Qinghe County.

Ma Chen, the guard general, stood on the low head of the city, looking at the soldiers and horses rolling on the horizon in the distance and was silent, the afternoon sun shining from his side, casting a dark silhouette on the ground not far away.

The county town of Jingnan is not far from here, so the news of the defeat of the imperial army and the retreat has completely spread in the past few days.

As a military general who eats the imperial court, Ma Chen's mood was obviously not much better when he learned the news, and an even more headache was quickly put in front of him: once Zhao Yuanjin, who had recovered his strength, sent troops to counterattack, where would he go?

Qinghe County is only a small county seat, with a small population, low city walls, and withered people's livelihood, and has never been valued by the imperial government. When General Meng Luo led his troops to encircle and suppress Zhao Yuanjin, after recovering here, only one guard (500 people) ordinary foot soldiers were left to garrison, but they were still not satisfied, and there was a shortage of food, grass and ordnance.

In fact, this little bit of people can actually help maintain order in the city and show the existence of the rule of the imperial court. If you really want to encounter a large-scale homeless bandit, it will be quite difficult to resist.

Therefore, after Ma Chen had a premonition that the situation was not good, he sent people to ask for support from the main force of the imperial army in Yangcheng County, and on the other hand, he mobilized the people in the county town to repair the city wall and prepare to roll wood and stones in order to deal with the battle that might come at any time.

However, the imperial army, whose morale was lost and morale was low, had no intention of going to war, and the general who temporarily presided over military affairs gave Ma Chen an order to hold the city to the death, and not to retreat or surrender.

After sighing for a while, he could only talk about personnel and do his best to strengthen the city defense, hoping to win a glimmer of life.

I was just afraid that something would come, so I went to the Malay newspaper this afternoon and said that Zhao Yuanjin's army had already headed for Qinghe County, and the number would not be less than three thousand.

So...... For Ma Chen, and the county under his feet, it was just the difference between early and late death.

Want to win? That's impossible! A strong enemy that even General Meng Luo couldn't do, Ma Chen, who had mediocre ability, didn't think he would have any chance.

"General Ma." A voice came from behind.

He turned his head and found that it was Liu Yi, the newly appointed county magistrate of Qinghe County, a thin old man with a tired look, and his eyes were frustrated that he couldn't hide.

Liu Yi has only been the leader of a county for less than two months in this place, and the affairs of the county have just been straightened out, so how much spare energy can be put on military affairs? In the face of such a sudden disaster of war, it is extremely rare not to abandon the city and flee.

"Lord Prefectural." Ma Chen replied weakly.

"Now that the thief army has arrived in the city, how should we deal with it?" Liu Xianling asked nervously.

"What else? I wait for the court to be loyal. When the matter comes, it is nothing more than a death to serve the country. Ma Chen said lightly.

"......" Liu Xianling opened his mouth, wanting to say something but couldn't say it.

In the end, he just sighed heavily, and said with a blank expression: "Since the general has the heart to die, and the old man is not a person who is greedy for life and afraid of death, it is better to live and die with this county." ”

Zhao Yuanjin's troops came very quickly, 4,000 troops set up camp six miles away from the city, erected wooden walls, dug trenches, buried pots to make food, and there were special soldiers who went out to inspect the terrain and cut down trees, everything was busy but not chaotic.

Qin Feng looked around, the last time he went back, he collected a lot of information about the ancient marching and fighting, military books and strategies, these days when he has nothing to do, he often reads it, and now he understands a lot, not a layman.

Back in the tent, Zhao Yuanjin was discussing with several generals, Su Mu was also there, and Sun Xiangqing stayed in the county this time and did not come.

He didn't say much, but after bowing, he sat down and listened quietly.

"I don't know what Mr. thinks about this siege?" After a moment, Zhao Yuanjin turned his head to look at him.

"You can send someone to persuade you to surrender first, and if it doesn't work, you can order a strong attack." Qin Feng said indifferently.

This advantage is on our side, and it is best to be able to surrender without a fight, and if the opponent is stubbornly resisting, then it is okay to send troops to fight hard. Anyway, the city has few soldiers, and the city wall is only more than three meters high, so it can't last long.

"Sir is right, and I mean the same." Ling Yuanqing said with a smile.

"I think it's feasible," Song Wu, the commander of the guards, said in a deep voice.

Several generals spoke one after another, and the meaning was similar. Zhao Yuan no longer hesitated, and immediately ordered to send an envoy to surrender. It is stated that as long as the other party agrees to donate the city, not only will he not be guilty of the past, but he can also retain his original appointment.

As a result, half an hour later, the messenger with a guilty face returned and kowtowed to Zhao Yuanjin to plead guilty.

Zhao Yuanjin didn't have much hope for this matter, so he didn't blame him. The whole army no longer hesitated, and was preparing for the siege of the city.

Early the next morning.

After breakfast, with the sound of the agitated horn, groups of soldiers drove out of the barracks one after another, and gathered into a military formation at a safe distance in front of the city.

At the head of the city, the court soldiers who were nervous and had not rested all night hurriedly put on guard, and some people rushed to ask the guards and county commanders to come and preside over the situation.

When Ma Chen and Liu Yi rushed to the city wall, they saw that the elite soldiers under the city did not move at all, the array was tight, the crows were silent, and the cold murderous aura came to their faces. The army formation of 4,000 people is like the majesty of ten thousand armies.

"How's that...... Is it good? ”

Liu Yi was frightened in his heart, his face was pale and he didn't say a word. Even the expressions of the people around him were a little shaken, like this, even if he barely continued to fight, it was just a certain death.

Ma Chen's face was also ugly, but he still gritted his teeth and ordered the court soldiers on the city wall to prepare for battle.

Zhao Yuanjin under the city once again shouted to persuade him to surrender, Liu Yi was very moved, looked at Ma Chen with a cold face, and swallowed back the words to his mouth.

He has no soldiers in his hands, and if he rashly opens his mouth to propose surrender, he is afraid that this brainless Ma Chen will cut him down first.

After waiting for a while, Zhao Yuan, who did not respond, waved his hand and ordered the siege of the city. A large group of soldiers slowly approached the city wall with ladders, earth dragon carts, rammers and other equipment, and there were trebuchets behind them.

Time is in a hurry, these bulky things are naturally impossible to make on the spot, they are all brought from the county town, and they are stored in Qin Feng's dimensional space. Last night, he was quietly released and dumped near the camp without anyone seeing it, and then let the soldiers take over after dawn.

"This ...... How is this possible? ”

Ma Chen on the city wall was dumbfounded, he thought that Zhao Yuanjin's troops were coming very fast, and they would definitely not carry siege equipment, after all, these stupid and stupid things were extremely slow down the speed of the march.

But the scene that happened now washed away the last glimmer of hope in his heart.

"Bang!"

The first boulder was thrown high, cut a parabola through the air, and slammed into the city walls, sending up a cloud of smoke and dust, and the huge tremor caused everyone to change color in the nearby defenders.

In the rapid beat of the drums, the soldiers under the city poured up like a tide. Braving the arrows from the top of the city, he desperately put the ladder up to the top of the city, and then climbed up quickly.

Boulders continued to fall, and in the continuous shaking, cracks were everywhere in the not very strong walls, and in some places there were even obvious gaps and breaks.

Liu Yi complained bitterly in his heart, this county town has been in disrepair for a long time, and if it will be bombarded for a few more rounds, it will be difficult for the entire section of the city wall to collapse, where should he go when the time comes? Is it really impossible to accompany the funeral for the imperial court?

Under the banner of the Chinese army, Qin Feng followed Zhao Yuanjin and silently watched the realistic version of the siege battle staged. This kind of scene, which used to be only seen on TV, is now real in front of me, and it is still more tragic and bloody.

Of course, now that they have an almost absolute advantage, they don't need to make their own moves, they can still take down this county, and the casualties will not be too large.

Sure enough, just an hour later, a crumbling city wall was overwhelmed and finally collapsed, revealing a gap several meters wide.

"The victory is decided!"

Zhao Yuan was overjoyed, and immediately ordered the two elite guards to rush in.

In just a few moments, thousands of soldiers rushed into the city, and then the gates were opened, and more soldiers swarmed in.

The city was in chaos, with only sporadic court soldiers fighting back, but it was no longer the climate, and it was quickly suppressed.

Seeing this, many soldiers threw their weapons and knelt on the ground to ask for surrender, and the Zhao army's headquarters did not deliberately kill, as long as they were no longer stubborn, they were all driven to the side to take care of them.

By the time Qin Feng accompanied Zhao Yuanjin into the city, the fighting inside had basically subsided, and there were still a lot of blood stains on the ground.

The county commander Liu Yi was a little unlucky, and he planned to escape while he was in chaos, but he was hit in the thigh by a boulder, and he broke his tendons and fractured on the spot and fell unconscious.

And the guard general Ma Chen survived, his armor was torn, his body was scarred, and his eyes were still unruly, with gnashing his teeth.

"Well, let it be fulfilled in the name of his loyalty."

Zhao Yuanjin knew at a glance that this kind of person was difficult to recruit, so he didn't bother to talk about it, and commanded lightly.

A pro-soldier stepped forward, the snowy long knife swept over, and the big head was swept high by the pillar of blood, and the headless corpse swayed several times and fell to the ground.

"Rectify and restore order in the city, and strictly prohibit lawbreakers from taking advantage of the chaos to loot, and those who violate it will be beheaded! Blockade of the county government and inventory of the treasury ......"

One order after another was issued, and by sunset, the entire county was completely under the control of Zhao Yuanjin's troops, and there were not many casualties.

Unfortunately, there is not much silver in the treasury, and there is not much food, it is almost an empty city, and if you want to restore the county governance, you have to invest some resources in advance.

Although it seems to be a loss-making deal in the short term, it is advantageous in the long run, at least one or two thousand young people can be recruited to enrich the army now, which is of great significance to Zhao Yuanjin, who is short of troops.

The next day, Zhao Yuanjin did not stay, and continued to wave his army straight forward, killing Yuanxiang County, which was hundreds of miles away.

This time it went more smoothly, and the battle did not start at all, and as soon as the army arrived, the guards defending the city raised their banners and surrendered.