Jiuxi

Chapter 288 Chapter 286 [But I will open my eyes all night long]

Outside Ruyin City, the sound of ringing gold gradually sounded.

Li Shouzhen, the general of Dongyang Road, stood under the city tower wearing armor and saber, looking at the Huaizhou Army retreating calmly below the city. Logically speaking, he should be excited that the Yan Army defended Ruyin, but his mood was still gloomy and he could not relax no matter what.

After the first unsuccessful attack on the city the day before yesterday, today is the second time the Huaizhou Army returned in vain.

It seemed difficult for the enemy to threaten the solid city gate, but Li Shouzhen could feel the overwhelming pressure exerted by the opponent.

During these two defenses of the city, the Yan army was quite tenacious. On the one hand, they had no way out. They did not know how important Ruyin's strategic position was, but they knew that if they could not defend the city, all outsiders would be destroyed. In the situation of the Huaizhou Army, they didn't even have a chance to escape.

On the other hand, Li Shouzhen issued a very clear military order. Those who were timid and avoided fighting would be killed immediately, and those who bravely killed the enemy would be heavily rewarded. The former is carried out by the army's supervising team, while the latter is done by handing out silver rewards on the spot after guarding the city wall. Of course, the source of this money was not from Li Shouzhen's own wealth, but from the reluctant rewards from the wealthy businessmen in the city.

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

This was not easy for the Yan army, because the Huaizhou army was fully prepared this time, ranging from various siege equipment to the soldiers' armor and weapons, all of which were excellent choices. In addition, the Huaizhou Army has been invincible in attacking the city in the past few months. 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, we managed to survive in the end...

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

Compared with the whole city cheering after receiving the silver reward the day before yesterday, Yan Jun was obviously silent today.

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

But it was different today. Even though the Yan army had a commanding advantage, after the Huaizhou army carried out a long-term bombardment with catapults, the sharp soldiers who rolled up still gave the Yan army a terrifying disgrace.

Looking around the city wall, there are blood stains and faint cries.

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

Among the crowd, Wen Xiguang stood together with some other generals who had been idle at home.

At that pre-war military meeting, Li Shouzhen decided to let these generals fight with the army. Of course, they had no command authority. They only became familiar with the soldiers in the corresponding areas during the city defense battle, and led their own soldiers and followers to assist in the defense of the city as a backup. Use.

Li Shouzhen looked around the crowd, his eyes lingering on Wen Xiguang's blood-stained shirt for a moment. His eyes couldn't help but soften a little, and then he said to everyone: "Everyone, these two offensives of the Huaizhou Army are just an appetizer. The next step is to test us. moment. Now that our army has no retreat, Ruyin City is our last line of defense."

All the generals responded in unison, but their voices seemed somewhat lacking in confidence.

Li Shouzhen was not surprised by this, and his tone was slightly more serious: "I hope you will remember that at this time of life and death, no matter who is timid, I will not care about how many achievements you have made in the past, or what background you have in the capital. , everything will be dealt with according to military law, do you hear clearly!"

Everyone's hearts trembled, and they quickly responded loudly: "General, I will obey the order!"

Li Shouzhen looked at them one by one, and finally revealed a little news to them: "Xiao Wangzhi has limited troops. He cannot maintain a high-intensity offensive for a long time. As long as we can withstand the next period of time, he can only The main task is to be a siege. There is sufficient food, grass and weapons in the city, and there will be no problem if we hold on for a year and a half. Moreover, our army has back-ups, which we cannot tell you for the time being because of confidentiality, but I can tell you clearly that this time our army Not only must we defend Ruyin, we must also turn defeat into victory and capture Xiao Wangzhi alive!”

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

Therefore, after he said these words, the eyes of many generals lit up, and the original heavy worry faded slightly.

Upon seeing this, Li Shouzhen said with satisfaction: "Okay, let's go to work and watch the city defense carefully. Your military achievements will not be missing in the future."

The generals quickly agreed, and this time their voices seemed more exciting.

Wen Xiguang was naturally one of them. He walked out of the General's Mansion with others, said goodbye to several familiar generals, and returned to Wen's house in the east city with his soldiers.

His wife, Meng Shi, is thirty-two years old this year and has two sons and one daughter for him. The youngest daughter is only five years old this year. She is as cute as a porcelain doll carved in pink and jade.

Wen Xiguang washed and changed clothes under Meng's service, and the whole family had a sumptuous dinner. During the dinner, he changed from his usual majestic posture, making his little daughter giggle non-stop, and gave some gentle encouragement. He was a young man, so they were quite flattered.

At night, silence gradually fell outside Ruyin City, but the soldiers on night watch on the city did not dare to be careless to prevent the Huaizhou Army from suddenly launching a night attack.

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

Wen Xiguang turned to look at her and said calmly: "What's the matter?"

"Ever since that incident last year, I have been depressed. I know that I am not upset because of the defeat, but because of some... Well, I don't know what to say. I just hope that no matter what decision I make, please show some pity. Children at home.”

As Wen Xiguang's pillow, Meng never inquired about his affairs outside, but after spending more than ten years together day and night, she was naturally able to be keenly aware of his weirdness during this period.

Wen Xiguang smiled slightly, raised his hand and patted the back of her hand, comforting: "Don't worry, I know it well. This time is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for our Wen family, you and me, and the children. Besides, there is no such thing in this world." When it is absolutely safe, you must take some risks to obtain it.”

In fact, Meng didn't understand the deep meaning of these words, and she didn't want to know what her husband was planning during this period. After hearing this, she forced a smile and said, "No matter what, I hope you will take care of yourself." "Okay, don't worry."

Wen Xiguang nodded and said, "Go to bed first."

Meng then walked inside. Wen Xiguang sat alone for a moment. He suddenly stood up and opened the window a little, feeling the chill of the early spring night. Staring at the deep night outside, he couldn't help but feel a bit of coldness in his eyes.

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

There is a lamp like a bean in the room, the light is quite dim, and it can be seen that the furnishings are extremely simple.

He held a soft cloth in his left hand and wiped the dagger patiently with extremely meticulous movements.

Looking back on the past, he still clearly remembers the day he left his family and went north alone. Seven years passed in a flash.

In the past seven years, he relied on his own abilities to go from an unknown soldier to an official of the Dongyang Road General's Mansion. He stepped in front of Li Shouzhen and gradually gained the other party's trust.

He was cautious in front of others, never daring to make a wrong step, always being kind to others and acting humbly. These seven years were like a long night, and he could never see the glimmer of light on the horizon.

Until now.

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

……

Outside the city, there is the Huaizhou camp and the Chinese army's command tent.

The lights were brightly lit, and a group of tiger generals sat on either side, but no one made a sound.

Xiao Wangzhi held the position of commander and held several urgent secret reports in his hand, one of which came from Gongcheng in the capital of Yan State. Lu Chen led the army to win consecutive battles and had captured Gongcheng and continued to advance to Yaoshanguan.

Now thousands of infantry and 3,000 cavalry of the Jing army are stationed at Yaoshanguan, obviously trying to block the advance of the Huaizhou army here.

Looking at Lu Chen's analysis of coach Jing Jun's psychology in the secret report, Xiao Wang's face showed a faint look of relief.

The rest were recent intelligence summaries on key areas. Xiao Wangzhi read them one by one, then handed these secret reports to his soldiers, looked around the generals and said: "Take a day off tomorrow, and we must capture Ruyin City the day after tomorrow. "

This order is actually a bit unkind, because a strong city like Ruyin, which can be called the hub of a place, may not be captured under normal circumstances after being besieged for several months.

Although the Huaizhou Army performed very bravely in the first two offensives, the Yan Army's morale was not broken, and it was very difficult to win overnight.

The generals in the tent felt a little more pressure, but no one hesitated to shirk at this moment, and they all said solemnly: "The last general will take the order!"

Xiao Wangzhi turned to look at Pei Sui, the first man on the left, and said in a gentle but unquestionable tone: "The Zhenbei Army will attack the east gate in the future."

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

Thinking of this, he asked with some expectation: "Grand Governor, is there any support from the east gate?"

Xiao Wangzhi did not deliberately hide it, nodded and said: "That's right."

Pei Sui was overjoyed and immediately expressed his stance: "Please rest assured, Commander-in-Chief, the general will definitely be able to lead his army into Ruyin City!"

The other generals couldn't help but look envious.

Xiao Wangzhi said: "If you fail this time, you will go to Donghai Mansion and work as a horse for the rest of your life, and never come back again."

Pei Sui smiled awkwardly, stood up and said, "I will issue a military order here. If I cannot attack Ruyin in the future, I would like to come and see you!"

"I only want Ruyin City, so what's the use of your head? Can it be used as a wine flask?"

Xiao Wangzhi made a rare joke, and then said to the generals: "If we cannot defeat Ruyin City, our army will fall into an unpredictable and dangerous situation. Therefore, we can only win but not lose in this battle. Do you remember?"

"Yes!"

All the generals responded in unison.

(End of this chapter)