Meishan Su family, Su Yun is the most virtuous

Chapter 245

Kerong Village was considered the hinterland of the Suide Army and was also a fairly large fortress.

A few dozen miles ahead is Funing City. Funing City has no strategic location to defend, so it has to rely on Kerong Village as the last checkpoint of Suide City.

So the content here is very important.

As Qi Keyong's confidant, Zheng Nian'an was assigned here to guard. Zheng Nian'an also knew that he had a heavy responsibility and did not dare to relax at all. He even had three frights in one night.

One day, when he was inspecting the city defenses, his personal soldiers suddenly came running, and Zheng Nian'an's heart suddenly tightened.

The personal soldier came closer and reported: "A large group of cavalry came from the direction of Mizhi Village, about four to five hundred, wearing the uniforms of the Song army. There were no flags, but scouts informed us, and all the cavalry had heads hanging from their waists."

Zheng Nian'an's expression tensed when he heard this, and he asked, "Which direction are they going?"

The personal soldier said, "I'm afraid they are coming for our Kerong Village."

Upon hearing this, Zheng Nian'an immediately jumped on his horse and galloped towards the north gate.

Zheng Nian'an climbed up the wall and looked out. Sure enough, he saw a cloud of dust coming from afar. Zheng Nian'an shouted, "Quickly close all the gates of the village, and all soldiers prepare for battle!"

The entire Kerong Village suddenly became tense.

Commander Sun Rui came running over and shouted from a distance: "What happened?"

Zheng Nian'an rolled his eyes at Sun Rui and said, "Where have you been? Why aren't you at your post?"

Sun Rui cried out in pain when he heard this: "General Zheng, I guarded the city for the entire night and only slept for less than two hours. And I slept in the sentry box downstairs. Didn't you come up as soon as you heard the noise?"

Zheng Nian'an knew it, but he just suppressed it. He looked at the smoke and dust that was getting closer and closer, with an uncertain expression, and said, "It is said that there are four or five hundred cavalrymen wearing Song army armor, heading towards our Kerong Village."

Sun Rui's eyes lit up when he heard this and said, "Is it Chief Su? Isn't there exactly 400 to 500 cavalrymen in Qiying's camp?"

Zheng Nian'an said, "But the scouts said that almost everyone had heads hanging around their waists. Do you think these four or five hundred heads could be from the Tanguts?"

Sun Rui glared and asked, "You mean that Manager Su killed a good person to take credit for his crime?"

Zheng Nian'an touched his forehead and shouted helplessly: "What I mean is that this may be a Dangxiang person pretending to be someone else!"

Sun Rui smiled a little embarrassedly and said, "The last time, Chief Steward Su beheaded more than a hundred people. How do you know it won't work this time?"

Zheng Nian'an snorted and said, "It's better to be careful. After I verify my identity, it won't be too late to apologize to Manager Su."

As they were talking, the five hundred cavalrymen were approaching. Although they were called five hundred cavalrymen, there were actually six or seven hundred horses. With their neat formation, a murderous aura was approaching, and many soldiers looked a little panicked.

Zheng Nian'an quickly said to Sun Rui: "Shout!"

Sun Rui cursed the old fox in his heart, and shouted to the team below: "Stop!"

Su Yun stretched out his hand and clenched it in the air, and suddenly the five hundred cavalrymen stopped abruptly, without any intention of dispersing. After several battles, the Qiying camp had undergone a transformation. They rode quietly on their horses, looking up at the top of the city together, and they felt a sense of solemnity and murderous intent.

Especially the one in the lead looked very strong and wore a very ferocious ghost mask, which made people feel cold at the first sight.

Sun Rui suppressed his anxiety and shouted, "Excuse me, which army and battalion are you from? Who is the commander?"

Su Yun took off his ghost mask upon hearing this, and immediately a handsome face was revealed. When Sun Rui saw him, his eyes widened and he said happily, "It turned out to be Manager Su!"

Upon hearing this, Zheng Nian'an quickly leaned over the wall and looked down. Hey, it was indeed Su Yun.

Zheng Nian'an hurriedly ran down the fortress wall and entered the fortress gate, urging the soldiers to open the door quickly. After the door opened, he ran out quickly and greeted Su Yun with a smile on his face, saying, "General Manager Su, it turns out that you are back. Don't blame me. It was my duty to fulfill my duty and I didn't open the city gate to welcome you."

Su Yun nodded and said, "Help quickly and call a doctor to treat the wounded. We have fought several battles with the Tangut cavalry. Seven or eight people died for the country, twenty or thirty were seriously injured, and more than a hundred were slightly injured. Hurry up and call for treatment!"

Upon hearing this, Zheng Nian'an quickly turned around and shouted to the back: "Commander Sun, quickly gather all the doctors in the village to come and treat the wounded. Also! Quickly arrange food and lodging for the brothers, and make proper arrangements for the war horses as well!"

All of Kerong Village was in motion at once. All of Qi Ying's troops entered Kerong Village and the gate was closed tightly again.

Once inside, several doctors came hurriedly with a dozen apprentices and quickly treated the seriously injured people. Fortunately, although they were seriously injured, their lives were not in danger.

Su Yun was not idle either. He quickly directed the use of hot water to scald the gauze, boiling water to clean the wound, and then quickly directed the use of high-proof alcohol for disinfection. The equipment for purifying alcohol was not difficult, and simple equipment was easy to make. There were craftsmen in the village who could make it according to Su Yun's ideas.

Although the two doctors had some doubts about Su Yun's operation, Su Yun was the general manager after all, so they did not dare to have any opinions and could only follow his instructions to treat the wounded.

As for the fever after injury, the two doctors naturally had ways to deal with it. They just lacked knowledge about bacterial infections. After disinfecting with alcohol and high temperature, a lot of infections could be reduced. Then Chinese medicine used medicines to assist in internal administration, and the lives of these soldiers were saved.

While Su Yun was busy, Zheng Nian'an and Sun Rui were staring at the heads of 300 Dangxiang people in a daze.

The soldiers had already been credited for their service, and the three hundred heads no longer had to be held in their hands, so they were piled together.

It was June or July at the time, and the heads were still quite fresh. When they were piled together, they gave off a strong smell of blood, and flies were buzzing around them.

When I got closer, I felt like I was in a slaughterhouse. Looking at the hideous expressions of the heads, I felt like I was in hell.

Zheng Nian'an and Sun Rui ignored the slander and moved closer to observe. After watching for a while, they looked at each other and nodded: Yes, they are all heads of Dangxiang people.

Including those war horses, there is no doubt that Qi Yingying had indeed killed a group of 300 Tangut cavalrymen!
Both Zheng Nian'an and Sun Rui swallowed their saliva.

Yes, Qi Ying’s camp has 500 cavalrymen against 300 Dangxiang cavalrymen. It seems that they have an advantage in numbers, but they are 300 cavalrymen!
What did the three hundred Tangut cavalrymen outside the fortress mean? It meant that even thousands of infantrymen, or even thousands of Song troops, were defeated by hundreds of Tangut cavalrymen.

Now Su Yun led the Qiying Battalion of 500 soldiers who had been training for several months to destroy the Dangxiang Cavalry Battalion of 300 people. Why does this sound so hard to believe?
Moreover, the soldiers in Qi Ying's camp were all defeated. They were frightened by the Tangut cavalry. They all thought that these soldiers were useless at the beginning!

Sun Rui swallowed and said, "Do you think this is true?"

Zheng Nian'an glanced at Sun Rui and said, "The head is all here, what do you think?"

Sun Rui smiled bitterly and said, "I still find it hard to believe."

Zheng Nian'an snorted and said, "Hurry up and arrange for people to pickle these heads with lime to prevent them from rotting. We will have to send them back to Bianjing later. Humph, this is also a face-saving thing. Our Suide Army has lost face recently. More than a hundred fortresses have been taken down, but we dare not even leave the fortresses. General Su has earned some face for us."

Sun Rui hurried to arrange this matter, but Zheng Nian'an found Qi Ying and asked him about it carefully. Qi Ying was very proud and explained the whole story clearly. After listening to it, Zheng Nian'an was impressed by Su Yun's courage and strategy, and was shocked by the fighting power of Qi Ying's camp.

Because Zheng Nian'an knew very well that even with the combat effectiveness of the Song army, it might not be possible to win with 500 cavalry against 100 cavalry, let alone annihilate the opponent completely.

At this moment, he had a completely new understanding of Su Yun.

——This scholar not only knows the Analects, but also has a basic understanding of Lunyu!
Su Yun didn't know what Zheng Nian'an was thinking, he had more important things to do.

The Qiying camp fought beautifully in the first battle, but the next issue was morale.

Although the battle was fought beautifully, there were still many casualties, so the morale of the soldiers had to be boosted in other ways.

And what can best boost morale is, of course, promotion and wealth.

Su Yun immediately prepared to commend the soldiers.

Those who died should apply for pensions, those who were seriously injured should also ask for merit, and those who killed the enemy should ask for merit even more. This is the best way to boost morale.

Su Yun wrote a thick memorial requesting merit, and then sent a team to deliver it and the head to Bianjing City.

Su Yun is currently the highest-ranking official in Fuyan Road, so he naturally does not need to go through the Fuyan Road Jinglüesi.

……

Bianjing.

Zhao Xu has not been very happy recently, or rather, he has been having a terrible time recently.

After the vegetables, fruits and melons grown in the caves come on the market in spring and summer, their prices begin to drop sharply.

Although it can be sold, the price is only one percent of the previous income.

This caused him, who was used to earning tens of thousands of strings of cash every day, to have a strong withdrawal reaction, just like the rapid drop in subscriptions experienced by authors on Qidian in later generations after a big recommendation ended, which produced a strong sense of loss.

But this is secondary. After all, he was mentally prepared. But another thing happened that he didn't want to face but had to face.

Zhong Yan died suddenly, and the Xixia people took advantage of this opportunity to attack Fuyan Road.

Zhao Xu received battle reports from Fuyan Road almost every day.

Well, a dozen forts were taken out today.

To-morrow another score of forts will be taken.

In a few days, dozens more fortresses were taken.

Even Qingbian Village and Mizhi Village were completely exposed to the Xixia army.

It has been about a month since the Western Xia invaded, but no good news has been reported back!
How could he not be upset!

He wanted to launch a massive military counterattack, but all the ministers in the court disagreed. Even Zhang Dun, who had always been radical, advised him to be cautious when talking about this matter.

Zhao Xu knew very well that all the ministers in the court were frightened by the defeat in Yongle City.

If the defeat at Yongle City happens again this time and another 200,000 people are killed, the Western Army will be destroyed. Who will then defend the west? If the Western Xia Army marches straight in, the country will be in danger of being destroyed!

Although the Western Xia army seems to be winning battles every day, they cannot attack for long. The Western Xia is expending energy on the fortress, and they cannot sustain it for long. When the Western Xia's energy is exhausted, the Song Dynasty can then slowly take back the lost territory.

Zhao Xu naturally understood this truth, but even though he understood it, he felt aggrieved!
What is this like? It's like your neighbor bullies you and slaps you every day. Even though you won't die, you will feel very upset!
Moreover, it is not just that. The key point is that every time a fortress was breached, Zhao Xu could imagine hundreds, tens of thousands of people inside being captured and massacred!

The destruction of more than one hundred fortresses meant that tens of thousands of people suffered the same fate!

As an ambitious monarch who wanted to make a difference, the thought of such a scene made him feel ashamed and furious, and he tossed and turned every night!
So much so that he felt unhappy living in the newly built palace.

On this day, Zhao Xu sat on the dragon throne, listening to the reports on various civil affairs from below, and was quite absent-minded. After the court meeting was over, he went to the Chongzheng Hall to listen to government affairs.

The four prime ministers Wang Gui, Zhang Xu, Cai Que and Zhang Dun were all present, and a number of other ministers including the Hanlin Academicians, the Imperial Censors, and the Secretariat were also present.

There have been heavy rains in the Jinghu area for several months recently, causing a major river to burst its dikes and cause floods. Many counties in Jinghu were affected, so many ministers gathered together to discuss how to provide disaster relief.

The matter was quite complicated and the discussion lasted until noon, but it was still not finished. Seeing this, Zhao Xu simply asked the imperial kitchen to prepare food for the ministers and continue the discussion after they had eaten.

Many ministers were not surprised as this had often happened before.

We stopped talking about work while eating, and somehow ended up chatting about the war in the northwest.

Zhang Xu didn't know whether it was intentional or unintentional, he said loudly: "...I heard that after General Zhong died, Su Yun, the governor of Fuyan Road, was supposed to take charge of many matters of Fuyan Road.

However, I heard that Su Yun disregarded his status and lived and ate with some soldiers. Haha, he didn't understand the overall situation, or rather, he understood the overall situation too well!"

Zhang Dun's face suddenly changed when he heard this, and he angrily said, "Zhang Suiming, what do you mean by that? If you have any objections, just say it. Why are you being so sarcastic?"

No wonder Zhang Dun's expression changed. Zhang Xu's words were full of evil intentions. What did he mean by eating and living with the soldiers? He was clearly saying that Su Yun was up to something!

Zhang Xu laughed and said, "Am I wrong? After Zhong Yan's death, shouldn't Su Yun have stepped forward to take over the defense of Fuyan Road?
Haha, now the battle situation in Fuyan Road is so bad, I think Su Yun should take up this responsibility, this is his problem!"

Zhang Dun sneered, "What responsibility? Holding on to the fortress is the grand strategy, and now the Suide Army is still defending according to the grand strategy, consuming the strength of the Xixia army. Is there anything to blame for this?"

ps: I have to apologize to everyone, because my wife has breast thyroid cancer and was hospitalized today. She will have surgery on the 12th. My mother has had severe headaches recently and she also went for a check-up today. It was found that she had carotid artery sclerosis. She is unable to help me take care of the baby for the time being, so I have to take care of the baby myself in the next few days.

However, apart from the day of the surgery, I will still insist on updating at other times, but I can't guarantee the quantity. I will try my best to maintain five or six thousand updates per day. I'm really sorry.

Alas, middle-aged people...

(End of this chapter)