"Report! Thousands of enemy troops are circling the western wall! ”

On the gate tower of Kunyang, a county official hurriedly announced to Zhao Yu.

This county soldier was the 'guarantee' arranged by Zhao Yu, and he was specifically responsible for keeping an eye on the remaining half of the rebel army outside the city, so as not to notice the movements of the other half of the rebel army in the first place.

However, it turned out that Zhao Yu still took care of it, and he was cautious, and he immediately noticed the movement of the other five thousand rebel troops in the distance outside the city.

Seeing this, Zhao Yu ordered without hesitation: "Pass my order, and order the county lieutenant Ma to lead all the county troops in the city to reinforce the western city wall!" ”

"Yes!"

Immediately, the soldier in charge of the herald took the order and left.

And from the side, seeing that the rebel army outside the city was really like Zhao Yu's previous judgment, going out to attack the city wall on the other side, Li Xu, the county prince with a somewhat pale face, admired it from the bottom of his heart, and said with a little luck: "Fortunately, the leader of Zhou has reserved the county army to let them rest their spirits, otherwise, whether it is to send the exhausted county army to reinforce the west city wall, or to send the people of the Brotherhood, I am afraid it will be difficult to resist the ......"

Zhao Yu smiled and said: "The county is serious. In fact, it wasn't that I expected the enemy's move, but I didn't think it was possible for the remaining rebels outside the city to watch the battle on this side of the southern city wall......"

Hearing this, Li Xu shook his head and said: "Leader Zhou misunderstood, it doesn't mean that Leader Zhou anticipated the rebels' actions, but praised Leader Zhou for his courage, even in the dangerous situation of Fang Cai, he can still insist on leaving the county army ......."

Speaking of this, he laughed at himself: "If it were to be replaced, I am afraid that the county army would have already been thrown into the southern city wall, and in this way, when the rebels outside the city attack the west city wall, I Kunyang will have no strength to resist......"

"I see."

Zhao Yu was slightly stunned.

It is undeniable that the words of the county Cheng Li Xu are indeed very pertinent, just like Zhao Yu himself said, he can guess the actions of the rebel army in advance, which is nothing, I believe that as long as a person with a little brain, he will not think that the other half of the rebels outside the city will always stand still, what is really worthy of praise is that Zhao Yu would rather take the risk of letting more than 500 black tiger thieves defend the city wall when he realized this, and continue to resist the two thousand foot soldiers and two thousand crossbowmen outside the city, and did not send a county army.

And facts have proved that Zhao Yu's persistence and adventure are indeed necessary.

Not long after, the herald sent by Zhao Yu came to the city and found Ma Gai, the county lieutenant who was still commanding the three hundred crossbowmen.

I saw the herald hurriedly say to Ma Gai: "Captain Ma, the rebels outside the city sent 3,000 foot soldiers to bypass the southern suburbs and try to attack the western city wall of our county. ”

"What?"

Knowing that the rebel army was preparing to attack the city on both sides, Ma Gai's heart tightened, and after a little thought, he asked, "Are all the county troops?" ”

"Yes!" The herald nodded in affirmation, "All county troops!" ”

After receiving an affirmative reply, Ma Gai frowned and looked at the three hundred county army crossbowmen beside him, and then looked up at the city wall.

After some hesitation, he gritted his teeth and ordered: "Please return to the leader of Zhou, I will follow his orders, but once our county army is transferred to the west city wall, there will be no backup on the south city wall, please be careful......

After saying that, he waved his hand and ordered: "The county army listens to the order, everyone rushes to the west city wall!" ”

Immediately, Ma Gai sent people to the south city wall and issued an order to Shi Yuan, Chen Gui, Yang Kang, He Feng and several other catchers who were fighting the enemy at this moment, ordering these people to go to the west city wall immediately.

At this time, Ishihara, Chen Gui and others had also noticed that there was a rebel army running towards the west city wall in the distance outside the city, and naturally understood why Ma Gai gave this order, but the problem was that the crisis on the south city wall had not been resolved, how could they leave lightly?

Just when Ishihara hesitated, Xu Bai immediately said to him: "Go, Shi Zhutou, you don't think that County Lieutenant Ma has the spare strength to take care of nearly two thousand county troops, right?" Or do you think you won't be able to do without you? ”

Ishihara opened his mouth, and finally sighed, and Masase said to Xu Bai, "Don't die......"

"Phew!" Xu Bai scolded angrily: "I'm right to say this to you!" ”

The brothers for many years glanced at each other, Ishihara nodded, and without hesitation, he turned around and went straight down the city wall, heading straight for the west wall.

And Chen Gui, Yang Kang, He Feng and the rest of the catchers were also transferred to the west city wall one after another.

There is no way, on the side of the south city wall, there are the uncles and chiefs of the black tiger thieves who can command the general thieves, but the county army lacks non-commissioned officers to command, and Shi Yuan, Chen Gui and others stay on the side of the south city wall, which is not as big as their role in the west city wall.

Watching Ishihara leave in a hurry and run down the city wall, Xu Bai exhaled slightly, feeling a little regretful in his heart.

Although he also knew that Ishihara and the others played a greater role in the west city wall, but in his heart, of course, he still hoped that Ishihara could stay here, after all, the two were brothers who had known each other for many years, and with Ishihara by his side, he was indeed much more at ease.

And just when he was regretting, the exclamations of several black tiger thieves came from afar: "Shi Chang, the rebels are attacking the city again!" ”

This exclamation made Xu Bai immediately come back to his senses.

He looked around at the Black Tiger Thief Village who were looking at him, took a deep breath, raised his arms and shouted, "For the mother-in-law!" ”

“……”

The black tiger thief who was dozens of feet nearby was stunned for a moment, and then burst out with an earth-shattering shout.

"For the mother-in-law!"

Soon, the morale of the black tiger thieves who were already exhausted on the city wall rose again, to an incredible level.

It's a bit pitiful to say, these black tiger thieves who are still beating singles in their thirties and forties are really eager to get a woman as a daughter-in-law......

"Kill!"

Under the leadership of Wang Qing, the commander of the left, hundreds of black tiger thieves on the city wall were blocked on the city wall, so that the rebels who tried to attack again could not advance an inch.

Seeing this scene from afar, Song Zan, the rebel general in charge of attacking the southern city wall, frowned again.

A moment earlier, he had received an order from the main general Huang Kang, who said that he had sent Ji Wu to lead 3,000 foot soldiers to attack the western city wall of Kunyang, disperse the forces of the defenders of Kunyang, and ask him to take this opportunity to take down the wall in front of him in one go.

After learning of this, Song Zan was also in good spirits, and immediately boosted his morale and ordered his soldiers to storm the city wall again.

But...... Little success.

His men were tired.

After nearly half an hour of fierce fighting, his soldiers were already exhausted.

Under these circumstances, Song Zan still did not retreat, and that was only because he firmly believed that the other party, that is, the 'black scarf pawns' on the city wall, who were covered in black scarves, were more tired than the soldiers under his command.

After all, there were originally 3,000 soldiers under his command, and the strength was three times that of the opposite side, so during the siege of the city, he could take turns attacking with the advantage of troops, but the 'black turban soldiers' on the city wall could be seen to be not many in number, and they were never replaced.

The difference between the two convinced Song Zan that he would eventually be able to defeat those 'black turbans' and take the city wall in one go.

However, what he couldn't understand was that the 'black scarf soldiers' on the city wall had obviously suffered nearly half of the casualties, and they had no respite in the nearly half-hour battle, but these people still had high morale and stood firmly on the city wall, not retreating a single step.

In this case, the only thing Song Zan could do was to continue to put pressure on the city wall and the 'black turban pawns' above.

He immediately instructed a herald: "Tell Chen Lang that our army needs cover!" ”

"Yes!"

The herald clenched his fists and left.

Moments later, about a mile from the city behind Song Zan, the rebel general Chen Lang once again ordered his crossbowmen to fire a volley at the distant city wall.

And taking advantage of this opportunity, Song Zan asked the soldiers under his command to retreat slightly, and while letting the soldiers under his command take this opportunity to breathe, he observed the reaction on the city wall.

Originally, there would be crossbowmen in Kunyang City who would shoot back, but there were not many of them, and the accuracy was very poor, at best, it could only bring psychological pressure to the soldiers under his command, but at this moment, there was no counterattack from those crossbowmen.

Song Zan guessed that the crossbowmen in Kunyang City might have been transferred to the western city wall to resist Ji Wu.

It can be seen that the strength of Kunyang to defend the city is actually overstretched, so as long as he works harder, maybe the defenders on the southern city wall will collapse in the next moment.

But the question is, when is the 'next moment'?

After the agreed four rounds of volleys, Song Zan immediately issued an order to attack the city again, hoping that the soldiers under his command could reorganize the formation and take the city wall in one go.

However, the reality made Song Zan frown deeply - the soldiers under his command were blocked again, blocked on the few remaining long ladders, and they couldn't even touch the edge of the city wall.

"Black Turban...... These people are amazing.'"

Looking at the guards on the Kunyang city wall from afar, Song Zan was in awe.

He never thought that a small Kunyang County would hide such a brave elite......

Turning his head to look at the sunset that was about to set, he gradually began to become anxious, and took a deep breath.

So far, he has no other plan but to urge his soldiers to continue to attack the city, hoping that the black scarf soldiers on the city wall will not be able to resist.

As Song Zan judged, the black tiger thieves on the southern city wall of Kunyang were actually exhausted, and they were all forcibly supported by a desire and a will, even the great commander Chen Mo, who had been very strict with these villagers, thought that they had done a very good job, even better than ordinary soldiers, comparable to the elite in the army.

But excellent is excellent, it is also a fact that the black tiger thieves under his command are exhausted, and they must be reinforced, otherwise this group of elites of his black tiger village will be wiped out on the city wall.

Thinking of this, he instructed a black tiger thief beside him: "Go to the great leader in my name and tell the great leader that the brothers must be reinforced......"

Before he finished speaking, he saw a group of armored county soldiers rushing up on the steps on the inner side of the city wall not far away.

"Huh?"

Chen Mo was slightly stunned.

County Army? Didn't the county army defend the western city wall?

Just as he was wondering, he saw Chen Cai in the crowd.

Seeing this, Chen Mo suddenly realized: Oh, it was not the county army, but a member of the Brotherhood who put on armor and took weapons.

As for where those weapons and armor came from, Chen Mo understood after thinking about it, it must have taken the weapons and armor of the people who had been sacrificed.

At this time, Chen Cai, who was not far away, also saw Chen Mo, came to Chen Mo in three steps and two steps, and said with his fists clenched: "Great Commander, the leader ordered me to wait to support the brothers." ”

“……”

Chen Mo nodded meaninglessly.

It was undeniable that with the reinforcements of hundreds of Brotherhood members, Chen Mo was naturally happy in his heart, after all, this meant that the Black Tigers on the city wall could finally get a chance to breathe.

But the problem is that this group of Brotherhood members doesn't even have the level of the county army, how can they defend the city wall instead of the Black Tigers?

Once he retreats from the Black Tiger Crowd, won't the city wall fall immediately?

Probably guessing Chen Mo's thoughts, Chen Cai lowered his voice and said: "What the leader means is that the brothers do not retreat to the city, but directly rest on the city wall, so that once the brothers of my brotherhood make a mistake in defense, they can also be corrected immediately......

Hearing this, Chen Mo frowned: "Rest on the city wall?" ”

You know, in different environments, the efficiency of rest is also very different, compared to retreating to the city to rest, resting on the city wall means that his black tiger people have to keep their nerves tense at all times, not only to keep an eye on whether the members of the Brotherhood have made mistakes, but also to prevent the rebels outside the city from taking the opportunity to attack, how can this be a good rest?

Of course, having said that, Chen Mo also knew that this was the only way, because the more than five hundred Black Tigers under his command could never retreat to the city, otherwise the city wall would be gone, probably because of this consideration, their leader would let them rest on the city wall.

After a moment of silence, Chen Mo said in a low voice, "That's ...... I'm afraid it will take a long time. ”

As if hearing something, Chen Cai lowered his voice and said, "Please rest assured, no matter what, my brotherhood will hold out until that moment...... Regardless of casualties! ”

『……』

Hearing the sentence 'regardless of the cost of casualties', Chen Mo glanced at Chen Cai with a little surprise, and immediately, he nodded slightly.

He understood that Zhao Yu was going to create a respite for the Black Tigers through the sacrifice of the Brotherhood.

It is not difficult to guess that this group of Brotherhood members, who have no battlefield experience, will inevitably suffer heavy casualties in order to achieve this goal, but compared to being breached by the rebels, this is still a price to bear.

“…… Please! ”

Chen Mo hugged his fists, not towards Chen Cai, but towards the nearby group of brotherhood members.

Immediately, he ordered: "The order is to go down, and the Black Tigers will stand back and rest on the inner side of the city wall, and the brethren of the Brotherhood will take over the defense." ”

When Chen Mo's order was issued on the city wall, there was also a steady stream of brotherhood members boarding the city wall in other parts of the city wall.

I saw these people, some wearing armor taken off from the corpse, and holding weapons that were also picked up from the corpse, while others were just wearing thin clothes, holding only a wooden shield and a bamboo pole.

Let this group of people defend in our place?

The Black Tigers who received the order looked at each other.

It's not that they look down on each other, after all, the brotherhood and the black tiger thieves are on the same side, and they can be regarded as their own brothers, but the problem is that most of these brothers are local civilians in Kunyang, and they have hardly received the drill of killing the enemy, let them guard the city wall, isn't this for nothing?

"Boss ......"

Xu Bai immediately found Liu Tu and raised objections to this.

"Shut up!"

Liu Tu interrupted Xu Bai's words and said in a deep voice: "Once the city is breached, the casualties are far more than that!" …… If we have time to think about this kind of thing, it is better to sit down and recuperate, and when we have recovered our strength, these brothers can naturally retreat. ”

After that, he didn't care about Xu Bai, leaned against the inner wall of the inner city wall, lay down, covered his front with a shield to prevent stray arrows, and gasped for breath.

Just as Xu Bai hesitated, he suddenly heard a cheering sound from the city wall.

"Brothers of the Brotherhood, don't be frightened, don't be afraid, in order to defend Kunyang, we must fight for the brothers in Black Tiger Village a chance to breathe...... I know that none of you have been trained to kill the enemy, so it is inevitable that you will be sacrificed, but brothers, we are sacrificing for Kunyang, for the sake of our relatives and fathers in the city. …… The brothers of the Black Tigers can hold on for half an hour, can't we hold on even for a moment? ”

"Huh?"

Xu Bai turned his head to look, only to find that it was Chen Cai, the chief steward of the Brotherhood, who was inspiring in the distance.

And there are two people around Chen Cai, to some extent, they are all well-known figures in his Kunyang - the second of the 'Nine Thieves of Yingshan' back then, Zhang Feng, the official family of Chen Zu's mansion, and Ma Hong, the head of the Black Tiger Righteous House.

At this point, the leaders of the Black Tiger Thieves in Kunyang have basically arrived.

Seeing Zhang Feng and Ma Hong, Liu Tu stood up and hugged his fists towards the two.

It's not that he wants to do this, but the village is very hierarchical, and Zhang Feng and Ma Hong are higher than him, so he must salute.

As for Chen Cai, he is at the same level as Liu Tu, Liu Tu only needs to nod and say hello.

Seeing Liu Tu's sweaty and panting appearance, Ma Hong waved his hand and said with a smile: "Let's rest, next, the city wall will be handed over to the three of us for the time being......"

Beside him, Zhang Feng looked out of the city and said meaninglessly: "I haven't been to such a precipitous place for some years. ”

Indeed, as the old qualifications of the Black Tiger Village, Zhang Feng and Ma Hong, including Chen Cai, who has a lower status, are all the 'rear personnel' of the Black Tiger Village, and they have hardly participated in any fighting in recent years, even if some time ago, Ye County ordered Yang Ding to organize a five-county coalition army, which once forced the Black Tiger Village to a desperate situation.

"Can you do it?" Ma Hong smiled and quipped: "I have never stopped practicing martial arts. ”

Hearing this, Xu Bai couldn't help but glance at the two big leaders of the Black Tiger Village, and he could see at a glance that Ma Hong was still full of energy, although he looked thin, but the muscles in his arms were very strong; On the other hand, Zhang Feng, compared with the portrait on the wanted notice back then, has really grown stronger, and his belly has gradually rounded.

Even, his gaze was much gentler than Ma Hong's, if Xu Bai didn't know the details of Zhang Feng, I'm afraid he wouldn't have thought that this person who seemed to be quite amiable was one of the nine Yingshan giant thieves at the same time as 'Yingshan Tiger Yang Tong'.

"As one of the nine thieves of Yingshan back then, please come in handy......

Muttering to himself, Xu Bai sat down with Liu Tu's expression and looked at the three people in front of him with a distrustful gaze.

Facts have proved that the old dog also has a few teeth, as one of the nine thieves in Yingshan, even if it has gradually taken a back seat now, but the strength shown by Zhang Feng and Ma Hong still makes Xu Bai feel quite gratified.

In Xu Bai's opinion, that Zhang Feng is stronger than the county pawn, and as for that Ma Hong, he is comparable to Liu Tu, the boss who worships him next to him, at least in terms of momentum.

However, the members of the Brotherhood who took over from the Black Tigers to defend the city wall were not very good, and in just a hundred breaths, these Brotherhood members actually killed and injured hundreds of people, which was comparable to the casualties of the Black Tigers in half an hour.

On the other hand, the rebels outside the city suffered very few casualties at this time.

There was no way, this was the gap, and it was also the reason why Zhao Yu did not dare to let the members of the Brotherhood defend either side of the city wall alone.

However, although the strength of the Brotherhood is high, they are numerous, and there are a full five thousand people at present, and they can be recruited in the city at any time.

Under their blockade regardless of casualties, even the rebels outside the city would find it difficult to storm the city wall for a while.

At the same time, in Ye County, several fast horses galloped into the city and came to the county government of Ye County.

It was a scout sent by Ye County, mainly responsible for patrolling the border between Ye County and Dingling County, and finding out the news of the rebel army and the Green Forest Thieves.

I still remember that in the afternoon of today, when Yang Ding, the county commander of Ye County, and Gao Chun, the county lieutenant, Wei Dong, Wei Chi and his son, and Wang Yan, the general sent by Wang Shangde, the general of Nanyang, to reinforce the defense, discussed how to strengthen the defense of Ye County, suddenly a scout came to report: "Report!" Find out where there are thousands of green forest thieves and 10,000 rebels! ”

Hearing this, everyone present immediately looked solemn.

Yang Ding immediately ordered: "Explore again!" ”

An hour later, another scout sent back the news: "The thief army, consisting of thousands of green forest thieves and 10,000 rebels, has crossed the Sand River and headed north. ”

Hearing the news, everyone present was stunned.

Wang Yan, the general sent by Wang Shangde, said in surprise: "The target of the thief army is not Ye County? ”

"If I'm not mistaken, the rebels are targeting Kunyang ......"

Yang Ding's eyes flashed a little different.

Hearing this, Wang Yan immediately found the location of Kunyang on the map, and when he saw that Kunyang was next to Ye County, his eyes showed a little worry.

On the side, Wei Chi also said what Wang Yan was worried about: "Young master, Kunyang is only forty miles away from my Ye County, once the rebels capture Kunyang, my Ye County will be very passive......

Wang Yan also asked in agreement: "Yang Gong, I wonder if Kunyang can resist the rebels?" ”

Hearing this, Wei Dong, Wei Chi, father and son all showed worried looks.

First, Kunyang is not a big county, and second, even a large county may not be able to withstand the attack of thousands of green forest thieves and 10,000 rebels.

Considering that the thief army had crossed the Shahe River and rushed to Kunyang around noon, I am afraid that Kunyang was already in the hands of the rebels at this time......

"Not necessarily."

Yang Ding shook his head and vetoed Wei Chi's speculation.

"The young master thinks Kunyang can block it?" Wei Chi was taken aback.

Immediately, he seemed to think of something, frowned and said, "No matter how powerful Zhou Hu is, he can't stop thousands of green forest thieves and 10,000 rebels, right?" ”

"......" Yang Ding was silent.

Suddenly, he ordered in a deep voice: "Send someone to Kunyang to investigate immediately, if Kunyang has fallen, then we can only defend Ye County; But if Kunyang is still resisting, I should personally lead the army to reinforce! Kunyang must not be allowed to fall into the hands of the rebels, otherwise we will be very passive! ”

"Yes!"

Looking at Yang Ding's serious expression, everyone present responded with their fists clasped their fists.

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