There was a lot of discussion for a while, and the atmosphere of the entire banquet hall became weird. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 infoThe eager gaze of all the Antar officials who greeted them at the city gate before was gone, replaced by cold and cold, ridicule and contempt, and pain and despair.

Guard Yang Tong's right hand, placed under the table, held the hilt of the knife. It has not been a day or two since he followed Yang Tianhong, and Yang Tong has an instinctive sense of vigilance against potential dangers. Although I don't understand why the attitude of these Anzhou officials has changed so much, if the situation changes, they really have to make a move, and with the strong strength of the guards around Yang Tianhong, they will never lose to anyone.

Yang Tianhong waved his hand lightly in a position that was invisible to others, signaling Yang Tong and the others to press the action. He turned his inquiring gaze to Cao Hui, and asked seriously: "What, Ben General's words, is there any problem?"

After all, he is a general sent by the imperial court, with heavy troops in his hands, and his grade is also equivalent to that of the assassin, so he naturally has a weight that must be weighed when he speaks. The discussion gradually subsided, Cao Hui opened his mouth, as if he wanted to say something, but he could only sigh, picked up the wine jug and poured the empty glass in front of him, with a sad face full of pain, and drank the liquor in the cup with a painful face. When he raised his head again, Yang Tianhong found that the eyes of this third-grade master were full of dense bright red blood.

"Now in Anzhou, where are there any garrisons?"

"This official is a jinshi in the Qinghong period, and when he came to Anzhou to serve, it was the year of his establishment. The Vietnamese people entered and plundered every year, and the counties under the rule of Anzhou could not be prevented. Although the barbarians have no culture and rough armor, they are familiar with the terrain and move quickly between the mountains and forests. The counties of Anzhou are poor in wealth and cannot afford to build high walls, in the eyes of these thieves. like an undefended anointed place. Every year, the officer recruits young and strong troops to train them, and then assigns them to various prefectures and counties to assist in the defense and retreat of the enemy. The Yue people were strong, the officers and soldiers suffered heavy casualties, and the annual pension was as much as 10,000 taels. As for the garrison...... Every year, officers and soldiers die in battle, and there are also young and strong people who are constantly replenished. is only the position of Anzhou Bingcao, five years before and after. There were eight people. ”

Perhaps because he felt that drinking from a cup was not enjoyable enough, Cao Hui directly picked up the wine jug, removed the lid, aimed the mouth of the jug at his wide open mouth, and poured it again and again. Tears mixed with liquor spilled down on his body, his clothes became damp, and his breathing became heavy like a cow.

"The Anju garrison has never really been full. Although there are as many as 20,000 horses on paper, all the counties under his rule are in an emergency. Two thousand here, five hundred there. scattered and scattered, and there is no trace. ”

There was silence in the banquet hall, and the officials of Anzhou sat separately. Their expressions are indifferent and their eyes are glazed, some of them keep drinking in large bowls, some of them are as calm as clay sculptures and wood carvings, and some of them have eyes full of sorrow and look at a corner stupidly. I don't know what I'm thinking.

"In the thirteenth year of Qinghong, the Yue people entered the country. Anzhou's 20,000 garrison troops rushed to the aid of various counties. Two months later, the Yue barbarians retreated, and only 4,000 officers and soldiers returned to Anzhou. ”

"In the fifteenth year of Qinghong, the Yue people also entered the country, and there was an emergency in various places, and the total strength of the garrison at that time was more than 17,000 people. After the end of the war. Less than 3,000 officers and soldiers survived. ”

"It's not interesting to say that it is far away, let's just say that last year, the Vietnamese people entered the country again, but the scale was not as large as this year, and the garrisons assigned to various places were still fighting desperately and bloodily. Wait until the Yue people retreat. The number of officers and soldiers who survived was only about 800. ”

"After years of war, there is no way to recruit young people in Anzhou. As a matter of fact, the theory of the garrison has long existed in name only. Villagers were gathered in various counties and distributed weapons against the Yue. In the counties under the rule of Anzhou, when the Yue people entered the country, which place did not summon the people at the city gate to fight to the death? It was just that the Yue people were fierce and cruel, and the county towns in various places were unable to build high city walls, so they were repeatedly attacked and slaughtered by the Yue people. After many years, the Anzhou garrison was left with only an empty shell. Just before the entry of the Vietnamese this year, the number of soldiers stationed in the garrison was only 4,000. Qingsui sent a thousand, then three hundred here, two hundred there...... At present, the defense of Anzhou City is all maintained by the officials of the Assassin's Palace. The general may not have noticed when he entered the city, although the soldiers defending the city were wearing armor and clothes, they were the color of the official uniform. ”

As he spoke, Cao Hui raised his hand and pointed to a dark-skinned young man in his twenties next to him: "This is the son of the previous Anzhou soldier Cao, and he is also the current Anzhou soldier Cao." ”

"That one is the current general judge of Anzhou. His father was also the last general judge of Anzhou. ”

"And this, he, he, and him, respectively, are the current Tongzhi, Tuiguan, and experience in Anzhou. Their fathers were also the previous officials of the same level in Anzhou. ”

Cao Hui's voice became louder and louder, almost roaring: "Anzhou has Vietnamese people entering the country every year, but the imperial court is turning a blind eye to this. I don't know how many people were taken captive by the Yue people, and how many people were ruined and killed. People in the world only know that being an official is a blessing, but here, in Anzhou, as long as you are an official, you must take the lead and rush to the front. Since six years ago, the imperial court has not assigned a new official here. The shortage of officials in Anzhou is as high as 60%, and the officials can only let their sons inherit their father's business and continue. Someone has to do it, otherwise it will become a mess. ”

The emotional Cao Hui stood up suddenly, grabbed the arm of the young Anzhou soldier Cao, lifted him from the seat, and then grabbed the other party's clothes and pulled them hard, with the piercing cracking sound, the young soldier Cao's chest was exposed, and then the entire upper body.

The pale black skin was covered with more than a dozen large and small scars. Some were bright red, apparently just injured. Some have turned white, probably old wounds from many years ago. Yang Tianhong noticed that the position under the left side of the young soldier's chest was dented, which was the result of broken ribs and removal from his body.

Cao Hui is crazy. He seemed to be venting, calling one Anstate official after another in order and forcibly tearing his clothes in the same brutal way. Later, his strength was exhausted, his steps staggered, and he could only open his bloodshot eyes wide, wave weakly and weakly, and signal the other party to untie his clothes.

Everyone was covered in scars. Even the smallest one has more than a dozen large and small scars. There were knife wounds, arrow wounds, burns and burns from extensive skin peeling, and several officers had mutilated arms. Previously, it was because he was wearing a long-sleeved robe that was covered, and after taking off his clothes, he could see it clearly.

Cao Hui dragged his tired steps and slowly walked in front of Yang Tianhong. His eyes were dull, and he looked extremely weak. Cao Hui slowly untied the clothes around his waist. Let the worn official robes slip off his body. He didn't feel ashamed, as if he were just a lifeless walking corpse.

The scars on his body far exceeded those of any official present. Cao Hui was wrapped in a thick bandage around his waist, and a bright red blood halo seeped out from under the bandage, and a palm-sized red wet mark appeared. He had an old wound on his chest that ran the entire length of his left chest, new pink skin clustered with suture wounds. A strange centipede that looks like it's lying there sucking human blood.

Yang Tianhong stood up slowly, with a solemn expression, and bowed solemnly and seriously to Cao Hui and all the Anzhou officials.

These people were completely different from the officials in other parts of the Chu State. They are real bloody men. Perhaps, they are not good at governing the local area and handling government affairs, but they did not flinch in the face of the enemy, and they also interpreted the true meaning of the word "official" with their lives and bravery.

"I've killed four Yue people. ”

Cao Hui's voice was very slight, as if he was sighing, and as if he was babbling to vent: "Anzhou, whether dead or alive, is in the hands of officials." More or less, there are a few lives of the Yue people. The saint told us to educate and love the people, but this kind of thing did not work in Anju at all. I don't know how long I can live, and how long I can last? This is Da Chu, this is Da Chu, and it is the border of the Great Chu State! Why did Your Majesty remain indifferent to the killing of his people? I also thought about fighting back, rushing into the walled city of the Yue people, killing all those large and small barbarians, and avenging the Chu people who died. But. I don't have soldiers...... No one. ”

There are no soldiers.

No one.

This kind of words came out of the mouth of a dignified assassin, full of bitterness. Full of helplessness.

What is the concept of the history of assassination? That is the third rank of the imperial court, the highest power in charge of the affairs of a state. Although the power is not as great as that of the temperance envoy, in Anzhou, the assassin is the one who orders in the minds of all the people and officials.

Yang Tianhong took a deep breath and walked in front of each Anzhou official in order to get dressed for them. When he came to Cao Hui. Yang Tianhong's expression and tone of speech were full of respect.

"Lord Cao, the next thing will be handled by Ben in the future! Anzhou City needs you to take charge, and the logistics of the army also need your help. Ben will guarantee that these Yue people have come. They won't be able to leave. Even if he can't kill all the 150,000 barbarians, Ben General will definitely get justice for the people and officials who have died in Anzhou over the years. ”

A gust of wind blew, and Cao Hui's feverish mind gradually became clear. He looked at Yang Tianhong who was standing in front of him, and nodded slowly and heavily.

He instinctively chose to believe in the general sent by the imperial court. Although, Yang Tianhong is really young and doesn't look as old as his son.

......

Cai County.

As for whether he could leave the city alive, the county commander Luo Fang had no hope of doing so.

Cai County is very small, and the population garrison is far less than that of Qingsui. Nominally, it is a county, but in the land of Chu, I am afraid it is only equivalent to the scale of a "town".

The news of Qingsui's attack had already reached here, and the Yue people's attack was faster than expected. Fortunately, Luo Fang was sent to Cai County as the chief official the year before last, and he spent some effort to build the city defense. Just a year before Luo Fang took office, Cai County was attacked by the Yue people, and the city was looted. Perhaps because they felt that it was difficult to reap the harvest of the cities that had been plundered, the Yue people spared Cai County for several years in a row and turned to plunder elsewhere.

This is equivalent to giving Cai County a chance to breathe. Luo Fang was not idle at all, he collected refugees near Cai County, trained young and strong, and purchased a large number of weapons from Fucheng. Although Luo Fang is a civil official, he has a strong martial arts atmosphere. This is probably because my father used to be an officer in the Northland Border Army. Compared with those civil officials and scholars in Chu who only knew how to make the wind and the moon, Luo Fang preferred to use a direct and strong way to make his head and official hat more stable.

Luo Fang gathered 3,000 young men, and Anzhou sent another 200 garrisons. Although the people's army has not been trained, everyone knows that once the city is broken, the Yue people will not spare their hands at all. The ferocity and cruelty of those barbarians have long been notorious, and even if they surrender and escape, they will still be a dead end in the end. Under such circumstances, the defense of Cai County was fought very well, and the 20,000 Yue barbarians were delayed under the city for more than a month.

There is no shortage of weapons such as bows and arrows in Cai County, and there are also a large number of reserves of dry firewood and grain. In the past few years, Luo Fang has been like a hardworking and cunning mouse, sparing no effort to accumulate all kinds of necessary items. He turned Cai County into a fortress. The houses in the castle were also rebuilt according to the standards of battle. Even if the city is breached, the Yue barbarians will have to pay a lot of blood and death in the city. His father, who served as an officer, taught Luo Fang to play offensive and defensive games on the sand from a young age. Although it is only on paper, how to build the fortress, how to build the tower, how to allocate the defensive forces, these things are clear.

The people of Cai County, who have lived in the midst of war all year round, have been tempered into soldiers by the cruel environment. Don't say it's a man, even a woman, she can bend her bow and shoot an arrow. Pick up a knife and cut off someone's head.

This is our home, why should we give it to those smelly Yue filthy ghosts?

What's so great about being fierce and cruel? If you dare to kill Lao Tzu, Lao Tzu can also kill you!

Under the city, there is a thick layer of corpses of Yue people.

There are dozens of arrow towers in Cai County, and the surrounding area is protected by raw cowhide and pig iron, leaving only a small perforation. People are safe on it, and although the Yue people's archery skills are outstanding, they cannot pose a threat to these arrow towers. With suppressive fire from within the city, the Vietnamese attacks were repeatedly blocked.

Things have changed since four days ago.

In the army of the Yue people. A shaman appeared.

Luo Fang knew that there were immortals in this world. Of course, they have a unique title - monks.

There were also monks among the Yue people. However, the cultivation methods of the barbarians were obviously different from those of the civilized world. Barbarian monks like to wear masks made of human or animal skins, and they are painted with strange patterns. They cut off the heads of the enemy, threw them into a cauldron and boiled them in boiling water, and after the skulls were cleaned, they wore rings around their waists. It is the most beautiful decoration in the world.

This is the unique aesthetic concept of the Yue monks. If you change to another world, it will definitely be regarded as a very national style of customs and characteristics. Submitted to the United Nations for application for intangible cultural heritage.

The shamans of the Yue people are very strong. Wearing an ugly animal skin mask, he danced in front of the formation, singing a jumble of incantations that he didn't know what to do, and then a strong air current appeared in the air, and hit the blood-stained city wall with a "boom". A hole more than ten meters wide was blown out.

Unleashing such a spell consumes most of the shaman's energy. Luo Fang stood on the city wall and could see clearly, the shaman became weak at that time, and was carried down to rest by two Yue barbarians.

This blow had a disastrous impact on the defense of Cai County. The Yue barbarians came up like a tide. Luo Fang immediately organized manpower to quickly fill the hole in the city wall. The two sides fought desperately there, and by sunset, the blasted walls were finally refilled with stones and sandbags, and the Yue barbarians were left with corpses everywhere. However, Caixian's defense strength was also greatly reduced, and more than 600 people were killed in the battle.

The shaman had to cast a spell once a day in front of the battle. The force of that blow was extremely powerful, and although the Luo side had made proper arrangements for possible scenarios, the defenders in the city still suffered heavy casualties. Today, there are less than 1,000 people in Cai County who can stand up with weapons.

That damn shaman reappeared.

If he could, Luo Fang really wanted to pounce and hold the bastard's head for a while.

Bow and arrow sniping is useless at all. The protection of shamans by the Yue people is quite tight. Around him, more than a dozen thick heavy shields were erected, covering every angle of the city wall facing Cai County. Those heavy shields were made of raw cowhide mixed with iron, and they were covered layer by layer, not to mention bows and arrows, and even powerful and sharp battle axes could not cut them.

Luo Fang laughed miserably and picked up the knife in front of him.

This knife originally belonged to Wang Lao Er. That guy is a trader. On the third day of the shaman's appearance, Wang Lao Er used the knife to cut off the head of his six-year-old daughter. The vendors are indeed shrewd and nimble. Wang Lao Er saw early on that Cai County couldn't hold it, and his daughter was not ravaged and humiliated by those Yue people, so it was better to kill her with a knife, and it would be better to suffer the pain on the day the city was broken.

There are more and more corpses of children in Cai County. All murderers are adults. Luo Fang is a good county commander, and all the actions that have taken several years to build the city defense have been seen by the people. They were all full of confidence in the renovated city wall, originally thought that the Yue people would not be able to break through Cai County this time, but no one expected that at the critical moment, a shaman appeared on the side of the Yue barbarians.

Picking up a knife and cutting off the heads of their own children, few people can do it.

Chen Sanniang, who sells slurry, handed over her youngest son to a neighbor, and brought the neighbor's little girl. As soon as the front foot walked out of the door, Chen Sanniang picked up the axe and cut off the skull of the neighbor's daughter. Sanniang sat on the street with a bloody head and cried. is not his own child, and he doesn't have so many scruples about killing it. It's just that if you kill the children of other people's families, you must also send your own son over and let others do it on your behalf.

The cruelty of the Yue people is obvious to all. They sucked human flesh, and when they caught their captives, they poured oil on them and threw them directly into the fire. The Yue people felt that it was not worth spending their energy to go up the mountain to hunt, and it was more cost-effective to treat the Chu people as captive meat. (To be continued.) )