December 1st, 616 AD, October 17th, Sui Daye 12th year, Yin.
The sky was gloomy, and Zhang Xutuo's face was also gloomy. His snow-white beard fluttered in the cold wind of early winter, reflecting Zhang Xutuo's expression more serious and resolute. He only explained one sentence, "Be careful, keep in touch with the Chinese army at any time."
He Yanyu led 2,000 infantry and set off first, and the main force of the Chinese army composed of 8,000 infantry had already left the camp and assembled. The rear army led by Jia Wuben had also loaded tents and carts, and was ready to leave the camp at any time. It was also at this time that Jia Wuben touched Zhang Xutuo's head and said to Zhang Xutuo, "Commander, the enemy situation at Xingze is unknown, so be careful."
Zhang Xutuo nodded and hesitated to speak. After hesitating for a moment, Zhang Xutuo still whispered: "Wuben, I have some bad news for you. Yesterday evening, news came from Jiangdu that Yuwenshu Yuwenzhu Kingdom Passed away."
"Yu Wenshu passed away? When did it happen?" Jia Wuben was taken aback.
"The sixth day of October also happened to be the day we entered Xingyang County." Zhang Xutuo replied in a low voice.
"Why such a coincidence?" Jia Wuben was surprised again, "On the day we entered Xingyang, Yuwenzhu Kingdom passed away, and we just decided to enter Xingze to launch a decisive battle yesterday, and the news of his death came, which is too unlucky Bar?"
"The old man also feels very unlucky. Last night, he was frightened, in a trance, and couldn't sleep."
After all, he was only a person in the seventh century. Even Zhang Xutuo, who was as brave and fearless as Zhang Xutuo, felt that this incident was too strange and mysterious, and felt very ominous. The number one man in the army, although he has a poor reputation in politics, he has made great achievements in running the army with soldiers. Our army in Qi County has been able to come to this day, and it is also related to his generous support. There's going to be a big upheaval."
Jia Wuben's official position is General Yingyanglang of Qi County, who belongs to the Sixteen Guards. Hearing Zhang Xutuo's words, he was unavoidably silent, and then comforted him: "Don't worry, Commander, this is just a coincidence. It's not surprising that such a coincidence happened. Besides, given your prestige and qualifications and the importance of your position, no matter who succeeds Yuwen Zhuguo to lead the world's military affairs, it will only continue to be the same as Yuwenzhuguo. Support our Qi County officers and men."
Zhang Xutuo nodded slightly, and said in a low voice: "Don't announce this matter for the time being, so as not to affect the morale of the army."
When Jia Wuben promised, Wang Xuance, the messenger sent by Chen Sangliang, suddenly came to Zhang Xutuo to ask for an audience. He also saw Wang Xuance, who was not yet seventeen years old, and Zhang Xutuo suddenly remembered that he had forgotten to write Chen Sangliang's reply was fortunately not too urgent, so Zhang Xutuo smiled at Wang Xuance: "Little guy, I'm really sorry, I was too busy yesterday and forgot to write a reply to Chen Liushou. It will be too late now. Why don't you take a message back to the old man."
If it had been replaced by another messenger, it would have been an immediate agreement, but everyone knows who Wang Xuance is—the most bizarre troublesome messenger in the history of the world! So after hearing Zhang Xutuo's words, not only did Wang Xuance not promise, but he immediately said: "Marshal, it doesn't matter, please let the villain go out with you. When will you have time to write a reply, when will the villain go back?" Sending a letter. I am not talented, but I want to see with my own eyes the majesty of your majesty, and I also want to see with my own eyes how the world-renowned Bafeng Battalion can show its power and defeat the bandit army. Please give me your permission."
"Aren't you afraid of danger?" Zhang Xutuo smiled and asked a nonsense-for a weirdo who dared to destroy a country by one person, this sentence was really superfluous.
"Your junior is not afraid." Wang Xuance hurriedly bowed respectfully, cupped his hands and said, "Three years ago, Chen Liushou was about the same age as the younger generation, and he dared to go to Liaodong to join the army alone, serve the country, and then make great achievements. The younger generation is not talented, dare not Be side by side with Chen Liushou, but also willing to follow Chen Liushou's glory and learn from him."
"Ambition, the people Chen Xiaozi uses are not easy." Zhang Xutuo praised, and then said casually: "Well, since you have the courage and ambition, I will help you to act with the old man's personal army. "Wang Xuance was overjoyed when he heard that, and quickly thanked Zhang Xutuo, and then immediately followed Zhang Xutuo's personal troops into action.
After experiencing this minor turmoil, the main force of Qi County immediately set off under the leadership of Zhang Xutuo, heading towards Xingze County, northwest of Guancheng, and the destination Xingze is not far from Guancheng, and one day is enough time. Arriving at the foot of Xingze City, the Sui Army of Qi County was not in a hurry and marched calmly at a normal speed.
The Wagang Army under Zhai Rang's rule and the Sui Army of Qi County are also considered old rivals. In the past few years, in order to protect the safety and smooth flow of the Tongji Canal, the Sui Army of Qi County has frequently fought against the Wagang Army in Liang County and Jiyin. They have successfully defeated the Wagang Army once, and have never been defeated. Although the Wagang Army has not wiped out the main force of the Wagang Army because it ran too fast and received too much support from the local people, the psychological advantage has long been established, and after coming to Xingyang County The five battles against the Wagang Army were easy, so the Qijun Sui Army, from Zhang Xutuo himself to ordinary soldiers, was not at all worried that they would not be able to defeat the Wagang Army, but only worried that they would not be able to find the main force of the Wagang Army.
It is also because of this that the Sui Army of Qi County is generally more relaxed during the march. It is also because of this that when the accident suddenly appeared, the Sui Army of Qi County was shocked by it, and this accident was too unexpected. Prediction—just after noon, He Yanyu, who was the striker, suddenly sent someone to send a scout report, saying that a large number of Wagang Army troops were found in the southeast of Xingze, and they were rushing towards the position of the Sui Army in Qi County under the banner of Zhai Rang. Come, it seems that there is an attempt to take the initiative to confront the Sui army in Qi County.
"Zhai Rang led the army to fight in person?" Zhang Xutuo couldn't believe his ears. After asking that the number of the incoming enemies was about 30,000, Zhang Xutuo immediately ordered He Yanyu to stop advancing, and formed a square formation to stabilize his position. , Also ordered the main force of the Chinese army to speed up. The order was conveyed, and the morale of Qi Jun, who was afraid of the enemy running but not fighting, was greatly boosted, and he immediately strode forward, and after a while, he caught up with He Yanyu in front of him.
Just after rejoining the former army, the northwest direction was filled with dust and smoke, and countless ragged bandits poured in, leading by a big red flag, which was Zhai Rangshuai's flag that Zhang Xutuo had seen several times. Seeing this situation, the Qijun soldiers who were in a weak force not only did not have the slightest nervousness and worry, but cheered loudly. Countless soldiers were overjoyed, saying that this time it was finally easy, and finally they could kill the Wagang bandits in one battle. The main force does not need to follow their ass After that, I worked hard to catch up. Zhang Xutuo was also overjoyed, and laughed loudly: "Zhai Rang! You really are Zhai Rang's traitor!"
Overjoyed to return to overjoyed, Zhang Xutuo was still very cautious in using troops, and did not immediately order a general offensive, but ordered the army to immediately form a phalanx to meet the enemy with a phalanx. In the end, the well-trained Qi County soldiers quickly established their formation At that time, the Wagang Army had already rushed to the front. Zhai Rang in golden armor led hundreds of cavalry to the front line. He pointed at Zhang Xutuo's handsome flag with a horsewhip and cursed. He ordered the phalanx to advance straight to Zhai Rang's commander-in-chief, and Zhai Rang immediately ordered a general attack as in previous battles, urging the whole army to attack the Qi County phalanx by relying on the large number of people to bully the few.
Amidst the thunderous shouts, soldiers from the Wagang Army, whose number was at least three times that of the Sui Army in Qi County, poured in like a tide. The arrow whizzed and spun down, piercing and shooting down the Wagang thieves one after another, but the Wagang soldiers, who had been energized beforehand, continued to charge, and the slogans of killing an officer and soldier and rewarding three stones came and went, and captured Zhang Xutuo alive. The sound of slogans echoed each other.
The tide slapped on the reef and turned into countless sprays. In the face of the absolute gap in equipment, training and experience, no matter how many Wagang bandit soldiers there were, it was impossible to overwhelm the phalanx of Qi County soldiers. On the contrary, they were stabbed by the phalanx. The spears and spears stabbed people on their backs, and the corpses were all over the ground, and then they were hacked to pieces with swords and axes. I shoved, unable to advance or retreat, and was killed by the slowly advancing Qi County soldiers, crying and howling, with blood flying everywhere.
Like every previous battle, the poorly equipped and undertrained Wagang army can only rely on the pile of lives to compete with the soldiers of Qi County. It often takes several casualties before a particularly brave Wagang bandit can win the battle with Qi County soldiers. The opportunity for the soldiers to fight hand-to-hand, and the one who greets this warrior is usually the pitiful end of being chopped up by the skilled Sui army soldiers. The mantis arm is like a car, and the dragonfly shakes the stone pillar. The whole army's attack is doomed to be useless. .
In front of the soldiers of Qi County who were advancing like a copper wall and iron wall, the Wagang army had no power to fight back. They couldn't kill them all, but the soldiers of Qi County continued to march forward with all their strength, crushing in the direction of Zhai Rang's handsome flag, and all the Wagang bandits who dared to stop in front were turned into powder.
This time, Zhai Rang was obviously more competitive than before, urging the army to hold on for half an hour without retreating, until the phalanx of Qijun soldiers was only a hundred steps away from him, and the arrows could already hit his horse. Before, and seeing that the rear army led by Jia Wuben had also rushed to the battlefield, Zhai Rang gave the order to escape as usual, and rushed to the front line of escape as usual, the Wagang bandit Most of the soldiers followed, and they fled faster and faster one by one after Zhai Rang's handsome flag.
After finally catching Zhai Rang himself, and seeing that the surrounding terrain is open and there is no place to ambush, Zhang Xutuo of course ordered to pursue with all his strength. Nearly all the soldiers and soldiers of Wanqi County rushed to follow Zhai Rang's commander-in-chief. , Zhang Xutuo also gradually came out of the crowd, and rushed to the front line of the pursuit battle, roaring like thunder, "Chasing! Capture Zhai Rang's traitor alive!"
Zhang Xutuo, who was rushing to the front line, was in no danger, because the Wagang Army's real defeat was definitely not a false defeat. From top to bottom, they followed Zhai Rang's commander-in-chief to flee for their lives, and had no intention of turning around to face the battle at all. The Wagang thieves caught up by the army were either hacked to death with random knives, or knelt down and surrendered. The desperate cries for mercy were earth-shattering. The generals of the Sui army, who had long been accustomed to such scenes, looked relaxed and strode forward. No matter what you say, you must catch up with the big thief Zhai Rang, the source of disaster in Xingyang County.
Too many victories have paralyzed the nerves of the soldiers of Qi County, and they are accustomed to the thinking of soldiers of Qi County who are always victorious and invincible. Tuo or the other Qijun soldiers, even Jia Wuben who came later, did not notice that Zhai Rang had unknowingly led them to the open but densely forested due west, and did not pay attention. It turned out that during the pursuit, their team unwittingly messed up their organization, elongated the formation, and the neat phalanx gradually turned into a long snake with an extremely fragile waist...
The huge inertia of the wheel of history cannot be stopped by manpower, and Chen Yingliang is no exception. Under the temptation of Zhai Rang himself as the bait, the Sui army of Qi County, who was anxious to defeat the enemy in one battle, chased for nearly twenty miles in one go, and came to a On a narrow road with dense forests and many hills, there is a temple on the mountain in the southwest of this place. The name of the temple is Dahai Temple.
"Boom!"
The sudden thunderous noise numb the eardrums of the soldiers of Qi County, and the sudden killing of Wagang cavalry also caused the pupils of countless soldiers of Qi County to shrink violently. Under the leadership of Li Mi, the Wagang cavalry who rushed out of the woods Just like cutting tofu with a steel knife, it cut off the fragile waist of the Sui army of Qi County with ease. Since the formation of the army in March of the seventh year of the great cause, the army of Qi County, which has been invincible in nearly six years, was cut off by the enemy for the first time. Can't take care of each other.
"Capture Zhang Xutuo alive! Kill all the dogs and soldiers!"
Earth-shattering shouts came from all directions. In the dense forest and behind the overgrown hills, countless Wagang bandit soldiers poured out at the same time, holding high the blood-red Wagang flag, and charged from all directions at the Qi that had been cut off at the waist. The county team, the famous Battle of Dahai Temple in the history of the late Sui Dynasty, also officially started.
There were too many victories for the soldiers of Qi County, so many that they had already forgotten the taste of failure, and also made them forget how to face difficulties in the face of adversity. In the case of being suddenly completely surrounded, Qi County, which had already been in chaos, The soldiers suddenly became more confused, and Zhang Xutuo's contingency order could not be conveyed to the whole army as quickly as before because of the broken waist. Elite, the real Wagang Army elite.
The Wagang Army that has gradually grown up is indeed not what it used to be. Under the leadership of Wagang generals such as Zhai Rang, Li Mi, Xu Shiji, Wang Bodanghe, Shan Xiongxin, and Yang Jishan, the various Wagang Army maintained a unified action. Like a sharp blade, it stabbed fiercely into the army of Qi County one by one, dismembering the Sui army of Qi County to pieces, and even more disorganized, Luo Shixin, He Yanyu, Qin Qiong, Mulan, and Jia Wuben will be completely alone. If they can fight on their own, only Fan Hu and Tang Wanche are left beside Zhang Xutuo to command.
Zhang Xutuo had no choice but to wield his sword in person and lead the army to the open land. Zhai Rang, who hated him to the core, led the army to block it in person, and shouted with red eyes that he must take down Zhang Xutuo's old dog. head.
No one can be the opponent of Zhang Xutuo, a veteran on the battlefield, and no army can stop Zhang Xutuo's personal soldiers, Fan Hu and Tang Wanche from sacrificing their lives. After the sentry, Zhang Xutuo finally led hundreds of soldiers out of the encirclement. Fan Hu and Tang Wanche wanted to keep up with them, but the gap they managed to break through was immediately blocked by the Wagang army rushing up like a tide. .
If Zhang Xutuo abandons his surrounded subordinates and retreats immediately, then history will definitely be rewritten. Unfortunately, the seventy yards of history are difficult to be blocked. If Zhang Xutuo is the one who abandons his subordinates and escapes alone, then he is not worthy His name is Zhang Xutuo, so after seeing his subordinates being surrounded again, Zhang Xutuo, who had already fled to the distance amid the annoyed shouts of the Wagang bandits, turned his horse's head without hesitation, and rushed into the enemy's formation again to rescue his subordinates. The Wagang bandits screamed in unbelievable surprise, and then tried their best to surround Zhang Xutuo again.
When he saw Fan Hu and Tang Wanche who were crying loudly, Zhang Xutuo's body was already covered with blood, and when he led the two generals out of the encirclement, Zhang Xutuo already had two wounds on his body, but Zhang Xutuo still Without hesitation, he rushed towards the besieged He Yanyu without hesitation, slashed and killed the bandit soldiers with a horizontal knife, like a tiger rushing down the mountain to the densely packed Wagang bandit soldiers. Seeing this scene, Zhai Rang couldn't help shouting even though he hated Zhang Xutuo deeply, "Is there such a person in the world?!"
During the fierce battle to rescue He Yanyu, Tang Wanche was killed in battle, dragged off his horse by several Wagang bandit soldiers, pressed to the ground and stabbed into a beehive. Before dying, Tang Wanche bit off the throat of an enemy. After rescuing He Yanyu, Zhang Xutuo had another wound on his body.
After taking the wounded He Yanyu out of the encirclement and asking his soldiers to take He Yanyu, who was crying bitterly, to safety, Zhang Xutuo personally entered the siege for the third time and rescued Qin Qiong who was surrounded by Xu Shiji and Wang Bodang. During the fierce battle, Wang Bodang, who is famous for his archery skills, suddenly shot a cold arrow and hit Zhang Xutuo's left shoulder. The arrow pierced through the armor and penetrated into the flesh. A Wagang general rushed to cut off his head and left shoulder together.
When leading Qin Qiong out of the encirclement again, another feathered arrow was inserted into Zhang Xutuo's back, and there were five or six more wounds on his body. However, Zhang Xutuo didn't even have time to bandage, so he immediately ordered Qin Qiong Organized the defeated army to protect the wounded soldiers and retreat to the way they came. Qin Qiong cried and refused, and Zhang Xutuo yelled, "Do you want the wounded soldiers to be captured and buried alive by the Wagang bandits? Take them away! This is an order!"
Qin Qiong cried and left with the wounded soldiers, but Zhang Xutuo, who was covered in blood, rushed back to the battlefield for the fourth time, and rushed back to the encirclement circle amid the screams of Wagang bandits. This time, Zhang Xutuo The target of his rescue was Mulan who was surrounded by Wagang thieves. As a result, this time, Zhang Xutuo also met the most cunning fox in Wagang—Li Mi.
"Let Zhang Xutuo enter the battle! Stop his subordinates!"
Li Mi's calm order determined Zhang Xutuo's fate. Under the deliberate indulgence of the Wagang Army, Zhang Xutuo himself rushed into the encirclement smoothly. Most of his loyal and brave soldiers and the blood-stained general Fan Hu , but was stopped by the Wagang army who quickly made up for the leak. During the bitter battle, Fan Hu was first shot by the arrow, and then the horse was hacked to death. .
When he saw Mulan, Zhang Xutuo had more than ten wounds all over his body, and his armor was also torn. The blood gushing from the wound on the right side of his head stained his hair red, his left elbow was shattered, and he could not move. Bleeding all the time, Mulan cried and asked why Zhang Xutuo came to save her? Zhang Xutuo smiled without saying a word, and just pointed out the direction to break out of the encirclement with the broken horizontal knife. However, at this moment, a feathered arrow flew over and hit Zhang Xutuo's horse's eyes accurately. , and lifted the seriously injured Zhang Xutuo off the blood-stained ground.
"Marshal! Marshal!" Countless horrified shouts sounded at the same time, and a figure quickly rushed to Zhang Xutuo, helping Zhang Xutuo to get up, and shouted in a crying voice: "Marshal, come to me quickly!" horse!"
"It's you?" Zhang Xutuo recognized that the person supporting him was Wang Xuance, and when he saw the blood on Wang Xuance's face and the bloody horizontal knife in his hand who was ordered to follow his own soldiers, Zhang Xutuo suddenly laughed He said, "As expected of being under Chen Boy's command, he is a man. It's a pity that the old man didn't listen to Chen Boy's good words to persuade him, nor did he listen to your kind words to remind him."
"Marshal, I'll talk about these words later, get on your horse!" Wang Xuance cried and pushed Zhang Xutuo onto his horse. Zhang Xutuo refused, but another large group of bandits rushed from the side and rushed into Zhang Xutuo The crowd of the Sui army around Tuo started a scuffle, and Mulan and the soldiers of the Sui army were forced to fight. Zhang Xutuo also lost the chance to remount forever.
Despite being bruised and bruised, Zhang Xutuo still stood firm. Several enemy soldiers rushed towards him. The soldier's left shoulder was cut to the chest, but at the same time, another thief soldier's spear pierced his neck, and the blood that spewed out turned into hot rain and flowed along the body. fighting. Zhang Xutuo staggered, stuck the knife on the ground, grasped the handle tightly, supported his body, and ordered with difficulty: "Mulan, take the master and go first, and the old man will leave the rear for you..."
Without saying a word, there was a sound, a spear pierced Zhang Xutuo's back, passed through the already broken back armor, pierced Zhang Xutuo's back, and went straight into the heart. Zhang Xutuo summoned up his power and turned around. One knife cut off the enemy's neck, but he no longer had the strength to dodge the spear piercing from the side. The spear pierced into Zhang Xutuo's body from his ribs, and blood gushed out from the wound on the back of his heart like a red snake. The blood-stained head finally hangs down powerlessly...
Mulan, who was entangled by countless thieves, had been weeping for a long time, but was pushed farther and farther away from Zhang Xutuo by more and more thieves. The Wagang soldiers put Zhang Xutuo's tall body on their backs again, trying to break out of the siege with Zhang Xutuo on their backs, but before they had taken three steps, Wang Xuance was surrounded by countless Wagang bandit soldiers, and the leader shouted: "Hand over Zhang Xutuo, and spare you!"
"Bah!" Wang Xuance spat bloody saliva at the thief general, who was furious and shouted, "Kill!"
"Wait a minute!" At the critical moment when the Wagang bandit soldiers raised their guns one after another, the sound of shouting came in time, stopping the bandit soldiers from moving. Immediately afterwards, a black-faced scholar appeared in front of Wang Xuance, and said with a smile: "This I like it, boy, I want to live. Boy, my name is Li Mi, I like your loyalty, and there is a shortage of people like you around me. I promise you, as long as you surrender, I will not let the soldiers insult Zhang Xutuo's body. And let him die in peace."
Zhang Xutuo's body gradually became cold on Wang Xuance's back, Wang Xuance hesitated for a moment, and suddenly heard the wind, a fist suddenly hit his temple, knocking him unconscious, and took Zhang Xutuo They fell to the ground together, and the Wagang Army rushed to the ground. Li Mi smiled and said: "Don't hurt this kid's life, take him back."
"Zhang Xutuo is dead! Zhang Xutuo is dead!"
The shouts passed through the bloody cloud of chaos, shaking the eardrums of both sides. Countless people were stunned, and countless people couldn't believe it. Whether it was Qijun soldiers or Wagang soldiers, it was hard to believe this fact for a while. , crying and cheering one after another, and as the leader of the Wagang Army, Zhai Rang was so excited that he knelt on the ground, punched the ground, and burst into tears, "Zhang Xutuo is dead! Finally dead! Finally dead!" It's gone! This old man is dead! Finally dead!"
On December 1, 616 A.D., on October 17, the twelfth year of Sui Daye, Zhushi of the Sui court led the twelve counties of Henan Province to depose Zhang Xutuo, the ambassador, and was defeated by Dahai Temple. Surrounded by soldiers, in order to save his subordinates, Zhang Xutuo rushed into the siege four times. He was seriously injured and died at the age of fifty-two. Zhang Xutuo's troops suffered a disastrous defeat, with only about 5,000 remnants of defeated generals breaking through the encirclement. They escaped from the battlefield under the leadership of Zhang Xutuo's deputy, Jia Wuben. After death, Mulan was captured by Wagang General Shan Xiongxin. Upon hearing the news of Zhang Xutuo's death, the officers and men of Qi County cried day and night for several days.
As the news spread, the morale of the twelve counties south of the Yellow River was depressed, and countless officers and men of the twelve counties shed tears. Chen Yingliang, who was staying behind in the Eastern Capital, heard the news and fell to the ground crying. After being rescued, Chen Yingliang burst into tears again. "It's all my fault! It's all my fault! Ambassador Zhang, I didn't try my best to save you!"