stubborn thief

The Jiayuguan Road and Road beacon fires rose into the sky, and the beacon fires connected to the east along the Hexi Corridor.

The guard general who first noticed the abnormality in Guan Shang was called Huo Zhe Ha Zhi. He was a young Wei Bai household in Suzhou. His ancestors were nobles from Hami. During the Jiajing period, he followed Ya Mulan. in Suzhou.

Yamulan was placed in Huguang by the imperial court, and she bought land and a wealthy family. Army, confused and become a military household.

Huo Zhe Ha only relies on his grandfather's hard work for the official position of this hundred households. Now he has inherited the official position for several years. It is a pity that Jiayuguan is peaceful, and he has never fought a battle. His greatest hobby is to look up at the birds while guarding the gate.

There are more birds in Jiayuguan, and they live more comfortably than the banner army. Huo Zhe has only watched the birds for a few years. For the birds flying in the sky, no matter whether they are golden eagles, white-shouldered eagles, sea eagles, white-bearded vultures and giant buzzards, they are all Knowing, as long as he glanced at it from a distance, he knew what kind of bird it was.

But on the seventh day of March in the seventh year of Chongzhen, Suzhou Weibaihu Huozhe Ha only led 24 flag troops to the pass as usual, only to find a new visitor to Jiayuguan, a big bird hovering in the sky with golden wings, he did not recognize it.

The birds of prey in Jiayuguan are usually neither big nor small. The largest golden eagle he has ever seen weighs only [-] pounds, but at this time, the golden-winged birds circling in groups in the sky are obviously more than this weight. The air current spreads its wings and soars high in the sky, flying extremely high, causing the fireman to worry from the bottom of his heart for no reason.

He used his eyes to travel between the Gulai River and the Montenegro outside the customs, but he could only see the endless yellow sand.

He found his officer Qianhu Hei Chengyin on the stage in Guancheng, and after saluting, he said hello: "General, how many times have you read that book, and you still read it."

Hei Chengyin was reading a book on the stage, Romance of the Three Kingdoms. He was holding a brush while reading and annotating. He was upset when he was disturbed. Hearing this, he raised his eyes and looked at Huo Zhe Ha Zhi, frowning and said: "The Yellow River is broken, and there is no one to leave the customs. The caravan, what am I doing if I don’t read this book… You’re not staying behind closed doors, what are you doing down here?”

The Yellow River in Hei Chengyin's mouth was broken, and the Marshal's Mansion cut off both sides of the Yellow River. As a result, no mainland merchants left the customs, and local merchants in Gansu did not come to Jiayuguan, a corner, and they couldn't buy anything they wanted.

The fireman said: "General, don't read the book. Go to the gate and watch the birds. There is something wrong with the birds in the sky... I have to report to General Ding."

"Isn't the bird in the sky wrong?" Hei Chengyin was surprised by his subordinate's strange request, put down the book and frowned, "I think it's your bird that's wrong, you don't know that General Ding has been busy teaching Ganzhou these days. Write a letter and ask them to help persuade Marshal Yang to pull the soldiers of the Suzhou Guards to Ganzhou to fight?"

But in the final analysis, Hei Chengyin still got up and glanced at the old book buckled on the table of the stage, and the leader of the fire walked towards the gate, complaining as he walked: "You really want to watch birds here for the rest of your life!"

Jiayuguan has been in peace for a long time, this ghost place is so stable that the garrison likes to read old books or birds, no matter whether people are mediocre or knowledgeable, in this desert oasis where there is only day and night but no today and tomorrow, you can only live a glimpse See the head of life.

Now Guanzhong and northern Shaanxi are fighting bloody blood, and Liangzhou and Ganzhou are participating in the war one after another, leaving only Suzhou to lean on the pillar and watch.

They can read desert birds and antique books for a lifetime here...as long as the flag army of the Brothers Guard is not promoted.

Therefore, Hei Chengyin is very clear that Jiayuguan will not have troubles in 30, 50, or 100 years, but as long as troubles happen, it will be an opportunity to make a name for itself.

Of course, when he got off the stage, he didn't think that the opportunity to become famous in the world was coming. He just wanted to see. After all, this time was really sensitive. The ghost of the Mongolian Khan had just entered the desert to the north. He wanted to see the Gobi What the hell could crawl out of the beach.

Hei Chengyin could not have dreamed of it, he just raised his head and boarded the horse road, looked at the golden-winged raptor hovering in the sky, and let the hair on his face root: "Quick, go and tell General Ding, something happened!"

Because the birds of prey circling in the sky are not eagles, but vultures.

The little bird is called the Harrier, the big one is the Eagle, and the real big thing is called the Eagle or the Eagle.

Huo Zhe didn't understand his shock and asked, "What kind of bird is that?"

"Vulture, Qinghai people are here."

Hei Chengyin stared at the huge shadows hovering in the sky. He knew the vultures, not because they liked birds like the Huozi Haji, but because this kind of flying bald man is so amazing. a completely different animal.

It soars in the sky, just like the golden-winged Dapeng bird in myths and legends, soaring up, even the highest mountain in the world cannot stop it; but when it hits the ground, it is so ugly that it is beyond words, like a large Bald pheasant.

Unless there is a war outside Jiayuguan, the rotting carcasses will attract so many vultures, otherwise under normal circumstances, this kind of bird will never appear in Jiayuguan, because they are easy to eat fat.

Vultures are huge in size. Once they get fat, it is difficult to fly on the flat ground. They flap their wings and jump like pheasants. They can only take off with the help of wind on the cliffs of mountains.

Jiayuguan is full of yellow sand, and there is no place for them to take off.

When the guerrilla general Ding Guodong received the news, he was writing a letter to the headmasters in Ganzhou at the official office in Guancheng.

In fact, Ding Guodong didn't have much thought for meritorious service. He was already a guerrilla general anyway, but the soldiers under his command all wanted to serve the court in the east, so he tried his best to get someone to help him and see if he could pull the army to the east. From the levy.

Suddenly I heard that there were vultures outside the pass, and quickly led a few family members to ride their horses to the pass, full of doubts.

Vultures can be domesticated, but generally no one keeps vultures, so why do so many vultures fly to Jiayuguan?Jiayuguan has no rotting corpses for them to eat.

But soon, Ding Guodong understood.

Five beacon smokes were lit on the piers on the cliffs of the Daolai River Gorge, followed by five beacons, and the sound of the guns echoed in the canyon. , the sand and dust swept in mightily.

At first, there was only the sound of the wind, until the smoke and dust gradually dispersed, and thirty or forty small black shadows stood out in the distant sand and dust.

Across the Gobi Desert eight or nine miles away, first the fine dogs and hounds scurried in the smoke and dust, and then the cavalry appeared in the binoculars with a Hexi horse with a white seal on its forehead.

They wear familiar bowls, the shadows of the helmets cover their eyes, wear high red tassel guns, and wear red cotton armor in the classic color of the Ming army. flag.

Each holds the rein in his left hand, a long spear slung across his elbow, and the tail of the spear is hooked to the toe of a straight-stitched cowhide boot with a rope;

Some people lifted their left hand and blew the match rope wrapped around their arms, and some people took something from their horses and poured them into their mouths to chew. Many people didn’t move, but their bodies undulated with their horses in the Gobi Desert. The city moves slowly by bridle.

Dozens of soldiers from the pond opened a width of [-] miles and slowly approached Guancheng. The width was gradually narrowed due to the mountains and rivers in the north and south. Seeing the guards on the pier, they passed them and spread out again, until they pushed the front line to two miles outside the Guancheng. One horse after another slowly stood still, stuck their spears on the ground, and turned their horses around without making a sound.

The flag soldiers didn't understand what was going on, so the guards at Shuguan whispered, "Why are there Tang soldiers from outside?"

Afterwards, more smoke and dust dissipated. Ding Guodong pursed his dry lips with the tip of his tongue, swallowed his saliva, and slowly put down his binoculars. He no longer needed this kind of equipment to watch the enemy. A huge army after a long march was unfolding in front of them.

All the way, the Tang soldiers divided the Gobi Desert into squares, bypassed the piers and occupied the highlands and cliffs, valleys and sandy areas outside Jiayuguan. The location of Guancheng Sanli constitutes the first front of the counterattack.

The caravans followed by the caravan entered the Gobi Desert outside the customs one by one, and more soldiers on foot and horses arrived at the front line and surrounded the divided piers. To Lai River canyon cliffs to transport timber.

There were more troops in the rear, and after the small cavalry formed in the front line, a strict phalanx of cavalry appeared, and more and more birds of prey hovered in the sky.

All kinds of shouts filled the ears of the guerrilla general Ding Guodong. The horn of the assembled army rang non-stop in Guancheng. The drums rumbled. .

No one knows how many enemies there are. Heishan Lake is occupied by enemy troops, and there are also enemy cavalry galloping in the Daolai River Canyon. Thin city's legion brings any tension.

They lined up outside the city calmly, with flags and flags blocking the sunlight, and military music resounding throughout the Gobi, until the guard of honor that once belonged to the chief officer of Guyuan was pushed to the front. arm.

The tone-shifting sound of the drums is like a wave, and wherever the Gobi Desert passes, the loud music and shouts come to an abrupt end.

For a moment, several cavalry and flags rushed under the city, and shouted to the guards at Guanshang: "Send the order of the Grand Marshal, and tell the army and people of Jiayuguan: The Marshal knows the hard work of the frontier troops, and our frontier defense in China has reached Tianshan, Lian Er and others. Life is unwilling to fight in the same room, and it is limited to one hour to disarm and open the city, all officials will be promoted by one level, and the soldiers will be rewarded with silver and food for three months, and the military and civilians in Suzhou will continue as usual!"

Guanshang officers and soldiers looked at each other, Hei Chengyin was overjoyed when he heard the words, and said to Ding Guodong: "General, in an hour, the reinforcements from Suzhou Wei, Xinchenger, Shahe Fortress, and the two mountain pass camps can all arrive!"

However, as soon as he finished speaking, he found that Ding Guodong was holding a telescope and his face was pale, and he hurriedly looked at the front line of Bocheng's army.

I saw that in the gaps of the army formations outside the range of heavy firepower, groups of camel and donkey carts from the end of the line of sight were passing through the camp, and herdsmen drove a large number of livestock into the army formation.

There are two kinds of carts, one is full of sand and the other is covered with a large cloth dyed with indigo. No one knows what is there, but they can see that the wheels are very large, pressing deep on the Gobi. The rut, sometimes walking on the sand, requires soldiers to run back and forth, and use the door panels to lay on the sand to pass.

Before the cart arrived, the sergeant laid the door panel horizontally, and the cart full of sand dumped the sand on the other side, and poured water from Heishan Lake on the sand. After the cart moved behind, Ding Guodong had already guessed the contents of the cart. It's the cannons, he counted them one by one, there are 36 of these cannons not far apart.

He breathed a sigh of relief, and said to Hei Chengyin: "Let's just say, it's scary enough to be able to transfer tens of thousands of troops from Qinghai far away from customs. Fortunately, they don't have many guns."

Hei Chengyin was not worried, nodded and said: "General, look at this posture, the car should be a field envoy's magic weapon, 36, it should be able to stop it."

They also have [-] heavy artillery guns on Guancheng. Depending on the height of the city wall, even if they are a little less, they will not necessarily lose their opponents. The enemy has a lot of horses, but there is no siege equipment. Don't be afraid of being at a disadvantage.

The turmoil of the closed army also invigorated with the unveiling of the 36 cannon carriages.

As soon as the words were finished, another 72 large carts covered with blue cloth came from behind. Ding Guodong and Hei Chengyin's faces were a little ugly, and they held their breath again after closing the defenders.

Who knew that the blue cloth was lifted this time, but I never imagined that the car was actually carrying a large three-legged iron pot. Pot, no one knows what this is for.

Thousands of flag troops who ascended to the top of the city one after another laughed together, and the laughter of the defenders pierced the sky, and Jiayuguan was full of joyful atmosphere.

Because their grand marshal placed an iron pot in front of the battle, it was a bit like the way of a fan, which made the tens of thousands of troops in the marshal's palace look not very smart, and greatly improved the morale of the defenders.

But soon the laughter stopped, and Jiayuguan was so quiet that you could hear needles falling.

Because the people who came with the iron pot were the herdsmen who drove the livestock team. They slaughtered the sheep and slaughtered the cattle before the battle. The dismantled pieces of meat were thrown into the pot, and they were simmered on the fire. The broken bones were thrown into the gate. In front of the empty space, a vulture sprinted down in the air, and a boiling black shadow only took a moment to peck off the minced meat on the bones.

Followed by a bearded vulture with a big throat, it flew over and flew away from the battlefield with the bones of cattle and sheep in its mouth. Shadow, everyone can hear the sound of Pao Ze swallowing saliva beside him.

Ding Guodong rubbed his stiff face and broke the silence with an unbelievable tone in his mouth. He whispered to Hei Chengyin, "Vulture, did you eat meat with them all the way from Qinghai?"

The cavalry came again, and shouted again in front of the horse pass: "The commander of the left battalion of the right brigade of the Grand Marshal's Mansion, Gao Yingdeng, is in time. "