In the first year of Huangyou, the lonely smoke in the desert in the north and the setting sun over the long river were so magnificent.
However, this magnificent scenery appears particularly lonely and desolate in the bleak autumn wind.
Battle reports came from Santu Pass. The Liao general Yelu Chu led an army of 50,000 soldiers to the city. The troops at Santu Pass were insufficient and unable to resist, so they requested support from the Beiling Army.
Santu Pass is a pass on the border between Song and Liao. Because it is not a strategic location, there are not many troops stationed there and the defense is weak. Beiling is two or three days' journey from Santu Pass, and support takes time. It was a wise choice for the Liao army to attack Santu Pass, which had the weakest defense.
The Liao army was large and powerful, and the troops at Santu Pass were insufficient. One or two days would be enough to capture Santu Pass. However, Yelu Chu underestimated the commander of Santu Pass, Xun Youqi. Xun Youqi had followed General Ye Changting to guard the western border. He was good at arranging troops and formations. He defended Santu Pass with thousands of troops. It was not until she and her father Huo Qing led 30,000 soldiers to Santu Pass that they repelled the Liao army.
That day, outside the gate of Sanduguan, the Liao army attacked the city. General Xun Youqi led the remaining soldiers to fight against the Liao army. The two armies fought for an unknown amount of time. Dead bodies were everywhere, smoke filled the air, and blood dyed the area red, like the red spider lilies blooming all over the road to the underworld.
There were only a few soldiers left guarding Santu Pass, and General Xun Youqi was also seriously injured, his armor stained red with blood. He held the ground with a silver spear. He looked straight at her father as he walked up to him, smiling with blood in his mouth. "General Huo, you are finally here. Santu Pass has been secured. The rest is up to you. Please tell the general on my behalf that I, Xun Youqi, will follow him in my next life."
Huo Qinghong nodded heavily, his eyes red. "Okay, I will tell General Ye the truth."
"Thank you." General Xun Youqi slowly closed his eyes with a smile, lowered his head, and still stood straight.
Huo Linglong, a female general in military uniform, came over and called out "Father." Huo Qing then said to her, "Linglong, General Xun is a true soldier."
Huo Linglong looked at General Xun and said, "I understand."
It was already the afternoon of the next day when the Huo family army cleaned up the battlefield and rested. Huo Qing discussed the strategic plan of counterattacking the Liao army with two deputy generals and a captain named Cai. They decided to take the initiative to attack the Liao army tomorrow.
This was the best time to attack. Firstly, the Liao army failed to capture Sandu Pass and suffered heavy casualties, which greatly weakened their morale. Secondly, the Huo family army was the strongest army in the northern border of the Song Dynasty, and their morale was greatly boosted at this time.
The next day, Huo Linglong and a young soldier named Hua led an army of 10,000 to attack the Liao army from the west, Huo Qing and Captain Cai led an army of 10,000 to besiege from the north, and the two deputy generals each led 5,000 soldiers to attack from the east and south respectively. In this way, the Liao army would be unable to escape and would have no place to bury their bodies.
The two armies were of similar strength. Although the Liao army's morale was severely damaged, its strength could not be underestimated. The battle lasted a long time, from dawn to dusk, and finally defeated the Liao army. Yelu Chu was also killed in the battle, and only a few hundred Liao soldiers surrendered. The Huo family army did not have the custom of massacring prisoners, and the surrendered Liao soldiers were imprisoned.
Bonfires were lit one after another, illuminating the camp. The soldiers gathered around the campfires, eating meat and drinking wine, cheering loudly to celebrate the victory. At this moment, the arrival of King Qinghe broke the noise of victory.
The Prince of Qinghe held the imperial edict, saying that Huo Qing colluded with the Liao army to rebel, killed General Xun Youqi and the soldiers at Sandu Pass, and killed them on the spot. Captain Cai personally testified that Huo Qing was rebelling, and there was a letter to prove it.
Huo Qing himself did not rebel, but King Qinghe said he did. This was clearly a frame-up!
Huo Qing is a man of integrity and courage. He will never admit to any false accusation!
Prince Qinghe waved his hand to signal his soldiers to massacre the Huo family army. Huo Qing and the Huo family army rose up to resist. The two armies faced each other in a murderous battle. The sounds of swords and spears clashing and screams resounded through the sky.
Huo Qing was beheaded, and the Huo family soldiers fell one after another, with corpses strewn everywhere and blood flowing like a river. Huo Linglong and others, supported by a group of soldiers, escaped the encirclement and were hunted down, embarking on a journey of escape...
Huo Qing's two sons, Huo Xuanji and Huo Jinyu, were also beheaded in the Beiling military camp, and his wife and children were also given the death penalty.
After the death of Huo Qing's clan, King Qinghe officially took over Beiling and became the new commander of the Beiling Army. He eliminated Huo Qing's followers and added tens of thousands of soldiers. The Beiling Army was still the lion known as the strongest army in the north.
…
The next afternoon, Hua Fushu came to Hua's house and brought a lot of things, especially toys, including cloth tigers, rattles, sepak takraws, clay figurines, tumblers, tangrams, nine-linked rings, Luban locks, etc., all for Yue Zheng to play with. She didn't know what Yue Zheng liked, so she bought all the toys she played with when she was a child.
Yue Zheng liked the toys that Hua Fushu brought very much, and pulled Hua Fushu to ask her to play with him. However, Hua Fushu did not play with him, and sent Sanqiao to play with him.
Yue Zheng was having a great time, pestering Sanqiao with questions. It was obvious that he had never played with these things before.
Hua Fushu watched from the side for a while, then said to Hua Mingqiao, "Uncle, let's go to Chaoxi Hall."
Hua Mingqiao knew that Hua Fushu had something to tell him, so he followed Hua Fushu to Chaoxi Hall. Seeing this, Sai Yuhuan also followed.
Seeing Sai Yuhuan approaching, Hua Fushu had no intention of sending her away and invited them to sit down. Sai Yuhuan was her uncle's wife and Yue Zheng's younger brother's mother. Even if Hua Fushu disliked her, she would still treat her with some kindness for the sake of her uncle and Yue Zheng's younger brother. She said, "Uncle, aunt, what are your plans next?"
Sai Yuhuan was stunned. Hua Fushu actually called her "Auntie". Would she be willing to recognize her?
Hua Fushu also saw Sai Yuhuan's doubts and said, "You think too much. I only call you aunt reluctantly for the sake of my uncle and brother."
really!
Sai Yuhuan knew that Hua Fushu would not recognize her as his aunt, and it was only thanks to her son and husband that he called her aunt.
Hua Mingqiao touched his nose. He had no say in whether his niece was willing to recognize Sai Yuhuan or not. That was her own business.
Hua Fushu got straight to the point, "Uncle, what are your plans next?"
Hua Mingqiao hesitated to speak, "Not yet."
Hua Fushu hummed, "It's not that I don't have any time yet. You came to the capital to kill the King of Qinghe, right?"
Sai Yuhuan asked, "Did you guess it?"
Hua Fushu said truthfully: "Yesterday, my uncle said that your business was not yet completed. I guessed it."
She thought of Yue Zheng, "You brought Yue Zheng to the capital, are you planning to entrust him to me?"
Hua Ming and Qiao remained silent.
Hua Fushu just assumed they agreed, so he said, "I can't interfere with what you do, but I still want to advise you that killing Prince Qinghe is tantamount to seeking death."
Sai Yuhuan said bitterly: "The hatred for killing my father is irreconcilable!"
Hua Mingqiao also said, "We two must avenge this vengeance."
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