The moon is missing, the trees are hanging, and it's another peaceful night.
Zhao Jun, who hurriedly withdrew from the barrier, finally returned to Xinzheng City at dusk.
However, until the bright moon hung high in the sky and several hours passed, there was still no sign of the cavalry led by General Lian outside Xinzheng City.
According to the original plan, General Lian Po should have caught up with the large army as he approached Xinzheng City.
However, the intrusion of the Qin army's cavalry disrupted all plans.
Except for an order to speed up the retreat to Xinzheng, Zhao Jun failed to receive any orders from General Lian Po. But everyone knows how dangerous this battle between three thousand versus ten thousand will be.
All the generals of the Zhao army were crowded on the south tower, stretching their necks to look at the darkness in the distance.
Every time the clatter of horse hooves sounds, there is a burst of eager anticipation.
It's a pity that all the generals are left with is disappointment every time - that is the sound of the scouts sent back to the city.
Even so, the generals waited quietly.
"General, would you like to report this to our king?" A captain said weakly in front of the deputy general in charge of city defense.
"Where are the scouts? Haven't you reported back yet?" The general in charge of city defense was obviously unwilling to accept this reality and still retained his last hope.
"More than ten waves have been sent out, and only a few battle sites have been found. The Qin army has already cleaned them up." Another captain in charge of the scout camp immediately replied.
"Old General, is it possible?" Another voice sounded weakly.
What followed was a silent silence. No one wants to continue to think about it, but unfortunately, terrifying possibilities keep popping into their minds.
Seriously injured, killed or even captured....
..
Everyone tried to put aside such thoughts and tried to wait quietly for the miracle to arrive.
Yes, a miracle.
Regardless of the intelligence brought back by the scouts or judging from the time, it is very likely that the three thousand cavalry led by the old general have suffered a disaster.
It's just that everyone is willing to admit this fact.
As time passed, the bright moonlight gradually fell on the treetops.
Everyone's mood became heavier and heavier as the moonlight gradually dimmed.
They knew very well that the longer time passed, the smaller the chance that the old general would survive.
Finally, just as the moon was about to set in the west, the deputy general of the army spoke: "The Qin army's soldiers are pressing on the border, and the old general's life and death are unknown. We cannot sit back and wait to die."
With that said, the deputy general turned around and looked at the other generals, and then began to point at the generals and said: "Marching Sima."
"The general is here." A general immediately stood up and replied.
Just when the deputy general was about to give the order, a slightly panicked sound of horse hooves reached everyone's ears.
Obviously different from the neat sound when the scouts returned, the clatter of horse hooves seemed heavier and more panicked.
The lieutenant immediately stopped giving orders, turned his head, stretched his neck, and looked into the darkness outside the city, trying to catch the firelight at the top of the city and peel off all the layers of darkness.
Suddenly, a horse quickly arrived at the bright spot under the tower.
Before the generals could react, anxious voices came from below the city tower: "Open the city gate quickly, General Lian is back."
Hearing this, there was a sudden burst of excitement above the city.
"came back!"
"The old general is back."
However, just for a while
Amid the excitement, some generals were about to go down to the tower to welcome the return of the old general.
However, before he could move, he was stopped by the deputy general.
Compared to everyone's joy, the lieutenant general was very excited, but his face was surprisingly calm.
Without him, in the firelight, the deputy general did not see the figure of General Lian Po, and because of the distance, he could not see clearly whether the cavalryman under the tower was a soldier beside the old general.
It would be good if they were the old general's personal soldiers, but if they were...
Within Xinzheng, there are nearly half of the elite soldiers of the Zhao Kingdom today! No room for error.
"Come here, put down the hanging basket!" The deputy general immediately issued the order in spite of everyone's surprised gazes.
"The cavalry is ready for battle!" Before anyone could react, the deputy general issued several orders again: "Archers go up to the city and roll wood and stones to prepare."
After these orders, all the generals finally reacted.
Without any time to think, the generals took action according to the orders of the lieutenant general.
At the same time, the deputy general shouted to the cavalry under the tower: "Where is General Lian Po?"
The cavalry below hesitated for a moment, and then replied loudly: "The last general came first to report the news. General Lian is behind him and will be here soon."
It was okay not to answer, but this answer made the generals on the tower even more suspicious.
The cavalry under the tower obviously realized that there was a problem with his description, and immediately shouted: "I am General Lianpo's personal guard, and I have the general's token. Please put the hanging basket to pull me up to the city."
As soon as these words came out, the deputy general on the tower suddenly frowned.
No, he doesn't
He believed in the identity of the cavalry under the city tower. On the contrary, he had already believed seven points about the identity of the cavalry under the city tower.
But if you think about it carefully, since there is no problem with the identity of the cavalry under the tower, why should he have doubts when he was asked where General Lian Po was just now?
The only explanation is that General Lian Po's situation at this time was inappropriate for him to announce loudly, so he urgently asked for the hanging basket.
In other words...
Just as the deputy general was thinking about it, the hanging basket on the tower just happened to hang down.
The cavalryman didn't hesitate at all, and immediately came to the bottom of the hanging basket.
In a matter of seconds, the hanging basket fell to the ground. The cavalryman immediately turned over and dismounted, threw away the long knife in his hand, and reached the hanging basket.
"Pull!" The cavalryman sitting in the hanging basket yelled immediately.
Upon hearing the signal, several strong men on the city tower also worked together, and the hanging basket containing the cavalry quickly rose. In a short time, the hanging basket had risen to the battlements.
On both sides of the battlements, several Zhao soldiers who had been waiting for a long time immediately stabilized the hanging basket, and several more Zhao soldiers were holding sharp swords and waiting for the arrival of the cavalry.
Turning over, the cavalry was firmly caught in the hands of two Zhao soldiers.
Then there was the light of fire on the top of the city, and everyone saw clearly that the person who came was actually in ruins.
The face with Chinese characters was covered with stains of blood and fire. The originally neat armor was already covered with traces of sword scratches, and blood was still slowly oozing out of the holes.
What kind of brutal battle must he have experienced to be so embarrassed?
Involuntarily, several Zhao Jun armed with sharp blades consciously put away their swords.
Obviously, no one would be willing to point their swords at those who have just returned from a bloody battle.
comrades.
"Quick! Take me to see Lieutenant General Zhang." The cavalryman who had just got out of the basket said immediately without even having time to see the situation around him clearly.
Just when he was struggling to walk forward, he staggered and almost lost his balance. Only then did everyone realize that a long knife mark almost ran through the entire thigh between the cavalryman's right trouser leg.
Fortunately, the two Zhao soldiers who had just caught up with the cavalry quickly caught the cavalry with quick eyes and hands.
Immediately, without any nonsense, the two soldiers immediately set up their cavalry and walked towards the deputy general's position.
Arriving in front of the deputy general in a few steps, the cavalryman immediately took out a seal from his arms, knelt on one knee and presented it to the deputy general, saying: "General, the old general is behind you, please open the city gate quickly."
Upon seeing this, the deputy general took the seal from the cavalry's hand and looked at the face of the cavalryman.
My heart suddenly sank again.
Yes, he recognized the cavalrymen as the soldiers in front of General Lian Po, and the seal was indeed the old general's personal belongings.
he
Of course, I believe that the cavalry in front of General Lian Po will not betray Zhao. What's more, the old general's personal seal is just an inconspicuous seal. If he hadn't been close to him, he wouldn't have recognized it, and the Qin army wouldn't have recognized it at all. Wouldn't use it to call the door.
However, the identity of the cavalry is confirmed, which means that General Lian Po coming from the city tower may...
"Marching Sima, open the city gate quickly." Without any time to think, the deputy general ordered immediately.
"Yes." Marching Sima agreed immediately.
"Take your own soldiers and strictly control the surrounding area." The deputy general then added again.
"Yes!" Marching Sima, who was about to turn around just now, immediately agreed again.
One sentence.
Soon, as the marching Sima left, the deputy general hurriedly supported the cavalry with both hands, and then sent the remaining Zhao soldiers away.
Seeing that there was no one else around except his two soldiers, the deputy general lowered his voice and asked the cavalry: "How is the old general?"
The cavalryman looked at the surroundings that had been cleared, and then lowered his voice and said to the deputy general: "The general is seriously injured and is in danger."
Hearing this, the deputy general's heart suddenly tightened and he was almost out of breath.
Sure enough, what we feared most happened happened. If something unexpected happens to Old General Lian Po, can he withstand the Qin army's attack with these hundreds of thousands of troops?
To be honest, for a moment, the deputy general was really panicked.
War is never a simple accumulation of troops. Commanding a thousand people and commanding 10,000 people are not the same concept at all, and commanding 10,000 people is completely different from commanding 100,000 people.
The lieutenant general knew very well that his limit was only 30,000 to 50,000 people. If he unified command of nearly 200,000 troops in combat, he would probably be in trouble in less than half a day. In less than a day, it will be defeated by the Qin army.
But fortunately, the deputy general had followed the veteran general Lian Po on the battlefield for more than ten years, and he soon calmed down.
At this time, it is not the time to consider fighting the Qin army like this. The most important thing is to attack and treat General Lian Po immediately.
The morale of the military must not be disturbed.
"You, go and tell the marching Sima that the city gate must be controlled and no one is allowed to approach General Lianpo's carriage at will. All personnel involved in the reception must be under unified management." The deputy general then ordered the soldiers on the left.
Hear the cavalry complain
The soldier in question obviously realized the seriousness of the matter and immediately answered with clasped fists: "Yes."
Then he rushed to the bottom of the tower without looking back.
"You, quickly go and arrange the central army tent, arrange the soldiers, secretly gather the military doctors in the central army tent, and prepare the golden sore medicine." The deputy general then ordered the soldiers on the right.
"Yes." The soldier on the right immediately agreed.
"Come here." The deputy general then called several more people and said, "Go and tell the generals in the city and other gates quickly that General Lian Po has returned safely. It's too late tonight. He will raise his tent tomorrow and order him to guard the city tower strictly. , there must be no mistake.”
"Yes." Several messengers immediately agreed.
After giving these instructions, the deputy general arranged for several people to carry the injured cavalry down to rest, and then hurriedly hurried down the tower...
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