Xia Village.
When the wind and snow became lighter, the people in the valley received the message from the front. Then, they saw the figures coming in the wind and snow.
The infantrymen under Yue Fei's command brought the thousand or so people that were rescued from the Camel Mound camp and entered the valley one after another. Because they had been notified in advance, bonfires had already been lit in the valley and hot porridge had been cooked. Blankets and lodgings had also been prepared for those who had trudged over. Because the valley was actually not big, after passing through the barrier formed by the barricades and trenches, what appeared in front of these bullied people were circles and rows of soldiers above the valley. Knowing that they had returned, everyone came out. In the wind and snow, thousands of figures stretched out in front of them …
Then, these figures also raised the sabers and spears in their hands and let out cheers and roars that shook the sky.
Some of the people who were rescued shed tears on the spot.
After the defeat on the 25th of September, Ning Yi gathered these defeated soldiers and racked his brains in order to raise their morale. In these two months, the first batch of people who followed him played an excellent role. After that, a lot of propaganda was done, forming a relatively fanatical and unified atmosphere in the camp. They also carried out a lot of training. But even so, three days of ice was not a day of cold. Even though they had gone through a certain amount of ideological work, Ning Yi did not dare to take these more than ten thousand people out to fight a tough battle.
However, the propaganda in the valley originally talked about the sufferings of these people after the fall of the country. It talked about the tragedy of Bianliang and the history of the Five Barbarians and the two-legged sheep. When they really heard it, there were feelings of sorrow and despair. It was ultimately just empty words on paper to inspire generosity and solemnity. However, when the news of Ning Yi and the others leading the army to attack Camel Mou Hill, burning the rations and even rescuing more than a thousand people came, everyone's hearts were finally truly uplifted.
If all the previous statements were just preheating and paving the way, only when this news came did all the efforts really come into a circle. In these two days, Wenren Bu 'er who stayed behind spared no effort to spread these things: Female Zhenren was not invincible, they even saved their own people, those people were suffering … and so on. When the figures of these people finally appeared in front of everyone, all the publicity had come to fruition.
The roars that rang out in the valley at this moment could be considered as the sincere cheers and roars of everyone. However, they soon realized that the cavalry did not follow them.
Wenren Bu 'er asked Yue Fei and the others for the reason. In the valley, the warm atmosphere of welcoming these pitiful people continued. The reason why the cavalrymen did not keep up with them was soon spread.
On the way back to Xia Village, because the infantrymen and the rescued people didn't move fast, the cavalrymen kept guarding at the side. Since Zhang Linghui and Liu Shunren's tens of thousands of people might block their way, Qin Shaoqian, Ning Yi and the rest led the cavalry to block the path of Zhang and Liu Shunren's troops not far from Xia Village.
At this moment, the wind and snow were endless. Through the mountain top of Xia Village, there was no sign of war. However, if two thousand cavalrymen stopped an army of tens of thousands, they might be able to retreat, but if they fought, they would still suffer heavy losses. After hearing this news, many people came to volunteer. These people included Liu Huizu, Qiu Ju, and the new people who were promoted after Ning Yi and Qin Shaoqian's reorganization. It was obvious that these few generals were elected by the masses and had high prestige. As they came, the rest of the soldiers also rushed to the front. Their blood and Qi surged, and their swords flashed.
"We should hide at the back, we shouldn't let our brothers bleed at the front …"
"How dare they challenge us with only tens of thousands of men? Let's kill our way out and swallow them alive …"
"Brothers, after holding back for so long and practicing for so long, it's time to risk our lives! Let's see who is still a coward … "
"Let's risk our lives, we can only advance and not retreat!"
At this moment, the valley was in an uproar. Everyone shouted and their fighting spirit was awe-inspiring. Wenren Bu 'er was worried about the situation at the front and wanted to send people to support them, but she immediately suppressed everyone's emotions.
"In the face of a great war, military orders must be obeyed. It's not child's play! Since General Qin has sent people back and told us not to act rashly, it means that he has a plan. All of you just have to be alert. The resentful army is outside, are you afraid that there won't be a war to fight? When facing the enemy, it's taboo to be impatient! Although the resentful army is not as strong as the Jurchen main force, it is still the strongest army in the world. Sharpen your blades and wait quietly … "
After two months of reorganization in the valley, besides Qin Shaoqian, Ning Yi's subordinates, Takeshi, and the Prime Minister's system were in charge of the central command. Although the generals were unwilling, they did not dare to disobey Wenren Bu 'er's order. They could only suppress their emotions and order their subordinates to prepare for battle and wait quietly.
In the endless wind and snow, everyone received the order, but their boiling blood could not be suppressed in a short time. The soldiers in charge of the inner circle had settled the prisoners, and the soldiers in the outer circle had already sharpened their blades, waiting for the arrival of the victorious army. The atmosphere in the entire valley was somber. The captives who had been brought to the rear had just settled down when they saw the surrounding soldiers holding their weapons and rushing forward like a river. They knew that a great battle was imminent. However, on this land, tens of thousands of people were already prepared.
Such a team should be able to defeat the Victorious Army, right? Many people thought so in their hearts.
Not long after, on the side of the mountain, shadows of horses could be seen rushing through the wind and snow, sweeping along the white mountain road. One horse, two horses, and gradually there were hundreds and thousands of horses. It was the elite cavalry led by Qin Shaoqian, Ning Yi, and the others. They gathered into a torrent and galloped back …
*****
Fu Lu's figure dashed through the mountains like a bolt of lightning that had melted into the wind and snow. He was following the cavalry from afar. Even though the two officers with him also had some martial arts skills, they had long been left behind by him.
Just now, in the snow ridge, two thousand cavalrymen and tens of thousands of soldiers were confronting each other. The atmosphere was solemn, and it could be triggered at any moment. But in the end, they did not go in the direction of the confrontation.
The goal of more than two thousand people was to cover the infantry in the rear and block the victorious army. They chose to appear in the snow ridge, and in a moment, they exerted a great pressure on the tens of thousands of victorious army. Every time the scabbard and the saddle slapped against each other, it was as if they were accumulating strength for the charge. The banners of the army below fluttered in the wind, but they did not dare to move recklessly. Their position was the most suitable for the cavalry to charge. Once more than two thousand people charged forward, the consequences would be unthinkable.
Among the generals of the victorious army, Guo Yaoshi was the strongest, but Zhang Linghui and Liu Shunren also had four thousand cavalrymen. But as light cavalry, they had already lost the initiative by making a detour. Naturally, it was not possible to charge against the snow slope. The other side was using the method of first spurt of energy, second exhaustion, and third exhaustion to deplete the morale of the victorious army. Many times, it was more uncomfortable to draw the bow without firing than to charge when they had the advantage. Fu Lu crouched in the snow and watched the confrontation between the two sides. The wind, snow, and killing intent pressed down on the heaven and earth until it was dark.
This was a real confrontation between strong armies. Every slap of the horse team was as neat as one person, but because the strength of more than two thousand people was concentrated, the slap was so heavy that it seemed to knock on everyone's heart. Every time the slap came, the other side also seemed to be shouting and charging, exhausting the opponent's mental strength. But in the end, they still lined up in the wind and snow. Fu Lu ran around Jianghu with Zhou Dong and knew that many mountain bandits and horse bandits, when surrounding their prey, would also use the slap to force the besieged to surrender, but it was impossible for them to do it so uniformly.
When the victorious army was a little impatient, the cavalry on the snow ridge almost simultaneously reined in their horses and turned around, disappearing from the sight of the army at the foot of the mountain in a neat pace.
This short period of confrontation caused the two generals by Fu Lu's side to feel their mouths go dry and their bodies burn. Before they could react, Fu Lu had already swiftly chased in the direction that the group of horses had vanished.
Passing through the mountain ridge in front, Fu Lu soon saw the valley in the snow ridge. The cavalry from before was going in from the side. On both sides of his vision, wooden walls more than ten feet high extended along the foothills. Although the height of this city defense was not as high as many small cities and towns, but looking at the extending flames in the valley and the forest of sabers and spears, it was clear that they had lured the victorious army over to defend this place to the death.
After the defeat of the army, Xia Village, under the name of the second son of the Right Minister, Qin Shaoqian, had only gathered about ten thousand people. Before this, they had more or less contact with the surrounding forces and had an idea of each other, but they had never come to investigate. But looking at it now, the aura displayed here and the appearance of the Wu Sheng army camp were two completely different concepts.
Before this, it was not that Fu Lu did not know what the Wu dynasty army looked like. On the contrary, Zhou Dong had wanted to lead an army to fight for the country all his life, so he was very clear about what the Wu dynasty army was like. And because of this, Chen Yanshu had won him over to help boost the morale. Although he could not play a big role, he could understand that Chen Yanshu had always been cowering and that the thirty thousand soldiers in the camp could not fight. Even if he wanted to blame her, he could not say anything. On the contrary, if the army was not like this, then it would really be something beyond his expectations.
But the army in front of him, from the previous confrontation to the current situation, revealed the battle intent and murderous aura, all overturned all his thoughts.
After staying in the Wu Sheng army for more than a month, he had already vaguely known that Ning Yi, Ning Liheng, had followed Qin Shaoqian to stay in Xia Village. But the capital was in danger, and the country was in trouble. He had not had the time to entrust the matter of Zhou Dong to him. At this time, he could not help but think of his previous dealings with this "inner demon". He wanted to entrust the news of Zhou Dong to him because of Ning Yi's ruthlessness towards the people of the underworld. But at this time, the annihilation of tens of thousands of people in Liangshan, the disaster relief, and the confrontation with the aristocrats of the world finally appeared in his mind. This man, who seemed to be a demon of the underworld and a man of great Shang, did not know what he and that General Qin had done here to turn the entire camp into this.
What did they want …
Fu Lu looked into the distance. At the end of the wind and snow was the bank of the Yellow River. Unlike all the other scattered forces near Bianliang, only this camp seemed to be waiting for the arrival of the Victorious Army and the Female Zhenren. They did not even prepare an adequate path of retreat. Once the camp of more than ten thousand people was broken, they would not even have a direction to choose when they were defeated.
Burning the boats and burning the cauldrons, an army of mourning will win …
As this thought flashed through his mind, in the valley over there, the sound of killing rang out like thunder …
*****
Looking at the direction of the wind and snow, Ning Yi, Qin Shaoqian, and the others rode to a high platform that had been set up.
At this time, the news that two thousand cavalrymen had forced more than ten thousand Victorious Army soldiers to not dare to move forward had also spread in the camp. No matter how strong their combat power was, defense was always more advantageous than offense. Outside the valley, as long as there was no need to fight, Ning Yi and the others would not recklessly start a war.
"Brothers! We are back! " The voice spread along the wind and snow. On the high platform, it was the most persevering, fierce, and scheming young man in this camp. Everyone knew that without him, they would not have achieved such a result. Therefore, as the voice sounded, some people waved and shouted in response. But then, the valley quieted down. The scholar named Ning Yi's words also appeared calm and even indifferent, "We brought back your relatives and your enemies. Next, there is no chance to reorganize. "
"Outside the mountain, eleven thousand resentful soldiers are rushing over. I don't want to comment on how powerful they are, I only want to tell you that there will be more and more of them. Guo Yaoshi still has twenty-five thousand people under his command, Mou Tuogang has ten thousand people, and outside Bianliang there are fifty-seven thousand people. I don't know how many people will attack here, but there is only one chance for victory. Hold on … "He said." Hold on. "
"Hold on through this winter, and when spring comes, victory will come. Don't think about retreating, don't think about what will happen if you fail. Two months ago, you suffered a humiliating defeat here. This kind of thing will not happen again. This winter, every inch of land under your feet will be dyed red with blood, either from you, the enemies, the resentful soldiers, or the Jurchen. I don't need to tell you how difficult it will be, because it is the most difficult thing you can think of in the world. But I can tell you that when blood flows like a river, I will be with you; all the generals here … and the messy generals will be with you; your brothers will be with you; the one million people in Bianliang will be with you; the fate of the world will be with you. If you lose, you will all perish together. If you win, you will have accomplished the most difficult thing in the world. "
When he talked about the messy generals, he waved his hand at the middle-level generals next to him, but no one laughed.
"So, including victory, including all the messy things, is what we will think about. You are very lucky. Next, there is only one thing you need to think about, and that is, from now on, no matter how many people from the outside come, Zhang Linghui, Liu Shunren, Guo Yaoshi, Wanyan Zongwang, the resentful soldiers, and the Jurchen, no matter a thousand, ten thousand, or even a hundred thousand people, you will bury them all here, with your hands, feet, weapons, and teeth, until no one can be buried here anymore, until you walk in blood, until your bones and organs reach your ankles … "
On the wooden platform, Ning Yi's voice had already become loud and sonorous, carried along with the wind and snow. At this moment, he paused, then quietly and simply finished speaking.
He said, "Kill."
There was a moment of silence, and then someone nearby said, "Kill!"
The voices of the people behind followed, "Kill …"
There was another moment of silence, and then the voices of nearly twenty thousand people thundered, "Kill …" The entire sky was stirred up, and the earth was shaking.
Under the icy surface of the Yellow River, there was a turbulent undercurrent. Not long after, the figures of the Victorious Army appeared outside the valley.
*****
Zhang Linghui and Liu Shunren looked at the situation of the camp from the snowy slope.
There was indeed an open road in front of the camp, but at the front, piles of snow, barricades, and trenches formed an area where it was difficult to charge, and this area extended all the way into the camp.
However, the camp walls were not high, and it was not easy to build a defense line of more than ten feet in a hurry. Even if they cut some wooden spikes and set up a forest of spears in some places, the blocking effect was probably not as good as the walls of a small city.
"Why did they choose to station here?"
"… Because behind us is the Yellow River?"
Not long after, Liu Shunren thought of this matter.
When Zong Wang went to attack Bianliang, he gave the resentful army the task of finding the force that wanted to breach the Yellow River. Guo Yaoshi chose the Western Army because defeating the Western Army would be the most meritorious service. However, at that time, the Wu dynasty army had used all kinds of methods to strengthen the walls and clear the fields, and many cities near Bianliang had been abandoned. After the army was defeated, they could choose any city to station, but this army in front of them had chosen a valley with no way of retreat. There was an answer that was on the verge of being revealed.
Previously, the Perfected Woman had collected intelligence on the surroundings of Bianliang, but after a period of time, after confirming that the Wu dynasty army had been defeated, the army's morale collapsed even more, and no one paid too much attention to them. Now that they were paying attention, they realized that the place in front of them was indeed in line with the description of breaching the Yellow River.
On the other hand, back on the bank of the White River, Guo Yaoshi had wanted to fight it out with Zong Wang's army, but Zhang Linghui and Liu Shunren's betrayal had forced him to surrender to Zong Wang. Now that he had accepted his fate, it was impossible to say that there was no enmity between him and his two brothers. Working under the Perfected Woman, in a situation where both sides were on guard against each other, if they could help Zong Wang get rid of this thorn in his heart, it would certainly be a great merit.
"However, it is said that there are nearly twenty thousand troops stationed here, and from what we saw just now, their combat strength is extraordinary. Our forces are only a little over ten thousand. If they fight to the death, I'm afraid their vitality will be damaged …" After the discussion, Zhang Linghui was still somewhat worried.
The two thousand cavalrymen who had blocked their way just now had an astonishing momentum, especially the coordination with which they had clapped together. This was definitely not something an ordinary army could achieve. It must be known that on the battlefield, blood and Qi surged. Even if an ordinary army had been trained, it was inevitable that there would be people in battle who would be overwhelmed by emotions and lose the rhythm of their comrades next to them. Zhang Linghui and the others had fought on the battlefield for half their lives. Although they were shocked just now, they were also waiting for the other side's momentum to be slightly disrupted before they launched an attack.
However, until the end, the other side did not reveal any flaws. At that time, Zhang Linghui and the others could not help but take action, but the other side suddenly retreated. This confrontation was tantamount to the other side winning. In the following half day, the troops under their command would probably have a psychological shadow if they were to fight with the other side. This was also why they did not chase after the other side, instead unhurriedly following behind.
If the other side's troops were all of this quality, they would be able to wipe them out in a head-on battle, not to mention that they had the advantage of being on the defensive.
"However … the Wu dynasty's army was defeated and scattered. If they had this kind of combat strength at the time, they definitely wouldn't have been defeated like this. If it were you or me, even if we had elite troops in our hands, would we dare to hold back when we wanted to mount a sneak attack on Camel Mound? " Liu Shunren analyzed, "Because of this, I conclude that there are no more than four thousand battle-savvy soldiers in this valley. The rest are made up of routed soldiers. I'm afraid they wouldn't even dare to pull them out. Otherwise, why would they take such a risk by sending four thousand against ten thousand? "
The Jurchen army was currently the strongest army in the world. With ten thousand soldiers guarding Camel Mound, even the most formidable and arrogant person wouldn't use four thousand soldiers to mount a sneak attack as long as they had the strength to spare. With this kind of calculation, the composition of the army in the valley was also on the verge of being revealed.
With sixteen thousand weak soldiers mixed with four thousand elite soldiers, there was a possibility that the four thousand elite soldiers could lead them, but if the others were too weak, it would be hard to say who was stronger and who was weaker between the twenty thousand soldiers and the four thousand soldiers. Zhang Linghui and Liu Shunren were both people who understood the situation of the Wu dynasty. That night, the army set up camp and calculated the chances of victory. At dawn the next day, the army launched an attack on Xia Village's valley.
The wind and snow were still falling, and the night sky was still black. After waiting for an entire night, the soldiers of Xia Village had already discovered the strange movements of the resentful army. White steam came out of their mouths. Some people wiped their faces with snow and bared their white teeth. Some soldiers drew their bows and put up their shields. Some people moved their arms and let out short, "Ah!" sounds in the darkness.
After two months, the life and death battle once again came crashing down like a tide.
There was no possibility of retreat …
Ning Yi walked in the crowd. "Pass on the order to prepare to fire the cannons."
"No." Qin Shaoqian, Yue Fei, and the others immediately objected. Qin Shaoqian looked at the young general beside him, and there was some praise in his eyes. Yue Fei cupped his hands and retreated to the back.
"Why?"
"See blood first," Qin Shaoqian said. "See blood on both sides."
… Only by seeing blood could one instantly understand the cruelty of war.
Ning Yi nodded. In the end, he still did not understand enough about war.
The first round of arrows rose in the darkness, passed through the sky on both sides, and then fell down. Some landed on the ground, and some hit the shields … There were people who fell down.
In the darkness, the smell of blood permeated the air. Ning Yi turned his head to look. The whole valley was sparsely lit, and everyone seemed to have condensed into one. In such darkness, the screams became especially abrupt. The people in charge of treatment rushed over and dragged them down. Ning Yi heard someone shouting, "I'm fine! I'm fine! Don't touch me! It's just a small wound on my leg, I can still kill people! "
On the snowy plains outside the walls of the camp, the rustling of footsteps became more intense. Even without looking up, Ning Yi could tell that the soldiers of the resentful army were charging over with their shields raised. The shouts first came from afar. Gradually, like a surging tide, the shouts merged into a violent roar!
After two rounds of arrows, the whistling sound pounced on the camp wall. The wooden camp wall, which was only a little more than ten feet high, was actually not much of a hindrance on such a desperate battlefield. Just at the moment when the soldiers clashed, a shout suddenly sounded from inside the wall, "Kill —" The shout tore through the night. Bang! The huge rock collided with the tide! Ladders were set up on the camp wall, and hooks flew up. These northern soldiers outside Yanmen Pass held up their shields, shouted, and rushed over. Inside the camp wall, the soldiers who had gone through a lot of monotonous training these days wielded spears, knives, and shot up and down with the same fierce posture. In the blink of an eye, on the frontline of contact, waves of blood suddenly burst out …
In the winter of the 13th year of Jinghan, on the first day of the 12th month, in the early morning, on the crumbling Bianliang City, a new day of war had not yet begun. In the valley of Xia Village, about 30 miles away from here, another decisive battle had quietly begun with Zhang Linghui and Liu Shunren's attack as the fuse. At this time, not many people realized the importance of this battlefield. Many eyes were fixed on the fierce and dangerous defense of Bianliang City. Even if they occasionally looked over, they only thought that Xia Village had finally attracted the attention of the resentful army, and they launched a retaliatory attack.
As for the fighting, bravery, and stupidity here, in the eyes of the people, there were those who sneered, those who felt pity, and those who respected. No matter what kind of feelings they had, it was an indisputable fact that the other troops near Bianliang could no longer help the capital in such a situation. As for whether Xia Village could play a big role in this battle, at least in the beginning, no one had such expectations. Especially when Guo Yaoshi cast his gaze here and threw all 36,000 people of the resentful army into this battlefield. As for the battle here, the people only hoped that they could hold on for a few days before being defeated and surrendering.
In any case, on the first day of the 12th month, in the Ministry of War in the capital, Qin Siyuan received the final message from Xia Village: Our troops have entered the battle as planned. From now on, the capital and Xia Village are one. We live together, and we die together. I hope that all the officials in the capital take care. After this battle, we will meet again.
This message was both simple and strange. It sounded like Ning Yi's tone, but also like Qin Shaoqian's words. It sounded like a subordinate sending a message to his superior, a colleague sending a message to a colleague, or a son sending a message to his father. Qin Siyuan received it when he walked out of the main hall of the Ministry of War. After reading the message, he put it into his sleeve and stopped under the eaves. The attendant saw the old man standing there with the help of a walking stick. In front of him was the chaotic street. The soldiers and galloping horses stirred everything into mud, and the sky was full of snow. The old man faced all of this. Because of the strength he exerted on the back of his hand, blue veins popped out. His lips were tightly pressed together. His gaze was firm and dignified, mixed with a bit of fierceness.
These days, his expression was like this most of the time. He seemed to be fighting against all difficulties, against the Female Zhenren, against heaven and earth, and against his own body. No one could defeat him under such a gaze.
And it seemed that before he was defeated, no one could defeat this city.
The Female Zhenren's attack on the city continued.
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