Jianxiao Pass has been abandoned, the city gate has disappeared without a trace, half of the city wall has completely collapsed, and the southern city wall has even become a ruin.
No one was seen in the city. Only the ruins of the stone huts and dormitories where they once lived were left. The ground was covered with weeds, and some small animals such as foxes and snakes appeared in the weeds.
A few months after Chen Qing withdrew, the Jin soldiers completely destroyed Jianxiao Pass.
Chen Qing did not stop at Jianxiao Pass, so he left Jianxiao Pass and headed north until he arrived at Liyang County. He had not yet come out of his sadness. Before entering Jianxiao Pass, they paid tribute to more than a thousand people who had died in the pine forest.
Famous generals.
The tombs in the pine forest have no signs or tombstones. The tombs are covered with weeds. No one even came to pay homage to them. These soldiers who fought hard and sacrificed their lives for the country just disappeared in the long river of history in obscurity.
"Commander, do you want to enter Qianyang County?" Yang Yuanqing asked.
Chen Qing shook his head, "Go directly north!"
The team rushed to a high ground. Chen Qing finally looked back at Jianxiao Pass and murmured to himself: "Rest in peace! One day, I will build a monument for you."
He galvanized his horse and rushed towards the high ground. In front of him was the snow-covered wilderness.
.........
Pingliang Mansion was the base camp of the Jin Kingdom's Xihe Road administration. Last year, Wanyan Wulu served as Marshal Zuo here and was in charge of the capital. This year, he was replaced by Wanyan Alupu, but the main force of the West Route Army, 50,000 troops, killed Dashanguan.
There are only five thousand gold soldiers stationed in Pingliang Mansion in the West Valley.
Five thousand gold soldiers were concentrated in Pingliang County, led by Wanyan Xin, the commander of ten thousand men. The weather suddenly turned cold and it snowed heavily in Pingliang Mansion. At this time, the front line rushed for military supplies, but the previous thousands of carts were detained in Fengxiang and did not come back.
Twenty thousand servants were also detained by Fengxiang Jinbing and used for labor.
There are still carts and servants in Pingliang Prefecture to transport grain and grass.
However, the military orders were overwhelming, and food and grass were not available within half a month. Wanyanxin would be dismissed from his position at the least, or beheaded at the worst.
Wanyan Xin had no choice but to order the army to march out and capture the strong men.
In the name of forcibly conscripting carts, groups of Jin soldiers went around Pingliang Prefecture to extort money, rob people of their property, and insult women, causing resentment among the people in Pingliang Prefecture.
That morning, Chen Qing's army arrived in Huating County. The team rested beside the official road about five miles away from Huating County. There was a large pine forest here, which was covered with pine needles and was very dry. The soldiers were looking for a place to sit.
Next, take out the water bottle and dry food and start chewing.
The army is not short of dry food, but what they are short of is fodder.
Chen Qing found Hu Yanlei. Hu Yanlei was the former Hu Yanding and was currently the deputy commander of the scout battalion. Zhao Xiaoyi was recuperating in Xianren Pass, so Hu Yanlei temporarily took over the position of commander.
"Take two brothers, pretend to be ordinary people, and go into the county to see if you can buy horse feed, fodder, or beans!"
"I'll go to my humble position right now!"
As soon as he finished speaking, there was a cry in the distance. The soldiers stood up one after another, picked up their weapons, and looked out of the woods cautiously.
Chen Qing walked out of the woods and looked to the south. He saw two groups of people coming up the official road in the distance. The group in front looked like rural soldiers, about 30 people, driving more than 20 carts and a dozen people in custody.
young man.
Behind them were a group of old people, crying and shouting after them.
Zheng Ping was furious, "Let's go and arrest them.
Chen Qing was still hesitating. They would be exposed as soon as they showed up.
At this moment, the country soldiers on the official road discovered the army in the woods. They were so frightened that they dropped their carts and ran away.
Chen Qing immediately said: "Surround them!"
The cavalry mounted their horses one after another and rushed out of the woods, rushing like a flood towards the country soldiers on the official road.
The rural soldiers and common people on the official road were frightened and stood there motionless. In an instant, more than two thousand cavalry surrounded dozens of rural soldiers, with countless spears and bows pointing at them.
Zheng Ping shouted sternly: "Put down your weapons immediately, otherwise we will release arrows!"
The country soldiers were so frightened that they put down their weapons and took off their armor.
The head of the township soldiers did not move, but asked: "Where are you from? If it is the Qi army, I advise you not to be arrogant, this is not your territory."
Zheng Ping said coldly: "We are the Song Army, not some bullshit Qi soldiers!"
Hearing that it was the Song Army, the leader of the capital suddenly turned pale. The other soldiers turned pale and knelt down to beg for mercy. The people behind him were startled at first, and then started cheering with their heads held in their hands.
At this time, a soldier rushed over and said: "The commander has ordered, bring the leader of the rural soldiers over!"
Not long after, all the village soldiers were brought up. When he saw Chen Qing, he was startled. He knelt down on one knee and saluted, "It turns out to be General Chen. This villain is ignorant and has offended the general!"
Chen Qing narrowed his eyes, "Do you know me?"
The village soldiers all nodded, "The villain's name is Zhang Jian. He was originally a general of Li Hua, the commander of the Huanqing Army. He met General Chen in Chunhua County, and later heard that General Chen defeated the Jin soldiers at Jianxiao Pass.
The villain has already been struck by thunder!"
Chen Qing was rescued by Li Hua in Chunhua County. There were many generals at that time. Chen Qing really couldn't remember this person. Maybe Yang Yuanqing knew him.
But now is not the time to get close, Chen Qing said coldly: "You actually surrendered to Jin Bing!"
"The villain is just a local soldier, not a golden soldier."
"Hmph! You are the lackeys of the Jin soldiers, grabbing carts and young men. Am I wrong?"
A look of shame appeared on Zhang Jian's face, and he sighed and said, "At least we don't kill people, bully women, or rob people of their wealth. If the Jin soldiers come, all lives will be ruined."
“It’s actually quite plausible!”
"The villain is telling the truth. The county king was also afraid that the Jin soldiers would come, so he ordered us to go everywhere to collect carts and recruit strong men. The general didn't believe it, and the villain had nothing to do."
Chen Qing saw that he had a majestic figure and a dignified appearance, and did not look like a treacherous person, so he ordered the soldiers: "Go and find Deputy General Yang!"
After a moment, Yang Yuanqing hurriedly came over. When he saw the head of the village soldier, his eyes suddenly widened and he said in a voiceless voice: "Zhang Jian, why is it you?"
Zhang Jian knelt on the ground and burst into tears. Yang Yuanqing quickly asked: "Where is Li Hua? Where are the other brothers?"
"They're all dead!"
Zhang Jian cried and said: "We were surrounded by two thousand gold soldiers on Jingyuan Road. Li Hua was beheaded by the captain of a thousand gold soldiers. All other generals were killed. Only I escaped with more than a hundred brothers."
When Yang Yuanqing heard that Li Hua had been killed, his nose felt sour, and he quickly said: "Stop crying, what happened next?"
Zhang Jian wiped away his tears and said: "Later, I led my brothers who broke out of the encirclement to defect to Liu Qi Dutong, but they only lasted for half a year. The food was gone, so the army had to disband. I returned to Huating County with more than a dozen fellow villagers, and it happened that the county monarch
When I was recruiting rural soldiers, I also knew the county prince from my humble position, so the county prince made me the head of the rural soldiers."
Yang Yuanqing stepped forward and said to Chen Qing: "Zhang Jian was once my subordinate. He has followed me for many years. He is a good character. He is willing to vouch for him despite his humble position. I beg the commander to spare his life!"
Chen Qing nodded, "Li Hua is kind to me. Since he is your general, I will spare him this time!"
Zhang Jian felt ashamed in his heart, knelt down on one knee and clasped his fists, saying: "Thank you, General Chen, for your tolerance. I beg General Chen to allow you to take advantage of your humble position and make meritorious service!"
Chen Qing indeed had many things to ask him, so he pointed to the big stone next to him and said, "Sit down and talk!"
The two sat down and Chen Qing asked: "I want to know how many golden soldiers there are in Pingliang Mansion?"
Zhang Jian pondered for a moment and said: "There are about five thousand people, all Jurchens, all stationed in Pingliang County!"
"How many Han puppet troops are there?"
"There are currently no Han puppet troops!"
"There are no puppet troops?" Chen Qing was a little confused.
Zhang Jian quickly explained: "General Qi, the Han puppet army originally numbered 20,000 people, and they were all transferred to Fengxiang Mansion to support the Dashanguan battle. They have not returned yet, and the grain truck has not returned either. Now Wanyan Wu
Shu asked for a batch of grain and grass to be sent over within half a month, and General Jin was in a hurry, so he collected carts from everywhere to catch strong men!"
Chen Qing and Yang Yuanqing looked at each other and realized at the same time that this was an opportunity.
Chen Qing took a few steps with his hands behind his back. He originally wanted to go to Yuanzhou, but now he has changed his mind. With the help of a local snake like Zhang Jian, can he take over Pingliang County directly?
"You just said that Pingliang County is recruiting young men?"
