Liu Yin stood on the watchtower of the camp, looking at his own soldiers who fled back from the west. Liu Cheng led a cavalry like a lost dog to fight and retreat. Behind them, nearly a thousand Liangzhou cavalry soldiers hung in the distance.

Those Liangzhou cavalry kept a safe distance of about an arrow from Liu Cheng's subordinates, and both sides used bows and arrows to shoot at each other, but they did not bring any substantial damage to the other party. After a stalemate for a while, he saw that most of the soldiers under his command retreated safely, and Liu Cheng also led the rest of the troops back to the outside of the camp.

Liu Yin saw that near the mountains and forests, a patch of dotted torches converged into a dazzling torrent, heading straight for the west gate of Lingju. Compared to the beginning, the fire in the city has been greatly reduced. And Liu Yin's ambition to fight against Lingju, and then threaten the Liangzhou Prefecture to govern Guzang, and solve the problem of Liangzhou for Liu Yao, slowly began to dim like the sky-high fire in the city.

Liu Yin let out a long sigh. The flickering torches and the occasional noise in the city indicate that the men who had entered the city were still fighting. It's just that he can't take care of them anymore. Just now, several leaders of the Di and Qiang tribes led people to drive the few remaining cattle and sheep in their headquarters and forcibly left the camp to return south. When the battalion officer on duty reported the situation to Liu Yin, Liu Yin only felt countless bitterness in his heart.

Thinking of the gloomy situation that might arise in the future from himself to Zhao Guo, Liu Yin punched the pillar of the watchtower on the side. Secretly began to regret how he came to touch the hard nail of Lingju. Immediately, he remembered that there was still a team of cavalry who were hanging alone and had captured Yongdeng County, and his heart immediately panicked again. Hurriedly climbed down the watchtower, found Liu Cheng, who had just led his troops back, and ordered him to send a sentry to support and contact the cavalry.

Looking at the long line of torches that always stretched from the mountains and forests to the county seat, Liu Yin couldn't sit still anymore. He dropped the token and ordered Liu Cheng and several thousand cavalry commanders to lead the troops back. And he himself, in the name of being seriously ill, led hundreds of guards out of the camp and returned south. Soon after Liu Yin left, for some reason, the news that the main general had abandoned the army and fled had already spread in the camp. After the news spread, the senior generals of the homeless beggar army went to the military tent to verify it. When they saw Liu Cheng sitting firmly in the tent, these high-ranking generals of the begging army instantly exploded.

The beggars went to the grain cart baggage one after another, ignoring the Hun cavalry guarding the block, and spontaneously began to plunder the baggage of their own army. The Hun cavalry guarding did not expect this kind of incident to happen, and for a time they were drowned in the tide of beggar troops. Knowing that Liu Cheng heard the news, he gathered his troops to rush over, and nearly half of the begging army headquarters that had robbed military funds had fled. The beggar army who didn't have time to escape even rose up with the Hun cavalry who rushed to suppress it.

The stubborn resistance of the enemy forces in the city was quickly wiped out with the arrival of reinforcements. On the other hand, the fire in the camp of the Zhao army intensified. The red-eyed beggar army surrounded most of Liu Cheng's cavalry in the camp. Liu Cheng hung the lottery in the fire and almost became a ghost under the knife of the friendly army. It was a general who led 300 cavalry to launch several waves of assault on the beggar army, and the beggar army, whose casualties had surged, began to flee one after another.

Liu Cheng broke through the siege, and he didn't care about the military resources that had been scattered all over the place, so he hurriedly ordered his subordinates to come out in all directions, throw torches on the grain, firewood and grass piles and camp tents in the camp, and then led his troops out of the camp in a hurry and headed south. And Cao Jian, who was patrolling the city walls on both sides of the southeast and facing the enemy, saw the fire in the Zhao army camp a few miles away, and his heart was relieved.

At the west gate and the north gate, the state guards and various families led by Chen Zhen came one after another. The soldiers of Lingju County who stayed in the city also began to clean up the battlefield. After a bloody battle in the middle of the night, the streets of Lingju West Gate to the city were full of devastation. Along the way, there were the corpses of fallen soldiers on both sides. So much so that there is almost nowhere to put your feet on the streets. Li Yanzhi came to the street with the support of several guards, staring at the tragic scenes everywhere, and couldn't help but feel sad in his heart.

The county soldiers screened the soldiers on both sides in an orderly manner under the command of their respective generals. The soldiers of Lingju County who died in the battle were all carried away and placed under the eaves of various houses. The bodies of the soldiers of the Zhao army were discarded at will, and after tonight's desperate fight, I don't know how many people fell in the army. The able-bodied soldiers who were still alive forgot to rejoice, and they forgot to behead and invite merit. Beside them, the robed brothers fell in the fierce battle, and they were all grief-stricken.

Li Yanzhi entered the workshop next to the camp with the support of several guards, and the torches lit by the guards illuminated the familiar faces of all the young and old people in the workshop. His gaze swept over the frightened or unwilling faces of these soldiers, the soldier who had asked him to play another song, the soldier who had made a gag when Taniguchi blocked the enemy, and the soldier whom Li Yanzhi had promised to help him matchmaker, had now become a corpse in the workshop.

Li Yanzhi's legs could no longer stand steadily, and he fell down from the side of the guards who supported him, his hands barely supporting the ground, tears already coming out of his eyes.

When the soldiers who were in charge of guarding him saw this, they were all frightened. They thought that Li Yanzhi's injuries made him unable to support him, so they stepped forward to pick Li Yanzhi up, and then helped him to return to the camp. Li Yanzhi didn't say a word along the way, just kept crying. The soldiers carrying the corpses of robes in the barricades also heard the sound of sobbing and wailing from time to time.

After passing through the gate, Li Yanzhi saw several large carts at the gate with the heads of the enemy soldiers cut off. A figure standing on the wall of the camp burst into his mind. He stood still on his feet, then turned his head to look at the puzzled eyes of the guards beside him, and asked, "When Fang just fought with the thief, who killed the enemy general?" ”

One of the guards hugged his fists and said: "Back to Sima, my subordinates heard that it was a recruit in the Zhanfeng battalion who beheaded the enemy general. Please Sima Mingcha. ”

Li Yanzhi nodded: "Call this person to come to my house later." I'll see when such heroes have come out of our army! ”

The guards helped Li Yanzhi into the house. Li Yanzhi reluctantly sat down on the couch, and then waved his hand to several guards standing beside him, and the guards immediately understood, each bowed down and clasped his fists, and then retreated out of the house. Li Yanzhi untied the placket on his chest, untied the leather armor, and checked the arrow wound he had been hit before. The wound cloth on his chest had been stained a dark red. Although the costal wound could not be touched, it could be clearly felt soaked in blood spilling from the wound. The hand that touched it felt sticky, which made him feel particularly unhappy.

Just as he was checking the condition of the wound, a guard had knocked on the door outside, and after getting Li Yanzhi's permission, he brought in a small soldier, Li Yanzhi looked at it, but it was Cheng Yong. He couldn't help but be secretly surprised in his heart, and said, "Cheng Yong? You are the one who slays the enemy on the camp wall? ”

Cheng Yong lowered his head, rubbed the hem of his leather armor with one hand nervously, and muttered for a long time: "Go back...... Returning to Sima, the enemy general who was on the camp wall was indeed a villain......"

"What is the identity of this enemy general, are you sure?" Li Yanzhi looked up at Cheng Yong and another guard in front of him, and asked. Cheng Yong shook his head blankly: "Back to ...... Back to Sima, the villain doesn't know what the position of this enemy will be......"

Li Yanzhi was slightly disappointed when he heard this, and then turned his attention to the other guard. The guard clasped his fists and replied, "Sima, I saw this man in the battle array, wearing leather armor with a brass beast head. Wearing a red commander, he must be a general of the enemy's commander or above. ”

When Li Yanzhi heard this, he laughed happily. He looked at Cheng Yong: "This time, you probably can't run away from the credit of killing the enemy general." Seeing that your face is not very good, go back to the camp and rest. After that, I will naturally allocate the reward and report your merits to the county and the state. In the future, the rewards of the county and the state will surely follow. ”

Li Yanzhi paused, and said: "According to the day you return to your hometown, it must not be ......far away."

Cheng Yong listened to Li Yanzhi's words and rewards, but there was no trace of joy on his face. When Li Yanzhi said "return to his hometown", he couldn't help but feel sad in his heart, and knelt on the ground and cried.

"Cheng Yong, it's a good thing that you have made contributions to the battle formation. Why are you weeping for this? ”

Cheng Yong raised his head, sobbed for a while before calming down a little, opened his mouth, but replied incoherently: "Sima, this battle is ...... Come down, don't say that the whole army is ...... Six of us died...... Hurt...... Wounded five. Chen Shichang...... Enemy ...... Pierced in the chest, dying, still saying...... I set ...... Established...... Great work. Though I have done meritorious deeds, what about them? They...... Who are they...... No parents ...... relatives"

Cheng Yong kowtowed heavily and said, "I...... But I don't know...... These...... These fell in battle...... The robes on the battle array, they ...... How to return home......"

When Li Yanzhi heard this, he also sighed long: "Cheng Yong." On the battle array, there must be robes to be killed...... However, the casualties this time are so huge, it is my ...... It was I who was overlooked. Later, I will ...... to the envoy The above table of apologies ......"

"As for the fallen robes, I will do everything in my power to pay homage to their relatives. If the brothers have a spirit in the sky, they can only kneel and kowtow here, and Li is guilty......" As he spoke, Li Yanzhi was already kneeling on the couch and kowtowing in the direction of the battlefield outside the camp.

Li Yanzhi quietly kowtowed three times. Then he got up and faced Cheng Yong, and said in a deep voice: "I can assure you that I will never treat any of the relatives of the robe ......."

The two were crying opposite each other, but they saw the guard outside the door open the door, and one of the generals entered the house. Li Yanzhi looked fixedly, but saw that the person who came was Ma Ping, who served as Sima of Linqiang County. He was immediately excited, and immediately sorted out what had happened in the first half of the night.

At first, Liu Zhao of Nancheng attacked and was wounded, and the army struggled to repel the thieves. Later, when he returned to the camp to heal and fall asleep, the traitors in the Ximen garrison killed Zhao Da, the Ximen guard, cut the drawbridge and sling, and let a thousand-strong captives and cavalry enter the city. Immediately, the county soldiers and the thieves started a street battle. The enemy army was caught in a bitter battle due to the dispersion of troops and unfamiliarity with the terrain. Then Ma Ping led his Linqiang County soldiers to kill, and fought with the enemy's remaining troops for the west gate of the city.

The attacking enemy had to divide their forces again to recapture the West Gate. And the generals at the head of the city on the southeast side have brought troops back to help. The captives who climbed the camp wall lost the benefits of their horses, and fought hard with the well-equipped and determined county soldiers, and finally the generals were ambushed. Most of the people were annihilated.

After the Linqiang County soldiers captured the West Gate, they had a fierce battle with the subordinates who came to support the enemy. Seeing that it was not supported, but reinforcements arrived, and the siege of Lingju County was completely relieved.

Looking at Ma Ping, who was smiling and groaning, Li Yanzhi leaned down and bowed his head and said: "Du Wei saved his subordinates from fire and water, although his subordinates have a thousand words, it is not enough to express their gratitude......

Ma Ping hurriedly stepped forward to help Li Yanzhi up, and said, "Dingdong, how to make it." Now you and I are on the same level. I led the army to help, but it is just the duty of the general, and it is difficult to accept your thanks......"

Li Yanzhi looked up at Ma Ping and said sincerely: "In the ninth year of Jianxing, when Yanzhi first joined the army, he served as a soldier under the captain. Du Wei is the superior of Yanzhi for one day, and he is the superior of Yanzhi for life. In addition, this time, Yan Yan led everyone to fight and trapped the lonely city. If it weren't for the captain who came to the rescue in time, how could Yan Ji and his subordinates get out of trouble so smoothly......"

Ma Ping listened to Li Yanzhi's words and felt a lot of emotion. In the end, he shook his head and said: "Dingdong, this time Lingju was able to get out of trouble, or did Jun and Chen Pingyu save each other." Otherwise, with only one county and no more than a thousand soldiers, how can I defeat Liu Yin and save Lingju? ”

The corners of Li Yanzhi's mouth outlined a mocking arc: "I and my subordinates are stubbornly defending the lonely city, and what we do is nothing more than to protect the people from the poison of war." These scholars are useless on weekdays, and they don't think about resisting the enemy when the smoke rises, but they calculate their own people, and don't bird them! ”

Ma Ping took Li Yanzhi with one hand, but saw him frowning and took a breath of cold air, and hurriedly asked, "Injured?" Seeing Li Yanzhi nodding, he helped him to sit down in front of the couch. Ma Ping patted Li Yanzhi on the shoulder and said, "Dingdong." The words are not like that. Although these nobles have repeatedly tried and calculated internally, it is indeed useless for the country and the people. However, at the moment, we have to rely on their faces for what we want to do. This breath, Dingdong, you have the right to endure it! ”

Hearing Ma Ping's words, although Li Yanzhi did not express his position, he was also full of reluctance. Ma Ping couldn't help laughing and scolding: "How many years have you been so stubborn." Alas, if you want to do anything, talent alone is not enough, and you have to endure it! ”

Listening to Ma Ping's bitter words, Li Yanzhi's expression also relaxed. He bowed his hand to Ma Ping: "Du Wei's teachings, Yan Zhao remembers them in his heart." In the future, I will silently recite the word forbearance taught to me by the captain......"

Ma Ping nodded, got up and said, "Since Dingdong has figured it out, it's the best." If you are injured, do not move around, and it is important to recuperate. I'll go back first, and then I'll catch up with Dingdong when I'm free. ”

After sending Ma Duwei away, Li Yanzhi just lay down, but he saw a guard report and entered the house, and reported to Li Yanzhitong: "Sima, there is a reinforcement general outside who asks to see him." ”

"Can he give his name?" Li Yanzhi asked without changing his face.

"No, he just said that he was Sima's old acquaintance. I didn't dare to ask. ”

"Call him in." Li Yanzhi sat up and put on his leather armor. Tighten the strap. After a while, there was already a person marching at the gate, looking at Li Yanzhi and arching his hand with a smile: "Li Sima, don't come unharmed!" ”

"Is that you?" Li Yanzhi's voice increased a few points, and he looked at Song Xiaohu who walked into the house and lost his voice.