In the mouth of Hangu Pass, Wei Zheng, Shan Xiongxin and Qin Qiong were anxiously waiting for the news of Wang Bodang's envoy. Fortunately, it was cool to be in the middle of the canyon. It's just that the long-term garrison of the canyon is extremely unfavorable to tens of thousands of soldiers, and the people and horses in this canyon are too dense.

"Dao Chief, Second Brother Shan, Brother Wang is back." Suddenly, Xie Yingdeng, who was at the mouth of the canyon, shouted. Everyone immediately perked up and flocked to Gukou to follow Wang Bodang.

"Dao Chief, Second Brother Shan, Second Brother Qin, Bodang is back." Wang Bodang dismounted while greeting him.

"Brother Bodang, what do you say about this?" Shan Xiongxin was anxious, so he grabbed Wang Bodang and asked.

"Hanguguan is now in charge of Luzhou General Li Jing, and Bodang is in front of Luo Cheng, so he agreed to let me go. Just ---"

"Just what? It doesn't hurt to be blunt. ”

"It's just that I have to wait for the money to buy the road before he can let him go, and he can tell the people above."

"Huh! What conditions should I have? Makes sense! Originally, we were used to receiving money from other people's families to buy roads, but today we have to pay money to buy roads, it seems that good people in this world can't do it. You Junda and a few others couldn't help but smile bitterly when they heard that they had to pay for the road. Even Shan Xiongxin, who has always sat on the ground and shared the spoils, also felt a little incredible when he heard it, the rules on this road were all set by him, and this time he used it on himself.

"Brother Bodang, how much silver does he want to be released? I'll have to make it up. Qin Qiong asked anxiously.

"Brother Shubao, you know that Luo Cheng is now the deputy general of the Jin Army's White Horse Yicong Battalion, and his status is second only to the main general champion Hou Wu Yunzhao. He was anxious to expand the number of men and horses, and this time he didn't want gold and silver, but he took a fancy to the war horses in our army, and said that he wanted 20,000 war horses as road money, and he wouldn't let me wait for the Kanto return to the Kanto region. ”

"Huh? How does this --- make this? For these 20,000 horses, the treasury of our country has really been exhausted. Shan Xiongxin listened to the conditions, and couldn't help but be shocked, and he was unwilling. The others were stunned when they heard this, and they didn't say a word. This is equivalent to everyone receiving a lifetime of other people's road money and sending it to others, and they are all busy in vain.

"Humph! It doesn't hurt to give it to him. Besides, Brother Biting Jin is still in his hands, as long as he can save my 80,000 troops. Wei Zheng waved the dust at this time and said sharply.

When everyone heard this, they all looked at this Wei Lao Dao, their eyes were full of disobedience and unwillingness, no one was willing, they just wanted to hear him give a reason first.

"Second Brother Shan, Brother Shubao, you wait to calm down and think about it. Now that the road ahead has been cut off, Luo Cheng is invincible and needless to say, there is also a Luo Shixin who is born with divine power, and we are invincible. If what Poor Dao said was right, then at least 100,000 horses and horses of the Jin army of the Luzhou battalion had already arrived here with Li Jing. We waited for more than 10 anti-kings to be blocked in Tongguan, and then they were cut off from returning, and the grain route was blocked, and more than 500,000 horses and horses had to run out of food in 20 days at the latest, so they collapsed without a fight. All the anti-kings will be captured by Yang Guang, the king of Jin. Although we have lost 20,000 war horses, the strength of our Lu country still exists! Besides, after the kings were captured, the state capitals had no leaders, and my nearly 100,000 horses could grow rapidly, so why worry about having no horses in the future? ”

Wei Zheng's words were reasonable and modest, and the generals immediately understood when they heard it, and all the dead faces on their faces were shining with light and excited.

"Good! What Wei Junshi said is reasonable. As long as there are soldiers, why worry about no horses, when all the kings are buried here, this Central Plains land is not at our own gallop. It's worth the money to buy the road. ”

"It's worth it--- it's worth ---," the generals shouted with Shan Xiongxin.

The next day, under the operation of Wang Bodang, 20,000 horses were handed over to Luo Cheng, and as a "filler" for the successful transaction, Luo Cheng also released Cheng Yanjin by the way. provoked the generals to say in front of Qin Qiong that his cousin was open-minded, Qin Qiong just smiled bitterly, and for a while he was even a little jealous of this cousin who came from the general sect but had already made a name for himself as a general of the expedition to the north, and had become famous in the world at a young age.

After letting go of the green forest group, the arming of Hangu Pass officially began. A total of 5 passes were set up in the gorge in front of the open and long Hangu Pass, and in each place, the rocks on both sides were blown up with explosives, and the falling boulders blocked the narrow valley road, and 5 simple stone walls were built. Luo Cheng's deployment was to set up 400 crossbow fire and thunder archers from the Baima Yicong battalion on each stone wall, and these crossbowmen were veterans who had experienced several actual battles and had rich experience. Each soldier gets 10 Fire Thunder Arrows, and after shooting, they can abandon the wall and retreat to the Hangu Pass. The defense is handed over to the next pass with the same mission, 400 people, the same ten fire and thunder arrows, and they will return when they are released, and so on 5 times. The focus of the defense was to restore the 8 percent of the old Hangu Pass city walls. Li Jing's 100,000 Luzhou army instead focused on the direction of Luoyang City on the back, in case Luoyang and other kings attacked Hanguguan from the back.

In the face of the desperate savior's counterattack of the upcoming gate lords of the feudal towns, 100,000 horses made Li Jing feel a little insufficient, but fortunately, he carried a lot of firearms this time, almost emptying the Luzhou inventory, but Li Jing had never used it, and he still had no bottom in his heart, and he was only secretly looking forward to the surrender of the rebels who were surrounded in his pocket as soon as possible.

"Dao Xing! Worried again? It's okay, His Royal Highness has already made arrangements, Pei Yun's Taihang Jin army of 20 tens of thousands is estimated to be attacking Luokou City at this time, and even if Luoyang has reinforcements, there will not be many. In the eyes of this father, Luoyang itself is difficult to protect, how can the reinforcements come here? Hehe! Han Baohu had been beside Li Jing all the time, and when he saw that he was anxious, he explained.

"Hmmm! Thank you for the old general's reminder, what the old general said is that the last general seems to be really worried. ”

"Hehehehe---" The two laughed on their horses.

Tongguan.

The anti-kings each led their armies to attack for two days in a row, but they were all shot back with bows and arrows by the Sui army. Now there are only two people left who have not participated in the siege of the city, Yang Xuangan and Du Fuwei. One is that these two places have fewer men and horses, the military discipline is scattered, and the equipment is the most backward, so it is useless to go up; Moreover, if these two people go to pick up the leak, once the pass is broken, the kings' faces will be gloomy. Therefore, Wang Shichong did not think of arranging two men and horses to fight. Yang Xuangan and Zhu Deng were indignant about this, while Du Fuwei looked indifferent, only drinking and enjoying himself with a few brothers in the village every day, and had no heart to fight.

"Big brother, the brother sent out by the younger brother to deliver the letter came back last night." Chen Liu'er whispered.

"How? Can you bring back a letter from Master Liu? Duvowe asked in a whisper.

"Big brother, Lord Liu asked me to wait for the others to drag the kings under Tongguan City as much as possible, so as to buy time for the Luzhou army to rebuild the Hangu Pass Pass. When my brother came back and passed by Hangu Pass, he bumped into my Luzhou army and was letting go of the Lujun Green Forest anti-thieves, and Shan Xiongxin, Qin Qiong and the others were all depressed. ”

"Oh? Why let this group of grass thieves go? "Du Fuwei is a little confused, under normal circumstances, he should hold the pass and not let go of a rebel, even if the rebel is from the green forest.

"It is said that 20,000 war horses were paid as money to buy a way to live, in short, there are some calculations."

"Hmmm! Hehehe--- I didn't expect that the eagle who was playing with the eagle was poked blind by the eagle, and he also ended up with a person who had to pay the road money to escape. When these grass thieves lose their horses, they are like birds that have no wings, and they can't fly if they want to. How's the pass rebuilt? Du Fuwei listened to Shan Xiongxin's experience, and made up for Shan Xiongxin's deflated appearance, and couldn't help laughing, almost squirting out the wine in his mouth.

"It is said that the city is being built overnight, and five fortresses will be built in the canyon to block the passage."

"Good! It seems that it will take up to 3 days to hold the bag tightly. ”

"Big brother, little brother doesn't need me to wait to drag him, the kings have taken turns to tackle key problems in the past few days, and they are in a critical place. The number of soldiers who have been lost in the past few days is no more than 20,000 in one place, far from the point where the kings are broken. I'm afraid that the Tongguan defenders won't be able to hold the bottom of this pocket! ”

"Humph! As long as the king of Tongguan guards for another 3 days, the news that Hangu Pass was cut off by the Luzhou army will inevitably come. Today's fast horse to Luoyang to urge food has already set off, if there is no military food sent in 3 days, Wang Shichong should be panicked. By the way, tell your brothers to prepare a few more days of dry food, and the day of food shortages is coming. ”

"Yes, eldest brother, junior brother will go to the camps to say hello, eldest brother, you and the fourth brother are drinking here first." After speaking, Chen Liuer put down the wine glass and went out of the account.

"Big brother, that Xu Mao Gong is also cunning, he has already seen through the master's plan, and he actually made a move to get the golden cicada out of the shell, so that tens of thousands of horses in the headquarters can get out of the encirclement. Why didn't the eldest brother follow his example, and also take the brothers out of this danger as soon as possible. The fourth Ruan Fei suggested.

"Hmmm! That's a good idea. But for what reason to leave here? Du Fuwei listened to Ruan Fei's words and felt that it made sense, so he stopped his wine glass and pondered.

"According to the younger brother, it is better to leave in the name of looking for a boat in Shaanxi County and other places, anyway, the current war is scorching, then Wang Shichong does not disdain to use me and other people, if it is said to find a boat along the river and go up to attack the back of Tongguan, Wang Shichong will definitely agree."

"Hmmm! Good! Not only that, but you can also leave here in the name of protecting food. Tonight he will present it in public when the kings are meeting. Hum! Whether he agrees or not, I will leave here tomorrow morning, and the people of Talu County will go, why do I have to stay here. Du Fuwei patted the table and said.

"Good! There is no need for me to wait to hold Wang Shichong back, I should plan for myself first. Tonight, the younger brother asked the battalions to prepare for the start. Big brother, come, have a few more drinks. ”

After the two brothers figured it out, they were in a good mood and drank it openly. The shouts of the anti-king rebels attacking Tongguan could be faintly heard.

Let's talk about Yang Lin, the general of Tongguan who is holding on.

At this time, Yang Lin was commanding Master Shang and the second general of Xin Wenli at the head of the city to fight back against the incoming rebels, at this time Yang Lin was not worried that Tong Pass would not be able to hold it, he was still very confident in the Xiongguan that he had been operating here for many years. Due to the terrain restrictions, the number of rebels attacking the city each time was only about 3,000, and the open space in front of the gate was already occupied, and it was impossible for the rebels behind to rush up. At this time, Master Shang and his apprentice were standing beside Yang Lin, while Xin Wenli was directing more than 2,000 archers to guard the pass. Waves of arrows rained out, and under the wall, rebels continued to fall from arrows. There is also a tendency for rebel corpses to pile up higher and higher under the wall.

"Lord Wang, why don't you let the last general use fire thunder arrows and sky-bombing grenades, the rebel density under the wall can use sky-bombing grenades!" Master Shang looked at the archers who were panting from exhaustion, and couldn't help but suggest again.

"Huh! It has only been held for a few days, and if you want to buy time for the Luzhou army of His Royal Highness King Jin to intercept Hangu Pass, you can't use firearms too early. If you use it, what if you scare Wang Shichong and other anti-kings away? This king used bows and arrows to defend, so that the rebel kings felt that the capture of Tongguan was in a hurry, and they couldn't stop, so that they could firmly drag the rebels. When the kings outside the gate don't attack the city one day, it will be time for the pockets of Hangu Pass to be tightened, and he will become a turtle in the urn. At that time, it was estimated that the anti-kings would attack with all their might, and it would be best to save firearms for that time. General Shang went to remobilize 2,000 archers to the city to change the defense, so that General Xin Wenli rested. ”

"Yes, lord." With that, Master Shang turned around and went down from under the wall, mobilizing another group of archers who were waiting to change their guards under the city.

At this time, Wang Shichong and other kings, who were watching the battle on the hillside not far away, were also happy and worried. The joy is that they are about to rush to the wall, and the worry is that the soldiers who rushed up were soon beaten down again. On the wall, there are no necessary weapons for defending the city, only a continuous rain of arrows, as if there are endless arrows, this situation makes the kings want to stop, and none of the anti-kings propose to retreat.

"Humph! Yang Lin Lao'er is nothing more than relying on the tall wall and favorable terrain. If our army is opened, this level will already be in our hands. Shen Faxing said to the kings.

"There are still two more waves today, and if there is still a stalemate, we will only be able to divide our forces tomorrow. It's a pity that the terrain here is low, and I can't use many siege equipment. Wang Shichong complained in a low voice.

While all the kings were talking in whispers, Xu Maogong, who was behind Wang Shichong, was silent. He was calm on the surface, but his heart was already as turbulent as the waves at this time. The relatives who were quietly sent out to inquire about the situation in Hanguguan have not returned for a long time, and the Luoyang military rations that were originally delivered yesterday are nowhere to be seen, and a feeling of fear of being cut off from the back road has lingered in my heart for a long time, because it is mixed with private thoughts and it is not good to say it to Wang Shichong and others. Although the Tongguan offensive in front was fierce, it could not open and close the door for a long time, and the defenders on the wall did not seem to use all their strength.

"Let's wait for the return." Xu Maogong sighed secretly in his heart.

"Alliance leader, Yang Lintong has 50,000 defenders, and now there are only a few thousand defenders on the wall, although he has suffered a lot of losses in the past few days, but his strength still exists. We have too many soldiers and horses gathered here, and we can't use them, so it is better to send an army back to Hanguguan to the north to attack Shaanxi County, if there is a boat there, drive a boat to attack the fortification, if there is no boat, try to cross the river along the north bank of the Yellow River and go up to take the Guangtong Canal in the east of the river to cross the river, there must be a boat there. Li Mi approached Wang Shichong and whispered.

"Hmmm! Mr. Xuan Sui's plan is good, and he will discuss it with the kings tonight. ”

Li Mi had to retreat behind Wang Shichong when he heard this, Xu Maogong leaned closer, and also listened to Li Mi's words, closed his eyes and thought about it, and couldn't help but shake his head.

Seeing the thousands of men and horses rushing forward were shot down by a more dense burst of bows and arrows, Wang Shichong shook his head and shouted: "Mingjin! It's not too late to attack tomorrow. With that, Le Ma ran down the hill first. When the kings heard this, they went down the mountain with them.

Immediately, a loud gong sounded in the valley. When the rebel soldiers who were besieging the city heard this, they immediately breathed a sigh of relief, and many of them collapsed on the ground and refused to get up. In the same way, the defenders of the gate heard the long-awaited sound of the enemy's closing gong, and the archers immediately lowered their soft arms and sat down on the ground to gasp.

"Lord, the rebels have retreated today, please go back to your house to rest." Master Shang ran towards Yang Lin, who was fighting, and shouted.

"Arrange a defense at night in case the rebels attack at night." After speaking, Yang Lin led the pro-soldiers and walked towards the pass.

What a long day! Yang Lin looked at the gray sky and sighed.