"Tang Gu, the Southern Army cavalry suddenly appeared twenty miles outside the city. They were already at the city. They still needed to report to the Khan quickly and send reinforcements to reinforce!" Tang Gu, who was waiting for news in the government office, was walking around anxiously. Ming'an, the commander of the Gui Chi Guard, broke in and said in a hurry.

"Why are there so fast? How many soldiers are there?" Tang Gu was shocked. According to the distance, it would take as long as three days for the Southern Army to reach the city. He asked anxiously.

"According to the provocateur, it was the Southern cavalry, with about four or five thousand people!" Ming An was not polite, and grabbed the kettle on the case and blew it into a pizza before answering.

"Fortunately, there are not many troops, so it is not enough to threaten the city!" Tang Gu said relieved.

"The cavalry marching fast, maybe this is just the vanguard of the Southern Army. If there are still large troops behind us, how can we defend the city by just our two units?" Ming'an also knew his background and understood that the main force was Tiemaichi's Halalu Guard. They were all just so-called, at most they were strong and powerful. It would be impossible to come.

"Not necessarily, the Southern Army must have learned that Halalu Guard had left the city to reinforce Fu Li, so they were worried that our army would follow and pursue, and then send troops to restrain it, but they were not intending to seize the city!" Tang Gu waved his hand, and he didn't know how much he believed it.

"It would be fine if we just restrain ourselves. As long as we defend the city, we will have made contributions and no mistakes. But I am afraid that if the Southern Army was digging the tiger away from the mountain and pretending to withdraw our troops and luring our army out of the city, it would be broken!" Ming'an was not optimistic and said with great concern.

"The Southern Army has arrived, why are you still having fun chatting?" At this time, another burly man came hurriedly outside. It was Sumaida, the commander of the Xibao Red Guard. Seeing that the two of them were absent-minded, he questioned.

"There is no more chatting in my heart? I am discussing the return of the Southern Army with Ming'an!" Tang Gu said with a wry smile. He felt even more bitter. Although he was the leader of Xuzhou City, he could not make the decision. He was also a nobleman, but the other two were released from the Qiexue Army and had a bigger foot than him. Tie Maichi could suppress them, but he couldn't do it himself. If he had any questions, he could only "discuss" them.

"What else can I discuss? Either let Tiemaichi return to the army quickly, or let's go quickly!" Sumaida said in a surprisingly authentic way.

"Haha, if we retreat without fighting, wouldn't we be punished by the Khan when we go back!" Tang Gu's face became even more bitter when he heard this. This guy was simply, and he could run away if he couldn't beat him, but he could only beat him.

"What should I do if I don't retreat? Can you beat the Southern Army? I know I can't do it, but I'm not stupid to force it!" Sumaida asked indifferently.

"Don't talk nonsense, it will ruin the morale of the army. Things are not yet out of control!" Ming'an frowned when he heard his words.

"Oh, so you have a way to withdraw your troops!" Sumaida sat down, picked up the wine on the table and poured a glass of wine, and jokingly said, "Can the refugees who escaped from the famine and the monks and Taoists pretending to be magical and ghosts defeat the Southern Army?"

"They are not much better than each other, and the dilapidated houses under your command. When they hear the sound of the Song army's cannons, they will scatter!" Ming An also laughed and retorted.

"You both should say less!" Tang Gu knew that the two of them had always been in harmony with each other, and neither of them was convinced by each other, but this method of being worse than others was speechless. Seeing that the two of them had arguing again, she smiled helplessly and sat down and poured him a drink.

"Tang Gu, to be fair, can our three guards defend Xuzhou?" Sumaida took another glass of wine, wiped her mouth and asked Tang Gudao.

"Well... if only the current Southern Army, even if we can't defeat them, we should be able to defend the city!" Tang Gu pondered for a moment and said vaguely.

"What does it mean to do it? We all know that what comes is just the front army of the Southern Army, and behind them is the 100,000 Song army. If Tiemaichi does not return, we can hold on for one day, two days, or three days!" Sumaida obviously disbelief of his statement and said with a sneer.

"The city has sufficient food and grass, the city is strong and the city is deep, and we still have 20,000 troops. It is not easy for the Southern Army to break through Xuzhou. If we leave without fighting and lose the city of Xuzhou, the Khan will have to peel us off and cramp us, and trample on thousands of horses to death!" Although Tang Gu also had the intention to escape, he did not dare to say it, but he left without hesitation. He had to stop it. Otherwise, the army would be shaken, so what would he do as the chief general?

"Yes, yes!" Ming'an was also shocked when he heard this. No matter how big his feet were, he was in a big sweat, and immediately changed his words, "Maybe it was the Southern Army who was worried that Tiemaichi would reinforce Fu Li, so he used the feint attack on Xuzhou as bait to transfer Tiemaichi back so that he could withdraw his troops safely!"

"There are some reasons, but we still need to be more vigilant and don't fall into a trap!" Although Sumaida looked like a rough man, she was not stupid. When she saw Tang Gu change her words, she immediately woke up. She said nothing and quickly agreed.

"I have sent people to send the war report to Dadu, and I have also sent people to chase Tiemaichi along the way, asking him to return to help quickly in case there is no need. I want the news to be heard soon!" Tang Gu also said with a drink.

"I hope it's just a false alarm. If the Southern Army retreats soon, most of us will continue to farm!" Ming'an sighed.

"The little emperor of the Southern Dynasty is really difficult. He has raised an army last year to invade the border, seized Yangzhou, occupied the two Huaihe Rivers, and captured a thousand miles of land, but he still did not stop. Could it be that he would still take the Central Plains?" Sumaida drank the wine in the bowl and said in a muffled voice.

"If the Han army guards had not attacked the camp in the rear of the Southern Army and burned food and forced them to withdraw their troops, this Southern and Northern Expedition would have really entered the Central Plains!" Tang Gu sighed.

"I heard that the Southern Dynasty naval army is still wandering along the coast of Qingzhou. They are planning to take the infantry north after taking Xuzhou. At that time, most of them were unable to protect themselves, so they could only retreat to the grassland!" Ming An said in a low voice.

"When the news that the Southern Dynasty naval army appeared outside Qingzhou was back, the sect kings reported that the Khan wanted to return to the grassland, and the nobles also took good care of the fine and soft water and returned to the grassland fiefdom in the name of avoiding the summer heat. If the Khan hadn't insisted on not leaving, we would have been following us at Helin at this time!" Tang Gu said in a low voice.

"I don't know if you have any explanation before leaving. Anyway, I have told my family before going to war that if they hear that Khan is out of Beijing, they will leave the city immediately, otherwise they will never be able to leave!" Sumaida said carelessly, not hiding her worries at all.

"Haha, I thought I was the only one who explained the funeral? It turned out that you were the same, but fortunately, the Southern Dynasties' army had already evacuated, and the cavalry alone would not be able to break the city!" Ming An said with a smile.

"It's hard to say. I thought the Southern Dynasties would not withdraw their troops easily. How could they give up the current good situation? Even if the food and grass are burned, it will take only ten days for the army to be transported from Jiangdong to reach the army. It is estimated that they deliberately showed weakness to delay time, otherwise why would they go back!" Sumaida shook her head and said.

"This is reasonable. The little emperor of the Southern Dynasty has always used military service to be a real and false. He used the strategy of fighting against the west. He used the retreat as a cover to lure our army out of the city to pursue, and then used a small amount of troops to restrain us. In fact, he confused our army and made us unable to understand its intentions. He had to run back and forth to buy time for transportation of food and grass for another battle!" Tang Gu nodded and said.

"It makes sense that Khan ordered us to attack as soon as possible. Even if they had not yet arrived, they would start a decisive battle to recover the lost territory, the Southern Dynasty naval army would also evacuate accordingly, and the dangers of the capital would be resolved!" Ming'an said.

"Okay, those are not what we think about. The Song army that is only looking forward to attacking is not just about siege!" Sumaida said impatiently, "This is only wine, but no meat, and it doesn't taste good when drinking. Go and make some meat, drink it first!"

"Okay!" Tang Gu recruited a servant and asked him to prepare wine and meat and said, "If the Southern Army really wants to attack the city, I am afraid that it will not be able to defend it. Shouzhou's city defense is not inferior to Xuzhou. Just a single shot of artillery fire bombed the soldiers and civilians in the city and burned 40,000 to 50,000 people to be destroyed without attacking the city!"

"So I said this city is just a coffin, and it's useless to hide in it. If you want to run away, you can't run away!" Sumaida said with a drink.

"Well, if Tie Maichi cannot return to help, we have to make plans early!" Ming An also thought it was authentic.

At this time, a servant sent wine and meat. Tang Gu did not leave them to serve, but instead shut down all the people in the hall and ordered the guards to not disturb them. Then he got together and started to whisper and talk about the matter. As for what he said, it was unknown to outsiders.

"Report to the master, there is an emergency military report!" The three of them drank two jars of wine and ate a pot of meat. They were already drunk. At this time, a personal guard shouted outside the door.

"If it weren't for the enemy's attack, don't disturb me!" Tang Gu roared impatiently.

"It was not the enemy's attack on the city, but the messenger who went to Fu Li came back, saying that there was something important to report!" The personal guard said again.

"Oh, let him come and see you quickly!" Tang Gu heard the three of them, his face full of expectations, obviously he wanted to know about Tie Maichi.

"Meet the three generals!" The messenger soon came to the hall and said with tribute.

"The news of the enemy's invasion of Xuzhou has been delivered. What did Tie Maichi say?" Tang Gu was already drunk and raised his hand to get up and asked casually.

"Report...Report...Report, something happened to the Halalu Guards. The young man did not find General Tiemai Chi!" The messenger replied with a trembling voice.

"What happened? What can tens of thousands of troops do?" Tang Gu was stunned for a moment before looking at the messenger carefully. He found that his face was full of fright, as if he was scared, and handed it to him to the bowl of wine.

"The envoy of the capital, the Halalu Guards were ambushed by the enemy in Jiagou Post, and the entire army was wiped out!" The messenger did not receive the wine bowl, but knelt down and cried.

‘Bang!’
Chapter completed!