This year's rain seems to be less than in previous years, or because it rained too much in the autumn of last year, after the catastrophe, God heard the cry of the toiling world, and gave birth to a little compassion, this year it is rare to release some kindness, in the end there is no more pouring down.

Since the beginning of summer, there have been a few intermittent sessions, but the land has still been soaked, and the area south of the Yangtze River has been completely cleaned.

In Jiangpu County, Jiangning Prefecture, on the ruined city wall, the rain washed away the filth of the past few days, and the blood stains that had dried up the mottled bricks with the rain also flowed down with the rain, soaked into the mud, and flowed into the moat with the turbid sewage.

Huang Xiaomu stood on the city tower, looking at the desolate scene below, the sound of the wind mixed with the rain poured into his ears, and the torn official uniform was tightly attached to his body, setting off his thin and boneless body. Rain poured down his forehead along his sunken pale cheeks, dripping down his thin, slender chin.

After a while, someone climbed up from below, looked around for a while, and then hurriedly opened the umbrella and ran over, blocking Huang Xiao from the rain.

"Fuzun, hurry up and go back with your humble duties, such a heavy rain has damaged my body and bones, and I can't afford it."

Huang Xiao came back to his senses for a long time, his expression was tired and wooden, and his voice was hoarse: "It's really dead, but it's easy to be happy!"

After saying that, he slowly raised his hand, the rain splashed on his sleeve, bouncing to both sides, he stiffly spread out his palms and held against the wall: "These days, I really want to jump from here!"

"Fuzun!" The entourage took over, "I can't complain about you this time, you are worried about working so far, everyone has seen it, you have also seen it, the chaotic people have retreated, this time the losses are heavy, they must be quiet for a few days, and when the troops drawn by the imperial court come over, everything will be over." ”

Huang Xiao's chapped lips were moistened by the rain, revealing a gray color, and he laughed a few times intermittently, full of bitterness: "I'm afraid that it won't be until then!" The report has been sent out urgently for 800 miles, but it will take three or five days, and the imperial court has arranged it for another three or five days, and those who hold the military power in their hands will delay it for another three or five days, and this Jiangpu County has already been broken. ”

"The weak body of this official is dead and dead, but the more than 100,000 people in this city, why suffer from this great calamity? As the head of a government, this official can't protect a city, and he is ashamed of the court and shameless people......"

Huang Xiao said a few words, raised his hand and asked him to go downstairs, but the entourage looked worried, but he also retreated, hurriedly went to the county office, and called the magistrate of Jiangpu County and a group of military generals.

A moment later, the rain curtain on the tower of the city was already overcrowded. Most of the officers and soldiers who had been evacuated due to the heavy rain returned to their posts, staring at the wide meadow outside the moat.

Jiangpu Zhixian is over fifty years old, but he looks more energetic than Huang Xiao. In fact, this also makes sense, after all, Huang Xiao, as the supreme official, has been doing all the big and small things himself during this time.

Wu Zhixian, under the recommendation of everyone, took a step forward, and when he reached Huang Xiao's side half a step, he persuaded: "My lord, pay attention to your body, I am afraid that there will be some days before this banditry, and you still need to control this big and small matter."

Huang Xiao smiled bitterly: "What are you doing here, it's raining so heavily...... Compared to me, you are more important, this official is just living in the background, you are all going to the battlefield, you are really sick, this official really can't find someone to replace for a while. ”

The armed forces of the new dynasty were mainly composed of the forbidden army, the Xiang army, the village soldiers, and the Tibetan soldiers, in addition, there were also Turkish troops and archers. The forbidden army was the central army, including the emperor's Su Guard Army and the Wu Garrison Army, which were subordinate to the Sanya. Its task is to defend the imperial palace, guard the capital division, prepare for the conquest and garrison the border counties and important places. There are two branches of the infantry army, the Indian and horse armies, and the naval army and the artillery army are attached to the infantry army.

The Xiang Army is a local army, called the Standing Army, which is actually a miscellaneous army of various state capitals and certain central institutions. It is under the control of the state government and certain central organs, and is always subordinate to the Guards Mahan Division and the Guards Walker Division. The main tasks are to build cities, make weapons, build roads and bridges, transport grain and reclaim famines, and guard officials, welcome and send-off, etc. Generally, there is no training or combat duty.

The township soldiers, also known as the militia, are local people's armed forces formed by lottery or recruited natives according to the proportion of household registration.

The Fan soldiers are the northwestern border guards. It was formed by the Qiang Shuhu tribal army in the border area of Hedong and Western Xia.

The Turkish army and archers are part of the local security forces. It is under the jurisdiction of the county lieutenant of the inspection department and is subordinate to the inspection department of various places.

At this time, most of these people in front of Huang Xiao were the generals of all the "armies" around Jiangpu. However, the only people who can be called military in Jiangpu now are the officers and soldiers of the two hundred Jiangning Water Division Battalion who have just arrived, and as for the Xiangjun troops guarding Jiangpu County, Huang Xiao only learned that there were few people at all, that is to say, those people on the roster did not exist at all, and everyone was eating empty salaries.

In the end, what could really be used to suppress the displaced people was actually only temporarily formed by the nearby township soldiers. Imagine such a main force, how can Huang Xiao feel at ease.

Although everyone is a strong man drawn from the people, the other party is obviously not afraid of death, and they can't work together on their side, and it's good to be able to resist these days.

said that it was suppressed, but by now, they had retreated to the county seat, relying on the tall city walls to resist and wait for help.

Huang Xiao also knew how weak his power was in Jiangning Mansion in this situation, after the merger of Jiangning and Shangyuan, he was promoted to the prefect as the head of a county, presumably because he had a dislike with his colleagues, and he did things with sincerity, and no one bought his account, otherwise after such a period of time, the counties should have sent support long ago, instead of a few nonsense words of "this county is afraid that it will also be invaded by displaced people, and there must be troops stationed and patrolled, so there are no troops to support".

Huang Xiao was really a little disheartened.

Seeing that everyone was not retreating, he had no choice but to turn around and said lightly: "Go back."

Everyone got out of the way, Huang Xiaozhi went downstairs, everyone, you look at me, I look at you, follow down.

Although these people eat military salaries, they have never experienced war, and most of them who have really fought in the north can't speak, after all, they have been demoted, and they are also dispensable idle positions.

However, after a few fights, everyone is also prepared, and now they are not panicked, they are cowering within the city wall, and they can still sleep peacefully for an hour.

The south, which has not experienced war for a long time, is willing to believe that what is happening in front of them is only temporary, and it is impossible to really make a big noise, let alone be like the north.

So in an atmosphere that was not tense, things changed, and those people were finally frightened.