When Li Feng withdrew his army, Xing Luan seemed to be a dissatisfied and resentful young lady who sent her husband off to fight, traveling three thousand miles away.
When Li Feng attacked again, Xing Luan was still like this, reluctant to leave and following every step. However, he had been coming and going for half a year, but he was not even half an inch closer. It was indescribably funny.
Seven or eight hundred miles is just an infantry march. It will arrive in seven or eight days. How many days can Xingluan delay?
Moreover, Li Feng's arrival this time was fierce and full of artillery. It was definitely not like last year. He came just to show off, pretending to be able to return home after confronting Guanxia for several months.
Xing Luan had anticipated this event, so he sent Cui Kai to report urgently, reminding him to prepare in advance.
Extrapolating by analogy, Huangfu Rang of Longxi did not withdraw his troops. He was always watching with eager eyes and sharpening his sword. Cui Yanbo, who stood firm in Longshan and Chencang, was probably in trouble as well.
Did you also see a ghost?
The imperial court had just breathed a sigh of relief and had begun to show signs of improvement. As if Li Chengzhi had caught a whiff of the situation, he attacked boldly. He seemed to be trying to extinguish the flame of hope, which was only as big as a bean sprout.
Why is this traitor's nose so sharp?
The more he thought about it, the more irritated he became. Yuan Yao said coldly: "If I hadn't been prepared in advance, would the traitors really have taken advantage of the situation? Come on, set up the artillery carriage quickly, and move in the oil sand and grease quickly.
Wengcheng..."
It is true that there are cannons in the West Sea, but Yuan Yao is not unprepared. At least he can set off a few good fires.
It's just that we can't go very far, at most a hundred or two hundred steps. But the city is soaked in mud. Even if the artillery in the West Sea is sharp and can blast through the city wall, we have to send soldiers to attack, right?
If the enemy dared to fill the moat, they would be burned to the point of crying.
He secretly puffed up his breath, but Yuan Yao's face was as depressed as a donkey's. He glanced south and said in a quiet voice: "Cui Yanbo...is he in danger?"
Both the Six Towns and the Northland are barren and cold places. Moreover, due to Gao Zhao's rebellion, they have been beaten to pieces. Even if they are conquered by force, it is like useless, and they have to be stationed to manage such a broken place.
What's the use?
Li Chengzhi is not a stupid pig, why is he here?
Therefore, Li Feng came here, in all likelihood, to prevent Huangfu from being attacked from both sides and fearing that Yuan Yao or Xi Kangsheng would send troops south to rescue Cui Yanbo.
In other words, Li Chengzhi is still plotting Guanzhong...
"Commander, to borrow Li Chengzhi's words: You and I are still clay bodhisattvas crossing the river. We cannot protect ourselves, so how can we have the leisure to understand others?"
Xi Kangsheng said dejected words, but his eyes were gleaming, "It won't be too late to divide our troops to help County Master Cui after we have retreated from the powerful enemy!"
Seeing that he was full of energy and murderous, Yuan Yao felt helpless and dumbfounded.
Xi Kangsheng had already made up his mind to become a benevolent person if he failed. Otherwise, why would he have repeatedly suggested taking the initiative when he knew that Xihai was invincible?
Whatever, it’s nothing more than this old fate...
Yuan Yao gritted his teeth and shouted: "The city is here but the people are there, the city is broken and the people are dead!"
"That's how it should be!"
Xi Kangsheng smiled calmly and said, "I will live up to our great ancestor and late emperor's kindness to you and me!"
The reason why he sent Daxi to join Li Chengzhi was of course to extend his incense and make his descendants rich. And to sacrifice his life for his country and die in battle was to repay his country's kindness.
In Xi Kangsheng's view, there is no conflict between the two...
…
Since ancient times, there has been one road in Mount Huashan, and this sentence is equally applicable to Guanzhong.
Anyone who enters the Pass from Hexi must cross the Longshan Mountains. This has been the case in ancient and modern times. However, as in later generations, from Tianshui to Baoji, no matter whether it is a highway or a railway, you have to go through at least dozens of tunnels and bridges, which shows how bumpy the road to the Pass is.
Li Chengzhi was not so capable, could not drill tunnels, and could not build so many bridges, so he could only take the Guanlong Ancient Road. That is, starting from Qingshui in the west, passing through Guanshan Grassland, then passing through Longguan, and reaching the end of Guanzhong.
Chencang in the west.
This is the only land road that can be traveled by horses and carts, and can accommodate large armies. Otherwise, it only follows the river to the thin bone path at the northern end of Longshan Mountain and then turns south, going back and forth, at least nearly three thousand miles in detour.
Qingshui County has returned to the West Sea, and Bailitan (Guanshan Grassland) has become a horse herding land for the West Sea army. Will Li Chengzhi have to sacrifice the near for the distant, wasting his life and money and circling thousands of miles?
What's more, although there is only one land route, there is also a water route.
During the Three Kingdoms period, Zhuge Liang sent his troops out of Qishan in order to capture Guanzhong. Taking advantage of the emptiness of Longxi, he occupied Tianshui in one month.
When Wei general Zhang He was in danger, he was ordered to lead his troops to help. He sent troops from Luoyang and went upstream through the Wei River. In less than half a month, he arrived at Chencang, and then rushed to attack the street pavilion. Only then did Zhuge Liang tearfully kill Ma Su.
Since Zhang He could sail upstream for 1,500 to 600 miles, and the journey from Qingshui River (a tributary of the Wei River, at the western foot of Longshan Mountain) to Chencang was less than 200 miles, why couldn't he do it?
If it were a later generation, it really wouldn't work, because after the Tang Dynasty, the water volume of the Wei River was less than a year, and around the Ming and Qing Dynasties, not to mention the Wei River in Gansu, even the Wei River in Shaanxi had to run aground.
But now, it’s really a viable ship.
Li Chengzhi was prepared with both hands, just for the final word...
…
To the east of Qingshui City, Baili Beach.
There is only Longshan Mountain in the middle, and after passing Longguan, there is a flat plain.
A few days ago, there were still cattle and sheep everywhere at the foot of the mountain, and herds of war horses. The Xihai herdsmen barbecued meat in Guanxia every day, which made the garrison in Guanxia very greedy.
But today, all I saw were flags fluttering, cold light dazzling, and armor formations everywhere as far as the eye could see.
In particular, the hundreds of crouching cannons standing in front of the formation were like monsters with fangs exposed, making the defenders on the city tremble with fear, causing the two groups to fight.
Cui Yanbo held his hands on the city battlements and looked far into the distance. He seemed calm as a mountain, but if you pay attention, you can see that his fists were clenched and the corners of his eyes would tremble from time to time.
Even last year when the situation in the West Sea was overwhelming and they were invincible, Li Liang and Huangfu Rang did not show up in such a battle. It can be seen that this time, it is not an intimidation, but a serious one.
With surprise and doubt in his heart, Cui Yanbo thought of the arrow letter he shot from Guanxia three days ago.
The letter claimed to be Li Yi from Jingzhou, and his handwriting looked like gold hooks and iron strokes, with a majestic image faintly visible between the lines. It was most likely Li Chengzhi's own handwriting.
The title was very polite, calling him general, but the wording was extremely domineering: It was only for three days. If Cui Yanbo did not let go of the pass and led his army to surrender, life would be ruined.
If it had been in the past, Cui Yanbo would have laughed so hard: "You are a boy with a yellow mouth, what a big tone."
But if it was Li Chengzhi who had never been masked before but was already thundering in his ears, Cui Yanbo had an intuition: This time, he might die on Long Pass?
After half a lifetime of conquest, Cui Yanbo had already realized that it was nothing more than wrapping his body in horse leather and martyrdom for his country.
Presumably, the 200,000 men under his command are just like him, and they have already spent a lot of money on their ambition to serve the country.
Just fight...
Thinking secretly, when Cui Yanbo heard his confidant calling him, Cui Yanbo took a deep breath and looked down at the city again.
Two cavalrymen came from the west and stopped at the edge of the trench a hundred steps away. One of the generals held something in his hand and seemed to be sizing up the city.
Last year, Liu Fang went on an envoy to the West Sea and had already clearly explored it. Cui Yanbo naturally knew that the enemy general was holding a telescope.
Even if they are seven or eight miles away, they can still see people's faces clearly, as if they are just a few feet away. Let alone only a hundred steps away?
The general was horrified. He shouted repeatedly and ordered his guards to raise their crossbows, intending to shoot the enemy general under his horse. But Cui Yanbo stretched out his hand to stop him: "It doesn't matter!"
The Xihai Front Formation is less than three miles away. If you want to capture yourself as the commander first, you can see it clearly from the front of the formation. Why bother to run so close like a reminder?
Now that the three-day limit has expired, the enemy general under the city is most likely here to communicate as an ultimatum?
as expected.
The enemy general watched for a while, then put down his telescope in a leisurely manner, and seemed to say a few words to the people beside him. Then he saw another general dismounting from his horse, and saluted towards the city with a smile: "Someone By order of the Duke, I came here to see Mr. Cui!"
Cui Yanbo had written many military exploits, was brave and resourceful, and Li Chengzhi highly praised him. Li Xiaoxian was so noisy that he naturally had more respect for him.
What's more, Li Chengzhi reminded him: Even when fighting, you and I are the only ones who are their masters. They can't help themselves. There is no need to show off one's words and make the hero laugh.
The crossbows on the city had already been cocked, and hundreds of arrows were pointed at Guanxia, but the two people turned a blind eye and just did nothing?
How courageous?
Cui Yanbo secretly praised: "That is Cui, who are you?"
He said yes, and he tried his best to look at the bottom of the city a few more times. But he was too far away, and he could vaguely see the general on the horse with his waist hunched, and his beard and hair were gray under his helmet. He must be an old man.
The person who shouted the message was very energetic, so he thought it was not a big deal. It was more likely that he was specially sent to deliver the message.
I just don’t know why it’s so unnecessary and an old man is sent to accompany him?
I was suspicious, but I saw the general helping the old man off the horse. The old man stood tremblingly, raised his head again, and shouted to the city: "We have not seen each other for several years. Is my nephew okay after I leave?"
Sure enough, he was getting older, his voice was hoarse and hoarse, and he probably had to use all his strength to shout out. As soon as he finished speaking, he held his chest and coughed.
With just this sentence, there was an uproar in the city, and all the generals around Cui Yanbo were furious.
I had previously praised Li Chengzhi for knowing etiquette and sending a letter of arrows every day. Although he was trying to persuade him to surrender, his words were quite respectful to Cui Yanbo.
But don’t you want to be a handsome elder as soon as you come today?
How dare Shu Zian be so deceptive?
Some of them had already taken off their bows and wanted to shoot a few arrows at the general who was shouting.
"Slow down..."
Cui Yanbo exclaimed and stuck his head out of the battlement, his big eyes glaring like bull's eyes.
The old man took off his helmet, and when the wind blew, the silver threads on his hair instantly floated up. Afraid that Cui Yanbo could not see clearly, Cui Guang even took up his long hair and raised his face higher.
Cui Yanbo was suddenly shocked, his face full of disbelief.
There are not two characters for Cui in one stroke. Although Cui Guang belongs to the Cui family of Qinghe and Cui Yanbo is also the descendant of the Cui family of Boling, they are both descended from the Qin Dynasty official Cui Yiru and are from the same ancestor.
Although one is in Lu and the other is in Yanyun, they have supported each other and achieved mutual success in the past thousands of years. It can be said that the bones are broken and the tendons are connected.
What's more, Cui Yanbo surrendered from the Southern Dynasty. If Cui Guang hadn't recommended him, how could he, a guerrilla general, get into the eyes of Emperor Xiaowen?
So no matter how you say it, Cui Guang really deserves to be called a worldly uncle...
Cui Yanbo looked at the thin and hunched figure under the city with mixed feelings in his heart.
Cui Guang went to Xihai as an envoy and never returned. He is now more than a year old. It is said that Li Chengzhi was persecuted by Li Chengzhi in every possible way, and Cui Guang would rather die than surrender. Li Chengzhi had no choice but to kill him and could not, so he had to imprison him.
But looking at it today, Cui Guangxing's single shadow seems to be nothing, so he came to this city. Is it possible that he really came to reminisce about the past?
I'm afraid that Li Chengzhi has been surrendered long ago...
Seeing that Cui Yanbo didn't respond, Cui Guang took a few steps forward and stood on the east side of the ditch that was two feet wide. Li Xiaoxian wanted to pass a message for him, but Cui Guang pushed him away.
"I'm not going to hide it, I'm here today just to persuade you to surrender. Now I won't talk about the difference between Hu and Han, let alone the nonsense about good birds choosing trees to roost, just to save a few lives... My dear nephew, right and left
But with the honor behind you, why would you ignore your family and drag down these hundreds of thousands of soldiers?"
Seeing that Cui Yanbo still didn't respond, Cui Guang said helplessly: "To tell you the truth: before I came here, Li Chengzhi advised me many times, saying that you are extremely courageous and unparalleled in loyalty. You swear to live and die with Longguan. Why waste your words? It's me."
He couldn't bear the death of hundreds of thousands of soldiers and artillery fire, and it was even more unkind that hundreds of thousands of orphans and widows suddenly appeared in the world, so I tried to persuade him to come to this... My dear nephew, think twice..."
Hundreds of thousands of dead souls, hundreds of thousands of orphans and widows?
Cui Yanbo's heart skipped a beat: "Could it be that after breaking the barrier, Li Chengzhi still dared to massacre the city?"
"Why massacre the city?"
Cui Guang shouted loudly: "In order to serve as a warning, Li Chengzhi has prepared enough phosphorus bombs that can not be quenched by water and can even burn iron. Once a war breaks out, he will set fire to Longshan, which is nearly a thousand miles away... More
What's more, he secretly sent his troops three days ago to go down the Wei River to capture your Chencang. If nothing unexpected happened, Chencang has already changed hands. Now that you are surrounded by enemies from both sides, what's the use of holding on to this lonely mountain and dead city?
?”
Sail down the Wei River and raid Chencang?
Cui Yanbo felt as if he had been struck by lightning, with veins all over his face. He was stunned for a long time before he cursed angrily: "Li Chengzhi, what a thief..."