Early the next morning, He Lianchu left the camp with the letters from Zhao Shuhua and Yan Che.
Zhao Shuhua personally sent Helianchu to the gate of the camp, and only when Helianchu's back disappeared, she sighed and walked back.
Yan Che followed behind Zhao Shuhua, and said in a low voice, "Mother, don't worry, Zhen'er is different now, she will definitely take good care of herself."
Zhao Shuhua sighed again, "I just hope she doesn't hate me."
Yan Che smiled wryly, "How can you really hate the queen mother? Zhen'er must know the mother's painstaking efforts for us."
Zhao Shuhua paused and looked back, seeing that Yan Che's expression was the same as before, she felt a little relieved.
As soon as the group of people returned to the tent of the Chinese army, a few fast horses came from outside the camp. Soon, Zhao Jing arrived in the tent and said, "Sister, the people from the Marquis of Anyang are here! They said that the date of dispatching troops is set at Yinshi tonight—" He said and handed over a document.
Zhao Shuhua took it, frowned and said, "Yin time tonight?"
It was midnight at Yinshi, Zhao Jing nodded, "Yes, the Marquis of Anyang has asked the warlocks in the camp to do a fortune-telling, and the southwest wind has been blowing all day today, I'm afraid it will last until tomorrow morning. At that time, Rongman was sleeping soundly, and we happened to catch them by surprise."
Zhao Shuhua nodded, "Okay, let the generals discuss the matter immediately, and let's make a total calculation."
Zhao Jing heard the words and went to deliver the order, and when they got to the meeting tent, they learned that Zhao You was going to lead the troops in person. On the one hand, she gained confidence, and on the other hand, she was a little worried about Zhao You's health.
Zhao You has commanded the Beifu army for decades, and he personally led the army to make everyone feel at ease, but he is still sick now, which is quite worrying.
The generals were worried, but Zhao You had no fear at all, so it was decided that after the discussion was completed, Zhao Shuhua sent someone to deliver a letter to the Marquis camp of Anyang, so that it was determined to leave at the right time, and Zhao You was in command this time, after dispatching troops After taking away 50,000 horses, there were only 2,000 supply men left in the entire camp of the Beifu army. Zhao Shuhua expected that this battle would be a big victory, so she ordered the men to prepare meals for tomorrow's victory celebration when it was dark.
At the same time, Shuoxi's army also received news.
When Zhao Shuhua agreed to join forces with Yue Qiong, in order to prevent fraud, he left more than 20,000 people in Chongzhou, and the Shuoxi Army was different from the Beifu Army. The Shuoxi Army had more than 70,000 people in the camp to the west of Wei County. After receiving the war strategy document from Yue Qiong, Yan Chi immediately ordered to reorganize the army.
Yan Chi is about to go out again, Qin Wan thought this was the last time, and his heart was not as uneasy as before, and this time the three armies joined forces, not only would there be no disadvantage in terms of numbers, but there was also a plan to attack with fire, as long as the wind direction remained the same tonight , the plan of attacking with fire is sure to go well, all of them, the barbarians are in chaos, and the soldiers of the Great Zhou will occupy the right time, place and people, how can they be invincible
In the large tent of the Chinese army, Qin Wan twisted the veil and took care of Yan Chi's armor. The black armor was a little old, and there were even traces of swords and swords on it. Qin Wan wiped it carefully inch by inch to ensure that there was no After leaving a trace of blood, Yan Chi stopped his hands, seeing her so involuntarily stepped forward and hugged her, "Okay, everything has been arranged this time, don't worry, just wait in the camp and wait for us to come back from victory .”
Qin Wan leaned on Yan Chi's chest, "I will wait for you to come back, you have to be careful, anyway, as long as you go out to fight, I will be worried."
Yan Chi pulled Qin Wan to sit down, and said with a smile, "If it was burning food and grass before, let Gu Ling go, but this is the last battle, I am not at ease after all, you can rest assured, after tomorrow dawn , we will be able to return victorious, at most rest for a day, we will go back to Wuzhou first, and then back to Shuoxi."
Qin Wan felt excited when he thought of the flowers and plants in his garden, "We've been out for more than two months, I'm afraid Poria is worried to death, and I don't know if all the flowers I planted have survived. When we go back, we will go back to the manor house again." How about keeping some kittens, puppies and parrots in the house?"
Yan Chi smiled and said, "Naturally, it depends on you. The hottest months have passed, and autumn is about to begin. When we go back, it will snow soon. Then, don't regret going back early. "
Qin Wan laughed, "It's great when it snows. I like snowing. Besides, I'd rather be at home than anywhere!"
Hearing these words, Yan Chi felt warm in his heart. His family used to be in the army, but now it's different.
The husband and wife stayed tenderly for a while, and when Yan Chi came out again, he saw that the army outside had been rearranged.
At this moment, the night had just fallen, and the sky in the entire northern region was pitch black, and there was not a single star in the night sky. It looked a little scary.
Yu Qi and Gu Ling came from the direction of the school grounds, and said with a smile, "Your Highness! Tonight is really a good day to set fire to the mountain! It's so dark, I'm afraid they don't know where to escape when the time comes, just the fire, just I'm afraid I can wipe out half of the barbarians for us."
Yan Chi glanced at the sky, frowned, and said, "It's not good for the enemy, nor for us, so let everyone carry a fire bag."
Gu Ling said, "Don't worry, Your Highness, everything has been ordered."
Yan Chi knew that Gu Ling was steady and reliable, so he ordered, "Okay, there are still a few hours, you go and rest for a while."
To start at Yinshi, they only need to set off at Zishi, and it only takes an hour and a half to reach Luofengpo, and this time it is the Jinzhou army who are responsible for setting fire at the foot of the mountain, so they only need to rush to the green grassland. Afterwards, I'm afraid that we won't be able to see the Rong Man who fled down the mountain until the dawn.
In this way, they have the most time with the Beifu Army.
Yu Qi was full of energy when he heard the words, "This subordinate is not sleepy at all, and he can't fall asleep. Thinking that after this battle, we will be able to kill all the Rong people without leaving behind, this subordinate is very excited. After this time, The Rong people will not violate the territory of Shuoxi for at least five years, so we can recuperate in Shuoxi!"
Now that Yanchi is relying on Xilin to stand on his own, Shuoxi is his fiefdom. If the Rong people come to attack, it will be a serious disaster. If Shuoxi has five years to be free from foreign enemies, what can Yan Chi, the king of Xilin, do? That's too much.
Thinking of this, Yan Chi smiled slightly, "We'll talk about winning the battle first."
With a determined expression on his face, Yu Qi patted Gu Ling's shoulder beside him and said, "This time, my subordinates will charge with Gu Ling, and they will definitely live up to the reputation of our Shuoxi Army. Don't worry, Your Highness."
Even though Yan Chi was worried about Yu Qi, he also wanted to worry about Gu Ling, so he laughed and shook his head and entered the agenda.
Yan Chi took everyone through the battle strategy again, and at Haishi, Qin Wan brought Bai Ying to bring meals to the generals, "The soup cakes made by the Huotou army today, everyone use more, and we can go out later. All the soldiers have also started to eat."
While Qin Wan was talking, he brought food to everyone. Several young generals hurriedly got up and said they didn’t dare. Qin Wan just brought it to Gu Ling, and encouraged him with a smile, “Why don’t you dare? Since I used my own hands The food served, tomorrow, must be intact and return in victory."
Gu Ling stared at Qin Wan's smiling eyes for a moment, and waited for Qin Wan to walk past him before answering yes.
The meals in the army were crude, and Yu Qi drank half a bowl of soup cakes in a few gulps, smacking his lips and said, "I really miss Shuoxi's mutton soup cakes! The ones from Mrs. Hu's house in the east of Xilincheng are the most delicious!"
Chu Feicheng smiled and said, "After winning this battle and returning to Shuoxi, you can eat as much as you want!"
Everyone talked and laughed while eating, and their words were full of longing for tomorrow's victory and returning home.
After finishing the meal and waiting for another half an hour, it was time to set off. Qin Wan stood at the door of the big tent and watched Yan Chi lead the army out of the tent again.
Bai Ying said aside, "Princess, don't worry, nothing will go wrong this time."
The corners of Qin Wan's lips were slightly curved, and she raised her hand, feeling the blowing of the night wind. She felt relieved for a moment, "As long as the wind direction remains the same, everything will be smooth."
When the Shuoxi army set off, the Beifu army also set off from the camp and headed north.
Neither of them had to go up the hill of Luofengpo, one was in the west and the other was in the north, firmly enclosing all possible directions for Rong Man to retreat.
But the Jinzhou army had to go up to the mountainside, and was also responsible for setting the fire, so it set off quietly an hour ago.
Yue Qiong took away 60,000 troops this time, and in order to win the first battle, all those who took away were the core Jinzhou Army who had followed him for many years, as well as his direct army generals. The 30,000 horses were all troops gathered from Lin'an, Yingzhou, and Luozhou when they were preparing for the Northern Expedition.
That night, Yan Qi did not go out with the army.
He is the current King Cheng, and he joined the army of the Northern Expedition. Once Yue Qiong left with his people, he would be the most powerful in the entire camp.
After half an hour, two fast horses came into Wei County, and not long after, Lu Xiao arrived at Yanqi's tent.
"Your Highness, the Beifu Army and the Shuoxi Army have already set off. The Shuoxi Army still has 20,000 troops in the army, and the Beifu Army has only more than 2,000 people."
When Yan Qi heard this, his phoenix eyes narrowed slightly, and soon, he said in a cold voice, "Call Qi Cen and the others in."
Lu Xiao should be, and hurried out to call for someone, and soon, three young generals in armor walked in.
Among these people, Qi Cen was the fifth-rank general Xuanwu in the original Lin'an garrison, and the other two who came with Qi Cen were He Lin, the deputy envoy of the Yingzhou garrison, and Xu Huai, the deputy envoy of the Yingzhou garrison. The fifth-rank general Zhenwu of the Luozhou garrison, Yue Qiong, left, and the three of them were in charge of the actual control of the remaining 20,000 soldiers and horses.
Yan Qi sat on the main seat, his face was hidden in the shadow by the dim light in the tent.
Qi Cen and the others saluted, but they didn't see Yan Qi talking, so they couldn't help but feel a little bit drummed in their hearts, and they looked at each other with blank expressions.
Only when Qi Cen and the others were beating drums in their hearts, Yan Qi slowly opened his mouth, "The three of you used to be young heroes everywhere, and you are quite popular in the army, but this Northern Expedition, until now Rongman is about to be defeated, but you haven't accomplished anything, so if you return to Lin'an this time, I'm afraid it will be impossible for the three of you to return to your original positions."
As soon as these words came out, the expressions of Qi Cen and the others changed.
Qi Cen took a step forward and said, "His Royal Highness, it's not that the subordinates are unwilling to fight the enemy. It's just that the Marquis didn't send his subordinates to fight because of several opportunities."
As he said that, Qi Cen said with some distress, "Subordinates... subordinates are also very wronged..."
He Lin and Xu Huai nodded in agreement, and they almost complained about Yue Qiong.
Yan Qi laughed when he heard the words, "Actually...you can't blame Lord Hou, this Northern Expedition, every battle is very important, Lord Hou is like this, he doesn't want you to die in vain, isn't it, besides, Lord Hou treats you all very well. There are other arrangements."
Having said that, Qi Cen and the others looked up at Yan Qi in amazement.
When Yue Qiong left, she just told them to keep the camp safe, but she didn't say anything else.
Seeing that several people were puzzled by surprise, Yan Qi said, "Rongman is going to fight, but... don't forget what the original intention of this Northern Expedition is."
The original intention of the Northern Expedition was naturally to attack Zhao Shuhua—
Qi Cen quickly said, "Of course it's to crusade against the rebels!"
Yan Qi smiled, "That's right, our original intention was to crusade against the rebellious party, and the barbarians were just an accident."
Hearing that Yan Qi's meaning was wrong, Xu Huai hurriedly said, "But now we have teamed up with the Beifu Army..."
Yan Qi raised his eyebrows, "So what if we join forces? The Beifu army has to protect itself. If it wasn't for the help of Lord Hou that day, the Beifu army would have been entangled by the barbarians. It's still unknown what the outcome will be. Also, even though we joined forces, we can But the emperor didn't order to pardon their crimes, right?"
The three nodded, and Yan Qi said, "The Beifu army has been stationed in the north for many years, and they are also heroes of the Great Zhou Dynasty. Now, they are just bewitched by Zhao You and the abandoned queen's family, and the so-called suppression of rebellion, killing as many Beifu troops as possible is futile." Besides, I don't want Zhou people to kill each other, to put it bluntly, we only need to capture the deposed queen and deposed prince."
What Yan Qi said was reasonable, Qi Cen and the others nodded in agreement.
Yan Qi said, "This is why Lord Hou left you behind. The Beifu army sent troops tonight. In the camp of the Beifu army, only the deposed queen and deposed prince were left, and 2,000 soldiers and horses. If we send troops at this time to take People, you say, will you be able to catch them?"
As soon as these words came out, the three of Qi Cen completely understood what Yan Qi meant!
Xu Huai was a little surprised and said, "Your Highness... this... is really what Lord Hou meant?"
Yan Qi narrowed her phoenix eyes, and said in a cold voice, "What? You don't believe me?"
Xu Huai hurriedly lowered his head, "The last general dare not, it's just..."
Yue Qiong is a man of integrity, and these young generals have noticed him all the way. How could Yue Qiong do such a thing of crossing rivers and demolishing bridges in the current war
However, Yan Qi said, "This is not only the meaning of the Marquis, but also the meaning of the father."
With a sound of "snap", Yan Qi threw a booklet in front of the three of them, "Pick it up and have a look, this is the royal order written by the emperor himself!"
The faces of Qi Cen and the others changed slightly. Qi Cen picked up the booklet, opened it, and found that it was stamped with the seal of the jade seal. The imperial order was only a few words, but it said that the defense against foreign enemies was over, and the rebellion was the first. The corners of Cen's lips pursed slightly, "Your Highness, do you want to send the three of us to the Beifu Army Camp to take someone?"
Yan Qi smiled, "It's a bit wasteful for you three to go, you only need to send two people, who of you wants to go?"
Since Yan Qi said that it was Yue Qiong's order and there was the emperor's handwriting, Qi Cen and the other three naturally did not dare to doubt it. What's more, Yue Qiong's arrangement in this way was to give the three of them a chance to make meritorious deeds. This is what Yan Qi said. , nor allow them to refuse!
Qi Cen took a step forward, "The last general invites you to fight—"
Seeing Qi Cen come forward, He Lin on the side also clasped his fists, "The last general invites you to fight."
Both of them are like this, Xu Huai has no reason to disobey, so he can only say, "The last general also invites to fight."
Looking at the three of them, Yan Qi smiled happily, "Very well, although you had no chance against the enemy Rongman before, suppressing the rebellion is the most important thing on Father's mind. , even if you have made a great contribution, when you return to the capital, I will definitely tell my father the truth, and when the time comes, what does it matter if you become an official or rank?"
Having said that, the tension on the faces of the three of them eased, and Qi Cen's eyes brightened even more.
He was originally from the garrison in the capital, and he was the one among the three who most wanted to rise to the top. He looked at Yan Qi expectantly, and only hoped that Yan Qi would give him this opportunity.
However, Yan Qi said, "Very well, let He Lin and Xu Huai fight, I will give you 10,000 horses, and we will set off in half an hour."
It only takes half an hour from Weixian County to the Beifu army camp. They rushed there in the middle of the night, when Zhao Shuhua and the others were most asleep.
When Qi Cen heard this, he looked at Yan Qi incredulously, but Yan Qi didn't look at him, and just ordered, "This is the best chance, so you must take it with one blow. If anyone dares to resist, just Shoot or kill, understand?"
Yan Qi's voice was cold, He Lin and Xu Huai naturally didn't dare to be disrespectful when they heard the words, they hurriedly nodded in agreement.
Only then did Yan Qi smile, and said with a smile, "Okay, this time we must come back victorious, don't let Lord Hou and this king be disappointed, go."
He Lin and Xu Huai saluted and left, and Qi Cen was left in the tent immediately.
Qi Cen was clearly the most active, but he was not sent out. He was feeling lost at the moment, but Yan Qi looked at him again, "Are you a little disappointed?"
Qi Cen forced a smile, "No, no, my subordinates dare not."
The corners of Yan Qi's lips raised slightly, "You are a good person, and your ability is also higher than the two of them. I keep you, but I have more important errands for you."
As soon as these words came out, Qi Cen's eyes lit up again.
"I don't know what His Highness wants the general to do?"
Yan Qi beckoned, beckoning Qi Cen to come closer, Qi Cen hurriedly leaned forward.
Yan Qi smiled, and said a few words in Qi Cen's ear, only to see that the smile on Qi Cen's face quickly disappeared, and after a while, he looked at Yan Qi in disbelief, "Your Highness... Your Highness is going to let the last general go..."
Yan Qi sneered, "Why? Don't you dare?"
Qi Cen shook his head subconsciously, and Yan Qi said again, "This is a greater contribution than capturing the abandoned queen. If you don't go, I'll just wait for He Lin and the two to come back, and then send them. How about you? Go Are you going?"
A layer of cold sweat quickly broke out on Qi Cen's forehead, facing Yan Qi's hostile gaze, his eyes flickered with panic.
Not long after, he clenched his fist violently and made up his mind, "Go! Go at last!"