Man Tang Huacai

Chapter 433: Go south to suppress thieves
Finally, when it was time to break out, Helan Jinming put on his majestic armor and looked at the elegant and handsome image in the mirror for a long time.

"Brother, there is no need to be nervous." Helan Zhijia said: "If he is really captured by Shi Siming, at worst, he will be surrendered, and his life will not be lost."

"Shut up. Our ancestors have been loyal ministers of the Tang Dynasty for generations. How can we forget the danger of our country and seek a career?!"

He Lanjin scolded his brothers righteously and sternly, and strode out accompanied by the clanging sound of armor. Helan Zhijia thought to himself that no matter what his brother's intentions were, if he was really in danger, he would definitely save his brother's life even if he was blamed.

As for betraying the country and being reviled by the Qing Dynasty, he will bear the blame.

The two brothers rushed to the school field in the city with their own thoughts. More than 3,000 Beihai County soldiers under their command were already lined up and ready to go.

The leading general is named Ma Xiangru, who is from Qingzhou. His name is only one less "Si" than Sima Xiangru, but his image is completely different. He is a tall and thick man.

"Old Ma." Helan Jinming waved to Ma Xiangru and said, "According to what was said the day before yesterday, Li Zejiao will lead the Pingyuan County soldiers to go with us."

"Here."

Ma Xiangru was quite upright, so Helan Jinming did not tell him too many personal things, and whispered: "If Xue Bai and Yan Gaoqing want to lead their troops to cut off the rear, you don't have to pay attention to them."

Ma Xiangru was still thinking about meritorious service and was stunned for a moment when he heard this. However, in line with his obedience to the prefect, he still responded. After observing the enemy's situation, he went down to the tower to pass orders to the various commanders.

Climbing the rickety wooden ladder to the highest point of the city tower, you can see the boundary between heaven and earth, and you can also see the movement of rebels in four directions outside the city from a distance.

Yunzhong City is located in a border town and is a powerful force in the east of the river. It is far from being comparable to the soldiers and horses of the three counties of Changshan, Pingyuan and Beihai. Only Wang Nan can control it. After being suppressed, this troop can lead its comrades well.

Exactly, after being in a cage for a long time, you can return to nature. Wide sea diving, sky high the birds to fly.

As a result, Shi Siming's main force had withdrawn, and the remaining troops had a difficult time coping with the Tang army's breakout. Visible to the naked eye, as the flags waved, most of the rebels were surrounding them to the west.

The Pingyuan County soldiers were obviously more familiar with the terrain, so Helan Jinming once again ordered the Beihai County soldiers to follow Li Zejiao's flag.

Everything was going according to Helan Jinming's plan, so he kept urging the Beihai County soldiers to immediately take away all the horses in the city and hand over the city with Li Ze.

Wang Nan is a person who can scare the rebel generals, so he can't help but be unconvinced.

It is very likely that Xue Bai, Yan Gaoqing and others cannot be separated, but the only blame is that they are too famous, insisting on calling on the counties in Hebei, and coveting the prestige of the alliance leader.

These soldiers and horses were well prepared and immediately rushed to Beicheng.

Ma Xiangru originally thought that he would be the next soldier to leave the city and perform meritorious service, but then he heard Helan Jinming say: "Follow me to the city tower."

Yun Zhongjun's shouts of killing spread to the city, and the morale of all Tang troops was boosted.

The war drums sounded suddenly, and the west city gate of Pingyuan County opened wide.

"Go to Changshan County!"

The city cave is three feet and five feet long, dark and narrow. When you drive your horse through the city cave and step across the moat suspension bridge, the wind blowing in your face carries the smell of earth and the heat of summer.

In the front, Li Zejiao led all elites, and they quickly penetrated the already sparse formation of the rebels and quickly marched to the north.

Wang Rao fiercely thrust out the gun in his hand, stepped on the rebel shield with his horse's hoof, and moved forward, crushing the sternum of a rebel soldier. The rebels were digging as usual and were caught off guard by the sudden attack.

suddenly.

If you follow what he said, there is no need to break out of the encirclement, just chase Shi Siming and kill him to be called a hero.

"Brothers!" Ma Xiangru said in a long voice, and raised his hand with the enthusiasm typical of a Shandong man, "Kill the thief and make meritorious service to win over your mother-in-law! Can you win?!"

Helan Jinming took a long breath and looked back. Pingyuan County had become a hand-sized outline on the horizon, but the dust and smoke in the west were still flying high, which showed the intensity of the war.

After all, it is a three-county alliance. There is no unified command and dispatch. Several troops are arrayed in the school field inside the city gate and do their own thing. If there is more selfishness and care, it is really possible that no one will support Yun Zhongjun.

"Go down with the order and follow General Lee's flag!"

"Boom!"

Helan Jinming watched for a long time, and when Yan Gaoqing led Diao Wansui, the deputy general of the Pingyuan County Army, out of the city, he said: "Let's go from the north."

However, just when he wanted to ask for orders to go out, Helan Jinming ordered him to wait. So, in just a moment, Xue Bai led the Changshan County soldiers to kill them.

"Report!"

Just like a gun, Yun Zhongjun is its tip, hard and sharp enough.

"The breakout was successful."

"lets go."

Ma Xiangru was also eager to try after hearing this. He used to run rampant in Qingzhou and always felt that he was so arrogant that no one took him seriously. But this time he was really frightened by some generals in Shi Siming's army.

As soon as Yan Gaoqing left the city, Li Zejiao, who stayed in the city, did not continue to defend the city according to Yan Gaoqing's instructions. Instead, he suddenly mobilized a group of his trusted soldiers. The number was not large, only more than two hundred. people, but they are all elite cavalry.

Gradually, the sun moves westward.

Ma Xiangru believed Xue Bai's words very much. The whole of Hebei and even Fan Yang had done something righteous. This was something he had seen with his own eyes, and it couldn't be false. The counter-insurgency is obviously just around the corner, and now is not a good opportunity to make meritorious deeds.

"kill!"

"Open the city gate!"

The first one to kill was still Wang Rao. The ability of a famous general was not only reflected in his strong force, but also reflected in many aspects. For example, every soldier in the army admired him and could make him use his fingers like an arm.

"Here."

"Catch! Hit! Hit!"

This was Helan Jinming's first time out of the city since he was besieged. He took a long, deep breath and felt extremely free.

"Here."

The exploration horses sent by Li Zejiao were running back quickly, and the team stopped.

Helan Jinming couldn't see what happened, so the two brothers drove their horses forward towards Li Zejiao, asking loudly: "What happened?!"

Before they could answer, they saw a commotion coming from the woods ahead, and smoke rising from the woods.

"ambush?!"

Soon, a big flag with the word "History" appeared in the field of vision. There was a roar, and the rebels rushed out of the woods and rushed this way.

"Shi Siming?!" He Lan Jinming couldn't believe it and said in shock: "Why hasn't he gone to Fan Yang yet?!"

Helan Zhijia raised his eyebrows and said: "Xue Bai fell into the trap. Fan Yang stayed behind and Jia Xun's rebellion was probably fake. It was Shi Siming's plan to lure us out of the city."

"Get out."

The next moment, more than twenty cavalrymen came over and surrounded them.

Helan Jinming was greatly shocked. He looked at Li Zejiao and asked, "What are you doing?"

"Please give an order from the prefect. All Beihai County soldiers should obey my command."

"What?! You..."

"Woo——"

As the horn sound got closer, Li Zejiao didn't bother to say anything more and immediately blew the whistle for retreat.

The more than two hundred cavalry were extremely flexible. They made a circle to adjust their direction, bypassed the array of Beihai County soldiers, and fled south. At this time, three thousand Beihai County soldiers were still bloated.

"Follow up! Keep up!"

Li Zejiao passed by Beihai County soldiers one after another and kept shouting.

"Hurry up!"

The situation was critical, and the constant urging forced the Beihai County soldiers to have no time to think too much. Instead, they continued to chase Li Zejiao's flag.

~~
Under the banner with the word "History", Shi Siming sat astride the horse with a stern expression, staring at the flag in the distance, slightly surprised.

He also received news from Fan Yang and knew that Jia Xun, Liu Kenu, Wang Xuanzhi and others had betrayed. Now that An Lushan had appointed him to stay in Fan Yang, he must return to Fan Yang to deal with it. Fortunately, Xiang Runke had already killed Jia Xun, leaving him with time to defeat the main force of the Tang army still active in Hebei and An Lushan's biggest enemy, Xue Bai.

A few nights ago, a messenger from Changshan ran to Pingyuan City under the cover of darkness and was escorted into the city by the defenders. He expected that as long as he pretended to withdraw most of his troops and horses, the defenders would think he had retreated and would break out. So he hid his troops in the woods outside the city and sent out a large number of scouting horses, waiting for the defenders to take the bait.

All the movements of the defenders today were actually under Shi Siming's control. He confirmed that the defenders were pretending to attack the west, but were actually breaking out to the north, and then tightened the encirclement.

But when the soldiers finally met, Shi Siming realized something was wrong. The Tang army heading north was not carrying a banner with the word "Xue", but the word "Helan".

Therefore, he did not want to gather troops to encircle and suppress this army to prevent Xue Bai from escaping from other directions. After all, Xue Bai was far more worthy of attention than Helan Jinming.

"General!"

Suddenly, Shi Siming's horsemen rushed over and reported: "We captured a group of Tang Army's trust horses and intercepted important information!"

"Give me!"

Although Shi Siming was a Turk, he was very studious. Not only could he read, but he could also write poetry. He took the information with his big hand, opened it, and found that it was an edict from Chang'an.

"Let Helan enter the Ming Dynasty to recruit envoys to Hebei?"

Shi Siming murmured to himself, his eyes showing contemplation, but he couldn't figure it out, so he had to order: "Bring the messenger, I want to question him personally."

Six messengers were brought to him, and based on their accents, the wear of their boots and other details, he quickly determined that two of them were from Guanzhong.

"Why appoint He Lan Jinming as the envoy?"

"This... he is highly respected, he is a royal in-law, and he is loyal to the saint."

"Let you tell the truth!"

"Yes, yes, the saint handed over a secret decree to Helan Jinming, asking him to capture Xue Bai and go to the capital. After a few days, Helan Jinming could not convince the crowd at that time, so he sent us to come and read out the appointment in public and give him the instructions face to face. We also arrived at Changshan County. , only to find out that Helan Jinming and Xue Bai went to the plain together, and quickly chased them. Unexpectedly... they were lucky enough to meet the general. "

"What's the right time for face-to-face teaching?"

"Xue Bai seems to be suspected of constructing the East Palace and deliberately conniving with the traitors. No, he is conniving with the noble army to invade Hebei and invade Luoyang..."

"fart!"

The rebel generals cursed.

"How can we, who conquered Luoyang with our own skills, be condoned by Xue Bai?!"

"The Dog Emperor is so stupid that he should step down from the throne..."

Shi Siming looked at the messenger carefully to make sure that what they said was true, and then moved his eyes back to the big flag with the word "Helan" in it.

At this time, Helan Jinming's weight in his eyes was completely different. He was the real Hebei envoy.

"Send the order to encircle! Helan Jinming must be intercepted and killed!"

"Surround Pingyuan City and never let them return to the city!"

Soldiers and horses were mobilized, and the rebel cavalry attacked Helan Jinming's banner from all directions.

The weather in the afternoon became more and more muggy, and the dark clouds gradually condensed and became lower in the sky.

Suddenly, thunder sounded.

Some soldiers among the rebels were startled, thinking that the Tang army had explosives. When they looked up, they realized that there was really going to be thunder.

"Report!"

"General, the Tang army has broken through from the south!"

"Keep exploring!"

Shi Siming did not respond immediately because the Tang army should not go south. This was probably a deception to rescue Helan Jinming.

But after a long time, he got unexpected news.

"Report! General, the Tang army has robbed our pontoon bridge on the Tuhai River..."

"Chase!"

~~
Accompanied by thunder, heavy rain fell.

Sixty miles south of Pingyuan County, there is a large river with rough waves.

Just hearing the name of the river "Tuhai", you know that the river is difficult to tame, and it is one of the nine rivers dredged by Dayu.

In the evening, a body was thrown into the river and was quickly swept away without a trace.

"The Tang army is coming!" "Plop."

With the rebels defeated, the Tang army quickly occupied the floating bridge on the river.

"Quick! Cross the river!"

Diao Wansui, the general of Pingyuan, arrived as the vanguard. After dismounting, he rubbed his muddy face vigorously and shouted: "Let Prefect Yan cross the river first!"

"The soldiers will go through first."

Yan Gaoqing looked back anxiously, waiting for the follow-up troops to arrive one after another, until he saw Xue Bai's flag, and immediately greeted him.

"Is everything going well? How many casualties were there? Did you bring the remaining food and grass?"

"It went more smoothly than expected." Xue Bai looked back into the rain and said, "Shi Siming sent more troops to the north, but Li Zejiao hasn't come back yet."

"Why?"

"Maybe we are not as important as we thought." Xue Bai said: "Maybe the imperial court has announced the appointment of the Hebei envoy."

Yan Gaoqing was extremely worried and quickly called over Diao Wansui and said: "Quickly lead the troops to rescue Li Zejiao and bring back as many soldiers as possible from Beihai County."

According to their plan, Helan Jinming wanted to abandon them and flee, so he could leave them behind, but the Beihai County soldiers wanted Li Zejiao to bring them back.

"It's too late for General Diao to go again." Xue Bai said: "I have ordered Jiang Hai to die and rescue Li Zejiao as much as possible."

"Can they still break through?"

"I will do my best when I can protect myself." Xue Bai said: "It is too inconvenient for the soldiers and horses of the three counties to not be under each other's control. How about reorganizing after the breakout?"

"It depends on you."

~~
At this time, the fleeing Beihai County soldiers were in a bad situation. They were unable to enter the city due to the siege and blockade by the rebels. Li Zejiao took advantage of Wang's rare opportunity to defeat the rebels in the west, and led them to bypass the city from the west and escape south.

But because they were too far away from the main force, they were still surrounded in the evening after running for more than thirty miles.

"Prefect?!"

In the heavy rain, Ma Xiangru wiped his face hard, widened his eyes, and tried hard to find Brother Helan Jinming.

"Can you see the prefect?!"

Ahead, Li Zejiao turned his horse around and came back. He squeezed through the crowd and grabbed his reins, shouting, "What are you still doing?! Why don't you command the soldiers to break out with me?!"

"My governor..."

"Prefect Helan asked you to follow me! Which is more important, officialdom or victory or defeat? Take your brother with you and follow me!"

Ma Xiangru was stunned and looked back again. Helan Jinming could not be found in the rain curtain.

"Let me go!" Li Zejiao shouted again. This was his last test. If Ma Xiangru still didn't make up his mind, he would kill Ma Xiangru and seize power.

"middle!"

Ma Xiangru quickly had an idea.

"Brothers, don't be confused. Listen carefully. Governor Xue has broken through and captured the pontoon in front. Let's go and join him!"

"Shout! Follow my butt hammer!"

"Follow the general and kill!"

He had not received Helan Jinming's order before, and had been in a state of confusion. Only then did he finally cheer up, wave the flag, beat the war drum, and let the soldiers shout for kill, so as to confirm his position in the heavy rain. After that, he straightened up his long body and rushed forward to kill.

"Kill!"

In this way, the soldiers of Beihai County knew the location of their general, and followed his direction to kill him.

In this kind of weather, visibility is too low, and encirclement and suppression requires mobilizing more troops and more command, which is very disadvantageous. Soon, the rebels' encirclement began to loosen.

At this time, shouts of killing also rang out from the south.

"Master Wang is here! Go this way to Paoze of Beihai County!"

Ma Xiangru stared and saw Jiang Hai's banner in the rain, and couldn't help but be very excited.

"General Jiang is very energetic!"

He temporarily forgot about Helan Jinming, kicked the horse in the belly, and ran towards Jiang Hai.

As for the few rebels blocking them, they were quickly knocked away by his weapons and armor.

"Breakout! Breakout!"

In the chaotic situation, Helan Jinming had been held hostage, but the opening they made in the encirclement was still small, and rebels soon appeared in front.

"Whoosh."

Because Helan Jinming's golden armor attracted the attention of the rebels, a sharp arrow suddenly hit his horse. With the horse neighing, he fell to the ground and was immediately injured.

"Brother!"

Helan Zhijia quickly reined in the reins, dismounted and rushed towards Helan Jinming.

This move angered the cavalry holding him hostage, and he stabbed him in the crook of the leg with a spear.

"How dare you run away?!"

Helan Zhijia ignored him, rolled over, crawled under the horse's belly toward Helan Jinming, and shouted: "Brother, they want to harm you, surrender!"

As a result, he was hit by another spear.

"Prefect!"

"Protect the governor!"

Finally, a general from the Northern Navy noticed him and rushed to rescue him. They pressed forward and reined in the horses to prevent them from trampling the brothers.

In this way, Pingyuan County's elite soldiers had no chance to hold them hostage again and simply fled on horseback.

The situation was very chaotic. This movement attracted more loyal Beihai County soldiers and rebels. Both sides rushed in and fought hand to hand. In the heavy rain, the bystanders had no idea what was happening, so they rushed out of the encirclement and fled south.

"Erlang!"

Helan Jinming climbed up from the mud full of blood, picked up Helan Zhijia, and said, "Let's go."

"Brother, you can't die, surrender."

"No, we have been loyal ministers for generations, and we must never surrender to thieves... Our family property is in Jingzhao Mansion."

"Brother's life...is more important than anything else."

Helan Zhijia was already furious, but thinking of being framed by Li Zejiao today, he vomited blood and cursed: "The insidious villain... really deserves to be killed."

"Erlang, I'll take you away." Helan Jinming couldn't drag Helan Zhijia's body, so he had to keep patting his face in order to wake him up, "Let's go."

Helan Zhijia closed her eyes and muttered something with her last strength.

He Lan listened in the Ming Dynasty and heard a few poems written by him.

"If you don't see the rock, the well will be less than a hundred feet away from the spring. If you don't see the wormwood on the mountain, there will be only a few inches of smoke in the clouds."

Helan Zhijia's voice became lower, but there was a slight smile on the corner of his mouth.

In this elegant and prosperous era of the Tang Dynasty, his brother was one of the most elegant people and should not have gone to the battlefield.

"The same is true for life and destiny. Why bother to worry about yourself? I hope my relatives and friends will always smile..."

~~
"Chase!"

The rebels chased the Tang army through the night until dawn the next day, when they finally heard the sound of water flowing louder and louder in front of them.

"They're on the pontoon!"

"Follow me!"

At this time, Ma Xiangru's tribe had just landed on the other side, while Jiang Hai was still crossing the river on the pontoon bridge.

The rebels immediately dismounted and rushed forward. They also rushed onto the pontoon bridge, raised their bows and nocked arrows, and fired arrows at the Tang soldiers.

"Swish swish swish."

In the rain of arrows, Jiang Hai held a shield in one hand, strode across the rickety pontoon, and fell into Ma Xiangru's arms.

He looked back, grinned, and shouted: "Behead!"

"Tiger--"

The soldiers holding swords at the pontoon bridge slashed at the same time, cutting off the pontoon bridge in unison.

"Oh!"

The river quickly swallowed the pontoon bridge, and the rebels on it.

After a day and night of fighting, the Tang troops stopped and looked at the surging river, turned back, and headed south.

~~
A thunderstorm comes and goes quickly.

The next day, the sun shone in the courtyard of Yuchengyi.

Xue Bai spread out the map and looked around at the generals. He didn't do much mobilization and only gave them confidence with his firm eyes.

"Tell me some bad news. Luoyang has been lost. This is why Shi Siming left and came back."

With one sentence, Ma Xiangru was immediately stunned and shouted: "But Luoyang seems to be the capital of the East..."

"Don't you have confidence in the imperial court to quell the rebellion?" Xue Bai asked: "The Zhaozhao Tang Dynasty can't put down the rebellion of a miscreant?"

"Of course not!" Ma Xiangru said without hesitation.

"Yes, so the seventeen counties of Hebei, plus Fanyang, Yuyang, and Andong, are all united. Do you think the rebels have any long-term territory? No! They only have a route, a route to quickly attack Chang'an."

Xue Bai picked up the charcoal and drew a line on the map.

"From Fan Yang to Wei County, to Kaifeng, to Luoyang, to Tongguan. Now most of the rebel forces and supplies are on this line, as busy as ants before the rain. Why? They are anxious, they can't stand it They only want to conquer Chang'an quickly. The Tang Dynasty is too powerful, and they only have a short time to take advantage of the emptiness in Guanzhong to attack the emperor. "

Ma Xiangru scratched his head.

Diao Wansui took him in his arms and said, "Don't you understand? It seems critical right now. It's a good time to get an official position."

"I understand, I just don't know what to do."

"The reason why Prefect Yan and I took you south is to achieve meritorious service."

Xue Bai drew a picture of the situation and continued: "Right now, soldiers and horses from Huainan, Shannan, Guanzhong, Hedong, and Longyou are all besieging the rebels. Where to attack? Luoyang, Anlu Mountain is now in Luoyang. Therefore, we Going to Huainan Road, where there is plenty of food and supplies, and we can accomplish the great feat of slaying the bandit leader, wouldn't it be better than holding on in the plains?"

"Ah!" Ma Xiangru said: "So that's it!"

"Shi Siming was originally going to return to Fan Yang, but he was worried that we were going south to attack Anlu Mountain in an attempt to stop us."

Xue Bai didn't exaggerate too much, he sneered slightly, his eyes revealed the ambition and longing to become a prince through meritorious service, which made all the generals feel that he went south to gain credit.

As a result, in the midst of distress, everyone cheered up.

"Tell me the specific route."

"it is good!"

Heads wearing helmets crowded onto the top of the map.

"As I said just now, the rebel forces are concentrated on this route. Therefore, they have no time to pay attention to the southeast direction of Pingyuan County. We spread the message to Hebei, and many counties responded and can provide us with food and grass in the near future. We You can rest along the way.”

Having said this, all the generals were happy and thought that they could go to Jinan.

Xue Bai changed the topic and said: "But Shi Siming must also know this. He will probably catch up before we cross the Yellow River. If we go from the southeast, there is no guarantee that we will not be pursued by him."

"That?"

"Here." Xue Bai pointed on the map and said: "Instead of defending, attack Wei Jun, the important transit town of the rebels in Hebei. Give them their food and grass and create a greater momentum. Once Wei Jun is captured, we will move westward." We can cross the Taihang Mountains and cross the Yellow River to the south, so that the rebels cannot guess our thoughts. "

(End of this chapter)