The rise of the prince

Chapter 591 The Tranquility Before the Storm
At dawn, the cold wind came with the morning light, and when the first ray of sunlight pierced the darkness, the huge military camp began to slow down and become alive.

The auxiliary soldiers began to busy feed the horses fodder and clear water, and the head soldiers began to collect water from the river, waiting for everyone to get up.

There was a busy and peaceful scene in the camp. The whistle sounded one after another. The soldiers got up and began to pull up their tents, ready to continue on the road.

Wei Xingping rode to the Chinese army's big tent early in the morning, waiting for dispatch, he couldn't wait long ago.

My father and most of the East Army stayed in Yizhou, but in order not to waste their combat power, he was sent to lead the [-] elite soldiers of the East Army to the north to be dispatched by Yang Hongzhao, the commander of the Chinese Army. middle.

Wei Xingping understood that his father's intention was to show his face in front of the handsome man.

But compared to Yang Hu and Yang Jianye, he couldn't compare. Yang Hu and Yang Jianye followed Guo Yaoshi's surprise attack and invaded Nanjing.

Envy is envy, Wei Xingping didn't care too much about it, probably since he was a child, there was a sister who was stronger than him, and he was used to it.

After a while, the commander came out from the tent.

"Master!" He hastily stepped forward to say hello.

Seeing him nodding his head, Yang Hongzhao looked at the rising sun in the sky, and the red fire clouds formed one piece, stretching over half of the sky.

"It's good for marching. If we go on like this for another two days, we will be able to reach Nanjing City tomorrow afternoon." He said excitedly.

Yang Hongzhao nodded: "Don't take it lightly at this time. Wait until the day is full and set off. You will be in charge of patrolling. The closer you are to Nanjing, the more you must pay attention to it. Although Nanjing is under control, there are still two large armies in the Liao Kingdom. Zhangde Army, beware of surprise attacks."

"Don't worry, Marshal, I will be careful." Wei Xingping patted his chest and promised, and after finishing speaking, he went to mobilize people.

As vanguard scouts, they need to set off first.

After a few days of getting along, he also fully understood the character of Yang Hongzhao, the coach. This man was as experienced as his father, and he was very experienced in various arrangements during the march and camp placement. However, unlike his father, Yang Hongzhao was obviously more cautious. Even so cautious that there is a feeling of not seeking merit, but seeking no fault.

For example, this time, if my father was the coach and heard that Nanjing was captured by a surprise attack, he would definitely speed up and go northward desperately, taking a gamble.

But Yang Hongzhao chose to move steadily and slowly to the north.

He didn't know which was better. The army did encounter attacks one after another along the way, just as Yang Hongzhao said, but most of these attacks were sporadic local armed forces. At most, there were no more than 300 people, and it was difficult to pose a threat to the army. .

So Wei Xingping himself didn't understand whether the commander-in-chief's actions were right or wrong.

He rode to the west of the camp. When he arrived at the camp, he called everyone to prepare quickly, feed the horses, put on the armor, take the spear, knife and axe, and use the short bow.

About two quarters of an hour later, five hundred elite cavalry were ready.

Wei Xingping got on his horse and led the crowd along the fence on the west side of the camp and began to detour around the front gate. Many soldiers were pulling up the camp, refusing horses, barriers, fences, and so on.

There are some things that can guarantee that the large army can resist the attack of the large army when they are stationed, which shows that Marshal Yang is cautious.

There was still more than an hour before the army set off, so it was not the busiest time yet, Wei Xingping led people from the west side of the camp to the main entrance.

A mile away is the dense forest at the foot of the mountain. The trees on the side near the camp have been cut down for firewood. According to the local hunters, if you pass through this forest and climb up the mountain, you can see the city of Nanjing in the north. It's just outside the city of Nanjing. Ordinary people only have one day's footsteps to walk. The army marches slower and takes about two days.

There is a valley behind the camp. The army goes in and out of the valley. The width of the valley keeps changing, but it has always remained between three and five feet wide.

Last night, the army could not go out of the valley, but Marshal Yang was worried, and kept telling the soldiers to persist until they came out of the valley before camping, because camping in the valley would stretch the front line too long, and they would not be able to respond from the beginning to the end, Marshal Yang was not at ease.

So the soldiers didn't get to sleep until midnight last night, so they set off at one o'clock tonight.

Wei Xingping and the soldiers guarding the gate greeted him with a smile. They were already familiar with each other, and opened the gate of the camp for him, and dragged the gate to refuse horses.

Wei Xingping was about to take people out when he saw a group of people rushing out of the woods and running towards the camp in the distance.

Enemy attack!

His first reaction was like this, he hurried back, ordered everyone to close the gate of the camp, set up the refusal horses, and the crossbowmen prepared to climb up the wooden watchtowers on both sides. For a moment, the atmosphere became tense.

Wei Xingping also climbed up to a high place, staring at the crowd rushing in from a distance, and slowly frowned, it didn't look like an enemy attack, firstly, the formation was scattered, some were in front, some were behind, and secondly, many people were holding hands. Did not take anything.

As the figures got closer, Wei Xingping was also stunned. These hundreds of people were in a state of embarrassment, their clothes were ragged and messy, like beggars who hadn't eaten for a few days, and soon he recognized one of the people riding a horse in front, Yang Hu !

He was the same generation as him, but a few years older than him. The Yang family in Shanxi and their Wei family were family friends and had close contacts, so he recognized Yang Hu in front of him immediately.

"Brother Yang Hu! What's going on?" He asked hastily when the other side approached.

Yang Hu said in embarrassment: "Most tens of thousands of Liao troops attacked the city, Nanjing City was breached, we couldn't hold it, so we had to flee back desperately, open the door and let us in!"

Wei Xingping was startled, this is not good news, he was about to open the door, but was stopped by the soldiers around him, and whispered: "General, it's better to report back to the commander first."

After being reminded like this, he also instantly realized that all matters in the military must be cautious. He glanced at Yang Hu and the others: "You wait for a while, I will report to the commander in chief."

Yang Hu became anxious and cursed: "Wei Xingping! We were chased by the Liao people for two days, and we managed to escape back. What the hell are you talking about! Open the door and let us in!"

Everyone outside the door looked anxious, but Wei Xingping ignored it, and ran towards the Chinese army on horseback.

When he brought the bad news to Yang Hongzhao, there was no fluctuation on the other party's face, and he didn't seem to be disappointed. He just nodded and said, "Let's take a look." He didn't order to open the door, but was going to see it himself Let's see.

Wei Xingping realized that, yes, for Guo Yaoshi, Yang Hu, Yang Jianye, Tong Guan and others, the surprise attack on Nanjing was their opportunity to make contributions, and it was also the only task they had to do well.

But for the coach Yang Hongzhao, the surprise attack on Nanjing is just one of many feasible methods. Even if it fails, it will not affect the overall situation of the battlefield.

Because the main force of the Central Route Army was built there, it would not be a problem to wait for the army to besiege Nanjing. For Guo Yaoshi and others, it would be a complete failure if Nanjing could not be defended.

That's why the commander didn't show much disappointment in this matter, Wei Xingping thought, followed behind him, and rushed to the camp gate.

(End of this chapter)