National color raw owl

The scene of early autumn was mostly bleak, and Cheng Yishi's soldiers and horses were in a bit of a panic when the sun set. Although the team was still in formation, the speed was already very slow. Many soldiers looked tired, and some even We have to support each other to move forward.

For three consecutive days, the soldiers and horses withdrawn from Xiguguan almost did not stop at all. The continuous march made the whole army exhausted and exhausted.

Cheng Yishi was riding on the horse with a face full of dust. He knew that there was nothing he could do to slow down the marching speed. After all, people are flesh and blood, and it is already remarkable to be able to survive until now.

"General...!" He came to pat the horse next to him. It was Cheng Yishi's subordinate, who also had a tired look on his face. He cupped his hands and said, "Brothers, I can't move anymore. We are exhausted. Do you want to stop and rest for a while?" ?”

Cheng Yishi hesitated for a moment, and naturally he knew everything. Cheng Yi said in a low voice, "We have been walking for three days, so there shouldn't be any problem. If the Northwest Army wants to catch up, they will catch up long ago. They just captured the pass , it shouldn’t be easy to get out.” Looking back at the exhausted team, he said: “Brothers can’t walk anymore, it’s not a way to go on like this...!”

Cheng Yishi reined in his horse, hesitated for a moment, finally nodded and said: "Pass down the order and rest where you are." Then he ordered: "You send someone to guard, even though you are far away from the pass, don't take it lightly."

Everything agreed, and the order was sent down, and the whole army rested in place.

Hearing the order, everyone stopped immediately, and many people sat on the ground with their buttocks. The nerves that were tense before finally relaxed in an instant.

Dushi arranged for people to guard all around, and then came back, but saw Cheng Yishi sitting on a dirt slope by the roadside with several Dushi school lieutenants, walked over, cupped his hands and said: "General, everything has been arranged .”

Cheng Yishi nodded with a solemn expression.

They withdrew from Xiguguan. In a hurry, it was impossible to bring much rations. They just brought some dry rations during their hasty retreat. Most of the rations were still in the warehouse and could not be taken away.

The rations brought out were very small, and they had already been eaten. The soldiers were not only exhausted, but also hungry.

Du Shi supported his tired body and sat down next to Cheng Yishi, only to see that the other generals also had dignified expressions, their faces covered with dust and dust, and it was rare to see a smile.

Everyone knew that Xigu Pass was lost, except for this escaped army, the entire army guarding the pass might have been wiped out.

Many people couldn't even figure out why the incomparably strong Xigu Pass fell into the hands of the Northwest Army overnight, and what methods the Northwest Army used to take down the pass so easily.

They don't know the reason, but they know the result, and now they are very worried about their own future.

Cheng Yishi's face was solemn, he knew very well that the imperial court had high hopes for the pass, relying on the danger of Xigu Pass, not only to seal off the Northwest Army's way to enter the pass, but also the ultimate goal was to trap the Northwest Army to death outside the pass, so that It does not fight itself.

But now all this has come to naught.

It was hard for Cheng Yishi to imagine what would happen if the imperial court knew about this matter. Along the way, he was worried.

Three days passed, and there was no movement behind him. Cheng Yishi felt relieved a lot. In his opinion, since the Northwest Army had conquered the pass, they should not enter the pass so soon. They should redeploy the defense of the pass, completely The best choice is to control it in your hands, and he has been guarding the pass with Da Xizhang for a long time, and he has a little understanding of the situation in the northwest. Knowing the current economic strength of the northwest, he should not dare to easily enter the pass.

As the sun set, many soldiers were lying on both sides of the road, and many people were still complaining in low voices.

Seeing that Cheng Yishi was frowning and didn't speak, the captains of Dushi school all looked at each other in blank dismay. In fact, everyone knew that the next step was to go to Tongzhou to rest, but they didn't know what to do next after arriving in Tongzhou city?

This army has always been used to guard the pass. Now that the pass is lost, what will be the future of this army?

If Da Xizhang is still alive, it is better to say something, after all, everyone knows in their hearts that Da Xizhang was recommended by the Xuanyuan family at the beginning, although losing the pass is a serious crime, but with the status of the Xuanyuan family in the court, it is not difficult to keep Da Xizhang things.

However, Da Xizhang's current situation can only be more or less ominous. Even if he did not die in battle, he must have been captured by the Northwest Army. In comparison, Cheng Yishi is just a partial general promoted by Da Xizhang. Zhang trusts him, but he has nothing to do with the Xuanyuan family. Da Xizhang has the Xuanyuan family as his backer, but Cheng Yishi does not have such connections.

After an unknown amount of time, Cheng Yishi finally said, "The current magistrate of Tongzhou is Xu Qing, right?"

"Yes." A general next to him said, "After Zhao Guangqing was killed, the position of Tongzhou magistrate was vacant for a while, and then Qiao Mingtang recommended Xu Qing."

Zhao Guangqing, the former magistrate of Tongzhou, colluded with Tianmendao, intending to rebel, and was later eliminated by Chu Huan and Xuanwu. When the northwest was invaded by the Xiliang people, Tongzhou once became a transit point for transporting supplies to the northwest. University scholar Xu Congyang also used to be here Sitting in town for a period of time, when Xu Congyang returned to Beijing, Wei Tianqing, the commander of the Xishan Imperial Guard, also sat in town here until Xu Qing, the new magistrate, took up his post.

The logistics supply of Xiguguan has been supplied by Xishan Road in the past two years, and the grain and grass supplied from Xishan Road to Xiguguan will be stored in Tongzhou City first, and then escorted by Tongzhou City to the pass, so many guards in Xiguguan , I know quite a bit about Tongzhou.

Cheng Yishi asked again: "How many defenders are there in Tongzhou now?"

"There are not many troops." A person next to him said: "Most of the main force of the Xishan Army has been deployed to Liangzhou, and beware that Jinling Dao will take the opportunity to attack Xishan. All the soldiers and horses of Xishan Dao, combined There are not many, and the guards have all been transferred to the northwest to fight the Xiliang people... Tongzhou should only have a thousand soldiers and horses now."

"General, are you worried that the Northwest Army will attack?" a Dushi asked.

Cheng Yishi didn't answer, but just sighed softly: "Brothers, let's go to Tongzhou to rest and recuperate, I'm afraid we will be a bit of a loser, you all have to suppress your temper and don't make trouble in Tongzhou...!"

Everyone was stunned, and soon understood that the soldiers guarding the pass lost the pass and retreated to Tongzhou in such a state of embarrassment. In the eyes of the soldiers and horses of Tongzhou, they were just defeated troops in a state of embarrassment.

Previously, Xishan was ordered by the imperial court to allocate a large amount of grain and grass to support the northwest. Military rations, this is a big burden for Xishan Road after all.

The local soldiers and horses in Xishan, because of the shortage of money and rations, once reduced their rations, especially the soldiers and horses in Tongzhou, who barely ate half full, and often had to transport food to Xiguguan. The defenders in such a place are naturally not very polite, so every time the food and grass are transported, there will be some friction.

This time Cheng Yishi came with the defeated soldiers, and he had already expected that he would be ridiculed by the local army.

The pigs were reminded of sincerity, and they all reacted immediately. A rather grumpy man said: "General, if this is the case, let's not enter Tongzhou City at all...!"

Immediately someone nearby sneered and said: "Don't enter Tongzhou? Where are you going? To Hexi? How can we go to Hexi without the order of the imperial court? Now we don't have a single grain in our hands. We can't go for a few days. Starve to death."

"That's easy to handle. Let's go outside Tongzhou first. Didn't they deliver the grain and grass this time? It's great. Let's ask them to hand over the grain and grass to us. With the grain, no matter where we go, it's better than going to Tongzhou." The city is strong."

"A joke." Another person said: "Hand over the food and grass? With our current appearance, do you think Xu Qing will hand over the food to us? Then he can stop us with a word."

"What?"

"Xishan provided us with food and grass because we wanted to guard Xigu Pass. Now that the pass is lost, will they continue to provide us with food?"

"Damn, if they don't give it, let's grab it."

"Are you planning to rebel?" One person sneered.

Cheng Yishi frowned, and said in a deep voice, "When is it, and you still want to argue here? Shut up."

Everyone was still a little afraid of Cheng Yishi, so they all stopped talking, Cheng Yishi said in a deep voice: "Let's rush to Tongzhou City as soon as possible, no matter what, Tongzhou City is now temporarily resting, and at the same time, send someone to Hexi to report immediately, and everything will wait for the court's decision." Make a decree and then take action...!"

A person next to him frowned and said: "General, it is not difficult to report to the imperial court, but how to report is difficult. Although we withdrew, Xigu Pass was also lost, but we have not figured out exactly how it was lost. How did the Northwest Army break into the pass? , what we are guarding is an iron wall, and it was lost overnight, how could the court not ask the reason?"

When the others heard it, their expressions were even more sad.

Cheng Yishi also frowned, but he also held that this was a problem. When he reported to the court, he naturally had to explain the cause and effect clearly. Now he only knew that the pass was lost, but he didn't know the reason, so how to submit this memorial to the court.

At this moment, a person whispered: "Listen!"

Everyone looked at him, this man was obviously very alert, he had already got up, walked on the road, bent down, put his ears on the ground, frowned, got up quickly, and turned around in a circle.

Seeing this, Cheng Yishi knew that there must be a reason, stood up with everyone, put his hand on his saber, walked forward, and asked, "What's wrong?"

"Sound of hooves...!" The man frowned and said, "General, listen carefully... there seems to be the sound of hoofs...!"

"The sound of horseshoes?" Cheng Yishi was taken aback, "Which direction is it coming from?"

The man shook his head and said: "I can't be sure, it seems to be from the west, it seems...it seems to be the north, the south...there seems to be the sound of horseshoes in the south...!"

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