"Steady the flag." Holding the knife, Lian Yong coughed repeatedly. Even if he didn't move, just standing still consumed too much of his energy.
He felt that he was already a dead man.
"General Lian, the dry forest on both sides of the official road outside Hezhou has caught fire for some reason. This is a God-given opportunity. When the Di people see the fire, they will definitely not dare to pursue it."
"It's just thick smoke, not a fire. Someone is helping secretly... Ahem, Chen Xian, I feel... weak."
"General!"
"Come here, please hold me up. If I can't hold on and I'm going to fall, you have to put in some effort... The soldiers who retreated to Hezhou, seeing that I'm still there... will definitely boost their morale."
"Although Chang Jiulang has a deceitful plan, it is nothing more than deception... but he will definitely not be able to control it in Hezhou City."
"Besides, my little friend must have an idea... Over there in the inner city, I heard that there is trouble at the border gate. If Beidi knocks on the pass, the king of Yuzhou will save him. He is a good man."
"General, stop talking." The guard next to him urged him bitterly.
"I am brave enough not to die, but I wish I could kill the national traitors... First there was Zhao Qingyun, and then there was Chang Jiulang. I have thousands of miles of land in the Central Plains, these thieves, these thieves!"
"These thieves——"
Under the sun, this veteran with flying silver hair finally made a shouting gesture and never moved again.
"Congratulations, General."
Guard Chen Xian gritted his teeth, tears welling up from his eyes, and he clutched Lian Yong's robe and armor to hold on steadily.
…
On the official road, the corpses of countless old soldiers who had been cut off were densely packed all the way. There were also some Beidi people who were red-eyed with bloodshed. Even though they saw the fire, they still did not retreat. They pursued them on horseback or on foot, frantically killing the old soldiers who were behind.
Every time a person was killed, his head was cut off and tied to his waist or horse saddle in ecstasy.
Previously, there were at least 8,000 veterans in the entire Hezhou. In the end, less than 400 people broke out together.
It's not that they are afraid of death, but that these people need to lead the remnant army and calm the morale of the army. In the end, we still need to find ways to defend the country.
…
"In the end, there were only more than 400 old soldiers left, and they returned to Hezhou with less than 20,000 remnants of the army. Although the veteran general Lian Yong achieved great success in rescuing the army by cheating his death, he did not wait until the remnants of the army. When the army returned to the city, all the fuel and lamps were exhausted, and they died under the banner of Lianzi."
In the camp on the Hebei front line, the voice of the old counselor Liu Ji was faintly trembling.
In front of him, his master was sitting upright, seemingly calm, but Liu Ji understood that his master was extremely angry.
"Where is Changkuro."
"He used a deceitful order to lead troops and horses into the ambush in Beidi, and then disappeared without a trace. This information was from seven or eight days ago. Although Hezhou has returned most of its remaining soldiers, it still faces Beidi. The army’s offensive is already in danger.”
"My lord, I can't figure out why Chang Jiulang did this. You know, he is my lord's clan brother and a son of the top family in the inner city."
"You ask me, who should I ask." Changshiro gritted his teeth, "I just thought that Changjiro finally impressed me. I never thought that I, Changshiro, had raised a bad wolf and brought disaster to the country!"
Bang.
Changshiro raised his palm and struck angrily, knocking over the stove in front of him. Broken hand, blood dripped into the stove, making a "sizzling" sound.
"Lord, don't blame yourself!" The old counselor was shocked for a moment.
Changshiro closed his eyes, his body still trembling slightly.
"Zhongde, why is this? In the past, Chang Jiulang was a good-for-nothing dude, but in the past few years, I think he has really worked hard, and he seems to have become a different person."
"Lord." The old counselor frowned, suddenly seeming to understand something.
"My lord, remember what happened to Yuan Song back then. At that time, he sent people to sneak into Cangzhou and wanted to rescue Emperor Ji Yuan An and return to Laizhou. If I remember correctly, the man used a trick to get into the palace."
"The art of disguise." Chang Shiro's expression paused.
"I heard from my lord before that Chang Jiulang seems to have changed in recent years. My lord, please don't forget that you and I rarely see Chang Jiulang. We only mention it occasionally in letters or work reports. This is his cleverness, he did not approach the master easily for fear of being discovered."
"I remember...at the end of the year, I asked him to come over to report on his work, and agreed to stay for a dinner. But he used the excuse of being unwell and left Hebei in a hurry."
"Damn it, this damn thing! Where did it come from!" Changshiro raised his head and cursed angrily.
"I'm afraid, it has been planned for a long time. Now, it is because of the Demon Queen's line that one by one has been exposed. As a result, the World Alliance will definitely have concerns when attacking Cangzhou. For example, King Xu Shu has always been the most powerful Those who hate foreign invasion.”
"This time, if Lian Yong hadn't allowed the remnant army to retreat to Hezhou with his dying body, I'm afraid the consequences would have been disastrous. But my lord must understand that the remnant army of less than 20,000 people, even if they have the will to die, cannot defend it. How long will you stay?"
"I can send reinforcements. If it is later, I'm afraid it will be too late."
Fortunately, he had left a reserve camp not far behind Hezhou, with about 10,000 troops, who could help defend the city when the time came.
The old counselor was silent for a while, but finally did not persuade him.
"My lord, at this time, we need a general who can take charge of Hezhou."
"Send the little boss?"
After just saying that, Chang Silang sighed, "The little boss is now the king of the six states of Western Shu. Moreover, he is still attacking Cangzhou, how can he separate himself."
"However, I will definitely ask him about this matter——"
Before Chang Shiro could finish what he said, a messenger suddenly walked in hurriedly.
"My lord, a fast horse with red feathers, a secret message from Western Shu."
"Bring it here."
Changshiro looked startled and opened the letter hurriedly. After just watching for a while, his whole expression suddenly became extremely exciting.
"Zhongde, the little boss guessed something earlier and has already sent people. He wanted me to send a few more generals to guard Hezhou together."
"who?"
"Just like me, he is also the number one scholar."
"Lame man Dongfang Jing!"
"Exactly." Chang Silang raised his head and let out a long breath, "I probably understand it. When Xiaodong came to Hebei, he asked Chang Jiulang about it. Later, I heard Chang Wei say that Xiaodong also asked He’s quite a bit.”
"Could it be that he suspected Chang Jiulang from the beginning? Where did the evidence come from?"
Chang Silang shook his head, "No, he was worried about Hezhou. Zhongde, you don't know that the turning point in the life of Xiaodong's family was when he received the order from Xiao Taotao and entered the border with Baiqi. Then, because Beidi was knocking on the border, he abandoned After taking over the position of Prime Minister and Fu, he resolutely led the army to the north to fight against Di."
"A person like him always has Hezhou, Wangzhou, and Yongguan in his heart. The old general Lian Yong is sick and old. This is my problem, but it's not his."
"I guess there may be some connection between him and Lian Yong. But because of Chang Jiulang, he can't tell me these things... But this time, he made the right bet."
"The lame man went to Hezhou. He should be able to defend it in a short time."
"Little boss with great talent!"
"What a fucking talent!"
…
On the way to Hezhou, three or four carriages were rushing towards Hezhou, rolling up smoke and dust all over the sky.
"Little military advisor, we are not far away. I heard that there was a great disaster in Hezhou. Fortunately, the remnant soldiers returned to their base camp and the Di people did not capture Hezhou. But now the defense is in danger. However, the king of Yuzhou has come from the inner city. , we have first mobilized 30,000 troops and are about to rush to the front line."
"Hit the horse faster."
In the carriage, the face of young military advisor Dongfang Jing suddenly became solemn.
…
