mtl008 Chapter 276 Death in battle
Chapter 276 Death in battle
At this moment, at the city gate of Shouxi County, Zong Yanhongjing, who had been besieged by the Northern Army and the Lu Army for several days, had run out of ammunition and food. How could Zong Yanfeiyi really not turn back? He quickly reported to Changfeng County that he had led troops to rescue. However, the Lu Army seemed to have expected that reinforcements would come from Changfeng County.
Troops were arranged early to intercept and delay the progress of reinforcements.
The beacon fires have burned out and the smoke has thinned.
Shouxi County, which had held out for nearly a month, was finally unable to resist. Under repeated sieges, the crossbeam broke, and the huge city gate collapsed. The iron hooves of the Northern Army trampled on the crossbeams and fought their way into the city.
Zong Yanhongjing's eyes trembled when he saw this scene. He clenched his sword and gritted his teeth, shouting angrily: "All troops, listen to my orders!"
"Human shield on top!"
"Archers prepare!"
Wang Ming held a knife to protect Zong Yanhongjing, his eyes full of bloodshot and said in a hoarse voice: "General, we have no arrows..."
Zong Yanhongjing swallowed his saliva and said, "Dig up the bricks from the city wall and use them as tools to smash them!"
Wang Ming seemed to have tears in his eyes, and he answered loudly: "Yes!"
The soldiers of Pingnan Camp formed a human shield and pushed forward to block the enemy from rushing into the pass. The sharp blade pierced one person after another. The soldiers roared and rushed forward to hug the enemy, using their bodies as shields and forcibly pushed back the enemy who was about to rush into the pass.
But it's just these few points...
As the rear wall of Shouxi County collapsed, tens of thousands of Lu troops broke into the city without any help.
Zong Yanhongjing turned around and saw the flag belonging to the Zong Yan family fall. The last glimmer of light in his eyes disappeared, and even his breathing seemed to become lighter. Wang Ming, Yang Liqun and other veteran generals turned around and stared blankly at the Lu army pouring into the city like locusts.
At this moment they felt an unspeakable silence, as if they were looking at their own end.
Zong Yanhongjing suddenly smiled, stretched out his hand to cut a strip of cloth from the hem of his clothes, and very solemnly and slowly used the strip of cloth to tightly tie his hands and the long knife in his hand together. Seeing the soldier stumbling towards him, he knelt on the ground with bloodshot eyes and said, "Report——!"
"The South Gate was breached, General Peng Deqing fought to the death and has died in battle!"
"Report! The west gate has been breached! General Gong... failed to return."
"Report..."
The four city gates of Shouxi County were all broken, and the falling flags represented that one general after another had died in battle here.
Zong Yanhongjing's eyes gradually became stained with tears. When he finally saw the last figure rushing towards him, his pupils suddenly trembled: "Qian Zhixing!?"
Qian Zhixing was covered in blood, with an enemy arrow stuck in his shoulder. He seemed to have used up his last bit of strength and rolled off the horse. Wang Ming and others hurriedly reached out to catch him. Qian Zhixing panted and said, "General Feiyi led the reinforcements ten miles away, but was... intercepted by the Lu army. They are trying their best to break through."
Zong Yanhongjing listened to Qian Zhixing's words, and then saw that his eyes were full of shock. He clenched his fists and said, "Didn't I let you go?!"
"General, how can I be a weak coward?" Qian Zhixing grinned.
Zong Yanhongjing choked up and looked at Qian Zhixing with tears in his eyes. Just as he was about to say something, he saw the human shield at the city gate being trampled open by the Northern Army's cavalry. Their last line of defense collapsed. Zong Yanhongjing turned around and said to everyone, "All soldiers, listen to my orders!"
"Meet the enemy——!"
"The general is in the city! Fight to the death--!"
“Fight to the death—!”
The remaining soldiers, no matter they were soldiers or pawns, generals or soldiers, at this moment they all picked up their swords and followed Zong Yanhongjing to charge towards the enemy.
This was undoubtedly an extremely cruel and difficult battle. The Northern Army and the Lu Army originally thought that it would be easy to break through the city gate and occupy Shouxi County. However, Zong Yanhongjing was able to lead his soldiers to resist the resistance in such a desperate situation. Although there were only a few thousand people, he used them to the extreme.
As the number of soldiers around him decreased rapidly, Zong Yanhongjing's throat seemed to be filled with blood. The old general in black armor swung the long sword in his hand and chopped fiercely. Blood foam flew in the air. Yi Tiangan, who saw this scene from afar, suddenly felt his scalp tingling.
For a moment, he seemed to see Zong Yanli's figure. This sword style was so familiar.
"Kill them! I tell you to kill them quickly!" For some reason, Yi Tiangan suddenly felt an extremely strong sense of crisis and panic. Attacking Shouxi County was the best choice. He originally thought that they would not be too slow in conquering it, but...
It still took too long!
The battle was now inevitable, but Yi Tiangan did not hesitate to order all his troops to move forward. Looking at the overwhelming rain of arrows, Zong Yanhongjing had nowhere to retreat.
"General--!" Wang Ming rushed forward with red eyes, looking at the soldiers falling one after another beside him, and the flying arrow pierced his arm.
"Wang Ming!" Zong Yanhongjing knocked down the rain of arrows. When he turned around, he saw Wang Ming standing behind him to block the arrows. However, because his hand was a little slow, five or six sharp arrows pierced his chest. Zong Yanhongjing dragged Wang Ming to knock down the arrows.
Wang Ming no longer had the strength to raise his hands. He suppressed the blood flowing from his throat, listened to the general's anxious shouts, reached out to grab Zong Yanhongjing, and used his body as armor to block in front of him, saying: "I am fortunate to be the general's personal soldier in this life, and I will protect the general..."
As a personal guard of the army, he should live up to the name of a personal guard.
Wang Ming closed his eyes in front of Zong Yanhongjing. Zong Yanhongjing only felt a whistling pain in his heart. He turned around and saw Yang Liqun trapped by the enemy. The sharp long knife cut through his helmet, and his gray hair was scattered.
Even so, he lived up to his reputation as a fierce general and fought desperately to chop off the heads of the enemy soldiers who were besieging him.
Zong Yanhongjing put down Wang Ming's body, roared and charged into the enemy army. The fishy smell filled his nostrils, his vision was a little blurry, and the long sword in his hand gradually became heavy. Zong Yanhongjing clearly knew that he was at the end of his strength. Looking at the encirclement that was getting closer and closer, he gasped hoarsely in his throat.
Om-!
The stabbing halberd brushed past Zong Yanhongjing's ear, cutting off the gray hair at his temples and causing blood to flow from his ear.
Zong Yanhongjing swung his sword to block the stabbing halberd, but he was powerless to block the sword attacking his knees. He felt pain in his knees and was forced to kneel on one knee on the ground. Qian Zhixing turned his head and saw this scene. He roared and threw the sword in his hand towards Zong Yanhongjing, blocking the attack for him.
But because he threw away his weapon, he put himself in danger of death.
Qian Zhixing looked at Zong Yanhongjing and closed his eyes resigned to his fate. He was willing to take this step.
Clang——!
Ding!
There was a sound of breaking air behind his ears. The arrow flying from a distance knocked down the sword of the enemy behind Qian Zhixing. Qian Zhixing's body froze, and his eyes seemed to be in a trance for a moment. He looked down and saw the arrow falling to the ground.
He turned around and looked back, and saw that behind the many flags of the Northern Army, a flag belonging to the Zong Yan family was rising high.
Zong Yanshi...
Zong Yan, Zong Yanli!
Tears seemed to well up in Qian Zhixing's eyes. He saw the flag flying high, the black horse charging into the army formation, and Zong Yanli sitting high on the warhorse. She tied a flag behind her back and charged into the army formation with a long sword in her hand.
In the back, Jie Hu, who was standing on the platform of the chariot, had his hands trembling slightly. He held his breath and concentrated on drawing the bow and shooting the arrow.
On the other side, Bai Xiuyun and others were struggling to break through the army formation. The deafening shouts of killing came from the rear of the Northern Army. At the same time, behind the Lu Army, the troops of Gao and Jin were encircling and supporting Zong Yan Feiyi, breaking through his obstruction and defense and killing their way forward.
"Zong, Zong Yanli..." Yi Tiangan saw the soldiers and horses rising from the rear and the familiar military flag, and felt a sudden chill on his back.
"Kill!" A fierce charge sounded. Zong Yanhongjing turned his head and saw the figures fighting in the army. The gloomy look in his eyes faded away little by little, and finally he couldn't help but reveal a smile on his face.
It was during this brief gap that a sharp sword came from the surrounding Northern Army. Zong Yanhongjing dodged almost as a reflex, but because of his old age and having fought for so long, he had exhausted all his strength and was unable to dodge completely, and the sword pierced half an inch into his abdomen.
Zong Yanhongjing groaned, gritted his teeth, swung his sword, and chopped down the enemy soldier with one blow.
"Father——!" Zong Yanli saw Zong Yanhongjing still standing from afar. Before she could catch her breath, she saw such a scene, which made her heart and liver break. She threw the long knife in her hand with great ferocity and killed him almost at the same time as Zong Yanhongjing.
"Cough..." Zong Yanhongjing half-knelt on the ground, covering the bleeding wound. His back was bent, his silver hair was hanging down, and his body was shaking slightly.
"Father?" Zong Yanli arrived in front of him in an instant, and immediately reached out to support Zong Yanhongjing, his eyes full of panic: "Is father okay? I'm back."
Zong Yanhongjing swallowed the fishy smell rising in his throat, smiled at Zong Yanli and said, "It's okay, I won't die."
Zong Yanli was on edge, and seeing that Long Feiguang and the others had already come over, he pushed Zong Yanhongjing to Gao Feilin and said, "Protect the general! Let me kill the others!!!"
Zong Yanli raised his eyes and looked in the direction of Yi Tiangan, his dark eyes full of hostility.
The Northern Army and the Lu Army had just invaded Shouxi County, but they were once again pushed back before they could even gain a foothold. Shouxi County was finally defended, but the soldiers of the former Pingnan Camp were almost wiped out, with only two or three hundred people left.
Several generals including Peng Deqing and Yang Liqun shed their blood in Shouxi County and died in battle there.
Zong Yanhongjing, Qian Zhixing and the rest of the people returned with serious injuries.
The tragedy of Shouxi County was imprinted in almost everyone's eyes. Zong Yan Feiyi finally arrived, and his eyes were red when he saw that Zong Yan Hongjing was seriously injured.
"How is father?" Zong Yanli led his troops to drive the Northern Army and the Lu Army out twenty miles away, and returned to Shouxi County covered in dust, his face was still frosted, his lips were a little dry, and his eyes were bloodshot as he stood in front of the tent and asked.
"The general's injuries are very serious, but the bleeding has stopped temporarily." The military doctor examined the injury for the first time, with a look of embarrassment on his face, and didn't say anything more.
"Go and call Doctor Xiao." Zong Yanli clenched his hands and turned to call.
Gao Feilin nodded in agreement and was about to turn around and leave when he heard Zong Yanhongjing's voice calling from inside the tent: "Ali, come in. Your father has something to tell you."
Zong Yanli shuddered all over and stepped into the tent without hesitation.
Zong Yanhongjing was placed on the bed. The wounds on his body had been bandaged, and blood could still be vaguely seen oozing from the wounds. Blood-stained clothes were lying on the ground. The military doctor was packing up the gauze for stopping the bleeding and went out with a basin full of blood.
"Father..." Zong Yanli looked at the scarlet blood and found it extremely dazzling. She walked to the bed with heavy steps and knelt on one knee in front of Zong Yanhongjing.
Zong Yanhong Jingduan looked at Zong Yanli who was kneeling in front of him, as if only at this moment he could finally take a good, serious look at his child who had returned from a long journey.
His eyes fell on Zong Yanli's face, and when he saw the scar on her face, a hint of pity rose in his eyes. It seemed that in his eyes, the injuries all over his body were not as painful as seeing the scar on his child's face.
"Ali, don't be afraid." Zong Yanhongjing took a breath and said to Zong Yanli in a gentle voice: "Father is old."
"From now on, the Zong Yan clan will be handed over to you." Zong Yan Hongjing looked at Zong Yanli calmly and said, "It's great to be in power, but you must remember that serving the emperor is like serving a tiger, so you must not act rashly."
"Remember the basics of being a general and never forget your original intention."
Zong Yanli felt his heart tighten when he heard what Zong Yanhongjing said. He said with a heavy breath, "Father, I will heal your injury. You'll be fine!"
Zong Yanhongjing smiled. He knew his own body very well. He looked at the child in front of him who made him feel sorry and proud. It seemed like a long time before he said, "Your father owes you too much. Everything is my fault as a father."
Zong Yanli shook his head with tears in his eyes, looked up at Zong Yanhongjing and said: "I am very lucky to be your child."
Zong Yanhongjing smiled bitterly after hearing what Zong Yanli said. He originally wanted to say a lot, but due to lack of energy, he fell asleep after saying only a few words. Zong Yanli did not dare to disturb him any further and got up and quietly left.
"General." Outside the tent, Long Feiguang and others came forward with worried looks on their faces.
"Father has fallen asleep." Zong Yanli closed his eyes, suppressed the bitterness in his heart, looked at everyone and said, "Northern Army..."
"Since they dare to attack Daqian again, I will definitely make sure they never return." Zong Yanli's dark eyes were filled with a bit of ruthlessness. He turned to look at Zong Yanfeiyi and said, "Fourth Uncle, tell me about the situation of Shouxi County being restricted this time."
Zong Yanfeiyi nodded and followed Zong Yanli to the military tent next to them.
The Northern Army and the Lu Army had made sufficient preparations for their joint attack this time. Zong Yanhongjing's resistance had prevented Shouxi County from falling. It could be said to be an extremely magnificent battle to defend the city, so tragic and great that it was moving to listen to.