The city wall of Hangu Pass is not long, and the narrow valley mouth of less than half a mile is lined with several zhang high walls, so the Zhao army cannot put too many soldiers at one time, and the city wall is made of stones, which is extremely strong and cannot be destroyed by non-Shaoliang artillery. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info The Qin army only needs to arrange a team of 1,000 people here, divided into two rows to cooperate in front and back, and can fight two against one hundred, which is the so-called "One Hundred and Two Xiongguan".

But even so, under the cover of the firepower under the city, the Zhao army, which had been accumulating strength for a long time, soon reached the top of the city, and the Qin soldiers who lost the cover of the city wall could only forget to fight to the death. The bows and arrows are gone, they still have the spear, the spear is broken, they still have hands and feet, and they use the wood, rolling stones and other defensive tools to give the Zhao army siege foot soldiers a heavy blow. Everyone knew that only by driving the enemy down would they have a chance to hold the key to this chokepoint.

Qin Zuge speared suddenly, bringing up a slip of blood, blood mist flying, an enemy soldier who had just exposed his head from the city was pecked by Chang Ge, his body left the ladder, and fell vertically down the city. The soldiers of the Zhao army below did not look at it and continued to climb the city wall, but at this moment, the wooden hook used to guard the emperor stretched out from the head of the city and resisted the cloud ladder......

Several Qin pawns pushed the long hook hard, and the ladder suddenly shook violently, and the Zhao pawn on the ladder was horrified, and accelerated to rush to the city wall, and the people under the city also wanted to rely on the base under the ladder to stabilize the long ladder, and for a while, the city was up and down, and the two sides fought for this ladder with all their might.

"How can you say that you have no clothes, and you are with your son!"

Qin Jun's face was bruised, shouting slogans and bursting out with amazing strength, this cloud ladder was finally pushed down by them, and the Zhao pawns above didn't have time to dodge, they fell from above in a series of ways, and fell heavily on the ground, causing a panic below......

But there are dozens of ladders of the Zhao army, almost covering the entire city wall, and one is pushed away, and another one is taken, although the quality of the temporary construction is not very good, but this is the ladder of the Zhao army to victory.

Zhao Zu was not discouraged, they went forward one after another, like moths to a fire, the tragic losses, and the cross-flowing blood aroused the memories of these young and strong people, as if they had returned to the days when they followed the thieves to raise troops......

More than 10 years ago, the princes were extravagant, natural disasters were continuous, hunger was everywhere, and the people of Lu, Wei and Song who could not survive wandered into the mountains, forests and swamps, in order to avoid the pursuit of the princes and doctors. It was the appearance of the thieves who twisted them into a rope, and they followed the self-proclaimed "general" thieves to make enemies with the princes and doctors, and roamed Onozawa for many years. Later, they were defeated and captured together, and they were adopted by the Zhao clan together.

Unconsciously, ten years have passed, and they have also experienced several wars, not dying in Mengzhu, not dying in Fan, Gong, not dying in Wenshui, not dying in Luobei, but dying in this Hangu Pass. Seeing that the robe that was as close as a sibling fell forever on this strange land, Zhao Zu's eyes were full of unwillingness, and he couldn't help but roar:

"Plantar Disciples!"

Like the cycle of time and space, more people responded in a trembling voice.

"Plantar disciples, nine thousand soldiers, tyrannical princes, rampant in the world!"

Everyone was in high spirits, and this familiar slogan inspired the blood of Sergeant Zhao. More and more Zhao soldiers began to join the team of call signs, venting the grief and anger in their hearts, and the thieves burst into tears for a while, and couldn't help shouting:

"Plantar disciples, listen to my orders, pull out this city!"

"After entering Qin, the ** room pivotal household, drive his cattle and horses, and take his wife and daughter......"

Immediately the thief also joined the battle in armor, and climbed the city wall along the ladder in a few steps, and cheered behind him, robbing money, food, and women, this is what the thieves are most excited about, and ten years of military discipline cannot compare to the excitement of this slogan. The soldiers followed the banner of the thief and rushed to the blood-covered wall.

They are no longer timid and no longer give in, but the jade is burned, and the same way of playing, even if it is two for one, three for one, they can achieve the final victory! For a while, the city screamed endlessly, and the Qin army was defeated and retreated.

That night, after half a moon of attack and defense, and after days and nights of fierce battles, Hangu Pass fell into the hands of the Zhao army......

……

"This pass is now owned by the Zhao family!"

In mid-April, shortly after the Chu army suddenly withdrew from Luhun, at the head of Hangu Pass, the thief's head fluttered in the wind, and he proudly stood on the battlements and looked out in all directions.

Nearby, the soldiers were still searching for the remnants of the enemy, and in order to break through the pass, they paid a great price, 1,000 Zhao soldiers lost their lives, and more than 2,000 were injured of varying severity and could not continue to advance.

That's right, although the battle loss ratio is as high as one-fifth, the thieves still have to lead them westward as quickly as possible, and their ultimate goal is to cross the south bank of Fengling.

After a day's rest, the thieves left wounded soldiers and a thousand soldiers to guard the place, and the rest of the ** thousand people set off again and began to drive westward. After leaving Hangu Pass, you still need to walk thirty miles of "Taolin Road", that is, the western section of Hangu, to leave this dangerous valley.

Legend has it that in ancient times, the giant Kuafu from Dongyi passed through this place day by day, because he was thirsty, he leaned down and drank the water of Hewei, but still did not quench his thirst, he wanted to cross the river to Hebei to drink the water of the mainland, but he died of thirst in this area, Kuafu's body fell and turned into a mountain, which is the Kuo Mountain, and the peach wood cane he abandoned fell to the west of Hangu Pass, which is the peach forest.

There is only one sheep intestine trail in the Taolin area, rugged between the high cliffs on the river bank, the car is not divided into tracks, the horse is not saddled, and Zhao Jun must also climb the grass root stone ridge to avoid falling.

So Zhao's army formed a long snake and slowly walked along the winding path, expecting that it would take a day and a night to reach the next city with relatively open terrain.

The thief rode in the middle of the procession, and from time to time raised his own "clairvoyant mirror" to observe the surrounding situation.

There are indeed many peach trees in the peach forest, it is April, it is the most brilliant moment of the peach blossoms, in the valley where the sun is dark, but it is dotted with brilliant flowers, and the army of nearly 10,000 people is walking through the valley bottom, and there is a trace of weirdness in the beauty.

However, the atmosphere of the Zhao army was very relaxed, after the hard battle, everyone's spirit was a little relaxed, their expedition could be said to be invincible, and everyone must have a share in the reward for meritorious deeds after the war, so there were cronies who stole behind him and said happily:

"Attack Ruyang, **** land, battle Luoshui, defeat and swim speed, slaughter Zheng prisoners, relieve the siege of Han, break the Han Valley, the merits of the generals, and deserve a heavy reward after the war!"

"Shangqing will most likely give me a vacant high position, plus a fiefdom that looks very big, and then send me to retire." The thief didn't think so, he knew very well in his heart that no matter how much credit he made, Zhao Shangqing would definitely unload his military power after the war.

As for the excuse, or to calm the impact of Luoshui's killing of the prisoner, or to care about the thief's body, but the real reason, the thief can see it clearly.

Whether the Zhao army is a military pawn, a county soldier, or a ** Daijun and Shangjun cavalry, they are all firmly in the hands of Zhao Wuxian, and the Lu side is no exception.

When the Jin Kingdom was undecided and the Zhao clan had not shifted its energy to integrating Ludi, Zhao Wuxian might still need the combat power of this army. But when the dust settles in the Central Plains, maybe this good bow will be hidden, not only will the thieves retreat, but even this army that has repeatedly performed miraculous feats will be dismantled, so as not to make them arrogant and make some things that endanger the Zhao family......

If it had been placed more than ten years ago, the thieves would have been indignant, and they would simply take these people west into the Qin State and go to the Qinling Mountains to continue to occupy the mountains as kings, but now......

He stroked the white hair on his sideburns, unlike more than ten years ago, the thief is now nearly fifty years old, and his son is also at the age of the crown, although he feels that he can still lead the army and fight, but all the way down, not only is his hands covered with blood, but even the old brothers under his command are fighting less and less......

This is gradually distancing itself from their original intention of only trying to survive and a place to stay when they were first co-opted.

This expedition was extremely desperate, even at the cost of heavy casualties to his subordinates, what was he for? It is not to let this army prove its worth, the Zhao family is a veteran, after this war, almost everyone in this army has military merits, so after being dismantled, they are either assigned a large piece of land, houses, slaves, or stay in the army, and become a captain, a chief, a pawn and so on.

"When this battle is over, the soldiers forge swords into plowshares, and live a peaceful life, and I will stay away from the territory, the first thing I want to ask the secretary to give me the Higashiyama Island in Onozawa, and teach my unsuccessful boy to fish and sail a boat on it......"

Then, naturally, it was the father and son who fought with the sword and traveled all over the world.

Thinking like this, the thief couldn't help but feel a little relieved in his heart, and as soon as he grabbed the horse's belly, he walked forward, and at the same time shouted to the soldiers: "I know that the second and third sons are hungry, but I can endure it a little longer, and it is not too late to bury the pot and cook food when I get out of the Taolin Valley......

Because the peach forest is steep, if there is an enemy army in the valley to set up an ambush, they may repeat the defeat of the Qin army......

For a while, there were complaints and boos, the general treated the soldiers like brothers, and the soldiers also regarded the generals as elder brothers, and it was common for the army to laugh and scold.

Unexpectedly, as soon as the words ended, a huge trumpet sounded from above the valley......

"Enemy attack!"

……

Arrows, rolling logs, and flying stones fell from the top of the valley, and some Zhao pawns couldn't dodge, and suddenly their heads broke and blood flowed, and as a boulder rumbled down, the army that formed a long snake formation was also cut in two!

"Don't panic! There are not many enemy ambushes! From the moment he was attacked, the thief calmed down, and keenly found that the ambush was not violent, and the enemy only shouted intimidation on the top of the mountain, and did not dare to attack the Zhao army suddenly.

Based on his years of experience in cutting paths and robbing, it is estimated that this enemy army is probably going to support the Qin people in Hangu Pass, and the number does not exceed 1,000!

"Rush to the top of the valley and kill them without leaving a piece of armor behind!" He drew his sword and pointed to the top of the valley commanding.

However, an arrow came from the woods not far away, and at a tricky angle into the chest of the willow plant, and he looked at the feathers of the arrow with some confusion, and then his eyes went black and rolled off the saddle......

"Protect the general!" The screams echoed in his ears, the chaotic footsteps, the arrows that broke through the air, and the angry roar of his "planters......

Time suddenly became very slow, slow, so slow that it suffocated the willows, and then suddenly it became faster, so fast that he couldn't take it anymore.

He seemed to have returned to the middle of the night when he fled Qufu alone, with layers of obstacles ahead, but he killed one person in ten steps, did not leave a line for thousands of miles, leaving behind a corpse and the shock of Sanhuan, and walked away.

He seemed to have returned to the shore of Onozawa, commanding 9,000 bandits, shouting the slogan "tyrannical princes, rampant in the world", being his island owner on a small island in the lake, vowing to fight for a future and a field for these bitter brothers who had nowhere to go.

He seemed to have returned to the time when he first met and talked with Zhao Wuxian, a few glasses of wine, his eyes were hot, and his spirit was bright, and he listened to Zhao Wuxian talk about how to overthrow the rule of Sanhuan, how to create an order in the country of Lu, and a new country where poor people can have their own farmland.

Three cups of Turannuo, Wuyue was light, and the thief said at that time: "If you can do it, why can't I be a subordinate to you?" ”

This promise unfortunately came true, and there is a way to steal, so he naturally has to keep his promise. In the next ten years, he spent most of his time on the journey of working for the Zhao family, galloping for hundreds of miles, running thousands of miles, shining on white horses with silver saddles, and sassing like meteors. Ten years later, Liu Xia is no longer a small thief in lakes and marshes, but a thief who can beat the "famous generals of the princes" and threaten the Central Plains! Let Zheng Guo'er stop crying when he hears his name!

Life...... That's enough......

But there are also regrets.

When the thief opened his eyes again, he was lying on his back in the arms of the soldiers, all with blood-red eyes and tears, and the battle had come to an end, and all the ambush soldiers had been annihilated.

"I shoot all day long, but today I was pecked by a small finch......"

Liu Xia smiled bitterly, this is his method of cutting the path in the past, it has been a good thing for a long time, and the craftsmanship is rusty? But soon, he stopped caring about it.

He looked up and saw that the sky was blue, like the clearest time of year in Onozawa.

He saw white clouds, moving slowly in the wind, like white geese swimming on the surface of a lake.

For the first time, he noticed that the sunlight was so dazzling, was it the sparkling waves brought by the lake?

He knew that he would never be able to return to the mighty Ōnozawa!

But he still tried to reach out, wanting to touch the sparkling clouds again......

The wind blew over the peach grove, stirring the leafy peach trees, and the blooming peach blossoms swayed and broke away from the branches. For a moment, the valley was suddenly filled with pink petals, and one of them fell on the back of Liu Xia's hand and chest, covering the blood on his body......

The hand fell in vain......

In the name of the thief, finally the peach forest!

PS: There is one more chapter in the evening (to be continued.) )