My years as a soldier

I don't know if it was the desperation of the people that finally provoked the gods to show mercy. On their last forty miles to Tongguan, they were lucky not to encounter any rebel attacks.For a whole day, they walked steadily for nearly thirty miles, seeing Tongguan in front of them. Compared with the despair and helplessness of the previous day, the stability of this day was comparable to a miracle.

But soon, everyone discovered the reason for all this.

The answer to why there are no enemy troops to encircle and suppress them is simple.Because the Tang army brigade, which had already assembled in the east of Tongguan, had already launched the last competition for Tongguan with the enemy.On the last ten miles from Shanjun to Tongguan, there were bodies of Tang soldiers everywhere.

Some were shot to death, hacked to death by knives, and trampled to death by horseshoe men.On the road paved with flesh and blood, the blood was soaring, and the stench was unbearable.Even Hu Jiuzhang, who had seen countless corpses, couldn't stop his stomach from churning during the journey, and wanted to vomit acid water several times.

"What, want to throw up?"

Gan Ruoshan's voice came slowly.Hu Jiuzhang leaned on his back, but felt that the voice was far away from him, as if he was listening through a thick barrier.

"A little..."

Hu Jiuzhang's voice was weak, and if it was normal, he would definitely ask back.how?Is it possible for you to remain unmoved?

But now, he can't say that.

He felt that he was weak and unable to fight, just like the defeated Tang army, hanging on a precarious thin thread, any disturbance could kill him.

"A little bit? Huh... I have a little bit too."

Gan Ruoshan sneered, looking at the crooked corpses on the road, the corner of his mouth was tilted to one side, as if he was laughing or mocking something.

"Is it almost there?"

Hu Jiuzhang propped his neck and looked forward.

"It's coming, it's less than an hour's journey."

"One hour... Looking at it like this, I don't know what's going on at the pass..."

Hu Jiuzhang sighed softly.

"What else can I do? Once the fight starts, I don't know whether to win or lose."

Gan Ruoshan responded casually, the sentence was full of disdain, but his brows were tightly furrowed, as if he was in pain.

"Win or lose... Now whether Tang Jun wins or loses, is it meaningful to you and me?"

In Hu Jiuzhang's eyes full of sighs, there was a hint of sarcasm.It is true that no matter whether Tang Jun wins or loses, his life will not be better than half a point.The glory of the Tang Dynasty in the past has long since vanished, leaving only a superficial mess, pulling all the people who are still alive to decay endlessly.

"Have you ever lived? I think you've been with that son-in-law for a long time, and you actually know how to say this kind of nonsense for yourself. There's no need for people like us to think about these things. You Just think about how to go back alive, as for the world becoming someone else's world, does it have anything to do with us?"

"It has nothing to do with me..."

Hu Jiuzhang muttered for a while.It was okay, but now...

He was thinking silently, and suddenly felt a flash in front of his eyes, but it was Gan Ruoshan who suddenly stopped in his tracks.

"Stop! All stop!"

Gan Ruoshan suddenly yelled loudly, and a dozen people around him stopped belatedly, several people looked around in a panic, and even drew out their knives.

"What's the matter? Marshal Gan, where is the enemy?"

Everyone's eyes were focused on Gan Ruoshan, but Gan Ruoshan was staring at a point on the road ahead. There was no living thing there, and what occupied the entire road were the corpses of a dozen soldiers of the Tang army.

Hu Jiuzhang followed Gan Ruoshan's gaze. In the middle of the road, beside the pile of corpses, a face that had not yet decayed caught his attention.

Hu Jiuzhang's heart tightened suddenly.

Wang Zheng.

Among the piles of corpses on the side of the road, the one lying in the middle of the road was none other than Captain Wang Zheng, who had already passed away.Most of the clothes on his body were stained red with blood, and there were three or four arrows stuck in the soft armor on his upper body.A few were not broken, and one of them was broken from the body of the arrow. It can be seen that after he was injured, he used brute force to break it in order to continue fighting.

Captain Wang...

Hu Jiuzhang was thinking silently in his heart, and he hesitated a little more in his heart.

Judging from the degree of corruption of the corpse, Wang Zheng should have died here a day ago.There were several fatal knife and arrow wounds on his chest and back. It was obvious at a glance that he was not killed by one person, but by a group of people.One by one, they destroyed that tall and solid body, leaving him to rot and deteriorate here.

Looking at Wang Zheng's blue and white dead face, Hu Jiuzhang's face was sullen, and he felt a burning pain in his chest.He frowned tightly, and his mood was already extremely low.At this moment, he couldn't even tell whether he was indignant or regretful.

He faintly remembered the last words Wang Zheng said to himself before the war started, "After the war, if we are still alive, I will fulfill my promise and come to help you."

live...

Thinking of this, Hu Jiuzhang couldn't help but smile wryly.

Captain Wang, it seems that you will never be able to fulfill this promise...

he sighed.

Thinking about it carefully, Wang Zheng was the last officer Hu Jiuzhang followed in the Tang army.Now that Wang Zheng is dead, it seems that Hu Jiuzhang's last vestige of nostalgia for military life has also disappeared.

Looking at Wang Zheng's body, he didn't feel sad, but only felt infinite regret.

Captain Wang, Captain Wang, is it worth dying here?

Hu Jiuzhang couldn't help asking questions in his heart, but before he could get out of his depressed mood, he heard a burst of hysterical crying, which startled him.

Hu Jiuzhang reacted for a while before realizing that the crying came from in front of him.

In front of Wang Zheng's corpse, Gan Ruoshan, who was carrying Hu Jiuzhang on his back, was crying on his back.He stood there and wept loudly, not as if he was crying for Wang Zheng, but as if he was crying for the blue sky above his head.

When Gan Ruoshan, the brigade commander, cried, the dozen or so soldiers who accompanied him obviously became restless.But Gan Ruoshan had no intention of controlling his emotions at all. While crying, he knelt down slowly and put Hu Jiuzhang off his back. Immediately afterwards, he buried his head and knelt down in front of Wang Zheng's corpse, crying weakly. It was gone, only the body was still rising and falling in accordance with the rhythm of the crying.

"What's the matter, Gan Lushuai?"

Someone on the side asked a question in a low voice.

Hu Jiuzhang sat behind Gan Ruoshan, looking straight at it, his nasal cavity was a little sour.

A man of seven feet tall, who has beheaded countless enemies on the battlefield, how could he end up in this state now?Besides, Gan Ruoshan is the one who has the best face in the first place, and there will be times when he doesn't care about it...

"You Gan Lushuai can't control it for a while."

Hu Jiuzhang suddenly spoke in a calm voice.

"Before I was injured, I was also the brigade commander. Now that Lao Gan is like this, let me say something for him."

He suddenly raised his voice, with a lot of energy in his chest, his voice unexpectedly seemed unharmed, calm and thick.

"Hurry up first! When Lao Gan recovers, he will catch up."

Hu Jiuzhang spoke with a sullen face, and the soldiers looked at each other, but it was only for a moment, and one by one, they all walked forward in silence.

At such a time, anyone who still has reason will try to escape first.

The dozens of people walked away one after another, but He Yingtian was the only one who hesitated again and again, and finally returned to Hu Jiuzhang.

He rummaged through the skirt for a while, and finally took out a gray cloth bag.

"Old Hu, this is the sheep that the lamb gave us. I still have a day's worth of mutton left here for you. I don't know what happened before, and I don't know if I will die again after we part. We met. You and Lushuai Gan should be more careful, if it doesn’t work, just take off your military uniform and avoid people, there will always be a way out.”

Hearing He Yingtian's words, Hu Jiuzhang couldn't help but feel a surge in his heart.

Although he and He Yingtian have only been together for a few days, the friendship between these few days has somehow penetrated all the way to the bone.Saying goodbye at this time, Hu Jiuzhang was also very reluctant to give up.

This farewell is probably a farewell...

Hu Jiuzhang lowered his eyes to think for a moment, then let out a soft sigh.

"Thank you."

He stretched out his hand to take the cloth bag from He Yingtian, and his nasal cavity was indescribably sore.

"Old He, you said you have family members in Chang'an, what do they do for a living in Chang'an? Are they also soldiers?"

Hu Jiuzhang asked casually.

"No." He Yingtian shook his hand.

"I grew up in my cousin's family when I was young. My cousin is a scholar and has a very smart mind. His name is He Tiantong, and he is now a county magistrate in Chang'an County. If you have been to Chang'an, you should have heard of it." pass?"

But hearing this, Hu Jiuzhang couldn't help being dumbfounded.He froze for a while, then nodded belatedly.

"Ah... I heard about it."

"Hey...so, I will definitely not run away. My cousin's family has been kind to me. Even if I die, I will die outside the city walls of Chang'an!"

As He Yingtian said, a high-spirited brilliance flashed in his eyes.

Hu Jiuzhang was a little dazed, he really didn't know how to judge He Yingtian, let alone how to treat He Tiantong.

These two people turned out to be cousins!

He Yingtian, He Tiantong...

Hu Jiuzhang silently recited these two names, and seeing He Yingtian's disappearing figure, he couldn't help but feel a lot of emotion in his heart.

After about half a quarter of an hour, Gan Ruoshan, who was crying bitterly on the ground, finally calmed down and straightened up from the ground.

"Old Hu... let's go."

Hu Jiuzhang was a little surprised when he said this as soon as he opened his mouth.

"Are you okay? I can't see that you care about Captain Wang so much."

Hu Jiuzhang sighed softly.

"Hey... Lieutenant Wang is a good soldier, but it doesn't make sense to talk about it now."

He sighed, got up and put Hu Jiuzhang on his back again.

"It's useless...it's useless."

With Hu Jiuzhang on his back, Gan Ruoshan took heavy steps.

"Military rank...salary...hmph, now that I think about it, it's ridiculous."

Gan Ruoshan seemed to be talking to himself, but also seemed to be talking to Hu Jiuzhang.

Hu Jiuzhang couldn't help but frown when he heard his voice.He thought for a while, then spoke softly.

"How can it be called ridiculous? Who doesn't want to be promoted after joining the army? Who doesn't want a salary? It's true if you want it, and it's hypocrisy if you say you don't want it!"

"I want..." Gan Ruoshan answered quietly, but then shook his head.

"But look, what's left of us now? We're broken. We've got nothing left!"

"But even so, aren't we all still alive?"

Hu Jiuzhang comforted him softly.He knew very well that on the battlefield, a soldier might be inspired by a few words, but he would also easily collapse because of a few words.

"To be alive...that's all that's left to live. What else is there? There's nothing left, we have nothing..."

"Hey...Old Gan, don't say that." Hu Jiuzhang almost squeezed out a word "Sichuan" between his brows.

"As long as you're alive, there's always hope."

"You have hope." Gan Ruoshan's voice was low, "You still have a grandson waiting, of course you have hope."

He said quietly.

"But what do I have? I only have a reputation as a Tang soldier. Captain Wang used to say that if you are a soldier, you have to die on the battlefield. This is reasonable, I believe it, but the more I think about it now, I don't know I feel more and more terrifying. I am a soldier...you are not anymore. You have no legs, so you are not, but I am still...I am Tang Bing, and I will be Tang Bing all my life."

Gan Ruoshan seemed to be possessed, repeating this sentence repeatedly in his mouth, and even ignored Hu Jiuzhang's question.

The figures of the two gradually drifted away on the avenue leading to Tongguan. The blood-stained avenue was covered with flesh and carrion corpses.That voice sounded like a demon whispering, and as the setting sun was stained with blood, it got closer and closer under Gan Ruoshan's heavy steps.

The author says:

At present, there is no guarantee of stable updates. This chapter is also pieced together in countless fragments of time (T_T), but as long as I have time, I will work hard to code.There are still a few chapters left in the fourth volume, and the turning point will be in the not-too-distant future!Woohoo, I'm so worried that everyone will be dismissed by the oppressive atmosphere (ó﹏ò?)