Finally, when it was time to break out, Helan Jinming put on his majestic armor and looked at the elegant and handsome image in the mirror for a long time.
"Brother, there is no need to be nervous." Helan Zhijia said: "If he is really captured by Shi Siming, at worst, he will be surrendered, and he will not lose his life."
"Shut up. Our ancestors have been loyal ministers of the Tang Dynasty for generations. How can we forget the danger of our country and seek a career?!"
Helan Jin scolded his brother with clear and righteous words, and strode out with the clanging sound of armor. Helan Zhijia then thought to himself, no matter what his brother's intentions are, if he is really in danger, he will definitely be blamed even if he tries hard.
To save my brother's life.
As for betraying the country, he was scolded by Qing Shi, and he will bear the blame.
The two brothers rushed to the school field in the city with their own thoughts. More than 3,000 Beihai County soldiers under their command were already lined up and ready to go.
The leading general is named Ma Xiangru, who is from Qingzhou. His name is only missing the word "Si" from Sima Xiangru, but his image is completely different. He is a tall and thick man.
"Old Ma." Helan Jinming waved to Ma Xiangru and said, "According to what was said the day before yesterday, Li Zejiao will lead the Pingyuan County soldiers to go with us."
"Here."
Ma Xiangru was quite upright, so Helan Jinming did not say too many personal things to him, and whispered: "Xue Bai, if Yan Gaoqing wants to lead his troops to cut off the rear, you don't have to pay attention to them."
"Here."
"Let's go."
"Brothers!" Ma Xiangru said in a long voice, and raised his hand heavily with the enthusiasm of a big man from Shandong, "Kill the thief and make meritorious service to win over your mother-in-law! Can you win?!"
"Meet! Hit! Hit!"
Ma Xiangru believed Xue Bai's words very much. The whole of Hebei and even Fan Yang had done something righteous. This was something he had seen with his own eyes, and there was no way it was false. The suppression of the rebellion was obviously just around the corner, and now was not a good opportunity to make meritorious deeds.
If you follow what he said, there is no need to break out of the encirclement, just chase Shi Siming and kill him to be called a hero.
"Boom!"
The war drums sounded and the west city gate of Pingyuan County opened wide.
The first one to kill was still Wang Rao. The ability of a famous general was not only reflected in his strong force, but also reflected in many aspects. For example, when he was in any army, the soldiers were convinced by him and could make him use his fingers like an arm.
Yunzhong City is located in a border town and is a powerful force in the east of the river. It is far from being comparable to the soldiers and horses of the three counties of Changshan, Pingyuan, and Beihai. Only Wang Jin can suppress it. After suppressing it, this army and horses can lead it very well.
colleagues.
Just like a gun, Yun Zhongjun is the tip of the gun, which is hard and sharp enough.
Wang Rao stabbed out the gun in his hand fiercely, and the horse's hoof stepped on the rebel's shield, moving forward and crushing the sternum of a rebel soldier. The rebels were digging in the ground as usual, and were beaten by this sudden attack.
Caught off guard.
"kill!"
Yun Zhongjun's shouts of killing spread to the city, and the morale of all Tang troops was boosted.
Ma Xiangru was also eager to try after hearing this. He used to roam Qingzhou and always felt that he was so arrogant that no one took him seriously. But this time he was really frightened by some generals in Shi Siming's army.
Wang Nan is a person who can scare the rebel generals, so he can't help but be unconvinced.
However, just when he wanted to ask for orders to kill him, Helan Jinming ordered him to wait. So, in just a moment, Xue Bai led the soldiers of Changshan County to kill him.
After all, it is a three-county alliance. There is no unified command and dispatch. Several troops are arrayed in the school field inside the city gate and do their own thing. If there is more selfishness and care, it is really possible that no one will support Yun Zhongjun.
Ma Xiangru originally thought that he would be the next soldier to leave the city and perform meritorious service, but then he heard Helan Jinming say: "Follow me to the city tower."
"Here."
Climbing the rickety wooden ladder to the highest point of the city tower, you can see the boundary between heaven and earth, and you can also see the movement of rebels in four directions outside the city from a distance.
As a result, Shi Siming's main force had withdrawn, and the remaining troops had a difficult time coping with the Tang army's breakout. Visible to the naked eye, as the flags waved, most of the rebels were encircling them to the west.
Helan Jinming watched for a long time, and when Yan Gaoqing led Diao Wansui, the deputy general of the Pingyuan County Army, out of the city, he said: "Let's go from the north."
Ma Xiangru was still thinking about meritorious service and was stunned for a moment when he heard this. However, in line with his obedience to the prefect, he still responded. After observing the enemy's situation, he went down to the tower to convey orders to the various commanders.
As soon as Yan Gaoqing left the city, Li Zejiao, who stayed in the city, did not continue to defend the city according to Yan Gaoqing's instructions. Instead, he suddenly mobilized a group of his trusted soldiers. The number was not large, only more than two hundred.
people, but they are all elite cavalry.
These soldiers and horses were well prepared and immediately rushed to Beicheng.
"Open the city gate!"
"Go down with the order and follow General Lee's flag!"
Everything was going according to Helan Jinming's plan, so he kept urging the Beihai County soldiers to immediately take away all the horses in the city and hand over the city with Li Ze.
The city cave is three feet and five feet long, dark and narrow. When you drive your horse through the city cave and step over the moat suspension bridge, the wind blowing in your face carries the smell of earth and the heat of summer.
This was Helan Jinming's first time out of the city since he was besieged. He took a long, deep breath and felt extremely free.
Exactly, after being in a cage for a long time, you can return to nature. The sea is wide enough for fish to leap, and the sky is high enough for birds to fly.
"Go to Changshan County!"
At the front, Li Zejiao led all elites, and they quickly penetrated the already sparse formation of the rebels and quickly marched to the north.
The soldiers from Pingyuan County were obviously more familiar with the terrain, so Helan Jinming once again ordered the soldiers from Beihai County to follow Li Zejiao's flag.
Gradually, the sun moves westward.
"The breakout was successful."
He Lan Jinming took a long breath and looked back. Pingyuan County had become a hand-sized outline on the horizon, but the dust and smoke in the west were still flying high, which showed the intensity of the war.
It is very likely that Xue Bai, Yan Gaoqing and others cannot be separated from each other, but the only blame is that they are too famous and insist on calling on the counties in Hebei to covet the prestige of the alliance leader.
suddenly.
"Report!"
The detective horses sent by Li Zejiao were running back quickly, and the team stopped.
Helan Jinming couldn't see what happened, so the two brothers drove their horses forward and rushed towards Li Zejiao, asking loudly: "What happened?!"
Before they could answer, they saw a commotion coming from the woods in front of them, and smoke rising from the sky above the woods.
"ambush?!"
Soon, a large flag with the word "History" appeared in the field of vision. There was a roar and the rebels rushed out of the woods and swarmed this way.
"Shi Siming?!" He Lan Jinming couldn't believe it and said in surprise: "Why hasn't he gone to Fan Yang?!"
Helan Zhijia frowned and said: "Xue Bai fell into the trap. Fan Yang stayed behind and Jia Xun's rebellion was probably fake. It was Shi Siming's plan to lure us out of the city."
"Quickly retreat."
The next moment, more than twenty cavalrymen came over and surrounded them.
Helan Jinming was greatly shocked. He looked at Li Zejiao and asked, "What are you doing?"
"Please give an order from the prefect. All Beihai County soldiers should obey my command."
"What?! You..."
"Woo——"
As the horn sound got closer, Li Zejiao didn't bother to say anything more and immediately blew the whistle for retreat.
The more than two hundred cavalry were extremely flexible. They made a circle to adjust their direction, bypassed the formation of Beihai County soldiers, and fled south. At this time, three thousand Beihai County soldiers were still bloated.
"Follow up! Keep up!"
Li Zejiao passed by Beihai County soldiers one after another and kept shouting.
"Quick, quick, quick!"
The situation was critical, and the constant urging forced the Beihai County soldiers to have no time to think too much. Instead, they kept chasing Li Zejiao's flag.
~~
Under the banner with the word "History", Shi Siming sat astride his horse with a stern expression, staring at the flag in the distance, slightly surprised.
He also received news from Fan Yang, knowing that Jia Xun, Liu Kenu, Wang Xuanzhi and others had betrayed him. Now that An Lushan had appointed him to stay in Fan Yang, he must return to Fan Yang to deal with it. Fortunately, Xiang
Runke had killed Jia Xun, leaving him with time to defeat the main force of the Tang army still active in Hebei, as well as An Lushan's biggest enemy, Xue Bai.
A few nights ago, a messenger from Changshan ran to Pingyuan City under the cover of darkness and was escorted into the city by the defenders. He expected that as long as he pretended to withdraw most of his troops, the defenders would think that he had retreated.
He was bound to break through, so he hid his troops in the woods outside the city and sent out a large number of scouting horses, waiting for the defenders to take the bait.
All the movements of the defenders today were actually under Shi Siming's control. He confirmed that the defenders were pretending to attack the west, but were actually breaking out to the north, and then tightened the encirclement.
But when the soldiers finally met, Shi Siming realized something was wrong. The Tang army heading north was not carrying a banner with the word "Xue", but the word "Helan".
Therefore, he did not want to gather troops to encircle and suppress this army to prevent Xue Bai from escaping from other directions. After all, Xue Bai was far more worthy of attention than Helan Jinming.
"General!"
Suddenly, Hou Qi under Shi Siming's command rushed over and reported: "We captured a group of Tang Army's trust horses and intercepted important information!"
"Give me!"
Although Shi Siming was a Turk, he was very studious and could not only read but also write poetry. He took the information with his big hand, opened it and found that it was an edict from Chang'an.
"Let Helan enter the Ming Dynasty to recruit envoys to Hebei?"
Shi Siming murmured to himself, his eyes showing contemplation, but he couldn't figure it out, so he had to order: "Bring the messenger, I want to question him personally."
Six messengers were brought to him, and based on their accents, the wear and tear of their boots and other details, he quickly determined that two of them were from Guanzhong.
"Why appoint Helan Jinming as the envoy?"
"This... he is highly virtuous and highly respected. He is a royal in-law and loyal to the saint."
"Let you tell the truth!"
"Yes, yes, the saint handed over a secret decree to Helan Jinming, asking him to capture Xue Bai and go to the capital. After a few days, Helan Jinming could not convince the crowd at that time, so he sent us to come and read out the appointment in public and give him the instructions face to face. We also arrived at Changshan County
, then I learned that Helan Jinming and Xue Bai had gone to the plain together, and they quickly chased after them. Unexpectedly... they were lucky enough to meet the general."
“What is the appropriate opportunity for face-to-face teaching?”
"Xue Bai seems to be suspected of deliberately conniving with the rebels in the East Palace, no, conniving with the noble army to invade Hebei and invade Luoyang..."
"fart!"
The rebel generals cursed one after another.
"How can we, who conquered Luoyang with our own skills, be condoned by Xue Bai?!"
"The Dog Emperor is so stupid that he should step down from the throne..."
Shi Siming looked at the messenger carefully to make sure that what they said was true, and then moved his eyes back to the big flag with the word "Helan" in it.
At this time, Helan Jinming's weight in his eyes was completely different. He was the real envoy of Hebei.
"Send an order to encircle! Helan Jinming must be intercepted and killed!"
"Surround Pingyuan City and never let them return to the city!"
Troops and horses were mobilized, and the rebel cavalry attacked Helan Jinming's banner from all directions.
The weather in the afternoon became more and more muggy, and the dark clouds in the sky gradually gathered and became low.
Suddenly, thunder sounded.
Some soldiers in the rebel army were startled, thinking that the Tang army had explosives. When they looked up, they realized that there was really going to be thunder.
"Report!"
"General, the Tang army has broken through from the south!"
"Keep exploring!"
Shi Siming did not respond immediately because the Tang army should not go south. This was probably a deception to rescue Helan Jinming.
But after a long time, he received unexpected news.
"Report! General, the Tang army has robbed our pontoon bridge on the Tuhai River..."
"Chase!"
~~
Accompanied by thunder, heavy rain fell.
Sixty miles south of Pingyuan County, there is a large river with rough waves.
Just hearing the name of the river "Tuhai", you know that the river is difficult to tame, and it is one of the nine rivers dredged by Dayu.
In the evening, a body was thrown into the river and was quickly swept away without a trace.
"The Tang army is coming to kill!"
"Plop."
With the rebels defeated, the Tang army quickly occupied the floating bridge on the river.
"Quick! Cross the river!"
Diao Wansui, the general of Pingyuan, arrived as the vanguard. After dismounting, he rubbed his muddy face vigorously and shouted: "Let Prefect Yan cross the river first!"
"The soldiers will go through first."
Yan Gaoqing looked back anxiously, waiting for the follow-up troops to arrive one after another, until he saw Xue Bai's flag, and immediately greeted him.
"Is everything going well? How many casualties were there? Did you bring the remaining food and grass?"
"It went better than expected." Xue Bai looked back into the rain and said, "Shi Siming sent more troops to the north, but Li Zejiao hasn't come back yet."
"Why?"
"Maybe we are not as important as we thought." Xue Bai said: "Maybe the imperial court has announced the appointment of the Hebei recruiter."
Yan Gaoqing was worried and quickly called Diao Wansui and said: "Quickly lead the troops to rescue Li Zejiao and bring back as many soldiers as possible from Beihai County."
According to their plan, Helan Jinming wanted to abandon them and flee, so he could leave them behind, but the Beihai County soldiers wanted Li Zejiao to bring them back.
"It's too late for General Diao to go again." Xue Bai said: "I have ordered Jiang Hai to die and rescue Li Zejiao as much as possible."
"Can they still break through?"
"I will do my best to protect myself." Xue Bai said: "It is too inconvenient that the troops and horses of the three counties are not under each other's control. How about reorganizing after breaking through?"
"It's up to you."
~~
At this time, the fleeing Beihai County soldiers were in a bad situation. They were unable to enter the city due to the siege and blockade by the rebels. Li Zejiao took advantage of Wang rare opportunity to defeat the rebels to the west and led them around from the west.
City, escape to the south.
But because they were too far away from the main force, they were still surrounded in the evening after running for more than thirty miles.
"Prefect?!"
In the heavy rain, Ma Xiangru wiped his face hard, widened his eyes, and tried hard to find Brother Helan Jinming.
"Have you seen the prefect?!"
Ahead, Li Zejiao turned around and came back. He squeezed through the crowd and grabbed his reins, shouting: "What are you still doing? Why don't you order the soldiers to break out with me?!"
"My governor..."
"Prefect Helan asked you to follow me! Which is more important, the official position or the victory or defeat? Take your brother with you and follow me!"
Ma Xiangru was stunned and looked back again. Helan Jinming could not be found in the rain curtain.
"Let me go!" Li Zejiao shouted again. This was his last test. If Ma Xiangru still didn't make up his mind, he would kill Ma Xiangru and seize power.
"middle!"
Ma Xiangru quickly had an idea.
"Brothers, don't be confused and listen carefully. Prefect Xue has broken through and captured the pontoon bridge in front. Let's go and join him!"
"Shout! Follow my butt hammer!"
"Follow the general and kill!"
He had not received Helan Jinming's order before, and had been in a state of confusion. Only then did he finally cheer up, wave the flag, beat the war drum, and let the soldiers shout for kill, so that he could confirm his position in the heavy rain. After that, he
Get up from Changsha and kill forward.
"Kill!"
In this way, the soldiers of Beihai County knew the location of their general, and followed his direction to kill him.
In this kind of weather, the visibility was too low, and encirclement and suppression required more troops and more command, which was very disadvantageous. Soon, the rebels' encirclement was loosened.
At this time, shouts of killing also rang out from the south.
"Master Wang is here! Go this way to Paoze of Beihai County!"
Ma Xiangru stared and saw Jiang Hai's banner in the rain, and couldn't help but be very excited.
"General Jiang is very energetic!"
He temporarily forgot about Helan Jinming, kicked the horse in the belly, and ran towards Jiang Hai.
As for the few rebels blocking them, they were quickly knocked away by his weapons and armor.
"Breakout! Breakout!"
In the chaotic situation, Helan Jinming had been held hostage, but they had only made a small opening in the encirclement, and rebels soon appeared in front.
"Whoosh."
Because Helan Jinming's golden armor attracted the attention of the rebels, a sharp arrow suddenly hit his horse. With the horse's neighing sound, he fell to the ground and was immediately injured.
"Brother!"
Helan Zhijia quickly reined in the reins, dismounted and rushed towards Helan Jinming.
This move angered the cavalry holding him hostage, and he stabbed him in the crook of the leg with a spear.
"How dare you run away?!"
Helan Zhijia ignored him, rolled over, crawled under the horse's belly toward Helan Jinming, and shouted: "Brother, they want to harm you, surrender!"
Therefore, he received another blow.
"Prefect!"
"Protect the governor!"
Finally, the generals of the Northern Navy noticed him and rushed to rescue him. They crowded forward and reined in the horses to prevent them from trampling the brothers.
In this way, Pingyuan County's elite soldiers had no chance to hold them hostage again and simply fled on horseback.
The situation was very chaotic. This movement attracted more loyal Beihai County soldiers and rebels. Both sides came one after another and engaged in close combat. In the heavy rain, others did not know what was happening, so they rushed out of the encirclement and fled south.
"Jiro!"
Helan Jinming climbed up from the mud full of blood, picked up Helan Zhijia, and said, "Let's go."
"Brother, you can't die, surrender."
"No, we have been loyal ministers for generations and will never surrender to thieves... Our family property is in Jingzhao Mansion."
"Brother's life...is more important than anything else."
Helan Zhijia was already furious, but thinking of being framed by Li Zejiao today, he vomited blood and cursed: "The insidious villain... really deserves to be killed."
"Erlang, I'll take you away." Helan Jinming couldn't drag Helan Zhijia's body, so he had to keep patting his face in order to wake him up, "Let's go."
Helan Zhijia closed her eyes and muttered something with her last strength.
He Lan went to the Ming Dynasty to listen and heard a few poems written by him.
"If you don't see the rock, the well will be less than a hundred feet away from the spring. If you don't see the wormwood on the mountain, there will be only a few inches of smoke in the clouds."
Helan Zhijia's voice became lower, but there was a slight smile on the corner of his mouth.
In this elegant and prosperous era of the Tang Dynasty, his brother was one of the most elegant people and should not have gone to the battlefield.
"The same is true for life and fate. Why bother to worry about yourself? I hope my relatives and friends will always smile..."
~~
"Chase!"
The rebels pursued the Tang army through the night until dawn the next day, when they finally heard the sound of water flowing louder and louder in front of them.
"They're on the pontoon!"
"Follow me!"
At this time, Ma Xiangru's tribe had just landed on the other side, while Jiang Hai was still crossing the river on the pontoon bridge.
The rebels immediately dismounted and rushed forward. They also rushed onto the pontoon bridge, raised their bows and nocked arrows, and fired arrows at the Tang soldiers.
"Swish swish swish."
In the rain of arrows, Jiang Hai held a shield in one hand, strode across the rickety pontoon, and fell into Ma Xiangru's arms.
He looked back, grinned, and shouted: "Behead!"
"Tiger--"
The soldiers holding swords at the pontoon bridge slashed at the same time, cutting off the pontoon bridge in unison.
"Bang!"
The river quickly swallowed up the pontoon bridge and the rebels on it.
After a day and night of fighting, the Tang troops stopped to look at the surging river, turned back, and headed south.
~~
A thunderstorm comes and goes quickly.
The next day, the sun shone in the courtyard of Yuchengyi.
Xue Bai spread out the map and looked around at the generals. He did not do much mobilization and only gave them confidence with his firm eyes.
"To tell you some bad news, Luoyang has been lost. This is why Shi Siming left and came back."
With one sentence, Ma Xiangru was immediately stunned and shouted: "But Luoyang seems to be the capital of the East..."
"Don't you have confidence in the imperial court to put down the rebellion?" Xue Bai asked: "If the Tang Dynasty can't put down the rebellion of a miscellaneous barbarian, is it possible?"
"Of course not!" Ma Xiangru said without hesitation.
"Yes, so the seventeen counties of Hebei, including Fanyang, Yuyang, and Andong, are all in Yiyi. Do you think the rebels have any long-term territory to operate? No! They only have a route, a route to quickly attack Chang'an."
Xue Bai picked up the charcoal and drew a line on the map.
"From Fan Yang to Wei County, to Kaifeng, to Luoyang, to Tongguan. Now most of the rebel forces and supplies are on this line, as busy as ants before the rain. Why? They are anxious, they can't stand it
They only wanted to quickly conquer Chang'an. The Tang Dynasty's national power was too strong, and they only had a short time to take advantage of the emptiness in Guanzhong to attack the emperor."
Ma Xiangru scratched his head.
Diao Wansui took him in his arms and said, "Don't you understand? It seems critical right now. It's a good time to get an official position."
"I understand, I just don't know how to do it."
"The reason why Prefect Yan and I took you south is to achieve meritorious service."
Xue Bai drew a picture of the situation and continued: "Right now, soldiers and horses from Huainan, Shannan, Guanzhong, Hedong, and Longyou are besieging the rebels. Where to attack? Luoyang, Anlu Mountain is now in Luoyang. Therefore, we
Going to Huainan Road, where there is plenty of food and supplies, and we can accomplish the great feat of jointly slaying the bandits, wouldn't it be better than holding on in the plains?"
"Ah!" Ma Xiangru said: "So that's it!"
"Shi Siming was originally going to return to Fanyang, but he was worried that we were going south to attack Anlu Mountain and try to stop us."
Xue Bai didn't exaggerate too much, he sneered slightly, and his eyes revealed the ambition and longing to become a prince through meritorious service, making all the generals feel that he went south to gain credit.
As a result, in the midst of difficulties, everyone cheered up even more.
"Tell me the specific route."
"good!"
Heads wearing helmets crowded onto the top of the map.
"I just said that the rebel forces are concentrated on this route. Therefore, they have no time to pay attention to the southeast direction of Pingyuan County. We spread the message to Hebei, and many counties responded and can provide us with food and grass in the near future. We
You can rest along the way.”
Having said this, all the generals were happy and thought that they could go to Jinan.
Xue Bai changed the subject and said: "But Shi Siming must also know this. He will probably catch up before we cross the Yellow River. If we go from the southeast, there is no guarantee that we will not be pursued by him."
"That?"
"Here." Xue Bai pointed at a point on the map and said: "Instead of defending, attack Wei Jun, the important transit town of the rebels in Hebei. Give them their food and grass and create a greater momentum. Once Wei Jun is captured, we will move westward."
We can cross the Taihang Mountains and cross the Yellow River to the south, so that the rebels cannot guess our thoughts."