Emperor Sun made his fortune from scratch

Shi Ai was from a small road seventy miles west of Jianmen and led his troops into Shu.

Before leaving, Shi Ai knew that the road was steep. But after actually embarking on this road, I deeply realized how difficult this road is. They have climbed one high mountain after another, and some places are too narrow to allow one person to pass through at most. From time to time, someone slips on the soles of their feet and falls off the cliff.

Fortunately, there is no pass in this vicinity, and once it is discovered by the Qi army, it can easily cut off the back road of the Zhaowu army. When the time comes, they will not be allowed to advance before and after, and after a long time, the whole army will starve to death.

Everyone was wearing heavy armor, and they couldn't go far before they were tired and out of breath. Shi Ai ordered that if someone did not want to wear armor, they could bury it on the spot. Such a military order is extremely rare in peacetime.

The problem is not only that the terrain is steep, but that there are no roads at all in some places. So hundreds of soldiers were ordered to open the way with axes, chisels and other tools. Some rocks are hard and extremely difficult to break. It takes a lot of time to open a road. Sometimes you will encounter rivers and have to stop to build bridges and pave roads.

It has been ten days since the Zhaowu army entered Shudi, and the marching speed was unusually slow. Shi Ai was anxious, and the grain and grass he carried could last for half a month at most.

When passing through a river valley, Chen Lu's tired legs were numb, and he said helplessly: "General Shi, this place is deserted, can you let the soldiers rest here and recover their strength."

Shi Ai nodded and agreed. I found a random place to sit down, took off my shoes, and saw that the soles of my feet had been ground out of blood blisters.

The soldiers heard the order to rest in place and collapsed directly to the ground. It wasn't long before someone else was snoring.

"General Ma, in your opinion, how far is this place from Chengdu?" Shi Ai asked.

"It's about two hundred miles away. Ma Yanbin said.

Chen Lu frowned slightly, "No, I've been walking for so long, why is there so far?"

Ma Yanbin smiled bitterly: "I've been walking very slowly. Sometimes in order to climb high mountains, they only walk six or seven miles a day.

"Alas, I knew this was the case, and I was desperate to capture the Sword Gate Pass. Chen Lu sighed, "I hope the road ahead can be a little easier."

Half an hour later, Shi Ai felt that he was almost rested, and got up and said, "Order the whole army to assemble and prepare to go." "

Some of the soldiers did not rest enough, and wanted to continue lying on the ground, but the military order was disobeyed, and they were forced to drag their tired bodies and continue to march.

Shi Ai ordered Chen Lu to take more than 500 soldiers, holding a long knife to open the way in front, and when he encountered thorns and obstacles along the way, he used the long knife to split directly.

After a high peak, it was forced to stop temporarily. There was an extremely narrow gap in the middle of the road, which was difficult for soldiers to pass through. As before, Shi Ai had the axe chiseled open the way and widen the gap until the soldiers could pass through.

After several days of hard work, during this period, more than 100 people accidentally fell off the cliff, and the Zhaowu army finally opened up a road. Shi Ai breathed a sigh of relief in his heart and was about to speed up his journey. The subordinates hurriedly came to report, and there was no way ahead. Shi Ai's complexion changed, and he stepped forward quickly, and saw that there were cliffs on both sides of the southwest, and the distance from the ground was at least more than 150 zhang.

With so many dead and wounded people, the road that was carved out with all his might turned out to be a dead end. At this moment, many people became confused, didn't know where to go, and even doubted whether they could get out.

"How can this be? If I knew there was no road ahead, why did I have to work so hard these days. Chen Lu looked frustrated.

Ma Yanbin regretted a little in his heart, when Li Zhao wanted to attack Chengdu, he didn't persuade Li Zhao. sighed: "General Shi, since there is no road ahead, our army will either return to Hanzhong or take other roads."

As soon as the words fell, Chen Lu said angrily: "The marshal has high hopes for us, how can we return to Hanzhong halfway."

"But if you take other roads, you have to take a detour even further. There are such cliffs and mountains in a radius of more than ten miles, which are difficult and difficult to walk, and it takes a lot of time. In the end, not only did we not approach Chengdu, but we got farther and farther away. Ma Yanbin said.

"If it's difficult to walk, I'll die, and I'll complete the task assigned by the marshal. Chen Lu looked at Shi Ai, and seeing that he had not spoken, he said impatiently: "General Shi is hesitating about something, and quickly ordered to find another way."

Shi Ai thought for a long time, and his eyes gradually became firm, "Don't take a detour, just take this road."

"There's no road ahead, how do you let me go, do you want me to jump." Chen Lu was angry, thinking that Shi Ai was confused.

"Once you retreat, you will definitely shake the morale of the army. No matter how difficult it is, you can only move forward. Some of the soldiers carried hemp ropes, one end of which was tied to a boulder, and the soldiers climbed down one by one along the ropes. Shi Ai Dao.

Ma Yanbin hurriedly said: "The distance from here is very high, if the soldiers don't hold the rope tightly, they will fall to their deaths."

"And going down one by one, it will take a lot of time, and a day or two will definitely not be enough." Chen Lu does not approve of this approach.

"You can tie a few more ropes, and several people can climb down at the same time, and the time will be faster. "

But ..........

" "Don't say much, do it immediately." Once the rope is tied, I will be the first to go down. If I fall and die, you can find another way. Shi Ai interrupted Chen Lu's words with a tough attitude.

Shi Ai was the chief general of the army this time, and Chen Lu had no choice but to do as he said.

The rope was quickly tied, and without the slightest hesitation, Shi Ai threw the heavy object on his body underneath, then grabbed the rope tightly and slowly climbed towards the bottom of the cliff.

Shi Ai's hands were in pain, and his arm was accidentally cut by a stone chip in the middle, and the blood did not stop. Gritting his teeth and going down little by little, he knew that if he didn't succeed this time, the mission of sneaking into Chengdu would basically fail.

Chen Lu and the others watched nervously from above, lest Shi Ai accidentally fall.

The cliff was deeper than previously predicted, and Shi Ai was sweating profusely. His hands were marked with red blood, and he finally managed to reach the bottom of the cliff.

When they saw this, their hearts rejoiced. Without delay, he tied several ropes and climbed down like Shi Ai. Some ropes are not long enough, so they twist the two ropes together.

It's a pity that not all soldiers have the physical strength and willpower of Shi Ai. Some soldiers may have lacked physical strength, or they may have been afraid in their hearts, and they did not hold on to the rope, resulting in falling to the ground, and the flesh and blood of the fall were blurred. In less than half a day, the army has lost hundreds of people.

Shi Ai has not fought a single battle so far, and has lost a total of more than 2,000 soldiers. It was the largest non-combat attrition since the establishment of the Zhaowu Army.

After encountering the same situation several times, Shi Ai learned from the experience of the last time. Let the soldiers eat first, regain their strength, and then climb down the rope.

On this day, after climbing over a high mountain, Ma Yanbin suddenly said excitedly: "General Shi, less than five miles ahead, you will reach Fushui Pass. "