Located among the mountains south of Shuozhou, this pass is built against the mountains and guards the throat of Daizhou entering the Datong Basin. The terrain is very dangerous.
At this time, smoke filled the air in front of the pass, corpses piled up like mountains, and the strong smell of blood and stench filled the entire valley.
Ten days ago, Shanxi Commander-in-Chief Zhou Yuji led more than 10,000 remnant troops to retreat from Daizhou City into Guanzhong.
The rebel army even felt desperate for a time, and Li Zicheng, the king of the rebels, even had the idea of turning eastward several times to join Liu Fangliang's troops of the South Route Army and then go north.
"Oh! I'm so angry!"
On the hilltop to the left of the valley entrance, a burly man wearing a bright yellow cloak and a sinister face looked at the army that was retreating again in the valley. He was so angry that he drew his sword and struck a tree nearby.
The tree trunk as thick as a bowl was cut directly in half, which shows how angry this man was.
And this person is Li Zicheng, the King of Chuang who has dominated the world for more than ten years.
"Prime Minister, military advisor, our army has been fighting proudly for ten days, with tens of thousands of dead and injured brothers, and still cannot break through. Do you have any good ideas to offer?"
"this…"
Facing the copper-like tiger eyes of King Chuang, the usually resourceful prime ministers Niu Jinxing and Song Xiance were helpless and did not know how to offer their advice.
It is true that Ningwuguan is too dangerous. Even if they have millions of troops, they cannot display it.
They can only attack in waves and choose to add fuel to the battle. There is no possibility of taking any tricks at all.
It was deplorable that the general guarding the gate, Zhou Yuji, refused to surrender, and always took the lead, motivating the soldiers and repelling their attacks time and time again.
It's really a hard nut to crack.
"Your Majesty, there is no need to worry. I took a closer look today and found that most of the Ming troops in Guan Guan were on defense with injuries. I guess after ten days of consumption, the troops were already stretched thin, and no reinforcements from the Ming troops arrived.
Without reinforcements, no matter how brave and skilled Zhou Yuji is in defending, a clever woman cannot make a meal without rice. As long as reinforcements do not arrive tonight, our army will only need to regroup tomorrow, select elite warriors who dare to fight, and take the lead, and we will definitely be able to break through the barrier in one fell swoop.
"
Li Yan, the military advisor on the side, stood up and said with a fist in his hand.
His face was full of confidence.
In my heart, I admired Zhou Yuji very much, but at the same time I lamented his foolish loyalty and the Ming court's collapse and incompetence. They did not send reinforcements for so many days.
"Oh? So that means Zhou Yuji is at the end of his game?"
"But the two towns of Datong and Xuanfu are close at hand, with hundreds of thousands of soldiers. Why doesn't Chongzhen send his troops to support them?"
Li Zicheng's eyes lit up at first, and then he frowned and stared at Li Yan.
"This... I guess it's because the imperial court has owed money and food to the officers and soldiers in the two towns for a long time, so it doesn't listen to the propaganda and refuses to rush to help."
This is something Li Yan still couldn't figure out, but in the end he had to find a reason to explain.
Li Zicheng, who was born in Yi Zhan, had a deep understanding of this and believed it without any doubt. He looked up to the sky and burst into laughter.
"Haha, it's because God is going to destroy Ming and let me, Lao Li, take his place!"
"Your Majesty has given you the decree from heaven, may you live forever!"
All the civil servants and military generals paid their respects one after another.
This made Li Zicheng feel very good and burst out laughing again.
"Haha, okay! Commander Hong, your troops will take the lead tomorrow. After breaking through the barrier, I will slaughter all the people in the barrier and skin and cramp Zhou Yuji to comfort my dead rebel brothers."
"The last general takes command!"
Among the military generals, a female general wearing a red cloak with a dash of heroic spirit stepped out of the queue and answered.
It made other generals jealous.
Niu Jinxing and Song Xiance looked at each other, but a hint of gloom flashed in their eyes.
at the same time.
The Ming army on Guancheng looked at the retreating rebel army, and their tense minds finally relaxed.
Each one of them sat helplessly on the top of the city, the weapons in their hands fell to the side, and they didn't want to move anymore.
A middle-aged general covered in blood, like everyone else, fell to the ground and gasped for air.
After a while, he climbed up with his sword in hand, looked up at the already dark sky, and then let out a heavy breath.
I know I got through it today.
"Report! Commander, Mr. Wu Qian is back."
"Oh, hurry up, let him come to see me immediately..."
The middle-aged general was the commander-in-chief of Shanxi Province. When Zhou Yuji heard this, he was overjoyed and immediately shouted towards the city.
Not long after, a military general came to Zhou Yuji, knelt down on the ground and cried loudly.
"Commander, the general is incompetent. Jiang Guan didn't even meet him, so he drove the general out, saying that without His Majesty's decree, he couldn't mobilize his troops!"
"Impossible, absolutely impossible. Before we retreated to Ningwuguan twelve days ago, I sent people to the capital to report to Your Majesty, strictly clarifying the importance of Ningwuguan and the intruders. Your Majesty could not care about it.
Don’t you want to make a decision?”
Zhou Yuji stumbled, and after regaining his balance, he roared loudly, with a look of despair on his face.
"Commander, are there no reinforcements coming?"
The soldiers on the top of the city also climbed up one by one, looking at Zhou Yuji with the same despair.
The reason why they persisted until now was that they were looking forward to the arrival of reinforcements. Who would have thought that day after day, they never saw a single soldier coming for reinforcements.
Zhou Yuji's eyes swept across the faces of the soldiers who had been fighting with him until now, and he felt a sense of sadness in his heart, and finally nodded silently.
He no longer wanted to lie to them.
After ten days of fighting, there were less than a thousand capable warriors, and all of them were injured.
The food supplies were also exhausted, and the instruments were severely damaged. It was almost impossible to find a knife without a curled edge.
It is extremely difficult to hold out until dusk today. Without reinforcements, it will be impossible to stop them tomorrow.
"Commander, brothers have tried their best, retreat!"
"Yes, Marshal, it's the imperial court that didn't send reinforcements, and it's Jiang Yu who refused to save him. No wonder the Marshal and his brothers."
"Retreat, Commander!"
Everyone knelt down and begged, and for a while the city was filled with cries.
"Brothers, I know you have tried your best. If you want to leave now, I, Zhou Yuji, will not stop you.
But I, Zhou Yuji, am deeply favored by the emperor and will never abandon the pass and run away. I vow to live and die with Ningwuguan and repay the favor of the country!"
When Zhou Yuji finished speaking, he raised his hands in the direction of Beijing with a decisive look on his face.
As the saying goes, a general has a will to die, but a man has no intention of stealing life.
Everyone looked at Zhou Yuji with tears in their eyes. Seeing his determination and unwillingness to give up, they finally gritted their teeth and bowed.
"The commander-in-chief wants to live and die with Guan, and we are willing to follow him to the death!"
"We are willing to follow the commander to the death."
"Okay! If a man is born in heaven and earth, why should he fear death?"
"I, Zhou Yuji, can have a group of brothers like you who will fight to the death, and I will have no regrets in this life!"
"It's a pity that I couldn't defend Ningwuguan for Your Majesty..."
"Commander, there is no need to blame yourself. So far, Commander-in-Chief and his brothers have killed no less than 100,000 thieves in the Ao Zhan War. Who among the generals of the Ming Dynasty can compare with Commander-in-Chief?"
"That's fine!"
"Brothers, let's have a good meal today. Once you have enough strength, you can follow me to meet the enemy tomorrow and fight to the death with the bandit army!"
Zhou Yuji clenched his fists and no longer thought about the situation that Ming Dynasty would face after the fall of Ningwuguan.
"Fight to the death!"
All the soldiers waved their weapons in succession.
