Dongzhou is different from the imperial capital and other states and counties, it borders the Ningyuan Empire, and the perennial wars continue, resulting in extremely strong folk customs, most of the men from each family will join the army, the empire has always had a certain superior policy for military households, and local officials dare not do too much for these military households, so that the administrative officials in various parts of Dongzhou have almost no oil and water to speak of, so that after Yuan Fang came to Dongzhou, the supplies and food along the way dropped a lot, and he never received bribes from officials.

But these are not important, Yuan Fang and they don't care, they are here to fight, they are here to save people, not to enjoy. The Taiji Legion went all the way to the east according to the predetermined route, Tang Jian had already gotten the news, prepared in advance, arranged for the defenders from all over the country to fully cooperate, and prepared enough replacement horses at intervals, so that Yuan Fang's Taiji Legion soared, in order to rush to the front line as soon as possible, day and night, when hungry, he immediately gnawed some dry food, and when he was sleepy, he lay on the horseback and squinted for a while, and after five days of rapid marching, the Taiji Legion finally came to Dingbian City.

Yuan Fang, who was full of tiredness, looked at the familiar city wall not far away, and sighed in his heart, he remembered very clearly that when he and Yang Xing first arrived here, they were just small soldiers, not enough to eat and wear, and stood guard against the cold wind, he still remembered, it was also here, they participated in the first battle in their lives, many comrades fell in the battle to defend the city, Yuan Fang vaguely remembered their names, pockmarks, broken mouths, pork liver, large intestines, pickles, they died here. The troops defending the city have verified the authenticity of the Taiji Legion, and the troops in front entered the city in an orderly manner, Yuan Fang was in the Chinese army, and he was the only commander of this Eastern Expedition, so he naturally had to stay outside the city and wait for the generals who defended the city to come to greet him.

Soon, a team of cavalry went out of the city gate and went straight to the handsome banner where Yuan Fang was, and from a distance, Yuan Fang smiled and said to Xia Yi and the girls next to him after seeing the people coming: "Yo he, I didn't expect it to be an old acquaintance." ”

Ye Qingru frowned and thought for a while and said, "He seems to be called Li Rui, right?" "That's right, the guard of Dingbian City is Li Rui, the one who went to the imperial capital with Yu Zhan to deliver the letter before, at that time Yuan Fang thought that Li Rui and Yu Zhan were ordinary second-tier generals, but now it seems that it is not the case at all, Tang Jian can send such a person to the imperial capital to deliver the letter, which proves that those killers really forced Tang Jian to be anxious at that time.

Li Rui and Yu Zhan returned to Dongzhou one step ahead of Yuan Fang, they didn't have any drag, the horses were enough, they came back several days early, Li Rui just returned to Dingbian City and received Tang Jian's order, I heard that Yuan Fang and the Taiji Army would be repaired in Dingbian City, Li Rui was speechless for a while, if he knew earlier, he wouldn't have to be so rushed, and it would not be easier to come back with Yuan Fang.

Although he had seen it, Li Rui and Yuan Fang were not very familiar with each other, so when they came to Yuan Fang, they turned over and dismounted, saluted respectfully and said: "The last general, Li Rui, the guard of the border city, will cooperate with the generals under his command, see the general." The generals who came with Li Rui saluted one after another.

Yuan Fang turned over and dismounted to pick up Li Rui with his own hands, and said with a complaint: "Who am I, Li Rui, we have only been separated for a few days, why are you so angry?" Okay, don't be so polite with me, let's go, let's go into the city. As he spoke, he put his arm around Li Rui's shoulders and walked towards Dingbian City affectionately like an old friend who hadn't seen him for many years.

Seeing this scene, all the generals who followed Li Rui were dumbfounded, they had followed Li Rui for many years, but they had never heard of General Li and this big red man of the empire having any friendship?

Yuqing commanded the troops to enter Dingbian City, repaired in the prepared camp, some of Li Rui's men sent plenty of forage to take care of the horses, some people sent hot food, Yuan Fang and the hot water in the bathhouse they left before were also ready, the soldiers who had been running around for days took turns to go to the bathhouse to wash after dinner, change into clean military clothes, and then return to the camp to sleep beautifully.

The soldiers can take turns to rest, but Yuan Fang can't, and they need to understand the current battle situation and discuss countermeasures. Li Rui's command post was brightly lit, Yuan Fang stood in front of the map and listened carefully to Li Rui's narration, Yuqing and Ren Fei stood on both sides of Yuan Fang, looking intently at the map and the markers representing the armies of both sides in silence.

Xia Yi, Ye Qingru, Huo Bingyan and Lin Menghan, as Yuan Fang's personal guards, were naturally among them, but their attention was not on the map, but on both sides of the surface relaxed but vigilant guards, although this is in Dingbian City, but they can't relax, protecting Yuan Fang's safety is their duty and mission.

After a long time, after Li Rui finished talking about the current battle situation, Yuan Fang nodded, sat down, took a deep breath, and said with a solemn expression: "The Yuanhe Empire has always besieged Yunfu County without fighting, what do they want to do?" ”

Li Rui hesitated for a moment and said, "The last general guesses that they may be planning to surround the point and send reinforcements." ”

Yuan Fang thought for a while and said, "It's very possible, but doesn't it mean that there are no other armies found nearby?" ”

Li Rui nodded and said: "I'm also very confused about this, but the last general really can't think of any other possibility except for encircling the point to send reinforcements, the grain and grass in Yunfu City are sufficient, enough for the people and defenders in the city for a year, and it is simply unrealistic to want to run out of grain and grass to force the defenders in the city to surrender." ”

Yuqing opened her mouth and asked, "What about Yanhai County?" Didn't find an ambush either? ”

Li Rui shook his head and said: "General Tang has already sent a horse scout to reconnoiter several times, except for a few small logistics units, nothing has been found, and even some deep mountains and old forests or caves that can accommodate the army have also been checked, and nothing has been found. ”

Yuan Fang cocked Erlang's legs, and said with a puzzled expression: "It's strange, Yunfu County is besieging but not attacking, Yanhai County is about to be lost, and the army of the Ningyuan Empire actually retreats, what do they want to do?" ”

Just two days ago, the defenders of Yanhai County Cheng once again ushered in the fierce attack of the Empire, and more than half of the defenders who fought hard in a row were killed and wounded, and they were about to be lost, but what made people puzzled was that the Ningyuan Imperial Army, which had even occupied the city wall out of absolute superiority, did not know why they actually retreated, and they retreated twenty miles that night, giving up the fruits of victory at their fingertips.

Ren Fei opened his mouth and said, "Could it be that something big happened within the Yuanhe Empire and the Ningyuan Empire?" General Li, is there anything unusual about the border between the Yuanhe Empire and Dongzhou? ”

Li Rui shook his head and said: "For the time being, nothing abnormal has been found, and there is no large-scale movement of troops and horses, most of their troops are stationed in Duchun County, Fengqiu County and Qiandeng County, and only a small number of troops are stationed on the border. ”

Yuan Fang turned his head to look at Ren Fei: "Is there any news in the dark night?" ”