Zhou Min looked at the Crown Prince and the Ten Thousand Heavenly Cloud Guards who were gradually disappearing into the night. Having experienced hundreds of battles, he always felt at peace before any kind of battle, but today his heart was pounding for no reason.
With this uneasiness, Zhou Min returned to Luzhou City. Until midnight, Zhou Min ordered his cavalry to make food in the middle of the night and prepare to act according to the plan. Suddenly he remembered that before the troops left Jianglin, Military Commander Xiao had found him privately and pulled him away forcefully. I drank with him for half the night, and when I was half drunk, I took out a small bag of tips and stuffed it for myself.
"Brother Zhou has been fighting for a lifetime. When he went south to confront the Tang Dynasty, he can open this bag of tips when hesitating." Thinking of the words of the military advisor in his ears, Zhou Min came back to his senses and quickly touched his armor to look for the treasure he had kept close to him. of tips.
"What's wrong, today's battle, I changed into close-fitting clothes... Come on, come on!" After getting nothing, Zhou Min remembered that he had changed into close-fitting clothes today. He didn't even bother to call for his soldiers, and hurriedly ran towards him. The soldiers around him had never seen the general in such a panic, and they all looked at each other sideways.
Zhou Min's soldiers naturally knew that their generals had the habit of changing into new clothes every time there was a big battle. Therefore, when they learned that there was going to be a big battle today, they had already served the general and changed out the clothes he had worn under his clothes for the past few days and sent them to be cleaned. This time he was returning to the army in accordance with military orders. Prepare for war.
The general turned around and saw the general's anxious look. He didn't know what major military situation had happened. He saw the general walking in front of him in three steps and two steps at a time. He pushed himself away and faced the person who was doing laundry. The soldier asked loudly: "Where are my clothes?"
All the soldiers were frightened by the general's expression and stopped what they were doing. One of the young soldiers stood up slowly, holding the clothes in his hands, and said with a bit of timidity: "... General, here I am. ..”
Without enough time to explain, Zhou Min grabbed the clothes and finally found the already soaked kit among the water-stained underwear.
Opening the brocade bag, he took out a soaked secret letter from it. He screened away the soldiers. Zhou Min frowned and unfolded it. Most of the small regular script on the secret letter was blurred, and only a few words could be vaguely seen.
Zhou Min frowned, looking at a few vaguely legible handwritings, and was gradually horrified. He recalled the hesitant look on the military advisor's face at the wine table the night before the expedition. Could it be that the military advisor at that time had counted on what happened today.
"...The Crown Prince...is eager to achieve great results, so he can only sit in the central army and never...go out on an expedition...General Zhou is here to...avoid...like..." After reading this, Zhou Min was already surprised and spoke. .
"Come here, send the scouts quickly!"
Instead of waiting for the scouts, a soldier covered in blood came quickly with the support of two people. Before Zhou Min could speak, he reported to the troops in front: "General, the 10,000 Tianyun Guards led by the Crown Prince have already arrived." Encountering the vanguard of the Tang army, the prince was brave and killed the general Pan Jun, but..."
Zhou Min was shocked, picked up his soldiers and shouted: "But what, don't talk nonsense, how is the prince now?"
"His Royal Highness, after beheading the enemy generals, he commanded the pursuit of the enemy troops and went deep into the Qing Valley. Unexpectedly, there was an ambush in the valley. The Crown Prince was trapped in the Qing Valley. He rushed to the left and right and could not get out..."
As soon as these words came out, Zhou Min and all the soldiers were pale. This famous general in the world was so angry that his brows stood up. He was not angry that the prince did not listen to his dissuasion and pursued the enemy, but that he was angry with himself for using the army for the first time. He should have thought of the second son for taking charge. The military power will definitely be eager to perform meritorious deeds and pursue the pursuit at all costs. How could I be so confused and accept the prince's offer and insist on leading the troops?
Seeing Zhou Min stunned on the spot, the soldiers said that the general had not heard the military report clearly, and he did not care about his injuries at this moment. He endured the pain and wanted to repeat it again. Before he could speak, he felt his body lightened and he had fallen to the ground. Looking back, The only thing I saw was the general leaving quickly and the military order resounding throughout Luzhou.
"Take him to heal his wounds. For the rest, leave 10,000 infantry to guard Luzhou City. The rest of the generals will follow me on light and fast horses to support His Highness the Crown Prince!"
——
In the valley, Qi Shao was in a desperate state. His cloak behind him had already been broken into strips by the attack. If it hadn't been for the Yuntian Armor given by King Qi Yun to protect him, the second son, His Highness, would have been killed many times. At this moment, he He was vigorously waving the long sword in his hand, constantly brushing aside the rain of arrows shooting down from both sides of the valley.
Regretful, Qi Shao recalled the big mistake he had made just now. He thought that he had learned from Xiao Junshi and did not pay attention to the enemy. When he encountered three thousand forward troops of the Tang Army at night, he casually attacked them.
Song Song beheaded Pan Jun, and Qi Shao, who was eager to accomplish his feat, ignored the dissuasion of his accompanying generals and completely forgot Zhou Min's instructions, commanding 10,000 Tianyun Guards to pursue the opponent's remaining soldiers.
As the mountain road ahead became narrower and the Tianyun Guards gradually moved from dozens of parallel lines to two or three, Qi Shao realized that something was wrong. He looked at the clusters of dead trees in the valleys on both sides and thought to himself: "My teacher once taught me that when marching in front of a battle, it is most taboo to enter a narrow valley. If there are ambushes on both sides, encircle the valley from the front and back...not good!"
Thinking of this, he no longer cared about where the remaining soldiers of the Tang army had fled. He quickly drew his sword in his hand and shouted: "Retreat quickly!"
Unexpectedly, as soon as the word "military" came out, ambushes arose on both sides of the valley, and arrows rained down from the sky like a storm. In one volley, hundreds of Tianyun Guards were killed in the rain of arrows.
Although he was trapped in a heavy siege, Qi Shao finally learned his true skills from Xiao Hushen. He immediately called for the whole army and raised his shields to resist. At the same time, he ordered the rear army to act as the front army and break through the encirclement at the entrance of the valley.
After finally retreating, the arrow rain on both sides of the valley stopped. When Qi Shao saw this, his eyes were not only wary, but also showed a more solemn look. He already knew in his heart what methods the opponent was going to use, and he immediately shouted sternly. : "The Tang army will use rolling stones to follow my orders and form a shield formation!".
Qi Yunwei was worthy of being the elite of King Qi Yun. Hearing the order, he stopped panicking. The shield soldiers formed a formation, with the tail of their shields buried in the ground, in a diagonal shape. The other officers and soldiers hid behind the shield formation and slowly retreated towards the mouth of the valley. ...
Although the Tianyun Guards were well-trained, they still could not withstand the attacks of many falling rocks. Hearing the pitiful cries of soldiers being killed by huge rocks, Qi Shao wanted to raise his sword and kill himself to apologize, but he knew in his heart that if he died, Well, if the Tianyun Guard loses its leader these days, all of them will surely die in this valley.
Thinking of this, I can only grit my teeth and slowly retreat with the army...
Withdrawing his thoughts, Qi Shao looked at the Tianyun Guards who had gone out with him and saw that more than half of them had been destroyed. Qi Shao couldn't care less about the regret in his heart. He still kept repeating the military rules in a hoarse voice. While resisting the rain of arrows, he let the rear troops try to break through the valley mouth to break out.
Unexpectedly, the entrance of the valley with the word "concave" in it is easy to get in and out, not to mention that the Tang army led by Yang Jinzhi had already surrounded the entrance of the valley. No matter how many times they attacked, they failed to break through, so they had to retreat to the entrance of the valley and struggle...
"Counsellor Yang, in my opinion, in less than half an hour, we can storm into the valley entrance and capture Qi Shao alive!" Yang Jinzhi stood beside General Tang, looking at Yun Tianwei who was struggling to support himself in the night, with a look in his eyes. He spoke with joy.
Yang Jinzhi did not show the slightest joy at this time, nor did he have any thoughts of capturing Qi Shao alive. Instead, he looked back behind him. Although this place was some distance from Luzhou, he did not expect that Qi Shao could hold out for so long under such siege. If If they can't annihilate all the Yuntianwei and Qi Shao who are trapped in the valley in half an hour, they are afraid that Zhou Min's reinforcements will arrive.
"How about, let me report back to the general and lead the army here. Have the battle reports here been delivered to the general's tent?" Thinking of this, Yang Jinzhi became a little anxious and asked General Tang.
General Tang didn't expect that Counselor Yang didn't show any joy. Instead, he asked him about the battle report, and hurriedly replied: "At the beginning of the siege, I followed the counselor's order and ordered the scouts to rush back to the camp. I thought that the army would arrive in no more than an hour. Will come soon."
"That's all. Send the order and order the vanguard camp to approach the entrance of the valley a hundred steps further. No matter what, we must trap them in the valley!" Yang Jinzhi looked solemnly and ordered in a deep voice.
Hearing the cry of killing again, Yuntianwei, who had just rested for a while, immediately stood up, each holding a sword on guard. Several generals walked quickly to the prince who was standing with a sword, and spoke in a solemn voice.
"Your Highness, the siege is now complete. Most of our army has been destroyed. There are currently less than four thousand available troops. If this continues, our army will be completely wiped out before General Zhou's reinforcements arrive. It's better... it's better. ..”
"Why not?" Qi Shao raised his sword and turned around, his tired eyes reappearing sharply.
After seeing the crown prince, the generals did not dare to say anything more, but thinking of the first battle between Qi and Tang Dynasty, Prince Qi Yun would be killed in Qinggu, and the morale of the army would be greatly reduced. The general gritted his teeth and took a step forward, mustering up the courage to speak.
"We will ask the prince to take off his Qi Yun armor and hide in the valley until... until we are all killed. The enemy army will be careless when cleaning the battlefield, and then the prince will be able to get out of trouble alone."
Just as he finished speaking, there was a flash of cold light, and the black-handled long sword in the prince's hand was already there.
Lying on the general's neck, Qi Shao's eyes widened and he shouted angrily: "You let me abandon the army and escape alone? What crime should be committed by someone who messes up the morale of the army before the battle?"
When several generals saw this, they knelt on the ground and did not dare to speak out. However, this upright general did not seem to care and spoke frankly to persuade him.
"If the prince wants to be killed by the army, he will eventually be willing to die. But think about it, if we, Qi Yun, fight Tang Zhi for the first time, and tell the world that the prince died in battle, what will happen to the eldest prince who goes north to fight against the Jin Dynasty? He is in Zhongzhou. What will happen to King Yun who is fighting a fierce battle with the Xiongnu? The life and death of the prince will affect the hearts of Qi Yun's army and the people of the world. I hope the prince will think twice!"
This general faced the edge of the sword without any timidity. Hearing this, all the soldiers spoke in unison.
"I hope the prince will think twice!"
Perhaps the general's words touched Qi Shao's concerns. The prince slowly took back his sword and was caught in a dilemma. He abandoned the army and escaped alone. In the future, his father, his elder brother, the common people of Qi Yun, and the brothers and sisters of these soldiers will all be saved. How would you treat your prince who is just trying to survive...but he always tells the truth when admonishing him...
Seeing the prince's hesitation, the generals knew that he was thinking about the soldiers in his heart. The general who had spoken to admonish him before suddenly stood up, drew his sword in his hand, and roared towards the Tianyun Guards in the valley.
"Brothers, we Qiyun soldiers abandoned our comfort and traveled north and south just for the common people of the world. Now we are in a desperate situation. The prince does not want to abandon us and wants to die with us. However, the prince's comfort affects the hearts of the entire Qiyun army..."
At this point, the general did not speak any further, but the Tianyun Guards in the valley already knew the meaning behind the general's words.
"We are willing to go!"
The cold wind penetrated into the valley, blowing away the mist that gradually rose in the valley, but it could not remove the enthusiasm of the Tianyun Guards. Regardless of whether they were able to fight or not, they all stood up with their swords in hand and stood up with their swords in unison. After leaving the military formation, led by the general, they rushed towards the mouth of the valley, and the sound of bowstrings sounded again in the valley...
Qi Shao, who was awakened by the rain of arrows and roars of killing, looked back and saw only the back of Qi Yun'erlang who kept falling. His eyes were already red. He wanted to go with the sword, but he couldn't After walking a few steps, he seemed to have remembered the admonishment of the general just now, so he couldn't help but slow down his steps and stop his body...
It is often more courageous to live than to die. With a long sigh, Qi Shao suddenly sheathed his sword, took off his cloud armor, turned around silently, and walked resolutely into the depths of the valley.
Listening to the ninety-five man speak slowly, Xiao Xiang's eyebrows, which were burdened by the country, seemed to be pressed deeper, and he chased after him and asked: "In the bag I gave to General Zhou back then, I clearly asked him to The Southern Tang's strategy against the enemy, but why...how did General Zhou die in battle? How did your Majesty turn defeat into victory?"
Just as the wind of early spring was blowing up again, just like the chill in the winter wind in the valley, it brought the concentrated thoughts of the Ninth Five-Year Plan back to that time.
"The cloudless realm of Kyushu,
The most reunion night is the Mid-Autumn Festival.
Lychee wishes all readers a happy Mid-Autumn Festival! mwah"
