Chapter 1203 Breakthrough
As the saying goes, pulling one hair affects the whole body.
Wei Yan, who carried out military adventures in Gaodu City, successfully forced all the Bingzhou provinces west of the river to follow suit.
The changes in other parts of Bingzhou are just the beginning.
The impact of this incident is spreading quietly to Chang'an and even to other parts of the Han Dynasty.
As long as there is a trigger, it will cause an uproar in the Han Dynasty.
And this fuse is in the hands of Guo Xun.
At the end of June in the fourth year of Yanxi's reign, it has entered the hottest time of the year.
The crescent moon is like a string, and the sky is filled with stars.
The scorching heat of the day has subsided, but the city walls are still emitting bursts of residual heat.
Fortunately, there is a night breeze blowing from time to time, which makes people feel a little cool.
“Guo joins the army?”
The Han army at the head of Huguan City saw Guo Xun personally coming with a team of troops to take charge, and hurriedly stepped forward to greet him.
"Thank you for your hard work. Take your people and go down to rest."
Nod to the team leader.
The Han army led the troops and said "hey" with clasped fists.
A few days ago, the Hussars General transferred most of the soldiers guarding the city.
However, fortunately, Guo joined the army and recruited a group of county soldiers to make up for it.
In order to make these county soldiers familiar with various parts of Huguan more quickly, Guo Shenjun broke up the hundreds of soldiers who stayed behind into ten teams, and each team led a group of county soldiers to patrol and defend the city.
Over the past few days, everyone has gradually gotten used to it.
Just when he was leaving with his own people, the leader of the Han army subconsciously glanced at the team and said "Huh":
“Guo Canjun, why is there no leader tonight?”
“Oh,” Guo Xun patted his head and smiled to himself, “I forgot to mention that the weather is too hot these days, and it’s hard for everyone to bring in new soldiers.”
“So I asked the village elders to bring some food and wine to reward everyone.”
Guo Xun pointed to the city and said:
"Go quickly, you are the last group. If you go late, they will eat you up by then."
"This..." The Han army leader hesitated, "Is it appropriate?"
Guo Xun patted him on the shoulder and said with a smile: "What's inappropriate? I'm not letting you eat or drink while on duty."
“I’ve given the team leaders tonight a rest. Don’t worry, I will personally lead the team tonight and there will be no problem.”
Hearing what Guo Canjun said, the team leader felt relieved and looked grateful:
“Thank you, Guo has joined the army!”
To be honest, I am really tired these days.
Because most of the people have been transferred away, the number of troops guarding the choke points of the Shangdang is greatly insufficient, and everyone is basically tense.
Coupled with having to lead these county soldiers, it makes people feel even more exhausted physically and mentally.
After such a long time, Huguan has been calm and calm, no different from before.
Everyone is now somewhat relaxed.
"What's the point of not having to work hard?" Guo Xun waved his arm and said grandly, "This is to reward everyone for their hard work these days, go!"
The team leader clasped his fists again and was about to turn around and leave. Suddenly, the sounds of "clang" and "clang" came from the team led by Guo Xun.
The team leader turned around to look. It turned out that one of the county soldiers brought by Guo Xun could not hold his weapon steady and fell to the ground.
In full view of everyone, the county soldier quickly bent down and wanted to pick up the weapon.
Who would have expected that he had just picked it up, or maybe he was too nervous, but before he could straighten up, the weapon in his hand fell again.
“Bang!”
The team leader turned to Guo Xun with some doubts:
“Guo Canjun, this…”
Guo Xun's expression changed slightly. Fortunately, under the cover of night, the team leader who was more than ten steps away could not see the change in his expression:
"It doesn't matter, it doesn't matter. The county soldiers are naturally unable to compete with elite soldiers like you. It's normal for them to miss occasionally."
The team rate is still a bit uneasy:
“How about I ask them to come over after I go back?”
"No, no, no!" Guo Xun suddenly raised his voice, but he quickly controlled his emotions, "I promised them today to let them have a good rest."
“If you change your mind and ask them to come over and watch, no one will be happy.”
"Don't worry, I will keep an eye on these people. Okay, go quickly, don't delay any longer."
When Guo Xun said this, he said half-jokingly:
"If you are worried, tell them when you go back. Don't sleep too much tonight, and just pay attention to the alarm at all times."
"These county soldiers will also join the army in the future. This is a good time for them to get some training."
The military service of the Han Dynasty lasted four years in total.
If you stay in the county for one year, you will become a county soldier, and you will receive formal military training at the same time.
In the remaining three years, he will be transferred to the Central Army to participate in foreign operations.
These four years are compulsory military service and there is no formal military pay.
Four years later, whether he will continue to stay in the army to receive military pay or return to his hometown depends on the arrangements of the court.
So Guo Xun said that he wanted to train these county soldiers, which can be regarded as a legitimate reason.
Seeing Guo Canjun's resolute attitude, the team leader naturally couldn't say anything more and had no choice but to lead people down the city wall.
After all, Guo Shenjun is leading the army himself, so there won't be any big problems.
Watching the last man of the Han army disappear at the top of the city, Guo Xun breathed a long sigh of relief.
He looked at the county soldier who dropped his weapon with a cold and fierce gaze.
I saw Guo Xun lower his voice:
"If something goes wrong tonight because of you, my wife, children, and parents will all be implicated."
As he spoke, he looked at the crowd again:
“The same goes for you.”
After saying this, he probably saw that someone among the crowd was too nervous, and then he slowed down his voice again:
"But if it succeeds, it will be very different. You will all receive credit for it, and your wife, children, and parents will not have to pay for food and clothing in this life."
"Which is more important or less important? You should have a decision in your mind."
Seeing the people in front of them, their eyes sparkled and their expressions became more determined, Guo Xun nodded with satisfaction.
These people, except for a dozen or so, were secretly sent over from the Great Wei Dynasty.
The rest are part of the Hedong family—they not only lost their land and property, but also their families in the rebellion a few years ago.
The last part is the children of certain local aristocratic families.
Fortunately, he was born into a Shangdang family. If he had been from Hedong, Guo Xun would not have dared to use him.
The east side of the river has been allocating land to those untouchables, and the price of buying it is too high.
It will be much better if you go to the party.
Especially after the establishment of the Governor's Office, the so-called evil policy of "dividing a small family into an equal share" naturally could not be carried out by the Shangdang Party.
the reason is simple:
Wei Yan was hated by his colleagues in the court and did not have enough helpers.
When he arrived at the place, he was unwilling to accept, or in other words, he was unwilling to believe the students who called Feng Thief the mountain leader.
So in a sense, Guo Xun wants to thank Wei Yan for giving him such a huge opportunity.
It is a pity that Wei Yan is not from the Wei Dynasty.
However, this was not the time to think about these things. Guo Xun gathered his thoughts and began to make arrangements for tonight's watch.
The night gradually became darker and darker.
After entering the middle of the night, everything behind the Huguan city wall began to become completely silent, and there was no more sound.
Even on the top of the city, there was silence.
The longer time passed, the more anxious Guo Xun became.
Probably because he felt too hot and depressing, he simply walked out of the turret, came to the city wall, and looked out of the city.
But the darkness of night covered everything, except for the dark outlines of the mountains outside Huguan.
The trees on the mountain were already hidden in the black, let alone the figures he wanted to see.
Only from the city gate below, one or two barking dogs could be heard occasionally.
Other than that, Guo Xun could only hear the beating of his heart and a slight wheezing sound.
Looking up at the stars in the sky, Guo Xun was mumbling something to himself, but he didn't seem to say anything.
I don’t know how long it took, but a fire suddenly lit up on the nearest mountain outside Guancheng.
Then, the second, the third.
The three firelights were a little weak, but in Guo Xun's eyes, they were as bright as the bright moon!
"Come…"
He had just shouted a word, and suddenly he bit his tongue tightly.
"coming!"
The dozen or so people who had been staying in the corner tower suddenly stood up when they saw Guo Xun rush in and say these two words.
"coming?"
"coming!"
Guo Xun's face, illuminated by the candlelight, even became a little distorted with excitement.
“Hurry, get ready.”
I don’t know how many times they rehearsed it, but these people set off immediately.
“Take the people to the city gate, and when you hear the signal from the city, raise the winch immediately!”
“You, lead the people and block the intersection in case a thief rushes over!”
“Also, these hanging baskets, just in case...”
The county soldiers on the city wall were quickly alerted and became a little noisy.
"Silence! Don't make any noise, lest you disturb the people in the city!"
Guo Xun followed and ordered:
"Let them all pick up their coins! Anyone who dares to drop them will be dealt with according to military law!"
At this time, there was no other sound except the low scolding of the Wei army, plus the occasional slight clash of weapons.
After arranging all this, Guo Xun returned to the top of the city and asked people to light three torches and swing them back and forth vigorously.
Then his eyes widened and he stared closely at the dark city.
At this time, Guo Xun felt that time was passing so slowly, as if there was no flow at all.
Just when he felt that the night was over, three more lights finally appeared under the city.
At this time, Guo Xun finally couldn't suppress his excitement and shouted:
"Hurry up!"
After the torches at the top of the city responded, they sent a signal to the city gate inside the city.
The winch began to rattle.
“Woof woof woof!”
“Woo, woof woof woof…”
The police dog guarding the city gate didn't know if he noticed something was wrong or heard a strange noise outside the city gate.
They began to become restless and sounded warnings to those inside the city gate.
Soon, the dozen or so police dogs bolted to the city gate were all barking wildly.
Their barks even caused a chain reaction of watchdogs in the city in the distance.
"It's so noisy! Let them shut up, or they will wake up the thieves behind!"
Wei Jun, who was leading people to turn the city gate capstan, ordered impatiently.
After a while of fussing, the dog’s barking was suppressed for a few breaths, and then it started barking again.
“He who enters his mother’s home!”
The leader could not help but curse.
However, he could only curse, because at this time, the city gate was already making a harsh sound like grinding teeth.
The Wei army, who had been waiting outside for a long time, couldn't wait to squeeze in as soon as the city gate was raised and they could enter and exit.
“Light the torch!”
The leading Wei general gave the order directly.
The city gate continued to be raised, and more and more Wei troops continued to pour into the pass.
Torches were also lit continuously, and soon, it was as bright as day outside the city gate.
The noise of the Wei army and the barking of dogs mixed together, making the city gate lively.
General Wei, the leader, glanced at the chained police dogs not far away. When he saw them baring their teeth and barking at them, he drew his knife and stepped forward.
“Shua!”
A dog’s head was severed.
The remaining police dogs felt as if their throats were being strangled, and they could only let out a low whimper.
It was just the unusual barking of the police dogs that finally alerted the Han army camp in the distance.
"what happened?"
One of the team leaders was sleeping lightly. He got up in a daze, walked to an open area of the camp, and looked in the direction of the city gate.
“I don’t know.”
The captain of the sentry on duty at the camp was also a little confused.
“How long have you been calling?”
“It’s been a while.”
“Didn’t anyone come from the city?”
"No."
“That should be fine?”
When he said this, the leader himself was a little unsure.
Guo Canjun personally leads the team tonight. No matter how bad the county soldiers are, if something really happens, it is impossible that they can't even get the news out.
But what's going on with those barking dogs?
Those dogs at the city gate are not ordinary dogs, they are used exclusively by the military...
While he was doubting, the barking of dogs at the city gate suddenly stopped.
He listened carefully again and found that he did not hear the barking of dogs on the other side of the city gate. The team leader breathed a sigh of relief:
“It seems like nothing happened…”
At this time, the sentry on duty on the archery tower trotted over:
“There seems to be something wrong at the city gate!”
"What?"
“Over there, there seemed to be people gathering at the city gate, and there were fires!”
“Something really happened?”
“Quick, send someone to wake them up and go over and have a look!”
…
“Taifu, the city gate is completely under our control.”
Sima Yi, who had been waiting outside the city, laughed heartily when he heard this:
“Okay, okay! Let’s go into the city!”
Guo Xun had already descended the city wall after the Wei army entered the city and was waiting inside the gate.
“Xian Xiao, you have made great achievements!”
As soon as Sima Yi entered the city, he dismounted from his horse and walked forward quickly. Before Guo Xun could speak, he had already held his arms tightly:
“You have made an unparalleled contribution, Xiao Xian!”
Guo Xun couldn't help being surprised and happy when he saw Sima Yi:
“The Tutor actually led the army here in person?! It’s too risky!”
Sima Yi laughed:
“Compared to entering the thief’s den personally as a filial piety, I can’t call it an adventure at all!”
Speaking, he patted Guo Xun's arm hard again.
The fact that Sima Yi, who was so wily and cunning, could do these things shows how excited he was.
At this time, someone came to report: "Taifu, all the dangerous gates of the city have been controlled by us!"
“Oh? It was so smooth?”
Sima Yi was a little surprised:
“No one resisted?”
Guo Xun smiled and said:
"Taifu, the bandits in the pass have been mobilized by me tonight."
“Okay, okay!”
Sima Yi praised him repeatedly, holding his hand tightly and unwilling to let go, "Where should I transfer them if I don't know how to be filial?"
“I’m afraid he’s sleeping soundly in the camp at this time.”
The two laughed again.
“Did you hear that?” Sima Yi looked at Guo Huai next to him, “General Guo, order your troops and horses immediately…”
Before he finished speaking, there was a sudden noise in front of him.
Some county soldiers staggered over:
“It’s not good, thieves. There are thieves coming this way. They want to force their way into the intersection, and we can’t stop them..."
When Guo Xun heard this, he was immediately shocked.
Sima Yi, however, kept his expression unchanged and smiled calmly:
“Just in time, lest the soldiers go looking for them.”
PS: Friendly recommended book, "The Evil Son of the Ming Dynasty", it has just been recommended. If you have time, you can go and read it personally.
(End of this chapter)