The beacons on Jiayuguan Road sent out wolf smoke straight into the sky, and the beacon fires continued along the Hexi Corridor to the east.
The garrison general who first noticed the abnormality in Guan Guan was called Huozhe. He was a young Suzhou Wei Baihu. His ancestors were nobles in Hami. During the Jiajing period, he followed Ya Mulan Nei. Because he was ill at the time, he could not follow him, so he stayed behind. In Suzhou.
Ya Mulan was settled in Huguang by the imperial court. She bought land and her family became wealthy and became a famous big Jiahu in the southeast. The ancestors of Huo Zhi Hazhi were relatively miserable. He happened to be sick before he could run to Huguang, so he caught up with Wei Gou of Suzhou. Military, Xili Lake was painted into a military household.
The official position of Huo Zhe Ha only depends on his grandfather's hard work. Now he has inherited the official position for several years. Unfortunately, Jiayuguan is peaceful and has not fought a single battle. His biggest hobby is to raise his neck and watch birds while guarding the pass.
There are many birds in Jiayuguan, and they live more comfortably than the Banner Army. Huo Zheha has only watched birds for a few years, but he has never seen anything flying in the sky here, no matter whether it is a golden vulture, a white-shouldered vulture, a sea vulture, or a white-bearded vulture and a giant buzzard. He knew what kind of bird it was just by looking at it from a distance.
But on the seventh day of March in the seventh year of Chongzhen, Ha Zhi, a fireman from Suzhou Guards, led 24 flag troops to the pass as usual, only to find that a new guest had arrived at Jiayuguan. The wings of the big bird hovering in the sky were shining with golden light. He couldn't help but know.
The ferocious birds in Jiayuguan are usually neither big nor small. The largest golden bird that Huo Zheha has ever seen only weighed twelve kilograms. But at this time, the large golden-winged birds circling in groups in the sky obviously weighed more than this. He spread his wings and soared in the high air with the help of air currents, flying extremely high, which made the Fire Man Ha only feel worried from the bottom of his heart for no reason.
He used his eyes to wander from the Tuolai River outside the pass to the Black Mountain, but he could only see endless stretches of yellow sand. When the gravel was blown and swirled by the strong wind, Huo Zheha felt only fear.
He found his commander, Qian Huhei Chengyin, on the stage in Guancheng. He stepped forward to salute and said hello: "General, how many times have you read that book and you are still reading."
Hei Chengyin was reading a book on the stage, The Romance of the Three Kingdoms. He was holding a brush while reading and annotating. He felt unhappy when he was disturbed. After hearing this, he raised his head and raised his eyes to look at Huo Zhi. He frowned and said: "The Yellow River is cut off, and no one can get out of the seclusion." Caravan, what am I going to do if I don’t read this book... If you don’t stay behind closed doors, what are you going to do down here?”
Hei Chengyin said that the Yellow River was cut off, that is, the Marshal's Mansion cut off both sides of the Yellow River, resulting in no mainland merchants leaving the customs. Local merchants in Gansu also did not go to Jiayuguan, a corner of the country, and could not buy anything they wanted.
Huo Zheha said: "General, stop reading and watch the birds behind the closed door. There is something wrong with the birds in the sky... I have to report it to General Ding."
"The bird in the sky is wrong?" Hei Chengyin was surprised by his subordinate's strange request. He put down his book and frowned and said, "I think it's the bird in your crotch that's wrong. You don't know that General Ding has been busy giving Ganzhou's Did the masters write a letter asking them to help persuade Marshal Yang to bring Suzhou Guard soldiers to Ganzhou to join the war?"
But after all, Hei Chengyin stood up and took a look at the old book that was fastened to the stage table. The one who led the fire just walked towards the door, complaining as he walked: "You really want to watch birds here all your life!"
Jiayuguan has been in peace for a long time. This ghost place is so stable that the garrison's favorite thing is to read old books or watch flying birds. No matter whether you are a mediocre person or a knowledgeable person, you can only live in this desert oasis with only day and night but no today or tomorrow. See the end of life.
Nowadays, Guanzhong and northern Shaanxi are fighting bloody battles. Liangzhou and Ganzhou are participating in the war one after another. Only Suzhou is left leaning on the pillar and watching.
They can read desert birds and antique books here for the rest of their lives... as long as the flag army of the Brother Guard does not get promoted.
Therefore, Hei Chengyin knew very well that there would be no trouble in Jiayuguan for thirty, fifty, or one hundred years, but as long as there was trouble, it would be an opportunity to become famous all over the world.
Of course, when he came down from the stage, he didn't think that the opportunity to become famous in the world had come. He just wanted to see it. After all, this period is really sensitive. The ghost of the Mongolian Khan had just entered the desert in the north. He wanted to see the Gobi. What the hell could crawl out of the beach?
Hei Chengyin never dreamed that he just raised his head and stepped onto the horse path. He looked at the golden-winged raptors circling in the sky out of the corner of his eye, and the hair on his face stood up: "Quick, tell General Ding that something happened!"
Because the raptor circling in the sky is not an eagle, but a vulture.
Small birds are called kites, medium-sized birds are called eagles, and really big things are called vultures. Hei Chengyin once went to Xining with the guerrilla general Ding Guodong and saw the huge vultures on the other side of the Qilian Mountains.
Huo Zheha didn't understand his shock and asked, "What kind of bird is that?"
"Vulture, the people from Qinghai are coming."
Hei Chengyin stared intently at the huge shadow hovering in the sky. He understood vultures not because he was fond of birds like Hu Zhiha, but because these flying balds were so amazing that they were like two birds in the sky and on the earth. A completely different animal.
It spread its wings and soared in the sky, just like the golden-winged roc in myths and legends. It soared upwards, and even the highest mountain in the world could not stop it; but when it landed, it was so ugly that it was beyond words, like a large Bald pheasant.
Unless there is a war outside Jiayuguan, the rotting corpses everywhere will attract so many vultures. Otherwise, under normal circumstances, this kind of bird will never appear in Jiayuguan, because they can easily get fat.
The vulture is so huge that once it gets fat, it is difficult to fly on flat ground. It flaps its wings and jumps like a pheasant. It can only take off with the help of wind on the mountain cliffs.
There is a long stretch of yellow sand outside Jiayuguan, and there is no place for them to take off.
When guerrilla general Ding Guodong received the news, he was writing a letter to the chief leaders in Ganzhou at the official office in Guancheng.
In fact, Ding Guodong didn't have much thought about meritorious service. He was already a guerrilla general anyway, but in fact, all his soldiers wanted to go to the east to serve the imperial court, so he tried his best to ask people to help deliver the message to see if they could pull the army to the east. Conscript.
Suddenly I heard that vultures appeared outside the pass, and I quickly led a few servants to ride to the pass, full of doubts.
Vultures can be domesticated, but generally no one keeps vultures, so why do so many vultures fly to Jiayuguan? There are no rotting corpses in Jiayuguan for them to eat.
But soon, Ding Guodong understood.
Five beacon smokes were lit on the piers on the cliffs of the Tuolai River Gorge, followed by five beacon cannon blasts. The sound of the cannons echoed in the canyon. At the same time, in the distance of the Gobi Desert between the Black Mountains and the Tuolai River Gorge, , the sand and dust swept over in mighty force.
At first there was only the sound of wind, until the smoke gradually dispersed, thirty or forty small black figures protruded from the distant sand. Ding Guodong looked through the telescope and saw that they were cavalry.
Across the Gobi Desert eight or nine miles away, first the fine dogs and hounds were scurrying about in the smoke, and then the cavalry appeared in the telescope carrying a large Hexi horse with a white patch on its forehead.
They wore familiar beggars, the shadows of the helmet eyebrows pressed down on their eyes, carried tall red tassel helmets and guns, wore red cotton armor with the classic color of the Ming army, and stuck behind their backs the vests belonging to the Tang soldiers of the Ming army. flag.
Everyone holds a rein in their left hand and a long spear slung across their elbow. The tail of the spear is hooked on the toe of the straight-sewn cowhide boots with a rope;
Some people raised their left hands to blow the match rope wrapped around their arms, and some people took something from the horseback and poured it into their mouths to chew. More people did not move, but their bodies rose and fell along the Gobi Desert on horseback, and their eyes were closed. The city presses the bridle and moves slowly.
Dozens of Tang soldiers spread a width of thirty miles and slowly approached Guancheng. The width gradually became narrower due to the mountains and rivers in the north and south. People were separated by one mile and deliberately bypassed the piers and platforms standing on the Gobi Desert, as if they were not there. Seeing the defenders on the pier, they crossed over and spread out again until the front line was pushed to two miles outside Guancheng. One rider after another slowly stood up, stuck their spears on the ground, and turned their horses around in silence.
Before the flag soldiers could understand what was going on, the defenders at the gate whispered, "Why are the Tang soldiers coming from outside the gate?"
Then more smoke and dust dissipated. Ding Guodong pursed his dry lips with the tip of his tongue, swallowed, and slowly put down his telescope. He no longer needed this instrument to observe the enemy. A huge army that had gone through a long march was unfolding in front of them.
Along the way, the soldiers divided the Gobi Desert into squares, bypassed the piers and occupied the highlands and cliffs, troughs and sandy areas outside Jiayuguan. Then, in the dust, a group of heavily armed horse teams slowly moved forward, in the intervals. The location three miles away from Guancheng formed the first line of counterattack.
The convoys and camels that followed them entered the Gobi Desert outside the pass one by one. More soldiers leading horses on foot arrived at the front line and surrounded the divided piers. Others began to set up camps in the mountains to the north and to the south. Transporting wood from the cliffs of the Tuolai River Gorge.
More troops meandered from the rear. Behind the small cavalry formed in the front line, a strict phalanx of infantry and cavalry appeared. More and more raptors were hovering in the sky. The garrison at Guan Guan finally fell into chaos under the intensifying oppression.
All kinds of shouts filled the ears of guerrilla general Ding Guodong. The horns of gathering troops rang non-stop in Guancheng. War drums rumbled. Soldiers on both sides of the city gate rushed on the city walls, bringing him one piece of bad news after another. .
No one knew how many enemies there were. Heishan Lake was occupied by enemy troops, and enemy cavalry were galloping in the Tuolai River Gorge. Beacon fire and cannons were sent in a series to the east. All the garrison troops in the pass boarded the city to prepare for the attack, but they could not give this easy attack. Bo Cheng's legions bring any sense of tension.
They lined up outside the city calmly and calmly, with their flags blocking out the sunlight and military music resounding throughout the Gobi. Until the guard of honor that once belonged to Guyuan's general officer was pushed to the front line, Ding Guodong saw through the telescope that someone in front of the enemy's formation climbed onto the mountain and lifted it up gently. arm.
The changing sounds of the drums were like waves, and wherever they passed on the Gobi Desert, the noisy music and shouts came to an abrupt end.
After a while, several cavalrymen came out of the battle with flags and rode under the city, shouting to the garrison at the pass: "Pass the Grand Marshal's order to inform the soldiers and people of Jiayuguan: The Grand Marshal is well aware of the hard work of the border troops. Our border defense in China has reached the Tianshan Mountains. Lian Er et al. I don’t want to fight with my colleagues, so I have to surrender my weapons within one hour and open the city. All the officials will be promoted to one level and left to their own devices. Each soldier will be given a reward of silver and three months’ worth of food. All the military and civil affairs in Suzhou will continue as usual!”
The officers and soldiers at Guan Guan looked at each other. Hei Chengyin was overjoyed when he heard this and said to Ding Guodong: "General, reinforcements from the Suzhou Guard, Xincheng'er and Shahe Forts, and the two Shankou Battalions will be here in an hour!"
But as soon as he finished speaking, he noticed that Ding Shaoyin was holding a telescope and his face turned pale, and he hurriedly looked towards the front line of Bocheng's army.
In the gaps between the military formations that were outside the range of heavy firepower, groups of camel carts and donkey carts from the far end of the field of vision were passing through the camp, and there were also herdsmen driving large numbers of livestock into the military formations.
There are two types of carts, one is filled with sand and soil, and the other is covered with a big cloth dyed with indigo. No one knows what is inside. All they can see is that the wheels are huge and they carve deep grooves in the Gobi. Sometimes, when walking on sandy ground, soldiers would have to run forward and backward and use door panels to lay on the sandy ground to pass.
When the car arrived in front of the formation, the sergeant laid the door panel horizontally, and the small car loaded with sand on the other side dumped the sand. He also poured water from Heishan Lake on the sand. Then the big car came behind. Ding Guodong had already guessed what was on the car. It was artillery. He counted them one by one. There were thirty-six of these artillery carriages that were not far apart.
He breathed a sigh of relief and said to Hei Chengyin: "Let's just say, being able to transfer tens of thousands of troops from Qinghai to outside the customs is scary enough. Fortunately, they don't have many artillery."
Hei Chengyin was not worried. He nodded and said, "General, look at this posture. There should be a thousand-jin artifact of the field warrior in the car. Thirty-six people should be able to block it."
There are also sixteen thousand-pound heavy artillery on Guancheng. Depending on the height of the city wall, even if it is a little less, they may not be inferior in crossfire. The enemy has more horses, but there are no siege equipment. As long as they do not go to the field, it is considered a strength. Don’t be afraid of being at a disadvantage.
The commotion that closed the army also intensified with the unveiling of the thirty-six artillery carriages.
As soon as he finished speaking, seventy-two carts covered with blue cloth came from behind. The faces of Ding Guodong and Hei Chengyin looked a little ugly. They closed the gate and held their breath again.
Who knew that when the blue cloth was lifted this time, they never expected that the cart actually carried a large iron pot with three legs. The soldiers used their strength to unload the iron pot and placed it behind the artillery cart, with one cannon and two guns. Pot, no one knows what this is for.
Thousands of flag soldiers who boarded the city one after another burst into laughter. The laughter of the defenders filled the sky, and Jiayuguan was filled with a cheerful atmosphere.
Because the way their general marshal placed the iron pot in front of the battle was a bit like Fanzi's approach, it made the tens of thousands of troops in the marshal's mansion look not very smart, which greatly improved the morale of the defenders.
But soon the laughter stopped, and Jiayu Gate was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop.
Because those who came with the iron pot were herdsmen driving livestock teams. They killed sheep and cattle in front of the battle, threw the disassembled meat into the pot, and then stewed it over the fire. The broken bones were thrown into the gate. In the open space in front of him, vultures suddenly rushed down from the sky, and a boiling black shadow pecked away the minced meat on the bones in just a moment.
Immediately afterwards, the bearded vulture with a big throat flew over, picked up the bones of cattle and sheep and flew away from the battlefield. The Suzhou flag guards pushed up the brim of their helmets, raised their heads and looked longingly at the vulture as it disappeared into the air. Everyone could hear the sound of Paoze swallowing next to him.
Ding Guodong rubbed his stiff face and broke the silence with an unbelievable tone. He asked Hei Chengyin in a low voice: "Did the vulture follow them from Qinghai to eat meat?"
The cavalry came again, riding their horses in front of the pass and shouting again: "The order of General Gao Yingdeng, the commander of the right brigade and left battalion of the Generalissimo's Mansion, is not too late to surrender. If you don't surrender, I will send you to heaven after grandpa has eaten enough!" "
We provide you with the fastest update of "The Stubborn Thief" by the master Duo Luhou. In order that you can check the fastest update of this book next time, please be sure to save the bookmark!
Chapter 454: Laughter and Joy in Jiayuguan is free to read.
