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Chapter 343: Under the turbulent trend, we see all kinds of people (asking for monthly votes)
The yellow sand was endless and the sky and earth were vast. Qibili dismounted from his horse and tapped his armor with his fingers. The weapons and armor casting technology of the Central Plains were far superior to those of the Western Regions and the grasslands. The skilled craftsmen of the Mohist and Military Strategists really understood the art of steel.

"Excellent armor."

Qibili couldn't help but smile on his solemn face.

In the past few years, he had reunited the nine Tiele tribes from scratch. After hundreds of years, the once large tribe was now small in number and very poor. Even the light armor and precious swords like the Golden Scimitar Cavalry were obtained bit by bit.

Later, after Li Guanyi occupied Anxi City, he tightened his belt and replaced their armor with good ones. However, how could the armor in a city in the Western Regions compare with the high-quality standard armor of the Duke's Mansion on the border of a large Central Plains country?
"Of course, there is no need for scimitars. Our scimitars were all handed down from our ancestors and have been well maintained. They were made during the heyday of our clan. Each one is of the highest quality. They are wrapped in oilcloth and maintained by our clan for generations. Even in the most dangerous times, we never gave up these weapons."

"It's time to let them appear in this world again."

The 4,000 men led by Fan Qing were all wearing heavy armor.

Among them, three thousand sets of armor for men and horses were provided. It could not be compared with the armor equipped by the world's top powerful armies, but for Fan Qing at this moment, it was enough.

He stretched out his hand and stroked the heavy armor made of steel.

A smile appeared on the face of this amiable general.

Ten thousand people were handed over. The troops led by Changsun Wuchou, who originally belonged to Xiyi City, all came from big cities and were a little contemptuous of Fan Qing and his people at the beginning, especially when they saw that the armor these people wore was not as good as theirs.

But when these ten thousand men put on their armor, not a single sound was made.

They began to realize that something was wrong.

Silent, speechless, solemn.

Tens of thousands of people just sat there quietly, not saying a word, changing their armor.

There was a large crowd of people.

There was no whispering or laughing, no conversation between each other.

Only the collision of the armor plates made a fine and solemn sound, and the surrounding atmosphere became more and more oppressive, accompanied by the fine and continuous clicking sounds when the armor finally fit together.

Fan Qing tightened the protective gear around his waist, wrapped his body with arm guards, stretched out his hands, grasped the heavy shield and long-handled sword, and raised his eyes.

The sound of the armor leaves colliding disappeared in an instant.

Only the quiet breathing sounds and gazes were left, and a murderous aura rose to the sky. Meng Lejun felt his heart beat suddenly and his scalp tingled. Fan Qing smiled and clenched his fists, saying, "General Changsun, good armor."

"Everyone, get ready to mount your horses."

Tens of thousands of people, divided into two major areas.

The 6,000 light cavalry led by Qibili were divided into 3,000 golden scimitar cavalry and 3,000 Tiele scimitar cavalry, all of whom were his own men.

The army led by Fan Qing was also his own heavily armored army. This general, who came from a peasant family, had commanded an army of 4,000 people at the fourth level of the ordinary young general's realm.

Among them were 3,000 heavily armored cavalrymen.

One thousand heavy shield armored cavalrymen with spears and crossbows.

The murderous aura rose up into the sky, but it was dead silent. It was precisely because of the dead silence that the murderous aura of the army became more violent. Officers such as Meng Lejun turned pale. Fan Qing sat on the horse and said, "Armor from the Central Plains."

"We are about to go to the battlefield again, General Changsun."

He raised his hand and threw something over, it was a treasure bag.

Fan Qing said in a deep voice: "If we return with a great victory this time, I will thank you again, General." Although his personal command ability was weaker than Qibili, he had a sense of solemnity like a mountain, and he had the talent of a great general.

Ten thousand cavalrymen abandoned their logistical supplies and only rode on the best mounts. With the support of the military formation, they silently marched towards the enemy's base camp.

They will arrive at the battle position in an hour.

Li Guanyi did not just waste his time. He personally went to the entire Yemenguan City to investigate the situation of the defenders. He noticed something wrong at a glance. The armor worn by the soldiers there were different.

After careful questioning, it was found that among the 70,000 troops, a considerable number were defenders from the forty cities that were breached or surrendered; they all had internal energy, but the internal energy of the defenders who recuperated through breathing was also counted by Duke Li.

Li Guanyi looked at the army outside and felt a little annoyed.

Duke Li seemed heroic, saying that if we joined forces, there would be no problem, but his words were full of traps.

Did he tell the truth?

It's the truth.

But is it the whole truth?

That may not be the case.

His methods were more sophisticated and mature than Li Jianwen's. If Li Guanyi had not been experienced, he would have been tricked. The Western Region coalition forces were probably much larger in number. After capturing the forty cities, they left one or two thousand troops to garrison in each city.

Then, instead of killing these original defenders, they forced them and the Xiyi City coalition forces to merge into a defeated army. This is a tactic favored by the Western Regions and the steppe Turks, where wolves chase sheep and consume their manpower.

Just like the reason why Li Guanyi charged into the battle.

Too many people is sometimes a huge burden.

The defeat of an army has a huge impact on morale.

Pretending to be defeated is actually a very clever tactic that only generals above a certain level can do.

It would be better to say that the defeated army did not completely turn into a chaotic army.

Duke Li has already resorted to extraordinary means.

Yemen Pass is a city gate, and the food inside is not enough to feed so many people.

The enemy has 100,000 men, but they are the absolutely brave and elite 100,000 men left after they were separated to occupy the captured city; here, there are 70,000 men, but they are the 70,000 defeated troops who have merged with defenders from various places and whose morale is actually not that stable.

Li Guanyi was so angry that he laughed.

Language is truly a great art.

Duke Li is truly a heroic politician, a cunning old fox. If I were just an ordinary young general, I would have been confused and excited by the situation of 70,000 against 100,000, reinforcements, the strategy of confusing the enemy, and the fact that the advantage is in my hands.

Li Zhaowen went to cooperate with the army of the Duke's Mansion.

Li Guanyi looked at the endless Western Region formations in the distance——

The Shatuo tribe is in the middle.

A surge of vital energy from the Jiuzhou Cauldron in Li Guanyi's body surged into his eyes. The murderous aura of the military formations seemed real to him. The 100,000-strong army was not a united force, but each of them turned into a murderous soldier soul like a strange beast.

Among them, the Shatuo was the strongest, and it also had a slight control over the other army formations. Li Guanyi looked at the place where the Shatuo tribe had the heaviest evil spirit and said to himself, "The commander's camp is right there."

Li Guanyi heard a muffled sound in his arms. He lowered his head and a cat came out.

"Phew, I'm suffocating!"

This charge is life-threatening, so Li Guanyi brings the Fire Kirin with him.

When charging into the battle, the Fire Kirin hid in the armor and spewed out flames, melting all the arrows shot at him. Li Guan dodged all the arrows. It was like a nightmare for the Dayuan cavalry who were good at riding and shooting.

The Fire Kirin chewed it and spat out a lump of iron.

The arrow shot at Li Guanyi was swallowed by Him and He was chewing it as if it were a candy pill.

Huo Qilin was melancholy: "This thing has no taste..."

Li Guanyi touched Qilin's head and said with a smile: "What flavor do you want? Do you want good fruit? There is still no flavor?"

Huo Qilin hesitated for a long time before finally saying, "Good fruit, there really is fruit."

"There really is nothing left in this city."

"The fruit and even the bark were removed."

"Rather than eating arrows and chewing iron bullets and copper balls on this battlefield, it is better to go back and eat fruit!"

Li Guan smiled and said, "Why don't you take out a steamed bun quickly..."

Li Guanyi paused.

The Fire Kirin licked his paw in confusion and asked, "What are you talking about?"

"Yaoguang is not here again."

Li Guanyi leaned against the arrow slit of the city wall and said, "Yes, she is not next to me."

"If Yaoguang were here, she would give you a steamed bun." Huo Qilin also thought of this. Although the steamed bun was boring to chew on weekdays, he missed it at this moment.

"Ah, if she doesn't pour honey on burnt buns for me."

“The steamed buns are quite delicious.”

Li Guanyi said: "Which one tastes better, this or the arrow?"

The Fire Kirin struggled for a while and said, "Then I'd better eat the arrow."

Li Guanyi really wanted to let Yaoguang see Fire Kirin's choice. Thinking that the girl would be very angry, he inserted a straight branch into the bun and then hit Fire Kirin's head again and again. Fire Kirin couldn't dodge and had to take it obediently.

Li Guanyi lowered his eyes. In the past two years, Yaoguang had hardly ever left him.

This time they were charging into the midst of thousands of troops. He himself had an immortal body and was not afraid, but Yaoguang was different. Xiao Yuxue's matter was like a stone pressing on his heart, and he was actually very afraid that something might happen to Yaoguang.

This is the only psychological trauma that the cult leader left on Li Guanyi.

When she was young, half of Yaoguang's blood and bone marrow were extracted to purify her blood. Li Guanyi didn't even dare to think about the pain involved.

Sure enough, that guy wanted to be killed.

"This time I am here to help Erlang. We are friends in need and brothers in life and death. But if I help Brother Erlang but put Yaoguang in danger, I can't do that."

"It's just that Erlang's father, Big Brother..."

Li Guanyi didn't know what to say.

With Li Zhaowen's temperament and intelligence, if it weren't for the family affection that covered it up, he would have seen through the plans of Li Jianwen and Li Guogong. In the end, Li Guanyi just said, "Forget it, forget it. I hope I'm just overthinking about their family affairs."

Suddenly, he heard bursts of crying and noise from below. Li Guanyi raised his head and saw the people and soldiers quarreling and clashing with each other. Li Guanyi frowned and knocked on the Qilin.

Qilin shrank and got into Li Guanyi's battle robe.

Li Guan supported the city wall one by one, turned over and climbed down. From afar, he saw a group of civilians confronting the soldiers. The civilians grabbed the sleeves of the soldiers and cried loudly, "General, General, are you going to leave?!"

"You have torn down our houses and used them as stones, and you have taken away our food. You cannot abandon us and go on your own."

The sergeant seemed annoyed and asked, "When will we go alone?"

The old man said, "I see you have already started to pack up the camp and prepare the troops, so you should leave early. Although I am old, I am not a fool."

The sergeant became angry and pushed the old man to the ground. His right hand fell on the hilt of the knife and pulled it out an inch. The soldiers behind him also drew their weapons. For a moment, the atmosphere was tense and they shouted, "Don't disturb the people!"

The old man just cried out, "How dare I disturb the people? It's just that, General, I joined the army when I was fifteen years old. Three of my brothers died and I was the only one left. I went through more than a dozen battles and earned some military merits, but later they were gone."

"The Duke relocated the people in the territory to the outside world. I followed the Duke's order and settled here. Now, for more than 20 years, my two sons have joined the army for the country. You want our food and house, and I have nothing else to say."

"But now, you want to leave but leave us behind?!"

"General, General, this is absolutely unreasonable. I want to go see the Duke!"

"Step aside!"

Seeing the crowd excited, the sergeant was worried that he could not control the public opinion. He looked grim and shouted, "I told you to shut up!" The old man was extremely sad and shouted, "I was a soldier of the Fire Yellow Camp who helped the Duke to suppress the rebellion in the chaos forty years ago. Today you come to kill me!"

The sergeant gritted his teeth and drew his sword, but suddenly he heard a voice saying, "Stop."

The sergeant paused and saw a general approaching.

He was wearing black armor with mountain patterns and a blood-stained brocade robe. His eyes were calm. The soldiers looked stern and saluted subconsciously, saying, "General."

Li Guanyi came over and asked, "What's the matter?"

The sergeant hesitated and said, "It was this old fellow who suddenly came to make a scene, saying that we were going to abandon them."

The old man's hair and beard were standing up in anger, and his voice was like crying. He said, "You are silent and you want to pack up the troops without informing the people. You have opened the marching stoves. It's obvious that you want to reward the soldiers before charging into battle. You want to abandon us."

"I know that an old guy like me is not fit to join the army, but there are still many young and strong men in the city, all of whom are fighting for the country. Are you just going to abandon them? Give them a sword and rush out together, so that more people can survive."

The sergeant said angrily: "Don't slander me!"

Li Guanyi looked around and saw that the soldiers and generals around him only knew that the general wearing the black mountain pattern armor was the fierce general who charged into the battle twice like a god. For a moment, they did not dare to say anything, but just muttered. Li Guanyi looked at the old man and said, "...I won't do that."

The old man looked at Li Guanyi and bowed down. The people around him bowed down as well. Li Guanyi supported the old man. The old man opened his clothes. There was a scar on his chest. He cried, "We old guys don't plan to live anymore. We have lived enough."

"In troubled times, being able to live past 49 is already a blessing from God, but there are so many young people. I know the Duke's plan, but after the army goes out, you will rush out, but if we stay here, the Western Region army will definitely rob us in anger."

"Are all the tens of thousands of people in this city going to be abandoned?"

"They said they would come back with reinforcements to find us, but once the city is breached, it will be like a piece of meat thrown into the desert, attracting countless wild beasts. How can we survive?! I'm afraid even our bones will be eaten by wolves."

Li Guanyi listened to the old man's crying and remained silent for a long time. Their houses were demolished and used as rolling stones and logs, and their food was confiscated. The people knew that this was a matter of city safety, so they did not say anything and remained obedient.

It was not until now that they discovered that the army had a tendency to leave that it became completely difficult to control emotions and public opinion. The old man was already in tears as he spoke. Li Guanyi looked at these people and knew that this was the rule in troubled times.

The history books will record that Li Guogong's troops were besieged and then broke through.

They talked about the bravery of the soldiers and the strategic significance, but they didn't talk about the suffering of the people. They lost everything and were left behind. Li Guanyi exhaled a breath and looked at these "abandoned pawns". He suddenly said loudly:

“I won’t be left behind.”

The old man looked up at him. Li Guanyi rummaged in his pocket and took out the letter from Duke Li. He said seriously, "The Duke has given me all the forty-two cities. Even if I am the master of Yemenguan, I will not abandon you."

The old man's eyes widened.

Li Guanyi said: "I said, once a word is spoken, it cannot be taken back."

"I will save all the people in this city."

"As for the houses and food supplies of the people?" Li Guanyi looked at the sergeant next to him and asked, "Where are the warehouses in the city?"

The sergeant hesitated, Li Guanyi raised his eyebrows, and the sergeant seemed to be overwhelmed by evil spirit, his face turned pale, and he said: "At the end of this road..." Li Guanyi was about to lead the crowd over, and the sergeant trembled in his heart, and hurriedly grabbed Li Guanyi's sleeve:

"General, general."

"It's not convenient at this moment..."

Li Guanyi's mind raced, and he suddenly realized something, sneering:
"inconvenient?"

"I am already the Lord of Yemenguan City. What inconvenience is there?!"

"Let go!"

He flicked his sleeves and the sergeant was thrown away. Li Guanyi led the people and strode away. Some of the Black Armor Army discovered Li Guanyi and followed him without hesitation. When they arrived at the treasury, the door had been opened as Li Guanyi had expected.

There were dozens of elite soldiers from the palace, wearing armor that was obviously better than that of ordinary soldiers. They were moving out the gold, silver, and copper coins, especially the jade artifacts. When they saw Li Guanyi and others coming here, they were not worried at all and continued to move things.

When he saw a small and exquisite object, he would put it in his arms.

Li Guanyi walked over with a dark cloud in his eyes, but two fair-skinned men who had obviously never experienced the hardships of battle stopped him and said, "General, this is not convenient."

"What's the inconvenience?"

The attendant looked Li Guanyi up and down and said with a smile, "I know you are the one who charged into the battle and have made contributions, but don't you know the reputation of my master?"

"Even if you have merits, you still need connections. Aren't we going to break out of the city? The gold, silver, and jade here, if left here, will only benefit the barbarians in the Western Regions. My master couldn't bear to see such a waste, so he sent me here to take them away."

The old man didn't want to say anything anymore.

Did he fight for forty years just to protect people like this?
I couldn't help but feel sad and burst into tears.

When charging into battle, the common people suffered and the soldiers fought bravely and risked their lives.

There were actually people secretly coming to the city treasury at this time, taking gold and silver, chatting and laughing, leisurely and peaceful. Contrasting this with the tragic situation, Li Guanyi felt a surge of anger.

The situation has come to this!
Such a critical moment!
There are still people like this? How dare such people make such a fortune?!
After all, this was Erlang's place, so Li Guan suppressed his anger and spoke word by word:

"The army is taking the people's property, I want to provide relief to the people."

"Besides, this city has been given to me. What are you going to do?"

"Put it down immediately and leave. You can avoid punishment."

The attendant smiled and asked, "Punishment?"

"My son can be considered as the younger brother of the Duke, so he is of a very high generation. Even if the Second Son comes in person, he has to treat him as an uncle. You..."

He looked at Li Guanyi and said with a faint smile: "He is just a brave general under the Second Young Master. How can he be so rude? Considering your contribution, I wonder if this big Ying family should leave quickly..."

Li Guanyi's right hand dropped, holding the sword at his waist.

The attendant was used to being arrogant, and said: "You are just a warrior, but you know the thousand-year-old family. What do you think of giving these things to these people? What, do you dare to draw your sword? Come, here is my neck, if you have the courage..."

Before he finished his words, there was a flash of a knife, and the head flew up into the sky, splashed with blood.

The blade of Li Guanyi's sword was stained with blood, and the surrounding soldiers were all shocked. As the smell of blood rushed in, Li Guanyi felt that his mind was clear. All his troubles, such as the methods of the Duke, his deep thoughts, and his heroic family, were all resolved.

Bullshit covenant, bullshit following their pace!
I am not fighting for the aristocratic families!
Lord Li, you old man, do you still want to restrain me with your tricks?

Li Guanyi said: "Black Armor Army."

"Control these people!"

"promise!"

This group of brave men had already drawn their swords to suppress them. These people had high martial arts skills, but they had no military honors to match. It was obvious that they were all troublemakers in the border army. The border army was synonymous with bravery and troublemakers.

This group of Black Armor soldiers were the most troublesome of the troublemakers. They had long been dissatisfied with the armies of the aristocratic families. When Li Guan rushed into the battle line to save people twice, this group of Black Armor soldiers were all pleased and convinced, and they immediately took action to suppress them.

Li Guanyi turned around and looked at the sergeant: "Who is this young master?"

Wu Chang's face turned pale and his body trembled: "Yes, yes... Master Li Xuanye..."

Li Guan nodded, leaned forward and half-knelt, bandaged the wound on the knee of an old man who had been knocked down by mistake in the conflict, and said gently: "Wait a moment, old man, I will go and seek justice."

The old man grabbed Li Guanyi's sleeve and said, "Enough, enough..."

Li Guanyi looked at him and said, "Not enough."

He stood up, and suddenly a voice came from the other side: "Where are you going, General?"

Li Guanyi said: "If you want justice, you can do it here."

The man grinned. He was over thirty years old, with a body as strong as an iron tower. He wielded a heavy horse lance and was a frontier soldier at the fifth level of the realm.

He was promoted to the position of commander of a thousand men several times, but was dismissed each time because of quarreling with his superiors. It was Yuchi Xiong who was bored and said, "General, where are you going? I will be your escort."

Li Guanyi said: "Okay!"

These two people seized the horses and rushed straight to where the Duke and the clan were. Yuchi Xiong laughed and waved a heavy weapon like a mace to push everyone away. Li Guanyi had already gone straight to that Li Xuanye.

Li Xuanye held a glass of fine grape wine in his hand, thinking that it would not be a loss if he took the gold and silver of this city this time. Anyway, this city would be plundered by the chaos in the Western Regions later, and no one would know about these things.

There is also the merit of following the army into battle and returning with a great victory. Although it was a bit of a hardship, it was worth it.

While he was thinking, he heard a commotion outside. When he was stunned, he saw a fierce general wearing mountain-patterned armor, riding a horse towards him. Li Xuanye was about to greet him, but he saw the man raised his hand and shot, and stabbed him directly without hesitation!
Li Xuanye wanted to hide, but where could he hide? !
He had already been shot in the throat and the bullet had chiseled into the wall behind him. The luminous cup of grape wine fell to the ground and broke into pieces. Li Xuanye couldn't believe it. He stretched out his hand to grab the gun on his neck and felt trembling.

With such a big commotion, some people outside had already come. Seeing this scene, their faces suddenly changed. Xiahou Duan asked, "What are you doing?!"

He said in a sophisticated and deep voice, "Li Xuanye, what crime did you commit?"

Li Guanyi continued to exert force with the spear in his hand, almost pinning Li Xuanye to death, and said: "You rashly moved the city's warehouses, secretly looted gold and silver objects when the battle was about to begin, and disturbed the morale of the army when the battle was about to begin."

Xiahou Duan remained silent for a long time, then said, "If he disturbs the morale of the army, he should be killed. I wonder what he did to disturb the morale of the army?"

Li Guanyi understood.

The first few are all crimes, but in the eyes of these people from aristocratic families, they are not a big deal.

Li Xuanye seemed to see the figure of Duke Li. He stretched out his hand, blood gushed out from the wound, and muttered, "Brother, save me..."

Big brother is here with a magic medicine, he can still live!
Can survive!

Duke Li's thoughts, the conflict between the Western Regions and the Central Plains, the abandoned people and soldiers, and at this time, the children of aristocratic families who were still thinking about plundering gold and silver, many things were burning like fire in Li Guanyi's chest.

Explode.

Want to live?

dream! ! !

Li Guanyi moved his wrist.

The spear swept across, directly cutting off half of the neck!

Blood spilled on the ground, scarlet and tragic, shocking everyone. Li Guan turned around, wearing a black mountain-patterned armor, holding a spear against the ground, looking at the many generals in front of him, lowering his eyes and asking, "What kind of military spirit is there?"

"Not going well, my heart."

"how?"

(End of this chapter)