Chapter 729: Desperate Surrender
Chapter 729: Desperate Surrender
Xiong Kuohai clasped his fists and said, "Reporting to the Second Master, I was Yang Jun's bodyguard at that time!"
Shan Xiongxin laughed, "I see!"
He waved his hand and said, "You are too worried. The situation is completely different. Taiyuan is our territory. Duke Wei's army is in Taiyuan to support us. If the enemy dares to intercept us in front, we will turn around and block them in the mountain road."
"But Duke Wei doesn't know we are withdrawing our troops!"
"He knows that I sent a pigeon letter in Linfen, and he will send troops to pick us up!"
"Second Master, we are running out of time!"
Xiong Kuohai wanted to persuade them again, but Shan Xiong didn't want to listen anymore. He ordered, "Pass the order, the whole army should speed up and pass through Queshu Valley!"
The 100,000-strong army began to run and rushed into the 200-mile-long Queshu Valley.
Queshu Valley is actually divided into two sections. There is an open area in the middle with a county town called Lingshi County. With Lingshi County as the boundary, it is over a hundred miles from Huoyi County to Lingshi County. This is the southern section of Queshu Valley and also the most dangerous section. The northern section is from Lingshi County to Jiexiu County. It is also about a hundred miles long, but it is easier to walk.
Luo Shixin led an army of 30,000 and was waiting for the arrival of Shan Xiongxin's army in Lingshi County.
When Shan Xiongxin's army had walked seventy miles, news came from the front army that the road ahead had been cut off by the Sui army. The Sui army went up the mountain from Lingshi County, and thousands of them were deployed above the heads of the Wagang army. As long as they walked forward, they would be shot down by a rain of arrows, with no way to hide.
What's more, there are thousands of troops deployed on the opposite side in advantageous terrain. Even if they rush through the rain of arrows, they cannot get through the interception in front, not to mention the huge rocks and trees blocking the road.
When Shan Xiongxin heard the news, he was shocked and immediately ordered the entire army to move south in an attempt to break out of Queshu Valley.
But soon news came from the rear army that an army had appeared in the south and blocked the road to the south. When Shan Xiongxin heard the news, he was so scared that his legs went weak. This meant that his 100,000-strong army was trapped in a 30-mile-long valley, which was the most dangerous section of the entire Queshu Valley.
With steep cliffs on one side and a deep river on the other, the soldiers could only stay on the ten-foot-wide mountain path.
Shan Xiongxin panicked and hurriedly ordered Sima Wangfu to investigate how much dry food the soldiers had left.
Soon, Wang Fu came back and reported to Shan Xiong: "General, the soldiers' dry food can last for about five days!"
Shan Xiongxin gnashed his teeth and ordered: "Organize the trap camp and break out to the north. Open up a road for me at all costs!"
The soldiers drew lots to decide the formation of the trap, and the first two thousand people were drawn. They had sad faces and were extremely helpless. They held shields on their heads and walked north along the edge of the cliff. Soon, arrows rained down from above, and soldiers were constantly shot and fell into the ravine with screams.
Seeing that their shields were effective, the Sui army above immediately switched to dropping boulders. However, the shields could not stop the boulders, especially in a passage of several hundred steps, where they could not even pull over to the side and were completely exposed to the rain of arrows and falling rocks from above. They had to run over as fast as they could, but this stretch of several hundred steps became a nightmare for the Wagang soldiers. It was difficult for one out of ten to run over, and they were hit by the boulders and rain of arrows, screaming and falling off the cliff.
Only less than a hundred of the two thousand men ran across this section of the road, and the rest of the soldiers were all killed. The more than eighty soldiers who ran over also could not escape death. They simply laid down their weapons, took off their armor, and raised their hands to surrender to the Sui army.
In less than half an hour, Shan Xiongxin received the news that the two thousand soldiers had been completely wiped out.
Shan Xiong was unconvinced and sent another 2,000 troops to break through the enemy's formation. They were also completely destroyed. He sent out five attempts in a row, including two night breakouts, but all ended in failure, and 13,000 soldiers were lost.
The soldiers couldn't help but burst into tears and wailing. Seeing that the morale was low, Shan Xiongxin had to order a temporary halt to the breakout.
At night, the soldiers were all fast asleep on the mountain road. Dozens of generals gathered around Xiong Kuohai. Although Xiong Kuohai was a deputy general, he was originally Xu Shiji's man, and Shan Xiongxin did not trust him. Xiong Kuohai was a deputy general in name only. Instead, Shan Xiongxin's trusted general Hou Junji became the de facto deputy general.
"The general advised the second in command not to enter the Sparrow Valley, but he refused to listen, which led to him being trapped today."
"The second in command has always been stubborn and self-willed. Who has he ever listened to? There have been many warning signs. Anyi County was burned, Zhengping County and Linfen County were occupied. If he had taken any of these warning signs to heart, we wouldn't have fallen into such a miserable state."
Xiong Kuohai sighed and said, "What's the point of saying this now?"
The generals were silent, and then a general asked, "What was the final outcome of that year?"
Xiong Kuohai laughed bitterly and said, "There is no other way except surrender!"
"Why don't we go and persuade the Second in Command? He will surrender in the end anyway, so why not surrender now?"
Xiong Kuohai shook his head and said, "Even if the second in command dies, he will never surrender to King Jin!" "Why?" everyone asked in confusion.
Xiong Kuohai hesitated for a moment and whispered, "Zhang Jue told me a secret. The second in command's brother died at the hands of King Jin. King Jin was only fifteen years old at that time. Later, Shan Xiongxin finally learned the truth. Although he couldn't take revenge, he would never surrender to King Jin!"
Everyone was angry, "It's his own business that he refuses to surrender, he can't let us be buried with him!
At this time, a soldier came running to report, "General Xiong, the second in command has ordered to prepare to select the sixth batch of soldiers for the Xianzhen Camp!"
Xiong Kuohai stood up and said angrily: "Does he treat the soldiers as grass?"
All the generals advised: "General, why don't we use our troops to persuade him?"
Xiong Kuohai took a deep breath, nodded and said, "Everyone follow me!"
Xiong Kuohai was deeply angered by Shan Xiongxin's willful behavior. If Shan Xiongxin refused to revoke his order, he could not blame him for being ruthless.
Shan Xiongxin absolutely did not want to surrender, but he was unwilling to be trapped to death. He wanted to try to break out five more times today and find a way out at all costs.
Perhaps it was God's will that Shan Xiongxin's tent happened to be where Yang Jun's tent was stationed back then, because there was a piece of vacant space there.
Shan Xiongxin just came out of the big tent and shouted, "Selected soldiers, prepare to attack!"
At this time, the generals who could no longer bear it rushed up together, drew their swords and surrounded Shan Xiongxin.
The leading general Xiong Kuohai said sternly: "Second Commander, more than 10,000 people have died. Do you want to let all your brothers die before you give up?"
Shan Xiongxin was furious and said, "Put down your swords, do you want to rebel?"
"We don't want to rebel, but they are not insignificant either!"
Xiong Kuohai pointed his knife at the panicked sixth batch of thousands of soldiers not far away and said, "Please be careful and take back your order!"
Shan Xiongxin narrowed his eyes and said, "You don't want to break out, do you want to surrender to King Jin? Do you think I don't know your background? You once assassinated King Jin outside Jiangdu City. Will he let you go?"
Everyone looked towards Xiong Kuohai, who shook his head and said, "I will not surrender to King Jin, but my brothers have parents, wives and children at home, and they need to live!"
Shan Xiongxin took a few steps back, drew his sword and said coldly: "It is said that you are the best assassin in the world, but I never believe it. Come on! If you can kill me, you will have the final say in the army!"
He took out the tiger talisman from his arms and placed it on the boulder, then sneered, "If I kill you, I will break through even if it costs the lives of 50,000 soldiers!"
Shan Xiongxin roared and stabbed towards Xiong Kuohai with his sword like lightning. Xiong Kuohai disappeared in a flash. Shan Xiongxin screamed and staggered backward, leaning his back against the rocks. The artery on the back of his neck was precisely cut off by the knife and blood spurted out like arrows.
Shan Xiongxin's personal soldiers shouted and rushed forward, wanting to fight Xiong Kuohai to the death. Shan Xiongxin stopped them and said to Xiong Kuohai with a sad smile: "I know I won't survive this time, but I never want to surrender to King Jin. Being able to fight you to the death can be regarded as fulfilling my last wish in life. You are really amazing."
After saying this, Shan Xiongxin fell down and died with his eyes closed.
The 90,000 Wagang troops, led by the actual deputy general Hou Junji, formally surrendered to the Sui army.
Xiao Xia ordered a grand funeral for Shan Xiongxin, conferred him the title of Duke of Heze County, and allowed his eldest son Shan Wende to inherit the title.
But Xiong Kuohai also disappeared. Two years later, Xiong Kuohai, who had restored his real name, opened a Chen martial arts school in Min County, Jian'an County. He married a young local widow. The following year, his wife gave birth to a son and named him Chen Yixiong.
Thirty years later, Chen Yixiong, the Lieutenant General of Tianjing, became the seventh military commander of Ryukyu Island.
(End of this chapter)