I have been a county magistrate for ten years. My subordinates insist on giving me a yellow robe.

At dawn, Yunzhou, Caiyun City.

This city, which has stood for hundreds of years, looks so desolate after being ravaged by war.

Long Guangxian stood at the foot of the city wall, holding a spear in both hands and staring. Behind him, Wang Kuo was breathing heavily, holding a long sword with a broken blade in his hand.

"Wang Kuo, how many brothers are left?" Long Guangxian asked in a hoarse voice.

Wang Kuo shook his head bitterly. Last night, the rebels launched three fierce attacks, and the soldiers stationed in Caiyun City suffered countless losses.

"General, I'm afraid we can't hold on if we don't even have 10,000 men."

Long Guangxian took a deep breath and planted the spear in his hand firmly on the ground: "We must defend it even if we can't!"

"Behind us are the people of Caiyun City. Once the city is breached, the consequences will be disastrous. You and I will both become sinners!"

"General, that's what you say, but even if we all die, I'm afraid we can't hold on. We are now surrounded and food can't get in. I'm afraid the food in the city can only last for another half a month at most."

"Why haven't the imperial troops arrived yet?"

Long Guangxian didn't say anything. He slowly walked to the edge of the city wall and stared at the corpse below.

Looking around, it was so dense that human life became the least valuable thing.

There was a truce at the moment, and the soldiers from both sides cleaned up the battlefield in tacit understanding. This was equivalent to an unwritten rule during war, that every time there was a major battle, people would be sent to carry back the bodies of their own dead.

This is not to say that both sides are honest. If the battlefield is not cleaned up and a plague breaks out, it will be disadvantageous to both sides.

"Any news from the spies we sent out a few days ago?"

Wang Kuo shook his head dully: "No, I even doubt that any spies could escape."

At this point, Long Guangxian could only sigh. The Zhao Dynasty was like a centipede, dying but still alive!

Prince Zhao raised his arm and called for surrender. The troops on that day were not large, only tens of thousands of people, but when the news came out, many soldiers in Yunzhou actually opened the city gates and surrendered.

This led to an increasing number of rebels. As of today, the number of rebels under Caiyun City has reached as many as 50,000.

"General, let's break out." Wang Kuo spoke in a low voice, fearing that his voice would be heard by others and affect the morale of the army.

After a moment of hesitation, Long Guangxian finally shook his head with difficulty: "No, if we lose the city now, we will all be sinners in the future. We absolutely cannot leave."

"General, if we continue fighting, even if we are innocent, people will die. What's the point?"

"The rebels have been rioting for almost a month, but the imperial reinforcements have not arrived yet, and there is not even any news. If we continue to fight to the death, we will probably die in battle. It is better for us to lead the army to break through. As long as we have the green mountains, we will not be afraid of running out of firewood." Wang Kuo spoke again to dissuade him.

"I understand what you said, but I can't leave now. I've made up my mind and there's no need to persuade me anymore." Long Guangxian said, staring straight ahead.

"Wang Kuo, get ready, the rebels are coming again!"

Wang Kuo's heart trembled, and he quickly turned his head to look. A dense army, pushing a large number of siege equipment, was slowly rushing towards them...

-

Somewhere unknown distance away from Yunzhou, a large number of troops were struggling to advance.

The ground under our feet was so muddy that it was not even a road. We took one deep step and one shallow step. The marching speed could only be described as a snail's pace.

"Damn it! How dare they dig up the river? How many people will be drowned!"

Chenliu walked in the mud angrily. No one could have imagined that Prince Zhao would be so cruel. After occupying Jingzhou, he had no intention of defending the city. Instead, he directly dug up countless rivers and flooded the routes for Chenliu troops to support Yunzhou.

"Captain Chen, if this goes on, it will be difficult for us to arrive before Caiyun City is captured." Xue Zhen was also very angry.

It was supposed to be a victory that could be easily achieved, but after ten days of marching, they had only traveled halfway. If they could win, it would be fine, but if they lost, the victory would turn into a fatal disaster.

"He dares! If Long Guangxian dares to lose the city, I will kill him!" Chen Liu said angrily.

Xue Zhen shook his head: "Sir, Long Guangxian is very good at fighting, but his Caiyun City only has 20,000 soldiers. I'm afraid it will be difficult for him to hold on."

Chen Liu was silent for a while. What Xue Zhen said was true. No matter how strong Long Guangxian was, without soldiers and horses, he would be powerless.

"Let's speed up, we should try our best to get there before Long Guangxian loses the city. By the way, Xue Zhen, let the light cavalry go over." Chen Liu said this with great frustration.

Light cavalry, with little equipment, can march extremely fast.

Even in this muddy area, the light cavalry could pass through at a relatively fast speed.

But the problem is that the light cavalry, which can move quickly precisely because of their small amount of equipment, will probably suffer heavy losses if they come into direct contact with the enemy.

But now Chenliu has no other choice. If the entire Yunzhou falls into the hands of the rebels, Caiyun City will become an extremely tough nut to crack. Even if it means sacrificing some light cavalry now, Chenliu must rush to support Caiyun City before it is broken.

"Yes, sir, I will make arrangements right away."

At the same time, at the foot of Caiyun City, Prince Zhao looked at the fortified city in front of him with a firm gaze.

"Xin Wu, you must take this city at all costs!"

"Your Highness, we have launched dozens of attacks in the past three days, resulting in heavy casualties. There are probably nearly 10,000 defenders in Caiyun City now, and it may be difficult to win in one battle." Xin Wu said with a frown.

Prince Zhao took a deep breath and said, "I know Caiyun City is a tough nut to crack, but we don't have much time."

"We gave up Jingzhou just to delay the arrival of reinforcements. I estimate that even if we delay further, Chenliu will arrive with his troops in a few days."

"If we don't capture Caiyun City before this, and we're attacked from both sides, we'll have no choice but to retreat to Yezhou. This is absolutely not what I want to see."

Xin Wu gritted his teeth and nodded: "Yes, Your Highness, I will definitely take Caiyun City before the reinforcements arrive!"

"Well, is there any news from Ding Yin?" Prince Zhao spoke again.

Kong Wang, who was standing by, quickly stepped forward and said, "Your Highness, Ding Yin has sent back word that he will arrive at Luoyun City tomorrow. He leads a force of 20,000 soldiers and horses. I think he will be able to capture Luoyun City in three days at most."

"Okay, as long as we take these two cities, the entire Yunzhou will fall into my hands. Then we can attack Jingzhou or retreat directly to the grassland!" Prince Zhao clenched his fists, and the fighting spirit in his eyes burned wildly.

"Pass the order down. If we fail to capture Caiyun City before sunset, everyone, starting with the captain, will be executed on the spot!"