Chapter 209: Both Fronts Are Hard

The garrison at the North Gate of Yangliang was weak. Facing the threat from the Jin army general Lou Shi, Yang Chang actually dared to leave halfway. In addition to his absolute trust in Zhu Tong, he also had the South Gate standing in the rear.

Even if Lou Shi could take the North Gate, Zhu Tong still had the South Gate as a retreat.

There is a long canyon (Queshu Valley) between the North and South Gates, and the large army cannot be deployed in the valley. If Lou Shi continues to move south, the supply line will be delayed, and Zhu Tong's supply line will be shortened. The worst outcome for the two armies is a confrontation in Queshu Valley.

Even if the worst result came, the impact on Yang Chang would be limited, and it would be beneficial to the defense of the Jin army.

If Yang Chang attacked Taiyuan in the north, the Taigu Gorge in Qinzhou would have a huge advantage in defense, but would become a disadvantage in attack because the valley was controlled by the Jin army of the Northern Wei Dynasty, and a forced breakthrough would result in heavy losses.

If the northern gate of Yangliang was defended, Yang Chang's troops could move north from Pingyang, and the Fen River could also be used, which would save a large number of war logistics personnel.

At this time, Nianhan had a strong army and horses, so he naturally did not worry about being counterattacked by Yang Chang. However, if the offense and defense changed in the future, Yangliang North Pass would be the outpost.

On February 14, Yang Chang took the Wind-Fire Wheel to Hongdong, and told Qiu Qiongying and Lu Zhishen to go back to Qinzhou, and then he hurriedly urged Zhao Fujin to "set off" first.

Seeing the two hugging each other and walking away, Qiu Qiongying felt envious and jealous. She also wanted to learn the magic speed, but now she has surpassed the last one.

Qiu Qiongying was riding two horses at this time, and she had to bring back the Zhaoye Jade Lion.

When Yang Chang was there, two people were allowed to ride the horse together, but no one except Yang Chang himself could ride it alone.

"It's all your fault!"

Qiu Qiongying inexplicably whipped the Zhaoye Jade Lion on its buttocks, thinking that if you run faster, without eating, drinking or resting in the middle, the master can ride back and forth by himself, and the princess will stay at home as a vase.

By then, my sister will be in charge of the household, the princess will take care of her son, and I will accompany the official to fight outside.
Lu Zhishen, who was at the front of the team, saw Qiu Qiongying's expression changing very quickly and whipping Zhaoye Jade Lion. He thought to himself, could the horse have done something wrong?

Although Zhao Fujin is a daughter of a wealthy family, she is willing to show up for Yang Chang.

Of course, beauty will inevitably be destroyed if one is often exposed to wind and rain, but this has no effect on Zhao Fujin. Instead, she looks even more radiant. This is the problem that Qiu Qiongying can't understand the most.

Yang Chang was also very curious as to why Zhao Fujin's cultivation level improved so quickly. In fact, this was related to her love and protection of beauty.

When the two of them were on their way north to Jizhou in search of immortals, the princess used the armor-covering technique to block the wind. In order to make the armor-covering technique last longer, she also practiced the breathing technique taught by Ma Ling all night long when she was not on duty. Yang Chang was unaware of all this.

Zhao Fujin was speeding on his wind-fire wheels and using his armor to block the wind, just like Yang Chang was using his Qi to keep out the cold. He was slowly honing his skills all the time, and his proficiency in his skills was getting higher and higher. Now he could maintain his speed in the canyon.

The couple set out from Hongdong in the morning and arrived in Qinyuan County, Qinzhou, at dusk in the afternoon. Most of this section of the journey was canyon, and even for cavalry it would take three days to complete the journey.

Zhao Fujin traveled for a whole day without stopping at any town to rest. When she arrived at Qinyuan, she was already a little tired. She could have rushed back to Tongdi overnight, but Yang Chang didn't want her to work too hard, so he let her stay in Qinyuan to rest for one night.

The next morning, the two had breakfast at the inn and then continued on their journey in a hurry.

Around 9:00 p.m., we crossed the valley in the east of Qinyuan and finally arrived at the open official road. We estimated that we would reach Tongdi by noon.

Zhao Fujin had not seen Yang Huang for many days and missed him very much. She urged the wind-fire wheels to speed up, making the surrounding scenery become afterimages.

"Princess, wait a minute, slow down."

"Ok?"

"I said slow down!"

It was not until Yang Chang tickled her that Zhao Fujin slowed down and stopped, curiously asking, "What's wrong? Didn't you say you were going to arrive at noon?"

"No, there seems to be a group of cavalry ahead, you should move towards them slowly, I hope they are not Jin soldiers."

"impossible?"

Zhao Fujin started riding the Fire Wheels again, but his speed was obviously much slower than before.

Not long after they started, Yang Chang [Eagle Eyes and Owl Vision] saw a familiar figure in front of them and changed his tone to urge her to speed up.

"Hurry up, they seem to be our soldiers, and the leader seems to be..."

"Lin Chong? Why are you here at this moment?"

"do not know"

Before Yang Chang sent troops from Qinzhou, he asked Lin Chong to be in charge of external defense. If Yelu Yu saw the army approaching, he should be at the southern entrance of Taigu at this time.

If you can't figure it out, just don't think about it. It's easier to just ask directly. This is Director Yang's usual style.

A moment later, Zhao Fujin brought Yang Chang to Lin Chong on his wind-fire wheel in full view of everyone.

"Observation, Princess, are you back?"

"Tell me about the situation in Qinzhou. Is the Gukou outpost still there?"

"Yes."

Lin Chong was surprised when he heard this and murmured, "I went there five days ago. There were no Jin soldiers attacking the northern valley. In addition, General Sun has stationed troops at Nanguan Town for defense. There shouldn't be any serious problems."

"Five days ago?"

When Yang Chang heard the time, he thought something might have gone wrong, and asked hurriedly, "Where have you been these two days?"

"There were unusual movements in Mianshan a few days ago. I was worried so I rushed to check it out. As expected, some people were planning to cross the border through a small path. There were about four to five hundred of them. They claimed to be refugees from Xiujie and Pingyao, but they could not prove their identities when interrogated by Cao Zheng. He guessed that they were spies disguised as Yisheng Army soldiers."

"Absolutely, Nianhan took action!"

"What do you mean?"

Lin Chong was stunned when he heard this.

Yang Chang quickly replied, "I encountered Lou Shi at the northern gate of Yangliang. He claimed that Yelu Yudu led his troops to attack Qinzhou, while he led his troops to take Pingyang Prefecture. Lou Shi's army was far away. According to his time, when you received the unusual movement in Mianshan, Yelu Yudu might have been on the way. He was playing a feint to the east and attacking in the west."

"hiss"

Lin Chong took a deep breath and added nervously, "And lure the tiger away from the mountain?"

"Yes." Yang Chang nodded heavily, frowned and instructed: "I don't know what the situation is at the entrance of the valley. I will go ahead with the princess now. You should return to Tongdi and inform my second brother to strengthen the city defense and prepare for war. If the outpost at the entrance of the valley and Nanguan Town are lost, the next step is to use Tongdi for defense."

"Okay, but you have to trust General Sun. The result may not be that bad."

"I hope so."

As soon as Yang Chang finished giving instructions to Lin Chong, he instructed Master Zhao to start the journey, bypassing Tongdi and changing course to the north of Qinzhou.

Due to the urgent military situation, Zhao Fujin had no time to reunite with his son, and immediately rushed to the Gukou outpost with Yang Chang.

At the turn of the month, Yang Chang arrived at the outpost.

The sound of fighting echoed in the valley, but no one noticed them.

The good news is that the stronghold has not been lost, but the bad news is that there are many wounded who have not had time to be transferred for treatment, and the area around the outpost has become messy and not as tidy as before.

"Yang Lang, how is it?"

“Not too bad.”

While the couple was talking, they were spotted by Hu Cheng who was on lookout on the tower, and he quickly came down to confirm.

"Saburo?"

"Thank you for your hard work, brother. Seeing so many brothers injured, it must be because of the fierce attack of the Jin people."

"Yes, but it will be dark in half an hour. They will withdraw soon. We will move together after the battle. Have you been to Nanguan Town? The injured brothers are settled there."

"We occupy the terrain, so we shouldn't..."

As Yang Chang was talking, he observed and suddenly found that the soldiers in the front were throwing stones forward, so he changed the subject and asked, "Have you run out of bows and arrows? Why are you throwing stones?"

"Sanlang should know that Qinzhou only has 500,000 or 600,000 arrows. How long can they last if they don't save them? Moreover, half of the brothers in Gukou are newly recruited soldiers who have not yet passed the archery training. We can't let them waste them. So Commander Sun came up with this idea."

"The Jin have been fighting for several days. How many arrows do they have left? How many wounded are there now?"

"The enemy arrived three days ago. They just tested the enemy for the first half of the day, and then they started to attack continuously. We only have 160,000 arrows left out of the 200,000 we prepared before the battle, and there are nearly 2,000 wounded."

"hiss"

Yang Chang sucked in a breath of cold air and thought to himself that it took only three days to shoot 40,000 arrows, no wonder there were so many casualties, this is not being thrifty but stingy.

"Sun An and Shi Jin are both in the front? Brother, please help me settle the princess. I will personally command the last half hour!"

"Okay, Princess, this way please."

Zhao Fujin and Yang Chang'an paid their respects, then followed Hu Cheng up to the watchtower to rest.

She stood at the lookout and looked forward, only to see that Yang Chang did not go looking for Sun An and Shi Jin, but came to the side of the new soldier who was throwing stones, as if they were communicating something.

Yang Chang's armor was left at the north gate of Yangliang, and he was wearing plain clothes at this time so he was not recognized by the new recruits.

The new soldier saw him looking for something with his head down, so he shook his head and teased: "Which direction are you looking for? What are you looking for here? Just find some small stones and throw them. To repel the enemy, we have to rely on our brothers in the front to fight hard. We are just covering at most. It is not easy to hurt anyone."

"Who said stones can't hurt people?"

Yang picked up a rock as big as a winter melon, and the recruit who was teasing him was stunned. The recruit pointed at him and reminded him hurriedly: "What are you doing? It's not broken yet, don't hit your feet!"

"Haha, I can't."

Yang Chang smiled leisurely and held the "boulder" in one hand.

The recruit was so stunned that he could not speak, but soon he saw a strange sight: a "huge rock" was thrown out from Yang Chang's hand and flew straight into the crowd of Jin soldiers three meters away.

"you."

"how?"

"Can you throw another one?"

"no problem."

Yang Chang found another one of the same size and threw it to the same landing point casually.

"hiss"

The new soldier swallowed hard and murmured, "You have supernatural powers. Which battalion are you from? If Commander Sun saw this, he would definitely give you a rank as a military officer."

"hehe."

Seeing that Yang Chang did not make any comment, the man continued to ask: "Hey, what's your name? Where is your hometown? I am from Shaxiongling, Shouyang County. My last name is Yu and my given name is Qian. What's your name, brother? Let's be friends."

"Yu Qian? What a nice name."

Yang Chang thought to himself, "You are not very capable. How could you have the same name as this gentleman?" He wanted to tease the surname Guo, but in the end, when he bent down to pick up the stone, he responded casually, "My name is Yang Chang."

"Chief Yang?"

Yu Qian was shocked when he heard this, and then he swallowed his saliva and said, "You have the same name as the Observer?"

"Yeah, what a coincidence."

After Yang Chang finished speaking, he threw another stone, which finally attracted the attention of the generals in front.

Seeing Sun An rushing over with two swords in hand, Yu Qian grabbed Yang Chang's sleeve and tugged at it, anxiously reminding him: "That's Commander Sun, hurry up and throw another one to show your ability. Don't forget us when you become successful..."

"No need."

"No, you're stupid."

Yu Qian hurried forward, pointed at Yang Chang and said hesitantly: "Grandson. Commander Sun, he...he can..."

"Observation, you are here."

"When you are wearing armor, you don't need to be fully polite."

Yang Chang reached out and supported Sun An, and the two of them exchanged greetings and questions on the spot.

Yu Qian's head was buzzing at this moment, wondering who was I talking to just now? He seemed to be Yang Chang, the Bright Heavenly Lord, and I was just teaching him how to do things?
I dared to grab his clothes with my dirty hands? I deserve to die.
Yang Guancha is talking to me. Does he like me?
Want to be successful?
This guy was struggling with his inner thoughts, but Yang Chang used him and Sun An as an example.

"Look, that man's name is Yu Qian. He just said that throwing stones is useless. He is right. Not everyone has supernatural powers. It is not worthwhile to hurt soldiers just to save arrows."

"But Qinzhou doesn't have many arrows left. I can't use them all up. I can only resort to this last resort."

"We are now fighting on two fronts, so we must reduce casualties. Stop being so stingy. Are the remaining bows and arrows in Tongdi? Send someone to get them overnight and repel the enemy first."

"what?"

Sun An showed an incredible expression and thought to himself, is this still the frugal Yang Guancha?
"This is a different time. Now that we have Pingyang, not only will we have a guaranteed supply of food and soldiers, but we will also be able to manufacture arrows faster, so feel free to use them."

"All right."

"Brother, the Jin soldiers have retreated."

While the two were discussing, Shi Jin came excitedly with weapons in hand. If it weren't for his selfless efforts in the past two days, the Jin soldiers would have almost broken through the valley.

Seeing Shi Jin coming with him, Sun An immediately clasped his fists and said goodbye to Yang Chang, saying, "Let Shi Jin chat with you first. I have to set up obstacles in advance to resist the first round of attacks tomorrow morning."

"Hard."

"It should."

As Sun An turned around, he pointed at Yu Qian and the new recruits beside him and shouted, "You, you, and you, follow me!"

"Yes."

"coming."

"Huh? Oh"

Yu Qian was secretly delighted when he heard this, thinking, are you going to promote me? But he was obviously overthinking.

Being called away by Sun An at this time was nothing more than to set up obstacles and traps and help with some hard labor. How could there be any special intention?
Yang Changzhi's army does not care about connections. If you want to stand out in his army, you have to work hard to gain military merits. He will also consider your strength and character comprehensively.

Logically speaking, Hu Cheng was his elder brother-in-law, so with such a relationship, he should at least be a commander. However, Yang Chang only gave him a deputy commander position, which ranked last with Sun An and Shi Jin, and was even worse than the deputy commander Cao Zheng. He himself could stand on his own in Mianshan.

That night, Yang Chang stayed at the outpost at the entrance of the valley to rest.

He sent people to Tongdi to meet Wu Song overnight, asking him to transport the remaining 300,000 arrows, and discussed countermeasures with Sun An and others until late at night.

Considering it a waste for new recruits to use bows and arrows, Yang Chang decided to draw out Wu Song's Tongdi garrison and transfer all of Lin Chong's mobile forces. The first thing to do was to suppress the Jin army with momentum.

Otherwise, seeing that the defenders were weak, the Jin army would continue to attack the outposts, which would be like cutting a wound with a knife, slowly draining blood and scraping the wound for continuous output, which Qinzhou could not afford with its strong resources.

And Yelu Yudu, who was in Pantuo in the north of the valley, decided to send Liao soldiers to fight tomorrow after briefly understanding today's battle situation.

The composition of the army under Nianhan included not only the Jin soldiers and the surrendered Yisheng Army, but also a large proportion of Liao people.

Human emotions are complicated. When the Liao army fought against the Jin army, they were not as brave as they were against the Song army.

The Liao army at that time viewed the country in a similar way to the Song army viewed their own country. They were powerless to stop the treacherous officials who controlled the country and were worried about gains and losses when fighting.

After the Liao Dynasty was annexed by the Jin Dynasty, they vented their hatred for the loss of their country on the Song Dynasty. They had a mentality that they couldn't bear to see the other side doing well and that if they lost their country, they would also have theirs.

In the past few days, the battle at Gukou was mainly fought by the Yisheng Army, and the troops that attempted to cross Mianshan were also the Yisheng Army sent by Nianhan.

Seeing that the defenders were exhausted and confirming that Yang Changzhen was not in Qinzhou, Yelu Yu adjusted the attack sequence and replaced him with his own people.

After deploying the combat mission, Yelu Yudu comforted Gao Qingyi, saying, "It seems that Yang Changzhen has gone to Pingyang. Tomorrow we must strive to capture Nangukou in one fell swoop. If you can successfully persuade one or two cities to surrender with your eloquence, it can be regarded as making up for the matter of the Olu. The Marshal should be able to use you again."

"That crime is too serious. I dare not hope for the Marshal's forgiveness. If I can rescue Salum and the girl alive, I will be considered to have made meritorious contributions. Sun An will not use them as a threat, right?"

"Captain Yang is not in Qinzhou. Do the people below have the guts to do this? You can go to sleep without worry."

"Yes, the governor."

Gao Qingyi suddenly remembered something, and before leaving the general's tent, he called Yelu Yudu again, gesturing with his hands and reminding him: "Just now at dinner, I heard Cui Zhong mention that before his Yisheng Army withdrew in the afternoon, several huge rocks suddenly flew from behind the Song Army, which seemed to be this big.
"Huh? What are you trying to say?"

"What I mean is that besides Yang Chang, Lu Zhishen and Wu Song in Qinzhou both have supernatural powers. If Wu Song comes to Gukou for support, he must be a tough guy. The only thing to worry about is that Yang Chang will come back early."

"Why are you imagining so much? If Yang Chang and Lu Zhishen were in Qinzhou, what was he doing these days? The military report from Fenzhou cannot be false. They must have gone to Pingyang. The rocks falling from the mountain make the most sense. We should think positively. Lou Shi personally led the troops to Pingyang, and Yang Chang detained his son. Maybe he has been captured."

Yelu Yudu was certain that Yang Chang was not there, and thought that Lou Shi had encountered a tough nut to crack, and that he was lucky enough to get an advantage, but he didn't know that both fronts were tough nuts to crack.

The next morning, Yelu Yudu personally led the main force in the rear, while Cui Zhong still led the Yisheng Army in the front.

After clearing several roadblocks, the army successfully arrived at the valley entrance, where there were piles of rocks and tripwires. The Qinzhou defenders were already waiting nearby, trying to force the enemy to dismount and fight.

"Captain, there is no way to clean up the rest."

"It's okay. The Yisheng Army has just stretched their muscles and bones. They are now warm and suitable for fighting. You can lead the troops to attack first. I will personally support you today."

"okay."

Cui Zhong agreed reluctantly.

There is no way to disagree. The Han surrendered soldiers have the lowest status and they have to do the dirty and tiring work.

Cui Zhong led his troops forward and found that something was wrong with the defenders today. Their eyes were full of murderous intent, which was different from the previous two days.

"Brothers, charge forward!"

"kill!"

The Yisheng Army rose up and just as they ran about ten feet away, arrows suddenly flew like locusts from the valley.

Cui Zhong saw soldiers falling down in droves, and hurried to the front to give orders, shouting urgently: "Shieldmen, get forward and block the arrows, hurry up."

Before he could finish his words, Yang Chang drew his bow from a distance and shot an arrow into his throat.

(End of this chapter)