The clatter of horse hooves echoed throughout the night sky.
The mountains and forests are secluded, the road is dark, and the road ahead seems like an endless abyss, ready to swallow everything.
Gongsun Zan's face was gloomy, as if water was dripping from his eyes, and he kept urging the boasted white horse to gallop forward, and he was already approaching a small mountain col ahead.
"General Gongsun, look, after passing this mountain, you will reach the seaside. My Ming Gong is already waiting for the general at the seaside. He will be there soon."
Liu Beijun's scout, who was leading the way for Gongsun Zan, saw the mountain col and suddenly felt happy and shouted to Gongsun Zan.
As an excellent scout, it is basic common sense to remember the terrain. After they arrived today, they had already searched the area. Instead, they spent most of the day on the way to find Gongsun Zan.
After hearing the scout's words, Gongsun Zan finally relaxed his worries.
Suddenly there was a rustling sound in front of them. Everyone was nervous for a while, and then they heard someone shouting: "Who is it?"
"Xuande, it's me."
Gongsun Zan recognized Liu Bei's voice and immediately responded in a deep voice.
"Bogui."
Liu Bei immediately rode out from the nearby mountains and forests. Several guards around him lit torches, and the two met again in the night.
"Father."
Gongsun Xu also walked out and asked hurriedly: "Father, are you not injured?"
Gongsun Zan shook his head: "It doesn't matter to me, it's a pity for the soldiers..."
Liu Bei said in a deep voice: "This is my fault. If I hadn't led the troops south to assist Wentai and Mengde, Bogui would not have suffered such a crime."
Gongsun Zan said: "It has nothing to do with Xuande. Guo Rang once advised me that I was careless. I didn't expect that Yuan Shao suddenly attacked me. Today I also attacked Yuan Shao head-on and defeated his front army. I didn't expect that in
At this juncture, they still dare to attack me."
"As long as Bogui is fine, I will go back to Youzhou to reorganize the troops and restore military strength. At that time, we have agreed to go south together to eradicate Yuan Shao and other national traitors!"
Liu Bei also expressed his condolences.
Gongsun Zan has always been stubborn in character, but being stubborn does not mean being narrow-minded. In this matter, it is indeed his problem. Tian Yu once reminded him to be careful about Yuan Shao taking advantage of Liu Bei's southward attack, but Gongsun Zan didn't take it seriously at all.
This time too, after raiding Ju Yi's tribe, he returned with a great victory. He thought that Yuan Shao would be afraid of his reputation and did not dare to attack overnight. However, even if he lost the battle, he dared to continue fighting. It can be said that he lost his wife and lost his troops.
.
Therefore, it was impossible for Gongsun Zan to blame Liu Bei. What's more, he rushed all the way from Runan to rescue him and arrived at the seaside in a big boat in time. He was already very loyal, and there was nothing to criticize.
The two chatted for a while. At this moment, a fire appeared in the distance, seven or eight miles away. First there was a little spark, and then like countless stars being lit up, new fires continued to appear. At the end of the road
Flashing, running towards this side quickly.
"General, the enemy is catching up."
General Tian Kai said hurriedly.
Because the incident happened suddenly, none of Gongsun Zan's generals were around, including the chief minister Guan Jing, the chief secretary Tian Yu, the generals Shan Jing, Wen Ze and others were missing. Only Tian Kai, his deputy general of cavalry, was always with him.
After hearing what Tian Kai said, Liu Bei quickly said: "Bogui, there is no need to panic. I have already laid out my men. When the enemy comes here, they will be buried."
"good."
Gongsun Zan was overjoyed and said, "I'll leave everything to Xuande."
"Bogui just go to the boat and wait."
Liu Bei waved his hand.
Although Gongsun Zan had already received them, transporting hundreds of them and horses to a large ship in a small boat would not be a matter of time, not to mention many of Gongsun Zan's subordinates could not ignore them.
Now there is fighting everywhere and it is chaos. Only Gongsun Zan came out. Many of his cavalry and infantry are basically scattered in the wild. They can help as much as they can.
After all, these are Gongsun Zan's elite troops. If they all die here, it will be a huge blow to him and his vitality will be severely damaged.
Therefore, in Liu Bei's opinion, he should first stop the enemy troops and cover Gongsun Zan's smooth boarding.
After Gongsun Zan boarded the ship, they would wait and see. If there were still pursuers behind, or if Gongsun Zan's troops had evacuated to the seaside, they would also act by ear and make decisions based on the situation.
"Brother Bogui."
At this time, another purple horse galloped from behind. It was Chen Mu who saw some movement here and came over to observe the situation.
Liu Bei said: "Zi Gui, you came just in time. Let Bogui get on the boat first."
"good."
Chen Mu nodded, pointed in the direction of the seaside not far away and said, "Brother Bogui, please."
"The son of hard work has returned to his virtuous brother."
Gongsun Zan cupped his hands, got on his horse, and galloped away after Chen Mu.
As they moved around, there was the sound of hundreds of horses galloping.
The soldiers of Ju Yijun who were rushing at the front in the distance immediately heard the situation and ran back to find Ju Yi and said: "General, there is the sound of galloping horses' hooves a few miles ahead."
"Gongsun Zan is just ahead."
Ju Yi was overjoyed and shouted to the soldiers around him: "As long as we capture Gongsun Zan alive, be promoted to an official position, and become rich and powerful, we will be right in front of our eyes. Everyone, chase after him!"
"Chase!"
The soldiers were very excited.
Generally speaking, if the infantry wants to chase the cavalry, it will be difficult to reach the sky.
But one thing you need to know is that Gongsun Zan only charged in the afternoon, and his power could not recover so quickly.
And the continuous running away is a great test for the horse's endurance.
It is almost difficult for ordinary war horses to keep running for a long time. Basically, after a quarter of an hour or two at full speed, they have to stop and rest, otherwise they will die from exhaustion.
On the other hand, human endurance is quite durable in nature. It is not impossible for a strong man to walk for a day, or even run a marathon for a day. It is far more endurance than horses.
Therefore, Ju Yi believed that when Gongsun Zan had already led the cavalry to charge in the afternoon, even if he was escaping on horseback, in order not to tire the horses to death, he would not be able to run continuously and would have to run for a while and rest, so he felt that it was completely reasonable.
Maybe you can catch up.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! In fact, it is true that not only Gongsun Zan, but also the high-ranking cavalry are far behind the infantry such as Ju Yi. After a day of fighting, people can
You can recover from a short rest for an hour, but horses can't.
In the early years of the founding of our country, during the War of Liberation, there were soldiers from the Huaye Four Columns who, relying on a pair of iron feet, chased down the bald cavalry troops and annihilated the enemy.
This resulted in that when Gongsun Zan ran to the beach, Ju Yi followed him closely, using methods such as observing the horse's footprints and looking for fresh dung residue, covering a distance of about ten miles, and kept following him.
Although the total distance from Gongsun Zan's camp to the seaside is only more than thirty miles, it means that Gongsun Zan has actually surpassed Ju Yi by half the distance.
But just like the race between the tortoise and the hare, the tortoise can keep climbing and has long-lasting endurance. But the rabbit cannot. When it gets tired from running, it has to stop to rest and sleep, causing it to be overtaken by the tortoise.
The same goes for infantry and cavalry.
The infantry can keep walking, but the cavalry can run for a while. If the horses can't stand it anymore, they have to stop to restore their power.
Therefore, it is really possible to catch up if you follow Ju Yi's method.
In fact, it was because both Gongsun Zan and Gao Gan's troops had dispatched cavalry today, and the horse power did not recover in time.
Ju Yi, who has lived in Xiliang for a long time, knows the habits of horses very well.
When they learned that Gongsun Zan was not far ahead, the morale of the soldiers was greatly shaken and they hurried on. After seven or eight miles, it seemed as if there was wind under their feet. In less than three-quarters of an hour, they arrived in the valley here.
The moon was dark and the wind was high. Ju Yi was still using torches to explore the road. After discovering a large amount of fresh horse dung, horse hoof prints and human footprints on the ground, he said to everyone: "Gongsun Zan should have rested here. His horses will fight with us in the afternoon."
It consumes a lot of horse power and has no time to recover, so he dare not gallop wildly, otherwise he will tire the horse to death. If he continues to chase, he will not be able to run very far!"
"The general has orders, keep pursuing!"
The messenger called to the soldiers behind, asking them to follow quickly.
The mountains and forests on both sides were dark and silent.
Wait until all the Ju Yi soldiers enter the valley and head towards the seaside.
"kill!"
With a shout, the entire forest roared like a restless beast.
More than 2,000 ship guard soldiers emerged from the trees brazenly. They lit the Molotov cocktails in their hands with fire sickles and threw them on the road in the valley.
Once one of the Molotov cocktails is lit, it is very convenient for the second and third ones to follow. Like setting off firecrackers, they fall into the enemy crowd one after another, and suddenly burst into flames one meter high, which is scary.
Broken liver and intestines.
The sudden situation directly shocked the soldiers of Ju Yi's tribe into panic. This is when a general's leadership ability is tested. In just a few seconds, he must react and make a decision.
Ju Yi was shocked at first, but in an instant, he quickly reacted. Before the fire started, he threw out a small number of Molotov cocktails. He shouted loudly: "Go up the mountain left and right, everyone goes up the mountain to kill the enemy. Where are the messengers?"
?Blow the whistle, whoop whoop whoop!"
A sharp bird call sounded, and the Xiliang Qiang bone whistle that could imitate bird calls emitted a sweet bird call. For a moment, various whistles came one after another. This started from the front army and was announcing Ju Yi's military strategy to the rear army.
Order.
Not long after the soldiers at the rear entered the canyon, Molotov cocktails were thrown down carelessly, leaving them a little overwhelmed. But after hearing Ju Yi's military order, they immediately began to take action and retreated one after another.
Ju Yi was telling them to have the soldiers at the back who were close to the entrance of the canyon withdraw immediately, and then outflank them from both sides to eliminate the enemies in the forest.
I have to say that his reaction was fast enough.
However, Ju Yi still underestimated the number of Molotov cocktails in the enemy's hands. Bottles of fire bombs made from spirits were thrown down for free. There were many soldiers with weaker strength who did not throw them on the road but directly into the mountains at the foot of the mountain.
In the mountains and forests.
Although these soldiers were all on the top of the hillside, about twenty feet away from the bottom of the slope, almost forty or fifty meters high, the flames spread very quickly, and burned into the mountains and forests on both sides.
There was no need for Ju Yi's rear soldiers to outflank the ship. The soldiers of the ship guard had never played with Molotov cocktails, so now they were playing with fire and burning themselves. Seeing that the fire was almost burning up the mountain, the remaining Molotov cocktails were not ignited and they were thrown directly into the sea of fire.
, roared, turned around and ran away.
In an instant, the entire valley was swallowed up by fire. Except for the more than 2,000 rear soldiers who retreated in time, the 4,000 to 5,000 Yuan soldiers in the front and middle were all shrouded in flames. There were screams, wailings, and the sultry heat in the air.
Even from a few kilometers away, you can feel the despair in this valley.
"what happened?"
Not long after the fire started here, horses galloping in the distance had already arrived in front of the mountain.
Gao Gan randomly grabbed an escaped soldier and shouted at him.
The soldier panicked and said: "General Ju... The general was ambushed by the enemy. They also had bottles that can burn fire. The fire started too fast and blocked the roads in front and behind. The general could not get out."
"
"General Gao, please save General Ju quickly."
At this time, the disgraced Lieutenant General Ju Yi hurried over. He happened to be in the rear army at the time and escaped with the soldiers.
Gao Gan said coldly: "What's the situation over there now?"
The lieutenant general was sweating profusely and said: "The enemy's main fire points are the valleys on the left and right and the trees at the foot of the mountain. Now the central road can still breathe because there are not many things to ignite the fire. If the general can find a way to put out the fire at the mouth of the valley, General Ju can still
Can escape."
Thanks to the season, although it is early January, the season for all things to grow. However, the severe cold of winter has not completely faded away, and the growth rate of plants is not fast. The trees in the mountain forests on both sides have begun to grow a large number of new leaves.
However, in the valley is a road between a seaside fishing village and Zhangwu County. People often pass by, so there is no vegetation growing on both sides of the road and nearby.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! If Gao Gan puts out the fire at Taniguchi at this time, there is indeed a chance to rescue Ju Yi.
Otherwise, after a while, even if Ju Yi was not burned by the fire, he would be suffocated inside due to lack of oxygen, inhalation of thick smoke and high temperature environment.
After hearing what the lieutenant said, Gao Gan galloped to the mouth of the valley.
The ship guard had already received Chen Mu's order and focused on throwing incendiary bottles at the entrances and exits of the front and rear valleys. Even if there were no fire starters such as vegetation on the road, there were too many incendiary bottles and blazing fireworks were rising.
Coupled with the fires breaking out in the mountains on both sides, the entire valley is like a huge track and field field. The surrounding stands and even the track are all on fire. Only the football field in the middle still retains some small space for the remaining Ju.
Rebel soldier survival.
When Gao Gan arrived, a huge wave of flames nearly two feet high pushed him back. As close as ten feet away, a heat wave hit his nose, and the billowing flames seemed to devour everything.
"Help, help!"
"Ah ah ah ah ah."
"it hurts!"
"Put out the fire quickly, put out the fire quickly."
Screams, calls for help, and commands were heard endlessly. Some people were waiting to die, while others were looking for a way out. The sea of fire was a mess.
"General, look quickly, it looks like Ju Yi is on the hillside over there."
Guo Yuan sharply noticed that at the entrance not far away, on the hillside, all the surrounding trees had been cut down. Ju Yi and dozens of his guards were hiding on the rock wall at the foot of the hillside.
The hills on both sides are not high. The highest point is only 40 to 50 feet, which is more than 100 meters, and the lower part is only more than 20 feet. It is a pity that this valley is not a steep slope, but a vertical valley of 90 degrees up and down.
, there are even protruding rock walls on both sides, making it almost impossible to find any foothold.
This means that even if the mountain is not high, people who have not systematically learned rock climbing skills cannot climb the mountain with bare hands.
The enemies above the mountain forest had already withdrawn. They had thrown Molotov cocktails on the top of the mountain. Now there was a sea of fire below. After Ju Yi realized that something was wrong, he immediately led his guards to evacuate to the entrance among the chaos. Unfortunately, he was a step too late.
Still stuck here.
There were burnt bodies and remaining soldiers everywhere. Some soldiers were on fire and still screaming in pain. Ju Yi couldn't care less. He found that there seemed to be a cave under the protruding rock wall on the hillside, so he
He led people to climb up.
The surrounding trees were cut down and a temporary fire break was constructed. Ju Yi himself stood on the slope and looked out, hoping that the soldiers at the rear who had escaped could find a way to extinguish the flames at the entrance.
Now his situation is not optimistic. The forests on the left and right sides of the entrance are also on fire. Except for the top of his head, the surroundings are full of raging flames, steaming people as if they were fished out of water.
"General, reinforcements have arrived."
The sound of horse hooves on the outside of the valley was quickly noticed. When Ju Yi's personal guards saw the arrival of Gao Gan's cavalry team, they immediately ignited hope of survival and shouted loudly.
When Ju Yi reached this point, he had no pride and could not let go. He also shouted: "General Gao, this way, General Gao."
"General Gao, General Ju is on that mountain, we have to find a way to save him."
Ju Yi's lieutenant also followed over. Seeing this scene, he also became happy. As long as the boss is not dead, everything is still possible.
The senior officer just sat on the horse like this.
Watching from a distance.
like a statue.
"General Gao? General Gao?"
Lieutenant General Ju Yi whispered a few words, thinking that the senior officer was thinking about how to rescue him.
The next second, Gao Gan pulled out the knife from his waist and slashed his neck.
Whoosh!
Silver light flashed, and Lieutenant General Ju Yi's head fell to the ground.
The cry for help stopped abruptly.
Ju Yi and dozens of others, who were only twenty or thirty feet away from them, all opened their eyes in disbelief.
"snort!"
Gao Gan snorted coldly, turned his horse's head, and said to Guo Yuan: "Pass it down, Ju Yi underestimated the enemy and rushed forward, mistakenly fell into an ambush, and was burned to death on the battlefield."
Guo Yuan was not surprised by the senior officials' actions.
Not to mention high-ranking officials, even Yuan Shao, or in other words, all the generals under Yuan Shao, were eager for Ju Yi to die.
In the Battle of Geting, this man was famous all over the world for defeating Baima Yicong. At the same time, he was also proud of himself. He always listened to orders but not propaganda. To other generals, his nostrils were almost raised to the sky.
It wouldn't be a bad thing to take this opportunity to get rid of him.
It just doesn't matter whether Ju Yi dies or not, what should Gongsun Zan do?
Thinking of this, Guo Yuan asked: "General, Ju Yi deserved to die on the battlefield because he underestimated the enemy, but what should Gongsun Zan do? If he only defeated his team but did not capture or kill him, what would happen to Gongsun Zan?"
I’m afraid it won’t be easy to explain over there.”
Gao Gan thought for a while, pointed to the south and said: "This is the seaside. To the north is the mouth of the river. The water is too fast to cross. To the south are some fishing villages on the seaside. Gongsun Zan must have fled south. If we pursue him south, we will definitely be able to catch him.
to him."
"good!"
Guo Yuan shouted and headed south.
The monstrous fire forced Ju Yi's troops in the rear to retreat. After many people ran out, some dispersed, and some followed Ju Yi's orders and went up the mountain to outflank them.
Except for the beheaded Lieutenant General Ju Yi and a few soldiers, no one in the vicinity saw this scene, except Ju Yi who was halfway up the mountain.
The flames are still burning.
Ju Yi watched helplessly as Gao Gan continued to silence him.
The cold early spring wind that should have been blowing on the mountain top has now turned into waves of heat.
But Ju Yi's heart was as cold as iron.
His eyes were full of anger and despair.
He was so angry that he wanted to rush out immediately and cut Gao Gan and Guo Yuan into pieces to avenge his lieutenants and soldiers.
Desperately.
Maybe he will never have this opportunity in his life...