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Zhang Xin was taken to an empty tent, and his sadness made him unable to calm down for a long time. He saw Yang Li being killed. In order to create opportunities for himself, He Laoliu was also cut off his left foot and became a useless man. The ten people who came with him paid the price of the six dead just to make the Huns believe it.

Now all the burdens are pressing on his shoulders. How can he complete the task? Although he is very close to the target, he has no chance to take action. At this time, a soldier came in. Seeing the soldier's appearance, he should be a Han man. He threw a set of clothes to Zhang Xin, "Sir, let you change your clothes and then go with me to see him."

Zhang Xin silently changed into clothes and followed the soldiers to Li Ling's tent. On the way, the soldiers briefly introduced themselves to him. Only then did Zhang Xin realize that the soldier was Li Ling's personal guard, named Zhao Shan, and was a famous swordsman in Guanzhong. He fled because he killed the Du County Magistrate, but unexpectedly surrendered to the Xiongnu and became Li Ling's personal guard.

Zhang Xin pretended to be the first time he heard it, and did not say a word. Soon, the two walked into Li Ling's tent, but saw Li Ling packing things, which surprised Zhang Xin secretly. Is Li Ling leaving?

When Li Ling saw Zhang Xin coming in, he smiled and said, "Although this is a camp of the Huns, don't take it seriously. The Huns and Han people are the same. The military orders are like mountains, and the hierarchy is strict. You will get used to it after you get used to it slowly."

"Yes," Zhang Xin agreed with his hands down.

Li Ling was very satisfied with his attitude, nodded and said, "I am following the order of the Youxian King, and I am going to Shanyu to discuss important military affairs. I should have taken you with me, but tonight you will be the one who will be the Youxian King, so you can only stay, but you don't have to worry. The Youxian King knows that you are my person and he will not make things difficult for you."

"I wonder when the sir will be back?"

"This is not accurate. Maybe after this battle, you can see me in Chang'an, it won't last long, at most one month."

Zhang Xin was very anxious. The order of the King of Han was to get rid of Li Ling as soon as possible, the sooner the better. If you wait until the battle is over, it will probably be too late. He made a fuss in his heart. If he doesn't work, he must take action immediately.

Thinking of this, Zhang Xin said: "Before leaving, I still have some important information to tell sir, it is about the loopholes in the city wall of Pinghu Pass. I was originally guarding Pinghu Pass."

"What loophole"

Li Ling suddenly became interested. Pinghu Pass was the last pass to enter Guanzhong through the straight road. The Han army would inevitably deploy heavy troops. If there were indeed loopholes in the wall city, it would be God who helped them succeed.

Zhang Xin picked up a sword next to him casually. Zhao Shan was stunned and immediately pressed it on the hilt of the knife, staring at Zhang Xin with a vigilant look. Zhang Xin seemed to have no idea. He drew the city wall on the ground with a sword sheath, pointing to the west city wall and said: "Two months ago, there was a heavy rain, and the northwest corner of Pinghu Pass collapsed. Jiang Ning, the guard general of Pinghu Pass, did not report this matter, but secretly covered it with bricks and stones. If he attacked with a catapult, the place would collapse soon."

Li Ling was attracted, and he walked forward, staring at the city wall drawn on the ground with an extremely serious face, "Where is it?" he asked.

Zhang Xin was waiting for this opportunity. The sword light suddenly flashed, and the sharp sword pierced Li Ling. The sword suddenly had no signs. Zhao Shan next to him was shocked. It was too late to draw the sword. This sword accurately stabbed Li Ling in the heart. But unexpectedly, the blade turned around and could not stab it in, as if something was blocking it. Zhang Xin secretly shouted "Oh," Li Ling wore a protective inner armor.

Despite this, Li Ling was still slightly injured. The severe pain made him scream and he turned over and fell to the ground. Zhang Xin waved his sword to slash Li Ling's neck without hesitation. At this time, Zhao Shan's sword also arrived, as fast as lightning, slashing Zhang Xin straight to the back of the neck. If this knife hits, Zhang Xin will undoubtedly die.

The situation was urgent, and it was too late for Zhang Xin to stab Li Ling in the neck. Either he swung his sword to block it, or he was different from his body. This is Zhao Shan's experience. As long as Zhang Xin returns to block it, he will not have the chance to assassinate Li Ling again. In the midst of lightning, Zhang Xin waved his left hand to block it, and blood spurted out. Zhang Xin broke his left hand with his wrist and flew out with one hand. Zhang Xin screamed and pounced on Li Ling's body. The sharp sword blade pressed against Li Ling's neck.

Zhao Shan's sword was as fast as the wind, and another knife slashed into Zhang Xin's back, breaking his heart. Zhang Xin's eyes went dark. Just as his life was about to pass, he used his last strength to press the blade with his broken elbow on his left hand. With a click, the sharp blade cut off Li Ling's neck. Li Ling didn't even scream, and his head rolled out.

A smile appeared on the corner of Zhang Xin's mouth and fell on Li Ling. As a result, Zhao Shan was stunned. He slowly picked up Li Ling's head, trembled all over, and screamed loudly.

.........

Months later, He Laoliu stood alone in front of a large tomb with a cane, with the tomb of Zhang Xinzhi, the chief of the Han army, silently staring at the two lines of small characters beside him. He wrote by King Liu Jing of Han, who sacrificed his life to serve the country. Zhang Gong has been around for many years. There are several tombs next to it, which are the tombs of Yang Li and five other soldiers.

He Laoliu sighed deeply, "You can sacrifice your life for justice, how can I, He Laoliu, live alone?" He waved his sword and committed suicide in front of Zhang Xin's tomb.

.........

Li Ling's accidental assassination disrupted the Xiongnu's combat plan. Without Li Ling's advice, Liu Qubei was forced to cancel the reserve plan for Li Ling to attack the Maling River just now. At the same time, Zhang Xin's death also caused the Xiongnu army to lose its key guide. Liu Qubei had no time to find Xiao and ordered the army to attack Wuting Pass on a large scale.

But beyond Liu Qubei's expectations, the resistance of the Wuting Pass defenders collapsed after only half a day of persistence, and two thousand Han troops fled southwards.

After conquering Wuting Pass, it was only one step away from the final victory. As long as they captured Pinghu Pass eighty miles away, the vast and fertile land of Guanzhong would be revealed before them.

Liu Qubei's ambition was aroused. After resting for a night, he led Wan Dajun to pounce on Pinghu Pass at all costs. However, Pinghu Pass was no longer Wuting Pass. What awaited him were eight thousand well-equipped defenders and the 20,000 Han reinforcements who were rushing to Pinghu Pass.

Without Li Ling's advice, Liu Qubei immediately made a fatal mistake. He left only two thousand troops to guard Wuting Pass, but he neglected that Wuting Pass also had a crucial impact on him.

The chief general of Pinghu Pass has been replaced by the veteran Yan Yan. He led 6,000 troops from Changwu Army City, greatly enhancing the defense capabilities of Pinghu Pass. Pinghu Pass's own troops and the troops fleeing back to the defenders from the north have suddenly increased the defenders of Pinghu Pass to 8,000. With the tall and solid city walls and steep terrain of the pass, the possibility of the Huns' army trying to capture the last dangerous pass in Guanzhong becomes smaller, and they should not expect the soldiers guarding the pass to retreat without fighting.

This is what Liu Jing refers to. He has made the greatest concessions and lured the Xiongnu army to the last pass. If he gives in another point, the Xiongnu army will break through Pinghu Pass. However, if the concessions are not enough and cannot arouse Liu Qubei's ambition to attack Guanzhong, the Xiongnu army will eventually retreat and cannot complete the strategy of seduction. It can be said that this is a dangerous step. The key link here is to kill Li Ling. He is Liu Qubei's brain and eyes. With his existence, it is difficult to fool Liu Qubei.

Pinghu Pass is like Wuting Pass, a huge wall connecting the cliffs on both sides. Plus a square city, the north city of the square city is part of the wall. The soldiers guarding the city usually live in the city. In the peacetime, caravans coming and going must enter and exit the city, undergo inspections or pay commercial taxes, and even when it is dark, they can rest in the city for a night to avoid encountering wild beasts that appear at night.

But what is different from Wuting Pass is that there is no so-called small bypass pass here. This is the main peak of Wuling. There are steep and towering mountains on both sides. Unless you can climb to the top of the mountain and use a parachute to descend from the top of the mountain into the square city, you can only obediently use the most primitive and bloody means to capture the pass.

Liu Qubei had already arrived at Pinghu Pass. He stared at the city that was more dangerous than Diaoling Pass. Only then did he understand why this place was called Pinghu Fort. The city itself was built on a steep slope. It would be a blessing to throw a section of wood down on the slope. It would be a blessing to be able to rush up the slope. What's more, it would have to face a strong wall that was as high as a meter. Therefore, this place was called Pinghu Fort. Every Hu people who wanted to attack from here would be wiped out.

If Li Ling was there, he would definitely suggest that Liu Qubei withdraw back to Wuting Pass first, then go to the Maling River, and then break into Guanzhong from there. In fact, it only took one more day more than now, but when Li Ling died, Liu Qubei eliminated the idea of ​​turning to the Maling River, and wanted to break through the last pass, because this was the closest road to enter Guanzhong.

Just like an ordinary person crossing a river, there is a narrow bridge in front of him. Even though he knows that there is a large wooden bridge in the distance, almost everyone will choose to cross the river from the small bridge in front of him. This is human laziness. He would rather walk a slightly more difficult one than take a few more steps away.

Liu Qubei looked at this majestic pass from afar. He found that the pass was very quiet and there was no guards on it. He suddenly remembered Juyuan Pass, just like now, the pass was quiet and quiet. After they were fully prepared and attacked the city, they found that there was no guard behind the pass and had already run away. Could it be that the same here.
Chapter completed!