Xiaoqi

Chapter 083

Thick smoke billowed straight into the sky, and the horses neighed through the forest.

The narrow mountain road above the cliff was full of shouts and killings, mixed with shrill screams and clanging and brutal fighting.

More than a thousand followers in black were divided into two groups, pretending to be two passing caravans, forming a front and back attack on the fleeing Xiliang army, and then suddenly launched an attack, igniting the carriages full of thatch and dry firewood, causing The horses were frightened and crazily rushed to the Xiliang army formation.

Meet on a narrow road.Facing the sudden change, the more than [-] Xiliang war cavalry who were besieged from the front and rear resisted hastily, and were limited by the narrow mountain roads, unable to advance or retreat. They were crowded into a group for a while, and were thrown into disorder by the fire carriage, causing huge casualties.

The first wave of collision of the fire carriage alone caused thousands of cavalry to be panicked by the carriage, so that people and horses fell off the cliff and were smashed to pieces.

After the carriage collided, two entourages in black rushed out brazenly, attacking back and forth, and came into close contact with Li Li's cavalry.However, at the moment when the two armies were fighting at close quarters, the Xiliang cavalry was caught off guard again by the black-clothed squires. Unprepared, they suffered huge casualties again, had to shrink their formation, and retreated steadily.

There is no other reason, it is just that these black-clothed servants actually carried crossbows with them, and hid them behind their backs in advance, until they were about to meet with Xiliang cavalry. .

After two rounds of killing and wounding, only 4000 soldiers remained out of the [-] Xiliang war cavalry, and [-]% of the soldiers and horses were lost.So far, the black-clothed entourage had no means of sneak attacking, so they fought close to each other with the Xiliang war cavalry, fighting to the death.fighting.The followers in black were very fierce and tenacious in battle, and each of them seemed to have a blood feud with the Xiliang army.He is not afraid of death, advances but never retreats.

Facing such a ferocious enemy, the pressure on the Xiliang army increased greatly. Although they had a clear advantage in strength, they could not take advantage of the slightest advantage in the fight, and they were inseparable from the black-clothed followers.

Such a difficult battle for these Xiliang soldiers who broke through from Yecheng.It is really rare, and it can even be said to be the first time ever.The reason for this situation is entirely because the narrow mountain roads limit the combat effectiveness of Xiliang iron cavalry.Let them have the advantage of force and powerful impact.But they couldn't use it at all, and only a dozen people could be dispatched to fight against the black-clothed followers at a time, while the others were blocked in the middle of the mountain road, in a dilemma.Even if you have strength, you can't use it.I can only do it in a hurry.

It has to be mentioned that during the previous breakout, the arrows carried by these Xiliang cavalry had been exhausted.That's why they were blocked on the narrow mountain road, watching the soldiers fighting in front of them, and their comrades were knocked off the cliff one by one, they were as anxious as ants on a hot pot, but they couldn't help at all.

Just as the battle situation was stalemate, the situation suddenly changed.The Xiliang Army has ushered in a major turning point.And this turning point stems from Liu Bei's screams like howling ghosts and wolves when he fell off the cliff.

The scene of Liu Bei being knocked off the cliff was not seen by many followers in black.However, it was his tragic scream when he fell off the cliff that attracted the attention of the black-clothed followers, which greatly affected the fighting spirit and morale of the black-clothed followers.

Under the ebb and flow, Xiliang soldiers were greatly excited.Immediately, the soldiers at the front and rear fought back vigorously, reversing the unfavorable situation of being passively beaten in one fell swoop, and grabbing a larger fighting space, allowing the remaining cavalry to join the battle group and further expand the victory.

In the afternoon, the sun in the sky was completely covered by dark clouds, and the whistling westerly wind was mixed with the moisture that was about to come from the wind and rain.

At this moment, another cry of pain resembling the roar of a beast came from the battlefield in the middle of the mountain road. It was Guan Yu's voice, and all the followers in black recognized it.

In an instant, the tenacious fighting spirit of the followers in black was finally disintegrated, and the formation was in chaos. Some men in black were fighting and retreating, trying to escape from the battlefield.

Coincidentally.Just when the servants in black were about to be unable to hold back, the sound of rumbling horseshoes reached the ears of all the people fighting, and immediately tens of thousands of troops emerged from the top of the mountain, with tens of thousands of cavalry rushing forward .

"Don't be alarmed, my lord, Kong Ming is here!" When the people fighting on the mountain road looked up, a loud voice came from the top of the mountain.

Immediately, a distinctive handsome man with a lupine fan rode his horse and stood on the top of the mountain, looking down from a high position, then waved the lupine fan, and ordered in a loud voice: "Shoot the thief in black, shoot the arrow!"

At this moment, all the Xiliang soldiers on the mountain road recognized that the person who came was Zhuge Liang and Zhuge Kongming from Nanyang, his lord's righteous brothers.

"Swish" arrows shot down, and hundreds of black-clothed servants were buried in the random arrows, and fell down to death amidst screams.The rest of the hundreds of black-clothed entourages started to retreat and fled in a hurry. Unfortunately, they missed the best time to retreat. As soon as they left, the Xiliang iron cavalry followed and chased them until they wiped out all the black-clothed entourages.

Until now, the identities of this group of black-clothed servants have just surfaced. They are the personal guards who have followed Liu Bei for many years.

After the defeat of Xuzhou, there were only more than a thousand people who followed Liu Bei and fled to Runan. Guan Yu, who had been separated since then, found Liu Bei and brought more than [-] soldiers.So far, the two brothers Liu Bei and Guan Yu had only more than [-] trusted people who had survived the battle. After learning the news that Zhang Fei was killed by Li Li, Liu Bei wanted to lead the remnants to Liu Biao in Jingzhou, but Guan Yu insisted on serving Zhang Fei. Revenge, so after the two brothers argued for a long time, neither could convince the other, so they stayed in Runan for half a year.

In the end, Liu Bei decided to lead his army northward and join Yuan Shao.Unexpectedly, when they led their troops to the north bank of the Yellow River, news came out that Yuan Shao had poisoned Emperor Liu Xie of the Han Dynasty, which immediately disrupted their original intention of defecting to Yuan Shao.After that, Liu Bei and Guan Yu had to think long-term and hesitated for more than two months. During this period, they became bandits in Yanzhou and barely made ends meet.

It was during this time when Cao Cao in Yanzhou knew the whereabouts of Liu Bei, Guan Yu and his party, and then Xun Yu took the initiative to ask Ying to persuade Liu Bei to lead his troops to join Cao Cao.However, Cao Cao was forced by his status as a member of the Yuan League, and Liu Bei was not really willing to lead his troops to serve, so the whereabouts of Liu Bei and his party were concealed.As a result, their brothers disappeared from the sight of the princes of the towns like a stone sinking into the sea for two years.

In the Battle of Yecheng, Liu Bei and Guan Yu led more than [-] people from their headquarters to use as surprise soldiers.Hiding in the dark, he is responsible for cutting off the scouts and sentry cavalry of the Xiliang Army.More than [-] Xiliang army scouts outside the east gate were silently obliterated by them, but they also paid the price of more than [-] casualties for this, which is equivalent to exchanging lives for lives, and the casualties are still in Xiliang Above the military scouts.After getting rid of the scouts at the east gate, Liu Bei led his troops to sneak into the western mountain forest that night, trying to wait for the rabbit.Give Li Li a fatal blow in defeat.

According to Cao Cao's predetermined plan, he intentionally sent [-] or [-] more soldiers and horses to Liu Bei, and ordered them to set up an ambush within a hundred miles outside the west gate;Even if Liu Bei failed to intercept and lose to the fugitive troops led by Li Li, Cao Cao could send troops in time to reinforce him.But Liu Bei categorically rejected Cao Cao's kindness, and insisted on leading his troops to set up an ambush in the jungle of Xishan.And claimed that if Li Li had not fled to Bingzhou.No matter how many people there are, it is in vain.Seeing that Liu Bei had made up his mind, Cao Cao no longer insisted on it. According to Liu Bei's wish, he ordered him to lead his troops to intercept Li Li's defeated army who might flee to Bingzhou.

However, the mountains and forests in the west bordered Bingzhou, and it was quite close to the Huguan defenders. An ambush here was extremely risky, and the entire army would be wiped out if it was not careful.But Liu Bei did the opposite, with the mentality of a gambler who knows that there are tigers in the mountains and prefers to travel to the mountains.He resolutely decided to take the official road directly to Huguan, and set up an ambush on the cliff mountain road [-] miles southeast of Huguan.That's why Li Li and others didn't find any traces in the jungle.Obviously.Liu Bei knew that most of the Xiliang army came from the bitter cold and were good at field and jungle warfare, so he resolutely gave up the plan to set up an ambush in the jungle, and then pretended to be a caravan to go on the road, and rushed to the cliff mountain road in advance to wait for Li Li and his party appear.

As expected by Liu Bei, Li Li's remnant army who successfully broke through the siege fled to the west of the jungle, trying to use the natural barrier of the jungle to go to Huguan and escape.It can be said that Liu Bei's entire ambush plan was quite successful, and everything went according to his expected trajectory, as if he had guessed Li Li's escape route after his fiasco.Perhaps this is also the summary of Liu Bei's experience and experience in fleeing for many years, so he can guess Li Li's thoughts after a big defeat, and accurately judge that Li Li will definitely choose Bingzhou, the closest escape route, after successfully breaking through. .

However, one thing was beyond Liu Bei's expectation, that is, after Li Li broke through the siege, there were still four or five thousand warriors and horses, and they were all elites who survived the disaster.According to his speculation, after Li Liyi's troops rushed out of Yecheng, all the troops under his command must have been killed or injured. Even if there were remnant soldiers and defeated generals to protect them, at best they would not exceed 3000.

Why should five thousand elite warriors flee?Is this the strength that a fugitive should have?With so many war cavalry, Li Li could lead his army back to the north bank of the Zhanghe River and join the camp on the north bank. Why bother to escape to Bingzhou across the mountains?

But no matter what Liu Bei thought, Li Li led the remnant army to appear anyway, and fell into the ambush circle he had prepared in advance.Liu Bei was so surprised that he had no other choice, the situation was pressing, and he had no choice but to launch an attack, so he resolutely decided to launch an attack, and he did not hesitate to use himself as a bait to create a chance for Guan Yu to kill Li Li.

As the saying goes: it depends on people to make things happen.For this blockbuster beheading plan, Liu Bei, Guan Yu and more than a thousand soldiers under their tents waited for two full years, which can be said to be two years of sharpening their swords, just for this moment to be able to stab them out and get their wish fulfilled.However, his carefully planned ambush ultimately ended in failure. There is only one explanation for the reason: strength determines everything.

On the contrary, the reason why Li Li was able to survive the catastrophe this time was that he was more prepared on weekdays, so he was more likely to succeed at critical moments;This time he led nearly [-] cavalry to successfully break through the siege, virtually disrupting Liu Bei's ambush plan, and Gongsun Zan's brave pounce when his life was hanging by a thread was due to Li Li's daily kindness to Gongsun Zan.Although he did not completely trust Gongsun Zan, he has always treated Gongsun Zan extremely kindly, treated him with every kind of courtesy, and took care of Gongsun Zan's emotions on different occasions, so that he would not feel the slightest cold reception and live with dignity.Therefore, at the moment when he was facing the most critical moment of life and death, Gongsun Zan stepped forward and repaid the kindness of the past with his own life.

At dusk, a heavy rain that had been brewing for three days finally fell.

The downpour of lightning and thunder washed away the thick smoke and dust, and washed away the blood everywhere and the blood in the air.The falling rain soothes the devastated field and the trampled green grass, soothes the souls of those who have not yet gone far, and the sad and fragile hearts of the survivors.

At the same time, the belated heavy rain also put a curtain on the three-year-long battle in Hebei.With the arrival of this heavy rain, the beacon smoke was extinguished, the battle clouds dissipated, and everything was settled.

After the Battle of Yecheng, this protracted war has temporarily come to an end.After countless game fights, the outcome is now clear, Yanzhou Cao Cao is the biggest winner.In contrast, Yuan Shao in Jizhou failed to steal chickens and lost money, and lost completely; while Li Li, who was sure of victory, stumbled at the last moment of victory, and suffered his first defeat since the uprising, and it was unprecedented. fiasco.

Therefore, this rain came at just the right time to wash away the beacon smoke, restore the tranquility that the mountains and plains should have, and restore a pure sky to the land.

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Chapter 084

On a thunderstorm night, the Shangdang County Governor's Mansion was brightly lit, and iron-clad soldiers guarding Ge Sensen could be seen everywhere in the huge mansion.

The corridors in the courtyard are full of busy figures, including maidservants, servants, servants and soldiers, walking briskly and constantly shuttling back and forth.

Under the stone steps of the main hall in the front yard, hundreds of sentry cavalry and messengers led their horses and waited for orders. From time to time, sentry cavalry came from outside to report the military situation of various places, and military orders were sent out one after another in the main hall.

This back and forth has been going on for two hours.In other words, from the moment General Li Lili's army entered the county guard's mansion, urgent military information from various places was sent here, and military orders issued by Li Li were also sent here.

This cycle repeats itself from dusk to late night.As of now, hundreds of messengers have left the government with military orders and headed to various states and counties, and there are also hundreds of sentinels who have come to report the situation of the battle.

"The rain is very urgent. Please return to the camp for the time being and wait for the summons at any time. Go!" As the last five sentry horses rode away, a scribe walked out of the main hall, and waved his hand to the sentry at the bottom of the stone steps while conveying orders. The cavalry and scouts went back to camp to avoid the rain.

In the main hall, Li Li, who was dressed in a brocade robe, gently put down his hair. His expression was extremely tired, his face was so tired that his cheeks were slightly pale, and his pupils were bloodshot.This kind of expression had never appeared on Li Li's face before, and this was the first time, which showed that he was extremely tired at the moment.

Not only that, Li Li's expression at this time was extremely solemn, his eyes were melancholy, and there was a faint anxiety and self-blame that could not be expressed.Gives a feeling of exhaustion.

"It's late at night, my lord, let's rest as soon as possible. I will guard here tonight. If there is an emergency, I will report to my lord as soon as possible." Seeing Li Li's physical and mental exhaustion, Zhuge Liang was very worried, and couldn't help but whispered.

"The defeated army has fluctuating morale and low morale. How can you slack off?" Li Li slowly got up after pondering.He walked heavily to the hall, sat beside Zhuge Liang, and sighed softly: "I'm really tired at the moment. But my heart is in a mess and my thoughts are racing, so I can't sleep well. If Kong Ming is free, he will drink two glasses with me." Maybe I can temporarily forget my troubles after being drunk. Get a good sleep." After speaking, Li Li smiled lightly, Zhuge Liang felt sad when he saw his pale cheeks and bloodshot eyes , could not help worrying about his body.

"If this goes on like this, how can my brother's body bear it? Sooner or later he will be exhausted." Zhuge Liang thought to himself.

Immediately he discarded these distracting thoughts, and comforted him with a forced smile: "Actually, brother, you don't have to be so worried. Although the current situation is severe, it is not enough to cause the army's morale to be unstable and the situation to be turbulent. From Brother Yu's point of view, as long as the sentry general sent out just now, brother is safe and sound The news of our return to Shangdang County has been conveyed to the garrisons and states and counties. The situation can be stabilized within ten days, and then everything will naturally return to normal. Therefore, the safety of my brother is the fundamental factor that determines the situation in Xiliang, and now my brother has nothing Return to Bingzhou unscathed, the hearts of the people will be stable, the morale of the army will be stable, and the situation will be as solid as a rock." Although these are words of comfort, they are also true, and Zhuge Liang obviously expressed his feelings.

Li Li nodded slightly, and raised the wine cup to signal Zhuge Liang to drink with him.After drinking, Li Li looked at him with a smile on his face, and asked: "Dongyue last year, I heard that Brother Xian took Shi A and other three guards to Xichuan for a tour, why did he appear in Bingzhou at this moment? Could it be that Brother Xian is serious? Do you know that the war in Hebei is worrisome even though you are thousands of miles away?" Indeed, Li Li was very curious that Zhuge Liang led the troops to rescue in time today, or he was deeply surprised by this, and he never thought that Zhuge Liang had already died. When they arrived in Bingzhou, they also mobilized the army to go out to rescue.

Zhuge Liang obviously expected that Li Li would ask this question, and said without hesitation after hearing the words: "Even if my brother doesn't ask, my foolish brother will still have to apologize. This time, my foolish brother mobilized the Bingzhou garrison without permission.

Li Li shook his head slightly when he heard the words: "Brother, what is the crime of mobilizing troops to help you as a brother? Besides, the matter is in a hurry. Last autumn, my brother gave my brother the right to do things cheaply. When necessary, I can mobilize soldiers and horses from various counties. Therefore, Xian My brother sent troops to rescue this time not only innocent, but meritorious; if there is no virtuous brother to lead the troops to help, I am afraid that brother is still on the way to escape at this moment, good or bad is unpredictable!"

Zhuge Liang bowed his hands to express his thanks: "Thank you, my lord, for your magnanimity, and my humble ministers are very frightened." Zhuge Liang has always distinguished public and private, so he also changed his title of Li Li in a few sentences, abided by his duty, handled things with great measure, and never Go beyond half a step.

"Forget it, brother, there is no need to be polite, and there is no need to be courteous between you and me." Li Li waved his hand lightly.