As night fell, the fire in the Xijin camp had been extinguished, and thick smoke and dust covered the sky above Yingzhou City.

Standing on the city wall and looking from a distance, he could only vaguely see countless torches lit up in Xijin's camp.

At the end of the day, the Xijinrao offensive had all retreated.

This one, Zhang Xiang and others defended Yingzhou City.

Of course, the price paid is also heavy and unbearable.

Southern Chu 7,000 soldiers who defended the city, after this, more than 2,000 people were lost and nearly 1,000 were injured.

Although Xijin was destroyed by three catapults, the early offensive of these three catapults also almost destroyed half of the western city wall, and their loss of soldiers and horses was only about 3,000 people, which was only a tenth of the strength of Xijinlai, which was an army of 30,000 people, and the cavalry, which was the main force of Xijin, was not injured.

Zhang Xiang knew very well that if the city was destroyed, Xijin alone would become a nightmare for the people of the entire city with these 7,000 cavalry pouring into the city.

At this time, Zhang Xiang was sitting at the head of the city, he was already sick, if it wasn't for this will, he would have been unable to hold on, the slave had already boiled another medicine for him to drink, and after he finished drinking, he propped himself up and continued to patrol on the city wall.

The slave followed him and was frightened, and at this moment he had been forced to sleep in the corner tower.

The smell of blood was all in the air, and this was what he was in after coming to this world, and he truly experienced the cruelty of war.

On the city walls, under the city walls, there were corpses, some of which had been burned with the fire, and some of which were still lying alone.

In the nearby void, from time to time crows are hovering ready to eat carrion.

Their cries are bone-shattering.

Qin Fu had a square scarf wrapped around his head, he was also injured, and at this time he was sitting on the city wall with the soldiers to encourage them.

Ji Ke led the soldiers to continue to repair the smashed west wall, and the people were still passing materials to him one after another.

This night is destined to be an ordeal for everyone in the city.

After a while, Ji Ke came to him and reported to him the repair of the city wall: "Donkey, the city wall is too badly damaged, and there is a possibility of collapse at any time in some places, so it can only be repaired temporarily, if you want to achieve a good defense effect, it is impossible in such a short time." ”

Zhang Xiang nodded, his face was much calmer: "Make up as much as you can!" ”

Ji Ke's face was full of worry: "Donkey, what can I do tomorrow?" With this, we have lost nearly half of our troops, and although Xijin has no catapults, they have not lost many men and horses, and if they are reckless tomorrow, even if they fill it with the lives of their soldiers, they will be able to attack from the damaged western wall. ”

Zhang Xiang glanced at him with a wry smile: "Commander Ji has a good way?" ”

Ji Ke knelt down on one knee and arched his hand heavily: "The last general is incompetent, the disparity between the forces of the enemy and us is too huge, and there is no other way than to hold on." ”

Zhang Xiang nodded, muttering to himself, with a bitter smile: "Yes, the disparity in strength is too great, I have no other way than to hold on, it's good that we can hold this one." ”

Then he asked Ji Ke: "Commander Ji, when will the reinforcements from Fengyang Mansion and Lizhou arrive?" ”

"There are still two in Fengyang Mansion, and there are about three days in Lizhou."

"It's too late." Zhang Xiang shook his head: "We have exhausted the remaining forces, even if we can hold the Ming, there are almost no soldiers, and then they attack again, what will we defend?" The people? So what else can you do but die? ”

Then he asked: "Commander Ji, what is the most important thing for us to defend the city?" ”

"The lives of the people." Ji Ke replied.

Zhang Xiang nodded: "The city is gone, we can still take it again, but if the lives of the people are gone, then they are gone, and in the current situation, we must first protect the lives of 70,000 people in this city." ”

"How do you keep it?" Ji Ke hurriedly asked.

"Evacuate the city."

Zhang Xiang sighed softly: "You go and call Lord Qin, I have already thought about it just now, it should be too late to withdraw from the city tomorrow." ”

Soon, Qin Fu also came to him.

Zhang Xiang said to him: "Lord Qin, you use the fastest time to inform the people in the city, ready to withdraw from the city, everything you can bring with you is taken away, and everything that can't be taken away is burned, Commander Ji sent out two thousand soldiers and horses, divided into two batches, one group is responsible for the east city gate, one group is responsible for the south city gate, tomorrow I will use the remaining two thousand soldiers and horses to guard the west city gate, to buy you time to evacuate." ”

"Horse..."Qin Fu was taken aback.

Seeing his hesitation, Zhang Xiang also became angry, and said angrily: "Lord Qin, don't you understand?" Withdraw from the city, now we have 4,000 soldiers and horses, how can we defend it? can't hold it, as soon as the gate of this city is broken, the 70,000 people in the city will become Xijinrao prisoners, they will use the lives of these 70,000 people to negotiate with the Southern Chu court, take a step back, even if they don't use it as a bargaining chip, then do you think the Xijin people can let go of these 70,000 people? They still have their own soldiers to raise, do you think they want to raise their own soldiers, or do they want to raise these 70,000 people? Do you want the mistake of Liangzhou to happen again? Do you want to be a sinner through the ages? ”

After being counted by Zhang Xiang for a while, Qin Fu's body shook violently, and then trembled slightly, and said with difficulty: "Donkey, is there really no other way?" ”

"If there's another way, why did I come up with this decision?"

Zhang Xiang shook his head, and his tone calmed down: "Lord Qin, pass on the matter as soon as possible, while the Xijin people haven't found out yet, tomorrow you evacuate the city with the people of the East City Gate, and Commander Ji will evacuate the people with the West City Gate, even if Yingzhou City falls into the hands of the Xijin people, as long as you hold Fengyang Mansion in the east and Lizhou in the south, the Xijin people still have no chance to advance eastward." ”

"What about you, colt?" Qin Fu and Ji Ke asked at the same time.

Zhang Xiang showed a relaxed smile: "Me? I wasn't there just now! I defend the city. ”

"Never." Both were shocked.

Zhang Xiang hurriedly waved his hand and stopped the words of the two: "I have made up my mind, this is an order, the people evacuate the city, if the Xijin people find out, they will definitely send people to pursue, the north city gate is closed, they can only chase from the south city gate, the south city gate I will arrange a thousand soldiers and horses to intercept them, to buy you a little more time to evacuate, as long as you can escape fifty miles, they will not dare to chase again." ”

In the past few days, Zhang Xiang has become the backbone of their city defense, so they are obedient to Zhang Xiang's words.

Listening to Zhang Xiang's resolute words, Ji Ke clenched his fists heavily: "Don't worry, don't worry, the last general will definitely live up to his mission and bring these people out of Yingzhou City safely." ”

"The lower officials will also live up to the expectations of the horses." Qin Fu also bowed heavily to him.

Zhang Xiang waved his hand a little tiredly: "Okay, time is urgent, let's hurry up!" ”

After the tenth hour of the sixth month, riots began to appear in the city of Yingzhou, and then the riots became louder and louder, and the people at the city gate gathered more and more, and the officers and soldiers lit torches, gathered all the people, and drove them in the direction of the east gate and the south city gate in an orderly manner.

Among these many people, there are many who want to go, and there are many who don't want to go.

Those who wanted to leave had actually gathered at the other three gates a few days ago, but they had not been able to leave because the government had ordered the city to be closed, and for several days, many people had even stayed under the gates, trying to escape as soon as the gates were opened.

At this moment, I heard that the government was going to open the city and release people, not to mention how happy these people were to leave, they carried their bags one by one, took their packages, and waited for the city gate to open and rush out.

And those who didn't want to go were filled with righteous indignation, gathered together, and vowed to stay and live and die with Yingzhou City to resist the Xijin people.

It's just that their crowd couldn't withstand the reprimands and whipping of the officers and soldiers at all, and they passed a forced drive, and these people who didn't want to leave, as well as the iron-clad people, had to come to the city gate.

It was also in the middle of the night when Yingzhou City was in turmoil, Zhang Xiang asked Lin Feihong to drive the carriage to the corner tower, and then put the bound slaves into the carriage.

In the carriage, the sound of slave crying kept coming, and Zhang Xiang didn't hear it.

He instructed Lin Feihong: "After taking her out of the city, protect her, go to Fengyang Mansion to settle down first, I will find a way to contact you, if you don't hear from me within five days, you can take her back to Pingzhou." ”

"I took her away, what are you going to do?" Lin Feihong asked.

Zhang Xiang said softly: "There must be someone left to defend the city, otherwise what will happen to these soldiers?" Lord Qin and Commander Ji are both responsible for the evacuation of the people in the city, and I am not good at this, so I am the only one who stays, you can rest assured, as long as the people all withdraw from the city, I will also find a way to leave. ”

"You only have two thousand? How long can you keep it? What if the Xijin people attack before the people have all withdrawn? ”

"How long can you hold on, how long you can withdraw, how much you can withdraw, it's better than the annihilation of the whole army! At this time, they can only live their own lives. ”

"If you can't come back, how can I explain to the princess?"

"You don't have to explain, she won't blame you, you can help me talk to her, I'm sorry for her."

"Take care, when the slave is safe, I'll come back to look for you."

Lin Feihong threw a heavy hand at him, then jumped into the carriage with his gun in his hand.

Inside the carriage, the cry of the slave faded away with the carriage.

The remaining twenty or so guards stood tightly beside Zhang Xiang, their eyes resolute.

"If you stay, you're going to die, do you regret it?" Zhang Xiang asked them.

"I don't regret it, it's my honor to follow the horse, and I won't give up until I die." The voices of the guards were sonorous and powerful.

The ugly time, the Yin time gradually passed, and most of the people in the city had gathered under the east and south gates under the arrangement of Qin Fu and Ji Ke.

At three o'clock, the light shone brightly, and the gates of the two walls slowly opened.

A thousand soldiers were the first to go out of the city, and then they were divided on both sides, so that the people in the city could go out of the city in an orderly manner.

On the other side, Zhang Xiang also sent a thousand soldiers out, bypassed the south city wall, and built a human wall between the west city wall and the south city wall, blocking the pursuit route of the Xijin people.

Zhang Xiang's order to him was very simple, no matter how many people there were in Xijin, he must block them if he tried his best to fight the last soldier.

At this time, Zhang Xiang also stood on the city wall with the remaining 1,000 people, and he had an extra blood-stained knife in his hand.

The knife he had picked up on the city wall had been left by the soldiers who had died defending the city yesterday.

In the distance, in the Xijin camp, the torches that had been lit all night were still lit, and the occasional cavalry could be seen running by.

That's the Sikinrao Scout.

The scout jumped off his horse and walked into the largest tent of the camp.

In the tent, there was only one man in a general's uniform, sitting in the tent, his eyes closed.

The scout knelt on the ground and reported: "General, it was found at the southern city gate that the people of Southern Chu had left the city. ”

"Oh?" The general Xijin named Qiu Xingjian laughed interestingly: "Are they going to abandon the city and flee?" ”

The scout continued: "There are still Southern Chu people guarding the western city wall, and traces of a group of Southern Chu soldiers have been found under the southern city wall. ”

Qiu Xingjian stood up, paced a few steps in the tent, and then asked, "How many Southern Chu soldiers are in this team?" ”

"More than a thousand."

Qiu Xingjian hurriedly said: "The Southern Chu army can't guard the city, so it should be to abandon the city, the defenders on the city wall are just a trick, this more than 1,000 Southern Chu troops should be covering the fleeing people, go and tell General Hu, let him lead two thousand cavalry, to pursue the fleeing people, no matter what, to intercept the people, if you can't intercept it, let him come to see him." ”

"Yes." The scout hurriedly retreated.

Subsequently, Qiu Xingjian called another general: "Send people to the other north city gate and east city gate to investigate, to see if there is any movement, if there are people who have fled, send troops to pursue them all and intercept them, these people of Yingzhou are our bargaining chips with the Southern Chu court, if they all escape from the city, it is meaningless for us to take an empty city." ”

"The last general commands." The general nodded hurriedly.

"Wait..."Qiu Xingjian stopped him and asked, "Where has our army arrived?" ”

"After the Shangyuan Plain, according to General Li's plan, the 50,000 army has made a detour to the north, ready to intercept the reinforcements of Fengyang Mansion in Southern Chu, and the other 30,000 troops are on standby in the Shangyuan Plain, waiting for us to seize Yingzhou City, these 30,000 troops will go directly south and capture Lizhou City."

"Okay..."Qiu Xingjian was overjoyed: "As long as we can take the lead in capturing Yingzhou City, the banner is victorious, and when my Xijin army arrives, the two armies march together, and then capture Fengyang Mansion and Lizhou City, my Xijin army can approach Jin'an Mansion, as long as we can capture Jin'an Mansion, my Xijin will be able to gain a foothold in the Central Plains of Southern Chu from now on, and at the same time, we can also control Dingzhou in the north, and no longer fear that the Northern Liao people will attack my Xijin from Dingzhou." ”

……

After the hour, the color was already bright, and the people in the city had basically withdrawn more than half.

The long line stretched out of the city, and it was no longer possible to see where it went.

Zhang Xiang, who was sitting on the west city wall, stared at the Xijin camp, and ten minutes ago, he saw that the Xijin camp had dispatched two thousand cavalry, and the direction of the two thousand cavalry was to the south.

He knew that the Xijin people had already found out about the people's withdrawal from the city, and he only hoped that the square curtain could be blocked for a while.

At the end of the hour, the soldiers came to report that Fang Mu had led the 1,000 soldiers into battle with Sijin's 2,000 cavalry.

It was at this time that two scouts entered the city and came to the city walls.

These two scouts were two of the scouts he had sent out many days earlier to scout for news of the Sijin Reserve.

Through so much probing, this scout brought back the last thing he wanted to hear.

The 30,000 Xijin troops attacking Yingzhou City were really not all, Xijin and 80,000 troops had already crossed the Shangyuan Plain, of which 50,000 detoured to Yingzhou City, it seemed to be in the direction of Fengyang Mansion, and 30,000 went south to cross the Shangyuan Plain and camped in a canyon...