Dongshou Jiangcheng was a dagger inserted deeply into the Xijing Road of the Liao Kingdom by the Western Army.

It was also the only city built by the Western Army after crossing the Black Mountains.

After years of continuous management, today's Dongshoujiang City is no longer an isolated military fortress city, but has formed a large military point guarded by two small acropolis.

The Western Army stationed here has more than 3,000 infantrymen alone.

If you add in the people gathered around the city, the number of people has exceeded 10,000.

As long as there is a city like this in such a vast desert, it will quickly attract many people to gather around and live in the city.

The Western Army has always refused to refuse those who come to them automatically.

Now, around Dongshoujiang City, more than 100,000 acres of farmland have been reclaimed by these dependent people.

Here, the land that was originally owned by the Liao people was forcefully taken over by the Western Army.

These lands can also be said to be ownerless.

When these lands were reclaimed, Dongshoujiang City even issued title deeds to the people who reclaimed the wasteland in the name of the Western Army, legally recognizing these people's ownership of these lands.

It was nothing more than a land deed, so these dependents who had little loyalty in the first place immediately supported the Western Army wholeheartedly.

The reason is simple. Only when the Western Army still rules here can the land deeds in their hands be useful and be their property that can be passed on to future generations.

If the Western Army collapses, no matter which force comes here, the land deed in their hands will most likely not be recognized.

In addition to these dependent tribes mainly engaged in farming, there is also a large-scale tribe that is half farming and half herding on the outskirts of Dongshoujiang City, the Dangxiang Yeli Tribe.

Originally, the Yeli tribe was just an inconspicuous small tribe among the Hengshan party, but when Xiao Ding governed Hengshan and crusaded against Li Xu, the Yeli tribe and the Xifeng tribe were the first to follow Xiao Ding, so in Xiao Ding

After gaining power, they also prospered.

Yeliqi, the leader of the Yeli tribe, is now the commander of the Weifu Military Division of Heishan. He is in charge of a military division. The Western Army, including Dongshou Jiangcheng, is under the jurisdiction of the Weifu Military Division of Heishan.

The main forces under the command of the Weifu Army Division of Heishan are the five thousand garrison troops in Dongshoujiang City and the cavalry of the Ye clan under Ye Liqi.

A small tribe that could only provide a few hundred cavalry back then could now easily send out more than 3,000 cavalry.

Compared with the past, it is naturally different.

The war is coming, and Dongshoujiang City will bear the brunt.

Yeliqi also rushed to Dongshoujiang City and discussed strategies against the enemy with Chen Qiao, the city lord here.

Chen Qiao, once the young leader of the Guangrui Army, is now the deputy military commander of Weifu in Black Mountain and the lord of Dongshoujiang City.

Standing at the top of the city, he looked at the fertile fields surrounding the city. In the fields, countless people were waving sickles to grab the crops. Even the soldiers in the city were sent out to help by Chen Qiao.

The enemy is coming.

They must harvest all the food before the enemy arrives.

"What a pity!" Yeliqi pointed to the rows of houses outside the city. The outermost ones were just some simple huts. It was obvious that they had just arrived not long ago. The closer to the city, the better the houses were. In his field of vision,

We even saw a few blue brick houses.

What he said was a pity meant that these houses would definitely be demolished in the future. The defenders would never allow these things to become weapons for the enemy to attack the city.

"It's not a pity." Chen Qiao raised his brows and said, "These families, because they came early, have made a lot of money over the years. When they heard that the Liao people were coming, they rolled up Xinruan and ran away."

Yeliqi laughed: "You just let him run away like this?"

"Of course not. When I left, I signed a document and made it clear that the harvest from the one hundred acres of wheat fields outside the city belongs to our military!" Chen Qiao said with a smile: "If it weren't for the manager,

The rules are so strict that I want to confiscate all this guy’s property and give one share to each of my soldiers, which will definitely lower morale.”

"This is definitely not possible. To put it in Zhang Changshi's words, you cannot damage your long-term foundation just because of small immediate gains!" Ye Liqi said seriously.

"Yes, so if those big families want to run away, we can only let them run away. But if some of their families join the army, they have to stay and fight honestly!" Chen Qiao said.

"Definitely not the eldest son in the family." Ye Liqi said.

"Whatever!" Chen Qiao touched his neatly trimmed mustache. "General, how is the retreat going over there?"

"Three thousand cavalry were left behind, and the remaining protective tribesmen retreated slowly, all the way to the Black Mountain. If something went wrong, they would retreat sharply, cross the Black Mountain and enter our hinterland. If we fight here

Well, they don't have to go too far." Ye Liqi said.

Chen Qiao nodded: "This time Chen Qiao is quite powerful. This old boy Yelvhuan has been suppressed by us all these years and has become the laughing stock of the Liao nobles. This time he is going to make trouble with all his strength."

.”

"You will never die when you are old!" Yeliqi said viciously: "If he really dares to come, I will kill him this time."

"This is not possible. Zhang Changshi said that Yelvhuan is a trader. Once we make him suffer again, this old boy will definitely change his mind and have other ideas. We really want to replace his son.

The boss, that's a stubborn donkey, it's hard to deal with." Chen Qiao said.

"Didn't Chang Shi say that the Liao people's attack on us this time was just a bluff?" Yeliqi asked strangely, "Originally, I was not prepared to let the tribe retreat."

"The truth is true, the soldiers are deceitful!" Chen Qiao shook his head and said: "This is just Chang Shi's estimate, but if we are easily eaten, the Liao people will not mind killing us."

"Then let us knock out a few more of their teeth." Yeliqi said viciously.

"Of course, this time, I will still defend the city. I will command you to lead the cavalry outside and bite them when you find the right opportunity." Chen Qiao said: "But there is one thing you can remember. Once my place collapses, you can

Never come to the rescue, just run away."

"You don't need to ask me about this!" Yeliqi laughed: "Even if you stay in the city, your turtle shell will be broken. I will definitely run away, but don't worry, I will find a place for you in the future.

.”

Chen Qiao rolled his eyes: "General, I was just being polite. What you said really hurt my heart!"

Yeliqi was overjoyed and patted Chen Qiao on the shoulder.

Seeing the relaxed expressions of the two generals on the city wall, the chief and deputy generals, and the serious-looking soldiers above and below the city wall also smiled one by one.

Over the past few years, the soldiers have developed a pride of their own.

Against the Liao soldiers, they won more than they lost.

And this kind of temperament is accumulated through victory after victory.

The two of them were talking when they suddenly saw on the other side, a group of soldiers escorting several people dressed as ordinary people to the city wall, pinned the people on the wall, and beheaded them cleanly.

"Spy?" Yeliqi knew that Chen Qiao was not an easy-to-kill general.

Chen Qiao nodded: "The good guys who came here as refugees last winter dug tunnels from their thatched houses into the city for half a year. They dug further and dug under our city wall. The Liao people dug tunnels into the city.

Our idea is not short of time."

"No wonder the manager said, don't think this battle is easy, otherwise the lie may become true." Yeliqi took a breath of cold air.

Ten days later, on a drizzly afternoon, Chen Qiao, who was eating, was interrupted by the rapid ringing of a bell on the city wall.

After hurriedly climbing up the city wall, they saw on the horizon, a dozen cavalrymen rushing towards them, and behind them, more cavalrymen were chasing after them.

The enemy is finally here.

The scouts of Dongshou surrendered the city and bypassed the city wall. There was no need for them to report any more military information. The enemy was right behind them. At this time, it was impossible for the city to open the city gate to let them in. They couldn't do anything.

It would be great fun for their opponents to seize the city gate, so they had to continue running for their lives.

The Liao army did not pay attention to these escaping scouts. The vanguard cavalry began to run around the city wall, occasionally shooting a few feather arrows at the city wall, shouting loudly for the city to surrender quickly, otherwise once the city is broken, there will be no chickens or dogs left.

What will happen to you and other such nonsense.

The city was quiet, and no one paid any attention to them. They didn't even bother to reply with a few curse words, let alone return a few arrows to them.

Inexperienced people think that the soldiers in the city are timid.

Only those truly experienced soldiers understand that such opponents are the most difficult to deal with.

Because they don't bother to waste any energy on useless things.

While Chen Qiao was watching the Liao army's formation, the commander of the Liao army in the distance was also sizing up Dongshoujiang City.

Yeluhuan, a veteran in his sixties, had been cheated by Xiao Ding to the point of losing his face over the years.

Of course, this is on the bright side.

Secretly, Yelvhuan's business dealings with the Western Army have been continuous over the years. Although he has lost a lot of territory and people, the money in his wallet is still bulging.

Of course, business is business.

In this war, Yelvhuan also went all out.

After all, making money from business is not as fast as robbery.

In the past few years, Xiao Ding has been very effective in running the northwest. People there have become rich, making them the best targets for robbery. In the past, the strength of the Xijing Dao family alone was somewhat insufficient, but this time, the Liao army gathered, and Xijing Dao only had

It is just one of the many paths of soldiers and horses.

The odds of winning are very good.

"This city is not easy to fight!" A middle-aged general waved his riding whip and pointed at Dongshoujiang City: "I haven't been here for two years, and their city wall seems to be higher. It's actually covered with blue bricks. Damn it."

They are rich! The governor and the two acropolis are also a big problem. One big one and two small ones are the horns of each other, and the position is clever. Whichever one you attack, the other two can respond."

"Then let's attack in an all-out way." Yelu Huan said: "This time our Xijing Dao mobilized the first army, the palace branch army, and more than 50,000 rural soldiers. This Dongshou surrender city only has 5,000 or 6,000 people.

Heap, I also piled him to death."
To be continued...