The early autumn scenery is mostly bleak. When the sun sets in the west, Cheng Yishi's soldiers also seem a little embarrassed. Although the team is still in formation, the speed is already very slow. Many soldiers are tired, and some even have to support each other and walk forward.

For three consecutive days, the troops who had withdrawn from Xigu Pass had almost no pause. The continuous march made the entire army exhausted and exhausted.

Cheng Yishi was riding on the horse, and his face was covered in dust. He knew that it was helpless to slow down his marching speed. After all, people are flesh and blood, and it is already amazing to be able to hold on until now.

"General!" He came to the next door. It was a capital under Cheng Yi's command. He looked tired and bowed: "Brothers really can't walk anymore, and they are trapped in the horse. Do you stop and rest for a while?"

Cheng Yishi hesitated for a moment, and naturally knew that Cheng Yishi was thinking. He lowered his voice and said, "We have been walking for three days, so there should be no problem. If the Northwest Army wanted to catch up, I was afraid that they would have caught up long ago. They had just seized the pass and should not have come out easily." He looked back at the exhausted team and said, "Brothers can no longer walk, so it is not a solution to hold on like this!"

Cheng Yishi stopped the horse, hesitated for a moment, and finally nodded, "Send the order and rest on the spot." He also ordered, "Send someone to be alert. Although it is far away from the pass, you should not take it lightly."

The capital agreed and sent the order to rest on the spot.

Hearing the order, everyone stopped immediately, and many people sat on the ground with their butts, and their tense nerves finally relaxed in an instant.

After the capital officer arranged for people to be alert from all sides, he came back only after he saw Cheng Yishi and several capital officers sitting on a dirt slope on the side of the road, walked over, bowed and said, "General, all of them have been arranged."

Cheng Yishi nodded with a serious expression.

They retreated from Xigu Pass and in a hurry, it was impossible for them to bring much food. They just took some dry food in a hurry, and most of the food was still left in the warehouse and could not be taken away.

The food I brought out was very small and had already eaten it. The soldiers are not only exhausted, but also hungry.

Du Shi sat down beside Cheng Yishi with his tired body. He saw that the other generals were all solemn, with all their faces full of dust, and they could not see any smile.

Everyone knows that if Xigu Pass is lost, except for this escaped army, the troops guarding the pass are probably wiped out.

Many people can't even figure out why the extremely strong Xigu Pass fell into the hands of the Northwest Army overnight. What methods did the Northwest Army use to capture the pass so easily.

They don’t know the reason, but they know the result, and now they are very worried about their own future.

Cheng Yishi's face was solemn. He knew very well that the court had high hopes for the pass. He hoped that relying on the dangers of Xigu Pass would not only block the road to enter the pass, but also the ultimate goal was to trap the Northwest Army to death outside the pass, so that he could not fight and be in chaos.

But now all this has gone into nothing.

Cheng Yishi couldn't imagine what would happen if the court knew about this. Along the way, he was worried, worried that he would not be able to explain to the court, and worried that the Northwest Army would take advantage of the situation and come from behind.

Three days passed, and there was no movement behind him. Cheng Yishi's mood had been relieved a lot. In his opinion, since the Northwest Army had captured the pass, it should not enter the pass so quickly. They should redeploy the pass's defense. It is the best choice to completely control the pass. Moreover, he followed Da Xizhang to guard the pass for a long time, and knew a little about the situation in the northwest. With the current economic strength of the northwest, he should not dare to move into the pass easily.

As the sun sets, many soldiers are lying on both sides of the road, and many are still complaining in a low voice.

When several capital officers saw Cheng Yishi frowned and didn't say anything, they looked at each other. In fact, everyone knew that they would definitely go to Tongzhou to rest first, but everyone didn't know what to do after arriving in Tongzhou City?

This army has always been used to guard the pass. Now that the pass is lost, what will the future of this army?

If Da Xizhang was still there, it would be better to say something. After all, everyone knows that Da Xizhang was originally recommended by the Xuanyuan family. Although losing the pass is a serious crime, it is not difficult for the Xuanyuan family to maintain Da Xizhang due to the Xuanyuan family's status in the court.

However, Da Xizhang's current situation can only be in danger. Even if he is not killed in battle, he will definitely be captured by the Northwest Army. In comparison, Cheng Yishi is just a minor general promoted by Da Xizhang. Although Cheng Yishi is deeply trusted by Da Xizhang, it has nothing to do with the Xuanyuan family. Da Xizhang has the Xuanyuan family as his backer, but Cheng Yishi does not have this connection.

I don’t know how long it took, but Cheng Yishi finally spoke: “Is the current governor of Tongzhou Xu Qing?”

"Yes." A general next to him said: "After Zhao Guangqing was killed, the position of Tongzhou magistrate was vacant for a while, and later Qiao Mingtang recommended Xu Qing."

Zhao Guangqing, the former governor of Tongzhou, colluded with Tianmendao and intended to rebel, but was later removed by Chu Huan and Xuanwu. When the northwest was invaded by the Xiliang people, Tongzhou once became a transit place for transporting supplies to the northwest. Grand Secretary Xu Congyang also stayed here for a while. When Xu Congyang returned to Beijing, Wei Tianqing, the commander of the Xishan Imperial Guard, also stayed here until the new governor Xu Qing took office.

The logistics supply of Xigu Pass has been supplying Xishan Road in the past two years. The grain and grass supplied from Xishan Road to Xigu Pass will be stored in Tongzhou City first, and then Tongzhou City will send people to escort it to the pass. Therefore, the many guards at Xigu Pass have a good understanding of Tongzhou.

Cheng Yishi asked again: "How many defenders are there in Tongzhou now?"

"There are not many troops." One of the people beside him said: "Most of the main forces of the Xishan Army have been deployed to Liangzhou to guard against Jinling Road, and they will take the opportunity to attack Xishan. All the troops on Xishan Road are not many, and the guards have been transferred to the northwest to attack the Xiliang people. Tongzhou should have only more than a thousand troops now."

"General, are you worried that the Northwest Army will come over?" asked the Dushi.

Cheng Yishi did not answer, but just sighed softly: "Brothers, we are going to Tongzhou for rest, I am afraid we will suffer some cowardice. You must suppress your temper and not cause trouble in Tongzhou!"

Everyone was stunned and soon realized that the soldiers guarding the pass lost the pass and retreated to Tongzhou in such a mess. In the eyes of the soldiers and horses in Tongzhou, it was just a defeated army.

Xishan was previously ordered by the court to allocate a large amount of food and grass to support the northwest. The people of Xishan paid quite a lot of taxes, and Xishan's food and grass reserves were already very scarce. Although there was no need to continue to supply food and grass to the northwest, they still had to bear the military rations of the 5,000 defenders of Xigu Pass. This was ultimately a big burden for Xishan Road.

The local soldiers in Xishan, due to the shortage of money and grain, once reduced their military and food, especially the Tongzhou soldiers, who barely had enough food and often had to transport food and grass to Xigu Pass. They inevitably disliked the Xigu Pass defenders. The Xigu Pass defenders naturally would not be very polite to such local defenders, so every time the food and grass were transported, there would be some minor friction.

This time, Cheng Yishi came with the defeated soldiers, and he had already expected that he would be ridiculed by the local army.

The pig man was reminded of sincerity, and he immediately realized that a very irritable temper was the matter: "General, since that's the case, let's just not enter Tongzhou City!"

Someone next to him immediately sneered: "If you don't go to Tongzhou? Where to go? Go to Hexi? Just like this, without the orders of the court, how can you go to Hexi? Now we don't have a piece of food on our hands, and we will starve to death after walking for a few days."

"That's easy. Let's go outside Tongzhou City first. Aren't they transported the food and grass this time? It's great. Let's ask them to hand over the food and grass to us. With the food, no matter where they go, it's better than going to Tongzhou City."

"Just." Another person said: "Super the food and grass? We look like we are now. Do you think Xu Qing will hand over the food to us? Then he can block us with just one word."

"What's the matter?"

"Xishan supplies us with food and grass because we want to guard Xigu Pass. Now that the pass is lost, will they continue to provide us with food?"

"Damn, if they don't give it, let's grab it."

"Are you going to rebel?" a man sneered.

Cheng Yishi frowned and said in a deep voice: "When is it now? I still have the intention to argue here? Stop it."

Everyone was still a little afraid of Cheng Yishi, so they stopped talking. Cheng Yishi said in a deep voice: "Let's arrive at Tongzhou City as soon as possible. No matter what, Tongzhou City is now temporarily resting, and at the same time, they will send people to Hexi immediately to report everything and wait for the imperial court's will before taking action!"

A man next to him frowned and said, "General, it is not difficult to report to the court, but the difficulty lies in how to report. Although we retreated and Xigu Pass was also lost, we have not yet figured out how it was lost. How did the Northwest Army enter the pass? We guarded a wall of iron and iron, and it was lost overnight. How could the court not ask the reason for it?"

When the others heard this, their expressions were even more depressed.

Cheng Yishi also frowned, but he also mentioned that this was a problem. He reported to the court and naturally had to explain the causes and consequences clearly. Now he only knows that the pass is lost but does not know the reason, so how can he submit this memorial to the court?

At this moment, someone heard a low voice saying, "Listen!"

Everyone looked at him. The man was obviously very agile. He had already gotten up. He walked on the road, leaned down, his ears pressed against the ground, his brows frowned, and soon got up and turned around.

Seeing this, Cheng Yishi knew that there must be a reason, so he stood up with everyone, pressed his sword, walked forward, and asked, "What's wrong?"

"The sound of horse hoofs!" the man frowned and said, "General, listen carefully, it seems that the sound of horse hoofs is coming!"

"The sound of horse hooves?" Cheng Yishi was stunned, "Which direction is coming?"

The man shook his head and said, "It's impossible to be sure. It seems to be from the west, it seems to be from the north again, and there seems to be a sound of horse hooves in the south and the south!"
Chapter completed!