readx;

Two days later, the southern army in Cangzhou received definite news that Guo Ying and Wu Jie's men and horses had fled to Tang County in the west, the first part of Ping'an had settled near the canal, and the general Li Jinglong had fled all the way to Dezhou on his own. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 ｉｎｆｏ

The information kept coming: King Yan mobilized a group of new troops from the rear of Beiping, gathered 200,000 people, and after resting in Baoding for a few days, he set out from Baoding to pursue the fleeing imperial army in the south, and went straight to Dezhou. Upon hearing this, on the 7th day of the first month of May, Li Jinglong Pegasus ordered all troops to retreat and rendezvous in the two directions of Zhending and Jinan, and left Dezhou in a hurry and fled to Jinan. After thinking about it, Sheng Yong and Shen Ruoliao left Cangzhou with 20,000 subordinates, and according to the instructions of the general, they withdrew to Jinan in the starry night; Xu Kai stayed behind to continue to defend the city. The cities along the way were defeated by the Yan army, and they ran to Jinan with the general, and the southern army fled one after another, and General Li barely collected 170,000 horses in Jinan, plus the original soldiers defending the city in Jinan, a total of 200,000 people.

The imperial court's 600,000 Northern Expeditionary Army reimbursed most of it overnight; Li Jinglong gathered all the southern troops, divided 100,000 to deploy defenses in the city, and himself brought 100,000 to garrison outside the city, ready to meet the enemy.

Shen Ruoyu stayed outside the tall city wall of Jinan, not daring to walk into the city gate for half a step. For most of the soldiers of the Southern Army who fled south, at this moment, they only felt that Jinan's city defense was far from being able to catch up with the impregnable strength of the capital, and they couldn't wait to immediately put on their wings and fly back to the sky; Only there do they truly feel safe. The soldiers who were arranged by the general to camp outside the city were full of complaints and panic. Shen Ruoxiao is the opposite; There are iron and willow in the city of Jinan; Last time, he had no choice but to kiss Miss Tie and snatch King Yan away from Tie Xuan's hands, and Heng Zhi no longer had the courage to step into this Jinan City for half a step; In contrast, staying outside the city, he was down-to-earth, even if the Yan army pounced again, he would always have the ability to escape from the battlefield safely, which was much easier than asking him to face that beautiful, intelligent and willful Iron Lady.

On the ninth day of the first month of May, the military report came again that the Yan army successfully occupied Dezhou without a single soldier, as well as the more than one million stone military rations hoarded in the city of Dezhou.

Jinan is already in the bag of King Yan.

That night, the number of people counted by the Southern Army was 10,000 less. The 200,000 Southern Army became 190,000, 100,000 inside the city and 90,000 outside the city.

Deserter; Li Jinglong knows better than anyone else. He ordered the battalion to be locked up, and each department strictly restrained its subordinate soldiers, and reported to him the number of men every night.

To his surprise, the next night, twice as many soldiers reported fleeing as the previous day, and the defenders of the city began to flee.

General Li had to issue a strict order: if there were any more deserters, he would be held accountable for leading thousands of soldiers.

There was no movement for a day, and it seemed that the ban had worked. However, on the morning of the fourth day, General Li walked out of the camp tent and was immediately dumbfounded: the whole camp was like being swept by a storm, and most of it was gone, leaving only the collapsed and damaged camp tents, discarded armor and weapons, and corpses scattered all over the field.

Li Jinglong took a breath and immediately ordered his subordinates to count the number of people.

The results were reported: 50,000 people fled from the entire Yugoslav army camp overnight. Many thousands of households even commanded the affairs, and seeing that they couldn't restrain the flight of their subordinates, they simply joined the camp of deserters. So the southern army fled with Wei as a unit, and it is not surprising that 50,000 in one night.

Li Jinglong had no choice but to simply ask someone to withdraw his big tent and move to Jinan City.

What he didn't expect was that as soon as he entered the city, that night, the 70,000 southern troops in the city fled cleanly, and even the 30,000 defenders who were originally stationed in Jinan couldn't hold their breath, and fled together, running most of the night.

As a result, there were only more than 10,000 people left in the guards in the city of Jinan; In addition, there are only 20,000 defeated troops left outside the city, most of which are Sheng Yong's subordinates. At this point, General Li didn't care anymore, only Tie Xuan was left in a hurry, and after discussing with Sheng Yong, Sheng Yong led his men to stay outside the city, and he led the 10,000 defenders stationed in the city.

On 13 May, the spy news came that 200,000 Yan troops set out from Dezhou and headed for Jinan.

The southern army outside the city was already intact at this moment, all of them were the subordinates brought by Sheng Yong, and I don't know what method General Sheng used, but only more than 100 people ran away.

In the afternoon of the same day, Tie Xuan searched the entire Jinan City, but did not see Li Jinglong's shadow, and inquired and learned that the general had hurriedly pretended to leave Jinan City with his personal guards and servants an hour after receiving the spy report, and went all the way south without looking back.

The general also fled cowardly, Tie Xuan was completely gone, and he had to go out of the city to find Sheng Yong; Sheng Yong immediately decided that all the 20,000 southern troops outside the city should be withdrawn to the city for garrison.

Shen Ruoxiao wandered along the Daqing River all day, taking the hundred soldiers Sheng Yong gave him to demolish the bridge; He was very skeptical that this deep ditch would be of much use in blocking the Yan army, but at the moment, there was really no other way. In the evening, he returned to the camp and found that the entire camp had been withdrawn, only his and Sheng Yong's tents were still there. Sheng Yong's tent was wide open, and General Sheng was coming out of it, and when he saw him, he shouted from afar:

"Lord Shen, are you back? The rivers are all clean? ”

"No problem, not even a plank left. What are we? ”

Sheng Yong walked up to him, his hair was unkempt, the armor on his body was so hot that it was untied, his dusty robe was soaked, his face was covered with dirt, and he said:

"The general is gone. That's all there is to us. ”

“…… The general is also gone? ”

Sheng Yong put one hand on his waist, touched the sweat on his forehead with the other, looked at Shen Ruoliao, and sighed helplessly.

"Yes, there are only 30,000 people left in this Jinan City now, there is no way, I think it is better to withdraw all of them to the city, so that the troops can be concentrated, it is better than staying here and letting the Yan army be reimbursed in vain." 30,000 people defend the city, and against the 200,000 Yan army, they should be able to carry it for a while. ”

"Then I'll go pack my things."

Sheng Yong remembered something: "By the way, Lord Tie is in your account, maybe he has already helped you clean it up." ”

"Iron ...... Iron Lord? ......" Shen Ruoyu's heart sank, as if a bucket of cold water had been poured down.

Sheng Yong was unobserved: "Yes; When the general was gone, he came to me to discuss the withdrawal to the city, and he said that he wanted to talk to you about something, but you were not there, so he went to your tent and waited. I guess I haven't left yet, right? ”

Shen Ruoyu was sweating profusely: "...... Good...... I'm going to ......."

He went back to his tent and stood up for a while at the door, but felt a little numb in his scalp.

He hadn't been in contact with Tiehyun for a year.

And the last contact, he remembered it very clearly, Tie Xuan must also remember it very clearly, and Tie Liu probably remembered it even more clearly.

Lord Iron is now sitting inside waiting for him. The curtain was closed. He couldn't see the situation inside, only his own heart seemed to be a thief, scurrying in his chest in a panic, but he couldn't escape.

He was a thief in the first place.

Zhong Kexi was behind him, and asked in a strange whisper:

"Your Excellency?"

Shen Ruoyu secretly took a breath and said to him, "You stay outside." ”

He mustered up courage, lifted the curtain, and stepped inside.

Tie Hyun sat at the side of the desk, facing the tent door upright, obviously ready to welcome him in, and sat there motionless, staring at him coldly and without hesitation.

Shen Ruoyu lowered the curtain behind him, not daring to go any further, as if a child who had made a mistake couldn't help but bow his head to a strict parent.

Tie Xuan was not in a hurry to speak, and still looked at him steadily, until Shen Ruoxiao started to tremble, and every hair from head to toe dripped down, and the Shandong political participation master said coldly:

"Lord Shen, don't come unharmed."

Shen Ruoliao was about to melt in the heat and anxiety just now, but at this moment, he suddenly felt that a layer of ice crust had formed all over his body. Tie Xuan called him Lord Shen.

"Iron-sama, I'm—"

"You are the military counselor of the 600,000 army of the imperial court, and you have retreated south with the army. Your colleague Gao Wei is also in the city now, and we talk day and night, and we are very close to each other. Commander Sheng was brave and righteous, and stayed alone, and Tie swore to live and die with Jinan City, and we discussed the matter of defending the city together every day. As for the others, including the general Cao Guogong, although he had to lead the people to leave in order to preserve the strength of the army, when he was there, he also gave advice and made great efforts to the guards of Jinan City. In the case of Pingyan, everyone has the same goal and determination. Only Lord Shen, from beginning to end, has not even entered the Jinan City Gate once, and when he sees Tie, he is like avoiding snakes and scorpions. The 200,000 Yan army may attack the city at any time. Lord Shen lives outside the city, does he see death as home, or does he have other plans? Or, do you think that I am a traitor to the enemy and harm the country, so I refuse to come to me? ”

Shen Ruoyu's face was purple and red, and he couldn't say a word, so he had to hold on to the autumn wind, eager to grab it into the meat.

Tie Xuan stood up, walked in front of him, still looked at him without hesitation, and said:

"Any past between Tie and you, good or bad, is a personal grudge. You are now the counselor of the Northern Expedition of the imperial court, and I am a political officer in Shandong. Jinan is at stake; Since you can leave King Yan for the sake of righteousness and return to the court, why are you confused now and let your personal affairs ruin the overall situation? ”

Shen Ruoyu raised his head and looked at him in some surprise.

Tie Hyun said calmly, "You are surprised? Are you surprised to hear that? ”

Oh, yes; Was he surprised? Was he surprised to hear such words from Tie Dingshi's mouth? What does it mean to live the belly of a gentleman with the heart of a villain?

Tie Xuan saw the shame in his eyes, softened a little, and continued:

"You still don't know me well enough, and that's my fault. From now on, I hope you don't have any more concerns. As long as a person who understands righteousness and distinguishes between right and wrong, Tie will never regard him as an enemy. What you should do now is to work with Commander Sheng to do my best to keep Jinan. If there is any suspicion between us, Jinan will definitely be lost. ”

Shen Ruoyu nodded: "I understand; I will. ”

Tie Hyun turned his head and glanced at the desk behind him.

"The more books you read, the better, but remember not to believe them all. You and I both know King Yan, and he knows more things than you and me combined; So we can't win him with books alone. If you have time, you should walk around and take things for granted. ”

"I understand."

"Pack up and go into town; What can I help you with? ”

"No, no, no; You see, I don't have anything. That's right,-Lord Tie-" Shen Ruoyu hesitated. He still didn't dare to revert to his former title of "Keystone Brother".

"Jinan is now an isolated city. The Yan army of 200,000 people, even if they do not fire a single shot, and besiege us motionless for several months, - as you have seen, it is difficult to count on the imperial court reinforcements. How long we can hold out depends on the reserves in the city—"

"You don't have to worry about this," Tie Xuan said calmly, "He Yan Wang can hoard ten years of military rations for Beiping, and of course I can do it in Jinan." Everything needs to be prepared in advance. Although before, I have only been persuading you, trying my best to persuade King Yan, I have actually been ready to have today. It's going to get dark soon, so hurry into the city. From tonight, Jinan will be completely under martial law, and the city will be closed, and no one or anything, even a bird, will be allowed to leave the city. Until the Yan army withdraws, or—"

He stopped.

Shen Ruoyu said softly: "No or." ”

Tie Hyun looked at him and smiled slightly.

"You're right, no or."

He walked out of the tent, took two steps, stopped again, and turned around.

"I have arranged a place for you all in the city, and as soon as you enter the city, someone will take you there. That's the condition, and now at this time, you know, you can't find a good place. But I can guarantee that the people of the whole city will take care of you like relatives, and even if you swallow the bran yourself, you will save the best rice, flour, fish and meat for each warrior. ”

Shen Ruoyu said: "Lord Tie, the soldiers are willing to stay just to protect the people of Jinan, they don't want anything-"

"I know." Tie Hyun said, his tone suddenly cold, "I haven't finished my words yet. Originally, I really wasn't going to say that. But that doesn't contradict what I just said. Me and you, we are comrades-in-arms on the line of life and death, with common people behind us and common enemies in front of us. I will be with you day and night, with all the warriors, eating in the same stove, lying in the same table, discussing tactics and fighting the enemy; The door is close to me, but I won't look back, the big picture doesn't allow me to think otherwise. So—"

He paused and said clearly, "You too." Far from my home. I will not tolerate you ever getting closer to my daughter again. ”

After speaking, he stared straight at the stunned Shen Ruoliao, and after a moment, he turned around and strode in the direction of the city gate.