The Emperor ordered Zhao Tang

Chapter 332 Tongguan Pass in World War II (Part 1)

In the twilight and rain of Henan Prefecture, the cuckoo's cry echoed.

"Mother, I'm hungry, hungry..." Overgrown with weeds, on the post road from Yique County to Guanzhong, a few scattered people were making their way forward, and a little boy was clinging to a woman's back, murmuring his name.

The woman, leading an ox on her left and her eldest daughter on her right, had been traveling in the rain for so long that she was exhausted: "Just a little longer, once we get through the pass, we'll have something to eat."

"Hurry up!" The dark-skinned man pushing the cart kept turning back to urge him on. "Zhu Dalang is arresting people everywhere. If we don't take advantage of the rain to walk more, none of us will escape once we're caught. Can't you walk anymore?"

"Hey! Don't worry, I can still go." The woman gritted her teeth, wiped the rain from her face, gripped the cow rope tightly and pulled hard, her right hand urging her daughter: "Go faster, go faster, don't stop."

My daughter will be thirteen after the winter solstice. If she had been born two years earlier, she could be a pillar of strength by now. Unfortunately, she is just a skinny little girl. Although she is a bit taller than Erlang, she cannot withstand the long journey, especially since she has not peeled bark from trees for a day and a night.

The mother and daughter didn't even have a complete set of clothes.

The woman, naked except for a skirt she had made from palm leaves and fuzzy pine branches, was also half-baked, her feet, shod and bleeding from walking on yellowed grass roots. Each step left a red mark on the muddy road, which was quickly washed away by the rain.

The family walked westward in a daze, just to avoid the soldiers.

"Mother, my eyes are blurry, let me rest for a bit, just a short while..." The woman clung to her arm, staggering.

"Just hold on, just hold on..." The woman, her eyes vacant, kept repeating the same phrase, which seemed to be the source of her strength to grit her teeth: "There will be food once we enter the pass, the Holy One will have food, the Holy One will have food..."

They were from Zhengzhou, and their lives had been relatively comfortable. During Zhu Wen's reign, he strictly disciplined his military officers but treated the common people under his rule quite well. It was precisely because of this that they hadn't left their hometown during the war. But after Zhu Wen's death, a few years later, his army revealed its true colors. This time, they mobilized most of their forces, burning, killing, and sweeping through the land, searching for food to fill their ranks and ensure sufficient supplies.

In the Guanzhong army, meat was categorized by fat or lean. In the Bian army, or rather, the Central Plains army, meat was categorized by texture. Children and women could be taken with the army and slaughtered as needed. Adult men and others, like in the southern army, were dragged out from door to door after entering the city and sold on the spot.

Therefore, if the speed slows down, the soldiers will be scattered across the vast plains, and who knows when they will be blocked in front or chased behind!
Just yesterday, news suddenly spread among the aristocratic disciples in the ranks that a royal army garrison at Wuguan had received a group of refugees! They returned to report, urging everyone to hurry! The pass would be closed later. Going to seek refuge with the imperial court, even if they didn't receive relief supplies, at least they wouldn't be captured and killed, forced to charge into battle, or die from exhaustion in the construction site.

Therefore, Wuguan was the only remaining hope for many people in the Central Plains.

As the woman walked, she suddenly felt her hand drop. Turning her head, she saw the girl had fallen into a puddle, delirious: "Mother, Mother, my eyes are black, I can't see..."

"Auntie, Auntie..." The woman finally dropped the cow rope, pulled the girl into her arms, and pinched and slapped her cheeks and nose.

After a dozen or so minutes, the woman finally opened her mouth, but it was only a slit, and she spoke haltingly as if in a dream: "Now, I can't see Mars anymore, I can't see anything at all, it's all black, just raining... Let me rest for a bit, my stomach hurts..."

"Hah, hah..." The woman choked on mouthfuls of thick, black, muddy water, her body growing cold. "Hungry, hungry..." Raindrops fell on her eyes, but she didn't even blink. Not a single tear came out; all she could do was wail softly.

The man pushing the cart, panting and groaning, turned around at the sound. Seeing the scene, he whirled back, grabbed the woman, and repeatedly slapped and slapped her face, pulling at her stomach. Meanwhile, he pretended to rummage through his empty pockets, saying, "Pancakes, more pancakes..."

Despite numerous attempts to pry her head out, the woman remained tucked to the side, her head tilted to one side, clinging to the woman's arm.

"Thieves kill Heaven, thieves kill Heaven!" Those who are alive must continue to live and make plans. The man cursed a few more times, then carried the woman's body and threw it into the Luo River by the roadside. He then pushed the wheelbarrow, loaded with his belongings, forward with all his might.

A mulberry tree came into view.

A look of surprise welled up in the woman's eyes, and she shrugged the straps: "I need to rest for a bit, just a bit."

The man stood guard, holding the cart, watching the woman on the rain-soaked ground as she jumped up, carrying their child on her back, to gnaw on tree leaves. She chewed slowly, then wolfed them down. If silkworms were edible, then people could certainly eat them; this was considered a good dish. After gnawing on half a branch, the man took over.

After lunch, as dusk approached, the rain gradually intensified, and the mountains and fields soon became shrouded in mist.

Just keep walking, walking, walking.

"Look, we've reached Xiong'er Mountain!" The mountains were shrouded in mist, but the majestic, continuous Xiong'er Mountain range was still clearly visible. The vast, dark mountains appeared eerily gloomy, but to everyone else, they seemed like a fairyland. The couple looked around and realized that the crowds of people arriving were densely packed.

Meanwhile, several miles away across the stream bridge, a large herd of mules was crossing the river in single file.

The officers in straw hats surveyed the foot of the mountain, pointing and shouting sternly.

Each flag was waved, and the mule army split into dozens of groups, roaring and straining.

Behind them, large groups of infantrymen removed their armor and helmets, marched swiftly, and carried steel knives in their mouths.

The spear was lost, the bow was thrown away, and the rope wrapped around his arm swung around his head in a circle that was only a blur.

"Grasp!"

"Whether we win or not, we don't care about Henan Prefecture. Just seeing that name gives me a headache. Kill all the old people and livestock!"

"These lowly people still think they can rely on the traitor Li!"

The mule corps trudged through the mud and rain, their heavy hoofbeats thundering in everyone's ears.

When the first mule came into view, the foot of the mountain erupted in a frenzy of broth, and the couple who were resting turned ashen-faced.

"It's the Bian Army!" The Bian Army's command structure, flags, and armor were different from the royal army and the various warlords. They were easily distinguishable by their distinctive features: face tattoos, neck tattoos, blue-clad soldiers, white-robed soldiers, red-cloaked mule-covered soldiers, and various decorated squads.

"Run!" The people scattered like birds and beasts.

"Thud!" The saber slashed down, instantly leaving a bloody gash on the scholar's face. He flailed his arms as he was cut down, screaming as he crawled around in the mud.

The minor official fled east and west, desperately rushing towards the forest of Xiong'er Mountain, but was pierced and lifted up by a spear halfway there.

The mule army ravaged the fields like a typhoon.

The infantry charged into the crowd, hacking and slashing wildly, shouting, "Kneel down!"

"This guy's no good! He doesn't even have half a tooth left." The old man was pulled up and looked at him, then stabbed him through the neck with a knife.

"Thump, thump, thump." Several mule soldiers circled around a caravan of wealthy merchants.

The young woman, wrapped in a raincoat and huddled under the cart, screamed a few times before being thrust out by a spear and dragged along by the horse, her urine splashing in the air.

The couple were also like headless flies.

The woman had been separated from her husband. Erlang, carried on her back, did not hear her cries. Warm water seeped into her clothes and soaked her back, but she had no chance to reach back and touch him. She could only hold Erlang with one arm and tumble and crawl towards the forest, stumbling and confused.

Suddenly, the woman's gaze rose, and she was lifted up. She tried to struggle, but her life force was rapidly draining away. Looking down, she saw several holes pierced in her stomach. Looking again, she saw a bearded face with an expressionless expression.

She was being impaled on a lance, suspended in mid-air.

Blood gushed out, flowing down his bare feet.

"Aaaaaah!" The woman, who was on the verge of death, suddenly turned into a tigress, baring her teeth and claws at the soldiers in front of her.

With a thud, the woman was flung away like a tattered wad of cotton.

In the blink of an eye, the mother and child were swept away by the iron hooves of the mule army.

"Aunt!"

"Li San Niang!"

"You bastards, I'll kill them all with you!"

“My son, my son…” “Don’t kill me, I can read and write, I can serve in the corvée labor.”

The mountains and plains were green and the rivers were white, but in such a short time, only a little over a thousand people remained alive at the foot of the mountain, their necks tied together with ropes, forming lines in the rain. The rest were loaded onto horses, donkeys, mules, and carts.

The officers in straw hats turned their horses around and waved their hands: "Take them back to Luqiao Post Station!"

The man stood in the queue, dazed and confused, before disappearing into the rain.

A gentle breeze blows, and blood flows like a river.

Along the banks of the Luo River, the Bian army, covering the mountains and plains, was gathering and advancing westward, sweeping towards Wuguan and Tongguan passes.

The soldiers who plundered the Xiong'er Mountain area were Xu Huaiyu's subordinates, who was appointed by Zhu Dalang as the vanguard commander. His troops moved with lightning speed, breaking through the Shaanxi army's defenses in just a few days and advancing all the way into Guozhou—of course, Yang Shouliang didn't really intend to stop Zhu Dalang.

More military horses will subsequently gather in Luoyang and along the Qinling Mountains.

The army consisted of local troops, foreign troops, state troops, militia, laborers, officials, rations, and refugees. A total of over two hundred thousand men, plus the starving civilians scavenging for scraps following the army, the number was likely even greater. They were filled with murderous intent, vowing revenge for the loss of Hengshui in the river.

That damned Emperor Li!

Let's kill as many people from Guanzhong as possible first!
We should march all the way to the Western Capital. We've exhausted the women of the Central Plains; let's go and ravage the Li family's little princesses! If the Chao army can have their fun, why can't we?!

*************
The rumble of warhorses filled the air.

Hundreds of elite cavalrymen simply surrounded Zhu Dalang, the commander of Bian, without moving an inch.

Behind them was a vast expanse of waving flags and countless chaotic cavalry and chariots.

The main force of the Bian army finally marched out of Tokyo.

Every warrior wore a sinister, wooden expression. The rumbling and whistling of the drums only added to their listless demeanor.

Many eyes were simply following the figure of Zhu Dalang walking ahead.

His sturdy frame allowed him to sit upright on the horse.

Previous westward expeditions had been equally impressive, but Pang Shigu, Niu Cunjie, Yang Shihou, Shi Yanhong, Ge Congzhou, Xie Yanzhang, Ding Hui, Zhang Cunjing, Li Si'an, Jing Xiang, Yuan Xiangxian, Zhu Yougong, Zhao Keyu, Jia Desheng, Wang Yanzhang, Huangfu Lin, Zhang Xian…

Whether they were veterans or rising stars, almost all of the military's elite talents were in the army. Just looking at them and thinking about it filled one with confidence.

This time, however, things have changed.

Many were killed in the infighting, and many were killed and incorporated by Emperor Li.

Even the Empress, Consort Shi, and the eldest son of the emperor... were all abused and ravaged by Emperor Li, and became pregnant through rape!

No one was sure what the outcome of this western expedition would be. Although the eldest son appeared fearless and confident, the absence of so many wise, brave, and loyal civil and military officials left the soldiers feeling uncertain and uneasy.

Dalang is our last hope, but will he really be stronger than his father?
The military's morale was low, and that wasn't all.

Another powerful and influential figure in the Great Liang Dynasty, the Holy Empress Wenming, has become Emperor Li's woman! It's truly unimaginable what kind of changes might occur in the army if her loyal generals appear at the city gate to persuade her to surrender.

It wasn't that the Bian army was worried and making trouble for themselves; it was simply that in the late Tang and Five Dynasties period, defecting on the battlefield had almost become a unique skill for the army!

Xu Bing, who was on his way to fight Huang Chao, turned back to Pengcheng and killed the military governor!
The Chengde army, which was on its way to defend Tongguan, raided the Shence army and then turned to pursue and kill Tian Lingzi.

Liu Chengyou's army, which was attacking Guo Wei, was killed in the suburbs of the city.

When Li Conghou attacked Li Congke, the imperial guards rioted on the battlefield, clamored for a retreat, and murdered the emperor to install a second emperor.

.........

Who dares to say the army's morale is stable? Who dares to say my sons will never rebel? Heaven knows what can set these bastards off so easily!

Most of the military officers and nobles in and around Bianliang also brought their servants with them to serve in the army this time.

The situation had deteriorated to this point; they and their revered young commander, Dalang, were on the verge of sudden death in the army. The Wu army was also stirring up trouble along the riverbanks, and the northern frontier was wide open. The Yicheng army was out of control, the Zhongwu army refused to submit, and the pressure on the Weibo army across the Yellow River was mounting…

At this point, all they have left is to fight like a cornered beast!

In the days leading up to the campaign, the officials and soldiers of Bianjing only bid farewell to their families. They struggled to make arrangements for their wives, children, and elderly relatives; everyone was filled with anxiety and melancholy. Where did the road lead? Where did the road lead? Now, whether the military government belonged to the Zhang or Li family, their fate was indifferent even to the elite soldiers. They were already on their way; let the ambitious men do as they pleased! They had only one life; they would fight their way to where they were, and die wherever they pleased.

On both sides of the main force, countless officers galloped about, reporting on the situation in the army and the state of the royal army.

"General, Yang Shouliang did not meet with our envoys, but he also did not send troops to block the way."

"Young Marshal! After we intimidated him by holding our troops at the city gates, that bastard Shao Zan agreed to send troops! When he arrives, let's just pin Shao Zan to the roadside and kill him as a sacrifice to the flag! That dog!"

"Young Marshal! The Southern Route Army reports that they have reached Guozhou, and Shangzhou is in sight!"

"General, the route from Shanzhou to Tongguan Wenxiangyi has been surveyed. The royal army's deployment remains unchanged. The line of defenses along the Xicheng Pass, Jingu City, Sheleyuan, and Tongguan City is a continuous fortification, with soldiers and civilians mixed together. The defenses are very tight, and even birds cannot fly! Judging from the flags and the number of people, Emperor Li is indeed not here."

"General, the campsite has been scouted, and laborers and supplies are being deployed. Once the order is given, arrangements will be made along the route!"

"General, the scouts report that a large number of earthworks have been discovered on Huangxiang Slope. It seems that the royal army is going to have a few fierce close battles with us on Huangxiang Slope!"

"........."

Zhu Dalang simply gave instructions and explanations in turn regarding the various reports.

Later, when the ministers discussed the defense of Tongguan, Zhu Dalang just smiled and said, "Li Ye is a tyrant, extremely arrogant. And his ministers are so cautious. They hesitated to advance when we fought at Huangxiangban, as if they were afraid we would rush straight to the city and flatten his damn pass."

A subordinate general chimed in, "General, it seems the garrison isn't large. There might be even fewer on the river. Why don't we forgo attacking the pass for now, instead rush up the Yellow River to the Wei River estuary, crush the royal army's garrison there, and establish several fortified camps at the mouth of the Wei River!"

Zhu Dalang glanced at him and shrugged: "Li Jun is in a tense situation right now, let them have their way for now. Once we rest for a few days, they'll relax too. The forces I have are the entire military government's reserves, we can't afford to fight recklessly. If we fail to seize the beachhead and are surrounded and annihilated on the river, wouldn't that severely damage our morale? In a siege, take it slow, don't rush."

Upon hearing this, everyone below seemed a bit disheartened.

A large, disunited army with diverse members is advantageous for quick battles but disadvantageous for protracted ones, and advantageous for taking risks but disadvantageous for maintaining composure.

Before Emperor Li returns, wouldn't it be better to go to the beachhead and fight it out?

Looking at the surrounding situation, Zhu Dalang laughed and said, "Li Jun's infantry, you've seen a lot. How can you risk your lives against such an enemy? In military campaigns, only picking the toughest opponents to fight head-on is just stupid. Besides, they have their backs to the river; even if they seize the beach, they won't be able to gain a foothold. We have limited elite troops; we should think of ways to lure Li Jun out so we can outnumber them and attack from the high ground. Or we can dig tunnels to build a city, flood it, and build up the walls with earth! There are so many military strategies; why do you always think about head-on confrontation? We can take turns attacking, using the people's strength to attack day and night. Once the defenders are exhausted, it won't be difficult to storm the city in a few waves. Do you think we're afraid to outwit and outfight these Guanzhong dogs?"

After hearing this, his soldiers were relieved and responded loudly: "How could we be afraid of that incompetent Emperor Li! We'll fight him! What city or fortress is impregnable? If he builds deep trenches and high walls, we'll be like rat demons, burrowing through his fortresses! If he wants a direct attack, we'll form ranks and defend our territory, tearing his heads off! If it's hand-to-hand combat, our 'fighting' tactics are no joke; we'll go completely mad with him!"

Zhu Dalang just smiled and remained silent.

Let's keep fighting!
"Issue this order: the army must accelerate its advance and reach Tongguan within five days! The vanguard must first engage Li's army in a battle at Huangxiangban and clear the way for us!"

"Here!"

(End of this chapter)