Three thousand miles in exile

On the day of the autumnal equinox, the Xixia envoys entered the court, and Emperor Wen received the envoys in the Zichen Hall.

The envoys of Xixia brought the letter of credence, tearfully denounced the atrocities of Xirong, and asked Emperor Wen to send troops to help Xixia repel Xirong.

Around this matter, the court was divided into two factions to argue fiercely.

The emperor's teacher Zhao Hengfu put forward the truth that the lips are dead and the teeth are cold, and he believes that Xixia should be helped instead of making Xirong stronger and stronger. This view was supported by the military officials of Fang Shouting's line.

Prime Minister Zhou Chan put forward two strong arguments to refute.

One is that Xixia once attacked the Great Chu Hanzhong area and seized three cities, and helping Xixia is raising tigers.

Second, Japanese pirates were rampant along the southern coast. At the beginning of the year, General Pingman repeatedly reported to the imperial court to increase troops, and the Yan Kingdom in the northern border was eyeing it.

Zhou Chan's rebuttals on these two points are well-founded, and in the end Emperor Wen decided not to help Xixia.

In late September, the courier of Liuji Commercial Bank rushed to Jinyang with the red-headed documents from Hanzhong Branch. At that time, Qiyun Mountain was in autumn harvest, and Liu Zhan and Song Fenglin were inspecting various places.

The messenger wasted no time in Jinyang, and then searched for it without stopping.

This year's inspection of Song Fenglin brought Liu Mingcong and Liu Youning with him, allowing them to experience the people's livelihood in various places personally.

"Mr. Song! An urgent redhead from the Hanzhong branch!" The courier chased to the edge of the field, and when he arrived, he slid off his horse and collapsed on the ground exhausted. The guard hurriedly took the document in three steps and handed it to Song Fenglin in two steps.

Since the establishment of Liuji Commercial Bank, there has never been a situation where the messenger ran paralyzed. Song Fenglin solemnly opened the envelope, and frowned tightly when he saw the first line of words.

Liu Zhan was in the field with two young boys in front, and he seemed to be striding towards something. "What happened?"

Song Fenglin looked up at him with worry in his eyes. "Xixia is about to destroy the country."

Liu Zhan was startled, took the letter and read it carefully.

Shopkeeper Xie said in the letter that at the beginning of the year Xirong began to attack Xixia on a large scale. At that time, only the merchants in Xixia reduced the mutual market and it was not affected, so shopkeeper Xie didn't take it seriously.

In the midsummer, a large number of Xixia refugees went south and entered the border of Dachu. Shopkeeper Xie felt that the situation was wrong and sent people into Xixia to investigate.

Until seven days ago, the spies sent back the latest news that the Xirong Hu people had already attacked the capital of Xixia, and most of the Xixia kingdom had fallen!

"The lips are dead and the teeth are cold. If Xixia is destroyed, Hanzhong will be in chaos." Song Fenglin frowned.

Liu Zhan closed the letter. "Let shopkeeper Xie keep an eye on Xirong's movements, and withdraw from Hanzhong if the situation is wrong."

Song Fenglin nodded.

Not far away, two teenagers were catching insects in the field, and the sound of laughing and fighting could be heard from time to time.

"Xi Rong has cruelty in its bones. It is their nature to kill. Compared with the tiny land of Yan Kingdom, Xi Rong is more threatening." Liu Zhan said in a deep voice, and looked up at the blue sky again.

The whole country of Yan had a force of 30 soldiers. Last year, Liu Zhan broke into the hinterland and hurt his vitality. In a short time, he could no longer launch a war in northern Xinjiang.

In northern Xinjiang, there are Qiyun Mountain and Huangchuan natural barriers as barriers, so the so-called Yan army cannot enter the Central Plains.

On the other hand, Xirong occupies a large area of ​​grassland in the Western Regions and has a large population. In recent years, a hero has been born with the title of King Xirong.

Xirong can easily mobilize more than 50 troops. Without the barrier of Xixia, Hanzhong will face Xirong directly.

From Hanzhong to the Central Plains, it is a flat river!

"Those who object will regret it." Liu Zhan's dark pupils were deep and deep.

A storm is brewing in Hanzhong, but the new villages in Qiyun Mountain are thriving.

After the autumn, the number of refugees who went north and returned gradually decreased, and the settlement reception desk set up on Luming Ferry was no longer busy, and everything was proceeding in an orderly manner.

The newly opened rice fields in the new village where they settled down the earliest can catch up with the end of the autumn harvest, and the new fields that are only cultivated in summer can also harvest some cold-resistant coarse grains in winter.

Although Xintian is too thin, the harvest will not be good, but the advantage is tax exemption. The grain harvested is enough for the next autumn harvest.

As the people settled down, a market spontaneously formed at the junction of Wenqu Township and Furong Township. Every [-]th day of the Lunar New Year, it was even more crowded. Song Fenglin planned to build a town here, and construction is expected to start in the spring of next year.

The news of Xirong's prosperity made both of them lose the mood to travel around, and returned to Jinyang early.

At night, there was silence inside and outside the General's Mansion.

A map of northern Xinjiang stands on one side of the study, and lights are lit on the front, back, left, and right to illuminate the study.

It was late at night and Song Fenglin was still sitting on the teacher's chair looking at the map and meditating.

Liu Zhan fetched a robe and put it on for him. "Don't take it seriously at night."

"The land in Furongpingding and Dazhupingding has been remarked, and the people returning next year can only go to the mountains." It turned out that Song Fenglin was thinking about this problem.

Liu Zhan sat beside him.

Song Fenglin sighed. "Although there are many barren forests in Qiyun Mountain, it is too difficult to turn forests into fields."

Converting barren forests into fields requires terraced fields, tree stump digging, and stone digging, which takes too much effort.

In the wilderness of the plains, it only needs to plow the land and irrigate the fields to plant rice seedlings, and it can be completed within a month. If it is up to the mountains to open up wasteland, it will take three or four months at the earliest to take shape.

Liu Zhan understood Song Fenglin's entanglement, and he made a choice for Song Fenglin. "Don't think about it too much. The refugees in the coming year will directly settle in Hechang County. I will send troops to take Hechang County back before winter begins."

Hechang County is next to Furongpingding, on the bank of Huangchuan, south of Yangbeiao, west of Giyangguan, and is the southernmost county seat of Cangxia Plain.

"If counties outside Qiyun Mountain's boundaries are brought under his command, Zhou Chan will have a reason to condemn you." Song Fenglin worried.

Zhou Chan lacked a reason to take advantage of Liu Zhan. If they took advantage of him, the road ahead would be even more difficult.

It's not that Liu Zhan didn't think about this situation. "Time doesn't wait for me. If we don't know what the situation will be if we wait another year, why not take advantage of the fact that the main force of the Yan army is not in the south and take the opportunity to seize two cities to form a more complete line of defense."

Liu Zhan stood up and gestured on the map. "Hecang County and Lufeng County, these two counties happen to include the coast of the Huangchuan River. As long as we take them down, we can cut off the Northern Army's food road."

The imperial court had to pass through Huangchuan if it wanted to transport food to the northern army. As long as the coast of Huangchuan was controlled, Liu Zhan would have the initiative in the three-legged situation in northern Xinjiang.

Even if he wanted to start a war with the Northern Army, Liu Zhan would not be passive.

Song Fenglin listened carefully, Liu Zhan has always had his own unique views on military affairs.

"Not only that, we connected Qiyun Mountain, Dazhupingding, Furongpingding, Hecang County, and Lufeng County into a complete line of defense." Liu Zhan's hand passed over these places one by one.

"In the end, the northern army will be isolated by us in the Cangxia Plain. There is nothing to fear. As for the Yan army, if he comes, I will fight." Liu Zhan's eyes were determined.

The Northern Army stationed in Yangguan has been consumed in one battle after another, and now there are less than 10 people.

The Zhou family had falsely reported the number of people, and had not really filled the Northern Army for so many years. Liu Zhan was indeed not afraid of confronting the Northern Army.

Even if the Yan army goes south next year, the strength of Qi Yun's army has exceeded [-] in Xiangshi. With these [-] soldiers, they can attack, retreat, and defend without being passive.

Liu Zhan's layout is indeed feasible, but Zhou Chan will definitely not let go of this opportunity, Song Fenglin pondered.

"If we take Hecang County, Zhou Chan will definitely ask you to return to Qiyun Mountain and order Zhou Sui to take over. We can refuse to accept it, but the future development will be unpredictable."

Liu Zhan looked at him and said seriously: "The worst outcome is to return to Qiyun Mountain. Anyway, sticking to Qiyun Mountain is worse than taking a gamble."

Life is a gamble after another, and Liu Zhan has always been fearless.

"We took Hecang County before winter, so what if the imperial court knows, the northern border is frozen for thousands of miles in winter, and by April next year, I have already reorganized the defense of Hecang County, even if Zhou Sui leads troops to take us hold on."

Liu Zhan held Song Fenglin's hand firmly and said: "I want all the refugees who will return next year. This is the capital of our world!"

In the end, he wants to aspire to become the Northern Xinjiang's own line, so why bother to look forward and backward.

Song Fenglin nodded. "I see."

After the great battle last year, the main force of the Yan army retreated to the hinterland, and there were still tens of thousands of Yan troops scattered in several cities such as Yueyang Pass and Fanyang Pass in the Cangxia Plain.

Tens of thousands of troops are required to guard such a large Cangxia Plain, and there will not be many soldiers assigned to Hecang County. Liu Zhan predicts that the defenders in Hechang County will not exceed [-].

The next day Liu Zhan called all the generals to discuss the matter.

"It doesn't matter how many people defend the city. If the Yan army can't defend, we will lose a lot of people in this battle." Li Xiaolian was the first to raise the problem.

Offensive and defensive are two concepts. It is not advisable to move around like Zhou Chan did in the past. Li Xiaolian can see the problem at the first time, which is a great improvement compared to before.

Jiang Changlin said: "This battle must be decided quickly. If it is delayed for a long time, reinforcements from the Yan army will be attracted."

Wei Chenggui said: "Not only that, but winter is coming soon. It snows in Cangxia Plain every November, and roads are blocked by heavy snow in December. We don't have much time."

"I have a plan." Cao Zhuang stood up and pushed the chess pieces on the sand table.

"Our troops were divided into two groups. The cavalry was responsible for intercepting the Yan army's reinforcements. Twenty thousand soldiers attacked Hecang County. First, we used [-] heavy armored shield soldiers to force them to the city to consume their luggage, supplemented by catapults and crossbows, and repeated for several days."

"Heavy armor and shield soldiers are too valuable and should be reserved for use when the two armies confront each other." Li Xiaolian disagreed.

Liu Zhan did not speak and listened to their discussion. Cao Zhuang and Li Xiaolian revised and submitted the final siege plan to Liu Zhan for instructions.

"How high is the city wall in Hecang County?" Liu Zhan asked a seemingly irrelevant question.

For a while, everyone was stopped.

Zhang Xiaoman stood up. "I've seen it from a distance. It's not half as high as Jinyang City, about two or three feet high."

Everyone knew that Liu Zhan must have ulterior motives, but they couldn't figure it out.

"The siege plan will be as agreed upon by you, and I will only add one item." Liu Zhan finally said.

The next day, Liu Ji Trading Company issued a strange reward at Furong Pingding.

The common people were collected to pack mud at the junction of Furongpingding and Cangxia Plain. A bag of mud was [-] Wen, and it was shipped to the designated place to settle the bill according to the amount.

As soon as the notice was issued, it immediately attracted a large number of people, but when they saw that the packed mud was going to be transported to Wuli, Hecang County, many people retreated.

Hecang County is the site of the Yan army, and the common people are afraid of being beaten by the Yan army, and no one dares to go.

On the second day, someone rushed to tell everyone that [-] cavalrymen of Qi Yun's army were out of the camp to race horses outside Hecang County. For a while, some courageous people called their friends to do it together.

On the third day, more people joined in, and on the fourth day, even the whole family came to dig and transport the mud. The scene was unprecedentedly lively.

In just a few days, [-] bags of mud were packed, and all of them were stacked five miles outside Hecang County.

The general of the Yan Army stationed in Hecang County immediately reported the change of Qi Yun Army to Shangfeng.

After the Yan army took the Cangxia Plain, the great nobles who participated in the dispatch of troops divided the territory, and Hecang County, Lufeng County, and Yangbeiao were all divided into the Daisen Department.

The leader of the Daisen tribe left his eldest son Su Heke to garrison here. There used to be [-] soldiers and horses. Because Liu Zhan went straight to the hinterland of Yan State last year, the leader of the Daisen tribe returned to defend and took half of them. Now there are only [-] soldiers stationed in two places. city.

When the soldiers came to tell the time, Su and Ke were drunk and dreaming in the mansion of the chief of Lufeng County.

"Close the city gate, don't care!" Su Heke continued to drink with his staff.

The nobles of the Yan Kingdom have always been fond of pleasure, since they got this fiefdom, Su and Ke have rarely been sober.

In Su Heke's mind, he didn't pay attention to the Chu people, and he didn't think that the Chu people who had been captured by the Yan army would have the courage to fight back.

Early winter in northern Xinjiang is dry and cold.

The drums of the No. [-] Battalion and the No. [-] Battalion outside Jinyang City roared, and the uniform soldiers were like a sword slowly unsheathed, with red tassels fluttering in the hunting wind.

[-] Qiyun soldiers carried catapults and siege vehicles to set up crossbow beds, and rushed to Hecang County with a clear goal.

When the [-] Qi Yun army entered the Cangxia Plain, there were a large number of young and strong people following behind, and even more people stood on the top of Furongping and watched.

It turned out that Liu Kee Trading Co. released a new reward yesterday, offering a reward of [-] Wen per bag for transporting the mud bags to the front line one mile away in He Cang County!

At this time, the people watching all understood that Qi Yun's army was going to attack Hecang County to recover the lost land, and everyone was ready to move for a while.

At this moment, six thousand Modao light cavalry came out of the camp, and when they saw the elite of Qi Yun's army coming, more people rushed down to the Cangxia Plain.

Hecang County is located in the wilderness of Yimapingchuan, surrounded by a city wall reinforced with rammed earth and bricks.

In its heyday, there was a circle of private houses around the city wall of Hecang County, divided into the inner city and the outer city. Now the outer city has been completely destroyed by the Yan army, leaving only ruined buildings and ruins.

Liu Zhan rushed to the outside of Hecang County first, and saw that the bricks and stones of the city wall had fallen off in many places, and the soil foundation had been exposed in many places. After visually measuring the height, Liu Zhan smiled.

"Bu Jun!"

Li Xiaolian immediately rode to the infantry phalanx surrounded by siege equipment. "Heavy armor and shield soldiers cover, form an array to attack the city!"

The drums sounded, and the infantry phalanx moved.

"The mechanism ballista concentrates fire on the left and right sides of the city gate! The trebuchet is on standby!"

Seeing that Qi Yun's army started to move, the generals on the wall of Hecang County immediately ordered to shoot arrows, and the dense rain of arrows fell like raindrops.

Twenty machine ballistas lined up, pushed into range under the cover of heavy armored shield soldiers.

One of the three operators put down the card slot and picked up the sledgehammer to bump the piling to kill the bed spindle on the ground. The other two skillfully loaded the gun and adjusted the angle. .

Soon, under Yan Bing's horrified eyes, a huge arrow with the thickness of an arm pierced through the air.

One ballista fired three huge arrows at a time, and twenty ballistas seemed to have only sixty giant arrows, but the accuracy of the ballista was extremely high, and almost all of them hit the crowd on the city wall.

Yan Bing was terrified that a giant arrow could kill or injure several people, and after only firing a few waves, it suppressed the archers on the city wall, and no one dared to show their heads.

At the same time, [-] trebuchets were also in full swing. Surprisingly, the trebuchets threw mud bags instead of stones, and these mud bags were woven with hemp rope.

The mud bags flew out and hit the city wall and immediately fell to the ground. Some of them did not disperse while others scattered. The trebuchets were aimed at two points on both sides of the city gate and concentratedly threw them. After throwing in turn, the ground quickly hit the ground within an hour. Two mounds were built.

General Yan Jun stood on the top of the city gate and watched, and saw people behind Qi Yun's army continuously bringing mud bags.

The city wall of Hecang County is not like Giyangguan, nor Jinyang City, which is several feet high. Hecang County was not built according to the standard of a fortress at the beginning, and the city wall was only two feet high. You can climb up if you need a ladder.

Knowing the purpose of Qi Yun's army, General Yan's army broke out in a cold sweat.

"General! Please go out of the city to fight, you can't sit and wait for death!" The deputy general volunteered.

General Yan Jun was confused. "We only have [-] defenders, and the cavalry are all in Lufeng County."

The deputy general said firmly: "The last general has asked the eldest son for help, I believe the reinforcements will arrive soon!"

After weighing, the general of the Yan army finally allocated [-] soldiers to the deputy general, asking him to go out of the city to destroy Qi Yun's equipment.

Liu Zhan stood on the cloud platform and looked at the whole situation. When he saw the gate of Hecang County opened, he immediately raised his hand.

The drums of Qi Yun's army were beating loudly like thunder.

The horse-rejecting phalanx that once blocked 5 Yan troops moved, and the phalanx formed by infantry and heavy armored shield soldiers pushed past like an iron wall with fangs.

Yan Bing was frightened out of his wits, some turned around and ran back, some ran into him and died in a blink of an eye.

The generals of the Yan Army watching the battle on the city wall were as blank as paper. The Qi Yun Army in front of them was completely different from the Chu Army in their impression.

There were rumors that Qi Yun's army swept across the hinterland of Yan with [-] cavalry and set fire to the royal court. He didn't believe it at first, but now he has no choice but to believe it.

In the evening, Su Heke dispatched five thousand cavalry.

Cao Zhuang led [-] Modao cavalry in ambush in Yangbei Col, and the Yan army's cavalry galloped out as soon as they arrived.

For a while, the sound of hooves and shouts of killing was shocking.

The Mo Dao players twirled the cold swords in their hands, and the two armies confronted fiercely, and most of the Yan army's iron cavalry who rushed to the front face to face were cut off by their horses.

The myth of the Yan army's iron cavalry was once again shattered.

At nightfall, Hecang County could not wait for reinforcements, but the mud bags thrown by the trebuchet were close to the height of the city wall.

Liu Zhan finally ordered. "Siege!"

The infantry rogues stepped on the road piled up with mud bags and killed on the city wall amidst the loud shouts of killing.

There were also heavy armored shield soldiers escorting the door-ramming piles to approach the city gate, and the alternating booms knocked open the gate of Hecang County bit by bit.

Naturally, such a big movement in Hecang County could not be concealed from Yangguan, and scouts continued to update Zhou Sui and Zhang Taining on the latest battle situation.

In the early hours of the morning, good news came that Qi Yun's army captured Hecang County.

Zhou Sui disdains.

Zhang Taining looked serious.

In the twilight of the morning, Song Fenglin stood on the top of Furongping and looked into the distance. The wind blew his black cloak, and his blue wide sleeves fluttered in the wind.

Zhang Xiaoman led a group of soldiers to accompany him, and behind them were many people who stayed up all night waiting for news.

"Report—! Great victory for our army! Recover the lost ground—!" The soldier who sent the order shouted at the top of his voice when he left the distance.

There was thunderous cheers for a while, and the whole Furongpingding was boiling.