It’s almost dusk, and the sunset is like fire.

The south bank of the Wei River was covered with corpses. Broken limbs, severed arms, and all kinds of debris were everywhere. Countless mosquitoes and flies were flying around, buzzing and annoying.

Blood soaked into the mud, formed streams, and then accumulated into puddles of blood. The air was filled with a disgusting smell, and even the evening wind blowing from the mountains smelled of blood.

From the time when Li Zhang was sent to respond to Yuan Li at the fifth watch, to when Diao Zheng captured Chencang and the Southern Army set up camp and surrendered, the battle lasted for seven hours.

And the two sides participated in the battle with more than 100,000 troops, but they were crowded into this narrow strip of less than ten miles in radius and fought for a whole day?

It can be seen how tragic the battle was?

Li Shao and others surrounded Li Chengzhi and walked across the pontoon bridge and stepped onto the south bank. From Diao Zheng down, a dozen generals from Xiying stood neatly on the bank.

This great victory should be a consolation for himself. Li Chengzhi was about to praise him, but before he could open his mouth, he saw more than a dozen generals collapsing like a mountain. They all knelt down and said, "Commander, please forgive me."

!"

They were all arrogant men who wielded swords and guns, and none of them had a soft voice. Li Chengzhi's ears were numb from the shock, and he was even more confused.

"What are you guilty of?"

Diao Zheng held his fists in his hands and lowered his head in response: "On the occasion of the battle, the commander once said: The wolf in Nanliang has ambitions and is determined to destroy the Wei Dynasty, so he cannot let the tiger return to the mountain... But in this battle, due to the general's negligence, he was unable to do everything possible.

Gong... there are still more than 40,000 island barbarians who have followed into the mountains, and they can't catch up..."

Li Chengzhi has a weird face.

He said that the tiger should not be allowed to return to the mountain, but he was talking about Chang Yizhi, not ordinary soldiers.

Rabbits will bite people when they are anxious, let alone a living person?

Therefore, if it were to be a deadly battle, he would surely injure the enemy by one thousand and suffer eight hundred losses himself. Therefore, Li Chengzhi never requested that the Confederate army be driven out and wiped out.

Wouldn't it be better to take more prisoners and stay in Guanzhong to help farm the land?

Li Chengzhi thought about it and asked in a leisurely voice: "How many enemies will be killed in this battle?"

"There were only more than 30,000 people, and nearly 20,000 enemies were captured. The rest fell into the Wei River in the melee and disappeared..."

More than 30,000, or “only”?

"How much damage will our army suffer?"

Diao Zheng lowered his head even lower: "More than 10,000 people died in the battle, and 5,000 or 6,000 were injured, a total of nearly 20,000..."

Li Chengzhi's face suddenly fell.

The Western Camp had a total of 50,000 soldiers, but 40% was lost?

If we only look at the casualties on both sides, Changyi's military strength is more than twice that of Diao Zheng. Such a result is really a great victory.

But don’t forget that the Confederate army has become a cornered beast and has lost all morale. In addition, there are more than 10,000 infantrymen from Yuanli, and more than 10,000 armored cavalry from Fuluo suddenly turned against them at dawn...

Therefore, Li Chengzhi expected that this battle should be won easily. And the 50,000 soldiers of the Western Camp would be overwhelmed if they could suffer tens of thousands of casualties.

But now, it is twice as much as he expected?

He could guess where the problem was without asking: Fang Yi crossed the river, and Diao Zheng first occupied both ends of the river beach, and then surrounded the Confederate army in the middle.

There are Qinling Mountains in the south and Weishui River in the north, and they are surrounded by enemy troops at both ends. And the Chencang Valley Road is so wide, how much can you escape if you want to escape?

The only way for the Confederate army is to fight to the death...

No wonder there were thousands of enemy soldiers who fell into the water, and no wonder this battle lasted a whole day?

He clearly had no intention of killing everyone, and his phrase "You can't let the tiger go back to the mountain" was just a casual comment. He had never given Diao Zheng such a military order on a formal occasion, so how could he have gotten it wrong?

Just as he was thinking to himself, he noticed that his sleeves were tight. Li Chengzhi turned his head slightly and saw that it was Li Shao.

"After last night's discussion, when we were dispatching our troops, General Diao asked me for advice on how we should prepare our formation for today's battle. I then said: Anyone who invades our territory in Wei should be considered a bandit. If you kill one more today, he will be killed later.

This will prevent the people of our dynasty from suffering any harm... Therefore, if Shao leads the army, he will set up a "mountain" formation: attack on one side and surround on two sides..."

Although Li Shao's voice was not loud, it was eloquent. More importantly, his eyes not only showed no sign of making a mistake, but also had a bright light, which was faintly cold.

This is clearly a warning to him...

Li Chengzhi couldn't help but think of what Li Shao said in the Yuwang Tower in the morning: You must keep a low profile to avoid the court's suspicion...

Nearly 200,000 enemies were defeated, and even the enemy's famous general Changyi was beheaded. If Li Chengzhi's men only lost a few thousand, how could he let all the princes in the court sleep?

Li Shao clearly coaxed Diao Zheng into sending these 50,000 soldiers to die deliberately...

This plan was cruel and poisonous. Li Chengzhi gritted his teeth in hatred, but couldn't get angry?

It was also his own fault for not telling Li Shao earlier: He should not be able to sleep, but he has already been unable to sleep...

It was like eating a fly, and he felt indescribably sick in his heart, but he had to force out a smile: "With such a great victory, what are you guilty of? Please get up quickly..."

The generals stood up one by one. Li Chengzhi's eyes swept over everyone's faces one by one. He wanted to praise him, but he was not interested in it because of this incident.

"Now that the war is over, there are many things to do, and I still need your encouragement, so Governor Diao and Li Sima should all leave!"

The generals agreed loudly and went about their own business. Only the commanders of the two battalions on the left and right, Sima, accompanied Li Chengzhi to Guancheng.

Li Rui led his personal guards to clear the way, and a large group of people stepped into the city gate.

It must have been specially cleaned. Although there are still blood stains everywhere and charred walls burned by the fire, the county government office is extremely clean. As soon as you enter the government office, you can smell the smell of incense candles.<

/p>

From this alone, we can see the reverence that Diao Zheng and his subordinates have for Li Chengzhi.

Just as he was about to step into the Yamen Hall, Li Chengzhi suddenly stopped and said, "The news reports that Chang Yizhi has been executed. Where is his body?"

“It’s in the side room!”

Diao Zheng took two quick steps to lead the way, and argued hurriedly: "The general who sent the message deserves to die, how dare you add fuel to the fire? Please forgive me, Commander-in-Chief, Chang Yizhi did not die in battle, but seemed to have died of anger and fear..."

”

I’m so scared...how is that possible?

Changyi's world-famous general, after countless battles, could die in any way, but he would not be scared to death.

After a quick guess, Li Chengzhi stepped onto the steps.

A cunning relative had already pushed open the door, and at first glance, the dark room was filled with dozens of kneeling soldiers.

All the soldiers greeted in unison, and Li Chengzhi nodded slightly, thinking that Diao Zheng had been too careful. It was just a dead body, and he treated it like a treasure?

And when the soldier stood up and moved to both sides, he saw: in addition to a dead body, there were actually two living people?

The elder was already in his twilight years, and the other was only about thirty years old. Both of them were tied up with big flowers and pressed to the ground.

On the other side, there is a low couch with an old man with gray hair lying on it.

Chang Yi Zhi?

Li Chengzhi stepped inside and saw stains of blood on the beard of the corpse, and he was a little suspicious: he thought it was a sudden cerebral congestion before, but now it seems like a serious illness that is difficult to recover from, a sudden onset of illness?

Since ancient times, beauties and famous generals are not allowed to grow old in the world.

Chang Yi's ability to die on the bed, with his body intact instead of his body and head missing, can be regarded as a good death...

After a few glances, he turned his attention to the two living people: "Who are these two?"

Diao Zheng gave a fierce pause, while Li Daoyuan's face was full of surprise. Both of them stared at Li Chengzhi unblinkingly with their eyes like torches.

What do you mean?

Is it possible that I was born to recognize these two?

Just as he was secretly slandering, as if a ray of light flashed through, Li Chengzhi's heart suddenly lit up: Pei Sui, Cheng Jingjun?

If it weren't for these two people, how could Diao Zheng and Li Daoyuan show such surprised expressions?

They would definitely not imprison these two people together with Chang Yizhi's corpse, stuff their mouths with rags, and send heavy troops to guard them.

It seems that when they were captured alive, Diao Zheng and others had learned from the mouths of Pei Sui and Cheng Jingjun how they had frightened Chang Yizhi to retreat overnight. That's why they were so cautious, for fear of violating their own taboos...<

/p>

He sighed secretly: Looking at how cautious these two people are, you can tell that when the news of the "unpredictable prophet" spreads back to Luoyang, many more people will be shocked and unable to sleep...

Li Chengzhi was filled with emotion, and the generals did not dare to disturb them. But the eyes of Pei Sui and Cheng Jingjun opened wider and wider, as if they had seen a ghost.

No one else recognized him, but when the city was broken and captured, Diao Zheng and Li Daoyuan had met each other and had even exchanged names.

Seeing that these two people were respectful to the young general, how could they not guess who this was?

The appearance of a phoenix looks like that of a dragon, and the beauty is as rich as jade. He should be no more than twenty years old, but his hair appears early?

Pei Sui used all his strength and struggled wildly. Seeing that no one was paying attention to him, he threw his head like a hammer, making a "dong-dong" sound on the stone ground.

In just a few strokes, Pei Sui's face was covered with blood. Li Chengzhi said solemnly: "Take out the thing in his mouth and see what he wants to do!"

"Li Chengzhi?"

"It's Li!"

Even though he was ninety percent sure, Pei Sui still trembled when he heard Li Chengzhi admit it personally, and his already bloodshot eyes became even redder, like rabbit eyes: "Pei is not convinced!"

Haha... Li Chengzhi almost laughed out loud.
To be continued...