The official road from Liaocheng to Xinyi has not yet had time to pave the cement.

A large army is hurrying in the direction of Xinyi with smoke and dust. This army, led by the general Wang Shi, together with Hu Guiliang's Third Army and other legions, reinforced Fancheng's reinforcements.

At this point, it was past noon.

A colonel rode up to Wang Shi and reported to him:

"General Qiyu, I just received a report from the intelligence officer, and the defenders of Fancheng are still fighting fiercely with the enemy."

Wang Shi, who was riding on a horse, was covered with dust and dust at this time, and he couldn't help but be overjoyed when he heard this.

"What did you say? Fan City hasn't fallen yet? ”

"Yes, General. Van Cheng is still in the hands of our army and has not been lost. ”

The colonel, clasped his fists and replied.

"Yes, very good." Wang Shi said happily.

Turning his head, he asked Hu Guiliang, the commander of the Third Army beside him:

"Where is our army now? How far is it from Xinyi? ”

Hu Guiliang, commander of the Third Army, reported with his fists hugged:

"General, our army set out from Liaocheng, and there are still more than thirty miles away from Xinyi."

Then, Hu Guiliang turned his head and looked at the advancing army again, and said to Wang Shi:

"General, our army must rest in Xinyi, the soldiers are too tired."

Wang Shi looked back at Yan Jun, nodded, and said to Hu Guiliang:

"Indeed, especially the soldiers from Gaotang, they haven't closed their eyes for two days and one night. Tell them that when they arrive in Xinyi, they will rest for the night, and then set off for Fancheng tomorrow. ”

"No." Hu Guiliang, commander of the Third Army, bowed down and answered.

April 17, Ji Palace, Affinity Palace.

The news that the 100,000 troops of the Zhao army were heading south and attacking Fancheng had been urgently transmitted to Jidu today.

After Ji Kang saw the news of the military intelligence sent back from the front, he was simply heartbroken.

In the face of such a situation, Ji Kang also believed that Fan Cheng defended the Yan army and could not stop the army of Zhao State. The disparity in strength is too great, and Fan Cheng will definitely be taken down by Zhao Jun in one go.

Sitting at the table, Ji Kang's face became very ugly and he was silent.

This season, the weather is not hot. However, Huang Yong, the director of the Intelligence Bureau, who was standing in front of Ji Kang's desk, had beads of sweat on his head dripping down his cheeks.

"Your Majesty, this is a major mistake by my intelligence bureau, please punish your subordinates."

After Huang Yong finished speaking, he knelt down with a "poof".

Ji Kang looked at Huang Yong, reacted, and glanced at the attendant Ling Wang Cong beside him.

The attendant ordered Wang Cong to understand from the horse and stepped forward to help Huang Yong up.

asked another attendant to bring over a silk scarf and handed it to the intelligence director Huang Yong.

Huang Yong wiped the beads of sweat on his face with a silk scarf, and bowed down to Ji Kang and said:

"Your Majesty, among the Zhao army, there are my intelligence officers. This time, the Zhao army acted secretly, and when the army gathered in Yecheng, it was heavily guarded, and it could only go out. I, an intelligence officer, have no chance to pass on information at all. ”

"After the army of Zhao went south and left Yecheng, our intelligence personnel passed on the information. But in any case, this time of our intelligence bureau is a major mistake, please ask my king to punish Wei Chen heavily. ”

"Director Huang Yong, your intelligence bureau is responsible for this matter, but now is not the time to pursue these issues. Don't blame your subordinates too much, over the years, the exploits of the Intelligence Bureau, the widows and courtiers are obvious to all. ”

Ji Kang said to Huang Yong.

"Thank you for the king's grace." Huang Yong bowed and replied.

Ji Kang came to the map in front of the inner wall of the hall and looked at Fan Cheng.

Then, Ji Kang's gaze turned to Diqiu City on the map.

After a while, I couldn't help but say:

"It's really worthy of being cheap! Fan Cheng can be found in this place, and he can hide from the sky and the sea, hit with one hit, Lian Po Lao'er, and it really deserves its reputation. However, it is not so easy for him to eat my army of hundreds of thousands in one bite! ”

Ji Kang still has confidence in his army.

Turning around, he said to Huang Yong: "Director Huang, the war has reached such a point, and the intelligence of the Central Plains countries cannot be relaxed. You go down immediately, strengthen the collection of intelligence from the countries of the Central Plains, and report it as soon as there is a major military situation. ”

"No." Huang Yong responded.

After Huang Yong walked out of the hall, Ji Kang came to the table and carefully read the few military information that Huang Yong had just sent.

After pondering for a long time in his heart, he instructed the attendant Ling Wang Cong:

"Let a few ministers come and discuss this matter."

After circulating the information sent by the intelligence director Huang Yong, none of the four cabinet ministers of Ju Xin, Su Belly, Su Dai, and Jiangqu remained unchanged, just like when Ji Kang first saw this message, his face was extremely pale.

Ju Xin said directly to Ji Kang: "Your Majesty, no matter what my front army can do in the end?" I, Yan Kingdom, must prepare for the worst to deal with this situation. ”

After thinking for a long time, Su said to Ji Kang: "Your Majesty, the stakes are very high, ring the battle bell!" ”

When everyone heard this, they all let out an "ah".

Several ministers set their eyes on Ji Kang together.

Ji Kang stood up, and in the Affinity Hall, he walked slowly, hesitating in his heart.

After a while, Ji Kang made up his mind in his heart and said to the four cabinet ministers:

"The situation has developed to this point, just ring the war bell as Su Xiang just said."

When the sunset was about to set in the west mountain, from the highest bell tower in the Ji Palace, there was a dull and heavy bell with a "bang", and the bell rang out, resounding throughout the Ji Capital.

For the first time since Ji Kang ascended the throne, the bell in the bell tower here has been struck three times in a row.

Immediately afterwards, the thistle was in all directions, and the bells on the inner and outer city towers were heard.

A young man, who did not know the meaning of the bell ringing, said stupidly at the dinner table:

"It's strange, why is there a bell in the palace today! And the bells on the tower of the city have been ringing, is this the bell of the ceremony? ”

The old man at the dinner table slapped the young man on the head and shouted:

"It seems that something has happened to my Yan Kingdom. This is the highest level of battle bells, prepare your armor and weapons, and prepare to go on battle. ”

"Ahh With a bang, the young man's mouth opened wide.

In the city of Jidu, the faces of the people in the streets and alleys, including those at home, have all changed.

The bell tower set up here in the Ji Palace was set up by Ji Kang's great-grandfather Yan Zhao Wang.

At that time, when this bell tower was set up, it was already stipulated, and the bell here could only be sounded when the Yan Kingdom was ready for war, so the people of the Yan Kingdom at that time called it the "War Bell".

A mouth is set up in the thistle palace, and a mouth is also set up on the eight inner and outer towers of the thistle capital.

The so-called war, as the name suggests, does not celebrate, does not tell the time, and does not like to mourn, it is the general war of the Yan Kingdom, and it is not allowed to ring the bell. Only when Yan Guo really encounters a life-and-death situation, can this bell ring.

As soon as the bell rang, the men of the Yan Kingdom, including the royal family, the lords and nobles, the eunuchs and gentry, and the general public, all had to hold weapons and wear armor and rush to the front.

Ringing three times in a row, Yan Guo is over 16 years old, and men under 35 years old are ready to go on the expedition; Ringing six times in a row, all the men in Yan Kingdom are ready to go out; Nine times in a row, the whole country of Yan, regardless of men, women, old and young, must be ready to go to the battle.

When Yan Xianggong's grandson Cao "killed the king", this bell did not ring;

Ji Kang's grandfather, Yan Wucheng, became the king of Ji Meat, and when Zhao failed, the bell did not ring;

When Ji Kang ascended the throne and sent troops to attack Qi, this bell did not ring;

Before the Central Plains War, Yan Guo only dispatched troops and did not ring the bell.

However, this time, Yan Guo finally rang the bell of the highest level of combat readiness.

In the history of the Yan Kingdom, since the bell was set, it has been struck twice, including this time, it is the third time.

The first time the bell was ringed was during the reign of Ji Kang's great-grandfather, Yan Zhao Wang, when the Yan Kingdom united the five countries and attacked the Qi country, the bell was only rung once.

However, the bell rang six times in a row, which shows the determination of King Yan Zhao to destroy Qi back then.

The second time the bell was ringed, it was during the period of Ji Kang's great-grandfather Yan Hui Wang Ji Qiushou, when Qi Guotian returned to the country, the Yan army was defeated, and when the Qi soldiers approached the border of Yan State, the bell rang.

The bell rang at that time, but it rang nine times in a row, and the whole country of Yan was mobilized, which shows the situation faced by Yan at that time.

In the past 20 years, the battle bell set by Yan has never rang again. Many young Yan people don't know that there is such a thing as a war bell. However, Yan people over the age of 30 have deep memories of this.

As soon as the battle bell rings, no matter how many times it hits, the battle in the front of the Yan Kingdom will definitely not go well, and it must have encountered great trouble.

According to the ancestral system left over from the period of King Yan Zhao, once there is a major defeat in the front and the country is facing a crisis, the war bell must be ringed. And according to the situation of Yan Kingdom, choose the number of bells that need to be ringed to deal with the crisis.

From Jidu and even in the garrison camp outside the city, the horses' hooves roared, and many heralds had already ridden their horses in all directions.

The country of Yan is already in the highest state of war.