"The humble post has reported this matter to the commander, and in recent days, the other party has frequently attacked and looted. There were only more than 1,300 guards in Maoniu City, and they were ordered to close the city and hold on to wait for reinforcements. I don't want to, Xuanfu Xianggong and Jingluo Xianggong are ......"

Speaking of which, everyone finally understood why City Lord Duan was so frightened. Just imagine, not only Xihe handsome Yao Pingzhong, but even the commander of the entire Shaanxi, Xu Wei, has arrived in Maoniu City, and at this time this city is facing danger, how can the city lord of Duan not be surprised? How can you not be afraid? If there is any mistake on the part of these two chiefs, he cannot afford to take this responsibility.

Yao Pingzhong was silent, his wide face was cloudy, he suddenly turned around, hugged his fists and said, "Taiwei, please leave this place quickly and go to ......."

Before he finished speaking, he suddenly heard a faint sound of thunder, who was not experienced in a hundred battles? As soon as I heard this sound, my heart was clear, it was not thunder, it was the sound of rumbling horses' hooves! Sure enough, the guards in the city immediately shouted, calling for the enemy to attack! Duan Cheng's lord couldn't take care of the chief, so he ran to the city with his legs. Xu Wei and Yao Pingzhong followed, and once they reached the top of the city, everyone couldn't help but be shocked by the scene in front of them!

I saw that on the northwest and northeast sides of Maoniu City, countless soldiers and horses were pouring in like a tide, and the sound of rolling hooves became louder and louder, and finally it was like thunder! The knights on horseback let out a sharp whistle, and the dense infantry pressed down on the city from both sides!

Yao Pingzhong's face changed greatly! He is the son of the general, the prestige of the Yao family in Xihe, not losing the Xu family in Jingyuan, even if he suddenly encounters an enemy, he is not afraid at all. But the problem is, this time there is Xu Xuanfu! The other party suddenly attacked, if there is a good one, I am afraid that this matter will shake both inside and outside! Pulling past the generals who had called the door before, the little captain said in a deep voice: "You ride your handsome war horse, and immediately rush to the state city to transfer reinforcements!" Fast! ”

The general clenched his fists and was about to leave, when he pulled him back: "Tell them!" Xuanfu is here! Whoever dares to delay, military law will not tolerate it! ”

Xu Wei immediately cut off: "No! You just need to transfer troops, you don't have to mention me! ”

Although Yao Pingzhong didn't know the reason, since Xu Wei had spoken, he couldn't disobey. The general nodded, and the latter galloped down the city, rode Yao Pingzhong's good horse, and rushed out of the city with a shout!

At the same time, the enemy soldiers outside the city are gathering more and more, and at a cursory glance, I am afraid that there are thousands of them! Yao Pingzhong was anxious and annoyed, and couldn't help but say to Xu Wei: "Xuanfu Xianggong, please enter the city for a while, no matter what, you should protect the prime minister!" ”

Before Xu Wei could reply, he suddenly saw a big flag slowly moving forward in the crowd. I didn't read anything written on the flag carefully, anyway, as soon as the flag arrived, the soldiers avoided it one after another. Before the battle, I saw that several people under the banner were neatly draped and were pointing at the city.

Duan City Lord ran in all directions and arranged tasks. The guards all went up to the city to prepare for battle. At this moment, a man under the banner rode out of the battle and rushed straight to the city.

When he stopped his horse in front of the moat, he was not in a hurry, but looked left and right at the situation in the city, looked at the cluster of arrows as if there was nothing, and shouted loudly. Yao Pingzhong seemed to understand some Qiang language, and the more he listened, the more ugly his face became, and finally punched the city wall and scolded: "The western thieves are rampant!" ”

"What did he say?" Zhang Qing asked.

"He said, because we refused to borrow grain, their city lord personally led the army to fetch it, give our army one last chance, and lend the grain, cattle and sheep in full, if not, hum." Yao Pingzhong cut his teeth.

The lord of the city hurried over, shouted from the city, and the enemy generals under the city listened, turned his horse's head and left. Seeing this, Xu Wei looked back at Zhang Qing and Yao Pingzhong and said, "Let's go." ”

When the three of them went down to the city, they could already hear the cries outside the city, thinking that the city lord of Naren Duoquan City was boosting morale and preparing to seize the city.

"The guards stay, and if necessary, go up to the city to defend." Xu Wei was calm. He'd been through so much of this kind of scene that he didn't know what fear was. Besides, with his understanding of the city's defense, although this catbull city is not big, it is extremely strong, and more than a thousand guards can cope with it for a while. Moreover, the state city is only a few dozen miles away from here, and before the afternoon, the reinforcements should arrive. It's just that he is worried that the reinforcements will come too quickly, in which case the dispatch will inevitably be hasty, the opponent's forces will be superior, and he will suffer a loss in the fight.

The officers in the city led them to the yamen, and Yao Pingzhong did not say a word along the way, his face solemn. The more he thought about it, the more he regretted it, why did he have to invite Xu Xuanfu to inspect Xihe? It's nothing more than to win policy support, and it's good to run into such a thing now!

A city like Cat Cow City was built for military purposes when it was born, so the layout of the city is very simple. Barracks, school grounds, stables, workshops, yamen. There are almost no dwellings here, because the inhabitants of the city are almost all soldiers.

When I arrived at the Yamen, it was also shabby, and there was a public hall in front of it, not even a flower hall. Behind is the residence of the city lord, and the front and back add up to only five or six rooms. The officers and soldiers all went to the city to fight, and the yamen looked empty. The three of them found a room and sat down, and after running for a long time, they were hungry and thirsty, but fortunately they had dry food and wine with them. So he asked the guards to set up the pot, broke the buns, and cooked them together with the jerky.

Yao Pingzhong still looked very worried, listening to the movement from time to time, Xu Wei saw this and said: "Okay, how to fight the battle, the people below know, you don't have to worry." ”

"Yes." Yao Pingzhong responded, but he still couldn't rest assured.

Zhang Qing asked at this time: "Yao Jingluo, what is the location of this Renduoquan City?" ”

Hearing him ask, Yao Pingzhong retracted his heart and replied: "Back then, Tong Guan was handsome, attacking Xia Tuobian. Liu Fa, who was the commander of Xihe at the time, and Liu Zhongwu, who was the commander of Qin Feng, were ordered to lead a 100,000-step army to attack Renduoquan City, which was controlled by the party members. The city is less than 100 miles northwest of here, and it is easy to defend and difficult to attack. After the city was broken, Liu Fa was annoyed that the defenders were stubborn, and ordered the city to be slaughtered and the militia in the city were killed. Jin people Nankou, Xihe army was edicted to the king of Qin, and the party people took advantage of the emptiness of Xihe to attack the border one after another, and captured many city fortresses, and Renduoquan City was gained and lost at that time. When Wang Yi was the commander of Xihe, he recaptured part of the fortress, but the city of Renduoquan has not been recovered. ”

"Is it a party member who is in Renduoquan City?" Zhang Qing asked again.

"No, Rindoquan City and its surroundings are controlled by a branch of the Rokuya tribe. After Liugu Tubo was destroyed by the Dangxiang people, most of them surrendered to Western Xia, and a small number of them switched to Hehuang Tubo, which is now the Qiang people in Xihe. Now the city lord of Renduoquan City is a descendant of the Tubo leader of Yangfei Valley, one of the former six valleys, named Yi Shengzhilong, he was appointed by the Xia lord to lead the troops to sit in Renduoquan City, with tens of thousands of accounts under his command, and more than 20,000 elite soldiers. The lowly handsome Xihe also wanted to recover this place, but he was burdened by the gold thief, so he ......"

Zhang Qing listened to it a lot, although he was an official in Shaanxi, he really didn't know much about the history between the party, Tubo, and the Great Song Dynasty. At the moment, he asked: "So, the Tubo people in Renduoquan City are the same as the Tubo people in Xihe?" ”

"Yes, but Tibet has long since collapsed, and they are independent and do not belong to each other. Liugu Tubo was destroyed by the Western Xia, and Hehuang Tubo was also repeated between the Song and Xia, so Emperor Shenzong made up his mind to subdue Hehuang Tubo, establish prefectures and counties, and place Xihe all the way. Yao Pingzhong said.

"Didn't you say that Hehuang Tubo has been loyal to the Great Song Dynasty for generations?" Zhang Qing wondered.

Yao Pingzhong smiled bitterly, and Xu Wei interjected: "Internal propaganda, all say so." ”

Xuanfu Xianggong said that, but after the suppression of Wang Jingluo and his humble position in recent years, there have been few rebellions and riots in Tubo in Xihe. This time, the western thieves of Renduoquan City came to attack, and it was indeed an accident. Yao Pingzhong explained.

The soldiers had cooked the food and brought it in to the three of them, and as soon as they had eaten a few bites, they heard shouts of killing outside the city, thinking that they had begun to attack the city.

"Eat, that, bring me wine." Xu Wei said casually.

Seeing that he was so calm, Yao Pingzhong didn't panic. Zhang Qing took a few mouthfuls of food, took a sip of the wine handed over by Xu Wei, and said: "Now that Shaanxi and Western Xia have eased relations, the two sides only talk about business and don't want to fight. The Yi Shengren Dragon came to attack this time, and I am afraid that it will not be tolerated by the Xia Lord. When this matter is completed, the Department of Preparedness can send someone to negotiate with the party to put an end to such ......"

"Zhang Jiyi didn't know that the house had been entrenched in the area of Renduoquan City for more than ten years, and its foundation was extremely thick. Let's put it this way, as long as he doesn't raise troops to rebel, Lord Xia won't do anything to him. Does the green-faced Yaksha know? Is it the one who led the troops to be pacified by Li Shifu? The blue-faced Yaksha has been in trouble on the border for many years, and the Xia army can't do anything about him, but he just doesn't dare to provoke the Yi Shengren Dragon. Yao Pingzhong said.

Xu Wei munched and asked, "Then do you dare?" ”

The little lieutenant was stunned: "I'm not afraid of him, but now that the prime minister is trying his best to win over the Western Xia, if the Xihe army attacks on a large scale, I'm afraid it will be harmful to the two countries." ”

"It's good that you understand that. At present, the strategy of our Western Army is to take advantage of the contradictions between Xia and Jin, win over the party members, and then contact the Khitans to jointly deal with the Jurchens. Such conflicts on the border, do not affect the overall situation. Get it sorted out as soon as possible. Xu Wei said.

Yao Pingzhong shook his head: "Xianggong, this is all a battle, and I want to solve ......"

"Didn't he borrow grain? Give it to him. Xu Wei was careless.

Zhang Qingyi raised his head: "This is not the best policy, give him food, but he thinks that the Western Army is afraid." I gave it this year, and I will come again next year, when will it be a head? ”

Xu Wei chuckled: "So, you have to fight first, and then give." After the other party is repelled, you Xihe Shuaiji will come forward to follow that, what is it called? ”

"Yi Shengren Dragon, they may have married the Dragon Clan, so they took this name." Yao Pingzhong said.

"Well, talk to him, you can give him the grain and cattle and sheep he wants. In addition, the Establishment Division also sent people to negotiate with the party and asked Lord Xia to restrain Renduoquan City. If he is sensible, it is best to stop here, if he continues to do this......" The expression on Xu Wei's face gradually became gloomy.

The fierce battle continued, and the city lord of Naren Duoquan City sent more than 10,000 troops to attack Maoniu City. Although the Song army was only more than a thousand people, they were all the survivors of a hundred battles, and with the defense of the fortified city, the Qiang soldiers could not break through.

In the afternoon, 2,000 reinforcements from Xining Prefecture arrived, broke through the resistance of the Xia army, and entered the city through the south gate, which greatly strengthened the garrison in the city.

The Xia army still did not relax and continued to attack. And took local materials and built a lot of siege equipment. By dusk, the city did not move, and the Xia army left hundreds of corpses behind and retreated to camp. Some people suggested that Xu Wei and other officials of the Department of Preparedness and Construction should take the opportunity to leave the city, but they could not make the trip because of the great risk.

The next day, reinforcements from nearby prefectures and counties arrived in Maoniucheng one after another, and the strength of the Song army reached more than 5,000. It is reported that a group of 4,000 elite troops sent by the Xihe Shuai Division is also on the way.

Yao Pingzhong asked Xu Wei for instructions and planned to go out of the city to engage in the battle. Xu Wei took this only as a reason for inspection, and did not interfere with the command, so Yao Pingzhong personally led 4,000 warriors out of the city and engaged the enemy. Xu Wei and Zhang Qing watched from the city, only to see the two armies facing each other, and basically could not see the tight formation of the Western Army when they fought in Guanzhong. However, the non-commissioned officers of both armies have a high degree of courage to die, and often charge and kill repeatedly, even if the formation is scattered, few soldiers break and flee. This is where the Qiang soldiers are fierce!

"See, that, the guy who wears a big face in the array." Zhang Qing shouted in chaos as the two armies were in a mess.

"Who? Which one? Xu Wei looked for a long time and didn't know who he was talking about.

"Hey, the one with the big knife and the mask! A red robe! See? I paid attention to him for a long time, this guy rushed back and forth three times, and killed at least a dozen people. Zhang Qing said.

Hearing him say this, Xu Wei also began to pay attention. Not to mention, that guy wears a face, although he is suspected of pretending to be a ghost, but his martial arts are really good, a big knife flies up and down, and even if he is surrounded, he can stand out safely. What is he doing with a big noodle? Could it be that he is the same as Di Qing, a famous minister of this dynasty, who is strong and powerful? Or is it to learn from the history of the Lanling King?

"Not good! That guy Ben Yao Jing is omitted! Someone next to him suddenly shouted.

Xu Wei looked carefully, the enemy general with a big face kept cutting down the soldiers, and a general in front of him was not a little captain. Yao Pingzhong's armor was clear, his goal was somewhat obvious, and he was killing in the chaos, and he didn't notice that someone was cutting down the soldiers and approaching him!

Everyone was sweating, and suddenly saw the enemy general swing his machete and cut his head at the little captain! It's really like a divine help, Yao Pingzhong almost at the same time swung a knife to block! The two immediately separated, and in the blink of an eye, they swung their knives and attacked!

You must know that Yao Pingzhong was born in Jiangmen, not to mention anything else, that martial arts is definitely a superior level. can fight with the enemy generals for more than ten times, and it is estimated that the knives have been cut and rolled, and they have not been distinguished.

At this moment, the Song army seemed to be a little unable to resist, and soldiers kept retreating, scattering the two. After a while, the sound of trumpets sounded in the Song army's array, and the whole army began to retreat. Castle Duan Hong also ordered the crossbowmen to prepare to fire to stop the enemy from pursuing them.

"Captain!" Taking off his armor, Yao Pingzhong, who was soaked all over, strode up to the city, panting like a cow. He leaned down and held his knees for a long time before saying, "The enemy army is outnumbered, and I am afraid that I will not be able to catch it, so I will withdraw for the time being." ”

Xu Wei nodded and did not comment. To be honest, Xia Jun is indeed outnumbered, at least twice as many as Ping Zhong. But the little lieutenant was also a little underestimated, and seemed to want to play a majestic role in front of him, so he fought very fiercely, and did not give full play to the power of the bow and crossbow at all, and began to rush and fight.

"Damn! When you meet a general with a big sword, you can do it! Yao Pingzhong saw Xu Wei's expression and quickly diverted the topic.

"See, that guy has a good means, at least kill more than a dozen of my soldiers!" Zhang Qingdao.

"Yi Shenglong has three sons, all of whom are skilled in martial arts, and it is estimated that it is one of them." Yao Pingzhong said as he looked out of the city, only to see that the Xia army was also slowly withdrawing.

For two days in a row, Xia Jun came to challenge, but Yao Pingzhong just didn't go out. On the third day, 4,000 elite soldiers directly sent by Xihe Shuaisi rushed to the rescue of Maoniu City, and the little captain now had the confidence to go out of the city for a decisive battle. But Xia Jun also received the news, and as soon as he retreated fifty miles, he was so angry that the little lieutenant scolded him, and he was going to lead the army to chase after him at that time. Both up and down advised him to be careful of deception, and then it stopped.

On this day, seeing that the crisis in Maoniucheng was lifted, Xu Wei naturally had no reason to stay. There was a front-line general in command here, and he didn't need to do anything, so together with Zhang Qing, he led the guards to prepare to return to Qinzhou, but Yao Pingzhong insisted on staying.

At the gate of the city yamen, Xu Wei's guard soldiers had all mounted their horses. The city lord of Duan and the first class of generals were all guarding the door, waiting to be sent off.

After a while, accompanied by Yao Pingzhong, Xu Wei and Zhang Qing came out of the yamen. Xu Xuanfu seemed to be still telling Yao Jing something, but he saw the little captain nodding frequently.

"Okay, that's it, if it's here, I'll report it to the Department of Preparedness immediately." Xu Wei commanded.

"Don't worry, the humble post will definitely obey the arrangement of the minister and solve this matter." Yao Pingzhong said, bowed down and saluted, "Xuanfu Xianggong, Zhang Jiyi, go all the way." ”

Xu Wei and Zhang Qing stepped on the horse, and Duan City Lord and others bowed their heads on the side of the road to send them off.

As soon as the men and horses reached the gate of the city, they heard the city soldiers shouting: "The envoy of the Xia army has arrived!" ”

Xia Jun envoy? Hearing this, Xu Wei restrained the war horse. Xia Jun took the initiative to send an envoy? Why? Yao Pingzhong and Duan City Lord caught up, they all looked at Xu Wei, and Zijin Hu said, "You are the masters yourself." ”

The little lieutenant thought for a moment, and then said, "Let them in!" ”

At the opening of the city gate, I saw several horsemen running in slowly, all dressed as Qiang people. The robe has long sleeves, but the robe only covers half of the shoulders, and it is knotted with multiple braids and coiled on the head, which is quite a bit of the style of later Tibetans. One of them caught Xu Wei's attention, and when he was looking at him intently, the other party also turned his head and glanced at Xu Wei's line. When his gaze fell on the purple golden tiger, there was an unusual light in the other party's eyes.

Duan City Lord greeted him and said a few words in Qiang, and the four of them all got off their horses and saluted Yao Pingzhong's chest. The little lieutenant was expressionless, returned the salute so-so, and said a few words. Xu Wei and Zhang Qing couldn't understand at all, so they could only stare dryly.

The two sides talked for a while, Yao Pingzhong turned to the side, stretched out his hand to make a gesture, and the four of them held their heads high and headed in the direction of the yamen.

Seeing this, Zhang Qing asked, "Xianggong, let's go, or don't we go?" ”

Xu Wei was still paying attention to the person who was looking at him just now, and from the back, this person seemed to be different from the other three, and even different from the person who was full of people.

The corners of his mouth raised, and a smile suddenly appeared on Xu Wei's face: "Don't worry, go and take a look." ”