In addition to the senior Manichaeans who have a relatively complete range of swords, guns, swords and shields, the weapons of ordinary people are mostly wood cutters, dung forks, etc., and the shields are even more varied, including iron pots, bamboo baskets, pot lids, wooden barrels, etc., and even more, they rush forward with a wooden plank.

However, under the cover of night, the most intuitive impression of the rebels on the officers and soldiers was not that the equipment was uneven, but that they were not afraid of death and moved forward bravely. Even in fear, the officers and soldiers began to shoot as the rebels entered the firing range.

The arrows whizzed down, scattered but not small, and immediately caused casualties among the rebels. Armor such as bamboo baskets and wooden barrels can be pierced in an instant if they hit an arrow flying from above.

However, the officers and troops on the city tower at this time were only five or six hundred after all, and it was difficult to form a dense attack network.

Xu Ziling and Fang Jie, who were guarding the city gate, also turned defense into attack when reinforcements came, leading the Manichaeans to kill in the city.

After Fang Jie received the Fang Tian painting halberd sent by the Manichaean people, he suddenly descended to earth like a god, and his moves opened and closed widely, attacking far from the distance, and the official and military formations were torn apart in an instant, and the Manichaean people rushed in.

In order to reduce the damage of the rebels, Xu Ziling stepped on the red sky, leaped up to the city tower, and slashed and killed the crossbowmen who released arrows along the way. After Fang Jie entered the city gate, he also went to the city tower for the first time, striving to quickly control the city wall.

At this time, the lieutenant in the official army had already sent people to ask the government for help several times, but the news that came back said that because Zhao Zhidao was robbed before, the officers and soldiers there were sent to the south of the city by Li Jingyuan to search and rescue, and after learning that Zhao Zhidao was in the north of the city, Li Jingyuan knew that he had hit the east and the west, and hurriedly sent people to recall the searching officers and soldiers, but it would take some time to go back and forth, and I am afraid it would be too late to rescue the city tower.

The officers and soldiers on the city wall had already had some heart palpitations, and at this time, they saw that the rebels had entered the city, cut off their retreat, and gradually lost their fighting spirit. After being killed by Fang Jie and the Manichaeans who rushed to the city wall, the rest knelt directly on the ground and asked for surrender, but were all beheaded by the Manichaeans.

At the same time, people from outside the city have begun to pour into the city. Fang Jie and Xu Ziling also ran down from the city wall and rushed towards the officers and soldiers who were holding on to the streets.

The number of officers and soldiers was already small, and the rebel army continued to pour in, and a feeling of fear gradually spread.

"Reinforcements are coming!"

Hearing the shouts of surprise from the rear, the officers and soldiers who were in a low mood were suddenly shocked.

The lieutenant turned his head and saw that about two or three hundred officers and soldiers were rushing towards him. was pleasantly surprised, but heard the leading general shout: "It's a big deal!" Captain Teng. ”

The captain's face changed slightly, and he said in a deep voice: "Could it be that there are only two or three hundred reinforcements from you?" ”

"Lord Teng, Lord Teng," the general gasped, "Lord Li heard that there were five or six thousand thieves and had already entered the city, so he fled to Xianju County with those officers and soldiers. ”

The lieutenant was furious: "What a Li Jingyuan, what a man who is greedy for life and afraid of death!" ”

The general looked at the rebels who were getting closer and closer, and said urgently: "Lord Teng, now that the general trend has gone, let's also withdraw quickly, if we are surrounded by thieves in the evening, we will not be able to escape." ”

The lieutenant was indignant again, and at this time he also knew that the general was telling the truth, and in order to avoid unnecessary sacrifices, he immediately ordered the whole army to retreat slowly.

However, Fang Jie didn't want him to leave easily, and led the rebels to chase closely, and the officers and soldiers fought and retreated, leaving hundreds of corpses before they were able to get rid of the physically exhausted rebels.

In order to prevent the wealthy families in the city from fleeing overnight, Fang Jie divided the rebel army into four groups to control the east, west, south and north gates.

At the same time, Liu Ying led a team of people to surround Zhao Zhidao's mansion and Li Jingyuan's mansion, and found that Li Jingyuan had fled with his family, but Zhao Zhidao's family members in the mansion did not have time to escape.

Before returning, Xu Ziling followed Fang Jie to chase and kill the official army, and when he passed by an alley, he heard the sound of a fight nearby, so he said to Fang Jie and led four or five Manichaean people to inspect the past.

When they got closer, they found that the woman was fighting with someone in the afternoon, and there were several corpses lying on the ground.

Two of the several people who besieged and killed the woman were arrested, and the rest were all Zhao Zhidao's guards, and after the woman killed a few people, she was already exhausted at this time, and it seemed that it would not be long before the arrestees took it.

Xu Ziling felt a little funny about the woman's treatment like this, but she didn't think much about it, and immediately took the Manichaeans to help her.

The trappers chased and killed the woman all the way, obviously unaware that a great change had taken place in the city, and when Xu Ziling killed, they only regarded him as the woman's accomplice.

The Manichaeans who came with Xu Ziling were all elites, and their strength was almost the same as that of the catchers, and as soon as they joined the battle, the pressure on the catchers increased dramatically.

After fighting a few times, they saw that Xu Ziling pierced the chest of one of the guards with a sword, and the trappers knew that they could not do anything, so they turned around and fled together.

After the trappers fled, the woman glanced at Xu Ziling, put the double knife back into the sheath, and sat down on the spot to breathe.

The Manichaeans looked at Xu Ziling and wanted to see what he was going to do.

"You go to help the envoy first," Xu Ziling said, "This girl is kind to my rebels, and I have something to say to her alone." ”

Hearing this, several sect members bowed slightly to Xu Ziling, and then turned around and left.

After a long silence.

The woman who closed her eyes and breathed softly asked, "Are you rebels in the uprising?" Have you already stormed the city? ”

Xu Ziling smiled: "You were chased and killed by these hunters, but we were involved." ”

Seeing that he acquiesced, the woman opened her eyes and asked, "Do you have anything to do with Liangshan?" ”

"Absolutely!" Xu Ziling said.

Hearing his answer so decisively, the woman's eyes narrowed slightly, and her hands were faintly placed on the hilt of the knife.

"The leader of Liangshan, I killed four or five," Xu Ziling looked at the woman, saw her strange face, and said with a smile: "I can say that I am fighting with them to the death, what, you are from Liangshan?" ”

But I heard the woman say in a cold voice: "Liang Shan and I also have a common enmity, and when I reach the Zhijing, I will definitely kill Chao Gai, Song Jiang, Li Kui, Yang Xiong, Qin Ming and others." ”

"Oh?" Xu Ziling was stunned for a moment and asked, "What's your name?" ”

The woman said softly: "Do you know the three Zhuangzi of Dulonggang Shangzhu, Li, and Hu?" ”

"Are you Hu Sanniang?!" Xu Ziling said in surprise.

The woman was slightly stunned and said, "You know me? ”

Xu Ziling said: "Hearing you talk about Hujiazhuang, I just remembered that Hujiazhuang has a daughter named Hu Sanniang, who is also a double knife, probably you." However, I only heard that Li Kui slaughtered the Zhu family, but I didn't know that you escaped. ”

Speaking of this, Hu Sanniang's expression was a little depressed, silent, and seemed to be caught in painful memories.

Xu Ziling comforted: "Sooner or later, Liangshan and I will settle grievances, why don't you and I form an alliance to help each other and conspire with Liangshan?" ”

Hu Sanniang was puzzled: "Liangshan is a rebel, you are also a rebel, if you don't overthrow the imperial court first, how can you be right?" ”

"No, no, no, we are different from Liangshan," Xu Ziling said in a straight voice, "Although we all rebelled because we were oppressed and framed by the government, our rebel army has a far-reaching layout and strong support from Manichaeism, which is far from being comparable to Song Jiang and other thieves in the eyes of the people." Liangshan, who is unpopular with the people, will be a dead end if they don't recruit peace to the imperial court, and after they recruit peace, they will also be arranged by the imperial court to recruit our righteous army, and then ......"

"Okay," Xu Ziling didn't finish speaking, Hu Sanniang interrupted him, "I believe you for the time being, but I only follow you, before you go to Liangshan, don't want me to contribute to your rebel army." Moreover, as soon as you are defeated by the official army, I will immediately terminate my cooperation with you. ”

Hu Sanniang's decisiveness was beyond Xu Ziling's expectations, even though she said something ruthless, Xu Ziling still nodded and said, "One word is a certainty." ”

Xu Ziling didn't have to recruit Hu Sanniang for the rebels, but he felt that she was a sad person and wanted to help her. Because in the end, whether the rebels succeed or not, they will confront the people of Liangshan, and they will deal a heavy blow to them. If there are more variables, maybe the so-called Liangshan heroes can be killed.

……

When Xu Ziling came to the mansion with Hu Sanniang, everything in the city had been settled. The rebels took control of the entire city of Taizhou, and the Manichaeans began a new round of recruitment.

As before, all the officials in the city, including Zhao Shidao, who was lucky enough to survive, were dragged out into the streets by the Manichaeans and tortured, and only a few civil officials with positions and no powers were spared.

Religion was involved, making the war even more brutal and bloody. Even if Xu Ziling could understand their hatred of these corrupt officials, he did not dare to disagree with their approach. It's just a matter of killing, but it's going to be tortured and killed in all kinds of cruel ways. is obviously disemboweled, but it also has to be called "see if the hearts of these dog officials are black".

After inquiring about the Manichaeans guarding the door, Xu Ziling took Hu Sanniang to the lobby where Zhao Shidao had been arrested before, and saw Fang Jie, who was discussing things with Liu Ying and other Manichaeans.

And Fang Jie saw the two of them coming together, and squeezed his eyebrows at Xu Ziling and said, "Are you back?" ”

Xu Ziling said lightly: "She promised to cooperate with us, but she will only make a move when she fights against Liangshan." ”

Fang Jie smiled and said to Hu Sanniang, "Welcome to join my rebel army." ”

But I heard Hu Sanniang say coldly: "Find me a room." ”

Fang Jie touched his nose and called a Manichaean congregation and asked him to take Hu Sanniang to the vacant room in the backyard of the mansion.

"What's going on," after Hu Sanniang left, Xu Ziling asked, "The city gates are all under control, right?" ”

Fang Jie nodded and said, "They have sent sergeants to guard it." It's just that there are not enough manpower, and our army also lost nearly 600 people in the previous battle. ”

Xu Ziling pondered for a long time and said, "Let's recruit some in the city." Distribute the equipment of the officers and soldiers, and then let the blacksmiths in the city hurry up to build weapons. The equipment of the rebel army is too poor, and if it is not unprepared, this battle may not be able to win. ”

"I understand all this, and I have already ordered it to go down," Fang Jie waved his hand to the Manichaean crowd at the door, and said to Xu Ziling with a smile, "There is one more thing I want to tell you." ”

"What's the matter?" Xu Ziling asked.

Fang Jie smiled: "You'll know later." ”

Xu Ziling was quite puzzled, but he still couldn't help but not ask.

After a while, he saw two Manichaeans walking in with a beautiful woman. The woman was dressed in a gold embroidered dress, and she was obviously a young lady from a large family.

I saw the woman slowly walk up to Xu Ziling and give a gentle salute.

The Manichaean next to him said: "She is the daughter of Zhao Zhidao, she is not married yet, and she is barely worthy of Xu's envoy." ”

Xu Ziling didn't understand what was going on, and was about to refuse, but heard Fang Jie whisper in his ear: "If you don't want to, she will be given to other subordinates." ”

Xu Ziling looked at her tear-stained face, sighed secretly in her heart, and finally nodded and said, "Send her to my room." ”