――May 15, the fifth year of Jingzhi of the Great Zhou, a street in Guangling――

Although the night sky is hung with a round and bright moon, due to the clouds, the light of the full moon cannot be spread to the ground, but gives people a gloomy and oppressive sense of stagnation.

"Click......"

Near the intersection of an alley, a gray-yellow earth dog crouched on the ground and gnawed on a bone.

Suddenly, the ears of the earth dog were pricked up, and the slightly green eyes stared vigilantly into the distance of the alley. I saw that in the distance of the alley, there was a faint sound of hurried footsteps.

Perhaps vaguely seeing the figure, the earth dog stood up suddenly, his left front paw holding down the bone, his hind legs slightly bent, ready to attack, and a low growl between his teeth.

Finally, it saw clearly, and it saw clearly the group of people hurrying towards the opposite alley.

It was a group of men with blades......

"Woo-"

The dog's tail wagged slightly, and the low growl that erupted between its teeth grew louder, clearly trying to scare the other away. However, the young man at the head of the group merely glanced at it, and grasped the hilt of the sword at his waist with his right hand. That kind of cold eyes, as well as the murderous aura brought by the man's movements, made the earth dog's body shake slightly.

"Woo, woo......"

Swept away by the cold gaze of the visitor, the low roar of the earth dog suddenly turned into a whining, it lowered its head, quickly bit the bone under its claws with its mouth, and fled to its yard with its tail in a smoke, hiding in the shadows behind the door and watching the group pass by the door with a frightened gaze.

It, instinctively, sensed the threat.

[Compare with a brute, I'm really ......]

Shaking his head self-deprecatingly, the withered sheep slowly relaxed the hilt of the sword held in his right hand, looked up at the sky, and asked in a low voice, "What time is it?" ”

As soon as the words fell. Xu Chang, the general next to him, whispered, "When I passed by, there was a watchman on the street who played three watches, probably the time of the second and the second ......."

The withered sheep frowned and whispered, "What about the vanguard?" ”

Xu Chang hesitated for a moment, lowered his head and whispered, "If you follow the original plan...... Most of the vanguard troops have been prepared to make a feint attack on the southern city gate under the leadership of the thousand-strong general Wu Zhen......"

Dry Sheep's face furrowed when he heard this, but he also understood that Xu Chang or Wang Jian could not be blamed for this matter, after all, the original plan. It also came from the mouth of his withered sheep. To be more serious. can only blame him for failing to understand the sinister tricks of Wu Heng, the fourth commander of the Taiping Army, in time, so that although he can be said to have thought of Wu Heng's entire plan, he does not have enough time to redeem his previous negligence.

Xu Chang secretly looked at the withered sheep and saw that his handsome eyebrows were furrowed. He said in a low voice, "Don't worry, the last general thinks that Wang Jian will be able to pass the news to Wu Zhen in time, and in addition, that blade nine can also notify Zhou Jun to change the original plan in time......"

"I hope so......" The withered sheep sighed slightly, then shook his head, and said in a deep voice, "Until now, there is only one step at a time!" - Let's go! ”

"Yes!"

The group hurried towards the far side of the alley. Behind them, the earth dog slipped out of his yard quietly after biting the bone, and stood in the alley for some unknown reason watching the back of the dead sheep and the others leaving.

In an instant, it quickly returned to the yard, even if it was domestic. However, the instinct of the beast reminds it that today is going to be a sleepless night.

――Guangling South City Gate――

At the same time that the withered sheep and the subordinate general Xu Chang came from those inconspicuous alleys in the city to the vicinity of the south city gate, the two of them said that Wu Zhen, the thousand-strong general of the Niu Zhu army, was ready to launch a feint attack on the south city gate according to the previous order of the withered sheep.

The so-called feint is actually to attract the attention of the enemy, and it does not seek to capture the southern gate of Guangling, but at least to make the Taiping defenders who have become the enemy think so.

Patting his cheek and taking a deep breath, Wu Zhen secretly prayed in his heart for the success of his trip.

Most of the generals who are ready to sneak attack hate to act under the bright full moon, after all, the bright moonlight will expose their movements, and I am afraid that only the general of the Zhou army, Ma Dan, will do the opposite, and more and more like to sneak attack the enemy before and after the full moon. Because the night of the full moon has a wider field of vision than on other nights, and in exchange for this, their vigilance is becoming weaker. After all, human habits determine that people will feel more and more uneasy and panicked in the dark night, so as to increase the vigilance in their hearts, and on the contrary, they will unconsciously relax.

And Wu Zhen obviously does not have the ability of Zhou General Ma Dan, at least he lacks the courage of Ma Dan to dare to sneak attack the rear army general Du Fang on the night of the full moon, so he can only pray to the unknown past gods in the sky to boost his courage.

After a few breath changes, Wu Zhen finally made up his mind, glanced at the Qubu soldiers behind him, and gritted his teeth to show his figure from the alley where he was hidden.

In fact, to be honest, as far as the layout near the South City Gate is concerned, there is not much difference between the full moon in the sky that is sometimes covered by clouds and sometimes becomes bright, because there are extraordinarily vigorous bonfires burning everywhere near the South City Gate, and the light spread by these bonfires can easily make the Taiping Army guards on the city wall and at the city gate spot notice the abnormalities nearby.

For example, Wu Zhen and his party, who hurriedly walked to the south gate with a vote......

"Stop! -- The city gate is heavy, and you must not trespass! ”

Noticing the approach of Wu Zhen and his party, a general came out of the guards under the southern gate of Guangling, and it was estimated that the position was probably a thousand generals. This person, even shouted Wu Zhen.

"Which army do you belong to? What the hell is the crowd gathering here in the middle of the night! - Come quickly, or don't blame General Ben for seeing you and others in chaos! As he spoke, the thousand-man general had already held down the saber at his waist, and at the same time, the hundreds of soldiers beside him had raised their spears in their hands, and waited solemnly.

"Huh?" Suppressing the uneasiness and panic in his heart, Wu Zhen pretended to be puzzled and said, "Didn't you tell me to wait to come and guard the city gate?" ”

"Guarding the gates?" A trace of incomprehension flashed in the eyes of the Qianren, and with some doubt and suspicion, he said in surprise, "Ridiculous! The guard of the South City Gate is General Wang Liang's subordinate Qu Department, who are you? ”

"But...... There is indeed an order to be issued, so I will wait to change the guard......" Wu Zhen said in pretended shock.

"What? Is there such a thing? The thousand people looked confused, looked Wu Zhen up and down a few times, and the fox asked. What's your name? Which army is it affiliated with? Which general is under his account? Who told you to come over for a change of guard? ”

Seeing this, Wu Zhen hugged his fists and said in a low voice, "The last general, Wu Zhen, was originally subordinate to the Jinling Tianquan Army...... On the orders of Lord Zhang Hong, the commander of the Hou Army, he is here to be on duty! "According to the previous orders of the withered sheep, Wu Zhen pretended to be Wei Hu's Jinling Heavenly Power Army.

"Jinling Tianquan Army......" The thousand generals were stunned when they heard this.

As we all know, Wei Hu, the god general of the six gods, is one of the most trusted generals of Wu Heng, the fourth commander of the Taiping Army, and entrusted him to garrison the important city of Jinling. But after Wei Hu's death, Wu Heng mercilessly ordered the Jinling Tianquan Army to be dispersed. Nearly 20,000 troops were added to the armies. Among them was the army of Zhang Hong, the commander of the Later Army.

After all, Zhang Hong, the general of the Hou Army, is now in charge of the garrison of the entire Guangling. Under the current situation of the Zhou army commander Xie An, Guangling has become the last fortress of the Taiping army, so Wu Heng will naturally give priority to expanding the garrison of Guangling. And the reason why the withered sheep taught Wu Zhen to say this. It is also to dispel the suspicion of the Taiping soldiers guarding the city.

"It turned out to be the Tianquan Army...... It may be a false positive order, you wait to go back! -- This place is guarded by my general Wang Liang! The sharp eyes of the thousand-person general became much softened, and his eyes were full of ridicule, contempt, sympathy, pity and many other looks, after all, the status of the Tianquan Army before and after it can indeed be described by the four words of the world.

"Go back?" Wu Zhen's face showed a little panic when he heard this, and he said urgently, "It's easy for me to wait to go back, but if it's not a false general's order, wouldn't Lord Tianjiang have to treat me and others for the great crime of disrespecting the general's order?" -- Trouble this eldest brother to report to General Wang Liang. Let's see if General Wang Liang has also gotten the news, and if it's really a false alarm, I'll go back to sleep...... These days, to be honest, I haven't slept a few comfortable nights......"

"This ......" The thousand people showed a little hesitation on their faces, but under Wu Zhen's various pleadings. He nodded in agreement.

"Tell your men to stop a hundred paces away and not trespass!" With a word of warning, the thousand people beckoned a herald and ordered him to go up to the castle tower to report the matter to the guard Wang Liang.

"Okay, okay......" Wu Zhen responded and waved his hand behind him, and suddenly, the three or five hundred people behind him sat down one after another, whispering without saying anything, and many people sighed, and even threw away the weapons in their hands.

"Hey, you guys, who told you to sit down?!" Wu Zhen scolded red-facedly.

However, this scene in the eyes of the thousand-strong general couldn't help but dispel some suspicions, and even involuntarily sympathized with the army in front of him.

I think about what the status of the Tianquan Army was when Wei Hu was there, but now, Wei Hu is dead, and the Tianquan Army is finished......

Yes, it's completely over, in the eyes of the thousand-strong general, the lazy soldiers in front of them seem to have lost all their fighting spirit and morale in Jinling, even the rabble.

"Hey, you guys, get me up!" Wu Zhen, whose face was flushed, kicked the soldiers who were sitting on the ground resting mercilessly.

[This thousand people named Wu Zhen seem to still have some fighting spirit, but it's a pity that ......]

Seeing the soldiers who were kicked by Wu Zhen and still didn't want to get up from the ground, the thousand people shook their heads secretly, stepped forward and shouted Wu Zhen, "Stop!" -- The city gate is heavy, and there is no noise! ”

"I ......" Wu Zhen glanced back at the thousand generals at a loss, and then turned his head to look at the soldiers beside him, with an indisputable look of anger.

[Is this the Heavenly Power Army?] - The Heavenly General didn't know what to think, but he asked this rabble to participate in the defense of the city......]

The thousand generals were both contemptuous and sympathetic in their hearts, not only him, but even the guards under his command were also amused and disdainful.

I don't know what to think, the thousand generals actually walked towards Wu Zhen, maybe he felt that Wu Zhen and the soldiers under his command who were not even qualified for the rabble were not enough to endanger him.

Of course, but this does not mean that this thousand generals trust Wu Zhen, just by looking at his left hand always pressing the hilt of the sword, it is not difficult to see.

"These bastards!" Pretending to scold angrily, Wu Zhen seemed to be angry, and turned his head to ask the general, "How does this eldest brother respect his surname?" ”

"No respect for the surname Zhou, a single name and a dangling word."

"Oh, it turned out to be Brother Zhou Huang......" Wu Zhen called affectionately, seemingly with a bit of a simple meaning.

"Where is it......" Qianren waved Zhou Huang with a smile on his face.

Maybe it's because Wu Zhen deliberately set up a close relationship, after the two chatted a few words. but also gradually get closer. But unfortunately, Zhou Huang's left hand was still buckled on the hilt of the sword at his waist, and it was not difficult to see that he was still somewhat suspicious of Wu Zhen.

[The withered sheep marshal said well, it is really not easy to gain the trust of one person in a short period of time, but ......]

The corners of his mouth showed a slight chuckle imperceptibly, and Wu Zhen's face suddenly changed slightly as he smiled and talked to Zhou Huang in a low voice.

"What's the matter, Brother Wu Zhen?" Zhou Huang, who noticed Wu Zhen's abnormality, subconsciously clenched the hilt of his sword, and his gaze towards Wu Zhen became vigilant.

However, he was somewhat surprised. Wu Zhen squinted his eyes in the direction of the city wall for some reason. Lowered his voice and asked slowly. "Brother Zhou Huang, those people ...... Are you one of your soldiers? ”

"Oh? Who? Zhou Huang's eyes when he looked at Wu Zhen became more and more vigilant, and he walked away a few steps intentionally or unintentionally, and then turned his head to look in the direction that Wu Zhen was pointing.

Let's be honest. In fact, at this time, Zhou Huang has a strong vigilance and suspicion of Wu Zhen, after all, after the past wars, there are countless examples of being killed by the people next to him because he turned around, God knows if this Wu Zhen has the intention of harming him, after all, people's hearts are separated by the belly.

However, to Zhou Huang's surprise, looking in the direction that Wu Zhen was pointing, he really saw a group of people sneakily touching the root of the city wall.

"Who's coming?! -- The city gate is heavy, and you must not trespass! ”

Subconsciously, Zhou Huang shouted.

And what made Zhou Huang even more angry was. When the ticket saw that his deeds were exposed, he immediately drew his sword and killed him in the direction of the city gate.

"This is the end of the matter, brothers fight to the death, take the gates!" The crowd shouted.

Zhou Huang was shocked and angry. Hurriedly ordered his corporal to resist, and secretly lucked himself in his heart, if it weren't for Wu Zhen's words to remind, maybe he would really be caught off guard by the thief who was killed. After all, because of the relationship between Wu Zhen and his party, the guards at the nearby city gate were all looking at the jokes of these former Tianquan soldiers, and they didn't notice the thieves who were quietly approaching.

"Could it be Zhou Bing? - How did they get into the city? While commanding his soldiers to resist the incoming enemy, Zhou Huang muttered to himself in shock.

"It doesn't look like Zhou Bing......" Approaching Zhou Huang quietly, Wu Zhen pretended to be surprised and said, "These people ...... Aren't these people the Heavenly Pivot Army? ”

"The Heavenly Pivot?" Zhou Huang's face changed slightly when he heard this, and he asked in surprise, "Niu Zhu Tianshu Army under the command of Withered Sheep?" After that, he narrowed his eyes and muttered, "It is rumored in the city that the withered sheep are dissatisfied with Wu Shuai and want to rebel, but I don't want it to be ......true" Speaking of this, he was suddenly stunned.

[Strange, those people don't have a banner logo, how does this Wu Zhen know that the other party is the Tianshu Army?] ]

Thinking of this, Zhou Huang subconsciously turned his head to look at Wu Zhen and asked suspiciously, "How do you know ......?"

At this, his voice stopped abruptly, because he suddenly saw a sword shadow flash in front of him, and in an instant, he felt the world in his eyes suddenly and inexplicably spin.

"Puff ......"

A bloody head fell to the ground and rolled over.

Shaking off the blood stains on the sword in his hand, a trace of coldness flashed in Wu Zhen's eyes that were full of flattery and catered eyes, and he glanced at the headless corpse in front of him falling to the ground, and said lightly, "What a fool!" ――Isn't that easy? Lao Tzu is also Niu Zhutian's army! ”

With that, he waved his hand, and saw that the soldiers who were sitting on the ground and sighing for a long time, and who could not even talk to the rabble, actually jumped up from the ground one by one, and killed the defenders at the city gate from behind while they were focusing their attention on the sneak attackers in the direction of the city wall.

Under the attack from both sides, the defenders near the south gate were suddenly defeated and almost killed. But again, the sound of the battle also attracted the attention of the guards on the city walls.

"Someone is attacking the gates! There are civil strife attacking the city gates! ”

The alarm bell suddenly sounded on the tower of the South City Gate, and in an instant, the Taiping Army guards on the city wall poured down like a tide.

"It's damn ......"

Seeing the unknown number of enemy troops attacking, Wu Zhen only felt that his scalp was numb, and he didn't even have time to be complacent about killing Zhou Huang with a plan, firstly, this was the strategy of his handsome withered sheep, and secondly, the Taiping army guards on the city wall reacted really quickly, and quickly went down the city wall to support, so that he had no time to be complacent.

[Killing the guards at the gates is just the beginning......]

At this moment, Wu Zhen understood the true meaning of the withered sheep's words at that time.

"The whole army is in formation! -- Send twenty men to open the gates, and the rest ...... Hold on to this place for backup! ”

With a little hideous look on his face, Wu Zhen shouted loudly. In fact, he knew very well that there was no so-called backup at all, because he was just a feint, and the real target of his Niu Zhu army was the West City Gate.

At present, he didn't know that the withered sheep had sensed Wu Heng's true sinister tactics, so he changed his strategy.

Not only did he not think of it, but even a certain big man on the city tower couldn't think of it.

"Beautiful, really well done! -- A small thousand-man general, logically speaking, should not have such a scheme...... It should be taught by the withered sheep himself, right? Terrific! Such a ploy could be thought of to divert the suspicion of the guards! ”

Zhang Hong, the general of the Taiping Army, stood by the city wall and praised it lightly. Because he saw all of Wu Zhen's actions, he just didn't drink it. After all, his target was the withered sheep, not Wu Zhen.

"Do you want to send a signal for help, Lord General?" A guard beside him asked in a low voice.

"Fat! Of course! - Especially the West City Gate......" The corners of his mouth raised a little smile, and Zhang Hong said with a smile, "If you don't transfer most of the guards of the West City Gate to this place, how can the withered sheep show up to attack the West City Gate?" As he spoke, he glanced not far to his right.

I saw that at the corner of the city wall, Wang Liang, the guard of the south city gate, was sitting against the city wall with blood on his face, looking at Zhang Hong with angry and frightened eyes.

"Accident? Scold! It should be taken for granted! ――Do you really think that the little trick you are waiting for can hide from Wu Shuai and General Ben? Idiot! ”

Wang Liang was shocked and angry when he heard this, he was still a little confused when he was seriously injured by Zhang Hong inexplicably, but at this moment, he already understood.

Exposed...... Whether it was the withered sheep or his Wang Liang secretly reporting to his cousin Wang Jianfeng, they had actually been discovered.

It's just that the target of Zhang Hong, the commander of the army, is the withered sheep himself, not the shrimp soldiers and crab generals under his subordinates.

"As the general of the South City Gate, he reported to the rebels...... Are you going to kill this man, Lord Heaven? Glancing at Wang Liang, the guard asked in a cold voice.

"Huh!" Zhang Hong chuckled lightly when he heard this, and said lightly, "Make sure that this person dies in the hands of the Heavenly Pivot Army!" -- At least under my command Zhang Hong, there must be no traitors, otherwise it will affect the morale of our army! ”

"Yes!" The guard nodded, raised his hand and cut Wang Liang's throat with a sword, and then clenched his fists and said in a deep voice, "My lord, the big thing is not good, General Wang Liang, the guard of the South City Gate, was unfortunately killed by the rebels of the Tianshu Army......

"Oh, that's a pity...... shrugged his shoulders, Zhang Hong flicked his sleeves and turned and walked away.

Holding his throat with both hands, but still unable to stop the blood spurting out, Wang Liang watched Zhang Hong gradually walk away, slowly falling in a pool of blood.

[Don't go, Xiaofu, and the withered sheep...... West Gate, that's a trap! ]