They are going to help the imperial court defend the city, and the imperial court will not ignore us." The woman in military uniform sighed secretly in her heart and replied with a strong face.
Nowadays, Yeliangzhou, the northern prefecture, has too much time to take care of itself. How could the imperial court pay attention to Xiuchuan County, which is just under Shiyan Prefecture?
But knowing this, the woman in military uniform couldn't tell the truth. No matter what, she had to leave some thoughts for the old, weak, women and children guarding the city, otherwise Xiuchuan City would be destroyed without attack.
"We have been guarding for eight days, and there are still two days left." An old man murmured to himself, with a trace of hope in his cloudy eyes.
"Yeah, it's been eight days, hey, I don't know how many times I've fought off bandits." A person next to him echoed.
"Thirteen times in total." A white old man who was dressed funny but in good spirits said loudly. His voice was very loud, which was really different from the other exhausted villagers on the city wall.
Seeing the old man talking, many people laughed out loud, and then a shrewd-looking woman teased: "Old scholar, you didn't do anything, just lying under the city wall and counting."
Let me tell you, this is not Widow Zhang’s bathtub. Don’t accidentally let the arrows shot by bandits blind your eyeballs. Then you won’t be able to see even if you want to peek.”
Everyone burst out laughing in a jesting manner. The old man was furious, blew his beard and glared angrily, pointed at the woman who was speaking, and said several words "you", but he couldn't form a sentence, and his face turned red in vain.
The woman in military uniform frowned, shook her head helplessly, and said harmoniously: "Auntie Zheng, what you said is so unpleasant. I can see Mr. Qi moving rocks and wood clearly, but he did not do much less than me.
Fellow villagers, please stop making fun of others."
The shrewish woman curled her lips and muttered a few words, but finally stopped talking and stopped chewing her tongue.
The old man glared triumphantly at the villagers who had just made fun of him, and then gratefully bowed his hands to the woman in uniform to express his gratitude.
"Hey, it goes without saying that Mr. Qi's skills were all acquired when he was stealing things." Someone yelled from behind the crowd, causing the color on the old man's face to fall instantly, like an eggplant beaten by frost.
Suddenly he became dejected.
The woman in military uniform was speechless. The villagers were simple and honest, but some bad habits were hard to change. Sometimes they were mean and people didn't know what to say.
The woman in military uniform coughed slightly and changed the subject: "These people are not bandits. They are alien troops from the north. They are far more cruel and hateful than those bandits."
"Ah, barbarians? It's not that big of a deal. Let's fight them off." Everyone was shocked when they heard that they were foreign soldiers.
Thinking that they had fought against such an enemy in recent days and had the upper hand, how could they not make these villagers, some of whom had never left Shiyan Prefecture in half their lives, feel elated, and they all thought about how to tell their children and grandchildren about today's life in the future.
thing.
The woman in military uniform nodded and said nothing more.
Ignorant people are fearless, and they are just a mob. If there is no courage, there is a high probability that this city will not be defended.
In the eight-day scene, although the soldiers came from Caohai, they were by no means the elite soldiers in the camp. At a glance, it was obvious that they were stragglers. The number was not large, only about a hundred or so. The army formations were uneven, and even more
Not to mention the armored war horses, maybe they were the down-and-out men who followed Caohai's army.
Otherwise, how can the few thousand old, weak, sick and disabled people left in the city withstand these times?
The woman in military uniform cheered up and ordered the villagers who could still walk on the city wall to move the remaining stones and rolls of wood together to prepare for the next attack by the Caohai bandits.
Seeing the remaining boulders and rolling logs, the woman in military uniform felt her heart sink. There was not much left. If the enemy attacked the city, they would run out of half a stick of incense at most.
The boiling oil had long been used up, and some people had brought whetstones, pots and jars, and almost everything they could see from their houses in the city, but it was still a drop in the bucket.
The woman in military uniform felt faintly weak. The last few times the Caohai bandits came to attack, the villagers who were defending the city were frightened. They closed their eyes and did not dare to look at the city. They only knew to throw away everything they could hold.
Go down.
The woman in military uniform shouted and stopped, but was drowned in the waves of screams. Once the panic spread, it would start a prairie fire. One by one, they were fighting for each other and thrown from the wall. The woman in military uniform stopped one and just left.
After two steps, the villagers behind him who had just been stopped began to secretly throw them down again.
By the time the villagers who defended the city got tired and stopped, nearly half of the supplies they brought to defend the city had been used up, so that they were somewhat stretched from then on. Otherwise, there would still be some left after holding on for more than ten days.
The woman in military uniform frowned, looking at the stones and rolling logs scattered under the city, wondering whether she should take the risk and send someone to open the city gate and move some back.
The woman in military uniform had this idea three days ago. Several government officials who had stayed behind at the Mingfu Yamen quickly opened the city gate at night and went outside the city to pick up the stones. She never thought that she would be killed as soon as she left the city gate.
The Hai Liu bandits ambushed them, and these few men who were originally few were shot to death by random arrows from the Cao Hai Liu bandits. If the women in military uniforms had not fought tooth and nail to kill the retreat bandits, even the city gate would have been lost.
Just when the woman in military uniform was thinking about whether she should take the risk, a baby's cry suddenly came from behind her, and Mrs. Qi said happily: "Oh, why did you bring Ling'er up?"
The woman in military uniform was startled, and quickly looked back, only to see a kind-looking middle-aged woman holding a several-month-old white baby wrapped in a quilt, with a pair of black and clear eyes wandering around, waiting to see the military uniform.
The woman opened her hands and cried, making people feel pitiful.
"Mom, why did you bring Ling'er here? The wind blows and the smoke, you guys, hey." The woman in uniform was about to say that this place is dangerous, but the people around her are all in danger, and their lives are about to come.
He swallowed the words on his lips.
The middle-aged woman coaxed the baby in her arms and said lovingly: "Ling'er has been crying and fussing. I think he misses his mother. You are leading the villagers to defend the city. You are worried about your mother. Come here."
Take a look.
Come on, Wanci, Ling'er lets you hold him, give him a hug." After saying that, he sent the baby in his arms over.
The woman in military uniform had no choice but to hand over the spear in her hand to the maid Li'er, and carefully hugged the baby, fearing that the armor on her body would hit the baby's young body. Her loving motherly nature was undoubtedly revealed, and she was completely different from the way she looked when she just gave instructions.
people.
When the child arrived in his mother's arms, he probably felt that the smell of the woman in military uniform was a bit pungent, so he cried even more loudly, and pawed at the air with both hands, not knowing what he wanted.