"General, good news, because we are here to block the follow-up siege of the Wuwei Army, and the Wuwei Army in Fan County has decided to surrender." Sun Zhuang, who was in charge of intelligence, said with joy to Zhao Xun, who was checking the affairs of the army.

"Oh? It's true? Zhao Xun put down the military affairs in his hand and said in surprise.

"Yes, Sun Qilian has already sent back the news, and we have already sent people into the city to investigate. There should be no problem, now we need to send people to the city to take over the city defense, collect the soldiers, and not let them become a routed army and wander all over the place. Also, the garrison general of Fan County, who is also the nominal Wu Benlang general Liujin, has now come here to meet the general. Sun Zhuang said with a smile.

"Coming? Please let him in! Zhao Xun was very happy in his heart. You must know that this Fan County, like Changli County, has 5,000 defenders and guards, and if you want to take it, it will take a lot of effort. It was best to take it without bloodshed.

A moment later, a tall and slightly thirty-year-old man walked in with Sun Qilian, and after seeing Zhao Xun, Qi Qi knelt down and said, "General Sun Qilian (Liukin) greets the general." ”

Zhao Xun raised his right hand and said with a smile: "The two generals are exempt, please sit down and speak." ”

Zhao Xun said with a smile: "This time, General Sun has made great contributions to our army, I don't know, General Sun can ask for something?" "Zhao Xun is very direct, this Sun Qilian is a general of the Wuwei Army after all, but now that he has persuaded the defenders of a city to surrender, Zhao Xun can't help but express it.

Sun Qi said in a deep voice: "Liukin and I are willing to serve the general, and we are willing to be a small soldier under the general's account." ”

"Huh?" Zhao Xun couldn't help but be stunned, and said, "The two of you are the five allied forces of the Armed Guard Army, which is much stronger than being a captain here with me." Besides, I didn't restrict your freedom, so why don't you take someone with you? As long as you let the non-commissioned officers under your command who are willing to join our army stay, the rest can leave after handing over their armor and equipment. Of course, after this battle, after all, General Ben will not increase the strength of the enemy troops outside the city, and will not let you go out of the city and become cannon fodder. ”

Sun Qilian smiled bitterly: "I know that General Li doesn't trust us, but we really want to join the Shanyang Army. It is true that we are the generals of the Armed Guards, but we are also the generals of the former Armed Guards. But now...... The current general is no longer what he used to be, so the former generals are now unpopular, otherwise, how could a general like us, who should have led 10,000 troops, personally garrison the front-line city? ”

After Sun Qilian's complaint, Zhao Xun understood that it turned out that they were all under the command of Ding Qiang, the former general of the Wuwei Army, and they were cronies. You must know that Ding Qiang personally stationed in Yanzhou Mansion, and more than 35,000 troops were stationed in the three southern provinces, which shows that the three or four Wu Benlang who stayed in the south were all Ding Qiang's people, otherwise, they would not have been allowed to stay in the rear. It's a pity that Ding Qiang was killed in Yanzhou Mansion by the Yanzhou Mansion Army and the Xuzhou Army. Subsequently, Yangzhou also sent new officers and generals.

The so-called once a son of heaven and a courtier, a new general takes office, and naturally he has to replace his cronies to sit in the main position. As a result, the remnants of the 35,000 Armed Guards were expanded to more than 60,000 people, and there were a few more Martial Guards in the army, and those original Martial Guards generals were sent to the front line on the grounds that it was unfavorable to protect the Armed Guards generals. Therefore, these original generals are all wastes who are not liked by the new generals.

"Up to now, of the original four Wu Benlang generals, only two of us remained. The other two were killed in the battle with the Yanzhou army. Of course, this is also what the general of the Wuwei Army wants to see now. If the two of us lose the city and the armor and equipment in the hands of the soldiers, there is no other result for us to go back, and there is only one way, and that is death. The two of us don't want to be treated as outcasts by each other like this, and we don't want to be killed by them in vain. I also saw the strength of the general's subordinates, and I also saw the disagreement between the general and the Yanzhou army. Therefore, the two of us are willing to serve the general. I hope the general will take it in! Sun Qilian said respectfully.

Zhao Xun pondered for a moment and said, "Yes, I can accept you." However, the military regulations and discipline of our army are different from those of your armed guards, and if the two of you do something wrong, don't blame me for not reminding you. In addition, although both of you are from Wu Benlang generals, you don't have any merits in my Shanyang Army, so I can't give you too high a status. But one of you succeeded in persuading you to surrender, and the other led the army to surrender, so I can appoint you to the post of sentry commander, and if you want to be promoted, it depends on the merit. Would you like to? ”

Sun Qilian and Liu Jin knelt in front of Zhao Xun and saluted: "The subordinates are willing, and there is no objection." ”

Zhao Xun smiled and said: "Very good, get up, Liujin, you go back and count the military guards in Fan County, and those who are willing to stay will be assigned to our army for intensive training." If you don't want to stay, you will hand over your armor and equipment, and when the war is over, I will let them go. Li Guochang, you take people to Fan County, you can do the same as before, check the treasury, recruit new soldiers, appease the people, and give relief to the victims. By the way, continue to move the people westward. Also, there is no need to report to the Yanzhou Military Office in Changli County that Fan County has been recovered. ”

"Subordinates take orders!" Li Guochang replied in a deep voice, and then left with Sun Qilian and Liujin.

"General, these two ...... Can they be trusted? The Wu Ben Lang General of the Wu Wei Army is quite the same as the position of the captain of our army, even if it is the down-and-out Wu Ben Lang General of the Wu Wei Army, it is above the school captain. Zhang Yongxue said carefully, still suspicious of the two of them in his heart. After all, the change from Wu Benlang to the sentry commander who leads the army of 200 is not acceptable to ordinary people.

Zhao Xun said in a deep voice: "It's not unreasonable for you to be worried, but as long as Fan County is in our hands, and then we break up the subordinates in their hands, we won't make things happen on our side." If they really take refuge, it will naturally be the best, and as our army expands, we urgently need capable officers first. If not, staying in the position of the sentry commander will not make a big difference. ”

"Putting that aside, what we need to do now is to deal with the enemy in front of us. The more than 10,000 armed guards outside the city are the enemies we need to face head-on. If they don't solve it, we won't have peace here. After solving them, we can get the Songzhou Mansion back. At the very least, we didn't make any moves next, and Xu Jie and Situ Wen didn't have anything to say. ”

"You must not be careless, thinking that blocking a siege of the Armed Guards once means that the Armed Guards are nothing more than that. The opponent's trebuchets have not yet been dispatched, the siege towers can still be built, and they have a steady stream of rear support, if they fight for a long time, the more unfavorable it will be for us, and maybe we will be defeated by then. ”

"Guan Lin, how many war horses have you exchanged for from Jizhou?" Zhao Xun asked in a deep voice.

"General Hui, there are more than 3,000 horses. Plus our own, there are more than 3,500 horses. Guan Lin replied.

"Three thousand...... Can you make up 3,500 cavalry? Zhao Xun asked in a condensed voice.

"Yes, there is no problem with 3,000 cavalry. In addition, we can also make up 500 heavy armored cavalry from the captured by the Armed Guards, and choose the tall and strong men among them as the heavy armored cavalry, which will definitely have a miraculous effect. Guan Lin said excitedly, it has been several days since he took over the war horse from Jizhou, and it seems that today it will come in handy.

"Very well, three thousand five hundred cavalry, you go and prepare immediately, and in three days, you must be able to go to battle. I remember that many of our soldiers were killed from Siyang County, and they were born in half a cavalry. Also, I will send people to join the cavalry, they are the real cavalry elite. ”

"General, if you want to fight the enemy army, these three thousand five hundred cavalry, will it be too little?" Hearing Zhao Xun's instructions, Lu Yu just understood what Zhao Xun's arrangements were.

Zhao Xun nodded and said: "It's really too few, but our war horses and knights are too few, which is also a helpless thing." If we don't retreat, we won't have a safe time to recuperate. This time, we are going to hurt him, so that they will not dare to take action against us lightly, and instead attack the Yanzhou army. ”

"Besides, when I look at the armed guards outside the city, it seems that there are no cavalry, so our cavalry can play a special role. If nothing else, cutting off their grain and grass is naturally not a problem. Cavalry has the advantage of cavalry, and when it is besieging a city, attacking its flanks and rear can also play a big role. Even if we can't influence the overall situation, it would be nice to have an extra cavalry in our ranks. ”

The Wuwei army outside the city was more difficult to deal with than Zhao Xun expected, and it was much faster. After resting outside the city for half a day, a full-scale assault began. All of a sudden, the city wall became a killing ground again. The armies of both sides gathered in the southern lands and fought to the death. One side wants to repel the enemy army, the other side wants to break through the city, and the battle continues.

Instead of using the siege towers, the Guards began to smash their trebuchets against the walls. The Shanyang army on the city wall was also unambiguous, and also responded with trebuchets, and huge stones flew all over the sky above the battle between the two sides. Even Zhao Xun didn't close his eyes for a day and a night, patrolling back and forth on the city wall with a longbow in hand, killing and winning the tough enemy soldiers and officers. There were already more than twenty enemy officers who died at his hands, which made the officers of the Wuwei Army extremely afraid of one of the sharpshooters on the city wall.

Captain Li sent back the news that Fan County had taken over Shun Lì, more than 2,000 of the 5,000 military guard soldiers were willing to join our army, and half of the remaining 3,000 people wanted to go back to the south, and half of them did not want to join the army again, and were willing to serve the people. For those who are willing to serve the people, we will also count them as part of the people who have migrated westward. Sun Zhuang reported softly.

Zhao Xun rubbed his eyebrows, his eyes were slightly red and tired, and he said in a deep voice; "Divide the two thousand military guard soldiers into two parts, one part into Fan County, and some into Qin Xiao's department. In addition, let Li Guochang recruit new soldiers, based on 5,000 people, and impose training. Remember, impose training. In addition, according to the directory of our spies in Fan County, the large households in Fan County will buy grain at 80 percent of the market price. Whoever stands in the way, raids the house! ”

"In addition, all the poor people and displaced people in the city will be moved westward, from Changli County and Fengwei County to Guò, and I will inform Qin Xiao to lock the eyes of the people in the city."

"Understood!" Sun Zhuang responded.

"Let our people act boldly, there is nothing to scruple about, the migration of the population is already a fact, Xu Jie is now too busy to take care of himself, and he will not regard this as the focus."

Compared with the successive victories of the Shanyang army, the Yanzhou army was much more difficult, and it was only after five or six days of hard fighting that it was forced to take a city, and after that, it was also the same as the Xiaoguo army now, and the two sides were in a stalemate.

"Come on, let Guan Lin come here!" After thinking about it, Zhao Xun ordered.

After a while, Guan Lin hurriedly came over and said, "General, five days have passed, isn't it time for us to act?" The brethren are complaining, and the brethren are all killing the enemy on the walls, but we are watching from below, and it is not a problem......"

Zhao Xun smiled: "It's time for you to act!" ”

Zhao Xun's words immediately made Guan Lin close his mouth. Then he hurriedly said: "General, when?" When the enemy is attacking the city, fight it from the front? ”

Zhao Xun shook his head, his face was straight, and he said: "No, when the enemy army is attacking the city, you will kill from the rear of the enemy army, and we will also kill from the city at that time, and the two sides will be combined." The Armed Guards who have become now are exhausted like us, and whether or not they can be completely defeated is very important to you. ”

Guan Lin said in a loud voice: "Don't worry, general, your subordinates will definitely be able to complete the task." ”

"Very well, now, go out of the north gate, go east to spare the enemy sentry, and in the afternoon, when the enemy is attacking the city, attack its back. It must be when the Armed Guards are fully focused on attacking the city, preferably when the city is about to be breached, and you can kill it from behind. Zhao Xun said in a deep voice, "At this point, the cavalry adjutant I sent will tell you when is the best time." ”

"Subordinates take orders!" Guan Lin said with a solemn face. He knew that this time, they really became the key.

In the afternoon, the Wuwei army attacked again. At this time, Fengwei County was already dilapidated. If it weren't for the fact that the inside of the city gate was blocked by sand and stones, I am afraid that the city gate would have been breached by now. This is the fifth day since the last time the guard was last watched. In just five days, the Wuwei army only rested for one day, and the other four days were continuous siege of the city. Most of the female walls above the city wall have been smashed into potholes. For this reason, the Shanyang army in the city also paid four or five thousand casualties, and the Wuwei army outside the city was no exception, or even more. Now there are more than 6,000 Wuwei troops participating in the siege.

At this moment, even Wei Qingyun, the general of the Wuwei Army, didn't expect that the Shanyang Army and Fengwei County, which he didn't care about, would now block him for eight days, losing troops and losing generals, and as many as half of the soldiers and horses in his hands had been broken. Not to mention the doubts of the generals and colleagues in the rear about his abilities. Now, he has to fight, and if he doesn't, he has to fight.

"General, the Wuwei Army is attacking again!"

"Go to the walls!" Zhao Xun said urgently.

"Here it is, here it is again...... These damn martial guards really don't give up! On the city wall, the Shanyang soldiers began to mumble. The current soldiers are all soldiers who have experienced hard battles, although a few days ago, many of them were still young and strong, ordinary people, but now, they are definitely elite soldiers. Zhao Xun believes that with a little training, they can become the elite of the army.

"Trebuchet...... Damn, our trebuchets are all destroyed. Lu Yu said hatefully.

"Be careful!"

Hearing this, Zhao Xun raised his head leisurely, only to see the black pressure on the back of the armed guards, and more than a dozen trebuchets flicked off the wall and bounced up violently. In the deafening loud noise, huge stones have been thrown up in the air, tumbling and rolling towards the head of Fengwei County, these stones seem to be slow, but in the blink of an eye, they reach the top of the head, and then smash down with strong inertia.

"Get out of the way!"

Zhao Xun snorted, and then stared straight at the boulder and swirled down, getting closer and closer to him, until it was about to hit the ground, and then flashed sharply to the side.

"Boom ......"

With a loud bang, the boulder almost smashed into the solid wall against his body, and the wall of the earth rammed ground was immediately smashed into a depression, and a slight crack quietly penetrated the inside and outside of the wall, and the boulder brought up a powerful wave of qi that almost knocked Lu Yu and others who were dodging around to the ground.

"Has anyone been hurt?" Zhao Xun asked urgently, because this boulder fell on the place where he and other officers gathered. If it weren't for the quick evasion, I was afraid that a few officers present would have problems. The Shanyang Army was already short of officers, although a lot of them were transferred from the guard battalion, but there was still a lack of middle-level officers, and he didn't want even a few officers from his superiors to be stoned to death here, if that was the case, it would be too much of a blow to morale.

"It's okay! It's all right! Lu Yu said in a deep voice.

"Damn, no countermeasures are aggrieved!" Zhang Yongxue spit out a mouthful of thick phlegm, and sucked out the dust in his mouth and nose as well. Suddenly, I heard a whistling sound in the sky, and I looked up in shock, and another boulder was smashed into the air.

"Boom ......"

This boulder, the size of a grinding plate, fell almost next to the original one, and smashed viciously on the cracks in the city wall, at this moment, Zhang Yongxue clearly felt that the entire city wall was trembling violently. In the city wall beneath his feet, there was a slight tremor and an inaudible sound.

"Boom...... Boom ......"

Two more boulders slammed into the rim of the crack mercilessly. The crack widens rapidly and stretches like spider silk in all directions.

"Oh no, the walls are going to fall! Dodge, dodge......" The officer not far away noticed that the city wall began to rattle slightly, and immediately exclaimed urgently. At that moment, another boulder fell head-on, and this boulder became the straw that broke the camel's back.

"Boom ......"

In the smoke and dust, the city wall finally collapsed, and a gap more than ten zhang wide appeared on the side of the east gate.

At the rear of the Wuwei Army's formation, seeing the long-awaited situation, Wei Qingyun suddenly shouted: "Order, the whole army will attack and enter the city!" Kill ......"

With a deafening shout, the army of the Armed Guards began to rush towards the gap.

On the city wall, looking at the galloping warriors, Zhao Xun's face was heavy, and then he shouted: "The heavy infantry is not in the gap, and the sword and shield soldiers and pikemen are close behind, stop them for me." Archers, shooting above the city walls. ”

After speaking, Zhao Xun was about to pick up the spear of the fallen soldier next to him and prepare to jump off the city wall, but was stopped by Lu Yu and Zhang Yongxue.

"General, you can't go down, you are the commander of the whole army, the center of the morale of the soldiers, you are here, the soldiers know that the general is safe and sound, and you will not give an inch." Lu Yu said urgently.

Zhao Xun knew that the two were trying to dissuade themselves so as not to have any accidents. Then he thought for a moment and said, "Okay, General Ben is on the city wall, cheering for the soldiers." Then he drew his longbow, drew his bow and arrows, and fired at the galloping enemy heavy infantry. Although the enemy's heavy infantry was heavily armoured, they were still shot through the neck by Zhao Xun and killed.

The Shanyang army captured the armor of the Wuwei army, and the heavy infantry formed swarmed towards the gap together with the sword and shield soldiers and pikemen, and more soldiers poured down from the towers on both sides of the gap, and joined the ranks of blocking the gap, and many archers and crossbowmen still held on to the castle towers. Indifferently holding their bows and shooting arrows, they don't need to aim at all. Because there are more and more of them under the castle, and there are more and more heads of enemy soldiers, who can be shot with their eyes closed.

The fierce fighting was staged in an instant on the outer edge of the gap, although the armed guards were well-equipped and brave and good at fighting. But here, they met with the most stubborn resistance! Every step forward. You have to pay the price of blood! However, in order to block the advance of the Wuwei Army, the Shanyang Army also paid even more heavy casualties!

The gap, which is no more than ten feet wide, is like a huge meat grinder, frantically devouring the living life.

"Fight to the death!" Zhang Yongxue also jumped off the city, and several enemy soldiers flew in a row, shouting loudly.

"Fight to the death!"

"Fight to the death!" Suddenly, an earth-shattering shout rang out around the gap.