The defeated troops in Xihe City had already gone to the left wing of the army in an orderly manner. Under the guidance of Chen Yi and others, the messy scenes finally gradually calmed down.

Then a general who was covered in blood and had a limp legs and hunched over, staggered to the earthbow. As soon as he saw Zhao Ning, he knelt on the ground with a thud.

He shouted in a hoarse voice: "General Zhao! He Ping, the defensive envoy of Xihe City in Xihe City, pay homage to General Zhao... Thank you for your kindness in saving you, and I will never forget you..."

When He Ping met Chen Yi, he knew that it was Zhao Ning who came. He was stumbled to the earthen buns. The first shout was filled with pain, grief and anger, but when he spoke later, he wanted to speak but stopped.

Finally, He Ping, whose facial features were twisted and his face was red, robbed the land with his head: "I am willing to be a front pawn of the horse, and ask General Zhao Xu Beizhi to fight in Xihe City!"

Zhao Ning glanced at He Ping's injuries and found that the other party was optimistic. With the other party's aura, he was still able to move freely and not fall down. This was unexpected.

Zhao Ning didn't think He Ping could continue to fight: "General He should go down first. It is the top priority for General He to restrain his troops from retreating to Yunzhou to rest."

This is a very reasonable arrangement. He Ping should do it both in terms of emotion and in terms of reason. However, after Zhao Ning said this, He Ping knelt down and couldn't stand up. He grabbed his hands into the soil, his whole body tense like a wild beast:

"General Zhao! I've been waiting for the position of Xihe City for half a year, and I've been making things difficult day and night, and I've never slacked off for a moment. Now I've lost my city and lost my territory, and I'm humble... I'm unfair to my humble position!

"I know that my crime is so great that I can't forgive me. I dare not ask for meritorious service. I only ask General Zhao to fulfill his promise and let him be a front pawn again and fight with the Hu thief again!"

Looking at He Ping, whose armor was damaged and scarred, Zhao Ning felt a brief silence.

Of course, he understood the other party's mood. From the fact that the other party had no confidence to claim himself, but kept saying "lower job", he knew how great the fall of Xihe City was to him and how much he blamed himself.

But no matter why Xihe City fell, as the lord defender, he had to bear the greatest responsibility. Gao Furui's judgment on the situation of the war was not enough to be a reason for the court to not punish him.

Not only did the court not, but Zhao Ning himself did not.

Zhao Ning withdrew his gaze to look at He Ping and looked at the defeated soldiers gathered on the left wing of the army.

After He Ping came over, only the meteor soldiers ran out in the dark night, which shows that even during the retreat, He Ping ran behind the soldiers.

With his late-stage cultivation level of the Yuanshen realm, if he wants to apply oil to his feet, he can run in the front.

At this moment, the group of defeated soldiers gathered on the left wing of the 40,000 horse army was extremely large. At a rough look, there should be 10,000 or 20,000. Among these defeated soldiers who had been chased for at least twenty miles, there were actually some people with armor and weapons, and they had quite formed formations in their actions, and they did not become completely defeated soldiers.

You should know that once the army begins to flee, they will be in panic and they will not care about anything. Armor weighing dozens of kilograms is often the first target for the soldiers to abandon.

Only by reducing the burden can they run faster and have more opportunities to survive.

The remaining weapons, such as long spears and shields, are also difficult to carry and easily affect the burden of footsteps, and will be thrown away. Throwing away helmets and discarding armor is the first word used to describe a defeated soldier.

Zhao Ning said expressionlessly: "If you can gather 3,000 people who are willing to fight back with you among the defeated soldiers, I will give you another chance to fight."

"As for your orders, humble duty! Thank you General Zhao!" He Ping, who was overjoyed, kowtowed three times in a row before getting up and leaving.

When He Ping left, Wei Wuxian yelled, "This guy is not a mediocre general who has no ability, and he has some ethics. In today's world, there are not many such poor generals."

"The further you go, the less you will be." After Zhao Ning said this, he did not continue the topic. Seeing that Chen Yi had returned, he summoned the generals and arranged the next strategy to fight the Northern Hu army.

The 40,000 horse army is not much or less, but there are more than twenty generals.

This is because cavalry belongs to a precious branch of military service in the Central Plains Dynasty, and many rebels do not have many horse troops under their command. It is extremely rare for Geng Anguo to come out with two thousand horse troops.

Some grass-roots rebel leaders had only a few hundred cavalry under their command.

In addition to Xihe City, Yunzhou was able to gather 40,000 cavalry, because the defense forces had more horse troops, and the other was the powerful locals such as the Yun family and Changhe Boat Tour, which provided many war horses and practitioners.

The latter is the real object Zhao Ning relies on in this battle.

The effect of his early layout in Yunzhou is also concentrated here.

Looking around a group of generals who were nervous or excited, calm or nervous, Zhao Ning's eyes finally fell on Yun Yong, Chen Yi, Fang Moyuan, etc., the local tyrants in Yunzhou and the leaders of the Jianghu forces under his command.

"Yun Yong, Chen Yi, Fang Moyuan, Zhang Jia, Ding Yi, your troops are lined up in front of the army and assume the vanguard position of the army; Li Kui, Wang Xingcheng's defensive envoy, your troops are in the middle; the remaining troops of the rebel army are at the tail."

Zhao Ning's military orders were issued very smoothly: "Although the Northern Hu army had more than 40,000, this time, it was to cross the river to attack and seize Xihe City, so there were not many cavalrymen. The story of the defeated soldiers in Xihe City and the news of Wei Shilang also confirmed one thing: the opponent's cavalry was only more than 10,000.

"So when the two armies were fighting, all the troops did not need to think too much about it. They only had one tactic, and kept rushing forward and dispersing the opponent's formation until the city of Xihe!"

For a group of miscellaneous soldiers, of course, the simpler the tactics, the better. The two wings are detoured, the middle breaking, the cruising side attack, the division and surround, all of them are self-destructive.

Zhao Ning continued: "When he arrived at Xihe City, the army was divided into two parts, partly surrounded the city, preparing for the subsequent siege; partly partly separated to the two wings, recaptured the large and small military forts and river-surface warships, and made the Beihu soldiers in Xihe City a lonely army.

"How to act specifically at that time, just follow this general's order."

After saying the military order, Zhao Ning looked around the generals again, "Who has any doubts?"

The rebel generals present, whether they were Green Forest heroes or local clans, had no experience in large-scale combat, and naturally only followed Zhao Ning's leader, and whatever he said was what he said.

Li Kui and Wang Xingcheng, the two defensive envoys, had their own thoughts about Zhao Ning's military order. Although Wang Xingcheng's eyes changed a few times, he did not speak. Li Kui, who had a curly beard, had a straightforward personality and immediately said:

"If General Zhao doesn't ask, the major affairs in the military will naturally be decided by the commander's words. We will definitely not dare to have any objections, but since General Zhao asked, the last general will have something to say.

"General Zhao, the soldiers under the command of the last general and the Wang Defense Envoy are all well-trained and well-equipped royal divisions of the dynasty. Compared with the rebels, they are more combat-capable and should assume the vanguard position!"

After he said this, Wang Xingcheng's face changed slightly.

Geng Anguo was originally quite unwilling to be at the end of the army, and wanted to ask for his orders to be the vanguard. To be fair, he felt that the combat power of the Liangshan camp, which defeated the official army twice, was only stronger than that of the defense envoy.

But when Li Kui said, "The major affairs in the military will naturally be decided by the commander's words", he held back his words. He was not a general of the regular army of the dynasty, did not know the rules of the army, and was afraid of violating military laws, so he could only be cautious in his words and actions.

Wei Wuxian, Song Ming and other Wangji realm practitioners also looked at Zhao Ning, with confusion in their eyes, waiting for Zhao Ning to answer their questions. The regular army of the court should indeed have stronger combat power and should assume an important position at this time.

Zhao Ning knew everyone’s thoughts and knew that there should be a reasonable explanation. However, as a minister of the Great Qi Dynasty, some of the things he had done before could not be explained in public.

After pondering for a moment, Zhao Ning had an idea in his heart and said seriously:

"From ancient times to the present, every time the dynasty was established, the heroes of the world were either in the army or in the court. It was precisely because of their concerted efforts and their ability that Taizu could quell the turbulent times, make achievements, and look at all directions.

"But in the peaceful times, especially when the world is peaceful for a long time, true heroes and real men are often in the folk, not in the officialdom. Therefore, in times of trouble, heroes always appear in the grass."

As soon as this statement was spoken, everyone was stunned. It was obvious that they had never thought about the truth in Zhao Ning's words before.

Wei Wuxian fell into deep thought, and Geng Anguo and other rebel generals unconsciously pushed their chests up, while Song Ming, Li Kui, Wang Xingcheng and others were quite angry and embarrassed.

Zhao Ning belittled them.

Zhao Ning didn't say much. The reason behind this conclusion will only anger the court personnel such as Song Ming, Li Kui, Wang Xingcheng, etc., because the truth will indeed hurt their feelings.

No matter what dynasty, once you have a long life and have a high position, you are good at ease. People who are truly capable of operating, have a good personality and talent often do not receive heavy use—or give up their principles in order to increase their ranks.

In a relatively closed environment - for example, in a unified dynasty, without the intervention of external forces, this closed environment will only become more and more chaotic and decadent.

From the perspective of state administration, there will be more and more corrupt officials, and the people's situation will become increasingly unbearable.

No matter how powerful the king is, how righteous the officials are, how righteous the officials are, how righteous the benevolent and ambitious people serve the country and the people, as long as the world is peaceful, everything will return to reality.

Everyone's nature of pursuing profit will drive everyone to put justice, morality, etiquette and righteousness aside and become the supreme interests. Interests and personal interests are always the most realistic things in the world.

In this case, the children of aristocratic families are slacking off and complacent, poor officials deceive their superiors and conceal their subordinates, one is addicted to enjoying and riches, and the other is using any means to climb up. How many real heroes and men will be there?

If everyone, like when the founding of the dynasty, had faith, pursuit, morality and ideals, and was willing to sacrifice their lives for the future of the country, regardless of personal wealth, honor, disgrace, and life, the emperors of the Daqi dynasty, including Song Zhi, provoked disputes between civil and military affairs, divided the power of aristocratic families, and did not hesitate to indulge land annexation, destroying the families of countless ordinary people, displaced, and supporting the rise of poor families, how could they succeed?

The national war begins and the troubled times come, and only the world needs heroes.

Only when the country is in danger, the country is in danger, and all people suffer, can there be a stage for heroes to show their strength and display their ambitions in the world.

Facing the confused and ignorant eyes of everyone, Zhao Ning just sighed with an indescribable sigh:

"I will take this responsibility for the victory or defeat. I believe that the outcome of the war will answer your confusion. Now, each department acts according to the orders. Who dares to slacke in the slightest part? This general will not tolerate the law!"

When everyone heard this, their faces became solemn and they all held their fists to agree.

This is not only the deterrent result of the head coach's authority, but also the past record between Zhao Ning and Zhao, which allows everyone to keep their trust in Zhao Ning.

Only Chen Yi, the leader of the Changhe Boat Traveler, Yun Yong, the leader of the Yun family, Fang Moxuan, the leader of the Yipinlou, Zhang Jia, and Ding Yi, the owner of the Dingjiazhuang, were full of confidence and spirit while holding their fists.

The generals retreated and returned to their headquarters. After deploying soldiers in accordance with Zhao Ning's military orders, Zhao Ning stood on the landbag with his hands behind his back and continued to look west in the dark night.

Although it was pitch black in front of me, in Zhao Ning's eyes, it was already a battlefield full of lights and crowds of people.

Since the seventh year of Qianfu, the Yipin Building in Yunzhou has been traveling in the long river boat. As the wealth earned, while absorbing more practitioners from the world, they are also organizing these people to conduct secret battle formation drills.

Nowadays, they and their peripheral forces, such as Ding Yi, are the backbone of the rebel army.

As for the Yun family, Zhang family and other local tyrants, although Zhao Ning could not allow them to conduct a hidden battle formation drill - after all, they were not completely his own people, and it was difficult to explain the reasons for this behavior - but at least he kept analyzing the national situation and using the reasons for making achievements on the battlefield to strengthen the status of the great families, lobbying them to cultivate the military tactics and combat skills of the family's children, and expand the power of cultivators.

Yunzhou has been preparing for war for a long time. Whether it is Chen Yi, Fang Moyuan, Yun Yong, Zhang Jia, etc., the method of recruiting young and strong men to train battle formations has been nearly half a year. With the foundation laid before, it is impossible to achieve results in the past six months.

They are not like the wild and rebels like Geng Anguo, with uneven military preparations and people's hearts fluctuated.

They have background and background, armor, weapons, talismans, soldiers and elixirs, and basically all their subordinates are missing.

Among the 70,000 rebels in Yunzhou, they accounted for nearly 50,000, and the number of practitioners among them was unimaginable that Li Kui and Wang Xingcheng, two defensive envoys.

The battlefield in Yunzhou is so important that Zhao Ning’s requirements for them are in line with the standards of the Yanmen Army and the Zhao family’s private army.

The only problem is that tonight is their first battle.

If they can withstand the baptism of this war and win this war - or at least not suffer a great loss, they can complete a qualitative transformation like the Yanmen Army in Qianfu for seven years; if they can't withstand it, then don't let it go.

In any case, Zhao Ning has done everything he can do.

At this moment, he chose to believe in his past efforts and dedication.

"General Zhao, the humble official gathered 3,328 people. They are all willing to follow General Zhao to fight against the enemy without hesitation!" He Ping came to the earthen bag. Although his injuries did not improve, his face flushed and he seemed excited.

Zhao Ning threw out a medicine bottle to treat the other party's injuries: "Your troops are in the back of the army."

"I am grateful to you!" He Ping took the pill with tears in his eyes, and held his fists and agreed loudly.

After a moment, an envoy came to report: "General, time has come."

"Set off."

......

One hour later, the two armies met in the vast wilderness beside the Yellow River.
Chapter completed!