According to "Yushi·Benji·Zhaozong", on the first day of May in the Jiaxu year, Emperor Yuanzong's eighth son, Ling'an King Xu Zhou, ascended the throne as Yuzhaozong, and respected Emperor Yuanzong in the north as the Supreme Emperor, and changed the name to Qianding in the Yuan Dynasty.
On the third day of May in the first year of Qian Ding, the first edict of the new emperor was issued. The sixth daughter of the Xie family in Lidu Prefecture served the dragon for her meritorious service. She was awarded the title of "Mrs. Zhongyong" and was buried with military honors. She was the first woman in this dynasty to receive this honor. .
In the west of the fifth month of the first year of Qianding, the front line was in a hurry. Fifty thousand Qi troops secretly marched through Shangyang Pass in order to attack Lidu Prefecture. Lidu Prefecture recruited 10,000 troops, with Ying Huai, the leader of the Yucheng army, as the commander-in-chief, and Song Muchuan, the then magistrate of Lidu Prefecture, as the formation envoy, hastily responding to the enemy.
The Qi army marched all the way southward with unstoppable force. They occupied Luyang Town as their base camp, separated from the outer city of Lidu Prefecture by a natural barrier called the Xianyang Valley.
Xieyang Valley is a narrow valley that can only accommodate a dozen people passing through side by side. In spring and summer, the woods along the road are dense with branches and leaves. If you set up an ambush in it, it will be like catching a turtle in an urn, and you will be hard to guard against.
The Qi army was very cautious about this and did not send troops rashly.
Lidu Prefecture defended the natural danger and asked for support from the Jinling New Dynasty. Maybe they could hold on for another ten days and then reinforcements could arrive. Although the situation was critical, the entire army was united and wanted to avenge its disgrace once reinforcements arrived.
But on this day, there was a dispute in the camp, and everyone only heard "No, it means no!", and then saw the usually gentle Magistrate Song leaving the camp angrily.
The only person who could make Magistrate Song jump with anxiety seemed to be the mysterious military advisor.
When the military advisor appeared, he was always wrapped tightly in a helmet, and his appearance could not be clearly seen. Although he was not awarded any military position, his uncanny calculations and his strategy of arranging troops always had miraculous effects. It seems that the Qi army is advancing in great strides, but in fact we know that the enemy is outnumbered and we do not face the enemy head-on in the disadvantageous terrain. This cuts off the possibility of the Qi army to invade Lidu Mansion from other directions at a very small cost, allowing the Qi army to attack Lidu Mansion from several other directions. They can only attack from the Setting Sun Valley.
The existence of this military advisor became more and more popular in the army, saying that he had the talent of Zhuge Liang's reincarnation.
But if everyone knew that this person was Xie Queshan, it would probably be another extreme reputation.
Xie Queshan went to great lengths to hide his identity because he was afraid that his existence would cause some criticism and destabilize the hearts of the army, so he acted as a behind-the-scenes strategist. Only Song Muchuan and part of the Yucheng army knew his identity.
He always acted in a low-key manner, and the reason why he was arguing with Song Muchuan today was because the matter of food and grass was imminent. There is not enough food and grass in the city. When the Qi people came to power in Lidu Mansion, they emptied the granaries long ago in order to weaken our army's defense capabilities. The soldiers could rely on their morale at first, but keeping everyone hungry is not a long-term solution.
Xie donated all the grain stored in her family, and also mobilized the wealthy squires in the city to donate grain. However, she could not withstand the troops approaching the city, people were panicked, many people fled south, and the material loss was serious. In the end, it was just a drop in the bucket.
Xie Queshan proposed to lead people to go around and rob the Qi people's food emergency, but the chance of winning was too small and was decisively rejected by Song Muchuan.
Xie Queshan asked back - what good ideas do you have?
Song Muchuan couldn't tell. He had no choice but to risk his own life. Since ancient times, it has been difficult to defend the city in terms of food and grass, but it can only be defended. What's more, if reinforcements arrive, the siege of the trapped city will naturally be solved. He simply acted like a dictator for a time. Even if he disagreed, he ran away without waiting for Xie Queshan to argue again.
Just when Xie Queshan was in a state of despair, he received a letter from Shuzhong.
The letter read: "Child from Queshan, you robbed my granary. If you don't avenge this, your hatred will never go away. Wait for me where you are until the fall comes!"
This was obviously Zhang Yue's reply.
It turns out that Gui Lai Tang still has grain stores in the city. Xie Queshan laughed dumbly. This kid ran to such a far place to hide, but his hands and eyes were still open to the sky. It's great to have money, and now Zhang Yue is happy to call him son. With this clue, they checked the properties of Guilaitang one by one, and within half a day, they found the grain storage area.
Xie Queshan was grateful and led people to "rob" the granary and recognized Zhang Yue as his "big daddy".
There was no need to worry about food and grass. Seeing that the Qi people were making frequent commotions and could no longer sit still, Xie Queshan expected that they would launch an attack on Xieyang Valley within three days, so he sent troops to set up ambushes on the highlands on both sides of the valley.
Sure enough, in the afternoon of the third day, the Qi people's front army wanted to cross the valley, and the ambush troops launched an attack on the high ground. They saw that they had the upper hand. Unexpectedly, the Qi army was already on guard. The rear army climbed to the high ground and fought fiercely with the ambush troops. This time The ambush to steal the chicken failed, but the rice was lost, and the Yu Dynasty army fled in panic.
However, Wanyan Puruo and Han Xianwang were very cautious, fearing that there would still be an ambush behind them, so they called for gold and retreated their troops in time. They only explored the truth and then gave up.
When the two sides fought head-on, the disparity in strength became apparent. After several confrontations, even though the Lidu army had the advantage of the terrain, they all ended in defeat. The Qi army finally let down their guard and no longer tried to be cautious, but launched a fierce attack first, intending to seize Xianyang Valley.
After all the army entered the hinterland of the valley, they suddenly saw flags flying in the sky and drums and horns blaring. The elite troops who had been ambushed for a long time emerged from the reeds in front. They were all brave and good at fighting. One against ten, they killed those who had relaxed their vigilance. Qi Jun was caught off guard.
It turns out that the previous false defeat was just Xie Queshan's plan to lure the enemy deeper. Qi Ren had not suffered any setbacks along the way, so it was inevitable that he would underestimate the enemy's carelessness. The high ground was also retaken, and arrows and rolling stones were fired at the same time. At this time, the Qi army wanted to retreat, but the rear army had no time to turn around.
The Qi army was defeated and retreated in a hurry. At this time, Xie Queshan wanted to lead the troops in pursuit, but Ying Huai anxiously stopped him.
"This battle has demoralized the enemy. There is still a large army guarding Luyang Town. Don't pursue the poor enemy."
Xie Queshan reined his horse back, his armor stained with blood, and the eyes exposed under his helmet were determined to fight.
"What we want is for the Qi army to enter Luyang Town with the fear of being pursued. As long as they have a hint of fear and retreat, we will have the possibility of a comeback in the future."
"The whole army listens to the order and follow me to pursue the enemy -" As soon as this voice came out, it was like the judgment of the King of Hell was finalized. The Yu Dynasty army swept away the defeat and decline in the past, and the shouts of killing shook the sky.
Ying Huai looked at Xie Queshan's decisive charge into the enemy's back, and suddenly felt a sense of shock in his heart. Every sword he swings kills the hatred and shame of the past. He has hated it for too many years, and he can finally declare his position vividly at this moment. He is the uncrowned king and will be invincible wherever he goes. Ying Huai no longer hesitated and followed that figure into the enemy formation.
The fierce flames licked the grass and reeds, and the black soldiers came like a tide, and the sonorous footsteps seemed to shake the valley. The towering cliffs on both sides were majestic and oppressive, and the echo amplified the brutality of the fighting. The valley seemed to have become an extremely deep coffin.
Under such momentum, after the Qi army retreated into the town, Han Xianwang, who claimed to have an army of 50,000, did not dare to open the city gate to fight.
Han Xianwang couldn't figure out how many soldiers there were in Lidu Mansion. In his eyes, Wanyan Jun's army was wiped out there, and now that the two sides were fighting in Xieyang Valley, the Qi army was defeated again. Lidu Mansion seems to have a very terrifying fighting capacity.
What's more, the opponent was Xie Queshan. He underestimated the enemy once, learned a lesson, and became more cautious. He knew this man's ability to lead troops. They had faced each other in the battle to defend the city of Youdu Prefecture. Xie Queshan only had a thousand soldiers, but they fought with him back and forth for more than a month. In the end, because of the rear They were forced to surrender only after the food and grass collapsed.
Knowing that Han Xianwang was conservative at the moment, Xie Queshan also deliberately created some illusions of strong troops in the military camp to confuse the enemy's eyes.
As long as the Qi army does not dare to attack for the time being, Lidu Mansion can minimize casualties and delay the arrival of Jinling reinforcements.
Although this battle was successfully won and the morale of the entire army was greatly boosted, the price paid was also tragic, with hundreds of casualties.
The aftermath of the battlefield seemed endless, and the smell of blood still lingered in the air. Xie Queshan and others carried the bodies of the soldiers back for burial, and the short-term joy was also covered by this heaviness.
The price of battle is death.
Xie Queshan knew that more people would die. But it is not their belief not to break Loulan. Wrapping their bodies in horse leather is the greatest respect for the soldiers.
After finishing all this, we returned to camp. It was already daylight on the second day.
At this time, Xie Queshan had not slept for nearly three days. After taking off his strength, he felt a faint fatigue crawling into his body. However, there were too many things in the military camp, and he still had to think about what to do if Qi Ren came back to his senses. To launch a sudden counterattack, we have to deal with the still stubborn tactics in the city...
He held on, seemingly unharmed, and strode toward the camp.
Suddenly, a pair of slightly cool hands held his, making him shiver and suddenly wake up.
It has a different feel than the sword hilt that I usually hold in my hand. He looked sideways and saw a handsome little soldier standing next to him, holding his hand in one hand and shaking it gently.
Xie Queshan suddenly smiled.
The little soldier is Nan Yi. She did not stay in the back house, but volunteered to join the scout camp. The Scout Master scouts out enemies, and her agility and sensitivity come in handy. In the previous false defeats with the Qi people, she was the one who flexibly traveled back and forth to provide intelligence on the former army.
"You come with me."
This was the moment when he could relax a little. Nan Yi didn't wait for Xie Queshan's answer, so he pulled him up the hillside without any explanation.
The military camp was stationed in a mountain valley outside the city of Lidu Mansion, with a lush hillside behind it. The wind in the mountains in early summer is still very refreshing, blowing on your face and relieving the heat all over your body.
Nan Yi pulled him to sit under the shade of a tree and took off his helmet on his own initiative.
Xie Queshan was at her mercy. Although there were still many complicated matters waiting for him, at this moment, he also wanted to stay with her peacefully for a while, just for a while.
Nan Yi sat down next to him and didn't say anything. He only took out a corner of his robe and wiped the sweat from his forehead.
"Are you tired?" Nan Yi asked.
Xie Queshan subconsciously wanted to say if he was tired, but before blurting out, the fatigue that could not be ignored made him swallow his words honestly.
"Kinda." He replied hoarsely.
She tilted her head and smiled: "I was waiting for you to come back after the big victory last night. They said you were cleaning up the battlefield, and they didn't know when you would come back. I fell asleep while waiting, and I slept pretty well."
Xie Queshan finally smiled and rubbed her face: "You can even fall asleep if the sky falls."
He is very preoccupied and sleeps very lightly.
"Go to sleep, I'll help you keep watch."
"Huh?" Xie Queshan was stunned. Seeing Nan Yi's determined expression, he was still a little unsure, "Now? Here?"
Xie Queshan thought that they had not had any space to be alone for many days, and she also wanted to be gentle for a while. Unexpectedly, she spent so much effort just to let herself sleep here.
"Yes, if you are in the camp and are busy with all kinds of things, and you can't rest for a moment, no one will disturb you here, you can take a nap -" Xie Queshan did not answer, Nan Yi became anxious and added, "You If you don't take a good rest, let alone go into battle to kill the enemy, you should be in the military camp today! Are you an iron man? Don't be disobedient, didn't you say? Sharpen the knife and chop wood, you can rest for a while. Can’t delay.”
He looked into her serious and eager eyes and smiled: "Okay, okay, I'll sleep."
Nan Yi glared and twisted his eyebrows: "Why don't you close your eyes then."
Xie Queshan meekly closed his eyes.
But now the sun was already a bit dazzling. Nan Yi pulled out the prepared ribbon from his sleeve and tied it carefully for him.
Xie Queshan obeyed silently. He could feel her open arms going around the back of his head, her movements gentle and careful, not daring to touch him. It was clear that he couldn't fall asleep just after closing his eyes, but she treated him like a piece of porcelain, as if it would break if touched. She seemed to be tying a delicate knot, her face came closer, her breath was very close, and her fingers occasionally brushed the back of his neck.
After covering his eyes with the ribbon, most of the sunlight was blocked. She created a darkness for him to sleep in, and he felt an inexplicable ironing in his heart.
Then she withdrew her hand and seemed to retreat. He raised his hand and put his arm around her waist, and she lost her balance and threw herself into his arms.
"Don't move, go to sleep." Just as she was about to struggle to get up, he preemptively said boldly.
Nan Yi had no choice but to nestle in his arms, thinking that if he thought he could sleep well like this, then so be it, and he would do anything.
Steal half a day's leisure. The sun was shining warmly, and the steady wind blew through the gaps in the leaves.
Xie Queshan thought he would not fall asleep, but within a moment, he snored slightly.
The joy of victory and the company of his lover made him temporarily let go of his vigilance and fall asleep peacefully in the open mountains. Everything was just right. He had never felt that his future was so bright.
