Northern Dynasties Imperial Industry

Outside the main hall of the city hall in Beizhong Town, Heyang, Xue Guyan walked up and down the corridor anxiously, turning his head to look outside the house from time to time, but he never saw the person he was expecting.

"If you are willing to join the army, can you send more people to report to the Grand Sima? The thieves are chasing me to the south of the bridge, and they may launch an attack on the river bridge at any time..."

Finally, Xue Guyan couldn't help but stepped into the hall and said to a subordinate official of Hu Lujin in the straight hall.

"I know that Duke Ping Qin has reported a serious matter, and I have immediately informed the camp to prepare for battle. However, the soldiers are not allowed to leave the camp without permission without the command of the Grand Sima."

The official stood up quickly and said to Xue Guyan: "Mr. Ping Qin is worried about the military aircraft and is eager to kill the enemy, but please wait a moment. The government has sent several fast horse messengers to report to the Grand Sima. As soon as he is believed, Da Sima will definitely return as soon as possible."

As the commander-in-chief of Heyang, Hulujin had a lot of affairs in all aspects. Naturally, he would not stay in the city all day long waiting for something unexpected to happen. Today he happened to be patrolling the Hebei racecourse to select war horses for the time when he would cross the river south and join the battlefield in Henan.

The racecourse is not too far from Beizhong City, and it only takes a few hours to get back and forth. Even if there is no urgent military situation, it is already evening, and Hu Lujin must be on his way home.

But Xue Guyan was very anxious at the moment, and every minute and every second was extremely difficult for him, so he started walking around outside the hall like ants on a hot pot.

"Xue Guyan, the dog thief, don't leave!"

Suddenly, a strong wind blew up behind him, accompanied by an angry and irritable shout. Xue Guyan hurriedly turned around to follow the sound, and saw Pan Le, with his angry eyebrows raised, waving his halberd towards him.

Seeing this, Xue Guyan was suddenly startled and hurriedly pulled away, but his back hit the corridor pillar. Seeing the hand halberd hitting his head, he quickly put up his arms to block it, and his body was snatched to the side. Passing under Pan Le's armpit to avoid it, he asked in a startled voice: "What does Mr. Jinmen mean by this?"

"What do you mean? The thief forgot to instruct your subordinates to harm my subordinates!"

The enemy was extremely jealous when they met. Pan Le was not a good man, so he turned around and continued to attack.

"Kinmen Lord, please calm down, please calm down..."

At this time, everyone inside and outside the Zhitang was also attracted. Under the shout of a Zhitang soldier, more than a dozen cross-sword guards rushed forward, and it took a lot of effort to finally separate the two people.

Xue Guyan had been running for most of the day, and he was chased by Pan Le without any end just now. If it weren't for his long physical strength that chopped more than a dozen knives that day, he would probably be unsteady now, but in his heart The pent-up energy was almost overwhelming. At this moment, he was pulled aside by several guards. He raised his finger and shouted angrily at Pan Le: "Let go of this thief Taoist! He deceived my army into defeat and humiliated me again. Since he wants to die, why should I be stingy?" Give it!”

"Bitch thief, you broke into my defense and I didn't even question you. I sent my soldiers to Nancheng to question, but your generals cut off your ears and humiliated you! If not for this, why would I use your body even if I have spare time!"

Pan Le was still furious and was about to throw his halberd at Xue Guyan, but was snatched away by a guard on the side.

"Nonsense! All my men and horses were lost in Luoxi, and only a few of my followers retreated back. Because there were no troops available in Nancheng, I went straight across the bridge to call for troops... Wait a minute, do you think what happened to the person who harmed your subordinates?"

Xue Guyan didn't bother to cover up his shame at this moment, and directly told the fact that he had failed miserably. At the same time, he felt something was wrong in his heart, so he asked quickly.

"I knew that your army was defeated, so I quickly went to the city to ask Grand Sima for instructions on what to do. I didn't have time to go to the madman!"

When Pan Le said this, he felt that something was a little strange. He also learned from other people nearby that Hu Lujin was not in the mansion at the moment, so he raised his finger and pointed at Xue Guyan and said, "Whether he is your general or not, you can tell by looking south! If the thief makes a false claim, then the southern city will be in danger. If the army is defeated and the city is lost, you will be guilty of a great crime!"

Xue Guyan was a little panicked now and didn't dare to glare and continue to quarrel with Pan Le. Although no men and horses were invited from Beizhong City, there were thousands of defenders in Zhongli City where Pan Le was stationed, enough to go south to observe and respond to changes.

However, Pan Le naturally did not have the obligation to lend him troops, and there was a new rift between them due to misunderstandings. His idea of ​​​​leading troops to attack back immediately and make up for the mistake was in vain.

So the two of them no longer waited in the mansion, and left the city together and walked south along the river bridge. When they were nearly halfway, they saw many soldiers lining up to defend north of Heyang Pass, and General Pan Yue hurriedly came forward to report Said: "My lord, a large number of soldiers suddenly appeared on Nanqiao, claiming to be Nancheng's rebel soldiers. Because Nancheng was captured by the Western Bandits, they expelled the soldiers from the city to allow their troops to occupy the city..."

When Pan Le heard this, his face suddenly darkened. He turned to glare at Xue Guyan behind him and said angrily: "How many thieves are there? You crossed the city without warning! If I hadn't been vigilant and fortified, Zhongli City would have suffered. You are tired and taken away by thieves!”

Xue Guyan's face was also ashen at this moment. He knew that he was aggrieved and did not dare to look at Pan Le. He just lowered his head and shook his head repeatedly: "This is impossible, this...the total number of thieves' army is only a few thousand, and there are many slow chariots and soldiers. There is no way that hundreds of riders can take over the city so quickly if they travel far away to chase me!”

But whether he believed it or not, the soldiers crowded south of Heyang Bridge at this time actually existed, each howling and begging the guards to let them go and return to the safety of Hebei.

Naturally, it was impossible for the defenders to release so many people. They just lowered the hanging basket and hoisted a few of them over the defense for questioning. After hearing these soldiers tell the story of how the enemy captured the city, Xue Guyan was even more ashamed. Feeling ashamed, he looked at Pan Le and said loudly: "Sure enough, the number of thieves is small. Please lend me five hundred soldiers from Duke Jinmen, and let me lead the charge to Nancheng. I will be able to take back the city before the thieves gain a firm foothold!"

After hearing this, Pan Le pointed to the dark crowd on the inevitable river bridge and frowned: "There are thousands of people gathered here. It is difficult to distinguish between ourselves and the enemy. Maybe the thieves are lurking among them. As soon as I let go of the defense, they will rush and kill."

"There are thousands of these stupid people. They can't distinguish the enemy's deceit and easily capture the city. After the enemy and we are clear, they don't dare to fight and kill the enemy. They are driven here by the weak people and block my journey. It's really not enough to die." What a pity! Why distinguish between ourselves and the enemy carefully and fight them all the way..."

Xue Guyan was now full of thoughts of taking back Nancheng, and he was even more angry at these left-behind soldiers who had done nothing, and said fiercely.

However, before he finished speaking, he was interrupted by Pan Le: "Shut up! Isn't this situation caused by your incompetence? Although these Han soldiers are guilty, they are not guilty enough to die. Even the Western thieves are Huairen lets them go, but you have to make me repair the mistakes you made in vain?"

Pan Le refused to use his sword to massacre these soldiers who fled north, but he could not let them stay on the river bridge and affect the advancement and retreat of the army, so he pulled the boats from the side and screened these soldiers one by one. Transfer to the north bank of the river.

After all these twists and turns, time passed quickly. Although Xue Guyan next to him was in a irritable and internally burning state, he had no say in taking charge of the situation. He slandered Mrs. Pan Le countless times for her kindness and wasting the opportunity to fight, but she could only helplessly watch the night fall.

The front of the Heyang Pass was finally cleared, and the armored soldiers who had already been waiting in formation behind the pass were led by Pan Le to leave the pass for defense. Pan Le did not stop this. He also needed to obtain some enemy intelligence from Xue Guyan immediately.

The group of people traveled a certain distance when suddenly an outline of what seemed to be a fortress appeared on the river bridge in front of them. It must have been a temporary fortification erected by the enemy. Pan Le then sent several infantrymen holding shields and armor to move forward with torches in the other hand to observe the enemy's arrangement clearly.

When the soldiers came closer, the layout of the river bridge was exposed to the fire. It turned out to be a fortress-like manner with many silks stacked up. No wonder it could be erected directly on the river bridge but the river bridge was not. Draft sinks.

The soldiers who saw this scene started talking among themselves in a low voice, but Xue Guyan shouted in shock like a conditioned reflex: "Don't go there, don't come close! This is a trap for the bandit army. When my soldiers come forward, they will definitely Make rocket attack!"

Hearing Xue Guyan's confident tone, Pan Le couldn't help but look at him thoughtfully, but he still raised his hand to signal his troops to stop temporarily, and sent a small team forward to use spears and hooks to clear the piles. The extremely high pile of silk was scattered.

During this process, Xue Guyan kept pressing his lips and clenching his fists, looking nervous and ready to go. As the silk fortress was collapsed, a rocket suddenly shot from the opposite side. .

"Did you see that? That's right, that is...if we hadn't taken precautions in advance, the formation would have been scattered..."

Xue Guyan quickly pointed at the trajectory of the rocket and shouted loudly, but when he saw the rocket flying across the night sky and quickly falling on the river, he closed his mouth in embarrassment.

Pan Le ignored Xue Guyan, but put his head forward and took a deep sniff, then walked forward for a distance under the protection of several armored soldiers, and leaned down to look down at the bridge section where silk was scattered. Then his face suddenly darkened: "The warehouse is full of ointment, and the enemy is indeed preparing to intercept it with fire!"

Although the surface of the river bridge is composed of iron cables and heavy wooden boards, there is a row of pontoons as support underneath. These ships make the river bridge structure thicker and can carry greater gravity. When heavy rains rise, they can also increase the buoyancy of the bridge body, so that the river bridge will not be completely submerged by the turbulent and swollen river.

However, many clay pots filled with ointment were placed on the pontoons under the bridge near the river bank. Once ignited, they would burn directly through the river bridge deck from below.

Pan Le held his sword in his hand and looked at the figures of armored soldiers swaying on the bank at the end of the river bridge across the river. He pondered for a long time before waving his hands and said: "Retreat to Heyang Pass for the time being, and report the situation of the enemy on the border to Grand Sima immediately."