After the sky became clear again, in the bushes at the foot of Zhongshan in the upper reaches of Jingshui River north of Xianyang, the group of people carrying stretchers had already lost their burdens, and there were a few more mules and horses that had been robbed halfway through; and replaced them with a pair of mules and horses. Clothes and face, and even the blood and ointment smeared on the face and body, but it is inevitable that there is still a lingering odor.
"There are only these objects right now, which is called Xianggong's grievance..."
The leader of the school personally carried water sacs and dried cakes to one of the meticulously sitting under the shade of the tree, and the old man with gray head and beard and hair clumped by sweat and dirt whispered beside him:
"Compared to the loss of the teacher, the old man is nothing but humiliation, but it's a pity that the soldiers of Hedong..."
However, Cui Anqian, who escaped from the dead, shook his head after only a few sips.
"As the coach, the old man failed to challenge the thieves, he should have died with him; just thinking of the mountains and rivers of Hedong, the existence and safety of millions of soldiers and civilians, must not be reduced to the unclassified generation. Don't encourage the brazen to survive..."
"Shanggong will be able to get rid of the difficulties this time, and he will surely lead his teacher to come again to claim the benefits of this life..."
The general still complimented:
"That's a tribute to your kind words,"
Cui Anqian also made a strong face and sighed with excitement: Then he gnawed the hard cake without hesitation. However, he understands and knows very well in his heart, he may not be able to see the day he has never been.
On the one hand, the damage this time was too much. It almost wiped out the forces and treasury that were gathered in Beixingying and the three towns of Hedong to suppress and conquer the Shatuocheng tribe. I don’t know how many young people will be able to recover. .
On the other hand, he is also nearly 57 years old and can hardly conceal his old age; all the years of warfare and warfare has also accumulated indelible fatigue and pain on his body, the so-called "killing Bodhisattva" and "blood hands." "Msang Gong" is also the age of birth, old age, sickness and death.
Especially after experiencing the defeat after defeating the thieves in the pass, the dreams and ambitions of Kuangfu the court were almost defeated by the tragic collapse of Shan Jiuren's achievements. He also felt that he was becoming more and more dull and energetic, as well as the vitality of his body. Time is running out.
Therefore, his only hope that he can escape back to Hedong now is to stabilize the situation of Hedong Road, which is now empty and impoverished, in the last few years of his life, so as to turn this piece of land that is still loyal to the court to the king. Take over for someone you recognize.
Therefore, in a sense, the four major domains who have fallen from the Zhengguan pass; if they can suffer heavy losses and casualties in the battle with the thief army, it will be a good thing for the stability and balance of the future situation in Hedong Road. Up.
And the worst result is that the officers and the army are badly injured and the vassal army has extra power. Once these unruly, awe-inspiring and virtuous frontiers and vassal tribes are exposed to reality, even if they don’t It is the story of the Shatuo Rebellion in the Northern Clouds of the time that repeats itself.
Therefore, he could sacrifice without hesitation in disguised form for the obedience Qi Bizhang and his Uyghur army, and the Shatuo tribe outside the city, who took the initiative to contact the city, thought that Chong Nuoli was enticed to respond, just to create the Hedong army to get out of trouble. And break through.
It's just that he still underestimated the determination of the Taiping thieves and Huang Ni's headquarters, and never thought that the enemy would have a new force to join the battle, blocking the last distance to Zhongwei Bridge at all costs; Instead, the Sha Tuo soldiers who were restraining and responding were suppressed, separated, and enclosed. .
"Next, we will take Yanzhou Road, leave Suiyuan and then turn into Dinghusai in Shizhou; even if it is a little farther, we must try to avoid the rule of Hezhong Town..."
Feeling the scum full of dry cakes slowly soaking in water and swelling in the abdomen, Cui Anqian consciously recovered a bit of strength and spirit again and spoke again.
"At least the Fenchuan Road from Danzhou to Jinzhou can't go anymore; although the local defenders have their hearts to the court, it is difficult to guarantee that Wang Chongrong will suddenly become ill-intentioned in this question... At least go to the front line of the mountain and Daibei. , The news of the pass (defeated) is too late to reach, which will help us gather and recruit the local defenders, and grasp the follow-up situation..."
Having said that, Cui Anqian was once again full of meaning and sentimentality, and stood up and said to the general:
"Now that the old man's journey home is in danger, and the survival of the millions of soldiers and civilians in Hedong, I must rely on you..."
"How can you be such a big gift..."
The soldiers present could not help but kneel to the ground under the leadership of this general, and said:
"My generation has followed Xiang Gong for many years, and has been favored and supported for many years, but now I only work hard to pay for it..."
And after such a small episode, this small escaped team suddenly cheered up again, and somewhat accelerated its marching speed. Soon before noon, I saw the natural valleys, rivers and rivers split out in the mountains of Weibei in the distance, and the end of the road connecting the mountain passes.
And above the simple camp gate on the Shankou Road, there was still a flag belonging to the Hedong army and several deputy flags trained by the Xinzhou (Dingxiang County, now Xinzhou, Shanxi) regiment. Cui Anqian riding on the mule couldn't help but feel relieved when he saw this scene, but the defeats ahead did not affect this, which means that he can get supplies and recruit more guards on the spot.
However, when they were cautious and more vigilant, they slowly moved forward, and within a hundred steps before the camp gate, someone felt something was wrong, because hundreds of people were stationed at the camp gate and there was no sound. Just as they were holding the reins of the mount to urge Cui An to dive again and wanted to turn around and turn back, they heard a sharp whistle; suddenly the smoke and dust on the side of the mountain rose up and a cavalry team came out in a flash In front of them, with a knife and a gun, dozens of guards and Cui An were surrounded by groups.
"Stop, stop,"
However, just as the crisis was triggered at the moment, amidst the rolling and rising smoke, someone cried out loudly:
"But Cui Xianggong is now... In Xia Xue Atan, Tim is the deputy soldier and horse envoy of the left side of the guard and capture mansion in the cloud... I am fortunate to follow the governor of Taiyuan to see the dignity..."
"Humble and send your greetings to Xianggong... The younger ones don't know anything, but Xianggong is frightened.
Afterwards, these vassals wearing fur robes, fur hats and braided hair, all under the leadership of the deputy soldier and horse envoy Xue Atan, rushed to fall to the ground and bowed to Cui An in a sneaky salute.
"Get up and talk back. It's not shocking, but it makes people a big surprise! At least one loyal and righteous teacher of the court has been spared. I am very happy."
Cui Anqian is also very meaningful:
"The minister is too acclaimed, and now my minister has worked hard to get back. Many of the troops have been damaged and escaped. Even the governor has lost the color. Now he is in the mountain valley for the time being."
Xue Atan became more humble and took the initiative to explain:
"Fortunately for the young ones to be able to serve as a minister, I think the governor is also very happy and can't wait to listen to the teachings..."
"Then please lead the way..."
Cui Anqian nodded silently, but sighed secretly in his heart, this Sha Tuo Department would have chosen the same side as himself, but he didn't know what kind of scheme and intentions were.
It’s just that the accompanying soldiers were asked to stay in the camp fence here; they could only watch Cui Anqian and a few people in a complex mood of anxiety and anxiety, and these Shatuo Cavaliers escorted Cui An into a forest. In the deviation. A short while later, another horse team sped out of the forest.
The leading military commander couldn't help but greet him and wanted to ask questions, but the few arrows shot at the head quickly knocked him to the ground; and at the same time, there was a roar of one after another, and these cavalry also did not. Patting the horse to a halt and rushing over at an accelerated speed, the people leaned back and kicked among the soldiers who had no cover and protection.
After these Sha Tuo cavalry suddenly changed their colors and used their bows, horses, swords and spears to go up and down, they only slammed back and forth, kicking and stabs and lost a dozen of them at the expense of the dozens of guards left by Cui Anqian. The killing was done on the spot and stripped off the armor pieces, and threw them naked into the dirt ditch washed out by the rain on the side of the camp fence.
—I’m starting to divide the line —
On the second day after the battle, on the grounds of cleaning the battlefield and searching for the remnants, the Huangchao main formations, which continued to stay in the Liyuan and Fanglinyuan areas in Beiyuan outside Chang’an City, were finally obtained related to Huang E, Shangshu of the Ministry of War News. However, this news made Huang Chao suddenly change his color and shouted:
"What!!! Are you saying that they were trapped after entering the Xuanwu Gate!!! They have not been able to rush out so far, and still expect me to rescue?" (End of this chapter)