The most useful organ in Yu Wenshi's body was his tongue. He licked four bowls of paste cleanly like a whirlwind. Without waiting for Liu Hongji and others to ask questions, he immediately took the initiative to tell everyone what happened to the expeditionary force.
More than ten days ago, after forcing Goguryeo to agree to cede territory and sue for peace, the expeditionary army slowly retreated. Unexpectedly, the Goguryeo people did not have the habit of keeping their promises. When they saw the Sui army retreating, they immediately harassed them along the way. In order to avoid being noticed by the enemy, the food collapse After a break, the soldiers and horses of the Sui Dynasty formed a square formation, fought and moved, and retreated to the bank of Sashui River on July 24th. The army was just halfway across, when hundreds of thousands of Goguryeo people came up from all directions to kill. At this time, the soldiers They had been relying on rice porridge for four or five days in a row. They were already dizzy from hunger and had no energy to fight anymore. All of a sudden, all the troops of the nine armies were defeated. Xin Shixiong, the general of Zuotunwei, died on the spot, and other armies Countless people were captured and killed. (Note 1)
After the Goguryeo people succeeded in one attack, they immediately followed up and killed them. They chased from the north bank of Sa River to the south bank of Mazhai River and fought for more than 300 miles. Thanks to the bravery of the two generals Wang Rengong and Li Jing, they personally led the dead soldiers to the rear. The expeditionary force avoided the fate of destruction. The pontoon bridge built by the army on the water of Mazhai had long been destroyed by the Goguryeo people. The surviving soldiers used wood and sheepskins as rafts and spent a lot of effort to cross Mazhai. zhaishui
Everyone thought they could escape this time, but who knew that as soon as they landed, the soldiers from various cities in Goguryeo and the tribes from Liaodong who had stayed behind before the Eastern Expedition came together to kill them. After a fierce battle, the last tens of thousands of survivors were killed. They were also rushed to pieces. Now, except for Xin Shixiong, who is certain to have died in the battle, there is no news about the nine army commanders. As for the ordinary soldiers, they are all dead and scattered, and only one of them is left. .
Yu Wenshiji's words were like cold water, extinguishing the last glimmer of hope in everyone's hearts. Everyone had originally expected to take out 10,000 or 20,000 of the 300,000 troops, so the risk was not in vain. Now, not only were 10,000 shi of food going to waste, but it was also a question of whether everyone could return to Huaiyuan Town safely. Wang Yuantong, Qi Poning and others were so angry that they cursed General Zuo Yiwei, Yu Wen, regardless of the fact that Shi Yuwen was right in front of them. It is said that clever tricks harm people. Although Li Jiancheng, Qian Jiulong and others were mature and prudent, they were so frustrated that they did not even want to say a word of comfort to Yuwen Shiji.
Only Liu Hongji was still unwilling to give in. He took half a step forward, grabbed Yuwen Shiji's shoulder and asked: "Do you know if there are any remnant soldiers of the Sui Dynasty nearby, at Bobu Village? Didn't your father agree with the Tang Dynasty to receive supplies there? ?”
"I don't know much about the remnant soldiers. Everyone was running for their own lives at that time, so how could they care about others?" Yu Wenshiji shook his head and replied with a wry smile, "As for Bobi Village, my father did send three thousand cavalry to retreat first and arrived at Bobi Village. The stronghold received military rations. In the morning, I heard from the brothers who fled that the stronghold was still in our hands. However, it was surrounded by dozens of Goguryeo soldiers and had no food and no support. No one could escape alive unless they had wings!"
"I'm going to save Bobu Village!" Liu Hongji suddenly said something, startling everyone.
"Brother Liu, let's..." Li Jiancheng glanced at Yuwen Shiji and swallowed the second half of his sentence. In front of outsiders, he didn't want to question Liu Hongji's decision. But the food protection army looked huge, and all the soldiers were added to it. There were only more than 800 people at the same time. To provoke Goguryeo's tens of thousands of troops with just a few hundred people, the result would be the same as beating a dog with meat buns.
"Someone must go back and report the news of the defeat of the expeditionary force to His Majesty as soon as possible. We have to rescue the trapped brothers in Bobi Village, otherwise, they will definitely be slaughtered by the Goguryeo people in less than three days." Liu Hongji thought.
After thinking for a while, he expressed his views to several major generals as simply as possible. "If we all withdraw now, the Goguryeo people will be chasing us from all directions. We may not be able to withdraw even one of us. If some people withdraw first, others will not be able to withdraw."
If we fight towards Bopi Village tonight, the Goguryeo people will not be able to figure out our reality. Even if we cannot save many brothers, we can at least buy a day for those who retreated first..."
"It's true that newborn calves are not afraid of tigers!" Before Liu Hongji could finish speaking, Yu Wenshiji interjected coldly. This sentence had no derogatory meaning, but it rolled off his tongue, but it was particularly harsh.
"Liu is a humble person, but he dare not forget his duties!" Liu Hongji glanced at Yuwen Shiji and replied calmly.
The cold arrow hit the stone, but Yu Wenshiji saw no effect. He shrugged his shoulders, and with the support of the only remaining personal soldier, he wandered towards the grain bag among the soldiers.
Li Jiancheng looked at his back and curled his lips, disdainful of this guy's character. After a slight hesitation, he whispered to Liu Hongji, "Since Brother Hongji has a countermeasure, I am willing to help Brother Hongji and lead the troops personally."
Lift the siege of Bopi Village. As for the useless Yuwen family, please ask Brother Hongji to escort him back to Huaiyuan so that someone can personally confirm to Your Majesty the failure of this expedition!"
"You can't go there!" Liu Hongji shook his head and rejected Li Jiancheng's kindness.
"Does it mean that Brother Hongji thinks that my martial arts and riding skills are not as good as yours?" Li Jiancheng suddenly turned cold and asked pretending to be dissatisfied. Although both forward and retreat paths are dangerous, after all, the retreating troops have a high chance of survival.
As the eldest son of Duke Tang, I must show some extraordinary courage at critical moments, so as not to embarrass the family.
"What Zijin didn't know is that the danger of retreating is no less than moving forward to rescue the siege. If we divide our troops, the retreating troops must take away half of the horses and march westward before dark, making the Goguryeo people think that we have seen that there is no hope of rescue.
Evacuate the entire army. Only when night falls can we put away the flags, bury the food, and then disappear quietly in the darkness! This method is very risky. If the enemy sees through our true situation, everyone will face destruction.
Disaster!" Liu Hongji lowered his voice and explained to Li Jiancheng, "Therefore, Zigu must personally preside over the retreat of the army. Can he bring back the news of the expeditionary army's defeat in time? Can he let His Majesty the Emperor know what we have done in Liaodong?
You know, it will fall on you alone!"
This sentence was tantamount to a farewell to life and death. Li Jiancheng could no longer compete with Liu Hongji. He nodded with red eyes and whispered: "Brother Hongji, don't worry, as long as I am alive, I will not let your deeds be forgotten by the historians."
!”
"That's good, let's gather the brothers and tell them the truth!" Liu Hongji reached out and patted Li Jiancheng heavily on the shoulder. Then he opened his legs and strode to the brothers.
From the moment they saw Yu Wenshi and all the brothers who were protecting the grain, they already knew that all their efforts were in vain. At this moment, everyone was anxiously waiting for the next step of the general's arrangements. When they saw Liu Hongji approaching, they immediately stood in front of the woods.
In formation.
Liu Hongji smiled, and his eyes slowly swept over the faces of the brothers who had been together for more than nine months. After seeing each face clearly, he cleared his throat and said loudly: "The words of the Prince Consort just now must be true."
Everyone has heard it, and I won’t repeat it again. The expeditionary force has been defeated, and our mission of delivering food is over! However, there are still thousands of brothers trapped in Bobi Village, and we cannot just watch their heads.
It was cut down and built into a pagoda. And the feat of us people delivering food thousands of miles also needs someone to take it back to let His Majesty the Emperor know. Therefore, I decided to divide the team into two halves, and half of the people fought back to Huaiyuan Town.
Deliver the message. The other half rushed forward to pick up the brothers who were trapped in Bobi Village. As for which side has a better chance of survival, to be honest, Liu doesn’t know. Therefore, Liu will not order troops, you can do it yourself
Choose whether to kill forward or to kill backward. Those who are willing to go forward with Liu, please stand beside Liu. Those who are willing to take our affairs back to Sui Dynasty, please stand still where you are!"
After saying that, Liu Hongji took three steps back and stood under an ancient pine holding a knife.
There was silence in front of the woods, and only the sound of the wind blowing and the roaring of the pines reached everyone's ears. The eight hundred warriors who protected the food looked at me, and I looked at you, and they didn't know what to choose for a moment. Everyone knew that walking forward was 80% correct.
He wanted to die, so he was unwilling to give up the colorful world outside him. But seeing that thousands of people were about to turn into towers of human heads without saving them, no one could bear to do so.
After a moment of hesitation, Li Xu slowly walked towards Liu Hongji. The two were friends, and even though he was a little scared at the moment, he did not want to leave Liu Hongji alone. The three warriors, Li Liang and Gao Xiang, led the three brigades to meet their captain.
He stepped forward, shook his head with a smile, and followed quickly. As soon as the three people moved, the leader of the Tiger Wing Regiment strode out of the crowd. Immediately after, the soldiers of other regiments and brigades walked out with a "hurrah"
A large group of people walked quickly behind Liu Hongji and stood with their heads held high.
Zhang Xiu and several soldiers came to Li Xu, but Li Xu punched him back. "Don't join in the fun. Go back to Huaiyuan. There is a box in my tent. Please help me take the contents back to my hometown."
Xu paused and said calmly: "If I can't come back, please take more care of my parents and Uncle Baosheng!"
"Xu Zi!" Zhang Xiu grinned, tears rolling down his face.
"Come over quickly, don't embarrass our two families!" Li Xu seemed to suddenly become Zhang Xiu's brother, wiping his face and whispering.
"Xu Zi! You must come back!" Zhang Xiu stretched out his hand and wiped his eyes a few times, then stumbled to the other side. Opposite Liu Hongji, Li Jiancheng, Qian Jiulong, Wang Yuantong, Qi Poning and others stood upright and stood at attention, leading the
More than 400 soldiers behind him gave a military salute to Liu Hongji and others.
"Take care!" Liu Hongji, Li Xu, Qin Ziying and others returned the favor with military salutes. The two sides looked at each other and laughed at the same time. After laughing, Li Jiancheng ordered his men to set up a battle array and drive more than a thousand war horses.
He turned around and headed west.
The sun shines down from the western sky, illuminating more than a hundred war flags raised high. Hula la, each war flag has the word "Sui" rolled up on it. (To be continued)