Ren Xiaoyao watched coldly, and then said: "This general is the chief general of the city defense army appointed by the emperor's decree and the Ministry of War, and today I will behead these dozen generals on the spot in front of you!" If any of you are not convinced, and if you want to follow them all the way to the dark, let the horses come! General Ben is standing here and watching how you can do something that is not even as good as a brute! Come! ”

Dozens of guards behind him stood up and responded with fists clenched. Pen ~ fun ~ pavilion www.biquge.info

Ren Xiaoyao glanced coldly at these dejected generals, and then shouted: "Tie them down and behead them all in front of the soldiers!" Woe to the country and the people, ungrateful things, even if they die! ”

The guards shouted orders, and then each two of them took a rebel general, half-dragged and half-tied to the square in the middle of the urn city, pressed them to their knees, facing the tens of thousands of soldiers of the city defense army, and then waited for Ren Yao's order.

At this time, a gust of wind blew through the square, bringing up dust in the sky, and the entire square was shrouded in dust in an instant.

"Slash!"

Ren Xiaoyao's eyes flashed with fierce light, and he ordered loudly.

The snow bright sword light swept by, and in the blink of an eye, more than a dozen heads fell into the dust, rolling down in front of the soldiers. More than a dozen bodies with blood sprayed on their necks twitched unwillingly, and finally fell softly on the dusty square, and the blood gradually spread around the corpse, and was quickly sucked into the soil, and the land where the execution was carried out suddenly turned a shocking dark red.

"General Ben beheaded these dozen rebel generals today, in order to tell the soldiers what is the law of the country, what is the law of the military, the military law is strict, the law of the country is also strict, and if they want to plot against the usurper, they will end!"

"Now, this general has issued another military order, the gates of the four cities will be closed immediately, no one is allowed to enter or exit, according to the law of wartime, the whole city is under martial law, and the soldiers will start patrolling the city in armor to assist the capital government Yin to maintain law and order in the city. All the equipment used to defend the city, including fire oil, arrows, wooden stones, sandbags, etc., are all put into place on the city walls, ready for battle! ”

Glancing at the soldiers with cold eyes, Ren Yao shouted: "Do you understand?" ”

The soldiers looked at each other below, and finally said in unison: "Obey!" ”

At this point, the 50,000 soldiers of the city defense army were finally completely firmly grasped in Ren Xiaoyao's hands.

Ren Xiaoyao glanced coldly at Qin Chong, who was silent, and turned his head very quickly, and shouted: "Go, go back to the main building!" ”

After saying that, he walked towards the main tower of the city wall.

The guards surrounded Ren Xiaoyao, everyone just walked into the main building, only to see Ren Xiaoyao's legs were weak, almost fell to the ground, Wen Sen's eyes were fast, and he hurriedly helped him, Ren Xiaoyao looked up again, but saw that the guards were startled, only to see that his face was pale, cold sweat broke out, and he couldn't stop trembling, and even his lips began to turn blue, like a dying.

Vincent was startled and hurriedly shouted, "My lord! What happened to you? Poisoned? ”

Ren Xiaoyao ignored him, and kept muttering to himself: "It's terrible, damn, Lao Tzu killed their leaders in front of 50,000 people...... It's horrible! Next time I don't do such a dangerous thing, life is so precious, how can I not cherish it so much......"

“……”

"Wen Sen, write down, this official raised his eyebrows and pointed coldly at Qianfu, in the hostile eyes of tens of thousands of people, he did not hesitate to kill hundreds of rebel generals by himself, and the spirit of the king was scattered, and tens of thousands of soldiers were all deeply prostrate under Lao Tzu's feet......"

“…… Be. ”

※※※

At the foot of Mount Shenlie.

The war has shown a one-sided trend, and the balance of victory has completely tilted to the emperor's side.

The crown prince was in the tent, his face had turned pale, and he kept pacing back and forth, but his countenance was still calm and calm, and he was not in the slightest anxious about the defeat in the war.

Fan Rui opened the military tent and walked in, and the prince hurriedly stepped forward and asked, "Is there any news?" Why hasn't the border army of Chai Mengshan arrived yet? ”

Fan Rui shook his head and sighed: "More than a dozen groups of spies have been dispatched, but they have not returned, and no news has been sent back......

The crown prince's expression was gloomy, and he sighed: "Chai Mengshan's department, I'm afraid my father has also arranged something for him...... Sir, what are the current casualties of our army? ”

Fan Rui said: "His Royal Highness's 50,000 private troops are now less than 30,000, and more than half of the casualties have been lost, and they are ......."

"And what?"

Fan Rui raised his head, looked at the gray weather outside the military tent, and said in a deep voice: "And if nothing happens, the emperor will launch a counterattack against us soon, the sky is getting dark, and the soldiers of our army have been fighting bloodily for a day, it is the time to slack off, if we attack at this time, our army may not be able to resist for long, Your Highness, it is better to plan early......

The prince's face turned even paler, and he smiled lonely when he heard the words: "Plans?" Lone has come this far, what else can he do? Surrender, or run away? ”

Fan Rui bowed down and said: "Your Highness, today's battle, in fact, has already fallen into the emperor's calculations, with a heart or not, we have fallen into the upper hand before the war, not to mention that the two armies of Longwu and Longxiang have a total of more than 100,000 people, the strength is twice as much as ours, and they are condescending, occupy a favorable location, heavy rain in the sky, muddy mountain roads, is not conducive to our army to attack the mountain, we have lost the day, the border army of Chai Mengshan has not arrived for a long time, there must be something wrong...... Your Highness, this battle is already very unfavorable for us, if Your Highness stops at this moment, leads the army across the Yangtze River, and goes to Youzhou, which has been operated by Chai Mengshan for many years in the north, and then fights hard and horses, he will try to ...... the world again."

"Say no more! Sir, I have been thinking about the emperor's position for more than ten years, and I have spent more than ten years in torment all the time, and I will not spend another ten years, or even decades, in torment! Lone doesn't want to do that! If you are alone in this battle, you are willing to die! The prince waved his arms, seemingly hysterically, interrupting Fan Rui's words.

Fan Rui's face turned pale, sighed, and finally didn't speak again.

The prince glanced at Fan Rui apologetically, and suddenly smiled again: "Sir, don't worry, we still have a chance, and ......"

The prince slowly raised his head, his eyes fixed on the torches that had just been lit in the military tent, the flames danced, and the prince's expression became secretive.

"And...... This is a great opportunity to kill the enemy with a single sword......"

Sisi sat in the corner of the military tent, and her delicate body suddenly trembled slightly.

Outside the military tent, there was a sudden sound of killing like a landslide.

The crown prince and Fan Rui looked at each other, both with some panic and fear in their eyes.

The emperor's counteroffensive has finally begun.

※※※

The mountainside of Mt. Shinre.

This has become an important position for the two soldiers, because there is a relatively open space on the mountainside, which is conducive to the buffer of attack or defense, so this position is very important for the two soldiers. Because it was a battle in the mountains and forests, both were infantrymen, holding standard spears and swords, fighting fiercely, blood and stumps and broken arms could be seen everywhere, and in the dense woods not far from the mountainside, a cold arrow was shot from time to time, without a trace of mercy, and the enemy's life was taken in an instant.

Murder is full of wilderness, and blood flows like a river. On the mountainside of dozens of zhang Renyuan, the broken military flags, the mutilated corpses, the disgusting bloody atmosphere, all kinds of scenes combined, it is like hell on earth, terrifying and miserable.

Feng Qiu's sword was covered in blood, his shiny armor was full of sword scratches, and his face was also bloody, and he couldn't tell whether it was his own blood or the blood of the enemy.

The arm flipped over, and the bladed sword stabbed into the abdomen of an enemy soldier, and then he immediately let go, and after a roll, he picked up a standard long knife from the ground, and the light of the knife burst out with blood, and the head of another enemy soldier left his body.

Wiping the blood from his face, Feng Qiudao took a few steps back, panting and asking the soldiers beside him who were not leaving an inch, "Is there any waving of the order flag on the mountain?" Did the emperor give the order to attack when? ”

The soldier flashed smartly, dodged a spear stabbed by the enemy, and then turned around, and the big knife mercilessly slashed into the enemy's neck, perhaps because the strength was almost exhausted, the knife only entered half of the neck, and the blood flowed out along the blade, bright red and dazzling.

The soldiers took a breath and said loudly: "General, there is no order on the mountain, do you want to send someone up the mountain to ask the emperor?" ”

Feng Qiudao turned sideways and knocked down another enemy soldier, shook his head and gasped: "Forget it, the emperor doesn't give an order, he has his own reasons, let's work harder and take this vacant land into our hands!" ”

After speaking, Feng Qiudao shouted at the soldiers behind him: "Brothers, raise soldiers for a thousand days, use soldiers for a while, today is the time for you and me to fight bravely to kill the enemy and serve the court!" Retake the mountainside and drive the enemy down the mountain to repay the emperor's favor! ”

Thousands of soldiers behind him suddenly shouted excitedly: "Rush to the bottom of the mountain to repay the emperor's favor!" Rush to the bottom of the mountain to repay the emperor's kindness! ”

Then the soldiers rushed towards the tired prince's private army like a tiger that had just come out of the cage, and where the sword light flipped and flashed, the enemy's head and blood suddenly flew all over the sky, making countless more miserable corpses on this Shura field-like position.

Feng Qiudao looked at the high-morale sergeants, then looked up at the sky, and couldn't help but feel a little anxious in his expression.

After all, the mountainside is still too narrow, the two armies can't open the queue against the enemy, and the various formations on the book of war can't be arranged.

Gritting his teeth, Feng Qiudao picked up a shiny long knife from the ground again, gasped a few times, eased his emotions, and rushed forward to take the lead and kill the enemy bravely.

At this moment, I could only hear a dull and deafening drum sound from the top of the mountain, and then a deafening shout broke out from Han Dashi's department on the other side of the mountainside, and the sound was high-pitched and excited, soaring into the sky.

Feng Qiudao couldn't help but pause, and a personal soldier ran to his side and shouted excitedly: "General, the order flag on the mountain is waving, waving!" ”

Feng Qiudao turned his head and stared at it, and was immediately overjoyed, and shouted: "Brothers, the time for a counterattack has come!" Let's go down the mountain in one go, exterminate the rebels, and make meritorious contributions to the country! ”

The soldiers looked excited, but they were not tired at all after a whole day of fighting, and shouted with their swords and guns: "Destroy the rebels and make meritorious contributions to the country!" ”

Like the shouting of a landslide and tsunami, the two armies of Long Wu and Long Xiang were like two unstoppable huge dragons, rolling straight through the mountain road, meandering all the way down, advancing rapidly. The rebels encountered along the way fled in despair, or were wiped out by the impact of these two gray dragons, turning into a handful of dust on the path of the righteous army.

※※※

On the Temple of Heaven on the top of the mountain, the emperor was carefully supported by Gonggong Cao, and looked coldly at the two armies on the mountainside like a torrent rushing down the mountain, and the rebels were defeated and retreated, and the whole army was about to collapse.

The emperor was not half happy, frowned and muttered: "Could it be that the prince's strength is only here?" ”

Wei Chengde, the secretary of the military department, seemed to be confused, shook his head and said: "The prince has been planning and operating for many years, it is said that there should be more than this strength, these rebels under the mountain, in the opinion of the old minister, the strength is only about 50,000......"

The emperor shook his head: "Wei Aiqing, don't you know yet, the prince has privately colluded with the border army of Youzhou Chaimeng Mountain, a total of 50,000 troops, and now he is marching towards Shenlie Mountain......"

Wei Chengde was shocked when he heard this: "There is such a thing? Emperor! You must quickly order the army to return to defense, otherwise the border army will cross the Yangtze River and attack the north of this mountain, and we will be in danger! ”

The emperor shook his head slowly and said with a smile: "Wei Aiqing doesn't need to worry, since I already know, how can I not make arrangements?" Don't worry, Ren Xiaoyao has handled this border army properly......"

Wei Chengde was stunned: "Let it be free? He...... Isn't he guarding the capital? The border army is so far away from him, how can he deal with it? ”

The emperor smiled and said nothing, and then his expression became a little puzzled: "The prince's entire strength is these 100,000 horses?" Isn't it too hasty to rely on these 100,000 horses to do that rebellious thing? With the prince's scheming, he shouldn't be such an impulsive person......"

The emperor's eyes turned to Ren Xiang in the capital again, and his eyes were full of anxiety: "I don't know if Ren Xiaoyao has controlled the city defense army, if more than 50,000 people in the city defense army follow the prince to rebel, my situation will be very passive......"

The mountain breeze is blowing, with a slight chill.

Gonggong Cao said in a low voice: "Your Majesty, it's almost night, you better go back to the round building of the Temple of Heaven to rest, don't catch a cold......"

The emperor covered his mouth and coughed twice, then nodded slowly.

Looking back at the bottom of the mountain, the two armies of Longwu and Longxiang have joined forces, like the water of the Yellow River that has burst the embankment, rolling towards the camp of the prince's rebels, the momentum is magnificent and unstoppable.

The battle of Shenlie Mountain is in full swing, the strength of the prince's rebels is at a disadvantage, and the two armies of Longwu and Longxiang rushed down from a high place, and the rebels lost their geographical advantage, so as a last resort, the rebels were in the western part of the Shenlie Mountain under the foothill plain, laid out a circular defensive formation, holding the shield outside, placing the spear inside, in the circular formation, nearly 10,000 archers used the shield to cover, constantly throwing arrows upward, Feng Qiudao and Han Dashi's two armies suffered casualties, and the war fell into a stalemate for a while.

At the same time, in Dongmen Town on the north bank of the Yangtze River, 50,000 horses and horses of the Youzhou border army were rushing to the riverside.

Chai Mengshan rode on the war horse, looking a little anxious, this general who had fought for many years, killed decisively, and his joy and anger had long been invisible, but he could no longer maintain his former composure when it was a decisive battle related to his life and death.

The sky is not beautiful, the heavy rain for several days has caused a very big obstacle to the 50,000 soldiers and horses, the road is muddy, the soldiers are physically unable to support, and there are soldiers along the road who are constantly sick due to the rain, these unfavorable factors add up, resulting in the slow march of the soldiers, and even delay the attack time agreed with the prince in private, and delay the warplane.

Chai Mengshan knows the weight of the border army in his hands, in this battle to seize the throne, if 50,000 capable and fierce border army soldiers join the battlefield under Shenlie Mountain, the role is immeasurable, but unfortunately because of this damn weather, he can only reach the north bank of the Yangtze River until now, and the attack time agreed with the prince has been more than three hours.

What the delay of fighters on the battlefield and the failure of the army to arrive as scheduled mean for a crucial battle, Chai Mengshan, as the leading general, knows better than anyone else.

Meaning variables! It means failure!

There have been several times, Chai Mengshan wanted to order the soldiers to turn around and go back to Youzhou and give up reinforcing the prince, he didn't want to come all the way, but in order to lose the 50,000 border troops and become a stepping stone under the monument of victory for others.

But Chai Mengshan still couldn't hold back and didn't open his mouth to give this order.

He, like the crown prince, has no way out. From the moment he led the soldiers and horses of Youzhou, without the emperor's holy decree and without the official document of the Ministry of War, 50,000 soldiers and horses drove south, he and his 50,000 border troops have already laid the ,——brand of "rebels".

Therefore, despite the delay of three hours, Chai Mengshan still ordered the soldiers to hurry non-stop.

He wanted to gamble, he bet that the prince had enough strength, and bet that the prince's 50,000 private troops would be able to support him across the Yangtze River, and then the two armies would unite and launch a counterattack on Shenlie Mountain.

Aren't a large part of the emperors and generals who have left their names in history from ancient times gambled?

"Report-" The herald in the army rode horses in the rain and galloped, restrained his horse in front of Chai Mengshan, and saluted: "General Yu, the five thousand cavalry under the forward General Zhao has arrived at Dongmen Town, and there are still twenty miles away from the Yangtze River. ”

"Tell him that he is not allowed to stay, immediately rush to the Yangtze River, recruit boats and people, cross the river immediately, and line up on the south bank to be on guard." Chai Mengshan ordered lightly.

The herald was ordered to ride away, and Chai Mengshan quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

It's already on the Yangtze River, so there shouldn't be any more variables, right?

※※※

An hour passed.

The 50,000 border troops had all reached the north bank of the Yangtze River, but Chai Mengshan's face was blue at this time, and he glared at Zhao Fan of the forward battalion viciously, and the anger in his eyes almost wanted to burn Zhao Fan alive.

"What about the ship? The five thousand soldiers and horses under the command of your forward battalion have been looking for an hour, how can they not find a single boat? ”

Zhao Fan hung his head and defended in a low voice: "General, the last general has done his best, and the nearby fishermen and villagers have searched all over it, but there is not even a small fishing boat, what the hell......"

When Chai Mengshan heard this, his heart gradually sank.

The abnormal situation on the north bank of the Yangtze River, which makes a living from fishing in the river, did not even have a boat, which made him suddenly alarmed.

At this time, a deputy general walked up to Chai Mengshan and said: "General, there is another situation, an hour ago, the last general sent out more than a dozen spies to investigate the enemy's situation, but no one has come back until now......

Chai Mengshan was shocked, and then looked at the current position of the army, and his heart was half cold.

"Quick! All the troops are out! Back to the north, back to the north! Chai Mengshan, who has always been calm, looked a little hysterical at the moment.

In front of you is an endless plain, 50,000 horses on the back of the Yangtze River, there is no danger in front of them, if an enemy army appears here, take advantage of the situation to surround them......

As soon as Chai Mengshan gave the order, the army immediately moved, and the soldiers still dragged their tired bodies to the north quickly, regardless of the days of travel.

However, Chai Mengshan's order was still late.

As soon as the army moved, an arrow with a shuddering roar pierced the silence of the night sky.

Immediately afterward, at the end of the plains on the east, west, and north, among the dense cascading bushes, torches suddenly lit up, one, two, and even a thousand, ten thousand, like stars, scorching and dazzling.

"Hit the mark!" Chai Mengshan's heart trembled, and he felt a biting chill spread from the soles of his feet to the top of his head.

The 50,000 border troops were also in a commotion at this time, and the mood of uneasiness and fear made the morale of this army that had traveled long distances and was physically difficult to support in vain, and the soldiers stared at their predecessors in disbelief.

Tens of thousands of torches moved forward like a swarm of flying fireflies, and the distance between the two armies was less than a thousand steps.

"Which part of this is this?" Chai Mengshan's eyes were bloodshot, like a beast suddenly trapped in a cage, roaring uneasily.

"General, while the enemy's foothold is not stable and there is no time to set up a formation, the last general asks for orders and leads the forward battalion to disperse them!" Zhao Fan rode on his horse and shouted loudly.

Chai Mengshan hesitated for a moment, nodded and said, "Okay, you go, remember, you can't do anything and go back." ”

Although he was encircled, Zhao Fan still didn't care, and laughed when he heard this: "General, look at the last general and take the head of the enemy general!" ”

After speaking, Zhao Fan turned around and shouted: "Forward battalion, get on the horse!" Formation! ”

The well-trained cavalrymen turned over and stepped onto their horses in unison, and they soon formed a cone-shaped attack formation by the river, and five thousand horses and horses unsheathed their steel knives, and the long knives in their hands were shining with cold light, exuding a formidable murderous aura, staring at the approaching enemy troops on the opposite side without saying a word.

Zhao Fan's eyes flashed with a fierce light, he raised his long knife and shouted: "Brothers, break up their ranks, cut off the heads of enemy generals, and come back to celebrate!" Rush! ”

After speaking, Zhao Fan urged the horse to rush out first, and the five thousand cavalry roared violently in unison: "Rush!" Then he followed Zhao Fan closely, and the five thousand men and horses still maintained an attack formation while running, like a huge arrow, unstoppably rushing towards the enemy army on the opposite side.

The sound of horses' hooves, like spring thunder, was majestic, and the five thousand cavalry were like an arrow shot out, with an invincible fearlessness and self-confidence, overwhelmingly rolling towards the enemy army a thousand paces away.

The army on the opposite side saw Zhao Fan leading the cavalry to rush and kill, but there was no panic at all, the spearmen and shield soldiers at the head of the row flashed to the sides in a hurry, vacating a vacant space in the front, and then, thousands of archers quickly filled the position, and then opened their bows and arrows, and the arrows pointed obliquely, and the sky began round after round of projectiles.

Zhao Fan's 5,000 soldiers and horses were suddenly frustrated, and people were constantly shot off their horses, until there were still more than 400 steps away from the enemy, the offensive formation of the 5,000 cavalry had become incomplete, and the charge of more than 1,000 paces had not yet formally engaged the enemy, and the forward battalion had lost nearly 1,000 men and horses.