The battle went on and off for five days.

First of all, Tang Weitian led his troops to challenge, trying to introduce the He Rong people into the mountains, but he was unsuccessful, so he no longer retreated, and the descending army and the Yizhou army increased their troops day by day, and the He Rong people increased their troops more, and the two sides fought fiercely, and it was difficult to distinguish the victory or defeat.

For the soldiers on the inferior side, the inseparability was enough to boost morale, and only the generals at the top understood the danger: if they continued like this, they would be left without troops to send and the enemy would have a constant supply of energy.

Zhang Shiqing still couldn't ride a horse and bump, but insisted on going to the battlefield with the female soldiers, they didn't participate in the battle, just raised the flag to make a statement, but it was not far from the battlefield, if the soldiers in front retreated, none of them could escape.

He Rongren has not shown any signs of collapse, Yin Fu began to panic in his heart, never showed it in front of his subordinates, but told the truth to Xu Ji: "The Golden Holy Maiden should appear, if even she can't be scared away...... We can only accept our fate, we can only accept our fate. ”

Xu Ji tried every means to persuade him, thinking that the time had not yet come, so he asked Yin Fu to wait patiently for a while.

In the afternoon of this day, Yin Fu sent someone to invite Xu Ji over, looking very excited, holding a letter in his hand, "The Jizhou army intends to surrender!" ”

"Jizhou Army?"

"It's not our side, it's the Jizhou army on the other side, He Rongren coerced Ji, And, and Qin to send troops to assist, and the King of Jin fled back to Bingzhou with his troops. The letter said that the Jizhou soldiers were no different from servants in the army, and the soldiers were all dissatisfied and wanted to flee, but they never got the opportunity, so they would rather surrender to me. ”

Xu Ji was also very happy, but still cautious, "Which general wrote the letter?" ”

Yin Fu's face was slightly less excited, "There is no signature, the messenger is a soldier, I can't say anything, I guess it should be General Yang Tongcai Yang." ”

Yang Tongcai, the general of Zuo Wuhou, was an important general in the Tiancheng court, and he usually commanded the Jizhou soldiers.

"Can I take a look?"

"Of course." Yin Fu handed over the letter.

Xu Ji took the letter and read it, and returned it to Yin Fu, "The other party will send someone over to discuss tonight." ”

Yin Fu nodded, "I'm lighting a fire a few miles southeast of the camp, and General Yang's people will enter the camp when they see it—it must be General Yang, he is worried that the letter will leak, so he doesn't dare to write his real name." ”

Xu Ji thought for a while and said with a smile: "Presumably, if we can get General Yang to defect in front of the battle, our army will win." ”

Seeing that Xu Ji also believed it, Yin Fu was overjoyed, "I think the same way, the Jizhou army has defected, how can He Rongren not be chaotic?" Mr. Xu and I will meet General Yang's envoy tonight. ”

Xu Ji shook his head, "This matter is confidential, I am not from Jizhou, if the other party's envoy sees me or becomes suspicious, it is better for me not to show up." ”

Yin Fu thought so, and said with a smile: "In vain, I have been studying for many years, and I think I am well-informed, but I still can't hold my breath when I am about things." Now that Yang Tongcai wants to surrender, it should be that he is in a hurry, not me, if he is not in a hurry, there must be fraud behind him. ”

Xu Ji nodded with a smile and left.

The armies were now gathered in the same camp, close to the front line, and a group had just returned from the battlefield, and the soldiers were all exhausted, and as soon as they entered the camp some men threw down their weapons and sat down to rest, and only the signal of meal could call them up.

Yang Mengjun rode past Xu Ji, nodded to him, didn't say anything, and went straight to the Zhongjun tent.

Since the beginning of the war, Yang Meng's army has worked the hardest, dispatching troops at night, personally supervising the battle during the day, and hardly resting.

Another person rode over, stopped in front of Xu Ji, and said with a smile: "What? ”

"Can you ride a horse?" Xu Ji was a little surprised.

Zhang Shiqing rode the horse for dozens of steps, and then turned back, showing that he was fine, "Actually, I was able to ride it yesterday, but they only gave me the horse today." ”

"Congratulations."

Zhang Shiqing laughed and rode away.

As soon as it was dark, Xu Ji came to find Zhang Shiqing, she was having dinner with a group of female soldiers, and suddenly twisted, and was pushed by everyone before she got up and walked over, and whispered: "I'm fine now, you don't have to...... Come and stay with me at this time. ”

Xu Ji smiled: "Actually, I'm here to ask you for help." ”

"Please help me...... What did you come up with? Zhang Shiqing's eyes flashed.

"I can't do without bluffing." Xu Ji said his thoughts again.

Zhang Shiqing nodded again and again, "Understood, just leave it to me." After saying that, he walked away, stopped after a few steps, turned around and smiled happily at Xu Ji, who was still standing in place, as if he had something to say, but in the end he didn't say a word, obviously happy to accept the task.

Xu Ji turned a corner to see Yang Mengjun.

Yang Mengjun distributed troops while eating, saw Xu Ji and invited him to eat together.

"I've eaten it." Xu Ji sat opposite, the two were already very familiar and could be informal.

Yang Mengjun was not polite, and said directly: "Tomorrow I will have no troops to increase, and He Rongcai will only send three or four percent of the troops." ”

"There's good news over there, Lord Yin."

"I've heard about it, I don't know if it's true or not, even if the Jizhou army can really defect to the battle, the battle will still be fought by us, and we can't be careless at all."

"What the fierce army general said is extremely true, is there any news from Liangzhou?"

"It can only be said that they are lucky, Yang Mengzhi and King Qiang heard that our army came to fight a decisive battle with He Rongren, and they really had doubts, and they didn't dare to go out of the border of Liangzhou, and stayed in the distance to watch."

"Liangzhou and He Rong people must have contact."

"There are still my people in Liangzhou, Yang Mengzhi has indeed been in contact with He Rongren, but after He Rongren was defeated in Jingzhou, he also had a different heart, and after discussing with King Qiang, he decided to stay put, and wait for the battle situation here to be clear, and then come to participate in the war. In short, if we are defeated, there is no way to escape. ”

"There is no need to escape, tomorrow is the decisive battle."

Yang Mengjun put down the dishes and chopsticks, "Mr. Xu received a reply from the Golden Holy Maiden?" ”

"Hmm."

"Since Liangzhou has been in contact with He Rongren, can this trick fool them?" Although Yang Mengzhi agreed with Xu Ji's strategy, he had a trace of doubt at the last moment.

"How did He Rongren behave on the battlefield?"

Yang Mengjun pondered for a long time, "It is indeed not as brave and fearless as the rumors, He Rong people always have to keep a distance of one stone's throw from the enemy when they fight, but in the past few days, they have become farther and farther away, and there are many arrows shot, but they rarely fall on the heads of our army, which can be regarded as a sign of their timidity." ”

"Tomorrow, no matter what, we have to catch up with He Rongren, and we can't let them distance themselves anymore."

"Our army has less than 2,000 horses...... I will do my best, Mr. Xu rest assured. ”

Xu Ji took his leave and returned to his tent to wait for news.

After the third watch, the first person to invite him was Yin Fu.

Yin Fu had just sent away the envoy of the Jizhou army on the opposite side, "It's a little strange." ”

"How?"

"The person who came was a sergeant, who refused to disclose his name, claiming to be an envoy sent by the generals and officials of Jizhou, Yang Tongcai didn't know, and he didn't dare to rebel against He Rongren."

"Are they willing to defect tomorrow?"

"Yes, yes, yes, but ......"

"Huh?"

Yin Fu showed a trace of confusion on his face, "Could this be a suspicious plan?" The Jizhou army pretended to defect, causing our army to relax its vigilance......"

"If it is a suspicious soldier, the envoy should claim that he was sent by Yang Tongcai, but he refused to disclose his name, and said that he was sent by the generals, which is ridiculous."

"Mr. Xu said that it is credible, I am much more relieved, and I think we have no other choice." Yin Fu suddenly smiled, "There is an interesting incident, the envoy was near the fire outside the camp, and ran into a group of female soldiers, they claimed to have seen the fire, and they found the wrong camp - this was arranged by Mr. Xu, right?" ”

"What does the messenger think?"

He didn't say it explicitly, but apparently thought it was a subordinate of the Golden Holy Maiden."

Xu Ji smiled: "That's some use." ”

"I hope so." Yin Fu didn't want to show the anxiety in his heart anymore, and said with a smile: "Tomorrow, you and I will fight side by side, Mr. Fan should be relieved if he knows it, at least his disciples are not all sitting and talking, and there are still a few people who dare to do some practical things." ”

Xu Ji returned the salute, "Even if it's for Mr. Fan, you should fight hard." ”

"Fight hard."

Not long after Xu Ji returned to his residence, Zhang Shiqing came, and as soon as he entered the account, he smiled and said, "It's done—is this a great achievement?" ”

"Count."

"Actually, I understand your intentions."

"Oh?"

"The Golden Saintess will not bring back the troops at all, and the fierce generals will not be able to recapture Liangzhou, so she can only 'bluff', hoping to scare away He Rongren."

"Not too many people see through it, do they?"

Zhang Shiqing shook his head, "That's not true, I think many people would rather believe it." ”

Xu Ji smiled and said: "It's good to scare He Rongren, we can't wait for it." ”

"Of course, since we want to fight this battle, we have to do what we can. Soldiers are not tired of deceit, whether it is bluffing or doing something, it is all a way of fighting. ”

"That's it."

"Are you going to fight tomorrow?"

"It's a real fight."

"You're going to war, too?"

"Yes, as long as you can use weapons, you will go to battle."

"Won't we, the female soldiers, just raise the flag and shout, and then join the war?"

"It has to be."

"I do." Zhang Shiqing hummed heavily, "I'm going to rest and recuperate." ”

"Uh......"

"What else do you have to say?"

"Don't die on the battlefield."

"Haha, at least it won't die before you." Zhang Shiqing smiled and left.

Xu Ji thought that he would lose sleep, but he sat for a while and fell asleep unconsciously, until he was woken up by Tang Weitian.

It was still dark outside, and Tang Weitian had already put on his full armor, "Childe, it's time to eat." ”

"Hmm." Xu Ji hurriedly got up and put on a few pieces of armor.

"Childe should stay."

Xu Ji hadn't fully woken up yet, and he didn't have the strength to speak, so he just shook his head.

"That boy tries to stay behind, I'll rush to kill in front, and I can't take care of you."

Xu Ji smiled, "Come back to see me alive, I still have a lot of things for you to do." ”

Tang Weitian patted the wooden stick pinned to his waist, "It's protecting me." ”

After hastily eating breakfast, Xu Ji went out of the camp with the team to the battlefield and stayed behind Yin Fu of the Jizhou Army.

The female soldiers of the Descending Army were all on Yang Mengjun's side, but not long after the formation, Zhang Shiqing came to Xu Ji on the side of the Jizhou Army under the escort of several female soldiers, and whispered: "The general of the Mengjun asked me to come over." ”

"Follow me." Xu Jidao.

"You follow me." Zhang Shiqing retorted.

The morning sun has risen, the drums in the army have sounded, and the first troops have gone to the battlefield.