In the heavier and heavier rain, the back camp, which was shrouded in silence and sparks, also seemed to be gradually awakened, and there were crowds of running and trampling and low shouting and shouting.

But what is more reassuring is that most of the sounds and movements sound relatively neat and orderly, and occasionally there are some signs of noise and confusion, which are quickly suppressed and completely disappeared into the routine night password transmission.

Obviously, in the past, Zhou Huai'an took great pains to let his direct team and apprentice team take turns not sleeping, and from time to time on the grounds of night raids and sudden assembly, he repeatedly tossed back and forth with other personnel in the rear battalion, and achieved some results and achievements.

"The first and fourth teams of the left brigade of the rear battalion have finished counting, and they are on standby in place, and they are preparing their equipment."

Just a few moments after standing on the sentry tower, the voice of the brigade commander Lao Guan sounded beside Zhou Huai'an at the right time

"The first, third, and fourth teams of the right brigade are fully dressed. Prepare to be stationed on the wall"

Immediately afterwards was another brigade commander's admonition.

Zhou Huai'an nodded, so that in addition to the three teams on duty, there were five teams of mobile forces; Although it was not enough to go out to do something or support other places, it was more than enough to suppress and maintain the situation in the camp.

"Apprentices, open the B-shaped cart and start distributing bows and arrows."

Then, he turned to the leaders and team leaders who appeared around one after another, and continued to give orders

"Take out the rain gear and coverings, and eat a quick portable ration... Loading is stacked nearby for use. ”

"Half of the direct team got on the horse and started patrolling the camp, and half of them wore armor and went to the wall to guard the wall."

"Each team stationed in the team takes odd and even numbers, and waits in the tent in turn, and must not act rashly."

"The flag-bearers of the various teams who were on duty at night began to change and use the flag language and lights to transmit the message."

"The room began to cook soup and prepare food, and the ambulance team prepared equipment and continued to be on standby."

"Charcoal group and oil group, prepare more campfire fires and lamps."

"The mule and horse team team re-inspected the fodder, rope bridles, and fences. . .

"The carpentry group, the ironwork group, and the masonry group carried the equipment into the wall in turn and waited."

"The rest of the 1st to 5th Baggage Brigades, their subordinates, etc., continue to sleep with their heads down."

"It is forbidden to make loud noises and movements, and violators will be severely punished."

"Those who walk around in tandem in vain are killed, and they sit on the fire chiefs and five heads of each tent. . .

"If you pass a password once in half an hour, if you can't answer it, you will be regarded as a spy."

For Zhou Huai'an at this moment, it is the so-called basic truth that "soldiers are not expensive"; Especially in the case of this rainy night, when the vision is difficult to distinguish and the enemy's situation is unknown, what can be counted on is these more than a dozen teams of soldiers who have to eat all kinds of fish offal every day under his strong order to vomit during this period of time, and initially have roughly basic night vision ability.

As for the number of garrisons, people, and miscellaneous servants who are more than them, they are not in Zhou Huai'an's hopes and expectations. They suffer from night blindness because of widespread malnutrition, and the result of forcibly pulling them out to make up the numbers in this dark night is to add frequent chaos and trouble to their own people, and even more flaws.

When he gave one order after another, with the small flags and lights waving in the air, and the figures that ran away and disappeared into the rain curtain one after another, the entire rear camp was completely immersed in a certain vigilance, excitement and panting; But the rain was falling heavier and heavier, and the outlines and movements in the main camp in the distance became more blurred and obscure.

After more than an hour, Zhou Huai'an returned from his tour of the camp again, and the messenger rebels sent out to contact still did not have any return, and the soldiers on the camp wall had also been replaced by the second round;

There is no way to do it, although after this period of relatively abundant materials, a variety of relatively reasonable nutritional intake (full meals), as well as relatively advanced supporting training methods, have somewhat improved and the basic appearance; But it is still impossible to make up for the physical foundation of most of the righteous soldiers who have been beaten and generally won and weakened at once.

After all, before that, most of them were basically poor from hunger and cold, and they were really forced to defect to the rebels when they had no choice but to go to the rebels; After all, there is a considerable gap between the requirements and burdens of personal physical fitness in the warfare of the cold weapon era and the modern and modern armies that have been weaponized.

Therefore, although the current temperature is not low, in the case of continuous rain and constant hypothermia, if they rotate for half an hour and drink and eat, they can still maintain a better state of readiness.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but feel a little nostalgic for what he knew, the benefits of those firearms units in history, at least the threshold and requirements for soldiers could be lowered to as long as the limbs were able-bodied and they could raise their guns to roughly aim and pull the trigger.

But in the rain and fog, Zhou Huai'an secretly adjusted the light sensitivity and resolution of the field of vision, but he suddenly felt that something was shaking in the darkness outside the afterglow, and he couldn't help but say when he came back:

"Watch out for movement outside the camp. Alert.. ”

Hearing this, the sentry guards standing under the canopy took out their wooden single crossbows and reinforced wooden bows wrapped in oilcloth rolls, began to tighten the strings, and pressed down the full barrels on some of the crossbow machines; In the midst of a low command transmission, the soldiers who remained under the wall also drew their swords and cards in unison, leaning their single-wielding short spears against the wall, making a posture of preparing for battle.

After a long while, a few flickering lights appeared in the distance outside the camp gate, and then they turned into hoarse shouts in the rain:

"The back camp is empty, and the head is here."

"On the orders of the general, quickly send troops to the south of the city to respond."

"Fu Xin is here, please let me in for inspection."

What is this the messenger who came to the front camp for help? Zhou Huai'an suddenly looked at him with covetous faces, and someone asked in a low voice:

"Pipehead, what should we do?"

"Or, let me go down and hand over one or two."

Zhou Huai looked calm, but it was Zheng Luo Nian, the shooting team nearby, and he was also one of the "old men" left behind from Deputy Lieutenant Lu's subordinates, who was responsible for leading the crossbowmen in the soldiers; But when he heard this, he suddenly felt a sense of wrongness and disobedience, but he couldn't grasp the point.

"Please hurry up and open the door."

"I'm going to go inside and see the head..."

Zhou Huai'an was silent for a while, and a somewhat exhausted hoarse shout sounded from below again, but fortunately, with the usual prestige and confidence, no one dared to question or urge him or anything, but looked at him more and more anxious and anxious.

At this moment, the screaming below suddenly weakened, and then the little lights that flickered in the wind and rain also seemed to fall out of their hands and fell into the darkness and flashed a few times before being extinguished; The soldiers on the wall couldn't help but stir a little and looked out; At this time, it was still the brigade commander Cheng Da who took the initiative to stand up, wanting to say something and stopping.

"Okay, let people open the door and go out to answer it, and then put down all the barriers,"

In an increasingly solemn atmosphere, Zhou Huaian sighed heavily, and decided to arrive.

"The left and right brigades each send a team of men to wait by the door, just in case..."

"Ordered."

"Obedience"

Left and right answered each other.

"There is an order for the pipe head..."

"Quickly open the camp gate and lower the barricade"

"Wait, wait a minute"

At this moment, after a few thoughts in his mind, he suddenly thought of a key point like an earth-shattering shock. He hurriedly called Luo Nian, who volunteered and turned to walk away.

"Before you go out, ask for the password of the big camp."

"That's right, it's the password...

Zhou Huai'an was particularly surprised at him, and emphasized word by word.

"Let's just tell me what the password is for tonight."

Then I could hear the sound and movement of the vehicles loaded with heavy loads behind the camp gate, being dragged away from the wooden supports, and Luo Nian's shouts from the open doorway.

"Is there anyone else out there?"

"It's still there..."

In the blurred shadows of the light, I remembered to answer weakly

"How long will I have to wait...

"Dare to ask what is the password of today's big camp."

Then, I heard the other party pause, and then shouted a little indistinctly

"The day makes up the average, and the sea is clear"

"And so it was."

Zhou Huai'an couldn't help but smile like this, and said to the left and right,

"Close the door immediately and fire the arrow at the sound with all your might."

"What..."

The leaders on the left and right couldn't help but show surprised expressions, although some of them were still hesitant and hesitant, but the team officers and fire captains who were mainly old men on the wall were still under a certain inertia and blind obedience, and each conveyed the order.

In an instant, I saw a rain of arrows that continued to buzz on the wall, as if it had been completely engulfed by the rain curtain and darkness. Then, after a moment's delay, a series of screams and muffled grunts suddenly sounded in the darkness, as well as the sound of rushing rushing through the trampling water.

At this moment, even those who didn't understand it were all awakened, where is the reason to come with a whole team of people to ask for help; At this time, without Zhou Huai'an's orders, everyone was like a spinning top that had been suddenly whipped, rushing to the wall and joining more in the Dao taking turns.

There were men who pushed the gates of the camp to close, and re-jacked them with heavy obstacle carts and wooden horses; At this time, Zhou Huai'an, who was standing on the top and could only see the scene and the situation, moved again in his heart and hurriedly shouted directly at them:

"Don't close it completely. Leave a side line. ”

"Then go down the fence behind the door and make a narrow passage with a barrier car."

"Let the spearmen of the pole team lean on and hold on."

At this moment, in the rain that did not get smaller in the slightest, many bright figures on horses suddenly rushed out, and their armor washed clean by the rain was actually very scaly and shimmering under the swaying and flickering light of the firelight on the wall. There is no doubt that this is the elite and vanguard of the enemy army that has sneaked in.

"The mud is moving."

Then, in the screams of someone, I saw a large area of people squirming in the dark, covered with mud, and like a black crushing crowd of mud monkeys;

Wielding their swords and spears, which were also covered with mud, they staggered and trotted, howling and shouting voices and slogans of unknown meaning, and swooped down on the walls of the camp following the trails of the cavalry.

In the midst of these few breaths, these enemies, who had run through large areas of mud and were quite skilled in riding, had successfully bypassed and crossed the horses and deer barricades set up on the periphery, and even dragged them aside, and opened a tortuous aisle for the descendants who followed; Then, after being knocked over by about half of the shots, he managed to break through under the wall and outside the fence.

Along the edge of the camp wall, he slipped and fell more than ten horsemen, and after being stabbed to death by the spears in the gap in the camp fence, he reassembled in front of the camp gate. It was only then that the charcoal basin placed by the door lost most of its utility because of the rain and mud;

Most of what was splashed out of the head was almost quickly extinguished in the rain and mud, and only a few fell on the enemy horsemen, but they were fleeting and had little effect or hindrance. On the contrary, it was the boiling water that was thrown out of the whole pot that changed course later, and even the people and horses were hot and the enemy horsemen who were crowded by the wall and could not dodge, and all kinds of screams and jumped off the horse.

By this time, the first enemy horsemen had already struggled along the gap in the camp gate; Then before he could break through a few steps, he was hooked by various obstacles by the door and scraped off the horse; He was trampled under the feet of the enemy cavalry that broke in later, and disappeared.

Suddenly, more and more enemy cavalry rebels poured in along the opening of the camp gate that had been knocked open; It's a pity that there is no space behind the door for them to gallop and accelerate, and several layers of obstacles and narrow roads formed by horses and deer directly squeezed them into it.

Once they lose their speed and impact, and have to huddle together in a long line in front and back, they are undoubtedly the best targets to deal with behind the cover; Although the crossbowmen on the wall could not turn against them for a while; However, relying on the pole team standing on the ground alone is enough to temporarily suppress and confront them.

Even if someone gives up their mount on the spot and tries to jump on a high ground or fly over an obstacle on horseback, they will quickly be overturned or stabbed down by a spear.

and the large number of infantry, who had paid a considerable price of casualties under the rain of arrows at the head of the wall, jumped into the waterlogged trenches in droves; They also began to try to cut and destroy the wooden fence wall, and began to fight and fight fiercely with the knives and spears of the rebel soldiers guarding behind.

The night, shrouded in a reciprocating battle and attack, seems to make people live an extraordinarily long time; I don't know if after replacing the first few waves of damaged more than half of the team, or after the exhausted team of the fight, Zhou Huai'an, who didn't close his eyes all night and was full of bloodshots, finally saw the faint whiteness of the sky in the distance.

(End of chapter)