The old man's words can be said to hit the nail on the head.
The old man discovered the whereabouts of Di Qing and his party. If Di Qing let him go, he would always be worried.
They were worried that the old man would pass their news to the Liao people.
Therefore, when fighting, it is very likely that the hands and feet will be restrained to prevent an ambush.
Di Qing stared at the old man and said: "Don't worry, I have already decided to divide the troops into two groups. One group will raid Tongtai Pass with light vehicles and simple followers, and the other group will bring weapons and equipment to clear out the remaining Liao soldiers in the four fields.
I will not let my husband go, but I will not hurt his life either.
I will stay here, eat, live and travel with the soldiers and horses under my command. When I take Tongtai Pass, I will let you go."
The old man gave a bitter smile and said to Di Qing: "You kid, you are too kind-hearted. Although the little old man doesn't know the art of war, he also knows the principle that kindness does not lead the army. If you act like this, you will suffer a big loss sooner or later.
The little old man following you will be a drag after all."
The old man is old and cannot move quickly. Being in the army, he will inevitably have to involve one or two soldiers to take care of him.
He is in the army, which is of no benefit to the army, but rather harmful.
The old man knew this truth, so after knowing Di Qing's purpose, he wanted to die.
Di Qing waved his hand, "No need to say more, I have already made up my mind."
The old man smiled bitterly again, thought about it, and said to Di Qing very generously: "Young man, I don't want to eat your army's food for free. You can take those sheep and eat them."
Di Qing was stunned and nodded, "Okay, I'll ask the military clerk to give you the money to buy the sheep later."
The old man was stunned and said seriously: "The sheep are presented to you by the little old man."
Di Qing said calmly: "There are military rules in the army. If something belongs to the common people, you have to pay for it, and it must be 10% higher than the market price."
The old man's eyes widened in shock, as if he had heard something unbelievable.
While leading the old man into the den, Di Qing explained: "The new rules in the army, which all soldiers and horses must abide by, were set by several ministers in the court.
Violators will be executed immediately, regardless of status or merit."
The old man murmured to himself: "The princes in the Song Dynasty are all figures."
From the time the old man was born to now, I have never seen a soldier take the people's belongings and give them money.
The soldiers and horses of the Song and Liao countries took the people's things as if they were their own.
There is no point in giving money to others by taking advantage of others.
Occasionally, there were one or two people who gave money. After the incident, the generals in the army sent people to compensate them.
This was the first time that the old man saw someone actively giving money.
Di Qing led the old man into the mountain nest, and the old man saw a group of soldiers lying on the grass and taking a nap.
The scene was so spectacular that the old man squinted a little.
Two lines of tears couldn't stop flowing from the old man's eyes.
When Di Qing saw this, he said with a surprised look on his face: "Why are you crying?"
The old man wiped the tears on his face and said to Di Qing: "They are all good babies. You have to take them well. If you really can't beat them, just take them and run away. Don't let them fall into the ambush of the Liao people."
.”
Di Qing looked at the old man with a puzzled look.
The old man knew that Di Qing had doubts in his heart, so he whispered: "When the little old man was young, he was recruited into the army by the Liao people and went to Chenjiagu to help General Yang collect the corpses.
Thousands of soldiers fought bravely to kill the enemy at the entrance of Chenjiagu, but had no choice but to have reinforcements to help them. In the end, they could only die of exhaustion under the heavy siege of the Liao people.
The little old man has seen the scene of their tragic death, and still feels a little pain in his heart when he thinks about it."
Di Qing stared at the old man and said calmly: "Old man, even if we are defeated, we will not escape."
The old man's eyes widened in astonishment.
Di Qing solemnly said: "Before sending troops, Commander Cao made it clear that we will either win this battle or die together with 300,000 men."
When the old man heard this, he shouted in horror: "The Commander Cao you are talking about is Cao Wei, the son of Cao Bin, the former Privy Councilor of the Song Dynasty?"
Di Qing nodded.
The old man exclaimed: "Is he crazy to risk the life of three hundred thousand men? Even his father would not dare to do this."
Di Qing said in a deep voice: "This is my determination in the Song Dynasty to regain Yanyun."
The old man was so shocked that he couldn't say a word, so he could only follow Di Qing to the boulder and sit down in a daze.
Time flies and it's evening.
Di Qing and others started to get up and prepare.
The old man came back to his senses at this time, gave Di Qing a little tug, and asked with some surprise: "General Di, are you preparing to march at night?"
After Di Qing gave the order, he nodded to the old man.
The old man said with some worry: "How can the night-blind people in your army see the road clearly at night?"
The ancients had a single diet and lacked many nutrients, so many people suffered from night blindness.
When the old man saw that Di Qing and others were preparing to march at night, he was naturally worried.
When Di Qing heard this, he laughed in a low voice and said, "Don't worry, old man. Duke Yong once said that the reason why many officers in the army suffer from night blindness is because they eat too little delicious food.
So after we formed the Tiger Army, he often sent people to bring us some delicious food.
Today, there are no night-blind people among our army’s lieutenant generals.”
Kou Ji was probably too lazy to explain the medical theory to Di Qing and others, or he was afraid that he would be half-assed and the medical theory he said would be untenable, so he simply used a lame excuse to explain the matter.
Di Qing and others did not investigate further, so they told the old man the lame excuse Kou Ji had said.
After listening to Di Qing's words, the old man said doubtfully: "The soldiers in your army really don't have night blindness."
Di Qing nodded and said solemnly: "As long as the moonlight can shine, we can see."
When the old man heard this, he was a little hesitant. After a long time, he said hesitantly: "The soldiers in your army are not afraid of night blindness, but you can try to walk on the trail to Tongtai Pass.
Liao people rarely set foot on the trails, so if you follow the trails, the Liao people will definitely not find you.
When you cross the trail and arrive five miles outside Tongtai Pass, the Liao people may discover you."
When Di Qing heard this, his eyes widened in shock and he stood there for a long time.
After regaining consciousness for a while, I almost jumped up with excitement.
He said in a trembling voice: "What I mean is that you know a trail that can hide the eyes and ears of the Liao people and allow us to arrive five miles outside Tongtai Pass silently?"
The old man probably also realized that what he said was very useful to Di Qing, so he said cautiously: "That trail is not easy to walk, there are many dark spots, and you will fall into it if you are not careful.
Once you get stuck, 99% of the time you won't be able to pull yourself out.
Liao people like to ride their horses and run wildly, but places are not suitable for horse racing, so Liao people rarely go there."
Di Qing suppressed his excitement and shouted to Peng Yue and others who were walking towards him: "Tell the soldiers in the army that there is no need to divide the troops into two groups. Let's rush to Tongtai Pass together tonight."
Peng Yue and others just walked up to Di Qing and were slightly stunned when they heard Di Qing's words.
Di Qing said with a slightly trembling voice: "I know a small path."
Peng Yue and others turned around and went to deliver the order without saying a word.
When the old man saw this, he felt a little panicked, "You... which path do you want to take?"
Di Qing nodded firmly.
The old man waved his hands repeatedly, "That won't work, that won't work. If any of the dolls get stuck in the quagmire and cannot be rescued, the little old man will feel guilty for the rest of his life."
Di Qing solemnly said to the old man: "We will do whatever it takes to win Tongtai Pass."
The old man said with a sad face: "Then you send two or three people who are fast and can recognize the road quickly. They will go one step ahead with the little old man and walk back and forth a few more times to give it a try first."
Before Di Qing could speak, the old man murmured to himself, "You are so innocent, and you don't doubt that the little old man is a bad person. What if the little old man is a spy of the Liao people? What if there is an ambush by the Liao army ahead?
Woolen cloth?
The little old man will take the people to walk a few more times to get familiar with the roads, and then let your people see if there are any ambush.
That’s how it’s appropriate.”
The old man was also a warm-hearted person and thought very thoughtfully about Di Qing.
In fact, Di Qing also wanted to send someone to find out the situation with the old man first.
The old man proposed it himself, so there was no need to say Di Qing's words.
After deciding to take the trail, Di Qing was unambiguous and immediately summoned a dozen agile men from the army to follow the old man and set off first.
The old man insisted on letting the soldiers in the army help him onto the horse, and then took the scouts one step ahead.
By the time Di Qing and others led their troops and horses and transported military equipment to the trail described by the old man, it was already dark.
The old man had already led the scouts back and forth through the most dangerous places on the trail.
The most dangerous part of the trail is the front section.
There are several dangerous spots in the front section, which are very deadly.
Once a person is trapped, almost no one can come out alive.
There are not many dangers in the middle and rear sections.
So the middle and back sections are not difficult to walk.
When the old man led Di Qing and his party into the trail, he specifically ordered Di Qing to dismantle the baskets of some carriages and remove the wooden boards. When they reached the dangerous spots in the middle and rear sections, they could use the wooden boards to pounce on them to reduce the danger and save the time.
The time it takes to feel your way forward.
Di Qing and others led their soldiers and horses into the trail.
The old man then wandered among the army.
Every time he passed a dangerous place, the old man stood next to it, reminding every passing soldier that there was no idea ahead.
With the old man's enthusiastic help, the troops led by Di Qing passed through the most dangerous part of the front section without any danger.
You don’t need to be so cautious on the road behind.
An old man warned in advance, the scouts laid planks, and the army moved forward quickly.
When we passed the middle section of the road, the sky started to get slightly brighter.
When we reached the back section, the sky was already bright.
The old man told the trail and arrived five miles outside Tongtai Pass.
But in fact, when Di Qing and his party appeared seven miles outside Tongtai Pass, they were discovered by patrolling Liao soldiers.
"General! My subordinates and others bumped into the Liao soldiers in front and were discovered."
After being discovered by the Liao soldiers, the military scouts immediately ran to Di Qing to report.
When the old man heard this, his face turned pale, "How could it be possible? How could it be possible? How could it be possible to run into the Liao soldiers in advance?"
The old man thought he had missed Di Qing's important event, and said to Di Qing guiltily: "I have been walking on this road for more than ten years, and I have never seen anyone from Liao appear."
Di Qing laughed loudly and said: "Seven miles of land is enough."
Di Qing said to the old man: "I will take care of myself, I will lead the soldiers to rush over. If we win this battle, I will take the lead."
The old man stared at Di Qing blankly and said in astonishment: "Little old man...are you okay?"
In this era, many people keep their promises and stick to their promises.
Whatever has been promised must be fulfilled even if it costs one's life.
Whatever has been promised cannot be broken even by a penny.
If it's wrong, it's your own fault.
Even if what he does has nothing to do with him.
It's so simple that it makes people feel distressed.
When Di Qing saw the old man staring blankly at him, he smiled and shook his head.
The old man breathed a sigh of relief, but he was still blaming himself.
Di Qing had no time to care about the old man's mood.
Seven miles of land.
He led his soldiers to charge and only needed two sticks of incense.
In the time of two sticks of incense, even if the Liao scouts sent the news back to Tongtai Pass, the people in Tongtai Pass would not be able to respond.
When the soldiers and horses of the Song Dynasty rushed to Tongtai Pass, the Liao soldiers in Tongtai Pass got the news.
There was no time to move important ordnance such as rolling logs and stones to the top of the city.
Di Qing sat upright on the horse, put on the mask that Kou Ji gave him, and raised the spear in his hand.
The gun tip was waved and pointed directly in the direction of Tongtaiguan.
"Kill through! Break the level!"
Di Qing took the lead and rushed out.
The soldiers of the Tiger Army followed closely behind Di Qing with weapons in hand.
The sound of the horse's hooves was like thunder, and it rolled away.
The old man stared blankly as one soldier after another charged past him.
He stood there and murmured: "You are all good men. Don't die. Come back alive. From now on, I will tend sheep and feed you fat sheep for free."
When Di Qing and others rushed out.
The scene at the entrance of the Chenjia Valley in the past appeared in front of the old man again.
Thousands of men fell to the ground, dead from exhaustion, their chests were stabbed into sieves, it was too horrible to see.
They were lying on the ground and couldn't wake up even if they screamed.
Not a single living person.
The blood soaked the loess, and the loess turned into balls of blood mud.
He looked heartbroken.
The youngest corpse he collected was only fourteen years old.
The reason why he knew the little guy's age was because he found a family letter and a suicide note in the little guy's arms, a suicide note with illegible words stained with blood.
That little guy didn't even know why he was fighting. He only knew that if he made meritorious deeds on the battlefield, he would get some reward money, and when he got it back, he could make his mother and brother eat meat.
But this little guy who didn't know why he was fighting didn't take a step back when fighting the Liao people.
The stab wounds and arrow wounds were all on the chest, while the back was as white as jade.
He had been keeping the little guy's family letters, hoping that one day Yan Yun would return to the Song Dynasty and he could personally deliver the little guy's family letters to his mother and younger brother.
Di Qing naturally couldn't care about the old man's mood, nor could the soldiers of the Tiger Character Army.
After Di Qing led his men to launch the charge, he had no other thoughts but one thought in his mind.