Great Han Empire

Chapter 460
Li Hong ordered the army to be stationed in Changping City, and he and Xian Yufu brought a hundred personal guards to Jicheng to join Youzhou Mu Liuyu.The two sides negotiated on the garrison of Youzhou after the withdrawal of the Northern Expeditionary Army.

Liu Yu hoped that Li Hong could leave Zhonglang General Yan Rou to lead the county soldiers and frontier troops in Youzhou to guard the frontier.Li Hong said that next year's Northern Xinjiang War must be fought, and I plan to write to His Majesty to let Lord Yan Rouyan sit in Guangning with the post of Protecting Karasuma Zhonglang and lead Karasuma's tribes to go north to fight, so this commander is quiet I think the responsibility of guarding the frontiers of the state army should be left to Lord Gongsun Zan.Liu Yu sighed and said, why don't I think so? I also want him to lead the army in Youzhou, but his attitude towards the Karasuma people is really unacceptable. Trapped in Guanzi City by the Karasuma people, the hatred between the two sides has deepened, and I am afraid that in the future...

Xian Yufu comforted and said that after your lord succeeded in appeasement, the Karasuma people in Liaoxi and Liaodong would no longer be rebellious, and Lord Gongsun would have no excuse even if he wanted to kill them.This time he attacked without authorization in violation of the military order, not to mention being trapped, and ruined the lives of [-] soldiers in Youzhou. This crime is more than enough to chop off his head.Although we jointly signed a letter to His Majesty to plead for him and saved his life, his demotion is certain.This incident was a heavy blow to him, Lord Gongsun will definitely accept this painful lesson, and will not disobey the military order again.I think adults should give him a chance.

Li Hong also persuaded him a few words, saying that among the generals in Youzhou, only Gongsun Zan can take on this heavy responsibility, and the other is Lord Tian Kai.Li Hong said, if Tian Kai can be released by the Karasuma people, my lord can let Tian Kai guard Yuyang and Gongsun Zan guard You Beiping. In this way, the northern frontier of Youzhou will be garrisoned by Yan Rou, the central frontier will be garrisoned by Tian Kai, and the eastern fortress will be garrisoned by Yan Rou. Lulongsai and Liaoxi and Liaodong are garrisoned by Gongsun Zan. With these three people in charge, the border of Youzhou should be safe.

Liu Yu agreed with Li Hong's suggestion. He said very sadly that the soldiers of Youzhou had fought for more than two years since Zhang Ju and Zhang Chun joined forces with the Karasuma people to rebel, fighting from Youzhou to Jizhou and from Jizhou to Youzhou. He has made countless military exploits, and everyone expected to be promoted and conferred titles after the war, but in the end they got nothing because of the two fiascos in Liaoxi.As a superior, I did not do well, and I am sorry for those soldiers who killed the enemy in blood.

Li Hong persuaded, let's write a letter to His Majesty again, enumerating the achievements of the soldiers of Youzhou, so that His Majesty will be lenient.As for the defeat in western Liaoning, especially when Gongsun Zan was besieged in Guanzi City, we can explain it this way, saying that the repeated vicious battles on the battlefield in western Liaoning effectively restrained the forces of the Karasuma people. territory.Do you think it is okay to say that?Xian Yufu said with a smile, the person in charge of Shangshutai now is Gongsun Zan's teacher, Master Lu Zhilu, so he would not embarrass his disciples.If Gongsun Zan is exonerated, everyone else will be fine, and everyone should be granted the title and rewarded.

Thinking of Lu Zhi, Liu Yu immediately smiled and clapped his hands in celebration.The three of them then jointly wrote a letter again to ask for military exploits for the soldiers of Youzhou.

The emperor came back to the imperial decree again, and his tone was very strict. He urged Li Hong to withdraw his troops and return to Bingzhou immediately, and withdrew immediately after seeing the decree.Li Hong didn't dare to disobey the order, so he urgently wrote to Zhao Yun, Wen Chou, Jiang Wu, and Pang De's four major captains in western Liaoning to lead their troops back to Changping City day and night to join the army.At the same time, Li Hong ordered Shanggu Karasuma King Loulu to temporarily station in Guangning, and Daijun Karasuma Lord Ran Ran to station in Macheng temporarily. Li Hong told them that before the Han army took over the two cities, they would guard the frontier pass.

Lou Lu and Ran Ran followed Yushi to attack Danhan Mountain this time, and they gained a lot. They almost plundered Danhan Mountain. They both robbed the property and avenged their revenge. Everyone was a little nervous when they heard that Li Hong was going to lead the army back to Bingzhou.Yushi comforted them and said, I will tell you one thing, but you must strictly keep the secret.This time the general returned to Bingzhou to reorganize the army to go out to fight, one is to recover the border counties, and the other is to put down the Huns rebellion and eliminate Tuobafeng.As long as the Xianbei people are driven deep into the prairie and the northern border is peaceful, you will be free from worries.You may, however, join the general in battle.Lou Lu and Ran Ran were overjoyed.Lou Lu said that every time the Great Han Kingdom went out to fight the Xianbei people, we Karasuma people participated.But this time is different, this time following the general, not only can we win the battle, but we can also get a lot of property and make a fortune.

At the end of this month, Karasuma was appeased and surrendered, Qiu Liju deliberately sent Tian Kai back to Feirucheng to show his sincerity.At the same time, Su Puyan and Ta Dun retreated from Guanzi City with Karasuma cavalry, and the governor of the state, Shi Weiyou, brought livestock into the city to comfort the army.Gongsun Zan and his white horse Yicong were beaten badly, and more than half of the cavalry were killed or injured.During the more than five months of the siege of Guanzi City, Gongsun Zan and his soldiers ate the food and horses, boiled saddles and leather shields after eating the war horses, and even ate all the leather armor and boots in the end.Fortunately, the Karasuma people were killed by Zhao Yun, Jiang Wu and Pang De's iron cavalry, otherwise, they would still be able to hold on for a while.For the Karasuma people, killing Gongsun Zan is far more important than surrendering.There is a way to survive after being caressed, but Gongsun Zan will not die, and the Karasuma people will still be revenged and massacred by him after being caressed.If they could persist until after the heavy snowfall, Gongsun Zan and his soldiers would either starve to death or freeze to death.

After Gongsun Zan experienced the catastrophe of life and death, his whole person changed. Not only was he starved to death, he even lost his domineering personality, but he was still so brave and fearless. After three days, he returned to fat as a city.Then he replenished food, grass and war horses in Feirucheng, and when the New Year approached, he took his cavalry and charged towards Liaodong again.He wants to redeem his sins by recovering Liaodong.

After hearing the news, Zhang Ju and Zhang Chun abandoned the city and fled to Xianbei in the east.

===

The army went north to Juyongguan one after another and embarked on the return journey. The camp in Changping City was empty, except for the Bing Cao Camp and the Black Panther Yi Cong Camp.

Sitting in the big tent, Li Hong was carefully examining the map of northern Xinjiang by a pot of charcoal fire.After he returned to the big camp from Jicheng, he never left the big tent, and he has been thinking about the upcoming battle.Tian Chou and Tian Yu walked in one after the other.Li Hong stood up and warmly greeted them to sit beside him.

After Tian Yu helped Yan Wuwei seize Yongnu City, he quickly organized manpower to stabilize Yongnu City, allowing Yongnu City to restore normal order in a short period of time, which made Yan Wuwei very admired.He emphasized Tian Yu's contribution in the battle report, and he was full of praise for Tian Yu's talent.Yan Wuwei was stationed in Yongnu City for a period of time, and the two became very good friends.When Yan Wuwei left Daying with Yan Rou to Shanggu County, he mentioned Tian Yu to Li Hong again. He believed that Tian Yu's intelligence was definitely not inferior to Li Wei, and hoped that Li Hong could recruit Tian Yu to the Zhenbei General's Mansion as a governor.

Li Hong didn't notice Tian Yu at first, but he told Liu Yu when he was rewarding the meritorious soldiers, saying that he was a good man and helped us capture Yongnu City.Liu Yu said that the imperial court punished the government officials who surrendered to the rebels very severely, beheading them all. There is no reason to talk about it.Li Hong didn't take it to heart either, and immediately forgot about Tian Yu.Yan Wuwei has been thinking about this matter all the time. After he left Youzhou and captured Pingcheng in Yanmen County, he asked about it in the battle report, saying that if the general does not need it, I will find him by myself. I am also a captain now, and my subordinates also Want a talented Sima.Only then did Li Hong suddenly think of Tian Yu, and he actually forgot what Yan Wuwei had said.He hastily sent an order to Tian Zhong, who was staying in Jicheng, to recruit Tian Yu in the name of Zhenbei General's Mansion as the governor, and asked him to visit Yongnu himself.Tian Yu was very happy when he heard that General Zhenbei was going to enlist him as a governor. When he saw that it was Tian Zhong, the school lieutenant, who came to invite him in person, he was even more moved to bow to the ground.He was only 19 years old, but General Zhenbei asked a 67-year-old man to invite him, which was really unbearable.Tian Yu has been following Tian Zhong to handle the affairs of the Cao camp, and it was only after he arrived at the Changping camp that he saw the world-renowned leopard general.

Li Hong looked at the young and handsome Tian Chou and Tian Yu beside him, and said with a smile: "I asked you to go home and have a look. Why did you come back so soon? If you go to Bingzhou, you may not be able to come back in a year or two."

Tian Yu replied respectfully: "The Chinese New Year is coming soon, and my parents will be more reluctant to stay at home for a long time. It's better to leave early. Thank you for your concern."

Li Hong smiled and asked Tian Chou, "Is your grandfather in good health?"

Tian Chou replied: "It's not very good. In the past two years in Xu Wushan, the old man has suffered a lot, his health is much worse, and he has been bedridden. Grandpa said that he may not live long, and he really wants to see the old man. Unfortunately, the old man is busy with work. , have never had time to go home."

Li Hong's smile stopped, and he couldn't help but think of the past four years ago.That time I was going to lead my troops south to kill Zhang Niujiao. Before leaving, Tian Zhong, Zheng Xinleizi and others went back to Xu Wucheng to visit Xiaoyu, and returned to Lulongsai to say goodbye to those dead comrades. home.The old man was still very healthy at that time, but he didn't expect that a few years later, the old man would...

Li Hong suddenly remembered something.I once swore that I would move back to Lulongsai the remains of Li Song, Wu Zhao, the iron hammer, and wooden stakes buried on Hengling, as well as the remains of many Lulongsai soldiers who died on the Hengling battlefield. Let them be buried with Lu Longsai's comrades-in-arms and sleep together, but I have been back to Youzhou for nine months, and I haven't thought of it from the beginning to the end.

Li Hong regretted and felt very guilty.Li Song's laughter came to his mind, and his thoughts flew to the prairie outside Lulongsai.I rescued Li Song from Karasuma, and Li Song brought himself to Lulongsai. For the first time, he ate two big bowls of Da Han Guo rice, which was the best food he had ever eaten since he could remember. Something happened, and then came the thrilling Lulongsai battle. The brutal and bloody battle took the lives of almost all soldiers in Lulongsai. Tian Jing, Wang Jin, Wu Fei, Jiming, Xiaodao, Datou, countless familiar faces swept away in an instant. Passing Li Hong's mind, the sound of fighting, the sound of war drums, the fire soaring into the sky, and the towering banner all suddenly rushed into Li Hong's body. stand up.It was pitch black in front of Li Hong's eyes, but Ji Ming's voice could be heard clearly in his ears, "Xiao Yu... Xiao Yu..."

Xiao Yu's big sad eyes suddenly occupied Li Hong's whole body and mind.

Li Hong's heart ached, and he could no longer bear the suppressed worry in his heart. He suddenly opened his eyes, looked at Tian Chou and said word by word: "I want to go back to Lulongsai."

===

Inside the camp, Pound was ready to go with a hundred black panthers.Li Hongtian respected Zheng Xin and Tian Chou hurried out of the big tent and was about to mount their horses.

Xianyufu Zhu Mu Songwen came like flying horses.

"Where is the general going?" Zhu Mu asked loudly, "The army will leave Changping for Juyongguan tomorrow morning."

"I'm going to Lulongsai." Li Hongfei got on his horse, turned his head and said to Xian Yufu, "You lead the army first, and I will catch up with you later. If there is too long a delay, we will meet up in Jinyang."

Zhu Mu wanted to say something, but hesitated for a long time before making a sound.Li Hong smiled apologetically at him, "I know I violated the military law, but I really need to go back to Lulongsai. I'm going to see those dead comrades in arms. I'm going to say goodbye to them. I'm leaving Youzhou this time. Probably never come back."

Zhu Mu looked sad and nodded.After going outside the Great Wall, who had a narrow escape from death, who can be sure that he will come back?

Xian Yufu smiled bitterly, and said, "Are you still going to Hengling?"

Li Hong sighed: "I'm going to Lulongsai now. I'll visit the Tian family on the way, and ask the Tian family to transport the remains of the fallen soldiers on Hengling back to Lulongsai. I promised Li Song, and I must do it."

Xian Yufu stretched out his hand and patted Li Hong's back vigorously, "You go, accompany Xiao Yu, and the old man, and have a good New Year."

Li Hong held Xian Yufu's hand and said gratefully, "Brother Yuxing is here."

"Ministers, Hengling is very close to the border, you should bring three hundred black panthers with you." Xian Yufu said, "Be careful."

Li Hong shook his hands, turned to look at Tian Zhong and said with a smile, "Old man, let's go."

Tian Zhong whipped his whip excitedly, and shouted loudly: "Children, let's go, go home..."

===

Gu Yu still lived in the small courtyard in Xu Wucheng, but when she opened the door and saw Li Hong standing at the door, she opened her eyes wide, unbelievable, at that moment, great joy hit her heart like a flood that burst a bank. The heart made her stop breathing, tears instantly blurred her eyes, crystal clear teardrops rolled down her delicate cheeks quietly, those clear and sad eyes were as hazy as the mist floating on the lake in the morning And not real.

Li Hong's heart trembled, and all kinds of love and guilt suddenly surged from the depths of his heart. At this moment, he suddenly realized his own cruelty and cowardice.When I hugged the dead Jiming and wept bitterly that day, I never thought that I would break my promise and push a weak woman to the brink of life and death.Without the care of the Tian family, would he still be able to see Xiaoyu, walk into Lulongsai, and stand in front of the tomb of his comrades to pay homage to the resentful undead?
The wind and snow are like a beautiful dream, passing away with the wind without a trace, I don’t know when the old dream will reappear, and the light rain is like a cloud in the sky, a piece of duckweed on the water, floating, helpless, The sorrow in the clouds and the tears on the ground need people to comfort and melt them.If you let that piece of cloud wander lonely between the sky and the earth, let that piece of duckweed tremble helplessly in the wind and rain, how will you forget those eyes, how will you forget the cry in your heart? The erosion of the war years and the loss of the lives of comrades-in-arms have become more and more heavy, more and more fragile, and more and more painful. Even if I fall down in the future, how will I forget the countless sorrows and regrets in my heart?

Li Hong walked in, gently held Gu Yu's soft little hand, smiled slightly, and walked towards the courtyard. Gu Yu let Li Hong hold her hand and followed behind blankly, as if in a dream for a while.

"It's Chinese New Year, come back to see you."

Tian Zhong smiled cheerfully, followed by Zheng Xin Tian Chou and walked in.Pound stood outside the door, commanding the Panthers to disperse their vigilance from all around.

Seeing General Zhenbei coming, the people of Xu Wucheng were so excited that they flocked in and quickly surrounded the alley.Xu Wucheng's government officials came immediately after hearing the news, and a group of people squeezed into the alley with great effort.There are many iron cavalry in the alley, and there are military officers of the Sima rank everywhere. When they got to the door, they saw a young school lieutenant standing at the door.Pound hurried up to meet them, and greeted each other with salutes.The county magistrate said very excitedly that he didn't know that General Zhenbei was coming, and he was rude.Then he said a lot of flattery, and then asked to see General Zhenbei.Pang De said that it was not easy for the general to come home for more than four years, so it is better not to disturb him for the time being.let's talk tomorrow.The county magistrate saw that the school lieutenant was very humble and polite, and the officer was much higher than himself, so he didn't dare to say anything, so he had to take him away.He went to the outside of the alley to persuade the crowd to disperse, but no one listened to him at all, and instead shouted "Leopard, Leopard...".The county magistrate was taken aback. It was no wonder he didn't kill his head when he shouted so, so he ran away in a hurry.

===

On the 28th of the twelfth lunar month, Li Hong rushed to Lulongsai with Xiao Yu and a group of soldiers.The two thousand soldiers stationed at Lulong Sai lined up to greet them, and the atmosphere was very warm.The next day, Li Hong went up the mountain to pay homage to Lulongsai's fallen soldiers.

Xiao Yu stood in front of Jiming's grave for a long time, unwilling to leave.

Standing beside her, Li Hong suddenly said, "I'm coming back this time to see my comrades-in-arms. It's hard to say when I'll come back next time, and whether I can come back." He looked at the sad Xiaoyu, hesitated for a moment, "Also, I want to tell Brother Yiyi that I will take you away."

Xiaoyu's thin and arrogant body trembled slightly, then she turned her head to look at Li Hong, with a very surprised and hesitant expression on her face, "Brother Leopard..."

Li Hong stretched out his hand to hold Xiao Yu's hands, his heart suddenly felt relaxed, and the burden that he had been suppressing so hard to breathe suddenly disappeared with the words just now.

"Come with me, go to Jinyang." Li Hong said emotionally, "This is not only because of my commitment to justice, but also because I can't bear this concern now. You know when I listened to When I went to Youzhou for the rebellion, who was the first thing I thought of? It was you. I was worried that I would lose you. If I lost you, I would live in self-blame and pain for the rest of my life. I have the ability to protect you. I have the ability to take care of you, why should I keep you here? When I left Youzhou, I really didn’t have the ability to do it, but I have it now. Even if you reject me today, I will still take you away .Whether it's for me, for you, or for Brother Yiyi under Jiuquan, you have to follow me."

Xiao Yu lowered her head and listened quietly, with a layer of sadness on her delicate face, she let her tears flow all over her clothes.

Li Hong looked into Xiaoyu's eyes, watched the teardrop hanging from Xiaoyu's long eyelashes slowly fall to the back of his hand, and felt the endless pain and shattered hope contained in Xiaoyu's warm teardrops for the first time in his life, Li Hong's heart twitched violently, and the hands holding Xiao Yu gradually tightened, as if Xiao Yu would disappear before his eyes like that broken teardrop.

"Brother Leopard, you are now a general..." Xiao Yu looked at the eye-catching scar on Li Hong's hand, with tears in his eyes, and said helplessly, "You are now a general..."

Li Hong smiled and wiped the tears off her face with his hand, "When the battle is over, I won't be a general anymore, and I can accompany you back to Lulongsai."

===

On New Year's Eve, Li Hong brought Xiao Yu, Zheng Xin Pang De and Black Panther Yi Cong back to Xu Wucheng's Tian's house for the new year.

Tian Zhong stayed at Tian's house to accompany his old master Tian Xing, and the two old comrades chatted a lot.Tian Xing was very excited when he heard that the Han army was about to leave the fortress. He asked Tian Zhong if he would hit the setting sun plain.Tian Zhong said, the general has already said that it is not easy to fight out of the fortress, and it takes many years to go out of the fortress, so this time we must fight to the setting sun, and bring the remains of tens of thousands of soldiers back to their homeland.Tian Xinglao burst into tears and cheered endlessly.Out of the fortress, you want to kill a few more barbarians for me, and show off for the big man.

At the banquet, Tian Xing smiled and asked Li Hongdao: "Master General, is he going to take Xiao Yu away when he comes back this time?"

Li Hong nodded, cupped his hands and thanked: "For more than four years, Xiao Yu has been taking care of Tian's family. I am very grateful. If I have the opportunity in the future, I will definitely repay it."

Tian Xing said with a smile: "The general is serious. In fact, if the general does not take Xiaoyu away, I will find a way to send her to Jicheng. Xu Wucheng is close to the frontier fortress, so it is too unsafe. Four years ago, the general brought a dozen people back to Jicheng. As a result, the story of Xiao Yu was immediately spread. Over the past few years, the barbarians tried to arrest her many times, but we repelled them all. This time the general brought more than 100 people home. Think about it, Xiao Yu will be here in the future How can I still live? The general should have picked her up long ago."

Li Hong thanks again.Tian Xing said: "The general is very polite. My grandson Tai is serving under the general's tent. Please take care of him."

On the first day of the Lunar New Year, Li Hong took Xiao Yu and all the soldiers to bid farewell to Tian's house and left the city to go north.

===

(End of this chapter)