Er Gouzi has always looked down on Confucian scholars, especially Zhang Zai. When he went out to be a scout last time, Zhang Zai peed his pants before the battle, and when he confronted the Khitan ranger, he couldn't even pull out his knife, so it was a good luck not to die.
This kind of soft persimmon, a coward, has always been a man everywhere who prides himself on being brave, and he is not even interested in looking at him with his knees. However, Er Gouzi at that time never imagined that a weak scholar like Zhang Zai would transform into a killing god on the battlefield in a short period of time.
The injured comrades rescued by Zhang Zai in the past few days can no longer be counted with two hands.
There is no need to say how rare this is for a soldier, how powerful he is, and how deeply he will be respected by his brothers. At least Er Gouzi no longer looked down on Zhang Zai, and regarded him as a real brother.
Although he didn't know how Zhang Zai became like this.
Dutou Niudan is not as fussy as Ergouzi. As Dutou, he also leads troops, so his knowledge and experience is naturally much higher than that of Ergouzi.
For recruits who have just entered the battlefield, peeing their pants before the battle is nothing. It is normal for them to twist their knives and only know how to chop. Many recruits came here like this. Because of this, the most casualties on the battlefield are always recruits. But as long as they can last until the second battle, the recruits will become veterans, and their performance will be much calmer.
Whether it is killing or protecting oneself, there are certain rules, and the probability of survival is much higher.
And if they are still alive after three or five fierce battles, as long as they are not too miserable, the recruits will become elite soldiers.
This is the case with Zhang Zai.
These days, the number of times Zhang Zai fought in battle has far exceeded five times. This is because of the tragic battle at Beikou, and also because Zhang Zai and other Confucian scholars are not afraid of life and death before every battle.
So the surviving Confucian scholars are all very strong.
It's just that Niudan doesn't quite understand why this group of sour, ugly and incompetent Confucian scholars suddenly become more fearless than border soldiers when the war comes.
The Khitan's fierce attack on Beikou, no accident, was repulsed by the guards of Beikou after paying a heavy price. The monks and soldiers on both sides suffered a lot of casualties, compared to the defenders, the losses were much less.
Zhang Zai was seriously injured, mainly because his armor had been severely damaged after days of fierce fighting, and its protection was greatly reduced. The setting sun was like blood, spilling on the city of Xuehuoguan. Zhang Zai was sitting in the pile of corpses leaning against the parapet, his left shield and right knife were still tightly held, his arms were shaking violently due to loss of strength, and he couldn't control it.
Smelling the strong and sticky smell of blood, and looking at the fragments of viscera scattered in front of his feet, although his heart felt tight for a while, he no longer had the urge to vomit at the beginning.
Days of fierce fighting had numbed his senses and slowly hardened his heart. The scholar who couldn't even bear to kill a chicken in the past can now close his eyes calmly when he sees his fellow disciple who died in battle, that stiff and terrifying face with wide-open eyes and open mouth.
"The Khitan people should not attack today, we can live another day."
The person who said this was Liu Zhonghe, the younger brother of Liu Dahe, a disciple of the same school who was standing beside the wall and panting heavily.
His appearance is worse than Zhang Zai's. Zhang Zai's armor is badly damaged, and he has a lot of wounds on his body, but Liu Zhonghe's left shoulder has exposed bones, and there is no big piece of flesh and blood. The right hand covering the wound is missing the little finger and ring finger. It looked very hideous.
In stark contrast to the hideous wound, was the calm expression on Liu Zhonghe's face.
The eyes of this young man, who is just as young as the crown, are already like a deep pool, and he can't see the slightest wave. If there is anything to say, it is indifference, indifference to life and death, indifference to one's own situation, and even indifference to everything around.
Zhang Zai is very suspicious now, the other party has turned into a stone.
As an acquaintance of the same sect, Zhang Zai remembers that Liu Zhonghe was not like this before, even among the Confucian sects in Yangzhou, he is also the most energetic type of person, as if he has blood that will never dry up in his body, and he can handle a knife The mountain, descended into a sea of fire, for the ambition of governing the country and the world, you can die nine times without regretting it.
But right now, Zhang Zai can no longer see these things in Liu Zhonghe. It seems that for him, if he can live one more day, he becomes the whole of his life—no, to be precise, Liu Zhonghe doesn’t necessarily care about living one more day. , he doesn't seem to care about it anymore.
Zhang Zai opened his mouth several times, hesitated to speak, and finally said with a dry voice: "We not only need to live one more day, but also survive this war. Our talents have not yet been displayed, our ambitions have not yet been realized, and we It takes a long time to live.”
Liu Zhonghe glanced at Zhang Zai indifferently, and said in a tone that sent chills down his spine: "How could it be possible to live so long. Tomorrow, at most the day after tomorrow, I will die in battle. Just like the brothers who died in battle before, with These frontier soldiers who died in battle are the same. What talents, what ambitions, life is nothing more than that."
When he said the last sentence, his words were full of mockery of life, as if it was a meaningless existence, not worth exposing at all.
Zhang Zai didn't know how to answer.
He really wanted to say that life is precious, ambition and devotion to the country are even more precious, and relatives waiting for you to return home are especially precious, but at this border where thousands of people are killed and injured every day, and human life is worth nothing, no matter what kind of ambition you have, No matter how great the talent is, the left and right can be ended with just one blow.
Those Confucian disciples and frontier soldiers who died in battle, no one has a family, no one has a story, some can rely on a horse for a thousand words, some have a good strategy for governing the country, and some are brave to win the three armies, but here, they They all became a speechless corpse, covered with corpses inside and outside the Guancheng.
Seeing too much death will make people ignore life.
When a person starts to ignore life, then he ignores everything.
Liu Zhonghe, who disregarded everything, was inspired by the bloody death of his comrades and fellow disciples in the even more bloody battle on the second day. In the end, he fell into the sea of corpses and blood and became a part of them.
But those Confucian scholars and soldiers who cherish life and are especially afraid of death died faster than Liu Zhonghe and others.
Zhang Zai witnessed Liu Zhonghe's death with his own eyes, saw the broken knife he swung at the Khitan warrior after he fell to the ground, heard his violent but not unwilling roar, and watched the opponent's body being chopped into pieces by the Khitan warrior. Several pieces were trampled into rotten meat.
And Zhang Zai himself is still fighting, a battle that is well-founded, a battle that does not disregard life, and does not particularly cherish life. During the battle, he had only one thought in mind, to do everything possible to kill the person in front of him and protect his companions.
When the battle at Beikou lasted for nearly a month, Yelu Abaoji lost his patience and called General Yelu Di Lugu of the Sijin Department to him, and gave him a good reprimand.
"Your Majesty, as long as you give the last general three more days, the last general will definitely be able to capture Beikou!" Yeludi Lugu, half kneeling on the ground, was overwhelmed with shame and indignation, blushing and assured Yelu Abaoji.
Yelu Abaoji returned to the spacious throne and sat down, his gaze was like an eagle, and he didn't speak for a long time, which made Yelu Dilugu's forehead drip with sweat.
Three days ago, Yeludi Lugu had already made such a promise, but until today's sunset, Beikou was still firmly in the hands of the Tang army.
After a long time, Yelu Abaoji looked at Yelu's enemy Lugu and said coldly: "It's just a northern pass. Your company's nearby troops have been attacking with 300,000 troops for almost a month, but you still can't take it. I can't help but wonder now. , Is it because your Sijin's combat power is unbearable, or my Khitan warrior's combat power is really not as good as Tang Jun's."
Hearing this, Yeludi Lugu's expression changed drastically.
This is a heartbreaking statement, he couldn't help grabbing the ground with his head, begging Yelu Abaoji to give him another chance, if he can't capture Beikou, he is willing to come and see him.
Yelu Abaoji sighed, and said earnestly: "Yelüdi Lugu, do you think I deliberately uttered evil words to provoke you? That's not the case. I have seen how the Tang army in Beikou has been fighting these days.
"The Tiger Guards of the Great Tang Dynasty are indeed elite, and the magical weapons they equipped with powerful bows and crossbows did cause us great casualties. But the north entrance is narrow, and we can easily reach the top of the city with monks to clear the way, disrupting the opponent's crossbow formation. .
"The reason why Beikou can't attack for a long time is not because the opponent's bow and crossbow are too powerful, but those Confucian scholars who have inexplicable abilities, can always make the Tang army ecstasy in fighting, and can also greatly increase their combat strength. These people must be the first in every battle, charge Going forward, sacrificing your life to death, and unwilling to take a step back.
"Those soldiers of the Tang army are all brave men. How can they tolerate a group of scholars rushing forward? So they are all brave and fearless. This is the main reason why our attack was frustrated. Yelu's enemy Lugu, I said the Tang army at Beikou Li Zhuojue, You Shengsi Jinbu, did not mean to insult you, but to tell the truth."
Yeludi Lugu was stunned for a while, and after finally confirming that Yelu Abaoji was telling the truth, he gritted his teeth and said: "Those yelling Confucian scholars can boost morale and enhance the combat power of soldiers, but they have suffered a lot of casualties. Over the past few days, hundreds of people have died. When they are all dead, how can we not attack Beikou?"
"That's what I thought at first. That's why you still let you attack when the army's offensive is not good. But now, it seems that there are many Confucian scholars like this, and they can't be killed cleanly."
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Yelu Abaoji sighed heavily again, and his gaze became distant: "In the Central Plains Dynasty, civil and military affairs have always been inconsistent, but the Tang army in Beikou, Confucian scholars and soldiers can complement each other, which is beyond our expectation. The setback of the army's attack is not wronged. "
Hearing this, Yeludi Lugu looked at Yelu Abaoji in disbelief. He really couldn't believe that such words that overwhelm others' ambitions and destroy his own prestige would come from the mouth of the king of the prairie who looks down on the world.
What shocked Yelu Dilugu even more was Yelu Abaoji's next words.
Yelu Abaoji said in a deep voice: "It seems that under the rule of Li Ye, the Tang Dynasty has now formed a force of national unity. The dispute between Buddhism and Taoism is gone, and the dispute between civil and military is gone. How terrifying it is for the Tang people to unite. I don’t want to think about it.”
Speaking of this, Yelu Abaoji lost interest and waved his hands, "Let's withdraw our troops from Beikou, it is already very difficult for us to capture here."