…
"Drink~~"
"Drink~~"
"Drink~~"
The 10,000 Chu army vanguard troops, shouting neat slogans, holding four-meter spears high, approached Hukou Pass step by step.
The strict military formation made the Hukou Pass defenders feel the suffocating oppression coming towards them. They clenched the weapons in their hands, but their bodies couldn't stop trembling.
"Chu thieves really dare to invade my Yongzhou state?"
Ning Sui, the guard of Hukou Pass, was lying on the city wall, staring at the scene in front of him with disbelief, and was at a loss for a moment.
The deputy general came to his senses first and said to Ning Sui: "General Ning, the Chu bandit army is approaching, organize a defense immediately."
Ning Sui wiped the cold sweat from his face, shook his head and said: "The rebel army has too many people. We should order people to return to Yongzhou to report to the prefect and ask for support."
As soon as he said this, the surrounding soldiers immediately surrounded Ning Sui.
Lao Zhang took the lead and said: "General Ning, my subordinate is willing to return to Yongzhou to ask for help from the prefect's mansion. Please allow me to leave the customs and return to the city."
Another small school also said: "My subordinates have been living in Yongzhou City for a long time, so they will definitely be able to get the prefect to send troops to help as quickly as possible!"
One by one, the garrison soldiers recommended themselves to Ning Sui. It sounded like they were all concerned about the safety of Hukou Pass, but in fact they all wanted to escape from this land of right and wrong and did not dare to fight the Chu army.
Ning Sui was upset by the noise and yelled: "Stop arguing! In the face of a powerful enemy, no one can take a step back. Keep your position, be prepared to roll rocks and sticks, and hold on to the pass!"
After the soldiers calmed down, Ning Sui said to the deputy general: "The Chu army is powerful. I must go back to Yongzhou to discuss countermeasures with Governor Guo in person. Before I come back, I must not let the Chu thieves pass through the pass one by one. Listen. Is it clear?"
The deputy general was startled when he heard this. Seeing that Ning Sui was about to leave, he hurriedly stepped forward to stop him, raised his hands and said earnestly: "General Ning, you are the commander in chief of Hukou Pass. How can the enemy leave his post without authorization at this time? "
Ning Sui waved his hand and said: "This general did not leave his post without permission, but went to the prefect's mansion to find reinforcements. Only I went there in person.
Only in this way can we keep the Hukou Pass intact as quickly as possible. The general will have to turn back within two days at most. You only need to lead your soldiers to guard the key points of the pass. "
The deputy general said in a deep voice: "General Ning, as a general, how can you leave at this time? If you leave, the morale of the army will be unstable."
"That's enough! Zhu Xuan! Are you the commander-in-chief or am I the commander-in-chief? Follow my orders and make no mistakes!" Ning Sui shouted loudly and quickly left the Hukou Guanqiang without looking back.
Not long after, Ning Sui and several soldiers mounted their horses and galloped towards Yongzhou City.
Seeing this, Zhu Xuan sighed helplessly and had no choice but to bite the bullet and command the defenders to prepare to resist the Chu army's invasion.
"stop!"
The Chu army marched about one mile to Hukou Pass. As a ban was heard in the army, 10,000 Chu troops immediately stood on the spot.
The vanguard general Qin Zongquan rode his horse to the front of the army, glanced at Hukou Pass in the distance, showed a look of disdain, and said to the scouts beside him: "You two go to the front of the battle to persuade them to surrender, and say that as long as they are willing to give up the pass and offer their sincerity, This general guarantees that their lives will not be in danger!"
Qin Zongquan was the culprit who single-handedly caused numerous murders in counties south of Jingzhou.
In terms of fighting, he has fought against a number of rising stars in the Han army, such as Meng Gong, Xin Qixuan, Cui Liang, etc., and he can be considered "hardened on the battlefield."
It's just that this record is really terrible. In the many battles with the Han army, they returned with disastrous defeats. They were the first to understand the situation under unfavorable conditions, leave the army and escape alone, running for more than a hundred miles in one breath. Rest, Bolt shouted invincible when he saw it.
But such a runaway general did not receive any punishment. Instead, with the connivance of Emperor Huang Fu of Chu, he became a vanguard general. The reason for this is somewhat intriguing.
You must know that Qin Zongquan's evil reputation is not manifested on the battlefield, but on those unarmed people.
In order to raise military rations to help the Chu army cross the Yangtze River south, hundreds of thousands of people in several cities in northern Jingzhou were slaughtered and human flesh was used as military rations. When Wu Zhenying's army took over the northern land of Jingzhou, what they encountered was Empty cities one after another, these methods are cruel to the point of anger and resentment.
Later, after Huang Fu secretly learned about this incident, he did not impose any punishment on Qin Zongquan. On the contrary, he entrusted him with important tasks and even gave him the important position of vanguard general. It can be said that he did not think highly of him.
After hearing the order, the scout rode his horse to the foot of Hukou Pass and began to persuade him to surrender: "Brothers in the gate, listen, I have ordered you, General Qin, to put down your weapons and open the door to surrender.
General Qin said that since we all have young families and cannot bear to fight each other, as long as we serve Chu, we will not embarrass you.
Taking advantage of the fact that General Qin has not launched an offensive, he offered to offer the city for a heavy reward. If he did not comply, no scrap of armor would be left when the city was destroyed! "
Have the garrison soldiers at Hukou Pass ever seen such a posture? In particular, the words of the Chu army scouts "leave no armor behind" made everyone fearful, and the military morale was instantly shattered.
Lao Zhang and the others looked at the flags waving in the distance. They couldn't help but swallow their saliva and turned sideways and said to Zhu Xuan: "Vice-General Zhu, surrender. We are outnumbered and the enemy is outnumbered. Surrendering now may still have a way of survival."
Zhu Xuan was also very nervous at this time, but he still maintained a trace of reason and rejected Lao Zhang's proposal through gritted teeth: "As a soldier of the Han army, how can I surrender without fighting?
Brothers, it’s not like we don’t know what’s going on in Chu State. The people living there are simply worse than pigs and dogs. Even if they are willing to let us go,
Are you willing to live like that for the rest of your life? Since His Majesty ascended the throne, has he ever owed you a penny of military pay? Comparing your feelings, are you really willing to surrender like this? "
These words made many soldiers feel ashamed. Indeed, Liu Ce had been more kind to the soldiers and people of Shu since he came to the throne. He never owed a penny of military pay, and his treatment was much better than before.
However, the number of Chu troops in front of us is several times greater than that of the defenders. This is just the vanguard. There must be more troops arriving later. Can everyone hold on?
Lao Zhang thought for a while and suddenly said to the scouts outside the pass: "General Qin, you really keep your word, won't you embarrass us and the family members in the city?"
The scout heard this and replied loudly: "Don't worry, as long as you are willing to surrender, General Qin will never harm you or your family."
"What are you doing! Lao Zhang, do you want to rebel!?" Zhu Xuan's eyes widened, she grabbed Lao Zhang's clothes and said angrily.
Lao Zhang shook off Zhu Xuan's hand and said: "Vice General Zhu, I'm really sorry, we just want to live, whether it's Chu or a big man,
It doesn't matter to us little people who is the co-owner of the world. We all have families and we can't just die here in vain, so I'm sorry. "
Zhu Xuan said angrily: "Come here, take him down for me!"
However, no one from the surrounding Shu army made any move.
"What are you all doing! Why don't you take him down yet!"
No matter how angry Zhu Xuan roared, the Shu soldiers still did not move at all.
At this time, Lao Zhang shouted: "Here comes someone, tie up Vice General Zhu!"
Soon, several soldiers swarmed up, pressed Zhu Xuan firmly under him, and tied him tightly with ropes.
"You, you all want to rebel?" Zhu Xuan struggled hard, but to no avail. He could only shout loudly, "One day, you will regret what you did today!"
