Western Jin Dynasty, Yongning period.

Liangzhou, Zhangye County, Yongping County.

It was an evening in early winter, the sun was sinking in the west, the last rays of light in the western sky were rapidly disappearing, the darkness was quietly devouring the earth, and the shadows formed by the mountains on both sides of the county were like huge monsters, staring at the people living in the county.

In normal times, there must be a child who would look at this monster-like shadow and scream, but today no one pays attention to this monster-like shadow that usually looks terrible.

The light of the fire outside the city walls of the county town attracted everyone's hearts.

In the wide fields outside the city were gathering a hundred people, all of them in good health, all on horseback, and more than half of them carrying torches. At this time, they were quietly dispersed, and only three or five people gathered together, as if discussing something.

This group of people is none other than the famous thieves on the Flying Dragon Mountain, the Flying Dragon Thieves.

The mottled outer wall of the county city wall is full of potholes at this time, the potholes are exposed with fresh soil, there are traces of fire at the city gate, and there are wet puddles of water, although the open fire has been extinguished by water, but there is still a trace of green smoke rising from the fire.

The top of the wall, which was only about three feet wide, was lined with all kinds of defensive equipment, including earthen jars filled with water, piles of large stones, fiery iron pots, scoops, wooden barrels, and sticks and bamboos scattered all over the ground.

Standing on top of the city walls were young men living in the city, about 300 people. With the exception of a small number of people, most of these young men are not physically strong. At this time, most of the young men were naked, and their bare skin was covered with sweat, and even the men in their shirts were soaked with sweat.

All of them had tired faces on their faces, but there was no fear in their eyes, and they were even faintly excited to repel the Wyvern Thief's attack. Taking advantage of the fact that the thieves outside the city stopped attacking, the defenders of the city also stopped, sitting or resting on the ground, in order to quickly recover their strength and defend against the thieves' next round of attack.

Some women took advantage of this opportunity to distribute wheat rice and salt vegetables to the young men guarding the city, and served hot water, and in addition, only the scouts sent by the prefectural order were still running on the city wall, carrying information from all parts of the city wall.

The county commander Yang Xing was hiding behind a battlement with his men to check on the situation of the thieves outside the city.

Relying on adequate preparation, reliable information, and proper arrangement, Yang Xing led the people of Yongping County to resist the flying dragon thieves outside the county in time, otherwise, with the flying dragon thieves, the fast horse, after entering the city, it would be like entering a no-man's land as before, and it would be impossible to defend at all.

Now that the siege of the Wyvern Thieves has failed, there are no casualties on the defending side, and the people defending the city have turned from initial fear to excitement, and their morale has also risen.

However, as the head of a county, although Yang Xing appropriately showed a happy look on his face, but deep down he couldn't be happy, as far as he knew, there were nearly three hundred flying dragon thieves, and now there were only a hundred or so people outside the city, only a small half came, if all of them arrived, whether this county could still hold on was a big problem.

The dragon thieves came suddenly, and it was close to evening, and the county didn't even have a chance to send people to the county to ask for help, and if you want to save the soldiers, you can only wait until tomorrow after dawn, and people outside the city can go to the county to report the thieves when they see them.

Hoping that the other dragon thieves would not come to Yongping County, Yang Xing, the county commander in desperation, prayed in his heart, although he knew that this idea was not very realistic.

Looking at the smiling faces of the subordinates and the people from the family around him, the county commander Yang Xing was really reluctant to tell the truth, which frustrated everyone's mood.

It would be nice if there was someone to discuss, Yang Xing thought in his heart, as soon as this idea came out, Yang Xing's heart moved, and he shouted: "Come on, go and find Zhang Song for me." ”

Zhang Song, who the county commander Yang Xing was looking for, was wrapped in a worn-out quilt at this time, lying on a wooden bed covered with thatch, looking at the roof in a daze.

Zhang Song's home is in a dilapidated thatched hut in the south of the city, and there are four people in the family, his mother, younger brother and sister. Zhang Song's father, who had been studying for several years, was weak and died within a few years of Zhang Song's sister being born, leaving Zhang Song's mother to work hard to pull the three children to grow up.

Zhang Song himself is a fourteen-year-old boy, with a relatively strong body, looking comparable to a sixteen or seventeen-year-old boy, and Zhang Song is usually quite able to help his mother do some work and earn some money.

It's just that since he accidentally fell into the river more than a month ago and was rescued, Zhang Song's body has become much weaker, and he can't even control his hands and feet well, and he is particularly afraid of cold.

In the past month or so, apart from drinking the decoction that his mother had exchanged for the family's small amount of food, Zhang Song had only done two things, one of which was to command the young men who were good with him on weekdays, and let them set up lookout points at the high places at the main crossings to observe the situation of the thieves and pass the situation back to the city in time.

Another thing Zhang Song did was to meet Yang Xing, the commander of Yongping County.

In order to meet the county order, Zhang Song made a series of preparations, and was ready to eat behind closed doors in his heart. It's just that I didn't expect that after hearing the name of Zhang Song's father, the county magistrate immediately met with Zhang Song.

Afterwards, Zhang Song learned that the reason why Zhang Song was able to be received by Yang Xing, the county commander, was because Zhang Song's father was the most famous scholar among the poor families, and Zhang Song found out for the first time that the name of the original scholar was so good.

After meeting and chatting a few words, Zhang Song revealed his plan and territory, and won the material support of the county commander Yang Xing, and the plan of the thief observation point was successfully implemented, but this plan became formulated by the county commander Yang Xing.

As soon as the thieves appeared, the people at the thieves' observation point sent a signal to the city, and the people outside the city immediately entered the city, and the county ordered Yang Xing to immediately close the city gate and organize young men to go up to the city wall to defend.

Zhang Song was weak because of his weak health, and the county ordered Yang Xing to take special care of him, so he did not arrange anything to let Zhang Song recuperate at home.

Because Zhang Song was sick at home, his sister did not go out obediently and stayed at home to take care of Zhang Song. It's just that my mother went out after eating and hasn't come back yet. My younger brother is older than my younger sister, and I don't know where to run when I am a young man.

Zhang Song, who was lying on the wooden bed, was staring blankly at the roof, but his fingers and toes were constantly moving.

"With reliable information and adequate preparations, the thieves must have retreated, after all, thieves are only suitable for raiding like a gust of wind, not for attacking cities." Zhang Song thought as he moved his fingers and toes.

"Open the door! Open the door! "The gate was slammed to the ground.

"Xiaolan, come here!" Zhang Song called his sister, who was about to open the door, into the house, and asked her to hide in a corner that was not easy to be discovered, and after a few words, he got up and walked towards the courtyard, and when he went out, he copied a wooden stick that he had prepared a few days ago in his hand.

"Who?" Walking to the door, Zhang Song asked.

"It's me, your big brother Li Shan!"

Zhang Song breathed a sigh of relief, a smile appeared on his face, opened the courtyard door, and said with a smile: "It turned out to be Brother Li Shan, but what is the noble matter?" ”

"There is nothing else, it is just that the county order Yang Xing is invited." Standing outside the door was Li Shan, who was holding a torch.