Great Han Empire

Chapter 375

"The Journey to the West"

Author: Scarlet Coral
Chapter 10 Strong enemies show their tracks
"The hair is disheveled, and there is a band on the forehead, what does it look like!" He Chong complained dissatisfiedly as he touched the hair that was cut to the back of the head and shoulders according to Kucha's habit.

Luo An narrowly smiled and said, "Hey, Xiao He, what are you talking about? Look at the masters of the death camp, they cut their hair when they ask them to cut their hair, and they don't even say a word of nonsense. Learn from them too!"

"Hmph, these dead soldiers, I really doubt if they can speak human words besides slashing people with their swords? This is almost inhumane." He Chong said disdainfully, "Everyone is not serving the court, that ghost Who do you pretend to be?"

The dead men He and Luo mentioned were masters who temporarily joined the vanguard to help out.Since this "escort" task is of great importance, in addition to carefully selecting 100 people from the vanguard, more than [-] experts were also drawn from other troops. "Six masters were selected to go with them.Apart from eating and sleeping, these dead soldiers practice sword alone all day long. They keep away from strangers and look as cold as ice, wishing to walk into the shadows when they walk.Luo An and He Chong are optimistic by nature and have a wide range of friends. They have been able to get along well with other people along the way, but they have tried to get close to these dead soldiers a few times, but they have all met with refusal, and they feel uncomfortable.

Zhao Neng saw that the two of them were talking more and more outrageous, so he quickly stopped talking in a low voice: "Stop talking nonsense! What do you know? The dead soldiers under General Jiang's command were all selected from the orphans of the Xiliang battlefield. Seven or eight He started to practice martial arts at the age of 15, and joined the army to protect important generals since he was [-] years old. He was brave in battle and was not afraid of death. Any one picked at random is a top-notch character. How can you let you gossip here?"

"What Uncle Neng said is that these dead soldiers are a great help. If we can't get along, let's not provoke them!" Zhao Guang changed into a Kucha warrior costume, with white clothes like snow and long hair shawl, setting off his usual military uniform The rare Junmei came, he slowly swung the long sword of Kucha, let his body gradually become familiar with this exotic weapon, and said at the same time, "You have time to complain, why don't you practice your sword more, and by the way, say those few turtles. The words are proficient, and you can’t even use long weapons, and you are in a foreign country. The more familiar you are, the more sure you are.”

Zhang Hu said with a strange smile: "Old Zhao, you look more and more handsome in this outfit. I still suggest that you paste your face with mud, otherwise the person who is most likely to be spotted by the people of Shule is you! Qiuci How can there be such a talent." Zhao Guang blushed so much that he had no choice but to swing his sword on his own.

For this surprise attack on Shule, the backup force after seizing the city gate is also extremely important. Pang Desi deliberated and decided to let Gao Shun and his trapped camp take on this important task.

Gao Shun was not born in the three major direct families (Hebei, Yellow Turban, and Hu) in the original northern Xinjiang, so although he was brave and good at fighting, he was repeatedly excluded and his official career was not smooth.Fortunately, he is open-minded and upright by nature, and he is not keen on pursuing power and position, nor does he bother to form cliques, so he has avoided many factional struggles.After the Son of Heaven came to power, Gao Shun was recommended by Sima Yi to be reused. He was first promoted to be the leader of the Central Army, commanded the Habayashi Imperial Guard, and then moved to be the leader of the general.Gao Shun personally led the camp, although there were less than a thousand people, it was one of the most elite troops in northern Xinjiang.ZTE fought more than a dozen wars, and every time they fell into the camp, they went to the city to capture the flag and won every battle. They made outstanding achievements and made great sacrifices. The veterans who have been there since the establishment of the battalion only survived when they were in ZTE. .After ZTE, the emperor decreed to expand the camp. Now the whole battalion has a total of 4000 people, divided into [-] "charge" cavalry and [-] "charging" infantry. Directed by Gao Shun himself.

After receiving Pound's military order, Gao Shun and Pushan made a comprehensive plan together: when they approached Shule City, they split up with Pushan and his party. At night, the whole army quietly approached the city wall to ambush.When Zhao Guang's team captured the city gate, they held fire as a sign, trapped the camp and took the opportunity to attack and seize the whole city.

"After entering the city, we rely on Grandmaster to take care of our soldiers' safety." Gao Shun made a move on the chessboard and said with a smile, "After nightfall, Grandmaster will also need to help."

Putting his hands together, Pushan said: "General Gao, please relax. Since this plan was made by a poor monk, it will be fully protected by a poor monk. There are many believers in Shule, and there is no problem in entering the city."

Gao Shun asked: "The master led hundreds of guards into the city as an exile, wouldn't the Shule people be suspicious?"

"Hehe." Pushan smiled and put his son down, "Both the royal families of Shule and Qiuci believe in my Buddha. When the poor monk went to Shule in the past, the king of Qiuci sent nearly a thousand soldiers to protect the Dharma. Shule didn't think so. Strange. Even if Shule sees that I have many guards, he will not be suspicious. What is worrying is how will the general suppress the people of Shule after he enters the city? You must know that the Shule people are brave, but the capital of the Western Regions Incomparable."

Hearing this, Gao Shun remained silent, feeling quite disapproving: As long as the city is broken, can the Shule people's necks be stronger than our army's swords?

When Pushan arrived in Shule City, he was warmly welcomed.King Shule led the princes and nobles to greet Dharma driver at the gate of the city, and entered Shule City with Pushan holding hands.The hearts of the people in Shule were all captured by Pushan, and no one doubted the origin of the "Gucha Guards".After the ceremony, Pushan and his disciples stayed in Ananda Temple, the largest temple in Shule, while the guards stayed in the post house.

The architectural pattern of Shule City is greatly influenced by Qiuci, but the scale is much smaller, and the distance from south to north is only three or four miles.As Shule’s national strength has grown in recent years, its role as a thoroughfare to the Western Regions has also become more and more important. With the gathering of merchants, the narrow city wall can no longer accommodate it, and many new shops, temples and residential buildings can only be built outside the city. .During the day, thousands of merchants gather, and the city is noisy and crowded; even at night, it is still bustling, and it does not gradually quiet down until midnight.

At this time, a few black shadows approached the city wall quietly. After observing no one left and right, they whistled, and more than a hundred black shadows rushed out from the corner of the street and gathered quietly.

Zhao Guang waited for the whole team to finish, and waved the crowd to bend down, and winked at the six dead soldiers.The six people got the order, drew out the thin swords around their waists, tiptoed, and took the lead to climb towards the city wall.

The defense of Shule City Gate was not as tight as imagined. The six dead men were like six black cats, and they touched them all the way silently. He went up to the tower without any risk.Zhao Guang and others followed, lying on the steps near the top of the city wall, observing the situation on the city wall.

"It's a bit vigilant. There are more than [-] people near the city tower, ten people at the winch of the city gate, and more than [-] people on the city wall within [-] feet." Tuobafeng glanced at it and found out the general situation , said in a low voice, "My lord, I suggest that the troops be divided into three groups: I and the brothers from the Death Soldiers Battalion went to capture the capstan, my lord took [-] people to suppress the tower and released the signal, and the other brothers quickly wiped out the enemies on the nearby wall."

It was the first time for Zhao Guang to participate in such a sneak attack. Seeing that Tuobafeng, who was good at scouting, said so, it was not wrong to think about it, so he nodded and simply conveyed the order.The six "black cats" didn't need Zhao Guangduo's words, when they saw the gesture, they rushed out like lightning.

Tuobafeng held two swords in his hands, and the dead man rushed to the capstan first. The dagger in his left hand pierced the back of a Shule guard's head, and he swung a sword in his right hand to cut off the other man's neck. He abandoned his left hand. With the sword in both hands, he threw himself into the arms of the No.3 enemy and nailed him to the city wall.The few dead soldiers were naturally unambiguous, and they all killed the enemy in front of them at the same time. Seeing Tuoba Fengtu rising and falling to kill three people in a row, there was a rare bit of appreciation in his eyes when he looked at him and respect.Tuobafeng didn't dare to delay, and hurriedly motioned for several people to help open the city gate together.

At this time, the battle on the city wall was basically over.Although Zhao Guang and others were not good at assassination, they quickly wiped out only a few hundred Shule soldiers by relying on their numbers and good fighting skills.According to the plan, Zhao Guang ordered people to shoot three rockets into the sky, light a special torch and wave it around.Not long after, there were shadows not far outside the city, and a large group of people rushed towards the city gate.Zhao Neng clapped his hands and smiled. "Okay, the big thing is done!"

Just as Pu Shan said, the people of Shule are tough and tough, and they are far better than those of other countries in the Western Regions.Although Gao Shun led his troops to break into the palace as soon as he entered the city, and escorted the royal family of Shule, and disarmed the entire army in Shule city, but the resistance of the people has continued since the day of the Han army.Thousands of Shule people, old and young, flooded the streets, attacked the Han army with bricks and sticks, set up obstacles on the road, and even sneaked into the Han army camp at night and set fire to it.Gao Shun had no choice but to order the whole army to be on alert, close the market, prohibit gatherings, and strengthen patrols. If there is any sign of rebellion, he will be killed without mercy. After cutting off thousands of heads and hanging them on the street, he finally gradually controlled them. situation.Three days later, the main forces of the two Western Expeditions gradually entered the city in batches. Seeing that resistance was hopeless, the Shule people finally settled down completely.

Although the situation in Shule was settled, the security in the city had not yet been lifted. Zhao Guang still led a team to patrol the streets as in the past few days.Looking at the desolate streets and the unresolved hostility in the eyes of the Shule people, Zhao Guang felt a little emotional: the great Han has always ruled the world with benevolence and filial piety, and he also pays more attention to benevolence and righteousness to the barbarians in the Quartet, but this time he treats Shule all I don't know if Thunder's method is right or wrong.At this moment, Tuobafeng ran up to him and said in a deep voice: "My lord, a group of foreign people gathered in the square ahead, all of them were hiding weapons, and they behaved strangely, which is very suspicious."

Zhao Guang led the crowd forward, and sure enough, he saw a group of strangely dressed, high-nosed and deep-eyed foreigners forming a circle and prostrate on the ground.A bonfire was burning in the center of the circle, and a man in a red robe stood in front of the fire, with his hands outstretched, muttering words.Zhao Neng leaned closer to Zhao Guang's ear and said, "Young master, these people seem to be the rumored members of the Fire Worship Cult who live in the far west. I don't know why these people came all the way to Shule." Zhao Guang nodded and ordered Luo An, He Chong and others led people to block the street entrance, and the rest of the crowd surrounded those people and confiscated their weapons.A few soldiers stripped off the red-robed man's coat like wolves and tigers, tied him up with a rope, and threw him in front of Zhao Guang.It was only then that everyone discovered that the man was only a young man in his 20s. Although he had blue eyes and brown hair, he looked very delicate and elegant. Although he was being tied up, there was no panic on his face. His big eyes kept looking at everyone.

Just as they were about to be interrogated, Luo An, who was guarding the street, shouted, "Who is it!", followed by a series of sounds of weapons being knocked into the air. When everyone looked back, they saw a bearded man in a yellow shirt. The big man shouted loudly, raised his sword and rode his horse to kill here.Zhao Guang took a few steps forward in a calm manner, stood still with his gun in his hands, his feet swayed unevenly, and his legs were slightly bent. The spear pierced through the knight's armpit like a poisonous snake, and reached the handle of the gun. Taking advantage of the situation, he teased his hand and picked him off the horse.

Luo An caught up from behind, desperately wanting to go forward to make up a few more stabs, but found that the knight had died, so he put the saber back into its sheath resentfully, and shouted to the interpreter of Qiuci next to him: "This thief is rushing while rushing!" What are you shouting for? You’re tearing your voice out?” The Gucha interpreter shook his head and said he couldn’t understand, but he saw the young man struggling to climb up to the knight’s body, looked at the wound, and spoke to the interpreter in Gucha After talking a few words, I finally understood, and said to everyone: "This man said that the dead man was one of the most powerful knights in the country of Parthia (Anxi, also known as Parthia, a powerful country in Central Asia), and he was the knight's leader. Servants, their masters and servants came to Shule for the purpose of doing business with the country of Parthia."

The young man bowed to the corpse a few times, moved to Zhao Guang, and said a few words in Kucha dialect. The interpreter hurriedly translated to Zhao Guang and said, "My lord, he said his name is Arda. Since you Kill his master, and according to the laws of the rest of the country, he will be your servant from now on."

"Ah?" Zhao Guang had never seen such a confessor before, and he was quite dumbfounded. After exchanging a look with Zhao Neng, he signaled the soldiers to let go of the young man's rope, and said helplessly to the interpreter, "What a mess." , you tell him for me that I am a general of the Han Dynasty, and the law of the Han Dynasty forbids random servants. Since he is only a servant, I have no intention of embarrassing him, let him take the body of the master away for burial."

After hearing the interpreter's translation of these words, the young man named Arda suddenly became excited, said a few words, and nodded to Zhao Guang repeatedly. After hearing this, the interpreter said in surprise: "My lord, he said It must be the will of Vulcan to see you. He has important news to tell you that on their way to the east, they found a large number of Guishuang Empire troops approaching Congling, the number is nearly [-]!"

(End of this chapter)