Cangshan is like the sea, and the morning sun is like blood!
Black smoke enveloped the city and blocked the sky.
There are severed limbs, broken bodies, intestines, internal organs, and charred corpses all over the mountains and fields... The blood flows into streams, soaking the earth, and then seeps into the soil bit by bit. The air is filled with hair everywhere, and the flesh is burnt.
The taste...
Da Xi was riding on the horse, holding the reins with one hand and covering his mouth and nose with a silk scarf with the other hand.
He asked himself that he had experienced many battles, but this was the first time he had seen such a tragic battlefield.
Since ancient times, all battles involving more than 10,000 people will end in defeat nine times out of ten. Those who have suffered 30% of their losses but are not defeated and still have fighting strength can be called a strong army.
If the battle damage has reached 40% and it is still not defeated, then it is the Iron Army.
Since the Qin Dynasty, the number of battles that have not been defeated in more than five capitals can be counted with a slap of the hand...
If the beating could really reach that level, it would not be described as 'extremely brutal', but rather 'horrible'...
And what about today?
It was estimated that the rebels numbered 50,000 to 60,000, but the number of prisoners was less than a thousand, and the rest were all killed in battle?
Unprecedented...
Da Xi asked himself, if today's battle had relied solely on Li Yun's Qizhou soldiers, they would have been defeated long ago.
And it doesn’t matter who else is in charge, including Xi Kangsheng.
So Da Xi admired Li Chengzhi from the bottom of his heart: How could he turn the tide with only more than 2,000 auxiliary troops?
It can be seen that the four battalions of soldiers under Li Chengzhi who were killed in the sea of fire because they mistakenly fell into the enemy's plan must be so capable.
Looking at Li Chengzhi standing still in the distance, seemingly in silence, Da Xi sighed secretly: What a pity...
Silence for the bird egg!
Although traces of white armor can be vaguely seen, others don’t know it clearly, and Li Chengzhi still doesn’t know it?
These corpses are all disguised by rebels!
Li Chengzhi was observing the traces, and imagined that if Xi Kang became suspicious and came to see if the white-armored soldier was really burned to death, he would see any flaws.
But right now, it doesn’t seem to be a big problem.
Every corpse was burned like firewood. Not to mention the age and appearance, even if you want to identify the male and female, it will take a while.
After confirming that nothing was missing, Li Chengzhi breathed a sigh of relief.
Now, it depends on the abilities of Li Song, Li Liang, Huangfu Rang and others.
What Li Chengzhi explained was that if he could not sneak out of Xiaoguan or cross Longshan, he should escape into the mountains for the time being.
If they can get out of Longshan, they will continue to flee northwest. After reaching the west of Zhangye, they will then follow the weak water to the north and make plans to Juyanze in later generations, which is now the West Sea.
Although this place was nominally the territory and border of the Wei Dynasty, it had long been invaded by Xiongnu nomadic tribes such as Shule and Lushuihu, and the imperial court had long been beyond its reach.
But for Li Chengzhi, it was like a pie falling from the sky. He did not believe that with four thousand white-armored soldiers, one thousand iron cavalry, and five hundred iron carriages, Li Song and others could not occupy enough space.
A base area for thousands of people?
The reason why he chose this place was Li Chengzhi's careful consideration: The West Sea is also called Juyan Sea. It is called the sea because it has a lot of water. It is extremely convenient for farming and grazing, and it can also grow rice.
Secondly, it is extremely rich in minerals.
There is salt, nitrate, and a rich iron mine. More than a hundred miles to the south, in the Qilian Mountains, there is coal, copper, gold, and silver.
If you are more wild-minded, three hundred miles to the southwest is Jingtie Mountain, where you can dig out as much iron ore and sulfur as you need.
The reason why Li Chengzhi is so familiar with Xihai is because this is his hometown in his previous life...
After thinking for a while, Li Chengzhi asked the white-armored soldiers to start cleaning the battlefield.
In fact, there is nothing to clean, the most that can be done is to take off the steel armor that has been replaced on the corpse.
Not much, just about a hundred tools...
Seeing that he seemed to have regained his composure, Daxi urged his horse to come over.
"Captain Li, do you want to order the army to search the battlefield first?"
"Wait a minute!"
Li Chengzhi shook his head and looked around again, "When the fire first broke out, Liu...well, the substitute could only have his feet on the ground before the cavalry surrounded the battlefield. Unless he could get wings,
Fly out from the sky, otherwise it would definitely be within a radius of two or three miles..."
Flying?
Da Xi's eyes suddenly lit up: "Even if you can't fly into the sky, what about escaping to the ground?"
"How is that possible?" Li Chengzhi laughed and said, "At most, it can be hidden underground, unable to escape..."
He raised his hand and pointed around: "General, look... In order to prevent our cavalry, the chariots suddenly attacked the camp. In addition to the camp wall and the horses, Liu Huiwang also dug a horse ditch around the camp and diverted water...
...Even if he hides underground, where can he escape to?"
Daxi suddenly realized.
Because it is backed by Longshan Mountain, Jingzhou has a lot of water. In addition to the largest Jinghe River, there are Pu River and Gu River in the south of the city, and the Red River, Heihe River, and seven or eight tributaries in the north of the city.
To be exaggerated, if you dig a hole in soft ground, water may come out, which shows how high the groundwater level is.
There is no way to escape from the underground...
The stand-in's escape plan is easy to say. The hard part is how to see through it in advance. Da Xi is also suspicious of this. He can't figure out why Li Chengzhi is so sure that the stand-in was not burned to death, but hidden in the ground.
Bottom?
"That building was moved too fast... In fact, the watchtower the stand-in was standing on didn't catch on fire at all, it collapsed suddenly. It's just that the general was standing too close at the time, and the fireworks were too big, so he couldn't see clearly... Now that I think about it,
Nine times out of ten, the substitute wanted to escape, and the illusion was artificially created to make the general mistakenly believe that he had perished in the sea of fire...
As for why I concluded that he hid underground, it was an afterthought that I thought of: The fire formation that killed thousands of my soldiers was actually based on Zhuge Wuhou's eight formation diagram?
First dig a trench, then lay dry firewood in the trench and sprinkle it with kerosene. The fire array is completed and is two or three miles wide... Such a large-scale construction and large-scale war, one or two more rooms, up to ten feet, are built to defeat the enemy.
How difficult is it to find a place to hide behind?"
It’s really not difficult!
But Da Xi still felt that Li Chengzhi was a bit arbitrary.
If he really couldn't dig it out, he would have no choice but to randomly find a corpse and pull it back to make up for it... But before he had time to point out Xi Kangsheng's hint to Li Chengzhi, he just wanted to see if it was as Li Chengzhi expected.
Die?
"Then the captain gives the order!" Da Xi pointed at the 30,000 government troops standing in the south of the city.
This is the story of Xi Kangsheng. It has only been a short time since he arrived.
It is ridiculous to say that these 30,000 soldiers and horses hurriedly traveled for more than a hundred miles overnight, and by the time they arrived at Jingzhou City, the battle was already over?
"It won't be needed for the time being, just let the army guard the four wings!"
Li Chengzhi pondered for a moment, then pointed to the city, and sighed sadly: "General, please follow me to the city for the first time with the guard order..."
Da Xi looked at Li Chengzhi suspiciously.
The reason why I went to the city was to give an order to Hu Shichang, telling him not to open the city gate without permission, lest his substitute take advantage of the chaos and sneak into the city.
But what Da Xi doesn’t understand is why Li Chengzhi seems to be afraid of difficulties?
Is it because he didn't dare to see Hu Shichang because he hadn't been awarded the title of "Captain Xiaoguan"?
Telling that kind of joke?
It's simply impossible.
Not to mention that Hu Shichang harbored evil intentions. In order to escape guilt, he actually wanted to use Li Chengzhi as a stepping stone, which almost caused Li Chengzhi to die without a burial place.
Even putting this aside, there is nothing Li Chengzhi doesn’t dare to see Hu Shichang.
Before this battle, the Hu and Li families had no friendship at all, but Li Shixian was banned by Hu Shichang for eight years.
Li Chengzhi should be too late to hate?
Da Xi accompanied Li Chengzhi towards the city gate in confusion...
There are people everywhere on the city wall.
There are soldiers and civilians, men and women, old and young...
At dawn, they saw cavalry suddenly roaming below the city, flying the flag of Li Yun, the governor of the West Road. The defenders on the city knew that the officers and soldiers had won.
Guessing that the overall situation had been decided, Hu Shichang hurriedly ordered the soldiers and civilians of the state to dig the door holes and prepare to open the city gates to welcome Xi Zheng.
And he was thinking about how to defend himself when he met Xi Kangsheng, or what path he could take to get away with it.
Hu Shichang also imagined that as long as Li Chengzhi awarded the post of Captain Xiao Guan, it would be his "prescient idea" to quell the rebellion this time, so he ordered Hu Baozong and Li Chengzhi to recruit soldiers and work hard to quell the rebellion.
When the time comes to talk about merit, the merits of "strategizing" and "bravely defending dangerous frontiers" cannot be lost no matter what. What "crime" can I have?
In order to appease Li Chengzhi, and also to hint to Xi Kangsheng how close the Hu family was to the Li family and to Li Chengzhi, Hu Shichang actually ordered Li Shixian to bring all his family members to the city and arrange them beside him. ……
Li Shixian stared with a pair of bull's eyes, wishing he could stretch his neck out a few dozen feet more, so that he could identify the soldiers under the city one by one, so as to see clearly whether his son was among them.
Although he was looking forward to it, Li Shixian also knew in his heart that in all likelihood, he would not see Li Chengzhi today.
If you think about it, you will know that when Xi Kangsheng and Li Yunjun came to Jingzhou, they brought tens of thousands of government and state soldiers, a large number of third- and fourth-rank governors and generals under their command, and even more commanders and generals of fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth ranks. There are so many people, where is the place for Li Chengzhi, a humble boy with no official position?
Apart from being disappointed, I also felt faintly worried.
Gao Zhao couldn't move the longxi plum trees with deep roots, so he could only vent his anger on the Li family in his ancestral home, causing his grandfather to be imprisoned in Jingzhou City for eight full years.
Now that Chengzhi has become famous and has made such great achievements, at first glance, it seems that he will soon be rich and wealthy, but who can predict that in time, this will not become a hidden danger?
Li Shixian didn't know whether he should be happy or worried...
I was feeling pain and happiness when a low scolding came from my ear: "Li Huaide, do you see clearly?"
Who else but Madam?
Facing Guo Yuzhi's angry gaze, Li Shixian immediately couldn't laugh or cry.
It is really unreasonable for women to be unreasonable.
Getting angry when things are going well?
Husband, I don’t have two more eyes than you, and you don’t even recognize me. How can I recognize you?
Li Shixian just muttered in his heart and would never say it out loud.
He pointed at the large banner fluttering in the wind below the city: "Look, madam: that is the flag tent of the Guanzhong garrison. The garrison must be nearby, and Governor Li must be with him. Look at the tens of thousands of troops standing there, but not even half of them are visible. A soldier in white armor, Chengzhi must have been sent to the rear army..."
Does this mean there is no place for a son here?
Guo Yuzhi's expression froze, and he sighed again.
How could she not think of it?
But I kept thinking: What if?
Guo Yuzhi was disappointed when he suddenly saw a group of cavalry running towards the city. In addition to the large banner guarded by Xi, the flag soldiers on the left and right sides each had two tooth flags.
The pole on the left is marked with an official position, and the letter reads: Guanzhong Guards House is engaged in Zhonglang General Yingyang Xi.
The former is the position, the "General Yingyang" in the middle is the title, and "Xi" is the title.
The other pole is bare, with no title, no title, no inscription, no pattern, and only a huge Chinese character "李" on the flag.
The weird thing is, is it still a broken flag?
It seemed to have been burned by fire, with a large corner missing, and there were many holes in the flag, as if shot by arrows. In addition, it was stained with blood and turned dark red.
Everyone who sees this flag feels strange.
Among tens of thousands of officers and soldiers, a private flag came out?
It’s just a private flag, why don’t you replace it with a new one?
Looking at the blood stains on it, it is clear that it was left long ago and was not splashed during this battle... So, what do you mean by putting up such a flag?
Do you want to show how many battles you have fought and how many contributions you have made?
Is that what you mean?
If it were Li Chengzhi: I don’t know which stick has no room to show off...
Guo Yuzhi suddenly felt a glimmer of hope, stretched out his hand and said urgently: "Look, husband... look?"
Li Shixian raised his eyes and suddenly laughed: "Madam, take a good look first...
Not surprisingly, the official flag with "General Yingyang·Xi" printed on it should be the flag of General Da Xi, the nephew of Xi Zhenzheng, but it is on the left. Instead, the private flag is on the right? It can be seen that even General Da Xi
Everyone must obey his orders..."
This means that no matter how powerful your son is, he cannot be superior to a fifth-grade general.
"Furthermore, the last time Li Song came to the city, his flag was a white flag, which was much brighter than this... This flag is probably the flag of Governor Li Yun... It may also be the result of the continuous battle last night, the big banner, the handsome flag
When the trap was already lost, I used this pole to break it... Well, I used this battle flag to temporarily push it up..."
"Ah...that's it..." Guo Yuzhi responded in disappointment, and the smile on his face gradually disappeared...
Seeing the team of cavalry getting closer and closer, everyone in the city looked solemn. When they reached about twenty feet, no matter officials or civilians, men, women, old or young, they all bowed down and shouted in unison: "Welcome Xi
Guard!"
Hearing the call, Li Chengzhi immediately stopped his horse, and more than a hundred riders reined their horses in unison, waiting on the left and right.
Li Chengzhi took a look at the city and saw that it was densely packed with human heads. How could he tell which one was Li Shixian?
What's more, if no one helps him point it out, he won't be able to recognize it at all...
Li Chengzhi sighed softly: "Excuse me, General, please go and deliver the order!"
Da Xi glanced at him in confusion: Could it be that he really didn't dare to see Hu Shichang?
This doesn’t quite resemble Li Chengzhi’s character?
What does Hu Shichang mean?
Not to mention that he is about to become a prisoner, even if he has the official status of Jingzhou Governor, is it possible that he can still be more powerful than his father?
Even when Xi Zhen was unwilling to bow his head, Li Chengzhi still dared not to bow his head...
Suspicious in his heart, Da Xi lightly rode the horse's belly and shouted again: "Let's go!"
More than ten guardsmen followed Da Xi towards the city, holding the Guanzhong garrison and Xi Kangsheng's banner.
With seven or eight steps left, Da Xi stopped his horse, took out a palm-sized token with shining golden light, and raised it towards the city: "Hu Shichang, the guard has an order. No one is allowed to open the city gate without order. Anyone who violates it will be punished."
The punishment for thieves: behead!"
Immediately, more than a dozen guards and cavalry shouted in unison: "Hu Shichang, there are orders to guard the city. Without orders, you are not allowed to open the city gate without permission. Violators will be punished as traitors: beheaded!"
When they see that token, no matter how bad their eyesight is, most people can recognize that it is the "Envoy Chi Jie" given to Xi Kangsheng by the emperor. Seeing this token is like the emperor's personal visit...
There was just a "rumbling" sound, like thunder, and not long after, a large number of people knelt down on the city wall.
After a few breaths, Da Xi instinctively felt a little dazzling. When he looked up, there were actually several people standing there upright, as if they were frozen?
Da Xi's eyes suddenly turned cold.
How dare you not kneel when you see the emperor's order?
Just as he was about to scold him, he heard another roar from the city: "Li Shixian, what are you going to do? You want to rebel..."
The voice was a little old, and it should be Hu Shichang who was scolding him angrily, but what was a little strange to Da Xi was that the name "Li Shixian" seemed familiar?
Just as they were wondering, those who were standing before knelt down one by one.
In the end, only a man and a woman were left, seemingly hesitating and quarreling.
An extremely beautiful woman was tightly grasping the sleeve of a man wearing armor and pulling it down hard. Her pretty face was filled with water, as if she had shed tears.
"Li Huaide, you kneel down..." Guo Yuzhi smiled with tears on his face, "Kneel down... we are kneeling on the Emperor's Day..."
"Are you blind? Standing behind the Emperor's Order is Grandpa's son..."
Li Shixian growled lowly, and then muttered curses, "It's unreasonable for a father to kneel down on his son...is it unreasonable?"
Saying that, he still bent his knees and knelt down...
Just listen to a loud "pass" sound.
Da Xi was startled: He was just kneeling down, where could there be such a loud noise?
Hmm... No, the voice seems to be coming from behind?
When he turned around, he saw all the guards around him looking back with strange expressions.
Looking back, Li Chengzhi was kneeling straight on the ground?
The commanding cavalry and flag soldiers on the left and right were at a loss as to what to do, as if they didn't know whether to dismount and kneel down like Li Chengzhi, or pretend not to notice?
Daxi immediately couldn't laugh or cry.
I often heard that Li Chengzhi was taught by God that he could do things that ordinary people couldn't and understood things that ordinary people didn't understand. However, when he came across some common sense, he always made jokes.
Just like now: you hold the Emperor's Order, which represents the emperor's majesty. If others kneel to you, how can you kneel to others?
He was about to go over and give him a nod, but before the horse could turn around, Da Xi froze suddenly, and a flash of light flashed in his mind.
Li Shixian...
Li Shixian?
This is Li Chengzhi’s biological grandfather...
And that woman, that face seems to have been cut out of Li Chengzhi’s face...
Daxi suddenly realized.
No wonder you refuse to accept the emperor's order. Unless it is such a valuable weapon, you don't dare to give it to me. You want me to hold it?
So you don’t want your parents to kneel down on you?
But if a parent kneels down, not to mention that he is just holding the order, even if he becomes the emperor, he will kneel down... This is filial piety!
I told you earlier...
Da Xi didn't know whether to laugh or cry, so he immediately accepted the order and shouted coldly again: "Let's go!"
As everyone in the city stood up, Li Chengzhi also stood up and glared resentfully at Da Xi who was walking towards him.
It seems to be saying: If you give orders, you can give orders. If you have to do so many things, will I have to kneel down?
Da Xi smiled awkwardly: "Isn't this to show off the majesty of the captain? Who knew your father's hall was also in the city? You didn't tell me earlier..."