Just as the emperor said before, no one can imagine that the Shu people would dare to take a route of action that goes deep into the enemy's territory. Therefore, even if they pass through densely populated areas, there are not enough sergeants along the way to intercept them, waiting for them to deliver the information.
After reporting it to their superiors, the Shu cavalry had already left quickly to the northwest, and there was no time to mobilize troops to pursue them.
It is not that the Shu people have encountered problems. After days of running around, even if they were equipped with 3,000 horses in advance, many of the mounts were still showing signs of fatigue. Even if the knights whipped them desperately, they had to slow down for a while. Fortunately,
When passing through Qixian County, they came across a horse farm and forced more than 600 new horses here. Then they speeded up again. Along the way, they encountered villages and towns to collect grain, and detoured around cities until they reached Qishan Mountain.
He quietly followed the Lianshui River into Fanxukou, just passed by the Chencang defenders, and entered the empty Longshang Mountains.
After crossing Longban and driving for another day, we arrived at Jieting. From here to the west, we are where the world calls Longyou. Looking around, we can see clouds and mist everywhere, all covered with dense forests, and our feet are solid.
It is hard to imagine that mountains and rocks, thousands of miles to the west, will become the only green corridor in the endless sand and gravel. Zhang Liao was very emotional. He remembered the time when he followed Lu Bu here, so he recalled: "The vastness of nature, the things
Right and wrong.”
When he was camping in a street pavilion, there were crows croaking in the trees outside the emperor's tent. He was very upset, so he sent his palace servants to ask Zhang Liao to pick up a bow and shoot. It was difficult to see what was happening on the tree in the dark, so Zhang Liao's confidant Du Chong shot an arrow first.
.Suddenly seeing a big black shadow rising from the tree, Zhang Liao had already set an arrow on it, immediately raised his hand and pointed at the shadow and shot. The arrow hit the wing of the big bird, and the bird spun like a wheel and fell to the ground with a thud.
It fell into the grass with a sound.
When people ran over to pick it up and looked at it under the light, they all said they had never seen such a big crow. The emperor had always hated crows, but now he shot them to death. He felt unhappy and hurriedly ordered people to bury the crows. Dong Zhao
After hearing about this, he congratulated him and said: "Everyone hates crows. Shooting them to death is like breaking away the bad omen. This is a very auspicious thing!" After hearing what he said, the emperor felt a little relieved.
.
But when we turned south the next day, a small accident happened. The yellow horse riding on Liu Yi, the second son of the emperor, stumbled and fell down the slope. Unfortunately, Liu Yi fell off the horse and broke his arm. Liu Yi was only eleven years old.
, was born by Empress Fushou, and was usually the favorite of the emperor. Now that he learned that he fell off the horse and broke his arm, the emperor was extremely sad. Now Liu Yi could no longer ride a horse and could not continue running with the cavalry, so he had to send someone to take Liu Yi away
He was fostered in the surrounding countryside and made an agreement with him to reunite in Mianzhu after he recovers from his injuries.
Two days later, they passed through the narrow valley of Tianshui and temporarily lived in Nianpan Mountain, a mountainous area. When they arrived at Nianpan Mountain, the weather was still sunny. I heard from Wu Ban, who arrived earlier, that the weather had just fallen here a while ago.
After the rain, I stood by the gurgling river and looked towards the south. The mountain road quickly disappeared from sight, leaving only a vast expanse of green and a few golden tamarins (golden-nosed monkeys) squatting on the treetops in the mountains, looking at them curiously.
This team.
During the day, the officers and soldiers of the Shu Army lurked in the valley of Nianpan Mountain. They disarmed their troops and rested their horses, lying down in the dense forest to rest. When God's will turned dark, Dong Zhao sent several horses out of the valley and galloped to report the message to Jia Xu. It took more than half an hour after the messenger left.
, it was completely dark, and the Shu people's brigade began to go down the mountain in the dark. The cavalry went down the mountain, disturbing the villages along the way. Dogs barked, and there were occasional voices, but it didn't matter. Soon the brigade rushed through the Nanmai Mountain, and the land was suddenly flat and open.
, extending from northeast to southwest. Although it is dark, you can smell the moist smell of river water, which is the smell of Western Han Dynasty water. Thirty miles further south is Qishan Fort.
After passing the Nanmai Mountain, Dong Zhao sent a second group of messengers to Qishan Fort, with ten horses in total. Shortly after the messenger left, a heavy rain fell from the sky. The rain covered up the sound of horse hooves, but it also obscured the sight of the Shu people.
The forward speed was affected. There was only mist in the dark night, and there was no light in the wilderness. The Shu people groped their way along the north-south road. The rain was so heavy that they had to stop and rest for a while. At this time, the third group of messengers set off on the road in the rain.
Running to Qishan.
Going a little further, we were only twenty miles away from Qishan Fort. We stopped and waited for the three messengers from the front and back to return. The rain had subsided, but after waiting for about an hour, none of the messengers rebelled.
Dong Zhao was anxious and asked people to invite the emperor to discuss with Zhang Liao who was in the van. Dong Zhao and the emperor were covered with rain blankets, while Zhang Liao was standing on his horse in wet military uniforms. Dong Zhao looked around at the dark night and said to Zhang Liao: "I have already
Three groups of messengers were sent, but there was no reply from Qishan. I have already smelled the scent of an ambush. Once ambushed, I am afraid most people will not survive."
Zhang Liao heard what he meant and asked, "Do you want me to lead Qianqi in front to explore the road?"
Dong Zhao nodded and said: "That's what you mean. I suspect that we sent a messenger and Jia Wenhe was arrested when the news was exposed. The Westerners closed the door and defended while passing the news to all directions. If this is the case, we will risk our lives to rush in.
It’s over!”
Zhang Liao thought about it for a while and explained Dong Zhao leniently: "It is indeed the case, but there is no need to think so bad. Maybe it was just because it was dark and rainy, so they moved very slowly and found it difficult to recover. And now we are caught by surprise.
We have come this far, as long as we can send His Majesty to Hanzhong, what is there to hesitate about?"
After that, Zhang Liao ordered a thousand soldiers and horses, ate some dry food, abandoned his auxiliary horses, put on light armor and weapons, and galloped southward. Soon, the sound of the Han River was heard, and the rain stopped.
, there were thick clouds hanging down in the sky, and the moon did not show its head, but it illuminated the clouds brightly. With this little light, the north-south avenue in front of Qishan Fort came into view.
Going south from here is the very famous Qishan Road in later generations. Among all the Shu roads, the Qishan Road is the smoothest and most convenient. Since the Spring and Autumn Period, it has been the main trade route between Qin and Shu. It can lead directly to the Qiang in the north.
Di Grassland, which leads directly to Yangping Pass in the south, is the only important road for Bashu and Shu to fight for Longshang. When Wei Xiao resisted Liu Xiu on the right side of Longshang, Gongsun Shu sent troops to rescue him from this road.
Zhang Liao led thousands of cavalry to Guanxia alone. It was late at night. Through the dim moonlight in the clouds, the shadows of the surrounding steep mountains were faintly visible. After the heavy rain, the mist spread along the river and submerged the valley mouth. It was dark and dark in the heavy fog.
, I couldn’t see where the city gate was, I could only hear the faint sound of beating watchmen on the city.
According to the agreement, if Jia Xu returned the envoy and rebelled, the east gate would be opened to welcome the Shu people into the fort. However, after waiting for a long time, there was still no movement in the city. After a while, the sound of horse hooves gradually came from the fog.
Without knowing the direction of the incoming person, the officers and soldiers of the Shu army were all wearing armor and holding swords, waiting quietly beside the horses. There was no light of fire, and a group of people gradually walked out of the fog in the west. These people dismounted and held the reins so as not to make too much noise. Wait.
When I got closer, I recognized the messenger from before.
At this time, the moonlight came out, and the wall and the road in front of the pass could be seen clearly. Under the guidance of the messenger, the Shu people were surprised to find that under the towering mountain fortress, it turned out that the city gate was ajar. This
It was the communication signal agreed by the emperor and Jia Xu in the letter. After the moonlight came, people on the city who were looking forward to reinforcements also discovered them. So someone raised a torch on the city and swayed it back and forth, which was to welcome them into the city. Upon seeing this, Zhang Liao stood up immediately, pulled out the sword on the ground, sent an envoy to report to Dong Zhao, and ordered the soldiers to put on their armor and mount their horses to enter the city. However, some of his close followers were still afraid when they heard the cries of killing in the city, and dissuaded him and said: "The situation in the city is
If you don't know, why don't you send a group of people to investigate first, and it won't be too late for the main group to enter the city." Zhang Liao didn't listen, but said to him: "Dong Shijun is the main group, I will be the small group to enter the city."
He then led the knights to gallop into the city. As soon as they arrived at the gate, they saw several people standing at the gate wearing armor and sabers. They all bowed their hands and saluted them. The person in charge said: "Master Jia is above. Please lead the general to the city." Zhang Liao also said.
Without hesitation, he rushed into the city gate with hundreds of horses.
Qishan Fort is essentially a military fortress built around a mountain. It does not have any civilian facilities. When entering, there is a narrow path for only five people to enter and exit side by side, which goes up around the mountain. The sound of swords becomes more obvious as you go up. Above
When he reached the first city wall, he saw more than ten people coming from the front, and he immediately dismounted to meet them. The man in front was dressed in military uniform and had a heroic posture, but his face had an extremely tired old look. It was Jia Xu. Jia Xu and Zhang Liao are both old acquaintances, so there is not much description here. Jia Xu directly asked: "How long will it take for His Majesty to arrive?" Zhang Liao asked: "Why is there chaos in the city?"
Jia Xu was speechless after hearing this, but a confidant on the side explained: "We have received the letter from the messenger a long time ago. We opened the city gate early, but we did not see the army coming. After midnight, the deputy general Gu Chen in the city knew about it and came to get it.
When you set up a military division, the two sides are fighting in the city. You came just in time. There are four thousand men and horses in the city, half on both sides. No one can do anything to the other, and they are about to send reinforcements!"
Zhang Liao looked toward the west of the city and saw a few torches shining brightly. It seemed that Gu Chen didn't know the news of the Shu people's arrival and was still killing them below. Zhang Liao then said, "The team will be here soon. Wen Hegong doesn't need to worry.
Boy, I will take off the head in a moment!" Then Jia Xu went straight to the battlefield without waiting for another word.
About half an hour later, the sound of horse hooves outside the city surged like the waves of a river. This was the arrival of a large force of the Shu army. Jia Xu hurried down to the city to greet them. Dong Zhao led hundreds of trusted knights up to the city and occupied the city.
High in the fortress, only Jia Xu and the emperor were left alone at the city gate.
Jia Xu looked at the emperor's weathered face and couldn't help but sigh. The emperor saw disappointment and uneasiness in his eyes, and he also knew what Jia Xu was thinking. Jia Xu had always thought that going south to Shuzhong was definitely not a wise move, and this time was no exception.
Therefore, the emperor could only remain silent. When Jia Xu saw this, he secretly sighed that fate was playing tricks on people, but he sighed and said with a smile: "Your Majesty and I have a beginning and an end, so I can die without regrets."