Yes, He Xiao is still here, Xiu Lijun is still here, she is not alone.
But soon, a large cloud of dust rose from the direction of Yanming Pass. The scout hurried back and reported: "Sir, 20 miles ahead, Zhao Yang is leading a 100,000-man army and is heading here at full speed. If we leave Longyin Pass, we will be ambushed."
At this moment, Chu Qiao almost wanted to laugh out loud.
Yan Xun, Yan Xun, you are so shrewd!
Open the gates to make way without losing a single soldier; use the common people to delay and destroy the high-speed mobility advantage of her cavalry; use Daxia to block her way forward. Even if Daxia had some doubts about this news, it could not allow a Yanbei military leader like Chu Qiao to lead the Xiu Li Army into Daxia. Even though it was known that Yan Xun had other purposes, this battle was inevitable.
He understood the thoughts of Shang Shen and the Huihui people, the thoughts of Chu Qiao, and even more so the thoughts of Zhao Yang.
Perhaps in a small-scale battlefield, she could defeat him once or twice through the use of tactics and clever command methods, but when it comes to calculating people's hearts and skillfully using the forces of all parties, she is far inferior to Yan Xun.
The common people also noticed the smoke and dust flying in the east, and a trace of panic spread among the crowd, although everyone still thought confidently: The adults are here, there is no need to be afraid. But when they thought of Daxia's iron-blooded army and the Xiuli Army's strength of less than 5,000 people, they couldn't help but hesitate.
He Xiao had already returned to Longyin Pass, and a soldier shouted loudly: "Defenders on the city, please open the gate and let the people in!"
After shouting three times, someone finally said in a long and slow voice: "The emperor has ordered that if you want to enter the city, please ask the soldiers of the Xiuli Army to enter the city first."
"The Great Xia army will be here soon, please let the people enter the city first!"
"The emperor has ordered that the soldiers of the Xiu Li Army enter the city first!"
The monotonous echo sounded over and over again, and a strong wind blew up, raising dust and grass clippings all over the ground. Chu Qiao raised her head, looked at the Black Eagle flag fluttering over Longyin Pass, and clenched her fists tightly.
"Sir?" a soldier called in a low voice.
"Sir!" The voice became louder and louder, and more and more people gathered around.
"Sir, what should we do?" Some people among the people began to shout in panic. The children were frightened by the cold atmosphere and cried in panic. Countless voices were noisy in their ears asking:
"My Lord, what shall we do?"
"Sir, the enemy is coming."
"Sir, please go into the city and take shelter for a while."
"Sir, go back and apologize to His Majesty. He will forgive you."
"Sir, we are fighting to the death. Give the order!"
"My Lord, my Lord, my Lord..."
Yan Xun, is this what you want?
Chu Qiao smiled coldly at the sky, and the last bit of softness in her heart was shattered by reality.
What would you like to see? See that I'm alone? See me surrounded by enemies? Seeing me become a stray dog, will I have no choice but to flee back to Yanbei with my tail between my legs and beg for mercy from you?
Yan Xun, you underestimate me.
"Soldiers, you have seen everything that has happened these days." Chu Qiao sat on the horse, stretched out her hand and made a quiet gesture, and said slowly in a low voice, "Our king, the emperor of Yanbei, has abandoned his previous oath and betrayed the promise we made to the land of Yanbei and the Huihui Snow Mountain. The people of Changqing have not yet died, but the butcher knife loyal to the emperor has been raised to the neck of Datong. Mr. Wu is dead, Miss Yu is dead, Princess Huanhuan is dead, General Xiaohe is dead, General Biancang, General Xirui, and General Adu are all dead. "The generals, one by one, died at the hands of the ambitious people who dreamed of a great empire. Now, the blade is hanging over our heads. Soldiers, in front of you are the 100,000-strong army of Daxia, who are ready to fight and waiting for us to come to their door; behind us are the already corrupted Yanbei army, who are standing in position, ready to spit on our heads and then laugh at us for being useless cowards; beside us are the elders and fellow countrymen who have been deceived and abandoned by the country. Soldiers, where should we go?"
The cold voice echoed in the wilderness. No one spoke. They all looked up, staring at Chu Qiao with burning eyes.
Chu Qiao suddenly jumped off her horse, pointed at the soldiers and shouted orders, her voice sharp and fierce, like a mighty war eagle, "Do you want to turn around and become the dictator's lackeys, and be laughed at by the traitors who betrayed their oaths? Or abandon our loved ones and escape alone? Or charge at the enemy who is twenty times our number and win the dignity and glory that a soldier deserves?" Chu Qiao raised her head and shouted, "Soldiers! Do you want to live?"
"think!"
Soldiers and civilians alike roared in unison, their voices piercing through the clouds and scaring away the birds circling in the sky.
"Do you want to be a traitor?"
"In no mood!"
"If you had to choose between death and being a traitor, what would you choose?"
The people shouted loudly: "We will never betray Datong!"
Chu Qiao stood facing the wind and shouted loudly: "Fighters, fellow villagers, follow me, obey me, and follow my orders. If we must die, let us use our blood to interpret Datong's last glory! Our heads can be cut off, our blood can be shed, but our faith will never be extinguished! Long live Yanbei! Long live Datong! Long live our freedom!"
There was a roar of applause, and thousands of hands were raised in the air: "Long live the Lord!"
Winter came early this year. It snowed in September, a light layer of snow, like small white flowers blooming in the grass in spring.
The Xia army retreated once again. This was already the third day of their siege, and the imagined large-scale attack did not come as expected. Zhao Yang carefully surrounded the Longyin Pass, blocking Chu Qiao from moving forward. His thoughts at this moment must have been very complicated. He was afraid that this was a trap set by Yan Bei, and he was also afraid that Yan and Chu really had a falling out and he missed the opportunity to kill Chu Qiao. After all, the news of the discord between Yan Xun and Chu Qiao had spread like wildfire in the past two years, and it was impossible for Zhao Yang to be completely unaware of it.
At night, a strong wind blew across the sky. Chu Qiao stood on a high earth slope, looking at the devastated battlefield from afar. The night breeze lifted her charming long hair, like a group of butterflies dancing in the wind.
The war has lasted for three years, and Longyin Pass has been built several feet higher than Yanming Pass. The vast wasteland between the two armies was bleak, with autumn grass halfway up to the waist. White frost and snow fell on the grass, rustling as the autumn wind blew, like a white wave, reflecting the silver light faintly under the moonlight, so beautiful that it was dazzling. A flock of crows flew overhead, stirring up a fine mist of snow. A crow's sharp claws lightly swept across the grass, picked up an object, and it flashed in a faint white before disappearing in an instant.
Although it was just a glance, Chu Qiao could already tell what it was. Her gaze once again turned to the white grass waves in front of her, and a sense of sadness and disgust slowly arose from the bottom of her heart. How many young bones were buried under these thousands of swaying tentacles?
War is like a giant devouring mouth that has devoured countless lives with blood. The desolate wind of the troubled times blows through the roofs of broken families, leaving behind a whimpering sound, like the sad whimpering of a lonely soul in the underworld. And is she also an executioner on the side of this world-destroying blade?
"Ah Chu..." In the darkness, there was a faint low voice calling, "Ah Chu..."
That was the voice she had heard in the past two thousand dark nights. The boy snuggled up to her, pulled the quilt over her, and asked softly, "Ah Chu, are you cold?"
That year, the cold wind was so strong that it penetrated the window paper. The cold moon outside was like frost, shining palely on the ground.
Birds fly across the sky, and the evening snow covers thousands of miles.
Perhaps, a person's life is like an unfathomable chessboard, with an uncertain road ahead and obstacles on all sides. You don't know where to place your move or where to stop. Now that you have started, you must keep going with all your might. But in the end, even though you have fought hard, you may still be getting further and further away from victory.
She slowly closed her eyes, and thousands of mountains and rivers passed through her mind. In a trance, she seemed to see the faces of so many people, the upright and gentle Mr. Wu, the calm and wise Miss Yu, the lively and clever Wan Wan, the kind and honest Xiao He, Xue Zhiyuan who died for warning, Wen Yang who was beheaded for protecting the army flag, and Feng Ting, Murong, Wu Danyu who rushed into the enemy camp alone with a sword and was shot to death by thousands of arrows, the living and dead soldiers of the Xiuli Army, countless Shang Shen, Huihui, and Beishuo people, and even Cao Mengtong who committed suicide to apologize, and those pedantic Datong elders...
The enemy was alone and weak, with no food or supplies, in freezing cold weather, and carrying thousands of unarmed civilians. Time passed little by little, and the enemy's iron hoof gradually lost patience. The cold winter is coming and heavy snow will soon cover this vast land.
Chu Qiao looked up at the sky and vaguely saw another pair of eyes, eyes that had been forever sunk into the deep pool of ice. They looked at her quietly, without the fierce anger and cold sarcasm they once had, leaving only a pool of peace that saw through everything, saying over and over again: Live on...
I know.
Chu Qiao raised the corners of her mouth slightly, smiled gently at the empty sky, and said softly: "I will always persevere."
She turned around, looked at the rolling camp, and said calmly: "I will always protect you."
In the autumn of the 778th year of the Bai Cang calendar, at Longyin Pass, the Xia army completed the first encirclement in history. Nearly 130,000 soldiers surrounded Longyin Pass from all directions, and all kinds of long-range attack equipment were continuously transported. It can be foreseen that a battle with a huge disparity in strength is about to begin.
Although this time Zhao Yang was still facing Chu Qiao, who had defeated him in Chidu and Beishuo, he was not worried this time. Firstly, Longyin Pass was very close to Yanming Pass, and he had prepared sufficient reserve troops. Once he found out it was a trap, he could return to the city calmly. Secondly, Chu Qiao had no city to defend this time and no sharp arrows to use. The Xiuli Army, which was composed of 5,000 light cavalry and a group of old, weak and sick people, would be courting death if they attacked his 100,000 heavily armored army head-on on the plain. Thirdly, the spies sent to Yanbei yesterday finally sent back news that just seven days ago, Yan Xun and Chu Qiao had fought outside Beishuo City, resulting in tens of thousands of casualties. Now all the backbone troops of Datong in Yanbei were killed or injured, leaving only Chu Qiao. If this battle situation was still a trap, then he could only say that Yan Xun was too ruthless and clever, and not someone that ordinary people could resist.
On the morning of September 18, just after daybreak and with thick fog, a burst of clanging drums and military bugles suddenly rang out, like lightning that cuts through the sky, suddenly piercing into the most vulnerable hearts of the Xiuli Army and the people.
The early morning sun shines through the white mist, casting golden shadows on the vast wilderness. The iron-gray armor of Daxia was like an overwhelming ocean, spreading bit by bit across the end of the plain. The heavy footsteps stepped on the ground, and the deafening sound seemed to drill up from the soles of the feet to the spine. The people let out a panicked scream. They huddled together tightly, cowering and looking at the vastness on the opposite side. Compared with the crowd on the opposite side, their small group of people was just like a speck of dust.
"Oh my God!" Someone exclaimed in a low voice, "What is that? Is it an avalanche?"
"preparation!"