At ten o'clock in the evening, a messenger Pegasus rode into Mengling City. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

In the past few days, the Eastern Tang Army also seemed to know the news of the arrival of the Northern Chu reinforcements, so they did not dare to besiege Mengling City again, but chose to retreat twenty miles and watch.

In Mengling City, Zhang Meng and his generals sat in the city lord's mansion, and Zhang Meng was very excited after learning the news of the arrival of reinforcements. In his opinion, as long as the reinforcements arrived, Long Xiangnan had only one option: withdrawing troops. If Long Xiangnan retreats without knowing the difficulty, they will give Long Xiangnan an unforgettable lesson.

In the past few days, there has been an exchange of news between the two armies, and after Zhang Meng knew that the reinforcements had passed three levels in a row and there was no enemy interception, although he also thought about it vigilantly, he did not see what the enemy's purpose was.

As long as the reinforcements enter Mengling City, or get close to the battlefield, the army of the Eastern Tang Dynasty will no longer have deterrent power. Thinking about it like this, Zhang Meng was no longer worried about the movements of the Eastern Tang army, but wished that the enemy army would let the reinforcements arrive without hindrance.

While the generals were discussing the matter, the sound of Pegasus announcing came from outside the door.

"Report~~! There is an urgent military situation!" A shout with an elongated voice sounded, and all the generals craned their ears to hear the truth.

I saw a blood-stained messenger galloping towards him, and only then did he kick and pounce at the gate of the city lord's mansion. He knelt on the ground tiredly and said, "General Zhang, the reinforcements have been defeated! Here is General Xiang's handwritten letter." ”

Zhang Meng listened to the messenger's words, and suddenly felt bad in his heart. Could it be that the enemy was really attacking at the last moment? If so, it is also reasonable, if he were an enemy general, he would not have allowed the enemy's reinforcements to arrive with a swagger. But why didn't the previous natural hazards block it?

After composing himself, Zhang Meng took the letter but did not open it immediately, he instructed left and right: "Come, send the messenger down to rest." You've worked hard, just recuperate with peace of mind. ”

The messenger was already tired and choked on his knees, and he had many wounds on his body. At this time, he immediately thanked the general for his grace and went down with the guards to recuperate from his wounds.

"General, are you worried that there is fraud in it?" a general asked suspiciously, only before there was news that Xiang Shaojun's reinforcements were unharmed all the way, and they would arrive at Mengling City in a few days. But now, less than two days later, the news that the reinforcements have been broken has come again, which is really unbelievable.

"It is extremely unlikely that there is fraud in this matter, presumably the enemy army has used some tricks, let's take a look at General Xiang's letter first. Zhang Meng is cautious, although he has some doubts, he is not in a hurry to make a conclusion.

After opening the letter brought by the messenger, Zhang Meng was taken aback when he looked at it, and the more he looked at it, the more wrong his face became. When he had read the letters, he circulated them to the generals.

"Let's take a look at it and share your opinions. Zhang Meng said with a gloomy face, he didn't expect things to develop like this at all. The 150,000-strong army was broken overnight, and the soldiers fled everywhere.

"General, although the soldiers have been scattered, they will definitely gather again and approach Mengling City. As long as we put the rout in time, we won't have the strength to fight again!" The henchman on the left opened his mouth to express his opinion, which caused everyone to nod their heads.

"If the enemy chooses to attack at night, he will certainly not kill too many soldiers, and the number of prisoners will certainly not be large. In this way, we will be able to gather at least 100,000 soldiers again, and we will not be completely passive. ”

Listening to the discussions of the generals, Zhang Meng also had a plan in his heart. As long as he sticks to Mengling City, the enemy will not dare to go deep into the Northern Chu Kingdom at will. An army of 300,000 troops was stationed in Mengling City, which was obviously impregnable.

Let the wind and rain outside his city be turbulent, as long as he holds Mengling City, the enemy army will naturally not be able to survive.

"This matter is not unsolvable, although the reinforcements have been defeated, but we are unscathed, as long as we stick to the city and dragon to the south, we have no way. If General Xiang can lead his soldiers in time, our situation will be much safer. Zhang Meng's words immediately reminded the generals that they were not out of disadvantage at this time, and even if they asked for reinforcements, it was only to rescue the commander Chu Zhenhai.

Now that the reinforcements are broken, the boss continues to be trapped. With 100,000 troops guarding, Chu Zhenhai's safety doesn't have to worry too much. Moreover, the two armies can still contain the enemy army very well, but they dare not attack any place at will, which makes Mengling City more secure.

"What does the general mean is that we don't care about the reinforcements?, but if General Xiang Shaojun knew that we were indifferent to his predicament, he would definitely blame us, right?" Xiang Shaojun is a member of the royal family and a general in the army, and this general's worries are not superfluous.

"We are waiting to serve the country with all our hearts, and he Xiang Shaojun can't fully observe the enemy's situation, so what reason does he have to blame us for being defeated by the enemy?" Zhang Meng immediately retorted when he heard this.

"Besides, it's not that we can't save us when we see death, but now that the Eastern Tang Dynasty army is eyeing us outside, if we easily lead our troops out of the city, I'm afraid that the enemy army will come to besiege Mengling City in an instant. If there is a mistake in Mengling City, Xiang Shaojun can't afford it. Zhang Meng righteously said the pros and cons of the matter.

Coach Chu Zhenhai was trapped outside the city, and he dared not to rescue, let alone a general who came to reinforce him. And coach Chu Zhenhai did not express any dissatisfaction with Zhang Meng's approach, obviously being able to become the coach's henchman, he is deeply trusted by the coach.

Therefore, Zhang Meng's consideration of his affairs now does not involve too many personal factors, but completely proceeds from the interests of the country. The generals are also his old followers, and they are all clear about his rejection of the coach, and now they don't say anything more about Zhang Meng's approach.

After deciding on the strategy of holding on to the city and ignoring external affairs, the generals left one after another to strengthen the city defenses. If you don't go to the rescue army to make Mengling City lose, it will really be a pity to die.

Xiang Shaojun, who was trapped in the mountains, was also busy preparing to collect his soldiers at this time, but his strategy had little effect under the interference of the Eastern Tang troops. Because they fled in a hurry at night, they did not bring any supplies, and now they are not only short of food and drink, but also lost their way in this huge sunset mountain.

Even if some soldiers can be gathered, they have to think about their three meals for one person. And the more people there are, the easier it is to attract the attention of the Eastern Tang Army, and if they attract a large army to encircle and suppress them, they will only have to run away again.

After ordering the messenger to spread the news, Xiang Shaojun waited for Zhang Meng to send troops to deter the Eastern Tang Army blocking the road, but he did not see any movement from Zhang Meng for a few days, even if he could not even get out the news.

This made Xiang Shaojun feel very depressed, he originally supported the other party, but now he wanted to let the other party open the way for him. Although he knew that his current situation was very embarrassing, he still felt a burst of anger at Zhang Meng's indifferent approach.

After the royal family, and it was a grand prize in the army, but it was ignored by the other party. Although Xiang Shaojun also knew that the other party's situation was not optimistic, he still couldn't get over this hurdle in his heart, and a mustard was buried in his heart like this.

For several days, Xiang Shaojun continued to collect the rout, but it didn't have much effect. Only now did he gather 5,000 soldiers, and the army of 150,000 was scattered. Moreover, under Li Yitian's strict search, the fleeing soldiers were constantly caught, if so, it seems that the speed of their collection is not as fast as Li Yitian's arrest.

For several days, there have been routs from all directions, and Zhang Meng, as the commander, decided to isolate these soldiers as soon as possible. After a long time in battle, he naturally knew that there must be soldiers or spies from the Eastern Tang Dynasty mixed in it, so he had to guard against the other party.

On this night, a group of disheveled soldiers under the leadership of a general rushed towards the direction of Mengling City. The night guard at the head of the city immediately saw them, and the captain of the patrol stopped them in a loud voice.

"Stop and show who you are. The captain raised his hand and shouted, and the archers beside him opened their bows and drew arrows, and as soon as something was not done to them, they would immediately greet each other with arrows.

"Brothers at the head of the city, open the city gate, we are the subordinates of General Xiang Shaojun, and now we are being chased and killed by the soldiers of the Eastern Tang Dynasty, quickly open the city gate and let us in!" The leader of the general said loudly, and the soldiers beside him also pleaded one after another.

"Brother, open the city gates, the enemy army will arrive soon, let us in!"

"Yes, they are all for the country, save our lives!"

Looking at the tattered and bloodstained compatriots under the city, the patrol captain immediately ordered his subordinates to report to the commander. He opened his mouth to reassure him: "Brothers, don't be impatient, I will go to General Zhang immediately, as long as General Zhang agrees to let you into the city immediately!"

"When is this, when General Zhang comes, we won't kill the enemy, let's open the city gate quickly!"

At this moment, the sound of iron hooves roared in the distance, "Kill!", "Kill these deserters!" The shouts of killing were clearly audible, and the enemy's pursuers were about to arrive.

"Brother, there are more than 1,000 of us, if you can't believe us. As soon as we enter the city, we will hand in our weapons, so that we can always do it. Hundreds of thousands of people in the city are still afraid of us, and the enemy army is about to arrive, so let us in!"

The urging outside the city was more urgent, and the sound of horses' hooves and shouts of killing in the distance was getting closer and closer, and with the help of the large brazier lit at the head of the city, you could even see the figure of the Eastern Tang Army in the distance, and they were rushing here at full speed at this time. Presumably, they were about to kill these soldiers outside the city, and they shouted very loudly one by one.

"Open the gates!" (To be continued.) )