Three days later.

Xiangyang outpost Caozhuang, 20,000 Chu troops stationed in the pillboxes and fortifications along the line, crisscrossing the trenches and rejecting horses, like a scar on the earth, stretched from Caozhuang to the city of Xiangyang.

At twilight, on the wilderness outside the Caozhuang defense line, the sand and dust raised by the foot soldiers marched like smoke and waves, covering the sky and the sun.

"Tiger—"

"Tiger—"

"Tiger—"

A few miles away, the earth-shattering shouts reached the ears of Chu Jun after the fortifications.

With 20,000 troops marching on the plain, it was impossible to hide the eyes of the scouts, and the Chu army had already begun to prepare for war as early as when Xu Buling was out of Nanyang, with swords unsheathed and crossbows wound, waiting behind the impregnable defensive line.

Soon, falling into the afterglow, at the end of the skyline, a dark horse appeared.

On the black horse, the man is dressed in a black and gold-rimmed robe, holding a horse lance across the heavens and the earth, and the black "Xu" character flag, hunting and hunting under the summer wind.

Then, there was no visible human wall on the left and right, holding a spear to show his figure, stepping neatly and heavily, and walking towards the Chu army's defense line step by step disrespectful.

20,000 people spread out on the plain, the momentum was like a sea of mountains, and the 3,000 Xiliang troops in front of them looked solemn, and they were separated by a few miles, and the foreheads of the Chu army behind the defense line were sweating and breathless.

In Xiangyang City, Chu Shuai and Qin Jing frowned; Scouts continued to arrive from Caozhuang Pegasus one after another, reporting on the battle situation on the front line; The generals and staff under the command of the four kings gathered in the marshal's mansion, surrounding the huge map in the middle, and the noise continued:

"How can there be such a war? 20,000 people piled up and pushed it together, when the city wall did not exist, it could not be ......"

"Guan Hongye stayed behind with 50,000 Xiliang troops, about ten miles away, and it looked like he was waiting for Xu Buling to come and send him to death......"

"The scouts have probed, there are no ambushes on the left and right flanks, 20,000 foot soldiers are all in the middle lane, the number of ballistas, ladders, and crashes is not much, and it is not enough to attack the city; If I can go to Xiangyang City, I will cut off my head and give it to Xu Buling as a urinal......"

"Either the general will lead the troops out and try to behead Xu Buling under the horse......"

"This is obviously luring the snake out of the hole, as long as the defense line is out, Guan Hongye will definitely send the cavalry over to strangle it, just wait behind the defense line, I can't do it, I don't dare to attack it......"

……

Qin Jing pressed the handsome sword in his hand, although he didn't say a word, the thoughts in his heart were similar to those of the generals present. It's not that Xu Buling is underestimated, but the disparity in strength between the two sides is too great.

There are more than 100,000 soldiers and horses stationed around Xiangyang, and there is an endless stream of reinforcements from the four kings in the rear.

Xu Buling only had 20,000 foot soldiers, and they were all government soldiers who were not much different from the quality of the soldiers of the Chu army, and when they were placed in front of Xiangyang, they were like a three-year-old boy carrying a wooden stick and trying to beat an eight-foot giant man with heavy armor.

Chu Junguang used a bow and crossbow to shoot behind the fortifications, Xu Buling was difficult to parry, after passing through the three lines of defense, it is estimated that there are not a few people left, how to attack the city?

The people who have the same doubts as Qin Jing are not just Chu Jun.

On the other side, the rear of the Xu Jiajun.

Guan Hongye was dressed in armor, standing on a high place, watching Xu Buling set up a position on the plain from afar, pressing towards the tense Chu army's defense line, and his brows were also tightly locked.

The adjutant general stood in front of him and said softly: "General, how can you fight like this?" Isn't that a free gift......"

Many generals behind him also nodded, and it was not too much to give away the battle in front of them.

Before the high wall is dangerous, if you want to break through the pass, it is the best strategy to launch several times the force to attack, and the casualties are too great; Under normal circumstances, the soldiers will begin to collapse after two achievements in casualties, and there is a risk of mutiny after three achievements, no matter how high the morale of the army is, more than half of the casualties will be impossible, and the soldiers will no longer be able to obey orders, and it is useless to supervise the team.

In ancient times, if they wanted to attack the city, they generally flooded, dug tunnels, arranged internal or direct sieges, and ran out of ammunition and food; Xiangyang is the premier military fortress of Dayue, the city wall of three zhang six is placed there, ordinary ladders can not be erected, rolling wood and stone fierce fire oil is endless, so how can the soldiers climb up?

Although Guan Hongye said that he and Xu Buling had married Liangzi, the 20,000 government soldiers were considered his soldiers, and they were sent by Xu Buling, and the whole army was wiped out afterwards, and the court blamed him, and he must also be punished.

Guan Hongye thought for a while, came to Tu Qianchu's side, and said:

"General Tu, this way of fighting is not advisable, you go over and persuade him to come back, if the soldiers suffer heavy casualties, it is not good to explain to the court."

Tu Qianchu held two copper hammers in his hand, and his face was flat:

"General Guan is the commander-in-chief, and the last general is now under the command of the general, where is the transfer of His Royal Highness the Prince of the World; If the general feels that he should not use troops in this way, he can go and persuade him personally. ”

Guan Hongye frowned, if he had the order, he would have gone a long time ago. Xu Buling came over with 20,000 people, passed by directly from Dengzhou, and didn't even see him in person, he sent someone over to force Xu Buling to return to the station, and Xu Buling also said, "Don't break Xiangyang, come to see him", and didn't pay attention to him at all.

Not only him, but also the Holy One couldn't stop him; Xu Buling suddenly moved his troops, and he had already sent an urgent report to Chang'an, and the saint naturally didn't want Xu Buling to lead troops to the expedition without authorization, but the courtiers had the example of breaking Nanyang last time, but they all advised Xu Buling to try.

If Xu Buling really knocks Xiangyang down, then the rebellion of the four kings will not threaten, and then let Xu Buling fight all the way; As long as the civil strife is calmed, the whole country can be gathered to deal with the Northern Qi Dynasty, and the situation in the northern Xinjiang can be quickly reversed, which is the direction that the civil and military officials hope to see.

The court is not the emperor's hall, and without a reasonable reason, the saint cannot force Xu not to go back and stay.

After Guan Hongye's persuasion was fruitless, he returned to his original position, in front of the generals, looking at the black ant colony in the distance.

20,000 people spread out on the endless plain, but from a distance, there were not many, and they stood neatly, that is, a large phalanx of two hundred people horizontally and a hundred people vertically. However, in wartime, they were in formation, and they refused to stand in order, and all branches of the army were spread out in front and back, and under the leadership of their respective centurions, they set up an offensive formation.

There were still three miles away from the Chu army's defense line, so Xu Buling stopped his horse on the plain and raised his hand to raise his horse lance.

While the command flag was waving, 20,000 soldiers quickly stopped in place and stood by.

Sanli is outside the range of the bow and crossbow, and the bed crossbow can barely be shot, but the target is basically fate.

Guan Hongye stopped when he saw Xu Buling so far away, and there was a slight joy in his eyes:

"Xu Buling will not fight?"

The bow and arrow that can't be shot at a stop three miles away is indeed a bit of a bluff. But the deputy general squinted his eyes and looked carefully, and suddenly pointed to a few small dots behind Xu Buling:

"General, what's that?"

Guan Hongye stood two miles behind Xu Buling to open the battle, although he couldn't see the specific details, but the large items in the siege vehicle could still be seen.

At this time, in the military formation behind Xu Buling, more than a dozen cars of different sizes were pushed out and covered with black cloth.

Guan Hongye looked at it carefully for a moment, and was a little puzzled:

"It's not a crash, it's still wrapped in black cloth, isn't it the 'magic weapon' used to break Nanyang last time?"

If you can break Xiangyang, then the only winning point is the last time 'Lei Gong helped me'; the last time I broke Nanyang, everyone couldn't see the details, and at this time the abnormality was discovered, and the generals naturally ran forward, wanting to see what kind of reputation Xu Buling was hiding.

It's a pity that after a while, Guan Hongye and all the generals were speechless.

I saw that on the endless plain, 20,000 people set up a formation.

Xu Buling shouldered the horse lance, looked at the Chu army defense line in the distance, and put on a very arrogant posture; In the rear of Xu Buling, more than 1,000 Xiliang troops quickly pulled up the white cloth in the same place, and surrounded more than a dozen objects wrapped in black cloth, and the white cloth was also painted with patterns such as yin and yang gossip.

Behind the defense line of the Chu army three miles away, the soldiers who were waiting for the battle poked their heads out from behind the fortifications, and looked at the Xu family army in the distance inexplicably, not knowing why.

The generals of the imperial court looked at it for a moment, and their eyes were stunned:

"His Royal Highness, is this a pre-battle preparation for the battle?"

Guan Hongye frowned, and thought for a while: "How can the two armies fight with strange forces and chaos, it is estimated that it is a trick to confuse the Chu army......"

As a veteran of the battlefield, Guan Hongye's comments are obviously very insightful.

After the Dharma field was set up, an old Taoist priest who had been temporarily found stood on a high place, holding the Yin and Yang Flag in his hand, swaying, shouting something like 'The Four Kings are in trouble with the Central Plains, causing the wrath of the Heavenly Prince, and deserving of God's punishment' and so on.

Although the Chu army on the opposite side couldn't hear it, the soldiers behind Xu Buling could hear it clearly.

The soldiers looked at the old Taoist priest blankly and scolded the four kings in shock, and the flag in his hand pointed to the Chu army's defense line three miles away, and he said:

"Broken!"