Dozens of Qing soldiers who escaped from Fangjiaji ran back to Hanzhong City in disgrace, and reported what happened to Tuge to the two Niu Lu Zhangjing who stayed in the city, Fangjiaji had been surrounded by a large Ming legion, at least five or six thousand people, far from being able to cope with the Hanzhong defenders, and the Tuge who were encircled were more auspicious. 【Latest chapter reading. 】

The two Niu Lu Zhang Jing were shocked, and there was no trace of the Ming army in Hanzhong for a long time? Where did so many Ming troops come from? Originally, I thought that Li Zicheng, who was scattered outside Yulin, Gansu, surrendered to the Ming Dynasty anyway, and re-raised the banner of the Ming Dynasty to make trouble, but I never thought that there would be thousands of people.

The two of them didn't dare to be careless, they didn't dare to think about going out of the city to rescue, there were less than a thousand flag soldiers left in the city, and they were all sent to this city, and the risk was very high.

After some deliberation, it was decided to immediately send an emergency messenger to Guangyuan Haoge and Ankang Tanbai separately, and also sent people to report the news in the direction of Xi'an, in case the Ming army bypassed Hanzhong and went straight to Xi'an.

At the same time, the city gate was closed, and the city wall was quickly repaired with additional manpower, and some of the damaged places that were not reinforced with bricks and stones were also erected several wooden fences, and the young and strong were recruited to go to the city to look out and guard, and all the banner soldiers were ready to prevent the Ming army from attacking the city.

In the midst of the tension, night fell.

A huge fire was lit on the top of the city, and the distance between the inside and outside of the city wall was illuminated for several kilometers, and the men who had been recruited stood on the head of the city, holding a wooden G and patrolling back and forth under the supervision of the Qing soldiers, and shouting loudly to warn anyone when they found someone approaching.

Two Niu Lu Zhangjing, one at the west gate and one at the east gate, set up a bunk on the city tower and slept in it, not daring to slack off at all. After all, Tuge is trapped, life and death are not servants, Shangguan is a very serious sin to die in battle, enough for two people to drink a pot, if Hanzhong City is lost again, then wait for the court to cut off the head and destroy the family.

At the time of the third watch, when the moon was in the middle of the sky, there was still silence outside the city, there was no abnormal movement, and Niu Lu Zhangjing, who was guarding the west gate, finally breathed a sigh of relief, the night was dark, and it should be fine.

The people of this era, because of the lack of nutrition, most of them suffer from severe night blindness, they can't see at night without a light source, they can't march and fight at all, and the army is dispatched, thousands of sergeants are mixed together, they can't distinguish the flag color signal, they don't distinguish between the enemy and me, and it is not easy to line up, and it is difficult to have the conditions to fight with torches and fire piles, so except for a small number of elite sneak attacks, no one dares to fight at night.

Niu Lu Zhangjing walked into the city tower to sleep, he had just taken off his armor, and he hadn't even taken off his boots, when he was shocked to raise his head by a step armor that pushed open the door with a "bang".

"There's torches, a long string of torches!" Bu Jia shouted in panic: "A long string of torches appeared five miles outside the city, approaching the city gate!" ”

Niu Lu Zhangjing didn't even have time to put on one of the boots he had just taken off, so he picked up the long knife that was placed next to the bed and rushed out of the door, heading straight for the city.

The flag soldiers on duty at night at the head of the city have already sounded the gong, beating a cowhide drum loudly, and the Qing soldiers have been running up from the hidden soldiers under the city and up to the city wall.

Niu Lu Zhangjing was lying on the head of the city, and sure enough, he saw that in the distance outside the city, a continuous series of torches were shining like stars, coming in the direction of the city, just looking at the number of torches, he could judge that at least thousands of people were approaching.

"Alert, alert!" Niu Lu Zhangjing's hairs stood up, and he shouted loudly: "Prepare the stones, prepare the artillery arrows, it is likely that the Ming army is coming!" ”

The city was suddenly busy, the Qing soldiers lit firewood, burned gold juice, and urged the Han people to carry stones and rolling wood up and down, and moved bundles of arrows from the warehouse under the city to the city.

When the torches meandered to the city, the city wall was already full of Qing soldiers, the knives were unsheathed and the arrows were wound, and the compound bows were drawn into a full moon shape, ready to fire, and the gunner's fuse was in his hand, and the fuse could be lit and the cannon could be fired.

Niu Lu Zhangjing stared at the light of the torches under the city with a nervous face, and he couldn't see how many people came in the dark, but so many people, it shouldn't be his own people, whether it was Haoge, Tan Bai or Meng Qiaofang, it was impossible for the reinforcements sent to come so quickly.

When the brigade of torches approached two miles from the outside of the city, they gathered together and did not move, and then two or three torches broke off and rushed down the city.

When the torches came three zhang away from the city wall, they could be illuminated by the huge fire set up by the Qing soldiers outside the city, and everyone in the city was relieved when they saw it.

Under the firelight, the three horses ran to the city, and immediately the three of them were all eight-petal helmets with a water cover, standard Qing army equipment, looking at the color of the uniform, it should be the people of the Han army with blue flags.

It turned out to be his own person, Niu Lu Zhangjing's tense face finally relaxed, put down the bow and arrow in his hand, and motioned to a Baya soldier beside him to shout.

The soldier put his hands to his mouth in a trumpet shape, and shouted at the bottom of his voice: "Who is down there? ”

A person under the city immediately opened his mouth and replied: "We are under the command of Lord Li of the Han Army with a blue flag, and we have returned from the Y flat road, let us enter the city, Lord Li fell from the cliff and was seriously injured, so we must seek medical treatment immediately." ”

The faces of the three of them were all lit up in the firelight, and standing on the top of the city, they could see their faces very clearly.

Niu Lu Zhangjing is a little strange, Li Guohan knows it, didn't he send out to take the trail to copy the back road of the Jianmen Guan Ming Army? Why did you come back late at night? So he simply shouted, "Isn't Lord Li ordered to go on the expedition?" How did you get here late at night? Where is Master Lee? Why don't you show up? ”

The man under the city replied: "The Y Ping Trail is too dangerous and difficult to walk, Lord Li accidentally fell from the cliff, and the personnel are unconscious, and there are many casualties among the soldiers, so I was forced to withdraw and march all the way, so I arrived at the city late at night, and Lord Li is now in the army." ”

As he spoke, a group of people came out of the pile of torches in the distance, carrying a stretcher, on which lay a man with a pale face and closed eyes, wrapped tightly in a quilt, and looked really seriously injured.

Niu Lu Zhangjing recognized Li Guohan's appearance, the fire under the city was bright, and he could see it clearly at a glance, the eyes and eyebrows, and the appearance were similar, and it could be concluded that it was indeed Li Guohan himself who was lying on the stretcher, and the horseman who accosted him was also recognized by the soldiers, and he was also a soldier in Li Guohan's army.

The man on the horse shouted again: "Please open the door quickly, Master Li is seriously injured, if you don't hurry up for treatment, I'm afraid it's not good!" ”

Niu Lu Zhangjing hesitated, according to the routine, the city gate must not be opened in the middle of the night, no matter who comes, they must camp outside the city and stay, and they can only open the door and put it in until dawn.

After a slight delay, the horsemen under the city cried out again: "Why don't you open the door yet?" Master Li's injury cannot be delayed, if he has any three longs and two shortcomings, I must sue Su Wangye, can you afford it? ”

The other soldiers in the city also shouted, scolding.

The banner soldiers in the city all looked at Niu Lu Zhangjing, Niu Lu Zhangjing naturally knew that Li Guohan was friendly with Haoge and was a big celebrity in the Han army, if he really let Li Guohan die because he obeyed the rules and did not open the door, Haoge would definitely not praise himself for this, maybe he would have to punish the crime, which is not easy to do.

He struggled fiercely in his heart for a while, and finally could not stand the loud shouts of the soldiers, and commanded the banner soldiers in the city in a muffled voice: "There are friendly troops under the city, open the door and let them in." ”

As soon as the gate was opened, the men on horseback rushed into Gate D, took their positions, and then the soldiers with torches swarmed in, and went straight into the city, with great speed.

Niu Lu Zhangjing hurriedly walked down to the city gate, since everyone was let in, he always had to take a look in person and ask about the situation, not to mention that Li Guohan was seriously injured, it was right to express his concern.

A large group of soldiers drove in from outside the city, and walked straight down the street to the city, all of them wearing the armor of the Han army with blue flags, wearing helmets, and their heads were wrapped in helmets except for their faces exposed. But the stretcher was left behind, and it didn't come in for a long time.

Niu Lu Zhangjing stood on the side of the road, watching the soldiers who entered the city walk one after another for a long time, and when everyone was almost inside, he saw a group of people hugging the stretcher and slowly walking in.

Niu Lu Zhangjing was a little displeased, and blamed: "Why is it so slow? Master Li is so badly injured, he should be brought in quickly. ”

He walked quickly to the stretcher, looked closer, and saw that Li Guohan's face was as white as paper, bloodless, his forehead was wrapped in bandages again and again, wrapped like a dumpling, his eyes were closed, and he was motionless like a dead man.

Niu Lu Zhangjing couldn't help but be speechless, how high did he fall, he was injured like this, since Li Guohan was in a coma, unable to speak, and it was not interesting to express concern, he was ready to withdraw and walk away.

At this moment, the bandage on the top of Li Guohan's head suddenly softened, like a hollow, and collapsed, and his head immediately sank like a bowl.

Niu Lu Zhangjing was stunned.

The four soldiers carrying the stretcher were also stunned and stopped moving.

How can the head of a living person be like this?

Niu Lu Zhangjing reacted in an instant, and was shocked to realize that there was a problem, just wanted to draw the knife, but his hand had not yet touched the handle of the knife, among the soldiers who carried the stretcher, the first two threw the stretcher at the same time, drew the knife in their hands, and waved forward quickly, and with a flash of coldness, they cut off Niu Lu Zhangjing's head.

This knife was a signal, and the soldiers entering the city who were on the side of the stretcher pulled out their blades together and slashed at the Qing soldiers who did not react on all sides, and suddenly shouted and killed.

Among the two people who took out the knife, the taller one shook the blood on the knife and complained: "Zubian, I'll just say, your bandage is not wrapped correctly, it is not tied firmly, look, it is all collapsed." ”

Zu Bian scratched his head and replied: "My lord, this tartar's head has been flattened by stones, it is not easy for me to restore him to this appearance, this can't blame me." ”

These two people are Wang Huan and Zubian who disguised themselves as Li Guohan's soldiers, and the people who rode horses to talk under the city were a prisoner captured on the Sky Ridge and two guarded Kuizhou soldiers.

"Haha, my lord is so scheming, he deceived the gate of Hanzhong so easily, I didn't expect that this Tartar would be useful when he died." Zu Bian looked around excitedly, and the Kuizhou army had already cut down more than ten Qing soldiers at the city gate and were attacking the city.

Wang Huan smiled calmly, his eyes were shining like a star at night, he waved the long sword in his hand, and shouted: "The whole army is scattered, act in teams, kill when you encounter Tartars, and withdraw from Hanzhong City before dawn!" ”

(End of chapter)