Dawn of the Empire

Chapter 5

"Did the city agree?" Zhao Xingde sat on the horse and asked back.

"Mr. Bing, I have already agreed." Zhang Yong said respectfully, "There is nothing wrong with it." More than ten days ago, several grannies boarded in Hongshan Temple, waiting for the return of Zhao Xingde's army, and communicated with the city of Ezhou every day with small flags and binoculars once.There are also people in Ezhou who have been paying attention to Dongshan's side, and when the sky is twilight, there is a response.

"Good!" Zhao Xingde nodded in approval.After receiving a word of praise from Mr. Zhang Yong, Zhang Yong suddenly felt in a good mood, and even felt a little lighter.Zhao Xingde put down the copper mask, lifted the reins of the horse, and shouted: "Let's go!" The six hundred cavalry who had already put on full armor urged their horses one after another. Roll up and go away.The three men took a few steps back and stood by the side of the road, watching the back of the cavalry disappear at the turning point of the mountain road, fascinated, and murmured: "This is what a man should do."

Zhao Xingde's body heaved and fell with the horse, and gradually he evened his breathing.According to the description of the scouts, although there are many soldiers and horses in Xiangyang, they are divided into several parts by the river. Except for the siege army concentrated in the east of the city, and the direction of defense faces the north and the river, the other camps are relatively loose. It is also common to plunder and harass the people.The wind whistled past his ears, and the war horse seemed to know that he was approaching his destination, and he was obviously much more excited than on the way.A hundred cavalry appeared in front of them in a loose formation, as if they were enemy scouts patrolling the road.

"General Zhao, what should we do?"

Zhao Xingde drew out his horizontal saber, swung it forward, and shouted: "Rush over!" At almost the same moment, Yang Zaixing and Ma Rui raised their carbine guns and shouted loudly: "Kill!" The opponent's cavalry was caught off guard by repeated stabbing instead of fighting, and was immediately dispersed. The rest had no intention of resisting and urged their horses to flee. "Quick!" Zhao Xingde yelled loudly again, urging the horse to speed up and charge forward, the trees beside the road retreated quickly, the six hundred cavalry were moving very fast, passing the Xiangyang army and horse camp along the way, they were rushed over before they had time to react .Not long after, Zhao Xingde saw the city wall of Ezhou.

At the gate of Qingyuan Gate, Cao Liangshi rarely lost his composure, stood at the window and looked into the distance.Several generals who knew the inside story suppressed their excitement, while giving orders loudly, they looked into the distance from time to time.A large group of country soldiers crowded inside the city gate. "Quick! Quick!" The officer urged loudly.The villagers carried their shoulders and hands to remove the sand and gravel that blocked the city gate, and hundreds of warriors guarded outside the city gate with strong shields and spears.The Xiangyang army attacking the city seemed to be aware of it, and pushed the chariot more vigorously.The city gate trembled unceasingly, and the bolt made of whole wood pulled the thick iron ring up and down.

"Oh!"

"Oh!"

"Oh!"

Every blow seemed to hit people's hearts. With the excited shouts of the Xiangyang Army, many Ezhou defenders showed despair on their faces.No one knows why Master Cao suddenly ordered to clear the road behind the city gate, ready to open the city gate at any time.Some people are secretly suspicious, could it be that...

As the Xiangyang army attacked the city more and more fiercely, hundreds of cavalry appeared conspicuously in a corner of the battlefield. The nearby Xiangyang army was in a mess, while more infantry gathered in the distance.In fact, before Yizhuxiang, the Xiangyang army got the news that the cavalry was approaching. However, because the number of this group of cavalry was not large, the Chinese army's Marquis Yu didn't even alarm Cao Xianggong, but ordered all the ministries to join forces to encircle and suppress.However, unexpectedly, instead of evading, this group of cavalry came straight to Qingyuan Gate, where the fighting was most intense, like moths to a flame.

"Damn it!" Cao Di muttered, not knowing whether he was scolding the group of mosquitoes that suddenly broke into the battlefield, or his subordinates for being incompetent, he raised his horsewhip and pointed at the battlefield ahead, and shouted, "Don't let it go!" Already!" The four commanding cavalrymen immediately dispatched, facing the overwhelmed Ezhou cavalry from four directions.Above and below the city, both sides in the fierce battle saw all this.At this time, the group of cavalry suddenly raised a banner high, and a big "Zhao" was rolled in the wind.Moments later, cheers erupted from the city of Ezhou like a tsunami.

"General Zhao is here!" Fan Changheng's voice was completely hoarse, and he couldn't hear his own voice.

However, this did not prevent all soldiers from understanding what he meant.All night, all night, Fan Du was yelling that reinforcements would arrive tomorrow.All the soldiers were skeptical, but now, it turned out to be true?What could be more exciting than this.In Ezhou, under the watchful eyes of thousands of troops and horses, there is no one else who can fly the "Zhao" battle flag!

"Reinforcements—reinforcements are here!" Someone wept with joy, a new strength suddenly appeared in their exhausted bodies, driving them to lift the rolling logs and stones, and rain them down on the siege enemy who was also in shock.After this fierce battle, the Ezhou soldiers who were afraid of fighting have gradually become accustomed to it. As long as they are given a glimmer of hope, they will be able to muster the last bit of strength and wield their swords to fight to the end.

"God, Marshal Zhao's reinforcements have arrived!"

"Mr. Zhao's reinforcements have arrived!"

Countless people shouted like crazy, Zhao Xingde suddenly led an army to appear outside the city, which was more exciting than the appearance of tens of thousands of troops.I saw that this cavalry was moving through the Xiangyang army with great flexibility. The first two generals drew and stabbed their spears, and they were all invincible, which made the already flustered siege soldiers even more flustered .The large cavalry chased after them in vain, but the distance became farther and farther.Seeing this, the Ezhou soldiers on the top of the city cheered even louder.

"Zhao Yuanzhi, you are back!" Cao Liangshi's eyes were full of excitement, and he ordered, "Open the city gate!"

At this moment, the Xiangyang soldiers and horses attacking the city have not yet retreated. Opening the city gate, the enemy may take advantage of the situation to steal the city at any time. However, Cao Liangshi's order was issued, and no one questioned it. If the city gate is not opened wide, it is not in line with common sense , as if when Zhao Xingde arrived, the enemy army was not to be feared immediately.The attacking troops from Xiangyang had no time to join the battle, let alone contend with the rampaging iron cavalry, and scattered like birds and beasts.Yang Zaixing took the lead, rushed straight to the gate of Qingyuan, and shouted at the top of the city a hundred steps away: "Open the gate!"All the cavalry surrounded a general under his banner, his face was covered with a golden copper mask, which was very hideous. In the eyes of all the defenders, General Zhao seemed to be born with this appearance. When Zhao Xingde pushed the copper mask to show Really, the defenders erupted into huge cheers again in an instant, and the entire Ezhou city was filled with joy, as if they had won a big victory!

There was a loud sound of hoofbeats, more than two thousand riders came menacingly, they seemed to be coming straight at Zhao Xingde, and they seemed to want to take the opportunity to rush into the city.Just as Ma Rui was about to speak, Yang Zaixing was the first to ask for a fight and said: "Let me go out and teach these idiots a lesson." Zhao Xingde frowned slightly, nodded and said: "Quick battle, quick decision, don't love to fight!" Yang Zaixing shouted, "Drive! Drive! Drive! "Lead the three hundred riders under his command and go straight to the enemy.

There was an ear-piercing "creaking" sound from behind, and the heavy city gate slowly opened.Someone shouted from inside the gate: "General Zhao, come into the city quickly!" Zhao Xingde turned his head and saw the gatekeeper's face was unfamiliar, nodded and smiled and said: "General, wait a moment, let Zhao Mou sweep the formation for General Yang!" He turned his head again, staring ahead.

Three hundred cavalry rushed into the enemy cavalry like tigers into a herd of sheep. Yang Zaixing shouted repeatedly on the horse, a big spear appeared like a ghost, and he picked several of them off their horses. It's amazing, I'm tired of running around these days, when I meet the Xiangyang cavalry, they often leave without fighting, and they are full of anger. Now they have the opportunity, they rushed with all their strength, and after a while, they penetrated the enemy's formation, and then Round the horses.The horses, armaments, and martial arts of the Xijing cavalry are all top choices, but they are comfortable all year round, and have not seen many real bloody battles. Yang Zaixing has killed so many ghosts and screams this time, and he has also killed many people. Prevent Yang Zaixing from going back to Ezhou City.

Zhao Xingde slightly steered his horse to move aside, Yang Zaixing rushed forward and shouted: "How?" Zhao Xingde smiled and said, "Not bad!"Seeing that the Xiangyang cavalry were already timid and did not dare to come up to challenge for a moment, Zhao Xingde sighed and said to himself, "That's why the Liao army entered the Central Plains." He ordered Ma Rui to lead his troops into the city first, and he was the last to retreat into the city.

Before leaving the city gate, the banner officer came forward: "Cao Shangshu asked General Zhao to go to the top of the city to inspire the soldiers."

"Okay," Zhao Xingde jumped off his horse, handed over the reins to his soldiers, ordered Ma Rui to take care of his subordinates, and went up the gate tower by himself. Cao Liangshi was waiting at the gate, and when he saw Zhao Xingde, he said, "Yuanzhi is here." , this city of Ezhou is as stable as Mount Tai!" "Brother Cao, congratulations!" Zhao Xingde looked around at the generals, nodded inwardly, and said with a smile, "Six thousand soldiers and horses have traveled across the river to help. Yue Privy Councilor Han Jiedu has defeated the enemy army and is about to lead tens of thousands of elite troops Come to help." He saw the excited look on everyone's face, and said, "I am united inside, and I have won consecutive battles outside. But I can’t advance or retreat, sooner or later it’s over.”

All the generals nodded repeatedly, even the soldiers standing beside him did the same.Cao Liangshi secretly sighed, there are many people who can say these words, but like Zhao Xingde, there are very few people who can say a word and have a peaceful heart.

At this time, Chen Que, the gatekeeper of Qingyuan, couldn't wait to raise Zhao Xingde's general flag.The soldiers of the enemy and our army near and far could see clearly. Some of the defenders at the head of Ezhou city didn't know that Zhao Xingde was coming back for help. Later, they shouted "Expel the northern captives!" "Protect the environment and the people!"These two military slogans came from the Baoyi army, as for what it has to do with the Xiangyang army under the city, no one paid any attention to it.