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It was mid-autumn, and the night outside the fortress was already cold, and the soldiers who had gone through many days of marching were finally able to sleep on the ground, without having to patrol the night, and without worrying about getting up early tomorrow.

Han Ruzi can't be steady, the soldiers are still carrying items in the camp, he has summoned the general guarding the city in the lobby of the general's mansion, and asked about the situation of the city, early the next morning, others are still asleep, he got up early, and led several people to start patrolling the city.

The Broken Iron City was built nearly forty years ago, before that, in the face of the harassment and attack of the Huns, the Chu army was on the defensive, and the troops were concentrated on the front line of the Great Wall.

The castle was built on a low hill, with a hill to the east, a rushing river two miles to the north, and a barren land to the south, and a path leading into the mountains to connect the Shenxiong Pass.

There is also a quicksand city more than ten miles away in the west, which can be seen at a glance, and the river city in the east is closer, blocked by a hill, and there is a beacon tower on the top of the mountain, which is used to communicate with each other, but the two small cities and the beacon tower have been abandoned for several years and are unguarded.

Han Ruzi walked around the city, the city is in good condition, only a few places need to be repaired, the problem is that the original soldiers defending the city are indeed a group of old, weak, sick and disabled, the total number is less than a thousand, the people who can wear armor and helmets, and hold weapons to meet the general of Zhenbei are only two percent, and the others are either too old, or they are sick in bed, and they can't get up at all.

At its peak, there were seven cities outside the Shenxiong Pass, and there were four on the north bank of the river, after the division of the Xiongnu, the importance of the city declined, and Emperor Wu began to give up one by one at the end of the period, and the old, weak, sick and disabled who could not go were almost all left in the broken iron city, accumulated so far, occupying the number of soldiers, but there was no combat effectiveness.

Han Ruzi ordered someone to take all the rosters of guarding the pass to the general's mansion, and secretly asked Zhang Youcai to look for "Fang Daye" on it, and then took people out of the city to observe by the river.

The river is not very wide, but the banks are relatively steep, it is indeed a moat, along the river bank to the east for several miles is the river city, it is built on a narrow passage between the mountains and rivers, very small, more than two hundred steps long, no more than forty or fifty steps wide, but it is facing a gentle riverbed, most of the seasons of the year, the cavalry on the opposite bank can easily wade through the river.

Defending Guanhe City can basically block the Huns' way to cross the river.

However, the city has been broken, and it still looks like a city from a distance, only to find that most of the city walls have collapsed, and the remaining city walls are also unstable.

"Why didn't you protect Guanhe City in the first place?" Han Ruzi asked, if you can garrison troops here, it will be much easier to resist the Huns.

The generals of the Broken Iron City looked at each other, but Chai Yue, who accompanied him, gave an answer: "When the city was first built, the location was excellent, about ten years ago, the river flood between spring and summer was several feet higher than before, and the city foundation was washed away, and it could not be repaired. ”

The Broken Iron City was originally a rear city for storing grain and grass equipment, but now it has been pushed to the forefront of the fight against the Xiongnu.

There was also a series of pavilions on the other side of the river, and Han Ruzi accepted the suggestion and did not cross the river to check, and it is said that those pavilions had been destroyed by the Huns to a height of only a few feet.

Han Ruzi returned to the Broken Iron City, climbed the city wall and looked at it from afar, as far as the eye could see, it was all gray and yellow, there was almost no green, winter had not yet come, and this place had been forgotten by the four seasons.

"It must have been very difficult when the city was first built." Han Ruzi said with emotion.

It was still Chai Yue who replied: "When the city was built, it was okay, a few decades ago, there were many trees and weeds on both sides of the riverbank, and the soil and stones were inexhaustible, and they could be used for local materials, but later, the trees and grass were gone, not to mention the construction of the city, it was difficult to maintain the city wall, and everything needed to be transported in from the pass." ”

"That's what you recommend to me."

Chai Yue's face turned slightly red, when he first told the Tired Hou about the ambush plan, he beautified the situation of the Broken Iron City a little, making the Tired Hou think that the city and the pavilion barrier would be repaired soon.

"It's a great place for an ambush." Chai Yue pointed in the direction of Guanhe City, "The Huns can only attack from there, although the broken iron city is a little broken, it can be defended for at least ten days." Ambush a strange soldier on the beacon tower on the top of the mountain, wait for the Huns to cross the river, they will block the city of Guanhe, the ambush soldiers in the valley in the south will rush out at that time, the Huns have no way to go, they will be completely annihilated. ”

"Beware of the Huns fighting the trapped beasts."

Chai Yue pointed to the quicksand city that was clearly visible to the west, "Nine times out of ten, the Huns will flee westward, after the southern ambush army comes out of the valley, 20,000 people go north, and 10,000 people bypass the quicksand city, just cut it off, the Huns will neither be trapped beasts, nor can they escape from the ambush." ”

Han Ruzi also looked at Quicksand City, he hadn't been there yet, and from a distance, the condition of that city was better than that of Guanhe City, "Isn't there a need to send people to garrison Quicksand City?" ”

"According to the humble opinion, do not guard, or send fewer people to guard, let the Huns flee over there, so that they do not fight against the water, the encirclement and annihilation of the Huns is a merit, and it is also a merit to reduce the casualties of the Chu army."

Han Ruzi snorted, according to the Great Chu Military Law, when rewarding meritorious deeds, the number of beheadings should be subtracted from the number of losses of one's own side, and the two offset each other, only no merit or fault, if the loss is more, even if you win, you will be punished.

A morning passed, Han Ruzi went back to the house for dinner, and as soon as he entered the gate, Zhang Youcai, who stayed in the house, hurriedly greeted him, "Master, go and take a look, Cui Ergongzi is making trouble again." ”

Xungui Camp and Buqu Battalion are on the left and right sides of the General's Mansion, very close, Cui Teng worked all the way, slept very sweetly last night, got up at three poles in the sun, finished eating, came out for a walk, he was angry, rushed into the General's Mansion, and wanted to talk to the tired marquis, but he couldn't find anyone, so he stood in the courtyard and yelled.

"What the hell is this place? There is no tavern, no Willow Lane, do you want to suffocate to death if you live here? I'm leaving, I'm leaving! ”

Cui Teng's voice was hoarse, and when he saw Han Ruzi entering the courtyard, he rushed up with an arrow step, clenched his fists, his face full of anger, and suddenly smiled again, "Brother-in-law, you are back, hard, hard, I won't bother." ”

Cui Teng hurriedly ran out of the yard, Zhang Youcai was stunned, his eyes swept to Du Chuanyun, who was following the tired Hou out, and suddenly remembered: "Second son Cui is afraid of you!" ”

In a deserted garden in the capital, Du Chuanyun once held Cui Teng hostage to a tree and tied him for a while, which was one of Cui Teng's most terrifying memories, since he saw Du Chuanyun in Shenxiong Pass two days ago, he has been hiding and walking, and it is the same today.

Du Chuanyun pursed his lips and didn't care.

After eating, Han Ruzi summoned all the generals and military officials above the seventh grade, one was to arrange the task of defending the city, and the other was to discuss how to train the troops, he didn't want to wait for the Huns to arrive in the city.

It just so happened that several people he seconded from the Southern Army also came, and the leader was Liu Heixiong, the head of the Southern Army, who had taught martial arts in the palace, and Han Ruzi had always had a good impression of him, so he specially wanted to come, and the three of them were Liu Heixiong's own deputies.

The afternoon was about to pass, and Han Ruzi invited the generals to a banquet, but as soon as the wine and food here were served, Cui Teng caused trouble again.

Taking advantage of the fact that all the generals and commanders were deliberating, he actually gathered more than a dozen noble children, took more than 20 of their retinues, rode out of the Broken Iron City, and fled all the way south.

This is a test for Han Ruzi, it is easy to hunt down deserters, and how to properly deal with and block the mouth of Youyou is a problem.

Many eyes looked at the young general Zhenbei, waiting for him to give the order.

Han Ruzi asked the city gate official who came to report the news, "How many people are there who escaped?" ”

The little official counted for a while, "Three, thirty-six people." ”

"What about the horses?"

"It's also thirty-six, and they don't have extra mounts."

"Got extra packages right away?"

"There are some ...... Not a lot, most of them just people right away. The officer struggled to recall the scene before he could answer the general's question.

Han Ruzi nodded, in fact, he didn't have a lot of bottom in his heart, asking the little official was just a passing scene, his judgment came from his understanding of Cui Teng, the second son of the Cui family didn't know what it meant to be thoughtful, he always said he would do it, in the capital, in the army, he can usually succeed, but this is outside the plug, and there is no one within a hundred miles.

"The gates of the city are closed, and no man or horse is allowed to enter or leave without my orders."

"Yes." The little official retreated, confused and uneasy.

The little officials only guard one city gate, and the other city gates still need to be officially sent by the herald, Han Ruzi smiled at the remaining generals: "It's okay, they will all come back until dawn tomorrow, everyone doesn't have to be formal, let's have a good drink." ”

In front of the former emperor, the current Marquis and the general of Zhenbei, most people still have to be formal, only Chao Hua and others in the tribe camp eat and drink.

The banquet ended quickly, and Han Ruzi had no choice but to admit that he hadn't found the trick on how to get along with these veterans, but it was Chai Yue, who was familiar with this and that one.

Han Ruzi went back to the backyard to rest and bumped into the King of the East China Sea.

The king of the East China Sea has a special status, so he always lives next door to the tired marquis, but he has no official position and does not attend the banquet.

"How did you feel on the first day of defending the city?" The East Sea King asked with a smile.

"You didn't go with Cui Teng?"

"He did look for me, I persuaded him that this place is two hundred miles away from Shenxiong Pass, there is almost no place to stay on the way, even if he reaches the pass, he can't pass the pass without paperwork, but he doesn't believe it, thinking that shouting the three words 'Cui Taifu', anything can be solved: food will fall from the sky, and the city gate will automatically open. Alas, I am really a traitor to the Cui family in his eyes. ”

Cui Taifu colluded with the champion Hou and used the Chai family to attack the riverside village, outsiders did not know, and Cui Teng did not know, and thought that the "deep nephew and uncle relationship" between the king of the East China Sea and Cui Taifu had not changed at all.

Although the king of the East China Sea did not attend the banquet, he had already heard about Han Ruzi's order to close the city, and after sighing, Zhengse said: "Your courage is too great, Cui Teng and they can't run far, I'm even more worried that they won't be able to come back, how will you ...... when the time comes?" Confessed? ”

If Cui Teng is injured or dead, it will indeed be a big trouble, Han Ruzi looked up at the clear night sky, "Try your luck, there is really an accident, I have no choice but not to go back to the pass." ”

The king of the East China Sea knew that this was a joke, but he still replied: "If you don't go back, I have to go back, you have a 'queen' here, but I have nothing." ”

Han Ruzi snorted and returned to his room.

There was an oil lamp lit on the table, and there was an open book, and Zhang Youcai, who followed up, said: "After looking for a long time, it turns out that Fang Daye is not a soldier or a general, but a prisoner." (To be continued.) )