For several days, Ye Qing had been dangling in the Lianshui Barracks, and from time to time he would go outside the city to see the equipment guarding the city and so on.

With the original Five Rivers Army being transferred to Zhenjiang, the fortifications of Huainan East Road were missing a mobile defense army, that is, the Lianshui Army sent here.

The defense of Huainan East Road is like an open inverted triangle, with Yangzhou as the base, the Tianchang Army and Huaiyang Army in the west, and Gaoyou and Xuyi in the east.

However, after the Five Rivers Army was dispatched, after the Lianshui Army replaced the defensive position of the Five Rivers Army, the Five Routes Army on the Huainan East Road lost their interaction with each other, and there was a feeling of not being connected.

In this way, if once the Jin people go south, the five-way army on the Huainan East Road can only defend itself, and it is very easy for the Jin army to break through and point directly at Yangzhou.

Naturally, it is precisely because of the imperial court's "unenterprising" that not only the Lianshui Army, but also the other four armies of Huaiyang and Gaoyou, Ye Qing did not find a few siege equipment, and almost all of them were simple weapons that were mainly for defense, especially the rows of rejecting horse pistols outside the city.

This repulsion pistol is like the herringbone barricade of later generations, except that the wood on it is sharper, and most of the horizontal between the logs is a spear used to block war horses.

In short, the five-way army on the Huainan East Road, just like the strategy of the imperial court, is mainly to prevent the southern invasion of the Jin, as for the northern expedition? I'm afraid that even the Holy Lord will not know that he has supported the Northern Expedition for many years, but he is still sticking to it in the army.

In the conversation with Zhou Duanchao, it can also be heard that the army of Huainan East Road will be like this now, which is naturally related to some officials such as the military department of the DPRK and the Central People's Republic of China, but if it crosses the river, it will be much better equipped than the army of Huainan East Road in the army of other roads.

It's August now, and the scorching heat makes people sweat even if they don't move, they will sweat after a while, I don't know if it's because of Ye Qing's arrival, or because Zhou Duanchao has always been extremely strict with the soldiers, and the school field is in full swing every day.

Standing in the shade of a tree with Wu Ju, looking at the shirtless or laughing and playing on the school field not far away, or under the leadership of their respective team officers, they were engaged in a simulated battle against the Jin Man Iron Cavalry, Wu Juan poured Ye Qing a cup of tea, and said: "My lord, it's been more than half a month, we can't keep spending it here, right?" ”

looked at the dazzling sunlight above his head, lifted the collar that was about to stick to the back of his neck, and muttered: "I have to go back, next year's Northern Expedition, this is obviously not possible now." ”

"But...... You can also see that Zhou Duanchao has been talking about Zuo Xiang intentionally or unintentionally in these days, don't you still understand what this means? Wu Juan hesitated and said.

"Of course I understand, what's not to understand about this. It's just that I didn't expect that Wang Huai would have such a city, and he had already buried the chess pieces here, it seems that when I went to Huainan East Road, that conversation outside the palace, he had already thought that there would be such a result today. Ye Qing said slowly.

"So what do we do next? What's more, he really doesn't have a handle in our hands, and he doesn't care about the empty salary, even if you want to punish him with this, in this way, you will offend the commander of the army who doesn't know how many roads, and you will directly have a grudge with Yang Jian. Wu Ju analyzed for Ye Qing.

"This may be the reason why Wang Huai has no fear, after all, if I want to really take charge of the Five Roads Army, Zhou Duanchao must take it down. Therefore, if Zhou Duanchao is punished for eating empty salaries, I will offend not only Wang Huai, but also Han Cheng, Han Yanxuan and other families. Therefore, Wang Huai also knew the stakes involved, which made Zhou Duanchao so indifferent. Ye Qing sneered and said.

Wang Huai must believe that he, Ye Qing, can see that if Zhou Duanchao is moved, the consequences will not be borne by Ye Qing alone, so he will continue to take charge of the Lianshui Army without fear.

Of course, if Ye Qing didn't know how to lift up, and insisted on moving Zhou Duanchao to neutralize the Fifth Route Army on Huainan East Road, then not to mention Wang Huai, even Han Cheng and the others would not let go of the opportunity to attack Ye Qing.

Between the dilemma, what Ye Qing can do now is to continue to put the matter of the Lianshui Army on the go, as for the half a month's time, it is equivalent to wasting it in vain.

"It's really unwilling, Zhou Duanchao is really too cunning, and he was able to keep his relationship with Wang Huai so secret before...... Wu Juan said unwillingly.

"I don't blame the Imperial City Division, and I don't blame you, the matter itself should be like this, not to mention that we can't contact Zhou Duanchao too early before, if it is too early contact, I'm afraid it will cause Wang Huai's suspicion and vigilance, and ...... when the time comes." Ye Qing laughed again and said, "If I had scared the snake before, maybe I would have been in charge of the Imperial Capital, and it wouldn't have been my Ye Qing." ”

The pot-bellied Zhou Duanchao trotted all the way to the shade of the tree, hoping that Ye Qing could boost the morale of the soldiers in the school field, and also let everyone see the demeanor of Lord Ye in the imperial capital, but Ye Qing shook his head and refused.

The army of five or six thousand people gathered together, its scale and momentum are also not to be underestimated, although Ye Qing looked at the black and oppressive heads on the school field, and he also had a feeling of blood boiling in his heart, as if he had returned to the kind of days he had in the later life.

However, after coming to this world for so many years, Ye Qing has already understood what it means to be "not in charge of the army, not in charge of the wealth, not in the hands of the wealth, not in the form of love, and not in the official".

What's more, who knows what Zhou Duanchao's heart is, if he really stands on the high platform of the school field with a hot brain, once someone makes trouble and makes a fuss, Zhou Duanchao will definitely stand aside and watch the excitement, and will never help himself.

And if you want to punish those who make trouble and make trouble, I am afraid that this will be the case, and it will be even more difficult for Zhou Duanchao.

"I'll leave tomorrow, the Lianshui Army still hopes that Commander Zhou will take a lot of pain, and such a brave and good fighter can also let the official see that all this is the work of your Commander Zhou." Ye Qing slowly put down the teacup and said to Zhou Duanchao with a smile.

"This ...... Why are you leaving so soon? Can...... The war horse is ....... Zhou Duan rolled his eyes and immediately asked.

"Don't worry, since I promised you, I won't break my promise, and a thousand good horses will be brought by General Wu himself in a few days." Halfway through speaking, Ye Qing's tone suddenly turned sideways, and he said a little harshly: "But let's talk about the ugly things ahead, if there is something wrong with these thousand war horses in your Lianshui Army, even including accidents such as running away for no reason, I, Ye Qing, will ask you Zhou Duanchao alone." ”

Listening to Ye Qing's tone that suddenly became sharp, Zhou Duanchao's heart was inexplicably shocked, but on the surface, he still said firmly: "My lord, don't worry, the last general will lose his life, and he will definitely treat the war horse allocated by the adult." ”

"That's good." Ye Qing laughed casually again, and sighed: "It's not that the official is harsh, it's really my Great Song Dynasty war horses are lacking, not only your Lianshui Army, even if it is other armies, even if it is other road armies, which way is not a shortage of war horses?" The so-called cavalry, in serious cases, six or seven out of ten do not have war horses, and three or four out of ten without war horses can already be regarded as the elite cavalry of our Great Song Dynasty. ”

It is normal for the Great Song Dynasty to have a shortage of war horses, and the war horses are even shorter, even if it is the Huainan East Road today, even if you count the thousands of war horses that the Lianshui Army has not yet reached, the strength of the Five Route Army is nearly 30,000 people, and the cavalry adds up to only 5,000 people, and the proportion of cavalry on other roads in the Great Song Dynasty is just the same.

That is to say, in this proportion, there are at least two to three thousand so-called cavalry on Huainan East Road now, and there is not even a mount, so it is no wonder that such an army with no mobility at all can only stick to the city and cannot go north.

It was already early September when he returned to Yangzhou, and when he was on the way, Ye Qing had already begun to let Chen Cishan release Li Zhixiao and Hong Zun.

Now Li Zhixiao and Hong Zun are no longer an obstacle for him to take charge of the five-way army, and they may even become the best bargaining chips for him to control the Lianshui army, so along the way, Ye Qing thought a lot, but there was still no safe and reliable feasible method, creating a contradiction between Li Zhixiao, Hong Zun and Zhou Duanchao, so that he could sit on the mountain and watch the tiger fight, and the fisherman would benefit.

Of course, in addition to this one thing, Ye Qing also had a lot of other things to do, in addition to going to the northernmost Lianshui Army along the way, and the four armies such as Huaiyang and Gaoyou were also looked at by him.

Now, it's just that the personnel are well prepared, plus the weapons, armor and other things brought by Lu You, the Fifth Route Army can be regarded as a fully equipped garrison army, but if they take the initiative to attack Jin with such equipment, Ye Qing also knows that I am afraid that once they cross the Huai River, they will be defeated by the Jin people.

Liu Dexiu also returned to Yangzhou from Chuzhou, and the outer city of Yangzhou has begun to be under the auspices of Lu Yanlun and Xiao Zhen, although the outline has not yet appeared, but it has been able to know that in the future, after Yangzhou City is built in the outer city, Yangzhou will become an unimaginable big city.

Li Zhixiao, Hong Zun, Liu Dexiu, Xin Qiji and others patiently waited for Ye Qing to return to the city in the government office, and Ye Qing at this moment was at the gate of Yangzhou City, sitting under the city wall with Lu Yanlun and Xiao Zhen, holding the drawings in his hand and studying.

During this period, in order to prevent the invasion of the enemy, the city would often build defensive facilities other than the moat, and when the enemy attacked the city, it would lay a series of five or six lines of defense to prevent the enemy from attacking the city at close range.

"From far to near, there are thistles, staghorns, repelling rifles, moats, sheep and horse walls, and then the city walls. The moat can naturally be replaced by a moat, not to mention that Yangzhou has never been short of water, and once the moat is widened and deepened, it can also be solved once and for all. Lu Yanlun pointed to the sketch and said to Ye Qing, who was squatting under the city wall with a serious face.

Although he was looking at the map in Lu Yanlun's hand, Ye Qing's mind drifted to the long-distance siege weapon, so when Lu Yanlun finished speaking, Ye Qing still looked at the map blankly and was silent.

(PS: When I was a student, I basically skipped fights, so even if I wanted to learn from them, I didn't have anything to learn from for a while.) Such a plot rarely appears in other books, and I am extremely frightened. One more, I can't write, I've been very depressed these days, I don't know why. ）