The sun in the western sky was shaking, casting rays of light all over the sky. The sky and the earth were covered in white, and even the Yellow River was covered in white snow.

Zheng Qiao pressed his hands on the earthen platform and looked around. After a long time, he said: "The Twelve Liancheng City is blocking the ditch, which is the barrier of Tongguan. Why is there not a single Jin army here? Could it be that the news of the Battle of Guozhou reached here and all the Jin soldiers fled.

?”

Du Cai said: "How is it possible? We will leave the next day after entering the city. The road has been blocked by heavy snow these days. Is there anyone who can walk faster than me? Wei Yi is just a bad boy from the countryside. How clever are his men?

?They are all probably stationed in the city, and no one is guarding these places."

Zheng Qiao nodded: "If so, Tongguan City will be easier to fight. - If we don't camp here tonight, the whole army will go to Tongguan!"

Du Cai looked at the sun in the sky and said: "It's getting dark now. It's too late to set up camp and it's difficult to make a fire for cooking. If we go to Tongguan, it will be midnight when we get there. The whole army can't rest tonight."

Zheng Qiao said with a smile: "If we don't defend the twelve consecutive cities, the Jin army guarding Tongguan is probably not well-defended. Let's make a bet and attack the city overnight! After conquering Tongguan, why do we need to camp outside? There are so many houses in Tongguan City!

"

After hearing this, Du Cai lowered his head and thought for a while, then gave a high-five: "That's what the commander said. If you don't defend this place, Tongguan City may not be strictly defended!"

After saying that, the two men ordered their soldiers to tidy up their uniforms, and before the sun went down, they headed towards Tongguan.

The weather has been cold these days, the snow has not melted, and there is not a single pedestrian on the road. As the sun sets, the wind gradually gets stronger, blowing on the body like a knife. The snow on the ground has melted into a thin layer during the day, and then freezes again at night.

When it rises, it's extremely slippery.

As the vanguard of the Song army, Zheng Qiao marched in a hurry. It took about two hours to arrive at the gate of Tongguan City.

Looking at Tongguan City, there were fires in the east and west, which were chaotic. In the firelight, the few soldiers at the top of the city gathered together to warm themselves up, and there were no guards in many places. Zheng Qiao took a breath and said: "Tongguan City is indeed

The defense is not tight. And it seems that they don’t know that Guozhou has fallen into the hands of our army. Order the entire army to rest where they are and prepare to attack the city!"

The generals and commanders next to him agreed together and then went separately to deliver the military orders.

In the official hall of the city, several generals gathered around a fire. While eating meat and drinking wine, they chatted about the world.

Guard general Qin Beiyang said: "It is extremely cold this year. It has not snowed so much for many years. Fortunately, Inspector Wei ordered us to store enough food and grass in advance so that we can eat and drink even in the weather. If we go out to look for food at this time, who can

Can you bear it?"

Zhang Xiandao: "I don't know what happened to the governor in Guozhou. The fourth prince went to Luoyang, and only the governor was left in Guozhou. I heard that Wang Xiaolie from Dengzhou led tens of thousands of troops to rescue Li Yanxian. If he were not careful, he might be eaten.

Their loss."

Qin Beiyang laughed: "In the battle of Fuping, the Jin army destroyed 200,000 troops of the Southern Dynasty. The generals of the Southern Dynasty were frightened. The governor led tens of thousands of troops to attack the Lu family. Who can stop it? No matter how powerful Wang Xiaolie is,

, can it still be stronger than Privy Zhang who has an army of 200,000 men?"

Several generals nodded together. They picked up their wine bowls, drank from large bowls, and ate large pieces of meat.

After eating for a while, Zhang Xian said again: "It's cold today, so the men guarding the city must gather together to hide from the wind and neglect to guard. Do you want to inspect the city wall and ask them to be careful? There are many rebels in the mountains around Tongguan.

, it’s better to be cautious.”

Qin Beiyang shook his head repeatedly: "What are you thinking! In such weather, who would go out of the house! Hundreds of us are guarding this pass, so what if someone comes? We can only blow the wind under the city!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a soldier slammed into the door. He crossed his hands and said, "It's bad, the Song army is coming to attack the city!"

"What?" Qin Beiyang stood up suddenly. "Tell me carefully, what is going on!"

The soldier said: "Just now, many Song troops suddenly appeared on the city wall, shouting and killing us. The brothers were unable to defend themselves for a while, so they drove them down the city and opened the city gate. The Song troops outside the city didn't know it.

How many there are? Judging from their appearance, there are probably tens of thousands of people! They are like ants swarming into the city, killing everyone they see! General, they have already reached the government office!"

Qin Beiyang looked at the soldiers and couldn't believe his ears. After a while, he said: "Where did the Song army come from in this weather!"

The soldier said: "How do you know that? They look like a large number of people, and they don't look like a small army nearby. I think it's because Wei Du has lost Guozhou and Li Jinglue's army is coming to kill us? How can we stop hundreds of us?"

!”

How can Qin Beiyang believe it? Just as he was about to ask the soldiers again, Zhang Xian next to him said: "The city has been destroyed. If we don't run away, when will we wait?"

After saying that, he grabbed his helmet next to him and put it on his head. He picked up his waist knife and ran out of the door. Someone took the lead, and the rest of the generals said so and ran with Zhang Xian.

Qin Beiyang drank too much. He stood there and looked at the people running out. He was stunned for a while. Then he turned to the soldiers and said, "Is the Song army really attacking the city? If you lie, I will take your life!"

The soldier hurriedly said: "How dare you deceive the general! The Song army has indeed entered the city!"

After hearing this, Qin Beiyang did not dare to ask any more questions. He stretched out his ears and listened, and there was indeed a cry of killing coming from outside. He sighed, threw the wine bowl in his hand on the fire, picked up the knife beside him, and rushed out the door.

Looking at Qin Beiyang's back as he rushed out, the soldier was stunned for a moment. After a while, he grabbed a large piece of meat and took a bite. Then he picked up the wine bowl on the ground and drank it all. He cursed and went out with the meat.

Zheng Qiao led his soldiers and horses straight towards the government office. There was only sporadic resistance along the way. Most of the Jin army saw the Song army entering the city and fled early. Those who could not escape threw away their swords and guns and squatted on the roadside holding their heads.

He rushed into the official office, looked around, and found that it was already empty. Zheng Qiao led his people into the official hall, and saw that the fire was burning brightly, with a large pot of cooked meat hanging on it. There were several wine jars and wine bowls on the ground next to it.

Some have wine inside, some are empty.

After turning around, no one was seen. Zheng Qiao said: "We came in through the east city gate, and the remaining Jin army must have gone to the west city gate. In such weather, and in the middle of the night, where can they escape to?"

The soldier next to him said: "This is not far from Huayin County, I think everyone must have fled there."

Zheng Qiao shook his head repeatedly: "In this weather, the snow on the road has not melted, how can you run dozens of miles in one night? Forget it, ignore them!"

After saying that, he ordered the soldiers to search carefully and find all the Jin soldiers who were hiding. He also ordered Zhang Xian to take a hundred people out of the city to check. Don't let down your guard when you enter the city by yourself, and be killed by the Jin army with a carbine, and then seize the city.

go back.

After all the instructions were given, Zheng Qiao said: "Search the military camp to see if there is any meat or chicken. They have been cleaned and cooked. The soldiers have worked hard all the way and should eat something good to replenish their bodies. Except for the guards, everyone else should rest early.

.Early tomorrow morning, we will continue our journey westward!"
Chapter completed!