As the sun sets in the west, the surface of the Weishui River sparkles, as if thousands of gold stars have been sprinkled down.
The two armies, one on the south side of the bank and the other on the north side, were rushing along the river bank. As the army passed by, smoke and dust filled the sky, just like two huge yellow dragons, one behind the other, following closely behind.
It's just around Fenghuang Ridge. The terrain here is slightly gentle, which is the best place for the army to rest and reorganize. Therefore, just as promised, the two enemies actually chose this place as their garrison.
The two armies were on both sides of the river, facing each other across the river, and no one dared to take a step closer. They seemed to be old friends they hadn't seen for many years, and they were quite timid about being close to home.
Yu Zhong sat on the horse and stared at the various military flags on the other side. The more he looked, the more suspicious Yu Zhong became.
More than Yuan Zhi and Cui Zuchi?
The longest banner stood in the center of the camp, which was clearly Li Chengzhi's commander. Under the banner, there was another flag with the character Diao. Beyond it were the Yuanzhi, Yuangui, and
The flag of Cui Zuji and others.
From this point of view, even if Li Chengzhi has not arrived, at least the right governor Diao Zheng should have come to hold Li Chengzhi's honor guard. Therefore, these tens of thousands of cavalry should be actual troops, not suspected troops...
While he was suspicious, he rode past Yu Zhong's personal guard and came to his side. Yu Zhong looked back and saw that it was Murong Gao, the deputy general of Fuluo.
Just like Yu Zhong, Murong Gao looked at him for a while and asked suspiciously: "Since Li Chengzhi has not arrived yet, why bother to put up such a big umbrella in the camp? Wouldn't it be in vain that it slows down the march?
Quite a few?"
Yu Zhong sighed secretly, thinking that the barbarians were indeed barbarians, but they didn't even understand such a simple truth?
"On the occasion of sending troops to Luoyang, Li Chengzhi went up to the stage to pay homage to the general, and was even more honored by the emperor. The three talismans awarded to him by the emperor were the tiger talisman, the golden staff, and this large banner. Therefore, as soon as this flag was raised, Li Chengzhi
If you come personally, you will have the order of the emperor... If you carry this flag to Wudu and pass the White Horse Pass, and then promise a huge profit, I would like to ask the general who guards the gate, what will the soldiers think?"
Was it originally used to persuade people to surrender?
No wonder Chang Yi was so anxious and sent Yu Zhong here...
"But with such a big fanfare, it is impossible to say that Li Chengzhi is bluffing, trying to trick us into dividing our troops and heading west. Therefore, the more than 10,000 light cavalry on the north bank should be empty troops: looking at the huge formation, it is certain
Most of them are equipped with horses, and few are armed with soldiers..."
Murong Gao still had a trace of fantasy left, "And as he wished, Changxian County has sent more than ten thousand cavalry to help, and with the Wei River blocking it, we must be one step ahead of the Wei army on the north bank to reach Wudu. Therefore, we must not
If only this empty flag means that Li Chengzhi is here in person and Emperor Wei is here in person, so what?"
If it were like this, wouldn't the army trapped in Chencang be more dangerous than a fish swimming in a cauldron?
On the contrary, Yu Zhong hoped that Li Chengzhi was just bluffing in Chencang and that it would be better to treat him as a real soldier along the way.
With at least two fortified cities of Wudu and Baima to rely on, as well as the danger of the Jialing River, plus the defenders of the two cities, and more than ten thousand cavalry, they should be able to stop Li Chengzhi for a day or two. In order to pass through Chencang, Baoxie
The two coalition forces entering the Qinling Mountains won a chance to breathe.
Otherwise, if Li Chengzhi forcibly crosses the Wei River from Liyuan, Chang Yizhi will have no choice but to fight to the death. By then, everything will be over...
However, people with different paths do not work together. Murong Gao naturally wanted Li Chengzhi to send all his troops to forcefully cross the Weishui River and start a war with Changyi as soon as possible, so as to clear the way to the west so that Fu Luo could escape westward as soon as possible.
Therefore, Yu Zhong was too lazy to talk to him and just looked at the enemy camp on the north bank carefully.
Just at this time, there was movement in the Wei camp again. It seemed that the body had recovered, but they were actually going to march all night.
And just like showing off one's military power, every time a camp comes out, they will first go to the shore and pass by in front of Yu Zhong.
Seeing the continuous flow of armored cavalry one after another, Yu Zhong felt a little relieved, but Murong Gao's face was as gloomy as water.
As Murong Gao said, Wei Qi did have a pair of horses, but at least one had two horses. Far from what he expected, most of them were empty horses.
In this way, it is certain that this is a real army. And it is so urgent that it has to march at night, which is obviously determined to win Wudu and Baima Pass.
At this point, Fuluo suddenly made up his mind to head west. Taking advantage of the fierce battle between Li Chengzhi and Chang Yi, Wu Xia took care of it, and his plan to exit the customs via Longshan Road had come to nothing...
Murong Gao's eyes were about to burst and he shouted sternly: "Quickly report to your lord: the road to the west has been cut off..."
Seeing this, Yu Zhong also explained: "Send a quick horse to report to Changxian Hou, saying that Yu has made up his mind. Even if he is the leader of Wudu, he will fight to the death with the Wei army... He has nothing to do but wish to do so."
The county magistrate returns safely to the south and can be kind to someone’s family..."
Hearing this, Duke Yu actually has a life-or-death intention?
My heart tightened and I kept saying yes.
"Lord Murong, the matter has come to this. There is no other way except a fight to the death, so shall we order the entire army to set up camp?"
A fight to the death?
When he thought of Wei Jun's thunder and various firearms, Murong Gao felt his heart tremble.
But what else?
There are Qinling Mountains in the south, Weishui River in the north, powerful enemies in front, and Fuluo and Changyizhi behind. Even if he wants to escape without fighting, he has nowhere to go?
Is it really as Yu Zhong said, the current plan is to fight to the death to have a chance of survival?
Murong Gao hesitated for a long time and gritted his teeth: "Let's start camp..."
……
It's already three o'clock in the morning, and the lights in the Yamen are still on. It seems like another sleepless night!
After two days of staying up, Chang Yi's face was black and blue, and his eyes were bloodshot. In addition, he had not washed himself properly, and his half-white hair was very messy. Therefore, at first glance, Chang Yi looked as if he had suddenly aged ten years.<
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A confidant brought a can of meat soup, carefully stepped over the threshold, and quietly placed it in Chang Yizhi's hand.
Smelling the fragrance, Chang Yizhi put down the map in his hand and sighed sadly: "I don't have much appetite, just take it down!"
Pei Sui dismissed his confidants with a gentle wave of his hand. When no one was around, he gently advised: "It's been almost an hour since dawn yesterday. You haven't touched a grain of rice and only drank a few glasses of water and wine.
How does this happen?
But now, you are the backbone of the entire army. If you become ill due to overwork and fail to recover, the army of hundreds of thousands will be like a headless sheep, and will be slaughtered by the Wei army? Therefore, it will be like chewing wax, and you will not be able to taste it.
You should have a bowl..."
Chang Yizhi paused after hearing this, sighed, moved the porcelain jar, and stuffed a spoonful into his mouth.
I felt that what was in the silver spoon was not meat soup, but poison. When I took it into my mouth, there was a bitter water in my mouth. My chest and abdomen were even more bulging like a stuffing, making it extremely difficult to swallow.
After taking a few mouthfuls, I couldn't resist the nausea in my stomach, so I vomited it out with a loud cry. The spring breeze blew up the puddle of filth, and there were actually a few strands of blood in it.
Pei Sui was horrified: Could it be that one word turned out to be a prophecy, and the truth of Changyi has become ill due to overwork.
"Hang...Hang bang...It doesn't matter...It should be caused by worries and depression for many days...Yuan Ming, please don't say anything..."
"It's like this, but you still have to work hard? Just sitting here all night, what's the point?"
Pei Sui clutched Chang Yizhi's sleeve tightly, and his voice trembled slightly: "County Marquis, listen to Sui's words, and go and rest for a while. If there is urgent news, I will call you..."
"How can I close my eyes when the safety of a hundred thousand troops is placed on me?"
Chang Yizhi said with a sad smile, "If I get even a little sleepy, I will dream that all my subordinates were killed by Li Chengzhi and burned to the ground. Then I will wake up suddenly, shaking in panic, sweating profusely... So it is better not to sleep...
”
In the past few days, seeing Chang Yi's calmness and composure, as solid as a rock, I just thought he had a plan in mind. But I didn't know that he was already so frightened?
Just like eating yellow lotus, Pei Sui was full of sorrow and asked sadly: "Three years ago when I was sent to Zhongli, I was trapped by 300,000 Wei troops. The city was broken and in danger. You remained as before, as peaceful as before. But now you are far away."
If it wasn't such a life-and-death situation, why would you worry about it?"
"So at the time of Zhongli, Chang had already tried his best, tried his best, and used all his methods. Therefore, he had a clear conscience, and it was natural for him to lose. But now, I have been thinking about it, but I can't figure it out: the situation is clear
It was great, but in the blink of an eye it took a turn for the worse, and after only a few battles, it turned into a cornered beast still fighting?"
Chang Yizhi's eyes were empty and lifeless, he looked at the roof and sighed: "Could it be that...heaven wants to destroy me, Chang Yizhi?"
"What does it have to do with heaven?"
Pei Sui shouted angrily, "You and I have been fighting for half our lives, killing lives for no reason, and more than a hundred thousand corpses are buried? Now that we are in our twilight years, you actually believe in such stories of gods and ghosts again?"
"Okay, it's neither God's will nor gods and ghosts, so where did Li Chengzhi's thunder, kerosene, and all those secrets come from?"
Pei Sui choked violently and moved his lips, but he didn't know how to explain?
In fact, not only Chang Yizhi but also Pei Sui asked himself, how dare he say that he has never been so surprised?
However, the two of them are very deep in the city, and they know how powerful it is. No matter how scared they are, they will not show it, let alone confide it to others.
"Now that things have come to this, everyone just thinks it's nonsense. Now we can only sink the boat and fight."
Pei Sui sighed sadly, "Otherwise, we can just sit back and wait for death?"
"How could I not know this truth... Because of this, I worked hard, but I couldn't find a way to solve the problem, so I became depressed and became ill..."
Can’t think of a way to break the situation?
Pei Sui was not surprised: "Now Yu Zhong has found out that all the Wei troops heading west are real. Li Chengzhi's intention of sending all his cavalry to attack our rear route through Longshan Road is clear.
However, Yu Zhong and Murong Gao had already rushed to Wudu to help, and in the afternoon they sent urgent reports to Songpan (belonging to Tuyuhun, bordering Nanliang, Yuan and Wei) and Liangzhou (Nanliangzhou, today's Mianyang, Sichuan). At least tomorrow, these two places
We will definitely send troops to help Wudu urgently.
Even if Li Chengzhi is as fierce as a tiger and as powerful as a broken bamboo, there is no hope of stopping us from returning south. Therefore, we only need to follow the steps and set up camp and enter the valley after dawn. Why should the county magistrate worry?"
"I was just like Yuan Ming, and I thought so before. But until I was a child, I received an urgent report from Yu Zhong and decided to go west to the Wei army. Then Fu Luo came to look for me in a hurry. Calling Chencang Valley Road narrow is the same as saying
When the Wei army engages in the battle, there is no place for cavalry to use it. Therefore, can I allow him to lead the remaining army and Yuan Li and others to the west, so as to help me stop Li Chengzhi in Wudu?
It was then that I suddenly realized: Even Fu Luo could think of the uselessness of cavalry in the old way, how could Li Chengzhi not know it? Therefore, the Wei army going west was indeed a real soldier, but it was also an idle move... Li Chengzhi's original intention remains the same.
Intending to follow our army to cover up and kill..."
Pei Sui was so frightened that his hair stood on end.
No wonder it was already midnight, and Changyi's sudden order ordered Hou Gang and Lan Ziyun's army to dig the river channel, hoping to flood the south bank into a swamp.
Then he gathered all the powerful crossbows, stone cannons, etc. on the shore, and forced Yuan Li to withdraw from Guancheng, even threatening to start a war?
It turned out that he had already predicted that the Wei army would forcefully cross the Wei River?
"Since Li Chengzhi... wanted to cross the river by force, why did he stop yesterday and wait for a day?"
"When we retreated the day before yesterday, I ordered Ziyun to burn all the ships within a hundred miles up and down. The Wei army could only recruit ships from Qianyin, Qizhou and other places. Just like us, seeing that the retreat was imminent, we had to rest for a day and wait for the gathering.
Only when you have enough food and grass, and enough chariots and horses can you march...
Therefore, yesterday Li Chengzhi could only look at the river and sigh. But I predict that Li Chengzhi will make some moves today..."
A good thief is like a maggot attached to the bone, his ghost lingers?
If it were in the past, Pei Sui would have had various reasons to persuade Chang Yizhi and himself to persevere.
But now he's racking his brains and brains, but he can't think of anything to rely on?
It is true that Li Chengzhi is cunning and changeable, and he is also strong and strong.
And ask yourself, is it really just because of Li Chengzhi's use of firearms that he and Chang Yi are now in such a desperate situation?
This is the main reason, but it is not entirely the reason.
If it weren't for the Wei army's strong armor, sharp swords, and numerous soldiers and generals, how could Li Shao have treated the hundreds of thousands of troops that suddenly arrived at Mianyin City as nothing?
Without strict military discipline and sufficient chariots and horses, how could Li Chengzhi be allowed to come and go like the wind, returning to Qin An in the morning and arriving at Qianyin in the evening?
The national strength of the Yuan and Wei Dynasties was already strong. They needed soldiers, food and grain, armor and armor, horses and generals. They also needed orders like a mountain, and orders and prohibitions. Only in this way did Li Chengzhi give orders like an arm.
Even more powerful.
So if you think about it deeply, the loss in this battle was not unfair at all?
It's a pity that even if the intestines are full of regret, it will not help...
"It's nothing more than a life-and-death struggle..."
Pei Sui gritted his teeth and said, "After daybreak, ask the county magistrate to lead the army into the valley first, and then someone will break up the rear... It is nothing more than death..."
"Is it true that you were known as a child prodigy when you were young, but now you are so confused?"
Chang Yizhi scolded him in a cold voice, "If I had taken the first step, our army would have been defeated as soon as the Wei army crossed the river. Therefore, only Chang Mou was left, and he still had the strength to fight. The rest are not worth mentioning."
……
There is no need for Yuan Ming to say anything, let alone wait until dawn... When I sent Lan Ziyun to dig the embankment, I ordered the front army to quietly enter the valley with food and grass. Later, I would send Fuluo, Yuan Li and others in the name of deliberation.
When people are tricked into the Yamen, you immediately set up camp to prevent these two thieves from competing with our army...
After you leave, if I can hold on to the river bank, I will hold on. If I can't hold on, I will retreat to the city, which can delay you for a while... At that time, Volo and the Yuan thieves will also be like bereaved dogs, panicking and choosing their way out.
I can only follow you into the valley.
But the valley road is so wide, you only need to prepare a strong force for the rear army to force these two thieves to cut off your rear. Therefore, even if I lose, you can return south safely..."