On a simple wooden frame with blood stains, half of Zhao Hu's face was rotten, half of his face was covered in white bones and blood. The plate armor on his body had been trampled and deformed, and his clothes were covered in blood.

Xu Erniang knelt on the ground, her crying as if she was heartbroken.

The military man next to him stammered: "Usually, such a corpse looks miserable, but he has not suffered much. He has only become like this after he died... There are many people on the battlefield, and he will inevitably be trampled on by people and horses when he falls to the ground."

Xu Erniang couldn't speak. She first cried loudly, and when she was tired, she sobbed there, and then she just knelt there blankly. It took too long and her legs were numb, so she didn't leave, and she didn't know where to go, but just spent it here in a daze.

Junhan persuaded him several times, but he couldn't persuade him. Later, he left when he didn't know.

In Xu Erniang's heart, the short reunion moved her, and Zhao Hu's appearance and character made her feel like a good man; and such a good man was really nice to her... Unexpectedly, it suddenly disappeared, and Xu Erniang's heart was emptied suddenly.

A long time later, some civilians came up to carry Zhao Hu's body to clean up, and asked Xu Erniang a few words, but she didn't say anything, so they still worked by themselves. Xu Erniang got up from the ground, almost stood firm, and followed the civilians who carried the body. She didn't know what to do, let alone what she should do.

Later, a civil servant came over and asked Xu Erniang with kind words: "Who is Zhao Hu you?"

Xu Erniang opened her mouth and couldn't make a sound. She felt a little physically and mentally disabled now.

The civil servant was not angry either. He looked at Xu Erniang's expression and still said kindly: "Zhao Hu is an imperial guard. He serves the country and fights bloody battles to recover the rivers and mountains. The officials and the court will not forget the contributions of the heroes. Zhao Hu's family will definitely have generous pensions."

Xu Erniang stood there. Whether it is the country or the rivers or the mountains, no matter how tall it is, it is not as good as Zhao Hu in her heart. She only knows that Zhao Hu is dead.

She didn't care about the pensions and benefits. If Zhao Hu was there... she suddenly remembered that when she saw Zhao Hu before, Zhao Hu gave her the military pay and tokens that existed in the Tokyo Money House.

Xu Erniang suddenly burst into tears again. Everyone around looked at her at a loss, not knowing where she had messed with her.

The civil servant whispered to the soldiers next to him: "Why did the family of the imperial guards come to the army? Which battalion did she find, the people recruited by the healing camp?"

He said immediately: "Woman, how do you deal with this matter like this? Go back wherever you are, and then go home to wait to handle the funeral for the deceased; the soldiers who fell from the imperial guards will be sent back by the military government, and the court will also allocate funeral expenses and pensions."

Soon after, someone finally found him. It was someone sent by Lu Lan and persuaded Xu Erniang to go back first.

After Lu Lan persuaded and comforted her, she asked Xu Erniang again, saying that Zhao Hu was dead and whether she wanted to go back to her hometown.

Xu Erniang was only concerned about sadness and didn't know where to go for a while. When she went home like this, she couldn't imagine how to live after returning home... She lost everything and was very desperate.

In fact, after being snatched away by the Khitans, she had no hope. But if there was no hope, there would be no despair.

Xu Erniang suddenly felt helpless and extremely lonely. She didn't want to go home to face it, she just wanted to escape. She wanted to hide in a corner where no one knew her, she didn't want to face accusations, nor was she comforted... She died of a man who was not her, so what's the use of comforting her?

...

In the central army camp, Guo Shao, who was sitting in the upper position, was completely haggard.

At this time, a civil servant walked in quickly, held a tribute first, held a letter in both hands, and said, "Report to Your Majesty, General Han urgently reported it."

Guo Shao raised his head and waited for Lu Chengyong to come up. He took it in his hand and saw the words "Good News" written on it.

Han Tong got the news from the left and came to the army. He was about to meet the Liao army who wanted to escape from the Deshengkou (Xishan). The two armies fought, and the Liao army was defeated after a great battle.

Han Tong's troops had fewer troops than the Liao army, but they won a great victory; but because of the few people, they could not encircle and suppress the Liao army. Although they had won many, they caused a large number of Liao army to scatter and escape in the direction of Xishan.

At this time, Li Chuyun and other troops did not have time to enter the Xishan battlefield.

It was only in the evening that the Central Army camp received a report from Li Chuyun. The Wen-Yuhe Battle was won... First, Li Chuyun's army fought with the Liao army, which had a slight advantage. After the Luoyan Huan army approached the north, the main force of the Liao army fled eastward with light equipment, and was blocked by Li Chuyun's army and killed the rear army, causing a lot of losses.

When Wang Pu saw the report, he hurriedly shouted in public: "In this battle, the winner is still the Great Zhou army."

Guo Shao knew he was trying to boost morale.

Seeing that everyone was not very enthusiastic, Wang Pu explained: "Three battles. The Liao army's raid in Youzhou City infantry battle, the battle of Xishan and the battle of Wenyuhe were all defeated and retreated!"

Wang Pu said it was true, but Guo Shao was still not happy.

It is meaningless to just talk about the winning rate of the battle. Victory of the defensive battle failed to annihilate the main force of the Liao army and did not play a decisive role... The truth is that the Zhou army was passive everywhere and was attacked and the morale of the attacking city; the most important failure is the loss of the general and the emperor's sworn brother!

If a general dies in battle, he will lose his aura of a large army... This is also the reason why Shi Yanchao was surrounded and the late emperor wanted to strictly order the Jinyang North Route Army to rescue him. If the first powerful general of the Zhou Dynasty died in battle, he would be "taken away"; the general reason is that it would have a psychological impact on the morale of the army.

This time, the emperor's sworn brothers died and were seriously injured and had a great impact on the morale of the army.

Guo Shao neither said he would commend Li Chuyun nor blame him.

Wang Pu made a statement: "The Liao army reinforcements were defeated and it was difficult to threaten Youzhou again. I believe that the cavalry could go back to the camp to rest first; tomorrow morning, the siege troops will continue to attack the city as they are deployed."

Guo Shao spoke, "Follow the emperor's request."

The Privy Councilor Wang Pu's prestige was recognized by the imperial guards, and he was always relied on by the emperor. When he was sick, he had to seek medical treatment and medicine himself. His status was imagined. Guo Shao had to maintain Wang Pu's prestige at this time.

...Agoing before, Guo Shao had already woken up when he saw Yang Biao and Luo Mengzi.

In this battle, the scenes were chaotic everywhere, and the chaos still had its essence: the Zhou army siege was attacked by the Liao army.

The Liao army reinforcements were essentially a large-scale harassment, and it was difficult to truly defeat the elite Zhou army under Guo Shao's command in terms of force scale. Guo Shao's mistake was that he lost the general.

Guo Shao was so upset that he racked his brains to sum up the lessons.

First of all, the Great Zhou imperial guards, who lost their initiative and won every battle, were not very adapted to the war model with the Liao Kingdom. The Liao army did not hope for a decisive battle like other countries, and even did not seem to care about the outcome. Haunting and running were their strategy.

Secondly, he could not let go of the casualties of the two general brothers, and believed that it was his own responsibility...the layout was still omitted.

Guo Shao kept looking through the map and the report, carefully deducing the situation from beginning to end, and was very anxious.

He has fought many big battles in the past, and although he is working hard, his overall layout is very smooth... The rhythm of the war is under control, and he has a kind of casual and decisive confidence. Even if the risks are very high in many cases, confidence can make him unrestrained and enterprising.

For example, when the Battle of the Southern Tang Dynasty was conquered, it was still very risky to let Li Chuyun go deep under an accidental fighter jet; but it was also a strange trick.

But now, the mistake made him lose his rhythm, and he had the concern of being restrained.

Guo Shao read the thick handwriting of the Battle of Youzhou and returned to his original strategic goal: to capture Youzhou City.

Now, he questioned whether he could still capture Youzhou City.

After the Great Zhou army arrived in Youzhou City in advance, it took half a month to build the siege fortifications, and then the siege was not smooth... The artillery failed to effectively suppress the interference of the defenders, resulting in the moat not being able to fill quickly; digging tunnels to bury gunpowder, but water seeped.

Gunpowder must be buried underground and reinforced and sealed to generate sufficient explosive power. After all, black gunpowder is the principle of rapid combustion, because in a closed space, the air pressure suddenly increases and the pressure will explode only if it is not released. Guo Shao is very clear that Zhao Kuangyin supported the "Two Li" to rebel against Jinzhou, digging tunnels but not sealing them well, and the result is nothing.

At this moment, Wang Pu asked to see him and entered.

Wang Pu signaled the servants beside Guo Shao to retreat, and said with a guilty look on his face: "The old minister has lost his trust."

Guo Shao said: "I am the one who makes the decision."

Wang Pu sighed and said silently for a moment: "The Liao army reinforcements were defeated, but the troops did not receive a fatal blow. Although they need time to reorganize the army, sooner or later there will be a threat of harassment."

Guo Shao nodded, unable to deny this possibility.

Wang Pu said: "If the Zhou army's horse army shrinks and gathers too much towards Youzhou City, the Liao army will control the peripheral activity area and will most likely hinder the food route of the Great Zhou army's rear. Therefore, the old ministers thought that the horse army would still deploy in front and get deeper.

The battalions of Youzhou infantry must re-strengthen the fortifications and build camps and valley walls outside the fortifications to prevent this accident from happening again..."

Guo Shao dropped his brush and suddenly said, "Envoy Wang believes that according to the current situation, before the main force of Liao Kingdom goes south, can we really capture Youzhou City?"

After hearing this, Wang Pu's expression changed slightly and he did not answer immediately.

After a long silence, Wang Pucai said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty has always won every battle, and many people even believe that you are the reincarnation of the god. Before attacking Youzhou, the court inside and outside the court believed that the Great Zhou would definitely recover the lost territory. If the general was defeated and returned in vain, public opinion would probably be unfavorable..."

Not only the people in the world, but Wang Pu also seemed a little unacceptable: "It will take some time for the Liao Kingdom to gather the main force. The Military and Caosi were undercover, the Privy Council was working in detail, and the imperial guards were all deployed in the enemy territory. Our main force was not damaged at this time, and there was still time and opportunity."

Guo Shao said: "If we judge that we cannot capture Youzhou City quickly, delaying will increase the risk. Moreover, we have a large amount of infantry supplies in the siege and cannot escape temporarily, so we must prepare for it."

Wang Pu was silent.

Guo Shao said: "The situation is no longer on our side, the difficulty of siege is increasing, and morale is affected again. I feel that the fighter plane has been lost."
Chapter completed!