Chapter 283 Buddha's Angry Eyes
Here, Yuan Buddha had just passed Tongguan with five hundred imperial guards, and the entire army became nervous.
The commander of Tongguan told Yuan Buddha that the King of Beihai had suffered a crushing defeat in the Battle of Shayuan some time ago, and a large number of rebels had appeared near Tongguan. He suggested that Yuan Buddha wait until the situation in Guanzhong stabilized before entering the pass.
Princess Chenliu had already received Su Ze's letter. She said to her soldiers resolutely:
"The imperial court supports the imperial guards generously, and you are the best of the imperial guards. I believe you can protect me."
After saying this, Princess Chenliu ordered Lu Zhu to take out part of her dowry and give silk to the soldiers as a reward.
This group of imperial guards shouted the name of Princess Chenliu and entered Guanzhong with high morale.
After entering Guanzhong, the wedding party encountered several attacks. Fortunately, they were all bandits from Guanzhong. Yuan Buddha led his troops cautiously and led the imperial guards to defeat these small groups of bandits.
However, due to the harassment of these bandit troops, the wedding procession moved very slowly. The scouts that Yuan Buddha had dispersed had already heard that the rebels near Yongzhou and Huazhou had heard the news about the "fat sheep" of the wedding procession, and had already gathered near Tongguan.
With no other options left, Yuan Fotu could only ask to see Princess Chenliu and request her to abandon some of the baggage and travel light.
Princess Chenliu thought for a moment and said:
"The bamboo slips and silk books can be hidden by the roadside until Su Ze's reinforcements arrive."
"Give all the silk, gold and silver from the dowry to the imperial guards."
"But there is one thing. We cannot abandon the accompanying craftsmen, nor their families. Please ask the prince to collect weapons and arm these craftsmen."
Hearing Princess Chenliu say this, Yuan Buddha opened his mouth and wanted to say something, but no words came out.
He originally wanted to persuade Princess Chenliu to give up those craftsmen, but Princess Chenliu would rather give up her property than give up these craftsmen, and she also wanted to reward the property to the escorting imperial guards.
Yuan Fotu had no choice but to agree and, according to Princess Chenliu's instructions, distributed the dowry to the escorting imperial guards, and then distributed weapons to the craftsmen and trained them into a reserve force.
After abandoning some carriages and hiding the books in the caves, the wedding procession finally moved faster.
However, although they walked a little faster, the news that the Princess of Wei was carrying a large amount of dowry and entering Guanzhong was still known to various bandits, and soon some small groups of bandits gathered towards the wedding team.
Although Yuan Buddha's name was Buddha, it was not known whether he inherited the genes of the Tuoba clan of the Northern Wei Dynasty. He was very strong since childhood and became tall and strong when he grew up.
Yuan Fotto had a simple and honest character, so his father Yuan Shen thought he was not suitable for politics and sent him to the army for training.
After accepting the task of escorting the bride, Yuan Buddha was very conscientious and his marching and deployment of troops were in accordance with the rules and regulations, living up to the reputation of his family.
Prince Guangyang Yuan Shen was the great-grandson of Emperor Taiwu Tuoba Tao. After Tuoba Tao, the emperors of the Northern Wei Dynasty had shorter lifespans than the last, so Yuan Shen had a very high seniority in the royal family.
Yuan Fotu was of a very high generation, and he was of the same generation as Emperor Xiaowen's father.
The Northern Wei emperors were able to have many children, but because they died young, the generations were rather confusing. Therefore, only close members of the royal family would address each other according to their generations. When it came to distant relatives of the royal family like Yuan Shen, they generally addressed each other by their official titles and royal titles.
Today, it was Yuan Buddha who led the charge again and fought off two caravans that attempted to rob the wedding party.
After nightfall, Lu Zhu and the female historian beside Princess Chenliu came to comfort the soldiers with medicine.
Looking at Yuan Fotu who was bandaging his wounds, Lu Zhu left the medicine in the wounded camp, said a few words to encourage the soldiers, and then took Yuan Fotu to Princess Chenliu's tent.
"My Lord, thank you for risking your life to protect me today."
Princess Chenliu asked Luzhu to bring the meat soup. Yuan Fotu was really hungry, so he didn't care about etiquette and started eating directly in front of Princess Chenliu's tent.
After finishing the broth, Yuan Buddha said:
"Your Highness, there are too many rebels around, and our army is moving too slowly."
Princess Chenliu also sighed. The most important people in the wedding procession were the supervisory craftsmen and their families.
In addition, the families of the five hundred imperial guards were also brought along.
These people couldn't move very fast since they had families with them. Although Yuan Buddha defeated the surrounding rebels time and time again, more and more rebels in Guanzhong were eyeing this piece of fat meat and gathered towards the wedding procession.
The Buddha said again:
"Your Highness, I have already sent scouts to ask for help from the Western Expedition Camp in Chang'an City, but the situation in Yongzhou is tense now, and I'm afraid Chang'an can't afford to send troops."
Hearing this, Luzhu and Nushi became anxious.
No one expected that in the Guanzhong region, the heart of the Wei Dynasty, not far from Luoyang, there was already smoke of war.
Princess Chenliu was also in a low mood. She had not expected the situation in Guanzhong to become so deteriorating.
But Princess Chenliu still said:
"We can't abandon our entourage and family members. If we abandon them today, will we have to abandon the elderly, weak and disabled soldiers tomorrow?"
After hearing what Princess Chenliu said, Yuan Buddha stopped trying to persuade her. What the princess said made sense. The enemy was numerous and we were few, and we only had this little bit of energy and spirit. If the team lost their morale, it would be difficult to lead them.
The next day, another small group of rebels escaped from Hu Chen's army, gathered several gangs of bandits in Yongzhou, and surrounded the wedding procession.
This rebel army was no longer a group of vagrants armed with bamboo sticks, but a semi-regular army equipped with weapons.
The pressure faced by the government troops increased sharply.
In this situation, Yuan Buddha ordered the craftsmen who had just picked up weapons to retreat to the rear to protect the women and children, and he himself led five hundred imperial guards to the front.
Yuan Buddha put on two sets of armor, abandoned his shield, held a ring-handled sword in one hand and a long spear in the other, and led the soldiers to charge forward. Yuan Buddha was like a tank that broke into the enemy's army. He rushed to the places where the enemy troops were densely packed, and every time he swung his weapon, he could sweep down a bunch of enemies.
These rebel groups were also frightened by Yuan Buddha's bravery, and their troops quickly collapsed. The army that escorted the bride held out for another day.
When Yuan Fotuo led his troops back, Princess Chenliu once again took out her most valuable treasure and rewarded Yuan Fotuo and the soldiers who followed him in the charge.
However, the entire wedding procession became increasingly silent. More and more rebels came upon hearing the news, and after only walking a little bit into the pass, some people were already clamoring to return to Tongguan.
Just when the team was in a stalemate, the scout came again to report that there was smoke and dust rising from the north, and it seemed that a large group of cavalry had been spotted.
Now even Princess Chenliu was not so calm. The large rebel force in the north was Hu Chen's army. He had just defeated the army of King Beihai, and now their morale was high. If her troops were to face Hu Chen's army, it would be a dead end!
Yuan Buddha met Princess Chenliu again and said:
"Your Highness, if our entire army flees, the enemy's cavalry will easily catch up with us."
"I will be the last one to leave. You will return to Tongguan with the rest of the army."
"Then I will ask Your Highness to write to the court and ask for the Guanzhong passage to be opened before we can enter the country again."
Things had come to this point, and Princess Chenliu had no choice but to nod and agree.
Yuan Fotu brought 200 trusted elite infantrymen with him. Their families had received the last generous reward from Princess Chenliu. Staying behind to stop the cavalry was almost like paying for their lives.
The remaining imperial cavalry were arranged by Yuan Fotu to escort Princess Chenliu back to Tongguan.
Yuan Buddha took a deep breath and thought of his father leading the troops to war.
From childhood to adulthood, Yuan Buddha had no talent in military strategy, and commanding 500 people was his limit.
Yuan Buddha knew his father's disappointment. If he died fighting for his country, it wouldn't be considered a disappointment to his father, right?
Yuan Buddha had already made up his mind to die. Just as he was forming a battle formation to meet the cavalry heading south, a large amount of smoke and dust rose from the north.
"Hold the spear!"
Yuan Buddha remembered the key points his father had taught him: when infantry fights cavalry, the most important thing is the moment of engagement. Once the infantry are scattered and collapsed by the cavalry, even gods will be unable to save them.
Only when the infantry can withstand the cavalry's charge and maintain their position can they rely on the discipline advantage of the infantry fighting in formation to effectively kill the cavalry.
As everyone held their breath, waiting for the cavalry's charge, the dust cleared and Yuan Buddha saw a familiar figure.
Yu Jin!
Back then, Yuan Fotuo was asked by his father Yuan Shen to date Su Ze and Yu Jin. The three of them also had some beautiful memories of talking about war on paper in Luoyang. Although he didn't know why he met Yu Jin here, Yuan Fotuo felt relieved.
"Brother Yu!"
Yu Jin, who was on the road without even stopping in Huayin City, was overjoyed to see Yuan Fotto jumping out of the trench. After the two sides met, Yu Jin hurriedly gave Yuan Fotto a horse and asked him to chase Princess Chenliu who was retreating to Tongguan.
After a lot of trouble, Yu Jin finally met Princess Chenliu. When the wedding party saw the well-disciplined cavalry brought by Yu Jin, they immediately felt relieved.
Yu Jin's next words completely put everyone at ease.
"Your Highness, I have already defeated Hu Chen's troops in Huazhou. The Jingzhou rebels have fled back to Jingzhou. The passage to the north is now safe."
The soldiers cheered and the accompanying craftsmen all had tears in their eyes.
These craftsmen originally did not want to follow Princess Chenliu to the northwest, but many of them could no longer survive in Luoyang.
When they left Luoyang, they saw chaos and war everywhere. When they saw Yu Jin's cavalry, the craftsmen felt safe.
Some of them have already discovered that troubled times are coming and even Chang'an has become a war zone. Even the royal wedding procession will be surrounded and robbed by the rebels.
After seeing Yu Jin's powerful army, the craftsmen who were originally reluctant to go to the Northwest finally let go of their psychological burdens.
It seems that General Su Ze, who has made great military achievements, is a brave general who can really bring people a peaceful life!
Yu Jin paid a visit to Princess Chenliu, and then took out the books he had hidden before.
Under Yu Jin's escort, the group marched north in a mighty procession, but of course they bypassed Huayin City.
Correction of the previous text: Yuan Ziyou was the son of King Pengcheng and was considered a close relative of the royal family. He was the son of Emperor Xiaowen’s younger brother and was of the same generation as Emperor Xuanwu, so he was considered the uncle of the young Emperor Yuan Xu.
Since it was put on the shelves, it has been updated intensively. Friends who have followed the previous book also know that Fei Niao was diagnosed with diabetes last year and is preparing to be hospitalized to regulate his blood sugar.
In addition, I am also planning to take my children out to play, so I will reduce the updates a little in the next two weeks, 6k per day, but the plot advancement will not slow down.
But it is confirmed that it will be about two to three weeks, and there will be no interruption. Please bear with me!
I am very sorry. Fei Niao also wants to try, but I am middle-aged and my health and family do not allow it.
(End of this chapter)