Ergouzi has always looked down on Confucianism, especially Zhang Zai. When he went out as a scout last time, Zhang Zai also peed his pants when he was about to fight, and when he fought with the Khitan rangers, he couldn't even pull out the knife, and it was completely good to die if he didn't die.

This kind of soft persimmon and cowardly egg, to the two dogs everywhere who boast of bravery, have no interest in even looking at him with their knees. However, the second dog at that time could never have imagined that a weak scholar like Zhang Zai would transform into a killing god on the battlefield in a short period of time.

The injured comrades who were rescued by Zhang Zai in the past few days could not be counted on two hands.

There is no need to say how rare this is for a warrior, how strong it is, and how deeply it will be respected by his siblings. At least Ergouzi no longer looks down on Zhang Zai now, and has already regarded the other party as a real sibling.

Although he didn't know how Jang Jae became like this.

Dutou Niu Dan is not as fuss as Ergouzi, as the head of Dutou, he also leads soldiers, and his experience is naturally much higher than that of Ergouzi.

Recruits who have just entered the battlefield are nothing to pee their pants in battle, and it is normal to twist a knife only to know how to chop indiscriminately, and many recruits have come over like this. Because of this, the most casualties on the battlefield are always recruits. But as long as they can survive the second battle, the recruits will become veterans and behave much calmer.

Whether it is killing people or self-preservation, there are certain rules, and the chance of survival is much higher.

And if you can survive three or five fierce battles, as long as it is not too unbearable, the recruits will also become elite soldiers.

This is the case with Jang Jae.

These days, the number of times Zhang Zai went into battle to fight has far exceeded five times, which is due to the tragic battle in Beikou, and also because Zhang Zai and a group of Confucian students, who are not afraid of life and death in every war.

So the Confucian students who are surviving now are all very strong.

It's just that Niu Dan doesn't understand very well why these originally sour, ugly and incompetent Confucian students suddenly become more fierce than the border soldiers when the war comes.

This round of Khitan attack on Beikou was not surprisingly repelled by the Beikou guards after paying a heavy price. The monks and warriors on both sides suffered a lot of casualties, and the losses of the defending side were much smaller in comparison.

Zhang Zai's injuries were not light, mainly because his armor had been badly damaged after days of fierce fighting, and his protection was greatly reduced. The remnant sun was like blood, sprinkled on the blood and fire city, Zhang Zai sat in the pile of corpses against the female wall, the shield in his left hand and the knife in his right hand were still tightly clenched, and his arms were trembling violently because of the loss of strength, and he couldn't control it.

Smelling the strong viscous smell of blood, and looking at the spilled visceral fragments in front of his feet, although his heart was tense, he no longer had the urge to vomit at the beginning.

The fierce battle for days made his senses numb, and his heart slowly hardened. In the past, the scholar who couldn't even bear to kill chickens, now seeing his fellow disciples killed in battle, the stiff and terrifying face with wide eyes and wide mouths can also calmly close the eyes of the other party.

"Today, the Khitans should not attack, and we can live another day. ”

The person who said this was Liu Zhonghe, a fellow disciple who was standing next to him against the wall, panting heavily, Liu Dahe's younger brother.

His appearance is even worse than Zhang Zai, Zhang Zai's armor is badly damaged, and there are a lot of wounds on his body, but Liu Zhonghe's left shoulder has exposed Sensen's white bones, and a large piece of flesh and blood is missing, and the right hand covering the wound is missing the little finger and ring finger, which looks particularly hideous.

In stark contrast to the hideous wound, there was a calm look on Liu Zhonghe's face.

This young man who is a young man with a crown has eyes like a deep pool, and he can't see the slightest ripple. If there is anything to say, it is indifference, indifference to life and death, indifference to one's own circumstances, and even indifference to everything around us.

Jang Jae is now very suspicious that the other party has turned into a stone.

As a familiar fellow disciple, Zhang Zai remembered that Liu Zhonghe was not like this before, even among the Confucian sects in Yangzhou, he also belonged to the most high-spirited kind of person, as if he had blood in his body that would never dry up, he could go up to the knife mountain, go down to the sea of fire, and for the ambition of governing the country and leveling the world, he could die nine times without regrets.

But right now, Zhang Zai can't see these things in Liu Zhonghe anymore, as if for him, being able to live one more day has become the whole of life - no, to be precise, Liu Zhonghe may not care about living one more day, he doesn't seem to care about anything.

Zhang Zai opened his mouth several times, stopped talking, and finally said in a dry voice: "We not only have to live one more day, but also to survive this war." Our talents have not yet been developed, our ambitions have not been achieved, and we need to live for a long time. ”

Liu Zhonghe glanced at Zhang Zai indifferently, and said lightly in a tone that sent chills down his spine: "How can you live so long." Tomorrow, at most the day after tomorrow, I will die in battle. is the same as the brothers who died in the previous battle, and the same as these border soldiers who died in battle. What talents, what ambitions, life is nothing more than that. ”

When he said the last sentence, his words were full of mockery of life, as if it was a meaningless existence, not worth it at all.

Jang Jae didn't know how to answer.

He really wants to say that life is precious, ambition and service to the country are even more precious, and the relatives who are waiting for you to return home are especially precious, but in this border where thousands of people are killed and injured every day, and human life is not as good as mustard, no matter what kind of ambition you have and how great your talent is, the left and right can be ended with just a knife.

Those Confucian disciples and border soldiers who died in battle, who don't have a family, who doesn't have a story, some people can rely on Ma Qianyan, some people have good strategies for governing the country, and some people bravely crown the three armies, but here, they have all become a wordless corpse, covering the corpses inside and outside the city.

Seeing too much death can make people disregard life.

When one begins to ignore life, then one disregards everything.

Liu Zhonghe, who disregarded everything, was inspired by the bloody and tragic battle of his comrades and fellow disciples in the bloody battle on the second day, and marched forward bravely with a group of soldiers, and after killing several times his own Khitan wartime, he fell into the sea of corpses and became a part of them.

And those Confucian scholars and warriors who cherished their lives and were particularly afraid of death died faster than Liu Zhonghe and others.

Zhang Zai witnessed Liu Zhonghe's death with his own eyes, saw the broken knife that he swung at the Khitan warrior after he fell to the ground, heard his violent but not unwilling roar, and watched the other party's body being chopped into several pieces by the Khitan warriors and trampled into rotten flesh.

And Zhang Zai himself is still continuing to fight, fighting with evidence, not disregarding life, nor valuing life in battle. In battle, he had only one thought in his mind, to do everything possible to kill the people in front of him and protect his companions.

When the battle at Beikou lasted for nearly a month, Yelu Abaoji lost his patience and called the general of the near division, Yelu Enemy Lugu, to the front and reprimanded him.

"King, as long as you give the last general another three days, the last general will definitely be able to capture the north entrance!" Half-kneeling on the ground, Yelu's enemy Lugu was ashamed and indignant, and assured Yelu Abaoji with a red face.

Yelu Abaoji returned to the spacious throne and sat down, his eyes were like eagles, and he didn't speak for a long time, which made the sweat on Yelugu's forehead trickle.

Three days ago, Yelu had already made such a guarantee, but until sunset today, Beikou was still firmly in the hands of the Tang army.

After a long time, Yelu Abaoji looked at Yelu's enemy Lugu and said coldly: "There is only a North Pass in the north, and your division has cooperated with an army of 300,000 for almost a month, but it has never been able to take it. I can't help but wonder now, whether the combat strength of your division is unbearable, or whether the combat strength of my Khitan warriors is really inferior to the Tang Army. ”

Hearing this, Yelu's expression changed greatly.

This is a heart-wrenching word, he can't help grabbing the ground with his head, and repeatedly begging Yelu Abaoji to give him another chance, if he can't capture the north mouth, he is willing to come to see him.

Yelu Abaoji sighed and said earnestly: "Yelu enemy Lugu, do you think I deliberately provoked you with bad words? Over the past few days, I have seen how the Tang Army in Beikou has fought.

"The Tang Tiger Guards are indeed elite, and the magic weapons they are equipped with, the strong bows and crossbows, have indeed given us great casualties. However, the terrain of the north entrance is narrow, and we can easily climb to the top of the city and disrupt the opponent's bow and crossbow formation.

"The reason why Beikou has not been able to attack for a long time is not because the opponent's bow and crossbow are too powerful, but because those Confucian students who have inexplicable abilities and can always make the Tang army forget themselves and fight, and they can also greatly increase their combat power in battle. These people must be the first in every battle, charging forward, sacrificing their lives to die, and they are not willing to take a step back.

"Those soldiers of the Tang Army are all brave warriors, how can they tolerate a group of scholars rushing to the front? This is the main reason for the setback of our attack. Yelu enemy Lugu, I said that the Tang army in Beikou is outstanding, and You Shengsi is near, not to insult you, but to tell the facts. ”

Yelu Enemy Lugu was stunned for a while, and after finally confirming that Yelu Abaoji was telling the truth, he gritted his teeth and said: "Those Confucian students who are yelling and shouting, although they can boost morale and improve the combat strength of the soldiers, their own casualties are very large. Over the years, hundreds of people have died. When they are all killed, how can we not capture the north pass?"

"Originally, I thought the same thing, so when the offensive of the army was unfavorable, I still let you attack. But now it seems that there are many such Confucian scholars, and no matter how they are killed, they can't be killed. ”

Yelu Abaoji sighed again, and his gaze became distant: "In the Central Plains Dynasty, civil and military have always been incompatible, but the Tang Army, Confucian scholars and soldiers in Beikou can complement each other, which is something we never expected." It was not unjust that the attack of the army was frustrated. ”

When Yelu Di Lugu heard this, he looked at Yelu Abaoji in disbelief, and he really couldn't believe that this kind of words that would destroy his prestige would come from the mouth of the king of the steppe who looked down on the world.

And what made Yelu enemy Lugu even more shocked was Yelu Abaoji's next words.

Yelu Abaoji said in a deep voice: "It seems that under Li Ye's rule, Datang has now formed a national force. The dispute between the Liberation Gate and the Daomen is gone, the civil and military dispute is gone, and how terrifying it is for the Tang people to unite together, I really don't want to think about it. ”

Speaking of this, Yelu Abaoji was excited and waved his hand, "Withdraw our troops from Beikou, it is already difficult for us to capture here." ”