Yu Wenshi and the best organ on his body is his tongue, licked four bowls of paste like a whirlwind, and without waiting for Liu Hongji and others to ask, he immediately took the initiative to tell everyone what happened to the expeditionary force.

More than ten days ago, after forcing Goguryeo to agree to cede land and sue for peace, the expeditionary force slowly retreated. Unexpectedly, the Goguryeo people did not have the habit of keeping their promises, and when they saw the Sui army retreating, they immediately harassed them along the way. In order to avoid being seen by the enemy to see the flaws in the grain collapse, the soldiers and horses of the Great Sui formed a phalanx, fought and left, and retreated to the bank of the Sashui River in July Renyin (24). As soon as the army crossed halfway, hundreds of thousands of Goguryeo people came up in all directions. At this time, the soldiers had been relying only on rice porridge for four or five consecutive days, and they were already dizzy with hunger, where would they have the strength to fight again. For a time, the soldiers and horses of the Ninth Route were all defeated, Xin Shixiong, the general of Zuotunwei, was killed on the spot, and countless other armies were captured and killed. (Note 1) After the Goguryeo people succeeded in the first blow, they immediately covered up the killing. Chased from the north bank of Sashui to the south bank of Maqishui, and killed more than 300 miles in one go. Thanks to the courage of the two generals Wang Rengong and Li Jing, who personally led the death of the palace, the expeditionary force avoided the fate of annihilation. When the army built a pontoon bridge on the Maqi water had already been destroyed by the Goguryeo people, the surviving soldiers used wood and sheepskin as rafts, and it took great effort to cross the Maqishui, and the people thought that they would be able to escape this time, but who knew that the front foot had just come ashore, and the soldiers of the Goguryeo cities and the large and small tribes of Liaodong who had stayed behind before the Eastern Expedition formed a team to kill them. After a fierce battle, the last tens of thousands of survivors were also swept away. Now, except for Xin Shixiong, the commander of the Nine Route Soldiers and Horses, who can be confirmed to be killed in battle, there is no news from anyone else. As for the ordinary soldiers, they are even more dead, scattered, and there is no one in a hundred.

Yu Wenshiji's words were like cold water, extinguishing the last flame of hope in everyone's hearts. Everyone was still counting on taking out 10,000 or 20,000 troops of 300,000 troops, but this risk was not in vain. Now, not only is 10,000 stone of grain to be wasted, but it has also become a question whether everyone can return to Huaiyuan Town safely. Wang Yuantong, Qi Poning and others were angry, ignoring Yu Wenshi and being in front of him, and scolded Zuo Yiwei's general Yu Wenshu for tricking and harming people. Although Li Jiancheng, Qian Jiulong and others were old, they were so depressed that they didn't even want to say a word of comfort to Yu Wenshi.

Only Liu Hongji was still unwilling, took half a step forward, grabbed Yu Wenshiji's shoulders and asked: "Do you know if there are any remnants of the Great Sui nearby, what about Bo Fen Village, didn't Ling Zun and Tang agree to receive supplies there?" ”

"Remnants, I don't know. Everyone was running for their own lives at that time, so how could they take care of others. Yu Wenshi shook his head and replied with a wry smile, "As for Bo Shan Village, my father did send 3,000 cavalry to retreat first and go to Bo Zhai to meet the military rations. In the morning, I heard from the brothers who had fled that the stockade was still in our possession. However, he was surrounded by Goguryeo soldiers for dozens of floors, with no food and no help, and no one wanted to come out alive unless he had wings! ”

"I'm going to save Bo Zhai!" Liu Hongji suddenly said something, which startled everyone.

"Brother Liu, let's ......" Li Jiancheng glanced at Yu Wenshi and swallowed the second half of the sentence back into his stomach. In front of outsiders, he didn't want to question Liu Hongji's prestige. However, the scale of the grain guard army seems to be huge, and all the soldiers together are only more than 800. With a mere hundreds of people to provoke tens of thousands of Goguryeo troops, the result is comparable to beating dogs with meat buns.

"Someone must return and report the news of the defeat of the expeditionary force to His Majesty as soon as possible. We also have to save the brothers trapped in Bo Shan Village, otherwise they will definitely be slaughtered by the Goguryeo people in less than three days. Liu Hongji thought about it and told several major generals his views as briefly as possible. If we all withdraw now, the Goguryeo people will chase them down. None of them will be able to retreat. If some of the people withdraw first, and the other part of them kill the village tonight, the Goguryeo people will not be able to figure out what we are doing. Even if we can't save many brothers, at least we can buy a day for those who retreat first......"

"It's true that a newborn calf is not afraid of tigers!" Without waiting for Liu Hongji to finish speaking, Yu Wenshi interjected coldly. The phrase was not meant to be derogatory, and it rolled off his tongue, but it was extremely harsh.

"Liu is humble, but he doesn't dare to forget his duty!" Liu Hongji glanced at Yu Wenshi and replied lightly.

The cold arrow hit the stone, and the Yuwen Shi didn't see any effect. He shrugged his shoulders and, supported by the last remaining personal soldier, staggered towards the sack of grain among the soldiers.

Li Jiancheng looked at his back and pursed his lips, very disdainful of this guy's personality. After a little hesitation, he whispered to Liu Hongji, "Since Brother Hongji has a countermeasure, the younger brother is willing to help Brother Hongji and personally lead the troops to relieve the siege of the village." As for the waste of the Yuwen family, I asked Brother Hongji to escort him back to Huaiyuan, so that someone could personally confirm the failure of this expedition to His Majesty! ”

"Zigu can't go!" Liu Hongji shook his head and rejected Li Jiancheng's kindness.

"Isn't Brother Hongji thinking that my martial arts and riding skills are not as good as yours?" Li Jiancheng's face instantly turned cold, and he pretended to be very dissatisfied and asked rhetorically. Although both ways forward and retreat are dangerous, after all, the retreating group has a better chance of survival. As the eldest son of Tang Gong, he must show some extraordinary courage at the critical moment no matter what, so as not to embarrass the family.

"The sub-inherently does not know that the danger of retreating is no less than that of moving forward. If the troops were divided, half of the horses must be taken with them and they should go west before dark, so that the Goguryeo people would think that we had seen no hope for rescue and had withdrawn with all their troops. It wasn't until night that the flags could be put away, the grain buried, and quietly disappear in the darkness! This method is very risky, and if the enemy finds out what we are really doing, everyone will face a catastrophe! Liu Hongji lowered his voice and explained to Li Jiancheng, "Therefore, Zigu must personally preside over the retreat of the army, can you bring back the news of the defeat of the expeditionary force in time, can you let His Majesty the Emperor know what we are doing in Liaodong, and it will be on you alone!" ”

This sentence is already equivalent to a farewell to life and death, and Li Jiancheng can no longer compete with Liu Hongji. nodded with red eyes, and said in a low voice: "Brother Hongji, don't worry, as long as I have a breath of air, I will not let your deeds be forgotten by the historian!" ”

"Well, let's gather the brothers and tell them the truth!" Liu Hongji stretched out his hand and patted Li Jiancheng on the shoulder. Then he spread his legs and strode up to the brothers.

From the moment they met the priest and the monks, they knew that their efforts had been in vain. At this moment, everyone was anxiously waiting for the next step of the main general's arrangement, and when they saw Liu Hongji approaching, they immediately stood in formation in front of the woods.

Liu Hongji smiled, his eyes slowly swept over the faces of the brothers who had been with him for more than nine months, and after seeing every face clearly, he cleared his throat and said loudly: "I guess everyone heard what Captain Captain Ma said just now, and I won't repeat it." The expeditionary force has been dispersed, and our mission to deliver food is over! However, there are still thousands of brothers trapped in the village, and we cannot watch their heads being cut off and built into a pagoda. And the feat of us people who have sent food thousands of miles also needs someone to bring it back and let His Majesty the Emperor know. Therefore, I decided to divide the team into two halves, and half of them were killed back to Huaiyuan Town to deliver the message. The other half rushed forward to pick up the brothers who had been trapped in the village. As for which side has more chances of survival, to be honest, Liu doesn't know. Therefore, Liu does not order troops, and you choose whether to kill forward or backward. If you are willing to move forward with Liu, please stand by Liu's side. If you are willing to bring our things back to Dasui, please stand still! ”

After that, Liu Hongji took three steps back and stood with a knife under an ancient pine.

There was silence in front of the woods, only the sound of the wind blowing and the pine waves whistling to everyone's ears. Eight hundred strong men who protect food, you look at me, I look at you, I don't know how to choose for a while. Everyone knows that walking forward is death, so they are unwilling to give up the world of flowers outside their bodies. But seeing that thousands of robes are about to become a human head tower and not be saved, no one can be ruthless.

After a moment of hesitation, Li Xu slowly walked towards Liu Hongji. The two of them are friends, even if he is a little scared at the moment, he doesn't want to leave Liu Hongji alone. Seeing their captain coming forward, the three brigade leaders of Wu Shi Tong, Li Liang, and Gao Xiang shook their heads with a smile and quickly followed. As soon as the three of them moved, the team leader and the captain of the Tiger Wing Regiment also strode out of the crowd. Immediately afterwards, the officers and men of the other regiments and brigades walked out of a large group and quickly stood behind Liu Hongji.

Zhang Xiu took a few personal soldiers to Li Xu's side, and was smashed back by Li Xu's punch. "Don't join in the fun, go back to Huaiyuan, I have a box in my tent, and the things in it will help me bring it back to my hometown." Li Xu paused and said calmly: "If I can't come back, please take care of my parents and Uncle Baosheng more!" ”

"Asahiko!" Zhang Xiu's mouth grinned, and tears rolled down.

"Come over quickly, don't embarrass the two of us!" Li Xu seemed to have suddenly become Zhang Xiu's brother, wiped his face for the other party, and whispered.

"Asahiko! You'll be back! Zhang Xiu stretched out his hand and wiped a few handfuls on his eyes, stumbling to the other side. Opposite Liu Hongji, Li Jiancheng, Qian Jiulong, Wang Yuantong, Qi Poning and others stood straight and solemn, leading more than 400 soldiers behind them to give a military salute to Liu Hongji and others.

"Treasure weight!" Liu Hongji, Li Xu, Qin Ziying and others returned with military salutes. The two sides looked at each other, and laughed at the same time, and after laughing, Li Jiancheng ordered people to set up a formation, driving more than a thousand war horses, and turned around and headed west.

The sun shines down from the west, illuminating more than 100 battle flags raised high. Hula, each battle flag has a "Sui" character rolled up.

Note 1: Sashui, which is now the Qingchuan River, and Maqishui, which is now the Yalu River. During the Sui period, Goguryeo was a large eastern tribe, which was later destroyed by the Tang Dynasty and has no direct relationship with the current Goryeo people.

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