The yellow dust that filled the air was like thick smoke or dark clouds. The blazing sun in the sky was shrouded in a layer of haze, and the light was dim.
Guo Shao stood on the high chariot and saw the battlefield in a mess. The cheers after the victory had ceased, leaving behind a mottled scene, the wooden wheels of the overturned and broken vehicles lying in the weeds, the bloodstained battle flags stuck among the corpses, and the worst thing was the corpses scattered all over the ground and the wounded soldiers groaning in pain.
Guo Shao suddenly remembered a sentence, looked back at the people around him and whispered: The most tragic thing in the world, besides defeat, is victory.
Listen, there is a faint singing coming from the wilderness. The singing gradually rises, and more and more soldiers follow the singing. Guo Shao listens carefully and hears the lyrics clearly.
I don't have clothes, so I share my robe with you. When the king raises his army, I sharpen my spears and halberds. I share the same hatred with you. I don't have clothes, so I share my robe with you. When the king raises his army, I sharpen my spears and halberds. I share the same hatred with you.
The Qin music in the Book of Songs has a tragic and desolate melody. This voice sang from iron and blood, from the soldiers with dusty faces and weathered faces, and the atmosphere of common hatred against the enemy, Guo Shao was immediately moved. Hey, Guo Shao slapped the wooden railing that the Yang family general once held to command the battle, and a complex emotion of grandeur and sadness in his heart was like a revelation.
Wang Pu bowed and said: Your Majesty loves your soldiers as your own sons. Your Majesty's ambition is the common ambition of your sons; Your Majesty's heart to seek benefits for the people of the world is the heart of the 100,000 soldiers of the imperial guards.
Zuo You heard Guo Shao talk about his dream and said: One person's dream is the dream of all people in the world.
The soldiers nearby had already noticed the emperor standing on the chariot and were looking up at him.
Hey Guo Shao slapped the railing again.
The wind from the west has not stopped, and the smoke and dust that filled the vast wilderness seemed to have thinned out. A bright and beautiful sun hung in the blue sky. The world was unusually bright, and the brilliant light illuminated the earth.
At this moment, the rugged and vast scene is right before his eyes. Guo Shao seems to be in the barren era of opening up new frontiers. He stands on a high place, and all the tribesmen are looking at him. Where will the entire tribe go? He feels that he must lead all the tribesmen, march towards the sun in the east, and pursue a bright future without giving up, just like Kuafu.
Yes, Guo Shao does not belong to this era, but he belongs to this tribe, and he has found his home, destiny and fate here.
This civilization is different from other places. From ancient times to the present, there is basically no single supreme god; but it is not that there are no gods. There are many gods. Those gods come from people who stand on high mountains and raise their arms for the world. In the past, Huangdi led a tribe and swept the entire Yellow River Basin with stones and sticks, and then expanded to the Yangtze River Basin, lighting the fire. At the critical moment, Dayu passed by his home three times without entering, and led his people to control the flood with simple tools to defend the weak fire. All people have become gods, and the heroic spirits living in the hearts of billions of creatures are immortal. Go to the City God Temple and take a look. Almost all gods were once people, but they are enshrined in the temple.
At this moment, the young blood rushed in Guo Shao's body. Even if the flood drowned him, he wanted the world to hear his cry. He stood on the high platform, raised his arms and shouted: The leader of the tribe is to burn himself to illuminate the whole world.
He left the battlefield, arranged for his generals and officials to finish the battlefield, then built a temporary camp and summoned his ministers to discuss matters.
The wounded soldiers were treated by a team of hundreds of professional doctors, and the county civilians were also recruited to take care of them. The dead were treated with lime and other preservatives, and their bodies were transported back to Kaifeng Prefecture. Guo Shao asked the ministers and understood the world's ideas. He gave up imitating the military funeral of modern society, because no one cared about it at all, and it was a waste of money to make it grand. Most soldiers believed that people had souls and the underworld after death. What they cared about was that they became lonely ghosts and no one would burn paper for them.
Therefore, Guo Shao ordered that all the soldiers of the imperial guards who died in battle should be transported back to their hometowns for burial, and that temples should be set up in the capital to hold annual sacrifices; and their families should be compensated with money and grain from the national treasury. This is what people need.
Under the planning of Wang Pu, the chief of the military staff, the vanguard army stayed in place for two days, waiting for the follow-up troops to come out of the mountains, and then gathered troops to march towards Jinyang; before the Liao army went south, once the elite Zhou imperial guards gathered together, they would be invincible in the Northern Han territory, so according to the original strategy, this force would advance into the open area south of Jinyang City and threaten the Northern Han capital in advance.
Two days later, all 30,000 troops entered the open area of the Northern Han area, and Guo Shao ordered them to march out.
A loud shout from Jinyang rang out in the central army tent, and a mighty torrent of armored infantry and cavalry marched out of the camp. The ambitions and goals of the Great Zhou were not concealed at all, and the dream of the empire was shouting madly.
The clatter of horse hooves and footsteps roared in the open field, and the clouds of military flags fluttered in the fierce wind. The rumbling of drums was like thunder, shaking the earth. The warriors had been playing the horizontal flute for thousands of years on horseback, which was completely different from the beautiful music heard in the carved buildings. The short orchestral sounds, accompanied by the military drums, were tragic and inspiring on the battlefield full of yellow sand and dry grass.
Drums roared, and tens of thousands of soldiers sang in unison to the music. Great Zhou warriors, restore our land. The battle will not end until the blood is shed and the dead are dead.
The emperor in iron armor rode out of the camp gate on a tall black horse. Even the old civil servant Wang Pu rode a horse, no longer pretending to be elegant, with a murderous look on his face. Behind him, tall and strong elite soldiers and generals marched out like a flood, and the tiger on the military flag glared at the mountains and rivers, as if roaring angrily.
In Jinyang, remnants of the army were constantly being let in through the city gates, and the battles on the front lines could not be stopped. Zhao Kuangyin stood at the street corner on horseback, and was speechless watching the scene.
At this time, a strong wind was blowing. On the tall and simple Jinyang city tower, leaves and dry grass were flying in the air, making the whole scene sway. It seemed that such a majestic city was about to fall in the strong wind.
Although Zhao Kuangyin only had the power to command a few hundred soldiers, the official title he was given also belonged to the Northern Han Dynasty's imperial guards, and he also knew many people. At this time, he already knew the process of the war that had just ended, so he was speechless.
Judging from the early deployment of the battle and the grasp of the opportunity, Yang Ye was undoubtedly a rare good general, and he had all the advantages. However, the outcome of the war was always only one, winning or losing, which was simple and direct and clear at a glance.
The Great Zhou Imperial Army is too strong, said Zhao Kuangyin.
Shi Shouxin and others around him were also generals of the Zhou army, and they echoed Li Jixun's words. Li Jixun said: Among all the countries, the Northern Han army is also very strong, but the territory is small and the number of people is small; this time they used more people to defeat the smaller ones, but the result was like this, which is really a bit surprising.
Zhao Kuangyin felt mixed emotions, but his face was too dark to change. The imperial army developed from the hundred years of chaos in the Central Plains was very powerful. It originally belonged to him. He felt very uncomfortable. In the world, having an elite force can do a lot of things; let alone hundreds of thousands of people, those troops meant infinite possibilities. Zhao Kuangyin felt that he had lost too much, and no matter how broad-minded he was, he could not let it go.
He turned around and went back home in a depressed mood.
After some contemplation, Zhao Kuangyin said in a deep voice in the hall: I am afraid that the Northern Han Kingdom is really going to be finished this time, it is only a matter of time. It is difficult for the Liao army to save them.
The atmosphere immediately became heavy. Once the Northern Han was finished, they would also be finished, and it was obvious that they would be settled with the old accounts.
Is there any way to leave now? Li Jixun asked.
Zhao Kuangyin pondered for a moment and said: The more than 300 cavalrymen we have left from Jinzhou are our only remaining strength for the battle against the two Lis. If we don't have them, we may have a way.
Several generals were silent for a moment. Now the area around Jinyang was heavily guarded and the city was under martial law. Even if there were only a few people, it would be difficult to get out. With more than 300 people and such a big commotion, it would be difficult to leave privately.
However, if they gave up their only capital, the situation would be even worse. Zhao Kuangyin and his people were no longer as powerful as they were before. They had no territory and no future. If they wanted to recruit new people, who would be willing to follow them
Li Jixun said: Brother Zhao confirmed that the Northern Han Kingdom could not withstand the Zhou army's attack this time. Jinyang City is still very strong.
Zhao Kuangyin did not answer.
Li Jixun asked again: Can we use our connections to find someone with military power to help us and let us go
Zhao Kuangyin said with an unpleasant expression: We have already served the Northern Han leader and received the Northern Han salary. Now that the wind is not right, how can we say that we want to escape openly
Alas, Li Jixun looked sad.
Zhao Kuangyin was also very depressed. His future was bleak and he had had enough of this kind of depression. He said angrily: Instead of asking people to let us go, it is better to ask people to recommend us for appointment. It is too uncomfortable to just sit and wait for death. Let's just have a quick fight to the death and have a final showdown with Guo Shao. I want to try again to see how strong he is.