Back to Daming to be a genius

Chapter 280 The Danger of Tongguan
(PS: The new year is coming soon. I wish all my friends good health, good luck, wealth and lots of red envelopes in the new year. By the way, please ask for the last monthly pass of 2010 and 2011 for the dog.)
The peaks and ridges are like clusters, the waves are like anger, and the mountains and rivers are outside and inside Tongguan Road.Looking at the western capital, he hesitated and felt sad, where the Qin and Han scriptures traveled, all the palaces and palaces were made of dirt.Prosperity, the people suffer, death, the people suffer. ——Yuan: Zhang Yanghao.

Galloping on the battlefield, pointing at the mountains and rivers, Sanqin Town, Yaotongguan Road.Armed with a sharp sword, full of vigor and vigor, and then conquered the place, the slaves and Tatars were all turned into dust.Prosperity, the establishment of slaves is bitter, death, the Han people are bitter. ——Ming: Zhang Gou Shao.

"Kill——! Kill——! Long live the Eight Great Kings—!" Just as Young Master Zhang was still on his way to Tongguan, making up and rewriting famous sentences through the ages, tens of thousands of people died in Tongguan, the throat of the four towns. The rebel soldiers have launched another wave of violent attacks on Tongguan City, resisting the simple ladder, pushing the captured platform, stepping on the blood-soaked yellow sand and brown soil, passing through the mountains of corpses Knives, folded flags, and rocks rushed towards the Tongguan City Wall, which had already been stained dark red by blood, like a tide.

"Brothers, the rebels are coming up again, rise up and meet the enemy!" Corresponding to the frantic charge of the rebels were the generals of the Ming army shouting on the wall of Tongguan Pass, as well as the slogans and footsteps of the soldiers of the Ming army rushing to carry the supplies for the defense of the city. When the vanguard of the rebels rushed into the range, the city wall suddenly buzzed, thousands of arrows soared into the sky, drawing countless parabolas in the sky so fast that they were almost indistinguishable, and fell to the rebels with a whistling sound. Above the soldiers' heads, the earth-shattering screams also rose from the crowd of thieves.When the rebels rushed closer again, the wall was suddenly covered with wood and stones like rain again. Bluestones as big as human heads and shovels as thick as sea bowls fell like hailstones, smashing into the rebel army as dense as a colony of ants, and the splashes were scalding hot. of blood and cries of despair.But the number of thieves is too many, and the defenders in Tongguan are too few and weak. Although the counterattack is fierce, countless thieves' ladders are still built on the wall with the sound of the wind, and the thieves soldiers with weapons in their mouths Climbing up crazily, there are countless thieves and soldiers yelling frantically at the pass, "Kill! Slash into Tongguan! Silver, women and food, as much as you want—!"

"The thieves of Gou Ri, come on, I am waiting for you!" Zhang Yingchang, the commander-in-chief of Shaanxi Yansui, stood on the gate tower with a bloody bandage on his forehead without a helmet, holding a bloody steel knife that had cut countless gaps. Go up, roaring with bloodshot eyes, "Brothers, go up to me! Beat the thieves to me! Kill——!"

"Kill!" The Shaanxi soldiers who had already been killed and covered in blood roared one after another. Cutting spears and stabbing, risking death and fighting with the rebel soldiers, chopping down the rebel soldiers who climbed the city wall one by one, and poking down the city wall.Yuan Panlong, the deputy commander in chief, personally led the elite soldiers to roam around to fill in the gaps. Whenever they couldn't hold on, he immediately rushed up with a knife and roared, fighting with the thieves and soldiers rolling and falling.The killing sound on the city wall was loud, the roar was like thunder, the cold blade cut through the hot chest, sparks were splashed out from the collision of knives, guns and armor, and the hot blood splashed everywhere, forming streams on the city wall. The steps and arrow stacks flowed slowly, dyeing the gray-yellow wall red and black.

The performance of the Henan army, which has not fought for hundreds of years, is indeed extremely disappointing. When the [-] Shaanxi troops brought by Zhang Yingchang and Yuan Panlong fought bloody battles on the wall, only a small number of Henan troops fought side by side with them. Only a small number of Henan soldiers were transporting defense materials and drawing bows and arrows to the city wall where arrows and stones were strewn with arrows, while most of the soldiers of the Henan army stayed in the closed walled city, no matter how Henan governor Yang Zuoji and inspector Bao Qimo cursed, beat or even They begged, but these soldiers dared not go up to the city wall to fight the thieves to the death. At most, they helped move materials such as stones and wood to the inner side of the city wall, and they dared not take a step beside the raging arrow stacks.Yang Zuoji, Bao Qimo and others were in a hurry, and many soldiers even jumped over the wall to escape from the east. They would rather take the risk of being deserters than go to the west to die on the battlefield.

"Brothers, I, Yang Zuoji, beg you, hurry up and go to the battlefield!" Hearing the shouts of rioters outside the city getting louder and louder, Henan governor Yang Zuoji was so anxious that he almost didn't shed tears, and shouted at the soldiers in front of him again. Bowing and bowing again, he begged: "Brothers, you have all seen that for the past seven days, the tough battles have been fought by reinforcements from our Shaanxi army, and their casualties are already heavy, it's time for you to go to the battlefield to relieve them a little pressure! I beg you, I can take up arms, go to the battlefield with you, and fight the enemy side by side, please!"

"Team Superviser! Team Superviser! Drive all these life-hungry and fearful guys to the city wall!" Bao Qimo, the notorious Henan inspector, sang black faces, waving his arms and sleeves and shouting, "If there are any more escapees, Kill me right away!" The supervisory team led by Henan Deputy General Rui Qi also tried hard to drive the soldiers to the city to fight, but they had no choice but to catch up with one and jumped down two, with little effect.Rui Qi and the other generals were in a hurry, and grabbed a veteran who jumped down the steps twice and refused to go to the city to fight, put a knife on his neck and shouted: "You bastard, go to the battlefield for me immediately, if you dare to run again, I will immediately fight!" cut you off!"

"General, you can kill me." The old soldier tore off his tattered military uniform, exposing his skinny body, and cried, "General, look, I haven't been paid for eight months. I have eaten rice bran with my wife and children for several months, if I die again, they will not even have to eat rice bran!"

"Fart! If you die, the imperial court will give compensation to your family, and they won't starve!" Rui Qi roared with bloodshot eyes.The veteran shouted with tears in his eyes: "General, you can lie to others. I haven't paid the military salary for eight months. My wife and children still receive pensions? How many times have you said that the military salary will be paid in a few days, and the military salary will be paid in a few days?" The military payment, was it cashed in that time? If you make up the military salary, let me take it back and give it to my wife and children to support the family, and the grandson will not go to the battlefield and fight the thieves with his life!"

"I have already said that after this battle is over, I will definitely make up the military salary owed to you." Yang Zuoji came over and rushed to say, "After the war, if you still can't get the military salary, you can go and pay my governor." The yamen was dismantled and sold for money! Also, the Shaanxi army above us hasn’t received their salary for two months, how can they fight?” But no matter how he explained it, what did the veteran who was completely disappointed in the court’s credibility say? She refused to believe it, and in the end Rui Qi had no choice but to cut off the veteran's neck with a ruthless knife, and roared: "Anyone who is afraid of war and death will end up like this! Go to the city wall for me, and kill the thieves!"

While the Henan army with low food and low pay was still in a stalemate with the supervising team under the city wall, the bloody battle on the city wall had already reached a fever pitch. The rebels who were eager to seize the throat of Tongguan invested more than [-] siege troops——Tianqi The eight-year drought in Shaanxi provided unimaginable supplementary troops for the rebels, and vowed to capture this fortress that was tightly strangling the throat of the pass.On the other hand, the relatively powerful Shaanxi army took advantage of the condescending terrain to hold on to the arrow stacks on the wall, throwing their heads and blood and fighting with the thieves inch by inch on the wall. If you break it, hit it with a stone, hit it with a stick, hit it with your fist, or bite it with your teeth!In the past three years, there have been hundreds of bloody battles with the rebels. The Yansui army and the rebels, who have been on the battlefield since the sixth year of the apocalypse, have already forged innumerable deep hatreds with the rebels. No one survived, so the Shaanxi army was full of blood. Although its strength was small, it firmly blocked the charging footsteps of the rebels.

"Splash the fire oil! Throw the torches!" As the sky darkened, seeing more and more troops being invested by the rebels, more and more brothers from the self-army fell in a pool of blood. In desperation, he had personally led Zhang Yingchang, whose personal soldiers rushed to the front line, had no choice but to order the pouring of kerosene. The last dozens of barrels of tung oil were poured down, and hundreds of torches were also thrown down. The oily corpses gave off a foul smell, high fever, and black smoke. The rebel soldiers did not dare to step forward, and could only retreat like a tide, and the battle fell into a temporary calm.Taking advantage of this precious gap in the battle, Henan civil and military officials such as Yang Zuoji and Bao Qimo also hurriedly drove the army to carry the supplies to the city to make room for the main force to take a rest and prepare for a new round of bloody battle.

"General Zhang, thank you for your hard work." Yang Zuoji directed the old and weak soldiers to deliver water and food to the Shaanxi army, and at the same time led his followers to find Zhang Yingchang. He personally handed a gourd of clear water and a piece of black steamed bun to the man who was sitting on the steps. Panting, Zhang Yingchang said gratefully: "Hurry up and drink some water and eat something. If it weren't for you this time, I really don't know what to do."

Zhang Yingchang, who was so tired that his hands and feet were cramping, had no strength to answer Yang Zuoji's words. He just took the gourd tremblingly, held it to his mouth and poured it into his mouth until he drank all the water in the gourd before Zhang Yingchang regained some strength. , snatched the hard black steamed bun and gnawed on it, and asked vaguely: "How much oil is there? Is there any news about the messenger who went to Puzhou for help?"

"The kerosene has all been used up." Yang Zuoji replied dejectedly: "There is also news from Puzhou, but Zhang Weishi's army from Pingyang Prefecture, Shaanxi Province has not yet arrived in Puzhou, and there are only more than 1000 local troops in Puzhou City. Insufficient, there is really no way to send us reinforcements." After that, Yang Zuoji glanced at Zhang Yingchang timidly, and asked in a low voice: "General Zhang, is it true that the reinforcements sent by Mr. Sun Ge to Tongguan are only these 3000 people?"

"At least I knew it was my army when I set off." Zhang Yingchang put down the half-eaten steamed buns and said in a low voice, "If there is no accident, there will be only my army, because if Mr. Sun Ge sent another We need to have reinforcements for us, and we should have shown up long ago. Even if there are reinforcements coming from the west, they will be blocked by thieves and cannot enter Tongguan."

"Then it seems that we are really helpless." Yang Zuoji couldn't help crying, choked up and said: "General Yang, I am really sorry for you, even if the [-] Henan troops can't help you, just forget it. I can’t even give you a bowl of white rice to fill you up. I can only let you eat some black steamed buns mixed with rice bran and chaff. I’m sorry for you, and I’m sorry for the people of Henan...”

"Forget it, Yang Futai, it's not your fault." Zhang Yingchang waved his hand feebly, and said in self-criticism: "I know, Zhang Futai has completely emptied all the official warehouses in Henan in order to support the Shaanxi battlefield these years. , I really can’t get it out. Alas, it is also our fault that our Shaanxi army is incompetent and lost the Xi’an granary. Otherwise, we could have brought a little grain to help you guard the customs, and there is no need to force you to come from Henan. The brethren took rations out of their mouths and distributed them to us." Speaking of this, Zhang Yingchang shook his head again, and sighed: "I also know that you have tried your best. In order to make my brethren eat enough, the brethren in Henan have been working hard these days. Never had a full meal."

"General Zhang, I have some bad news for you." Yang Zuoji burst into tears, and said in tears, "The steamed buns in your hands are also the last steamed buns, and all the food and grass in the city have been used up. Arrived Tomorrow morning, you will have to fight hungry."

"How is it possible? Isn't it said that the food and grass in Tongguan are still enough for ten days?" Zhang Yingchang was taken aback.Yang Zuoji wiped away his tears, leaned into Zhang Yingchang's ear and whispered, "That's because I was afraid of shaking morale, so I lied and said that there was some grain hoarded in Tongguan City. In fact, there was no food in Tongguan City. Originally, I was thinking of Nanyang The food sent by the government should arrive in time, but what I never imagined was that that bastard Feng Guo, the prefect of Nanyang, secretly sold all the food and grass in the official treasury! That bastard saw my reminder Liang Gongwen, knowing that something is going to happen, he left his official position and stopped running away! I dare to tell you this matter alone, if it is publicized, the morale of the Tongguan army will be lost immediately."

Zhang Yingchang opened his mouth wide, and after a while he smiled wryly and said: "Do your best, at worst, you will be wiped out and die for the country, and you will be worthy of the kindness of Mr. Sun Ge and Hong Futai." Yang Zuoji bowed his head and wept silently, feeling that he was too much I'm sorry for Zhang Yingchang's Shaanxi army who went to aid selflessly.At this time, the flames under the closed wall gradually died down, and the army of rebels who had retreated to the distance also regrouped in the twilight, preparing to launch a new round of strong attack--obviously, someone among the rebels had discovered that Zhang Yingchang's army had already disappeared. At the end of the crossbow, we are going to attack the city overnight, so as not to let Zhang Yingchang's army have a chance to breathe, and strive to win this crucial Central Plains Xiongguan tonight.

"Master Futai, it's not good." It was raining all night when the house leaked. At this moment, a relative of Yang Zuoji rushed up the city wall, ran to Yang Zuoji and cried, "The east gate of Tongguan has been opened, and many soldiers They all ran away."

"Where's the city gate officer? Why didn't you keep the gate closed?" Yang Zuoji shouted in surprise and anger.The follower replied with a mournful face: "The one who opened the city gate and took the lead in escaping is Wei Sunan, the city gate official at the east gate!"

"Bastard! Damn it!" Yang Zuoji almost lost his temper and yelled, "Let Rui Qi take people there, close the city gate, and then send people to chase Wei Sunan, and kill him if he catches him!" Yang Zuoji personally took orders But after the news spread, the morale of the Tongguan defenders, which was already extremely low, inevitably became even lower, especially those soldiers who had never been on the battlefield.The rogue army in the west has basically rearranged its ranks and may rush to kill them again at any time.

"Futai, Futai!" Just when Yang Zuoji and Zhang Yingchang were ready to die for their country, the previous entourage rushed up again, followed by a Ming soldier covered in ice.Yang Zuoji shouted impatiently: "What's the matter? If you have something to say, even if the sky is about to fall, it's nothing special."

"Futai, this is the messenger sent by Zhang Butang, the new governor of the five provinces. He said that he needs to see you urgently." The follower pointed to the soldier of the Ming army.The soldier of the Ming army also saluted and said: "Yang Futai, I am Xiaopuzi, the deputy captain of Zhang Butang's personal army. Zhang Butang asked me to tell you first. As long as you persist until the sunset on February [-], Zhang Butang The reinforcements led by myself will arrive, and they will bring you enough military pay and food!"

"The reinforcements led by Zhang Butang are coming?" Yang Zuoji was so excited that he even forgot what day it was, and hurriedly asked, "Is it ten or ten today?"

"Go back to Futai, today is the twelfth of February, and tomorrow will be the thirteenth." Several Ming soldiers rushed to answer.Yang Zuoji was overjoyed at first, then stunned again, turned his head to look at the thieves lined up in the west and lit up torches, and murmured: "There is still one day and one night, this day and one night, can we hold it?"

"Has the battle damage been calculated? How many people do we have left?" Zhang Yingchang also turned to his deputy, Yuan Panlong, and shouted.Yuan Panlong replied: "There are about half of them left, but most of them are injured."

"I have to gamble!" Zhang Yingchang gritted his teeth and shouted: "Send the order and tell the brothers that the slave slaughter army will arrive at Tongguan tomorrow evening. As long as we persist for one more day, we will surely win."

"Wait a minute, general." The small shop suddenly stopped Zhang Yingchang, took out another letter from his arms, held it in front of Yang Zuoji and said, "Yang Futai, our department has also considered that you may not be able to persist, so we have prepared a letter in advance. It’s a great plan, as long as you follow the plan, my lord, you will definitely be able to slow down the pace of the rebels, delay the attack of the rebels, buy some time to repair the city defense and the army to rest, and also buy some time for our reinforcements to arrive.”

Young Master Zhang doesn’t engage in conspiracies and tricks, and I’m uncomfortable. Sky’s reputation is indeed not covered. Although Yang Zuoji, Zhang Yingchang and others have never dealt with Young Master Zhang, they have already been known to everyone, so Yang Zuoji and Zhang Yingchang did not hesitate. Yang Zuoji After snatching the letter, Zhang Yingchang and Bao Qimo grabbed the torch and brought it in front of them as soon as they opened it. But after a closer look, Yang Zuoji, Zhang Yingchang and the others froze on the spot again.After careful consideration for a while, Yang Zuoji gritted his teeth and said, "It's all a gamble. Others can't be trusted. I will personally be the envoy to the enemy's camp!"

"No, it's too dangerous!" Bao Qimo categorically vetoed it, and said, "Yang Futai, you have been in Henan for seven years, and there are many people who know you. The thieves might recognize you as Futai. Hostages, what should we do? Or use another reward to recruit warriors to go there, even if you fail, it’s okay.”

"If others fail, we can't stop the thieves for a day?" Yang Zuoji shook his head and said seriously: "Besides, if Tongguan is lost, the imperial court will definitely not let me go. Both are dead, so why don't you go and gamble in person?" If the last bet is successful, at least the lives of the soldiers and civilians in Tongguan can be saved. Needless to say, let’s do this, and I will personally meet the leaders of the rebels.”

........................

Contrary to the demoralized Tongguan defenders, the rogue army's morale was high and their fighting spirit was high. When preparing to attack the city overnight, several small bandits took the initiative to run to Luo Rucai, Zhang Xianzhong, and Lao Huihui volunteered to be the pioneers in front of the three big thieves.But Luo Rucai, who had already been instructed by Fan Wencheng, laughed and said: "No need, you have suffered too many losses in the war these days, and the loss in the night battle is even greater. Tonight, let my army be the vanguard."

"Mom, if you want to go to the city early to grab more things, just say so. Why do you say it so beautifully?" Several little thieves secretly scolded Luo Ru before retreating cunningly.And Luo Rucai had just finished dispatching troops and generals, when a messenger suddenly ran from a distance, knelt down and played to Luo Rucai: "King Cao, a dog official was put down in a hanging basket on Tongguan City, and he came here with a white flag, saying I have something important to see you and the kings."

"King Cao, you can't even believe Ming Manzi's words, so just cut him off." Fan Wencheng, who had suffered enough from Master Zhang's emissary, had already become a frightened bird, and hurriedly stopped him, and then laughed: "Besides, Tongguan will be breached soon. It’s no fun to see barbarian dog officials or not.”

"Let's meet and see what this dog officer wants to say." Zhang Xianzhong said lazily: "Anyway, Tongguan is about to be won, and it's okay to meet the dog officer and let the brothers rest for a while." Luo Rucai and Fan Wencheng They were all very afraid of Zhang Xianzhong, who was extremely brave, and he didn't dare to refute. In addition, Ma Shouying, the old man, also agreed to meet the Ming army envoy. come over."

The messenger led the order, and a moment later, Yang Zuoji, who was deliberately wearing plain clothes, was brought before the gangsters, but before Yang Zuoji introduced his false identity, Zhang Xianzhong was the first to open his eyes and exclaimed: "Master Yang! Yang Zuoji! You are the governor of Henan, Yang Zuoji!" Luo Rucai, Lao Huihui and other bandits next to him were also shocked, and they exclaimed together: "What? Governor of Henan?"

"You know me?" Yang Zuoji never dreamed that he would be recognized by the thief when he first appeared, so he was shocked.Zhang Xianzhong said with a smile: "Miss Yang, forgot? When I was a errand in Yan'an Mansion, I went to Luoyang to arrest criminals and met you a few times there. But this is normal. How can you be a big dog like you?" Remember my little errand?"

"It's bad." Yang Zuoji's heart sank, and he said secretly: "It seems that I can only use my original identity to negotiate with these thieves. Fortunately, it has little effect on Zhang Butang's plan. It's just me, can I go back to Tongguan? "

(End of this chapter)