The enemy is approaching and the entire city is under curfew.
Late at night, except for the soldiers patrolling the streets and walking around the city holding torches, there was no one else in the dark streets.
The biting cold wind howled, causing the bonfire at the top of the city to sway endlessly; the generals on night duty at the top of the city sat around the bonfire. When they saw the sparks splashing on their armor, they didn't bother to reach out and brush them away. Instead, they watched the sparks sparkle in the cold with interest.
disappear in the middle.
Suddenly, the sound of galloping horse hooves broke through the silence of the night - the garrison at the top of the city suddenly stood up, looking west from between the walls, and saw several horses galloping faintly in the depths of the night.
"Urgent news from Xiangcheng!"
The messenger, who was galloping with a torch high, reined in his horse and stopped in front of the city gate, raised the flag behind him and waved it, shouting.
The city gate was closed in the cold night, and a primary school student lowered it down to the top of the city in a bamboo basket to check the seal of the courier. Then he used the bamboo basket to hoist the messenger up to the top of the city, put on a fast horse at the city gate and galloped to the government office.
There are all dirt roads in Luoshan New City, but they are frozen hard in the cold night, and the horses' hooves with iron palms trample past, like beating war drums, shattering the gloomy silence in the city.
In the simple post house with four walls, Zhu Hang also had trouble falling asleep. He sat under the lamp and thought about how to write another memorial to better describe the current situation of Chushan and Ruzhou.
Hearing the thunderous sound of horse hooves galloping down the long street in front of the post house, Zhu Hang felt uneasy. He opened the window and looked outside, but his view was blocked by the courtyard wall and the night. For a moment, he had no idea what was going on.
matter.
The cold wind rushed in, blowing out the candles, and the room was instantly swallowed up by darkness.
Only dim starlight came in from the courtyard. Zhu Hang couldn't help but worry and speculate, this is Xiangcheng. Is there any change in the enemy troops north of Zhaoling?
With a "squeak", Zhu Zhi pushed open the door of the side room and walked out. She stretched out her clothes and looked outside. She must have been awakened by the galloping horses in the city.
"Ah, father, you haven't gone to bed yet?" After a while, Zhu Zhi suddenly found Zhu Hang standing in the dark in front of the window, neatly dressed, and came over with a lamp in his hand and asked.
"Where can I sleep?" Zhu Hang sighed softly and said, "The horses are galloping in the city at night, and I don't know what else happened!"
"Xu Huai seems to like to use cunning tactics and take eccentric directions when using troops, but there is really nothing to worry about," Zhu Zhi comforted his father, "This is a trip to Ruzhou, and my father should not force Xu Huai to go with him..."
"The battle in Huainan is a matter of life and death for Dai Viet, so what should we do and shouldn't?!" Zhu Hang said with a bitter smile.
Zhu Zhi didn't know what to say for a moment, so he lit the oil lamp in the room. He saw that there was a memorial in the long case that was not yet half-drafted. He picked it up and read it over, and asked: "Father is still thinking about the stone cannon. I thought he would send out the memorial in the afternoon."
, is there anything left to say?”
"Not only that," Zhu Hang sat down in front of the case and said, "talking to Xu Houyan, he felt more and more the urgency of guarding the Yangtze River and the Huaihe River. He felt that there were thousands of words to say, but he had no way to start writing them. His mind was confused, and even a memorial
I can’t even write well…”
Zhu Hang was talking to Zhu Zhi when a rush of footsteps came, and Han Gui's voice was heard outside the courtyard.
Zhu Hang was really frightened at this moment. He hurriedly opened the door, walked to the corridor, and asked Han Gui at the door of the station: "Han Canjun, what urgent report did Xu Hou receive late at night?"
"Ruyang has been captured!" Han Gui was about to come in and said anxiously, "Xu Hou invites Mr. Zhu to come over..."
"What, Ruyang has been captured?!" Zhu Hangru was hit hard by thunder and asked in shock, "Has Marquis Yang successfully broken out of Ruyang? Is he okay?"
Han Gui said bitterly: "More specific news is not known yet. Except for the preliminary news urgently coming from Liang County, some of the Ruyang defenders could not endure such a fierce battle and surrendered to the enemy. Some of the defenders broke out, but Yang
I don’t know whether Hou is alive or dead..."
Zhu Hang sat on the steps in despair, unable to believe that there was any lucky news waiting for them.
Although Zhu Hang hoped that Xu Huai could go with him to Liang County and persuade Yang Qiye to lead his troops south, whether it was for public or private reasons, he hoped in his heart that Yang Lin could successfully break out of Ruyang.
Yang Lin's military exploits may not be as dazzling as Xu Huai's, but Vietnam suffered a great calamity. Yang Lin fought in the south and north, killed the enemy with blood, and devoted himself to guarding the barbarians. How could he be a successor?
If Xu Huai is the left arm of the Great Yue, then Yang Lin, Liu Yan and other generals are the right arm of the Great Yue. If they lose the Great Yue, they will suffer the pain of losing their arms.
Zhu Hang strongly invited Xu Huaitong to go to Liang County. Deep down in his heart, he hoped that Xu Huai would do everything he could to relieve the siege of Ruyang and rescue Yang Lin after he shouldered greater responsibilities.
Before he could wait for Xu Huai's definite reply, Ruyang fell?
Yang Lin runs the army very strictly, and he also has high prestige in the army. If Yang Lin is still safe and sound, it is difficult to imagine that some of his defenders will surrender to the enemy?
Xu Huai had just received the news from Liang County four or five days ago. He confirmed that the defense of Ruyang was extremely difficult and the casualties among the defenders were extremely heavy. However, the situation could still be maintained, and Yang Lin was ready to defend in the streets and alleys.
Prepare.
Although the information returned now is not detailed enough, it is enough to show that Yang Lin is more likely to be in trouble than in danger.
Zhu Hang rested for a long time before he regained his composure and took Zhu Zhi with him to go see Xu Huai with Han Gui.
They arrived at Xu Huai's residence. At this time, the courtyard was lit with torches, and several messengers came out holding flags. It was unknown what kind of military orders Xu Huai issued in a hurry to spread to various places in Chushan.
Under the guidance of Han Gui, Zhu Hang and Zhu Zhi walked directly to the side courtyard where Xu Huai was. Xu Wuqi, Pan Chenghu, Shi Zhen, Xu Xin'an and other generals also came after hearing the news.
"This is a letter sent by Yang Qiye..." Xu Huai saw Zhu Hang walking in and handed him a letter to read. What was written in the letter was the same as what Han Gui said:
Ruyang fell before noon yesterday, and Yang Qiye only found out about it after some stragglers broke through and crossed the mountains and rushed to Liang County.
A dozen generals who rushed to Liang County were responsible for guarding the northwest wall of Ruyang near Ziluo Mountain when the city fell. They were far away from the enemy and were able to escape smoothly. However, they did not know the specific situation in the city.
I don’t even know Yang Lin’s life or death.
"Xu Huai, do you think Yang Hou has a chance to escape?" Zhu Hang asked with luck.
"..." Xu Huai shook his head hard.
He had a deeper understanding of Yang Lin and Zuo Xiaosheng's army than Zhu Hang. Even if the news brought back by the returning soldiers was fragmentary, it was enough to show that a major change had occurred to Yang Lin when the city fell, and that the leaderless army was in such chaos all of a sudden.
As a result, it was captured by the enemy without any chance of struggle.
Zhu Hang sat down in the chair a little weakly.
Xu Huai added: "When the enemy troops in Heluo fall into Ruyang, they will inevitably move eastward to Liang County as soon as possible. I have ordered Tang Pan to dispatch two thousand elite troops from Xiangcheng and Ye County to assist Liang County to prevent
Liang County is at fault... I will leave for Liang County now, what do you have to clean up?"
"I'll leave with you now, just leave one or two people in Luoshan to pack their bags!" Zhu Hang said.
Ruyang has fallen, and the isolated city of Song County is far upstream of the Yishui River. The tens of thousands of enemy troops in Heluo are no longer restrained, and they will be able to crush Liang County with all their strength.
Liang County only had more than 10,000 defenders. When they first heard about Yang Lin's accident, the morale of the army was bound to be shaken.
Ruyang fell, and Yang Lin's life and death were unknown. Zhu Hang felt pain in his heart. He couldn't imagine the situation that once Liang County fell, Xiangcheng, Ye County, and Jiaxian City would face the enemy from the west of Beijing and Heluo!
…………
…………
Xu Wuqi, Pan Chenghu, Xu Xin'an, Tang Qing, Han Qi and others are stationed on the eastern front. Xu Huai does not have to worry about how many troops the Chihu East Road army will send before they capture Shouchun | Attack Luoshan, Xinyang and other cities that night.
He, Zhu Hang, Shi Zhen and others, surrounded by more than a hundred elite vanguards, quickly left Luoshan City and marched westward.
It is four hundred miles from Luoshan to Ye County. Along the way is the newly built post road in Chushan, where fast horses can be replaced at any time. Xu Huai and his party arrived at Ye County at noon.
Ye County is located at the northeastern foothills of Funiu Mountain and south of Beishui River. It can be said to be the hinterland of the Huaishang West Front Defense Area.
However, considering the need for reinforcements to Ruzhou at any time, during the most intense period of the Centipede River War, in addition to more than a thousand state soldiers as the basic defensive force, Xu Huai also placed two thousand elite right-wing troops in Ye County to take charge of Xiangcheng.
Chen Zixiao, deputy commander of the Right Army, controlled the situation.
Chen Zixiao was the first to receive news of the fall of Ruyang. When he sent people to send the Liang County News to Luoshan, he also immediately sent two thousand elites from Ye County to Liang County for reinforcements.
At this time, Chen Zixiao also rushed to Ye County to meet Xu Huai.
"Before the city of Ruyang fell, Marquis Yang was shot by the enemy's crossbow and fell into a coma. The enemy took the opportunity to launch a general attack. The defenders could not hold on for long before they were attacked by the enemy. There is currently news that Yang Tingzhao led a small army
The elite troops escorted Marquis Yang out of the siege. Their whereabouts are unknown. They should be in the mountains south of Ruyang..." Chen Zixiao had already obtained more detailed information about the fall of Ruyang and reported it to Xu Huai and Zhu Hang.
This is not good news.
The crossbow made by Dai Viet, with short spear-thick arrows, can shoot through an ox within a hundred steps.
Of course, Zhuang Shouxin, Zhuang Yong, Chen Rongjun and others also mastered the method of making the bed crossbow, but the bow materials for the bed crossbow are more stringent than ordinary crossbows.
Dai Viet has always implemented the strategy of weakening branches and strengthening cadres. In addition to the extremely poor situation of the local armies, even ordnance preparation and even reserves, road supervisors and prefectures and counties were suppressed, and good craftsmen and weapons were concentrated in the capital.
Because good materials are rare, Chushan has not yet been able to mass-produce sharp weapons such as bed crossbows.
On the contrary, after the fall of Bianliang, a large amount of good materials and a large amount of bows and crossbows stored in the arsenal, together with hundreds of thousands of craftsmen, craftsmen and their families were all taken away by the Red Husbands.
After the Battle of Ruying, the Chihu people attached great importance to the construction of infantry armor. The enemy troops in Heluo and Jingxi put the Western Region stone cannons into the battlefield. They had more ordnance such as bed crossbows. Xu Huai was not surprised at all.
Yang Lin was shot by Fuzi's crossbow in front of the battle. Even if he did not die, it is not difficult to imagine the severity of his injuries...
