Chapter 155: Battle of Xixia Stone Valley (I)

By the end of August, the Beginning of Autumn has passed, the heat has completely dissipated, and coolness has quietly invaded.

As soon as Zhang Xuanyu set out, Zhao Ji and Yang Xuanji led the army to escort the army's food and fodder from Youzhou to Danzhou. They were careful and cautious along the way and nothing went wrong.

Under the influence of Di Renjie, Zhao had great respect for this veteran general with outstanding military achievements. He almost regarded him as his teacher and absorbed his experience like a sponge. Naturally, the old general was also generous in giving him advice.

Zhang Jiujie received Zhao Ji and Yang Xuanji in Danzhou City. He was obviously angry because he had been humiliated by Zhang Xuanyu and others.

As soon as Yang Xuanji and Zhao Ji arrived in Danzhou, they heard about Zhang Xuanyu's military expedition and the news brought by the surrendered soldiers from Yingzhou.

On the city wall of Danzhou, Zhao Ji, Yang Xuanji and Zhang Jiujie climbed up and looked into the distance. They could vaguely see traces left by the last Khitan army's siege.

Zhang Jiujie put one hand on his waist and pounded on the city wall. He said with a look of indignation, "I have been a soldier for decades, and I have never seen anyone who fights for merit to the extent of Zhang Xuanyu."

"He, Ma Renjie and Cao Renshi are in collusion with each other, and they wantonly exclude their colleagues and abuse their power. First, they squeezed General Li out of Youzhou, and because you two have a good relationship with General Li, they put you in the rear army and gave you the job of escorting grain."

"I just said a few words of advice, and I can only stay here to defend the city. In this way, he can take all the credit for defeating the Khitan. What a good plan!"

These words are both complaints and a bit of a divisive tone.

Yang Xuanji was usually taciturn, experienced and deep. He remained calm in the face of this and responded calmly: "It is hard to predict whether Zhang Xuanyu can achieve success on this trip. The general should defend Tanzhou City. If you really follow Zhang Xuanyu..."

Having said this, Yang Xuanji shook his head slightly and said no more.

Zhang Jiujie looked surprised: "Old General, do you think Zhang Xuanyu's attack is not a good idea?"

Yang Xuanji shook his head again without explaining, but his meaning was self-evident.

Zhao Ji said coldly, "If the Khitans really suffered from a disaster and lacked food, then rebellion would be fine, but why did Li Jinzhong dare to call himself the Supreme Khan? Since he has called himself the Khan, he suddenly says he wants to surrender. How can this be trusted?"

"And I've seen the horses that the soldiers from Yingzhou rode back. They're all fat and strong. How can they look like they've suffered from famine? The Khitans are probably pretending to surrender!"

Zhang Jiujie thought for a moment and said hesitantly, "General Zhao has a point, but Zhang Xuanyu has no intention of accepting the Khitan's surrender. Instead, he wants to fight a few battles to win merit. It doesn't seem to matter."

Yang Xuanji frowned and said slowly, "What he meant was that since the Khitans cheated, their purpose was probably to lure our army into advancing rashly, then set up an ambush and attack our army halfway."

Zhang Jiujie seemed suddenly shocked: "What should I do?"

Yang Xuanji took a deep breath and said in a deep voice: "Of course I have to lead the army to support them."

Zhang Jiujie rolled his eyes, stroked his beard and said thoughtfully, "Moreover, General Zhang did not seek shortcuts when traveling north this time. He deliberately took a detour to the east to take the main road. If he encounters an ambush, he can just retreat slowly. It seems that the old general does not need to worry too much."

Yang Xuanji glanced at Zhang Jiujie coldly and asked, "If that's the case, what's the harm in helping him?"

Zhang Jiujie looked into Yang Xuanji's eyes, which were shining brightly, and said sincerely, "It is of course a good thing that the army is safe and sound, but if Zhang Xuanyu's army is already ambushed, and the supporting troops rush hundreds of miles to help, I am afraid that he himself will be in danger."

Zhao Ji nodded slightly when he heard this. He was also worried about this.

Yang Xuanji sneered and answered without hesitation: "Then we should lead the army to support them. It is better than standing by and watching the outcome, disregarding the lives of tens of thousands of soldiers and watching the overall situation deteriorate!"

When Zhao Ji heard Yang Xuanji say this, he understood that Zhang Jiujie probably knew Zhang Xuanyu's situation very well.

It was just that Zhang Xuanyu had offended him before, and he didn't care about the matter. Zhang Jiujie just wanted to defend Danzhou and didn't want to care about Zhang Xuanyu's life or death.

Each of the twenty-eight generals who suppressed the rebellion had his own agenda, and the empress's checks and balances were indeed successful.

Thinking of this, Zhao Ji had no choice but to advise: "If Zhang Xuanyu's army is lost, the overall situation of suppressing the rebellion will be in danger. If the Khitans come back, the general's Danzhou city will be difficult to defend."

"Your Majesty will not care who is the culprit on the front line. When the emperor is furious and punishes us, I'm afraid none of us will be able to escape responsibility."

Zhang Jiujie's face froze when he heard this, and then he nodded slowly. The two points Zhao Ji said hit the nail on the head.

Especially the latter point, it was a bit absurd for the empress to send 28 generals, but everyone knew that she wanted to quell the rebellion as quickly as possible. If the overall situation was not favorable, it was likely that everyone would suffer.

After hesitating for a moment, Zhang Jiujie made up his mind and said, "I understand what you two generals mean, but I can't move easily in Danzhou... How about this, I will hand over more than a thousand cavalrymen in my army to you two, and you can go after the army."

Zhao Ji thanked him with a bow, but frowned, and suddenly remembered something: "General Zhang, how did you deal with the soldiers who returned from Yingzhou?" Zhang Jiujie understood what Zhao Ji meant and answered seriously: "Except for the leading officers who were taken by Zhang Xuanyu as guides, the rest were controlled. I was also afraid that there would be spies mixed in."

"After you leave, I will close the city gates and take precautions to prevent the Khitans from attacking Tanzhou from making a feint to the east and attacking from the west."

Yang Xuanji also cupped his hands and said, "Okay, this is the best way. Let's set off now."

Zhang Jiujie also bowed to Zhao Ji and Yang Xuanji and said, "Generals, be careful on your way. If things are not going well, you can return to Danzhou or Pingzhou."

"Sure." Zhao Ji replied.
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Speed ​​is of the essence in war. After taking over the more than 1,000 cavalrymen from Zhang Jiujie, Yang Xuanji and Zhao Ji gathered the cavalrymen in their armies and used them.

In this way, a total of more than 4,000 people were gathered, led by Zhao Ji, who set out first to chase Zhang Xuanyu's army, while Yang Xuanji followed behind with the infantry.

According to Yang Xuanji's calculations, Zhang Xuanyu would bypass the Yanshan Mountains and march towards Yingzhou, and the Khitan would most likely set an ambush in Huangzhang Valley (Xixia Stone Valley) along the way.

Even if Zhang Xuanyu marched quickly, Zhao Ji led the cavalry, and four legs are always faster than two legs, so they would probably be able to catch up with the army before reaching Huangzhang Valley.

However, Yang Xuanji still underestimated the extent of Zhang Xuanyu's recklessness and his desire for quick success.

At first, Zhang Xuanyu, Cao Renshi and Ma Renjie were still skeptical about the surrender of the Khitan, and they were able to advance at a normal speed and be cautious.

However, a false surrender at the Rushui River completely changed the situation.

When the Zhou army crossed the Rushui River, a group of old and weak Khitan people came to surrender. They brought a motley crowd, and their livestock were all old, thin, sick and weak cattle and horses.

Now Zhang Xuan and his three generals had to believe that the Khitan had surrendered.

Li Jinzhong and Sun Wanrong refused to surrender, so General Zhang was happy to have two of his men lead the way.

Therefore, General Zhang and his two companions chose the same approach as Yang Xuanji, and decided to personally lead 5,000 cavalry to rush to Yingzhou to accept the surrender, leaving Yan Fei Shi and Zong Huaichang behind to lead the infantry to follow.

As the cavalry slowly stepped into the depths of the Xixia Stone Valley, Master Cao Ren couldn't help but frown. He carefully examined the surrounding environment, and a feeling of uneasiness surged in his heart.

He rode his horse closer to Zhang Xuanyu and reminded him in a low voice, "General Zhang, the terrain of this valley is complex, the road inside the valley is rugged and difficult to travel, and the cliffs on both sides are very steep. Could there be an ambush?"

Zhang Xuanyu looked a little impatient when he heard this. He glanced at Master Cao Ren and said with a reproachful tone, "Why didn't you say so earlier? Now that we have entered the valley, what's the point of talking about this matter again?"

"I have sent scouts to investigate first. If there is an ambush, they will warn you. The most urgent thing now is to cross this dangerous area as quickly as possible."

After he finished speaking, he whipped the horse whip violently and urged the horse to move forward.

Although Cao Renshi was worried, he had no choice but to follow closely. He secretly adjusted his position and retreated to the end of the cavalry team to be on guard.

However, as the team went deeper into the valley, they did not find any signs of an ambush. Master Cao Ren couldn't help but shake his head, thinking that he was worrying too much.

However, just as this slackness was about to spread, a deafening roar suddenly came from the direction of the exit of Huangzhang Valley, and rolling logs and rocks poured down like a rainstorm.

The Zhou army was in chaos for a while, and suffered heavy casualties. The shouts of the Khitan army, the screams of the Zhou army, and the painful neighs of the horses mixed together.

"Don't panic! Don't panic! The exit is right in front of us! Follow me and rush out of the valley!"

Zhang Xuanyu waved the whip vigorously on his horse and shouted at the top of his lungs, trying to restore order in the team.

Unfortunately, apart from the personal soldiers around him, no one obeyed his orders.

At this moment, one of the officers who returned from Yingzhou revealed his hideous true face - a lurking snake killer.

Disguised as a rebel soldier, he approached Zhang Xuanyu silently, and suddenly threw out his flying claws, firmly binding the general to his horse.

The soldiers around were all shocked to see the general being captured by his own people, and for a moment no one dared to step forward to rescue him.

When someone finally reacted and rode towards Zhang Xuanyu to rescue him, the evil spirit rode away, with its pair of bronze claws flying everywhere. No soldier could get close to it, and it cut a bloody path in the chaos and quickly fled the scene with Zhang Xuanyu.

"Hurry! Get out! This is the only way to survive!" Ma Renjie was smarter than Zhang Xuanyu and had long wanted to get out of the valley.

(End of this chapter)