Qian Gaozhi and Zeng Guozhong glanced at each other and nodded at the same time. The two turned and waved, and led the soldiers to push the cart straight to the edge of the warehouse for the pile of firewood and hay. After the order was given, the soldiers quickly threw the bundles of firewood and grass from the stacks of firewood and hay onto the flatbed, and after they were full, they quickly pulled them to the side of the grain stacks not far away and lined up in a circle.

"Hurry, hurry, hurry!" Zeng Guozhong urged in a low voice, pressing the handle of the knife with his hand, and his eyes looked around from time to time.

The soldiers were quick with their hands and feet, and cartloads of firewood were dragged to the side of the grain stacks and piled up, and soon more than 20 grain stacks were covered with firewood and grass.

"Who are you? What are you doing? A shout sounded from the shadows on the side of the firewood, and then a team of more than thirty patrolling soldiers appeared on the side of the firewood.

"I'm Wang Changling, the quartermaster of the former battalion, and we're here to receive grain, grass and firewood." Wang Changling hurriedly stepped forward.

"No, how do you drag the wood and grass to the grain stack? Don't you know that it is forbidden to pile firewood and grass next to the grain stack? What the hell are you going to do? The leader of the patrol soldiers shouted loudly.

Wang Changling was speechless. Zeng Guozhong, who was on the side, didn't say a word, took out the waist knife on his waist, and went up with a knife to cut down the leader.

"Kill them all." Zeng Guozhong shouted.

Hundreds of soldiers rushed forward to kill them. Dozens of soldiers on patrol screamed loudly, and those who reacted quickly pulled their legs and ran, and those who reacted slowly were dismembered by knives in an instant.

"Hurry up and light the fire. Hurry up and ignite the fire. Qian Gaozhi shouted.

The soldiers immediately began to set fires. Dozens of grain stacks were set on fire in an instant, and then the firewood and haystacks were also set on fire. In an instant, the fire crackled and rose, and soon the flames were blazing into the sky.

At the same time as the grain stack was on fire, the surrounding patrol defenders and the hundreds of soldiers and horses who came to receive the food supplies from the rear battalion had already been alarmed. A large group of soldiers rushed over while scolding. Zeng Guozhong and Qian Gaozhi didn't say a word, and led hundreds of soldiers to meet them, and fought with the enemy soldiers who heard the news. Later, Wang Changling seized the time and took more than 200 soldiers to draw firewood from the firewood stacks, and began to set fire all the way along the tents, haystacks, and grain stacks.

"Don't fall in love with the war, rush out." Zeng Guozhong shouted to Qian Gaozhi.

Qian Gaozhi nodded in agreement, and the two of them retreated with hundreds of soldiers. The fire around them is getting bigger and bigger, smoke and sparks are flying all over the sky, and the open space around the grain stack is no longer able to stand on it. At the same time, the retreating road was almost blocked by flames. Zeng Guozhong, Qian Gaozhi and others had no way to retreat from the fire, and when they were helpless, Zeng Guozhong shouted: "Rush! ”

Two men and hundreds of soldiers rushed into the fire with their heads in their hands, and rushed through the curtain of fire. Dozens of soldiers were immediately on fire, and most of them had their hair, eyebrows, and mustaches burning. Soldiers rolled on the ground and helped each other extinguish the fire, and dozens of people were badly burned. Thankfully, the stacks of grain behind him began to collapse, and the fire became more intense. The skyrocketing fire held the pursuing soldiers at the other end, stopping them from pursuing. So they had to take a detour.

"Let's go!" Zeng Guozhong shouted.

Everyone drove dozens of seriously wounded soldiers who were burned and turned around and left, gathered together with more than 200 people including Wang Changling in the rear, and rushed towards the south camp gate of the granary.

The north wind was blowing, and the wind took advantage of the fire to become more and more intense. In particular, the more than 100 large firewood stacks and haystacks surrounded by the hill-like periphery were like volcanic eruptions after they were ignited, and the fire rose to a height of more than ten zhang, reflecting half of the sky. The burning firewood and grass were blown by the wind, and sparks flew in all directions, and soon seven or eight grain stacks and a dozen or so material warehouses on the periphery of the granaries were set on fire. The flying sparks even spread over some of the tents on the periphery, setting the tents on fire.

The whole barracks began to stir, and the gongs that gave the alarm were clanging, and the sound of the gongs was full of panic. The soldiers who had just fallen asleep after being tossed by the signal flares of the Shence Army were awakened from their dreams again and hurriedly came out of their tents to check. The soldiers of the front and rear battalions were far away from the place where the fire had started, but the light of the fire was real, and they stood outside the tent and looked at the fire in the granary of the middle camp, their eyes full of horror and panic. Everyone knows that there is the direction of the granary. The granary is on fire! This is the most frightening news.

The soldiers and horses near the left side of the granary were quickly mobilized, and they rushed towards the fire from all directions, intending to extinguish the fire. The firefighting team in the army also arrived immediately and began to use bamboo pipes to draw water to put out the fire. But it is clear that it is not easy to extinguish such a fire. Water hose sprays are also largely useless.

Zeng Guozhong, Qian Gaozhi, and Wang Changling rushed out of the warehouse with seven or eight hundred soldiers, and ran straight in the direction of the front camp. On the road at the foot of the mountain, I saw thousands of guards rushing towards me. Zeng Guozhong recognized at a glance that the person in front of him was Li Guangbi, he must have just gotten the news and brought his guards to check the situation and put out the fire. Zeng Guozhong and Qian Gaozhi hurriedly lowered their heads and hid among the soldiers, for fear of being recognized by Li Guangbi.

Li Guangbi saw Zeng Guozhong and the others going in the opposite direction, and shouted: "What's the matter? Why do you do the opposite? Why don't you go to put out the fire? ”

Wang Changling hurriedly stepped forward and said: "Report to the marshal, the granary is on fire, and the humble post just went to receive the grain and grass in the front camp, so he led people to put it out." You see, all of my brothers were burned, so I took them to the front camp for treatment. ”

Li Guangbi stared at everyone with his eyes, and saw that everyone's hair and beard were burned, and dozens of soldiers were burned beyond recognition, but he did not doubt it. In addition, he was worried about the fire, so he didn't think much about it, and asked in a deep voice: "How did you start the fire?" ”

"I don't know if I don't know, I just got in with the cart, and I haven't had time to ...... yet."

"That's it, you go." Li Guangbi didn't want to listen to his ramblings, and waved his hand and shouted.

Wang Changling hurriedly surrendered his promise and rushed away with the soldiers. Li Guangbi walked forward dozens of steps, suddenly turned around and frowned and shouted, "Something is wrong." ”

"Li Shuai, what's wrong?" The general next to him asked.

"The appearance of the two people standing behind Wang Changling seems to have been seen there, although they have been keeping their heads down, Ben Shuai feels familiar."

“…… It seems to be Zeng Guozhong and Qian Gaozhi. They were the lieutenants of the former battalion. A soldier beside him suddenly shouted.

"Yes, it's them, this Zeng Guozhong and Qian Gaozhi are the generals of the former battalion, how did they appear here in the granary of the middle camp? This is not where they came from. Wang Changling is a quartermaster, so he doesn't have to let Zeng Guozhong and Qian Gaozhi help him when he receives grain and grass. Li Guangbi frowned.

"yes, it's weird." The people around him also felt very strange.

"Li Shuai, there must be something strange in it, that Qian Gaozhi and Zeng Guozhong are wearing the armor of ordinary soldiers, even if they come to help, what are they doing in the armor of ordinary soldiers? Is this a disguise of something? One of the generals shouted.

Li Guangbi was suddenly startled, and scolded loudly: "It's not good, it must be this group of dog thieves who set the fire, quickly pass on my military order, and order the soldiers and horses in the front battalion to intercept it, and don't let them escape."

On the top of the Tongzhou City Tower, as soon as the other party's military camp caught fire, Wang Yuan and others had already discovered it. Everyone stood on the tower and looked at the fire in the distance, and saw that the fire would become a fire in a moment, and there was chaos in the camp opposite. In addition to Wang Yuan, Gongsun Lan and A Luo were all surprised.

Wang Yuan smiled and said, "Have you seen it?" I didn't lie to you, did I burn down the company's camp? This is the big show tonight. The fire started in the other side's Zhongying grain and grass yard. ”

Gongsun Lan and Ah Luo asked in surprise, "How did Erlang know that there would be a fire in the other party's military camp?" When did Jiro arrange this plan? ”

Wang Yuan said with a smile: "I will relieve your doubts later, but at this moment, you have to save people, otherwise the person who set the fire will not be able to come out alive." ”

Wang Yuan turned his head and ordered in a deep voice to the guards not far away: "Send a signal to order Liu Jun and Song Jian's cavalry and archers to answer Zeng Guozhong and others to ensure that they break through safely." ”

Three signal flares rose into the air, and the three gates of the north, south and east suddenly opened. Tens of thousands of cavalry, who had already been waiting in the square inside the city gate, rushed out of Tongzhou City from the three city gates. A few moments later, 10,000 cavalry assembled on the battlefield outside the eastern city. Without delay, they rode their horses and charged in the direction of the opposing camp.

Not long after the cavalry was dispatched, Song Jian's power of 5,000 crossbowmen rushed out of the east city gate and rushed to the enemy camp behind the cavalry.

……

Zeng Guozhong, Qian Gaozhi, Wang Changling and others led hundreds of soldiers to rush to the gate of the rear camp that entered the front camp. The soldiers guarding the camp gate did not suspect it, and seeing that Wang Changling and others were burned, dozens of soldiers guarding the camp gate quickly opened the camp gate and let them in. At this moment, thousands of pursuers from the rear chased after them, shouting loudly towards the camp gate from a distance.

"Stop them, don't let them in, they're arson! Li Guangbi has an order, Wang Changling, Zeng Guozhong, Qian Gaozhi is the enemy's meticulous work, and there is no forgiveness for killing immediately. ”

The guards at the camp gate were a little stunned, and when they were surprised, Zeng Guozhong and Qian Gaozhi knew that the matter was exposed, and they instantly became troubled, and they raised their knives and cut them. Hundreds of men cut down dozens of defenders and rushed into the front camp, following the road between the tents and heading straight for the southwest corner of the camp. There was the direction in which his soldiers and horses were stationed, and nearly 6,000 soldiers and horses led by a dozen lieutenants under his command were ready to defect, and there would be enough men to break out of the front camp when they rushed there.

But at the same time, more than a dozen of Li Guangbi's subordinates rode horses to convey Li Guangbi's order to Dong Yuanshu, the former battalion general. Dong Yuanshu was shocked and angry, and ordered to intercept him in the midst of the scolding, and scolded angrily, while ordering the siege and killing. The horse's hooves were faster than their legs, and the news that Zeng Guozhong and Qian Gaozhi and Wang Changling were the enemy soldiers and arsonists quickly spread throughout the front camp. At this time, Zeng Guozhong and the others were still more than two miles away from the camp in the southwest of them.

Soon, the blockade in all directions made Zeng Guozhong and others fall into a heavy encirclement. No matter how capable Zeng Guozhong and others are, it is difficult to break through the encirclement of tens of thousands of soldiers and horses. In desperation, Zeng Guozhong and others desperately rushed to a small dirt slope in the camp, hoping to resist with the advantage of the terrain.

Dong Yuanshu, who was in a hurry, led his guards and horses to the bottom of the dirt slope, and raised his head and scolded Zeng Guozhong and the others on the dirt slope.

"Zeng Guozhong, Qian Gaozhi, Wang Changling. You three bastards, the court treats you well, and you dare to betray the court and act as a thief Wang Yuan to burn the army's grain and grass. I have treated you well and treated you as brothers, and you dare to make trouble under my account. If you don't roll down and surrender immediately, you may be able to wait for the whole corpse. ”

Zeng Guozhong poked his head out of the small slope, laughed and shouted down: "Dong Yuanshu, who do you call a brother and a brother?" Who are your brothers? Lao Tzu followed Wang Xiangguo to defend Yangzhou and fight the rebels, and they were already friends of life and death. Is your surname Dong a ball? Besides, you don't want to think about who betrayed the court? Li Mao's throne is not right, and the real Tang court is in Chengdu. Li Mao is a usurper and a traitor, a murderer of the emperor and the kings. Lee Kwang-pil is an accomplice and thief, and you are Lee Kwang-pil's lackey. Who are you qualified to speak here? You have to persuade Lao Tzu to surrender, Lao Tzu will give you a piece of advice, go against Wang Xiangguo, and die dead. Those who know the current affairs immediately defected to Wang Xiangguo to ensure your glory and wealth. ”

Dong Yuanshu scolded: "The son of a bitch, still obsessed, gossipes to confuse the public, you are looking for your own death, you need to blame me." I wanted to give you a whole corpse, but now Lao Tzu wants to break you into thousands of pieces. ”

Qian Gaozhi also shouted loudly: "Dong Yuanshu, the grandfathers have long planned to get out alive. If we die, you will soon be finished. You have also seen Wang Dashuai's methods. Don't say that the 300,000 soldiers and horses here are twice as much, and you are not Wang Xiangguo's opponent. Acquaintances surrender quickly, and we can say a few kind words for you in front of Wang Dashuai, or we can save your life. ”

"General Qian is right. I have something to explain to you. Tonight, all the supplies in the army's granaries have been burned by us. The mountain road leading to Jinzhou has also been destroyed by Wang Dashuai's men. Now that there is no grain and grass to send in and no grain and grass to maintain, you think, how many days can you still jump? If you don't surrender quickly, when will you wait? Zeng Guozhong laughed loudly.

The soldiers besieged around the dirt slope heard it in horror. Zeng Guozhong said that these were all blocked news, and the soldiers naturally had no way of knowing. But tonight there was a fire in the direction of the Zhongying granary, and in the afternoon, the army mobilized tens of thousands of people to go out of the camp to and from the mountain road, and the gods mysteriously did not know what to do. Now judging from these two news, I am afraid that something really happened to the grain road. Zeng Guozhong's words may not be full of nonsense, but they are really true.

"Brothers below, what I said is true, and you are still in the dark. The army was already out of food, and soon it could not stand it. What are you still doing here for Li Mao? Li Mao is a usurper traitor, the emperor has been reinstated in Chengdu, don't die for Li Mao, a traitor, you don't have to lose your life in vain. Zeng Guozhong shouted loudly.

The soldiers looked at each other in horror. Some people whispered to each other. Seeing this scene, Dong Yuanshu scolded angrily at the soldiers around him: "What are you doing? What are you talking about? Do you believe the words of these three thieves? They're just desperate. If you don't let me shoot them all, shoot them all. ”

The soldiers did not dare to listen, and a group of archers bent their bows and arrows and began to fire arrows above the dirt slope. This small dirt slope was originally a raised place in the camp, and when the camp was set up, a lot of sand, soil and stones were piled up to increase the height and width, which was used as a lookout in the camp and for wartime command. There are many such high platforms in the camp, which are used for lookouts and wartime for generals to stand on and give orders. Therefore, these dirt slopes were not completely defenseless, and a half-man-high sand wall was piled up at the edge, leaving an up-and-down earth staircase, which could be defended by archers and pikemen on the earthen platform in case the enemy army assassinated the commander of the general.

At this moment, arrows are raining down, and this simple fortification can also be used as a shelter for Zeng Guozhong and others. However, the area above the earthen platform is too small, and Zeng Guozhong's men have hundreds of people, and they can only hide more than 300 people where they can safely hide the arrows, and the remaining 200 people can only be crowded next to it, and they cannot be completely sheltered. Dense arrows fell, and hundreds of people were immediately hit by arrows, and the screams were endless.

Zeng Guozhong, Qian Gaozhi, and Wang Changling hid next to the earthen steps in the southwest corner, they had tried not to occupy too much space, so that Wang Changling hid in the innermost, Zeng Guozhong and Qian Gaozhi shrank outside, blocking the arrows with the blades in their hands. The brothers around him were shot a lot, and the screams were endless, but there was nothing the three of them could do.

"Brothers, there is no way, I can't save you. Go on your way, and we'll come after you. We're going to pull a few cushions to accompany you. Zeng Guozhong sighed.

The soldiers who were hit by the arrows knew that there was no way out, and many of them had arrows on their bodies that were not dead for a while, and the pain was unbearable, so they wiped their necks themselves. There are also some who simply jump over the edge of the earthen platform, trying to kill one or two people on their backs, but the moment they jump, they are dismembered by the knife.

After a few rounds of arrows, the soldiers below began to approach the steps on the southwest side of the platform, intending to attack and kill them all. Zeng Guozhong looked at it on the sandbag, and said with a wry smile: "Brother Qian, Brother Changling, I'm afraid we won't be able to escape today, and we have to explain everything here." Do you regret it later? ”

Qian Gaozhi smiled: "What do you regret? Our brother's life was actually picked up in the First Battle of Yangzhou. If it weren't for Wang Dashuai, we would all have died in Yangzhou. We have lived for more than half a year, and we have already earned, and in the past six months, I have also taken two concubines and had a son. Lao Tzu is enough. ”

Zeng Guozhong laughed and said: "Brother, you are indeed enough, but it's a pity that the one in my family is a tigress and won't let me marry a concubine." I knew this, I didn't listen to her, at least my good little chrysanthemum in Changchun Garden was going to marry home. ”

Qian Gaozhi laughed when he heard this. Zeng Guozhong looked at the silent Wang Changling and said, "Brother Changling, are you afraid?" You've been in trouble, and you've waded through the troubled waters. ”