Chapter 43: Battle Clouds (1)

The little Ma Wang held the wine bowl in his mouth and raised his neck, put the wine into his mouth, and then swung his mouth, and the beautiful celadon wine bowl fell to the ground and bloomed. The little Ma Wang laughed: "Have fun, I've been drinking so happily for a long time.

"The cicadas were still screaming weakly on the big tree. Under the tree were several officers lying, and five or six wine jars in front of everyone were lying everywhere.

The young officers under this tree hold half of the military power in Liaodong. In addition to the Little Ma Wang, there are Chu Zhi, Qu Qing brothers, Zhuang De and Su Jie.

The common feature of these people is that they are all old generals who follow the Liao king's vassals, that is, the direct subordinates of the Liao king in the Liaodong army. Only one of them is the exception, Katun, who is shameless and wants to follow him.

At the end of June, the Second Army, "Western Liao", advanced to the vicinity of Shanhaiguan and conducted a large-scale military exercise with the Guanning Army, which was also to test the achievements of the two armies after half a year of training.

As the head general of the Guanning Army, Xiao Mawang came forward to invite these old brothers from the Yulin Right Guard to have a meal. After the lunch, everyone was not satisfied with the drinks, so they brought a few jars of wine to the shade of the tree to drink and chat.

Over the years, the old brothers have been promoted to one side, and there are very few times when they get together. This rare opportunity has made everyone very happy. Su Jie, who has a slightly less alcoholic appetite, fell down first and slept beside the trunk, snoring like thunder.

The other people were also drunk and joking loudly.

The little pony said: "It's not easy, it's not easy! After so many years, we brothers can still sit here and have a drink, and one of them is missing... Oh, there's another brother. How difficult it is."

Qu Qing was very drunk and nodded and said, "Yes, especially me, who was assigned to Ning Fan that year, and I really thought it would be impossible for me to be with everyone in my life."

The little horse king said: "So, thank you Yan Ni. Thank you for giving us the opportunity to gather. Haha, otherwise we would have to be separated from each other, Zhuang De, Su Jie was guarding the north, and the Qu Qing brothers were in Daning.

Come on, are there any wine? Everyone is full, and have another drink."

Chu Zhi waved his hand and said, "Okay. OK, it's almost done. I think we'll stop drinking and chatting."

Although the official position of Xiao Ma Wang is already higher than that of Chu Zhi, Xiao Ma Wang admired Chu Zhi's martial arts in the past. When he saw him speak, he no longer forced himself and said, "Okay. Haha, Brother Chu said he would not drink it if he didn't drink it."

Chu Zhi said: "Oh, I remember how comfortable it was when I was in the capital with Your Highness. I drank and shot. I was free and easy."

These people are divided into different levels. The Qu brothers, Xiao Ma Wang, and Chu Zhi were the first people to play with the Liao King. Zhuang De and Su Jie gradually became Zhu Zhi's confidants later.

So when talking about these, these two people didn't speak and just listened there.

The little horse king said: "Yes, our brothers all followed His Highness to come out of the dead. The current scenery is entirely up to His Highness's grace. So today, I, Wang Wen, not only want to tell you about my brotherly love, but also have one thing to say."

Katun listened to them talking about their feelings back then, his face full of envy. He has been under Chu Zhi since he joined the Liaodong Army.

I had long regarded Chu Zhi as my elder brother and wanted to get close to their circle. It was not to be able to reach the Liao king's direct line, but I just felt that these brothers were young and had similar interests.

He immediately said: "Brother Wang, just say whatever you have. When you need brothers, just keep your words."

The little horse king said: "Okay. It's good that Brother Ka said this. I said just now. Our wealth today is entirely dependent on the grace of Your Highness.

Now your Highness is in need of us. Wang Guan hopes that all the old brothers can work together to help your Highness achieve great achievements.”

Qu Qing said: "Old Wang. You'll be disgusted by saying this. Brothers here, who do not follow His Highness's head?" As he said that, everyone nodded and said yes.

The little pony king said: "Haha, it's true that I'm not. I'm really a bit disgusting when I say this. I've just been missing for many years, and I still want to dig out my heart with everyone. According to my estimation, I'm going to meet Yan this time.

The Liaoxi Army came to Guanning and probably wouldn't look back."

As soon as he heard that there was a war to fight, Katun came to his senses and said, "Brother Wang, have you heard some wind? Are you going to enter the pass again to fight?"

Xiao Ma Wang said: "I haven't seen the specific plan yet, but I attended the situation analysis meeting yesterday, and the Iron Chief Secretary reported the news from the south.

Last month, the imperial court's army was defeated by 500,000 troops, and the losses were quite heavy. I heard that the elite troops in the Beijing camp were wiped out. Some old friends in the Beijing camp were also gone. I guess the brothers have heard of it, too." Everyone nodded.

Chu Zhi said: "If this is the case, it seems that the Liaoxi Army is really going to stay. The imperial court seems to be unable to withstand it, and we need to take action."

The little horse king said: "Yes, I see that the General Staff must be planning related plans, ranging from half a month to one month. The two armies of Guanning and western Liaoning will inevitably enter the pass to fight.

I think this time I will fight Yan Nidi. I really don’t know how many of our brothers can drink together at the next party.”

Qu You said: "Brother Wang, don't say that, life and death are fate, wealth and honor are in heaven. It is normal for a soldier to wrap a body of a horse and a corpse."

Xiao Ma Wang smiled slightly and said, "Brother Xiao Qu is right. But I want to say one more thing here today.

What do you think Your Highness has towards the court?” This matter is extraordinary. When talking about the government affairs, it is obviously not what they, the military men, should be involved.

Chu Zhi said: "Little Pony King, how do you think?"

The little horse king said: "Your Highness has been patriotic and loving the people in Liaodong for so many years, launching troops and eliminating corruption and corruption. The people of Liaodong live and work in peace and contentment.

However, there were some people in the court who were seeking fame and were disliked by Your Highness. They repeatedly asked Your Highness to trouble you, and wanted to get rid of it and get it done quickly.

Have you ever thought about it? If the King of Yan is destroyed, the court has hidden all the birds and bows, and then turn around and deal with His Highness, what should we do?" Everyone did not expect the Prince of Pony to raise such a question, and everyone was silent and had nothing to say.

After a while, Zhuang De spoke: "My life was given by Your Highness. If you don't have Your Highness, I will be awarded the title of Lan Ni. So as long as your Highness commands me to cut down whoever I ask you to cut down.

"Zhuang De is a rough man, speaking in a straightforward manner and having a strong murderous aura in his words.

Katun also said, "Brother Zhuang is right, I will give my life to His Highness the King of Liao. Whoever you want to kill must be called Lao Ka." After he said this, everyone laughed.

Since the two of them were talking, everyone expressed their willingness to be the one who was in the front and back of the horse.

Qu Qing is the oldest, relatively calm, and does not rush to speak. After everyone finished speaking, he slowly said: "The battle of Jingnan has formed a three-way competition, Your Highness, Yan Ni and the court.

After several rounds of miserable defeats, the strength of the court was greatly damaged and it was difficult to dominate the situation. Yan Ni continued to grow in the war with the court, and his troops were already strong. The court must rely on Your Highness to quell the rebellion at this time. I think Your Highness should have made arrangements for what he did.

I remember Lord Yang said that any political confrontation is backed by strength. So we only need to faithfully execute Your Highness’s orders and use our subordinates’ military strength to serve as your highness’s strong support... It is unknown whether we will compete in the Central Plains in the future.

"Qu Qing's last sentence competed with the Central Plains, and his ambitions were vividly revealed in his words.

The little Ma Wang nodded and said, "Brother Qu is right. It is enough to have the brothers' statements today. I think our brothers can make soil into incense today and become brothers of the opposite sex. Everyone will share the same blessings and difficulties, and jointly protect the Liao King's competition for the Central Plains."

...

The fierce offensive of the Yan army in spring and summer finally subsided in front of the strong city of Jinan. The 100,000 Yan army besieged Jinan for two months, with nearly 10,000 troops losing nearly 10,000, and still unable to open the gate of Jinan.

When the first autumn rain came down, Monk Daoyan suggested to Zhu Di, "The teacher is old, please ask for a teacher." Although Zhu Di was angry, he also knew that losing his aura would be useless to attack again.

At the end of July, the Yan army robbed the prefectures and counties in northern Shandong and slowly retreated northward.

Wei Duke Xu Huizu and Yan army arrived in Jinan. After the Yan army was withdrawn, Xu Huizu and Wu Jie led their troops to follow him. Dezhou was recovered in early August.

Xu Huizu vowed to Dezhou, and the victory of Jinan's defense battle and the recovery of Dezhou gave him a rare opportunity to breathe a rebellion.

Xu Huizu organized a front-line military meeting and determined that defense was the upper-level strategy, using Dezhou to protect Shandong and Zhending to protect Henan. These two cities were the bases of the defense line, Hejian Prefecture was the gun head, and the three cities formed a triangular configuration.

He guarded Hejian with brave generals safely, and he was in Dezhou by himself, and Wu Jie stationed in Zhending. Xu Huizu saw clearly the weaknesses of the Yan army's ability to attack through the battle in Jinan, and strictly ordered all troops not to go out easily and only to be held in the city and defended the city.

Yang Jing and Yang Rong arrived in Liaodong with silver pay, but did not go to Guangning. Zhu Zhi welcomed Shanhaiguan. Yang Jing comforted all the troops at Shanhaiguan and inspected the defense of the pass. The imperial envoy was very happy about the majestic military appearance of the Liaodong army.

After finishing the front line affairs, Yang Jing said goodbye to King Yan and moved to Guangning with Yang Rong. The imperial envoy took a short rest and began his inspection in Liaodong. He planned to spend two months traveling all over the ground in Liaodong to encourage people's morale.

On July 15, Zhu Zhi sent the Right Guard of Guangning to penetrate the eastern Hebei Plain. Fang Sheng was worried about the more and more Liaodong detectives appearing near Luanzhou.

Since June, Shanhaiguan has assembled eleven guards of the Liaodong Army. Fang Sheng was shocked by the rewards of the scouts. The six major forces in Liaodong are here together. In addition, the two Jurchen guards and the elite cavalry guards of the Shenyang Central Guard have also arrived.

Although I got information from other channels that the Liaodong Army gathered at Shanhaiguan for exercise after half a year of rectification, the fools knew that these eleven guards and tigers and wolves would never just be a show of air here, and it would be a matter of time before going west to Hebei.

Fang Sheng weighed the fact that his three guards could not resist anyway, so he was forced to send envoys to Peking for help.
Chapter completed!