"I heard that the queen vowed to kill enough 40,000 captives and gather 100,000 to make sacrifices for He Ge Lao and the fallen soldiers?"

Zhang Tongchang nodded, shook the thing in his hand in front of Yu Yuanye, and said: "I don't know if I heard this, just in the midst of the discussion of courtiers like Lord Yu, the queen also immediately issued an order for me to clear the walls of Guilin City, and instructed you and me to bring all the people on the outskirts of Guilin with food and valuables and move them into the city." ”

Yu Yuanye was anxious when he heard this, "How can this be done, even if the people outside the city are allowed to move in, then where will they live?" ”

"The Empress asked the Governor to negotiate with the people of the various families in the city of Guilin on behalf of the imperial court, hoping that the people in the city would allow the people in the suburbs to live in their homes temporarily."

"It's just a mess." Yu Yuanye was so angry that he blew his beard, "The queen doesn't know about soldiers at all, and she doesn't let so many people from the suburbs enter the city, how many Qing army spies will be involved in it, but she will discuss this matter with the people in the city, how long will it take to discuss, and when the discussion hurts, I am afraid that the enemy will already be in the city." ”

"Then it has to be faster."

"Lord Zhang..."

"Lord Yu, don't say it, from the heel between you and me, you and Wang Huacheng have a very close personal relationship, and Wang Huacheng is the ancestor of the former queen, so naturally he is not on good terms with the new queen.

Although Zhang is a native of Chu, he is also a student of Qu's various ministries, so he is naturally Wu Dang Donglin, who is not pleasing to the emperor and queen, but is this the time to talk about partisan disputes? Obviously not, the current enemy, whether it is you Lord Yu or me Zhang Tongchang, or the new queen who has not been in charge of the country for a long time, we should give up all distractions and always face the enemy is the right thing for you. ”

After a while, Yu Yuanye nodded, "Okay, even so, it is more convenient for Yu to do this, after all, Yu is more familiar with someone in Guilin's territory than you, Lord Zhang." ”

Under the dispatch of Yuan Ye, the entire city of Guilin was mobilized both inside and outside for a while, moving and moving, vacating houses and building city defenses, building city defenses, men, women and children mobilized together, the city head was waving flags, the army was neat, and the soldiers and civilians in the city were determined to fight to the death with the enemy.

Qianqian is not as good at war as Tianlang, but her advantage is the same as Tianlang, in that she acts decisively and never drags her feet.

Before making this decision, the courtiers also had concerns similar to Yuan Ye, but Qianqian believed that if Guilin City wanted to mix in the spies, it had already been mixed in before, and would not stay on the outskirts of the city stupidly. And the follow-up spies should not appear in Guilin at this time, but should appear in Quanzhou, after all, there is still a mountain barrier between Guilin and Hengzhou, which Nikan just occupied, and the spies will not easily mix.

There is a pass between Lion Mountain and Phoenix Mountain in Xing'an County, east of Guilin, named 'Yan Pass', which is the throat of the Xianggui Corridor, if you can hold this pass with three or five thousand soldiers and horses, Kong Youde will not be able to beat Guilin.

However, there are many guards in Guilin City, such as Zhao Yin, Wang Yongzuo, Pu Ying, Yang Guodong, and Ma Yanglin, but no one is willing to go out of the city to guard the pass.

Soon after, Kong Youde came, and the troops were not much, only less than 20,000 people, but he was extremely arrogant, and easily broke through the strict pass, and after that, he didn't take the Guilin defenders seriously at all.

Kong Youde arrived near Guilin City, Yu Yuanye and Zhang Tongchang discussed the need to deploy defenses inside and outside the city, and then remembered that it was the queen who did not know the soldiers in Yu Yuanye's mouth and asked him to strengthen the defense of Yanguan.

So Yu Yuanye led Wang Yongzuo, Pu Ying, Yang Guodong, and Ma Yanglin to guard the four walls of Guilin, and Zhang Tongchang persuaded Zhao Yinxuan and Hu Yiqing to go to Yanguan with him.

But they came late, at this time Yanguan had been lost, Zhang Tongchang had to set up a formation on the spot with Zhao Yinxuan and Hu Yiqing, and led the army to camp on the bank of the Xiaorong River.

Zhao Yinxuan and Hu Yiqing are both from Yunnan, and the two are cousins.

The two were recruited by Yunnan Yushi Chen Xin in the first year of Hongguang to defend the city of Nanjing, after which Chen Xin was stationed in Huguang, and died in battle soon after, Zhao Yinxuan and Hu Yiqing led the Yunnan army under the rule of He Tengjiao, and was awarded the deputy general army by He Tengjiao.

The Qing soldiers immediately attacked Xiaorongjiang, Zhao Yinxuan and Hu Yiqing fought hard, and Hu Yiqing alone had hundreds of blades in this battle, which shows that he is also a fierce general like Jiao Lian.

However, Kong Youde ordered his subordinates to cross the river from the flank, and the two armies attacked, Zhao Yinxuan and Hu Yiqing were defeated, and the remnants of the army fled, and they fled completely, not retreating to Guilin City but fleeing directly to Liuzhou.

It's not to blame the two, Kong Youde and Shang Kexi chased their butts to cover up, and they couldn't do it if they wanted to enter the city.

A pair of cousins were beaten away, and Zhang Tongchang, the governor of Guilin, suddenly became the commander of the light pole. So he insisted on returning to Guilin and swam across the east bank of the Li River that night.

At this time, Guilin City learned that Xiaorongjiang was defeated, Zhao Yinxuan and Hu Yiqing fled, and the guards of the four cities, Wang Yongzuo, Pu Ying, Yang Guodong, and Ma Yanglin, also escaped completely.

Not only did the defenders run out, but even the people in the city almost ran out, the huge Guilin City was almost an empty city, and there were names and surnames in the city, almost only Yu Yuanye was alone.

After entering the city, he had just pushed open the unguarded empty gate of the Liangguang Governor's Mansion and walked into the main hall, Yu Yuanye first said to him bitterly: "What are you doing when you come back?" ”

"The situation is so critical, why can't I come back, not to mention why you also stay in the city, Lord Yu?"

Yu Yuanye sighed and said, "Hey, I'm staying behind, I have the responsibility to guard this city, and I must 'survive the city, and the city will die and perish'." ”

Zhang Tongchang said with a smile: "That's right, today I will die with my father, die for the country, and die brightly." ”

"Nonsense, Master Zhang, you are not staying, you should go!"

Zhang Tongchang shook his head and said: "If you want to die, you will die together, Lord Yu, am I, as the governor of Guilin and the great-grandson of Zhang Wenzhonggong, the first assistant of the Ming Dynasty, am I not qualified to die with you?" ”

Yu Yuanye said with a wry smile: It's not that the public is not enough, but Yu Yuanye is fortunate in his third life. ”

So Zhang Tongchang sat down on a chair next to Yuan Ye and said in a dumb voice: "Tongchang has no power to restrain the chicken, and he doesn't want to die in the battle formation, but he doesn't want to die under the sword and gun of the Tartars." However, Tong Chang was willing to die with his father in the city of Guilin. ”

Yu Yuanye said again: "I am a vassal, I am not allowed to flee to other places, you are the governor of the army, you should take refuge for a while." Daming is not dead yet, there are still many big things in the world waiting for people like you to do, Lord Zhang, you better hurry up! ”

Zhang Tongchang smiled and said: "The public can die for the court, can't Tongchang?" Why does Yu Gong treat each other thinly and treat himself as thin as others?

If you want to die, you will die together! The ancients were ashamed to be a gentleman alone, so the public would not allow me to die with you? ”

Yu Yuanye saw that the persuasion was ineffective, so he smiled and said, "That's it!" Let's die here with the descendants of Zhang Wenzhong today. ”

So the two lit candlelight and sat in the hall, took wine and drank together, and each wrote a few desperate poems.