Zhao Gui rushed out amid such fireworks.
Fortunately, he discovered it in time, and most of his troops had not yet jumped into the trench. But even so, all 26 of Zhao Gui's own soldiers died in the sea of fire.
These people were brothers who Zhao Gui could rely on for life and death, but they died in the last battle before the victory.
No one can doubt that this is a big war.
Xi Shen thought so too, so when Zhao Gui was sent to the rear by his subordinates, he was still unwilling to retreat.
In fact, Xi Shen has a strong sense of crisis. As one of the earliest cavalry generals in Mount Tai, he is undoubtedly a veteran. But over the years, Xi Shen was first sent to Heji, and later was promoted to the commander of the Flying Leopard Army. In fact, his influence in the army has lagged far behind.
Although the assault cavalry system is of higher quality than other field troops, it is actually very closed. Because of the small number of cavalry, Xi Shen's troops were only around a thousand men all year round. Not to mention Yu Jin and others, these thousand people were not even comparable to some of the less advanced generals.
Therefore, Xi Shen was quite resentful at the beginning, and he also looked for excessive satisfaction, hoping that he could help smooth things over. As far as Xi Shen himself meant, he wanted to be in charge.
Even if you can't ask for a county in the Central Plains, a county in Pingzhou and Liaodong is still possible.
But Duman did not see him, and even asked someone to tell him that the governor of a county held an important position for the country, how could he be given and accepted privately?
The wind has turned.
After that, Xi Shen asked around in many places, and finally heard something from Guo Tu.
It turns out that after finishing the campaign in Liaodong, Zhang Chong held several meetings in the Political Hall and the Privy Council. The theme of these court meetings all revolved around one theme:
"Oppose hilltopism."
This is not the first time Zhang Chong has said this word. He had said this word to all the military officials present at the first class of the martial arts hall when they graduated.
At that time, almost all of these military officials were recommended by various armies and base areas, and almost everyone had a group of mountains behind them.
So Zhang Chong specifically talked about this issue to these people at that time, that is, what the Taishan Army wanted to build was a unified group, and all those who harmed the overall interests for the sake of the interests of the mountain should be eliminated.
The requirements for these military students are also to resolutely implement the decisions and instructions of the Central Committee and always remember to follow the Taishan Army.
But this time, after the Liaodong Campaign, none of the princes and privy councilors present expected that Zhang Chong would mention this matter again.
These people are all old men of the Taishan Army, and they can tell very clearly about the current situation of the Taishan Army on the top of the mountain.
The Taishan Army started by "defeating the powerful and dividing the land". Therefore, in the process of moving to the Central Plains, seeds were left in various places in order to establish base areas.
Some of these base areas have been successful, and some have failed. But without exception, due to the inconvenience of transportation, these base areas have relatively few connections with the Taishan Army.
Under such circumstances, it is inevitable for these places to have their own small groups. After all, otherwise, these base areas would not be able to survive.
For example, in some base areas in Yangzhou and other places, a few or a dozen people actually went south at first, and eventually they gradually developed and gained some momentum. But it is obviously impossible for these areas to seek instructions from the central government for everything. They must have sufficient decision-making power to deal with the local struggle situation.
So at first, the princes of the Taishan Army did not think this was a problem, because it was inevitable for a widespread campaign to defeat the powerful.
However, Zhang Chong held several meetings and regarded this hilltop as an obstacle and began to rectify it.
He did not mention the situation in each base area, but began to emphasize the need to deal with the hills that appeared within the Taishan Army.
At that time, Zhang Chong said without hesitation:
"In the army, are there any mountains? There must be. And I am a member of the mountains myself. We started as old brothers who gathered together in the forest, and then expanded to old brothers in Mount Tai. What happened after that? There began to be different groups in the army. The mountains of Huangjin, the mountains of Yanzhou scholars, and the mountains of Yuzhou scholars waited until we arrived. In Genyouzhou, there are mountains of Beishi. It can be said that these are real. In the past, I did not deal with this problem in particular, because the existence of these mountains is a true reflection of the development process of our army. Without these mountains, our army would not be where it is now.”
"But it doesn't work now. I think we should reach a consensus from top to bottom, that is, there is no group more important than the center and the Taishan Army. Some people think that they can be promoted and serve in the military by being loyal to certain individuals. Some people also think that promoting their own people can win over a mountain for their own use. I want to tell these people that you are playing with fire and making enemies of me and the entire Taishan Army!"
"And you should all know what will happen if you become an enemy of the Taishan Army."
At that time, when Zhang Chong said these words, it can be seen how solid the atmosphere in the entire Tai Chi Hall was. Just when Duman and others thought that Zhang Chong was going to start rectifying the entire army, they heard Zhang Chong say this:
"However, this tendency was inevitable in the past, and it was not formed intentionally by everyone. So I will not offend you for this. But this problem needs to be solved. If it is not solved, the Taishan Army will sooner or later be in disarray. So how to solve it? We still have to do it. Rely on education! We must teach the military officials that the so-called personal exchanges, official appointments, and wishes are all out of the question. Only by contributing to the Taishan Army and focusing on the overall situation is the right way. , Taishan Army belongs to everyone, not you, nor him. No private person can replace the organization.”
I don't know how many people present were impressed by these words. Everyone held their breath and concentrated for fear of missing Zhang Chong's speech.
After that, Zhang Chong began to do a series of military education, not only raising the level of the original military education department to the first-level department of the Privy Council, but also removing a large number of officials to supplement it.
Under such circumstances, how could Duman dare to see Xi Shen.
However, Duoman also knew in his heart that with Zhang Chong's personality, what he said was education must be education, so he was not worried about causing a big storm.
Besides, Duman was also upright and honest, and he had never betrayed his public ambitions for his own purposes.
But Du Man was upright, but Xi Shen was not. He didn't have the confidence.
He knew very well that he had fallen into a very dangerous situation, and he might be on the list of anti-mountainists this time.
Subsequent developments also confirmed Xi Shen's guess.
Not long after the meeting, Zhang Chong took the lead in reorganizing and expanding the original tenth battalion of assault cavalry. It was during this reorganization that Xi Shen's small group of evil boys was completely dismembered.
Although Xi Shen still stayed in the original Flying Leopard Army, the main generals of each unit under his command have been replaced by others.
In this situation, Xi Shen knew that his only chance was to obey and make special achievements.
As for defecting? Xi Shen never thought about it because it didn't reach that point.
Therefore, before he knew that Hu Zhen's camp was heavily fortified and would suffer losses if he attacked hard, he still let Zhao Gui lead his men.
This is also a shortcoming after the military reform. If Xi Shen originally regarded the Flying Leopard Army as his base and would cherish life and death below, then now he is just for success, no matter how many bones are withered.
Therefore, after Zhao Gui was seriously injured and sent back, he immediately ordered his troops to kill him again.
In order to expand the results of the battle, he also ordered 500 of his troops to start shooting arrows at the Han army's wall.
For a moment, there was a rain of arrows like locusts. Below are hundreds of Taishan troops who dared to die to put out the fire and attack the camp.
At this time, Hu Zhen, who was in the ground barrier, was also very shocked. He did not expect that this Taishan Army was so brave to fight. With his careful layout, he could regroup and even attack the wall.
At this moment, he may have understood what kind of pressure the Bingzhou Army was under in the past to fight the Taishan Army in several bloody battles.
Hu Zhen is not afraid of death, but he is afraid that he will not be able to reach his position.
So he immediately moved to the bottom of the barrier with Ya Bing and Da Bao, and personally went to the front line to supervise the battle.
Despite the rain of arrows and locusts, he never retreated.
The tooth soldiers on his left and right kept falling to the ground. They tried to pull him back, but Hu Zhen pushed him away and continued to calmly dispatch the troops from the rear to support the front line.
Relying on Hu Zhen's command and dispatch, the Kansai soldiers in the camp continued to mount the ramparts and engage the Taishan Army in close combat.
After all, Taishan's army was insufficient in number. Even though Xi Shen was unwilling to do so, he could only retreat one after another.
For a time, Hu Zhenzhong's army seemed to have turned the corner.
After the smoke and dust cleared, the injured tooth soldiers on the left and right had been dragged down for treatment.
At this time, many military officials complimented Hu Zhen, saying that the commander-in-chief did not avoid stones and was calm and composed. He was truly a famous commander in the country. In order to boost morale, Hu Zhen also took the opportunity to say:
"In tonight's battle, the Taishan Army is indeed a powerful force. It can fight like this with the Chinese army under my command. No wonder it is invincible in the north. But what about tonight's battle? I don't think this Taishan Army is very scary. I don't see that as long as our army If everyone works together as one, will this battle be won to the end? ”
All the officials on the left and right thought it was true.
At this time, Hu Zhen asked the people around him:
"Which of the camp heads are approaching now?"
As soon as the words came out, no one responded.
Hu Zhen frowned, thinking about the worst outcome:
"Is it possible that the Chinese army is surrounded and no one from the Liangzhou camps in the rear dares to advance?"
At this time, a soldier on the side said:
"The one approaching now is Zhang Ji's captain. The other captains were attacked by defeated troops and are still on the way."
Hu Zhen snorted coldly, unwilling to pursue it further, but suddenly remembered:
"Is Zhang Ji a fellow countryman of Wen He?"
A young soldier beside him who had not yet reached the championship replied:
"Uncle, Zhang Ji is indeed from Wuwei. He is from the same hometown as Military Master Jia. He has recommended him to his house several times."
The speaker was Hu Zun, Hu Zhen’s nephew.
After hearing what his nephew said, he remembered who it was, and then sighed:
"I didn't expect that I treated the generals in Liangzhou very well. I was really in trouble, but Zhang Ji came to save me."
These words are depressing to hear.
However, Hu Zun was not moved by his uncle's sadness, but suggested:
"Uncle, although our army has defeated an enemy army, it is not out of danger. Now the camps have collapsed, and only Zhang Ji's battalion can come to support. And after the enemy army found the location of our central army, it was obvious that they were not out of danger. They will let us go. Judging from my nephew’s point of view, if we change camp immediately, we may be besieged if it is too late.”
What Hu Zun said was reasonable, Hu Zhen still smiled and said:
"This is my son. With this eldest son here, my family will have no worries."
With that said, Hu Zhen ordered all the troops to move. Originally, he wanted to leave immediately, but in this situation, he could only set an example for the whole battalion and stay behind to support the army.
But this stay was delayed. At this time, several Taishan Army soldiers and horses had defeated the defeated troops in Kansai and covered them up.
……
Taishan Army Camp, Chinese Army.
It’s still the same place, still the same people.
There were shouts of killing Zhentian outside, but it was quiet here, with only the sound of the crackling fire.
Zhang Chong was looking through some memorials sent from the rear, which he would finish processing and send back to the rear today. While he was dealing with the memorial, all the generals in the big tent remained silent.
Outside the big tent, there was a wave of military generals waiting under the tent together with the generals.
Among these people, there are two generals who are the most different. They exude a strong sour smell all over their bodies. This smell is also mixed with some bloody smell. It is strong and pungent, even worse than some of the barbarians next to them. All generals are heavy.
The two of them were Hu Cai and Li Le who came from Baibo Valley.
These two people came back with Guo Zu and were sent by Guo Tai to report to Zhang Chong on the situation of the Baibo Army during this period.
Guo Tai had experienced great changes in Guangzong and was very sensitive to internal power struggles. Therefore, even if he could be sent abroad to reorganize his old troops, Guo Tai often sent people to go to Yecheng to report on the situation in the Taihang Mountains.
At this time, Hu Cai and Li Le had already met Zhang Chong, and were left waiting outside the tent.
But maybe because they have been in the mountains for a long time, both the materials and conditions are relatively difficult, so the personal hygiene of Hu Cai and General Li Le is very problematic.
Originally, the generals in the army were not that particular, but anyone who saw these two men with broken yellow teeth, their hair stuck into locks, and a stench wafting out whenever they moved around would be frightened.
While all the generals were silent, the two people in the corner started chatting:
"Old Li, this time it's up to you. Oh dear, look at these people, they are really tough guys. Our Qushuai really did a good job in this transaction."
Li Le also agreed with Hu Cai's words.
There is no way, their Baibo Army also has tens of thousands of people, but only a few thousand of them can really have weapons. Among them, except for generals and marshals like them, there was no one who could wear armor.
Compared with them, the Taishan Army they saw in the past two days was really a heavenly force.
Therefore, Hu Cai and Li Le were very satisfied. They were grateful that Qu Shuai, who had been away for a year or two, found a good supporter for them when he came back.
And this time they came by chance, just in time for a decisive battle between the Taishan Army and the Kansai Army.
They had seen those Kansai soldiers before. Originally, their commander Guo Tai wanted to attack these people, but after just sizing them up from a distance, Guo Tai led them to withdraw.
There's nothing you can do about it, just bring shame on yourself.
But such a arrogant elite soldier was beaten like a dead dog by our Taishan Army. What does this mean? It shows that our Taishan Army is invincible!
While the two were talking, officers and soldiers kept running down from the front to embrace the victory.
They either killed a general or captured a flag. They didn't even count them, but it was estimated that more than a dozen battalion flags were captured.
When the two of them were speechless, there was a sudden noise in front of them. A group of knights carried a stretcher and withdrew. As soon as they came down, they shouted to the doctor outside:
"Quick and my music will heal."
The medical generals did not dare to delay and rushed to take over. When they saw that the man was seriously injured, they were sent directly to the doctor's camp.
After they left, some nearby generals whispered:
"Who is this capable of injuring Ma Chao like this?"
But then, another group of people retreated. They held a head on a tall bamboo pole and shouted as soon as they entered the camp:
"Military leader Zhao Yun, behead the enemy commander in formation! A great victory!"
As soon as this statement came out, the Chinese army shouted in unison:
"Big victory!"
Even Zhang Chong, who was deep in the big tent, heard it and didn't even read the memorial. He looked at the joy outside the tent and was full of joy.
This battle is a success.