diskusbooks Chapter 170 Leaving Zijing Pass
Chapter 170 Leaving Zijing Pass
Lu Lihong knew clearly that if Yang Chuanbao and the others were allowed to leave, the pros and cons could not be explained in a few words.
At Zijing Pass, the atmosphere was as heavy as lead.
Yang Chuanbao, dressed in military uniform, stood tall and straight, yet his anxiety was barely concealed. He clasped his fists and saluted Lu Lihong, saying urgently, "General Lu, why are you still trying to stop us? We only want to go through the pass to Guangchang County, and we have no other intentions."
Lu Lihong frowned slightly, staring at Yang Chuanbao sharply, and asked, "Captain Yang, why do we have to go through the pass to Guangchang County?"
Yang Chuanbao's eyes were red. He pointed at his dying father on the stretcher behind him and said sadly:
"General, look at my father's injuries. If we don't go to Guangchang County to seek medical treatment today, he might not survive. I know there is a medical clinic in Guangchang County that can treat this injury.
If I had second thoughts and wanted to go somewhere else, I could have just taken a detour. Why would I have to tangle with you, General, at this pass?"
Lu Lihong thought to himself that what Yang Chuanbao said made sense.
They were locals, so finding a way out of the border wasn't difficult. Now that they were openly seeking to leave, perhaps they weren't really going to join the enemy. But military matters couldn't be easily decided based on a few words.
Just as Lu Lihong was hesitating, Yang Chuanbao suddenly drew the sword from his waist and put it on the neck of Zhang Xiaosi, who was tied up tightly, and shouted angrily:
"Don't even think about it! I don't want to waste any more time. Send someone to check. We're all waiting to be rescued. I promise you, I'll release Zhang Xiaosi from the Zhang Family Army ten miles after we get out of the customs."
Seeing this, Lu Lihong knew that continuing the stalemate was not a good idea, especially since Zhang's army was blocking the way here and Zhang Xiaosi's safety was of vital importance.
He dismounted and walked towards the opposing team. Seeing Zhang Xiaosi with his mouth gagged, he couldn't help but ask, "Why are you still gagged?"
The soldier beside him replied, "We just don't want to cause any more trouble."
Lu Lihong glanced at everyone and sighed, "Hey, I already know about your affairs. You were all comrades in the previous dynasty, fighting fiercely with the Zhao family. Why did you end up like this now?"
This statement seems casual, but in fact it cleverly puts all the responsibility on Zhang Xiaosi.
When the Zhang family soldiers not far away heard this, they also felt that Zhang Xiaosi's move was a bit excessive. After all, most of them were soldiers of civilian origin.
Yan Yunchu was one of them. He was born into a poor family, and the Zhang family had been indebted to him, so he always obeyed the orders of the Zhang family army. However, he was not a man without thoughts. Now that the head of the family had been captured, he could only surrender.
In these troubled times, the loyal warriors in ancient times were all like this. Once their master was in trouble, they would often have no way out but death. This is why many people would choose to surrender when their commander died in a war.
Even though Yan Yunchu was extremely unwilling, when he thought about what Zhang Xiaosi had done today, his desire to resist faded a little.
At this time, Yan Yunchu shouted loudly: "Brothers, open the door. For your Marshal Zhang, I have no choice but to do this!"
The Zhang family army now had no commander, and everyone had already lost their minds. Lu Lihong was the main commander here, so they had no choice but to obey.
"We are waiting to escort the general out of the pass!" everyone shouted.
But just as the group was about to leave, Li Lei stepped forward, blocked their way, and said loudly: "Huh?" Lu Lihong was originally sandwiched in the crowd. He wanted to lead everyone out on the grounds of being threatened, but he did not expect Li Lei to stand up at this time.
Li Lei, with a look of loyalty on his face, saluted Lu Lihong and said, "Captain Li is so loyal. I know this. You will hold the pass."
Li Lei refused and said anxiously, "No, General, how can you risk your life? I will lead 500 soldiers to exchange for you, and also escort General Zhang back."
Lu Lihong thought for a moment and felt that Li Lei's method was feasible. He looked at Yang Chuanbao and asked, "What do you think, Captain Yang?"
Yang Chuanbao waved his hand, his face indifferent: "I don't care. It's for the medical treatment of my father and many brothers anyway. There's no need for the general to escort me here."
Having his thoughts seen through, Lu Lihong no longer insisted and said helplessly: "Okay, this is the only way."
Lu Lihong agreed to let Li Lei lead the team in exchange for himself. Looking at the team going away, he inexplicably felt something was wrong in his heart, but he couldn't put his finger on why.
After Yang Chuanbao and his party left, the 20,000 troops of the Lu family arrived one after another, led by Hou Qianzhi.
He was originally a lieutenant general in the army, but today he was not wearing armor. He was wearing a long green robe that fluttered in the wind, with a bun crown on his hair. His white cheeks were trimmed cleanly, and he did not look like a military general at all, but his eyes were so deep that it was frightening.
Someone from the Zijing Pass garrison recognized him and quickly stepped forward to answer, "General Hou, the commander of the pass has been chasing the commander of the Zhang family army for half an hour."
Hou Qianzhi gave the person who answered the question a cold look and asked in a bad tone, "What is the Zhang family army talking about?"
The Zijing Pass garrison didn't dare to neglect it and told him everything that had happened. After Hou Qianzhi heard it, his face showed disdain, and then he walked into the garrison camp.
Lu Lihong did bring more than a thousand people following behind. Firstly, he was afraid that Yang Chuanbao would go back on his word and not release Zhang Xiaosi; secondly, he was confused as to why Yang Chuanbao brought so many soldiers with him when he was taking his father to seek medical treatment?
Although the troops guarding Zijing Pass and the army in Guangchang County were under the control of Yanzhou, acting without the tiger seal order would be a serious violation of military regulations. The number of people Yang Chuanbao brought with him was clearly beyond the limit.
After walking for more than ten miles.
Li Lei frowned and said to his companions, "Li Lei, you can't go back now. I think Zhang Xiaosi is still not going to let you go."
The person traveling with him shook his head and said, "Ah, ask your eldest brother about this. I can't give you any advice."
The two men found Yang Chuangang and said, "As agreed, we have reached the point where we should release Zhang Xiaosi, and this is also the territory of Guangchang County."
Yang Chuanbao looked around at the bare mountain, then turned to Li Lei and asked, "What will you do if we release Zhang Xiaosi?"
Yang Chuangang glared at Yang Chuanbao and scolded him, "What are you worried about?"
Yang Chuanbao lowered his head and said in a deep voice, "I'm worried that the Zhang family army will retaliate against the people around Yangshu Village and find out about the situation in Yangjia Village."
Indeed, Yangjia Village was only three miles away from Yangshu Village. If Zhang's army was determined, their situation would be easily discovered. Moreover, if they fled to the back mountains, even a few hundred people would find it difficult to hide if the officers and soldiers were sincere in searching.
Yang Chuangang thought for a moment and said resolutely, "Let him go. Li Lei can stay and say that he can serve as a witness when he returns in the future!"
Li Lei felt that this reason was far-fetched and said with a wry smile, "Are you serious? Leaving me to supervise on the eve of the war, isn't that asking me to desert?"
Yang Chuangang said seriously, "You don't want to think that if the Lu family attacks Guangchang County like this, it will be tantamount to treason once it is reported. It's understandable that they are trying to protect themselves now."
In this dynasty, conflicts between vassal kings were considered internal problems even if they led to war.
However, the troops of Guangchang County and Weizhou belong to the border army. Even if they are assisting in the defense of the Princess's Mansion, they are still part of the border army's combat organization. This is completely different from the nature of the attack on Dingzhou.
Li Lei sighed helplessly: "Well, let's not talk about it anymore. How do we release Zhang Xiaosi? Should we release all his men?"
Yang Chuangang waved his hand and said, "Let them all go!"
Suddenly, he seemed to remember something and shouted, "There's one person we can't let go!"
Yang Chuanbao was stunned, his eyes widened as he asked, "Who?"
Yang Chuangang gritted his teeth and said, “The person who injured my father with the dart must stay.”
Li Lei and Yang Chuanbao felt that what the eldest brother said made sense. This man must not be released and must be made to pay for his blood debt with blood.
In the end, more than 200 of Zhang Xiaosi's men were released on the spot, and only Yan Yunchu was left behind.
On the other side, Lu Lihong was waiting for news.
A soldier came to report: "Did they really detain Li Lei?"
Another soldier replied, "They said Captain Li's men wanted to carry the stretcher, and they also wanted to serve as witnesses!"
Lu Lihong then remembered that he was also a member of the Yanzhou army. It was reasonable for Yang Chuanbao to go to Guangchang County on the pretext of treating the wounded, as long as he did not disclose the situation here.
After Zhang Xiaosi broke free from the ropes, he rushed to Lu Lihong and shouted arrogantly, "General Lu, you brought a thousand men, and I still have more than 200 people here. Charge over and kill them!"
Lu Lihong looked at Zhang Xiaosi who was like a mad dog, waved his hand helplessly, turned around and left with his men, too lazy to waste any more words with Zhang Xiaosi.