While Ashina Chongguang led his men to hunt down Ye Hu, Pei Min and others, who were separated from Fukang's soldiers, were also eyeing the Khitan's food routes.
After a day of investigation, Pei Min determined that their force of more than a thousand men was not enough to destroy the Khitan people's food routes. Therefore, they could only continue to harass, chase the enemy when they are tired, and run away after the enemy.
In two days, they burned the Khitan's 150 carts of grain.
The Khitan people suffered terribly from being harassed by this elusive Tang army. Every time they appeared at night, before their own people could react, the Tang army would rush in front of them. By the time the Khitan people mobilized their troops and rushed over, the Tang army had already finished setting fire.
He walked away and disappeared into the vast night.
But this is not the most important thing. A mere 150 carts of food are just a drop in the bucket for the 200,000 Khitan troops on the front line. There is no difference at all whether they have it or not.
However, among the Tang army, there was a guy who was particularly vicious. He could poison the corpses. When the Khitan people cleaned up the corpses, the poison would spread to the food and living people. After just one day, many of them were poisoned.
A few people coughed non-stop until they vomited blood.
The food was also visibly moldy and spoiled, giving off a foul odor and making it impossible to eat anymore.
The Khitan's grain inspector was completely desperate this time. This poison was spreading at an extremely terrifying speed. He looked at the long grain queue and knew that it wouldn't be long before this grain road would be completely paralyzed.
A few miles away from them, Pei Min and others once again escaped the Khitan people's search and were preparing for the next day.
"Peace of mind, thanks to your poison, we can cut off their food supply." Pei Min said, "Otherwise, I would really have a headache."
"It's useful." Li Xin'an sighed, "But if no one handles the corpse properly, I'm afraid it will cause a plague."
While talking, someone suddenly pointed into the distance and shouted:
"Look, it's on fire!"
Pei Min and Li Xin'an looked at each other and smiled knowingly.
"The Khitan people are very decisive. Burning the corpses and food is the best way." Li Xin'an said, "If this is the case, they will burn them as they go. By the time they reach the front line, the battle will be over."
Pei Min sighed deeply: "I'm really worried about Sanyu and the others. I don't know what the situation is like on the front line."
…
At dawn, countless horses gallop on the grassland.
Behind those few people were dozens of Khitan cavalry.
"General Zhang, we have lost our way and can't get out of here at all. Why not go back and fight with them!"
The horse in the front reined in the reins, turned around, and stared expressionlessly at the Khitan people who were chasing them.
"Shuai Pei, I am incompetent. My loyal friend cannot handle the things you have asked me to do."
"I am an eternal sinner..."
This person was none other than Zhang Zhongyou who was sent out by Pei Min to ask for help from the Central Route Army of the Tang Dynasty.
On that day, after he and his soldiers received the military order, they rushed to the Central Route Army station without stopping, traveling day and night. They could arrive in five or six days.
But they still underestimated the Khitan's marching speed. Less than a day after Zhang Zhongyou left the Chuanyang Army station, they encountered the Khitan's vanguard scouts.
After a fight, although Zhang Zhongyou successfully annihilated the enemy and led his troops to break out of the encirclement, the Khitan army also came over.
They pursued Zhang Zhongyou all the way. Zhang Zhongyou's 300 subordinates were also on the run for days, and only six of them were left now.
Zhang Zhongyou himself was also seriously injured.
Looking at the Khitan cavalry coming to cover up the attack, Zhang Zhongyou narrowed his eyes, firmly grasped the ax in his hand, and then softly uttered:
"You haven't married a wife yet, it's a shame."
He clamped the horse's belly with both hands, raised the ax in his hand high, and charged towards the Khitan people with a roar:
"kill!"
…
This food route of the Khitan people has
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With his economy broken, there was no point in continuing to harass him. Pei Min made a quick decision and returned!
He really couldn't let go of the Chengyang Army. Counting the days, if everything went well, Zhang Zhongyou should have arrived at the Central Army by this time, and reinforcements would arrive soon.
Now there is no need for Pei Min's small group of cavalry to do anything. The only thought in his mind now is to quickly return to the Chengyang Army.
The crowd galloped all the way south. In order to avoid running into the Khitan rear army, they deliberately took a detour from the east side to the front line.
After a day and night of traveling, everyone was tired and their horses were exhausted, so everyone dismounted to rest. Li Xin'an was still worried about Murong Bai and the three people, so he was frowning all the way, and he wanted to return to the front line as soon as possible.
After simple repairs, everyone was about to rush on their way when the scouts sent out to investigate the situation came flying to report:
"Reporting to Commander Pei, there are people fighting with the Khitans ahead, and the situation is dangerous!"
Pei Min was shocked: "There are also Khitans here? Who are they? Which unit of the Tang army are they from?"
"This has never been discovered."
"Approximately how many Khitans are there?"
"About fifty."
Pei Min nodded and ordered: "Go and rescue people quickly. They may be scouts of the Central Army. We must not let anything happen to them."
Everyone mounted their horses again, Xu Yanqiu led a hundred people to rescue people first, and Pei Min led the rear army to catch up.
The place the scouts found was not far from them, only two miles away. By the time Xu Yanqiu led his people to rush there, the battle was already over.
But Xu Yanqiu saw a scene that made him jealous:
Several corpses of Tang soldiers were lying on the grass, and some Khitan cavalry were riding horses and jumping up and down on these corpses, laughing happily.
More Khitan people formed a circle, and in the middle of the circle was a Tang army general.
The man's limbs and neck were tied with ropes, and the other end of the rope was tied to the tail of the Khitan horse. It seemed that the Tang army general was to be quartered alive.
Xu Yanqiu was too far away to see the man's face clearly, but he could see the fallen ax on the grass next to the corpses of the Tang soldiers.
Xu Yanqiu has been looking at that ax for five years.
Fear continued to spread in Xu Yanqiu's heart, his lips trembled, and there was no color on his face.
"Fifth brother!"
Xu Yanqiu rushed down the hillside in grief and anger, roaring loudly, and charged towards the Khitan people.
Suddenly an uninvited guest appeared. These Khitan people who were still happy to torture Zhang Zhongyou had no time to react before they were killed by Xu Yanqiu.
Xu Yanqiu's eyes were completely red, and the silver spear shot left and right. Wherever it passed, the Khitan people fell off their horses one after another.
He rushed to Zhang Zhongyou, broke the rope that tied his neck, jumped off the horse, and hugged Zhang Zhongyou.
Tears welled up in Xu Yanqiu's eyes, and she cried loudly: "Fifth brother, please open your eyes and look at me. I am Yanqiu..."
The Tang army who followed him wiped out all the Khitans. Xu Yanqiu carefully placed Zhang Zhongyou on the ground and held him in his arms, helpless and helpless, like a child.
"Fifth brother, how could you become like this... Shouldn't you go find reinforcements..."
Pei Min and others finally arrived. When he saw Zhang Zhongyou's face clearly, Pei Min's eyes widened in shock, his body trembled violently, and then a mouthful of blood surged up. Pei Min screamed in pain, and his hands
If you close your eyes tightly, you will fall off the horse.
Fortunately, Li Xin'an had quick eyes and quick hands and hugged the master quickly.
"Zhongyou..." Pei Min got off his horse and walked to Zhang Zhongyou like an old man in his dying years, stroking his blood-stained cheek.
"Pei Shuai, look at Fifth Brother, he is still alive and has a heartbeat, why doesn't he wake up?" Xu Yanqiu cried.
Pei Min turned to look at Li Xin'an, who shook his head heavily.
Zhang Zhongyou was injured
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It was extremely serious, with two penetrating wounds to the lower abdomen, a brutal stab wound to the left rib, and the chest had collapsed due to being trampled by horse hooves.
He could no longer survive, and all he could do was to hang him in one breath.
Li Xin'an fumbled for a small medicine bottle from her arms, poured out a black pill, and handed it to Pei Min:
"This can help Brother Zhang wake up temporarily... and bring him back to his senses!"
Li Xin'an turned his head away unbearably, tears welling up in his eyes.
Pei Min silently took the pill and stuffed it into Zhang Zhongyou's mouth.
After a while, Zhang Zhongyou let out a heavy breathing sound from his throat, as if thick phlegm and blood clots were blocking his throat. Zhang Zhongyou's collapsed chest began to rise and fall again, and slowly, his face began to turn red.
.
"Fifth Brother!" Xu Yanqiu shouted excitedly, as if grasping a life-saving straw, "Can you hear me, Fifth Brother, I am Yanqiu!"
Zhang Zhongyou's lips moved slightly and he weakly uttered a few words:
"What's the noise...I can hear your voice from so far away..."
Xu Yanqiu bit her lip tightly, tears streaming down her face: "I won't make any noise anymore. Fifth brother, you like peace and quiet. I won't make any noise anymore."
"This...is pretty much..."
Zhang Zhongyou lifted his lips and seemed to be smiling:
"Pei Shuai..."
"Zhongyou, I'm here." Pei Min quickly shook the nervous Zhongyou's hand.
"The mark is incompetent...the Khitan people discovered their whereabouts..."
"Stop talking, Zhongyou. You will be fine. Take good care of yourself. I will send someone to find a doctor for you right away."
"It's useless...I know...I can't survive..."
Zhang Zhongyou said: "Pei Shuai... From here to the east, there will be no Khitan scouts anymore... You let Yanqiu ride a fast horse... Go and ask for help quickly, leave me alone..."
"I won't leave!" Xu Yanqiu shook his head and said, "Fifth brother, I want to avenge you!"
"Be obedient..." Zhang Zhongyou said, "If you bring back the reinforcements... you will avenge me... the thousands of Tang army brothers..."
Pei Min patted Xu Yanqiu's hand: "My loyal friend is right, Yanqiu, this matter belongs to you."
"Listen to Pei Shuai...don't let me die in peace!"
Xu Yanqiu felt that the life of the person in his arms was passing away, but there was nothing he could do. Even though he was unwilling to do so, he had no choice but to agree to Zhang Zhongyou's request.
"Shuai Pei... I have been fighting with you for more than ten years. I will serve the country for the rest of my life. I have no regrets..." Zhang Zhongyou smiled happily, "Zhongyou... I have one more request."
"you say."
"I have a younger brother, my biological brother... named... Zhang Xun, who works as a bookkeeper in Xunyang. Over the years... I have saved several hundred taels of silver, which I put under my bed... please Pei Shuai, please put it in
Give this money to my brother... That boy is almost thirty... He hasn't married yet, so let him quickly find a woman to marry... Don't let our old Zhang family... be extinct..."
"I will definitely do it!" Pei Min burst into tears.
"After I die... I'll bury it here... Yanqiu, tell eldest brother and the others... I killed thirty-five Khitan wolf cubs today... combined, it's more than my second brother... Hehe..."
Xu Yanqiu was crying so much that she couldn't speak. She just nodded desperately.
"Master Li, I know you are here too..."
Li Xin'an wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes and said, "Brother Zhang, I'm here."
"...Thank you for your medicine...I can still talk so much...I have no regrets...Everyone..."
"Loyal friend...let's go——"
Zhang Zhongyou's voice stopped suddenly, and his life finally settled on the grasslands of Khitan at the age of thirty-five.
"Fifth brother!"
Xu Yanqiu cried heartbreakingly, but the people in her arms could no longer hear her.