Every winter, the atmosphere in Datong City can become tense, as this season is the time when the Tartars are most active. 【】

Although in recent years, most of the Tatars' attention has been focused on places like Xuanfu and Ningxia, but Varat has a special penchant for great sympathy, and will come to visit from time to time, even if it is to start a war with the Tatars for this purpose.

This is also understandable, Ningxia and Yansui are only poor and there are only people left, even if they rob every day, what can they grab? If you can't go to the relatively wealthy Xuanfu, the best choice for the fire screen is Datong.

As for the little prince who is regarded as forbidden or something, he is hungry, where can he take care of a lot? The prince can come, but the sieve will not come? How can there be such a reason in the world?

However, this year is a little different, although Datong is still heavily guarded, the main attention of the defenders in the city is focused on the south, and only a few dozen people are left in the west.

This is also a helpless thing, there are not many soldiers and horses in Datong, and the main force was taken away by the chief soldier Wang Xun, and the rest of the people can't even take care of the rotation, of course, they have to come in an important direction.

In the people, the news of the royal driver's personal expedition has spread, but the ordinary people do not know the specific location of the holy driver, and this kind of confidential information is only known to important people in the officialdom and the army.

"I don't know where the holy car is, did we fight with the little prince, alas, we are really unlucky, why were we not selected to go on the expedition with the chief soldier? If we can go together, maybe we can show my face in front of the emperor. ”

At the same time as the Battle of Yingzhou began, on the tower of the west gate of Datong City, several sergeants were gathering together to chat, and one of them was talking with longing.

"Just a small soldier of yours? Don't be stupid, that's the emperor, I don't know how many soldiers and horses are around, where is your turn to show your face? Let's stand guard honestly. This is clearly an over-the-top expectation, and one has mercilessly refuted it.

"This is not the South Gate, what is there to keep an eye on? I saw with my own eyes a few days ago, and the overwhelming number of captives rode south, how could they come to the west gate in a circle? The soldier muttered unconvinced.

"Hu Xiaoqi, people say that Datong Town is a family, but why do I think that our right guard is raised by my stepmother? Last year, the emperor selected guards among the children of military households, and our Datong Town was far away, so it was okay if we didn't catch up, but what is this called in the past two months, from Shuozhou to Yanghe, and then to Datong, I was transferred back and forth, and every time I was still guarding the city, what good things can't be done? ”

Hu Xiaoqi said: "It's not that Ma Shen will not be treated by General Wang, so you can't believe us?" Besides, what do you think is a good thing to follow Wang Xun's house? ”

"Isn't it a good thing to fight side by side with the emperor's guards?"

"Phew!" Hu Xiaoqi spat at the mouth, hateful and said: "What a good thing to fart!" Wang Xun's house is not a good thing, follow him, there are people who raid the family and exterminate the clan, what do you think Shun Shengchuan is ......?"

"Hu Biao, early in the morning, you drank again?" Before he finished speaking, he was interrupted by a clear drink, and the soldiers turned their heads to look, and saw a person walking up the stairs, with a face like a heavy jujube, and a burly figure, which was the general Ma Xun they had just talked about.

"Master Ma, look at what you said, the sun hasn't come out yet, how can I drink?" Seeing that it was the main general, Hu Biao hurriedly laughed.

"How can you talk nonsense without drinking? Beware of your sin of spreading rumors and shaking the morale of the army. Glaring at his subordinates, Ma Xun shook his head helplessly, to say that this Hu Biao is also a fierce general, but he can't control this mouth, so he has lowered all the way from thousands of households to a small flag, and he is also very sorry.

"Hehe, look at what you said, my lord, these are all my own brothers, and there are no outsiders, and what I said is not nonsense." Hu Biao sneered, admitting his mistakes is very good, but he doesn't repent of dying, and his mouth is still so hard.

"You, alas!" Ma Xun originally wanted to scold a few more words, but looking at that smiling face, he couldn't scold. What generals lead what soldiers, and why don't they have such a straightforward temper? If it weren't for this stinky temper, how could he have offended both General Wang and Governor Cui?

However, some things really can't be passed with one eye turned a blind eye, and Shun Shengchuan's incident is already very out of line, and now it's ...... He frowned and glanced south, the morning light was still very dim, of course he couldn't see anything, but he became more and more worried, hoping that Wang Xun would rein in the precipice, otherwise, it would be a big rebellion!

"Hu Biao, come here......" After thinking about it, he was still relieved, so he beckoned to Hu Biao and pulled this upright subordinate aside.

"Do you dare to say those words again?"

"Why don't you dare?" Hu Biao looked up in amazement, Ma Xun shook his head, and said in a deep voice: "Not to the general, but to the emperor!" ”

"Huh?"

"In addition to what you said, I have some other information here...... The holy car should be near Yingzhou now, you take my handwritten letter, go and ask to see the holy car, and then ......"

"But...... Didn't the governor order the city to be sealed so that no one was allowed to enter or leave? Hu Biao was stunned.

Ma Xun's eyes were burning, he stared straight at his subordinates, and said word by word: "Therefore, this matter must be yours." ”

"Marked, understood." Hu Biao can't control his mouth, but he is not stupid, he has a big mouth, but his eloquence is not good, and he is easy to offend people, it is definitely impossible to be a messenger, but this thing is really the most suitable for him.

It's not just that he's the most loyal or bold enough, the key is that he's not afraid of death, and he's not afraid of causing others. The governor's closure of the city is a death order, and those who dare to go out of the city privately will be punished for the crime of collaborating with the enemy, which is a big crime to punish the nine clans, even if they are not afraid, they have to consider their families.

And Hu Biao is the one whose parents died early, and he is still a single, so he dares to ignore the strict orders of the governor and secretly go out of the city in private, and he is really the only one in the right guard of Datong.

"My lord, when is it good to mark down?"

"The sooner the better, anyway, there is no ...... here in Xicheng" Ma Xun's words were only half-said, and what interrupted him was the smoke and dust billowing from the west. He was very familiar with this scene, every time the Tartars invaded on a large scale, they entered the Kou through the mouth of the tiger, went straight to Datong, and then plundered the four fields.

At this time, looking at the dust and smoke that covered the sky, even if the morning sun was not born and the visibility was not too high, he, the general, could easily judge the number of enemies, 10,000 horses, no, it was likely to be more than 30,000 horses, and the only thing that could appear here at this time was the fire screen of Wara!

And his purpose is different from before, he didn't come to plunder, Warat and Tatar have joined forces, his target is the Guard, it's the Holy Driver!

"Quick, hurry up and light the beacon fire, let the brothers gather, and prepare to go out of the city to face the battle!" At the moment of crisis, Ma Xun's mind turned extremely fast and immediately made the most appropriate response.

Of course, for the overall situation, this judgment is very correct, but for the soldiers of the Datong Right Guard, and even for Datong City, it is a little cruel. The soldiers and horses of the right guard of Datong are still less than 10,000, the defense of the city is acceptable, and the battle will be defeated without a doubt, if the defeat is too bad, it will even affect the city of Datong.

However, as a Datong guard, Ma Xun has no choice; As a soldier of the Ming Dynasty, he is also duty-bound.

The emperor is confronting the little prince, and the fire screen is going to the emperor's back. If he succeeds, the sky of the Ming Dynasty will fall, and when the sky falls, someone will always have to go up to it. He believed that his brothers were good men and would not back down at this time.

"Woo ......" The desolate horn sounded, Datong City was suddenly awakened, and then, seeing the smoke and dust in the sky, the Datong soldiers and civilians immediately understood what was going on.

There was a look of panic on people's faces, but no one panicked, for a long time in the border town, for the disaster, Datong people can ignore it indifferently, even if they heard the assembly order, the right guard soldiers who were about to go to battle were the same.

Of course, there are also people who can't be calm, and this is the case with Cui Yan, the governor of Datong.

"What are you going to do? Didn't the officer already give the order? Those who leave the city without permission will be punished for the crime of collaborating with the enemy! Cui Yan's eyes were red, and he didn't know if he hadn't slept well or was angry, as soon as the horn sounded, he went up to Xicheng violently and asked Ma Xun sternly.

"Lord Governor, the fire screen is attacking the side, and you want to attack the holy driver, if Datong doesn't try to delay the enemy army, then ......" As soon as he saw Cui Yan's posture, Ma Xun secretly shouted that it was not good, the enemy was at present, and he was still busy after all.

Cui Yan didn't come alone, he brought a group of people with him, he came in such a hurry, and he was so well prepared, which can only show that he was prepared. Ma Xun patronized and watched the enemy, and before he had time to assemble a large group of people, there were only a few personal soldiers around him, and although Xicheng was also his subordinates, there were too few people.

Da Ming Wen is noble and cheap, not to mention a general in Ma Xun, even if the general soldier has to be low in front of the governor, how many soldiers are around, he doesn't dare to be a little disrespectful.

However, in the past two months, in the strange actions of Cui Yan and Wang Xun, Ma Xun has read a strange taste. If it weren't for the lack of evidence, he would have even been thinking about whether he should force himself out of the city to report to Yingzhou, in fact, he was already doing this, otherwise he would not have appeared in Xicheng at this time.

Cui Yan said unhappily: "The holy driver is on the way to Datong, you rush to fight, if it leads to the loss of Datong, where do you want the holy driver to stop?" When the fire screen first arrived, he didn't know the past and the future, and how would he know where the holy car was? Ridiculous, really ridiculous, Ma Shen General, you don't have to take care of the city defense, there is a sudden big change, your mind is in turmoil, you should go back to your home to recuperate. ”

"Master Cui, you ......" Ma Xun's heart was cold, he didn't expect that he really guessed it, and it was the worst situation, Cui Yan actually reversed black and white in front of so many people, obviously he was already mad.

"If you report the news, your own official will send someone to do it, so you won't have to worry about it." It seemed that he also felt a little ashamed, Cui Yan waved his sleeves, explained two more sentences, and then raised his voice and ordered: "Come on, escort the mahjong ginseng general to rest!" ”

"Your Excellency!"

said that it was an escort, it was clearly a posture of house arrest, and the defenders on the head of the city were all Ma Xun's subordinates, where would they be willing to watch? Everyone rushed up, holding their weapons tightly in their hands, as if they didn't know Cui Yan's identity.

"General Ma Shen, is this how you lead the troops? Or do you want to do something to your own officials, and then collaborate with the enemy to rebel? Cui Yan sneered slightly, the sergeants behind him were both numerous and well prepared, all of them were wearing armor, and a few of them had already torn off their bows.

"Stand down, give it all to Ben General!" Ma Xun shouted loudly and stopped the soldiers, he knew that this immediate loss was decided, if there was a conflict, these people in the city would die, and the last hope would be cut off.

He turned his head, looked at Hu Biao deeply, and said loudly: "The matter of city defense, there is Master Cui, you just have to obey the order, as long as you obey the order, the holy car will be safe and sound." ”

"Ma Shen General, please." Seeing Ma Xun's acquaintance, Cui Yan was also very satisfied, he didn't want to make trouble, the defenders in the city were mainly the soldiers of the right guard, although he thought he could suppress it, but Ma Xun's prestige was high, and it was difficult to guarantee that there would be no accidents, and it was the most convenient now. He nodded, and one of his men stepped forward.

"Master Cui, you are now in your thirties, but you are already a big official in the second grade of the official residence, what are you trying to do such a rebellious thing?" When he walked past Cui Yan, Ma Xun suddenly asked in a low voice.

"This official is to establish a heart for heaven and earth, a life for the people, open peace for all generations, and restore the Ming Dynasty to a peaceful and prosperous world! Hmph, the bird's ambition? Take it down! Cui Yan sneered.

There are thousands of hectares of fertile land and thousands of industries in Huguang, relying on the privilege of scholars! Since ancient times, the privilege of scholars has been supreme, who dares to offend? New? Hmph, whoever dares to infringe on his family business will die with him, and the emperor will do the same!

There was a lot of disturbance in the city, but the fire screen under the city didn't pay attention, he didn't even look up, but turned a corner under Datong City, and the billowing smoke and dust turned from west to south, with infinite killing opportunities, speeding away.

The east was already dimly shining, and the morning light was sprinkled on the city, glowing with an orange-red halo, Cui Yan was full of ambition.

The little prince has been avoiding and not fighting, just to preserve his strength and wait for the opportunity, and now that the time has come, no one can stop the front and back attacks of the second Mongolian department, and the emperor and the thief beside him are dead.

The DPRK and China have worked hard for so long, but the great achievement of putting things right is finally set up by themselves. With the fire sieve going south, isn't his career just like the rising sun?

Cui Yan resisted the urge to look up to the sky and laugh, brushed his sleeves away, and didn't notice at all that among the angry eyes behind him, there was a pair of more special.

Hu Biao is also being patient, he repeatedly told himself not to be impulsive, to keep a useful body, because this is the entrustment of Master Ma, and it is also the responsibility of a Ming soldier.

But what to do? Watching Cui Yan's subordinates begin to take over the defense and command of the city, Hu Biao knew that as time went by, the opportunities became fewer and fewer.

His gaze wandered from the head of the city to the city...... When he saw the Nancheng Tower, his eyes lit up, and then dimmed, the beacon tower was there, but that was the place where Cui Yan took over first, and his little flag could not be approached no matter what.

However, there is more than one beacon! His gaze turned to the outside of the city, and his eyes brightened again, the settlement fort, where there was also a beacon tower!

(To be continued)