Xie Ming

Chapter 224: Reporting from the Court
On the night of the seventh day, Chang Ting came hurriedly from the west to a place in the western section of the northern city gate of Baoding Prefecture. He happened to meet Lu Gucang who was squatting under the parapet eating, and the two started chatting.

The barn asked why Changting came from the west.

"Hey! I just received the general's order and went to Xiguan for some errands!"

"Hey, that's right!"

"Barn, have you seen the General?"

"Where is he now? I have important news and must report it to you immediately!" Chang Ting explained and also asked about the general's whereabouts.

"Oh? General, the general is here." Hearing this, Gucang stood up and looked towards the east section.

"Deputy General Gu, I don't know about this!"

"However, our captain is not far to the east, you can go ask him!" Lu Gucang scratched his head and replied helplessly.

Upon hearing this, Changting smiled bitterly.

"Got it!"

"Okay, eat it, barn!"

"After this battle, I'll have some free time to chat with you!"

"I'm leaving!"

Seeing the situation, Changting did not delay any longer. He said goodbye to Lu Guncang and hurriedly ran eastward.

Following Changting's footsteps, we hurried along the road along the city wall at the North Gate. Looking at it now, it was quite noisy and chaotic during the war.

Taking turns to eat, fighting against the enemy, the miserable cries of the wounded beside the dead bodies, and the blood-stained floor of the corridor mixed with earth and stone debris!
For a moment, there was a chaotic sound of gunfire, shouting, wailing, and the sounds of chaos. The soldiers, the various flags, and the captains were communicating with each other, and the coordinated shouting and yelling were also mixed in. The scene was chaotic and complicated, and it was only barely maintained.

Changting walked eastward for another hundred steps, gradually approaching the middle of the North Gate, and finally saw Sun Peizhong, who was busy assigning tasks by the wall.

In front of Peizhong, there were also three or five people gathered, waiting for orders and seemingly discussing something.

Changting walked closer and took another look, and realized that these people were the soldiers and generals that he and Minglu brought from the southeast of Zide City, so he spoke hurriedly.

"Pei Zhong?!"

"Hey, Pei Zhong!"

“Weren’t these transferred here by Minglu and I?!”

"Where are the Minglu people?"

"Why do I leave everything to you to take care of again?!" Chang Ting took two steps closer and asked loudly.

"Ugh!"

"Minglu doesn't have the skills to do this!"

"Look how busy he is!"

"Look, I was just called to go to the city to allocate equipment and military supplies!"

"Hey! Changting, why did you come back just now?!"

"It's a mess here. Look, there are wounded soldiers on the city wall, and they are being asked to carry them down!"

"You, don't go anywhere!"

"Quick! Come over here and take over!"

"You two have brought these several hundred people, take them to the eastern section to ward off the enemy!"

"Help me loosen my grip too!"

Peizhong replied in a hoarse voice amid the gunfire, then put on a bitter look, trying to pass on some of the things at hand to others to relieve the pressure!
But Changting is finding it difficult to respond at the moment.

"Hey, Peizhong, you better wait a moment!"

"I have returned from Xiguan with important news. I must report it to the general immediately!"

"Hold on for now, I'll tell you when I come back!"

"Oh, that's right! Peizhong, the general? Do you know where he is now?!" Changting refuted and then asked again.

"Ah? Oh, okay, okay!"

"General?"

"Look, behind the wall on the reverse slope ahead!"

"Master Qiu is also there. He should be discussing military matters and holding a meeting!"

"Then don't delay, go quickly!" Peizhong sighed, feeling helpless.

"OK!"

"Hold on for a while and wait for me to come back!"

After he finished speaking, Changting patted Peizhong on the shoulder, said nothing more, and hurried back to the path.

boom!
Boom boom!

The two men said goodbye to each other, but the enemy's and our own artillery showed no sign of stopping and continued to roar in their ears!

At the same time, not far away on the road, Xiao Jingchuan also couldn't stay idle for a moment.

"Feiyu (Qiu Zhizhong), in the past two days, the casualties among the entire Baoding army are approaching 2,000!"

"There's no news from Huchen Mancheng yet, the situation is unclear!"

"Have you received any response from the informant that Qi Gang sent out?!" Xiao Jingchuan raised his voice to inquire in the noisy environment.

"Alas! Not at the moment!"

"Old Xiao, we have suffered heavy casualties here, but the situation on the enemy side led by Ajige will only be worse than ours!"

"I just got the numbers back from Minglu. So far, the ratio of our casualties is roughly three to one."

"The military supplies in our city are quite adequate!"

"I think it won't be a problem to hold out for a month or so!"

"In my opinion, you don't have to worry so much!" Zhizhong replied with comforting words.

"Hey! Feiyu, you just came up from below, and the situation in the city is not clear yet!"

"Right now, the food problem is secondary. The main problem is the lack of medicine in the army. There are too many wounded soldiers right now. It's hard to effectively treat those who have been carried away. What's more, with this kind of fighting, the number of wounded soldiers will only increase!"

"I just asked Minglu to go down and prepare. Look at him, he is already overwhelmed!"

During the conversation, Xiao Jingchuan looked worried and anxious.

But at this moment, not far away, Chang Ting also hurried over with the news.

"General!"

"General! I'm back!" Chang Ting called out.

Upon hearing this, Xiao Lang tilted his head to look.

"Oh? It's Changting!" Xiao Jingchuan replied.

"General!"

"Hey, General!"

"We are going to Xiguan. I have already given you instructions for everything!"

"Oh, and I have important news to bring back!" Chang Ting came closer and reported.

"Huh? Really?"

"What's the news? Tell me quickly!" Xiao Lang urged when he saw the situation.

"Haha, it's Qi Gang!"

"Just now when I was at Xiguan, I happened to see Qi Gang arrange for scouts outside the city to return and report the news. Flying arrows delivered the news to the city."

"It is said that there is the latest battle report in the whole city!"

As he spoke, Chang Ting hurriedly took out a broken arrow from his bosom, with a note tied to it.

Seeing this, Xiao Jingchuan hurriedly reached out to take it, opened it and examined it.

"Ha ha!"

"Hahaha"

"Okay! Wow!"

"This Hu Chen is such a fierce general! He really lives up to everyone's expectations! Haha!"

"Here, Feiyu, look!"

Since the war broke out, Xiao Lang rarely had such a relaxed look and laughed so happily.

While speaking, he handed the note to Qiu Zhizhong, and turned his head to face the Death Star, Mr. Liu, Gu Changting and others in front of him, and explained the words.

"This note says that the battle in the city is over!"

"The plan to burn the whole city has been accomplished!"

"Hu Chen led his army of more than a thousand men and horses and has taken the initiative to evacuate the city."

"In the battle of Mancheng, we annihilated at least 3,000 Guanning troops! Wu Sangui and his troops returned in great defeat!"

"Hahaha" Xiao Lang laughed.

Hearing such good news, Changting and Sangmenxing who were surrounding him also grinned and smiled.

But at this time, only Zhizhong, after hearing the news, still frowned.

After a while, when Xiao Lang came back to his senses, he hurriedly added a reminder.

"Old Xiao!"

"I think this is a happy thing, but it is definitely not time for us to celebrate yet!"

(End of this chapter)