Qu Duan was speechless for a moment, but he was obviously unwilling.

"The Prince of Yan'an is not here..." Seeing this, Zhao Jiu no longer hesitated. He turned to look at one person and spoke coldly. "Yang Yizhong, go and give him a whip on my behalf! Drive him out!"

No one said a word in the semi-permanent Tumu Dazhai, and the emperor's decree was given, but no one dared to object. The soldiers' squads on both sides rushed forward, pulled out the bent end, and dragged it directly to the camp gate. Yang Yizhong picked up his riding whip and followed

On top, he whipped his whip inside the door in front of everyone, then abandoned the whip and stood in awe.

Qu Duan was extremely embarrassed, ashamed and angry, but knowing that asking for battle this time was against the Zhao Guan family's taboo, he could only go to hold the horse in embarrassment and prepare to leave.

"Qudu, stay here." Yang Yizhong gave up his whip, but took the initiative to stop the opponent.

"What does Yang Tongzhi mean?" Qu Duan just wanted to leave quickly.

"The officials had heard that Qu Dutong was coming, and they had already made a decree. They heard that Qu Dutong's horse, Iron Elephant, had died of old age in Jiezhou and could no longer ride with him on the battlefield, so he asked Dutong to take the horse with him when he returned.

Bring it back as a mount." As he spoke, Yang Yizhong stepped aside, and Ban Zhi had already brought a majestic horse. "This is the tribute horse sent by Yelu Dashi, the leader of the Western Liao Dynasty last year..."

When Qu Duan saw the horse, he didn't recognize it as the mount that Zhao Guan's family had been riding for several months before. After taking the reins from Na Ban Zhi, he also exclaimed in embarrassment: "Are the officials still worried that I won a gold medal for today's incident?"

No? Even if I really surrender, the military commanders will cut off my head..."

Yang Yizhong remained silent.

Seeing this, Qu Duan could only laugh and shake his head, put on his royal horse, and headed south in the snow, feeling a little embarrassed.

As soon as Qu Duan left, he was speechless that night. Early the next morning, on the 18th day of the twelfth lunar month, Xiaoxue stopped early, and Zhao Guan's family also set off again. Long Huang headed north, urging the front army, the rear troops, and the main forces in Hedong.

He then continued to advance northward at great speed.

At noon that day, we left Yangliang Beiguan and entered the Taiyuan Basin with open terrain.

At this time, Zhao Jiu looked back at Queshu Valley again, and couldn't help but lament that time was also a fate... Because according to the explanation of a local officer, Queshu Valley is really dangerous in the summer, when Fen water often floods and mudslides often wash away the roads.

Not to mention, the surge in river water will also cause the passable and footholding areas in the valley to become extremely narrow, and the army will need to repeatedly cross the river to move forward.

If that's the case, the Jin army is still fortified at all levels, and I am afraid that the Song army will either count on Wu Jie to fight, or they will have to turn around and fight against the party... How can it be like this now, and it can freeze into a road, which in turn will promote the army?

What about traffic acceleration?

But regardless of this small emotion, it is only said that Zhao Guan's Longhu left the Queshu Valley, paused for a moment, and then headed north again. In the evening of the same day, he arrived at Jiexiu City, which was already surrounded by Niu Gao, Li Yanxian's subordinate.

Here, Zhao Jiu summoned Niu Gao, comforted him for a while, pointed out his previous achievements in breaking Yangliang Beiguan and gave him a small reward, and then stationed behind Niu Gao's stronghold that day.

The next day, the 19th day of the twelfth lunar month, the imperial driver traveled sixty miles and arrived at Pingyao City.

The defenders in Pingyao City were shaken by the sudden and rapid movement of the Song Army to the north to encircle the city. They saw countless troops passing under the city and heading north. Their hearts were gradually shaken. However, when they saw Long Huang arriving soon, they were completely horrified. So much so that on the second

On the second day, which was the twentieth day of the twelfth lunar month, when Zhao Guan's family was about to abandon the besieging troops here and continue to move north, some Han troops in the city made a rebellion, opened the east city gate, and asked for surrender.

Encountering such a fighting opportunity, Zhao Jiu certainly did not give up. Instead, he handed over the imperial squadron to Qiao Zhongfu, the military commander of the imperial camp who was responsible for locking the city of Pingyao. The latter immediately sent troops into the city and fought fiercely at noon.

They had already captured this important stronghold in the Taiyuan Basin.

However, although the city was broken, Zhao Guan's family still had no intention of stopping. He left part of the squad behind, gathered his troops, and immediately set off with Wang Sheng's troops who caught up later. They arrived at the foot of Qixian City in the evening and met Wang De.

Another day, the 21st of the twelfth lunar month, Zhao Jiu rushed to the foot of Taigu City at noon, gathered Han Shizhong and Wang Yan, and then without stopping for a while, arrived at Xugou Town that evening.

On the twenty-second day of the twelfth lunar month, after learning that Yuci, an important town east of Yangqu City, the capital of Taiyuan, had been surrounded by troops led by Li Qiong himself, Zhao Guanjia did not hesitate and led an increasing number of main battle troops to attack Yangqu, the capital of Taiyuan.

And go.

In the evening of the same day, they arrived at Yongli Prison, which is less than 20 miles away from Taiyuan City, and set up a camp here.

In the morning of the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month, after eight days of rapid march through the narrow passage of Queshu Valley, a total of 500 miles away, Zhao Guan's dragon banner appeared in Taiyuan Fucheng at a speed that was absolutely beyond imagination.

under.

During this march, the important towns on the east bank of the Fen River were quickly divided and surrounded one by one by the Song army, and even captured the important town of Pingyao. At the same time, in order to maintain the speed of the march, many towns on the west bank of the Fen River were almost equal.

Yu was completely forgotten by the Song Army and ignored. Wanyan Salihe, who was in charge of the defense area on the west bank of Fenshui River, was not sure whether he was disturbed by the speed of the Song Army's advance. He actually kept cowering under the Song Army's surveillance troops.

Do not move.

Thanks to this, there were no less than 30,000 elite members of the imperial camp who arrived at Taiyuan City along with Zhao Guanjia Long Huang. At the same time, countless troops and civilians were constantly gathering from the rear.

It is conceivable that before tonight, 40,000 to 50,000 people will arrive, and more and more people will arrive in the future. In the end, if Wu Jie can arrive as promised, there will be 100,000 people here. It seems that

No need to be surprised.

Let’s not mention what will happen in the future, let’s just say that now, Zhao Jiu can finally station his horse by the Fen River and take a closer look at Taiyuan City in this era.

By the way, Taiyuan City in the Song Dynasty is not the same thing as Taiyuan City in the Han and Tang Dynasties.

The main body of the previous Taiyuan City was on the west side of the Fen River, which is the traditional Jinyang area, and the city was very large. The Taiyuan City of the Song Dynasty was built after Song Taizong Zhao Guangyi destroyed the old city in the early years and found that it was impossible to lose a city in Taiyuan.

A big city, so the new city that Pan Mei rebuilt was located in Yangqu County on the east side of the Fen River, not the Taiyuan area in the traditional sense, and it was also much smaller.

However, this does not mean that this city will be inferior to any Taiyuan city in history in terms of defense. Otherwise, Nianhan would have no choice but to lock the city southward. As a result, Taiyuan was still in the hands of the Song army, so they had to besiege the city and fight for reinforcements.

, the reinforcements defeated hundreds of thousands of Song troops, but it still didn't work. In the end, it took two hundred and fifty days to break the city, and then had to massacre the city to vent their anger.

"The officials will wait and see."

Han Shizhong led his troops to carry the Wei army to the north of the city as a defense, and Li Yanxian went to preside over the construction of Dazhai under the city. Unexpectedly and reasonably, it was Yang Yizhong who had always been silent outside and took the initiative to guide Zhao Guan's family in Taiyuan.

City defense... He was originally from Daizhou in the north. "Taiyuan City is more than ten miles in circumference. It is not a big city, and it is not made entirely of bricks and stones. Instead, it is mostly made of rammed earth... But the west of the city faces the Fen River, and then the Fen River is diverted to surround the city.

The moat... has only four gates, three gates in the east, north and south, all with separate protruding gates. There is a suspension bridge between the gates and the city gate behind them, but it is a serious masonry city wall... It's not just that.

, there is also a separate inner city in the city. The inner city has a circumference of more than five miles, accounting for almost half of the city. There are no people living in the inner city. They are all warehouses, government offices, and barracks..."

"In other words, although Taiyuan City is small, it is actually a specialized flat fortress?" Zhao Jiu, who stood near the Fen River, suddenly realized as he looked at the Jin Army flags waving on the Guancheng in the south of Taiyuan. "Is this a place specifically used for military purposes?

"

"Yes." Yang Yizhong nodded in response. "I can only say that it is fortunate that it is frozen in winter. Otherwise, the Fenshui River surrounds the city and the three gates stand side by side. We can only fire cannons to hit them hard... and the city can use cannons.

…It’s just hard work…”

Yang Yizhong's words became slower and slower, and Zhao Jiu and other ministers were also gradually attracted by other things... It turned out that just when Han Shizhong was on the way to the north of Taiyuan, Li Yanxian commanded a large army and began to set up a camp, while Zhao Guan's family was waiting.

While Long Yanxia was listening to the introduction, as the flags on Guancheng in the south were waving, suddenly, a large group of Jin cavalry came out from the east.

There are not many cavalry in this group. From what I can see, there are only seven or eight Mou Ke, which means seven or eight hundred cavalry. Judging from the situation, it is obvious that they came from Guancheng in the east.

Under the watchful eyes of Zhao Guan's family and many close ministers, they first attacked the southeast corner of Taiyuan City, disturbing some civilians and sergeants who were setting up a stronghold there, causing a small chaos... This was nothing, and the defenders in the city took advantage of it.

When the foreign enemy has not yet established a stable foothold, it is a conventional tactic to launch a cavalry surprise attack to demoralize the enemy... However, after the successful attack, this small force not only did not take advantage of the situation to turn back, or in other words, there were signs of turning back, but it actually relied on

Under the cover of Guancheng in the south, they turned around and headed straight for Longhu.

"Does Wanyan think that I am Sun Quan?" Zhao Jiu was startled for a moment, then laughed. "But I don't know how he broke the Xiaoshi Bridge when the Fen River froze."

"Your Majesty, you might as well take shelter for now!" Although the distance was more than a mile, Yang Yizhong had no choice but to change the topic. "I will meet the enemy for your Majesty..."

"I will be here to watch and defeat the enemy!" Zhao Jiu stopped moving and shook his head.

Yang Yizhong glanced at Wang Yan and nodded knowingly when he saw him. Then he and Liu Yan hurriedly put on their robes, then one person supervised the steps and the other led the cavalry, and hurriedly formed a formation forward.

However, because the enemy's arrival was sudden, and even though the Imperial Banzhi initially wore the main armor, it was still not fully armored, so the speed of the armor array at this time was inevitably a little behind.

In fact, this should be the reason why this Jurchen cavalry thinks there is something cheap to make.

The only thing that had to be said was that at this time, how could Zhao Jiu retreat?

However, just when the two armies were about to meet hastily, a group of soldiers and horses suddenly poured out from the gap between the main formation of the Song army and the imperial squadron, and collided with the Jurchen cavalry.

Zhao Jiu was stunned for a moment, because he could see clearly that this was actually the Japanese samurai who had been killed by him. At this time, the Japanese samurai who had just arrived from behind... hundreds of Japanese samurai, either holding long and scary bows, or holding hands as tall as them

Equipped with a powerful sword, he rode an unarmored horse that was probably used for logistical purposes. With an astonishing momentum, he rushed straight into the Jurchen cavalry formation.

Of course, Japanese samurai fighting on horseback is not new, because as early as Taira Kiyomori came to the Red Heart Team, he became proficient in riding horses. At that time, Zhao Jiu asked out of curiosity... As a result, Taira Kiyomori told Zhao Guanjia that the northern Japanese samurai at this time were originally fighting on horseback.

Most of them just bring walking men to assist them, and their weapons, from tachi to large bows, especially the tachi with a blade almost as sharp as a human being, are exclusive weapons for horseback combat.

Now, the most critical point is that I don’t know whether it was frightened by the exaggerated weapons of the Japanese samurai, but the Jurchen cavalry actually froze. Not only that, because the blade was too long, the bow was too big, and the visual effect was too strong

Because of this, even Zhao Jiu couldn't help but feel a little hopeful.

But it was just a hope. The next moment, as these exaggerated swords slashed across the thick armor of the Jurchen cavalry, which must have weighed at least fifty kilograms, the warring parties and many people from the Zhao Guan family and below who were watching all woke up from their dreams.

.

For a time, the iron cavalry was rampant and the Japanese samurai suffered heavy casualties.

Fortunately, it bought time for the Imperial Banzhi and the Song Army Brigade, which can be regarded as commendable for their loyalty and bravery.

PS: Thanks to book friend 20181022160634682 for the cuteness! Thanks to Broken Feather Cat for the cuteness! Thanks to Mr. An for another cuteness!
Chapter completed!