Dawn of the Empire

458 Chapter 86

After deciding to go to Ezhou, Zhou He, Wang Chongyi and others set off immediately to escort Zhao Huan to the south.King Jing Zhao Qi was still the target of the Imperial City Department's surveillance not long ago. In all fairness, the generals of the Imperial City Department believed that Zhao Ke was the legitimate orthodox, and they were unwilling to submit to the northern captives because of this. The meaning of the generals.And Zhao Xingde has a relationship with Huangcheng Secretary, both Wang Yan and Shen Yun secretly helped Zhao Xingde back then.

Ma Yuan looked at the backs of the group of people and said enviously, "Hurry up and go, we will be there soon." These Tai students also decided to become Ezhou, but they didn't go with the bandits.In a short while, Tangzishan volunteer soldiers recruited more than ten young men, and Liang Xiu felt very satisfied.At this time, there was a huge gap between the north and the south, and the accent of these refugees was similar to that of Tangzhou people. Liang Xiu thought that they were easier to control than the southerners.Most of the refugees who joined the army had no families, and the northerners were homesick, and they would work harder in wars.

It was not too late, and the people resting in the woods left one after another.This place is only more than 100 miles away from Xiangyang. If you travel fast, you can arrive in Xiangyang tomorrow.The southeast Wangshi stationed heavy troops in Xiangyang, and it was safe for the time being there.When you get there, you can rent a few acres of land and do some work to make ends meet. This is the only plan for most people.People leave their hometowns and are humble, and these people are mostly middle-class families in their hometowns. They have no other extravagant hopes when they leave their hometowns and travel long distances to escape. Not as good as life.

Xiangyang and Fancheng were built with the Han River in the north and south. Before the Fangla chaos, most people in the Song Dynasty knew this place from the Three Kingdoms script. Sun Quan was killed by Huang Zu here, and Guan Yu was defeated after flooding the Seventh Army. It's all a sigh.After the Fangla Rebellion, Xiangyang became the residence of the commander-in-chief of the southeast camp. Liu Yanqing led 8 troops north to King Qin, and walked for more than a month. Then he returned to Xiangyang, and the urgency before and after the march was very different, which was quite criticized by the people of the time.Even so, under the pressure of the northern captive army, this army has become the hope of the southeast half, and many people praise him for his maturity and prudence, for maintaining an elite army for the imperial court.Some unreasonable people even compared the daimyo with Xiangyang, not only accusing Zhao Zhifu, Qin Hui and other Qingliu of wronging the country, but also slandering Wang Yan for not being able to protect the division like Liu Yanqing, and he was the offender of Hebei's defeat.

Liu Yanqing stood at the head of Xiangyang City, looking to the north, there was an endless stream of fleeing people.Asking himself if he was in a daimyo, he would definitely end up better than Wang Yan.Therefore, when the news of Hebei's defeat and Wang Yan's martyrdom came out, Liu Yanqing not only did not feel lucky, but felt sad when the rabbit died.In order to prevent the Liao army from spying, neither Xiangyang nor Fancheng can accept refugees.After the people arrived in Fancheng, deputy generals Fu Dongming and Wang Lin selected Ding Zhuang who were willing to join the army and enriched them in each army. In two months, they had 3 elite soldiers.In addition to the original troops in the southeast camp, the two cities of Xiangfan have gathered [-] troops.

"Commander, this iron-clad Xiangyang, even if Liaogou's army of millions comes to attack, it will have two teeth broken."

Staff member Huang Zhan smiled while holding a folding fan.But Liu Yanqing frowned in deep thought.Huang Zhan secretly thought something was wrong, and carefully kept his mouth shut.Liu Yanqing looked at Fancheng, and the Hanshui ferry never stopped. After a short stay in Fancheng, the refugees crossed the river and went down the river. These days, the ferry boats became more and more insufficient, so that a large number of people had gathered on the north bank of the Hanshui. .

"These poor people." Liu Yanqing shook his head.He was born in a family of generals, although he is not as famous as a scholar, he is also well-clothed and well-fed. He looked at the common people crowded on the shore, and there was a trace of pity in his eyes.Southeast and Hebei moved towns to change commanders. Many of Liu's relatives-in-law in Hebei have already moved to Southeast. It's just that Liu's family is deeply rooted in Hebei, and many distant relatives are trapped in the land occupied by Liao thieves, but Liu Yanqing can't take care of it. coming.

"Commander, the military rations for Ezhou have arrived." General Ding Jidao said.

Liu Yanqing gave a "hmm", indicating that he understood.

Huang Zhan took the opportunity to laugh and said, "The commander-in-chief is majestic, this Chen Shaoyang is quite acquainted."

Liu Yanqing nodded, a look of color flashed across his face.

Xiangfan is a large army city with high ponds and deep ponds, and there are also a lot of grain and grass reserves.But where the army is stationed, food and grass are very expensive, and they are usually transported from southeastern counties, and Ezhou is located at the confluence of the Han River and the Great River, which is the only place where military food is transported.When Chen Dong and Yue Fei raised their troops in Ezhou to honor the Son of Heaven and not obey the order of chaos, Liu Yanqing was still on his way back to Xiangyang, so he explained that the Ministry would prepare to take Ezhou downstream.There is not only the meaning of each being the master, but also to preserve one's own way of life.Unexpectedly, when the army arrived in Xiangfan, they met Chen Dong's emissary.Chen Dong promised not to withhold the military rations sent to Xiangyang by the southeast prefectures and counties, and even a grain of the military rations that should be supplied on the North Jingbei Road.

As a result, Liu Yanqing was shaken again.It is an expedient measure for him to respect Zhao Qi as the emperor. If he raises troops to attack Chen Dong, there will be no room for change in Bianliang.Most importantly, the situation in the north is quite weird now.Although Yelu Dashi captured the emperors and ministers of the Song Dynasty, the Liao soldiers were always stationed outside Bianliang City. Except for Zhao Ke who was still detained in the Liao army camp, such as Zhao Zhifu, Qin Hui and other ministers, as well as almost all the important officials of the court were in Bianliang. Seems like it's still running as usual.Even in the Jianghuai area under Cai Jing's nose, many prefectures and counties still accepted Bianliang's decree of "borrowing troops to quell rebellion" and provided food and grass for the Liao army going south.Not long ago, Li Jin and Kong Yanzhou coerced tens of thousands to cause chaos in Jinling, also in the name of honoring Bianliang, which was quite deceptive.Now the situation seems to be possible for a peace negotiation. Zhao Zhifu, Qin Hui and others are trying their best to make peace with the northern captives. If the peace negotiation is successful, then Zhao Ke will immediately turn the crisis into safety.And Zhao Qi, Cao Di, Cai Jing and others really became "chaotic" officials and thieves.Liu Yanqing did not believe that Luoyang and Taiyuan could hold out under the combined attack of the imperial court and the Liao army.

On the battlefield, those who are most fearless of death are often the first to die.Therefore, although Liu Yanqing would like his subordinates to fight for him with all their might, he couldn't be more cautious.The suppressor's strength is not weak, and he has a reputation for righteousness. Unless it is absolutely necessary, Liu Yanqing is not willing to fight to the death with the suppressor, and waste his strength in vain.After all, both he and Yue Fei were generals of the imperial court, not princes in troubled times who were fighting for territory.

As the Liao army's soldiers pressed down on the border, Liu Yanqing's mind changed again.The Liao army is known as 30 people, and it is aggressive in the south. There are 8000 soldiers and horses in the southeast camp, and there are only [-] people in the northward headquarters of the Communist Party of Ezhou Town. The strength is very different.Xiangyang is located in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River and Huaihe River, and is a battleground for military strategists.This place is easy to defend and difficult to attack, and the principle of going further north is easy to attack but difficult to defend.After the southern soldiers captured Xiangyang, they could use this as a basis for the Northern Expedition to recover Henan and Hebei.If the northern soldiers captured Xiangyang, they could rely on the Han River and the great river to transport food and grass, and the army could go down the river and sweep across the Yangtze and Huaihe Rivers.

However, the Liao army had the ambition to win, but Liu Yanqing did not have the will to defend.What he pondered over and over was still the disparity between strength and weakness.He was born in Hebei, and he always believed that there is no better soldier in the world than Hebei, and no stronger city than Bianliang.However, with the strong troops in the camp in Hebei and the strength of Bianliang City, they still can't resist the Liao army. How can a hundred thousand soldiers from the southeast be able to defend Xiangyang?At this time, Liu Yanqing wanted to retreat to Ezhou again.He vaguely knew that after the cession of Hebei Yihe was rejected by the Liao people, because the Liao army revealed the idea of ​​​​giving Zhao Ke back to Bianliang and teaching Hebei, some people are now considering drawing the river with the Liao people. The saying that people return to the south, and people from the north return to the north, at that time, Xiangyang became tasteless to Liu Yanqing.Ordinary people don't know that the Xiangfan navy is already collecting Hanshui ships, ready to carry the army to Ezhou.At this time, in Liu Yanqing's eyes, the mob in Ezhou was no longer something to be afraid of, and it was enough to give Yue Fei the official position of a lieutenant general.

"It's a pity that it's a strong city, but it's too close to the Central Plains." Liu Yanqing sighed.The moss on the bricks of Xiangyang city, and the bloodstains of arrows that fought for the city in the past dynasties underneath.He focused his attention on the north bank of the Han River, and suddenly, a cloud of smoke ignited from the top of Fancheng, and three pillars of smoke shot straight up into the sky, which looked very ferocious against the blue sky.

Accompanied by the rising smoke, the people piled up on the north bank of the Han River suddenly became agitated, and the people rushed to the few remaining ferries on the bank, and some people were even squeezed into the Han River. Someone jumped into the bitterly cold river in an attempt to swim across the Han River, and the north bank of the Han River was filled with people like dumplings.They shouted and argued in panic, and the noisy voices of people could be heard clearly from the city of Xiangyang across the Han River.The common people don't know when the northern captives will enter Fancheng, but the shadow of Liao thieves has obviously enveloped everyone.

Looking at the rising smoke, Liu Yanqing's cheeks flushed slightly, and the expressions of Huang Zhan and Ding Jidao beside him changed drastically.

This is the beacon built by Wang Yan when he presided over the southeast camp.Regardless of the state, county or countryside, a beacon tower is built every [-] miles to prevent bandits.Three torches of beacon smoke represented that more than [-] enemy cavalry were approaching Fancheng.Since the Liao army mostly used light cavalry, most of the cities guarded by the Song army along the way were mainly persuaded to surrender by the Bianliang edict, so they marched rapidly.When Xu Yue, the magistrate of Dengzhou, and Jing Chao, the soldier and horse, had not fallen to the north, Fancheng discovered traces of the Liao army's rangers.The beacon fires ignited from time to time, and in just over ten days, it went from one torch of smoke representing five hundred invaders at the beginning, to two torches of more than a thousand riders, and then to three torches of beacon with about [-] riders.

Looking at the people on the north bank of the Han River scrambling to flee for their lives to the south bank, Liu Yanqing couldn't help shivering.If these three thousand cavalry were just vanguard soldiers and horses, then the soldiers of the Liao Army and Xiangfan were already within easy reach.The impenetrable Xiangyang City is actually in jeopardy.