After nearly two months of mobilization and preparation, the hundreds of thousands of Qihu troops gathered in Luoyang finally began to march south in batches.

This use of troops is the largest scale of conscription and mobilization since the founding of Shi Zhao and even since the uprising of Zhao Zhu Shile. There are nearly 300,000 official armored warriors alone, including more than 100,000 soldiers from the country, 80,000 counties and countries with the best armor and strong forces, and nearly 100,000 miscellaneous Hu Yicong.

Among them, the most elite is none other than the 30,000 heavy-armored righteous servants in the Chinese army and under the account of the king of Zhongshan. Almost every one of them is the elite of a hundred battles, a fierce pawn in battle, the first choice, and the champion of all armies.

And with the military strength levied by these hundreds of thousands of troops, it is more than double the armor. The counties between Heluo and Luo were almost swept away, and millions of people gathered around Luoyang, all of them were destroyed, and the city was wiped out. The silk wisps of things are used, and the grains are all stored along the river, and the countryside is gone!

And the many generals who commanded the army are enough to show that the country attaches great importance to this military service. Shihu, the king of Zhongshan, was in charge of the military of the world with the title of lieutenant, and all the departments outside the province were controlled. The army is divided into seven roads, in addition to the king of Zhongshan sitting in the middle army, the border town generals are all under the command, there are Guo Ao, Taobao, Zhixiong and many other generals who have been with the army to lead the various departments. Even if the Han and Zhao Dynasty were destroyed in the west a few years ago, they did not have such a large military formation.

Tens of thousands of forwards pulled out the way first, and a few days later, Shi Hucai, the king of Zhongshan, personally led the army south.

On the day of the army's departure, there was almost no idle soil in the wilderness, and the banners were densely erected like a forest, and the water and land marched together. There are more than 1,000 boats on Luo, and Luoshui is overflowing. The soldiers along the river marched in a roundabout way, and the formation was dozens of miles long, the birds and beasts were frightened away, and the color of the sky and the earth changed.

Langdang Canal is the most important waterway in Luoxia to connect Huaishui, and it refers to this waterway when Chu and Han fought and confronted each other in history. Although the passage of time has changed and the river has been modified, its importance has not been detracted. No matter what era it is, whether there is war or not, this river is an extremely important channel to communicate the north and the south.

In the early years, Shi Zhao mainly conquered in the north, especially with the Han and Zhao, and the demand for waterways was not too large, so the operation of waterways was a little slack. In addition, the Yellow River has a lot of sediment, and the river water flows here, and there are many river congestion and siltation. This time, the demand for waterways was suddenly magnified, and the focus was on dredging the Langdang Canal.

In order not to delay the military period, the country has invested hundreds of thousands of people in this alone. In addition, Shihu, the king of Zhongshan, was violent and tyrannical, and his harsh orders were even more urgent, so the officials of the river governor were also miserable, and frequently urged the people to make the dredging camp of hundreds of miles of waterways within the military period, so that the boats could sail unimpeded.

However, the price of using his life so urgently was that a large number of forced laborers Ding Yong exhausted the river and died on the way. So much so that there are many folk proverbs complaining about bitterness and sorrow among Heluo, born to be hated by others, and the long canal has set off a blood wave for thousands of miles!

In order to dredge the river within the specified time, even the corpses of the exhausted people had no time to collect them, and they did not dare to throw them into the waterway. There was no shortage of frenzied overseers who would even wrap the corpses in grass and mud and stuff them directly into the dam. If you pick up these weirs, the dirt will be full of white flesh and bones!

On the day of the opening of the army, the slave generals were afraid that these tragic pictures would collide and offend the king of Zhongshan, so they mostly built a bamboo building near the left of the pier and pier to cover it with colorful silk flags to cover it slightly, and the wind was strong to show off the military might.

Zhongshan Wang Shihu this expedition to the south, both land and water. It was a huge building ship, like a floating fortress, and it took more than 2,000 slender men to tow it along the river to barely make it through this rough waterway. In order to build such a large ship in such a short time, the overseers even ordered someone to demolish the old hall of Luoyang and take its beams and pillars to complete the construction.

And Shi Hu was also overjoyed when he saw such a mighty ship, and directly promoted the supervisor to the governor, and served as a close servant with the army.

Although the big ship is mighty, Shi Hu can't get on the ship for the time being, just such a big ship is barely navigable, and if you add the thousands of his personal soldiers and followers, it will be even more difficult.

In order to prevent the king of Zhongshan from getting angry because of the disappointment, the supervisors and officials also racked their brains, just to build a big ship and still have some good wood and big materials, so they simply created a wide and more than a few zhang of the four wangxing. It took more than a dozen carriages to tow it, but if you want to avoid bumps and move flexibly, you need to lift it completely by man. And it is not ordinary forced labor, but a universal election of beautiful and healthy women, and more than 300 people can carry it.

However, Shi Hu also understood that he had not yet reached the position of exclusive exaltation, and the lord's intentions in Xiangguo were still unpredictable, so he did not dare to be too profligate, so he did not use this chariot, but sent someone to send Xingcha and the more than 300 beautiful women back to Yecheng to hide them for later use.

This time, the armor soldiers in the country, except for the Praetorian Guards, can be said to be mobilized, and it is a certain number to break the remnants of the Gou Cun Jiangbiao in the future. Therefore, the generals are more than relaxed, and the only thing that is a little boring is that the journey is slightly boring, and there is almost no pastime to speak of.

Tens of thousands of military horses in the vanguard spread out and swept in southern Henan, breaking through the Wubi people in the realm one by one, and scattering the people in the wilderness, which is called hunting.

Such a marching atmosphere became even more intensified among Shihu's Chinese army. These tens of thousands of righteous wrestlers are completely Shi Hu's private army, in order to compete for favor with the lord and show off their bravery, all the generals are doing everything. Hunting fierce beasts, chasing people and goods, but all the boastful things that can be thought of are staged one after another.

Shi Hu was also happy to see this, and it happened that Shi Cong of Qiaojun sent a large amount of goods, so he simply placed them directly in his Chinese army tent, and counted the captures of all the generals every day. Even directly placed a number of military command orders on the car, and if there is anyone who can be the leader, even if it is only white, he will be directly awarded the command and promoted to the commander of the army!

In this way, the righteous congregations inevitably became more enthusiastic, and they were active in the countryside one by one, and all living creatures as far as they could see became their hunting objects. And in this process, a group of brave warriors soon emerged, such as Ma Qiu, who was reused earlier, and Zhang Mi, Zhang Xiong, Zhang Ju, Shi Min, Li Su and other generals who have recently emerged.

Some of these people are brave and brave, some are the sons of ministers, and some are originally humble people. All of them are loved by Shi Hu because of their excellent performance, and they are given the talisman to share the crowd.

With these successful examples, other soldiers who are determined to get ahead naturally redouble their eagerness. However, they were still in the hinterland of the Central Plains, and they were the towns of the Chinese army, and even if there were unruly and brave people in the countryside who resisted the army, they were all uprooted and swept away by the forwards, so they soon suffered from the absence of an enemy and had no opportunity to perform.

In order to compete for the opportunity to perform, the bold people took advantage of the King of Zhongshan, and even beat the idea to the army and other people, so the rest of the people and horses were not unleashed.

After the camp was stopped on this day, more than a dozen horsemen from outside the big tent of the Chinese army rushed here, and they did not stop until they broke through to the camp gate.

The first one was a veteran with a slightly gray beard, and when he dismounted, even if he pressed his sword and went straight to the camp gate, the soldiers at the camp gate saw this, and hurriedly stepped forward to block it, and his attitude was slightly arrogant. A person suddenly rushed out from behind the veteran, raised his leg and kicked the slightly unceremonious soldier to the ground, and scolded angrily: "The slave is so dim-eyed that he doesn't even know how to shoot Guo Fu!" Get out of here, or you'll be killed right here! ”

These Zhongshan kings have always only been able to bully others, how could they have been treated like this. Seeing this scene, even if there were hundreds of soldiers on the nearby side rushing out of the camp directly, surrounding these dozen people, and confronting each other's swords, the fire seemed to be on the verge of breaking out, and the veteran's face was also extremely blue, and he suddenly roared angrily: "The madness is so far, is this what the king taught?" ”

At this time, there was a group of people and horses on the side who returned to the camp of the Chinese army, and the first general who was standing in the year saw this scene, his face couldn't help but be solemn, and he hurriedly turned his horse to the front, and drank back from the Chinese army, and then stepped forward to salute the veteran and said: "These soldiers are difficult to recognize the Venerable, watch the camp gate, where the duty is, and hope that the servants will not be guilty." Please wait for a while, and the last general will immediately enter the camp to report to the king. ”

The veteran is named Guo Ao, and the younger one is Ma Qiu, a Shi Hu general who has recently become famous in the Chinese army. Hearing Ma Qiu say this, Guo Ao's anger on his face subsided slightly, he just waved his hand and drove away, without saying much to Ma Qiu, but no longer forced to break in, just stood there and waited for the transmission.

Ma Qiu hurriedly walked inside, and after a while, he returned again, and when he walked in front of Guo Ao, he stretched out his hand and asked, "The king asks the servant to shoot into the tent." ”

After Guo Ao heard this, he bowed his head slightly, and then entered proudly, not paying more attention to Ma Qiu.

"The old slave is so arrogant and underestimates his bravery, it's really disgusting! Why should the general be polite to him, but let him underestimate the wrestlers under the command of the king even more! ”

When the soldiers on the side saw this scene, they complained in a low voice even if they were a little angry.

Ma Qiu smiled when he heard this, and said: "He is the old servant of the master, and now he is in charge of the left army, and I will wait for these backward pawns, so naturally I will not be put in his eyes." ”

That being said, Ma Qiu is also quite dismissive of Guo Aoqi, this person is just fortunate to be older and has long been from the master. If time passes, with the appreciation and love of King Zhongshan, he may not be able to step forward.

After Guo Ao entered the account, he traveled all the way, and soon arrived at the big tent of the Chinese army.

Shi Hu was in the tent at this time, and the audience was about to report on military affairs, and when he saw Guo Ao entering the tent without passing the word, a trace of gloom passed through his eyes, but he quickly reined in and asked Guo Ao to be led to the banquet, so he asked: "The servant shoots the left part, and it is also a heavy responsibility, if there is an affair, you can choose someone to report, why do you need to go here in person?" ”

"The majesty of the king is hard to see, and I am afraid that it will be difficult for the lowly to accept this prestige, so I can only come to worship in person."

Guo Ao's face turned dark again when he heard this, he had already sent several people to meet him, but they were all blocked outside the camp gate. But now he won't talk about this matter more, since he has seen Shi Hu, he said: "The day before yesterday, a part of our army was picked up by the king's troops, I don't know if the king knows about this?" If it were just ordinary and trivial, I would not dare to bother the king. But the left part deviates from the waterway, especially the resources are used to make up for it, and I really dare not take it lightly......"

"Is there such a thing?"

Shi Hu was slightly suspicious after hearing this, and then said with a smile: "There are many miscellaneous affairs in the Chinese army, and I am not in charge of everything. If this is the case, send someone back immediately. ”

Guo Ao heard that Shi Hu was still procrastinating, and his eyebrows suddenly raised, but although he saw that Shi Hu was smiling, his eyes were already hidden in his eyes, and he didn't want to make the relationship too stiff. After a moment of deep groaning, he said, "The Lord has paid the king this time, and the hope is not ungenerous. Although the southern thieves are remnants, there are also many diehards, and this battle is very important, and the king naturally knows it. However, recently, there has been no shortage of wild soldiers in the Chinese military headquarters, and even ......"

"What does it matter if you are a little reckless? To motivate the soldiers is the way to win many times since the beginning of the day. If I remember correctly, in my early years, I was also brave and brave, so that I could be deeply valued by the Lord. The vision needs to be long-term, how do you know that today's crazy pawn can't replace the servant in the future? ”

When Shi Hu said this, the displeasure on his face became even stronger, and at the same time he stood up and turned his back to not want to talk more.

Guo Ao's face couldn't help but become even more ugly after hearing this, and he also got up and stared at Shi Hu for a long time, before he suddenly sighed: "The king is planning deeply, and the last general will not dare to say more." I only came for the foreword, and I hope that the king can make a return training as soon as possible. ”

After finishing speaking, Guo Ao said goodbye and left.

When the people left the military tent, Shi Hu suddenly turned around, raised his leg and kicked the case over, his face was already full of anger: "The old slave is really disgusting!" He is nothing but the hope of the Lord, dividing the multitude of me, and hating his words......"

Although he was extremely disgusted with Guo Ao, Shi Hu was helpless for a while. This Guo Ao is extremely old, he is one of the eighteen horsemen of the old master, and he is also from the Haozong of Bingzhou, and there is no shortage of cronies, which is far from being comparable to Cheng Yao and others. The Lord sent this man to accompany the army, and his words were an aid, but in fact they were a constraint.

As early as when he took Shi Lang in Luoyang, this person secretly had no shortage of complaints, and now he is criticizing his subordinates for being too arrogant, which has made Shi Hu's endurance almost extreme. But he also knew very well the importance of this military march, although he had accumulated too much dissatisfaction, it was still difficult to attack before the southern expedition came to fruition.

At this time, there were many Shi Hu's cronies and generals in the account, and what Guo Ao said before was to blame them for being too active and arrogant, and the mood was naturally not good. Goodbye, the king was furious, and for a while he scolded Guo Ao for relying on the old man and selling the old man.

"The old slaves are nothing more than supporters. In particular, there is no shortage of people who dare to fight, so they look down on others, are crazy, and resist the king's order. The king may as well take the opportunity to take advantage of the brave people in supervising the army this time, so that the old slave will not be troubled. ”

One of the generals said: "There is no lack of old friendship between the last general and Li Nong, the general of Guangzong, and they are willing to go to the king to share the story." ”

When Shi Hu heard this, his eyes flashed, although his prestige in the army was extremely high, he was not a person without confrontation, and this Guo Ao was one of the representatives. This time, the lord used his people to restrain himself, and it was difficult for him to intervene with more than 50,000 people on the left, if he could take this opportunity to deal with Guo Ao, it would be a great advantage for him.

However, after a little mover, he still said: "The matter of the old slave, there is no need to rush for a while, and it is not too late to wait until the south is decided." As for dividing the people and subordinates, they might as well give it a try now, but they should keep it secret and not mess with the morale of the army. As for you and others, you might as well exercise a little restraint in the near future, and wait until the troops enter southern Henan and approach Huaishui, so as not to worry that there will be no chance to make contributions. ”

Although he is arrogant and arrogant, he is not without a sense of trade-off, and he is still the first in the military at the moment. Only after completely defeating the Jin army can he have the opportunity and excuse to inspect the surrounding area, solve the military towns set up by the lord in various places, and then return to the country with a triumphant momentum to shock people's hearts.

Guo Ao here, it is true that Shi Hu is not lacking in anger. Although Shi Cong is only a domestic slave, his prestige in the country is far less than that of Shi Sheng and other kings, nor is he as good as Guo Ao and other old generals, but after all, he is in southern Henan. This person is now forced by military power to bow his head to himself, which is in line with Shi Hu's expectations for this outing, unlike Shi Lang's stubbornness and self-defeat.

However, the appreciation of Shi Cong lasted for less than a few days, and soon the news of the surprise attack of the southern thieves to break through the city father and the return of the great exile in southern Henan reached the army. Shi Hu was furious after hearing the news, and he hated to cut Shi Cong's belly in person!

At the same time, he no longer maintained the speed of the slow march, and personally selected light cavalry warriors, led by Ma Qiu and other henchmen, and immediately galloped southward, making sure to sweep and uproot all the strongholds of the southerners in Huaibei before the arrival of the successor army!