Tang Dynasty Bandits

Chapter 111: Advance to Muling Pass

Bo Chulong excitedly boasted to his soldiers about the results he had achieved in this counterattack.

"I grabbed the guy's bridle, and he turned pale with fear. I split his head in two with my sword. The chestnut horse tried to kick me, but I chopped off his head with one blow..."

He turned his head and found that Zhao Qianye looked a little gloomy.

"Qian Ye Jushi" was the pseudonym of Zhao Dun, who was born in the Liaodong branch of the Tianshui Zhao family.

Among the Five Burning Heaven Swords, Zhao Dun was the oldest, now thirty-three years old. However, due to his beautiful appearance, he showed no trace of age.

He has a pair of blood-red pupils, which seem to be the result of practicing special mental methods that have caused his appearance to change, just like Xue Shuai Qi Kerang's long blue-black hair.

This pair of blood-red eyes also made Zhao Qianye look extremely eye-catching.

"Brother Zhao, why have you been so depressed these past few days?"

Zhao Qianye didn't feel the slightest bit of triumph. "For twenty years now, I've followed Marshal Yan, suppressing rebellions both large and small. We killed Wang Xianzhi in Qizhou, and more outlaws have rushed forward. Fifth brother, do you think what we're doing is truly meaningful?"

Bo Chulong ranks last among the "Five Swords of Burning Heaven", so Zhao Qianye calls him the fifth brother.

Bo Chulong was stunned for a moment: "Brother Zhao, I know that because of your background, you don't like suppressing rebellions..."

Zhao Qianye sighed deeply, "I am a traveler longing for home in Liaozuo, an old soldier in Beisha. My hair hasn't even started to turn gray yet, but my heart is already completely old."

The Liaodong branch of the Tianshui Zhao family, where Zhao Qianye was born, has now been completely destroyed, because Liaodong is no longer even part of the Tang Dynasty.

Beisha City, where he was born, was the last city in Liaodong to hold out.

During the Yuanhe period of the Tang Dynasty, Guo Xin, the last Anxi Protector who defended the Western Regions, was killed in the battle of Qiuci along with the white-haired soldiers in the city. From then on, the thousands of miles of Western Regions were no longer part of the Tang Dynasty.

The Tang clan, who remained in the northeast, perhaps outlasted their Western Region comrades by fifty years, perhaps because their opponents lacked the vastness of the Tibetan empire. However, attacks and encroachments by Khitan cavalry, Bohai warriors, Silla pirates, and Xi mountain dwellers led to the gradual fall of the Liaodong territories, which the Tang had painstakingly recovered after conquering Goguryeo.

Twenty years ago, the young Yan Shuai Zhen Ranyu led his army out of the border, walked across the ice and sea, and defeated the joint forces of Khitan, Bohai and Silla that had besieged the city for several months.

Before the white-haired soldiers in the city could cheer for joy, she brought another piece of news that made the citizens completely despair - the court would no longer send any reinforcements to Liaodong.

"We Liao people, even if we die, can only die on Liao soil. Our loyal souls will forever guard Liaodong after death!"

Zhao Qianye clearly remembered that when his grandfather, with white hair and beard and a weathered face, responded to Marshal Yan's invitation to help them relocate inland, he uttered such sonorous words.

But then, still sighing, Grandfather said to Yan Shuai, "Take some children away."

Five years later, the Khitans returned, and the city of Beisha fell. All the soldiers and civilians, men, women, and children, fought and died, none surrendering. From then on, only ruins remained on the Liaodong plain, the traces of Tang rule evident among the endless weeds.

As the lone loyal descendant of Liaodong, Zhao Qianye certainly did not think that these endless internal wars within the Great Wall had any real meaning.

It is obvious that if the imperial court had provided disaster relief earlier, these killings could have been avoided.

But Marshal Yan had given him a new life, and his only duty was to be Marshal Yan's sharpest sword and to carry out all of Marshal Yan's orders until his death.

Lu Qingchen, the second-ranked of the "Five Heaven-burning Swords," began to complain again: "After our great victory, the bandits should have been frightened. Why are they harassing us even more?"

This time, General Yan did not answer him. The one who responded to him was the governor of Yingzhou and the leader of the Yushi Sect, Zang Zimian. As a loyal comrade of General Yan, he had been appointed by the court as the deputy envoy of the various camps after the battle of Qizhou.

"Those cannon fodder wanderers have certainly lost their nerve, but this time Huang Jutian is truly bringing out his most powerful weapon."

During the Battle of Qizhou, the Zang Governor had his right arm severed by Wang Xianzhi, leaving him to wield the bone staff with his left arm. Despite the loss of one arm, he still looked forbidding and intimidating, even more eerie and sinister, befitting his demeanor as the "Three Burial Master."

"The large and small horse caravans in Qingqi must have provided a large number of horses to the bandits."

War horses were difficult to raise because they needed to be tall enough at the shoulders to carry the heavy armored knights charging into battle. Therefore, when fighting on the plains, Huang Chao's army often used chariots instead of heavy cavalry to carry out the attack.

However, if it is horse archery, the requirements for the horse are relatively low, the riders are often unarmored or lightly armored, and there is no need to charge.

This is also why the horses of the grassland people always seem endless.

The Pinglu Army was once divided for years by a Jiedushi family of Hu descent, only finally being defeated during the reign of Emperor Xianzong. Influenced by the Hu people, the knights of Qi and Lu favored horseback archery. Huang Chao, even in his youth, was renowned for his prowess in fencing and archery. "Abandon the chariot and follow the cavalry, ambush from all sides," Zhen Ranyu's magnetic voice rang out from the carriage. "Interesting. I killed Wang Xianzhi using the 'ten-sided ambush' method. Does Huang Jutian wish to return the favor?"

Zang Zimian said: "The tactic of 'ambush from ten sides' was used by Han Xin to kill Xiang Yu at Gaixia and Cao Cao to defeat Yuan Shao at Cangting. However, the actual deployment methods were very different."

Lu Qingchen asked, "General Yan killed Wang Xianzhi in Qizhou using Han Xin's military tactics. Could it be that Huang Jutian used Cao Mengde's 'Ten-Sided Ambush' technique?"

Zang Zimian nodded. "With sufficient cavalry and high mobility, we can attack repeatedly, in an endless cycle. We can surround the enemy with a small force, like a thorn in the flesh, gradually eating away at the enemy's morale. Then, we can gather our best forces and annihilate them in one fell swoop."

Lu Qingchen was shocked and said, "The bandits are much more familiar with this mountain area than we are. What should we do?"

"It's nothing more than heading north," Zhen Ranyu said calmly. "As long as we break through Muling Pass and cross the dangerous Daxian Pass, we can directly strike the enemy troops on the Linqu Plain from the flanks and rear. Together with the Pinglu Army, we can completely annihilate Shang Rang and Meng Kai's troops."

"Huang Chao certainly doesn't want this to happen, so he will definitely guard Muling Pass himself."

"However, his troops have dispersed again. There won't be many soldiers left inside the pass."

Lu Qingchen hesitated and said, "With Huang Chao's cunning, he would definitely be on guard against these things. Could the enemy have set an ambush in the city?"

At this moment, a scout suddenly rushed in and reported: "Just as General Zhen predicted, the people in Muling Pass have all fled. Looking down from the commanding heights, we can see that there is no one inside or outside the city."

Zhen Ranyu said lazily, "Huang Chao will definitely set up defenses at Muling Pass, so the ambush troops are inside the empty houses in the city."

"Since we know where the ambush is, then the ambush is no different from an open card."

As she spoke, she lifted the carriage curtain, her eyes moving, revealing a charm that astonished the world, but the vast mountains and rivers, the general situation of the world, were all reflected in her eyes.

Lu Qingchen stopped talking.

He knew that for top intellectuals like the Four Marshals, the scenery they saw was no less than the realm of heaven to him.

After Huang Chao and Huang Jutian's hair turned white overnight, their intelligence and strategy were stimulated to the extreme, and only then did they qualify as chess players to play against Yan Shuai.

In the face of a chess game where the country is the chess piece, both Lu Qingchen and the governor Zang Zimianzang are nothing more than chess pieces.

The summer breeze swept through, and even in the mountains, one could still feel the rolling heat waves blowing in one's face.

But the soldiers under Marshal Yan's command remained as disciplined as iron. They marched steadily under the scorching sun, with their flags in good order.

"Even in midsummer, it feels like carrying frost and snow" is also a distinctive feature of the elite iron army.

Crossing numerous hills and rolling mountains, you can see Muling Pass, towering like a majestic beast among the mountains, casting a deep shadow. The towering fortress and its dense stone walls, imbued with the vicissitudes of history, leave a deep impression on the viewer.

The mountains and rivers are silent, and the city is silent, as if it is really an empty city.

The soldiers under Marshal Yan's command have all been put on 120% alert.

A life-and-death battle is imminent.

But even the eagle-eyed scouts of General Yan's army did not discover a leisurely figure drinking from a cup among the pines on the top of the mountain outside the city during their reconnaissance.

“Without the presence of the hermit Ming, the mountain is empty and desolate.

The White Lotus Chant is incomplete, and the green mist dissipates as I sit down.

The springs are cold without the three hottest days of summer, but the pines wither for six consecutive days.

When will the moon appear on the stone, and the theory of relativity be free and unfettered?

This middle-aged man dressed as a scholar sat on the ground in the shade of pines, drinking wine and reciting poems, looking very casual.

"Beautiful mountains and rivers, beautiful scenery, when it comes to light!"

After saying this, he raised the bronze three-legged wine cup and drank it all in one gulp facing the scorching sun.

(End of this chapter)