Wishful Things

The sun did not appear for a long time, and it was only around the afternoon when the heavy fog was able to dissipate. The narrow mountains and roads everywhere, and the military flags on the city walls were finally able to reveal their full colors.

The mist between heaven and earth disappeared, replaced by a thick bloody atmosphere.

"My grandson, the enemy army in the south of the city has been repelled!"

On the tower in the west of the city, the young man in armor and saber nodded: "Don't chase after the poor—"

After verification, the siege in the south was so loud, but in fact only 10,000 people were mobilized. It was really thunder and rain, and the damaged soldiers and horses were thrown away. It was useless to flee back to the camp.

What's more, there is no camp to return to.

The most important thing at the moment is the enemy forces in the west.

The reinforcements from each battalion have arrived one after another, and the more than 50,000 enemy troops who had previously gained the upper hand have gradually shown signs of fatigue.

In order to hide people's eyes and ears, they rushed all night through the thick fog and fought bloody battles until now, not only the people, but even the horses were almost too much to bear.

Amid the sound of fighting, the blood light covered the sky and the sun, and the sky gradually darkened.

"Grandson, General Xiao is back!"

Long lanterns had already been hung up at the corners of the city tower, and pine oil torches were lit. From time to time, the night wind would blow up, agitating the flames to flicker, flickering and flickering around.

General Xiao Shou was helped up the tower by a soldier.

"General Xiao is injured?" Wu Chao stepped forward and held his other arm.

"It's okay, it's just a hole in the back!" General Xiao Shou didn't care.

At the beginning, he led the troops forward, the enemy was outnumbered, he had to rush to the front for the sake of strong morale, when the two armies were fighting, he had just cut off a man's head, and he had no time to dodge for a while, when someone plotted against him behind him.

With the armor on, the wound wasn't too deep, so he didn't care about it, so he killed with the wound for most of the day. It wasn't until the reinforcements arrived, seeing the situation turned around, that I felt "hey, what kind of thing hurts", touched it back with my backhand, and then reacted "Oh, I was slashed earlier".

Seeing that his blood-splattered face turned pale, Wu Chao immediately said, "First help General Xiao return to the camp for treatment."

At this time, what are you bringing to climb the castle tower?

"This subordinate is here to report to the grandson of the same generation!" Xiao Shoujiang smiled "hehe", he didn't care about the injury at all, seeing that the people around him were about to put him off, he hurriedly said: "Ma Duanlian's grandson can't hold on Now, the troops must be withdrawn, according to the arrangement of the descendants, people have been ordered to guard the exit of the West Mountain, this time they must be told to go and never return!"

The timely response to this battle turned the situation around, and now it was time to close the door and beat the dog. It was really a joyous fight!

The most important thing is that this is the first battle!

If the first battle can be won, the morale of the imperial court will be severely damaged!

Thinking of this, General Xiao Shou couldn't help being excited.

In contrast, Wu Chao's nodding was somewhat perfunctory, and he waved his hands at several people, signaling to take them back quickly.

General Xiao Shou, who hadn't finished speaking, was forcibly taken off the tower just like that.

Wu Chao looked at the rolling hills in the distance.

This battle is indeed very important, it is to establish prestige, and it also paves the way for the future.

Therefore, these soldiers and horses are bound to stay.

There was a slight discrepancy with Xiao Shoujiang's prediction, Ma Duanlian did not retreat yet, and continued to fight until late at night, exhausted, seeing that there was no chance of winning, no matter how difficult it was to sustain, he had to order the entire army to retreat to the rear .

The rear convenience is Mt.

Knowing that this retreat is very likely to face new difficulties, but at the moment he can only retreat to the mountains.

"General, I can't get out... Every exit is guarded by the Wu family army!"

In the mountains, several soldiers who went to explore the road turned back, and what they brought back was news that made everyone panic.

Marching all night and fighting hard until now, even those who were not injured are exhausted.

And after fighting for a long time, all they see are blood and stumps. For most people, this is originally a severe destruction of the visual body and mind.

After numbness, stopping for a while, there will be endless emptiness and fear.

Suddenly hearing that the exit had been sealed, many people were on the verge of emotional collapse.

"There are interceptors ahead, and there are pursuers approaching behind! They are obviously going to take advantage of the victory and pursue us to kill us all!"

"When the troops were dispatched... didn't the general say that there was an 80% chance of winning!"

Why on earth did these Wu Jiajun move so fast?

Not only was he not distracted by the offensive in the south of the city, but he even transferred all the soldiers and horses of the battalions to this place in such a short period of time!

Their original plans and tactics were gradually broken by the other party...

Deputy General Ma Duanlian held a knife in his hand and leaned against his side, his hair was disheveled under his helmet, his eyes were almost red, and he said in a hoarse voice: "It's up to people to plan things, but it's up to Heaven to make things happen."

When he saw the opponent's reinforcements arriving in time, he already knew that the plot had been seen through.

Ningyang City is heavily defended, this raid from the west is the easiest way to win!

If Ningyang City can be captured in this way, King Yan and the Xu family will surely be deterred!

And if this battle is lost, the loss will be the face and prestige of the imperial court...

It's up to God...

When the soldiers on the side heard these four words, they felt even less hopeful.

If it is up to heaven, then in their current situation, does it mean that even heaven does not want to favor Daqing anymore?

The atmosphere was sad and anxious, and the whole hour passed, and the sky gradually lit up, but there was no movement at the entrance and exit of the mountain.

The round moon above the head has disappeared from the outline, and there are noisy voices in the silent mountain.

"General, Wu's army didn't come after us..."

Ma Duanlian's eyes flickered.

"They won't enter the mountain anymore..." He looked at the direction of the forest exit in front of him, and asserted: "The terrain in the mountain is complicated, and the odds of winning are unpredictable... They want to trap us in this forest without a single soldier. among."

He chose to attack from the west because there are mountains in the west, the weakest troops, and the easiest to be ignored——

But at the moment, this mountain has become a hindrance, a huge cage, trapping them in it...

True success is also this mountain, and failure is also this mountain.

"No wonder... no wonder they only guard the entrances and exits!"

"General, what should we do now? Is it possible to just sit and wait for death?"

"Why don't we just kill it directly! It's better than waiting to die in this mountain!"

"That's right, kill it!"

The echo was deafening, but more soldiers chose to remain silent, waiting for the general's decision.

"Don't act rashly, rest here for a day first, and discuss countermeasures after recovering your strength." Ma Duanlian looked around at the exhausted faces, and confessed: "Light a fire, put the wounded soldiers in one place, use horses Treat the wound with the wound medicine carried on the back, and send someone to find the water source, and the water is taken for the wounded soldiers."

As for food, for the sake of marching speed, each person only brought two sheets of naan bread, and now they can only deal with one or two for the time being, and after a short rest, let people look for some wild fruits in the mountains.

Everyone obeyed orders, and each division of labor followed suit.

Soon, the fire burned up, and the light of the fire dispelled the last ray of darkness in the mountain, and the sun rose slowly, and the warmth spread across the sky and earth, making people feel at ease.

Many soldiers lay down and fell asleep. Ma Duanlian sat by the fire and looked at a young soldier who was leaning against a boulder not far away. But already fast asleep.

In the ears are the groans of the wounded soldiers.

"How many people are left?" Ma Duanlian asked the subordinate beside him in a hoarse voice.

"Return to the general, I have just counted, there are more than 36,000 people left, of which nearly 1,000 are seriously injured, and even slightly injured..."

Hearing this, Ma Duanlian clenched the handle of the knife tightly.

In other words... more than 10,000 troops were lost in this day alone!

"During the battle, my subordinates observed that the arm crossbows and bed crossbows they used were astonishingly powerful, a style never seen before... and there were soldiers holding firecrackers! A large number of weapons and firearms were made privately... The Wu family rebelled The heart really lasts a long time!"

Ma Duanlian's heart sank when he heard that.

He saw it too.

Especially those guns...

Firecrackers have been around since the previous dynasty, and they are not a rare item. Because they are extremely labor-intensive, not only time-consuming and expensive, but also very labor-intensive if the operation is slightly improper, and it is easy to hurt the enemy instead of hurting yourself, so it has never been used. used on a large scale.

And the Wu family used it yesterday, obviously it was modified by a skilled craftsman...

"...he's really fucking rich!" Hearing this, someone on the side gave a "bah".

Rebellion is really the poor and the poor against the law, the rich and the rich against the law!

That night, after midnight, Ma Duanlian sent people to find a relatively open place, and ten clusters of fireworks exploded in the night sky with screaming sounds.

"Grandson, they lit fireworks in the mountains, which should be for Hu Kun and the others to see."

In the west camp, some soldiers entered the tent and said inside.

Wu Chao, who was sitting behind the case, gave a "hmm" and said without stopping the pen writing the letter in his hand, "Don't worry about it."

Ma Duanlian is asking Hu Kun for reinforcements.

Not to mention that Hu Kun could no longer see it, even if he could still see it, he might not dare to come after such a defeat.

The soldier responded "Yes", and didn't say anything more for a while, when Wu Chao put down his pen, he said again: "General Xiao just sent someone to ask his grandson, do you have any arrangements for tonight."

Wu Chao heard it a little funny.

It's such an hour, yet General Xiao Shou hasn't fallen asleep yet?

And last night, someone came to ask the same question.

"There is no arrangement, just wait patiently."

In the middle of the night the next day, Ma Duanlian deployed in the mountains and sent a team of elites to break through the siege to find weak spots in the defense, but failed.

Another day, there were soldiers in the mountains who boiled their horses and ate them without permission, and they punished more than ten people with military law.

On the sixth day, a rain fell suddenly, and the rain became stronger and stronger, and the mountain wind howled like a mourning horn.

Most of the more than 30,000 soldiers have no way to hide.

After this rain, nearly 2,000 people fell ill.

It was already at the end of its strength, coupled with the shortage of food in the mountains, under the intense vigilance all day long, a chill invaded the body, and it was almost difficult to parry.

It is common to carry some wound medicine on horseback during a surprise march, but it is absolutely impossible to prepare medicine for wind and cold.

And just ordinary wound medicine, without the presence of a military doctor to treat it, it has little effect——

Knife wounds, firearm wounds, wind chills, high fever...

Ma Duanlian ordered new corpses to be buried in the mountains every day.

"Why haven't the reinforcements arrived yet! If this continues, none of us will be able to leave here alive!"

"Since the plan that day was seen through, General Hu's side may suffer heavy losses..."

"What about the imperial court? The signal for reinforcements has been sent out every day, and it has been a full nine days. The surrounding counties, counties, and prefectures must have known it... Could it be that even the government and the court don't care about our life or death!"

"..."

There was a sudden silence all around, and almost no one could see any hope.

The government, the imperial court...

Can they still wait for the reinforcements sent by the court?

Or, has the imperial court abandoned them?

Some soldiers fell to the ground, looking like lost souls.

All they did was to obey the military order and fight for the court and His Majesty, but now that they have lost the battle, don't they even have the right to live?

An atmosphere of despair almost enveloped the entire mountain forest.

In late autumn, when the frost is everywhere, wild fruits and weeds are hard to find, and occasionally hunting some birds and animals is also difficult.

In the past few days, they tried to break out again, including sneak attacks and strong attacks, but it was as if a wall of iron and steel had been erected outside, no matter how hard they tried, they couldn't shake it at all.

If this continues, what awaits them is either death from illness or starvation.

"General, another three hundred and fourteen corpses were buried today..."

Outside a low cave, Ma Duanlian nodded almost imperceptibly as he listened to his subordinate's report.

Today is the eleventh day.

Every strategy he could think of had been tried.

On the contrary, at this point, he felt that Wu Jiajun was too kind.

If the Wu family's army intends to attack, they must go to the mountains to kill them.

He had no sleep last night, and thought about what he would do now if he were Wu Jiajun?

This situation is not even unfamiliar to him now. Just a few months ago, before he was sent to Ningyang by the imperial decree, he suppressed the rioters in Dun County, and those rioters were also forced into the mountains by him at that time.

Thinking that these rioters are familiar with the terrain in the mountains, they are good at laying traps, and they are also very good at guerrilla warfare. In order to increase the chance of winning, he poisoned people in the upstream water in advance. kill.

Now, at least they can drink clean water.

Thinking of these, Ma Duanlian couldn't tell what he was feeling.

"General... what are we going to do next?" The subordinate looked at Lieutenant General Ma, whose temples had turned gray in just a short time, with faint expectation in his eyes.

The naked eye could see that Ma Duanlian, who was much older, moved his pale and chapped lips, unable to speak for a while.

The reinforcements have not arrived...

In late autumn, there is a lack of food in the mountains, not to mention people, even horses can't eat enough...

In contrast, the Wu family's army was brave and abundant, and Ning Yang was behind him, which meant a steady stream of supplies.

What else could he do?

"General!"

At this time, a soldier rushed over, saluted on one knee, and held a letter in his hand: "The Wu family army sent people into the mountain just now, and sent this letter, saying that it needs to be signed by the general himself!"

Wu Jiajun? !

Recently, the mountain seems to be cut off from the outside world, and it has become a world trapped and locked up alone, and no news has come in, which even makes them often have a deadly feeling of "no one will care about it until they die".

When they heard that the Wu family had sent a letter, it was as if a huge boulder had been thrown into the water in an instant, finally causing movement in this stagnant water.

But why did the Wu family send someone to deliver a letter? !

At this moment, the victory or defeat is almost decided, so why should the other party make such an unnecessary move?

Ma Duanlian quickly tore apart the letter paper.

On the letter paper, those few lines of handwriting are clear and powerful...

For a moment, Ma Duanlian's eyes were almost locked on the particularly eye-catching four characters——

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(Good night everyone.)