Luoshui Dongliu

Zhao Shen came out of the tent by himself, feeling disturbed in his heart, he didn't want to be seen by others and had to explain too much, so he chose to walk in the shadows of the camp.Seeing two teams of patrolling soldiers crossing in front of them, the leading general greeted them.One asked, "Why do you look so pale?"

The other sighed and said: "It's not because of Erlang's illness. I thought it would be good in the spring, but it's getting worse as the weather gets hotter."

Zhao Shen looked intently, the one who sighed was a small Dutong surnamed Yang from the infantry, he came to the army with Gao Youan, he was honest, Zhao Shen usually didn't pay much attention to him.He thought to himself, so he brought his family with him when he came to Los Angeles.

He heard another persuasion: "It's not the way to always do this, at least see a doctor."

Yang Dutong shook his head and said: "The girl at home is not responsible after all, but how dare I walk away in this situation. The siege of the city is tight, not to mention that I came here with that side. Forget it, life and death are up to you."

After finishing speaking, the two waved their hands to each other, and went on patrol respectively.

Hearing what they said, Zhao Shen felt uncomfortable for a while.When he was young, he saw his father relying on favors to lead the army, but he didn't take it seriously at that time, he only felt that only by relying on iron-like military orders and laws can he be upright and unbiased so that everyone will obey him.He was like this as a general, and he didn't notice it on weekdays, but today he saw such an embarrassing scene of his father not being able to take care of his sick child.He couldn't see his father being sad for his son the most, and he just felt sad for a moment.There is nothing wrong with military discipline, but if this is the case, it can only be said that he is not human enough.I only said that I want to protect the soldiers under my command, but I haven't thought through these trivial matters, and I feel ashamed when I think about it.

After thinking for a moment, he raised his eyes and saw that the lights in Xie Rang's tent were still on, so he walked over.

Xie Rang was still reading documents under the lamp, and Li Shoude was also there.When Zhao Shen came in, he waved his hand and asked them to continue to sit, and he sat beside him and asked, "I want to ask you, there is a young son of Yang Dutong who is ill, is there such a thing?"

Xie and Li didn't expect the general to come in late at night to ask this question, they were stunned for a moment, Li Shoude said: "That's right, the young man in his family has a fever, and he has been coughing and wheezing for almost a year."

Zhao Shen nodded to Xie Rang and said, "Send someone to bring a suitable medical officer to have a look, and let him know at the end to reassure him." After a pause, he added, "Talk to him more gently, It is one thing to be loyal to one's duty, but it is another thing to have difficulties, and I don't think anything will happen to them just because they are from Yecheng."

Xie Rang nodded and smiled and said, "Why did the general think of asking this?"

Zhao Shen sighed softly and said, "I didn't pay much attention to these things in the past, but now the situation is difficult, if I teach the soldiers to worry about their future, how can I defend this city?"

Xie Rang and Li Shoude looked at each other, Xie Rang said with a smile: "We feel relieved to have the general's kindness. The military is busy, and you don't need to worry about these trivial matters. We will take care of them."

Li Shoude said: "Let's go and check. If there are family members in the city, they will send people to comfort and take care of them. No matter where they come from, they will be treated equally."

Zhao Shen nodded and said: "It's so good." After a moment's pause, he asked again: "Chang Shi caught a cold? Is the nasal sound so heavy?"

Li Shoude smiled and said, "Did you hear it, the general? I've been sneezing and runny in the wind for the past two days. It's not like I've caught a cold. I don't know why."

Xie Rang said: "You seem to have committed this mistake before. One year when you marched, you slept next to a pine forest at night. You were like this the next day."

Li Shoude said: "Yes, after all, the master bookkeeper is good."

Zhao Shen listened intently and remained silent, and asked for a while, "Which palace did the phase of the moon pass?"

Xie Rang said: "Tomorrow will pass the Zhen position."

Zhao Shen said to himself, "The wind is about to blow..."

Xie Rang didn't hear clearly, and only asked: "What?"

Zhao Shen stood up suddenly and said, "Join the generals!"

But outside the city, Yu Chiyuan was riding on a horse, and seeing five hundred cavalrymen lined up, he raised his hand.Each of the cavalrymen wrapped the hooves of the war horses in sackcloth and tied them around the horse's mouth. After getting on the horse, they took out a roll of straw paper and bit it between their teeth.Yuchi Zhongcui immediately came and said in a low voice: "The household items for starting the fire are all ready, big brother is leaving tonight, I will burn him tomorrow."

Yu Chiyuan said: "Today I will take the cavalry first, and in the next three days, according to the plan, I will send a troop of infantry out every night, be careful not to be discovered by the city." He also said: "You pester them during the day There is no time for him to take care of him, only three or four days, and the matter is half done."

While speaking, the army was ready to stand still, Yu Chiyuan saw him and didn't say any more.Seeing Pei Yuti coming up immediately, he said, "Let's go!"

As soon as the leader of the horse team raised his arm, all the troops rode their horses forward one by one, and in the middle of the night, they didn't even hear a sound.

Pei Yu looked up at the tall city wall of Luo City, black and straight like a huge beast's mouth, raised his eyebrows slightly, and drove his horse forward.

At noon on the second day, the wind gradually picked up.Yuchi Zhongli squinted his eyes to look at the sky in the camp, seeing the scorching sun in the sky, he couldn't help but sneered.A small school at the side came over and reported, "Everything is ready."

Yuchizhong looked at the pile of hay and lime at the bottom of the earth hill, and sent an order to the side: "Light the fire."

The herald raised a red flag, and all the soldiers at the foot of the earth mountain stepped forward one after another when they saw it.The fortifications of the earth mountain were renovated quite skillfully, with a wide road left around the mountain, just to transport these siege objects.Some soldiers went up and put the logs under the heavy objects. Dozens of people pushed and pulled them up and down, and all the things from the bottom of the mountain were transported up to the earth mountain in a short time.Dozens of soldiers carried light weapons on their shoulders and walked up the narrow paths on both sides.Looking from the east, this earth mountain is bare except for the fortifications on the mountain, as if there is nothing there. In fact, the combat material army is hidden under the mountain, and it only appeared at this moment.

Taking them up to the dirt hill, the soldiers unloaded the things in groups of three, and assembled them into continuous arrow crossbows a few times.Then one after another carried the strong crossbow and climbed up the wooden frame, each looking for his position.Two set up the crossbow stand, and the other took out the tarpaulin hay in the back basket and tied it on the arrowhead, and then poured pine oil on it.

As soon as the yellow flag was waved under the earth mountain, the soldier set up the arrow on the crossbow; when he saw the yellow flag waved twice, he took out the flint, struck hard twice, and sparks popped out.In such a dry weather, the sparks would not be able to reach the dry grass and pine oil. There were more than a dozen places on the wooden frame, and the arrows were all ignited.The soldier retreated to the back, and the two crossbowmen buckled and pressed, and only heard the sound of swishing, and the rocket left the string and flew straight towards the city.

It was a strong wind at the moment, and the pine oil and hay were all sharp tools to start the fire. For a while, the fire took advantage of the wind, and the wind boosted the power of the fire. The flames streaked across the air, the flames burned people's eyes, and the black smoke choked the nose.Its momentum is also fierce, its momentum is also strong, and the Xiyan army on the earth mountain also shouted loudly, just like when Hou Yi shot the sun, the black gold falling to the ground would startle everything.

Seeing this scene, Yuchizhong couldn't help being secretly proud.It has always been said that water and fire are ruthless, and those who can use water can be trapped but not seized, but those who use fire can achieve immediate results and get twice the result with half the effort.

Looking up to the city again, I saw that Dongyan's defenders didn't seem to be flustered.The formation changed slightly, and the soldiers in the back row stepped forward and lifted up large stone slabs, and the stone slabs joined together to form a barrier.At this time the rocket had arrived, and most of them were blocked by the stone slabs and fell into the city.Some shot into the top of the city. I saw that the soldiers who retreated earlier covered their mouths and noses with wet cloths, and covered the rockets with wet cloth sheets. After a burst of black smoke, the fires were all extinguished.

Seeing this, Yu Chizhong was terrified, and hurriedly shouted: "Hurry up and release the arrow!"

The crossbowmen on the dirt hill were busy preparing rockets, and fired three rounds in a row.With such an intensive attack, the temperature between the mound and the top of the city suddenly rose. Looking from afar, one could feel that the air was also steaming during the period, and the sunlight shone on it, making it almost distorted.

The stone slab could not stand burning, and it became hot for a while, so Dongyan soldiers poured cold water on it to cool down.They all soaked their bodies with water to remove the heat, wrapped their hands with cloth strips soaked in cold water, and took turns to come up and hold the stone slabs.

For a while, only rockets were fired from outside the city, and only stone slabs were erected on the top of the city to block it.The city walls of Luocheng were originally built of bricks and stones, so they were not afraid of fire. Even if the rockets were stopped and hit the city walls, they would not burn, so they all fell to the bottom of the city.When it touches some vegetation, it ignites again for a while, and the pine oil is easy to produce black smoke, and it is very choking when it blows into the city with the wind.Suddenly the soldiers carried a large urn, filled with cold water, and took advantage of the interval to pour it down the city, even the fire below the city was extinguished, and the black smoke that had risen up was blown away by the wind.

Xiao Xiao ran up to Yu Chizhong and asked, "Are you still going to fire the crossbow on the earth mountain?"

Yuchizhong watched the wind gradually die down, seeing that he hadn't accomplished anything for more than an hour before, he couldn't help being discouraged.According to the law of war, those who use fire are wise, and those who use water are strong, that is to say, the method of attacking with fire is the most immediate effect to suppress and deter the enemy.Yuchi Zhong originally thought, this continuous crossbow combined with raging flames is enough to make the city drink a pot, but who knows that the city seems to be ready, and they calmly deal with it, it took him a long time for nothing.

A lieutenant general asked, "When will the city gate be attacked?"

Yu Chizhong said angrily: "You have to be more brainy, the city is on guard, and you still send it up? I don't really want to attack, I don't stop under this situation, I just want to fill in the brothers for nothing. , tell the eldest brother to come back and see that I am the only one left with a bare rod?"

The lieutenant general said: "But you didn't do anything, just retreat like this?"

Yuchi Zhong said: "There are more than 3 people in total, and the eldest brother wants to send [-] elites to go. I don't know how much will be left after the fight over there. The rest will be [-] envoys. If you and I do this again It was damaged indiscriminately, how can we take care of it when the eldest brother comes back?"

After finishing speaking, he cast a bitter glance at the city, and said, "Forget it, I didn't expect to destroy the city at all. Today's tossing is enough, and it's a serious matter to send those [-] infantry safely away tonight!"

When Gu Yanbin saw the flags and drums in the city below, he secretly heaved a sigh of relief.Looking back, he saw Zhao Shen and Cheng Chude behind him, and said, "The Xiyan army has retreated."

Zhao Shenqi said: "You retreated after so long?"

Yesterday, he accidentally heard that Li Shoude's nose problem was caused by the smell of pine oil, and he couldn't help but think of Chi Le who used pine oil to set fire to build fortifications to resist the enemy in Woye Town.Also counting the positions of the moon phases, it should be a windy day, and when it coincides with the "fire attack", I will be extra vigilant. I summoned the generals to make arrangements in the middle of the night, and I don't want today to be in the middle of my hands.

Zhao Shen only read about fire attack in military books, but he has never tried it himself.Cheng Chude in the camp was a veteran in taking down the defending city on fire, and today's arrangement was all his handwriting.Hearing that Gu Yanbin said that the Xiyan army had retreated, Cheng Chude was also slightly puzzled, and said: "It is true that using fire can intimidate the enemy, but it is just a foreplay. It is a foreshadowing, and you have to follow the back move. How can you throw it from a distance?" Did you take a break?"

Gu Yanbin asked: "Maybe it's because we are on guard?"

Cheng Chude said: "Since they have prepared so many firelights, whether they tie them to battering rams and set them on fire to smash into the city gates, or set up ladders to throw the firelights into the city, there are countless ways. For such a big battle, I don’t understand why he hid without doing anything in the end.”

Zhao Shendao: "Is there some kind of trick?"

Cheng Chude frowned and said, "I really can't see through it now."

Gu Yanbin said: "Could it be... Could it be that they don't really want to attack the city?" After speaking, he shook his head: "Why don't they attack the city?"

Zhao Shen's heart skipped a beat, as if he remembered something but couldn't explain it clearly.After thinking about it for a moment, he just said flatly: "Since they have retreated, let them go, and he is planning a lot of tricks. I have certain rules, and it will be easy to stay the same."

What he is more worried about at the moment is another matter. It has been ten days since he left Gao Yuan'an, and he doesn't know what happened to the sending of troops on that side?

It is said that on this day, when Sishui closed the guards, they saw a cavalry team coming from afar, wearing the uniform of Dongyan army.When they arrived at the base of the city, the leading general shouted to the city: "Is General Wei Quan at Sishui Pass?"

Wei Quan was on the top of the city, looking down with his hands on the crenel, and replied: "The next one is, who is your lord?"

The city replied: "I am the vanguard of General Gao Yuan'an in Xudu. I was ordered by the general to rush to the rescue of Luocheng. Now I am stationed in Sishui. General Wei, please open the city quickly."

Wei Quan looked at it for a moment, and saw that there were more than [-] people in this team, the army was neat, and the armor he was looking at was the same as that of the Dongyan army.He asked, "Do you have proof?"

The general under the city untied something from his waist and held it up high: "General Gao's tiger talisman, General Wei should recognize it!"

Wei Quan squinted his eyes and saw that they were so far away, who could see clearly?He couldn't help but sneered, and said in a diffuse voice: "General, keep it safe."

The city said: "Now that you have read the certificate, General Wei will open the city."

Wei Quan smiled and said, "Don't worry." Then he asked, "Where is the general from?"

The general under the city paused for a moment and said, "A native of Dingzhou, he joined the army from Hebei with General Gao in the early years."

Wei Quan said: "General later, I will welcome the general into the city right now!"

After finishing speaking, he turned around, nodded his hand to the lieutenant general, and whispered something in a low voice.The deputy general looked a little surprised, then hurriedly said: "Yes!"

But in the team below the city, Yu Chiyuan held his horsewhip and smiled at Pei Yu: "It seems that these three hundred sets of Dongyan's robes have been put to great use. They entered the city in disguise, but they saved a lot of energy."

Pei Yu glanced at the city, only smiled, and did not answer.

Yu Chiyuan turned to the side of the general and said: "The 300 people entered the city for a while, and when the time comes to kill the generals, you will lead the 200 people in the rear team to attack from inside and outside. Today we will enter Sishui Pass for the night."

After waiting for another moment, there was still no movement in the city, Yu Chiyuan was slightly suspicious: "Why is it taking so long?"

Just as he was muttering, he saw the city gate slowly opening, but no team came out to guard, only two soldiers who opened the gate stood in front of the gate.But Wei Quan on the city said to the outside: "I am a small person in Sishui Pass, so I won't be polite to line up with the general. The general will invite you in, and I will go down to the city to meet you."

Yu Chiyuan was overjoyed to see him, so he wanted to drive the team forward.His arm was suddenly grabbed by someone, but when he looked back, it was Pei Yu.

Only Pei Yu said: "Something is wrong, general, don't be rash."

Yu Chiyuan frowned and said, "What's wrong?"

Pei Yu said: "Do you see why there are so many fewer soldiers on the city? But there are no queues in front of the city gate, where are the people going? How important is this time when the mouth of the water is closed, and the city gate is opened so sharply , I can't believe that the guard is so stupid."

Yu Chiyuan said anxiously: "You are only hesitant like this, but you know that the opportunity to fight is fleeting? After such a dawdling, suspicions really arose in the city, but what should we do?" After saying that, he wanted to urge the horse.

Pei Yu just held him firmly, and said, "Our infantry and rear have not yet arrived, and there are only five hundred cavalry. If the general insists, I think it will be easy to send 100 people in to find out what is going on. Yes."

Yu Chiyuan said: "What should 100 people do? If you miss this great opportunity..."

Pei Yu said in a deep voice, "I will sign a lottery with the general. If I miss the military flight, I will be punished myself."

Yu Chiyuan couldn't help it either, he pulled his hand hard and came out, saying: "Two hundred people go in, if there is any mistake, I will give you the seal of the leader of the army!"

Pei Yu knew that there was no turning back, so he only got: "Tell them to be careful."

Yu Chiyuan snorted and waved forward.A small school rode up to the front to say a few words to the leader.Most of the cavalry in front galloped towards the city.

Outside the city, I saw these 200 people entering the city, and there was nothing unusual.But suddenly the city gate was heard to be closed with a bang, and there was a sudden cry of killing inside.

Yu Chiyuan couldn't help being shocked.His original strategy was to trick the city gates into the city, and when the Chinese army camp suddenly launched an attack, they should cooperate with the inside and outside to take down the pass.Unexpectedly, when he entered the city, his voice became confused, obviously it was not the voice of his own soldiers.He couldn't help but look at Pei Yu, only to see that Pei Yu's face was sinking like water, and his two long eyebrows were knit together.

A moment later, a small school ran up to the top of the city, carrying a few bloody heads in his hands.The soldiers in the city wrapped them in sackcloth and threw them out of the city together.The head rolled down in front of Yuchiyuan's horse, and the horse backed away a few steps in shock.

Suddenly Wei Quan came up to the head and shouted to the people below the city: "Which one is under the city? How many of you can be fooled when a certain family is a three-year-old doll? And take these small tricks and go back!"

Yu Chiyuan's face was blushing uncertainly, his lips were trembling with anger.He also heard the words from the city: "Half of your two hundred people have been shot and killed, and the rest should be asked to carry the dead bodies out. There is no place in our city to bury these dead people."

Suddenly the city gate opened, and a group of dejected people were forced out by the city sergeant holding the long halberd to carry the corpse out. They were limping and clutching their wounds. They were in a state of embarrassment. Not to mention their mounts, they even lost their armor. .Those corpses were all shot like hedgehogs, and they were carried out all the way, with blood dripping all the way.

Wei Quan saw that the Xiyan army was in a hurry, and sighed: "It's a pity that my city is indeed lacking in strength, and I don't know how much they have left behind. Otherwise, it would be more efficient to kill the generals and go out."

At this time, soldiers came up and escorted the general who had spoken earlier.Seeing his disheveled face, Wei Quan sneered and said, "Now let me ask you, which family's general are you?"

The general muttered for a while, then said in a low voice, "It's under Wei Xiyan Chiyuan's command."

Wei Quan frowned and said, "Sure enough." Then he said, "Put it on, I'll have time to interrogate it."

Seeing the soldier escorting the man away, the lieutenant asked: "How did the general know that this group of people is fake?"

Wei Quan said: "To put it bluntly, it's not worth mentioning. The messenger from Xudu arrived yesterday, saying that General Gao has raised his troops. No matter how many days you count, there won't be any vanguards here today. This is one; and the other is the size of his horse. Tall and tall, it should be matched with heavy armor. General Gao has very few cavalry, but I heard that the Xiyan Army likes to equip that heavy armor; The second one is a mansion soldier who was born and raised in Xudu, what about Dingzhou? What's more, that guy obviously has a Guanlong accent. General Gao sent orders to use letters, so how could they use Tiger Talisman? It's ridiculous that they are so smart."

After hearing this, the deputy general couldn't help laughing and said, "General Tian Zong is wise."

Wei Quan sighed and said: "Stop coaxing me, saying that I am in trouble from heaven. General Gao will take three or five days to arrive at least, and it will be a bad fight when he arrives. Yu Chiyuan also has some vision when he came here, but Luo I'm afraid the city doesn't know yet." After thinking for a moment, he said, "You send someone to drive overnight, while going to Los Angeles, trying to find a way to report to them; at the same time, go to meet General Gao, and see what he has to say."

At night, Yu Chiyuan and his remnants set up camp on the side of Sishui Pass.After what happened during the day, he had long since lost the complacency he had when he left Los Angeles, and now he even regretted that he should not have rushed forward with his cavalry.But after all, he is a veteran general who has gone through a great battle, and he never showed his face because of a little incident during the day.At this moment, he just deliberately and cautiously chose the place to camp, and did not show any panic.

After the arrangement was settled, Yu Chiyuan entered his tent by himself, and saw that Pei Yu was already sitting inside, so he said coldly: "Pei Jianjun is here to teach you." Seeing that Pei Yu just kept silent, he said in a bitter voice. : "I'll pay the preface. From now on, the surname is Pei in the army."

He said this for the sake of the two people's oath in the afternoon, half of what he said was to make Pei Yu feel helpless, and half was to be caught in the wrong.

Pei Yu only said indifferently: "It is the Dongyan army that the general wants to use as an enemy, not my subordinates. The general and I will win and lose, and today's little training will be a lesson for you and me. What is the name of this army? If you don’t, don’t say it again.”

Yu Chiyuan laughed and shook his head to himself.He has always prided himself on being cautious, but today he was impatient because he showed his whole heart in front of Pei Yu during the day. At this moment, he sighed slightly: "I have been hunting wild geese all the year round, but today I let the geese peck their eyes. It was my negligence."

Pei Yu said: "I also underestimated the guard here." After thinking for a moment, he said: "At this moment, I am forcing you to think clearly about what the next step is."

Seeing his frank expression, Yu Chiyuan also knew that there should be no more internal strife now, so he couldn't help but calm down and said: "The supervisor's words mean..."

Pei Yu said: "You and I didn't think about this at first: how sure is it to capture Sishui Pass, and how useful is it?" Guan, to defeat Gao Yuan'an, that is the handwriting of the Central Plains in the first battle, does the general think it can be done?"

Yu Chiyuan pondered for a long while, sighed and shook his head, "The superintendent doesn't think I've lost my ambition. With the soldiers and horses in hand, I'm afraid I can't do it."

Pei Yu said: "I'm afraid Luo City will know about our coming out to stop the rescue in a few days. He has been besieged for more than two months, but his vitality has not lost much. We have spent a long time here. If he breaks out from the siege, he will Blind at both ends. Since it is blocking aid, it is enough to send Gao Yuanan away, and we still have to take Luocheng."

Seeing that he said the word "send" lightly, Yu Chiyuan was also a little puzzled.But Pei Yu took a roll of paper from the case, handed it to Yu Chiyuan and said, "The general will send the most capable person around him to send this to Yecheng." After speaking, he took a pen and wrote a paragraph on the corner of the other paper The name and address were given to Yu Chiyuan, and he said, "Did you write it down, General?"

When Yu Chiyuan saw the words, he memorized them silently for a while and said, "I've written it down."

Pei Yu picked up the paper with his name written on it, lit it on the candle, and said, "Don't tell the third person again."

Yu Chiyuan felt his heart pounding and asked, "What's going on?"

Pei Yu pointed to the scroll and said, "Look at it, General."

Yu Chiyuan unfolded it hesitantly, and took a deep breath after scanning it once.He raised his eyes to look at Pei Yu, and saw that his expression was indifferent, so he couldn't help being even more alarmed.He thought to himself, what kind of character is this Pei Yu, who can turn clouds and rain like this.

I only heard Pei Yuman's voice say: "This is just a back move. Counting the days, we have to fight with Gao Yuan'an for a few days. Why don't we mention it later? If we lose to the Gao family in these few days, it will be Da Luo Jinxian It’s over. But once the affairs of Ye City are settled, we will have a chance of winning. The situation is serious now, but the general can’t say that relying on his troops to settle the injustice, as long as we plan properly, we have a chance of winning.”