Ma Jin, the commander of the Second Army, led hundreds of warriors to fight back bravely along the main street, fighting with blood and blood step by step, and finally reached the city gate. However, more and more Khitan army cavalry were pouring in, but the warriors around Ma Jin had suffered all their casualties. The Khitan army's war cavalry roared and surged up, surrounding Ma Jin and the dozens of remaining warriors. Fighting with guns and knives, the Yanyun warriors and the enemy died together. They saw each one falling in a pool of blood, and in the end only Ma Jin was left. Ma Jin, formerly a tiger general under the Mingjiao, is now a fierce general of Yanyun. He has made many military exploits on the battlefield since he joined the Yanyun army.
Ma Jin, one man and one horse, fought crazily among thousands of troops, killing people like bloody men and horses like bloody horses. There was no one in the Khitan army who was able to match him. I don’t know how many people he killed! At the end, no Khitan army officers and soldiers dared to come forward anymore, and they all looked at him with fear in their eyes!
Ma Jin calmed down a little, and then realized that he was the only one left. He couldn't help but cursed secretly, spurred his horse to break through the siege, and galloped towards the city.
Arriving at the square in front of the government office, Ma Jin met dozens of people including Xiao Yanke, the prefect of Tanzhou, who was retreating. Xiao Yanke and others looked panicked. Seeing that they were trying to escape, Ma Jin immediately stopped them and shouted: "The enemy is in front of us, do you want to escape?"
Everyone looked ashamed, and Xiao Yanke said: "General, General Yang Xiong has already run away as the commander-in-chief. This battle can no longer be fought, so why seek death?" Ma Jin glared and shouted: "I'll wait for you. King Yan's subordinates have the responsibility to defend the territory, so how can we abandon the city and flee for our lives! Unless we are all dead, we must stay here and defend to the end! Anyone who escapes from battle should be killed according to military law!" Everyone was shocked. Ma Jin glared and said: "Go back and fight, or I will kill you here!" Everyone looked at each other, looking at his bloody appearance and the spear that was still dripping blood. They didn't dare to resist, so they had to turn around and run back.
Ma Jin looked at the backs of Xiao Yanke and others and cursed. At this time, two officers covered in blood rushed to Ma Jin's horse. The officer on the left said anxiously: "General, the brothers on the west have been washed away!" The officer on the right also said anxiously: "Brothers on the east They were also completely washed away!"
Ma Jin was startled, and he quickly raised his head and looked around. He saw torches shining brightly in the sky, and the sounds of killings and shouts from all directions shook the sky and the earth. He frowned and said to the officer on the left: "Blow the horn quickly and get all the brothers to gather together!" The officer agreed, quickly took off the horn from his waist, put it to his mouth, and started blowing loudly. .
After a while, he saw remnant soldiers running out one after another from the surrounding streets and alleys. Soon after, nearly a thousand remnant soldiers gathered around Ma Jin. As people and horses surged from all directions, countless Khitan army cavalry appeared, surrounding nearly a thousand scarred Yanyun remnant soldiers.
Ma Jin shouted: "Raise the flag!" An officer behind him promised loudly, and immediately unfurled the broken flag of the Second Army, making a sound in the wind. When the soldiers saw the military flag, their original panic disappeared without a trace, replaced by a sense of determination, and everyone's eyes showed a desperate look!
The enemy troops separated in front. A Liao general wearing heavy armor and holding a cross sword rode up to the front of the army. He took a look at the Yanyun army in front of him, with admiration flashing in his eyes, and said loudly: "You have no way out. If you have escaped, if you don’t want to die, please kneel down and surrender! Our Liao Kingdom also treats prisoners preferentially!" The Yanyun Army and the Khitan Army fought many fierce battles. The Yanyun Army often shouted to the Khitan Army, "Treat prisoners preferentially", so this Liao general Then he said such words according to the gourd painting.
As soon as the general of the Liao Kingdom finished speaking, tens of thousands of Khitan soldiers shouted in unison: "Surrender! Surrender!..." The sound was loud and shocking, enough to break the fighting spirit. However, at this moment, it failed to shake the Yan Yun army's fighting spirit at all. The eyes of the Yun Army officers were still extremely determined!
Ma Jin raised his crimson spear soaked in blood and shouted loudly: "Brothers, are you surrendering?" An indescribable impulse surged in the hearts of the soldiers of the Yanyun Army in front of them. They stood up and roared: "No surrender! No surrender! Fight to the bitter end. !Fight bloody to the end!" The thunderous voice and the iron-blooded momentum actually suppressed the voices and momentum of tens of thousands of Khitan troops.
The Liao general's expression changed, he snorted coldly, raised his cross sword and swung it forward fiercely. The two thousand Khitan army cavalry immediately let out a fierce shout, activated their horses and rushed towards the nearly one thousand Yanyun remnant army, with fierce momentum and murderous intent! Ma Jin shouted loudly, urged the war horse, and rushed into the enemy's thicket with the spear first. The spear flew up and down and killed the enemy's knights. The remnants of Yan Yun's army also shouted and rushed into the middle of the enemy. The enemy's war horses rushed Yan Yun. The soldiers of the army were knocked away, and the flying scimitars chopped down the Yanyun soldiers to the ground. However, the Yanyun soldiers were not afraid and risked their lives to fight hard. The swords cut off the horse's legs and the spears knocked over the knights. The Khitan army There was chaos among the warriors.
This massacre lasted for more than a quarter of an hour. The Yanyun army suffered heavy casualties, and the Khitan army's cavalry also suffered casualties. The ordinary infantry could actually cause such heavy casualties to the cavalry. The Khitan army soldiers were unbelievable and horrified. .
The Khitan army's cavalry finally felt scared and broke away from the battle and fled back. Yan Yun's army got up to kill them, roaring and chasing them one after another. The general of the Liao army became angry, raised his cross sword, and shouted loudly: "Bows and arrows!" The Khitan army's cavalry were all good cavalry and archers. After hearing the order, they immediately put down their spears and scimitars, took off their bows and arrows and fired at the Yanyun army. Suddenly, arrows rained down like rain, and Yanyun's soldiers fell to the ground one after another. The Yanyun army's counterattack immediately collapsed!
Seeing that the attack was very effective, the general of the Khitan army laughed ferociously and shouted loudly: "Keep firing arrows!" The Khitan army's cavalry kept firing arrows, and the Yanyun army retreated while resisting the opponent's arrows. Some soldiers continued to be hit by arrows and fell land. Finally, the Yanyun army retreated into the gate of the government office, and the Khitan army stopped shooting arrows. At this time, in the square in front of the government office, there were corpses on pillows and thousands of feathers forming a forest.
Ma Jin shouted: "Close the door!" Several officers immediately closed the door and fastened the latch. Ma Jin turned over and dismounted, sat on the steps of the front hall, put down the spear with his right hand, grabbed the arrow inserted in his left chest, frowned, and exerted force with his hand, only to hear a click sound, and the arrow shaft was broken by him. Two inches of it were left on the body. Ma Jin threw the broken arrow shaft far away, looked at the soldiers around him, and found that there were only a hundred or so men left, and all of them were exhausted and scarred. Ma Jin couldn't help but feel sad, and then a surge of arrogance surged into his heart, and he said loudly: "Brothers, we are Yanyun warriors. We would rather die in battle than surrender!" All the soldiers were excited and shouted in unison: " I would rather die fighting than surrender!"
When the Khitan soldiers outside heard the shouts coming from the government office, their expressions changed slightly. The Khitan general raised his right hand, and a thousand warriors came out, preparing to attack the government office. At this time, everything in the government office and the square in front of the government office became quiet, and the air seemed to freeze.
The Khitan general's right hand suddenly waved forward. Dozens of Khitan soldiers rushed to the gate on foot carrying the wood, and hit the door with the wood, making a huge noise. After only a few hits, the door couldn't help but collapse inwards. The Liao soldiers carrying the wood immediately stepped aside, and nearly a thousand Khitan army cavalry roared fiercely and poured into the gate.
"Tripping ropes!" As Ma Jin shouted, several tripping ropes were suddenly pulled up behind the gate. The Khitan army's cavalry was caught off guard. The horse suddenly lost its front hoof and was overturned. The cavalry behind them couldn't stop and bumped into it. For a moment, they were also overturned. "Kill!" Ma Jin shouted, and he went to kill first. The Yanyun Army officers also roared and went to kill, slashing and stabbing the enemy soldiers who fell to the ground wildly. Blood was flying, and screams were heard.
The general of the Khitan army was greatly frightened and shouted: "Fire arrows! Shoot arrows inside!" Tens of thousands of Khitan army cavalry immediately threw arrows into the government office. These tens of thousands of people fired arrows together, and the interior of the government office was like a It was like a rain of arrows. The continuous rain of arrows broke the branches, pierced the mud, and pierced the roof tiles. In an instant, the ground was densely covered with arrows. Yan Yun's soldiers There was nowhere to escape, and they all fell to the ground after being hit by arrows.
After several rounds of arrow rain, there was no sound in the government office. The Khitan general ordered to stop shooting, and the rain of arrows stopped. The general of the Khitan army estimated that all the Yanyun troops inside were dead, so he smiled proudly and immediately ordered the team of cavalry that had previously attacked Fuya to continue the attack. The Khitan Army's war cavalry shouted and rushed into the gate. This time, there was no tripping on the horse rope, and the Jin Army's war cavalry rushed into the government office smoothly.
However, at this moment, fierce fighting sounds suddenly came from the government office. Immediately, the Khitan soldiers outside saw their own people flipping on their backs and retreating. A dozen enemy troops were charging out on horseback. The leader was the warrior Yan Yun. Ma Jin was instantly unstoppable.
More than a dozen Yanyun troops rode out of the gate, then turned their horses and headed south to kill. The Jin army's war cavalry in the south immediately fired arrows, and the arrows flew away like locusts. Most of the dozen Yanyun soldiers were shot off their horses, while the rest crashed into the middle of the Khitan army like crazy beasts, roaring and waving their swords and guns. The Khitan army was so frightened and bloody that they unconsciously gave way to both sides. Ma Jin and other seven or eight people broke through the enemy's siege in one fell swoop and galloped towards the south. When the Khitan Army general saw the cooked duck flying away, he couldn't help but became angry and shouted: "Chase! Chase me!" Thousands of Khitan Army cavalry immediately chased after him.
After Yang Xiong led hundreds of trusted officers and soldiers to escape from Tanzhou, they fled southward. Everyone looked frightened. It was dawn, and everyone was far away from Tanzhou, so they couldn't help but feel a little relieved. Suddenly, there was a loud sound of horse hoofbeats in front of them. Everyone was startled. They quickly looked forward and saw hundreds of knights running over a low hill in front. Half of them were men and half of them were women. The men were strong and sturdy. , the woman is also heroic. Yang Xiong and others were all moved.
When he ran closer, he saw King Yan and the princess. He quickly reined in his horse, turned over and dismounted, and kowtowed: "Greetings to King Yan, hello to the princess!"
Yang Peng glanced at Yang Xiong, frowned slightly, and asked, "How is the situation in Tanzhou?" Yang Xiong thought to himself and said: "We have to find a scapegoat, otherwise I will be blamed!" ' As soon as he thought about this, he cupped his fists and said: "To report to King Yan, Tanzhou was suddenly besieged by the Liao army last night. Our army resisted desperately, but the city wall was completely destroyed by the earthquake, and Ma Jin escaped at the critical moment, causing Our army was defeated and suffered heavy casualties. Only these few hundred people were left to follow the general and break through the siege!" When he said this, his face was filled with sadness and anger.
Yang Peng couldn't help but feel angry and cursed: "If I catch this bastard Ma Jin, I will cut him into thousands of pieces!"
When Yang Xiong heard this, he couldn't help but feel happy, but then he became worried. He was worried that Ma Jin had not died in the encirclement of the Khitan army. If he broke out, wouldn't his lies be exposed immediately? However, this worry quickly dissipated. He believed that it was absolutely impossible for Ma Jin to break out. With such a small number of soldiers and horses, surrounded by his opponent's 200,000 cavalry, it was impossible for anyone to break out! Then Yang Xiong thought about what happened next. How to explain it if Ma Jin's body was found? By the way, it can be said that Ma Jin escaped before the battle, was intercepted by the enemy, and died in the chaos. Thinking of this, I felt that everything was perfect and there was nothing to worry about.
After Yang Peng heard Yang Xiong's words, he was very angry, but he quickly calmed down. Looking back on Ma Jin's character, he was clearly an indomitable and courageous warrior. Would he run away from the battle? At this time, Ye Qi Guanyin whispered to Yang Peng: "Brother, none of their troops were injured and there was no blood on their bodies. It doesn't look like they just broke out after a fierce battle." Yang Peng also noticed this. , raised his hand to signal Ye Qi Guanyin to stop talking, and asked Yang Xiong: "How many soldiers and horses did the Khitan army dispatch?"
Yang Xiong said: "About two hundred thousand, all cavalry, led by the two golden-haired ghosts, West and Butler." Yang Peng turned to Ye Qi Guanyin and smiled: "They are all your old subordinates!" Ye Qi Guanyin snorted and said coldly: "These two golden-haired ghosts are only interested in profit and have no loyalty at all!" Yang Peng said with a smile: "Westerners are like this, they will do whatever they can to benefit. There is no such thing as loyalty!" Ye Qi Guanyin nodded with deep understanding, and then said to Yang Peng: "Brother, the enemy army is powerful, we should withdraw to Yanjing first. Although the enemy army is huge, they are only cavalry. If you want to Breaking Yanyun City is no easy task!"
Yang Peng was silent for a moment, raised his head and looked into the distance, and asked: "At this time, the people of Shunzhou should still be crossing the Wenyu River. If the Khitan army is not stopped, the Khitan army's cavalry will be able to catch up with Shunzhou in less than a day." The consequences for the people of the state will be disastrous!"
Ye Qi Guanyin said angrily: "The lives of those people are nothing compared to big brother! Not to mention the tens of thousands of people in Shunzhou, even the two million people in the entire Yanyun Sixteenth Prefecture are incomparable. It’s important for me to go up to my eldest brother!”
Yang Peng said: "It's not all for those people. Although we had long thought that the Khitan people might take this opportunity to launch a large-scale raid, the Khitan army's actions were still much faster than we expected! The Second Army and the Third Army It is difficult for the main force to return reinforcements in time. If we can delay the enemy for a while, we will have more hope, so we must find a way to delay the enemy as much as possible!" The second and third legions are stationed in Yanyun Sixteenth Prefecture, but due to the previous For various reasons, the main forces of the second and third legions were placed in Yingzhou and Luanzhou respectively. It would take some time to return to Yanjing, and the defenders of Yanjing were only Xiao Feng's 20,000 city defense troops. Once the 200,000 Jin Kingdom cavalry attacked the city, Although they lack heavy siege equipment, their strength is ten times that of Yan Yun's army, so it will not be easy for Yan Jing to defend it.
Ye Qi Guanyin glanced at Yang Peng and said helplessly: "You always have a reason anyway. I know that nothing I can say can convince you, so I won't persuade you!" Yang Peng gave Ye Qi Guanyin a gentle look. , but the latter glared at him fiercely and said: "We only have such a small number of men and horses, and it is impossible to stop 200,000 warriors. You can't do whatever you want!"
Yang Peng smiled and nodded, looked around and saw several majestic mountains not far to the south, so he pointed at those mountains and asked Yang Xiong, "Is that Niulan Mountain over there?" Yang Xiong followed. Yang Peng looked in the direction of his finger, clasped his fist towards Yang Peng and said, "King Yan is wise, that is Niulan Mountain."
Yang Pengle turned his horse's head and said: "Let's retreat to the foot of Niulan Mountain, and then do this..." Then he said a strategy he had just thought of. …
Yang Peng and more than a thousand people quickly retreated to the foot of Niulan Mountain. Then Yang Xiong led his sergeants to go up the mountain, while Yang Peng and Ye Qi Guanyin led the secret guards and Feifeng female guards to the official road next to Niulan Mountain. They formed an array on the road. It was still early at this time, and there was a Lu River flowing from north to south not far away, so the water vapor was evaporating, and the entire Niulan Mountain was covered in mist, looming.
About half an hour later, the rapid sound of horse hooves was heard in front of them. Following the sound, I saw a dozen horses galloping towards them.
Ye Qi Guanyin said: "It doesn't look like an enemy." Yang Peng nodded. A moment later, the dozen or so riders approached, all looking embarrassed and frightened. Yang Peng recognized one of the knights and frowned: "It's Xiao Yanke, the prefect of Tanzhou."
Xiao Yanke and others saw Yang Peng and others arrayed in the distance from a distance. They were surprised and happy at the same time, and hurriedly ran forward. When he came to Yang Peng, he quickly reined in his horse, rolled over and got off the saddle, and kowtowed: "My subordinate, Xiao Yanke, pays homage to King Yan, and pays homage to the princess!"
Yang Peng said: "Get up!" Xiao Yanke thanked him and stood up. Chen Xiao asked: "Tanzhou is lost?" Xiao Yanke couldn't help but feel his heart tremble, swallowed, and bowed: "I am guilty, and I failed to live and die with Tanzhou!" Yang Peng said angrily: "Nonsense! How was Tanzhou lost?" Xiao Yanke quickly described the enemy's strength, the city wall being destroyed by the earthquake, etc. These conditions were basically consistent with Yang Xiong's previous report.
Yang Peng asked: "Where is Ma Jin?"
Xiao Yanke secretly said: 'If I say that Ma Jin stays in the city and fights the enemy to the end, wouldn't it appear that I am not loyal enough? ' As soon as he thought about it, he said: "General Ma Jin is to blame for the reason why Tanzhou fell so quickly. If he hadn't escaped before the battle, our army would still be holding on at this moment!" Xiao Yanke felt that Ma Jin must have been dead at this moment. Even if he is dead, no matter how nonsense he talks, no one will expose him. Yang Xiong knows the truth, but since he ran away from the battlefield, he naturally does not dare to expose his shortcomings.
Yang Peng originally didn't believe that Ma Jin would escape from the battle, but when he heard Xiao Yanke say the same thing, he couldn't help but believe it. He couldn't help but feel angry in his heart. At the same time, he also felt a little regretful. It was a pity that such a brave general who he valued so much actually did something like this. When it comes to such a shameful thing as running away in battle, it would be better if you just fight for a while and then run away!
Yang Peng suppressed his anger and said to Xiao Yanke: "Thank you for your hard work, go to Yanjing." Xiao Yanke showed determination and bowed: "The King of Yan is here, how can I escape for my life? My subordinates I am willing to follow King Yan and fight the enemy to the end!" When I said this, I was thinking in my heart: 'You are King Yan, so you can't really fight the enemy to the end! You will definitely run away when there is danger. It won't be too late for me to run away with you then. But I can't run away first at this time, otherwise wouldn't it look too disloyal and brave? '
Yang Peng saw that Xiao Yanke was willing to stay. Although he knew that his performance was mostly due to factors, he couldn't help but be moved and nodded. Xiao Yanke immediately led a dozen of his men to the side of the secret guard and stood down.
About an hour later, the sun had already risen to the tops of the treetops, and the misty clouds that originally surrounded Niulan Mountain had become much lighter. At this moment, the sound of horse hooves sounded rapidly in front, and several knights were seen galloping towards them. At first, everyone thought it was the forward sentry of the Khitan army. However, when the opponent got closer, they found that it was not the enemy's sentinel, but several of our own soldiers. They were all covered in blood and scarred. As if they had just escaped from the bloody hell, everyone felt extremely shocked for an instant.
In the blink of an eye, several riders rushed to Yang Peng's horse and reined in the horse suddenly. The war horse could no longer hold on, neighed and fell forward, and several knights fell off their horses.
Yang Peng and others quickly dismounted, ran forward and helped them up. Yang Peng looked at the bloody and scarred man in front of him, and was extremely moved. He patted his arm heavily and praised: "Well done!" Yang Peng didn't need to ask anything at all, he just looked at Ma Jin and the others. By his appearance, you will know what happened. At this time, several other knights were also helped up by the secret guards.
Yang Peng suddenly turned his head to look at Xiao Yanke and shouted sternly: "Xiao Yanke, do you understand your crime?"
Xiao Yanke was horrified when he saw Ma Jin and others actually coming back from the siege. When he heard Yang Peng's angry shouts, he was so frightened that he rolled off his horse and knelt on the ground, trembling all over and stammering. He said authentically: "My subordinate, my subordinate, I'm guilty!" Yang Peng snorted and said to Yedi Guanyin: "Fenghuang, go and catch Yang Xiong for me!" Yedi Guanyin agreed and immediately led a team. The guard ran towards the mountain.
Yang Peng walked up to Xiao Yanke and said coldly: "I'm afraid it wasn't Ma Jin who escaped from the battle, but you, Xiao Yanke!" Xiao Yanke was shocked and said anxiously: "Yan Wang Mingjian, subordinate, subordinate You really didn’t run away before the battle!” Ma Jin clasped his fists and said: “King Yan, Magistrate Xiao did not run away before the battle, and the general saw him near the end of the fight.” Xiao Yanke heard that Ma Jin actually spoke for him, and thought of what he had just said He was still throwing dirt at him, and he couldn't help but feel ashamed.
What happened after all, let’s see what happens next.
