Chapter 63 Chapter 63

It's raining again!A bolt of lightning flashed across the distant mountains, followed by thunderous explosions that sounded like splitting mountains.The thunderstorm protected these two thousand soldiers who put life and death aside.In an instant, the sound of killing on the north side of Yangping Pass shook the sky. Relying on natural dangers, Yangping Pass and Wuding Pass left a long and narrow valley in the two pass cities.This valley should be the safest for the defenders.Anyone who detours into this valley from the mountain trail will inevitably face the pincer attack of the two guards.In other words, if you want to go out again, you must break through a pass.

The defenders of Yangping Pass were proud of Wang Zongji's inaction for half a month, when they suddenly heard the sound of killing in Guanbei, they broke out in a cold sweat. Could it be that Wuding Pass has been broken?impossible!To the north of Wudingguan is Dingjun Mountain. How could it be possible for the city to change hands in just two or three days? But at this time, Wang Zongji of Guannan gave an order, and tens of thousands of Shu troops rushed to attack the city like crazy.Cloud ladders, flying stones, arrows, and fireballs intertwined all of a sudden, and the scene of fierce battle made people shudder with fear.

Under the effective cover of Zhang Jie, Luo Manzi took the lead and was the first to rush up the ladder.Arrows rained down on the tower, and the bows and crossbows below the tower flew up to the top of the city under the cover of the torrential rain.For a moment, rows of defenders at the top of the city were in a mess with screams of terror and desperate cries. Facing the rain of eagle feather arrows, Luo Manzi brandished the steel knife in his hand, dodging left and right.However, several arrows still pierced his arm mercilessly.He gritted his teeth without saying a word, and with his outstanding skill and courage, he was the first to jump to the top of the wall.Seeing the main general rushing to the front, hundreds of death-defying troops scrambled to be the first, not to be outdone.In less than half an hour, the city tower became a battlefield.The defenders of Yangping Pass had never seen such a desperate person. Most of the defenders fought and retreated, and the pass gradually became chaotic.

The main general in the city gradually realized that something might have happened at Wuding Pass.If not, how did this boundless Shu army descend from the sky?I don't know who gave the order: "Open the North Gate! Go back to Wuding Pass!" With a creak, the thick hanging boards clattered on both sides of the moat, and after that, countless desperate defenders went crazy. When he came out, he was killed with Zhang Jie's team in an instant. Zhang Jie was both happy and sad.The joy is that my plan can be realized so quickly, and Yangping, who has been guarding for half a month, is finally able to have a real fight with his opponent.What is worrying is that if this group of crazy enemy troops fled north to Wuding Pass, Wang Zongbo would be flanked by flanks and backs.Thinking of this, he and Li Jian merged into one team, and the two thousand soldiers all went into battle shirtless and brandished their knives. In an instant, the two armies fought together by the moat.

Luo Manzi, who had broken through the checkpoint, led more than 30 brothers and turned back to fight.At this moment, a cold arrow "swished" from the top of the city tower, and when Luo Manzi realized it, the arrow had already passed through his chest.The brothers on all sides panicked and hurriedly lifted the general to the side. Since entering Sanchuan, Zhang Jie, Li Jian and even the 800 soldiers are all warriors who have survived hundreds of battles, but this is the first time they have encountered such a hand-to-hand combat.The blade ran on the naked body, the moat was filled with corpses, and the Han River was stained red with blood... No one knows how many lives were lost in this fierce battle in the rainstorm.No one knows how many warriors who fought all the way from Chang'an, Lizhou, Chengdu, and Zizhou were buried outside Yangping Pass.

After the rain stopped, the smoke of war still spread on both sides of the Han River. Wang Zongji and Zhou Xiang led the commander-in-chief of the three armies, King Langya, through the pass.Looking at the corpses all over the mountains and plains, watching the occasional waving of seriously wounded soldiers who fell to the ground, Wang Jian couldn't help but shed tears.He has always thought that his army is a magic weapon, invincible and invincible.The war to quell the two Sichuans has never been so tragic.Now, a small Yangping Pass has damaged the Heavenly Soldiers. The sight in front of them made everyone shudder.

In this desolation, Zhou Xiang knelt down in front of the corpses of the soldiers, and chanted Qu Zi's poem aloud with tears: Not long after, Li Zha, who was in tears, knelt down in front of Wang Jian: "Your Majesty, Luo Manzi, he... is dead..." Although he had seen the tragic scenes after the war, Li Zhazha's crying still shook Wang Jian's heart.He couldn't remember which year it was, and the two hairy kids wrestled with him clamorously.Later, when he attacked Chengdu from Langzhou, he asked these two boys to form this invincible death squad, and they followed him all the time.Afterwards, Li Zhazha made many meritorious deeds, so he was promoted to be the captain of the guard around him, and Luo Manzi was made the leader of the 800 people.In today's battle, Luo Manzi actually died.

Li Zhazha said again: "Your Majesty, I ordered my subordinates to count just now, and there are still 200 people left including the disabled Death Soldier." Like a blow to the head, King Langya was a little dizzy.He suppressed his grief and anger, and plopped down before Luo Manzi's corpse.Seeing Wang Jian kneeling, the envoys, governors, generals, and counselors behind him knelt down one after another. Wang Jian sincerely kowtowed to Luo Manzi, stood up and said to Wang Zongji, "They have followed me from thousands of miles to fight here just to rescue the emperor. They are the loyal souls of my Tang Dynasty! Zongji, write down all the soldiers who died in battle After returning to Chengdu, we must take good care of their families and set up a monument for them!"

Zongji nodded and said: "Father, this is not the time to be sad. Zongbo brothers are still fighting desperately at Wudingguan, and the two uncles Zhang and Li are rushing to help..." One sentence awakened Wang Jian, and he ordered: "Li Zhazha, hurry up to two thousand cavalry, and hurry up to whip the first line to meet Zongbo." Then he said to his wife and brother: "Dequan, you are in charge of collecting grain and grass at Yangping Pass to meet you at any time. Zongji, you lead the team and follow me to set off immediately! " "Yes!" Zong Ji could no longer hold back.First, he was moved by the desperation of Zong Bo and others, and second, he wanted to rush to attack Xingyuan.

Let's say that Zongbo led the army to attack Wuding Pass for two days and two nights.At the time when people were exhausted and soldiers were lost, more than a thousand people brought by Zhang Jie from Yangping Pass ushered in behind him. When Zong Bo saw these soldiers who escaped death, most of them were bloody and bloody, but these people insisted on joining the battle as if they were crazy.He hugged Zhang Jie: "Old General, take a rest! How can we survive the fight?" Zhang Jie threw aside the steel knife that had already been cut in his hand, and laughed loudly with his chest open: "War is nothing more than death, and death on the battlefield is worth it! Why don't I bring this group of young men to help you defend?" Dao, the defeated soldiers rushing from Yangping Pass can drown you to the bone!"

Zong Bo slapped Zhang Jie on the back fiercely. Any words at this moment are superfluous. He shouted angrily: "Let's go! Step down Wuding Pass!" Compared with Yangping, Wuding Pass was originally a small city pass.The reason why Bashu is famous is also due to a legend in the pre-Qin period.It is said that King Huiwen of Qin once betrothed five beauties to the enlightened king of Shu, who sent five warriors to marry them.On the way back to the Kingdom of Shu, a big snake got into the cave, and Wuding Lishi wanted to hold the snake's tail and drag it out of the cave.As a result, the rocks collapsed, and Wu Ding and Wu Qin Nu were buried on the mountain.Without Wu Ding, who protects the country, the Kingdom of Shu soon perished.Later, the great poet Li Bai sighed in the poem "The Road to Shu": "The earth collapsed and the mountains destroyed the strong men to death, and then the heavenly ladders and stone stacks were connected." This is the story of Wuding Lishi.More than 900 years later, a poet came here, looked at the undulating, majestic and steep mountains, and thought about the past of the ages and wars. He once wrote such a poem: It was another whole night of fierce fighting, and at dawn, a fire broke out at Wuding Pass.Here, it will soon become the ruins after the war.Zong Bo ordered Lieutenant General Qin Chenghou to count the remaining troops. Together with Zhang Jie's team, there were less than 2,000 people who could continue to fight.Just when he was sighing with emotion, Wang Zongkan brought a bad news: Li Jian, governor of Qiongzhou, was killed! a bolt from the blue! Zong Bo and Zong Kan hugged and cried together, while Zhang Jie beside him was already in tears. Since ancient times, generals have died in hundreds of battles, and strong men have returned after ten years.Unexpectedly, this dangerous pass in the south of the mountain turned out to be the end of life for so many heroes. However, before Zong Bo could wipe away his tears, Zong Bi came to report: Li Zhazha's 2,000 cavalry had arrived and were placed under the vanguard's command. That's right, it's far from the time to be sad, and there is still the last pass before Xingyuan - Xixian County.Thinking of this, he raised his arms and shouted: "Soldiers! I will follow Langya King Wanli to fight and rescue the emperor. There is no way in the south of the mountain, which hinders my future. General Li Jian died on the battlefield. How will you see your dead brother; when you return to Chengdu, how will you see your elders?" All the soldiers have wiped away their tears, and their morale is high. "Wait for the military salary of the Tang Dynasty, and fight for the emperor to the death. My husband will follow me to the west county to fight to the death to gain fame; otherwise, I will sit and wait for death!" After finishing speaking, he stepped on the horse that Li Zhazha had sent him, holding a long gun , go to Xi County to kill... After two days and two nights of bloody battles at Yangping Pass and Wuding Pass, these soldiers seemed to have forgotten their hunger, fatigue, and death.No one knew how tragic the First World War in Xi County was.Wherever Wang Jian's army went, all they saw were pieces of ruined cities piled with flesh and blood. It was an evening when blood stained the sky, when Wang Jian climbed a small hill, he saw a shirtless man limping towards him from a distance. Wang Jian took half a step and helped the strong man who had escaped death.I saw that his once strong muscles were covered with knife wounds of different shades.He was once a well-known titan in Jingnan, with brave arms and superb martial arts.He, determined to defect to the Ming Lord, traveled all the way to Xishu.He, like many young generals who followed him, was his adopted son.Seeing the scene in front of him, Wang Jian's heart felt like a knife. "Your Majesty," Zong Bo knelt down in front of his adoptive father, "My son did not disgrace his mission and captured Xi County. It was just a loss of soldiers and generals. Please punish him..." "You abandon life and death, attacking cities and seizing strongholds, what is your crime?" Wang Jian murmured, "When I walked to Wudingguan, I learned that Luo Manzi and Li Jian were martyred. If you are still alive, everything will be fine..." He raised his head, and the afterglow of the setting sun made his face blood red.He suddenly saw two wounded soldiers carrying a person with a white cloth at the foot of the mountain, and he couldn't help feeling tense.He was too afraid that his beloved generals would make any mistakes. "Who is that?" Zong Bo replied: "Qin Chenghou of the military academy has been with me for many years. When attacking Xixian County, he was hit by a cold arrow. The arrow entered through the left eye and almost pierced the right eye..." "Is there still life?" "The arrowhead will not come out, it is at stake!" Wang Jian suddenly pushed Zongbo away, and ran down the hill in three steps at a time, and arrived in front of Chenghou.He glanced sideways at the wound on the military academy's eye, a pustule blocked the way out of the arrow, and no one dared to pull the arrow rashly.Suddenly, Wang Jian bent down and gently licked his subordinate's wound with his tongue, once, once, again... The soldiers who survived the catastrophe surrounded them from all sides, shocked by the scene in front of them.No one thought that their commander-in-chief and noble lord would suck the wound for an unknown school. At this moment, the thick collapse, the arrow came out.Several sergeants hurriedly found clean cloth to bandage the wound. …Zhou Xiangyuan saw this scene on the top of the mountain, and said to himself: "In the past, Wu Qi shared the joys and sorrows of the soldiers, sucked pus for the soldiers, and the soldiers of father and son fought for them. My lord can have such compassion, so why worry about major events? , The hearts of the people are gone!" When Wang Jian saw Wang Zongkan and Wang Zongbi covered in injuries, he felt very uncomfortable. Luo Manzi died at Yangping Pass, and Li Jian died at Wuding Pass.At this moment, his eyes searched back and forth for Zhang Jie's shadow among the remnants of the soldiers.In fact, he only needs to ask the people around him to know Zhang Jie's whereabouts.However, King Langya, who had experienced many battles, didn't even have the courage to ask at this time.He was too afraid of another accident... Zong Kan saw what was on his father's mind, and told him in a low voice: "Father, my uncle has been at the front several times in hand-to-hand combat. When attacking Xi County, his right arm was accidentally cut off by the enemy general, and he was disabled..." "Take me to meet him quickly..." At this moment, how much he thought, he could hold tightly to the only person in the world who still called him big brother. Zhang Jie has gradually regained consciousness after several degrees of pain and fainting.When he saw Wang Jian's familiar but somewhat old face, a hot tear flowed down from the corner of his eye along with a smile. "Brother, I can still see you..." Wang Jian didn't know what to say at the moment, but held Zhang Jie's left hand tightly. "Brother, I, Lao Zhang, am ashamed of you. I lost all of your eight hundred soldiers..." "As long as you're here... I won't be sad." Wang Jian almost cried. Zhang Jie panted heavily: "Xingyuan has sent a good news, Zong Di has taken down Xingyuan City from the east..." Wang Jian nodded.He already knew the good news that Zongdi captured Xingyuan before himself and Zongji, but it was a bit bitter to see the life and death brothers still thinking about the battle situation in this situation. "Brother, I had a very long dream just now... I dreamed of the cakes made by Mr. Wang when I was a child... I will remember the taste for the rest of my life... delicious!" As they said, the two half-centenarians were crying, shaking their graying eyes. mustache smiles. "Brother, I still dreamed that you and Brother Shitai rescued me back then... and Brother Jin, Tian Wei, Zhou Dequan... the scene with Chen Deguang..." Zhang Jie recalled the story outside Wuyang City back then, Soon passed out again. Wang Jian shook his brother's hand tightly, stood up, ordered his friends to look after Zhang Jie, and then walked out of the military tent. At this time, Zhou Xiang hurriedly walked towards Wang Jian, holding a letter in his hand.Wang Jian's heart tightened, he instinctively realized that something had happened in Chengdu.These days, successive blows have made him stronger.In other words, as the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, he had to be strong, even if he pretended to be strong. "My lord... Chengdu reported a funeral, Li Shitai, governor of Shuzhou, died of illness..." "Ah! Brother Li..." Wang Jian slammed his fist on the tree, blood flowed down his fingers, and tears burst out of his eyes... "My lord, you have to hold on..." Before Zhou Xiang finished speaking, he heard a burst of crying in the tent... Wang Jian bit his lower lip tightly, trying to keep himself from crying.These brothers who followed him through life and death for more than 20 years left early without enjoying two days of glory and wealth.Now only he and Jin Hui are left among the veterans who started from Xuzhou. Looking back on the past, how can we not let him go out of grief! This year is the second year of Tianfu in the Tang Dynasty, 902 AD.Under the joint attack of Wang Zongji, Wang Zongdi, and Wang Zongbo, the Shu army triumphed all the way and captured the city.In Xia August, Wang Zongbo broke through the four counties of Jinniu, Heishui, Xixian, and Baocheng, opening a bloody road for Wang Jianping to settle in the south of Shanshan.Immediately, Zongbo attacked Mapanzhai, the main general Wang Wanhong was defeated, and rushed back to Hanzhong.At the same time, Wang Zongdi took the lead in attacking the city, and finally Wang Wanhong was cornered and asked to surrender.Afterwards, meritorious deeds are rewarded.Wang Jian recommended Wang Zongdi as the Jiedu envoy of Shannan Xidao, and Wang Zongbo as the governor of Hanzhou and the chief inspector.At this time, Zong Di was already under one person and above ten thousand in Sanchuan. In order to curb Zongdi's military exploits, Wang Jian ordered Dongchuan General Wang Zonghe to continue to attack northward.In October, Xingzhou was defeated, and in December, the Shannan states were plundered from Li Maozhen's rule.From then on, Wang Jian occupied Dongchuan, Xichuan, and Shannan, and became the real master of the three rivers.Relying on the vast land and the difficult and dangerous Shu Road to stick to one side, he gradually expanded his territory. In the first month of Tianfu three years (AD 903), Li Ye finally ended Fengxiang's wandering life and returned to Chang'an.In this battle, Zhu Wen used his strong military strength to force Fengxiang, conquered along the way, and took over Jing, Yuan, Qin, Long, Fu, Yan, Xia and other states.But Wang Jian relied on Li Ye's imperial edict, and under the banner of King Qin's rescue, the soldiers raged and took the opportunity to capture the entire Shannan.Li Maozhen became the biggest loser.And Li Ye was completely under Zhu Wen's control, and he never had any freedom from then on. The dilapidated palace, the dilapidated Chang'an, the dry pool... Li Ye has already adapted to such a situation.In the past, facing such a scene, he always felt bitter and sad, and he always felt ashamed of his ancestors as the emperor of the Tang Dynasty.But now, I have seen it a lot, and it seems that I am used to it, so I am paralyzed... "Your Majesty," Prime Minister Cui Yin interrupted Li Ye's contemplation, "King Langya of Xichuan sent a tribute form to congratulate the emperor on his return to Beijing."