Fenghou

Orihiko stroked his beard and said with a smile: "Now I am leading an army of [-] to wipe out the remnants of the party, and I am going to take back the northern part of the Hedong Road with the main army of [-]. Will General Shao be willing to drive out the Tartars with me and restore the Han family?"

Shao Long pondered for a moment, and finally said decisively: "Even the old general is on the right path again. I am only in my early forties, and I can fight for another 20 years. I am willing to follow the old general and serve King Yong!"

Chapter 9 Chapter Two

Zhe Yanzhi was still waiting for news from Li Muqing in Lanzhou. At this time, Niu Gao led [-] troops into Lanzhou to join Zhe Yanzhi's army.

Chen Qing chose Niu Gao as the main general, largely because of Niu Gao's humility and low-key personality, and his generous character of not competing with others. Relatively speaking, Yang Zaixing, Liu Cui and other generals were too sharp, and they couldn't bear to have no combat achievements. Orihiko was promoted to a high position.

If there is a conflict between the East Route Army and the West Route Army, it will be difficult to cooperate in operations, which will affect the overall situation.

So Chen Qing chose Niu Gao as the commander of the East Route Army out of this consideration.

In the barracks, Shao Jichun's two sledgehammers flew up and down, like a red dragon going out to sea, and fought fiercely with Niu Gao for more than [-] rounds. Instead of being weak, he became more and more courageous in the battle, but Niu Gao was a little bit out of succession, and his defeat had already appeared .

Orihiko could see clearly, and shouted with a smile: "Retreat!"

"Dang! Dang! Dang! Dang!"

When the bell rang, the two horses separated, and Niu Gao panted a little: "My boy, how about riding and shooting?"

"Young general can give it a try!"

Niu Gao waved his hand to the distance, and the soldiers immediately released dozens of sparrows. Niu Gao smiled and said, "I'll give you ten arrows, and see how many you can shoot?"

Shao Jichun hung the copper hammer on the saddle, took off the bow and arrow and galloped on the horse. He shot all the arrows, and the sparrows in the sky were shot to the ground one by one before they flew far.

He drew out the tenth arrow, leaned back, and shot one arrow at the two sparrows on the flagpole. The two sparrows suddenly felt something and took off at the same time. They flew less than a foot before being shot by the spiked arrow. Shot through both bodies and fell from the sky.

A sergeant said loudly: "Ten arrows shot down eleven birds, and the last arrow hit two."

Niu Gao pulled his horse back, gave Shao Long a thumbs up and said, "Give this boy to me! I will lead him to fight in the north and south, and sooner or later he will become a famous general in the world."

Shao Long was very tempted. Of course he hoped that his son could follow Niu Gao and go out to venture out. Zhe Yanzhi is already in his 60s, so it is more likely that he will be in charge.

He looked at Orihiko again, hoping that Orihiko would make a statement.

Zhe Yan said with a smile: "King Yong told me that after this war, I may be the one who will be in charge of Datong Prefecture. If there is no accident, I will retire in Datong. I am too old, and Jichun should follow Niudu. Commander, go out and roam around!"

Shao Long was overjoyed, and said to his son Shao Jichun: "Jichun, from now on, you will be the general of Niu Dutong, and you will have to work hard on your own in the future."

Shao Jichun also liked the generosity of Niu Gao's elder, so he hurriedly saluted Niu Gao, "See Du Tong for humble posts!"

Niu Gao laughed, "Good boy, let me do some tricks next time, save me some face."

"Okay! Next time I will endure until sixty rounds before defeating Dutong."

Everyone laughed, and Niu Gao couldn't help laughing and said: "It doesn't matter if you don't give me face, next time I will take you to see King Yong's martial arts. His subordinates have never had a good general, and I can last for five rounds at most." .”

Shao Jichun was leisurely looking forward to it, he had heard his master say that Chen Qing and Yue Fei are the only ones with the best martial arts in the world, if you meet one of them, you must ask for advice.

Niu Gao took a sip of hot tea, and asked Shao Long with a smile, "Is your son a family handed down martial arts?"

Shao Long shook his head and said: "My martial arts can't stand on the stage, and I can't teach such a son. Not long after I arrived in Lanzhou six years ago, an old Taoist priest in charge of Cen Mountain came down to find me and asked me to hand over the child to him. I just went up the mountain, and I have been there for five or six years, and I only came back two months ago."

Niu Gao was surprised: "You trust that old Taoist so much and hand over the child to him?"

"No, that old Taoist showed his skills at that time and shocked me. He used a copper bow and an iron arrow to shoot out the incense fire two hundred steps away with one arrow. I have never heard of this divine power and this archery technique! "

Niu Gao was a little stunned when he heard that, and quickly asked: "What is the name of this old Taoist priest? How old is he?"

"His name is Chigu Zhenren, he has white hair and a childlike face. I don't know how old he is?"

Niu Gao asked Shao Jichun again, "Your master is still in charge of Mount Cen?"

"Reverend Chigu is my ancestor. Although he taught me martial arts, it is my master who taught me reading, and the generations cannot be messed up."

After a pause, Shao Jichun said again: "After a while, I have to go up the mountain. The master said that my martial arts skills are not good enough, and I need to practice more. When I come back next spring, I beg everyone to agree!"

Niu Gao laughed and said: "Your father said that your master is like a god. Dare I not agree to the god's request? Yes, you can go to the mountain to practice at any time."

At this time, there were cavalry rushing towards them in the distance, and Zhe Yanzhi said to everyone: "It should be news from Li Muqing!"

After a while, the cavalry got off their horses and knelt down on one knee to report, "General Li Muqing has wiped out all the party members and can attack Fugu County at any time!"

Orihiko asked, "Where is your army?"

"Report to Dutong, in Langu County."

"How long does it take you to come from Langu County?"

"It will take two days!"

Orihiko opened the map and looked at it for a while and said, "Go and inform your general that the army is marching westward, but you can't attack Fugu County in a hurry!"

"Follow the order!"

The messenger cavalry got up and left.

Orihiko said to the crowd: "It takes us one day longer to get to Fugu than to Langu, so we will start tomorrow!"

Niu Gao also said: "This time to encircle and suppress the remnants of Xixia, there must be no fish that slip through the net. I will also lead the army to go with you."

……

Although the Dangxiang Army was also regarded as one of the [-] Congregation Army by Wanyan Helisa, Brother Li Cha only agreed on the surface, and did not cooperate with any combat of the Congregation Army at all, and ignored any reinforcement requests from Zhang Zhongfu, standing on the side of the Dangxiang Army. From the standpoint of the army, Brother Li Cha's attitude is understandable.

But doing so will have a more serious side effect, that is, Zhang Zhongfu will not report any military news to the Dangxiang Army. Xinzhou and Fuzhou are separated by hundreds of miles. .

As a result, Brother Li Cha's news was seriously delayed, and Chitang Pass had fallen, but Brother Li Cha didn't know it, and still sent troops to grab wheat everywhere according to the original plan.

He grabbed a lot of wheat last year, which gave him a taste of the sweetness. The only regret is that he sent too few troops and didn't get too much. So when it was harvest time this year, Brother Richard sent three troops of 7000 people to grab the wheat. wheat.

This risk is very high, and important generals including the chief general Xia Houliang advised him to reduce the risk, that is, to send fewer troops.

But brother Li Cha couldn't listen to everyone's advice. On the one hand, he is getting old, and the older he gets, the more stubborn he is. On the other hand, he doesn't know if there is another store after passing this village. Will Jin Guo still allow him to rob food?

Brother Li Cha insisted on going his own way and sent out 7000 people, which was more than half of his entire army.

That evening, Brother Li Cha finally heard the unfortunate news that the [-] troops he sent to Linzhou were wiped out by the Song army. This was the news brought back by a party soldier who slipped through Linzhou.

The soldier escaped with a sprained leg and missed keeping up with the main force.

Compared with two years ago, brother Li Cha is much older, with gray hair, senile, his back can't straighten up, and he even needs someone to help him when he walks.

But the only thing that remains unchanged is his desire for power. He firmly controls everything of the remnants of the party, including the army, wealth, materials, population and government affairs.

After listening to Xia Houliang's report, he sat on the high golden chair and was stunned.

'The Song army wiped out the [-] party troops in Linzhou'.

The message of less than ten words made him unable to react for a long time, and he suddenly asked in horror: "How many people are there in the Song army, and where did they come from?"

Xia Houliang bowed and said: "I don't know how many people there are on the other side? Maybe this army is Xiazhou's army, but it may also come from Jingzhao? I don't know their intentions, I don't know that they are just trying to prevent us from robbing us." Liang, do you still want... or do you want to destroy us?"

"You don't know anything, so what do you know?" Brother Li Cha suddenly roared like thunder, and yelled.

Chapter 9 and Three

In fear, Brother Li Cha began to order all the party members outside the city to enter the city, even herdsmen, they must drive the cattle and sheep into the city.

For several days in a row, the Dangxiang army carried out fortified walls and cleared the wilderness in Fuzhou. Dangxiang people living in various parts of Fuzhou were forcibly driven into Fugu County, and millions of cattle and sheep were also driven into the city. Unbelievably, not only livestock, nearly [-] party members poured into the city, the city was about to be overwhelmed, feces and garbage were everywhere, the sanitation conditions in the city deteriorated sharply, and the well water became turbid and smelly, and many people fell ill as a result.

However, Brother Li Cha turned a blind eye to such a serious living condition, and he immediately ordered the confiscation of all iron objects in the city, including agricultural tools, kitchen knives, iron pots, iron doors and windows of wealthy families, and even scissors and awls used by women. Let it go, all will be confiscated, and nearly 20 catties of iron will be obtained.

Brother Li Cha ordered to melt the iron and forge weapons. He did not act recklessly this time. The situation is such that the two teams that sent the Lanzhou and Kelan troops to grab food also lost contact.

There are only [-] troops left in the city, how can they defend the city?But there are still more than [-] young and strong herdsmen men, all of whom must be requisitioned.

The army slaughtered cows and took their skins to make leather armor and leather helmets, and used pig iron obtained by melting iron to make weapons. In just a few days, the Dangxiang Army recruited another 3000 people, bringing the number of troops in the city to 8000. The heart of fear was only slightly relieved.

That afternoon, horns sounded continuously above Fugu City, [-] Song troops appeared from all directions, Li Muqing led [-] troops from the east, and Zhe Yanzhi led [-] troops from the west. At the same time, Gao's [-] troops appeared from the south.

Niu Gao sent Hu Yantong, the deputy commander, to lead [-] troops to camp in the north. In this way, there were Song troops in four directions, east, west, north, south, and surrounded Fugu County.

Although Niu Gao was the main general of this Northern Expedition, Niu Gao was willing to play a supporting role in this attack on Fugu County, and Zhe Yanzhi was also the main general of the attack on Fuzhou.

In the large tent of the Chinese army to the west, many generals surrounded the sand table on the table. military.

What everyone is concerned about is Fuzhou, to be precise, Fugu County.

Orihiko said to the crowd: "I took a closer look at Fugu City just now, and I'm sure it's still the old Fugu City, without expansion or repairs, but according to the account of the Dangxiang prisoners of war, the Han people and other ethnic groups in the city have been captured by the Dangxiang people. Drive them all away, and Fugu County has become an out-and-out Dangxiang City. However, Fugu County is not a big county. The circumference of the city is less than 3 miles. With so many people and livestock crammed into the space, it’s terrifying to think about how crowded the city is.”

Hu Yantong frowned and said: "Why don't the party members want to move to the north, but insist on squeezing into a small county?"

Orihiko smiled faintly, "Stay in the city and ask for help from the Jurchens. Maybe there is still a glimmer of life. If they migrate to the grassland, it will be like a flock of sheep entering a wolf's den. They will be chewed by the nomads until they don't even know their bones. remain."

Li Muqing said from the side: "Brother Li Cha's real purpose is to forcibly recruit soldiers and drive everyone into the city, so that he can choose young and strong from them. The city is full of soldiers' families, and the soldiers will desperately defend the city, and then a large number of cattle and sheep It will become the food and grass for the army and civilians, supporting them to hold on to the city, this is what Li Cha is thinking, when we run out of food and are forced to retreat, they will win without fighting."

Li Muqing's opinion was supported by everyone, and Zhang Xiao praised: "Li Tongzhi is right. In many siege battles, the two sides are competing for patience, food and logistics, and it usually takes a year or so to produce results. Brother Li Cha Have this idea too!"

Zhang Xiao asked Zhe Yanzhi again, "Old General, what is our biggest problem now?"

Orihiko pondered for a moment and said: "Now our biggest problem is that we don't have siege weapons. We need to transport large catapults and siege ladders from Chitang Pass. It will take at least a month. When the siege weapons arrive, we have to assemble them." When the commissioning is finally completed, it is estimated that it will start to snow, so I am thinking about whether I can get food logistics support from Lingzhou."

Niu Gao smiled and said: "It's not a big problem, we have stored a lot of grain and grass in Lingzhou itself, and let the [-] camels go a few more times."

"But Niu Dutong's participation in the attack on Fuzhou will affect the battle in the east?" Orihiko asked a little worried.

Niu Gao shook his head, "The battle in the east is over. General Xiao Liu led an army of [-] to occupy Shuozhou and Yingzhou. To the north is Taiyuan Mansion. It will not be attacked until the spring of next year. And from Fugu to Shuozhou Shuozhou is only less than a hundred miles away, if there is a need in Shuozhou, I can lead the army to rush there at any time."

Zhe Yanzhi knew in his heart that Niu Gao led the army to help him, it must be the order of King Yong, but Niu Gao was concerned about his own face and refused to say so.

Having figured this out, Orihiko cheered up and said: "We have an army of [-], this time we must completely wipe out the remnants of Xixia!"

……

The official in charge of government affairs in Fuzhou is the old politician Barry Zuren. He is definitely a double-faced guy. On the one hand, he opposed Brother Li Cha with Li Kan and others. So when breaking through, Brother Li Cha also took him and his family away.

After the state of Jin gave up the prefecture to the party members, Bari Zuren was appointed as the prefect of the prefecture, in charge of the government affairs of the party members.

But Barry Zuren's life during this period was not easy. He disapproved of many decrees issued by Brother Li Cha, but he had to implement them.

For example, this time, Brother Li Cha wants to fortify the wall and clear the wilderness, and move all the party members and their properties in Fugu City into Fugu City. Of course, Bari Zuren also knows the purpose of Brother Li Cha. There is not enough troops, and he wants to deceive all the herdsmen into the city Conscription was carried out, and at the same time, the millions of cattle and sheep they brought naturally became military rations.

It can be said to kill two birds with one stone, and the problems of the source of soldiers and food and grass have been solved.

But everything has two sides. Brother Li Cha took away the good side, but threw the evil side to Bari Zuren. Carrying fodder occupies too much open space in the city, making the city unbearably crowded.

Military camps needed land, cattle and sheep needed land, grain and supplies needed land, so the most useless people could only be compressed. Barry Zuren had to implement the method that Chen Qing implemented in Ganquanbao back then, implementing the collective living system.

The so-called collective living system is to break up the family, the elderly live together, the women live together, and the women with children live together, breaking the upper limit of the number of families, and a house can accommodate more than a dozen people.

After this method was implemented, Brother Li Cha greatly appreciated it, and even praised Zu Ren for his ability.

But this only reduces the contradiction of insufficient housing on the surface, but in fact there is another huge hidden danger, that is, the deterioration of sanitation, the rampant excrement and urine, which cannot be treated, the groundwater is seriously polluted, and the serious shortage of fuel makes it impossible for the people to boil water. causing more and more people to get sick.

And the group living system has led to severe contagion of various diseases, especially the weaker elderly people who live together. Often, soon after one person falls down, the entire dormitory of the elderly will fall ill, there is no cure, and then there will be a large number of people. die.

More and more people died, and the quantitative change gradually turned into a qualitative change.

At night, Bari Zuren was woken up by his subordinates, "Boss, something serious happened!"

Bari Zuren was extremely sleepy, so he stood up reluctantly and complained: "I'm tired like a dog during the day, and become a rooster at night, so I can't let people live!"

He yawned for a long time and asked, "It's midnight, what happened?"

His subordinates whispered a few words in his ear, and Bari Zuren was taken aback, and his sleepiness disappeared without a trace.

Chapter 9 Chapter Four

It wasn't until five o'clock and it was still very late at night. Surrounded by a group of his subordinates, Bari Zuren hurried to the northwest of the city, where tens of thousands of elderly people live together.

In front of a courtyard, hundreds of soldiers surrounded the courtyard. There was a raging fire burning in the courtyard. In this small courtyard, more than [-] elderly people lived together. An elderly person died of illness two days ago. He was dragged to bury him like a normal death. up.

But in just two days, more than [-] elderly people in the entire yard were all vomiting and diarrhea, and more than ten people had died. This attracted attention. A plague broke out.

For fear of causing panic, the government blocked the news. All the elderly people who survived were transferred to quarantine, and their belongings were burned.

Barry Zuren looked at the fire in the yard, and then asked an official, "Is there anything else found?"

The official complained: "I am dissatisfied with the general manager. Recently, many people have diarrhea, including low-ranking officials who also have diarrhea."

"what?"

Bari Zuren took two steps back in fright, and looked at the officials in horror, "You won't be infected too!"

"Shouldn't be. If you get an epidemic, you'll have vomiting and diarrhea. You'll only have diarrhea, not vomiting."

As soon as the words fell, the two half-dead old people were carried out, and a stench came out. The officials couldn't bear it anymore, and ran to the corner to vomit violently.

There was fear in Bari Zuren's eyes, and he quickly ordered the left and right: "Take him to quarantine too!"