Chapter 86: Phoenix Cloud Resurrection (Nine)

After years of military career, Hou Dayong has developed the good habit of getting up early and practicing in the morning. He also has no reason to fall in love with bed when he sleeps. As soon as a ray of light appeared in the sky, Hou Dayong turned over and got up.

The servants in the mansion also got up early, cleaned up, went out to buy vegetables, knead dough and wash rice, cooked fire and washed pots, and all seemed busy. They wanted to prepare a sumptuous breakfast for the guards who were rushing on their way. More than fifty guards were also doing burly burp, squatting and jumping in the yard, and the whole yard seemed lively.

The flowers, plants and trees in the main yard were well cultivated, and there was no sloppy because Hou Dayong did not live here forever. Hou Dayong jogged in the yard for a while, then practiced with a stick for a while, and then sweated heavily. The improved "Five Styles of He Family Knife Techniques" have long been mastered. After three years of life without leaving the sword and diligently practicing the Heavenly Void Art, Hou Dayong has a deep understanding of the nature of the sword. "Speed ​​and Power" are the essence of the sword technique of a soldier. Now practicing the "Five Styles of He Family Knife Techniques" is purely using this set of sword techniques as a routine for moving the body.

A well-behaved maid stood in a corner of the main courtyard. When he saw Hou Dayong stopping, he quickly sent a cup of tea. The maid was only sixteen or seventeen years old and was clean. It was the butler who called to serve Hou Dayong. Last night, it was this maid who brought tea and water to Hou Dayong. According to the rules, the maid should have slept in the outer room of Hou Dayong's main room. Hou Dayong did not dislike the little woman, but felt that it was a bit ambiguous to let a little woman sleep in the outer room. Chunlan and Qiuju had slept in his outer room, so he asked the girl to go to another room to sleep.

Hou Dayong took a large sip of tea comfortably and asked casually: "What's your name? How many years have you been to the mansion?" The young woman replied a little shyly: "My name is Jinyin. I only arrived at the mansion at the end of the year before. Not long after I arrived at the mansion, Alang (the title of the male master in the Tang and Five Dynasties, and he was not known as the master at that time) left. So Alang didn't know me." Seeing that Jinyin looked very clever, Hou Dayong blinked his eyes and blinked, clear and flexible when he spoke, and asked, "Why did you come to the mansion? Who else is there in your family?"

Jin Yin's face was slightly dim and she whispered: "I am from Xuzhou, my father is a scholar. I live by teaching and children. I got a plague that year, and my father and mother went there. In order to bury my parents, all the money in the family was used up. When I was desperate, I occasionally met Niang Qiu. Niang Qiu saw that I was pitiful and bought me to the mansion."

Since ancient times, every family has a difficult book to read when buying a body as a servant and being a maid. When Hou Dayong first took over Liu Sanfu in Cangzhou, he still used modern human ethics and thinking methods to consider the problem. He once proposed to let all the slaves in the mansion go away. However, more than half of the male servants and most of the maids were unwilling to leave, because after leaving the Hou's mansion, although they changed the humble to good people in name, they had nothing. They had no plans and could not even maintain their livelihood. With this experience, Hou Dayong had a specific understanding of the reality of ancient society. He originally thought that buying and selling slaves was extremely immoral, but now his views are different. There are many things in the world that are not satisfactory, but since they exist, there is a reason for them to exist.

Hou Dayong asked, "Do you have any elders in your family?"

Jin Yin thought of her asking for help when her parents died. The so-called cold eyes of the elders and the behavior of pushing and hindering made her feel a little chilled. She replied with certainty: "I have no elders anymore."

Hou Dayong asked again: "Then are you engaged?"

Jin Yin shook her head with a red face.

"Since your father taught a child, you have also read a book?"

Jin Yin nodded and said modestly: "I can recognize a few words briefly."

Hou Dayong once promised to book a marriage for Chen Meng. Seeing this clean and clean girl with fair skin, he thought of Chen Meng. Hou Dayong smiled and said, "Since you are not engaged and have no elders at home, I will make the decision to book a marriage for you. OK?"

Jinyin didn't expect that Alang suddenly wanted to engage her in a bride. She didn't know what to do from time to time. She lowered her head and looked at her toes.

"There are many young lieutenants in the Black Eagle Army who have not gotten married. There is a lieutenant named Chen Meng who often comes to the mansion. You should know him. Are you willing to marry him?"

Chen Meng and Du Gang are two personal guards of Alang. Since they are Hou Dayong's personal guards, their image is naturally not far behind. All the maids recognize them. After Du Gang and Xiao Lianzi engage in marriage, the maids are so envious that they are red, and Jin Yin is of course no exception. At this time, when Jin Yin heard Alang ask her if she would marry Chen Meng, her mind buzzed, her whole body was sore and she couldn't speak with her mouth open.

Seeing that Jin Yin blushed and did not speak, Hou Dayong was willing to do so with seven points in his expression, but he still asked: "Are you willing to marry Chen Meng?"

Jin Yin then woke up from her confused state and whispered: "But it's up to Ah Lang." Jin Yin's shameful attitude also added a lot of charm to her.

Chen Meng was still chatting with his guards in the courtyard. After being called to the main courtyard, this unexpected good thing made him both happy and surprised. Jin Yin was a better person in the Marquis' Mansion in Zhengzhou, otherwise the housekeeper would not have let Jin Yin go to serve Hou Dayong. In Chen Meng's impression, when he left Zhengzhou with the Jiedushi, Jin Yin was only fifteen years old and still looked like a little girl. After not seen him for more than a year, Jin Yin became graceful and looked much more mature. Chen Meng had no objection to the arrangements of the Jiedushi except to be happy. He did not slow down and agreed immediately, and then looked at Jin Yin secretly.

Hou Dayong called the housekeeper and asked, "Where is the identity document in Jinyindi?"

"It's all under the control of Madam Fu, so young I don't know where it is."

"Jin Yin has made a marriage to Master Chen. From today on, he will not be a maid. You arrange for her to live in a separate yard and treat everything according to the standards of Miss Qiu and Miss Chun. When the Northwest War is over, he will marry Master Chen and Jin Yin."

Hou Dayong made up a marriage like lightning, and he said to Chen Meng very humanely: "After the meal, we will set off and give you two incense sticks to be together alone, chat with each other, and gain some understanding."

The housekeeper smiled very happily and said, "This is a great joy. I would like to congratulate Chen Xiaowei and Niang Jin on him. Please ask the two to go to the South Courtyard to talk. There are clean and there are no idle people. I will ask someone to bring breakfast here."

Seeing the two of them leaving the main courtyard happily and shyly, Hou Dayong was quite happy to have this incident unintentionally. When breakfast was delivered, Hou Dayong was drinking porridge while humming the very familiar old song "Kangding Love Song". This song is a classic old song that is always sang in modern society, and he is very familiar with the tune. However, he has never sang it in full. Today, he was in a good mood and accidentally hummed the tune.

Hou Dayong's happiness was for a reason. Since the establishment of the Black Eagle Army, countless heroic young soldiers have fallen on the battlefield. Although the Black Eagle Army has won many battles and is famous for its great success, for these soldiers who died in battle, everything ended with their lives. All the glory can only be possessed by the living. The battlefield is so cruel and ruthless that these young men under his command may lose their lives at any time. There is an old Chinese saying: "There are three unfilial things, and no descendants are the greatest." Hou Dayong was unwilling to let the soldiers who fought desperately leave the world with regretful reputation as the unfilial son, so he served as a matchmaker for Chen Meng. He was delighted from the bottom of his heart.

Qian Xiangnan sat opposite Hou Dayong, watching the Jiedushi while drinking porridge, wondering, was it just a marriage for Chen Meng? Is it worth being so happy? However, this little song is very interesting.

At this time, a whistle sounded in the air, and Hou Dayong looked up. A group of pigeons flew quickly through the air. Hou Dayong saw the pigeons flying in the air, threw the bowl in his hand, jumped up, and said excitedly: "I am such a fool, I didn't even think of the pigeon."

Seeing that the governor of today was a bit abnormal, Qian Xiangnan hummed the song and said that he was a fool. He looked at Hou Dayong with suspicious eyes.

Hou Dayong saw Qian Xiangnan with a questioning look on his face. Without explanation, he stood outside the yard gate and said, "Clean the ground and make another bowl of porridge." Then he said to Qian Xiangdao: "Pizi, does Qian Lang like pigeons?"

Since the resurgence of the northwest wolf smoke, Hou Dayong has had a deep feeling about the difficulty of communication. In modern society, the Internet, satellite phones, and various advanced communication tools have greatly shortened the spatial distance. The earth has become a village. In ancient times, transportation and communication were extremely inconvenient, but the distance became an insurmountable obstacle. It is not easy to go back and forth in a long distance. Some situations may never come back. Therefore, the ancients were always so sad about parting, which led to Li Bai's long sigh: The road to Shu is difficult, but it is difficult to reach the blue sky.

Seeing the pigeons flying in the sky, Hou Dayong knew that he had finally found a way to telecommunication for Feiying Hall and the military camp. In order to solve the problem of telecommunication, Hou Dayong racked his brains and used the rich shops to establish a relay information transmission system for Feiying Hall on the national network. However, Hou Dayong did not even think about using pigeons to convey information.

Hou Dayong did not expect that there were four reasons for using pigeons to communicate. First, in the 1920s, communication was extremely developed. Hou Dayong's army was in, and he never had the experience of using pigeons to communicate. Pigeons were used in military use very rare; second, whether in modern times or in ancient times, Hou Dayong lived in the army and had no spare time to raise pigeons, and other family members and friends did not raise pigeons. Of course, this does not mean that raising pigeons is not good; third, in this era, pigeons have not yet

In military use, although fishermen have used pigeons to communicate with sea boats and land by the South China Sea, but inland, they are rarely used to communicate. Fourth, everyone has a blank area of ​​thinking. Perhaps this blank area is as thin as a layer of paper, but if there is no right time, this layer of paper is difficult to break. Using pigeons to communicate is a blank area in Hou Dayong's thinking. Today, the war in the western region and the occasionally flying pigeons in the sky in Zhengzhou suddenly broke Hou Dayong's thinking blank area.

Qian Xiangnan didn't know why the governor suddenly asked about pigeons and said, "Some people are idle and have no work to raise pigeons. I don't like it or are not interested in playing this."

Hou Dayong explained: "Pigeons have a special ability. They have a very strong ability to recognize the way. No matter how far they are, they can always find their way home. This is called returning home. We can use the characteristics of pigeons to transmit intelligence. Pigeons are the best tool for long-distance communication."

Qian Xiangnan asked in confusion: "Can you really use pigeons to communicate? How far can it fly and can you understand the road?"

Hou Dayong said affirmatively: "Pigeons are used to convey information, safe, fast and accurate. When I was in the Sumo Mahara tribe, I saw them using pigeons to communicate, but I didn't even think about using pigeons. It's really confusing." Whenever Hou Dayong encounters something that cannot be explained, he always pushes it to the Sumo Mahara tribe. Anyway, Baitou Mountain and Central Plains are separated by thousands of mountains, and no one can verify what he said.

Hou Dayong arranged without any doubt: "Qian Lang, you should find someone immediately, go to various places to find people who are good at raising pigeons, and at the same time find pigeon breeds that can fly long distances." Hou Dayong thought for a while and said: "Forget it. During this period, the military intelligence camp will still concentrate on doing the work of the Dangxiang people. Let Feiying Hall do the work of pigeons. We will strive to do this matter well this year, at the latest next year, and the pigeons raised by Feiying Hall in the future are called carrier pigeons."

Hou Dayong quickly walked back to the study and wrote a long letter to Meng Shu, explaining the details of the pigeon training to him. He told him to set up a pigeon camp at all costs. Finally, he added, "This matter is very important, it must be done well."

After writing the letter, Hou Dayong was relaxed, "It was such a pleasant day today. He did something meaningful and something extremely important. It was a wonderful morning."

When Hou Dayong entered the house to change clothes, Qian Xiangnan looked at the pigeons flying freely in the sky and murmured to himself: "Can this little pigeon really fly thousands of miles and send messages to thousands of miles?"

What made Hou Dayong regretful was that the Geying Camp was still an idea now and could not help understand the military situation in the northwest immediately. Just as Hou Dayong was rushing on the road, the northwest front line was a mess. The situation changed instantly, and the information sent by Feiying Hall from thousands of miles away was all old news.

After Fang Dang Bai Ge defeated Fengxiang's army at Xiaocang Pass, he chased him to Fengxiang's mansion. Wang Jing gathered the remnants of Fengxiang's army and left-behind troops and built several lines of defense in Fengxiang's mansion. Fang Dang Bai Ge saw that Wang Jing was defeated and had no choice but to take advantage of it. He quickly returned to Qiaojiabao with the main force of the Dangxiang army. When he arrived at Qiaojiabao, Fang Dang Bai Ge was surprised to find that there was only a piece of ashes left in the Dangxiang military camp. Fortunately, the supplies and food were mainly stored in Wuliu Pass, otherwise the battle would not be able to be fought without logistical support. Jingzhou City was again taken away by the Zhou army, and dozens of "Qing" banners were flying on the city walls, and thousands of Zhou troops were waiting for the battle on the city. Fang Dang Bai Ge had to lead the Dangxiang's army to retreat to Wuliu Pass.

The troops from various towns in Dazhou rushed to the Jingzhou area one after another. The Qingzhou army occupied Jingzhou, and the Yongxing army reinforced them to Qiaojiabao. The Black Eagle Army stationed in Yizhou, Yanzhou army, Tongzhou army and other town troops were still on the way to reinforce them.

The first phase of the battle between the Great Zhou Army and the Dangxiang Army came to an end. In this battle, the Dangxiang Army and the Great Zhou Army each exposed their own shortcomings:

The biggest problem of the Great Zhou army was that they did not command in a unified manner and fought on their own, and missed the opportunity for the fight. Fangdang, the main force of the Dangxiang Army led by Bai Ge, returned from Fengxiang Mansion, because the military camp was destroyed, Jingzhou City was lost, and food and grass began to be short of food and grass. If the Zhou army concentrated its troops and surrounded the main force of the Dangxiang Army in Qiaojiabao, the overall situation could be determined. Unfortunately, after hearing the news that the strong Fengxiang Army had been almost wiped out, several troops in Jiezhen defended themselves and did not dare to take the initiative to attack. They did not form an encirclement, allowing the main force of the Dangxiang Army to calmly withdraw back to Wuliu Pass.

The biggest problem of the Dangxiang Army is that it has no rear combat and its ability to attack. The Dangxiang Army, which penetrated deep into the Zhou territory, was an isolated army and had no base. In the early stages of the war, due to its suddenness and the mobility of the cavalry, they defeated the Zhou army repeatedly. However, after the arrival of Zhou reinforcements, the Dangxiang Army was trapped in siege and blockade from all directions, and its ability to operate was greatly restricted. Moreover, the Dangxiang Army's ability to attack was weak. As long as the Zhou army defended the strong city, the Dangxiang Army, which did not have large-scale siege weapons, could only look at the city and sigh. This is also the reason why Weizhou was lost without losing.

After Fang Dangbai Ge returned to Wuliu Pass, he saw Gao Jin, a soldier who fled back to Wuliu Pass, and only then did he know the details of the Battle of Jingzhou.

"If you lose the battle, there is nothing to say. You are willing to accept the punishment. It's a pity that we have trapped the Banzhou army. If the Qingzhou army does not attack suddenly, the Banzhou army will definitely be eliminated by us." After losing, he lost the military camp division Gao Jin, facing Fang Dangbai Ge, he was ashamed.

Fang Dang Bai Ge felt a vague pain in his heart. Since the Guyuan sent troops, the Dangxiang Army had lost more than 4,000 people. The total number of Fangdang clan was only more than 600,000. These more than 4,000 people were all heroes of Fangdang clan. Now, they are always lying on the land of the alien race and can never go to the bank of Huiqingshui River. Although the Central Plains army suffered greater losses, the Central Plains had a large population and the losses of the army would be replenished soon, but the Dangxiang army would have one less person to die, which was extremely difficult to replenish. The population was also the strength of a nation.

Fang Dang Bai Ge put his hands together to Qingshuipan and prayed silently for a while before he regained his inner peace. He said to Shi Gao Jin: "There is no need for punishment. Confronting Zhou Jun at Qiaojiabao with three thousand people is like dealing with a wolf pack alone. Being bitten is normal. The key is to fight the next step."

Shi Gaojin also had arrow wounds on his face. The arrow wound was injured by a trampled arrow when he was running away. As soon as he spoke, the wound hurt. Shi Gaojin endured the pain and said, "Our army entered Zhou territory from Guyuan to attract Zhou army to go south. Zhou army Lingzhou army and Yanzhou army have all gone south. This strategic goal has basically been achieved. At this time, Zhou army gathered in Jingzhou, and our army had no room for maneuver. If we go deeper alone, it will be difficult to get out."

Fangdang Baige was wearing a silk white coat, and he walked around the tent, "We broke the Fengxiang army in Ocang Pass. After Zhou Ting received the news, he would definitely put pressure on the Zhou army. Qiaojiabao was a dangerous pass, shattering the passage of eastward, and Wuliu Pass was also a dangerous pass, shattering the throat of the Great Zhou army coming from the west. We used the dangerous terrain of Wuliu Pass to confront the Zhou army, so that the Zhou army could not advance or retreat. However, Weizhou was still in the hands of Zhou army, and Weizhou was finally a future trouble."

The Dangxiang Army entered Zhou territory from Guyuan, and the first city was Weizhou. The Dangxiang Army attacked several times without any effect. It lost more than 200 lives under the city in vain. Fang Dangbai Ge listened to Shi Gaojin's suggestion, bypassed Weizhou City, sneaked into Wuliu Pass, and then rushed to Jingzhou, and penetrated hundreds of miles deep into Zhou territory.

Fang Dang Bai Ge felt a little headache when he thought of Gaocheng in Weizhou. He said, "It is quite difficult to deal with Weizhou's defense. He relies on the strong city and cannot defend it. It is extremely difficult to defeat it. If we want to attack hard, we will suffer major casualties, and it may not be possible to attack it. Weizhou, as the people of the Central Plains said, is a piece of chicken ribs. It is tasteless to eat, and it is a pity to abandon it." Fang Dang Bai Ge was very interested in Central Plains culture. He could not only speak Central Plains words, but also read Chinese characters. "The Three Kingdoms" is his favorite book and his brother Fang Dangming. They are familiar with the stories in "The Three Kingdoms". Many of the two brothers' military methods come from this book.

Shi Gaojin offered his advice: "It would be better if we dig a deep trench outside the city to trap the Zhou army in the city, and they cannot leave the city, so they will naturally not pose a threat to us."

"It takes a lot of people to dig a deep trench."

"I am willing to take five hundred soldiers to various villages to catch people and ask the Zhou people to dig trenches." Shi Gaojin was always a little worried about the defeat in the Qiaojiabao battle and took the initiative to do this chore.

In the afternoon of that day, Shi Gaojin took five hundred people to various villages to catch people regardless of the arrow wounds on his face. What surprised Shi Gaojin was that Fangdang Chihu, the deputy general of the Party Xiang army of Wuliuguan, bitten around like a mad dog. He killed three villages near Wuliuguan, including men, women, young, pigs, dogs, cattle and sheep. Whenever Fangdang Chihu wanted to slaughter the village, he would always send troops to surround the villages, not letting one person run away, and then chop and kill each household. He wanted to use this kind of killing to repay the hatred of the Black Eagle Army for catching the flag and teasing the humiliation. Fangdang Chihu killed too fiercely, and the villages died so clean that there were no people who collected the corpse. The corpse quickly rotted in the hot climate, giving a stinging smell.

Shi Gaojin was not aware of this. After entering the village, he was surprised to find that they seemed to have walked into the eighteen levels of hell. Many soldiers of Dangxiang ran out of the village with their faces and lay on the ground to spit out all the things in their stomachs. Shi Gaojin, a person who had been unfortunate and extremely hard-hearted, also moved his heart to hide. He made people set fire to the village and covered the tragedy on earth with a big fire.

There were basically no people available near Wuliu Pass, which caused Shi Gaojin to expand his search scope. He finally caught more than a thousand laborers and dug trenches outside Weizhou City day and night.
Chapter completed!