My years as a soldier

With Zhao Xiaoyang's body, it was obviously difficult for him to run away with Hu Jiuzhang on his back.But fortunately, he is very familiar with the terrain in Shan County, and it is not difficult to avoid the large enemy troops that are pursuing them.

Zhao Xiaoyang ran along the river valley with Hu Jiuzhang on his back for about half an hour. Finally, on the bank of the river shrouded in moonlight, the two of them gradually could not hear the hellish killing sounds of Shura behind them.Zhao Xiaoyang found a hidden cave at the edge of the valley, put down Hu Jiuzhang, and sat with him among the rocks to rest.

"I still have some rations here," Zhao Xiaoyang said, and took out a small cloth bag from his waist, grabbed some food from it and put it in Hu Jiuzhang's palm, "Let's eat this first, and when the morning dawns, if we can avoid rebellion Jun, I'm going to fetch Brother Hu a pheasant to eat."

Zhao Xiaoyang and Hu Jiuzhang face to face.Under the tall rock wall, the moonlight could only illuminate half of the two of them, while the other half was hidden in the darkness.

"Little Yang, don't you mean..." Hu Jiuzhang frowned suddenly.

You don't mean to... be a deserter, do you?

When Zhao Xiaoyang finished saying that, Hu Jiuzhang realized it.It stands to reason that they had just escaped from the battlefield, and they should have been thinking about how to join the main force and return to Tongguan as soon as possible, but Zhao Xiaoyang didn't mention that, and instead focused on eating.Hu Jiuzhang stared closely at Zhao Xiaoyang's eyes, who knew that Zhao Xiaoyang let out a long sigh when he looked at him like this, and tears welled up in his eyes.

"Brother Hu... Have you ever encountered this kind of situation in wars before?"

Now there was no one around, only him and Hu Jiuzhang, and Zhao Xiaoyang was no longer restrained, the moment he opened his mouth, there was a tear in his voice.

"……Never had."

Hu Jiuzhang replied in a deep voice.

Being asked this made him feel uncomfortable.When did Tang Jun encounter such a situation in the Western Regions?Of the several wars in the Western Regions, the worst was Talas.But even in the Battle of Talas, didn't the Tang army fight the enemy for five full days before returning?What's more, at that time, there were 3 Tang troops and 20 Dashi troops, and 20 could fight [-] for five days. Why are they fleeing after the first battle?

Hu Jiuzhang couldn't figure it out himself, when did Tang Jun become such a covetous person who fears death?Could it be that the soldiers in Tongguan are of different qualities from those in the Western Regions?

However, the generals of the Longyou faction who were in charge of the command had also once dominated the battlefield and made great achievements in several battles against Tubo.At least the Tongguan defenders have been training under their hands for half a year. How come they have become so virtuous when they fight now?

Hu Jiuzhang couldn't figure it out.No matter from which angle he thought about it, he couldn't figure it out.In the current situation, all he could think of was one thing.

That is Tang Jun changed.

The river under the moon was flowing quietly, Zhao Xiaoyang was sobbing softly, and Hu Jiuzhang didn't know what to say to comfort the other party's heart that had been greatly shaken.None of them knew where the future of Datang would go.

"Hey...we still have to go back to Tongguan." Hu Jiuzhang said softly, and he didn't expect Zhao Xiaoyang to agree immediately, but it was better than watching him cry in front of him all the time.

"What if we go back... what if Tongguan is lost?" Zhao Xiaoyang looked at Hu Jiuzhang with only confusion and despair in his eyes.

"What if you don't go back?"

Hu Jiuzhang didn't answer his question, but questioned him instead.Maybe he can't convince Zhao Xiaoyang, but he must go back to Tongguan, because only by returning to Tongguan can he know the whereabouts of Li Muyun.

"When you go to the mountains, you can be a savage at worst."

Zhao Xiaoyang's tears were shining, and there was some aggrieved tone in his voice.

"Now I think it's good to hide in the mountains by myself. Even if a person like me stays in the army, he won't be able to make any achievements in battle. In the end, he can only be a soldier all the time, and he has to call those domineering soldiers Bullying." He said, crying more and more, "Brother Hu, do you still want to go back? You have been injured like this, even if you go back, it is impossible to go to the battlefield again."

"..." After he said these words, Hu Jiuzhang's expression darkened, and he let out a soft sigh.

"But my master is still in the army, so I have to go back no matter what."

"Then I will send Brother Hu back, but I..."

"Hey! Lamb, don't think about these things. Anyway, we have to get over the current difficulties first. As long as people are alive, what they want to do is just follow the trend. Get a good night's sleep first. , I will talk about it tomorrow morning."

Hu Jiuzhang raised his hand and patted Zhao Xiaoyang's shoulder. When he moved like this, the wound on his shoulder blade hurt again.He had already passed the time to change his dressing, but in this situation... Not to mention changing his dressing, even having a full meal is already an extremely extravagant thing.

Zhao Xiaoyang looked at Hu Jiuzhang, although there were still tears in his eyes, he still sucked his nose twice, trying to suppress all the unresolved emotions in his heart.

"Well. Brother Hu, you should also take a good rest. You still have injuries on your body. Don't be tired."

"it is good."

Hu Jiuzhang nodded with a smile, randomly stuffed a handful of rations that Zhao Xiaoyang had given him, and swallowed it down.

It was another cold night, the two of them didn't dare to light a fire to keep warm, they could only cuddle up to each other, shrinking in the narrow corner of the cave.

In such an environment, it is almost impossible to fall asleep.Enduring the occasional labor pains, Hu Jiuzhang leaned half on the rock wall and half on Zhao Xiaoyang, closed his eyes and squinted for a while, but was woken up again by the cold wind blowing by the river.

He really couldn't sleep, and he was so hungry that he could only lean there silently and look at the moon.

The moonlight in the sky was still so bright, and against the background of the Milky Way, the sound of the flowing water of the big river could be heard not far away.This should be an interesting sight, but now it seems that it can only make people sad.

At about midnight, Hu Jiuzhang suddenly heard several strange noises from the grass more than ten meters away from the cave.He just wanted to call Zhao Xiaoyang, but he didn't know that Zhao Xiaoyang had slowly drawn out the horizontal knife hanging from his waist.

It turned out that after all this time, he couldn't fall asleep at all.

The two were still sitting in the cave, Zhao Xiaoyang held the knife in his hand, turned his head and gave Hu Jiuzhang a wink.

How to do?

Hu Jiuzhang's face was gloomy.They didn't know what was in the grass on the opposite side.If it is a human being, is it an enemy or a friend?If it wasn't for humans, it would not be so easy for him to be stalked by wild beasts in the dark, and he was a cripple without feet.

After Hu Jiuzhang thought for a moment, he still signaled Zhao Xiaoyang to swing the knife.

He deduced that the one lurking in the grass in the middle of the night should not be the search team of the rebels.Then there is a high probability that there are either beasts in the grass, or... they are soldiers of the Tang Army who are alone like them.

Zhao Xiaoyang cut across the air with his saber, making a clang.The movement was already loud, but the grass not far away became quiet again.

After about a few seconds, Hu Jiuzhang and Zhao Xiaoyang looked at each other.They were almost sure that the one lurking in the grass at this time should be a ferocious beast that was looking for food. However, when the two of them were thinking about how to deal with it next, a black figure stood up on the other side of the grass.

"who!"

Hu Jiuzhang simply opened his mouth to ask.His voice was loud, and he yelled out so suddenly, it was more or less shocking.

Unexpectedly, as soon as he said this, the black shadow ran forward a few steps.Zhao Xiaoyang stood up from the ground in a jerk, and assumed a defensive posture.

"I'm a soldier under General Wang Sili's command! Your honor is an infantry of the Longyou Army?"

Allies!

Hu Jiuzhang let out a long sigh of relief, but Zhao Xiaoyang beside him was still tense, and it took three or four seconds before he withdrew the knife.

"Exactly!"

Hu Jiuzhang responded, and at this moment, Tang Bing, who suddenly appeared, walked up to them in a few steps by the moonlight.

"Finally told me to find a comrade!"

When he spoke, there was still some trembling, which showed how excited this person was, and just because of the word Tang Jun, he burst into tears on the spot.

At night, Hu Jiuzhang couldn't see the person's face clearly, but in the moonlight, he could vaguely make out the armor of the Tang Army on this person's body, as well as the large area of ​​black stains on his side. Presumably, it must have been stained on his body during the day There is blood.

"Your Excellency is so courageous, you dare to shout out from such a distance." Hu Jiuzhang sighed softly.He was sitting on the ground, not in a good condition, cold and hungry, and the wound on his body was still aching.

"Hey... Isn't this the accent of the honorable master, you are from the Northwest, you can't be wrong!"

When the soldier spoke, although he still had a crying tone, it was not hard to hear that he should be a veteran of the Tang army in his prime.Standing in front of him who is strong and strong, not to mention Zhao Xiaoyang, even Hu Jiuzhang looks a little thin.

"Accent..." Hu Jiuzhang couldn't help sighing, "It's fortunate that I can speak. If someone else shouted, wouldn't you be able to cut it directly?"

"Hehe...this is luck!"

Tang Bing gave a chuckle full of rejoicing, and saw that he wiped his elbow back and forth on his face several times, he must be wiping away his tears.

On the bank of the river in the middle of the night, a tall man wearing an armor and a weapon, but like a child, bowed his head and wiped his tears at two soldiers who were thinner and more down-trodden than him. This scene was really moving.As the saying goes, a man does not flick his tears lightly.But the three well-behaved men all cried hysterically during this day.I really don't know whether they cried because of the ruthless battlefield or the broken rivers and mountains of the Tang Dynasty.

"What is your name?"

Hu Jiuzhang asked, and his voice was quite emotional.

"My name is He Yingtian, and I am a soldier under General Wang Sili's command. Where are you two?"

"Hu Jiuzhang." Sitting on the ground, Hu Jiuzhang pointed to himself, and then looked at Zhao Xiaoyang beside him.

"This is Zhao Xiaoyang. We are all soldiers of General Lu Kuang. I am a wounded soldier. During the last battle to defend the city, my legs were seriously injured and amputated. I couldn't stand up. Brother, don't be surprised."

"It is so!"

He Yingtian was so surprised that even his crying was suppressed by this surprise.

"But Brother Hu is so seriously injured, why did you come here with the army?"

"Hey... this..." Hu Jiuzhang began to hesitate.For a moment, he didn't know how to explain to this colleague whom he met by chance, but Zhao Xiaoyang stood aside and spoke suddenly.

"General Wang Sili is commanding the former army, so you are also one of the fifty thousand elite soldiers who charged earlier?"

"……Yes."

When someone asked about this, He Yingtian's voice obviously dropped a lot in an instant.He lowered his head, and there was a little more hesitation in his tone, but in the middle of the night, they couldn't see each other's expressions clearly.They didn't know what kind of unwillingness and grief He Yingtian had on his face at this moment.

"Then what happened on the narrow road during the day?"

Zhao Xiaoyang asked in a deep voice.He Yingtian let out a long sigh, and his body seemed to be trembling slightly.

"Hey... Originally... we had the advantage in our initial pursuit of the dozen miles. But then..."

He Yingtian's voice was low, as if he was clenching his teeth, trying to endure something.

"We were tricked... We were tricked by Cui Ganyou! The rebels tricked us, they pretended to be weak, and lured us to chase us, but as soon as we arrived, the soldiers who had ambushed in advance on the narrow road came from Huge boulders and trees were pushed down from the high mountains to smash us! Thousands of soldiers in the front were crushed to death like this! Fortunately, I was still in the rear at that time, so I saved my life, but the tactics of the rebels are not limited to these! At noon, they still ambushed soldiers and set fire to the mountain. At sunset, Cui Qianyou led tens of thousands of fine cavalry around the rear of our army to launch a surprise attack. Hey...a total of 15 people! Just like that, they sealed it for seventy miles In the long narrow passage, even the formation of an army could not be formed! How many people were trampled to death by their own comrades... The flesh and blood were all trampled to pieces, tens of thousands of corpses piled up the entire narrow passage, When I think about it now, I... feel horrible!"

His voice trembled, as if it was forced out of his throat, which made people panic.But soon, he forced himself to regain his composure, but his body was still trembling.

"Later... probably because they knew that the game was over... There were a lot of people, so they turned around and ran away. Some, when they found an opening, they turned around and ran into the river. Anyway, those who could run, they all ran away. It's not war...it's hell, it's hell!"