Chapter 8: Broken Dreams

The city was filled with an air of despair.

The defenders finally saw reinforcements.

Part of the reinforcements - part of the body.

First, to be exact.

In this battle, the reinforcement horse team lost more than 300 people, including two staff generals and two guerrillas.

Fortunately, thanks to his rich experience in facing the enemy, Zhao Sanxi of the Chinese army saw - to be exact, felt - that the momentum was not right, and desperately blocked the charge of the troops behind. Otherwise, the whole army will be destroyed.

A considerable number of the survivors who survived were also hung up. The red-eyed Sima Changxi was unwilling, and proposed to wait for the thieves to withdraw before doing a tail-end pursuit, so that the speed advantage of the horse team could be brought into play, and there was always a loophole to take advantage of. Adjutant General Zhao discussed with several officers who were in a state of panic: the city was still surrounded like an iron bucket, the command system of the horse team had collapsed, the defeated soldiers had lost their formation, and most of them were still wounded. And the enemy, to say the least, has two or three hundred cavalry, which must be used to break the rear. As long as they turn around and bite the two sides, the enemy infantry will surround them...... So, it's definitely a dead end to keep going, so let's go back...... So he led the remnants and returned in a hurry.

Fortunately in the misfortune, it was Gao Tengdou's cavalry arranged behind the large formation, and after intercepting and killing the remnants of the soldiers who were lucky enough to get out of the formation, they hurriedly followed the main force back to the defense, and did not start a pursuit - otherwise, I don't know how many lives would be left here.

Outside the city, the enemy troops carried hundreds of heads on the tips of their spears and circled the walls in a procession. After showing off, these heads and banner staff were thrown in front of the west gate, piling up a small Beijing temple.

There were no prisoners left in this battle: all the captives were slaughtered.

Guan Shengyun said three reasons:

First, it is not fast to go with a captive. The army must immediately return to the defense city, in case the defenders peep through the reality and break out of the siege, the previous efforts will be wasted.

Second, the horsemen were all the elite of the enemy army. This kind of soldier is not familiar with iron, and when he is assigned to the auxiliary army, he must always send someone to keep an eye on it - when the horse soldier eats and drinks spicy food, does work like a cow and a horse, and is not tired to death under the whip, he will be cannon fodder sooner or later, and anyone can figure this truth with their toes. Also, they are all strong, and if there is a trouble, it must be these guys who will take the lead in causing trouble.

Third, completely deter the defending enemy. When the dog officers in the city saw that the reinforcements were all wiped out, it was estimated that the morale would collapse in an instant, and the next battle would be easy to fight - when the city was broken, Ding Zhuang would not want as many as he wanted!

The fourth reason Guan Shengyun didn't say, but everyone understood: after losing two battles in a row, the sons and daughters need such a stimulus to boost morale, and the marshal also needs to use this to restore his prestige in the army.

Therefore, no one mentioned the words "ominous killing prisoners" at all, and even Luo Yonghao, who was on the sickbed, did not say a word.

News can't be hidden, especially bad news.

The enemy's bravado was seen by thousands of defenders.

Soon, all the men, women, and children in the city learned the sad news that the reinforcements had been wiped out. The morale of the people's hearts plummeted, and the two victories that were finally won seemed so insignificant at this time, and the hope ignited in their hearts was shattered by the Jingguan outside the West Gate.

In everyone's hearts, the haze of two terrifying words was shrouded: Slaughter the city!

There were no prisoners.

There was no persuasion.

Only the first level!

A dead end, no life!

This is the end of resistance!

Sun Jie held the battlements in his hands, staring at the pile of human heads.

Just now, in the crowd of heads, he seemed to see himself.

Sun Jie guessed: The Governor will definitely send reinforcements.

It's just that he didn't expect that reinforcements would come so quickly.

Defeat so quickly and so completely......

Gradually, Jingguan became blurred, and the scene of his childhood vaguely flashed in his mind: his father rarely wore casual clothes or court clothes at home, and he was always dressed in leather armor, and his face was very majestic. Especially on the day of the expedition, my father rode on a tall horse, nodded to himself, who had just passed his twelfth birthday, and set off. The sun shone on the brass nails of the leather armor, and his back looked like that of a god, as if no one or anything in heaven and earth could defeat him......

Until one day, three months later, my father was carried home......

My father was a lot haggard all of a sudden, and the Vajra Heavenly God, who was in his forties and in the prime of life, was gone, but like a little old man, shrunk on the ground.

When he was dying, his father said to himself: As a warrior, dying on the battlefield is a matter of internal affairs, and it is also a matter of time - since the founding of the country, this family has sacrificed more than 100 lives for the dynasty, in exchange for the incomparable trust and reward of the saints of the past dynasties! Whenever a male child is born in the family, the Holy One will definitely send someone to bring a reward, and this is true for every generation! In all dynasties, no family has ever had this glory, not to mention Wenchen, not even the elders! Therefore, in order to repay the emperor's kindness, it is the fate of this family to sacrifice his life for the country.

A few days after the funeral, the grace of the Shadow Commander came down.

From that day on, the teenage boy turned into a major general.

From that day on, he already knew that it was his fate to die in battle, and the horse leather shroud.

Guerrillas, generals, associations, towns......

One military feat, one after another, accompanied by the rewards of the imperial court, did not fail once. Not only has I been more and more confident, but I also subconsciously think that death is not only not terrible, but also very far away.

Until today.

Hundreds of skulls reveal a ruthless reality: Help!

The glorious record of winning a hundred battles has long driven the shadow of death to a corner of the heart—but, although it is gradually forgotten, the shadow is always there—the Jingguan in front of him, suddenly, unintentionally suppressed and unsealed, suddenly appeared, filling his heart.

Objectively speaking, Sun Jie is not afraid of death. It's just that I suddenly feel that I still have a lot of things that I can't let go of at the moment - at least, I want to take another look at my two sons and my toddler girl.

The eldest is ten years old, and he is vaguely what he looked like back then. The second brother is smarter than his brother, and he has more troubles, but he can coax himself so much that he can't beat him every time. Although girls are not uncommon in this era, Sun Jie knows that what he really loves the most is precisely this little thing, and he wants to hold her in his arms at the moment and see her giggling while pulling her beard.

I just don't know if I can be carried back like my father this time, touch their brother's head again, and prick the girl's face with his beard......

I don't remember how to get back, Sun Jie's mind was blank.

……

There is not much food left in the city.

Counting the days, when this support army departed, Lord Jinglu should not have seen the messenger for help. Wait until the defeated army returns to the city, understand the battle situation, calm the people's hearts, even if they send reinforcements out, raise grain and grass, and reorganize the army...... It's going to be a month younger.

For such a long time, the morale of the people in the city, especially the food and grass of the troops, was seriously insufficient-I thought that if I won two battles in a row, as long as Lord Jingluo sent reinforcements to meet the external alliance, I would definitely be able to break the siege in one fell swoop, so I didn't ask for food at all. Of course, it is not realistic to ask for grain: it is surrounded on all sides, and there can be no other result than the enemy. And now, outside the city, strong enemies are surrounded by morale, and it is impossible to hold out until that time no matter what...... Moreover, since the thieves dared to blatantly besiege the city for so long, Anqing Mansion would definitely not be easy, and it was likely that they would never be able to send reinforcements again......

Destined to be the end of my life.

It was dark, and I was still at a loss, so I simply went to patrol the city.

Seeing Sun Jie walk out of the tent, several guards followed silently, and no one spoke.

The cold wind blew at night, although it did not dispel the depression in my heart, but it was also a refreshment, and for some reason, I felt a sense of loneliness inexplicably.

Shaking his head, he drove away the distractions and walked briskly up the city wall.

As soon as I got on the wall, I saw a few people eating and drinking around the fire in the distance, and there was a strong smell of wine in the wind!

Out of anger!

When has it been, the enemy is at present, ignoring military discipline and drinking in front of the enemy? It must be beheaded to enforce military law!

After a short pause, he slid down with his left hand holding the blade, put on the scabbard and held it hard, and then walked quickly towards the firelight.

"The handsome man wants to kill"!

Several guards were already familiar with Sun Jie's habitual movements, glanced at each other, and pulled out their waist knives at the same time with a brush, following closely behind.

Walking to the front of the fire, Sun Jie was stunned for a moment: the leader was Shi Erlei, the captain of his personal guard!

Although this guy's injured arm is not armoured, it seems that it is fine. Originally, it didn't hurt the bones, as long as the fever subsided, the flesh hurt nothing.

When he was stunned, Shi Erlei also saw Sun Jie, got up with a big grin, and handed over the wine bowl with a smile: "Dashuai, look at this battle, we won't live for a few days." Don't worry, your soldiers are not bad! Just now I told my brothers that I will follow you in the next life! This gang of thieves is relying on the number of people, the last time I attacked, I cut down five by myself, if you hadn't ordered the troops, I could have cut two more! ”

Sun Jie stared at the wine bowl stretched out in front of him and was silent for a moment, and was surprised to find that he actually took it and drank it in a few sips!

Shi Erlei kicked the person next to him, and the one who was kicked quickly moved out of a gap, Sun Jie sat down in the gap, waved his hand, and motioned for everyone to continue. The crowd sat down again, and for a moment no one spoke. Sun Jie silently watched the fire, reached out and grabbed a handful of fried beans, threw them into his mouth and chewed them slowly.

Several of the guards put away their swords and stood around.

Sun Jie raised his eyes and looked at them, and said, "What do you think?" If you go out, you should have at least a fifty percent chance of leaving, right? Let's go! There's no need to die all here, it's one to be able to run away. ”

"What did the marshal say!"

"I am willing to die for the handsome!"

"Who does the handsome think of me?!"

……

Several guards were stunned for a moment, and when they came to their senses, their faces turned red all of a sudden, and they yelled around their necks.

A guard knelt down, looked directly into Sun Jie's eyes, opened his mouth, didn't say anything for a long time, clenched his fists with both hands, and then picked up a bowl of wine and poured it down.

Blocked by the wine bowl and unable to see his face, Sun Jie looked at the neck with green tendons bursting out and shrank the wine down, felt a sudden soreness in his eyes, and said softly: "Okay!" They're all good guys! Sit it all down. ”