After emergency mobilization, a total of more than 600 people stayed behind to participate in the battle.

Tong Yuan came to them, and as far as the eye could see, nearly 100 were old men and women on crutches, and the rest were mostly peasant women and children, and only seven men were young and strong. A closer look at these people revealed that they were all emaciated, and it was evident that life had been very difficult before the war.

He took a step forward, and everyone saw that the rest of the military officers were surrounding him, and knew that he was a great official. So the only remaining Qiang and the people in the front row knelt down and kowtowed to beg him to help them.

He shouted, "Get up, all of you." It is the enemies who bring disaster to you, my great man encourages the revenge of the blood relatives, each of you has a loved one who has been killed by them, and it is not me who can protect you and help you avenge you, but yourself. ”

More than 600 people were kneeling or standing, but they were sparse, and it was difficult for the people on both sides of the back to hear clearly, but everyone kept quiet, for fear of disturbing Tong Yuan, who was talking.

"I am a subordinate of the Dong Jiajun and the commander of the Xinxi Liang Army, Tong Yuan. Our army will protect its own people, but it will not show mercy to the enemy. If you want to have a pound of food to eat a day, obey us to kill the enemy and plough the land......"

At this point, there was a buzz below, and in a moment a large area fell to its knees. Many people cried out with tears, "Benefactor! Great benefactor! ”

"Thanks for saving my life, I can kill the enemy!"

"Great benefactor, although he is old, he is a good hand at farming."

More people were crying and kowtowing, but the seven young men just knelt on the ground, and there was not much joy.

Tong Yuan continued: "If you go into battle to kill the enemy, you will have soup to drink. In addition, you will follow my Xinxi Liang army in the future, and even if you repel the enemy, you will not leave. Including returning to Yaxian in the future. If anyone disagrees, give him a day to eat now, and. ”

"If you stay here, I will send the soldiers who were expelled from our army to watch you with you. They and a few of you young men can eat two catties of grain, and they will have meat and bread to eat in battle. But you must take care of the people for me, and you will be called the brave soldiers in the future, who can go into battle to kill the enemy, and can also go to the fields and farm. ”

Everyone below hurriedly kowtowed to thank him. This was beyond Tong Yuan's expectations, he thought that letting them follow permanently would cause opposition, but he didn't expect it to go so smoothly. In fact, these people originally thought that they would die, and in the troubled times, except for the young and strong, other lives were not as good as dogs.

They dreamed of having food to eat and revenge. Now it's just a matter of letting them fight with their enemies, help their benefactors fight, and usually do the most familiar farming, of course, they won't object.

Tong Yuan appointed three soldiers who had been seriously injured in the previous battle to lead the young Zhuang among the refugees in Yaxian County, and more than ten people who had committed evil deeds and seriously violated military discipline before were appointed as instructors. Instructors usually have training duties, but they do not have the right to command, and they can only be promoted until they perform well.

Back to the Tucheng of Haoyang, which was captured by the new army just ten days ago, and now it is going to defend it to the death. The city gate was full of tension, and the soldiers on patrol looked serious.

There were no people living in the streets of the city, full of new soldiers who were preparing for war and a small number of people who had sworn to stay behind, demolishing houses that were prone to fire and making traps for carrying antlers and rolling logs and stones.

Tong Yuan and other military officials had made an analysis and discussion before. More than 100 years ago, the Tucheng of Haoyang was built when it was still the county seat, and it was easy to defend and difficult to attack on the whole. According to calculations, the earthen wall is more than three miles, and there are two gates in the north and south.

There are no gates on the east and west sides, and there are large rivers twenty miles away from the east and west, which makes the land on the east and west sides muddy and inconvenient to line up. In particular, the east side of the city is the surging Yellow River, and although there is a certain space, it is very inconvenient for the enemy to attack from both sides.

Therefore, if the enemy army is attacking the city, it must mainly attack the north and south sides. The north and south gates are relatively open, especially the north gate, and you can reach Xiayang County by taking the official road for only 100 miles.

In order to prevent our army from converging with the remaining troops in Xiayang, the enemy will definitely deploy heavy troops at the north gate. More than 100 miles south of Haoyang is Linjin County, which is under the control of the enemy, and the enemy can let go of his hands and feet when attacking from this direction, and he does not have to worry about being attacked from behind.

Therefore, the conclusion is that the main direction of attack is estimated to be the south gate, and the north gate will also be monitored and attacked by the enemy's heavy troops, and the pressure on the east and west sides is slightly less.

Tong Yuan and others came to the north gate city wall, and Hu Lang'er and Huang Yu had been waiting for Tong Yuan for a long time. The two briefed Tong Yuan on the defense situation in the city.

Now most of the people in the whole township have withdrawn with Zhang Ji, and only the remaining more than 200 men have been organized and incorporated into the temporary auxiliary corps.

At present, the three hundred soldiers of the second song are stationed at the south gate and will not take a step back. The north gate waited for all of Geng Qing's troops to enter the city, and they defended the place. The first song and more than 100 people are arranged on the east and west sides of the city wall to deal with any emergency, and the first song has a hundred cavalry ready to attack and disturb the enemy or support the gates.

There is abundant water and food in the city, and all rations have been distributed uniformly. During the war, the soldiers were six catties a day, and the strong laborers were four catties a day, and meat and bread were rationed according to the situation. In fact, if you only eat food, five Han catties a day is not enough to eat, after all, war preparation and war consumption are extremely high.

In later generations, it was accurately calculated that engaging in heavier physical labor may consume more than three or four thousand calories a day. Before the 90s, the intake of meat and oil in this land of East Asia was low, and it was normal to eat 10 steamed buns a day when engaged in manual work. Considering that the energy supply of early varieties such as ancient millet was less, six Han Jin a day during the war was just enough. Fortunately, the Dong family has a lot of money, so that the soldiers have other nutrients in addition to food.

However, due to the city's long-term lax defense, it still needs two days of renovation before all the battlement walls and lookouts can be repaired.

Tong Yuan believed that he had nearly a thousand strong and well-equipped professional weapons, as well as nearly a thousand local people and the vengeful refugees he had just gathered. Guarding a small earthen city, the troops are quite sufficient.

Calculated with five times the strength of the enemy army to attack the city, to attack this city protected by more than 1,000 elite soldiers, it takes at least 5,000 elite troops to be sure.

However, the enemy really has this strength, and it can even be said that it is absolutely exceeded.

A day later, before the battlement walls of Tucheng were all repaired, Xu Rong and Hu Zhen all crossed the Dayu River and surrounded Heyang.

Xu Rong first sent an envoy to the city, and shouted loudly: "My army is here to punish only Dong Bai, and the rest have nothing to do with it." I am equivalent to the Xiliang Army, and I serve the imperial court together, isn't it beautiful! ”

Tong Yuan saw that this person was completely an errand runner, so he scolded directly: "You wait to slaughter Yaxian, and do all kinds of evil." It is for the unkind. Taishi Dong Gong has been fighting for decades to defend the frontier. It is unrighteous to forget your ancestors and others. Such an act will inevitably be destroyed by heaven and earth, and I advise you to surrender to my Xinxi Liangjun as soon as possible. ”

The man was annoyed, and after some scolding, he retreated into enemy lines.

Later, Xu Rong saw the flag in the city and had a conversation just now, and said, "What kind of yellow-haired boy, he dares to call himself the captain of the Dong Jiajun, and he dares to speak out." Let me teach him what it means to fight! ”