"Now that our Ganzhou Army has lost half of its cavalry, the Zhou Army will no longer have any worries about attacking Jiayuguan!" Zhang Zhiren said sadly: "The latest news is that because Baicheng is extremely cold this year, all the cavalry that were originally prepared to besiege Eastern Zhou Dynasty have been withdrawn, including
There is a tornado that surrounds and annihilates Ganxing. This time Suzhou has to face the main force second only to the Yulin Guards of the Zhou Dynasty!
Our horses and soldiers are not cold-resistant, so we will not attack from the middle and east roads now. The Zhou Dynasty can boldly mobilize troops to attack before March next year, and our several military towns will also use the offensive in the next spring.
They will not give us any support as an excuse. It is difficult to defend Ganzhou with these soldiers alone!
There is also bad news. A month ago, Helian Qingfeng raided the entire house of the Duke of Han. The spies came to report, and a total of more than six million taels of silver were raised, which was enough to support him for a year. The good news is that the court has asked Tu Yuhun
Borrowing troops, their 30,000 border troops will arrive here in half a month, and what we have to do is to support them for another half month!"
"Pei Xianyong, the Duke of Han in the Northern Zhou Dynasty? Isn't his family a big tree with deep roots? Didn't his family survive Helian Qingfeng when the Helian brothers fought? How can it be possible that it will fall?" Zhang Cheng exclaimed.
Zhang Zhiren said: "That's what Helian and his daughter are capable of. I guess Helian Qingfeng had already planned this day and asked the second princess to marry her. That girl is not easy. She can take down Pei so cleanly."
The home is probably the result of the Second Princess. In short, Helian's ambitions are definitely not limited to the Eastern Zhou Dynasty. If we can't hold it, let's not talk about attacking next spring."
"Don't worry, let alone half a month, even if it takes a month or a year, we will stop them. We just need to replenish soldiers, food and arrows as soon as possible!" Zhang Cheng said.
"Tell me about the current situation in Jiayuguan." Zhang Zhiyuan said.
"The Zhou army pushed all the heavy siege vehicles. Because there were cavalry guarding them on the way, our people couldn't get through at all, and their food roads were also unimpeded. Therefore, the attack was the most ferocious in these three days.
Our casualties suddenly increased, almost one against one. It can be seen that those who are attacking now are all the elites in Tongwan City. I heard from the spies that they will hold some kind of prisoner sacrifice meeting today, and then there will be more troops.
They will be here! Also, many small groups of cavalry are coming over the mountains, already posing a threat to the grain road,"
"How is Han Cong now?" Zhang Zhiren asked.
Zhang Cheng replied: "The injury that was half healed is now worse. He has now set up tents on the top of the city."
"They must not be allowed to break the city defense. If they let a large group of cavalry rush in, the whole of Gansu will not be able to defend it. I will send the strongest troops one after another. You go back overnight and protect Han Chong more!"
"good!"
"Be careful yourself." Zhang Zhiren whispered.
"Okay, take care of yourself, father!" Zhang Cheng said.
"Commander Xi, I will allocate you 10,000 light cavalry. Your task is to protect the 800-mile grain road from Ganzhou to Suzhou and from Suzhou to Jiayuguan. The number of Zhou people coming over from Beishan will not be many, but it will definitely be
Masters, don't think about eating each other in one go. As long as you repel Wu Shi and Li Yuan, when the snow melts, those people will become the turtles in the jar!" Zhang Zhiren arranged.
"The last general takes orders!" said Xi Junhu, another deputy commander-in-chief of Ganzhou.
In the middle of the night, Zhang Zhiren stood by the window with his hands behind his hands. The full moon was like an ice plate. What he was thinking about was the words of his old father when he passed by Ganzhou: "Don't worry about the faction fighting, and don't expect to get help from the court and other families. This time
Even if your home is penetrated, you must protect it!"
On the Beiguan City of Jiayuguan Pass, Han Chong looked at the flames of the Zhou army's camps in more than ten valleys to the north of the city. He couldn't help but feel heroic and murmured: "Come all, this is your burial place!"
On the roof of the Chengnan Inn in Tongwan City, He Qizhou looked up at the bright moon alone. What he was thinking about was that he could not clear out Yu Nei and save the people by himself, but should he be like his adoptive father who knew that it was a dangerous path and that he would be killed?
Why should the officials lead the army to defend the country despite their jealousy?
…
In the inn in the south of the city in the early morning, the Deshan family and He Qizhou were preparing to set off at the same time, one to the west and the other to the east. He Qizhou lied to Deshan and said that since the Salt Gang no longer needed to escort them out of the country, the Salt Gang returned the ox cart, and the five stones of flour were regarded as
Salt resources.
Deshan wasn't stupid either. The Salt Gang had exploited them in the past, so how could he be so kind? But he really didn't have any silver around him, and he couldn't sell flour to Qi Zhou now, so he could only hide his thoughts deep in his heart.
.
Before leaving, He Qizhou called Tuoba Ling'er aside again and said, "Xiaoxue and I were lucky to have met Uncle Deshan, otherwise we would have probably starved to death on the grassland. There was a small bag of silver between the two bags of flour at the bottom of the oxcart.
, please tell Uncle Tokuyama after you leave the city, don't worry, this is the money I won from boxing, there will be no trouble, I will give it to him directly, he will definitely not accept it, their family is in such decline now, it is time to use money
, please don’t be polite, and thank you for taking care of me and Xiaoxue along the way. We are destined to meet again."
Ling'er suddenly stepped forward, hugged He Qizhou with all his strength, and choked out: "You, will you come back? I, the men in our clan can marry multiple wives."
"I will come back to see you when I have the opportunity." He Qizhou gently pushed Ling'er away and said, "But I will only marry one person, and you know who it is. I hope that in the future you can also marry someone who is only willing to marry you.
Goodbye man!"
After saying that, He Qizhou led the snow dragon horse towards the east gate. Xiaoxue, who was wrapped up tightly, sat on the horse and kept waving goodbye to the De family.
Outside the west gate of Tongwan City, Deshan opened the "small" bag of silver. It weighed sixty or seventy kilograms, almost a thousand taels. On the top of the silver, a gold bracelet shone brightly, with Pan Gu on it.
The unique pattern of this place. Tokuyama stopped his steps and looked back to the east. Is the wind at the east gate also so biting?
…
Outside the east gate, the queue ready to go is more than a mile long. The reason why the queue is so long is because of the strong wind. The team must first march northeast along the mountain. Forming a line can protect the team behind from the cold wind.
.
Today is December 16th. The winter market in Tongwan City ended yesterday. Most of the remaining business travelers from various places will choose to set off today, and this is the earliest group to travel. The nominal destination is Zhongjing Qingqing
city.
Walking in the front was the Yan Gang, with a total of twenty camel carts, ten carriages and ten cavalry guards. The second brother led the team, and the fourth brother was also in the team. After Zhai Biao saw Qi Zhou, he came over on flying horse.
After saying hello to him, he hurried back, saying that he would talk to him again when the road was clear, and now he was afraid of being scolded by his fourth brother;
The team in the middle is the Lotus Gang, with ten camels and six horse-drawn carriages. The cargo is one thousand cowhide, twenty thousand sheepskin, plus two thousand kilograms of wool. The escort team is twelve riders, and the gang leader personally escorts it. It is as complete as an iron tower.
Yan Gang also came.
He Qizhou said he would follow the last carriage. The carriage was only half-loaded with hay. Xu Muxue was sitting on the haystack in the carriage, with her head just a few inches away from the hood. There were more than a dozen pictures borrowed by He Qizhou piled around the carriage.
Sheepskin, but even so, Xu Muxue still didn't feel any warmth.
This is not because the toxicity in the body is getting worse, but because the weather is too cold! It can be said to be extremely cold! Even He Qizhou put on the leather hat of the De family! Fortunately, Xu Muxue can already use Qigong, and he can barely lift a little bit of Qi.
Withstand the pervasive cold air.
At the end of the team were two camel carts and three horse-drawn carriages, two of which were covered with thick felt. The drivers were complaining to each other about the damn weather. As they spoke, the breath in their mouths instantly turned to white frost.
, followed by six riders behind the carriage, the six people on the horses had serious expressions, and they all seemed to have good skills.
He Qizhou didn't know who was in the carriage, but he always felt that the other person was quite imposing. What he envied most was the carriage that could take away the cold. If Xiaoxue sat in it, it would be much warmer.
He didn't know where Guo Wen got the news. Knowing that He Qizhou had excellent riding and shooting skills, he actually found a hard bow and a saber for He Qizhou, saying that these were military items because the armor was too conspicuous.
It was inconvenient for the merchants to protect their positions, so I was not prepared. However, there were six shields hidden in one of the carriages, which were enough to protect against the flying arrows of ordinary horse bandits.
The caravan moved very slowly, and it took an hour to cover more than ten miles. The fiery red sun rose into the sky and shone on the vast grassland that was half covered with snow and half with withered grass, making it difficult for people to open their eyes.
The Helian Snow Mountain in the west is getting smaller and smaller, while the mountains in the south are becoming more and more majestic. Zhai Biao, who couldn't bear the loneliness, rode his horse to He Qizhou. Looking at He Qizhou's mount, he laughed dumbly and said: "Can your horse be good?
Ah? Why are you wrapped up so tightly like a human being?" The horses on the business trip only had a blanket on their backs, while He Qizhou's snow dragon horse was covered in patchwork animal skin armor, which looked a bit weird.
"The horse is still young, so it's always safe." He Qizhou answered vaguely.
"The second brother said that he has never shipped goods in the middle of winter before, and it has not yet reached the coldest period. This journey will take about more than a month, and we expect to arrive in Xuancheng in half a month. The first ten days should be fine.
It’s dangerous, so don’t be too nervous and have a good rest. When you get near Xuancheng, you may not be able to sleep all night.”
"Thank you!" He Qizhou didn't expect that the other party was really nice to him. He had seen the soldiers who escorted the fake Han Chong mother and daughter, who looked tired because they were always on guard.
"How can your wife withstand the cold? Why don't you also get into the carriage and accompany him?" Zhai Biao advised.
"How can this work? If you are receiving someone's money and helping others to eliminate disasters, the guards should still look like guards. By the way, do you know who is in the convoy at the end of the team?" He Qizhou was still thinking about the felt carriage.
"I heard that they were from a wealthy family in Qingcheng who were engaged in jewelry trading. They were very well-informed. They knew that our two families were setting off this morning, so they spent some money to follow us. Maybe they knew the gang leader." Zhai Biao said.