The equipment transported to the front line of Jinling by the Luobei Zuoyuan was loaded with 300 carts, and when Li Congjing saw these ready-to-go carriages in the courtyard, he praised Zhang Ziyun very much. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 It is also a loss that there are many horse farms in the Tang Dynasty now, and all the departments of the grassland, including the Khitan, are forced by the power of the Tang Dynasty, and they also pay tribute to good horses every year, which makes Wang Shilian use horse-drawn carts when transporting military funds, instead of mule carts, ox carts and rickshaws.

Presided over the Luobei Academy for more than a year, Zhang Ziyun has become a great expert in the production and use of artillery, grenades, and mines, seeing that Li Congjing is satisfied with the results of the Academy, and the Academy has finally lived up to expectations, and at the most critical juncture of the Jinling War, the equipment has been completed, his tired face is full of smiles, "As long as these equipment are used properly, don't say that it is not a problem to blow up a big hole in Jinling City, even if you blow up the hundred-zhang long city wall!" ”

Blowing up the hundred-zhang long city wall is too exaggerated, Li Congjing doesn't have this expectation, he can tear a hole in the city wall, even if it is just to collapse the city gate, it is enough to help Xia Luqi and others open up the situation.

Li Congjing looked at the officials and craftsmen in the courtyard, these people are now extremely tired, obviously not caused by a short period of processing, thinking of the past year or two, Zhang Ziyun every time he returns to the East Palace to report his work, Li Congjing knows that everyone is gritting their teeth these days, which can make the equipment of the hospital can be completed in time, and he is very grateful in his heart.

"Now that the first batch of instruments has finally been manufactured, we only need to transport them to Jinling and send a group of craftsmen to teach the soldiers how to use them." Speaking of this, Zhang Ziyun felt a sense of relief and breathed a sigh of relief.

"If you succeed in conquering Jinling this time, I will go back to the palace to celebrate your achievements." Li Congjing finally said this, which caused everyone to be overjoyed and hurriedly thanked him.

When the 300 carts arrived in Jinling, it was the spring season.

At this time, in the Tang military camp outside Jinling City, many soldiers of the Wang Division were outside the camp tent, lined up in an orderly manner, sitting on the ground and basking in the sun. The siege of Jinling lasted for an autumn and winter, many soldiers fell ill in the rain and snow, the climate in the south was different from the north, and even the cold way was different, one was dry and cold and the other was wet and cold, and it was inevitable that the soldiers would not adapt to the water and soil.

"The fierce battle was concentrated in mid-September to mid-November last year, and then the weather was very cold, and the soldiers were inconvenient to move, so there were very few attacks on the city, mainly piling up dirt mountains and digging ravines outside the city, on the one hand, to prepare for the big war in the coming day, and on the other hand, to prevent the Jinling bandit army from going out of the city to counterattack. But Rao is so, there are still a lot of injuries and illnesses among the soldiers, according to the words of the prince, there are too many 'non-combat attrition', in addition to letting the doctors in the army take care of them more and let the soldiers wash and change frequently, every sunny day the Japanese marshal will let the soldiers go out of the tent to bask in the sun, this method is very effective. ”

Walking in the camp, Xia Ruqi said to Zhang Ziyun, who transported Luobei equipment to Jinling, that the other party's identity is special, which is equivalent to the envoys sent to Jinling by Li Congjing and Li Siyuan to observe the war, Xia Ruqi has no intention of slacking off, "Since the beginning of the spring, the war has been reviving again, and the army has been attacking the city for many days, and it has also attacked the city, but it has not gained a firm foothold, and the casualties on both sides are very large. In order to prevent our king from attacking, Jinling strengthened the city defense last year, and then erected a corner tower on the city wall, and before the arrival of our army, prepared enough grain and grass in the city, enough for more than a year, plus there are many people in the city, as long as the thieves can gather people's hearts, there is no need to worry about the lack of strength. It is the battle of Jinling, which is not visible in the short term. ”

There are so many times in a year when the city can be attacked, mainly in spring and autumn, the summer is very hot and the winter is cold, not to mention that there are two or three months of inability to fight, and then in addition to the heavy rain weather, this gives Jinling some respite.

"What Your Majesty and the Crown Prince mean: Before the beginning of Xia, Jinling must be captured." Zhang Ziyun thought about it, and reiterated this sentence, "What does the big handsome think?" ”

"Your Majesty and the prince's military orders, this commander must obey, if Jinling is not restrained before the beginning of Xia, he is willing to apologize with death!" The edict Charucci has been received, and it is his duty to do so.

"How does the marshal plan to solve the Jinling war?" Zhang Ziyun asked.

Xia Luqi said: "First cut off Jinling foreign aid." ”

Jinling's foreign aid is nothing more than two parts, one is the army of King Qin of Wu Guofan, and the other is the 30,000 soldiers and horses sent by Liu Yan.

"The so-called Qinwang division of the thief army and the town, there are nearly 30,000 people in total, but the composition is more complicated, although the commander is nominally appointed by Jinling, in fact, the vassals are still different, each fighting for itself, plus most of them are newly recruited soldiers from all over the country, lack of training, and the armament is not very good." In the military tent, Meng Ping, who received Xia Luqi's military order, held a pre-war military meeting, "In a word, the combat effectiveness is low." ”

The place where Meng Ping garrisoned was in the area of Danyang Lake, which was more than 120 miles south of Jinling. More than 60 miles west of Danyang Lake, there is a county named Dangtu, on the edge of the Yangtze River. Danyang Lake is surrounded by mountains in the east and north, and Maoshan Mountain and Jiangyan Mountain are here; To its northwest is the Fang Mountain. Therefore, the reinforcements who rushed to Jinling wanted to go north, either by the Yangtze River, or by the area between Dangtu and Danyang Lake.

Meng Ping stationed the main force in Dangtu, which just blocked the passage between the army of Wu Guofan and Liu Yan's troops to the north. As for the east of Danyang Lake, because of the topography of the north and south, it was not a good marching route, but Meng Ping also sent a partial division to guard the main road in the area of Maoshan Mountain.

"When the thief clan army went north, the vanguard was defeated by our department, and then the thief clan army was stationed in Wuhu Town, and stopped moving. Liu Yan's soldiers and horses camped thirty miles away from the thief clan army, but it was in a place further south, and his troops and horses came north with great fanfare, and 30,000 people dared to claim the division of 100,000, which was simply not known, but the march had not yet arrived, and after hearing that the thief clan army was defeated, he camped behind the thief clan army, and there was not even an attack for several months, which made people laugh. ”

An Chongrong let out a sneer, showing his contempt for the army of Wu and the soldiers and horses of the Southern Han Dynasty.

It's no wonder that An Chongrong is like this, when Tu came to set up defenses, he was full of thought that the soldiers and horses who rescued Jinling would attack in a big way, so he prepared day and night, but the other party only knew that the turtle could not shrink, which made his accumulated strength nowhere to use, and his heart was naturally unhappy.

"They have been shrinking for months and have not dared to come out, but now that the commander's military order and the equipment of the hospital have arrived, they cannot be allowed to avoid fighting." Meng Ping snorted coldly, "Clean up these debris that is in the way as soon as possible, and you and I will return to Jinling to help the army capture Jinling City as soon as possible." ”

Xu Zhihe listened to Zhou Zong's report to him on the stage of the battle to defend the city of Jinling, "Since the northern thieves besieged Jinling in September last year, it has been more than May, except for the severe winter season, the northern thieves have stopped for more than a month, and they have been attacking the city endlessly. To this day, more than 10,000 soldiers of our army defending the city have been killed and wounded, and the young and strong people who assisted in the war and transported equipment have also suffered heavy casualties......

Xu Zhihe waved his hand to stop Zhou Zong's meticulous "chatter", and asked bluntly: "How long can the grain and grass last?" ”

"Eight months." Zhou Zong immediately said, "After the war in Hunan stopped, on the order of the prime minister, a large number of grain and grass were urgently transported from all over the country, in addition to the grain stored in Jinling for many years......"

"Eight months? I'm afraid it's not enough. Xu Zhihe shook his head, "We must survive the next cold winter before the northern thieves can retreat...... From now on, all the grain, herbs, cloth, and other military materials in the city will be concentrated, and the stocks in the hands of officials, large households, and merchants will be transferred to the barracks, and then distributed according to a certain amount every day. It's up to you to do it, and you can do it right away. ”

"Is the grain in the hands of officials, large households, and businessmen purchased or requisitioned?" Zhou Zong asked.

Xu Zhihe groaned slightly, "If you want to defend Jinling, you must work together between the army and the people, if you forcibly requisition other people's goods, I am afraid that people will be resentful, so you can buy it according to the price of previous years." ”

"It's just that in this way, I'm afraid that the treasury will be empty, and the soldiers' pensions will ......" Zhou Zong hesitated.

Xu Zhihe pondered for a moment, "You don't need the money from the treasury, use the palace utensils, if it is not enough, let Your Majesty write a hundred articles a day, and exchange it for Your Majesty's writing and ink...... If it is not enough, let Your Majesty borrow it from everyone! ”

Zhou Zong's expression froze, "Yes, let's do it." ”

Before Zhou Zong retreated, bursts of thunder suddenly sounded outside the city, the sound was not loud or small, and it continued for a while.

"What's going on?"

No one knows what's going on.

Half an hour later, Xu Zhihe came to the city. By this time, the thunder outside the city had stopped. However, the soldiers and civilians defending the city became distracted and frightened because of the thunder that lasted for half an hour, and all kinds of voices came and went, and there was no lack of words of various ghosts and gods, which made people's hearts unstable.

Lin Renzhao pointed in the direction of the east of the city and reported the situation to Xu Zhihe: "The place where the sound came from is about thirty miles away, and there are hidden fires, smoke and dust, I don't know what's going on. ”

Xu Zhihe's face was slightly gloomy, "Let the elite rider break through and go out to check, be sure to find out the reason for the matter!" ”

"Yes!" Lin Renzhao hurriedly agreed.

Xu Zhihe faintly had a bad premonition in his heart.

However, in order to appease the hearts of Jinling's people, he suddenly laughed a few times, and said to the people beside him in a tone of casual and insight into the world: "The northern thief and donkey skills are poor, and the position of Jinling will not be solved in a few days!" ”

Everyone was surprised, and Song Qiqiu asked, "Why did the prime minister say this?" ”

Xu Zhihe said: "The Northern Thieves surrounded my Jinling for half a year with 200,000 soldiers and horses, but they were helpless, and the money consumed was innumerable. At this time, when the northern thieves saw that they couldn't capture our city, they made some inexplicable movements outside the city, didn't they just want to cause the panic of our Jinling soldiers and civilians, so as to take the opportunity to capture the city? It's ridiculous that Charucci is too stupid, my Jinling is as stable as Mount Tai, how can such a small trick be shaken? For half a year, the Northern Dynasty has built earth mountains, dug tunnels, and counted strange tricks, but it can't shake half a point of my Jinling, and the soldiers have been killed and injured countless times. His poor donkey skills and tired soldiers show that they can't help me Jinling! In this way, as long as I hold on to Jinling for a while, the northern thieves will definitely retreat! ”

Hearing this, Song Qiqiu immediately praised loudly, "The Prime Minister's words, let me wait for the initiation, it is really correct!" ”

And so the crowd agreed.

From time to time, Xu Zhihe's words spread all over Jinling.

Those Jinling soldiers and civilians who were flustered because of the inexplicable movement outside the city suddenly put their hearts at ease, and they were all full of confidence, and they all sneered at the Tang army outside the city, and occasionally spat and cursed.

The commander of the army of Wu Guofan stationed in Wuhu Town was named Zhu Kuangye, although Jinling was surrounded by the Tang army, but he was still able to break through from time to time with a small number of men, so he commanded the title of Qinwang's division, which was given by Jinling, and the name was justified, although the armies may not be 100% convinced, but they did not dare to disobey his military orders.

He was an official in Jinling, very valued by Xu Zhihe, the official to the army are waiting, some time ago he served as the assassin of Shezhou, Shezhou did not have the degree of envoys, so he has the military and political power of Shezhou, this time he led the army to aid Jinling, Xu Zhihe to he commanded the division of King Qin, it is not surprising.

"Dashuai, the scout is coming, the northern thieves are coming!" On this day, Zhu Kuangye was inspecting the barracks, and when he suddenly heard the news, a flash of joy immediately flashed in his eyes, and he secretly shouted that a big event was about to be accomplished, and he immediately beat the drums and gathered the generals.

Shrinking for several months in Wuhu and not daring to attack the Tang army was a cowardly and incompetent move, but in fact, Zhu Kuangye had other plans, he set up a trap for the Tang army, and waited for the Tang army to enter the urn.