Chapter 31: Divine soldiers descend from heaven to Xiangzhou City (Part 2)
When the floating castle "Third New Tokyo" approached in the wind, the Song army stationed in Xiangzhou did not notice the arrival of this uninvited guest at all.
The setting sun at dusk falls on the ancient city wall, reflecting a mottled halo. The smoke from cooking pots swayed over the city, creating a quiet and peaceful atmosphere. Xiangzhou City under the twilight is so quiet and peaceful, and there are not many traces of the cruelty of war.
——The continuous wars between the Jin and Song dynasties have caused terrible damage to the rich countryside of Hebei. However, every time the Jin army went south, they marched straight in and never limited themselves to fighting for one city or one place. Therefore, the states in Hebei The largest cities, as long as they are not on the attack route of the Jin army, are basically intact for the time being - although in the words of the Bianliang court masters and scholar-bureaucrats, these places are already considered occupied areas.
Therefore, many of the Song Army soldiers stationed in Xiangzhou have never really seen the Jin soldiers, and their combat effectiveness and discipline cannot be expected... Although the soldiers on the top of the city are still on guard, Most of them have started whispering or dozing off.
On the tower of the south gate of Xiangzhou, several Forbidden Army soldiers wearing light paper armor and holding long guns were rubbing their hands in the cold wind and chatting with each other. No one noticed the floating castle at the end of the sky - the floating castle at this time. The empty city is still too far away. From the top of the city, it is just an inconspicuous black dot. And limited to the knowledge of the people of the Song Dynasty, they had no idea that anyone would come from the sky.
"...Alas, Old Man Zhang slipped away and went to Widow Liu's shop down below to have fun, leaving us to suffer in the cold wind here..."
"...Is there any way to make that guy's niece become Captain Wang's concubine... Erhu, leave me some wine! Hiccup~~ In this damn weather, I really can't stand it without a few sips, The cold air has penetrated into the bones... Fortunately, the control here is loose..."
"... Hehe, I think besides drinking, you must also want to find a woman to have fun with, right? Speaking of which, I haven't been to Yihongyuan for almost a month. I wonder what is happening to that bitch Xiao Taohong now? So, is the skirt inside the skirt looser..."
Seeing that it was time to change shifts, the garrison soldiers gathered in several circles on the city wall, drinking and chatting idly. After taking a few sips of wine, they began to casually complain about recent troubles, and then the topic gradually changed. When it came to women, all kinds of dirty jokes and pornographic jokes kept coming, making the atmosphere more and more heated... Although everyone still lowered their voices to prevent the conversation from being heard by some people who should not hear it, the atmosphere was It has indeed been instigated. And some people who shouldn't hear it have actually heard it...
Looking at these forgetful guys, the cavalry soldiers who had just been punished and sent to patrol the city were all shaking their heads. They had no choice but to shake their heads helplessly and melancholy, then turned around and looked at the snow-covered wilderness outside the city wall, exhaling a large cloud of white. moist mist.
Although he was very dissatisfied with the slack style of his colleagues, Yue Fei also knew that there was also a reason why they were so confident and openly skipped their posts - the main force of more than 100,000 Jin soldiers were wiped out in ashes at the foot of Bianliang City, which made the invasion of Song Dynasty impossible. The Jin soldiers are almost all gone. The last remaining Jurchen field legion is still thousands of miles away in the old Liao and Yanjing areas. It is impossible to attack Xiangzhou in a short time.
Therefore, although there are constant wars in Hebei, it is actually the Song people who are killing the Song people, and there are almost no Jurchen Tatars. Those small groups of "rebels", or bandits, who were active in the wilderness, at best, dared to show their power in villages and small towns that lacked defense power, and occasionally robbed the transport teams of the Jin Army and the Song Army. But in Xiangzhou City, which has tens of thousands of soldiers, no bandit dares to offend.
Since Xiangzhou was safe, the defenders, who had been tense for a long time, naturally relaxed a lot. Now being forced by his superiors to defend the city wall in the wind and snow has already made their boss dissatisfied. If military discipline is still as strict as in wartime, and harsh punishments are often used... Believe it or not, before we get tattoos on our faces, we can pack up our luggage and go home, and stop serving you big bosses?
In the Song Dynasty, which valued civility over military affairs, unless there was really no other way, which seven-foot-tall man would be willing to humiliate himself as a soldier?
After sighing at the neglect of his colleagues' duties, Yue Fei sadly recalled his ups and downs these days.
He is from Tangyin County in Xiangzhou. He was originally a villager of the Han family in Xiangzhou. His family has been farming for generations and has a humble status. There has never been any great person in the past. But Yue Fei has been extremely talented and powerful since he was a child. He can shoot a three hundred kilogram bow and an eight-stone crossbow. He also apprenticed under the famous archer Zhou Tong. I want to join the army to serve my country and gain fame on the battlefield.
However, Yue Fei's journey to join the army was not smooth. Counting this time, he has joined the army three times and had no choice but to go home twice - the first time was when his unit was cut and demobilized. As a new recruit, Yue Fei had to Demobilized and returned home; the second time was when the army station was captured by the Jin army. He fought his way out of the siege amidst the chaos and finally escaped back to Tangyin's hometown. Later, someone recruited troops in Xiangzhou. Yue Fei was already disheartened and wanted to live in his hometown forever. But his old mother strongly urged him to try again and tattooed the four words "Serve the Country with Loyalty" on his back as a commendation.
This time, Yue Fei's luck seemed to have improved a little: as soon as he joined the army, he was valued by his superiors because of his excellent shooting skills, and was selected into the relatively respected cavalry unit, and he also got involved with a "city guard". The small official position of "head". But before he could find any opportunity to show off his martial arts, his troops marched into Xiangzhou to accept the reorganization of the Hebei Military Marshal's Mansion, and Yue Fei's immediate boss also changed... It didn't take long for the upright Yue Fei to He made rude remarks and contradicted his new boss, but was driven to the city wall to enjoy the cold wind.
Such a humiliating punishment certainly made Ma Jun's colleagues laugh. But although Yue Fei is not very old, he has encountered a lot of ups and downs over the years, and his character has been polished to be very stable, so he does not take it seriously and takes it calmly.
What really worried him right now was the next move of the tens of thousands of troops gathered in Xiangzhou.
——Although it is hard to believe, the Jin soldiers who went south to the Central Plains were indeed destroyed on the outskirts of Bianliang. However, the Hebei Military Marshal's Mansion, which has completed its mission, seems unwilling to withdraw from the stage of history. Instead, it is more actively recruiting troops to expand its strength, and there is a faint tendency to separatist forces. But anyone with a little knowledge can see that no matter which emperor is sitting in the Bianliang Palace, he will not allow such an army with tens of thousands of soldiers to exist in Xiangzhou, which is close to the capital and across the river. , a large vassal town with jurisdiction over thousands of miles.
Not to mention that the person in charge of this feudal town is also a prince of the royal family, so he naturally has a certain sense of succession law!
If there is any collusion with the same party in the palace, it will immediately become the biggest threat to the throne of the Song Dynasty!
Therefore, in order to deal with the suspicion of Bianliang and the possible reduction of the vassal, some of the latest military strategies introduced by Xiangzhou, such as sending rangers to scout, setting up beacon towers, etc., are obviously to guard against the Bianjing court in the south, rather than to guard against the Bianjing court in the south. The Jurchens entrenched in the north - although Kang Wang Zhao Gou and his party members still chanted the anti-Jin slogans loudly, they could not stand up to the fact that there were many discerning people in the world who could see the current situation clearly.
In fact, there have been undercurrents and discussions among the armies stationed in Xiangzhou these days. Many people spoke eloquently behind the scenes, and swore that King Kang would cross the river and send troops to attack Bianliang and usurp the throne by force in the name of "incompetence and humiliating the country and imprisoning his father as unfilial"!
Well, it seems that someone in the past said the truth: "The emperor, he who has a strong army and strong horses will do it himself." But the problem is that we are no longer in the troubled times of the Five Dynasties when emperors took turns to do things. All kinds of rules, etiquette and ethics among monarchs and ministers have been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. If King Kang really had the evil intention of usurping the throne by force, he would not only have to bear the infamy pointed out by thousands of people in the world, but also Or use a corner of the world as an enemy - no matter how you look at it, there is no possibility of victory!
At the moment, although Yue Fei was a little reluctant to part with the position of the head of the cavalry army he had just received, he still secretly made up his mind. If King Kang really wanted to risk the disapproval of the world and raise troops in Xiangzhou to usurp the throne, then he would never covet anything to support him from the dragon. work, but will think He had to desert his job as soon as possible, otherwise he would be sorry for the four characters "Serve the Country with Loyalty" tattooed on his back by his mother. Although his Tangyinyue family has been humble for generations, it is also an honest family. Even if it can't produce a big shot, it can't be What a traitor!
It's just... will my third time joining the army end like this?
There is really no way to serve the country, and all the martial arts skills that I have worked so hard to cultivate have been wasted!
Thinking of this, Yue Fei couldn't help but sigh quietly, and at the same time accidentally turned his head and glanced into the air.
Then, as if he saw Medusa's eyes, his whole body became "petrified".
Oh my God! What did he see? ! A castle, a majestic castle with a golden appearance, is approaching Xiangzhou City from the air! !