At this time, it was about five miles outside the east city.
A big man with a scar on his face looked at the city wall in the distance like a black giant beast and remained silent.
After a while, someone behind him said: "Brother, the people from the Inspection Department are following us. When we stopped, they stopped too!"
The scarred man smiled coldly: "Don't worry about them, tell the brothers to eat some solid food quickly, we will attack the city soon!"
At this time, a thin man dressed as a scribe came closer and said, "Master, how are you going to fight today?"
"Fight him how he wants!" The big man turned his head and glared at him fiercely.
The thin man dressed as a scribe trembled and muttered: "These dogs from the inspection department have been following us for a long time. They should have sent someone to notify the city!"
Sure enough, as he was talking, torches lit up on the city in the distance, like a fire dragon, illuminating the city wall crenels that were vaguely visible.
The headmaster said: "What nonsense are you talking about? I still need you as a fortune teller to teach me how to do things?"
The thin man shrank his neck. He had studied for several years before joining the gang, and later set up a stall to tell fortunes. Because he could speak well, he regarded himself as a figure like Zhuge Liang among the thieves, but obviously, the scar-faced leader did not think much of him. .
Soon, more than a hundred thieves finished eating their rations and started shouting in the direction of the Hailing County city wall.
On the city wall, because it was getting late, Xie Kun and Zhang Jingxian looked down and could not see anything at all.
After a while, the sound of killing suddenly came from afar.
The two of them sounded like there weren't many people there.
But it was getting late, and who knew how many people there were in the darkness.
Xie Kun turned to the archers in the county government office and guard office and said, "No shooting without my order!"
Zhang Jingxian said from the side: "There don't seem to be many thieves?"
Xie Kun shook his head: "It's hard to say. It is said that this group of bandits in Qinhu originally numbered more than three thousand people, but only a thousand people were dispatched during the sneak attack on Taixing."
"Later, more than 500 people were killed by Lord General Xian. Logically speaking, in addition to the 500 people who went north, there should be more than 2,000 people. Where did these people go?"
Zhang Jingxian said worriedly: "You mean this is a trick by the thief to show weakness?"
Xie Kun nodded: "Everything is still unknown now, but we are already prepared. No matter how brave the enemy is, they still can't attack!"
Zhang Jingxian breathed a sigh of relief. To put it bluntly, he was only a civil servant and had never been in charge of military affairs. He was naturally very worried when he saw this situation.
But Xie Kun said that there was nothing wrong. As long as Hailing County was not conquered, even if the bandit soldiers poisoned the village, it had nothing to do with him being a coastal defense official.
He could sit back and relax, but Xie Kun looked sad. There were too many vital points in Hailing County. The thieves came from the east, and Bao Ba was the first to be hit.
There is a heavy salt tax area there. If it is looted by thieves, my friend Li Zhijie will be in big trouble.
However, there are more than 500 salt soldiers stationed in the Baoba Salt Inspection Institute, and they are protected by stone fortresses. Even if the thieves attack, there will be no problem in staying up until dawn.
Thinking of this, he felt a little relieved.
Just as the two of them were talking, the thief had already appeared at the gate of the city.
The soldiers and warriors guarding the city were quite nervous when they heard that the bandits were coming, but when they saw that there were only about a hundred people in the city, they relaxed a lot.
Although the soldiers at the guard station have been no different from ordinary tenants in recent years and have no fighting power at all, at night, they are protected by the city wall, and there are only a hundred thieves. As long as they do not leave the city, everyone who defends the city is still very confident.
But before everyone could rejoice, suddenly the thieves below the city bent their bows and shot arrows towards the top of the city.
The whistling sound of arrows suddenly made everyone on the city wall realize that this was no child's play. Although there were few people below, they were fierce bandits who dared to break into the city and kill officials.
"ah!"
Suddenly there was a scream, and a Xiang Yong by the city wall not far from Xie Kun was seen covering his face and falling to the ground.
The people around were shocked when they saw this, and they immediately became a mess.
"It's not good, he's dead!"
"Lao Qi was shot to death by a thief!"
"Oh my god, I don't want to defend the city anymore, I want to go home!"
Zhang Jingxian saw this and yelled: "No chaos, no one is allowed to leave!"
But there was an uproar at the moment, and the chain reaction even reached the southern city wall.
Xie Kun was anxious when he saw this. The south city wall not only had a city gate, but also a water gate. Someone had reported a thief before, but the thief had not been found.
If there is chaos in Nancheng and the thieves break open the water gate, then everything will be over tonight.
He quickly pulled out the sword from his waist, walked quickly to the horse wall of the city wall and shouted: "Whoever dares to go down to the city, I will stab him to death!"
He was a weak scholar, and he didn't wear official uniform, so no one cared about him at all.
Xie Kun gritted his teeth when he saw this. When he saw a panicked Pu Bing beside him, he stabbed him with his sword.
There was another scream, and the soldier clutched his stomach and fell to the ground in pain. After a while, his intestines flowed out from between his fingers.
This terrifying sight suddenly made everyone around them widen their eyes in horror.
They never imagined that a person dressed as a weak scholar would actually dare to kill someone.
Xie Kun's distorted face looked extremely ferocious under the light of the torch. He said viciously: "Whoever dares to take another step will be killed!"
The word "kill" was heard, and the crowd took a step back.
Just when everyone was hesitating, Zhang Jingxian trotted over: "I am the censor of Si Qiandu, the envoy of Huguang. I am in charge of rectifying the Huaiyang Haiphong Road. Zhang Jingxian. Anyone who dares to take another step will be killed!"
The soldiers behind Zhang Jingxian also shouted: "Anyone who disturbs will be killed!"
"Anyone who disturbs will be killed!"
"Anyone who disturbs will be killed!"
This time, everyone on the wall heard it.
Those who were on the city wall returned to the battlements, and those who slipped down the city also went up to the city with their heads lowered.
Xie Kun finally breathed a sigh of relief when he saw this. He said to the soldiers behind Zhang Jingxian: "Go to the two men, shoot the one to death and carry him down for a grand burial! The man I stabbed to death just now will be beheaded, and his head will be hung on the flagpole for public display. If there is another mutiny If you do, this will be the case!"
Zhang Jingxian looked at Xie Kun in astonishment when he heard this. He had long heard of Xie Kun's reputation among scholars, but he really didn't expect that this man was really decisive and perseverant in situations of trouble.
At this moment, Zhang Jingxian's soldiers pointed to the distance outside the city wall and shouted: "Master Zhang, look."
Zhang Jingxian and Xie Kun both turned around and looked outside the city wall. Dozens of fires were burning five miles outside the city, and there were even flames rising in the direction of Xujiacun! .
Zhang Jingxian said in a trembling voice: "Is there a thief there, or is he bluffing!"
Xie Kun shook his head: "I don't know, but it's important to defend the city now, so we can only wait until tomorrow morning to send someone to check!"
At this time, Xie Kun has become Zhang Jingxian's [backbone]. After hearing this, Zhang Jingxian nodded and said: "Then please ask Ziyu to be in charge of the east city wall. I will go to a few other places to inspect first!"
Xie Kun nodded, and then said worriedly: "Especially in Nancheng and Xicheng, be sure to pay attention to thieves making noises from east to west!"
