Guo Shao slept soundly during the long days of camping. When he woke up, he found that it was already dawn. He got up quickly, washed up, and called Doctor Lu twice when he walked out of the bedroom, but no one answered.
Suddenly he saw a rough bowl and a plate on the table in the main hall. He went up to take a look and found a bowl of porridge with a piece of bread and half a plate of pickled vegetables. Guo Shao picked up a piece of pickled vegetable with chopsticks and tasted it. It tasted good. It seemed that salt in the Liao-ruled area was very cheap, and the cost of pickled vegetables in the inland areas would be high because the official salt was very expensive.
Guo Shao ate the rice and vegetables without any pressure, but he was not full, so he had to prepare to eat two more pancakes when he got to the military camp. He packed up and went out, only to see Lu Chengyong waiting there.
Guo Shao said: "Send someone in to wash the dishes. Close the gate to Doctor Lu."
Yes. Lu Chengyong immediately arranged for someone to help.
A sturdy two-horse carriage was parked on the side of the road, and Guo Shao got on the carriage from the back. Because there were two large wooden wheels on both sides, it was a carriage with only two wheels. Several riders in front and behind escorted Guo Shao's carriage and headed straight north to the central army camp. There were wooden windows on both sides of the carriage, and as long as you sat up straight, you could see the wheels turning. The two wheels were indeed very large.
After the carriages and horses passed through two streets, Guo Shao suddenly felt that a person on the roadside looked familiar. When he turned around and took a closer look, he saw that the person was the daughter of Dr. Lu whom he met last night. She was sitting on the roadside, rubbing her feet with her hands, and there was a basket beside her.
Stop! Guo Shao slapped the wooden board in front of him. The coachman hurriedly reined in the horses, and the carriage moved forward more and more slowly. After a while, the carriage tilted forward slightly and finally stopped.
Guo Shao opened the bamboo curtain from behind and walked down, but saw that the woman had already stood up. He couldn't help but think of the food he found on the table in the morning. The old man, Doctor Lu, probably didn't know how to cook, so he walked over with good intentions and greeted her: Madam Lu, what's wrong with your foot
He looked her up and down and saw that she was in her twenties or maybe only eighteen. She was dressed very simply, in a dark cloth dress and her hair was tied with a piece of floral cloth. She was wrapped up tightly. Her appearance was not stunning at all, but her face was fair and her forehead was smooth when her hair was combed up.
Unexpectedly, the wife of the Lu family ignored Guo Shao completely, as if she didn't hear him. She just walked away with her head down, but her steps were a little lame. Seeing this, Guo Shao thought: Maybe she sprained her ankle or she got a skin rubbed.
He then said: Where are you going? Take my carriage and I will take you there.
Mrs. Lu still ignored him and walked along the roadside with her basket on her shoulder without saying a word. Seeing this, Guo Shao thought to himself: Hey, this little girl is quite stubborn. How did I offend her
Guo Shao immediately remembered what happened last night. Mrs. Lu said that she would not let Guo Shao stay at her house. Later, she found out that Guo Shao heard it. Otherwise, they knew each other without any grudges. There should be a few greetings and polite words. Guo Shao invited her to ride in the car with good intentions. There is also an allusion in ancient times that a young woman should not look at him sideways when she is invited to ride in the car.
But she didn't appreciate it, and Guo Shao had no choice but to ignore her and get back on the carriage. Madam Lu on the side of the road walked slowly, as if she didn't know Guo Shao at all, and didn't even look at him.
The coachman drove the cart slowly on the road for a while, and Guo Shao knocked on the wooden board in front and said: Let's go.
With a snap of the whip, the carriage picked up speed again.
When Guo Shao lifted the bamboo curtain at the back and looked, he saw Mrs. Lu drop her basket and sit down on the side of the road again.
When they arrived at the central army tent, several generals came to pay their respects. Li Chuyun brought in an unfamiliar sergeant, who knelt on one knee and said: "Yesterday, I was ordered to go to Qigou Pass, and I wanted to cross the river from the floating bridge to the south to contact the people of the Privy Council. Unexpectedly, we encountered Liao army cavalry on the way, and they surrounded and intercepted us, killing more than a dozen people. I and several of my men fought hard to escape, so I had to come back to report."
Li Chuyun said: "The south of Zhuoshui is suddenly full of Khitan light cavalry, as if they were released after Xiao Siwen occupied Gu'an in the east. It seems that the batch of food that was supposed to arrive in the next few days may not arrive, and will definitely be harassed by the Liao army's light cavalry on the way."
At this time, another general said: We must ask Zhang Guanghan to station at the left wing of the Longjie Army in Qigou to send people to repair the tunnel. This is what the previous people did to defend the city and ensure the smooth flow of food.
Guo Shao asked: How to repair the tunnel
The general said: Dig wide trenches on both sides, build earthen walls and fences, and send soldiers to guard them.
After hearing this, Guo Shao took out a map and a ruler, made some marks on the map, and shook his head, saying, "How long will it take to build a fortification of fifty or sixty miles? Do we plan to take Zhuozhou for a year or two, or two or three years?"
The grain cart line was very long, and once it started moving, there were always places where the guards were sparse. The cavalry would specifically target the weak, and if they could defeat them, they would shoot and kill the soldiers, and if they couldn't defeat them or encountered a master, they would run away; it was really annoying, and could make a large army exhausted and miserable. Li Chuyun said that the Liao people only had a few tactics, and continuous harassment by light cavalry was their common tactic.
Xiao Siwen and Guo Shao pondered for a moment and said, "This man has just arrived in Gu'an and has already started to attack. It seems that we don't need to be polite. We can start to compete with him now. We don't need to build a corridor for defense. We can use cavalry against cavalry and mobile against mobile, and send out cavalry to hunt."
He referred to the map and said: To the southwest is Qigou Pass. We can send out cavalry in two groups. The main force will go south along the Zhuo River from the east, and then move towards Qigou Pass together to encircle and wipe out the wandering Liao cavalry.
Li Chuyun said: The key is that Gu'an is too close to the east. Once we disperse and encircle it, I am afraid we will be counterattacked by Gu'an's reinforcements from behind; after dispersing, we will be even less able to fight against the Liao cavalry.
Guo Shao said: "The Liao army is coming from the east. We can retreat to Zhuozhou from the north and go to Qigou Pass from the south. It will be difficult for the enemy to surround and kill our cavalry. When Xiao Siwen's large army arrives, we will run away; when they retreat, we will continue to encircle and suppress the cavalry on the plains south of Zhuozhou."
Everyone thought it was feasible. Li Chuyun added: There is also a large army led by the Khitan leader in the north, which is only about 180 miles away. They are also a big threat, and we must always pay attention to their movements.
After hearing this, Zuo You said: Once the Khitan leader's army marches south, we don't have to do anything. The important thing is to return to the city and defend it.
Guo Shao pondered and said: Therefore, the food supply cannot be cut off, and we must store more food. Once we are surrounded, the more food we have, the longer we can hold out. If the Khitan leader's army goes south, he may not care about us, but will focus on the main force of the Great Zhou south of the Juma River.
After discussing for a while, they decided that there was no need to make too much trouble at the moment, so Guo Shao immediately ordered Qi Tingxun, Yang Biao and others to stay in Zhuozhou to monitor the movements of the main force of the Liao army in the north. He also summoned the cavalry generals to prepare and decided to send out the cavalry in the early morning of the next day.
He ordered Luo Yanhuan to march westward and block the northern part of Qigou Pass. He had more than a thousand cavalrymen and nearly two thousand horses, but there were only more than 1,200 knights. The Hujie Army was short of war horses, and it was impossible for one man to be equipped with two horses. However, since it was a mobile operation, war horses were inevitably damaged, so he had to give each unit some reserve horses to make up for the damage.
They would set out before daybreak, and Guo Shao would spend the night in the military camp. He was so focused on fighting with Xiao Siwen that he paid no attention to anything else.
After nightfall, Doctor Lu saw that Guo Shao had not returned yet, and could not help but mutter in the hall: Could it be that the general was suspicious of what he heard last night and thought that our Lu family was not hospitable and did not welcome him
In front of my father, Madam Lu said: It would be better if he didn't come. You can tell at a glance that he is not a good person. Anyone who is too nice to you for no reason is either a traitor or a thief.
Shut up! Doctor Lu was immediately annoyed. Why are you suddenly so harsh
Madam Lu lowered her head and said: That’s right, I was not wrong.
If he doesn't want to live in our house anymore, he should have told us. Doctor Lu took out the gold ornaments from his arms and played with them for a while. The general is from a wealthy family and knows etiquette. There are guards living next door, so I'll go and ask what's going on.
Old Man Lu went there and came back to see the young lady still grinding herbs with a wooden pestle in the main room, so he said: "Do the work tomorrow during the day, and close the courtyard door and take a rest."
The young lady said: Dad, your General Guo
Old Man Lu said: He said he will go to fight tomorrow morning, and may be back in a few days or in a day.
The young lady asked curiously, where are we going to fight
Old Man Lu said: I'm not sure. I asked him a few questions and the general said that the King of the South Court, Xiao Siwen, has come. Maybe we can fight with Xiao Siwen. I hope the Great Zhou Army wins and don't let the Liao people take Zhuozhou back. General Guo has just recovered from his illness and is about to go to war. Alas.
So the young lady put away what she was holding and went to fetch water to serve the old man.
The next morning, before dawn, the young lady was awakened by the sound of horse hooves. She was wearing a midriff-baring dress and her hair was loose. She quietly carried a wooden stool out of the main room, climbed onto the stool and looked out from the wall.
The streets were lit with torches and a large number of horsemen were rushing past. Although the young lady was very wary of the tall man, she couldn't help but watch what he did out of curiosity.
There were too many cavalrymen on the road, constantly passing through the main road in front of the gate. One could only see the armor gleaming in the torches and clanging against each other, but could not see the people clearly. But at this moment, a general suddenly came on horseback with a large crowd of people in front and behind him. When the general passed by the Lu family's gate, he turned his head to look over here and immediately spotted the Lu family's wife with half of her head sticking out of the wall.
Who else could the general be but Guo Shao? Madam Lu was not paying attention and accidentally fell off the stool. She groaned in pain and hurriedly rubbed her lower back with her hand.
Her face flushed immediately, thinking of the embarrassment of being caught peeking at the wall by him when they met again. She sat on the ground for a while, and thought: The sound of horse hooves was so loud, I was just looking at the cavalry, not specifically to see him.
At this time, Old Man Lu also came out. Seeing his daughter standing by the wall, he hurriedly reminded her: "Don't open the door. There are so many soldiers outside. Who knows who you are?" Don't forget how your mother died.