That night, in order to prevent the plot from leaking, Zhang He and Gao Lan made a quick decision and led their personal soldiers to attack the military camp, killed all Geng Bao's personal soldiers, and cut off the panicked Geng Bao's head with his own hands.

Afterwards, Zhang He carried Geng Bao's head in front, Gao Lan followed closely with a sword. The two summoned the soldiers in the army overnight to announce the next plan.

The Yuan brothers and sisters were tragic and destroyed themselves. Geng Bao villain did not care about the soldiers and repeatedly slandered them. The two of them had taken a risk tonight to eliminate the military thieves, in order to abandon the darkness and turn to the light and go to the Xiliang army that was besieging Yecheng.

Those in the army were willing to follow, shared hardships, wealth and honor, and dispersed themselves after dawn, and Zhang He and Gao Lan did not force them.

The 20,000 troops in the army were basically from various counties in Hebei. After hearing about Zhang and Gao, they had their own considerations. Some were worried about their families, some were afraid of the fate of surrendering to the Xiliang Army, and some were lucky enough to see the current situation in Hebei, so they were willing to follow Zhang and Gao. Gao and Gao went to Yecheng to surrender to the Xiliang Army, and most of the troops chose to disperse by themselves.

Seeing this, Zhang and Gao didn't say much. The next day, 20,000 people dispersed one after another, and the two led thousands of people who were willing to follow to Yecheng.

When Yuan Shang, who led his army to Qinghe, learned from the deserters that Geng Bao was killed and Zhang, the second-year high school general defected, was shocked and almost fell off the horse's back. He was angry and afraid and no longer dared to go to Wei County. No matter how Feng Ji, who followed the army advised him, he was unwilling to go further. He just ordered the entire army to rectify and rest in Qinghe, claiming that he would wait until the counties convened 50,000 troops before starting.

On the side of Yecheng, Xu Huang and Zhang Liao successfully joined forces and are now working together to attack the city. Unfortunately, Yecheng is a place where Yuan has worked hard for many years. It has high walls and deep pools, strong city defense fortifications, and Shen Pei, who defended the city in the city, is loyal to the Yuan family and resisted stubbornly. The Western Liang army has been unable to capture it for several days, but has lost many troops and equipment.

Now that he got Zhang He, Gao Lan, the two surrendered generals who were familiar with the enemy situation, were overjoyed by the siege of Yecheng. He had just received a secret letter from the surrender of Feng Li, the defender of the city, who had surrendered to the city. However, there were cases of Xiancheng failure in the city before. Xu Huang was worried that Shen Pei was prepared and was quite stubborn. Now Zhang He and Gao Lan’s two surrendered generals were at the right time. He immediately went out to greet each other and then ordered the two to lead their troops to take the front line, preparing to cooperate with the people in the city to capture Yecheng in one fell swoop.

···

Late at night, the dark sky was pitch black, and the mountains in the distance were faintly vaguely like strange ghosts, which made people looking at it fear. The nearby city walls of Yecheng and the north and south camps of the Xiliang Army were one high and two low, just like a giant beast confronting two wild beasts. The four wild birds and insects hidden in the dark made rustling sounds, and occasionally the sound of a scattered fight in the barracks came, mixed with them, like harsh string music, which made people shudder.

Zhang He and Gao Lan hid in a small wood with hundreds of soldiers, silently waiting for Feng Li, the guardian on the north wall to send a signal to attack the city at night.

Their preparations were quite sufficient. People were holding pieces, horses wrapped in hooves, and all the soap-clothed black armor. Even the weapons were painted black. However, Zhang He and Gao Lan had heavy faces, and each of them pursed their lips tightly. From below, the entire Yexi people were filled with a heavy breath.

Zhang, the second-year high school general, was also a long-established general in the Hebei army. In fact, they were resistant to such dangerous night attacks, but the situation was stronger than others. The two of them recently came to surrender and had no achievements. In front of the military order of the commander of the Xiliang Army, Xu Huang, there was no way to say a word, so they could only hold their breath and do it with the order.

Maybe it was too hot, or maybe it was already impatient to wait, Gao Lan, who had stood up and pulled the breastplate, made a low sound of armor leaves, but the people here heard it very clearly. The soldiers gathered together turned their eyes to the source of sound in the dark. Some even thought that the attack signal had appeared, and they were holding their weapons and preparing to jump up.

Zhang He quickly whispered to comfort the restless soldiers beside him, and then looked at Gao Lan with complaining eyes, but they couldn't see each other clearly in the darkness. Zhang He could only hear Gao Lan's heavy breath. When he spoke, he swallowed it again. He suppressed the irritability in his heart, looked up at the overlapping shadows of branches and leaves, and closed his eyes.

"General of the Central Army, the matter has been taken on the city wall!"

A soldier who was arranged to observe the city outside the forest rushed over. He said excitedly. The people who had been waiting in the forest for a long time were immediately excited when they heard this. They stood up with weapons, some tied their leather armor, some put on their trousers, and some brought their war horses. Zhang He's eyes were cold, and Gao Lan's rough voice also showed a bit of excitement.

“Come on!”

Gao Lan shouted and rushed out with his soldiers first.

On the way toward the city wall, as the city wall got closer and closer, Zhang He and Gao Lan ordered the soldiers to light up the torches again. They quickly crossed the moat along the road that was previously filled with landfills by the Xiliang army and came to the base of Yecheng's wall.

The walls of Yecheng are tall and sturdy, but the walls of rammed earth still leave many craters of different sizes. Like the broken city walls and the bumpy roads when they came, these are the masterpieces left by the Xiliang Army and the Yecheng Guards operating stone throwing machines.

It is said that when Xu Huang and Zhang Liao were in a hurry to attack the city, they set up a number of stone throwing machines outside the city, and shot them day and night, and stone bullets were flying all over the sky. In order to protect the city tower and wall battlements, Shenpai collected a large amount of cloth and felt in the city, and quickly built the "cloth barrier" around the city, and ordered the soldiers in the city to use imitation giant crossbows and stone throwing machines to counterattack. Seeing this, Xu Huang wanted to use rockets to burn the cloth barriers in Yecheng. Shenpai ordered water to be poured and mud was used to isolate the rockets. Xu Huang had another plan and sent soldiers to tie a sickle to the long pole to harvest the cloth barriers on the city. Shenpai also allocated a fork pole and a hook sickle to the guards on the city to destroy the long pole and the sickle of the soldiers on the siege......

The offensive and defensive sides fought wits and courage, and fought hard for more than half a month. The Yecheng guards led by Shen Pei finally won slightly by virtue of their locality, blocking Xu Huang and Zhang Liao's troops outside the city wall. The Western Liang army was also unable to attack for several days and were both intellectually trapped. In addition, the troops, armor and equipment were too exhausted, so they could only temporarily stop attacking the city wall and instead seek to echo the defenders who secretly surrendered in the city, in order to break through the city wall and attack Yecheng.

The familiar Ye City in front of me was within reach, and the soldiers under the city also passed the secret code. Everything went smoothly. Looking at the slowly opened city gate and the torches shaking on the city, Zhang He on the horse's back was swaying for a moment. He grabbed the reins by a devil, slowed down the horse and fell into the back team, and watched Gao Lan lead his troops into the city first.

Gao Lan, who was riding his horse through the city gate, was so excited that his blood was thrilling. However, after many years of Rongyou, he was still relatively steady. He wanted to cooperate with the guards who were in charge, control important city defense fortifications such as the city gate and corner tower to prevent the counterattack of Shenpai's troops. Then he waited for the subsequent Xu Huang's army to enter the city, and then divided troops along the street to attack important buildings in the city such as the General's Mansion, Barracks, and Granary.

However, what shocked Gao Lan was that what greeted him was not the guards who responded to the uprising, but the dense arrows on the city wall!

"Not good, there is a fraud, please withdraw quickly!"

Gao Lan was wearing heavy armor and blocked the first wave of arrows pouring over the city under the escort of his personal soldiers. However, many ordinary soldiers behind him were unable to escape. They were all shot into the ground and there was a lot of chaos. What's even more serious is that the soldiers in the back team were still pouring in from the city gate corridor. The dense charge formation made the soldiers in the front team unable to retreat, and the crowded front and back made them a good target for the chaos on the city.

Zhang He also rode his horse through the city gate at this time. He not only saw the guards who were pouring arrows on the mountain on the top of the city, but also saw the ditches and fences dug in the city and the chargers. The soldiers who were resisting horses and charging in front of them were now turned into turtles. Even if they wanted to fight to the death and continue to rush into the city, it would be impossible.

"Damn it, retreat quickly!"

Zhang He shouted loudly and called on the soldiers around him to retreat with him. But at the same time, a large amount of grease-filled firewood was thrown down from the city gate. The landed firewood instantly ignited a large fire at the city gate. The fire walls rushed towards Zhang He and others, and the flames strongly isolated all the people inside and outside the city gate.

What should I do? There are fences and gullies in front and fires behind. Ye Xi, who was trapped in the middle, was in a dilemma. In a blink of an eye, more than a half-man had been caught in an arrow and fell to the ground. If this continues, everyone will be buried in this ghost place.

"Roar out!"

Zhang He, who had been through the battlefield for a long time, made a judgment in the shortest time. He wrapped his face with a blood-soaked battle robe, then stabbed his horse's buttocks with a short knife, forcing his mount to rush into the sea of ​​fire. At this time, the few soldiers left on the field were no longer crowded, and they followed Zhang He's face, his hair and beard rushed into the sea of ​​fire, covered in blood, and carried many arrows. Gao Lan, who was like a hedgehog, also turned around and rushed out.........

On the top of the city, Shen Pei, who was wearing armor and swords, looked at this scene with a cold expression. The generals beside him looked at him respectfully and fearfully, but did not dare to take the opportunity to flatter him. After some generals asked to chase and kill the remaining enemy soldiers, he did not dare to say another word.

These days, Shen Pei killed the abandoned city and fled Jiang Yiqu, led the officials and soldiers to defend Yecheng, repeatedly defeated the aggressive Xiliang army, and tonight they even wiped out Feng Li, the defender of the city, to take the lead in advance, lured the enemy into depth, and took the opportunity to annihilate an elite enemy army. He had already established a strong personal prestige in Yecheng. At this time, everyone in front of him bowed their heads and respectfully.

But unlike the guards who were happy to win, Shen Pei, who was at the top of his name, was still heavy in his heart.

The important land of Yecheng became an isolated city, and civil officials and military generals had two hearts. Yuan Shang's reinforcements were delayed, and the subsequent heavy burden of defending the city would only become heavier and heavier until the hearts of every defending the city were crushed.

But these thoughts were deeply covered up by Sei Pi and hidden in his heart. He is still the resolute general who has repeatedly defeated powerful enemies and has a heart of iron.

He knew very well that if Yecheng was lost, what Hebei would lose next would not only half of the country, but the entire Jizhou.

Although Hebei is big, it is flat. The cavalry of the Xiliang Army can gallop without any obstacles. After Yecheng, they have no way to retreat. Therefore, no matter how difficult it is, they must be the lord and guard this city for the scholars and people in Yecheng!

Outside the city, the main general Xu Huang looked at the shadowy city in the distance, his face turned ashen.

"General, General Zhang from the Nanying Camp sent someone to report, will he attack the city again?"

"Attack, how to attack? So many people died, but they didn't take Yecheng. Let's first think about how to explain to General Cavalry!"

Xu Huang, who had a dark face, turned his horse's head, and the generals around him looked ugly. Then the sound of retreating soldiers sounded from the infantry and cavalry team that was ready to go, and a team of soldiers turned around one after another and disbanded and returned to their respective camps.

···

This failure of the night attack to capture the city stopped the Xiliang army's siege.

The hundreds of elite soldiers who came back were selected and less than a hundred people came back. All the soldiers who returned were injured. Zhang He was burned on many sides, and Gao Lan was even seriously injured and died of death.

Xu Huang could only visit the wounded soldiers in person to calm the morale of the army, and stopped the military affairs of attacking Yecheng.

Including the previous losses of the siege, there were three or four thousand soldiers under Yecheng. For Xu Huang and Zhang and Liao armies who had less than 40,000 troops, they had already injured their muscles and bones. What's more serious is that they are now in the enemy's territory. If Yecheng has not been captured for a long time, the army will be strong in the city and its morale will be depleted. I am afraid that the situation will change slightly. The cities that were invincible and rushed to surrender will recur again. At that time, it will not be easy for the army to retreat safely, not to mention conquering Jizhou, but to retreat to the land safely.

Fortunately, Cao Yuan's army on the northern route still had more than 10,000 troops to attack Changshan, Zhongshan and other places, restraining the troops of Hebei counties. The remaining Hebei counties followed Yuan Shang to attack Qingzhou and went out. Now they were wandering in Qinghe territory and did not return. Otherwise, Xu Huang and Zhang Liao would have to retreat.

Just when Xu Huang and the two generals Zhang and Liao were worried about the repeated setbacks in capturing Yecheng, the army quickly came to report, and the army's planner Zhou Liang rushed from Hanoi and was about to arrive at Nandaying.

The general Xu Huang was shocked again when he heard this. Of course, he knew that Zhou Liang came by the order of General Cavalry. Before, the army had frequent reports of good news. The two groups of troops were as powerful as entering a deserted land and successfully met at Yecheng City. But now it was under the city of Dunjian, and the situation was severe. Zhou Liang was ordered to come at this time, which made Xu Huang deal with it.
Chapter completed!