Chinese New Year

Chapter 519 The troops are approaching the city
July 24th was a very hot day, but Shi Le still wore his helmet and armor and climbed to the top of the city wall with a group of generals.

It was only four or five miles from Caoqiao to Yecheng. At this time, this short distance was already covered with flags, drums, carriages, horses, and soldiers.

The infantrymen covered in iron armor held their spears high and marched forward in formation, neither hurried nor slow, with firm and orderly steps.

The big flags were connected to each other, fluttering in the south wind.

War drums were neatly arranged on the chariots, and the rumbling sound made the roofs of Yecheng tremble.

When hundreds of horn bearers puffed up their cheeks and blew the horns in unison, the sound could be heard clearly even in villages more than ten miles away.

The knight walked forward slowly, escorting the general in golden armor and red robe.

In front, behind, and around him, countless infantrymen raised their weapons and bravely lined up at the designated locations. They stood solemnly with weapons in hand, quietly looking at the number one city in Hebei.

The generals and officers around Shi Le were all shocked when they saw this.

Zhang Bin, who had been silent all this time, suddenly raised his head and looked down at the magnificent military formation below the city.

The silver spear veterans under Shao Xun had practiced hard for many years and were skilled and experienced. Even if they were alone in the countryside, they could easily kill three or five farmhands.

When the rangers who pride themselves on their bravery face them, they will find that their martial arts skills, which they have practiced for many years, are mostly useless in front of these veterans. They have the instincts of wild beasts, and a few strikes with a spear can make you flustered. Even if you can win in the end, it will take a lot of effort and you may even get hurt.

And he brought more than 10,000 people like this.

There was a somewhat strange military formation outside the city.

There are three thousand people on each side in the front, forming a square formation.

There was a depression in the middle, leaving a large empty space, and behind this open space was a heavy infantry phalanx of 3,000 men.

This formation is strange, but it becomes clear with a little thought: to attract cavalry to rush in through the gaps.

They were so confident that they could surround and kill the cavalrymen who were charging towards them one by one.

If you can’t control this powerful army, you are not worthy of being the ruler of the world!
A sudden enlightenment arose in Zhang Bin's heart.

At this moment, hundreds of knights came to the front of the battle, surrounding one person.

"Victory!" Under the leadership of the officers, the soldiers cheered enthusiastically wherever they went.

The golden-armored general walked very slowly, his eyes squinting, as if he was enjoying the roar of the earth, and as if he was silently savoring the pride and satisfaction of a man reaching his peak.

Shi Le, who was standing on the top of the city wall, had a tense face and a very complicated expression.

He hated the man on the white horse because he was warmongering and brazenly mobilized 70,000 troops to attack Hebei.

He also envied this golden man because his victory was within his grasp. He was about to drive countless fierce and vigorous soldiers to attack Yecheng fiercely and seize his spoils openly.

The Hebei generals, who had once been high-spirited, were very silent.

Some people gnashed their teeth.

Some people looked pale.

Some people are anxious.

Someone looked determined.

Only Tao Bao's face showed the same complicated expression as Shi Le's.

The golden-armored general outside the city turned his horse and faced the soldiers all over the mountains, raising his right hand high.

The cheers slowly died down.

"Over the past ten years, the national economy has become increasingly difficult, and the royal government has become increasingly chaotic." He rode his horse to the right, passing by the large formation of the Silver Spear Left Camp.

From the commander-in-chief Wang Que'er down, all the officers and soldiers knelt on one knee on the ground.

"When the kings were fighting, the nobles, the people and the people could not sleep peacefully and were displaced. They were killed or lying dead on the road. It was really sad." Shao Xun said loudly: "I came. There will be no more rebellious people in front of Taiji Palace, and no more people will die in Tongtuo Street."

The battle flags fluttered.

The officers and generals prostrating themselves on the ground all bowed their heads and listened quietly. At the same time, a sense of pride rose in their hearts. They also felt honored.

The white horse continued to move forward, and this time it arrived in front of the Tuntian Army.

"In the year of drought and locusts, bones were exposed in the wild, and no roosters crowed for thousands of miles. Refugees were everywhere, exchanging their children for food. The scholars and common people were all devastated." The voice continued: "I am here. First you have land and houses, then you have wives. On the Laba Festival, the whole family will enjoy red bean porridge. The hardships of the past have gone with the wind."

The officers of the Tuntian Army lowered their heads even lower.

After hearing this, the soldiers in the front row showed gratitude and excitement on their faces. The slight fatigue and fear seemed to have disappeared with the wind.

The white horse knight came to the Guanxi army again.

"Since the Han Dynasty, the Xiongnu have been granted titles and allowed to move to Hebei, Bingzhou, and Guanyou. They received the grace and honor of the Han, Wei, and Jin dynasties, but did not think of repaying their loyalty. Instead, they abandoned loyalty and trust, abandoned virtue and worshipped treachery. They plundered our people, killed our common people, robbed our food and livestock, and destroyed our fields and houses. The disaster in Guanyou actually started with the Xiongnu." After a pause, Shao Xun continued: "I am here, and one day, I will lead you back to Guanzhong and restore the old mountains and rivers."

After the messenger repeated the words in unison, the Guanxi soldiers were inspired. This time, no one started the chant, and everyone shouted spontaneously, "Mr. Chen will win!"

"Mr. Chen will win forever!" Soldiers from other phalanxes responded one after another. Even the soldiers from the baggage camp in the rear phalanx stamped their feet and shouted, their faces flushed.

The knight in golden armor returned to the front.

Everyone followed his gaze as he rode his horse up a high slope and stopped.

The high slope was artificially built as a place for issuing orders.

The shogunate's officials were standing up there, and when they saw Mr. Chen coming, they all bowed.

Shao Xun stood on his horse at the highest point, pointed his whip at Yecheng, and said, "Since the Yongjia period, the villages have become ruins, farming and weaving have been abandoned, and the people have migrated south, abandoning China. South of the river, people exchange their children for food, and north of the river, the land is full of fishy smells."

At this point, he paused and said, "I don't have many wishes. I just hope that there will be few eagle riders on the Qingzhong Road, and no worries about missing arrowheads north of Yanmen Pass. I hope that the mountains and rivers will be together forever, and the barbarians and the Chinese will be at peace. If you can't do this, you are not worthy of being a king!"

When the troops were approaching Yecheng, Lord Chen finally spoke out his true feelings and made public his ambitions.

From now on, some things are no longer hidden, and can no longer only be understood but not expressed in words.

He just wanted to do this to achieve his goal.

Those who follow him may become rich and prosperous, or their families may be broken up.

But no matter what, he has to go on, will you follow him?
The white horse rushed down the hill again, and the red robe fluttered in the wind.

"Go to Ye City!" The knight on the white horse drew his sword and pointed at the city wall.

"Go to Yecheng!" The Silver Spear Army soldiers followed his figure and shouted in unison.

"Go to Yecheng!" The soldiers of the garrison raised their swords and guns and responded loudly.

"Go to Yecheng!" The war horses of the Yicong Army neighed loudly, and after calming down, they pawed the ground with their hooves, as if they were about to charge at the next moment.

"Go to Yecheng!" The knight on white horse galloped towards the central army camp. Wherever he passed, it was like splitting the waves. The soldiers fled to both sides, and then gathered together and watched their commander leave.

"Go to Ye City!" The oncoming murderous aura rushed towards the city wall, as if there was an invisible force, making the people on the wall subconsciously want to retreat.

Shi Le's face turned ashen.

He glanced around with the corner of his eye, and saw that the generals seemed to be possessed, and their eyes subconsciously followed the red-robed general.

Men also like men.

If virtues such as heroism, bravery, ambition, generosity, kindness, and wisdom are gathered in one man, he will attract a large number of men to follow him, make great achievements, and change the world.

Get away from me, you weak sissy!

Get out of here, you scheming villain!

The timid and cowardly person crawled away quickly!

The warriors standing on the corpse field don't appreciate you trash! With your miserable appearance, you want to drive us to fight for our lives? Are you worthy?

Shi Le went down from the city wall without saying a word.

The generals looked at each other and left immediately.

After a while, Tao Bao and Zhang Bin were the only ones left on the city wall.

They looked at each other.

Tao Bao quickly looked away, while Zhang Bin looked at him silently. After a long moment, he bowed and left.

Tao Bao sighed and stood quietly on the top of the city wall, his mind distracted.

In the Battle of Caoqiao, Lu Ming was killed on the spot.

I heard that Ji Bao was unable to escape from Anyang and died in the chaos of war.

Since the war began, there have been great losses of teachers and students, and great generals have been killed one after another. Most of the counties such as Ji, Wei, Dunqiu, and Leling fell, and countless officials were killed and returned to Jin. The situation is extremely bleak.

Today, Shao Xun led his battle-hardened army to Yexia, showing off his might.

The morale of the defenders was low and the generals were shaken.

The Battle of Caoqiao was carefully planned, and it could have wiped out more than 3,000 Jin army vanguards and boosted the low morale. However, after a fierce battle, the brave general Lu Ming was defeated and hundreds of warriors shed blood on the battlefield, which made the morale even lower.

The war situation has come to this point, and he is very frightened and doesn't know what to do in the future.

After sighing deeply, he looked towards the city again.

The south gate of Yecheng was suddenly opened, and a large group of cavalry filed out of the city. After forming a battle formation, they split into two groups, encircling the left and right flanks of the Jin army's formation and began their attack.

It was obvious that they were planning to take advantage of the fact that the Jin army had just arrived and had not yet established a firm foothold, and launch a sudden attack to restore some morale.

After watching for a while, Tao Bao didn't want to watch anymore.

He used to be a little bit looking forward to it, but now he just thinks it's a waste of time.

With such a well-organized infantry formation, would they be afraid of your cavalry attacking from behind? There is a baggage cart camp over there, and you can't charge.

Even if they throw some simple deer antlers made of branches outside the formation, you still can't get through. You can only shoot arrows from a distance, and this is exactly the strength of infantry - perhaps it is the shortcoming of most infantry, but it is the strength of Shao Bing.

Tao Bao also went down from the city wall and walked towards home.

At the corners of the city wall, there were soldiers sitting on the ground everywhere.

They leaned against the city wall, looking up at the sky with numb expressions.

Further away, there were soldiers escorting a group of newly conscripted men, and no one knew where they were going.

The doors of every household were closed tightly, as if a disaster was about to happen.

The more he saw, the heavier Tao Bao's heart felt.

When they were halfway there, a messenger came and ordered Tao Bao to go to the Bronze Sparrow Tower to discuss matters.

Tao Bao then went to Santai, while silently guessing what was being discussed.

Probably to send someone out of the city to fight against Shao thief.

In fact, at this time, no matter who was sent, it would be useless, only Da Hu could go into battle himself to boost morale.

Victory is victory, defeat is defeat, the longer you delay, the more useless it is.

(End of this chapter)