Chapter Nineteen: One Gate and Three Generals

  That was indeed a fire dragon, but what he saw was several miles away from the county town, with dense flames forming a long dragon that stretched and coiled its way straight to Xiajin. The front and back stretched for two miles! Liang Heng's smile froze on his face as he knew this absolutely wouldn't be the imperial army, could it be the bandits' reserve troops?

  At this point, he knew that Xiajin would soon fall, and waiting on the city wall to die was futile. He decided to prepare an escape route instead. With a determined mind, he quietly retreated from the city wall, ignoring his subordinates' loud calls behind him, and headed towards a small alley. The chaotic crowd of civilians on the street saw the county magistrate rushing by, unaware of what was happening, and rumors immediately spread.

  Outside the city, Xu Sheng and a group of local militiamen were already surrounded. Relying on their exceptional martial arts skills to fend off the enemy, but there were too many bandits, they were showing signs of fatigue. At this time, the gate behind them was also closed, apart from certain death, it seemed like there was no other way out.

  Xu Sheng rode his horse, with the most obvious goal, he wore armor, and the thieves knew he must be a government official, so they rushed forward desperately, trying to take down this achievement. The big knife in his hand was getting heavier and heavier, and the wound on his waist was bleeding non-stop, he didn't know how much longer he could hold on.

  "If my ninth brother were here, what would I fear from these petty thieves?"

  A mother's child, Xu Sheng understood his younger brother better than their father did. That young man was born with a talent for martial arts and had already mastered his father's skills before he came of age, not in the least inferior to himself. What's more, Xu Wei was not only extremely brave but also had superhuman endurance, able to go without food or water while carrying dozens of kilograms from Xu Family Village all the way to Wu Cheng County. But that poor younger brother, having just recovered from a serious illness and barely escaped with his life, was again...

  Suddenly! Xusheng's tall body fell fiercely from the horseback! It turned out that the war horse was already old and had been exhausted for several days, unable to withstand the drive, and lost its front hoof! The surrounding rebel soldiers were overjoyed when they saw it, and all kinds of long and short weapons came together to greet him! Xusheng saw that he was about to lose his life on the spot!

  Just then, a loud shout was heard from within the enemy ranks: "This is bad! The government troops have arrived!"

  Upon hearing this, many bandits looked around in all directions! Indeed! From the southeast direction, a fire dragon rushed over. These robbers could see at a glance that it was countless torches! Just by visual estimation, it can be concluded that there were at least 3,000 people or more! Our Qian Niu Mountain's men and horses are almost all here, except for the government army, who else could it be?

  These bandits have a characteristic when fighting, they only fight in favorable situations. Once they appear to be losing or the situation becomes stalemate, they immediately retreat. Tonight's attack on Wucheng County was already unfavorable, and many people had thoughts of retreating. At this time, seeing the large batch of reinforcements from the government rushing over, but with no one taking overall command, why not escape?

  Moreover, Xu Sheng had experienced the Song-Liao War and was rich in actual combat experience. After falling off his horse, he tightly grasped his weapon and didn't let go. With one slash of his knife, he forced open the enemy soldiers who were pressing in on him, flipped over and jumped up, just as he was about to make a final desperate strike! Suddenly, he discovered that all the enemy soldiers surrounding him were running away? It wasn't just them, all the bandits besieging Xiajin were fleeing, but they weren't running towards the east.

  "The reinforcements have arrived!" The exhausted militiamen on the city wall shouted to all directions, and the civilians inside the city also cheered loudly! After resisting bitterly for several hours, they were about to collapse, but just at this moment, the reinforcements arrived. What could be more exciting than a long-awaited rain?

  Xu Sheng couldn't get excited, he knew that this was absolutely not the reinforcement troops. Among the various states and counties, only the Daming Prefecture had imperial guard troops stationed there, so who were these people coming from the southeast? Looking at their formation, it seemed like they had around 3,000 to 4,000 cavalry. Could it be...

  A thread of despair rose in his heart, was it another bandit?

  "My goodness! Chase them up and kill all these beasts!" A militia from Xujiacun initiated the call, which was immediately responded to by his companions.

  Xu Sheng brandished his sword and shouted loudly: "No! Do not pursue the defeated enemy! Hurry back to the city to respond to the changing situation!"

  As soon as this was said, the militiamen of Xujiazhuang Township were covered in sweat, what else could change? The thieves had long since tucked their tails and fled!

  As soon as he entered the city, Xu Sheng hastily looked for County Magistrate Liang Heng to discuss important matters, but he was nowhere to be found. A yamen runner reported that Magistrate Liang had quietly slipped out of the city gate and it was unknown where he had gone. Gnashing his teeth, Xu Sheng issued a military order to strictly guard each city gate and wait in battle formation! He himself climbed up onto the city wall and looked far into the distance.

  The group of people didn't take long to arrive outside the city. A few riders galloped ahead and arrived at the city gate, where one of them shouted loudly towards the tower: "Open the door quickly!"

  "Who are you waiting for? How dare you gather a crowd..." The city gate guard shouted back.

  "Old Master Xu of Yangyan Village has arrived at the county town to provide reinforcements as ordered by my ninth brother! Open the gate quickly!" A young man outside the city wall shouted loudly.

  "Which road is your ninth brother a god of?" The city above asked again.

  "Got it! My ninth brother is Xu Jia Zhuang's tiger, Xiajin's little overlord, Xu Wei! Old Ninth of the Xu family!"

  On the city wall, Xu Sheng saw clearly and heard distinctly! The little boy who replied under the city was indeed Yang Yan! Overjoyed in his heart, he hastily called out: "Yang Yan! How is Xu Family Village? Where is my ninth brother?"

  Yang Yanguang wore a leather apron, holding a rolled-up hatchet, and saw an officer leaning out of the city gate tower. Who else could it be but Xu Sheng? He hastily replied: "Fourth Brother Xu! Nothing's going on at Xu Family Village! Ninth Brother, Ninth Brother! Ah, Zhang Qing, where's Ninth Brother?"

  Zhang Qing looked around in all directions, but couldn't find Xu Wei's figure. Just as he was puzzled, he saw Xu Wei being surrounded by a large crowd of people coming over.

  Xu Sheng on the wall saw that among the group of people, a young man wore armor, held a broken sword, and walked with a majestic gait. He walked all the way to the foot of the city wall, looked up, and smiled before speaking. Whose spoiled child was this? His face was covered in bloodstains, except for his eyes and white teeth, it was impossible to see his true features!

  "Fourth brother, I'm here."

  What a wonderful sight! It's really my ninth brother! It's that little scamp! Overjoyed, Xu Sheng hastily ordered: "Open the gate!" After saying this, he threw his large knife to his subordinates and rushed down the stairs in several big strides, just as Xu Wei was entering the city. From head to toe, then from toe to head, he gave him a thorough once-over, seeing that his brother looked like this, feeling both joy and shock, sadness and all sorts of emotions surging up in his heart, without saying another word, he gave him a big bear hug!

  Xu Wei was stunned and then couldn't help but laugh bitterly. Why am I so popular today? Who sees me wants to hug me?

  "Lao Jiu, how are you..." Too many questions swirled in his mind, and for a moment, Xu Sheng didn't know where to start asking.

  Zhang Qing beside him smiled and continued: "Xu Fourth Brother, this is a long story..."

  He had not finished speaking, when Yang Yan suddenly raised his broken spear and roared: "Tonight, we have defended Xujiayuan! Defended Xiajin County! I ask you, who inspired us? Who led us?"

  "Xu Wei! Xu Wei! Xu Wei!" The sudden burst of cheers echoed throughout Xiajin City! Xu Wei, with his bravery and boldness, washed away dozens of insults such as "troublemaker", "harmful spirit", and "prodigal son", earning the respect of all!

  The people in the county town who didn't know the truth heard someone shouting "Xu Wei" and their first reaction was, what? Did Xu Jiu fall into trouble? Was tonight's incident caused by him?

  Xu Sheng was stunned for a moment, the astonishment in his heart could not be described. What? Was it my ninth brother who led Xu's village to resist the bandits? How is this possible? He is my younger brother, I don't even know how old he is! Can he do such a great thing? Impossible, absolutely impossible, am I dreaming?

  Zhang Qing saw his suspicious look, so he briefly recounted the events from start to finish. Yang Yan was unhappy and added Xu Wei's "heroic deeds", adding flowers and leaves, oil and vinegar, and vividly described him as if he were Zhuge Liang reborn or Guan Yu reincarnated.

  Xu Sheng was stunned for a long time, and after finally catching his breath, he muttered: "The ancestors bless us, our family is fortunate..."

  "Fourth brother, don't listen to Yang Yan's nonsense, it's not that great. Moreover, if it weren't for the unity and cooperation of Xu family village's elders and brothers, what could I have accomplished on my own? Speaking of reinforcing the county town, I must thank Zhang Qing. If he hadn't come up with the idea of using the 'ten-character fire torches', how could we have scared off the enemy?" Xu Wei said with a smile. It turned out that Zhang Qing had understood the meaning behind Xu Wei's words "What if our troops were not just dozens of people?", and came up with the idea of having each person in Xu family village hold two specially made "ten-character fire torches", except for the one they held in their hand, lighting the other three. This way, one person was equivalent to six people. From a distance, the several hundred men, women, and children of Xu family village became a force of thousands.

  Xu Sheng listened and was both surprised and delighted, looking at the several vigorous young men in front of him, he sighed: "You are all great! You are all good sons of Xu's Village!"

  When the first ray of dawn shines into Xiajin City, this small county under the jurisdiction of the Daming Mansion has restored peace. The people in the city spontaneously organized to bury the bodies of the bandits, collect the remains of the fallen heroes, and clean up the battlefield.

  This battle, including the more than 200 people annihilated at Xujiayuan, a total of more than 500 bandits were eliminated, and 73 people were captured. On the side of Xiajin County, more than 300 militia died in battle, among them, 35 people died in battle at Xujiayuan.

  This achievement is glorious for the militia who had never received military training!

  At the gate of Xiajin City, two rows of soldiers in bright armor stood majestically. However, no matter how majestic their military bearing was, all they got from the ordinary people was a silent curse: Cowards! We've already finished fighting, and you bunch of useless soldiers just arrived. If it were up to you, Xiajin would have been defeated long ago!

  A horse carriage stopped slowly at the city gate, and a tall, majestic old man with a strong physique got off the carriage, leaning on his cane. Several robust men supported him as they walked towards the inner city. Seeing his haughty demeanor, a deputy captain in charge of guarding the city gate intentionally blocked their way, drew his sword and shouted: "Who is this person?"

  The old man didn't respond and didn't even glance at him. Just as he was about to get angry, a man beside the old man replied: "This is Xu Taigong."

  Xu Taigong? Never heard of him! This poor and remote place doesn't have any notable figures, I suppose it's... Wait, what's this about the surname Xu? This is something that needs to be asked carefully. Nowadays, the character "Xu" carries special weight in Xiajin.

  "May I ask, who is Xu Si, the commander of the army?" asked the deputy captain.

  "That is Tai Gong's eldest son." The man replied.

  Fu Du's expression changed slightly as he asked again: "May I ask, who is the man known as the Tiger of Xiajin, Xu Wei Xu Jiulang?"