Hangu Pass is the first of the eight passes in Luoyang, is a fortress connecting Chang'an and Luoyang, and has always been an important pass to prevent the soldiers and horses of Guanzhong from attacking the Central Plains.

As early as the Qin Dynasty, Hangu Pass was an important barrier for Qin to resist the Six Kingdoms, and at the end of Qin, Liu Bang, the ancestor of the Han Dynasty, used this pass to block Xiang Yu's impact.

Hangu Pass can have such a status, depending on its geographical location, mainly because the Kunshan Mountains cut off the passage between the Central Plains and Guanzhong, leaving only a crack of about 20 miles to pass through, Hangu Pass is established at the entrance of this crack, it can be said that a husband is a pass can not be opened!

It's just that the glory of Hangu Pass was in the Qin Dynasty, and in the Han Dynasty, as the Yellow River continued to dive, more and more land on both sides of the river embankment was exposed, and soldiers and horses could pass through it directly, and Qin Hangu Pass was completely abandoned and became Hongnong County.

During the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, there was also a Hangu Pass, which was built on the Beikun Road, but because of the four hundred years of the Han Dynasty, it was more to resist the Xiongnu externally, and there was no civil war, and the Hanhan Valley Pass was slowly abandoned with the passage of time.

More than ten years ago, during the Yellow Turban Rebellion, in order to resist the invasion of the Yellow Turban Army, the Eight Passes of Luoyang were activated, and the Hangu Pass was also included in it.

However, in fact, because the roots of the Yellow Turban Army were mainly in the eastern, northern and southern parts of Luoyang, Hangu Pass, as a western barrier, did not play a big role.

With the fire in Luoyang, Dong Zhuo fled to Chang'an with the Son of Heaven and hundreds of officials, and then the Son of Heaven returned to the east, and Hangu Pass has been unrepaired and maintained, and it was abandoned again.

At this time, Li Dao took the remnants of the soldiers who escaped from Luoyang and stationed them in the deserted Hanhan Valley Pass.

The night was low, and the darkness of the night shrouded Hangu Pass, and only the starlight and faint bonfire appeared to complement each other, barely outlining the scene of the ruined walls.

The ruins and broken walls, the green grass, and the night wind whistling by, make people feel the desolation and loneliness here.

Several bonfires loomed in the Hangu Pass, burning hay and firewood, and the remnants of the soldiers sat around the campfires, their eyes revealing only exhaustion and loss, unkempt and ragged, sitting on the ground.

Under the residual light of the firelight, the charred wooden pillars, the broken armor, and the moans of the wounded soldiers from time to time were all knocking on Li Wei's heart.

He could never have imagined that this high-spirited march to Luoyang would end up escaping in such a mess, and he would be so completely defeated, this was the only thought in his heart at this time.

Li Huan, Li Ying, Li Shi and others sat around Li Dao, all silent at this time, and their hearts were full of resentment.

Li Shi took out the water bag and sent it to Li Dao: "Dad, take a sip." ”

Li Dao waved his hand silently and asked, "Did you send the people who sent Dagu Pass and Yique Pass to send out the heralds and transfer your two younger brothers back?" ”

"Dad, don't worry, it's already been sent out, and it should have arrived now. I reckon they'll be ready to join us at daybreak. Li Shi comforted Li Dao.

Li Wei was a little relieved, took the water bag from Li Shi's hand, took a big sip of water, and then returned the water bag.

At this moment, a flock of night birds chirped from the east and flew over Hangu Pass.

Then, there was movement in the distance, and it was the sound of a large group of soldiers and horses coming from afar.

Suddenly hearing such a movement, the remnants of the soldiers, who were already very tired, showed a frightened expression, thinking that the pursuers had arrived, so they got up in panic and picked up their weapons to prepare for the battle.

Li Dao and the others also showed nervous expressions and stood up together.

The soldier in charge of observation and observation observed the distance by the moonlight, and shouted loudly: "It's our banner, our own people!" ”

Hearing the news, Li Dao and the others settled down.

"It should be Lier, they came overnight to meet us." Li Huan guessed and said to Li Dao.

"As long as their soldiers and horses are gathered, we will regroup and we will definitely be able to take back Luoyang!" Li Ying said confidently.

Li Wei nodded slightly, obviously full of hope in his heart to recapture Luoyang.

But only a moment later, the hope they had just ignited was once again shattered, and as he saw clearly the state of the Xiliang soldiers who had entered Hangu Pass, Li Wei vaguely felt that the situation was not good.

The faces of these soldiers were also full of fear and panic, most of them were also covered with sweat and mud, and a few of them still had colored scars on their bodies, apparently they had also fled from defeat.

Li Huan and Li Ying also felt that the situation was wrong, they got up and kept looking for their son among the remnants, but they never saw the shadow of Li Li and Li Xian.

Li Huan anxiously grabbed a remnant soldier and asked loudly: "What about you young generals, how did you come back?!" ”

The remnants of the soldiers reported to Li Huan with a crying voice: "General Huiyu, the young general fought against Cao Zhang, he fell for his trick and was killed, we finally escaped back, Yique Pass has been lost!" ”

Hearing that Li Li was dead, Li Huan screamed and almost fell, but fortunately, Li Ying, who was standing beside him, helped him in time.

Li Ying anxiously asked the remnants of the other team about his son's situation: "What about you, did you come back from Dagu Pass, and what about your young general?!" ”

"Back to the general, the major general went out of the customs and fought against Cao Zhang's general Xiahouba, the two fought for less than ten rounds, the young general was not Xiahouba's opponent, and he was cut off the horse. We'll have to flee back! The remnant soldier answered Li Ying's question.

"Siam!" When Li Ying heard that his son was also dead, he also let out a wail and began to cry.

When he cried, Li Huan couldn't support it anymore, and sat on the ground, crying loudly.

The cries of the two quickly infected many soldiers in the pass, many of whom also had brothers or good comrades who died in battle, and the sadness spread rapidly.

At first, there were only a few people who sobbed quietly, but as more and more people wept, they finally stopped scrupling, and the cries came and went, resounding throughout Hangu Pass.

When Li Dao heard that his two nephews had died in battle, he was also very sad and shed tears.

Li Shi yelled at the soldiers around him at this time: "What are you crying about, don't cry anymore!" The enemy army will chase after you at any time, can you cry here and cry the enemy army to death?! Cheer me up, and then there will be weepers, chop! ”

After their defeat, the morale of the army was already weakened and demoralized, and if the soldiers were allowed to cry loudly, it would indeed cause an even greater downturn.

Li Wei also understood that his son's approach was correct, so he hurriedly wiped away his tears and persuaded the two younger brothers beside him: "Second brother, third brother, people can't be resurrected after death, don't cry anymore!" ”

Unexpectedly, Li Ying broke out directly: "It's not your son who died, of course you don't cry!" ”

"That's right, if you hadn't received a secret letter and had to force your troops, how could we have been so defeated!? When I was in Luoyang, I told you to be careful of Cao Zhang, if you listened and strengthened your defense, how could you lose Luoyang? If you don't lose Luoyang, Li'er and Siamese stick to the pass, how can they be killed?! ”

"All this is the result of your hubris, you give back my son." Li Huan was no longer polite, and directly pointed at Li Dao's nose and scolded him, and finally directly pounced on Li Dao and punched him.

Li Wei hurriedly dodged, dodging Li Huan's fist.

Li Shi also hurriedly stepped forward with a few personal soldiers, and pulled the angry Li Huan and Li Ying respectively to prevent them from clashing with Li Dao.

Li Dao saw that the two were completely controlled, so he stepped forward and said, "Why did I propose to march into Luoyang?" Don't you want to enter Xudu, regain the Son of Heaven, so that we can all continue to live a good life? Would I like to watch Liel and Siamese die? ”

"Yes, my two uncles and two younger brothers died, and my father and I felt uncomfortable. But now is never the time for us to complain about each other and break out into infighting! ”

"The more this time, the more we should unite together, share the same hatred for the enemy, reorganize our troops and horses, strive to kill Cao Zhang, and avenge the two younger brothers, which is the right way!" Li Shi also stepped forward to persuade Li Huan and Li Ying.

Li Huan was angry and made an emotionally uncontrollable move, at this time he was hugged by his own soldiers, and he had slowly calmed down, and after the persuasion of Li Dao's father and son, he realized that they were reasonable, and he couldn't help but sigh and no longer be irritable.

Li Ying saw that Li Huan had calmed down, and he stopped shouting and calmed down.

Seeing that the two had calmed down, Li Wei hurriedly waved his hand to the pro-soldiers, signaled them to let go of the two, and then stepped forward and said: "Two virtuous brothers, this expedition, the brother is indeed at fault, and the two nephews died, I can't escape the blame, and I am here to make amends to you." ”

Then he changed his words and said: "The two virtuous brothers are in the prime of life, and the family is also full of wives and concubines, so why can't they have any more children? Let's discuss now that what to do next is the right way to meet the enemy. ”

Li Ying first calmed down and sighed softly: "At this time, where is it possible for us to meet the enemy, this Hangu Pass has been deserted, and there is no danger to defend." Besides, the morale of the army is sluggish and demoralized, and it is not suitable for another battle, so it is better to go back to Chang'an first. ”

"Back to Chang'an?!" Li Dao was obviously a little unwilling.

"That's right, go back to Chang'an, straighten out the soldiers and horses, find a chance to avenge Li'er and Sia'er, stay here now, once the chasing soldiers come, our losses will be even greater!" Li Huan also agreed with Li Ying's proposal.

Li Wei listened to the proposal of the two, turned his head to look at Li Shi, and asked for his opinion with his eyes.

Li Shi looked at Li Dao and nodded lightly, and persuaded in a low voice: "Dad, the suggestions of the two uncles are very reasonable, our army is newly defeated and its morale is low, so it is indeed not appropriate to stay here." After returning to Chang'an to rectify it, it is the right way to kill it again! ”

Li Dao saw that the three of them proposed to withdraw to Chang'an, and he also understood that they had a point.

After this battle, 50,000 soldiers and horses lost more than 10,000 people, and the remaining 30,000 or so soldiers were already demoralized, and it was difficult to win if they stayed and fought again.

Li Wei let out a long sigh helplessly: "Okay, pass on my military order, the whole army will be reorganized, and be careful and vigilant." After dawn, retreat to Chang'an! ”