Outside Ruyin City, the sound of gold gradually sounded.

Li Shouzhen, the general of Dongyang Road, stood under the city tower in armor and saber, looking at the various departments of the Huaizhou army calmly retreating under the city, and reasoned that he should feel excited for the Yan army to hold Ruyin, but his mood was still gloomy, and he couldn't relax no matter what.

After the first siege of the city the day before yesterday returned in vain, today is the second time that the Huaizhou army has returned.

It seemed that it would be difficult for the enemy to threaten the strong city gates, but Li Shouzhen could feel the pressure exerted by the other party.

In these two defenses of the city, the Yan army behaved quite tenaciously, on the one hand, they had no way to retreat, they did not know how important Ruyin's strategic position was, but they knew that if they could not hold this city, they would not even have a chance to escape when the Huaizhou army was all outside.

On the other hand, Li Shouzhen announced a very clear military order, those who were afraid to avoid the battle were immediately beheaded, and those who bravely killed the enemy were rewarded. The former is carried out by the army superintendent team, and the latter is to distribute silver bounties on the spot after defending the city walls. Of course, the source of this silver was not Li Shouzhen's own money, but a reward that was reluctantly given by the wealthy merchants in the city.

With a two-pronged approach, the performance of the Yan army has indeed improved, and it can withstand the tidal offensive of the Huaizhou army.

This was not easy for the Yan army, because the Huaizhou army was fully prepared this time, from all kinds of siege equipment to the armor and ordnance of the soldiers, all of which were excellent choices. At the same time, in the past few months, the Huaizhou army has been invincible in attacking the city, and now facing the last fortified city on Dongyang Road, their momentum is at its peak, which will naturally double the pressure on the Yan army.

Fortunately, it was finally saved......

Li Shouzhen sighed secretly in his heart, and inspected various places to personally supervise the post-war reward.

Compared with the cheers of the whole city after receiving the reward the day before yesterday, today's Yan army was obviously silent.

The reason is very simple, the day before yesterday, the Huaizhou army attacked the city for the first time, and the meaning of temptation was more obvious, so the Yan army did not suffer too many casualties.

But today is different, even if the Yan army occupies a condescending advantage, after the Huaizhou army has carried out a long bombardment through catapults, the sharp pawns who have swept up still give the Yan army a rather terrifying dismount.

Looking around the city wall, there was blood stains and faint mourning.

Li Shouzhen took a light breath, avoiding the miserable gaze of the wounded soldiers, and then walked down the city wall, and immediately summoned most of the middle and lower-level generals.

In the crowd, Wen Xiguang stood with some other generals who were originally idle at home.

At that pre-war military meeting, Li Shouzhen decided to let these generals fight with the army, of course, they did not have the right to command, but only familiarized themselves with the soldiers in the corresponding area in the defense of the city, and led their own soldiers and retinue to assist in the defense of the city for backup purposes.

Li Shouzhen looked around at everyone, his eyes stayed slightly on Wen Xiguang's blood-stained robe, his eyes couldn't help but soften a little, and then said to everyone: "Everyone, these two offensives of the Huaizhou Army are just appetizers, and the next time is the time to test us." Now that our army has no way to retreat, Ruyin City is our last line of defense. ”

The generals responded in unison, but this voice seemed somewhat lacking.

Li Shouzhen was not surprised by this, and his tone was slightly heavier: "Ben Jiang wants you to remember that at this time of life and death, no matter who is cowardly and timid, Ben will not care how much credit you have in the past, or what kind of background you have in the capital, you will be dealt with by military law, and you will hear it clearly!" ”

Everyone's hearts froze, and they hurriedly responded in a loud voice: "The last general will obey the order!" ”

Li Shouzhen looked at them one by one, and finally revealed a little bit of news to them: "Xiao Wangzhi's forces are limited, and it is impossible for him to maintain a high-intensity offensive for a long time, as long as we can withstand the next period of time, he can only focus on siege." The city has sufficient food, grass and armaments, and there is no problem in holding it for a year and a half. Moreover, our army still has a backhand, because we want to keep it secret, I can't tell you for the time being, but the general can clearly tell you that this time our army not only has to hold Ruyin, but also has to turn defeat into victory and capture Xiao Wangzhi! ”

Although Li Shouzhen lacks in personal ability, he has an advantage that he never bluffs, and the generals in the hall know this well.

Therefore, after he said this, the eyes of many generals lit up, and the original heavy gloom faded slightly.

Seeing this, Li Shouzhen said with satisfaction: "Okay, let's go and do things, take care of the city defense, and there will be no loss of your military exploits in the future." ”

The generals hurriedly bowed their hands, and this time their voices were more uplifting.

Wen Xiguang was naturally one of them, he walked out of the General's Mansion with others, said goodbye to several familiar generals, and then returned to the Wen Mansion in Dongcheng with his own soldiers.

His wife, Meng Shi, is Chinese New Year's Eve two years old and has two sons and a daughter for him, and the younger daughter is only five years old this year.

Wen Xiguang washed and changed his clothes under the service of the Meng family, and the whole family had a sumptuous dinner, during which he changed his majestic posture in the past, made his little daughter giggle, and gently encouraged the two and a half children, which made them quite flattered.

At night, the outside of Ruyin City gradually fell into silence, but the soldiers on duty at the head of the city did not dare to be careless to prevent the Huaizhou army from suddenly launching a night attack.

In the Wen family's house, Meng Shi looked at Wen Xiguang, who was sitting quietly in front of the window, and said softly: "Master." ”

Wen Xiguang turned his head to look at her and said indifferently, "What's the matter?" ”

"Since that incident last year, the master has been depressed, and the concubine knows that the master is not worried about the defeat, but because of some ...... Alas, the concubine doesn't know what to say, but I just hope that no matter what decision the lord makes, please take care of the children in the family a little. ”

As Wen Xiguang's pillow person, although Meng never inquired about his affairs outside, she was naturally keenly aware of his strangeness during this period of time after getting along with her for more than ten years.

Wen Xiguang smiled slightly, raised his hand and patted the back of her hand, and said with relief: "Don't worry, I know it in my heart." This time is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for our Wen family, you and me, and our children. In addition, there is no absolute security in this world, and if you want to get it, you must take some risks. ”

Meng Shi actually didn't understand the deep meaning of these words, and she didn't want to know her husband's plans during this time, so she reluctantly smiled when she heard the words: "No matter what, I hope that the master will cherish himself." ”

"Okay, don't worry."

Wen Xiguang nodded, and said, "You go to sleep first." ”

Meng Shi walked to the inner room, Wen Xiguang sat alone for a while, suddenly got up and opened the window a little half, feeling the chill in the early spring night, staring at the deep night outside, his eyes couldn't help but be a little cold.

At the same time, in an ordinary courtyard not far south of the Great General's Mansion, Feng Xiaowen sat at the table, with an extremely sharp dagger in front of him.

The indoor light is like a bean, the light is quite dim, and the faint display is extremely simple.

Holding a soft cloth in his left hand, he patiently wiped the dagger with extreme meticulous movements.

Looking back, he still clearly remembers the day he left his family and went to the north alone, which was seven years.

In the past seven years, he relied on his own ability to become a subordinate official of the Dongyang Road General's Mansion from a nobody, and walked in front of Li Shouzhen step by step, gradually gaining the trust of the other party.

He is cautious and careful in front of people, does not dare to make a wrong step, and always behaves with people with kindness and humility, these seven years are like a long night, and he will never see the appearance of a glimmer of light on the horizon.

Until now.

Feng Xiaowen took a deep breath and put the dagger into the holster, and at this moment his eyes were shining, like a sharp knife that could sting the eyes of others in this dim room.

……

Huaizhou camp outside the city, the tent of the commander of the Chinese army.

The lights were bright, and the tigers sat on either side, but no one made the slightest sound.

Xiao Wangzhi was in a handsome position, holding several urgent secret reports in his hand, one of which was from the Gongcheng in the land of Gyeonggi in the Yan Kingdom, Lu Shen led the army to win consecutive battles, and had captured the Gongcheng and continued to march into Yaoshan Pass.

Now the Jing army has thousands of foot soldiers and 3,000 cavalry stationed at Yaoshan Pass, obviously blocking the Huaizhou army's advance here.

Looking at Lu Shen's analysis of the psychology of the commander of the Jing Army in the secret report, a faint look of relief appeared on Xiao Wangzhi's face.

The rest of the documents are the recent intelligence summaries of key areas, Xiao Wangzhi read them one by one, and then handed these secret reports into the hands of his own soldiers, looked around at the generals and said: "Tomorrow will rest for a day, and the day after tomorrow we must take Ruyin City." ”

This order is actually a bit unkind, because a fortified city like Ruyin, which can be called the core of a hub, may not be taken down after a siege of several months under normal circumstances.

Although in the first two offensives, the Huaizhou army was very brave, but the Yan army's morale did not collapse, and it was very difficult to achieve it overnight.

There was more pressure in the hearts of the generals in the tent, but no one hesitated to shirk at this moment, and they all said awe-inspiringly: "The last general will take the order!" ”

Xiao Wangzhi turned his head to look at Pei Di, the first person on the left, and his tone was gentle but unquestionable: "The day after tomorrow, the Zhenbei Army will attack the east gate." ”

Pei Di's heart moved, in the first two offensives, the Zhenbei Army had been responsible for the Yan Army's most resolute defense of the southern city wall, Xiao Wangzhi's decision to change the formation was obviously not to doubt the strength of the Zhenbei Army.

Thinking of this, he asked with some expectation: "Governor, is there a plan from the east gate?" ”

Xiao Wangzhi didn't deliberately hide it, and said, "That's right." ”

Pei Di was overjoyed, and immediately said: "Please rest assured that the last general will definitely be able to lead the army into Ruyin City!" ”

The other generals couldn't help but look envious.

Xiao Wangzhi said: "If you mess up this time, you will go to Donghai Mansion to brush a horse for a lifetime, and never come back." ”

Pei Di smiled embarrassedly, got up and said: "The last general has made a military order here, if he can't attack Ruyin the day after tomorrow, the last general is willing to come and see him!" ”

"As long as the governor wants Ruyin City, what is the use of your head? Can it still be used as a sake jug? ”

Xiao Wangzhi made a rare joke, and then said to the generals: "If we can't defeat Ruyin City, our army will fall into an unpredictable and dangerous situation, so this battle is only allowed to win and not lose, remember?" ”

"Yes!"

The crowd will respond in unison.

(End of chapter)