Xiao Ding led his troops to occupy Jiajiang City, rested for two or three days, and still sent scouts in a row to find out the details of Duli City. At the same time, we are also recruiting guides to go to the city.

The guide to Duli City was very easy to recruit, and there was an old official in the county office, because he often went out of the city to do errands, and was very familiar with the route to Duli City, so he took the initiative to unveil the list and come to apply.

And the scouts who go to the vicinity of the city to inquire about the news are much slower to go back and forth. After all, the mountain road is difficult to walk, and these scouts do not know any light skills, and they cannot ride horses on difficult mountain roads. Although the distance between the two cities was not more than 100 miles, the scouts walked back and forth, and the news was conveyed a little slowly.

Therefore, when Xiao Ding learned that in front of the city, there were soldiers digging pits and digging the ground, moving stones and planting flags to prepare for the formation, it was already four or five days later.

Then the scouts also returned one after another, and they told Xiao Ding the news they had found, saying that reinforcements had entered the city in the city recently.

When Xiao Ding heard this, he was also shocked, because according to the previous information, he also knew that the only soldiers and horses that the King of Jiaozhou could mobilize at this time were the tens of thousands of soldiers and horses on the border. If there are reinforcements, they must also be sent to the border soldiers to reinforce them. Could it be that the king of Jiaozhou gave up the border pass?

Xiao Ding was also speechless for such a risky behavior of the King of Jiaozhou. As Xiao Ding, who has crossed over, he knows that in history, there are indeed many historical periods where similar things have occurred, the so-called "outside must first be inside", that is, in order to cope with the crisis and maintain the rule, the rulers of successive dynasties often take "peace inside" as the center, put it in the first place, and put "outside" in a secondary low position.

As a result, because of this kind of thinking that "the outside must first be secured", it is not uncommon for the regime to fall out, such as the late Ming Dynasty Emperor Chongzhen in order to deal with Li Zicheng's rebel army, and allowed the Jurchens to develop, which finally led to the fall of the Ming Dynasty and the entry of the Manchu Qing Dynasty. During the Qing Dynasty, due to the internal friction of suppressing the Taiping Rebellion and the Boxer Rebellion, the Qing government's financial resources and troops were greatly depleted, and when faced with a strong enemy in the West, it was no longer able to resist.

The king of Jiaozhou dispatched border soldiers to fight against Xiaoding's troops, naturally hoping to come to "Annei" first, and then consider foreign enemies. However, in Xiao Ding's view, this practice of the king of Jiaozhou is tantamount to playing with fire and self-immolation, and if he doesn't get it right, he will be burned.

Fortunately, the emperor of the Great Song Kingdom and the king of the Great Tubo Kingdom did not reach an agreement on the use of the nine princesses and relatives, if the agreement is reached, at this time, the Great Tubo Kingdom will send troops to Jiangzhou, and the king of Jiaozhou will have nothing to hide.

However, so far, there has been no news that the Great Tubo Kingdom is preparing to attack Jiangzhou, so the king of Jiaozhou can still deal with Xiao Ding's troops with all his might.

After Xiao Ding's side completely grasped the news from the Duli City side, more than ten days had passed.

Hearing that the other party had set up a big formation in front of the city again, Xiao Ding was a little disdainful, and said in his heart, didn't it take a lot of effort to set up a formation last time, and in the end, wasn't it easy to be cracked by his own side?

With the last broken formation, this time, Xiao Ding didn't care too much when he heard what the other party had put in the formation.

Now that he has mastered the dynamics of the other party, Xiao Ding decided to send troops outside the city first, and then discuss how to break the formation and attack the city.

With the old official as a guide, although the mountain road was rugged, the army led by Xiao Ding still reached the outside of the city safely.

Passing through several dangerous terrains along the way, Xiao Ding was secretly worried when he passed by, if the other party arranged a few ambushes here, his side would definitely suffer a big loss. It's a pity that no one on the other side has made such an arrangement, Xiao Ding secretly sighed for the other party, it is a pity that there are so many people under the king of Jiaozhou, and no one will come up with such a method of using soldiers.

When they arrived near the city, it was still the same as when they attacked Jiajiang City before, and the city had already been hidden in the formation. In front of the castle, it is covered with boulders and banners. And it is full of smoke, and if you enter it, you will inevitably be unable to distinguish the direction.

After watching this big array for a long time, Xiao Ding didn't see anything famous. He had no choice but to turn his head to look at Mu Hong and Mu Yiyi.

But this time, Mu Hong and Mu Yiyi frowned tightly and said nothing.

"Senior Mu, Yiyi, can you see what kind of big array the other party is arranging? Can it be cracked? Xiao Ding took the initiative to ask.

After listening to Xiao Ding's question, Mu Hong shook his head and said in thought: "This big array this time is more than ten times bigger than the last formation, which is unpredictable and full of dangers, with what the old man has learned so far, he can't be sure what kind of formation this is!" ”

When Xiao Ding heard this, his heart was cold, and he secretly said, this matter of breaking the formation is waiting for your uncle and nephew, if you two don't know, then no one of us can know.

At this time, Mu Yiyi on the side suddenly interjected: "Uncle, I look at this big array, why is it a bit like an eight-sided locking dragon array?" ”

Mu Hong still shook his head, and then said: "It's indeed a bit like the eight-sided locking dragon array, but it's just like it, I guess the other party may have made a lot of changes on the basis of the eight-sided locking dragon array, it seems that there are still formation masters in the opponent's army." ”

Xiao Ding heard the name of the formation mentioned by the Mu family's uncle and nephew, so he asked: "Since it is a change made on the basis of the eight-sided locking dragon array, can you crack this big array according to the method of cracking the eight-sided locking dragon array?" ”

"No, although this large array seems to be a modification made on the basis of the eight-sided locking dragon array, according to my observation, I feel that it also fuses the eight-sided heavenly absolute array in it." Mu Hong vetoed directly.

"Huh? I didn't see that there was still a hidden path to the Eight Directions Heavenly Absolute Formation. Mu Yiyi was surprised.

"So what are we going to do?" Xiao Ding asked anxiously.

"This big array seems to be a fusion of the two formations of the Eight Sides Lock Dragon Array and the Eight Directions Heavenly Absolute Array, the two are integrated into one, no matter which method you follow to break the formation, you will not be able to crack this big array. Therefore, at present, with the ability of our uncle and nephew, we don't know how to crack this great array for the time being. Mu Hong said calmly.

"Since Senior Mu can see that the other party is fused together by two large arrays, why can't he know the method of cracking it?" Xiao Ding asked.

"Although I can see that the other party is using the two formations to fuse together, I don't know the mystery of it, and I don't know what parts of the two formations the other party has changed. These two formations are extremely powerful, and no matter which step you take wrong, you may be in a desperate situation. Mu Hong explained.

"This ......, in this way, we can't crack this big array?" Xiao Ding said disappointedly.

"Although I have studied the formation for many years, I have studied less in terms of the fusion and modification of the formation, but my senior brother Hongyu Zhenren is better at these. It seems that if you want to crack this big array, you can only crack it by going to our Misty Cloud Sect and inviting my senior brother Hongyu to come here. Mu Hong frowned and said.

As soon as Xiao Ding heard this, his heart twitched, this is far away from Miyun Mountain in Jingzhou, the mountain is high and the road is far away, if you invite the head of the Misty Cloud Sect, Hongyu Zhenren, to come down the mountain to break the formation, I don't know how much time it will take, how should this be?

"Senior Mu, isn't there any other way?" Xiao Ding asked earnestly.

"Anyway, I can't crack this formation at the moment, if I break the formation without authorization, it is very likely that the army will be lost and the whole army will be annihilated." Mu Hong said helplessly.

Xiao Ding sighed and said in his heart, it seems that he has no choice. I thought that the other party was just setting up a big formation, but I didn't expect it to be an extremely clever formation, and even the Mu family's uncles and nephews couldn't crack it. The rest of the people didn't know anything about the formation.

At this time, Mu Yiyi suddenly opened her mouth again and said: "There is another way, but it seems that it can't be done now." ”

When Xiao Ding heard this, he was overjoyed, and hurriedly asked, "What way?" ”

Mu Yiyi raised his eyes and glanced at Xiao Ding, and said, "That is to go to the enemy city and steal the formation map of the big array, but it's ......."

Speaking of this, Mu Yiyi stopped and just looked at Xiao Ding with a pair of beautiful big eyes.

In fact, she didn't say anything, and Xiao Ding already understood what she meant at this time. Want to go to the other city's city to steal the formation map? Easier said than done! Now that even the opponent's city is hidden, you can't even find the specific location of the opponent's city, how to enter the city and steal the formation map?

What's more, such an important thing as a formation diagram, the person who arranged the formation will definitely keep it properly, and may even carry it with him anytime and anywhere, where is it so easy to steal?

Xiao Ding did not have hope for the method that Mu Yiyi said, he knew that this was a method that could not be achieved at present. It's better to think about the suggestion made by Mu Hong, go to the Misty Cloud Sect, and ask the head of the Misty Cloud Sect, Hongyu, to go down the mountain, it is more practical.

So Xiao Ding asked: "If you go to invite the head of your faction, Hongyu senior, how should you invite it?" ”

Mu Hong looked at Xiao Ding, and then said: "If you want to invite my senior brother in charge to go down the mountain, I estimate that you will have to run away in person, Deputy Marshal Tian, if you just send a small soldier to invite, it may not show enough respect for my senior brother, if my senior brother feels that he can't get over his face, he may not come down the mountain to break the formation if he is angry." ”

When Xiao Ding heard this, he felt that it was very reasonable, after all, Hongyu Zhenren was also the head of a faction, and he had a request for others, so it was better to run in person, otherwise, the other party felt that he despised him, and it was natural for people not to come.

So he nodded and said: "It's okay for me to take a trip, it's just that I don't know the senior of Hongyu, the head of your faction, can he be willing to go down the mountain with me?" ”

"It's okay, I'll write a letter to Senior Brother in charge, and then ask Yiyi to take you to the Misty Cloud Sect with me, so that my Senior Brother will come with you." Mu Hong said.

"That's fine, then I'll set off with Yiyi tomorrow!" Xiao Ding glanced at Mu Yiyi as he spoke, and happened to meet Mu Yiyi's smart beautiful eyes.

Mu Yiyi's face was slightly red, and she lowered her head. I was happy in my heart, but I didn't dare to look at Xiao Ding.

Xiao Ding immediately ordered to set up camp. Then he issued an order, temporarily hold his troops still, he will go to Jingzhou tomorrow, and ask the master to come out of the mountain to break the formation. Don't act rashly.

The commander who came with the army this time, except for Xiao Ding, was the puppet deputy marshal Gao Jinnei. Song Yinzi and the Ninth Princess stayed in Nanchi County and did not come with the army.

So, Xiao Ding repeatedly instructed Gao to suppress the inner army, not to act rashly, and to wait patiently for his return. At the same time, he also instructed the generals in the camp not to break into that big formation easily. If anyone who does not obey the military order and dares to lead the troops to trespass into that large array during this period of absence, he will definitely be dealt with by military law after he returns.

Gao Jinnei and the camp generals all agreed. However, although Gao Quan's mouth agreed, he was secretly happy in his heart. The heart said, after you leave, this is my highest position, so isn't it up to me? With more than ten generals and 50,000 troops in his hands, it seems that his opportunity to make meritorious contributions has come again.

Xiao Ding didn't know what Gao Jinnei thought, but he couldn't believe Gao Jinnei, for fear that he would cause some trouble if he had military power in his hands, so he hurriedly sent someone to send a letter to Song Yinzi, asking Song Yinzi to quickly rush to the front line and come to take charge of the army.

After arranging things in the army, Xiao Ding set out the next day and went to Jingzhou.

From Daying to Jingzhou, if you take the land route, the middle of the mountains and mountains, the road is far away, you need to go to Jiaozhou, through Zhongzhou, and then go to Jingzhou, even if you ride a fast horse, it is estimated that it will take at least half a month to reach Jingzhou. It will take at least more than a month to go back and forth.

However, Xiao Ding looked at the military map, the vicinity of Duli County is the source of the Yuan River, a tributary of the Yangtze River, if you take the waterway, take a boat, drift all the way along the Yuan River, and after arriving at Dongting Lake, change to the Yangtze River, it is much faster than taking the land route. One is that the route is not that long, and the other is that it is definitely faster to go down the river by boat than on horseback.

Xiao Ding estimated that if he took the water, it might only take seven or eight days to reach Jingzhou, which could save at least half the time compared with taking the land route.

However, Xiao Ding's army did not have a ship at the moment, so Xiao Ding had to send someone to a nearby village and town overnight to buy a small boat.

In the villages and towns on both sides of the Yuan River, there are some fishermen. As long as the money is in place, it is not too difficult to buy a small boat.

Early the next morning, Xiao Ding and Mu Yiyi bid farewell to the generals in the camp, took the letter written by Mu Hong, and then went to the bank of the Yuan River, got on the small fishing boat that was bought at a high price, and then drifted down the river and directly downstream.

The two did not carry horses, because Mu Yiyi said that the Miyun Mountain, where the Miyun Sect is located, is also on the bank of the Yangtze River. Therefore, they can simply take a boat and go straight to their destination.

Xiao Ding didn't know how to drive a boat, and Mu Yiyi was holding a penny all the way.

The location of this part of Duli County was already on high ground, and the two of them went down the river by boat, and the boat was driven fast by Mu Yiyi. The green hills and green trees on both sides of the strait flashed behind them as if they were flying.

The boat was moving rapidly, and Xiao Ding stood at the bow of the boat, and suddenly found a cliff not far ahead, and the river fell from the cliff to the bottom of the cliff. If the boat rows over, it will fall directly into the cliff.

When Xiao Ding saw that something was wrong, he hurriedly shouted: "Stop the boat quickly, there is a cliff ahead!" ”

However, how can a small boat that has been moving at a rapid pace say that it will stop? Seeing that the two of them and the boat were about to fall into the cliff with the river, Xiao Ding said in his heart, this is the end.

PS: Remind readers that this book was first published on Zongheng Chinese Network, look at the original version, the chapters will not be confused, and the errors in the text will be corrected in time. Other websites don't sync corrections for errors. To read a good book and see the genuine version, please go to Zongheng Chinese Network or download Zongheng APP to watch. Welcome everyone to support genuine reading!