PS: Thanks to book friend He Cheng for promising the reward.
"General, the bandits have captured Guide Castle and are heading towards Yulin City." A soldier from the border army brought back news of the tiger-character banner army.
Wu Zimian tightened his grip on the armrest of the seat.
Guideburg is only a few dozen miles away from Yulin City. In one day at most, the army of the Tiger-Character Banner will appear under the walls of Yulin City.
"You go down first!" Li Kaiyang said to Ye Bushou, who brought back the news.
Ye Bushou bowed and retreated.
"The arrival of the bandit army in Yulin City has long been expected. For this reason, I have asked people to collect enough supplies in advance and send them to the city. There is not much we can do. The key depends on when the reinforcements from the court will arrive." Li Kaiyang looked at it. Xiang Wu Zi encouraged.
Wu Zimian hesitated and said: "There are many soldiers in Yulin City, and the city is high and the pool is deep. Do you think it is possible to use Yulin City to block the rebel army?"
As he spoke, he looked at Li Kaiyang and Yulin Guard Commander Liu Chun who were sitting in their seats.
"Datong Town can't stop it, but Yulin City will have a hard time stopping it." Li Kaiyang frowned and said, "The best way is to deal with the bandits while asking for help from the imperial court."
Wu Zimian frowned slightly and said: "I heard that the reason why Datong Town fell so quickly was because the defenders in the city were empty. But our Yulin Town is different. With the five thousand soldiers and horses of the Yulin Guards, the defenders in the city have already strengthened their strength. There are over ten thousand, but the invading bandit army is only ten to twenty thousand."
The Ming army had never won a single battle against the Liu bandits. If he could defeat the bandits in Yulin City, his achievements would be comparable to the Ningyuan victory in Liaodong, and he would definitely be reused by the court, and he might be granted a title in the future.
"It's difficult." Li Kaiyang shook his head, not optimistic about Wu Zimian's idea.
Wu Zimian turned to look at Li Kaiyang and said: "Outside the city, I was not sure about dealing with Liu's army of thieves, but it was different when guarding the city. The slave thieves in Liaodong were so fierce, but they were defeated by Ningyuan City in the end. You know, Ningyuan The city's defenders at that time were not as numerous as our Yulin City defenders now."
"Maybe it will work." Commander Liu Chun was persuaded.
If he could really defeat Liu's army outside Yulin City, as a general who participated in the defense of the city, the benefits he would gain were not small, and it was not impossible for him to even be promoted to the rank of commander-in-chief by the imperial court.
"Forget it, we have to stick to Yulin City anyway. It would be great if we could repel the rebel army." Li Kaiyang didn't want to argue with these two people. If he hadn't already made an agreement with Liu Heng, I'm afraid he would be as moved as these two people.
The three people discussed some more in the hall of the General Military Mansion. It wasn't until the sky outside turned dark that the three of them parted ways.
Liu Chun and Li Kaiyang, who came out of the General Military Mansion together, walked together.
The soldiers were already waiting outside the gate of the General Military Mansion.
As soon as the two people came out, their own soldiers immediately greeted them and handed them the reins.
Liu Chun took the reins and did not mount the horse immediately. Instead, he said to Li Kaiyang, who had just mounted the horse, "Isn't the deputy general at all optimistic about guarding Yulin City?"
"You have never fought against the bandits, so you don't know how powerful they are. You will understand when the bandits arrive outside Yulin City." Li Kaiyang looked at him on horseback and said.
Liu Chun frowned and said, "Can Thief Liu be more powerful than the old slaves in Liaodong? Ningyuan City is not as high and deep as our Yulin City. Yuan Futai can rely on Ningyuan City to defeat the army of slave thieves, and so can we. "
"It's different." Li Kaiyang shook his head at him and said immediately, "Liu Thief's army has many firearms. He can easily pull out hundreds of various cannons. When it comes to siege, the old slave is far inferior to Liu Thief."
"It's only been a few years. Why did Liu Thief have so many cannons? What did the governor of Datong do for food? Why didn't he find out at all?" Liu Chun said with an ugly face.
He didn't doubt that Li Kaiyang was telling lies, because there was no need for the other party to lie to him about such a thing.
Li Kaiyang's face turned ugly on horseback.
"I'm not talking about Li Futai. When Li Futai went to Datong to take office, Liu thieves had already become a climate phenomenon. I was criticizing the two previous governors." Liu Chun noticed Li Kaiyang's face and hurriedly explained.
"Okay, it's useless to say all this. It has become the climate now, and there is no use looking for the backend." Li Kaiyang stopped the other party's words with an unhappy look on his face.
During the years when the Tiger-Character Banner became popular, although it was not his Li family who served as the governor of Datong, it was the years when he served as the deputy commander-in-chief in Datong that he could talk about the Tiger-Character Banner, and he also had a share of responsibility.
"You have fought with the bandit army, go to my place to have something to eat, and tell me about the situation of the bandit army. You can also be prepared when defending the city." Liu Chun had no intention of letting Li Kaiyang go just like that, and wanted to take advantage of him. Learn more about the rebel army.
Li Kaiyang, who was about to leave, held the reins in his hands and did not want to mention his defeat at all, so he said: "I have already said what I need to say in the General Military Mansion. There is nothing more to say. Let's just eat." , I still have something to do in the house, so I’ll take my leave now.”
With that said, he turned his horse's head and rode away with his own soldiers.
"I was scared out of my wits by the bandits." Liu Chun muttered to himself as he looked at Li Kaiyang's leaving figure.
The soldier on the side waited for him to look away and asked: "General, should we go back first?"
"Let's go back." Liu Chun grabbed the hemp rope in his hand and climbed onto the horse, "Drive!"
He lightly tapped the horse's belly with his feet, urging the horse to trot.
There are many pedestrians on the streets in Yulin City. Almost as soon as it gets dark, no one can be seen walking on the streets. This situation started after the news of the fall of Yinzhou Pass came back to Yulin City.
After the fall of Yinzhou Pass, many wealthy households and ordinary people in the city wanted to flee Yulin City, but the General Military Mansion had already sealed the city. No entry or exit was allowed in the city, and all the people were forcibly detained in the city.
Especially the big families in the city did not escape. In order to defend Yulin City, they had no choice but to provide money and food to the General Military Mansion to feed the city's defenders.
There are few people on the street, so the horses can run freely.
Soon Li Kaiyang returned to his house.
"Master, the fur merchant who came to our house last time is here again. The young one has been placed in the side hall." The servant who had been waiting in front of the house for a long time saw Li Kaiyang coming back and immediately went to greet him.
Li Kaiyang handed the reins in his hand to his own soldier, and at the same time said to his servants: "Take me there."
The servant stepped forward and opened the door for Li Kaiyang.
After entering the house, Li Kaiyang came to the side hall of his house.
"General Lee."
As the door of the room was pushed open, Zheng Hong, who was waiting in the side hall, stood up from his seat and hugged Li Kaiyang as he entered the room.
"Try to come to my place as little as possible these two days if you have nothing to do. The last time you came to my house, you already attracted Wu Zimian's attention." As Li Kaiyang spoke, he walked to the main seat in the side hall and sat down.
