This time, Da Kui did not kill the crowd, but rode his horse to the mouth of the canyon and stopped here. Seeing the Yuan soldiers rushing out of the valley, Da Kui not only smiled. The wind is still strong, and the rain and snow are still falling. The snowflakes in the rain were dazzling white, but they were bitterly cold.

Xue Xian led two thousand men and horses to the valley mouth, and the rain of arrows broke through the air under the stunned eyes of the Yuan soldiers who had just rushed to the valley mouth. The dozens of soldiers who rushed to the front turned into hedgehogs in an instant. After a round of arrow rain, the Ming army did not stop at all, and rushed towards the defeated Yuan soldiers.

A one-sided battle can only be called killing. In just half an hour, more than half of the nearly 1,000 Yuan soldiers were killed and wounded, and the rest surrendered.

The two hundred Ming troops who stayed in the canyon before captured the commander of the Yuan soldiers, and it turned out that this guy ordered his subordinates to turn back and rush to kill, but he himself abandoned his horse and crossed the obstacles in the valley to prepare to flee, but was caught by the Ming army guarding there.

In this battle, the Ming army captured more than 560 Yuan soldiers, captured more than 900 war horses, and a large number of ordnance such as weapons and leather armor.

Xue Xian ordered to rest on the spot, first took the meat of the dead horse and boiled it, and everyone hastily ate some horse meat to suppress the hunger. Only then did he set out again to catch up with the team.

The captives were tied with ropes and strung together, and the Ming army was escorted in two teams on the left and right, and rushed to Lintao after passing through Montenegro. When the sky was bright, I finally caught up with the team. The 20,000 Ming army turned to the north and marched in the direction of Lanzhou. Along the way, they encountered several small Yuan troops, and they were all scattered without much effort.

It turned out that Timur's army was now short of grain and grass, so nearly 10,000 scouts were sent to search for grain and grass everywhere. At the beginning, because of the construction of two stone towns, the surrounding boundaries of Lanzhou City became almost barren. In desperation, the Yuan army scouts and cavalry formed a group to look for it, and as a result, they encountered the Ming army reinforcing Lanzhou.

When the 20,000 Ming army was still a day's trip from Lanzhou, Da Kui consulted with Xue Xian. The 20,000 horses did not reach Lanzhou, but disguised themselves as Yuan soldiers to attack and expand the two cities of Timur. In Stone City, there are dignitaries of the Yuan Court accompanying the army, and it is also a place for grain. If the two stone towns were taken, Timur's army would be at the end of its rope. Xue Xian thought about it again and again, because the purpose of this trip was to reinforce Lanzhou, not to conquer the city. The heavy grain and grass of Timur's army were all in two stone cities, so how could they not be protected by heavy troops? Once the siege of the city was unfavorable and the troops were defeated, wouldn't it be impossible to steal chickens and lose rice?

Xue Xian went around in a circle and said what he thought in his heart, but he was very concerned about Da Kui's face. Da Kui didn't care, and followed the team into Lanzhou City in a decent manner.

The first thing he did after entering the city, Da Kui first bathed and changed his clothes. After days of rushing and fighting, Da Kui was indeed tired.

Yang Xiaohu, Meng Ge, and Ou Da Hammer were all very happy to see Da Kui coming back. Who knew that Da Kui went back to the room to bathe and change clothes, and then fell asleep, and slept until it was about to get dark.

Da Kui asked about the situation in the city, and he couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat in his heart. Lanzhou City has less than 10,000 soldiers, and in the past few months of expanding Timur's army to attack the city, nearly 10,000 people have died in Lanzhou City alone to help defend the city. Especially for ordnance and materials, the consumption of defending the city can be called the most in the history of the Ming Dynasty. It can be seen from this that Timur's army attacked the city fiercely and the battle situation was fierce.

In the evening, a banquet was held at the residence where Da Kui lived, and all the generals and colonels on duty in the city were present, and Zhang Wen and Xue Xian discussed the law of defending the city during the banquet. Da Kui listened but didn't care, Zhang Wen saw that Da Kui's face was different, and couldn't help asking: "Lord Zhang, I don't know what you think about the current situation in Lanzhou?"

Da Kui drank a glass of wine and first moistened his throat, and then said: "The army of Timur is now facing off with the marshal's army of 200,000 in Shen'eryu, and his two stone cities must be empty. The official wanted to personally lead the soldiers and horses to capture the two stone cities. In this way, Timur's grain route could be cut off and expanded, and more importantly, his retreat could be sealed in the event of his defeat. ”

Zhang Wen pondered for a moment and was speechless, but Xue Xian said: "Now that my Lanzhou garrison has a total of more than 30,000, it is indeed the best policy to take the enemy's stone city, but what if it can't be attacked for a long time?" As soon as these words came out, the generals present each said in line with each other.

Da Kui knew that these people did not seek merit but no fault, so he asked Zhang Wen, who had been silent, "I don't know what General Zhang wants?"

When Zhang Wen asked, he had to answer: "Lord Zhang doesn't know, he has been fighting hard in Lanzhou for several months, and the soldiers and horses are tired. Besides, we don't have siege equipment, and the two stone cities are well defended, so we are really powerless. ”

Da Kui wanted to say something, but Xue Xian said again: "When Lord Zhang was outside the city, he discussed with me about taking the city by disguise as a Yuan soldier, and the last general thought it was really inappropriate. If it is recognized, how will it end?" Da Kui couldn't help but be a little annoyed when he heard this, and Meng Ge and Ou Da Hammer beside him saw that Da Kui's face was not good, and they had the intention of having a seizure. Thanks to Yang Xiaohu and Master Feng, an entanglement was avoided.

After three rounds of drinking, Da Kui laughed. Everyone didn't know why, Da Kui smiled and said: "Although this official is a prisoner, he doesn't want to interfere in the affairs of the army. In the future, the defense of the city will depend on the hard work of the two generals. ”

Zhang Wen and Xue Xian saw that Da Kui had finally given up the idea of attacking the city, and not only did they put their minds at ease. Who knew that Da Kui continued: "Now that I don't see the Yuan army attacking the city, if this official wants to go out, he must always have some prestige, right?" Hearing Da Kui's words, Zhang Wen and Xue Xian were suddenly in a fog, and they didn't understand what Da Kui was going to say.

Da Kui said to Zhang Wen: "General Zhang, the law of the imperial court, should know very well. ”

Zhang Wen hurriedly clenched his fists and said: "The rules set by the emperor, how dare the last general forget it." ”

Da Kui nodded approvingly: "Well, that's good." I'm here to ask you. What kind of honor guards are the hundreds of officials traveling in the court?"

Zhang Wen thought for a while, and then replied: "The emperor travels, and he is escorted by 100,000 imperial forest troops. When the prince traveled, he was accompanied by 10,000 ironclad soldiers. When the important ministers of the court were halved according to their ranks. ”

Da Kui said with a smile: "As a first-class official, he always needs five thousand escorts when he travels. General Zhang, yes and no?"

It wasn't until this moment that Zhang Wen understood what kind of medicine was sold in the Da Kui gourd, and immediately defended: "My lord doesn't know, unless it's a tolerance of the Qin order, the number of first-class court officials is only two thousand." ”

As soon as Da Kui set the table, he laughed and said, "Two thousand is two thousand, and everyone will come to see me early tomorrow morning." ”

Zhang Wen and Xue Xian were dumbfounded, could this prison lord be crazy?

After talking about the matter, Da Kui said goodbye first after he was full of wine and food, and Meng Ge and Ou Da Hammer also left the table.

That night, Da Kui and Meng Ge secretly discussed with Ou Da Hammer and Yang Xiaohu that the north and south gates of Lanzhou City were guarded by Meng Ge and Ou Da Hammer. Waiting until tomorrow when he received the soldiers and horses and went out of the city from the north gate, Yang Xiaohu was promoted as a military quartermaster, and he naturally knew how many weapons and armor of the Yuan army were in stock.

When everything was settled, they went back to their rooms and slept peacefully. Early the next morning, after getting up and changing clothes, Da Kui washed hastily and went out.

The morning sun inside the city was much warmer than outside the city, and the snow on the streets turned to water, and the ground was wet and muddy. Da Kui stood dumbfounded in front of the door, there was a guard of honor on the street. waited until the near morning, but still no one came, and Da Kui couldn't help but be angry. went straight to the garrison mansion at the moment, Zhang Wen went to patrol the city, and only Xue Xian was there.

As soon as they met, Da Kui opened his mouth and said angrily: "Where are the two thousand honor guards who promised me?

Xue Xiancheng was terrified, and hurriedly replied: "My lord is angry, General Zhang Wen has not broken his promise. It is good to bring 2,000 honor guards to the house early tomorrow morning, and I don't believe you can ask them. As he spoke, he pointed to several lieutenants who were busy. One of the thousand households stepped forward and hugged his fist towards Da Kui and said, "Your Excellency is angry, the end of last night's banquet will also be there, and what your Excellency said is indeed tomorrow and not today." ”

When Da Kui heard this, the anger that was already pressed in his chest rose up, and he almost roared: "Tomorrow and tomorrow, you dare to play this official?" Before everyone could come to comfort him, the thousand households standing opposite Da Kui had been kicked out of the distance.

"Go and call Zhang Wen, the official is waiting for him here!" Da Kui was almost furious, and he gritted his teeth when he spoke. The thousand households didn't dare to slack off, and they got up and were about to walk out of the hall.

It happened that Zhang Wen's voice came: "Oh, what made Lord Zhang so angry?" As he spoke, Zhang Wen entered the hall of the garrison mansion with a few entourage.

Da Kui didn't go around in circles, walked up to Zhang Wen and asked with a cold face, "Where is the official's honor guard?"

Zhang Wen was stunned and looked at Xue Xian. Xue Xian secretly waved his hand to Zhang Wen with a bitter face, Zhang Wen was helpless, so he said bitterly: "Lord Zhang, the first thing in the city this time is to consolidate the city defense, but where can you still have people to do the honor guard?"

Da Kui sneered: "It's a great achievement for you to keep Lanzhou, and you don't need to take any more risks." Is this right?"

"It's ....... Zhang Wen was speechless by what he thought in his heart.

Da Kui looked at Zhang Wen and continued: "The previous official was injured, and it was helpless to stay in Lanzhou. At the beginning, the Yuan army coerced the people to come to the city, and you Zhang Wen was Baolanzhou, so those who came to the city were killed, and the official did not blame you. This time this official is a prison army, do you dare to disobey?"

Zhang Wen didn't speak, Xue Xian stepped forward and said, "My lord is angry, this matter is still open to discussion." ”

Da Kui didn't talk nonsense, and after walking to the public case, he grabbed a striking 'snap' and slapped it on the public case: "Pass my military order, Brother Susu ordered two thousand elite horses to wait at the north gate, and if you disobey, you will be decided!"

Zhang Wen and Xue Xian looked at each other for a moment, and Zhang Wen went out with a sigh.

The two thousand elite cavalry changed their clothes and clothes, and Da Kui took the captured commander of the Yuan army with him. Everything was ready to stop, and the team went out of the north gate and disappeared into the long snowstorm outside the city.

Da Kui was anxious in his heart, because as long as he took the two stone cities, Timur, who was far away in Shen Eryu, was bound to take the city, so that the marshal would have the opportunity to take advantage of the victory to pursue. Only this battle can be decided!