"Open the gates!"

Early in the morning, there were people in Pengzhou City shouting for the pass.

The number of people under the city was more than 200, and these people were wearing the uniforms of officers and soldiers, obviously embarrassed and disgraced, and they didn't even have a banner.

The officers and soldiers guarding the city have long seen them coming, but they are already commonplace, this night, since Li Haoran led the team back to the city, many defeated soldiers fled here one after another, and were absorbed by Lord Yue. It can be said that Lord Yue has not slept all night, and he is just busy with this matter, he knows that in a few days, the rogues will call, and one more person will have more strength.

"Where did you come from? Who are your rulers? The officers and soldiers of the city asked routinely.

"My family's chief soldier is here, what nonsense! Hurry up and open the city! The grizzled soldier below has a good temper.

Yue Su sat at the head of the city, half-squinting, as if awake and asleep, and when he heard the words 'Lord General Soldier', the spirit head came and stood up. shouted at the city: "What is the name of the chief soldier of your family?" ”

"Nonsense, my family's chief soldier is General Liu Wushou Liu, the chief military officer of Sichuan!" The soldiers under the city shouted.

Yue Su is not wearing the robe of a first-class civil official now, he is wearing the uniform of a military general, so the people below can't see what he does. As a governor, it is nothing to get on the horse to manage the army, dismount to manage the people, and wear a military uniform. Confirming that it was Liu Wushou coming, Yue Su hurriedly hugged his fists and said, "It turns out that General Liu is back, open the city gate quickly." ”

The soldiers in the city hurriedly opened the door and invited the defeated soldiers under the city to enter the city. As soon as the gang entered the door, they saw Jin Chan running down from the city and shouted at them, "I don't know which one is General Liu?" ”

Although Liu Wushou was defeated. But when he learned that there were no pursuers behind him, and now that he was in a safe place, he regained a lot of courage, and immediately said loudly and arrogantly: "It's the general, is there anything wrong?" ”

"It turns out that you are General Liu. It just so happens that the adults in my family are affectionate. Jin Cicada said.

"What kind of green onion is your adult? Ben was in a hurry to return to Chengdu and had no time to meet him. Liu Wushou thought it was a local governor, a small governor, how could he put it in his eyes.

"My lord is the new governor of Sichuan, Lord Yue, which green onion do you say?" Jin Cicada said coldly.

After he said this, many guards had already surrounded Liu Wushou and them.

As soon as he heard the name of the governor of Sichuan, Liu Wushou was shocked. Before departing from Beijing. He heard that the imperial court appointed 'King Yueyan' as the governor of Sichuan, and made every effort to suppress bandits. But I didn't expect it to come so soon. And they met at this juncture.

Liu Wushou felt weak in his heart, but he couldn't help it, so he forced himself to calm down and said, "The Governor is surnamed Yue? ”

"Exactly." Jin Cicada replied.

"I didn't expect Lord Yue to come so soon." Liu Wushou jumped off the horse and said, "Where is the handsome, lead me to see it." ”

"Yue Shuai is on top of the city tower. General Liu, please! ”

Liu Wushou was scared in his heart, but he also knew that he couldn't escape. We can only see each other. Maybe Lord Yue can look at his brother-in-law Luo Yang's sake, and it is not too difficult for himself. Isn't it just a defeat, what can it be, who hasn't lost the battle these days?

With two personal soldiers, he followed Jin Chan up to the city, Yue Su was already waiting in the city, and when he saw Liu Wushou coming up. sneered, and didn't wait for Liu Wushou to see the salute. said first: "You are Liu Wushou, the chief soldier guarding Mianzhu Pass?" ”

"It's the last general. The end will see the big handsome. Liu Wushou was busy giving Yue Su a salute.

"Mianzhu Pass is a dangerous pass in Sichuan, easy to defend and difficult to attack. You are guarding the town with tens of thousands of horses, why did you lose the pass? Yue Su asked coldly.

Seeing that Yue Su's voice was not good, Liu Wushou hurriedly defended: "The handsome man is angry, and the Mianzhu Pass is lost, it is really not the fault of the last general, it is purely that the rogue is too cunning. They dug tunnels from the underground and entered the pass, there were many rebels, there were hundreds of thousands, and more than 10,000 people in our department, if there was no danger to stop them, and they fought head-on, how could they be enemies. Therefore, it was taken away by the Liukou Mianzhu Pass. ”

"What you said is light, how big can the tunnel be, hundreds of thousands of rebels, can they gush out of the tunnel at once? As the commander of the three armies, what is the reason why you heard that the rogue came out of the tunnel, and instead of leading the troops to stop it, you were the first to escape from the pass? You must know that once the Mianzhu Pass is lost, the Liukou will soon hit Chengdu, how to do it then? Yue Su said sharply.

"The rogue is very powerful, and the last general also panicked for a while after hearing the news, and then fled from the pass. Now that I think about it, I regret it, and I really can't wait to fight with the rogue at that time. However, the matter has come to this point, and the last general is helpless and powerless. Although the Liukou are about to hit Chengdu, after all, the mobility is slow, and we can't get there for a while, as long as we evacuate first, go to a safe place, and gather troops and horses, we can still recover the lost territory. The brother-in-law of the last general is Luo Yang, the commander of Jinyiwei, and I will write to my brother-in-law later, asking him to invite the Queen Mother and immediately send reinforcements to ......" Liu Wushou quibbled first, and then moved out of his brother-in-law Luo Yang, dignified Jinyiwei, no matter who it is, you have to give some face.

However, he didn't know that there were too few people in the world who could let Lord Yue give face, and the position of Jinyi Guard's commander was really not qualified. Thinking back then, when Lord Yue was still the Yin of Shuntian Mansion, he dared to reward Hou Guoxing's big mouth as the commander of the Jinyi Guard at that time, this Hou Guoxing's old lady was still the Holy Lady Keyinyue, and her momentum was not much higher than the current Luo Yang.

"Are you using Luo Yang to scare Bentu?" Yue Su chuckled lightly and said, "Don't say that you escaped from the battle, even if Luo Yang is here, if he dares to escape, the governor will cut him down." Come on, take Liu Wushou down for me! ”

"Yes!" Shouting left and right, Yin Zhu and Tie Qiu rushed up with the guards, and immediately held Liu Wushou down, pulled his shoulders, put his arms together, and tied them with a strong knot.

The two pro-soldiers who came with Liu Wushou were so frightened that they simply fell to their knees and didn't dare to say a word. It was Liu Wushou, when he was tied up, he shouted vigorously, "My brother-in-law is the commander of the Jinyi Guard, and if any of you dare to touch me, there will never be good fruit to eat." Let me go. Otherwise, my brother-in-law will know about this and will definitely put you all in prison! ”

"Don't say that Luo Yang is not here, even if he is here to watch now, this governor will tie you up. He didn't dare to say half a 'no' either. Today, I will not take your life for the time being, and when the rogue calls, I will borrow your head and command the three armies! Put him down and keep him in good hands. The soldiers who returned with him, like the rest of the officers and soldiers, were all recruited. Yue Su finished loudly. He then pointed to the two pro-soldiers kneeling on the ground and said, "You two are local officers and soldiers. Or did you come with Liu Wushou from Beijing? ”

"The little one is from the general?" One of the soldiers replied cautiously.

"Like you, how many people are from Beijing?" Yue Su asked coldly.

"There are twenty more." The soldier replied truthfully.

"Hold them all in custody and release them after the enemy has been defeated." If it were usual, Lord Yue might have let people go, and he was not afraid that they would go home and complain. Just now. The rogue is about to call and let them go, for fear that they will spread rumors and cause trouble along the road. Exaggerating the hostile situation has made the people's minds unstable.

After dealing with Liu Wushou and his own soldiers, Yue Su still stayed in the city, and he knew that there would be defeated soldiers coming back one after another. The losses at Mianzhu Pass should not be too heavy, as long as the defeated soldiers are regrouped, they can completely organize a large combat force. In the city of Chengdu, there are really no soldiers available.

Of course. Lord Yue also sent scouts to the front to investigate the enemy's situation. Let's see if the rogue has been killed.

For the next two days, the defeated soldiers and horses returned from the front. Coming one after another. Many of the people of Shifang County have also fled, and it is said that the Liukou have already fled to Shifang County, and they will arrive at the city within a day or two.

As of today, Lord Yue has collected more than 5,000 defeated soldiers, and with this number of officers and soldiers, Yue Su also has a certain amount of confidence in his heart. Chengdu City, Lord Yue has already seen it, with such a city defense, the Liukou does not have a sharp weapon to attack the fortification, and it is not so easy to break the city.

The people of Pengzhou basically fled to Chengdu or elsewhere, of course, there are some who really can't escape, and Lord Yue can't take care of them one by one, so he can only take care of the things in front of him. The family members of the officials, under the command of Lord Yue, were the last to evacuate, but none of the officials in Pengzhou City dared to leave, and the Governor had not fled, they were thinking about fleeing now, did they want to be treated with General Liu.

After another day of waiting, the county magistrate of Shifang County, along with the officials of the county, also arrived. If it were the past, it is estimated that he would have fled a long time ago, and he may have fled unhurriedly because he received the news. According to the Shifang County Order, the Liukou has almost reached the county seat, and he asked the Governor to make a decision as soon as possible.

At this time, it's time to go back to Chengdu, if it's really with the front foot of the rogue against the back foot, how can there be so much time to arm. So, Yue Su ordered the whole army to withdraw and return to Chengdu.

There was nothing to say all the way, from Pengzhou to Chengdu sixty miles, the army was in a hurry, and it arrived in one day. Back in Chengdu, Governor Zhu Xieyuan went out of the city to greet him and told Yue Su that defensive measures had been taken in the city. However, there are no more than 1,000 soldiers available in the city, and they are recruiting civilians to guard the city.

Yue Su just nodded slightly, indicating that he needed to go directly to the city to inspect. Chengdu City, the city is high and the walls are thick, in order to resist the rogues, Zhu Xieyuan has moved the cannons from the armory to the city, the officers and soldiers guarding the city, seeing Yue Su's arrival, are all in high spirits, how can the number of people is really a little pitiful.

Yue Su arranged the 5,000 people he had collected and brought back, as well as his more than 1,000 guards, to become the front-line troops defending the city. Regarding Zhu Xieyuan's proposal to recruit the people to guard the city, Yue Su vetoed it, and he said that he would recruit thugs and guards from the homes of the rich. Lord Yue's words are clear, the rogues are coming, they don't rob the poor, they only rob the rich, at this time, if you have money, you naturally have to stand up for the governor, some people will give me, no one will give me money.

Lord Yue has always been iron-fisted, and who dares to disobey his orders. As soon as the government gives an order, even if it is reluctant, it will be necessary. Mo Sheng, the prefect of Chengdu, was the first to respond, and personally brought 40 family members and servants from the house to come, expressing his willingness to make a strong contribution. He asked for his own letter, and after writing the excerpt, he had to hand it in one by one, and when it was sent to Beijing, it was too early. This guy can also be regarded as an acquaintance, and he plans to make meritorious contributions at this time. Yue Su understood what he meant, and did not object, and directly agreed, allowing him to make meritorious contributions, and told him that as long as he assisted in defending the city successfully, the governor would naturally show mercy.

With these words, Mo Sheng's performance was really unambiguous, and he immediately donated all his family property, more than 100,000 taels of silver, and was willing to use it as military salaries and rewards for the officers and soldiers defending the city.

Master Mo can do this because he is a good-looking reader. Mo Sheng was less than fifty years old, so he asked to retire and go home, and everyone understood what was going on. Although Yue Su was merciful and did not raid his home, Master Mo also knew in his heart that he was not dismissed, he could leave if he said he could go, and he had to wait for the approval of the imperial court, and send the folds to Beijing layer by layer, and then wait for them to be sent back. Once the city is broken, not all the silver will have to be looted, and not a penny will be your own, so it is better to take it out now and have a good reputation. Even if it is defended, the city is not broken, and in the future, he believes that Lord Yue will definitely talk about things and will not bury his merits.

Yue Su was very satisfied with Mo Sheng's performance, praised it, and bluntly said that meritorious deeds should be rewarded and punished, it doesn't matter where the excerpt is, this governor can still recover it for you, do it well.

Mo Sheng was very happy, and worked harder, and took the servants in the government to form a demolition team to demolish the abandoned houses, temples, and useless buildings in the city for the purpose of defending the city. Yes, when defending the city, it is rare to use stones to smash the city, and now prepare to do it in advance without Lord Yue's instructions, it can be regarded as his eyesight.

Under the leadership of Mo Sheng, the wealthy families in the city became more and more enthusiastic, and what families, thugs, and nurses were sent to the former enemy, and if they didn't want to give away, they had to send money, in short, it was indispensable. Mo Sheng also did a useful thing, that is, to stabilize prices, on the eve of the war, the price of food will definitely rise, as a result, this benevolent brother, with a tough posture, suppressed prices, no matter what shops in the city, what backstage, he is not afraid. In addition, a large amount of grain and rice was collected for military use. It can be seen that people are in a hurry, and they can do anything, and besides, there is a protective umbrella for Lord Yue, what are they afraid of.

The city defense was arranged in an orderly manner. All the officers and soldiers in the city combined, there can be 7,000 people, plus the family members and nursing homes sent by the rich families, a whole number of tens of thousands. This is the first echelon, Yue Su will protect the army, soldiers, and courtyards, and arrange them in a scattered manner, and every 2,000 people are responsible for guarding one door. Jin Cicada guards the north gate, Yin Zhu guards the east gate, Tong Zhou guards the south gate, and Li Haoran guards the west gate. Governor Zhu Xieyuan responded in the middle, and Yue Su personally went to the north gate. The officers and others in the castle, as the second echelon, maintain law and order on weekdays, and when the front line is tight, they will be recruited immediately.

The family members of the officials, led by Yue Su's wife Ruan Aoyue, took Zhu Xieyuan's wife and maid, Mo Sheng's wife and maid, as well as the female dependents and subordinates of all the officials' families in the city, and were specially responsible for cooking for the officers and soldiers.

Two days later, the news came that Liukou had passed through Pengzhou and rushed straight to Chengdu, and a big battle was about to begin.