Chapter 236: [Iron Riding into a Dream] (3)
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As the rumbling sound of horses faded away, the outside of the city fell silent again, and there was no longer a standing figure inside and outside the open gates, except for the gradually cooling corpses.
In contrast, fighting in the city is intensifying.
The deafening shouts of killing, the rumbling drums of war, the clanging of weapons and the terrible screams that tore people's hearts were intertwined, impacting the fragile and sensitive hearts of the people in the city all the time. They prayed that the war would end as soon as possible, that the sudden enemy army would not kill innocents indiscriminately, that their wives and children would not be harmed, and that General Yu Ban and the thousands of soldiers under his tent would escape and not fall into the hands of the wrongdoers.
Seven years of peace have made the people in the city gradually forget the cruelty of the war, have long been accustomed to the quiet life of the male protagonist and the female protagonist, and enjoy this peaceful time without war and fighting, and have a high degree of recognition for the Xiliang army and the general Yu Ban who defend the city, support them and love them, because they enforce the law impartially, never disturb the people, maintain the peace inside and outside the city, and guard the peace of the people.
However, with the sudden rush of the black-armored cavalry into the city, this peaceful and peaceful life was completely shattered, and the peaceful days gradually faded away, prompting the people to think of the dark catastrophe eight years ago, and relive the bitter past full of blood and tears. It was the people who hated these unprovoked invaders, hated them for destroying their quiet lives, and brought the killing and bloodshed into the city again, thus casting a layer of killing haze over the entire Deng County and bringing the people of the city into the war again.
It's a pity. The silent prayers and hateful curses of the common people are pale and powerless, and they can not change the fighting that has come. It can't stop the smoke of the increasingly fierce war, and it can't resist the impact and crushing of the torrent of iron horses. The war has begun. There will be no retreat until the moment when the winner is decided, and it will not end until the last moment.
For a whole quarter of an hour, there was no movement at the city gate, Liu Laohan hid in the corner behind the city gate with his dog, not daring to move, even though the city gate was silent, he still did not come out. He is a victim of the baptism of war, and a survivor who escaped from the fire, and has his own understanding and judgment of the sudden war in front of him.
If Brother Shi Chang didn't tell him before he died, these cavalry who attacked the city gate were the Jingzhou army. Maybe he couldn't judge how many people there were in this enemy army, but now that he knew that they were the Jingzhou army, he could think that the Jingzhou army was definitely more than 20,000 or 30,000 cavalry, and there should be more troops behind. So he was waiting, waiting for all the Jingzhou troops lurking in the woods to enter the city, and even he could guess that there was still a team of soldiers and horses lurking outside the city at this moment, waiting for the people and soldiers guarding the city who were in a hurry to leave the city.
As for how the Jingzhou army would treat these people who fled out of the city, Liu Laohan didn't dare to think about the benefits. You can only prepare for the worst. Therefore, he did not dare to move and continued to hide here, and he would not take the dog out of the city until the next wave of Jingzhou troops entered the city.
At the moment when Brother Shi Chang died, Liu Laohan made up his mind. If he and the dog could survive this time, he would send his wife and children and his old father to hide in the mountains and forests. Since he was burned down by the princes' rebels eight years ago, he began to prepare. He built three small huts in a col more than ten miles away from his home, and dug a cellar. The store is enough food for a family of four to eat for half a year. It may seem incredible, but he was prepared. Because he is a person who makes a living in the mountains and forests all the year round, although he has not read books and does not understand any big truths, he has seen the three holes of the cunning rabbit with his own eyes.
As the saying goes, eat a trench and grow a wisdom. Liu Laohan experienced a family ruin in his early years, and he heard the elder brother say that the war is not over yet, and one day His Majesty will destroy Liu Biao in Jingzhou and dominate the world. For this reason, he was very worried that his family would suffer again, so he saved money for so many years, and finally built another home in the mountains, so that even if war broke out in the future, his family could hide in the mountains and not be ruined again. He didn't tell his wife about this, but he told his old father in private, because he didn't want his wife to worry and was afraid that he would encounter an accident one day, so it was undoubtedly the safest to tell his old father the secret.
Originally, I just thought about it just in case, but I didn't admit it, but this time it came in handy.
The sound of horses' hooves interrupted Liu Laohan's thoughts, pulling him back into reality and putting him in danger again. As he guessed, there were indeed Jingzhou troops outside the city, and they were walking towards the city gate at this moment.
More than ten steps away from the hiding place of Liu Laohan and his son, there were four Jingzhou generals and a scribe in brocade robes standing at the gate of the city, and there was only a door panel between them and Liu Laohan and his son.
These four Jingzhou generals are all tiger-backed bears, with burly bodies like mountains, and one of their bare arms is thicker than Liu Laohan's thigh, as if they are tiger and wolf generals with thousands of strength. In contrast, the young scribe with a moustache looked much thinner, he looked like he was about thirty years old, his eyebrows were not thick, his eyes were not big or small, the bridge of his nose was high, and the only thing that stood out was that his cheeks were very long, the so-called long face. Although his cheeks are long, his jaw is not pointed, it looks relatively broad, and he does not belong to the type of snarky and mean, and his eyebrows are clear and beautiful, giving people a very kind feeling, and he seems to be easier to get along with.
Liu Laohan, who was peeping at others through the crack in the door, suddenly shrank his eyes, and couldn't help but tremble, because his gaze met the long-faced scribe at the city gate unexpectedly. The moment the eyes met, the long-faced scribe grinned, revealing his shining teeth, which was a gentle smile, but it was like a devil's smile in Liu Laohan's eyes, which made people shudder, his hair stood on end, his backbone was cold, and he shivered involuntarily from head to toe.
The sound of rustling attracted the attention of the four generals, who immediately took out a bow and arrow from his back and wound it in one go. As his dragon-like right arm slowly stretched back, the bowstring "gurgled", and a four-stone strong bow was pulled into a semicircle by him. As long as his fingers loosen slightly, the sharp arrow on the bowstring can pass through the fist-sized crack in the door, instantly taking the life of Liu Laohan or the dog, and it may even kill two birds with one stone, and both father and son will die. After all, the two sides are very close to each other, and the bow and arrow can exert the maximum power, and the penetrating power is very strong, and it is absolutely not a problem to kill two birds with one stone.
At the last moment, but seeing the long-faced scribe reach out and press down the general's bow and arrow, the military general who took the bow and wound it looked a little unhappy, how could the long-faced scribe not look at the appearance of Sven, but the strength on his arm was not small, and he forced down the bow and arrow in the general's hand.
"Wen Chang doesn't need to be angry, they are just ordinary people, don't kill too much." Noticing that the general's face showed a little anger, the long-faced scribe smiled and comforted him, and seeing that he was still full of anger, the long-faced scribe continued: "Speaking of which, this Nanyang County is my Southern Han territory, and they are also my Han people. In fact, I sent troops to Nanyang this time to regain our own things, to drive out the Xiliang army that forcibly occupied Nanyang, and if possible, to capture some counties of the Western Jin Dynasty. Therefore, there are many opportunities to follow, when the chief can show his skills and make a name for himself, and there is no need to rush for a while. ”
The long-faced scribe's voice fell, and a rather dignified general standing beside him continued: "What Mr. Yuan Zhi said is extremely true. Wen Chang can't make mistakes, indiscriminately killing innocents is a taboo for leading troops to fight, how can it be done by our generals who command the army? Stop. He spoke in a much harsher tone than the scribes, as if he were ordering the "chief" to stop, unquestionable. At the same time, it is not difficult to see that he was quite friendly, or rather respectful, and courteous to the long-faced scribes.
Sure enough, seeing that his immediate boss came forward to stop him, Wen Chang didn't dare to disobey the order, and replied in a loud voice: "The last general will obey the order." When he saw that there was still a yellow mark on the back of the knife, he couldn't help but shrink his eyes, squinting his eyes and looking coldly at the little head behind the crack in the door, his eyes were full of murderous aura.
This little head is the dog hiding in Liu Laohan. If he had the courage to look up through the crack in the door at this time, he would definitely recognize the sword in the hand of "Buncho" as the shining glowing object he had seen earlier. It goes without saying that the water mark on the back of the knife is the dog's masterpiece, and when a soak of boy's urine is poured on it, it will naturally leave a yellow mark. It is no wonder that "Wen Chang" had murderous intent towards their father and son, and the sword of the deputy vanguard of the Northern Expedition had not yet been opened, but was poured urine by a seven-year-old child. Once this matter spreads, won't it make Wei Yan lose face and be ridiculed for the rest of his life?
Wei Yan, a native of Yiyang, Jingzhou, was formerly a general under Han Xuan's account in Changsha, and was valued by the military division Pang Tong three years ago, and participated in the coercion of Jiangdong in the first battle, and was later promoted to Zhonglang General. This time, Pang Tong commanded the Northern Expedition, and Wei Yan was once again entrusted with an important task, serving as the deputy general of the civil appointment and the deputy vanguard of the former army.
Obviously, the mighty general who stood beside the long-faced scribe was Wei Yan's immediate boss, the Jingzhou general Wen Ping. Wen Ping, the word Zhongye, a native of Wancheng, Jingzhou, has been guarding Jingbei for Liu Biaozhen for many years, resisting the southward movement of the Xiliang army, and has made great contributions, and is a close general under Liu Biao. After Liu Biao ascended the throne and became emperor, Wen Ping was named a general, and his position was higher than that of the third duke, so it is not difficult to see how much Liu Biao valued him.
This time, Pang led the Northern Expedition, and Wen Ping served as the vanguard general, and the black-armored cavalry that attacked the city before was the elite cavalry led by Liu Pan, another deputy pioneer under his account. At the same time, the vanguard army led by him had a total of 50,000 troops, in addition to 25,000 war cavalry, the remaining 20,000 horses were distributed outside the other three city gates, which had already formed a situation of encirclement of Deng County, blocking all roads to the north to prevent news from leaking.
It is worth mentioning that the "Mr. Yuanzhi" in Wen Ping's mouth is Xu Shu, who joined the army in the former army, he is a strategist recommended by Pang Tong, and this is the first time he has gone out with the army. In addition to the three of them, the other two generals standing at the gate of the city at this moment are from Jiangdong, and they are already famous generals in the Jiangdong army, Jiujiang Zhou Tai, Zhou Youping and Jiang Qin Jiang Gongyi.
—————— To be Continued ———————————————— (To be Continued......