When the war drums of the Jin army sounded, the white-haired Zhang Chun sat on the chariot and shouted three times to the other side of the river: "Cross the river!" River! River! Regardless of the obstruction of his own soldiers, he resolutely snatched the horsewhip from the coachman's hand, and rushed towards the Xiaoling River with the chariot without hesitation.

One of the commanders of both sides disregarded the danger and personally led the chariot to supervise the formation, and the other personally beat the war drums for his subordinates.

Whether it is Huang Taiji or Zhang Chun, they all know that this battle has reached the most critical time, and whoever can't hold it will lose.

Although the casualties were heavy, the various units of the Ming army basically maintained their structure, there were still more than 1,000 remaining chariots, the vitality of the army was not injured, and the strength of the army was still more than 30,000 people, but the fierce artillery of the Jin army was dumb and fired, and the chariot array of the Ming army would continue to play a role, so if it persisted, it would not necessarily lose.

Under the supervision of generals at all levels, all units of the Ming army crossed the river one after another, and on the other side of the river, the cavalry of the Jin army had roared.

One wanted to cross, the other was not, and a fierce battle broke out in the river.

"Fire!"

The sound of "bang" sounded, and the dense crossbow arrows shot at the Jin army under black pressure, and after paying a Niu Lu loss, the red flag once again hit the Ming army's car formation.

After destroying dozens of chariots in front of him, Azig led his red-armored swinging teeth and personal soldiers to rush into the Ming army's large array.

…………

At this time, the head of Dalinghe City was already full of Liaodong generals, and when the Tong Yang Artillery Battalion opened fire, the Ming army at the head of the city heard it and hurriedly ran down to report to Zu Dashou.

When Zu Dashou heard the news, he couldn't tell the truth from the fake, because he had already been on the big spot of Hong Tai, and he was really not sure if the sound of the cannon meant that the reinforcements were really coming.

Just in case, he still went to the top of the city with He Kegang, Zhang Cunren, Liu Tianlu and others, listened for a while, and felt that the intensity of the artillery this time was different from the past, and looked under the city gate, the Jin army also laid heavy troops, it seems that this reinforcement can not be prepared is true, otherwise the Jin army does not need to deploy heavy troops under the city.

"Zu Shuai, it looks like the reinforcements are really coming, let's hurry out of the city to respond!"

He Kegang, who was so hungry that his face was swollen, couldn't suppress his excitement, finally waited, finally waited! The emperor and the overseer did not abandon them!

Excited, the first thought was to immediately organize people and horses to go out of the city to receive reinforcements, attack inside and outside, and catch Jiannu off guard!

Zu Dashou said hesitantly: "In case this reinforcement is fake, we are afraid that we will not even have the troops to defend the city." It's better to wait a little longer, and wait for the reinforcements to come and see clearly. ”

Seeing that Zu Dashou was reluctant to go out of the city to receive reinforcements, He Kegang hurriedly said: "Zu Shuai, where is there so many Hongyi cannons in Jiannu, this reinforcement must be true!" We must rush out of the city immediately to join the reinforcements, or else it will be all over! ”

The reinforcements are real, He Kegang expected it, but he didn't expect that the Hongyi cannon was not his own, but was imitated by Jiannu. But at the moment, no one knew that the Lu Dao Jin Army could build artillery, so He Kegang's statement was echoed by Liu Tianlu, Gao Guanghui and other generals, and they all said that the reinforcements must be true.

Zu Dashou was still a little hesitant, thought for a moment, and finally shook his head, and said to the generals: "I don't want to rush out, but can we rush out?" It doesn't take much, the Jiannu only need a thousand men and horses to go to that side, and we don't want to rush over, not to mention that there are four trenches. ”

"Zu Shuai, don't miss the opportunity, let's fight against the water. If the victory is won, the siege will be lifted; Defeated, at best, a death. Rather than starve to death, it is better to die in battle! ”

He Kegang no longer had the strength to speak, hunger made it difficult for him to stand now, if he hadn't been holding on to the wall, he was afraid that he would have fallen to the ground long ago.

The majority of the generals who did not want to starve to death in the city accounted for the majority, and He Kegang's request for war was supported by most of the generals, and even Zu Dashou's two younger brothers agreed to leave the city. The eldest son, Zu Zerun, also advised Zu Dashou to send a group of men and horses out of the city to visit, if it is true, it is easy to respond, if it is false, it is a big deal to lose some soldiers and horses. What is the situation in the city, everyone knows that if there is a chance to live, you must always try, and you are really a little unwilling to miss the opportunity to survive like this.

Zu Dashou didn't nod for a long time.

"Zu Shuai, send troops, without further ado, if you hesitate, this fighter will be wrong!"

He Kegang gritted his teeth and said the last sentence, his legs and feet were weak, and he collapsed to the ground. Seeing this, Liu Tianlu and others hurriedly went to help him, but he waved his hand to stop him, and looked at Zu Dashou motionlessly, with indescribable resoluteness in his eyes.

"This..."

Zu Dashou was distressed, he was afraid that this reinforcement was real, and he was afraid that this reinforcement was fake, and he folded more than 3,000 elite soldiers last time he went out of the city, these are all descendants of his ancestral family, and they are all veterans who have experienced a hundred battles. At present, there are less than 4,000 descendants in the city, and the rest are He Kegang, Zhang Cunren and others' subordinates.

If there are no soldiers under this command, will the generals still obey their orders? It's really impossible to hold on in the future, and if they want to take that road, will they listen to themselves? If you don't listen, won't you be burdened by them, and you will really die here to be loyal to the country?

No, you can't send troops, you can't send troops!

If it is really reinforcements, the superintendent must mobilize heavy troops to come, and it is not necessarily necessary for the city to meet this little bit of men and horses, and it is not too late to leave the city when the reinforcements reach the city.

After making up his mind, Zu Dashou was going to completely veto the proposal to go out of the city to receive reinforcements, but after seeing He Kegang's eyes, he couldn't help but hesitate again.

This He Kegang is the same as his ancestor Dashou, they are all generals promoted by Dutang Yuan Chonghuan after he arrived in Liaodong, and he participated in the Ningyuan City Defense War and the Ningjin War that year, and after Yuan Chonghuan served as the Jiliao Governor in the first year of Chongzhen, he promoted himself to the general army, and also promoted He Kegang to the deputy general. It can be said that in the hearts of the generals of Dalinghe City, his ancestor Dashou and He Kegang are actually respected, nominally one is the chief soldier and the other is the deputy general, but in fact, the status between the two is equal. Therefore, he couldn't help but attach importance to He Kegang's opinion, not to mention that his younger brother and son were also in favor of going out of the city, so he couldn't help but consider it carefully.

…………

In the early years, Yuan Chonghuan eliminated the general soldiers outside the Guan, leaving only three people, namely He Kegang, Zu Dashou, Zhao Shujiao, and He Kegang guarded Ningyuan with the rank of deputy general, which shows Yuan Chonghuan's trust in him. Yuan Chonghuan even said on the above table Chongzhen's recital that He Kegang "is benevolent and courageous, honest and diligent, and good at doing things, and his talent is not under his subordinates." The subordinate to the erection can be really forced".

However, since Yuan Chonghuan was killed in prison, He Kegang's situation has gradually become difficult. In the battle to recover the four cities of Yongping and the battle to aid Jinzhou, he made great contributions, but he has not been promoted. With his ability, he can obviously take charge of himself, but he can only serve as Zu Dashou's deputy for a long time, in charge of Yuan Chonghuan's old department, and Wu Xiang, Huang Long and others under his ability have been promoted to the general army.

Although they are both Yuan Chonghuan's favorite generals, the relationship between Zu Dashou and He Kegang is actually very average. From the incident of Wu Xiang being promoted to the general soldier of Jinzhou, it can be seen that Zu Dashou did not believe in anything in his heart and wanted to exclude him.

Wu Xiang is Zu Dashou's brother-in-law, and he does not have any outstanding military exploits, but under the recommendation of Zu Dashou, he jumped over He Kegang to become the chief soldier of Liaodong, which shows that Zu Dashou cannot tolerate He Kegang.

One of the evil consequences of He Kegang's long-term residence as a deputy general was that after the construction of the Daling River began, he was sent to guard with his ancestor Dashou. After the siege of the city by the Later Jin army, the two good generals were trapped in the city together, so that Sun Chengzong and Qiu Hejia had no choice but to use mediocre talents like Wu Xiang to command the Ming army that rescued the Daling River.

If He Kegang and Zu Dashou can cooperate with each other one mile and one away, one to defend the city and one to support, then the battle of Daling River may not be without the possibility of victory.

But the fact is that Zu He and the others are now trapped in this Dalinghe City, and there are really no good generals available in Jinzhou, although Song Wei also has the ability, after all, there are not many soldiers and horses, and he cannot command Wu Xiang, who is also the chief soldier. And the relationship with Wu Xiang is not compatible, he has repeatedly scolded Wu Xiang in public for being a villain, greedy for life and afraid of death, which is destined to Wu Xiang will not fully support him, sure enough, on the day of the fog, Wu Xiang did not even see the shadow of Jiannu, so he abandoned Song Wei and fled back to Jinzhou with people in embarrassment. Song Wei was so angry that after going back, he complained to Qiu Hejia and Sun Chengzong, but the former couldn't cure Wu Xiang, but the latter was looking at Zu Dashou's face and forcibly guaranteed Wu Xiang to be fine, otherwise, this time the army came to help, Wu Xiang should be in the prisoner car going south, where would he go with the army to help.

……………

The worries in my heart can't be put on the table, in front of so many people, it's not good to communicate with my younger brother and son, Zu Dashou weighed it for a long time, and finally made up his mind after the most reluctant, and said to He Kegang: "Since everyone is going out of the city to see, then you will lead 3,000 troops out of the city, if it is really reinforcements, you will lead the army to meet them, lead them to the city, and I will respond." If it is not for reinforcements, you should return quickly, and you must not engage Jiannu. ”

Hearing this, He Kegang didn't know where the strength came from, so he stood up and nodded resolutely: "Don't worry, Zu Shuai, the last general will definitely fight a bloody way!" ”

"Big brother, can General He lead troops like this? Let's go. Zu Dacheng saw that He Kegang was so hungry that he couldn't stand, but the eldest brother asked him to lead the army out of the city, which was very unexpected, thinking that the eldest brother didn't pay attention to He Kegang's hungry appearance, and hurriedly proposed that he lead the army out of the city.

No, Zu Dashou glanced at him, but said: "You have always been reckless, how can you lead the army?" After speaking, he glanced at He Kegang with concern, "Kegang, your body can eat, if you can't bear it, I will let others go." ”

"No, I can still eat this body." It was not easy to say that Zu Dashou sent troops out of the city to receive reinforcements, coupled with the excitement of the arrival of reinforcements, He Kegang returned to the light like a dying man, and he actually forgot the hunger in his stomach and forgot that he had no strength at all.

On the side, the deputy generals Liu Yuying, Dou Mingde, the staff general Hu Hongxian, Xiao Yongzuo and other generals of the He family all looked at Zu Dashou strangely, even Zhang Cunren, Liu Tianlu and others also felt that Zu Shuai's arrangement was inappropriate. But He Kegang himself said that he could go out of the city, and they couldn't object, otherwise General He would think that they looked down on him.

After He Kegang came down, Zu Dashou secretly breathed a sigh of relief, for fear that someone would persuade him again, so he hurriedly instructed his confidant Han Daxun: "You immediately draw 3,000 elite soldiers to gather at the city gate, and hand them over to General He to take out of the city to receive reinforcements." ”

Three thousand elite soldiers?

Han Daxun was stunned, and after looking up and seeing Zu Dashou's gaze, he immediately understood, and hurriedly responded to the call and went to transfer troops.

After half a pillar of incense, Han Daxun adjusted the people, He Kegang went to the city to take a look, but he was disappointed, where are the elite soldiers, it is clearly a group of old, weak, sick and disabled, and even half of them are some people and craftsmen, one by one, listless, staggering, soldiers are not like soldiers, and the people are not like people.

Looking at these soldiers, Dou Mingde was angry, glanced at the city, and whispered to He Kegang: "General, Zu Shuai obviously doesn't want you to leave the city!" He didn't give us elite soldiers at all, and with these people, we couldn't even cross the trench! ”

"What does Zu Shuai mean by this, he just doesn't send his own people, so let's lead our own soldiers to the head office, right?" Hu Hongxian said angrily, and he was going to transfer his own troops.

He Kegang grabbed him and smiled bitterly: "Forget it, help me go back, we won't get out of this city." After saying that, his eyes went dark and he fainted.

………….

In the city, Zu Dacheng and Zu Daming looked at He Kegang who was carried away by his subordinates, and looked at the eldest brother hesitantly. ”

"Huh?"

Zu Dashou glanced at his younger brother with a side face, snorted angrily, and said, "What do you know, if this soldier is all gone, what will happen in the future?" ”

Zu Daimyo pursed his lips and blurted out, "What should I do?" It's a big deal to die here, and the court won't treat our ancestors badly! ”

Hearing this, Zu Dashou was angry, raised his hand and slapped Zu Daming, and scolded: "Die, die!" You know that you are dead! If the eldest brother is like you, where will our ancestral family have today's foundation! You don't plan for yourself, you have to plan for our family! If we were all like you, our ancestral family would have fallen a long time ago! ”

"Big brother! Zu Daming covered his face and looked at Zu Dashou indignantly, not understanding why the eldest brother wanted to beat him.

Zu Zerun was afraid that the third uncle would jump up with his father, so he was busy holding him lightly, and he also looked at his father in confusion.

Zu Daimyo seemed to understand something, sighed, and did not speak.

"Let me go back and stay, take care of your men, no one can leave the city without my orders!"

After stacking this sentence, Zu Dashou went down to the city without looking back.

"Second uncle, what's wrong with my father?" After Zu Dashou left, Zu Zerun asked Zu Daming in confusion.

Zu Daming didn't answer him, but suddenly asked him: "Zerun, the second uncle asked you, do you have someone you know over there?" ”

"Over there? Which? Zu Zerun was confused.

Zu Daimyo pouted towards the north, and when Zu Zerun saw it, he couldn't help but be taken aback, his face was cloudy, and he couldn't speak for a long time. When Zu Dacheng heard this, he was also stunned.

Seeing this, Zu Daming sighed, looked around, and saw that there was no one, so he whispered to Zu Zerun and Zu Dacheng: "This is also the worst plan, Fan Wencheng sent a letter from Fan Wencheng before, it seems that Jiannu wants us to surrender." Therefore, it is still necessary to do some communication in advance, otherwise when Jiannu breaks the city, we will not be unpopular if we descend again. ”

"Aren't the reinforcements coming, why are they coming?" Zu Daimyo was a little puzzled.

"You wait for the reinforcements to hit the city, think about the worst in everything, it's better to have a rainy day than to come to an end." If he really wants to surrender Jiannu, Zu Daming is unwilling, but when it really comes to that point, he can only follow his eldest brother on this path.

Zu Zerun nodded and said, "If my father really plans to do so, I have some old subordinates over there." ”

"You find two reliable men, and if the reinforcements are fake, or if they can't be beaten, then you will hang them out of the city that night. You have to be careful about this, and you can't let He Kegang's people know the way, understand? ”

"Second uncle, don't worry, I know how to do this."

"Okay, I'll go find your father, you and the third uncle stay here to listen, if it's really reinforcements, you can quickly call someone to report it."