The bitter cold in the northwest has finally come to an end, and spring, which came two months later than in the Central Plains, seems to have arrived quietly overnight. Although the wind was still blowing from the north, it seemed much milder. The climate seemed to have suddenly warmed up, and even winter clothes were a bit out of reach. Although this place in the northwest is desolate, purely from the perspective of scenery, it can be worthy of the words "sky high, clouds light, mountains majestic and land vast".
When Fang Jie climbed up the short mountain and crouched down among the withered grass, he suddenly discovered that under the thick layer of withered grass, a layer of fluffy new green had emerged from nowhere. It looked so eye-catching compared with the withered, yellow and dry grass. He I couldn't help but take another look at this ordinary weed, and saw the prosperity amidst the decay.
This low mountain is currently controlled by rebels, but it is not heavily guarded. Fang Jie brought several men with good cultivation skills to sneak up in order to observe the battle situation outside Xiping City.
The two sides had been fighting outside the city for more than ten days. Although the imperial army did not have an advantage in strength, it completely suppressed the rebels in terms of momentum. Facing the rebel elites gathered from all directions, these brave men who were farming with hoes and sickles more than a year ago showed no fear.
Because they have seen the hope of victory, because His Majesty the Emperor is by their side.
This low mountain is only a dozen miles away from Xiping City, and there is a rebel camp five miles below the mountain.
For three consecutive days, Fang Jie took people to this mountain to observe the war every day. There are not many rebels on this mountain, so it is not difficult to hide their cultivation from those rebel soldiers. He looked at the two intertwined torrents outside Xiping City with his clairvoyance, his face solemn and calm.
People who have experienced war will have a very serious attitude towards war. The common people may treat the things on the battlefield as a joke after dinner, but the soldiers who have come through the mountains of corpses and seas of blood, even if they talk calmly about the past years, their eyes will be full of joy. With a different kind of sadness.
Even if you are the winner, how can you not lose something?
It can be seen that the imperial troops are going to win this battle again. In fact, the so-called elite rebels are not fundamentally stronger than the brave men of the imperial court. They are just equipped with much better equipment than ordinary rebels. There are no advantages at all. The morale of these brave warriors was high when they won consecutive battles. In addition, the generals around the emperor knew how to win far better than the generals under Li Yuanshan. Therefore, nine out of ten wars that happened every day were won by the imperial troops.
Occasionally, the rebels took advantage, but they could not restore the decadent morale.
"Another victory over another battalion"
Wanyan Zhongde put down his clairvoyance and lowered his voice: "Li Yuanshan's reinforcements are not available, and his defeat will only happen sooner or later. In the past three days, the Sui Emperor's army has defeated three rebel camps, and the rebels outside the city have been scattered. There is a lack of mutual support like sand, and if this continues, it won¡¯t take long for morale to completely collapse.¡±
Fang Jie nodded: "It's not the end yet. Don't forget that Li Yuanshan still has at least 60,000 real elites in his hands. The quality of the soldiers who were once the Right Guards of the Sui Dynasty is far beyond that of other rebels." , and I haven¡¯t seen a flag of war soldiers on the imperial court side in the past few days, which means that the emperor is armed with 60,000 elite troops, and even if Li Yuanshan wants to leave, the imperial troops probably won¡¯t be able to stop him.¡±
The situation on the battlefield ahead has become clear. Before the support of the other rebel battalions came over, the rebels of this battalion were overwhelmingly defeated by the imperial troops.
Fang Jie turned over and lay down in the grass, no longer watching the battle: "The Feiyupao and scouts sent out have not returned yet. We don't know where Meng Yuanmanzi's cavalry and Luo Yao's left vanguard have gone. This battle It¡¯s still full of variables.¡±
"His Majesty the Emperor of the Sui Dynasty should be confident."
Wanyan Zhongde was silent for a while and said: "Although I have never met him, I know that he is a very wise and great monarch. Such a supreme person who controls the Central Plains world must have made all the preparations before doing anything. ¡¡±
Fang Jie knew that what Wanyan Zhongde said was right. People like the emperor would not be confused even if they were terminally ill. Even if the emperor had the determination to kill Li Yuanshan before he died, Fang Jie did not believe that the emperor would be willing to suffer a loss. In the eyes of the emperor, Here, his life cannot be exchanged for Li Yuanshan's life.
"Shall we continue to wait?"
Wanyan Zhongde asked.
"Keep waiting"
Fang Jie nodded.
He lay in the grass and looked at the blue sky, and all he could think about was what might happen. By now, the development of things has actually exceeded Fang Jie's prediction on Langru Mountain. When he led his troops out, he never expected that neither Meng Yuan Langqi nor Luo Yao would be seen in the final battle.
Those wolf riders are in a certain placeAre the locals watching and waiting eagerly, or have they already joined the war in unknown places?
Where did Luo Yao's hundreds of thousands of troops go?
As he was lying there, he suddenly discovered a huge bird's nest on a tree not far away. He didn't know what kind of wild bird's home it was. Several little birds poked their heads out of the nest and chirped, waiting for their parents to take them home. Come back with food. A python that had just woken up from hibernation climbed up the tree trunk, and it seemed that its target was the nest of birds that were waiting to be fed.
Seeing this scene, Fang Jie's eyes suddenly lit up.
"I see¡¡"
He sat up, picked up a small stone and flicked it with his fingers. The stone struck the python on the head with a snap like electricity. The python with thick arms twitched and fell from the tree.
"What did you say?"
Wanyan Zhongde asked.
Fang Jie looked back at the battlefield and murmured: "Luo Yao is no longer interested in the emperor. Maybe he already knows that the emperor is seriously ill, so he came to the northwest this time just to show off, to show off to Li Yuanshan and to show off to the emperor." Look, only in this way can the emperor and Li Yuanshan act in accordance with their arrangements with confidence. But Luo Yao had no intention of getting involved in the northwest affair from the beginning. He was just here to make the end come sooner. When the decisive battle with Li Yuanshan begins, Luo Yao is about to retreat His goal has never been the emperor, but the city of Chang'an. "
"The eagle comes out to hunt for the next generation, but the python focuses on the eagle's young eagles."
Fang Jie rubbed his furrowed brows and said, "I hope the emperor will make arrangements Now it's just hope."
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The confrontation between the two sides ended in just one morning. The rebels retreated. The imperial army had driven the rebels who had gathered in Xiping City to both sides. The rebels who tried to encircle the imperial troops finally failed due to lack of troops. Or knowing that he no longer had the ability to continue to implement the original design, Li Yuanshan ordered various rebels to gather on the northwest sides of Xiping City, and after three days of fighting, the south and east of the city were abandoned.
More than 400,000 imperial troops and nearly 500,000 rebels gathered in Xiping City, a place that had almost never appeared in history before. It is undeniable that no matter what the final outcome of this battle, the weight of these three words Xiping City will always be Becoming very, very heavy. This battle will be written in the thickest ink in the history books, no matter who writes it according to his wishes.
It was already dark when Fang Jie returned to the army station. After a hasty dinner, he rested on a stone. Because he wanted to avoid the rebel scouts, the army did not set up a tent or light a fire. They just wrapped themselves in blankets while resting. lying on the grass.
Mu Xiaoyao sat down next to him and looked at the bright stars in the sky: "Jue Xiao, do you want to continue waiting?"
Fang Jie hummed, very softly.
"Why?"
Mu Xiaoyao asked: "You are a rational person, but this trip itself is not a rational thing. Now the situation is chaotic. No one knows how it will end. The armies of all parties may become the winners. You With these 3,000 cavalrymen, we are caught in the middle and can get caught in it if we are not careful."
"I know"
Fang Jie nodded: "I'm selfish, but I have to do this."
Mu Xiaoyao said in a very soft tone: "If there were only a few of us following you, I wouldn't ask why you did anything. But now it's not only us who are following you, but also the three thousand cavalry. They have been until now I don¡¯t even understand what you brought them here for.¡±
"Wait and watch."
Fang Jie paused and said, "I know it's really selfish to do this, to bring thousands of people to accompany you just for your own thoughts I originally thought that the emperor wanted to use himself as a bait to attract a melee from all sides, because he has already He is so ill that he no longer fears death. Although it is not what I expected, I think that he should not be the kind of person who becomes a prisoner of war or is surrounded and killed. I know that the emperor still does not believe me in his heart. But he gave me the utmost trust. I always don¡¯t want to owe others, so I save him once. After saving him, I have an explanation for the trust he gave me.¡±
"But now it seems that the emperor may not lose."
Mu Xiaoyao was silent for a while and said, "You said that he is not the kind of person who can be defeated easily."
"yes"
Fang Jie said: "Judging from the battle situation, the emperor may not necessarily lose. He definitely has a strong back-up, and he may have already used it, but he is still using himself as bait, and he is still using his life as a bet. So even if he wins, he is not a winner. Let an emperor use his own life, even the remaining life, to do it.The bet itself is a failure I just want to return some favors to him, so that I won't be tied to anything I do in the future"
"Fang Jie"
"Um?"
"I am very happy."
"Why?"
Fang Jie looked at Mu Xiaoyao and asked.
"Because you are still you and have never changed."
Mu Xiaoyao smiled, his eyes bright: "You are never the kind of person who gives up all emotions to achieve your goals. Perhaps such a character is very disdainful in the eyes of other successful people, but we are all very happy that you are still you. Maybe You won¡¯t end up standing higher than everyone else, but that doesn¡¯t necessarily mean you didn¡¯t succeed.¡±
Fang understood what Mu Xiaoyao meant, and then realized that he had ignored their feelings. There have been some changes in their behavior since taking the lead. Maybe they have been worried.
He smiled, put his arm around Mu Xiaoyao's shoulders and said, "Maybe I'm a little different from everyone else in this world, and there are always things I can't do."
Mu Xiaoyao also smiled, obviously very happy.
At this moment, a man in flying fish robe suddenly ran over from a distance, hurriedly came to Fang Jie and said, "General, Chen Baihu and the others are back!"
Fang Jie immediately stood up and strode forward.
After Fang Jie left, Shen Qingshan appeared next to Mu Xiaoyao. She looked at Fang Jie's back gradually disappearing into the darkness. After being silent for a while, she suddenly sighed: "It's not easy for someone with such a temperament to reach this point today. I can't even imagine if he can't become more cruel." Some, how difficult his future will be. For us, the stable solution is a comfort and surprise, but for him it will be even harder."
"But there is something you said wrong."
Shen Qingshan smiled at Mu Xiaoyao and said confidently: "I've always judged people more accurately than you He won't lose to any opponent. So, as you said before, maybe you won't stand better than others in the end. Gao is wrong, if you don¡¯t believe it, let¡¯s wait and see.¡±