Guangling, a private house in Dongcheng.

There were more than a dozen men standing in the hall, and they looked at the young woman who walked in slowly, and bowed neatly: "I've seen the eldest lady!" ”

Lin Xi bowed slightly, walked to the main seat and sat down, and said to everyone, "Sit down." ”

Xi Jun and the burly giant man Ji Shan ranked first on the left and right, and the latter said in a rough voice: "Miss, Guangling doesn't look very peaceful, it seems that there is going to be a war. ”

Lin Xi said calmly: "I came today for this matter. The Yanjing coalition army is now attacking frantically on the border, just to attract all the troops of the Huaizhou Governor's Mansion, and then surprise Guangling with surprise troops. Regardless of whether Guangling can be defended or not, I hope that you will all stay here in peace and security, and then go back when the situation is stable. ”

Ji Shanhan said with a smile: "Cheng, just listen to the arrangement of the eldest lady." ”

Xi Jun looked at Lin Xi's calm expression, and suddenly his heart moved, so he asked, "Miss, are you planning to help that Lu Gongzi?" ”

As soon as these words came out, everyone looked at the main seat in unison.

Lin Xi said calmly: "Yes." ”

Ji Shan's face changed slightly, and he said straightforwardly: "Miss, we can also contribute!" ”

Lin Xi shook his head and said, "Senior Brother Lu participates in the defense of the city, I can't stand idly by, but you have nothing to do with this matter." In the past, the killing of the officials of the Northern Yan Imperial Court was not only my father's arrangement but also out of justice, so I will take you to live and die together. But this time is different, I helped him because of the friendship of the family, it is a personal relationship, how can I put you in danger? ”

The crowd was silent.

For the Seven Star Gang struggling in the difficult world, the Northern Yan and Jing Dynasty were like jackals, but the Southern Qi Imperial Court was not much better.

Not to mention that the royal family and magnates rushed south in a hurry and discarded the people of Li at will, but only that in the past 12 years, the emperor of Southern Qi has expressed his intention to recover the homeland of the north and save the people from fire and water, but he just shouted in vain, and has never made any actual moves.

In the eyes of these green forests and grasses, the battle of Qi Yan is a dog-eat-dog, and the best thing is to watch coldly.

That's why Lin Xi made such a decision.

Although she was the young gang leader of the Seven Stars Gang and could directly order these masters to act, as she had said before, this was a private matter between her and Lu Shen, and she was unwilling to let others take risks.

In the silence, Xi Jun smiled and said loyally: "Miss, you want to go wrong." ”

Lin Xi turned his head to look at him.

Xi Jun continued: "The person in charge of the siege must be the elite of the Jing Dynasty, and you also know the temperament of these tigers and wolves, once the city is broken, they will definitely burn and loot and do all kinds of evil. Although we look down on the Southern Qi court, the people in Guangling City are very innocent, even if we can only do a small part, it is better than doing nothing. ”

Ji Shan touched his head and suddenly said, "Yes, what Lao Xi said is right." ”

The rest also echoed their words.

Lin Xi smiled and said softly: "Then I can make it clear to you in advance that to assist in defending the city, you must obey Senior Brother Lu's arrangement, and you must not come by temperament." ”

Xi Jun said, "Miss, please rest assured." ”

"Okay, thank you."

Lin Xi left the mansion and walked in the bright summer sunshine, and she suddenly felt that she needed to prepare a long knife to take advantage of.

……

In the afternoon, the Guangling army commanded the yamen.

Duan Zuozhang said unhurriedly: "I have sent someone to send the emergency military situation to the Governor's Mansion and the Assassin's Mansion. If the time is calculated, as long as the Metropolitan Governor receives the urgent report and sends the first part of the Feiyun Army and the Taixing Army to the south to support, he should be able to relieve the crisis in Guangling. ”

In the past two days, he has been busy reinforcing the city's defenses, and at the same time sending a small number of ranger sentinels to the west to keep on guard. The situation in the city is relatively stable, and the detailed work of the Prosecutor's Office, which has not yet been exposed, has not stirred up the storm anymore, and what makes him more worried is that there has been no military order from the Governor's Mansion.

When Ou Zhiqiu and the Gu family were arrested, the Warp Weaving Division sent news to the Northern Governor's Mansion, and it was said that even Lu Shen and others could detect the conspiracy of Beiyan, and it was impossible for Xiao Wangzhi, the Metropolitan Governor, to be completely unresponsive.

Lu Shen put the teacup in his hand on the table and said in a deep voice: "General, the juniors have a hunch that the Metropolitan Governor may not send troops south to rescue Guangling. ”

Duan Zuozhang was slightly stunned.

Guangling is not only a city, but also the granary of the entire Huaizhou, where countless grains are hoarded, in other words, this city is the logistical support of the front-line soldiers in Huaizhou.

This is the pivot place in Huaizhou, if the Yan army occupies Guangling, it can attack the back of the Lai'an defense line to the north, to the east can attack Taixing and then threaten the assassin Shifu, and to the south can block the imperial court's reinforcements to the north.

In the past two days, Duan Zuozhang found that Lu Shen also had some attainments in military affairs, although this young man had some strange ideas, but it could be seen that he had worked hard in this area, and he was not an ignorant blank sheet of paper, so he asked curiously: "Why not?" ”

Lu Shen said: "General, just imagine, if the Governor of Dadu lets the Taixing army stay where it is, can the Lai'an defense line be held?" ”

Duan Zuozhang naturally read the military briefing on the front line, and said slowly: "The offensive of the puppet Yan army is very fierce, and it has broken through several walled forts on the border, but this is far from enough to break through the Lai'an defense line. With the Metropolitan Governor personally sitting on the border, and the Zhenbei Army undertaking the task of main defense, even if there are no reinforcements, it will not be a problem to hold on for a year and a half. ”

"In other words, the Taixing Army didn't have to go north, and the six thousand people of the Feiyun Army could not move, right?" Lu Shen asked.

Duan Zuozhang bowed slightly, and his eyes lit up: "You mean, the Metropolitan Governor is looking for an opportunity for a decisive battle?" ”

Lu Shen said: "The juniors just think that this time the enemy army is menacing, and it is too passive to blindly defend it, maybe the majority of the governors are paralyzing the enemy by retreating the defense line, and secretly accumulating strength to strike a backhand." ”

"Makes sense, but—"

The words stopped abruptly, and suddenly a person hurriedly walked into the main hall.

"Deputy Commander, Emergency Military Order of the Governor's Mansion!"

The person who came walked up to Duan Zuozhang, holding a letter with a complete fire paint in both hands.

Duan Zuozhang took it open, his eyes fell on the letter, and his complexion changed slightly.

Lu Shen had already turned to look away, and then he heard Duan Zuozhang's voice: "As you said." ”

In addition to the letterhead and seal, there are only four words on the letterhead: Hold Guangling.

Duan Zuozhang and Lu Shen glanced at each other, and their expressions couldn't help but become solemn.

In fact, whether there is this paper military order or not, they will do their best to defend the city, but the four words written by Xiao Wangzhi himself also have a deep meaning, that is, Guangling will become a target to attract the attention of the enemy army in a short time, and there should be no reinforcements coming.

Duan Zuozhang frowned slightly, he only had four thousand people in his hands, and with the towering and sturdy city walls, he should be able to withstand the first few rounds of attacks, but once the time dragged on for too long, there was not enough fresh force to replenish, and it was difficult to stop the wolf-like Jing Dynasty old pawn by will alone.

"This military order ......"

Lu Shen hesitated.

Duan Zuozhang asked, "What's wrong?" ”

Lu Shen's eyes condensed slightly, and he shook his head and said, "There's nothing wrong with it, it's just that the general's urgent report was sent three days ago, and such a short time is obviously not enough for the messenger to run back and forth." In other words, Governor Xiao had already discovered the anomaly in the south, but he couldn't send reinforcements south, so he asked us to defend Guangling. ”

In other words, Lu Shen's previous speculation became a reality. The Governor's Mansion has obviously made up its mind, no matter what kind of crisis Guangling suffers, the main force of the Huaizhou Army will complete its efforts in the north and will not follow the rhythm of the other party.

Duan Zuozhang didn't have time to appreciate Lu Shen's keen eyes at this moment, he got up and walked to the simple sand table, and said in a deep voice: "If the ancient road falls and the puppet Yan army crosses the Shuangfeng Mountain Range, there will be at least twenty or thirty thousand people. From common sense, the four thousand defenders in the city can cope with it, after all, the terrain restrictions of the ancient road determine that it is impossible for the enemy to carry large siege equipment, but ......"

He paused slightly, turned his head to Lu Shen and said, "I'm afraid that it is not the puppet Yan army that is responsible for the siege task, but the old soldiers of the Jing Dynasty under the command of Qing Yugong." ”

Lu Shen also walked to the side, looked at the Shuangfeng Mountain Range to the west of Guangling on the sand table, and said slowly: "The strength of the old pawn of the Jing Dynasty is so strong? ”

Duan Zuozhang said calmly: "If they are not strong, how can they break through Heluo? The city defense of the old capital was many times stronger than that of Guangling, and it was still broken through by the Jing army. I don't want to grow the morale of others, but for the sake of the general, I must first think about defeat, let alone underestimate the strength of the enemy. ”

Lu Shen said calmly: "The warp weaving department and the government are all preparing, the people in the city already know that the enemy army may attack the city, and those squires and wealthy merchants are also willing to support the city defense." It will only take us three days at most to complete the general preparations before the war. ”

"Three days ......" Duan Zuozhang was about to discuss in detail, but suddenly stopped talking.

Lu Shen turned his head to look out.

The bell that rang suddenly was like a yellow bell Da Lu, floating from nowhere and reaching the ears of the two.

Immediately afterwards, a soldier ran in in a little panic, and before he could stand firmly, he hurriedly said: "General, the sentry cavalry has returned, and the Jing Dynasty army has appeared more than thirty miles west of the city, and it is rushing towards it!" According to the general's order, the bell of the drum tower rang to warn, and the defenders of the whole city entered a state of imminent battle! ”