"Close the gates and tighten the guard".

With Feng Pingzhong's order, the sound of the horn sounded at the head of the city, and the city gate slowly closed. The archers are in place behind the hole in the arrow tower, the outermost row on the city wall is still the archers, the winch crossbow is pushed to the central position, the crossbow arrows are placed on one side, several crossbowmen stand by the side and wait for orders, and the soldiers on the horse road carry arrows, rolling logs and other things back and forth from the equipment hangar, and the city is busy.

Jiang Anyi saw that the soldiers were shuttling back and forth, the orders were short and powerful, and the order was orderly, and he praised: "General Feng governs the army well, and he is not chaotic when he encounters the enemy, and he is really a tiger and wolf army." ”

Feng Pingzhong said with a cold face: "Lord Jiang, the big battle is about to start, the sword and arrow have no eyes, please take all the adults to the pass to rest, and wait for the end of the enemy to meet the wind with the adults." ”

Jiang Anyi said with a smile: "Jiang has deep admiration for the soldiers who killed the enemy on the battlefield, and at this opportunity, I asked General Feng to allow Jiang to watch the battle at the head of the city." ”

Feng Pingzhong saw that Jiang Anyi's face showed excitement, but most of the entourage officials around him were as earth-colored, and he cowered and hid inward, thinking to himself, this Jiang Daren is young, and the newborn calf is not afraid of tigers, so he probably wants to make some war exploits, so he might as well let him watch the battle at the head of the city, so that he can understand that the cruelty of the battlefield is not the easy freehand remembered in the books. It is difficult for a man to shoot a bow and arrow at the head of the city, and it is not a big risk to watch over him by his side.

The civil and military are not unified, coupled with the lack of news, Feng Pingzhong has not heard of Jiang Anyi's undercover Qingyun Water Village and directly fighting with the traitors, but he vaguely heard that he was robbed and killed by the remnants of the Yuan Tianjiao, relying on his wife to be a master of the dragon guard, and there was no accident with the guards by his side.

Of course, there are a lot of rumors about the history of Jiang Thorn, the most legendary is to escape from the Northern Desert alone, Feng Pingzhong scoffed at this kind of rumor, how can a person escape from the country of tigers and wolves, hundreds of thousands of iron horses, literati like to exaggerate, blowing the cowhide into the sky, maybe this time there will be rumors that Jiang Thorn Shi alone retreated from the Western Regions coalition tens of thousands.

There was a lot of noise under the city, some people vigorously slapped the city gate, shouting for them to enter the pass, and more people surrounded the cattle and goods into a simple defensive circle, and took out swords, bows and arrows to defend against the enemy, Jiang Anyi saw that this group of people was well-trained at the head of the city, and in a moment they formed a rudimentary fortification.

Fan Siben couldn't bear it when he heard the crying, and couldn't help but say loudly: "General Feng, why don't you let these people go into the pass to hide, there is still an urn city in the city, just watch them." ”

"In the eighth year of Emperor Jing, a group of Western Regions troops disguised themselves as Hu Shang, and the town general let them enter the pass to avoid chaos, but this group of thieves seized the gate and drove the subsequent Hu army commander into the pass, and the Jingmen Pass was slaughtered. Afterwards, the Son of Heaven decreed that when the enemy encountered at the border pass, no one outside the pass was allowed to enter the pass, and those who violated the order were beheaded. Feng Pingzhong squinted his eyes at the caravan under the gate, his tone was cold, and he couldn't see what he was thinking.

In the eighth year of Emperor Jing, it was more than 80 years ago, and everyone did not dare to refute the will of the first emperor, and everyone silently looked at the merchants under the gate and cried in vain.

The smoke and dust rolled from the west, and the yellow sand condensed in the air like a yellow python, Feng Pingzhong's face was solemn, and he said: "This is not an ordinary horse thief, it is a well-trained army. ”

Jiang Anyi was stunned for a moment, could it be that the Western Regions Army came to invade again, looking at the small scale, there were only about 200 people, isn't it a joke that people want to break through?

Zhao Mingqian, the county magistrate of Hecheng County, said with a smile: "My lord, waiting in the city will hinder the soldiers from resisting the enemy, so it is better to avoid it for a while." ”

"Yes, yes", Jiang Anyi saw that most of the officials accompanying him were pale and frightened. Jiang Anyi said: "You wait for the time being, I'll take a look at the city." ”

The officers hurriedly left under the guidance of the soldiers, and Jiang Anyi looked intently at the horse thieves who were getting closer and closer. Dressed in scale armor and with a strange helmet on their heads, the thieves enveloped their faces in them, revealing only their eyes and noses, like moving metal fortresses, murderous.

Feng Pingzhong said: "It's the armor of Rong Miguo." ”

Zhang Daozong, the deputy of the town on one side, said angrily: "These thieves in the Western Regions, when they have nothing to do, they turn into horse thieves and come to rob, and treat my Da Zheng as fish and meat, and they come to take a bite when they want to eat it, which is hateful." ”

The horse thieves had already engaged the caravan, and the caravan cowered in the defensive circle was the first to shoot bows and arrows, and those arrows only landed on the horse thieves' scales and bounced down, making it difficult to hurt them. It was evident that the Rong Mi cavalry, who had turned into horse thieves, was very skilled, and a rain of arrows counterattacked and wounded many of the guards in the defensive circle, and then rushed forward and brandished their sabers to cut a gap, and soon, a caravan fell.

The thieves rushed into the defensive circle and began to kill people, and the caravan scattered for their lives, but was overtaken by the thieves, and after a while, the dead were all over the ground. The thieves did not stop and began to attack another caravan, and the tragedy was repeated again.

Jiang Anyi said in a deep voice: "Why didn't General Feng send troops to drive away this gang of thieves? ”

"There is an order from the Anxi Metropolitan Protectorate, and you are not allowed to leave the customs without reason." Feng Pingzhong replied expressionlessly.

Zhang Daozong explained: "The identity of the caravan outside the gate is unknown, there has been a situation where the caravan took the opportunity to rush through the gate when the gate was opened, in order to prevent it from happening, the court ordered through the Metropolitan Protectorate to guard the pass first, and not to go out of the customs without reason, otherwise even if the people are rescued, there is a fault." ”

The screams came with the wind, and Jiang Anyi saw a businessman being beheaded by the chasing thieves, blood rising from his neck into the air, and the yellow sand was red, which was extremely eye-catching.

The caravan under the gate realized that the passive defense would only be wiped out one by one, and several caravans gathered a team of more than 200 people and rushed towards the horse thief. The caravan's horse team condescendingly occupied the terrain, and those guards were also experienced in a hundred battles, and they attacked with all their might at the moment of life and death, but the thieves couldn't resist it, leaving a few corpses and fleeing.

However, the thieves were well equipped with horses, and after rushing for miles, they regrouped and counterattacked in the shape of a cone. In contrast, the caravan's team was like a plate of loose sand, swarming towards the cone, and was quickly rushed to pieces, and when the thieves turned around and pursued, the caravan could no longer form a team, and could only fight with it with personal bravery.

The caravan was already doomed, Jiang Anyi looked at the guards who were still struggling to support the guards, and said sharply: "Human lives are at stake, please General Feng quickly send troops to rescue these merchants." ”

The scar on Feng Pingzhong's face twitched, but he didn't make a sound.

It seems that it is impossible for Feng Pingzhong to order to go out of the customs to save these people, Jiang Anyi said angrily: "Since the general is afraid of being responsible, then okay, please ask the general to order the opening of the first-line gate, and Jiang himself will bring people to save them?" ”

Feng Pingzhong forced Jiang Anyi's eyes and said: "Lord Jiang, the battlefield is not a place for dancing and writing, if the adults insist on going out, the three thousand soldiers of Jingmen Pass will not accompany them, and the last general will speak first, if the adult is lost, the last general will not lead people to rescue." ”

Jiang Anyi said coldly: "Life and death are fate, don't blame the general." There is no need to work for the Jingmen Gate, as long as General Feng prepares a pair of armor for me and orders the gate to be opened. ”

Feng Pingzhong was silent for a moment, and then ordered: "Zhang Daozong, you prepare armor for Lord Jiang, and pass me on the order to open the two-foot-wide gate, and wait for Lord Jiang to retreat again after he leaves the customs." ”

After speaking, Feng Pingzhong turned around and faced the outside of the gate, and said, "Lord Jiang, take care." ”

Jiang Anyi followed Zhang Daozong down the city, gathered his twenty personal guards, and asked them to prepare to attack. Xin Fei felt unwell, stayed in Hecheng County and did not come with him, Fan Siben and others persuaded each other, Jiang Anyi said in an official tone: "Jiang, as the assassin of Huazhou, how can he sit back and watch Da Zheng Zimin be slaughtered by the Hu people."

Those guards have been cultivated by Jiang Anyi with a sense of honor, and the training effect according to the method designed by the commander is outstanding, making these guards stand out in the military competition. Jiang Anyi was generous, well-paid, well-equipped, and the treatment of the guards made their original comrades in the military camp very envious, and they all wanted to be selected by the assassin as a guard, but Jiang Anyi did not choose a new guard, which made the original guards feel superior.

Money is one aspect, military merit is another, and it is more risky to follow the main general, but you don't have to worry about being robbed by your boss. Take the last time he killed the remnants of the Yuan Tianjiao with his wife in the Gobi, in addition to the reward, each guard was credited once, and ten lucky people were also promoted to accompany the lieutenant, which was a great stimulus to the guard, and the opportunity to get promoted and make a fortune was in front of him, which did not want to fight with his life.

The guards were instilled with the idea of being ready to meet the enemy, and they carried armor and weapons with them. Several of these twenty guards have followed Jiang Anyi to meet the attack of the Yuan Tianjiao, they know the courage of the main general, and the others have also heard of Jiang Anyi's deeds from their mouths, although there are only twenty people, but all of them have high morale, wearing fine scale armor, holding a long iron spear, standing next to the war horse, looking at the main general Jiang Anyi with burning eyes, waiting for him to give an order to go out of the customs and make meritorious service.

Although General Feng and Jiang Tingshi explained that Jiang Tingshi was responsible for leaving the customs, but Yizhou Assassin Shi really died in front of the pass, I am afraid that General Feng and himself will not be able to escape the involvement. As Feng Pingzhong's friend, Zhang Daozong is very clear about Feng Pingzhong's stubborn temper, this old friend's military exploits are enough for him to be promoted to a general above the fifth grade, but he doesn't know how to be flexible and unwilling to ask for help, so he will stay in Jingmen Pass to be a town general under the sixth grade.

Jiang Anyi put on the Mingguang armor sent by Zhang Daozong, turned over on the horse, and shouted: "Get on the horse." ”

The guards behind him were neatly aligned, turned over and got on their horses, lined up in two columns, and followed closely behind Jiang Anyi. Zhang Daozong praised: "Lord Jiang's personal guards are very skilled, and I wish you success in the end." ”

The gate slowly opened, Jiang Anyi raised his gun to signal, and Charcoal took the lead in slowly exiting the gate, and the twenty guards behind him followed him out of the gate. Above the city, Feng Pingzhong watched Jiang Anyi and his twenty guards running towards the battlefield four miles away without hurry, pursing his lips.

The gate was not closed, and the four hundred soldiers in the urn city were gathered in a column, and Zhang Daozong mobilized these people in case of accidents. Before the team, Zhang Daozong smiled bitterly: "This Lord Assassin Shi did not listen to the dissuasion to go out of the customs to save people, we can't watch him be killed, the army paid attention, after leaving the customs, they formed a gun formation, fought steadily, and quickly moved to the front of the pass after saving people, there are winch crossbows at the head of the city, and those Rongmi people dare not approach." ”

Some of the thieves two miles away greeted Jiang Anyi, obviously wanting to prevent Jiang Anyi from saving people. The wind was blowing in his face, with a faint smell of blood, Jiang Anyi put the tip of his gun flat and shouted: "Kill the enemy." ”

"Kill the enemy", there was a neat echo behind him, and the spears were flattened, and the guns were like arrows, attacking the thieves who ushered in.