A group of people came out to congratulate everyone, carrying the slanting sun on their backs, and walked towards the barracks station.

After walking a few steps, the strength of the wine came up, and the whole body was hot, Wang Liang opened his robe and said to Liu Huai: "Commander, that girl is willing, and she is very happy to see Fan Xuexue drink wine, and this matter seems to be done." In a few months, you will marry and enter the door, and you will also have a family! ”

Liu Huai said: "A lifelong event, how can they be sloppy?" I think I'll come and ask me about it in the next few days, and then I can make a decision. ”

Zhou Su said: "You are valued by the promotion and the head of the sect, and you are the commander of a battalion, who doesn't know your benefits?" If you inquire, you will be hired early! ”

Several people laughed and laughed as they strode towards the barracks. In the past few years, there have been more men than women, and there are really many people in the army who are in their twenties and thirties who have not yet married. Even if it is a commander of Liu Huai's level, there are many people who have not yet married. In the past two years, it has gotten better, there are more newcomers from other places, and the locals' impression of the camp has become better, and local girls have begun to marry one after another.

As soon as I returned to the barracks, I found that everyone was very busy.

Liu Huai said goodbye to Wang Liang and hurriedly returned to his camp with Zhou Su. Before he arrived at the tent, he saw the deputy commander hurriedly ushering in and said to Liu Huai: "Raise the wave, the imperial court edict, ordering our battalion Tianxiang army to go north to rescue Tanglong Town!" The military order has been handed down, and our cavalry and artillery go first. ”

Liu Huai was taken aback: "It's not Pingnong Zhigao who went south, why did you go north?" ”

Zheng Lian, the deputy commander, said: "We sent an edict from each army, saying that it was the imperial brother of the Khitan, Yelu Chongyuan, who led a large army to besiege Tanglong Town of this dynasty. The matter was very critical, and we happened to be ready to go out of the army, so we were transferred. ”

Liu Huai nodded, roughly understanding what was going on. Yelu Chongyuan is the younger brother of Yelu Zongzhen, the lord of the Khitan State, and when the Queen Mother was in power, she intended to abolish the elder and establish the young, and Yelu Chongyuan was the younger brother of Zongzhen. The coup d'état Yelu Zongzhen won and imprisoned the Khitan Empress Dowager, but did not offend Yelu Chongyuan, but named him the emperor's younger brother, and verbally promised himself a hundred years later, he would be passed on to him, and his brother would eventually die. However, as Yelu Zongzhen's eldest son Yelu Hongji came of age, his brother and brother were afraid that they were just verbally talking, just before this year's Khitan attack on the party, Yelu Hongji knew about the hidden things with the generalissimo of the world's soldiers and horses.

Although the Khitan has been established for more than 100 years, the political system is very chaotic and has not been formed, and coups occur frequently. The current Yeluzong is really a turning point, he has taken office and there are clear signs of learning the political system of the Song Dynasty, quelling the rebellion of the Empress Dowager, and the father-son is widely accepted by the Khitan nobles. The heirs to the throne of the Khitan generally held several important official positions. One is the Privy Council of the Prime Minister of the North and the South, and the other is the Generalissimo of Soldiers and Horses. Yelu Hongji was appointed generalissimo of soldiers and horses this year, and he has actually established the position of crown prince.

However, the Khitan is different from the Central Plains Dynasty, the nobles each have their own clan tents and their own spheres of influence, coupled with the strong role of the Xiao family in the descendants, the throne is not so attractive. Although it is inevitable to fight, once it fails, it is rare to kill it all and confirm its status. If from the perspective of the Han dynasty, Yelu Chongyuan has a major threat to Yelu Hongji's succession, and Yelu Zong should really deal with it as soon as possible. But in Khitan, Yelu Zongzhen and Yelu Chongyuan have a deep brotherly relationship, treat him very well, and always let him be in charge.

Liu Huai was an important general of the cavalry, and he knew a little about the surrounding military situation, and he also knew the general situation of the Khitan.

This time, the Khitan attacked the party, and Yelu Chongyuan originally led a large army to be stationed in Datong Mansion, on the one hand, to defend the Song army, and on the other hand, to respond to the rear. After the victory, he led his troops back to Datong from the original station of Dongshengzhou, and captured Tanglong Town by the way.

The time set by the army was very urgent, and Liu Huai couldn't care about anything else, gathered troops and horses, cleaned up the baggage, and prepared to go to Fancheng Railway Station.

Before Du Zhongxiao left Beijing, he got the order to send troops. With Tianzhang Pavilion to be systematic, Langzhong of the Ministry of Rites, deputy envoy and deputy deployment of Hedong Road Economic Strategy, and concurrently in charge of the Goushan Army, the Lan Army, the Ninghua Army, Xianzhou, Lanzhou and Baode soldiers and horses, led the battalion Tianxiang Army and supplemented the forbidden army to save Tanglong Town. Because it was too urgent, Xu acted cheaply and gave the Son of Heaven a sword.

The dispatch basically indicated its tasks and powers this time, and the six states listed, regardless of whether they were forbidden troops or box armies, and the forbidden armies were all under their jurisdiction. In addition to the soldiers and horses he led, the armies of these six states also obeyed the command. These six states are just sandwiched between the most important parallel roads and Linfu roads, most of them are mountainous areas, there are not many soldiers and horses, and there are not many soldiers and horses in fact.

Xu Yuan's actions are more important than the Sword of the Son of Heaven, and he has given him a lot of power to act on the spot. The battle situation ahead is ever-changing, and it is impossible to take the orders one by one, and decisions can be made on the spot. The Sword of the Son of Heaven is not a Shang Fang sword, and it is not something that anyone can cut if it is not pleasing to the eye, it is mainly aimed at the restraints of military officials who are temporarily subordinate to Du Zhongxiao, and they can be beheaded without asking for an order in accordance with the law. Each person's sword is different, Du Zhongxiao can only behead the generals below the jurisdiction at most, and he must report it immediately, and deploy the above at most temporary detention to ask the court to interrogate him.

In addition to the military command of the battalion Tianxiang Army, Liu Ji also led six states to deploy and capture envoys, and some of the other important generals held military positions.

The military position refers to the position of the army, and the military position refers to the position of leading troops in the locality, not only in charge of the headquarters, but also in charge of the locality.

After returning to the place and hurriedly packing up, Du Zhongxiao boarded the train to the north with important officials and entourage. This time it's not a special car, it's a special train. The military situation is urgent, and all stations along the road need to ensure unimpeded traffic.

In the carriage, Du Zhongxiao looked at the map borrowed from the Privy Council and frowned. This is still controlled when he knew the Volcano Army, and there has not been much change for so many years, which shows that the follow-up officials did not attach much importance to this matter.

After watching it for a while, Du Zhongxiao said to Liu Ji: "Military master, Yelu Chongyuan went south from Dongshengzhou to Tanglong Town, and he had to go to Yaotouzhai and Chenjiagukou to return to Shuozhou." If this trip had come down, when I knew about the Volcano Army, the military fortress and the place occupied with Captain Zhang would have been completely closed. ”

Liu Jidao: "That's true. Since he led the army south, there was no possibility of occupying Tanglong Town and then turning back to Dongshengzhou, so he could only go around a big circle to the south. In addition to Tanglong Town, Chenjia Gukou is the most critical, just the north-south avenue. Occupied by the Khitan, the army can go south from here, and break through the danger of Yanmen Pass after going around Daizhou. couldn't stop him this time, so he had to give up hundreds of miles. ”

Du Zhongxiao shook his head: "Tanglong Town has always garrisoned more than 1,000 troops, backed by Fuzhou, and there are 10,000 or 20,000 soldiers and horses. Bingzhou and Daizhou are both places where large armies are stationed, and they are not far away, as long as they drag on for a few days, this dynasty will definitely rescue. Yelu Chongyuan is so stubborn and self-serving, think he can capture it in a short time? Although the two countries have not been at war for decades, the party in this dynasty is ugly, and the Khitan is also not good-looking, how can they dare to attack? ”

Liu Jidao: "I forgot about it, the Khitans also learned to make artillery." There are some siege weapons, and it is not uncommon for them to be delusional. ”

Du Zhongxiao thought about it, but still shook his head: "I always feel that things will not be so simple. Although Yelu Chongyuan was born in wealth, he has been familiar with the military since he was a child, and this alone should not make him make such a decision. And tens of thousands of soldiers and horses must have the order of the Khitan lord. What made the Khitans think that they could quickly capture Tanglong Town, and that they would not have time to rescue in this dynasty? ”

Liu Ji was surprised: "To be systematic, do you mean that there are traitors in Tanglong Town?" ”

Du Zhongxiao nodded: "I think so." At that time, when I built Tanglong Town, many prosperous areas were outside the city, shared with Khitan high-ranking officials and dignitaries. The Khitans knew very well that it was prosperous, and if the garrison was involved in this matter privately, it was difficult to guarantee that the two would not collude. ”

Liu Ji stood up suddenly, looked at the map, and said: "According to the documents of the Privy Council, the garrison of Tanglong Town is now the capital supervisor and governor of the town, and it has been there for more than three years. A few days ago, the Privy Council changed its generals, and before the new officials arrived, it was besieged. ”

Du Zhongxiao closed his eyes and thought for a while, and said: "The matter is urgent, the stakes are very high, and we cannot exclude the possibility of collusion between inside and outside." It has to be fast, and the faster the better. Now the train is the fastest, we are already on the train, and it is too late for anything. The train only reached the Pault state, and now it is too late to inform the place, and the artillery will inevitably drag down the speed. You draw up a military order, order the rest of the way, let the cavalry go first, and the artillery behind. ”

Liu Ji hesitated for a moment and said, "Then we?" ”

"We marched with the cavalry. After arriving in Bingzhou, I met Han Jingluo, you change a car and wait for artillery, and I will go with the cavalry. ”

The cavalry of the Thirteen Langs will add three thousand fine taxes in Kaifeng Mansion, including one thousand iron armor, and their strength is very different from before. Liu Ji thought for a while, felt that there was no danger, and nodded in agreement.

If it was really Tang Long's guard who colluded with the enemy this time, it would be difficult to say how long he could hold on. The arrival of reinforcements a day earlier can boost the morale of the soldiers and civilians in the city, and even if a few generals surrender, the city may still be saved.

Although the Xiang army has powerful artillery, if the city is occupied by the Khitan, it will be much more troublesome to attack again. A prosperous city may be destroyed by war. Offense and defense, the difference is too great.

Liu Ji asked about the current arrangements of the whole army, drafted a military order, and Du Zhongxiao used the seal and sent it to several division masters.

As they prepared to go south, the nearby train department had already prepared the train. It's just that I originally planned to take a train from Xiangzhou to Jiangling Mansion, but the locomotives were seriously insufficient, so I had to temporarily transfer a lot from the railway superintendent, and even the locomotives for transporting coal were transferred, which was enough. All but the most important trains along the railway have been suspended, and they will not be able to resume traffic until the trains of the army going north have passed.

Although Di Qing's army was under the army a few months ago, it was also taken this route, and there were more people. But they are relatively scattered, and they are not as tightly concentrated as the Yingtianxiang Army this time, and it is also a test for the railway.

What's more troublesome is that at this time, the Yellow River is frozen, and although the pontoon bridge in Baimajin in Huazhou is there, it will be affected by the ice and the river crossing will not be smooth. Because the pontoon bridge has to be demolished every year and built every year, which is inconvenient and time-consuming, Yandu of Xinzhi Huazhou intends to build a permanent bridge, and it is only just surveyed. Yan Du is the son of Yan Su, a famous painter and scientist at this time, and is regarded as a son inheriting his father's business, with the help of many years of technical strength and sufficient manpower and material resources, he intends to do such a thing, to build the first bridge on the Yellow River.

It's just that the water potential of the Yellow River is complex, and the difference between the high water period and the dry season is very large, so it is not easy to build a bridge and dye it. Even with the iron supervisor and some experience in small iron bridges, it will take several years to build such a bridge, and Du Zhongxiao can't count on it.