Prime Minister

Chapter 1101 Loyalty

Chapter 1101 Loyalty

Far away in the north, the ground was shaking slightly, even the gravel on the ground was shaking.

In the distance, traces of the Tangut cavalry appeared again.

The soldiers who had fought hard for half a day, holding their wounded comrades in their hands and stepping on the crackling yellow sand, looked back at this scene with bitter expressions on their faces.

After the battle with the elite Tangut troops "Imperial Garden Sixth Battalion", the Xihe Road troops in the rear suffered heavy losses. Although they defeated the enemy, they also paid a huge price.

Afterwards, the Dangxiang light cavalry began to pursue the Song army, causing heavy casualties to the Song army.

During the battle, a large number of Song army horses died, and many cavalrymen became infantry.

When they arrived at the foot of Mingsha City, there were less than 5,000 soldiers around Zhang Zhi, and many of them were injured. The rest of the troops could never catch up.

Zhang Zhi looked at this scene and shook his head, saying, "I am such a mediocre general! I have exhausted all three armies and they will die here with me."

The place where he and Zhong Shidao agreed to meet the troops on Jingyuan Road was still far away, and now the Western Xia army was chasing them, Zhang Zhi sighed like this.

As they were talking, the gate of Mingsha City opened, and a general with more than ten riders arrived.

Zhang Zhi saw that the person who responded was You Shixiong.

When the other party saw Zhang Zhi, he immediately bowed and said, "You Shixiong greets the Marshal!"

Zhang Zhi was overjoyed and dismounted to help You Shixiong up and said, "Uncle Jing, you are really here!"

You Shixiong immediately led his warhorse to Zhang Zhi and said, "Sir, the Tanguts are coming soon. You ride my horse and hurry back to Jingzhou District."

Zhang Zhi looked back at the soldiers behind him and shook his head, saying, "Tens of thousands of soldiers are here because of me, how can I leave them behind and go first?"

"If I leave, won't the army's morale collapse?"

The people around him advised him, "General, if you leave, we will have something to say if we die in battle in the future. We will have a place to go in the imperial court to provide pensions and posthumous awards."

"If you follow us and die here, not only will the whole army be wiped out, but the court will also blame you..."

Seeing all the soldiers in the audience saying so, Zhang Zhi couldn't help but be moved.

Who in this world is not afraid of death?

Zhang Zhi is also afraid of death.

But Zhang Zhi immediately thought, I killed Wang Zhongzheng, which damaged the reputation of the government, and the court must be severely punished. If my third uncle knew about it, he would protect me in front of the emperor at all costs. How could I let my third uncle be embarrassed, bring shame to my Zhang family, and bring shame to my ancestors?

If I don't make some great achievements to atone for my crime, I will have no choice but to die here, so as not to damage the reputation of loyalty and righteousness of my Zhang family!

Zhang Zhi thought about this and said solemnly, "A real man should die standing up, never live on his knees!"

"I have already written to Mr. Zhang about this matter. Don't worry about the compensation. I appreciate your kindness. There is no need to persuade me anymore!"

The generals had no idea of ​​Zhang Zhi's thoughts. They thought that as the commander-in-chief he could have escaped, but he insisted on living and dying with his soldiers. They all shed tears.

The generals thought to themselves that in those days, General Zhang Jinglie was willing to put his sword across his neck in order to protect the soldiers of Guangrui Army. Today they saw how loyal he was.

You Shixiong said, "The Tanguts are chasing us now. Please follow me into the city to take shelter."

Zhang Zhi said: "Uncle Jing, you are a civil servant, you don't have to stay here with me."

Master You said ambitiously, I have received great kindness from your third uncle. If anything goes wrong with you, your future will be ruined.

I'd rather accompany you to take a chance here. If I can make achievements, your third uncle will treat me well when he takes the position of vice-chancellor in the future, and I will have a guarantee for wealth and glory in my life.

You Shixiong said, "General, Mingsha City has enough food and grass for 5,000 troops for ten days, and there are two wells. It may not be a hopeless situation. I am willing to accompany you to defend the city."

Zhang Zhi was happy at first, then sad when he heard this. In ten days, the food and grass would run out and the whole army would be wiped out.

Zhang Zhi said: "Thank you, Uncle Jing."

You Shixiong said: "I dare not. As the saying goes, jade can be broken but its whiteness cannot be changed, bamboo can be burned but its joints cannot be destroyed."

"The commander is loyal and upright, Shi Xiong admires him prostrate himself."

Zhang Zhi immediately led his troops and You Shixiong into the city to settle the wounded.

After Zhang Zhi entered the city, he learned that You Shixiong had made preparations. He mobilized the civilians who had previously transported grain and fodder to pile up a lot of stones on the city wall. He also built a stone barrier under the city to prevent cavalry attacks and reinforced the sheep and horse wall.

The key point is that You Shixiong did not obey Wang Zhongzheng's previous order to transfer grain from Mingsha City. He intercepted the grain and fodder that could support 5,000 soldiers for ten days, and also dug a new well.

You have to know that in the yellow sand desert, whether there is a well in the city is two different things.

When You Shixiong learned that the Song army had hastily retreated outside Lingzhou City, he sent back the civilians early and left only 300 soldiers to guard the city.

As soon as Zhang Zhi's men entered the city, the soldiers brought buckets of water for supply and settled the wounded. The soldiers and horses of Xihe Road had been thirsty for many days, and when they saw the water, the soldiers and horses rushed to put their heads into the trough to drink.

Zhang Zhi saw that You Shixiong was not only courageous but also very thoughtful. He thought that his third uncle really had a good eye for people and left such a talent for me.

At midnight, fires broke out outside the city and the Dangxiang cavalry arrived.

The Dangxiang cavalry attempted to sneak into the city while the Song army was still unstable, but were ambushed by archers from the Xihe army who were lying in wait under the city.

Thousands of bows, crossbows and bows were aimed at the Tangut cavalry who were galloping towards them with torches in their hands.

In a moment, the crossbows were fired, and the sound of men and horses falling could be heard. The Tangut cavalry who had stolen the city suffered hundreds of casualties and retreated in panic.

The Dangxiang cavalry did not dare to approach the city again, but just surrounded it from a distance. However, they saw that the Song army took advantage of the night to leave the city and dragged all the Dangxiang soldiers and horses who died under the city into the city. They did not know why.

Zhang stood on the top of the city wall and watched this scene. The sudden cold wind at night blew his outer robe covering his iron armor.

This endless yellow sand desert has buried countless corpses of soldiers. A crescent moon is shining alone on the top of the city wall as Zhang Zhi stands with his sword in hand.

In this epic scene, at this moment Zhang thought directly of his family in Bian Jing.

There is also the woman from the Wang family who is plain-looking but considerate.

……

Less than a hundred miles south of Mingsha City, Shen Kuo, the governor of Jingyuan Road, arrived with five thousand cavalrymen to provide support.

Having abandoned all their baggage and weapons, the panicked officers and soldiers of Jingyuan Road, seeing their own troops, all felt that they had found a way out of the desperate situation and burst into tears while hugging their comrades.

Shen Kuo rushed to see Zhong Shidao and asked stutteringly: "Where is Zhang Jing...Lie?"

Zong Shidao said with shame: "I led the army to cover the rear."

Shen Kuo was so anxious that he almost cried, "Uncle Yi, you... have lost your mind. How dare you let Zhang Jinglue... guard the rear!"

When Zong Shidao saw Shen Kuo acting like a woman, he immediately said, "What else can I do? It was Zhang Jinglue who asked for the order, not my will. Besides, I am the commander-in-chief of the troops in Jingyuan Route, and I must protect the troops in this route."

Shen Kuo shook his head and said, "Stupid, stupid... stupid, you are such a stupid and reckless man. If Zhang Jinglüe dies in battle... the two lords of the Zhang family and the many high-ranking officials in the court will never let us go!"

"It is not a pity for you, Master Zong, to die alone. Your entire Zong family will accompany you!"

When Shen Kuo said this, Zong Shidao's face changed.

……

Zhongshu.

"Prime Minister, Prime Minister!"

That night, Zhang Yue woke up from his chair in the duty room, only to see Xu Xi, the inspector of the Zhongshu Bingfang, standing by the door of the duty room.

Zhang Yue brushed his hair and said, "Come in!"

Xu Xi said: "Finally, there is news about the Jingyuan Road army!"

Zhang Yue wiped his face with a hot towel and glanced at Xu Xi after hearing this. He immediately took the report and read it at a glance.

Halfway through, Zhang Yue wanted to slam the table and curse, but finally restrained his anger and scolded: "What a Shen Kuo!"

Looking at Zhang Yue's expression, Xu Xi thought to himself that if Shen Kuo were here, he would probably pee on the spot.

(End of this chapter)