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Chapter 137 A Hero's Twilight
South of Qingni Ridge, there is a road paved with stone slabs that stretches for more than ten miles.

At this moment, an army that stretched as far as the eye could see was marching on the road. Judging from the flags and armor of the troops, they were the imperial guards of the Shu Kingdom.

The sky was overcast, and it had just rained a little the day before. The stone slabs were slippery and difficult to walk on. A junior officer was so busy yelling at his soldiers to walk faster that he didn't notice the path under his feet.

Suddenly, he slipped and fell flat on his face.

The soldiers around him, who had been intently watching their step and carefully making their way forward, couldn't help but burst into laughter upon seeing this.

However, while enjoying the amusement, they forgot their own predicament, and many people lost their footing and slipped, falling like dominoes, making it look ridiculous and laughable from a distance.

"Damn it!" the junior officer cursed angrily, scrambling to his feet in a disheveled state.

He spat out the mud that had splashed into his mouth and roared at his soldiers, "Stop laughing like a bastard! Get on your way!"

Meanwhile, in the middle of the Shu army's ranks, a Shu general wearing a crimson cloak frowned as he looked at the brief commotion in front of the ranks.

"Given the weather, it could rain at any moment. Tell the people in front to speed up and try to cross Qingni Ridge before dark to set up camp in the flat area to the north."

The military general who issued the order was none other than Li Tinggui, the Commander-in-Chief of the Shu Kingdom's Imperial Guard and Crane Controlling Army, the Military Governor of Baoning, and the Commander-in-Chief of the Northern Route Army.

He has a broad face and wide mouth, and is tall and strong. Although he is over fifty years old, he is full of energy.

Li Tinggui was originally from Hedong in the Later Tang Dynasty. He followed Meng Zhixiang into Sichuan to quell the Former Shu and then stayed in Sichuan. He has not returned to his homeland for thirty years.

The subordinate general beside him asked, "General, now that we've crossed Qingni Ridge, are we really going to attack Zhou's army in Guzhen?"

Li Tinggui was silent for a moment, then sighed and said, "What else can we do if we don't fight? The court has sent people to urge us several times, asking us to take advantage of the fact that the Zhou army has just taken Qin and Feng prefectures and is not yet firmly established, to drive back the Zhou army's vanguard that has penetrated deep into Guzhen. If we do nothing again, the next people sent by the court may be the ones to punish us."

As he spoke, he felt very aggrieved. The Qin and Feng garrison could not stop the Zhou army and suffered a complete rout. Now he was the one to clean up the mess.

Li Tinggui couldn't help but recall the time when Wang Zhaoyuan had confidently assured the emperor before setting out from Chengdu: the Zhou army's great achievements were entirely due to the advance of its vanguard. If they could repel the Zhou army's vanguard in one fell swoop, they could not only eliminate the Zhou army's threat to the heartland of Shu, but also take the opportunity to reclaim the lands of Qin and Feng.

At that time, Li Tinggui really wanted to slap Wang Zhaoyuan to death... So you don't need to fight the battle, you just move your lips and think you can use ingenious strategies to defeat the Zhou army?

Can you please stop dragging me into your bragging?

Li Tinggui knew very well that even if Wang Zhaoyuan were truly Zhuge Liang reincarnated, he would be utterly useless in the face of the current situation.

If an army can't win, it simply can't win; if its hard power isn't up to par, all the talk is useless. If it were twenty or thirty years ago, when those elite troops from Hedong who entered Sichuan during the Later Tang Dynasty were still around, they could naturally have clashed with the Zhou army.

But right now, we should be praying to Buddha if we can even hold on. If the Shu army could truly hold its own against the Zhou army in open battle, would the four provinces of Qin and Feng have fallen so quickly?
As a veteran general who had experienced the chaos of the Central Plains, Li Tinggui was keenly aware of the gap between the Shu army and the Zhou army... However, he could not say these things, nor did he dare to say them. The emperor was in his prime and still dreamed of conquering the world outside Sichuan. Who would dare to throw cold water on his ambition?

The general couldn't help but curse, "That scoundrel Wang Zhaoyuan is hiding in Xingzhou City and won't come out, driving us all the way to Qingni Ridge. Now he's urging us to advance in such a hurry."

"Of the three or four thousand men who retreated from Guzhen, most of them have deserted in the past half month. Now only a little over a thousand remain, and they have all been terrified by Zhou's army and dare not provoke them again. With only two or three thousand of our Imperial Guards, wouldn't it be suicide to attack Guzhen?"

Listening to his subordinates' complaints, Li Tinggui smiled bitterly and said, "If we don't fight Zhou's army, the court won't give up... If we can't win, at least we'll have a chance to survive. But if we're afraid to fight and don't even dare to fight, what will happen to our families left in Chengdu?"

After saying this, Li Tinggui said no more. He walked up a high slope with difficulty and looked around at the terrain. To the east and north were continuous mountains and forests, and there was only one mountain path, Qingni Ridge.

The mountains to the southeast are even higher, with steep slopes and sheer cliffs.

The entire Qingni Ridge is a long, winding slope backed by a mountain range, with a height difference of over 100 meters in the middle and on both sides. No matter which end you go from, you have to climb up and down with great effort.

Li Tinggui suddenly felt uneasy. If the elite imperial guards he had led were no match for the Zhou army, they would likely all perish here. The terrain of Qingni Ridge was extremely treacherous. Once a large-scale rout occurred, they would be unable to escape quickly and would only be relentlessly pursued and slaughtered by the Zhou army.

The army stationed in Guzhen was in such a hurry to retreat because they had no confidence that they could defeat the Zhou army, so they ran away as soon as possible.

But there's no turning back now that the army has arrived; they have to go even if it means gritting their teeth.

Li Tinggui turned to look at his subordinate who had followed him up, frowned and asked, "The two mountain villagers we captured the day before yesterday who were gathering information for Zhou's army said that Zhou's army was all stationed in Guzhen and had not sent troops to block the pass north of Qingni Ridge. Has anyone been sent to confirm this information?"

The subordinate quickly replied, "Zhou's scouts are keeping a close watch, so our men can't get close to Guzhen. However, we did send people to check that pass, and there was indeed no sign of Zhou's activity. Yesterday, I had more than a dozen scouts guarding the area, and they are to report back immediately if Zhou makes any moves."

Li Tinggui felt much more at ease upon hearing this. As long as that pass was not occupied, he could safely lead his men to set up camp. Even if they couldn't defeat the Zhou army, at least their retreat route would be somewhat guaranteed.

Two or three thousand Shu Kingdom imperial guards, along with laborers and servants transporting supplies, made up a vast and imposing force of nearly five thousand people who moved slowly forward.

Qingni Ridge Road is quite wide, allowing two large vehicles to travel side by side, and the road is regularly maintained and repaired by the authorities.

However, given the productivity of this era, the terrain created by nature's ingenious craftsmanship can only barely make the roads as flat as possible; the mountains to climb and the ditches to cross are all indispensable.

The marching troops had only covered a dozen miles after half a day's journey, mainly due to logistical constraints. However, the Shu army could not afford to abandon its supplies and venture deep into enemy territory alone.

After all, the Shu army couldn't be as formidable as the Zhou army, which could conquer cities and fortresses by simply consuming the Shu army's stored grain. Li Tinggui didn't have much confidence in this operation to cross the Qingni Ridge and attack Guzhen, and was determined to proceed cautiously, making logistical support his top priority.

It's approaching noon.

Li Tinggui ordered the army to halt and start fires to cook on the spot. According to the ancient people's experience, drinking too much raw water could easily upset their stomachs, so they generally preferred to boil water if possible.

The army of several thousand men was spread out over a long distance, and it would take at least half an hour to relay the military orders from beginning to end. After receiving the orders, they would gradually stop, which would take another half hour.

The soldiers in the central army closest to the commander had already started eating, while the troops at the front were still busy starting fires.

Li Tinggui casually found a relatively clean grassy slope, disregarding any semblance of a general's demeanor, and plopped down with his iron cup in hand.

A guard handed him a baked wheat cake. Li Tinggui, like any other soldier, broke the cake in half and threw it into the salted meat soup, then slurped it down.

After finishing the whole wheat pancake, Li Tinggui was still somewhat unsatisfied, vaguely feeling that this wheat pancake was even more delicious than the delicacies he had eaten in Chengdu.

Perhaps having enjoyed a comfortable life in Chengdu for too long, this expedition made him nostalgic for his passionate past.

Unfortunately, things have changed. Most of the comrades who went to Sichuan with us back then are no longer here. Those who remain have lost their fighting spirit. Having grown accustomed to a life of luxury and ease, who would want to risk their life on the battlefield?
Li Tinggui couldn't help but think of Li Yi, the vanguard general of Zhou Jun... a young general who had just passed his coming-of-age ceremony, at an age when he was ready to fight and make a name for himself.

The enemy only took a month to defeat Qin and Feng's Shu army, making them flee in terror and tremble with fear.

He truly deserves to be called a fierce general who was able to defeat the Liao army at Xinkou.

Thinking of this, Li Tinggui felt a sense of "the decline of a hero".

This world ultimately belongs to the young. Why should an old man like me, with half his body in the ground, risk my reputation for the rest of my life?
Unfortunately, many things in this world are beyond our control.

Just as Li Tinggui was lost in thought, a junior officer suddenly came running up, shouting, "It's terrible! A lot of Zhou's troops have appeared ahead! The whole mountain is full of people! The vanguard has been defeated!"

(End of this chapter)