Black Fairy, the master is a female ghost

One hundred miles north of Huilong Town, the army marched quickly all night and was exhausted by dawn.

No matter how anxious Lu Xunhuan was, he couldn't let the soldiers run away to death.

He could only order everyone to rest on the spot, eat dry food quickly, and then sleep for two hours before setting off again.

From the south, a Pegasus came rushing over: "Report."

A soldier dismounted from his horse, knelt, and saluted. "My lord and princess, the defenders of Zhongzhou City have been completely annihilated, but the city remains intact. General Bu has already led 20,000 cavalry into the city. He has promised to defend it to the death. Simply ask my army to arrive within three days."

The Eighteenth Prince breathed a sigh of relief: "It's good that the city hasn't been breached. Then let's do as the General ordered and try to reach Zhongzhou City within three days."

Lu Xunhuan said to the soldier who reported the news, "Rest for a while, then explore again and report back."

After the soldier left, he said to the Eighteenth Prince, "Prince, we should head south as quickly as possible. The Zhongzhou City garrison has been completely annihilated. It will be difficult for General Bu to hold out for more than three days with only his 20,000 soldiers."

The Eighteenth Prince said, "But this is the order of the General. Before we set out, my father specifically instructed us to follow the General's instructions in everything."

Lu Xun Huan asked Princess Sixteen, "Princess, what do you think?"

Princess Sixteen said, "It is indeed difficult to defend the city with 20,000 soldiers. We should hurry up and set off immediately after the soldiers have rested."

Prince Eighteen said, "Sixteenth sister, the soldiers have been running all night and are exhausted. If they continue running, they will die of exhaustion. Moreover, no one has any baggage. Even if they enter the city, they will not be able to fight. We must trust General Bu. He can hold out for three days."

After speaking to the Sixteenth Princess, he turned to Lu Xunhuan and said, "Don't meddle with me. If you do, I will not allow you to accompany the army. Let the soldiers rest well during the day and march after dark."

Lu Xunhuan looked up at the sky, feeling helpless.

At this time, outside Zhongzhou City, the enemy army had been preparing all night, the war drums sounded, and the siege officially began.

They did not surround the city, but instead concentrated their forces to attack the south gate.

The infantrymen came like a tide, holding shields and ladders and shouting.

On the city wall, General Bu had not been able to rest for a long time and his eyes were red.

When the enemy rushed to the city and set up ladders, he shouted, "Down!"

On the city wall, soldiers carried wooden barrels, poured down kerosene, and threw down torches.

A moment later, flames burned fiercely under the south city wall. Many enemy infantrymen who were preparing to attack the city below were burned and ran back screaming.

The enemy commander, upon seeing this situation, waved his hand and said, "Throw stones."

Amidst the rumbling sound, fifty catapults lined up in a row and moved forward.

After reaching the range, they all stopped.

A captain gave the order: "Release them."

In an instant, stones flew down like raindrops and fell on the city walls.

The soldiers on the city wall, several of them holding up a large iron shield, fought hard.

There was a flurry of rocks, most of which were blocked by the soldiers.

However, there were a few shields that were not made with good quality and were smashed on the spot, killing the soldiers in the rear.

Outside the city, the enemy, under the cover of catapults, carried sandbags and quickly ran to the bottom of the city wall and threw them into the fire.

Soon, the fire was put out.

A quarter of an hour later, each catapult threw ten stones onto the city wall, and the enemy general waved his hand to signal to stop.

Immediately, the sound of killing arose outside the city again, and the infantry came in overwhelming numbers.

Soon, a large number of soldiers climbed up the ladders and struggled to climb up.

General Bu removed his shield, looked down, and waved his hand, saying, "Wood."

One after another, thick wooden beams were lifted up and rolled down the ladder.

The wooden beams were equipped with iron nails and rushed down with tremendous force, not only knocking down all the soldiers climbing on the ladders, but also rolling forward after landing, causing considerable casualties to the enemy.

When the enemy general saw this, he hurriedly ordered the catapults to fire again.

In an instant, rocks were flying all over the sky and smashing down heavily on the city wall.

On the city wall, the defenders held up their shields and put up a hard resistance.

While the enemy below took advantage of the cover of the catapults, dozens of soldiers pushed out the battering hammers and quickly headed towards the south gate.

General Bu had seen everything below through the gap.

He gave the order: "Notify the lower levels to block the city gates."

Below, a hundred soldiers guarding behind the city gate received the order and hurriedly moved sandbags and piled them in the city gate hole, quickly filling it up.

Even if the enemy broke through the gate, they would not be able to break in for a while.

After a while, outside the city, the catapults stopped firing, and below the city gate, the enemy troops were already banging on the gate frantically.

General Bu ordered, "Thatch and kerosene."

Bundles of straw were thrown down, followed by kerosene and torches.

A raging fire quickly broke out under the city gate. The battering ram was on fire, and dozens of soldiers who were attacking the gate were also on fire. They fled back screaming in flames.

The enemy general frowned and asked, "Who is the defending commander?"

A deputy general beside him reported, "It seems to be that Bu."

The enemy general stroked his beard and said, "He arrived so quickly? I underestimated him. Send out orders, change your strategy, surround the city, and attack from all sides."

At this time, at the north gate, a large number of people were still fleeing.

The prefect, along with his family, Li Ziyan and others, changed into civilian clothes, mixed in with the crowd, and also hurried north.

People heading north were running everywhere. There was a group of people from the Shenlong Pavilion. They avoided the main road, crossed mountains and ridges, and went through the small path.

The other group of people were members of the Immortal Friends Association led by Qiao Zheng. They originally wanted to follow the people, but after a few miles out of the city, they found that they were moving too slowly, so they left the crowd, walked through the deep ditch, and went into the dense forest.

Less than half an hour after they left, the enemy had surrounded the city on all sides.

One hundred miles north of Huilong Town, Lu Xunhuan waited anxiously and helplessly for the entire day.

At dusk, he could not wait to ask the Eighteenth Prince to lead the army forward immediately.

The Eighteenth Prince had rested enough and naturally agreed to set off, so he ordered the entire army to set off.

By midnight, the army was still fifty miles away from Huilong Town.

The sound of horse hooves can be heard, and scouts are arriving.

"Report, Prince, Princess, Zhongzhou City was breached at dusk."

The Eighteenth Prince was shocked: "What, where is General Bu?"

The spy reported, "The enemy force was too numerous. General Bu led 20,000 soldiers in a fierce defense for an entire day. The west gate was breached first, and then the entire city was breached. General Bu's life or death is unknown."

The Eighteenth Prince panicked: "What should we do? We can't fight the enemy like this. Why don't we wait for Wei Ying to arrive with the baggage?"

Lu Xunhuan said, "We should rush to Huilong Town immediately, set a trap, and try to annihilate the enemy there. If we let the enemy pass Huilong Town, the plain behind us will be hundreds of miles away and there will be no strategic location to defend."

Princess Sixteen nodded and said, "I support you. Give the order for the entire army to speed up and rush to Huilong Town to set up defenses. Those who need to rest can do so once they arrive."

The Eighteenth Prince retreated and said, "You go first, I'll catch up later."

Lu Xun Huan looked at the Sixteenth Princess and said, "Princess, why don't you come behind me? I will lead the troops first."

Princess Sixteen shook her head: "No, I'll go with you. Let's go."

If Zhongzhou City had sufficient war supplies, it might be able to hold out for a few more days.

But those officials, both high and low, were thinking about corruption all day long and had no time to focus on war preparations.

Besides, they did not expect that the pass would be breached by the enemy so quickly, and they did not expect that the enemy would come so quickly after breaching the pass.

Under the consumption of high-intensity warfare, the supplies that could be used for combat in the city were quickly exhausted.

Even if General Bu had the talent to lead troops, he was powerless in the face of a shortage of supplies.

He can guard one city gate, but not all.

Perhaps he didn't expect that there would be so few war supplies in Zhongzhou City.

Everything was beyond his calculation, and everything was beyond his control.

He never expected to die in battle in Zhongzhou City.

Not only him, how many of the civil and military officials in Kyoto City could have thought of this?