Cao Baozong led more than a hundred soldiers to escape from the military camp and hurriedly fled north. This group of veteran military leaders had mutinied and forced the palace, so they would not let him go. He had to escape back to Lanzhou first, and then return to Xingqing Mansion to file a complaint.
Although Cao Baozong was as anxious as a bereaved dog, he was in a good mood. At least he got rid of the responsibility of losing troops and generals. Everything should be borne by the five old army leaders!
More than a hundred cavalrymen rushed north and arrived at Xinxia City in less than an hour. There were two thousand soldiers inside, and Cao Baozong was ready to take them all away.
The gates of Xinxia City were ajar, and the city was empty. There was not a single person there. The military camp was still there, but no one was there. It was as if some mysterious incident had occurred and the soldiers suddenly disappeared.
Cao Baozong felt something was wrong, and he immediately ordered: "Go get some dry food and water, and then leave immediately."
They left in a hurry and did not carry any dry food, hoping to get supplies in Xinxia City, but Xinxia City seemed to be haunted, which really made them panic.
The soldiers ran to the military camp and soon found more than a hundred portions of dry food and water bottles.
Cao Baozong waved his hand and shouted, "Let's go!"
Everyone turned their horses and ran towards the outside of the city. Unexpectedly, as soon as they ran out of the city gate, they found that there were densely packed Song army cavalry on the opposite side. There were as many as a thousand people. A general shouted loudly, and the cavalry raised their crossbows and aimed at them. .
Cao Baozong was so frightened that he shouted: "Don't shoot arrows, we surrender!"
This is the true face of the children of the Xixia family. At the critical moment, what they think of is not to break out desperately, but to surrender and beg for mercy.
His men put down their weapons one after another and dismounted. A group of Song cavalry came up and took away the horses and searched for the weapons.
Hundreds of soldiers rushed up and ordered them to kneel down, then tied them up behind their backs.
The leading general was Tang Qian. He was ordered to lead a thousand cavalry to stay in Xinxia City. Once the main force of the enemy army entered Xinxia City, his men would crawl out of the tunnels and poison the wells. However, they did not wait until the main force of the Xixia army arrived. , but more than a hundred Xixia cavalry were waiting.
If Cao Baozong hadn't been wearing a golden helmet, Tang Qian would have ordered them all to be shot. It was Cao Baozong's golden helmet that made Tang Qian feel strange and they escaped.
The soldiers found the military talisman and the command arrow from Cao Baozong and presented them to Tang Qian. Although the military talisman was engraved in Xixia script, Tang Qian knew that these two things were of great importance.
He urged his horse forward, pressed the tip of his sharp spear against Cao Baozong's chest, and asked coldly: "The commander-in-chief ordered us to leave no one alive. Tell us your identity and see if it's worth saving your life!"
The majesty of Cao Baozong as a commander was gone. He was eager to save his life. He only wanted to be captured by Chen Qing and then let the emperor redeem him back to Xixia.
"I am Cao Baozong, the commander-in-chief of the Xixia Southern Expedition!"
"Nonsense!"
Tang Qian angrily shouted: "How come the coach of the Xixia Army came here alone? I will give you one last chance and say! Who are you?"
"I am indeed Cao Baozong. There was a mutiny in the military camp. I escaped overnight and prepared to return to Lanzhou. My official name is engraved in Chinese characters on my helmet, which can be used as proof."
Tang Qian used the tip of his spear to pick up his helmet and put it in front of his eyes to take a closer look. Sure enough, there were two lines of words on the back, one line in Xixia script and one line in Chinese characters: Cao Baozong, the general of the Xixia Kingdom in the Southern Expedition.
Tang Qian questioned other soldiers, and it turned out to be Cao Baozong. The matter was of great importance. He sent someone to report to Yang Zaixing, while leaving the scout leader Lin Tao and 300 soldiers to continue to monitor Xinxia City.
He himself led 700 cavalry to escort Cao Baozong and others from another path to Longxi County.
Chen Qing was woken up by his own soldiers while he was sleeping. He heard the incredible news that Cao Baozong led his soldiers to escape, but was caught by Yang Zaixing's men and had been escorted to Longxi County.
This news surprised, delighted and confused Chen Qing, and he immediately had Cao Baozong brought to the military camp.
Cao Baozong was taken to a large tent and felt quite uneasy. He knew that Chen Qing was going to see him.
Of course he had met Chen Qing. In front of the two armies, Chen Qing killed several of his generals, which he remembered deeply.
At this time, the curtain was raised, and Chen Qing came in with Niu Gao and Liu Cui.
Cao Baozong stood up quickly, but did not salute. He stood upright. After all, he was the general of Zhengnan. He could not afford to lose face by saluting and kneeling in front of the enemy general.
Chen Qing glanced at him and said, "Sit down!"
Cao Baozong sat down silently, and Chen Qing also sat down opposite him. Niu Gao and Liu Cui were like two door gods, standing next to Chen Qing on the left and right.
Of course they are not bodyguards. Chen Qing asked them to listen and then discuss it together.
Chen Qing said calmly: "I know General Cao is a person of status, and I don't intend to humiliate you and leave you with some dignity, but the premise is that you must answer my questions truthfully. If the answer is detailed, let me
If you are satisfied, I will contact Xixia as soon as possible and ask your emperor to redeem you with 30,000 sheepskins."
Cao Baozong's eyes suddenly lit up with hope. Thirty thousand sheepskins were not many, and he had at least 100,000 sheepskins at home.
Chen Qing saw the hope in his eyes and said calmly: "But if your answer dissatisfies me, you can only go to the iron mines to mine with other Xixia prisoners of war. We will wait until you have mined for five years."
"I have nothing to hide, what do you want to know?"
"What happened in your military camp? Why did you run away?" Chen Qing asked first.
Cao Baozong sighed and said: "These 50,000 Xixia troops were transferred from various military divisions and were led by five commanders. I myself have no qualifications in the army and was despised by the five commanders. This time
We lost 25,000 soldiers in the siege, which angered these five military leaders. They no longer believed in me, and a mutiny broke out."
"What kind of mutiny happened?" Chen Qing asked.
"Even if the coalition removed me from command of the army and forced me to agree to their plan, I agreed, but I knew that Xia Lian, the leader of the five military leaders, would definitely kill me and then say that I was seriously ill and die.
, it is impossible for him to let me complain before the emperor."
It sounds unbelievable, but when you think about it carefully, it makes sense. No matter it is the Xixia Army or the Song Army, no general is willing to let a fool control his own destiny.
"It makes sense!"
Chen Qing nodded, "What then?"
"Because I was pretending to be sick and deceived them. Then I escaped from the military camp with my soldiers just after dark. This was also my good luck. Maybe it was because Xia Lian hadn't communicated well with the other military leaders.
Attack me in time."
Chen Qing thought for a while and asked: "You just said that the five military leaders have prepared another plan. What plan?"
"They are preparing to withdraw their troops from Lintao Prefecture. I don't know whether they want to occupy Lintao Prefecture or just want to use Lintao Prefecture. They just informed me and asked me to agree, but did not elaborate."
The other party actually wanted to leave Lintao Mansion, which was a bit beyond Chen Qing's expectation. He immediately said to Liu Cui: "Send scouts to keep an eye on every move of the other party's camp. If the other party shows signs of withdrawing their troops, notify me immediately!"
"Follow the order!"
Liu Cui turned around and left.
Chen Qing continued to seduce Cao Baozong and said: "As the commander-in-chief of this army, you must be very clear about its weaknesses. If you can help me annihilate this army, then I don't even need to inform Xixia Zi. Directly notify your family to redeem you and keep it a secret for you. After all, being caught by the Song Army will affect your resume. What are the conditions?"
Cao Baozong was as hard-hearted as iron at this time. He no longer cared about the life and death of this army. If the other party wanted to kill him, why couldn't he take revenge on them?
What's more, Chen Qing made such a tempting offer that he simply couldn't refuse.
He sighed and said: "I can't refuse Jiedushi's offer, and I don't want to refuse. Those five bastards should have gone to hell long ago!"
Chen Qing smiled happily and said, "Tell me! How can I wipe out this army?"
Cao Baozong pondered for a while and said: "They have many weaknesses. For example, the morale of the soldiers is low, and they are eager to return home, but these are not important. I think their biggest weakness at present is that they cannot cross the Yellow River. Once there is a problem with their food supplies, they will definitely flee to Lanzhou. city, but if your army captures Lanzhou City first, they will have no choice but to go to Agan County, where there is a batch of grain reserves."
"Can't cross the Yellow River, why?"
"The reason is very simple. When they retreated to the Yellow River, they encountered the freezing flood season. The river was covered with ice floes and the rafts could not withstand it. They had to wait until late February to cross the Yellow River!"