Dengzhou.

50,000 Xiliang troops were stationed on the plain, 15,000 Xiliang iron cavalry, and 5,000 imperial cavalry were on standby; To prevent the king of Chu from counterattacking from Xiangyang, he once again locked the imperial court soldiers and horses in Guanzhong Road.

Inside the big tent of the Chinese army, the scorching hot ghost weather made many generals in armor sweat like rain, and the heat was steaming, and even the scenery outside the big tent was slightly distorted.

Tu Qianchu, the general of Xiliang, sat in the big tent and drank tea, indifferent to the many things discussed by the generals and divisions, anyway, he came out to help the imperial court fight, and he would do whatever Guan Hongye asked him to do, and it didn't matter to him what he did, as long as he didn't die in vain.

Coach Guan Hongye stood in front of the map, his face was unwavering, without the slightest emotion, as if his face was paralyzed. Since the last time he was humiliated by Xu Buling in Nanyang, he has maintained this face, and no one can see through how many emotions Guan Hongye has hidden in his heart.

Everyone discussed for a while, and a deputy general hurriedly ran over, and after glancing at the generals for a while, he did not say anything like last time, but walked to Guan Hongye's side and whispered:

"General, the prince of Su did not listen to the order, insisted on gathering 20,000 soldiers and horses, and marched towards Xiangyang, according to the speed of the march, about tomorrow night to Dengzhou, the day after tomorrow will be able to arrive in Xiangyang, you see ......"

Guan Hongye's eyelids jumped, but he couldn't laugh and scold Xu Buling like last time. A few days ago, Xu Buling had already sent a letter of request for war, asking to lead troops to Xiangyang. Guan Hongye was instructed by the Son of Heaven to let Xu Buling get involved in the front line, so he naturally rejected it on the spot and let Xu Buling stay in the rear.

Now Xu Buling forcibly led the troops over if he was disobedient, and also set up a military order, saying that 'don't take Xiangyang, bring your head to see you', Guan Hongye can't stop it unless he cuts Xu Buling.

Whether Xu Buling can take 20,000 miscellaneous soldiers to capture the Xiangyang defense line where more than 100,000 soldiers and horses are stationed, Guan Hongye almost doesn't have to think about it, and feels impossible; He brought in an army of 100,000, and there were 50,000 Xiliang troops in it, and he couldn't start in the face of Xiangyang, how could he fight 20,000 soldiers?

Although there was a precedent last time, what 'masters cast spells and lightning struck to break the city', but Qin Jing is not a fool, how can he eat a second time after suffering a loss? At this time, shouting a hundred words of 'Lei Gong help me' may not be useful, so he didn't believe that Xu Buling could still shoot thousands of arrows in unison, and ran to the city to open and close the door. Besides, what if the gate is opened, and the 20,000 soldiers who enter the palace can still slaughter more than 100,000 of the Four Kings Alliance?

Guan Hongye was silent for a while, and said indifferently: "With 20,000 soldiers who have just trained for a month, they can take Xiangyang, and I will cut off my head and use it as a urinal for him." Then give Xu Buling a military order to preach, let him sit in Nanyang and not act rashly, if there is a mistake in the march, it will be dealt with according to military law. ”

The adjutant general's face was embarrassed: "The military orders of King Su Shizi have been established, and the holy decree may not be able to stop it." If the prince of Su insists on attacking Xiangyang, will we wait to watch the fire from the other side or ......"

Guan Hongye suffered a loss, where did he dare to continue to stand behind without moving, he thought about it: "Xu Buling really wants to come, just let him fight, anyway, there are 20,000 useless government soldiers, and one hundred are gone; However, just in case, let the army stand by in the back, if Xu is not lucky, he really breaks Xiangyang City, and quickly rushes over to help, so as not to let him find an excuse to gallop far away. ”

The deputy general didn't believe that 20,000 soldiers could break through Xiangyang, but it was always right to be prepared, so he nodded lightly at the moment and turned to leave......

-------

A hundred miles away, directly opposite Dengzhou, Xiangyang.

Under the scorching sun, the majestic majestic city king's banner is unfurled, and endless armor gathers inside and outside the city walls, and pillboxes, trenches, estuary fortresses, etc. are waiting for them, like an impregnable steel fortress, rooted in the plain between the two mountain ranges.

On the city wall, Qin Jing, the commander of the Chu army, pressed his handsome sword in his hand, walked behind Song Zhengping, who was wearing a python robe, and raised his hand to point to the north:

“…… The day before yesterday, Guan Hongye sent troops to tentatively attack the Cao Zhuang generation, about 5,000 people, and immediately retreated after not biting. From the point of view of the last general, Guan Hongye did not have many elite soldiers, and he was afraid that the Xiliang army would be defeated, so he had no intention of taking Xiangyang at all. However, it will not be easy for us to counterattack back; There are 15,000 Xiliang cavalry troops stationed in Dengzhou, of which 5,000 'tiger horsemen' are armored cavalry equipment, which are almost invincible on the plains...... I wait for 100,000 people to go out."

Song Zhengping walked with his hands in his hands, his brows furrowed. The loss of Nanyang and Mashankou was basically a catastrophe for Chudi; If the imperial court is blocked in the Wuguan Road, the terrain is narrow and rugged, and there are many passes in it, no matter how powerful the cavalry is, they can only dismount and lead it, and there is no need to be afraid of the Xiliang cavalry.

Nowadays, Mashankou and Nanyang are gone, and only Xiangyang is left in the place where Chu can defend, from Xiangyang to Nanyang, it is a plain of nearly 100 miles, there is no mountain, no water, no pass, it is a large flat land; Although the cavalry could not attack Xiangyang, the 5,000 Xiliang heavy cavalry squatted at the door, went out and died as many as they wanted, and Xiangyang was also checkmated.

If you want to enter Guanzhong, this is the way, and Nanyang can't come back if you don't fight. Song Zhengping thought about it:

"King Wei Duzhen Nanyue, with 20,000 elite cavalry under his hand, is estimated to be able to fight with the Xiliang cavalry. Duke Zhou, you repair a letter to the King of Wei and ask him to quickly transfer the cavalry. ”

Zhou Kai walked beside Song Zhengping, and shook his head when he heard this: "King Wei has the strongest army among the four kings, but with that bit of family background, the 20,000 cavalry army still said all the good things back then, and they came from Emperor Xiaozong, and they have always been regarded as the root of their lives; Let the King of Wei go and meet the Xiliang cavalry, he is afraid that he will not agree. ”

Song Zhengping frowned: "What can I do?" This king is in the way, what is the use of the three of them sending some miscellaneous soldiers who can't get together with all the armor? The 50,000 Xiliang troops on the opposite side are stationed there, is it possible to let this king fill it with his life? Tell the three of them directly, no one will provide food, and the king will now descend to the court to guard Ezhou, and see how the three of them fight. ”

Zhou Kai sighed, and hurriedly asked the strategist to go down to draft the letter, and then looked at Qin Jing next to him:

"This Nanyang is lost, and the old man hasn't figured it out until now. Send 10,000 troops to fight Luanshan County, even if they all die outside, 5,000 soldiers and horses to guard Nanyang are foolproof, Xu Buling will take 2,000 cavalry, how to break the city? If this is for Xiangyang again......"

Speaking of this, King Chu and Qin Jing were a little annoyed, after all, without the broken idea of 'soldiers acting treacherously', Nanyang really didn't have to lose it.

But Zhou Kai is the old man of the king of Chu after all, and there is no problem with paying attention, but the opponent's chess is just one step higher, and the king of Chu does not blame Zhou Kai.

Qin Jing has been haunted by what happened last time, hesitated, shook his head and said:

"On the other hand, it is nonsense to say that Xu Buling invited a master to cast a spell. At that time, the city was broken too quickly, according to the defenders who fled back, Xu Buling carried four Qimen weapons in the cavalry, and the sound was like a fire dragon spitting out a letter, and the sound was like thunder spreading for miles, and the momentum was terrifying. At that time, the crossbowmen on the head of the city were frightened, and they only cared about hiding, so that Xu Buling went to the city with his extraordinary martial arts and opened the city gate from the inside......"

Zhou Kai frowned: "If the city doesn't dare to release arrows, who will stop those Jianghu people, and General Qin will have a countermeasure?" ”

Qin Jing lost the city, if nothing happened, he would not be worthy of being a general. He raised his hand and pointed to the stone bunker outside the city walls:

"There are not many weapons in the Naqimen, and they are very powerful, the actual range is much lower than that of the bed crossbow, and the destructive power is not as good as the trebuchet, at most smashing a small hole in the city gate; At that time, the defenders of the city suffered an inexperienced loss, and they were in chaos, in fact, even if they stood still, they were killed by a maximum of 12 people, and it was okay to treat it as if it didn't exist......

…… The last general had already greeted the defenders of several passes in advance and was mentally prepared; If the bed crossbow is about two miles, it can shoot a salvo to defeat the ghost weapon; He also built a lot of stone pillboxes outside the pass, about four feet thick, and the weapons could not penetrate them at all; There is a small arrow on the bunker, as long as Xu Buling forcibly rushes through the level with martial arts, even the true gods will shoot him into a sieve......"

With such full preparation, Song Zhengping, the king of Chu, nodded slightly, felt a little relieved, thought about it slightly, and admonished:

"Xu Buling used four Qimen weapons, not necessarily only four; Moreover, at that time, it was a detour from the mountains, and it was impossible to carry heavy objects, so maybe there was even more power. It's like the god arm crossbow used last time, this time pushing the bed crossbow over, don't scare the soldiers who have never seen the world again. ”

Qin Jing pondered it for a while, felt that it did make sense, and hurriedly raised his hand and clasped his fist:

"Lord Mingjian. The last general asked the sappers to thicken the bunker to make sure it was safe. ”

The king of Chu nodded slightly, and after inspecting the border pass, he took Zhou Kai and left Xiangyang Pass......

------

"Childe, a total of twenty-four cannons have been brought in before and after, and sixteen are the small cannons used last time; Eight 3,000-pound guns, with a range of about four and a half miles, were ten times more powerful than the last estimate, enough to collapse the city wall......"

Outside Nanyang City, 20,000 foot soldiers left the barracks one after another and marched towards Xiangyang, two hundred miles away.

On the wharf on the banks of the White River, several merchant ships docked on the shore, temporarily renovating cargo ships with empty decks, and laying down heavy pedals on the shore.

Yang Guanyu, who was like a giant bear, pulled a hemp rope in his hand, sweating profusely and slowly moving forward on the deck; Eight Xiliang soldiers, holding the wooden base of the behemoth with their hands, worked together to push it onto the cargo ship.

On top of the base, a huge cylinder three meters long was driven, tightly bound and covered with a black cloth, and the extremely heavy weight made deep grooves in the ground, almost bending the pedals.

Xu Buling stood under the merchant ship, under the scorching sun, and together with several strong men, assembled the gun barrels that had just been taken out of the grain and grass piles of the merchant ships on the base that was disassembled into parts.

The nightingale stood in front of him, small ledger in hand, earnestly reporting the current inventory.

After Xu Buling installed the last gun, he wiped the sweat from his forehead with a towel and looked at the temporarily modified cargo ship:

"I saved up for half a year to get this little belongings, first pull half of them away, and leave the rest in Nanyang, lest the boat sink on the road and there will be nothing left; There is also a separate gunpowder on a small boat, you pay more attention, otherwise the weather will be dry and dry, and Qin Jing and Guan Hongye will be able to watch the free fireworks directly. ”

The nightingale nodded earnestly, closed the ledger, and ran to the boat.

Xu Buling supervised his subordinates on the dock, and after transporting the baby bumps upstairs and setting off on the boat, he turned over and returned to the barracks to hand over to the general Yang Zunyi, and then caught up with the army and marched to Xiangyang together.

It's just that Xu Buling took his own soldiers, and before he arrived at the barracks, a scholar who was riding a horse on a plain path caught his attention.

Chu was fighting, Nanyang City was stationed with heavy troops, except for the people who couldn't leave, the rest of the people basically ran to other places for refuge. On the official road, except for the military armor grain trucks, even the caravan is basically not visible, and it is impossible for scholars who are traveling to study to come to this kind of place.

Xu Buling glanced at it casually, and then faintly felt familiar, raised his hand and asked his soldiers to rush to the barracks first, and drove his horse through the field to the path between the large farmlands.

The scholar on horseback carried a bookcase with a long strip wrapped in black cloth next to the bookbox, and he was still turning the pages of the book as he walked, and he looked really a bit of a high-spirited person.

Xu Buling took off the saber from the side of the horse, hung it on his waist, walked quickly to the scholar, and said with a smile:

"Mei Gongzi, are you lost? Yuelu Mountain is a thousand miles away in the south, are you going west to prepare to enter Beijing to take the exam? ”

On horseback, Mei Qusheng closed the book, turned his head and smiled:

"Xu Shizi, long time no see. I heard that Yufu was on the side of Toyoyama, so I stopped by to have a look. ”

Xu Buling didn't believe this nonsense at all, rode up to him, and stretched out his hand:

"Isn't Grandpa Fubao a moth again? Is this time to kill the emperor or rob the jade seal? ”

"Hehe......"

Mei Qusheng shrugged his shoulders a little helplessly:

"I'm just an errand runner, how do you know that. However, the last time you hit Nanyang, the old man almost dropped his jaw in shock, and he pondered for a day and a night before he rearranged the chessboard. In my opinion, this time it should be good news for you. ”

While speaking, Mei Qusheng took out a letter from his arms and handed it to Xu Buling.

Xu Buling raised his hand to take the envelope, and after opening it, he glanced at it slightly......

"Damn! This old immortal ......"

"Eh, that's your grandfather, pay attention."

Xu Buling frowned, looking at the handwriting on the letterhead, in fact, there was a sentence on it: 'I am willing to be the concubine in Ling Lang's arms, not the concubine of the emperor's palace', but the various meanings in it, Xu Buling quickly figured it out.

Mei Qusheng rode on his horse, looked at the endless army in the distance, and said softly:

"You were bumped into by Song Ying on the queen's mausoleum, you can't hide it, and what you do will soon be guessed by the emperor, this sentence is just a handsome firewood for you. You can even break the death situation in Chang'an City, this little problem should be easy to solve, right? ”

"It's called a small problem?"

"No matter how big the problem is, it is also caused by Xu Gongzi's mercy everywhere, but you can't lift your pants and not admit it."

Mei Qusheng chuckled, then turned his horse's head and walked south.

Xu Buling glanced at the letter paper a few times, and then said, "When is it?" ”

"It is estimated that right now, Youzhou is two thousand miles away from Chang'an, and I will help you stop the news on the way. If you can lay down Xiangyang, the news will reach Chang'an; If the bluff can't be stopped, the master will splash the dirty water on the Cui family, which can be regarded as Yufu's dowry. However, once the disaster is turned east, this opportunity is also missed. ”

Xu Buling bowed slightly, and thought for a while: "Next time the old gentleman does something, it's best to say hello to me, otherwise it will hurt my feelings." ”

"My master, don't be emotional. Goodbye. ”

……