"That's right!" Lin Fan said.

"These fifty men will be used as a reserve force to defend the city, and if the brothers at the gate can't hold on, you will take these people to the top and help the brothers retake the city walls."

"Also, there is chaos in the city right now, and I'm afraid that there are spies who are taking advantage of the chaos to sneak in. Those people will inevitably seek an opportunity to create chaos in the city, in order to create an opportunity for the thief army outside to take over the city, which was how the huge Shenzhou City was lost a month ago. Therefore, once there is chaos, you have to bring someone over to play the pressure as soon as possible. ”

Speaking of this, Lin Fan suddenly laughed: "Lord Yang, you are the backing of all the brothers!" The situation is urgent, although you are a literati, you have to go to the battlefield now, so can Lord Yang dare to agree? ”

Seeing that Lin Fan actually laughed at himself, Yang Yuanwang laughed and said loudly: "There is never a shortage of Confucian generals in this dynasty, and it is common for scholars to go to the battlefield and even die. Although I am not talented, I dare not compare myself with a Confucian general, but now that the thieves are in the realm, why do I regret this, dare not obey my fate! ”

Yang Yuanwang was so calm, which made Lin Fan a little surprised, but he didn't say anything.

The laughter of the two also infected everyone present, and the atmosphere was a lot more relaxed and no longer so depressing.

"Aoyama!" There was no time to delay, Lin Fan continued to arrange.

Hearing Lin Fan call himself, Li Qingshan didn't react for a while. When Chen Fangshu tugged at the corner of his clothes, he hurriedly stepped forward and said, "My subordinates are here!" ”

"Everyone else has something to do, and you can't be idle! After going down, you take the officials of the city to select the young and strong people, and then hand them over to Lord Yang, who can help defend the city after a simple training. In this way, although these young and strong forces are insufficient, they can add another 1,000 troops to defend the city. ”

"Li Qingshan takes the order!"

Li Qingshan retreated, for him, this was also an opportunity to integrate into Lin Fan and the others.

Due to his background, although the time from following Lin Fan to the present is not too short, Li Qingshan always finds it difficult to integrate into the Inspection Division, and other people in the Inspection Department except Lin Fan and Chen Fangshu are always alienating him intentionally or unintentionally.

In fact, this is inevitable, most of the brothers' families in the inspection department have been bullied by bandits, and among the big guys, a bandit's military advisor suddenly came, and it is normal for it to be difficult to accept it in a short time.

Although Lin Fan would not look down on him in the past, he would not take the initiative to help him solve these problems.

If Li Qingshan can't even integrate into the Inspection Division, it means that he is not suitable to stay here, then Lin Fan will give him some money, everyone can get together and disperse, and send someone to send him and his family back to their hometown.

And this time, it was also a chance given to him by Lin Fan. After everyone fought side by side, after the test of blood and fire, some mustard naturally disappeared. Lin Fan hopes that he can seize this opportunity, and everyone can treat each other as their real own people in the future.

Time was urgent, and there was no room for delay, and after everyone received the task, they all said goodbye and left.

In a moment, only Lin Fan and An Ning were left in the huge county hall.

"My lord, they all have something to do, I don't know what the adults have arranged me to do?" An Ning asked.

"An Ning, I want you to find reinforcements!" Lin Fan's face was serious, he took out a letter from his arms, and said in a deep voice.

"I wrote this letter just now, and now I have written all the situation here on this letter, which is stamped with the seal of the county government and the inspection department, which can prove your identity from the reinforcements."

"Are there really reinforcements? Where are the reinforcements? An Ning said in surprise.

Lin Fan shook his head: "I don't know." ”

Then he continued: "It has been more than a month since Zhang Feng'er raised troops, and it is impossible for the imperial court not to send troops, so the words at the gate of the county government just now were not all to coax everyone. The imperial army must not be far away, otherwise how could the thief army be repairing in Anzhou for a period of time, it is impossible to rush south so quickly, and there is no time left for us to prepare. ”

"In the vast sea of people, where should my subordinates go to find reinforcements?" An Ning wondered.

"It is impossible for the army to move without signs, according to my analysis, the army should be in Hwangju at present, and the Gwangju generation is assembled, and the distance will not be too far. If you are fast, it is only three days away, you can go to Huangzhou City to inquire with the local government first! Lin Fan replied

An Ning knew Lin Fan's thoughts, and when he spoke, he was already crying.

"My lord, my subordinates are willing to follow my lord to defend the city, and as for finding reinforcements, I can leave it to others."

Lin Fan smiled at him: "Silly boy, this is a major matter related to the life and death of the people in the city, and I don't have to worry about others going, so I can only leave this matter to you!" ”

"Young master, if I don't leave, even if I die, I will stay with the young master!" An Ning's tears flowed out, calling out the title that he hadn't shouted for a long time, hoping that Lin Fan would change his mind.

Lin Fan paused, turned his back to An Ning, and waved his hand: "What stupid things are you talking about?" Who said to die? Don't worry, none of us can die this time! ”

Without waiting for An Ning to speak again, Lin Fan said, "Go, go!" The sooner you find reinforcements, the sooner you'll be back! But you must remember that you must never come back until you have found reinforcements. ”

An Ning saw that he couldn't convince Lin Fan, so he had no other way but to agree with tears.

He took the letter, led his horse, and went straight to the city gate.

Not long after An Ning left, the sky began to darken, and the night finally drove away the sun, and the night gradually covered the earth.

When night came, someone from the castle tower came to report that the thieves had arrived outside the city.

Lin Fan, who heard the news, and Yang Yuanwang stood side by side on the city tower, staring at the firelight coming from the thieves in the distance.

Lin Fan raised his eyes and looked into the distance, only to see a forest of torches, heavy shadows of fire, and everywhere as far as everyone's eyes could see, there were all enemy camps, stretching for more than ten miles.

There was a strange movement over there, and the scolding was incessant, and it was extremely busy, and it was clear that the thieves were setting up camp.

The breath of slaughter even blew away a lot of the scorching heat of summer, and looking at the continuous enemy camps outside the city, the defenders at the head of the city were unconsciously breaking out in a cold sweat.

Yang Yuanwang said: "The thieves have just arrived, should you take advantage of their unstable foothold and go out of the city to catch them off guard." ”

Lin Fan glanced at him: "I also know that now is a good opportunity, but since you know, the thief is not stupid, they also know that it is impossible to be defenseless, they are probably waiting for us to throw themselves into the net now!" ”

Looking at the chaotic scene outside the city, as well as the thieves' incorrect methods of camping, Lin Fan sighed, he really felt pity: "Whew! If I have 3,000 elites in my hands now, even if there is an ambush in the thief camp, I can still lead the army out of the city to attack the enemy camp at night. The thieves are outnumbered but untrained, and I am completely sure that they can be defeated with a single blow. ”

"If I have 2,000 soldiers to fight, I can also choose to fight against the city, and line up outside the city to meet the enemy, so as to boost morale."

"Although it is dangerous, there is Yongyang City behind him as a support, and the soldiers who defend the city can also be more down-to-earth, it is better than only defending the city and having no way out. Now Yongyang has become a lonely city, almost a place of death, in this situation, how can it be so easy to put it in the place of death and survive? ”

"But what about us? There were no 1,000 people, and it was hard to scrape together a few hundred people, who were not subordinate to each other in the past, lacked running-in, and it was difficult to enforce the order. Now let them out of the city, they can only go to death. ”

Hearing Lin Fan say this, Yang Yuanwang also sighed: "It's that what I think is too simple, since this is the case, we can only defend the city." In short, I hope the reinforcements will arrive soon! ”

Lin Fan looked at the increasingly noisy thief camp and said, "It seems that the only time left for us to prepare is tonight, and tomorrow morning, the thief army may start attacking the city." and commanded them to go down and let them shut up all the gates. ”

Yang Yuanwang nodded, and said helplessly: "It's ready, as long as you give an order, you can use a sack filled with sand to block the doorway." It's just that in this way, this city has really become a dead place! ”

The more noisy the thief camp became, the more deserted the city wall became, and the pressure brought by the thieves was almost condensed into substance, pressing heavily on everyone's heart.

Everyone just did their own thing without saying a word, and as time went on, the atmosphere became more and more solemn.

Lin Fan didn't have anything to say to Yang Yuanwang and said, "Lord Yang, to be honest, I was very surprised that you stayed this time. I thought you would choose to abandon the city and leave, just like that Tian Wuji! ”

Yang Yuanwang smiled bitterly, "If it was before, I really can't say!" I've never felt like I'm the kind of person who can see death as if it were my home. ”

"But the day before yesterday, someone from my hometown who had fled brought news. After the thieves captured Xiaochang, they plundered the army, and nearly 100 members of my Yang family were robbed, even my wife and daughter... Also... Lost at the hands of thieves. Even if it is the meat of a thief and the skin of a thief, it will not be able to eliminate the hatred in my heart! ”

Speaking of this, Yang Yuanwang burst into tears and couldn't cry.

"I'm sorry, I lost my words!" Lin Fan said apologetically.

Then he quietly turned around, not bothering Yang Yuanwang now, and let him vent for a while.

Yang Yuanwang quickly controlled his emotions, he wiped away his tears, tidied up his official uniform, and then said to Lin Fan: "I lost my temper just now, it really made Lord Lin laugh!" ”

Without waiting for Lin Fan to speak, he said again: "Okay, it's important to get down to business, so don't talk about me!" Lord Lin, in your opinion, can we really hold out until the reinforcements arrive? ”

"I don't know when reinforcements will come, and I don't know if we'll be able to hold on until the reinforcements arrive. But I know that we can only believe that we can keep until then, or we will really only die. Lin Fan said.

Yang Yuanwang asked again: "Then I understand a little, the reason why Lord Lin sent Brother An Ning to find reinforcements is also because he is afraid that if we can't hold it, it can also give him a chance to live, right?" ”

Lin Fan was silent for a moment before he said, "This is my selfishness, there is nothing to justify!" Lord Yang wants to scold and beat, and I will follow. ”

"But please don't spread the word until the battle is over, it will shake people's hearts and be detrimental to the defense of the city. As for after the end of the war, whether or not to say it is up to Lord Yang to do so; If I can hold it, I am willing to be scolded by the soldiers and the people, and if I can't keep it, everything will be stopped. ”

Yang Yuanwang didn't expect Lin Fan to admit this matter so happily, which made him think highly of Lin Fan again.

"If a person is not a sage, who can be selfless! Why does Lord Lin need to be strict with himself with the heart of a sage, not to mention that the people are also grateful people, these days, Lord Lin has done too much for the people. I believe that when the war is over, this matter will be spread, and the people will not blame the adults. Even if some fools have some whispers, I am afraid that before they can speak, the spit of the other people will be enough to drown them. ”

Lin Fan was silent.

After a long time, he said: "An Ning grew up with me, he was a year older than me, and he took care of me from a young age. Uncle An almost died at the hands of thieves in order to save my father, so even if Uncle An and An Ning have always regarded themselves as the following people at home, in the hearts of my parents and me, they have always been our relatives. ”

"An Ning is my brother, my aunt left early, and he is also Uncle An's only sustenance in this life. If I really want to die this time, it is enough to have my official position as an inspector and die. He is not an official, he has no responsibility to defend the land, there is no need to die, and he can't die, he has to live well! ”

He was not so much explaining to Yang Yuanwang as Lin Fan was muttering to himself, talking to himself.

After that, both of them stopped talking and were silent for a long time.

In the second half of the night, Lin Fan asked Yang Yuanwang to rest for a while, so as not to affect the defense of the city the next day.

He stood alone at the head of the city, staring at the movement of the enemy camp on the opposite side until dawn.

For the people of the city, the night was simply outrageous.

I don't know when, the east has begun to turn white, and then suddenly, the sun is already hanging high in the sky.

At this time, the thieves' camp was crowded with people, pouring out of the barracks, and in front of the camp they set up a simple formation, and pressed towards the city.

The siege has begun!