The first year of Xuande, May.

In front of the sand table sat the generals of the seven battalions, each with a solemn face, waiting for Ye Qian on the main seat to speak. Ye Qian is the deputy general of the tiger and leopard cavalry, and Chu Mingxiu's right and left hand, but he is an inconspicuous person. He could meticulously carry out every instruction of Chu Mingxiu, but it was difficult to make a decision.

Dafeng Fort has fallen, if you wait for Chu Mingxiu's military order to come from the clouds, I am afraid that it will be too late.

Chu Ni, the general of the Guanshan Army, broke out first.

"You don't have anything to say?" Chu Ni suddenly got up, and his tone was stiff, "Dafeng Fort has been lost, and the heads of the generals defending the city have been picked up on the banner to demonstrate to us. The Beidi people are not here to rob this time - until now, we have not received the documents for peace talks. What we have to do, don't think about it. ”

"Fighting must be fought, but how to fight and who will fight remains to be discussed." Xin Jian said smoothly, "General Chu, don't be angry. ”

"The six major armies behind Dafeng Fort, can't they defend it? The walls of Dafeng Fort are not low, and the six military forts in the back are the same. If Fort Dafeng can't hold it, other military fortresses can? Chu Ni slapped the table, pointed to Xin Qian's nose and said, "General Xin, don't be here with the mud." ”

Xin Jian raised his hands and blinked innocently.

"What does General Chu mean by going out of the city to fight?" Wang Ju, the general of the Benlei Army, asked honestly, "But the Beidi cavalry is brave and unmatched, and we may not have the advantage in the plains." ”

"The tortoise shell is going to be crushed, what can you do if you don't go out of the city to fight?" Chu Jin, the general of the Arakawa Army, asked coldly.

Ye Qian, a good old man, hurriedly played a round and said: "Don't quarrel, don't quarrel, everyone is dedicated to the war, and we should work together." ”

Cui Lie, the taciturn general of the Yi cavalry, came out unexpectedly: "Eagle Eye hasn't come back yet, it's better to wait for the information to get it and see how Dafeng Fort was broken." ”

The noisy group of people looked at the almost transparent person in the corner, and Li Jiaoben, the head of the Eagle Eye Guard, closed his eyes and recuperated, and he was caught off guard by name, and he just said calmly: "The only possibility that Eagle Eye can bring back the information is that Dafeng Fort has a living mouth." But the habit of the Beidi people is to slaughter the city. I advise you not to get your hopes up too much. ”

——

Fort Great.

The air was filled with the pungent smell of burning, and the smoke was so thick that people couldn't open their eyes. Luo Shuangyi walked among the mountains of corpses, every inch of the ground under his feet soaked in blood. Beidi and Yongbei lived and died before they were born, but after they died, they were burned to char together and slept together.

After the Beidi people broke through Dafeng Fort, they plundered all the grain and grass, took away all the baggage that could be taken away, and burned on the spot what could not be taken away. The only thing to be thankful for is that it is made of stones, just like Yongxue Pass, and the fire did not get worse.

Before dawn, the Beidi had all been evacuated, and only the remains remained.

Luo Shuangyi listened carefully to the thin whistle coming from the wind.

That was the signal of the Nine Shadows Assassins, meaning that no living mouth had been found.

Luo Shuangyi suddenly raised her head.

Not far away stood a tall pillar, which was not burned down - it was specially erected here after the fire. There was a man hanging from the pillar, swaying in the wind, like a dead leaf on a branch about to fall.

Luo Shuangyi climbed the pillar lightly, cut the rope, and let the man down.

The man was stabbed in the abdomen, like a blood gourd, dripping blood.

His eyes were wide open, and his pupils were gray and dilated.

He's dead.

Luo Shuangyi felt a little inexplicable in her heart, and reached out to close his eyes. At this moment, Luo Shuangyi noticed that there was something wrong with his expression. Luo Shuangyi has killed many people and seen many dead people, but this person seems to be a little subtly different.

Luo Shuangyi observed for a moment, reached out and pinched his cheeks, forcing him to open his mouth.

He had a wax pill pressed under his tongue.

Luo Shuangyi crushed the wax pill, and inside was a scribbled note - "Three miles outside the fort, under a dead tree by the river."

——

Suddenly the curtain of the tent was lifted.

Chu Ni, who was angry, was furious, and he was about to get angry at the person who came. She was born in the side branch of the Chu clan in Yunzhong, and she is Chu Mingyan's aunt according to her seniority, but she sat in the position of the general of the Guanshan Army, relying on her ghost knife in one hand, she has always been the same, and she is resolute.

The people who entered the door were Chu Zhixia and Shen Zhou.

"The generals of the seven battalions are on discussion, what are the children doing when they come in?" Chu Ni had been to Chu Mingyan's funeral, and when she saw Chu Zhixia's depressed appearance, her tone couldn't help but soften, "Get out quickly." ”

"My people have found intel on the dead Hawkeye." Shen Zhou threw out a piece of bamboo pipe and said, "After reading this, you will decide whether or not let us go out." ”

When Li Jiao heard that Hawkeye was dead, his face did not show any heartache. He calmly took the bamboo pipe and checked whether the handwriting, paper, and imprint belonged to Hawkeye step by step, confirming the authenticity of the information.

"It's Hawkeye's handiwork." Li Jiao announced the results.

"The army that captured Fort Dafeng did not belong to any of the original armies of the Thirteen Divisions, but were slaves of the Green Eagle Division, named 'Dototh'."

Chu Zhixia summed up succinctly: "Erdan promised that those who cut off a hundred heads in Duotosi would go to the slaves for tattooing; Kill the generals, give 100 cattle and sheep; Those who take the heads of the seven battalion generals will be given cattle and sheep, land, and population, and the nobles of the Qingying Department will be crowned hereditary. ”

Chu Jin let out a sneer: "What a big breath." ”

Chu Zhixia was unmoved, and then continued: "Duotosi climbed the city wall with a dagger, and a dead person climbed on top of the next one, stepping on the corpse of his dead companion to enter the city, and Dafeng Fort was broken like this. If you stick to it, it will only be a repeat of the defeat of Fort Dafeng. ”

There was silence in the tent.

"Vice General Ye, give the order." Chu Zhixia looked at Ye Qian at the height, and said word by word, "If you don't do it, the next military fortress will be in danger." ”

——

The first year of Xuande, June.

Fort Lesser.

After the big front fort, the small front fort is named because the terrain is similar to the big front fort, and the fort construction is almost the same. After the loss of Dafeng Fort, the Benlei Army took over Xiaofeng Fort and waited for it day and night. Wang Yi, the general of the Benlei Army, is a rigorous person, who changes the guard at night and arranges the layout of the city defense without leakage, and checks are carried out at all times.

Chu Mingsheng leaned against the shadow of the bonfire and spit out the grass stalk in his mouth irritably: "There is a smell of blood in this grass." ”

Chu Mingying glanced at him disdainfully and said, "Maybe there is still the smell of corpses." ”

Chu Mingsheng snorted a few more times before he looked up at Chu Mingying, trying to find fault: "Why do I think you are particularly biased towards Chu Zhixia, don't you think that if you climb up to the lineage, there will be a way out, right?" ”

Chu Mingsheng and Chu Mingying were both thrown into the army for training, Chu Mingying's name fell on the Tiance Army, and Chu Mingsheng had not been divided away. But both of them belong to the type of Xin Jian who fights which, and they are difficult brothers.

"You think I'm you?" Chu Mingying sneered and said, "I prefer Chu Zhixia because I think she is more worthy of being a general than you." ”

Chu Mingsheng was not convinced, and asked, "How can you see it?" ”

"I once patrolled the border with Chu Shixia and encountered a small group of marauding Beidima. Have you ever seen Chu Zhixia's eyes when he kills? ”

Chu Mingying said slowly: "It's not panic, it's not fanaticism, it's not indifference—it's bland." I don't believe it, she has been in the imperial capital for six years, and she is just obediently being a bird in a cage to coax the magnates of the imperial capital to rest assured. The first emperor died violently, and the new emperor ascended the throne, and immediately put her back in the clouds, the two of them have nothing to do with each other, do you believe it? ”

"But the DPRK and China are not ......," Chu Mingsheng stopped suddenly.

Chu Mingying looked at him meaningfully and said, "Do they not know, or do they not want to say?" ”

Or, at the signal of the new emperor, he had to keep his mouth shut?

"That's an exaggeration, isn't it?" Chu Mingsheng muttered.

When the bell rang for the change of guard, Chu Mingsheng and Chu Mingying did not leave immediately, but lowered their voices and said two more sentences. The sergeant who had changed his guard came over with his waist stretched, and looked at the cats under the city walls, and just wanted to laugh a few words, but the laughter broke in his throat in an instant.

A feathered arrow pierced his throat.

The sergeant's smile froze on his face, clutching his throat and slowly falling.

Chu Mingsheng and Chu Mingying were stunned on the spot, and the blood on their bodies cooled down.

In the next moment, Chu Mingying pounced on the alarm bell and smashed it with all his strength.

Sharp bells rang through the barracks.

Enemy attack.

The whole Little Frontier Castle woke up.

——

A steady stream of Beidi people grabbed the cracks in the masonry and climbed up.

Some were smashed by sandbags or stones from the defenders at the head of the city, and the muffled sound of falling to the ground was completely overwhelmed by the crowd; Some jumped up the city wall with the gap that their companions had won with their lives, brandished daggers and knives, slashed like beasts, and were swarmed by the defenders, stabbed to death with spears and thrown down.

Chu Mingsheng's eyes were red, and he was hit on the battlements by his head, and he could grit his teeth and stomp on the surface of his feet, and then smashed his chin viciously with the hard armor on his elbow. The Beidi people behind him were dizzy, and Chu Mingsheng cut his throat with a backhand.

The four Beidi people climbed the city wall at this time, Chu Mingsheng didn't think about it, grabbed the neck of the corpse and smashed it on them.

The people who climbed up dodged for a while, and one of them did not dodge, and was unlucky enough to fall to the ground with the corpse in his arms. The other three jumped up like wolves, drew their swords and rushed towards Chu Mingsheng. Chu Mingsheng's spirit was tense to the extreme, squeezing the last trace of physical strength, and he raised his knife and pounced on it with a loud shout.

Take one with you when you die. Chu Mingsheng only had this thought shaking in his mind.

A figure rushed out of the diagonal stab, and she grabbed the knife and slammed it into the waist of a person, saving Chu Mingsheng from being attacked from three sides.

It's Chu Mingying.

Her expression was still cold, but the action of drawing the knife was very tired, and it must be the end of the crossbow. The Beidi people were not affected at all, covering their wounds with one hand and handing over their hands to Chu Mingying.

The other two were unmoved, and the blade slashed straight at Chu Mingsheng. Chu Mingsheng barely held back a knife, and when he saw another knife coming straight into his chest, his heart was numb.

An arrow broke through the air and sank into the eyebrows of the Beidi people. Chu Mingsheng's urgent need was suddenly relieved, his spirits perked up, and he vigorously pushed away the heavy knife on the blade. The Beidi people reacted faster, turned around and rushed towards Chu Mingying.

Before Chu Mingsheng could make a move, another feather arrow pierced through the back of his head and stabbed out of his mouth.

Precise, ruthless.

A black shadow like a light swift swept over the battlements, ghostly approaching the backs of the Beidi people. The Beidi people concentrated on dealing with Chu Mingying, and suddenly they were approached, and before they could react, there was a sour on their necks, and then they fell to the ground softly.

Shen Zhou withdrew his hand, not looking at the twisted cervical vertebrae of the Beidi people.

Chu Mingsheng and Chu Mingying turned their heads in unison and looked at Chu Zhixia, who was standing on the city tower just now.

"No thanks." Chu Zhixia didn't even take off his face armor, and said indistinguishably, "It's not bad, they're all alive." ”

"Nonsense." Chu Mingsheng's face was ruthless, "We have no bad seed in the Chu clan in the clouds. ”

Chu Zhixia chuckled, carried a bow and arrows to the highest place, and re-erected the fallen battle flag. Countless Beidi people under the city wall looked at Chu Zhixia in unison, their eyes were like swords, guns, and halberds, wanting to tie her into a hornet's nest.

Shen Zhou stood behind the battlements at her feet, and quickly shot down the stray arrows that rushed towards Chu Zhixia.

Chu Zhixia flashed a few arrows, turned around and drew his bow to aim at the banner of the chaotic army below. The Beidi people are different from the Central Plains people, and the battle flags of the Beidi people are handed over to the generals by the Khan himself before the expedition, which is the heart of the army, in order to show that the generals advance and retreat with the soldiers.

The sun rises over the horizon, and the golden glow shines through.

Chu Zhixia squinted slightly.

The man in the midst of the chaos seemed to notice something, and suddenly raised his head. Chu Zhixia released the bowstring at that moment, and the feather arrows hissed and rushed towards the generals under the military flag. The general Kankan flashed this arrow, and the soldier holding the flag next to him suddenly fell down holding his throat, and the battle flag fell with it. Another arrow pierced through the eyebrows of the herald on the side of the general without stopping.

For some reason, the army in the rear thought that the general had been assassinated, and they made an uproar in panic.

"Tiance Army, it's Tiance Army!"

Before the Beidi people, who had fallen into a brief panic, were appeased, they heard someone shouting from behind. The banner of the Tiance Army swept in from the east, like a red tide, as if it was about to swallow everything under the overwhelming golden sun.

Shen Zhou picked up his bow and smashed it on the head of a Beidi man in front of him, smashing the person's brain to the point that his brain burst. Chu Zhixia jumped down from the high platform, and smashed the unextinguished brazier on the head of another Beidi person who climbed up with a sword that had not been extinguished.

"The Tiance Army has arrived, I am the sister of the king of Zhenbei, you will kill the enemy with me!" Chu Zhixia raised his head and shouted.

The weary soldiers perked up.

Chu Zhixia grabbed Shen Zhou's hand and pulled it behind him, lowered his voice, and said in a bad tone: "Go back and put on the armor for me!" ”

——

It was light and dark.

Chu Mingsheng was paralyzed on the ground, lying in a pool of blood who didn't know who it was. He unleashed his teeth with hindsight, only to notice a strong smell of blood in his mouth. Chu Mingying could barely stand, carrying a pot of buffalo drink, glanced at the half-dead Chu Mingsheng, and fell down on his mouth.

Chu Mingsheng opened his mouth weakly and swallowed several mouthfuls of cold water before he soothed his boiling heart and lungs.

Outside the city, there was a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood.

Chu Mingsheng had just gotten up, and his hands and feet were limp and he groped into the barracks. Chu Mingying leaned against the pile of corpses and did not move, quietly looking not far away. Chu Mingsheng followed her gaze and looked at it, it was the team carrying the wounded soldiers.

Shen Zhou's arm was scratched, and he hastily tied it with gauze, and helped carry the soldier with his wounded legs down the tower. His incomparably beautiful face was covered with a mixture of blood and ash, and only his eyes were so clear that he could not speak.

The soldiers had never seen him, and he was not wearing armor. But when everyone saw him following Chu Zhixia's side, they defaulted to being from the palace.

Chu Zhixia squatted in place and used a wooden plank to fix the wounded soldier's leg wound. Her visor had been knocked off, and the soft flesh of her cheeks had almost worn away, outlining the smooth and delicate lines of her bones. A few strands of hair fell from her ears and swayed in the wind, like grass growing wildly in the field.

The wounded soldier was very young, and he was silent in front of Chu Zhixia, and his face was red. After Shen Zhou sent a group of wounded soldiers down, he came back and saw people staring at Chu Zhixia, his face was red. Shen Zhou walked over and looked at it carefully for a long time, but he couldn't tell the reason for the blushing, and finally generously handed the little wounded soldier a piece of candy.

"Don't hold back." Shen Zhou comforted himself self-righteously, "Miss Chu has suffered more injuries than you have eaten, and I know that you are actually in pain and want to cry." ”

Chu Zhixia slapped Shen Zhou's thigh and said, "Carry the person down." "Then go and bandage the next person's wound.