The Most Romantic of the Three Kingdoms

Xun Zhen didn't go to the city. She was sleeping on the top of the city with her sword on her head and wrapped in armor. She was woken up seven or eight times a night, and finally fell asleep dimly. In a dream, there are still people walking around beside him. He tried hard to open his eyes, but after a day and night of exhaustion, he couldn't fight the Sandman.

The night wind is icy cold, making people feel like falling into an ice cave. He woke up suddenly and saw the anxious faces of Zhong Yao and Du You: "Zhenzhi, Zhenzhi! Wake up. The demon thieves are attacking the city again."

He struggled to prop up his body and looked towards the city. The crude ladder of the Yellow Turbans jumped into his sight once again.

At this moment, the genius is shining brightly.

Xu Zhong, Liu Deng, Cheng Yan and other guests basically didn't sleep last night. At this time, seeing Xun Zhen awake, Cheng Yan brought a basin of water over. The water was very cold, Xun Zhen took the water and patted her face a few times, and she cheered up.

Xun You, Xi Zhicai and the others were standing on the edge of the city battlement. When they heard the movement, they turned their heads and saw that he was up, but they didn't move their feet. They signaled him to come to the edge of the city to watch the enemy.

After washing her face, Xun Zhen got rid of her drowsiness, refreshed herself, and took the hilt of her saber, striding close to the crenel. Under the gray morning light, the city was gradually noisy. From far and near, officers such as the colonel, team leader, Shichang, and corporal commanders urging their soldiers to hurry up and go to the battlements to defend, and the sound of armor and weapons crashing when the soldiers ran.

Xun Zhen looked out of the city.

The first thing that caught his attention was not the siege "thieves" moving towards the moat, but the Yellow Turbans' positions in the distance.

After one night, the number of the Yellow Turbans increased significantly.

When night fell last night, he could still see the end of the Yellow Turban army's position, but at this time, he couldn't see the edge.

In a radius of dozens of miles, as far as the eye can see, there are clusters of people with ragged clothes and yellow scarves on their foreheads.

Some of them were standing on the ground, some were sitting on the ground, and some were lying on the ground. Hundreds of flags were waving among them, and there were constant messengers on horseback galloping around.

Zhong Yao and Du You also came to the crenel. Du You looked far and wide, worried and said, "I'm afraid there will be no less than 100,000 people."

Xun You has been observing carefully for a while. He shook his head and said, "Not that many, but there are always 60,000 or 70,000."

Yesterday, the Yellow Turbans were about 30,000 to 40,000 people. This morning, there were 60,000 to 70,000 people. In just one night, there were 20,000 to 30,000 more.

Xun Zhen felt that her throat was itchy, and she didn't know if she was blown by the cold wind last night, so she couldn't help coughing. Xun You patted his back with concern and asked, "What's wrong? Isn't it because of the cold?"

"It doesn't matter. . . . Ayan, go and call the chiefs of the villages and the generals of the teams."

There were more than 800 county soldiers guarding the eastern city wall, divided into twelve tuns, each of which governed the front and rear teams. There are thirty-six officers above the team. "Team General", that is, the team leader, is also known as "Shi Li".

According to regulations, more than 800 people cannot be divided into twelve villages. The military system of the imperial court: two "teams" in one colony, and five "evens" in one colony, that is to say, there are more than 100 people in one colony. There are more than 800 people, with a maximum of eight villages and 16 teams. However, the county soldiers in Yingchuan County were usually neglected in management, and the shortage was serious. There were as many as 60 or 70 people in one colony, and as few as 50 or 60 people. Therefore, although there were only more than 800 people, there were a dozen colonies.

In terms of regulations, the rank of the officers of the team is "compared with a hundred stones", and the rank of the officers of the colony is "compared with two hundred stones". Xunzhen is now a soldier Cao Rong, and his official rank is "Hundred Stones". He is higher than the generals and lower than the commanders. It stands to reason that he has no power to command the commanders. Most of them were hired, and although their officers were also named as team generals and colony chiefs, they could not be compared with real army generals and colony chiefs. Moreover, Xun Zhen was exercising military power on behalf of the prefect at this time, so let’s not say “tun chief”. , even the chiefs of the Ministry and Qu, the "School Lieutenant" and the "Military Officer", had to obey the command of this serious "Jun Dynasty Commander".

Soon, twelve colony chiefs and twenty-four teams will arrive.

Xun Zhen had spent a few days reorganizing the county soldiers before, and she was not familiar with the officers above the squadron, but she knew them all.

After waiting for everyone to arrive, he took his eyes away from the city, supported the city wall, and watched everyone one by one.

Thirty-six officers, of varying ages. The young are in their thirties, and the old are in their forties and fifties. Xun Zhen knew the details of them early on. Most of them were from local noble families, and a few were from the market. Unlike most of the county soldiers, who were from poor families, the generals and chiefs of the colonies were considered "middle-level officers", so most of them had good backgrounds. For the poor family, this was unfair; but for Xun Zhen, especially for the current defenders, it was beneficial: there was a natural antagonism between the tyrannical landlords and the rebellious peasants, at least. There is no need to worry that these officers will defect.

After the "fierce battle" yesterday, these officers admired Xun Zhen very much, especially when the Yellow Turbans arrived, he dared to take the initiative to lead the guests to attack, and only brought a hundred people out of the city to meet tens of thousands of "thieves", and won He achieved a good result, and finally returned to the city smoothly. In fact, it was precisely because of Xun Zhen's initiative to attack that they had the confidence to defend the city.

Under Xun Zhen's gaze, they straightened their chests one by one, waiting for his order.

In fact, Xun Zhen didn't say anything to them. The reason why he called them here was because he thought that they should boost their morale. In just one night, there were 20,000 to 30,000 more enemies outside the city. Although not all of them were strong men, many of them were old and weak, women and children, the soldiers would definitely be frightened. At this time, the Lord will need to say a few words, lest they lose their confidence in defending the city, which is not firm.

He was about to speak when there was a chaotic cheer from outside the city.

Xun Zhen turned around and looked outside the city again.

A dozen or so Yellow Turban soldiers on horseback rushed down the city from a distance, each of them holding a bamboo pole, so far away, they couldn't see what was hanging on the bamboo pole.

Wherever they passed, the standing yellow turban soldiers raised their weapons and shouted for joy. The sitting or lying yellow turban soldiers also jumped up, danced with weapons of various colors, and shouted with joy.

Zhong Yao narrowed his eyes, raised his feet, and tried to see clearly, but he only saw an outline and asked, "What's hanging on the pole?"

Du You replied, "It looks like a human head."

"It goes without saying that there must be a county town that was attacked by demon thieves, and the people's heads are clearly hanging on the poles." Xin Ai interrupted. He couldn't stand the cold and windy night, and last night, like Xun You, Xi Zhicai, Zhong Yao, Du You, etc., went to sleep at the bottom of the city, and just arrived at the top of the city.

The dozen or so soldiers of the Yellow Turban Army followed a straight line, passed through the positions of the large army outside the city, and continued to gallop forward.

The Siege Yellow Turbans, who were moving in the direction of the moat, stopped, and while giving them way, they all raised their weapons and cheered.

At this time, they were not too far from the city, and the people at the top of the city could clearly see the things hanging on the bamboo poles. If Xin Ai said, it was more than a dozen heads.

Du You was startled, pointed his finger at one of them, and said, "That's Kong Jun! Has Jiaxian fallen?"

Kong Shi, Jia County magistrate.

Zhong Yao recognized the other two: "That's Gu Jun, that's Xie Jun. Has Xiangcheng County also fallen into the hands of thieves?"

Gu Zhou, the chief of Xiangcheng; Xie Dao, the captain of Xiangcheng.

Du You said: "Without the prince's head, Xiangcheng County may not have fallen."

Wang Lin, magistrate of Xiangcheng County.

"No. Xiangcheng County is no longer guaranteed."

"Yu Lang, why did you say this?"

"If Xiangcheng County hadn't fallen, how could Gu Cheng and Xie Wei both perish!" In a county, there are three chief officials, the county magistrate (the chief), the county chief, and the county lieutenant. Appointed by the court, because it is also known as "Ming Qing". If the city hadn't been lost, two of the three commanders would not have died.

"But there is no prince's head!"

Xin Ai pouted and said with a sneer, "Gu Cheng and Xie Wei are both dead, but the head of the old king is not seen. Needless to say? The old king must have abandoned the city and fled."

Du You shook his head again and again. He knew this "Prince" very well. He had known him for many years. He thought he knew his character well. Will you abandon the city and flee?"

From below the city came the shouts of the yellow turban soldiers: "Last night we won two counties in a row! The heads of Jia County magistrate, Xiangcheng Weicheng and the thieves of the two counties are here, and the Xiangcheng magistrate fled at night! If you don't know your taste and insist on resisting, these heads will end up waiting for you!"

After more than ten riders called, they raised the bamboo poles high and shouted: "The sky is dead, the yellow sky stands!"

The more than ten yellow turban soldiers on horseback went south along the moat, walking all the way, shouting all the way.

The more than 20,000 Yellow Turbans outside the east city wall washed away the shadow of yesterday's failure to siege the city. Their morale was very high, and they raised their arms and shouted as they called.

Soon, the dozen or so riders turned the corner of the city and went to the southern city wall. Not long after, there were voices outside the southern city wall.

Then, there were waves of overwhelming calls from the west city wall.

Except for the northern city wall because it is close to the river, the Yellow Turbans have no soldiers stationed, and there are thunderous voices outside the three city walls.

Du You couldn't believe it, and murmured, "The prince actually fled at night and abandoned the city?"

Xun Zhen didn't find it strange. First, he was not familiar with this "prince" and did not know his words and deeds. Second, from the cowardice of Ying Yinling and Wen Taishou when they first heard about the Taiping Dao rebellion, it could be inferred that The orders in other counties won't be much better.

He thought to himself: "There are seventeen counties and seventeen county magistrates in this county, it is rare that half of UU's www.uukanshu.com are willing to defend the city and not escape. ... Xiangcheng County, alas, I don't know Li. What happened to the family?" This "Li family" refers to the Li family in Xiangcheng, Li Ying's descendants Li Zan, Li Xuan, etc. Since Xiangcheng County has fallen, they are afraid of danger, and they only hope that the Yellow Turban soldiers will spare them for the sake of Li Ying, a famous person in the world.

Out of the mourning mentality of a rabbit dying and a fox, the officers who were waiting on the side were not very good-looking.

One person said, "I was on duty last night, and I could see clearly that Bocai's flag did not move at all, and not a single thief left. How did they capture Jia County and Xiangcheng County?"

One of the officers was more clever, thought for a moment, and said, "It should be their local Taiping Yaodao who captured these two counties."

"Even if they are local Taiping Dao demon thieves, Jia County and Xiangcheng County are not as strong as my Yangzhai Chengjian, but they are also big counties.

"Although Jia County and Xiangcheng County are large counties, they may be able to prevent external thieves, but it is difficult to prevent internal troubles."

"You mean?"

"Tai Ping Dao demon thief must use the strategy of 'inside and outside', so as to take the city so quickly, and connect two cities overnight!"

The officer sighed, pointed to the outside of the city and said, "The tens of thousands of thieves outside the city may have come from Jiaxian and Xiangcheng counties." Earlier, I commanded the officers and soldiers to sweep away the Taiping Road thieves in our city, otherwise, we Yangzhai would not be able to keep up last night."

Although the prefectural governor's office had warned the counties in the county long before Bocai's rise, and ordered them to hunt down the followers of Taiping Dao in the city, not every county magistrate was a capable minister.

…

In the distance, drums sounded from Bocai's central army, and the Yellow Turban soldiers outside the moat started to advance again, and accelerated their pace, launching another siege amid the mad cries of tens of thousands of people.

A new day has come.