After Spring and Autumn

Chapter 1

Smoke and dust billowed, and countless chariots galloped towards them.

"Run!" Someone yelled beside him, dropped the spear in his hand, turned around and ran wildly.

"This is?" Meng Di narrowed his eyes, as if he couldn't adapt to the strong sunlight at noon, "On the battlefield?"

Before he could think clearly, he was led back by the flow of people around him.

The four-horse chariot quickly caught up, and the tall armored horse slammed into the crowd like a giant beast, screaming and crying.

The soldiers in the car just looked down coldly, and didn't intend to make a move. They pierced through the crowd in just a moment, leaving a mess on the ground.

The scene was appalling, and within ten stops of standing still, many people rolled and groaned on the ground.Meng Di was also hit by a huge force and flew out sideways. Fortunately, he reluctantly gave way to the side when he landed, so that he was not trampled by the horse's hoof.

After taking a breath, someone shouted: "Back, back again!"

Looking back, the infantry team holding long daggers was approaching step by step.

So, he started running again, this time Mengdi had an extra person on his back.When I was avoiding the horse's hoof just now, I saw a person beside me lying there with dull eyes, trembling all over, so I dragged him over.However, even though he carried someone on his back, it didn't seem to affect the speed.

The run lasted until dusk, when a big river blocked in front of them, all the people couldn't hold on anymore, and fell to the ground with a plop.There were only dozens of people who ran to the river together, and the rest were either overtaken by the enemy or scattered.

Meng Di came to the river and silently watched the river flowing slowly under the setting sun.The person on the back had been put down a long time ago, and now he limped over, with a smile on his face, thanking him for saving his life.

The man said his name was Peng Ji, from Yingdu, and asked Mengdi what his name was.

"What's my name? Who am I?" Meng Di was thinking about this question all the way.There was only one image in my mind. On a snowy night, countless torches illuminated the entire valley. A tall general pointed his sword obliquely in front of him, and shouted: "Anyone who offends me will be punished even if he is far away!" Arrows rained all over the sky, and the horses leaped.

The soldiers behind him yelled wildly one by one: "Even if you are far away, you will be punished!" Then they rushed up.Then the picture gradually blurred, and the torches seemed to be connected together, just like the golden light swaying on the sparkling river in front of you.

The last thing I vaguely heard was "Mengdi! Live! Live!"

"Mundy?" Is that my name?
"Mengdi? Meng's surname is rare, where is he from?" Peng Ji didn't notice Mengdi's thoughtful expression, so he continued to ask.

"Where are you from? Big man?"

"Big man? I haven't heard of it." But Peng Ji didn't take it seriously, Chu is so big, there are many places that I haven't heard of.

Someone lit a fire, and Peng Ji pulled Mengdi over to sit down, and said mysteriously: "Do you know? It is the Wu army that attacked us this time."

"Wu country?" The people on the side rushed over one after another.

Someone shouted in disbelief: "Wu is so far away, how could it be Wu's army!"

"Yes, yes," someone echoed, "I heard Shi Chang said that Cai Guo is to the north, and the army of Cai Guo is here, right?"

"What do you country people know?" Peng Ji snorted disdainfully.

A small man like a skinny monkey squeezed over and said loudly: "Brother Peng is a nobleman in Yingdu City, he must be right. Brother Peng, tell me what's going on?"

"The nobles are still disciples like us." Someone muttered softly.

Peng Ji pretended not to hear, and said reservedly: "You all know that I have a brother who is a man with a halberd. He told me a few days ago that Master Ling Yin was attacking Cai Guo, and Wu Guo's army crossed the Huai River to rescue him. Cai Guo, may attack us."

"Really, that's really Wu's army." Everyone chattered.

"What country are we?"

Everyone fell silent, Peng Ji looked at Mengdi stupidly, put his hand on his forehead, and moaned: "Oh my God, how remote is this place of Dahan? You are not a savage from the mountains, are you? Of course we are The state of Chu is gone!"

Everyone laughed in good faith, as if they were proud of finding people from the countryside more than themselves, and Peng Ji was even more motivated to be a teacher.

"Brother Meng, does the man with the halberd know?"

"I don't know"

Peng Ji showed such an expression, and said triumphantly: "It's the right side of the chariot. There are warriors, archers, and halberds on the chariot. Only nobles can be in charge."

He added: "My father was also a halberd-wielding man. If he hadn't died too early and didn't pass on the title, I wouldn't have become a pawn."

"What is a pawn?"

"We are disciples." Everyone laughed again.

Peng Ji went on to explain that the disciples were the infantry following the chariots. Each chariot had hundreds of disciples, most of whom were farmers, and there were also descendants of descended aristocrats like Peng Ji.

The chariot is the absolute main force on the battlefield, and the pawns are responsible for protecting the flanks. Once the chariot is defeated, the pawns will only be defeated.

"I heard from my clan brother that Wu's disciples are very powerful. I heard that they are capable of resisting chariots." Peng Ji said surprisingly.

No one is willing to believe that everyone is a pawn, how can they be so powerful?Peng Ji didn't know much about it, and just insisted that the country people had never seen the world, and what the clan brother said must be right.

It was late at night, everyone ran all afternoon, exhausted already, after arguing for a while, they leaned on each other's pillows and fell asleep, snoring one after another.

Mengdi sat in front of the fire, quietly looking at the spear in his hand.It is more like a wooden pole than a spear. The tip of the spear has fallen somewhere, leaving only the bare end.

Chu State, Wu State, Cai State... seems to have a very faint impression in my mind.Big man, where is it?
The dead branches were peeling and peeling, and sparks burst out from time to time.It seems to be back to the valley full of fire...

There was a ray of morning light in the sky, the fire had been extinguished, and when the wind blew, black and white soot flew all over the sky.It was a bit cold in the early winter morning, and the apprentice curled up in his sleep and tightened his thin kudzu clothes.

Peng Ji woke up from the cold, opened his sleepy eyes, and saw Mengdi still sitting there like a stone statue, walking over lightly.

"homesick?"

Without waiting for an answer, he said to himself: "Don't worry, as usual, you can go back in the spring, and you can catch up with the farm work."

Meng Di ignored it, and suddenly turned around and lay down on the ground, listening with his ears on the ground.Peng Ji was taken aback. Could it be some kind of ritual in the countryside?

"Quick, there is an enemy!" Meng Di jumped up and shouted loudly, but the pawns who were sleeping soundly did not respond.

Peng Ji hurriedly grabbed Meng Di, "It's over, it's over, I'm lost and crazy, what should I do?"

Meng Di shook off Peng Ji, rushed up and kicked the disciples awake one by one.The apprentices glared at each other, and the irritable ones picked up their spears and were about to fight for their lives.

At this time, the ears were bright and they could vaguely hear the sound of horseshoes and wheels. Everyone looked together. The next moment, a chariot suddenly jumped out from the edge of the forest, and one after another appeared in the field of vision.

"Enemy army!" Everyone jumped up and ran towards the grove.

The archers on the chariot opened their bows and shot, and several disciples were overturned by the arrows, and the rest dared not stay, and rushed towards the grove even rolling and crawling.

There was loud laughter from the chariot, but it didn't stop, nor did it change direction, it just walked away.

After a long while, all the people came out cautiously from the woods, and those unlucky ghosts who had been shot were lying on the ground moaning.

After checking, none of them were fatal injuries, but everyone's hearts sank.The direction Wu Jun is heading is exactly the direction everyone is going back. There are high mountains and dense forests here, and there is only one road. Now Wu Jun is ahead, and going up is going to die.

Everyone turned their eyes to Meng Di.Yesterday Meng Di ran all the way with someone on his back and looked very relaxed, and today he predicted the enemy's situation in advance, and he felt that he was a capable person.

Mengdi thought for a while, then found a branch and asked Peng Ji to draw the map. Peng Ji said with a bitter face that he only knew where Yingdu was.

Fortunately, the little monkey-like man volunteered. His name was Li. He followed his father in business since he was a child, and traveled to many places.

Li gesticulated on the ground, everyone discussed together for a long time, and the map was pieced together in sevens and eights.

With Li's explanation and everyone's quick comments, Meng Di finally got a general understanding of the current situation.

This team consisted of fifty chariots, and after recruiting thousands of disciples and servants from the surrounding areas of Ying, led by a general named Wu Hei, they went north to assist the main force of the Chu army in attacking Cai.Hurrying all the way through the three dangerous passes of Zhiyuan, Ming'e and Datun, traveling for hundreds of miles.

After leaving the customs, there is Yimapingchuan, not far from Cai Guo. General Wu was about to speed up his march, when a large army suddenly appeared in front of him, smashing the fifty chariots in front of him like a crushing one, and then covered and killed them all the way.

Meng Di fell into deep thought. If the map drawn by Li is not bad, it would be very strange.

The main force of the state of Chu is attacking the state of Cai. According to brother Peng Ji, the state of Wu also sent troops to rescue Cai, so the battlefield should be in the state of Cai.

But now Wu Jun suddenly appeared in Chu State and went all the way south.Judging from yesterday and today's situation, Wu Jun didn't care about his people at all, and he was completely marching in a hurry. If he passed the three passes ahead, he would immediately be in the hinterland of Chu State.Could it be that saving Cai was a conspiracy?

After pondering for a long time, Meng Di punched the ground, "Go north!"

"Crazy crazy!"

"Go north to die?"

Everyone shouted one after another, seeing Mengdi's inscrutable face, they thought there would be some good way, but they turned out to be a lunatic.

Even Peng Ji sighed, knowing that he came from some countryside and knew nothing, but he still had hope in him.

Only chestnut looks thoughtful.

Thousands of troops and horses flashed before Meng Di's eyes, charging forward against the sky full of arrows, people around him fell down one after another, but no one took a step back.

Suddenly stood up: "Go south, you must die! Go north, you can live!"

(End of this chapter)