It was the fifteenth day of the first lunar month in the twelfth year of Yuansui, and it was the New Year's Eve again. The sweet aroma of steamed jujube cakes wafted from the Feiyun Gorge sentry post, and the soldiers were immersed in the festive atmosphere, either drinking and singing, or having sex.
Groups of five played Pai Gow, and the sound of noisy laughter could not be heard.
This place was originally a checkpoint set up in the mountains by the Fu Kingdom. However, with the destruction of Yunzhi City, the three counties and sixteen counties under its jurisdiction surrendered without a fight, and the Haishi Kingdom Zuo also existed in name only. Today, the double carp flags in the checkpoint
It has long since been replaced by the Sea Falcon flag with a black background and white stripes, and the Jinlin Army originally stationed there has been replaced by the Ye Guo Zhou Division in Xuanjia Xuanyi.
Feiyun Gorge is located at the junction of Mianyuan and Wanzhou. It cuts a large mountain into two sections, the northern section is Qinglan and the southern section is Suli. Feiyun Gorge stretches for more than 300 miles from east to west and originates from the mountain stream in it.
There are too many rivers to mention, but the Nishui River is the most famous. Its water originates from the foothills of Shanxi Province, winds through Feiyun Gorge depending on the mountains, and finally ends at Zuihua Pond in the northern part of Yu State.
There is abundant water in the river. The width of the river is up to half a mile, and the narrowest point is nearly 50 feet. There are high cliffs on both sides of the river bank, and there are many mountains. Feiyun Gorge is especially the most precipitous, with nine turns and eighteen turns.
It is said that while the boat is sailing, there are shadows of trees and there are no gaps. Only the sound of rushing water can be heard in the ears, and it is difficult to find the sky.
Throughout the ages, if you want to cross the Minshui River from Mian to Wan to the west, you can only cross Feiyun Gorge through a natural stone bridge that has stood for hundreds of years. Although it is called a bridge, it is actually a piece of stone that collapsed from Suili Mountain tens of thousands of years ago.
The boulder happened to be stuck between the rock walls on both sides of the canyon and took shape. After years of water erosion and weathering, and the craftsmen of Fu State digging and polishing, it became what it looks like today.
The Feiyun Gorge checkpoint was built on the west bank of this stone bridge. It was built with huge rocks and stood against the mountain. There was a beacon tower at the highest point. Since the rise of the dynasty, it has been regarded by various countries as one man in charge of the pass.
It is a natural moat that cannot be opened by ten thousand people. Even during the Shuodi Rebellion a hundred years ago, the Fu State's defense force here was only a few hundred people. Now that it has been taken over by the Ye State, the defense has been reduced but not increased.
It was a cold night in the mountains and it coincided with the festival, so most of the sentry guards hid in the main building to take shelter from the wind. Now, there was only a small team of three people left, sitting around on the bamboo archery tower to the east of the sentry post.
The moon was covered by clouds, and the night was as dark as ink. Except for a small bonfire lit on the archery tower, there was no light in the mountains. The torches originally burning at both ends of the stone bridge were blown out by the wind at some point.
, but no one is willing to light them up again.
The youngest of the three sentry posts held the bow in his arms, turned his head and looked at the noisy sentry post not far away, put his hands beside his mouth, huffed and cursed angrily:
"It's really unlucky. It's our three brothers' turn to be on duty today, and we can only watch them having fun inside. What's so good about guarding this kind of cliff? It's better to be lazy and go back and gamble. Even if you are punished by the superior, it will be better than starving.
It’s so cold!”
As he spoke, he took out a few dominoes from his arms and lit them up in front of the fire.
An older man next to him shook his head decisively and said:
"I just got the information at the beginning of the month that Cheng Guo's army has disappeared after leaving Dangpu, but Lu Qiu Borong of Wei Liang has always stood still. It is hard to guarantee that the enemy is not coming for our country Ye. In the troubled times, Shangguan sent people to patrol in shifts every day, also because he wanted to
Be more careful."
"What care are you taking? Not to mention that it is impossible for Yin Qujian to send a large army to attack such a ghost place where turtles don't lay eggs. Even if Chengguo's Green Harrier cavalry really makes a sneak attack, they still have to obediently come from there one by one.
Come over a stone bridge? When the time comes, our brothers will be able to kill them both with one arrow and one arrow—"
The young sentry started to brag, and when he talked about his inspiration, his voice couldn't help but get louder. He even got up and patted his chest. Unexpectedly, he had not had time to spit out the last few words in his throat, and the expression on his face changed.
Suddenly, he froze, and his whole body seemed to be frozen in place.
"Hey, brat, aren't you talking too much and flashing your tongue? The three of us are destined to stay in this arrow tower for half the night tonight. If you are really bored, go to Shangguan to ask for some heat.
When the rice porridge comes back, will you let the rest of us warm ourselves up outside?"
The older man thought the other man was joking with him, so he smiled and stretched out his hand to push him. But with a slight touch, the young man fell straight to the ground and was hit in the back of the head.
Arrow, I was stunned on the spot!
"This is Cheng Guo's shadowless arrow! They are really coming!"
The elder immediately pressed down the other sentry next to him who was frightened and was still looking across the canyon. After a while, he heard three more "tuk tuk tuk" sounds.
Several feather arrows flew in the darkness one after another, piercing deeply only a few inches away from them!
"Enemy attack, enemy attack!"
The elderly sentry raised his head and glanced at the large cowhide drum that was placed in a corner of the archery tower. The drum's head had been penetrated by arrows from the enemy soldiers hiding in the dark, and it was impossible to knock it anymore. He quickly opened his mouth and roared loudly, but the sound of people's voices came out.
But it couldn't penetrate the thick stone wall, and it couldn't reach the ears of the unsuspecting comrades inside the checkpoint.
In desperation, he had no choice but to put his hands, which were stiff from the cold, to his mouth and blow loudly. Although the "Woo-Woo" whistle was no better than the sound of a drum, it still had some effect. The voices inside the checkpoint gradually became quieter.
After falling down, I heard someone shouting at the top of the archery tower:
"What are you doing over there? Why are you bragging about nothing!"
Before the sentry could reply, a scalp-numbing "buzzing" sound was heard in the darkness, like a swarm of bees leaving the nest. This time, everyone in the archery tower and the sentry post could clearly see the Zifeiyun Gorge.
A fire cloud composed of thousands of light points suddenly rose in the darkness on the other side. The dense rockets flew over the checkpoint in an arc, and they were close in the blink of an eye!
"Hurry up, guys! The Chengguo attack is coming!"
With panicked shouts echoing in the canyon, the originally quiet sentry post suddenly became agitated again, like an exploded ant nest. The sergeants holding bows and crossbows hurriedly rushed up the parapet and hid behind the arrow stacks.
He looked around, but his clothes and armor were disheveled, and he didn't know where to aim the bow and arrow in his hand.
After a volley of fire, the fire arrows of the Chengguo army did not cause substantial damage to the defenders under the cover of the female wall. However, the Yeguo army watched the arrow tower just around the corner, and the two comrades on it shouted for help.
The robe collapsed and overturned in the raging fire, but no one dared to rush out to save it. They could only let the burning wooden beams and pillars fall into the abyss at their feet.
"Don't act rashly! Find a few more people and throw some torches to light up the stone bridge! As long as the other party crosses the bridge, we can stop them effortlessly!"
As the captain in charge of the garrison shouted an order, several brave men in the army immediately pulled out a few torches from the brazier beside them and threw them into the distance with all their strength.
The torch swirled, drawing several strange streaks of light in mid-air, and then bounced a few times on the stone bridge before finally settling down. With the faint light of the fire, the defenders at the checkpoint could clearly see the stone bridge.
There were countless figures moving near the end. They were actually a group of vanguards sent by the opponent. They had already crossed the bridge in the moment after the previous salvo!
"Shoot the arrows, shoot the arrows! Let these sons of bitches never come back!"
The captain was frothing at the mouth, but could not hide the look of fear on his face. However, the other party had obviously planned carefully to seize the bridge. Not only did the pioneer soldiers hold lightweight cowhide bucklers in their hands, but even Gao Gao
The ladders have been set up next to the female wall!
For a moment, Feiyun Gorge shouted to kill Zhentian. The Chengguo army on the other side fired a salvo again. Arrows flew wildly on the city top, and flames spread, turning it into a purgatory.
The first ones to climb the parapet were the elite members of the Green Harrier cavalry. At this time, they took off their heavy armor and wore only light cloth. However, they were caught off guard by killing more than a hundred Ye Guo defenders who hadtily responded.
The city was quickly captured.
The defender captain could only lead the remaining ten people to retreat to the highest point of the checkpoint. Only then did he finally realize that there was no chance of winning in this battle, and he waved the long knife in his hand and pointed it not far away.
On the top of a mountain, he shouted loudly at the frightened faces beside him:
"Send a few people quickly to light the beacon!"
Before he finished speaking, the captain was stabbed through the vest by a Chengguo sergeant who was chasing after him. The bloody tip of the blade protruded from his chest. The captain lowered his head, as if he still didn't believe that he would end up like this.
After dying like this, he still wanted to gather up the last strength to fight back, but the Green Harrier cavalry didn't give him a chance at all. He directly kicked his shoulder blade and pulled the knife out of the flesh and blood.
Steaming blood spurted out from the wound in an instant and flowed all over the floor, and Captain Ye's heart stopped beating at the same time...
Half an hour later, the last defender in the Feiyun Gorge checkpoint was killed under the beacon tower. Chengguo's tiger and wolf divisions crossed the river in large numbers and continued to march towards the hinterland of Yeguo on the west side of the ridge. A pro
The soldier ran against the flow of people and rushed to the commander in charge of the battle. He raised his hands and said loudly:
"General, a total of 103 enemy troops were killed in this battle. Five of our troops were seriously injured and eight were slightly injured. No one died. However, the beacon tower was still set on fire by this group of hozens. It will take some effort to put out the fire.
.”
The coach took off the tiger head mask on his face, and he never thought that it was Yin Qujian, the leader of the Cheng Kingdom! He looked up at the orange mass on the top of the mountain that illuminated half of the sky, and did not order to continue putting out the fire:
"Forget it, let him burn it. The beacon tower of Ye State must have been filled with whale blubber, and it can't be extinguished by transporting water manually. This time we took it by surprise and captured this important road into Wan. It may be too late.
Sooner or later, Qi Shouyu will know that we are coming, and he doesn't care about the situation in the past two days. Send me the order and let the soldiers get ready, there will inevitably be several tough battles to be fought next!"
The soldiers once again cupped their hands and took the order to leave. The eye-catching beacon fire burning in the night sky also carried the news of the incoming powerful enemy, heading west along the Yanjiang River and reaching Mulu City overnight.
King Ye's Palace.
In the early morning of the next day, before the rooster crows at dawn, all civil and military officials were summoned into the Jiying Palace. In front of the king Qi Shouyu on the throne, there were more than ten urgent volumes delivered from various military posts.
Although the document has not yet been opened, we can already guess what it contains.
Facing the furious King, no one among His Highness's ministers dared to speak. Even if they still yawned from the bed, they were suppressed in their stomachs and did not dare to come out.
Qi Shouyu repeatedly rubbed the tiger talisman in his hand, but there was a hint of helplessness in his tone. On the school field outside the palace, a huge army that had been assembled overnight had already been neatly erected. However, this army of more than 60,000 people was
It was temporarily put together by the imperial army that guarded the royal city and the soldiers from the homes of princes and nobles.
Since Yunzhi was captured not long ago, nearly 30% of the elite of the Ye Kingdom's naval division are now stationed in various parts of the Fu Kingdom to quell the chaos. Unfortunately, Wei Liang in the north has deployed heavy troops to Yugu Lake and the east bank of Ming River at this time.
, Qi Shouyu had no choice but to station nearly half of the remaining troops to the border adjacent to Weiliang. After going back and forth, the manpower he had on hand to stop the Chengguo army was no longer enough.
After pondering for a long time, the short and fat Duke Ye finally stood up angrily and threw the tiger talisman in his hand to the ground:
"He Yin Qujian just won a battle with a sneak attack, but he can't even weigh how much he weighs? How dare a small border country dare to go to Tai Sui's head to stir up trouble! General Yihui obeyed the order, and the few people
I order you to lead the army south immediately, and be sure to annihilate Cheng Guoxiao on the south bank of Qinmengze before he crosses the Pheasant River!"
Your Highness is kneeling, General Yihui Mi Ziyan, who was originally a general under Xiang Baili. After the death of the commander, he took over the official title of commander of the fleet. Although he was quite dissatisfied with Qi Shouyu, now everyone
The enemy was in front of him, so he had no choice but to accept the order in danger, but he was worried and uneasy.
The night sky gradually turned into light gray, but the sun failed to emerge from behind the thick clouds. Unconsciously, a winter rainstorm came, and the raindrops fell on the black armor of the soldiers outside the palace, making a tinkling sound.
.In the black ranks, a young man wearing a captain's feather on his head clenched his fist tightly - that was Wan Shi, who had been Qi Ziyin's personal guard. Because he was born in the ranks, he was temporarily deployed at this time.
He was appointed as the tooth gate general of the left army and commanded more than 500 people.
I don't know whether it was because of the cold rain seeping into his clothes along the seams of his armor, or because he was worried about Ye Guo's fate, but Wan Shi's lips hidden under his face shield could not help but tremble slightly, and there was a buzzing in his ears.
.
After all, the Chengguo army was approaching fiercely, and even if they had been prepared, this battle was bound to be a lose-lose outcome. At this moment, Wan Shi felt vaguely in his heart that he seemed to be being killed by a pair of invisible men along with these young warriors around him, and the entire Ye Kingdom.
Pushing hard with his hands, he walked step by step towards the eternal abyss called war, but he couldn't turn back at all, and even stopping temporarily was a luxury.