Great Han Empire

Chapter 442
The setting sun is like blood.

On the battlefield, the sound of drums and cheers resounded across the field.In the distance, the desolate and whimpering horn gradually became inaudible as the cavalry gradually went away.

Zhang Yan, who was covered in blood, held the garrison knife in his hand, and looked helplessly at the receding back of the Xianbei people, and slowly knelt down on the ground.His ears were filled with excited cheers, bloody stumps and broken arms were piled up in front of his eyes, but his heart was in great pain as if his internal organs and six lungs had been cut off. Zhang Yan slowly lay down on the ground, holding his head in his hands, crying bitterly. stand up.Zhang Baiqi stood behind Zhang Yan, looked at his violently twitching shoulders, and heard his hoarse crying, felt sad for a while, and tears immediately soaked his eyes.

Master Xiangkai was holding the long halberd, sitting exhausted in a pool of blood, with a dull expression.Several Dazhitang disciples who survived by chance surrounded him, cheering and jumping with thunderous roars.

Yu Digen carried Xiang You's body, surrounded by a group of Yellow Turban soldiers, and walked slowly towards the rear of the battlefield.He wants to bury his brother with his own hands. He wants to bury his brother in a place that is protected from wind and rain, in a place with beautiful scenery. This is the only thing that the living can do for him.

Xu Rong and Lu Bu carefully put Zhang Liao on the stretcher.Zhang Liao was stabbed by a spear, the blood kept lingering, his face was as pale as paper, he looked at Xu Rong and Lu Bu, and said with a sad smile: "If I die, just bury me here, and my brother who died in battle buried together."

Lu Bu felt sore in his heart, and tears flowed down his face. He patted Zhang Liao lightly, trying to comfort him, but he was choked up and unable to speak.Xu Rong held Zhang Liao's hand and squeezed it hard, "You will be fine, you won't die." He waved to the two civilian husbands, "Let's go."

Lu Bu looked at the stretcher gradually going away, and whispered, "I don't know how Master Ding is doing?"

"Although he was hit by two arrows, neither of them was critical. It shouldn't be a big deal." Xu Rong comforted, "You find a place to rest and come to the Chinese army to discuss matters at night."

Li Wei rode a horse, and under the leadership of several soldiers, he finally found Xu Rong.Xu Rong and a group of Yellow Turban soldiers are cleaning the battlefield.Seeing him, Li Wei asked angrily: "My lord, Master Zhang ordered me to rush back to Wuliting immediately, and evacuate all the civilians and wounded soldiers into Yuanping City. My lord, why is this? Why do we have to withdraw? We are not fighting Did you win?"

Xu Rong smiled and said: "Master Zhang is now the commander-in-chief of the whole army, you have to listen to him, don't ask why?"

Li Wei said in surprise: "Didn't your lord say that no one is allowed to withdraw into Yuanping City? Why is it changed now? If you win the battle, you still have to withdraw?"

Xu Rong sighed: "We didn't win."

"Didn't win?" Li Wei asked suspiciously, "If we didn't win, we couldn't withdraw."

"The situation has changed, we must retreat." Xu Rong touched his forehead and said wearily, "Master Zhang's order is correct, you can carry it out."

===

At noon on the third day of the war, Cumulus Ridge.

Luozhi Yanluoluo didn't listen to Tuoba Feng's advice. While scolding Tuoba Feng for temporarily taking away 5000 cavalry from Xianbei in the north, he led his 2000 troops to attack Cumulus Ridge.Liang Baiwu and Cui Xing commanded the Yellow Turban Army to stand up and block the attack, and the two sides started a bloody fight on the [-]-step wide road.The Xianbei people form a team of a hundred people and take turns to charge and kill.The Yellow Turban Army formed a formation of [-] people and stood firm.Although the Yellow Turban Army had the terrain advantage, the Xianbei people were too fierce. They broke through five blocking positions of the Yellow Turban Army in one go, and Cui Xing, the handsome commander, died in battle.Liang Baiwu sent people to ask Yang Feng for help several times, but Yang Feng ignored him at all and told him to stand firm until the fight was over.

Seeing the critical situation, Tang Fang hurried to Liang Baiwu's position and told him to immediately arrange archers to go to the woods on both sides of the hillside, and use dense arrow arrays to suppress the Xianbei's attack.Tang Fang said, I've already said it, use the main force to block on the road, and use ambushes on the two wings to flank, why don't you listen?Liang Baiwu stared at his blood-red eyes and shouted loudly: "We can't stop the Xianbei's attack from the front, what's the use of ambushes on the two wings? I want people, I want people who can stop the Xianbei cavalry."

The two were talking here, and the Xianbei people in front started to attack again.The yellow turban soldiers who were killed and screamed couldn't resist, and more than 1000 people dispersed in a hurry. Some fled to the mountains, some fled to the woods, but no one ran back.These people were very smart, they knew that if they turned around and ran back, they would definitely be killed by Liang Baiwu.Yang Feng was furious when he heard the words, and sent thousands of people to surround and kill the deserters, "Kill them all, leave no one behind."

There are high mountains around Cumulus Ridge, and the deserters couldn't run far even if they wanted to, and the tree branches were covered with heads.

Liang Baiwu and Tang Fang took the lead and led the yellow scarf soldiers in the battle behind to resist desperately, and finally stopped the Xianbei people.Tang Fang was lying behind the tree barrier, pale and desperate. It was a joke to use such yellow scarves to defend Cumulus Ridge.Liang Baiwu sat beside him panting, and comforted him: "Don't worry, this is just the beginning of the fight, it will be fine after a while. We people have never fought against the barbarians' iron cavalry, and we have little experience in fighting cavalry. Not at all. Seeing the menacing cavalry galloping towards us, I was naturally out of my wits and panicked. After a few battles, everyone gets used to it, and it’s good to find out a little bit.” He pointed to his nose and said, “Don’t joke , I am similar to them. When I saw the general’s cavalry galloping towards Yingtao, my first thought was to run away, and I didn’t dare to meet the enemy.”

Seeing that he was serious, Tang Fang couldn't help laughing, "Did you run away then?"

Liang Baiwu chuckled, "I shot three arrows, and then ran wildly behind the soldiers. My running speed is definitely not slower than that of a war horse."

Tang Fang laughed, and his heavy heart suddenly eased a lot, "Then how long do you think it will take for you to adapt to the charge of the Xianbei iron cavalry? When will you have the courage to fight?"

Liang Baiwu sighed, pointed to the army on the mountain and said: "My lord, the 2 people in Yang Shuai's hands can really fight, and that is the elite of the Yellow Turban Army." He then pointed to the soldiers standing nearby , wryly smiled and said, "These are all field soldiers, old and young, basically there are no strong soldiers, otherwise why would they be asked to go to the field? It is too difficult to expect these people to kill the Xianbei iron cavalry."

Tang Fang's smile stiffened, and he asked, "I heard from Mr. Xu that they have been training for several months."

Liang Baiwu chuckled, "Sir, these people are basically refugees who ran to Taihang Mountain after the Yingtao War. Apart from following us to grab food, they have never fought or even killed anyone. Although they have been training for several months, they are field soldiers, they have no weapons, so they can only train with bare hands, at most they use sticks as guns, so that is also called training?"

Tang Fang sat on the ground dejectedly and remained silent.There are only [-] elite soldiers of the [-] Yellow Turban Army. How will this battle be fought?He couldn't help worrying about the Yellow Turban Army on Yanming Ridge.

"But don't worry." Liang Baiwu patted him on the shoulder and said, "The Yellow Turban Army lacks everything, but no lack of people, no lack of courage. Some of us have blood, and some have courage. If ten of us can't kill a Xianbei iron cavalry, then We'll use twenty, thirty, or even fifty, and we'll kill them in the end."

The horses of the Xianbei came galloping.Liang Baiwu stretched out his head to take a look, spat fiercely on the ground, then jumped up, raised his spear and roared, "Brothers, raise your spears and follow me to kill..."

===

In the afternoon, Xie Guini assembled 1 horses and also started an attack on Cumulus Ridge.Xiaoshuai Yang Zhen was injured by an arrow when the Xianbei broke through the first blocking formation.Yang Zhen cursed loudly, and pulled out the long arrow on his shoulder with one hand, even bleeding, and rushed up again with the saber.Li Yao commanded his troops to shoot arrows intensively from the woods on both sides of the road. At the beginning, he caught the Xianbei people by surprise, but as the Xianbei people launched a second round of attack, they were immediately attacked fiercely by the Xianbei people. The casualties were heavy, and they retreated one after another. At the same time, the Yellow Turban Army on Chidao was also broken through by the Xianbei people one by one.This time the Yellow Turban soldiers did not run away, they were frightened by Yang Feng's bloody suppression.Just when the Yellow Turban Army was complaining, Xie Guini suddenly blew the horn to retreat.Before the sun set on the mountain, he actually withdrew his troops and refused to attack.

Seeing Xie Guini launching an attack from the north, Luo Zhilian Luoluo immediately slowed down his attacking rhythm. Not only did he not make any progress in the afternoon, but was repelled by Liang Baiwu's continuous counterattacks.

At dusk, the troops who participated in the Battle of Yanming Ridge fled back.Luozhi Lianluoluo first heard that Tuoba Feng failed to defeat the Yellow Turban Army, and immediately felt that something was wrong. Then he heard that two of his handsome men had died in battle, and the 3000 cavalry had also lost more than [-] men. Surprised and angry.After thinking for a long time, he decided to retreat.

The reason why he sent troops to Yanmen Pass was entirely because of Murong Feng's strong persuasion.Murong Feng was worried that Tuoba Feng would be unfavorable to the leader and worried about the safety of the leader, so he asked Luozhuan Luoluo to personally lead his troops to Yanmen Pass to help out.Firstly, Luoluoluo couldn't save face, but secondly, the leader is the grandson of the great king Tan Shihuai, the son of Huai Zong, the descendant of an old friend, and now at least he is also the great king of the Xianbei Kingdom and the owner of Danhan Mountain, so he can't be sympathetic Not to mention, the third, of course, is because he can get huge benefits after defeating Yanmen Pass, which is the most tempting temptation for him.

But now the temptation that most moved his heart has become very elusive following Tuoba Feng's futile blow.The 2 cavalry failed to defeat the Yellow Turban Army, which was obviously a trick of the Han people.Yesterday, Tuoba Feng defeated 3 Yellow Turban Army with more than 5 cavalry, and almost wiped out all of them. However, after only one night, the situation suddenly changed drastically. It withstood the violent attack of Xianbei's [-] cavalry.In this case, if you say that the Han people have no tricks, even if you kill him, he will not believe it.

He sent people to cross the Cumulus Ridge quietly, and rushed to Yanmen Pass as quickly as possible, and reported the victory to King Kuitou, saying that Tuoba Feng had defeated the Yellow Turban Army, and hoped that the King would quickly defeat the Yellow Turban Army with him from north to south, and capture Cumulus Ridge , quickly followed Tuoba Feng to attack Jinyang from the south.Luo Zhi Lian Luo Luo knew that at this time, he could never tell the truth.Once the king knows the history of the Yanmingling battle, the leader may think that they have been completely surrounded by the Han people and will be wiped out by the Han people. He may take the army to leave Yanmen Pass and return to Danhan Mountain. He will never Let what happened with Helian happen to him again.Without the support of the king's army, the fate of himself and Tuoba Feng would be difficult to say.Do the Han people really want to encircle and annihilate us?Do they have this strength?He suddenly remembered the Western Border War.With leopards in northern Xinjiang, anything can happen.

The more Luo Zhilian Luoluo thought about it, the more chilling he became, and he got on his horse and galloped away to Yanming Ridge.

===

On the night of the third day of the war, Yanming Ridge.

Zhang Yan and Xu Rong called all the generals to discuss matters in a temporary tent.

Huang Ting first reported the results of today's battle, "According to the numbers reported by various ministries, today we beheaded about 5000 Xianbei people and self-injured more than 9000 people, including more than 2000 wounded soldiers sent to the rear."

Sitting by the fire, Zhang Yan looked up and asked, "Xianbei people? How many Kuntou Xianbei people have we killed?"

Huang Ting flipped through the document and replied, "There are more than 3000 people."

"Are there any prisoners?"

"No, the Xianbei people who were slightly injured or seriously injured were hacked to death by our soldiers."

Zhang Yan thought for a while, then asked again: "In the past three days, how many Xianbei people have we buried?"

Huang Ting looked at the document and said: "On the first day, we killed more than 4000 enemies, and more than 700 were Xianbei people; on the second day, we killed more than 6000 enemies, and more than 5000 were Xianbei people; Including the more than 3000 Xianbei people today, we have killed more than 700 Xianbei people in total."

"Thirty-five thousand enemies were wiped out in three days." Zhang Yan said, "When the Xianbei people entered the pass, the scouts said there were about 8 people, so it means that there are still [-] Xianbei cavalry in the pass. We still have to kill, We haven't killed enough." He looked at Huang Ting and asked, "Will the scouts pay off today?"

"Yes." Huang Ting said, "Cumulus Ridge was fought fiercely today, and we lost a lot. In the south of Cumulus Ridge, Luozhi Dianluoluo beat us with 5000 men for a day, and in the north of Cumulus Ridge, Kui Tou's younger brother, Xie Gui Ni, gathered 1 people to fight from afternoon to dusk. Currently, Kui Tou leads 5000 people at Yanmen Pass, and Luozhi Dian Luo Luo and Xie Gui Ni lead about 5000 people at the south of Cumulus Ridge. At both ends of the north, there are still 5000 people in Tuobafeng on Yanming Ridge. 3 of the 3 Xianbei army are surrounded by us in the south of Cumulus Ridge. If we want to wipe out these [-] people, it will be very difficult. Big."

"Total annihilation is impossible, but heavy blows are still needed." Zhang Yan said, "Not enough Xianbei people died, and we have not achieved our goal yet."

"Marshal, how are we going to fight tomorrow? Are we going to take the initiative to attack tomorrow? We beat the Xianbei people away today, but they may not take the initiative to attack tomorrow." Wang Dang said bitterly, "The Xianbei people really have no guts. They didn’t want to kill enough, they ran away. We still have 4 people left, if we take the initiative to challenge [-] cavalry, there is no chance of winning, and the last seed of the Yellow Turban Army will probably be lost in this battle.”

Zhang Yan glanced at everyone slowly, and said firmly: "We will retreat to Wuliting immediately."

There was a dead silence in the big tent, everyone was dumbfounded and could hardly believe their ears.Wang Dang shouted loudly: "Marshal, what are you talking about? Retreat?"

Zhang Yan nodded and said again: "Retreat."

Wang Dang stood up abruptly, pointing at Zhang Yan and yelling angrily, "You want to retreat? We killed nearly 6 people in three days. For what? Isn't it just to defend Yanming Ridge and to keep the Xianbei people away?" Could it be that so many of our brothers died in vain? Since you want to retreat, why do you want us to stick to Yanming Ridge? Why?"

Yu Digen and Zhang Baiqi hurriedly jumped up and pulled him back.Wang Dang burst into tears, and cried loudly: "Why? Why are you retreating? What kind of battle are you fighting? What kind of shit are you, the commander of the Yellow Turban Army? The Yellow Turban Army has finished fighting for you, and you are about to retreat. , What are your intentions? Whoever dares to retreat, I will kill him now."

Zhang Baiqi glared at Wang Dang and shouted, "Heizi, don't talk nonsense."

Zhang Yan stood up slowly, glanced at the angry generals, and said with a wry smile: "I know that in the past few days, everyone has a lot of opinions on me, thinking that I commanded blindly and ruined the entire Yellow Turban Army."

"That's right, I don't have much talent. If I had the ability, I wouldn't have brought the Yellow Turban Army to such a situation. I'm just an orphan with no father or mother. I'm just a little boy who carried a medicine basket for a great virtuous teacher. I managed to read a few volumes and read a few words. I am just like everyone else, but an ordinary person. I am not a god. I don’t know what will happen tomorrow. I don’t know whether my actions are right or wrong. I only know one thing, that is, I will do everything I can to achieve the goal of this great war. As long as I achieve the goal of the great war, no matter what other people or even future generations think of this great war , it doesn’t matter, whether my command is right or wrong, it’s meaningless.”

"Whether you call me a rebel, say I'm an idiot, or say that I buried the Yellow Turban Army, I can't defend myself, because this battle is not over yet, and no one knows the outcome of the future, but if you If you think that I fought the wrong battle and commanded the wrong one, and stop obeying my orders, I will never be polite, and I will never show mercy to those who deserve to be killed. There is no God here, and I will entrust this battle to you. Pat your chest and say, I can win this battle, who can? If any of you think you are a god, you can decide the outcome of the war, then please get out of here and be your own god. Can’t be an omniscient and invincible god, the Yellow Turban Army only needs to be a warrior who fights bloody with a sword.”

Zhang Yan looked at the angry Wang Dang, pointed at him, and asked loudly, "Heizi, let me ask you, why did we give up Yanmenguan and fight this battle at Yanming Ridge?" Zhang Yan pointed at the generals and said angrily, "The battle begins. Before, I told you the purpose of fighting a war countless times, but who still remembers it now? You know how many people died in the Yellow Turban Army. The Yellow Turban Army is finished. You only have the Yellow Turban Army in your heart. Where? There is also the Great Han Kingdom, the northern border, and Bingzhou, as well as the millions of people in Bingzhou."

"I'll say it again, give up Yanmen Pass, lure the enemy to Yanming Ridge, and lay down this inevitable battlefield. There is only one purpose, and that is to kill more Xianbei people, and kill more Xianbei people at all costs. We only need If we kill fewer and fewer Xianbei people, especially Tuoba Feng in the northern Xianbei, then the balance of power among the Xianbei tribes will be broken by us, and the Xianbei people will worry that their territory will be attacked by other tribes, and the Xianbei people will Quickly withdraw from the Border Commandery, the Xianbei people will have civil strife, we will get a chance to breathe, and the crisis in northern Xinjiang will be completely resolved by us. I have said it countless times, why don’t you understand?”

"Will defending Yanmen pass to solve the crisis in northern Xinjiang? Can the Xianbei people fall into civil strife? Can the Xianbei people be unable to invade? I am also sad when the brothers die, but if the death of tens of thousands of brothers can be exchanged for the stability of the Han Dynasty In exchange for the stability of northern Xinjiang, the safety of millions of people in Bingzhou, and a few years of recuperation in Bingzhou, what's not worth it?"

"When I deployed the battle formation at the Longshan Camp, I told you repeatedly that the Xianbei people are very cunning. They are not absolutely sure that they will not fight us, especially Tuobafeng, who experienced a fiasco in Xijiang The southward invasion is even more cautious at every step, lest the same mistakes will be repeated. Everyone once said that the Xianbei people were set up in Beishan and Wushan. How to concentrate superior forces to ambush? If you rush up, you will be surrounded by Xianbei people. And most importantly, Xianbei people know that we have an army of 5000, and they will definitely flee back to Yanmen Pass. So, why do we give up Yanmen Pass? If we give up, we have to think Do everything possible to hit the Xianbei people hard, beat them to pieces and drive them out of Yanmen Pass, otherwise, we will be the eternal sinners of the Han Dynasty."

"We put [-] garrison soldiers in the horse-repelling formation and the blocking formation in the middle. The purpose is nothing more than to make Tuoba Feng feel that the Yellow Turban army is vulnerable, and induce him to gather a large army to launch a final blow against us. As long as he They were fooled and assembled the army at Yanming Ridge. Then there would be no main force of the Xianbei people on the Bailichi Road from Yanmenguan to Yanming Ridge. Only then could Yang Feng's army take the opportunity to occupy Cumulus Ridge and hold a firm grip on Cumulus Ridge. Stand still. And Yang Feng's appearance also forced Tuoba Feng to make up his mind to fight us as soon as possible, so as to make it a decisive battle."

"On the first day of the battle against horses, we all thought that the fighting power of the soldiers in the field was good. Unexpectedly, Tuoba Feng's iron cavalry slaughtered them crazily on the second day. Xianbei people, but we haven't killed enough people to avenge them. We have to kill them in large numbers."

"Since you still want to beat the Xianbei people hard, why do you want to retreat?"

===

(End of this chapter)