Reborn Yue Feizhi returns my rivers and mountains

The Song army on the west route, led by Zhong Shidao, fought and retreated, resisting the Liao soldiers all the way. They retreated to the vicinity of Xiongzhou and finally stabilized their position. They set up camp with their backs to the big city.The following Liao soldiers only rode lightly here and did not dare to move rashly. They also set up camp twenty miles away and waited for the army to come for reinforcements.

Zhongshi Dao ordered each battalion to count the number of casualties. Soon it was reported that they had been killed by Liao cavalry dozens of times along the way. The original 5-horse West Route Army had lost more than [-] people.Zhong Shidao sighed and ordered the left and right to be on guard to prevent Liao soldiers from stealing the camp. Then he wrote a handwritten letter and sent his men to the gate of Xiongzhou City, requesting to enter the city and defend it.

At this time, Tong Guantun's [-] soldiers were in Xiongzhou City, and they were discussing with the generals in the big tent about continuing the march.As he was talking, a flag officer suddenly came to report: "The East and West Route armies were defeated. Now the West Route Army retreats outside the city. General Zhong Shidao has a letter here, begging to enter the city and defend it. The East Route Army is being pursued by the Liao Army. Kill, and will come to Xiongzhou, please give me instructions from the marshal." After saying this, he handed over the Taoist Taoist handwriting.

Tong Guan was shocked after hearing this. He took the letter from Zhong Shidao and opened it to read. The letter wrote in detail about the Battle of Baigouhe. He said that the Song army generals had no fighting spirit and no courage. He also said that although the military rations were there, they were not rough. There was no food to eat, and there was a shortage of weapons. Although weapons were temporarily deployed from Taiyuan, Daming, and Kaide, most of them were not suitable, so they collapsed in the first battle.Although he tried his best to restrain him, the effect was very little. Now he reluctantly retreated outside the city. The men and horses were exhausted and it was difficult to fight for a long time. Therefore, he begged Tong Guan to open the city gate and let the remaining soldiers into the city to defend Xiongzhou.

Tong Guan's face turned pale after reading the letter. Although he was a traitor, he was not without ability. His nearly 20 years of leadership career naturally gave him enough experience to judge the situation.When he first entered Hebei, he was eye-opening when he saw the armies preparing for war. Military discipline was broken, military appearance was in decline, food and pay were insufficient, and weapons were damaged.In the past few years, he first conquered Xixia, and then led his troops to put down Fangla's rebellion. His officers and soldiers were all experienced in many battles. Where had he seen such a battle?So I already had a lot of worries in my heart.But he had boasted about Haikou in front of the emperor, and had an arrow in his bow, so he had no choice but to send troops northward.Now that the vanguards of the east and west routes were retreating, it confirmed what he had worried about. He was troubled for a while, not knowing what to do.

After pondering for a long time, Tong Guan asked: "Now the army is in disarray, and the Liao soldiers are attacking here with the power of victory. Both the east and west armies are defeated, and they want to enter the city. What do you think?" Everyone was silent. Only Xiongzhou Zhizhou and Shen stepped out and said: "Absolutely not! As your Excellency said, the morale of the Liao army is high and they are coming in tandem. If they attack the city rashly, I am afraid that the Liao soldiers will take advantage of the chaos and rush into the city. If something is lost, it will not matter. Small."

Tong Guan also had the same idea in his heart, so he said: "What you said is very good. Let Zhong Shidao stick to the camp. When Xin Xingzong retreats here, the two of them will join forces to fight against the Liao soldiers!" Then he ordered the flag officer Submitted a letter to the city, prohibiting the Taoist army from entering the city, and followed the order.

Zhongshidao received the reply. After reading it, he closed his eyes and shed tears, and said to his left and right: "Now that the Liao army has not arrived, we can take this opportunity to enter the city and defend it. Relying on the city's strength, we may be able to defeat the Liao army. It is a pity that the commander is afraid of fighting. , ignoring me is tantamount to ignoring me, what can you do?"

Zuo Zuo offered advice: "How about switching to the Zhending area, packing up the troops and trying to fight again?"

Zhong Shidao shook his head and said: "It can't be like this. Our army has retreated all the way. All the troops and horses are exhausted, and it is difficult to move with the food and baggage. If we retreat further, I'm afraid it will be unsustainable. Once there is no food, the army's morale will inevitably mutiny, and it will inevitably disturb the people." , is really unjust. Moreover, Xiongzhou is the gateway to our Central Plains. If this city is lost, the Liao soldiers will be able to take Bianjing directly and plunder along the way, and the people will be caught in the flames of war. Therefore, I have decided to defend this city to the death. Place!"

At this time, he heard a commotion outside the camp. Zhong Shidao quickly got up and went outside to watch. A sergeant came to report: "Xin Xingzong, the commander of the East Route Army, has returned with a great defeat. He is still thirty miles away from our main camp!"

After hearing this, Master Zhong quickly lit up a team of men and horses and personally led them to respond.While marching, they saw smoke and dust scattered in front of them, and the sound of crying echoed through the sky. Knowing that something was wrong, they divided their troops and horses on both sides, raised their horses to resist, and waited for the incoming army.

Not long after, he saw countless Song troops rushing towards him. Zhongshidao quickly ordered his people to shout loudly: "General Zhongshidao from the northwest is here. All armies come here to meet up!" Hearing the friendly troops coming to help, the defeated army suddenly felt light on their feet. A lot.Zhongshi Dao ordered people to lead the defeated army into his own camp.Seeing the sergeants passing by, all of them abandoned their helmets and armor, they quickly grabbed one and asked: "Where is General Xin at this time?" The sergeant replied: "General Xin has separated from the elite guards and has not yet caught up. .”

As he was talking, Xin Xingzong was seen retreating with his face covered with blood and mud, protected by his personal guards on the left and right. Zhongshi Dao hurriedly stepped forward to greet him. Xin Xingzong didn't have time to reply, so he commanded the remaining troops to close their horses and attack with Zhongshi Dao's army. enemy.

The Liao army, led by Xiao Qian, pursued them and made countless gains along the way. Suddenly, they saw a flag with the word "Zhong" in it. Xiao Qian did not dare to advance, so he led the army to stop. Seeing the Song army in front of them, they had raised their horses to resist and were waiting in full formation, so The leader met up with Yelu Dashi and waited for the opportunity.

On the Song army side, Zhong Shidao and Xin Xingzong joined forces and gathered the defeated troops back to the camp.After returning to his tent, Xin Xingzong breathed a sigh of relief and told the master the details of the defeat in the Battle of Fan Village. Finally, he sighed: "I thought I would wait under Tong Shuai's command to attack Xixia and defeat Fang La. Have you ever fought such a useless battle? I originally wanted to pacify Yanyun and restore our land in the Song Dynasty, but I didn't expect that the soldiers here are so weak. It's really hateful!"

After listening to his words, Zhong Shidao could only sigh, and told him that Tong Guan would not allow the defeated army to enter the city. Although Xin Xingzong was a close confidant of Tong Guan, he could not help but smile bitterly at this time: "Old General, Tong Shuai's opinion , I can’t speculate as a low-ranking official, but it seems that you and I will be loyal to our country here.”

Zhongshidao was silent after hearing this. At this time, someone came to report that Xin Xingzong fled all the way to this place. After gathering the defeated army, he counted the number of people. Now there are only more than [-] people in the [-]-strong army. Combined with Zhongshidao, the remaining soldiers totaled six Ten thousand.At this time, although the Liao soldiers only had more than [-] soldiers, they still had more than half of the cavalry and had two major victories. Their morale was strong. No matter how you looked at it, the Song army was in an unbeatable situation.

Zhong Shidao pondered for a long time, then left the camp together with Xin Xingzong, ordered the troops to obey the order, walked up to the high platform, and said loudly: "My fellow soldiers, now we have been defeated in two places. The Liao soldiers are very energetic, so it is not a good opportunity for war. But please look back, that is Xiongzhou, the gateway to our Central Plains. If we cannot defeat the Liao soldiers here, once Xiongzhou is defeated, we will have a clear view of the hinterland of our Central Plains. You have been in the army for many years, and you must have your own family. If you live in peace in your homeland, if it is invaded by Liao soldiers and burned, killed, and looted, how will your homeland survive? I know that this place has been peaceful for a long time. You have not seen such battles for a long time, but there have been several battles in the past few days. I think you also have some feelings for the Liao soldiers. I understand. Now that we have no retreat, do you want to let the Liao people enter the pass and invade our hometown?"

This man who joined the army was somewhat bloody. Although he was lazy on weekdays, fighting for several days in a row aroused the pride in his heart that he had left home to join the army.Moreover, the two large armies were chased by the Liao soldiers and fled all over the mountains and plains like rabbits. They were already extremely aggrieved. At this time, they were stimulated by Zhong Shidao, and an unyielding air filled their chests, turning into a shout: "I don't want to!"

When Zhong Shidao saw all the officers shouting in unison and their momentum changed, he was overjoyed and said: "In that case, we generals will fight to the death with you. If the Liao people want to cross Xiongzhou, they must step on our corpses." Just pass it, even if we fight to the death, we will fight to the death and never retreat!"

Everyone below responded repeatedly: "Fight to the death and never retreat! Fight to the death and never retreat!"