Zhao Xingwen and Su Qian'an, two rough guys, ate deliciously and quickly.
Yin Guangbo was originally worried and had no appetite.
He was so caught up in the eating looks of the two of them that he swallowed several times.
Zhao Xingwen and Su Qian'an gave up their jobs after a romantic meal, looked at each other and went out.
When Zhao Xingwen walked past Yin Guangbo, he patted his other shoulder and teased him with a smile: "If you are hungry, feel free to eat. I will definitely bring His Highness back unharmed."
Yin Guangbo's face immediately turned red with embarrassment. He thought that Zhao Xingwen saw him swallowing his saliva just now.
He bowed awkwardly to the two of them, and Su Qian'an and Zhao Xingwen laughed and walked out the door.
At three o'clock in the hour, outside the south gate of the city.
The 20,000 troops gathered from near Guwan have arrived, and the chief officers belonging to different places reported to Zhao Xingwen in turn.
Zhao Xingwen took the lead, leading 20,000 soldiers with Su Qian'an, and gradually approached the foot of the mountain in an encirclement manner.
After the encirclement was set up, a signal flare was fired into the sky.
The dazzling white light broke through the sky with a hiss and soared upward.
Following Zhao Xingwen's word "kill", 20,000 soldiers advanced towards the foot of the mountain with their swords in hand.
Suddenly, torches were lit on the top of the mountain. Although they were scattered, they were scattered all over the mountains and fields.
There was a commotion immediately at the foot of the mountain, and soon the two parties were fighting head-on.
I saw that the private army was indeed well-trained, but in a moment they had already formed parallel formations, one facing the official army, and the other defending the bandits rushing down the mountain.
The private army also knew that if they were arrested, they would be guilty of an unforgivable crime.
Therefore, he was extraordinarily brave. He was attacked from above and below for a while, but he didn't lose at all.
Zhao Xingwen was originally commanding from the rear. Seeing that they were locked in a stalemate, he picked up his sword and wanted to go into battle himself.
Su Qian'an stopped him and signaled him to go ahead.
Zhao Xingwen glanced at him, stopped, and nodded to him, accepting his request.
Su Qianan rode Juechen and immediately joined the fight.
He was already exceptionally tall and burly, and he looked even more heroic when holding the knife in his hand.
With his joining, the morale of the official army rose sharply, and the column led by him seemed to be on the verge of tearing open the gap between the private armies.
Zhao Xingwen couldn't help but feel a hint of admiration in his eyes. Seeing this going on, as long as there was a breakthrough, it would be easy to annihilate these private armies.
Under the moonlight, Su Qian'an slashed with his sword. The silvery blade was covered in crimson. Blood dripped from the tip of the sword to the ground. The head of the leader of the private army was cut off abruptly.
The angry eyes were still wide open, with an expression of disbelief before death, and the body separated and rolled down.
The surrounding private troops immediately fell into chaos, and the formation was unable to form without one commanding party. Su Qian'an immediately raised his sword and ordered the columns to form two sides and attack separately.
The bandits also rushed down one after another, and the private army was temporarily exhausted and in danger.
Just when Zhao Xingwen thought he could close the net in another moment, arrows suddenly rained down from behind him.
He quickly ordered the remaining thousand or so people to hold up their shields and form a semicircle formation to resist the sudden attack from behind.
And that private army was about to fall apart, but suddenly saw reinforcements coming to help and became brave again.
On the contrary, the official army was demoralized when they saw that they were attacked from both sides. The private army slowly filled the gap just opened and began to retreat steadily.
Seeing this, Su Qianan rode his horse and came to Zhao Xingwen. The situation was critical. He said directly to him without any nonsense: "I will lead these thousands of people to fight a way for you. You quickly go back to find Commander Mai and lead the troops."
"Can you withstand it?" Zhao Xingwen looked worriedly at Su Qian'an, who was covered in blood.
"If you can't withstand it, you have to withstand it. Sooner or later, if this continues, the whole army will be annihilated, and your Highness will be harmed." After saying this, Su Qian'an led the remaining thousand people to form a small triangle with their shields and attack the rear.
While wielding his sword to block the arrow, he shouted at Zhao Xingwen: "Quickly go!"
Zhao Xingwen gritted his teeth, clamped his horse's belly, and took advantage of the path Su Qian'an opened to rush out.
He thought he was a mantis stalking a cicada, but he didn't expect that there was an oriole behind him.
He was afraid that mobilizing Guwan's city army would alarm those who maintained private armies, so he transferred some men from different regions in batches.
Unexpectedly, the man was still alarmed.
Zhao Xingwen had no time to blame himself at this time, as a team of people was already following him to snipe him.
Su Qian'an, who risked her life to open a way for him to survive, is still uncertain about her life or death.
As for His Highness, he may not know that another oriole has arrived.
He had to return to the city as soon as possible, and finding Mai Zhenjin was the top priority.
Zhao Xingwen has lived for more than 20 years and has never found a city gate so beautiful.
And that beautiful south city gate should have been closed by now.
It was actually brightly lit now, and the city army was waiting there in formation.
The two leaders were looking forward to it, it was Yin Guangbo and Mai Zhenjin.
It turned out that Yin Guangbo was still feeling uneasy after they left and went to find Mai Zhenjin.
Mai Zhenjin originally didn't know what Zhao Xingwen's intention was when he took him around to read military books and mobilize troops these past two days.
Yin Guangbo suddenly visited and told him that His Highness might enter the city at night.
Hearing this, he was shocked and asked Yin Guangbo: "Hasn't His Highness already returned to Beijing?"
"I encountered an ambush on the way and was besieged on the mountain." Yin Guangbo thought about it again and again, but still hid the matter of the private army without saying anything.
Even so, Mai Zhenjin thought about it and understood why Zhao Xingwen had to dispatch manpower in the past two days.
"Even if there is a rescue, why don't we use the ancient Anhui city defenders here? Instead, we must gather some local troops in batches." Mai Zhenjin was puzzled and suddenly realized that Zhao Xingwen might have suspected him.
As soon as Mai Zhenjin thought of this, he immediately raised his hands to Yin Guangbo and said, "I am very loyal to Your Highness."
Yin Guangbo waved his hand and said: "Commander Mai is overly worried. General Zhao is afraid of alerting the ambush. However, I always feel uneasy, so I came to meet you at the city gate. If His Highness comes back safe and sound, It’s best to come from home. If there is an emergency, it’s better to take care of it.”
Mai Zhenjin also had this intention. Just now he heard that His Highness was ambushed in Guwan, and it was natural that he, the commander, could not absolve himself of the blame.
I didn't know it at first, but now I know it. Even if Yin Guangbo doesn't mention it, he will take people there.
Therefore, Zhao Xingwen, who had been running all the way, saw Mai Zhenjin and Yin Guangbo who had been waiting eagerly for a long time when he arrived at the city gate.
When Yin Guangbo saw Zhao Xingwen riding back alone, being chased by others, with an arrow stuck in his shoulder, he hurried forward to greet him: "What's going on?"
Zhao Xingwen, however, quickly said something to Mai Zhenjin, who was ordering the soldiers to pursue him.
"Commander Mai, quickly lead the troops to the foot of Nanshan Mountain to rescue people."
(End of chapter)