Chapter 868 Purgatory on Earth Ten Thousand Degrees of Sword Warmth (Part 1)
In September, the autumn colors are beautiful. On the land of Sanxiang, the mountains are undulating, with green, yellow, and red leaves scattered together. There are rivers passing through the mountains. Along the rivers are harvested farmland and small villages.
distributed among them.
Among the grass and trees in the mountains, people were gathering vaguely. In a ditch made of accumulated water and scattered gravel, nine figures were gathered together. The leader, Qu Qing, placed a few small stones on the ground simply.
Next to the earthy composition, the words are low.
"...The news has been confirmed. There are more than a thousand people chasing after them. There are also one or two thousand people who are fighting at the other side of Pingjiang. It seems that Liu Tiisheng and Yu Daya have already made their choice.
.We can escape west or south, but they are local snakes. Once we meet, we will be very passive, so we will kill Liu Tiisheng first and then leave."
"...Liu Chuisheng has more than a thousand people, with more than 60 fast horses in front. The leader is Wang Wujiang, who is said to be a fierce general. Two years ago, he led his men to defeat the bandits in King Lu's stronghold. He took the lead.
The soldiers were loyal to their lives, so his subordinates all obeyed him... Then this time it was almost the same as the old rules. When their team came from that side, the mountain road narrowed and could not be seen from behind. The front would be blocked first, and the artillery fired seven inches first. Li
Next, one of your platoons will attack the rear section first to build momentum, and Zuo Heng will be responsible for supporting..."
"... They are considered locals. There are more than a thousand people chasing our team of 200 people, but they have not lost touch. They are cautious enough... As soon as the battle begins, the back section of the mountain cannot be seen. Wang Wujiang has two choices, either to return reinforcements or to stop."
Come down and take a look. If he stays still, Li Ji and Zuo Heng, try your best to eat up the back section and push him forward. Once Wang Wujiang starts to move, we will attack. Zhuo Yongqing and I will lead the team.
Separate the cavalry and focus on taking care of Wang Wujiang."
"...The person in charge of the partition here, Yu Chen, is ready with grenades and crossbows. Anyone who rushes to rescue will be stunned..."
In his low and rapid voice, Qu Qing had already made arrangements for several squads. The platoon leader simply nodded and took the order to leave. Qu Qing raised his telescope and looked at the surrounding mountains while still talking in a low voice.
"...Wang Wujiang's purpose is to pursue, and the speed cannot be too slow. Although there will be scouts released, it is very possible to escape here. Even if they can't escape, Li Suwen and the others intercept them on the mountain. As long as they kill them on the spot, Wang Wujiang will not be able to react.
.Brother Zhuo, change your hat."
As he spoke, he took off the small baggage on his side and threw it aside. Zhuo Yongqing caught the baggage and threw the baggage on his side to Qu Qing. Each baggage contained a helmet.
At this moment, in the baggage in Qu Qing's hand, there is a cluster of long scarlet tassels on the top of the hat. This is the conspicuous symbol of Zhuo Yongqing's team since they left Chengdu. When it comes to negotiating with others, Zhuo Yongqing
Qing was wearing this high crown with red tassels and a blood-red cloak behind him. He told the outside world that it was the trophy from the murder of Lou Shi, and he was particularly arrogant.
When they were attacked or lured by enemies on the way, Zhuo Yongqing and Qu Qing took turns putting on their hats. In the nine months since they left Chengdu, their team had suffered many attacks and suffered a lot of attrition.
He was lucky enough to survive. At this time, Zhuo Yongqing still had unhealed injuries on his body.
He opened the baggage thrown by Qu Qing, put on the protective helmet, and shook his neck. After more than nine months of hardship, although there was a team secretly supporting and protecting them, at this time everyone in the team, including Zhuo
Everyone, including Yongqing, was already full of vicissitudes of life and overflowing with anger.
"That's fine, you can bring Wang Wujiang here and I'll fuck him with my own hands... Mother Liu Tiisheng looks like he's laughing and joking but then turns around and sends someone to come. Traitor, I remember..."
Before the enemy arrived, Qu Qing did not take out the red tasseled helmet. He just whispered: "In the previous two negotiations, the people who fell out on the spot died inexplicably. Liu Tiisheng guessed that there was someone ambushing us secretly.
We left, and the back-up man behind the scenes also left, and then he sent people to pursue him. The internal investigation and purge has probably begun... Don't look down on Wang Wujiang. This guy opened a martial arts school back then and was known as the best swordsman in northern Hunan. He was very skilled in martial arts and was very tough.
of."
"Oh..." Zhuo Yongqing thought for a while, "The first sword in northern Hunan, so domineering... How does it compare to Liu Dabiao back then? How does it compare to Mr. Ning..."
"Well, it's precisely because of the Ba Dao Village in Miao territory that no one in this green forest has dared to name it something like Huxiang No. 1 Dao for decades. But compared to Mr. Ning..." Qu Qing didn't know what he was thinking of.
, there was a complicated expression on his face for a moment, and then he reacted and said with certainty, "Well, of course it can't be compared."
"I knew it..." Zhuo Yongqing nodded confidently. The two of them hid in the ditch, with the bushes behind them covering them. After a while, the serious expression on Zhuo Yongqing's face collapsed. He couldn't bear it.
Zhu Huhu laughed, and Qu Qing laughed almost at the same time. The two laughed quietly for a while.
"I will tell Mr. Ning about this when I get back," Qu Qing said.
"Huhu..."
"...When the time comes, he will slap you in the face with the Ban Tian Seal, and let you know the consequences of teasing your superiors, that is, you will die like Lu Tuo..."
"Haha cough cough..."
Zhuo Yongqing finally couldn't bear it any longer. He hit his head on the dirt and held his stomach while shaking for a long time. The fact that Ning Yi in the Chinese army likes to pretend to be a martial arts master is only spread among a few people, and only senior personnel can understand it.
The strange "interesting stories about leaders" can appropriately reduce the pressure every time they are told to each other. In fact, Mr. Ning is now one of the best in the world. Qu Qingzhuo Yongqing made fun of these interesting stories, and his chest was filled with laughter.
There is also a sense of pride in it.
The afternoon sun gradually turned obliquely. On the road under the mountains, the pursuing troops stirred up dust and circled this way. In the front were the armed cavalry, in the middle, and in the rear were the infantry who had lost their shape slightly during the pursuit.
, the bushes on the mountain, the veterans of the Chinese army who have long been accustomed to various forms of combat can roughly understand the level of the opponent's quality at a glance.
Overcoming the blocking bushes, Qu Qing raised his right hand and silently bent his fingers.
three,
two,
one
…
The sound of artillery roared.
Zhuo Yongqing wiped his cheeks stained with loess, his eyes had completely calmed down, and he pressed the handle of the knife.
On the mountain road, there is a bloody light reaching into the sky
*****************
The northwest end of Dongting Lake, the suburb of Huarong County.
The mighty carriage passed through the mountain road, and the military camp was in sight. Liu Guangshi opened the curtain of the carriage and looked deeply at the flag of the Wu Dynasty floating in the military camp ahead.
Not long after, the convoy arrived at the military camp, and the generals who had been waiting for it came out and led Liu Guangshi and his party into the military camp tent. The general stationed here was named Nie Chao, with more than 40,000 elite soldiers under his command. Under Liu Guangshi's instruction, they occupied this place.
It has been more than two months.
Passing through Huarong and heading east, we entered the Dongting Lake area. At this time, Liu Guangshi led more than 300,000 troops and firmly occupied the area to the north of Dongting Lake. However, Yueyang and other places to the south of Dongting Lake were still contested by all parties.
Changsha to the south is currently occupied by Chen Fan. If the Jurchens don't come, I'm afraid no one will be able to drive them away.
Miaomiao Dongting Lake was the rear area operated by Liu Guangshi. Once the Wu Dynasty completely collapsed and the front line could not be defended, Liu Guangshi's army entered the lake area and defended it for a while. After the Nie Dynasty occupied Huarong, he invited Liu Guangshi to inspect it several times.
Liu Guangshi had been managing the front line, and it was only at this time that he finally finished all the preparations for facing Nianhan from the north and rushed over.
Withdrawing from Xiangfan to the south, he spread his army as far as possible to the north of Dongting Lake and used his greatest strength to preserve as much of the autumn harvest as possible. In the past few months, Liu Guangshi was running around, his hair was almost completely white, and his expression was dull.
He was a little tired. After raising the account, he had some words of encouragement to the generals under Nie Chao. After everyone retreated, Nie Chao took out the various accounts lists and handed them to Liu Guangshi for review. Liu Guangshi read them over under Nie Chao's gaze.
.
At a certain moment, he held his head and whispered: "Wen Kai, have you ever thought about what will happen next?"
Nie Chao spoke in an open voice. Hearing the commander's question, he cupped his hands and said, "We, the warriors, are just dying for our country."
"Yeah." Liu Guangshi nodded, "That's why you thought of taking people with you and killing him to Jiangning to rescue him."
Nie Chao was still holding his hands there, and was stunned at this moment. The atmosphere in the tent became solemn, and he lowered his head: "Commander Mingcha, how can I, a soldier of the Wu Dynasty, see the prince trapped in despair at this moment?"
, and do nothing to save him. Now that the commander already knows, it will be much easier to say..."
"Did you know that you will all die on the road?"
"I am not going forward alone, I am not going forward with an army, I am not the only one waiting to die on the road, as long as enough people die, we can save the prince... We were previously discouraged because... the people above were incompetent and the civil servants were in chaos.
Government, so the world has declined to this point. Now that a wise king like the prince has entered Jiangning and fought against the Jurchens for several months without giving up, how can we not die for it."
"Did you know that Rong Kuang, the staff member who persuaded you to send troops, has already surrendered to the Jurchens?"
Nie Chao was slightly stunned.
Liu Guangshi took out a stack of letters from his body and pushed them forward: "This is... the letters about his affair with the Jurchens, please read it."
"How is Rong Kuang? He said before that he was going home to say goodbye to his mother..." Nie Chao picked up the letter and opened it tremblingly.
"His farewell to his mother was false, but his contact with the Jurchens was true. When he was arrested, he resisted and was already dead," Liu Guangshi said, "but we found these letters."
"Rong Kuang and Mo Jiang have known each other since childhood. He wants to meet the Jurchens and does not need to go out. And since there is an exchange of letters, why would he go out and take risks under the pretext of visiting his mother?"
"It must be that he wants to settle down his family and also meet his contact person. General Nie, I have all the investigation documents and procedures here. I have brought them all just because I am afraid you won't believe me."
"Don't you know these things are not fake?"
"How could you doubt me so much?" The white-haired general looked at him.
Nie Chao looked back: "It's just because... what Rong Kuang said makes sense, the last general... wants to go to King Qin."
"Nonsense." Liu Guangshi said every word, "You have fallen into the Jurchens' scheme."
The tent became quiet, and the two generals looked at each other. After a while, Nie Chao held the letters with a sad expression on his eyes.
"Rong Mo will go... think about it."
Liu Guangshi nodded, and waited until Nie Chao retreated to the door before speaking: "General Nie, since I have come, I am not unprepared. No matter what you decide... please think twice."
"……yes."
Nie Chao slowly retreated.
The light in the big tent brightened for a while, then darkened again after the curtain was lowered. Liu Guangshi sat quietly, his eyes swaying, listening to the sounds outside. After a while, someone came in, and they were the accompanying staff.
"how's it going?"
"It seems... General Nie has not yet acted impulsively."
"That's good..." Liu Guangshi closed his eyes and breathed a long sigh of relief. He only heard the staff say: "As long as nothing happens today, it seems that General Nie will not launch. In half a month, the commander-in-chief will
He can be replaced..."
"well……"
Liu Guangshi's response to the staff was a heavy, tired sigh...
…
In the months since Zhou Yong fled to sea, there has been almost no peaceful place in the world.
Near Changsha and around the Dongting Lake area, conflicts and frictions, large and small, gradually broke out, just like water droplets dripping into boiling oil, and the oil pan continued to crackle and roll.
These frictions are not large-scale military conflicts, but the constant collision of the world's changing thoughts and different people's hearts, people who want to protect themselves, people who are at a loss, people who are brave and generous, people who go with the flow... Under the influence of various forces,
Under manipulation and win-over, they gradually began to express their stance, and countless small-scale fights began to break out.
Since July, the Huaxia Army's lobbyists have been in action, the Jurchens' lobbyists have been in action, Liu Guangshi's lobbyists have been in action, and people with the intention of spontaneously rising to the Wu Dynasty have been in action, around Changsha, from Tanzhou (later Liuyang)
To Pingjiang, to Miluo, to Xiangyin, to Linxiang, fighting between large and small forces has broken out countless times.
In mid-July, Rong Ji, the prefect of Pingjiang, was assassinated twice and was so frightened that he hung up his crown and left.
In late July, bandits from the rivers and mountains near Miluo attacked the county town in the name of reviving the Wu Dynasty. In Linxiang, more than 300 people from the so-called Mayi Society took to the streets with knives, forcing the government to declare their allegiance to Liu Guangshi. The army suppressed them in the city, and blood flowed into rivers of fighting.
.
In August, Xiangyin, where more than 7,000 Wu Dynasty defenders were stationed, declared their allegiance to the Jurchens under the lobbying of Jurchen spies and the former governor of Changsha, Niu Baoyuan. The resisters immediately rose up, and fighting continued in the city for two days, with less than half of the city being burned down.
,After that, the heads of the rebels were hung on the city wall.
Mid-August, late August... Similar conflicts continued. This was actually a fierce manifestation of everyone's hoarding and plundering of supplies before and after the autumn harvest. Although Chen Fan captured Changsha, the total number of Miao troops was originally small and could not hold on to the city.
Having reached the limit, several special operations teams withdrew from Jiangnan became active and seized a lot of victory materials. They also lobbied and won some forces to express goodwill towards the Chinese army.
However, in early September, the three surrendered Han troops originally stationed on Jiangnan West Road, totaling 140,000 people, began to move towards Changsha. The disputes between large and small forces near Changsha gradually subsided. Expressing a stance, or not expressing a stance, was in essence
The forces that surrendered to the Jurchens gradually increased.
…
As the sun sets, gun smoke fills the mountains, and the smell of blood spreads.
The fleeing soldiers scattered into the distance, or were driven across the fields, jumped into a nearby creek, and floated downstream. On the battlefield where corpses were scattered, soldiers reined in the fleeing horses, and some were counting the wounded.
He and the prisoners stabbed the tips of their spears off the horses that were dying from the shells.
Zhuo Yongqing, who was wearing software and a steel helmet, walked up the hillside with a human head in his hand. Qu Qing was sitting next to several corpses, with blood covering half of his body. The doctor accompanying him was bandaging the wound on his left side.
"Ah, it hurts so much..." He bared his teeth and hissed.
Zhuo Yongqing took off the red tasseled iron crown on his head: "It's better if he's not dead. I grabbed some horses and can carry you on his back."
"You have to go faster...what are you doing with the head?"
"The number one sword in northern Hunan, let me show it to you."
"Unlucky..." Qu Qing grinned, and then looked at the head, "Okay, don't carry it around. Although he is a green forest man, he used to be a heroic man. He did chivalry and helped his neighbors. In addition to
When he was a bandit, he was also a brave and heroic man. Before going to Liu to complain, Feng Zhen had inquired about the information. When the situation was at its most intense, he could consider fighting for this hero."
"That is to say, he brought more than a thousand people to chase him, and he might let us go." Zhuo Yongqing picked up the head and looked at each other.
"..." Qu Qing glanced at him, and then said, "It hurts so much."
Zhuo Yongqing's question naturally had no answer. In more than nine months and dozens of lives and deaths, they could not put their own safety on this small possibility. Zhuo Yongqing inserted the other party's head into the roadside
On the stick, when I came back, I saw Qu Qing on the ground calculating the situation nearby.
"Liu Chuisheng in Chongyang, Pingjiang in Daya, if the two sides are connected in series to join the Jurchens, this area will be connected, covering an area of more than a hundred miles, with tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians. Yu Daya, this guy, seems to be a reckless and heroic person, but at the end of the day
In order to do this kind of thing, he wants to use you as a proxy to gain a good reputation in front of the Jurchens..."
Zhuo Yongqing sat down: "When will Guo Baohuai and the others arrive?"
"Guo Baohuai has 50,000 people, Yu Gusheng has 40,000 people, and Li Touhe has more than 40,000 people. From three directions, Yu Gusheng arrived first. It is estimated that in five to seven days, they can reach Pingjiang area. The Han army alone is now ten
Forty thousand, plus those who are coming one after another, plus those who are surrendering one after another... On our side, there are only more than 15,000 people in Changsha, and we are a bunch of stragglers..."
Qu Qing drew a map on the soil, and when he reached this point, he looked back and saw that the small battlefield below had almost been cleared. The wounded on his side had basically been treated, but the traces of the iron-blooded killings and the scattered corpses would not be eliminated.
At this point in his words, for some reason, he almost laughed angrily at the disparity and hopeless situation he spoke of.
"His mother, how are we going to fight this battle..." Qu Qing found out the curse words commonly used within the General Staff.
Zhuo Yongqing also sighed: "Yes."
The two of them sighed there for a while. After a while, the team regrouped and prepared to leave. Qu Qing wiped off the pictures on the ground with his feet, and with Zhuo Yongqing's help, he got on the horse with difficulty.
"...There are still five to seven days left. Feng Zhen's side is probably trying to trick us. Yu Daya's beast is trying to trick us. Let's go around and see if we can find a way to kill him..."
"Listen to you."
"Think about it, when have you ever used your brain? Brother Zhuo, I noticed that you have become lazier and lazier since you came out. You were not like this when you were in Zhangcun..."
"Brother Qu, I trust you."
"...Forget it, next time you wear a red hat, that's fine. I won't compete with you. Anyway, even if your brain is blasted, it won't be a big loss to our Chinese army."
"Ha ha ha ha……"
The sun was setting on the horizon, and the team that had just experienced the fight turned towards the other side of the mountain road in silhouette. Zhuo Yongqing's already heroic and hearty laughter spread with the evening wind.
In mid-September, this was just one of the countless scenes of brutal fighting near Changsha. Soon after, the first batch of surrendered Han troops of up to 140,000 people would arrive here and launch a massacre against Chen Fan's army of only more than 10,000 people.
The first wave of offensive.
But not long after, the real first wave of offensive was launched by Chen Fan.