Li Xianlin was startled for a moment and then remembered that at the most dangerous time yesterday, the common people also went up to the city wall and used stones and hot oiled wooden stakes to prevent the Jin soldiers from ascending the city. Almost all the unarmed common people died on the city wall.
Today, the young men in the city also held swords and guns and went up to the city wall.
"Only women can be civilian husbands." Another general said in a low voice.
Li Xianlin was silent for a moment without speaking. He stepped over the corpses and wounded soldiers and looked outside the city. The Jin soldiers outside the city were gathering to retreat. They had suffered heavy casualties from the previous siege, and the damaged ladder in the north needed to be repaired.
There are only a few hundred golden soldiers under these cities, and they are all injured, so there is nothing to fear.
What Li Xianlin was concerned about was further away. He raised his eyes and looked ahead.
The terrain of Xiongzhou City is flat and broad. You can see far away at a glance. Just two miles northwest of the city, you can see the Jin camp. At this time, there are many flags and soldiers and horses are arrayed solemnly. There are at least 3,000 people there, and even
More.
In the past few days, soldiers and horses there have been taking turns to attack Xiongzhou City.
"If reinforcements come, I'm afraid it will be easier to go from the south." Li Xianlin said suddenly.
These words made the generals behind him look dim.
"There will be no reinforcements coming," a general muttered.
They have been holding on for seven days. If there were reinforcements, they would have arrived long ago, but now they only see more and more golden soldiers gathering, but not a single reinforcement.
"The sentinel said that the gold thieves divided their troops into three groups, and other places were too busy to take care of themselves. Either there were no extra troops to come, or they were blocked on the way." Another general said in a low voice.
The few generals on the top of the city were silent for a moment.
There is no point in rescuing Xiongzhou City anymore, so it is better to hold on to the city behind it.
As generals, they themselves understand this truth. If they were generals elsewhere, they would also make such a decision.
Li Xianlin moved his cheeks and tightened his grip on the knife in his hand.
"Reinforcements will come," he said. "Everyone, cheer up and take a rest. I guess the gold thieves will attack the city again at night."
He said and turned around.
"I'll go tell Magistrate Tong to send another group of young men to the city."
After saying that, he strode down the city wall. The generals looked at his back and felt extremely tragic.
There was also mourning in the city.
According to the previous order, the people under the rule took refuge in the fortified city. At this time, the streets were full of people sleeping, and the wealthy merchants had already released the rice and grain in their homes. They no longer paid attention to your status.
My city can be defended and everyone can live together. If the city is destroyed, everyone will be a dead body.
"Do you know what will happen after the city is destroyed?" An old man sat on the ground with a dull expression and murmured.
No one answered his words, it was not a pleasant topic.
"I remember that when the Jin soldiers entered the country more than ten years ago, the city next to ours was destroyed, and everyone in the county was killed. Not counting the killings, they were stuffed into wells, hung on trees, and set on fire..."
The old man didn't mind that no one asked, and kept talking to himself, his eyes already looking a little crazy.
This is the kind of madness brought about by fear and despair, which spreads like weeds and submerges people's sanity.
"Our city will not be broken."
A steady voice fell from above his head.
The people hurriedly raised their heads and saw a thin middle-aged man standing over at some point. Even though the street was in a mess, his official robe and hat were clean and dignified.
This is Tong Jie, the prefect of Xiongzhou.
"Master Magistrate." The people hurriedly saluted.
"Our Xiongzhou City will not be destroyed. Supervisor Li led his army to resist the enemy, and reinforcements will arrive soon." Magistrate Tong said, "We just have to work hard and work together to tide over the difficulties."
The previously crazy old man gradually calmed down.
"Yes, yes, according to your orders." He shouted among the crowd.
The officers came forward and divided the old, weak, women and children into three teams according to the arrangements of the Tong Magistrate to take care of the wounded soldiers and carry the dead bodies from the city wall.
Looking at the busy people running around on the street, Tong Zhifu's eyes flashed with sadness.
"How long can we carry it?" He turned around and looked at Li Xianlin who was approaching and asked in a low voice.
Li Xianlin's cheeks moved again.
"At most tonight," he said, "the number of golden soldiers has increased again."
So fast!
After seven days of persistence and three days of fierce fighting on the city wall, there are not many defenders here in Xiongzhou, but the golden soldiers are still coming in a steady stream.
Relying on these old, weak, sick and disabled people?
Wouldn't it be over? Tong Zhifu's figure seemed to shake.
"Reinforcements..." he said.
"Reinforcements will come." Li Xianlin interrupted him, his voice a little urgent.
Magistrate Tong looked at him for a moment.
"Li Jianjun, I don't want to ask about reinforcements." He said, "I just want to ask, why are there only a thousand of you guarding Xiongzhou City? Where are the other Guangxin troops?"
Hearing him ask this, Li Xianlin's face looked a little confused.
Yes, why was it so difficult for them to defend the city? It was because two thousand Guangxin troops who were supposed to come suddenly disappeared. I thought they had gone to another fort, but if it was really a nearby fort, it would be impossible not to.
came to the rescue, the sentinels also came back to investigate and said that the Guangxin Army had retreated.
How is that possible? What went wrong?
"I don't know." he murmured.
The sound of a whimpering horn suddenly sounded, causing the two people who spoke to tremble violently, followed immediately by the sound of horse hooves hitting the ground beneath their feet.
"The gold thieves have attacked the city." Zhifu Tong said, his face a little pale, "It just ended not long ago."
"It seems they are going to capture Xiongzhou City before dark." Li Xianlin said.
"What should I do?" Tong Zhifu blurted out.
Li Xianlin drew his sword.
"What can we do?" he shouted sternly, "draw the sword, draw the bow, and die."
……………………………….
After climbing up the city wall again, the blood-like setting sun had not disappeared. The city wall it illuminated was as red as stained with blood. Li Xianlin's face was also red. He looked at the golden soldiers rolling in from the city. The wolf-headed banners were overwhelming and he glanced at them.
There were a thousand people there.
These are the golden soldiers who take turns going out to fight from the camp over there. They are well fed, drunk and rested, and they are like hungry tigers who are sure to win when they come down the mountain.
Li Xianlin looked back at the generals on standby on the city wall. They couldn't even be called generals at this time. The remaining soldiers and the men who could be gathered in the city all looked confused, and many of them didn't even hold their swords and guns correctly.
This is totally a death wish.
Just die, you have to die after all, and it is better to die in battle than to be captured and killed.
"Everyone, think about the wives and children behind you." Li Xianlin said, with determination and solemnity in his eyes. He looked back at the city, "If they can hold on for one moment, they can live for one more moment. As long as they wait for the reinforcements to arrive..."
Reinforcements...
The generals around him looked numb.
Will there be reinforcements?
"Retreat, retreat..."
A voice suddenly sounded.
What retreated?
Li Xianlin looked at the man. The general looked stunned and pointed to the outside of the city.
"Jin Bing is retreating." He said, his voice full of doubts, as if he didn't believe what he said.
How is it possible?
Li Xianlin hurriedly looked over, and sure enough he saw that the Jin soldiers who had come to attack the city suddenly receded like the tide.
What happened?
There was a sound of war drums in the distance, like thousands of horses galloping, beating on everyone's heart.
At the same time a flag appeared on the horizon.
First there was one side, then two and three sides, overwhelmingly densely packed, and under the flags were spears like a dense forest.
Among the many flags and spears, a large flag gradually appeared. Different from those bright red flags, this large flag had a black top with big red characters written on it.
The black flag and red characters blended with the setting sun on the horizon. As the flagpole got higher and higher, it was like the setting sun was picking up again, and the whole earth became brighter.
"Mr. Cheng Guo..." Li Xianlin murmured, seeming to see a mighty and tall figure sitting under the flag.
Cheng Guogong.
No matter how far away he was, he could still recognize him. No one could fail to recognize him, that was Duke Cheng.
He exploded like a fish thrown into a frying pan, and rushed over to hold on to the city wall.