Gou Xiong's troops marched quickly, traveling 100 miles a day, to the border of Heyin County.

The infantry of the brigade rode behind, and Gou Xiong led several brave generals in the army and rode dozens of them, and went to the outside of Heyin City to inspect the situation.

But I saw that the county town of Heyin, as it was, was no different from the scout's report, the city gate was fashionable and open, and there were few guards on the city.

The population of the whole Shuofang County is not large, even fewer live in the city, there are few Tang and Hu people who enter and exit the city gate, and suddenly see Gou Xiong and a few other knights in armor arrive, only from the armor can not see their identity, and the hood covers their faces and hairstyles, these people do not know who they are, but there is no panic, and some pass by them, and look at them curiously.

Gou Xiong rode beside him, picked up the long lance, stabbed to death a Hun Hu Mu who was carrying fodder back to the city, and looked at him as he walked, and then, put the long lance still on the saddle, drew the knife, bent down on the horse, pulled the pigtail of the dead Hun, cut off his head, and hung it under the neck of the horse on his mount, and under the severed head, blood dripped down.

Gou Xiong said with a smile: "Changsheng, this herdsman is not a soldier of Dingxi, if you kill it, it will be killed in vain, and you should not be a military meritorious." ”

This murderous knight, named Began Changsheng, is the same tribe as Gou Xiong's said that among the two people in Heyin County, called Began begging fields. - Strictly speaking, don't do begging fields, don't do Changsheng and Gou Xiong are actually the same department.

Di people have four large tribes, divided into Pu, Bumeng, Qi fold, do not dry, Di people and Tang people live together for a long time, and the production mode is similar to the Tang people, in addition to grazing, farming Di people account for a large proportion, because of its Xianbei and other tribes, they can be said to have been influenced by Tang culture and customs for a long time, these four tribes in the Tang Dynasty are deeper than the upper class nobles, more to give themselves the Tang surname, Pu needless to say, is Pu Qin's national surname, Bumeng's Tang surname is Bu, Qi folded into Qi, do not do in the Rong language is the meaning of "dog", so the nobles of the department, so to "Gou" For the surname, Don't do begging fields, don't do Changsheng from the subordinate tribe of Don't cadres, and there is no qualification for the surname "Gou", but the relationship with Gou Xiong is very close. This is also an important reason why Gou Xiong believes that the "secret report" of begging fields should not be done.

Don't do Changsheng since joining the army, he has followed Gou Xiong, although because of the lack of military strategy, the military rank is not high, and he is brave and martial, but he is really a first-class tiger soldier under Gou Xiong's account. Gou Xiong's past battles, such as the fight against Zhao Yanli and the fight against Longxi County, all of them did not do anything for him.

He said: "I didn't want to be a military merit, but this Hun scumbag, one look at me, another look, see that I am irritable, so I kill it casually!" ”

Gou Xiong laughed.

When the people who went out of the city and entered the city saw this scene, they were very frightened, and they all fled in all directions. The sound of the people shouting and fleeing alarmed the city gate and the guards on the city, and several military officials hurriedly ordered the city gate to be closed, and hundreds of Dingxi warriors poured out of the grass huts on the city for the guards to rest, or armed with bows and arrows, or holding foot lances, and urgently joined the ranks of guarding the city wall.

Gou Xionggu said to the other rider: "Take it out." ”

The rider took off a bag from the saddle and pulled out a set of red children's clothes from the bag.

Gou Xiong motioned for him to give his clothes to Changsheng, and said, "Changsheng, take them to them while the city gate is not closed!" ”

Don't do Changsheng made the long lance provoke this set of children's clothes, drove the horse galloping, galloped close to the city cave, the armor on the body and the horse was fine and thick, ignoring the arrows shot from the city head and the city hole, and threw the children's clothes into the city gate that had been closed for most of the time, and the tongue fought the spring thunder, and shouted in a blunt Tang dialect: "This is my family Xiao Cavalry General Gou, a gift to your family Zhao Rangan!" My general Gou said, put on this set of children's clothes, surrender the city, but spare Zhao Ran's life, if he refuses, he will wash his neck, and wait for my general Gou to take it himself! ”

After shouting, the horse has left, and there are still arrows in the city and on the city.

He was angry in his heart, so he simply strangled his mount, took a long lance under his bow, and drew his bow to shoot, but the arrows were not in vain, and three arrows in succession hit the guards of the city and the city cave. The guards of the cave did not dare to pursue, and the arrows were not fired, so they hurriedly closed the city gate.

Don't do Changsheng, then turn the horse and return.

Gou Xiong was overjoyed and said approvingly: "What a warrior I am! ”

Why did Gou Xiong send a set of children's clothes to Zhao Ran? A few years ago, when Gou Xiong attacked Shuofang from Meng Lang and captured Zhao Rangan alive, he insulted Zhao Rangan, saying that he was a warrior of Tiefu, but he was not as brave as a child of the Di people. Because of this, before today's siege, the move of sending a set of children's clothes to Zhao Rangan was meant to insult Zhao Rangan and to undermine the morale of the guards.

Zhao Rangan received the report, and when he saw this set of children's clothes, his eyes were about to burst, blood rushed to his head, his face was flushed, and he shouted angrily: "Gou Er is too deceitful!" Damn, Lao Tzu fought with him! "Then I will wait for the troops to go out of the city and fight Gou Xiong to the death.

Li Liang was present, hurriedly stopped, and said: "Junhou, Gou Xiong is arrogant, it is indeed too much deception, but if you can't bear it, you will make a big plan, General Wuwei's military order is here, Junhou, you and I should act according to the military order, and we must not fight without permission!" ”

According to Xin Er's instructions that "it is best to inflict heavy damage on Gou Xiong's troops", Zhang Shao set up a battle strategy to lure the enemy into depth, and the military order issued to Zhao Rangan and Li Liang had already been delivered a few days ago, and the content of the military order was: feign slack defense of the city, as soon as Gou Xiong's troops arrived, they would abandon the city and retreat, lead Gou Xiong's troops to Shuofang County lightly, and then attack inside and outside Shuofang County, and hit it by surprise, so as to finally achieve this strategic intention of severely inflicting heavy damage on his troops.

The more I looked at the red children's clothes, the more dazzling they became, and Zhao Ran was embarrassed and indignant.

It's a pity that he has a small braid and doesn't grow his hair, otherwise, I'm afraid that he will be angry, he said: "Gou'er insults me, it's unbearable!" I will not fight Gou Er for life or death today, and I will not give up! If General Wuwei is punished, I am willing to accept it. ”

The reason why children's clothing is a dazzling red color is not something that Gou Xiong deliberately did. The four major tribes of the Di people, each with its favorite color, Lu is still white, Bu Meng is still green, Qi folds Shang Lan (ran), do not dry Shang Jiang, so the four are called Bai Di, Qing Di, Hu Di, Jiang Di by the Tang people, this red, is the color of the preference of the cadres, is the common color of the clothes of the adults and children of the cadres.

It can be regarded as an unintentional willow insertion, and the ridicule and the bright red color really angered Zhao Rangan to the extreme.

Li Liang and Zhao Rangan are not familiar with each other, the relationship is average, Zhao Rangan is angry, he knows that no matter how much he persuades, Zhao Rangan is afraid that he will not listen, so he has no choice but to turn his attention to the two people next to him.

These two people, one is Du Lang, the strategist that Zhao Rangan asked for back from Aliluo, and the other is Zhou Xian, Zhao Rangan's most trusted general.

Du Lang understands his status in Zhao Rangan's heart, for example, it is as light as a goose feather, it is worthless, how can he be moldy at this moment? pretended not to see Li Liang's gaze and didn't say a word.

Zhou Xian said: "General Wuwei's military order cannot be violated, and he is reckless and golden, if he is not Gou Er, he can compare with him, and he will fight in person, which is his own identity." The last general is willing to cut off the head of the child for a large scale! ”

Zhao Rangan's anger was half humiliated, half worried that Zhou Xian and other soldiers would despise him because of Gou Xiong's actions, causing him to lose his prestige, and when he heard Zhou Xian's respectful words as usual, his anger subsided for a while, and he said: "If I don't cut off his head, I can't get rid of this anger!" ”

Zhou Xian said: "Gou Er is a little captive, why bother to kill yourself? I didn't have to get my hands dirty. Shiwen City Defender reported that Gou'er's main force had not yet arrived in the city, and he was accompanied by only dozens of horsemen, and the last general would chase after him, such as killing pigs and dogs! The last general is going to vent for the big one! "From the Hu sat up, he went out of the hall, put on armor and caught the lance, and led the elite cavalry of the Tiefu Huns out of the city to chase.

Retreating is more difficult than attacking and requires good organization. Although he was ready to retreat, Li Liang was not at ease, and saw that Zhou Xian persuaded Zhao Rangan, so he also temporarily resigned and went to the military camp in the city to personally supervise the retreat.

Zhao Rangan took Du Lang and other officials, close left and right military officials, followed Zhou Xian, and went to the city to watch him chase and kill Gou Xiong.

Gou Xiong and Began Changsheng and other generals, dozens of riders, have already gone a little farther, about four or five miles.

Zhao Ran looked at Zhou Xian and the elite of the hundred horsemen intently, out of the city, and galloped away. Gou Xiong and the others soon found out that Zhou Xian and the others were riding, to Zhao Rangan's surprise, they did not speed up their escape, but divided more than ten horses, turned around, and fought head-on.

Zhao Rangan couldn't tell which one was Gou Xiong, but it was common sense that among the more than ten horses who turned their heads to fight, there would definitely be no Gou Xiong.

He thought to himself: "Gou Erte is also rampant! Not only did I only bring dozens of horsemen to peep at my city, but when I saw my chasing troops, I dared to face the battle! With more than ten horses, where will it be Ergune's opponent? "Ergune is Zhou Xian's Hu name, this Xiongnu language, the meaning of precipitous.

Zhao Ran stared at Zhou Xian and the others, and secretly cheered Zhou Xian up, but because of the distance, he couldn't catch up with Gou Xiong, as long as he killed more than ten horses, he could be regarded as being able to give him half a bad breath.

The two sides are four or five miles apart, blindly chasing, it is not easy to catch up, but the two are opposite each other, and suddenly, they meet each other.

Zhou Xian took the lead and stabbed straight ahead.

The knight at the front of the more than ten horsemen on the opposite side, with a human head hanging around the neck of the horse, is not to do Changsheng.

Don't do it without holding a lance, just lifting an iron mallet.

He recognized that Zhou Xianding was the leader of this Tiefu cavalry, and he did not avoid advancing, although he was wearing heavy armor, his movements were flexible, he turned sideways slightly, and he let go of Zhou Xian's stabbing cavalry from time to time. The lance is eight feet long. In the blink of an eye, the heads of the two intersected.

Zhou Xian's castration was old, and he didn't have time to take it back, but he reflected quickly, worthy of the name of the number one brave general under Zhao Ran's dry account, let go and threw away the lance, drew the knife with his backhand, and slashed at Began Changsheng's body. Don't do Changsheng Jiajing, he cut the knife, waved the iron mallet in his hand, and hit Zhou Xian's waist.

This time, the strength was strong, Zhou Xian was knocked off the horse, Rao was barely able to stabilize his posture, and opened his mouth to spurt out a mouthful of blood.

At the head of the city, Zhao Rangan's complexion changed greatly.

Hurried footsteps sounded, and a voice came: "Junhou, the soldiers have left the camp, and the people on the road to the west gate of the city have also been dispersed, please go down to the city and withdraw back to Shuofang County with me!" ”

The person who spoke was Li Liang, who had supervised the withdrawal of troops.

Zhao Ran ignored him, only looked at the small battlefield outside the city, and saw Zhou Xian turn his horse, probably wanting to retreat, but he was chased by the one who succeeded in the blow, and the hundred Tiefu cavalry brought out by Zhou Xian rushed forward to rescue, and was entangled by the other more than ten Di cavalry charges, and could not be saved.

Du Lang said: "Oh, Zhou Xian is in danger! ”

Zhao Ran didn't care about the armor, grabbed a horse lance from the left and right soldiers, turned around and ran towards the city.

Li Liang chased and shouted: "Junhou, Junhou, where are you going?" ”

Zhao Rangan did not answer, and when he arrived at the city, he turned over his horse and urged him to ride out of the city.

His own soldiers followed him down into the city, and hurriedly mounted their horses, whipped their mounts vigorously, and pursued them in a hurry.

Li Liang gasped and stood in the city cave, watching them gallop towards the small battlefield. In just a moment, Zhao Rangan and the others had arrived at the small battlefield.

Some of Zhao Rangan's personal soldiers went to meet and intercept the horses who came to help Beigan Changsheng and others, and some followed Zhao Rangan to Zhou Xian.

Zhao Ran rode his horse and raised his lance and ran to Zhou Xian's horse.

He arrived just when the long lance was raised, just blocking the iron mallet that Began Changsheng smashed into Zhou Xian's pocket. The mallet was smashed. Zhao Rangan pouted the lance into two, the latter one stabbed Began Changsheng's horse's neck, and the previous one with the tip of the lance smashed into Began Changsheng's chest.

The lance of the riding lance was two feet long, sharp and sharp, and had the effect of breaking armor, but the armor of Don't be Changsheng thick and failed to penetrate too deeply, and Beigan Changsheng was not injured much, and the armor of his mount was also fine, and he was not injured, but after a heavy blow, his horse could not help but suffer pain, jumped away to the side, and raised his neck and neighed.

Taking this opportunity, Zhao Ran grabbed the bridle of Zhou Xian's mount, and the two rode back.

The hundred horsemen who went out of the city from Zhou Xian and the soldiers who went out of the city from Zhao Rangan did not fight much, but also broke away from the battlefield and retreated towards the city gate.

Zhao Rangan was not wearing armor, and his appearance was looked at by Began Changsheng. After Zhao Rangan was captured by Gou Xiong, Began Changsheng saw him and recognized who he was, he was overjoyed, how could he let him go? shouted loudly: "That's Zhao Rangan, Hugh is going to let him go!" "On the one hand, he led Zhu Di to chase after each other.

Li Liang at the cave in the city saw that more than 100 Tiefu cavalry were riding, but at this time, they left four or five corpses killed in battle and the war horses wandering next to the corpse of their wailing master, and in the wilderness outside the city, they were chased by the cavalry who were only about 20 horsemen and fled. Li Liang was surprised and said, "Who is the person who took the lead?" So brave! "The guards who commanded the city cave shot crossbow arrows to cover the defeat of Zhao Rangan and Zhou Xian.

Bows and arrows can not be taken seriously, and crossbows fired at close range have to be given some respect. Blocked by the crossbow arrows, Beigan Changsheng and the other cavalry could not approach, so they had to unwillingly patrol beyond the range of the crossbow arrows, and watched Zhao Rangan and the others return to the city.

Zhao Rangan waited for the city cave to enter, and the city gate was immediately closed.

Li Liang grabbed Zhao Rangan's mount, raised his face and complained, and said, "Junhou! How can you take risks without wearing armor? If the prince has a good character, how will the general represent General Zhang and Xin? ”

When Zhao Ran stabbed at Began Changsheng's mount and chest, he used all his strength to break open the tiger's mouth, and blood dripped down his hand. He jumped off his horse, helped Zhou Xian get off his mount, and asked, "Ergune, are you seriously injured?" ”

Zhou Xian said ashamedly: "If you fail to take the head of Gou'er for the big rate, the general will be incompetent!" ”

"Fight against you, make good use of the iron mallet, and you will be a warrior under Gou'er's tent, don't do it for a long time! There is no shame in your defeat at his hands! Zhao Rangan asked again, "Are you seriously injured?" ”

Don't do the name of Changsheng, Zhou Xian heard it for a long time, and knew that it was defeated under his men, so he didn't say more, took off his hood, wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, touched his waist, and the armor on his waist was dented by the iron mallet of Dongan Changsheng, and replied: "The injury is not serious." ”

Li Liang said: "Fortunately, I rescued Captain Zhou!" Prince, don't take such a risk next time! ”

Zhao Rangan said: "Ergune has been by my side since he was a child, and he is like a brother to me, can I sit idly by? ”

What he said was deep and meaningful, and it was from his heart.

Li Liangxin said: "Since he was stationed in Heyin with the Marquis of Xihai, I only felt that he was rude and irritable, and had no foresight, and Captain Zhou was also rough and uneducated, but this Captain Zhou was the main revenge, loyal and straight, and the Marquis of Xihai was not as good as wearing armor, and the cloth was rescued, and he also valued affection and righteousness, and the lord and minister were a pair, which complemented each other. ”

Zhou Xian is loyal and straightforward, Zhao Ran is affectionate, a pair of ministers and ministers, and there are shortcomings, in terms of loyalty, it is worthy of Li Liang's admiration.

Li Liang said: "Prince, at the latest an hour, Gou Xiong's main force will arrive, we can't stay longer, let's withdraw now!" ”

First, the military order cannot be violated, and secondly, he also fights, and he can't beat Don't do Changsheng and Gou Xiong, although Zhao Rangan is still angry, he has to give up, and said hatefully: "Sooner or later, I will be ashamed of the snow!" "Help Zhou Xian, and go to the barracks with Li Liang and others.

When they arrived at the barracks, the infantry of Zhao Rangan and Li Liang had been waiting in line for a long time.

Li Liang said: "The prince and the prince, please lead the troops first, and the last will be cut off." ”

Li Liang was worried that something would happen to Zhao Rangan, he couldn't explain to Xin Er, Li Liang was a new person who was favored by Xin Er, Zhao Rangan was also worried about his accident, and said: "I will choose another way to break off, and the captain will walk with me." ”

Li Liang said: "I still have an important matter to do, the prince and the prince just withdraw first, and I will catch up later." ”

Zhao Ran asked in surprise: "The preparations for the retreat of the whole army have been completed, what else does the captain need to do?" ”

Li Liang said with a smile: "After the prince leaves the city, he will know what he is going to do in the end after walking less than five miles. ”

If the retreat is too late, it will be caught up by the cavalry of Gou Xiong's department, and at that time, it will not be a feigned abandonment of the city and retreat, it is likely that it will be a real defeat and retreat. The military situation was urgent, and Zhao Rangan saw that Li Liang was mysterious, so he didn't ask, ordered the drums to be beaten, raised the flag, and led the troops out of the camp, and withdrew from the west gate of the city first.

Most of Li Liang's troops were also temporarily led by Zhao Rangan, and he only left a hundred people, together with the soldiers who withdrew from the city head and the city gate one after another, a total of four or five hundred soldiers, and he ordered half of them to push out the baggage carts in the camp, and sprinkle grain and silver money along the county streets leading to the west gate of the city, and ordered them to throw away as they went, until they met with the first troops led by Zhao Rangan and threw away all the things on the baggage carts, and he led the remaining half to do the important thing he needed to do.

Zhao Rangan went out of the city for several miles, less than five miles, and in the marching cavalry team, there was a little shouting, and then there was a lot of noise.

Whether it is camping, fighting, or marching, the most taboo thing for a general is to be noisy.

Zhao Rangan was furious, and was about to order his subordinates to be restrained by military law, when Du Lang's panicked voice sounded: "Junhou! You see, Heyin City is on fire! ”