Neon Clothes and Iron Clothes

Luoyang, Imperial City, Shangyang Palace.

The curtain blocked the dust on the street and the people's sight, but it could not block the disappointment. Li Xian curled up tiredly in the carriage and closed his eyes. Zhang Wenguan was leaning on a soft and thick mink mat, pouring sweet wine into a pair of gold goblets: "Your Highness King Pei, continue!" He handed Li Xian a cup: "This is produced in Jeju Island From the vineyard, you can taste it and see how it compares to the ones from the Western Regions!”

"I'm not in the mood to drink now!" Li Xian took the wine glass and put it aside: "We have been here for more than ten days, but the general did not follow the emperor's order to disband the army and accept the imperial order! Instead, he led the troops to occupy When he came to Luoyang, what was he thinking?"

"If even you could guess his thoughts, he wouldn't be able to be this general!" Zhang Wenguan took a sip of wine with a smile and praised: "Yes, the wine from Jeju Island is indeed quite flavorful, regardless of the grape flavor. , and also has the taste of pomegranate and apple, which is no worse than the Western Region Saffron. Your Highness, come and taste it too!"

"I'm not in the mood to drink!" Li Xian pushed the cup away irritably: "Ms. Zhang, how come you can still drink at this time?"

"Why can't you drink it?" Zhang Wenguan said with a smile: "You can't drink such good wine at any time! Besides, there seems to be nothing else I can do at this time except drinking! Come on, take a sip! Drink it down I won’t be upset anymore!”

Li Xian picked up the wine glass and took a sip as Zhang Wenguan suggested. The wine was mellow and sweet, making people feel like they were in the clouds. He put down the wine glass, and his worries were still lingering in his mind. He put down his wine glass heavily: "Ms. Zhang, does Wang Wenzuo want to break into Chang'an and usurp the throne himself?"

"You think so?" Zhang Wenguan wiped the beard under his chin and poured himself another glass: "You are really of the Tian family's blood! There are always suspicions!"

"So you think I made a mistake?" Li Xian asked.

"That's not necessarily the case!" Zhang Wenguan replied: "In my opinion, the general himself doesn't even know what he wants to do now!"

"You don't even know?" Li Xian asked, "What do you mean? Didn't the emperor's brother write it very clearly in the letter? Disband the army and receive the imperial edict to assist the government. All he has to do is follow it, right?"

"Hahaha!" Zhang Wenguan laughed: "Your Highness, how can things be so simple? This is an army of hundreds of thousands, how can it be disbanded just when it needs to be disbanded? And just disbanding troops to assist the government, this is the same as cutting off their wings and What difference does it make if your life is in someone else’s hands?”

"Are you saying that Wang Wenzuo is afraid of being harmed after going to Chang'an?" Li Xian asked: "But this is a letter written by the emperor's brother, and there is an edict from the emperor's brother. What else does he have to worry about? Doesn't he even believe the emperor's brother?"

"I don't know about that!" Zhang Wenguan spread his hands: "Maybe he can no longer trust the emperor. Maybe he can trust the emperor, but he feels that the emperor may not be able to protect him. After all, the emperor himself has been under house arrest. Maybe he really has Ambition. But one thing is certain, the general has not made a decision yet, we can only wait patiently!"

"Okay!" Li Xian sighed in disappointment: "When I set out from Chang'an, I thought that as long as I could see him, he would disband the army and return to Chang'an to assist the government, so that the world would be peaceful, but I didn't expect that this would happen. It’s going to be like this!”

"The world is prone to chaos and chaos!" Zhang Wenguan sighed: "I think Wang Wenzuo is not at peace at this time."

"Not calm either?" Li Xian asked: "He has hundreds of thousands of troops under his command!"

"Believe me, Your Highness!" Zhang Wenguan became serious: "This man is not ready to take that step yet!"

——————————————————————————————————

Hei Te Changzhi looked down at the map on the table and was speechless for a while. Finally he shook his head: "General, I don't know why you do this? Distribute your troops to various places before defeating the enemy's main force. , this is not a wise choice! How many troops do you have around you now? Thirty thousand, forty thousand, has it reached fifty thousand? If Pei Xingjian rushes out from Tongguan now and goes straight to Luoyang, what will you do? "

"Then let's fight!" Wang Wenzuo replied: "The soldiers I divided up and left are all new soldiers from all over Hebei. The veterans who have been with me for many years are all here. They are enough!"

"Then there is no need to do this, right?" Black Teeth Changzhi asked: "You can let Mr. Yanliang lead the reinforcements into the pass as a successor. You can stay in Luoyang, train the troops from Hebei, have warehouses from Henan, and have troops from Hebei. Scholars, Pei Xingjian will definitely not be able to defeat you!"

Faced with Hei Te Changzhi's suggestion, Wang Wenzuo was speechless for a while, and finally said: "This is an opportunity I give Pei Xingjian. If he can defeat me, it means that his destiny is still in the Tang Dynasty!"

"Destiny is still in the Tang Dynasty?" Hei Te Changzhi asked, "What do you mean?"

"If Pei Xingjian leads his troops out of the border and defeats and kills me in a battle, then the chaos caused by me will naturally be over!" Wang Wenzuo said with a smile: "The world will naturally belong to the Li family!"

Hei Te Changzhi was silent for a long time, and finally said: "General, you are really crazy. If you are defeated and die like this, what will Master Yanliang do? Without you, Cui Hongdu and He Bayong may not obey his orders!" "

"Then it's out of my control!" Wang Wenzuo said with a smile: "I have given him a father to give him, and he can only rely on himself for the rest. Everyone has his own destiny, and he always has to face it on his own. Yes!" "Okay!" Hei Te Changzhi sighed: "Since you have decided so, then so be it! Fight to the death with Pei Xingjian!"

"Perhaps you guessed wrong?" Wang Wenzuo said with a smile: "Pei Xingjian may not leave Tongguan, let alone fight to the death with me!"

"No, he will definitely do this!" Hei Te Changzhi said seriously: "This is his only chance, he will not miss it!"

Facts have proved that Heiji Changzhi's guess was correct. On the fourth day after Wang Wenzuo occupied Luoyang, the Western Army left Tongguan and began to advance eastward along the famous Hanko Valley Road. The endless stream of troops covered the road. As I walked, I flooded the rammed earth road. Looking along the road, it is really devastated. The burned villages and orchards, and the fields trampled by horse hooves, are like scars covering the chest of Mother Earth.

After learning the news that the Western Army had left Tongguan, Wang Wenzuo immediately ordered to abandon Luoyang and retreat to Mang Mountain north of Luoyang. He lined up against the Heyang Floating Bridge and formed an array along the mountain. At this time, the total number of troops under Wang Wenzuo's command was about 40,000. Excluding about 10,000 Hebei recruits, the rest were veterans who had followed him for many years. Wang Wenzuo fully trusted them and entrusted his destiny, wealth and future to them. On the soldiers.

Knowing that Wang Wenzuo had abandoned Luoyang, the Western Army led by Pei Xingjian accelerated their march. Perhaps he was worried that Wang Wenzuo would retreat to the north of the Yellow River through the pontoon bridge to get rid of his pursuit. But when he discovered that Wang Wenzuo not only did not retreat to the north of the Yellow River, but instead set up camp in Mang Mountain, he slowed down and also set up camp under Jin Yong City to confront Wang Wenzuo's army. The two sides combined nearly 100,000 troops to form their own formations. The formations stretched for seven or eight miles. They looked at each other by camp fires at night and heard each other fighting. This kind of scene has not been seen under Luoyang City and in the world for nearly a hundred years.

It was getting late, so Wang Wenzuo brought more than a thousand cavalry with him, wearing light armor, and descended from the slopes of Mang Mountain, heading south to visit the enemy's camp. The rain had stopped by this time, and there were thick clouds hanging down in the sky. The moon did not show its head, but it illuminated the sky palely. With the help of this glimmer of light, Wang Wenzuo was able to see the official road. Further ahead was the small town of Jinyong, which was the remnant of Luoyang City built in the Western Jin Dynasty. During the Great War between the Eastern and Western Wei Dynasties, most of the battles surrounding Luoyang actually revolved around this small town. .

Wang Wenzuo led thousands of horses from the city at midnight. Through the pale moonlight in the clouds, the shadows of the steep mountains in the distance are faintly visible. After the heavy rain, the mist spread along the river and flooded the valley mouth. It was foggy and dark, so I couldn't see where the enemy's camp was. I could only hear the faint sound of beating watchmen.

"General, the fog is very heavy, do you still want to fight?" Acton asked.

"Of course!" Wang Wenzuo said with a smile: "When two armies are fighting, the one with the most anger will win! First explore the enemy's momentum, and then think of countermeasures!"

"Then let me challenge you!" Acton said with a smile. He took more than ten cavalry and rushed to the enemy camp, shouting a challenge. After a while, the door of the enemy camp opened, and more than twenty horses came out. The leader rode a gray silver war horse. The saddle was inlaid with precious stones. There was an iron curtain on the horse's head to block arrows. There were several arrows inserted on the curtain. A snow-white feather. The man on the horse holds his hair with a jade hairpin and is dressed in a light yellow military uniform with a rhinoceros armor on the outside. He placed his bow, arrows, and knife across the back of his saddle, shook his reins, and rode his horse forward without haste or slowness, and came forward to meet them.

Acton took a few steps forward. The distance between the two sides was within a stone's throw. The man reined in his horse and stopped, holding his bow in his hand. He shouted loudly: "What a traitor, how dare you resist the king's master!"

In order to facilitate galloping and archery, Acton's mount was unarmored and only wore sleeveless light armor. He had a turban on his head, a white round-collared narrow-sleeved military uniform, and rode a black-backed Northland horse. He wore a horned bow and a bow. , holding a spear in his hand, responded loudly: "I am the general's bodyguard and his own army, the Marquis of Yu on the left wing, Acton. You and I see life and death in our hands, no need to say more!"

After saying that, he kicked the horse in the belly and spurred the horse towards the opposite side. The knight on the opposite side quickly opened his bow and shot, but in desperation, the shot went high and flew over Acton's head. Acton took the opportunity and rushed close to the half-arrowed place. He clamped his mount with his feet. Suddenly he turned his hand and took out the bow from the bow bag on his side, and pulled out an arrow from the side of the horse's mane. This is where he usually hides his arrows. He doesn't have to reach for the quiver at the back, which often leaves the enemy unprepared. Just as he quickly drew his bow and nocked an arrow, the opponent across from him showed an expression of surprise and astonishment. He picked up the leather shield on his arm with his right hand and tried to cover it. But Acton's movement was too fast, and with only a soft sound, the iron arrow whizzed over and shot through the neck guard. The tip of the arrow penetrated from the right side of the neck until it disappeared from the arrow feathers. The knight turned over and fell off the horse. He still held the horse's reins with his left hand and raised the horse's front hooves to turn around. Then the body fell heavily on the mud.

All this happened so unexpectedly that before the Western troops on the opposite side could realize what was going on, their leader had already died under his horse. Without waiting for the other party to react, Acton roared angrily, straightened his spear and charged towards him. His horsemen also urged their horses to kill him. The Westerners were shocked by this and rushed their horses to escape. Who knew how to escape to the camp gate? At that time, the soldiers guarding the camp saw the pursuers behind them and did not dare to open the door. The Westerners outside could not get in, so they had no choice but to flee along the camp in embarrassment. Acton and others followed behind, with their bows and spears stretched out.

After winning the challenge, Acton and others raised their spears, carried the enemy's head and helmet, and shouted in front of the Western camp. They went back and forth five or six times, but no one dared to leave the camp to fight. As the sky gradually became brighter, Wang Wenzuo returned to his camp with the challenging soldiers. Only then did the generals learn that the commander-in-chief had led his troops to visit the enemy camp. Hei Te Changzhi complained: "How can the general, with his rich body, be so contemptuous of himself!"

"It's just this time, it won't be like this next time!" Wang Wenzuo said with a smile.

After the generals learned about this, their morale was greatly boosted, and even the recruits in Hebei no longer showed their original timidity. If there is a conflict between the woodcutter and collectors on both sides, the east side will often take the initiative to attack and drive the west side back to the camp. In this way, after only four or five days, the western army has fewer and fewer woodcutting lands, and the horse teams are out grazing. As they moved further and further west, the situation became increasingly unfavorable to the Western Army.

After several more days like this, the Western Army had to abandon its camp and retreat westward. Wang Wenzuo ordered his sudden cavalry to spread out their wings, divide them into several teams, and take turns attacking the enemy's baggage. Pei Xingjian knew that his cavalry was not as capable as Wang Wenzuo's, so he ordered the infantry to form several teams and take turns carrying the baggage. If he advanced, he would shoot with a strong crossbow, and if he retreated, he would move quickly. Although the advance of the Eastern Army knights was repelled in this way, they could only travel more than ten miles in one day, which was extremely slow.

Eastern Army Camp.

Hei Te Chang said: "General, if Pei Xingjian is marching so slowly, it is better to have three thousand partial troops march forward quickly, dig trenches to block the road, and block their return. If they hold on for more than ten days at most, they will be defeated!"

Wang Wenzuo did not answer immediately. He walked to the high ground and overlooked the enemy camp in the distance for a while: "Since you came up with this plan, I leave the trench digging to you! Pei Xingjian is a veteran general who is always adaptable to changes. You must act decisively and without delay!”

"You will finally understand!" Hei Te Changzhi responded.

The weather was still gloomy, but the activities of the Eastern Army became more and more frequent. Not only the cavalry on both sides, but also the frontal troops began to launch fierce attacks, especially the Hebei soldiers. Several partial divisions that broke through the strongholds around Luoyang learned that the West After the army came out of the customs, they also came back with reinforcements. They took turns to launch fierce attacks on the Western Army's rear troops. In order to avoid being defeated, Pei Xingjian had to dispatch more and more troops to replace the exhausted rear army. In this way, The Western Army retreated to Tongguan at an increasingly slower pace, covering only five or six miles in one day.

""(End of this chapter)