Chapter 8 Broken Dreams

The whole city is filled with an air of despair.

The defenders finally saw reinforcements.

A part of the reinforcement - a part of the body.

To be precise, the first level.

In this battle, the reinforcement cavalry lost more than 300 people, including two generals and two guerrillas.

Fortunately, Zhao Sanxi, who had rich experience in facing the enemy, saw—or rather, felt—that the momentum was not right, and tried his best to block the charge of the troops behind him. Otherwise, the entire army would undoubtedly be annihilated.

A considerable number of the survivors who narrowly escaped death also lost their luck. The red-eyed Sima Changxi was unwilling to give in and proposed to wait for the thieves to withdraw before pursuing them in tandem. At that time, the speed advantage of the cavalry could be brought into play. There are always loopholes.

We can take advantage of it. Vice General Zhao discussed with several shocked officers: the city is still surrounded like an iron barrel, the command system of the cavalry has collapsed, the defeated troops have lost their organization, and half of them are still wounded. If they can be gathered together, it is God's blessing, and morale is completely low.

There is no fighting power. The enemy has at least two to three hundred cavalry, which must be used to break up the rear. As long as they turn around and bite them, and the two sides get entangled, the enemy's infantry will surround them... So, continue forward.

It would definitely be a dead end, so we might as well go back... So he led the remaining troops and returned in a hurry.

Fortunately among the misfortunes, Gao Tengzu's cavalry was deployed behind the formation. After intercepting and killing the remaining soldiers who escaped from the formation by chance, they hurriedly followed the main force back to the defense without launching a pursuit - otherwise, I don't know how many lives would have been lost.

here.

The enemy troops outside the city put hundreds of human heads on the tips of their spears and lined up in a circle around the city wall. After showing off, these heads and flags and staffs were thrown in front of the west gate, forming a pile of small and medium-sized buildings.

of Jingguan.

No prisoners were taken in this battle: any captured alive were slaughtered.

Guan Shengyun gave three reasons:

First, it is difficult to move quickly with prisoners. The army must immediately return to the defense city. If the defenders see through the enemy and break out, all the previous efforts will be in vain.

Second, the horse soldiers are elites of the enemy army. These soldiers are not trained well enough. When they are organized into the auxiliary army, they must be watched by someone at all times. When the horse soldiers are well-fed, they do hard work like cattle and horses, and they do not live under the whip.

Even if you are exhausted, you will become cannon fodder sooner or later. Anyone can figure this out with their toes. Also, they are all strong. If there is any trouble, these guys will definitely be the ones to lead the trouble.

Third, completely shock the enemy defenders. When the dog officers and soldiers in the city see the reinforcements destroyed, their morale will probably collapse in an instant, and the next battle will be easy to fight. After the city is broken, Ding Zhuang will not have to fight again.

There are as many as there are!

Guan Shengyun did not say the fourth reason, but everyone knew it: after losing two battles in a row, the men needed such stimulation to boost their morale, and the commander also needed to use it to restore his prestige in the army.

Therefore, no one mentioned the words "killing prisoners is unlucky" at all, not even Military Advisor Luo Yonghao who was on the sickbed said a word.

You can't hide news, especially bad news.

The enemy's show of force was seen by thousands of defenders.

Soon, all the men, women, and children in the city learned the bad news that the reinforcements had been wiped out. The morale of the people plummeted, and the two victories that were finally achieved seemed so insignificant at this time. The hope that was ignited in their hearts was evaporated by the Jingguan outside the west gate.

Hit to pieces.

Everyone's hearts were shrouded in two terrifying words: massacre!

Take no prisoners.

There was no persuasion to surrender.

Only the first level!

A dead end with no chance of survival!

This is the result of resistance!

Sun Jie held his hand on the city battlement and stared at the pile of heads with splitting eyes.

Just now, in that pile of heads, he seemed to see himself.

Sun Jie guessed: the governor will definitely send reinforcements.

However, he did not expect that reinforcements would come so quickly.

He was defeated so quickly and completely...

Gradually, the view of Beijing became blurry, and childhood scenes vaguely flashed through my mind: My father rarely wore casual clothes or court clothes at home. He always wore leather armor and military uniforms, and had a majestic face. Especially on the day of the expedition, my father rode on horseback.

On the tall horse, he nodded to himself who had just celebrated his twelfth birthday and set off. The sunlight reflected on the copper nails of the leather armor, and his back looked like a god, as if no one or anything in the world could defeat him.

he……

Until one day three months later, my father was carried home...

My father suddenly became much more haggard. The King Kong Deity, who was in his forties and in his prime, was gone. Instead, he looked like a little old man, huddled on the cave.

When he was dying, his father said to himself: As a warrior, dying in battle is a matter of course, and it will happen sooner or later. Since the founding of the country, this family has sacrificed more than a hundred lives for the country, and in exchange, all the saints of the past generations have sacrificed their lives.

Incomparable trust and reward! Whenever a boy is born in the family, the Holy One will definitely send someone to give him a reward. This is true for every generation! In all dynasties, no family has ever had this honor, not to mention civil servants, not even the elders! Therefore

, to repay the emperor's favor and to sacrifice one's life for the country is the fate of this family.

A few days after the funeral, Yin's decree came down to direct his affairs.

From that day on, the teenage boy became a major general.

From that day on, he knew that it was his fate to die on the battlefield and be shrouded in horse leather.

Guerrilla, join generals, open alliances, open towns...

One military achievement after another was accompanied by rewards from the court, and never failed. Not only had I become more and more confident, but I also subconsciously thought that death was not only not terrible, but also very far away.

until today.

Hundreds of heads reveal the ruthless reality: help!

The glorious record of victory in every battle has long driven the shadow of death to a corner of the heart - but, although it is gradually forgotten, the shadow is always there - the view of Beijing in front of you suddenly unsealed the suppression intentionally or unintentionally, and all of a sudden

It comes out and fills the heart.

Objectively speaking, Sun Jie is not afraid of death. However, he suddenly feels that there are still many things that he cannot let go of at this moment - at least, he still wants to take another look at his two sons and his toddler daughter.

The eldest is ten years old and looks vaguely like he did back then. The second eldest brother is smarter than his brother and gets into more troubles, but he can coax himself into not wanting to beat him every time. Although in this era, girls are not rare.

, but Sun Jie knew that what he really loved most was this little thing. At this moment, he wanted to hold her in his arms and watch her giggling while pulling his beard.

I just don’t know if I can be carried back like my father this time, touch their brother’s head again, and then prick the girl’s face with the beard...

He couldn't remember how he came back to Shuai Zhang, and Sun Jie's mind went blank.

…

There is not much food left in the city.

Counting the days, when the reinforcements set off, the strategist should have not seen the messenger asking for reinforcements. Wait until the defeated troops return to the city, understand the battle situation, and calm people's hearts. Even if they send reinforcements out, collect food, grass, baggage, and reorganize the army... no matter what

One month younger.

For such a long time, the morale of the people in the city, especially the troops and food supplies, were seriously insufficient. I thought that after winning two battles in a row, as long as the strategist sent reinforcements to cooperate inside and outside, they would be able to break the siege in one fell swoop, so I didn't ask for food at all.

Of course, it is unrealistic to ask for food: being surrounded from all sides, transporting food cannot have any other result except to support the enemy. And now, outside the city, strong enemies are surrounding them and their morale is like a rainbow. It is impossible to persist until then...

Moreover, since the thieves dared to blatantly surround the city for so long, Anqing Mansion will definitely not be easy, and they may not be able to send reinforcements anymore...

It is destined that this place will become my final destination.

It was getting dark, but I was still confused and thoughtless, so I just went to patrol the city.

Seeing Sun Jie walking out of the commander's tent, several guards followed him silently, and no one said a word.

The cold wind blowing at night did not dispel the depression in my heart, but it also refreshed me. I don't know why, but I felt inexplicably lonely.

He shook his head, drove away his distracting thoughts, and quickly climbed up the city wall.

As soon as I climbed the wall, I saw several people eating and drinking around the fire in the distance, and the wind was filled with a strong smell of alcohol!

Out of anger!

At what time did you ignore military discipline and drink in front of a powerful enemy? You must be beheaded to enforce military law!

After a short step, the left hand holding the sword slid down, put the scabbard on and held it firmly, and then walked quickly towards the fire.

"The commander wants to kill someone"!

Several guards were already familiar with Sun Jie's habitual movements. They looked at each other, drew out their sabers with a swipe sound, and followed closely behind.

Walking closer to the fire, Sun Jie was stunned: the leader was actually his own guard captain Shi Erlei!

Although this guy's injured arm didn't have a gauntlet, it didn't seem to be a serious problem. Originally, no bones were injured. As long as the fever went away, the skin and flesh injuries were fine.

At the moment of being startled, Shi Erlei also saw Sun Jie, stood up carelessly, and handed the wine bowl over with a smile: "Commander, look at this battle, we won't survive for a few days. Don't worry, your soldiers,

No coward! Just now I told my brothers that I will still follow you in my next life! This gang of thieves relies on their numbers. Last time I attacked, I killed five of them. If you hadn’t ordered the troops to withdraw, I could have killed two more.

!”

Sun Jie stared at the wine bowl stretched out in front of him in silence for a moment. He was surprised to find that he actually took it and drank it in several gulps!

Shi Erlei kicked the person next to him and quickly moved out of the way. Sun Jie sat down in the space and waved his hands, indicating that everyone should continue. Everyone sat down again, and no one said anything for a while.

Sun Jie silently looked at the fire in trance, reached out and grabbed a handful of fried beans, threw them into his mouth one by one and chewed them slowly.

Several guards put away their swords and stood around.
To be continued...