Fenghou

Cao Baozong knew well that if an old fox like Xia Lian was going to launch a mutiny, how could he allow himself to go to the court to sue him for his crimes? He would definitely let himself die unexpectedly, so that he could legally seize military power.

……

At two o'clock at night, the army was very quiet, and there was no move to withdraw troops.

Tuoba Chengqing was a little anxious, and quickly found Xia Lian, the commander of the army, "General Xia, didn't you agree to withdraw the army tonight? It's already three o'clock now, why is there no sign of withdrawing at all?"

Xia Lian said coldly: "The matter has not been dealt with properly. For example, there are no military orders or military symbols. How can I order the withdrawal of troops?"

"But Cao Baozong has personally promised that we will make our own decisions."

Xia Lian sneered, as if mocking Tuoba Chengqing's naivety.

"These high-ranking officials from aristocratic families who come from the court may not know how to fight, but the intrigues in the court are all masters. If he doesn't have a bit of skill, can he be a general? Can the emperor trust him and appoint him as the chief general?"

"The general meant to say..."

"I mean, he will definitely blame us for the defeat."

"No way! He insisted on going his own way, and even the monk Dongyan turned his back on him. How can he still put the blame on us?"

Seeing that Tuoba Chengqing still didn't understand, Xia Lian was a little annoyed, so he simply said frankly: "Without the emperor's will, we negotiated the withdrawal of the army without authorization, which is a rebellion. The Cao family has no power in the army, but the court has power It's very big, once he complains to the emperor, you and I can't bear it, and he will definitely say that it was us who secretly hindered him, which led to his defeat."

Only then did Tuoba Chengqing realize the seriousness of the problem, and he quickly asked, "What does the general mean?"

"I have two options, either listen to him, go where he says to go? It is his responsibility that the army dies in the end, but we all have to watch our subordinates and soldiers die. My own life is in danger."

Tuoba Chengqing shook his head, "It's come to this point, it's impossible to turn back, general just say it straight!"

Xia Lian said coldly: "That's my second plan. Cao Baozong unfortunately passed away tonight."

Tuoba Chengqing nodded slowly, he understood that they would not be able to implement their plan if they did not remove the stumbling block Cao Baozong.

At this moment, a soldier rushed to report, "Report to the commanding army, to the deputy commander, there is news from the big tent of the Chinese army that the general is missing!"

"what!"

Xia Lian's face changed drastically, he grabbed the sword and rushed out of the tent, Tuoba Chengqing stomped his feet angrily, and ran out after him.

In front of the big tent of the Chinese army, many soldiers were surrounded, talking in whispers.

Xia Lian strode over and shouted sharply: "Whatever you are doing, you all go back to your tent!"

Xia Lian's prestige was extremely high, and the soldiers did not dare to disobey the order, so they left one after another.

The person who discovered Cao Baozong's disappearance was a military doctor. He came to see Cao Baozong's doctor. He found that there was no one in the big tent, and none of the more than 100 soldiers had disappeared.

"When did you find out that no one was missing?" Xia Lian asked.

The military doctor hurriedly said: "The humble job has just been discovered."

Xia Lian immediately ordered: "Get me all the generals on duty at the four camp gates!"

Several soldiers rushed away.

Tuoba Chengqing asked the military doctor again: "Is the general sick?"

"Xiaozhi feels that his pulse is stable, it should be just a heart disease."

"But his complexion is so bad, is it just pretending?"

"Humble posts don't dare to talk nonsense."

"Say!" Xia Lian shouted sharply.

Then the military doctor stammered, "Maybe he had something painted on his face, which makes it easy for people to think he is sick."

"This bastard!"

Xia Lian clenched his fists, he should have killed him first, but he smelled it, he was even smarter than a rabbit.

At this time, the general on duty of the Northern Army Camp was brought up to salute and said: "General Qi, today a group of the general's personal soldiers rode out of the barracks. Dare to stop."

Needless to say, Cao Baozong must have been among them, Xia Lian asked anxiously, "When did it happen?"

"It's just getting dark!"

Three hours have passed, and it is definitely impossible to catch up now.

Xia Lian was upset for a while. He knew that Cao Baozong was trying to shirk his responsibility. Now he would definitely accuse himself of mutiny in front of the emperor, which led to his disastrous defeat in Longxi County. Extremely passive.

Tuoba Chengqing whispered: "There are Song Army scouts on the periphery, so he may not be able to escape."

Xia Lian nodded, he could only place his hopes on this, he sighed and said, "For the time being, wait and observe for two days!"

Chapter 465 Captured

Cao Baozong led more than 100 soldiers to escape from the barracks and fled northward in a hurry. The old army leaders had mutinied and forced the palace, so they would not let him go. He had to flee back to Lanzhou first, and then return to Xingqing Mansion to file a complaint.

Although Cao Baozong was in a hurry like a bereaved dog, he was in a good mood. At least he got rid of the guilt of losing soldiers and generals. Let the five old army leaders bear everything!

More than 100 cavalry rushed all the way to the north, and arrived at Xinxia City in less than an hour. There were [-] soldiers inside, and Cao Baozong was going to take them all away.

The gates of Xinxia City were ajar, the city was empty, there was no one there, the barracks were still there, but there were no people there, as if some mysterious incident happened and the soldiers suddenly disappeared.

Cao Baozong felt something was wrong, he immediately ordered: "Go get some dry food and water, and then leave immediately."

They left in a hurry, did not bring any dry food, and expected to get supplies in Xinxia City, but Xinxia City seemed to be haunted, which really made them panic.

The soldiers ran to the barracks, and soon found more than 100 dry food and water bottles.

Cao Baozong waved his hands and shouted, "Let's go!"

The crowd turned their horses and rushed out of the city. Unexpectedly, as soon as they ran out of the city gate, they found that the opposite side was full of cavalry from the Song Army, as many as a thousand people. A general shouted, and the cavalry raised their crossbows and aimed at them. .

Cao Baozong shouted in fright: "Don't shoot the arrow, we surrender!"

This is the true face of the children of the Xixia family. At the critical moment, what they thought of was not desperate to break through, but to surrender and beg for mercy.

His subordinates put down their weapons one after another, got off their horses, and a group of Song Army cavalry came up to lead away the horses and seized the weapons.

Hundreds of soldiers rushed up and ordered them to kneel down and tied them behind their backs.

The leading general is Tang Qian. He was ordered to lead a thousand cavalry to stay in Xinxia City. Once the main force of the enemy army enters Xinxia City, his subordinates will crawl out of the tunnel and poison the well. However, they did not wait for the main force of the Xixia Army. , but waited for more than 100 Xixia cavalry.

If Cao Baozong was not wearing a golden helmet, Tang Qian would have ordered them all to be shot. It was Cao Baozong's golden helmet that made Tang Qian feel strange, and they escaped.

The soldiers found the soldier talisman and command arrow from Cao Baozong's body, and presented them to Tang Qian. Although the soldier talisman was engraved with Xixia characters, Tang Qian knew that these two things were very important.

He urged his horse forward, pressed Cao Baozong's chest with a sharp spear point, and asked coldly: "The commander ordered us not to keep anyone alive, tell us your identity, and see if it's worth saving your life!"

The majesty of Cao Baozong's coach has disappeared. He is eager to save his life at this time, and only wants to be captured by Chen Qing, and then let the emperor redeem him to return to Xixia.

"I am Cao Baozong, the coach of the Xixia Southern Expedition Army!"

"Bullshit!"

Tang Qian scolded angrily: "Why did the head coach of the Xixia Army come here alone? I'll give you one last chance to say! Who are you?"

"I am indeed Cao Baozong. There was a mutiny in the barracks. I escaped overnight and was going back to Lanzhou. The name of the official position is engraved in Chinese characters on my helmet, which can be used as evidence."

Tang Qian picked up his helmet with the tip of a spear and looked closely in front of his eyes. Sure enough, there were two lines of writing on the back, one line was in Xixia script, and the other line was Chinese characters: Cao Baozong, the great general of the Xixia Kingdom conquering the South.

Tang Qian questioned the other soldiers, and it turned out to be Cao Baozong. The matter was very important. He sent someone to report to Yang Zaixing, while leaving the scout capital Lin Tao and [-] soldiers to continue to monitor Xinxia City.

He himself led [-] cavalry to escort Cao Baozong and others to Longxi County by another path.

……

Chen Qing was awakened by the soldiers in his deep sleep. He heard an unbelievable news that Cao Baozong led the soldiers to flee, but was captured by Yang Zaixing's subordinates and escorted to Longxi County.

This news made Chen Qing surprised, happy and confused, he immediately asked Cao Baozong to be taken to the barracks.

Cao Baozong was taken into a large tent, and he was quite disturbed, he knew that Chen Qing was going to see him.

Of course he had met Chen Qing. Before the battle between the two armies, Chen Qing beheaded several of his generals, which left a deep impression on him.

At this time, the curtain was lifted, and Chen Qing walked in with Niu Gao and Liu Cui.

Cao Baozong quickly stood up, but he didn't salute, and stood there straight. After all, he was the general of Zhengnan, and he couldn't afford to be ashamed of bowing and kneeling in front of the enemy general.

Chen Qing glanced at him and said, "Sit down!"

Cao Baozong sat down silently, and Chen Qing also sat down opposite him. Niu Gao and Liu Cui stood beside Chen Qing like two door gods.

Of course they were not bodyguards, Chen Qing asked them to listen to it and discuss it together.

Chen Qing said calmly: "I know that General Cao is a person of status, and I don't intend to humiliate you and give you some dignity, but the first question is that you must answer my question truthfully. If you answer in detail, let me Satisfied, I will contact Xixia as soon as possible, and ask your emperor to redeem you with [-] sheepskins."

Cao Baozong's eyes suddenly lit up with hope. Thirty thousand sheepskins are not many, and his family has at least [-] sheepskins.

Chen Qing saw the hope in his eyes, and said lightly: "But if your answer dissatisfies me, you can only go to the iron mine to mine with other Xixia prisoners of war. We will talk about it after five years of mining."

"I have nothing to hide, what does Jiedushi want to know?"

"What happened to your barracks, why did you escape?" Chen Qing asked first.

Cao Baozong sighed and said: "These fifty thousand Xixia troops were transferred from various military divisions, each led by five commanders. I myself have no seniority in the army, and I was also despised by the five commanders. The siege lost [-] soldiers, and the five army leaders were angered, and they no longer believed in me, so there was a mutiny."

"What kind of mutiny happened?" Chen Qing asked.

"It's that the United Nations has lifted my command of the army and forced me to agree to their plans. I agreed to them, but I know that Xia Lian, the leader of the five army chiefs, will definitely kill me, and then say that I am seriously ill and die. , it is impossible for him to let me go to the emperor to complain."

It sounds unbelievable, but it makes sense when you think about it carefully. Whether it is the Xixia Army or the Song Army, no general is willing to let a fool control his own destiny.

"It makes sense!"

Chen Qing nodded, "And then?"

"Because I was pretending to be sick and deceived them, and then I escaped from the barracks with my own soldiers just after dark. Get on me in time."

Chen Qing thought for a while and asked again: "You just said that the five military leaders have prepared another plan. What plan?"

"They are planning to withdraw their troops from Lintao Prefecture. I don't know whether they want to occupy Lintao Prefecture or just want to pass through Lintao Prefecture. They just informed me and asked me to agree, but they didn't elaborate."

The other party wanted to go to Lintao Mansion, which was a bit beyond Chen Qing's expectation. He immediately said to Liu Cui: "Send scouts to monitor every move of the other party's camp. If the other party shows signs of withdrawing, please notify me immediately!"

"Follow the order!"

Liu Cui turned and left.

Chen Qing continued to seduce Cao Baozong and said: "As the commander of this army, you must be very clear about its weaknesses. If you can help me wipe out this army, then I don't even need to inform Xixiazi, just directly Inform your family to redeem you and keep it a secret for you, after all, being caught by Song Jun will affect your resume, what is the condition?"

Cao Baozong's heart was as hard as iron at this time. He didn't care about the life and death of this army at all. If the other party wanted to kill him, why couldn't he take revenge on them?

What's more, Chen Qing offered such a tempting offer that he couldn't refuse it.

He sighed: "I can't refuse Jiedushi's offer, and I don't want to refuse, those five bastards should have gone to hell long ago!"

Chen Qing said with a smile: "You tell me! How can I wipe out this army?"

Cao Baozong pondered for a long time and said: "They have many weaknesses, such as low morale of soldiers and hope of returning home, but these are not important. I think their biggest weakness at present is that they cannot cross the Yellow River. Once they have problems with their supplies and food, they will definitely flee to Lanzhou. City, but if your army occupies Lanzhou City first, then they can only go to Agan County, where there is a batch of food stored."

"Can't cross the Yellow River, why?"

"The reason is very simple. They retreated to the Yellow River and encountered ice floods. The river was full of ice floes, and the leather rafts could not withstand it. They had to wait until late February to cross the Yellow River!"

Chen Qing nodded, he knew what to do.

Chapter 466 Withdrawing to the West

Cao Baozong was taken down and placed under house arrest. He was a treasure trove of information, and he could get more information about Xixia from him. However, Chen Qing didn't have time to interrogate him in detail. He had to deal with the subsequent westward retreat of the main force of Xixia army.

Niu Gao followed Chen Qing and said in a low voice: "I feel that I should send an army to Didao County first, and tell the people along the way to hide, so that the Xixia Army cannot get supplies in Lintao Mansion, so they will go to A Dry County."

Chen Qing stopped, thought for a while and said, "Go and find Li Muqing for me!"

Li Muqing was the commander of the soldiers and horses of Lintao Mansion before, not long after, General Li Muqing hurried over, bowed and saluted, "See Dutong!"

"General Li, the Xixia Army is likely to withdraw from Lintao Mansion. I want you to lead 3000 people from your headquarters back to Lintao Mansion and occupy Didao County first."

Li Muqing's three thousand men were all cavalry, and they could indeed rush back to Lintao Mansion in time.

Li Muqing quickly clasped his fists and said, "You can leave immediately!"

Chen Qing nodded and said: "We also need to inform the people along the way to hide to prevent the Xixia army from getting supplies!"

Li Muqing hesitated and said: "The Han people will definitely hide. I am worried about the Tubo people, Qiang people and Dangxiang people on the west bank of Taoshui. The Tubo people and Qiang people will also leave temporarily, because I am afraid that the Dangxiang people will support the Xixia army."

"There is nothing they can do to support them, but we have to do things properly and inform everyone."

"Humble job understands, I don't know when the humble job will leave."

Chen Qing looked at the night and saw that the fourth watch had passed, so he said, "Go back and clean up immediately, and leave before dawn!"