Huguan, is the Northern Han Dynasty to guard the Xiongguan of Taihang Baicheng, from Zhenzhou through Baicheng into the border of the Northern Han Dynasty, surrounded by mountains, and Huguan is the throat fortress, there are Baigu Mountain in the north, Shuanglong Mountain in the south, the two mountains are sandwiched, named after the Hukou Pass, break through the Huguan, the Yongjun army can drive straight in, and this time the Yongjun soldiers are divided into two roads, it is Jing Chi who is responsible for attacking the Huguan, this time he brought 30,000 cavalry, plus 40,000 Zhenzhou troops, from March 14 to storm Huguan, the guard Liu Wanli is also a famous general, with 7,000 defenders to hold on, The Yongjun army attacked for seven or eight days, but it was difficult to break through the Huguan.

On March 21, Jing Chi rode his horse to stand under the general flag, his eyes looked coldly at the city head that was almost stained red with blood, and his chapped lips revealed the anxiety in his heart, this time the military order was very clear, he must break through the Huguan, go through the Shangdang to Qinyuan, and meet His Royal Highness the King of Qi, and attack the main force of the Northern Han Army before and after, the Northern Han Army is insufficient in strength, and can only hold a few fortresses, as long as the Huguan is broken, the front is the vast territory without defense. But it's been eight days, Huguan is still standing under the attack of the Yong army, Jing Chi's heart is like a fire, I can't wait to go to the battlefield in person, but if the cavalry is used to attack the city, it is too wasteful, the meaning of the King of Qi is very clear, the Zhenzhou army is attacking the city, and his own cavalry is going to run thousands of miles, never lose too much in Huguan, look up at the sky, the sunset has fallen behind Huguan City, reflecting the city tower is blood-red, he said fiercely: "Collect the troops." "Then ride your horse back to the camp, you must come up with a way, at most two days, if you can't break the city again, even if you charge yourself, you have to step on the tower of Huguan.

On March 22, Lin Ya, the commander of the Zhenzhou army who commanded the siege of the city, stood on the three-zhang high platform that commanded the operation, his expression was full of worry, these days the rushing car, the ballista, the ladder, the trebuchet do not know how much has been destroyed, the city of Huguan is in a mess, the moat has already been filled, even the city gate has long been burned by the Yongjun tung oil, but the inside is blocked by the Northern Han army with stones, bricks and wood, if the city can not be broken again, only afraid of delaying the military aircraft. It's a pity that Liu Wanli is ruthless, as soon as he learned that the Yongjun army was about to attack Huguan, he organized all the young and strong men in Huguan into a team, assisted the city, and used the method of joint sitting, so that those young and strong people monitored each other, although Dayong had some secret spies who had been lurking in Huguan for a long time, but he never had the opportunity to break through Huguan together. Even so, the Huguan city wall is solid, and there are mountain peaks on both sides to protect each other, Liu Wanli set up their own villages on the two mountains, and the three supported each other, and the Yongjun army suffered heavy losses, but it could not succeed. Today, Lin Ya was ruthless, and sent all his elite soldiers and good generals up, seeing the ladders falling in the flames, and the blood of the brave soldiers in the army smeared the outer wall of Huguan, even if he was experienced in a hundred battles, Lin Ya was also provoked by the green tendons on his temples, and he was full of anger.

Lin Ya was directing the battle, and suddenly felt the wooden platform under his feet tremble, and couldn't help but look down, only to see Jing Chi's battle robe Zuotan, distributing a shawl, holding a one-man high war drum in both hands and walking upward, walking up to the platform, Jing Chi erected the war drum and shouted: "Take the drumstick." A guard who came up after Jing Chi hurriedly handed Jing Chi two drumsticks wrapped in red silk to Jing Chi. Jing Chi shouted, danced the drumsticks, and struck the war drums hard, and the drums resounded through the sky, roaring and reverberating throughout the battlefield like endless thunder on the horizon. After the battle of Zezhou, Jing Chi heard that Jiang Zhe beat the drum to help the Yongjun victory, so he pestered Jiang Zhe to learn to beat the drum, Jiang Zhe was idle left and right, so he taught him for a few days, although he didn't know what the rhythm, but he was a battle-hardened, and he was a military general, although the drum he played was not so ever-changing, but it was more powerful and heroic, inspiring. After the Zhenzhou army heard the bloody drum and learned that it was Jing Chi who beat the drum, they were excited and ashamed in their hearts, and they all shouted: "I was ordered to attack Huguan, so that General Jing could attack the Northern Han, but now we can't fight hard, let General Jing wait hard here, and now General Jing personally beats the drum for us, if we can't break the city, I'm afraid that we will not be able to raise our heads in front of General Jing for the rest of our lives, and the face of the Zhenzhou army will be lost by us." The officers and men of the Zhenzhou army encouraged each other, this round of siege was in full swing, Huguan was almost shaken and trembling in the sound of drums, and the sky was cloudy, as if they couldn't bear to see the bloody and bitter battle on the ground.

Liu Wanli, who was standing on the top of the city tower, was full of dust, his eyes were full of cold, and there were no reinforcements, because the main force of the Northern Han Army was fighting hard with the Yongjun Zezhou battalion, and the rest of the troops were either in Jinyang, or in Daizhou, Jinyang could not easily transfer troops, and Daizhou, Liu Wanli groaned, when Lin Yuanting surrendered, he had an agreement with the Northern Han Lord that the Daizhou Army would never leave the country, perhaps because the ancestor did not want the powerful Daizhou Army to affect the political situation of the Northern Han Dynasty, but Lin Yuanting was very happy to agree, he claimed, The Daizhou army is to defend the countryside, not to fight in the same room, so over the years, the Daizhou army has never gone beyond Daizhou, of course, it doesn't count to go out of Yanmen to attack the barbarians. Therefore, the only way to defend Huguan is to rely on this army, but for eight days, Liu Wanli knows very well that Huguan is almost collapsing, but the Yongjun army is still boundless, and in this battle, he is defeated and invincible.

Liu Wanli's lieutenant came over, his lips were full of fire bubbles, and he said hoarsely: "General, the enemy army is coming up again, this time they pushed four cloud carts up, I'm afraid it is inevitable." ”

Liu Wanli sighed lightly, Huguan is narrow, generally speaking, it is just right to use three cloud cars, if you use four, it will inevitably be too concentrated, and the losses will be heavier, but relatively, the pressure on your own side will be greater, a few days ago, the Yongjun army has been unhurried to attack the city, and even only used two cloud cars each time. He took a deep breath and said, "Attack with fire." ”

The adjutant general was ordered to go, in order to be able to hold for a few more days, Liu Wanli had already ordered to wait until the enemy approached and then attacked, when the cloud cars were retreated to the outside of the pass by the Zhenzhou army, the deputy general gave an order, and the Northern Han army defending the city beat the collected firewood and grass into bundles, sprinkled with oil, threw it on the cloud cart with a trebuchet, and then shot it on it with a rocket, and the cloud cart immediately burst into flames, so that the Yongjun army could not climb to the top and face the city * arrows. At this time, the Yongjun army under the city was different from usual, did not try to climb the cloud car and release arrows, but pushed the cloud car hard, four cloud cars dumped on the city wall, built a slope, at this time, the horn under the city sounded, the Zhenzhou army was separated, a Yongjun cavalry of about 500 people rushed up, the dust was rolling under the iron hooves, the fireworks were splashing, and the cloud car was dumped and rushed to the city wall. Liu Wanli shouted: "Archery, archery." At this time, the Northern Han army also didn't care about saving arrows, and shot at the Yongjun iron cavalry, at this time, a general who rushed to the front of the Yongjun army had already laughed and rushed to the city tower, the big horse hooves at the mouth of the bowl stepped on the two Northern Han army under their feet, the horse lance in the general's hand waved, and the blood collapsed, and then more and more Yongjun troops boarded the city tower, the pot pass will be broken, Liu Wanli had four big words in his heart, he was almost a little desperate, but the strong blood of the Northern Han people made him almost burn, after the military order was secretly passed down, He commanded the defenders of the city to resist desperately for a moment, and then shouted: "Stand back, stand back, let them come up." At this moment, his face was stained with blood, like a demon, although the defenders at the head of the city were confused, but they were shocked by him, they all subconsciously dodged, and almost all of the Yongjun cavalry with more than 400 people left climbed the Huguan City Tower, but just when they were overjoyed, Liu Wanli shouted: "Let go of the crossbow." ”

One after another the sound of machine springs sounded, fifty or sixty black crossbow arrows shot into the Yong army, almost every crossbow arrow penetrated a group of war horses or a Yongjun knight's body, the narrow city head made the cavalry unable to disperse, after the retreating Northern Han army revealed more than 30 god arm crossbows, this crossbow is used to defend the city, each crossbow arrow is four feet long, each crossbow arrow can shoot two crossbow arrows at a time, but it needs three soldiers to use together, because this crossbow is extremely powerful, it can penetrate the iron armor within a hundred zhang, so it is the most powerful treasure of the earthquake pass, Because it is easy to be damaged, Liu Wanli has endured it without using it, hoping to take advantage of it by surprise at the most dangerous time, and now it is the time of life and death, so Liu Wanli will let the Yongjun iron cavalry go to the city, and then secretly transferred the crossbowmen out. Now the crossbow bow showed its might, after three rounds of shooting, the Yong army was already suffering heavy casualties, at this time the Northern Han army took the opportunity to close the siege, poured the boiling oil from the cloud car, and forced the Zhenzhou army to retreat. The cloud car finally burned out in the fire, so the tens of thousands of Yongjun under the city could only watch the iron cavalry that boarded the Huguan was calmly surrounded and annihilated by the Northern Han army. The sun covers the enemy like a cloud, and the arrows fall into the ground to be the first. Ling Yu staggered for the rest of his life, and his left side was injured and his right blade was injured. The haze is two rounds and four horses, and the jade is beating the drum. "As soon as he sang here, the singing suddenly stopped, and the Yongjun army under the city was all mourning.

Jing Chi dropped the drumstick, strode off the stage, took his own war horse, did not wear armor, rode his horse to the city of Huguan, looking at the closed tears rolling, at this time the Zhenzhou army besieging the city slowly retreated in frustration, Jing Chi suddenly looked up to the sky and sang: "The sky is full of power and anger, and the field is abandoned." Can't get in and out, and the plains are far away. With a long sword, he carried the Qin bow, and his head was not punished. Cheng is both brave and martial, and he is strong and invincible. The body is dead, the spirit is the spirit, and the soul is resolute. The Yongjun was stunned at first, and then there were soldiers who sang along, one passed ten, ten passed hundred, the song became higher and higher, resounding through the sky, a tragic and generous atmosphere rose in the Yongjun, the song became louder and louder, and sang over and over again, the Yongjun no longer had the discouragement and pessimism of defeat, and the flaming confidence and murderous spirit condensed into an invincible spirit.

This song "National Mourning" is a war song that everyone knows, whether it is the Yongjun and the Northern Han Army, they are all familiar with it, even if they are illiterate, they can also memorize it, the Yongjun under the city is full of momentum, and the Northern Han Army is also concerned, and for a while there is a little look like earth, seeing that the Yongjun is so strong, thinking of the result after the defeat, they are all frightened. Liu Wanli stood on the gate, slapped his palm on the city wall, and said in his heart, what a Jing Chi, he actually used this way to boost morale after defeat, a cold light flashed in his eyes, and he said in a low voice: "Take my bow and arrow." A personal guard hurriedly handed Liu Wanli's bronze bow, Liu Wanli is a master of riding and archery, can open a five-stone strong bow, and take people's lives within 500 steps is like probing the bag, but he has been seriously injured in the waist, and his strength can not last, so he has not been able to go into battle in person for a long time.

Jing Chi sang a song, still unfinished, pointed to the city and shouted and scolded, the anger of the past few days made him want to swallow the pot guard alive, at this moment, a faint phantom almost invisible to the naked eye shot from the head of the Huguan City to Jing Chi, Jing Chi is one of the best brave generals in the Yong army, and the art of riding and archery is also a rare opponent, although he did not hear the sound of the bowstring, nor did he see the shadow of the arrow, but almost instantly, he felt the horror of being targeted, almost subconsciously turned his body, his hands were empty, and the horse lance could not be taken off in time, He could only reach out and grab it, and the white feather arrow coincidentally passed through his fingers and sank into his chest. Jing Chi raised his head to the sky, with a roar, his body like a hill fell off the horse, the Yongjun army on the left and right was in an uproar, snatched Jing Chi and retreated, and the sound of gold was immediately heard in the Yongjun, and tens of thousands of Yongjun retreated like a tide.

Looking at the Yongjun in the distance, Liu Wanli almost couldn't believe his eyes, the generals and guards around him shouted loudly, and their tones were all excited, but Liu Wanli suddenly felt a pain in his waist, and couldn't help but smile bitterly, thinking that the brave generals of the Northern Han Army could only command the city now, and could not charge into battle.

The deputy general limped over with a long knife, and said in ecstasy: "General Divine Arrow, that Jing Chi is the general of the Yongjun army, before shooting him in front of the formation, not only the momentum of the Yongjun army is weak, but also the Yongjun army has lost its commander, even if it is useless to break through the Huguan, maybe they will retreat tomorrow." ”

Liu Wanli smiled bitterly: "If this is the best, but if I am the enemy general, the siege is futile, the Lord will be shot and wounded, that is, the court will not be guilty of this, and it will be humiliated, and it will be disregarded for the loss, and the death will be broken, hoping to atone for the crime, I am afraid that when Jing Chi lives and dies, the Yongjun will attack again, and now our hole cards have been known, I am afraid that the next day is just a day." He spoke in a very low voice, after all, he didn't want to hit the soldiers under his command who were excited, and the adjutant general's face changed greatly when he heard it.

After supporting his body and settling down the soldiers, Liu Wanli returned to the mansion, his wife had already prepared a decoction of hot water worriedly, helped him to lie on the couch, and massaged him with medicine, after a long time, the pain caused by the old injury gradually disappeared, and Liu Wanli fell asleep. I don't know when, Liu Wanli suddenly felt itchy in his sinuses, couldn't help sneezing, and came to his senses, opened his eyes, but saw his five-year-old son Liu Huai holding a dead grass and inserting it into his nostrils. Liu Wanli couldn't help but let out a hearty laugh, stretched out his hand to pick up his son, and said, "Little naughty, why did you come to disturb Daddy's sleep." Liu Huai's eyes flashed, and he said angrily: "Daddy has ignored Huai'er for the past few days." A look of dissatisfaction.

Liu Wanli felt sour in his heart, a little guilty in his heart, and secretly regretted that he should not have been soft-hearted a year ago, and let his wife take the child from Jinyang to come here, at that time, only the pot was as stable as Mount Tai, who knew that there would be today's crisis, now the enemy army is pressing, it is only a matter of time to break through, but he is the main general, if he secretly sends his wife and only son away, he is afraid that the soldiers and civilians in the city will lose the courage to resist, but if he does not send it away, once the city is broken, the jade is burned, and the Yongjun army has suffered heavy losses day after day, I am afraid that he will slaughter the city to retaliate, and he is afraid that his wife and beloved son will die miserably here. Thinking of this, Liu Wanli couldn't help but tremble slightly, hugged his son tightly and couldn't say a word.

At this time, Mrs. Liu walked in with a decoction, seeing Liu Wanli's state of affairs, how the husband and wife for many years did not understand his thoughts, she put down the medicine bowl, walked to the couch and knelt down and said: "Xianggong, the concubine should not say much, but now the situation is like this, Xianggong must also be prepared, the concubine and Xianggong have been married for 12 years, life and death are together, and they are willing to accompany Xianggong to death, but Huai'er is young, and he is the only bloodline of the Liu family. Ask the prime minister to send Huai'er back to the countryside and hand it over to the concubine brother to take care of, the concubine brother is a common man, that is, in the future, if the situation changes abruptly, it will not affect Huai'er. ”

Liu Wanli felt a sharp pain in his heart, how could he not pity his beloved son, thinking that he joined the army as a teenager, and the newlywed wife was only accompanied by three days on the battlefield, and finally God favored him to survive, over the years, the husband and wife have gathered less and not more, and the parents at home were all taken care of by the wife, until he was seriously injured and went home to recuperate, so that Huai'er was born, and the parents did not leave any regrets before they died. Then he was sent to Huguan to guard, at that time it was the time when the war between Dayong and the Northern Han Dynasty was tense, Huguan was shocked overnight, and he naturally did not dare to bring his family over. Unexpectedly, now that the family is reunited, they are attacked by the enemy, and the situation in Huguan is precarious. But if he sent his beloved son away, he was afraid that it would affect the guards, Liu Wanli finally avoided his wife's pleading gaze, and said in a low voice: "Madame, don't worry, the master of the Yongjun army will be shot and wounded by me today, and we will definitely wait for reinforcements." Speaking of this, I sighed in my heart, where are the reinforcements now? Mrs. Liu is also in tears, she is not an ordinary country woman, she has also read poetry and books, knows a little about history, and supports the court all the year round, how can she not understand her husband's insincerity.

Just when Liu Wanli and his wife were broken, the maid hurriedly came in and reported: "General, the adjutant general asks to see you." ”

Liu Wanli immediately came to his senses, handed his beloved son to his wife, and said, "You go in first, I will consider this matter." Mrs. Liu was overjoyed, nodded again and again, and hurriedly walked into the back hall with Liu Huai in her arms. ”

Sent away his wife and ordered the deputy general to come in, Liu Wanli picked up the bowl of decoction that was already a little cold, drank it slowly, thinking about what would happen when the deputy general came? Look outside through the window, it's not dusk yet, the first battle is over at noon today, now everything in the city defense should be changed and taken care of, he is already familiar with the things of defending the city, how to deal with it should not need to ask himself for instructions, his old injuries have recurred, he also knows, how can he bother himself at this time?

The young lieutenant general hurriedly walked into the room, and as soon as he saw Liu Wanli, he said excitedly: "General, the last general has a plan to solve the crisis of the pot. ”

Liu Wanli's heart moved, but he didn't show any color, even the hand holding the medicine bowl didn't tremble in the slightest, and said lightly: "Let's say, the situation is so sinister now, even if there is only one hope, you can't give up easily." ”

The adjutant general said excitedly: "When the last general rectified the defense, he sent the most powerful scout in the pass to investigate the situation of the enemy camp, although the enemy concealed Jing Chi's injuries, but the soldiers in the camp were uneasy, all the military doctors were on standby in the Chinese army's big tent, and all the generals were also waiting in the Chinese army. The last general thought that if we selected more than 2,000 elite soldiers tonight, we took advantage of the night to go deep into the enemy's tent, set fire to the camp, burn the enemy's baggage, and kill them by surprise, if there is another chance to kill a few important generals, then the Yongjun will not be able to govern, and the grain road will pass through Baicheng, and it is also difficult to supply, and the troops must be withdrawn, even if they do not retreat, they must also postpone the attack. We can also take the opportunity to fly to the counties and ask them to recruit Ding Yong to help defend Huguan, and Huguan will definitely be able to defend it at that time. ”

After all, Liu Wanli has been fighting for many years, and he was first happy in his heart, and then a little worried, although Jing Chi, the main general of the Yongjun army, was injured, but the main general of the Zhenzhou army was thoughtful, and he may not be able to imagine the possibility of robbing the camp, and the Yongjun soldiers are strong and strong, and his counterattack may not really be able to achieve the goal. But his eyes flashed, he had seen the withered grass left by his son on the bed, and his heart suddenly ached, if it went on like this, when the Yongjun stabilized its position, the pot pass would undoubtedly be broken, if he agreed to this plan, if he could force the Yongjun to retreat, then it was worth taking some risks. And according to Liu Wanli's many years of battlefield experience, this strategy has a five-point chance, but now there is only one or two chances and he has to fight. Putting down the medicine bowl, Liu Wanli said in a deep voice: "You go to the army to recruit 1,500 warriors who dare to die, no more will be enough, I will personally lead the army to attack tonight." ”

The adjutant general hurriedly said: "My lord, your old injury has recurred, how can you lead the army to attack the camp, or let the last general lead the army." ”

Liu Wanli was about to object, the familiar pain came from his waist, he couldn't help frowning, and had to say: "Then please leave it to you, the life and death of our army will be fought tonight." ”

The young adjutant general bowed down and said, "Don't worry, general, if there is anything wrong, the last general is willing to die with his body and will never steal his life." ”

Liu Wanli had an ominous premonition in his heart, and he wanted to stop it, but when he thought of the current situation, he said in his heart, even if it didn't work, he would just die a few days earlier, and he couldn't hesitate anymore. He stretched out his hand to pick up the adjutant general, looking at this young man who had been fighting with him for many years, his eyes flashed with grief, that is, the success of the camp was stolen, this choice of hitting the stone with an egg may also be a lose-lose situation, but he had no choice, he could only watch this happen, he had never hated the sky so unkind as he did now, he would rather be a peaceful dog than a troubled world, Liu Wanli suddenly had a big rebellious idea, if the world can be unified, it will be the destruction of the Northern Han Dynasty, then it doesn't seem to matter, right? This idea came out of his mind, Liu Wanli subconsciously avoided the eyes of the deputy general, and secretly said in his heart, no matter what, he was favored by the king, and it is natural for him to be martyred, if the unification of Dayong is really uncontrollable, then let yourself become a blood sacrifice under the iron hooves of Dayong.

That night, the moonlight was dim, the deputy general of Huguan with carefully selected daring warriors, looking at the Yongjun camp under the moonlight from afar, behind him were five hundred cavalry and one thousand infantry, soldier ranks, war horses, cotton hooves, although there were many horses, but there was no sound, the deputy general waved his hand, more than 100 people bowed to him, and disappeared into the night. These more than 100 people are wearing black night clothes and carrying single knives, and they are all carrying things that ignite the fire, ready to burn the Yongjun camp, and when the fire starts, the deputy general will rush into the Yongjun camp with the army, and he will kill him on his back.

The Yongjun camp in the distance was silent, except for the soldiers in charge of night guards, there were almost no human figures, it seemed that all the Yongjun troops were sleeping, presumably today's great changes in the day made them tired in their hearts. The deputy general was also nervous in his heart, after all, he was invested in this battle as the elite soldiers of Huguan, and once the stealing camp failed, it would be a catastrophe.

Not long after, the Yongjun camp suddenly burst into flames, chaotic and noisy sounds sounded, the fire light extinguished you can see the figures running around, the deputy general was overjoyed, raised the horse lance in his hand, shouted: "Kill!" Then he took the lead and rushed to the camp of the Yongjun army, along the road destroyed by the scouts who infiltrated the camp and set fire to him, he first rushed into the rear camp of the Yongjun army, there were flames on both sides, he waved it left and right with his horse lance, and overturned the tents that had been on fire, and by the way threw them on the tent that had not yet caught fire, five hundred cavalry followed him all the way into the middle army of the Yongjun army, while the other infantry were killing people everywhere and setting fire, the adjutant general was happy, and he was not willing to delay at all except the Yongjun army who was blocking the way, if he wanted to rush into the Chinese army, I hope to be able to kill a few generals of the Yongjun. Seeing that the Dayong military camp had become a sea of fire, he laughed and stabbed a Yongjun who came desperately to intercept him in front of him, and said loudly: "Kill, kill a river of blood!" The arrogance of the army soared, and they all shouted to kill, so they rushed into the Yongjun army, the big tent with the word "Jing" hanging on it.