At this moment, even Shen Ruoxiao, who is the supervisor of the Southern Army, has to admit that Li Jinglong is really not a general. This can be seen by the fact that he placed his command post fifty miles away from the front line. In the name of the beautiful name, it is said that the work is waiting for work, and the truth is waiting for the king of Yan who ambushed the division back to Zhengcunba; As everyone knows, the battle under the city of Beiping is what really determines life and death, and the general does not stay in the closest place to the front line to respond at any time, but runs to such a remote and quiet place to recuperate. With such a delay on the way to and fro, Shen Ruoyu already felt that he didn't have to worry anymore, Qu Neng would definitely not be able to hold out for so long, and King Yan would not lose.

Half an hour later, the sun had set. Shen Ruoliao rushed to Zhengcunba and reported the news of Qu Neng's breakthrough of Changyi Gate to Li Jinglong, and said that General Qu had requested support from a large army.

Much to his surprise, to everyone's surprise, Li Jinglong pondered for a long time, but said slowly:

"Ordered Qu Neng to quickly withdraw his troops and retreat outside the Changyi Gate."

Shen Ruoyu burst out in surprise: "Why?!" ”

Li Jinglong said with a calm face: "The 300,000 army is attacking the nine gates of the city, advancing at the same time, and retreating at the same time, where can he be allowed to make such a self-assertion, he can advance before everyone, and he will inevitably retreat before everyone." Do you still want the 300,000 army to follow him and be his backup? There is absolutely no such rule. Tell him to withdraw from the Changyi Gate immediately and wait for the army to enter with him! ”

Shen Ruoyu was stunned for a moment, and then realized that Li Jinglong must be jealous of Qu Neng to break through the city gate first, afraid that he would take the first credit; On weekdays, the general has always been at odds with General Qu, so how can he easily admit defeat at a critical moment? I won't give the credit to others. Thinking about this, he couldn't help but be stunned, and then began to secretly laugh at his worries. King Yan has such a mediocre but jealous general as an opponent, and he Shen Ruoyu still needs to be in a monkey hurry on the side.

He looked around, there was still Chen Hui in the big tent, and a few low-level attendants. He thought for a moment and said cautiously:

"General, the army advances and retreats together, but it is impossible for the nine city gates to be broken at the same time, and there is always a difference between breaking first and then breaking. We have been fighting for a month, and we have finally broken through one, so we should seize this opportunity and concentrate our troops to enter the city from Changyi Gate to fight. In this way, Beiping will not be able to go down in the future; If you wait for the other eight gates to be conquered, it may not be time to go. Besides, General Qu's men and horses can't hold on. ”

"Since he can't hold on, what can he do, he has to rush in?" Li Jinglong said coldly, "I have already said it, tell him to withdraw immediately, knowing that he can't hold on." If he thinks he has that ability, then let him do whatever he wants, just let him die there. Wait until the army has conquered the other eight gates, and then come to his aid. ”

"General—" Chen Hui wanted to speak. Li Jinglong waved his hand impatiently at him and stopped him.

"General Chen doesn't need to say much; The Warden doesn't have to worry about it. Since there is one Qu Neng who has the ability to conquer the Changyi Gate, there will naturally be a second Qu Neng who will soon be able to capture the Chongren Gate, the Anzhen Gate, and the other gates, and even the Zhengyang Gate immediately. General He and Marquis Wu are both in Zhengyangmen, can he Qu Neng think that he is higher than the deputy generals on the left and right. Trouble the overseer to run, and order Qu Neng to immediately withdraw from the Changyi Gate and stand by. ”

Shen Ruoyu withdrew from the big tent with some reluctance. Seeing such a commander of the army, he was really a little helpless. At this moment, another thought had already arisen in his heart, one that was not new, but it was the first time that it was so flesh-and-blood: he wanted to replace Li Jinglong.

That's right; He wants to replace this incompetent gentleman, lead the entire southern army by himself, fight with the Yan army, and fight wits and courage with the king of Yan. At least he won't be jealous. Moreover, he had already seen the result of King Yan's victory, so he would no longer be merciful to King Yan.

Shen Ruoyu galloped back to Zhengyangmen on horseback and informed He Fu and Wu Jie of the general's orders. The two looked at each other in astonishment; He Fu sighed heavily and said:

"It's a failure, it's a failure. Lord Shen hurry up and tell General Qu the bad news. I also want to ask the adults to comfort and comfort him, General Qu is a short-tempered person, and he will do whatever it takes to keep his heart in a hurry. ”

Shen Ruoyu rushed to Changyi Gate, and it was already dark. Qu Neng was still struggling there, and when he saw him coming, he shouted like a Salvation Guanyin Bodhisattva:

"Your Excellency, you're back! What about reinforcements? ”

Shen Ruoliao saw his eagerly expectant face, and his heart was a little heavy. Sympathy is no longer his mood; He can now understand very well how sad it is that a desperate general finally broke through the city gate, and how many soldiers' lives were sacrificed in exchange for nothing; There was only heaviness in his heart.

Seeing that he didn't speak, Qu Neng urged strangely, "Lord Shen? What about reinforcements? What did the general say? ”

Shen Ruoyu walked up to him and said, "General Qu, the general ordered you to withdraw from the Changyi Gate immediately. ”

Qu Neng looked at him in a daze, a little dazed for a while, and didn't seem to understand.

Then, trembling all over, he grabbed him and shouted, "What did you say? Withdraw from Changyi Gate? ”

Shen Ruoyu nodded: "The general has an order: 300,000 troops will attack the nine gates of the city, advance together, retreat together, the general can't make his own opinions, order General Qu to withdraw from Changyi Gate immediately, and wait for the army to advance together." ”

Qu Neng listened, was silent for a moment, and suddenly looked up to the sky and laughed.

"Okay, what a Cao Guogong, what a general! Your father's fame will all be lost in the hands of you, a mediocre slave! Where is this, what is the same advance and retreat? It's obviously jealous that I've pulled out my head! Okay, I really want to thank you for the anti-thief King Yan, as long as you are a general, there will be no day for Beiping to be conquered, and there will be no time for the imperial court to be defeated! ”

Shen Ruoyu looked at him in a panic: "General Qu, you are calm and calm......"

"I'm too calm to be calm." Qu Neng sneered, "With such a great general, it's better to let the anti-king kill me as soon as possible, so that I can still have a good reputation." ”

He immediately beckoned all his soldiers and ordered: "Withdraw!" ”

More than 1,000 elite soldiers, after six hours of bloody fighting from the time of the hour to the time of the hour, after a whole day, more than half of the damage, finally broke through the Changyi Gate, and achieved the largest or even the only progress in the army besieging Beiping for more than a month; However, under the order of the general, he had to withdraw his troops with tears, along the ruins and bloody roads that he fought out regardless of his life, and stepped on the overlapping corpses and blood of his comrades, and withdrew from the Changyi Gate amid the curses of the people of Beiping.

He Fu has felt very regretful, and personally rushed to comfort Qu Neng and his soldiers, comforting everyone that the Changyi Gate has been broken, and it can't be repaired in any night, and this opening will still be open tomorrow, please don't be discouraged, rest well for the night, and fight again at dawn, he He Fu will lead the Zhengyang Gate soldiers to Changyi Gate together, fight side by side with them, and enter Beiping.

That night in Beiping, it was surprisingly cold. The northern storm roared and screamed outside, blowing the tent to the ground. In the second half of the night, it was as cold as an ice cellar, and even Shen Ruoyu was awakened by freezing. He curled up, and finding that he could not be warmed, got up and went down to the field, put on two more clothes, and walked about in the tent. A cold swish.

Zhong Kexi curled up in the corner of the door, on his own couch, shivering incessantly. Shen Ruoyu woke him up, forcibly pulled him out of bed, put a dress on him, and ordered him to go to the ground.

"If you don't want to freeze to death, get up and move."

After walking in the camp tent for a while, Shen Ruoyu felt that it had no effect, so he walked outside with Zhong Kexi, picked up a few bundles of dry firewood, wiped the velvet for a long time, and finally started a fire. The fire gradually burned into a pile, and the two of them sat by the fire, finally warmed up. Shen Ruoyu saw that Zhong Kexi couldn't help but lower his head to take a nap, so he said to him:

"You idiot, if you want to sleep, why don't you just lean on my back? How uncomfortable is that? ”

Zhong Kexi was frightened by what he said, and immediately said: "The subordinates don't sleep, and the subordinates know that they are wrong." ”

Shen Ruoyu looked at him in surprise: "What are you wrong?" Is it wrong to want to sleep? If it weren't for the cold in the tent, you think I would have eaten too much to support you? You're like that, back to back against me, so that neither of us is tired. You can get warmer by taking a nap on the fire, right? - Hey, I said just be fine, don't be so awkward - Zhong Kexi, I order you to sit behind me. ”

Zhong Kexi complied with his orders in great embarrassment. Soon, the little stove soldier fell asleep.

Shen Ruoyu didn't feel sleepy, looking up at the stars in the sky. The colder the northerly windy night, the clearer and brighter the starry sky. He had already come to this conclusion when he was dying in the night. It's just that on such a cold night, few people will be punished by freezing outside as often as he is, so no one knows what the starry sky is like.

A group of night patrolmen approached, lanterns in their hands. When he saw the fire, he exhaled in surprise and was about to surround him, but when he saw Shen Ruoyu sitting by the fire, he hesitated and stood there and didn't dare to step forward. Shen Ruoyu smiled:

"Don't worry, I'm not a ghost, and I'm not sleepwalking. Frozen, right? Don't come over to bake yet? ”

When the ten night patrolmen heard this from the warden, they were relieved, and gathered together, and sat down around the fire, stretching out their hands and legs toward the fire.

Shen Ruoyu looked at them one by one with dirty faces and exhausted, and sighed:

"You guys are really hard enough, attacking the city during the day, and you have to be on duty at night. In fact, this arrangement is very unreasonable, you don't meet your eyes day and night, how can you go into battle tomorrow? Why don't you rush to the enemy and fall asleep? The brothers on the night shift should wake up a little later the next day. ”

A few night patrolmen laughed and said, "It's not in the way, we're all used to it, and we can stand it." ”

One asked, "The adults have also been fighting for a day, they should be very tired, why don't they go to sleep?" ”

Shen Ruoyu sighed: "I can't sleep; There is something in my heart, and it is so cold in the tent, my breath is frozen, and if I don't come out to roast, I can suffocate inside. For some reason, I felt surprisingly uneasy tonight. ”

He asked, "Have you made any noise on your night patrol?" ”

The soldiers replied, "No, it was quiet everywhere, as usual, and there was nothing but the wind." ”

Shen Ruoyu thought about it. "Maybe I'm overthinking. But I just feel that something is wrong, I always feel that Yan Jun will do something tonight, and there is a bit of danger around me. Are you sure there is nothing? You just don't feel anything? ”

Several night patrolmen looked at each other. One of them says:

"My lord, you are too tired during the day and your nerves are overtense."

Shen Ruoyu shook his head and smiled. "Probably. Forget it, on such a cold night, Yan Jun won't do anything big. Good fellow, if you don't have this fire, you can definitely freeze your fingers. ”

The night patrolmen roasted the fire for a while, and then left to continue their patrol.

At dawn, Shen Ruoyu was woken up by Qu Neng. He left Zhong Kexi's back and looked around, not thinking about how he was outside, and he was a little confused.

"Attacking?"

"Attack a bird," Qu Neng said, "My lord, go and see, and see what the Yan army has done." Attack a birdie. ”

Shen Ruoyu jumped up, got on his horse and galloped to the Changyi Gate, and was taken aback when he saw the Changyi Gate from a distance. Cold; Yesterday's ruined Changyi Gate actually grew a tall and heavy iceberg at this moment, crystal clear, crystal-like, the entire damaged Changyi Gate and the two wings of the city wall were wrapped inside, a smooth mirror, indestructible ice wall.

He led the horse to the front. The huge wall of ice sat there triumphantly and calmly, as if mocking them:

"Tell you to withdraw! The God of winter belongs to Beiping. ”

"Who did this? Whose idea was it? He couldn't help but exclaim.

Qu Neng was beside him, and complained angrily: "I knew, I already knew. As soon as I withdrew from Changyi Gate yesterday, the whole thing was over, this battle was all in vain, and the dead brothers died in vain. Even if this Battle of Beiping is completely over, it will all be destroyed in the hands of Li Jinglong's son-in-law. But when he returns, we will have to bear his sins for him. I don't know how he slandered us in front of the Son of Heaven. ”

As he was talking, suddenly, a flag shook above the ice wall, and the faces of Zhu Gaochi and Princess Yan poked out.

"Please talk to Lord Warden—" Zhu Gaochi shouted.

Shen Ruoyu walked to the edge of the moat and looked at Yan Shizi and the princess on the high wall opposite.

"What does Your Highness have to say?"

Since he had been recognized during the siege yesterday, he didn't need to hide it now. Sooner or later, there will be this day.

Zhu Gaochi smiled and said: "Last night, it was cold, dripping water turned into ice, and this ice city was built overnight, what does the Lord of the Prison Army think of our project?" ”

Shen Ruoyu said: "Please ask His Royal Highness, who is such a high recruitment?" Master Daoyan, or Master Yao Shude? ”

Zhu Gaochi smiled proudly and said, "Lord Prison Army, this idea was conceived by the mother concubine. Not only that, but it was built by the mother concubine and the women of the whole city splashing water overnight. Wouldn't you have imagined that such a high wall would come from the hands of a women's army? ”

Shen Ruoyu smiled: "To be honest, I'm not surprised. What kind of Yan King there is, what kind of princess there is, what kind of prince, what kind of common people in Beiping. ”

Princess Yan smiled and said, "Lord Jianjun used to be a member of Beiping. ”

Shen Ruoyu thought about it, smiled slyly, and said something inexplicable:

"The hero doesn't mention the courage of the year, he doesn't mention the courage of the year, haha......"

He laughed and turned his horse's head away, and left without looking back.

Qu Neng followed him, caught up and asked, "My lord, it's all my fault, why didn't I expect that they would pour water into an ice wall." On such a cold day, it shouldn't be difficult to think of this idea. ”

Shen Ruoyu sighed: "It's useless to talk about these things now." If you want to compete with the people of Beiping in winter, it is not inevitable to lose; Even I, a Peking native, didn't expect it. Now we have to think of the next step. In my opinion, this Beiping should give up, it is not too late to kill the enemy in ten years. Ice-folded steel; We have lost this battle. ”