The urban structure of Jingjue City is divided into an outer city, an inner city, and a royal city, and an urn city is built outside the east gate and the north gate. The outer city is in the shape of an eight-pointed star, the circumference is 29 miles and 36 steps, and there are 160 battlements and towers on the city. The moat outside the city has been repaired and has been filled with water. In addition to arranging the tools to defend the city, a number of repulsion horses were also placed one mile outside the four gates.

The population of the exquisite ancient city has more than 20,000 people, in addition to the 4,850 old, young and disabled, the city's beggar army is divided into human and demon warriors, a total of more than 15,000 (among them, more than 3,000 young women's army of humans and demons, belonging to the thirteen heroes in red, and the daily military affairs are led by Mei Duoer and Jian Xi). The elite three armies are conducting drills and training day by day in accordance with the established arrangements of the generals, and the morale and combat strength of the whole army are advancing day by day.

The preparation work for war, such as the construction of ordnance in the city, was also carried out in an orderly manner under the strict supervision of the master of pure intentions.

Since the Battle of Heiyou Mountain and Dongmen, the military intelligence officer Meiling Sanzhang brother Mei Ling directly under the general urged the scout captain Ji Lang to send scout teams to the Quartet every day to inquire about the news of the Beigong servant army, and the information was updated day by day in case the general knew about it.

In mid-June, Lord Bo Chun sent 100 soldiers and spent several days in the arsenal to inspect and take inventory of ordnance and supplies.

In the end, the general was presented with the armament account book, and the existing equipment of the arsenal of the Elite City was inspected as follows:

1. There are 170,000 bows and arrows, 350,000 short crossbow arrows, more than 20,000 long bows, and more than 15,000 iron crossbows.

2. There are 45 bed crossbows with a length of one foot and two feet, and about 150,000 bed crossbow arrows.

3. Five cannons and ten whirlwind cannons. 100,000 rounds of ceramic projectiles used in trebuchets.

4. Sixty chariots with 50,000 rounds of gunpowder shells, 100,000 rounds of oil incendiary bombs, 30,000 barrels of liquid oil, and 15,000 boxes of black gunpowder.

5. There are 500 pairs of black iron heavy armor, 520 pairs of iron helmets, and 20,000 sets of cotton armor and cotton helmets.

6. 15,000 spears, 10,000 Tang horizontal knives, 1,000 Mo knives, and 150 halberds.

According to the results of the inventory of armaments, Fan Xiang instructed Chun Yuyi to send a machinery workshop to build 100 one-foot two-foot bed crossbows, 15 five-tip cannons, 20 whirlwind cannons, and 100,000 ceramic projectiles. The Pentagun is a heavy, lever-mounted human-towed trebuchet, and the Whirlwind Cannon is also a weapon of this type. It is recorded in the "Wujing General Gathering to Defend the City": Where there are five cannons, four foot pillars are used...... Where a cannon is dragged by one hundred and fifty people, two people are set to place, put fifty steps away, and the stone weighs seventy or eighty pounds.

On June 17, the leader of the scout squad sent out before came back, and reported that after the battle of Heiyou Mountain and the East Gate on the 14th, the defenders of the devils in Micheng did not make any changes, but in the past few days, the army that entered Micheng from the four gates had gathered more than 50,000 people, and the devil garrison in Ronglu City in the south did not move, and no army entered. Dunhuang City in the east is also currently garrisoned by a group of more than 1,000 rebels, and there is no Beigong Devil Army passing by outside the city for the time being.

Fan Xiang and the generals held a military meeting, and after discussion, 17,000 crossbow gunpowder arrows, 30,000 bow gunpowder arrows, 3,000 tribulus artillery, 20,000 oil cannonballs, and 50 iron thistle terrestris were sent out of the warehouse, mainly distributed in the 54 war towers at the east gate and the north gate, in case of contingencies. He also gave 5,000 wooden poles and iron spears, and 5,000 pairs of cotton armor and helmets, which were distributed to the soldiers and civilians on duty.

By 18 June, 540 sets of marijuana stacks and 1,100 pairs of bamboo pumps had been made to extinguish fires, and 94 war towers had been prepared. Prepare 3,200 large ceramic water tanks and place them in the four cities and the city gate tower to store water in case of accidents.

Chun Yuyi recently took stock of the original warehouses in the ancient city, and was lucky enough to get an ancient book, so he took it to explore with Fanxiang. The title of the book is unknown. The two then named the first line of the book, "Shikong Temple Fort to Cheng Tu", as "Shikong Temple Fort to Cheng Tu".

The book measures 16.2 x 6.2 cm and is a four-eyeliner bound old book

, the front and back covers are pasted back paper, damaged and old, and the back cover is plain and outward. The inner page is yellowed white cotton paper, with blue borders. The whole book has a reference translation of Lu and Chinese, the text is written in handwritten ink, the regular script is neat, and there is no mistake or alteration of a word. Each of the five inner pages is stamped with a vermilion circular seal on one side, and the last page is stamped with a vermilion circular seal on three sides. The book consists of 20 pages, written in vertical lines, and has about 764 words.

The ancient book records in detail 105 post stations and place names from "Shikong Temple Fort" to the central and western parts of the Western Regions, including 11 post stations in the eastern section, 50 post stations in the middle section, and 44 post stations in the western section.

The 105 post stations such as "Shikong Sibao to Chengtu" recorded in "Shikong Sibao to Chengtu" record that the desert oasis Silk Road from the east passed through Gaopingyi, and continued to go north along Xiaoguan Road and Lingzhou Road along the Qingshui River, and crossed the Yellow River to "Shikong Sibao" at the "Ning'an Fort Crossing" at the Qingshui River entering the Yellow River, and traveled westward from "Shikong Sibao" through 105 post stations and "Qiqian Lingli" to Kuqa in the Western Regions. The routes, post stations, and post journeys of the Silk Road in the desert oasis are recorded in detail, providing strong support for Fanxiang to formulate strategies and tactics against the enemy.

The soldiers and civilians in the city shared the same hatred for the enemy, and rushed to build ordnance day and night.

Mei Lingfeng, Fanxiang and the generals listened to and analyzed the devil army brought back by the scout army every day.

The city was tense and orderly to welcome the arrival of war.

Late at night on June 18, the Zhengda Guangming Palace, which had not yet had time to be repaired, was still brightly lit, and the exquisite King Mei Lingfeng, the general Fanxiang, and the generals were still holding a royal military meeting.

Fan Xiang held a thin wooden stick in his hand, pointed to the terrain of the Taklamakan Desert simulated sand table, and said: "According to the news that the scouts have heard back, the enemy army has gathered 50,000 troops in Micheng this time, and in order to avoid the scorching heat during the day, the enemy army will march towards our Jingjing City at 17 o'clock tomorrow afternoon. Brother Mei and the generals, please see, the enemy army will have two road options, the first march route is from Micheng, through the desert, straight into our west gate, although this route is very hot, and there is no supply on the road, but the straight-line distance is the shortest, about 460 miles. ......”

Yin Yan looked at the sand table carefully, thought for a long time, looked at his father Yin Xu, and said: "This road crosses the Taklamakan Desert, and now it is in the hot weather of summer, and 50,000 soldiers and horses are marching, but I am afraid that it will not be easy. ”

Fan Xiang pondered for a while, pointed to the two raised hills on the sand table with the wooden stick in his hand, looked at the generals, and said slowly: "On this route, 200 miles, there are two red and white sand dunes, the Holy Tomb Mountain. The second route of the march is from Micheng, along the south of the Keriya River to Yutian, and then eastward to Minfeng, and then to the north, attacking our southern city, but this route is that the marching distance has increased nearly twice the distance, although supplies can be obtained at any time, but there is a factor that cannot be ignored, that is, it is coming along the northern foot of Kunlun Mountain, it is summer, the army is moving, and it is most afraid of avalanches, so I guess that the enemy will cross the desert according to the first marching route and directly attack our west gate。 I wonder what the generals think?"

Yin Xu touched the gray beard under his chin, nodded lightly, coughed twice, and said: "The leading general of these 50,000 enemy troops is Nangong Yi, I know this person, he is the general of the right side of the Western Expeditionary Army, this person is excellent in martial arts, extremely brave, and likes to lead the large army to advance urgently, I personally think that what General Fan said is very reasonable." ”

The generals looked at the sand table and nodded in agreement.

Fan Xiang looked at everyone and continued: "If so, then let's take a look at our terrain advantages. First of all, 5 miles out of the west gate is a swamp with a radius of more than 20 miles, and the area within 10 miles in front of the swamp is a half-meadow and half-desert sand dune area, which leads north to the tail edge of the Zdow River, that is, the widest and deepest part of Swan Lake

The water level of the Ztawdu River has risen sharply, submerging the previously bare sandbar and drowning ditches, and the dune area is a slope that rises from north to south and is overgrown with bushes. ”

After a pause, he pondered for a while, and said: "That is to say, this semi-desert dune area is a narrow strip of land with a width of only about two miles and a length of less than ten miles from east to west, and tens of thousands of people are crowded here, and the enemy chariots cannot be deployed. This area is our best place to ambush, as long as we place a surprise army behind the enemy and drive them to the swamp. ”

"However, to the south of the swamp is a poplar woodland, if the enemy army bypasses the forest, what will our army do?" Chun Yu asked with the volume of "Warring States Policy" in his hand lightly patting the palm of his other hand, with a solemn expression.

Fan Xiang looked at the terrain sand table in front of him, and gently tapped it in a place above with a wooden stick, and said: " In addition, although the swamp in front of the west gate gradually turns into a passable meadow to the south, this meadow is covered with poplar forests, and we can put on the sand dunes at the edge of the poplar forest, full of oil and firewood tied with wet reeds and fire-starters, and lay a strange army in the forest behind them, make smoke screens with wet reeds, light more fires, and deploy more suspicious soldiers, and take advantage of the cold wind blowing from the snow-capped mountains in the southwest at night to spread a large amount of smoke into the enemy's formation, so that the enemy does not dare to make a rash move without distinguishing between reality and reality, so as to block the possibility of the enemy army detouring south along this sandy land,......"

"It's a hot day now, the reeds are burning, if the forest belt is ignited, will it backfire my forest sergeant?" Yin Yan looked at the sand table, thoughtful.

Yong Yisheng looked at the sand table intently, and he was also quite puzzled, and he stopped talking.

"This is easy to do, our army can prepare water sources and other fire-fighting things in the forest in advance, just in case, of course, we also have to use sand and gravel at the edge of the forest belt to artificially create a separation zone, so as not to spread the fire on the battlefield to the forest, so that it can be. ”

The generals looked at the sand table and nodded lightly in agreement.

Fan Xiang looked at the sand table, and the wooden stick in his hand continued to hang in the air on the sand table with his analytical thoughts, his tone was calm, powerful, and eloquent: "At the same time, there is a small river channel along the moat at the west end of the North Gate to the end edge of the Zduk River, and the wooden bridge above this river is demolished, and an oil and firewood wall and horses are set up along the shallow water, and a large number of ambushes are placed, more bonfires are lit, and more smoke screens are also built on the wide front meadow of the North Gate, so that the enemy can not figure out the reality of our ambush, so as to drive them to the Zduk River." Now the water of the Zdui River is so wide and deep that our ambushes along the shore can shoot them all into Swan Lake. ”

"Well, points, points, analysis is not good, no, not bad, but how to lead the enemy army to this swampy area?" asked the pig strongly, touching the fat on his cheeks.

"According to the information found by the scouts, most of this devil servant army is composed of demons and humans from the Great Western Continent, and they are not familiar with the terrain of the Taklamakan Desert, of course, they will also know that there is this swamp in the Absolute City, but they don't know that because of the slight change in the amount of snow melt every year, it is this slight change that makes them unable to know exactly the width and length of the swamp and the narrow semi-desert meadow, which gives us the opportunity to ambush them. ......”

Fan Xiang lightly tapped the wooden stick in the palm of his hand a few times, pondered for a while, looked at the generals, and continued.

"In addition, they had large wheeled siege equipment and giant scythe chariots, which would arrive during daylight the day after tomorrow, according to the normal speed of the enemy's march. Of course, fighting in the day is not good for our army, so our army needs to slow down their march so that the enemy can arrive in the evening of the day after tomorrow, so that they will be forced into this swamp by us if they cannot see the terrain clearly. The tactic used is to lure the enemy in, encircle and annihilate him. ”

"Very well, please tell me your specific battle plan. Mei Lingfeng paced back and forth in front of the sand table with his hands behind his back, turned to look at the sand table, pondered for a long time, looked up at Fan Xiang, and said.