After a night passed, Liangshan's army did not attack Dongping City again. This made Pang Xu, who was worried because Dong Ping was captured and his military morale was shaken, finally breathed a sigh of relief.
He just waited until dawn to look at the Liangshan Army camp and found that the troops there were still in good order. He became a little worried again. This crisis had not passed after all. His only hope was that the leader of the thief was seriously injured and died, thus leaving Liangshan. The army retreated.
After noon, Pang Xu's hope was finally dashed, because soon, the Liangshan Army launched another attack on the city. Although the offensive was no longer comparable to the previous one, it was still enough to make the defenders at the top of the city panic. , resisted quite reluctantly, and after a fight, both sides suffered casualties.
However, after days of fighting, there are fewer and fewer people available for the city's defenders. Coupled with the constant consumption of defensive weapons such as bows and arrows, stones, and boiling oil, Dongping City is almost at the end of its rope. If Dong Ping was still there, with his command and morale boosting the troops, they might be able to hold on for a few more days, but now... looking around at the soldiers under his command, Pang Xu really didn't have the confidence.
"I don't know when the reinforcements will arrive. If they don't come again, we really won't be able to hold on." Pang Xu looked forward again, thinking about the only savior, the Qingzhou Army. Whether it was him or Dong Ping, they still admired and respected Sun Tu, the military commander of Jingdong Road. In his opinion, in such a dangerous situation, only Sun Tu, the commander of the Qingzhou Army, who had led the Qingzhou army to victory in repeated battles and pacified three mountain strongholds. It can be saved.
Suddenly, as if God had received his prayer and given a reply, there was dust flying on the official road in the distance, and then, the outline of an army slowly appeared. This team arrived very quickly, and in just a few seconds, the garrison at the top of the city could see the Song Dynasty military flag at the head. Although the troops seemed to have only a thousand men, it was inspiring enough.
"Here they come! The reinforcements have finally arrived! We are saved!" For a moment, cheers continued to ring from the top of the city and spread quickly into the city. After understanding what it meant, the people quickly rejoiced. Although the battle was not over yet, once the reinforcements arrived, they believed that Dongping City would be able to hold on this time, and everyone no longer had to worry about being invaded by Liangshan bandits!
Completely opposite to the excitement of the soldiers and civilians in the city, was the reaction in the Liangshan military camp outside the city. They also immediately discovered the approaching army. As the horns sounded, the Liangshan Army who was still resting was quickly mobilized. Hundreds of people were immediately sent out to meet the official army. Apparently, It is necessary to block their advance before they arrive and prevent them from cooperating with the defenders in the city.
Soon, the armies of both sides started fighting on the plains a few miles away from Dongping City. Although the reinforcements seemed to be more powerful, perhaps because they came from such a long distance, they were still entangled by hundreds of Liangshan troops and were unable to break out for a while. At the same time, the Liangshan military camp, which already knew something was going wrong, was still sending more troops and horses to reinforce, and it looked like it was going to completely defeat the reinforcements in one breath.
This scene made the defenders at the top of the city panic. This support force was their only hope. Once they were blocked by the more powerful Liangshan bandits, or even surrounded and killed, Dongping City would be completely doomed. So at this moment, even some soldiers who were timid before could not help but ask Pang Xu for orders: "General, we will leave the city to receive reinforcements right now."
Enter the city, otherwise... As long as these thousands of troops enter the city, our Dongping Mansion will definitely be safe! "
"Yes, General, let me wait outside the city and fight to break the siege of the reinforcements. Helping them is also helping ourselves!"
Listening to the various opinions of his subordinates, Pang Xu was undecided. Although leaving the city could help the reinforcements, the risk was also extremely high. As soon as the city gate opened, Dongping City was completely exposed to the swords of the Liangshan bandits. You must know that there are still more than half of the troops in their camp who have not made any move. Presumably they are on guard against opening the city for rescue... But, how about leaving the city? Rescue, if the reinforcements are really defeated, the situation will only get worse.
"Calm down, if Director Dong was here, what choice would he make..." Pang Xu couldn't help but give hints to himself, wanting to think about the matter from Dong Ping's perspective, but he still couldn't come up with an accurate idea.
Just as he was suffering, a voice suddenly came from the stone steps below: "Pang Xu, why haven't you sent troops out of the city to meet the reinforcements? Could it be that you have colluded with the Liangshan bandits and hope that they will kill the reinforcements before opening the city?" Surrender?"
This sentence shocked all the soldiers at the top of the city. Pang Xu took a closer look and saw the eunuch Cheng Wanli striding over with a gloomy expression. It turned out that the cheers just now not only inspired the people in the city, but also made Cheng Wanli, who had been frightened for a long time, breathe a sigh of relief.
After arresting Dong Ping and imprisoning him, Governor Cheng was actually very worried, fearing that something might happen to Dongping Mansion because of his decision. It wasn't until just now, when he heard the cheers and knew that the reinforcements had arrived, that he let go of his worries and ran over in a hurry. As a result, what he heard was that the reinforcements were blocked by the Liangshan Army and Pang Xu did not dare to send troops for rescue. This made him immediately angry.
Although he had some concerns about Governor Cheng, for safety reasons Pang Xu still expressed his concerns: "Prefect, the bandits outside the city are huge, we must not attack the city easily. Why don't we take a look, maybe they If we can stand out from the enemy's siege, it won't be too late for us to go out of the city to cooperate."
"Hmph..." Cheng Wanli was still rational after all. After hearing this explanation, he no longer pressed. He just squinted his old eyes and looked at the battle ahead. Then he shouted excitedly: "They have indeed broken through. The Qingzhou Army is really powerful." !”
At the same time, the soldiers at the top of the city once again gave out thunderous cheers. Just as Governor Cheng said, after some interception and fighting, the Liangshan Army was unable to withstand the momentum of the reinforcements' attack, and they quickly opened the gap. , the entire army was rushing towards Dongping at full speed.
"Quick, get people ready to open the city gate. Now our Dongping is really saved!" Cheng Wanli urged again, and the soldiers around him turned their attention to Pang Xu. Dong Ping was not around, so he would naturally be responsible for the defense of the city. Depends on words.
While Pang Xu was pleasantly surprised, he felt something strange in his heart, as if something was wrong. But under the constant urging of Cheng Wanli and his soldiers, he could not think any more and could only say: "Sign up and let them enter the city from the west gate. That is the weakest point of the Liangshan Army."
"Quick, follow me to the west gate to welcome the reinforcements!" Cheng Wanli nodded with satisfaction, and then led people down the city towards the west gate. Those who went down with him were those who delivered the order to open the city. Guards.
The flag was raised, and the supporting army quickly adjusted its direction and headed towards
Go to Ximen and kill him. The Liangshan Army in the camp outside the city also saw their intention, and immediately dispatched the entire army, trying to cut off their way. At the same time, the Liangshan army that had been broken out by the reinforcements has quickly turned back to catch up. The three groups of soldiers and horses rushed towards the Dongping West Gate together. They looked really nervous, and they were competing for the speed of that line.
But obviously this reinforcement force from Qingzhou was more elite than the Liangshan bandits, and its speed was much faster than them. They actually rushed to the west gate before the enemy troops coming out of the camp intercepted the road. One of the generals shouted loudly towards the city: "The Qingzhou Army came to save Dongping City on the orders of Sun Dujian, you guys hurry up and open the city!"
In fact, there was no need for him to shout. Cheng Wanli, who had arrived at the west gate earlier, had already been urging people to remove the many heavy stone objects at the city gate, hoist the huge city gate bolts as thick as a human waist, and then more than twenty people Together they worked hard and opened the city gate.
Accompanied by a heart-wrenching creaking sound, the city gate of Dongping, which had been closed for more than ten days and could not be broken open after being attacked by thousands of Liangshan troops for many days, finally slowly opened!
At the same time, Pang Xu, who was at the top of the city on the other side, looked at the distance, his face changed rapidly, and then he shouted loudly: "Don't open the city gate, it's a scam! They are not reinforcements!"
Until this time, as the Liangshan Army that had just intercepted the reinforcements also rushed towards the city, the battlefield there was finally fully revealed in front of Pang Xu and the others - it was actually empty, with no casualties among the soldiers on both sides!
This is impossible in a fight in which both sides invested nearly 2,000 yuan. The only explanation is that the fight just now was completely staged, a big show for the defenders at the top of the city!
It was only then that Pang Xu suddenly realized what was strange about him just now. The so-called reinforcements appeared to be unscathed when they broke out from the enemy's interception, and their numbers did not appear to be reduced at all. This in itself was a major flaw.
However, he had previously determined that the reinforcements were coming, and coupled with the constant urging from Cheng Wanli and his soldiers, he ignored such a big problem in his eagerness and issued a wrong order that might lead to the fall of Dongping!
The panic seized Pang Xu's heart in an instant, driving him crazy with anxiety, but the only thing he could do was to shout loudly, hoping to make the soldiers over there rein in their horses and stop this mistake.
However, it was too late. Because at the same time as he screamed in surprise, dozens of "reinforcements" rushed into the city gate. Accompanied by the faint shout, the soldiers waiting at the city gate were stunned and subconsciously raised their weapons.
But the "reinforcements" in front of them moved faster than them. Dozens of arrows came towards them like a heavy rain, instantly knocking these dozens of unprepared defenders to the ground. At the same time, they also rushed forward. He rushed and guarded the city gate so that the defenders could no longer control this key point.
Behind them, thousands of Liangshan troops gathered together and rushed into the city with a rumble...
Dongping City fell in an unexpected way, and at the same moment, on the official road more than ten miles away, a team of two thousand people was moving forward rapidly, and the leader was none other than Sun Tu!
The real Qingzhou reinforcements arrived a step too late...