Shunzhou guard general He Renlong was dressed in armor, dragging his slightly tired legs into the lobby, and met Yu Jianyuan, the head of Shunzhou County.

He Renlong bowed and saluted: "Report to Lord Yu, the soldiers of the Protector Army have been properly settled, and the lowly post has sent additional personnel to the four gates, strengthening the city defense patrol day and night, just waiting for the thieves to attack." ”

Lord Yu, who was emaciated, turned around slowly, looked at him with a sad face, and nodded. After a moment of silence, Lord Yu waved his sleeves, retreated left and right, and whispered, "General He, please come and speak." ”

He Renlong glanced up at Lord Yu in slight surprise, stepped forward to his desk, and pricked up his ears to hear what Lord Yu had to say.

After being silent for a long time, Lord Yu still closed his lips tightly, making He Renlong inexplicable.

"Renlong, you and I have worked together for many years, and there are no outsiders here, you tell the official the truth...... What do you think...... How long can we hold the city? ”。

He Renlong was stunned, turned his head to look around, turned his head and said, "The thousands of men and horses who have retreated after the defeat of the Protector Army, plus our original garrison, should not be a problem to last for a month or two!" ”。

Lord Yu raised his head and glared at him with a blue face, sighed deeply, and paced with his hands behind his back: "What about a month or two later?" Do you think the imperial court can send reinforcements again? ”。

He Renlong was stunned for a moment, to be honest, he was dizzy and extremely busy in the past few days. He was only thinking about how to arrange the soldiers of the Protector Army who had retreated, how to treat the wounded, distribute food and grass, and strengthen the fortifications of the city, and he really didn't think much about the rest.

He raised his head tentatively and asked, "What do you mean?" ”。

Lord Yu continued to pace without raising his head, as if to say to himself: "There are only two ways in front of you and me: or, grit your teeth and stick to it, and die on the day the city is broken; Or, open the city and surrender it, so that the people of the city will not suffer from the war! ”。

Hearing this, He Renlong was startled, took half a step back and raised his voice: "Lord County Guard, this matter is definitely not child's play!" You and I have eaten the court, since we were loyal to the monarch and served the country, and we have died with all our efforts. Thieves in Kaesong? Not to mention being scolded by the world, the last general asked that bandit to be ruthless and murderous, do you think the thief can let us live? ”。

Lord Yu suddenly stopped, high-fived and smiled: "Well said! In fact, the county guard has long been determined to live and die with the state capital and sacrifice his life for the country, and he just wants to give you a try! Since you say so, then I'm relieved! All that's left is for you and me to work together and fight to the death against the bandits! ”。

He Renlong couldn't help but raise his hand to wipe the cold sweat from the corner of his forehead, and nodded vigorously.

Du Zhongnian strode into Guan Yu's Chinese military tent in a hurry, hugged his fists and said: "General Guan, the last general has important matters that he wants to discuss with the general alone. ”

Guan Yu glanced up at him strangely, glanced at Cui Dakui and the others, and the people in the tent slowly retreated with understanding.

When only Guan and Du were left in the tent, Du Zhongnian took a few steps forward and whispered: "General, this Shunzhou city has thick walls, easy to defend and difficult to attack. Moreover, the defeated protectors and horses who entered the city were also trapped in it, but I don't know how the general planned to take them? ”。

Guan Yu nodded and said: "What Brother Zhongnian said is very true, I have also ridden around the city for several weeks and carefully observed, the situation outside the south gate is favorable to our side, and the city wall is more dilapidated, I plan to use it as the main direction of attack." Our army must fight quickly and without delay! What is the clever plan of the middle-aged brother? ”。

Du Zhongnian took another step forward, turned his head to confirm that there was no one outside, and whispered in Guan Yu's ear: "Shunzhou guard general He Renlong and Zai Xia are old acquaintances, and the last general plans to ride into the city alone, strive to rebel against him, and then come to meet with the outside." ”

Guan Yu straightened up suddenly, looked Du Zhongnian up and down a few times, and frowned: "How sure is Brother Zhongnian's chest?" Although this plan is wonderful, but the risk is extremely high, since ancient times people's hearts are unpredictable, if you can't get nine out of ten, I will never agree to risk my brother for my life! ”。

Du Zhongnian lowered his head and pondered for a moment, and then said: "I know He Renlong very well, although he has a rough appearance, but he is thoughtful, even if you can't convince him, if the two countries are not at war, the last general should not worry about his life." Give it a try. ”

Guan Yu shook his head again and again and said: "No, even if He Renlong remembers the old love and intends to let you live, don't forget that he still has his boss Shunzhou Mansion and County Guard, and the generals of the Protector Army who retreated into the city are defeated, they will definitely be determined to take your life!" ”。

The two were arguing, and the guards in front of the door came to report, and Li Jingcheng, the lord of the Qincha, asked to see General Guan.

Guan Yu hurriedly said: "Brother Jingcheng Xian is not an outsider, he came just in time, please come in quickly, Brother Zhongnian can't listen to my advice, he should always listen to Lord Qincha's opinion." ”

Li Jingcheng opened the curtain and entered, Guan Yu and Du Zhongnian had already gone to the tent to greet each other with fists.

After listening to Guan Yu and Du Zhongnian's respective statements, Li Jingcheng lowered his head and pondered for a moment while pacing.

After a while, he stopped, looked up at the two of them respectively, and grinned: "The thoughts of the two benevolent brothers are well understood. If you don't enter the tiger's den, how can you get the tiger? The foolish brother agrees that Brother Du might as well give it a try, there should be no worries about his life, it's a big deal to return in vain, our army just needs to attack! ”。

Hearing this, Du Zhongnian's face suddenly turned ruddy, and his eyebrows smiled. Guan Yu frowned tightly and shook his head again and again.

In the end, Guan Yu still couldn't stand Du Zhongnian's soft grinding and hard bubbles, gritted his teeth and agreed to his request, and selected six shrewd and strong people with excellent kung fu from the guards around him to accompany Du Zhongnian.

The soldiers defending the city received a letter tied to the arrow under the city and shot into the city, and hurriedly handed it over to Lord Jianyuan Yu, the Shouyu of Shunzhou County.

After reading the letter, Lord Yu hurriedly summoned He Renlong and General Guo, the general of the Protector Army who had retreated into the city, to discuss countermeasures.

"Nonsense!" The burly General Guo shouted loudly.

This General Guo has been following the old general Yan since he started to fight against thieves, and he has made military exploits more than once in the campaign to exterminate the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, and he has a deep hatred for the Great Chu thieves.

"What do you say that for the sake of the common people in the world, the people of Shunzhou are free from the suffering of war to visit the county guard, which is clearly a weasel to the chicken New Year's greetings...... Not well-intentioned! General Ben suggested that the county keeper simply keep him out of the door, as a sign of my determination to fight the thief to the death! ”。

Lord Yu's face was pale, and he glanced at He Renlong without saying a word.

He Renlong licked his lips helplessly, and arched his hand: "The last general also thinks that General Guo is reasonable, the thieves are cruel and cunning, beware of fraud!" ”。

Lord Shouyu of Shunzhou County, who had a thin face, shook his head lightly, and slowly spoke: "Refusing to see can certainly show the determination of the soldiers and civilians in my city to fight to the death, but it is not the best way, it seems that we are not confident enough!" ”。

After a pause, he continued: "Actually, this official is very curious in his heart, he wants to see with his own eyes what the murderous thief is, and how he can speak in front of this official. Write back to them, and tomorrow the envoy will be allowed to enter the city through the east gate, and the entourage shall not exceed ten people, and it is strictly forbidden to carry any weapons. ”

He stopped talking, looked down at the reaction on the faces of the two generals, and said with a slight smile: "Two generals, I bother you to prepare swords and axes in secret, look at the eyes of your own officials, and cut off the head of the thief envoy to sacrifice the flag if necessary, isn't there a few fewer thieves who are attacking the city?" ”。

General Guo and He Renlong glanced at each other with their mouths open, but they had nothing to say, so they had to clench their fists and act according to orders.

The next day the sun was shining and the sky was clear.

Guan Yu and others watched Du Zhongnian and his entourage slowly ride into the city. Before leaving, Guan Yu told Du Zhongnian and his guards thousands of instructions and instructions, but he still felt uneasy in his heart.

Du Zhongnian held his head high, followed closely by a messenger who looked like a Confucian student, and walked into the hall of the Shunzhou Mansion as an escort.

As soon as his eyes adjusted to the light of the city, Du Zhongnian seemed to be looking around casually, and he soon saw He Renlong, who was wearing armor with the hilt of a sword. Strangely, the other party only made eye contact with him for a moment, and then quickly turned his face away, as if he didn't know him at all.

"The envoy of Great Chu has seen Lord Shunzhou Mansion." The Confucian envoy was neither humble nor arrogant and bowed slightly to Lord Yu in the hall.

The pale-faced county keeper straightened his waist behind the table and sat still, like a clay sculpture and wood carving, without saying a word.

General Guo turned his head and glared at the messenger fiercely, snorted hard in his nose, and deliberately shook the saber hanging from his waist with one hand, and it seemed that he would pull it out at any time and cut off the head of the comer.

The huge roar was deafening, and with a series of shells falling and exploding, the gravel at the head of Taizhou City flew sideways, and the smoke of gunpowder filled the air.

Before the smoke cleared, the defenders at the head of the city could not open their eyes when they heard the overwhelming shouts of killing.

King Pingnan and the men and horses of Ma Jiajun launched a fierce attack on Taizhou City from four directions at the same time.

General Si rubbed his eyes vigorously, and slowly poked out half of his head from behind the battlements. Although I was prepared in my heart, I couldn't help but be taken aback when I saw the small black dots under the city that were pressed and densely surged forward.

He turned to the crossbowman beside him and said, "Brothers, hold your breath and wait until the thieves are close enough to aim before firing the arrows!" With the support of tens of thousands of people in the city behind us, thousands of men with tools in hand waiting to rush up at any moment to repair the damaged walls, we will be able to defeat the bandits' attacks! ”。

With a "click", a cloud ladder was set up on the battlements in front of General Si, who stood up abruptly and shouted: "Brothers, stand up and shoot me to death!" ”。 As he spoke, he gritted his teeth and raised his knife to slash at the ladder in front of him.

Fan Junshi stroked his white beard in his hand, rode on a horse and looked up at the Taizhou City Tower, he turned his head and asked, "Lord Nan, how long do you think our army will be able to take this Taizhou City?" ”。

Tang Wannian, the king of Pingnan, waved his horsewhip lightly and said with a smile: "This prince wants to drink and talk with all the soldiers in the hall of the city government tonight, what do the military advisors think?" ”。

Fan Junshi glanced at him with a smile, and said with a smile: "The prince is too anxious, according to the old man, it is not too late to drink tomorrow." ”