Qinghe County was originally a rich county, with a large population, prosperous business, simple folk customs, and Qinghe Cui's family, which makes Qinghe County also a famous place where humanities gather, only covering an area of hundreds of acres of Cui's private school, there are 3,000 scholars who live and study for a long time.

However, the serious banditry caused Qinghe County to suffer a heavy blow, the population plummeted, and commerce withered, and in just three years, Qinghe County turned from a rich county into a dead city.

In order to keep the city and their homes, local officials and wealthy families had to secretly negotiate with the bandits and give them money and food support in exchange for the safety of the city, which was already an open secret, and the court also knew it, so it could only turn a blind eye.

However, the bandits were too brutal, and the local government would also be unbearable, for example, Zhang Jin said that his army burned and killed adultery, and did all kinds of evil, even the wealthy and high-ranking families, which naturally aroused the incomparable resentment of the government and the scholars.

Half a year ago, the four counties organized tens of thousands of militia groups and Zhang Xutuo's army to encircle and suppress Zhang Jincheng, but Zhang Jincheng showed weakness and retreat, so that the Taishou were eager to make meritorious contributions, and launched an offensive in advance without waiting for Zhang Xutuo's army to arrive, and almost all the army was wiped out.

This fiasco not only made Zhang Xutuo and the local government feud, but also caused Zhang Jin's power to expand rapidly, and it has soared from more than 10,000 to 80,000.

Due to Zhang Jin's rapid strength, another bandit Gao Shida had to retreat to Pingyuan County, and even the most powerful Dou Jiande was forced to give up Qinghe County.

At present, Qinghe County and Wuyang County have become Zhang Jincheng's sphere of influence, and even the Sui army that retreated south on a large scale dared to take advantage of the chaos to rob, not to mention Zhang Xuan's army, which was less than 2,000 people.

From the moment Zhang Xuan's army entered Qinghe County, Zhang Jincheng had already regarded them as his own meal, especially since Zhang Xuan's army had three hundred and fifty good war horses, which made Zhang Jin's eyes red when he was desperate for war horses.

In the night. A black-pressed army was hurrying from the northwest in the direction of Qinghe County, while another army of several thousand men under the leadership of the thief Yang Gongqing came from the south, cutting off the retreat of the Sui army.

The leader of the general is the thief Zhang Jincheng, Zhang Jin said that he was about 30 years old, burly, with big shoulders and a round waist. Make a seventy-pound iron spear, brave and good at fighting.

He used to be a ranger, strong martial arts, rampant in Hebei, two years ago he led the crowd to uncover the pole in Gaojibo rise, now has more than 80,000 thieves, self-proclaimed Qinghe King, faintly has become a climate.

Zhang Jincheng was immediately on a low knoll, staring coldly at the south. He suddenly turned around and asked the strategist behind him: "The person Yuwenshu wants me to kill, this is the person!" ”

Zhang Jin's strategist is called Yang Ji, who is from Qinghe County, and he hurriedly said: "My subordinates have found out, this is this person, his name is Zhang Xuan, and he is a person that Yuwenshu hates!" ”

"Jang Hyun?"

Zhang Jincheng frowned, "Could it be that he robbed my war horse?" ”

"I can't say for sure yet. The brothers who went to Zhuojun to investigate have not yet returned. ”

"If he really robbed my warhorse, I would have to cut him with a thousand knives!" Zhang Jin said gritted his teeth for a while.

Then. A thief galloped on horseback and reported on his horse: "King Qiyu, the Sui army has retreated into Qinghe County, and the grain and grass on the ship have also been transported into the county. ”

Zhang Jincheng was suddenly furious, "Is Wang Kui tired of being alive?" How dare you snatch my meal! ”

Yang Ji hurriedly said: "This must be the Sui army forcibly entering the city, and Wang Kui has no choice." How could he bring disaster upon himself? ”

Zhang Jincheng snorted heavily, "If he doesn't give me an explanation afterwards, see how I kill all the chickens and dogs in Qinghe County!" ”

Strategist Yang Ji is also a native of Qinghe County, although his family is no longer in Qinghe County, but after all, he is a fellow villager. If Zhang Jin said that he would slaughter the city again, it would be difficult for him to explain to the villagers.

At this time, his face was a little embarrassed, and he persuaded Zhang Jin to praise: "Since the king has been crowned the king of Qinghe, he should consider establishing a royal city, in terms of convenient transportation and control of the entire Qinghe County, it is still Qinghe County, this is the place where the king's qi is gathered, and more rich families should be moved to Qinghe County." ”

Zhang Jincheng raised his head and laughed, "If the royal city is built, wouldn't it be better to go to Gaojibo!" ”

He no longer ignored Yang Ji, urging the horse to gallop in the direction of Qinghe County, Yang Ji sighed, Zhang Jin said that he was lured by Yuwenshu's petty profits, and sooner or later he would be killed, he didn't know the origin of this army at all, Zhang Jin said that he hastily agreed to Yuwenshu's request, shouldn't it!

Qinghe County is still a dead air, there is no light, except for the east and west gates, the entire county is shrouded in darkness, the residents of the city seem to be accustomed to all kinds of dangers, although the tense atmosphere is getting stronger and stronger, but the residents of the city are always unmoved.

In fact, this is also a rule set by Zhang Jincheng, if the residents of the city gate do not resist, they will not be killed, compared to the active preparation of the Sui army, the people in the county believe in Zhang Jincheng's rules.

Qinghe County is a middle county, there is no city gate in the north and south, there are only two city gates in the east and west, the two city gates have already been dilapidated, half hung obliquely in the city hole, only the giant tree can be broken with a light knock, there is no moat and suspension bridge, you can see the traces of being filled in by the soil.

The only thing to be thankful for is that the framework of the city wall is quite complete, but even the only city wall worthy of celebration has been dug seven or eight zhang wide holes, and there is no need to enter the city through the city gate at all.

The Sui soldiers nervously repaired all the loopholes, and the most effective way was to fill them with sacks of earth and layer upon layer of fortifications in the city caves, completely blocking the city gates, and the hollowed-out city walls were also repaired with mud bags and masonry.

Although far from the standard of a fortified city, it was barely able to withstand the attacks of the bandits, and they were still waiting for reinforcements to arrive.

On the city wall, Jang Hyun silently stared at the dark horizon in the distance, and in the moonlight, he could clearly see a narrow river and a large area of freshly harvested corn fields outside the city, as well as the houses that were only left in ruins, but in the distance, a thick line like a black ribbon separated the deep blue night sky from the black earth, and that was the horizon.

"General, why don't we just break through and go south?" Shen Guang slowly walked to Zhang Xuan's side, looked at Awata in the distance and asked in a low voice.

Zhang Xuan shook his head, his voice was very low and distant, "Breaking through is just the last step. As a last resort, I just want to minimize the casualties of the soldiers, if we rush south, we are likely to enter the ambush circle of the bandits, and there will be heavy casualties, and they are all heroes who have returned from Goguryeo. I don't want the brethren to die at the hands of the bandits without even tasting the joy of the reward, which is unfair to them. ”

"But if you refuse to fight in the city, it is easy to hurt the innocent!"

Zhang Xuan was silent, his gaze became deeper, and after a long time, he said slowly: "I will do my best!" ”

The night was getting deeper and deeper, and it was almost a watch, but there was no movement of bandits outside the city, and Jang Hyun's subordinates had already assigned their respective tasks.

Archers were deployed at the east and west gates. The spearmen were divided into two, half of them defending the gates, and the other half defending the seven or eight feet wide holes.

In addition, there are three hundred cavalry in Xicheng following Zhang Xuan's orders, Chen Xu's eyes are grim, his lips are tightly tensed into a straight line, he is the commander of this cavalry team.

"Listen to Lao Tzu!"

Jang Hyun's tone became rude, but every word was so sonorous and powerful that the soldiers took his orders to heart.

"Don't be greedy! Don't attack without permission! Even if the enemy soldiers are stripped naked and stand in front of you waiting to die. Nor shall they attack, and everything shall be subject to the light of the fire of my walls. I'll light three fires, and that's my signal, the violator will be killed! ”

"Yes!" The cavalry shouted in unison.

Zhang Xuan whispered to Chen Xu again: "I am likely to light a fire on the west city wall, you can ambush outside the west city, and you should also pay attention to the movement of the east city wall." ”

"Obey the order!"

Jang Hyun patted him on the shoulder, "Go ahead!" ”

Chen Xu turned over and got on the horse. With a wave of his hand, he ordered: "Go!" ”

One by one, the cavalry rushed out of the city along the narrow passage in the cave, and the three hundred cavalry rushed out of Qinghe County and gradually disappeared into the night.

Seventeen hundred soldiers temporarily turned into fourteen hundred, and by this time, combat readiness was completed. All the soldiers were hurrying to rest while vigilantly waiting for the battle signal.

Zhang Xuan can't rest, he is responsible for the overall situation, he has to implement every detail personally, he knows that losers are often caused by carelessness in details.

He rode around the city, and he was particularly concerned about the seven or eight large holes in the eastern wall, which, though filled with sandbags and stones, were easy to tear open if there were enough of them.

However, one veteran came up with a way to dig a large pit in front of each wall hole, which was filled with sharp stakes, and even if the enemy broke the wall, he would fall directly into the big pit......

In addition, there is another favorable detail, everyone just found out that there is not a single big tree within twenty miles outside the city, needless to say that everyone can guess, it must be the result of the battle left by Qinghe County.

In this way, unless the enemy army itself has a siege ladder, they can only go to the distance to cut down trees, which will delay a long time, and for the Sui army, time is the hope of reinforcements.

Zhang Xuan explained to the soldiers in front of each wall hole, and then returned to the East City Gate, the East City Gate will be the top priority of the enemy's attack, Zhang Xuan ordered the soldiers to use mud bags and stones to build a one-zhang high urn city in the city gate, even if the enemy army kills from outside the city gate, it is difficult to disperse immediately, and it is also the last line of defense in the city.

Zhang Xuan saw Yu Chigong lying on the mud bag in front of the city gate cave from a distance, his black bear-like back was particularly conspicuous among a group of soldiers, he was holding a large iron rod in his hand, and he was engrossed in watching the movement outside the city from the cracks in the city cave.

Zhang Xuan originally wanted to appoint him as the brigade commander, but Wei Chigong resolutely refused, and he did not want to break the rules set by Zhang Xuan, and in the end, he became a fire commander with ten brothers under him.

Zhang Xuan couldn't help but feel a little sorry in his heart, Wei Chigong had just followed him and encountered a war.

"Jingde, is there any movement outside?" Jang Hyun turned over and dismounted, stepped forward and asked casually.

"I only saw a few ghostly outposts, and the enemy army didn't come."

Zhang Xuan was silent for a moment, and said in a deep voice: "Jingde, I'm sorry!" ”

Wei Chigong was stunned, and slowly, he grinned, "My biggest regret is that I didn't go to Goguryeo with you, general, I have never fought, I dream of it!" ”

Zhang Xuan couldn't help but knock on the door of his head, "Haven't you beaten it?" Think about it for a moment when you save Thule in the Kulun Sea. ”

Wei Chigong's face suddenly turned red, but fortunately, his dark skin and the darkness of the night made him blush, he scratched his scalp embarrassedly, and said, "That doesn't count, that's not a war at all!" ”

Zhang Xuan knew that he was actually trying to comfort himself and didn't want to say sorry or anything like that, Zhang Xuan felt a warmth in his heart, and smiled and punched his thick arm, "Remember, tonight will be a fierce battle, but save your life first, and then have a good time!" ”

"That's what my lady said!"

At this moment, a soldier shouted overhead: "General, they are coming!" ”

Jang Xuan suddenly stood up, turned on his horse, and shouted to the soldiers: "Tell all the brothers, prepare for battle!" ”

The atmosphere in the county town suddenly became tense, and all the soldiers threw themselves into their respective combat positions.

They all had a standard Sui army, each equipped with a bow and arrow, a round shield, a spear, and a war knife, at this time all the soldiers rushed to the walled city, bows and arrows, ready to give the attacking thieves a head-on blow