Farmers of Shu Han

Chapter 1424 Retreat

The scorching sun was burning the cracked yellow earth, and Zhang Bao's mount was paddling anxiously with its hooves at the entrance of the village - this piece of soil, which had been burned repeatedly, had long since become hardened into lumps, and even weeds had difficulty taking root.

Liu Deran's old wife led Zhang Bao to the scorched earth and dug her dry fingers deep into the cracks in the earth: "This is the site of Liu Xuande's old house."

The house where Emperor Zhaolie and his widowed mother lived in the past has long since disappeared, leaving only a few carbonized beams half-buried in the ground.

"After Cao Pi usurped the Han Dynasty, people were sent from Yecheng."

The old woman trembled as she held up a handful of black and white soil. "They forced the whole village to watch them fell trees, saying they wanted to 'cut off the dragon vein of the Han people'. Finally, they forced us to leave here."

"The people used plowshares to turn over the foundation of Liu Xuande's former residence seven times, boiled brine to irrigate the land, and finally covered it with ash mixed with boiling water."

“After all these years, the grass hasn’t even grown.”

There was no grass growing on the land within a radius of thirty meters. The surface was cracked like an old woman's face, with pottery shards and broken tiles scattered between the cracks, making it look like a dead zone.

After twenty-three years of wind and rain, brine and lime have solidified into layers, and gray and white ripples have appeared on the surface, like the dead skin shed by a giant python, or like scabs covering the ground.

There is a big hole left in the southeast corner, which is the evidence of the roots of the old mulberry tree being dug up after being cut down.

Cao Pi has never been a magnanimous person. This can be seen from the fact that after he became emperor, he deliberately retaliated against his own ministers.

Not to mention that after he sentenced his own queen to death, he also ordered that Queen Zhen's face be covered with her hair and her mouth be stuffed with bran before being buried.

Because of this, even if her soul went to the underworld, she would not be able to speak up for justice.

The former residence was the imperial residence of Emperor Zhaolie when he was young, and the old mulberry tree was the carriage with feathered canopy conferred by Emperor Zhaolie himself. It is not difficult to understand why it is treated in this way.

Zhang Bao's gun tip suddenly pierced into the salt crust, making a crisp sound like ice breaking.

He knelt on one knee, picked up a small piece of pottery, and held it in his palm:
"Get the wine!"

The cork of the leather bag handed over by the personal guard was torn off, and the strong liquor poured out onto the saline-alkali land.

The wine was poured on the ground, white smoke rose up, and amid the sizzling sound, the earth veins that were extinguished by salt water and boiling ash twenty years ago seemed to be wailing.

After pouring the wine, Zhang Bao smashed the pottery shards heavily to the ground. The pottery shards bounced on the salt crust, making a hollow echo.

"Although Cao thieves have destroyed the feng shui of this place, they cannot destroy the people's hearts."

Pulling out the snake spear, he picked up a ball of gray-white soil, and the salt crystals refracted tiny rainbows in the sunlight:

"As long as the Great Wind Song continues to be sung, the Han Dynasty will never perish!"

He mounted his horse again, pointing his spear towards the sky:
"Punish the traitors! Recover the Han territory!"

The roar of the Han army behind him caused the salt crystals to fall:

"Punish the traitors! Recover the Han territory!"

When the roar sounded again, the Liu clan members also started shouting, as if they wanted to vent all the grievances they had suffered over the years.

After swearing an oath at the former residence of Emperor Zhaolie, Zhang Bao did not stay in Zhuo County for too long.

After accepting the food, wine and meat sent by Lu and letting the soldiers have a full meal and taking a short rest, they headed southwest again.

After Zhuo County, you will reach Hejian County.

The governor of Hejian defended the city and refused to open the gates to surrender.

Zhang Bao ignored it, crossed the Huyan River, bypassed Lecheng County, the capital of Hejian Prefecture, and came to the bank of Zhang River.

It was officially autumn now, the water level of the Zhang River had dropped, and the river bank was solid, making it very suitable for marching along the river.

The Zhang River can be said to be the lifeline of Jizhou. Along the way, there are official roads and irrigation systems along the banks (such as the Twelve Canals of the Zhang River rebuilt by Cao Cao), and military farms are everywhere.

This season is when autumn crops are ripe, making supplies extremely convenient.

As long as the speed is fast enough, Zhang Bao doesn't need to worry about the supply of food and fodder.

The most important thing is that as long as you rush along the Zhang River, you can reach Yecheng directly - because Yecheng is built on the bank of the Zhang River, so there is no need to worry about getting lost.

The iron hooves were like thunder, and the smoke and dust rising from the edge of the Zhang River was like a yellow dragon.
-
Just as Zhang Bao was riding his horse non-stop along the Zhang River towards Yecheng, outside the Wei army camp at the entrance of Jingxing in Changshan County, a man and a horse were galloping straight towards the gate without slowing down at all.

The sentry on the lookout tower gave an advance warning.

Some of the Wei soldiers at the gate had already drawn their bows and drawn arrows.

Fortunately, when the visitor arrived at the gate, he finally pulled the reins, signaling the horse to stop.

Unexpectedly, the mount suddenly knelt on its front hooves, and both the rider and the horse fell to the ground, stirring up a cloud of dust.

"stand up!"

Lu Yu's whip hit the bloody horse's buttocks, and the sound was hoarse like a rusty knife grinding on a stone.

The horse struggled with its limbs but couldn't stand up. The veins on its neck bulged like earthworms, and the blood foam spurting out of its nostrils was black and purple.

This carefully selected Youzhou horse was fed with Wu Shi San and was made to gallop without stopping.

At this moment, the horse's muscles were trembling all over, and its belly was so sunken that the outline of its ribs could be seen. This was a sign of internal organ failure.

Lu Yu threw away the whip, collapsed exhausted and leaned against the horse.

When the Wei soldiers coming from the camp gate came to him, he forced himself to regain consciousness and took out his seal:
"I'm Lu Yu, an urgent report from Youzhou, take me to see the Grand Tutor immediately!"

After saying this, he fainted.

The Wei soldiers did not know who Lu Yu was, but from the gold-inlaid belt hook around his waist and the seal he took out, they knew that this man was probably an important person.

No one dared to delay, and someone immediately helped Lu Yu up, while another rushed back to the camp to report the matter.

When he woke up again, it was already night.

In the dim light, the flickering firelight made him think he saw the smoke rising from Youzhou again...

He was so shocked that he immediately sat up and shouted:

"Impossible! Absolutely impossible..."

"Zijia, Zijia? Are you awake?"

A head came up to him, with a face full of wrinkles like pine bark, and hair and beard as white as grass, staring straight at Lu Yu:

"What's impossible? What are you talking about?"

When he saw clearly the owner of the head in front of him, surprise suddenly appeared in his eyes, and then turned into horror.

He suddenly stretched out his hands, tightly grasped Sima Yi's arms, and said nervously and incoherently:
"Master, hurry up, retreat quickly, or it will be too late, hurry, hurry..."

Hearing Lu Yu's series of urgings, Sima Yi's heart suddenly sank, and at the same time a sense of foreboding arose.

He moved his arms, trying to get rid of Lu Yu's hands.

Although Lu Yu had opened his eyes at this time, he was not fully conscious yet, and it seemed that he had put all his strength into his hands.

In addition, Sima Taifu was old and frail, and there was no way to get rid of Lu Yu for a while, so Sima Yi could only slow down his voice and comfort him:
"Zijia, Zijia, don't be nervous. Come, drink this bowl of tranquilizer first, and then tell me slowly, what happened?"

At this time, the guards brought a bowl of steaming medicine soup and placed it on the small table beside the couch.

After a while, Lu Yu's eyes finally focused, but he did not look at the medicine soup. He continued to urge in a hurried tone:

"Taifu, withdraw your troops quickly, Youzhou, Youzhou..."

When he mentioned Youzhou, he couldn't help but swallow his saliva subconsciously.

When Lu Yu mentioned Youzhou, Sima Yi's ominous feeling became more real: "Youzhou? What happened to Youzhou?"

Lu Yu's lips trembled, and his voice was like a leaky bellows. He spoke with difficulty:
"Youzhou... the entire territory fell... Guan Yihu took a detour to capture the ancient Yuyang Pass, seized Ji County by fraud, and forced Juyong to surrender..."

Sima Yi's body trembled, and his pupils suddenly opened as wide as possible and froze in place.

The green smoke of benzoin in the house twisted like a snake, stretching his shadow on the tent into a ghostly long and thin shape.

After a while, his voice seemed to be pulled out from an ice cellar, and every word was chilling: "Youzhou. The entire territory?"

Just like his mood at the moment.

"Say!"

At this moment, he actually broke free from Lu Yu's hands, and even grabbed Lu Yu's collar with his backhand, completely ignoring the opponent's weakness:

"How could Juyong Pass be forced to surrender when Xianyu Fu had 30,000 soldiers defending it? Where is Wang Xiong? Is he dead?"

The roar shook off the dust on the beams, but it couldn't hide the trembling of the ending sound.

"I heard that Wang Xiong surrendered the whole city, and Xianyu's food supply route was cut off, so he could only surrender the whole city..."

Lu Yu's voice was as ethereal as if it came from the void.

"Good...very good..."

Upon hearing this, Sima Yi felt as if all the strength in his body was drained away. His hands fell limply. He suddenly laughed softly, and then gradually his laughter became louder, and his sound was like the cry of an owl at night.

The medicinal soup on the small table began to ripple.

Sima Yi vaguely saw his own reflection in the soup, with white hair and beard, as disheveled as weeds.

Even though Sima Taifu had been able to escape calmly when faced with attacks from Zhuge Liang and Feng Yong, he was now completely unable to control his composure.

During the Battle of Guanzhong that year, I faced off with Zhuge Liang at Wugong River. Feng went around the border and attacked Bingzhou. I was attacked from all sides and had to give up Guanzhong.

Now, in the battle of Hebei, I am facing Feng at Weize Pass, and Guan is attacking Youzhou via the border. I am facing the situation of being attacked from both sides again...

At this moment, just as at that moment.

The nightmare of Wuzhangyuan is now returning with the smoke of war in Youzhou.

Even if Guanzhong is lost, we can still retreat to Luoyang.

Even if Luoyang is lost, we can still retreat to Hebei.

Now that Hebei is gone, where can we retreat to?
Go and join Cao Shuang?

In the dead silence, Sima Yi saw his face in the ripples of the medicinal soup, as if he had suddenly aged ten years.

"vomit!"

Thinking that he had been defeated twice in a row by the same person using the same method, Sima Yi suddenly opened his mouth, spat out a mouthful of black blood, and fell on his back.

"Teacher!"

"Teacher!"

Fortunately, the personal guards did not retreat, and they quickly supported Sima Yi.

Sima Yi fell into the arms of his personal guards. The candlelight made half of his face flicker, as if he was dead. Bloodshot veins spread like spider webs in the whites of his eyes, and his eyes were filled with despair:

"There was Zhuge Liang before me, and Feng Yong after me. How can the heavens be so unkind to me..."

"Master?"

"Retreat, retreat immediately..."

Sima Yi closed his eyes, trying hard not to faint, and uttered these words with great difficulty, "Quickly call Fu Congshi over, I need to arrange for the withdrawal of the troops."

When Fu Gu learned that the Grand Tutor had urgently summoned him, he hurried over as quickly as possible.

When he entered the commander's tent, he looked up and saw Sima Yi standing with his back to the door. His usually straight spine was slightly hunched, his hair was loose and his bare feet were disheveled. The dots of ink on the ground and the desk were caused by the pen in his hand.

This was the most impolite behavior he had ever seen since he followed the Grand Tutor, and Fu Gu was shocked:
"Master, what's wrong with you?"

"Youzhou is lost."

Sima Yi's voice seemed to come from a very far distance, but it exploded in Fu Gu's ears like thunder.

"What?" Fu Gu felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end in an instant. He thought he had heard wrongly and asked subconsciously.

"Youzhou was lost. Guan Suo led his army to bypass Baoqiu River and captured the ancient Yuyang Pass. Wang Xiong surrendered without a fight, and Xianyu Fuguan surrendered to the enemy..."

Sima Yi turned around and sat down weakly behind the table, his messy hair covering his face, like a lifeless corpse.

Fu Gu's Adam's apple rolled up and down three times, and his lips trembled as he tried to speak, but he was choked by his own saliva and couldn't utter a word.

Only cold sweat slid down my spine.

It took a long time before I could speak again:
"Master, the news, is it reliable?"

"This is the news that Lu Zijia brought back from Fanyang at the risk of his life. It is most likely not false. I have sent someone to verify it. If it is true, there will be news as early as tomorrow afternoon."

"Master, if this is really the case, you must withdraw your troops without hesitation, immediately!"

When Fu Gu came to his senses, the first thing he said without thinking was to persuade Sima Yi to withdraw his troops.

When the names of Feng Yong and Guan Suo were linked together, he subconsciously thought of the battle in Guanzhong.

Even if this is true, the situation would be much more dangerous than the battle in Guanzhong.

After all, there are big rivers in Guanzhong, but Hebei is a plain. What can be used to stop the Han cavalry?

"Where to retreat? How to retreat? If we want to retreat safely, we must hide it from Feng Mingwen."

"Feng the thief is very far-sighted, how could he be easily fooled?"

"If there is any unusual movement in the city, this thief will definitely know..."

Sima Yi murmured, as if asking himself, or as if asking Fu Gu.

Fu Gu was suddenly speechless.

The Han army's telescope was no longer a secret to Sima Yi - although Yang Yi did not know how to make it, he knew how to use it.

The room suddenly became deathly silent.

Fu Gu looked up at Sima Taifu, who still had his head down, his hair still covering his face, making it impossible to see any expression on his face.

Seeing the Master's appearance, Fu Gu took a step forward and whispered:
"Master, the ancients said: When a viper bites your hand, a brave man will cut off his wrist. How can the man like Feng Yongguansuo be several times more vicious than a viper?"

“But if you hesitate, the poison will burn your body like underground fire, your flesh and blood will dry up, your bones will be corroded by magma, and your meridians will be completely destroyed.

"Now that Youzhou has been lost, Hebei is no longer tenable. Abandoning a reed marsh to save the majority of the army is also a heroic act."

Sima Yi finally raised his head, his eyes as dark as a ghost fire:
"You mean, we should withdraw without telling the soldiers on the city wall?"

Having said that, Fu Gu decided to go all out, facing Sima Yi's gaze, and said decisively:
"Not only that, we can send those Hu people who were sent out to collect grain to Fanyang and Hejian. They might also be able to confuse the Han army."

Releasing the Tuoba brothers earlier had an unexpected effect.

Having tasted the sweetness, Sima Yi continued to dispatch several teams of Hu people.

Anyway, by using the name of the Tuoba brothers, they can collect food and grass and strike at those powerful families who are unwilling to cooperate.

However, they did not expect that something unexpected would happen in Youzhou, and it would be impossible to gather the Hu people scattered outside in a short time.

In this case, it would be better to let them delay the Han army.

Sima Yi's face became extremely painful, and his eyes showed struggle. Finally, he picked up the pen again, wrote a few words, and then hovered in the air for a long time.

The ink fell on the four words "abandon Hanoi" and smudged into a mass.

"I will never abandon Chiang Kai-shek. Tell him to abandon Hanoi immediately and go to Liyang to wait for me."

Fu Gu was stunned, and it took him a while to realize that Mr. Jiang was referring to Jiang Ji.

In other words, the Grand Tutor has agreed with his idea.

Fu Gu didn't expect that the Grand Tutor could be persuaded by him so easily.

Could it be that the Grand Tutor had actually had this intention a long time ago?
Just when Fu Gu was lost in thought, he saw the Grand Tutor staring at the dying candle on the desk and whispered, "When Emperor Wu conquered the Wuhuan, he was blocked at Wuzhong Mountain. It was also like this in July..."

Only a few years had passed, and the Wei empire built by Emperor Wu was lost bit by bit.

Sima Yi broke the brush and threw it on the ground. The sound of his order was like the sound of cold iron hitting each other:

"I will return to Yecheng soon to personally supervise the storage of autumn grain. During my absence, Sun Li will be the commander-in-chief and you must guard the city well and not go into battle without permission!"

(End of this chapter)