Liu Ji's Broken Army and other 14th Route Suppression Rebel Army, totaling 700,000 troops, entered Yuexi County in Suzhou directly from Mengjin Pass in Canglong Eight Passes.

Suzhou has a total of one city and eleven counties, one city refers to the state capital Qinhuai City, and the eleven counties are Yuexi County, Weitang County, Wangting County, Huangdai County, Hengjing County, Mudu County, Linhu County, Huqiu County, Xujiang County, Zhenhu County and Dongzhu County.

Now in the south of Qinhuai City, Linhu County, Huqiu County, Xujiang County, Zhenhu County and Dongzhu County, have been captured by the Red Turban Army, Qinhuai City, Hengjing County and Mudu County, a left and a right Hengjing County and Mudu County have also fallen into the hands of the Red Turban Army, the main force of the Red Turban Army in Suzhou is attacking Qinhuai City, and the main force of the imperial army in Suzhou is also concentrated in Qinhuai City, as long as the Red Turban Army captures Qinhuai City, then the remaining counties in Suzhou are simply unable to resist the Red Turban Army, and the Red Turban Army can directly point to Canglong City!

On the evening of December 12, 427 of the Great Jin Dynasty, outside Yuexi City, the county capital of Yuexi County, Suzhou, 700,000 counterinsurgents of the Great Jin Dynasty set up camp here.

In a tent in the camp of the Broken Army, the commanders of the 15th Route Ping Rebel Army gathered here, including the captured general Liu Ji, the Qianzhou Prefecture Mu Liu Chong, the Pizhou Prefecture Mu Liu Yuan, the Qinzhou Prefecture Mu Liu Du, the Qinzhou Prefecture Mu Qi Bo Guerrilla General Cui Ke, the Xiangzhou Prefecture Mu Feng Zihuan Guerrilla General Feng Yue, the Qianzhou Linze County Taishou Cao Lin, the Qianzhou Longbei County Taishou Bao Wei, the Pizhou Yanchang County Taishou Li Kexuan, the Pizhou Ji'an County Taishou Xiao Jiande, the Qinzhou Shansui County Taishou Wang Shida, the Qinzhou Wuli County Taishou Li Bo, the Xiangzhou Xiongyi County Taishou Shen Zitong, Xiangzhou Hedong County is too shou Gao Rail and Qinzhou Dangyang County is too shou Yuan Xin under the command of Yuan Xin, a partial general Yuan Chao.

In addition to Liu Ji, the commanders of the other 14th Route Suppression Rebel Army had a total of three governors, eight taishou, two guerrilla generals and one partial general.

Liu Ji said in a deep voice to the commanders of the other 14th Route Suppression Rebel Army: "After we pass through Yuexi County, we have to pass through Huangdai County before we can reach Qinhuai City, but today I got the news from Zhang Taishou of Yuexi County, the situation in Qinhuai City is already very critical, a few days ago the Red Turban Army has completely completed the encirclement of Qinhuai City, blocking all roads from Qinhuai City to the outside world, and Qinhuai City has now become a veritable lonely city!" ”

Liu Chong, the governor of Qianzhou, sighed and said: "If Qinhuai City falls before our 15th Route Suppression Rebel Army arrives, then the entire battle situation in Suzhou will be very unfavorable for our 15th Route Suppression Rebel Army!" ”

Pizhou Prefecture Mu Liu Yuan frowned and asked Liu Ji: "General Liu Ji, do you know how many garrisons there are in Qinhuai City?" ”

Liu Ji then said to Liu Yuan, the pastor of Pizhou Prefecture: "According to what Zhang Taishou of Yuexi County said, the current defender in charge of Qinhuai City is Sun Ziheng, the chariot and cavalry general of the forbidden army, and before the Red Turban Army completely surrounded Qinhuai City, General Sun had about 30,000 elite of the forbidden army, about 60,000 Xiang troops and local troops, and General Sun also mobilized more than 100,000 young men in Qinhuai City to help defend the city. ”

Pizhou Prefecture Mu Liu Yuan breathed a sigh of relief and said: "With more than 200,000 people, presumably Sun Ziheng, the general of the chariot cavalry, should be able to hold Qinhuai City before our fifteenth route to quell the rebel army!" ”

Liu Ji smiled bitterly and said: "Zhang Taishou of Yuexi County also said one thing, that is, the Red Turban Army besieging Qinhuai City may have more than 800,000 troops!" ”

Hearing that the Red Turban Army besieging Qinhuai City had more than 800,000 troops, the commanders of the various counterinsurgency forces couldn't help but frown.

Cao Lin, the Taishou of Linze County, Qianzhou, said in disbelief: "Isn't the Red Turban Army attacking the capitals of Suzhou, Hangzhou, Zhezhou, and Fuzhou at the same time? Here in Qinhuai City alone, the Red Turban Army has gathered 800,000 people, so plus the army that attacked the other three state capitals, the Red Turban Army must not have millions of people! ”

Liu Ji nodded and said: "According to the information obtained by Zhang Taishou of Yuexi County, in addition to the Red Turban Army has invested more than 800,000 troops here in Qinhuai City, at least in Huai'an City, the state capital of Hangzhou, at least similar troops, and in Jianyuan City, the state capital of Zhejiang Prefecture and Yongjia City, the state capital of Fuzhou, the Red Turban Army has invested relatively less troops, but the strength of the entire Red Turban Army is at least more than 2.5 million, and may even exceed 3 million, so this time we have to be prepared to fight a big battle against the rebels!" ”

Qinzhou Prefecture Pastor Liu Du sighed and said: "The development of the Red Turban Army is too fast, how long has it been, the Red Turban Army has developed to such a scale, this time we must destroy the Red Turban Army no matter what, otherwise we will be ...... Alas - I don't know if Sun Ziheng, the general of the chariot cavalry, can hold Qinhuai City in the face of 800,000 Red Turban Army? ”

Liu Ji said at this time: "General Ben summoned you here to inform you that General Ben is ready to lead the 80,000 cavalry of the Broken Army to take the lead and rush to Qinhuai City as soon as possible to avoid Qinhuai City falling into the hands of the Red Turban Army." ”

As soon as Liu Ji's words fell, Liu Chong, the governor of Qianzhou, said: "It's good for General Liu Ji to take the cavalry first, after all, there are too many Red Turban Army outside Qinhuai City, but General Liu Ji only brought 80,000 cavalry, the number is only one-tenth of the Red Turban Army outside Qinhuai City, it is better to gather more than 10,000 cavalry of our counterinsurgency army from all walks of life, hand it over to General Liu Ji to lead, take it to Qinhuai City first, contain the Red Turban Army as much as possible, so that the Red Turban Army cannot attack the city with all its strength, and wait for our hundreds of thousands of infantry to arrive, and then relieve the siege of Qinhuai City!" ”

The suggestion of Liu Chong, the governor of Qianzhou, made many commanders of the counterinsurgency army, the expressions on their faces suddenly embarrassed, the war horses in all parts of the Great Jin Dynasty were very scarce, so that there were not many cavalry in all the counterinsurgency armies, to rescue the fifteenth route counterinsurgency army in Qinhuai City, in addition to the wealthy Liu Ji had 80,000 cavalry, the other fourteen counterinsurgents combined, there were only more than 10,000 cavalry, and there was a very big gap between the more than 10,000 cavalry and the cavalry under Liu Ji.

The 80,000 cavalry led by Liu Ji this time were each equipped with three war horses, while the cavalry of the other 14th Route Ping Rebel Army each had only one war horse, and the quality of the war horses was far inferior to the war horses ridden by the cavalry of the Broken Army.

But even so, the commanders of the various counterinsurgency armies are unwilling to contribute their cavalry and hand it over to Liu Ji to lead, in case Liu Ji annexes their cavalry!

However, Liu Ji didn't look down on the cavalry of the other 14th Route Rebel Army, Liu Ji opened his mouth and said: "The 80,000 cavalry of the General Ben to lead the Broken Army is enough, so it is decided, early tomorrow morning, General Ben will lead the 80,000 cavalry of the Broken Rebel Army to take the lead, and the rest of the 120,000 infantry of the Rebel Army and the Broken Rebel Army also need to hurry up and arrive at Qinhuai City as soon as possible." ”

Liu Ji's words made many commanders of the counterinsurgency army breathe a sigh of relief, as long as they did not transfer the cavalry troops under their command.

"Kill—break through Qinhuai City—"

"Rush—storm the walls—"

"Don't quit! Keep climbing! Retreat from the latter! ”

Although it was already evening, the Red Turban Army outside Qinhuai City still did not slow down the offensive against Qinhuai City, and countless Red Turban Army soldiers, stepping on the corpses of their own fallen soldiers, facing the rain of arrows pouring down from the city wall, rushed to the city wall of Qinhuai City, and climbed up the city wall along the long ladder that had been erected.

The defenders on the wall of Qinhuai City kept throwing rolling stones at the Red Turban soldiers who climbed the long ladder, and one after another the Red Turban soldiers who climbed the long ladder were smashed off the long ladder, and many Red Turban soldiers who fell off the long ladder were directly stoned to death or fell to death, making the corpses of the Red Turban Army soldiers under the city walls on all sides of Qinhuai City have been piled up, which is also mixed with the corpses of many Qinhuai City defenders.

At this time, in the Prefecture Pastoral Mansion in Qinhuai City, a guerrilla general of the forbidden army told Sun Ziheng, the general of the Che Cavalry: "General, it seems that the thieves will not stop attacking the city tonight, the sky is dark, and the attack of the thieves has not weakened at all. ”

Sun Ziheng, the general of the cavalry, asked in a deep voice, "How are the casualties today?" ”

The guerrilla general of the forbidden army then said: "General, in one day, we lost at least seven or eight thousand men. ”

Sun Ziheng, the general of the cavalry, sighed: "The thieves are desperate, they should already know that the reinforcements sent by the imperial court will arrive in Qinhuai City in a few days, it seems that the thieves want to capture Qinhuai City before the imperial reinforcements arrive!" ”

At this time, Sun Dezhen, the Suzhou Prefecture pastor next to him, said to Sun Ziheng, the general of the chariot cavalry: "Fourth brother, do you need to recruit a group of young people to help defend the city?" ”

Sun Ziheng, the general of the cavalry, and Sun Dezhen, the pastor of Suzhou Prefecture, are brothers, and the children of the Sun family in their thirteenth family are also the younger brothers of Sun Mingtao, the captain of the Ministry of Industry.

Sun Ziheng, the general of the chariot cavalry, hesitated for a moment and said: "Old Five, the 130,000 young men who were requisitioned in Qinhuai City a few days ago have suffered nearly 50,000 casualties in these days of defending the city, and now I don't know when the reinforcements from the imperial court will arrive, if you can, it is best to recruit tens of thousands of young men, no matter what, we must also defend Qinhuai City!" ”

Suzhou Prefecture Mu Sun Dezhen nodded and said: "Fourth brother, rest assured, there are nearly one million people in Qinhuai City, plus more than 100,000 refugees who have fled to Qinhuai City, and there is absolutely no problem in requisitioning tens of thousands of young and strong men, and the food in our Qinhuai City is sufficient, which can be completely fed by the soldiers and civilians of the whole city for half a year, and these thieves of the Red Turban Army want to capture Qinhuai City is simply wishful thinking!" ”

Sun Ziheng, the general of the chariot cavalry, sighed and said: "If the reinforcements from the imperial court do not come, it is impossible for us to hold Qinhuai City for half a year, these thieves of the Red Turban Army have extraordinary combat effectiveness, and they are not afraid of death, according to such a casualty rate, maybe we will not even survive half a month, now it only depends on when the reinforcements from the imperial court will arrive, alas——"

Suzhou Prefecture Mu Sun Dezhen gritted his teeth and said: "If it doesn't work, mobilize all the people in Qinhuai City, as long as they can pick up a knife, they will go to the city wall to defend the city!" ”

Sun Ziheng, the general of the chariot cavalry, smiled bitterly and said: "If it really came to that point, maybe someone would have opened the city gate and offered the city to the thieves of the Red Turban Army." ”

After a pause, Sun Ziheng continued: "Before Qinhuai City was completely surrounded by the thieves of the Red Turban Army, there was already news that the imperial court issued a letter and gathered the thirty-six rebels in Canglong City, ready to support the imperial army in our southeastern states, and Suzhou is close to Canglong City, presumably the reinforcements sent by the imperial court to our Qinhuai City should not take long to arrive, and before that, the thieves of the Red Turban Army must not be allowed to attack the city." ”

Suzhou Prefecture Mu Sun Dezhen nodded, "Fourth brother, I will try to recruit 50,000 young and strong men for you first, if it is not enough, I will recruit all the young and strong men in the city, and the thieves of the Red Turban Army don't want to enter our Qinhuai City!" ”

Sun Ziheng, the general of the cavalry, then showed a smile and said: "Thanks to the fifth child, you let people in the city and spread the rumor that the Red Turban Army is going to slaughter the city, otherwise it will definitely not be so easy to recruit the young people in the city." ”

Suzhou Prefecture Mu Sun Dezhen smiled bitterly and said: "Fourth brother, this is also forced, the Red Turban Army has broken through Qinhuai City, and the ordinary people in the city may escape for their lives, but your brother will have no way to live." ”

Just when Sun Ziheng and Sun Dezhen were discussing the requisition of young and strong men in Qinhuai City, in a tent in the Red Turban Army camp in the south outside Qinhuai City, Zhang Mingqi's henchman Wu Zan said to more than a dozen Red Turban Army generals with a gloomy face: "We have received definite news that the 700,000 imperial army led by the captured general Liu Ji is on the way to Qinhuai City, once these 700,000 imperial army arrives in Qinhuai City, it is almost impossible for us to conquer Qinhuai City. Therefore, we must try to capture Qinhuai City before the 700,000 reinforcements of the imperial court arrive in Qinhuai City, as long as this is the case, our Red Turban Army can control the initiative in Suzhou. ”

A general of the Red Turban Army named Zhang Qian said helplessly: "Marshal, the resistance of the defenders in Qinhuai City is extremely tenacious, and there are a large number of young people in Qinhuai City to help the imperial army defend the city, we want to capture Qinhuai City in a short time, it is basically impossible, if we want to capture Qinhuai City, it will take at least twenty days, and we need to pay the lives of hundreds of thousands of Red Turban Army soldiers." ”

Zhang Qian is brave and strategic, not only the number one general under Wu Zhan, but also the most important strategist of Wu Zhan.

Wu Zan shook his head and said: "We can't have twenty days, Canglong City is next to Suzhou, maybe it won't take a few days for the 700,000 reinforcements from the imperial court to come." ”

Zhang Qian said with a gloomy face: "Marshal, we have been attacking Qinhuai City at any cost these days, and we have lost more than 100,000 soldiers of the Red Turban Army, and it is not a way to fight so hard, according to such a loss speed, even if we capture Qinhuai City, our army will be almost exhausted." ”

Wu Zan asked bitterly: "What else can be done besides a hard attack?" ”

Zhang Qian hesitated for a moment and said: "Marshal, after the arrival of the imperial court's reinforcements, they will never just defend Qinhuai City, if we can defeat the 700,000 army of the imperial court in a battle outside Qinhuai City, then maybe Qinhuai City will not have to be attacked, and it will fall into the hands of our Red Turban Army." ”