The third emperor of the Sui Dynasty

Chapter 938
If the Baishui, Jiameng, and Zitong passes are the gateways to central Shu, then Mianzhuguan is the gateway to Shujun. The only way to connect with the outside world, as long as you guard this place, Shu County will be safe.

When Li Yuan first entered Shu, constrained by the strength of the Sui Dynasty, in his policy towards the Sui Dynasty, he took advantage of the danger of the terrain and adopted layers of defense. Mianzhu Pass became one of the key dangerous passes he managed. Li Yuan and Li Shimin are not only proficient in military affairs, but have also traveled here many times, so they are more aware of the importance of Mianzhu Pass to the Li Tang Dynasty. Take away the imperial capital in one pot.Therefore, even though Li Shimin divided his troops into different places, and there were three dangerous passes in the north that could defend against any invading enemy, he still sent his confidant General Xu Shiren to lead two thousand soldiers to guard Mianzhu Pass to prevent accidents from happening.

On this day, a broken army in ragged clothes was rushing from a distance in a state of embarrassment, and soon attracted the attention of the defenders of Mianzhu Pass.

"Close the city gate!" Xu Shiren looked at the defeated army and ordered decisively.

"General, this seems to be our army!" A captain looked at Xu Shiren in embarrassment.

"Where did the defeated army come from Mianzhu Pass? Now the situation is unclear, and the Sui army is aggressively attacking, we must not be careless!" Xu Shiren is also Li Shimin's confidant, who has made great contributions in the Xuanwumen Incident, and can be arranged by Li Shimin To be stationed at this throat, whether it is personal ability or loyalty, has won the trust of Li Shimin.

"Here." Although the lieutenant didn't take it seriously, he faithfully carried out Xu Shiren's order, and sent someone to quickly close the city gate and put away the suspension bridge.

Seeing that the defeated army was slowly approaching, the archers in the city opened their bows and set up arrows, shot at the defeated army's position, and intercepted it beyond an arrow.Seeing that the other party was not moving forward, Xu Shiren, who was standing on the female wall, asked loudly: "Where are the soldiers and horses under the city! Why are they here?"

Among the defeated army at Mianzhu Pass, one rode out on a flying horse, and bowed to Xu Shiren from a distance: "General Xu, the last general is Li Liang, the captain of Zitong Pass, under the command of General Feng Ce, who was suddenly attacked by the Sui army. , General Feng Ce died in battle, only General Yu Mo and others fled here!"

All the soldiers at Mianzhu Pass turned pale in shock when they heard this. If Zitong Pass is breached, it will only take a few days for the Sui army to reach this point.

"Zitong Pass is one of the three dangerous passes in the north, and there are more than [-] troops in the north. Why did the Sui army come here? How did the Zitong pass be breached by the Sui army?" Xu Shiren sternly reprimanded: "Don't disturb our army here. .”

"This is absolutely true, and the last general would never dare to deceive the general." Li Daliang, who continued to play the role of defrauding the city, said hoarsely: "Not long ago, General Duan Yuanzhe led his troops through Zitong Pass. Four days ago, there was a defeated army It is said that the defeated army under General Duan Yuanzhe fled back to Zitong Pass. General Feng let him enter the pass according to his words. Unprepared, he was beheaded by the enemy on the spot, our soldiers were leaderless, and there was chaos, and then the Sui army took advantage of the opportunity to enter, causing Zitong Pass to fall to the enemy."

Speaking of this, Li Daliang pointed to the soldiers behind him, and said in a sad voice: "I will fight to the death to fight a bloody road, so that only these people are left in the Zitong Pass defenders. Please let me enter the pass!"

"General, what should we do?" A general looked at Xu Shiren.

"Send people back to Chengdu to report to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince." Xu Shiren shook his head and said, "It doesn't matter if the enemy is really our army's rout or the Sui army's disguise, but their appearance here already shows that the three gates have been lost." .And this Mianzhu Pass is the last pass in Shu County, we should not be careless."

Judging from the current situation, Sanguan has obviously fallen, so how do you know that these people are not soldiers sent by the Sui Dynasty to defraud the city?If they were allowed to enter the customs based on the other party's one-sided words, then they would be sinners of the Tang Dynasty.

"Then what should we do with these people outside the city?" The lieutenant beside him said with some embarrassment: "If they are soldiers of our army, wouldn't it be chilling for the soldiers to hang out like this? I am worried that the soldiers will feel uneasy because of this." , after all, they are soldiers who fought bloody battles for the Great Tang."

The implication is very obvious, he is afraid that the defenders of Mianzhu Pass will feel sad because of the collapse of the army outside the pass, and he is afraid that he will be turned away one day.

"Your consideration is not unreasonable. How about this, you first order them to choose a place to station outside the city, and subsidize them with some rations through hanging baskets, and then let them enter the customs after their identities are verified." Xu Shiren's arrangement has already been completed. It's the best of benevolence.

"The last general understands." The lieutenant general also knew that this was the most appropriate arrangement. He nodded and said loudly to the "destroyed army" under the city: "You first choose a place to station nearby, and send a team of soldiers to the front of the pass to collect Ration. As long as your identities are verified, we will open the city gate and let you in!"

"General, I am very grateful for your kindness." Li Daliang did not pester him endlessly, but retreated as he said, which also made Guan Guan's tense and dignified momentum suddenly loosen.

……

"General, the Tang army is very cautious in shutting down. What should we do now?" A school lieutenant approached Li Daliang and asked in a low voice: "It seems that there are not many people in Mianzhu Pass, and the guards are not too high. Should we attack?"

Although Mianzhu Pass is very steep, the pass city itself is not too majestic. The height of the city is no more than two feet high. With the skills of the soldiers of the Black Ice Terrace, they can use the mountains on both sides of the pass city to climb into the pass city. .

"Our arrival has put the Tang army in Guanzhong on alert. We will definitely not benefit from a strong attack at this time. Therefore, we must obey the other party's arrangement for the time being and don't act rashly. If the other party relaxes their guard, they will let us enter the pass and then go forward." Guan, even if the gate of Guancheng has not been opened, the vigilance will not be as heavy as it is now, and it will not be too late for us to make a decision." Li Daliang vetoed the current plan of storming, he knew that storming would cause great losses, Black Ice Terrace fighters are all the best of the elite, everyone is capable of both civil and military skills, can fight on horseback, and rule the people when dismounted, they are the most outstanding and loyal fighters in the Sui Dynasty, every loss of one person will make Yang Tong feel distressed, even if they attack by force At Mianzhuguan, I am afraid that there are not many of these eight hundred soldiers left.

With this in mind, Li Daliang ordered again: "After dark, immediately send someone to notify the Holy One to explain the situation here, and ask the Holy One to postpone the march, first let the defenders think we are a defeated army, and wait until Xu Shiren's defense gradually fades away. , it’s not too late for us to choose the opportunity to do it!”

"Humble duty." The lieutenant also agreed with this plan.

Li Daliang commanded the soldiers to retreat, and then said to the defenders on the city: "General Xu, it's okay to be stationed here, but we've been running for three days and haven't had a full meal. Can the general give us something now?" Some fast food?"

Although the other party had already said that they would give them rations, Li Daliang still wanted to test further. If Xu Shiren released the rations according to his words, it would prove that the other party subconsciously believed in him;

When Xu Shiren heard Li Daliang's request, he didn't answer immediately. He first looked at the "broken army" under the city, and saw that the soldiers' faces were hot and haggard. Hang [-] rations down and let them fill their stomachs first. By the way, take a look at their performance, if he is really a soldier of our army, they will naturally keep their own place; if it is the Sui army, I am afraid they will attack at an opportunity."

There are only seven or eight hundred people's rations, and they can fully supply them in Mianzhuguan.

"Here!" The deputy general agreed, then turned around and ordered people to prepare dry food.

Until the soldiers hung the dry rations in hanging baskets, the soldiers of the Tang army on the city did not relax their guard, and the honest behavior of the soldiers on the city floor also made the soldiers on the city heave a sigh of relief.

"Although Xu Shiren has believed us, he didn't give us the slightest chance. He is a prudent general," Li Daliang secretly looked at Mianzhuguan while stuffing dry food into his mouth, thinking silently.

The main force headed by Yang Tong has already dispatched troops from Zitong Pass, and will soon reach Mianzhu Pass. However, the terrain of Mianzhu Pass is very dangerous, and it is also an important place that is easy to defend and difficult to attack. This is why Yang Tong ordered Li Daliang to take the black ice first. The Taiwanese fighters took a step ahead to see if there was a chance to raid and break through the city. Now it seems that it will be impossible today and tomorrow.

However, this pass is not only important to the Sui Dynasty, but also to the soldiers of the Black Ice Terrace, because the soldiers of the Black Ice Terrace have always walked in the dark before, and even if they made great achievements, they were unknown. Go to the big fight under the sun.Once they made great achievements, not only would they get an official title, but their emperor would also be able to take the opportunity to implement the previous rewards on them based on this credit.It's not that Yang Tong is reluctant to award rewards, but that the fighters of the Black Ice Terrace are all shady things. If they award rewards arbitrarily, they will be known to others. This will not be good for Sui's reputation. If you get great merit, then stacking rewards can fool the world.

As the chief general of the Black Ice Terrace fighters, Li Daliang also knows many deeds of the Black Ice Terrace. He has great respect for this special military branch under his command that has made great contributions to the Sui Dynasty, and he also hopes that these soldiers can become a powerful force in the world. The powerful army became a regular soldier in a grandiose manner.

"General, do we want to set up camp as promised?" A brigade commander came to Li Daliang and asked.

"It's fine to build a straw shed to shelter from the wind and rain. Don't let the enemy see our flaws. We must remember that our current identity is a defeated army, and a defeated army must look like a defeated army." The soldiers of the Sui army were specially trained on how to build camps, but ordinary troops do not have this ability. If they build a military camp with both offensive and defensive capabilities, the enemy general Xu Shiren's caution will definitely see their flaws, so the defeated army should It looks like a broken army.

"The general understands." The brigade commander smiled knowingly.

……

"What the hell are they doing? What kind of army is this? It's more like rogues than rogues." About an hour later, the soldiers at Mianzhu Pass looked at the collapsed army that had just built some crooked straw huts and had nothing to do. All feel incredible.

Xu Shiren's face became darker the more he watched, and he saw seven or eight hundred defeated soldiers gathering together to chat in small groups, while some were sleeping in the straw huts with air leakage on all sides, and some were lying on the ground chatting and spanking What's even more speechless is that one or two crooked apple huts fell down from time to time, and these defeated soldiers didn't care, just lay down on the thatch, basking in the sun comfortably.This makes the originally solemn and tidy open space in front of the gate give people a sense of sight that is smoky.

"Feng Ce led the army like this, it's no wonder that Zitong Pass allowed the Sui army to swindle away easily. If this kind of army can't beat it, Yang Tong can't be invincible in the world." Looking at the group of defeated troops, Xu Shiren said coldly Having said that, even though he was so disdainful, even Xu Shiren himself didn't realize that when he saw the unsatisfactory appearance of 'Kuan Jun', he actually believed in his identity a little bit more.

"General, these people are doing nothing outside. I'm afraid it will affect our army's morale and will to fight. In my humble opinion, I simply put them in the city for strict supervision and training. If the Sui army attacks, it will be a big deal." Gather seven or eight hundred troops." The lieutenant general suggested to Xu Shiren.

"What's the use of this gang of mobs?" Xu Shiren snorted coldly, turned around and walked towards the city gate. His voice came from afar: "Be sure to strengthen your guard. Once the Sui army invades, let people light the beacon and ring the bell immediately." Warning."

"The last general obeys orders." The deputy general bowed to Xu Shiren's back, turned his head and glanced at the "broken army" outside the city, and couldn't help shaking his head and sighing. None of these foreign generals regarded us as Yizhou People take life and death seriously.

But Xu Shiren had forbidden to open the city gate, and he didn't dare to open the city to let these people into the city. Seeing that the sky was getting dark, he ordered people to take some dry food and put it under the city in a hanging basket to serve as dinner for the defeated army.

As night fell, Li Daliang leaned on a pillar in a thatched shed and stared at Mianzhu Pass. A brigade commander beside him said, "General, the Tang army has changed guard three times. It seems that they are still not on guard against us." reduce it."

Li Daliang nodded: "Xu Shiren is Li Shimin's spy lurking beside Li Yuan. He has not been exposed for so many years, and he has been promoted step by step by Li Yuan. Not to mention his scheming and resourcefulness, his prudence alone is beyond the reach of ordinary people." .I think his dispatches are also perfect. We will have a hard time breaking the city tonight. By the way, where is the rest of our army?"

"General Xie's army has arrived at Wan'an County, Jinshan County, General Luo has also arrived at Shenquan County, Jinshan, and the Holy Majesty will be able to reach Mianzhu Pass the day after tomorrow at the latest." The brigade commander continued: "It takes less than two days from Shenquan County to Mianzhu Pass. A hundred miles, based on the marching style of the Holy Majesty, it can be reached in a day at most."

"That is to say, we still have a day or two. We can just rest tonight!" Li Daliang silently estimated the distance of these armies from him, and continued: "If Xu Shiren hasn't opened the city gate tomorrow, we will So people sneaked into the pass and stormed Mianzhu Pass at night. In addition, immediately sent someone to inform General Luo, asking him to send a Qingqi to go west first. You can enter Shu County at any time to provide prerequisites for annihilating the puppet Tang forces."

"Here!" The brigade commander obeyed and left.

……

For the next two days, Li Daliang stood still and pretended to be a defeated army. The soldiers had nothing to do all day long, and none of them approached the Guancheng, so they felt very conscious of a defeated army.

Only when the defenders put down the grain and grass in the hanging basket will they send someone to get it, Xu Shiren frowned.

On the evening of the third day, when an iron cavalry bearing the banner of the Sui army appeared in sight, the defeated army under the city suddenly fell into chaos.

Li Daliang and the soldiers ran to the moat, knelt on the ground with a puff, and wailed loudly: "General Xu, we only have more than 700 people, and we can't stop the cavalry of the Sui army at all. I beg the general!" Let us enter the pass to take refuge, and the last general and others will swear their allegiance to the death to help the general guard the pass!"

"We are all Yizhou people. I beg the general to have mercy." A group of soldiers burst into tears, mourning everywhere. Those who saw it were crying and those who heard it were sad.

"General, they have kept themselves safe for the past two days. They must be our soldiers. Let's put them in the pass for refuge first!" Seeing that Xu Shiren was still hesitating, the deputy general's voice suddenly became a little sharper, and he shouted excitedly. Said: "Is General Xu going to sit and watch our Shu generals die under the Sui army's iron cavalry?"

"This..." Xu Shiren's heart skipped a beat when he heard this. Now that Li Shimin's position has just been stabilized, although they, the prince's confidantes, the imperial party, the former princeling party, and various factions are at peace for the time being, most of the Tang Dynasty's current troops are A native of Yizhou, if he is given the title of ignoring the life and death of soldiers in Yizhou, it may be difficult for him to gain a foothold in the army in the future.

Seeing the unfriendly expressions of the surrounding soldiers, he couldn't help but look at the enemy cavalry from the Sui Dynasty rolling in, and found that there was still some distance. This time was enough for them to put in these hundreds of defeated troops and pull them up again. The suspension bridge immediately gritted his teeth and said, "Open the city gate, lower the suspension bridge, and let them enter the city quickly."

Although there was no order from Chengdu City yet, after three days and two nights of observation, Xu Shiren himself was convinced that these people were Zitong's defeated army.

"Crunch." With an order, the city above the pass was suddenly busy, some people put down the heavy suspension bridge one after another, and the soldiers on guard were on guard, staring closely at the rear of the Sui army riding in the distance, which also made The "broken army" under the city became black under the lights.

Li Daliang was overjoyed when he saw the suspension bridge being lowered. After thanking him repeatedly, he rushed towards the city gate with his soldiers. At this time, someone inside had already opened the city gate.

"General, the soldiers we sent to Chengdu have returned." A soldier brought a scout to Xu Shiren's side and said with a bow.

"What does His Royal Highness say?" Xu Shiren asked casually without turning his head, staring fixedly at the approaching Da Sui cavalry.

"Reporting to General, after a detailed investigation by the Ministry of War, there is no general with the surname Li under General Feng Ce's command. In order to prove it in detail, I specially asked the officials of the Ministry of War to inquire about the names of the generals under General Feng Ce's command, and found that there is no such person as Li Liang!" scolded Hou Gong said respectfully.

"I see." Xu Shiren replied habitually, but then his face changed drastically, he turned his head to look at the scouts, and said sharply, "What did you just say?"

"Under General Feng Ce, there is no general named Li Liang, at least among the generals above the brigade commander, there is not even a single person surnamed Li."

"Close the city gate quickly, don't let them in!" Xu Shiren hurriedly yelled at the soldiers under the city!

The generals of the Tang army who were opening the city below heard Xu Shiren's shout, and wanted to close the city gate again, but one hand was already against the city gate. Li Daliang looked at the dissatisfied soldiers in front of him, grinned, showing his white teeth: " The gates of the city are already open, brother, why don't you let us in?"

"The general has an order..." The soldier of the Tang army wanted to say something, but Lao Yuan's eyes suddenly opened, and a Gulishi's strange scimitar had already sunk into his chest.

"Everyone, do it for me immediately!" Li Daliang slid in from the Shu army's armpit, the scimitar in his hand flashed coldly, and a Tang army soldier who hadn't fully reacted was wiped off his neck, his frightened and angry eyes stared in disbelief. Li Daliang was caught by Li Daliang, but was kicked by Li Daliang, knocking several Tang Jun who wanted to go forward to the ground.

It was also at this moment that the "destroyed army" who had been muddling along before suddenly changed from a sheep to a vicious head, rushing in fiercely through the cracks in the city gate, but seeing the lights of knives flashing randomly, the bloody Called Lianlian, the group of Tang soldiers in charge of guarding the city gate was defenseless, and they were killed in just a few dozen breaths.

Although Xu Shiren standing on the top of the city couldn't see what was going on inside the city gate, he could hear the screams from below very clearly. He said sharply to the lieutenant behind him: "Take people to drive these people out. Lift the drawbridge."

"Here!" The deputy general was very guilty. If he hadn't persuaded him several times and threatened "Yizhou", Xu Shiren would not have allowed these people to enter the customs. Now that something has happened, it would be fine if these people were kicked out, otherwise If so, you can't escape the guilt.

Immediately led a team of soldiers and rushed down the city, and a dozen other soldiers pulled the winch, trying to pull up the suspension bridge.

"Cut the rope quickly!" Li Daliang had already led his men to clean up the soldiers of the Tang Army in the city gate. Seeing that the suspension bridge was slowly being closed, he quickly turned around and shouted orders.

In the crowd, four people rushed out immediately, divided to the two sides, and slammed the axe, cutting off the wooden boards connected to the iron chain, separating the iron chain from the suspension bridge, and preventing the suspension bridge from going up.At the same time, someone fired a loud arrow into the sky.

The sharp whistle pierced the sky, and the Sui iron cavalry, who were not in a hurry, suddenly accelerated their marching speed and galloped towards Mianzhu Pass.

"Shameless man, how dare you bully me like this?" The lieutenant general had already led people down the city, when he saw that the suspension bridge and the iron chain were separated, he rushed up with a group of soldiers angrily.

"Shoot to death with random arrows!" Following Li Daliang's order, the soldiers already had more crossbows in their hands. When they saw the soldiers of the Tang army rushing to kill them, they quickly lined up in several rows in the city gate, pulled the triggers, and each of them was a small crossbow. The crossbow shot out of the air and landed in the crowd.

This is a special small crossbow arrow, because the arrow body is too small to shoot far, but it makes people defenseless. More than a hundred soldiers of the Tang army who rushed forward were shot and killed in groups. The remaining soldiers were heartbroken and fled in all directions. Only the The lieutenant who hated these people so much stood there alone. If he couldn't take back the city gate, he would have no way to survive, so he rushed forward with all his life, and raised his knife to chop off a soldier's head!
The soldiers of the Black Ice Terrace were not ordinary soldiers. They stood on one side, avoiding the menacing saber, and the scimitar in their hand was already stabbing fiercely at the opponent's forehead.

The martial arts of this deputy general of the Tang Army were not bad, but he did not expect that this group of people were so fierce and their skills were even more vigorous. He was almost killed by a soldier. It was because of his quick response that he lowered his head in time to avoid this deadly One knife, but his good luck also came here, before he could make any move, two other fighters approached nimbly, and the two scimitars pierced his back very trickily.

Amidst the two muffled sounds, the lieutenant howled miserably. Even if he didn't die, he would be useless. However, before he could continue howling, the soldier saw the lieutenant's neck straightened due to the pain, and turned his backhand. It was a knife that slit his throat, and the miserable howling stopped abruptly.

The suspension bridge was not retracted, and there was no news from the lieutenant general. Xu Shiren on the tower saw that the Sui cavalry had rushed to the gate, and anxiously ordered: "Can the city gate be closed yet?"

"General, General Gu has died in battle!" The exclamation of soldiers came from the tower below.

When Xu Shiren heard this, he felt a chill in his hands and feet.

It was impossible to regain the city gate, because the cavalry of the Sui army had already swarmed into the city facing the sparse arrows!

There was a sound of fighting and shouting from the city. Xu Shiren supported the female wall, looked down at the annihilated Tang army, and closed his eyes in pain. This Mianzhu pass was originally enough to withstand a hundred thousand soldiers, but now it is easy. It was attacked by soldiers and horses of the Sui Dynasty.How does this allow him to explain to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince?
The sound of fighting under the city didn't last long. As the Sui army's cavalry poured into Guanzhong, the Tang army couldn't even organize a decent resistance.

A majestic and heroic general rushed out on a leaping horse, looked up at the surviving Tang army on the tower, and said loudly: "I am Luo Shixin, the great general of Sui Zuowuwei. Now that Mianzhu Pass has been broken, where is Xu Shiren?"

Many famous generals of the Sui Dynasty spread their prestige outside the territory, and their fame had already reached as far as Kyushu. Luo Shixin was even regarded as a great killer by the Tang army because he wiped out Li Xiaogong's entire army twice. Hearing that the general claimed to be Luo Shixin, the great general of the Sui Dynasty, the soldiers of the Tang army at the city gate suddenly burst into an uproar.

Xu Shiren also felt a burst of fear, he took a deep breath, looked down at Luo Shixin, and replied loudly: "This general is Xu Shiren, General Luo wants to persuade this general to surrender?"

"General Xu, don't misunderstand!" To Xu Shiren's surprise, Luo Shixin did not persuade him to surrender, but said loudly: "My Majesty the Sui Emperor has ordered that what he admires are loyal and upright people. General Xu is willing to surrender." Naturally the best, if the general is not willing, I, Luo Shixin, can give General Xu a decent death!"

"A decent way to die?"

The muscles on Xu Shiren's face twitched endlessly, this statement caught him off guard!

Luo Shixin asked someone to bring a wounded horse, and said to Xu Shiren: "General, please look at this horse."

Xu Shiren was a little puzzled, what's the use of looking at horses?

However, Luo Shixin pulled out the BMW and beheaded the wounded horse, and then said in Xu Shiren's astonished eyes: "The highest honor of a soldier is to wrap the corpse in horse leather. If General Xu is willing to kill himself, I will use the leather of the horse to wrap the general's corpse." , return the general’s body to Chengdu after the war!”

Xu Shiren's face was purple and black.

Can't this bastard speak properly?
He didn't say that he must be loyal to death, Luo Shixin killed the lame horse. If he surrendered to the Sui Dynasty, what would the world think of Xu Shiren?
Generally speaking, the routine process of persuading surrender should be repeated persuasion, and the leader of the defeated party "for the sake of the soldiers' lives", and then "reluctantly" agreed to surrender.

Luo Shixin, an unreliable bastard, how many steps did he save?

In fact, this is also Yang Tong's inner tactic in order to subdue the puppet generals of the Tang Dynasty. If Xu Shiren slays himself for loyalty, it will naturally be over and there will be no follow-up.If he chooses to live in spite of himself, his dignity will be smashed into the dust and mud, and it will spread throughout the army in the future. And this kind of self-abandoned dignity, even if there is a chance to lead troops in the future, the soldiers will be defeated even on the surface. He didn't say anything, but he would despise him extremely in his heart, making him unable to gain a foothold in the army.

This is the same as Li Yuan's force against the nobles of Guanlong, but Yang Tong is stronger, so this move is obviously more effective.

After hesitating for a while, Xu Shiren sighed, and he dropped the saber in his hand: "The final general is willing to correct evil and return to righteousness, abandon darkness and turn to light!"

"..." All Tang Jun's hearts relaxed, and then they looked at Xu Shiren with contempt.

Under the watchful eyes of everyone, Xu Shiren only felt his face was hot, wishing he could find a crack in the ground and slip down.He knew that he would never face anyone again.

And this life is over.But no matter what, at least one life can be left.

Is not it?
(End of this chapter)