Chapter 251: Body and Soul
The next two days and two nights were a purgatory for the Tang Shuo Fang army guarding Shuozhou.
None of them, including the wounded who could crawl a little, closed their eyes once, and they never stopped fighting even for a moment. It is true that Shuozhou has an ancient Great Wall, but there are 100,000 Turks. Standing on the high beacon tower and looking down, the vast sea of people is boundless.
Cheng Wuting doubted that if it weren't for the terrain that limited the huge numerical advantage of the Turks, they would really charge up as a whole, and each of them would spit on each of them, and they would turn into a flood and drown thousands of Shuofang troops.
After the fall of the Shuo Dynasty, there were no grains, and the grain and grass in Shuozhou City would be exhausted, and it had previously relied on the supply of the rear and the state. However, in the last month or two, the supply in the rear has been coming more slowly and less every time.
Cheng Wuting hadn't figured out what the reason was before, but most of the main force in the rear was consuming grain too quickly, and it was difficult to transport grain and grass, so he understood Li Chongyi quite well, and persuaded the soldiers under his command to press their emotions and just wait for Marshal Pei's main army to arrive.
Now Cheng Wuting understands that Li Chongyi has been wearing small shoes for him all along!
It may be unlikely that Li Chongyi will collude with the Turks, but he should have transferred Li Duozuo and Li Jinxing's subordinates, who had stayed in Bingzhou to rest and recuperate, to the front line of Shuodai and Erzhou to strengthen the border defense. However, Li Chongyi did not act for a long time, and repeatedly delayed and withheld the supply of grain and grass.
Li Chongyi, it is clear that he wants to be trapped in a desperate situation, and it is best to let him be defeated or even die at the hands of the Turks! - In short, he must not be allowed to return to Chang'an for the use of the Queen of Heaven, posing a threat to Li Shangdan, who is in charge of the Imperial Forest Army!
Cheng Wuting couldn't tell his generals about these things. Because of some unwarranted "political disputes", which will kill so many of his brothers and endanger the border defense of Datang, Cheng Wuting felt very uncomfortable. He knows his weight very well, no matter how powerful the general who leads his troops to fight, even if he is reasonable, he can't fight the pen in the hand of the feudal official who holds the authority, and the mouth on his face.
If Shuozhou falls and Cheng Wuting's entire army is wiped out, how will the battle situation be reported to Lu Shang, it is Li Chongyi's power. No matter what the truth is, Li Chongyi only needs to move his pen, and he Cheng Wuting will easily become the second Cao Huaishun who "lost his teacher and humiliated the country".
Of course, the imperial court will only listen to the report of Li Chongyi, the official of the feudal frontier, and will not pay attention to the defense made by the defeated army general for himself - if at that time, Cheng Wuting can still live to defend himself!
"General, Li Xiantong's yellow-haired boy is really too arrogant!" The strong-tempered generals scolded, "We really shouldn't let him go, it's the most pleasant to cut him on the spot!" No matter how bad it is, he will be detained and let him finish with Shuozhou! β
Cheng Wuting shook his head indifferently, "What is the benefit of killing something that is inferior to pigs and dogs?" β
"It's okay to vent!" The fierce generals had nothing to say, they all gritted their teeth with hatred, and scolded: "I have long been ready to sacrifice my life for the country, and I am not afraid of death!" was just framed and killed by villains such as Li Chongyi and Li Xiantong - wronged! β
"Then it can't be unfavorable to Li Xiantong." Cheng Wuting said, "If we are defeated and lose Shuozhou, Li Chongyi is likely to paint us like Cao Huaishun with a stroke of the pen, but at most we will be defeated." If we kill Li Xiantong, the prison observer, in order to vent our personal anger, we may be convicted of the heinous crime of rebellion. We wait for the martial artist to die, and I don't want to show the heroic martyrs of the family, let alone hope that the fame will be immortal, but at least we can't harm our families, leave a disloyal and unrighteous name on the Qingshi Danshu, and bear the verbal criticism of future generations! β
"......" The generals were speechless, and they all gritted their teeth with hatred.
Cheng Wuting shook his head, "That Li Xiantong pinched our life and therefore had nothing to fear, otherwise, he wouldn't dare to come to Shuozhou at all." This person is only thirty years old, and his scheming is so deep and vicious...... No matter how brave we wait for the martial artists on the battlefield, we can't fight this kind of eunuch who has been studying power and conspiracy since he was a child! β
When the lieutenant generals heard Cheng Wuting say this, they suddenly woke up and said: "If that brigade marshal is here, maybe there is a way!" - We all know that he is Xue Shao, isn't he also a child of a eunuch family, has resourcefulness and knowledge of power? β
"Gambit? Contingency? Cheng Wuting smiled bitterly, "That's really something that only people like Xue Shao can play." To tell you the truth, Xue Shao and Li Xiantong fought to the death in Chang'an, and now they are fighting to the border. Li Xiantong was defeated in Chang'an for a while, and was forced to leave Zuo Fengchenwei, who he had worked for ten years, and the position of general who was about to be handed over was also robbed, and an arm was broken, and he has not yet recovered. Therefore, Li Xiantong is desperate to put Xue Shao to death! β
"And then he pulled us on our backs?!" The generals were surprised.
"Not really." Cheng Wuting waved his hand, "Li Xiantong didn't know that Xue Shao had gone to attack Heisha, he came to Shuozhou to use military law to arrest Xue Shao and bring him back to Bingzhou for private interrogation." If it was to pull us on the back, Li Xiantong would not come. β
"Then why didn't Li Chongyi send troops to save Shuozhou?" The generals asked naturally.
"......" Cheng Wuting was speechless, and said with a wry smile: "Maybe they think that not only Xue Shao deserves to die, but Cheng Wuting and Shuo Fangjun also deserve to die?" The two were originally unrelated to each other, but now they are together, so killing two birds with one stone at the same time is just saving trouble and effort. β
"I'll his grandma!!"
The generals were scolding.
After scolding, they picked up their swords and guns and went to defend the city again.
Cheng Wuting was both moved and guilty. He has always known very well that for these upright and loyal Tang guards under his command, whether it is gains or losses, grievances, there is nothing more important than "fighting".
Seeing that these brothers rushed to the city pass without hesitation and fought with the Turks, Cheng Wuting, who had been in the army for 30 years and did not shed a single tear, cried behind closed doors.
"Brothers, you are the most heroic guards of Datang! You are the most selfless heroes in the world! β
"It's me Cheng Wu who has caused you a lot of trouble!"
"If there is an afterlife, let Cheng Wuting be your pigs, dogs, cows and sheep to repay you!"
β¦β¦
There were a total of 121 people when the Three Swords Brigade set out, and a total of 120 moon slaves who arrived later.
By now, there are seventy left.
In the nameless grave of the nameless village, fifty-two more clothed mounds will be added.
Xue Shao felt very sad in his heart, compared to the people of Guo Sandao, the sacrifice of the recruits he brought out with his own hands made him even more worried and sad.
It's a feeling that can't be described concretely, it's like ...... Loss of a loved one.
Of course, the hearts of those recruits were even more uncomfortable. After all, it was the first time they had experienced such a thing as losing their intimate robes. After three months of sharing weal and sorrow, and now they have gone to Daoshan Mountain and the sea of fire together to experience this life and death, after all, someone took the first step.
When Xue Shao and Xue Chuyu received the recruits and guards who had withdrawn one after another, they first cheered loudly, and then cried unabashedly loudly, crying like children.
Xue Shao didn't stop them, let them cry uncontrollably, the harder they cried, the better.
Xue Shao remembered what his company commander had said to him when he was still a recruit-
Whether a man matures or not is not about his age, but about what he has been through.
Whether a man is a real man or not depends not on what he has, but on what he has lost!
War can never avoid death.
Soldiers are destined to face many life and death.
Just as a girl has to go through the first labor pain to become a woman, a soldier must also experience the tragic pain of "losing a dear comrade-in-arms" before becoming a man!
Become a man who stands tall in the sky, a true Iron Guard!
After crying bitterly, the eyes of the guards of the Three Swords Brigade became more resolute, and their fighting spirit became more vigorous. Because Xue Shao said to them, from now on, you are not only living for yourself, you are not only fighting for yourself.
And for those who gave their bodies to their enemies, but left their souls to youβthe robes!
Compared with the speed of the wind and the speed of electricity when they went, the return journey of Xue Shao and his party was a little difficult. Nearly 2,000 miles back and forth, the iron man and iron horse were also sleepy and tired, and there were more prisoners, and there were many wounded.
Xue Shao counted the manpower and found strangely that among the remaining seventy people, only three were not injured.
Xue Shao, Xue Chuyu, and Yue Nu!
It was not surprising to the recruits that the Devil Brigade Commander and the god-like Xue Team were not injured. However, the eldest girl's family of "General Anda" was unscathed, and even captured two captives alive, which is too worthy of making the recruits talk about it and marvel at the magic.
For a while, General Anda, who was originally admired because of his special status, became an absolute idol in the minds of everyone in the Three Swords Brigade, and his popularity was so high that he seemed to surpass Er Xue.
There is no doubt that the guards of the Three Swords Brigade regard the Moon Slave as a part of the Three Swords Brigade's collective, and as their own intimate robes.
What is a robe?
Enmity with the Son!
Fight with the Son!
Live together, die together!
β¦β¦
Finally, the 30,000 Brigade walked into the great desert, near the military restricted area of the Great Wall.
The 100,000 Turkic army stormed Shuozhou, and Xue Shao and the others naturally noticed such a big movement. This incident was not unexpected by Xue Shao, but the Turks actually dispatched so many troops, which still made him feel a little shocked.
Think about it, if it weren't for the Turks pouring out of the nest, but leaving some more people to guard the tooth tent, how could they succeed?
It seems unlikely that he will go back to Shuozhou directly.
Xue Shao decided to take these people to hide for a while and wait and see what happens. Counting the time, the Turks should already know about the attack on the Black Sand Tooth Tent in the Dao. Unless they really give up the grassland and are determined to fight to the Central Plains to dominate the world, otherwise, they will definitely withdraw their troops!.
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