Fenghou

……

In the morning of the next day, a 5000-strong Huangzhou army was marching north along the official road.

After Ren Dejing's summoning order was issued, his second son Ren Jian and third son Ren Hong immediately responded to his father's call and led their troops to Huangzhou. The people decided to gather at the Baihetan Ferry and head to Huangzhou together.

The two brothers also knew the reason why their lips were dead and their teeth were cold. Once Huangzhou City was captured by the Song army and their father had an accident, they might not survive.

The two brothers are very young, Ren Jian is only 20 years old, and Ren Hong is only 19 years old. They have only been in charge of the army for a year, and their prestige and qualifications in the army are very low. He doesn't believe in people with other surnames, so he knows that the qualifications and prestige of his three sons are not enough, but he still lets the three brothers take control of the military.

The eldest son, Ren Hua, is dead, and now it is the turn of the second and third sons, can they escape?

In front is a stretching hill, about a hundred miles long, the mountain is tall and majestic, there is a canyon in the mountain, originally a river, after the river diverted, the dry river formed a natural passage through the mountain, and the official road was built in the valley.

This valley is called Laojun Valley, named after a mountain that looks like Laojun riding a bull. The valley is not very narrow, about two miles wide and more than ten miles long, with steep mountains on both sides.

The army stopped in front of the valley, and several spies rushed into the valley, and came back after a while to report, "General, there is no abnormality found in the valley!"

Ren Jian waved his hand, "Enter the valley!"

The [-] troops marched into the valley, General Yan Xiang whispered to another general, Wu Zhengyang: "Do you think the general manager still exists?"

Wu Zhengyang shook his head, "I heard that Chen Qing is personally leading the army, so it might be hard to deal with!"

Yan Xiang sneered and said: "It's not only hard to deal with, didn't you hear what those businessmen in Baihetan said? A fire burned the city of Agan to ashes, and [-] Xixia troops were wiped out. The Jurchens called others demons, right? Screaming for nothing!"

"That's right! Chen Qing is cruel and ruthless. If the chief executive is ignorant, it will be a disaster!"

The team walked very fast, and they didn't want to stay in the valley for a long time. The mountains on both sides looked rather depressing.

About a mile away from Taniguchi, the soldiers in front stopped suddenly, and some soldiers shouted in horror. The Ren brothers didn't know what happened, so they hurriedly rushed forward, and they couldn't help but gasped.

From a distance, they saw a long solitary wooden pole standing in the middle of the road, with a human head hanging on it, and a piece of white cloth was hung on the long wooden pole, with several large characters written on it, what was written on it?

The terrified voice in front became louder and louder, and the news was quickly transmitted to the rear, and the Ren brothers also heard, "That's the head of the chief executive!" '

The faces of the two brothers changed drastically, and they hurriedly rushed forward. They could see the words on the white cloth clearly, 'Ren Dejing's head is here! '

The two of them rushed forward and saw the head clearly, and immediately let out a wail, knelt on the ground and cried loudly, they saw clearly that it was indeed their father's head.

Several soldiers quickly set up a ladder and took down Ren Dejing's head.

At this time, General Wu Zhengyang urged him to come forward and said, "You two young masters, this is not the time to cry, there must be a Song army lying in ambush ahead!"

Yan Xiang's face changed drastically. If there were Song troops blocking the entrance of the valley in front, there must be Song troops at the entrance behind. They were blocked both front and back. They didn't carry luggage, and their dry food could only last for one to two days at most.

Ren Jian and Ren Hong were filled with grief and indignation. They drew out their swords and shouted: "Kill my father, this feud is irreconcilable. Brothers, let's fight Song Jun!"

The soldiers yelled, and followed the Ren brothers towards the valley entrance. When they were approaching the valley entrance, the soldiers stopped one after another, only to see that the hundred-foot-wide valley entrance was blocked by hundreds of giant trees, leaving a gap in the middle. .

At this time, a gunpowder arrow flew from afar and hit the giant tree. The giant tree burned with a bang and spread rapidly. After a short time, the entire giant tree at the mouth of the valley began to burn.

The soldiers who were furious just now all backed away in fear, their morale faded instantly, and many people understood that the Song Army would never fight them.

At this time, a spies rushed to report, "Report to the two sons, the entrance to the valley behind is also blocked by the enemy's giant tree!"

Fear finally appeared on the faces of the Ren brothers. They understood that now not only their father died, but their lives might also be in danger.

Chapter 481 Destruction

As night fell, [-] soldiers retreated to the middle of the valley. There was a pine forest in the valley. The soldiers cut down many pine trees and lit piles of bonfires. The soldiers sat by the bonfires anxiously, eating dry food and drinking water with small sips.

There is no water source in the valley, so I can only drink the water stored in the kettle, and there is only one day left of dry food, and it is estimated that the water and food will be cut off tomorrow night.

But the Ren brothers had no time to take care of these issues. They buried their father's head in the valley, and they knelt in front of the grave and wept bitterly. When their father died, the two of them completely lost their backbone, and they didn't know what to do?

Several commanders found Yan Xiang. Yan Xiang was Ren Jian's lieutenant general. He was the oldest, nearly forty years old, and had a lot of experience in the army. He was from Qinghe County, Beizhou, Hebei Province. He followed the army and surrendered to the Jin soldiers, and later turned into the puppet Qi army, was promoted to the command envoy, entered Guanzhong with the army, and was finally sent to Huangzhou to garrison.

But he was not respected and used by Ren De. On the contrary, his two subordinates Xue Xiaoping and Li Fei were respected and used by Ren De. They were recruited as sons-in-law and promoted to commander. The handling of this matter was very unfair, which made Yan Xiang feel dissatisfied all the time.

"General Yan, the situation is not good. Some brothers have run out of dry food, and some brothers have run out of water. It is not a solution for everyone to be trapped here!"

Another commander also said: "Ren Dejing is dead, but he still owes us three months' military pay!"

"Old Wu is right, Ren Dejing is dead, General Yan, should we find another way out?"

The generals were chattering, and everyone's eyes were full of anticipation.

Yan Xiang sighed, "Just say it straight! Do you want to surrender to the Song army?"

"General Yan, we were originally the Song Army, but we went the wrong way. We should be called returning to the Song Army!"

"The point is that those two bastards are getting in the way, why not arrest them and let Song Jun deal with them?"

"General Yan, non-toxic and not husband, kill them!"

Yan Xiang said impatiently: "What are you talking about now? When the food and water run out, you will come to me again, and we will find a solution together."

Yan Xiang pretended to be unhappy and sent the generals back.

When everyone was gone, he said to a confidant: "Go and find Guo Huai!"

Not long after, a soldier hurried over, came to Yan Xiang's side and said, "The general is looking for me?"

This soldier is called Guo Huai, one of Ren Jian's soldiers, but he and Yan Xiang are from the same village, and they are related. Guo Huai's uncle is Yan Xiang's cousin, and Guo Huai is actually Yan Xiang. He brought Hehuang, but Guo Huai played cuju very well, and was taken in as a soldier by Ren Jian, who was obsessed with cuju.

But Ren Jian didn't know that Yan Xiang and Guo Huai had such a relationship.

"Sit down, I have something to tell you!"

Guo Huai sat down beside Yan Xiang, and Yan Xiang said: "The situation is not very good. Many soldiers have run out of food and water. There will definitely be trouble tomorrow morning."

"Just now the eldest son said that if there is no food, he will kill his horse to satisfy his hunger."

"It's ridiculous. There are 5000 people in the army, and there are only [-] horses in total. If you kill them all, it won't be enough to eat."

"What did the general say?"

"I have an idea."

Yan Xiang whispered a few words to him, and said: "If this matter is done well, I promise to bring your family to Huangzhou soon."

Guo Huai nodded, "General, don't worry, I don't want to die, I will do it!"

……

At four o'clock, Guo Huai woke up Ren Jian and said in a low voice, "A brother found a path while chopping firewood, and he can go out through the mountain!"

Ren Jian's eyes lit up, and he said in surprise, "Really?"

Guo Huai hissed, "This matter is top secret, don't let other soldiers know, otherwise you won't be able to leave."

Ren Jian hurriedly woke up his brother Ren Hong who was sleeping next to him, and told him the news about Xiaolu. Find.

The two of them took the 200 taels of gold with them, packed a bag of soft jewels each, and followed Guo Huai quietly away in the dark.

Guo Huai led the two brothers into the pine forest, pointed to the front and said: "There is a canyon in front, you can climb up the mountain if you go to the end, and you can go down the mountain directly after crossing the mountain."

Ren Jian and Ren Hong exchanged glances, Ren Jian slowly pulled out his dagger, and when he reached the canyon, he was going to kill Guo Huai, and no one would know that they had left.

Turning a corner, Guo Huai suddenly disappeared, and both Ren Jian and Ren Hong were stunned. At this moment, a large net fell from the sky and covered the two brothers.

The big net dragged the two of them to the ground, and Ren Jian cursed angrily: "Who did it, get out!"

Yan Xiang walked out slowly, Ren Jian's eyes widened, "Why are you, what do you want to do?"

Yan Xiang said coldly: "I have wronged you two, in order for everyone to survive, I have to temporarily borrow their heads for use!"

The two brothers immediately understood, and were so frightened that they repeatedly begged for mercy, "General Yan, please spare me!"

With a wave of Yan Xiang's hand, dozens of spears stabbed at the two brothers, and they both screamed and died.

Yan Xiang didn't want to bear the reputation of being a murderer, so he refused to agree to the general's request face to face, but secretly tricked the two brothers out and executed them.

Yan Xiang buried the bodies of the two brothers, each of his subordinates rewarded a piece of gold and jewelry, and the rest of the property belonged to him, and he took everyone back without anyone noticing.

Before leaving, Yan Xiang secretly confessed to Guo Huai, gave him a letter and the heads of the Ren brothers, and Guo Huai hurriedly disappeared into the night.

……

At the mouth of the valley, the fire was still burning, and Guo Huai slowly approached the raging fire.

Song Jun left a hole a foot wide. Although the tongue of fire was hesitating, he could still rush through the fire as long as he put on a wet bedding that was watered.

Guo Huai shouted: "I was ordered to deliver the letter, please let me go!"

Not long after, a wet quilt was thrown over.

Guo Huai put on a wet quilt and rushed across the fire, and was immediately held back by dozens of spears.

Guo Huai took out the letter and the head package and said, "I'm here to deliver the letter, and I want to see your general!"

A burly general came over, "I am the chief general Liu Cui, what letter do you want to send?"

……

At dawn the next day, the army suddenly discovered that the two Ren brothers had disappeared and their belongings were also taken away. Needless to say, they must have escaped during the night. The soldiers were immediately furious and cursed together.

Yan Xiang jumped onto a boulder and shouted, "Brothers, please be quiet!"

"Everyone be quiet and listen to General Yan!"

Yan Xiang's prestige is very high, and with the help of other generals, the whole army is quiet.

"The situation is already very dangerous now. Many brothers have no food or water. The Ren brothers had nothing to do, so they ran away overnight. But no matter what, we want to survive. We still have parents, wives and children, so I decided to return to the Song Army and would like to follow me. Return to Song Army, please raise your right arm!"

The 5000 people all raised their right arms. Only by surrendering can they live, and if they don't surrender, they will die. This is the general trend. No one is willing to go against the general trend, even the dozens of soldiers of the Ren brothers want to live.

"Okay! Everyone put down your weapons, take off your armor, and come out with me!"

Five thousand soldiers put down their weapons, took off their armor, and followed Yan Xiang in the direction of Taniguchi.

The fire has been pulled away, revealing a thirty-foot-wide passage, which can be walked directly.

Thousands of cavalry soldiers of the Song Army were waiting in formation. Liu Cui watched thousands of unarmored soldiers approaching with a smile on his face.

What Du Tong said was indeed correct, as long as Ren Dejing's head was thrown out, these soldiers would no longer work hard for the Ren family.

Yan Xiang led the soldiers forward, knelt down on one knee, clasped his fists and said, "Yan Xiang would like to return to the Song Army and serve the Song Dynasty!"

Liu Cui smiled slightly and said, "The general saved the lives of five thousand soldiers. I believe Dutong will continue to use the general!"

Yan Xiang was moved in his heart, and said again: "Thank you General Liu for being tolerant and accepting our surrender."

"I also thank General Yan for saving me the trouble of trekking through Kuozhou and Hezhou."

At this moment, Liu Qiong urged him to come forward immediately and said: "The returned soldiers come in two teams, let's have breakfast first!"

Thirty percent of the soldiers here had no water or food last night, and they were already dizzy from hunger. They heard that they had breakfast, and everyone cheered up and lined up in two lines to go to the front for dinner.

After resting for an hour, Liu Cui returned to Huangzhou City with a mighty army.

Chapter 482 Xining

In the wilderness outside the Guichuan Silver Mine, three thousand Song troops led by Li Muqing had quietly arrived under the cover of night.

After Lanzhou completely wiped out the Xixia Army, Chen Qing gave Li Muqing an order to find a suitable time to recapture the Sichuan Silver Mine and completely wipe out the Huangzhou Army.

Prisoners of war are acceptable, but Ren Zhongqun can't let him escape this time.

The guide who led the way for Li Muqing was Jiang Xin, the undersecretary of Wu Hongwei, the magistrate of Di Dao County, and he was very familiar with the silver mine. Chen Qing appointed him as the steward of the silver mine before, and Ren Zhongqun led the army to return to the silver mine. Jiang Xin was also forced to flee. Back to Didao County.

Jiang Xin pointed to the hillside in front of him and said: "When you go up the hill, you can see the army camp. There is a small official road to the north of the camp, leading to Hezhou. Once there is a fight, the enemy will definitely flee there."

Li Muqing asked, "Is there a detour?"

Jiang Xin nodded, "There is a path!"

Li Muqing said to Lieutenant General Tang Jingyang: "General Tang led a thousand soldiers to go around the path and block the enemy from fleeing to Hezhou."

"Follow your orders!"

Li Muqing smiled at Jiang Xin: "Could Manager Jiang take General Tang there, is one hour enough?"

"enough!"

"Well, at five o'clock, I will officially launch an attack!"

Tang Jingyang and Jiang Xin left quickly with a thousand soldiers, and Li Muqing waited patiently for the time to pass.

……

At five o'clock, Li Muqing led two thousand soldiers and rushed up the hillside from the side.

Rushing up the hillside, there is an open land on the mountainside in front of you, and an abandoned silver mine on the left. More than 100 tents are stationed in the open space more than two hundred steps away, and there are camp fences and sentry posts around.