In the next few days, Chongyang actively prepared for the battle.

At Wang Kefan's insistence, the west gate of Chongyang was reopened. Chongyang is one hundred and forty miles away from Linxiang, and Song Jiang's army is two or three days faster, and five or six days slower to arrive, and the preparation time of these few days is very critical and must not be wasted.

Xu Bingzhong accepted his suggestion in its entirety and implemented the policy of "clearing the wilderness and checking the Lijia" in Chongyang County.

The fortified wall is to build high barriers, dig deep trenches, and repair and strengthen the city defense of Chongyang. The young men then went out of the city to work, finishing up the fortifications outside the west gate, and the moat did not have time to dig a ditch to divert water, so they barely dug a trench, which could also play a role in blocking the siege equipment.

The county town is also building a lot of construction, building barricades as the second line of defense, Xu Bingzhong divided part of the local soldiers, strengthened the guard of the Junshui River wharf ferry, and sent more scouts to find out the news of the water bandits.

Qingye, first, demolished the houses and villages outside the city walls to make it more difficult for the water bandits to attack the city, and second, ordered the people in the county to cut the crops in the farmland and hide the food of the population, so as to cut off the water bandits' military supply.

Song Jiang's gang of water bandits had no foundation on land, and they became deaf and blind through strong walls and clear fields, unable to catch strong men, unable to obtain food and intelligence, thus weakening their superiority in strength.

The inventory of Lijia is another important measure proposed by Wang Kefan.

At his suggestion, Xu Bingzhong sent an envoy in the name of the county government to contact the gentry and heroes in Chongyang, and called on the towns and villages to recruit regiments to practice self-protection.

These envoys all carried documents signed by Xu Bingzhong, authorizing the gentry to "make a decision and pacify the locality", and all those who collaborated with bandits could be executed by the township themselves, without having to hand them over to the county government for trial. By uniting with the local squires Shili, they can give full play to the influence of the clans in the township, suppress the lawbreakers who dare to collude with the water bandits, and eliminate the worries of the Chongyang defenders.

However, this is a stopgap measure, and there are pros and cons. The control ability of the Ming Dynasty government only covered the county, and the shili of the squire clan in the countryside was already very large, Wang Kefan suggested that the township recruit and practice by itself, and gave the squires judicial power, these squire clans no longer have any constraints, and a word can determine life and death, and only one hand covers the sky.

If Wang Kefan was still in Hengshi, Wang Min could kill him by casually charging him, and he didn't have to spend thousands of taels of silver to buy land.

In a hurry, use the squire's shili to fight against the water bandits first, and leave any future troubles for the future.

In addition to the township, Chongyang County also entered a state of wartime martial law, and the inventory at the city gate was very strict.

The village outside the west gate has been burned down, and the people in the village have been sent to the county seat for resettlement, but refugees continue to flee from the direction of Linxiang, and more and more people outside the city are blocked by the soldiers guarding the city.

In order to avoid being mixed into the city by the bandits, refugees from Linxiang and other places were not allowed to enter the city, and a porridge shed was set up outside the east gate of Chongyang to accommodate these refugees, so that they would not be desperate to seek refuge from the bandits.

Time flies in the busyness, and various pre-battle preparations are advancing nervously, and three days have passed in a blink of an eye, and more and more information has been transmitted by the scouts, and the enemy situation has gradually become clear.

Song Jiang left a small number of water bandits to guard Linxiang, and personally led the army to go out, more than 10,000 water bandits were divided into two armies, and the front army of 4,000 men and horses had passed through Yanglou Cave and stepped into the Chongyang territory.

The army pressed the border, and the atmosphere in the county became more and more tense, Meng Bao and others were not optimistic about holding Chongyang, and there were many criticisms when they mentioned the Gongyi camp.

Wang Kefan's claim that he wanted to defeat the water bandits in the battle array was just boasting and pretending to be amazing. When the water bandits arrive at Chongyang City, those few Xiucai will definitely become shrunken turtles.

Xu Bingzhong had to reassure everyone with good words, and on the surface he looked confident, but when there was no one around, he kept sighing. Calm down and think about it carefully, the Gongyi Battalion doesn't look like a strong army, and expecting them to defeat the water bandit Song Jiang is just a rush to the doctor......

Nervous, Xu Bingzhong couldn't help but go to the Gongyi Camp to see it, Wang Kefan saw him very enthusiastically, and accompanied him to visit the exercises of the Gongyi Camp. It's a pity that Xu Bingzhong is a civilian official and doesn't know anything about things in the military, but he is very impressed by the bad marksmanship of the recruits, but he is even more worried.

"Teacher, if Meng Baihu lacks a good bow, I can lend him some." Wang Kefan suddenly made a generous suggestion, which surprised and delighted Xu Bingzhong.

"Really? How many can I borrow? ”

In ancient times, the production process of compound bows was very complicated, and it took two or three years to make a good bow, and there was a great shortage of bows and arrows in Chongyang County.

"Twenty, I'll keep some here."

A good bow is rare, but even more rare is a good shooter, which requires long-term and hard training. For the quick-forming Gongyi battalion, bows and arrows can only be used as a temporary transitional supplement, and they are not ideal long-range weapons.

The spear formation of the Gongyi battalion has begun to take shape, but it lacks the coordination of the troops, and the tactics are too simple, if it encounters the regular army, it will definitely suffer, but fortunately, the bandits also lack bows and arrows and guns, and the spear formation alone is enough to defeat them.

"The virtuous nephew can focus on the overall situation of Chongyang's safety, and he is really open-minded, thank you on behalf of Meng Baihu!" Xu Bingzhong was about to bow his hand, but there was a rapid gong sound outside the barracks.

The sound of the gong warned that there was an emergency, and the faces of the two changed and they walked out together.

As the sound of gongs resounded throughout Chongyang County, the streets and alleys were in a panic, the people closed the doors and closed the windows one after another, and lay on the cracks of the doors to look out nervously, and the young and strong soldiers were at a loss and ran around like headless flies.

"What the hell is going on?" Xu Bingzhong intercepted a young leader and questioned.

"I don't know, I heard that the water bandits have been killed outside the city......" The young leader looked flustered, and it took a moment to recognize Xu Bingzhong.

"Ridiculous! Song Jiang's former army is still in Yangloudong, how can there be water bandits outside the city? Xu Bingzhong shouted angrily: "Quickly restrain the youth of your subordinates, and those who dare to disturb the people's hearts will be severely punished!" ”

Wang Kefan ordered a team of personal soldiers, and Xu Bingzhong hurried to the county office, and as soon as they arrived outside the gate, they met Lu Chuanying with a panicked face.

"Please respect the crime, it's all because you didn't notice it for a while, and caused this trouble......"

It turned out that there were two spies of the water bandits mixed among the people, and they were captured by the guards guarding the city gate, and after being sent to the county office, Lu Chuanying did not know how to deal with it, so he sent his subordinates to find Xu Bingzhong.

"Confused!"

Xu Bingzhong reprimanded: "Since the spies of the water bandits have been caught, of course they have to be interrogated first, and then locked up in the prison, how can they make such a big mess!" ”

"Yes, yes, let's arrange ......" Lu Chuanying nodded again and again, bowed and bowed to retreat.

"Wait."

Wang Kefan stopped him, and then bowed his hand to Xu Bingzhong: "The student thinks that the handling of the order is inappropriate. ”

“weishenme？” Xu Bingzhong was stunned.

"These two spies are just ordinary scouts, and they won't know about the confidential military information, and they won't be able to interrogate anything......" Wang Kefan was just halfway through speaking, and Xu Bingzhong waved his hand impatiently.

"Then just lock it up and talk about it later."

"It's even more inappropriate to lock it up. The hearts of the soldiers and civilians in the city are fluctuating, and the gongs and drums are frightened three times a day, and the people must be warned in an extraordinary way to avoid accidents! ”

Xu Bingzhong was stunned again, and hesitated for a moment before asking, "What does the virtuous nephew think should be done with these two spies of the water bandits?" ”

Wang Kefan said awe-inspiringly: "In the opinion of the students, these two people should be beheaded for public display!" ”

……

Two bloody heads hung in front of the county office, and all kinds of rumors in the city gradually subsided, and people's hearts settled down again.

Unexpectedly, Wang Kefan was so decisive and resolute, Chongyang Wenwu re-examined the Gongyi Battalion and had a new perception of this talented soldier. There are also some gentry who are very unimpressed with this, Confucianism has always been based on benevolence, Wang Kefan is so cruel and easy to kill, he has deviated from the way of a gentleman.

Wang Kefan ignored these criticisms, he didn't like to kill people, but he would never hesitate when necessary, and he didn't want to explain more, so he only concentrated on preparing for war with the officers and men of the Gongyi Battalion.

Two days later, in the early morning, the scouts of the water bandits appeared outside the west gate of Chongyang.