Great Han Empire

Chapter 345 The Swordsman
Liu Bei checked the equipment of his subordinates one by one, each with two knives, round shield, and hand crossbow.Junhou Guan Yu stood behind Zhang Fei, fastened his saber tightly, and told him in a low voice to keep close to him, so as not to be so aggressive as to run around.

Zhang Fei smiled and said, "Brother Yun, if I die, you can send my body home."

Guan Yu glared at him, and said dissatisfiedly: "Death is death, where can't the bones be buried?"

"My house is only a dozen miles away from here. You just need to run there. Tell my father that I was brave in fighting outside, and I didn't embarrass him."

"Have you done too few embarrassing things?" Guan Yu scolded with a smile, "If uncle asks, I'll tell you that Yide fell into the moat and drowned."

Zhang Fei's fair and handsome face immediately pulled down, and he pretended to be angry and said: "If you die, I will still feed you into the river to feed the fish. Anyway, your home is in Jie County, Hedong, and I can't send you back."

Guan Yu laughed, but the expression on his face was very bitter.Zhang Fei's words reminded him of his hometown and his relatives.He hasn't been home for six years, how are his parents?How is your wife?A battle of life and death is ahead, and they may never be seen again.

"Brother Yun, if you don't die this time, I'll accompany you back to your hometown." Zhang Fei saw the sadness in Guan Yu's heart, and turned to comfort him.

Guan Yu patted Zhang Fei's thick shoulder and did not speak.

The Guan family has been blacksmiths for generations, and Guan Yu learned blacksmithing from his father since he was a child.When he was young, he was brave and powerful, hated evil as much as his enemy, and loved to fight injustice, so he was a well-known fighter in the local area. When he was 19 years old, he went to Jiecheng to sell ironware, and saw an old man lying on the ground crying loudly after being beaten all over his body.Out of righteous indignation, Guan Yu went up to inquire.The old man said that he was Han Zheng Han Shouyi, a teacher from the county school. His daughter was raped and raped by Lu Xiong, a rich man in the city. .Lu Xiong is a relative of Guo Sheng's family who served in Zhongchang. He exploited the local people, bullied men and women, and did all kinds of bad things.At that time, due to the presence of salt ponds in Jiecheng, the groundwater was salty and inedible. There were only a few sweet water wells scattered throughout the city for the people to drink.Lu Xiong colluded with the government and filled up several sweet water wells in the city, leaving only one sweet water well in his courtyard.You have to pay to fetch water from his house, and there is an additional rule that only young and beautiful women are allowed to fetch water, otherwise they are not allowed to enter his house.The young woman who came in was either molested by him or raped by him.Although the people in Xiecheng were angry and angry, but Lu Xiong had a backer, no one could do anything about it.Hearing this, Guan Yu was furious, and broke into Lu Xiong's mansion that night, killing all 74 members of Lu Xiong's family, including dozens of Hakkas, and rescued Han Zheng's daughter. out.Afterwards, Guan Yu climbed out of the city wall overnight, ran home and dismissed his family members, and fled to northern Xinjiang in a panic.

When Guan Yu wandered to Zhuocheng, his beard had already grown more than two feet. He guessed that no one would recognize him, so he sold tofu in the city.Guan Yu's temper didn't change, he was still nosy, and would fight against injustices at every turn, so he became acquainted with Zhang Fei, a butcher in the city.

Zhang Fei himself does not sell meat, and his family is considered a small rich man in Zhuocheng, with a manor outside the city.Zhang Fei looks handsome, just like his mother, but he has a bad temper, he is not good at studying and martial arts, and he even clamors to join the army to fight.Of course his father was unwilling and forced Zhang Fei to study at home. He hoped that his son would become an official and honor his ancestors in the future.Zhang Fei didn't read the scriptures, but his handwriting was good, and his good handwriting was well-known in Zhuocheng.

Zhang Fei admired Guan Yu's martial arts so much that he asked Guan Yu to go home and practice martial arts with him.Guan Yu ignored him at all and continued to sell his own tofu.The young Zhang Fei was very helpless, so he had to invite Guan Yu to drink every now and then, and let him teach him martial arts by the way.The two are also teachers and friends, and they have been inseparable for several years, just like brothers.When Zhang Fei married his wife, he asked his daughter-in-law to toast Guan Yu and call her uncle. His wife was very upset. What does a vulgar tofu seller have to do with the Zhang family?
Although the emperor gave amnesty to the world several times in recent years, Guan Yu dared not go home.Lu Xiong is dead, but his relatives and friends are still there. If they know that Guan Yu has returned home, they will not let him go.When Liu Bei summoned volunteer soldiers in Zhuocheng, Guan Yu, who had nowhere to go, ran away.He thought, with his martial arts, he might be able to get a job in the future after he made military exploits, and when he goes home, he will see who dares to touch himself and his family.Hearing that Guan Yu was going with Liu Bei to Pingyuan County, Qingzhou, Zhang Fei was in a hurry, and ran away after Guan Yu without telling his parents.

In the past two years, they have fought many battles with Liu Bei. Because of their outstanding martial arts and repeated military exploits, they were successively promoted to military lords and false military lords. Liu Bei regarded them very highly and regarded them as his brothers. , cited as the right-hand man.

"Wait a moment, Lord Tian Kaitian attacked the left city wall, and Wu Chi Wu attacked the right city wall. Under the cover of strong archers, we directly attacked the tower." After checking the equipment of the soldiers, Liu Bei walked up to the two of them and said, "I am from Go on the right side of the drawbridge, and you two go on the left side of the drawbridge."

Zhang Fei said with a smile: "The two captains are also going to battle in person?"

Liu Bei nodded, and solemnly said to the two of them: "Yun Chang, Yi De, don't come down after you go up, unless you are dead, you are not allowed to come down."

Guan Yu looked up at the towering city tower and said with a sneer, "don't worry, my lord. After we go up, we will cut down the big banner. Once the big banner falls, the rebels will be in chaos."

In the distance, Liu Yu and Zou Jing lined up with a thousand infantry, followed by Gongsun Zan's cavalry.As long as the city gate is opened, the army will rush in.

===

The war drums were beating, and in an instant, the arrows were like locusts, the flow of people was rushing, and the sound of killing shook the sky.

Holding a shield in one hand and a sword in the other, Liu Bei stood at the forefront of the assault team.He looked at the left city wall for a while, and at the right city wall for a while, anxiously waiting for the moment to charge.

After he was defeated by the rebels near Guangzong in Jizhou last year, his army was almost wiped out. For this reason, he always wanted to avenge his dead brother, and even more wanted to clear his past shame.Today, as long as he enters the city, he can avenge his revenge.

Tian Kai and Wu Chi personally led their troops to attack. The attack was so fierce that the rebel soldiers defending the city were unable to resist, and the drums beating for help kept coming and going.Cheng Gan, the leader of the rebel army defending the southern city, had to transfer the soldiers stationed on the tower to both sides of the city wall to support them again and again.Liu Yu saw that the time was ripe, and decisively waved and ordered: "Attack the tower."

===

Liu Bei's blood boiled, and he looked back and yelled: "Brothers, kill..."

Sixty assault soldiers were divided into two teams. Under the leadership of Liu Bei and Guan Yu, they roared all the way, crossed the moat like lightning, set up ladders, and swarmed up.

The defenders on the city tower rushed to the edge of the city wall despite the dense arrow array of the Han army, and the rolling stones and trees suddenly fell like rain, and the arrows flew horizontally.Liu Bei rushed to the front. He had just passed a roaring log, and was hit by several boulders in a blink of an eye, making him dizzy and dizzy.At this moment, Liu Bei had no desire to survive. He stared at his blood-red eyes, bared his teeth and roared loudly, with only one thought in his mind, to rush up, to the tower.

The dense long arrows on the city tower shot at his shield at close range, and the huge "dong dong" sound hit the eardrums, and the black arrow clusters pierced through the shield and jumped crazily in front of Liu Bei's eyes. More The cluster of arrows was directly nailed to Liu Bei's iron helmet, making a "jingling" knocking sound. The impact of the long arrows made him tremble all over, and his eyes stared like gold stars.

A boulder fell down in the air, and the round shield shattered with a "boom".With sharp eyes and quick hands, Liu Bei grabbed the ladder, and at the same time thrust through the top of his head. With a loud roar, he hit the boulder with his head.The boulder was hit by him, changed direction and hit him on the back.Liu Bei was hit hard, and he spit out a mouthful of blood when he opened his mouth.The spear pierced.

"go to hell……"

Liu Bei was about to burst into tears. He grabbed the three stabbing spears with both hands.At this moment, a village chief who followed Liu Bei grabbed Liu Bei's ankle with both hands.

"My lord, come on..."

Liu Bei understood, and roared with all his strength, and his vigorous body rose into the air with the help of the village chief's throw.Liu Bei was in the air, shaking his hand and piercing a rebel soldier who was about to throw a stone with a spear, and at the same time punched the archer who raised his bow and shot with a volley.

"Hoo..." Li Xiao's long arrow wiped the iron helmet and flew into the sky with a string of sparks.

"Boom..." Liu Bei punched the archer out of the city wall.

"Brothers, go up, go up..." Liu Bei went crazy, the spear in his left hand was flying up and down, and the sword was pulled out from behind with his right hand, sweeping across thousands of troops, blocking the invincible, a few rebel soldiers guarding the walls of the city in a blink of an eye He cut it clean.The head of the village and several Han soldiers took the opportunity to rush forward.

"Form the formation, form the formation..." Liu Bei hoarse, like a beast, bravely took the lead, "Brothers, kill, kill..."

===

With one hand and one shield, Guan Yu blocked all the arrows, stones and woods one by one. Like an agile cheetah, he quickly climbed to the top of the ladder.

"Yide, get up, hurry up..."

Without hesitation, Zhang Fei grabbed Guan Yu's armor, and using both hands and feet, stepped on Guan Yu's head and rushed up to the city wall, "I'll kill you alive..." Zhang Fei casually threw a shield at a rebel who was rushing up holding a stone. The soldier was thrown upside down, and at the same time, the saber was chopped off, and a spearman was chopped to pieces, and his head was chopped off.

Guan Yu rushed up after him, smashing one to death with a shield, then drew his two knives from behind, glanced disdainfully at the swarming rebels, and roared in a deep voice: "Yide, follow me to cut down the big one!"纛, let's go..."

Zhang Fei kicked away the enemy in front of him, turned his head and shouted at the Han soldiers who were charging up: "Go, go, brothers, go up, cut off the big banner..."

Guan Yu roared forward, slashing left and right with his two knives, no one could stop him, Zhang Fei followed closely behind, and several Han soldiers each held their knives and shields, fighting bravely to be the first.

Liu Bei is on the left, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei are on the right, and the Han soldiers are unstoppable.

Cheng Gan led a team of personal soldiers to kill them, and the two sides entangled in the narrow place of the tower, fighting endlessly.The rebels wanted to push the Han army back to the city, and the Han army had to stick to this piece of land to cover more soldiers going to the city.Cheng Gan hacked to death seven Han soldiers in a row, and ran into Guan Yu head-on.The tall and mighty Guan Yu let out a roar, and chopped off with one knife, immediately chopping Cheng Qianlian and others into two pieces with the knife.The death of the leader enraged the soldiers of the rebels even more, and they rushed forward in disregard of their lives, making the scene even more bloody.

The number of soldiers of the Han army decreased as they fought more and more, and the situation was extremely unfavorable.

While fighting the enemy with all his strength, Liu Bei shouted wildly: "Cut down the big banner, cut it down..."

Guan Yu, who was more than ten steps away, was slashed by a rebel soldier desperately. This knife instantly aroused his fierceness, "How dare you cut me, go to hell..."

He chopped off the rebel's head with a knife, and then pierced the chest and abdomen of the enemy soldier with another knife.The spears of the rebels came flying.Guan Yu gave up the knife in his left hand, grabbed the spear of the rebel, and cut the enemy's throat with a single blow, and the hot blood immediately sprayed Guan Yu's head and face.

"Yide, follow me..."

Guan Yu roared repeatedly, holding the knife in both hands, and under the cover of Zhang Fei, like a bloodthirsty beast, he strode towards the big banner more than ten steps away.Every step, there must be enemy soldiers down.Guan Yu advanced nine steps in a row, and there were already seventeen corpses lying under his feet.When the saber was broken, Guan Yu still didn't retreat, he punched and kicked, and killed three more people.

"Knife……"

Zhang Fei yelled, grabbed the enemy's spear, and handed over his own saber.With Guan Yu's saber in hand, facing the densely intercepted enemy soldiers, one knife kills three lives, and blood spurted out in all directions, forming a blood mist all over the sky.Guan Yu rushed through the bloody fog, aimed at the flagpole of the big banner and swung his saber.

Zhang Fei's spear flew up and down around Guan Yu, and he picked off all kinds of weapons cut from the surroundings one by one.In this short moment, Zhang Fei was shot three times and seven times. Although his body was heavily armored, blood was already overflowing from his body.When Liu Bei arrived, he protected Zhang Fei, and the Han soldiers who followed Liu Bei arrived, and they used their bodies to protect Liu Bei.

Under the big banner, dozens of people gathered together and shouted hoarsely. The soldiers on both sides put their lives on the line and hacked wantonly.

Guan Yu slashed vigorously, chopped seven times in one breath, and the knife broke. Guan Yu quickly took a step back, aimed all his strength at the flagpole and hit it, "Fall..."

With a sound of "click", the tall flagpole half a foot thick broke with a bang, and the big banner fell obliquely, and then turned over the tower and fell to the bottom of the city.

"Kill..." The cheers were earth-shattering in an instant, and the morale of the soldiers of the Han army was greatly boosted, shouting in unison, and the attack was extremely ferocious.

When the banner fell, the rebel soldiers were terrified and their morale plummeted. After a short period of crazy counterattack, the defense on the entire city wall suddenly collapsed, and the rebel soldiers began to retreat like a tide.

===

"Beating the drum, beating the drum..."

Liu Yu excitedly raised his sword and shouted, "Children...kill..."

Gongsun Zan saw the big banner on the tower slammed down, and immediately galloped along the cavalry battalion, "Brothers, prepare to charge..."

Tian Kai and Wu Chi had personally attacked the city tower at this time, and they directed the siege soldiers to attack quickly along the long stone steps, and they wanted to rush to the bottom of the city to open the city gate.

The rebels had just fled to the city, and Zhao Chengcheng came with reinforcements.He took the lead, led the soldiers, and fought back frantically.The two sides launched a fierce hand-to-hand combat under the tower.

The Han soldiers on the city lowered the drawbridge.Zou Jing and his soldiers quickly crossed the suspension bridge and gathered under the city gate, waiting for the gate to open before entering the city to attack.

Zhao Cheng rode on the horse and kept waving his halberd, urging his soldiers to fight bloody and never retreat.

Liu Bei took more than 20 of his subordinates to attack at the forefront.He saw Zhao Cheng from a distance, and shouted loudly: "Kill the rebel general, kill him..."

Guan Yu tried his best to throw an enemy soldier in front of him, just looked up and saw Zhao Cheng, his blood was surging, he raised his knife and shouted: "Brothers, follow me..."

Liu Bei, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei approached quickly, and with Guan Yu as an arrow, they fought hard to kill Zhao Cheng.Layer after layer of rebels, as if they could never be killed.Zhao Cheng saw the Han army approaching quickly, so he pulled his horse back slowly.

"Yide, throw the gun and shoot him, shoot him..." Seeing Zhao Cheng retreating further and further, Guan Yu couldn't help being anxious and roaring repeatedly.

While flying his long sword, Liu Bei looked back and shouted: "Sword and axe, protect Zhang Fei, protect him..."

Zhang Fei took a step back, aimed at Zhao Chengcheng's spear and threw it out.In the past, he often practiced shooting at home, and he always threw without hair.The spear spun violently in the air, screaming fiercely, drawing a beautiful arc.Zhao Cheng suddenly found a spear shot from the air. He didn't even think about it, and amidst the exclamation of the soldiers, he rolled over and got off the horse.The spear "hoo..." was nailed straight into the horse's back, and the horse hissed in pain, and suddenly went into a frenzy, jumping and kicking, ramming around, and the scene was in chaos.Zhao Cheng was caught off guard, and was slapped twice by the war horse. He was in a panic, and the soldiers hurriedly dragged him to a safe place.

But in such a short moment, the stalemate turned into a one-sided situation.

The generals and soldiers of the Han army thought that the leader of the rebel army had been killed, and there was thunderous cheers and morale, and they all shouted forward, unstoppable.The rebel soldiers thought that their superior had been killed, and their morale was drained, so they lost all interest in fighting and retreated again and again.The army was defeated like a mountain.

The soldiers of the Han army waiting below the city had long been impatient. They saw that the city gate had just been opened a crack, and they rushed in immediately.

===

Gongsun Zan led the cavalry to hack and kill all the way, and rushed to the north city gate as quickly as possible, and captured the floating bridge across the river.Zhao Cheng fled in panic with hundreds of people.

The rebels in the city suffered heavy casualties, and they became even more chaotic after losing their command. After barely resisting for a while, they disarmed and surrendered.

Liu Yu led a large group of troops into Zhuocheng.

"Tell General Zhenbei that Zhuocheng has fallen, and we will rush to Jicheng immediately."

===

Seeing that Li Hong's army stopped still thirty miles away from Jicheng, Zhang Chun was very anxious, and repeatedly sent Karasuma cavalry to provoke him, but Li Hong did not move.

Li Hong received news from Liu Yu that day, knowing that Zhuocheng had been captured, he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.What he worries most is that the supply of food and grass will not be available.Now that Zhuocheng has fallen, and the rebels are defending the enemy with their backs, under such unfavorable circumstances, will the rebels still want to fight to the death?But now Li Hong has the confidence to win.

"Send the order, the army advances ten miles."

===

Zhang Chun concealed the news of the fall of Zhuocheng.While strictly prohibiting the soldiers from entering and leaving the camp, he ordered Zhao Cheng to withdraw directly to Yongnu with the remnant soldiers.

At this time, the scouts came to report that Li Hong's army had already rushed to Jicheng.

Zhang Chun was overjoyed, and immediately organized his troops out of the camp to form an array, and only waited for Li Hong's army to arrive, and immediately launched an attack.However, in the afternoon, the news sent by the scouts made Zhang Chun furious.After Li Hong walked ten miles, he set up camp.

In the evening, the Karasuma people were the first to know that Zhuocheng had fallen, and then the senior officers of the army also learned the news through their own channels, and everyone went to the big account to question Zhang Chun.

Zhang Chun sneered and said, "Can we retreat now?" Pointing in the direction of Li Hongtun's army outside the tent, he said loudly, "The leopard is twenty miles away from us. If we retreat at this time, what will be the consequences? If I can retreat, I will stay there." What are you doing here? The leopards came so fast, if we could withdraw we would have withdrawn a few days ago. I have already said countless times why we fought this battle, and I don’t want to say it again. We want to gain a firm foothold in Youzhou, everyone Just work together to win this battle, don't be half-hearted."

"One hundred thousand troops retreat, I forgive him for not being able to chase after them." Wu Yanse said sternly.

Wu Yan had been defeated by Li Hong at the Bailing Ranch back then, and was almost killed by Li Hong, so he wanted revenge and was a little scared. Hearing that Zhuocheng fell, he didn't want to fight anymore, and he was in a hurry to leave.

Zhang Chun looked at him, and asked meaningfully: "Has your lord forgotten the ferocity of the leopard? If the leopard occupies Jicheng intact, the next target will not be my Feirucheng in Liaoxi, but your Youbeiping Karasuma tribe." .”

Wu Yan's expression changed.

"Lu Longsai is still in the hands of the Han army." Zhang Chun glanced at everyone and asked, "Do you know why I haven't attacked Lu Longsai?"

Of course everyone understood what Zhang Chun was thinking. He was afraid that he would offend Leopard and suffer his crazy revenge.There are family members of Leopard's subordinates in Lulongsai. If Lulongsai is not attacked, it is actually leaving a way out for him.Back then, Leopard even killed Tuoba Feng's son for a group of Xianbei women and children whom he had never met before. Later, for a Xianbei woman, he killed King Xianbei and Lian's wedding party.It's better not to annoy this kind of person.If he is provoked, he will go to Liaoxi and Liaodong even with scars, and then he will be in trouble.

"Injure this leopard, and we'll be fine." Zhang Chun said, "The leopard is worried about Bingzhou, and we didn't provoke him. After the Battle of Jicheng, there were Xianbei people in the north to contain him, so he didn't They will come to Liaoxi and Liaodong to trouble us again."

Then he looked at Wu Yan coldly and said, "You'd better not think about running away, think about what you have done? Did you snatch that woman away when you fought in Endless City?"

Qiu Liju also snorted in dissatisfaction, and said, "If you snatch that woman away, you'd better send her back to Lulongsai immediately, so as not to provoke the disaster of extermination."

Wu Yan stood up angrily and said, "I said earlier that I didn't snatch that woman. She was taken away by Lu Longsai's people."

"Then why do you say she is as beautiful as the moon in the sky?" Zhang Chun asked, "How do you know?"

"The handsome guy in my family told me." Wu Yan explained, "After I heard that Leopard had a woman in the city of endless, I sent people to snatch it several times, but failed once. This woman lives in the city of endless In the Tian family in the final city, there are many masters in the Tian family, and they can't get close at all."

Zhang Chun glanced at him suspiciously, and said with a sneer, "During the war, Your Majesty should do more to avoid trouble in the future."

===

The next day, Li Hong led the army and walked ten miles slowly, but did not leave again.

Zhang Chun led the army to wait in full battle, from morning to afternoon, waiting for several hours in vain.The rebel soldiers were exhausted and complained a lot, scolding Zhang Chun and all the generals.

Liu Yu's army suffered heavy losses when they attacked Zhuocheng. In addition, some troops had to be left to guard the prisoners and protect the food and supplies, so there was a serious shortage of troops. He was worried about being attacked by Karasuma cavalry, so he was cautious along the way, and only left in one day. fifty miles.

After Zhao Yun received Li Hong's military order, he immediately ordered Liu Ming to garrison Lucheng with [-] Xiongnu cavalry, and himself and Yan Wuwei led [-] cavalry to kill Yongnu.

The guard of Yongnu, Xian Yuchen, who had been prepared for a long time, immediately closed the four gates and led more than 1 soldiers to defend the city.Five thousand Karasuma iron cavalry, led by Tadun, the servant of Bailang King Qiu Liju, lined up along the river, ready to fight.Ta Dun is about 20 years old, not tall, with a strong figure and a pair of shrewd small eyes.He is a concubine, among Qiu Liju's more than a dozen concubine sons, he is the most outstanding in martial arts and strategy, so Qiu Liju is very relieved to let him lead the army.

Ta Dun saw the Han army galloping menacingly, and immediately swung his army to attack.When the distance between the two sides was two hundred paces, the Han army suddenly turned their horses. Zhao Yun and Duanxuan led the army to the left, and Xinhu Zongliu led the army to the right. The army was divided into two and rushed along the southeast of Yongnu City.

Without hesitation, the warlord chased after him.

As soon as the Wuwan people left the bank of the Gu River, Yan Wuwei appeared from the northwest of Yongnu City with two thousand cavalry.They rushed up the pontoon bridge quickly, sprinkled oil on the fire, lit the fire, and then ran along the same road.

Ta Dun saw thick smoke billowing over the Gu River, and immediately realized that he had been tricked by the Han people, and hurriedly turned his head.By the time he arrived at the river panting with his army, the pontoon bridge had long been burned.Ta Dun was so angry that he cursed.

Xian Yuchen hurriedly led people out of the city to build a pontoon bridge.This pontoon bridge is a life-saving pontoon for the rebels, and it must be kept no matter what.It is needed for the retreat of the army, and it is also needed for the large amount of supplies brought from Jicheng.Now that Ta Dun knew the purpose of the Han army's iron cavalry coming to Yongnu, he never left the banks of the Gu River. He just stood guard at both ends of the pontoon bridge, not going anywhere.

Zhao Yun led the iron cavalry around, although it blocked the transportation of rebel supplies, but there was no way to mobilize Tadun's iron cavalry to destroy the pontoon bridge.At this moment, he received the news that Liu Ming had lost Lucheng, and Zhao Yun was dumbfounded.

===

(End of this chapter)