After settling in Qishan, the Shu army was not in a hurry to leave. Their journey was too arduous, and according to Jia Xu's judgment, it was estimated that it would take at least seven days for the Westerners in Xiangwu in Jincheng from receiving the news to recruiting troops, so
They were not in a hurry, and after resting in the mountain fort for three days, they were ready to leave.
When the city was abandoned, Zhang Liao stood in the front line and looked back at the mountain fortress. He said with emotion: "It is a pity to abandon such a huge defense in the world." Mountain fortresses in the world are mostly fortresses built on dangerous cliffs. Although they are steep, they are not insignificant.
There are no flaws. Qishan Fort is completely different. This is due to the unique terrain of Qishan Mountain. It rises from the ground. Although it is not towering, the base of the mountain is round and perfect. After a little construction, it becomes a natural castle.
Fortress. Zhang Liao himself judged that even if a hundred thousand people attacked the city here, they would probably waste time.
The emperor led the horse out. When he heard Zhang Liao's words, he said: "General, if you can enter Qishan today, you will be able to do so in the future." Dong Zhao smiled and nodded. He thought that the northward journey was successfully completed. Not only did he welcome back from Chang'an,
The emperor has four thousand elite soldiers from Qishan in his hands. He has done great service to the country and himself, so he is extremely happy.
The group of people just walked along the Qishan Road to Yangpingguan. Although the Qishan Road is the longest, the terrain is the flattest and most convenient. Dong Zhao estimated that the 400-mile journey would take about four days. Unexpectedly, on the day of going south, suddenly
The wind and thunder were strong all night long, and the strong wind blew sand and rocks among the trees, making a rustling sound. The thunder was as continuous as the entire Qinling Mountains bursting, making the people of Shu tinnitous and dizzy, which was extremely rare in Longshang. p>
People suddenly remembered that in February Yiji, there was a sudden solar eclipse in the sky, which could be seen everywhere. A solar eclipse was a sign of disaster, but nothing unusual happened everywhere. Chen Chong didn't like to talk about it, so he put it aside.
It came down. But there is a folk legend that a solar eclipse coincides with the fall of a giant star, and the real dragon is about to die! It spread quickly, although as time passed, everyone gradually forgot about it. But at this time, I saw the sky full of thunder on the Qishan Road.
, people in Shu couldn't help but remember this matter. All these signs indicate that the so-called Gengyin Year of the Tiger is not like an ordinary year.
But as a result, their marching speed naturally slowed down. On the evening of the third day, the Shu people's vanguard just arrived at Xianglu Cliff, which was still more than thirty miles away from the mouth of the Jialing River and two hundred miles away from Yangping Pass.
During the journey, they rested in the shade under the cliff that night. Only the Emperor, Dong Zhao and a few others set up tents.
At dawn the next day, when it was still dark, the palace attendants woke up the emperor who had not yet risen and said: "Your Majesty, Dong Shijun said that there is a military report!"
The emperor was still sleepy, but after hearing this, he reluctantly put on his clothes and got up. As he was getting dressed, he thought: "I have been with the army for the past few days, and Dong Zhao has never reported any military information to me. Why did he come to me today? Could it be that he is from Hanzhong?"
The Shu army has come to pick me up?"
It was not bright yet. When the emperor came out, he found that Dong Zhao was not the only one. Jia Xu, Zhang Liao and others were all there. Dong Zhao bowed his hands when they met, then approached and whispered: "Your Majesty, the front team arrived at the mouth of Jialing River and found something like
There is a traitor flag activity."
The emperor was shocked and immediately asked: "How many people are there, can they survive?" Dong Zhao did not answer, but Zhang Liao on the side said: "We are still investigating, and we will be rewarded soon." The emperor knew that Zhang Liao could not lie.
But looking at his worried look, we knew that there were not a few enemy troops. He was speechless for a moment, so he went back to visit Concubine Dong Guifei and his wife and children.
About two-quarters of an hour later, Wu Ban reported back that not only the Jialing River estuary, but also the 20-mile mountain road from the Jiangkou to Qiumu Bay were full of red ocher red flags from the imperial court.
Forty thousand people! This news shocked everyone present. The Shu Road was rough and difficult, and they took the Qishan Road unexpectedly. How could the imperial court send such a large army to stop them?
It was Jia Xu who told the most likely scenario. He said with a gloomy face: "There are experts in the imperial court! He probably knows that we can't go through Tangluo, Baoxie, Ziwu and other roads to enter Hanzhong, and Qishan is surrounded by Qishan.
It's too late, so we might as well go in the opposite direction, march deep from Chencang to this point, and block it in front of Yangping Pass. We will have no way out."
Dong Zhao held the tree with his hand and did not move for a long time. He thought that the work was done, but unexpectedly something went wrong here. What should he do? There is only one mountain road, and if he goes to other wilderness areas, he will not say whether he can succeed.
, once discovered by the Western Dynasty, he would be in a desperate situation. Do you want to kill him with force? This mountain road can only be blocked by one man, but no one can open it. How can there be any reason to win?
After a long while, he asked: "Have you seen the enemy flag clearly? Who is leading the troops?"
"There is a handsome flag from Xifu! Duan Yan must be here!"
Dong Zhao laughed miserably and said, "Tell your Majesty about this!" When Liu Xie came out of the tent again, he saw that everyone was silent, but he did not look frustrated. Instead, he asked, "What can we do now?
”
"There is only one way!" Zhang Liao pressed the hilt of his sword and stepped forward and said: "You all lead the army back to the Qishan Fort to defend it. I will take a few riders along the trail to Hanzhong to ask for help. Zhang Lu still has 30,000 soldiers in Hanzhong. It will only take more than a month.
If we fight based on the city, we will be able to defeat the enemy and win!"
This was the only way, and no one had any objections. After Zhang Liao led several cavalry into the jungle, the others began to direct the soldiers to turn around and return, but Liu Xie had a premonition in his heart that he would never be able to enter Hanzhong. People around him
His wife and children obviously felt the same way, so they sobbed faintly on the road, but he showed a calm face and tried his best to calm everyone's emotions. He turned to the back and said: "Don't worry, Mr. Jia next to me is a famous person in the world and a famous person in the world."
A famous general, with his command, nothing will happen to you."
When the army turned back, the Western Army at Jiangkou also noticed it and immediately sent the front team to follow the Shu Army. Everyone was originally worried that Duan Xunhui would pursue him immediately and affect the speed of the Shu Army's return. However, contrary to their expectations, the Han Army's
The main force always maintained a distance of twenty miles from them. Even the scouts from the front team immediately retreated at the first sign of confrontation, and then continued to follow them depending on the situation.
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On the way back, there were still constant wind and thunder, and silent raindrops began to fall in the haze, and then slowly increased in intensity. When the Shu people returned to Qishan Mountain in the rain, the sky and the earth were filled with torrents of mud. Even if they had raincoats to protect them from the rain, everyone was still wet.
It was so transparent that they felt chilled all over.
After hurriedly entering the fort, the emperor was exhausted. After scrubbing himself, he quickly fell asleep on the couch with his clothes on. Dong Zhao and Jia Xu discussed whether to kill the Han soldiers who had surrendered before. After all,
If you want to defend the city, these are extremely uneasy factors.
The emperor slept until dusk when he suddenly woke up and said, "Where is Mr. Jia? Let him come to see me."
Unexpectedly, when he turned around, he saw Jia Xu standing by the door, smiling at him and saying, "Has your Majesty changed your mind?" The emperor said, "I won't leave, but I hope you, sir, can help me send Qi'er away." Jia Xu sighed.
He took a breath and said to the emperor: "Your Majesty, don't worry, I have discussed it with the queen and sent her away two hours ago."
Liu Xie breathed a sigh of relief and said to himself: "Okay, it's good if he leaves." At this time, he walked to the door and found that the rain had stopped, and a ray of golden sunshine came into his eyes. The sun had already set in the west.
On the top of the mountain, the last golden light shines. The countless green mountains on the left and right are bathed in a warm and harmonious atmosphere, with no profit or competition, waiting for the fall of the night.
He saw the setting sun slowly sinking into the top of the mountain, leaving only an afterglow reflecting on the clouds in the west. Finally, even the afterglow became darker and darker, the sky turned blue-black, and the top of the mountain became vague and white.
The clouds were blowing, and the western sky revealed a faint starlight. In the night surrounding Qishan Fort, two fire dragons, one south and one north, gradually appeared in the river valley. The firelight reflected the flag, and you could see Duan Xuan's Tengu flag in the south.
, and to the north is a brand new military flag with the blue sky black bird flag painted on it. I don’t know who the commander of this army is.
But the question was soon answered. More than ten knights rushed from the northern army straight to Qishan Castle, and shouted to the city at the edge of the arrow range: "The crown prince is here, and the generals in the city will come out to answer!"
It turned out to be Liu Xie! How come he came so fast? Could it be that all the arrangements for the siege were made by him? Liu Xie was taken aback. Before he could think about it carefully, he heard the people in the city shout loudly: "Sichuan thief! Hurry up!"
Your Majesty, please return it! Otherwise, don’t blame me for being so heartless!”
When Liu Xie heard this, he simply stood in the most conspicuous position of the city tower and shouted at the bottom: "Why bother talking! I will just sit in the city and see who of you can be made a marquis!"
When the knights in the city heard this, they immediately laughed and said: "Your Majesty is joking." Then they immediately returned to the army to report to Liu Xie. The generals of the Xifu Army were also beside him, waiting for him to express his position.
Liu Xie touched his brows, turned to Duan Xuan and said, "May I ask the governor, do you know how much food and grass is left in the fort?"
"As a rule, the city usually has enough grain to last four months. The last grain adjustment was at the end of April, more than a month ago. There are about 9,000 people in the city, so it should be enough for one month." Duan Xu replied.
"One month?" Liu Xie put down his hand and turned to Duan Xuan with a smile: "Then we will wait here for three months to see if the emperor can change his mind. I will leave Governor Duan to worry about everything here."
After finishing speaking, Duan Yan heard the connection and his face darkened, but he still lowered his head and responded: "Please rest assured, Prince, even if it is a sparrow, I will not let it fly into Qishan Mountain!"
That night, the Xifu Army began to set up a siege camp around Qishan Fort, and then dug a trench around the city and introduced the Western Han River into the middle. Although they did not attack the city, the siege could be said to be impenetrable. But what puzzled the soldiers was that , there is only one month of food in the city, but why did Prince Dai send a military order to stay here for three months? The generals who are familiar with history books understood that Prince Dai planned to imitate Li Dui's siege of sand dunes and starve the emperor alive. Died in the mountain fortress.