As soon as he finished speaking, his confidant maid Qiu Yirou turned around again after she released the carrier pigeon.

Qiu Yutang said again: "Yi Rou, prepare three more pigeons and send letters to Hu Xiao Pass, Yunzhou and Youzhou respectively, and ordered Situ Rui to leave five thousand elite troops to garrison Hu Xiao Pass, and the rest of the troops returned to the imperial capital quickly, and then ordered Yan Shisan and Gongsun Xiang to change the marching route. The original plan to assemble to Hu Xiao Pass was cancelled, and the two armies of Shuozhou and Youzhou immediately gathered at the imperial capital at a rapid speed!"

On the official road leading to Xijing from Daojian Gorge, Meng Hu's northern wing of the army was heading south in a mighty manner.

In order to facilitate the march, Meng Hu ordered his soldiers to build a group of horse-drawn sleds, specially used to carry the food, grass and supplies in the army, as well as those soldiers whose feet were frozen or slightly injured. In short, since the Western Expedition, in addition to the soldiers who died in battle, the Western Legion has never left a wounded soldier.

The journey was long, Meng Hu, Qi Diaozi and Jia Wudao were huddling on the same sled and napping. When the army was marching, heavy snow fell from the sky. Jia Wudao looked up at the dark sky and whispered: "This ghost weather is really evil. It's so snowing in April!"

"Ha ha."

Meng Hu laughed when he heard this, "This is God's will. God wants my Tiger Legion to create a great success! If it weren't for the heavy snowfall in succession, how could my Tiger Legion's march be so fast? With the speed of more than a hundred miles a day, even the light cavalry of the Mingyue Empire would not be able to catch up!"

"That's it." Qi Diaozi responded with his neck shrank, "It's a miracle to have this marching speed in the snow and ice!"

Meng Hu hummed twice and continued, "Lao Qi, Lao Jia, what kind of expression will Qiu Fengjin, the emperor of the Mingyue Empire, be surprised? Frustrated? Desperate? Frightened? Frightened? Frightened? Or was he so angry that he jumped into thunder and scolded himself in the Golden Palace? Hahaha..."

Qi Diaozi and Jia Wudao also laughed loudly, and the hearty laughter kept spreading far away in the wind and snow.

After laughing, Meng Hu suddenly asked again: "Old Jia, do you think how far is it from Xijing now?"

Jia Wudao took out the map and looked at it, saying, "Report to the general, it's about two hundred miles away from Xijing now."

"Two hundred miles?" Meng Hu pondered for a moment, turned around and shouted, "Zhang Xingba!"

Zhang Xingba, who was following not far away, hurriedly supported the ground with his hands and two iron halberds. He slid to the sled of Meng Hu and the other two, and then asked in a muffled voice: "General, what are your instructions?"

Meng Hu stretched out his hand and pointed ahead and said grimly: "Two hundred miles ahead is Xijing City. Now you bring 500 elite soldiers Qiao Zhuang Mingyue Empire soldiers to the front station. Take advantage of the news in Xijing City and there is no defense, and you will take down the East Gate in one fell swoop to clear obstacles for the subsequent army to enter the city!"

"yes!"

Zhang Xingba responded with a loud promise, then turned around and shouted to the guard soldiers behind him, "You, you, and you, your four squadrons will change their clothes immediately, put on the military uniforms and armor of the Mingyue Empire soldiers, and go with me to steal the city gate!"

The capital of the Mingyue Empire, Xijing.

The sky was filled with heavy snow, and the Emperor of the Empire was covered with thick cloaks. He was accompanied by the Imperial Prime Minister Xiao Chengliang and other ministers to inspect the refugee camps in the east of the city.

The Guanghui Empire Army launched a massive invasion, and the Mingyue Empire was facing a war of defense of life and death. In order to implement Qiu Yutang's strategy of exchanging space for time, millions of people in Qingzhou were urgently evacuated, and some fled to Yunzhou and Bingzhou in the north, some fled to Zhuozhou and Yingzhou in the south, and more fled to Zhongzhou.

In order to relieve Qingzhou refugees who poured into Zhongzhou, Qiu Fengjin ordered a temporary construction of a huge refugee camp in the east of the city.

In the past few days, blizzards suddenly fell, and many temporary refugee camps were crushed. Thousands of refugees have been frozen to death due to lack of food and clothing. Qiu Fengjin is not very polite to the people, but after inspecting the refugee camps, he finally deeply felt the hardships and difficulty of living at the bottom.

When Qiu Fengjin saw a pair of grandparents and grandchildren being frozen in the wind and snow, he couldn't help but burst into tears.

Qiu Fengjin immediately ordered the poor grandparents and grandchildren to bury the poor grandchildren, and then turned around and ordered the empire prime minister Xiao Chengliang to say, "Xiao Aiqing, you must find a way to collect more food, and then send someone to rebuild the refugee camp, and it must be set up in the shortest time. These Qingzhou people have sacrificed too much for the War of Defense, so we cannot let them suffer any more."

"Oh." Xiao Chengliang sighed and said with some embarrassment, "Your Majesty, the fabric, animal skin and other tents and equipment in Xijing City have almost been collected. If you want to build a refugee camp, you can only build a civil structure. It's okay to talk about the earthwork, but now it's snowy and ice, where can you raise enough wood?"

"Wood?" Qiu Fengjin suddenly said, "Don't Fengling have ready-made wood? Dismantle Fengling's handrail and build a refugee camp! By the way, hundreds of fires are burned to drive away the cold of the people. It's cold and cold. If the fire is not raised to keep warm, how can the people stand it?"

"Ah?" Xiao Chengliang was shocked when he heard this, "Your Majesty, Fengling is your tomb, how can it be..."

"The people are important." Qiu Feng said anxiously, "Fengling has temporarily stopped construction, and it will not be too late to do so next year, but if these people don't have this batch of wood, they may not be able to survive this harsh spring!"

Xiao Chengliang wiped his tears and replied sadly: "The old minister obeys the order."

Watching Xiao Chengliang leave, Qiu Fengjin patrolled several refugee camps accompanied by the ministers. He did not return to the palace until the sky was dusk. Before Qiu Fengjin had time to breathe a sigh of relief, the eunuch hurriedly broke into his bedroom and knelt down and replied, "Your Majesty, the Moon King is anxious to write!"

"The emperor girl is anxious to write?"

Qiu Fengjin, who was sitting and resting, hurriedly took the letter. After reading a few lines, he was so shocked that he stood up suddenly and shouted, "No, big things are not good!"

The queen Xiao Kexin hurried forward to support Qiu Fengjin and asked softly: "Your Majesty, what big thing happened?"

"Tiger!" Qiu Fengjin stomped his feet and said anxiously, "The tiger is coming to Xijing with his tiger army!"

"Ah?" Queen Xiao Kexin was shocked when she heard this, "There is now empty in Xijing. Apart from His Majesty's 3,000 Imperial Guards and the 3,500 guards that are not allowed to be on the table, there is not even a decent regular army. What should I do? Your Majesty, should you please let the Yue King lead the army back to the rescue immediately?"

"What do you know? It's too late to let the emperor lead the army back to the rescue!"

Qiu Feng hummed twice, and no longer had the intention to explain to Queen Xiao Kexin. He immediately said to the eunuch who was still kneeling on the ground: "Hurry, beat the drum and ring the bell quickly, and immediately summon the people's court to discuss the countermeasures overnight! By the way, I will send a commander to the admiral of the Nine Gate to close the Nine Gate immediately, and no idle people are allowed to enter and exit!"

"The old slave obeys the order."

The eunuch agreed to get the order.

The night is dark in the east of Xicheng City.

Xiao Chengliang, the prime minister of the Mingyue Empire, had just brought people to the open space in the middle of the refugee camp in the east of the city. Before he could build a barracks, a long dragon of torches suddenly appeared in the northeast. With the faint light of fire, Xiao Chengliang found that a large group of fully armed regular troops of the Mingyue Empire were lined up in four columns and heading towards the refugee camp.

Hey, where did the regular army come from at this time? Haven’t the two major guards and guards all followed the Moon King to fight?

Xiao Chengliang instinctively felt that things were a little strange, but he had not thought about it any other direction for a while. After all, Meng Hu led his alone army to Zhongzhou and rushing to Xijing was too horrible. No matter how imaginative Xiao Chengliang was, he would never make such crazy inferences without any prompts or sources of information.

In less than a cup of tea, the army entered the refugee camp.

Xiao Chengliang stepped forward and blocked his way and asked loudly: "Which legion are you from?"

A burly general came forward and asked in a muffled voice: "Who are you?"

Xiao Chengliang shook the snowflakes on his clothes and responded loudly: "I Xiao Chengliang."

"Xiao Chengliang?" The burly general frowned and said coldly, "I haven't heard of it, get out of here!"

Xiao Chengliang was shocked when he heard this, thinking that there were still soldiers from Mingyue Empire who didn’t know who they were? This was too incredible, right? Before Xiao Chengliang could turn his mind, the attendant behind him could no longer hold back. He yelled in anger: "The bold madman, how dare he be so rude to the prime minister!"

"Prince!?" The burly general opened his eyes wide and asked suddenly, "Are you the prime minister of the Mingyue Empire?"

Xiao Chengliang's servant raised his head and replied proudly: "That's it!"

"Haha." The burly general laughed twice and waved his hand and shouted, "Catch all the people here!"

The soldiers of the Mingyue Empire behind the general responded to the promise and rushed forward like a tiger and wolf. Without saying a word, Xiao Chengliang and his servants fell to the ground. Seeing this, Xiao Chengliang was shocked and shouted sternly: "No, you are not soldiers of the empire, you are spies of the enemy country, spies!"

"Hehe, I finally got it? It's a pity that it's too late!"

The burly general yelled twice and shouted to an officer behind him, "Stay here and look forward to this big fish, and the rest of the brothers will go with me to grab the city gate!"

"yes!"

The Mingyue Empire Army behind the general responded to the promise and immediately divided a small team from the brigade of troops, escorting Xiao Chengliang and his servants to the edge of the refugee camp. The other teams continued to move forward and rushed straight to the east gate of Xijing. Xiao Chengliang was so anxious that he was worried that Xijing City was not prepared. If this group of spies took the city gate, the consequences would be unimaginable!

Of course, this burly general was nothing but Zhang Xingba who came to snatch the city gate.

Zhang Xingba accidentally caught a big fish in the East Gate refugee camp, but it was a big mistake. When his guard arrived outside the right east gate of Xijing, the emperor of the Mingyue Empire Qiu Fengjin had just issued an order to "close the nine gates" and the heavy right east gate was closed with only a crack left. The suspension bridge on the moat had risen in mid-air.

Just half a step away, Zhang Xingba failed to enter the city and seize the gate.

"Hey, why close the city gate??" Zhang Xingba was anxious and shouted sternly to the soldiers on the city wall, "Open the city gate quickly and let us in!"

The defenders at the city wall asked, "Who are you? Which legion belongs?"

Zhang Xingba shouted loudly: "We are from the Third Division of the Qingzhou Legion. I heard that the emperor was in danger, so I was ordered by the veteran General Situ to return to the imperial capital overnight. In addition, there was an emergency military report to His Majesty the Emperor. Open the city gate quickly and let us in. Otherwise, if you miss a big deal, you can't afford it!"

The defenders on the city wall said coldly: "I'm sorry, Your Majesty has an order. All nine gates are closed. No idle people are allowed to enter and exit. If there is any emergency military situation, just shoot it with a bow and arrow. I can report it on my behalf! As for you and your troops, stay outside the city first, and someone will naturally come to receive you!"

"It's outrageous!" Zhang Xingba said furiously, "If you don't open the city gate, I will lead my troops to attack the city!"

The defenders at the city wall said coldly: "Don't dare to approach the moat, kill them without any hesitation!"

A creaking sound of bowstring collapse suddenly sounded on the top of the city. The dozens of guard soldiers guarding the city were already packing the longbows in their hands. The cold clusters of arrows had already aimed at Zhang Xingba outside the city. Zhang Xingba was furious and furious. He pulled the bow and took the arrow without hesitation. He shot out a whoosh, nailed the captain of the guards on the top of the city to death.

The dozens of defenders guarding the city were shocked when they saw this. They didn't bother to shoot arrows and hurt people. They all hid behind the doves. Two clever men hurriedly hid in the arrow tower. Soon, there was a constant sound of horns on the city. When the horns sounded, the guard soldiers in the right east gate military camp suddenly became turbulent. They grabbed weapons one by one, cursing and snatching the city.

Ten miles away.

When Meng Hu, who was about to turn over the horse when he heard the sound of the horn, said in surprise: "Why, have you failed?"

Qi Diaozi also frowned and said, "It seems that General Xingba's sneak attack failed. What's going on? Could it be that there is still a large army in Xijing City, or the other party is already prepared?"

Jia Wudao sighed and smiled bitterly: "No matter what, we have to make the worst plan. If we fail to attack the city gate and attack it, it will be a big deal! Xijing City Gaochishen, even if the troops in the city are empty, it will not be easy for us to build siege equipment in a short period of time."

"Yes." Qi Diaozi frowned, "It takes a lot of wood to build siege equipment, but the way south is full of plains, and there is no tree at all. I'm eager to get these wood? If you dig the tunnel, it will definitely last for a long time. Moreover, we are not familiar with the soil outside Xijing, so it's easy to take detours, alas."

"not busy."

Meng Hu waved his hand and said, "Isn't this good show just beginning? As the saying goes, there must be a road before the car arrives at the mountain, and the boat will naturally be straight when it reaches the bridge. Since our army has already reached the outside of Xijing City, how can this mere moat and a section of city walls block the 60,000 tiger and wolf army of my Tiger Legion?"

Golden Palace.

The autumn wind is strong and discussing countermeasures with all officials in the court.

Hearing the endless sound of horns sounded in the east direction, Qiu Fengjin was shocked and said in a lost voice: "It's broken, it's broken, it's broken. I didn't expect this tiger to kill outside the city so quickly. I don't know if the east gate and the left and right east gates were closed. If I didn't have time to close it, it would be a big deal!"

"Don't worry, your Majesty."

Upon hearing this, the Admiral of the Nine Gate came out and said, "I have already ordered the closing of the Nine Gate. Even if the Tiger Legion really kills outside the city, I will never be able to enter the city!"

"Report..."

As soon as the Admiral of the Nine Gate finished speaking, the Imperial Guard came to the hall and said, "Your Majesty, the enemy spies tried to cheat the gate just now, but our defenders discovered it. Now the two armies are fighting fiercely outside the right east gate!"

Qiu Feng Jin heard the news and felt relieved. He took a breath and looked around the ministers, asking, "Dear friends, tell me, is there any good way to defend the city?"

The Minister of War came out and reported: "Your Majesty, the Yue King's army is thousands of miles away. Although the two armies of Shuozhou and Youzhou are slightly close to the imperial capital, they are seven or eight hundred miles away. They are difficult to arrive in a hurry. Now, they can only recruit elite troops from the city to help defend the city. Otherwise, it would be impossible to defend the city with only three thousand imperial guards and those thousands of guards."

"Yes, yes." Qiu Fengjin wiped his sweat with his sleeves and responded repeatedly, "Hurry up and recruit Min Zhuang. This matter will be handled by my dear minister in full. We must recruit Min Zhuang overnight!"

The Minister of War thought for a while and said, "Your Majesty, there are only more than a thousand guards in the east gate and the left and right gates. The troops are too weak, and the city is strong and eager to recruit them. Should we first allocate the Imperial Guards to support us? Otherwise, if the Tiger Legion takes advantage of the situation, it will be broken."

"Yes, yes." Qiu Fengjin replied repeatedly, "Immediately dispatch the Imperial Guards to the East Gate to support them, right away!"

East of Xijing City.
To be continued...