The sunset will come to an end, and there is the last light in the western sky, beyond the mountain.
Near the small village, the river meanders by, the spring flood has not stopped, and the water in the river rises sharply. In the fields in the distance, the road winds past, the army horses walk on the road, and the peasant with the hoe crosses the road. go home.
Summer is coming, and the moisture in the air has faded a little, making people feel refreshed both physically and mentally. A peaceful evening in the southwest.
Ning Yi was by the river, watching all this in the distance. After the setting sun sank, some lights were lit in the distance. I don't know when, someone came over with a lantern, and the tall figure of the woman was Yunzhu.
She stood a few feet away from Ning Yi for a while, and then approached: "Xiao Ke told me that daddy cried..."
Ning Yi took her hand and smiled slightly: "...No."
"Is the situation ahead?"
"Well, there's something wrong with Zhu Biao..."
"Zhu Biao he..." Yun Zhu's eyes trembled, she could realize the weight of this matter.
Ning Yi shook his head and looked into the distance in the dark night.
"I don't know..." He murmured, and then said, "I don't know."
"Since I don't know, it's..."
"The Seventeenth Army... failed to come out, suffered heavy losses, almost... the entire army was wiped out. I was just thinking, some things are worth it..."
His calm tone is scattered in the air of late spring and early summer...
****************
In the north, the Daming Mansion has become an uninhabited ruin.
After the war, the brutal massacre was over. The corpses and mass graves that were thrown here began to emit a foul smell. The troops were evacuated from here one after another. However, in the area of hundreds of miles around Daming Mansion, the search continued. continue.
As for April 15th, the last evacuated army escorted groups of prisoners to different places on the north bank of the Yellow River.
Beginning in late April, in the large cities that were originally ruled by Li Xizhi in Hebei East Road, Jingdong East Road and other places, residents were shocked by the sight of the killings. Since last year, all the bandits who rebelled against Dajin Tianwei and rebelled against Daming Mansion have been killed and captured. Together with the Black Banner bandit army who came to rescue them, they have all been destroyed by Wanyan Chang, and thousands of prisoners have been divided. As a group of death row prisoners, they were transported to various cities and beheaded for public display.
In April, the summer rain had begun to fall, and the people who were locked in the prison cart were bodies that were almost inhuman. The prisoners who were unwilling to surrender the Jurchen or the worthless disabled prisoners had already been severely tortured at this time, and many people had been seriously injured on the battlefield. Wanyan Chang asked the medical officer to hang one of their orders, causing them to suffer. But never let them die, as the end of the rebellion against Daikin, as an example.
The Eastern Route Army's front has now been pushed to Xuzhou, and the process of taking over the Central Plains has already begun at this time. In order to promote the war, the miscellaneous taxes and donations have been raised, and the officials' high pressure and killing have continued for half a year. Some people resisted, most of them in He died under the butcher's knife, and now, the myth of the Guangwu Army who resisted the most fiercely and the legendary Black Flag Army, the only one who could compete with the Jurchens, has finally been shattered in front of people's eyes.
In Luozhou, when the convoy transporting prisoners entered the city, some people on both sides of the road were dazed, some were confused, but there were also a few who knew the situation and shed tears on the street. The tearful man was dragged out by the Jurchen soldiers by the roadside and beheaded on the street on the spot.
In Shenzhou City, Xiaoyu, an attack of robbers suddenly came. These robbers were dressed in rags, including Jianghu people and ordinary civilians, and there were also a group of monks. Because Wanyanchang carried out a large-scale search and suppression after taking over Li Xizhi's site, the swords and guns of these people were not neat. A thin-faced man held a sharpened long bamboo pole and stabbed two soldiers to death in the brave fight. , He was then slashed to the ground by several knives. During the surrounding slaughter, this big man covered in blood and had his stomach cut open hugged the prison station and stood up, shouting during the slaughter.
"I am also the Huaxia Army! I am also the Huaxia Army! I... shouldn't leave the southwest. I... die with you..."
His last words were probably said to the prisoners in the prison cart. In front of his eyes, an original Chinese soldier had his hands broken, his tongue was also smashed, and he said "hoho". After shouting a few times, he tried to stretch out the half of his broken arm.
The rushing soldiers have raised their steel knives behind this man...
In Hejian Mansion, when the beheading began, it was pouring rain. Outside the court, people stood in darkness, watching the steel knives fall one by one. Some people were crying silently in the rain. In such heavy rain, at least they don't have to worry about being seen crying...
On March 28 of the tenth year of Wu Jianshuo, outside the Daming Mansion, the Huaxia Army's rescue of the Guangwu Army was officially launched. Under the circumstance that Wanyanchang had been prepared, the Huaxia Army still launched a surprise attack on the battlefield in two directions. Within half an hour after the chaos, the Guangwu Army's breakthrough was officially launched.
In the first place, the shattering troop raids put enormous pressure on the 200,000 puppet troops surrounding the battlefield. In the streets and alleys of Damingfu City, the desperate fight of more than 10,000 Guangwu troops once made the puppet troops unable to retreat. , the death caused by stampede is even several times more than the front-line confrontation. And Zhu Biao led the 4,000 troops together with the 3,000 remaining on the periphery to launch the most intense raid on Wanyan Chang shortly after the war began.
Wanyan Chang responded calmly. He responded to the attacks of Zhu Biao and others with more than 10,000 elite soldiers under his command, and blocked all enemies who wanted to leave the Daming Mansion with more than 10,000 troops and thousands of cavalry. Zhu Biao made several fake moves to break through during the attack, and then counterattacked, but Wanyanchang was never fooled.
The 200,000-strong puppet army, even if it was defeated like a tide on the front line, the steady stream of new forces was still like a huge quagmire, dragging everyone down and making it difficult to escape. The thousands of cavalry that Wanyan Chang originally brought had the greatest initiative on the battlefield. Every raid they made on the periphery could cause huge casualties to the breakout troops.
During this period, the insurgent team headed by Yan Qing was still active on the battlefield. They lobbied several puppet troops to let them release a little water in private, or plead for mercy, or threaten, and then got some of the puppet troops. Opening one eye and closing one eye, even the news that Wanyan Chang was dead had caused a lot of confusion on the battlefield.
But all of this is still unable to make up for the too slim power gap on the cruel war scale.
On the night of the twenty-eighth, in the early morning of the twenty-ninth, in the battle between the Huaxia Army and the Guangwu Army, the entire huge battlefield was violently torn apart. Zhu Biao's team heading east and Wang Shanyue's team heading south attracted the most intense firepower. The reserved cadres went to the battlefield that night, boosting morale and killing them all. On the twenty-ninth day, the sun rose, and the entire battlefield had been torn apart and spread for dozens of miles. The raiders paid a huge price and stepped into the surrounding mountains and woodlands.
At this time, a large number of soldiers have been captured due to serious injuries or broken courage. The whole war has not stopped because of this. Wanyanchang organized a large-scale pursuit and search in the center of the town. At the same time, he continued to order and deploy troops to the surrounding cities controlled by the Jurchen, and organized a huge encirclement network.
On March 30th and April 1st... Large and small battles broke out in the dense forests, water marshes, mountains and rivers near Damingfu. The entire encirclement and search operations continued until the middle of April, when Wanyanchang announced the incident. The end of the war.
In a short period of time, not many people can know how many soldiers and generals of the Huaxia Army and Guangwu Army were sacrificed in this extremely tragic raid and breakout. Within two months after being tortured, he was transported to various cities by Wanyan Chang, where he was massacred.
There is also some information that can be confirmed. In the early morning of the twenty-ninth day, during the raid and the transfer, a team of Chinese soldiers was surrounded by heavy siege. Every time he swiped, he had to smash open the head of an enemy. But in the constant fighting, the soldiers around him became less and less, and finally the general exhausted the last bit of strength and shed the last drop of blood in the endless containment.
This is a hero who once returned to Liangshan but finally returned to the right path, "Double Whip" Hu Yanzhuo.
As dawn approached on the 29th, Xu Ning, the "Golden Gunner", died on the edge of the forest near Daming Mansion while blocking the Jurchen cavalry and covering the retreat of the friendly troops.
Nie Shan, the commander of the Huaxia Corps, led hundreds of death squads to counterattack Wanyan Chang's formation at the dawn of the day. These hundreds of people kept rushing in like steel knives, making the defending Jurchen generals terrified and attracting many troops on the entire battlefield. attention. In the end, the entire army was exhausted, and no one surrendered. Before the death of the head of the regiment, Nie Shan, there was no other intact part of his body. He was covered in blood. After walking the path of asceticism, he also won a slim chance for the friendly army behind him.
More than 50% of those who broke through the siege were left on the battlefield on the first night, and this number continued to expand after that. As for Wanyanchang's announcement in mid-April, the preliminary end of the entire battle situation, all the preparations of the Huaxia Army and Guangwu Army. , almost all of them have been dispersed, although some people will survive from the huge net, but within a certain period of time, the two armies have also been destroyed...
In Jurchen's message, Zhu Biao, Guan Sheng, Wang Shanyue... and many other generals have all died, with their heads hanging high.
****************
The carriage moved slowly and drove through the dark night.
"I sometimes think we might have picked the wrong color of the flag..."
"Xianggong didn't say before that black is the most determined."
"But after every war, it's dyed red."
The carriage stopped quietly by the side of the road. Not far away is the opening of the village, Ning Yi took Yunzhu's hand down, Yunzhu looked around, a little confused.
"I often wonder if it's worth it... I used to say big words, but the more I watch, the more I feel the weight is overwhelming, Zhu Biao... Wang Shanyue... Tian Shi... There are more dead people. Maybe everyone is pursuing the three-hundred-year cycle, maybe it's already very good, maybe... The dead people just want to live, and they are all people who deserve to live... "
In the darkness, Ning Yi's words were calm and slow, like a whisper. He led Yunzhu down the path of this nameless village. When passing through the dim stream, he picked up Yunzhu and stepped on it accurately. He walked over every stone, which showed that it was not the first time that he had come here. Du Sha silently followed behind.
Yunzhu didn't answer Ning Yi's words. She knew that Ning Yi's whispers didn't need to be answered. She just followed her husband and walked slowly through the village, hand in hand. There were a few earthen houses not far away. With the lights on, they approached from the darkness, stepping lightly up the stairs and up to a compartment on top of an earthen roof. The tiles of this earthen house were broken, and the night sky could be seen on the second floor. Ning Yi took her and sat down by the earthen wall. On the other side of the wall, the house below was brightly lit. Some people were talking. What people are talking about is about the "four peoples" and some things about Hedeng three counties.
Ning Yi sat there quietly, compared his fingers to Yunzhu, and silently "shush", then the couple cuddled quietly, looking at the sky beyond the crack of the tile.
"Innovation and enlightenment... The process of thousands of years, the so-called freedom... In fact, not many people care... People are such strange things, all we want is always just a little more and a little better than the status quo, more than a hundred years The history of the world, people can't understand... A slave is a little better, and he will feel like he has gone to heaven... A person with a good brain, a little better, he still won't be satisfied... "
His words came out softly from his throat, with a slight sigh. Yunzhu listened, and also listened to the words and discussions in the house on the other side, but in fact there was nothing surprising on the other side. In Hedengsan County, many people would gather at night to discuss some new ideas. And opinions, many of them may still be Ning Yi's students.
"...innovation, freedom, oh, just like most people exercising, if your body is bad, you will forget everything, and if you are healthy, you will forget everything. Thousands of years of cycles... After eating, you will feel that you are already powerful. It's the limit. As for reading more books, why... How many people can understand? Too few... "
Ning Yi's words continued, it was just a sigh, a slight sigh, Yunzhu listened, but also knew that her husband was not confused by the things he said. At this time, another person in the room on the other end spoke, and at a certain moment, Yunzhu heard that person say:
"... The matter of our Huaxia Army has made it clear that all people in this world are the same! Why are those who farm the land inferior to others? Home. Why are they benevolent? They take up more things than others, their children can go to school, they can take exams and become officials, and farmers are always farmers! When a farmer's son is born, when he opens his eyes, what he sees is inferior to others. The world. This is inherently unfair! Mr. Ning explained a lot, but I don't think Mr. Ning's words are thorough enough... "
"...Because Mr. Ning's family is a businessman. Although he is married, his family is very rich. As far as I know, Mr. Ning eats well and dresses well, and he is very particular about clothing and food... I am not here to speak ill of Mr. Ning, I mean, is it because of this that Mr. Ning didn't clearly say that everyone is equal!"
"...Look at those farmers, especially those who don't even have fields. They lived the worst and hardest life and got the least. It's not fair... If we think about this, Mr. Ning is right. But it can be more right, what is more right. In this world, everyone is equal, we even killed the emperor, we must have the most equal world, we should let everyone know, they! There is no difference from birth to other people. If our Huaxia Army wants to succeed, it must balance the rich and the poor! Establish equality."
Many of these words have been used by Ning Yi before, but when they say it now, the meaning is quite radical. There was a lot of noise from below, and Yunzhu was lost for a moment, because Ning Yi's words stopped beside her. She turned her head to look, her husband was leaning against the earth wall, with a quiet and mysterious smile on his face. This smile seemed to see something indescribable, and also seemed to have a little bit of bitterness and sadness. , is complicated.
"...I sometimes wonder if it's worth it...or not..."
He murmured one last word, and stopped talking. The voices from the next room continued to be heard. Ning Yi and Yunzhu looked at them. There were hundreds of millions of stars spinning in the night sky, and the Milky Way was boundless.
Beyond the roof, is the vast land, and countless creatures are colliding together.
****************
In the tenth year of Wu Jianshuo, on March 27th.
The Huaxia Army that rushed to Damingfu bypassed the long road. In the evening, Zhu Biao stood on the top of the hill and looked in the direction, and the team with the flags fluttered around the road.
Guan Sheng came over from below: "What are you looking at?"
Zhu Biao looked into the distance, his eyes hesitated, and after a while, he put away his gesture of looking at the map and said, "I'm wondering if there is a better way."
"I got it?"
"… No."
"You pig head, I don't think you can think of it. Hey, but then again, you burn the city gun Zhu Biao, the person who is not afraid of the sky, the mother-in-law and mother are up today."
"...I don't really want to bump into a turtle like Wanyanchang."
"..." Guan Sheng was silent for a moment, "I don't want to either."
Zhu Biao smiled: "So I was thinking, if the guy surnamed Ning was here, would he be able to think of a better way to defeat Wanyanchang and save Wang Shanyue, after all that guy... Except he can't pick up girls, The brain is really useful."
"I only know that Ning will not save Wang Shanyue."
"yes… "
The two stood there, looked into the distance for a moment, and Guan Sheng said, "Have you thought of it?"
"No."
"Let's go then."
Some of the two figures laughed, some nodded, and then, neither of them entered the rolling torrent.
…
Above the ruins, there are still broken flags fluttering, blood and black melted together.
…
In May, Wasion fell.
Soon after, Xuzhou fell.