After accepting Yang Guang's lesson, Liu Ziqiu's Northern Expedition army did not take the shortcut of Dadou Valley. Instead, they detoured to Xiping, crossed Haochan River, passed Baishan, and arrived at Fanhe County on the fifth mountain. Along the way, Liu Ziqiu passed through
Yiqi issued a notice to calm the people in advance, so the people did not panic. On the contrary, many people heard that it was the army organized by Liu Ziqiu in the Northern Expedition against the brutal Turks, and they spontaneously came with all kinds of food to reward the soldiers on the expedition. These soldiers had also been there in the past.
After harassing the Sui border, the people of the Sui Dynasty hated them deeply. Now seeing these people cheering and cheering, the soldiers were deeply moved and felt proud to be a member of the Sui Dynasty.
When Zhuang Xuejing, the magistrate of Fanhe County, heard that Liu Ziqiu's army had arrived, he led his officials and elders ten miles out of the city to greet them. He was originally the magistrate of Fanhe County, and after Liu Ziqiu captured Wuwei, he remained a prisoner for a few days. Unexpectedly, Liu Ziqiu had no
After pursuing him, he was allowed to continue to serve as the magistrate of Fanhe County, and his salary was doubled than before. He was extremely grateful to Liu Ziqiu. Hearing that Liu Ziqiu was here, how could he not take the initiative to welcome him.
Liu Ziqiu originally didn't want to disturb the place, but he had no choice but to comfort him with kind words, and then asked: "County Magistrate Zhuang, how much do you know about Gao Yue's situation?"
Zhuang Xue Jingzuo's face was full of pain, and he sighed: "Back to my lord, I only learned about this news from some people who escaped from the disaster two days ago. After I got the news, I didn't dare to neglect it, and sent someone to report it.
My lord, I will send someone to Gaoyue to investigate."
"Oh." Liu Ziqiu was quite surprised, "You sent someone to Gaoyue?"
Zhuang Xuejing nodded and said: "The official wanted to go there in person, but he had the responsibility to protect the land and did not dare to leave without authorization, so he could only send a few agents to go..."
Liu Ziqiu waved his hand and said: "Tell me the important points!"
Zhuang Xuejing said so much nonsense, of course, to show off his merits in front of Liu Ziqiu. Hearing Liu Ziqiu's words, Zhuang Xuejing was slightly unhappy, his face turned red, and he said hurriedly: "Go back to my lord, I'll send you some security guards."
When the police arrived in Gaoyue County, the Turks had already withdrawn. The city was in a mess, with dead bodies everywhere, many of the female corpses were naked and miserable. Please rest assured, my lord, the official had dispatched civilian men yesterday to remove the dead bodies in the city.
All buried."
Liu Ziqiu nodded and said, "Mr. Zhuang, you have done a good job. Have you notified Gu Zang?"
"The lower official has reported Gao Yue's situation to Governor Gu, but, just..." Zhuang Xuejing suddenly started to hesitate.
Gu Wangquan, the prefect of Wuwei, also stayed in his post after being captured. However, after receiving Zhuang Xuejing's notification, he did not make any reaction, but placed all the responsibilities on Zhuang Xuejing. Zhuang Xuejing was quite critical of this.
, but Gu Wangquan was his Shangguan. According to the rules of the officialdom, he couldn't just criticize Shangguan in front of Liu Ziqiu, so he was a little embarrassed later.
Liu Ziqiu didn't have as many twists and turns as he did. He waved his hand and said: "When you serve as an official, you should benefit one party. Gaoyue is under the jurisdiction of Wuwei, but Gu Wangquan doesn't care about the life or death of Gaoyue's soldiers and civilians. He, the prefect, does not do anything anymore.
It is necessary to go down. Zhuang Xuejing, from now on, you are the prefect of Wuwei!"
Zhuang Xuejing was stunned for a moment, then he quickly raised his hands and said, "Thank you, Lord. I have something to report."
Liu Ziqiu nodded.
Zhuang Xuejing said: "The detectives carefully surveyed Gaoyue County and found no traces of siege. The officials suspected that there were Turkic spies in the city, so they allowed the Turks to sneak into the city. Otherwise, relying on Gaoyue
The city walls cannot be easily penetrated by the Turks who are not good at siege warfare. Of course, this is just the official's guess. If the guess is wrong, please forgive me, my lord."
Liu Ziqiu had to take Zhuang Xuejing's words seriously. However, the entire Gaoyue City had been destroyed by the war, and even if he knew there was a spy, there was no way to investigate. But in order to prevent it from happening, Liu Ziqiu passed down an order to transfer Gui Haiqiu to patrol.
The border envoy commanded five thousand elite troops to patrol the Great Wall defenses of Dunhuang, Zhangye, and Wuwei counties.
After stopping for a while in Fanhe County, Liu Ziqiu led the army to cross the Great Wall and arrived outside the Great Wall. That night, the team arrived at Gaoyue County. After experiencing the catastrophe, Gaoyue County was almost reduced to a scorched earth. Many houses in the city were burned down, and the streets
There are still some bloodstains left. The people of Hefan County organized by Zhuang Xuejing have just finished burying the bodies of the victims. Because it is getting late, they have no time to return to the fortress and are resting in the city. Some people are also left on the city to guard.
Seeing Liu Ziqiu's large group of cavalry, the civilians who stayed on top of the city rang the gong. What these people were most worried about was the Turkic cavalry leaving and returning. When they heard the warning, they became panicked. Some people opened the city gate and prepared to risk their lives to escape south.
, only to find that the large group of cavalry came from the south. It was not until they saw clearly that the group of cavalry was flying the banner of the Sui Dynasty that the people in the city calmed down a little.
Although Liu Ziqiu was already determined to overthrow the rule of the Sui Dynasty, he still needed to use the name of the Sui Dynasty, and his flag would naturally continue to be the flag of the Sui Dynasty.
Some brave civilians rushed out of the city and approached them to ask about the cavalry's purpose. When they heard that the cavalry was coming to attack the brutal Turks, the city immediately became excited. Although they were from the city, there were also many relatives and friends who came to the city.
Living outside the Great Wall. All day and night, they were cleaning up the remains of the people who died in the city. There may not be any relatives among them, but the tragic scene kept them awake at night.
In fact, in the early days of Yang Guang's rule, the military power of the Sui Dynasty was still very strong. Just last year, Qimin Khan of the Eastern Turks was forced to weed Yang Guang. Many of these were attributed to Chang Sun Sheng, but if the Sui Dynasty
With their military strength weak, how could the Turks surrender willingly? Now, the Sui Dynasty was divided and had different intentions. These border people no longer expected the imperial court to send troops to seek justice for them. At this moment, they saw a large army of the imperial court.
The border residents were extremely excited.
There were approximately more than 600 border residents, and they were actually forced here by Zhuang Xuejing. If they were unwilling to bury the bodies in Gaoyue City, Zhuang Xuejing would punish them for refusing to perform labor service.
Since ancient times, the people did not fight against the officials, so the border residents had no choice but to risk their lives and come outside the Great Wall. Now that they finally saw the imperial army, they were safe. After relaxing, many people couldn't help but howl and cry, releasing their suppressed emotions.
Liu Ziqiu has always opposed free labor for the people. For example, the civilian men from various counties he has recruited to smelt steel in the West Sea can receive corresponding rewards according to the workload. These border residents in front of him not only paid for their labor, but also bear the huge risk of sacrificing their lives at any time. Liu Ziqiu could not help but
He couldn't bear to let them work in vain, waved his hand and said: "Come here, give each of them a war horse!"
The border residents all cheered. They live in the border fortress and may not be as good as the nomadic tribes who grew up on horses, but riding horses is not a special skill for them. However, horses are more expensive and raised
The price is also very high, and war horses are worth hundreds of gold. Ordinary border residents have never had the luxury of owning a war horse. Now, Liu Ziqiu rewards each of them with a war horse, which is equivalent to rewarding them with a large sum of money. Even if they cannot keep it
These war horses can also be sold to others. In fact, if Liu Ziqiu had money with him, he would rather reward them with money than war horses.
After resting for a night in Gaoyue County, Liu Ziqiu led the army and continued northward. Several small villages he passed along the way were burned to the ground. Liu Ziqiu couldn't help frowning. Although he had not experienced nomadic tribes attacking the border, he understood
Many things in this regard. Under normal circumstances, nomadic tribes will not kill everyone. They will sweep away the property they can take away and kidnap young women, boys and girls, but they will not set fire to the village. As long as the villagers do not resist, they will not suffer.
Massacre. After all, they also knew very well that if all the villages outside the wall were destroyed by them, they would have to go deeper into the Sui Dynasty if they wanted to plunder in the next year.
There are only two explanations for the brutal massacre of villages by these Turks. One is that they were angered by the villagers, and the other is that their goals are no longer limited to the villages outside the Great Wall, but are looking at the plains. From the time they captured Gao
Liu Ziqiu is more inclined to the second possibility when it comes to crossing the county seat.
No matter what the possibility was, Liu Ziqiu was already furious after seeing such a scene, and he was going to take crazy revenge.
Liu Ziqiu waved his sword, and the army bypassed Ju Yanze and entered the Mobei grassland. The green and white grassland that had just fallen under a light snow had a unique scenery. The diligent herders were still seizing the last chance to let their cattle and sheep grow.
Fatter.
There is a small tribe not far away. The herdsmen of the tribe have gathered from scattered pastures to this settlement camp. The cattle and sheep are still eating grass on the grassland around the camp. The shepherd girl wearing a sheepskin felt hat sings unrestrained
While singing songs, the men gathered around the fire in the tent and drank smoky koumiss. Suddenly, the earth began to tremble, and thousands of troops surrounded the camp from three directions.
When the tough herdsmen saw the movement, they picked up their bows and arrows and rushed out of the tent. The war horses were their companions since childhood and were tied next to the tent. Soon, a Turkic cavalry composed of hundreds of herdsmen appeared outside the camp. However,
What greeted them was a black cavalry, dozens or hundreds of times their number. The biggest feature of the nomadic cavalry fighting on the grassland is that no matter how fierce the battle, the casualties are extremely limited. Seeing defeat, the Turkic cavalry, who know the current situation and are heroes, immediately
Leaving their families, cattle and sheep behind, they fled in all directions.
However, there were too many cavalry coming from the south, and they formed a double team from the beginning. There were still two arrows away, and the sound of "swish, swish, swish" piercing the air could be heard endlessly.
The iron arrows of the Qing Dynasty came like locusts. The Turkic cavalry who were fleeing were completely unprepared and fell off their horses one after another. Countless war horses trampled over them, leaving puddles of meat on the grass. At this time next year, the grass will