that it is a springboard for us to attack Shaanxi Road, or it can be said to be a poisonous thorn inserted into the enemy's back. It is harmful to both us and the enemy." It is very important, Jin Guo and Puppet Qi will not accept our occupation of Pingliang, and will definitely continue to attack the city. I will leave Wang Duo to you as a lieutenant general, and I will give you ten young commanders, and you can train six thousand well. The newly formed surrender army, in addition, the food, supplies and trebuchets are all left to you, I only have one request, to defend Pingliang City for me."

Niu Gao nodded, "Don't worry, everyone! Pingliang City's conditions are very good, and I will guard the city carefully, especially not letting the enemy's troops join forces to seize the city."

After a pause, Niu Gao worried again and asked, "I don't know how the situation in Hanzhong will develop?"

Chen Qing pondered for a while and said: "This time the Jin soldiers attacked Hanzhong differently than before, and they were well prepared, so I am not in a hurry to attack Fengxiang. The strategy of besieging Wei and saving Zhao may not be effective. We must first stabilize Xihe Road, and then consider how to take it back." Hanzhong."

"The fall of Hanzhong this time will greatly ease the situation of Dutong. At least there are good reasons for not going back to report on work."

Chen Qing shook his head and said sadly: "I have excuses for whether I go back or not. The key is that our pressure has increased. To be honest, I would rather Wu Jie be in Hanzhong, but the court just transferred him away and sent a mediocre future in charge of Sichuan. Shaanxi, completely ruined the foundation of the army that Wu Jie has worked so hard to build up over the years."

That night, Chen Qing returned to Chengji County with [-] troops and [-] camels. Niu Gao was appointed as the Pingliang System Envoy, in charge of the military administration of Liangzhou Prefecture, and led [-] people to guard Liangzhou City.

Three days later, Chen Qing's army returned to Chengji County. When he heard that Cao De had arrived in Chengji County, he was overjoyed and immediately received Cao De at the official office of Jinglue Mansion.

Cao De is a descendant of Cao Bin, a famous general in the Northern Song Dynasty. When Chen Qing was training troops in Lin'an, Cao De competed with him for the barracks.

Cao De has a very good relationship with Gao Ding, and also has a deep friendship with Hu Yantong. These general disciples all grew up together, so Chen Qing simply called the two of them to chat together.

Chen Qing smiled and said: "I heard that Liu Guangshi was defeated in Yangzhou, and I thought that General Cao was also martyred unfortunately. There was indeed this gossip at the time."

Cao De said sadly: "Hey! Don't mention what happened back then. Even my family members prepared for my funeral. I crossed the Yangtze River with a log and was rescued by fishermen. I was the only one among the three thousand brothers who survived. "

"How's the situation in Hanzhong?" Chen Qing changed the subject and asked.

"The Jin Bing probably wanted to occupy Hanzhong, and was not in a hurry to attack Jianmen Pass, but to firmly occupy Hanzhong. This time Liu Guangshi's entire army was wiped out, and it is difficult for Hanzhong to recover."

"This time I clearly sent someone to inform Liu Guangshi, how could his entire army be wiped out?" Chen Qing asked puzzled.

Cao De was a little surprised, "Didn't the governor know about it?"

Chen Qing was startled, "I don't know what?"

Next to him, Zhang Xiao leaned forward and said: "The humble official has not had time to report to Dutong. In fact, Liu Guangshi's entire army was completely destroyed this time. After leaving Nanzheng's lair, all his subordinates had family members in Nanzheng, so he hurried back to Nanzheng with a large army, and was ambushed and defeated by the main force of the Jin army."

Chen Qing's eyes showed anger, "He wants to sneak attack Chengji County?"

Cao De was a little embarrassed and said: "This person has a deep prejudice against the capital. Maybe he wants to eat Xihe Road. He has already had this idea."

Chen Qing snorted coldly, "It seems to be God's will!"

Cao De hastily said again: "I feel that the most urgent task now is how to deal with the Beixianrenguan. Zhang Xuefei led two thousand troops to guard there. I am very worried. The Jin soldiers will attack from the north and the south. I am afraid that the Beixianrenguan will not be able to defend it."

Chen Qing nodded, then turned around and asked Zhang Xiao, "How many troops are there in Weishui City?"

Zhang Xiao hurriedly leaned forward and said, "Report to Dutong, there are about [-] people at present."

Chen Qing made a decisive decision: "I remember that Weishui City was built as a military city with a capacity of [-] people. Immediately add [-] more troops."

(End of this chapter)