When Li Zhiyun and his party rushed back to Jinyang City, it was already past noon. He returned to his mansion and had just wiped his face. Before he could sit down and take a breath, his fourth brother sent someone to call him to the manager's mansion. He walked into the courtyard and was directly led into the front lobby. When I entered the hall, I saw a solemn atmosphere. The fourth brother was sitting at the top. There were more than a dozen well-dressed generals sitting in the row on the left below. A huge military map hung on the wall on the right.
The fourth brother saw him coming in and waved him to sit on the seat next to him. As soon as he sat down, the fourth brother said: "Let's get started." Sima Liu Dewei of the General Manager's Office stood up, stepped forward and gave him and the fourth brother a military salute with fists clasped, then walked to the military map, picked up a wooden stick and began to introduce the battlefield situation.
Li Zhiyun discovered that on this military map, there were two huge black arrows pointing directly downward from the north to the south. Liu Dewei pointed with a wooden stick: "Liu Wuzhou launched an attack on Gengshen Day of this month. His army was divided into two groups. One group was led by Song Jingang, with a total of more than 10,000 people. The attack direction was Bingzhou; the other group was led by Liu Wuzhou himself, with a total of more than 10,000 people. Thirty thousand troops, mainly attacking Fenzhou. The enemy forces are coming fiercely, especially Song Jingang, who has conquered Huizhou and Jiezhou, and their troops are pointing directly at Huangshe Ridge..."
The fourth brother frowned and said, "Both Huzhou and Jiezhou have heavy troops stationed. How could they be captured so quickly?"
"The specific situation is not clear yet," Liu Dewei shook his head. "But according to the news from the front, when Song Jingang besieged Jiezhou, a monk named Daocheng used Buddhist flags to pull his soldiers up the city wall. Jiezhou That’s when it was lost.”
Another monk! Why do these monks have such trouble with the Tang Dynasty? Li Zhiyun thought angrily.
"Next, Song Jingang is likely to attack Jiexiu..."
"Jiexiu must not be lost!" the fourth brother said, "Jiexiu is only more than a hundred miles away from Jinyang. It is the last barrier of Jinyang. We must prevent Song Jingang from occupying Jiexiu!"
After the introduction, Liu Dewei bowed and returned to his seat. The fourth brother sat up straight, cleared his throat with a cough, his eyes wandered over the faces of more than a dozen generals, and suddenly said loudly: "General Zhang Da of Chariots and Cavalry, listen to the order!" A twenty-six or seven-year-old general heard this. He stood up, walked forward, clasped his fists and said, "The future is here!"
"I order you to lead five hundred infantry to Huang Sheling to face Song Jingang."
When Zhang Da heard this, he could hardly believe his ears and looked at his fourth brother in astonishment, "King Qi, five hundred infantry? Did I hear it correctly?"
"You heard that right, just five hundred."
"But Song Jingang has more than 10,000 troops. Isn't 500 to 10,000 too few?"
After hearing this, Li Zhiyun also whispered: "Yes, Fourth Brother, five hundred people are too few." Fourth Brother lowered his voice and said: "Don't worry about it, I have my own concerns." He raised his head and looked directly at Zhang Da, "General Zhang, Song Jingang is a thief, and his troops are just a bunch of rabble. How can they fight against our soldiers of the Tang Dynasty? I believe General Zhang will succeed immediately!" Zhang Da looked embarrassed and said: "That said, but Five hundred foot soldiers are too few, so I will not be able to obey my order."
"What, you want to disobey me?"
"We will not dare."
"It's okay if you don't dare. Let's beat the drum at Mao tomorrow and go to war!"
After the account discussion was over, Zhang Da returned to his home. His house is a small courtyard house. There are two main rooms opposite the door as soon as you enter, and there are one wing room on the left and right sides. Two children were playing in the yard. The older one was a six-year-old girl, and the younger one was three years old and a boy.
He walked into the main room, and his wife came forward and helped him take off his heavy leather armor and put on soft silk casual clothes. Then she handed him a teacup and said, "Sit down and have a rest first. The meal will be ready in a while." .”
Zhang Da sat down to drink tea, thinking dullly about his thoughts. He was lost in thought when he suddenly heard someone in the courtyard shouting: "Is eldest brother at home?" He recognized that the person who came was his brother Chang Shan. Chang Shan also served in the army and was a school captain. The two were close friends in life and death. Zhang Da once saved Chang Shan's life on the battlefield. Zhang Da quickly stood up and walked out the door, forcing a smile on his face and saying, "Is Chang Shan here?"
Zhang Da welcomed Chang Shan into the house, offered his seat and poured tea. At this time, his wife came over with two bowls of dishes and saw Chang Shan smiling and saying hello. Chang Shan stood up quickly to say hello and helped clear the table.
After the food and wine were served, Zhang Da filled the wine bowl and the two sat across from each other to drink. Zhang Da felt depressed and couldn't help but exhale and sigh, his sorrow was written on his face. Chang Shan asked with concern: "Brother, what's on your mind?" Zhang Da told Li Yuanji that he had forced himself to lead 500 infantry to fight against Song Jingang. After Chang Shan heard this, his face showed anger and said: "Brother, I heard that Song Jingang is good at using troops. Bringing such a small number of troops to fight against him is like a sheep entering a tiger's mouth. You will never be able to escape!"
"Brother, I don't want to go either, but Li Yuanji is forcing me so hard, how can I not go?"
Chang Shan pondered for a moment and said: "Last time you contradicted him, he must have a grudge and wanted to use Song Jingang's hand to harm you." Zhang Da took a sip of the wine, put it down and said angrily: "He wants to harm me. ?It’s not that easy either.”
"Brother, do you already have an idea in mind?"
"Not yet, let's talk about it then."
Zhang Da filled the other party's wine vessel with wine and said, "Brother, I have a favor to ask of you."
"Brother, if you have anything to do, just ask me, why should I be polite?"
Zhang Da sighed and said, "What I worry about the most is your sister-in-law and two nephews. If anything happens to me, I'm afraid Li Yuanji will harm them. Therefore, I want you to escort them back to their hometown in Zhizhou." When Chang Shan heard this, he quickly said: "Eldest brother is my little brother's lifesaver. How can I repay my little brother? How dare I refuse for such a trivial matter? Don't worry, big brother, I will set off early tomorrow morning. I will definitely escort my sister-in-law and nephew home." "
Zhang Da nodded, stood up and went to the inner room. After a while, he returned to the table and sat down, placing two silver ingots weighing ten taels on the table, "Brother, please keep these silver ingots." When Chang Shan saw it, he quickly shouted: "Brother, we are in this matter of life and death. We are friends with each other, why use money to talk? Aren't you embarrassing my little brother?"
Zhang Da shook his head and said: "Brother, Zhizhou is not close to here, so it's a lot of trouble on the road."
"Brother, I have trouble..."
Zhang Da waved his hand and said in a serious tone: "I have made arrangements for my brother. Please don't refuse, brother, please accept it!" Upon hearing this, Chang Shan had no choice but to reluctantly pick up the silver and put it into his arms. Zhang Da picked up the wine and said: "Brother, let's drink this wine..."
That night, Zhang Da told his wife that he asked Chang Shan to escort their mother and son back to their hometown in Zhizhou.
"Husband, you often went on expeditions in the past, why do you want us, mother and son, to return home this time?" the wife asked doubtfully.
Zhang Da was afraid that his wife would be worried, so he didn't dare to tell the truth. He only said that the situation was a little different this time, and he did this just to take precautions. Next, he took out a package full of silver from the cupboard, handed it to his wife and said, "You have to keep this money. This is my savings for many years. I will rely on it to settle down when I return to my hometown."
The wife took the package and burst into tears. Zhang Da comforted him: "Don't worry too much. I have been on the battlefield for my husband for many years. What kind of storms have I not seen? I have my own way to protect myself. After this incident is over, I will bring you mother and son back..."
After Song Jingang led his army to Huangshe Ridge, he set up camp in an open area. Not long after the army was stationed, a general walked into the central military tent, clasped his fists and said, "King Song, a Tang army is coming to fight us." Upon hearing this, Song Jingang asked quickly: "How many people are here?"
"Five hundred infantry."
"Five hundred? Is that the forward? How many are there in the rear?"
"Without the rear team, there are only five hundred people."
When Song Jinjiang heard this, he was surprised: "Only five hundred? Are you mistaken?" The general shook his head. Song Jingang pondered for a moment and sneered: "Li Yuanji underestimated me too." He walked to the military map, looked at it for a while, pointed at a place and said: "Look, this is called Sheyouyuan. This place is The terrain is open and the Tang army must pass through it. You lead two thousand cavalry and ambush on the mountains on both sides. When the Tang army passes by, rush down from a high position and kill them all!"
"Yes!" The general clasped his fists, turned around and walked out.
Zhang Da led 500 infantrymen and hurried on with the scorching sun above their heads and sweat on their backs. At this time, a fast horse galloped forward. As he approached, the scout dismounted, knelt down and clasped his fists, saying, "General Qi, this place is still ten miles away from Huangshe Ridge."
"Have Song Jingang's men arrived?"
"We have arrived and set up camp at the foot of Huangshe Ridge."
Zhang Da wanted to say something else, but suddenly he heard the sound of war drums and conch trumpets. He raised his head and looked around, and saw many cavalry appearing on the hills on both sides. They were condescending and rushed down the hillside.
The Tang army suddenly became confused. The soldiers were panicked and didn't know what to do. Zhang Da tightened the reins, reined in the frightened horse, raised his sword with his other hand, and shouted loudly: "Everyone, pay attention, get ready to meet the enemy!"
Zhang Da's army was usually well-trained. Although the enemy was outnumbered and the situation was extremely unfavorable, the soldiers quickly calmed down, stabilized their position, and formed a formation to fight. They relied on several baggage vehicles and formed two semi-arc shapes, facing the cavalry rushing down the hillsides on both sides. The shield-bearer is in the front, the halberd-bearer is in the back, and the archer is in the middle. When the cavalry galloped within the shooting range, the archers drew their bows and fired arrows. Cavalrymen were constantly hit by arrows and fell off their horses. When the cavalry rushes forward, the archers retreat, and the halberdiers move forward, stabbing the horses in the air with their halberds. In this way, he actually repelled several rounds of enemy attacks.
However, Song Jingang had too many men and horses. They rushed over like waves and finally broke down the Tang army's defense line. The two sides fought hand to hand, fighting together, and launched a desperate fight. Some soldiers were trampled by war horses, some had their heads cut off with sabers, and some were knocked off their horses by halberds. The clash of swords, shouts, and curses intertwined together to form a tragic symphony of war...
To be fair, the Tang army was very powerful, but the disparity in strength was too great. In less than two sticks of incense, all five hundred soldiers were lost...
