The Xiaoliao River meanders westward, crossing Xincheng and Gaimou, and meets the Daliang River in the south of Liaodong City, and merges into the Daliao River. For more than ten days, corpses floated down the Daliao River every day, and the Sui troops stationed on the west bank faced
This has long been customary. Except for the occasional person who thought about the love of the robe, cut grass for incense, cut leaves for money, and burned a stream of smoke to see off the brothers drifting to the sea, most of the time, everyone paid attention to the people in the middle of the river.
The rotting corpses were ignored. The plump old birds and flies, not much smaller than grasshoppers, were allowed to hold a feast on the floating corpses, dancing and singing.
It's not that they are cruel, but that they have long been numb. The river in front of them has become a veritable river of death. After the news of the defeat of the expeditionary force came, the army besieged outside Liaodong City retreated in panic. Guang was squeezed out during the withdrawal.
Tens of thousands of soldiers drowned on the pontoon bridge. Except for Wei Wensheng's army who was able to survive the 24-way Liao army, all the other armies suffered heavy losses. The worst of all was the 300,000 soldiers who took a roundabout way to attack Pyongyang.
Of the elite, less than 2,700 have returned to western Liaoning so far, and the rest have all become heroes for thousands of years.
"Gah!" An old bird that was sleeping on the treetop screamed, flapped its wings and flew toward the center of the river. Another "food" floated down, this time it seemed fresher, and it had to hurry up and grab a spot.
A good location, otherwise the place where you can put your feet would be crowded with fellow travelers.
It turned out that the worry of this stupid bird was unnecessary. There were too many corpses suddenly floating down in the river, so many that the crows did not have to fight for them. Some unknown fish gathered behind these corpses, with double fins and
The tail swept out a long water trail on the black river surface.
The soldiers guarding the pontoon bridge also saw the tragic scene floating upstream. They gathered at the bridge and talked about it. It had been thirteen days since the army had withdrawn to western Liaoning. It stands to reason that the captured soldiers had already been slaughtered by the Goguryeo people. It was impossible for there to be any more.
So many people were thrown into the Liao River at once. Moreover, the heads of these corpses seemed to be left on their necks, and they were not used by the Goguryeo people to build pagodas.
"Master Colonel, do you want to fish it out or not?" A soldier asked his captain for instructions in a low voice.
"What the hell, what should I do if I catch the plague? It's not winter!" The captain guarding the bridge looked around and scolded him angrily. The two pontoon bridges should have been burned down long ago, and the firewood and butter were piled on the riverside.
It was almost moldy, but Yu Wenshu, the old man who had gone out into the wild, had to stop everyone from starting a fire, saying that his son had not been heard from yet and might escape tomorrow. The man in charge of the warehouses in Huaiyuan, Liucheng and Yanjun
Lieutenant General Li Yuan also joined in the fun and sent his son to the bridge to supervise the situation every day, forcing everyone to wait for a few more days.
Wait, why didn't his grandma's emperor wait? After losing the battle, he ran back to the Central Plains with a slap on the butt. General Wei Wensheng was left with less than 30,000 soldiers to garrison here. Once the Goguryeo people took advantage of the victory, they would kill him.
Come here, 30,000 soldiers are just a piece of food on someone’s plate?!
"Boss, the dead body seems to be wearing Goguryeo clothes. It won't be killed by our people, right?" Someone didn't look at it, lowered his voice and continued to explore the truth.
He was answered with a heavy big foot. The bridge guard kicked the talkative guy to the ground, then stepped on him, holding the handle of the knife in his hand and threatening: "Heartless, don't talk nonsense.
How is it possible that there are still our troops on the east bank of the river? Even if there were, who would have the guts to challenge the Goguryeo people in the face of a big defeat? It must be a civil strife among the Goguryeo people. If you don’t want to cross the river to be a spy, just shut up for me.
That bad mouth!"
"Yes, yes!" The beaten soldier cried and nodded frequently.
The captain guarding the bridge turned his eyes coldly and glanced at all the brothers nearby. "Listen, too, and remind each other. If you want to go home alive and have your children, don't talk nonsense!" After scolding, he turned his eyes to
He glanced under a tent not far away, and there was a bit of coldness in his brows: "Three hundred thousand brothers have been wasted by the old bastard, why should we go to the other side of the river to die for his son? He is all born and raised by his mother.
Yes, who is more humble than whom?"
In the tent, the old man who was privately called a bastard suddenly shuddered and pushed himself to sit up. However, his body was so weak that he even tried twice in a row and failed to get up. He stood there.
The general outside the tent heard the commotion inside and rushed forward to help, but the old man didn't appreciate it. He pushed the general away, slammed his palm on the ground, and stood up with an angry shout of "Hey!"
After swaying back and forth a few times, he finally stabilized his body.
"Shibo, be careful!" The young man sitting opposite the old man also stood up and warned in a low voice.
"Be careful, hey, I only regret that I didn't die in Liaodong!" The old man staggered towards the tent, letting the noon sun illuminate his gray hair. Without a military uniform or official robe, he looked like an ordinary person.
There was no difference between his father and his old face. His old face was lined with wrinkles, and his eyes looking toward the east bank of the Liao River were full of anxiety.
"Uncle Yuwen, don't be discouraged. Although the emperor demoted you, he also knows that you are not at fault. Someday the emperor is relieved of his anger, and he will definitely use you again!" The young man followed and walked out of the tent, and the sun instantly illuminated it.
He has broad shoulders, a gentle face, and a pair of slightly tired eyes.
"Prince Tang Gong and Lord Yuwen are both here!" The soldiers by the Liao River were startled and carefully shut their mouths. It was these two people who firmly opposed burning the pontoon bridge. The appearance of corpses of Goguryeo soldiers on the river must not be allowed to happen.
They knew that otherwise, with the power behind these two people, they might come up with something new. These days, officials are just talking, but soldiers are risking their lives.
"Zi Gu, did you really see Shi Ji and that child go to save Bobi Village?" Yu Wenshu looked at Li Jiancheng and asked the same question for the hundredth time. This once all-powerful old general was so weak at the moment, as if
If a gust of wind blows, his body can be broken into two pieces.
"Brother Renren said that he wanted to defend the reputation of the Yuwen family! In addition to him, there were more than 300 brothers around Hongji and Zhongjian at that time. They should have hope of success!" Li Jiancheng nodded and replied stubbornly. He did not believe Liu
Hong Ji and Li Xu were trapped in Liaodong. Both of them were his good friends, one was his elder brother and the other was like his brother.
"There are more than 300 people, what a sin I have done! We lost 300,000 troops, but let 300 people die!" Yu Wenshu muttered to himself, and slowly walked a few steps towards the Liao River. No.
I don't know whether it was because his legs were numb after sitting for too long, or because his body was already weak. Every time he took a step, he seemed to fall. But every time his body fell down, he held on and straightened up again, like a tree that had come alive.
The old trees of unknown age are fighting against the light and wind and rain unyieldingly.
The guards of the Yuwen family did not dare to help him. They knew the old general's temper and refused to admit that he was old at any time. Moreover, the reason for his current general's weakness was not physical.
"Shibo, there is no need to blame yourself. Everyone has said that this is not your responsibility!" Although the Li family and the Yuwen family have always been at odds, at this moment, Li Jiancheng could not bear to make matters worse.
Yuwen Shu was not the only one to be struck by this unprecedented defeat since the founding of the Sui Dynasty. On the day when Li Jiancheng sent the news of the defeat of the expeditionary force to the military camp, Duan Wenzhen, Minister of the Ministry of War, vomited blood and died, and the army withdrew to the western Liaoning road. The ministers of the Ministry of Industry, Yuwen Kai, and King Sikong Guande* died of illness one after another. Subsequently, His Majesty the Emperor put all the generals who had fled from Liaodong into prison to await trial. Yu Wenshu only gave him a reduced position because of his outstanding achievements in the past. Punishment for the people.
"My dear nephew, stop comforting me. If I had not been greedy for fame and insisted on withdrawing my troops that day..." Yu Wenshu shook his head, and a glistening trace of saliva flowed from the corner of his mouth. No one reminded him, and he himself couldn't notice it.
At the Mazhai River, if he had insisted on withdrawing his troops, the other nine generals should have followed him. After all, they had lower qualifications in the army than him. But why didn't he insist? The old man thought painfully, and his heart was full of Feeling guilty.
In a moment of confusion, he not only ruined an army of 300,000 men, but also ruined the most outstanding son of the Yuwen family. If he lost even this little family relationship with His Majesty the Emperor, the glory of the Yuwen family would soon come to an end. "What a sin, It's all my fault." The corners of Yu Wenshu's black mouth kept twitching, and the wind blew over, blowing his gray hair into the wind one by one.
Li Jiancheng didn't know what to say to comfort Yu Wenshu, so he had to stand beside the old man and look eastward with him. At this moment, the fields on the east bank of the Liao River were silent, except for the occasional sound of horns, which were from Goguryeo. The scouts are greeting each other. Although the Battle of Liaodong has ended, the war between the two countries is far from over.
"Do you think Shiji and the others will really come back safely?" Yu Wenshu stared at the other side of the river in a daze, grinned, and asked again.
"I can definitely come back, I can definitely do it!" Li Jiancheng vowed. "As long as we leave this bridge to them!" He pointed to the two bridge decks not far away with a lot of firewood piled on them.
His Majesty the Emperor had already issued an order to burn down the pontoon bridge. General Wei Wensheng, who was responsible for guarding the Sui Dynasty border, only reluctantly agreed not to order the soldiers to set fire until the Goguryeo army was discovered because of the face of the Li family and the Yuwen family. The Li family's reputation cannot last for a few days. At this time, Li Jiancheng must hold Yu Wenshu back so that he does not give up hope of saving his son.
"Woo--Woo-Woo!" Several more horn sounds were heard from the other side of the river, sad and long. A layer of light yellow clouds seemed to be floating on the horizon. Slowly, the layer of yellow clouds floated closer and closer. Suddenly, there was a strange sound on the river. The crows on the corpse all took flight, and their hula-la blocked out the midday sun.
It's the enemy! Li Jiancheng and Yu Wenshu held the handles of the knives at their waists at the same time. The generals of the two families quickly ran forward, protecting their masters behind them. In the astonished eyes of everyone, the yellow clouds drifted closer and closer, southeast, From the northeast and due east directions, several different streams of smoke and dust rushed high into the air.
"Burn the bridge with fire!" A messenger rode a fast horse and ran across the river at high speed. Li Jiancheng hurried up to meet him, but was pushed aside by the soldiers by the river.
"Can't burn, there are still soldiers who haven't come back!" Li Jiancheng protested loudly, but no one listened. The Sui defenders who crowded over opened the Gebao and threw pieces of stinky butter into the dry firewood.
"Can't burn, please. Don't burn! Wait a minute, I want to see General Wei! I want to see General Wei!" Li Jiancheng desperately pushed away the soldiers blocking him, and ran onto the bridge with his family generals, kicking and kicking
He kicked away butter and firewood with his feet. But the soldiers protecting the bridge ignored him and piled more firewood and butter on the bridge.
"Master Li, please get out of the way. It has been thirteen days and there is no way anyone will come back!" An officer wearing the uniform of a fifth-grade general advised in a low voice. He had heard of the heroic deeds of the warriors who protected food supplies.
, but he cannot destroy the entire Sui Dynasty for a legend.
"Master Li, please step back!" Several soldiers stepped forward and took Li Jiancheng's arm.
Li Jiancheng's body slowly softened. He no longer resisted and allowed the other party to pull him away from the firewood pile. The other general said well that it had been thirteen days and the army had withdrawn from Liashui for thirteen days.
Liu Hongji had been separated for sixteen days, and three hundred people had been trapped in enemy territory for sixteen days. Unless a miracle happened, it was impossible to come back. He looked at Yu Wenshu, but saw that the old general did not say a word, and his old body was trembling.
Standing like a residual lotus plant in the wind.
Flames rose into the sky, blocking the Goguryeo people's road to western Liaoning. The soldiers guarding the bridge breathed a sigh of relief, evacuated the fire bridge one after another, and assembled into teams on the river beach.
Suddenly, someone pointed to the other side of the Liao River and screamed loudly.
"Red flag, red battle flag!" Several soldiers with sharp eyes screamed, and their faces turned pale in an instant.
Indeed, there was a broken scarlet battle flag in the distance that picked out the horizon and rushed towards the burning pontoon faster than the other smoke and dust.
Under the red flag was a group of soldiers wearing Sui uniforms. They rushed towards the pontoon and towards the flames, but were forced back from the pontoon by the flames.
They stood on the east bank of the roaring Liao River, only a bridge away from their hometown. From all around, tens of thousands of Goguryeo people rode towards them, swallowing them up like a tide in an instant.
"Little San'er!" Old General Yuwenshu screamed and ran a few steps towards the river, spit out a few mouthfuls of blood, and threw himself on the river beach.
"Brother Hongji!" Li Jiancheng burst into tears and knelt down towards the battlefield on the other side of the river, bowing deeply.
On the other side of the river, a red flag fluttered in the smoke and dust, and finally disappeared in the smoke and dust.
Volume 2: Mistaken title, end of volume
Note 1: Sa River is the current Qingchuan River, and Mazhai River is the current Yalu River. Goguryeo was a large oriental tribe in the Sui Dynasty, which was later destroyed by the Tang Dynasty. It has no direct relationship with the current Goryeo people.
Note 2: Fuyu is now Siping. Domestic is today's Ji'an. Gewu Village below is now Tonghua. There was no city here on the map of the Sui Dynasty, but Gewu Prefecture was established here in the Tang Dynasty.
Note 3: Xiaoliao River is a tributary of the Liao River, flowing into the Liao River from east to southwest. (To be continued)
