When Li Mu and Zhao Jie and their party arrived near Pingcheng, the fertile fields in the four fields of Pingcheng were already bare, and there was not a single farmer in the entire field.

"It seems that the people here have taken the grain back to the city." Li Mu couldn't help but nod and praised: "It seems that the city guards of Pingcheng are doing a very good job!" ”

When everyone heard this, they also echoed it, and they couldn't help but envy the Pingcheng Castle Guard, who had not yet met and was even more unknown. In Yanmen County, King Zhao gave Li Mu a lot of autonomy, and the promotion and transfer of all officials was completely decided by him, and he only needed to show his performance afterwards, so as long as he could get Li Mu's appreciation, then Feihuang Tengda was just around the corner.

More than 50 people galloped along the official road towards Pingcheng, the horses trampled the land and kicked up a large cloud of dust, and the defenders of the city saw it and thought that the Hun army was coming, so they rang the bell to warn the enemy of coming. When the soldiers heard this, they discarded some of the grain and grass that had not yet had time to enter the city, escorted the people stranded outside the city into the city, and then closed the strong city gates.

"Where is the castle guard?" Li Mu, who came to the city, stationed at the horse of ten thousand arrows, pointed to the defenders of the city and shouted loudly and asked: "I am Li Mu, the county guard of Yanmen County, quickly open the city gate and let me wait to enter the city." ”

"I'm sorry, this general, once the alarm bell rings, I can't open the door without the order of the city guard!" A humble and arrogant reply came from the city: "So please General Li stay in the city for a while, I have sent someone to find the city guard, only when he confirms your identity, we will let you come close!" ”

I don't know how long it took, a head poked out of the city again, and a voice reached the ears of Zhao Jie and the others: "May I ask which one under the city is General Li Mu, please show up." ”

Obviously, the person who poked out his head was the city guard of Pingcheng, so Li Mu rode on a horse, raised his head, looked at the man's face and said, "I am Li Mu!"

After a while, a small opening opened in the city gate, and the group entered the city one after another. Li Mu was the last to enter the city, looking at the city guard with an embarrassed expression and a confession, and said, "You did a good job!" ”

Soon after Li Mu entered the city, the smoke and dust in the distance were rolled up again. "The Huns' outpost is coming!" Li Mu concluded with intuition.

As Li Mu predicted, for the safety of the back road, the Xiongnu's large army had to entangle with the Zhao army's Great Wall defenders at the foot of the Great Wall, and it was the Xiongnu's outpost troops that entered this time, about 20,000 or 30,000 people. Pingcheng is located in the northeast of Yanmen County, so a total of about two or three thousand Xiongnu warriors rode horses to attack.

"Shoot!" When the Hun invaders came within range of the defenders' bows and arrows, the Pingcheng defenders gave an order. Suddenly, ten thousand arrows were fired in unison, and a rain of arrows that was not violent attacked the Hun army. In an instant, the neighing of arrows from horses and the exclamations of men with arrows resounded under the city.

In the face of the arrows flying from the city, the Hun soldiers under the city also reacted instinctively, and the dense team began to scatter around the city, and the high-speed horses quickly brought the warriors on their backs to the counterattack line. After the archers of the city fired only three rounds of arrows, the cavalry of the city took advantage of the speed of their horses and shot the arrows with their bows to the city. The Huns practiced archery on horseback since childhood, and their accuracy in hitting the target was quite high, and in a short time, hundreds of corpses appeared on top of the city.

"Lord County Guard, there are many arrows flying above the city, and the Huns have no arrows, it is too dangerous here, please take shelter in the dwellings in the city for the time being." The county guard of Pingcheng leaned over and walked in front of Li Mu and Zhao Jie and persuaded: "Don't worry, I won't run away and leave here, otherwise after this battle, what will I see when I go on a blind date." ”

Li Mu didn't refuse when he heard this, he said excitedly: "It's okay, if I leave here, you can fight back without worries." You are a talent, you must live well, after this battle, you can go to Shanwu City to help me! ”

"Thank you, Lord for appreciation." Pingcheng City Guard excitedly sent Li Mudao off. Slowly walking to the stairs of the lower city, Li Mu suddenly remembered something, he turned his head to look back at the Pingcheng city guard, and asked loudly, "What's your name?" ”

"Peace!" In the distance, the voice of the Heijo castle guard was heard.

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"Ahh After a while, the falcon trainer took a piece of rolled cloth and handed it to Li Mu. "The Huns broke in." After Li Mu finished reading the cloth, he said unhurriedly: "The next day or two will be the most difficult. ”

As Li Mu said, in the next two days, the army outside Pingcheng gradually increased, and the defenders became more and more difficult to defend. Pingcheng was not very large, so there were not many soldiers, and with the gradual increase in casualties, more and more civilians were organized on the city wall by the city guards. Zhao Jie once saw a boy less than twenty years old nailed to the city wall by an arrow, and he also saw a gray-haired old man being dragged down the city by the enemy, and the cruel war once again enriched Zhao Jie's vision.

In the past two days, Zhao Jie looked at the curling green smoke rising from the battlefield from time to time, and finally couldn't help but ask Li Mudao: "Is it too cruel for us to send the common people to the city wall and send them to the intersection of death." ”

"War is war, life and death are the stakes, and there is no mercy for the generals." Li Mu explained without thinking: "The people are not guarding the city for the Zhao family, nor for the county, but for their own property and lives, so it is not that I am waiting to send them to death." ”

Two days, a hundred years before the ghost gate was closed, for everyone on the city wall, every second was a frying; Two days, two or three hours before dawn, for the Huns under the city, there is no need to race against time all the time. Two days later, Pingcheng still stood unbreakable in the northeast of Yanmen County, and deeply imprinted the impression of Jiancheng in the minds of the Huns.

"The strong crossbow has come to an end, the three blows have been exhausted, and the time has come to counterattack." After inspecting Pingcheng, Li Mu instructed his subordinates: "Give an order to let all the troops leave the garrison and start fighting back against the Xiongnu invaders nearby." ”

Li Muyao, who was in Pingcheng, controlled the movement of troops and horses throughout Yanmen County, and the Xiongnu army that was counterattacked had to adjust the distribution of troops. Standing on top of the city of Pingcheng, looking at the enemy army outside the city gradually decreasing, Zhao Jie couldn't help but sigh: "The people's hearts can defend the city, and the words of the ancients do not deceive me!" ”