〖The Northern Han army was trapped in the wild and fought hard for more than ten days. They wanted to break through, but they were all blocked by the Yong army's death battle. However, the Yong army could not break through the northern Han army in a hurry.
On April 18, when the Northern Han army ran out of food, they killed horses for food. At dawn, they split up to break through the encirclement, and the battle was decided.
— "Zizhi Tongjian·Yongji III"〗
What is a heroic stranger and what is a desperate situation? Long Tingfei sighed softly. After many years of fighting, he has never been in such a dangerous situation, but Long Tingfei was surprised to find that his mood had not fluctuated at all. The moment he was besieged by Yong Jun, he clearly heard the sound of the broken string in his heart. He is really tired. Over the years, he has supported the overall situation of the Northern Han Dynasty almost by himself. The enemy on the opposite side is endless, and he is tenacious. With his angularity and fighting spirit, the confidant general who leaned on his arm died to death, and the betrayal betrayal. Now he is alone, and he has personally pulled the lover who signed the mandarin duck alliance into a desperate situation. At the end, Long Tingfei knew in his heart that there would be no hope of escape this time.
The army of Yong's ambush and the iron cavalry of King Qi who had regrouped, more than 400,000 troops trapped 100,000 Northern Han troops in the wilderness. There was no absolute difference in combat strength between the two sides. Without heavy sacrifices, it was absolutely impossible to break through. The terrain of Qinzhou is narrow, and it is only possible to break through in the direction of Ji and Zezhou. However, if they break through in the direction of Zezhou, Long Tingfei and others know that they will not have a chance to return to the Northern Han Dynasty. They have a strong position, and their options are extremely limited. Under these circumstances, Long Tingfei and Lin Bi have personally planned several breakthroughs in the past ten days. Unfortunately, they all attacked the entire army because of their intentions, and every time they broke through, they were defeated by Yong Jun. Obstructed, Kong left the flesh and blood of countless soldiers behind, sobbing in water, blood flowing into rivers, and even the soil was soaked with blood in the encirclement of Yong Jun's tightening circle.
Sitting on the ground in the humble tent, the dim light of the torches reflected on Long Tingfei's thin and haggard face. Compared with the heroic appearance of the past, Long Tingfei's expression now has indifference and loneliness. His eyes still shone with light, but someone with a heart could see that, unlike the arrogance he used to look down on the world, the light in his eyes was full of understanding of the world and an inexplicable sadness.
There were footsteps outside the tent, but Long Tingfei did not look up, but still looked at the sketch drawn by Xiao Tong himself, which recorded the military scouts who had sacrificed their lives to investigate Yong Jun's defense. Someone walked into the tent and stood in front of him. The figure of the future man was dragged by the fire for a long time, and the shadow blocked the map in front of Long Tingfei. Long Tingfei frowned slightly, raised his head, the bright and extinguished fire was reflected in the depths of his pupils, and the figure of the future person was also reflected in his eyes. With dark green armor and a big cloak of brocade and golden phoenix, that person is Lin Bi.
Lin Bi was also haggard, and her once bright face was more weathered, her robe was stained with blood, and her status as a golden branch and jade leaf was now a blood-stained robe. Long Tingfei felt sadness in his heart, and he said lightly, "Princess Bi. What's the matter?"
Lin Bi shook her head gently, sat opposite Long Tingfei, buried her head in her hands, and said after a long time, "Fangcai Yongjun used a bow and arrow to send a letter to my camp."
Long Tingfei said lightly: "It must be persuaded to surrender. I have received a lot of such letters in my camp these days. If I hadn't tried to boost morale, I'm afraid our army would inevitably be in chaos."
A cold light flashed in Lin Bi's eyes, and said: "It's not to persuade surrender, but to tell our army that the barbarians invaded Daizhou with great momentum. My second brother Lin Chenger led the army to attack, unfortunately fell into the trick of the barbarian army. , died outside Yanmen Pass with more than ten arrows on his back, my father's old illness relapsed, and the army was headless."
Long Tingfei only felt that his heart was trembling, and he had a vicious scheming. No matter whether the letter was true or false, the army of Daizhou's army would definitely be shaken. He said weakly: "This may be the enemy's scheming."
Lin Bi smiled lightly, but the smile was full of grief, she said coldly: "I also hope that it is the enemy's conspiracy, but even if it is a conspiracy, it has already succeeded. Now my battalion generals and soldiers are already panicked, and it is my third brother Cheng. Shan, the fourth brother Cheng Yuan also lost his will to fight. Besides, the news is probably true. This letter was specially written to me by King Li Xian of Qi. Li Xian will never lie to me." After speaking, Lin Bi handed a letter to Long Tingfei.
Long Tingfei took the letter and read it at a glance. As expected, the military situation in Daizhou was written very clearly and in detail. If even Lin Bi felt that there was no flaw, then it was probably true. He put down the letter and said, "You But with a decision, if the Daizhou Army wants to surrender, I won't blame you."
Lin Bi suddenly got up, and said coldly: "Daizhou Army has never done anything that betrayed its promise. This time the dispatch of troops was decided by a public meeting. How could it change in the face of battle? In the matter of surrendering to the enemy, even if he surrendered to the Northern Han in the past, he never said a word of surrender."
Long Tingfei's expression became solemn, and he also stood up and said: "I have long expected that the princess's will is firm, and it was just a word of temptation. I am the commander of the army, and the military heart is the most important thing.
Lin Bi's expression softened and said, "But the matter has come to this point, and we also need to deal with it. We must make up our minds to break through without sacrificing. If we delay, I'm afraid I won't be able to control the military's heart."
Long Tingfei's eyes flashed with icy light, and he said, "I was just about to invite you over to discuss the breakout. We have fought many times these days. Sister Bi should know that Yong Jun will never let me go. When I led the army into the formation, the Yong army would stop our army regardless of sacrifice. If the Daizhou army rushed into the formation alone, the Yong army would respond with a strategy of lure the enemy to go deeper. It can be seen that the main goal of the Yong army is to be the main force of the Long and Qinzhou army, but there is room for the Daizhou army. Therefore, I have carefully planned a new breakthrough plan, and I need your full assistance from Bimei."
Lin Bi didn't say anything, so why couldn't she see what Long Tingfei said, but no matter how brave the Daizhou army was, there were only 15,000 people. Even if the Yong army had mercy, it would be impossible to take the opportunity to break through the Yong army's formation. She raised her head slowly, her tone was indifferent and comprehensible, and she said, "You want me to cover the Qinzhou army's breakout on behalf of the state army."
Long Tingfei smiled lightly and said: "With the strength of the Daizhou Army, it is impossible to cover the Qinzhou Army's breakthrough. The Yong Army only needs 50,000 elite soldiers to stop the Daizhou Army from rushing into the formation. If I take the opportunity Leading the main force to break through the encirclement, the Yong army will definitely contain it with all his strength. If the force is not at risk, even if the Daizhou army is released, the Yong army will not allow our army to break through. Bimei should understand that loyalty to the Northern Han Dynasty, Our army is far superior to your army, so the Yong army will take Qinzhou army as its main target."
Lin Bi didn't speak, she listened quietly, waiting for Long Tingfei's explanation, Long Tingfei continued: "So I decided to break out of the encirclement this time into three waves, you lead the first wave of the Daizhou army, from the northeast. To break through the siege, the Yong army will inevitably adopt the previous method, try to lure the Daizhou army into the siege, and separate the two armies of you and me. Then I will lead 20,000 elite cavalry, many flags, and rush from the north direction, and the Yong army will do everything possible. If I can stop me, then the Lu brothers will lead our army to break through the siege from the northwest, during which they will divide their troops to Qinshui, destroy the trebuchets of Yong army blocking the river, and help the water army out of trouble."
Lin Bi felt a chill in her heart and said, "You want to use yourself as a bait to lure the main force of the Yong Army to besiege, so that the main force of Qinzhou can break through."
Long Tingfei said solemnly: "Only in this way can we keep the main force of the Qinzhou army. Long Mou is ineffective in fighting, and implicates the soldiers of the three armies. If he sacrifices his life to save his life, what face is there to see the king? There are only more than 100,000, but once our army is in a hard fight, the other three sides will attack from behind, which prevents us from breaking through. This time, I personally rushed into the formation to induce the main force of the enemy to trap me with all their strength. With the help of the Lu brothers Brave, the chances of breaking through the siege are very high, and once Yong Jun mistakenly thinks that the Daizhou army is to cover my breakout, the siege of Bimei will inevitably weaken, and the chance of the Daizhou army breaking through is also very high. The sacrifice of the guards, in exchange for the main force of our army to break through, it is worth it. But Bimei is the first to break through, and the loss will inevitably be heavy, so I have to discuss with you first."
Looking at Long Tingfei's indifferent expression when he talked about his life and death, Lin Bi's body was shaky. The man in front of him was his fiance, but his family and country were in danger. Both of them were generals leading troops. In the first meeting, apart from military affairs, they seldom talked about personal relationships, but Lin Bi had long regarded him as a lifelong partner, but now she has to separate in the middle, so how can she bear it. At this moment, she is no longer the "Princess General" admired by the military and civilians in Daizhou, but a hard-working woman who is about to lose her lover.
Resisting the tears in his eyes, Lin Bi whispered, "You are so generous to die, then what about me, do you still remember the wedding date of you and me, which is at the end of this year."
Long Tingfei's expression changed, and there was a look of ecstasy between his brows. This time, he asked to send troops on behalf of the state army. Lin Yuanting made an additional request, that is, the marriage of Long Tingfei and Lin Bi could not be delayed any longer, and the lord of the country made the order. On the date, if Yong Jun retires, the end of this year will be the time for the two to get married. Long Tingfei was also secretly delighted that day. If he could retire from Yong Jun, then he would have a face to welcome his relatives. But now it seems that the two are actually destined to have no relationship, and there is no possibility of a relationship.
Long Tingfei was ruthless and said, "Bi Mei, it's not Ting Fei who lost the contract, it's just for the sake of the family, the country, and the society. Ting Fei doesn't dare to be greedy for life."
Lin Bi staggered back, leaning on the tent wall, her body trembling slightly, although she didn't cry, but the sobbing that was forced to restrain herself was even more heartbreaking. Long Tingfei couldn't bear it even if his heart was like a stone. He strode forward and took Lin Bi into his arms. Lin Bilu buried his head on Long Tingfei's chest. He could feel the warmth on the shirt on his chest, and he knew that it was Lin Bizhu's tears penetrating into his shirt, and he hugged Lin Bijiao tightly under the severe pain in his heart. At this time, the torches burned out and went out, and the tent was dark. In the small space, there were only the sound of two people's breathing and Lin Bi's low sobbing. In the darkness, Long Tingfei, a famous general who had always been in high spirits in front of others, also burst into tears.
After a long time, Lin Bi gently broke free from Long Tingfei's arms, and said softly, "Since it has been decided, I will go back and make arrangements." Long Tingfei didn't speak, he listened to Lin Bi lift the curtain and leave the tent, listen to Lin Biyuan Zu Yin, who went away, clenched his fists and said coldly: "When a man is alive, he can't take care of the whole society in order to repay the kindness of his father, but he can't protect his wife, and even if his blood is stained with his shirt, he still has no face to live in the world. ."
Suddenly, a weak singing voice came from Long Tingfei's ear. After a while, the singing became louder and louder, and he could hear it very clearly. Long Tingfei listened carefully, but the singing came from the military barracks in Daizhou.
"The black cloud is pressing down on the city and the city is about to be destroyed. Jiaguang opens to the golden scales of the moon. The sound of horns fills the sky with autumn colors, and the swallow branches are stuffed to congeal the night purple. The half-rolled red flag is facing Yishui, and the frost is heavy and the cold can not be heard. Baojun gold It is the intention of the stage to bring Yulong to die for the king."
This battle song is the favorite song of the Daizhou army. The Daizhou army is fighting against the barbarians. Most of the time, when the horses are fat in the autumn, they will fight to protect their hometowns, and they will fight against the horses based on Yanmen. Although it is sung at this time It was out of time and place, but it allowed the Daizhou Army to rekindle the fighting spirit.
The singing was hoarse and difficult at first. It must have been a bloody battle on behalf of the state army for many days. It has long been due to dry mouth and cleft lips, but later it became louder and louder. At first, only a hundred people were singing, and more and more people agreed. In the end, in addition to the Daizhou Army, the Qinzhou Army also began to sing along with it, like thousands of rivers flowing into the sea. 's powerhouse.
The sad color on Long Tingfei's face was swept away, and he slowly bundled up the armor all over his body, his battle robes were like fire, his handsome face was like ice, he walked out of the tent, the decisive battle will be tomorrow, where will there be any love between children and children? time.
Walking out of the tent, Long Tingfei looked around, the bonfires were dotted under the dark sky, and the air was full of the smell of blood. In addition to the singing everywhere, I could vaguely hear the sergeant's reluctance to moan, while carefully calculating. Looking at the chances of success or failure of the breakthrough strategy, while listening to the desolate and heroic singing of the army, the chilly spring night was cold and chilling. Long Tingfei's heart was very clear. He knew that it must be Lin Bi ordering the state army to sing the familiar military song. To boost morale, he was very impressed, and he hoped that Lin Bi could break through tomorrow. He knew in his heart that the danger Lin Bi faced was only lower than his own, and the greatest possibility was that both of them would die in the chaos of the army tomorrow.
At this time, Xiao Tong approached, but within a dozen days, he was already thin and haggard. In addition to working hard to spy on the enemy's military situation, he felt very guilty. Since the Yong army attacked Qinzhou this time, He has repeatedly attacked, and his secret spies have been killed and injured countless times. This is one of the reasons why he failed to immediately detect the enemy's movement. Xiao Tong hated himself for being incompetent and neglecting his duties countless times. Tong described the impairment as such.
He walked to Long Tingfei's side and said uneasily: "General, I just saw the princess and said that you have decided to break through."
Long Tingfei said lightly: "Yes, you assisted the Lu brothers to break out of the siege, and I will explain the detailed arrangements later in the military conference."
Xiao Tong said: "General, you are the commander-in-chief of our army, how can you take risks, let others do the trick to lure the enemy, you might as well choose someone from the army with a body similar to yours, and wear your clothes and armor as bait , and then let the Daizhou Army serve as the main force to break through, and the general will have a great chance to take the opportunity to break through."
Long Tingfei said lightly: "I am the commander of the three armies. If I don't take the lead, how can I motivate the soldiers to die? As for letting the Daizhou army make sacrifices, this matter will never be mentioned again. The Daizhou army did not need to send troops, but now because of Helping our army and falling into death, if we do ungrateful things, what face will we have to see the elders of Daizhou."
Although his tone was indifferent, every word was like a steel knife carved on the rock. Xiao Tong heard it and knew that he had made up his mind. There was no room for turning around. He also knew that everything Long Tingfei said was true. , and only if he went out in person, could he induce the main force of the Yong army to dispatch, sighing secretly, Xiao Tong bowed down and said: "Please allow the subordinates to break through with you."
Long Tingfei glanced at Xiao Tong and said, "Why is it so hard? Although you have encountered many setbacks this time, it is because the enemy scouts are really powerful. If we talk about spy scouts in the Northern Han Army, we will take you as the leader. Best, if it were someone else, I'm afraid we would have already become deaf and blind. Don't feel too guilty, this defeat is none of your business, because I never thought that the enemy would be a trick to lure the enemy into ambush. The temple has already lost by a margin, and it is today's defeat. Xiao Tong, this time you need to listen to my order and break through with the Lu brothers. The three brothers' army is relatively flat. I am very worried. Some progress, and with you by your side, can ensure that they can break through smoothly."
Xiao Tong was silent for a long time, and said, "This subordinate obeys the order." He had already made a decision in his heart, to make a contribution to the crime, to stay useful, and to help the Lu brothers break through with all his strength.
Long Tingfei saw that he had promised to follow the main force of the Yong army to break through the siege, and said happily: "Okay, it's almost the third watch, you ordered to go down, make meals at the third watch, break through the siege at the fifth watch, and let the army masters come to see me first. "
Xiao Tong jumped in his heart and said, "General, our army has run out of food, because the general has been thinking about military aircraft in the tent, so his subordinates have not reported."
Long Tingfei smiled coldly, but he did not report such important matters concerning the military aircraft. How could there be such a reason? He has a great prestige in the army. If it weren't for this, he would not have decided to break through tomorrow morning. He originally wanted to beat Xiao Tong a few words, but seeing Xiao Tong's worried expression, thinking that tomorrow is the time of death, he did not want to be too scold, just said lightly. : "Understood, all the wounded war horses and the extra war horses were killed, so that the army could eat them."
Under Long Tingfei's cold and indifferent gaze, Xiao Tong only felt a cold sweat, and he stepped back. After dinner, all the battalions had run out of food. It is possible to break through the siege successfully, and the Qinzhou army and the Daizhou army are indifferent after all, so they both want to force Long Tingfei to agree to sacrifice the Daizhou army to ensure that the main force of the Qinzhou army can break through, but they are worried that Long Tingfei will not. I just wanted to take advantage of the lack of food in the army, but I never thought that Long Tingfei would make up his mind and sacrifice himself to win a chance for the main force of the Qinzhou army and the Daizhou army to break through.
The wounded or intact warhorses neighed loudly, the eyes as large as copper bells showed disbelief, the long knives slashed the horses' necks, and the blood gushed. The sergeant suddenly dropped his long knife and threw himself on the horse's corpse, crying bitterly. Several sergeants pulled him to the side, but tears rolled down their eyes. For them as cavalry, war horses are their closest friends. In order to raise war horses and establish a tacit understanding with war horses, they almost eat and sleep together as war horses. It is incomprehensible to kill war horses. Generally speaking, A warhorse is only killed when it is too seriously injured, and eating horse meat is not allowed. But now they have to kill a large number of war horses. Some of these war horses are slightly injured, some are even intact, but they have lost their owners. For the Northern Han army to break through, they only need to keep enough war horses. Okay, the remaining horses can only be killed and eaten. The horse meat was cut off. In addition to feeding the army to prepare for the breakout, the rest was made into dry food. After all, the time of the breakout battle was uncertain. The entire barracks was filled with a tragic atmosphere. The thrill of killing the beloved warhorse with one's own hands made the eyes of all the Northern Han troops turn red, with flames and grief inside.
After having eaten what was likely to be the last meal, the Northern Han army began to reorganize the army. Looking at the large camp, which was still orderly despite the setbacks, Long Tingfei rode his horse in front of the camp. The generals of the army are all over, just waiting for the command to set off. Long Tingfei's expression was calm, as if he was not going to die, but to a friend's invitation. Hearing the familiar sound of horse hooves and the crisp bell ringing, Long Tingfei raised his eyebrows and turned his head with a smile. Sure enough, it was Lin Bi who rode his horse over surrounded by the guards of the Daizhou Army.
Lin Bi came to Long Ting Fei and wanted to say something, but found that she had nothing to say, as if all the words had been said last night, she almost presumptuously stared at Long Tingfei's thin and handsome face. During sleep, a drop of tears fell. Long Tingfei saw Lin Bi's slightly red and swollen phoenix eyes at a glance, he wanted to stretch out his hand to comfort her, but he didn't do it in the end, he just saluted immediately: "This time we need to break through the encirclement, we need to rely on Bimei Wuyong, Tingfei Thank you so much. The Sheji is in danger, Bimei is the princess' honor, and she still needs to do her best to share the worries for the king."
Lin Bi turned her face to the side, and it took a long time for a calmer voice to say: "General take care, although breaking through the encirclement is dangerous, but the general's martial arts, if the sky sees you, or we can meet again."
Long Tingfei smiled slightly and said, "It's almost dawn, Bimei is the first one to rush into the formation, please prepare to go."
Lin Bi rode his horse away and said loudly, "Lin Bi obeys the order, the general cherishes it." When the warhorse turned to the Daizhou army, Lin Bi took the opportunity to look back. Although the distance was already very far, Lin Bi saw it at a glance. Long Tingfei's light blue pupils, deep as the sea, contained sorrow and blessings. She had never seen so many emotions in those eyes, and at the moment when the four eyes met, the kind of affectionate feelings. But suddenly disappeared without a trace, Lin Bi's body trembled, if the female guard beside her had not helped her in time, she would have almost fallen off the horse.
Before she could break free from those pale blue pupils, she had already seen the flag of the Daizhou Army Hunting and Hunting. Lin Bi's heart was shocked, and all distracting thoughts were instantly discarded. The clear and clear whistling sound like a phoenix and nine days echoed in the sky, and the soldiers of the Daizhou army were greatly excited, and they also shouted loudly. The overwhelming whistling sound shattered the last trace of darkness before dawn.