As night gradually fell, five thousand soldiers retreated to the middle of the valley. There was a pine forest in the valley. The soldiers cut down many pine trees and burned piles of bonfires. The soldiers worriedly sat by the bonfires, eating dry food and drinking water in small sips.
There is no water source in the valley, so we can only drink the water in the kettle. There is only one day of dry food left, and it is estimated that the water and food will be cut off tomorrow night.
But the Ren brothers had no time to take care of these problems. They buried their father's head in the valley. They knelt in front of the grave and cried bitterly. When their father died, the two of them completely lost their backbone and didn't know what to do.
Several commanders found Yan Xiang. Yan Xiang was Ren Jian's deputy general. He was the oldest, nearly forty years old, and had seniority in the army. He was from Qinghe County, Beizhou, Hebei Province, and was the capital of the Song Army at first.
He followed the army and surrendered to the Jin soldiers, and later transferred to the puppet Qi army, was promoted to commander, followed the army into Guanzhong, and was finally sent to garrison in Huangzhou.
But he was not respected by Ren De. On the contrary, his two subordinates, Xue Xiaoping and Li Fei, were respected by Ren De. They were recruited as sons-in-law and promoted to commanders. Yan Xiang was still a small commander.
This matter was handled very unfairly, and Yan Xiang has always been dissatisfied.
"General Yan, the situation is not good. Some brothers have run out of dry food, and some have run out of water. It is impossible for everyone to be trapped here!"
Another commander also said: "Ren Dejing is dead, but he still owes us three months' military salary!"
"Old Wu is right. Ren Dejing is dead. General Yan, should we look for another way forward?"
The generals were all talking, and everyone's eyes were full of expectation.
Yan Xiang sighed, "Just tell me! Do you want to surrender to the Song Army?"
"General Yan, we were originally the Song Army, but we just took the wrong path. We should be called the Return of the Song Army!"
"The key is that those two bastards are in the way. Why don't we capture them and let the Song Army deal with them?"
"General Yan, they are neither poisonous nor husbands, please kill them!"
Yan Xiang said impatiently: "What are we talking about now? When we finally run out of food and water, you come to me again and we will find a solution together."
Yan Xiang pretended to be unhappy and sent the generals back.
After everyone had gone away, he said to a confidant: "Go and find Guo Huai!"
Not long after, a soldier hurried over, came to Yan Xiang's side and said, "General, are you looking for me?"
This soldier is called Guo Huai, one of Ren Jian's soldiers, but he and Yan Xiang are from the same hometown and village, and they are related. Guo Huai's uncle is Yan Xiang's cousin, and Guo Huai is actually Yan Xiang.
He was brought to Hehuang, but Guo Huai played Cuju very well, so he was accepted as a personal soldier by Ren Jian, who was obsessed with Cuju.
But Ren Jian didn't know that Yan Xiang and Guo Huai had this relationship.
"Sit down, I have something to say to you!"
Guo Huai sat down next to Yan Xiang, and Yan Xiang said: "The situation is not good. Many soldiers have been cut off from dry food and water. There will definitely be trouble tomorrow morning."
"Just now the eldest son also said that if food is cut off, his horses will be killed to satisfy hunger."
"It's ridiculous. There are 5,000 men in the whole army, and there are only 20 horses in total. Even if we kill them all, there won't be enough food."
"Then what does the general say we should do?"
"I have an idea."
Yan Xiang whispered a few words to him, and then said: "If this matter is done well, I promise to bring your family to Huangzhou soon."
Guo Huai nodded, "General, don't worry, I don't want to die, I will do it!"
At the fourth watch, Guo Huai woke up Ren Jian and said in a low voice: "A brother was cutting firewood and found a path that led through the mountain!"
Ren Jian's eyes lit up and he said in surprise: "Really?"
Guo Huai hissed, "This matter is top secret. Don't let other soldiers know, otherwise they won't be able to escape."
Ren Jian quickly woke up his brother Ren Hong, who was sleeping next to him, and told him the news about Xiaolu. Ren Hong was overjoyed. The two brothers discussed quietly for a while. They could escape to Bianjing, but it was best not to take anyone with them to avoid being overcrowded.
Discover.
The two of them took two hundred taels of gold with them, and each packed a bag of fine jewelry, and quietly left with Guo Huai in the dark of night.
Guo Huai led the two brothers into the pine forest, pointed to the front and said: "There is a canyon in front of you. If you go to the end, you can climb up the mountain. After climbing over the mountain, you can go down the mountain directly."
Ren Jian and Ren Hong exchanged glances. Ren Jian slowly pulled out his dagger and planned to kill Guo Huai when they reached the canyon. No one would know that they had left.
After turning a corner, Guo Huai suddenly disappeared. Ren Jian and Ren Hong were both stunned. At this moment, a large net fell from the sky and covered the two brothers.
The big net dragged the two of them to the ground, and Ren Jian was so angry that he yelled: "Who did this, get out of here!"
Yan Xiang walked out slowly, and Ren Jian's eyes widened, "Why is it you? What do you want to do?"
Yan Xiang said coldly: "I feel sorry for you two. In order for everyone to survive, I have to temporarily borrow your heads!"
The two brothers understood immediately and were so frightened that they begged for mercy, "General Yan, spare your life!"
Yan Xiang waved his hand, and dozens of spears stabbed the two brothers together. They both screamed and died immediately.
Yan Xiang did not want to bear the reputation of being a regicide, so he refused to agree to the generals' request in person, but secretly deceived the two brothers and executed them.
Yan Xiang buried the bodies of the two brothers, and each of his men was rewarded with a piece of gold and jewelry. The rest of the property belonged to him, and he took everyone back without anyone noticing.
Before leaving, Yan Xiang secretly told Guo Huai a few words, gave him a letter and the heads of the Ren brothers, and Guo Huai hurriedly disappeared into the night.
At the mouth of the valley, the fire was still burning, and Guo Huai slowly approached the blazing fire.
The Song army left a foot-wide opening. Although the flames were stagnant, they could still get through the fire as long as they put on wet bedding that had been watered.
Guo Huai shouted: "I was ordered to deliver the letter, please let me pass!"
Not long after, a wet quilt was thrown over.
Guo Huai put on his wet quilt and rushed across the fire, but was immediately held up by dozens of spears.
Guo Huai took out the letter and the head package and said: "I am here to deliver a letter and want to see your general!"
A burly general came over and said, "I am General Liu Cui. What letter do you want to send?"
At dawn the next day, the army suddenly discovered that the two Ren brothers had disappeared and their belongings had been taken away by them. Needless to say, they must have escaped during the night. The soldiers were immediately furious and cursed together.
Yan Xiang jumped on a big rock and shouted: "Brothers, please be quiet!"
"Everyone, be quiet and listen to General Yan!"
Yan Xiang had a high prestige, and with the help of other generals, the soldiers in the army became quiet.
"Now the situation is very dangerous. Many brothers have no food or water. The Ren brothers had no choice but to escape overnight. But no matter what, we have to survive. We still have our parents, wives and children, so I decided to return to the Song Army and am willing to follow me.
Return to the Song Army, please raise your right arm!"
All 5,000 people raised their right arms. Only by surrendering can you live. If you don't surrender, you will die. This is the general trend. No one is willing to go against the general trend. Even dozens of soldiers of the Ren brothers want to live.
"Okay! Everyone, put down your weapons, take off your armor, and follow me outside!"
Five thousand soldiers put down their weapons, took off their armor, and followed Yan Xiang toward the entrance of the valley.
The fire has been pulled away, revealing a thirty-foot-wide passage that you can walk directly through.
Thousands of Song Army cavalry were waiting in formation. Liu Cui looked at the thousands of soldiers who took off their armor and came with bare hands, and a smile appeared on his face.
Du Tong was indeed right. As long as Ren Dejing's head was thrown away, these soldiers would no longer fight for the Ren family.
Yan Xiang walked forward with his soldiers. He knelt down on one knee, clasped his fists and said, "Yan Xiang is willing to return to the Song Army and serve the Song Dynasty!"
Liu Cui smiled slightly and said: "The general saved the lives of five thousand soldiers. I believe that Dutong will continue to reuse the general!"
Yan Xiang was moved and said: "Thank you General Liu for your tolerance and accepting our surrender."
"I would also like to thank General Yan for saving me the pain of traveling to Kuozhou and Hezhou."
At this time, Liu Qiong rushed forward and said: "The surrendered soldiers came over in two teams and went to have breakfast first!"
Thirty percent of the soldiers here had no water or food last night and were already dizzy with hunger. When they heard about breakfast, everyone cheered up and lined up in two lines to go to the front to eat.
After resting for an hour, Liu Cui led the army back to Huangzhou City.