I have 800,000 private soldiers. The emperor forces me to hand over military power?

At noon.

Up and down the walls of Dragon City, corpses lay everywhere, and blood filled the air.

It was different from the overwhelming momentum when King Chen Huaian of Jin personally led Longcheng Iron Buddha Tu and 80,000 Xuanjia troops to defeat the enemy formation at the foot of Longshan Mountain.

When the 5,000 Polu Army defenders led by General Pang Xianchu faced the more than 65,000 Yunhui Army siege troops, the battle between the attackers and defenders entered a fierce and fierce state from the beginning.

Before the war, both the offensive and defensive sides made sufficient preparations.

Pang Xianchu, the general of the Polu army who defended the city, used the tall walls of Longcheng to defend the city. There was a wide moat under the city to resist the enemy's siege troops.

The city wall was equipped with enough arrow towers, ballistae, fire oil, rolling logs and stones and other defensive equipment. However, he only had 5,000 defenders on hand, which were distributed throughout the several-mile-long city wall, which clearly showed that his troops were stretched thin. .

Although the siege party did not have a favorable advantage, Yunhui's deputy general Zhou Wuyang ordered the baggage troops to carry a large number of trench bridges, ballistae, ladders, siege towers, battering rams, siege carts and other siege weapons.

In addition, deputy general Chang Chenghu personally led a suicide squad (death squad) to storm the Dragon City, with a force that was thirteen times greater than the defenders. General Wu Qingyun was also inspired by the personal order to break through the Dragon City without sealing the sword for three days.

Therefore, the Battle of Dragon City was like a cold harvester of life for the soldiers on both sides of the offensive and defensive sides, with people dying on the battlefield every minute.

Only two hours had passed, and the corpses of soldiers from both sides were already piled up, and the blood had already dyed the moat outside the city red.

Within these two or three hours, Yunhui's army had launched dozens of attacks on Longcheng in turn, but were eventually repelled by the heroic Polu army defenders.

Although the attacking Yunhui army still failed to board the Dragon City, under these dozens of fierce attacks, the originally tall and solid Longcheng wall had been smashed thousands of times by the stones projected by the Yunhui army's siege equipment. Full of holes and dilapidated.

More than half of the Polu soldiers guarding the city had been killed or injured.

Taking advantage of the lull in the enemy's formation to organize the next attack on the city, General Pang Xianchu hurriedly led several soldiers to run around the city wall defense line to count the casualties of various departments.

At this moment, Pang Xianchu looked as if he had just been fished out of the water. Every step he took was filled with wet footprints, which were formed by the drops of the enemy's blood mixed with his sweat.

At the most tragic moment of the battle to defend the city, Pang Xianchu and his soldiers rushed around to support him, repeatedly saving the precarious city defense from danger.

Pang Xianchu could no longer remember how many enemy troops he had killed.

All he knew was that the blade of the iron-cut Longquan sword given to him by the late king Chen Polu had been curled up, his limbs were as heavy as if they were filled with lead, and his movements to swing the sword became increasingly sluggish.

But he didn't dare to rest even for a moment, let alone collapse.

Because he, Pang Xianchu, was not only the general of the Longcheng garrison, responsible for guarding the land and bringing peace to the people, but also because Chen Huaian had entrusted the lives and fortunes of more than 800 people in the Jin Palace to his hands before leaving.

Once the city is destroyed, the consequences will be disastrous.

"Each group, report the number of people!"

Pang Xianchu took a few deep breaths and continued running around the city wall to count casualties.

The organization of the Polu Army is based on teams as the basic tactical unit, each team has 50 people, 20 teams form a regiment, and above the regiment is the army.

"Third regiment, 427 people!"

"The seventh regiment, 385 people!"

"The fifth regiment, 448 people!"

"Second regiment, 653 people!"

Soon, the generals of the Polu army guarding several city fortifications loudly reported the number of soldiers in their regiment.

Every report from the soldiers echoed in his ears. The corners of Pang Xianchu's mouth twitched unconsciously, and his eyes showed unspeakable grief.

Behind each of these numbers, there are more vivid lives of the fallen soldiers!

Wait, what about the Eighth Regiment? Why didn’t you hear the Eighth Regiment’s number report?

Pang Xianchu came back to his senses from his grief, but suddenly found that the Eighth Regiment guarding Xiguan had not reported the number of people to him, so he hurriedly asked at the top of his voice:

"Where's the eighth regiment? How many people are left?"

Still no answer.

Pang Xianchu's heart skipped a beat, and an ominous premonition suddenly arose.

Then, he took a step forward and ran towards the Xiguan City Wall where the Eighth Regiment was guarding, while continuing to roar in a hoarse voice:

"The Eighth Regiment, are you still breathing? Squeak!"

"The Eighth Regiment——"

A group of soldiers behind him also began to shout loudly along the city wall.

Still no answer!

"General, be careful!"

Suddenly, a soldier suddenly pushed Pang Xianchu away who happened to be passing by the crenellations of the city wall.

Whoosh!

puff--

The next second, a gust of wind suddenly hit, and with the sound of arrows piercing the air, a huge arrow fired from a ballista instantly penetrated the soldier's body.

Under the action of flight inertia, the soldier was carried several meters away, and he crashed into the city wall before falling down.

Immediately afterwards, a rain of arrows mixed with a deafening sound pierced the sky, and the walls of Dragon City were filled with fire and smoke.

It was the Yunhui army under the city who began to launch a new round of attack!

Pang Xianchu, who had saved his life, had no time to close his eyes for the soldier who died on his behalf. He immediately threw himself on the city wall and looked down through the gaps in the crenellations of the city wall. He saw that the city was densely packed with enemy troops.

He secretly thought that it was not good. The Yunhui army attacking the city came out in full force this time, preparing to launch a final fierce attack to break through the city wall in one fell swoop.

Almost at the same time, a roar came from the Xiguan City Wall, which was shocking!

"The eighth regiment, flag bearer Xiao Po is here!"

"The flag is here, the city is here!"

Looking for a sound, an eight-foot-tall Polu soldier wearing heavy armor slowly stood up from the pile of dead people on the Xiguan wall with his hands on the flagpole.

I saw that his beard was like a halberd, and his eyebrows were like knives. He showed no fear in the face of the enemy's arrows, and held up the battle flagpole of the Eighth Regiment of the Polu Army with both hands.

"Every regiment prepares for battle!"

Seeing this scene, Pang Xianchu looked solemn and spoke in a low tone. While ordering each regiment to prepare for battle, he told the dozens of soldiers left behind him:

"You rush to Xiguan immediately. Even if we fight to the last man, we must not let the enemy troops climb the city wall from Xiguan!"

"The last general takes command!"

Dozens of soldiers did not hesitate at all, and rushed towards the Xiguan City Wall in the face of the enemy's blinding arrows and fierce shelling. Their weather-beaten faces were filled with the words "for their country and their country, for the sake of Pao Ze". of determination.

The Yunhui army's arrow and artillery attack continued, and the vanguard of the siege troops had also arrived at the city. They were raising their shields above their heads to resist the arrow attacks of the soldiers guarding the city on the wall, and then followed the ladder to the city. Climb quickly on the wall.

Pang Xianchu dragged his exhausted body and ran around on the city wall alone, constantly urging the soldiers of the various regiments guarding the city to prepare for battle and face the enemy.

In fact, without Pang Xianchu's prompting orders, the soldiers of the Polu Army regiments guarding the city had already made up their minds to die and vowed to coexist and die with Longcheng.

When the enemy launched an siege, they immediately retaliated with crossbows, rolling logs, and rocks at hand, and kept throwing them at the bottom of the city, causing the enemy siegeers who couldn't escape to wail and scream in agony.

Pang Xianchu stood on the city gate tower with his sword in hand, looking straight at the Longshan camp with tearful eyes, and roared tragically and decisively: "His Royal Highness, King Jin, why aren't you here yet!"

"General, I'm afraid I'm going to betray His Highness's trust. I can't defend this Dragon City anymore!"

"Your Highness, come back quickly!"

However, the towering Longshan Mountain in the distance failed to give him an answer. It stood there as usual, like an indifferent bystander, quietly watching the fighting inside and outside Dragon City, and the changing of the king's flag on the city wall.

A roar, releasing the heavy pressure.

Pang Xianchu finally regained his consciousness, and with the curled Longquan sword in his hand, he turned back along the inner city stairs. He wanted to rush to the Jin Palace to arrange the evacuation of the concubine Xu Ruoyun and the palace's widow.

Unexpectedly, as soon as Pang Xianchu walked halfway, he ran into a group of royal family members led by Dowager Xu Ruoyun.

"Toffee, what are you doing?"

Looking at Xu Ruoyun, who was all dressed in plain clothes, and the royal family members, Pang Xianchu was full of doubts.

"General Pang, it's you!"

Xu Ruoyun's unpainted face was calm, and she said to Pang Xianchu calmly:

"General Pang, the bandit army is attacking the city in large numbers, and the King of Jin is not in the city. Naturally, the mother of the Ai family has to step up and shoulder the responsibility of protecting the land and tranquilizing the people for him!"

"How could it be that a female member of the He Ai family couldn't wear armor and carry a sword like the soldiers and go into battle to kill the enemy?"

Speaking of this, Xu Ruoyun paused for a moment, and then said word by word:

"Although the Ai family is weak and old, they can still beat the war drums. Let the Ai family lead the royal family members to climb the tower and beat the drums to cheer for the entire army. This can be regarded as fulfilling the responsibility of the late king and the king of Jin. ”

Having said that, Xu Ruoyun didn't care what Pang Xianchu's reaction was, and waved her hand to signal the maids and attendants to help her walk towards the tower step by step, firmly and resolutely.

Only then did Pang Xianchu realize that all the royal family members had brought various musical instruments. They must have planned to play "The Music of King Qin Breaking the Formation" for the soldiers of the three armies on the city gate tower!

Pang Xianchu saw that he could not stop the concubine from going up to the tower to beat drums and cheer for the three armies, so he had no choice but to take a few deep breaths and follow her up the tower.

A moment later, the impassioned "The Music of King Qin Breaking the Formation" echoed inside and outside Dragon City again.

In an instant, the soldiers of the Polu Army, who were still fighting bloody battles with the enemy troops attacking the city, were deeply inspired and their morale soared.

He inspired his unlimited potential and brandished the sword, gun, sword and halberd in his hand, slashing fiercely, and chopped down all the soldiers of the Yunhui Army who had gone to great lengths to climb the tower with his sword.

Under the city, Yunhui Army Deputy General Zhou Wuyang witnessed with his own eyes that almost all of his own soldiers who had climbed onto the city wall and fought in a group with the Polu troops defending the city were all killed in an instant. The soldiers who climbed up the siege ladder were also killed. After defeating him steadily, he suddenly became furious.

How could he easily allow the city that he was almost about to capture to be handed over to the enemy again?

Zhou Wuyang gave an order: "The troops of Yu Hou on the left and right will listen to the order and follow the general to attack the city. The first person to climb the tower and capture the flag will be sealed with a thousand households and rewarded with ten thousand gold."

"Capture Dragon City, and reward you with all the female family members who beat drums and cheer for the bandits on the city tower!"

"Kill!"

For a time, Zhou Wuyang also sent the left and right Yu Houjun as a reserve team to the battlefield.

These well-equipped soldiers have much stronger combat effectiveness than ordinary siege troops. They are also better at discovering gaps and loopholes in the enemy's defense line. They chose the Xiguan City Wall as the place to climb the city at a glance.

Then, they rushed straight to the Xiguan City Wall like a swarm of swarms.

At this moment, the Tiaodang team led by deputy general Chang Chenghu himself had been fighting fiercely with the soldiers under Pang Xianchu's command at the Xiguan City Wall for a long time.

Dozens of soldiers fought to the death in the face of several times the number of enemies, repelling the enemy's attacks time and time again. Their feet were already piled with enemy corpses.

In the end, these dozens of soldiers died of exhaustion due to being outnumbered. Everyone died from a knife in the chest and fell on the way to counterattack the enemy.

Chang Chenghu finally climbed onto the coveted Xiguan City Wall with the Huanshou Sword in his hand. More than 5,000 members of his Tiaodang team fought fiercely with the 8th Regiment of the Polu Army, and there were less than a hundred survivors.

Fortunately, after paying such a heavy price of casualties, he finally took the lead in climbing into the city, and now the whole family finally didn't have to die!

Chang Chenghu breathed a sigh of relief, and then shouted an order: "Come here, cut down the flag of the traitor army, and plant the flag of our Yunhui army on the wall of Dragon City!"

"The last general takes command!"

Soon, several soldiers of the Yunhui Army waved their swords and headed straight for the battle flag of the eighth regiment of the Polu Army.

Arriving in front of the battle flag of the Eighth Regiment of the Polu Army, one of the soldiers of the Yunhui Army raised the sharp steel knife in his hand to cut off the battle flag of the Eighth Regiment.

In the flash of lightning and stone fire, a bit of cold light suddenly appeared, and the light of a knife flickered in the pile of dead people.

The next second, the Yunhui Army soldier who slashed the flag with a sword was found with his head missing. Only a headless body was left with blood spurting out. He staggered and fell limply to the ground.

Before the other soldiers who were trying to put the Yunhui army's war flag on the Dragon City wall could react, another burst of sword light flashed, and several people were wiped on the neck by a sharp blade on the spot. They were all killed with one knife and their bodies were separated.

Among the dead, a tall figure, covered in blood and wet like a hellish Shura, suddenly stood up and roared:

"The eighth regiment, flag bearer Xiao Po is here!"

"The flag is here, the city is here!"