Chapter 712 Purge
The general's tent was pitched on the side of the trench. When Cui Qi walked in, he saw the general with a stern face, and a strange military officer next to him, who was also smiling at Cui Qi.
The team general has a very good relationship with Cui Qi. Cui Qi's brother was the team leader back then, so he took good care of Cui Qi.
When they retreated from Dagu Pass this time, it was also the team general who pulled Cui Qi to retreat. Otherwise, Cui Qi, who was dumbfounded, would probably have died in Dagu Pass.
But when Cui Qi was about to say hello to the captain, he saw the always gentle captain saying to him with a straight face:
"Xiao Cui, the military official next to you will ask you some questions in a while. You have to answer them seriously and think about it before you speak."
The team general emphasized the words "Think about it" a little more. I wonder if Cui Qi could understand what he meant.
As expected, Cui Qi nodded in confusion, then looked at the military official next to him and asked:
"He Junli, do you have anything to ask us?"
He Junli was an experienced political, industrial, and military official. He gently said to Cui Qi:
"Don't be nervous, just ask a few questions as a routine."
Cui Qi nodded cautiously and put his hands on his hips, waiting for questions.
He Junli asked the first question:
"Your surname is Cui, what is your relationship with the Cui family in Qinghe?"
Cui Qi replied honestly:
"Our family is a branch of the Cui family. It is said that we were half-brothers to the main family six generations ago, but by our generation, there is almost no relationship."
He Junli nodded and asked another question:
"What were you doing on the night of April 18th, when Dagonguan fell?"
Cui Qi's heart tightened, and he subconsciously glanced at the captain on the opposite side. Seeing the captain's expressionless face, he carefully replied:
"At that time, our team was resting in the camp. Suddenly, we heard from outside that the barrier was broken. The team general took us out of the camp. Then in the battle with Yuan Jun, we were defeated. It was the team general who took us out."
Cui Qi saw the captain's face turn red and quickly added:
"Had the team general not retreated immediately, half of our team would have been trapped in the pass. The team general saved the lives of twenty-six of us."
But who knew that when He Junli heard this, he suddenly slapped the table and scolded:
"Stop saying things that have nothing to do with the facts. Do you know what is the crime of retreating without military orders?"
Cui Qi was startled and he shook his head:
"This cannot be an injustice to the general. It was the general who asked our team to withdraw at that time, saying that the situation was over and that we should withdraw as soon as possible to leave some survivors."
He Junli frowned and asked:
"The song you are talking about is called Fang Ji? Did you know that Fang Ji has been taken down because he implicated the traitor An, and you still mention him?"
Cui Qi was stunned for a moment, opening his mouth and not daring to say more.
He couldn't figure it out, how could such a good person like Fang Qujiang be a traitor? Is there something wrong?
He Junli ignored Cui Qi's doubts and continued to ask:
"I heard Captain Qi say that your brother and General Fang Qu are inseparable. Did your brother tell you that he is the legitimate son of the Fang family in Qinghe?"
Cui Qi really doesn't know this.
After that, He Junli asked Cui Qi several times. Some asked about Cui Qi's personal situation, such as his relationship with the Cui family, and some asked about his brother's situation, such as how he met Fang Ji, and some asked about how to watch the subsequent war. , how are you feeling?
Cui Qi spoke very seriously about what he knew and didn't talk nonsense about what he didn't know.
Finally, after He Junli finished asking questions, he said to Cui Qi's captain:
"Captain Zhang, I'm done asking here, do you have anything else to ask?"
It turns out that the captain's surname is Zhang. No wonder He Junli was so polite to him.
Captain Zhang nodded with a dull face, and then said to Cui Qi:
"Xiao Cui, just answer the question truthfully. Our Zhaoyi Army is indeed in a difficult situation now. Our military leader is not here, and there are two traitors in the army, so it is normal for friendly forces to have some opinions about us. But we cannot do it because of others. No matter how you look at it, we are in chaos and have forgotten what we are going to do. This time, our Zhaoyi Army wants to avenge both shame and revenge, so when you go back, talk to your brothers more and hone your skills in the future."
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Cui Qi nodded seriously, then saluted He Junli and Captain Zhang, and then retreated.
After Cui Qi retreated, Captain Zhang said to Junli He with a dull face:
"I told you, there is nothing wrong with Lao Fang. He is an old man in the army. He has been in the army since the Battle of Yecheng. He has more seniority than you and me. There is no way he is a traitor."
He Junli snorted coldly, and then mocked:
"You think, I think, it doesn't matter. What matters is whether he is or not. Lao Zhang, I know you have a background, but you'd better not get involved in this matter. Do you think this time the investigation of Zhaoyi Army's lurking spy is... The order from our missionary department? Let me tell you, this is the intention of the camp. The king is very dissatisfied with the Zhaoyi Army."
Captain Zhang stopped talking, sighed, and then said helplessly:
"I believe that the king's intention is not what you have done. How can anyone, regardless of right or wrong, imprison a powerful son of a general? Who has been in the army for so long and has not been tested on the battlefield? You cannot slander people like this. Let the old people feel chilled.”
He Junli was silent for a while, and then said seriously:
"What we do is different from how you see things. What you are afraid of is that good people will be wronged, and what we are afraid of is missing a bad person. But how can it be just right? Overcorrection must come first. This is the purpose of this operation. Attitude. There is no problem with the expansion. As long as we review it carefully, we will not wrongly accuse good people. Otherwise, do you think that Cui Qi can retreat so safely?"
This time, Captain Zhang fell silent and only said:
"Our Zhaoyi Army has only a few bones and blood, and we all escaped death. In the subsequent war, our Zhaoyi Army has been placed on the front line by General Hu Mu. Who is the hero and who is the traitor will naturally be seen on the battlefield. You guys What’s the rush?”
He Junli smiled and only said this sentence:
"You do your thing, we do ours, and everyone has something to answer for."
……
There is indeed a problem with the morale of the Zhaoyi Army. As more and more people are taken away by the Bohai Navy's missionary forces, people in the army are panicking.
The Qinghe area where the Zhaoyi Army is located is quite special among the counties in Jizhou.
First of all, the number of powerful people in the Qinghe Kingdom is relatively large. In addition to the local Qinghe royal family, there are four famous surnames including Cui, Fang, Sun, and Fu. Therefore, it is inevitable that the Qinghe descendants will be the core. The Zhaoyi Army naturally has a large number of descendants of the four surnames.
But this is not the most important factor. What is more important is that the base camp of the anti-Taishan army was centered on Qinghe Prime Minister Liu Yu. Later, he led the Qinghe civil and military power to go south to Qingzhou.
Therefore, the strength and influence of the powerful people in Qinghe were not severely damaged in the war. Instead, they used their past benevolent connections to maintain their influence in the Qinghe area.
The two deputy battalion generals who were attracted by Yuan Jun this time were from the Sun family and the Fang family. They were only collateral relatives, but Nanfang took advantage of the clan relationship to find them directly and made a generous promise.
The Taishan Army treats everyone equally, so naturally there is not much preferential treatment for the two deputy generals Sun and Fang. Therefore, compared with what Yuan Shao promised, the conditions are naturally very different.
As a result, the two sides had been colluding for a long time and finally brought about such a big event in Daguguan.
So from Hu Muqiu's point of view, he naturally wanted to track down the powerful descendants of Zhaoyi Army, and he himself was from a powerful clan, so he did not dare to show any mercy in order to avoid suspicion. But what the Zhaoyi Army felt was that their loyalty and lives were being threatened. Many wealthy and powerful disciples were surprised and suspicious because they never saw anyone released from the army, so they deserted without thinking.
They were originally on the front line of the confrontation with Yuan Jun, so as soon as they ran away, they ran directly to Yuan Jun's position.
Their traitors further confirmed Hu Muqiu's suspicions, so the investigation of the Zhaoyi Army became even more severe.
Originally, Hu Muqiu put the Zhaoyi Army on the front line to support military equipment, but due to repeated defections, he cut off supplies.
Zhaoyi's army originally numbered 2,000 in Dagonguan, but those who later fled to Taniguchi were about 1,000, and they were organized into a school captain camp.
However, due to the rout, a large amount of their military supplies and supplies were scattered. When Hu Muqiu's Bohai Navy arrived at first, they replenished them with armor and food, but after what happened later, there was no more replenishment.
As a result, the Zhaoyi Army, which was supposed to be uniformed in apricot-yellow uniforms, looked like a ragged refugee army with extremely crude armor. Leading the battle with such equipment shows how Hu Muqiu treated the Zhaoyi Army.
But even if the situation is so bad, most of the Zhaoyi Army, such as Cui Qi, are still preparing for battle with firm will. This is largely due to their captain, Guo Pu.
Guo Pu was the younger brother of Guo Dian, the then governor of Julu, and was originally a powerful general in Hebei.
Later, in the battle with Taishan Army in Handan, he voluntarily surrendered to Taishan Army and became a member of Taishan Army.
Guo Pu is already forty-six years old this year. He is a proper veteran among the generals of the Taishan Army. However, his experience is not simple. He did not rely on his relationship with his clan brother Guo Dian to reach this level. This step.
Guo Pu had previously served in Northern Xinjiang, and had participated in six operations deep into the grasslands, and had captured sixteen heads. However, because Guo Pu was very fond of gambling, drunkenness, and often left women in the army, he was often disliked by the generals and kept working as a low-level official in the Northern Xinjiang Army.
It was not until later that Guo Pu was transferred to participate in the counter-insurgency against Neijun, and then he rose through the ranks and reached the position of captain.
He was captured in the Battle of Handan, but he did well in the Taishan Army. He had previously assisted Zhu Ling in forming the Zhaoyi Army. Guo Pu, who had rich military experience, was very supported by the military officials.
Therefore, after accepting the remnants of the Zhaoyi Army in the rear, Guo Pu has been working hard to restore the strength of the Zhaoyi Army. However, Hu Muqiu's prejudice has been deeply rooted, and Guo Pu, who has little say in the army, can only do his own thing.
He tried hard to get in touch with Zhu Ling, who was still stationed in Yiqueguan area, and tried to get Zhu Ling to write to the king to draw his attention to the current difficulties of the Zhaoyi Army.
But these letters fell into the sea without any response.
If so, Guo Pu was ready to die in battle.
But when will the war come?
……
Opposite Zhaoyi's army, Yuan Shao had different opinions within him. Although no one doubted that they would have a head-on confrontation with the Taishan Army, Yuan Shao's staff had completely opposite views on how to fight.
Xin Ping, Xin Tao, Cheng Yu, Mao Jie, Liang Mao, Lou Gui and others meant to fight a defensive war.
What they mean is that it is very unfavorable to fight the Taishan Army in a decisive battle here at Daguguan, because it is a hard fight, and our own side, which is already at a disadvantage, will lose the last glimmer of hope in the long confrontation. The battle proved it.
Moreover, with the gradual gathering of military power from all parties, there were originally only less than 60,000 Yuan's troops, but now there are about 100,000 military officials. Such a large amount of manpower will make the defense stronger.
The intention of these aides was to place the battle site in Yingchuan, and the army would gather in the Changshe area of Yingchuan to build fortifications.
And if the Taishan Army pursues them, they will defend from the front, and then ambush the Taishan Army's supply line in the remaining veins of Songshan Mountain on the side and rear. If this continues, the Taishan Army will inevitably withdraw.
Yuan Shao also thought about it when he heard this suggestion.
From a military perspective, this is certainly attractive because it is very robust. This is like two people wrestling. If you keep pushing hard, the weaker side will definitely lose. If you withdraw a little at this time, leave some space, and leave the difficult Dagu Road to the Taishan Army, then this place will become theirs. weakness.
But politically, Yuan Shao was very uneasy about this. Because to implement such a strategy, the Taishan Army must be put into Yuzhou, especially Yingchuan County, which is the first to bear the brunt.
As the core of the civil servant group under his command, Yingchuanshi would not tolerate this.
Moreover, Yuan Shao also had some distrust of the people who made this suggestion.
It's not that he doesn't trust the Xin brothers, he thinks that these two people consider this issue purely from a military perspective, but he doesn't trust Cheng Yu, Mao Jie, Liang Mao, and Lou Gui.
Cheng Yu, Mao Jie, and Liang Mao were all members of Chen Liu and Zhang Miao. In this joint operation, these people entered Yuan Shao's shogunate. On the one hand, they served as counselors to Jun Yi, and on the other hand, they were responsible for liaison with Chen Liu and Zhang Miao's army.
And what about Lou Gui? It's Yuan Shu's people again.
These people unanimously agree with this view, not only because it is a good view, but because it is more in line with their interests.
The other group of people holds the view of Zao Zhi, Handan Shang, Guo Dan, Guo Yuan, Chu You and others. These people are all Yingchuan scholars. The point they put forward is to take the initiative to attack and launch it immediately.
This plan is to eat thousands of Taishan troops at the entrance of the valley before all the troops are gathered at the entrance of the valley.
This has a huge benefit in terms of morale, which is to boost the morale of the alliance through one or two small victories first, so that the troops under his command and allies understand that the Taishan Army is not that terrible.
When the Yingchuan soldiers proposed this plan, Yuan Shao was also thinking about it.
He also admitted that these people were right, that is, winning one or two victories first was very important for the entire war, but he also understood that the Yingchuan soldiers made this suggestion because they definitely wanted to keep the war away from Yingchuan.
So from this perspective, the suggestions put forward by these people may not be the best, but they are definitely in their best interest.
Yuan Shao was unsure about the comparison. Suddenly he saw that Xu You had been silent and asked hurriedly:
"Ziyuan, what do you think?"
Xu You replied slowly:
"My lord, why don't you combine the two strategies? First swallow up the thousands of Taishan troops in front of you. If the main force of the enemy army comes at this time, we will go south and withdraw to the Yingchuan area to defend instead of attack."
Yuan Shao thought about it, wonderful.
So, with a big hand, I did this.
But he didn't notice that Guo Jia, who had been drinking, frowned.
In the end, he didn't say a word and continued drinking.
(End of chapter)