"It's been three days since we were surrounded..."
The one who spoke was Jiang Zhongxia, the magistrate of Xianyang. He didn't talk much. He sat in the hall and only said this sentence for half a day. His words were full of despair. What was difficult to say was indeed the melancholy in his heart. .
"The 30,000 Green Forest Army troops are pressing outside, and Chang'an's reinforcements cannot get in. It's already the third wave. I just led troops to greet them from the inside, but... they still can't attack." Peng Lin, the county lieutenant of Xianyang, sat down with a heavy breath. At the head of the county magistrate, he said: "If this continues, I'm afraid I won't be able to hold on. Mr. Jiang, you said..."
Jiang Zhongxia looked outside with a pair of eyes, staring blankly in a daze. He slowly shook his head and said feebly: "There's nothing to say... He can't get in, and we can't get out."
"Master Jiang, I mean, the imperial court will send reinforcements to rescue the emergency..." County Lieutenant Peng Lin did not have much confidence in what he said. Xianyang has been besieged for three days. The Green Forest Army has completely cut off Xianyang's connection with the outside world. When a bit of news spreads out, naturally no news will come in. There is only the restless resistance of the people in the city, and there are all kinds of alarmist rumors circulating among the soldiers and horses. In such an environment, Peng Lin went to the county magistrate. He felt like he had been hollowed out and had no idea. However, he still couldn't help but want to ask. Even if the prefect nodded, he would be able to deceive himself and feel better.
"Maybe," Jiang Zhongxia, the county magistrate, said to comfort him and his own hanging heart: "Xianyang is the last barrier of Chang'an. If Xianyang is gone, Chang'an will not be far away from falling," he said Here, the magistrate laughed at himself, an increasingly heavy melancholy appeared on his face, his lips moved, and finally he said, "Even if I come, I'm afraid it won't help."
County Lieutenant Peng Lin heard this, his brass eyes dimmed a little more, and he sighed and said: "If this is really the case, then... we are the only ones left."
"This means..." The county magistrate Jiang Zhongxia raised his eyes and looked at the county captain in disbelief.
County Lieutenant Peng Lin did not dare to meet the magistrate's gaze and said: "The reinforcements sent by Chang'an failed to break through three times and have suddenly withdrawn."
"It seems... Chang'an has also been surrounded. We are attacked from both sides and don't care about our life or death anymore," the magistrate said, and both of them fell silent.
After a long while, the magistrate suddenly asked: "How many of our eight thousand soldiers and horses do we have now?"
"There are less than five thousand who can fight..." County Lieutenant Peng Lin replied.
"Where are the arrow feathers on the city top?" County Magistrate Jiang Zhongxia asked, "Are they strong enough to hold up?"
"There are still 100,000 arrow feathers, which is enough," County Lieutenant Peng Lin said. This confidence was quite sufficient. After all, it was with this that the Green Forest Army was trapped outside the city. After several strong attacks, they could not reach the moat.
"They are fierce, so we have to be patient," County Magistrate Jiang Zhongxia said: "The competition now is not who can fight, but who can keep calm. If they can't keep calm, they pull, and we Unable to remain calm, we surrender..."
"We can't surrender," shouted Peng Lin, the county captain.
"If we don't surrender, I don't think we can."
After Jiang Zhongxia and Peng Lin heard this, they both turned around and followed the voice. This man was wearing casual clothes, but his official air was still on his body. This man was none other than Lintong. Zhu An, the magistrate of the county, escaped from Lintong three days ago with a few defeated soldiers and protected his family members because Lintong was captured by Green Forest. After going through hardships and dangers all the way, he fled into Xianyang in embarrassment. He thought he could hide from the war here, but he didn't want to go. , the next day the Green Forest Army's soldiers pressed forward, and the leader of the Green Forest Army, Shi Jin, was sitting in the battle. We should have been happy to meet old friends, but in such a siege, there was only pity for each other. Although the two old friends were not in the mood to eat or drink. , However, when they took a jar of wine and talked to each other, the jar of wine ended up causing both of them to shed tears. It was inevitable that they would get drunk alone, and they would also cry each other. Zhu An settled his family in the mansion. Down below, we share the same hardships as Xia in Jiang Zhong.
When Zhu An heard that Jiang Zhongxia was melancholy in the front hall for a long time, he couldn't help but come out and said: "Peng County Lieutenant is right, the head can be cut off and the blood can be shed, but Xianyang cannot be lost."
Jiang Zhongxia frowned slightly and looked at Zhu An. He didn't believe what he said when it came out of Zhu An's mouth. In the past few days, Jiang Zhongxia was in panic all day long. He couldn't sleep every night. He often talked to Zhu An. When Zhu An was drunk, he accidentally revealed his intention to surrender, and Zhu An hit it off immediately. The reason why he didn't switch sides and surrender to the enemy was that the county captain had only one thing in his head. Even ten cows can't pull it back.
However, now Zhu An changed his mind on the spot and uprightly supported Peng Lin in refusing to surrender.
Jiang Zhongxia looked at Zhu An differently, but County Lieutenant Peng Lin didn't notice. He looked at Zhu An and said, "Master Zhu is indeed a member of my generation."
Zhu An cupped his hands and said, "Don't call me sir anymore. I, Zhu An, am just a bereaved dog and a tree without roots. I am just taking refuge here temporarily."
"The Green Forest Army is attacking from four directions, and the momentum is unstoppable. The situation is getting worse now," Peng Lin said, "But the more difficult it is, the more you can see someone coming." Peng Lin pointed a few times out of thin air in front of him and said, "You Looking at the martial arts, the four cities of Zhongnan, Xingping, and Lantian were approaching the city with troops and horses. Before they even set up their formations, they surrendered one by one, opened the city gates and returned to the green forest. They were all ministers of the Song Dynasty, and they also took the money from the court. , but now they have their own way out, and they have forgotten all their heroic feelings at the beginning, huh, each of them still writes poems to clarify their ambitions, but those words and sentences, in the end, become a loud slap in the face, slapping themselves in the mouth, "
Zhu An nodded and said: "Peng Xianwei said it well, but, having said that, everyone has his own ambitions. They have their own way. I have our way, but it's just in different directions. We have nothing to say. What should we do now?" , is the most important thing,”
Jiang Zhongxia asked Peng Lin, "Do you have any plan to defeat the thieves?"
Peng Lin was dumbfounded by the question, hesitating and unable to explain, and said: "Retreat the thieves..."
"Hey, there is no way. It is clear that there is no way at the moment," Zhu An pointedly said clearly: "The fourth team of the Green Forest Army is pressing down on the border. What is the reason? To put it more closely, it is to capture Chang'an. That's right. Staying far away is to covet the world." After saying this, Zhu An saw that Peng Lin did not refute, so he raised his voice by three points and said: "The Green Forest Army is now pressing down on the border with an army of 500,000 people. The entire Jingzhao Mansion has only been in a state for a few days. , the surrender will be surrendered, the defeated will be defeated... The only one who can hold on is Xianyang at the moment,"
"Isn't Chang'an..." Peng Lin asked in surprise.
"Chang'an, hahahaha," Zhu An said with a smile at the end. He couldn't help but turn from joy to sadness. He sighed deeply and said: "Chang'an's retreat was already within my expectation. I mentioned to Brother Jiang yesterday that although Chang'an has The Forbidden Army has a garrison of 50,000 to 60,000 soldiers and horses, but compared to the 500,000 soldiers of the Green Forest Army, so what, Chang'an can't take care of us now, because Chang'an's weakness has been caught by the Green Forest Army,"
"Weakness," Peng Lin asked, "What weakness?"
"The prefect is the weak point," Zhu An said. "On the way I escaped, I heard the news. I didn't believe it at first, but now I believe it. It's not for any other reason. It's just because the commander of the Green Forest Army didn't take a detour to fight. Chang'an, but here we are attacking the city one after another. Why is this, Lieutenant Peng County, please explain to me,"
"This..." Upon hearing this, Captain Peng couldn't help but think about it in his mind, and an ominous premonition came over him.
"Shi Jin did not go to Chang'an, but took up the battle in person. Isn't it obvious that he is not worried about the battle in Chang'an, but we in Xianyang are the thorn in the flesh," Jiang Zhongxia said: "In terms of city defense and military strength, Xianyang is far behind. Chang'an... Could it be that the prefect really colluded with the Green Forest Army?"
"No, there are still supervisors in Chang'an. Even if Chang'an cannot contain them, there will definitely be a fierce battle. At that time, the supervisors and the imperial army will definitely fight to the death, and they will never give the Green Forest Army an advantage," County Lieutenant Peng Lin argued.
"Even if there is a fierce battle, so what? The final outcome will still be that the Green Forest Army will capture Chang'an," Zhu An said here. Seeing Peng Lin's eyes widening and trying to defend himself, he stopped his words and continued. Said: "We are all our own people, don't deceive ourselves and others. We all can see how the people in the city are crying and which side they are falling for. They have already laid the groundwork in Ningzhou. The cities they pass by not only do not disturb the people, but also The promulgation of the New Deal has many benefits, so it’s worth not mentioning them.”
"Even if the Song Dynasty is not comparable, then he rebels and should be killed," Peng Lin said: "I only hate that I, Peng, am not good at it, otherwise I would definitely kill the thief."
"Rebellion or not, we can't look at it this way. If we put it this way, Taizu should have been punished for being a traitor," Jiang Zhongxia said.
"You," Peng Lin turned around and glared at Jiang Zhongxia, his brass eyes so wide that they seemed to fall out of his head. Peng Lin shouted: "Master Jiang, what you said is so rebellious that you will lose your head." ,Huh," Peng Lin said here, a mouthful of blood suddenly surged into his chest and spit out from the corner of his mouth.
Jiang Zhongxia, who was sitting opposite Peng Lin, looked at Peng Lin's appearance and suddenly stood up in fright, subconsciously taking two steps back.
Peng Lin endured the severe pain in his chest and back, and looked down with surprise. He saw a three-inch long dagger piercing his back, with a handful of blood emerging from his chest.
Peng Lin bit his bloody teeth and tried to stand up, but his strength seemed to be sucked away by the dagger. As soon as he stood up, his body went limp and he fell to the ground completely. His neck tilted and he couldn't close his eyes. , dead.
Jiang Zhongxia watched Peng Lin fall stiffly, and the boy standing behind him suddenly felt an indescribable horror in Jiang Zhongxia's eyes. The boy wiped the blood from his hands on his body. He wiped it clean casually, his posture was so calm, as if he was wiping away water stains normally, and it was natural and flawless. However, the boy's face was as calm as a pool of spring water, and even his clean eyes were full of waves. Not surprised.
"You...you said you had a way to persuade him to surrender..." Jiang Zhongxia said with difficulty.
Zhu An smiled and said: "Brother Jiang, you're wasting your breath, why bother? This is the way. Look, if he lies on the ground, he won't make things difficult for you anymore." When he said this, Zhu An said meaningfully laughed,