"Jin Dakui, get a pen and paper quickly! Wait for the old man to write a letter to Nazu Kuan, and ask him to send reinforcements immediately! Otherwise, there would be no more ungrateful servants like him in my ancestral family! ”

Zu Dale, who was weak, scolded for a long time, and gasped and shouted orders to Jin Dakui, who was standing with his head down. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info

Jin Dakui looked at Li Xiao with a kind of asking eyes, Li Xiao nodded slightly to him to show his agreement, and Jin Dakui hurriedly agreed.

Li Xiao's heart was suddenly full of emotion.

The selfish and obscene commander of the Longmen guard, Du Shi, refused to agree to send reinforcements in order to ensure the safety of the Xiaobaiyang Fort where he was stationed, and Li Xiao had a premonition. It's just that Zu Kuan, the commander who was born as a slave from his ancestral family, was so hesitant in the face of the old master who was in danger and refused to send reinforcements immediately.

Li Xiao recalled that in the past, when he was in Jinzhou, the sentinel cavalry of Gao Pu, the commander of the Zhongtun Station in Guangning, was besieged by the Tartars, and Zu Kuan, who was the temporary commander of the forward battalion, refused to send reinforcements because of the unknown military situation, so that Gao Pu's entire sentry cavalry was completely annihilated by the Tartars. It can be seen that Zu Kuan, although he is brave in battle, is a hesitant and difficult person to take on a big task in his bones.

In the history of the Ming Dynasty, Zu Kuan, when he was first encircling and suppressing the Liukou in Shaanxi, was almost killed by the angry Hong Chengchou because of hesitation and delayed the fighter. Later, when the Tartars entered Jinan, they also committed the disease of hesitation and indecision, so that the troops failed to rush to Jinan in time to rescue, so that the city of Jinan fell, King De was killed, and finally the Chongzhen Emperor, who was furious like thunder, ordered the dismissal of the law, a generation of brave generals, so far died.

Li Xiao became more and more convinced of Zu Kuan's opinion, that is, this kind of person can only be dominated and used, and he can give full play to his heroic and strong side, but he cannot be allowed to serve as the main general who stands alone, otherwise Zu Kuan's hesitation and fear of taking responsibility will definitely miss the big thing.

It's just that now Zu Dale is willing to write a letter in his own hand to force Zu Kuan to send troops, and Li Xiao is happy to see him do this.

Now Jinjiazhuang Fort is extremely short of troops, no matter how many reinforcements can come, it is a rare good thing. After all, a great man in a previous life also said: We must mobilize all positive factors to strive for victory.

Li Xiao was sure that Zu Kuan would not tear his face with his benefactor for this reinforcement. Although Zu Kuan hesitated, he would also know that he had really offended the ancestral family, and it would be difficult for him to gain a foothold in this land of Liaodong.

Soon, Jin Dakui came in with a pen and paper, and at this time, Zu Wan'er's ginseng soup had also been boiled, and he followed Jin Dakui into the room.

Zu Dale drank a sip of the ginseng soup fed by Zu Wan'er from time to time, while frowning and writing hard.

Li Xiao saw that when Zu Dale wrote the letter, he gritted his teeth and twisted his eyebrows from time to time, which shows that Zu Dale must have written a lot of fierce and resentful words in the letter.

After a short time, after the letter was written, Zu Dale put the letter paper into an envelope and handed it to Jin Dakui, and said loudly: "Da Kui, you quit your hard work, hurry to Diaoyu Fort, and show the old man's letter to Zu Kuan, if he doesn't send reinforcements, you tell him that from now on, he will never return to Liaodong, my ancestral family, there should be no such a shameless and ungrateful villain!" ”

"Don't worry, my lord, let's go here!" Jin Dakui took the envelope with both hands, carefully put it into his arms, and then turned around and retreated.

Looking at Jin Dakui's figure walking away quickly, Zu Dale with complicated eyes sighed.

He quickly drank the rest of the ginseng soup, and his face gradually turned red.

This hundred-year-old mountain ginseng fruit is a great nourishing qi and blood, and its effect is extraordinary.

Zu Dale stroked Zu Wan'er's head lovingly, and said with a smile: "Wan'er, it's okay to be a father, you step down, and I'll talk to Li Xiao about business." ”

Zu Wan'er was also happy when she saw her father's face improve. She nodded, picked up the bowl and exited the room.

In the room sound, only Zu Dale and Li Xiao remained.

At this time, both of them had heavy and serious expressions on their faces.

"Li Xiao, the enemy is outnumbered, do you have the confidence to hold this fort?" Zu Dale's voice was low.

"Master Zu, as an official of the Ming Dynasty, it is his duty to fulfill his duties, as long as our army fights to the death, this Jinjiazhuang Fort can still be defended." Li Xiao replied calmly.

Zu Dale nodded lightly: "Very good." As a general, self-victory can win, you have this confidence, but it is rare. Li Xiao, if Jin Dakui can bring reinforcements, then they will all be at your disposal. ”

Li Xiao replied gratefully: "Thank you, sir!" ”

Zu Dale waved his hand, and a faint wry smile appeared on his face: "It's a pity that the old man is injured in bed now, and he can't help you much, it's really useless." ”

Li Xiao hurriedly said: "Don't be depressed, with a veteran like you in the army, you will be able to strengthen the momentum of our army, your lord, you can recuperate with peace of mind, and you will definitely try your best to do a good job in the future." ”

Zu Dale stared at Li Xiao's face and said in a low voice: "Li Xiao, if the Tartars withdraw from the customs in the future, do you have the heart to return to Jinzhou with me?" ”

Li Xiao felt a pang in his heart, he smiled, and replied lightly: "I have built a fort in Shandong and settled down, although there are twists and turns, but it is quite smooth. To tell the truth, this land of Liaodong is full of gates, and all parts of the country have been divided into interests, and it is really difficult to have the development space of a helpless person like me. ”

Zu Dale sighed lightly, looked at Li Xiao with complicated eyes and said: "Li Xiao, the old man only hopes that although you are in Shandong, if there is something in Liaodong in the future, you can also lend a hand." After all, Liaodong is where you were born and started, and don't forget your original intention. ”

Seeing that Zu Dale said so tactfully, Li Xiao smiled and said: "My lord, is Li a person who doesn't miss his old love, don't worry, if something happens in Liaodong in the future, Li Xiao will definitely lead the army to help." But now, the official is still thinking only about how to defend this fort. ”

Zu Dale smiled on his face, and he said again and again: "Very good, very good, Li Xiao, if you have this heart, the old man will rest assured." ”

The two chatted about the stationing of troops in the fort again, and at this time, Chen Mazi brought two men over to change the medicine for Zu Dale.

Seeing this, Li Xiao once again told Zu Dale to be healthy and recuperate, so he said goodbye and left.

At noon the next day, Li Xiao inspected the trenches dug by the soldiers and civilians outside the fort, and he saw clearly that thanks to the efforts of all the auxiliary soldiers and the people, it was estimated that by this evening, the excavation of the entire moat and the work of filling in the iron sticks would be completed.

Seeing that the soldiers and civilians under his command were working so fast, Li Xiao was very happy.

He stressed to Guan Yi and An Qian that if the moat was successfully completed today, then from tomorrow onwards, they could dig as many deep pits as possible in the open space outside the city, and also fill in the deep pits with iron sticks, so as to delay the enemy's attack as much as possible and increase the difficulty of their attack.

Guan Yi and An Qian agreed to each other, and then went down to convey Li Xiao's order.

Suddenly, there was a cheer from the flying harrier in the distance.

Under the blazing sun, Li Xiao set up a pergola and looked around, and saw a group of soldiers and men coming from the east in the distance, walking quickly towards Jinjiazhuang Fort.

"My lord, it's Captain Jin who has returned with reinforcements!"

A flying harrier showed a happy face, and Pegasus rushed to Li Xiao to report the good news.

Soon, Li Xiao, who was smiling, saw Jin Dakui, the captain of the family, with a team of hundreds of people, returning from the east in high spirits.

"Master Li, I have successfully brought back 500 soldiers from the ancestral office. My lord, after seeing the harshly worded letter of the ancestor last night, Zu Yanshi was so frightened that his face turned white. This morning, 500 infantry were organized and handed over to the subordinates to bring back. ”

Li Xiao smiled and patted the shoulder of Jin Dakui, who was happy, and said with a smile: "Very good, Dakui, you are very good at doing things." With the addition of these soldiers, the chances of my Jinjiazhuang Fort successfully defending the city have increased a lot. The general has agreed with General Zu that these soldiers will all belong to your department for the time being, but you need to work hard. ”

Jin Dakui knelt on one knee and said loudly: "Please rest assured, I am determined to fight to the death for the ancestral general soldier and Lord Li!" ”

The day passed quickly.

By the evening of the third day, Li Xiaojun's pre-war preparations had basically been successfully completed.

Up to now, after three days of actual drills, the soldiers have become familiar with the tactics of guarding the city wall, corner towers, fort towers, fort gates, and so on. All kinds of equipment for defending the city stored in the storehouse of the fort, such as gold sweat ash bottles, ladder hammers, etc., have been placed on the head of the city wall.

Now in the fort, there are huge reservoirs of coal stacked and full of them, which were urgently built with the bricks of the vacant houses that were demolished, as well as more than 2,000 stone rice grains and nearly 1,000 stone beans.

Outside the fort, in addition to digging and filling in the moat with iron sticks, many deep pits were dug around Jinjiazhuang Fort outside the moat, and iron sticks were also buried inside. Li Xiao was convinced that with these defensive measures prepared in advance, it would be possible to greatly delay the speed of the Jin army's offensive and weaken the strength of its attack.

On this day, when the sun was setting, everyone had just returned to the fort, and before they had time to have dinner, the fort soldiers who were looking at the corner tower saw from a distance that from the wilderness to the south, as if by magic, large groups of soldiers had emerged, and their formations were so wide that they seemed to cover the horizon.

"Oh no, it's the Tartars attacking!"

After seeing the blue silk golden dragon banner flying high, the guarding fort soldiers shouted loudly.

The mournful conch horn sounded loudly, and Jinjiazhuang Fort, which had gradually fallen silent, suddenly became noisy again.

Shield soldiers, spearmen, rampant troops, Lu Mi guns, and auxiliary soldiers ran up to the city wall one after another, and made a vigilant posture according to the lineup of the drill.

Li Xiao was fully armored, and surrounded by several generals, he walked quickly to the top of the fortress gate.

Li Xiao, who had a stern face, held up the clairvoyant mirror and carefully looked at the tartars that were surging from the south and getting closer and closer, and he didn't feel tight in his heart.

He saw that in the enemy army, there were about 1,400 Jurchen Tartar soldiers from the Zhenglan Banner Headquarters, about 600 Mongolian Tatars, and more than 700 Shangkexi Tianzhu soldiers holding high the white circle on a black background.

These banners of the Han army were set up by Huang Taiji himself in March this year. The purpose is to distinguish it from the Eight Banners, and at the same time to facilitate the distinction of flag colors between several traitors. If it is the Heavenly Blessing Soldier of Kong Youde, the flag color setting is just the opposite, and it is a black circle center flag on a white background.

Because of the accumulation of some knowledge of Ming history in his previous life, Li Xiao was able to see the types of these traitor troops at a glance.

In addition, Li Xiao also saw that there were some soldiers wearing tattered Ming army uniforms and hanging their heads in a daze, and the number was nearly 1,000. Li Xiao estimated that such a soldier should be this Tartar army, all the way back to Xuanfu from Datong, breaking all kinds of large and small bunkers on the way, and capturing the surrendered Ming army.

Behind the Tartar soldiers who had opened the way in front were a caravan of more than one hundred and fifty wagons and ox carts, with mountains of grain and silver chests tied to them, as well as cloth and silk tied separately.

Behind the baggage caravan, there were nearly six or seven thousand captives, men, women, and children, most of whom were tied together by ropes, and all of them were full of sorrow, and their miserable cries could be heard in the distance.

Among the captives, there were also some sturdy men, who were ordered to carry forty or fifty siege ladders, more than forty siege shield wagons, and other newly made siege equipment, and were beaten and cursed by a small group of Tartar soldiers in order to keep up with the troops in front of the Tartars.

Li Xiao didn't know that when he was carefully watching the Tartar troops approaching on foot, in the Tartar array, the Jialama Zhenai Bali, who was surrounded by more than forty white armor in the middle, was talking in a low voice with the two of them next to him, who was watching from the castle gate.

"My lord, it's that damn general who annihilated half of my Niulu! The slave dared to predict that a few days ago, on the north bank of the South River, the one who sneaked up on my chasing cavalry was also this thief! Baiktu gritted his teeth with a look of resentment.

"Oh, is it? In this way, this Nikan Ming general is still a brave and resourceful man. It's just that, from the general's point of view, this person is wearing the white fang-horn armor of our army, and his body is also strong, if he can lead the army to surrender, the general will have to ask the banner lord for instructions, and let this person be in my own name to follow the white armor. ”

Two terrifying scars on his face, short and thick, with a thick jaw protruding forward like an angry orangutan. Dressed in a sumptuous cold-forged blue-lacquered iron armor, the Ala-E-O True Love Bali was completely unimpressed by Baiktu's resentment, and he said this in a mocking tone.

Baiketu understood the ridicule in Aibali's words, he gritted his teeth, suppressed the anger in his heart, and reminded Aibali: "My lord, this Ming dog is very brave, and his subordinates are all elite, in the eyes of the minions, the combat strength of the soldiers under this person is among the best in these frontier Ming armies. Adults are at war with them, but they need to be careful. ”

"Humph! Baiketu, are you scared by this nameless general, so you speak for this person like this! Look at your cringe, where is there still a little bit of the heroic spirit of my Eight Banners warriors. From the general's point of view, it is clear that you are useless, so you were annihilated by this unknown general, and the prestige of my blue flag was destroyed. ”

With a dissatisfied face, Ai Bali glanced at Bai Ketu and snorted coldly in his nose.

Baiketu blushed and said nothing.

These days, he has been pointed at and ridiculed behind his back by the other bulls under his umbrella, but he can only pretend not to hear, and the anger in his heart is beyond measure.

Bai Ketu could even feel that the attitude towards him of the remaining half of the Niulu soldiers he was now bringing with him seemed to have changed subtly, and the eyes they looked at themselves were not as respectful as before, but had a lot more hesitant looks.

In the Jurchen tribe, an ethnic group that only respects the strong and only obeys the rules of the forest, the prestige of the leader is completely supported by the battle record. And it is only natural that the leader who has lost the battle is despised and suspicious by his subordinates, and ridiculed and despised by his colleagues.

Baiketu stopped talking, he sighed lightly, bowed to Aiba with a complicated look, and retreated into his own Niu Lu formation.

"The general ordered that it is getting late now, five hundred steps away from Jinjiazhuang Fort, set up camp and rest on the spot." Aibali looked at the silent Jinjiazhuang Fort for a while, and ordered loudly.

"Huh!"

"By the way, tell the sons and daughters, don't waste too much physical strength on those Han women tonight, you need to rest well, early tomorrow morning, the whole army will immediately start attacking the fort, after the fort is down, the military and civilian property of the whole fort will be taken and killed." A sinister smile flashed on Aibali's meaty face, and he said loudly to the two Bakash soldiers who were leaving to give orders.

"Huh!"

At the gate of Jinjiazhuang Fort, seeing that the Tartar army began to set up camp, Li Xiao, who had a stern face, put down the clairvoyant mirror and began to issue military orders.

"Pass on my military order, tonight, all the fort walls will arrange auxiliaries, and they will be on duty by receiving arrows and passing the number. The official expects that the Tartars will attack at dawn tomorrow, and the whole army of soldiers will have a good rest tonight, recuperate, and tomorrow, they will fight to the death with the Tartars! ”

"Order!" (To be continued.) )