The monstrous flames shone on the sad faces of the middle-aged military attachés, and the eaves and arches of Miyagi cracked in the churning tongues of fire. The fire fell like a shower of stars, splashing down on his shoulders and scorching, but he was indifferent.

The sound of killing at the end of the street and alley was approaching aggressively, and the middle-aged military attache sighed, knelt down facing the palace gate, and looked up at the red plaque of the mansion gate hanging above his head and burst into tears.

Full of enthusiasm, it was all in vain.

"The old servant is as fierce as a tiger, powerless to stop the thief, causing the fall of the capital city and the sinking of the Tang Domain. I only wish to be born as a Ming person in the next life, and then serve the Ming Dynasty! ”

Blood flowed down the cracks in his scarlet armor from his back to his trembling right hand. After fighting for nearly an hour, he was already too tired, so tired that all the holes around his body were foaming with blood, and he was numb at this time.

With a knife in his hand, he struck his throat, and he let out a loud cry, inserting his fingers together and forcefully inserting it from the wound, and he died of breath.

After a while, a large group of chaotic soldiers flocked to the gate of the mansion, and at this time, another group of soldiers also came out of the mansion. The two converged and surrounded the body of the middle-aged military attache. Among the countless swords, guns and torches, the tall standard-bearer stood tall, and the flag was embroidered with a big word "Chuang".

"Fierce as a tiger killing himself." Under the banner, Li Guo, who was clearly armored, kicked the corpse that was kneeling on the ground with his toes, and the corpse fell to the side, and the blood of his own self came out of his throat intermittently.

"King Tang is also dead." It was Liu Zongmin, who had just left the palace, who had just left the palace, his face was covered with blood spots splattered, and he could see that he must have killed people just now, "Only some of Zhou Zheng's mother-in-law and aunts were left in the palace, and the rest, whether old or young, were burned clean." ”

Li Guopi smiled and said: "The city of Nanyang Mansion is down, and the position of the Ren brothers in my army seems to be stable." ”

Liu Zongmin smiled coldly with disdain: "That's not, a Luoyang and a Nanyang, these two brothers should be presented to King Chuang as a meeting gift, can King Chuang be unhappy?" Coughing twice, his face was pale, "Why don't you take advantage of the chaos in the city and find the Ren brothers to do it?" I don't think King Chuang will say anything. ”

Li Guo shook his head and said: "No, it is still useful for King Chuang to keep these two brothers, and King Chuang himself is in the city." Half a year ago, you could kill anyone, but now, I advise you not to mess around. ”

Liu Zongmin's color changed, his mouth just opened, and Li Guoxian said: "Zhao Dangshi's movements are unknown, don't make trouble for King Chuang." When things are settled, it's up to you to do what you want. With that, he turned around and quickly disappeared into the dark alley.

More than ten miles away, Zhao Dangshi had already learned the bad news of the fall of Nanyang Mansion City.

"The subordinates inquired and learned that after the thieves captured Yuzhou City, they immediately sent troops to attack Nanyang Mansion City." Yang Zhaofengyu, who came back from a circle ahead, reported.

There are many horses in the army, no matter the foot cavalry, there are horses to walk, and the mobility is very strong, but even so, when attacking the city at night, relying only on the infantry cavalry, without siege equipment, how can you quickly take down the solid Nanyang City?

Yang Zhaofeng continued: "I heard that the Nanyang garrison Ren Guangrong colluded with the thieves, and the city should be opened. ”

Zhao Dangshi shook his head and said, "His younger brother Ren Jirong has already surrendered to the thief, and Lord Yan still dares to accept Ren Guangrong?" "That day, Lao Jun Iron Dome Meeting, Zhao Dangshi brought Ren Guangrong to Li Zicheng to send down, the original way Li Zicheng used him to persuade his younger brother to earn Luoyang City has done his best, but in turn he also won Nanyang City, which is indeed unexpected.

Ma Guangchun said: "There are many officials and thieves who are relatives of each other, not to mention that Ren Guangrong has a reputation for habitual warfare in Nanyang Mansion, and Lord Yan does not need him, and the soldiers and horses in the palace are like scattered sand, which is also a disadvantage." Smiled helplessly, "If you can't keep it, Lord Yan still wants Ren Guangrong to persuade his brother anyway, but I don't know......"

"There are nearly six or seven thousand thieves who have entered the city, and Li Zicheng seems to be in the city, and the defense of the whole city has been controlled by the thieves, and Lord Yan and Lord Meng are afraid ......" Yang Zhaofeng sighed twice and said.

Fierce as a tiger is loyal and brave, but after all, he is a military general, and it is impossible for Yan Yueyu, the prefect of Nanyang, to put all his soldiers and horses into the city, so the final arrangement is to only allow his 3,000 people to be stationed in the city to assist the government soldiers, and the other thousands of people are stationed in various camps outside the city. The army came suddenly, the city gate was also broken suddenly, and the fierce tiger was temporarily unable to unify the various departments, and it was inevitable that they would be destroyed when they fought separately.

Zhao Dangshi said to Zhou Yuji: "Lord Zhou, the matter has come to this, Nanyang Mansion is too much to go, I think it is better to retreat to Xinye County first, and then make a plan when Gonggong Liu arrives." "The operation to rescue Yuzhou did not participate in the camp, and remained in Xinye County, and Xinye County was backed by northern Chu, so it could be attacked, retreated, and defended.

Zhou Yuji was speechless, just nodded. Zhao Dangshi looked at the light in the direction of Nanyang Mansion for a moment, gritted his teeth and pulled the reins, and shouted: "The whole army turns back to Xinye!" ”

This game with Li Zicheng is still a bad move in the end.

Back in Xinye County, the sky was already bright. Zhao Dangshi saw that in addition to his own soldiers and horses, there were still many messy banners in the city, and there were many soldiers and horses shuttling back and forth, and he was a little puzzled. Later, I learned from Guo Ruke that the city of Nanyang fell last night, and many remnants of the fierce tiger army were defeated and withdrawn here, among which there were two larger formations, one was as fierce as the tiger under the guerrilla Liu Guangzuo's hundreds of Ningxia horse army, and one was the 2,000 Chenzhou soldiers of Zhou Jin.

When Zhao Dangshi found Liu Guangzuo and Zhou Jin, Zhou Jin was arguing with the two of them. Liu Guangzuo persuaded beside him, found Zhao Dangshi first, and hurriedly came up to explain the situation.

It turned out that the generals of the Sichuan army who were as fierce as a tiger mainly included Wang Xijia, Min Yiqi and Lang Qigui, Wang Xijia and Meng Ruhu died in Nanyang City, and his rout army fled here with Min and Lang. Compared with the intact Zhou Jin Army, the Sichuan army was basically scattered, so Min and Lang thought that Zhou Jin was timid and afraid of war and fled without a fight, so they were angry with him.

"You Chenzhou Town soldiers blow so much, why do you watch the fierce handsome and Lord Wang die in the thief formation in vain?"

"If it weren't for you, who are as cowardly as a mouse, maybe the thieves would have driven me out of Nanyang Mansion a moment earlier!"

Min Yiqi and Lang Qigui asked each other, suppressing the young Zhou Jin so much that he couldn't raise his head at all. Looking at Min Yiqi's angry eyes and Lang Qigui's appearance of rolling up his sleeves and stretching his neck, it seems that the next step is to add fists and kicks to Zhou Jin.

Zhao Dangshi immediately stepped forward and opened his hand to dissuade: "The three of them are angry!" ”

Liu Guangzuo was afraid that Min and Lang Sheng would be angry and rude, so he came over and introduced: "This is Zhao Shuai and Zhao Shaobao of Yunxiang Town." ”

As soon as they heard that it was Zhao Dangshi, Min Yiqi and Lang Qigui's anger was extinguished for seven or eight points, looked at each other, and bowed. Zhou Jin saw Zhao Dangshi, hugged his fists and smiled awkwardly.

Zhao Dangshi said: "Nanyang fell and the fierce handsome died, and Zhao was also full of grief and indignation. Since we have joined forces and need to work together to repel the thieves and regain the lost territory, how can we not start infighting in the field first? ”

Min Yiqi glared at Zhou Jin and said, "What Zhao Shuai said is reasonable. But if I want to fight side by side with these rats, I am afraid that before the war starts, this guy will slip away first, and abandon us and other friendly troops in fire and water! ”

Lang Qigui echoed: "Yes, Zhao Shuai can't trust this person, just take him down and send him for trial!" ”

Zhao Dangshi said: "The two of you are not right. The sudden fall of Nanyang was not a war, but because there were traitors and foreign thieves in our official army. To tell the truth, when Fucheng was not in Fucheng last night, Zhao was also on the way to help, but halfway through, he still combined with Lord Zhou of the Yongwei Battalion and temporarily withdrew. It's not that I don't want to save the city, but it's because the opportunity is not right. "Zhou Dusi and I have an old friendship, I know that he is loyal to the people, and his father has also been bloody for the country for decades, which can be described as full of loyalty." The two of them have been with Zhou Dusi for many years, and when they have also seen Zhou Dusi's means and determination to kill thieves, how can he be a cowardly person in battle? ”

Zhou Jin arched his hand to Zhao Dangshi at this time, and then arched his hand to Min and Lang, who were blowing their beards and glaring: "Meng Shuai, Lord Wang is dead, and I am heartbroken and I can't be less than you." The two of them feel that they are cowardly and incompetent, and no matter how much they say here, it will be empty words, and they can only express their determination with actions! As he spoke, he suddenly pulled out the saber at his waist, put a sharp blade on his left hand, and slid quickly, and in the blink of an eye, the little finger and ring finger of his left hand were broken at the same time, falling to his feet.

The blood flowed from his left hand, and the young and vigorous Zhou Jin ignored himself, his brows did not wrinkle, and he exclaimed: "If Zhao Shuai can trust me, the thief is counted as me!" If you don't believe me, the Zhenxiao soldiers will leave Xinye immediately, and they will not hold you back! ”

Min Yiqi and Lang Qigui pursed their lips and were silent, Liu Guangzuo urgently ordered the soldiers on the left and right to bandage Zhou Jin's medical care, and Zhao Dangshi said with a straight face: "To surround Xinye and recover Nanyang, Zhou Dusi is indispensable!" ”

At present, there are 4,000 officers and soldiers stationed in Xinye County, including Zhao Dangshi, 300 Zhou Yuji, 800 Liu Guangzuo, 2,000 Zhou Jin, and 500 Min Yiqi and Lang Qigui, Lin Sansan, a total of nearly 8,000 soldiers and horses. Zhou Yuji, Min Yiqi, Lang Qigui and others were eager to fight, and proposed to take advantage of the unstable foothold of the Chuang army to raid and capture the city.

Zhao Dangshi's troops are the strongest, and behind him is his base camp, so even if it is not said on the surface, his position as the leader of this improvised coalition army is beyond doubt.

The generals expressed their opinions, but in the end, they all looked at Zhao Dangshi, hoping that he would make the final decision.

Of course, Zhao Dangshi was unwilling to fight to the death with the Chuang army in Nanyang, even if he could take back the city in the end, it would not be conducive to the long-term development of Zhao Ying's future, he thought for a moment, and said: "According to the latest military situation, the thieves have completely controlled all the defenses of the city, considering that the follow-up reinforcements of the thieves may enter Nanyang Mansion one after another, the strength of our army is a little stretched." Asked Zhou Yuji, "Lord Zhou, there is no news about Gonggong Liu's soldiers and horses now, somehow?" ”

Among the people who asked to enter Nanyang Mansion City, Zhou Yuji was the most happy, but when he asked this, he suddenly felt like a frosted eggplant, and he was a little cramped and said: "This ...... This may be almost there......"

Zhao Dangshi shook his head and said, "If Zhao is not mistaken, Father-in-law Liu sent someone to say that it was almost there half a month ago." He is in Guide House, and for such a long time, a few back and forth is enough...... Could it be that there is something else going on? ”

Lang Qigui sneered and smiled: "What can be the secret?" I'm scared, I don't dare to come. The name of the 'Yongwei Battalion' sounds coaxing, but it really deserves the word 'Yong', I think there are two more words. He saw that there were not many people in Zhou Yuji, and his behavior was very big, and he looked like he was right, and he was already unhappy in his heart.

Zhou Yuji knew that he was wrong, he didn't speak with a shy face, and Zhao Dangshi said: "Huaiying thieves are rampant, and recently there have been more thieves, maybe Gonggong Liu has been dragged down by other things." ”

Lang Qigui shouted: "You don't have to wait for him, let's kill him, are you afraid that the rogue will not succeed?" ”

Zhou Yuji snorted and said: "The thieves are powerful, not comparable to the rogues in the past." ”

Lang Qigui took a breath, glared and said: "Yo, now even the famous Lord Zhou has begun to speak for the thief, he is cowardly before he fights, I don't think this battle will be fought!" "Then get up and leave.

Zhao Dangshi stopped him and said kindly: "Lord Zhou is not speaking for thieves. Counting the achievements of thieves over the years, it is indeed not to be taken lightly. He also said, "Zhao thought that taking the initiative to attack Nanyang Mansion City was the next policy." ”

Lang Qigui said angrily: "What is the best policy?" ”

Zhao Dangshi explained: "The thieves are attacking everywhere, and since they have taken the city, how can they spare the prefectures and counties in the prefecture, and how can they give up without sweeping away the lands near and far." It is because there is no accident, within three days, there is no need for us to send troops, and the thieves will come to fight Xinye. Let's take advantage of the city defense, wait for work, and the chances of victory will be greatly increased! He added, "If Gonggong Liu brings troops during the period, he will meet just in time." In addition, Zhao had already sent someone to Xiangyang Mansion to raise the army. Wait for all the soldiers and horses to gather, and then recapture Nanyang in one fell swoop! ”

Liu Guangzuo nodded and said, "Zhao Shuai's words are a foolproof strategy. ”

Zhou Jin then agreed. Zhou Yuji thought about it and nodded yes. The remaining Min Yiqi and Lang Qigui were weak, and they had no choice but to agree.

Zhao Dangshi said so, in fact, he had another idea in his heart, that is, he estimated that the army had already won the big head, and there was a high probability that he would not continue to go south to knock hard nails, and in three days, there was a chance that the army would retreat north. However, once again, reality was different from his thoughts. Two days after the army was stationed in Xinye County, the military situation was urgent, and nearly 10,000 troops were approaching Xinye County.