Chapter 591: Killing on a Snowy Night (Part 1)

Tumen Pass is located in Luquan County, about 80 miles away from Zhending County. It is the eastern entrance of the Jingxing Pass. Jingxing is the most strategically valuable passage among the eight Taihang Passes. When you pass through Jingxing, you will directly enter the Taiyuan Prefecture. Therefore, it has been a place that military strategists have fought for since ancient times.

The eastern entrance of Jingxing, Tumen Pass, is located on a huge fault zone. From Tumen Pass, it is the Taihang Mountains with steep mountains, including Guyun Mountain, Baoduling, Jiuli Mountain, Longchi Mountain, with towering mountains and green mountains. From here, a long passage crosses Taihang, and cars and horses are feasible, forming a strategic road between Jin and Yan.

From the east of Tumen Pass is a low hilly and plain area. There are many rivers and fertile land. It has been a densely populated place since ancient times. There is Shiyi County in the south. Later, I thought the word "Shiyi" was not popular enough, so I changed it to Shijiazhuang.

It is precisely because Tumen Pass strangled the throat of Jin Yan that it has been a must-fight for military strategists since ancient times. After the last massacre, Tumen Pass increased its strength to 1,500 people. The leader was still Yu Fang, the young general of the last time. However, because he was promoted to General Lang because of his contribution to rescue the immigrants last time, he was still ordered to guard Tumen Pass.

Tumen Pass was built on Baoduling. Baoduling is like a huge rock protruding from the Taihang Mountains. It is round and has no roads around. There is a low trough in the middle. After passing the low and rushing to another mountain beam, the eyes suddenly became clear. I slowly descended from Baoduling along the ridge. In front of me are low hills and plains. Taibai Canal flows from north to south like a jade belt. Under the sunlight, the river surface is sparkling.

Since the news of An Lushan's rebellion came, the atmosphere at Tumen Pass immediately became tense, and a large amount of military supplies were sent from Taiyuan to continuously. The army strengthened patrols on the city wall, and hundreds of scouts were sent to surrounding prefectures and counties to monitor the movements of An Lushan's army.

Since Guo Ziyi's army entered Hedong, the 20,000 troops of Lei Wanchun from the Anxi army moved north to Shuo, Dai and Yun and Wei, and Lei Wanchun served as the governor of Shuo, Dai, Yun and Wei. In this way, Jingxing also belonged to Guo Ziyi's defense and defense. However, since Tumen Pass is located in Hebei Road, the 1,500 defenders of Tumen Pass still belonged to the Anxi clique and were ordered by Lei Wanchun, not Guo Ziyi.

That morning, a cavalry composed of more than a dozen people rushed over. This was a scout team returning to the camp. However, following Ji Sheng and three others among them, the cavalry team rode their horses to Shiling and came to the gate of Tumen Pass. The scout team was tilting their heads and shouting, "Can General Yu be there?"

Yu Fang leaned over and asked, "Is something wrong?"

"We met General Ji on the way."

"Which general Ji?"

Ji Sheng rode out of the horse and laughed at Yu Fang on the top of the city and said, "General Yu, do you still remember me?"

After the last raid on Youzhou Gunpowder Field, the five hundred scouts retreated from Tumen Pass. How could Yu Fang not remember?

"So it's General Ji, please open the city gate!"

The city gate slowly opened, Yu Fang walked out of the city with great strides, knelt down on one knee and saluted Ji Sheng and said, "I will meet General Ji at the end."

The Anxi Army has a strict hierarchy. When the subordinates meet with their superiors, they must kneel on one knee. Yu Fang is only a third-level general. After successfully attacking the Youzhou Gunpowder Field, Ji Sheng has been promoted to a first-level general. Even his scattered official rank, General Yunhui has reached the position of general. The status of the two sides in the army is very different.

"General Yu, please come up, I have something important to discuss with you!"

"General, please speak to the city tower."

The two walked up the city tower and sat down at a stone table piled with arrows. A soldier brought two bowls of hot tea. Ji Sheng ran all the way and was really thirsty. He picked up the tea bowl and drank it all, then he smiled and said, "General Yu, I am here this time to ask you for reinforcements."

As he said that, he took out a gold medal and placed it on the stone table. This was the gold medal for the transfer of troops given to him by Li Qing'an. With this gold medal, it could mobilize troops of less than 5,000. Yu Fang was so scared that he stood up and said, "I dare not, please give the order to the general!"

"Very good! You have 1,500 people under your command, and I will borrow 1,000 people to Zhending County."

"But....."

Yu Fang hesitated a little, "I was worried that 500 people would be able to defend the pass, so I could not resist the tens of thousands of troops of An Lushan."

"Don't worry, I know it in my heart."

In fact, Ji Sheng was only 10% sure in his heart. He just received the news that Guo Ziyi's vanguard had arrived at Gu Pass (that is, today's Niangzi Pass), but Jingxing Road was not easy to walk, and it would take at least two days to reach Tumen Pass. An Lushan's front army had already entered Hengzhou. Li Qing'an gave Ji Sheng the task of protecting Hengzhou, a strategic important place. He could only count on Guo Ziyi's army to come and rescue. Judging from the distance, Guo Ziyi's army could not catch up with An Lushan's vanguard. They were at least one day apart, so Zhending County must be defended for one day.

Although according to common sense, An Lushan's army would continue to attack Tumen Pass after conquering Zhending County, if the enemy ignored Zhending County and directly attacked Tumen Pass, if Guo Ziyi's reinforcements had not arrived at that time, the situation in Tumen Pass would be a bit dangerous.

But no matter what, Ji Sheng decided to bet this time.

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From early in the morning, the sky in Zhending County became gloomy and gloomy. By dusk, fine snow foam finally floated up in the sky. As night fell, the snow foam gradually turned into snowflakes and snow balls, becoming denser, falling from the sky one after another, and the earth became white.

The vanguard of An Lushan's army had arrived at Dingdong Town, twenty miles east of Zhending County. Hundreds of families in the town had all retreated into Zhending County, leaving only an empty dead town. The army drove to Dingdong Town. Because the snow was too heavy, Li Qincui had to order to temporarily station troops in Dingdong Town. Twenty thousand troops rushed into the town to seize the houses. They wanted women, food, cattle, sheep, chickens and birds, but they were extremely disappointed. The residents had run away, leaving only two elderly people, with no grains, and cattle, sheep, chickens and birds missing. Even the wells were mostly filled.

Li Qinchuang sat in the middle of the tent, dozens of personal soldiers around him were sanitation, full of murderous intent,

Li Qincuo was one of An Lushan's adopted sons. The twelve adopted sons were known as the Twelve Grandmasters, all of whom were brave generals in the Yan army. Li Qincuo took the lead and was one of An Lushan's most trusted confidant generals. This time, Shi Siming led a 100,000 army to attack Hedong, of which Shi Siming had 80,000 subordinates, and the other 20,000 were led by Li Qincuo. It was obvious that An Lushan did not fully trust Shi Siming and sent Li Qincuo to supervise him.

Several vicious soldiers brought two left-behind old men in. Unfortunately, the two old men's arms and ribs were broken and they were in a half-dead state.

The soldier threw the old man in front of Li Qincui, who said viciously: "Tell me quickly! Where have the people in the town gone?"

Li Qincuo is a mixed-race Hu Han boy. He is extremely burly and has a great strength. He uses a big sword on the door, known as the enemy of thousands of people. An Lushan makes him the pioneer, and he also wants to use his momentum to break through the way to Taiyuan.

Perhaps because of his excessive energy, Li Qincuo had one of the biggest characteristics, which was that he was extremely lustful. He had to control several women to fall asleep every night, and he had to be young women of good looks, and he could not be older than sixteen years old. Although Shi Siming had strict orders that he was not allowed to loot before taking over Hengzhou, Li Qincuo still indulged his subordinates, looted the villages and towns around the county town, and then killed them all. The woman was arrested into the big tent camp, which met the soldiers' requirements, and on the other hand, he also collected young women for him.

He ran for a day today and was already full of desire. He had already enjoyed it after stationing, but unexpectedly, all the people in the surrounding villages and towns ran away. The soldiers complained, and he was so angry that he gritted his teeth. At this time, he stared at the two old men like beasts, and the hilts in his hands were almost crushed by him.

An old man was already dying and could not speak, and the other man said weakly: "Mr. Jun, you have all hid in the city, Zhending County."

"What else? Are there anyone hiding nearby and not leaving?"

"No... there is someone."

"Damn it, drag these two old bastards out and chop them up."

Several soldiers picked up the two old men and went out. Li Qincuo was upset and paced back and forth in the tent with his hands behind his back. He could hardly help it. Shi Siming's task was to take Jingxing and then plunder him with his troops, but before he took Tumen Pass, he was strictly prohibited from entering the city. Shi Siming's intention was very clear. It was a matter of speed and he could take down the strategic location as soon as possible. However, thinking about the beautiful women of the rich families in Zhending County, his heart was full of desire and could not suppress himself. Damn, he must go to the county tonight to capture people, regardless of Shi Siming's order.

At this time, a report from a personal soldier suddenly came from outside the tent: "General, Hengzhou Prefect Yan Gaoqing and Chief Secretary Yuan Fuqian asked for a meeting."

Li Qincui was stunned. He thought he heard it wrong and asked again: "Who is it?"

"Hengzhou Prefect Yan Gaoqing and Chief Secretary Yuan Fuqian asked for a meeting!"

Li Qincuo was a little confused. The prefect of Yizhou was killed, the prefect of Dingzhou ran away, and the chief minister disappeared. In fact, the prefect of Hengzhou Yan Gaoqing came to surrender. Although he was just asking for a meeting, in Li Qincuo's view, there was no difference between asking for a meeting and surrender.

"Bring them in!"

After a moment, the soldiers led Yan Gaoqing and Yuan Fuqian into the tent. The two of them knelt down and said, "On behalf of hundreds of thousands of fellow villagers in Hengzhou, they welcomed the general of the Heavenly Army."

"Hmph! Welcome?"

Li Qincuo suddenly remembered that all the people in the town had run away, and couldn't help but snorted coldly, "There is no one left in Dingdong Town. Is this your welcome?"

"General Li didn't know that the people in Dingdong Town ran away not because of the arrival of the King of Yan's Heavenly Army, but because of other reasons."

“What’s the reason?”

"Oh!" Yan Gaoqing sighed and said, "This is all the fault of the regiment training."

Li Qincuo suddenly remembered that there were still a thousand regiments of troops in Zhending County, and asked quickly: "Where are these regiments training? Where did they go?"

"General, please listen to me in detail."

"Okay then! Get up, please sit down."

Li Qin's face calmed down a little. After all, he was the prefect of Yizhou and the chief minister, and his attitude was also very good. It was not a good thing to keep others kneeling down.

Yan Gaoqing and Yuan Fuqian stood up and sat down. Yan Gaoqing then said slowly: "The commander of Guoyi, the regiment training troops, was determined to resist and wanted to live and die with the city. I want to protect the people of the city and advised him not to use a mantis arm to chariot, but he refused to listen. In desperation, I had to kill him. A thousand regiment train troops were fleeing everywhere and robbed them all. The people around Zhending County were unbearable and fled into the city one after another. This is why General Li found that there was no one in Dingdong Town."

"Damn, these bastards!"

Li Qincun cursed hatefully, alerting the snake, making them have no oil to catch. He asked again: "You said Zhang Jiliang is dead, so where is his head!"

Yan Gaoqing winked at Yuan Fuqian. Yuan Fuqian took off the small bag on his back and put it on the small table to untie the bag. It was Zhang Jiliang's head.

Li Qinchuang met Zhang Jiliang. Seeing that it was indeed good, he couldn't help but laugh and said, "Okay! OK! I'll kill you well, I must reward you well."

Yan Gaoqing knelt down again and said, "Mr. Yan dares not ask for the general's reward. The heavenly army passes by, and all the people respect it. We hope that the general will arrive. Like a baby, I hope that the general can restrain the military discipline. I will definitely build a temple for the King of Yan and the general, so that the villagers can burn incense and worship the people all year round."

Li Qincup's compliments were very helpful. In fact, he also knew that these civil servants might not have surrendered sincerely, but they were all for the sake of protecting the people. He knew it. However, before he left, his adoptive father An Lushan also instructed him to try his best to make Yan Gaoqing surrender. Yan Gaoqing is a famous prefect in Hebei and has a great reputation. His surrender will undoubtedly play a good role in leading the way, causing all prefectures and counties in Hebei to surrender.

Li Qincun quickly helped Yan Gaoqing up and smiled and said, "Don't worry, Grandpa Yan, have you ever slaughtered the city along the way? Have you ever slaughtered the people? Rabbits don't eat grass by their nests!"

Yan Gaoqing breathed a sigh of relief, he stood up and smiled, "Thank you for your kindness. In addition, we have also heard that General Li has no worries and has specially prepared more than a hundred wealthy women, all of whom are good families, all of whom are young and beautiful, and admire the general, please enjoy it."

Li Qin gathered in joy, "Where are they? Have you brought them?"

Yan Gaoqing shook his head and smiled, "I originally wanted to bring it, but the snow was too heavy. These women were weak and could not bear it when they were walking on the snow at night. I had to temporarily place them in a restaurant outside the city. When the snow stopped tomorrow, I would send it to the general."

Li Qincun could not survive tonight. He wanted to order his personal soldiers to pick up the women, but he was worried that they could not stand the snowy night, which ruined his interest. At this time, a personal soldier hurried in and whispered in his ear: "I have found out clearly. The regiment training has indeed fled west, and there are no soldiers in Zhending County."

The strong desire made Li Qincuo no longer care about the possible danger. Besides, he was an enemy of thousands of people, and he really didn't take those regiment training to heart. His only worry was that the deputy general He Qiannian went to An Lushan to sue him for his evil case. He thought for a while and said, "Call Deputy General He."

He Qiannian was tall and thin. He was An Lushan's tenth grand escort, and his status was far inferior to Li Qincui. After a moment, he made great strides and bowed to him and said, "Please give me the order!"

"General He, please go to the same place with me."

Li Qin smiled and whispered to him a few words. He Qiannian was shocked and left the camp without authorization, but he was guilty. He quickly shook his head and said, "General, I won't go."

Li Qin leaned back and said, "Do you want me to go alone?"

He Qiannian knew that Li Qin was going to drag him into the water. If he didn't go, he had no choice but to respond: "Then let's go with the general! Let's try to rush back at dawn."

"We don't need to go back at the third day, isn't it just twenty miles away?"
Chapter completed!