The fighting on the Han River continues day after day.
The soldiers of the Song Dynasty had already heard the rebels on the opposite side shouting "We have captured Ezhou", and many of them were very uneasy.
Fortunately, the general kept saying that Li Ni was at the end of his rope and that he only needed one or two more strong attacks to put down the rebellion and achieve great success.
Encouraged by the generous military rewards, the soldiers of the Song Dynasty finally broke out with the momentum of a last-ditch battle.
This is the closest they have come to victory. The rebels are indeed short of arrows and are gradually no longer able to stop their attacks as before...
"Kill Li Ni!"
Just as the soldiers stood up one by one on the swaying boat and stared at the flying rebel dragon flag, as if their achievements were right in front of them, a muffled sound suddenly came from the distance.
"boom!"
It was a sound coming from upstream, one after another.
More and more soldiers of the Song Dynasty heard this and looked back to the northwest. Gradually, they saw the broken wood drifting down.
Then there were corpses... corpses wearing Song Army uniforms.
"what happened?"
"Reinforcements? Reinforcements from the rebels are coming?"
Gradually, we can see the warships of the Song Army floating down rapidly from the upper reaches.
That was Lu Wende's troops deployed upstream, firstly to prevent Li Xia from escaping, and secondly to prevent the rebels from supporting him.
Although they had made such preparations, the mentality of the soldiers still changed greatly. After all, Ezhou behind them was lost. They wanted to annihilate Li Ni as soon as possible. The sooner the better, but now this expectation was shattered.
The morale of the Song army was so high just now, but now it was so disappointing.
"Still can't win."
"So tired..."
One soldier lost his temper and dropped the knife in his hand to the ground. He felt the pain of the wound, exhaustion of physical strength, fatigue and fear, and he began to hate this war.
This war was less than two months old, but it made him feel long and boring. Every day, he could hear the enemy soldiers on the opposite side singing loudly and asking, "Are you fighting to surrender to the Mongols?"
~~
More and more Song army ships retreated from the upper reaches.
Later, soldiers could be seen running on the shore, hurriedly, obviously being repelled by the rebel reinforcements.
On the battlefield, Lu Wende held up the lookout tube and finally saw a large flag with the word "Tang" written on it, followed by the general's flag.
"Liu Yuanli? This guy doesn't know how to fight in water. Damn it, I'll fight him!"
While directing his troops to meet the enemy, Lu Wende cursed loudly.
he is very angry.
It's not like he has never lost a battle before, but the sudden loss of a victory that was close at hand makes people particularly angry.
It was like a dog losing the meat in its mouth and barking.
"Young guard, don't be angry." Qiu Zhenheng hurriedly stepped forward to persuade him.
He was not surprised that the rebels had reinforcements, and added: "The Sixth General also said before that Li Ni occupies Hanzhong upstream and can send reinforcements down the river to support at any time."
"Lu Laoliu is right, isn't he?!" Lu Wende was furious and shouted: "Lu Laoliu is right, we are going to negotiate peace, are you all happy?! None of you are willing to put down the rebellion, right?!"
Qiu Zhenheng felt that Lu Wende was making trouble unreasonably. It was certain that Li Xia would have reinforcements, and anyone could guess it.
Otherwise, is Li Xia waiting for death by staying on the Han River instead of running?
"Shaobao has fought hundreds of battles all his life, how can he not understand that Li Ni still has a back-up plan? Shaobao really wants to annihilate Li Ni, but he still doesn't want to give up even now?!"
"..."
In the distance, although the reinforcements led by Liu Yuanli were approaching, they could not break through the Song army's defense line.
Li Xia hasn't broken out yet.
In terms of military strength, Lu Wende still has an advantage.
But Lu Wende seemed to have suddenly lost confidence.
He did not continue to curse.
After fighting for a lifetime, even Lu Wenhuan and Qiu Zhenheng could understand the situation. How could he not see it?
Li Xia dragged him here deliberately, as if he was luring a dog with a piece of meat, stealing the dog in the guarded yard, and then withdrew his hand and took the piece of meat back...
"I'm so angry!"
Lu Wende roared, turned around and walked towards the bottom of the fighting platform. Halfway through, he turned back and ordered, "Ming Jin!"
Soon, the sharp sound of gold ringing sounded, and the Song army generals organized their soldiers to shift from attack to defense.
At this time, Liu Yuanli had not yet been able to kill the Song army and join Li Xia, but when he saw the Song army's gold salute, Li Xia quickly ordered the gold salute as well.
It was not yet dusk, and the soldiers of both sides were finally able to end the war early on this day.
Many young people who might have died on the Han River breathed a sigh of relief...
Qiu Zhenheng looked at this scene and sighed. It was a pity that he failed to get rid of Li Ni this time and missed the opportunity.
But on the other hand, he was also a little relieved.
Qiu Zhenheng knew Lu Wende very well. Although Lu Wende's reaction was furious, he was still able to withdraw his troops in time when morale was low, which shows that he still maintained his rationality.
Then, Lu Wende would most likely listen to the advice and make a temporary truce to wait for the outcome of the peace negotiations between the court and Li Xia, so as not to be benefited by the Mongols.
~~
Returning to the main tent, Lu Wende immediately picked up a large jar of wine, opened the seal and poured it into his mouth.
"This... put it down quickly!"
Qiu Zhenheng was surprised when he followed him into the tent, and quickly stepped forward to snatch the wine jar from Lu Wende's hand.
But how could he, an old scholar, snatch something from the tall and powerful Lu Wende? He said anxiously: "There are many old wounds, and the body is already poisonous with dampness and heat. How can he be so angry and drink cold wine?"
!「
"I'm so annoyed! What's wrong with taking a sip?"
"It's okay to warm the wine before drinking..."
With great difficulty, Qiu Zhenheng managed to persuade Lu Wende, who looked like a big tree, to come down.
The wine was warmed and the meat was served. After Lu Wende had a big meal, his anger gradually disappeared.
"The dog hozen killed my son-in-law in front of the emperor."
Inexplicably, he mentioned the death of Fan Wenhu.
Qiu Zhenheng then advised, "I have been loyal to the Song Dynasty. At this time, how can I put my personal grudges above the interests of my family and country?"
In a word, put the steps at Lu Wende's feet.
This staircase is still grand and grand, making it very honorable to climb down.
But Lu Wende was still hesitant and asked, "Why hasn't Lao Liu come yet?"
"Now that the rebels have reinforcements, the Sixth General will send someone to deliver a message even if he doesn't come to Longzhong Camp in person."
"Go to Xiangyang and ask Lao Liu what he thinks. Wouldn't it be a big loss to have a truce with Li Ni at this time?"
"yes……"
~~
Qiu Zhenheng left the tent, and soon someone rushed to his side and whispered a few words.
"Where is Chen Yuanbin?"
"In the past two days, he has often been at the stable to count the supplies sent from the Xiangyang Forgery Market."
Qiu Zhenheng said, "I think he doesn't really want Shaobao to have a truce with Li Ni. He should keep an eye on him and not let him talk in front of Shaobao while I'm not around."
"Yes, we have been sending people to keep an eye on him."
Qiu Zhenheng gave some more advice, led a few guards, and rushed to Xiangyang.
Longzhong Camp and Xiangyang City are said to be close or far apart, more than twenty miles apart.
After driving for several miles, we arrived at a place called Yangshi Temple. The sky had completely darkened, but we saw bright lights from the fire ahead.
Qiu Zhenheng asked people to go to the temple to see it, and reported that it was Lu Wenhuan who was in the temple.
He quickly went over in person and saw a few soldiers of the Song Dynasty standing outside the temple. But inside the temple was dimly lit, and he could vaguely see a person sitting there.
"Six Generals are going to see Shaobao?"
Qiu Zhenheng asked, stroking his beard and stepping in.
"puff."
A single knife stabbed through his chest.
"Do it! Kill them all!"
"kill……"
~~
That night, Lu Wende knew that Li Xia would not break out of the siege or attack the camp, so he drank too much and slept soundly.
Drowsily, he felt a severe headache, so he opened his eyes and woke up.
When there was movement, a soldier outside the tent immediately reported, "Shaobao, the news from Ezhou has arrived, and the Sixth General also sent a letter."
Several letters and newspapers were quickly delivered to the desk of the big account.
Lu Wende rubbed his head without removing it and ordered, "Please come over, Mr. Chen."
Although he has many aides, the ones he values the most are Chen Yuanbin and Qiu Zhenheng.
Because he was illiterate, these two staff members basically read all the paperwork to him.
After a while, Chen Yuanbin came over, disheveled, as if he had been woken up.
Lu Wende didn't have any polite words, he pointed to the letter on the case and said, "Look what was said...
"yes."
Chen Yuanbin stepped forward and carefully took apart the paint. After seeing it, he was overjoyed and said, "Zhang Yanran's reinforcements chased Shi Jun and rushed to Ezhou. Together with the Major General, they severely defeated the rebels. The Major General said in the letter that Shi Jun suffered heavy casualties.
He can take back Ezhou immediately, so please don’t worry, Shaobao."
Lu Wende breathed a sigh of relief, and in his heart he was inclined to annihilate Li Xia.
"What did the sixth man say again."
Chen Yuanbin then opened Lu Wenhuan's letter and said, "The Sixth General said that the Yuan army Dong Wenbing attacked Tongguan and was defeated. The Yuan army near Lumen Mountain has retreated."
Lu Wende was not surprised and said, "The Mongols are really useless. They can't even contain Li Ni."
According to his past experience in fighting, he could often defeat the Mongols, but he never did well against Li Xia. The news in front of him did not surprise him.
"I told Lu Laoliu a long time ago that the Hu people are not good at water fighting and cannot go south, so he doesn't need to worry."
"Yes, the students also believe that now is the best time to annihilate the traitors. Once you miss it, you will never have it again."
Just as he said this, the announcement sounded again outside the tent.
"Report, Shaobao, Mr. Qiu was attacked. He encountered rebels at Yangshi Temple and was killed by the rebels..."
"What?!" Lu Wende was furious.
Chen Yuanbin quickly arrived in front of the map and muttered: "Yangshi Temple, Li Ni is trying to cut off our connection with Xiangyang City."
"A dog that has been driven to death still dares to bite people, so beat it to death..."
~~
Chen Yuanbin picked up the two letters and wanted to keep them for Lu Wende.
He walked to the place where the documents were placed, with his back to Lu Wende, but he put them all into his sleeves.
After leaving the tent, he looked up at the starry sky and thought about the fate of these densely packed 100,000 Song troops. The power of the Song Dynasty was actually decided in a single thought by an increasingly irritable and stubborn old man.
If you tell it, who can believe it?
"It's ridiculous, it's a pity, it's also terrible..."