"Squeak-" The southeast gate of Tuoyun Fort opened, and a flying horse rushed out of the city, and the knight held a torch in one hand and whipped the horse's buttocks with a whip in the other, and kept shouting: "Ride······ ······".

The crisp sound of horses' hooves was heard far away in the mountains, and two heads stuck out from behind the rocks of the mountain road, and one of them whispered, "Do you see clearly?" Who is it? ”

"I can't see clearly, it's still a little far, it's not too late to do it when I see it clearly!"

A dozen seconds passed quickly, and the knight got closer and closer, and the light from the torches illuminated his surroundings, and the two men hiding behind the rocks could see his face and outfit clearly.

"Wearing armor, he should have come out of Toyun Castle, whether he is a messenger or not, shoot him! Hurry up, at this time, Tuoyun Fort has already closed the city gate, and the merchants from the west will definitely not be able to enter Toyun Fort at this time! ”

"Don't rush!" The other muttered, then took out his crossbow and an arrow, and aimed his bow and arrow at the knight in front of him, the arrow moving with the knight's movement.

With a "whoosh", the knight with the torch fell down and fell down the mountain road.

The other immediately said, "Quick, I'll deal with the corpse, you go and get the horse back!" ”

"Yes!"

······

After sending off the messenger at the gate of the city, Zhao Ziliang turned to Xi Yunqing and said: "The castle master, plus the hundred female knights brought by the princess, we now have two hundred and forty-six cavalry left, these people have no role in defending the city, I will take them to move outside the castle and wait for the opportunity to move!" What do you think? ”

Xi Yunqing said: "The Turk Shi army may appear at any time, you are afraid that you will not be able to stay by the Qingshui Lake, and after the raid at noon today, the Turk Shi people will definitely be vigilant, if you want to raid them again, I am afraid that it will not be so easy, they will definitely send scouts to search the surroundings, you can't hide!" ”

Zhao Ziliang arched his hand and said: "The castle lord doesn't know, more than half a month ago, I have asked the soldiers to dig a cave on the back of Dagu Mountain, and store a lot of grain and grass in the cave, which is extremely hidden, and the terrain is dangerous, if no one leads the way, it is extremely difficult to search the entrance to the cave, I can hide there to be safe, the castle owner, please rest assured!" ”

"Alright then, you have to be careful!"

Zhao Ziliang said to Panzhu Junxiu again: "Princess, you just stay in the castle to help the castle lord defend the city, the cave is cold and there is no bed, there is no hot water, so many big men are crowded together, it stinks, you will suffer if you go with it!" ”

Panzhu Junxiu originally wanted to go with him, but when he heard Zhao Ziliang say this, he didn't want to huddle with hundreds of men to smell the stench, and he couldn't take a hot bath, so he put out his thoughts about the past and promised: "Okay, I'll just leave a few female guards by my side, and you can bring the remaining sixty or so female cavalry!" ”

Zhao Ziliang shook his head and said: "Forget it, their combat effectiveness is really limited, you didn't find that in the noon raid, my cavalry only suffered less than 20 casualties, and your people followed behind and killed more than 30 people, if you let them follow, not only will they not help us, but will also become a burden to us, okay, I'll go."

After returning to the cave of Dagu Mountain, He Zhong is arranging for people to pick up the wind and dust for Wei Meng and Huo Kan and others who have returned, the cave is just right for two hundred people and horses, all of them are cavalry, and the infantry has withdrawn to Tuoyun Fort, and now there are one hundred and eighty cavalry left under Zhao Ziliang. After eating and drinking, get a good night's rest.

On the morning of the next day, Zhao Ziliang successively sent five groups of scout cavalry to the north to reconnoitre, and at noon, the scout cavalry sent out returned one after another to report the news.

"Report-" A knight galloped over and reported to Zhao Ziliang, who was standing on the top of Dagu Mountain: "Deputy Fort Lord, the 3,500 men and horses of the Tuqi Shi army have arrived on the north shore of Qingshui Lake, and they are resting and eating!" ”

"It's coming so fast!" Zhao Ziliang's face changed and asked, "How vigilant are they?" ”

The knight said: "Very strict, our army cannot do a surprise raid!" ”

Zhao Ziliang said to Wei Meng: "Their marching speed greatly exceeded my expectations, I think they must have been on the road overnight, after they have rested and eaten, they can reach the south shore of Qingshui Lake in two hours at most, and they can reach the city of Tuoyunbao before dark, but I guess they will definitely camp in our former camp, which is close to the lake, don't worry about no water source, behind Qingshui Lake, the surrounding is flat, there is no need to worry about being attacked at all!" ”

Huo Kan arched his hand and said, "Deputy Castle Master, what should we do now?" ”

Zhao Ziliang said: "Huo Kan, you send someone to the beacon tower to light the wolf smoke!" ”

"No!"

A few bundles of dry firewood had already been prepared on the beacon made of stones, and a few soldiers lit the dry firewood, and then covered it with a few bundles of wet thatch, and smoke immediately rose from the beacon tower.

The imperial court stipulates that the beacon tower is generally built in the high mountains and the dangerous places, if there is no mountain, it is built in the wilderness and flatland, and there can be no buildings around, the beacon tower is generally five zhang high, the top is one zhang wide, the bottom is two zhang wide, round, the top is covered by a round house, the flag is planted, and there is a drum side, two crossbows, throwing stones, building wood, stopping water urns, dry food, hemp yun, fire drills, rockets, artemisia wormwood, wolf dung, cow dung.

If you issue an enemy message, light a cigarette during the day and set it on fire at night! If there are more than 3,000 enemy troops entering the army, you must light three piles of cigarettes, two thousand cigarettes, one thousand cigarettes, and less than 1,000 people must light one pile.

The beacon tower of Dagu Mountain lit up three piles of wolf smoke, which means that the number of enemy troops is more than 3,000. As soon as the wolf smoke rose here, it was discovered on the wall of Tuoyun Fort, and the soldiers on duty immediately shouted: "The enemy army is coming!" The enemy army is coming! More than 3,000 people! Tell the castle master! ”

"Knock ······" The sound of drums resounded throughout the entire Tuoyun Fort, and the soldiers who were training and resting quickly assembled in the school field and led by their respective commanders to the city wall.

Xi Yunqing put on his armor and walked to the city tower with the hilt of the sword, Jia Chongjun, Zhao Chongjun and some other gang leaders and chiefs saw Xi Yunqing coming, and they all bowed: "Castle master!" ”

Xi Yunqing said: "What's the situation?" ”

Jia Chongqian said: "Fort master, three puffs of wolf smoke have risen in the direction of Dagu Mountain, and the strength of the Tuqi Shi people is more than 3,000, but I don't know where it is!" ”

Zhao Chongyu said: "I think they must have reached the north shore of Qingshui Lake, with the detection range of Zhao Ziliang's reconnaissance cavalry, the north shore of Qingshui Lake is already the limit!" ”

Xi Yunqing nodded and said, "Before evening, they will definitely be able to arrive at the city, or camp on the south bank of Qingshui Lake, twenty miles away, we should prepare first, and you two will immediately bring people to bring up the equipment and materials for defending the city!" I guess they're going to start the siege tomorrow morning."

"No!"