Fenghou

Cao De didn't retreat right away, he waited until it was dark and there were no more enemy pursuers, and then he led the army northward.

Perhaps because the Jurchens were chasing them at the same time, the speed of the people's fleeing was significantly accelerated. They went northward overnight, and at noon the next day, they finally arrived at Beixianrenguan. There were also two thousand Song soldiers defending here. The general was Zhang Xuefei, who was originally Liu Zan's His subordinate, who has been in Beixianren Guan for many years, was the deputy commander and was not purged by Liu Guangshi.

Zhang Xuefei's head was as big as a bucket, and he stammered: "General Cao, why don't you lead the people to retreat north! If the Northern Immortal Guan is lost, Chen Dutong will not spare me!"

"If the enemy army comes from the south, can you hold it?"

"It should be possible. The inner pass defends the south, and the outer pass defends the north. This pass is originally designed to defend both the north and the south. I am afraid that there will be troops from Longzhou, but it probably won't happen for a while."

Cao De nodded. He led [-] soldiers to guard tens of thousands of people, passed Beixianren Pass, and headed towards Chengji County along the newly built official road...

The news that Liu Guangshi's main force was destroyed in Hanzhong reached Pingliang County three days later.

Chen Qing, who was about to lead his army to the south, had to change his plan, suspended his attack on Siyang County in Longzhou, and ordered Niu Gao to lead [-] troops to defend Pingliang City.

The main purpose of Chen Qing's arrangement for Liu Zan to guard Lanzhou was to exchange for Niu Gao. Liu Zan guarded Lanzhou City, while Cheng Heng, the guard of Lanzhou City, was transferred to guard Liangzhou. In this way, Niu Gao was transferred back.

The reason why Niu Gao was transferred back was that he was better at defending against fire attacks, and his commanding power was also very high, so he was completely capable of being alone.

On the top of the city, Chen Qing said to Niu Gao: "The significance of Pingliang City is that it is a springboard for us to attack Shaanxi Road, or it can be said to be a poisonous thorn inserted into the enemy's back. It is harmful to both us and the enemy." It is very important, Jin Guo and Puppet Qi will not accept our occupation of Pingliang, and will definitely continue to attack the city. I will leave Wang Duo to you as a lieutenant general, and I will give you ten young commanders, and you can train six thousand well. The newly formed surrender army, in addition, the food, supplies and trebuchets are all left to you, I only have one request, to defend Pingliang City for me."

Niu Gao nodded, "Don't worry, everyone! Pingliang City's conditions are very good, and I will guard the city carefully, especially not letting the enemy's troops join forces to seize the city."

After a pause, Niu Gao worried again and asked, "I don't know how the situation in Hanzhong will develop?"

Chen Qing pondered for a while and said: "This time the Jin soldiers attacked Hanzhong differently than before, and they were well prepared, so I am not in a hurry to attack Fengxiang. The strategy of besieging Wei and saving Zhao may not be effective. We must first stabilize Xihe Road, and then consider how to take it back." Hanzhong."

"The fall of Hanzhong this time will greatly ease the situation of Dutong. At least there are good reasons for not going back to report on work."

Chen Qing shook his head and said sadly: "I have excuses for whether I go back or not. The key is that our pressure has increased. To be honest, I would rather Wu Jie be in Hanzhong, but the court just transferred him away and sent a mediocre future in charge of Sichuan. Shaanxi, completely ruined the foundation of the army that Wu Jie has worked so hard to build up over the years."

……

That night, Chen Qing returned to Chengji County with 6000 troops and [-] camels. Niu Gao was appointed as the Pingliang System Envoy, in charge of the military administration of Liangzhou Prefecture, and led [-] people to guard Liangzhou City.

Three days later, Chen Qing's army returned to Chengji County. When he heard that Cao De had arrived in Chengji County, he was overjoyed and immediately received Cao De at the official office of Jinglue Mansion.

Cao De is a descendant of Cao Bin, a famous general in the Northern Song Dynasty. When Chen Qing was training troops in Lin'an, Cao De competed with him for the barracks.

Cao De has a very good relationship with Gao Ding, and also has a deep friendship with Hu Yantong. These general disciples all grew up together, so Chen Qing simply called the two of them to chat together.

Chen Qing smiled and said: "I heard that Liu Guangshi was defeated in Yangzhou, and I thought that General Cao was also martyred unfortunately. There was indeed this gossip at the time."

Cao De said sadly: "Hey! Don't mention what happened back then. Even my family members prepared for my funeral. I crossed the Yangtze River with a log and was rescued by fishermen. I was the only one among the three thousand brothers who survived. "

"How's the situation in Hanzhong?" Chen Qing changed the subject and asked.

"The Jin Bing probably wanted to occupy Hanzhong, and was not in a hurry to attack Jianmen Pass, but to firmly occupy Hanzhong. This time Liu Guangshi's entire army was wiped out, and it is difficult for Hanzhong to recover."

"This time I clearly sent someone to inform Liu Guangshi, how could his entire army be wiped out?" Chen Qing asked puzzled.

Cao De was a little surprised, "Didn't the governor know about it?"

Chen Qing was startled, "I don't know what?"

Next to him, Zhang Xiao leaned forward and said: "The humble official has not had time to report to Dutong. In fact, Liu Guangshi's entire army was completely destroyed this time. After leaving Nanzheng's lair, all his subordinates had family members in Nanzheng, so he hurried back to Nanzheng with a large army, and was ambushed and defeated by the main force of the Jin army."

Chen Qing's eyes showed anger, "He wants to sneak attack Chengji County?"

Cao De was a little embarrassed and said: "This person has a deep prejudice against the capital. Maybe he wants to eat Xihe Road. He has already had this idea."

Chen Qing snorted coldly, "It seems to be God's will!"

Cao De hastily said again: "I feel that the most urgent task now is how to deal with the Beixianrenguan. Zhang Xuefei led two thousand troops to guard there. I am very worried. The Jin soldiers will attack from the north and the south. I am afraid that the Beixianrenguan will not be able to defend it."

Chen Qing nodded, then turned around and asked Zhang Xiao, "How many troops are there in Weishui City?"

Zhang Xiao hurriedly leaned forward and said, "Report to Dutong, there are currently about 2000 people."

Chen Qing made a decisive decision: "I remember that Weishui City was built as a military city with a capacity of 5000 people, and an additional 3000 troops will be added immediately."

Chapter 525

Weishui City is a military city. It was built after Chengji County was rebuilt. It can be said that it is the throat gate of Chengji County.

This is also related to the special geography. The Longshan Mountains stretching for thousands of miles divide Longxi and Guanzhong into two geographical units. There are more than a dozen large and small passes such as Longshan Pass and Liupan Pass to the north of Longshan Mountain.

In the south, there is only the Weishui River Valley, and you can enter Qinzhou along the south bank of the Weishui River. This Weishui Road has a four-way fork in Longzhou, heading west to Chengji County, while going southwest to Beixianren Pass, and heading east to From Fengxiang Mansion, go southeast to the West Valley to Dashan Pass.

It can be said that this Sichakou is an extremely important strategic location, and the Xihe Army built the Weishui Army City here.

Of course, it is impossible for this Weishui military city to block all the official roads. It is mainly to guard against the official roads to Chengji County, basically blocking the official roads to Chengji County, and the road to Beixianrenguan But he was not prepared enough. After all, Hanzhong has always been the territory of the Song army.

There is little urgency to defend the passage to Beixianren Pass.

Therefore, even if the Jin soldiers want to go to the Weihe River Valley to attack Chengji County, they must first pull out the stumbling block of the Weishui Army City.

But now that Hanzhong has fallen, Chen Qing must reconsider the defense deployment of the army.

At this time, Chen Qing had already seen the intention of Jin Bing. They wanted to occupy Hanzhong. In this way, Beixianrenguan became extremely important. To prevent the Jin soldiers from attacking Chengji County from the direction of Dashanguan and Beixianrenguan at the same time.

This morning, Chen Qing led his army to Beixianren Pass, and guard Zhang Xuefei rushed out of the city to meet him.

"See Chen Dutong for your lowly position!" Zhang Xuefei stepped forward and knelt down on one knee to salute.

Chen Qing had met him many times and was a young general who had been following Liu Zan all the time. He did not expect that one day he would actually take on the leading role.

"General Zhang please stand up!"

"Thank you Dutong!"

Chen Qing asked again: "Did Jin soldiers attack Beixianrenguan recently?"

"Two thousand puppet Qi troops came yesterday, and after hundreds of people were annihilated, they withdrew."

"Look at it!"

Chen Qing led the people to follow Zhang Xuefei to the inner city. The inner city has been heightened and widened by Zhang Xuefei, and now it is two feet five feet high. What's more, there is a slope below, which is very similar to Jianmen Pass, so you have to look up. The difficulty of attacking is not ordinary.

"Is there any difficulty now?" Chen Qing asked.

Zhang Xuefei thought for a while and said, "Now there are two main difficulties. The inner city gate is too thin, and it will shatter when hit with a battering ram. I want to replace it with an iron gate."

Chen Qing nodded, "This is easy, I will arrange it, what else?"

"Then the armor of the golden soldiers is very strong. If you attack with a shield, ordinary crossbows will not be able to penetrate. I hope to support a few bed crossbows!"

Chen Qing said with a smile: "These are small problems, not only the bed crossbow, but also the fire oil, the medium-sized trebuchet, the fire oil ball, and the gunpowder barrel. One hundred soldiers from the Firearms Battalion and ten craftsmen, so that no matter how many Jin soldiers come to attack, they will return with hatred."

Zhang Xuefei was overjoyed, "With these defensive weapons, the Northern Immortal will be worry-free!"

Chen Qing asked again with a smile: "What is General Zhang's military position now?"

"Humble posts are not reused by Liu Guangshi, they are only deputy commanders!"

Chen Qing nodded, "The deputy commander can't command two thousand soldiers. From now on, I will promote you to be the general commander and the defense officer of Xianrenguan."

Zhang Xuefei was moved in his heart, knelt down on one knee and cupped his fists and said, "The humble official is willing to serve everyone with his life!"

……

Chen Qing appeased Zhang Xuefei and all the guards, promoted several Dutou as deputy commanders, and ordered to allocate [-] guan in money and [-] sheep to reward and reward the three armies.

Immediately left Beixianrenguan, along the valley to the east.

Going east from Beixianren Pass, Weishui City is [-] miles away. Here is a very wide valley, the widest part of which is more than [-] miles away. At a fish intestine, a mountain protrudes here, forming a canyon about two miles long, and the narrowest point is only [-] steps wide.

"right here!"

Chen Qing pointed to the narrowest place and said: "Build a pass here, even if the enemy troops come from the west valley of Dasan pass, they will not be able to cross this pass!"

Everyone agreed, and Chen Qing smiled at Hu Yanyun, the chief logistics officer and Cang Cao Shenjun: "What do you think, General Huyan?"

Hu Yanyun knew it well, and asked himself all the time, just to let himself be in charge of the fortifications, he quickly bowed and said: "Building the city here is a supplement to the Weishui military city, and it can also prevent the enemy from detours to complete the fortification." Ji County, Beizhi is willing to take charge of building this pass."

Chen Qing nodded and said, "You led the construction of Chengji County New City, and you were also responsible for the construction of Weishui Military City. Everyone is very satisfied, but I want to make a request in terms of time, and build this Yuchang Pass within a month. , can you do it?"

It was really difficult within a month. It took three months to build the Weishui Military City, and Chen Qing obviously had a problem.

Hu Yanyun thought for a while and said: "If the construction of Cangcheng is postponed for three months, I can use Cangcheng's city bricks to build the pass, and it can be completed within one month!"

"can!"

Chen Qing readily agreed, "The construction of Cangcheng will be postponed for three months, and the pass will be built first!"

……

Liu Guangshi's entire army was destroyed, and the news of Hanzhong's fall spread to Lin'an.

In the side hall of Ziwei Hall, Emperor Zhao Gou held an emergency military and political meeting.

Zhao Gou glanced at the crowd, and said slowly: "Everyone knows the situation in Hanzhong, and it is heartbreaking. The appointment of Liu Guangshi as the Xuanfu envoy is an improper employment, but now is not the time to pursue responsibility. Now we have to consider how to restore it." In terms of the situation, at least Bashu must be guarded, let’s talk about it! I hope that all lovers can speak freely, and those who speak are innocent!"

"Weichen, let's say a few words first!" Zhang Jun stood up and said.

Zhang Jun had the most right to speak among all the ministers, so Zhao Gou cheered up and said quickly, "Mr. Zhang, please speak!"

Zhang Jun was full of anger. He tried his best to restrain the anger in his heart, and said in a deep voice: "Although Hanzhong has been lost many times over the years, the army has not lost, and Hanzhong will be recaptured soon, but this time nearly [-] troops have been annihilated. , All the elite of the Western Army were wiped out, Liu Guangshi has committed a lot of crimes, I know in my heart, I am afraid that Hanzhong will not be recovered this time, and it is a blessing in misfortune to be able to keep Bashu!"

There was silence in the side hall. After a long while, Zhao Gou said bitterly, "I really don't want to mention how to take back Hanzhong. Let's discuss how to defend Bashu first? Does Mr. Zhang have any good suggestions?"

"Your Majesty, you must rely on experience to defend Bashu. You cannot use incompetent generals. First, you must replace Liu Guangshi. I suggest that you reactivate the Wu ranks. Only he can defend Bashu."

Zhao Gou nodded, and then asked Zhu Shengfei, "What about Mr. Zhu's opinion?"

Zhu Shengfei was still thinking about how to explain to the queen mother, when Zhao Gou asked him suddenly, he didn't realize it for a while, and he hesitated for a while before saying: "This... I also agree to reactivate the Wu rank, but is it necessary to seriously consider the dismissal of Liu Guangshi?" What? After all, he is also an experienced general."

The privy secretary Xu Xiantu immediately got annoyed and said, "What experience does he have? He has never won a battle with the Jin soldiers. I think he only has rich experience in escaping. If he stays in Bashu, he will only lose Bashu in the end. Is Zhu Xianggong thinking about the interests of the Great Song Dynasty, or the interests of the Kingdom of Jin?"

Zhu Shengfei also said angrily: "It's more than ten thousand miles from Lin'an to Jianmenguan. When Wu Jie rushed over, the day lily was cold, and now we can only rely on Liu Guangshi to guard Bashu. This is a fact. Could it be that facing the facts is also betraying the country?"

Xu Xiantu replied unceremoniously: "Could it be that there is really no general in Shu, so we can only rely on Liu Guangshi?"

"Okay, you two stop arguing!"

Zhao Gou interrupted the dispute between the two unhappily, and turned to Lu Yihao, "Lv Xianggong should talk about it!"

Lu Yihao said slowly: "I only have two opinions. First, it is more suitable for the Xuanfu envoy of Sichuan and Shanxi to be a civil servant. Liu Guangshi suggested that the minister should be transferred back to the southeast; second, Wu Jie is in the middle of the court. Why didn't His Majesty ask him for his opinion?"

One sentence immediately reminded the emperor Zhao Gou, and he immediately said loudly: "Immediately announce the Wu steps to the palace?"

Chapter 526 Change

Not long after, Wu Jie was taken to the side hall. Although Wu Jie's current official position is high, he has a lot of empty posts and no actual posts. However, Zhang Jun also promised to let him train an army as soon as possible to participate in the defense along the river.

"Wei Chen sees His Majesty!"

"Does Wu Aiqing know about the situation in Hanzhong?"

"Weichen just found out, which made me sad, but also confused me."

"Oh? Why is Wu Aiqing confused?"

"Your Majesty, I understand the situation in Hanzhong very well. Whether it is the fall of Dasan Pass or Raofeng Pass, the army should withdraw to a dangerous place. There are many such dangerous places in Hanzhong. As long as any one of the dangerous places is guarded, there will be no danger." As for the annihilation of the entire army, I can't figure out why the entire army was annihilated?"

"The specific reasons will be discussed in the detailed report later. Now I want to ask Aiqing, if I send Wu Aiqing to guard Bashu, can Aiqing guard for me?"

Wu Jie hurriedly bowed and said, "Reporting to Your Majesty, I am willing to take care of His Majesty's worries, but I am worried that the journey is too far and time will not wait for anyone. Why not recommend a general, I believe that he can guard Bashu!"

"Who does Wu Aiqing recommend?"

"Wei Chen recommends Wu Ling to control. Although he is Wei Chen's brother, his defense experience and ability are better than Wei Chen's. As long as he is there, the golden soldiers will not be able to pass the sword gate."

Zhao Gou frowned, "Isn't Wu Lin guarding Dasan Pass?"

Wu Jie shook his head, "As far as Weichen knows, he and the few ruling generals left behind by Weichen were dismissed by Liu Guangshi last year. If they were in Hanzhong, how could the Jin soldiers be able to attack Hanzhong?"

Zhang Jun couldn't help but said: "Your Majesty understands now! Why can't Liu Guangshi keep Hanzhong, jealous of the virtuous and capable, nepotism, only considering his own interests, never considering the interests of the Song Dynasty, how could such a person risk his life to fight the Jin soldiers?

In the disastrous defeat in Yangzhou, the entire army of [-] was wiped out, and in the disastrous defeat in Hanzhong, the entire army of [-] was wiped out. Does Your Majesty still want to keep this kind of person in Bashu, waiting for him to kill Bashu as well? "

Zhao Gou nodded, "I understand the anger in Zhang Xianggong's heart, but the matter is of great importance, and I have to think about it again."

At this time, Wu Jie said again: "Actually, your Majesty need not worry. Although Hanzhong is lost, it may not be impossible to take it back!"

Zhao Gou's eyes lit up, "Is there still a chance?"

Wu Jie smiled slightly and said, "Chen Qing is on Xihe Road! I believe in his ability, and he will never stand by and watch Hanzhong fall. He will definitely try his best to regain Hanzhong."

There was complete silence in the courtroom. In fact, many people thought of Chen Qing, but no one dared to mention him. After all, Chen Qing was very suspicious of the death of the supervisor Wang Mi, and the court had not yet decided how to deal with him.

A trace of embarrassment also appeared on Zhao Gou's face, and he said for a while: "The matter of taking back Hanzhong will not be discussed for the time being. The key is to keep the sword gate. I agree to use Wu Ling!"

……