My years as a soldier

Are there fewer photos of people in Chang'an City than before?If you really want to compare, it is indeed a lot less, but in Chen Fan's view, the current ones are still too much.

The shopkeeper pushed a cart of groceries to sell in the city. Windmills, rattles, painted masks, embroidered bags, and wooden shelves were colorfully placed, for fear that some space would be wasted and the stall would be empty.Three or four children held the hands of the adults and squeezed in front of the stall to pick. The woman with the children was busy bargaining with the shopkeeper. Behind her in the small street, several men who were pulling goods passed by the narrow road, discussing and delivering the batch. Goods, do you want to buy sugar water from a small stall in the West Market?

These people will all perish together with Chang'an City. Chen Fan looked at them as if he was looking at the shadow of Chang'an City. Just like this city, they cannot control their own destiny.But living people are different from the city. There are some things that they could have done, but now, even though the flames of war are close at hand, they are still indifferent to and indifferent to everything happening outside.

Chen Fan didn't want to go to the office of unscrupulous people in West City, but when he thought of the group of brothers who had been busy with him all these years, his heart softened, and he always felt that if he didn't go, he would be sorry for them.But in this world, who is worthy of whom.Who lives and who dies is mostly fate.

Chen Fan was dressed in a military uniform and entered the office of bad people. In the courtyard, four or five men in black were sitting around the fire frying rice.The aroma of corn spread far into Chen Fan's nostrils, and a group of people heard his footsteps entering the courtyard, and all looked up at him.

"Hey, Boss Chen, your body..."

Everyone's eyes were focused on his Han Navy military uniform. The military uniform was old, and the outer soft armor was also stained with blood marks that could not be washed off.

"Drinking... What about eating? Let me remind you that the battle outside is not over yet. If you don't think your life is too long, you should be careful, so that you don't even die after eating fried rice."

Chen Fan spoke in a strange tone, and he frowned and stared at the bad people in the yard. These people, for seven or eight years, followed him in the wind and rain in Chang'an City, and they all died. Relationship.But if you want to judge them by secular standards, none of them can be regarded as good people.Some of them have stolen things, some have killed people in private fights, and some have disobeyed orders... They are all bad people.

But Chen Fan himself is also a bad person.Moreover, the sins he committed were much heavier than these people.

"Boss Chen, what are you talking about..." The bad guy who got up to greet Chen Fan was obviously very puzzled, but it was precisely because Chen Fan's words were so weird that people didn't know where to ask them.The bad guys in the yard stared at Chen Fan for a while, wanted to talk about his clothes, and asked him what he meant, but in the end they didn't ask a word, they just stared at Chen Fan blankly. , I want to see what he can do next.

But Chen Fan only said this, then sighed, and waved at the group of people.

"Pay attention, all of you, the knife must not leave your body for a while. Don't forget, there are still wars outside, and Chang'an City is not isolated from the outside world. You have to be prepared sooner or later."

"Hey, how many times have you told me this, we all remember it."

The bad guy who answered the conversation patted the handle of the knife on his waist, and he didn't forget to look down at the fried rice in the iron pot after speaking.

"Just remember..."

Chen Fan sighed helplessly.In fact, their reactions were already in his expectation, and it would be useless to say more at this time.He immediately turned around to leave, and the people in the yard were even more confused.

"Boss Chen, do you know any news?"

Chen Fan had just walked a few steps when he heard the footsteps of those people getting up and chasing after him.

"Boss Chen, why are you going!"

"It doesn't matter to you why you go?" Chen Fan responded helplessly.

"No... Boss Chen, you look so weird today, you..."

The bad guy chased Chen Fan less than one meter away, and reached out to pat him on the shoulder.Did Chen Fan stop in the end, the person behind him turned around a step too early, but his expression was serious.

"Old Zhao, if I told you that the city of Chang'an would fall within a few days, would you believe me?"

Chen Fan lowered his voice, only the bad guy closest to him could hear his words clearly.

"This... Boss Chen, you can't talk nonsense..."

Facing Chen Fan's dignified and abnormal expression, the man surnamed Zhao was obviously scared. He didn't understand why Chen Fan said such a thing. I just can't figure out the edge of this matter.

"Hehe... I guess you don't believe it either."

Chen Fan couldn't help showing a little loneliness on his face, but in front of them, he could only laugh dryly, then turned around and strode away without any hesitation.

There are some lives that he cannot save. In the past, Chen Fan might not have believed it, but now, he no longer has any sweet dreams of saving the common people in the world.He knew that he could not save the common people, nor could he save the people in Chang'an City, he could not even save his own subordinates.But as a Tang person, as a former Tang soldier, he can still choose what to do for Chang'an.After all, only Chang'an has a different meaning to the entire empire.Chang'an symbolizes all the glory and power of the Tang Dynasty. Once Chang'an falls, the foundation of the Tang Dynasty's prestige in other countries will also fall.

To be honest, as a Tang soldier who once fought for the empire on the border, he didn't want to see such a thing happen before his eyes.

He wanted to do something, not for the emperor, but just for the capital he had lived in and protected.

Chen Fan thought so, that's why he put on his old military uniform and walked on the road to the imperial city.His destination is at the foot of the imperial city, where the forbidden army is stationed. If Chang'an goes to war, the soldiers participating in the war should be conscripted and concentrated there.

On the avenue leading to the imperial city, he walked forward with a solemn expression.This may be the most loyal choice he has ever made in his life - to fight for the country when the building is about to collapse.At such a time, who wouldn't want to have a sense of ceremony, but just waiting for Chen Fan to get closer and closer to the imperial city, his solemn expression became more and more uncontrollable.

On the inaccessible avenue, Chen Fan gradually saw clearly the defense situation of the Tang capital under the high wall.

No, not a single person.

Under the city wall where there should have been a garrison, there was no one there.Not counting wartime, even if it is normal, there should be a garrison here, but now there is no one...

Chen Fan looked at the empty street, his body shivering.

How could there be no one?

How can there be no one...

He continued to go deep into the imperial city until he reached the gate of Suzaku.The gate of the city wall, which was more than ten meters high, was tightly closed, but the gate where there should have been doormen and guards was still empty.Chen Fan boldly knocked the huge knocker on Suzaku's door.

The knocking sound of the metal hitting the hardwood could be heard clearly even at a distance of tens of meters, but Chen Fan knocked it more than a dozen times, but no one answered the door.If it was normal, he would have been arrested and interrogated by the guards on duty long ago.Knocking on the gate of the imperial city is a serious crime, and in normal times, even walking casually near the Suzaku gate would be a crime.

unmanned.

At least within tens of meters of Suzaku Gate, there was no one there.

Even if he didn't want to believe it, Chen Fan couldn't question the facts before him.

Standing in front of Suzaku Gate, looking at the closed city gate more than ten meters high, Chen Fan gasped.He had already made the worst plan for the deployment of Chang'an, but what surprised him was that his so-called worst plan was nothing compared to the reality in front of him.

Why is there no one... because everyone is gone.

They all ran away.

This is the only fact that Chen Fan can deduce.

The emperor had already fled away quietly with his soldiers, no one was left to guard Chang'an, Chang'an was not fortified... nothing!

For a while, Chen Fan didn't know how to face the capital, nor did he know how to face the military uniform he was wearing!Could this be the country he fought for, the Tang Dynasty he swore to be loyal to?Suddenly Chen Fan only felt that his previous idea was ridiculous.He actually wanted to make another big vote in order to defend Chang'an!But the emperor didn't need his guard at all, and Chang'an, the eternal capital, was no longer in the emperor's plan.

"Bullshit...it's all bullshit!"

Chen Fan cursed loudly at Zhuquemen.

He turned around, with a dark face, and walked in the opposite direction from the imperial city.After all... this capital city no longer needs guards, and the people who are still in this city, most of them, should die in the siege battle in the near future. If... there is another siege here Words of urban warfare.

Chen Fan went straight back to his residence in Jiahuifang. He changed out of his military uniform and stripped off all the accessories that could reveal his military status.When he went out again, Chen Fan was already dressed as a traveler. He was wearing a simple round-neck gown and carried a cloth bag on his back.Chen Fan still had a saber on his waist, but it was not the military-made horizontal saber, but a well-forged long saber with a carved scabbard.This kind of knife can only be ordered in the most high-end forge in Chang'an City, and the price of one is worth hundreds of horizontal knives.

Usually, travelers who need to go abroad for a long time will not travel with such an expensive long knife, let alone in today's turbulent world and the chaos of bandits everywhere, but Chen Fan didn't care about it.He walked out of the house in a big way with such a knife, and went straight to the Yanping Gate in the west of Chang'an.

It won't be long before the news of the emptiness of the imperial city will reach the ears of the people in Chang'an City, and Chang'an will be in chaos.Or, before the chaos in Chang'an, the Anlushan rebels would attack from the east.At that time, there will be another chaos.But no matter how chaotic Chang'an is, it has nothing to do with him.

On the way to leave, Chen Fan couldn't help thinking, is he being too heartless for doing this?But think about it the other way around, what did he do?Could it be that those people in Chang'an City can be persuaded by him with a few words?He knew he didn't have the ability to save the common people, so he didn't do anything at all.All he could do was to let himself escape before the turmoil broke out.A former Tang soldier, a former bad handsome man, just ran away in silence... Thinking of this, Chen Fan couldn't help showing a wry smile on his face.

"It's really something you can do..."

He sighed under his breath.

Sometimes, he would rather he didn't know anything.If he hadn't been born in the Chen family, if his family was just an ordinary family in Luoyang City, many things might have been different...