After the emperor and the Shu people's front team left, Zhang Liao and other soldiers were not in a hurry to leave. Instead, they retreated to the ridge of Longshou Mountain and continued to wait in formation. They even cooked in public. It was obvious that they wanted to delay the emperor's departure. A certain amount of time.
After the sky darkened in the west, the Shu people got up one after another. People put out the remaining fires and began to retreat to the south. It was not until the sunset retreated to the top of the mountain and the last group of Shu cavalry left Longshou Plain that Xu Huang and Liu Xie came over with soldiers in heavy armor. What greeted them was only a mess on the ground.
Xu Huang asked Liu Xie, "What should we do next?"
Liu Xie used the afterglow to look to the south and was convinced that they were coming via Ziwu Road. He patted the hilt of his sword and smiled at Xu Huang: "Of course I will lead my troops to push forward, but General Zhonglang must not push." It's too tight, so he doesn't dare to leave quickly, so the matter is settled."
Besides, Zhang Liao led the knights in the rear and rode hard all the way to catch up with Dong Zhao's army. Unfortunately, the front team walked too fast and reached the bank of Laoquan. After crossing the shallow water and heading south towards Ziwu Valley, they were still nowhere to be seen. Along the road, you can see some abandoned items from time to time. Maybe Dong Zhao threw them down because he didn't like the things Liu Xie gave him because they were in the way. It was early night, the weather was clear, and the clouds in the moonlit sky were as thin as silk. The Shu people were walking in a hurry and felt hot, so they took off their light armor and walked forward wearing only their military uniforms. After walking for an hour, both men and horses felt a little tired, so they took a rest by a stream.
Zhang Liao knew that his men had been stressed out all day, so he ordered them to take off their saddles and bring water to the horses to take a shower. Most of the Shu soldiers sat down and rested in the willow forest at a high place. Someone advised him: "We haven't entered the mountain yet, so we shouldn't disarm and unsaddle. The enemy may come chasing me at any time, so it's better to be careful." Zhang Liao laughed and said, "There are not many cavalry in Chang'an now, but there are many who are chasing me." Baiqi, what's there to be afraid of? We are the rear team now, hold off these pursuers, wait until Dong Shijun and His Majesty enter Ziwu Road, we will leave again, they are determined to be helpless. Take a rest now, don't be exhausted It would be a tragedy to die at the hands of the pursuers after running out of strength."
After that, Zhang Liao also disarmed and sat in front of the slope to drink water and eat some dry food. In addition to serving Cang Tou, trusted knights Zhang Kai, Yang Zan, Du Chong and others gathered around him.
Not long after, fire gradually appeared from the north. The lookout post saw it and hurriedly came to report it. Zhang Liao was not panicked and asked the scout: "How many torches are there and how far are they estimated to be?" The scout said: "It seems there are still eight or nine miles, we will be here in a short while." Zhang Liao sent a message to his troops: "No need to worry. , put on your armor after a moment, and you won’t dare to cross the river even if the thief comes.”
He finished half of the cake in his hand, and the slave also put the saddle on his horse. Zhang Liao got on his horse, and then led the trusted knights around him to row away from the water. Looking to the north, there were already knights galloping to the river bank on the other side. After seeing the situation on the south bank, several knights separated and returned north. Soon, about two hundred knights came from the slope behind the bank and spread out along the river bank. They held torches and looked at the Shu people on the south bank dozens of steps away.
Zhang Liao realized that something was wrong at this time. He said to everyone: "The Western Bandit has so few knights. Could it be that he plans to split his troops and attack from the side?" But the scout shook his head and said: "I didn't see any torches elsewhere." Zhang Liao After settling down for a while, he pointed to the knight on the opposite side and said, "When the other side crosses the river, we will shoot the leader with our bows to prevent the others from daring to move. Let's go and join the envoy."
As soon as he finished speaking, there was a sound of horses neighing on the other side of the river. The Western knights took off their upper body armor, only used iron bags to protect their heads, and carried large bows and quivers. They all rode their horses into the water and swam toward the other side of the river. About a hundred knights came down. , the Baiqi behind them waited and watched as a support. There was a man in the front group who was very tall and tall, and it was very easy to ride a horse and swim. When Zhang Liao saw this, he pointed at him and said, "This man is the leader, let's shoot him!"
After that, he held the horse bow in his hand, drew an arrow and shot at the black figure. His speed was so fast that before the people around him could see clearly the change in the enemy's situation, they heard Zhang Liao shouting: "Let's go!" The horse turned around and galloped away to the south. The knights behind him didn't know why, but they all followed the general and galloped southward. Although they were worried that Western knights would catch up, the north bank did become quiet again. No one can imagine that Xu Huang, the famous general of the Western Dynasty, drowned silently in the water of the night.
But Zhang Liao didn't know about his military exploits. The uneasiness in his heart became more and more uneasy as the pursuers disappeared. He felt that there were variables beyond his expectation, but he couldn't tell what they were, so he could only eagerly Hope to meet Dong Zhao and go straight into Ziwu Valley.
However, just as he had guessed, after he had been running for half an hour, he saw the faint light of fire swaying to the south. A little further forward, he could hear the sound of killing and smell the smoke of gunpowder. It turned out that at the Ziwu Valley, about 500 Western knights arrived at some unknown time. They actually occupied the narrow mouth of the valley before Dong Zhao and others arrived. Now they took a strong position to resist the Shu people, and shot the pines tied from high to low. A large fire broke out and a fire broke out at the crossing, making it difficult for thousands of Shu people to move forward. They could only shoot arrows at them from a distance.
When Zhang Liao led his troops into the crowd, Dong Zhao saw that he was like a savior. He pointed at the Westerners at the mountain pass and asked Zhang Liao: "Wen Yuan has come at the right time. There are thieves blocking my return. I need you to break them with your whip."
Zhang Liao didn't say anything, but called a dozen of his personal followers to brave the rain of arrows and go to the entrance of the valley to observe the enemy's position in detail. However, at a glance, he couldn't help but feel heavy. The enemy numbered only about 500 people, but the enemy general's formation was extremely sophisticated. They did not just blindly occupy the high ground, but divided the number of people into six teams. Two teams were between the stone cliffs on the left and right, and the arrow range was just enough to cover them. The entire valley mouth, and a team guarding the center of the valley mouth, fully armed and wearing heavy armor, are not holding the usual long spears, but special wooden sticks. Although they cannot cut off limbs with sharp edges, in Shu, which does not have heavy armor, In front of a person, one blow is enough to break the bones and cause the person to collapse to the ground, which is perfect for guarding. The remaining three teams serve as support and can replace their predecessors at any time. What caught his attention even more was that the clan's bloody battle was imminent. Under the flickering firelight, these soldiers showed no fear, and they were obviously ready for a bloody fight to the death.
After retreating, Zhang Liao said bluntly to Dong Zhao and the Emperor: "If we want to capture this place, it will take two days and nights. Even if there are thousands of casualties, I am afraid that the bandit army from the north will also arrive by then."
Dong Zhao was anxious in his heart, and after hearing this, he immediately reprimanded: "So what? This place is the only way back for our army. If we can't break this place, you and I will be buried here!"
Unexpectedly, Zhang Liao disagreed and said in public: "This is not the case. Duan Xuan from Chencang is going to arrive in two days or seven days. Why don't we turn around and attack Xijing, using the officials in the city as hostages? We are not afraid of what is happening in front of us. Won’t the crowd get out of the way?”
This bold proposal made Dong Zhao's heart beat, but he immediately felt that it was too risky. He shook his head and said: "If you don't welcome your majesty, I can still promise you to give it a try, but your majesty is in our army now. If If one blow fails, how can you and I explain to His Highness?"
Since Dong Zhao moved out of Liu Fan, Zhang Liao was naturally speechless considering his status as a demoted general. However, he really did not want to attack the valley entrance. The situation was deadlocked for a while, and Wu Ban and other lieutenants did not know which side to take. Instead, the emperor, who had been listening quietly, spoke. He asked Zhang Liao: "Is this place really impossible to attack?" After receiving a positive answer, he suggested: "Would you like to go northwest, go up Long from Fanxu Road, and then walk From Jieting to Tianshui, it passes through Qishan Road and enters Hanzhong."
Zhang Liao looked suspicious and asked: "I remember that Longshang is the foundation of the Xifu Army. How can I live from now on?" Unexpectedly, the emperor smiled and said: "That's because Wen Yuan didn't know it. In August last year, Xifu was moved to Chen Cang." It turns out that in the past few years, although the emperor was not allowed to personally govern, he still had to stamp his seal on the edicts submitted to him. In addition, he had an excellent memory and could be said to have a photographic memory, so he deployed all the defenses for Guanlong's armies. But in the heart.
He took a simple map of Guanlong from Dong Zhao, traced it with his fingers and said: "Because the Northern Qiang have been quiet in recent years, and Hu merchants have come to trade from the Western Regions one after another, all the roads to Shanglong have not been fortified. , and the general towns were established in Jincheng, Chencang, Xiangwu, and Heguan to suppress the Western Qiang. Now Chencang's defenders may rush to Chang'an, and the rearguard troops will probably also go to Chencang to guard, and no one will stop them. I'll wait for Long."
Zhang Liao also stayed in Liangzhou for several years, and he knew the road well. He couldn't help but praise him in his heart, but he also asked: "Your Majesty is really a talented person, but I have heard that there is a Qishan Castle on the Qishan Road. It’s extremely dangerous, could it be that no one is stationed here?”
The emperor said: "There are four thousand people garrisoned, but the garrison is the Xifu military advisor Jia Xu, who is also a close confidant of mine. When Chen Chong besieged Chang'an, he was the one who lowered the city to interview him and rescued me. He will definitely not rebel at this time." Me! We can take a short rest there, and there will be guidance to help me enter Shu."
After that, he looked at Zhang Liao and Dong Zhao. They were all considering the profit and loss in their hearts, but after much thought, they had no other choice, and finally agreed to the plan proposed by the emperor. At this point, the evolution of the whole thing has completely escaped the control of Dong Zhao and Zhang Liao, but changes in the world are like this. The enemy often does not act as you think, and you often encounter some unplanned situations. But the arrow has already been shot, and no force can turn it back except waiting.
At midnight, Zhuge Liang found that the number of bows fired by the Shu people was significantly reduced. He then climbed up the cliff to the west to observe the movements of the Shu people. After taking over, he found that the Shu people were resting in a team. After the people gathered together, he turned around and rode towards the northwest. He couldn't let go of the valley and could only watch the Shu people's fire disappear into the night.
