Chapter 65: The Crisis of Dongjiazhuang

  After the Jin army invaded, Ye Xuan had ordered the Ye family army to clear the walls and fields, but the area inside the Luoyun fortress was limited, and time was also limited, so it was impossible for all residents within the territory to be transferred into the fortress. Especially Dongjiazhuang and Xinzhuang, which were also considered large fortresses, Ye Xuan ordered them to defend strictly and prepare for battle.

  Xinzhuang is still okay, but inside Dongjiazhuang, there are still some military officers secretly sending their families to Luoyunbao, Chen Tong and Dong Xiang are among them.

  Ye Xuan also understood their psychology, and turned a blind eye. However, if the officers and soldiers themselves deserted their posts, they would be beheaded on the spot if caught.

  After the two laughed, Chen Tong looked at the Jin army scouts whistling outside the city and said fiercely: "I, old Chen, have killed countless people in my life, good and bad, heaven has blessed me, and I have had a son. Even if I die now, my ancestors will not blame me for being unfilial!"

  His words were quite resolute. Dong Xiang also fell silent after hearing them.

  The situation outside Dongjiazhuang Fortress was repeated outside Xinzhuang.

  When the golden soldiers arrived, the young and strong villagers inside Xinzhuang were in a panic. However, outside the fort of Xinzhuang, those Jin cavalry scouts encountered a large group of Tibetan monks.

  The entire outer perimeter of Xinzhuangbao was filled with large pits and holes, just like the west side of Luoyunbao. This prevented the Jin army scouts from getting too close.

  However, after reconnaissance outside Dongjiazhuang, the people of Luoyunbao had already made up their minds at the beginning of Chen time in the morning. The Jin army outside Luoyunbao immediately withdrew from the camp, with red and white armor flags all over the place, leaving Luoyunbao in an orderly manner.

  As the golden army departed, the entire city of Luoyun Fortress was filled with cheers, but only Ye Xuan and others had a heavy heart. This departure of the golden army may not be a good thing. It's just unknown what the situation is like in other fortresses.

  He summoned Zhao Jie to bring over the top-notch soldiers who were on night watch, and these few people had exceptional scouting abilities, especially Zhong Jun left a deep impression on Ye Xuan.

  He said to Zhong Jun: "The barbarians have left Luoyun Fortress, I want to know their movements, do you dare to lead men to scout ahead?"

  Zhong Jun gritted his teeth and knelt down on one knee. He clasped his fists together in a salute to Ye Xuan, saying: "I am willing to die for General Sir."

  Ye Xuan gazed at him: "Good job, after you return, be a deputy captain of a small team that doesn't take a salary for a night!"

  Jong Jun's eyes flashed with joy, he bowed down to the ground, "Don't worry, sir, I will definitely scout out the barbarians' intelligence and report back!"

  Zhong Jun led a small team out of the city at night, but they didn't come back after they left.

  At the beginning of the late afternoon, Ye Xuan and others suddenly heard a faint cry for help coming from the direction of Dongjiazhuang. Everyone's faces changed color, wondering if it was because Zhong Jun and others had not returned yet. They didn't know what the situation was like over there.

  Another quarter of an hour passed, and Ye Xuan became anxious. He was about to send out another team of Night Collectors to scout ahead when Zhong Jun and the others returned. The team of eleven people all had wounds and bloodstains on their bodies. Their horses also brought back another person, who turned out to be a Night Collector from Dongjiazhuang.

  That night, he was shot with several arrows on his body, and his consciousness was already somewhat unclear. However, when he saw Ye Xuan, he suddenly woke up, struggled to kneel down, and cried out: "General, please save Dongjiazhuang, save Chen and the others! The bandit's forces are too strong, if we're late by one step, Dongjiazhuang will be broken!"

  Ye Xuan could see the fear in his subordinates' hearts, because as soon as the Ye family army went out of the city to provide reinforcements, they would inevitably have to fight a field battle.

  "Brothers, if we don't dare to confront the barbarians in an open field, then what's the use of training these soldiers? If we're afraid to fight in the wild, our fear of the barbarians will forever be etched in our hearts. Even if our city walls are built strong and high, they will still be broken one by one."

  "Today we dare not go out of the city to rescue our brothers, tomorrow they will also not dare to come out of the city to rescue our castle, our soldiers who have been trained with great pains will eventually become scattered sand. A man dies, then he dies, I just want to let those barbarians see that our Xining generals are also brave warriors!"

  Ye Xuan shouted: "My mind is made up, all generals follow me out of the city to fight to the death!"

  Chen Fei also jumped up: "If we're going to die, then let's die! Always shrinking within the city walls is also cowardly, let's fight those barbarians!"

  Sun Yu and others saw Ye Xuan make up his mind, and again dissuaded him: "Brother's noble body is tied to the safety of the entire army, it's not possible to lightly enter dangerous territory, why not stay in the fort to control the overall situation, and let subordinates lead the troops to go instead?"

  Ye Xuan sighed: "This battle is a matter of life and death for our Ye family army, how can I stay in the fortress at ease? I will lead the troops out personally."

  Ye Xuan made up his mind and issued a series of orders in a stern and decisive manner. Zhuge Yu led more than 1,000 civilian militiamen to stay inside the city and defend it to the death, while Xiao Su led more than 200 vanguard soldiers to stay at the front line and fight to the end.

  Sun Yu's right vanguard, Chen Fei's left vanguard, and Su Zhong's rear vanguard, nearly seven hundred men in total, followed Ye Xuan out of the city to provide reinforcements.

  Everyone was swiftly obeying orders. Soon, the entire Luoyun Fortress was mobilized in an emergency. Troops were dispatched out of the city to gather at the drill grounds, waiting for deployment.

  To make the movement of the troops more flexible and convenient, Ye Xuan decided not to bring any auxiliary soldiers or camping equipment in this battle. All 700-odd soldiers from the three battalions were combat troops. Each person only carried a few days' worth of dried rice rations on their body. The dried rice was a common ration used by the Ming army, with each soldier receiving two liters of rice, toasted and wrapped in yellow cloth, one liter ground into fine powder, and another liter packaged separately. Every time they went out to battle, they had to carry it with them.

  Ye Xuan made a decisive battle in this border area. The supply of food and grass was extremely advantageous, and bringing these dry rations was also to prevent any unexpected events.

  However, in terms of equipment, in order to minimize the casualties of his own soldiers as much as possible, Ye Xuanso gathered all the shields in the fort, more than 100 faces, and equipped some of the long gunners with shields, making them gun shield soldiers. Some of the night watchmen were also equipped with shields to protect against the arrows shot by the enemy scouts.

  In terms of armor, Lu Yun Fortress originally had more than 430 sets of armor, with over 250 sets being iron armor. In the battle a few days ago, Ye's army captured many sets of armor from the Jin army, most of which were double-layered heavy armor worn by the Jin soldiers. After sorting out those armors without iron scales, with iron scales, willow leaf iron armor and chain mail, they got 224 sets of armor in total.

  These captured golden armor, after Xiao Su led the many craftsmen of the Ye family to work through the night, have already repaired about one hundred and seventy-three sets of armor. They simply patched up the holes on the battered armor with some thick iron leaves. Although some of the repaired armor looked incongruous, as long as they can be used, that's all that matters. Whether they look good or not is secondary.

  These six hundred and fifty or more suits of armor were all given to the nearly seven hundred soldiers of the three reliefs who went out to rescue the city, including some Qing army armor that was not repaired in time. Even if they wore tattered armor, it was better than wearing no armor at all.