Chapter 156 Chapter Twenty-Four

Chapter 24: Fighting Like Chess The two armies confronted each other, and there was no winner. Yong general Jing Chi rushed thousands of miles to attack the rear army of the Northern Han army. Long Tingfei led his personal guards to meet them, but Jing Chi could not win. When the battle was in full swing, Princess Jiaping led the Daizhou army to attack the Queen's Army of Qi. The Daizhou army was brave and good at fighting.After the king personally cut off, the whole army retreated. It was also a battle, the King of Qi's tribe lost five thousand, the Jingchi tribe lost nine thousand, the flying army of Longting lost ten thousand, the Daizhou army was almost unscathed, corpses were left everywhere, and the Qinshui was stained with blood.

——"Zi Zhi Tong Jian".Yongji III Thirty miles away, in the mountains between Qinyuan and Anze, on a repaired mountain ridge, more than a thousand Yong troops were waiting in battle in a stronghold built against the mountain, and at the highest point of the stronghold, a scholar in Tsing Yi and a Qingpao Confucian General is playing chess.A black go piece lightly landed on the edge of a piece of white pieces, trapping the white dragon in it. Xuan Song smiled and looked at the sad-faced military supervisor. If it is about chess, this military supervisor is far from perfect. My opponent, but only when playing chess, this Master Jiang will show some childishness.However, Xuan Song's mind was not on the chess game. This time, King Qi's soldiers pointed directly at Qinyuan, but the military supervisor persuaded His Highness to leave all the infantry behind, repair roads, and build fortifications. There are multiple lines of defense in the mountains. If you ask him why he expends his troops to defend, he will only say, "Don't think about victory, think about defeat first."Everyone only felt that Master Supervisor was too cautious, but considering the defeat a few days ago, and that King Qi had already agreed, there was no objection. Xuan Song was most confused. Originally, the confrontation with Long Tingfei needed a general, but Jiang Zhe It is to keep myself here. A few days ago, I even asked myself to arrange a defense line. These days, the defense line was thickened, so I simply pulled myself to play chess, as if I was doing nothing.But Xuan Song couldn't be as relaxed as Jiang Zhe, but he had a deep nature and knew that even if he was extremely anxious, he couldn't let the military supervisor hand over his details, so he simply killed him on the chessboard.

I looked at the chessboard that had been completely defeated, and thought about whether to let Xiao Shunzi transmit the sound to me, and then win a few games, but after much deliberation, the style of chess was different, and it was too easy to be seen through, so I finally gave up. Riding on Juechen, he was a young knight, Chi Ji who had just arrived a few days ago.I asked him to pay attention to the military situation ahead, and now that he is rushing over, it must be that the change in his imagination has already occurred.I put down the chess piece with a smile, Chiji got off the horse and walked closer, bowed and said: "Young master, the military report from the front has come, General Jing Chi has joined forces with His Royal Highness King Qi, if we continue to fight hard, our army may win miserably. But we Sure enough, we found the traces of the Daizhou Army."

I waved Chi Ji back to one side, looked at Xuan Song who was frowning in thought, and said, "General Xuan, do you know which is the strongest cavalry in the world?" Xuan Song smiled wryly and said: "It's hard to say. My Dayong iron cavalry and Northern Han Xiao cavalry seem to be about the same. There is no need to mention Southern Chu and Shu. Unless it is the cavalry of the barbarians outside the Great Wall, it can be said that it is the strongest in the world." I said to Xiao Shunzi, "Remove the chessboard and bring the map." Xiao Shunzi stepped forward to put away the chessboard, handed it to Chi Ji to take it down, put a map on the square table, and spread it out gently.

I pointed to an obvious sign on it and said: "The strongest cavalry in the world is the Daizhou Army. Whether it is rushing or charging, there are few in the world who can defeat it. Over the years, the barbarians have been defeated every year because of the Daizhou Army. It is getting stronger and stronger, but the wood is beautiful in the forest, and the wind will destroy it, so why is the Daizhou Army safe and sound?" Xuan Song frowned and said, "The Lord of the Northern Han Dynasty and the Lin family of Daizhou are related by marriage. Since the Lin family has no rebellious intentions, how could the Lord of the Northern Han Dynasty do harm?"

I shook my head and said: "Although there is also this reason, there is also the most important reason, that is, the Daizhou Army has the biggest flaw. This flaw destined the Lin family to not be able to achieve hegemony based on the Daizhou Army, so whether it is the late Eastern Jin Dynasty, It was the Northern Han Dynasty that established the country, and in the end they all acquiesced to the Lin family's separatist rule of Daizhou." Xuan Song said solemnly: "I would like to hear the details." I laughed and said: "In fact, General Xuan may not know it, but it may not be sufficient. Although the Daizhou Army has a strong force, it is very exclusive. The Daizhou Army is maintained by blood and loyalty, so if it is not Daizhou people, it is absolutely impossible. The Daizhou Army obtained a high position, and the Daizhou Army is only interested in defending the home and defending the land, so whether it is a barbarian invasion or an attack by the Northern Han Army, the Daizhou Army will resist to the death, but if you want the Daizhou Army to go out and attack, most of the The soldiers are all respectful and insensitive. Therefore, as long as Daizhou is not invaded, then Daizhou is the best friend. This is why the Northern Han Dynasty Lord tried his best to marry the Lin family of Daizhou in the end, and promised not to call Daizhou Army. Just because It is impossible for the Daizhou Army to be easily mobilized. Therefore, although the Northern Han Dynasty had Daizhou, the world did not regard the Daizhou Army as the combat power of the Northern Han Dynasty. It is only because the Daizhou Army does not leave the country, which is already inherent in people's minds. impression."

Xuan Song frowned, because he couldn't understand the reason for Jiang Zhe's words. I sighed and said: "Speaking of this, I have to admire the ruler of the Northern Han Dynasty. Since Daizhou surrendered, he not only kept his promise and never called the Daizhou army, but also made friends with Daizhou in every possible way. When there was a disaster in the state, he used the treasury to provide relief. Every year, he rewarded the Daizhou army with rich gold and silk. More than ten years ago, many forces in the Central Plains fought in chaos and invaded the Northern Han several times. The Lord of the Han Dynasty did not mobilize the Daizhou Army, because the Central Plains had not yet settled down at that time. As long as Jinyang was defended, the invading forces would have no stamina and had to retreat. The relationship between the Northern Han court has reached the closest point, so it is possible to persuade the Daizhou Army to send troops to help the Northern Han Army encircle and wipe out our army."

Hearing this, Xuan Song's face was already livid, and he said solemnly: "Although the Daizhou Army is powerful, after all, the power of a state is very limited, and it may not be able to play any role." I pointed to Yanmen on the map, and said: "The Daizhou army will not come out in full force, because the time for the barbarians to go south is coming soon. Although the barbarians have been hit hard by the snow disaster this time, the invasion will definitely be more fierce. The strength was insufficient, but the attack at the beginning must have been very violent, so the 25,000 Daizhou Army could only go south with 15,000 people at most, and only Princess Jiaping could serve as the leader. The commander-in-chief in the eyes of the state army is the fiancée wife of Long Tingfei, the leader of the Northern Han army. Only she can cooperate with Long Tingfei to destroy our army. I have already predicted that the Daizhou army will definitely fight. There is no way to explain the various arrangements of the fly."

Xuan Song stood up vigorously, and said: "Since the Lord Supervisor knew that the Daizhou Army would send troops, why didn't you tell His Highness that His Highness only has 40,000 cavalry, and that General Jing is no more than 70,000 at most, and the Northern Han Army originally had 100,000 soldiers?" With the army of ten thousand and the army of Daizhou who look like tigers and wolves, isn't your highness already defeated, and your lord just sit back and watch this happen, why?" I glanced at Xuan Song lightly, and continued: "General Xuan, do you know why the enemy and our armies are asking for something?"

Xuan Song suppressed the anger in his heart, and said: "Naturally, we must defeat the enemy army. Our army and the Northern Han army have sworn to be incompatible. If the Northern Han army loses, the country is in danger of subjugation. If our army loses, it will be powerless for a few years." Peep North." I shook my head and said: "What General Xuan said is not complete. The Northern Han army wants to win, but they don't want a miserable victory. Dayong is strong, and the Northern Han is not strong enough. If we lose, it won't take a few years to win With a comeback, the Northern Han army will win miserably, and I’m afraid they won’t be able to go south within twenty years. Now that the world’s hegemony has reached the most critical moment, if the national power of the Northern Han Dynasty plummets, it means that I, Da Yong, will die, and others will come to attack, so the Northern Han Dynasty What the Lord of the Han Dynasty and Long Tingfei want is a big victory, and the loss should be as small as possible. So our army continued to go north after Anze's defeat, and it was stepping into the battlefield planned by Long Tingfei. Qinyuan annihilates the main force of our army. It is best to capture or kill His Royal Highness King Qi. In this way, Dayong will be injured and the strength of the Northern Han Dynasty will not be damaged. And they can rest and recuperate, and when Dayong is exhausted and the people are weak, the Northern Han army can go south and west to attack the territory of Dayong."

Xuan Song nodded again and again, and said: "That's why Long Tingfei mobilized the Daizhou Army, because the 100,000 cavalry in his hand cannot securely defeat our army." I said: "Not only that, how could Long Tingfei not know about General Jing's whereabouts? He intentionally left no reserve troops, and the whole army attacked His Highness King Qi, inducing General Jing to join the battle immediately regardless of the fatigue of the army after the long journey." Xuan Song asked: "What if General Jing figured out that Long Tingfei was luring him to attack?" I shook my head and said, "Let's not talk about whether Jing Chi can see through Long Tingfei's thoughts. If General Jing doesn't attack, His Royal Highness King Qi will suffer heavy losses. Even if the two armies join forces at that time, there will be no guarantee of victory, so General Jing will definitely attack. Yes, besides the fact that the Jinyang army cannot move lightly, and there are mostly infantry, General Jing never expected that there would be a strong cavalry as the backup of the Northern Han army. Therefore, General Jing will definitely step into this trap." Confusion flashed in Xuan Song's eyes, and he said: "The general doesn't understand, since the military superintendent already knew this, why didn't he change his course and fight steadily?" I smiled and said: "This is about the purpose of our army's combat. Our army is strong. If we attack the Northern Han by force, although we will inevitably lose troops, the Northern Han will lose to our army. It has been a long time away from Daizhou, and secondly, there are only more than ten thousand people after all, so if our army fights steadily, it is not a big victory or a miserable victory, it doesn't matter, but the Northern Han Dynasty is different from Shu and Southern Chu. It is easy to appease. Although there will be some people who are overwhelmed and want to restore the country, if they cannot get the support of powerful forces, they will not be able to make any big waves. Chu people are weak. Once the country is subjugated, as long as it does not harm their interests, Most of them dare not resist. Only in the Northern Han Dynasty, the ruler of the country is still called wise, and the army and the people are united. If our army is greedy for quick victory and only cares about seizing the city, it means that our army has captured Jinyang City and controlled the royal family of the Northern Han Dynasty. It is also impossible to suppress the rebels rising up everywhere. So the emperor is not worried about our defeat. If we lose, we will fight again. If we cannot win completely, it will be troublesome. If the main force of the enemy army still exists, we must defend each city one by one. This is already It's an incomprehensible situation. You don't know some things. We don't have that much time. Even if the main force of the Northern Han army is defeated, as long as 10 to 20% of the remnants are left, then we will face the resistance of all the Northern Han people in the future. The Northern Han army is the fire seed, and if someone like Long Tingfei escapes, let alone three or five years, even ten or eight years, it will be difficult for us to conquer the Northern Han. Therefore, if our army wants to win, we must conquer the Northern Han. The Han army has wiped out all of them, and they have to capture all the leaders of the Northern Han army. If we want to do this, we must lure the enemy to our battlefield, but Long Tingfei, Lin Bi, and the Northern Han generals are not stupid. To get them into the game, there must be enough sacrifices. Therefore, His Royal Highness King Qi must be defeated in Qinyuan, and then he can retreat to lure the enemy. In order to obtain satisfactory results, the Northern Han army will definitely pursue it. Only in this way, we The army's goal will be achieved?" Xuan Song was dazzled by what he heard, and he said after a long time: "So that's the case, Your Highness already knows the joints, but he just pities the warriors of our army who died tragically." I sighed and said, "His Royal Highness Qi knows something, but not completely. Only the emperor and I know the whole battle strategy. I think that His Highness will be defeated. When His Highness fights, he must be extremely brave. Only in this way will the dragon Ting Fei got the trick, but when it comes time to lose, His Highness has been through battles for a long time, and he has the temperament of winning without arrogance and losing, so he will definitely be able to retreat as much as possible. General Xuan, if there are no two national players in a chess game, It is always rare and wonderful. This game of chess in the Northern Han Dynasty was due to the skill of the opponent, so I counted. If Long Tingfei knew that he must capture and kill the King of Qi to be considered a complete merit, how could he be lured into the game we prepared? The battlefield. No matter how smart the Northern Han Dynasty is, no matter how smart they are, they can't see through this puzzle. How many people can stay out of it when they are in the middle of the game." Xuan Song was already convinced, and said: "Please show me, Lord Superintendent, what should the general do?" I pointed to a point on the map and said: "The enemy's pursuit must be extremely ferocious, and our army's retreat must be very strict. General Xuan only needs to use means to meet King Qi and General Jing to retreat here. It is a great achievement, the general needs to remember that the enemy's leader is an extraordinary person, the more the general tries his best when he is defeated, the less the enemy will think that our army has a backup." Seeing what I was pointing at, Xuan Song's eyes flashed with enthusiasm, and he said, "So that's the case, no wonder, no wonder." I smiled slightly, and said again: "After the Northern Han army flooded Anze, the road was destroyed. I ordered people to repair the road for several days, just to meet our army. Firstly, it was to reduce casualties. The Han army will think that the stronger our desire to win, the less we will think of any other intentions for our army to retreat." At this time, Xiao Shunzi handed me my cloak, and I took it and put it on, saying: "Since General Xuan already knows the situation, I will retire first, Jiang has no talent and cannot stand the hardships of the battle, so I will go first Waiting for you at the back, His Royal Highness King Qi is surrounded by Master Fazheng and Master Fa Nin leading experts from various factions to protect, General Xuan need not worry, even if there is some danger, they can keep His Highness safe." There was a weird look on Xuan Song's face. He didn't expect that Lord Superintendent would speak so confidently about running away. However, knowing that King Qi should not be in danger of life, Xuan Song was relieved. Now this is Jiang Zhe's highest official position. He If he wanted to go first, no one could stop him. Perhaps this was why Jiang Zhe forced himself to stay, because he could lead the army to meet King Qi after he escaped. Of course I know what Xuansong is thinking, but in order not to experience the painful experience of running away, I would rather run away, with Xiao Shunzi, Chiji and those dissatisfied tiger guards, most of them want to fight the enemy, I Go to the ready carriage.Before getting on the carriage, I couldn't help but look up at the sky. It should be sunset in half an hour. Presumably, King Qi will be able to retreat to the first line of defense at the next watch, but the retreat of several hundred miles is not enough. It's easy to go, but I can't do anything about it. Marching and fighting, if the husband has not fought and the temple is considered the winner, it must be counted. Now the various layouts are as I expected. If our army is still defeated, it can only be said to be God's will In this way, it cannot be recovered by humans.But I don't need to worry, the national strength of the Northern Han Dynasty is there. At most, we will win with more hardship and leave more troubles behind. Can we still make them shake the sky?I can't help but think of Long Tingfei, seeing him marching and setting up formations, he is also a first-class talent, but it is a pity that he is my opponent.Couldn't help whispering: "Cut off its wings, break off its branches and leaves, bind its hands and feet, and imprison its will. This is called a net on all sides. Even if you have an earth-shaking talent, how can you escape my grasp?" Somehow, unspeakable fatigue Come up, these days I have been thinking hard, carefully arranging all kinds of layouts, lest something will change the overall situation, now the world is finally set, the next thing is out of my control, I almost got on the carriage in a daze, Before getting in the car, I suddenly turned around and said to Xuan Song: "Tell Su Qing, you must do your best to intercept and kill the secret agents of the Northern Han Army, and you must not let the Northern Han Army discover the layout of our army. Ling Xiao, the middle section of the Northern Han Army, is no longer Perhaps personally, Qiu Yufei was also detained in Donghai, among the remaining people, Su Qing should be able to deal with it, even if some cannot, the experts around King Qi can also help, hurry up, we must not let them see through." Xuan Song said almost cautiously: "The last general obeys the order. My lord is not feeling well. You should rest quickly." I looked up and saw worry flashing across the eyes of Xiao Shunzi, Chi Ji, Hu Yanshou and others, I smiled and said, "What's the matter? They all look like they're making a fuss?" Xiao Shunzi suddenly sighed softly and stuffed a pill into my mouth. I felt my body and mind gradually relax, sweet dreams came to me, and I soon fell asleep. Xuan Song was startled and said: "Why is your lord so pale, but is the old disease recurring?" Xiao Shunzi said coldly: "Master, for this battle, he has devoted himself to this battle for nearly half a year. Now that everything has been considered, he has relaxed, and he will inevitably feel a little tired. General Xuan, the victory or defeat of this battle is of great importance to you. If it is because of your I will never let you go because of the failure of the young master." After saying that, he hugged Jiang Zhe and entered the carriage, Chiji looked at the carriage worriedly, sat in the driver's seat, and waved his horsewhip. Looking at the carriage going away, Xuan Song felt guilty. Just now he was still slandering Jiang Zhe for running away, but he didn't realize how much Jiang Zhe would have to think to make the enemy and us act according to his plan. He said decisively: "Let's go immediately, Let's meet His Royal Highness King Qi." His own guards brought armored horses, Xuan Song changed his armor, rode his horse and swung his whip, and ran towards Qinyuan. On the battlefield in the distance, Li Xian almost broke his back and pressed the formation, while cursing in a low voice, how could he be so stupid, when he thought about it at the beginning, he didn't think of Daizhou Army, Lin Bi would come to help, he did think about it, But more than half of the Daizhou Army will come, he never thought about it. After all, it is common sense in people's hearts that the Daizhou Army will not leave the country, and everyone knows that the northern barbarians are ready to move. Who would have thought that Lin Bi would be so bold and bring most of the army What about going south?However, Jiang Zhe was the one who scolded him the most. Li Xian really didn't know the overall arrangement, so he was a little uncertain about whether the subsequent arrangements were appropriate. The Han army fought to the death and did not ask in detail.At this time, Jing Chi had already transferred from the former army, and there was a senior general from the Yong army leading the way. He also ran to the back to help King Qi. , was beaten to the ground by a woman, what should I do now, how will I see people after I go back?" Li Xian didn't bother to explain to him, anyway, Jing Chi would know about it when the time came, nunuzui said: "Don't be dazed, the Daizhou Army is coming up again." I saw smoke and dust billowing in the distance, congealing and not dispersing. The Daizhou army approached the rear of the Yong army, but did not charge. Enter the Yong army's army formation, fight for a while and then retreat.Disturbing the peace of the Yong army, a cold light flashed in Li Xian's eyes, and he went to the back of the formation in person with Ma Qiang. With him in charge, the Yong army became more courageous and began to fight back fiercely.The two armies kept entangled like this, but neither of them slowed down. When the sun was sinking to the west, the forward of the Yong army had already entered the first line of defense laid down by Xuan Song. The opening of the valley where the two mountains face each other is the Qinshui river. On both sides of the river are rugged mountain roads that can accommodate galloping horses. The cold water is quiet and the strange rocks are jagged on both sides. It is hard and difficult to penetrate, and it is impossible to build a fixed fortress. The cliffs on both sides are tens of feet away from Qinshui. Although it is near the water, it is difficult to obtain water, difficult to attack and difficult to defend. Standing firm here, instead of consuming strength in this narrow place, it is better to use the strength of cavalry in a flat place.But now it is the Yong army that is defending. The infantry of the Yong army is best used to defend the temporary fortifications. Although due to various restrictions, it is impossible to stick to it for a long time, but as long as each place is guarded for a day and a half, it can delay the Northern Han army. attack speed.And this is exactly what Long Tingfei was worried about. He didn't want to encounter a large number of reinforcements from the Yong army after he painstakingly broke through the defense line of the Yong army.According to normal estimates, it will take at least half a month from the news of the defeat to Zezhou, Zezhou's mobilization of troops to the dispatch of reinforcements. This is a situation that has been prepared in advance, but it is not impossible, so Long Tingfei took The main force of the Northern Han army rushed over to join Lin Bi. If Li Xian could not be kept here, the attack would need to be accelerated. The Yong army must be forced to Anze within ten days, so that the complete annihilation would be possible. Yong Jun's goal. A green-clothed Confucian general stood on a mountain peak on one side. Outside the valley, the Yong army had long been waiting in formation with bows and crossbows to welcome the Yong army cavalry into the valley in an orderly manner without any disorder.At this time, the Northern Han army had already sensed the urgency of time, and their attacks became more and more fierce. If Li Xian and Jing Chi hadn't personally blocked them from the rear, the Yong army's rear formation might have been breached long ago.The blood-red sunset was about to sink in the sky, and the sunset was as miserable as a gorgeous blood flower. The two armies fought hard with all their might, regardless of sacrifice, and the lives of countless warriors wrote the most magnificent picture of war. One-third of the Yong army had entered the valley. At this moment, the warships of the Northern Han navy appeared in the upper reaches of Qinshui, rushing down the turbulent river, and the sailors on board were holding shields and carrying crossbows. , obviously preparing to use the Qinshui to rush into the valley, and use the crossbow to cut off the retreat of the Yong army.Seeing the flag of the water army from a distance, the Northern Han army was very powerful and their attacks became more and more handy. Although the Yong army was a little uneasy, but after all, they were a battle-hardened lion. At first, they were a little uneasy, but they soon stabilized. The speed of the retreat seems to have accelerated a lot, and the resistance to the Northern Han army has inevitably relaxed a little. Just when the three leading warships were about to approach the mouth of the valley, the general in green shirt commanding on the mountain peak waved the flag. The bows of the three warships seemed to hit some obstacle, and they were unable to move forward. After rushing over, the three warships blocked more than half of the river. After all, the Northern Han navy on the warships were not Chu people who had experienced water battles, so they couldn't help but become confused. At this time, the Yong army in Taniguchi Dozens of ballistas and catapults were launched, and arrows and boulders rained down like raindrops.The Central Army of the Northern Han Navy issued an order, and those sailors fought back bravely, but the ships could not move, and the tilt of the hull made the Northern Han Army unable to resist.After a while, the sailors issued an order to withdraw their troops, and the sailors on the three warships jumped into the water or retreated in small boats. Long Tingfei frowned deeply, and soon a scout reported: "General, the Yong army has installed iron chains to block the river. When the water army charged just now, the Yong army used hinges to pull up the iron chains to block our warships." The Yong army slowly entered the valley, Long Tingfei saw the banner of the Yong army disappearing from sight, and couldn't help but said bitterly: "The Yong army's methods are really clever, and they have spent so much thought on the way back. The iron chains blocking the river have also been built, but it is a pity, otherwise, if our navy blocked the mountain pass, the Yong army would never have escaped." Duan Wudi persuaded from the side: "General, don't worry, although it's not as good as we expected, but on the other hand, the Yong army is also weak in backup, otherwise, why don't they let us go over the mountain, wait for work in Anze, and defeat our army. They are guarding tightly, which shows that their strength is not strong, and they want to use the geographical advantage to consume our army's strength, but we are more familiar with this area than they are. As long as we break through their defense line as soon as possible and use our army's strengths in charging and hunting, we will definitely be able to take Yong The army is wiped out, Li Xian is tenacious by nature, he will never abandon the army and flee, we still have a chance to keep him." A look of determination flashed in Long Tingfei's eyes and said: "If we can't capture and kill Li Xian, we will be victorious but still defeated. Send me an order to fire rockets to destroy the warships blocking the road. The iron chains can be melted with fire, and let the navy do it." Even if the thirty miles of mountains and rivers are turned into a sea of ​​flames, I will also make the Yong army have no place to stay. I used to ask you to prepare black oil and saltpeter. You only need to pour the black oil on Qinshui, and a fire can drive you back into the valley. Yong Jun. I'll give you two days, and you can do it." Duan Wudi's heart trembled, this black oil is a strange thing, it does not sink in water, it is flammable, and the fire lasts for a long time, but after burning, black smoke is lingering, and the land infiltrated by the black oil does not grow any grass, although Long Tingfei's move is vicious , but these thirty miles of barren hills and the lower reaches of the Qinshui River must be seriously damaged, but now he can't take care of it. He bowed and said: "General, don't worry, the last general will not disgrace his life."