The Dai Luanxiang who appeared behind the imperial guards was not some conspiracy, but the real former general Dai Luanxiang.
After Dai Luanxiang was deprived of his military power by Emperor Zheng Yao and was rescued halfway by Qiu Yizi, the adopted son of King Youyan Zheng Rong, he became disheartened. He lived in the dilapidated temple arranged by Qiu Yizi, where he took care of his mother and educated his children every day. He lived a very peaceful life for more than ten days.
Dai Luanxiang even brought his son Dai Song to personally repair the house and reclaim the wasteland, as if he intended to live in seclusion here and spend the rest of his life.
However, on this day, a large number of refugees suddenly appeared, bringing their families, the elderly and children, passing by the ruined temple and heading towards the capital.
This dilapidated temple is far away from the main road and is located in a very remote location. It should not have so many people passing by.
Dai Luanxiang found it strange, so he asked his son Dai Song to go and inquire about the situation.
It would have been better if he hadn't asked, but once he asked, Dai Luanxiang was shocked: it turned out that early in the morning of that day, King Zheng Rong of Youyan sent a large army to attack Tongguan. The people living near Tongguan were afraid that the army would pass through and their lives would be destroyed, so they abandoned their homes and fled to the capital first.
Dai Luanxiang was known as the best general in the country and was certainly a man who knew military affairs. However, he did not expect that King Zheng Rong of Youyan would completely open up the passage between Youyan Road and Tongguan in just over a month, and gather a large army to attack the impregnable Tongguan fortress.
He wanted to go to the battlefield in person to witness this rare spectacle, but he was worried that his elderly mother and children at home had no one to take care of them, and he was hesitant.
At this time, Dai's mother walked out of a side hall of the dilapidated temple with a dragon-headed cane and said to her son, "Dai Song told me that the Prince of Youyan led his army to attack Tongguan. This is a rare war since the founding of the Han Dynasty. Doesn't my son Luanxiang plan to go over and broaden his horizons?"
Dai Luanxiang listened and sighed, "My son is completely hopeless. He really doesn't want to experience this again. He only thinks that he was obsessed with fame in the first half of his life and didn't fulfill his filial duty. Now he just needs to serve his old mother well."
How could Dai's mother not know what her son was thinking? Knowing that he was not sincere, she said, "I didn't expect my son to be so indifferent to fame and fortune, which is rare. But I always like to watch the fun, so I will take my grandson and granddaughter to have a look. Since Luanxiang has no intention of going, he can stay here and look after the house."
As he spoke, he called for Dai Song to lead three horses over, mounted the horses nimbly, and led Dai Song and Yinping towards the east.
Dai Luanxiang was really surprised by Dai's mother's behavior, so he quickly found a horse and caught up with her.
When Dai's mother saw that her son Dai Luanxiang had indeed caught up with her, she knew that her little trick had worked. She couldn't help feeling proud, and a smile appeared on her wrinkled face. She spurred her horse and galloped forward.
The dilapidated temple where Dai Luanxiang and others were hiding was very close to Tongguan. Dai Luanxiang and his party were skilled in archery and horse riding, and in less than two hours, they had arrived near Tongguan. Through the layers of drizzle, they could vaguely see the towering arrow tower of Tongguan, and Qiu Yizi was under house arrest here at the moment.
Under Tongguan, a large number of troops had already gathered, and the army was gathering everywhere and running back and forth. The faint shouts of killing and the smell of blood kept stimulating Dai Luanxiang's five senses, and finally made his blood, which he had barely suppressed, stir again.
Dai Luanxiang said to Dai's mother, "This is behind the Imperial Guards. We can't see any entrance." He pointed to a tall building in the left front and said, "There is a restaurant over there. If there are no Imperial Guards stationed there, why don't we go upstairs and take a look?"
Upon hearing this, Dai's mother smiled and said, "My son is a famous general of the Han Dynasty. You will be in charge of the battles on the battlefield! Of course, I will follow you closely." She turned around and reminded Dai Song, "My Dai family is a military family with only one son for three generations. You will be in charge of the army in the future. Why don't you take this opportunity to ask your father for more advice on how to march and use troops?"
However, Dai Luanxiang was a famous general who commanded the army to fight the enemy in a fair and square battle on the battlefield. He was also well versed in all kinds of conspiracies and tricks on the battlefield. However, he knew nothing about how to sneak into the camp secretly or scout out.
He had only walked a few steps with his mother and children when he was recognized from afar by a Lieutenant General who was supervising the battle. After a brief discussion with the soldiers beside him, he gathered two or three hundred people and rushed towards Dai Luanxiang and others, intending to capture him and interrogate him first.
Dai Luanxiang was also alert. Seeing that the situation was not good, he said to Dai's mother, "Luanxiang was not careful. I didn't expect that I was so familiar with everyone here and was recognized. Please step aside for a while, mother. Luanxiang will be here to cover you." At the same time, he drew his sword, stood on his horse, and protected Dai's mother behind him.
Dai Luanxiang's prestige was still there, and the imperial officers and soldiers who came to arrest him felt a little uneasy when they saw how calm he was. They were not acting on orders, so they were inevitably hesitant in their actions.
While they were hesitating, a group of soldiers suddenly rushed out from the side, numbering about 80 people. They were all highly skilled in martial arts, and although they were not protected by heavy armor and had never ridden horses, they killed all the government troops in less than a cup of tea.
It turned out that these people were the elite soldiers of Youyan who were left behind by Qiu Yizhi at Tongguan and who had not gone to the pass with him. They followed Qiu Yizhi's instructions and were arranged by Ruan Wenlong to join the Tongguan garrison. However, when the war broke out, the imperial guards, who had always looked down on the soldiers guarding the pass, squeezed them out and only assigned them an idle job to guard the rear of the army.
This job was both leisurely and safe. If ordinary soldiers were assigned to do this job, they would have been very happy and would have gone home to burn incense. However, these soldiers had other tasks to do. Seeing that they were getting further and further away from the front line of the battlefield and could no longer help Qiu Yizi, they could not help but feel anxious.
They also heard rumors in the army that the old general Bai Wenbo had personally captured several spies from Youyan and imprisoned them in the arrow tower. Others did not know the identity of the Youyan spy, but they knew it very well. Knowing that this person was Qiu Yizi, the adopted son of the King of Youyan, they became even more anxious.
At this moment, they heard that the imperial guards had discovered Dai Luanxiang's whereabouts and were nearby. After discussing with each other, they abandoned their posts and went to see what was going on.
Everyone recognized Dai Luanxiang, and they saw that he was indeed the famous general that Qiu Yizhi, the Prince of Youyan, had rescued from the Ministry of Persuasion. They also saw that the imperial guards had gathered more than 200 people and were about to capture Dai Luanxiang. Without saying a word, they drew their swords and went into battle, defeating all the imperial guards who intended to harm Dai Luanxiang.
Dai Luanxiang had also recognized them, and he bowed while riding on his horse and said, "Thank you very much for rescuing me, but now your identities have been exposed. The imperial court officials and soldiers are too numerous and powerful to deal with, so why don't you all hide with me for a while?"
Unexpectedly, these people had no intention of retreating. One of them, who was more eloquent, stepped forward and knelt in front of Dai Luanxiang's horse, and said to him: "His Highness Yi has been captured by the court soldiers and imprisoned in the Tongguan Arrow Tower. He saved our lives. Although we are just ants, we dare not cherish our lives and betray his kindness. I just don't know how to rescue our Highness Yi. Marshal Dai is a famous general in the country. I hope the Marshal can teach me..." As he said this, he almost burst into tears.
This person spoke with emotion and reason, which moved Dai Luanxiang.
Dai Luanxiang thought that he was also rescued by Qiu Yizhi from the hands of the minions of the Persuasion Department, and there was no reason not to save him. But he also thought that there were not only tens of thousands of fully armed imperial guards between him and Qiu Yizhi, but also the obstacle of Tongguan. If it were not for the Jade Emperor and the Buddha, no one could save Qiu Yizhi under such circumstances.
Thinking of this, Dai Luanxiang quickly dismounted and personally helped the Youyan soldier up, sighing, "Your Highness Yi has been very kind to me, my mother and my family, and I will never forget this kindness. But if we force our way in, not only will we not be able to save His Highness Yi, but we will also be throwing our lives into vain... Now we can only hope that the Prince of Youyan can capture Tongguan as soon as possible, so that His Highness Yi can save himself."
This just reminded Dai's mother behind him, and she said, "My son, what you said is right. Tongguan is a strategic pass in the world, and the elite troops of the imperial court are gathered here. Even if the prince is powerful, he can't take it easily. Why doesn't Luanxiang use his prestige to shake the morale of the government troops and help the prince?"
Dai Luanxiang was also startled after hearing his mother's words - he knew that when two armies were fighting, not many people were killed or injured on the battlefield. What was actually fighting was which side could maintain higher morale. There were many examples of one side suffering more casualties but still persisting to the end to win because of its high morale - as long as the imperial guards could come up with a way to cut off the fire, it would really help King Youyan who was fighting with the imperial court on the battlefield.
Dai Luanxiang then jumped on his horse again, drove it a few steps forward, took a deep breath, and called out to the imperial guards in front of him, "Commendants, do you recognize who I am?"
Most of the imperial guards were so focused on the fight in front of them that no one noticed the small conflict happening behind them. But when they heard Dai Luanxiang's familiar voice, they all turned around to watch.
Most of the officers and soldiers of the Imperial Guards had served as Dai Luanxiang's subordinates, and many of them were promoted by him. They also knew that he was fighting poorly and was being recalled to Beijing by the emperor to be punished - two commanders of the front line had replaced him - but they did not expect that Dai Luanxiang would appear here when the two armies were fighting.
However, most of these soldiers knew that Dai Luanxiang was recalled from the battlefield, and they could more or less guess that Dai Luanxiang's return to the capital this time was likely to be dangerous. But no one knew that he had been rescued by Qiu Yizi and was planning to surrender to Zheng Rong, the King of Youyan.
Dai Luanxiang answered himself: "I am Dai Luanxiang! I have always been famous in the court, and I am sure you all know me. I was framed by treacherous officials and was not tolerated by the current emperor. I was about to be killed. But it was the Youyan Prince, who was the enemy of you all, who was so kind and righteous that he sent his confidants to rescue me. I was able to save my life and talk to you here!"
"Why not surrender the prince together!" This sentence suddenly came out of nowhere from the imperial guards.
Dai Luanxiang himself had not made up his mind to surrender to Prince Youyan. He was just persuading the imperial guards not to serve the tyrant anymore. His words were full of guilt and caution. He really didn't expect that someone in the imperial guards would take advantage of the situation and loudly agree with him. He felt strange.
It turned out that these people who were talking loudly were sent by Zheng Rong to sneak into Tongguan.
They first changed into enemy uniforms and pretended to be the imperial guards who had fled from Henan and tried to open the gate of Tongguan. Then they pretended to be exhausted and occupied a key position at the gate of Tongguan, preventing the government troops from forming a battle array at the gate. After being dragged to the rear army, they took the opportunity to start an uprising and made this shocking statement at the critical moment.
All they heard was them repeatedly shouting the slogan "Why not surrender the prince together?" At first, only about 180 people were shouting, but after repeating it several times, 500 to 600 people followed suit. For a while, the rear guard was in an uproar, and it seemed that the imperial guards were about to lose their footing. (To be continued)