Fang Daye rushed back to Shenxiong Pass in the dust and brought back first-hand news for Han Ruzi.

Two days earlier, under the onslaught of the soldiers of the tribe, the Hun soldiers were forced to abandon the roadside heights and fled in a hurry.

The ramp in the west of the broken iron city has been piled up, and the soldiers defending the city have poured a lot of water, but the sky has not yet been cold enough to turn into ice in an instant, fortunately, the ramp is narrow, and the Hun cavalry cannot rush up, and the Chu army relies on bows and crossbows to barely support.

The first batch of reinforcements from Shenxiong Pass arrived in time, although there were only more than 1,000 people, in the eyes of the Huns, the Chu army gushing out of the mountain pass was endless, and the Xiongnu army retreated, they did not want to start a decisive battle with the Chu army in the narrow area of Henan.

Night fell, and the broken iron city was still in the hands of the Chu army.

Fang Daye met with Chai Yue, and after a little discussion, the two came to the same conclusion, the broken iron city could not withstand another attack, and the Huns must be "frightened" to stop Hebei.

Chai Yue sent a large number of Chu troops to garrison the ruins of Liusha City, showing his will to defend to the death, and planted flags all over the ridge, so that the Huns on the other side mistakenly thought that the bottom of the ridge was full of a large number of Chu troops who rushed to support, and then sent scouts to cross the river to check the terrain...... In short, the Chu army showed a posture of wanting to cross the river for a decisive battle.

The King of the East China Sea thought that he could finally leave the Broken Iron City, but the two generals did not consult with him, nor did they seek his consent, and erected a tall royal flag in the Broken Iron City, on which the three big characters of "King of the East China Sea" were not embroidered, but made of red cloth.

The confusion tactics were successful, and the Xiongnu army retreated for more than ten miles that night, but did not escape, and seemed to want to fight a decisive battle, Hebei was open and flat, which was conducive to the strength of the Xiongnu cavalry.

When Fang Daye rushed back to Shenxiong Pass, six sets of reinforcements had been dispatched, and more than 3,000 reinforcements had arrived from the pass, but that's all, the northern army of Champion Hou, Han Xing's Chinese army, and Cui Hong's southern army were relatively far away, and there was no news yet, and the nearby counties wanted to keep troops to defend themselves, and there were not many troops to support Shenxiong Pass, and many officials were confused by the orders issued by the general Zhenbei.

After all, it is not a normal means to seize the seal, and the leaderless Shenxiongguan is willing to accept the command of the general Zhenbei, and the nearby county guards, county commanders, and generals are full of doubts about this, and many people neither send soldiers nor give receipts, and the messenger can only return empty-handed, and two counties even detain the messenger.

The Chu army in the broken iron city relied on bluffing to fight against the Xiongnu army, but Han Ruzi was close to having no soldiers to send at Shenxiong Pass, and he lacked not only soldiers, but also reputation.

Fang Daye guessed that this would be the case, and came up with an idea on the way: "One hundred and sixty-seven noble sons were killed while guarding the Broken Iron City......"

"One hundred and sixty-seven?" Han Ruzi was taken aback, there were more than 400 people in the Xungui battalion, and there were nearly forty percent of the casualties, "It's just Xungui, not including the entourage?" ”

"The retinue did not participate directly in the battle, and the casualties were minimal, less than ten people. It was the king of the East China Sea, and he sent one hundred and fifty-one noble sons out of the city, probably to test the strength of the Huns, but the whole army was destroyed. ”

No one believed this statement, and the veteran general who had been in battle for a long time knew very well in his heart that the king of the East China Sea was a stupid move after panicking.

"There is also a saying that those noble sons were in a hurry to escape and opened the city gate without permission, but they didn't expect to be intercepted by the Huns." Fang Daye added that no one believes this statement, and it can only be used to conceal it for a while.

Han Ruzi was silent for a while and asked, "How is the King of the East China Sea?" ”

"King of the East Sea...... He was a little frightened, but he later rushed out of the Broken Iron City with the battalion of General Zhenbei and took a vital piece of high ground from the Huns, and everyone said that he was very brave. ”

Han Ruzi couldn't cry or laugh, he knew the king of the East China Sea too well, it was by no means brave, there must be another reason for going out of the city to participate in the war.

Fang Daye's idea was related to this casualty, "I suggest that General Zhenbei immediately spread the news, so that the imperial court and the troops in Guannai can understand that the Xiongnu army is really coming." ”

"The sons and daughters of Xun Gui are in the same spirit, and the entire court is afraid that they will hate me to death."

"The more you hate, the more you will send troops to support, after all, there are still more than 200 Xungui's children alive, and-" Fang Daye paused, "It is the order of the King of the East China Sea to let Xungui's children out of the city, and it has nothing to do with General Zhenbei." ”

Han Ruzi smiled, "As long as I am the boss, all casualties are related to me." However, General Fang's strategy is very good, just do as you say, and I will write immediately. ”

What the Broken Iron City needed was the support of the army, and Han Ruzi only wrote four urgent letters and sent them to the three armies and the capital respectively.

"How long can Broken Iron City last?"

"In five to ten days, if the Huns are bent on preparing for a decisive battle in Hebei, the Broken Iron City can hold out longer."

The northern army camp is the closest to Shenxiong Pass, and early the next morning, Han Ruzi received a receipt document, but after reading it, he didn't know why.

The clerk responded not to an urgent letter sent yesterday, but to a letter from five days ago, when Han Ruzi had just seized the seal and wrote a letter asking for help, and explained the special circumstances under which he had to take over Shenxiong Pass.

The receipt of the Northern Army is already a little late, it usually takes five days to come and go, and in case of urgent military affairs, it can go and return in four days at most, and the Northern Army is delayed for at least one day.

The content of the receipt is even more inexplicable, extremely brief, and only says "the military situation is known, stick to the standby".

Han Ruzi found the experienced Fang Daye and showed the receipt, the old general glanced at it and immediately frowned, "Most of the soldiers guarding the Broken Iron City are from the Northern Army, I thought they would send troops to support immediately." ”

"Only this receipt, and there is not a single soldier." Han Ruzi was even more puzzled, "Could it be that the champion Hou resents me for taking the official seal of General Tong?" ”

Fang Daye shook his head, "General Zuo is not appointed by the imperial court, strictly speaking, the official seal only belongs to Uncle Wu, and General Zhenbei and General Zuo of the Northern Army both seize the seal, one morning and one night." The Huns are a strong enemy of Great Chu, and even if the Great Sima of the Northern Army is resentful, he will not be saved by death, not to mention that he wants to save the soldiers of the Northern Army. ”

Fang Daye thought for a while, "Has the messenger seen the Great Sima of the Northern Army himself?" ”

The messenger is an ordinary post soldier, so naturally he can't see the big Sima of the Northern Army, Han Ruzi has already asked.

"The Great Sima of the Northern Army sent General Zuo to take over Shenxiong Pass, specifically to prevent General Zhenbei from entering the Pass, but at that time, the Huns had not yet appeared, and General Zhenbei had no reason to leave the Broken Iron City, unless-" Fang Daye did not continue, he was willing to stay and assist General Zhenbei, but there was always a limit to things, he was obliged to fight, but he did not want to participate in the imperial court's seizure of power.

"Champion Hou has also quietly returned to Beijing." Han Ruzi could only come to such a conclusion, "No one in the Northern Army is in charge, so such a receipt will be given." ”

"General Zhenbei and the King of the East China Sea are not very well informed in Beijing." Fang Daye said.

Han Ruzi smiled again, he hadn't received a letter from Jingzhong for a long time, "It seems that I have to find a way to take over the entire Northern Army." ”

"General Zhenbei...... Don't want to go back to Beijing as soon as possible? Fang Daye was reluctant to participate in the infighting in the imperial court, and asking this sentence was his limit.

"Xiongnu, the capital." It is impossible for Han Ruzi to hesitate, something big must have happened in the capital, Wu Xiu and Champion Hou will hurriedly run back, "I want to stay." Han Ruzi weighed it and made a decision, "Once the Huns enter the customs and the Great Chu is ruined, I will be a sinner through the ages, and I am afraid that I will also fall into the net when I return to Beijing now." ”

Han Ruzi has almost no foundation in the DPRK, and he returned to Beijing alone, and he can't fight the champion Hou, he must at least gain a firm foothold in northern Xinjiang.

There is another important reason why Han Ruzi didn't want to return to Beijing immediately, Yang Feng followed the champion Hou, but he didn't send a word of reminder, he was either held hostage and lost his freedom, or he felt that the champion Hou was in his hands, so he simply sincerely assisted the new master.

Either way, it is not good for Han Ruzi to return to Kyoto.

Fang Daye held his knife and bowed to General Zhenbei, "There are many generals in the Northern Army, and General Zhenbei should not go to make a mistake, let me go." ”

"General Fang will be even more adventurous if he goes."

Fang Daye has not been appointed by the imperial court so far, and his real identity is just an ordinary person who has not been released for a long time, but he is not afraid at all: "The champion Hou returned to Beijing, the right general Feng Shili was trapped, and the left general Han Tong should be the person with the highest position, I will take him to the Northern Army, and he will be stable." ”

"Champion Hou Huijing is just our guess, and it is likely that he gave an order to the Northern Army......"

"In that case, General Zhenbei can't go. If there is no general Zhenbei to sit in Shenxiong Pass, the Chu army inside and outside the pass will soon collapse, and you can't move. ”

"Still too risky......"

Fang Daye said sharply: "The old man has been in the army for many years, and the risk of charging into battle has been taken, are you still afraid of your own people?" Please hand over General Zuo Han Tong to me, and there will be ten more guards, and let's go!" ”

"At least make a plan." Han Ruzi finally retained a general, and he didn't want to lose it in vain.

"Let's do what we need to know, I asked General Zuo on the way. Without further ado, I will go this time, at least five days, plus the time to rectify the army, it may be even later, in short, there will be a reply within seven days, and General Zhenbei will only guard the pass and stabilize the morale of the army in the Iron City. ”

Han Ruzi did not hesitate any longer, wrote a letter, signed a document, sent someone to bring Han Tong, the general of the left, summoned ten soldiers, and handed them over to Fang Daye.

Hearing that he was going back to the camp of the Northern Army, Han Tong was very happy, and he was more anxious to set off than Fang Daye.

Han Ruzi also ordered someone to send a letter to the Broken Iron City, claiming that the Northern Army was mobilizing, and it would reach Shenxiong Pass within seven days, and it would arrive at the Broken Iron City within ten days. With no soldiers in his hands, Han Ruzi could only use lies to stabilize the army's heart.

Two days later, thousands of reinforcements arrived at Shenxiong Pass, and the generals with the troops were born in a family, and as soon as they entered the pass, they asked General Zhenbei to recall their younger brother from the Broken Iron City, Han Ruzi refused, and the two were deadlocked for a long time, and it happened that the military order of the general Han Xing arrived and resolved the dispute.

Han Ruzi was finally officially appointed, and he was still in charge of all the Chu troops in Broken Iron City, Shenxiong Pass, and the ten counties of Guannei to fight against the Xiongnu under the title of General Zhenbei, and he could act cheaply.

The thousands of Chu troops sent to the door suddenly became subordinates of the general of Zhenbei, and the generals no longer dared to disobey the order, so they had to lead their troops out of the customs and go to support the Broken Iron City.

The situation in the Broken Iron City was quite stable, and the Huns suffered setbacks one after another, did not launch another attack, and remained in Hebei.

Three days later, on a snowy day, Han Ruzi received two crucial letters one after another.

One letter came from Chai Yue, who received a surprising message in the Broken Iron City: the Huns proposed peace talks, but there was a request, only with the general Zhenbei himself.

The other letter is from the capital, written by Cui Xiaojun, with scribbled handwriting and only one sentence: My wife is seriously ill and looks forward to your speedy return. (To be continued.) )