Dawn of the Empire

Chapter 389 What is the crime of common people (2)

The camp of the Liao army was dark and gloomy, clearly divided into three parts: the headquarters of the Liao army, the peripheral signing army, and the Mierbo camp.Under the night, the huts of the signing army were simple and crude, the camp of the Liao army was solid and orderly, and the tents of the Mierbo camp were sparse and quiet, as if no one lived there.However, a few hundred steps away from the signing army camp, the three of them were stopped by a group of Mierb cavalry patrolling the night.

Being pointed condescendingly by several cavalry bows, Qiu Shiba only felt his calf twist, tremblingly watched Su Meng and Mierbo cavalry explain.The leader of the Mierbo cavalry can only speak the Mobei barbarian dialect, the Jurchen commander Dalugu can only speak Han, Jurchen, and Khitan dialects, Qiu Shiba can only speak Chinese and Khitan dialects, but Su Menghui They spoke a little Mobei barbarian language, and talked for a long time, even with pictures, before the Mierbo cavalry escorted them into the camp of the Liao army.At this time, the centurion commanders under Dalugu's command were still tied at the entrance of the tent of the central army, and they had to ask and behead the military law before they attacked the city tomorrow.When the six centurions saw Dalugu's return, they were all pleasantly surprised, and even thanked the Changshengtian for their blessings, allowing everyone to regain their lives.

Xiao Tachi looked at Su Meng and Qiu Shiba who were kneeling on the ground, and ordered them to untie their general robes, and the marks of the Han slaves on their backs were unmistakable, they were all old scars, not spies from the Southern Song Dynasty.Qiu Shiba had two or three new scars on his body, while the new scars on Su Meng's body were not critical, but there were more than 20 of them in size. He smiled and said, "You are brave in battle, how many times have you been in battle?" ?”

Su Meng didn't dare to raise his head, stared at the ground, and said slowly: "I don't remember clearly, the villain only knows how to obey orders and fight, and is willing to die for General Xiao." His voice was not loud, but his articulate words were very clear. Loyalty comes naturally, which made Qiu Shiba feel envious for a while, and hurriedly said: "The villain is also... yes. I work for the adults..." The tone is timid and timid, far less calm than Su Meng.

"Okay!" Xiao Tachi laughed happily, and said to his lieutenants Xiao Ping and Brother Tiemu, "Among the Han'er, there are also those who are loyal to Daliao." He paused, and then said, "It's impossible to be so loyal. Wronged and ruined. In my opinion, this Su Meng can go to the death camp to become a centurion commander, and other things, he can be a ten commander." He looked down on Qiu Shiba's lack of scars, but tried his best to praise Su Meng.Xiao Tachi's plan was to slowly build up the trusted Han army camp to make up for the shortage of the Baidiao camp and Mierbo's army, so as not to be hindered by Khitan and Xi Jinping in the future.Therefore, among the signing troops who fought ten times without dying, the strong ones were selected to form a death battalion. Although the number was small, their bravery and ability to fight were no less than that of Jurchen and Xi Jun.Although the construction of the Han army camp was against the national policy of Yelu Dashi, Xiao Tachi was the southern expedition to the capital and established a death camp of 600 people.

So Xiao Ping said to the two with a smile: "Master Du Tong praised you, why don't you hurry up and kowtow!" Su Meng and Qiu 18 were in a hurry to thank them.Xiao Tachi waved the two of them to retreat, looked at the map of Kyushu behind the mountain, pondered for a while and said: "The Song army has many soldiers and horses, and they are so capable of fighting. Generals, do you have any good strategies to defeat the enemy?"

All the generals of the Liao Kingdom looked at each other in blank dismay. If there is a good strategy, why wait until now?Datong Mansion in Xijing is a fortified city that has been run by the Liao Kingdom for many years. The rammed earth walls are so thick that even a ten-thousand-jin iron barrel cannon can hardly blow them down. How could it be so easy to capture?After a while, Temuge Fang said: "Since Yunzhou can't be defeated, why bother to directly attack Yunzhou? In my opinion, it's like pulling up a big tree. If you pull up the tree directly, I'm afraid it won't be able to be pulled up. How about First cut off its branches and leaves, then dig loose the soil under it, and then shake the trunk constantly, wait until the foundation is completely loose, and then pull out the big tree in one fell swoop."

"Oh?" Xiao Tachi's eyes lit up, and he asked, "Then how do you think this battle should be fought?"

Brother Tiemu said in a deep voice: "If this Yunzhou is a big tree, the big and small castles behind it are just branches and leaves, and the defense is not as tight as Yunzhou. The Song Army of Yunzhou relies on the city to defend the city, but if we These small fortresses were knocked down one by one. No matter how strong Yunzhou is, it is still an isolated city. If the Song army is a big tree, and the people of the Song Dynasty are the soil, if all the soil is dug away, the foundation of this big tree will be loose. It is said that Most of the Song army in Yunzhou came from Hedong, if we could enter Hedong and loot everywhere, the Song army would be even more panicked."

Xiao Ping's eyes flashed, and he thought to himself, he didn't expect the barbarians on the grassland to be so scheming.Khitan General Yeluwan immediately retorted: "It's easy for you to say. The key passes in the east of the river, Dongxing Pass, Feihukou, and Yanmen Pass, have been worked hard by the Song people for many years. How can they be so easy to enter. The Song army in Yunzhou has many soldiers and horses. Our army Originally, because of the small number of soldiers, they could not besieged, and if they wanted to divide their troops to attack other cities, wouldn't they just be divided and attacked by the Song army? Besides, the south of Yunzhou was occupied by the Song army. If the lone army went deep, where would the food and grass come from? Transporting grain and grass, but the Song army is likely to cut off the grain road."

Brother Tiemu shook his head and said: "Although the Song army has many soldiers and horses, they only know how to defend the city. If he wants to go out to fight, we will fight him. The other cities are behind Yunzhou City. It has been safe and sound for more than a month, and now it is almost slack. Like the Khitan people, we first eat the cattle and sheep that accompany us, and after the cattle and sheep are eaten up, we shoot and hunt for a living, so what kind of food do we use?"

Brother Tiemu took it for granted, Xiao Ping felt ashamed when he heard it.The Southern Dynasties always thought that the Liao army used grassland to maintain the food and military supplies of the army, but this was not the case more than a hundred years ago.Now that Khitan has been established for more than two hundred years, many Khitan people live more comfortably than Han slaves.If there is no food and grass support, let the Liao army make a living by digging grass and "shooting" hunting, I am afraid that more than half of the Khitan people will starve to death first.At this time, Yeluwan sneered and said, "Do you think the counties in the south are as wild as Mobei, and there are wild animals everywhere for you to hunt?"

Brother Tiemu heard him say "barbarian", his face darkened, he put his hand on the handle of the knife, and was about to stand up, Xiao Ping hurriedly raised his hand, stopped the two sides from arguing, and said to Xiao Tachi in a deep voice: "General Tiemu's words are reasonable, and the Song State has always advertised benevolence and righteousness. If our army divides up and plunders the people, and the Bianliang court criticizes it, Yang Yanqing may not be able to sit securely in Yunzhou." Even so, Xiao Ping still has some doubts. The cavalry bypassed Yunzhou and went south, carrying artillery and other siege equipment, they marched slowly, and it was difficult to achieve a surprise victory.

Xiao Ping frowned, and before he had time to express his doubts, Xiao Tachi smiled and said: "Since General Xiao also said so, General Tie Muge will lead the troops to the south to harass Song Junzhou and counties." He paused, He said to Brother Tiemu, "The bigger the commotion, the better. Let's see if Yang Yanqing can sit still in Yunzhou?" It must be empty. The Mierbo cavalry can fight on their own. More than [-] cavalry marched south, like water poured into the sand.Xiao Tachi had tried this method of warfare during the Northern Expedition to the Jurchens, so he was well aware of its effects.

Inside the Lijing Gate in Luoyang City is the former site of the three provinces and the Fuwei Yamen in the Tang Dynasty. Today, the Xijing Xingying Commander's Mansion in the Song Dynasty occupies a large area.Just across the wall from the Shuai Mansion is the city west market, with more than [-] shops, pedestrians come and go every day, goods pile up like a mountain, the palace inside the wall is majestic, and the access control is strict.Although Cao Jieshuai of the Xijing camp did not act in the White Tiger Hall, there were still two rows of guards of the imperial guards with bright armor and chests and belly standing under the hall.

The high-rise courtyard outside the northeast corner of Baihutang is connected to Baihutang and other government offices, but separated by a wall, it can also be regarded as the private residence of Zhangxin Jiedushi Cao Di.The study here is Cao Di's daily office, and all the cronies and subordinates in the Xijing camp come here to meet Cao Jieshuai if they have something to do.Cao Di has always regarded himself as a Confucian general. In summer, he wears a gauze cap and Ge shirt, and holds a goose feather fan.Only when generals from foreign departments visited, did they make it solemn, and received them in the Baihutang government office in uniform.

"The 5 troops led by the deputy commander-in-chief have arrived in front of Tianjing Pass," Wei Chengji Bing said, "but because the imperial military department said that grain and grass will be collected from the Hedong camp after passing through Tianjing Pass, but Yao Shuai sent someone to ask for grain from the Hedong army. It can be said that all the military rations will be supplied to Yang Yanqing’s Northern Expeditionary Army, and our army should ask the imperial court to provide military rations.” He carefully watched Cao Di write on the high-quality Chengxintang paper, which was taken from the Nantang Palace by Cao’s ancestors during the Southern Expedition. What I got has become a masterpiece, and if I use one in the world, I will lose one.

After a long time, Cao Di finally straightened up, looked at his handwriting with a frown, and folded a corner of the paper in dissatisfaction. The handwriting was considered invalid, and he said in a deep voice: "Then let Yao Zhengping The soldiers are stationed in front of the Tianjingguan, the court is not in a hurry, and Yang Yanqing is not in a hurry, what are we in a hurry for?" He seemed to think of something, and asked, "Is there no news from Missy?"

Wei Chengji's heart moved slightly, and he leaned over and said: "This month, the eldest lady has not come back with a letter from home, do you want someone who can be arranged by the late student to go to Bianliang?" Cao Di's eldest daughter is married to the third brother of today's emperor Jing Zhaoqi is the princess, at first she thought she wanted to be the mother of the world, but now that she ascends the throne, the most taboo is King Jing.The Cao family was also panicked, and had been paying attention to the movement of Bianliang.Wei Chengji selfishly speculated that if the Cao family hadn't been deeply rooted in Xijing, and Xijing was close to the Xia Kingdom, its location was very important, and the dynasty would have uprooted the Cao family no matter what.Not long ago, the censor of the court criticized Pan Ji, the guard of Hangu Dongguan, who was dismissed because of withholding his salary. It was rare for the Privy Council not to ask Cao Di to appoint a subordinate to fill the vacancy. , making Cao Di more vigilant.

"No need," Cao Di's eyelids twitched slightly, sighed, and said lightly, "At this time, if there is no news, it is good news." Write on it.