Chapter 334: Loyalty?
Above Tongguan, the flags of the Wei Dynasty were fluttering, and the traces of war were very obvious on the city wall full of potholes. It was obvious that a war had been fought before, and the soldiers and horses left behind at Tongguan failed to stop the Wei army's attack.
The emergence of such things as Vulcan Cannon, Sky-shaking Thunder, and Divine Martial Thunder has weakened the importance of the dangerous pass to a certain extent.
Not to say it is completely useless, but without weapons to restrain the opponent's ultra-long-range Vulcan cannon, the so-called Xiongguan is a durable target. As long as the opponent does not attack the city, there is no chance to fight back.
Coupled with the Liannu and Liannu beds, in places with difficult terrain, it became a luxury for the gatekeepers to go out to fight in the city. When Li Shimin broke Tongguan, he rushed up and blew up the city gate with explosives. But when the Wei army broke through Tongguan, they might not even rush up. Yes, if you look at how the Luoyang City Gate was broken, you can probably understand why the Tongguan City Wall is so uneven that almost no part of it is intact.
Even this city wall can be climbed directly without a ladder.
Just looking at the soldiers of the Tang Army around them, without the assistance of siege equipment, even if they could climb directly onto the city wall at this time, they might not be able to break through the city wall.
At this moment, the gate of Tongguan opened, and a Wei army surged out and came straight to kill. The leader was none other than Shan Xiongxin!
"I will die!" Li Shimin closed his eyes in pain.
"Fifth brother, do you still remember the sworn friendship in the past!" Hou Junji and Wang Junke rode up to the oncoming Shan Xiongxin and shouted, "This is my lord!"
Shan Xiongxin reined in his horse and stopped, looked at Hou Junji and Wang Junke, and said in a deep voice: "When you left Wagang in the past, did you ever think about the brotherhood?"
Hou Junji and Wang Junke were suffocated when they heard this. They also knew how serious Wagang was when they ran away. If Lu Bu hadn't suddenly started taking care of things and brought out the Vulcan Cannon and Sky-shaking Thunder, Wagang wouldn't have been there in the first place. If it is scattered, the vitality will definitely be severely damaged.
"Do you know what grudge the Li family has against our Erxian Village?" Shan Xiongxin pointed his Zaoyang gun at Li Shimin and yelled, "His severed hand was cut off by us when we blew it up, and Li Yuan was caught by us. It’s not like you didn’t know that Erxianzhuang was to be executed in front of my brother’s mourning hall, even so, you still followed Chai Shao and surrendered to him!”
The two of them were silent. No one expected that Wagang would be able to recover after the key generals left, and could surpass Li Tang, who had the support of the Guanlong clan, and become the overlord of the world in one fell swoop. If he had known it, In this way, he would not have left Wagang so easily.
What's the use of saying this now? Now that you have made a choice, you naturally have to take responsibility for your own choices.
Wang Junke took a deep breath, looked at Shan Xiongxin and said: "Fifth brother, Mr. Tang is my younger brother's lord. No matter what today, I cannot let you hurt him!"
"If you lay down your weapons and surrender today, I will still recognize you as brothers, otherwise..." Shan Xiongxin said at the end with a sharp look: "Don't blame me for not being loyal!"
While talking, Liu Heitai and Su Dingfang had already led their troops to prepare for the siege.
Wang Junke took a deep breath and said: "Escort the master and leave first!"
Hou Junji nodded silently, and he and Li Xiaogong and others protected Li Shimin and left. Shan Xiongxin wanted to pursue him, but Wang Junke stopped him with his big sword: "I have long heard that Mr. Lu does not practice martial arts, but he knows martial arts. Xiongkuo Hai is that The man who was taught by him is as good as Yu Wen Chengdu, let me see what the fifth brother is capable of!"
"You guys go after Li Shimin!" Shan Xiongxin raised his long spear and said to Liu Heitai and Su Dingfang: "I will deal with this person myself!"
Although Liu Heitai and Su Dingfang sneered at Shan Xiongxin's impulsive approach, they were Lu Bu's elder brother-in-law after all, and they had always had prestige. Seeing that he was serious about what he said, they couldn't disobey him, so they immediately agreed and left a group behind. He sent troops to protect Shan Xiongxin and then led his army to pursue Li Shimin and his party.
Wang Junke naturally couldn't stop so many people by himself. Looking at Shan Xiongxin who stayed behind, he cupped his fists and said, "Thank you, fifth brother!"
"You and I have severed all ties. Since you want to be loyal to him, don't blame Shan for not remembering the old relationship today!" Shan Xiongxin took a deep breath, raised his long spear high, and when he finished speaking, he stopped talking nonsense and thrust out a spear. .
Wang Junke raised his sword to greet him. The two were good friends in Japan in the past, and they often sparred with each other. Wang Junke was so skilled with a broadsword that he rarely encountered an opponent. In those days, Shan Xiongxin was no match for him, but now it is different from the past. Shan Xiongxin has undergone Lu Bu's conditioning and acupuncture over the years, and his physical fitness has not declined due to age, but has actually increased.
But these are still secondary. The most important thing is the progress in martial arts. Under the guidance of Lu Bu, the big spear has already entered a higher level. Now he can fight with Wang Junke, but after a few rounds, Wang Junke will be enough. Falling into the disadvantage, I was in a very awkward situation.
"Sixth brother, Li Shimin has gone far, and you have done your best as a courtier. Do you really want to fight me to death!?" Shan Xiongxin saw that Wang Junke was at a disadvantage, but he still refused to surrender. After all, he couldn't help it. advised.
"Bang~"
Wang Junke struck out with all his strength and shook open Shan Xiongxin's long spear. He looked back at the dark night sky. There was no trace of Li Shimin anywhere. He felt a little disappointed: "Lu Gu is just a doctor. I didn't realize that he was Ming Lord, it is the same now. The real Ming Lord of Wagang is Lu Bu. If he was willing to lead Wagang back then, there would be no separation of families later!"
"It's ridiculous. The King of Wei may not be as decisive as Fengxian in killing, but he is a kind man. You are just like Chai Shao. If you don't like his background, don't you know that the prince and general Xiang Ning has the kind? Back then, our great ancestor Liu Bang was just the head of a pavilion in the countryside! "Shan Xiongxin put away the Zaoyang cup and frowned.
"Brother is also the queen of the generals. You should know how strong the Guanlong clan was at that time." Wang Junke said solemnly: "It doesn't matter whether you made a mistake or not. When you betrayed Wagang, you can still say it was brotherhood. If you betray the master again now, It’s worse than a pig or a dog!”
"You are determined to fight me to death!" Shan Xiongxin said angrily.
"Brother treats me like a brother. He betrayed me back then, which was unjust. Today, my lord has no choice but to fight with my brother. Now that my lord is gone, how dare I disrespect my brother again!" Wang Junke clasped his fists at Shan Xiongxin and said in salute: "Brother, now it seems that Lu Bu is indeed a wise master, but... Tang Gong is not a mediocre master. I don't regret that we were together. They say that loyalty and righteousness cannot have both sides. But today, I want to have both loyalty and righteousness." If there really is an afterlife, I will repay the debt of Brother Wagang!"
After saying that, he turned the sword upside down and wiped it on his neck.
Shan Xiongxin felt something was wrong when he heard what he said, but when he saw that Wang Jun could reverse the sword, his expression changed and he shouted sternly: "No!"
But if a person wants to die, how can others stop him? For a master like Wang Junke, when Shan Xiongxin really wanted to die, no one could stop him. When Shan Xiongxin reached out of Zaoyang, the knife had already cut off his throat. The blood sprayed out as the knife was thrown away by Shan Xiongxin, splashing on Shan Xiongxin. Full of confidence.
"Plop~"
Shan Xiongxin stared blankly at the lifeless body sliding to the ground. The horse seemed not to know that its owner was dead. It lowered its head to rub against the owner, as if it wanted the owner to sit on its back again.
"Contain the body and bury it alive..." After a long time, Shan Xiongxin sighed and asked someone to collect Wang Junke's body. This was his choice.
He glanced at Wang Junke's body for the last time, and when he looked up again, Shan Xiongxin's eyes seemed to be burning with fire. He didn't care whether Li Shimin had a clear intention or not, but the grievances between the Li family and the Shan family, and the time when Chai Shao took away a large number of people. The hatred of the fierce general Wagang, the helplessness of his brother who died in front of him because of some bullshit loyalty, all kinds of emotions mixed together, making Shan Xiongxin's hatred for Li Shimin and the entire Li family reach a new height.
He pinched the horse's belly with his legs and killed in the direction where the army was chasing him.
Li Shimin, escorted by Hou Junji, Li Xiaogong, and Li Yuanji, ran all the way. At dawn, he discovered that he had unknowingly ran back to Hangu Pass, and there were only less than a hundred soldiers accompanying him.
The tragic situation at Hangu Pass last night has not been cleared up yet. There are broken limbs and broken arms everywhere, brown blood scabs are everywhere, and there is a smell of decay in the air.
What's worse is that a group of troops is coming, led by Xiong Kuohai and Cheng Yaojin.
Liu Heitai's and Su Dingfang's troops also arrived soon after.
With no way forward and pursuers behind him, Li Shimin drew his sword in his hand, but he was extremely confused in his heart. Could it be that God really wants to kill me? ?
"Li Shimin, the matter has come to this, how long will it take if we don't surrender?" Liu Heita laughed loudly.
Li Shimin was silent and surrendered? is it possible?
He looked at the people around him and said with a bitter smile: "You have fulfilled your loyalty by following me here. Today, God will not help me. If I am defeated like this, everyone... Surrender, I believe that Lu Bu will not kill them all!"
Hou Junji silently stood up and dismounted, and bowed his hands to Li Shimin as a farewell. Just as Li Shimin said, he had fulfilled his loyalty all the way here, and he would not abandon him if there was a way out, but there was only a dead end. Don't want to die.
No words were spoken, and there was no need to say more. At this point, any choice of Li Shimin would not be a surprise.
Li Yuanji and Li Xiaogong didn't leave, and it was impossible for them to leave.
Many of the remaining soldiers went to Hou Junji's side and silently threw away their weapons.
Seeing this scene, Su Dingfang slowly raised his hand, preparing to order the arrow to be released.
"Hold on!"
At this moment, a loud shout was heard, and Shan Xiongxin rode his horse to kill, with a strong murderous intent in his red eyes. Before anyone could ask, he had already charged out with his sword in hand.
Li Yuanji wanted to stop him, but the thrust contained Shan Xiongxin's hatred. Where he could stop him, the thrust pierced his chest.
"Li Shimin, die!" Shan Xiongxin looked at Li Shimin with red eyes and said solemnly, flicking Li Yuanji's body away with his backhand.
"Fifth brother, what's going on!?" Xiong Kuohai, who had just arrived, was a little unclear about the situation and looked at Liu Heitai opposite him and asked.
Liu Heitai shook his head.
Over there, Li Shimin and Li Xiaogong were already fighting with Shan Xiongxin. Shan Xiongxin was furious at the moment, and he held the Zaoyang Spear in a domineering and fierce manner. In just a few rounds, he killed Li Xiaogong, and then with one move, he looked at the moon, and the Zaoyang Spear circled around. He thrust out from behind and directly lifted Li Shimin off the horse...