Cao Ran was about to check what was going on, but he saw that the battle flag of the Qing State was flashing behind the banner of the Jin army, and the sound of fighting and horse hooves in the rear also came, he expected that the iron cavalry of the Qing State was sneaking up on the Jin army in the rear, but the defenders of Wen Ping were surrounded by regiments, where did the Qing army come from.

In any case, Cao Ran knew that the Jin army must evacuate as soon as possible, otherwise the enemy's army would be in turmoil, so he hurriedly shouted to Xu Chao, who was fighting: "General, don't fall in love with the war! Come back quickly, the Qing army has attacked the rear of our army!"

When Xu Chao heard this, he still had the heart to fight with Wen Ping, so he pushed his sword away and scolded: "You thief, trick me into fighting with you, you take the opportunity to send someone to attack me!" After speaking, he turned his horse and hurried back. Wen Ping is also a little strange, it is said that it is indeed a good way to attack the rear of the Jin army, but it is a pity that he did not send troops and horses to attack and disturb the Jin army.

I saw the rear of the Jin army, dusty, the first general, single-handed, and the iron cavalry in the rear, although far away, but without fear, rushed straight to the Jin army. The Jin soldiers were about to raise their spears to assassinate him, but with a flick of their guns, they knocked down all the soldiers. The soldiers behind him were about to set up their shields, but he picked them off. But seeing him rushing into the Jin army array, he didn't care about the Jin soldiers around him at all, just rampage, although there were many Jin soldiers, they didn't dare to approach. Not long after, the iron cavalry behind also followed, and the rear formation of the Jin army was suddenly scattered by these iron cavalry.

Xu Chao's eyesight was good, and when he looked from afar, he saw that the general who was the leader was wearing the gray armor and white robe unique to the generals of the Qing army, wielding a spear in his hand, his posture was vigorous, his face was as thin as a knife, his face was bronzed, his eyes were full of evil energy, and he was rushing around without fear. Wen Ping, who was watching from the side, also saw the general, but it was not Li Zhong, although he learned yesterday that Li Zhong's army was stationed in Hongcheng, which was more than 300 miles away from Ningzhou, and agreed to arrive in a few days, but at this time, he was not allowed to think about these problems, he immediately ordered the city gate to be opened, and all the defenders went out of the city to meet the enemy and flank the Jin army.

Faced with the attack of the two armies, Xu Chao could only listen to Cao Ran's advice and order the Jin army to withdraw quickly. After his order was issued, it was already difficult to carry it out, because the Qing army's iron cavalry was rushing and killing on both sides, and the Jin army was in chaos, where could there be an orderly evacuation. One by one, they threw away their armor and rushed to escape, those who threw flags threw flags, those who threw weapons threw weapons, trampled on and countless people died. Although some Jin soldiers planned to resist, they were caught off guard, or were knocked over by the Qing army's war horses, or were killed by the Qing army's blades. In the end, the Jin army that came out with Xu Chao and Cao Ran was only two or three out of ten, and after this defeat, the Jin army withdrew in the southeast direction and made peace with Emperor Wu of Jin.

Repelled the Jin army, Wen Ping and Li Zhong looked at each other and smiled, and the two dismounted and entered the city hand in hand. Wen Ping said with a smile: "I thought that my brother would arrive in a few days, who expected that he would arrive today, and the siege of Ningzhou would be relieved!" Li Zhong nodded and said: "This is all Your Majesty's work, I originally planned to rest in Hongcheng for one night, who knew that His Majesty's military order asked me to pull out quickly, so I hurried here to rush here, seeing that the Jin army surrounded Ningzhou City, and the rear was very empty, I led the army to detour behind the enemy, so that I could be in harmony with you!" Li Zhong looked at the city defense here due to disrepair for many years, it has been aging, and the female wall has even been damaged in many places, and hurriedly asked Wen Ping: "This Ningzhou city defense is aging, I'm afraid it will not be able to hold it, right?" Wen Ping nodded and said: "Yes, if it weren't for my brother's siege today, I'm afraid Ningzhou City would not be protected!" Li Zhong immediately made a decision, suggesting that Wen Ping take advantage of the new defeat of the Jin army and quickly evacuate immediately with grain, grass and troops, and retreat into the Fanyang Mountains. Wen Ping was a little embarrassed, and said: "Fanyang Mountain Range is indeed an easy place to defend and difficult to attack, but what can the people in this city do?" Li Zhong sighed and said: "Let them run for their lives, there are eggs under the nest, and my Qing army has no choice at this time, so I can't be dragged down by the people, right?" Wen Ping gritted his teeth, and could only do so, and immediately ordered the men and horses under his command to transfer grain, grass and troops.

Under Wen Ping's order, the Qing army moved bags of grain out of the warehouse in Ningzhou and prepared to transport it to Fanyang Mountain. Seeing Wen Ping standing aside, full of sadness and silent, Li Zhong hurriedly walked up, handed him a piece of flatbread, and said, "Don't think about it, eat some, you haven't eaten a bite since morning." Wen Ping took the flatbread and took a bite, but he felt a little dry, so he didn't want to eat it, and said: "I am really unwilling to let the Jin army take Ningzhou so easily." Li Zhong himself also took a piece of cake, dusted off some of the ashes on it, and ate it, hearing him say this, he quickly swallowed the cake in his mouth, and said with a smile: "Ningzhou can't hold it sooner or later, do you want to take the lives of thousands more?" Wen Ping turned around and said: "That's what the words say, but the people in the city, they, what should they do?" Speaking of this, his emotions were already very excited.

Li Zhong looked at him like this, angry and funny, did not answer him, but continued to eat the cake, and finally untied the wine bag on his waist and drank it by himself. Seeing him like this, Wen Ping snatched his wine bag, took a few sips, and said: "I also know that the life and death of the army are higher than these people, but I just feel uncomfortable!" Li Zhong smiled: "If you are uncomfortable, take a few more sips, I will treat you today!"

At this time, a soldier came over and told them that a large group of people had gathered outside the Ningzhou Mansion to make trouble. Wen Ping threw the wine bag to the ground, and said to Li Zhong angrily: "Now you see it, these people know that we are going to evacuate, and the discussion is coming!" Li Zhong hurriedly went to pick up the wine bag on the ground, not to mention how distressed he was, and hurriedly said: "This is my wine bag, how can you say throw it away?" Wen Ping ignored him, and then said: "You have to go with me to explain to the people!" Li Zhong shrugged his shoulders, leaned on the grain cart, as if there was no one, and said: " I won't go, you are the main general, you go and say, I will help you escort the grain and grass. Wen Ping didn't care if he agreed or not, he went up directly, dragged him out of the house.

As soon as they left the house, they were startled, and the door was crowded with people, and they were noisy.

"Your Qing army has just won the battle, why did you leave?"

"You're gone, what are we going to do?"

"We are subjects of the Qing Dynasty, don't the Qing army have an obligation to protect us?"

The people, you and I, are all asking why the Qing army withdrew. Wen Ping explained to them that the city defense had been in disrepair for many years and could no longer be defended, but where were the people willing to listen, and they were stunned and did not let the Qing army go. Li Zhong leaned against the doorpost, looking gloating, meaning that it was a waste of time for Wen Ping to talk to the people at this time. Seeing that he couldn't convince him, Wen Ping aroused the emotions of the people even more, so he hurriedly turned his eyes to Li Zhong and said, "The withdrawal of troops was first thought up by General Li, so ask him if you have anything."

Seeing him like this, Li Zhong could only barely clear his throat, and just as he was about to speak, a piece of garlic had already smashed into his face, and then someone scolded him for "being a coward and afraid of the enemy", and then more people scolded, the scene was out of control for a while, and several people even wanted to rush up and beat him. This made Li Zhong angry, he worked hard to kill the enemy, and was scolded as a coward, he drew his sword suddenly, and scolded loudly: "Give you face, don't you, I don't bother to explain anything to you, anyway, those who block our withdrawal will be killed, and the rest of the people can receive two buckets of rice!"

It is said that human nature is to bully the weak and fear the hard, and the common people did quiet down when they heard him shout like this. But unexpectedly, someone shouted in the crowd, "Do you think that such a small profit can make up for us? We have destroyed our own home!" The crowd that had just been quiet again began to quarrel again. Wen Ping couldn't bear their noise, leaning against the door of the mansion, closing his eyes, frowning, and supporting his head with his arms, he only felt a headache, and the soldiers on the side were also watching the play there, just to see how these two generals dealt with these people who were asking for explanations.