In the darkness of the night, the team collectively turned back.

The baggage troops, which were originally at the end, became the front line.

Wang Meng's order to return to the city was very urgent, except for some of the heavy weapons that could not be discarded and had to be carried, the rest of the grain and cooking utensils were thrown into the mountain stream, and they were lightly armed.

Bai Ling smelled a mixture of blood and burn on the Xue family brothers who had returned to the team, and even heard a series of shouts and curses from the captured Jin people behind him. Although he couldn't understand what the golden man was scolding, from his angry tone, Bai Ling knew that it was mostly difficult to hear.

Sure enough, Xue Zi'an only listened for a while, then rode back and cut off the man's calf with a knife in the wind and snow.

In the darkness, a thin stream of blood flashed through a dark shadow. After a burst of screams, Xue Zi'an indifferently put away the knife and calmly said a short sentence in golden language.

The captives died down.

Just as Bai Ling was secretly surprised, a familiar figure stopped beside her on horseback.

"Huh." The man's gray-white cloak spread out in the night wind, but the pocket on his head covered most of his face, and the outline of his facial features was hidden in the shadows, "You can't go to Yanzhou now." ”

Bai Ling looked sideways and saw that the deer hunter had caught up with him at some point.

"It's you...... How did you end up here. ”

"If you want to know, go ask Wang Meng." The deer hunter's voice was clear, "That boy asked me to bring you a message." ”

“…… Is it the same? ”

The deer hunter looked ahead, "He wants me to tell you that he has escaped, so don't worry about it in Yanzhou, if you don't meet, wait a few more days, he will chase you soon...... But now it seems that you should be looking at the convergence of the two ends. ”

"He's looking at each other now?" Bai Ling frowned, "What about Mu Cheng?" ”

The deer hunter did not reply, but turned his horse's head, stretched out his hand and waved it in mid-air, and then passed through the horse team that had captured many golden people, and disappeared into the night alone.

Regarding the departure of the deer hunters, whether it was the two guards on the side or the two brothers of the Xue family, no one expressed surprise.

"You wait—"

Bai Ling was about to catch up, but Xue Ziping, who was behind the hall at the end of the team, hurriedly stretched out his hand to block it, "Where is Mr. Little going to go?" ”

"I have something to ask him."

"Whatever happens, let's wait until we get back to the city!" In the wind and snow, even if Xue Ziping raised his volume, his voice was still thin, "Don't fall behind now!" ”

The corners of Bai Ling's mouth sank slightly, and he followed Xue Ziping's advice in the end.

Most of the roads to Yanzhou from both ends are uphill, and it is relatively difficult to walk, but the way back is much faster, and it takes less than half the time to come.

Before the city gate could be seen from both sides, the sound of huge artillery fire shook everyone's eardrums.

The earth shook with the sound of cannons, and tiny stones and clods of earth continued to fall from the side of the mountain.

When approaching the county seat, Wang Meng led people to go up the hill and high ground first, overlooking a large open space at both ends of the north city gate in the night.

The wilderness, which was silent and uninhabited during the day yesterday, has been unfurled today, and the enemy campfires in the distance are like countless stars on the ground, spreading all the way to the horizon.

In the distance, the big banner standing in front of the golden queue was rolling in the wind, Bai Ling squinted his eyes and looked at it for a while, the words embroidered on the banner were horizontal and vertical, some were apostrophes and some were not, but they were not the words of any Great Zhou.

On the other side, the soldiers looking at the city at both ends are also waiting for the battle.

It seems that the Jin people have not really launched the first siege yet, but have just set their camps out one by one with great fanfare.

"No wonder the general is calling us back to support ......," Wang Meng muttered, "it's already begun." ”

Bai Ling leaned over next to Wang Meng, and when he heard the sound of "start", he couldn't help but clench his clothes slightly.

"The first priority is to get in touch with the city." The older guard beside Wang Meng said, "Let us into the city." ”

"How many defenders are there at the two ends?" Xue Ziping suddenly asked.

"There are less than 10,000 permanent garrisons." Wang Meng said softly, "Coupled with the few new teams entering the city today, there should be about 12,000 to 15,000. ”

"That should be fine." Xue Ziping looked at Wang Meng, "The city defense here is strong, the terrain is steep, and the two sides outside the north city are dense forests, so you can easily deal with the enemy with 5,000 people stationed there...... Why did General Chang ask us to come back? No matter how you look at it, it should be stepping up to Yanzhou. ”

Wang Meng did not answer.

He looked at the Jin Bing in the distance, and vaguely felt that this time the battle seemed to be different from previous years.

As for the difference, he couldn't say for a while.

At this time, a herald trotted in, saying that almost all the gates of the city were sealed, and that the night was dark, and they could not distinguish between friend and foe, but whenever they saw any approaching soldiers, they were greeted by gunfire, and could not approach at all.

At the moment, all the pigeons that have been brought out of the two sides have been released, and I hope that tomorrow they will take the initiative to give some news.

"That's how it should be." Wang Meng frowned, and looked at Xue Ziping again, "Did we catch all those gold thieves who were ambushed in the ice road just now?" ”

"It should be all." Xue Ziping said, "Before you led the troops to kill, Zi'an and I had blocked the road at both ends, and we didn't let go of one." If you're confident that all the bodies left there are dead, then there's nothing that has slipped through the net. ”

"That'll be fine." Wang Meng said in a low voice, "Jin Bing was able to set up an ambush in the ice road in advance, so it can be seen that he already knew that we were going to pass there, but they may not have expected that we would turn back...... Eh, what about Wei Songqing? ”

Wang Meng looked left and right, he wanted to ask Bai Ling's opinion on the current situation-but he still saw the young man lying on his side, but at this moment, he was gone.

"I just saw him go north alone," Xue Zi'an replied, "maybe it's convenient to go." ”

"Call him back." Wang Meng frowned and said, "We're going to retreat a little further south." ”

On the north side of the hill, Bai Ling climbed a huge rock with his hands and feet.

In the cold wind, her hands kept balancing on the stone surface.

Squatting on this boulder, the north gate of the city can no longer be seen from both ends, but the terrain further north can be seen at a glance.

In the second half of the night, the wind was fierce, but the snow stopped for a moment, and the howling north wind blew a cloud from time to time, and the sky and the earth flickered and darkened.

At her feet there was a whole dense forest, and there was a long causeway at the edge of the forest. After the first snowfall, the river on the land here either freezes or dries up, and it seems that the embankment here is the latter.

"Hey!" Bai Ling heard Xue Zi'an's voice behind him, "The deputy general shouted that you go back, we are going to continue south." ”

"Hmm. Just come. ”

In the moonlight, Bai Ling glanced at the banner of the golden man in the distance, and then carefully touched the rock folds on the boulder and slowly returned to the mountain road.

She had climbed up the hill to see the terrain below, but she didn't want to see anything more interesting here.