"Bang dang..."

After the hour, the gate in the south of Yingzhou City was closed.

It was not closed by the soldiers defending the city, but by the people in the city who took the initiative to close it.

So far, there are still thousands of people in the city.

These people are already reluctant to leave.

The wasteland outside the south of the city, as well as the west city wall, the people in the east and south of the city have evacuated, and until now, the old and young women and children have almost left, and the rest are young and strong.

Seeing the soldiers defending the city and the Xijin people killing like this, these people were also ignited with the fighting spirit in their hearts.

Vowed to fight with the Xijin people to the end.

So, half an hour ago, there were people spontaneously organized, one is because they are unwilling to leave, and the other is because the Xijinrao cavalry outside the city has broken up many people at the tail, and many people who are at the end have also been killed by the Xijin, and there are few soldiers left to intercept the square curtain, in order to prevent the Xijin cavalry from taking the opportunity to enter the city from the south of the city, so it can only be closed immediately.

After the city gate was closed, in the dust, Ji Ke led a team of five hundred Rao soldiers to stop the pursuit of the Xijin people while breaking the back, relieving a lot of pressure on the square curtain.

But as the ranks of the people gradually moved away, looking at the war-torn city inside and outside Yingzhou, Ji Ke could only endure the pain and stay away.

At this time, the square curtain was already fighting with Hu Qingfang, the general of this cavalry.

He was surrounded by Xijin cavalry on the left and right, and the thousand people sent to him by Zhang Xiang were now less than a hundred still fighting.

Even so, he also led the thousand men to kill nearly half of the two thousand cavalry, and now that the people were safely evacuated, he smiled.

Although there were still Xijin cavalry chasing behind, but after the commander of Yuji led the people to break off, the cavalry that pursued them no longer posed a threat to them.

Fang Curtain was satisfied, and he completed the interception task given to him by the colt.

"Raised by a son of a bitch, Lao Tzu fought with you..."

Fang Mu retracted his gaze, spat out a mouthful of blood, and pounced on Hu Qingfang with his last strength.

In the Xijin camp, Li Juguang is the most capable general in Xijin, Qiu Xingjian is the strongest cavalry general in his hands, and Hu Qingfang, as Qiu Xingjian's subordinate general, is extraordinary.

But now, just the deputy commander of the Xinghua battalion made the square curtain give Hu Qingfang a headache.

originally thought it was a simple pursuit mission, but I didn't expect that in the end, the people of Yingzhou City escaped.

There is no way to chase it, because he also knows that he can't chase too far, after all, the reinforcements from Lizhou are on the way to Yingzhou, and if they meet, his soldiers and horses are not enough for the reinforcements from Lizhou.

The fact that these people were able to flee was a great part of the curtain that intercepted him.

It only took a thousand men to cut off the back road of his pursuit, which made Hu Qingfang both angry and resentful.

Hu Qingfang carried a war knife, faced the square curtain that rushed in, and raised his knife to meet it.

Outside the battle circle, the remaining less than a hundred Southern Chu soldiers were besieged by the Xijin cavalry, and then fell down one by one.

Fang Mu has been fighting for so long, but in fact, he has long been physically exhausted, and it is a will that has allowed him to persist until now.

And this Hu Qingfang was still at the peak of his combat power at this time, and Fang Mu was naturally not his opponent.

It didn't last for dozens of rounds, Hu Qingfang cut off the head of Fang Mu with a knife, when Fang Mu fell to the ground, he knelt down in the direction of Yingzhou City, and when the head landed, the blood-red eyes were still with relief, and he looked at Yingzhou City without blinking.

"The horses, the square curtain army, the whole army was annihilated, more than 1,000 enemies were annihilated, all the people in the south of the city were evacuated, and the city gate was closed."

When he received the scout's report, Zhang Xiang was already half-kneeling on the ground, and now beside him, only two guards were still protecting him desperately, and in front of him, there were only fifty or sixty Southern Chu soldiers left to face the surging Xijin people, and retreated step by step.

They had been approached to the location of the corner tower.

After reporting the news, the scout picked up the war knife on the ground and poured into the battle Zheng on the city wall

It was only soon that Zhang Xiang saw his head fly out.

In the face of this kind of thing, he was already numb, and he wiped the blood on his face fiercely: "Soldiers, you are all my iron-blooded men in Nanchu, this time I died in Yingzhou City, there is no shame, I can cover the evacuation of the people of Yingzhou, you are indispensable, even if I die in battle today, the court will reward the merits, and the parents, wives and children of the soldiers will also be properly treated by the court, although my body is dead, my heart is still there." ”

"Though my body is dead, my heart remains..."

The remaining dozens of soldiers shouted in the face of the approaching Xijin.

Zhang Xiang shook off the two guards who were supporting him and stood up.

He raised his sword and stared at the approaching Xijin: "Kill..."

"Kill..."

Then, he rushed out first, and directly slashed a Xijin man who had no time to dodge.

It was also at this time that there was a sudden commotion behind Xijinrao, followed by a burst of tragic swords

Then, Zhang Xiang heard a burst of shouts: "Kill these Xijin barbarians." ”

Then, he saw countless people from Yingzhou rushing up.

Some of these people carried slabs, some carried hoes, some carried sickles, in short, all the agricultural tools they could see could be seen in their hands.

One by one, they had a firm gaze and rushed into the ranks of the Sijin soldiers on the city wall.

Zhang Xiang was stunned for a moment, and then his body, which had no strength, was suddenly full of strength again.

For a time, the fierce battle on the city wall kicked off again.

Although the momentum of these people rushing up was strong, the Xijin people were also busy for a while.

It was only soon that the situation was stabilized by the Xijin people, and it was a one-sided situation.

These are just ordinary people, and their momentum does not represent combat effectiveness, and after these Xijin people stabilize their positions, these people have become the targets of their slaughter, almost as simple as chopping melons and vegetables.

One by one, the people lay in pools of blood, and when they died, they still clung to the weapons in their hands and refused to let go.

Zhang Xiang's liver and gallbladder were broken, and because of the serious injury, he couldn't help but spit out a mouthful of blood.

With a steady stream of Xijin people climbing up from the ladder, Zhang Xiang and others were forced into the corner, and there was no way to retreat.

At this time, under the city wall, there was a sudden loud 'clang'.

The West City Gate was broken by the Xijin Rao crashing car, and the Xijin cavalry poured into Chengzheng

Immediately afterward, there was an extremely chaotic and terrible cry from the city.

That was the massacre that the Sijin people had begun to carry out against the people who remained in the city.

Soon, the Xijin army outside the city poured into the city through the city gate, and the people on the city wall who poured up were basically slaughtered in less than half an hour.

Zhang Xiang sighed, he was sitting on the ground at this time, he had no strength, and the two guards around him also seemed to have no strength, half-kneeling on the ground, but still holding him with his hands to prevent him from falling to the ground.

"Enough..."

He snapped softly.

Due to the severity of his injuries, his vision has blurred.

Vaguely, at some point, he saw that the two guards around him were finally slashed to the ground by the Xijin.

Just when he thought he was going to be killed, a red figure suddenly appeared in his sight.

This figure is unusually athletic, with a somewhat delicate body, it is a woman, and she also holds a long sword in her hand.

Well, it's a bit similar to Qin Elegy's long sword.

But it's not Qin Elegy, from the figure, Zhang Xiang can still see it.

She was suddenly killed from the ranks of the people who poured up the city wall, and a long sword passed by, and Xi Jinrao's figure was cut down by her one after another.

's body has such tremendous strength.

Zhang Xiang was also stunned for a while, and his vision suddenly became much clearer.

Then he began to look at the woman.

Dressed in red, with a chest-length long braid coiled on his chest, he looks unusually fresh and clean.

The eyes are like torches, sharp, each sword kills a person, there is not the slightest emotion in the eyes, and the killing is decisive.

After she rushed all the way and killed nearly a hundred people, those Xijin people were also shocked by her cruel methods, and they didn't dare to step forward for a while in the face of her passing by with a sword.

She walked in the direction of Zhang Xiang, and in the face of those who tried to block her, they all flew directly with a kick or a sword, which looked as simple as eating and drinking.

She walked straight up to Zhang Xiang, glanced at him, and then lifted him up with one hand.

At this moment, the Xijin people reacted, and then rushed towards the woman.

The woman in red carried Zhang Xiang, and after piercing the two Xijin people, she flew up with a light body under her feet, and took Zhang Xiang over the city wall and flew towards the city wall.

When the people of Xijin under the city wall saw her, they also rushed up.

But the woman's body was flexible, and she took Zhang Xiang directly to the side of a cavalryman, and after stabbing the cavalryman off the horse with a sword, Zhang Xiang was placed on the horse, turned over on the horse, pulled up the reins, turned the horse's head, and galloped away quickly in the direction of the south of the city.

She rode her horse so fast that the Xijin cavalry only chased her a distance of less than a mile, and the woman was gone.

Qiu Xingjian, the general of Xijin who had not yet entered the city at this time, saw the woman in red who was far away, frowned and asked the people around her, "Who did she save?" ”

"Back to the general, the general who defended the city in Yingzhou was rescued by her." One of his subordinates hurriedly replied.

Qiu Xingjian smiled: "This woman easily jumped off the city wall with light skills, and she can save people in my Xijin army, such a strong martial arts, there are only people in the rivers and lakes of Nanchu, forget it, if you save it, you will save it, now Yingzhou City has entered my Xijin command, there is no need to worry." ”

finished, Qiu Xingjian waved his hand: "Enter the city..."

……

On June 11, news of the fall of Yingzhou spread throughout Southern Chu.

On the official road leading to Fengyang Mansion, a long line of ordinary people walked on foot.

They were the team that escaped from the east gate of Yingzhou, led by Qin Fu, the governor of Yingzhou.

In this team, there was also a carriage.

The slave in the carriage had cried and fainted several times after hearing the news of the fall of Yingzhou last night, and had not eaten since last night.

Lin Feihong, who was escorting her, didn't know what words of comfort to her in his eyes, so he could only silently guard outside the carriage.

According to the news that Yingzhou fell, Zhang Xiang led the 2,000 soldiers defending the city to be annihilated, and 5,000 people in the city were slaughtered and 2,000 were captured.

This means that the chances of Zhang Xiang alive are slim.

Because if he was still alive, the news of the capture would have come, but there has been no cherry blossom so far

In the evening, this group of people who marched east finally met the 50,000 reinforcements from Fengyang Mansion.

After listening to Qin Fu's words, the general of this reinforcement army arranged for 5,000 soldiers to escort these people back to Fengyang, while he led the remaining 40,000 soldiers and horses to continue to advance into Yingzhou and wait and see what happened.

Similarly, on the official road to Lizhou to the south, another team of people led by Ji Ke has also walked a hundred miles.

Hearing the news of the fall of Yingzhou, he stopped the procession, set up a simple spiritual seat under a tree, and then led the soldiers to pay homage to the spiritual seat.

This spiritual seat belonged to Zhang Xiang, and the team of more than 30,000 people he led also visited together.

If there was no Zhang Xiang, it would be difficult for the 70,000 people in Yingzhou City to evacuate, and it was he who saved the 70,000 people.

By June 12, the news of Zhang Yuma's heroic death in defending the city was already known, and the news also spread to Pingzhou, and Zhao Hanyan, the princess of Gaoping, fell ill.

Li Yanzhi returned to Pingzhou City from the Four Seasons Garden outside the city, and sent all the people of the Ming Society under his command out, so as to find out whether the horse was killed.

Snow God Mountain, in the courtyard of Nuoda, Yuan Shen knelt on the ground, and in front of him, it was a middle-aged man in a black robe.

"Master, the news is coming, I don't know if it's true or not." Yuan was calm.

The middle-aged man held his hands on his shoulders and said no, and after a while, he said slowly: "Didn't Elegy go down the mountain to protect him?" ”

Yuan Shen replied: "From Snow God Mountain to Yingzhou, even if it is a fast horse, it will take ten days, according to the itinerary, the junior sister will probably have one day to reach Yingzhou, and it is too late in time." ”

The middle-aged man said slowly: "Whether he died or not, it's too early to make a conclusion, wait a little longer!" Since Elegy is almost in Yingzhou, she should have also gotten the news, she will go to investigate, wait for her news! ”

Yuan Shen said in a deep voice: "Master, now that Yingzhou has fallen into the hands of the Xijin people, I am afraid that it will be inappropriate for my junior sister to go to Yingzhou." ”

"You also want to go to Yingzhou?" The middle-aged man knew him too well.

Yuan Shen nodded: "I'm worried about my junior sister." ”

"What's the use of you worrying about her?" The middle-aged man shook his hand and said: "Elegy is not a reckless person, she will definitely find out first when she gets the news, is it too late for you to go at this time?" Let's wait for the news first, if Ming Heng is not dead, but was captured by the Xijin people, we can find a way to save it, if he really dies in the city, then what's the use of you going? If she wants to avenge Ming Heng and fight hard with the Xijin people, can you stop it? Even if you add one more, the two of you will be able to destroy the Xijin army? ”

"But... Master..."What else is Yuan Shen thinking.

The middle-aged man interrupted him: "Don't be, I have already sent someone to Bianjing, you help me wait for the news of Bianjing." ”

"Yes..."Yuan Shen didn't dare to do anything more, so he could only nod.

……

On June 13, thousands of miles away in Bianjing, the court went to the early court.

Emperor Zhao Yan sat on the dragon chair, facing down, and was a silent minister.

Now in addition to the war between the north and the Northern Liao, there are also the destruction of the Jiangnan military grain, the robbery of the Jingzhou military grain, the Xichuan Road Yuandu Mansion was occupied by the former Chu remnants, and now there is news such as the eastward advance of Xijin, the fall of Yingzhou, and the death of Princess Gaoping's concubine in Yingzhou City.

Since May, Zhao Yan has hardly had a good rest.

A lot of news that was unfavorable to Nanchu made him, the emperor, add a lot of gray hair in just over this month.

After a long time, Liu Zhen, who was the prime minister, took the lead in standing up: "Your Majesty, the news ministers of Yingzhou City where Zhang Fuma died are also sad, and I hope that Your Majesty will take care of the dragon's body, don't be sad." ”

"Who can tell me why he went to Yingzhou? Why did he go to Yingzhou? I told him to stay in Pingzhou, why didn't he listen? What can he do as a scholar? Can you fight? Now that he has lost his life in Yingzhou, what should I do with Princess Gaoping? ”

Zhao Yan was talking to himself and himself, and even more questioning the next cadres.

It's just that these ministers are also confused, no one knows why this horse went to Yingzhou, after the news of the fall of Yingzhou came, everyone knew that the general who was defending the city was actually this horse.

Qin Fu, the governor of Yingzhou, sent news that he was in danger and took the initiative to shoulder the responsibility of defending the city.

Li Dian, the governor of the government, came out and said: "Your Majesty, no matter what Zhang Yuma's intention is to go to Yingzhou, he can use 5,000 people from the Xinghua camp and 2,000 officers and soldiers in the city to defend Yingzhou City, and save 70,000 people in Yingzhou City, so that these people can evacuate safely, which is a great achievement." ”

"Lord Li is good, Your Majesty, Zhang Yuma saved 70,000 people in Yingzhou City, which is rare good news these days, and now the news of whether the horse was killed is not true, and it has to be confirmed before we can make a conclusion." Doctor Ren Chao also spoke up.

"Rare good news?"

Hearing Ren Chao's words, Zhao Yan felt a little embarrassed, and angrily he slapped the dragon chair, pointed at this cadre and said angrily: "A group of wine bags and rice bags, are you embarrassed?" What does the court do to raise you? From the destruction of the Jiangnan military rations to the present, is there a piece of good news? Zhang Chi was captured, and the Wen Shufu envoy had made no progress in the war with Northern Liao these days, and the remnants of the former Chu suddenly came out, not only robbed the military rations in Jingzhou, but also established himself as the king in the Yuan Capital, and the Xijin army suddenly advanced eastward, this rare good news was actually brought by my horses to defend the city, you people, usually talk about it one by one, why these days, no one can worry about me? ”

Zhao Yan's words made these ministers dare not fight back.

After a while, Wei Heng, the inspector of the Inspectorate who had not spoken, said slowly: "Your Majesty, so many things have happened too suddenly these days, except for the war with Northern Liao, the rest of the things have no signs at all, and it is very difficult to think of a solution in such a short period of time." And the starting source of these things is nothing more than the former Chu Yu sin, they are too deeply hidden, and they don't know how long they have been planning to do so many things suddenly, and now if they want to solve these things together, I am afraid they can only start from the source. ”

"What does the Wei Qing family think, but it doesn't matter." Zhao Yan's tone calmed down.

Wei Heng hurriedly bowed: "Your Majesty, these days, Liu Xiang has also discussed a lot of things with his ministers, so it is better to let Liu Xiang listen to His Majesty!" ”

Liu Zhen, who heard this, was stunned, but he didn't expect this Wei Heng to push the matter to him.

Seeing Zhao Yan's eyes, Liu Zhen had no choice but to stand up and say stubbornly: "Your Majesty, the minister believes that the top priority is to withdraw the war with Northern Liao first in order to solve these problems at hand. ”

"Evacuated the war in Northern Liao?" Zhao Yan continued with an inquiring look.

Liu Zhen said: "Now that the Jiangnan military grain has been destroyed, the Jingzhou military grain has been robbed, and the Beilu army has run out of food, the Wen Shu Envoy has made no progress in the war for so long, and if it continues, it can only last for another month at most, and if Liangzhou cannot be recaptured after a month, the Wen Shu Envoy can only withdraw the army, and the soldiers can not be starved to fight with the Northern Liao army, but this month is enough for the former Chu Yu of the Yuan Capital Mansion and Xijin, who has just occupied Yingzhou, to do a lot of things." Therefore, it is better to withdraw the army now, move the imperial army south, and first eliminate the remnants of the former Chu of the Yuan Capital Mansion, the Yuan Capital Mansion is now controlled by Sun Qing's Zhending Army, and only the Beilu Army can defeat the Zhending Army, and at the same time, it can also deter the Xijin army from acting rashly, as long as the former Chu remnants are eliminated first, and the Northern Foot Army will recapture Yingzhou, it will be easy. Even if the Northern Foot Army withdrew from Liangzhou, Northern Liao did not have the strength to go south, and at most it could only hold Liangzhou. ”

Zhao Yan said coldly: "But I have already issued an edict to recapture Liangzhou in this battle with Northern Liao, and you let me withdraw my troops now, how can I explain to me?" ”

"Your Majesty..."Liu Zhen hurriedly said: "The extraordinary situation can only do extraordinary things, and the current situation can only be solved one by one, the former Chu Yu and Xijin are relying on my Southern Chu army to fight with the Northern Liao in Liangzhou, and there are no troops available in the DPRK, so they dare to do these things unscrupulously at this time, attack the rear of my Southern Chu, as long as the troops are transferred back first, and wait for the remnants of the former Chu to be eliminated, and the Xijin will be expelled, and then discuss how to seize Liangzhou." ”

Zhao Yan stood up from the dragon chair and paced back and forth in the hall.

After a while, he looked at Taishi Chen, who was sitting on the side with his eyes closed: "Taishi Chen, what do you think?" ”

In today's court, only this master has the qualifications to give a seat.

He didn't ask about the court, but now that so many big things have happened in the court, so he also came to the court.

Hearing the emperor's question, Taishi Chen finally opened his eyes, got up and turned around and bowed and said, "Your Majesty, the minister also agrees with Liu Xiang's opinion. ”

"If this is the case, then order the envoy of the Privy Envoy Wen to withdraw the troops from Liangzhou......"