In Kyoto, Emperor Yuning faced the war on both wings and fell ill again in the midst of internal and external troubles. However, Emperor Yuning still dragged his seriously ill body and presided over an important court administration.

At this time, the civil and military officials above the court have long lost the fighting spirit of the past. Looking at Emperor Yuning's thin and crumbling body, many old ministers had tears in their eyes. It was as if the qi of Great Xia had come to an end like Emperor Yuning's sick and weak body.

Emperor Yuning gasped and leaned on the throne, his eyes full of majesty. Looking at the old ministers under the steps, Emperor Yuning's heart was also filled with bitterness. He knew in his heart that perhaps this would be the last early dynasty in his life.

The old eunuch Wei Dong was just about to say as usual, 'If there is something to play early, there is nothing to retreat from', but Emperor Yuning waved his hand and stopped him. Emperor Yuning coughed lightly a few times and said weakly.

"Dear Aiqing~ I have known you for 18 years, and we have witnessed the glory of my Great Xia. Today, my health is declining, but I have to sit here and discuss state affairs with the ministers. Because, my Great Xia is facing an unprecedented crisis. ”

Speaking of this, Emperor Yuning gasped. Although his voice was not loud, it was unusually heavy in the silent hall.

Emperor Yuning continued, "My Great Xia was originally a country and a peaceful country, but Zhao Li, a traitor from Xining, led foreign criminals into the customs to make trouble. Fortunately, a few days ago, I received a battle report from Yan Facheng and Ma Ruzheng, the two coaches, and the southbound army had driven the foreign invaders to the side of Shuangfeng Mountain. Prince Dezhang is embarking on the reconstruction of many cities in the south and the pacification of the people. However, there was no peace in the south, and war broke out again in the west. The Western Vietnamese barbarians crossed the Two Realms Mountains and invaded the land of Great Xia. Now that the country is in trouble, I have to order the world to recruit soldiers. However, conscription is easy and it is difficult to raise soldiers. Therefore, I will discuss with you today how I will build a strong team in Great Xia. ”

After Emperor Yuning finished speaking, his eyes swept over everyone's faces one by one. Xiangguo Yu Ban stood up and stepped forward to say.

"Your Majesty, everyone is in danger when the national disaster is at the head. If I still have a million heroes in Daxia, I would like to ask who in this world dares to covet it. Millions of lions can be called, but all of them need money to train and raise soldiers. At present, the Great Xia is fighting on two fronts, the treasury is empty, and it is indeed impossible to take out the silver taels to recruit the world's soldiers and horses. However, the building will not be finished, and the minister is not talented, and he is willing to donate eight million taels of silver for recruitment. If it is not enough, the minister is willing to give everything he has to keep me in peace. ”

Listening to Xiang Guo's sonorous and powerful words, many ministers showed shock and admiration. Zhu Wenjun, the squire of the military department, then stood up and was willing to donate two million taels to fund the recruitment.

With two important ministers as an example, the court suddenly expressed their positions. Wei Dong hurriedly ordered people to record them one by one, this is not like it is okay after speaking, it must be fulfilled one by one.

Emperor Yuning was very satisfied, but he didn't expect that the civil and military officials donated nearly 50 million taels of silver at once. At this time, Emperor Yuning also had the confidence, and immediately issued a holy decree to recruit 600,000 soldiers and horses in the capitals across the country. Originally, only 300,000 were recruited, but Emperor Yuning suddenly increased it by half. If it had been two months ago, there would have been people in the DPRK and China who would have stood up to oppose this kind of reckless use of force to bring down the country. But today, even the old Hanlin Wang Shidu feels that only with soldiers in his hands can he stabilize the country.

Emperor Yuning issued a holy decree to recruit soldiers and horses, but at this time, the capital city entered a fierce battle.

At the end of the day, although Li Jianshan and others barely held the city. However, less than 20,000 soldiers and horses suffered losses of more than 7,000 in the battle, and more than 3,000 were wounded and lost their ability to fight. The soldiers and horses of the West Vietnam lost less than 6,000 people in battle. If it is a normal ratio, it should be reasonable that 30,000 horses will lose their combat strength.

Li Jianshan's heart chilled, he knew that he had more than 18,000 soldiers and horses in his hands on the surface. In fact, there were less than 6,000 people who could actually fight and guard. The rest of the temporarily conscripted men had no combat effectiveness at all. It is even said that at the beginning of the enemy army rushing to the city, they themselves were in chaos first. If it weren't for Zhou Guangji and Han Feng's two old guns, I am afraid that they would not be able to hold on to this day. But what about tomorrow? Whether they can still stand on the city wall alive is not even clear in Li Jianshan's heart.

In the city gate camp, Li Jianshan and Zhou Guangji Han Feng sat together, and the three of them discussed tomorrow's countermeasures. Li Jianshan drooped his head, he was not in the mood to think about tomorrow's battle.

Zhou Guangji patted Li Jianshan's shoulder and said encouragingly, "Jianshan, don't be discouraged, don't look at the remaining people, but the combat effectiveness is still undiminished." In today's battle, those young guards had never experienced a battle, and they were in disarray first. After this bloody battle, I believe that no one will tremble tomorrow. ”

Li Jianshan sighed slightly, "If the army of Lidu City is here, why not be afraid of these barbarians in Xiyue." It's just that I didn't expect that the Western Vietnamese army would come so quickly. ”

Han Feng said, "Western Vietnam has been preparing for this war for a long time, and the two realms should have already planted an internal response within the mountains. This is also to blame for the mediocrity of the father and son of Beiming Tangtai, if it were not for them to mobilize a large army to contain the Moro Kingdom, Xiyue would never dare to provoke this war. ”

Zhou Guangji smiled bitterly, "I can't complain about others, who doesn't care about their own interests in the world." The Northern Ming Dynasty is weak, and it also wants to get a piece of the pie in this war. ”

"Two seniors, do you think the West Vietnamese will carry out a night attack?" Li Jianshan said worriedly.

Zhou Guangji and Han Feng shook their heads almost at the same time, Zhou Guangji said, "A night attack is even more unfavorable to the besieging side, they have a large number of soldiers, and it only takes three days to completely drag us down, so there is no need to rush to let the guards risk a night attack." ”

Han Feng suddenly said, "Third brother, they can't, so why don't we have a night attack?" ”

Li Jianshan was stunned, "What? ”

"I mean, let's take the initiative to attack the Xiyue camp at night."

"Senior, you~ Are you sure you're not joking?" Li Jianshan said in his heart that this old guy wouldn't be tired and confused.

Han Feng's eyes widened, "Does the old man seem to be joking?" ”

"Senior, just our soldiers and horses, and we still attack at night?"

Zhou Guangji nodded suddenly, "What Lao Qi said is right, we can have a night attack." The soldiers, treacherous, and unexpected, let them not live in peace. ”

"Hey, I said two seniors, you can't joke about the entire Lidu City. I will keep these soldiers and horses to defend the city tomorrow, and I must not use them. Li Jianshan immediately vetoed the proposal.

"Jianshan, Lao Qi didn't mean to use the army to defend the city. In fact, you only need to select dozens of good players and let us lead the team. ”

"Yes, the soldiers are more expensive than the many. Third brother, you have difficulty moving, I'll just lead the team. The mountain was built, and people filled their skins with pine oil, and it was estimated that the Western Vietnamese army was building climbing equipment overnight. As long as these climbing equipment are burned, it can be delayed for at least one day. Duan Lang and the others are desperately rushing here, and they can delay for a moment. Han Feng said.

Only then did Li Jianshan understand the intention of the two elders, they wanted to take a few good guards to attack the other party's reserve camp.

Li Jianshan patted the table, "Okay, I'll go too, let Senior Zhou wait here." ”

"You? You can't go, and now the city is dominated by you, and you must not go on such an adventure. Zhou Guangji said.

"Senior, in the capital city, it can be said that apart from you two, no one is more suitable for this kind of work than me. Don't forget, I'm from the Detective Division, and I'm a night assassin. It is a matter of life and death in the whole city, and Senior Han can't be allowed to take risks alone. ”

Zhou Guangji was about to object, but Han Feng said, "It's okay, you really need a skill like Jianshan in the night attack." Don't worry, third brother, with me, I won't let Jianshan have an accident. ”

Zhou Guangji saw that even Han Feng said this, hesitated for a moment, nodded and said, "Okay, I'll pick you up in the city." Night attacks are small, and protecting one's own safety is the most important thing. ”

Li Jianshan agreed, and hurriedly started arranging. After selection, Han Feng found that except for the Mingyue private army he brought, there was no suitable candidate in Lidu City at all. Li Jianshan was also very embarrassed, the affairs of the dignified capital of the Great Xia calendar were actually handled by the people of the Northern Ming Dynasty. If it weren't for the darkness of the night, he wouldn't know where his face would go.

Opposite the capital city, in the Xiyue camp, Xiao Zhanfeng, the forward general, was very angry. He thought that with a one-day siege, he could basically take the capital city that lacked troops and major generals. Unexpectedly, a group of ants actually caused him to lose five or six thousand people.

Xiao Zhanfeng was drinking sullenly in the big tent of the Chinese army, and his army came by surprise to break through the defense line of the Landu City, without bringing logistical supplies at all. In the sacks of each guard, there was only a few days' worth of food and grass. If they don't take the capital as soon as possible, they will be hungry. Xiao Zhanfeng knew that the soldiers were well fed and drunk, and fighting with a hungry stomach was a world of difference.

Xiao Zhanfeng angrily threw the wine bowl to the ground, gritted his teeth and scolded, "Tomorrow the city will be broken, and Lao Tzu will definitely peel off all the more than 100 households in the city to comfort my sons who died in battle." ”

Xiao Zhanfeng scolded and scolded, but the men and horses temporarily assigned to the reserve battalion still fought at night. The guards were cutting down trees from nearby, tied with ropes as they had done yesterday. Since there are not enough ropes, more are tied with vines. However, the right trees were almost all cut down yesterday. The trees cut down today are either coarse or fine. If the trees are too thick, it will be very laborious for the infantry to move forward. If it's too thin, it won't be able to withstand the stampede of the city. The men and horses of the logistics battalion had to go further to cut down suitable trees.

As the day approached, the tired eyelids of the officers and men of the logistics battalion could not be opened. But it was better to tie up the wooden stake walls, and did not delay the siege during the day. The West Vietnamese army was strictly disciplined, and these temporary logistics guards were not responsible for the siege, but if they delayed the siege, they could not afford this responsibility. Once it is reported to Generalissimo Han Pingzi, the commander and general will be taken down.

In the darkness of the night, a sharp cold light flashed. After a while, more than 30 guards dressed in West Vietnamese uniforms walked to the stacked wooden wall with their heads down.

"Which team are you from, why don't you hurry back to the camp to rest?" The two sentry posts in front of the stake wall asked strangely.

Brush~! Two cold lights, the sentry stared with his eyes and mouth open, but he was powerless to send another alarm.

Han Feng and Li Jianshan glanced at each other, turned around and waved their hands, and the thirty or so brothers behind him quickly untied the skin bags on their backs and splashed pine oil on the stacked wooden stake wall. More than a dozen wooden pile walls were all splashed with pine oil, Han Feng looked at it, did not ignite it immediately, and waved his hand to let the brothers touch the waterwheel.

The crowd came to the waterwheel and quickly killed the four guards on duty. The waterwheel was destroyed, and when the fire was about to start, they didn't even have the means to put it out. Li Jianshan looked at it excitedly, he didn't expect this operation to be so smooth.

Han Feng led the group to quietly retreat to the dark part of the camp, and saw that the brothers had all escaped through the broken temporary fence. Only then did Han Feng untie the longbow on his back, ignite the oilcloth on the head of the arrow, and shoot it out with a whoosh. Han Feng shot seven arrows in a row, igniting all the pile walls, and then reflexively drilled out of the fence and followed Li Jianshan and the others to quickly evacuate.

Xiao Zhanfeng never dreamed that after a day of fighting, the other party would dare to send someone to attack his logistics camp at night. In his sleep, Xiao Zhanfeng was suddenly awakened by the sound of a rapid gong.

"Oh no, someone attacked the camp~."

"Quick, the logistics camp has been set on fire, quickly put out the fire~!"

The entire Western Vietnamese battalion was in chaos, and the guards quickly drew their weapons to guard against enemy attacks. After only a short meeting, the logistics battalion was in flames, and when Xiao Zhanfeng led people over, the results of the logistics battalion personnel who had been busy all night were burned.

Xiao Zhanfeng roared angrily, "Bastard, who is in charge of patrolling and guarding, take it down for me!" Come here, mobilize 2,000 soldiers and horses, immediately go out of the camp to pursue, kill ~ must kill them. ”

Xiao Zhanfeng is almost crazy, Lidu City has been beaten like that today, these guys still have the leisure to attack his reserve camp at night. What made Xiao Zhanfeng even more angry was that the West Vietnamese army would have a guard patrol and sentry post at any time, and the other party touched it, but there was no warning at all. Moreover, more than 30 guards who were cutting down trees were stripped of their clothes, and those tired commanders fell asleep without counting their personnel. If it weren't for the need to employ people, Xiao Zhanfeng would have ordered these commanders to be killed.

Above the head of the capital city, Zhou Guangji and others saw the enemy camp blazing into the sky, and they immediately cheered excitedly. In less than half a pillar of incense, I saw Han Feng and others running over. Behind them, a black and oppressive war horse also rushed out.

"Quick~ put down the rope and pull them up. The crossbowmen are ready, shoot a salvo of 200 meters, and release the arrow~! ”

Zhou Guangji gave an order, and the archers who had already prepared in the city swished out behind Li Jianshan and the others.

One rope after another hung down, and Han Feng and the others quickly climbed to the top of the city. When the cavalry of the Western Vietnamese army chased down the city, they just climbed up.

Li Jianshan gasped excitedly, standing on the city and looking at the screaming West Vietnamese soldiers and horses, Li Jianshan didn't mention how excited he was.

"Listen to the barbarians of Xiyue, tell your family General Xiao, you have the ability to continue to attack the city after dawn, whoever doesn't come is the grandson." Li Jianshan shouted loudly, deliberately angry with the other party.

A fire destroyed all the climbing equipment. Xiao Zhanfeng was also very helpless, their cavalry that rushed through the pass quickly was not a strong point in fighting in the city, and now they had no tools to climb the city, so they could only scold on the opposite side.

Xiao Zhanfeng ordered to continue manufacturing climbing equipment, but to his helplessness, suitable trees in the vicinity were all cut down. If you want to make this kind of wooden wall, you have to go farther to cut it. To add insult to injury, the ropes that were tied were missing, so they had to be replaced by vines. It's just that the wooden walls replaced by vines have no guarantee of solidity.

In the capital city, a night attack not only brought Li Jianshan a day of repair, but also boosted morale. After a major offensive and defensive battle, many craftsmen also found many defects in defending the city. Over the course of a day and night, these skilled craftsmen in the city gathered together and made many very ingenious suggestions. What's more, the carpenters used bamboo tubes to create simple fire-breathing devices. Pouring pine oil into a hollow bamboo tube, holding it up with a leather bag, and spraying it out under pressure was definitely a disaster for the Western Vietnamese army who used the wooden stake wall to enter the city.

On the third day, Xiao Zhanfeng ordered the siege of the city. But what made him vomit blood was that the wooden walls had just been put up on the walls, and many of them were scattered, and the rest were ignited by the fiery serpents that erupted from the city. Even if it is sprayed with water, it still can't stop the burning of pine oil. Seeing that the guards were engulfed in flames, Xiao Zhanfeng had to order the troops to be withdrawn.

The city of Lidu cheered excitedly, no one expected that this siege would be unscathed. On the contrary, the opponent, at least more than a thousand soldiers and horses were engulfed in the fire, and even if they did not die, they would lose their ability to fight.

For two days in a row, Xiao Zhanfeng did not give any more orders to attack the city. He reluctantly found that the strong cavalry was powerless in the face of the tall city walls. If he didn't make a suitable tool for climbing the city, Xiao Zhanfeng didn't know how to deal with these ant-like Great Xia Guards.

The Western Vietnamese army no longer made simple wooden pile walls, and Xiao Zhanfeng ordered the manufacture of catapults and ladders to climb the city. And send a team of men and horses back to the passing town to scavenge all the supplies ropes that can be used. But in this way, it can leave enough time for the capital city.

At the edge of the desert, Duan Lang led the Sky Survey Army to finally walk out of the desert. Duan Lang immediately ordered Da Fei to fly to Lidu City, he wanted to know the current first battle report.

In the capital city, Li Jianshan saw Da Fei, and he was so excited that he couldn't hold it and cry. In the bamboo tube brought by Da Fei, Li Jianshan, Zhou Guangji and others learned that the army had walked out of the desert, and everyone was excited. Li Jianshan wrote a detailed report to Duan Lang, telling him about the situation in Lidu City and Landu City.

At the edge of the desert, in the Sky Survey Army that was being repaired, Duan Lang quickly received the news. Knowing that Lidu City actually relied on this manpower to block the other party's army of seventy or eighty thousand from attacking the city, Duan Lang and the others were also very pleased. Duan Lang was anxious, but he knew that the war horse would not recover his strength, and running in a hurry would only bring disadvantages to himself. After discussion, Duan Lang replied to Li Jianshan with a letter.

On this day, a big flag was suddenly hung on the head of the capital city. According to the war regulations of various countries, this kind of battle flag is hung out to take the initiative to ask the other side to start a war. Moreover, it is an open battle of the brave.

Xiao Zhanfeng gathered five thousand soldiers and horses to come to the city, looked at the battle flag hanging on the city, and sneered.

"The children of Lidu City, do you know that if you hang this battle flag, if you don't go out of the city to fight, it will be laughed at by the world. Of course, the dying ants are probably not afraid of being laughed at. There is no need for you to make an appointment, tomorrow our West Vietnamese army will definitely set foot in the capital city. ”

Xiao Zhanfeng has been patient for several days, and now the climbing equipment has basically been built. He believed that in the battle of tomorrow, the capital city would become his possession.

Li Jianshan stood on top of the city, and pointed at his sword, "Xiao Zhanfeng, the two armies are facing each other, and the fight is a momentum." Now that Lao Tzu has taken the initiative to make an appointment with you to fight, do you dare to openly fight with my Lidu army outside the city? ”

"Hmph, shameless boy, do you dare to go out of the city?" Xiao Zhanfeng said disdainfully.

"Listen to Lao Tzu, two days later, at noon, you and my army will set up a battle outside the city to fight to the death. Whoever is afraid of death is a fucking king. If you have the ability, let's go head-to-head one-on-one, I don't know if you Xiyue people have the guts. ”

Xiao Zhanfeng's eyes narrowed, he looked at Li Jianshan strangely, and said in his heart that this guy was crazy, and he actually dared to go out of the city to fight.

"Hehe, strange, I don't know who gave you this guts. Okay, since you say so, I'm giving you an extra day's work. If you dare to deceive me at that time, then don't blame Lao Tzu for ordering the slaughter of the city. After Xiao Zhanfeng finished speaking, he didn't want to deal with Li Jianshan anymore, so he returned to the camp with a dozen horses.

Xiao Zhanfeng didn't care about giving the other party an extra day, because he knew that Great Xia had no troops to send. Even if Kyoto is temporarily recruited, it will not be possible to reach the capital castle in less than a month. He wants to see if the other party will keep his promise when he hangs out the battle flag.

Xiao Zhanfeng didn't expect that the army of Lidu City had crossed the desert again and was rapidly approaching Lidu City. However, Duan Lang needs time. From the edge of the desert to Lidu City, it will take two days and nights to arrive at the earliest. The reason why Li Jianshan hung up the battle flag was also to try to delay the opponent's siege as much as possible. Because Li Jianshan understood that the well-prepared Xiyue battalion, they were no longer able to fight against it.

The 28,000 Lidu City Patrol Army, under the leadership of Duan Lang, quickly rushed to the Lidu City. And Zhang Ruming was ruthlessly thrown behind by Duan Lang.