Chapter 5 Section five

The raiding force led by Li Xiaozhong returned home at the beginning of the third watch.By dawn the news had spread among many soldiers.It seemed to have legs and wings, and it flew everywhere. Before noon, all the soldiers stationed within tens of miles along the boundary river were talking about it, and exaggerated the truth several times. times. The vast number of soldiers and middle and low-level officers welcomed this first victory since the war with unprecedented excitement and enthusiasm.They spoke with great spirits of the fire they had witnessed in the middle of the night (some could not help but hear it), of the exaggerated attack they regretted not being able to take part in, and were convinced that if they too had With such good luck, if they participate in the battle, they will definitely achieve the same or even greater results as the assault team.

It was a moment of heroism, a moment of triumph, when confidence and imagination swelled in every breast.Under their disdainful eyes, there is no difficulty that cannot be overcome, and there is no thing that cannot be done.If there is an order, each of them can pick up a dustpan of soil, and they can fill up the narrow boundary river; Walk.They swallowed mountains and rivers with anger, and they couldn't see everything.If the Xuanfu Division and the High Command can seize this once-in-a-thousand-year opportunity, take advantage of this most romantic opportunity, and make a timely offensive plan, this war that has been brewing for several years and has no future in sight may end in a few days. see the outcome.

If the Xuanfu Division and the High Command can really take advantage of this great opportunity, this absurd order of the Xuanfu Division will instead become a clever strategy to boost morale and cultivate the enemy's hatred.If they really wanted to set up this clever plan and implement it, I'm afraid it might not be so natural. But they can't really take advantage of it. Senior generals below Zhongshi Dao also heard the news.They didn't say a word. To be honest, they couldn't say anything. It was wisest to keep silent. Of course, their indifference is limited to the surface, but they are very happy inside.It not only hit the arrogant Liao army, but also punished the self-righteous Xuanfu envoy.In the early days of the country, the two wars against Liao were defeated. When everyone talked about Liao affairs, they couldn't help but turn pale.The current Liao is no longer the original Liao. It seems to have become a diseased worm, but the prestige of the worm is still there.Last night's victory somewhat extinguished the tiger's prestige, and victory in the first battle is often the prelude to a bigger victory. They hoped that it could change the views of the envoys, and turn a stalemate into an attack.But they themselves have no right to make such a decision, not even to express their pleasure.

When General Yang Keshi of the Eastern Route Army first heard the news, he slapped him hard and ran straight out of the tent, not knowing whether he was going to condemn them or praise them, but in the end he did neither.He turned around and said to himself: "Good boy, I knew he was going to do it." In fact, when Li Xiaozhong talked to him, he had already expected this.At that time, he thought that if Li Xiaozhong didn't dare to cross the river, he wouldn't be a man. The Xuanfu Division also got the news very early, and indeed got the names of Li Xiaozhong and Lu Yuandeng, several officers who participated in the attack.The Xuanfu Division is such an administrative agency, if they are asked to do a good thing that benefits people, they always procrastinate and have no energy. On the contrary, when they are asked to do something bad that hurts people, they are happy , act quickly and with high efficiency.As soon as they heard the news, they immediately sent an "assault team" to the East Route Army Command Post to attack Yang Keshi.They aggressively demanded that Yang Keshi hand over Li Xiaozhong to rectify the Fa on the spot, and they also issued a list of participants so that they could be found out according to their plans and severely punished one by one.

Yang Keshi tried his best to narrow down the scope of the situation, and deliberately confused the two events that happened in Henan during the day and Hebei at night, and the relationship between subject and object was completely opposite.He only admits the former and denies the latter.He insisted that the Liao army came across the river to wreak havoc and killed many of our officers and soldiers. Li Xiaozhong and others were forced to defend themselves and repelled the Liao army. The Liao army suffered some casualties. "Li Xiaozhong is a small capital, what can he do on the battlefield?" He also said, "I sent him to drive away the Liao army, there is no need to drag him in."

Although Yang Keshi is well-known in the Northwest for his bravery in battle, it is not his specialty to lie.This set of improvised lies was refuted by Lilike you and I inquisitively, and he was full of loopholes and couldn't justify himself. "When did this battle start?" "It's time to apply for licenses in the afternoon." "Where did you fight?" "Dong's shop on Erli Duo Road to the south of the river." "What about the night's battle?" "It's too peaceful at night, where have you ever seen a battle?" "There was a big fire on the north bank of the river in the middle of the night, did you see it upside down?"

"Damn it! I had a good night's sleep. Have I ever seen a big fire?" "I'm afraid that Observer fell asleep and didn't see it. I and the others in Sili also saw the fire from afar." "Could it be that the Liao army boiled horse meat in the middle of the night, and the firewood was burning so hot that everyone was sleepy and saw it as a big fire? Or, it was because the water was leaking from their tents. You have never been to the front line, on the front line, There is water and fire everywhere, this, how can I manage it!" Lilike winked at each other and nodded, expressing that they had figured it out.

"Let's not talk about the battle at night—Hehuang Shankuo, I haven't been anywhere, and said I haven't been to the front line, Yang Guan, you really remember it." The leader asked again, "Let's talk about the battle at night. Don't talk about it, the battle at Dong's shop during the day, has the observation been reported to the department?" "Everyone, come quickly. I'm waiting for the paperwork to apply to the Propaganda Department and the Commander's Headquarters." "The high command has yet to report?" a Lilik said sharply, "They shit after eating rice—it's called a gut to the bottom."

"Have the corpses of those who died in battle been left on the battlefield?" the leader asked again. "The Liao army's dead and wounded were taken back by them." "What about the casualties of our army? Could it be that the Liao army also snatched them?" "It's a hot day, and the corpse is left behind. Do you want it to stink and be fed to yellow dogs? It was buried long ago at night." "That's not right!" Lilike seized this clue and immediately spoke up, "How can you order the burial of such a huge battle without reporting it? Observer Yang, you have managed all these years of business affairs in vain. , but don’t understand the rules.”

"It's not that I don't understand, hehehe!" Another Lilike laughed treacherously, "There is a name for this, it's called, it's called...Destroying corpses and eradicating traces." "Destroying corpses and destroying traces is still a trivial matter. Observer Yang, can you be worthy of the two major crimes of 'violating the order and provoking' and 'harboring criminals'?" "'Disobeying the imperial decree' and 'harboring criminals', but to... but to..., hee, hee, hee!" Yang Keshi's patience was used up, and its reserves were originally very limited.When he was arrested, he suddenly became angry and said sharply:

"But what do you want? Say it, say it!" He pointed his finger all the way to the tip of the "hee, hee, hee" guy's nose, "I did these things, so what do you guys do?" "This is what I said, and I admit that I have done this," a Lilike said with a sharp tongue, "Xuanxiang...Xuanxiang..." "What about Prime Minister Xuan?" Yang Keshi suddenly picked up his iron mace, and with one blow, split a wooden table into two, and fell crookedly on the ground.He shouted: "What I said counts. I was the one who buried the corpse and wiped out the traces. I was the one who ordered the counterattack. I was the one who protected Li Xiaozhong. I didn't do anything about the command. If Minister Xuan wanted Yang's head, he took it from my neck. Li Xiaozhong’s can’t. As long as my Yang is alive, you won’t be allowed to touch a single hair of him. Do you hear me clearly?” Yang Keshi let out a thunderclap, and instantly dispelled the dark clouds and poisonous mist.Seeing that he was really angry, Lilike smacked his lips one by one and confessed: "My little brother is here because he was dispatched by his superiors. It's a last resort. Just now he spoke abruptly and pretended to be a tiger by mistake. The Taiwei must not take offense." He said nonchalantly while controlling his body. He retreated to the door of the halberd, turned around and slipped away. . As they were walking on the road, they complained to each other as soon as they were shocked: "I blame your elder brother for the words 'violating the imperial decree' and 'harboring criminals'. Don't you know his frizzy temper, turning his dog's face and refusing to recognize anyone. It's not that the younger brother can turn around quickly. This scene Everyone is afraid that they will not be able to step down." "Brother, you still come to blame me. I said a long time ago that he is the famous 'Yang Perak', and even Prime Minister Xuan has to take care of him. It wasn't for you all clamoring to come, how dare I come to tease his beard ?” "Don't mention it, don't mention it! It's useless to regret after something has been done. Now let's discuss how to cancel this debt in front of Minister Xuan!" On the charge of beheading, Yang Keshi forced Li Xiaozhong to survive.Li Like tried his best to persuade Tong Guan to deal with Yang Keshi severely, so as to destroy the prestige of the command.But Tong Guan obediently gave in again.Tong Guan has always used both soft and hard tactics, both kind and powerful, to the senior officers of the Western Army who are below the level of Zhongshi.Yang Keshi is an officer whom he has promoted and wooed for many years, and there is still room for him to be used in the future, so he cannot be pushed too far, and he should be completely pushed to the side of the cultivator, and there must be room for Li Xiaozhong's superior, the cultivator.In the end, the case was closed, and Li Xiaozhong was only charged with dismissal as a soldier. The other officers and soldiers who participated in the attack were all fined one month's salary, which is a small punishment.Among the teachers, Yang Keshi couldn't hope for a more satisfactory dismissal, and the Xuanfu Division wanted to maintain its prestige, which was already the maximum compromise. After the handling of this case, the officers and soldiers who had been steaming with enthusiasm suddenly fell silent.It was a silence in which the downpour quenched the fire of the heart, a silence that foretells doom.Experienced generals can see what this sudden drop in temperature means and what serious consequences it will bring.