across the Quartet

Chapter Five

Half a month later, the bad news reached Handan.

Jingxing was defeated.The [-] Zhao army was almost wiped out.According to reports from the soldiers who had escaped, the change of generals before the battle had already caused the troops to become unstable. Then the news of Li Mu's murder spread to the front lines. battalion, and some generals even fled with a whole team of soldiers.Almost at the same time, Wang Jian ordered the Qin army to launch a general offensive, the Jingxing defenders were defeated across the board, Zhao Cong died in battle, and the deputy general Yan Ju disappeared.

Zhao Guo fell into panic.The soldiers threw away their helmets and armor, and the refugees fled south with their families. Handan City quickly flooded with a large number of refugees.On the other hand, many wealthy businessmen and dignitaries in the city spent a lot of money to bribe the door officials, and escaped from the capital with their money.After several days of going in and out like this, the palace finally issued an edict that the whole city of Handan was under martial law, and no one was allowed to enter or leave the city gate at will, no matter day or night, unless they had a certificate issued by the imperial guards.

Whether this order was issued by King Zhao is no longer important now.Once the Qin army captured Jingxing, they immediately sent troops south, and Handan was about to fall into a tight siege again.At the critical moment, fortunately, son Jia supported the overall situation; he took the title of general, held the military talisman, opened the mansion, and called the imperial army and city defense generals to discuss the matter of defending the city.Even Gai Nie, who stayed at Li's house, was also invited.

As the commander of the scout battalion, Gai Nie's position in the army is about the same as that of a lieutenant. He was not qualified to attend such important occasions.But unexpectedly, Young Master Jia treated him very courteously, arranged his seat in the third seat from the lower left, and walked up to greet him in person.

"It turns out that this person is a righteous man who pursued the murderer for thousands of miles and avenged Lord Wu An. When I saw him today, he really looked like a hero."

Young Master Jia is eight feet long, tall and heroic, his walking gait is especially graceful, and his demeanor is heart-wrenching.But Gai Nie just bowed to him and didn't say a word.Since Li Mu's death, he has been completely disappointed with Zhao Wang's family.Even if the general's death was planned by Guo Kai and the Qin people, but as allies, the change of Mianjun's location is such an important matter, but Gongzi Jia and Chunpingjun did not send any news in advance, which makes people doubt their intentions; He was also completely kept in the dark, and there was no eyeliner in the palace, so it was difficult to explain how the clan could control the palace so quickly after Guo Kai fled and emptied King Zhao.Therefore, no matter how humble and courteous the son Jia in front of him is, it is difficult to gain Gai Nie's trust.

At this moment, he felt two icy eyes coming from near.It turned out that there was a middle-aged man standing behind Young Master Jia. This man was short and dark-skinned, almost completely covered by Young Master Jia's tall body; but Gai Nie realized that this man was quite a tricky person.Ordinary people look at people, and their eyes usually fall on the face first; only well-trained assassins first look at the throat, and then the hands and feet.The gaze of the person standing behind Young Master Jia is just like this.

But compared to this person, the two who seem to be hiding behind the screen are even more unfathomable.Those two people's ability to hide their breath is extremely good, if they didn't notice the reflection of some kind of iron objects when they entered the door, almost even Ge Nie would not be able to find their hiding place.

Young Master Jia saw Gai Nie's indifferent attitude, and felt a little angry: he was born noble, he hugged him since he was a child, he was extremely powerful, and recently he was like a monarch, but he didn't think that the attitude of this person in front of him was not timid and flinching , and there was no intention of flattery or flattery, secretly wondering; so with a smile on his face, he helped Gai Nie with both hands. "There is no need to be formal. Jia respects a bloody warrior like Gai Qing the most in his life." He looked around and saluted, "The country is in danger, and the matter of defending the king's capital depends on the strength of everyone here."

All the generals stood up and returned their salutes.After taking his seat, Young Master Jia stopped being polite, and straight to the point talked about the current battle situation, "The Qin army alone had nearly 20 people along the way of Wang Jian, and their losses in the battle of Jingxing were very small; It takes less than three to five days to reach the city of Handan, and the total number of defenders in the city is less than [-]. The situation is indeed very critical. Do you have any good strategies for defending the city?"

"Do you want to conscript the city's strong men over the age of sixteen and fill them all into the army?" After a moment of silence, a young general of the Forbidden Army spoke first.

"In this way, the number of people is indeed large, but time is running out. These civilians have no time to be trained and cannot be used as a combat force." Ge Nie said.

Generals of the Forbidden Army such as Zhao Da and others did not expect him to be humble and important, they all looked sideways at him.Unexpectedly, Young Master Jia agreed with him. "Exactly. We do need to recruit some strong men, but they can only be used as civilian men to strengthen the city walls, transport materials, dig trenches and tunnels, etc. To resist the Qin army's attack head-on, we can only rely on the elite of the army." Then he said He ordered people to hang up a city defense map of Handan, explaining in detail the defense work of each section of the city wall, the preparation of roads and manpower inside and outside the city, and the transportation and handling of various arrows, earth, rocks, wood, lime, ropes, etc. when defending the city. distribute.Gai Nie saw that he was well dispatched and had the air of a general, so he couldn't help but change his mind greatly.But there is one more crucial question.

"I don't know how long the food and grass in the city can last?"

Young Master Jia pondered: "I have sent people to various warehouses to measure and estimate. Originally, it was expected to last for half a year. However, there have been a lot of refugees in the city in the past few days. I am afraid that the consumption of grain will increase."

He didn't mention the matter of transporting grain to Daijun, Gai Nie's heart sank.Even if what he said is true, as the capital of a king, such storage is still too little; after all, Qin has a precedent of besieging a city for three years.

At this moment someone asked again: "I don't know if the young master has sent an envoy to ask for help from Qi Yan Wei Chu and other countries?"

"The envoys have already been sent out, but so far only the Yan Kingdom has sent a return. The crown prince of Yan Guo and Jia Nai are old friends, and he promised to lead his troops to help. As long as we can support for three months, Yan Guo's reinforcements will definitely rush to the city of Handan. "

"Three months...it seems to be a little..."

"Yes, after all, the Qin army is powerful, and the city guards have not fought anyone for a long time..."

All the generals were discussing in whispers, their expressions all very serious.Young Master Jia sighed, and suddenly said: "The only plan for now is to send the frontier army to the south as a countermeasure."

Gai Nie was startled in his heart. Things that had been in a daze before suddenly became clear as if they were cleared——Li Mu left 2 frontier troops in Yanmen to patrol before going south.This is the minimum force required to prevent the Huns from aggressively plundering.As long as Li Mu is alive, these [-] soldiers will never move; as long as Li Mu dies, the military power will change hands, and a few generals will be bought and recruited, and the [-] frontier troops will become Zhao Jia's last pawns that can be used.

From this point of view, Young Master Jia benefited a lot from Li Mu's death.

"The frontier army goes south...if the Xiongnu took the opportunity to loot the frontier, how would they resist it?"

Young Master Jia said: "If your heart is suffering, you don't care about the minor diseases of your limbs. Our country can send envoys to bribe the leaders of several tribes of the Xiongnu with gold and silk, and stabilize them for the time being. Send another person to hold a soldier's amulet to Yunzhong and Yanmen. Soldiers, order them to prepare their entire army within ten days to rescue Handan."

The generals of the forbidden army looked at each other for a while, and one of them finally said, "What you said is absolutely true. This is the only way to defend Handan."

The rest of the people also spoke in agreement.Gai Nie knew that he could not change Young Master Jia's decision, so he had to keep silent.

Everyone discussed some details of the defense.Young Master Jia will arrange the main generals and manpower guarding the four city gates one by one; he will personally lead the troops to meet the north gate, which is facing the sharp edge of the Qin army.Finally, Young Master Jia untied the jade ring from his waist, threw it on the ground, and said generously: "Zhao has been humiliated by Qin for a long time! First there was the blood feud of Changping, and then there was the shame of Jingxing; The city is alive and the people are alive, but the city is dead and the people are dead!"

All the generals bowed to the ground, tears streaming down their cheeks. "We are willing to work together to fight against the national calamity!"

Gai Nie also knelt down to accept the order, but there were still some doubts in his heart.He is honest by nature and not a suspicious person. However, recently, he witnessed all kinds of strange things in Li Mu's tragic death, which greatly stimulated him, and he was ashamed and hated; Jia, Prince Dan and other nobles of the royal family knew a little about the city and methods, so they had to guard against it.After the generals took orders to disperse, he specially stayed behind and asked Young Master Jia for a certificate to leave the city. "I know that martial law should not be violated lightly, but the coffin of Lord Wu'an is still in Handan, and his grandson Li Zuoche wants to help the spirit to be buried in the ancestral tomb of Daijun. I hope you will forgive me."

"Gai Qing's words are serious. This is a matter of nature and righteousness. How can Jia get in the way." Young Master Jia said with a smile.

After returning to Li's house, Gai Nie immediately handed over the proof of leaving the city to Li Zuoche, and asked a hundred gold warriors to accompany him to protect him and go to Daijun.Li Zuoche himself was reluctant, saying: "Seeing that the Qin army is approaching, the brothers in the army will fight to the death to defend the city; Zuoche cannot serve the country, but leaves Handan at this time, and feels ashamed."

"It is precisely because the Qin people are approaching and the battle is imminent that you have to leave. When the Qin army besieges the city and the flying stones and arrows come down, if the general's body is destroyed in the flames of war, we will all be sinners."

After repeated persuasion by others, Li Zuoche had no choice but to order his servants to pack up the carriages and bid farewell to Gai Nie in tears.But most of the 36 hundred-gold warriors who followed Li Mu to the south refused to leave the capital, including the four leaders; they also joined the "Tianbian Camp" built outside the north gate.

After the defeat of Jingxing, many remnants of Zhao State fled to Daijun, Yanmen and even outside the pass, and only a few thousand returned to the capital.Some of these people were originally from Handan, and they fled here because they were worried about their relatives; the other part were staunch patriots.Young Master Jia also unceremoniously ordered them all to station outside the city, intending to give a head-on blow to the vanguard of the Qin people when they first arrived. This is the Tianbian Camp.But after such a surprise attack, because of the absolute disparity in strength, this team will surely fall into a desperate situation, and I am afraid that none of them will be spared.Therefore, it can be said that in the Tianbian camp, everyone is a dead soldier.

Temporarily acting as the commander-in-chief of the Tianben Camp is Lian Ye, a descendant of the famous general Lian Po, Tiangong General Lian Ye, who was also one of Li Mu's confidantes.The death of Mr. Wu An dealt a great blow to him and his subordinates, but it could not shake their determination to die for the country.When Gai Nie was repairing the damaged catapult on the city wall, he once saw Lian Ye, who was dressed in plain clothes, leading his soldiers to dig earth and rocks outside the north gate.They planned to destroy all the roads leading to Handan, dig a large number of pits, and bury sharp stones on the ground, so that the chariots and siege equipment of the Qin people could not reach the city smoothly; People cannot use local materials to build watchtowers and arrow towers.Although they don't think that their plan to fight each other with their lives can cause much substantial damage to the Qin army, compared to the pampered nobles and imperial troops in the city, this death squad is the one Gai Nie respects from the bottom of his heart.

That night, Gai Nie came out from the northeast of the city wall, met with Lian Ye and others in private, and told them the coefficients of the strategy for defending the city discussed by son Jia Tiantian with the army.The four leaders of the Hundred Gold Warriors are also in the tent of the Chinese army.Hearing that the frontier army will go south, everyone was surprised at first, and then their morale was greatly boosted.Lian Ye nodded and said: "Although this plan is a last resort, but at present, only by using this last force, can we hope to defend the capital before the Yan State reinforcements arrive." He thought for a while, then hesitated: " However, it was too hasty to reach Handan City within ten days. Although the frontier troops were well-trained and moved like the wind, it took at least two or three days from receiving the transfer order, preparing the luggage, and setting off in line; Even if you can arrive within seven or eight days, you must be very exhausted. If you encounter the besieged Qin army at this time, it will be just for the enemy to wait for work. Brother Gai, if you have the opportunity to meet the son, you'd better advise him on this matter: I We will fight to the death to defend the city, if the frontier army rushes too fast, it will be disadvantageous."

Ge Nie put the long sword across his knees, tapped the hilt slowly with his right hand, and said, "I'm afraid, it's not that Young Master Jia doesn't know this. The time is correct, but the place is wrong - the frontier army set off from Yanmen, ten It is too hasty to arrive in Handan within a few days, but it is more than enough to rush to Dai."

Lian Ye frowned and said, "Oh? What does this mean?"

"Young Master Jia talked about his various arrangements for defending the city. It seems that he is well prepared and well organized, but there are at least three doubts in it. One of them is that he ordered the frontier army to go south within ten days. The [-] frontier army is Zhao's last elite. Combat power, with Young Master Jia being smart and capable, one should be cautious, and not exhaust our army and send them to the tiger's mouth for nothing. The second is the food and grass in the city. According to the young master, the remaining food in the city can last for about half a year , and it only takes three months for Yan’s reinforcements to arrive. Six months versus three months, it sounds foolproof, but in fact, these three months are just an imaginary number. Yan is located in a remote place, and Prince Dan is not Your Majesty, there are many conflicts in the country; if the reinforcements cannot arrive within three months, it will take longer, and because the city accommodated some refugees before, the consumption of food and grain is accelerating, and between the entry and exit, even if there is a surplus of six months They all appear to be very tight. Under such circumstances, it is really suspicious that Young Master Jia would secretly arrange to transport grain and grass to Dai Commandery, and also concealed this from his direct troops. Third, Young Master Jia was very afraid of death. people—"

Speaking of this, Lian Ye couldn't help asking curiously: "How do you know that he is afraid of death?"

"Even if he is discussing matters with his trusted generals, he is surrounded by at least three top experts, two of whom are hiding in the dark. If someone plots to do something wrong, I am afraid that they will be executed by those hidden guards as soon as they draw their swords." Gai Nie said , "With such prudence, he would personally guard the most dangerous north gate. The meaning of it must not be simple."

"So, you were talking about his 'real plan'..."

Gai Nie said solemnly: "My guess is that Young Master Jia doesn't intend to live and die with the city at all. But he also doesn't want to open the city and surrender to Qin, so he plans to leave Handan and flee to Dai County. That's why he has to prepare food and grass materials in advance to enrich Dai County. And he mobilized the frontier army to respond in Daidi, so that they could enter the city safely; guarding the north gate himself was to avoid being discovered by the defenders at other gates, and to take the shortest route to rush out of the encirclement .”

All the generals found it unbelievable to hear his conjecture, but there is something very reasonable in the words, which makes people unbelievable.At this time, Huang Li, the leader of the Zhu team, suddenly asked: "No, if he planned to escape from Handan, why didn't he escape early? To this day, the Qin army has not been seen. Isn't this a good opportunity to go out of the city? Why wait until the soldiers approach the city before passing through the Qin people escape from the heavy blockade?"

"If Young Master Jia leaves, he will not be alone. He will definitely bring the clan and important officials of the court with him. The army is huge, and it is not easy to hide. The direction is from south to north; if the timing of escaping is not right, I don’t know where to meet the army of the Qin army; no matter how many masters there are around Young Master Jia, once he encounters the main force of the Qin army in the wild, he will surely die. However, after the siege Only then did they break through and escape, the people of Qin must rush to enter the city first and occupy the palace, and they will not send too many troops to pursue them." Gai Nie didn't think so much at first, but after Huang Li asked, he thought more and more: "The name In order to defend the city, in fact, the whole of Handan is actually a 'bait' for him to escape."

As soon as these words came out, everyone was in an uproar.Most people still couldn't believe that the capital they defended to the death was used as bait by the royal family and abandoned.At this time, Lianye said thoughtfully: "This is justified. Young Master Jia wants to be the king of the country, he cherishes his reputation very much, and he will do everything better than our current king; if he easily abandons the city and flees, the people of the country may not I will support him; but if he defends to the death and breaks out of the encirclement when he is desperate, even if the country falls in the future, the Zhao people will definitely regard him as an unyielding hero and regard him as their king."

"General, why do you—"

"Brother Gai, are you thinking too much..."

Gai Nie said again: "Although these are all guesses, but on the other hand, even if Young Master Jia is sincerely defending the city, he ignores the lack of supplies in the city, mobilizes food and grass before the battle, and forces the frontier army to travel long distances, and the exhausted army fights. Unwise moves can still only lead to failure."

Lian Ye shook his head and said: "The son Jia that Lian knows is calm and forbearing, far-sighted and far-sighted, definitely not such a person."

Gai Nie let out a long sigh, and gripped the scabbard tightly, "Now that you know this, is the general still going to fight to the death?"

"That's right." Lian Ye untied his iron bow from behind, and said solemnly, "My ancestor's regret in his life is that he failed to die in Changping. When 40 Zhao troops were killed, the people of the country mourned everywhere; my grandfather heard the news He robbed the pillar with his head several times, and wept uncontrollably. He often blamed himself, if he knew of such a disaster, he would have stayed in the front of the battle even if he disobeyed the order. I still wanted to go back to Zhao Congjun in my twilight years, but unfortunately I couldn’t do it. As children and grandchildren, we don’t have the illustrious achievements of our ancestors, at least fulfilling the long-cherished wish on his behalf, it can be regarded as... filial piety for the father.”

For the country, be loyal.

He didn't say the last four words, but everyone sitting in the military tent clearly wrote them in their eyes.

This is the last thing they can do for this precarious and battered motherland.

Gai Nie's eyes flicked over the pair of determined faces. He felt pain and was a little confused: Why did this country have so many generous and heroic righteous men, but they still failed in the end?Why do those despicable and cowardly nobles only want to play tricks on people's hearts, but they want these heroes to fight regardless of life and death?

"Brother Gai, you don't need to say much." Tian Zhen, who was sitting opposite, looked at him with piercing eyes, "No matter what tricks the clan and nobles play, we are not here to protect them. Our brothers died here together, but It is to repay the general's great kindness."

He stretched out a fist, and Fan Yuan beside him immediately covered his palm, followed by Li Heng and Huang Li; the four of them all looked at Gai Nie expectantly.

"I'm going to die if I don't plan to."

"..." The four of them frowned, and even Lian Ye looked at him strangely.Gai Nie continued, "If the city of Handan is destroyed, I plan to change into civilian clothes and escape with the chaos."

Everyone in the tent saw that what he said was so decisive, it didn't seem like a joke, so they all fell silent.After a while, Tian Zhen stood up suddenly, smiled coldly, drew out her long sword and drew a line on the ground, then strode out of the tent.Li and Fan left behind with dark faces.Huang Li's face was quite embarrassed, he looked at Gai Nie, then looked outside, finally got up and said: "I'll go and persuade them, stay with them." Then he followed out.

Ge Nie still held the long sword across his knees, his expression was extremely calm, as if nothing had happened.Lian Ye stared at him with interest, then smiled and said, "Brother Gai is so determined."

"..."

Lianye still smiled. "Those brothers are the personal guards who have been with the general for many years. They are loyal and upright, but their temper is a little irritable. When they figure it out, they will come back and apologize to you."

"The next sentence is true, not a joke."

Lianye sighed: "Fanwu, Zhangshui, Jingxing, we two have been friends through life and death several times. How could Lian not understand you as a person. With brother Gai's martial arts, the world will win. If brothers are You are really greedy for life and afraid of death, why should you stay here now."

Gai Nie sighed, "I don't want to ask for death, but I speak from the bottom of my heart. If Gai Nie's death alone can save tens of thousands of people in Handan City, I don't care about my life. It's a pity that the general situation has come, and there is a huge gap between us and the enemy. It's nothing more than a mantis' arm as a car."

Lian Ye smiled wryly and said, "Brother Gai, why don't you leave the city with Young Master Jia? Not to mention his current strategy, in the past, Young Master has always been open-minded in recruiting talents, seeking talents if he is thirsty, but the time is not right; if you help me, say Maybe the people of Zhao still have the hope of restoring their country."

Gai Nie said: "If you just leave, if after the city is broken, the people of Qin disregard the justice of the world and kill the prisoners and slaughter the city, where will I have the face to see the general and the brothers who died in battle?"

Lian Ye was startled and said, "What other plans do you have?"

"Once the city is broken, the Qin people will definitely occupy the palace and clear the streets. At this moment, their foothold is not stable, and there will inevitably be omissions in defense. I plan to take this opportunity to pretend to be a commoner and try to get close to the general Wang Jian. If I miss and are captured, I will call myself a son. Messenger of Jia, if you ask to see the commander, you may be able to succeed."

"Could it be that you want to plot to assassinate the general of the Qin Army?"

Gai Nie shook his head, "I just want to show him righteousness: the people in the city are innocent, and I hope he will take care of him. If he can swear not to kill the surrender or harm the people, I will never take his life."

"...Are you sure you can convince the Qin people?"

"Always give it a try. Besides, if you can't move it with reason, you can also lure it with profit. There is still one thing in your hand, which may be used as a bargaining chip—" Gai Nie stopped suddenly when he said this.Seeing that he kept silent, Lian Ye seemed to be in deep thought, thinking that he was worried about whether this matter would be successful, so he couldn't help comforting him: "Whether this matter is successful or not, it shows the heart of my brother. As for the result, it depends on God's will after all." Brother Gai is willing to take risks for the sake of thousands of innocent people in Handan City, which is a hundred times better than us reckless people."

Gai Nie said bluntly, "The general is serious."

The two discussed the military situation again, until the second watch, Gai Nie had to go back to the Forbidden Army camp in the city to prepare for inspection.Before leaving, Lian Ye personally handed over the family iron bow to him, asking him to use it to kill more enemies.

Gai Nie thanked him, and when he walked out of the military tent, he saw Fan, Li, Tian, ​​and Huang standing outside the tent, all of them looked uncomfortable.Seeing him coming out, the four of them looked at each other, and suddenly they clasped their fists together and gave a military salute.

Gai Nie knew that they probably heard what he said to Lian Ye at the end, it was a little funny, so he returned the courtesy without saying a word.The four put down their hands, Tian Zhen's cheeks were flushed, but she still didn't know what to say.Huang Li couldn't bear it anymore, he thumped him and said, "They are all my brothers and they are dying people, so there is no misunderstanding or temper." He inserted the sword into his waist, clenched his right hand, and stretched it straight out. —was quickly covered by four, then five hands.The five people formed a circle, with their hands folded tightly together, and they all laughed loudly.

But in this laughter, it is inevitable to add a bit of heroism and sadness.

Three days later, the Qin army arrived as scheduled.

The army first set up a company camp twenty miles outside the city, had a full meal, and rested overnight; the next morning, the whole army attacked.Standing behind the battlements, Ge Nie saw that the northern field was densely packed with black armored soldiers, like an ant colony, and the formations were neat, and the soldiers and horses were majestic. He couldn't help feeling even more worried.

According to the usual practice, the Qin army first sent out the chariot soldiers, and slowly drove the siege equipment such as crossbow machines, rams, rams, and catapults to the city; The horse fell into the pit.But General Qin was also prepared, and immediately sent infantry soldiers to explore first, while paving the way for the chariots to pass.At this moment, arrows rained like locusts on both sides of the road, and then the horn sounded, and the ambush soldiers of the Tianbian Battalion rushed out.The Qin army didn't expect that the Handan defenders still dared to set up an ambush outside the city, and they panicked for a while at first; in addition, the defenders at the top of the city kept attacking the rear army of the Qin people with arrows and stones, killing a lot of people.But the Qin people quickly reorganized their formation, the front army retreated, and the two wings gradually outflanked. National soldiers.The fierce battle lasted for a whole day, and blood and flesh flew all over the city, which was extremely tragic.In the second half of the day, the number of people in the besieged Tianbian Battalion became smaller and smaller, and the shouts for killing weakened, but the formation of the Qin people did not show any change.As the sunset slowly sank into the distant mountains, the battlefield gradually fell silent, leaving only a thousand overlapping corpses.

At night, the Qin army outside the city collected the corpses, paved the road, and pushed the siege vehicles about seven or eight hundred steps outside the moat overnight.The defenders in the city are also constantly strengthening the city wall, preparing bows and arrows, boulders, wood and so on.

The next day, the Tianbian Battalion was almost wiped out, and the Qin army's attack naturally became more violent: in addition to attacking the inner city with bed crossbows and stone throws, they also filled up a section of the moat with sand and earth, and the soldiers directly attacked City gate, climbing the city wall.Gai Nie kept firing his bow and arrows on the city, and he has been sleepless for a day and a night.In order to keep himself awake, every time he shot an arrow, he counted silently in his heart, and when he counted to one hundred, he counted again from the beginning, and counted for several rounds; the iron bow has a very long range and great power, and the enemy is invincible. .But the power of one person is limited after all, and the number of Qin Guorui soldiers is endless, and several defenders beside Gai Nie have unfortunately been killed by arrows or stones.Due to the lack of personnel in the imperial army, one person often died, but the positions were not filled for a long time, and the gaps on the city walls were getting bigger and bigger.In the end, Gai Nie had to give up his bow and arrow, and ran back and forth on a section of the city wall, or overturned the ladder, or hacked and killed the enemy who climbed up the top of the city with a long sword, or threw huge stones and logs to hinder the rushing people below the city who tried to hit the city gate. car.This persisted until the evening, and the two sides stopped fighting again.

At this time, Gai Nie was exhausted to the extreme, his eyes were red, and his mind was not clear.He was still patrolling back and forth at the top of the city, and when he saw a suspicious black figure approaching the city wall, he wanted to shoot an arrow.Unexpectedly, as soon as he drew the iron bow, he found that his right arm was trembling continuously, and even the bowstring was trembling. He was terrified, and thought to himself: Zonghengjian is famous for its precision and subtlety, and calmness is the most important thing, so the master strictly forbids us to drink more alcohol. Because alcoholics are getting old, their hands will tremble involuntarily when they exert strength.I have never drank too much, and I have never grown old, so why are my wrists already shaking?He did not expect that once the human body is overworked, the wear and tear is far worse than alcoholism, and the muscles and bones will naturally lose their ability to control.

Fortunately, at this time, two small guards from the imperial guards finally came to change the guard and asked him to enter the city for a rest.Gai Nie didn't refuse anymore, hurried down the city wall, found a corner in the medical camp where the wounded were treated, and rested with his sword in his arms.Because there are often wounded here moaning and screaming in pain, it is expected that they will not sleep too deeply.

I don't know how long this sleep has passed.When Gai Nie opened his eyes, he was shocked—he was in a dark room where his hands and feet could not be seen, his hands and feet were bound, and he was lying on the ground like an animal waiting to be slaughtered.And the long sword that never leaves his hand has disappeared.He thought to himself, could it be that the city has been broken, and we are all captured by the Qin people?And in a trance, I felt that it was impossible for me to sleep for so long without being conscious.

He struggled to sit up, the iron shackles on his hands and feet clanging.In the darkness, a piercing laughter was suddenly heard.

"Boy, if you cherish your life, you'd better be honest and don't act rashly."

This voice has never been heard before.Ge Nie listened attentively and asked, "Two—no, who are the three?"

The room fell silent immediately.After a while, he felt a ray of cold light on his neck, almost tearing his skin.

"Let's gossip less, our brother was just ordered to ask you one thing - where are Zhao Guo's national treasure and Shibi now?"

TBC