Han ride

Chapter 423 Marching to Kill Hukou
"Rebellion? The villain really dare not rebel, but it is still possible to welcome the imperial army into the city. Hehe, General Liu, for the sake of taking care of us on weekdays, I advise you to do the same as us and welcome Preparations for conquering the Northern Army." Hao Laosan said gloomyly.

"Presumptuous, come here!" After Liu Qian heard this, his eyes were red and he roared loudly.It's a pity that he shouted for a long time, but no one came in. Even in the big tent, it was a strange place, no one moved, even his sworn brother Yang Tao just sat there quietly and didn't move.

"You, you?" Liu Qian finally felt that something was wrong, and finally his eyes fell on Yang Tao, with a trace of confusion and pain in his eyes.

"Brother, brothers don't want to die in the hands of Zhengbei Army for no reason." Yang Tao sighed deeply, and said, "If it's the Mongols, if it's Jiannu attacking, let alone 5 people, it's 50 people." Thousands of people, we will not frown, even if the last person is killed in battle, we will not surrender, but what we have to face now is the Northern Army, the Duke of Liao, although we have not fought with the Duke of Liao. I have met, but the Duke of Liao has fought for the court over the years, swept the desert, and resisted the invasion of slaves. Brother, you also grew up in the border. In the past, the Mongols would harass our border every year, and we Han people died countless times. I don't know how many people have been harmed by these Tartars, but in the past few years, since the Duke of Liao came here, we just need to open the city gate here. Everyone said that the Duke of Liao wanted to rebel, hehe, I don’t know if the Liao Kingdom Guild will rebel, but I also know that Liao Guogong is going south to suppress thieves this time, but we are here to plot against him, which is a bit dishonest.”

"But we are the imperial court's army, so we naturally have to obey the imperial court's orders." Liu Qian looked at his sworn brother with pain in his eyes. He never thought that in the end, it was his sworn brother who betrayed him own.

"The Zhengbei Army is also the army of the imperial court." Yang Tao sighed: "Brother, 2000 troops can't stop the Zhengbei Army, a tiger-wolf division, and even if we want to stop it, I'm afraid my brothers won't. No one wants to die. .”

"General, surrender!" Hao Laosan said loudly: "The general treats us well, not to mention, the Liao Kingdom is benevolent and righteous, and will definitely not treat us poorly."

"Hey, you can surrender, but I can't, and I won't let you surrender." Liu Qian glanced at everyone, and said softly: "I won't inform the army, but you are no longer suitable to stay. Now that I am in the army, I will also let the military gate let others take over when I kill Hukou, you should transfer to other places!"

"The general is embarrassing us? The general has really made a decision?" Hao Laosan raised his head suddenly, looked at Liu Qian, his face was gloomy, his eyes were shining with cold light, and the others also stood up, Looking at Liu Qian.

"That's right, you guys? Ah!" Liu Qian was about to speak, when he suddenly felt a pain in his back, and then saw the tip of a sword protruding from his chest, and then the strength in his body gradually disappeared, and finally fell into darkness.

"Brother!" Yang Tao felt a pain in his heart when he saw this, and he hugged Liu Qian's body and cried bitterly. If he could, he would never take this step, but this Liu Qian is really too stubborn, so stubborn that people can't help it If this is not the case, in fact, if Liu Qian hadn't come to the barracks, maybe it wouldn't have happened.It's a pity that Liu Qian still came and died in the hands of his subordinates.

"Quickly send someone to tell Lord Liao that we have taken control of Shahukou, and please quickly enter Shahukou." Hao Laosan said loudly to everyone with a happy face.At present, Liu Qian's obstacle has been eliminated. As long as the Duke of Liao arrives, he will definitely be able to get promoted and make a fortune.Everyone nodded again and again, except for Yang Tao who was still crying bitterly, the rest of the people paid no attention to the dead Liu Qian.

Soon an envoy flew out of Shahukou and galloped towards the cloud, but on the way, he met Li Xin's army.After Li Xin finished the letter, he immediately burst out laughing, looked around, and said, "I really didn't expect that Shahukou would fall into the hands of our Zhengbei army so easily."

"My lord, Hongfu is equal to heaven!" Gao Meng, Zhao Guang and other generals said one after another.

"Shanxi merchants are really powerful, and they bought a Shahukou for a few 10 taels of silver." Zhang Cai, who followed Li Xin to the south, said with a smile while stroking his beard.

Gao Meng and the others were fine after hearing this, but Li Xin's complexion changed, and he sat silently on the horse. Although his face was still full of smiles, in fact, his mind turned Thousands of thoughts.What Zhang Cai said was not accidental, but actually reminded Li Xin that the Shanxi merchants had a lot of money, but they were not stupid.They can buy all the generals and soldiers in Hukou today, and one day they will buy other places, including the generals and soldiers under Li Xin.This is to let Li Xin be wary of these guys.

"Speed ​​up, we are going to kill Hukou to rest tonight." Li Xin thought for a while, and then he clamped his horse, and the horse galloped forward. He ran away, and in the evening, Shahukou finally appeared in front of Li Xin.

In the long canyon, Yang Tao, Hao Laosan and others led a large group of people to wait there. When they saw Li Xin's golden eagle banner, they did not dare to be negligent, so they quickly went up to meet it, and said loudly: "Congratulations, my lord. "

"You guys have worked hard." Li Xin also took a look at everyone. Although he didn't like everyone's immorality, but at this time, he always comforted him with kind words. Seeing that Li Xin was extremely kind, Yang Tao and the others calmed down their timid hearts. After coming down, Yang Tao changed the situation that Shahu had said.

"Grandpa, I have already closed the mouth of Shahu, and no news from Shahu's mouth can get out, so I just wait for the father-in-law to come." Yang Tao said hastily.

"It's so good." Li Xin was overjoyed after hearing this. Once Jiang Guan got the news, although he would stick to Zuoyun and Youyu counties, it would not be a good thing for Li Xin, and he had to use other strategies .

"Grandpa, according to the news sent by Jiang Yu, I will wait for ten days to resist the Lord in Shahukou, and then I can withdraw to Zuoyun or Youyu counties. Arrived at Zuoyun and Youyu counties. My lord, why don't you take this opportunity to sneak attack Zuoyun and Youyu counties, if the opponent is caught off guard, maybe they can quickly conquer Zuoyun and Youyu counties!" It was Hao Laosan, obviously this guy had done some work himself, otherwise, he wouldn't be able to speak so fluently.

"Haha, what General Hao said is reasonable, but, does General Hao know where Jiang Yu's troops are now?" Li Xin recognized that the man was Hao Laosan, and immediately burst out laughing.

"This villain doesn't know." Hao Laosan shook his head and said, how could he know where Jiang Tuan's troops were.

"Jiang Yu's general Hu Guoding led an army of 2 troops and set up a camp fifty miles away from Shahukou." Li Xin said indifferently: "Not only that, deputy general Yang Zhenwei led an army of 2 people to garrison Zuoyun, and Jiang Xuan led an army of 8 troops. Garrisoning Youyu. Jiang Yu led an army of [-] troops, and his generals Wan Lian, Chen Du, Zhang Douguang, Yu Yin, Feng Ruhuan and others waited for the opportunity to come out and want Li Xin's head!"

"Ah!" After Yang Rui and the others heard this, their complexions changed, and they looked nervously at Li Xin and the others. Unexpectedly, Jiang Yu's soldiers and horses had already appeared at Shahukou, and they were fifty miles away. , Li Xin knew so clearly.What kind of person is Hu Guoding? These guys are naturally heard in Jiang Yu's army. He is a guy who is not afraid of death in war. This guy is fierce and brutal. If he knew that the person who killed Hukou had already surrendered to Li Xin, he would have killed him long ago. .

"The military situation is urgent, my lord, it's better to rush in and kill Hukou." Zhao Guangda said loudly.

"Let's go!" Li Xin nodded, and saw Zhao Guang leading the cavalry first, followed by Gao Meng, and Li Xin was the last.It's not that Li Xin is afraid of death. Having reached this position, Li Xin seldom fights himself.What he is now playing is a symbolic role.

The army walked slowly, and beside Li Xin was Yang Tao and others. Everyone looked at the Zhengbei army walking slowly, and there was a hint of shock on their faces. Riding, the tens of thousands of troops walked slowly, but there was no noise at all, only the four hooves of the horses fell, shaking the earth.These cavalrymen were dressed in black armor with stern faces. They were basically between 40 and 60 years old. They were extremely strong and they looked like elite soldiers.Unlike the army of the imperial court, there are people as young as eleven or twelve years old, up to five or sixty years old, and the weapons are also extremely diverse, some are knives, some are guns, etc., even the knives and guns are already rusted, which is as ordinary as before. .

"I heard that there is an imperial guard under my father-in-law's command, and they are extremely powerful. This imperial guard is wearing black armor all over his body. It must be the one in front of me." Yang Tao looked around and couldn't help but said to Hao Laosan.

"That's right! It's not quite the same as that of the imperial court, but this momentum is not comparable to that of the imperial army, even the elite soldiers of Datong." Hao Laosan nodded and said.The troops of the Ming Dynasty all wore fiery red mandarin duck battle jackets, which were fiery red at first glance, like burning flames, but Li Xin's Northern Expedition Army advocated black, black ocean, black coldness, and black imposing manner. Before the war even started, he would be overwhelmed by this black army.

"If you hadn't killed Hukou and surrendered to the Lord, at this place, the Lord would have to lose nearly [-] people to take it down." Zhang Cai also followed Li Xin, and he looked around while walking, only Seeing the two mountains standing tall, a small road in the middle leads directly to the Shahukou in front. The distance in the middle is as long as hundreds of steps. More importantly, it is not easy to deploy an army here. One man guards the gate, and no one can open it.This is why Jiang Yu dared to put only two thousand troops here, because this place is too dangerous, as long as he is not a fool, he can block it for ten days and a half months.

It is a pity that Jiang Yu still forgot that there is one thing in this world that is more powerful than bows and arrows, and that is money, silver. Without hesitation, he used money to buy the entire guards who killed Hukou, a total of 2000 people. Except for Liu Qian, everyone else fell into the calculations of Shanxi merchants.

Although a lot of money was spent, comparatively speaking, what he got would be more. The [-] army had almost no casualties, and what was more important was time. Li Xin took the opportunity to kill Hukou.With Shahukou in his hands, Jiang Guan's troops could not stop Li Xin's attack.

"Yes!" Li Xin nodded, and said: "Occupying the Shahukou is equivalent to opening the door to attack Datong. I am afraid that at this time, Jiang Yu still does not know that we have occupied the dangerous place of the Shahukou. Hu Guoding is still in a dream. If it wasn't for the exhaustion from the march, I really want to come to him at night."

"If the lord really has this idea, the subordinates would suggest that the lord should attack at night." Zhang Cai's eyes lit up, and he said, "Facing the victory, the soldiers are still very happy."

"Let's talk about it after entering Shahukou!" Li Xin nodded, and led the crowd into Shahukou quietly.Zhao Guang and Gao Meng also quickly took over Shahukou.Li Xin rewarded Yang Tao and others again, and everyone began to discuss the next step in the garrison mansion.

"My lord, there are five forts with side walls in Datong, but in the territory of Zuoyun Youyu, there is a saying that there are nine forts to destroy Hu. These nine forts are Ninghu Fort, Pohu Fort, Canhu Fort, Weihu Fort, Father Hu Fort, Zhanhu Fort, Baihu Fort, Shahu Fort and Miehu Fort, these nine forts were built by He Shahukou. Except for these forts, there are 72 forts in total, including Desheng Fort. Either inside the Great Wall, or outside the Great Wall." At Shahukou, Zhang Cai had long drawn a map of the information sent by the seven major families of Shanxi merchants, and hung it on the wall, and saw many castles densely marked on it. , from Pingyuan Fort in the east to Jiangjunhui Fort in the west, and the rest of Baoan, Weiyuan, Yunyang and other forts are all marked on it.

Li Xin frowned in his eyes. This is not the first time he has looked at this map. Every time he sees this map, he has a headache. He builds fortresses and continuously erodes the surrounding territories. This is what the Ming court has always liked to do. Things have been like this from Liaodong to here. Now Datong is an important town on the nine borders, and there are countless forts and piers around it.There are as many as five or six thousand people in each fortress, such as Shahukou, as few as five or six hundred people, and as many as dozens of piers, as few as a few, etc. Although the number of people is small, it can't resist the large number of places!And in it, the horses are the most, so it's better to kill Hukou!There are more than 6000 cavalry. The tallest here is the guerrilla general, but in history, the tallest here is the lieutenant general.The rest of the Ninghu, Miehu and other fortresses are also garrisoned, sitting in forts, and generals, etc., and they are gathered together, and there are also a lot of soldiers and horses.It's just that the position of Shahukou is more important, so there are more soldiers and horses stationed, and the position of the guard is also high.

Li Xin controlled Shahukou, in fact, not only Shahu Fort, but also Pingji Fort.One is a military fort and the other is a merchant fort.Shahukou Castle was built in the 23rd year of Jiajing. Later, because Shahukou was an important place to open the market, pedestrians flocked to the castle every day. To ensure the safety of the castle, a new castle was built called Pingji Castle. The old fort, etc., built stores in the middle, traded inside and outside, and built walls in the two forts, with gates and walls in the east and west, linking the old and new forts into one.The old fort is on the north side, and the terrain is slightly higher. It controls the north-south main road, and it is a military fort; the new fort is on the south, and it should be a merchant fort. Creeping, magnificent.

"Twenty miles to the east of Shahukou is Canhu Fort, and fifty miles to the south is Mayinghe Fort. The 1000 soldiers and horses led by Hu Guoding are now in Mayinghe Fort." Zhang Cai added: "Mayinghe Fort is It is sixty miles north of Youyu County and ten miles north of the side wall. It was built in the first year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty. They didn’t set up a big camp in the fort. So the subordinates thought that they could attack. Just be careful of the troops from Fort Canhu rushing out. Fort Canhu now has [-] soldiers and horses, and there is a garrison commander named Fan Tong.”

"General Yang, how about Fan Tong, the soldiers and horses of Fort Canhu?" Li Xin asked Yang Tao.

Yang Tao didn't even dare to say it, he was just a boss, and he could barely be called the last fortress here.To be called a general, don't say he can't do it, even if Liu Qian is alive, he can't be regarded as a general.

"Returning to the Lord, this person lives up to his name. He is not good at leading the army and is cowardly by nature. It is only because his younger sister has become Jiang Xuan's concubine that he came to Canhu Castle to serve as a garrison." He didn't get much, but he knew the situation of the surrounding forts very well. He said with a smile: "Although this fort claims to have 1000 soldiers and horses, in fact there are only 500 soldiers, and the rest are all taken away. He has eaten the air, if the Lord is trustworthy to his subordinates, only 200 people are enough to take down Fort Canhu."

"Okay, the general can order [-] imperial guards to go and capture Fort Canhu." Li Xin thought for a while, and agreed without hesitation.If Fan Tong is really incompetent, the two hundred imperial guards can definitely take Canhu Fort.

"Thank you for your trust." After hearing this, Yang Tao was pleasantly surprised. He quickly thanked Li Xin, went down to order troops, and headed towards Fort Canhu. He was not only happy that he was able to command five hundred elite imperial guards, but also What's more important is Li Xin's trust. Just after he surrendered, Li Xin allowed him to command [-] elite guards. This is how much trust he has.

"My lord, this guy has just joined our army. What if the leader of the army joins that guy called Fan Tong at this time?" Gao Meng said nervously.The generals who followed Li Xin also nodded. In fact, these people still looked down on Yang Tao. Although Yang Tao surrendered to Li Xin, saved tens of thousands of brothers from the northern army, but his character was Displeased.Although Liu Qian didn't die by his hands, he was also forced to death by him.No one would like such a person who forced his sworn brother to death.Now that Yang Tao had just surrendered, he led the army to go out, and it was at this time that Li Xin's troops were attacking Hukou, and the news could not be leaked. If Yang Tao passed the news to Fan Tong, it would be absolutely unfavorable for Li Xin to attack Jiang Tuan's army.

(End of this chapter)