Chapter 513 A Thousand Miles Journey (7)

On the north bank of the Hutuo River, the army still doesn't know that the Hejian Army, which has been independent and rampant in Hebei for five years, has been its own opponent for three years, and even theoretically helped its main opponent, has collapsed on its own, and it is the kind of collapse that marks the end of history.

But knowing it means knowing it.

They are very tired now. Most of the troops have been fighting all night, but they were forced to rest a little yesterday evening or this morning. At the same time, the Youzhou Army's rout is right in front of them. The rout does not stop for a moment, and the army

Can't stop either.

Not only cannot it stop, but it must maintain the front line to ensure that the troops are connected together over a width of dozens of miles; it must also have elite assault troops, a main battle group and multiple waves of advancement sequences to deal with possible military impacts; it must also find every opportunity to find opportunities.

They had to provide drinking water and food; they had to pick up the wounded soldiers on both sides along the way and take care of the prisoners; they also had to appease the many local people who had no time to escape or had already fled in the rivers and woods.

How can I have time to care about things on the other side of the river?

In fact, the army did very poorly in the following few things...it was too chaotic and too tired. In this case, it would be good if they could follow the military orders and go all the way north. Where can the people and prisoners be settled?

Being able to leave dozens of lightly wounded people behind to organize them to settle on the spot or go home is already considered a great effort.

Moreover, when entering the walled city, it is inevitable to grab sheep for food and protection, and there is no way to deal with it... First, the discipline of the Youzhou army is worrying, and they basically requisitioned it on the spot, so when the army comes back, it is not clear what these things are.

The common people's belongings were captured from the Youzhou Army; secondly, this is when the battle is going on, so even leaving a note to the fellow villagers is not the time to do it.

"Chief, leader Mangda from the front came to report that after a fierce battle with the enemy in front of him, the Su Jingfang camp on his right wing disappeared inexplicably."

"Tell Mang King Kong not to worry about Su Jingfang. I told that boy that if the front is empty, try your best to push forward! Fan Lihua will fill in the front from behind!"

"Yes, Dragon Head."

"Longtou, Leader Su Mu is here to ask you if he can move closer to the east since there are no enemies in front of him."

"Can't."

"...Yes, yes."

"Chief, Chief Ma asked someone to tell you that two groups of prisoners from the Youzhou Army rebelled and killed our people and the local supervisor we assigned!"

"How did Xu Dalang and Ma Fenguang deal with it?"

"Reporting to Li Longtou, Deputy Commander Xu is not here, and the commander in charge of Ma ordered that the front army ignore it. The prisoners who rebelled in the two places were handed over to the single-leading battalions in the southwest, the leading battalion in the southeast, and the battalion in charge of Zhang, so that they could catch up quickly.

, if captured, shoot and kill; if not seen, don't worry, go north first! We'll talk about it when we get to Xushui!"

"Okay! Ma Wei is a decisive person! Where did Xu Dalang go?"

"Deputy Commander Xu went north when we arrived. He said that there were several battalions fighting for the way on the official road ahead."

"Nonsense!" Li Ding in the courtyard was furious. He turned around and discussed with Zhang Xing, who was sitting there with his eyes closed and concentrating. "What, let's move too? Otherwise, we don't know what trouble the former army will cause!"

"Let's go!" Zhang Xing, who had not spoken much before, stood up and looked at Bai Yousi, Niu He and the others again. "Let's all go, we have to press on!"

Bai Yousi and others were naturally speechless. The strategic and tactical surprise, coupled with the all-round crushing strength, resulted in the battle going extremely smoothly. However, if they could go north to completely wipe out the main force of the Youzhou Army and capture the Luo family and his son, the whole of Hebei

It's just a matter of time... How could you be discouraged at this time?

"There should be nothing missing now, right?" Before leaving, Li Ding suddenly asked, but the question was strange. After all, Xu Dalang and Ma Wei were not here, so Zhang Xing should have come to ask him this question.

No matter what, when the other party asked for an answer, Zhang Xing had no choice but to answer: "There is no need to worry about the prisoners. They don't know how the battle is going without their armor. In fact, they don't pose much of a threat. It's hard for us to kill them at this time...

...In this case, there are three things that can affect the outcome of this battle... One is whether Hou Junshu can break the bridge in time; the other is whether Luo Shu and his son will decisively abandon the battle here in time and go north; the last one is Xue Changxiong

When will it come? How many people will come? How will they come?"

"Aren't these three things just left to fate?" Ushikawa interjected with his hands behind his back. "It's not our turn to intervene, right?"

"One thing is wrong. Xue Changxiong is the master after all. No matter when he comes, he must be on guard." Zhang Xing thought thoughtfully. "How about taking a trip to the Hutuo River?"

"Okay." Bai Yousi agreed immediately. "You guys go north with Niu Gong... I will cover the two camps of Shiniang and Zhang Gongshen, just in case. If Xue Changxiong doesn't arrive, I will go with Shiniang."

They came together... King Xiongtian also asked him to send Wei Wen to the place and turn back immediately, and support each other with me on the way."

"Then come here and set off immediately." Li Ding urged in turn and was the first to walk out of the yard.

Immediately, Bai Yousi rose into the sky, but there was no real energy fluctuation. Zhang Xing also immediately led many staff and documents who were resting here to get up and leave... This scene of inter-war discussions and decisions that took place in Gaoyang City cannot be called unreasonable.

Simply put, it cannot be called inappropriate.

But for some reason, Ushikawa, who was last, looked at this scene and felt it was a little weird... As a former elder and superior, and as a master, he could actually observe some things from a special perspective and identity.

For example, in this discussion among the three people in front of us, how could it be that Zhang Xing came to think, Li Ding came to act, and Bai Yousi came to settle?

Isn't this a mess?

Is it just because Li Ding was a little panicked because it was his first time to take charge of such a big war?

Of course, the incident itself was just an episode, and Duke Niu's thoughts were an episode within an episode. It did not affect the development of the overall war situation at all. As the central command of the army continued to play its role, the army, which was already on the move, kept making adjustments.

Then continue to kill towards the north.

At this time, Hou Junshu, who was considered one of the key points, had already rushed to Xushui with all his strength.

After passing Gaoyang at night and bypassing Muxian County in the early morning, we arrived at Xushui. After arriving at Xushui, as expected, Hou Junshu began to hesitate... He checked up and down the Xushui several times and was sure.

There are several pontoon bridges, and then it keeps wandering back and forth along the river.

It’s not hard to guess what Chief Zhang is thinking. Chief Zhang has given him a path, but it is a difficult one. If he really follows Chief Zhang’s wishes, everything will go well. When Hou Junshu joins the gang, he is just a leader, and he is a leader.

For a leader who bears the name of the Lord, his future will not be very bright if he continues on in the future.

In fact, this is not the first time that he betrayed his master. That day, as a disciple of the Helan clan, he took refuge in Luo Shu when his master's family was killed. He took the position of the Helan clan and entered Youzhou. He was already very attractive.

People are disgusted. If you do it again, wouldn’t you be a slave with three surnames?

Who can still look up to him?

In addition, Hou Junshu himself has an ultimate ambition, which is to revive the Hou family and return to the position of his grandfather Liu Chenggong.

And according to the gang's regulations, even if they really want to keep a vassal in Liucheng in the future, it is impossible for him, Hou Junshu, to surrender a leader to become this vassal, because Chief Zhang is originally from the North, and the gang is a gathering of talents, so there is no way.

What's missing is this carrot that fills the hole.

Not to mention, in this battle, if the Youzhou Army could retreat in time, there would be no chance of survival... After all, Hejian is the army's first target, and the original intention of attacking the Youzhou Army at this time is to fight against Hejian; as for Youzhou

, the four counties on the south side of Yanshan Mountain are densely populated and have many cities. The seven or eight counties on the north side are all small counties with one city and two cities like Anle. However, they all have difficult terrain and are home to many local forces... If they really want to, they may not be able to take advantage of them.

So easy to swallow.

However, no matter how he thinks about it or how he distinguishes the pros and cons, Hou Junshu always has to face two things:

The first one was the face-to-face transaction he had just had with Zhang Xing. At that time, Qi Hongshan's death was like a feather. Zhang Xing's words were so unequivocal that he was so frightened that he couldn't even pretend to do it; the second one was that the entire army of the army came in for a surprise attack last night.

, this move was like an antelope hanging its horns, easily turning the originally imagined decisive battle of evenly matched forces into a pursuit of the Youzhou Army... The Youzhou Army did not even have a chance for a head-on confrontation, and it became the current situation.

In other words, Hou Junshu must consider the outcome of a complete victory for the army, the outcome of the army sweeping across Hebei in this battle, the outcome of his inability to fulfill his contract, and the outcome of facing Chief Zhang's thunderous wrath!

"General Hou!" After walking for a while, Lieutenant General Gao couldn't help but ask. "What are we going to do? If we want to escape, we can cross Xushui now. If we want to fight, we can go back to Muxian County to find the general's military order... Why

Instead, they keep going back and forth on the river?"

When Hou Junshu heard this, he suddenly reined in his horse, and then he looked up to the sky and let out a long sigh. When he lowered his head and spoke again, tears were already streaming down his face: "General Gao, you don't understand, I was forced to the river!"

Vice Admiral Gao was stunned and could only ask: "What's going on? Who forced you?"

"Who else could it be? Of course it's our manager!" Hou Junshu's face turned red, with tears streaming down his face. His voice seemed to be lowered, but it was enough for several people around him to hear clearly. "You didn't see it just now. When we passed by Mon County just now, the manager

He sent a confidant who was born in the Eighteenth Cavalry to stop me and gave me a military order... He said that he could not hold me accountable for the defeat of the army, but he wanted me to demolish the pontoon bridge so that he could gather the entire army in Muxian County.

, a last-ditch fight!”

Vice Admiral Gao was stunned for a moment and couldn't help but feel strange: "Why does the manager want General Hou to do this kind of thing? Couldn't he just send a sworn brother?"

Hou Junshu shook his head repeatedly: "You don't know, if you let his confidants do this kind of thing, it will let the whole Youzhou know that it was him who decided to break the bridge, and the resentment will be on him, and with his personality, how can

Will you do this? But I am a poor person. I am a remnant of the Helan family. I only used it because of his mercy. Now it is natural that it will be used in vain. After using it, even if I return to Youzhou, I will be used.

Huzi, I will discourage everyone by throwing you!"

When Vice Admiral Gao heard this, he actually believed it. After all, if you do such a thing, you will definitely be criticized by thousands of people and scolded by thousands of people. And from the perspective of Hou Junshu, there are indeed some difficulties in being teased to the point of being unable to move.

.

More importantly, Hou Junshu's expression and movements don't look like he's just pretending, but he's really being manipulated, okay?

At this thought, he hesitated for a moment and expressed his attitude in a vague way: "General Hou, the thieves crossed the river in large numbers and caught us off guard. It was also chaotic at night. It was just dawn when we passed by Mo County, and the general manager misjudged the situation behind him.

It's normal... But as for us, we came from General Qi in person, so we should know how powerful he is, right? Is the flag of King Xiongtian fake? Once it is pressed down, it is like a whirlwind sweeping the ground. If so, two more

This time, General Wei couldn't resist again, and today he will be completely defeated! Do you dare to ask if there is no way for 40 to 50 thousand people to retreat, no matter how shallow the water is, they can still drown people?"

Obviously, they didn't know that Xiong Bonan had already escorted Wei Wenda to the south. They were afraid that they would not be able to sweep them away in time, and Wei Wenda would not have the chance to resist twice more.

"How come I don't understand what you are saying?" Hou Junshu gritted his teeth as he stood on his horse. "But aren't you being forced by the manager now? No matter what you do, there will be no good results!"

"A man born in this world, with hundreds of cavalry at his disposal, how can he end up in a bad situation?" The deputy general Gao glanced at the other approaching cavalry who were obviously worried, and then lowered his voice and said. "Yes.

I said, General Hou, haven't you been an envoy twice? You can be regarded as a person with a face in front of the chief, so what if you join the gang? "

It was Hou Junshu's turn to be stunned.

After a long while, he tried his best to say: "Vice-General Gao, you are a native of Youzhou. Your family grew up in Youzhou. How could you have rebelled against me? Moreover, most of the hundreds of riders here are from Youzhou..."

"I'm not talking about us, I'm talking about General Hou and you alone." Vice General Gao quickly corrected him. "General Hou found it difficult, abandoned this place, and took advantage of the rebel army to go south to surrender to Chief Zhang. The rest of us pretended not to have any

After receiving the military order, we crossed the river directly from here and returned to Youzhou... As for General Hou's concubine in Anle City, please don't worry. After we return, we will immediately send someone to the north. When the storm is over, Hou
To be continued...