The Child Emperor

(Thanks to the reader "Sea Blue Pearl" for the red tip.)

Han Ruzi didn't sleep very well. When he woke up, the tent was pitch black, the cold was overwhelming, and the charcoal fire had been extinguished. If Zhang Youcai served, he would always get up to dial the charcoal several times at night, but Meng E didn't do such a thing. I don't think it's necessary, she doesn't seem to be afraid of the cold at all.

Han Ruzi can also bear it, not to mention the cold is good, it can make the mind clearer.

He quietly got up, put on his coat and boots, and walked to the door lightly. There was no sound on Meng E's bed, but she must have woken up too.

Han Ruzi walked out of the tent, and an even more violent cold air rushed towards him. Before he stepped out, his heart already regretted his decision to go out, and he missed the unwarm bed.

But he still went out, took in a breath of cold air, and slowly adapted to the environment.

It turned out that he was not the first to get up. Not far ahead, a group of soldiers had just changed their guards and sentries. In Lingnan, many people were cooking and feeding their horses. All kinds of voices merged together, filtered by the cold air, and transmitted to Lingshang clearly. Ruzi could even hear a few unrelated shouts.

The battle was about to begin, but Han Ruzi was more hesitant than when he made the decision yesterday.

In any case, the hesitation could not be transmitted to the soldiers, so Han Ruzi returned to the tent and sat on the bed waiting for the morning.

"Da Shanyu is not an easy opponent," Han Ruzi said.

There was only one listener in the tent. Meng E's reaction was always slow when talking. She asked, "Do you think the Huns will set up an ambush?"

"I'm just wondering, why did Da Chanyu choose to negotiate with me?"

"Because you are the commander-in-chief of the Chu army."

"No, my coach was scrambled and robbed, not an appointment by the imperial court. Even the appointment given to me by General Han Xing came only a few days ago, but before that, Dan Yu had already appointed me to negotiate with me. Da Danyu is not an ordinary person, and he will never pin all his hopes on peace talks."

"This unusual big Shanyu was beaten terribly by a group of slaves in the West."

"Hehe, I don't know what happened in the West. The reason why Da Chanyu was defeated is because he despised the enemy, but he will not despise Da Chu, and after two consecutive defeats, he will not despise him."

"What are you going to do?"

"We still have to go to war. The soldiers of the Chu army are ready. This is the so-called general trend of those who look forward to it. It is irreversible. General, what I want to do is to know the leader of the enemy."

Han Ruzi was silent for a long time. He didn't think about the time, place, and people. He concentrated on recalling the big Chanyu he had seen. Finally, he said, "Thank you."

Meng E hummed, she wasn't interested in fighting at all, she spoke only to cooperate with Han Ruzi and help him straighten his thoughts.

Han Ruzi got up and walked out, looking for Chai Yue to see if he could adjust the battle plan a bit and leave more reserve troops. As a result, an urgent voice sounded outside the tent: "General Zhenbei, are you awake?"

Han Ruzi walked out of the tent and was surprised to see that it was Chai Yue who came.

Chai Yue was also surprised to see the neatly dressed General Zhenbei, but the news was urgent, he said, "Shenxiongguan sent someone for help."

"What's wrong?" Han Ruzi asked immediately.

"The messenger said that thousands of mobs were attacking Shenxiong Pass, and the pass was empty and probably could not be held."

"So fast!" When Han Ruzi left Shenxiongguan, he deliberately collected information. Although there were riots in several nearby counties, it was said that the scale was not large, and they all spread to the south, with no intention of going north. A mob attacked Shenxiongguan.

"I think the messenger may be exaggerating. Even if there are only a hundred people guarding it, Shenxiongguan will not be captured immediately."

"Donghai King." Han Ruzi found that he had made two mistakes, one was to leave Shenxiongguan to the timid master Hua to repay his kindness, and the other was to let Donghai King go. Looking at it individually, there is no big problem. Now that they are combined together, it is likely to become a big mistake, which will make Shenxiong pass the security.

In the plan of Chai Yue and other generals, after defeating the Huns, the Chu army would immediately return to the south, take food and rest at Shenxiong Pass, and then return to the camps in the pass. Once Shenxiongguan is lost, more than 80,000 soldiers and more than 20,000 servants in Broken Iron City will be defeated within a few days.

"Immediately send troops back to Shenxiongguan to assist in defense."

"I've sent three thousand people out."

"Okay." Han Ruzi tried his best to calm down, "Will it affect today's battle?"

The news has not yet spread, and the top and bottom of the ridge are in order, but this will not be concealed for long. When the soldiers hear that the Shenxiong Pass is in difficulty, the consequences will be difficult to say. It may inspire fighting spirit and hope to fight the Huns as soon as possible, or they may panic. Anxiety, fighting spirit is gone.

It was the first time that Chai Yue was commanding such a large-scale battle, and it was difficult to make accurate predictions. "I suggest starting the battle as originally planned. Even if you want to return to the defense of Shenxiongguan, you should first solve the threat of the Huns."

"Okay." Han Ruzi could only say that, and Chai Yue took the order to leave.

Han Ruzi couldn't calm down in his heart. No matter how many historical books he had read or how much experience he had heard, there was still no ready-made path ahead. Every step was a choice, and some choices were especially important. The look of fear, but you can't deceive yourself.

Han Ruzi woke up the army guards in the nearby tent. After a quarter of an hour, he rode across the river with more than 100 people and came to a highland a few miles away. , he wants to be the first to see the battlefield.

The sky was bright, and the battlefield and the Huns' camp had not yet been revealed, and there was a sound of hooves on the opposite side.

Although the Chu army was stationed on the south bank, there were always sentries on the north side, usually in a team of ten, but the sound of horse hooves was obviously just one horse, heading straight for the highlands.

Chao Hua patted his horse to meet him, and said loudly, "Who is coming?"

"Is that Brother Chao?" An urgent voice asked from the opposite side.

"Liang Tong?" Chao Hua recognized that this person was also a soldier under his own army.

Han Ruzi sent two followers to Fang Daye yesterday, one was Ma Da, who returned last night, and the other was Liang Tong.

Chao Hua brought Liang Tong to the front of General Zhenbei, and Liang Tong said: "General Fang Lao wants to re-determine the time for peace talks with the Huns. He said that he hopes to arrange it at noon."

Han Ruzi was stunned. He had an agreement with Fang Daye before. If the time for the peace talks was before noon, he could start a war against the Huns. This is also the news that Ma Da brought back yesterday. If it is after noon, it means Fang Daye found out. Trap, Chu army should not cross the river, but what does it mean to choose it at noon? Could it be that the old general in the Huns camp could not make a judgment?

Liang Tong brought such a sentence, and he didn't know anything else.

Han Ruzi still needs to make his own decisions, and he makes them quickly.

"Back to camp," he said, taking the lead down the high ground and galloping toward the south bank.

The soldiers of the Chu army had already mounted their horses, and the first group of troops crossed the mountains and stood by the river, waiting for an order to cross the river across the board.

Han Ruzi turned around and marched from west to east, inspecting the troops of Chu who were about to enter the battle.

He didn't look at the military appearance, equipment, or horses. He only looked at everyone's faces. After driving out of Lixu, he turned the horse's head again and came to Lingshang. Chai Yue and many other generals were here, waiting for Zhenbei. Ordered after the general arrived.

The news of Shenxiong Pass had apparently spread, and even the most common soldiers knew the importance of that pass. They were also afraid, nervous, and hesitating, not knowing whether to defeat the Huns first or return to the area where food and forage were important.

Han Ruzi came to Chai Yue, Liu Kunsheng and others, swept his eyes, and said, "Cancel the battle, the whole army will return to Shenxiongguan in batches, leaving 3,000 people to guard the Broken Iron City."

The generals were silent, then nodded almost at the same time, Chai Yue, Liu Kunsheng and others said yes, after a little discussion, they personally led a large number of generals to each battalion to give orders.

Han Ruzi stayed where he was and observed the movements of the Chu army at the top and bottom of the mountain. It was very quiet, there was no objection, there was no shouting, and there was no confusion. Everyone seemed to be able to accept the decision to retreat.

Han Ruzi was still not at ease, and asked Chao Hua to lead some soldiers across the river, still one mile and one post, making preparations for peace talks. He wanted to show the whole army that General Zhenbei would stay and talk with the Huns. The last to evacuate Ironshatter City.

The general who went out to give orders returned quickly, Chai Yue said nothing, Liu Kunsheng and others persuaded General Zhenbei to go to Shenxiongguan as soon as possible, and some even volunteered to talk with the Huns in his place.

Han Ruzi declined everyone's good intentions, and then arranged tasks for them: Chai Yue served as the forward to defend Shenxiongguan, the first to set off, then Liu Kunsheng, the commander of the Northern Army, and finally the left general Han Tong, the forward non-stop, the last two The team marched normally, and the right general Feng Shili led the army to stay behind until tomorrow.

Han Ruzi is creating a chance for Chai Yue, hoping that he can firmly control the entire northern army at Shenxiong Pass.

It is not easy for the army to turn from attack to retreat, especially when there is a strong enemy behind him. Han Ruzi stayed on the mountain and flew the flag so that everyone could see it. He monitored the movements of each team and did not allow anyone to be impatient. .

As it approached noon, the army had just withdrawn 30%. In this way, he felt that it was too fast. He kept sending people to remind the generals of the battalions to bring all the items and not to miss them.

Then he set out with ten guards, and under the watchful eyes of many Chu troops, drove across the wooden bridge to continue the peace talks with Da Chanyu.

For him, this was another unpredictable adventure. Not only did the Huns in front of them not know who the enemy was, but also it was difficult for the Chu army in the rear to fully trust them. This was a test of the prestige of General Zhenbei.

At least until General Zhenbei drove out of the sight of the Chu army on the south bank, everything was peaceful.

This time, Da Shanyu arrived a while ago, and still only brought Jin Chuiduo with him.

Fang Daye stood at the door to greet him, Han Ruzi left the guards outside, and Fang Daye was enough to serve as an interpreter.

"Sorry, I can't give more clear advice to General Zhenbei." Fang Daye said in a low voice, "The Huns have no backup, but they have the determination to fight against the water. This time the Chu army attacked and the Huns defended. I can't guess the result. ."

"The information sent by the old general is very important to me." Han Ruzi said with a smile, the moment he stepped into the tent, he finally calmed down and believed that his decision was correct and that the Chu army behind him would not betray him.