After two rounds of bloody battles, the rising sun finally rose slowly from the southeast, and the warm sunshine shone down, clearly reflecting the situation on the battlefield.
Under the blue sky, the Han army's camp was like a long mountain range, lying between the Qi people and Sishui. Among the red flags displayed in the company camp for more than ten miles, the flying tiger flag with cloud pattern above the main tent of the Han army is particularly conspicuous. It is the focus of the battle and the key to victory or defeat. But at this moment, the eyes of everyone inside and outside the camp were not here, but focused on a group of yellow flags.
The yellow flags were dense and urgent, passing through the Jiang flags like a spring tide, constantly flapping back and forth in front of the antlers. As for the fighting and bloody battles that followed, the Qi people in the distance were blocked by Zhang Yang and could not witness it with their own eyes, but seeing the red and moist land under their feet, they already had an answer in their hearts.
When Gong Du led the third group of cavalry into the Han camp, Zhang Fang originally planned to move forward immediately, lead his own formation of 6,000 knights, and continue to tear apart the front line to the north. However, Grand Sima Guan Hai's military orders arrived. After Guan Hai learned that there were ambushes on both the north and south wings of the Han army, he ordered Zhang Fang to wait for a few moments. When his main infantry arrived, he could coordinate with infantry and cavalry to cover Zhang Fang's charge into the formation. Zhang Fang hesitated a little after receiving the order, but finally agreed.
A brief interruption of the offensive left the knights in the camp completely isolated and helpless. Even if it was only two short moments, it was enough to destroy an army's offensive. The yellow waves in the Han camp rushed to the second antlers, with about 80% left. After the second round of running, less than half of them were left. The yellow flags fell one after another, like water seeping into the soil, and like yellow flowers withering in the autumn wind. By the fourth impact, only a dozen or so were left. The flag was struggling to move northward, and then the last wave turned into ripples, and there were no more waves.
Nearly ten thousand elite knights were all killed in battle, and the outcome could be said to have been completely decided at this moment.
The reason why people are sad is because they have emotions and spiritual existence. Therefore, even though Zhang Fang of the fourth team knew clearly that there were ambushes and traps in the enemy's tent, and knew that he would definitely die if he stepped into them, he could not lead his troops back. When Guan Hai led the army to the front of the formation, the generals looked at the desolate blood all the way from the battlefield to the Han camp, and they all fell into embarrassment.
Zhang Fang said to Guan Hai: "Da Sima, I am willing to charge into the battle again."
Guan Hai asked him, "The battle has been lost. What's the use of rushing into battle?"
Zhang Fang didn't answer, but looked at him with a guilty and serious look. Guan Hai understood his thoughts instantly, and he understood so thoroughly that Guan Hai had the illusion that he was not looking at himself, but at the Han army camp behind him.
This battle is not just a matter of victory or defeat.
It is also related to the survival of the entire Linzi court. In the eyes of others, the Qi and Han Dynasties after the Linzi Rebellion were no different from grassroots bandits, but to those who survived, it still had incomparable significance and represented an opportunity to fulfill their vows. At this moment, the opportunity was lost, and they were finally sentenced to death by history. At this desperate moment, Guan Hai felt relaxed for the first time, because he had a feeling, and he knew that Zhang Fang also felt this way: they were already among the dead. .
Since you will die sooner or later, why not leave a heroic figure?
Guan Hai promised: "Okay, I will play the drum for you!". The two seemed to have been old friends for many years, and they said goodbye in a farewell tone. But in fact, this is not the case. They are nearly twenty years apart in age. They did not know each other until the year before the year before last. They even met with swords last year. But at this moment, all the right and wrong seemed to have disappeared.
Seeing Zhang Fang going to lead the troops, Guan Hai immediately took off his armor and shirt, walked straight to the drum, and took two drumsticks from the drummer. The scars all over his body may be shallow or deep, and they look like tiger stripes in the sunlight, making everyone feel sad. Yang Feng stood aside and asked him: "Da Sima, how should we arrange it?"
Guan Hai glanced at him and said with a lonely smile: "If you want to fight, then fight, if you want to retreat, then retreat."
"ha?"
"Those who are willing to stay, stay, and those who are willing to leave, leave." Guan Hai looked up at the sky and said, "We at Taiping Road have always been like this."
Yang Feng understood what he meant, and then retreated, gathering with Han Xian and Dugu Qubei to discuss. A consensus was quickly reached, and the leaders retreated to the side to watch. Guan Hai understood their arrangement: at this moment, the two armies were not fighting in one place. If they fled first, it would be easy for the Han army to divide their forces and pursue them. Therefore, he planned to wait for the melee between the two armies before slowly withdrawing. There's nothing wrong with that, Guan Hai thought, everyone has their own choice. At least everyone is equal when it comes to choosing how to die.
After Zhang Fang's cavalry was organized, Guan Hai beat the drum. The moment the hammers hit the drum skin, Zhang Fang rode his horse and whipped his horse, and the cavalry immediately rushed out of the Han camp. Logically speaking, they should not have heard the drums yet. The Han troops in the camp also seemed to be inspired. In order to achieve the reputation of the Qi people's bravery, they did not continue to hold on, but went out from the south to the north to attack the enemy with a force of three sides.
Now the Han army has an absolute advantage in strength. Zhang Fang's 6,000 cavalry troops rushed into it. They were like bubbles sprinkled on the rock. They blinked brightly, but soon they were broken one by one under the heavy pressure of the Han army. disappear. First came Song Pinghan, who charged at the front as a fighting general and fell to the ground due to the rain of arrows. Then came Yu Huanglong, Liu Shi, and Guo Wulu. They were hacked to death by random knives in hand-to-hand combat. Not long after, Zhang Fang's figure appeared. He also slipped away from the crowd.
Even so, the Han army was slightly stagnant due to Zhang Fang's attack. On the battlefield of fighting, human corpses and horse corpses piled on top of each other, running rampant across the field. Black blood meandered on the ground and seeped into the yellow soil. The ownerless war horse hung its head among the human corpses and gnawed on the grass that had not completely decayed. Occasionally, when it raised its head, its mouth was full of blood.
"Eternal God Emperor"
Guan Hai sent people to say to Bai Bo's army: "If you want to leave, do it now. I hope you can all survive." Then he said to his subordinates who did not dare to fight to the death: "Don't be afraid. I will personally take the rear, and you will definitely be able to return." Arrive in Linzi. After returning to Linzi, leave all matters to my brother, and then apologize to my family on my behalf. I will never see them again in this life."
"Da Sima, this..." Some generals were so ashamed that they did not dare to raise their heads and look into Guan Hai's eyes.
"Let's go quickly! Once we engage in battle with the bandits, we won't be able to leave. Look! The flag has also moved. They are preparing to launch a general attack!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the enemy's cloud-patterned flying tiger flag indeed began to move this way. Yang Feng and others had led the Baibo Army to retreat eastward at a rapid speed. The ashamed generals knelt down once and then ran away immediately.
Guan Hai beat the drum again and instructed the 20,000 troops who remained to slowly gather around him. They will form a circle. In the absence of reinforcements, the circle formation is equivalent to a death formation, but it can also greatly damage the enemy. Guan Hai will use this method to clear the name of Taiping Road and buy time for his retreating comrades.
The generals of the Han army obviously saw his intention, but no one had a good way to deal with the circular formation. They could only slow down their advance and have the north and south wings encircle them cautiously to ensure that the fruits of victory would be real. Take it off without mistake.
During the encirclement, Guan Hai had many thoughts. He reviewed his experiences over the past few years and had to admit that he had done many wrong things. For example, he stood by and refused to fight when Peng Tuo went to war. For example, Liu Xi had a real contact with him before the Linzi Rebellion. For example, he killed Zhang Yan privately. He has an unshirkable responsibility for the decline of Taipingdao.
This reminded him that when the Great Master was still alive, he had told them to be united as one. At that time, he only thought it was natural, but unexpectedly it turned into what it is now. Thinking of this, Guan Hai felt ashamed in his heart. He also thought: If I had been willing to advance and retreat with the public at that time, what would it be like now? Is there really a chance to create a peaceful world as mentioned in the "Taiping Jing"?
Thinking this, the drumbeat in his hand slowed down, and he suddenly looked around, only to realize that the encirclement of the Han army had been completed. Outside a giant circular formation of 20,000 people, there is an even larger circular formation of 100,000 people. Even in the era of the Warring States Period when all the people were soldiers, no one had ever seen this kind of formation.
But after the Han army completed the encirclement, they were not in a hurry to launch an attack, but sent an envoy. The envoy rode his horse through the heavy siege of swords, walked to the center of the circular formation, dismounted, held a yellow silk cloth in both hands, and walked slowly to Guan Hai.
The envoy said to Guan Hai: "I am under the command of Liu Bei, the great general of the Han Dynasty. I am admonishing the emperor Jian Shou. Following the general's order, I would like to ask you a question. You all are trapped in a place where you will die, and you are in a desperate battle. It can be said that you are in trouble." Before Zhang Jiao's death, he presented the dragon's head with the Yellow Sky Talisman, ordering all the ministries to obey the heavenly talisman. Today, the talisman is here, why don't you surrender early? You can still save your life. The country has the policy of equalizing land, and you can still be a rich farmer if you have been farming for several years. .”
Guan Hai took off the Yellow Sky Talisman and spread it out. When he saw the rune writing on it, his face showed a nostalgic look. He sighed softly, returned it to Huangfu Jianshou, and said with a smile: "You are Huangfu Song's son, you are so brave to dare to come here to speak."
Huangfu Jianshou saw his expression and knew that he was unwilling to surrender and that his mission had failed. He still asked unwillingly: "Does Guan Gong want to win the hearts of thousands of people with the heart of one person?"
Guan Hai snorted contemptuously. He looked around at the soldiers around him and asked, "Does your envoy think that those who can stay here at this time will be someone who is afraid of death?"
The Taiping Taoist disciples burst into laughter, which made Huangfu Jianshou's face feel hot. Just as he was about to turn around and leave, Guan Hai stopped him, pointed at Huang Tianfu and said to him: "If you have a chance, pour the talisman water into the East China Sea!" The look on his face was solemn and unbearable.
When Huangfu Jianshou was leaving, he heard them singing a ballad. The tune was desolate and simple, sometimes slow and sometimes fast, like a faint soul rising from a spring, or like an endless river flowing into the ocean. He secretly remembered the lyrics in his heart:
"Now that the body is dead, it is buried in the mountain sun. The mountains are so majestic, and the sky so blue. There are trees in the mountains and sorrow in the springs. The soul comes back to look at its hometown.
Now that he is dead, he must return to the mountain for burial. Life is hard and time is wasted. Life is impermanent and death has an end. The soul comes back without hanging on to the mountains and rivers.
His body was gone and he was buried at the foot of the mountain. The sky is so high and the wind is so solemn. The lower dome is covered with spiritual flags. The soul comes back and is bound to earth forever. "
When Huangfu Jianshou returned to the army, Liu Bei learned that the enemy's intention was to fight to the death and not surrender. He couldn't bear it for a moment and hesitated on his horse with a whip. Fa Zheng urged him: "Ming Gong, it is benevolent to quell the chaos. Don't hesitate anymore." ”
Liu Bei then made up his mind and shouted: "Beat the drums! March!", and then the whole army shouted loudly, and the red flags marched forward, launching a tsunami-like general attack on the last Qi and Han elites.
In this battle, more than 40,000 people died in the Qi and Han Dynasties, and only more than 2,000 people were captured due to injuries. After the war, Jinyang Bafu counted casualties and found that more than 20,000 of its own casualties were killed and wounded. After occupying Pengcheng, the Han army was unable to advance eastward. Liu Bei then ordered Zhang Xian to station in Xuzhou, appointed him as the governor of Xuzhou, and then led the army back west. .
But all the knowledgeable people in the world are horrified. In this battle, all the elites of Qi and Han will be wiped out, and the country will be destroyed. I am afraid that it will only take a year or two. And this also means that the country will be only a few feet away from unification.
(Huang Chubuchu finished)
