Chapter 95: Fighting in the Northwest (8)

All the generals in the tent guessed that Hou Dayong was going to kill the chicken for the monkey to show it. This was a common trick used by the new edict to challenge the envoys, and it was also an extremely effective trick.

Hanlun didn't blink, and he replied very quickly: "Since there is a notice, let's kill one to warn hundreds. If you have a low position and low position, what can you have to have?"

Han Lun's words were a little resistant. Hou Dayong ignored him and said to the point: "I know the thought of the regiment training envoy. I think I am looking for an unlucky soldier to start the operation and kill someone to establish his authority."

Hou Dayong's words actually hit the thoughts in the minds of the generals. At this time, the generals looked solemn on their faces, but everyone's thoughts were still slightly different.

Shi Ying came to the northwest to support Hou Dayong through the imperial edict. Through close contact, Shi Ying admired Hou Dayong from the bottom of his heart. The two got along very well. Therefore, in public, private, and reasonable, Shi Ying stood firmly on Hou Dayong's side. He thought to himself: "Don't Sun Wu also kill people to establish his authority in the army!"

In this war, the Jingzhou army could be said to have no entire army. Only Ji Qingyang burned Guyuan was the highlight of the Jingzhou army. However, the Jingzhou army suffered a crushing defeat after all. Ji Qingyang returned to Jingzhou without Hou Dayong's strong help, he could not gain a foothold in Jingzhou at all. And there is another very important thing, that is, His Majesty has not yet held Jingzhou's defeat at present. If he is pursued in the future, who will take responsibility? Hou Dayong, who is in charge of military affairs in the northwest, has a great say in these issues. Therefore, Ji Qingyang, deputy governor of Jingzhou, also firmly stood on Hou Dayong's side and supported Hou Dayong to take the leading action.

Wang Yanchao is a virtuous person. He and Hou Dayong are very polite. Six years ago, Wang Yanchao made a big mistake, which he still remembers freshly. Wang Yanchao and Zhao Kuangyin's father Zhao Hongyin were both the captain of the guard camp. Zhao Hongyin was a favorite general of Li Cunxu, Emperor Zhuangzong of Tang Dynasty. Since Guo Wei established the Great Zhou Dynasty, Zhao Hongyin has had a mediocre official career and has been on a declining road. Seeing that his family was in decline, Zhao Kuangyin began his aimless travel. His life was really not good, so Zhao Kuangyin went to surrender to Fuzhou defense at that time.

Wang Yanchao and Wang Yanchao looked like a homeless man, looked down on him very much, so he used ten cents of money to send Zhao Kuangyin away. Unexpectedly, in just a few years, Zhao Kuangyin went from being a homeless man to his current beloved general, and became the commander of the prefect of the Palace Front Office and the commander of the Kuangguo Army. With the experience and lessons of Zhao Kuangyin, Wang Yanchao deeply understood the profound meaning of the ancient saying "Bullying the elderly but not the young", between Hou Dayong and Han Lun. He chose Hou Dayong without hesitation.

Hou Dayong looked around the generals and said calmly as if he was a family man: "This time I returned to Daliang. Your Majesty once talked to me about the criminal laws of Liang, Tang, Jin and Han. Your Majesty pointed out many times that since Liang, the criminal laws have become increasingly severe, and people are punished for death at any time, and they like to use the punishment of Lingchi the most. Now Your Majesty has ordered people to preside over the revision of the inappropriate and unreasonable criminal laws, and wants to revise the "Da Zhou Punishment". Your Majesty's meaning is summarized into sixteen words, namely - if there is a law to follow, if there is a law, if there is a law, if there is a law, if there is a law, the law will be strictly enforced, and if there is a law, the law will be punished."

When Hou Dayong said this, it felt a bit like a tiger's skin and a big banner. Although Chai Rong talked to him about editing the "Da Zhou Zhengtong", Chai Rong talked about this matter casually at that time and did not talk in depth.

Seeing that everyone was attentive, Hou Dayong said, "It is a war period, and military orders are the law. This sergeant who entered the civilian house to tease a good woman, violated the military order and was punished by his own fault. He must pay the price for his rash behavior. Strict discipline is the guarantee of victory on the battlefield. Discipline is formed in small matters in daily life. Today, the sergeant who violated the discipline was punished and the military discipline was rectified. Perhaps, more victories can be won in the future and more soldiers' lives will be saved in disguise."

These words brought Chai Rong's name to the point of being righteous and harsh, with sufficient reasons. Han Lun listened to Hou Dayong's talk in embarrassment, his face turned pale and blue.

After saying this, Hou Dayong paused for a moment and said to Ji Qingyang in a deep voice: "At present, the Jingzhou Army is responsible for the city defense and public security in Jingzhou, and the punishment for this soldier will be carried out by the Jingzhou Army."

When Ji Qingyang heard that it was "punishment" rather than "execution", he was stunned for a moment and asked hesitantly: "It's punishment, isn't it execution?"

Hou Dayong smiled slightly and said, "I never said that I would execute this sergeant. Clarifying military discipline does not necessarily mean killing people. The sergeant's crime is not enough to cause death. However, this sergeant was the first place to violate the order after posting the notice. Therefore, punishment must be made public so that there will be a demonstration effect. Thirty whips will be executed at the Caishikou in the south of the city. Notices must be posted before performing the whipping. It is necessary to make the people in the city believe what we say, and to intimidate the soldiers of each army."

Ji Qingyang heard Hou Dayong say for a long time, but the punishment for the sergeant was so light. A smile appeared on his face and said loudly: "I'll go and execute the execution immediately." Ji Qingyang gave a respectful salute and left the door. Shi Ying and Wang Yanchao also smiled, and Han Lun still had a gloomy face and did not speak. In his heart, although Hou Dayong did not kill the Qingzhou sergeant who caused trouble, the punishment was in public. The whip was on the surface of the sergeant's butt, but actually on his face.

After the killing of the Dangxiang people in Jingzhou City, women and children became the main body of the population of Jingzhou City, and the incident of teasing women became a particularly sensitive issue. After the notice was posted, the news of the execution of whipping at Caishikou was not in Jingzhou City. Soon, Caishikou was surrounded and blocked. Under the anxious eyes of many women, the sergeant in the accident was taken to Caishikou.

When the sergeant who was involved in the accident just appeared in front of the crowd, many women cursed him, and some of them spit at him angrily. The sergeant was very young. Judging from his appearance, he was only seventeen or eighteen years old. He was tied with his hands and lowered his head in shame. In the eyes of the onlookers, those who tease women were extremely evil and extremely vicious. They did not expect that the bad guy in their hearts were such a young young man, just like a child next door. Seeing him, many women actually thought of the children who were killed in their homes, and the curses slowly weakened.

When the harsh sound of whipping on the flesh and the boy's screams rang out, the audience became silent, and after more than twenty times, the sentimental woman cried first, and soon, the audience whimpered. The reactions of the women in the city were beyond the expectations of Ji Qingyang, who was supervising the execution. The pleading and whimpering sounds at Caishikou infected the soldiers of the Jingzhou Army who were ordered to execute the execution. They were all from Jingzhou and had relatives who were killed at home. Hearing the crying of women and children, the soldiers all had tears in their eyes.

After the execution, the two Jingzhou soldiers brought the bloody and bloody soldiers back to the military camp. At this time, most women's eyes changed from anger to pity.

Just as everyone was about to disperse, two fast horses appeared at the south city gate. Before they approached Jingzhou City, the observation post on the city wall saw them. The Jingzhou soldiers guarding the city placed the horses at the gate to block the way of the two riders. The two riders had excellent riding skills. They also saw the horses, but did not slow down. Until they approached the horses, they blocked the horses with a very neat and beautiful movement. The forelimbs of the two horses almost kicked the faces of the soldiers guarding the city. The soldiers guarding the city were startled and cursed loudly.

The two riders didn't care at all. One rider said, "We are the Black Eagle Army's messenger, this is the waist card." The other rider was full of excitement and shouted: "The Dangxiang Army was completely wiped out by the great victory in Yizhou." The Jingzhou soldiers guarding the city did not believe it at all. A soldier looked at the two riders with his eyes slanted and said, "Don't talk nonsense. If you lie about military information, you will be beheaded." The rider laughed and patted the side of the horse. He said proudly: "This is the head of the Dangxiang Army leader who is in Bai Ge's place. Hurry up and take the rebar away. I want to report to the Jiedushi."

The gatekeeper checked the waist card without any problem. Looking at the skin of the horse side, he believed most of the time. The Black Eagle Army commander shouted loudly to the sergeant on the city wall: "The Dangxiang Army is over and has been annihilated in Yizhou."

After the soldiers guarding the city moved away to resist the horse. Two Black Eagle riders rushed past the gate guards with strong wind. While yelling, "The Dangxiang Army was completely wiped out." The two Black Eagle riders did not expect that there were so many women in the south of the city. After a few steps, they stopped quickly. One sergeant shouted: "Get out of the way, get out of the way." Another sergeant shouted: "Get out of the way, get out of the way." The Dangxiang Army was killed in Yizhou."

As soon as the women spread out from the entrance of Caishi, they immediately heard this, like a horse that exploded the camp. Some people surrounded the Black Diao Army's messengers, while others cried and ran around to tell each other. Soon, the crying and laughter quickly echoed throughout Jingzhou City. The two Black Diao Army soldiers were surrounded by the women of Jingzhou and could not take any steps. Finally, they were escorted by the Jingzhou Army and arrived at the yamen. With such delay, Hou Dayong and several chief officials almost became the last person to learn about the news of the Yizhou victory in Jingzhou City.

Since Hou Dayong was appointed as the Northwest Frontier Camp Recruitment, he began to think about the northwest army. The troops in the northwest towns were considered border troops, and their equipment might not be as good as the imperial guards, but their combat effectiveness was absolutely not bad. Hou Dayong spent a lot of precious time in Jingzhou City to make the idea of ​​these border troops. If he could use this Dangxiang invasion incident to conquer the main force of the northwest frontier army, he would have the capital to compete with Zhao Kuangyin for the world.

In order to achieve this goal, Hou Dayong likes to invite these main generals to have a meeting together after checking the map, collecting intelligence, thinking about action plans and going to the military camp. Meetings are essentially a process of unifying thoughts. Although a lot of time is often wasted, it can also reduce the resistance to execution. What's more important is that every meeting, there must be a host. In Jingzhou, no one is more suitable to be a host than Hou Dayong. People's thinking is inertia. Everyone may not be used to the first meeting. If one person presides over the meeting every time, he will be taken for granted.

The meeting host, the meeting host has the right to speak to a certain extent, that is, the actual leader. Hou Dayong has a deep understanding of this in modern society. Therefore, Hou Dayong invites several generals to meet from time to time. Although each meeting only has a little substantive content, after three days in Jingzhou, he has held three meetings under Hou Dayong's presidency, and the generals began to agree with and get used to Hou Dayong's leadership. Of course, these tricks are based on strong comprehensive strength. Without the strength of the Black Eagle military, the official position of the Jiedushi, and the authorization of His Majesty, Hou Dayong could not easily seize the right to speak.

When Hou Dayong and several generals heard the abnormal noise in the city and walked out of the study, two sweaty black eagle soldiers walked into the backyard of the yamen with a thrill of spirits. One soldier was carrying a leather bag in his hand.

Hou Dayong opened the letter sealed with fire paint. The letter was still written in a secret letter. Hou Dayong waved his hand. A soldier rushed over to take the letter. After a while, the letter was translated. The content was very simple: On the night of August 6, he fought fiercely with the Dangxiang Army outside Yizhou City, killing 8,357 Dangxiang Army and capturing 326 people. The leader of the Dangxiang Army was shot and killed. The Black Diao Army was killed 655 people in battle, and the Chengzhou infantry army was killed. 815 people in battle were killed. The Black Diao Army was pursuing the Dangxiang Residual Army to the west, waiting for an opportunity to seize Wuliu Pass. Shi Hu, deputy envoy of the Xiongsheng Army, was on August 6th.

Hou Dayong looked at the information very slowly, thinking while looking, and finally, he calmly handed the note to Shi Ying, the Privy Council, to carry out the order. Then, he turned his back to look at the map. Hou Dayong tried hard to control his emotions. He could only see these few numbers to know how tragic the war in Yizhou was. After Shi Ying finished reading the note, he silently handed the note to Wang Yanchao, the governor of Yongxing Army beside him. Wang Yanchao looked at it two or three times. Then he put the note in his hand and looked up at the sky. Han Lun looked at the two of them after reading the note.

Weird, I couldn't help but be curious. Wang Yanchao was very experienced and famous in the Great Zhou Dynasty army. Although Hanlun was the commander of the Qingzhou army, he could not stand up in the waist when facing such an old-fashioned military governor. He turned his head several times to look at Wang Yanchao, but Wang Yanchao looked up at the sky without blinking his eyes, and did not notice Hanlun's expression at all. After a while, Wang Yanchao lowered his head and sighed. He whispered: "The Black Eagle Army is really the most powerful army of the Great Zhou Dynasty." Then he handed the note to Hanlun.

The sergeant who lifted the skin saw that all the generals had read the letter, went forward and said, "This is Fang Dang Bai Ge's head." After saying that, he opened the skin. The weather was very hot in August. The skin opened, revealing a bloody head. Then a pungent stench surged out. Hou Dayong and Wang Yanchao were all fighting on the battlefield, and they were used to seeing all kinds of corpses. They just felt that the stench was bad. There was not much physiological response. Shi Ying and Hanlun had never seen such a scene.

Hanlun felt a turbulent feeling in his stomach. He didn't want to be ugly in front of everyone. He wanted to walk out of the study quickly, but he spit out "wow" at the door. Shi Ying was the imperial envoy. After Hanlun spit out at the door, a sour air came out of Shi Ying's stomach. Shi Ying endured it, but failed. A sip of lunch left in his stomach surged up. Shi Ying turned his head and glanced at the calm Hou Dayong, Wang Yanchao, and gritted his teeth and swallowed the lunch again.

Hou Dayong glanced at Shi Ying with praise, and then said to the guard beside him: "Hold this head to the back mountain in the south of the city so that the people of Jingzhou who died can rest in peace. Wait, you don't have to hang it, send the head to the Jingzhou military camp and let the Jingzhou army hang it."

On the night of August 7th, Jingzhou City was full of joy. Every household took out their best food, put on the best clothes, and some people set off firecrackers that were set off during the festival in several open areas.

Just as Jingzhou City was celebrating victory, Weizhou City was also full of joy. After the Black Eagle Army entered the city, Weizhou City, which had been besieged for nearly a month, finally opened its gate again.

After the Battle of Yizhou on August 6, the Black Eagle Army did not have time to celebrate the victory, and left the seriously injured and stolen war horses behind Yizhou City. The four thousand Black Eagle Army, led by Shi Hu, chased Wu Liuguan without stopping.

Wu Liuguan was a retreat route left by Fang Dangdang Baige for the Dangxiang army. Fang Dangduoer and Fang Dang Chihu led 3,000 Dangxiang Army to garrison. After Gaojin, Fangdangling and Fangdangzhijin retreated to Wu Liuguan with nearly a thousand remaining troops. At this time, the South Route Army led by Fang Dang Baige died nearly 15,000 people. Although they defeated Jingzhou Army and Fengzhou Army, the main force of the Dangxiang Army lost all the elite troops in Yizhou. Strategically, the South Route Army of Dangxiang Army had lost its role in restraining the Zhou army and the local areas. All the Dangxiang Army generals knew that there was no meaning to garrison at Wu Liuguan, so they retreated to Guyuan overnight and built a defense line in Guyuan to prevent the Black Eagle Army from entering the Qingshui River Basin from Guyuan.

When the Black Diao Army arrived at Wuliu Pass, the Wuliu Pass was already deserted. When the Black Diao Army appeared outside Weizhou City on the morning of August 7, the Weizhou Army guarding the city realized that the Dangxiang Army stationed at Wuliu Pass had retreated at night. The Black Diao Army took some time to enter the city. During the period when Weizhou City was surrounded, the Dangxiang Army was insufficient. In order to restrict the Weizhou Army from leaving the city, a trench of five meters wide and three to four meters deep was dug outside the city. Most of the trenches had been completed, but the width and depth of a few places did not meet the standards. Generally speaking, the trench was dug by the defense party in the city, and this trench was dug by the Dangxiang Army as the attacking party. Guo Jiong was deeply impressed by the strange tactics of the Dangxiang Army. When he fought with the Khitans in the future, Guo Jiong used this tactic and trapped the Khitans' heavy troops to defend Xijing City.

The Black Eagle Army fought a decisive battle with the Dangxiang Army outside Yizhou City on August 6, and entered Weizhou City on the morning of August 7, and first fought a fierce battle with the main force of the Dangxiang Army in Yizhou, and then rushed from Yizhou to Wuliu Pass overnight. This kind of high-intensity continuous combat best tests of the combat effectiveness of a unit. Without strict discipline, high morale and high-level training, he would definitely not be able to complete such a high-intensity combat mission. However, after the Black Eagle Army entered Weizhou, the soldiers were still exhausted and all were exhausted. After coming to the temporary camp, many soldiers put down their weapons, sat or lie down and fell asleep on the ground. Shi Hu, the deputy commander of the Xiongsheng Army, was also tired. He went to the city to have a few words for socializing with the governor Gu Chun, and did not eat lunch, so he returned to the temporary camp to sleep.

When Shi Hu woke up, it was already afternoon. He was so hungry that he screamed and shouted to his guard: "What are you going to eat? Come in quickly." Soon, a guard brought a plate of mutton and a few steamed buns into the tent. The guard put the food on the coffee table and said, "Judge Zhao Pu, the observer of Weizhou, asked for a visit, and waited outside the tent for half an hour." Shi Hu finished a big bun in a few bites and ate a few more pieces of mutton. Because these two bites were eaten too quickly, Shi Hu kept burping. He patted his chest and said to his guard: "Come to Judge Zhao quickly."

As soon as Zhao Pu finished speaking, Shi Hu threw the plate to the ground with a "slap" and said with a blue face: "All the villages in Weizhou have been killed?"

As soon as the Black Eagle Army entered the city, Zhao Pu sent several teams of Weizhou cavalry to check whether there were Dangxiang people in Weizhou. The Weizhou cavalry turned several large circles outside the city. The villages of familiar land were gone and all turned into ashes. The careful cavalry also found many corpses in the ashes. In a small hill, thousands of corpses were seen. These people should be the villagers who were gathered to dig trenches. From the wounds, it can be judged that they were killed this morning. The Weizhou cavalry became more and more frightened. The search range was increased, and then they found several villagers who escaped the pursuit.

Gu Chun, the governor of Weizhou, fully believed in Zhao Pu's ability. Therefore, Zhao Pu built a simple camp on the city wall, eating, living, pulling and sleeping on the city wall. When the Dangxiang people withdrew their troops, Zhao Pu was already covered with blond heads. When he sent the Weizhou cavalry out of reconnaissance, he took the time to go back to the mansion to take a bath, change clothes and shave. When the Weizhou cavalry brought back the news that the Dangxiang people slaughtered the village, Zhao Pu became elegant again. However, after being sung on the city wall for so long, his face turned black and red, which made Zhao Pu a little more vicissitudes than ordinary scholars. After Zhao Pu received the news that the Dangxiang people had massacred several villages, he hurriedly reported to the governor Gu Chun, and Gu Chun asked Zhao Pu to report to Shi Hu.

When Zhao Pu saw Shi Hu throwing the plate, he thought of Gu Chun's indifferent attitude and sighed in his heart: After all, the children of aristocratic families are children of aristocratic families, so he doesn't care about the lives of the people.

"The four villages near Weizhou City were killed so hard that they could not be left behind. I ordered people to check the bottom line. There were 1,364 households in these four villages, with about 5,000 people. In addition, there were 1,121 villagers who dug trenches, all of which were captured from villages a little further away. The Weizhou cavalry found several survivors, all of which said that they were done by the Dangxiang people in Wuliuguan. These Dangxiang people were really cruel and wanted to lead their troops to Guyuan." Zhao Pu answered in great detail. He tried his best to control his emotions, but afterwards, he was already angry.
Chapter completed!