Chapter 743 Impermanence
In addition to relying on one's own struggle, a person's destiny also depends on his choices at historical junctures.
At this moment, the lives of Liu Bei and Guo Si stand at this historical juncture, and their choices determine their current fate to a certain extent.
Before the war, Guo Si chose to deploy his formation in the north, while Liu Bei chose to rely on Badou Mountain to deploy his formation in the south.
Therefore, when the Taishan Army's sudden cavalry came out from behind, Liu Bei could rely on the Badou Mountain defense line to resist step by step, while Guo Si had no choice but to run away because he had a clear view of the entire formation.
Similarly, before the war, Guo Liang and Xu Huang also chose different attack defense lines. Because Xu Huang's team was located in the north, he was naturally in charge of Guo Si's army in the north. Naturally, Guo Liang chose to back up Badou. Liu Bei's tribe in the mountain.
As a result, the fate of the two people also took a different direction at this moment.
……
In his life, before he met Zhang Chong, Guo Liang was just a soldier in Jinan and a man beside the Jishui River.
But after his life intersected with Zhang Chong's, his fate was completely different.
He followed Zhang Chong to make a big water inspection, followed Zhang Chong to gather righteousness in the forest, followed him to break through Xue's wall, followed him into Mount Tai, and then moved to Tailu and Yimeng, and later to the Central Plains, all the way north to Yanzhao.
Later, he married a wife and had children. The number of people in his hands increased from ten to a hundred, and now he is the leader of an army.
Along the way, Zhang Chong's existence is naturally the most important, but it is still Guo Liang's talent and hard work.
He learned in the war, grew up in the war, and was still learning even when the elders of his peers were accustomed to lying on their seniority.
Before joining the Taishan Army, Guo Liang couldn't ride a horse, couldn't read, and couldn't count. But now Guo Liang can defeat thousands of troops when he dismounts, and he can charge generals when he mounts.
He loved to read the military book compiled by the king, which used straightforward language to refine the advantages and disadvantages of each of their battles. But what made him fall in love with this military book even more was that he felt a straightforward power from the king's words.
It is a kind of existence that as long as you study, you can become anything.
This is Guo Liang, a very unique existence among the old people in the Taishan Army. He is brave, he is good at caring for his soldiers, he is humble, and he believes in Huang Tian's great cause.
It is precisely because of this that Zhang Chong has been considering asking Guo Liang to be his sideline general.
At the beginning, the Hengxing Army was just a method used by Zhang Chongjian to recruit brave warriors in the army to train middle- and lower-level military officials. But as the Taishan Army became more and more successful, Zhang Chong, as the leader of the force, inevitably had to have a guard of honor.
Whether it is the horses, fans, canopies, fajia, halogen books, axes, or war horses when traveling, these all need to be managed by people, so the Hengchang Army gradually assumed such a role.
In this way, the collision army began to develop into the palace.
Hengchang will start to set up a permanent table in Danqi, and he will stay at Zhang Chong's side on weekdays. And every time during the great dynasty in Yecheng, these people lined up flags at the gate, lined up soldiers at Duanmen, played drums for fun, sounded whips in front of the palace, and introduced civil and military officials to Danqi.
It can be said that Hengchang will develop to the present, and it is already a bodyguard with Yiluan.
And being able to serve as the general in the collision shows that Zhang Chong has more trust in Guo Liang.
In fact, since Guan Yu's defeat, Zhang Chong had intentionally adjusted the military layout in the East.
Zhang Chong's original thinking about the war in the East was to let one commander have exclusive power and to deal with complex external situations through full authorization.
But now the situation has changed. After this battle is over, the Taishan Army will turn from defensive to offensive in the east.
In the plan of Zhang Chong, Xun You and others, after capturing the Central Plains, the Taishan Army will have two attack routes, namely the west army to attack Bashu in Guanxi, and the east route army to attack Qingzhou.
Among them, the strategic goal of the Eastern Route Army is to capture Qingzhou, then go all the way south to Jianghuai, and finally cross the Yangtze River.
As a stranger from later generations, Zhang Chong naturally understood that with the development of the Han Dynasty for more than 400 years, Yangzhou at this time already had the potential to separate itself.
The land is vast, the population has been fertile for four hundred years, and the farming technology has begun to catch up with the Central Plains, so Yangzhou's war potential is not weak.
Otherwise, neither Soochow nor the future Eastern Jin would be able to defend the Yangtze River defense line.
Therefore, in order to prevent the historical mistake of splitting China in the future, Zhang Chong deliberately strengthened the military strength of the Eastern Route Army, with the purpose of allowing them to fight across the Yangtze River.
Therefore, when the time comes, more and more troops will be deployed in the east, and Guan Yu will naturally be the candidate for the side commander, but for deputy commander, Zhang Chong prefers Guo Liang.
He believed that his abilities and personality matched Guan Yu's.
To recruit Guo Liang to this position, he must first increase his qualifications. Otherwise, how can he establish prestige in the East Route Army?
And the one who can increase his qualifications the most is the general.
Even, in order to intimidate Guo Liang, Zhang Chong also specially set up the position of General Right Middle Lang.
Previously, there were only two divisions on the left and right sides, namely Cai Que and Guo Zu. After setting up the Hengchang Zhonglang General, a prefix was added to the name of the Hengchang Army:
"The general system in front of the account is pro-military."
In other words, the complete number of General Hengchang from now on is "General Control in Front of the Account, Pro-Army Hengchang Capital".
With the addition of this prefix, Hengchang will no longer only hold the duties of retinues and ceremonial guards, nor will it be a promotion place for martial arts schools at all levels of the Taishan Army. Instead, it will become the highest-level organization that the commander-in-chief personally obeys. A secondary authority after the Privy Council.
At this time, there are a total of seventeen military bugles affiliated with the Forbidden Army system, namely:
"Konghe, Longxiang, Leopard Tao, Feixiong, Weiwu, Guangwu, Xingwu, Yingwu, Yingyang, Xiaoqi, Shenwu, Xiongwu, Fengxiang, Tiance, Zhenwu, Xuanwu, Yulin."
< br>
Some of these seventeen military numbers are fully staffed, and some are only responsible for idle duties of internal security, but the overall organization and framework have been established.
And now as the upgraded general in the cross collision, Guo Liang will be the most likely candidate.
Of course, it is not possible for Guo Liang to become the top martial artist. This is not realistic. In fact, the Rampage Guards are still subordinate to the Privy Council.
In the system established by Zhang Chong, all military affairs of the Taishan Army were controlled by the Privy Council, directly led by Zhang Chong and seven associate privy councilors.
But even so, if Guo Liang is really promoted to Hengchang Zhonglang, it can still be said that he will reach the sky in one step.
But unfortunately, in the third year of Taiwu, on May 20th, at the foot of Badou Mountain and by the Jianshui River, Guo Liang's fate was about to come to an abrupt end.
Everything is so impermanent.
……
At the beginning, everything went smoothly. When Guo Liang led the Fei Xiong Army into Liu Bei's rear army, he did not encounter much resistance.
When the whole army is eagerly looking forward to the battle in the east, not many people will notice that a cavalry army will attack from the west, or a cavalry army sprinting at full speed.
And unlike Xu Huang's side, Guo Liang's side can be said to be a rare flat area. Even before, the Guo and Liu armies even leveled the land in order to facilitate the transportation of large trebuchets to the front line, so everything was so perfect. . Guo Liang and the others quickly defeated the first battalion. Guo Liang didn't even care to see what the enemy general's name was, and they had already defeated the first battalion.
Then, chasing the defeated troops, Guo Liang's troops rolled their offensive like a snowball until they encountered an iron wall.
At that time, Guo Liang leaned on his horse and looked at the front army in the distance, and saw that the enemy general's main flag was a flag with the word "Chen".
Guo Liang turned around and thought for a while, then asked Zhou Gui and Zheng Xiang behind him:
"Is this enemy Liu Bei's assistant, Chen Dao?"
Neither Zhou Gui nor Zheng Xiang were typical cavalry generals. They both joined the Taishan Army when they moved to the east of Xingyang, and they were both old men in the army.
Previously, the Taishan Army's sudden cavalry expanded. Although there were Wuhuan, Sushen, Xianbei, Xiongnu and other cavalry servants as sources of troops, the army began to lack generals. Therefore, some infantry generals who were good at riding were also transferred to the sudden cavalry. system.
Zhou Gui and Zheng Xiang joined the army at that time.
Upon hearing Guo Liang's question, Zhou Gui on the left said first:
"Military Commander, this Chen Dao has a great name and has always been used highly by Liu Bei. It is said that when he defeated Shu last year, he only led 800 soldiers to stop the Yizhou soldiers' desperate counterattack. He is known as the iron wall in Liu Bei's army, and That Zhang Fei is famous for his spear and shield is actually not bad. Why not let this army go first and pursue it from both wings?"
Zhou Gui was originally one of the five generals under Ding Sheng, but he made a big mistake in the Battle of Pingyuanjin and was demoted. In the following years, he finally found his current position again.
As he fell behind, he was naturally a little more cautious.
But Guo Liang disagreed. He just looked at the situation on the battlefield and judged that Zhou Gui's idea was still taken for granted.
Liu Jun's quality is very high. After experiencing the initial chaos, they quickly mobilized their troops under the banner of the Chinese army.
At this time, while Guo Liang and the others were talking, he saw an enemy battalion pressing over from behind, making the already solid enemy formation even thicker.
Seeing that the opposite side was continuously gathering the car camps on both wings towards the center, Guo Liang, who couldn't wait any longer, pointed his horse at him and rushed forward with about 800 people on charge, aiming directly at Chen Dao.
This was the first formal battle between the two sides, but after only one battle, Guo Liang was overjoyed because the enemy was not as difficult to fight as he thought.
In fact, the result is also very obvious. Anyone who can defeat the cavalry with foot must have a chariot camp to resist the horse. Otherwise, the momentum of the cavalry cannot be stopped.
Although the 800-man cavalry army led by Guo Liang sounds small, it is actually dominant enough on this battlefield.
Thanks to the fact that they had not encountered any effective resistance along the way, Guo Liang's attack speed was very fast.
On Chen Daojun's side, smoke and dust were seen everywhere in front of him, and the next moment the enemy cavalry had already moved on the ground. On the unobstructed flat ground, eight hundred cavalry rushed out with the momentum of swallowing thousands of miles. , The Liu Jun officers and soldiers at the front were so horrified that they could not hold their guns at all.
It is often said that a good soldier is a good soldier if he can spit in the face of battle. This requirement is naturally not a problem for Liu Jun, especially Chen Daojun, but this does not mean that they can take it lightly when faced with a large-scale cavalry charge.
The best they can do is to stand still when facing the cavalry, and there will be no chance for others.
In an instant, there was a huge collision, and then the muscles and bones were broken, and then there were wailings everywhere, and finally the silence was restored again, with only galloping horses passing by.
In this way, Chen Daojun's army of five hundred soldiers was wiped out without causing any waves.
Chen Dao, who was five hundred steps behind, saw the bloody scene in front of him. He didn't even have time to grieve, so he shouted:
"Crossbow Department, volley!"
After hearing this order, the more than 400 crossbowmen who had finally been gathered under the flag drew their bows and fired flatly.
The distance between them is so short that these crossbowmen don't even need to project, they just come straight up and shoot flatly.
This shooting method increased the power of the bow and arrow, and caused a very effective stopping effect on the Taishan Army's sudden cavalry.
For a time, people on Guo Liang's side were also on their backs, and even Guo Liang himself was shot by three arrows and fell from his horse.
However, the soldiers around him are all warriors in the army, and many of them are warriors rated as double or above. And most of them are miscellaneous Hus from Pingzhou, Youzhou, and Liaodong.
There may still be some Han chauvinistic tendencies among the civilian population of the Taishan Army, but it is unique among the military.
Tragic wars always accelerate the emotions between the robes. During the years of war, the Hu and Han warriors were indistinguishable from each other. Many of them even joined the Taiping Dao. Just like the Han people, they firmly believed in the Yellow Emperor's will. The ideal is bound to come.
At the moment when Guo Liang fell from his horse, a Xianbei warrior named Changsun Qing hugged Guo Liang with one arm. After seeing Guo Liang's horse fall to the ground, he gave his own horse to Guo Liang.
Several warriors around checked Guo Liang's armor. Because the armor was well-curved, the three arrows slipped and bounced away.
Guo Liang had just fallen off the horse, his body was upside down and his mind was dizzy. He knew that Sun Qing wanted to give the horse to him, but he was determined not to.
And what about Changsun Qing? He pinned Guo Liang firmly on the horse, and then said solemnly:
"Qing is nothing more than a despicable warrior, like me, the Taishan army chariots are full of fighting capacity. The general is the veteran general of the Great Tai Yuan, and is the pillar of the world. Our great cause of Huangtian can be without my eldest son, Sun Qing, but it cannot be without the general." ”
Changsun Qing’s words were so inspiring that Guo Liang was even more moved and said:
"Aqing, don't belittle yourself. Everyone has his own destiny and is an indispensable part of Huang Tian's great cause. Remember, there are some things that only you can do, and others cannot."
Changsun Qing burst into tears. He was just an orphan from the Tuoba family, a sheepherder slave as low as the mud. It was the Taishan Army who liberated him, gave him a name, and divided him into tents, cattle and sheep.
Now his children are studying in Yedu, and his family name can be continued. Now, what does his eldest son, Sun Qing, have to fear?
If so, he beat Guo Liang's breastplate and shouted:
"General, I will hold the horse for you, and we will kill the enemy."
Guo Liang took out his horse, tapped Changsun Qing lightly, and said with a smile:
"Let's kill! Let's kill and create a peaceful world!"
At this time, a group of knights from the Flying Bear Army shouted in agreement:
"Kill! Kill and bring peace and prosperity!"
For a moment, the low morale was high again, and he charged towards Chen Dao, who had already taken less than 300 steps!
Two moments later, Guo Liang looked at Changsun Qing, who had died together with Chen Dao, and cried sadly:
"Ah Qing, you are my son, and I will never let you down today."
After saying that, he cut off Chen Dao's military flag, but he was about to turn around.
But I saw the brothers behind me shouting:
"General, lie down."
But it was too late. With a flash of light and lightning, a horse rushed out from the rebel army and killed Guo Liang who was carrying him with just one blow.
At this moment, Guo Liang flew very high. He saw many old brothers in the sky and saw them looking for help from him. He also heard the last sentence:
"The one who kills you is Zhang Yide from Yan!"
dark.