Chapter 1082: Success in the East and Success in the West (Seventy-Five)

Qin Lei returned to the Hecheng County government office with bloodstains and exhaustion all over his body. With a bang, he threw the big knife with a saw-like blade in the corner, sat down on the threshold of the gate, and kept panting. He was breathing heavily. He was almost sixty years old. Time was not forgiving, and the feeling of powerlessness became more and more severe day by day. Today, in order to protect him, three more soldiers fell in front of him. He took off his helmet and hugged him. In her arms, strands of white hair were stuck together.

He has been holding on in Hecheng for half a year. Half a year ago, shortly after He Lanxiong left with the main force of Dongye, the Qin army and Li Xin's troops suddenly came out from Shanggu. Daijun was caught off guard, and most of the towns were almost defeated by the Qin army. In Daijun After the county capital Xiling City was captured and the county guard Zhao Yong was captured by Li Xinsheng, the situation became even worse. Zhao Yong was captured and surrendered. After the Qin army escorted Zhao Yong all the way to persuade him to surrender, almost all places in Dai County were occupied by the Qin army.

Qin Lei was stationed in Nanzhang at that time. When the incident occurred, he was inspecting the garrison in Hecheng. Hecheng was attacked by the Zhao army in Zilan's time. The city was massacred by the Zhao army because of its stubborn resistance. Therefore, the people of Hecheng had the most hatred towards the Zhao army. He was deeply resented, and most of the troops stationed in Hecheng were gathered in Hecheng County after the war. This was also the first line of Daijun's resistance to Zhao.

Before Qin Lei could return to Nanzhang in Hecheng, the Qin army led Zhao Yong to Nanzhang to persuade him to surrender. After seeing Zhao Yong, the deputy general left behind in Nanzhang surrendered to Kaicheng. More than 20,000 generations of the main force of the county were led by Qin Lei. The smoke disappeared, and the more than 20,000 people were all disarmed and left the army afterwards.

Zhao Yong's persuasion to surrender hit a snag in Hecheng. He originally thought that a veteran from the Zilan era like Qin Lei would surrender to Kaicheng under his call. Unexpectedly, after seeing Zhao Yong, Qin Lei yelled that Zhao Yong was a weakling. , failed the old county guard's hard work, not only did not surrender, but instead put on a posture of fighting the Qin people to the end.

The Qin army failed to persuade them to surrender, and immediately launched an attack on Hecheng. However, what the Qin army did not expect was that Hecheng was a copper pea that could not be smashed or chewed. The Qin army once reached 20,000 people at its peak, but it also failed Without knocking on the gate of Hecheng, after suffering heavy casualties, Li Xin left only an army to monitor Hecheng and led most of his troops to pursue He Lanxiong.

Of course, once Li Xin left, he never came back.

Fortunately for Hecheng, because of the last massacre by the Zhao army, almost all the people in Hecheng were killed or injured, and there were very few people left. After the reconstruction of Hecheng, there were very few people living in the city. Because it is rumored that every night, countless innocent souls will wander in the streets and wail. This makes Hecheng almost become a military city. Even if there are a few residents, they all live by the army. Do chores for the army, or sell things to the army to make ends meet.

The small population allowed Hecheng to have more sufficient food reserves to meet this crisis. This is also the reason why Hecheng persisted.

The Qin army left, but Zhao Qi's army came again. After Zhao Qi retreated to Shanggu, he immediately took over Dai County from the retreating Qin army. The Qin people did not care whether they could defeat Hecheng, but However, Zhao Qi had to be eliminated quickly, so after Li Mingjun led his troops to arrive, the offensive against Hecheng became stronger and stronger day by day, which also made Qin Lei's life more and more difficult day by day.

The casualties are getting worse day by day, but the food is getting less and less, and the granary is about to overturn.

A man sat down next to Qin Lei and handed him a black steamed bun and a bowl of water. "Come here, Commander Qin, eat a little to gain strength." The man said with a genuine smile.

The color of the Han county magistrate's attire has long been blurred. His thin face is tinged with blue and black, and his eyes are sunken. He looks to be in his twenties at most. This is Lu Ting, the county magistrate stationed in Hecheng of the Han Dynasty.

"It's not time to distribute buns today. I guess this was distributed to you yesterday. Why didn't you eat it?" Qin Lei looked at the black buns in his hand and asked with a frown.

"I'm not hungry!" Lu Ting licked his mouth and said.

"Fart, you look so disheveled, you're shaking when you walk, aren't you? Take it and eat it." Qin Lei wanted to stuff the bun back.

Lu Ting shook his head: "Commander Qin, you are going to fight in battle. If you don't eat, you won't have the strength. I'm behind, and I don't use a knife or a stick. You consume very little strength every day, and you're always hungry."

"I'm fighting at the front and you are coordinating the battle at the rear. It won't be easier than me. How can you not be hungry?" Qin Lei snorted.

Lu Ting chuckled, "Commander Qin, do you know that I am most afraid of death?"

Qin Lei looked him up and down, "I really didn't see that."

"It's true, I'm really afraid of death. I still have my parents at home, and I haven't married yet. That's why I saved the steamed buns for you!" Lu Ting chuckled: "You If you are strong enough to defend the city after eating, I won’t have to die. If you are weak and unable to defend the city, then Li Mingjun will attack and chop my neck with a knife. It will hurt you, so I would rather starve to death. , and don’t want to be hacked to death.”

Qin Lei looked at the county magistrate who kept saying he was afraid of death, but there was no trace of fear in his eyes. Some were just indifferent. He couldn't help but shook his head and said: "For a scholar, it's not easy for you to be able to regard death as if you're home!"

"Why do you think death is so easy? I'm counting on you, General Qin, to keep the city and I can live a long life!" Lu Ting said: "The situation is great now. Li Xin has been defeated. Don't look at Li Mingjun jumping happily now, waiting for our reinforcements." Once he arrives, he's guaranteed to run faster than a rabbit."

"That's what you said, but it's not easy for our reinforcements to come to Hecheng. Zhao Qi will definitely fortify the defenses at all levels. I'm really worried that we won't be able to survive. By the way, Magistrate Lu, How much food do we have?"

"Each soldier gets one bun a day, and we still have food for five days." Lu Ting raised his hand and waved it in front of Qin Lei.

Qin Lei's heart skipped a beat, "Is there nothing else to eat in the city?"

"As a county magistrate, I am really a man of the sky. Not to mention that I dug out all the people's grain storage cellars. Even the bark and edible leaves of trees were searched cleanly." Lu Ting He said with a smile: "I guess I will definitely leave my name in Hecheng in the future, and it will be written in the future county annals that Lu Ting was appointed as the order, and the sky is three feet high, hahaha!"

Qin Lei didn't say anything. He took a big bite of the bun and chewed it in his mouth. As he chewed, he suddenly made a sound. He looked down at the bun in his hand and saw that it had been split open in the middle. There was actually a piece of bun inside. Small pieces of meat.

“Where does the meat come from?”

Lu Ting blushed, "I was really tired today, so I fell asleep in the corner of the room. As I fell asleep, my face hurt. When I opened my eyes, I found a mouse biting me. I'm evil. I was so excited but overjoyed that I picked up this little thing in one handful, and then naturally it was roasted, and I had already eaten its head, and it was quite delicious!"

Qin Lei looked at Lu Ting, the corners of his eyes were a little moist. If he fell asleep due to exhaustion, he must have fainted from hunger.

"I, after I eat your steamed buns and your meat, I will definitely defend Hecheng. Just watch!" Qin Lei swallowed the steamed buns in two mouthfuls, stood up, put on his helmet, and walked to He took down a brand new sword from the weapons rack beside the wall and strode towards the outside of the Yamen.

In the dead of night, Qin Lei and his clothes were lying on the city tower. He stared at the holes on the roof with wide eyes. They were smashed by the stone bullets thrown by Zhao Jun's trebuchet. The stones had been moved to the city wall. It was broken into small pieces and used as weapons to defend the city, leaving only a large hole on the roof where you can enjoy the starry sky.

Food can last for the last five days, and there are only a little over 2,000 soldiers in the city who can still fight. However, there is no news about where the reinforcements are. Now that Hecheng is isolated, there is no news from the outside at all.

Qin Lei decided to hold on for three more days, and then he would eat everything he could, and then lead his army out of the city to break out of the siege. He could escape as much as he could. He still had to leave some fireworks for Hecheng.

Is it possible for reinforcements to arrive in three days? Qin Lei shook his head. Dongye came from the prairie. If he wants to reach Hecheng, he has to pass the Xiling and Nanzhang passes. It is very difficult. Even if they can fight, it will not be short. Time is a matter of time, and I will never be able to support that time.

Sometimes Qin Lei himself also thinks about what he is insisting on, even Zhao Yong surrendered, what on earth is he insisting on? As time goes by, with the victory of the Han army, Qin Lei finally understands the deepest part of his heart Thoughts. Zhao State is completely finished. The Qin Army has suffered a major loss this time. The rise of Han State has been irresistible, and the surrender of the young master Zhao Yong is the biggest failure. Once the Han Army wins, the punishment for the rebels will be absolutely Be merciless, and your persistence is also to do something for the young master in the future, right? If you are lucky and can survive, with your contribution this time, you can get Zhao Yong's life, right? This is Zilan The Sheriff's last bit of blood is gone.

He sighed deeply, closed his eyes, go to sleep, go to sleep, we have to fight tomorrow, what's the use of thinking about it now?

Qin Lei was awakened by the thunderous sound of banging on the door. He jumped up and opened the door. Outside the door, stood one of his last few soldiers.

"Commander, our reinforcements have arrived, the reinforcements have arrived!" The soldier's face was full of ecstasy, and he jumped and almost shouted the news to him.

"What did you say, reinforcements, reinforcements are coming? Is it Li Mingjun's trick to send people pretending to be reinforcements to get us out of the city?" Qin Lei rushed out, leaned against the battlements, and looked at the Zhao military camp not far away, where the fire was blazing. , the shouts of killing shook the sky, and the thunderous sound of horse hooves struck his heart.

"Commander, look, if it's a pretense, it's so realistic. Moreover, Zhao Jun hasn't seen many cavalry in this period of time, but the intruders seem to be all cavalry!" the soldier said loudly. (Not finished yet. Continued)