How could Li Xiuyuan, who was in Guobei County, not know about the news that rebel troops were approaching the city?
It's just that the rebels came too quickly. By the time he was fully prepared, the rebels had already reached the gates of Jinling City.
"Boom~!"
A series of roars of iron hoofs sounded, and eight thousand cavalry rushed from the direction of Guobei County. Li Xiuyuan was wearing black armor, holding a golden gun in his mouth, riding a dragon colt, and rushed to the front. His face was solemn.
Running like the wind, even though I was extremely anxious, I had to stop for a moment in front of Guo Beicheng.
In front of a temple outside Guobei City, there were large boxes containing golden armor and weapons. These armors and weapons were placed on the ground and circled the Taoist temple several times.
At this moment, a boy wearing Taoist robes, holding a fly whisk, stood in front of these weapons and armors, looking at the eight thousand iron hoofs galloping towards them with a smile.
"Stop~!"
Li Xiuyuan's dragon and horse came neighing, landed in front of the temple, raised his gun and shouted.
"Uu~!"
The war horses behind them neighed, and the eight thousand cavalrymen quickly stopped, and the rumbling roar stopped.
"It seems that the weapons and armor are all ready. Although it can only be used for ninety days, my Li family is already casting weapons and armor. The ninety days can last until the next change of equipment."
Li Xiuyuan thought to himself, he got off his horse and strode over.
He glanced at it and suddenly said softly: "Little brat, where is my master? Have you seen a Taoist priest who looks a little wretched?"
"Disciple, is the only word in your heart for being a teacher is wretchedness?" The little Taoist boy suddenly glared at him and said angrily.
"Master?" Li Xiuyuan was surprised and asked, "Why have you become so small?"
The blind Taoist who turned into a child said: "Didn't I tell you before I became a teacher? Now I am about to attain the Tao and start to rejuvenate myself. This is the highest state of human cultivation. In a few months, I will probably become a child again."
It’s time to become a baby, and then you can get rid of the shackles of the physical body and become a free-spirited immortal."
"So that's it. I thought Master, you were so frightened when you heard about the war that you hid in the mountains and old forests." Li Xiuyuan said.
The blind Taoist said: "Why is my master so timid? Don't taint someone's innocence. Thousands of people are watching. Please save some face for my master. I will have to walk around the world in the future."
"Let's not talk about it for now. Thanks to master, you prepared armors and weapons this time, which saved a lot of time. Otherwise, my eight thousand cavalry would have to wear winter clothes and go to the battlefield with a knife."
After Li Xiuyuan finished speaking, he turned around and shouted: "Get off your horses, get your weapons and armor, and prepare to follow me to Jinling City."
"Yes, General."
All the battalion commanders all shouted in unison, and immediately led their respective men, dismounted, picked up weapons and armor, and then began to put them on quickly.
"Oh my God, my young master's family is very rich. How much money does it cost to have such good weapons and armor?"
"It can't be made of gold, right? It's so dazzling. Even the bright armor of the previous dynasty passed down by a family in my village isn't as impressive."
"It's so strong. My sword has been curled by cuts. It's incredible. It's incredible. I'm afraid of fighting with this armor on my body. I dare to imitate Zhao Zilong, seven in and seven out."
These people were all extremely excited after receiving weapons and armor.
What man wouldn’t love such good weapons and armor?
Not to mention sitting on that tall horse.
It's not a loss to work with your young master's family.
At this moment, outside Jinling City.
A group of refugees leaving the city were cleaning up the battlefield, picking up useful armor, weapons, and arrows, preparing to take them back to the city in exchange for a bite of food.
The refugees were a little worried at first, but later they felt relieved when they saw that the rebels made no movement, and gradually dispersed and began to wander around the battlefield.
"My grandson's steamed buns have been found." An old farmer saw a corpse lying on the floor. The corpse was wearing a pair of iron armor. This should be a small leader of the bandits.
The old farmer walked over quickly, pulled off the armor, and touched the body again.
When he took out some broken silver, his old face turned red with excitement.
With this money, I can survive this winter.
Another young man led his sister and walked on the battlefield, picking up arrows scattered on the ground. However, because they were not as agile as the adults, they did not pick up many arrows, less than ten in total.
"Brother, I'm hungry, why don't you pick it up? Let's go get some steamed buns instead."
The little sister held his hand and looked pitiful.
The young man An Wen said to her: "Little sister, be obedient. We have to pick up more. What we have picked up now is not enough to exchange for steamed buns. They have been picked up here. Let's go over there." He pointed to a place far away from the city wall.
The younger sister bit her fingers, swallowed, nodded, grabbed her brother's clothes and followed him.
There are indeed more arrows there, but because it is far away from the city wall, the refugees are reluctant to get close to it for fear of not being able to return to the city in time.
There was also a woman walking on the battlefield with a crying baby in her arms and a look of horror in her eyes.
This woman was only less than 20 years old, and she seemed to have been married for a few years. She had never seen such a bloody place, with corpses and broken arms and limbs all over the ground. She was so frightened that she did not dare to get close. She walked around in circles several times.
I just barely picked up a waist knife.
But just as these refugees were cleaning the battlefield, suddenly, a strong wind roared outside Jinling City, and a blizzard suddenly fell from the sky.
For a moment, it was completely white outside the city wall, making it difficult to see clearly.
However, the strange thing is that the wind and snow only roared around Jinling City, but no wind or snow happened less than a mile outside of Jinling City.
"Woooo~!"
In the rebel camp, the horn of attack was blown.
Tens of thousands of bandits, rebels, and bandits rushed out of the military camp, carrying crude weapons and rushing towards the tall Jinling City not far away.
When these bandits rushed close to the city wall, the howling wind and blizzard outside the city suddenly stopped, and then immediately dissipated, as if even heaven was helping them capture Jinling City.
As the blizzard cleared, the view in front of us soon became clear.
"It seems that the gods in the heavenly palace cannot sit still."
After the rebels, Shi Hu was riding on his horse. Looking at the sudden appearance and sudden stop of the blizzard, he focused his eyes on a cloud in the sky.
Two vague figures were hidden in the clouds, and no one could find them.
Under the cover of the blizzard, the rebels were almost close to the city wall.
The soldiers guarding the city were immediately shocked. They were just happy that the storm had stopped, but when they saw the densely packed rebels not far from the city wall, they were frightened again.
"Hurry, go and report, the rebels are attacking the city."
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
There was a loud siren on the city wall for a while.
"What? The rebels are attacking the city?"
Inside the city tower, Commander Yang jumped up in fright when he heard the news. Then he thought of something and shouted: "Quickly, close the city gate and guard the city wall."
"Yes, sir." A military general responded and walked out.
Zuo Qianhu raised his hands and said, "Sir, there are still people cleaning the battlefield outside the city. Should we close the city gate later?"
"There are only a few hundred refugees. Nothing is as important as the city. Don't say more. Close the city gate quickly and don't care about the life and death of the refugees outside the city." Yang Shang said loudly.
But outside the city.
When the refugees heard the sound of drums and a group of rebels shouting and killing in the distance, their faces turned pale with fright. They stopped cleaning the battlefield and immediately ran towards the city.
"Brother, brother, look, there are a lot of arrows here. I picked up two more."
The little sister held seven or eight arrows in her arms, her little face turned red from the cold, and she said happily to her brother.
The young man was a little panicked at this time and said: "It seems like there is going to be another fight. Let's go into the city quickly. We can't stay outside."
"oh."
The little sister nodded, holding the arrow and trotting forward with her brother.
But before running far, the weaker girl couldn't hold the bundle of arrows anymore. Her arms loosened and the arrows fell all over the floor. She squatted down again, picked up the arrows one by one, stuffed them under her arm again and hugged them.
After picking it up, she stretched out her red hands and breathed a sigh of relief, then rubbed her legs, which seemed to have warmed them up, and then she trotted forward holding the arrow again.
"Wha~!"
An arrow was shot from the rebels not far behind and landed next to the little girl.
The little girl's eyes lit up, her little feet took a step forward, and she ran over and picked up the arrow stuck on the ground.
When she picked up the arrow, two more arrows fell next to it. She happily ran over to pick it up, and then breathed into the cold little hands.
"Brother, brother, I have a lot of arrows here." The younger sister said happily. Arrows kept falling around her, making it difficult for her to pick them up.
Thinking that these arrows could be exchanged for steamed buns, she became excited again and picked them up one by one.
But the rebels behind her were getting closer and closer to her, and they were no longer less than a hundred feet apart.
The young man looked back and saw his sister still squatting there picking up arrows. He was so frightened that he hurriedly shouted: "Little sister, run quickly. Stop picking it up. The bad guys are coming."
"Oh, I'm here. Brother, please wait for me. These arrows can be exchanged for a lot of steamed buns."
The little sister shouted back and ran forward holding the arrow in her arms.
But before she could run a few steps, an arrow flew over and penetrated her thin clothes and thin body.
The little girl fell to the ground, and arrows scattered all over the ground again.
She struggled to get up again, but her young body could no longer exert her strength. She couldn't get up, so she had to lie on the ground and pick up the scattered arrows one by one and protect them in her arms.
"Little sister, how are you? Little sister, you are bleeding."
The young man turned around in panic and ran over. When he helped the little girl up, he saw an arrow piercing the little girl's chest and blood pouring out from the wound.
The younger sister touched her chest with her little hands, and when she saw the blood on her hands, she started crying: "Brother, I didn't eat enough, I fell down, and now I can't walk. I want to eat steamed buns, I want to eat steamed buns."
"
The young man was at a loss and reached out to try to pull out the arrow stuck in his little sister's body. However, as soon as he moved, the blood flowed faster, and the little sister who had been crying for steamed buns soon turned pale and fell.
In my arms, I neither cried nor shouted.
He wiped away his tears, hugged his little sister, and prepared to carry her back: "Little sister, don't cry. We'll eat steamed buns again when we enter the city."
"Kill"
But before the boy could carry his little sister on his back, the rebels rolled in behind him, instantly swamping the brother and sister.
Beside them, there were seven or eight arrows scattered, as well as two neatly bundled arrows. If they were taken to the city, they could be exchanged for ten steamed buns.
"Don't kill my child, don't kill my child."
A woman held a baby in her arms and ran as fast as she could. She didn't even throw away the weapons she picked up. She just protected the hungry and crying baby with both hands and ran toward the city like crazy.
This woman, who was not even twenty, had a look of horror on her face. She looked back and saw that the thieves were getting closer and closer to her.
"Ah~!"
She accidentally stepped on a small hole in front of her, turned her foot, and fell to the ground. The baby in her hand accidentally rolled to the side.
"Wow ah ah" the baby cried louder.
The woman was so frightened that she ran over and crawled over. When she saw a bandit passing by, she screamed: "Don't kill my child." As she said this, she hurriedly rushed forward to protect her child.
Then she felt someone slashed behind her, and countless feet stepped on her body. She screamed in pain, and even the bones of her arms were crushed. The woman felt as if her whole body had been trampled into a puddle of mud.
.
Finally, I felt my head shake, and I lost consciousness again.
"Don't kill my child"
At this moment, the rebels have rushed under the city wall, but the city gate has been closed, and even the small gate has been firmly blocked.
There were hundreds of refugees outside the gate. An old farmer, carrying a pair of iron armor, slapped the city gate in fear and shouted at the top of his lungs: "Open the door quickly, let us in, open the door quickly."
But behind the city gate.
A small officer who was actually commanding the soldiers shouted loudly: "Bring the stones and wood over here and block the city gate. Make it stronger."
When the refugees saw this scene, they cried and howled for a while. They wanted to rush over and open the door, but they were stopped by the soldiers, and some stubborn refugees were even hacked to death.
"Grandma, why hasn't grandpa come back yet? I'm hungry again."
A young child in the arms of an old woman shook her grandmother and said.
The old woman was curled up in a ball with her grandson in her arms. Her limbs were stiff and her face was cold.
"Grandma, wake up, why don't you speak anymore, Grandma," the child said.
But outside the city wall not far away, the old farmer who had left the city had fallen into a pool of blood like the other refugees. He was hit by several arrows, and even before he died, he hugged a pair of armor tightly.
, protecting a few taels of silver in his arms.
"Too many people."
The soldiers guarding the city were stunned when they saw the rebels coming in dense numbers like a tidal wave. There were at least more than 100,000 people there, which was completely different from the tens of thousands who had tentatively attacked the city before.
"It's impossible to stand it. There are too many rebels."
The arrows shot from the city wall were like stones falling into the sea, without causing any waves.
Less than 40,000 garrison troops were distributed on the city wall. How many people could there be in each place?