Si Mang, who was walking at the end of the team, witnessed the fierce fighting in Fen, which delayed the retreat of the Korean army and left them no time to cause trouble of their own. Although he thought that Fen was likely to be destroyed due to this military disaster, but

I couldn't care less. I also thought that this chaos was likely to attract the Zhao army, and these plundering Korean soldiers probably couldn't get anything good, and they would eventually die here. I couldn't help but feel a sense of sadness in my heart: Zhao

The people of Qin deceived the people of Qin, and the people of Qin retaliated against the people of Zhao, but the greatest disaster fell on the unrelated South Korea. Did the unreasonable disaster really come from heaven and cannot be undone by human beings?

Amid the commotion, Si Mang was the last one to enter the valley. He was not in a hurry to move forward, but dragged himself behind the team with a heavy heart to give himself some space and recover from the suffocation. Here, he did not have to consider the direction of the team's progress.

Just follow the direction.

This valley is also a channel washed by a river. The snow is so thick that it looks like a quilt. There may be solid rocks or deep pits underneath. If you are not careful, you can easily scratch your feet or feet.

There were many injured people sitting on the roadside with their sprained legs, and there were people beside them comforting and helping them. Si Mang was already the last one. If he passed by and these people couldn't follow him, he would be considered to have fallen behind. Some of the soldiers in front asked

The wounded soldiers greeted them and reminded them that they were already the last battalion and would fall behind if they didn't keep up.

Due to the trampling of pedestrians in front, the snow has melted, revealing the true appearance of the hidden surface. This reduces misjudgments, but increases muddyness. The road becomes very slippery, and people fall from time to time. There are people sitting on the road.

They rested on the roadside and recuperated. Si Mang ignored them: the road was clear, and after they camped, the stragglers would find them back; if they couldn't find their way back, they would either die of cold or starvation.

He would be eaten by wild beasts. The chance of returning home alone is slim!

The troops marched for about ten miles and came across an open area with about ten households. Seeing the soldiers passing by, the people here ran out long ago. The houses were low and dilapidated, and even looked shaky. No one was in the mood to go in.

, rested here for a while and took in a few wounded soldiers.

From here, the road ahead turns to a mountain trail to the west. It is said to be a trail, but in fact there are few people walking on it, and you can't even see it. On the road, you can see dead branches cut down by the soldiers marching in front at any time.

The remaining grass should be the road they opened from here.

Si Mang's troops stayed behind to break up the rear, and set off nearly half a day later than the other troops. In winter, it gets dark early, and the mountains are constantly cloudy and sunny. It is already very dark in the valley after entering the trail. But where the team is going, there is no way forward.

There was no store in the back of the village, except for the muddy road and the white snow. The camp commander came over and asked if he wanted to camp. Si Mang replied that he should keep going and wait until he catches up with the rear army.

It was getting darker, so Ying Si wanted to use dead branches and dead grass to build some torches. But the dead branches and dead grass here were very wet and couldn't be lit at all, so Ying Si had to give up.

It was even more difficult to march in the dark. We could only rely on the reflection of the snow to barely see the road under our feet and move forward with difficulty. Although Si Mang was a military soldier, his physical strength was very high. It was not easy to see the former soldiers ahead.

Everyone also wanted to sit down and take a rest. But Si Mang disagreed. The temperature here is extremely low, surrounded by snow, and there is a howling cold wind. If you sit down at night, you may freeze immediately. He ordered the troops

Don't stop, keep moving forward.

In the silent snow, there was only the sound of footsteps; from time to time someone fell down and made a sound of "ouch". But finally there was a scream in front of him, and Si Mang rushed over and saw a soldier falling straight down in the snow.

, had stopped breathing. Si Mang shouted loudly: "Stop! If you stop, you will freeze to death! The strong will hold on to the weak, and they will move forward and survive!"

He casually picked up a thin soldier next to him and strode forward. I don’t know how long I walked, and I don’t know how many people fell down. The remaining people were already stiff-minded and had only one thought, move forward, move forward,

You must not fall down! We constantly find frozen soldiers sitting or lying half-lying in front of us. They maintain a resting posture, as if they were alive, but they fall down when they reach out and touch them. There is no heat left on their bodies! These should be the troops in the front.

The soldiers who froze to death. Si Mang shouted: "Get up, get up, the army is in front, we will arrive a little ahead!"

My legs were numb when I walked, and my whole body was stiff. It seemed that there was only a trace of heat in my heart, supporting the movements of my whole body. No one had any more thoughts, and even when they fell, there was no "ouch" sound, and they quietly got up and continued moving forward.

——If you can't get up, you can only let him stay forever! In the middle of the night, when you see the light of fire under the mountain in front of you, it is already midnight.

The sentry called out the command, but there was no one who could answer it. Si Mang came out and said: "We are in the rear camp, I am Xinling Wei Mang. The sentry came over to take a look, and saw that Si Mang's beard and hair were spread out, and his face was covered with frost, but he was vaguely

After seeing the appearance, he let it go. Si Mang asked: "Where are Mr. Zhu?"

The sentry pointed to a camp and said: "It's in the middle camp!"

Si Mang and others asked for the password and went down the mountain. This was a large settlement with about a thousand households. When the former army entered, the people had already fled. After Si Mang led the troops in first,

First find Xinlingcheng who is temporarily in charge of the rear army. Xinlingcheng doesn't know much about military affairs, but he is good at administration. He may not lack marching orders, but he is very good at arranging houses. When he saw Si Mang, he immediately sent the battalion to

Take to a pre-arranged campsite.

This camp is an open space surrounded by five surrounding houses, and those five houses serve as barracks. Dead branches have been piled up in the camp, just waiting to be lit. Since it is already midnight, many soldiers from the surrounding military camps have entered the barracks.

Sleeping. Simang sent his soldiers to the nearby camp to get firewood and lit bonfires everywhere. The soldiers sat down by the fire, thinking about the hardships along the way, and couldn't stop crying! Si Mang shouted sternly: "Silence!

“The crying turned into sobbing, but it was still hard to stop.

Si Mang said: "All the troops should stop warming themselves up to the fire. Each one should look at his own situation. But if there is any redness or swelling, you must rub it with snow to warm it up before you can warm it up!"

He ordered officers at all levels to inspect his soldiers one by one, and ordered those with redness and swelling to be wiped with snow. It was relatively convenient to get snow here on the edge of the camp. For convenience, some people took snow under the wall, behind the house, or even on the house.

.Most people find pots, cans, etc. from their houses and go to the mountainside to get snow.

Almost all of the people's feet had frostbite of varying severity, and they had to be rubbed with snow for half of their feet to warm them up. As everyone healed their injuries, the sobbing stopped. Each group took millet and tripods and started cooking porridge.

The firelight danced on everyone's face, and new hope returned to them.

Si Mang asked Xinling Cheng where Master Jiu was. Xinling Cheng replied that Master Jiu and his entourage of more than ten people were in the front army squadron with the animals. It was said that they would ride for several miles when they were tired. However, the mountain road was rugged and difficult to ride on.

It's not easy to ride an ox or a horse. Si Mang asked where the former army had advanced so far. Xinlingcheng took out a bamboo slip from his arms, handed it to Si Mang, and said: "The former army reported that they have entered the city of Nirvana."

"We will set off the next day and go to Nirvana City. Nirvana City has a city where we can garrison troops." When Si Mang arrived here, his eyes darkened. He had no choice but to listen to Master Jiu's advice on where to go. He felt very passive. Nothing happened.

At this point, there is nothing we can do.

After coming out of Xin Lingcheng's place, Si Mang found Mr. Jin again and asked him where Nirvana was. Mr. Jin couldn't explain clearly. He only knew that the name Nirvana was among the seventeen cities in Shangdang. As for where it was, what were its geographical features?

Not sure at all. Si Mang shook his head and sighed.

Early the next morning, the trumpet sounded, and the quiet mountain town became noisy. After counting the number of people, it was found that although some came back at night, there were still more than 200 people reduced, and the rest were also injured and injured. Like Si Mang, in addition to physical strength

Except for consumption, those that are basically complete are among the very few.

After breakfast, the troops set out on the road one by one. The tracks left by the front team's tramples were like imprints, guiding the direction of travel. Si Mang and others had no idea and could only follow the advance.

First, we went south along a small river, arrived at a mountain, and walked around the mountain. Although it was not very crowded along the way, we still saw three or five people's houses from time to time. However, they all hid when they saw soldiers passing by. We rested three times along the way.

The troop reduction was not large. Although the road was not easy to walk, there were people walking on it from time to time. There was no need to open the road. Although it was a little muddy, it was still solid after a night of freezing. Overall, it went smoothly. It was just a little slippery and people often fell.

That's true. But it was much better than last night's march in the mountains. Coming out of the mountain road, there was a mountain valley. There was not much snow here, and the traces of the former army were not obvious. Si Mang asked everyone to rest here temporarily and sent

People looked around and soon came to the conclusion that the former army turned west and climbed over a mountain. Since there were obvious cow and horse excrement on the roadside, it was definitely correct. Si Mang looked at the sky and saw that the sun had already turned to the west.

, then ordered the troops to set off immediately and rush over the mountain to the west before dark. When everyone climbed the mountain, the sky suddenly cleared up, and the sun was setting on the top of the mountain further to the west. Under the setting sun, a city was clearly visible.

!

After seeing the destination, everyone's emotions were high. After going down the mountain, there was a road that, although not a highway, had obviously been stepped on countless times, leading directly to the city.

Halfway through, he saw a group of Wei soldiers approaching. They were soldiers from the front army. Seeing people coming up the mountain, they knew they were the rear army, so they sent people to greet them. Si Mang unexpectedly discovered that Master Jiu was among them!

Gongzi Jiu set out with the rear camp of the front army. This five-battalion army was responsible for escorting baggage and livestock. Therefore, compared with the rear army, Gongzi Jiu was considered pampered. The leading army's school commander allocated five battalions to Gongzi Jiu and his retainers.

Horses - anyway, there are many horses, and everyone can lead them. This also provides convenience for Gongzi Jiu and others. When the terrain is easy, they take turns to lead the horses and ride them; when the terrain is rugged, they collectively dismount and walk, or pull the horses.
Chapter completed!