Chapter 37: Fire Burns Thinly in Luogu Valley

  Bo Luo Valley runs north-south, stretching five or six miles, with a spacious interior that can easily accommodate the tens of thousands of pursuing soldiers.

  So, after seeing the last torch enter the valley, Nurhachi gave a decisive order to 50 soldiers, and quickly pushed down the giant wood and stones piled on the cliff!

  All that could be heard was the rumbling sound of collisions, and then the rebel army in the valley began to riot.

  Someone shouted: "There is an ambush!"

  "The valley entrance is blocked!"

  At this time, the vanguard of the rebel army had just passed through the middle section of Bólù Valley!

  Yan Xing rode his warhorse, chasing after the figures in front of him, when he suddenly heard a voice from behind. He turned around to see that his army had already begun to fall into disarray!

  In this dark valley, any slight movement could lead to serious consequences!

  "What's going on?!"

  Yan Xing's heart suddenly tightened, and he hastily asked.

  There were close guards who did not dare to slack off, hastily pulling the horse's head around, turning back and leaving, returning in an instant to report: "General, there is an ambush! The valley entrance has been blocked by trees and rocks!"

  "Really an ambush?!"

  Yan furrowed his brow, but he didn't panic. This was within his expectations, what made him somewhat puzzled was why the entrance was blocked?

  Do you still want to capture all his more than 10,000 troops at once?

  Yan Xing couldn't help but smile at this thought.

  It's absolutely impossible, how many men does that kid have under his command? These tens of thousands of soldiers, even if they just stand here and let him kill them, would exhaust him to death!

  "Don't bother reasoning, keep attacking!"

  Yan Xing waved his hand and continued on.

  Just then, a miserable cry came from behind, and Yan Xing clearly felt a panicked atmosphere spreading.

  "It's on fire!"

  "Hurry up!"

  "Oh no, my clothes are on fire!"

  "Go go go, move forward, faster!"

  "The Great Fire has started!"

  With these cries, the flames at the entrance of the valley rapidly expanded and spread quickly.

  Yan Xing Meng's head turned back, in the firelight, his eyes clearly narrowed, and a flustered expression appeared on his face.

  "Fire attack!"

  "Not good, hurry up, speed up, forward, charge out of this valley!"

  Yan Xing instantly understood the Han general's plan - he was going to trap him in this valley and burn him alive!

  The road behind is blocked and a big fire has started, the only way out is forward.

  "I hope the exit ahead hasn't been blocked yet!"

  Yan Xing's face turned iron-green, he never thought that he would fall into the hands of dozens of enemies!

  Suddenly, his war horse stumbled and let out a shrill whinny. Before he could react, Yan Xing was thrown off the horse and landed on the ground!

  My leg is broken!

  "Is there a trap?!"

  Yan struggled to get up, his helmet had fallen off.

  In his heart, an unprecedented despair surged up!

  At this time, the soldiers and horses behind him were forced to rush forward by the rapidly spreading fire, squeezing and crowding until they reached his location.

  The surrounding guards were also caught off guard by the trap and fell from their horses. However, these guards were still responsible and quickly rushed up to push away the chaotic soldiers, surrounding Yan Xing as they swiftly escaped forward.

  Li Zhēng stood on the cliff, listening to the wailing and screaming below, without a hint of emotion. He saw that the fire was spreading, and the torches in the hands of the pursuing soldiers had become accomplices - many of the pursuers had thrown down their torches in panic, but they had ignited the surrounding dry grass and firewood, which was like adding fuel to the fire!

  The crazy pursuers fleeing north along the valley, however, encountered dense traps in the later stages. These traps were not deep or large, but just enough to slow them down!

  At this moment, loud noises also came from the exit at the northern end.

  The fifty soldiers there also pushed down the trees and rocks that had been prepared earlier, blocking the valley entrance!

  Li Zhong suddenly felt a little disheartened after sighing.

  Life is fragile, water and fire are ruthless.

  Tens of thousands of lives in this valley, no one knows how many will survive in the end.

  But Li Zhong didn't think they were pitiful, as enemies, it was either you die or I perish. Was Li Zhong supposed to let them go out of sympathy for their lives?

  Is it possible that these people will not pursue and kill Li Zhong after they escape with their lives? They should be stripped of their skin and dismembered.

  "Let's go."

  Li Zhong waved his hand and followed Nuo Luo, quickly heading north along the mountain ridge.

  At the northern exit, Fu Xi watched as the fifty soldiers pushed wood and rocks down, then shot fire arrows to ignite the hay in the valley.

  In the midst of smoke and flames, he heard the wails and screams from the valley, and his mind conjured up those desperate and ferocious faces, Fu Xue's heart felt some pity.

  Fu Xue was a sensible person and didn't say much. He turned around and quickly went down the mountain with his group, gathering at the exit.

  When Li Zhong and others arrived outside the northern exit, what they saw was not Fu Xie, but Bai Lang.

  Bai Lang and several riders disguised themselves as Li Zhong, using them as bait to lure the pursuing soldiers into the valley. Fortunately, he was clear in his mind about the general distribution of the traps in the valley, and deliberately walked along the edge of the cliff, which is why he didn't fall into their own trap. However, even so, two riders accidentally broke their horses' legs and fell off their backs to get injured.

  The corner of his mouth twitched upwards, and Li Zheng smiled.

  "Brother Li Xian!"

  "Your Majesty!"

  "It's all right!" Li Zhēng patted Bailang's shoulder and said to Fù Xiè, "Brother Fu, this time you've given them a good scare. I'm sure Han Xú will hate us to the bone."

  "We two have long been hated by Han to the bone." Fu Xie smiled and said, "After this battle, I'm sure there won't be any pursuers for a short time. What does my younger brother plan to do next?"

  "Intending..." Li Zhēng took a sip of the somewhat choking air and said: "I plan to first send Brother Fù to Zuǒ Féng Yóu, then return to Líng State."

  "Return to Lingzhou?"

  Fu Xi frowned and said, "This time you have won with a smaller force, fought in many places, defeated the large army of Han Sui several times, and achieved great merit. Why not follow me to Chang'an? I will petition the imperial court on your behalf, and the emperor will surely reward you generously. At that time, we can gather our troops together and attack Liangzhou again, wouldn't that be even better?"

  Li Zhēn heard this and smiled slightly, saying: "Fu Xiǎng's words are reasonable, but I have other plans."

  Saying that, he paused for a moment and continued: "With Brother Fu around, the Emperor will not mistreat me. However, having Brother Fu on the imperial court's side is enough, while I being stuck in Lingzhou is even more useful!"

  Fu Xi thought for a moment, then nodded: "Not bad, when the time comes, you and I will attack from both sides, Han Su will surely be defeated!" After saying that, Fu Xi thought for a moment again, and said: "Brother, your hands are all family soldiers, not many in number, it's better to...you return to Lingzhou after this, temporarily take the post of Hu Qiang school lieutenant, first recruit soldiers and horses, and intensify training!"

  Fu Shou considered that Li Jing would inevitably have few men under his command, and if he were to stay in Liangzhou, it would be difficult for him to withstand Han Sui's attack, and he might not last until the imperial court sent troops, so he had this conversation.

  Moreover, the greater Li Zhong's power in his hands, the greater the role he will play when the imperial court sends troops to counterattack.

  Li Zhēng listened and was secretly delighted, but pretended to be hesitant, saying: "Isn't this against the rules? What if the Emperor investigates..."

  "It doesn't matter!"

  Fu Xi waved his sleeve and laughed: "The position of Hu Qiang School Lieutenant has long been nominal, and now that Liangzhou is in chaos, no one at court will covet this unprofitable position. Moreover, my younger brother's military achievements are outstanding, and he is well-versed in righteousness. As his older brother, I will help him out, and soon, my younger brother will receive the imperial appointment edict."

  "Very well," Li Zhēn bowed deeply and said: "Then I'll have to trouble brother!"

  Fu Xiu smiled and helped Li Zhuang up, staring into his eyes, saying: "Younger brother is skilled in military affairs, has the talent of a famous general. As for me, I just don't want such a talented general to fall into obscurity. I only hope that younger brother will always remember to protect the people, be loyal to the court, and I will be at ease."

  "Brother's words, I will remember in my heart."

  Li Zheng made a solemn bow, but in his heart he thought, protecting the people is a must, but being loyal to the imperial court... of course, this was something that absolutely could not be said out loud.

  Li Zheng was serious, and Fu Xian was overjoyed. He said: "My family has already moved to Mei Yang, and the remaining belongings in Ling Zhou are of no use. Why not give them to my younger brother to recruit soldiers and buy horses? Later, I will write a letter to you, and after you return to Ling Zhou, hand it over to the manager who is staying at Kanbao Fortress, and then take over the Fu family's ancestral home."

  "What?!"

  Li Zhong listened and was taken aback for a moment, then a wave of emotion surged up in his heart.

  Fu Xiang was able to consider this for him, and even gave up his ancestral property, which was a great personal favor.

  For Li Zhong, this is like a pie falling from the sky!

  It's worth noting that although the Fu family moved away, their assets in Lingzhou remained. The fortresses, land, shops and so on, what a huge fortune!

  With these, Li Zhong's power can expand many times in a short period of time!

  This is exactly what he needs.

  Now Liangzhou is in a mess, he urgently needs to develop and expand, but apart from a pasture, other industries have just started. If he takes over the Fu family's legacy, it would be equivalent to getting the entire Lingzhou!

  "Still, Brother Fu understands me." Li Zhēng bowed again and said: "Younger brother was worried about how to expand his power to resist the rebels, didn't expect Brother Fu to be so generous. Thank you, Brother Fu!"

  Inside and outside the exit of the valley, only separated by wood and stone, yet it's a world of difference. A great fire raged in the valley, illuminating half the sky, making the dark night like daylight, with miserable cries and screams that made one's heart tremble with fear. Yet outside the valley, people were laughing and chatting peacefully.

  The fire burned more and more fiercely, the heat was overwhelming, the smoke was thick and choking, Li Zhēng and others could not stand it, and hastily retreated from the area.

  Lian Ye let Nu Luo lead the infantry and some wounded soldiers to return to Lingzhou first, while Li Zhong himself led a few dozen cavalry with Bai Lang to escort Fu Xie eastward, rushing straight to Zuo Fengyi.

  As for why Li Zhong didn't stay at Bólù Valley and wait to beat a fallen enemy, it's no longer necessary.

  After this fire attack, the more than 10,000 rebel troops were at least killed by 70-80%, and the remaining defeated soldiers no longer posed a threat to him. Moreover, his fire attack this time was only to eliminate the threat of pursuing troops, and incidentally gave Han Shui a warning, not for the pleasure of killing people, and it didn't matter to let those defeated soldiers go.

  Jing River originates from Fanting Mountain in Anding County, runs east through half of Anding County, passes through the northeast corner of Youfufeng, and then enters Zuofengyuan County, finally emptying into Wei River.

  More than 50 cavalrymen escorted Fu Shuo out of Longdi, ascending the head of the mountain, and galloping along the south bank of Jing River. Within a day's effort, they left Anding Prefecture and entered Youfufeng. After resting for a night outside Qushi County, they set off again the next day, passing through one corner of Youfufeng and entering Zuo Fengyi.

  After spending two more days, Li Zhong finally sent Fu Shuo to Anling County in the jurisdiction of Jingzhao.

  From Anling County heading south, just a few dozen miles away, after crossing the Wei River, is the Western Capital of the Great Han Dynasty, Chang'an City!

  Although he yearned for Chang'an City, Li Jing suppressed the longing in his heart and bid farewell to Fu Xie in Anling.

  After parting with Fu Xi, Li Jing rode his horse without stopping, and immediately turned back along the Jing River. After entering the territory of Anding Commandery, he changed direction to head north, passing through Anding and entering the territory of Beidi Commandery.

  This back and forth trip, Li Zhong saw on the road, was not the prosperity of Sanfu, but a withered scene.

  Many counties and villages seem to be sparsely populated, thinking about it, most of them are probably because of the war in Liangzhou, forcing people from these places to migrate east.

  Not even mountain bandits and horse thieves were encountered along this road.

  It can be seen from this how terrible war is.