Jinghong Tower

Among the generals of the Ran army, Wu Ji was most familiar with He Dali.

Among all the young generals, He Dali is not the smartest, nor the most talented, nor the most experienced.

Wu Ji had fought with him before, and at that time, Wu Ji discovered that He Dali's greatest advantage was his execution ability.

He Ran told him to go east, and he would jump in without hesitation even if there was a river in the east.

Back then, Wu Ji once commented on He Dali in front of Wu Dongming: "He is brave but not wise, and he is loyal."

Facts have proved that He Dali was the first batch of generals under He Ran, and he also had the least military achievements and the lowest position so far.

He Xiulong and He Dali are from the same batch, but He Xiulong has become the top general of the Ran Army and is famous all over the world. Some people even speculate that He Xiulong may become the first female duke in history.

However, before coming to Shaanxi, He Dali was only the general of Jinyang, which was very different from He Xiulong.

Therefore, although He Dali swept all the way from Yuncheng to the outskirts of Xianyang City, Wu Ji did not take him seriously.

The first confrontation between the two sides ended with He Dali's defeat.

If the epidemic had not been raging in the Chang'an army, Wu Ji would have taken advantage of the victory to pursue the Ran army and drive it back to Yuncheng.

But things did not go as planned. Before the Chang'an army could recover from the battle, an epidemic broke out.

However, He Dali attacked the city at this time. Although Wu Ji was defeated, it did not affect his contempt for He Dali.

Although the Ran army had already chased into the city at this time, Wu Ji firmly believed that He Dali would not dare to fire cannons in the city.

why?
Because He Ran was well-known for her love for the people, regardless of whether she really loved the people like her own children, at least in previous battles, He Ran and her men had never massacred the people, nor had there been any reports of burning, killing and looting.

Wu Ji has just experienced the power of the Thunder Cannon.

The Xianyang city gate, which had been impregnable for hundreds of years, could not withstand the baptism of artillery fire, let alone the houses of ordinary people.

After a few artillery fire, the streets of Xianyang City were turned into a mess.

He Ran would definitely not let He Dali do this. He Dali can be called He Ran's personal guard, how could he not know He Ran's likes and dislikes?

Therefore, Wu Ji was sure that He Dali would not dare to use the Thunder Cannon in the city.

As long as he doesn't fire the cannon, the Chang'an army will not be afraid.

There are numerous streets and alleys in Xianyang City. The Ran army has just arrived and doesn’t even know the way. How can they fight this battle?
Wu Ji immediately gave orders to set up defenses in the main streets and alleys and create fixed defense points.

Wu Ji did understand He Dali. Just as Wu Ji thought, although He Dali's army had entered the city, he really did not dare to fire any cannons.

However, there was one thing Wu Ji did not guess correctly, that was that it was He Dali's main force that entered the city today, and as for Xianyang City and Xi'an City, they had already obtained the maps of these two cities on the way to Yuncheng.

In fact, not only these two cities, but also the topographic maps of the thirty-six counties and cities expanding outward with Xi'an as the center were all sent to He Dali via Jinghong Tower.

These maps were drawn by Pinggu and her men after thirty years of painstaking field investigations. After Pinggu's death, Wanqing collected these maps. When she learned that He Dali's army was marching towards Shanzhou, Wanqing sent someone to hand the maps to He Dali.

It was impossible for He Dali and his soldiers to remember all the maps, so he picked out the maps of Xi'an and Xianyang and asked the clerks to copy dozens of them for circulation among the army.

He Dali said, "Listen carefully, all of you. Remember these two pictures. Even if you forget which direction your front door opens, you must remember the place on the picture!"

Now the role of these two maps is reflected.

He Dali said, "Remember, try to avoid civilian casualties as much as possible. Of course, don't retreat if there are casualties. Also, the environment in the city is complicated. Even if you remember the roads, you must not underestimate the enemy. Don't advance or retreat rashly. Do you hear me?"

These were what Mr. He said when he was giving them a lecture. He Dali remembered everything Mr. He said clearly.

The battle lasted a whole day. At the beginning, the Chang'an army took advantage of the terrain to gain the upper hand, and the Ran army suffered heavy casualties. However, the Ran army outside the city quickly reinforced and the situation turned around in an instant. By the evening, Wu Ji had led his men to retreat to the west gate.

At this time, Wu Ji did not choose to flee to Xi'an, but chose Qianzhou.

Although Luo Yun, the general of Qianzhou, has less than 10,000 troops under his command, he is Wu Ji's childhood friend and Wu Ji trusts him the most.

Upon learning that Wu Ji was going to escape, He Dali immediately became alert.

Damn it, we can’t fire cannons in the city, but once we’re outside the city we can fire however we want, right?
Two members of the combat team who were accompanying the army immediately stopped him and said, "General, be patient, be careful of traps!"

He Dali was startled: "Luo Yun does not have many soldiers and horses, so it is difficult for him to provide support to Wu Ji. Let's catch up with them now and use a round of artillery fire to defeat them."

"But General, Xi'an has several times more soldiers than Qianzhou. Why didn't Wu Ji choose Xi'an but Qianzhou?"

A member of the combat team took out a sheepskin map, took the lantern, pointed to a place and said, "General, look here, this is called Erdao Mountain. If we go in from here, what will be the consequences?"

He Dali's expression changed. This place was too dangerous. If Wu Ji took this road, Luo Yun would have been waiting there to meet him.
He Dali narrowed his eyes slightly and said, "You Wu Ji, you still want to use the trick of closing the door and beating the dog on me."

Although I am a rough guy, I have a combat team. The members of the combat team are more familiar with military books than the hundred family names. If you want to plot against me, you can’t!
"Don't chase after a desperate enemy. Let Wu Ji live a few more days. Soldiers, clean up the city!"

The so-called cleansing of the city means searching for the remaining enemy troops in the city. Because it was a street fight, the enemy troops were scattered. Although Wu Ji had left, there were still many soldiers who had not received orders and were still in the city.

The search lasted until the next morning. As mentioned before, the real soldiers were not afraid of being captured. When they heard the Ran army's calls, they came out of their hiding places, laid down their weapons and surrendered.

Among them were even former Ran soldiers. Being captured was like going home. They were strung together with ropes and had to shamelessly ask the flag officer in charge of them: "Captain, can you help us apply for two biscuits? And water? Alas, we haven't eaten or drunk anything for a day, and we can't hold on any longer."

The flag officer glared at him and called him a "slacker", but he actually threw him a coarse flour cake and a water bag. When the other prisoners saw this, they also said that they were almost starving to death, and that prisoners who were hungry were not good soldiers.

These are all ordinary soldiers, they have food and drink, no matter whether they are the Chang'an Army or the Ran Army, as long as they don't withhold military pay, they are a good army.

But for some people, it is not that simple.

The Ran army's street cleansing continued. The Ran army would not burn, kill, or plunder, but that did not mean they would not disturb the people.

When the doors of many people's homes were knocked, Ran Jun would ask in a nice voice if anyone had come into the house. Most of the time these were routine inquiries. If the person said no, he would turn around and leave. But if there was someone who looked panicked, he would go in to check.

By the evening of the next day, more than 50 Chang'an soldiers who had hidden in private homes were found in the city.

Among these people, there must be spies from the Chang'an army.

He Dali killed them all without saying a word!
This is not killing prisoners. The real prisoners are anxious about when to be incorporated into the army. The earlier they are incorporated, the earlier they will receive military pay. Half of this month has passed, and the military pay of the Chang'an Army will not be returned. The Ran Army must not delay.

Therefore, those who hide in civilian houses and even take civilians’ wives and children as hostages are definitely not good people and their deaths do not deserve pity.

It was not until the third day, just after noon, that the sound of gongs and drums could be heard in the streets.

This is when the importance of reading is reflected.

Those who have not read the comic book are still hiding at home and trembling, while those who have read the comic book have already gone to knock on the door of the winery.

"Shopkeeper Huang, open the door, open the door, you are talking nonsense, please open the door and do business quickly, I need some wine!"

The boy opened the door and looked around. He found that the door of the house next door was still closed. The boy ran over and knocked on the door while shouting, "Xiao Hu, come out quickly. Let's go see which general is coming."

Little Tiger was making a fuss about wanting to go out, but his mother refused to let him go. When he heard his friend's voice outside the door, his eyes lit up: "Mom, I told you that you can go out by ringing the gong, but you didn't believe me. Look, Dabao has come out to play!"

After saying that, he broke free from his mother's hand, rushed to the yard and opened the gate. The two little kids held hands and walked towards the street together, talking as they walked. One said that the one coming must be the white horse and silver spear, and the other said that it must be the brave general.

Their knowledge was limited, but they knew several generals of the Ran army.

When they reached the street corner, several generals in armor came towards them. The two little kids were startled and took a few steps back, but they couldn't help raising their little heads with curiosity.

Dabao was a little bolder and said to the general walking in the middle: "You are definitely not a white horse and silver spear."

He Dali was confused. Whose kid was this? Wouldn’t he be scared when he saw him?

White horse and silver spear? Who is that?

Okay, he remembered, it was Lu Zhen.

"Who said I'm not the one with the white horse and silver spear? I am!" said He Dali.

Dabao shook his head like a rattle: "White Horse and Silver Spear are both beautiful and majestic, but you are not good-looking at all. You are definitely not White Horse and Silver Spear."

He Dali.
Before he could teach the kid not to judge people by their appearance, the little tiger said loudly: "You are so ugly, you are definitely not a woman, so you are not a brave general!"

After saying that, the two kids looked at each other, saw disappointment in each other's eyes, and then burst into tears together. The white horse and silver spear, the brave general whom they admired, did not come at all!
The two ran while crying. They wanted to tell the other friends that this group of Ran troops was not worth mentioning and they should not count on them anymore. They should just wait for the next group.

He Dali glared and shouted at the backs of the two little kids, "I am General Dali, a general who is both wise and brave and does not rely on his beauty!"

When the two little kids heard the words "General Dali", they finally stopped. They turned around at the same time and met He Dali's eyes, which were bigger than cow's eyes. So fierce!

The two little kids continued to run, but their last hope was gone. The living General Dali was even uglier than the one in the comic strip!
They want a handsome white horse and a silver spear, they want a handsome and brave general.

He Dali is actually not ugly, he just has a rough look and is still very manly.

But he did not grow up in line with the aesthetic standards of children. They prefer handsome brothers with red lips and white teeth, and heroic young ladies.

He Dali was extremely depressed. The deputy general beside him tried to hold back his laughter and said to He Dali, "General, I finally know why you haven't found a wife yet."

He Dali glared at him and said, "That's because I am too selfless to marry a wife."

Besides, most of the generals of the Ran army are young people, and those who are familiar with He Dali, both men and women, are all bachelors, including He Dadang.

However, there are also people like Feng Zan who have already remarried.

That's right, Feng Zan married a new wife after he came to Beijing. When he went south, his wife was already pregnant. Now the child is one year old. Feng Zan was over 40 years old and finally had his own flesh and blood. He was so proud of it that he even sent an invitation to He Dali, who had an average relationship with him.

Feng Zan's general's mansion was in the capital, and the full moon banquet was also held in the capital. At that time, He Dali was stationed in Jinyang, so he would not attend the banquet even if he received the invitation. He could only prepare a generous gift and ask someone to take it back, and he would definitely lose money!
In addition, when Feng Zan got married, He Dali also only sent a gift and didn't even get to drink a glass of wedding wine, and he still had to pay compensation!
Thinking of this, He Dali gritted his teeth, Feng Zan was too shameless.

At this time, Wu Ji, who fled in a hurry, did not wait for He Dali's pursuers, but was almost ambushed by Luo Yun's army lying in wait in Erdao Mountain.

As night fell, the ambushers saw a group of people walking into Erdao Mountain, and then another group of people came towards Erdao Mountain from behind.

The first group of people must be Wu Ji's army, and the ones coming behind are of course the pursuers.

let's hit!

There was no way, it was too dark and none of the three parties dared to light torches, so they couldn't see who was coming.

The ambush troops acted according to the original plan. After fighting for a while, both sides realized that they had made a mistake and that they were all their own people.

Luo Yun was so angry that he wanted to curse. Since you have escaped here, why do you have to split into two groups? Besides, where are the pursuers? Why are there no pursuers? They are all Chang'an troops?
Wu Ji was also angry. In order to wait for the pursuers, they had been walking and stopping along the way. They were already fleeing, and it was certainly impossible for the team to remain in order. As a result, the people behind them widened the distance from the front. When they reached Erdao Mountain, they were mistaken by Luo Yun's ambush troops as two groups of people, and the ones behind them were the pursuers of Ran's army.

It was not until the next morning that the scouts of the Ran army discovered the bodies of the Chang'an army on Erdao Mountain. They knew what had happened and came back to report to He Dali. Only then did everyone realize that there was a follow-up.

Wu Ji led his troops to temporarily retreat to Qianzhou. It was not until this time that he learned of his father's death.

Wu Ji was stunned and stared in disbelief at the guard who came to deliver the letter.

This guard was a member of Wu Dongming's entourage. When he arrived in Xianyang, fighting had already broken out there. Later, Wu Ji left the city through the west gate, and the guard chased him all the way, and finally delivered the news to Qianzhou. (End of this chapter)