There was a sound of horses' hooves, Ye Dacheng raised his head, he saw a Sauron cavalry running towards him, he wanted to jump on the war horse, but the sharp pain in his elbow made him almost fall to the ground. Ye Dacheng spat and clenched the waist knife with his left hand, ready to fight to the death.

"Lord Ye!" There were still more than a dozen steps away from Ye Dacheng, so the Sauron cavalry jumped off his horse and shouted in Chinese, and when he saw that Ye Dacheng was still vigilant, he stopped and threw off the fur on his head, revealing his shaved forehead and two pigtails on the back of his head.

"Lord Ye, you don't have to panic, I am the night of the front camp who does not accept Ah Gui, I was sent to Jinzhou to ask for help, and now I am back."

"Gui?" Ye Dacheng looked at the man dressed as Sauron in front of him with some confusion, the other party smiled at him, wiped his face vigorously with his sleeve, and revealed some familiar faces below: "I pretended to be Sauron and wanted to cross the blockade, and I just shot and injured the leader of the Tartars, take me to see the chief soldier, I have a letter from Inspector Sun!" ”

"It turned out to be you, no wonder the banner of the Tartars suddenly fell!" Ye Dacheng suddenly realized, he took two steps forward and stopped, pointed to Ah Gui's head and asked, "What's going on with your head?" ”

Ah Gui smiled helplessly: "No way, although I can speak Sauron, and the Tartars don't pay much attention to the Sauron people, I can't wear my hair in a bun!" “

"That's right!" Ye Dacheng laughed, he picked up the hat on the ground and threw it to the other party: "Put it on, otherwise it will always look weird." Speaking of this, he walked to the mount, picked up the horn and blew it three times, issued the order of the guards, and smiled at Ah Gui: "I can count on you coming, Inspector Sun brought a lot of people and horses this time, let alone 100,000 people, right?" “

Ah Gui smiled slightly, but did not speak, and Ye Dacheng climbed onto the war horse with difficulty. smiled: "I know that you don't keep your mouth shut these nights, and you don't leak any rumors." But thanks to you this time, I owe you a life. “

"Let's go back to the city!" Ah Gui sighed: "The Tartar camp I saw when I came in this time is very big, but I'm afraid that Huang Taiji himself is here, this battle is not so easy!" “

"What about the slave chieftain?" Ye Dacheng laughed nonchalantly: "This time the superintendent is Lord Sun, the first emperor and the emperor, and when he is a scholar of the dynasty, I am afraid that Liaodong and Liaoxi, Denglai, and Xuanda soldiers will all be transferred." Jinzhou City is only far from this side, and the siege can be lifted no matter how you fight. “

"I hope so!" Ah Gui's eyes were a little erratic.

Dalinghe City, the general military mansion.

"Before parting. What else do you have to say, Master? Zu Dashou had already finished reading the secret letter brought by Ah Gui, and there was no change in his purple-black face.

"Tell your lordship, before parting, the superintendent just asked the villain to tell your lord, stick to the city, don't fight, wait until the army is great, and then the inside and outside should be together, and the thief will be broken in one fell swoop."

"yes, I see. You've worked hard all the way, so go down and get your reward and rest! ”

"Thank you, sir!" Ah Gui kowtowed and withdrew from the hall. At this time, the adjutant general He Kegang asked: "Zu Shuai, I don't know what strategy is in the letter of the Inspector?" ”

"Let's take a look!" Zu Dashou handed the letterhead to He Kegang. He said in a deep voice: "It turns out that Jinzhou and Songshan have each sent troops to rescue once, our army has fought both battles in the north, and the firearms of the eastern captives are very sharp, it seems that this time the slave chieftain has a great plan!" ”

At this time, He Kegang and several lieutenants had already finished reading the letter. Their faces also became more and more gloomy, these days the Jurchen army outside the city did not attack the city, but only stepped up the construction of fortifications and camps. The siege also became tighter, and it became more and more difficult for them to get news from the outside, as mentioned in the letter was the first time they knew the news that the Ming army had been defeated in two rescues. According to the letter, in order to break the encirclement of the Houjin army, Sun Chengzong had to mobilize more troops, and this took time.

"Zu Shuai!" An adjutant general said in a low voice: "Although the Dongyu came quickly, the city wall and outer moat of the Daling River have been completed, the female wall has also been repaired these days, and the guards, gunpowder, equipment, and lead are also sufficient, and I am not afraid of the Tartars' hard attack." But the grain—" He paused, but everyone knew what he had not said.

"Yes, there is not much food in the city anymore, and if you go down any further, you will have to kill the animals, but the letter does not say how soon the reinforcements will arrive!" He Kegang sighed: "Without food, no matter how strong the city is, it is useless. “

The generals in the room sighed one after another, these are old soldiers, they know that if the reinforcements of Jinzhou and Songshan are defeated, Sun Chengzong must draw troops from the garrisons along the border and even the garrisons in the pass to form a rescue army, and these troops are usually scattered in various fortress stations with smaller units such as sentry posts and teams, and it is impossible to pull them together and immediately go to the battlefield, they must be reorganized, drilled, and appointed capable generals to go into battle, and all this takes a considerable amount of time. However, the food in the city was decreasing every day, and once the reinforcements did not arrive, it would be a catastrophe.

"That's it, Lord He, you step up the harvest of crops outside the city, and grab a little more!"

"Yes, sir!" He Kegang bowed down to receive the order.

"Han Dong!"

"The last general!" A general dressed in guerrilla uniforms came out to receive the order.

"You lead your own soldiers, collect all the surplus food of the people in the city, keep it in a centralized manner, and distribute it according to the head every day, there must be no mistakes!"

Hearing Zu Dashou's order, the faces of the generals in the hall suddenly became ugly, the siege has been around for a while, except for a few rich families in the city, the food has already been eaten, many families rely on grass and tree bark every day to wrap their stomachs, Zu Dashou's order is equivalent to the lives of the remaining thousands of people in the city, but if the food in the city is exhausted, they are also a dead end, many people swallowed back when the words came to their mouths.

"Yes, sir!" Then Han Dong answered and ordered him to retreat. Zu Dashou sighed: "I also know that this fate, thousands of people in the city are afraid that there will be no one to live, but more than 10,000 soldiers in the city and the overall situation outside the border are all in the hands of this general soldier, how can I spoil the country's plan because of a little woman's kindness?" After this incident, the general soldier should ask the court for guilt! ”

Another deputy general next to him hurriedly persuaded: "My lord, in the past, Zhang patrolled the lonely city of Suiyang, shielding Jianghuai with the power of a city, so that the source of income was endless, and Datang was able to prosper." Chief soldier, your trip today is similar, and there will definitely be a public opinion in the history books of future generations! ”

"I hope so!" Zu Dashou smiled slightly: "But today, our army broke through the Dongyu ambush when they were grabbing food outside the city. Won a lot, tonight the official will prepare a little wine in the house to celebrate, please be sure to enjoy the face! “

Hearing Zu Dashou's invitation, the generals immediately had joy on their faces, and they all smiled: "That's natural, the handsome man opens his mouth to invite, and the end will definitely come!" “

"That's good! Legal! ”

"The child is here!" A young and strong man came out to receive orders, but it was Zu Kefa, the eldest son of Zu Dashou, who also served in the army.

"This errand will be entrusted to you, and that Ah Gui and the general who went out of the city to collect food will also be invited. If you do it badly, watch out for the baton! ”

"Daddy, don't worry, if there is a mistake, the child will lead the law by himself!" Zu Kefa bowed and bowed, retreated to the side, and the generals praised Zu Kefa for his calmness and heaviness, worthy of being a unicorn cultivated by generations of generals, with a bright future.

"Water, water!"

Ah Gui whispered. He felt his throat dry and astringent, and suddenly a thought flashed through his mind: would the Chinese spoken in his dream arouse the suspicion of the Sauronites who were traveling with him, and he hurriedly opened his eyes and found himself lying on a warm kang. The body is covered with a thick quilt, and at the foot of the kang is a familiar figure - An Answer. His four-legged brother had heard the movement and walked up to him, looking at him with those eyes with a hint of green. Ah Gui then remembered that he had already crossed the blockade of the Houjin Army and entered Dalinghe City safely. He breathed a sigh of relief and reached out to stroke Anda's head. He whispered, "Ann, we're finally back again!" An A barked twice, as if to comfort Gui. Slowly, Gui closed his eyes, and the ice, mud, and stench of the Sauron people fell asleep again, and soon he fell asleep again.

When he woke up for the second time, Ah Gui felt much better, although his muscles were still a little sore, but they were no longer the stiffness after extreme exhaustion, he kicked off the quilt and jumped off the kang, stretched, pushed open the window and looked out, a cold wind blew in, and he couldn't help but shiver.

"I didn't think it was so late!" Ah Gui looked at the sky, it was already time for dinner, and he remembered that he had been notified that he had to attend the dinner before leaving the General Soldier's Mansion, and he felt a little hesitant and uncomfortable. There was a loud knock on the door, and a loud shout was heard.

"Brother Gui! Brother Gui! Are you awake? “

Ah Gui hurriedly opened the door, but it was Ye Dacheng who was standing outside the door, only to see that he had changed into the robe and crown of a five-grade military attaché, and was looking at himself with a smile, Ah Gui hurriedly bowed down, but was grabbed by Ye Dacheng: "Why be so polite?" “

"But there is a difference between the top and bottom in the army-" Ah Gui was just halfway through speaking, but was interrupted by Ye Dacheng: "There are only you and me here, what is the difference between the top and bottom?" Besides, you saved my life today, don't you want me to knock a few back to you? ”

Agui was speechless, and he didn't know what to say for a while. Ye Dacheng looked at the room, slapped his hands and smiled: "I knew that you didn't have the right clothes to participate in the family banquet of the chief soldier, come here, bring the clothes in!" As soon as the words fell, a personal soldier came in the outer room, holding a robe in his hand, Ye Dacheng picked up the robe and compared it with Ah Gui, and said with a smile: "You and I are about the same figure, so let's put it on first!" “

Ah Gui put on the robe like a puppet, only to find that it was a round-necked robe, he usually either rode a horse and archery, or climbed up and down, where to wear such clothes, immediately felt that there was no place on the body to feel comfortable, and said in a low voice: "Ye Dusi, it is uncomfortable to wear this clothes all over the body, can you change your clothes." ”

"It's Brother Ye, Brother Ye, it's not Ye Dusi!" Ye Dacheng pretended to be angry: "You went to attend the family banquet of the chief soldier tonight, how can you dress short?" Speaking of this, Ye Dacheng suddenly showed a mysterious smile on his face: "I'll tell you first, there will be a lot of smart girls later, if you look like a bad guy, don't blame me for not telling you in advance!" “

"Plump?" Ah Gui was stunned: "In this besieged city, where is the woman?" “

"That's not your business!" Ye Dacheng smiled and patted Ah Gui's shoulder: "In front of everyone in the future, you will call me Ye Dusi, and in private, you will call me Brother Ye, Brother Ye, do you know?" Anyway, it won't be long before you and I will have similar official positions! “

"Thank you, Brother Ye!" He Agui had to act according to Ye Dacheng's instructions, he changed his clothes and went out with Ye Dacheng, and went to Zu Dashou's mansion, along the way only to see a team of Ming troops rushing into the houses on both sides from time to time, there were bursts of crying and pleading in the house, those Ming soldiers left with packages of different sizes on their backs or on their backs, and from time to time there were people who rushed out of the courtyard to try to recapture the packages, but were knocked to the ground by the Ming soldiers.

"What's going on? Could it be that the commander-in-chief is about to break through? Ah Gui couldn't help but be very surprised when he saw this, according to the explanation, military robbery is also commonplace, but it is generally in the area controlled by the enemy or about to leave a certain area, like this is extremely rare in the siege, after all, defending the city requires the support of the people in the city, if the people in the city are angered, it is difficult to save their lives after breaking the city, what is the use of robbing more money?

"Oh!" Ye Dacheng smiled: "It's not that you brought the news from outside, the rescuers in Jinzhou and Songshan have been defeated by the Tartars, and the rescuers will not arrive for a while." Lord Zu was afraid that the army would not be short of food, so he ordered the people in the city not to hide food privately, but to collect it in the public treasury and distribute it according to the head every day. ”

Ah Gui knew very well that the soldiers of the Ming army were collecting more than just food at this time, but he was very wise not to say much, and the two walked through the chaotic streets and came to Zu Dashou's mansion.

As Ye Dacheng said before, the banquet was full of friends, the general soldiers, deputy generals, generals, guerrillas and other officers in the city were all dressed in brocade robes, wearing gauze hats, the wine and food on the wine table were also quite rich, and the sound of silk and bamboo played by the musicians on both sides was endless.

Ye Dacheng and Ah Gui had the lowest rank in the audience, so they sat down, Ye Dacheng didn't care, and while drinking, he pointed to the green-clothed maid who was pouring wine with others on the side and smiled: "Ah Gui, look at how handsome the green-clothed girl on the left is!" ”

Ah Gui looked in the direction of Ye Dacheng's finger, and saw that the woman was tall, dressed in a green robe, with fair skin and a beautiful appearance, holding a wine jug in her arms, looking like a maid pouring wine in the ancestral mansion, but there was a sadness between her eyebrows, as if she had something on her mind. (To be continued.) )