Torrent Volume Chapter 24: The Old Taoist Arrives in Person
Why did Xu Ram take the risk and lead his exhausted army to attack again? Why did he care so much about Quxia?
Just because Qu Gorge is a narrow pass, in some places, two people are not even allowed to walk side by side; but it is such a narrow passage, but there are peaks hundreds of feet high on both sides.
In other words, as long as you can occupy the high places on both sides, you can completely block the enemy and trap hundreds of thousands of people outside the Qu Gorge!
Of course they can take a detour, but if they abandon Quxia and take the Yangping Ancient Road, it will take them several more months. By then, the 100,000 people who besieged Zhiyang may have long since starved to death.
As the saying goes, before the soldiers and horses move, food and grass go first; however, the special terrain of Quxia makes it impossible to act according to this common sense. There is no way for large grain trucks to pass through Quxia. The more than 100,000 people who besieged Zhiyang,
It was entirely up to the soldiers at the rear to slowly transport bags of food with their hands and shoulders.
Moreover, Xu Ram speculated that the reason why the enemy took the difficult Quxia Gorge instead of the wide Pingyang Ancient Road was not just to take a shortcut and reach Zhiyang earlier. If that was the case, the best decision would be: let
Some people took the Quxia Trail, while the larger group took the Yangping Ancient Road.
In general, even though Quxia is a shortcut, it is narrow after all. For hundreds of thousands of people to pass through it together, although it starts faster, it may take a long, long time for them to fully gather in the end.
Judging from the current situation where the enemy troops are gathering like a trickling stream, they are bound to go through the Qu Gorge. If they just want to achieve the military goal of arriving early and intimidating Zhiyang, having 50,000 people crossing the Qu Gorge will be enough to support the sky. It is really unnecessary.
Hundreds of thousands of people like this.
The high probability is that the Yangping Ancient Road cannot be walked at all!
Yes, the reason why Xu Mang is 80% sure and 50% sure lies in this. He remembered that when he walked along the Yangping Ancient Road half a year ago, the bridge across the Tuanjiang River was broken!
The Yangping Ancient Road is easy to walk, but a broken bridge is another matter. After all, it was a good government during the founding of the Zhao Dynasty. After six or seven hundred years of hardships, it is normal for a bridge to break.
If the enemy was well prepared and had engineers, they might be able to cross another bridge; but obviously, they were not very well prepared.
The mountain road was rugged and the team was bumpy. Si Shaokong and Xu Mang rode tall horses and walked side by side.
The two of them were silent, one lowered his head and the other raised his head; although there were differences in their movements, their expressions were both in a state of contemplation.
"Old Xu, I heard you say that you have a brother in Zhiyang?" After a while, Si Shaokong was the first to break the silence, slightly raising his head and looking at Xu Yang.
"Yes, a young boy." Xu Yang said this with a smile on his lips, "I heard from the soldiers who broke out that General Zhang Pi entrusted the entire Zhiyang City to him before he died."
"Oh" Si Shaokong nodded, hesitated, and then asked calmly: "Has your brother ever fought in a war?"
"No"
"Okay," Si Shaokong agreed, and then said nothing more, but visible to the naked eye, the look on his face was a bit heavier.
He has his own serious reasons.
Even if he and Xu Mang can hold Quxiakou and block hundreds of thousands of troops, what will happen next?
The 100,000 enemy troops besieging Zhiyang still exist. If they are isolated from the rear, they will definitely panic at the first moment, and then they will find a way to open the mouth of Quxia.
Si Shaokong was not afraid of this. The road in Quxia was narrow and they were at a high altitude. With the help of rolling stones, they could resist both front and rear. However, after resisting and after the enemy's breakthrough was ineffective, the various actions they would make were within his expectations.
, but also outside of control.
After the 100,000 people who besieged Zhiyang failed to break through, they would immediately fall into a terrible situation without food. Out of self-preservation and in order to survive, they would attack Zhiyang like crazy.
If Zhiyang resists, then those 100,000 people will abandon Zhiyang and rush towards the land of Guandong like wolves, looting wantonly. At that time, the Fanchuan army will never sit idly by and do not want to fight, but they will have to fight.
As for him and Xu Mang, after relieving the siege of Zhiyang, they could send a message and point out a way for the people in the city to evacuate as soon as possible - of course, considering the people's families and families, those who could evacuate would be able to do so.
Probably only the sergeants in the city.
After Zhiyang's evacuation was completed, although it was difficult, he and Xu Mang could use the cover of the mountain to retreat.
This is the most ideal scenario.
But, will things go so smoothly?
Si Shaokong's worry was not about him and Xu Yang. What he was afraid of was that Zhiyang couldn't bear it.
Once Zhiyang City is captured, the army of one hundred thousand tiger rations will get some supplies in the city. Even if Xu Mang said that there is not much food left in the city, don't forget that there are tens of thousands of people inside.
Those common people can also... make rations at critical moments!
Although it sounds disgusting and stomach-turning, this kind of thing has happened more than once in history.
As long as those 100,000 people are given a chance to breathe and recuperate, they can go back and deal with the remnants of Si Shaokong and Xu Mang; even if they can't fight up and block their retreat, they can still kill them with exhaustion.
The key to this game, this gamble, lies in Zhiyang!
"Can a young boy who has never fought in a war, a small town with little food, and a group of weak brigade with ill-equipped equipment be able to withstand it?"
Si Shaokong asked himself, but he had no answer.
"You must hold it!" he thought, then turned his head and looked at Xu Ram; although Xu Ram's expression was calm, Si Shaokong understood that he had the same idea as him.
Zhiyang! Zhiyang!
A small city founded four hundred years ago had little reputation in the stable years, but in the troubled times, it became the focus of this war.
On a dark and windy night, Xu Sheng was standing in an empty courtyard; behind him was a simply decorated mourning hall, with a few candles emitting faint light and a few white silk threads floating in the wind.
Even under such circumstances, he could not see the old man's corpse lying in the coffin and exposed in the yard. He couldn't bear it, and even though he was hasty, he still set up a mourning hall and sincerely observed his filial piety.
The sky is high and the moon is bright, the wind is cold and the stars are few and far between.
Xu Sheng looked up at the sky, feeling only endless sorrow in his heart.
"Oh my god, why do I always bring disasters? Wherever I go, there is bloodshed and sacrifice? What should I do? What should I do to change everything that is ridiculous and miserable? If I were the 'Destined One'
, what kind of mission do I want to fulfill?"
"God, please give me an answer. Do you have a conscience? Are you evil or good?"
"Can't I just not be this miserable 'destined one'?"
Xu Sheng asked questions one after another, but the sky was speechless, only silence; only the wind became stronger.
As soon as his tears flowed out, they were wiped away and dried by the wind; it was as if the wind could not see him cry.
"Woo-wu-wu-"
There were bursts of wailing, whether it was sobbing or the roar of the wind; perhaps it was a combination of both...
After a long time, Xu Sheng regained his composure. Even if he didn't want to, he would take responsibility; even if he couldn't, he would do his best.
"Old man, maybe I can only repay your kindness in the next life."
Xu Sheng stomped back to the mourning hall, knelt down and banged his head three times. At this moment, he was thinking: He owed too many people in this life, and he didn't know if he would be able to pay them back in the next life.
After kowtowing, Xu Sheng left. He really couldn't stay in this sad place for too long. There were too many things waiting for him to deal with.
The old man was not buried. Xu Sheng knew that he would not let the old man be buried in the ground just like that.
Although he didn't know how long the old man had been dead, looking at the state of preservation of the body, Xu Sheng guessed that it must not have been long; he wanted the old man to lie there for three days like everyone else, and choose a geomantic treasure place, like this
He was buried peacefully.
This is the only thing Xu Sheng can do. Although it is somewhat inappropriate under the current circumstances, he must do it.
“Since ancient times, the ‘Destined Ones’ have all been ‘sad people’ and sentimental ‘women’.”
In an inconspicuous corner in the west of Zhiyang City, there was an old Taoist priest holding a wine pot and talking drunkenly. Behind him, three middle-aged men in ragged clothes were looking at the surroundings with horror, looking around in a panic.
He glanced at the old man.
They never expected that in the blink of an eye, they would reach such a completely unfamiliar place; moreover, after observing during the day, it was definitely not a good place.
"God, haha." The old Taoist took another sip, looked up at the sky, curled his lips and said, "This world is not under the control of some illusory God. That person has already arranged everything. Between you and me,
In the world we live in, he is the ‘Heaven’.”
"ah!?"
Although it was not the first time that the three people behind heard the old Taoist priest say shocking and shocking words, this time, the old Taoist priest seemed to be speaking to them.
"The Taoist priest is right."
"What the immortal said makes sense."
Two of the three people behind were smart and immediately started talking to each other with flattery.
The other person wanted to say something, but was stopped by the old Taoist priest who raised his hand.
"I don't know how strong your answer is. Have I spoken to you? Can you understand me? If you dare to talk any more, I will slap you and send you outside the city, where the soldiers will stab you several times."
The Taoist priest had a displeased look on his face, walked up to the three men unsteadily, lifted the wine gourd, and hit the heads of the three of them with "哐哐哐" three times.
Visible to the naked eye, blood-red bumps the size of a baby's fist suddenly appeared on the heads of the three of them, and one of them, even though he was a gangster, had tears in his eyes.
"Grandpa Fairy, what did you just say? What is outside the city?" Even though he was beaten severely, one person still mustered up the courage and asked cautiously.
"Didn't I say it? A soldier's boy, a hundred thousand soldiers' boy."
"Be good!"
The man screamed and collapsed on the ground.
"Grandpa Fairy, please send us back, I will kowtow to you." Another person cried and begged, hitting his head on the ground, making a "dong dong" sound.
"Shabby clothes are good, and wine makes you more relaxed. I won't go to the gods' invitations, and I won't accept the emperor's abdication. If I didn't care about world affairs, I would have given up this little life."
The old Taoist priest ignored them, shook his head, sang songs, and walked away.
The three people looked at each other and looked at each other. In the end, they had no choice but to follow the footsteps of the old Taoist priest...