Fenghou

Fan Gong nodded, "The most important thing for two armies to fight is to work in unison. If one part escapes first, the morale of the entire army will collapse. No matter how brave the other part is, it will be useless. This is like a wooden barrel. As long as one board is broken, no matter how hard the other boards are, they will still not be able to hold water, and the barrel will be useless.

Hu and Han jointly fought, if the Hu people were the main generals, it would be okay, but if the Han people were the main generals, there would be a situation where the main general could not command the Hu people's army, which would plant the root of defeat. "

Wanyan Wushu was silent for a moment and said: "What do you mean, sir, the responsibility for the defeat is still on Xiao Jilie's body?"

Fan Gong smiled wryly and said: "If Xiao Jilie hadn't been defeated without a fight, the final result would not have been so tragic. At least ten thousand soldiers would have been defeated. The Song army would have suffered heavy casualties as well. The matter, the humble position refers to future battles, try not to let the Han people command the Hu people's army."

Wanyan Wushu sighed and said, "I understand what you mean, sir. In the past 20 years, the powerful Khitan army and Xi army have long since disappeared. The current Donghu army is basically ordinary herdsmen with no combat experience and relatively weak combat effectiveness. , I sent this East Hu army to support Ruzhou, and it was indeed a bit of a mistake!"

At this time, a soldier reported from the hall, "Report to the lord, Hebei sent people to send urgent information!"

Wanyan Wushu hurriedly said: "The sender comes up!"

Not long after, the leader of the messenger went to the hall and knelt down on one knee to report, "By the order of Marshal Zuodu, send the letter to the prince!"

He took out Wanyan Chang's letter and presented it, Wanyan Wushu took the letter and asked: "Is there any other message?"

"There is no message. Marshal Du said that everything to be said is in the letter."

"Come here, give him ten taels of silver and take him down to rest."

"Thank you, my lord, for the reward!"

The soldier who delivered the letter went down, Wanyan Wushu opened it and read it carefully, then handed the letter to Fan Gong, "It's still the same thing as last time!"

Fan Gong took the letter and read it again, and said with a smile: "It's interesting, it's actually Niu Gao's army, Niu Gao led the army to the south, does he care about Taiyuan?"

"Do you think the credibility is high, sir?"

Fan Gong thought for a while and said, "Now that the Song Army has taken Henan Mansion and Ruzhou, and now Chen Qing is in Xiangcheng County, he is posing to attack Yingchang Mansion on a large scale. The northern line will attack Xingzhou and Zhengzhou. The prince must Reinforcements will be sent to Zhengzhou and Yingchang Mansion. If at this time, the Song Army suddenly attacks Kaifeng Mansion from the Yellow River and catches us by surprise, and the prince returns to rescue Kaifeng Mansion, then Yingchang Mansion will be in danger. The government and even Bianliang are in danger, and I feel that this is a very good surprise strategy, and the possibility is very high."

"Wan Yanchang asked us to send people to Mengzhou to investigate, and he also wants to send people to Mengzhou. Does Wanyanchang want to attack Taiyuan?"

"It's possible. If Niu Gao really leads troops south, Taiyuan Mansion is indeed an opportunity."

Wanyan Wushu took two steps with his hands behind his back and said: "What if this is a trap? Niu Gao went south, Taiyuan is empty, it is probably an empty city plan set up by Chen Qing. I have fought with Chen Qing for many years, and I know him well. This person is very cunning, often Set up traps, lay out bait, nominally fighting the Central Plains, but in fact also want to clean up the army of Hebei."

Fan Gong admired Wanyan Wushu's vision very much, it is indeed very possible, he nodded, "I agree with the prince, I want to advise Marshal Zuo, no matter whether there is a chance in Taiyuan Mansion, don't send troops, don't let Chen Qing put on an illusion Temptation, Chen Qing has an army, he can't let Taiyuan's defense empty."

Wanyan Wushu immediately wrote a letter to Wanyanchang, and sent the messenger to take it back, and he sent several scouts to Mengzhou by boat to inquire about the news!

……

Wang Shuang sent the information from Jingzhao that Niu Gao was going to lead an army to attack Kaifeng Mansion, which really moved Wan Yanchang. He knew that Mengzhou only had [-] troops, which were used to defend Huaizhou, and the troops brought by Niu Gao, It must be the Taiyuan garrison.

If the defense of Taiyuan Mansion is empty, it is of course a rare opportunity for him.

Of course, Wan Yanchang also thought that this was a trick of the Song Army to lure troops, but he felt that it was unlikely. The key point is that Chen Qing didn't need to use this trick to lure soldiers. His own army entered Taiyuan Mansion and burned and killed all the way. Looting, would Chen Qing use the price of the destruction of Taiyuan Mansion to annihilate tens of thousands of his own?

Although tens of thousands of people are very important to him, the stability and prosperity of Taiyuan Mansion is more important to Chen Qing.

This afternoon, Wan Yanchang received a letter from Wanyan Wushu, in which Wanyan Wushu tried his best to dissuade him from sending troops to Taiyuan Mansion, which really made Wanyanchang a little disgusted.

He told his staff Cui Jiu: "At least there must be some grounds for persuading me to give up Taiyuan. If he spied in Taiyuan and discovered the hidden army of the Song Army, that would be fine, but he took everything for granted and tried his best to dissuade me. He thought I didn't understand. What's on his mind?"

Cui Jiu is a member of the Cui clan of Qinghe, but he refuses to use his real name, and instead uses a pseudonym Cui Jiu. Wan Yanchang understands his thoughts and does not force him to use his real name. He is one of Wan Yanchang's confidantes.

"Marshal Du thinks that the fourth prince is afraid that we won't help him, so he won't let us send troops to Taiyuan?"

"It's obvious. Why does he think Taiyuan is fraudulent? I have spies in Taiyuan Mansion. I know what's going on in Taiyuan Mansion, but he's just like that. He only wants to use others, and he will never consider other people's interests. I originally put forward the idea of ​​joining forces with the overall situation in mind, but look at him, he only considers his own interests, what does he think of me?"

Cui Jiu quickly persuaded: "It may be that the battle situation in the Central Plains is not good for the fourth prince, so he is a little anxious. Marshal Du still puts the overall situation first."

Wan Yanchang said coldly: "I really want to put the overall situation first, but there is a bottom line for me to help him. It is impossible for him to order me around and use me like a fool."

Chapter 991 Empty City

Lu Wei came to Juxiang Restaurant again in a hurry and found Wang Shuang. He sat down and drank a glass of wine, and said to Wang Shuang straight to the point: "There is a very valuable piece of information, do you want to buy it?"

Wang Shuang raised his eyebrows and said with a chuckle, "How much does Lu Sima think this information is worth?"

Lu Wei stretched out a finger, "This number!"

"One thousand strings?" Wang Shuang asked.

Lu Wei shook his head, "100 taels of gold?"

"Is it so important?"

Lu Wei said frankly: "This is my asking price, or according to the old rules, if I say it out, if you think it's not worth it, then don't use it, but once you adopt it, you have to pay me according to my asking price, otherwise you will have to pay me in the future." There is no cooperation."

"Okay, tell me!"

Lu Wei said for a while: "There are only five thousand garrisons in Taiyuan Mansion!"

Wang Shuang was taken aback, "Why are there so few?"

"Niu Gao led an army of 5000 troops to the south, so there were only [-] troops left in Taiyuan. The defenses of Jingxing and Fuyangxing were strengthened to prevent the Hebei army from attacking Taiyuan."

"Doesn't Jingzhao still have an army of [-]? Why not strengthen the defense of Taiyuan."

"No matter how important Taiyuan is, it is not as important as Jingzhao. Jingzhao's [-] troops will never move. This is the bottom line."

Wang Shuang thought secretly, 18 troops went to the Central Plains, 28 troops in Bashu, and [-] troops in Hedong, which is [-] troops, plus Jingzhao's [-] troops, and Jingnan South Road, The Hexi Corridor, Lingxia Road, Xihe Road and other places stationed troops, and the Western Army really couldn't send troops to support Taiyuan.

This information is too important, Wang Shuang immediately took out a hundred taels of gold and handed it to Lu Wei, "We make a deal!"

……

There is a cloth shop in the south of Taiyuan City, called Laosong Cloth Shop, which specializes in high-quality cloth. The cheap cloth sold in the flat warehouse shop is coarse cloth, which is usually bought by the lowest class people. People with a little better family background will buy good cloth cloth to make clothes.

But Old Song Buzhuang actually has another identity, and it is Wan Yanchang's intelligence point in Taiyuan.

Taiyuan Mansion is the foundation of Wan Yanchang, how could he be willing to lose it like this, Wan Yanchang has always been obsessed with Taiyuan Mansion, setting up an intelligence point in Taiyuan Mansion to grasp the situation in Taiyuan is a very logical thing.

Moreover, Wan Yanchang's intelligence station in Taiyuan Mansion is not limited to Lao Song Buzhuang's family, Lao Song Buzhuang is the intelligence center.

The shopkeeper of Buzhuang is surnamed Jian. This surname is relatively rare, but his name is very common. He is called Jian Fu. He is a man in his forties. Wan Yanchang is not like the intelligence department of the Western Army. Wan Yanchang did not have such a mechanism. His intelligence personnel were basically Han Chinese soldiers, and the leader was his staff.

Jian Fu is Wan Yanchang's staff member, a native of Daming Mansion, who was appointed as the head of intelligence stationed in Taiyuan last year.

Jian Fu also got the news that Niu Gao led the army to go south. He had just received an order from the Daming Mansion, asking him to confirm two key points. First, did Niu Gao really go south?Second, how many troops are there in Taiyuan Prefecture?

Jian Fu immediately sent more than a dozen spies to various counties to find out if there was news of the garrison, and then used their inside lines in the government to inquire about some internal information.

Of course, they can't buy any high-ranking officials, they are all low-level officials, but snakes have their way, and shrimps have their way. Although they are small officials, they are in the government after all, and they have ways to inquire about information.

Early this morning, a man wearing official official uniform walked into the cloth shop and asked, "Is shopkeeper Jian here?"

The guy knew the person who came. He was an escort from Taiyuan Mansion. His surname was Wang. He was the highest official they had bought in Taiyuan Mansion.

"Is Wang Yasi here to make clothes? My shopkeeper is in the back room, please hurry up!"

"Yes! It's time to make two good clothes."

Wang Yasi walked into the inner room, and soon saw the shopkeeper Jian Fu.

"I have some definite news for you. There are only [-] troops in Taiyuan Mansion, led by Hu Yantong, and the rest of the troops have followed Niu Gao to the south."

"But isn't there 3 garrisons? 5000 people went south and 5000 stayed behind. How about [-] more?"

"In Queshu Valley, Chitang Pass and Jingxing Pass, these dangerous passes have all been strengthened for defense."

Wang Yasi took two bolts of cloth and left. At this time, Jian Fu also received reports from the spies sent by the counties. There was no army stationed, which proved that Wang Yasi's information was accurate. Only [-] soldiers were stationed in Taiyuan City.

Jian Fu immediately sent an important pigeon letter to Daming Mansion.

……

On the Yellow River, hundreds of large ships slowly approached the mouth of the Bian River. The mouth of the Bian River is located in Heyin County in the north of Zhengzhou. This is actually the entrance of the Tongji Canal in the Sui and Tang Dynasties. The big breach of the Yellow River in the second year of Jianyan was not here, but Hundreds of miles away to the east, in the Baimadu area of ​​Hua County, Du Chong, who stayed behind in Tokyo, dug up the Yellow River dam to prevent the Jin soldiers from going south. Take Surabaya to the south and enter the Huai River.

The Kaifeng Mansion has not had much impact, and the Bian River has not been affected either. It is still the same as usual, but there is also a difference, that is, the tense atmosphere. Twenty thousand Jin soldiers are ambushing on both sides of the Bian River, waiting for the ships of the Song Army. arrival.

The [-] army was led by Marshal Wanyan Alubu, and the soldiers in ambush were about a hundred steps away from the Bianhe River to ensure that the crossbow rockets could be shot on the Bianhe boats.

Niu Gao stared at the wide river mouth and ordered: "Order the Jingzhao boat to enter!"

The [-] ships that came from Jingzhao had no soldiers on them, they were full of fodder. This was Chen Qing's arrangement. The forage boat went first, and a long line of fodder sailed into the Bian River. The atmosphere on both sides of the Bian River became tense. He squeezed the bow and arrow tightly.

The fleet traveled about [-] miles, and the [-] forage boats had traveled more than half of the way. Suddenly, the ship in front sounded an alarm, "There is an ambush!" Someone shouted.

"Dang! Dang! Dang!" The alarm sounded loudly, and the ships turned around one after another.

Wanyan Alubu shouted: "Attack!"

There was a sound of clappers, and all the arrows on both sides of the strait were fired at once. They were all rockets, and they shot at the Song Army fleet. The boatmen were so frightened that they jumped into the water and ran for their lives.

Hundreds of thousand-stone flat-bottomed ships immediately burned, especially the dry fodder inside the ship, which further promoted the fire. In just a moment, all the ships were engulfed by raging fire.

Wanyan Alubu suddenly realized that something was wrong. There should be soldiers of the Song army screaming and rushing out to flee for their lives, but no one saw or heard any screams.

"What's going on? Is there no Song army in the fleet?"

At this time, several soldiers escorted two boatmen who jumped into the river, "Marshal, these two boatmen say they are ours!"

The two boatmen knelt down and said, "We are spies sent by Marshal Zuodu to Jingzhao, pretending to be boatmen!"

Wanyan Alubu was furious now, so he didn't care about any spies. He drew out the knife and put it on the boatman's neck, and asked viciously, "Quickly tell me! What's on the boat, why is there no Song army?"

"General Qi, the ships carrying the Song army are all behind, and our ships are full of fodder. For some reason, Niu Gao asked us to come in first to explore the way!"

Wanyan Alubu yelled, cut off the head of a boatman with a knife, and shouted: "Kill me with anger, I fell for it!"

Their ambush was exposed, and of course the Song army would not enter Bianhe again. Twenty thousand Jin soldiers lay in ambush here for three full days, but they waited in vain.

When the news reached Bianliang, Wanyan Wushu was really dissatisfied. This information delayed their [-] army for half a month, and finally burned [-] ships without seeing a single soldier, which delayed their progress. deploy.

Otherwise, Wanyan Wushu would not have only sent [-] Donghu troops to participate in the Battle of Ruzhou. He was just worried that the Song army would attack Bianliang from the Yellow River.

The more Wanyan Wushu thought about it, the more annoyed he became, and he immediately wrote a letter to question Wan Yanchang, and asked him to immediately send [-] troops to support him. Since it is a joint battle between the two, Wanyanchang should show sincerity .

Wanyan Wushu's letter was quickly delivered to Wanyanchang, but Wanyan Wushu never expected that this letter offended Wanyanchang. At the same time, Wanyanchang also found the best excuse for the army not to go south.

Niu Gao's fleet blocked the Yellow River, Chen Qing's attack on the Bian River was false, but the Yellow River was blocked.

At the same time, Niu Gao's lieutenant general Shao Long and his son Shao Jichun led an army of [-] troops and rushed back to Taiyuan Mansion.

Although Niu Gao led [-] troops to Mengzhou, it was just acting, how could he lead [-] troops on board and block the Yellow River, [-] troops and [-] ships were enough.

The fundamental purpose of Chen Qing's rehearsal of this grand play is to break up the alliance between Wanyan Chang and Wanyan Wushu.

Chapter 992 Breaking the Alliance

In the lobby of the Marshal's Mansion, Wan Yanchang read Wanyan Wushu's letter with a gloomy expression. The letter was full of accusations, and he almost pointed at his own nose and cursed.

Wan Yanchang handed the letter to Wanyan Lisa with an unhappy face, "Look at his letter, he actually said that I was lying to him and delayed him for half a month, who do you think is unreasonable!"

Of course Wan Yanchang was very annoyed. The spies he sent to Jingzhao pretended to be boatmen, but Alubu used him as a punching bag and killed one person on the spot. When beating a dog, it depends on the owner. Alubu slapped himself in the face like this. Yan Wushu didn't mention a single word in the letter, did he think he was an idiot?

Wanyan and Lisa shook his head and said, "Wu Shu is obviously shirking responsibility. Jingzhao's information is very accurate. The Song army is indeed planning to attack Bianliang from Biankou, and they have entered more than 200 ships. Could it be that there is a fake? ?

It’s just that Niu Gao is more cautious, let the grain ship go in first, if I will do the same, I will send the grain ship in first, there is no problem, and then the army ship will go in, it’s A Lubu who is impatient, and the ambush is not in place, and he is exposed. The opportunity to wipe out tens of thousands of enemy troops was missed in vain.

I also specifically asked the spies of the boatman who had fled back. The golden soldiers were lying in ambush about a hundred steps away from the river, and there were also golden soldiers walking around the woods, which could be seen at a glance from the boat. "

"You're absolutely right!"

Wan Yanchang let out a breath of sullen air and said, "I didn't seize the opportunity and shifted the responsibility to others. Isn't Wushu always like this?"

He turned around and asked Cui Jiu, his staff, "This time, sir, you won't speak for Wu Shu again!"

Cui Jiu sighed and said: "The humble job is just speaking from a fair standpoint, and there is one thing to say. This time, Jingzhao's information is very accurate. Chen Qing should be considering a sneak attack on Bianliang to contain the fourth prince's army. Marshal Alubu didn't seize the opportunity. It is also true that the fourth prince really cannot pass the responsibility on to us, if this continues, the two parties will have no basis for trust, and it will be difficult to continue to cooperate."

Wan Yanchang said coldly: "It's impossible to cooperate anymore. Alu killed my subordinates. If he doesn't give me an explanation, how can we talk about cooperation?"

"Marshal Du understands his humble feelings, but we can't directly reply to him that he doesn't want to cooperate anymore. If the fourth prince seizes the opportunity to sue Marshal Du for disregarding the overall situation in front of the emperor, Marshal Du will be very passive."

"Then what should we say according to Mr.

Cui Jiu turned his eyes and said, "Didn't the Song army blockade the Yellow River now? Just tell the fourth prince that our ships were destroyed by the Song army and we couldn't send troops south. Is this a good reason?"

"That's a good reason!"

Wan Yanchang felt a little better, and said to the two of them: "Both Jingzhao and Taiyuan have sent information, Taiyuan Prefecture only has [-] troops, the opportunity is rare!"

Cui Jiu nodded, "The information provided by Lu Wei is relatively accurate, and Wang Shuang's military analysis is also correct. It is impossible for Jingzhao Mansion's [-] security troops to be sent to Taiyuan Mansion. The information on Taiyuan Mansion's only [-] troops is credible. It is indeed an opportunity, maybe it will be more difficult to cross the Taihang Mountains.”

Wanyan and Lisa sighed, "If the iron fire thunder can be made, we will blow it all the way, no matter what dangerous pass it is!"

One sentence reminded Wan Yanchang, a few months have passed, how is the progress of Tiehuolei's imitation?

He immediately ordered: "Quickly call the supervisor of the firearms workshop to see me!"

Soon, a man in his forties was brought to the lobby. The man’s name was Yang Jingong. He used to be a firearms craftsman for the Song Dynasty Military Supervision. He was arrested in the second year of Jingkang and went to the Kingdom of Jin. The craftsmen who were captured were basically dead, and the very few craftsmen who survived also lost their ability to work and lost their use value. They were used by Jin Bing in exchange for Wanyan Nianhan. It's not bad, it has survived the severe cold weather in Liaodong.