Two days later, Chen Qing's army arrived at the small temple of Guandi, thirty miles north of Luojiao County. Yang Zaixing stepped forward to salute and said apologetically: "I came a day late, they have already gone north."
It's only two days' journey from Luojiao County to Qingquan County. If you arrive one day late, you won't be able to catch up.
Chen Qing was not disappointed. This was as expected. When he found out, it had already been delayed for a day and a night. It would be another day to notify Yang Zaixing. The other party was taking the shortest bow string route. It was definitely too late for Yang Zaixing to catch up.
Chen Qing nodded, "This is their life that should not be taken away, let them go!"
"There are still 10,000 prisoners of war, what should I do with my humble position?"
"Leave mining, and if the Kingdom of Jin wants to redeem it, that's fine!"
"I understand the humble position!"
Chen Qing waved his horse whip and said, "The army continues to march north!"
Yang Zaixing sent his deputy general Cheng Huan to lead an army of 10,000 to escort the prisoners of war to Guanzhong, while the rest of the army followed Chen Qinghao and headed north.
Two days later, the main force of the Song Army arrived in Qingquan County. To Chen Qing's expectation, Qingquan County was sacked by the Jin soldiers who were not hungry, and the magistrate was still there. Chen Qing immediately sent someone to find the magistrate to see him.
The magistrate of Qingquan County is called Zhao Ruinian, who was appointed by Chen Qing. When he came to Chen Qing, he knelt down and cried: "It is a crime to be in a humble position!"
Chen Qing glanced at him and asked, "What's your crime?"
"The humble official was afraid that the Jin soldiers would massacre the city, so he dedicated thousands of stones of grain from his official warehouse to the Jin soldiers. He also collected thousands of livestock, chickens and ducks from the people and gave them to the Jin soldiers."
"Then what? Have they entered the city?"
Zhao Ruinian shook his head, "Their general was lying on the sliding pole and said that because of our sincerity, he would let us go this time!"
"How many people are there in the city?"
"There are three thousand households and more than ten thousand people."
Chen Qing pondered for a moment and said: "You are also protecting the people. The situation is special. This time I will not count you as an enemy. Get up!"
Zhao Ruinian stood up with tears in his eyes and said, "Thank you for your forgiveness, Ambassador Xuanfu. I am really ashamed of my humble position!"
"Let me ask you, besides Wan Yan's silver-skilled golden soldiers, are there any other golden soldiers?"
"There is also a group of Jin soldiers transporting grain trucks, about 10,000 people, who arrived a day earlier. The leader is called Han Chang. He did not enter the city and went directly to Luoshui."
Chen Qing smiled at Yang Zaixing and said, "As expected, Han Chang came to pick up Wanyan Yinkeshu. They should have circled back to Fushi County from Wuren Road, and then headed south."
Yang Zaixing said worriedly: "In this case, the enemy's strength will be 30,000. If Niu Gao leads his army to intercept, it will be dangerous."
Chen Qing smiled slightly: "Don't worry about this problem. I told Niu Gao a long time ago that if he needs to go out of the city to intercept, I will send him an eagle letter. Since I didn't send an eagle letter, he must still be strictly guarding his skin.
county."
Only then did Yang Zaixing realize how important the capital attaches to Fushi County. Fushi County is currently the only populous county in northern Shaanxi. If it is not heavily guarded, once it is captured by the Jin soldiers, they will definitely build Fushi as an offensive weapon.
The springboard of Shaanxi Road, coupled with the tall and solid Fushi City Wall, which is easy to defend but difficult to attack, and has abundant fire oil, how much manpower and material resources did the Song Army need to spend to capture it? It is simply unimaginable.
"I understand the good intentions of the governor!"
Chen Qing ordered an army to garrison Qingquan County, and his army continued to march north. In the morning, the army arrived at Fushi County. A scout had already reported to Niu Gao that it was still ten miles away from the county seat. Niu Gao took more than a dozen people with him.
The generals came to welcome the arrival of Chen Qing's army...
"The humble Niu Gao meets the capital!"
Niu Gao knelt down on one knee, cupped his fists and performed a military salute, and the generals behind him also knelt down and saluted.
Chen Qing quickly helped Niu Gao up and said with a smile: "I am just General Niu who will not let me down. By guarding Fushi County, it can be said that the gate of northern Shaanxi has been saved."
"I am ashamed of my humble position and cannot follow them to unite to conquer the Jin soldiers. The soldiers fought bloody battles with the Jin soldiers, but I was doing nothing in the county seat and watched the Jin soldiers retreat."
Or how can we say that Niu Gao is popular? He definitely does not take credit, puts himself in a low position, praises other troops for their bloody battles, and is good at talking. Of course everyone likes him.
Chen Qing smiled and said: "General Niu, don't be too humble. You also annihilated 20,000 golden soldiers. We annihilated the main force of more than 70,000 golden soldiers one after another. It can be considered a brilliant victory."
"I have another important matter in my humble position, which is related to Xixia. I need to report it to the capital!"
Chen Qing was startled, "What happened to Xixia?"
"Xiao Heda is dead!"
Chen Qing frowned, "What's going on?"
"It's a long story, please go to the city to rest, please report your humiliation in detail!"
Chen Qing immediately ordered the entire army to go to Fushi County to rest for a day. Niu Gao arranged for the army to be stationed in the camp and ordered people to slaughter 10,000 sheep to cleanse the army.
In the temporary tent of the Chinese army, Chen Qing ordered his men to set up a Xixia sand table. It was a simple sand table with no detailed terrain, just the direction of the mountains, the distribution of cities, the location of the desert, and the conditions of the Yellow River, etc.
"The humble position is also based on the description of the Han merchants who escaped from Xixia. It should be that a Jin army of 20,000 people entered Xixia. It happened half a month ago. The leader of the Jin soldiers was in Yinzhou to mediate the conflict between the Xixia court and Xiao Heda. The Jin Kingdom
The intention was to divide Xixia. The Xixia court was very dissatisfied, but Xiao Heda was very excited. Not knowing what the plan was, he led 3,000 troops to Yinzhou to participate in the mediation. As a result, he was ambushed by 20,000 gold soldiers on the way, and Xiao Heda's entire army was destroyed.
I was also beheaded by the Jin soldiers and my head was given to the Xixia Emperor Li Qianshun."
"Then what?"
"Then there was internal strife among Xiao Heda's sons fighting for inheritance rights. This was the last news ten days ago. I don't know what happened next."
Chen Qing stared at the sand table without saying a word. He understood Jin Bing's intention to stand up for Xixia at this time. On the one hand, it was to control Xixia more deeply, and on the other hand, it was to support Xixia to deal with him.
Once Xixia puts pressure on their back, it will inevitably slow down their eastward advance. The Jin soldiers really have their own plans. Are they not afraid that they will take advantage of Xixia's weakness and send troops to destroy Xixia?
Niu Gao's information came in time, and he immediately understood the Jin Kingdom's strategic plan. Wanyan Yinkeshu attacked Shaanxi Road, and then Jin soldiers combined with the Xixia army to attack Xihe Road, and finally forced himself back to Dashan Pass.
South.
I'm afraid the plan has changed. Jin Bing should quickly attack Xiao Heda's remaining troops. However, several of Xiao Heda's sons have internal strife. I believe Jin Bing is willing to watch them kill each other, but in this case, Jin Bing will
It wasted precious time.
This bought me time to return to Fangxihe Road.
The most critical thing here is Lanzhou. Lanzhou not only defends the Xixia Army from going south to Xihe Road, but also defends the Xixia Army from advancing into the Hehuang Valley. Its strategic location is extremely important.
At present, Chen Qing only has three thousand troops in Lanzhou, led by Liu Zan, which really makes Chen Qing uneasy.
Thinking of this, Chen Qing said to Niu Gao: "I will give you another two thousand troops. Tomorrow you will lead 12,000 troops to Lanzhou and take over Lanzhou's defense. You can recruit another five thousand troops in Lanzhou to bring the defense strength to two With ten thousand people, we not only have to defend the Xixia Army from crossing the Yellow River southward, but also defend it from advancing along the Yellow River into the Hehuang Valley. Is General Niu willing to accept this heavy task?"
"What about Liu Zan, the envoy of Lanzhou?"
"I will transfer him to be the envoy of Tongzhou, responsible for guarding Pujin Pass and Tongguan. Lanzhou will be left to you."
Niu Gao quickly bowed and saluted, "I will never live up to the trust of the capital in my humble position!"