A quarter of an hour later, Dong Ce came to the head of Nancheng.

By this time it was already dawning.

Without the cover of night, the situation outside the city can be seen clearly.

Only in this way can people look at it, that is, they are frightened and their hearts are cold.

Outside the city gates, there were fires large and small, which had long since been extinguished, and only embers remained. Around each fire, there were basically a few people sleeping horizontally, more than a dozen, and as few as five or six. They didn't know what they were wrapped in, and some of them looked like felt cloth, but most of them seemed to be a pile of rotten cloth wrapped around them.

It was still a little chilly at this time, and these people seemed to feel the cold in their sleep, and some of them were close together. Some instinctively stay away from the fire.

The entire front of the southern city wall was filled with such a fire and the crowd next to the fire, and at a cursory glance, Dong Ce could tell that there were at least 30,000 troops outside the city!

30,000, this is a rather terrifying number, after all these years of war and looting, now all the people in Chengcheng County add up, I don't know if there are 30,000.

However, to Dong Strategy's relief, the military discipline of these intruders seems to be really not very good - because until now, most of the traitors are still immersed in sleep. You know, it's dawn now! When the day dawns, it means that the obscurations of the night are gone, the enemy can be seen clearly, and it also means that if any military strike is launched, there will be no more obstacles.

And they, these people, even dare to sleep on the ground so swaggeringly, without a trace of precaution! What's even more speechless is that the upper echelons of this team of thieves didn't even realize this, so they let them sleep here!

Seeing this scene, Dong Ce secretly said in his heart, no wonder hundreds of thousands of anti-thieves were often defeated and lost by the officers and soldiers whose combat effectiveness had been greatly weakened compared to the time when the country was founded, and the number was usually only two-third-percent or even one-tenth of that of the anti-thieves. And their defenseless posture was, of course, because of their great contempt for the guards of Chengcheng County.

However, this seems to be too contemptuous. At this time, as long as a cavalry rushes over, this anti-thief force of tens of thousands of people will collapse!

The peasant rebel army in Chongzhen's seven years is far from tempering its combat effectiveness.

Dong Ce dared to put down his words, as long as there were 1,000, no, 500 was enough, as long as there were 500 cavalry with the same combat strength as his own family, it would be enough to defeat them head-on. That's right, it's frontal, it's a face-to-face charge, not a sneak attack and harassment.

They also had tents, but they were few in number, about thirty or forty at a glance, scattered among the fires. Come to think of it, it should be an officer among the anti-thieves, and only an officer of a certain rank can have a tent.

And in the middle of the area occupied by the intruders, there was the largest tent. This tent covers a small area, and it is the size of a small courtyard of ordinary people, and I don't know where they grabbed it, but from a distance, it seems that there are decorative patterns on the surface of the tent.

The big banner was a tree in front of the tent, and around this big tent, there were soldiers on horseback and wandering back and forth.

Come to think of it, this is the residence of the leader of the intruding army.

walked to the south gate and saluted Liu Ruozai. Liu Ruozai and the others were also eating, and beckoned Dong Ce to eat together, but it just so happened that Dong Ce didn't eat when he came over.

Among the towers, although the soldiers are now in the city, it is not known when the city will be broken, but as long as it is not dead for a day, it is a ceremony that cannot be abolished. Liu Ruozai and Zhang Cheng each have a small table, and they eat slowly, while Dong Ce, these military attachés, are for a big table.

The meal was not bad, I think it was dispatched by Li Keshou. He is a very capable person, and he acts in an eclectic manner, so it is not surprising that he can get anything good.

After eating, everyone went out to observe the situation of the intruding army outside the city. Liu Ruozai stroked the battlements of the city wall, his face was solemn, and none of the rest of the people had a good-looking face. The number of enemies is too many.

At this time, the invading army began to rise one after another, some people began to light fires to cook, and some began to assemble. Only then can it be seen that most of the original soldiers were actually women and children, but the families of the army. And the real middle-aged man, the number is not even eight thousand, Dong Ce squinted his eyes, and felt that the real elite may be two or three thousand.

The elite here refers to the level of the Ming army, which is relatively high - roughly the level of the defenders of Zhenhe Fort, which is stronger than the military households.

After a while, the camp outside the city was completely awakened, and the noise was loud, and the smoke of cooking rose. The women were cooking and fetching water from a river not far outside the city, while the men greeted each other loudly, and some of the low-ranking intruders began to gather their men and count the numbers.

It doesn't look like a military camp, but like a huge village.

From such a distance, Dong Ce couldn't tell what they were eating, but one thing was for sure, the middle-aged man ate the most, because they probably shared a bowl with the family, and that bowl stayed in the hands of the middle-aged man for the longest time.

At this time, it stands to reason that Chengcheng County should have woken up a long time ago. But today is obviously different from before, it's all here, and the doors are still closed, and those stores that should have opened a long time ago on weekdays have also stopped moving. There was hardly anyone on the streets, and occasionally one or two could be seen, either the servants or the officials who had come out to run errands, and they were the busiest at the moment, and the common people could shut themselves up, but they had to go around conveying orders and recruiting people.

was looking outside, suddenly Dong Ce heard a commotion from the direction behind him, and when he looked back, he saw a large number of people rushing over, and at a glance, he was afraid that there were one or two thousand. But Dong Ce was taken aback, what's going on, is there something wrong with the people?

At this juncture, such a thing must never happen.

But when he saw the leader clearly, his heart was also relaxed. The person at the front was Li Keshou, surrounded by several officials, and there were more than a dozen officials in white shirts, who seemed to be followed by small officials of no grade, but they were really majestic. Behind him, there were more than a thousand people, most of whom were men, and dozens of servants roamed around to maintain order.

Most of the houses in the south gate have been demolished, and the bricks and tiles on the ruins have basically been moved to the city wall, and several large open spaces have appeared. One piece had been taken by the women to make a fire for cooking, and the other was empty. Li Keshou came there with these organized people, rested on the spot, and then came up to greet Liu Ruozai and Zhang Cheng.

Zhang Cheng's face was gloomy, and he was reluctant to speak, Li Keshou greeted him, he just nodded lightly, and then moved his gaze to the outside of the city. It's just that his eyes are wandering, and he doesn't know what he is looking at, saying that he is looking outside the city, but he is afraid that the movement outside the city will not be noticed at all.

Obviously, this one was already panicked and had no idea at all, but he could barely hold on to the shelf.

Liu Ruozai is still calm, it may be that he is quite knowledgeable and has seen some of the reality of the army outside, so he is not so flustered. Of course, it is more likely that he is not a local land defender, so he does not have to live and die with the city, and even if he runs away at that time, he is not guilty.

And Zhang Cheng is different, he will either fight to the death, it is good if the city is not broken, if the city is broken, he will die at the hands of the breaking army, or he will escape, and then be punished by the imperial court. Liu Ruozai looked at the women who were busy working below--the food eaten by the hundreds of soldiers at the head of the city at the south gate just now was made by them-and then looked at the people who were on standby, with a kind look on their faces, and said, "Master Li, this night, but thanks to your good planning. Li Keshou didn't dare to say that the Tao was just his duty.

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