Auntie.

The drums continued to beat and the soldiers pushed dozens of ladders up the city walls, climbing one after the other. The shouts of killing shook the sky. Li Hu was dressed in stubbornness and was fully armed, and personally supervised the battle under the city.

In fact, it was only a long time since the battle of Taicheng, but maybe it was because he finally conquered Taicheng, maybe it was because he had been too smooth recently, in short, after fighting again in close quarters, he remembered that he had already seen the ability of this young man to defend the city.

-- Less than two days after Xiao Huaishuo arrived at Gu, he raised the city wall to three feet and four feet. With such a high city wall, it was possible to barely climb the city head with a siege vehicle under the ladder. However, he couldn't climb half of the ladder before he was hit by a boulder upstairs. Everywhere there were the screams of soldiers falling down ladders or being injured by falling rocks. In a short time, the ground was covered with bloody corpses.

Li Hu dispatched shield soldiers to fill in, and three or five people raised a shield at the same time, barely bearing the impact of falling rocks, and went up with difficulty.

Suddenly, a stray arrow flew in, and Li Hu was □□ startled. He took the reins of the horse and "snorted" for a long time before finally calming the horse down.

Li Hu couldn't help but look up at the city, but saw Xiao Huaishuo sitting at the head of the city in Yanju civilian clothes. The young man looked at him with a smile on his side, one beating the drum, and the other put down his longbow, as if he was lamenting that he had missed the right talent. It's all in stride.

When attacking Taicheng that day, Li Hu did not meet this young man, but this meeting made him feel shocked, and he was afraid of difficulties for a while.

Of course, he would not praise the enemy in front of the battle, and as soon as his eyebrows turned, he shouted to Xiao Huaishuo, "Wu'er, your old son is here, your aunt is willing to be my concubine, why are you disobedient and unfilial!" ”

Although the sound was mostly drowned out by the noise of the battlefield drums, it still reached the young man's ears.

Li Hu saw that the young man suddenly changed color, and he was very proud.

However, the young man did not curse him, but called for two commands. After a while, the city guards poured the hot black oil down the ladder, and the soldiers were burned to the flesh and wailed. Torches were thrown down from the city, and the fire quickly rose from the bottom up. Half of the dozens of ladders were destroyed, soldiers on fire searched for water, and countless people fell into the river. More soldiers, fearing that they would be affected by the oil, rushed to flee and trample on each other.

Li Hu saw that there were heavy casualties, and the situation was difficult to control, so he could only withdraw his troops. However, the soldiers in the rear, fearing that the fire would be drawn by those who were scurrying on fire, fired arrows at them.

Li Hu was afraid that Xiao Huaishuo would take advantage of the chaos to cover up and kill, so he didn't stop it.

When he retreated under the cover of his subordinates, he couldn't help but look up at the castle tower again. saw that Xiao Huaishuo was also looking at him, his eyes were like eagle falcons, cold and sharp.

Li Hu collected his troops, and suddenly saw the ships on the river surging like dark clouds, and the arrows on the ships were flying like locusts, flying all over the sky. There were countless arrows in the army, and they all collided headless like frightened rabbits.

This time, the southern soldiers on the ship did not let go with a wave of arrows, but brazenly went ashore in a small boat and took advantage of the chaos to cover up and kill.

The morale of the soldiers under Li Hu's command was low, and they had suffered heavy casualties in the previous siege, so they no longer dared to fight. Seeing those short southern soldiers who were far inferior to them in melee combat, the arrogant killers came up. Fortunately, these people did not chase deeply, and only robbed and killed on the shore, and then they were satisfied to collect their troops and return to the ship.

Li Hu returned to the camp in defeat, and saw that the camp was wounded and tired, sitting or leaning on a gun, and his morale was low and pessimistic, and he couldn't help but be extremely ashamed.

Drinking alone at night to relieve anger. After drinking, he did not forget to take the generals to inspect the camp tent and check the guards and guards of the camp - although his men slaughtered the city and plundered many things, the camp rules were strict, and even after a crushing defeat, the guards of the camp were still in good order, and they did not slacken off because of this.

Li Hu's mood improved slightly. He ordered the wine and meat to go down, and personally visited the wounded and sick in the camp.

He was improvised, and when the soldiers did not know that he was coming, there were sleepless people gossiping in frustration.

Li Hu turned over the wooden fence and heard someone hesitate, "You say...... Is that second prince really good at witchcraft? ”

"I heard that on Niushou Mountain, Xiao Maode led a large army to arrest him, and he was about to succeed, but suddenly half of Niushou Mountain collapsed, burying Xiao Maode's army life. Later, when he walked to Jiangning, Xiao Maode's men chased after him again, and seeing that it was no longer possible, a yellow dragon suddenly jumped up on the Hengxi, opened his bloody mouth, and swallowed the pursuers alive with men and horses......"

There was a moment of silence in the camp.

I don't know who said, "Also, it doesn't have to be witchcraft. I heard that those princes and grandsons are all born in the sky and are blessed by the dragon god...... If someone dares to make a mistake before the time of defeat, they will anger the dragon god......"

Li Hu was furious, slashed the camp, and roared, "Pull out these beasts who are bewitching the crowd and cut them down!" ”

When Li Hu woke up, he suddenly understood. However, it is too late to regret at this moment.

Rumors that Xiao Huaishuo had a dragon god to protect his body and that his life should not be extinguished have spread throughout the camp. The soldiers did not dare to discuss it openly, but there was a lot of discussion in private, and the morale of the army was scattered and shaken.

Xiao Huaishuo walked down from the city tower, and He Manduo stepped forward and said, "Li Hu sent Kong Cai to lead 5,000 people to the direction of Xuancheng. ”

Xiao Huaishuo stopped and said, "Xuancheng? ”

He Manru said, "Yes." I haven't found out Li Hu's military order yet, but I want to come ......"

Xiao Huaishuo held on to the city wall, pondered quietly, and said, "He Xuan is still in Li Hu's hands." ”

On the same day, the news that Li Hu was going south came, and Xiao Huaiyou ordered He Hu to go to the quarry to defend it. It's a pity that before He Xuan's army arrived, Li Hu had already crossed the Yangtze River and captured the quarry. After the unruly resistance of Ho's army, the soldiers were scattered, and Ho was taken prisoner.

He Xuan was originally Xiao Huaiyou's person, and after Li Hu supported Xiao Huaiyou as the emperor, He Xuan also became Li Hu's person ambiguously.

He Manduo couldn't understand why Xiao Huaishuo suddenly mentioned this person, so he could only nod and say, "Yes." He was more concerned about Ruyi, "Kong Cai's purpose for going must be Nanling." Nanling is weakly garrisoned, should it be ......?"

Xiao Huaishuo shook his head and said, "Nanling City is strong, and only 5,000 people are not a threat. The most important thing at the moment is to take advantage of the situation to defeat Li Hu and force Jiankang. As long as Jiankang can be captured, Kong Cai will naturally surrender. Don't worry. ”

He Manru hesitated and failed to answer.

Xiao Huaishuo said, "I know what you want, but this is also Princess Wuyang's decision." ”

-- When the fears of his heart have happened, why will he not waver? However, he could not save him. He didn't have a way to do both, and he didn't give up the world to protect Ruyi's thoughtful consciousness. If he is destined to abandon one side, the only right choice he can make is about to come out, so why bother thinking and shaking his mind abruptly?

He cleared his mind and focused on the matter at hand, and said, "Gather all the generals to my tent to deliberate—"

His fingers almost pinched into his palms, but his face was unmoved. After a while, only the back was left to He Manrud.

He Manduo thought about it a few times, and suddenly there was a sound in his head. He understood why Xiao Huaishuo wanted to mention He Xuan—Ruyi had vaguely mentioned to him that the water thieves who were active in the Jiuzi area were the stragglers who had been defeated on the quarrying that day—those people had been under He Xuan's command.

…… The enemy army that Nanling needs to face may not only be Kong Cai's 5,000 men, but also He Cai's old troops entrenched in Jiuzi!

These people don't seem to be many, but since they chose to set up camp in Jiuzi and still not be noticed by the official army, they must have already been entangled with the local people - maybe these people were originally from Jiuzi. He Xuan was indeed a landlord in the Nanling area.

If you count these ...... I'm afraid that the army attacking Nanling will be tens of thousands.

He Manduo only felt a chill down his spine - could the city and defenders of Nanling really resist so many troops? Is Xiao Huaishuo really so indifferent and ruthless?

Nanling, Guzi.

Bypassing a green hill, not far away, there is a vast reed. The river beaches, the islands, and the lakes are all submerged among the reeds and grass, and only occasionally cross a hillside, from which you can see the clear water between the reeds. The turtle doves in the water were mixed, and there was movement from nowhere, and the doves flew up in flocks among the aquatic plants, and after a short time they disappeared in the aquatic plants.

The world is vast, and I don't know the way forward.

Gu Jinglou was vigilant by nature, and couldn't help but look around all the way. finally couldn't help but say to Ruyi, "If you want to bury here, you can't prevent it." If it is in autumn and winter, it may be able to be burned clean. Now when the water and grass are abundant, it is really unsolvable. ”

Ruyi said, "This barren land is sixty miles from north to south, and twenty miles from east to west. Only in the middle was a piece of land less than five or six miles in circumference that had been reclaimed as a grange, and people lived together. The rest of the place is dotted with lakes and ......," she said, pointing with her whip, "water weeds." The grange is called Hejiazhuang, and it is the nearest passage from the west and north sides to the south tomb. ”

Gu Jinglou pondered for a moment and said, "Do you really want to go?" If what you said before is true, then Hejiazhuang is the property of He Xuan, and the water thieves of Jiuzi are in the same breath as them...... Do you really think they're going to listen to your? ”

Ruyi said, "I don't know, but I have to try." ”

"What if you don't try?"

"Run." Ruyi said, "If you can't escape, you have to ask you to take the head of the thief among the thousands of troops - your kung fu will not be blown out, right?" ”

Gu Jinglou, "I'm not bragging, but don't treat me as a god!" He made a gesture of archery, "No matter how handsome his kung fu is, he will be killed by swords and arrows!" Haven't you ever heard that two fists are hard to beat four hands? ”

Ruyi laughed and said, "Then you have to try to think about how to help me achieve my goal with my mouth." ”

She didn't take the opportunity to tease him for running away. Gu Jinglou straightened his chest unconsciously, and also pursed his lips and smiled. After a while, I realized that something was wrong—he was the senior brother! He's the man! He's got a good job! Even if it's to repay the favor, in short, it should definitely not be this kind of feeling of a little follower!

He felt a little unhappy in his heart, and said, "Then give you a town town." ”

Ruyi only smiled and did not speak.