"Yanling is as big as an elephant, not for pedestrians;
Yanmin is as big as a horse, and Qutang cannot be moved down. Yanmei is as big as a turtle, Qutang travels in a boat,
Yan Ming is as big as a tortoise, and Qutang cannot be seen."
The Southern Dynasties Li Daoyuan’s "Shui Jing Zhu" recorded his proverb:
—I am the dividing line —
"This is Jiang Tian's most precarious Kuimen... It's really a place where the birds are full of birds, and the boats are extinct..."
Kuizhou, in the famous Qutang Gorge, Taiping Shuijun Youlang, General Wang Zhongba, was also looking at the steep and beautiful Gorge River and mountains in the distance on the large watercraft, and he couldn't help but sigh.
Originally in a dilapidated and withered area of Xiazhou and Guizhou, which were almost crowded with people, the open and cheerful river surface, and the gentle mountain slopes like flying bird wings, came here like a choked throat. , Shrunk to a certain extreme, generally stand up steeply.
Between Chijia Mountain on the left and Baiyan Mountain on the right, the two banks are like cut, and the rock walls are towering. In the bright sunshine, Chijia Mountain is slightly red, and Baiyan Mountain is gray-white. Looking across the river, one is red and the other is wrapped in plain, which is a marvelous sight.
The big river rushes turbulently in the cliffs, looking up at the blue sky and the line of the sky, the deep water in the gorge is rushing and the waves are rushing, which is thrilling. On the heels and feet of the white-haired green mountain, there are a large section of traces left by the waterline of the past dynasties.
The narrowest part of the river surface is less than a hundred feet, and it seems to be the gate of the big river born from the mountains; therefore, it is called Kuimen, which is the gate of Kuizhou, and it is also the throat of Bashu; it is the gate of Jianmen on the northern land. At the same time, since ancient times, there has been a reputation of "the danger is like a sword pavilion, and the majestic is like a kaleidoscope".
The canyon is as narrow as a corridor, and the cliffs on both sides are steep as city walls, and there are looming plank roads, hanging coffins, and inscriptions left by famous celebrities in the past. Du Fu once said in a poem: "All the water will be waning, and Qutang will fight for one."
The famous Qutang Pass is located on the mountain wall at the west entrance of Qutang Gorge. Guancheng itself is not tall and looks unremarkable, but the road on the cliff is exactly where the key points are, on one side is the rushing river under the cliff of the deep gorge, and on the other side are the steep hills and peaks that overlap.
There is only a long and narrow ancient road that winds up along the Chijia mountain wall and the edge of the mountain, passing through the pass to the Kuizhou Zhisuo-Fengjie Baidi City in the west. What's more important is the natural danger of boating on the river-Yanlingdui, also commonly known as the swallowtail stone, which is the first danger in the middle of the gorge river.
As the saying goes, "Baidicheng’s turmoil on the edge of the city, who would dare to live in Qutang in May." ("Jingzhou Song" Li Bai) Now it is August and September, and it is not the season with the greatest water potential and the most suitable boating season. Most of the granite, like a mushroom, stood in clusters on the water.
And in the crevices of granite stones that are several feet wide, there are still residues and inlaid with many decayed black shipwrecks, which are the favorite remnants left by the victims of the adventure boats on the river over the years; the river breeze roars and the waves row. In the air, it is like the loud sobbing of the undead of the past dynasties during their wandering.
However, on this fairly stable river surface, there are several weirdly shaped flat-panel boats, slowly dragging their faint wakes up the current, and approaching the pile of boats known as the ship’s desperate place.
There were also thick long rods and hooks protruding from the bow; it approached the boulders between the swirling rivers a little bit in the tumbling water; this also attracted the attention of the faintly moving defenders above the city.
"It's so obedient..."
"Odd, really amazing..."
"These big boats have no sails, no paddles, and no one to pull fibers. How can they swim up by themselves..."
"What's the situation again... Is there any movement in the downstream thief army..."
Qin Shigong, the town leader who was left behind at Qutang Pass, stood out from the crowd, raised his hand and looked at it.
"Don't care if he is too much, I will cheer up my spirits and be optimistic about the defense... Cannonstone wood, arrows, as long as the Xiajiang Pirate Army dares to come, let him die as many as possible..."
Born in the army of Jingnan, he was ordered to stay there in order to guard against the possible pursuit of the Hunan thief army; for this reason, Song Hao did not hesitate to be ignorant and negligent in front of the hall, and executed the original general who was known as a meritorious officer of local origin. .
It must be known that the local army of eight hundred officers relied on this natural danger to stop the tens of thousands of thieves who were walking along the river without being able to stop them, and finally they were crushed along the coast of the Gorge River. Now he has more than two thousand native soldiers and horses.
And amidst the dull collision and percussion in the river, Song Deyi, the water ghost team known as the first-class water in the Taiping Navy and wearing an eucommia rubber jacket, also woke up in panic. In that moment, he quickly climbed up, shaking and trembling the bow of the ship;
I saw that he looked like a vigorous ape, and because of the long poles, hands and feet, and the steaming mist from the river, the swelling water bursts, and finally he carried a thick rope and landed steadily on the bed. The river water washes on the very smooth edge of the boulder.
But with the other long poles on the bow, not everyone can ascend the top of the boulder as smoothly as he did; soon someone was hit by the violent waves and held the wet long. The rod slid down.
Someone climbed up to the edge of the blue-black pile, but because of the sudden change of height, they slipped and fell. They fell into the vortex next to the boulder, and disappeared between the waves. Trace.
Until the leash tied to his body was towed onto the boat from the river, he had already lost consciousness. In the end, being able to stand on the boulder like Song De, only the other two people were left.
Then they kept cooperating with each other, using the tools, ropes, and iron cones they brought, they beat a few stainless steel hooks, deeply embedded in the top of the boulder; and then used the other end from the ship. The thick iron ring dragged over strengthened the connection.
Because the stone top was extremely slippery, people kept falling to the ground under force, but quickly got up and continued to work; until the fixed hooks and long poles were fixed, more people climbed over again and took them. With various tools, they joined the ranks of their sweaty and intense labor.
Until the sky turned dark, the defenders at Qutang Pass were still looking at them. Jiang Xin continued to light up the lights on the top of the stone in the night battle. The dim light of the night battles; after going back and forth to the next day, the town strangled Qin Shigong again. At that time, I discovered that Jiangshang was already in another situation.
In the middle of the three watercourses in the heart of Jiangxin, the tan stone was exposed to more water lines as the water level receded. But the gray and black stone top seemed to be like a giant beast with shackles and saddles. I don't know when there were two thick and long chains that crossed the river and pulled diagonally to the shore.
"Could it be that these thieves want to build a bridge over the river to fly across..."
Qin Shigong couldn't help but came to a conclusion that he felt quite absurd. You must know that the flood season is suitable for boating when the water is big every year, but the tan rocks here are submerged under water.
However, on the third and fourth days, the situation was similar, and the defenders were a little slack and boring again. They even used crossbows moved from Guancheng to shoot at the river several times as a deterrent.
The only change is that as the river retreats further, the strange boats of the thief army are also on the edge of the Yanshi, with many rope ladders and wooden frames for climbing. Also, because of the mist in the river that has not yet faded, a strange ship accidentally crashed on the edge of the turquoise stone and almost capsized.
However, as Jiang Xin's night fire became more and more distinct, Qin Shigong, as the leader of the town, became more and more disturbed, and the original sparse brows were tightened, and there was no good color to the left and right. Up.
He decided not to believe that in this dry season, the thief army had spent a lot of time on the turquoise stone, just to build a few easy ropeways across the river between the mountain walls on both sides of the river. Is it because you want to think about ancient stories and build a chain line at the upstream key of the exit of the Shu area to prevent the ship from dropping down in the middle of Shu.
Dense rain began to fall in the next two days; and the strange boats working on the river center and the night fires disappeared as a result, which made him feel a little relieved. Finally ordered to disband the civilians and equipment that were collected and assembled in Baidi City in Ziyang Mountain a few miles away.
On the seventh day, when the river cleared again, it was again covered and shrouded by the fog of mountains and gorges. And the same is like Guancheng floating in the fog, it is as magnificent as the heavenly city, and it is exciting.
And foggy days like this often last for one or two to several days, which also means that the enemies on the river can't continue to do anything.
It's just that Qin Shigong, who was covered with moist and dew after his routine tour of the city, was called out by the noise of the soldiers before he had time to change his robe and dry it with a carbon bucket.
"You said you heard the sound of thunder..."
Qin Shigong looked in front of him suspiciously, his face wrinkled into a ball, but still with his own swollen eyeballs.
"It's not just a sound... if the town lord doesn't believe it, you can ask everyone..."
This somewhat wretched old man quickly swears to the sky.
However, Qin Shigong became more suspicious looking at the gloomy and cloudy sky, but it did not seem to be raining at all.
"Are you confused when you slept for a while..."
A reprimanded outlet who would be observant of words and expressions.
At this time, when the river at the lower end of Guancheng came to the stage, there was a low voice again.
"It looks like it's thundering again..."
"We heard that right..."
"It seems to be closer this time..."
Qin Shigong couldn't help but his face changed slightly, because he also heard a series of faint tremors similar to thunder, and whispered to the left and right:
"Get the armor suit and put it on me..."
Then there were more shouts one after another.
"The mist in the gorge seems to be dissipating..."
"The fog is getting thinner..."
"Thunder is coming again..."
"This time the thunder is closer..."
"How can there be thunder on the mountain..."
At this time, as the mist gradually dissipated, the outline of the river, like a green jade belt, was gradually revealed. Qin Shigong was faintly uncomfortable in his heart, as if he had overlooked something crucial.
At this moment, someone yelled again.
"Swallowtail stone... Swallowtail stone..."
"The swallowtail stone on the river is gone..."
"Could it be that there is a long river..."
"It's not Changshui, the river bank is still there, but the swallowtail stone is gone..."
"Could it be that the thief had a demon method, and under the cover of the fog, he moved the giant in the river to another place..."
"What nonsense, we have the shelter of Lord Bai Di, and the Lord of Shuhan, how can we let the thieves..."
At this time, Qin Shigong was also stunned by what was revealed on the river, and he was not even in the mood to reprimand and stop them; because, at the place where the dingshi in the river was originally located, not only the chain and the strange ship across the river are It was gone, and even the boulder itself seemed to disappear without a trace.
Only the rushing green river water is still there, but if you look carefully, you will find that in the clear and clear river water, there are still many faintly underwater rubbish residues, which makes the river water dragged out one by one and it is not very obvious. The meandering waterline comes.
Could it be that the strange ship of the thief army really had a magical spell to break this huge rock in the river, and even moved it elsewhere. At this moment, even Qin Shigong was a little confused and suspicious, thinking about whether he needed to go to the Baidi Temple to make sacrifices and pray.
Then, there was another sorrowful scream, accompanied by sporadic screams, and then came to an abrupt end.
"The thieves have touched the city..."
At the same time, on the other side of the city wall of Qutang Pass, the mist that dissipated was revealed. It was a group of selected soldiers of the Taiping Army holding short soldiers and carrying crossbows.
They are as light as the monkeys on the mountain walls on both sides of the strait, using ropes and hooks as auxiliary means, pushing and dragging each other up the not-so-high barriers, and they continue to use good medicated arrows with accurate heads. The guards behind the outposts and bunkers were put down one by one.
Behind them, more soldiers with sparkling armour resembled long cyan dragons, holding simple long ladders and iron cone hammers, running around and flooding the ancient roads along the river.
Even in the mountains and forests on the inner side of the road, I don’t know when a large vacant lot has been cleared and filled in. Behind those objects that resemble large carts, one after another of thunders burst out from here. .
Then it turned into the various buildings behind the city, amidst the neighing and screams of people and horses, they splashed and cracked.
On the inner stage of Guanqiang, Bie Jiang Zhou Ben, who flew down like a divine soldier from the sky, stepped on several corpses and held the corpse of a general whose head had been broken off in his hands. He waved the iron bone with his left hand. The guards who disperse in panic also roared loudly
"Who else, who else will die..."
—I am the dividing line —
a long distance away.
The army horses led by Wang Xingkong also formally stepped into the barriers full of blood, burnt smells and fireworks. I saw deserted messes all over the ground, and some naked bodies, lying on the side of the road without concealment.
When passing through the spontaneously formed market in the pass, you can also hear the noise and shouts. From time to time, you can see groups of men, women and children being dragged and escorted out; after the men were selected, they were tied and pushed down on the road. Beheaded.
"These are the remnants of the old dynasty who stubbornly resisted the righteous teacher and their families. It has caused many deaths and injuries to the brothers; it is really not enough to not kill to quell the indignation in the army..."
The Rebel Military Academy who led him took the initiative to explain. It’s just a corner of the silk shirt exposed under his armor that somewhat affected the corresponding persuasive power (end of this chapter)