The mountain nest was a mess, a few clusters of fire flickered, and the sound of killing had long since faded away, except for a few scattered wails and howls. The entire area of the fighting, whether it was silted ground, dense forests, or cold rocks, was stained with blood. There was a sinister smell floating in the air, and many of the captured Yellow Turban thieves knelt aside, vomiting from the smell around them.

Zhou Zhi was sending someone to count the number of people under his command, and at the same time re-collected the horses, armaments, and the few supplies he carried.

Some of the people of Zuling were still chasing the fleeing thieves deep into the mountains, but they should be going back at this time, while the other part was liquidating the battlefield, guarding the prisoners, and treating the wounded.

After a quarter of an hour or so, the chaotic situation gradually became orderly.

Zu Ling bandaged a wound on his shoulder, but it was only a flesh wound, and it was not a big deal. Immediately, he walked through the figures coming and going and found Zhou Zhi's side. Zhou Zhizheng bent down to pick up a long knife from the ground, then stuck the long knife upside down in the dirt, and sighed slowly.

Zhou Zhi glanced back at the ancestral tomb, and gradually reined in the sadness on his face, he asked, "Zu Zhuangshi, dare to ask where your eldest son is now?" How many people are there now? ”

Zu Ling said: "My eldest son did not go along, and now he is stationed near Yunli Township, and we have gathered the volunteers of the three counties of Junmi, Wuzhong, and Tuyin, together with the volunteers of my Xu Wuxian County, a total of more than 1,500 people. Only 400 people were brought on this trip, most of whom were brothers from Junmi County. ”

While he was talking, a stout man came from behind and rode a horse, stopped in front of the two, and immediately jumped off the horse, clasped his fists and saluted Zhou Zhi.

Zu Ling introduced to Zhou Zhi: "Lord Zhou, this is Lord Kui Ankui, the county lieutenant of Junmi County. ”

Zhou Zhi took a closer look at Kui An, his face was suddenly relieved, and he hurriedly said, "It turned out to be Kui Ziyu." "As the governor of the north, he often reorganizes defense in the counties in the north of the county, so he naturally knows the county lieutenants in the counties in the north of the county.

Kuian said angrily: "It's down." Lord Zhou was tired. ”

Zhou Zhi gradually became suddenly, and there was also excitement in his heart, the county government was trapped for more than ten days, and the counties in the north of the county had not retreated as guessed in the city, but had been trying to find ways to meet the county government, how could such intentions not be comfortable. He nodded solemnly, patted Kuian on the shoulder with his remaining right hand, and said, "Ziyu, I really thank you." There are also Zu Zhuangshi, who will not die in this catastrophe, all thanks to your heroic deeds. ”

Kuian hurriedly said: "Where is it, the county government is in trouble, and it is our duty to enlist and help." ”

Zhou Zhi slowly bowed his head, but his mind quickly became solemn again, and he said: "It's just that the current situation in the county is really beyond imagination, the thieves are so powerful, the power in the county is so thin, and the future has to be worried." ”

After he finished speaking, he couldn't help but bow his head and sigh deeply.

Kuian and Zu Ling glanced at each other, and their faces gradually became more pleased. Kuian immediately said: "My lord doesn't know, the ancestor sent us to try to climb the mountain and enter the city this time, just to inform the county government of a great news." “

Zhou Zhiyu frowned slightly, and asked a little urgently: "What kind of good news is it?" ”

Kuian said with a smile: "Three days ago, Ancestor Gongzi led the volunteers of the counties in the north of our county to attack Xiyang County. not only took Xiyang County back in one fell swoop, but also killed the thief chief Zhang Play in one battle. ”

In the predicament of more than a month, Zhou Zhi really hopes that there will be good news to ease his tense nerves. Who knew that the good news that came out of Ku'an's mouth at this time was such shocking and inspiring. He was stunned for a while, and finally came to his senses and asked, "Zhang play?" What are you talking about is Changcheng thief chieftain playing? Is this true? ”

Zu Ling said solemnly: "How dare we talk nonsense about such a big thing? Lord Zhou can rest assured, Zhang Wan's head is now in Yunli Township, and it can't be wrong. The Xiyang County side was also temporarily taken over by the local three elders, and the remnants of Zhang Wan could not form an army, and it was no longer possible to become a climate. ”

Zhou Zhi was very excited, and said with emotion: "There is such a good thing? ”

Kuian continued: "It all depends on the ingenuity of the eldest prince Zu, taking advantage of the free time when the county is divided into troops to surround the county capital, and decisively sends surprise troops to attack the sunset for a long time. Hmph, Zhang played the thief, sang and danced all day long after conquering the sunset, not only did he repair the city, but he was also the party to the trouble, which had already made the hearts of the people lost. When Zu Gongzi led the rebel army to kill, not only did the local people respond, but many traitors turned against him. It's really exciting. ”

Zhou Zhi pulled Kuian to find a tree stump to sit down on the side, and asked Kuian and Zu Ling to carefully describe the situation of the northern Yiyong in the county a few days ago. Seeing that the aftermath was still to be dealt with at this time, not to mention that the men and horses who were chasing the remnants had not all returned, they simply rested and talked about the whole thing over and over again.

It turned out that since Zu Zhao led Xu Wuxian Yiyong to arrive at the county capital, as Wuzhong County Yiyong said, the county capital was surrounded by the Yellow Turban Army and Zhang Wan's rebels, and there was no way to enter the city. But even so, Zu Zhao did not retreat like Wuzhong County Yiyong. He led his men and horses to launch a surprise attack from behind enemy lines, hoping to find a flaw in the rear of the besieging thieves, but in the process, he soon met the righteous warriors of Junmi County in the northeastern suburbs.

Junmi County Yiyong came a few days earlier than Zu Zhao and his party, but fortunately, Kuian was not a greedy person who was afraid of death, although he failed to try to launch an attack in the past few days, he did not choose to retreat without doing anything. When two teams meet together, it can be regarded as finding a helper who can help each other in times of trouble, at least it is psychologically inspiring.

Both Volunteers had the same idea at first, hoping to find a way to storm into the city from the rear.

However, Zu Zhao then made a serious thought, thinking that now the total number of the two volunteer teams has more than 800 people, and the target is naturally not small, once the surprise attack from the rear cannot be successful, but will soon expose itself and be pursued by the thieves. Not only that, even if all this is not counted, what can happen after nearly a thousand people enter the county government? The county government is obviously not short of this thousand people, and it is rumored that there is not enough food and grass in the city, and it is only afraid that the food of a thousand people will make the situation in the city worse.

After some discussion, Zu Zhao proposed a way to rob the rebels' grain routes, or find ways to destroy the rebels' camps where they stored grain and grass. This is the most effective way to achieve results in a small way. Most of the people agreed with this proposal, but just as Jihua was about to make a specific attack plan, they suddenly received an important piece of information from the scout team sent by Zu Zhao earlier, that is, they learned that Zhang Wan of Xiyang County had assigned nearly 4,000 troops under his command to assist the Yellow Turban Army besieging the county capital.

After getting this news, Zu Zhao made a decision and decided to directly run to the sunset for a long distance and take advantage of the weakness. The so-called plan of encircling Wei to save Zhao and attacking the east and the west is less risky than robbing the rebels' grain routes, and at the same time, if they can successfully recapture Xiyang County, it can still bring morale and confidence to the whole county.

Although Kui'an was worried at the time, he was already determined to die in battle, so he didn't say much.

On the way out, the team happened to meet a group of volunteers from the mound again. The whole county of Tuyin County is sparsely populated and has a limited population, so there are not many volunteers and brave soldiers. They had also been to the county government a few days earlier, but later found that the county government was under siege, so they retreated to some places closer to Tuyin County to wander and watch. I happened to meet Zu Zhao, Kuian and others who passed through here.

The volunteers of the three counties immediately merged into a team and temporarily followed Zu Zhao's advice to attack the sunset.

Just four days ago in the evening, the three county volunteers used the momentum of taking advantage of the wind and waves, and in just one night, they defeated the rebels left by Zhang Play in the setting sun, killed nearly 500 enemies, and killed Zhang Wan who was on the run in the chaos. stayed in Xiyang County for two days, on the one hand, Zhang Wan's military resources left in Xiyang County supplemented the volunteers of the three counties, and on the other hand, he also recruited some soldiers in Xiyang County, and at the same time reorganized some people from the prisoners. In addition to the combat losses, there were more than 1,200 people.

From the third day, Zu Zhao sent people to bring Zhang Wan's head to the counties in the north of the county to spread it to inspire.

Later, after Zu Zhao returned to the county government from Xiyang County, Gao Huan, a person from Wuzhong County, brought more than 200 volunteers from his county to take refuge.

After Gao Huan quarreled with his brother Gao Hai, he took out this group of people without authorization in a fit of rage. Fortunately, these brothers are all brave after shame, and they don't want all the counties in the north of the county to contribute, but the boy who has no end is cowering at home.

Gathering more than 1,400 troops, Zu Zhao decided to officially launch a sneak attack from behind the besieging bandits, but in the process of sneak attack, the county government also needs to fully cooperate, so that it is possible to win more with less. Therefore, after finding out that the northwest mountain range could pass through the city, he sent Zuling and Kuian to lead more than 400 people to try to climb the mountain and enter the city.

"Originally, we also heard that the thieves were stationed outside Shanyang, and we thought that there would inevitably be a fierce battle. But in any case, we have to tear a hole into the city to report the news. Where do you know, we came all the way, first broke a small town outside Shanyang where thieves gathered, where did we know that there were not many thieves in the town at all, and most of the thieves who were originally stationed in the town by the local people went into the mountains during the day, and they didn't know what they were going to do! After Kuian elaborated on what had happened in the past few days, Zu Ling on the side added.

"yes, we're all wondering too. No, after entering the mountain, I walked all the way here, but I met those thieves who ambushed Lord Zhou's men and horses here. It's really strange to say, how did these thieves know in advance that Lord Zhou was going to break through? Quian asked.